SOTW: “Queen of the City”

I’m going to start with a story.  In addition to not being a big partier, I was very sick this week, and a good night’s rest was necessary. I was woken up after a very short hour of sleep by dubstep pounding through my floor.  What the fuck.

They didn’t quiet down. I turned on Last Call with Carson Daily (unaware of it’s existence previous to this encounter) while I waited for 4am to bring silence. The show turned out to be pretty good, and I was really happy to be exposed to Joshua James for the first time.

James is often compared to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joe Purdy, Bright Eyes or Ray LaMontagne. I love all of those men, and I recommend giving Joshua a listen. “Queen of the City” is my favorite song so far, and is very catchy. I love folk music and James fits right into my realm.

On January 8, 2013, this was posted to James’s website, “Joshua’s video for “Queen of the City” was chosen to compete with 4 other videos for an installment of MTV-U’s “The Freshmen” on the network over the Holidays.  From what MTV said, the “Queen of the City” dominated the competition with over 30,000 votes.  Not too shabby.

Take a listen and check this artist out.

-Brooke Leone

Lose the Pooch!

Across campus and around the world, core muscles are a known issue for everyone. “Do they exist?” “How can I make them bigger?” “I’ll never get to see them!” “They’re behind the keg!” Everyone loves to hate their abs, but most don’t realize just how important those muscles really are. While getting them in shape can be a nightmare, actually doing so helps you look good, feel good, and think better.

And so to help you on your fitness journey, let’s hear it for Bikini Body Mommy, the personal trainer mommy who lost 100 pounds, and has great advice to show for it. The great thing about her site is that she has photos to go along with the workouts, as well as other fitness choices and ideas.

#1: Bikini Twist

1.) Lean back and prop your upper body up on your elbows (your back should remain lifted), palms facing down. Brace your abs in tight and lift your legs into a 90-degree angle (knees should be touching), toes pointed.

2.) Slowly lower your legs over to the right (knees should stay together). Keeping the 90-degree angle, lower your legs & then lift them up to the left. That is one rep. Perform 20 reps.

#2: Pike Plank

1.) Sit with your legs slightly bent, feet flexed up, and hands just outside of your hips, fingertips facing forward. Draw your abs in tight and press down through your palms to lift your hips up off the ground a couple of inches.

2.) For this one, focus on lifting your hips with your abs. Use your arms and legs to brace yourself. Fully extend your legs, and try to push your hips backward. Hold this for two seconds. Bend your knees, and return to the start position. That’s one rep. Perform ten times.

*Wrist issues? Perform this move on your knuckles, or lay back onto your elbows.

#3: Walking V-Plank

1.) Begin in an elbow plank with your hands clasped, and feet about hip-width apart.

2.) Keeping your knees locked, walk your feet in towards your hands as far as you can, until your hips end up in a high “pike” position. Slowly inch back out, reversing the way you walked in, until you return to the start.  That’s one rep.  Perform ten times.

There are a few other workouts available on Bikini Body Mommy’s site as well as recipes and other things fitness. Check it out!

-Brooke Leone

Jewelry Designer Spotlight: Laura Wass

In my opinion, accessories definitely make any outfit.  My new obsession this season, is Laura Wass’ WXYZ jewelry collection.  The collection just launched for the Fall/Winter 2012 season, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. A talented artist, she draws inspiration from industrial design, science, and art, and designs her jewelry from repeated elements.  In other words, she uses old materials and constructs them into something new.  Her jewelry has a modern vibe, due to most of the metals used.  Most of her jewelry is statement pieces, like her white or black chocker necklace from her Spring/Summer 2013 line.  Her products range from $50-$1000.  My favorite accessories of Wass’ are the products she finishes in what she calls “oil slick.”  The bracelet on top of this article is finished in it, giving the metals an iridescent vibe. Wass says that she discovers the technique while on online forums for guns. Crazy, right? The finish is usually used to coat firearms.  I mean, I’d much prefer the finish to be used on jewelry then guns any day.  It’s safe to say that Wass has created unique pieces of jewelry that not many others will have, so if you want to be ahead of our time, go get em’!

— Lauren Levine

Video Of The Week: Ghost Rider

If you need or want a good laugh, please watch this video. It is a little dry at the beginning, but I promise it gets better.

At first, you might think that this is some awful/stupid joke, because the guy shows you a weird and unrealistic chair that he plans to wear when he drives through a drive-thru. His intentions are to scare these minimum wage paid fast-food workers who hand you your food at the last window.

I don’t want to give away too much and spoil all of the fun, but lets just say that a lot of people actually believe a ghost just ordered a Big Mac and a large fry.

Who knows, maybe this prank will lead to a great April Fool’s joke.

– Shannon Hazlitt

We All Have Demons

Lulu & The Lampshades came into the musical spotlight recently for its track entitled Cups. In the recent film, Pitch Perfect, Anna Kendrick sang and played the track while auditioning for the Barton Bellas. The song gained a lot of publicity after the film hit the big screen with several Google searches and Spotify starred tracks. Some fans even learned how to play the song like Kendrick and Lulu on an actual cup.

That said, Lulu & The Lampshades is more than a band full of cups.  They have a few other tracks worth listening to, which is impressive because of the very few number of tracks they’ve recorded thus far.  In 2011, the band released their EP, “Cold Water,” which contained both “Cups” and another great track entitled “Demons.” Like “Cups,” “Demons” has an interesting sound and lyrical mix with tambourines, bells, guitars, and wispy vocals.

Tiffany Daniels, writer for The Line of Best Fit explains, “Cold Water” proves Lulu & the Lampshades are capable of much more than quirky entertainment. This isn’t just whimsical fun; this is a well-conceived plan, put to enjoyable melody and rhythm.” Even with so few tracks, the band brings imagination and originality to the table, and I look forward to what comes next.

Listen in and let me know what you think!

-Brooke Leone

What the “Pho!?” — New Century, Syracuse

What’s better than a big bowl of soup on a cold Syracuse day? A big bowl of Vietnamese soup!

Pho–pronounced “fuh”– is not only fun to say, but fun to eat. Pho is a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup made of a beef broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat. Here in Syracuse, you can find yourself some pho on the city’s North Side (518 Kirkpatrick Street), a place called New Century.

I know what you’re thinking–the North Side is quite the trek for such a simple-sounding meal. Well, my friends, the simplicity is the beauty of pho. Each bowl is a blank slate ready for you to customize. You get a side of bean sprouts, Thai basil, chili peppers, and lime. Add as much or as little as you like, but take my advice and be easy on the chili peppers. Top it off with some Hoisin sauce and Sriracha (the god of all hot sauces) and you’ve got yourself a big ol’ bowl of PHUN!

The portions are huge! For $7.95, you can get a bowl of pho with rare steak, beef meatballs, brisket, tripe, and tendon. Even though these meats may be different from what we’re all used to, they’re full of flavor and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not try them all at least once. Yes, the meatballs might LOOK like cow testicles, I promise you they are not. There’s a reason Anthony Bourdain says he can’t live without pho.

Being from New York City, I expected to turn my nose up at Vietnamese food found in central New York. New Century quickly put me in my place. The pho is flavorful and authentic, and the menu has everything from spring rolls to Vermicelli (a Vietnamese noodle bowl served with meat and an egg roll) to fish still on the bone!

I stuck to pho because I phocking love it. I ordered the #15, which comes with rare steak and meatballs for under $8.00. I throw a ton of bean sprouts in my pho, along with some ripped up basil and lime juice. I stay far away from those peppers, looking to Sriracha for the heat. One or two squirts of hoisin and I’m on my way to pho Heaven. You are guaranteed to look like a dumbass while you eat this, so skip the self-consciousness. But, if you want to feel like a pho rock star, refer to this instructional video.

I will warn you, New Century isn’t about the ambiance. The restaurant is bare and the servers definitely do not coddle you. But, if you get your big boy pants on and decide to venture into parts of Syracuse unknown, the soothing broth will be enough to make up for the lack of decor and service.

How could you phocking resist?!?!

– Olivia Dibs

Meet the Editors: Emily Maloney

Sup Jerks!  I’m Emily Maloney, Jerk Mag writer, and now assistant blog editor.  My three favorite things in this world are cool people, food, and laughter, in no particular order.  Here’s a little more on me:

Year and Major/Minor: I am a senior ETS major with a yet-to-be-declared minor in psychology.

Hometown: Brunswick, Maine.  Voted by Smithsonian one of America’s best small towns, ahem.

Most Embarrassing Moment:  I can’t go a day without somehow embarrassing myself. I don’t even know how to identify the worst of the worst. I like to think it’s part of my, um, charm.

Biggest Lie I’ve Gotten Away With:  I plead the fifth.

Movie I Could Watch Over and Over: Love & Basketball and Freedom Writers are constantly cycled through my disc drive.

Follow me on twitter @emalonez, here’s to hoping you think I’m half as funny as I think I am.  For longer-than-140-character musings, check out towhomitmayintrigue.blogspot.com

Meet the Bloggers: Olivia Dibs

Hey guys! My name’s Olivia Dibs and I am a total foodie. The first step to recovery is acceptance, right? I’m so happy to get to bring you the scoop on all the good grub in Syracuse!

Year and Major/Minor: I’m a junior broadcast journalism major with a nutrition minor

Hometown: Queens, NY, about five minutes away from where 50 Cent grew up. THUG LYFE.

Most Embarrassing Moment: I tend to fall on my ass a lot, so I’m kind of past the embarrassment thing.

Movie I Could Watch Over and Over Again: Superbad. I’m a sucker for fat Jonah Hill.

Artist To Watch: Mikky Ekko

I’m in a bit of a pickle. You see, I actually purchased a single from Rihanna’s latest album, Unapologetic. In all honesty, it’s rare that I ever purchase any music, let alone Rihanna’s, as the convenience of Spotify and the internet have made it easy for me to listen to anything as much as I want. Considering the fact that I rarely listen to Rihanna and think “Hmm, that song’s pretty fan-freaking-tastic,” I knew something was wrong when I listened to “Stay” and nearly cried.

For those who don’t know, “Stay” is the official second single from Unapologetic and it received its debut on SNL back in November. Given Rihanna’s typical style and the overall direction of the album, the song received relatively mixed reviews from fans and critics. In my opinion, the only issue with the song is the fact that it’s on this particular album, but that could just be the misguided opinion of a girl who loves ballads almost as much as she loves puppies. Nevertheless, it’s hard to ignore the beauty of “Stay” and Mikky Ekko as both an artist and writer.

Of his released music, standout tracks are “Pull Me Down”, “Feels Like the End”, and “Sedated.” Because he contributes vocals to “Stay,” I’m desperately hoping that Ekko makes an appearance in the video and some frantic Rihanna fans decide to do themselves a favor and Google him until their fingers are nubs. I mean, it’s difficult to find music that’s somehow beautiful and haunting, but Ekko does this extremely well, and I’d be doing everyone a disservice if I kept this fact to myself. Check him out on Spotify, or visit his website at www.mikkyekko.com.

– Tenaysia Fox

Vodka: Save Some For The Eyeballs

So shots are brutal, we can all agree. But aren’t they significantly LESS brutal than I don’t know, shoving vodka up your cooter? The alternate means of conceiving alcohol nowadays are bizarre, disturbing, and totally unnecessary. Whatever happened to simple straw sippin’ Svedka?

People have apparently gotten bored of downing drinks through their pie holes, and have thus turned to other orifices. The nose, eyes, vagina, and anus are now taking the brutal brunt of our dire need to get drunk. I wish I was kidding.

“Hard Liquor Snorting”- I might not be far off in saying that our generation has an obsession with snorting things. They enjoy the instant high and the social atmosphere that comes along with “linin ‘em up like free throws,” but as much as that’s true, there are some things that are better left un-snorted. Hard liquor should be one of them. These days, people will take small cups of hard liquor and put tiny straws into the cups, placing both straws into their nose. Then the obvious occurs, and they snort the liquor into their system, often causing teary eyes and sometimes fainting. This practice, though not nearly as disturbing the later described methods, is still enough to make me tear up at the mere thought.

“Vodka Eyeballing”- Sometimes known as vodka eye-shot, is just that. This trend, supposedly started by female bartenders in Las Vegas looking to make more tips, is where one will pour a shot’s worth of vodka into their eye, instead of downing it through the mouth. This extreme method of consumption will no doubt get you fucked up, but is said by medical professionals to be a dangerous hobby that can cause long term damage. Like, duh.  In my girl-on-girl opinion, there’s nothing sexier than a women who can open the throat n throw ‘em back, flipping her head up once the shot is taken. That’s hot. Pouring an entire shot of vodka into your eye, ruining your make-up, and tearing up uncontrollably, that’s not.

“Vodka Tampons”- This trend, started by Pop singer Ke$ha, (well, not really), is, to me, the most disturbing yet. It’s when females, or let me rephrase that rather, crazy fucking bitches, soak unused tampons in vodka, and then insert them as they would a tampon during their menstrual cycle. Once again, the alcohol enters your system much quicker and gets you drunker faster. My hope is that it gets you messed up enough to not feel how terribly that probably burns/stings. Lord, if Vodka kills my throat so badly, I can’t even imagine what it would do to my lady parts.

“Butt Chugging”- As “Urban Dictionary” describes it, is “the act of ingesting alcohol through ones rectum” Basically, your frat boys and Jackass’s Johnny Knoxville wannabe’s of college campuses around the country placing funnel tubes into their rectums, while laying down, and essentially “chugging” the alcohol that way. “The idea is to increase the alcohol’s effect and the speed with which one becomes intoxicated.” And we thought chugging competitions were bad before…

Whatever happened to good ole fashioned oral consumption? Only reason I’d ever even maybe consider any of the above is to cut calories, kidding, but not really.

-Deanna Viel