Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For a lucky man, named Andy Fields, he turned five dollars into approximately 2 million. While searching at a garage sale in Las Vegas he came across a sketch done by Andy Warhol. At first he didn’t believe the seller who was saying that his aunt use to baby-sit Warhol as a child but when he took the sketch home and looked on the back he noticed the name. The sketch is of the famous 1930s singer Rudy Vallee.

This story emerged after another lucky person came across another gem in a thrift store. Somebody came across a Picasso print and bought it right away for a hefty $14 dollars. The print was numbered 6/100 and had the phrase “original print, signed proof.” That picture could reach up to $6,000 at auction. He plans on selling the painting contrary to Andy Fields who plans on keeping the picture. So the next time you are in the thrift store or at a garage sale, keep an eye out for “junk” out of the ordinary.
-Steve

The Hunger Games

    Hunger Games was released this past weekend, and it  opened to an incredible $155 million at the box office. This makes it the third highest opening weekend of all time, behind only "The Dark Knight" and "Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 2."

    I went to see The Hunger Games this past Friday, and I didn't know what to expect. The only reason why I even went was because my friends read the book, and they couldn't stop raving about it. I didn't even see a preview for the film, so I was hoping my friends were right. As it turned out, the film was very entertaining. For those who aren't familiar with the plot, the film is set in the future where a Capitol selects a boy and a girl from each of the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television. There is a total of 24 people fighting, but only one can be titled the winner of the hunger games.

    I would definitely recommend this film for anyone who is thinking about seeing it. It's very intense, and you're on the edge of your seat throughout the film. The only criticism I have for the film is that some of my friends who read the book were disappointed in how the book was portrayed in the film.

    Let us know if you saw The Hunger Games, and what you thought of it.


- Eric

   

21 Jump Street

I expected 21 Jump Street to be good, but it was even funnier than I thought it would be. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum were so great together. They both played roles they usually don't play. Tatum wasn't just the heart throb in your typical rom-com, and Hill wasn't, well, "Superbad". I found myself cracking up every second. It was definitely one of those stupid funny movies, but certainly a good laugh. The plot wasn't all that terrible either. Two cops, fresh out of the academy excited about their first, real, cop adventure. It was a parody about a lot of the pop culture today. Especially high school and what the new "cool" is. Watch it. If you need a good laugh you won't be disappointed. Unless you can't take stupid, raunchy humor. Then maybe you should watch something else. -Tab

The Titanic

The Titanic is one of the most famous ships that ever sailed the oceans. It began it's voyage on April 10th, 1912. The trip was supposed to go to New York from Southampton, England. This year will be the hundredth year anniversary of the wreck on April 14th when the ship crashed into a glacier. The Titanic now sits 12,500 feet under water. National Geographic has released never before seen images of the ship in their April 2012 edition of the magazine. The movie will be re-released in 3D format and will be in theatres on April 3rd.

The images are amazing. It is such a sad event but to see the ship after 100 years is astonishing. The starboard profile shows the front of the Titanic buried in the mud, which hides the wounds of the glacier, possibly forever. The stern shows trauma from when the ship corkscrewed to the bottom. The pictures make you feel as if you were there that day and can feel the agony everyone else felt. The article can be found here.
-Steve

Summer Movies

    Summer movies are right around the corner, and although the beginning of 2012 hasn't had the greatest movies, there are several films coming out this summer that look awesome. Some of these films include: The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, Brave, and Men in Black III.

    The Dark Knight Rises, which will probably be the highest grossing film of 2012, is the follow up film to The Dark Knight. This film takes place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, and Batman returns to Gotham to stop the villain Bane's plan of destroying the city.

   Prometheus, which is coming out June 8, 2012, is another interesting film about a team of explorers that discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth. The film stars Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, and Michael Fassbender.

    Brave, which is the film I'm most excited for this summer, is the first Pixar film starring a female protagonist. It's also Pixar's first fairy tale movie, and it should be interesting to see how this film compares to other Pixar movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc.

    It's been 10 years, but Men in Black is back! In this film, Agent J travels back in time to the 1960's to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K, and changing history. It should be fun to see Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones back in their old roles.

    These are just some of the many great films coming out this summer. Are there any films you cant wait to see? Let us know!


Eric

   

                          

I have a really exciting article that I wanted to share with anyone who's reading. The title really caught my eye; Lil Wayne Told to Cut the Grass at His Mansion. For real? Why is this entertainment news? The four paragraph long article made the MSN website. Apparently someone thought this was really important.

"The Times-Picayune reports the rapper was cited for high grass and weeds at his 10,000-square-foot mansion in a gated subdivision in Kenner, La., a suburb of New Orleans." Oh, wow. That's great. We have become so obsessed with celebrities that even cutting the grass has become a thrill. Someone left a comment saying, "This is a guy people idol what a loser..." I'm not saying he's not talented, but getting a ticket for not mowing your lawn is nothing to be celebrated.

Attached is the link to the intriguing article:

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=711819&affid=100055

-Taby

Twisted Metal PS3





     Twisted Metal for PlayStation 3 came out on February 14th. To most people this is a day to spend with that special person, but I spent it with my video game. I have been playing for almost a month now and am ranked 521 on the online multi player standings. The top 500 people have their PSN names posted online on the Twisted Metal website and my name will be there tonight. Unless Europe screws things up for me! The game was released in Europe a week ago which means more people to defeat. Before the game was released in Europe there was at least 25,000 people on the online multi player game, now only God knows how many people are on.

     I highly recommend this game to all people who love online car battles with 15 of your friends or people you meet online. I personally met some guy online from Florida and play with him and his brother almost every night, we are in a clan together and wreck our competition. There are 15 different cars to choose from/unlock online and multiple weapons and specials. People can choose from a number of different maps and choose the size of the map. There are many options in this game which keeps it fresh. Check it out at twistedmetal.com

 *Caution* The game gets addicting.

 -Steve

Netflix

   For those who aren't familiar with Netflix...It's pretty much the greatest thing ever. For only 8 bucks a month, you can watch as many movies and TV shows as you like. The only catch is that you have to choose between watching instantly, or receiving your movies and TV shows by mail (each plan is $7.99 each). You can also choose to have both plans, but it will cost you $15.99 a month. For those who want to set up a Netflix account, but aren't sure what plan to sign up for, I recommend choosing the plan that allows you to watch your programs instantly. The reason I think this plan is better is because Netflix has a ton of great programs to watch instantly, and you don't have to wait 2-3 days to watch a movie like you would if you chose the other plan.

    Although there are many great movies and documentaries that are available to watch instantly on Netflix, I spend the majority of my time watching TV shows. Some of the greatest shows I've watched on Netflix include:


                         TOP 5 DRAMAS                                  TOP 5 COMEDIES                              

                       1.) Breaking Bad                                         1.) Arrested Development
                       2.) Dexter                                                    2.) The Office
                       3.) Lost                                                        3.) How I Met Your Mother
                       4.) Friday Night Lights                                4.) Family Guy
                       5.) Mad Men                                                5.) Parks and Recreation


    Are you a Netflix owner? If so, let us know some of your favorite TV shows that you watched on Netflix!


Eric

 

Chick Flick

Being the only female blogger you had to expect the obvious. Yes, a chick flick blog. Just hear me out. Last month I went to the movies with a few girl friends to see Channing Tatum's latest movie, "The Vow". Let's be honest, most females are over chick flicks, themselves, but one does not miss the opportunity to see Channing on the big screen (first name basis, yea it's like that). So, we spent the ridiculous 12 some-odd dollars, but we didn't feel so guilty at the time because, as I mentioned before, we are loyal to our man.

We settled in our chairs with our extra large, buttered popcorn, watermelon sour-patch kids, and pepsi, to begin imaginig ourselves as Rachel McAdams (you did it too, don't judge). This is where the guilt of spending money on a movie ticket kicked in. We were not so impressed. Basically, what I'm saying is, Channing, you disappointed us. Big time.

Before I even really begin to state my negative Nancy opinion, am I the only one who realized Tatum's messed up teeth? What. In. The. World!

But, seriously, I didn't love the movie, and I thought I would. It was pretty cool in the way it played out- how the story came together, and that's pretty much all I can say about that, because I don't want to give too much away. But, I think most people are just waiting for the fairy tale ending, and this movie was a lot more realistic in its plot. Is that why I hated it? We watch movies like "The Vow" because we usually expect the typical "Bollywood" plot. Boy falls in love with girl. Something bad happens. Drama, drama, drama. Somehow they end up together--fate *cue angels' voices*. The end. Everyone's happy. But the truth is, unfortunate things happen and people don't just bounce back. But, that's life, and when we watch movies we are trying to get away from life! So, what the heck, Tatum! Stop. Just stop.

No hard feelings though. He's still a work of art. And I'm not talking about his mad acting skills, if you know what I mean.

-Ta ta

WrestleMania 28

More fuel was added to the fire, this week on Monday Night Raw, to one of the most anticipated sports entertainment events of all time, WrestleMania 28. Shawn Michaels was added as the special guest referee for the Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and HHH. This match is expected to be epic; the Undertaker has not lost at WrestleMania for 19 straight matches and plans on keeping his streak alive. HHH is determined to not only break the streak but end the Undertakers career. Adding Shawn Michaels to the match makes it crazier because Shawn and HHH are best friends and Shawn tried to beat the Undertaker twice at WrestleMania and couldn’t do it. Lately Shawn and HHH have been arguing who is better, so there are many possibilities to the way this match can end. What will Shawn Michaels do? These three guys have had history together for over ten years and the whole WWE Universe is excitedly waiting for their encounter on April 1st.

Put that together with the main event, a rivalry that started seven years ago, which finally came together at last year’s WrestleMania, with interference by the Rock and you have a great Pay-Per View. John Cena and the Rock have hated each other for years now and when their match was announced last year that they would fight at this year’s WrestleMania, it made history. There has never been a match announced a year before an event and to the surprise of all the critics they kept the rivalry hot all year. Last Monday these two met in the ring with a war of words which a lot of people say John Cena got the best of, maybe because they were in his hometown. But words don’t matter when it comes to wrestling; The Rock is 6'4", 260 pounds and really hates John Cena. When they meet in the ring April 1st it is going to be a great day for all wrestling fans around the world.
-Steve

The Celebrity Apprentice

    The third episode of The Celebrity Apprentice aired last night on NBC. This is a great show because it reminds me of which celebrities haven't died yet. In all seriousness though, I love this show. It's especially great for students majoring in professional communications because you learn about several aspects relating to your major including marketing, oral presentations, sales, web design, and promoting with the use of electronic media. Although the celebrities are B-List at best, it's better than watching some of these other train wreck reality stars like Snooki and Kim Kardashian, who are famous for nothing. Plus, the celebrities on The Apprentice are competing to raise money for a charity of their choice...so it's for a good cause.

    [SPOLIER ALERT: Don't read beyond this point if you don't want to know who got voted off on Sunday.] On last nights episode, the men and women competed in a task that involved advertising Ivanka Trump's fashion line. They were each given two window displays to advertise the clothing. The men were at a disadvantage because none of them had fashion experience, and this resulted in a win for the women. This was the first victory for the women's team this season. George Takei, the project manager for the assignemnt, was fired. This was the best decision because George never really had full control of the task. My favorite player this season is Penn Jillette..He's my early pick to win. If you're interested, the next episode of The Celebrity Apprentice airs next Sunday at 9:00pm on NBC.


Eric