aerobraking impeller: In The Mixtape: The Boss, Southern Madness, The Pauly D Project ...

What?s up COED Nation?! Are you feeling the Madness? I LOVE this time of year. Nothing beats the excitement and unpredictability of the NCAA Men?s Basketball Tournament.??68 teams all with the same one dream make for an entertaining month of theater. I went to the University of Maryland, who used to be a perennial tournament team. We didn?t make the tourney this year so I was a little salty on Selection Sunday, but what are you going to do? The games must go on. On the flip side of all of this college basketball, there is kind of a big deal taking place in Austin, Texas right now. The South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) is where the music community touches down in the heart of Texas for a week of amazing live music. We are going to focus most of REWIND about the South By Southwest Music Festival.

REWIND

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST

From March 13th ? March 18th, Austin, TX (dubbed by many as the live music capital of the world) gets taken over by various flavors of the music industry for the South by Southwest music festival. SXSW, as it?s known, used to be an event to break new artists to the music industry. In a lot of ways it still serves that same purpose, but over the past couple of years major label performers have also come down to get weird in Austin. As a result, the festival, stages, and performances have gotten bigger and better. Over 30 venues host live music daily for 5 days. It?s a music lover?s dream.

BRUCE

Bruce Springsteen was this year?s Keynote Speaker. Bruce addressed the many artists and patrons with a riveting and moving speech to kick off this year?s festival. I think most musicians admire and look up to the Boss. He?s been putting in work for decades, and released one of his best-reviewed albums just last week. Bruce seemed to be the perfect choice to kick off the festival, as he mixed in humor and history while addressing his peers. He played songs, and he received a standing ovation, as only the Boss should.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST

You name it and they are playing this festival. Some of this week?s performers include Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Santigold, The Shins, Theophilus London, Schoolboy Q, fun., The-Dream, Kasabian, Kimbra, Band of Skulls, Miike Snow, Gary Clark Jr, Jimmy Cliff, Cage the Elephant, Tennis, Cults, Sharon Van Etten, Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes, Andrew Bird, Kendrick Lamar, M. Ward, Heartless Bastards, Talib Kweli, Wale, B.o.B., T.I., Skrillex, The Temper Trap, Chiddy Bang, and Blitzen Trapper just to name some notables. There are hundreds of bands playing throughout the five days so there is something for everyone?s liking at South By. D*mn I wish I was there!

AMERICAN IDOL FINAL 10

The Top 10 has been announced America, and I have no idea how Heejun Han has made this group. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 is Dave-Matthews-wannabe Phillip Phillips, county firestorm Skylar Lane, the church?s own Joshua Ledet, Jared Let pt. two, Colton Dixon, Little Big Voice Jessica Sanchez, Hollie ?how can I sing with this accent? Cavanagh, Erika Van Pelt, and Elise ?you got lucky? Testone. America booted 16-year-old Shannon Magrane off, and Idol producers got rid of Jermaine Jones who lied about his criminal record.

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FAST FORWARD

JERSEY SHORE UPDATE

What?s next for this cast of characters that rose to international fame since being shacked up in Seaside Heights five seasons ago? The gang of misfits just wrapped their 5th season for MTV and there is speculation to whether this was the last time you will have seen this motley crew together. First off, Snooki is preggars, and although she is rumored to be doing a spin off with cast mate J-Woww, the pregnancy may throw a little monkey wrench into the mix. I mean it?s not fun to watch Snooki sober. It?s not really fun to watch Snooki at all, but watching her have to be like ?civilized? I think would be bad for ratings. Pauly-D has his own spin off, ?The Pauly-D Project? starting next Thursday night, and he is the only one who actually has a career. He has signed w G-Unit. He was on tour w/Britney Spears for her last tour, I don?t even know why he would consider going back and joining those idiots. MTV knew that they had to take out the flame at some point. Maybe now is the perfect time before they get really forgettable.

HUNGER GAMES

I am officially hooked. I can?t wait for next weekend. The Hunger Games hits theaters this Friday, March 23rd and it is sure to be a global phenomenon. The cast is official. Jennifer Lawrence takes on the lead role of Katniss, while Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, and Lenny Kravitz to name a few, help round out the cast. The movie is directed by Gary Ross and is based on the bestselling Suzanne Collins novel. I am in the middle of ?Catching Fire,? the second book, and I can?t put it down. The soundtrack is pretty off the hook as well featuring original songs by Arcade Fire, Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, Kid Cudi, The Decemberists, and Glen Hansard. I expect this movie to break major records and be an outstanding film. You need to get your tickets now because it will be sold out for quite some time.

That?s all I got for this week COED. I hope you have a great week and have enjoyed this edition of the mix tape. There are some great songs in this week?s edition of Songs of the Week. Make yourself a part of the process and vote for your favorite song! Yeah, you! Get involved! VOTE! And be sure to follow me on twitter! (@aljonesy) Take care ya?ll. Until next week?