Vinyl records spin back into style - 11Alive.com | WXIA | Atlanta, GA

                                                                  

                    CEDAR CITY, Utah -- As both a music lover and record store owner, Tim Cretsinger is excited about the recent resurgence of vinyl record albums.

"This is my favorite thing to do - hold a batch of records like this," Cretsinger, owner of Groovacious in Cedar City, Utah, said as he hugged a stack of new records close to his chest. "It reminds me of the old days."

The old days are making a comeback.                                                                                                              

According to recent Nielsen SoundScan numbers, vinyl was the fastest-growing musical format in 2010, with 2.8 million units sold, the format's best year since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

Vinyl's increase in popularity is providing a beacon of hope for independent record stores - an industry that has suffered with the increase of digital downloads this past decade.

When Cretsinger moved his business from Keiser, Ore., to Cedar City in 2000, there were two other record stores in the college town of about 28,000. Now, the closest independent record store is in Las Vegas, 175 miles away.

"Vinyl seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have hung in there," he said. "It's kind of a surprising light at the end of the tunnel. It's incredibly exciting."

Not only have vinyl album sales picked up, but the interest in record players has increased as well. Cretsinger said he got tired of directing his customers to other businesses where they could purchase turntables, so he began offering a small selection at his store in January.

Like Groovacious, Plan 9 Music stores in Richmond and Charlottesville, Va., are fairly new to the turntable market, but have offered vinyl records since the first store opened in 1981, said owner Jim Bland. Although he never quit selling vinyl, Bland said sales were slow for many years as CDsdominated the market.

However, as CD sales plummeted in recent years, Plan 9 Music found itself with some open space on the floor. That empty space is now back to the basics.  

"It's filled in with vinyl," Bland said.

As a way to promote their businesses, 700 independent record stores across the nation have joined together since 2008 to celebrate Record Store Day on the third Saturday of April. Record Store Day regularly features limited-edition CDs and vinyl records available only at independent retailers.

"Last year all the cool stuff was vinyl," Bland said. "People were lining up to get it."

Like Record Store Day itself, Cretsinger said, listening to music on a vinyl record is an event. It forces listeners to sit down at a turntable and listen to the music, giving them an opportunity to enjoy the cover art and read the liner notes.

"There's something organic and historical about playing music that way," he said. "It sounds better."

The scratches and pops often associated with the vinyl sound are all part of the "warmth" vinyl offers, said John Kunz of Waterloo Records in Austin.

Kunz said CDs are more convenient than vinyl and easier to manage, so they had their place in the music industry for a time. However, Kunz sees a change in his customers' taste from the digital soundof Internet downloads to what the classic vinyl format offers.

"I think there was a pendulum swing back to the analog sound," he said. "It's sound waves rather than zeroes and ones emulating a sound wave."

Terry Currier, owner of Music Millennium in Portland, Ore., said vinyl aficionados treat their passion as art, as opposed to a product.

"People didn't interact with CDs the way they did with vinyl," Currier said. "I think people lost that interaction they had with the vinyl."

The music lovers buying these records aren't necessarily those who grew up with them in the 1960s and 1970s.

"There are tweens, teens and twentysomethings looking through Mom and Dad's record collection," he said. "All of a sudden Mom and Dad are a lot cooler than the kid might have expected."

Currier said it's almost like vinyl appreciation skipped a generation. Now purchasing vinyl is "cool" for younger customers because it's "retro." For the youngest of the customers, it might even be something their parents never experienced.

Bland agreed, "It's cool; it's hip. My 14-year-old's even getting into it."

Among Cretsinger's customers at Groovacious in Cedar City is Matthew Montgomery, a 25-year-old Web developer, freelance music journalist and student at Southern Utah University. Montgomery said he began to seriously get into vinyl about two years ago, and now it's practically his exclusive musical format.

He said there is an "aesthetic difference" in the sound of vinyl records compared with the digital downloads purchased by many others of his generation.                 

"I think vinyl is incredibly exciting," Montgomery said. "To see a resurgence in it is beautiful."

Montgomery said the act of walking into a record store to purchase his music is part of vinyl's allure as well.

"To me that represents a cultural idea that is incredibly attractive," he said. "It's a place you can explore and learn and talk to people."

While vinyl sales help independent stores stand apart from nationwide retail chains, even Best Buy seems to have noticed the popularity of vinyl records.

About 100 Best Buy stores now carry a small selection of new and classic albums following a test period that began in the fall of 2008, said Best Buy spokeswoman Erin Bix. Best Buy also offers 14,000 vinyl titles online.

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Alex jones calls U.S.A Government Masters of Terror find out why!!!

Alex Jones is a tuff hardcore reporter thats not scared to let the world know  that their are really evil powers that control our world and how things work on local,national and international levels also alex has be making noise long before wiki leaks and other groups! take a look at this old video of him telling about how the usa government plans and uses terror attacks on american citizens! this video you are about to see it very ture and should be taking serious! be aware of what is really going on around you instead of watching a stupid tv show or a video game they don't want you to know about what they are doing or whats going on behind their office doors!  They dont want us to be createtive and think of our own company's logo's instead they want us to use theirs they want total control! when will people wake up from party mode and get to a more serious responsible role!  

Chris Brown's angry tweet about his naked picture online:

Chris Brown’s naked picture is all over the Internet today and it took a while, but Chris finally made a comment about it on Twitter. The full frontal naked picture of Chris Brown was posted online by an ex.

You can access Chris Browns naked picture from Perez Hilton’s website.

Chris Brown was in a bathroom with a cell phone taking this picture of himself in a mirror. He apparently was doing some sexting to a special someone. Well, that special someone is now an ex, and one with a grudge it would appear. She is the one who posted this picture online.

The lady that posted this naked picture of Chris Brown, is being called his ex and is unnamed at this time. The reason she posted the picture is also not known.

Once the naked picture got online, one website even made a video for it and put the picture to music. World Star has a nice little video going of Chris Brown’s naked picture as he stands in his bathroom, this can also be accessed from Perez Hilton's Website.

After seeing his picture online, Chris tweeted,“WTF!!! Here we go!!!” This only remained on his Twitter page for about 8 minutes according to the website Aceshowbiz, until it was deleted. That was the last we heard from Chris Brown, but his picture still remains.

Chris Brown has not been around these parts in concert for a few years now. Last time he performed in Connecticut was a few years back. It was during his “Fan Appreciation” tour that stopped in Wallingford, Connecticut for one show, according to NBC Connecticut

Reference: Aceshowbiz.com, Perez Hilton, World News, Connecticut NBC

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Chris Brown's angry tweet about his naked picture online - Hartford Pop Culture | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture-in-hartford/chris-brown-s-angry-tweet-about-his-naked-picture-online#ixzz1FrAEF6eK

Talib Kweli will not be in Ghana for his show find out why!

Twitter is the best way to get the word out there even the star use it to get across messages  like this guy not being able to perform in Ghana!!! 

The Asabaako Music Festival will go on as initially planned without an appearance by US hiphop star, Talib Kweli following difficulties in bringing the rapper to Ghana, as recently advertised. For many fans of the rapper, they first heard the sad news when Talib Kweli tweeted that he was disappointed to announce that he wouldn’t be able to perform in Ghana. It would be recalled that Talib Kweli only became an option when the rapper wrote on Twitter that he would love to contact the promoters of the music festival in Ghana because he was interested in taking part. Asaabako will go ahead from March 5 – 7, at Busua Beach, Western Region with an Independence Day concert with Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Yaa Pono, Wanlov, Efya and others. The concert on Independence Day is the jewel in the crown of 3 days at the Busua Beach Resort, the Black Star Surf Shop and the African Rainbow Resort, where live bands and DJs will be playing day and night. Alongside the music there’ll be beach soccer, volleyball, surfing, kayaking, grills, beach fires and more, plus tourist activities, from boat trips to jungle treks. Or, just relax by the beach, go for a swim, and enjoy the vibe!

Source: Ameyaw Debrah

Reports of Oprah heading to Egypt rejected by Harpo Studios.

Do you think they said No because they are scared for her safety or are they just trying to think of ways just to get our minds off of whats really  realivant to wants going on and whats being done politically???

A spokesperson for Oprah Winfreyhas rejected news that the hostess would be travelling to Egypt to film future episodes of her show.
According to reports, Winfrey had been invited to Cairo in a bid to boost the country's international reputation, and attract tourists back to the popular holiday destination.
Egypt's tourism minister, Munri Fakhri Abdelnur, had been quoted as saying: "The plan is for her to broadcast a live show from Tahrir Square on a Friday in March, but the date has not been finalised."
In December, Oprah took 300 members of her audience to Australia for a run of shows arranged by the Australian Tourist Board.
The hostess filmed shows at the Sydney 'Oprah' House, Byron Bay, Queensland and Melbourne, with traffic to Australian tourism websites showing dramatic increases following the visit.
Cairo's Tahrir Square was the centre of protests by thousands of Egyptians earlier this year, calling for the resignation of the now departed president Hosni Mubarak.
A representative from Winfrey's Harpo Studios told WENN.com: "Reports about The Oprah Winfrey Show taping a future episode in Egypt are untrue. There are no plans for the show to broadcast from an international location before the programme's finale in May."

Chris Brown ft. Wiz Khalifa – Bomb

“Who cares?” Well, if you have Chris Brown & Wiz Khalifa on a track together, let us just say that we all know that are known to drop a Bomb or two! Exploding like that have just been “Rolling Papers” the duo expresses their talent that represents F.A.M.E. Chris Brown showcasing his rap skills & this time the artistic “monster” that knows he has that “good good” is offering a bit of a Caribbean vocal rhythm. There is no questioning the “size” of this collaboration if it is selected as a single for the mainstream audience. Wiz Khalifa boldly states with confidence that “I’m just trying to beat, he can do it a cappella,” understanding that they are perfect for this track.

“F.A.M.E” by Chris Brown will be released on March 22, 2011. Follow on twitter:@ChrisBrown

“Rolling Papers” by Wiz Khalifa will be released on March 29, 2011. Follow on twitter: @RealWizKhalifa.

Top 10 Things That Women Invented

                              Many women have experienced that magical light bulb moment of inspiration.

At the end of the 20th century, only 10 percent of all patents were awarded to female inventors [source: Bedi]. When you compile a list of the most famous inventions of the past few centuries, few women will show up as the creators of those items. It's not that women lack ingenuity or a creative spirit, though; it's just that women have faced many hurdles in receiving credit for their ideas. Take the case of Sybilla Masters, a woman who lived in the American colonies. After observing Native American women, she came up with a new way to turn corn into cornmeal. She went to England to obtain a patent for her work, but laws at the time stipulated that women couldn't own property, which included intellectual property like a patent. Such property was considered to be owned by the woman's father or husband. In 1715, a patent for Sybilla Masters' product was issued, but the name on the document is that of her husband, Thomas.

Such property laws prevented many women from acquiring patents for inventions several centuries ago. Women were also less likely to receive a technical education that would help them turn an ingenious idea into an actual product. Many women faced prejudice and ridicule when they sought help from men in actualizing their idea. And some women came up with ideas that would improve life in their households, only to see their inventions treated with scorn for being too domestic and thus unworthy of praise.

Mary Kies was the first American woman to earn a patent in her own name. In 1809, she developed a way of weaving straw into hats that was an economic boon for New England. By receiving that piece of paper with her name on it, Kies led the way for other female inventors to take credit for their ideas. In this article, we'll salute 10 things invented by women.