Omnis Magazine

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Everywhere, Everyone, Everything

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Kickin’ It Fresh A day in the life of a sneaker head

Letter From The Editors We, the editors, just wanted to say thank you for picking up our magazine. The next step is not to put it down. Inside Omnis you will find everything from swaggin’ shoes and Kandi bracelets to great places to feed your starving self. We gurantee that this magazine features the latest and coolest styles of today. So read on and let your eyes devour the awesomeness that is Omnis. Don’t be a stranger, go ahead and take our advice. You’ll be the coolest kid in class.

OMNIS1

Letter to the Editors

1

Table of Contents

2

Meet the Omnis Crew

3

Omnis Opinion Pieces

The Odd Future

4

Kandi

6

The Truth About Bros

8

A Roach I Wouldn’t Kill

10

Omnis Feature Stories

Kickin’ It Fresh

12

Black and White

14

Lightning Grooves

16

The Rap Game

18

Omnis Alternative Stories

The Gucci List

20

How to Trade Kandi

22

Best of the Best

24

The Top Beaches

26

2 O M N I S

Sports/Leisure

People

Media

Clothes

Food

Table of Contents

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF OMNIS STAFF

Meet the Omnis Crew

Name: Pascal Horoscope: Taurus Favorite Band: The White Panda, Mac Miller Favorite thing to wear: Bro Tanks Best Advice: Don’t pee into the wind.

Name: Jack Horoscope: Favorite Band: Taylor Swift Favorite thing to wear: Sprryes (the shoe) Best Advice: Don’t eat the yellow snow.

Name: Dyllan Horoscope: Cancer Favorite Band: OF, Kid Cudi Favorite thing to wear: Button down shirts Best Advice: Start Chillin’ hard.

Name: Isabella Marini Horoscope: Capricorn Favorite Band: Asking Alexandra Favorite thing to wear: Contacts Best Advice: Color outside the lines

O M N I S 3

The dd

uture

T.V. Dinner Bon appetit.

By: Dyllan Schuster

4 O M N I S

O

h wow, Oblivion Stump. I do not know how that dead body got inside of my trunk.” This is one of the many explicit lines from the song Oblivion by the alternative rap collective OFWGKTA, better known as “Odd Future.” They have recently teamed up with Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze, producers of Jackass and members of “Dickhouse” entertainment. Their new show will get some spotlight on the late night cable network adult swim. The show is called “Loiter Squad” according to the MTV website and will have fifteen minute episodes that present laughs, pranks, sketches, music and tons of loitering from the crew themselves . Talk about WOLF GANG SWAGGER! In case you haven’t heard, Tyler, the creator, the leader of the “infamous” group, has been stirring up all kinds of controversy within the media. He uses the word f*g in his lyrics, speaks of the devil, spits abusive rhymes about religious icons, and his songs contain tons of obscene content. Tyler and his group have caused riots in the streets of Boston, fights and hospitalization at concerts and many other troubling acts where ever they go.

Many people, especially America’s parents, are not happy with the idea of their kids watching the show or even listening to these very talented musicians. Well I have something to say about that.

Odd Future doesn’t really believe and do the stuff they say. They’re just iconoclasts that shine light on hypocrisy and superficiality. They are trying to think outside the box instead of repeating the constant clichés of music industry and present people with the darker thoughts of humanity. “It’s like a movie.

Do you watch movies? You see the sh*t that they do in movies? I just don’t get why it’s in a song, why do people make such a big deal. When I make a song, it’s like a movie to me. I want to go into detail. You know? Every song is a story to me. That is stuff I think about. Everybody thinks about dark sh*t. Why when someone finally says it, it’s such a big deal.

Everybody goes home and there is some sh*t that eats up inside. That they really don’t tell people.

But they’re just afraid to say this sh*t...” said Tyler, the creator from an interview with the Drone. The Drone is a French Internet magazine that holds many interviews and blogs about stuff that has to do with music. Tyler the creator elaborates on the fact that he

is just making music and it is his art. He also brings up the question, “Why do people complain about my songs “always” being about rape?” To defend Tyler, there are plenty of more horrible and worse things we’ve typically seen in movies. For example, in the movie Pulp Fiction Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) confronts his mobster boss Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) unintentionally as he had been trying to avoid him after a fixed game dispute. The men end up having to battle three very perverted beings, by assisted suicide, slashing them up with a katana and blowing them away with a shotgun. To get back to my point, besides this amazing, violent, obscene Quentin Tarantino classic there are many other gruesome movies out there today. If today’s adolescents are routinely seeing horriffic images in movies, what is the problem with hearing music just as blasphemous and watching a TV show that will be regulated?

“They’re just iconoclasts that shine light on hypocrisy and superficiality.”

So what I am saying to you citizens of America stop criticizing kids for speaking their minds in a beautiful art form, but criticize the silly mistakes our country makes. Besides, kids are already staying up past their bed time to watch the hilarious show Family Guy. What’s wrong with watching a fifteen minute show created by one of the funniest and most talented kids in the music industry?

OMNIS5

Pe a c e. L ove. Un it y. R e sp e c t .

Kandi Bracelets outside the rave and into daily life. by

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blaring white light, too bright, flashes in and out of the girl’s brown eyes. The light is not from a hospital, but the strobe lights of a rave. The girl has rainbow Kandi all the way up to her elbows. Electronic music with high pitched voices plays so loud she has to shout to be heard but she didn’t come here to talk. Wait, Kandi? No, this is not the kind of candy you eat.

Kandi is threaded and composed in a multi stich or Peyote string pattern.

Kandi is made using pony beads bought at any local craft store. In my opinion, Kandi is often misunderstood, even though it has been around since the late 1980s. For example, I walked into class one day and out of a fellow magazine staffer’s mouth came the words, “If you want to look swag, don’t wear that gay sh*t called Kandi.” Ouch. Being an enthusiastic Kandi maker and wearer, that almost hurt. Almost. Actually, no, it did not faze me. Hey it was just what I needed to get me going, a good push to make me stress my point that much more,that people have the right to wear whatever they want, how ever they want.

The reason people wear certain things is more than just to look good.

For instance, would you beleive that some kids who wear Kandi out of the rave scene are covering up scars? Scars of self-harm?

Scars from a freak accident? May-

6 O M N I S

be they aren’t covering anything.

Maybe they like to be proud of their hard work and patience because that is what it takes to make all that Kandi. Maybe the Kandi they are wearing is their own original design, a piece of original artwork that they want to show off. Please do show it off! Kandi Kids should have the freedom to be covered in Kandi up to their necks and no other person should say a word of gossip about it. Why? Because every person has the right to be themselves, whether it is a right that is written down as a law or not. Freedom of expression should be an unspoken rule. More often than not fellow Kandi kids wear Kandi to support P.L.U.R.R. which is an acronym for peace, love, unity and respect, something that all the haters out there probably lack.

P.L.U.R.R may have originated from raves but in my opinion everybody could take the advice and live by it.

Never heard of Kandi before? Not interested yet? Well do you listen to Electric dance music, dubstep, Happy Hardcore, UK hardcore, hardstyle, trance, psytrance, house, hard house, electro, and jungle. This is the music most often associated with Kandi.

Why wear Kandi? The Kandi you make is something original that nobody else will have, especially if you create your own design.

Kandi is very inexpensive to make.

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Say you make a Kandi cuff 28 beads wide and 5 beads high. That is only 140 beads. At an average of .4 cents a bead ($2for a package of 500 beads at Wal-Mart.) that cuff only took 56 cents to make. On the business side, people will buy cuffs from $3 to $5 dollars depending on the design and size. Selling one cuff buys you more than double the beads it took to make. If you have plenty of beads, it’s your pocket money. Say you have Kandi and know a few people who also have kandi. What now? Well now you start trading (if you want to). You are welcome to take the cuff or piece of Kandi off and just hand it to them or connect hands and put it on their wrist yourself, but I will tell you how to really trade Kandi. Whytrade instead of sell? Well trading is more popular than selling because trading is much more personal and sentimental. A trade can mark and be a reminder of meeting a new friend, a specific day or party, and just plain fun.

In a recent poll on Amplicate.com/hate/kandi, out of 10,444 people, only 15% said they hated Kandi. Newbie Kandi kids might not be used to all the extra weight on the arms or Senior Kandi Kids might just have that hidden stash just waiting to be found. Don’t think too much on it. Start with a few close friends, or even people you only know the name of. If they don’t know Kandi, Show them! Invite them to learn and create. People are power.

O M N I S 7

THE ABOUT

TRUTH

BROS BY: PASCAL LEGATE

8 O M N I S

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here is a plague spreading across America. It is a growing problem called brocism. Brocism, or being brocist, is similar to racism, except it revolves around the hatred of bros. You might be asking yourself, “what exactly is a bro?”

“It’s more than a culture, it’s a life style.”

Well, according to Urban Dictionary, an online archive, bros are “Obnoxious partying males who are often seen at college parties. When they aren’t making asses of themselves they usually just stand around holding red plastic cups waiting for something exciting to happen so they can scream something that demonstrates how much they enjoy partying.” With this definition in mind, being a brocist would seem to be almost second nature to most, but I believe quite the contrary.

Although the definition on Urban Dictionary has a negative connotation, I believe there is a positive side to being a “Bro.” Just ask Sander Trubowitz a renowned bro at LASA high school. “For me, being a bro is bigger than the tank tops and sunglasses. It’s lifestyle,” said Trubowitz.

This brings up the question, is being a bro being a part of a culture? Trubowitz thinks so. “ Being a bro is exactly what it sounds, it’s a brotherhood, a bond that cannot be broken.

Our sayings and clothing are just frill.” People don’t hate on sororities, which are in the same boat! Most people seem to feel that this argument doesn’t apply, but if you were to ask someone I’m sure they are equally annoyed or more annoyed by sororities!

Why is being a bro a bad thing? Sander Trubowitz says “ Many of our negative connotations are associated to us when we party, but you know what they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Or in other words, when Bros party you can’t just judge them by that. You have to look at them in day to day life to get a real idea of this beautiful culture. Many people are trying to restore the former glory of the word bro as it has gone downhill.

We asked Sander Trubowitz how he is preventing brocism in his community. “I try to ignore most of the negative comments or spin them into a joke” Trubowitz said, I think that just joking about it will have people ask themselves what am I doing? I think that I just might try crying in public.” Please stop the spreading plague and donate today. We really need it.

O M N I S 9

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK SCOTT

Cusotmers in line at the Coat & Thai food trailer on South Congress in Austin, Texas.

“If you didn’t do well, and you bought a trailer, the cost wont set you back as far as a restaurant.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF PITALICIOUS

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN SEGWAY TOURS

10 O M N I S

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MIGHTY CONE

A Roach I Wouldn’t Kill!

Are Food Trailers Taking Over the Food Industry?

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By Jack Myers Scott

ess than a decade ago there was an empty lot on a long strip of South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas.

No one would have believed that the exact same space would be full of cheap and tasty restaurants in less than five years. Although these restaurants aren’t exactly in buildings, they are quite successful in selling their food to their customers and their owners didn’t have to invest in a $250,000 facility. These entrepreneurs took their money and invested in a smaller, more moveable building: a trailer.

Some detractors like to label these trailer food vendors “Roach Coaches,” and some have a negative view of these trailers. Some of the civilians in communities with food trailers don’t like the fact that these trailers are taking money away from traditional, “brick and mortar restaurants”, trailers have, “a lower operating overhead,” and that these food trucks can go into one city for an hour or two and then leave has caused a lot of commotion for many local governments who have had to give many citations to trailers for not owning a license in that particular city to sell food. But I personally like the atmosphere and attitude that these restaurants bring to Austin’s already esteemed culture. I will take almost any opportunity to grab a snow cone at Snow Beach on Barton Springs Road, or grab a pizza in a cone from The Mighty Cone on South Congress. You can get BBQ, Chinese, cupcakes, Cajun, tacos, ice-cream, coffee, and a lot of other great food options from these trailers. Do you see what I see? It’s pretty obvious. I see diversity. I see a lot of different choices based on what kind of mood I’m in. Think about like this.

There are eleven trailers on the single strip of land that I mentioned before. About four average Congress Avenue

sized buildings could fit in the same area. Now the area has a lot more tasty and affordable choices than it would if a small number of new restaurants had established themselves there in costly new buildings located on prime real estate. And another thing (there’s always more), it seems to be much more of a complication to drive to a restaurant, find decent parking, wait from, I don’t know, anywhere from ten to forty-five minutes to get a table where you then get to wait even longer before your waiter or waitress takes your order! Sounds like a waste of time to me, but I guess some people like it. According to NPR.com, “The Problems With Dining In Restaurants,” some people have problems with certain aspects of the traditional restaurant experience. “The pepper thing can ruin my meal. The minute my salad arrives, so does someone holding a pepper mill the size of the Eiffel Tower. Would you like some freshly ground pepper? How would I know? I haven’t tested it yet,” says Bonny Wolf, a Weekend Edition food commentator.

The traditional type of restaurant business is quite messy if you ask me. You don’t get these problems when you eat out at a trailer restaurant. “We are exactly the same restaurant as the one across the street, but our food comes out a lot quicker, and in some cases is probably cleaner. In a restaurant you can’t see the food being made but it’s all right in front of you when you’re dealing with a trailer,” says Jamie Lynn, owner of the Short Bus, a South Congress food trailer. But what you do get with these trailers is simplicity, options, affordable food and a fun and unique time that you can spend with family or friends.

Buying a trailer instead of investing in a brick-andmortar restaurant can be a great choice for any starting business. It makes a lot more sense to me to “test out the waters” and not commit to a very expensive building before you know just how well you fare in today’s unpredictable economy. “If you didn’t do well, and you bought a trailer, the cost won’t set you back as far as a restaurant,” says Mike Stuart, owner of Pitalicious, a South Congress food trailer.

I’m not saying rejoice in happiness every time a new trailer arrives here in Austin, but quit the disses. Some of these trailers, like The Short Bus, can be rented for birthday parties, weddings, and other special events! What more could you really ask for?

PHOTO COURTESY OF DWELL

O M N I S 11

Kickin’ it.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DYLLAN SCHUSTER

The life of a Sneakerhead.

By: Dyllan K. Schuster

12 O M N I S

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he store could be seen from miles away with its colossal windows displaying the immaculate insides.

Rows, walls and shelves filled with the rap influential shoes and clothing. The atmosphere inside illuminates modern beauty.

The store sign is bright red with text that reads “Nice Kicks” in white. People walk in this store in all different colors, shapes and sizes to find shoes that reflect their personality. One of those people that you’ll see regularly if you go to the store is 19 year old Canaan Rickman who owns 40 plus shoes purchased from this store and others.

Rickman has a deep passion for shoes, sneakers, footwear, kicks, and clearly has found his joy in life while he neatly stacks his kicks and boxes in rows, laces up the old SB Dunks or is making sure no creases have presented themselves today.

For Rickman this quite common obsession started when he was very young.

“I started out around eight years old,” he said. Every three months, if I got straight As during that period, my mom would buy me a pair of Air Forces,” he said. I was all about that. But one time, I actually remember getting a C in science because I was struggling. When I came home with that report card, I just started bawling on the floor. I knew my mom wouldn’t give in. I was stuck with the same old shoes for about 6 months. Let me tell you, I never did that again. But from there with the help of my mom I just got really into shoes.”

Rickman started to keep shoes even after they should’ve been long disposed of. He displayed several Nike air forces, in his dorm, that were torn up way back from the 90’s. With their yellow tinged soles and creased up leather, they were looking like they had been through a lot. Rickman walked through his closet that was filled with old kicks and explained why he couldn’t just part from his sneakers.

“Shoes just have a high sentimental value for me,” he said. “A lot of memories has gummed up on these shoes.”

He points at a pair of distained white Nike Air Forces.

“[These are] back from 2001 when I was in 3rd grade. That year is actually when I won my grade’s spelling bee. The winning word was agglomeration which means collection. Pretty simple to memorize because all I had to do was

stare at the gradually growing agglomeration of shoes in my doorway that my mom nagged about every single day. Anyways though, winning the spelling bee and stuff I have successfully done in my life, I like to, ironically enough, thank my shoes and family for it. And I really think that’s why I appreciate shoes so much is because stuff that I grew up with and accomplished was metaphorically accomplished because I’m wearing some swaggin’ lucky kicks. There needed to be a reason why life was good in my head and I blamed my shoes for it,” he said.

Throughout high school he expanded his shoe collection, impressing the ladies and making envious Bro-friends.

“There needed to be a reason why life was good in my head and I blamed my shoes for it,”

“I graduated from Austin high school and let me say there was some great times there,” he said.

“ Senior year a group of friends and I had our own little clique called F.Y.B. or Flyest Youngn’s on the Block. That group and I did everything together we went to rap concerts, chilled with celebrities at SXSW and most of all we chatted with Matt Halfhill of Nice kicks. Other friends and kids at our school we’re hell of Jealous because we talked swag with Jay-z and met with KiD CuDi to chill. And here I am again thinking the only way that all these great things happened is because I love sneakers.”

All the name brands that Mr. Rickman appeals to are ones that the store Nice Kicks hold. Nice Kicks is well known

blogging, website and sneaker shop. Mr. Rickman stumbled on the website while browsing for a pair of fresh kicks.

“About an year ago before I started to come to this store, one night while browsing on the internet for some sneakers, I ran into this great website that was just filled with information on sneakers.” , he said. “And the best part was that it’s the kind of shoes you don’t see most people in. I read the website every day for like the next sixth months and by this time I was lost in the sneaker world.”

Canaan was so passionate or obsessed about shoes that he started to visit Nice Kicks store so much that all twenty employee’s, including founder of the company Matt Halfhill, had his number on their personal phones.

“I don’t know if it’s because I’ve spent a few grand there or if I’m just friendly guy, (chuckles) but yeah everyone at that store and I now hang out on weekends regularly,” he said. “ I make sure that I go every other day. If I don’t go, which I haven’t, it’ll be like not calling your mother for a few days, (laughs) which I have done.”

Canaan’s hunger for shoes grew larger while his wallet became skinnier by the month.

“I usually spend about $150 on shoes every month, but I remember at one point when I got right out of my house and I didn’t know a thing about money I was flushin’ at least $200 every two weeks,” he said. “ But I learned pretty quickly that that wasn’t going to work when I had to get my mom to pay rent for a couple months. Oh man she was pissed. She made me renovate her whole house because of that one.”

Rickman started to slowly halt his spending habits once his shoe gain had hit forty five pairs. He planned to stop his collection, but rather enjoy the shoes that he has bought.

“I really don’t have a limit on how many shoes I will collect. As long as I am alive I hope to keep this up,” he said. “I mean why stop something that makes me happy and has done so much for me in life. I don’t do drugs, I don’t play video games, I don’t drink, I only collect shoes and that’s the way I’m going to keep it.”

O M N I S 13

Black and A story of little change.

By: Isabella Marini sually the on-coming of spring rain (what little Texas gets, anyway) means seas of green crabgrass and clothing of every bright color. Just after the first rain brings flower themes, bright skirts and colorful headbands. Not for one LASA student. Her style stays the same as the seasons change.

Ever since 7th grade Harmony has been wearing an all-black ensemble, often paired with neon Kandi bracelets.

Harmony would describe her style as “Basic. I wear black for contrast because I usually wear neon Kandi to stand out. I know how to describe that!” She suddenly perks up with excitement. “Loose style.”

Although Harmony may wear dark colors, her personality matches her neon accessories. Full of surprises this girl always proves to do the opposite of the expected.

“My favorite color is pink. I do wear pink just not at school. I have a normal pink shirt that I do wear, I wear it almost every week.” Her eyes were just challenging

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me in a sense of “you thought I only wore black didn’t you?

Well after wearing for so long, Harmony is more than familiar with all the ups and downs that come with it.

Before making a second judgment, Harmony’s words strike again.

“I don’t think I fit a stereotype.” Harmony pondered for a moment. “ “You could call emo, but I’m not.” That was from some movie but I can’t remember from where. I would not describe myself as emo. More like a ninja. ” Not everybody would agree with this opinion.

“People have stereotyped me as goth, emo, depressed, wannabe, a lot of really negative things. In 8th grade every said I was trying to be Goth so nobody talked to me.”

Black. Black. Black. Is the only thing Harmony seems to wear.

“I wear the same necklace and ring, I never take them off. The necklace is from school last year, it’s not really

14 O M N I S

White.

“I wear the same necklace and ring, I never take them off. The necklace is from school last year, it’s not really special but I get a lot of compliments and it’s been through a lot with me. The necklace is a thick black cord with a shiny plastic diamond at the end and a blue moon charm. The ring is just a mood ring but It’s special to me so it shall not come off.”

“Kandi changes lives.”

These are the things that never change. Harmony is also a Kandi Kid. “Umm it’s kinda hard to describe, I use to wear kandi a lot because I was a very neon person, very mood changey but now I am more stabilized in mood, so I wear

more stable colors.”

Her opinion on Kandi however still remains and is very surprising.

Without missing a beat Harmony chimed that Kandi is “Awesomeness, it’s bright colorful awesomeness. It changed my life man, I got a lot of new friends because of it.”

However even with such a bright opinion, there are still some pet peeves.

“Hot Topic started selling it a while ago, they weren’t even handmade, it actually started to piss me off a little bit.”

Making Kandi seems to be a personal thing. When it happens the right way.

“First they think “where did you buy this” and then they are surprised that I made it. Kandi changes lives.”

O M N I S 15

Lightning Grooves

Taking music discovery to a whole

By: Pascal Legate

16 O M N I S

new

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o go on a conquest to discover music used to take lots of time and lots of clicks. But not anymore, due to the creation of The Hype Machine “I can just click the popular category and see what everyone is talking about, it’s so easy,” said Evan Williams an avid user. Basically, the Hype Machine was designed to share what thousands of blogs are talking about, in a complete concise manor, with minimal advertising and maximum freshness.

“I think Hype Machine plays in an ecosystem of several new things that have developed, with regard to music and how people interact with it. People discover something when friends send a link to YouTube video, and they’re just like, “Wow, what is this song?” And they get really excited about it. Hype Machine isn’t really that (per se), but it’s in that spectrum …”

Said creator Anthony Volodkin.

The Hype Machine doesn’t really function as a social network to share what people’s friends are listening to, but rather the basis for music, blog, and artist discovery. It has taken a free from marketing approach, which not many website have. This is what makes it so appealing, with 7 years on the Internet tens of thousands of users.

“People are just getting excited about music and communicating about it, without any sort of marketing -- just because they enjoy it. It’s an interesting change in the way that music discussion gets exposed on the net, and [becomes] accessible to

other people.” Said Volodkin.

The Hype Machine’s has taken an approach that is unbiased and uncontrollable. The thousands of bloggers are the ones that are sharing the great music are what make the hype machine what it is. But how does the Hype Machine choose the blogs on the site?

“It has to do with building us as a community, so there are not any strict rules. Ultimately, I look for people who write about music they like -- whatever that happens to be -- and who start discussions, participate in discussions and do it all out of their love for music.” Said Volodkin.

Although the criteria

“I just love the Hype Machine” seems hard to fit, that is not the case. In fact one of The Hype Machine’s main problem is too many great music blogs.

“Given that music blogs are overwhelming in their number, size and frequency, our job is to sort that out and make it more accessible, easier and more user-friendly” Volodkin said.

“We’re not quite there yet, but we’ve made some progress. It can be overwhelming at times.”

In the past many music sharing websites such as napster. com, have been on the radar for illegally distributing music, it would seem that The Hype Machine would have similar prob-

lems, but that just isn’t true. The Hype Machine actually prevents piracy with the ease of access when trying to buy something.

“People don’t really care where they buy something, they want it to be easy, seamless and painless, and they want to be treated fairly as a consumer.

As long as those things happen, I think many more people will buy music.” Volodkin said.

Despite what most would think the the Hype Machine doesn’t actually have too many problems with large labels, and the free distribution of music. In fact labels appreciate having the hype machine.

“It’s an interesting, honest way to help consumers discover new music -- by exposing a voice they can trust -- and that’s a big deal. Consumers just don’t trust a lot of sources.... They have certain perceptions of why music is in those particular channels.

I’ve had more positive conversations with labels about Hype Machine”. Said Anthony.

The Hype Machine has no corporate mind set, fixated on making money but one simple goal.

“For me, the most memorable discovery experiences are the result of some kind of late night browsing session when you click on a bunch of links and you’re not sure how you got there ... (and then it’s) “Whoa, what is this!?” And that’s the moment that Hype Machine wants to replicate, over and over.” Said the creator Anthony Volodkin.

O M N I S 1 7

The Rap Game.

TIME

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ECONOMY LODGE

All New and

By: Jack Myers Scott

18 O M N I S

Improved.

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ow do you put the words, “rap,” and “economics,” in the same sentence? Just ask John Papola who uses rap and music videos to get across serious subject matter to America’s people, such as our nation’s economic systems.

About two years ago, John Papola began directing and producing rap music videos, which discuss the state of our nation’s economic systems and positions.

John is an award winning director and producer whose history with video production is quite colorful and very fascinating.

Film and creativity have been essential to John and it’s something that he has been doing since the early stages of his life.

“I’ve been making videos since I was a kid in grade school and before that I wanted to be an animator.”

John has been very active through out his film career with several organizations such as Spike TV, Nickelodeon, and MTV.

“I’ve had a lot of experience since I graduated from Penn State with a film degree in 1999,” says John. “I was the creative director at Spike TV and I was there since 2004 and helped to build the brand of Spike and direct it and created at least 50 commercials for Spike.”

But John wasn’t always as interested in film as he was as a kid and is now, and in fact he didn’t even start his college career with a film study or a film class.

“I actually had started off my college career in computer science, because I’m a big geek, and I love using computers and learning new software. My high school counselor thought, ‘well you’re into

computers so you should go into computer sciences.’ But I didn’t really want to make computers; I wasn’t terrible at programming and I was good at math, but I really liked using [computers] to be creative, so I switched to film and really loved that.”

As John became a professional in the world of television and film he began teaching himself economics by listening to other professors, such as Russ Roberts, on his daily commute. After John decided that he learned enough to be able to preach economics to others, he began creating rap music videos in hope to help others learn what he did.

“Economics is an area that I just have a lot of passion and interest in, and think I can make a contri

“We’d like to be the HBO of Economics!” bution to helping people understand it better.”

John began working on starting an organization known as Econstories, which was devoted to helping people better understand economics. John and his team have been working on economic rap music videos for a few years now and are all very fascinated by economics.

“The first thing that animated me to do [these rap videos],” states John, “is the financial crisis and what seemed to be a lot of confusion from people who were supposed to know what they

were talking about and a lot of chaotic behavior on the part of the government and the federal reserve and the organizations that claim to be in charge of important parts of the system.”

As John began researching and learning about two very important figures in our nation’s economic history, John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek, he arrived at some conclusions of his own.

“I felt like [our nation] was becoming very Keynesian in our policies and approaches and the way that it was being talked about in the news media. I didn’t think that was the right direction, so I wanted to offer the alternative and also put it in the context of being talked about so it wasn’t just a pro Hayek video, it was a Hayek vs. Keynes video. I think we treat the ideas of Keynes fairly and accurately, but then, you know, give Hayek the say that he doesn’t usually get.”

John uses what he has learned about video production and his creativity in hopes that his rap music videos will help people who don’t really know what’s going on have a better understanding of economics.

“I think people in general have a very poor understanding of economics at even the most basic level. People think about economics as a science that has a hypothesis: you test something, and the tests can either confirm it or falsify it. But economics isn’t a thing you can test. It’s really not a thing at all!”

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The

Gucci Guide

Givin’ you a heads-up on what’s luxurious.

By: Dyllan Schuster

The Chopard Blue Diamond Ring goes for $16.26 million making it the most expensive ring in the world. It has a magnificent rare blue diamond shouldered with other white diamonds on a 18k white gold band paved with daimonds.

This beauty is called the Buggati Veyron 16.4 Super Sport for a reason!

At top speed it goes 268 mph and has 1,200 hp with its W16 engine.

This car is luxury and was revieled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for $

This is the Treskilling Yellow stamp is actually a printing error that happened in 1855 in Sweden. The stamp was supposed to be printed green rather then orange/yellow.

And who said mistakes are worthless because this one is worth $2.3 million or more.

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Sleeping on a cloud is literally what this mattress feels like. The “Vividus” made by the Hastens means Full of Life in Latin which is ironic since it gladly kills your wallet for $59,570.

The Tibetan Mastiff a beautiful yet powerful beast is one not to mess with. They have been known to kill tigers who have trespassed.

These dogs are a hefty $2000, but the pay off will be well worth it.

Being considered one of the best politically active and Liberal arts school definitely has its price for $57,556. The Sarah Lawrence college was owned by a wealthy real estate mogul who at first made it woman only acceptance in 1926, but then in 1968 started to except

You are staring at a super computer if you didn’t notice... that is known as the Earth Simulator. Each processor node in the Earth Simulator contains 8 vector processors running at 500MHz with 16GB of shared memory, and the total main memory in the machine is 10 terabytes. The operating system running on the supercomputer is NEC’s UNIX-based OS called “SUPER-UX” which is used on NEC’s SX Series of supercomputers. Now I really don’t know what theat means, but what I do know is that this gigantic computer is worth $400,00,000.

Now lets see which Geek would kill for this.

Kopi Luwak a very peculiar brew, but a very delicious unbitter coffee can cost $600 a pound and $50 a cup. It is made from coffee beans eaten, partly digested and then excreted by the Common palm civet, a weasel-like animal.

Who knew a cup of poo could be so expensive?

Stuart Hughes Iphone 4 Diamond Rose Edition won’t only allow you to look like a princess , but it will allow you to surf the web for $8 million and extra $30 a month for the data plan.

All photos attained from http://most-expensive.net/

ULTRASONE Edition 9 Limited Edition SLogic Natural Surround Sound Headphones just sound way too Luxurious! These headphones are worth $1,499 and actually make it so your hearing will be protected and also there 98% less radiation emitted from these headphones then others out there.

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Spirit of P.L.U.R

P

How to trade Kandi using P.L.U.R

PEACE

For peace, form a peace sign with your, index and middle fingers and touch to the fingers of the Kandi kid receiver.

UNITY

U

Unity is expressed by placing the palm vertically on the palm of the Kandi Kid receiver.

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By Isabella Marini

LOVE

L R

Love is communicated by curving your fingers and thumb with the Kandi Kid

RESPECT

Respect is symbolized by weaving your fingers into the fingers of the Kandi Kid receiver, keeping your hands still, slide the Kandi from the wrist of the owner to the receiver of the wrist. This is when you would slip the bracelet or cuff on to the other’s wrist.

O M N I S 23

BEST of the BEST. BY: PASCAL LEGATE

A look back on the past 10 NCAA DI Lacrosse Champions 15-7 Virginia

14-13 Syrcuse

Syracuse would over come a late deficit to win their 8th NCAA Championship as they beat Navy 1413. This would also be Syracuse’s third

13-12 Syrcuse

Syracuse avenged their previous over time loss to Princeton in the 2001 championships

title in five years.

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12-11 Hopkins

Johns Hopkins and Duke would face off for the 2005 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse National Championship. Though Duke was trying to pull out a victory to help revive a program struck by controversy; it would be Johns Hopkins winning its first title in nearly two decades and completing a perfect 16-0 season.

2006

For the first time in the new millenium Princeton and Syracuse would not be in the National Championship. This would be the first time in almost a decade that neither team scored double digit goals and the lowest scoring game in almost two decades.

2005

2004

2003

2002

9-7 Virginia

Virginia beat Massachusetts 15-7 for their 4th Championship. Virginia’s offense was to much for the UMass defense as they averaged 16.5 goals per game during the tournament. Virginia became the second team in a row to finish the season undefeated.

6-5 Duke

12-11 Syrcuse

SU faced off against Virginia in the semifinal game of the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships at Foxborough, MA. SU won, 12-11, in double overtime.

y

In this thrilling 2009 Championship, Syracuse comes from behind with 3 minutes and 30 seconds left and ties it with only 4.5 seconds left of the game. In overtime, they take advantage of a Cornell turnover and never looked back as they win it in overtime, 10-9.

2011

10-9 Syrcuse

2010

2009

Johns Hokpins beat Duke 12-11 as they began the scoring right off the face off and then with 10 seconds left the Bluejay goalkeeper deflected away a possible tying shot to preserve the victory and Johns Hopkins would get its second title in three years.

2008

2007 12-11 Hopkins

After trailing 3-2 at halftime, Notre Dame took its first lead since the first minute of the game early in the fourth quarter. Duke tied the game a few minutes later, though, and had a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation, but stellar defense by Notre Dame and timely saves by tournament MVP Scott Rodgers sent the game to overtime

9-7 Virginia

The championship game took place on May 30, 2011 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, where Virginia won its fifth NCAA lacrosse championship and seventh college title overall, defeating Maryland 9-7 in the title game.

O M N I S 25

Students Rank Their Top 5 Beaches In The U.S. By: Jack Myers Scott

Siesta Beach: “My experience was one of a lifetime.”

- Zach Benayoun

Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida has been voted the nation’s top beach for several years now by the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). Siesta Beach is quite alive with a beautiful tropical atmosphere and includes some of the finest and whitest sands that can be found around the world.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LUXURY SARASOTA REAL ESTATE

Coronado Beach: “The sunset on the beach was incredible.”

-Ruth Sanchez

PHOTO COURTESY OF HUMAN AND NATURAL

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Coronado Beach in San Diego, California is a, “postcard-perfect,” community with beautiful, wide, clean, and family friendly shores. There’s a wall of beautiful and extravagant mansions on the beach while the ocean is lined with interesting yachts and intricate boats.

Kahanamoku Beach: “I never wanted to leave.”

-Daniel Weinberg

This beach in Waikiki, Hawaii is the beach in which surfing was born.

Kahanamoku Beach was named after Duke Paoa Kahanamoku who was an Olympic swimmer Gold Medal winner and who many call the “Father of Modern Surfing.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEACHIONARY

Main Beach: “These waters were some of the best I have ever swam in.”

-Chris Jones

East Hampton is well known as a favorite stomping found for the rich and famous and is a characterful, charming, and scenic place to visit. Main Beach is a gorgeous wide clean beach facing the Atlantic Ocean that include restrooms, lockers, and numerous snak bars.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PANARAMIO

Cape Haterras: “The one word to describe my visit: unbeleivable.”

-Maddie Venn

Cape Hatteras, a cape on the coast of North Carolina, have and still are being shaped by the forces of water, wind, and storms. There is a lot to see and explore, including the plants, widlife, and the famous Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VKONTAKTE

O M N I S 27

The Rap Game Cont.

But John wishes to change all the ignorance and fallacies that our nation’s communities might have.

“Economics is important and it is important for people to have a good understanding because it really is all about the wealth of nations and how happy, wealthy, and healthy we are as a people.

If we have bad ideas we end up with bad policies because people end up voting in demagogues and people that pander to the worst of us and end up with bad policies that will make us poorer as a society.”

John has been very successful with his first two videos, which have received over two million views each, and has gotten tons of wonderful comments and reviews that are very inspirational.

“I’ve gotten several responses that are downright heartwarming. People have said they have changed their majors to economics because they didn’t realize this subject was so important or so interesting and I’ve gotten videos from high schools that have put on Fight of the Century, [my second video], as a play for their talent show.”

As John hears how he has affected other people in very positive ways he wants to continue to make Econstories bigger and better with a lot more content.

“We are developing a plan to make [Econstories] a much bigger platform for making many more videos and one of the things we want to do is create an interactive book with more video content, in support of the two videos we have already done.”

John can’t wait to continue to create more rap videos and continue to be creative, but he realizes he has to face and overcome some of his current challenges.

“The challenge now,” John begins, “is how do we move these ideas out beyond the people who are very very interested to just people who are watching reality TV at night. I think the challenge is fundamentally to make these ideas as accessible and entertaining as possible.”

And that’s exactly what John wants to do: make his ideas as entertaining as possible!

“We’d like to be the HBO of economics!” John exclaims.

As John reflects on all of his wonderful experiences and encounters with film and new ideas he believes that he has made an impact with Econstories and that Econstories has made an impact on him.

“[Econstories] has definitely been the most successful project I have ever done!”

John Papola has put a new twist on both economics and the rap game with his enchanting rap music videos that has helped many people realize that economics is a serious subject matter, but also a subject that can be learned in a new, fun, and refreshing way.

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