The Current State Of The Economy Effects The Entertainment Indus
Monday, March 9, 2009
Designer says doll play inspired Obama gown
Fashion designer Jason Wu tells where he got an idea for President Barack Obama's wife dress for the inauguration.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_en_ot/as_hong_kong_michelle_obama_s_designer;_ylt=A0wNcwTHI7VJdkAAoghPWrsF
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_en_ot/as_hong_kong_michelle_obama_s_designer;_ylt=A0wNcwTHI7VJdkAAoghPWrsF
Motown Slowdown: How is Detroit's economy affecting the city's music scene?
Ben Kaplan, National Post Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
More On This Story
Warner Bros. Music; Handout; Getty Images; JEFF HAYNES / AFP / Getty Images; handout; ReutersClockwise from top left: Eminem, The White Stripes, The Hard Lessons, Kid Rock, Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe and Aretha Franklin.
The auto industry crash is sending the Detroit music scene into a tailspin. According to Detroit-based musicians, it's not just the Big Three auto companies that need a bailout - musicians are also taking a hit.
"With thousands of job losses, who do you think is coming out to see shows?" says Brian Vander Ark, former lead singer of The Verve Pipe. "I watched the Senate hearings; these executives all want a golden parachute. It's difficult to get people to buy tickets now, and that has everything to do with the auto industry."
Detroit has a storied musical history, from Motown to Madonna, Bob Seger to The White Stripes, Derrick May to Eminem. But according to Lavell Williams, manager of the influential Detroit record store Record Time, city musicians are ailing, and there's no one in Washington asking for a US$25-billion lifeline for them.
"The automakers affect everything - it's plant city around here," says Williams, mentioning that Record Time had to close their second location in March. "It's not only people working at Ford, Chrysler and GM, but engineers, people who work in salons, in advertising - the only thing not affected is porn."
Fello Detroit musicians The Insane Clown Posse started their record label in 1991. The group is made up of shock-rappers Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler who wear bizarre face makeup, used to feud with Eminem and have sold 10 million records. They say Detroit's musical landscape is disappearing under their feet.
"When we came out, let's say it took three days to hit all the music stores in metro Detroit," says Bruce, known by his moniker Violent J. "Today, you could go to all the stores in half a day. There's nobody left."
There are currently nine local acts on the band's Psychopathic Records label. Bruce says nearly all of them have some connection to the auto industry.
"My step-dad worked for Chrysler, but Detroit is more than just those big companies; lots of the smaller auto companies packed up and left a while ago," he says. "Used to be those auto jobs were considered the best jobs to have. Now all those people are just like musicians - trying to hang on for dear life."
Of course, many musicians have already moved music sales to the web. Augie Visocchi is the lead singer of The Hard Lessons, a group many feel is Detroit's best local band. He sees a parallel between the music and auto industries.
"Everyone in my family works for either Ford or General Motors," Visocchi says. "They're not even holding their breath as much as prolonging the inevitable. The old mediums aren't working anymore. We're both working for dinosaurs."
The Hard Lessons recently released four EPs independently and toured in between release dates. Like Vander Ark, who has a "living rooms and lawn chairs" tour every summer - in which, for US$500, the singer who has sold three million records performs a custom-made setlist in your home - The Hard Lessons survive on the road.
"The music scene here has collapsed," Visocchi says. "Four or five years ago, GQ or some crazy magazine was doing a story about your local bar. Now you have to work a lot harder for it than just showing up."
Resiliency, though, seems to be a common thread linking Detroit's music scene. Dianna Frank is a former manager of St. Andrews Hall, a venue which once hosted Nirvana and whose basement club The Shelter was made famous in Eminem's film 8-Mile. Frank has seen her town hit before with layoffs. She says sometimes that's when the best music gets made.
"I don't think you can find a room anywhere in the Midwest as packed as it once was," Frank says, "but the arts tend to rise in hard times. Economic recessions, the auto industry meltdown - artists may not be able to make a living, but they'll still be out there making music. A lot of good music comes out of bad times."
Ben Kaplan, National Post Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Warner Bros. Music; Handout; Getty Images; JEFF HAYNES / AFP / Getty Images; handout; ReutersClockwise from top left: Eminem, The White Stripes, The Hard Lessons, Kid Rock, Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe and Aretha Franklin.
The auto industry crash is sending the Detroit music scene into a tailspin. According to Detroit-based musicians, it's not just the Big Three auto companies that need a bailout - musicians are also taking a hit.
"With thousands of job losses, who do you think is coming out to see shows?" says Brian Vander Ark, former lead singer of The Verve Pipe. "I watched the Senate hearings; these executives all want a golden parachute. It's difficult to get people to buy tickets now, and that has everything to do with the auto industry."
Detroit has a storied musical history, from Motown to Madonna, Bob Seger to The White Stripes, Derrick May to Eminem. But according to Lavell Williams, manager of the influential Detroit record store Record Time, city musicians are ailing, and there's no one in Washington asking for a US$25-billion lifeline for them.
"The automakers affect everything - it's plant city around here," says Williams, mentioning that Record Time had to close their second location in March. "It's not only people working at Ford, Chrysler and GM, but engineers, people who work in salons, in advertising - the only thing not affected is porn."
Fello Detroit musicians The Insane Clown Posse started their record label in 1991. The group is made up of shock-rappers Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler who wear bizarre face makeup, used to feud with Eminem and have sold 10 million records. They say Detroit's musical landscape is disappearing under their feet.
"When we came out, let's say it took three days to hit all the music stores in metro Detroit," says Bruce, known by his moniker Violent J. "Today, you could go to all the stores in half a day. There's nobody left."
There are currently nine local acts on the band's Psychopathic Records label. Bruce says nearly all of them have some connection to the auto industry.
"My step-dad worked for Chrysler, but Detroit is more than just those big companies; lots of the smaller auto companies packed up and left a while ago," he says. "Used to be those auto jobs were considered the best jobs to have. Now all those people are just like musicians - trying to hang on for dear life."
Of course, many musicians have already moved music sales to the web. Augie Visocchi is the lead singer of The Hard Lessons, a group many feel is Detroit's best local band. He sees a parallel between the music and auto industries.
"Everyone in my family works for either Ford or General Motors," Visocchi says. "They're not even holding their breath as much as prolonging the inevitable. The old mediums aren't working anymore. We're both working for dinosaurs."
The Hard Lessons recently released four EPs independently and toured in between release dates. Like Vander Ark, who has a "living rooms and lawn chairs" tour every summer - in which, for US$500, the singer who has sold three million records performs a custom-made setlist in your home - The Hard Lessons survive on the road.
"The music scene here has collapsed," Visocchi says. "Four or five years ago, GQ or some crazy magazine was doing a story about your local bar. Now you have to work a lot harder for it than just showing up."
Resiliency, though, seems to be a common thread linking Detroit's music scene. Dianna Frank is a former manager of St. Andrews Hall, a venue which once hosted Nirvana and whose basement club The Shelter was made famous in Eminem's film 8-Mile. Frank has seen her town hit before with layoffs. She says sometimes that's when the best music gets made.
"I don't think you can find a room anywhere in the Midwest as packed as it once was," Frank says, "but the arts tend to rise in hard times. Economic recessions, the auto industry meltdown - artists may not be able to make a living, but they'll still be out there making music. A lot of good music comes out of bad times."
Monday, March 2, 2009
T. Boone Pickins explain his plan!
T. Boone Pickins explains to the world his idea of how to change the U.S. imports and exports for oil because evenutally its really going to kick us in the ass!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa-ibNOKM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa-ibNOKM
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