Christmas Music, Yay or Nay?

There seems to be a lot controversy over Christmas music being played in stores.  Some people love it while others cringe when they enter a store playing Christmas music.  Earlier this month the store Shoppers Drugmart announced that they were going to stop playing Christmas music in their stores for awhile.  Granted, they started playing Christmas music on November 1st.  After an onslaught of customer complaints, Shoppers finally removed the Christmas music from their stores and stated that it will return in late November.  Shoppers Drugmart stated that their customers opinions are important to them, which is why they stopped playing Chistmas music in early November.

Image by Thomas Sorenes (ThomasOfNorway) from Flickr

Of course when they removed the Christmas music there were a few people that didn't agree with this.  Some customers argued that it was too early for Christmas music and they didn't want to have to listen to it for two entire months.  The other side argued that it's a tradition for stores to play Christmas music and they were not happy when Shoppers stopped playing it.  However, Shoppers wasn't going to suspend Christmas music from their stores forever, just until the end of November.

There seems to be a constant feud between those who adore Christmas music and those who don't.  I feel like I hear more people complain about Christmas music in stores more than I hear about people embracing it.  Very few people are indifferent about this argument.  You either love it or you hate it.

Personally, I enjoy hearing Christmas music everywhere I go during this time of the year, but I have to agree that November 1st is a bit too early to be playing Christmas music.  Retail stores have been pushing holidays earlier and earlier it seems.  It's not rare to see a Christmas display up before Halloween has even passed.

Another factor to consider is that Christmas doesn't mean the same thing to everyone, which is where I believe this issue stems from. Some people want to enjoy the holidays while others just want to pass through them.  Either way, everyone is entitled to their opinion about Christmas music, since it seems to be such a touchy subject for some.  There are also those people who work in retail stores that have to listen to it for hours on end.  I can understand how that may become tedious.   

What's your opinion on Christmas music in stores?  Do you think that some stores start playing it too early or do you embrace it?

Celebrity Lawsuits

Image by Kate Gardiner from Flickr

Copyright laws are incredibly important to abide by.  People and companies constantly infringe on other people's work and their actions usually end up in a lawsuit.  Back in June the famous duo, The Black Keys, filed two lawsuits against Pizza Hut and Home Depot claiming that these companies used songs in their commercials that were very similar to their popular tunes.  Home Depot used a tune in their commercial that was very similar to The Black Keys' song "Lonely Boy" and Pizza Hut used a tune that sounded similar to the song "Gold On The Ceiling".  Naturally both companies denied that the tunes used in their commercials sounded similar to those of The Black Keys.

I wasn't able to track down the Home Depot commercial but you can watch the Pizza Hut commercial here.  

Just now have the lawsuits been settled between the band and the companies.  The Black Keys won the lawsuit but the exact details of the settlement were not released.

Image by Jessica Sarah S from Flickr

This lawsuit created some controversy over whether or not the tunes really did sound similar to the original Black Keys songs.  Some believe the tunes are not similar enough to create a lawsuit while others believe they are almost identical.

Whether or not the tunes are similar, some people were outraged over the fact that The Black Keys decided to even file a lawsuit.  They see them as being ridiculous, cheap and greedy.  Artists and celebrities already make millions, so why are they creating petty lawsuits for more money?      

I don't think this is an issue about money.  Artists want to protect their work.  They created their songs and they want to make sure that no one else is making a profit off of their work.  This is a very valid reason to sue companies over copyright infringements.  If there was no penalty for stealing other people's work then no one would truly get credit for what they created.  These artists work very hard to be in the position that they are in and they should be recognized for their hard work.

Even when artists allow companies to use their songs in commercials they are often seen as selling out.  So really, they can't win.

Currently there is no news as to whether or not The Black Keys will be donating any of their proceeds.  I think artists have the right to protect their work, but when it comes to the money they receive I think that they should donate it.  They issue these lawsuits so that other people can't steal there work and by donating their settlement money they are proving that point.  It shouldn't be about the money but instead it should be about protecting their intellectual property.     

Country star LeAnn Rimes is currently admits a lawsuit.  She claims that any money she receives from the lawsuit will go directly to the Trevor Project, which aids homosexual teens that are struggling with their sexuality.  This is the best approach that a celebrity can take when launching a lawsuit. 

It is important that intellectual property is protected, but the biggest issue with celebrity lawsuits is that they can come off as being greedy.  Artists have a right to protect their intellectual property but to avoid being greedy they should donate their proceeds to a worthy charity. 

What do you think about celebrity lawsuits?  Do you think that donating their settlement money to a charity is good enough?  Or do you think they shouldn't be issuing lawsuits at all?

What music streaming sites do you use?

Photo obtained from Flickr by Sean MacEntee

With the internet constantly expanding each day, there are many different ways you can stream/listen to your favorite music online. Sites such as Last.fm, GrooveShark, SoundCloud, and of course YouTube, gives us the convenience of listening to music without the need of downloading it.

I personally use SoundCloud. SoundCloud is mainly a social network for DJs to share their work with others. It allows you to connect with people who share similar tastes and genres of music and keeps you up to date with all the latest releases from many famous DJs. It also allows DJs to collaborate with other DJs to create crazy mash-ups and remixes. The great thing about SoundCloud that I like the most is that it also contains many sets from events that were played by famous DJs around the world. This allows me to enjoy their sets without the need of traveling, or if I missed a local event, I can easily just stream the set online.

Another site I like to use to stream music is GrooveShark. GrooveShark contains a huge database of music of any genre and allows you to search for the song you wish to listen to and create custom made playlists. You can create a free account where you can save those custom playlists so you don't have to re-create them every time you visit their site. They also have a premium account where you can download their mobile app for iPhone and Android devices so you can access your custom made playlists anytime you want. If you are running out of space to store music on your phone, this is a great alternative to listening to music from your phone without using a lot of space.

There are a lot more other sites that allow you to listen to music. So what sites do you use to listen to music?

Have you been on Rainymood lately?

Photo obtained from Flickr by eflon

 Have any of you guys heard of RainyMood? If not, you're probably wondering what it is then. Well, it's exactly you'd expect from reading the title. Rainy mood is a great relaxing website where you can listen to rain drops pouring. It tries to imitate a rainy day feeling where you just feel like sitting at home or lying on bed not wanting to do anything. This is a great site to go to if you feel stressed out from anything. We are finally on the final stretch of the semester and a lot of us are probably swamped with assignments and group projects due. Just go to this site for 5 minutes and listen to the sounds that rain makes and it'll calm you down so you can continue working.

RainyMood is now available on iPhone and Android devices too, so you bring the sounds of rain and thunder with you and play it whenever you want. I've never tried the mobile apps yet, but I'm sure it'll give you the same effects as their site.

If this is the first time you've heard of RainyMood, I highly recommend you go and check it out!

The Biebz is at it again

Photo obtained from Flickr by cukuskumir

There has been a lot of news lately in regards to Justin Bieber lately. So as well all know, the Grey Cup was held last Sunday where the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts. Justin Bieber, an Ontario native, performed during the half time show. This young artist was booed by crowd once he appeared on stage. It is apparent that a lot of football fans aren't fond of Justin Bieber's music and booed even more when Justin Bieber told the crowd to make some noise.

But it wasn't only the fans that didn't like Justin Bieber. Justin has also been harshly criticized by many critics about his appearance when receiving his Diamond Jubilee Medal award from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Justin took pictures shaking his hand with the Canadian Prime Minister in overalls. I don't know about you, but I'm with the critics on this one. For someone who is meeting and receiving a medal from the Canadian Prime Minister, you should have some respect by wearing something more formal. You would never wear overalls to a job interview because what you wear defines you personality and tells the company who are you. Justin Bieber wearing overalls meeting Stephen Harper just tells me that he is a kid and will always be a kid.

There has also been many articles backing Justin Bieber up by explaining why he wore overalls. According to Justin Bieber, he had an agreement with Stephen that Stephen would also be wearing his overalls during the ceremony. Considering that Stephen tweeted about the agreement after the ceremony had occurred and Stephen Harper was clearly not wearing overalls in any of the pictures, I highly doubt that there was such conversation.

So what do you think about this issue? Who's side are you on, Justin's or the critics along with the majority of people.

100th Grey Cup half time

I apologize for not doing a post in a long time (mainly because I'm a terrible procrastinator and never get around to doing anything). 6 days from now the Calgary Stampeders will be taking on the Toronto Argonauts in Toronto for the 100th grey cup, the 100th grey cup on its own makes me excited, but having my favorite team (the Stamps) and my dads favorite team (the Argos) will make for a good rowdy night. The one thing that surprised me was the line-up that has been decided for the halftime show, which includes Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, Marianas Trench, and Gordon Lightfoot. When I think of what sort of music would be played at the Grey cup I tend to think of country or rock music, not the line up they have planned for the 100th halftime show (excluding Gordon lightfoot, he fits the genre I had depicted). I first heard of the line up a couple weeks ago on a radio station (90.3 Amp radio i think) and I thought they were kidding when they delivered the news, so when  I went home i double checked the Internet to be certain, and sure enough there were numerous websites depicting the news. At first I thought that it wasn't the greatest lineup for the average viewer of football, they are all Canadian so that makes sense. I then read an article in Macleans where Mark Cohen, the CFL commissioner, was quoted saying “We have an all-star lineup that features the biggest pop star in the world, the woman who gave us one of the biggest songs ever, one of our country's hottest young bands, and an iconic balladeer". This made sense of the situation for me but I still don't quite believe in the music choice the was decided upon.

Stretching 101

Are you un-flexible? Do you wish you could be as bendy as some of your friends? Well in this blog post I am going to show you the "do's" and "don't's" of a few simple stretches that you can do at home! Some people have the perception that dancers are born flexible, which most of the time isn't the case. I do have a few dance friends who have just always been bendy, but for the rest of us, including myself, we have had to work really hard to get to the point of flexibility we are at now.

Lets start by looking at a simple stretch to open up your hips. I like to call this stretch the "Butterfly", but feel free to call it whatever you want. To start this stretch you have to sit on the floor and place the balls of your feet together. The goal here is to be able to get both knees touching the floor. Some people do find that this stretch can bother their knees, so make sure not to bounce you knees up and down in this stretch as it can create stress on your knees. You can use your elbows while grabbing onto your feet to help push your knees down on either side. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

The next stretch we will look at stretches your hamstrings. Most of us know how to do a lung, one foot in front of the other with our front leg bent at a 90 degree angle to the floor and back leg straight. Well, this stretch is very similar only we are going to get a deeper stretch into our hamstrings by placing our hands on the ground. Make sure to place one hand on either side of your front bent leg to ensure you have the proper balance to feel the full stretch. The lower you push your hips down towards the ground the greater the stretch you will feel. Make sure that your front leg stays bent at a 90 degree angle to the ground as if you push it any further forward you can cause great strain on your knees and later have knee problems. Ensure that your back leg also doesn't bend as it will have a tendency to the deeper you go into the stretch. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

The last stretch we will look at doesn't really have a name so lets just call it the centre stretch. The point of this stretch is to really stretch and open up your hips. While doing this stretch you should feel the stretch running all down the inside of your quads and even in your hamstrings. To start this stretch you have to sit on the ground with both your legs open to the side (one on each side). Try to open you legs as wide as you can until you really feel the stretch. Make sure that both of your legs are straight, no bent knees, and sit up nice and tall so you have a flat back. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

To get an even better stretch while in this position, you can try and get your stomach to the floor. The idea here is to maintain a flat back and straight legs while pushing your stomach towards the floor. Now do make sure that your hips don't try and rotate forward on you.You can create a lot of stress on your knees if you let your hips roll forward and try to hold it there, especially if you are less flexible. Even if you can't get your stomach to the floor yet, you can just walk your hands slowly forward until you hit a point where you can't go any further. 

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

Photo Taken By Caitlyn Tink

The biggest thing to remember when stretching is that it isn't about how far you can go, it's about making sure that you are getting something out of it. Injuries happen very often in dance, much like many other sports, where people try to push themselves way beyond their limits just to try and look good. Why cause injury for yourself? Over time after doing a series of stretches, you will find that your flexibility will get better you just have to work on it!