The Pop Culture of Gus Lequerica

It seems behind the heavy make-up and extravagant personality, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta or better known as Lady Gaga has a heart because on her record signing she gave 80 extra large cheese pizza from Papa John’s to her waiting fans who were waiting at a Best Buy in Los Angeles.

From her Twitter she wrote “Sending my little monsters little pizzas for waiting all night for me at the Best Buy. I hope you are hungry… eat up I love you” and the best part it was Lady Gaga herself who paid for the pizzas and even she gave a generous tip to the delivery men who gave the pizzas to the her fans.

The “poker face” singer also thanked her fans for making her latest release “Fame Monster” number one on Itunes. The generosity of Lady Gaga goes beyond the pizzas because she gave to a lucky fan a special edition of her latest single attached with a lock of her hair, a personal note and a puzzle. Not bad, not bad… 

Former American Idol alumni Katherine McPhee looks really good in a Marchesa gown at the 37th International Emmy Awards Gala last night in NYC. Katherine’s one shoulder silk dress grabbed the attention of many spectators as well fashion critics because it’s a complete departure from her previous Gwen Stefani No Doubt looks during her American Idol year.

Colombian writer and present winner of his novel Romulo Gallego, William Ospina it’s going to be leading the Author America’s Week (Semana Autor de las Americas). The week is planned so that the Cuban scholars as well public as well can have different encounters with the author so they can now more about the story from the writer himself. The event was announced by Jorge Fornet Headmaster of the organization of La Casa de las Americas in a live television broadcast which he made a small synopsis about William Ospina career and previous works published under the house editorial.

The XVII Festival of Accordionists and Song Writers of El Guamo, Bolivar closed with a positive balance because of the massive assistance of the public as well many figures of the Vallenato movement.

Even with all the climatic problems and the road problems people assisted to the annual event to watch perform their favorite singers or as is called in Colombia Vallenateros. The winners were Antonio Maya in the category of amateur accordionist; The Piqueria contest was won by Freddy De Avila and the unpublished song contest was won by Freddy Avila; more information on El Universal.

The sequel of Twilight and second movie in the series “New Moon” is a little bit different than the first one directed by Catherine Hardwicke as Catherine took a more romantic approach in the narrative of the movie than Chris Weitz (the new director) who in New Moon moved Catherine’s point of view of the Stephenie Meyer’s books to a more Harry Potter environment to appeal more on the teenagers market in terms of visual aspect as well dialogues but that doesn’t mean the movie is bad.

As in the books the movie takes where the first movie left, on her 18th birthday the Cullens throw a birthday celebration to Bella, everything goes smoothly until Bella paper cuts with one of the presents she receive and the smell of her blood make Jasper overstimulated and he tries to kill Bella because of the smell of her blood. In order to protect Bella, the Cullens decide to move from Fork without any warning to Bella, which leaves Bella depressed and heartbroken because her boyfriend is gone. Soon Bella relearns to enjoy her time alone and learns a couple of new hobbies but she feels the loneliness that Edward left in her heart but doing those thrill hobbies let her to hear Edward voice in her head. Months pass and Bella finds comfort in Jacob Black who slowly ease the pain and void that Edward left but there is a secret that Bella finds out about Jacob really soon that he and his friends are a pack of werewolves who are protecting Bella from Laurent and Victoria due the events of Twilight.

Even with the changes in the narrative dynamics the movie still has many of the romantic elements saw in the first one but those elements that were present in the first movie in a sub-context are in New Moon in a major context taking out the elements of a supernatural thriller into something more melodramatic such as a supernatural romance movie. There sometimes that the screenplay tends to be rather weak and slow making a patience game to the viewer so he or she can know how the movie will end.

The movie itself isn’t disappointing, it’s quite enjoyable to be light and don’t expect a masterpiece of the seventh art as the reason is New Moon is a movie aimed to teenagers and not adults but also if you are a fan don’t expect the same quality that was observed in the first movie because the work of Catherine Hardwicke to take to a new level the Twilight books isn’t there anymore but overall is worth to spend a couple of extra bucks and have a really nice time to go and watch this movie.

The Twilight Saga newest movie broke the midnight record previously established by Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince by achieving US$26.27 Mill and Harry Potter had only US$22.2 Mill showing the movie at midnight of Friday but it has to be seen if New Moon can beat in general to the sequel of Batman: Begins “The Dark Knight” which had US$67.2 Mills on his first day in general but it had only US$18 Mills on the first night at 3.040 theaters opposite to New Moon which opened at 3.514 theaters which maybe can explain why it broke the record in theory, because it opened in more theaters than Harry Potter and Batman: The Dark Knight.

The screenings of Twilight 2 will increase during the weekends to 4.000 theaters which will double the amount of screens that it will be shown up to 8.000 movies approximately.

So another disaster movie by none other than Roland Emerich the same man who brought up many disaster movies such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow which both movies have the same ending as this one, a pan scan of Earth to show how much it has changed in some way or another.

As many of his movies there is the same premise where a man foreshadows the end of the world and nobody pay attention to what he said only that he was right in the end, that’s basically the synopsis of this movie which is not good in terms of narrative but is amazing in terms of special effects as they are more elaborate than Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow and those effects make the movie enjoyable at certain degree because you will get away from the lack of narrative and personality that the characters don’t have.

After watching 2012 it makes me think why all the modern disaster movies follow the same formula at certain degree with maybe the exception of Armageddon which was a little bit different in the visual premises of the destruction of the world. As many disaster movies they show an accelerated rhythm of the destruction of the Earth which occurs in less than 72 hours even so far when science has predicted in many scenarios that will take more than a millennium to happen and even if the Proton Synchrotron malfunctions it will take more than a decade to generate a big catastrophe; probably the only apocalyptic scenario is with a meteorite crash but the odds are so low that it probably won’t happen until a very long time.

The given score to the movie is a 2 over 5 stars for one simple reason it lacks of originality; avoid watching this one because you will be watching a spiritual remake of The Day After Tomorrow or Deep Impact (not the porno) and if you want to watch something that will creep you out because the possibilities of the Impact Event aren’t that far away in this chaotic universe watch the special on the Discovery Channel about the doomsday.

I don’t know why people say this movie is scary, I didn’t jumped from my seat not a single time but probably the reason I don’t find this movies scary it’s because I lived in a much frighting reality where my enemies weren’t invisible threads such as poltergeist or ghost but rather psychopaths and armored killers much like Ichi the Killer which they can kill somebody without remorse or with the minimum hesitation.

At least opposite to the Blair Witch this movie didn’t had strange camera moves that didn’t made feel sick by watching the movie but opposite to the 2012 I didn’t get bored by watching this one. The premise of this movie reminds me a lot of REC which was released in the same year this movie was filmed (2007) where a group of people face a paranormal entity that kills them at the end. Big deal and what a premise, maybe the American horror producers should learn a little bit of the Jhorror, Khorror and Spanish horror cinema to create their own ideas instead of trying to emulate them but maybe they have run out of any fresh ideas because after many sequels and remakes that are on the go the scream cinema is basically the same and don’t say that Hostel is original just check the Asian Guinea Pig series specially the number one movie of the franchise which bears many resembles to Hostel and it was released almost 20 years prior Hostel.

The given score to this movie is a 3.5 over 5, even if don’t show something really scary at least is really enjoyable and the acting is completly credible and I can assure you will go out with a smile after the film ends.

British transgressive singer Annie Lennox was chosen as Woman of Peace 2009 this past Wednesday because of her commitment to the fight of AIDS in South Africa  at the end of the Nobel Laureates in Berlin.

The Scottish singer who raised to fame during the 80’s as one of the founding members of Eurythimcs created in 2007 the initiative SING that all benefits from the records are destined to fight the pandemic in South Africa, continue the education about this incurable disease that claims the life of millions of people every year.

Lennox was wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “HIV Positive” received the award a bronze statuete in the hands of South African former president Frederik de Klerk who is a Nobel Peace winner due the reform he implemented in 1991 to abolish the Apartheid permanently. Lennox dedicated the price to all the woman who fight to contain this pandemic. 

The reboot of Star Trek won the Best Film Award of the Hollywood Film Festival, for the best movie of 2009 (yeah the movie rules and I’m not a Trekkie) plus Zachary Quinto was awarded with the Spotlight Award 2009 (given by the femme fatale and heroine of Lost Michelle Monaghan).

Even in the death Michael Jackson continues to generate some kind of controversy; this time AllGood Entertainment is the responsible for the latest drama; and they want more than US$300 Million in revenues for the movie that chronicled the last days of the King of Pop and even so far they want to share revenues of the Sony Catalog.

AllGood also is suing John Branca and John McClain the specials co-administrators of the Jackson State as well Frank Dileo because he acted as a booking agent and he even promised that a Jackson 5 reunion would happened but AllGood didn’t expected that Michael Jackson was going to die and now they are wanting retribution. This situation is more crazy than Britney Spears Circus (and I don’t mean the song).

Recently I had the chance to interview Memphis Indie Musician Andrecus “Gentrax” Boyle or as he’s known also AndrecusB; the interview was made in English and translated because  the publication I collaborate with it’s basically in Spanish but here is the interview in English; and I hope you enjoy.

The topic of the interview it’s basically e-marketing and how indie musicians can take advantage of youtube and social sites as Myspace to promote their message and art.

Q:  What do you think about the power of internet and networking sites like YouTube and MySpace give to new artist the opportunity to promote their arts?

A:  I think sites like Youtube and MySpace are tremendous tools, especially for independent artists like me because they allow us to reach places that we ordinarily wouldn’t or couldn’t be seen or heard. They help us get that exposure to the regions where we physically can’t be. So there are great asset.

Q:  How were your formative years as a musician (artist)?

A:  Well it all began for me in church, as a 5yr old singing beside my mother in our church choir! That was the beginning, the foundation! I come from a family rich in music history. My father and his brothers and sisters, when they were young used to sing and tour throughout the southern region, so music’s a part of who I am. As a youngster I was always doing something musically from singing in church, to joining my brother and 3 cousins in a local singing group! We did gigs everywhere we could, from church concerts, to school functions to parties! My passion for musicianship really grew during the time I spent as a trumpet player in my middle and high school bands. Also taking piano lessons along the way I started respect and became intrigued with the production side of the music! I’ve just been involved in and been around so many great musicians locally that those many different experiences have helped shape the musician I am today!

Q:  What difficulties have you found in the way as an independent musicians?

A:  Well, It’s difficult for independent artists because major label artists get designated marketing dollars for radio play, music placements in films, television shows, and commercials. They also get album promotion and etc. We as independent artists aren’t afforded such luxuries, so it’s that much harder for us to get our product or our brand to the masses. Also, as an independent artist, you are in control of your Marketing, and Accounting. You play the role of Manager, PR person, and Booking agent. You do it yourself, because you have to…It’s difficult, but I enjoy the challenge!

Q:  How did you get started in the music business?

A:  Well, the game was kind of given to me early. During high school I began working with FL Studio. I took me awhile to get my sound up to par! I used to sneak in and just watch my big cousin as he would produce his tracks, soaking in everything. I learned a lot of the game from him. There was a period of about 5 years, from 2001 to 2006, where I was producing for everyone and featuring on songs with everyone. Although I knew I could sing and had been doing so all my life, I didn’t have the confidence in myself as an artist. So I would write and produce for other artists, hoping that somebody would blow and I would be on my way! Eventually, it boiled down to me acknowledging that I had to get out here and make it happen. I locked myself in my room and submerged myself with music. Writing, producing, and recording, hit music. This when I really started to take myself and my craft seriously! This is when it became my career. GENtrax Productions, the business was spawned.    

Q:  What eStrategies (Virtual Strategies) do you use to promote your art?

A:  I try and have profiles on all social networking sites, music on all music sites, so fans can have access to my music. I make sure I establish a rapport with my fan base and build on the support of my fan base through video blogs and etc.

Q:  How do you finance your music?

A:  Honestly, I work a 9 to 5 job!  Right now the revenue from the music is now steady enough for me to rely solely on it. On the production side it comes and goes. Some weeks, months are better than others.

Q:  What are the styles and musicians that influenced your personal style?