Pop Culture Journalism Class Blog

By: Jessica Farley

Calvin Smith rocked the annual homecoming lip-synching competition last year.

His name popped up on chatrooms, and he was even recognized and stopped by students on campus.

“A group of girls came up to me in a dining hall one night asking me to help them with their moves; it was hilarious!” says Calvin, a 20 year old junior, majoring in Communication.

But fans were shocked that he didn’t compete this year.

Many attendees of George Mason University’s annual Homecoming celebration were left disappointed

Sophomore Julie Michals, 19, majoring in Communication, remembers Smith from the previous year and was “bummed not to see him; I was looking forward to what he would bring to the table this year. He’s really talented!”

The competition, known this year as “Just Keep Singing!”- has been a staple of GMU Homecoming festivities for the past four years. The competition is performed either in groups or solo, and is judged on the following criteria: lip synching abilities, originality and creativity, appearance, crowd response, and time restrictions. Cash prizes are rewarded for first through third place winners, amounting to $100, $50, and $25  respectively.

So what accounts for his non-presence at this year’s competition, particularly after cultivating a fan base from past years? “Simply put, school comes first for me,” Calvin said. “Now that I’m in my junior year, I’ve gotten more serious about academics, and just didn’t have the time in my schedule to prepare a performance…”

Smith claims that, in past years, he spent at least two weeks deciding on a song, working on expressions and choreography, and practicing in front of close friends. And he didn’t want to deliver a sub-par performance.

What about next year? Will he be back?

“We’ll just have to wait and see…”

By Donovan Hall

Most super power movies come out with thousands of fans waiting to see their beloved comic book story on the big screen. However, “Chronicle” is a unique and twisted view on the idea of super powers that strays away from comic books.

“Chronicle” is the tale of three friends who discover super human abilities via a giant glowing rock underground. The story follows Steve, the school’s most celebrated jock, Matt, a self righteous hipster, and his cousin Andrew, a lonely wastebasket for the world to dump its problems on. Once the boys stumble upon these powers, their previous social roles suddenly become insignificant and the question arises; What would you do if you had super powers?

Even though it isn’t based on a comic, “Chronicle” is similar to some super hero stories in how the boys accidentally gained super human abilities, but besides that, the movie differs from your average comic book movie in a few ways.

First off —  the movie is shot from a hand held camera that Andrew holds. This effect gives off that “faux documentary” style that has become popular ever since “The Blair Witch Project.” Thankfully, Andrew has steady hands because a good number of these movies that use this style think that it’s ok to have the camera man have epilepsy. Plus, throughout the movie the fluidity of the camera gets better and better.

Something else that separates this movie from other super hero flicks, is the lack of focus on the background story of the powers. In a genre that’s already hard to believe, adding a detailed back story to where powers come from can really take away all plausibility. This movie does just the opposite, by focusing on the ramifications of the discovering the powers and leaving some malarkey back story behind. By doing this it allows the story to focus on what happens to the characters when they are given this power and how it changes their views on the world.

This allows for excellent character development between the three boys. It’s not the overplayed story of super heroes and bad guys battling it out, but instead, a look at the idea of becoming all powerful and how they decide to use it in their lives. In reality, if people gained super powers suddenly, would they really rush to save the world from bad guys, or use it for their own gain?

Overall, the movie has believable acting, a memorable and slightly humorous script, characters you can care about and a story you can actually relate to yourself. What it has made me realize is that if I was given powers suddenly that I would lean more towards using them for my own means. Does this mean that I would be a bad guy or would I simply be adapting and evolving? Does great power always have to come with great responsibility or can it just come with the great ability to wreck things for the heck of it. Check out “Chronicle” and see for yourself.

Donovan Taylor Hall

More than 65 women are standing shoulder-to-shoulder along a long, white table, digging through a mountain of boxes in search of mates to Marni, Delman and Giuseppe Zanotti shoes.

“They should have a better system with this shoe thing,” says Jaclyn Silva of Fairfax. “I think there’s a good selection here, but it’s impossible to find my size in any of them.”

Silva was one of the 150 shoppers who were at the Gilt VIP party last Friday, the night before their warehouse sale. This is the third annual sale held all over the country from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. The E-commerce company is known for its killer deals on designer shoes, apparel and housewares. Typically, the savings average about 60 percent off department store prices on gilt.com during their flash sales (a sale lasting for 36 hours), but during the warehouse sale, they slash the prices up to an additional 15 percent.

Shoppers are greeted at the door of the Long View Gallery in Adams Morgan with champagne and cocktails at the door, a complimentary service that got one woman in a spending mood.

“The alcohol is what’s going to put my bill over,” says Rey Banks of Washington, D.C. “They know what they’re doing at these kinds of [events] by serving up cocktails, but I’m not complaining.”

At the end of a long ramp into the gallery is the sales floor. A DJ in the corner is spinning hits from Rihanna and Flo Rida, among other dance-worthy artists. Lined on both sides are eight rolling racks stuffed with clothes: men’s on the left and women’s on the right. A long, white table stretches along the middle full of bags and accessories. Three women are huddled around a vibrant tote by Pucci, marked down from $2,500 to $399. While the slashed price is significant, it’s still not within every fashionista’s budget. The racks of clothing are much more forgiving.

“This Free People sweater is only $40 now,” says Sara Miller, an excited shopper from Arlington. She holds up an oversized knit with a tag that reads, “Price: $108. Gilt Price: $39.99.” Most of the designers displayed on the racks resemble the same, mid-grade designers, apart from a few pieces by Calvin Klein and Badgley Mischka.

It’s the shoe table along the back wall that is garnering the most attention. With hardly any space to move and the lack of shopping carts, finding and carrying the shoe boxes is a juggling act, not to mention the stress of the hungry eyes of other shoppers. One false move, and your pumps could wind up on the floor at the mercy of DC’s best-dressed ladies. One woman already has a stack six boxes high and is pawing the table for more.

What may seem to some as a desperate attempt to find clothing and shoes to make them look like “somebody,”  to others, these shopping events are more like a hobby.

“It’s worth it for me,”  says Kim Pham of Potomac Falls. “I knew what I was getting myself into coming here…it’s not just the deals, it’s the thrill of the hunt.”

By Tony Jamison

The following takes place between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Mondays on Fox (oh how I miss the countdown). For us immovable 24 fans, Touch is the morphine shot we need until the resurrection of our favorite super-agent on the silver screen. I started to get this twitch in my right arm as I watched Jack Bauer, oops I mean Kiefer Sutherland, on primetime television again! Kiefer Sutherland’s new show Touch starts March 19^th, and is about Sutherland’s character (Martin) who is bothered by an inability to communicate to his mute, autistic son (Jake). Now what this show reminds me of is Nick Cage’s movie the Knowing, ABC’s greatest show Flash Forward, and Jim Carey’s 23 all mixed into 24’s build up screens. Touch brings characters with profound emotions into a nail biting thriller that will make you think you’re seeing Fibonacci Sequence, if you don’t know, please look it up because it’s important to the show. In terms of the setting, New York, New York (Yay, Giants!) is the great city where Kiefer takes on this adventure, just like the last season of 24 (Coincidence? I don’t know, you tell me). With the sentimental aspect of 9/11 thrown into the fray and the father’s fight with the New York City storm troopers to keep his son out of the state’s great juvenile system, you are bound to see flashes of Jack somewhere.

Most upsetting about Touch is Kiefer’s inability to kick ass like we are all accustom to seeing. Also, many of Jack’s mannerisms are identical to Martin’s (the damn blinking when he is in pain is annoying), but I don’t think Kiefer will ever be able to escape Jack’s character completely. However, Touch is very unique and does things rarely displayed on television. For example, there are multiple storylines around the globe involving a multitude of different individuals but somehow they are all connected to one another. Kind of like Flash Forward with the different storylines but this is on a large scale with better character development. Touch has the capability of being an amazing series and offers much more bravado, but we all know if a show is remotely good it gets canceled (Flash Forward, Lie to Me, Arrested Development, Veronica Mars). I hope Fox finally chooses quality over ratings, but we shall see. It’s a well done and intriguing show that will has the gravitas that will hook most people.

By: Rebecca Offenkrantz

The name, Jordan Baird, probably doesn’t sound very familiar to you. The junior, majoring in Vocal Performance, transferred to Mason in the Fall of 2011.

Baird was one of three walk-ons for our men’s basketball team, but, while he’s not been on the court much yet — he has spent a lot of time on stage singing.

Baird tried out for American Idol in 2009 at the Orlando auditions. He made it to the top 40 singers at that specific audition but was never on camera; he subsequently got cut in the next round.

But he didn’t give up. When Simon Cowell started his new show X-Factor, Baird auditioned and made it to the top 80 participants at the Seattle tryouts before getting cut.

Baird was asked to sing the National Anthem at the George Mason University’s Homecoming game versus Old Dominion University on Saturday, February 4th. Facebook and Twitter exploded following his performance, Washington Post reporter Steven Goff tweeted:

Flawless national anthem sung by GMU junior guard @jordan_baird #masonmbb

— Steven Goff (@GMUWashPost) February 4, 2012

Goff goes as far as to call Baird’s performance ‘flawless’ in the above tweet. ‘This video shows Jordan performing at the Homecoming game.

When asked if he had any plans to compete on any other show, Baird replied, “I think I might be finished with Idol, but I might do X-Factor again. The one I am really looking into is The Voice… after basketball is over, whenever that may be.”

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.

« Previous Page — Next Page »