Pop Culture Journalism Class Blog

Get your cowboy boots, hat, and pearl-snap shirt ready to go. Country music super star, Blake Shelton, is coming to campus.

The Patriot Center  will welcome Shelton on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 for the “Well Lit & Amplified Tour 2012.”

“It is nice not having to travel far to see such talented artists perform. I am definitely looking forward to a fantastic show,” said Amanda Murray, 30, who works in marketing in Fairfax, Va.

Shelton’s current hits such as “God Gave Me You” and “Honey Bee” are featured on his new album “Red River Blue,” scheduled for release on July 12, 2012.

“When either of these play on the radio, I turn it up and sing out loud. I can’t wait to hear it live. They are such feel-good songs,” said Andrea Arnold, 32, a consultant in Arlington, Va.

Shelton, along with his wife Miranda Lambert, opened the event at this year Super Bowl XLVI by singing “America the Beautiful.”

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. with two opening acts, one of which will be Dia Frampton, a finalist from NBC’s “The Voice” who Shelton coached throughout the season.

“I’ve been a fan of his for years. I cannot wait for the concert,” says Kristin Flynn, a 28-year-old program manager from Centreville, Va. “He has such an amazing voice and you can relate to anything he sings.”

White Girl Problems By Babe Walker

276 pages. Hyperion Books. $13.99

By Victoria Miller

Barbara Walker spent $245,893.50 in one afternoon.

She didn’t buy a house, she didn’t pay off her student loans, she bought clothes.

And that landed her in rehab.

Babe Walker is a 25-year-old rich girl penning her memoir on an Adderall infused high while in rehab for a shopping addiction. Walker is how you would imagine any Bel-Air raised child would be, delusional that they run the world. She lived a life of luxury, having a nanny/maid/BFF who all happen to be the same person, Mabinty, who has been with her since she was two days old. Mabinty is the only real mother figure that Walker has ever had in her life. When writing the dialog for Mabinty, the ghost writer, writes in a Jamaican accent, the same way she talks.

Every conversation between Babe and another character is charismatic even though you can’t help but hate her. Walker is a well developed character, the author goes into vivid detail of describing her to the audience. She honestly believes that everything she goes through in life other people must be struggling with too.

Walker discusses all of the major things that have shaped her into who she is. Whether it was convincing her gay best friend that they should lose their virginities together, or falling in love for the first time just to ruin it with her alter ego Babette.

You know, all typical, white-girl problems.

The actual identity of Babe Walker is still a mystery because, no one actually knows who she is or if she is based on a real person.

Follow Babe Walker on twitter at @whitegrlproblem and read her blog at BabeWalker.com. To read an excerpt of the Memoir go to http://book.babewalker.com/chapter2/

When it comes to nails, Meghann Smith has never really been a “French tip” type of girl.

“I think nail art is one of the greatest forms of self-expression,” says Smith, and 18-year-old freshman. “It’s the perfect canvas to get creative without being too over-the-top.”

Like many young women, Smith is itching to test out some of the many nail art trends that 2012 has ushered in. The most ostentatious and exciting of the trends in nail art include an “ombre” effect on the nails (in which you use two similarly shaded polished to fade the nail from dark to light), water marbling (a technique in which you swirl various colors in water to create a tie-dye effect on the nail), different-colored ring fingers, and OPI celebrity lines, just to name a few.

In a recent poll conducted on George Mason University’s Fairfax campus, 50 random female students were asked, if they were most interested in ombre, water marbling, ring finger trends or trying out OPI’s celebrity lines.

Nearly half of the women polled said this Spring, they plan to be rocking the “ring finger trend.”  Which has been seen on celebrities such as Lauren Conrad and Vanessa Hudgens. On George Mason’s campus, junior Makeila Reyes, 20, has recently been seen rocking this trend, offsetting her navy blue nails with a pop of a shimmery champagne-hued polish.

“It’s subtle,” says her classmate Samantha Coughlin. “We want to express ourselves in a manner that is both youthful and fresh but still mature enough for, say, an office setting.”

The second-most popular trend was OPI’s latest celebrity line, which was inspired by female rap sensation Nicki Minaj. Eight of the women polled were “all for ombre,” while a mere two women were bold enough to test the waters of water marbling.

Because, frankly, it’s a really hard effect to pull off outside the salon.

“The results are nearly impossible to obtain without lots of practice and frustration,” says 21-year-old senior Hilary Indyke, ” Or quality tools that most college girls just don’t have.”

Junior Makeila Reyes, 20, testing out the "ring finger trend."

Whatever trend you choose to sport this coming spring, it’s safe to say that a fresh-looking manicure is the perfect way to “polish” off any fashionista’s look.

Nicki Minaj for OPI (photo credit: shefinds.com)

Vanessa Hudgens seen sporting the "ring finger trend" (photo credit: phillyfashionistas.com)

Ombre Nails (photo credit: alteregoprojector.blogspot.com)

Water Marbled Nails (photo credit: mikeywayturnthatoff-consumption.buzznet.com)

By Avery Cheatham-Banks

Thrifting takes a lot of time. Not everyone wants to spend their weekends driving around to yard sales, or plowing through over-crowded racks at Goodwill to find a fabulous vintage dress.

So, Carrie Kraft does it for you.

Last Thursday, Kraft just launched her new online boutique, “French Toast Vintage,” where she sells her finds.

“Thrifting isn’t easy,” says Kraft, 26. “I take the work out of it. This is what I love to do, and I’m good at it.”

Kraft grew up going to flea markets with her dad.

“We weren’t poor, but we didn’t have tons of money to spend on clothing,” she says. “I found I could get the same styles from thrifting and vintage shopping for a fraction of the price.”

And she doesn’t sell them at crazy-insane prices. There isn’t one thing listed on the site that’s more than $50, the most expensive piece is a pair of high-waisted green trousers, retailing for $49.99.

The site shows two retro-looking models take up the center of the page, modeling the vintage pieces which Kraft finds at Goodwill, estate sales and her own closet.

“I do the dirty work of finding the clothes, hunting down the hot styles and bringing them to the customers,” she says. “All they have to do is click and buy.”

To shop French Toast Vintage, visit frenchtoastboutique.bigcartel.com. You can also follow Carrie on Twitter @louboutinluv.

By Tabby Hardman

Ever notice Masonette Abbie Santee’s eyelashes? They’re long. Like mascara-commercial long.

And they’re not fake.

“People I know always ask me how my eyelashes are so long and thick,” Abbie says.

What’s her secret? Latisse — a prescription-only medication that makes eyelashes grow like crazy.

“It makes them so much longer, darker and voluminous,” said Santee.

Glue-ing on fake lashes was starting to get expensive, she says. So after seeing a commercial on tv, she went to a plastic surgeon in Tyson’s Corner and got a prescription. It  costs around $125 for a tube that lasts me about six weeks, she says.

Like most products, there is a side-effect to this enhancer which is stated in their commercials and in Santee’s case has proven to be true. “The only thing that it can do is cause the skin on your eye-lids to darken and I have noticed that happen since I started using it, but it’s nothing dramatic because the results outweigh the costs,” Abbie says.

Life in the shadow of “Sammy The Bull”

“Mob Daughter,” by Karen Gravano with Lisa Pulitzer

By Kayla Cohen

On television, Karen Gravano always says she’s more than her father’s daughter. But surprisingly, she only focuses on her dad, and doesn’t bother telling her story in her new book. If you’re hoping to learn more and find out who she really is — don’t bother buying the book.

In Mob Daughter, released Valentine’s Day, Gravano talks about growing up in Brooklyn living a normal life, but always having the gut feeling that her dad might be a mobster.

Countless times Gravano describes the outfits worn by her father and his fellow mobsters in detail, but never telling us how she looks. She talks on and on about her  father’s incarcerations, but we are barely mentions her  own experience behind bars.

The story gets too repetitive. Gravano gives the same details about the same place, like her old houses, throughout the book. The details about her father’s famous mobster friends, like John Gotti and her uncle, were extremely repetitive. Also, Gravano jumps to different events in time, making the timeline hard to follow. At one point she is talking about her house, but the next she is talking about her nephew drowning years later in a different state.

The story gives a little peek into her personal relationships that she had with Lee D’Avanzo and David Seabrook, but nothing too in depth.  She briefly speaks of her friendships growing up, but on the show claim those same friends, like Renee  Graziano and Drita D’Avanzo, had a huge impact on her life. She also glorifies her time as a marijuana dealer .

Gravano show no remorse in the story for the victims of her father’s murders, one of them being her mother’s brother. To her, his 19 murders were something that should not be spoken about. So, uhm, why write a book if you want to keep quiet?

If the reader wants a story about “Sammy the Bull” and a peek into the mob lifestyle, this book is a great choice. If the reader wants to learn about Karen Gravano, this is not the book to read.

BY: RYAN WEISSER

“Oh, I wanna dance with somebody; I wanna feel the heat with somebody!” sings Whitney Houston on a flat-screen in the popular late-night dining establishment at Mason, Ike’s, as college students stare at the late pop-star while munching on six-inch pancakes and crinkle-cut fries.

“I remember singing ‘I Will Always Love You’ with my dad on car rides to school,” said Erin

Hoehl, a 21-year-old senior at Mason studying criminology and administration of justice who is from Essex Junction, Vt. “I’m sad that Whitney’s gone, but I am happy that she gave me some special memories just through her music.”

In her prime, Houston was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts seven consecutive times – a musical record that no one else has beaten. Her death on February 11 was a shock to the world.

And on Mason’s campus, students remember Houston. In honor of her memory, Mason sophomore Amy Kerr is playing her albums all week.

“Every single one of my birthdays, until I was like 10, we had a karaoke challenge, and I would always sing Whitney Houston,” said Amy Kerr, a 19-year-old Mason sophomore from Alexandria, Va., studying conflict analysis. “It’s weird for me to think that she’s dead, especially since I went to one of her tour dates in Manchester, U.K., a few years back. There were a lot of rumors then about her bad health and drug abuse, but I never expected her to die.”

“She was such a great artist,” Kerr added. “There aren’t too many musicians anymore who had a true talent like Whitney did.”

And while some may be tired of the re-occurring news headlines updating the world about Houston’s untimely death, many are awaiting the news as to how and why Houston died.

“I just want to know the details,” said Hoehl, looking up at the flat-screen in Ike’s that is displaying Houston’s music video for “I’m Your Baby Tonight.” “I’m going to keep watching the news to see how else the story of how she died unfolds.”

By Zohra Alnoor

The latest science-fiction phenomenon since Harry Potter and Twilight is set in a post-apocalyptic world that, unfortunately, none of today’s tech-savvy and spoon-fed youth would probably ever survive in. Suzanne Collins created the world of The Hunger Games, and has since written two more wildly popular books in the series following the life of 16-year-old, Katniss Everdeen.

The book is written in first-person, from Katniss’s perspective. She explains how brutal the people within The Capitol are, which is the country of Panem’s only modern and wealthy metropolis.  The rest of the country is made up of 12 states known as “Districts” that are extremely poor.

Once every year, The Capitol holds a competition called the Hunger Games, where one boy and one girl from every District between the ages of 12 and 18 are randomly selected and forced to participate. They’re then placed in a large outdoor arena where their every move is filmed and televised to all of Panem. Once in the arena, they must fight to the death. Whoever lives, wins. But there can only be one winner. No exceptions.

The book’s pace begins to quicken once Katniss’s 12-year-old sister Primrose is selected in what The Capitol disgustingly calls the annual “lottery.” Without hesitation, Katniss volunteers herself as a tribute, otherwise known as a ‘participant,’ for the Hunger Games in her sister’s place.
“I cried reading that part. I swear, it feels as if you’re Katniss when you’re reading that chapter,” said Madina Zamani, 21, a junior majoring in Biology at George Mason University. Zamani has a large group of female friends that sit on campus together and talk about The Hunger Games constantly.
“We were obsessed with Harry Potter in middle school, with Twilight in high school, and now The Hunger Games in college,” said Hanaa Garad, 20, a junior majoring in Health Systems & Management at GMU.

The book takes you through the dangers that Katniss must face in the Hunger Games arena, from booby traps, to venomous insects, and of course, the 23 other tributes that she must defeat, including the male tribute from District 12, who has a romantic interest in her. Can she trust him and fall for someone that must ultimately kill her? This question is just one of the many mysteries in the book.

The excitement you will feel while the story unfolds is unexplainable. Collins has created strong characters with great character development throughout the story. You become so attached to Katniss’s character as you progress through the story and feel as if you’re in her shoes through every step of the Games. The book was extremely entrancing and had one of the most compelling plot lines that I’ve read in quite a while. The creative, futuristic world of Panem amazes me and the concept of The Hunger Games grabbed my attention. It was a thrill while it lasted, but now it’s on to the second book for me. I’m more than ready to get lost in the world of the Hunger Games once again.

If you’re looking for a good read with in-depth characters, amazingly detailed writing, something that will tug at your heart strings, make you laugh and have you at the edge of your seat all at the same time, then pick up The Hunger Games and you can finally rid yourself of that sparkly fairy and what’s-her-face.

_____________

It snowed Saturday. Instead of sitting by a fire, or making some cocoa, Mary Shea went swimming — outside.

“Friends have told me that I’m crazy,” said Shea, a 30-year-old executive assistant in Herndon, Va.

But, she paid $25 to jump off the dock in Fredericksburg Saturday, Feb. 11 at 9 a.m.

She was part of the fifth-annual Polar Bear Plunge benefitting The Wounded EOD Warriors

Foundation.

The plunge sponsored by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs

and proceeds go to helping wounded soldiers and their families.

“This location collected over $20,000 for the 2011 polar plunge event,” said Sherri R. Beck, President, Wounded EOD Warriors Foundation.

In addition to the super-cold swim, there is a silent auction and snacks for sale. There is also a costume contest.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 8, there were 196 people registered to take the plunge. The forecast for Saturday was 39 degrees.

“That water is going to be freezing,” said 30-year-old Justin Riman, a few days before the event. But the consultant from Herndon, Va. was psyched. “I’m looking for it it.”

BY DONOVAN HALL

“Final Fantasy XIII-2” has finally dropped and gamers everywhere finally have a reason to give praise to the role playing game powerhouse, Final Fantasy, once again.
After “Final Fantasy XIII” was released in 2010 fans of the popular series began losing hope that the games would stay true to their original game play. The series are known for their grand and elaborate worlds where players are able to explore freely and make decisions that control their destiny.
However, “Final Fantasy XIII” was the complete opposite. Despite the breathtaking graphics, amazing movie like cut scenes and a likable story, the game was rather boring. It was very linear and riddled with cut scenes. The structure of the game gave it the feeling of an animated movie that the watcher had no control over.
The game play went sort of like this: You run down a long, but pretty, hallway until you get

to a cut scene. This triggers a boss fight of some sort. After you’ve defeated that boss there is another cut scene, which the led to more running. Not very “Final Fantasy” at all.
The game did receive positive feedback, but it was mainly trashed because of the closed ended world and the linear story. Long time fans of the series were also disappointed. Andrew Littleton, a senior studying Economics, has been playing the games since he was a kid.
“I felt like I had absolutely no control over the game or my characters. It was like playing a really pretty but terribly boring movie that I made no decisions in,” Littleton said.
So when the sequel was released, fans began to wonder; will it be sweet redemption or another piece of beautiful looking crap? Thankfully for fans the game came out smelling as beautiful as it looked.
The game play is very reminiscent of the older games in the series. With more freedom to explore the world and make critical decisions, it seems that the fate of the characters have been placed back in the rightful hands of the game player. The game is much more open ended than the last one, bringing back the element that made this series so popular.

“Final Fantasy XIII-2” also features the amazing cinematography and breathtaking visuals that players loved in the prequel. Combining these factors with a newly developed fighting system, an even more amazing story and the beloved ability to choose what you want to do make this game quite the success. In a way, the sequel is everything that the prequel should have been.
It seems the games makers really took all of the feedback to heart, and in return, have produced a sequel that is worthy of bringing this series back to its former glory.

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