Kanye West is Back From Head to Toe(s)**

Kanye West was back in form after his 2010 VMA performance, he wooed viewers around the world with the debut of his newest single "Runaway" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c4iCDebukY). This was the first time back in spotlight after his 2009 VMA debacle with pop star Taylor Swift. As I watched his performance it was his outfit that stood out first, and then secondly was his newest single. He was sporting on his feet the newest creation he co-designed with Louis Vuitton; the shoes themselves are red leather with suede along the sides and the iconic LV symbol located on its tongue—the LV monogram is also located on the shoes midsole. These shoes are the second pair the rap icon has co-created with the high-end accessories company, fusing together classic and street style into one product. It is rare that a designer such as Louis Vuitton would team up Kanye West just because the rap star has been under much scrutiny because of his 2009 VMA outburst at Taylor Swift. The shoe themselves grab your attention West exclaims, “As soon as they put that red, it was killer! It's like an accessory that can express your personality. Like an instant tattoo!” West hasn’t been afraid of flaunting his personality through the shoes in recent times wearing them during his VMA performance as well as during NYC fashion week. Looking at west as a fashion icon it is easy to see how his looks tend to inspire others and influence the fashion world. As I traveled to a private sneaker boutique in the LES to find a new pair a kicks I stumbled upon Kanyes epic creation, his new all red Louis Vuitton shoes were encased in a plastic display case—seeing these beauties up close and in person allowed me to understand how much they can impact men’s fashion. This collaboration between the luxury brand LV and one of the most influential pop icons could possibly pave the way to newer and better creations from name brands and our favorite celebrities.

Primary season?

Obamas inauguration was a truly magical moment, we had the election of the first African American president; the election of the first president with a Muslim background and George W. Bush was finally out of office. To me these are all signs of our country going in the right direction. But wait, aren’t there other elections happening right now? When it is not presidential primary season many forget that there are plenty of other elections and primary’s happening that could affect the districts they live in. yet as I looked at major political news sources I found that the information they had about these primary’s and upcoming elections was nowhere to be found. The Huffington post had recent primary results as they came in, but no information about who was running, what they represent or even there voting records from previous years. All of a sudden a story broke. Christine O’Donnell a representative of Sarah Palins newly founded Tea Party won the GOP primary in Delaware—a position vacated by Vice President Biden. CNN.com reported that this nomination completely reshaped the playing field; initially it looked as if the republicans would scoop up the seat with Mike Castle running in opposition to O’Donnell but with her selection and non-existent political background it now appears likely that democrats will maintain the open seat. I decided to seek more information about this story from Fox News, a news agency that typically has conservative opinions. There take on the story was slightly different; emphasizing that republicans have to accept their new candidate—not reject her, in hopes of having a chance on winning the senate seat and challenging the democrats seat majority. In this day and age of politics it’s seeming more and more plausible for a no body to establish themselves as a political power. This coming election season is proving to us that our interests may not always have to be where the race is but rather who is involved.

The art and craft of journalism is at a crossroad; as the fast paced world of technology continues to develop it leaves many questions unanswered. Reporting and the speed in which the public finds out about information are nearly continuous. As the Internet grew into a rapid way to exchange information and ideas, readers quickly adapted to this new form. Typical news sources switched from standard press to the World Wide Web and the blogosphere was created.

My father is an information addict, for as far as I can remember he has worshipped The New York Times every morning, the idea and tangibility has always been something he in fond of. As technology continues to take over print news is in serious decline, many may ask what exactly the difference between these two forms is. Besides the tangibility that a physical paper has to offer, the internet allows any user, anywhere at any time to post anything they want; the personal aspect that the internet creates is unreal—allowing every user to be a part of it. As I examine the Huffington Post—one of the top rated blogs on the internet I found a number of things, it shared the common stories that a typical news site or paper would offer (today’s hot button issue was the probability that Chicago mayor Richard Daley is not running for re-election) as I compared the Huffington Post to other major online news sources I began to see what made it so special (and popular). Traditional online news sources act as digital newspapers because in essence that’s exactly what they are. The Huffington Post is a culmination of a traditional news source that allows its users to not only interact with the story—but with other users and the author. By doing this it creates one of the most informative blogs and news engines on the web.

News stories constantly break and traditional news sources cover them as similar to actual press as they used too, its core difference though is the speed in which everything happens. A journalist now has to work harder and faster to find the core of a story, as the demand for rapid information is so great on the World Wide Web that consumers of information crave stories as they happen. The blogosphere creates a culmination of information and readers opinion. Traditional blogs allow the reader to consume the information that they find to be valuable. It almost forces us to be active readers, instead of annotating and marking the text that we read; we now can consume it and regurgitate it to those who actively read similar information.

As technology reigns supreme, I ponder if this is a good thing or a bad thing, there is so much information available to anyone who wants to work hard enough to find it. Traditional online news sources are great at alerting you instant news—allowing you to find out information about story’s as they develop. Never before could news and information be spread like this, and because of that a number of things can (or will) (or might) happen. The end to traditional reporting is near, or at the least some changes will happen. Physical news print and papers are on their dyeing breath and this really can scare a lot of people, but from how I understand things is that for every change that is made, a fresh start is as well. New and improved ways of getting information professionally and on the amateur level will be easier than ever before. The time of the information is now.