Hot spots for Harrisburg holiday shopping By MATT MCCOMAS Columnist MDM337@PSU.EDU Christmastime is here and everyone is near. With the holiday season now upon us, shopping is at its highest peak. Deciding where to shop is the question. Whether you're buying clothes, electronics or toys, the key to a successful shopping day is location. Sales are everywhere this time of year, but deciding where to venture cannot only shorten your day, but make the time enjoyable as well. First, consider outlets. Luckily for us, there are two quality locations within driving distance. Lancaster is the perfect place to start your Christmas shopping. First, try the Rockvale outlets. Rockvale houses over 100 stores for your convenience. For clothes shopping, check out Rue 21, Van Heusen, Reebok and Levi's/Dockers Market. For books or music, stop in the Borders outlet. Need housing goods or electronics? Try Bose Factory Store, Kirkland's Home, Pottery Barn or QVC Outlet Yard Sale. Toys and sports are not to be left out either. KB Toys resides in Rockvale square and the Disney Store is coming soon. If these stores don't pander to your shopping list, don't worry. There is another outlet shopping center in Lancaster. The Tanger Outlets Center is just down the road. The Tanger Outlets provide shoppers with more recognizable names. Apparel stores dominate the shopping center. They consist of Aeropostale, Nautica, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, Gap, Guess, J. Crew, Liz Claiborne, Nike, Pac Sun, Polo Ralph Lauren, Timberland and Tommy Hilfiger. Other places to buy items are Kay Jewelers, Bath & Body Works, Fossil, Limited Too and OshKosh. Though you might not find everything you need at Tanger, the clothing section of your list should be well taken care of. If Lancaster is a bit of a drive for you, try traveling to Hershey. Though Decline of originality in Holl By DUSTY SIPES Columnist DWSSO67@PSU.EDU In 1899, Charles H. Duell, then Commissioner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, supposedly stated, "Everything that can be invented has been invented". If he actually made this statement, it's not hard to argue its relevance probably lasted about as long as Kenny G's world record for the longest note played using circular breathing, which by the way is around 45 minutes. On the other hand, if Mr. Duell said something along the lines of "Everything related to artistic creativity and originality has been done," that statement would have held ground for another century. Why is art dead? Why can't anyone come up with an original idea? Keep in mind, I'm using the word "art" extremely loosely, I'm not merely discussing the progress of fine art, but rather art and other fields of media including film, music and television. Hollywood seems to remain relentless in repackaging old films and selling them to us once again. To me, this is a travesty regardless of the original film. Either the original film is a perfect piece of cinematic history that should remain untouched or it is a throwaway piece of rubbish that should not have been green lighted in the first place. The only justification I can offer to this is the example set by Alfred Hitchcock: In 1934, Hitchcock filmed "The Man Who Knew Too definitely conform to your shopping needs. One drag in particular, where I have done my Christmas shopping, is the Carlisle Pike. The stretch continues for a few miles and has an array of stores on each side of the pike. Your "big boy" retail stores, for a variety of products, reside on the pike. Target, Wal-Mart and Big K-Mart are all located within the pike. For construction or home improvement Much," but in 1956, he re filmed the movie which is the one we consider cinematic masterpiece He famously said of the two films, "The 1934 version the work of a talented amateur; the 1956 version, the work of a professional." So perhaps original visionary has the right to make adjustments, or in this case, re film this own movie if he feels it unsuccessfully fulfilled the original vision The unfortunate aspect of this constant rehashing is that younger audience members have no idea they are watching a remake. Classic films such as "The Lady Killers," "Solaris" and "The Producers" to name a few, reissued as disturbingly bad cinematic disasters, whereas sold out in the Carlisle Pike stores. Though that is not guaranteed, it is something to keep in the back of your mind. Finally, shoppers, it is time to mention the mall scene. Often a crowded and crazy atmosphere, the mall is one of the Christmas shoppers' favorite places to complete your list. Around the area there are several malls. The Harrisburg Mall, located on the east side, is connected to the "famous" Bass Pro Shop. Colonial Park also houses its own mall, which is located at the beginning, or end depending on which way you are driving from, of the stretch. The Capital City Mall is a popular choice. Located in Camp Hill, the mall is also stationed near a Toys "R" Us. The York Galleria or West Manchester malls are also within THE CAPITAL TIMES December 3, 2007 driving distance or located closer to those living in their area. December brin bundle up and head out more than once. It is possible to minimize your travel and time however. That is my idea to you. Know what you want and where to get it. No need to dampen your spirits around the holidays. Stay jolly and have fun. Who knows, you may find something of use you would have never thought of on your adventure. I know I did. ood the originals are fantastic. To be completely honest, I'm surprised this hasn't caught on in MUSIC Sure, Pink Floyd has released "Dark Side of the Moon" more than once (a studio and live version), Phish has its share of album tributes, and a handful of others have done similar things, but I cannot believe new bands are not recycling classic albums as new releases. Imagine walking into a record store to see the new album released by Good Charlotte is their version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." I swear I would swallow a pencil. Being a musician, I do have a stronger patriotism to music than I do film, but in a way, they are one in the same Even though bands typically write a majority of new material for new albums with an occasional cover, we still pretty much buy an album of songs that sound like they were lifted straight from classics. If you ever wondered what "NOW! That's What I Call Hits the 1978 Version" would have sounded like, just buy Jet's album "Get Born." As I am proofreading this essay, I can't help feeling that I am going a bit overboard with my pessimism. Eventually, something new and innovative is bound to emerge. The problem is we have to find it and exploit it. If we didn't just accept what was handed to us, artists would have more freedom to be avant-garde. We don't need the next big thing. We could just use something. s the sales and the By ARIEL O'MALLEY Coltman AEOSOO2.ELIBX/ Chris Brown is one the most popular up-and-coming artists in the music industry. With hits such as "Wall to Wall" and "Kiss Kiss," this amazing 18- year-old singer has become quite a success He recently released his newest album, "Exclusive." It is an original array of 'music that has something for nearly everyone to enjoy. With great instrumentals, vocals and lyrics, the album is a true one of-a-kind Chris Brown creation. Brown's album starts off with the song titled "Throwed." The lyrics are classic of Chris Brown and the beat is pretty fly. The second song on the album is "Kiss Kiss." If you have not heard this song yet, you clearly have not turned on your stereo or any musical device in the past few weeks. This song has been everywhere! It tells the story of a man whose woman is not acting like she used to. Brown drops some advice on how to fix the situation, so make sure to give your woman some "lovey dovey" and keep things fresh! Track three takes a step back and slows down a bit. The instrumental in the back is calm and relaxing. I have no doubt that "Take You Down" will soon be a popular make-out song. This song is followed by another slower song titled "With You." The rhyming is pretty simple but the song is still great! It shows a softer side of Brown, saying "I just need your all and nothing, 'cause if I got that, then I'll be straight. Baby, you're the best part of my day." The next track, "Picture Perfect," is quite interesting. It is a bit faster than the two songs before it and has a feel all of it's The tempo changes multiple times hroughout the song. Not to mention that the instrumental is unlike any of the other tracks!! You definitely need to listen to it to understand. As you progress through the album you may see that Brown grows. Eventually you will get to the track titled "Damage." It is in this song that he asks for forgiveness and pours his heart out about the mistakes he has made and how much the mistakes have hurt those around him. This is certainly a life lesson that many of us could learn from. Since "Damage" is a sad song, "Wall to Wall" follows. This is another one of the tracks that if you have not heard it by now ...you need to get out from under your rock! "I Wanna Be" is by far one of the best tracks on Chris Brown's album. He comes off as a grown man in this He wants to do all the things that a real man should do for a woman. The track flows smoothly and the lyrics are perfect! Next up is "Gimme Whatcha Got." This track is bound to be hott!! Why? Because Lil' Wayne is on it. The lyrics are fresh and the beat is hot.As the album winds down, we get to the track titled "Nice." The instrumental is original. The vocals however are a little messy when the track first starts but get better as the track progresses. Not to mention that the chorus is pretty catchy. Chris Brown chose a great track to end with: "Down," featuring Kanye West. The lyrics are beyond fresh and Kanye does an awesome job of highlighting the song. It was a great choice for the closer of the album. "Exclusive" is one the greatest albums I have heard this year. I highly encourage you all to take a listen!