Celebrity Spotlight: Saoirse Ronan
--- Christy Lin
Celebrity: Saoirse Ronan
Birthdate: April 12, 1994 (Age: 16)
Birthplace: New York City, New York
Years Active: 2003-Present
**biographical information obtained from wiki and imdb.com
First off, her name is pronounced Seer-sha. I know, it is certainly not spelled that way, but through extensive research (aka Wikipedia and a few radio interviews) I have finally learned how to say it. At 16, Soarise Ronan has perhaps one of the busiest, and most critically acclaimed acting careers in the movie industry. Her name means “freedom” in Celtic, and although she was born in New York City, she was raised, and currently resides, in Ireland with her parents.
For being so young, it is surprising, and utterly admirable, the extent of this starlet’s resume. She started like most actors, in small roles on television ads, graduating to a couple of different Irish drama series. Then came her breakthrough role in Atonement, where she starred next to box office heavy hitters Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice) and James McAvoy (Wanted). It was this monumental part that really cemented Ronan in the category of serious actors and earned her a handful of awards, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In later years, Ronan starred in a number of films including 2008’s City of Ember, 2009’s The Lovely Bones, and 2010’s The Way Back. She received critical acclaim for all her work in these roles, despite the rather lackluster performance of the films in theaters.
This month, Ronan stars alongside Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana in Hanna, a Bourne-esque thriller where she plays the title role of Hanna, a young girl raised by her father (Bana) to be an assassin. Although her acting career is still budding, it is clear that Saorise Ronan will be a force to look out for, her footsteps already making quakes in young, and old, Hollywood. Keep your ears and eyes open as well, the rumor mills are flying about a possible part for her in Peter Jackson’s upcoming The Hobbit movie. Of course, nothing is confirmed…but then again, no one is denying it either *wink*.
TV Show Spotlight: CSI Las Vegas
--- Sarah Luo
“Who are you, who who who who?” is usually the best identifier that it’s time for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Las Vegas). As the oldest version of the CSI series, CSI Vegas is going on its 11th season and still stronger than ever. It first started with Gil Grissom (William Peterson) as the graveyard shift supervisor where he led his team to solving several different crime scenes. CSI Vegas was one of the first types of crime shows to air on national television and admittedly, it’s my favorite. After CSI Vegas gained more popularity, CBS branched out and began CSI: NY and CSI: Miami.
Since then, the CSI series has become one of the most well known crime shows on TV. CSI Vegas is the most popular of the three CSI series because of how long it's been around and its content. Grissom was the leading supervisor up until season 9 when Warrick died and he decided to retire. Grissom was essentially the face of CSI Vegas for 9 seasons until Dr. Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) took his place in season 9. Although Langston doesn’t have the role of supervisor, he certainly takes Grissom’s place for knowledge and wisdom on the CSI team.
Since season 1, the show has been growing both in cast, guest stars, storyline, and technology. Back when Grissom was supervisor, he preferred using critical thinking skills to get past difficult situations when there was a lack in resources or technology and Langston makes up for most of that now, but because CSI Vegas is going into a newer generation, much of the crime lab’s technology has been updated and now also appeals to the tech population as well as its older fan base. The cast has been relatively the same since season 1. Nick Stokes (George Eads), Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), and Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) have been with the cast since the beginning of the series and are still a part of the show as the main characters. Although they’re technically aging with the show, none of their fans would support a cast change because they are the reason why CSI Vegas is so good.
Season 11 features some newer concepts of committing crime and solving puzzles and also features guest stars such as Justin Bieber, Dita Von Teese, and even Carrot Top. It would seem as though after so many years, the writers would run out of creative stories for the show, but that’s not the case at all. CSI Vegas seems to be challenging the impossible like bringing the dead back to life or the ideas of ghosts by bringing logical explanations to all of these ridiculous situations. A good change that they have made to the writing of the show however is the incorporation of more humor. CSI Vegas had its funny moments, but recently, their episodes feature more humor than usual and that’s a very good addition to the show as a whole. Once you watch CSI Vegas, I guarantee you’ll want to watch CSI: NY and CSI: Miami which are equally as good.
In addition to their successful spin-off shows, CSI Vegas also has video games, computer games, facebook games, and even a real life simulator. Facebook recently began a CSI Vegas game in which you can help collect evidence, analyze it, and eventually find the criminal. Although the game is fun for a while, it can get old because you’re just not really doing it in real life. But that can be fixed because MGM Grand in Las Vegas now features a real life CSI simulator where you can pick a crime scene, go in with your team, collect evidence, take the evidence and analyze it, and make deductions from the evidence. In addition to all the field work, you can also participate in the autopsy process and eventually come up with your own conclusion of who killed the victim.
CSI Vegas has done well for the past 11 years and I have no doubt they’ll keep up what they’re doing, so look forward to more epic CSI Vegas to come. Season 11 Finale is on Thursday, May 12 so make sure you catch that on CBS at 9 p.m. Pacific Standard time. It’s going to be an awesome episode, so don’t miss out!
YouTube Spotlight: eatyourkimchi
--- Lena Lam
KPop. Regardless of whether you cringed or squealed upon reading that (for those of you who don’t know it stands for, it’s Korean Pop), I am sure that you will still find eatyourkimchi videos entertaining. Who wouldn’t? I mean, there’s just so much FART LOGing, WTFs, and memorable quotes such as “Twonkle Twonkle Little Donkey.”
Don’t worry if you’re a little confused; I shall explain (by the way, they don’t mean what you think they mean.) But first, a little background on the couple who makes the video blogs that constitutes eatyourkimchi. Simon and Martina are English teachers in Bucheon, South Korea, and they initially started making videos in May 2008 to document their life in a new country to show their friends and family back in Canada.
Almost three years later, their original motive for making videos remains unchanged: show why they love South Korea so much. Though most of their YouTube videos are their weekly KPop music video reviews, there are also videos that highlight different aspects of Korean culture, such as their hair salons, hand games, and (swan-like) personal massagers. In every video, Simon and Martina use their humor and wit to show a side of Korea that may be new to or surprise foreigners. Regardless of whether it’s your first eatyourkimchi video or your 199th video, you learn something new, laugh, or both.
Okay, time to do some explaining. As mentioned above, the majority of their videos fall into the category of “Kpop Music Mondays,” weekly music video reviews with the most requests on eatyourkimchi’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, and website. I encourage you to check out any one of them, as well as the actual music video they reviewed. However, if you’re completely new to KPop or just want to watch one video, start with this one: “How to Dance K Pop Style 2010.” It explains a few of the terms Simon and Martina use in their reviews, such as FART and LOG (Face Arousal Raunchy Thrusting and Lots Of Guyliner).
Recently, they have also started making another series of weekly videos, Wonderful Treasure Finds (WTF), which show more of South Korea’s culture, albeit Simon and Martina do tend to choose to talk about random items they find strange or amusing.
Though their YouTube channel has many other videos that focus on “Korean culture education,” such as videos about BB Cream and Korean hand games, their website has even more videos. For those of you who are considering visiting South Korea someday, their videos on what to pack, etc. will be extremely helpful. For the rest of us, the videos are still helpful in that they open our eyes to a different culture, or even simply a different perspective of a culture we thought we knew but there’s still a lot to learn.
For more, visit their website and YouTube page:
Music Spotlight: Adele "21"
--- Sarah Luo
Artist: Adele
Album: 21
Genre: R&B, Soul, Alternative
Record Label: XL Columbia
“Set Fire to the Rain” stood out to me more than any of the other songs on Adele’s latest album “21.” Listen to it and you’ll understand. Her new album’s style is different, yet similar enough to “19” that her fans know she hasn’t changed completely. Two years after the release of her debut album, “19,” Adele has returned with a revamped, deeper, and much more mature album. At the time she released “19,” she was 19, and now that she’s 21, she’s released the album “21.” I wonder if her next one will be “23,” but eventually that’s going to get old real soon, and that’s besides the point.
Adele’s voice is unique and is completely different from other current artists. Her album is completely based off her strong voice with the music merely complementing the main attraction, which is her voice. Her style of music doesn’t classify as pop nor can it completely classify as R&B and soul. She combines several different music styles to make one killer music genre that will capture anyone that listens. Her last album had some of popular songs such as “Chasing Pavements” and “Cold Shoulder” and this time, her album features songs like “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.”
Something I’ve noticed that is different about her new album is her religious reference. She didn’t really bring up religion in “19” but if you listen closely to her lyrics, she mentions religion quite a bit more in her newer songs. Perhaps this is with her growth as a person and artist, but you can simply tell from her voice and the content of her songs that she has definitely matured more in the past two years.
Although she’s still a relatively new artist, her composure and professionalism don’t show it at all. She has great potential to become one of the well known artists but in a different realm of the music world. Instead of being a big pop idol, Adele is going to be noticed for her talent and end up as one of the more high end, well respected artists like Leona Lewis.
Anyhow, I’m going to let you make up your mind about Adele. Clearly, you can tell how much I like and admire her by how much I’ve raved about her already. Either way, see for yourself below!
Check out some of her songs! Support the artist and buy her album!
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