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#17961 The Sunset Strip » The 10 Greatest Horror Films of all time elimination- Nominations » 923 weeks ago
- James
- Replies: 12
List your ten to fifteen best horror films, and the ten with the most nominations will make it to the elimination.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre-original
The Burning
Black Christmas
Friday the 13th part II
Nightmare on Elm Street
Hellraiser
Halloween IV
The Shining(I consider this drama, but I'll add it)
Amityville II
Pet Semetary
Saw
Aliens
The Thing
#17962 Re: The Garden » Maine middle school to offer birth control » 923 weeks ago
This country is going to see a huge spike in cases of AIDS and herpes. Not just in teens, but in the older men who screw the teens.
one in every five teens in this country already has herpes. Are they aiming for three out of five?
#17963 Re: The Sunset Strip » Daily Hot Celebrity Piece of Ass Pic of the Day Thread » 923 weeks ago
Not her best pic, but quite possibly the most beautiful women to ever walk the planet.
Halle Berry
#17964 The Garden » Top 10 Running backs of all time elimination- Nominations » 923 weeks ago
- James
- Replies: 11
Nominate who you think is the best, and those with the most nominations will make it to the elimination.
Thurman Thomas
Walter Payton
Emmit Smith
Bo Jackson
Eric Dickerson
Jerome Bettis
Barry Sanders
Jim Brown
Roger Craig
Terrell Davis
#17965 The Garden » 10 Strangest Things in Space » 923 weeks ago
- James
- Replies: 3
Quasars
These bright beacons shine to us from the edges of the visible universe and are reminders to scientists of our universe's chaotic infancy. Quasars release more energy than hundreds of galaxies combined. The general consensus is that they are monstrous black holes in the hearts of distant galaxies.
Vacuum Energy
Quantum physics tells us that contrary to appearances, empty space is a bubbling brew of "virtual" subatomic particles that are constantly being created and destroyed. The fleeting particles endow every cubic centimeter of space with a certain energy that, according to general relativity, produces an anti-gravitational force that pushes space apart. Nobody knows what's really causing the accelerated expansion of the universe, however.
Anti-Matter
Like Superman's alter-ego, Bizzaro, the particles making up normal matter also have opposite versions of themselves. An electron has a negative charge, for example, but its anti-matter equivalent, the positron, is positive. Matter and anti-matter annihilate each other when they collide and their mass is converted into pure energy by Einstein's equation E=mc2. Some futuristic spacecraft designs incorporate anti-matter engines.
Mini Black Holes
If a radical new "braneworld" theory of gravity is correct, then scattered throughout our solar system are thousands of tiny black holes, each about the size of an atomic nucleus. Unlike their larger brethren, these mini-black holes are primordial leftovers from the Big Bang and affect space-time differently because of their close association with a fifth dimension.
Cosmic Microwave Background
Also known as the CMB, this radiation is a primordial leftover from the Big Bang that birthed the universe. It was first detected during the 1960s as a radio noise that seemed to emanate from everywhere in space. The CMB is regarded as one of the best pieces of evidence for the theoretical Big Bang. Recent precise measurements by the WMAP project place the CMB temperature at -455 degrees Fahrenheit (-270 Celsius).
Dark Matter
Scientists think it makes up the bulk of matter in the universe, but it can neither be seen nor detected directly using current technologies. Candidates range from light-weight neutrinos to invisible black holes. Some scientists question whether dark matter is even real, and suggest that the mysteries it was conjured to solve could be explained by a better understanding of gravity.
Exoplanets
Until about the early 1990s, the only known planets in the universe were the familiar ones in our solar system. Astronomers have since identified more than 190 extrasolar planets (as of June 2006). They range from gargantuan gas worlds whose masses are just shy of being stars to small, rocky ones orbiting dim, red dwarfs. Searches for a second Earth, however, have so far turned up empty. Astronomers generally believe that better technology is likely to eventually reveal several worlds similar to our own.
Gravity Waves
Gravity waves are distortions in the fabric of space-time predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. The waves travel at the speed of light, but they are so weak that scientists expect to detect only those created during colossal cosmic events, such as black hole mergers. LIGO and LISA are two detectors designed to spot the elusive waves.
Galactic cannibalism
Like life on Earth, galaxies can "eat" each other and evolve over time. The Milky Way's neighbor, Andromeda, is currently dining on one of its satellites. More than a dozen star clusters are scattered throughout Andromeda, the cosmic remains of past meals. Andromeda and our galaxy will eventually collide, an event that will take place in about 3 billion years.
Neutrinos
Neutrinos are electrically neutral, virtually mass-less elementary particles that can pass through miles of lead unhindered. Some are passing through your body as you read this. These "phantom" particles are produced in the inner fires of burning, healthy stars as well as in the supernova explosions of dying stars. Detectors are being embedded underground, beneath the sea, or into a large chunk of ice as part of IceCube, a neutrino-detecting project.
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I'm shocked that Gamma Ray Bursts didn't make this list.
#17966 Re: The Garden » What are you eating? » 923 weeks ago
Two pork chops, spinach, brown rice with parmesan cheese, and garlic toast.
#17967 Re: The Sunset Strip » Spice Girls’ CD to be sold at Victoria’s Secret » 923 weeks ago
In the pre-downloading era, this would have been a great marketing strategy. Doing it now is just plain stupid. You cant have your album be exclusive to one outlet months before the rest of the world gets it. All it does is mean it hits the p2p sites immediately, and by the time January rolls around everyone who wanted it will already have it, for free.
I'm not waiting until January, and I'm not going to Victoria's Secret either. I'll just download the new tracks.
I might go to that San Jose show. Haven't decided yet.
#17968 The Sunset Strip » Spice Girls’ CD to be sold at Victoria’s Secret » 923 weeks ago
- James
- Replies: 2
NEW YORK - Wanna be the first to score a copy of the Spice Girls greatest-hits album? You'll have to go through Victoria's Secret to get it.
The newly reunited British girl group's CD will be available starting Nov. 13 at Victoria's Secret stores and on the company's Web site in the U.S., Capitol Music Group said Tuesday.
The "Spice Girls: Greatest Hits" features 13 hits, including "Wannabe" and "Spice up Your Life," and two new songs, "Voodoo" and the upcoming single, "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)."
Capitol said the disc will be available nationwide Jan. 15.
The original Girl Power group of the 1990s will also appear at the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show, set to air Dec. 4 on CBS.
The Spice Girls were one of the biggest acts of the '90s with more than 55 million records sold. The quintet, who broke up in 2001, announced they had reunited at a press conference in London in late June.
Their reunion tour opens Dec. 2 in Vancouver, Canada. Other confirmed dates: San Jose, Calif., Dec. 4; Los Angeles, Dec. 5 and Dec. 7; and Las Vegas, Dec. 8-9.
Other North American tour dates are being rearranged, Capitol Music said, due to the high demand for tickets.
The shows will be the first with all five of the original group since Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998.
Their last album, "Forever," released in 2000 and without Halliwell, fared poorly.
Other members of the Spice Girls are Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm, Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton and Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press
#17969 Re: The Sunset Strip » Huge hits don’t spell success for new rap stars » 923 weeks ago
I now completely understand why M.I.A. is having so much trouble achieving mainstream success. The music is too complex for the simple minded bots of the world.
At least some people in the industry are starting to truly realize there is a problem with the current music scene.
#17970 The Sunset Strip » Huge hits don’t spell success for new rap stars » 923 weeks ago
- James
- Replies: 1
NEW YORK - Despite a double-digit sales slump and mounting public criticism, rap has not lost its ability to create monster hits '” but the fresh-faced artists who make them seem to disappear by the time the next smash registers on the charts.
From Soulja Boy, whose 'Crank Dat' has topped the pop charts for the past six weeks, to Mims and his No. 1 'This is Why I'm Hot' from earlier this year, a new generation of rap stars are sustaining the genre with huge party jams that take over the radio, Internet and especially cellular ringtones.
For the most part, however, what these artists haven't been able to sustain is their own success.
'They're not making substance material '” they're not really going into creating a sound,' complains the rap veteran Snoop Dogg.
'It's all about making the hot song for right now, but the artists who will stand the test of time like myself are about making records, not songs,' he added. 'You got to make a quality album so you can hold people's attention. It's like a movie. If you make a movie that got (only) one good scene, ain't nobody gonna go see it.'
Acts like Dem Franchize Boyz, a group on Virgin Records (a division of EMI Group PLC), have definitely caught America's attention '” 'Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It' was the party jam du jour last year '” but they aren't on the charts today. And they're not the only ones.
Young Dro, on Warner Music Group Corp.'s Atlantic Records, had everyone doing the 'Shoulder Lean' last fall, and his ringtone sold more than two million copies. He hasn't had a top 10 hit since. And while Rich Boy's 'Throw Some D's' was so potent even Kanye West did a remix, the Interscope artist has been pretty much M.I.A. on the charts since then. The ringtone went platinum, but Rich Boy's debut album has sold only 354,000 copies.
Lack of development
Not that record labels necessarily have a problem with all that, especially when those artists are racking up huge ringtone sales '” most of which sell for about $1.99 for a snippet of a song, compared to 99 cents for a whole song on iTunes.
'That's just a business mind-set for the record companies ... instead of artist development, they're looking for that,' says Jermaine Dupri, president of urban music at Island Records. 'It makes the record companies not want to artist-develop the groups anymore because that's what they're into '” they want to try and sell as many ringtones as possible.'
Mims, another Virgin Records act, was huge on the ringtone market and the pop charts, with 'This is Why I'm Hot.' The slick street anthem shot to No. 1 and was a platinum ringtone. But the album only sold 290,000 copies and Mims has yet to have another hit '” which one veteran act finds troubling.
'He doesn't have another one? At least one more?' 50 Cent said in a recent interview, blaming it on the lack of artist development on the record label's part. 'And then you're surprised that people don't want to spend their money on CDs anymore?'
'In today's music business, (fans) buy singles of songs that they like but they buy albums of stars that they love,' says 'Big' Jon Platt, a top executive at EMI Music Publishing. 'There would be a time back in the day where you would know everything about an artist. Today you don't know what half of these artists look like.'
But it's not only record labels who are looking for ringtone raps to boost their coffers. Some in the industry blame rappers who are increasingly whipping together simplistic, catchy songs aimed at the ringtone market.
'About one or two weeks ago, one of the saddest things happened to me, when (an artist) played me a record and said, 'This would make a hot ringtone,'' said Platt, president of west coast creative at EMI.
'Right now the state of where we are at in hip-hop, it's different,' 50 Cent says. 'I don't think they want the lyrics to be complex '” they want it to be simple, catchy. The Southern-based artist can be credited (with) that, because they're dancing, so now your record has to pretty much be catchy. It doesn't have to be super content, extreme content. It has to have a good rhythm to it and dance.'
Seventeen-year-old Soulja Boy says that's what people want to hear these days.
'People don't want to go to a club and hear (about) people getting shot or hear about your life story,' he says. 'People want to ... have fun and dance and party.'
Playing the game
Still, Soulja Boy, on Interscope Records (a division of Universal Music Group), knows about the pitfalls of some of his predecessors, and is hoping not to fall into their lot. Already, he's got a song 'Soulja Girl' rising on the charts.
'When I did my album, I went into the studio (thinking), 'I gotta have each song on here where it will be good as a single,'' he says. 'I believe I came out with an album full of singles, so I'm good.'
Though Dupri admits that there have been times when he's signed an 'ringtone act' (Dem Franchize Boyz were his group when he was president of urban music at Virgin), he says there needs to be a balance between acts signed simply for ringtone success and long-term prospects.
'You have to try and play both sides of the game,' he says.
But for all the concern about what the future holds if the industry focuses on ringtone rap stars, Platt sees an even more worrisome aspect of their success.
'If it wasn't for these singles blowing up, and some of the digital downloads and the ringtones, it's kind of scary of where the business would be at this point,' he says, noting the rap genre's 21 percent sales dive in 2006. 'It's a Catch 22. It's not selling albums, but it is helping drive the genre further because there's been no big (new) artist to carry it.'
© 2007 The Associated Press