Two Albums To Keep Your Two Feet Moving

Damian Gordon

Staff Writer

Pharrell Williams: Girl

    Pharrell is on top of the world right now with multiple chart topping songs under his belt. So what better time than now to release his new album Girl to the masses.

    The album is filled with influences from funk and neo soul to even touches of orchestral music. Its diverse selection makes every tune sound distinct from the next one.

    The catchy lead single from the album, “Happy” has been playing on any object that sound comes out in. Someone could go into a cave in the middle of a forest and the birds would probably be chirping that song all day there too.

    Pharrell is the kind of artist where more of him isn’t necessarily better, with over 40 minutes of his singing becoming grating with the opening song” Marilyn Monroe”. The first half is plagued with mediocre songs that make the skip button a very familiar action.

    The bright spot of the first half is the duet with Justin Timberlake called “Brand New”, where Pharrell’s voice actually works. It’s a very rhythmic song that makes you want to dance with Timberlake’s angelic like voice.

    One track that really highlights what’s so bad with the first half is called “Hunter”, making me want even more to put a muzzle on Pharrell with his  irritating falsetto. The song has cringe worthy lyrics like” Duck Dynasty's cool and all, but they got nothin' on a female's call, I’m a hunter, is that a tree is that camouflage? Come get eaten by the damn mirage”.

    Girl is concept album that could have been better executed in certain parts, but has enough saving graces that make it worth a listen.

Foster The People : Supermodel

    Played in Fridays restaurants, Gap commercials and any place that wanted the youth to think they were hip too. Foster The People took the nation by storm with hits like “Pumped Up Kicks”, from their 2011 album Torches.

    One of the best albums of that year with every song automatically catching you the second it played, it’s Supermodel, a deserving successor to their last effort.
an understatement to say they are a unique group. Now here we are in 2014 and the indie pop-rock band has returned with

    The electronically focused sound featured on Foster’s previous outing has taken a backseat for more guitars and a variety of other instruments from different parts of the world. The content has also taken a more aggressive turn at some points, talking about societal problems, personal demons, etc.

    Gone are the tunes that were stuck in your head all day, instead to be replaced with songs barely to be remembered.  At least that’s what I would have said on my first listen, but then something happened…I couldn’t stop listening.

    Supermodel has its own version of “Pumped Up Kicks” with lyrics just as dark, covered up by joyful singing by leader singer Mark Foster. “Best Friend” will have you dancing in a matter seconds, not even realizing that the songs talking about drugged out friends.

    There aren’t really any gripes to be found. That only helps to speak volumes on how much deeper and content filled it is.

    All the elements found in Supermodel succeed in many aspects that come together to make a well-rounded experience. It’s no surprise that Foster The People started a trend many other bands try to emulate, but can’t because originality can’t be copied and manufactured (well expect for the copies of this album flying off shelves).

Simply Liza

Jared Michael Kenwood
Contributing Writer

    After twenty-one years, the Legendary Liza Minnelli returned to the Broward Center For The Performing Arts in FT. Lauderdale, Florida on Feb. 16th. This time kicking off a brand new tour called Simply Liza, A show devoted to songs that have been most requested by her fans. It’s an hour and a half of just Liza, backed by a band of seven men, including the talented Billy Stritch, in a very intimate show.

    One could only feel a wave of exhilaration sweeping over them as the band plays the Overture, anticipation throughout the venue. Then Liza walks out onto the stage, sending the sold-out house into rapturous applause. Dressed in all black, draped with a red scarf around her neck, and looking absolutely stunning, she greets the audience, “Wow! Hi Guys!” And immediately launches into her opening number, “Teach Me Tonight”. A reminiscence of her Radio City days, despite the voice having changed since, she sounds strong and determined to give it her all. Boy, does she deliver.

    Being the daughter of Hollywood’s Greatest Director, Vincente Minnelli, and Legendary Entertainer, Judy Garland, it was only natural that talent would be in Liza’s DNA. Lets not get carried away though because success was something that she had achieved all on her own. For years it has been over emphasized that Liza is the daughter of two famous people, and that paved a way for a show biz career. But for Liza, it only meant that she had to work twice as hard. Minnelli is a star in her own right. In 1965 Liza landed the title role in Flora, The Red Menace, and at 19 years old she was the first young person to win a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Not long after was she releasing albums and performing in nightclubs. By 1973, Liza Minnelli reached legendary status, receiving an Oscar for the 1972 film Cabaret and later an Emmy Award for her first television concert, Liza with a “Z”.

    Liza then sits down and goes right into her second number, a beautiful rendition of “Here I’ll Stay”/ “Our Love Is Hear To Stay”, it’s touching lyrics cause Liza to choke up, “I get emotional,” she admits to the Broward audience, who respond with cheers of empathy.

    “Listen, do you mind if I just keep sitting down?” Liza asks the audience, and explains about her injured foot, a consequence resulting from trying to get a handsome man’s attention at the pool. Not even an injured foot could keep her from the stage. Having already sacrificed both knees and hips from a lifetime of extensive dance numbers, what’s a sprained ankle? Nothing seems to stop her.

    The next number she performs is a quaint and rather jaunty number, written especially for her by Fred Ebb and John Kander, “Liza with a “Z”. The song serves as a reminder that its Liza and not Lisa. There is a moment of Minnelli on Minnelli as Liza sings a beautiful song, “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” from her Father’s film, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. As she sings the song, she jokingly throws in her own lyric, “What did I have that I don’t have? ‘Balance’ ” The audience roars with laughter.

    The set-list continues with two Charles Aznavour songs, “You’ve Let Yourself Go” and “What Makes A Man a Man”.

    Then comes the beautiful ballad, “Maybe This Time” more famously known from the film Cabaret, she is singing it more beautiful then ever. There is a solo behind the voice, while she sings “Everybody, oh they love a winner, so nobody loved me,” Ross Konikoff on trumpet creates the most lovely bit of music to fill in her phrases. “I love playing big, beautiful solos,” says Konikoff, “ always aspiring to play the way Harry James used to, soaring into the sky with his incredible, emotional sound and style, and the fact that Liza lets me do that is reason alone to love her forever.”

    And love her forever is what her fans will continue to do, and so comes the next song, the title song from the film Cabaret where she can only love her fans in return by reassuring them that when she goes, “I’m NOT going like Elsie.”

    Liza then decides to take a break and hands over the mic to another singing talent on the stage. “Ladies and Gentlemen, it should say, the show is ‘Liza Minnelli with Billy Stritch, my wonderful arranger and composer. Wait until you hear this. Oh Billy, I’m crazy about you.”

    Billy Stritch, a talented singer and pianist, croons “No Moon At All”. Originally recorded in the 1940s by Nat “King” Cole, “No Moon At All” is a perfect song for Stritch’s unique vocals, his ability to scat and play piano. He sings like the singers of the 40s but better and with a modern day twist.

    “It has been in my repertoire for a long time,” says Stritch, explaining why he chose to sing this particular number. “ It’s a great chance for me to scat sing and improvise, and it’s a song that’s not done by many people, so I like doing it.” To hear more from Billy Stritch look for his albums, especially Billy Stritch Sings Mel Torme which is overwhelmingly breathtaking. His talents have no limits.

    The two entertainers, Liza and Billy then come together and perform a beautiful duet of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” dedicating it anyone who has a birthday in the audience.

    “Singing “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” with Liza is one of my favorite parts of the show,” says Billy, “I think it’s a nice moment in the show, not only for me but for Liza as well. It shows our collaboration and affection onstage and the audience seems to enjoy when we harmonize and sing together. We’re always thinking of new songs to do and perhaps there might be another duet or a different one in the show at some point. People seem to love when Liza sings the old standards and we always get a great response for “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”.

    Liza continues her show with the song “Ring Them Bells” and three songs from her 2010 album Confessions. Proudly, Liza introduces her Band, “I love them so much and I’ve been with them so long. They are really the best. There’s not a lot them up here but we make quite a sound”. The gentlemen in her band, dressed in white tuxedos, each play a very crucial role in creating this beautiful show. Some of these men have been with Liza for practically her whole career. Ross Konikoff first started out with Liza back in 1977 as a trumpet player for the Broadway musical The Act.

    “In the summer of 1977 I was called for a Broadway show called The Act, starring Liza Minnelli. I had certainly known of Liza, but until that point I had been primarily a jazz trumpet player.” Konikoff left Berklee College of Music in 1971 and moved to New York City and began performing with Show Bands. In 1973 he toured with Kiss Me Kate and in 1974 No No Nannette. Then from 1975 to 1977, Konikoff joined the Buddy Rich band, being offered the Jazz soloist position.

    “The Act was great fun to play, “ Konikoff recalls. “The large orchestra was lined up against the back wall of the stage, all dressed in tuxedos, in full view for the entire show. I was seated next to Jay Leonhart, Liza's first bass player, and Bill Lavorgna, who had already been Liza's drummer for a few years. Liza was a ball to work with every night, looking back at the band or doing something to make us laugh.”

    Konikoff reflects on how he permanently joined Liza’s band, “When they announced the closing, Bill Lavorgna had a little talk with some of us and told us that Liza was taking her night club act on the road and that she wanted twelve of us to go with her to be her permanent band. I loved Liza and I loved traveling, so I accepted happily.”

    The places they traveled to have been all around the world, and it’s been quite an extraordinary journey, one that Ross Konikoff is very proud to be a part of.

    “I love traveling, and with Liza, it has always been absolutely first class. Nobody is more loving and respectful to her musicians than Liza. She let's me stand up and play my heart out on a few tunes and that makes me very happy. Then of course, playing for her as she sings has always been exciting and rewarding. We make music history every night. Who could ask for more? I am 50 times the trumpet player I might have been had I not met Liza and played in front of millions of people over these past 35 years.”

    In the 70s Konikoff had the privilege of being Liza’s dancing partner in a number “Everybody Gets The Blues”. “I was scared to death. I had never danced anything with anybody prior to that routine. Fred Ebb told me I could do it, and that he would make me a star! Everybody Gets The Blues started with me playing some soulful, bluesy licks all alone, indicating that I was feeling very sad. Then Liza turned around and asked me what was wrong. We had a little back and forth, then I walked down next to her and she sang as we danced this routine. I played at her, she sang at me and by the end I was all cheered up and ran back to my chair.”

    Billy Stritch has been with Liza now for twenty-three years. He had been work nine years prior with his vocal group, Montgomery, Plant and Stritch.

    We had already made a splash in New York,” Says Stritch. “having worked many engagements at the Algonquin Hotel Oak Room as well as concerts at Town Hall and Carnegie Hall, so I had somewhat of a following in New York by then.” Then one night he was playing the piano in a restaurant and in walks Liza Minnelli, who was immediately drawn to Billy.

    “Liza was beginning rehearsals for her show "Stepping Out At Radio City Music Hall" and she invited me to be part of the creative team, crafting vocal arrangement for her and the twelve women who co-starred in the show. That was the beginning of my collaboration with Liza and the rest as they say is history. I've learned so much from this collaboration and I think Liza would say the same. She's made it possible for me to work all over the world and has certainly promoted me in ways that I never dreamed possible. She is unfailingly generous and kind and it has certainly been the most important professional relationship in my life. Twenty three years and counting....”

    Simply Liza draws to a close with Liza singing her two highly anticipated songs “But The World Goes Round” and of course, “New York, New York.” She then encores with an emotional rendition of, “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”, leaving the audience wanting more. There is simply no other performer like Liza Minnelli.

    For those who missed this One-night only performance at the Broward Center, perhaps in the near future Liza Minnelli will bring her Simply Liza show back to South Florida. The Broward show was most certainly a success.

    “I love Florida,” says Konikoff, “Getting my life batteries recharged by that beautiful, pure sunlight is the best thing there is to keep one alive and healthy. Any time I have the opportunity to go to Florida, I am thrilled. In addition, the Broward Center theater is a fantastic place to perform. The whole group looks forward to performing there at every opportunity.”

Gay Men Can Only Donate Blood In the Closet

Fidel Castro
Staff Writer

    Walking by a blood donation bus is almost unavoidable on any Broward College (BC) campus—but if you are a gay man, you should probably save yourself some time and immediately tell them, “I am gay.” You will see how quickly the employee will sigh and turn to look for another possible donor.

    “If you are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977,” you are ineligible to donate blood because you pose the risk of having HIV/AIDS, as implemented by the FDA. It is also listed on the Red Cross donation center’s website under the category of HIV/AIDS which somewhat implies most homosexual men who have ever (even once) been sexually active are probably infected with the deadly virus.

    The “Big Red Bus” usually parks outside the only main entrance to BC’s Miramar Town Center, which allows employees from blood centers to ask most people who enter if they are able to donate. One day, I recognized a former flame working, trying to convince people to donate blood in order to save lives. Saying hello was my only option once we locked eyes, but I was startled when he approached and asked if I was willing to donate blood.

    Working at an organization that discriminates against the both of us was one thing, but he went as far as to ask me to lie about my sexual orientation and history in order to save lives. “It is not a big deal, I have to do it all the time,” he claimed, in order to meet a certain quota. I was stunned.

    I knew this man on an intimate level, and the audacity of him to ask me to lie about our relationship just to meet his quota felt insulting to me at the time. There is no way I would walk back into that closet just to lend him a hand!

    In theory, to lie about your sexual orientation to save someone’s life is not a mortal sin; it is just not right. There is no harm done, especially if you test regularly and know your status, but it is unethical because it does involve deceit.

    Taniamary Marquez, a BC student who formerly worked at a blood bank in Hialeah opened up about her thoughts on the guidelines and her experiences at the bank. “Sometimes, very questionable people would walk through the door and as long as they checked off the correct boxes, they were able to donate. It is sad, because there is such a large gay community in South Florida who could contribute but they are being discriminated against,” said Marquez.

    The policy, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has received criticism from defenders of the gay community for years. Rumors circulate constantly in media that change to the policy is coming soon, but it seems the chances of marriage are more likely for gay men as the recognition of their commitments is a current hot-button topic.

    For now, it is up to each individual gay man to decide about whether a visit to the closet is worth potentially saving a life. Personally, I will wait until these guidelines reflect the ideals of equality.

How I Cried During the Finale

Charles Fernandez
Social Media Editor

    I want to start off by saying that reading this review will probably last longer than the finale of How I Met
Your Mother and I am notifying all readers of major spoilers ahead! You have ben warned! I have so much to say about this finale that I didn’t like and the mother’s death was the least of the problems, so I’ll leave her off for later.

    First of all, Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) ending was horrible. The fact that Barney started crying happily about having a baby made me very disappointed with its ending. The problem with this scene was that it made Barney completely fall out of character in a very unrealistic fashion. It isn’t even character development since the change occurs in an instant. Let’s recap on what Barney said related to having a daughter: “I’m about to tell a sad story," he began. "Glad someone can be happy on a day of a tragedy ... My life is over. Happy Notafather’s Day!”  When the doctor asked if Barney would like to see his daughter, he responded with, “Nah, I’m good”. THIS is Barney. Barney only asks for 3 things throughout his life: Number one is to sleep with as many women as he can, number two is to always have a suit near him and number three is to have a legendary life. Robin (Cobie Smulders) was the only case that managed to change Barney’s craving for a woman in bed every night, but even that took nearly 7 seasons to do. However, if anything were to stop Barney from achieving any of these three things, he would be 100% against it.
Barney would look at a baby and only consider it a thumb-sucking nuisance and a roadblock to getting women in bed with him. A baby, in Barney’s eyes, SHOULD be the epitome of bad luck. But instead, the show passes the touching scene over as if he has matured and really grown up. Of course most people would like to believe that, but in all honesty, as soon as he went back to sleeping with women, Barney reverted to his previous self. If you recall the Halloween party Barney was a part of in the finale, Barney said, “Marshall (Jason Segel), guess who’s digits I just scored? The slutty police officer-“and then he notices Robin, “ -er‘s tax attorney! Haha, saved it…”

    Maybe the new “I’m- in-love-with-Robin” Barney would have been crying and happy to have a baby (which is still a bit questionable), but the development from committed to player occurred to quickly to be believable.  Barney, as a player, is the last person who would be crying tears of joy and telling his arch-nemesis, “You are the love of my life”. It was touching, sure, but it should’ve never happened. When Lily (Alyson Hannigan) questioned Barney for the man he was, Barney replied with my favorite quote of the episode, “That’s me. Can I please just be me?” It saddened me that Barney’s ending didn’t even allow him to be himself. I can see that without the addition of the baby, Barney would have remained a very static character and not have changed from the beginning of the plot to the end. Yet, the whole baby scenario was a very unrealistic and bad way to go about making him more dynamic.

    Number 31 was a total excuse for Barney’s better ending! As heartless as it may sound, Number 31 was literally just a “baby carrier” misled by Barney, as all other women are, who didn’t get any screenplay, much less even given a name. This may very well be, the cruelest and most forced way of using a character I have ever seen in my life. And Barney thought HE had a sad story to share, but the heartless manner of using Number 31 for Barney’s personal story makes it funny and this is a comedy show. So, I’ll give kudos to that, I suppose.

    The scene I hated the most in the finale was when Marshall turned around to speak to the weird kids behind their booth. Nothing was more irritating than watching Marshall say, “Hey, you kids! Do you have any idea what happened right here in this very bar?” The kid asks him what happened and Marshall replies with, “Just… all kinds of stuff.”… What? I know some people took this scene as really cute to say, but this just felt like we hit a whole new level of corny, that it even became uncomfortable to me. Just all kinds of stuff? Care to elaborate on that, Marshall? All kinds of stuff happen around the world every day. All kinds of stuff are going on in Russia. All kinds of stuff are happening inside our bodies. All kinds of stuff happen inside a bathroom. I was left confused about the whole scene when the kid just turned back around to talk to his friends, as if telling Marshall, “Cool story, bro”. A much better replacement for that scene could have been with Marshall telling the gang, “I’m really gonna miss spending time with you guys here. ‘All kinds of stuff’ has happened in this bar.” Sure it’s a cliché scene, but then again, so is the majority of the show, which isn’t necessarily bad.

    Robin was never able to stay in one place once she became very successful and that was the overall reason why Barney and Robin got divorced. So if Robin’s traveling is what separated them both, how will this even help Ted (Josh Radnor) when he wants to date Robin? Is Robin at her house at the end of the story because she finished working? Can she now stay in one place? If so, then why doesn’t Barney go back to Robin? Barney did tell Robin, after all, that he loved her and vowed he would always speak the truth. I don’t think the baby would stop Barney from being with Robin because Robin likes the idea of having a child, which was why she cried a lot when she found out she wouldn’t be able to have kids. And something really makes me doubt that Barney and Number 31 are in a loving relationship. So I still have no idea why it ended the way it did.

    Even the kids at the end of the story had their problems. In some mysterious way, the daughter deduces that the whole story was about how Ted loved Aunt Robin. This is apparent when the daughter says “This is a story about how you are totally in love with Aunt Robin.” I don’t think anyone can say that this 9 season long comedy show that followed the lives of a whole gang with many interesting adventures and troubling relationships was just about “how much Ted loves Robin”. She continues on saying, “And you’re thinking about asking her out and you wanna know if we’re ok with it.” I must be missing something here because the daughter has now become the detective Ted has always wanted to be. The son agrees with the daughter, so he seems to be a genius too. This whole scene just forces Ted to go and ask Robin out for the “happy ending”. This scene was  way too rushed, didn’t make sense, and was the lowest point for me in the finale. Also, what a huge insult on the mother this has been! Instead of this whole story being about her, Ted spoke about another chick he liked and barely spoke anything about Tracy. Nice going, Ted.

    All of my other criticisms are a bit smaller. I’m sure many of us viewers noticed that the Mother’s death seemed like a really forced scene, as well. We weren’t even given an explanation for Tracy’s death, only that she got “sick”. Hope none of the readers die during Flu Season. This came off as if Tracy was only an obstacle standing in the way of Ted and Robin’s happy ending. And gosh darn it; Tracy must be eliminated to see that happy ending!

    I didn’t like the fact that Ted had way too much in common with Tracy (Cristin Milioti). I was happy to know that Ted could relate to Tracy, but I wasn’t hoping for so many similarities. If there was ever anything good that came out of the mother’s death, it would probably be that Ted doesn’t have to live with someone exactly like him and it makes things seem a bit more realistic. The similarities were dragged on way too far to the point that it just got plain creepy. Not only do they share the same interests but they shared the same initials, too (T.M: Ted Moesby and Tracy McConnel). I may have forgotten this, but can anyone recall a moment when Ted asked out Tracy? I was not only hoping for them to meet, but I was also hoping to see how Ted would ask Tracy out on a date. But the only thing I witnessed was Ted and Tracy already going out with one another rather than how they got to that point. All in favor of the sequel “How I Asked Out Your Mother”? Maybe this time around, we can tell Robin the story and end it with both of them getting a divorce, too. Now that we got all of the negative aspects of the finale, let’s go to what I really enjoyed about the finale!

    The only scenes I loved were from the time Barney wanted to play one last game of “Have you met Ted” through to the farewell of Ted. I felt that by having Barney play one last game of “Have you met Ted” with the mother, it could have started off as a great closing to the show. Unfortunately, this was never really implemented into the story but the E.T. farewell had me cracking up as well as the most legendary high-five. That’s about all of the positive things I can say about the finale and this ends my rant- I mean review.