ROLLING STONE MAG

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I will not lie by saying that I am the most hardcore-music-lover out there. So, it makes sense that I hadn't had a close look at Rolling Stone until recently. 

Admittedly, music is, to me, an indescribably amazing force of pure awe, a ride of exhilaration with no end and no exhaustion, EVER. But in terms of magazines, my sturdy magazine shelf had only ever become acquainted with the spines of Frankie, Nylon, Yen, and, in the way of music magazines, two lonely copies of Jmag.

Having recently become closer to someone with a Rolling Stone subscription, I picked it up a few weeks ago when at aforementioned someone's abode, and discovered that Rolling Stone is actually really fucking awesome.

Perhaps it was because the copy of Rolling Stone that I lost my Rolling Stone virginity to had a feature article on Gossip Girl (a fantastically addictive show, despite many criticisms flung its way). However, it had the right balance of everything. It was mainly about music, but it didn't overspend on its main topic, and managed to include snippets of fashion, films and the people behind the music as well as the obligatory album reviews and new music news. 

Over the years of its existence (which began in America, in November 1967), Rolling Stone has covered everyone of the anyones in the music, and arguably the pop-culture industry. It has also been known for its political articles, the most noted of which were written by Hunter S. Thompson, a Gonzo journalist in the 70's.

Since its origin, Rolling Stone has experienced highs and lows, major changes, and criticisms from the public. After hiring an FHM editor to lower the age of their target audience, RS began publishing racier content, which was not received extraordinarily well for older readers.

However, despite shortcomings of the past, it has emerged to be extremely successful, and has established its roots deeply in the music-journalism scene, as it should be. 

I literally can't wait for the next issue. The anticipation is building. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Rolling Stone Magazine: Online: Much talking up has been done in the past few 3 minutes of your life spent reading the blogified ramblings above, so if you believe in them at all, click on the link to experience some of the action... or just go buy one.

HEY YA (ACOUSTIC COVER) - MAT WEDDLE

The acoustic cover of OutKast's insane dance-fever infecting song is just as cool. Recently featured on the ever-hilarious TV comedy Scrubs, this is a successful acoustic cover. Or, I like it.

Aforementioned cover is covered by Mat Weddle (right), a pretty cool sounding guy who also plays in the band Obadiah Parker. Says Weddle on his MySpace music page,

"Hi! My name is Mat. I play guitar and sing in a band called Obadiah Parker. Occasionally, I play guitar and sing all by myself in bars and restaurants and clubs and LA Fitness (well, I guess that was only once but it’s worth mentioning). I play a lot of original songs as well as a whole bunch of covers. Here’s a big list of people that I have covered: Radiohead, Bjork, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews, Bill Withers, Al Green, Foo Fighters, Damien Rice, Spoon, Neil Young, Coldplay, Marvin Gaye, Oasis, and Pedro the Lion. Oh yeah, and Outkast."

Although Obadiah Parker, and Weddle himself, remain unsigned to a label, they have released a live album which, according to Weddle, was extremely successful on iTunes.

Activities you should undertake whilst listening to this song:

Napping, reading the latest Rolling Stone (and eagerly anticipating going to see Synecdoche, New York, reviewed in aforementioned Latest Rolling Stone), thoughtfully considering the next keyring you will add to your collection (bottle opener shaped like a kangaroo, or bottle opener shaped like Australia? Perhaps a non-patriotic bottle-opener would be more desirable? Oh dear), or maybe expressing excitement for the Scrubs Finale (forever, apparently), set to air, should all go to plan, on Prime at 8:00 on the 1st of June.

In summary, this is my acoustic-chill-song-that-I-already-know-all-the-words-to-because-I-used-to-collect-So-Fresh-CDs-song of the moment.

LINKS

HEY YA (ACOUSTIC COVER) - MAT WEDDLE:

Unfortunately, embedding had been disabled, and it's too late at night for me to believe that an attempt at conjuring up HTML magic from my MySpace days will end in success, so a link will have to suffice in the meantime.

MAT WEDDLE'S MYSPACE MUSIC PAGE:

Get some more info on The Guy Behind It, should you wish.

OBADIAH PARKER'S MYSPACE MUSIC PAGE:

Get behind the guy, and the band he's in. Cause every cool guy is in a band.

Enjoooooy the moment.

CHAIN RXN

It's addictive. I'm not entirely sure why, but it is. It is a game reminiscent of Icy Tower and Bubble Trouble.

Essentially, it is a black screen with coloured balls bouncing around. You choose a spot to click, and the spot turns into a ball which expands / inflates. If said clicky ball happens to run into one of the many lazily floating mini balls, the mini balls will then also expand (or, as the game says, explode). When more mini-balls hit the expanded mini-balls, your score goes up. The aim is to expand / inflate / explode as many mini balls as possible with the one click (hence the title, Chain Rxn).

When first playing the game, I experienced the frustration I often find with video games. Being a female only child, I will admit that I have been unlucky enough to have a lack of experience when it comes to grasping the concepts of any electronic game. However, I got the hang of it soon enough and considered myself an expert when I was generating eight-figure high scores. My self congratulation was quickly interrupted by the cold, bitter taste of disappointment: On returning to my homepage, I discovered that two of my friends had somehow magically generated ten or eleven figure high-scores.

Upon further research and consideration, I realise that these ten or eleven figure high-scores might not be so impressive after all. In the last month, Chain Rxn, developed by 'Zwigglers", has reportedly gained over 1.5 million Facebook users, although I have yet to witness a form of the game outside Facebook application-land. 

Unlike other games, this particular one also appears to be soothing. There are not harsh chkchkchkchkchk sounds, or pows, or anything. Just peaceful, serene, bing, bong, bing, bing, bing, bongs, which induces a daydream off the younger years, when everyone had those incredible rainbow xylophones which made similar sounds.

In any case, Chain Rxn is definitely the addiction of the moment, and if its supposedly awe-inspiring and relaxing as well as addictive, I don't really see any downsides.

LINKS

CHAIN RXN

Due to its relative newness and exclusiveness to the Facebook circuit, Chain Rxn doesn't have a good variety of YouTube videos, or even a Wikipedia page. However, one link I can include is the application link. So click it, explode some mini-balls, and make your day at least forty times better.

BUBBLE TROUBLE

If you end up loving Chain Rxn, and haven't experienced the joys of other simple-but-addictive games, try Bubble Trouble, on MiniClip...

ICY TOWER

...Or, give the ever-classic Icy Tower a try... Takes me back to Year 7 Lab Lessons.