October 18, 2013

Vegas Trip: Television City

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Television City is located in the MGM Grand Casino and you can get tickets to watch TV shows and let them know your opinion. We were told we would be watching a TV show and have to rate it and if we were one of the first 50 people we’d get $20.  We were indeed one of the first 50 people.  We were put in the 4pm group and watched a TV-14 TV Show.  I’m not sure I can say much else about it, but the show has since aired on TV.  While watching we had a dial that went from 0 to 100 and we were supposed to turn it as the show progressed if we liked things or didn’t like things.  I am pretty sure mine broke because when I wanted to be at around 80 or 90 for some scenes I looked down and it said 46.  Oops!

Afterwards we were given our $20 and also chosen for a focus group about the show that would be meeting the next day and we would be paid $50 to discuss the show we had just watched!  Of course we agreed.  Better to be making money than losing it at the casino!

Book Review: Party Music

Party Music is all about the Black Power Era of the late 60s and early 70s and chronicles the time through the music of the era.  Artists like James Brown and Marvin Gaye are featured, as well as many, many others.  A mix of music and history, an interesting book though a bit long.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

 

About the Book

Examining the culture and politics of the Black Power era of the late 1960s, this book explores the relationship of soul music to the Black Power movement from the vantage point of the musicians and black revolutionaries themselves. The 1960s were a turbulent time for race relations in the United States, but no other area in the country epitomized the radical social change that was taking place more than the San Francisco Bay Area—the epicenter of the Black Panthers movement. This social history introduces fans of soul music and 20th-century U.S. history enthusiasts to the Black Panthers’ own band, the Lumpen, a group comprised of rank-and-file members of the Oakland, California–based Party. During their year-long tenure, the Lumpen produced hard-driving rhythm-and-blues that asserted the revolutionary ideology of the Black Panthers. Through his rediscovery of the Lumpen, and based on new interviews with Party and band members, author Rickey Vincent provides an insider’s account of Black Power politics and soul music aesthetics in an original narrative that reveals more detail about the Black Revolution than ever before.

Book Review: Stinky Sanitation Inventions

Stinky Sanitation Inventions tells you all about inventions that you use every day related to sanitation.  Gross to think about – but think about where we’d be without them!  No sewers or flushable toilets? I can only imagine how gross it smelled in medieval times when it got hot out! Ick!  While all the things in this book aren’t things I’d really want to think about because they are gross, I’d hate to think about the alternative.  A fun and interesting book on an icky topic.  Geared towards kids, it shows the importance of invention and how we can use all these things in our daily lives.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review I was not otherwise compensated.

 

About the Book

Did you know that people with rakes used to do the work of garbage trucks? Or that porta-potties were put on ships to keep workers from running to shore for bathroom breaks? Get ready to learn the odd stories behind inventions you use every day. From the T.P. of Chinese emperors to the landfills of ancient Greece, you’ll find out how we got the sanitation inventions that keep us healthy and keep the world smelling fresh.

The Awesome Inventions You Use Every Day series:

What would you do without deodorant, Band-Aids, or flushable toilets? Can you imagine living in a world with no television, and no microwave popcorn to eat while you watch it? We might take these items for granted now, but they haven’t always been around. Some were centuries in the making. Others were created purely by accident. This fun series reveals the mistakes, coincidences, controversies, and sheet craziness that brought us our modern conveniences and everyday essentials—from your basic sanitary needs to the latest gadget.

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