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Showing posts from July, 2018

BOOK: 7/30/18 Absolute Expert: Soccer (National Geographic)

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Summary:  Score! Can't get enough of your favorite super sport? This action-packed book is chock-full of awesome facts and fun for soccer fans! Join real-life Major League Soccer and Olympic referee Mark Geiger to get the latest, most up-to-date soccer intel around, plus fun facts and awesome trivia. Out just in time for the World Cup! My Thoughts:  So I used to read these type of non fiction books when I was a kid, especially about sports because that was always like my thing. But man did I wish I had this book when I was younger. The pictures are so crisp and every page is bursting with information. And me personally, it really resonates with me deep because I'm the type that loves learning random facts about a subject: I really am just naturally curious. One thing I wish could be changed (just a minor nitpick) is that in my opinion this book should've been organized chronologically. Like instead of naming the modern rules and then the history, it should've been the...

BOOKS: 7/29/18 National Geographic: Absolute Expert Dolphins

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Day 2 of the fun with learning with National Geographic series, this time we got a special on dolphins. I know, I know, doesn't sound too fun, but well my thoughts may prove otherwise. Summary: Kids who have a laser focus on dolphins will learn everything they've ever wanted to know about them in an eye-catching, page-turning book for aspiring experts, featuring exclusive content from a National Geographic explorer currently in the field My Thoughts: Like the summary, I'll keep this post short and sweet because I am not gonna lie, this book is pretty straight forward. Just like the volcanoes book, you got the stunningly crisp pictures (I mean seriously look at the dang cover, the contrast between the dolphin, its shadows and the water was taken from a camera UNDERWATER like what???). One thing I will say is that is was really cool how they laid out the book. They start with a little timeline of the dolphin's existence, and then go through how they live in the presen...

BOOK: 7/28/18 National Geographic Absolute Export Volcanoes

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wow haven't done this in a while. Kpop fans, looks like you get the next 4 days off, because I am going back to the book grind. I have been blessed with the opportunity to review 4 books by the folks at national geographic. Will just be giving my brief thoughts on them, and I do hope you consider checking them out at your local library or giving them a purchase. Summary : (goodreads) Get expert insights from National Geographic explorer and volcanologist Arianna Soldati in this lava-hot book, exploding with the most up-to-date geological intel straight from the field. Plunge deep beneath Earth's crust to find out how volcanoes form. Get up close to clouds of ash and molten lava. Learn about the biggest, most extreme volcanic eruptions to date. On the hunt for incredible volcanoes, you'll travel around the globe, dive into the depths of the oceans, journey into space...and so much more! History's most famous volcanic eruptions are all included: Mount Vesuvus, Mauna...

KPOP: 7/26/18 Bad Boy (English Ver.) by Red Velvet (Thoughts)

So yeah this was a thing at New York Comic Con 2018. I've been wanting to talk about it, but I've been holding out until some better versions came up that I could link. Well like last week some guy made an almost studio version of it that was pretty good, but I was vacation. Now that I'm back and have settled down a bit, I want to discuss the lyrics. First I figured I get the whole pronunciation thing out of the way. And if I had to rate it out of ten I'd give it a 7 or an 8. Like wendy for example had amazing pronunciation, but she's from canada so it kinda makes sense. But in some of the other members you could kinda tell the accent was there. Not a bad thing I guess, just wanted to point that out. As for the lyrics, there really isn't much else to say about them but my seemingly new favorite word: iconic. Like seriously if it's not the girls who in SM comes up with this stuff.  I guess I'll go over some of my favorite lyrics. My first is We...

YOUTUBE: 7/25/18 Drake Student Wins Half Court Shot Contest

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Alright so being a multimedia blog I figured I'd shake it up for today, but it's alright I'll go back to kpop tomorrow. However, I've had this video in my Youtube Videos for Blog playlist and I just thought that today was the right day to share it. Anyways, this video is of a student at Drake University. At some basketball game, he gets picked from the crowd to do a half court shot contest. Although instead of a cash prize, he gets a truck. Which in my opinion is really cool because I've seen contests where the grand prize was like a thousand dollars or a TV so for such a small university a free vehicle is super cool. You can watch the video here. I'm gonna talk about it and spoil it a little ahead so if you wanna experience it yourself first then watch it. ----SPOILERS AHEAD---- Alright so this is a pretty incredible video. First off let me just say am I the only one that thought this guy was bob ross as a college student. He definitely nailed th...

MUSIC: 7/24/18 Way Back by Yvng Marcus in Collaboration with Yung Tago

Yvng Marcus seemingly came out of nowhere the past two weeks to drop 3 amazing songs. At this rate, it seems like an EP or mini-album might be around the corner. I got the opportunity to interview him; and when asked the question why he doesn't expand his music to soundcloud, Yvng Marcus responded with "I ain't trying to be no soundcloud rapper cuh". Despite his breakthrough appearance on the rapping stage, he has yet to post music videos for any of his music, the standard societal requirement for any song to be popular. That is why I am using my platform to announce that I have been given the offer to direct Yvng Marcus's Music Video for Way Back, which is why I have to review it. The song starts off with 20 seconds of slow instrumental, brought to you by Yung Tago, the artist who created the beats in collaboration with Yvng Marcus. This may confuse some viewers who want the song to dive into the lyrics, but this opening is symbolic of the song's message, ...

KPOP: 7/22/18 Quick thoughts on DDDD Japanese version by Blackpink

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So for those of you non blinks that don't know blackpink just released a japanese version of ddu-d ddu-du which is you know how you would expect it (check out my review on the korean version of DDDD if you haven't yet). However, one thing that was a pleasant surprise is the change in rap, both Lisa's and Jennie's. I guess I'll discuss the lyrics a little. First off Lisa's rap. And man are her lyrics iconic. "I'm a star but no patrick" and "got more juice than Hi-C" I mean whoever wrote this rap is unbelievable. I think overall she definitely is more of a "bad girl" in this rap than she is in DDDD korean version, but that might be the vibe that I get. And if you thought Lisa's rap was iconic, holy cow Jennie's is actually insane the first time I heard the rap I went nuts. "I'm getting money by the hundreds, all my GQ's spread like hummus" and "you can see the billions call a banker" like wh...

YOUTUBE: 7/21/18 Channel Highlight Week #1

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Hey guys, so I'm gonna be starting a new weekly ish post that I'll throw in between my music (kpop) reviews and my viral trends highlights. This new series, which you can kinda figure out by the name, is basically a series where I'm gonna highlight really cool, awesome, or funny channels that have under 500 thousand subs (I mean I guess they'll still be popular but there's a good chance you don't know about them). Anyways, my first channel highlight is a channel called Gas Station Encounters. And let me tell you this is probably one of the funniest channels I have seen in a while. Basically it is run but a cashier at this one gas station which people try to steal from all the time. So what he does when people tries to steal is he takes the CCTV footage and does a hilarious commentary over what is going on (she gonneeeee!!!) You seriously need to check this guy out. He also shows footage of people being dumb and of other viral stuff from other gas stations an...

KPOP: 7/20/18 Oh My! By Seventeen 💚

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the big groups of kpop. Many pros and cons. A pro? the dances/visuals can come out better with a bigger crew and there's sometimes more variety. A con? every singer doesn't get that many lines. Like em or not they are a thing and I gues seventeen came back (very creative intro whoop de doo). Anyways since there is so many of them I get them confused a lot so this review won't be as in depth (And if people like these less in depth reviews I guess I'll start making it like this). Overall, this is a very solid summer song. It differs from some of their other song in that it isn't as powerful or anything it is more of a lowkey bop. There's a really cool piano line, the build up to the chorus isn't that intense or anything, and yeah just a great chill song. Looking through the comments it seems like people are calling their voices "calm". Which, I'm not saying that's incorrect it really just isn't the word I would've thought of i...

YOUTUBE: 7/19/18 THE BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY FULL TRAILER IS OUT

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Alright so I really have never been a fan of "oldies" music. And when I say oldies I'm referring to literally anything from the year 1980 and before. Included in this genre in Queen, and while of course it is impossible to not like songs like We Will Rock You and We are the Champions, I actually didn't know Bohemian Rhapsody was a song until like last year (another fun fact: many regard Bohemian Rhapsody as the first official music video). So when I was scrolling through my YouTube feed I was kinda stunned that this video was number one on trending and of course I had to check it out. And boy was I really glad I did. This trailer actually got me hyped for the movie (although because it comes out during the school year I may not have time to watch it with my crazy schedule next year). Anyways the movie is basically about the life of Freddie Mercury and the amazing journey he had with Queen which ultimately led to the "greatest live performance of all time...

KPOP: 7/17/18 Egoistic by Mamamoo 💚

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Alright so it looks like Mamamoo finally came back after 4 ish months from Starry Night and yeah this song is really good. Quick little overall run down: not really a summery song I would describe this as more of a bad girl kinda vibe. Not a bop either if that's the type of song you're looking for nor is it really a party song. There's this guitar thing in the background which gives it an odd vibe, especially when you pair it with the music video. Anyways here are my thoughts. Alright so the beginning there isn't too much to talk about. Like obviously it is good but there's nothing that jumps out at me. One thing I will say though is that I really like Moonbyul's rap before the first chorus. And then the transition to Wheein's Pre Chorus was really awesome to listen to. It was just so smooth and I really got into it. The transition from Pre Chorus to Chorus featuring solar was also super silky smooth. I love the little build up, and I know it's not t...

YOUTUBE: 7/16/18 The Shiggy Challenge

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So it seems like the internet really is never complete until a new challenge is created. And with the current release of Drake's new album, it only seemed fitting that a challenge spur from it. The Shiggy Challenge is basically a challenge where you dance to Drake's latest song "In My Feelings". Now it doesn't seem like you have to dance to it the specific way, but everyone seems to be replicating the creator the challenge, a comedian that goes by Shiggy. Here's the original challenge: In a later video "Shiggy" says there's 5 parts to the challenge The Jerk (the sort of introduction part when you're just vibing) The Heart (the "do you love me?" part) We Driving (the "are you riding" part) The Finger Wave (the "never" part) The Side Wave You Can Watch the tutorial from Shiggy here: See I'm a huge fan of challenges like this. I really hate challenges like the salt and ice challen...

BOOK: 7/12/18 Grandmaster by David Klass

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First book post with the revamp? That's what's up. Anyways, one of my bigger problems was that with the name change of the website people can't find my new site, so I'll have to do something about that. Anyway, I just recently read this book again and I fell IN LOVE WITH IT. Old readers will know what's up, but this book needs to get more publicity than it does. Anyways, here's the greatest chess novel of all time. Summary:  Daniel Pratzer is a patzer (a term which basically means you terribly suck at chess), yet when Eric Chisolm and Brad Kinney, two of the most popular seniors at his high school, invite him to the father-son chess tournament, Daniel is shocked. Why would the valedictorian of the senior class and the most popular jock, dating the prettiest freshman Brittney, ask him to a chess tournament. Later, he figures out why, his dad is a grand master, the highest rank you can achieve in Chess (like a chess god). In this father-son tournament, you have ...

KPOP: 7/11/18 Zoo By Red Velvet 💚

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Alright so apparently I'm a year late to this song. Although to be honest, it's because a year agow hen i got into k-pop I wasn't the type that listened to any song that wasn't the title track. Which was why I loved songs like Red Flavor but I never knew about this song until a week ago. And I really do love this song, although I cannnn kinda see why some people might not. Some people might call it dumb or whatever but overall it fit really well into their summer mini album as it is a very good summer song that is, well it's not like a bop it's a little faster, I guess it's a jam or whatever. So the intro (and the background overall) is super cool. There's birds chirping and you have this amazing whistle sound you hear over and over again which I didn't find "obnoxious" at all. I thought it was really cool and it got me in my summer feels. Lots of other animal songs also start and play throughout the song. As for the vocals, I think I l...

KPOP: 7/10/18 Dance the Night Away by Twice 💚

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Not even a MONTH after Blackpink came back with Square Up and I'm already in love with another song. And who even knows what is going to happen with Red Velvet and their summer comeback in August. This song is, without a doubt, probably the pinnacle of summery songs, giving AIIYL at run for its money. I love the intro. The effect (it's like electronic but not really) just gives this nostalgic vibe to it which is always amazing in a summery song. Then the transition into the first verse is super cool. I like the piano type beat in the back which really bops. And then Momo's part (I'd say right after the first verse) is really cool this sort of sing and repeat thing. And then Jeongyeon's voice ! It really is so pure and I'm not gonna lie when I first got into Twice me personally I was never into Jeongyeon, but now I'm really growing to like her parts, especially in What is Love and this song. AND THEN THE PRE CHORUS. Tzuyu is already my bias, and with the ...

KPOP: 7/4/18 #CookieJar By RedVelvet 💚

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I may be like two weeks late (I really tried to post as soon as it dropped) but who even cares it is here now. This is Red Velvet's Japanese Debut and yeah, it was a pretty good song. Here are my thoughts on it: I'm not sure why but this gives me huge "Happiness" vibes (their debut song). Like it is super upbeat, and although there are no posted lyric videos yet, I get that the song's lyrics probably are just upbeat and don't have much to do with anything sentimental or what not. The instrumental itself was really solid throughout the song. I'd say it's a decently fast song, and the thing that sets the instrumental apart from other songs is that the bass (guitar?) line in it is pretty prominent. There's also this cool clapping effect that builds on the song at gives the lyrics an upbeat and sound structure to compliment. Speaking of the lyrics, the vocals in this song were absolutely through the roof. Again, a very upbeat song (just keep thin...