Archive for November 25th, 2008
Sorry Kids, No More Saturday Morning Cartoons on Fox
Fox doesn’t care about children — at least, that’s how kids will likely react to the news that the American television network will be cancelling its block of Saturday morning cartoons in favour of infomercials.
Cartoons may well be “no longer viable” as Fox suggests, but there’s simply no way that kids are going to curl up on the sofa in their pj’s and with a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, to take in back to back episodes of the Magic Bullet and Hip-Hop Abs.
After terminating a deal with 4Kids, an independent producer of children’s programming, the Fox network closed down its Saturday morning block of cartoons on Monday, and became the first major broadcast network to agree to sell a part of its schedule to producers of infomercials.
Fox executives said that children’s programming was simply no longer viable on network television — mainly because of competition from cable channels.
Tags: Culture | TV | Entertainment | kids | Fox | Cartoons | Saturday Morning Cartoons | fox cancels cartoons | saturday morning | cartoons tv | childrens tv
Blur to Record New Album in 2009
After a six year hiatus, British pop band Blur are getting set to begin work on a follow-up to their 2003 album Think Tank. The new album will include Graham Coxon and the band is set to hit the studio early next year.
NME reports Damon Albarn has confirmed a full on, Graham Coxon-including studio session is slated for 2009.
Tags: Culture | Music | UK | band | blur | pop | new album | blur graham coxon | blur new album | damon albarn
Kanye West Reviews Own Album, Calls It “Great Art”
Hip-hop crooner Kanye West has reviewed his own recording and, you guessed it, hailed his latest album 808s & Heartbreak as “great art”.
Kanye West says he’s not concerned about whether his new album is a blockbuster, because he’s made “great art” — and he feels really good about it.
West’s new CD, “808s & Heartbreak,” was released Monday. It’s a departure for the 31-year-old rapper because it mostly features him singing.
West says he was ready to take a risk and he thinks it paid off.
The self-declared “pop artist” is even being compared to the most notorious of superficial pop experimenters, Andy Warhol.
If you believe Kanye West’s own hype about his new album, 808s and Heartbreak, he hasn’t just turned away from hip hop. He has invented a new genre of music.
He calls it “pop art,” offering no apologies to the likes of Andy Warhol. As West told the Irish Times last week, it’s “not to be confused with the visual art movement.” Rather, he’s making pop music “in an artistic way.”
But what exactly does this mean? The rotoscoped images of Warhol’s soup cans in the video for West’s new song, Heartless, suggest there may be more of a connection between the two “pop arts” than the MC-producer-entrepreneur will admit.
Warhol once said that to learn everything about him, one had to “just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There’s nothing behind it.”
Tags: USA | Culture | Music | Entertainment | hollywood | Los Angeles | Chicago | rap | hip-hop | rapper | Kanye West | Kanye | 808s & heartbreak | kanye west album review | 808s heartbreak review
YouTube Launches Widescreen Video Format
For everyone tired of the tiny, pixelated, lo-res, boxed format of YouTube clips, you’ll be pleased to know that the video sharing site has launched a fancy new widescreen format that allows all videos to be viewed in higher quality and in a ‘fat’ 16:9 aspect ratio.
This moves definitely paves the way for YouTube’s future plans to screen full-length movies on the site, as no one wants to watch a feature film in a tiny 4:3 window.
We’re expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And don’t worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player.
Tags: widescreen | YouTube | Youtube video | Tech & Biz | youtube widescreen | youtube player
Lil Wayne Sets ‘I Am Music’ Tour Dates
Rapper Lil Wayne, whose latest album The Carter III is still dominating the charts, has announced dates for his anticipated ‘I Am Music’ tour.
So far, concerts in 24 cities have been set, beginning December 14 in Miami and wrapping up January 19th in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Supporting artists on the tour will include Gym Class Heroes, T-Pain, Keri Hilson, and Keyshia Cole.
Here’s the full list of tour dates, as announced by MTV:
Lil Wayne — I Am Music Tour dates:
· 12/14 – Miami, FL @ American Airlines Arena
· 12/18 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
· 12/19 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
· 12/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre
· 12/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre
· 12/23 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
· 12/26 – Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena
· 12/27 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
· 12/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Susquehanna Bank Center
· 12/29 – Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
· 12/30 – Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
· 12/31 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
· 1/2 – Charlotte, NC @ Bobcat Arena
· 1/3 – Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
· 1/4 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
· 1/8 – St. Louis, MO @ Chaifetz Arena
· 1/9 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
· 1/11 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
· 1/14 – Montreal, CAN @ Bell Centre
· 1/15 – Toronto, CAN @ Air Canada Centre
· 1/16 – Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
· 1/17 – Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
· 1/18 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Boardwalk Hall
· 1/19 – Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
Tags: USA | Culture | Music | Entertainment | rap | hip-hop | Celebrity | lil wayne | lil wayne i am music | i am music tour dates | lil wayne tour dates | the carter III
Platinum Blonde Bassist Kenny MacLean Found Dead
NowPublic will be updating this story with more information.
Platinum Blonde has officially confirmed the death of bass player Kenny MacLean with a tribute on their website.
MacLean had attended a CD release party on Friday night in Toronto to celebrate the upcoming release of his third solo album, “Completely.”
Police said the veteran musician was discovered collapsed and unresponsive Monday at his Toronto apartment.
The Scottish musician joined Platinum Blonde for their second album, 1985’s “Alien Shores,” freeing singer/bassist Mark Holmes to focus on lead vocals.
Tags: Culture | Music | Toronto | Scotland | bass player | Platinum Blonde | Kenny MacLean | kenny maclean dead
