Dodson for Halloween

An underground hit this Halloween was dressing up as YouTube sensation Antoine Dodson. On July 28th 2010, in a Lincoln Park housing project, a man entered Antoine's sister’s room from the upstairs window. The man tried to assault Antoine's sister, but was scared off when he came in to intervene. After the events the local news channel did a report on the event. Antoine was very frantic on the camera and said such quotes as "hide your kids, hide your wife, cause they raping everybody out here". The video was then uploaded to YouTube were it went viral. Soon it became so popular that t-shirts and Antoine Dodson items became available, and he became an Internet celebrity. Antoine's interview has also been auto-tuned and made into a very popular song available on iTunes. He also received the opportunity to perform his song, the “bed intruder song”, live at the 2010 BET hip-hop awards.

This Halloween many patrons dawned red bandanas and black muscle shirts to mimic the garb that Antoine wore on that fateful day in July. This just goes to show the influence that YouTube and the Internet community can have on society. Considering that one man was shot up to celebrity status in a matter of months. It seems that Andy Warhol was right when he said that in the future everyone would have his or her 15 minutes of fame.

Social Media and Remembrance day

Social media websites such as Facebook and Youtube are now taking a role in remembrance day. To honour the veterans it is important to have today's youth involved and understand the sacrifices of the veterans. One artistic websites such and Flickr and Youtube videos and pictures are being uploaded showing historic scenes of Canadian service men and women. On social websites such as Facebook and Twitter people have updates their statuses to say things such as "remember". Many of these events are initiatives from users and not administration in order to honour the fallen. A United Kingdom music company released a two minute long Mp3 which is titled "2 minutes of silence", and is exactly that. The proceeds from this will go to veteran foundations in the United Kingdoms.

This is a very new and unique way of honouring the veterans, and it is a sign of the good that social media can do. Since the popularity of social media sites has gained over the last few years; many charity and awareness events has taken place. Some of these include the "bra colour to support breast cancer status" and "where your purse is to support breast cancer status". Now remembrance day has been added to the list of social causes that sites support. This will help raise awareness and honour the veterans.

Kanye West's Runaway

Recently I came across the youtube video for Kanye West's short movie named "Runaway". The video runs for 35 minutes and features some very creative elements and references to today's culture. Kanye West is very unique individual; however, due to his attitude and actions people see him as a villain. As any artist should he creates his own controversy; maybe just because he can. Mr. West's attitude may be seen as terrible by some but the way he doesn't care for anyone's opinion is a good thing. It is important not to take it too far, as Kanye may have, but some people’s opinions will only drag you down if you dwell on them too much.

Kanye West is doing what no other rapper is doing. He has decided to add different art styles to his music, as can be seen in his short movie. Kanye has been known to go out of the regular mindset of rap artists. This is probably because he believes he is above almost all other musicians.

Kanye's hints and references to today's culture in his movie is a good marketing move, as it attracts a different kind of audience. Kanye West's already large fan base is use to his changing style so they would not be repelled by the change. I look forward to seeing how people comment on Kanye West's new movie, and if they enjoy his progressive style or if they judge him by his actions.

Deadmau5 at the K-Rock centre

Deadmau5 is a electronic musical act who has played for audiences around the world.  Joel Thomas Zimmerman, or Deadmau5 as he is better known, often refers to his music as "without a genre". He tends to stay away from mainstream techno music, and likes to create his own style. With this style of music it is important to be original. Beats from different artists tend to sound the same because of the electronic style today's popular music is leading towards. His most popular songs would be "ghost n' stuff" and "the longest road" which got him a grammy nomination in 2009.

Deadmau5 recently decided to play a show at the K-Rock centre. I believe that this is a step forward for the Kingston music scene. Kingston has a good amount of rock acts and other classical styles, but has for a long while lacked any kind of progressive or house acts. To make things even better Deadmau5 was rated #4 Dj on a top 100 Dj poll by Dj magazine. To have such a good electronic act come to Kingston considering Kingston has little background with this style of music is impressive. Hopefully this will be a trend for future acts at the K-Rock centre.