Isaac Cardenas

On Nov. 3, the big-media, juggernaut Amazon announced that they had acquired the TV rights to The Lord of the Rings book series. Amazon Studios have released their own original programming since 2015 but have yet to envision a TV project so expansive in scope. The announcement was made only a few weeks after reports that Amazon had entered early negotiations with Warner Bros and the Tolkien Estate, which hold the rights to the franchise. The Lord of the Rings is not only an iconic staple of contemporary literature, but the series became a cultural phenomenon when director Peter Jackson brought the books to the big screen in the early 2000s with tremendous success. “The Lord of the … [Read more...] about “Lord of the Rings” TV Series Coming to Amazon

Lindsay B, a solo artist by the name of Lindsay Baffo, is a musician from LA who creates infectious garage power-pop. For Baffo, this isn't her first musical project. She had two bands prior to this, however, she decided to go solo after a friend suggested that she go by her name as a solo act, because she wrote all the songs for her previous bands. “At the time, I didn’t really want to brand myself as a singer-songwriter because I used to think it was a little corny, but after a couple years, it was something I began to think differently about. I was more comfortable with taking creative ownership, not hiding behind a band name,“ said Baffo. Music had always been part of Baffo’s life … [Read more...] about Artist Profile: Lindsay B.

Small Forward is a band from Los Angeles that creates breezy psychedelic rock and is the perfect soundtrack to your fall season. The group consists of Michael Stevenson, Rounak Maiti, Campbell Scott and Nick Waldram. The band started in 2013 when all four of the members met at Occidental College in LA and shared a fondness for music. Elaborating on their start, Stevenson said, “Rounak was the only one who had an 'established' SoundCloud presence of his original music that we all were really into, so I was itching to collaborate with him in some capacity. We all ended up living together at some point and the rest is written in the wind.” The band has been gaining momentum over the years … [Read more...] about The Psychedelic Laid-Back Music of Small Forward

Folk singer Les Son, of Riverisde, has just dropped his freshman album, The Trees. At a young age, Son learned the clarinet and trumpet. This progressed into him performing with the school orchestra, band, and choir. ”One of my uncles wanted to learn guitar and he was also getting into the Smashing Pumpkins," Les Son said. "He kind of forced me to learn the other parts so he could play along." This year, Son released his first album, The Trees. Due to time restrictions, he worked several months on demos for the album in the early mornings and late nights. Recorded at Son’s home, he deliberately wanted to be sparse when it came to equipment and used his iPhone 7 plus as his … [Read more...] about Artist Profile: The Music of Les Son

His iconic picture books have been translated into over 20 languages and spawned countless TV cartoons and films. The idea that Dr. Seuss, who is known for writing children's books, being considered racist was a shock to me and it was a complete contrast to what you usually think when you remember his work. The controversy all started when a librarian, Liz Phipps, rejected to accept several Dr. Seuss books donated by first lady Melania Trump, citing that the books were racist propaganda and contained harmful stereotypes. In another incident, several famous children's book authors, Mike Curato, Mo Willems and Lisa Yee, declined an invitation to the Literature Festival at the Dr. … [Read more...] about The Racism of Dr. Seuss