I don’t know what the DNJ is doing anymore (4/2)

The Daily News Journal posted this article with the headline, “Fraternities and sororities: What you’re saying.”

(Daily News Journal – Facebook)

As vague as that is, you’d think it be about issues such as the SAE incident or the recent fraternity that was kicked out of MTSU.

Nope.

I’m just gonna go ahead and post the full text of the article:

Should universities require all fraternities and sororities to move off campus?

Why?

James Festervand: It’s not a matter of requirement it’s more about giving them the option. If given an opportunity out and off, most would have taken it 10 years ago.

Your comments are welcome…

That’s it. An odd topic, with some random guy’s thought, that doesn’t even make sense. If it was meant to ask for community opinion, they definitely could have done it way better. They’ve had 0 comments.

Gallery: Spring Dance Concert (3/31)

A member of MTSU’s dance company performs in Tucker Theatre on Thursday, March 26, 2015 for the Spring Dance Concert (MTSU Sidelines/Greg French)

Here’s a photo gallery we ran at Sidelines from the spring dance performance. The only drawback was that we were unable to receive the names of the participating dancers, so the cutlines aren’t perfect.

CoS continues the cover Star Wars stuff for some reason (3/26)

A totally unattributed photo from “Stars Wars Episode I” that ran with the discussed story at Consequence of Sound. (consequenceofsound.net)

This article on an old Star Wars set being captured by ISIS is by no means a bad article, but the problem I have with is that it’s done by Consequence of Sound. They’re a music blog, who over the last few months have started to expand their coverage to include movies and television. While that’s no reason to whine, the way they’ve started to implement it is rather poor. It appears that they will publish anything as long as they can stick Star Wars or Avengers in the headline for views.

In my opinion, they should either make a full venture into the world of film/TV coverage or just refocus their resources towards more in-depth music journalism, which is something they need to step up on.

The Needle Drop delivers an in-depth review of Kendrick Lamar’s new album (3/19)

One of my favorite online personalities is Anthony Fantano, aka YouTube’s The Needle Drop. He reviews new albums daily, usually with a knowledgeable, objective view on the work. He tackled the new Kendrick Lamar album “To Pimp a Butterfly,” which has been to main topic of online music discussion since its early release. He gives an in-depth, spot-on review of the album, and gives it a perfect score of 10, a score he’s only given twice since he began reviewing in 2009.

Prince

At 56, Prince still puts on a live performance miles ahead of artists half his age. For proof of this fact, take his recent two-night stint at the Palace Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer played four sold out shows over two nights at the theatre, with just as much charisma as he had during the “Purple Rain” era.

Starting off the show with 11 of his biggest hits, including “Kiss,” “When Doves Cry,” “1999” and “Little Red Corvette,” he never seemed to stand still, constantly moving with the music and bouncing between guitar and synthesizers.

For this portion of the set, it was requested that no one take photos or video, with anyone who violated this rule kindly asked by ushers to stop. The emphasis was to keep to audience focused on the live aspect music instead of trying to capture the performance on video. While other artists try to implement this policy and it seems kind of useless–Jack White comes to mind–Prince kept the energy in the room constantly in motion, so much so that you couldn’t take your eyes away from the living legend for second to sneak a pic or send a Snapchat. After all, it’s not every day that you get to see one of pop/rock’s most revered and reclusive musicians in such an intimate venue.

The Louisville stop is the latest in a long line of unconventional gigs for Prince, it was the first of several expected intimate shows across the U.S. that will be announced less than a week ahead of time. The “Hit-and-Run” tour is a continuation of a string intimate European dates he and his new backing band 3rdEyeGirl last year. Aside from those shows, Prince’s only appearance has been on Saturday Night Live last fall.

This is an interesting concept for a performer at the caliber of Prince to take on, as he could easily sell out stadiums and arenas across the globe. But it’s plain to see that a crowd of 10,000+ isn’t what he wants. It’s clear to see that he wants his fans to focus on the music, and he feels there’s no better way to do that than giving them an intimate, off-the-cuff experience that only he can provide.

If you’re dying to see a larger-than-life Prince show anytime soon, you’ll just have to enjoy his 2007 Super Bowl Half-time performance. It may just be the last time you see “The Artist” on such a grand scale:
http://www.veoh.com/swf/webplayer/WebPlayer.swf?version=AFrontend.5.7.0.1493&permalinkId=v6330047nSFChkNw&player=videodetailsembedded&videoAutoPlay=0&id=anonymous
Watch prince superbowl halftime.divx in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

FDRMX ranks the top 10 most overrated bands (3/19)

I came across FDRMX and upon reading several articles, I came across a multitude of different things that I didn’t like about their content, but this article irritated me the most.

It’s premise is the top ten “most overrated bands.” First off all, I don’t agree with smaller publications and/or less-seasoned writers ranking things like this. Rolling Stone can pool experts to rank the greatest guitarists of all time, but I sure couldn’t. I don’t have the encompassing knowledge. Same goes for things like this. How am I supposed to take this one guy’s opinion on the most overrated bands of all time as credible?

However, he could have taken two approaches to this article that Could have made it passable:

1. He could have billed it as his top 10, not THE top ten.

2. He could have cited research such as, critical ratings or literally anything factual. He pretty much says, “yeah, these bands suck.” But doesn’t really explain why. When he does somewhat explain his reasoning, he doesn’t back it up with any examples.

VICE Goes to an Ecstasy Party in Dublin (3/17)

Last week, Ecstasy and several other drugs were legal in Ireland for 48 hours due to a legal loophole, so of course VICE had a reporter go to Dublin for a legal drug party. It’s an interesting piece that really puts you in the scene.

VICE asks an expert about “The Dress” (3/3/15)

VICE weighed in on “the dress” optical illusion that took the internet by storm over Thursday. They ask a color expert why different people see different colors, and he answers with a wonderful “I don’t know” and attempts to sort it out. It was a nice approach to a silly story that every media outlet was covering.

Oprah Winfrey announces presidential exploratory committee

The following article is a fictional report for a college journalism course.

Oprah Winfrey announced Thursday that she is considering a run for the presidency in 2016.

“Yes, it’s true: I’m pleased to announce the launch of a presidential exploratory committee. More to come,” she tweeted on Thursday.

The “Living Our Best Lives” committee was created by Winfrey to gauge interest in a political run on the Democratic ticket in 2016. The committee’s website is currently collecting email addresses but is not accepting donations.

Since ending her self-titled talk show in 2011, Winfrey has devoted most of her time to her television network, OWN, and starring in films such as Selma and The Butler.

However, she is no stranger to politics, as she was an avid supporter of Barrack Obama during his presidential campaigns, with studies showing that her endorsement lead to one million votes cast in his favor during the Democratic primaries.

Winfrey currently lives with long-time boyfriend Stedman Graham in Montecito, California.

NY Times vs Bill O’Reilly

Bill O’Reilly has come under fire for allegedly exaggerating claims during his early years as a reporter, much like Brian Williams. Now he’s actually threatened a New York Times reporter that originally made the claims.