CD Review By STEPHANIE DURBOROW Staff Reporter SADSOIB@PSU.EDU Keyshia Cole is a beautiful, fresh new face on the urban Hip-Hop and R&B scene. She was bom October 1983 in Oakland California and grew up with a passion for singing. At the age of 12 she performed back-up for the rapper MC Hammer. In 2001, she got signed to her first major record deal to AM records. Keyshia Cole has a hint of Beyonce, with a pinch of Kelis, mixed with some Ashanti but topped with her own style. The songstress’s album The Way It Is has an array of love ballads and up-beat dance songs. She has collaborated on this album with some familiar faces. For example on the lead song of the album, I changed My Mind, she paired up with the famous Kanye West. Other big named collaborators included 112, Eve, and rapper Chinck Santana. The opening track, To Be Over has strong beats which is perfect for dancing. Her fourth track on the album, I Should Have Cheated, is a powerful song expressing extreme emotion that many people may be able to relate to. The sixth track, Love, shows Ms. Cole’s talented vocal range, hitting every note, high or low. You can hear this song all over the radio and TV. Keyshia does a good job of making the listener really feel her emotion through her lyrics. Overall, Keyshia Cole’s talents are wonderful and she does stand out on top above other artists. Her album has a collection of songs that can satisfy the average listener. However, some of her songs do lack creativity. Keyshia’s voice is one in a million, but she could use her voice in songs that are more innovative and original. Ms. Cole has more to prove, but she does have a good start with her debut album, The Way It Is. Billboard.com’s New CD Releases March 28, 2006 Ghostface Fishscale It is rough being the Wallabee king, but Ghostface does it with ease on his fifth solo album, also his first Def Jam effort under Jay- Z’s presidency. Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones On their new album, vocalist Karen O, guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase rein in the freewheeling, larger-than-life sound that defined their early work. People In Planes As Far As The Eye Can See This Wales-based rock outfit swirls heavy riffs, haunting melodies and hypnotic grooves into classic-sound ing tunes that are catchy, creative and, on occasion, sensational. ENTERTAINMENT Where champs go to shop By MICHAEL ALBRIGHT Staff Reporter MBAI33@PSU.EDU Take three young people with a good idea and a handful of punk rock ethics, throw in a few bank loans and a stage and you will inevitably end up with The Champion Ship. The Champion Ship, located at 829 State St., Hoover Plaza, in Lemoyne, is not your average community performing arts venue. The Champion Ship prides itself on being a drug, alcohol, and smoke free environment for all ages, essentially marking it as a one of kind outlet in our greater Harrisburg area. The Champion Ship awoke nearly two years ago on June 12 ,h , 2004 as the creation of Tony Bavaria, brother Chris Bavaria and friend Colby Black with the common goal of building a place to support local music in the community, and provide a safe place for local kids to convene. The venue was greeted mostly with open arms by the community but also raised the typical fears, as the city wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a punk rock venue in the quiet, sleepy town of Lemoyne. However, The Champion Ship has shown to prove itself in its short time in the small town. Establishing a good report with the community has made the founders reluctant to relocate to a larger venue. The combination music venue and record store offers shows mainly in the genres of Punk Rock, Indie, Hardcore, Emo and Metal, although the venue is more than happy to host just about any local band. Not only does the venue provide a forum for local music, it also hosts comedy events, plays, art shows and exhibits and has even recently ventured By LISA STONE Staff Reporter LCSTONE@GMAIL.COM Gaming platforms are an ever evolving topic. With the release of the Xbox 360 it has become an even more well-known issue. But what is the deal with all of these new platforms? Where did they come from? With these questions in mind, Geek Comer will take you through a brief history of some of the more dominant consoles to hit the market. The first step in evaluating gaming consoles should definitely be a quick look at the history of consoles. Atari is the first major console that got some attention. Frogger, Burger Time, Pole Position, and Asteroid are all games that were available on the Atari cons of the Atari game: imported from ar< games. There w' several differei versions of th: console, and equipmen becoming available with ea successive versioi The next major ci to hit the market ’ N intendo N ES. Thi was arguably the machine that put console gaming on the market. It revitalized the video game market after the video game crasi of 1983, from wi many did not th the market woi ever recover. With its 8 goodness, it brought forth many games that have become known nation wide. Super Mario Brothers, Megaman, Donkey fie elc feature! into hosting a Punk Rock Flea Market where local people came to buy, sell and trade goods but most importantly, like any event at the Champion Ship, to have fun and be active in the community. The venue has grown into a well-known hotspot run solely by about 15 friends and volunteers, allowing them to keep big out corporations of control. At first glance the venue is a small record store fit in- between a tattoo parlor and a comer of a typical strip mall, but what is most spectacular about the venue cannot be seen from the outside. As you walk through the single person dooryouenter the main hall with the stage directly in front of you, standing only about 3 feet off the floor. The brick walls are decorated with freestyle painting of grays, blacks and reds. Walking past the stage you enter the record store housing several racks holding rare and hard to find CD’s numbering easily into the thousands, vinyl records are also available for the old-school shoppers and true collectors. The Champion Ships inventory does not end at what Kong , and Kirby's Adventure were all games that mesmerized players for hours on end. Like Atari, many games for this system were imported from their arcade counterparts. The Super NES and the Sega Genesis were the next consoles to hit the market. By far, Super Nintendo dominated the market at the time. Games such as Chrono Trigger, Super Mario Kart, and Donkey Kong Country 2 were just some examples of the hits Nintendo enjoyed on this console. Super NES is the epitome of Nintendo consoles, because to date they have not managed to create a console with anywhere near the popularity. Sega had a fairly solid console, but with the die-hard Nintendo fans that had formed with their inability to produce games with the speed f Nintendo, Sony took over the market. After a bit of a disappointment with the Sega Saturn, Sony finally got the hang of the console making business. Though it looks like nothing more than a hole in the wall, inside is where all the treasures of Champion Ship are delightfully found. is in house as they are always happy to track down and order any title you request. Furthermore, events and records are not all that The Champion Ship has to offer. February 2005 brought the opening of the recording studio at The Champion Ship. The venue is now home to an all-digital studio utilizing SONAR recording software. The studio, led Final Fantasy VII, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, and Tekken were just some of the games produced for this console. With sales of approximately 103 million units, it was by far the dominate console of its time. The Nintendo 64 was the last major cartridge system to hit the market. With the stiff competition coming from Sony in the form of the Playstation, it isn’t surprising that N 64 was ignored for the most part by console gamers of America. That is not to say that the N 64 did not contribute to the market. The games created for this console made some very serious contributions to the 3D game front. Mario Kart 64, Golden Eye 007, and The Legend of Zehia: Majora's Mask are some examples of the games for this console. Unfortunately for Nintendo, these were not enough to compete with the other systems on the market. managed to Nintendo’s e of the The Playstation 2 was the next major console to hit the market. After a slight disappointment with the Dreamcast, Sony produced the PS2. The Dreamcast had initially been slated towards taking over for the Playstation, but is commonly considered to have been ahead of its time. A year later when the PS2 came out, gamers were ready and waiting for the new features it encompassed. Games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, and Dead or Alive 111 have consumed the minds and time of gamers everywhere. To date, the PS2 is the current Sony system, but the Playstation 3 has been announced to be in the works, and gamers everywhere wait impatiently for its completion. A few short years after the PS2 was released, a new powerhouse of the gaming industry was born. Microsoft invaded the gaming industry in true Bill Gates style with their Xbox. The Xbox and the PS2 are in very stiff competition with et. The one ming star hat from Genesis system was Sonic the Hedgehog. The little <e speedster d to endear to many, is probably he Genesis least have ion in the ;ole history. Next up N 64 and Playstation, came back With the Photo by MICHAEL ALBRIGHT/The Capital Times Corner Some of the other consoles in development at the moment are the above mentioned PS3 and the Nintendo Revolution game systems. Details are still a bit sketchy of both of these systems, but world wide console gamers wait to see what Sony and Nintendo will produce. The new generation of consoles promise eye candy galore, and if we are very, very lucky, they will remember that plot is a good thing too. We can only watch and hope as the video game industry continues THE CAPITAL TIMES March 27, 2006 by experienced engineers with competitive rates, is an optimal choice for all bands large and small. They also offer live recordings or shows, giving bands the choice to have sessions mixed in house or recorded to CD-R to be mixed elsewhere. As small as the venue may seem small, the movements and messages held inside The Champion Ship call back to the spirit of ’77 punk rock style venues and a DIY culture that so many hold near and dear to our lifestyle. Attending a show at the Champion Ship, like many punk rock shows, can truly be an emotional experience. The intimate setting between the crowd and the band allow for a unity that can only be found at a venue like The Champion Ship. Everyone is accepted at The Champion Ship and being open minded is encouraged. “I miss the diversity at shows,” says co-founder Tony Bravaria, who also finds time to play guitar in the well-known band The Commercials. The venue one another. The hosts such games Halo (I and II), Fab and Knights of the Old Republic. It has enjoyed a lucrative fan base. Around the same time as the Xbox was released Nintendo made anothi go at the market its Game Cube coi Unfortunately, had about the same Game Cube as it had There was simply competition in the PS2 and the Xbox, games such as The Zelda: The Wind W Caliburll, and Metro were very much en the console simpl; have the support to market The Xbox 360 is the latest major gaming console to hit the market in November 2005 with a demand so great preorders could not be filled. It is the next generation of gaming, and as of yet does not have a wide selection of games to choose from. Some of the few choices are Dead or Alive 4, Perfect Dark Zero , and Project Gotham Racing 3. The graphics are fantastic, the price still steep, and the hopes high for this particular console. attracts mostly the under 21 crowd as patrons, “after 21, everyone wants to go to the bars,” continues Bravaria. The Champion Ship encourages people of all ages to get out and be a part of the community driven, volunteer ran venue. The Champion Ship is a special part of our community, a place for everyone to belong and share interests, ideas and beliefs. The venue, on average, hosts anywhere from three to five shows per week with hardcore music currently drawing the biggest crowds to the near 500-person venue. Ticket prices usually ranges anywhere from about $7 to $l2 depending on the number of bands playing a single show. The forum has been home to many local bands, but has hosted its share of big bands, that is, in terms of underground music. Bigwig, The Briggs, The Casualties, Strike Anywhere, The Unseen and The Queers to name a few, have played at the venue. Of course, Bravaria’s band The Commercials can be seen about once a month. Booking information and upcoming events/ticket information is available at The Champion Ship website at http://www.championshippa.com/ index.htm. Nintendo ket crash Kong and NES revived the video game mar of 1983 with games like Donkey Super Mario Brothers. its march into the future So, with that, I will leave you with two more points. The first is the fact that this article only covered the more well known consoles. There are a slew of less well-known ones such as the Master System, the TurboGrafx 16, and the Jaguar. These systems and others each contributed to the gaming industry in their own unique way. The other point is that, should I have aw akened a sense of nostalgia for the “good old games’" such as Pucman or maybe Asteroid, emulators can be found on the Internet to allow you to enjoy these games and all their glory. So, keep an ear to the ground and your eye on the paper, cause when those new consoles come out, you can be sure we will tell you about them! The Champion Ship Hoover Plaza 829 Hoover St. Lemoyne, PA 17043 717.612.9306 Hours; Mon.-Sat 2 - 7 pm ninsaarj Sundays Photon courtesy of google com
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers