Orphan Black

Orphan Black is a television show on BBC America, and stars Tatiana Maslany as Sarah Manning. Sarah Manning is a young mother who is trying to reconnect with her 7 year-old daughter, Kira. While at the train station, Sarah witnesses a woman commit suicide. Just before the woman walks off the platform, she turns around to face Sarah, and looks exactly like her. In the beginning of her search for answers, Sarah grabs the woman's purse and runs. Sarah soon learns that there are many more people that look just like her, and the conspiracy runs deeper than she ever could have imagined. Unfortunately, the series is not on Netflix, meaning that you will most likely have to purchase the season if you don't already have BBC America on your television. For $15.99 on Amazon, season 1 of Orphan Black is definitely worth the deal. If you're not already hooked, here is the trailer and here is the opening scene.

Ball Park Music

Along with The Colourist, which I recently made a blog post about, I have also been listening to a lot of new artists lately. (Allow me to clarify, by "new," I mean new to me. Some of these artists that I'm about to mention in forthcoming blog posts are fairly new, however others are not and have been around for more than a few years.) One band which I've recently started listening to, is Ball Park Music. Now, I'm fairly sure that everyone already knew about Ball Park Music before I did, and I think I may have even known the name from some vague memory. I didn't get around to listening to them until recently. If you like alternative music, they are great. Founded in 2008, they consist of five members: Sam Cromack, Jennifer Boyce, Paul Furness, Daniel Hanson, and Dean Hanson. Though I can't find where the band originated, I do have better news. Their new album released today, as in, about six hours prior to this blog post. From their new album, Puddinghead, the single "She Only Loves Me When I'm There" is a great song to start with when listening to this band for the first time.

Germany!

Over Spring Break, I traveled to Europe for the first time. I stayed primarily in Germany, but also went to Lichtenstein, Switzerland, and Austria. In short, the trip was super fun and I plan on moving to Germany after graduating high school. The first place in Germany that I went on my trip (other than the airport) was a lovely city named Rothenburg. I suppose you should call it a town, as it is really quite small and one little area that you could travel all the way around multiple times a day. It was a medieval city built around the 1000's and looked sort of like this:

 Actually, it looked exactly like this, these were pictures taken off of my camera. Afterwards, we moved onto Munich, which I loved, but unfortunately did not get pictures of because I was feeling very ill. We went to a market place where they had a large May Pole, which is like a meeting center for everyone (literally this giant pole sticking out of the ground, it is also decorated). We went various other places including Dachau Concentration camp and the Salzburg salt mines in Austria. We literally had pork every night for dinner. It was good pork, though. I have yet to have more pork since returning to the US. The final places that I visited while in Europe were Luzern and Heidelburg. Heidelburg would have been more fun had I been able to spend more than a day there, and I absolutely loved Luzern (Switzerland). I bought 30 euros of chocolate. Everyone made fun of me when I got home but it's barely been a week and most of it is gone. So yeah. I went places. I did things. This kind of post is not regular for my music/book/film related blog, but I don't often get to do things like this. This may turn into a travel blog where I drool over places that I won't be able to see in person for a long time. Have a spiffy day, reader.

Luzern

What I had for dinner in Munich one night.
It was pork. Yum.

Mount Pilatus

Pentatonix

A vocal group known as Pentatonix has recently taken the world by storm and is gaining an increasing amount of recognition and popularity around the globe.Pentatonix is composed of lead vocalists Scott Hoying, Kirstie Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, vocal bass Avi Kaplan, and beatboxer Kevin Olusola. After winning season 3 of NBC's The Sing-Off, Pentatonix has created many original tracks along with pop hits and medley arrangements.
Shortly after winning Th Sing-Off, the members of Pentatonix moved to Los Angeles where they produced and released two EP's, which both debuted in the Billboard's Top 200. They have toured twice through the US, and are currently on their third tour, which is selling out quickly. Pentatonix's new alum - PTX Vol. 2 - will be released on November 5th, 2014. The album has eight new tracks, including three original songs by Pentatonix.

The Colourist

The Colourist is a band formed in early 2013, after meeting in Orange County, California. They currently only have an EP containing 4 songs which were released in late 2013, and began touring with Panic! At The Disco on their current tour, Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die.
Their most popular and first released song Little Games, gained them the majority of the fans that they have today, and their fanbase, although still small, is continuing to grow.
The Colourist is a pop/indie/rock band according to their official website, and starting March 1st, they will begin their own national headlining tour, introducing their new album.
Set to be released on March 25, 2014, The Colourist will release their first full album, titled The Colourist.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Although The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was released in November of last year, I only recently saw it in theaters. As a huge fan of the book series and the first movie, I cannot say that I am displeased. I'm quite happy with how this movie turned out actually, even though there were minor changes in the plot such as Peeta not loosing his leg and Katniss not becoming deaf in one ear. There is also the unnecessary love triangle which is made all too dramatic in the movies. However, this is how the world of cinema always works and you can't expect a movie to be exactly as the book was (it's a bit impossible to please everyone and make the film exactly as everyone envisioned in their minds while reading The Hunger Games). Not only did the plot progress smoothly, but the costumes, makeup, and set were absolutely gorgeous in the film, along with the special effects. I am pleased with the performances of many if not the entire cast. Jennifer Lawerence and Josh Hutcherson did well, as they did in the first film of the Hunger Games. But the characters that I ended up liking the most were the other tributes that went into the 75th Hunger Games with Katniss and Peeta. Jena Malone was especially excellent in playing the character of Johanna Mason, and succeeded in making the character very unique and likable by the audience. Out of 5 stars, I would rate this movie as being somewhere close to a 4.5. It was a very enjoyable movie, but I hardly ever consider any movies that I see perfect, and while this one may have a few minor flaws that mostly just readers of the series would pick out, it is definitely worth watching.

Disney's Frozen

I saw Frozen in theaters on January 19th, and after downloading every song I can find and telling everyone I know to go watch it, I can now resort to the internet. Watch Frozen. It is very good. As a basic overview, Frozen is about the town of Erindale in which two girls live, daughters of the King and Queen. Elsa has a gift, and as she grows older her power becomes harder and harder to contain. Eventually, she sets Erindale into an eternal winter (by accident!), and her powers are discovered by her sister, Ana, along with the rest of Erindale. Elsa flees and Ana leaves Erindale in search of her sister, meeting a reindeer and a man who sells ice for a living along the way.

Not only is the story very interesting and original, the animation is incredible and the original songs by Disney are great sing-alongs. Summary: If you haven't watched Frozen yet, then watch it. Why haven't you already? It's a Disney movie. And if you have, great! It's probably time to make another trip back to the theaters to catch Frozen just one more time before it's available to rent.

Dollhouse - TV Series

Dollhouse, the original TV series by Joss Whedon was aired on Fox for two and a half seasons before it got cancelled. It is a science fiction series that follows the main character, Echo, through her journey and involvement with a company that uses "Dollhouses" and hires out personalities to wealthy clients. After someone has signed up for the program, their memories and personalities get erased and put onto a hard drive. They become known as "dolls" that are in a permanent child-like state and has virtually no personality. When a client needs anything from a romantic engagement to a high-risk criminal job, they go to the company that runs the Dollhouses. They rent the client out a doll, who is programmed with the appropriate personality. After the job is complete, the doll comes back to the Dollhouse, has their memory and personality wiped, and returns to their "sleeping" state. Echo, who is a doll in the Dollhouse, is becoming self-aware. The people who run the dollhouse are frightened by this, as it reminds them of a similar case in the past which had gotten out of control. When the series begins things in the Dollhouse are running smoothly, but quickly picks up as the government and conspirators try to get involved in their affairs. The show itself is filled with a lot of action and cool science fiction-y technology. It is an excellent show to watch and - doesn't take very long to complete the series! (While you can choose to see that as a pro, it really just goes by quickly because there are only over 20 episodes. Boo, Fox.) The trailer (another trailer) along with many explanations for the show can be somewhat confusing, so the best thing to do is to just jump right in! It's not a very hard show to follow - just hard to explain in a three minute clip or in 200 words. Enjoy, the show never became very popular, but everyone who is a Joss Whedon fan will definitely love it! (Also, it's really good science fiction.)

What Day Comes After Friday?

A screenshot from the new music video.

Many remember Rebecca Black's song Friday very well from when it went viral almost 3 years ago. While it was annoying to almost everyone who had the displeasure of hearing it, including Rebecca Black herself, as she so recently stated in one of her newest videos, she has now released a sort of parody to her original song. Titled Saturday, the song is very similar to the style of Friday. Like many songs in modern pop-culture, it is themed with non-stop partying during the weekend, although it is a bit catchier and definitely less painful to listen to. The music video and song starts with many references to Friday, making a clear connection that this is a continuation of her original song. This song is not a bad song. Actually, it is indirectly genius. Throughout, Saturday consistently makes fun of Rebecca's song, Friday, which was her first professionally released song. Apparently Rebecca decided that it would be easier to not fight the current that was her image as in artist rather that avoid it any longer. In fact, since the release of this song, many have gained a new perspective on Rebecca's music and she is beginning to be viewed as more of a respected and professional artist. Now it seems everyone wants to ask, 'When do we get a

song about Sunday?'

One of the many references in the new song, Saturday. The
words fun are repeated over and over in Friday.

The Fault in Our Stars: A Progress Report

While there is still much information to be released about The Fault in Our Stars movie, we are now getting a much clearer picture of what the movie will be like - and when we will be able to finally see it. The Fault in Our Stars is now set to be released on June 6, 2013. In fact, all that is left to do now is edit the film. As of mid to late October, filming has come to a wrap. In his questions about The Fault in Our Stars movie, John Green answered many questions. In this video, John Green officially announces that he will cameo in the movie (he mentions that he will not be telling anyone what he is doing in the movie.) There are many other questions that John Green answered about the upcoming movie with the help of actors like Ansel Elgort (Augustus), Nat Wolff (Isaac),  and Shailene Woodley (Hazel). A great way to pass the time while waiting for this (hopefully) fantastic movie would be to watch behind the scenes videos! To sum them all up, it's mostly John Green hanging out on the set, but it's interesting. (These are titles of the vlogbrothers videos.  On the TFIOS Movie Set, Secrets of the Movies, Question Tuesday with Nat Wolff, and Q&A with Ansel Elgort.)

Chuck: The Movie

Chuck was originally a television show which aired from 2007 - 2012 as one of the few shows in what seems to be a long while that actually got to complete its entire series on NBC. Zachery Levi starred as the character of Chuck, and Yvonne Strahovski co-starred as Sarah. The show is about Chuck, who works for an electronics store in Burbank in the Nerd Herd section. After an email from an old college roommate gets sent to Chuck, he acc
identally downloads and becomes the mental host of the Intersect, a super computer containing all top secret information available to the US government. As a national security threat, he gets taken into the custody of the NSA & CIA. His life changes dramatically from this point forward as he must hide his identity from everyone he knows and loves. After running for five long seasons, the show ended in late January of 2012. Since then Zachery Levi, who played Chuck, has actively been trying to get Chuck to be made into a movie, to help wrap up all the loose ends and cliff hangers that were left at the end of the series finale. Over the past few years, Levi has made contact with the rest of the cast, who all agree that they would like to make a movie, and has contacted Warner Brothers numerous times. The main problem is that there is virtually no funding for the movie. In order to have enough of a budget, one of the only options for Zachery Levi is to make a Kickstarter project to fund the movie, which he has already stated that he will not do and will find other means by making the movie work.
I personally have mixed feelings about the possibility of a sequel to Chuck. While I would love to have new content that draws out the story line just a bit further, part of me is completely content with the way the the series ended on its own. Having almost two years to formulate on my own ideas on what I would have liked to happen after Chuck ended, it would almost be disappointing to see something else hit the screen. I feel like many fans who were happy with the series finale would be disappointed in this same way. Regardless, I will probably see the movie if it is ever released. I have just yet to decide if I would like one released yet.

Panic! At the Disco Releases Their Fourth Album

Album art for Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die

Panic!At the Disco's new album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die was released on October 8th, 2013. The band consists of only two people, although the group was originally much larger when they formed in 2004; the only remaining member of the band since its formation is Brendon Urie, font man and lead singer. The other current member is drummer Spencer Smith. In their last album Vices and Virtues, Brendon Urie (who writes all of the songs for the band) wrote the entire album about his wife while they were broken up, and in their most recent album, Brendon has written in a similar way, writing about numerous good and bad experiences during his adolescence, giving it a “Vegas” theme and even once calling it “a letter to myself.”

Every time Panic! At the Disco comes out with a new album, they experiment with new things involving different instruments and elements, which to me is exactly what makes them great. While I understand that many artists have certain types of sounds and styles that they are comfortable with, doing the same thing can often get boring after the third or fourth album and make it seem like the artist is 'just moving through the motions'. While this causes many fans to come and go as the style progresses into something they don't enjoy, it has also earned the band many long time followers who look forward to and expect to hear new sounds within the music, which is why I, along with many others find this album to be especially enjoyable as they have held up to their standard of bring new aspects to to the table.

When Is Tokio Hotel Releasing Their New Album?

The members of Tokio Hotel: Gustav Schafer
Bill Kaulitz, Tom Kaulitz, & Georg Listing
(listed from left to right)

Tokio Hotel, a German rock band, has had over four albums released in the past eight years, and are becoming widely known around the world. Having now completed two world tours, and getting ready to release a new album, Tokio Hotel's fame is skyrocketing. One of the questions that many fans are

Cover Art for the album Humanoid.

asking, is when will the new album be released? The leader of the group, Bill Kaulitz, along with the other three members of the band are strangely vague in all the information that they have given to the fans in the past two years. There are even rumors which they refuse to directly address such as 'Is Tokio Hotel even a band anymore?' and 'Is there even a current album in progress?' While I do believe that they do not have any reason for just plainly lying to their fans, I do believe that they, or their record label could be doing a much better job on relaying information. For example, while the members of Tokio Hotel have made comments on their official page on Facebook along with multiple videos validating that said album is to be released soon, they have not validated any time for a release date, or even mentioned a name to the album. Originally, the album was said to be released in Spring of 2012. Eventually, this date got pushed to Spring of 2013, and now is apparently going to be released in the Fall of 2013. It has also been said that they will begin their tour late this year, but I don't see how that could be possible, seeing as how there have not been dates for any shows posted anywhere. As a faithful fan of the band for three years, I know first hand that a situation such as this can be very confusing and even slightly irritating. If they keep up their lack of communication, fans may begin to lose interest, and their popularity may decrease by the time they release new content (their latest album was published in 2009 and was titled Humanoid. They published their album in both English and German.) Why is Tokio Hotel being so secretive? As of now, I can't give an official answer, but I do hope that it is for a good reason, and that new information about the band and album will soon be released.

Steam Powered Giraffe: MK III

The steampunk robot band, Steam Powered Giraffe, has recently announced that their new album, MK III will be released fall of 2013. The band includes three singers/songwriters, David Michael Bennett, Bunny Bennett, and Sam Luke who dress up and act as robots on stage. The great singing and pantomiming act is family appropriate, and are usually found playing at conventions around the US. What is unique about this band is that while they are characters on stage, Bunny Bennett (one of the singers), has also created a whole world based around the three robots, The Spine, Rabbit, and Hatchworth, which is what they base most of their songs off of (interesting happenings of the fictional world.) In creating these characters which are actually more thought out than may seem at first glance, these San Diego performers have sparked a whole fandom (community of fans) who actively participate with members of the band to create more stories about the fictional steampunk world. While you may automatically think that this is a band just for children, their audiences are typically teens to young-adult. To read further about the band, you can visit their official website, or if you want to read about the fiction behind the characters, you can click here.

 

Marina and the Diamonds: The End of "Electra Heart" Era

Marina Lambrini, the Welsh artist of Marina & the Diamonds has had her album, Electra Heart, out since early of 2012, but until last month, Electra Heart was a work in progress. Officially completed in August 8, 2013, Marina released the last part of her 11 part music video. Not only is Electra Heart the official name of the album, but it has also been the name of Marina's latest character for the past year and a half, some even calling it her alter-ego, as she even played and dressed as her character, Electra, for performances and interviews, drawing a black heart on her cheek to signify Electra's character. While many may look at this retro-styled, heartbreaking character as a fun experiment in music, I have come to believe that it may have a much deeper meaning. While portraying this character in several music videos, making all of her fans anticipate the next one almost as if a television show or book has shown me a new way of character development that I had not previously known was possible: character development in music. Through each of Marina's songs and music videos, you can re-watch them over again and notice new things and deeper meanings, similar to books. They tell a story about a girl, Electra, who wanted to be perfect by the standards of modern pop culture and devolves slowly to conform to these standards, watching all of these videos chronologically, the story is that she metaphorically kills her previous self to become what the media wants, but in watching the videos from most recently to the first released video, it tells a story of Electra, who tries to become a different person but in the end, decides that there is more to life than "Fear and Loathing," (the title of her first video). Now that this series is over, after her symbolically smearing the heart off at the end of "Electra Heart," (the most recent music video) Marina will go back to making her regular type of music. In fact, she is already working on her newest, yet-to-be-titled album! Her Electra Heart album was very important to me though; As for the past two years, I have been attached to Electra, and I think it delivers a very important message that music can not only mean a specific thing, but portray a story or lesson as well. Also, in creating this character, it is easy to forget that Marina became this character for a good few years, and shows the dedication that can artist can have with what they do and how much they believe in it.

(To watch the Electra Films, click here.)

Theory of the Universe of Pixar

Pixar has been known to scatter easter eggs (references to other Pixar animations) throughout its films, but what if these so called coincidences were not coincidences at all? Jon Negroni, an online blogger/writer has created his theory on the Pixar universe, suggesting that all 14 Pixar films since Toy Story, released in 1995, through the most recently released Monsters University are all connected and existent within the same universe. I highly recommend that you read the full theory here, as it is much more complex and thought provoking than the brief summary I have included in this post. Jon Negroni has also released a timeline on his website of when he believes each Pixar movie chronologically occurred. The films included are:

A Bug's Life, Toy Story 1, 2, & 3, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars 1 & 2, Ratatoullie, Wall-E, Brave, and Monsters University. 

The timeline of this theory begins with Brave, which explains why animals are developing human characteristics after the witch gives them the ability to talk with her magic. These magical animals went on to breed and create other intelligent animals. This is shown in Ratatoullie and Finding Nemo, where animal intelligence begins to grow. In Up, humans are noticing that animals too are intelligent, and Charles Muntz goes on to harness power from the animals. The timeline then shifts from animals to others things going on in this same universe, specifically, to Artificial Intelligence (AI.) Syndrome from The Incredibles, creates a "kill-bot", who then turns against Syndrome and begins trying to kill all humans. This is beginning to suggest that machines are now forming minds of their own, starting the revolt against humans. Also, Toy Story suggests that inanimate objects are developing minds of their own as well. The Buy-N-Large (BNL) is shown in one form or another in almost every Pixar movie as a worldwide major corporation. BNL begins pushing the industrial revolution, over-manufacturing and causing such terrible pollution that humans are forced to flee Earth. This sets up the story line for Wall-E, where all humans have fled and many species have died. Cars is set at a time where humans had already fled but Wall-E's story had not started yet. At the end, Wall-E finds a small plant growing up out of an old shoe, foreshadowing that nature is beginning to reconstruct itself. After Wall-E comes A Bug's Life, where nature is eventually restored, but virtually no humans still remain on Earth. In the mean time, a new super-species is born: monsters from Monsters Inc. The monsters have an energy crisis, which is solved by way of time travel. In going to the past the monsters could harvest energy from humans in their prime. Leaving them afraid to interact with the children in fear of changing history. But what ever happened to Boo? After traveling into the future, she remembers the monster world growing up, and invents her own time travel using doors, eventually becoming the witch from Brave. Using time travel, Boo goes looking for Sully, passing through many doors and eventually ending up in the Dark Ages. This explains why the witch in Brave was always disappearing through doors. In a brief shot of where the witch lives, a wooden carving of Sully is shown.

Do I believe in this theory?
As a big Pixar fan, I can't see any other way than to believe in it. While there are many flaws and imperfections in this story, Negroni's assumptions have left me dumbfounded and in awe of how the Pixar movies fit together, and has left me convinced that Pixar has been creating this secret universe on the side since the beginning of Toy Story.

The Fault in Our Stars: Movie TBA 2014

Since early last year, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green has become a major success in teens and young adults worldwide. The plot of the story is of Hazel Grace, a 16 year-old girl who has terminal lung cancer, is urged by her parents and eventually agrees to go to a cancer support group. There, she meets a boy by the name of Augustus Waters. Augustus, who is now cancer free, befriends Hazel and they begin to spend every day together, changing both of their lives. Now, it is officially stated that The Fault in Our Stars will be adapted for the screen. John Green, who firmly believes that, "Books belong to their readers," Is overjoyed that one of his books has finally made it to this stage in becoming an actual movie, saying that he is "totally unambiguously excited about it," according to Entertainment Weekly. The Fault in Our Stars movie is going to be announced in 2014 of its release. Starring and co-starring for the roles are Shailene Woodley (as Hazel Grace) and Ansel Elgort (as Augustus Waters). And while it has not been confirmed, it is said that John Green himself will be appearing briefly in the movie. Along with the movie coming out , and excellent trend has spread vastly across the internet. In full support of the movie, Shailene Woodley decided to donate her hair to the Children with Hair Loss, which creates wigs for children in need. Following in her footsteps, thousands of fans are now donating their hair, calling the trend "Hair for Hazel." As for the filming of the movie, several locations have already been announced, including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Amsterdam, Netherlands, where much of the book's setting took place. Although there is still much to be determined, this production looks like it could turn out to be one of the best movies of the year. With its heart-wrenching plot which should fit perfectly on screen, excellent acting, wonderful settings, and the comfort that John Green himself has expressed that he is excited for this movie, makes me more impatient to see it by the day.
In this movie coming out, I am hoping that The Fault in Our Stars will encourage more people - both young and old - to read the book after seeing the movie. I for one am also looking forward to possibly seeing more books - by John Green or other authors of the like - made into movies. And although I feel that everyone has that deep down fear of Hollywood taking their favorite book and completely ruining it, sometimes it's worth the risk.