Christmas Special!

     Hello! This week I wanted to do a Christmas Post since ITS ALMOST CHRISTMAS! Yay!!

History of Christmas
(Info found on: Christmas Wikipedia)

     Christmas is a christian religious holiday celebrated all over the world. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Except his actually birthday is unknown. So we aren't sure when exactly he was born. Christmas is a public holiday in many countries. Some countries there aren't even that many Christians! Periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration in some Non-christian countries. Santa Claus, a very popular Christmas character, is based on Saint Nicholas who was known to give out gifts.

        There is a long history for decorating on Christmas. In the 15th Century, in London, at was a custom that at Christmas every house and all the parish churches were to be "decked with holm, ivy, bay, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green." The heart shaped leaves on the ivy represented the coming of Jesus Christ, the holly was for protection from pagans and witches and the thorns and red berries represented the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus on his crucifixion and the blood that he shed. The colors of Christmas, red and green, are popular too. The red symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed, and the green represents eternal life, like the evergreen tree, the trees that are used on Christmas. All around the world people celebrate Christmas differently. Here, we celebrate by visiting family and friends and giving gifts. Even here many families have special traditions like how I go to a family-friends house and we call out peoples names for gifts every year!

Christmas Songs

Here in the US, many artists have Christmas albums. Some songs are original and others are covers of traditional songs. For example Justin Bieber has a Christmas album called Under The Mistletoe Most of his songs like Christmas Love and Mistletoe are originals. Songs like The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire) is a cover of a traditional. Other artists like Michael Buble and Mariah Carey have Christmas songs too. More artists that have Christmas albums include: Colbie Calliat, Blake Shelton, and Christina Perri. One popular song is Mariah Carey's version of All I Want For Christmas Is You. 

During this time of year, many radio stations start playing christmas carols like Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland. There are many traditional Christmas carols that people sing during Christmas. Here are some of the most popular:

I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog post! 

What are some of YOUR family traditions during Christmas?

Do you have any favorite Christmas songs?

-Johanne(:

     

Artist: Taylor Swift

Hello! I wanted this week's blog post to be about an artist. Lately I have been very fond of Taylor Swift. So, I want this post to be about her! Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13th, 1989 and was raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was 14 to pursue a career in country music. She was signed to an independent label Big Machine Records. She was also named the youngest singer/songwriter ever hired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing House. She became the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song in the country chart after she released her third single, "Our Song" Another acheivment was that she was nominated for Best New Artist Grammy award and won.

Taylor is now 23 (her birthday was yesterday) with 4 studio albums. Her recent album is Red which was released on October 12th. On a gossip show a few days ago I saw that she was the second most rich female artist with 57 million dollars. I really like Taylor Swift because her songs have so much meaning to them since she writes her songs herself. Some of her songs are co-written. Taylor is also a very down-to-earth and sweet person. I recommend you listen to her songs and listen to her latest album Red! Thank you for reading this weeks blog post!! :) -Johanne

Song Of The Week (Week 3)

Hello! I decided I would do a song of the week every few weeks then do other posts(: This week I want to talk about the song Red by Taylor Swift. This song was released on October 2, 2012. Very recently. Red is also the name of her latest album which was released October 22,2012. It was written by Taylor herself and was actually recorded in Blackbird Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) The genre is country pop and pop rock. Here is a video for the song:
(Info found on: Red By Taylor Swift Wikipedia)

I think this song has a really deep meaning to it. Unlike most of her songs, this actually isn't referring to any exes.
"Remembering him comes in flashbacks, and echoes
tell myself its time now, gotta let go
but moving on from him is impossible
when I still see it all in my head"
I think these lyrics means like she has to let go, but she really doesn't want to and can't just forget him. Here is another set of lyrics:
"Losing him was blue like I've never known
missing him was dark grey all alone
forgetting him is like tryin' to know somebody you've never met
loving him was red"
Now, these lyrics mean that she doesn't want to lose him, misses him a lot, and it is really hard to forget him. 'Loving him was red' i think means that loving him is hard, but she really loves him too much to let go. Taylor's songs really have deep meanings to it, such as this song. I suggest you listen to Red and also listen to her album!
(Full lyrics:http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/taylorswift/red.html)

THANK YOU for reading this weeks blog post! QUESTION: Do you like Taylor Swift? What are some of your fave songs by her? COMMENT BELOW! :D -Johanne

The X Factor

Hello! So this week I would like to talk about the reality show, The X Factor USA. It was created by Simon Cowell and he partnered with Sony Music. The show began airing on FOX on September, 2011. The original show is The X Factor UK version. The whole idea of the show is that people compete, by singing, to win a 5 million dollar recording contract with Epic Records. People can actually vote via SMS, telephone, and online. There are four judges on the panel that critique the contestants' performance and the mentor the contestants in their category. The categories vary each season. You begin with the auditions, bootcamp, judge's house, then live shows. During the live shows, the mentor helps decide song choices, styles, and staging each week for their acts. That is where the people come in. We would vote each week for the people who we want to stay and then they reveal the results the next day. The people with the lowest votes has to do a survival song where they impress the judges and the judges decide who will stay or leave. Some weeks there would be a double elimination (the lowest goes home and the next to do survival). And the judges to compete to try and get their act to win and which ever judges' act wins, they become the winning judge.

This year, the judges are Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, L.A Reid, and Britney Spears. The categories are Teens(Britney), Young Adults(Demi), 25 and Up(L.A) and Groups(Simon). This week is the Live Show 9 with 8 contestants left. It also is a double elimination. Each judge has 2 acts left. You can vote either tonight or in the next weeks! Watch The X Factor USA on FOX at 8/7 central on Wednesdays and Thursdays(: thexfactorusa.com For more info about the show and the contestants! Here are the contestants:
Teens:
Diamond White
Carly Rose Soneclar

Young Adults:
CeCe Frey
Paige Thomas

25 and Up:
Vino Alan
Tate Stevens

Groups:
Fifth Harmony
Emblem 3

REMEMBER: You all can vote! Each vote counts(: Calling is unlimited and so is SMS but SMS is only for verizon. There is a limit of 50 votes online(: GO AND VOTE!!! -Johanne :D

Thanksgiving Special!

Belated Thanksgiving Everyone!!! So this week I want to talk about Thanksgiving (obviously!). There are so many things that we probably didn't know about this holiday! Did you know that the first ever thanksgiving was a three-day feast?? Did you know that during those three days, they ate, played games, and hunted in honor of the Pilgrims' first successful harvest? WATCH Bet You Didn't Know: Thanksgiving to learn more!

What did you guys think? Did you learn anything new? If so, what? I sure did!

MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE

So, each year, Macy's hosts a Thanksgiving Day Parade in Herald Square in New York. It started in 1924. This is a three-hour event that starts at 9 am. The reason this parade was created was because in the 1920's, Macy's employees were first generation immigrants and they wanted to celebrate the United States parade of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe. Now, in the parade, there are many floats, balloons, and marching bands. There are also singers in the floats. Some balloons include Dora, Spongebob, Buzz Lightyear, Hello Kitty, and many more. Towards the end if the parade there is Santa. Did you know that over 3.5 million people go to the parade and over 65 million people watch on TV? That is certainly a lot of people. This years Thanksgiving Parade included the balloons of Buzz, Spiderman, and and Ronald McDonald! There were also some singers there like Colbie Calliat and Cody Simpson. Since the parade is like three hours long, there were so many things there! But, I only named a few(; 

Thank you for reading this weeks post! Have you ever been to the parade? How was your Thanksgiving this year? -Johanne<3

Hurricane Sandy: Celebrities Lend A Hand

Hello! So today I would like to share some news about the Hurricane Sandy victims. Celebrities, such as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna, help with the Hurricane Sandy relief along with many others. Justin Bieber helped a lot because on twitter, he told everyone that for every ticket sold in his two MSG concerts, IZOD center concert, and Brooklyn concert, he will donate $1 to the Hurricane Sandy relief. ALL of those shows are sold out. On the news, it said that Lady Gaga personally donated $1M to help out in NY. There are a lot of news on Sandy on news show like CNN, and News 12 NJ. Celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Jessica Beil also lend a hand. Here is a picture of them:

Rihanna also helped too. According to some gossip site, she donated 1,000 sleeping bags through the New York Daily News. In addition to that, she is having a listening party for her new album Unapologetic and fans are asked to bring in supplies or non-perishable items to get in. There are lots of big shows that help out. The Ellen Show spread the word and donated. Here is a video: 

Food Network star Sandra Lee helps out Nov. 4th

Pictures of celebrities lending a hand:

Jenni "JWOWW" from Jersey Shore creates a food drive

There are so many more celebrities that helped out but these are just a few. You can lend a hand too! Text REDCROSS to 90999 OR visit the website: www.redcross.org :D Help out! YOU can make a difference. Thank you for reading this weeks blog post of mine! -Johanne

Music in Movies

      Hello! This week I will be talking about music in movies. Most movies have soundtracks, or songs, that go with the movie. For example, the movie The Hunger Games has a soundtrack. In this soundtrack, there are many artists. Some artists include Maroon5, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Lambert. All the songs in this soundtrack pretty much base on the meaning of the whole movie/parts of the movie. Some songs are only based on the main character, Katniss(played by Jennifer Lawrence). Some of the songs are:
-Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars
-Dark Days by The Punch Brothers
-Come Away to the Water by Maroon 5 ft Rozzi Cane

              

Here is the full soundtrack:

      Another example of a soundtrack is the Breaking Dawn Part 1 soundtrack. Some artists include: Christina Perri and Bruno Mars. These songs are played in the movie. Here is where you can find when it is played: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Soundtrack. Again, like the Hunger Games, the songs relate to the movie and certain parts of it. The lead song in the soundtrack is It Will Rain by Bruno Mars. There are a total of 15 songs. Some are:

-A Thousand Years by Christina Perri

-Northern Lights by Cider Sky

-I Didn't Mean It by The Belle Brigade

      There are so many other soundtracks but these are my favorites. A lot of movies have songs/soundtracks and were sung by lots of common artists! Thank you for reading my blog! -Johanne<3

Song Of The Week! (Week 2)

Firework By Katy Perry

     Hey everyone! This week's song is Firework By Katy Perry. It was written by herself, Mikkel S. Erikson, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, and Ester Dean. This song is in her album Teenage Dream (Click the link to buy it at Amazon.com). It was released on October 26th, 2010(2 Years Ago!). Firework was a very successful song, reaching the top on the Billboard 100, and Top 5 on 20 charts all around the world. It has sold over 5 million copies in the U.S alone as of October 2011! So, Fireworks was a very popular song. Here is the song:

I personally like this song a lot. It sends an amazing message and it is very catchy. This is what Katy herself said about this song: "Now, people are coming back and almost adopting it as their own anthem, and its hard, I think, to write an anthem that's not cheesy, and I hope that this could be something in that category. I hope that this could be one of those things where it's like, 'Yeah, I want to put my fist up and feel proud and strong.' But I also don't want to be cheesy, it's a fine line, and I think 'Firework' would be like the opus or my one song- if I had to pick a song to play-'cause it has a great beat. But it also has a fantastic message. Many people refer to the lines 'like the fourth of July' however the lyrics were 'like a firefly' as they reminded me of fireworks at night whenever I saw them. However the trend caught on and in live performances I sing 'like the fourth of July' which happens to make great sense to the song name." This song tells us how we are all special and we shouldn't feel sad, like in her lyric: Do you ever feel already buried deep? Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing. Do you know that there's still a chance for you, 'Cause there's a spark in you? You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine! Just own the night like the 4th of July! Cause baby your a firework! I think this is an amazing song and you guys should listen to her music!

   

Thanks for reading my blog!! -Johanne<3  

Music Creates Moods

Scary Music

     Music can create a mood. One mood is suspense or scared. Like, in movies, there are scary background sounds that create suspense. It helps make the movie scarier and more suspenseful. Scary background music also helps create mood when you are reading ghost stories or any scary story. Like in English class, my teacher, Mr.Poole, reads one ghost story each day for Halloween. When he reads it, he adds some scary or suspenseful music. It actually does make the mood more clear and it is scary! Here is some scary music from some horror movies. 

Sad Music

     Another mood is sad. When you are watching a movie, and there is a really sad part, you sometimes hear music in the background right? Well, that makes the sadness even more sad! Whether it is about someone dying or something tragic happening, sad music can enhance the scene. Most of the time it makes you want to cry even more. This is some sad Pixar movie moments. If you listen, you can hear background music, and it is pretty sad too! 

Music can create mood; sad, happy, suspenseful, and also excitement! But, it just help in movies or when you are reading, it also helps create a mood just by listening to it! Thank you for reading my blog! Be sure to check it out every week for posts and comment below! :D

Song of the Week

               **I will be talking about a song each week! Also I will post every Wednesday and/or Thursday!! :)**

Grenade Song By Bruno Mars Wiki (This is where some of the information came from)

Grenade By Bruno Mars

          Hi! This week I will be talking about the song Grenade by Bruno Mars. This is one of the songs in the debut album Doo-Woops & Hooligans (You can get it at Walmart for $10.00! Just click on the link). It was at first released as a promotional single on September 28th, 2012, but then became the second single of the album. This song was written by Bruno Mars himself, along with The Smeezingtons with Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, and Andrew Wyatt, his production team. Grenade was number one in a total of 6 different places: Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the U.K, and Canada. It has also been in the Billboard Top 100, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. Unfortunately, he had lost to Adele. The video for the song is below.

I think this song is a heartbreak type of song. It is about loving and caring for a girl who doesn't care about you at all. This is one line of the song: Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash, you tossed it in the trash, you did. To give me all your love is all I ever asked 'cause, what you don't understand is I'd catch a grenade for ya! Also, this song says that the guy would do anything for the girl, but the girl doesn't care and she is a bad person. I like this song because it has a meaning to it and it is also very catchy. Most of Bruno Mars' songs are really good too, such as The Lazy Song and It Will Rain. You should check out Bruno Mars on Youtube! Thank you for reading(:

Question: What songs should I do for the 'Song of the Week'??? Answer Below! :D

          

Pop Music

                                      What is Pop?
     Well, Pop is short for Popular music. During the 1950's and 60's, Pop used to be the same as Rock'n'Roll. Later in the years it started to become its own genre. Some important features in Pop music is:
-It is easy to listen to or appealing to many people
-Its highly advertised by big record industries
-Pop often encourages dancing. The music is mostly up-beat and easy to dance to.
Pop music is almost always played on the radio, at different stores, and in public transportations. Lastly, Pop has been influenced by many other genres of music. Some are Jazz, Country, Classical, and Dance. Overall, Pop can be for all ages and it is the most appealing to people now. 
Information found at:http://www.pianolessons4children.com/genres/pop-music.php

Pop Artists

     In the 1960's, the Beatles were a very popular English band. Later in the 1990's, the Spice Girls were and incredibly popular British girl group. Selling over 75 million records worldwide, they were known as the best-selling female group of all time. Another artist from the 90's is Celine Dion. There are so many artists but these are some of the very popular ones years ago. Now, some popular Pop artists include Justin Bieber, One Direction, Demi Lovato, Cher Lloyd, Maroon 5, and P!nk. Younger aged people tend to listen to these artists the most. But, there are so many more than just these. There are more older artists for older people, and teen artists that appeal more to kids and teens. 

Pop Songs

     This is the first 10 on the list of Pop songs from Billboard Charts- Pop Song. These are some of the current Pop songs:

1. Blow Me(One Last Kiss)- P!nk

2. One More Night- Maroon 5

3. Whistle- Flo Rida

4. Everybody Talks- Neon Trees

5. Good Time- Carly Rae Jepson Featuring Owl City

6. As Long As You Love Me- Justin Bieber

7. Give Your Heart A Break- Demi Lovato

8. Some Nights- fun.

9. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together- Taylor Swift

10. Lights- Ellie Goulding

Some other songs that are not on this list but are popular are What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, Want You Back by Cher Lloyd, and A Team by Ed Sheeran. These songs you will most likely hear on the radio, or in a store. Most of these songs are up-beat and songs that you can dance to. There are also songs like It Will Rain by Bruno Mars that is more of a slow beat and is sad. By looking at the two videos above, What are the differences? 

  Thank you for reading! Comment below for any questions, requests, or info on this topic! -Johanne

                          

       Question: What is your favorite artist/band?

Music!

Music...

     Music is a great way to express your feelings. Many artists write about their feelings. Music is like a story. From singing about having fun to singing about being sad, you can pretty much sing about anything. There is usually a meaning behind a song. Whether it is a moral or advice, there is something. For example, the song 'Moments' by One Direction is about the guys girlfriend dying and the guy is commiting suicide. If you focus on the lyrics, you will understand how it is about that. Also, the tone is slow and soft so it makes the song sad. Some songs have sort of an upbeat kind of tone. That type of song is one where you just want to have fun and dance like crazy to. Overall, music is a great way to express yourself and the tone and lyrics show the meaning of a song. 

Genres

     There are many genres in music. Some are pop, rock, classical, hip-hop/rap, and country. Now-a-days younger people mostly listen to country, pop, and hip-hop/rap. Here are some examples of artists/bands in those genres:

Pop: Justin Bieber, One Direction, Maroon 5, Cher Lloyd, Demi Lovato, Rihanna, and lots more.

Country: Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, and more.

Hip-hop/Rap: Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Eminem, Ludacris, and more.

Music Is Life(:

There are so many more genres and artists in the world. These are just some artists in that genre and the genre that lots of people listen to now. People still listen to other genres but this is what lots of younger people listen to. I recommend listening to these genres and artists if you are interested.

Question: What is your favorite genre and what artists do you like in that genre? Comment Below!