screensandmelodies-blog

[screensandmelodies-blog]

3 Televsion Shows That Fell Off

By Jared Leal, Anastasia Rafalska and Steven Le

SHERLOCK

By Anastasia Rafalska

“Help me please, I’m on a plane and everyone’s asleep.”

I really like how BBC has interpreted and turned into a movie novels of Arthur Conan Doyle, but honestly, the last episode is just a piece of crap. Some people think it’s a great finish, as Sherlock is revealed as a human, not a detective, but let me explain you something: Sherlock Holmes is the most genius detective in London. He is a legend, he is a person who with just one glance at a piece of paper can recreate an apartment where it was and in seconds determine if there is a weapon in the bag just by analyzing it’s weight, he can predict behaviour of the people couple weeks before.

And now, his character with exceptional intellectual ability is playing in the “real-life quest” done by his sister Eurus, where he was blackmailing by the phone calls from a little girl alone on a passenger plane, where everyone is unconscious apart from her.  I’ m not even taking into account the fact that he could refuse playing this game, as it must be clear to him that something doesn’t add up –the girl doesn’t know where she’s coming from or going, she seems relatively relaxed about the huge passages of time passing between their conversations. Surely he’d be able to deduce that she wasn’t really on a plane, yet he never appears to doubt the veracity of her call, consequently under the pressure Sherlock is almost ready to kill his brother and other people. 

The next important thing: from the second episode we were convinced that Eurus is the most dangerous prisoners in the world and according to Mycroft, she is “an era-defining genius beyond Newton”. She uses a lot of smart words, but if you just take a look on what she is doing during the whole episode, you’ll understand that there is nothing genius or original, there is no sense in her actions.

We love Sherlock Holmes for his deduction, extraordinary cases, unusual things that have a logical explanation, but unfortunately none of it was used in the last episode. 

THE 100

By Steven Le

There were many things in the story of the 100 that captivated us. The 100 is a story based on the post apocalypse of Earth after having radiation spread all over the world killing off mankind like a plague. Mankind had to create an Ark spaceship to send themselves into space to live until the Earth was freed of radiation and become inhabitable again. After 10 long years of living in space, the crew members had made a decision of sending 100 delinquents and misfits down to Earth to ‘test’ if it was safe to inhabit again. Throughout season 1, this plot had captivated many people as we would be following along with Clarke, the leader of the delinquents and see how they would prevail in the trials that await them. From the grounders who were used to the radiation to the surviving humans left in the mountains 10 years ago, seasons 1 to 2 had kept viewers entertained for months.

However, after season 2 was the start of where The 100’s storyline worsened. Throughout season 3 we find out that one of their own went out to look for salvation on Earth, only to become inhabited by an artificial intelligence bot named “Alie”. From this point, the story seemed way more farfetched than it was from the start. Having a mind controlling artificial intelligence infect people’s minds by simply eating a microchip that would attach itself at the back of your neck was just plain unreal and stupid. The affects that this microchip would do to someone was allow them hallucinate throughout their subconscious imagining a city called ‘The City of Light’, where no conflict would happen, and no hate would consume the hearts of man.

However, this was not all to the fall of The 100. After season 3’s crazy plotline, comes the current season, season 4. The plot was briefly touched upon at the end of season 3 where Clarke and the remaining people of the Ark found out that the Earth was doomed to radiation once again. When the problem was explained to their allies, the grounders and the rest of the Arkadian’s, no one had a surprised expression. The Arkadians seemed as though they felt no real imminent danger of possibly getting wiped out by the Earth’s radiation AGAIN! All in all my disappointment with the show currently is that they are lacking in certain details within the story that should be more carefully explained to allow viewers to fully understand the situation at hand. The show should also reveal more emotion as to how distressed our protagonists are feeling towards the current situation in season 4.

THE OFFICE

By Jared Leal

Note: May be difficult to understand without prior knowledge.

Note: I get heated in this one, bear with me and don’t take it too seriously, enjoy…

“Today, smoking is going to save lives.”

The quote by Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) before one of the most outrageous pre-shows I have ever seen, sticks to this day. NBC’s adaptation of BBC’s “The Office” is one of the few shows that I consider a part of me. This comes from its more documentary type of presentation. The setting an ordinary workplace of supposedly ordinary people. The format would include monologues in the form of interviews of each character in between plot points. I’m no nerd, I don’t know if this format has been used before The Office and Parks and Recreation, but it definitely softens that veil of disbelief everyone has when consuming fiction. In other words, it feels real. Mix this with a dry sense of awkward, character-driven humour from its primary comedic engines in Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) and Dwight Schrute, and all I see is my favourite comedy television show of all time.

They glory is there from the very beginning, introducing main characters Michael with his unrelenting but genuine incompetence, Dwight and his arrogant but naïve superiority complex (as far as we think...), and the sustaining unresolved romantic tension of Jim Halpert (Jon Krasinski) and Pam Beasley (Jenna Fischer). This glory is sustained through 7 seasons of wonderful ups and downs that all the characters shared and fought through. Then Michael Scott leaves.

I actually watched the 8th season, the first full season without Steve Carrell as the primary character. Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard takes over Michael’s managing job and the show’s attempts to restore former glory without shamefully replicating it, commence. This season wasn’t good but it definitely wasn’t horrid, but without the driving force of the show, it was evidently missing something. I am actually part of the group of viewers that actually enjoyed Andy and Erin Hannon’s (Ellie Kemper) romance; the previous season setup several subtle but sweet moments which were resolved this season, much to my satisfaction (we’ll get back to this).

Which leads us to the 9th and final season, which I could not bear to complete. I can’t really say how bad it is or even if it is actually bad, but I can say how my optimism was gutted. Introducing a plethora of new characters I don’t care about, this late into the show, is the first mistake. Evidently, I don’t remember their names and don’t have the dignity to search them up, but they were two young office dudes I think. The asshole-ification of Andy was the second mistake: making him act like an ass to his employees and making him neglect Erin (who he worked so hard for) is just not something I saw him doing when he was first introduced in the 3rd season. This of course led to end of their relationship, which I thought couldn’t get much worse until she rebounded onto one of the two new nobodies I mentioned before (for the record, I’m sure they’re nice guys). This is of course is where the thrill was gone completely; actually I stopped before this happened (thanks to Wikia for softening this blow).

So yeah, I guess my disappointment with the show and the fact that I could not receive proper closure to one of my favourite shows of all time got me heated in this post. But the beauty of fiction is that I can choose to stop my suspension of disbelief whenever I want. And I can still enjoy the first seven seasons as I did before because it makes me happy. And I’m crying now, goodbye.

I aint don’t worry.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Top 5 Films of 2016

By Tania Zavala and Sorayah Hussain

We share our favourite films of 2016 according to our personal tastes and the moments that we live enjoying these films.

La La Land

La La Land is the number one on my top of my favourite films of 2016. It is a romantic and musical film directed by Damien Chazelle. I'm not a person who likes musicals; in fact, most of these seem boring and too corny. I decided to watch this movie because of the positive reviews I read and heard from friends and the media. A good Sunday afternoon, I went to the movies to see La La Land and what I never expected happened. I had too many emotions, and I even felt identified with the story, I loved it. The music of the film is incredible, immerses you in the story. It attracts you with those dramatic, joyful and creative notes that make you dream and feel different emotions. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (protagonists) apart from being physically very beautiful people, they are excellent actors, and we fall in love with this movie. The design of the wardrobe communicates the essence of each scene where photography and special effects make our heart beat, and our emotions are reflected in our eyes.

Lion

Lion is a film based on real events directed by Garth Davis and written by Luke Davies. The film tells the story of a young Hindu "Saroo Brierley" which is traversed by a difficult childhood. When Saroo is just a 5-year-old, he gets lost in the streets of a city thousands of miles from his home. After a challenging and long experience, he ended up being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later, with the help of Google Earth, Saroo will try to find his biological family. Lion is one of my favourite films of 2016 as it makes you think about the different situations that can cross the human being. As time goes by and we live our daily lives, in another place at the same time injustices or very unpleasant situations are happening. There is always the bad or good side of the human being. This character faces hard obstacles to rediscover his origin.

Zootopia

Zootopia is a Disney animated film centering around two characters, a rabbit police officer named Judy Hopps, and an ex con artist fox named Nick Wilde. While the main target audience is children, this movie is a commentary on issues that adults can relate to, one being discrimination. This issue was highlighted through the misjudgement of predators and that because a few were dangerous, all must be dangerous. This film shows us that everyone should be treated equally, and that we cannot make assumptions about a group of people, or in this case, a species, based on such a small population of them.

Finding Dory

Finding Dory is the sequel to Finding Nemo from Disney and Pixar. It follows Dory on her journey to find her parents. The task is made more challenging because she suffers from short term memory loss. With the help of familiar friends from the first film, and new friends she meets during her adventures in this film, she gets captured and taken to the Marine Life Institute, searches through multiple exhibits, gets tagged to be shipped to Cleveland, and gets flushed back into the ocean before finally finding her parents. It is a funny, sad, and exciting movie that highlights the strength of family bonds.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book from 2016 is the third version that Disney has released. In this visually stunning adaptation, we follow Mowgli, a man cub raised by wolves, whose life is threatened by the tiger, Shere Khan. Mowgli decides to go back to the man village, with guidance from the panther Bagheera. Along the way, Mowgli learns that his wolf mother Akela was killed by Shere Khan and confronts him. Mowgli accidentally starts a wildfire, but uses it to his advantage and tricks Shere Khan up a tree where he eventually falls to his death.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

ZPD’s Finest

A Fan Fiction Zootopia Sequel

By Maliha Mahboob and Elizabeth Zaffino

Introduction

After watching the hilarious, heart-wrenching and enlightening creation that is the animation movie “Zootopia”, fans were left, (at least we were), with questions about the future of the dynamic duo Judy and Nick and hopes for a potential sequel!

Now since none of us actually know when or if there will be a sequel, we’ve decided to take the matter into our own hands. Using our acquired knowledge of the movie and of animal nature in general, we have developed a concept for a potential second movie

Proposed plot:

Judy and Nick are now the most well known and loved cops in Zootopia and are faced with a new case. Sea creatures are crossing onto land territory and are wreaking havoc among the land creatures. Judy and Nick get to work by asking a witness some questions and learn that the sea creatures have mysteriously mutated, which is how they are suddenly able to live on land.

The creature they captured, lets say….a mutated octopus, turns out to have a device on one of its tentacles that is pumping chemicals into its system. With a closer look Nick notices that the wrist device has print on it that reads Zootech, Zootopia’s science center.

Could someone in zootech be mutating sea creatures to create chaos among animals and disrupt the way of life? But why? - the garden snake? He can be a scientist and is testing the mutations on the sea creatures to see if it’s safe for him to use so he can mutate arms and legs? He is also using the mutated sea creatures to get back at the land creatures for making him feel useless?

And can Judy stop them, with the help of her wily clever fox friend, Nick?

We can only imagine how extraordinary the tale would be.

All entirely fan-based, of course!

[screensandmelodies-blog]

LED ZEPPELIN: They’re Pretty Good...

By Jared Leal

There’s a lady who’s sure, all that glitters is gold...

Led Zeppelin is a household name. Why? They rock. It’s as simple as that, end the post.

Hey mama said the way you move, gon’ make you sweat gon’ make you groove...

I, however, am not that simple (just ask anyone who knew me in high school). What I always found particularly interesting about Led Zeppelin is the totally different way they constructed their monumental reputation. Hard rock and other genres like punk rock, always had a rebellious edge and an out-of-the-ordinary essence to them. Of course, Led Zeppelin was definitely out of the ordinary.

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s going to break...

Popular music is and often has been very single-oriented. It is more common for an artist to break out from a single than an album. If I say my favourite Crazy Town song is “Butterfly” I’m not going to blow anyone’s minds, it’s like a cliché of a cliché. But, if someone tells me that their favourite Led Zeppelin song is one I’d never heard of, that’d be totally fine because that’s exactly the type of band they are. Their not single-oriented, they dominated (and still dominate) a radio format that was more album-oriented. Album-oriented rock (or AOR) is a radio format that focuses on just that: rock songs off of albums and not singles. And I guarantee you no band had more potent albums than Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

For the record, Stairway to Heaven was NOT a single.

The cliché in Led Zeppelin’s case would probably be “Stairway to Heaven,” the most played AO rock song ever; but even then people know that Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant (who hates Stairway to Heaven) are all more than just one “hit”. And speaking of hits, in terms of chart placement, Led Zeppelin is little more than a one-hit-wonder. Their highest charting single was the signature “Whole Lotta Love,” (peak #4, 1969) which didn’t even make the year end 100 list. Every single that they (sparingly) released after that failed to crack the top 10, pretty weak for a “popular” icon if you ask me.

Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face, and stars fill my dream...

If I recall correctly, the highest charting song that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wrote is a subsequent side project in 80s (“Sea of Love” - The Honeydrippers, peak #3, 1984). This is quite funny, but fitting; Led Zeppelin is no ordinary powerhouse. Name all the major rock n’roll legends: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Queen, Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Eagles. Every one of these acts had numerous smash pop hits.

Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true...

On the contrary, it all comes back to the albums: every single major studio album Led Zeppelin ever released (from Led Zeppelin to Coda) has cracked the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart. All of these albums were certified platinum by at least one major record association, most of them numerous times. That is nine albums over a 13 year period, excluding live and compilation albums.

To be a rock, and not to roll...

So yes, I don’t have to convince you how successful Led Zeppelin was (and is) in spite of their dubious and irrelevant lack of pop chart success. They were never a pop act, not for a second. There were a lot of acts lacking crossover success that lived through the times in a big way (like The Ramones or Patti Smith, to exercise my music nerdiness), but none bigger than this one. In fact, remember all the juggernauts of rock I named earlier, I’d take Led Zeppelin over them any day. The phrase “ahead of its time,” is thrown around way too much, but in this case it definitely applies. The production, the musicianship and the sheer concoction of talent that formed in 1968 has yet to be matched even today. So I’d like to give a big shout-out to Led Zeppelin: the greatest band, ever.

And she’s buying a stairway... to heaven...

[screensandmelodies-blog]

How Do These Books Relate to Modern Society?

By Anastasia Rafalska

Dorian Grey

The book talks about the internal struggle Dorian Grey faces chronically. The struggle between the rational and tempting, when the man sees his youth and beauty immortalized in a portrait done by artist Basil Hallward, he pledges his soul in order to stay as he is in the picture.

 In my interpretation of the novel , Dorian was just another individual trying to gain semblance of his surroundings , torn between the rationality of Basil and the tempt of  Lord Henry .

These lines from the book, epitomizes that classic struggle:

“To be good is to be in harmony with one’s self,” he replied, touching the thin stem of his glass with his pale, fine-pointed fingers. “Discord is to be forced to be in harmony with others. One’s own life—that is the important thing. As for the lives of one’s neighbours, if one wishes to be a prig or a Puritan, one can flaunt one’s moral views about them, but they are not one’s concern. Besides, Individualism has really the higher aim. Modern morality consists in accepting the standard of one’s age. I consider that for any man of culture to accept the standard of his age is a form of the grossest immorality.”

Anna Karenina

Tolstoy was able to combine so many different human elements in a very powerful way. His true representation of the huge gap between the upper class—to which he himself belonged—and the lower classes. He had a good understanding of the everyday struggles of family life, however, his most remarkable achievement is an inclusion of so many aspects of social and political life within the framework of parallel love stories.

Each character, from the lowliest fieldworker to the richest government official, is given depth and motivation. When Vronsky first meets and falls in love with Anna, it is impossible not to fall in love with her as well. When Levin, heartbroken after an early rejection, it's easy to empathize with his sense of the pointlessness of life. Anna's brother, Oblonsky, seems only to ever want to have fun—he frequently enjoys drinking, hunting, and flirting—but when we are with him, all of his decisions seem to make perfect sense.

It seems that Tolstoy manages to present nearly every possible lifestyle and character type in such a way that the novel becomes a living universe.

The Great Gatsby

Even though "The Great Gatsby" was written almost a century ago, many of the themes of the book can still be seen in societies today. Materialism was a key component in the time period of the book and is still an apparent characteristic of modern societies today. People were, and still are, attracted to a higher class of living and everybody wants to become rich.

Gatsby's character is defined through his unusual house, clothing, parties, and cars. Daisy is so obsessed with the thought of being wealthy that she loses patience and marries Tom rather than waiting for Gatsby to return home from the war.

Social Networking today is also more or less the same concept. Relationships between people on Social Media are a shallower than they would be if you knew the person well in real life. Just like Nick sort of surveyed the secret relationships among his friends, somebody on a social network may learn about a person by surveying their status updates but would never actually know the person on a deeper level.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Top TV Shows of 2016

 By Mackenzie Burns and Spencer Collaton

Mackenzie’s Top TV shows of 2016

I have quite a themed list, as they are all in a way grounded in real events or what could be perceived as happening in real life. They all have amazing characters and stories behind them.

1.       Game of Thrones

Game of thrones is a fantasy show produced by HBO, debuting in 2011. The heart of the may be grounded in a fanatic world but it is about the fight for power and the ways people achieve it. Set in what can be seen as medieval times, the show has many different characters and ways of living weaved throughout. From poor people, to the royals, this show has it all.   Based off the Popular books by George RR Martin, if has become a world-wide phenomenon. It is HBO’S Number 1 show and is one of the most illegally downloaded for a reason. With a huge ensemble cast, there is a storyline that you will become invested in. From Dragons, Swords, pretty dresses and political intrigue, and more it is a show for anyone. Well, if you are 16 and over of course.

2.       Shadowhunters

Shadow hunters is a fantasy/teen drama, produced by Freeform which was once ABC Family, in early 2016. The show like others of its kind, a teen drama with fantastical elements, grounded in real life. The show surrounds Clary Fairchild, a 18 year old girl who discovers a secret. She finds out that she is a Shadow hunter, half human half angel. She is thrust into a world she doesn’t know, learning and adapting who she is. Which is to protect humans, from the demons who are out to kill the human race.  The show also involves, Vampires, Werewolves, Seelie’s, and Warlocks.  The series began as a book series by Cassandra Clare, the series tried to be film adaptations but wasn’t successful until now. Each episode spans about 45 mins and is easy to access for Canadian’s on Netflix. A perfect show to binge watch, with the drama and intrigue it can keep you guess.

3.       Reign

Reign is a show about Mary Queen of Scots, the reigning monarch of Scotland in the 16th century. The show is a CW network original, but for Canadians it is broadcast on CTV.  But the show is not your typical historical show. It is a historical to a point, the writers have taken creative liberties, but it has most of people who were involved in her life. The show is a teen drama, which is something that makes it interesting for me personally. Reign debuted in fall 2013, and its on its finale season currently. It has a great cast of characters, from all over the world. Some of the actors are from Canada, and they film in Toronto as well.

4.       Supernatural

Supernatural is a long running show, having 11 seasons currently out. I am still in the early seasons, but it is a good show to watch when I want to watch something interesting. The show is about Sam and Dean Winchester, who are on the hunt to find their father. All the while, they go from town to town, finding and killing whatever supernatural being ma be lurking in the shadows. At first, I was skeptical about it, since Im not a huge fan for horror type shows. But I thoroughly enjoy it. Debuted in 2005, and doesn’t seem like stopping any time yet.

5.       The Walking Dead

Imagine a Zombie Apocalypse, in a world where Zombies were never talked about or existed in media. As well as the word doesn’t exist. This is the premise of the Walking Dead. Set in Atlanta Georgia, the first season follows Rick Grimes and the people he meets as they try to survive the world, where zombies are everywhere. The Series is AMC’s number 1 rated show, with fans viewing every Sunday night. The series debuted in 2011, and became in instant hit making everyone who liked Zombies or survival shows happy. It is grounded, even though it is a post apocalypse world. The relationships, and the survival tacks that are shown is important to shows the power of the human condition.

Spencer’s Top TV Shows of 2016

1.       Stranger Things

A Netflix original, Stranger Things is a sci-fi/horror/thriller. The shows creators (Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer) have written and produced many projects within the thriller/horror genre and have worked for influential names like M. Night Shyamalan. The series is set in the 1980’s in a little town called Hawkins within the state of Indiana the first season is centred around the disappearance of a local boy named Will Byers. Amidst the disappearance the show also follows Will’s friends trying to find him – working alongside state police and the emergence of an eleven-year-old girl with psychokinetic abilities appropriately named: Eleven. The series went viral after it’s release on Netflix and season 2 is due out in the summer of 2017. If you haven’t heard of this show you’ve probably been living under a rock and I strongly suggest you check it out.

2.       Narcos: The Pablo Escobar Story

Another Netflix original (Surprise, surprise the guy without cable watches primarily Netflix shows), Narcos tells the story of revered Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Wagner Moura stars as the fear-mongering cartel leader and absolutely nails it (certainly better than Vincent Chase’s portrayal in the HBO series Entourage, that’s a joke only few will understand). Much like Stranger Things, the show is in it’s inception but has also gone viral very quickly.. Season 2 was just released in September of 2016 and let me tell you, there certainly isn’t a drop-off in quality from season 1. Another show I strongly recommend checking out on one of those nights where you can’t decide what to watch on Netflix and ultimately end up choosing The Office for the 3,965,385th time.

3.       American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare

Just when you think you’ve figured American Horror Story out, show creator Ryan Murphy drops what can only be described as the most bizarre and controversial season of American Horror Story yet. My Roanoke Nightmare follows the folklore behind the disappearance of an entire colony of first-settlers in the Carolina city of Roanoke. Without giving much away it’s tough to describe the outright BOMB that gets dropped half way through this season however, if you enjoy being mortified and aren’t squeamish… This season will entertain you to no end.

4.       American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson

Ryan Murphy cracks the list yet again (I swear there’s no bias here) as an executive producer in the critically-acclaimed series: American Crime Story. The show follows the same template as American Horror Story in that each season presents its own mini-series so the seasons don’t wrap into one continuous plot. The first season recounted the tale of the infamous trial of OJ Simpson. Cuba Gooding Jr. was tasked with playing the controversial figure and absolutely killed it (no pun intended? Innocent until proven guilty so I think I’m okay there). The second season is currently in the works and will be titled Katrina, chronicling the story of Hurricane Katrina with source material coming from Douglas Brinkley’s book: The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The series is scheduled to be released in 2018 with season 3 being released within 6 months of the second.

5.       Westworld

Westworld is an HBO show in the sci-fi/western genre. It is a made for TV adaptation of the 1973 film by the same name, and has minimal elements from the sequel: Futureworld. The show comes from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy but also employs the services of renowned sci-fi genius J.J Abrams (There may be a little bias here as I blindly enjoy everything Abrams does). The story is set in an old western amusement park with futuristic technology and is populated by androids. Westworld allows these visitors to indulge in whatever their heart desires without fear of persecution or retaliation. It’s a really neat idea and again is tough to describe the show without giving too much away as it’s only in its first season.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Sherlock Holmes’ Top 3 Greatest Moments (TV Series) (Spoilers)

By Steven Le

You all may know him a Benedict Cumberbatch, but in the TV series ‘Sherlock’ he is known as none of other than the greatest detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes. As a self-proclaimed consulting detective, William Sherlock Scott Holmes is portrayed with a profound deductive reasoning ability able to decipher the greatest details in police cases from the smallest clues. As a man with extraordinary abilities of deduction, it doesn’t come without reason to have strange drawbacks. Sherlock being who he is, has an unusual and somewhat anti-social personality towards others. With this, Sherlock has created a lot of distrust with the police force whom he helps consults on cases. On more than one occasion, Sherlock Holmes considers himself as a “high-functioning sociopath”. Now put on your funky hats and enter your mind palace, because we’re going to be telling YOU the top 3 GREATEST moments in the hit TV series ‘Sherlock’.

Number 3: His Last Vow “Mind Palace”

One of Sherlock Holmes’ greatest abilities is his ability to enter something called the ‘mind palace’. The mind palace is a memory retrieval technique also known as “The Method of Loci” where one would store memories such as they would be plotting something on a map in a familiar location. To retrieve these memories, Sherlock would simply have to retrace his mind backwards to the location of the memory, much like retracing your steps. An example of Sherlock’s mind palace at work is in Season 3, Episode 3: “His Last Vow” right after Sherlock is shot. Sherlock displays the powers of his mind palace by falling in the correct way where blood would not leave his body after being shot. Followed by that Sherlock retraces his memories to something he finds joyful to prevent going into shock.

Number 2: A Scandal in Belgravia “I Am Sherlocked”

Even emotions do not waver Sherlock Holmes. In the first episode of Season 2, Sherlock meets his first love, Irene Adler. Irene is also known as the “the women” or the “dominatrix” meaning the women who dominates the bedroom. This cleaver, manipulative, and devious women can give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money. By having state secrets locked away on her phone and toying with Sherlock’s feelings she creates situations to leverage herself above the law and roams free to do what she wants. However, Sherlock puts aside all of his emotions and taps into his deductive reasoning powers of what her password could be.

Number 1: The Reichenbach Fall “Death”

Forced to take a fatal leap due to his greatest nemesis, Jim Moriarity. Sherlock Holmes is forced to jump off the Reichenbach Falls to save his only friends lives. However, Sherlock had prepared for this outcome within his mind. In fact, Sherlock had predicted over 12 situations within his mind of how his encounter with Moriarity would be. Sherlock played through Moriarity’s plans and had successfully faked his death while getting rid of his arch nemesis.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Favourite Producers of 2016

By Chris Szulc and Anthony Di Principe

Charlie Heat

A name that might not be familiar to many, Charlie Heat, is easily my favourite rap/hip-hop producer and is very underrated in this industry. Despite not being recognized to the masses, he has had a lot of success as a young producer. He’s worked for Kanye West on his most recent album The Life of Pablo, on songs like “Famous”, “Feedback”, “Waves” and even has his own remix of the previously released song “Facts”. He also has worked for other popular artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Kehlani and Ty Dolla $ign. An artist that Heat has worked with that is relatively new and not as popular is Ant Beale, and they have a collaborative EP called “No Rain No Flowers” with Beale on the vocals and Heat on the production of each track. I definitely recommend doing some more research on Charlie Heat and keep an eye on him in the future. I have very high hopes he will be up there with the other greats in hip-hop production as time goes on.

Here are some of my favourite songs produced by Charlie Heat:

- Chris Szulc

It’s rare to see producers become as visible as the rappers they make beats for, but in recent years some have been able to brand themselves to the point of being stars in their own right. Metro Boomin is the perfect example; with the advent of producer tags for mostly southern beatmakers, guys like Metro, Zaytoven and Mike WiLL Made-It don’t leave any room for guesswork—their signatures are unavoidable at the start of nearly every song they create.

That’s helped bring awareness to the fact that producers work just as hard, if not harder, than the rappers whose hits they help make. That should seem obvious, but being “behind the boards” means being behind the faces of the songs too, even if some producers are helping rappers with their hooks as well.

This year, XXL takes a look at some of the best producers of the year, people who toiled behind the scenes to make the beats your favorite rappers spit over. They aren’t all as self-branded as the guys mentioned above—though some, like June Onna Beat, DJ Fresh and Wheezy also use their own subtle signatures—but they all have emerged as being instrumental to the success of the songs they made. Here 30 of the Best Hip-Hop Producers of 2016.

Mike WiLL Made-It

In 2012-13, Mike WiLL Made-It was the game’s go-to producer, but when the tide shifted to favor DJ Mustard instead, Mike kept working. Now he’s back on top, thanks to Rae Sremmurd’s No. 1 hit single “Black Beatles,” Beyoncé’s “Formation,” Thugger’s “F Cancer” and Tity Boi’s (2Chainz) “MFN Right.” The list goes on and on as the Atlanta producer continues to fine tune his sound. Now can we get Ransom 2?

Nineteen85

OVO’s secret weapon, Nineteen85 had his name ringing with Drake’s “Hotline Bling” last year, and he didn’t waste any time capitalizing on the attention. He helped produce the biggest song of Drake’s career so far, “One Dance,” which was also one of the biggest tracks this year, as well as a couple other joints off Views. He steered the direction for dvsn’s debut album Sept 5th too and now he’s up for a Grammy next year.

Cardo

This man is a beast. He used to be part of the core in-house production team for Wiz (Big Jerm, I.D. Labs, Johnny Juliano), but he’s since gone on to work with everyone from Kendrick to Hov. This year he ran the gamut again, landing beats on Travis Scott’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight (“Goosebumps”), Kendrick’s untitled unmastered (“untitled 02″) and D.R.A.M.’s Big Baby D.R.A.M. (“In a Minute / In House”), to name a few, as well as completely producing one of the hardest tapes of the year—Payroll Giovanni’s Big Bossin Vol. 1. Look out for Cardo’s solo album Lost in a World coming in 2017.

Kanye West

Who else in hip-hop would release one of the best albums of the year… and then continue to tweak it once it went up for sale? At first it seemed like a terrible rollout; in retrospect, it was just a mad genius refusing to finish his work.

https://soundcloud.com/kanyewest/real-friends

Metro Boomin

The leader of Atlanta’s new school of producers had another monster year, fueled by 21 Savage’s Savage Mode, a project Metro rightfully gets artist credit on. 2016 solidified his status as the most instantly recognizable producer in the game, serving as a testament to the power of personal branding. Now wait until his track with Kodak drops.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

My Favourite Alternative Rock Bands

By Christopher Szulc

Before I started to love hip-hop and R&B music, my childhood consisted of an alternative rock music obsession. My love for this genre at a young age has allowed me to explore different genres of music and grow an appreciation for music I don’t listen to on a regular basis. Some of my favourite alt rock bands, from my childhood and early high school years, goes as follows:

Fall Out Boy

If you knew me personally in the mid-2000s, you would know that one of my favourite bands during my elementary years was Fall Out Boy. “Sugar, We’re Going Down”, “Dance, Dance”, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” are some of the songs that I would always play on repeat and have made me a fan ever since. In recent years, on albums like Save Rock and Roll and American Beauty/ American Psycho, they’ve started to expand their sound into a more pop-style, which is something I enjoy. I never believe a musician should keep the same sound all the time; consistency is great and all, but growth is important in order to succeed in the music industry, which is something that Fall Out Boy has accomplished.

Bastille

Bastille is one of the few bands that made me revisit this genre in my high school years. I began to venture out into different genres of music and Bastille is the perfect reminder of why I loved alternative rock in the first place. This UK band bringing a collection of very ambitious singles such as “Pompeii”, “Icarus” and “Laura Palmer” that really intrigued me during the tenth grade. They’ve recently dropped a new record called Wild World, which was good but didn’t enjoy nearly as much as Bad Blood.

Arctic Monkeys

Here is another UK band that I loved to listen to during my high school years. AM is probably one of my favourite albums in this genre as a whole. Very moody and atmospheric vocals from lead singer Alex Turner that keeps the listener captivated throughout the entire album. The album has amazing songs, starting off with “Do I Wanna Know?” and ending with “I Wanna Be Yours”. I definitely recommend to any listener that likes slower rock music with punchy production. This album was released in 2013, and I’m still waiting for the band to follow-up with their next record.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

The Evolution of Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty, who is known by her stage name, Rihanna, is a Bajan singer and songwriter ranging from R&B to Pop and Hip Hop. Since Rihanna recently celebrated her 29th birthday, I thought it would be the perfect time to look back and celebrate her successful and influential career.

When I was 8 years old, I remember hearing Pon De Replay on the radio for the first time. This was her first single that was part of the 2005 album, Music of the Sun. This album was inspired by her hometown, which mainly utilized Reggae and Dancehall tones. Only a year after her debut album, Rihanna released her second album, A Girl like Me. Most people remember this stage in Rihanna’s career by her hit single, SOS. After SOS, Rihanna started gaining more recognition. Everyone viewed Rihanna as an innocent island girl. The image she built for herself soon changed when her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad came out. Judging from the title alone, you can already guess that her music and attitude changed to appeal to a more mature audience. Umbrella was an award winning song in 2008, and is still part of her life as she performed it on her latest tour.

From this point on, Rihanna only grew more famous and continued to release hit after hit. Love the Way You Lie, We Found Love, Where Have You Been, Take Care, Diamonds, and Stay are only a few of the many chart topping songs that Rihanna has recorded over the past 12 years. In 2016, Anti was finally released four years after Unapologetic. This album was completely different from her past music. It featured contemporary R&B music such as Kiss It Better and Love on The Brain, which displayed a more raw and emotional side of Rihanna that I was not expecting after years of Pop and Hip Hop music.

After listening to Rihanna for 12 years, I finally got to see her in concert last year at the Anti World Tour. Although Rihanna has come a long way from her home in Bridgetown to living in a New York Penthouse, the fame has not changed her personality and care-free attitude, which shows through her presence on and off stage.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

The Mighty 100

By Elizabeth Zaffino

WARNING: May contain spoilers!

Recently I began reading the book series The 100 by Kass Morgan after hearing my friends rave about the TV show adaptation. By time I got to the third book I just had to check out the show and it wasn’t long before I started to pick up on the differences.

Here are the differences I was able to spot between the first three books and the first nine episodes of The 100:

On the show Clarke's dad dies when he gets floated for trying to tell everyone that the ship is running low on oxygen and that there were plans to cut down the population. In the book both of Clarke’s parents die when they get floated for doing radiation experiments on orphaned children.

On the show Wells takes the fall for why the council found out about Clarke’s farther when really it was Clarke’s mother who let it out. In the book Wells is the one who tells the Chancellor.

On the show Octavia gets confined after being asked for her ID at a party but she has none because she is not supposed to exist as only one child per couple is allowed and her mother had to keep her hidden from society. In the book Octavia gets confined for stealing sleeping drugs because she needs them to fall sleep.

On the show Clarke and wells never dated but in the book they dated before coming to earth.

On the show Octavia and Bellamy appear older but in the book it is known that Octavia is 14 years old and Bellamy is 19 years old.

On the show Wells dies when Charlotte stabs him in the neck but in the book Wells is still alive by the end of the third book.

On the show the people born on earth are known as grounders and in the book people born on earth are known as Earthborns.

On the show there are only hostile grounders while in the book there is a group of friendly Earthborns and a more dangerous group that broke off after a disagreement.  

On the show Clarke and Bellamy don't exactly like each but in the book Clarke and Bellamy show affection towards one another and even eventually date.

On the show Bellamy is hot headed and reckless and although Bellamy is a hot head in the book too there are many moments when you see his caring/loving side.

On the show the audience gets to follow through the perspective of important adults back on the ship as well as the 100 on Earth while in the book the perspective is split between only Glass, Clarke, Wells & Bellamy.

On the show Chancellor Jaha recovers from being shot but in the book is in a coma.

Some characters that are in the show and not in the book are Lincoln, Charlotte, Jasper, Monte, Murphy, Finn, Raven, and Vice Chancellor Cain. Some characters that are in the book and not in the show are Glass, Luke, Sasha, Max, Felix, Eric, Vice Chancellor Rhodes, Asher, Lily, Priya, Kendall, and Graham.

These are just some of the differences that I was able to pick up on when comparing The 100 book series to the TV show.

Thanks for reading, oh and try not to get floated.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Stranger Things Prediction: The Reincarnation (Fan Theory)

By Maliha Mahboob

Note: This post is an entirely fan-based theory.

SPOILER ALERT!

The Reincarnation

Doesn’t that sound bone chilling? Reincarnation is the word used to define the state of a dead being brought back to life- in a different body. Popular media will have us believe that when you are reincarnated, you look the same, flesh and bone alike. But concerning the topic at hand, will that be the case?

In case you were wondering, I am referring to the Demogorgon in the Hit Netflix series, “Stranger Things”, the monster who seems to be a mutated lotus who devours living creatures. For those who did NOT watch it, stop right here and leave. But for those who have watched it, here is a potential plotline:

After the rescue of Mike Byers and the sudden disappearance/death of Eleven, everyone seems to be happier than ever and have resumed their normal lives. But can life ever be normal for Mike, who had seen things other children only have nightmares about? We hoped, until the heart-wrenching last scene of the last episode, during when Mike is in the washroom, throwing up what seems to be thick black worms.  

What could this mean?

The most obvious theory is simple: The Demogorgon had been using Mike’s body as a breeding ground.

Based on my limited knowledge of nature and deep cynicism, only two things can happen at this point: One, the more dreadful end, is that the growing monsters in Mike’s belly will feed on his blood and flesh until they’ve eaten enough to puncture a hole through Mike’s torso- during which they will escape and emerge into the outside world to begin looking for new meat. We sincerely hope that wont happen to a child.

The second and though just as dreadful, it is less…..tragic. The monster inside Mike grows by the day, feeding from him, until it grows large enough to begin manipulating Mike. Like a human host. Later, when the monster is simply too large to fit in a little boy’s body, Mike loses his human appearance and after a painful transformation, emerges as the Demogorgon. This is the least likely to happen, though it would be equally awesome and gruesome to watch Joyce, Jonathan, Hopp, Nancy and the boys to fight their former family and friend.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Blurring the Lines: East Coast vs West Coast

By Spencer Collaton

Pac vs. Big, Nas vs. Jay-Z and so on and so forth… The ever-so popular debate has raged on since Tim Dog’s diss track released in 1991 targeting Compton based rappers, culminating in the murder of Notorious B.I.G in 1997.

Let’s start with west coast, from the mid ’80s through the mid ‘90’s, the west coast had a very distinct sound; this sound was raw and grimy and derivative of gang culture and often contained more funk melodies and samples.

The east coast on the other hand, featured more jazz melodies and samples and was often seen as the more aggressive and more lyrical style of hip-hop.

Now for a little historical context on how the rivalry began: The year was 1993 when Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs founded the record label Bad Boy Records based out of New York City. The next year the labeled revealed their shining star, Brooklyn-born Notorious B.I.G (Christopher Wallace). During this time NWA’s Eazy-E and Jerry Heller founded rival label Death Row Records, responsible for launching the career of Tupac Shakur in an attempt to break the east coast bias that big labels possessed at the time.

Pac and Biggie’s rivalry was instantaneous, the rivalry was made very public and both did little to hide their distain for one another. Although never proven to be accurate, Tupac was certain Biggie was responsible for his shooting and robbery in Manhattan in 1994.

Come August 1995 more fuel was added to an already rampantly burning fire, when Death Row CEO Suge Knight very publicly took a jab at Sean Combs and Bad Boy Records at the years SOURCE awards saying:

“Any artists out there that want to be an artist and stay a star, and don’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos ... All on the records ... dancing, come to Death Row!”

This was a clear attack on the fact that Combs had a tendency to feature on a lot of his artists tracks and make frequent appearances in their music videos to boost his own image. Knight’s attack was very unpopular with the Source awards crowd for two reasons, the first: It seemed to be a jab at the entire east coast scene and secondly: the event was held in New York that year.

After the release of Big’s track Who Shot Ya? (which wasn’t an admission of guilt, but rather an opportunity to boast and gloat) Tupac began to appear on numerous tracks (Bomb First, Hit ‘Em Up…) targeting Biggie, his label and anyone affiliated with them with antagonistic insults and threats of violence. Biggie never officially released a retaliatory track at Shakur, although many listeners interpreted many of his lyrics were subliminally shots aimed at Tupac.

Now we get to the point where things really began to escalate, in September of 1996, Tupac was wounded fatally in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was rushed to the University of Southern Nevada’s Medical Center where he passed away six days later. Police had suspected a rival gang member of the Crips, Orlando Anderson had shot Pac as a retaliation to an earlier attack, however he was acquitted of all charges and passed away in an unrelated shooting two years later.

Six months after Tupac’s death, Notorious B.I.G was also killed in a drive-by shooting again by an unknown attacker in Los Angeles.

After the passing of these two titans of industry, a peace summit was held at Mosque Maryam in Chicago, Illinois by Minister Louis Farrakhan, the minister continues these summits today where he has succeeded in blurring the lines between the East and West coast.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Canadian Content!

By DJ Anton (Anthony Di Principe)

Can-Con or Canadian Content same name with the same meaning and the same job.

Can-con is the biggest and most important part of any radio station. Radio stations run under the CRTC and must do what they say, if they fail to do that the radio station can face charges and can be sued. Commercial radio stations must ensure that at least 35% of the Popular Music broadcast between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday is Canadian content. There must be between 4-6 Canadian artist played within an hour of a radio show.

Can-Con is one of the biggest things every radio station must follow the Can-Con rules it doesn’t matter if it is online or on a FM or AM dial. CRTC is constantly listening all day everyday ensuring that radio stations are following the Can-Con rules and that the Canadian artists are getting paid for the hard work and effort that they put into recording their songs.

Many people aren’t sure how the Canadian content works because they don’t always seem to know who a Canadian artist is or what they sing. Can-con also comes into play on TV shows or big sporting events that are ran in Canada.

A lot of new and up coming artist are all under the Can-Con list they all have a chance to make it on the radio and have a chance to go far and become like every other well known artist.

Can-Con has come a long way from where they first began. Can-Con is the “police” of music they’re job is to ensure that all Canadian artists are getting their royalties and that they are getting paid for what they are doing and the music that they produce and that no ones scamming the system and getting music for free without paying the artist for all their work that they do.

Shania Twain

It’s no secret that Canadians are pretty talented. We brought the world the music of Alanis Morrisette, Shania Twain, Michael Bublé, and for a brief window of angst-fuelled time, Avril Lavigne. Due to Canada’s close proximity to the U.S., our government has always feared becoming an extension of American culture. In 1971, Pierre Juneau of the Canadian Radio-Television Commission, argued that, “Canadian broadcasting should be Canadian.” Prior to this, Canadian broadcasting had pretty much been a pawn to transmit American talent. The likes of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young felt they had to take their music south to make something of themselves. The American music industry was poaching our talent and filling our radio waves with their own.

Mendes

But do these regulations actually help struggling Canadian musicians make a living doing what they love? We can’t say for sure. To see how these content rules affect the success of artists, take a look at the two newest and biggest additions to Canadian music – Magic! And Shawn Mendes.

Magic

The thing is, with all the new technological advancements that allow music junkies to stream music (Spotify, Soundcloud, Songza), which isn’t governed by these CanCon laws, people can now listen to whatever they want. Nowadays, it’s becoming progressively harder to ensure Canadians are listening to native content.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu - Director

By Tania Zavala

Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu is a Mexican filmmaker known today for his films Birdman and The Revenant. I consider that Gonzales Iñarritu is a person who inspires many creative young people today as his work has been rewarded, valued and exposed in the eyes of the world. I find it fascinating how he portrays his experiences and situations that the world lives on in his films. I've never sat down to talk to him, but I know he works very hard to inspire many.

Amores Perros is one of his films that have excited me the most. In this movie he explored the life of Mexican society, telling three different stories that are intertwined by a somewhat dramatic situation. The content of his films could be considered a bit strong for some people, and that is why his films seem to be shocking. Amores Perros was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film, which did not win. Years later Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu won not one but three Oscars for best film, best director and best original film with the movie Birdman. Birdman was acclaimed by critics, with particular attention to the performance of the cast and photograph, is considered one of the best films of 2014.

The Revenant is one of the most current films by Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu. This movie tells the story of the fight for survival and the spirit of revenge of a fur hunter, and an American explorer. This project seemed to me current, and relevant. The film touches on issues that our society is living today such as racial inequality and global warming. This movie was an adventure, the photography is beautiful and the performances incredible. Also, the film was the film that gave the Oscar to Leonardo Di Caprio as best actor and Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu as best director.

It is clear that we all have talent, but we have to work very hard for all that we are passionate about.

[screensandmelodies-blog]

Jon Snow’s Parentage May Lead to Bittersweet Ending

By Mackenzie Burns

Hi Everyone,

Today’s blog post is about one of Game of Thrones leading men, Jon Snow. This post will explore how his parentage may lead to the bittersweet ending. In the 6th season, Jon Snow is proclaimed King, during a meal with all the other houses in the North Swearing fealty towards house Stark. After having taken back Winterfell along side Sansa Stark, his presumed half sister. This is something unusual because he is seen by the world as the illegitimate son of Lord Eddard Stark, the once leader of House Stark and warden of the north. But was he ever illegitimate in the first place?

Also in Season 6 through Bran Stark, Jon’s “half brother” we are introduced to the idea of who Jon Snow’s mother really is. Although in earlier seasons of the show as well as the books, we are introduced to Eddard Stark’s sister Lyanna. She was betrothed to marry Robert Baratheon, who at the time when the show and books start is King. But was never part of the royal succession before the main story begins. Why you may be wondering? He started a rebellion against the crown. The rebellion started because it was believed that his betrothed Lyanna Stark, was abducted by the crowned Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Rhaegar Targaryen was a married man, and a father. Before the disappearance of Lyanna and Rhaegar into thin air as it seems, he was married to the Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. Elia and Rhaegar have a daughter and a son together.  The disappearance lasts about a year. Rhaegar Targaryen comes out of hiding and meets Robert’s Rebellion on the battle field where he ultimately meets his demise.

After the war was seemingly to be over, Eddard Stark, rode to the Red Mountains that boarder the very south with the capital’s surrounding area of Kings landing. He rides with 7 banner man royal to his family, when he arrives he finds 2 kings guard who are loyal to the Targaryen family. There is a fight where both Targaryen kings guard and most of the banner men are killed. Leaving Eddard and Howland Reed to be the only survivors.

Eddard runs up the stairs into the tower, hoping to save his sister only to find out that she is dying. He is so focused on her, as he hasn’t seen her in so long that he doesn’t realize that she is dying from child birth. She ends up dying but before she does, Lyanna makes her brother promise that he would protect her son, to not let anyone know who his father is. To make him a seen by the eyes of the world as illegitimate. But he might not be, he may be more important to the story then everyone else thinks. Lyanna and Rhaegar might have been married, having had a secret wedding. Their son, who the world knows as Jon, may be a legitimate child after all.

Now, finally why where we might pick up in Season 7 is important to the ending:

In the beginning of Season 7, Jon Snow will be in Winterfell, with his “sister” Sansa, trying to rule over the North as their King.  Now Winter has arrived, he is not prepared for what this means, ruling during a time of potential but great trouble.  Daenerys Targaryen, whom is part of the family who were the rulers of the kingdoms will arrive close to the capital, but just far enough that she can begin truly strategizing what she is going to do. Jon Snow must meet with her, as she needs as many noble houses as possible to back her claim. During this period, the ice zombies known to the show as the White Walkers are going to become more dangerous and strong. As they are the true enemy, Jon knows that he has to act fast. Gain an army that will help him in the battle that is going to come. He knows he is going to have to make an alliance, growing his army that is going to rally behind him when the time comes to fight against the ultimate villain in the show. He has mainly 2 options that will be effective in the great battle, his Aunt Daenerys and his Cousin Sansa.

Daenerys Targaryen: She is his Aunt, even though they look nothing alike because of the resessive genes of the Targayrens. Marrying brother and sister can do that. She has 3 large dragons, he has a massive army already backing her which include noble houses the Greyjoys, Martells, and the Tyrells. As well as the Dothraki and her Unsullided. She is of noble blood and birth. She has had one child before but with dark magic, he had died right after birth. The dark magic also caused her to be barron, unable to have any children. Which could be troublesome if they were to marry and have any children. They have never met before, so the any potential feelings that may rise wouldn’t be seen as awkward until the truth comes out. It seems like this is the approach that the show will take as these two characters are both viewed as the heroes of the story.

Video supporting this pairing: 

Sansa Stark (Lannister/Bolton): She is his cousin by blood but they were raised as siblings so this marriage may start off been seen as gross or strange. If Jon is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he would be the true heir to the Iron Throne and rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. He would then be proclaimed Jon Targaryen. Marrying Sansa Stark, the Key to the North would be an option for the realm in terms to bringing to the 2 areas together. Uniting the people behind an alliance that would benefit them all. The North and South in harmony.  They would be able to have children, who would have rightful claim to both the north and the iron throne. Giving House Targaryen a line of succession. Their marriage first may be out of convenience but could have the possibility to turn romantic. As originally George R R Martin had Jon fall in love with Arya Stark, the younger of his “Sisters”. This idea of this alliance would not be completely out the realm of possibility.

Video supporting this paring:

After an alliance is created with whom ever the writers choose, Jon is going to have to fight the White Walkers, when the time comes. One way that it could end is that the collective armies from all over Westeros fight and win. Leading to a possible and likely group of mass casualties. But it would mean that the ultimate threat is defeated but life would be changed in terms of ruling. Jon if he was to live, would likely be proclaimed King and live out whatever days he has ruling. He would likely be a King without his Queen who would mostly end up dying during the battle. This scenario would be based on if he was to marry whom ever, she would have gotten pregnant, but die as well as their child. He would be in power, which is something that he never wanted. As well as losing another person that he cared about in the process. Everything that he never wanted is going to be taken away from him. Jon’s future in the story is going to involve important decisions and agreements that he never thought he would have the opportunity to hold. He is going to have to be aligned with someone, who also has an important name to not only add to his vitality for someone to follow. He would also be living the rest of his life not knowing who is mother was, as potentially, the people that do know never have the chance to tell him the truth about who he really is. This would be the bittersweet ending that George R.R Martin had promised his readers. Jon would have been given the one thing that cost him everything from his old life, including himself.  

[screensandmelodies-blog]

The Chart Formula: The Path to Successful Music Careers?

By Jared Leal

Disclaimer: This post is a satirical view on the music industry by someone whom it confuses.

Every single era of music has a distinct sound linked to it. Like disco to the late 70s or gangsta rap to the mid 90s. Right now, the trend seems to be a monotone blend of southern hip-hop, R&B and electronic music. This a trend likely influenced by Drake and The Weeknd along with their writers, producers and collaborative peers.

In 1978, Blondie (a rock band) released a disco experiment, called “Heart of Glass.” The number 1 smash was as controversial as it was successful.

I bring this up because with the most successful trends in musical styles comes people apparently exploiting those trends for profit and fame. The result isn’t necessarily bad music, but rather a toxic mindset regarding songwriting in general. As a producer myself, my main focus has always been to just create good songs and let the public receive it as they please. But that’s soOo0o bo0oOring. We need to listen to the radio and latch onto the trends so that we too can be Starboys.

Which is why I made my own version of: THE CHART FORMULA

For producers, songwriters and even listeners alike!

1. Make (or steal) a simple beat.

What is a simple beat? Well, if I have to explain it to you it wouldn’t be simple right?

2. Choose a topic.

Love, if you’re a singer. Even better, self-empowerment; just another wishy-washy song about how “you” are beautiful and can accomplish anything, whoever “you” is. If you’re a rapper, you can talk about pretty much anything as long as you make half-witted remarks about drugs, sex and money, all while making it very clear that your life is ten times better than anyone listening.

3. “Sing”

Mumble as much “relevant” words about your topic. What you say doesn’t matter, as long you have a hook phrase (i.e. work). Your mission is done if your song torments your listeners’ minds for years to come.

4. Stop Dreaming

Throw all of your optimism away. This is where you remember that there are tons doing the same thing as you, and it’s almost a lottery to whoever “breaks through” (however long that may last). Go home and work on your thing, because you are all you have on everyone else.

A smash hit for the wrong reasons...

I could talk about actual loopholes that have been exploited for chart success like social media, memes and planted radio earworms; but this post is just an outlet for my frustration and confusion with this industry.

I apologize, I can be pretty cynical; especially when it comes to music. I’ve endured years of songs that I know are manufactured for material success and they all sucked. I’ve been subjected to co-writers who cared more about appealing to audiences more than making a fundamentally good song. It’s hard enough to please myself (a notorious perfectionist) with my own songs, let alone billions.

This disgruntled rant of mine is of course exaggerated because as much as I don’t want to admit it, the popular music industry is a business industry a lot more than it is a art industry. Someone squealing like a seal on track used on a viral video is no different than a car dealer feeding you half-truths for your $$$.

But is it too much too ask artists for something genuine, something to believe in, something good?