Sound Glitter

Wow, it has been way too long since I’ve posted. So much as been going on it’s been hard to keep up! Lots of travel plans and work has been super busy now that Baseball season has officially started but no more slacking. Time to get to the grind and keep this awesome blog up to date.

So, I’ll be doing a bunch of traveling this summer. More so that I’ve done in previous years but what makes this year super exciting is that I’m going to my first music festival. That’s right folks, my first ever music festival. My friend Cailyn (aka @5centpiece on Twitter) decided to join me on this monumental adventure so we’re going to Lollapalooza in August for 4 days to soak up the tunes in Grant Park. Now I have to admit, I was super excited just to be going. I’ve never been to Chicago which in and of itself was enough to be jumpy about but when the set list for Lolla started rolling in, I could hardly contain myself. When I heard that awesome acts like MGMT, B.o.B, CutCopy and Gaga will grace the stage I knew instantaneously that this weekend is going to be epic. With that, check out my Custom Lineup for Lollapalooza 2010 and suggest acts I have yet to pick. I don’t want to miss out on anything awesome.

Stay tuned for more…

Chris Brown’s interview, which is basically much to do about nothing, aired on MTV this past Friday night. If you missed it, watch it above.

The interview was filmed Monday Nov 2nd before Rihanna’s 20/20 interview aired. Though Rihanna’s interview wasn’t mind blowing, she did go into some detail about what happened on February 8th. Even though what she told us wasn’t anything we didn’t already know, Chris Brown still won’t publicly discuss the details of that evening.

After learning that Rihanna divulged some details of her attack by Brown, he released the following statement which aired before his MTV interview.

“While I respect Rihanna’s right to discuss the specific events of February 8, I maintain my position that all of the details should remain a private matter between us,” he said in the statement. “I do appreciate her support and wish her the best. I am extremely sorry for what I did, and I accept accountability for my actions. At this point, I am taking the proper steps to learn about me and grow from my mistakes. I only hope that others in similar situations can learn from our experience as well. Abuse of any kind is always wrong. The rest I leave it to God.”

In sum, Brown still has yet to admit specifically what he has done wrong. He sounds like a bit of a babbling broken record. I say, unless you have something revolutionary to bring to the table, stay in the background. His only hope to salvage his career is to publicly own up to beating Rihanna. Until then, he’ll continue to cry crocodile tears.

Rihanna opened up to Diane Sawyer yesterday on Good Morning America for the first time since that infamous February night with Chris Brown. The 5 minute excerpt debuted yesterday and solely focused on what happened after that ill fated night last February.

In the interview Rihanna says she went back to Chris Brown after the incident, like many victims of domestic violence do. She finally left after realizing how her actions influence the decisions of many young girls in abusive relationships around the world. In her own words, Rihanna tells Diane Sawyer,

“When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result  into some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I could not be resposible for the… I didn’t realize how much of an impact I had on these girls lives until that happened. It was a wakeup call for me… big time. Don’t React off of love. Eff Love. Come out of the Situation and look at it 3rd person and for what it really is and then make your decision because Love is so blind.”

Rihanna’s full interview will appear on ABC’s 20/20 tonight at 10PM ET.

Opposite Rihanna during the same time slot, Chris Brown who is also promoting a new album, will be interviewed on MTV. How convenient… see an excerpt from his interview below.

Now for some commentary. While researching this, I was told about an article on CNN entitled “Why I don’t feel like dancing to Chris Brown’s music” by LZ Granderson. His article talks about his reaction to Chris Brown’s apologies. For those who have not been following this story recently, Chris Brown has never specifically associated his name with domestic violence or abuse. Instead he says he is sorry for what he has done “whatever that is”.

LZ Granderson talks about the gripes he has with this lacking statement which I’m sure many have. How can Chris Brown expect the public and his fan base to believe and accept his apology if he wont verbally own up to his actions? Granted much of his admission is probably scripted by lawyers and management but the first step toward seeking forgiveness is the full admission of guilt is it not?

Once Chris Brown has the ability to publicly acknowledge his wrong doing will be the first step in gaining back the trust and support from his fans. Until then, good luck pushing that new album out.

I read about this a few nights ago and couldn’t for the life of me figure out where. Then of course, trusty old Perez Hilton came to the rescue. First to cover the story before NYT or LAT was on top of it.

According to the above listed sources, No Doubt is suing Activision, the makers of the popular game Guitar Hero, for the unwarranted use of the bands likeness throughout Guitar Hero III. No Doubt feels that the game has “transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act,” featuring the band singing songs “the group neither wrote, popularized nor approved for use in the game”.

No Doubt agreed to appear as themselves within the game but for only three songs the band agreed upon. However, their avitar counterparts are featured in up to 60 songs many of which are inappropriate to feature Gwen Stefani as the lead singer. According to the suit filed in LA Superior Court, ‘”[w]hile No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones,” the complaint says, “the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes.”‘ -  EWW!

No Doubt’s suit says the executives at Activision refrained from disclosing the use of the band’s likenesses throughout the game and refuse to correct the issue claiming it is “too expensive”.

This isn’t the first time Activision has had complaints from celebrities about the unauthorized use of their likenesses in Guitar Hero. Courtney Love, the widow of late rocker Kurt Cobain, along with two of his band mates also complained that the game put Cobain’s avitar at the front of songs the band had no association with.

Sounds like Activision needs to get their act together.