Author Archive for alex.chrum

Rihanna and Chris Brown Collaborate

By: alex.chrum, February 22, 2012 in Celebrities, Crime, Music and News. Closed Tags: , .

After a highly-publicized domestic violence incident in 2009, music stars Rihanna and Chris Brown have now released two remixes together. Monday, Brown tweeted a remix of his song “Turn Up the Music” featuring vocals from his ex-girlfriend. Rihanna retweeted the post, and also tweeted a remix of her own song, “Birthday Cake,” that features Brown.

Rihanna (left) after being attacked by Brown (right)

Many were outraged at this year’s Grammy Awards, as Brown, a convicted felon serving five years of probation for his attacks on Rihanna, was not only asked to perform twice, but was even awarded the prestige of Best R&B Album. In her widely shared piece “I’m Not OK With Chris Brown Performing at the Grammys, and I’m Not Sure Why You Are,” writer Sasha Pasulka makes a moving argument against the music industry’s endorsement of such an individual:

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Stephen Colbert Halts Show for Sick Mother

By: alex.chrum, February 17, 2012 in Celebrities and Television. Closed Tags: , .

Earlier this week, Comedy Central abruptly announced the temporary suspension of The Colbert Report.

Colbert has taken a hiatus from his show to be with his ill mother

“Due to unforeseen circumstances,” the network said, “the show will air repeat episodes on Wednesday, February 15 and Thursday, February 16.” No further information was released, leaving room for many rumors regarding the show’s unexpected and immediate hiatus. Some suspected a labor dispute or possible cancellation. Others assumed it might have something to do with Colbert’s supposed campaign for presidency.

Today, however, the New York Post finally offered some insight on the subject. Citing sources close to the show, the newspaper said host Stephen Colbert needed to take time off to be with his mother, Lorna Colbert, with whom he is extremely close.

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Heart Attack Grill Stays True to Its Name

By: alex.chrum, February 16, 2012 in Food and News. Closed Tags: , .

The infamous Heart Attack Grill is flooding headlines this morning after a customer suffered a heart attack while indulging in the restaurant’s signature 6,000-calorie Triple Bypass Burger.

The Heart Attack Grill, a Las Vegas restaurant featured on shows such as the Travel Channel’s “Extreme Pig Outs,” prides itself on serving food “so bad for you it’s shocking.” Quite ironically, the hospital-themed establishment features “nurses” (waitresses) who take “prescriptions” (orders) from the “patients” (customers).

A publicity photo for the Heart Attack Grill featuring their Quadruple Bypass Burger

Their menu contains four items: the Single, Double, Triple and Quadruple Bypass Burgers. “Patients” have the option of adding slices of “unadulterated” bacon, bacon that has not been drained of the grease from cooking fat. Each burger has, respectively, five, ten, fifteen and twenty slices of bacon, along with American cheese, red onion, tomato and special sauce. Their “Flatliner Fries” are deep fried in pure lard, and their “Butter-fat Shakes” are made from high-calorie butter fat cream.

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Whitney Houston Honored at 54th Annual Grammy Awards

By: alex.chrum, February 13, 2012 in Celebrities, Music and Passings. Closed Tags: , , .

This Saturday, the world was rocked with the unexpected news of music legend Whitney Houston’s death. The unfortunate accident occurred just one day before the 54th annual Grammy Awards, a ceremony that has honored the diva for her achievements numerous times. Last night, singer Jennifer Hudson and host LL Cool J led the audience in paying homage to the pop star for what may be the very last time, with a musical tribute and a heartfelt prayer, respectively.

Hudson and Houston at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009

Saturday evening, the social media landscape was on fire with the breaking news of Houston’s death. Before most major news outlets had reported the story, Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with “R.I.P. Whitney Houston” messages. For the remainder of the evening, the cause of death eluded the public, though most were quick to assume a drug overdose due to the singer’s troubled past. By Sunday, reports had surfaced that Houston had ingested a mixture of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax with alcoholic cocktails, causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub and ultimately drown.

Today, however, a recent statement from law enforcement has been released suggesting that Houston died before she was even underwater. “It looks like it was a lethal combination of prescription drugs and alcohol, but it’s still too early to rule out other causes. That’s just what it’s looking like now,” an official told Fox News. According to the superstar’s relatives, Houston did not have enough water in her lungs to have drowned.

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California’s Ruling on Prop 8: The Day in Quotes

By: alex.chrum, February 8, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .

Yesterday, February 7, 2012, marked a huge victory for both human rights activists and non-heterosexual couples in California and the U.S. at large. (If you are curious as to why I chose the term “non-heterosexual” rather than “gay” or “homosexual,” it is because not everyone who enters into a relationship with someone of the same gender identifies as “gay;” some identify as queer, bisexual, pansexual or do not identify at all. “Non-heterosexual,” then, encompasses everything that simply isn’t “straight.”)

California residents celebrate the Prop 8 ruling outside of City Hall yesterday

In a momentous 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared Proposition 8, the California amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, to be unconstitutional, serving no purpose other than to “lessen the status and human dignity” of the LGBTQ community.

Proposition 8, or the “Marriage Protection Act,” was passed by California state voters in November of 2008, adding a new provision to the California Constitution which upholds that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Both proponents and opponents of Prop 8 worked tirelessly for the months leading up to Election Day to get their messages to voters, and actually managed to set a record with the contributions they received. Contributions totaled over $83 million, $39.9 million for those in favor, $43.3 million for those against, and came from over 64,000 people in all fifty states and more than twenty foreign countries, setting a new national record for a social policy initiative and trumping every other race in the country in spending except the presidential contest. In the end, however, Prop 8 was passed.

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Bradshaw Takes a Seat, M.I.A. Flips the Bird: Super Bowl XLVI

By: alex.chrum, February 6, 2012 in Celebrities and Sports. Closed Tags: , , .

Yesterday, February 5, marked the 46th annual Super Bowl, the end-of-the-season showdown between the two best teams in the NFL. If you live in America (or even if you don’t), this probably isn’t news to you; the Super Bowl (and football in general) is the Holy Grail of U.S. sports. Super Bowl Sunday is treated like a national holiday, second in importance only perhaps to Christmas, and is celebrated by nearly every citizen, regardless of whether or not their home team is playing (and, oftentimes, regardless of whether or not they had watched any other football game all year).

Bradshaw takes a seat to score the gamewinning touchdown

The halftime show is perhaps as big of a spectacle as the game itself, with the hottest names in music taking the stage to entertain a massive national audience. In addition, the commercials, which cost roughly $6 million per minute to air, garner quite a bit of attention themselves. All in all, Super Bowl Sunday is probably the biggest televised event in the country.

I, however, haven’t watched the Super Bowl in years, ever since my dad used to drag me to parties as a child. Once I hit high school, however, my Sundays were dedicated to homework and/or work, and football was the last of my priorities. Yesterday was no different, although I happened to catch two of the most talked-about points of the evening. While mooching some food off of my dad at his Super Bowl party, I was drawn to Miss Kelly Clarkson, winner of the very first season of American Idol, who had the prestigious honor of performing the National Anthem. Miss Clarkson looked absolutely stunning, keeping it classy (rather than trashy) in the typical Clarkson fashion, and delivering a flawless and moving vocal performance of the Star Spangled Banner.

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Shaun White Scores Perfect 100 in Winter X Games

By: alex.chrum, January 30, 2012 in Sports. Closed Tags: , , .

Undoubtedly the country’s most recognizable ginger, Shaun White has established himself as a household name in the sport of snowboarding. Like Tony Hawk and skateboarding, White was undoubtedly the first athlete from his sport to gain major celebrity and global notoriety. He quickly became a media staple, appearing in numerous commercials for Target, Red Bull, HP and others. Receiving his first snowboarding sponsorship at the ripe age of seven, he went pro in skateboarding at 17, and won his first gold medal (for snowboarding) at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

White seizes the Winter X gold late last night

Now only 25 years old, White continues to impress with his unprecedented snowboarding talent, stunning audiences this past weekend with a perfect performance at the Winter X Games. On Friday, White suffered an ankle sprain, missing Saturday’s pipe practice and leaving many to wonder if he would even be able to compete in his signature event, Sunday’s superpipe final. He has won the Winter X gold medal for this event the past four years in a row, the first athlete ever to have done so.

Despite these worries, however, White came through to deliver a performance yesterday that was extraordinary even for him. Setting records for amplitude and exhibiting technical difficulty never before seen, he delivered the first truly perfect performance in Winter X Games history, with an 18-foot backside air, a 17-foot frontside double cork 1080, an 11-foot switch frontside double cork 1080, a 14-foot frontside cork 540, a 13-foot backside double cork 1260 and a 12-foot frontside double cork 1260—the first back-to-back double cork ever performed at the Winter X Games.

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ADAPT4Autism Changes Lives, Will Hold 5K Fundraiser

By: alex.chrum, January 27, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , .

Autism remains one of the most highly complex and least understood developmental disorders of all time. With such a varying spectrum of severity, it can leave a person completely unable to function socially or barely inhibit their daily life at all. Those unfamiliar with autism often confuse it with mental retardation. However, the disorders are quite different. Autistic people are typically highly intelligent, often exceptionally, and their difficulties come not in mental capacity but in the ability to communicate. Depending on the severity of the condition, an autistic person could be a certified genius but not be able to hold a conversation. This results in great frustration and often anger for the sufferer and those close to him or her. The origin of this disorder is as of yet unknown; some suspect there is a genetic cause, while others cite environmental factors, such as childhood vaccines, heavy metals and pesticides.

Children enjoying lunch at ADAPT4Autism's summer camp

A local nonprofit organization in Southern Illinois, ADAPT4Autism, has dedicated its efforts to making life both easier and more enjoyable for autistic children and their families. Since 2010, they have provided educational programs and pro-social therapy for autistic children, including summer and winter camps, private in-home therapy and social skills training. Their camps and programs give autistic children a chance to participate in outdoor activities and social outings, things that would normally be next to impossible given their condition. Perhaps more importantly than providing opportunities for fun, however, the program also teaches autistic children skills to make day-to-day life easier to navigate. “Now that school has started,” one parent said after the camp, “Travis is adjusting better than ever to his new classroom and new teachers. I’ll ask him each day, ‘How was school?’ He will always respond now to my questions.”

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Joe Paterno Dies, Nation Mourns…?

By: alex.chrum, January 23, 2012 in News, Passings and Sports. Closed Tags: , .

Joe Paterno, who served as assistant and head coach for Penn State’s football team for 62 seasons, passed away yesterday, January 22, 2012, from complications with lung cancer. Many are mourning the death of this football “legend,” despite the fact that he was fired from his coaching position in November due to child sex allegations against his assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. Reports allege that Paterno knew Sandusky was sexually abusing children on school property, and did not report the matter to authorities. The alleged abuse started as far back as the 1990s, and at least seven people have now stepped forth to file charges against the assistant coach.

Joe Paterno (right) with assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in 1999

While I try to lead a relatively peaceful life mandating forgiveness, understanding and respect for human life, the world’s response to the death of Joe Paterno leaves me feeling betrayed, uneasy and, ultimately, very angry. As far as my personal life goes, my Facebook news feed was bombarded yesterday with “R.I.P. JoePa” statuses, thanking him for all he did for Penn State and for the sport of football at large. More importantly, every news article I read seems to idolize Paterno, focusing on his coaching accomplishments and only mentioning the scandal as if it was an unfortunate incident for which we should feel sorry for him. Most disturbing, perhaps, are the repeated claims that losing his position at Penn State perhaps hastened his death.

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Obama Rejects Keystone XL, Stands Up Against Hasty Republicans

By: alex.chrum, January 19, 2012 in Government, News and Politics. Closed Tags: , , .

President Obama has received a considerable amount of criticism during his time in office, from conservatives, liberals and independents alike. Many liberals and independents claim to feel betrayed by the president, because he has not followed through with many of the idealistic promises made during his campaign (as if a president of any party could follow through with promises in the face of our rigidly divided Congress, Senate and House of Representatives). Conservatives, on the other hand, have had a vendetta against Obama from the get-go, maintaining that his particular (liberal, communist) plan of action would be—and is now—detrimental rather than beneficial to the country’s future.

Protesters hold signs quoting President Obama at a rally against the Keystone pipeline in Washington

Regardless, there are several very momentous things Obama has done for the United States of America, both in policy changes and by simply being a primary figurehead that isn’t a blubbering idiot, which critics from either side cannot ignore. He has (somewhat) effectively ended the Iraq War and extended health care to millions by signing the Health Care Reform bill. He has improved the quality of life of marginalized groups by repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, increasing funding for the Violence Against Women Act, expanding U.S. hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and appointing more openly gay officials than any president in the country’s history.

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