NewsPacblog

  While the album might not slap, Will Smith certainly does. The best thing I can say about Smith’s new album is the music is neither noteworthy nor objectionable. Being rich affords Smith the ability to buy decent beats. Additionally, the many guest singers are generally appreciated, as they provide a respite until Smith starts rapping again.  A couple of Smith’s previous hits had him on the soundtracks of his own movies to hype himself, using the movie titles in the choruses. If they are good, it is probably because he took an already popular old hit and changed and added words.  He stopped that 20 years ago. Why return to music? Because he is doing PR work for the Will Smith brand. It’s a family business.  The album's existence and its substance is a vanity project. “Whole world against me and it ain't even bothering me." We will see just how easily Smith can let things go. “Living in a world that attacks us. We stay centered with our hearts on axis.” If we learn ...

I was submerged in thought, stuck in science class, trying to calculate what earthly forces and universal laws mattered in my pre-teenage skull. All I knew was that my guesswork would get the teacher's red pen for cluelessness, so I clenched my paper handout of half answers into a ball and picked up my book.  The scientific tome had the bulk of a tool – or a weapon.  If nothing else, I could use it to fend off a burglar who might sneak through my bedroom window and steal my perfectly corrected homework, when the teacher next asked about it. It had size and heft, but the glossy cover proved slippery.  The balled-up instructions, meanwhile, were so light that when pitched by my friend and supposed study partner, the unsturdy, makeshift baseball took on a strange trajectory to the plate, catching odd breezes that welled up in the classroom. The paper fluttered and fell like a spitball, without, thankfully, any saliva.  I took several unsuccessful swings, studying the pa...

I plan to improve my interviewing skills. This shouldn't prove too difficult, because I currently have next to no experience, as the prospect of asking strangers questions terrifies me. I worry I will be bothering them.  I can be florid and digressive--for example using words like florid and digressive. I'd like to find a way to keep some of my style and still interest readers and professionals. I know that for most journalism, people want much more direct and concise language. Because currently journalism is in such bad shape in our culture, I believe that perhaps it signals an opportunity. We are awash in lies, scams and propaganda. People spend a great deal of time listening and reading about current events, so it is important to them, even if they say they hate journalists. I really would like to contribute in a way that doesn't further divide this country into two sides by dogmatically politicizing everything, while also telling the truth on basic things that matter.  ...