Morgan Freeman

The man with the iconic voice. You know who I’m talking about. That deep voiced narrator in the Disney documentaries.The man who’s starred in more than 90 movies and TV shows in the last 50 years. Morgan Freeman. One of the greatest actors that I know of. Morgan Freeman first started acting in 1971 and he is still active today. Morgan Freeman is 77 years old now. It impresses me that he’s still making movies at such an old age. Besides his appearance you wouldn't be able to tell his age at all. The way he acts on and off the screen is something that I really admire. Morgan Freeman has played such a wide variety of roles in movies and TV shows his career making him one of the most respected and well known actors of our generation. A few of my favorite roles that he’s played in past movies are God in Bruce Almighty, Carter in The Bucket List, Nelson Mandela in Invictus and Thaddeus Bradley in Now You See Me. His diversity in roles is what makes Morgan Freeman such a great actor. He adds a special touch to his roles that nobody else could. Aside from acting, Morgan Freeman is extremely well known for his wise and calm character. Morgan Freeman thinks the answer to racism is to stop talking about it. He takes Black History Month as a grain of salt. He doesn’t think Black History Month should be an event because “Black History is American history" and “there is no ‘White History month’”. Morgan Freeman was and advocate for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, but never joined the campaign. He has also appeared along Bill Clinton in the past. Morgan Freeman is also known for his involvement with charity work and donations. Morgan Freeman is a pretty cool guy and I’m a big fan of his work and I’ll definitely be sad the day he stops making movies and working. (334)

Neflix Takes Over

Over the past few years, more and more video stores have been closing and more online streaming has become more popular among people. Online video streaming such as Netflix and Hulu have taken over the industry. Netflix's popularity has soared over the past couple of years. Almost everbody I know has a Neftlix account an if they don't, then they wish they had one. Netflix is so popular because it's convenient and there is no driving the the movie store to rent movies. Netflix has a giant variety of TV shows and even a children's section. There is really something on Netflix that everyone can enjoy. Grandparents (such as mine) can enjoy old war documentaries, kids can watch cartoons, Mom's and teenage girls can watch cheesy romantic comedies and us guys can watch the funny movies such as "Super Bad" (great movie if you haven't seen it) Netflix is growing rapidly and is changing the whole entertainment industry. Block Buster went bankrupt a few years back and now Family Video is soon to be tanking. People just aren't interested in renting movies like they used to. It's too much work to remember to drive back and return your rentals if you can stream the exact movie instantly online. Movie stores and rental kiosks are irrelevant to today's society. People like fast and instant results. Netflix is even impacting cable providers. Several people I know are even getting rid of cable and just keep a Netflix account as their main source of streaming. It's a good way to save money because it's easily affordable. Netflix can also be streamed almost anywhere in the world. In airports, long car rides, cruise ships, anywhere that wifi or data can connect to. Netflix is making it's mark on the today's technology because of it's popularity and major impact on the entertainment industry. Netflix is constantly releasing new movies and shows including several this month such as New Girl and School Of Rock. The only downside to Netflix is that they sign contracts with companies to only feature their movie or show for a short length of time, so when that time is up, the movie is no longer on Netflix. This has happened to an old childhood favorite, the TV show Drake and Josh and a few other shows in the past. Netflix is a great invention and will hopefully continue to evolve into something even better in the future. (406)

NFL Getting Out OF Hand: Part 2

As I previously said in my last post, the NFL has been getting a lot of attention from the media, Ray Rice being the most heard of recently. This week another well known player had gotten him into some trouble. Also still dealing with the topic of abuse, apparently running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings has been accused of child abuse. He apparently whipped his 4 year old son until he was bleeding. Statements are being made by fans saying "It's a cultural thing" or "It's how he was raised". Similarly to Ray Rice's case, child abuse is still not okay. This was no simple spanking. Adrian Peterson whipped his own child 10-15 times leaving blood and cuts. The worst part about this case is that Adrian Peterson isn't even sorry for his actions. He doesn't think that he is in the wrong. Since when is legit child abuse the way to discipline a child? Even if Adrian Peterson was spanked as child by his parents as a form of punishment, it clearly does not mean that you need to parent and discipline your kid the exact same way. Adrian Peterson said this: "To be honest with you, I feel very confident with my actions because I know my intent." What was his intent exactly? To do harm to your child? Adrian Peterson seems to be getting a lot more sympathy than Ray Rice due to his large fan base and other attention from the media earlier in the year but I think both of them need to be put in their place. Being a celebrity doesn't give you the right to act out and get away with a slap on the wrist. It's sick and the NFL only seems to care if it hurts their marketing or fan base. Since the Adrian Peterson incident, all endorsment deals with affilates have been called off. Nike even took action. This is a step in the right direction. I find it ironic that Nike is against child abuse when everybody knows that they have little kids in sweat shops somewhere in the world making their clothes. The NFL has had an extremely bad past few weeks, and maybe they can move forward and take the right approach for their players' actions and try to pick up the pieces again. In the future, I hope the NFL can be represented with men who are role models for the little kids who wear their jerseys. (412)

NFL Getting Out Of Hand?

Recently the NFL has been getting a lot of attention and negative publicity this week. It has been said to be "The worst week of NFL history". I can agree with that for many reasons. First one being what we've all been hearing about in the news lately dealing with the Raven's player Ray Rice. For those who are still unaware of the story, a security tape of footage from an elevator in a hotel that Ray Rice and his then fiancee were stay at was released. On this tape Ray Rice was seen assaulting and hitting his fiancee unconscious and then dragging her out, feet first, of the elevator. The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodall has claimed that he had not seen the full video of the entire assault prior to TMZ's release of the security footage. At that point, Ray Rice had only been faced with a minor punishment. When the full tape was released to the public, millions of people had a lot to say about the footage and the NFL took further action to 'indefinitley' suspend Ray Rice. Rice and his wife have since then made several statements speaking out against the criticism of the entirety of the nation saying that we need to "respect their privacy" and that his wife will "Stand behind him because I love him". To me, this is wrong on so many different levels. It's not okay to beat a woman let alone stay with your abuser. What Ray Rice did was wrong and I feel that he is not being punished nearly enough for his actions. He deserves the criticism and hate for what he did. Knocking your wife out and dragging her out of an elevator like she's luggage is never okay to do to anybody and Ray Rice shouldn't be let off the hook easily just because he's in the NFL. What are your views on the NFL's actions? Do you really believe that Roger Goodall hadn't seen the video prior to it's release or do you believe he's had a copy of it this whole time? Did he just turn the other cheek to avoid the hot seat? More than 40 NFL players have been arrested this year alone. Is the NFL going in the wrong direction? In my next post I will share thoughts and opinons about Adrian Peterson and the attention from the media he has recieved this week. (402)

U2 Gives Out New Album Free on Itunes

Sometime last week the band U2 that many kids of my generation have probably never even heard of tried a very interesting marketing ploy. Rather than sell their music on iTunes at outrageous prices like most artists they gave away their new album for free. To some loyal apple users this was a very pleasant surprise, and to some people who had the album automatically synced to their device without knowing it was very frustrating. To be honest I didn't even know about the whole situation until sometime last week when I checked twitter and saw multiple rage tweets from kids my age about the fact this unwelcomed music was now on their device. This sparks an interesting debate. Was it a smart idea for U2 to just give out a new album for absolutely no cost? On one side I could see why someone would say yes. Giving out an album for free on iTunes would allow people of all new ranges and demographics to hear their music and possibly enjoy it. Then in turn going and purchasing other U2 albums on Itunes. On the other side of the coin quite a few people that I personally know were quite upset about iTunes giving out the album for free. When they went to sinc their ipod or iphone the album automatically was synced onto their device giving them quite a bit of frustration as they struggled to delete it. Many people just want iTunes to stick to the basics, them find, listen to, and download the music that the owner of the device WANTS to listen to. Rather than have old fashioned monotonous music forced onto them. Whether it was a smart marketing ploy or not U2 has done it and now all we as apple users are forced to live with it.(305)

Jack Black

Jack Black, probably one of the most unfunny comedic actors Hollywood has ever seen and not to mention also a very bad musician. One of the few over weight actors that I don't find hilarious. For example, a younger Jonah Hill. Who has now lost a lot of weight which I give him respect for that but frankly isn't as funny now as he was back in his mens extra large days. The last movie I saw on him I believe was Year One which is a comedy that is supposed to be set back in the prehistoric days of Earth when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. In this movie he goes through his trials and tribulations along with attempting to bring a funny approach to it. Personally I found it very unfunny and rather monotonous as I tried not to fall asleep while watching it. School of Rock, a movie I watched for the last time probably around the sixth grade. This is a movie I actually enjoyed about a group of private school children who's teacher breaks their leg so Jack Black comes in to substitute teach for these kids. But, instead of teaching these kids their grammar, science, math, and reading he teaches them how to become rockers as they try and win the local battle of the bands. Winning the battle of the bands would eventually give Jack a big pay check to help him get out of debt from his nagging landlord who is also a former rocker. If I watched that at my age now I would probably find some of his stupid jokes very cheesy and not nearly as appealing as I saw it before. Now, the only thing possibly worse than his ridiculous movie making is his actually serious rock music that he so dearly loves making. HIs band name is Tenacious D which in my opinion, is bad enough in the first place. The only song I can stand listening to is the one that I've been playing on Guitar Hero the video game since I was a young kid. He's made lots of albums and songs that apparently people have actually enjoyed listening to, I guess it is just not my sort of thing. To be fair to him I am not a rock and roll fan myself, I personally enjoy more modern hip hop with a bit quicker beats that rappers quickly put rhymes to. (405)

Up and Coming Artist Skizzy Mars

For my first blog post of this school year I have decided to write about an up and coming artist who is very special to me because of the way I have seen him drastically grow in popularity. Miles Mills aka "Skizzy Mars" is an up and coming hip hop artist from Manhattan, New York City. I first heard about Skizzy Mars while at a basketball tournament two summers ago in Minneapolis and from the first song I heard I was hooked.  As soon as I got home I downloaded his first mixtape "Phases" and followed him on twitter.  The day I followed Skizzy he had a little over 5,000 followers and now that number has exploded to 59,100.
 I think what makes him different than all the other rappers that most kids listen to are definitely his lyrics.  He is probably the most relatable rapper I have ever come across. No matter what he is talking or rapping about he has a very strong opinion on it and won't change that for anyone, which I think is very admirable today as you see a lot of rappers saying one thing and then doing another. In a lot of his songs he is talking about real issues that young people are coming across whether that be with a friend or girlfriend or anything.  At the young age of 20 Skizzy Mars is already building a loyal fan base that stretches all the way from his home town in New York City that he is always mentioning in songs to kids in the Midwest where he is touring this next month. 
One strange thing about Skizzy is the fact that in the past two years I have listened to him while other artists have gone on countless tours making a lot of money and gaining countless fans Skizzy has refrained from going on tour.  Until earlier this month when Skizzy announced his latest plans to go on a 9 show tour over the Midwest one of these shows being on October 1st in Iowa City. When he announced his tour he tweeted "the goal was never to avoid the "mainstream" why not broaden your audience? our goal is to change what the mainstream is" to me this is a big reason why I like Skizzy Mars he doesn't just want to fit in, and he doesn't really get offended if people aren't a fan.  On October 2nd I will be sure to write a review over the concert. (417)