Pentatonix burst onto the scene in 2011 as the Season 3 winners of The Sing-Off. And while there were four seasons, and four winners, they are the only ones that really took off and made a name for themselves.
Over the years they’ve won Grammy’s and YouTube Music Awards, and their covers of songs have made it onto peoples playlists. But their most popular songs may have been off their 2016 Christmas album.
Well, now they’ve released a brand new album, PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. I, which has some of the most popular songs on the radio on it, from Ed Sheeran to Ed Sheeran, and Zedd to Kesha.
My favorite songs on the album are Stay (a Zedd with Alessia Cara cover) and Perfect (Ed Sheeran). But the songs that stand out from the album are the two mashups that they have put together: New Rules with Are You That Somebody (Dua Lipa and Aaliyah) and Despacito with Shape of You (Luis Fonsi w/ Daddy Yankee and Ed Sheeran).
Spoiler alert: I think I really like the X-Men movies.
ROUND OF 32
The Avengers vs. Thor: The Dark World – The Avengers — I mean, The Avengers was the end of Phase I, and the movie that started tying all our favorite characters together
Spider-Man (2002) vs. X-Men (2000) – X-Men — No one can deny that Spider-Man was a great movie, but X-Men launched this entire Marvel Universe into existence Thor: Ragnarok vs. Ant-Man – Thor: Ragnorak — I did not particularly like either of these…but the lesser of two evil (villains) Logan vs. Blade 2 – Logan — I loved Logan…and I’ve never seen Blade 2, so this one was pretty easy!
Captain America: Civil War vs. X-Men: Apocalypse – Captain America: Civil War — This was it. Our favorite heroes battling against each other, over the future of their kind
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 vs. Spider-Man: Homecoming – Spider-Man: Homecoming — This movie was a rejuvenation and breath of fresh air to a becomingly stale series X-Men: Days of Future Past vs. Iron Man 2 – X-Men: Days of Future Past — Iron Man is a solid character, but the origin stories and going back in time to the beginnings and creations of the X-Men wins out Deadpool vs. The Wolverine – Deadpool — This one was really tough because I love Wolverine, both the movie and character, but Deadpool and its comedy changed the future of MCU movies and comedy
Spider-Man 2 vs. Fantastic 4 (2005) – Spider-Man 2 — The Fantastic 4 movies never really took off…nor were they very good
X-Men 2 vs. Iron Man 3 – X2 — Both equally medium, one had to move on
Avengers: Age of Ultron vs. Thor – Thor — Thor was good at the onset, before getting more boring as time went on
Captain America: The Winter Soldier vs. Blade – Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Same as before…I’ve never seen the Blade movies, and Bucky was great as Winter Soldier (Spoiler Alert? But if you are reading this bracket, you should expect those here…)
Black Panther vs. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Black Panther — Black Panther is going to have recency bias for many, and it is better than Origins: Wolverine…but not by much
X-Men: First Class vs. Captain America: The First Avenger – X-Men: First Class — The start of the X-Men and the beginning of their story
Iron Man vs. Doctor Strange – Iron Man — Doctor Strange was a whole different version of superhero and Marvel, but Iron Man started the current MCU universe
Guardians of the Galaxy vs. The Amazing Spiderman – The Amazing Spiderman — Guardians was a fun different brand of MCU, but Emma Stone is gonna push most movies over the edge
SWEET SIXTEEN
The Avengers vs. X-Men (2000) – X-Men — The Avengers is fantastic, but I think the fact that the mutants of X-Men were the first (good) movie of the modern era moves it along
Thor: Ragnorak vs. Logan – Logan — Logan all the way. The entertainment levels are so high in this movie…compared to the bore of Thor…
Captain America: Civil War vs. Spider-Man: Homecoming – Captain America: Civil War — Spider-Man appears in Captain America, so how can his awesome character win out over the full collection?
X-Men: Days of Future Past vs. Deadpool – X-Men: Days of Future Past — Intensity is what MCU is based on, and while comedy is fun, the strength of Future Past powers thru
Spider-Man 2 vs. X-Men 2 – Spider-Man 2 — Doc Ock pushes past the X-Men series
Thor vs. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Thor is one of the weaker series’ amongst the individuals, and Cap basically represents America
Black Panther vs. X-Men: First Class – Black Panther — Wakanda Forever
Iron Man vs. The Amazing Spiderman – Iron Man — Tony Stark will win out over Peter Parker
ELITE EIGHT
X-Men (2000) vs. Logan – X-Men — The OG wins out
Captain America: Civil War vs. X-Men Days of Future Past – Captain America: Civil War — The originals and individual movies are great, but when you put all these powerhouses together it just creates an unbelievable movie. And while both of these feature great casts of characters, Civil War is the better of the two
Spider-Man 2 vs. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Captain America: The Winter Soldier — The weakest bracket has Hydra moving on thru to the Final Four
Black Panther vs. Iron Man – Black Panther — I started off by saying how Black Panther may have recency bias, but it really does have a lot going for it
FINAL FOUR
X-Men (2000) vs. Captain America: Civil War – X-Men — I’ll go back to what I said in the first round…this movie was the one that really launched this entire franchise, and should be in the Championship game
Captain America: The Winter Soldier vs. Black Panther – Black Panther — The newest movie is also the one heading to the Championship
CHAMPIONSHIP
X-Men (2000) vs. Black Panther – X-MEN (2000) — When I started filling out this bracket, I did NOT think that this movie would be the ultimate champion. But when you look at it big picture, the entire MCU universe only exists because of the success that X-Men started off with in 2000. Without it, we never would’ve gotten to Black Panther in 2018. It’s kinda fitting that the first good movie in this bracket, and the most recent one, face off against each other
Back in October I spoke about NYCFC’s quest for a stadium, and at the time the focus was on Elmont, and how we all hoped it wouldn’t end up there.
Well yesterday, thanks to a story from YIMBY, we got some unconfirmed news of a possible stadium coming to The Bronx.
The stadium project, which would cost upwards of $700K, is set to hold 26K fans, under a “pitch open” roof, allowing the players to face the elements, while the fans can stay dry.
This location, the Harlem River Yards, is currently home to commercial properties and a large rail yard, which they would build the stadium (and a collection of housing) over, with an expected completion date of 2022.
Among their selling points, and something that wasn’t as doable in Elmont, is the ease of getting to the stadium. There are already existing subway stops within a 10-minute walk of the stadium, they are certain to add parking garages, and they are promising the addition of a new ferry stop on the NYC ferry system.
If this turns out to be the reality, a lot of fans would be very happy with it. I can’t wait to see what other amenities show up inside the stadium.
Pictures via YIMBY, courtesy of Rafael Vinoly Architects
NYC has gotten out of hand in recent years, with a visible increase in the homeless on the streets, and parking violations being ignored.
Today I want to focus on those parking violations, and how the NYPD is either turning a blind eye or just flat out not patrolling and cracking down on the seemingly “minor crimes” of parking violations:
There is a used car dealer doing work on the street, on a major avenue just a few blocks from my house, that snarls up traffic and takes up all the parking spots
He usually starts with a car carrier pulling up in a driving lane and stopping there for 1-2 hours, to unload 6+ cars that all have prices and info on their windows. This carrier reduces the road to just one lane, which quickly slows traffic, including MTA buses and commercial traffic.
They unload the cars, parking them (with no license plates at this time) at bus stops, hydrants, and taking up a long stretch of metered parking (without paying the meters)
What follows is hours of work on the cars: Changing batteries, cleaning prices off the windows, and generic work on the cars
When the day is done they pop out of state plates on the cars and leave them until the next day, when they move them and bring in the next shipment
On my block, there are a few hydrants at which cars are parked throughout the day. In NYC it’s illegal to park at a fire hydrant, but these people have no shame in doing it, day or night. Sometimes they’ll pull their cars up as close as they can to the curb, hoping that a patrol car driving by won’t notice the hydrant…this makes it harder, in the event of a fire, for the FDNY to get around the parked vehicle to use the hydrant
Illegal driveways — This one is a tougher fight. People don’t park in front of them, because they see it as a driveway, and even if they would they would face the backlash of the homeowners. But these driveways cut away from the street parking, causing people to park at the hydrants. Yes, I understand that the driveway occupants would just park in that spot, evening out the number …but the hours that they are away would lead to extra spots.
InstLife is the latest fad game, to hit Android (only available on Google Play, with talk of an upcoming iOS app), and it’s the perfect example of a mind-numbingly boring, time-consuming, game, made by Indie company InstCoffee.
Like your life – but instant.
Upon opening the game you are born as a random gender in a random country, and instantly your life takes off.
Go to school, get a degree…find jobs or be unemployed for life…
Find a lover, a mistress, have drugs, drink too much, get a drivers license, or just go to the gym with your last dollars.
Buy a house or car, plan a family vacation, and figure out your sexual orientation.
This game lets you live life, from start to finish, in a matter of minutes, eliminating the need (for now) of a save function.
InstLife is still under development, and every update provides new exciting features and life events (or ads…but you can’t really fault them for that), but is an enjoyable play for a few times thru on a rainy day.
The Washington Post published an op-ed on March 29th entitled “I Am Tired of Being a Jewish Man’s Rebellion” by Carey Purcell, and I wish I could say that it was an April Fools joke.
The article comes across as idiotic and makes her sound like she isn’t the brightest bulb in the box.
Now personally, I am not easily offended and feel that everyone is entitled to their opinion, whether they are right or wrong. But as I read through this article, the stupidity that I was reading actually hurt my head and made me realize how clueless people can be to other religions, or even to their own…now let’s dissect:
First of all, congrats Carey on knowing how to mix a drink, and not having control of how much alcohol you actually put in. Maybe if you weren’t drinking them too often, you wouldn’t have a problem finding men who will stay with you.
You call yourself a “very liberal Christian”, but when these guys who are “lackadaisical Jewish” don’t know their own religion you get upset…maybe it’s hard for you to understand, but within every single religion there are different levels of religion. Some people keep more of the laws, some keep less. Some keep them in public, some keep them in private, and some are just doing their own things.
Do you Carey not eat meat every Friday during Lent? What about when there’s that 5 for $5 sale…have you ever snuck a quick burger in? But man, these Jews don’t fast on Yom Kippur, aren’t they just the worst?
You dated two guys for a few years total…you stuck with them despite these “flaws in their Judaism”…yet now that you are alone and miserable, you use those as your excuse to lash out against Jews.
I now half-jokingly consider myself a Jewish man’s rebellion and guard myself against again landing in that role.
But, living in New York and working in theater, I frequently meet Jewish men. At almost every event I go to, they approach me. As flattered as I am, I don’t welcome the complications and potential heartbreak I’ve experienced back into my life.
I work in the Television industry, and meet no Orthodox Jewish women…and somehow I don’t date the Christians that I meet because I know that that’s not what I ultimately want. I have a little thing called “self-control”.
Maybe your issue is that you are dating the wrong kind of Jews, because like you said: “Jews are more likely to intermarry than other religions.”…or maybe the problem isn’t them, but your close-minded-self.
Everyone has got the brackets going for March Madness, and the popular one this weekend was Disney vs Pixar…and even though I voted on a friends poll (his didn’t go my way), I figured I’d put my thoughts out there on the Disney/Pixar universe!
And maybe this will also be my first bracket in a new segment?
ROUND OF 32
Lion King vs. Tarzan – Lion King — Tarzan is an Ape Man, and that’s pretty cool…but the hyenas will laugh them out of this competition
Princess and the Frog vs. Lilo & Stitch – Lilo & Stitch — That little blue creep moves on
Tangled vs. Big Hero 6 – Tangled — I didn’t watch either of these…so I advanced the one that I know more about
Frozen vs. Moana – Moana — One of the toughest matchups of the first round, and while Frozen was a good fad, Moana will likely stand the test of time
Aladdin vs. Hercules – Aladdin — Abu could kick Hercules’ butt…
The Little Mermaid vs. Pocahantas – The Little Mermaid — Under the sea, under the sea…come on, sing along!
Mulan vs. Zootopia – Zootopia — Mulan is a tough one to beat, but the sloth of Zootopia zooms through this round
Beauty and the Beast vs. Nightmare Before Christmas – Beauty and the Beast — I mean is this even a contest?
Up vs. Brave – Up — Up tugs at all the right strings
Toy Story vs. Toy Story 2 – Toy Story — The OG will almost always trump the sequels Coco vs. Cars 2 – Coco — Coco may be the most recent, but Tow Mater can’t pull Cars 2 out of the muck
Toy Story 3 vs. The Good Dinosaur – Toy Story 3 — Andy grew up so quick…
Ratatouille vs. A Bugs Life – Ratatouille — I just don’t know that A Bugs Life stands up the test of time
Finding Nemo vs. Inside Out – Inside Out — The other tough matchup of the first round, and while Finding Nemo is probably Top-3 All-Time for me, Inside Out ranks just a little higher
Monsters Inc. vs. Cars – Monsters, Inc. — I love Lightning McQueen, but Mike Wazowski is a GOAT
The Incredibles vs. Wall-E – Wall-E — Say it in the slowest voice possible: “Wall-E”
SWEET SIXTEEN
Lion King vs. Lilo & Stitch – Lion King — Mufasa roars through to the Elite Eight
Tangled vs. Moana – Moana — Hei Hei, I’m going to beat you
Aladdin vs. The Little Mermaid – Aladdin — This is the toughest region, and the magic carpet ride will continue
Zootopia vs. Beauty and the Beast – Beauty and the Beast — Such a decision, but Lumiere will French all over the bunnies
Up vs. Toy Story – Toy Story — A really tight battle, but Woody and Buzz will continue too infinity and beyond
Coco vs. Toy Story 3 – Coco — No third-rate Toy Story is going to knock out Dia de Muertos
Ratatouille vs. Inside Out – Inside Out — The foods in Ratatouille are almost too much to handle, but the feelings are just going to push on thru
Monsters, Inc. vs. Wall-E – Monsters, Inc. — Robots and the future is cool, but I’d rather check out what’s under the bed
ELITE EIGHT
Lion King vs. Moana – Lion King — say Aloha to Moana, as the African pride stampedes on
Aladdin vs. Beauty and the Beast – Aladdin — Even to myself this was an upset…but Belle just can’t compete with Robin Williams and the Genie
Toy Story vs. Coco – Coco — Writing Andy on my shoe would’ve moved on a month ago, but now my life has changed and I will Forever Remember Coco
Inside Out vs. Monsters, Inc. – Monsters, Inc. — Another upset as Monsters, Inc. takes out Sadness, and Roz advances
FINAL FOUR
Lion King (1) vs. Aladdin (1) – Lion King — If this was the final matchup, I wouldn’t be upset. But regions are regions, and rules are rules…and Lion King is a Timon ahead of the competition…but they aren’t (Ja)far behind!!
Coco (3) vs. Monsters, Inc. (3) – Monsters, Inc. — I’m actually surprised at how far Sulley has stumbled thru this tournament
CHAMPIONSHIP
Lion King vs. Monsters, Inc. – LION KING — In this competition, they just can’t wait to be King. Monsters, Inc. is a really good, and somewhat underrated movie, but Simba will r
The idea is great: A Bluetooth speaker/transmitter that you place on top of a record, allowing you to play it wherever you’d like. No turntable needed.
But Pink Donut was a little bit off on their first try at this idea…and when I reached out for help, they quickly turned away once I got down to the real issues.
For starters, the instructions were a little confusing and could’ve been made a lot simpler by simply printing them on the unit itself.
Meanwhile, the connectors and indicators aren’t the greatest…notifying that the charging process was finished, when really it was still at the 25% mark, leading it to not work properly when I first tried it.
But when I finally got the instructions in order, and the battery fully charged, I excitedly put the box on top of my record, and round-and-round it went…with sound quality that was sour and unlistenable.
I tried it thru a Bluetooth speaker, in case the onboard speaker was faulty, with the same results. Terrible sound, and the company going silent on ideas and suggestions for how to modify the device and fix the problem.
It has been 100 days since I last reached out to them, but the time has come to post the review, and I’ll give it an 8 out of 10 on the idea, but a 2 out of 10 for execution.
Thor: Ragnarok, the second most recent Marvel movie, before Black Panther was a semi-enjoyable movie…but mostly a giant bore.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns home to Asgard to find Loki (Tom Hiddleston) pretending to be King after exiling Oden. When they go to bring Oden back home, they discover their sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) who brings death wherever she goes. When she returns to Asgard she gains unlimited powers, while Thor ends up in a foreign alien prison, having to fight his way out against an “old work friend”: Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who has been in this form for over two years.
The movie is seemingly boring for a large portion of it, not even picking up until about halfway through. Yet when it does pick up, it’s with surprised and lines that they used in every single trailer, completely spoiling a large portion of joy that should’ve come from this movie.
The best newcomer from this movie is Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and I hope she’s too Infinity War and beyond. Jeff Goldblum also played a good role in this film as the Grandmaster of the prison fights.
I genuinely laughed when Hulk didn’t hulk (you’ll know it when you see it), but overall this movie was just a 6 out of 10.
It’s the first day of Spring today. It’ll also be the start of the fourth blizzard of the month here in NYC. I need some music.
The Middle – Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey
Oh, baby, why don’t you just meet me in the middle
I’m losing my mind just a little
Wolves – Selena Gomez & Marshmello
Second straight Marshmello song in SOTD and I hadn’t even heard of him a few months ago.
I’ve been running through the jungle
I’ve been running with the wolves
To get to you
I’ve been down the darkest alleys
Saw the dark side of the moon
To get to you
I’ve looked for love in every stranger
Took too much to ease the anger
World Gone Mad – Bastille
When it feels like the world’s gone mad
And there’s nothing you can do about it
No, there’s nothing you can do about it
Replay – Zendaya
This throwback is a reminder that there was a time before Greatest Showman and Spider-Man when Zendaya had songs stuck on my iPod on replay.
Yeah, wanna put this song on replay
I can listen to it all day
I can listen to you all day, yeah, you all day
Aviously 