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Don't worry, Music News is Here! Let's Get Right To It:

Remember all that talk way back about Dr. Pepper giving one free soda to every American on the day Guns N' Roses' new album came out? Well they lied, and now Axl is PISSED. You see, Dr.Pepper's website crashed from all the traffic it got when people stampeded there for free drink tickets, and barely anyone got their soda. Axl and his lawyers are accusing Dr. Pepper of using the band's popularity to increase brand awareness and demanding the company not only make good on its offer, but take out full page apologies in a number of national papers. I tried to get a free Dr. Pepper and couldn't access the website, so hopefully they comply with Mr. Rose's requests.

Those of you waiting to buy Beatles records on iTunes, rejoice, for the wait is over....NOT!
According to Paul McCartney, Beatles music still won't be available legally in digital form for quite some time. Apparently, EMI wants something McCartney is unwilling to give them, and negotiations have stalled. I hope it's never released online. Long live vinyl!

Weezer is releasing an album of old, unused tracks. I'm not going to get excited about that just yet. Sometimes songs are left off an album for good reasons. System of a Down released a similar album, called Steal this Album, and I thought it was great. So maybe this one will be too.

No Doubt is getting back together for a tour and will be writing and recording new material by the end of 2009, according to the band's official website. Finally! I love No Doubt and couldn't stand Gwen Stefani's solo stuff. This is exciting news, people.

Travis Barker and DJAM will be performing together again on New Year's Eve for the first time since a plane crash injured them both and killed four others. The performance will be streamed online live that night and will be broadcast at parties all over the country.

A Norweigian escort is accusing Boy George of locking him to a bedroom wall and beating him with chains for hacking into his computer. This story, whether true or not, is hilarious. If only I had something like this to write about every week.

Finally, Kanye West is claiming to be better than Elvis. Remember when John Lennon said he was bigger than Jesus? Well this is worse. Kanye is so ridiculously into himself, he'll probably cry when an album of his fails. Of course, that would require the music-buying public to have good musical taste, which will never happen.
But I can dream.

Speaking of dream, let's end with something great. Here's a video of people from all over the world playing and singing Stand By Me. Thanks for reading.

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

UO Gifts for Him (Under $50)

We often forget about the boys when it comes to fashion and accessories. The majority of the fashion industry focuses on what women should wear. Well, the holidays are approaching and it's time to show some appreciation to the forgotten fashion demographic. Urbanoutfitters.com should be your first stop. Their selection of men's shoes, fashion and accessories is never lacking. (And it never hurts for the girls to browse there for themselves. You might come across the perfect boyfriend blazer or cardigan.)

1. Musette Backpack $28.00 Bags should be classic, understated. And what's more classic than green surplus army canvas? This bag is best for boys on the go.
2. Ceramic Deli Coffee Cup $14.00 This sturdy ceramic cup is the perfect replacement to disposable coffee cups. It's kitschy and clever and mimics the iconic New York Deli cup. This gift is great for the eco-friendly boys in your life.
3. Marled Porkpie $28.00 This classic American porkpie hat in marled tweed is the perfect addition to any wardrobe. It's an interesting alternative to the baseball cap. And the feather adds subtle flair.
4. BDG School Colors Cardigan $49.00 This cardigan is available in several color combinations (Creme/Navy, Burgundy/Black, Black/White, Heather Gray/Black, Hunter Green/Creme, Red/White). You can pick your favorite color combinations or coordinate with actual school colors.
5. USB Fridge $32.00 This gift is for the tech saavy boys in your life. All you have to do is plug the miniature vintage-style icebox into your computer's USB port and within minutes your drink will be cold. The icebox fits a standard size can.

Sabathia the Great....I'll explain

Every year around this time, Major League Baseball (MLB) general managers and owners throw around enough cash to jump-start the Dow Jones. Lets be clear, I am not predicting a turn around from our recession right now, that is NOT what I am doing! I'm just going to play devils advocate and present a way the richer spending some of their hard earned time and money on well...... the rich, can help the not so rich.

Confused about that last sentence? We all are, but bear with me...

In an economic time that is being compared to the Great Depression of the 1930's; C.C. Sabathia, the strong left-handed pitcher is going to receive the largest contract any pitcher has ever seen in baseball. It seems to be a four-team race for this years hot-commodity on the free agent market; the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers are all in for C.C.

The poker match is being ran by the Yankees, who like always have the big stack at the table, and aren't afraid to use it. But the Dodgers and Giants have location on their side, C.C. likes the west coast, and nobody can forget the success Sabathia had in Milwaukee last season. The 260 lb. lefty dominated the National League (NL) with an 11-2 record and single handedly dragged his dead and lifeless team on his back into the playoffs.

He is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball and he is going to get paid like it. The Yankees have already made a 6 year, $140 million offer to Sabathia and he will deserves every penny he gets.

Not because... get ready brace for this...

Not because he is such a dominant pitcher, but because it is star players like him, that allow baseball organizations and the communities around them to thrive so much. C.C. Sabathia is a pitcher capable of putting fans in the seats at any stadium around the country. Not only will he energize any fan base he is sent to, but he might energize their local economy as well.

Wait a second, What?

Yes, when fans are excited about a team, they buy apparel, tickets and concessions. All of these items need to be sold, and in order for them to be sold, someone has to sell them. Increased sales lead to the employment of vendors, salesman, parking attendants, security guards, advertisers and much more. All these jobs can greatly help stimulate a local economy, because when people are making money, there spending it too, and that's what this economy needs.

Increase Your Metabolism!

I knew it was possible to increase your metabolism, but after some more research I realized that you can actually increase it by a significant amount! I thought just eating smaller meals more often would speed it up by a small amount. However, there are more ways than just eating smaller amounts more often throughout the day to speed up your metabolism even more.

...and you don't have to understand any complicated diagrams to know how to relatively control your metabolism.

A slow metabolism means the food you are eating gets converted into calories slower, therefore forcing your body to store the food as fat instead of using for energy. Getting older is the main cause of a slowing metabolism, but there are many other factors: Skipping meals, extreme fasting, lack of physical exercise, excessive dieting, bad sleeping habits and eating too many foods with too many sugars.

Now for some ways to increase your metabolism! I was most surprised by the statistic below:
Increasing your lean muscle mass is the single most significant thing you can do for your metabolism. Muscle burns calories up to 90% faster than fat! That is an incredible difference.

Most people know that metabolic rates increase during exercise, however did you know that it stays up for several hours after the fact? Things like taking the stairs and parking further away in the parking lot are little ways to help keep yourself moving during your daily routine.

Eat more often, and never skip your meals. Your body will go into 'starvation mode' if you skip a meal and store the calories as fat. This takes less energy than keeping up your metabolic rate. This also happens because your body is trying to preserve itself and have food for later when it 'thinks' you are going to be starving still. In the above link, Tom Venuto talks about starvation mode in his blog.

Drinking lots of water encourages your body to burn instead of storing calories. So that your liver focuses on metabolism instead of water retention, make sure to stay hydrated. There are many different hypotheses about how much water intake you need per day. An article from CNN.com explains one way to figure out how much water you should be drinking and cautions about certain complications due to dehydration. Snopes.com is a site which addresses rumors, one of them being the "drink eight glasses of water per day." Drinking the appropriate amount of water can apparently also affect your chances of getting colon or breast cancer!

Eating certain kinds of foods can also increase your metabolic rate.

So for any weight and health conscious people out there, here is one more aspect of your health which you can learn to control...at least relatively!

If you are interested in the science of metabolism at all, Steve here can explain it in pretty simple terms:



ATP=ENERGY (some of that highschool AP Bio knowledge actually comes in handy!)

Black Friday bargains already??

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, is probably the most popular shopping holiday of the entire year. The deals you can find on Black Friday are amazing, and people go crazy, waking up at 3 a.m. to get to the stores as early as possible to get the best deals on the hottest items of the season.


Because of the economic crisis currently affecting our country, this year retailers are beginning sales early in order to motivate shoppers with tight wallets. It seems as if technology and electronics will be hot items this year. I saw this in an article from Yahoo.com regarding sales currently happening at retailers across the country:


Wal Mart - Starting Nov. 8, the retail giant has been featuring in store specials starting at 8 a.m. These include specials on laptops, Walkmans, digital cameras and HDTVs.
Kmart - Kmart also has special deals happening right now, including sales on Wii fitness and HDTV's.
Circuit City - Because of this retailer's recent money losses and store closings, there might be even more deals here this year. Sales happening right now include marked down prices on BluRay players and more.

Before you head out on Black Friday, be sure to check out the deals first and find the store nearest you with the best sales. Check out Blackfriday.info, TheBlackFriday.com and BFads.net to find lists of special deals on specific items from stores such as Target, Best Buy, Toys R Us, Dicks, Macys, Kmart, Kohls and many more. Ads and deals are updated daily, so be sure to plan ahead before you head out on your deal-hunting Black Friday shopping spree.