When I went to Urban Outfitters at Yonge and Eglinton, I immediately noticed the disposable cameras by the cash.
Browsing Tag
iPod
Photo Source: Slate
Steve Jobs was a legend. I still vividly recall the night he passed away. I was sitting at my desk in London and one of my Apple enthusiast friends sent me a Facebook message to commiserate. Millions miss him but his legacy lives on in pop culture and commerce.
Now Hollywood has released another tribute to him through Steve Jobs in which Michael Fassbender portrays him. It’s easier to learn about the pivotal moments of his career through a two-hour-long movie than by reading six hundred pages in Walter Isaacson’s biography.
The movie focuses on three key product launches between 1984 and 1998 to expose his personality, family life and business savvy. It’s interesting to see the evolution of his style because at first he wears suits and then he doesn’t find his trademark black turtleneck and jeans look until he introduces the iMac after returning to work at Apple.
Molson Amphitheatre hosted an amazing concert with the Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty on Thursday night. The Goo Goo Dolls were up first and played many of their big hits, including Slide and Black Balloon, but the crowd didn’t stand up until they started singing Iris.
Although it was disappointing that the two bands were never on stage together, they were both incredible. The Goo Goo Dolls’s music is more rock-heavy, whereas Matchbox Twenty’s set list was more mellow. Going to the nearly sold out concert was the perfect way to satisfy my nostalgia for the 90s and the crowd of 15,000 fans seemed to agree.
Typically that would’ve been enough live music to keep me happy for a few months, but then I went to another concert Friday night in Montreal. Just in time for Canada Day, Feist opened the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
TD was a prominent sponsor, which made sense considering their large presence seen at the Molson Amphitheatre on Thursday night, where they gave out neon green wristbands printed with a #TDmusic hashtag.
Feist took the stage a few hours after my VIA Rail train arrived, so it was very good timing. (Have I mentioned that taking the train is the best way to travel?) I’m not a huge Feist fan, but I’m always down for a good free concert, not to mention the opportunity to support Canadian musicians.
Prior to the Queen of Pop’s Super Bowl halftime show, I noticed she received lots of criticism, yet couldn’t fathom why. I’ve been a Madonna fan for as long as I can remember. Some of my early childhood memories include watching documentaries about how her career escalated before I was born and lip syncing singing along to her duet song, “Me Against the Music” with Britney Spears over the phone with a close friend. A few years ago, I even painted a ceramic plate with an iPod in the center and the tagline, “Get into the Groove.”
At 53, not only does she hold records for her chart-topping tracks, but she also looks incredible and shows no signs of slowing down. After dazzling us at the Air Canada Centre on her Sticky and Sweet Tour, where I regrettably didn’t buy an “Express Yourself” concert tee, it was difficult to see the superstar in a negative light.
Since “Give Me All Your Luvin’”, the first single from her 12th album, MDNA, debuted, reasons to dislike Madonna started becoming more apparent, but I find it hard to turn my back on one of my favourite performers.
Today Madonna made news because Malawi’s government officials are fed up with her donations that they feel are motivated too much by corporate interests in her global brand image than concern for children. When I first read the Toronto Star’s article, I mistook “state of the art girls school” and thought she’d arranged to build an arts school for girls because that sure would be thoughtful of her!
To be “fed up” with Madonna for wanting to improve Malawi’s education system is like being fed up with Angelina Jolie’s mass adoption spree or even Oprah’s generosity overseas for that matter. All of the above women have significant personal brands to protect, but along with their high status careers comes gigantic salaries and I hardly think we should criticize Madonna’s generosity to this extent. I hardly recall criticism from urban planners when Madge opened her first fitness centers in North America, so why so much outrage when she tries to do good in the world?
The blatantly excessive product placement in the “Give Me All Your Luvin’” music video was far from impressive, but it’s sure a catchy tune. That said, I confidently predict that it will not rank high on media professors’ list of video clips to show in future celebrity classes, the way that “Material Girl” was shown and then discussed at length last Friday at Western. They might as well just show separate commercials for Smirnoff, Adidas and whatever other brands were featured because aside from the ladies resembling Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls, the brands were the standout visuals in the video, and I certainly don’t mean that in a good way.
Madonna’s professional contributions to music, not to mention my iTunes library, combined with her ongoing philanthropic projects make her an icon to watch. I’m curious about what critics will say once MDNA’s full length tracks are released, but until then, let’s remember the positive memories Madonna offers fans and focus on that.
Coldplay – Paradise
Coldplay debuted their new music video for Paradise today and it’s wonderful from beginning to end. Watch it, play it in the background as you download the song on iTunes, and then play it on loop on your iPod, I dare you.
I’ll be keeping an eye open for information about an upcoming tour from the group because I loved their last show!