Dear Katy Perry,

You didn't get shafted, sweetheart. You got lucky.

As a manufactured posterchild for AutoTune, the fact that you even received a Grammy nomination in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category, despite not being able to sing live to save your life, is a pretty big deal. For you to then post a blog entry implying that you got "shafted" when you were "shut out" of the other categories is an insult. It's an insult to my ears and to the industry that morphed you from an attention-starved blonde Christian artist who can't sing to an attention-starved brunette pseudopinup who still can't sing but has good producers.

Any number of artists would kill just to get signed, let alone nominated for a Grammy in any one category, and this is how you thank the Academy?

Katy, you're not Kanye. Establish some credibility as an artist instead of as a puppet. Learn to sing live instead of jumping into cakes. Use your vocal chords to do your job instead of running your over-lipsticked mouth. The right to throw a tantrum is reserved to those with talent. Stop biting the hands that feed you, or you'll soon be starving--and you'll deserve that more than any award I can imagine.

Love,

*Jess, who is transparently biased.

Fall Out Boy, Kanye West, The All American Rejects, Ben Harper Playing at The Nike+ Human Race on August 31st!

I know it's been awhile since you've heard from me, but for good reason... I've been busy helping Nike put together the largest one day running event in history - The Nike+ Human Race 10K.

The gist: run in one of 26 cities globally or wherever you are with Nike+ (sensor in shoe that syncs up to your iPod or SportBand). In the US you can run in one of 5 race cities: New York, LA, Chicago, Austin and Portland, OR. The cool thing about running in one of the cities is that for the race fee of $35, you get entry to the race, a one-of-a-kind dri-fit Human Race tee and entry into a concert at the finish line!

That's where my job came in... I've been traveling across the country and filming with our finish line bands:

All American Rejects will play New York City

Fall Out Boy will play Chicago

Nada Surf will play Portland

Kanye West & Common will play Los Angeles

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals will play Austin

Check out some of the videos I've produced below and for more go to our YouTube Channel and subscribe cause there's more to come!

You can also start running now with Nike+ and register for the race here. Start now and every step you take will go toward one of three charities: WWF, Ninemillion.org and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

What are you waiting for? It's only 6 miles :)








**By Jordana, who plans to run 4 miles and walk 2.2 unless she can get some more training time in before 8.31.2008

Whooooooooa (NO!)

I really want to know what the big friggin' deal is about Paramore. To me, they sound like Panic! At the Disco with a girl singer, and I think Panic! are grossly overrated as is. Frankly, if you have a punctuation mark in your band name (and are not a member of !!!, who are actually good), you're probably a bunch of pretentious, monotonous douchebags.

Hayley Williams does have a strong voice, but that's the only thing that makes her otherwise cookie cutter band unique. Their lyrics aren't profound, their live show isn't groundbreaking, and their material just isn't as mindblowing as I find people (read: tween girls with studded belts) make it out to be.

Also on my mediocre-to-shit list:

- The Honorary Title. I don't care if their frontman is or was dating Kelly Osbourne. Ozzy's money can't buy you a hook.

- Stores putting up Christmas displays before Thanksgiving. Why are we in such a rush? Life is so SHORT!

- Kanye West, for not putting his "Bittersweet" collaboration with my husband (shut up, a girl can dream) John Mayer on Graduation; but a bigger one to his mom's plastic surgeon. Godspeed, bro.

- The Junior Varsity for only just recently confirming their breakup, as well as for breaking up to begin with.

- And any band who feels the need to put their hidden tracks twenty minutes after the last song on a record.


*By Jess, who is excited for Monday!

In which Jessica dissects current pop culture phenomena

I don't understand why everyone is bitching about Britney Spears at the VMAs.

Was her performance lackluster? Yes. But what were we expecting? It's been long-established and accepted that the girl can't sing (though "Gimme More" has a sweet beat), and her much-publicized decisions as of late insinuated that she hasn't been operating with a clear head for about a year.

And really, are we done calling the woman fat? Try popping two adorably chubby-cheeked babies in two years before you judge her by her waistline, because given those circumstances, she looked pretty damn good (from the forehead down, anyway--I'm not going to get started on her weave).

Frankly, the most offensive thing about her performance was the spawning of Chris Crocker. I haven't even watched that video, because I'm already sick of that hideous mug infiltrating every virtual inch of the Internet. As a child, I had monsters in my closet who would beg for that douche to get work done and stop giving them nightmares.

I'm glad to know Kanye West, who publicly defended Spears and denounced MTV, is on my team. And I am on Team Kanye. Anyone who can reference both a Prince protege and the brand of gloves O.J. Simpson was acquitted of wearing in one song is my hero. I can't think of a single intelligent rhyme by 50 Cent, who has admitted to seeking to appeal solely to commercial interests. And my team won that battle.

If only the Jets, my football team, would do the same. Get well soon, Chad. And then start, otherwise I'm gonna owe a few guys at work some tip money.


*By Jess, who should be doing a crapload of political science reading.