Throughout history, thousands of fashion trends have emerged and gone out of style. Typically, trends follow a multiple-decade cycle. For example, in the 1940’s pre-war era, wide-shoulder shirts and jackets and a-line skirts were popular silhouettes. Then, in the 1980’s, large, shoulder-padded blazers returned to the fashion sphere, completing the cycle.
However, largely due to the increase of global connection and mass industrial production in the past 5-10 years, fast fashion and “micro-trends” have taken over the fashion industry. Microtrends are trends that cycle in and out of style in a matter of months or weeks. In an article on Conciouslifeandstyle.com, Stella Hertantyo breaks down this new fashion cycle into five steps: introduction, rise, acceptance, decline, and obsolescence. A new style is introduced, then picks up relevance in fashion communities. Next, it is established into mainstream fashion consciousness and is often mass-produced. As the trend is fully incorporated into the mainstream, it is no longer fresh and exciting to consumers, and is discarded for newer trends to arise in its place.
The availability of mass-producing, fast fashion retailers, such as Shein, have fueled this rapid cycling. Additionally, social media competition drives the want to buy and consume more items to keep up with the trends.
There are pros and cons to this new trend cycle. Due to the desire for new products, designers have needed to get creative to fill the need. Mass production makes clothing cheap and fashion should be accessible to anyone who wants to participate in it. However, the fast fashion industry breeds overconsumption and has many environmental drawbacks.
One solution is sustainable clothing. However, it can be very expensive and inaccessible.
In my opinion, buying second-hand clothing is one of the best ways to expand your style and find quality clothing for cheaper prices, without participation in fast fashion.
It’s Baltimore 1999, Hae Min Lee, a popular high school senior student, was murdered. One day, she disappeared after school. Six weeks later, detectives arrested her classmate and ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, for her murder. Adnan says that he is innocent although he can’t remember that night.
Later into the podcast, he was high off of marijuana and also he was drunk. When Adnan got taken in for his story ,he told the detectives what happened and his story didn’t quite match up. It didn’t make any sense. Adnan was a careless person when his ex- girlfriend died; he would go out to parties, get high and get drunk.
A classmate at Woodlawn high school says that she knew where Adnan was when Hae disappeared that night. When Adnan got arrested Asia wrote him letters and one describes about him talking in the library on the night where Hae disappeared.
She also wrote another letter after Adnan was convicted.
Jay was another suspect because he knew where the car was and her dead body, but the detectives let him go because he hardly knew Hae and his phone was on him the whole time.
But then, on January 13, 1999, at 7:30 pm, Jay told Jenn that Adnan was gonna go, or had already killed Hae. The reason for that is because at 10:45 am Jay got a call from Adnan and at 11:00-11:30 he arrived at Jay’s house saying that he was going to kill Hae.
The next day, Adnan went to Best Buy and bought cleaning supplies. All the evidence that the detectives had, they still didn’t have a correct clue on who the murderer was. Adnan was the main one but the detectives were not sure if he was the murderer but even though his family had a lawyer that already knew his family very well and that they paid.
The detectives also knew that too. Adnan’s parents didn’t believe that he killed Hae too. He was put in prison, but later, when the detectives gave up on finding more evidence, they had no other choice but to let go of Adnan.
Image taken from: https://en.as.com/en/2022/02/13/nfl/1644785041_ 347970.html
All stats from this article were from Pro Fooball Reference and Sportrac. You can find more information here and here.
Every year in the NFL, each of the 32 teams has expectations, and their performances fall into three categoried: They perform better than expected, do about as well as predicted, or disappoint.
However, doing poorly doesn’t just qualify a team as a disappointment. For example, the Bears are one of the worst teams in the NFL, but nobody expected them to be a playoff team in the first place. They traded away a lot of star talent such as Roquan Smith for future draft picks, and Justin Fields looks to be making some promising steps.
Here are three teams that have not lived up to expectations this season.
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams were fresh off a Super Bowl victory and even though there were key losses such as WR Odell Beckham Jr. and LB Von Miller, they were still expected to be contenders. According to Pro Football Reference, the Rams were tied for the fourth highest Super Bowl odds according to oddsmakers, only to completely collapse with little hope for the future.
In just one year, the Rams offense went from 7th in the league in scoring averaging 27.1 points per game to this year’s abysmal 26th ranked scoring team, averaging a mere 18.7 points per game. Of course, injuries played a critical role, with key posiiton players such as: Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Aaron Donald all missing time.
But the biggest issue offensively had been the revolving door of offensive lineman. The Rams became the first team in the Super Bowl era to use a different starting five in each of their first nine games. This was on top of an already patchy unit that had lost starting LT Andrew Whitworth to retirement after last year’s Super Bowl run. Matthew Stafford also saw a regression from his previous seasons stats before he got injured.
Defensively, losing Von Miller to free agency was brutal for the Rams. Without a dominant edge rusher opposite Aaron Donald, this unit was average defending the pass, and Jalen Ramsey’s less than stellar play caused him to miss the Pro Bowl for the first time since his rookie season back in 2016.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
According to Pro Football Reference, only three teams had better preseason odds than the Rams to win the Super Bowl. Two of them are very much at the top of their game right now, but another team stands out with the Rams.
As the season started, things looked promising for the Bucs. They jumped out to a 2-0 start, but things fell apart quickly. They then lost five of the next six, and squeaked into the playoffs with a losing record.
In 2021, they were 2nd in the league in scoring, averaging 30.1 points per game. Fast forward to this season and they are 25th in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game. If it wasn’t for their solid defense, this team would have been even worse off. So, how did they fall off offensively?
Coaching makes a big difference. In a stunning move, head coach Bruce Arians retired during the 2022 offseason. But the biggest problem was the offensive line. It’s become clear that the loss of key interior personnel has crushed this teams ability to run.
In 2021, the Bucs possessed 3 Pro Bowlers on their offensive line, OT Tristan Wirfs, OG Ali Marpet, and C Ryan Jensen. Ali Marpet surprisingly retired after last season at the age of 28 and Ryan Jensen tore his ACL in training camp before the season even started. So, take away two Pro Bowlers and throw in a bunch of injuries and what you get is the worst rush offense in the NFL, according to stats on Pro Football Reference. This consequently negatively affects the passing game.
Because of that, Brady has often looked out of rhythm. Also, with the loss of TE Rob Gronkowski to retirement, it’s clear that this offense lacks any sort of punch. The team as a whole looks flat on a consistent basis. Who would have thought that a regular season matchup between future hall of farmers, Aaron Rodgers and Brady would come up with a score of 14-12 on September 24.
The Bucs were dominated by the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 in the first round of the NFL Playoffs.
Green Bay Packers
In the recent history of the NFC North, the Packers have reigned supreme over the division, winning 8 division titles since 2011, including the last 3 before this season. This year they finished 3rd in the division, which was a surprise considering they were supposed to be one of the best teams in the NFC. They even got beat out by the 9-8 Lions who were supposed to finish near the bottom of the standings.
Since Matt LeFleur took over in 2019, Green Bay’s defense has ranged from league average, to above average, with their weakest season coming this year, and offensively what made them elite in the past was all the brilliant production with the lack of turnovers. That all changed this season, with QB Aaron Rodgers throwing double digit interceptions for the first time since 2010.
It was always known that once Davante Adams was traded, this offense was going to be in a bit of a transitional phase, but now it is evident that it was tougher than expected. Not only did Ridgers not play well this season, but the chemistry between him and his young receiving core has perhaps been the biggest obstacle this season. The Packers also have been one of the most penelized teams in the league this season.
With Rodgers signing a 3-year, 150 million dollar contract ahead of this season, it’s hard to see how the Packers will be competitive in the coming years with the salary cap. According to Sportrac, the Packers are currently projected to be $14 million over the cap for 2023.
‘Better Than the Movies’ is a book written by Lynn Painter that was published in 2021. This book is about a teenage girl Liz and her neighbor and childhood friend, Wes. They don’t get along very well but when their old childhood friend, Michael, moves back into town, Liz asks Wes to set them up.
I think this book had a good concept but it was definitely predictable and wasn’t something that was unheard of. But I do think the characters were written really well and with a lot of substance.
I think it was easy to get attached to the characters since they all had such engaging personalities. I think my favorite character is Wes, throughout the book he was very thoughtful of Liz and you can tell he truly cares about her. He helped her to start talking to Michael even when he knew he’d had feelings for her. He continued to be there for her when she was upset over her relationship with Michael, her friendship that was falling apart, and as well as grieving her mom and accepting her step mom.
The subplot of ‘Better Than the Movies’ was Liz trying to cope with the death of her mother who passed 2 years prior to when the story takes place. One of the ways she copes with her mom’s death is watching rom coms which she grew up watching with her mom. Throughout the book Liz’s mom is constantly mentioned and everyone always says how much she reminds them of her mother. Liz always takes her resemblance to her mother as a compliment but in a part of the book her and Wes have a fight and he says she’s trying to be her mom because that’s one way she copes. I thought that it was a really interesting concept and I’m glad that though her mom passed she’s still such a big part of the book and Liz’s thought process.
Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was all of the references to films and music. Liz has an obsession with films as well as creating playlists for every moment. At the beginning of each chapter there was a quote from a rom com which described how the chapter was going to go, and after finishing the chapter the quote would make a lot of sense and I thought it was a clever way to add substance and hobbies to Liz’s character.
The songs mentioned throughout were also a nice touch because it gave you more of a sense of what was going on and how Liz was feeling in that moment, and how the song could correspond to what was going on. At the end of the book, there was even a page dedicated to Wes and Liz and it’s called “Wes and Liz’s Playlist” that included about 20 songs that showed how they feel about each other and the journey of their relationship throughout the book.
Overall, I think this book was a nice easy read, but I definitely wouldn’t say it’s the best book I’ve ever read. I rate this book 3/5 stars and it’s a great book to read in a short span of time.
Hockey: Theo Fleury Theo Fleury is undeniable. The 5’ 6” French Canadian played with a knack for the net and tenacity rivaled by few.
Given his unceremonious end to his career and his drug problems, the NHL has mostly steered clear of Fleury. But his 7 All-Star appearances, 455 goals and 1088 points in 1084 games make him hard to ignore, even as decades pass since his career has ended.
To make it simple, 15 players managed to average over a point per game in both the regular season and the playoffs. 14 of them are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and then there is Theo Fleury. The 1989 Stanley Cup winner’s Hall of Fame introduction is long overdue.
The lifelong Minnesota Twin was just inducted into the Hall of Fame this past year. While that is great and shows he isn’t as forgotten as some may think, do not let this distract you from the fact that it took over 40 years for him to be inducted.
While never the best player on loaded Twins teams (hall of farmers Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew made sure of that), Oliva’s impact on the Twins’s success was second to none. The 3 time batting champion was as consistent as it got, and his gold glove and 8 All Star appearances held up his career enough so he could be re-recognized all these years later.
Continuing with the hometown heroes of the distant past, Vikings QB Fran Tarkenton is the next player on this list. While he is a long-time Hall of Famer, his impact has been largely forgotten. Not only did he hold just about every passing record a QB could for a decade after he retired, he also invented scrambling. For those who don’t know, scrambling is moving around in the pocket to evade defenders, and occasionally leaving the pocket to gain yards by running. This is something previously believed to be undoable by a QB before Tarkenton.
45 years after his retirement, the Vikings legend seems to have left the minds of NFL fans worldwide.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Moses Malone. All of these players have one thing in common: 3 or more NBA MVPs. What differentiates Malone from the rest is simply recognition.
Even though Russell and Chamberlain played multiple decades before “The Chairman of the Boards,” they are both consensus top 10 players in every NBA fans mind, while Malone might not make the top 20. While he only won 1 ring, his scoring numbers, All Star appearances and NBA trophies make just about every player in today’s game jealous.
Even though there are plenty that get far more recognition in any all time debates than “Big Mo.” Moses deserves much more respect.
While there is no hall of fame for the biggest sport in the world, that hasn’t stopped Ronald Koeman from being snubbed far too many times. The center back had a whopping 193 goals in only 533 career matches at club level (reminder: he was a defender).
While still recognized by most as an all-time great in this position, his career, combined with his goal scoring record, goes far under the radar. The fabulous Dutch defender needs to be discussed by soccer superfans far more than he is.
While not all of these players are fully “forgotten,” it seems their career achievements certainly are. There are so many greats in all the sports discussed today, yet so many get disrespected and downright ignored when it comes to discussing legends of the game. I hope my article today reminded you how talented these individuals were and are.
According to ballotpedia.org, on Election Day, in November, 35 senate seats were up for grabs. 14 seats held by Democrats, and 21 seats held by Republicans were up for election in 2022. One of those Democratic senate seats belonged to Senator, and Pastor, Raphael Warnock of Georgia.
Now may be a good time to explain what a runoff is. A runoff election occurs when no candidate running for a spot gets more than 50% of votes. That is what happened in the election between Raphael Warnock and Hershel Walker.
Something that I found very interesting about this race is the fact that this was not the first time that Senator Warnock had won a runoff race. Back in 2020, he ran against then-incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, and since neither candidate got 50% of the vote, that election went to runoff as well.
This election was a Special Senate election, because Loeffler had been appointed by Governor Brian Kemp to fill the remaining 2 years of the six year term previously being served by former Senator Johnny Isakson, who was elected in 2016 but resigned at the end of 2019, citing his health.
Image taken from:latimes.com
The fact that Senator Warnock has been a part of, and won 2, senate runoff elections is incredible, and also shows how split the state of Georgia is between being Democratic or Republican.
But on to the effect this election could have, and will have, on American politics.
This election gave the Democratic Party a very narrow advantage in the senate, with Democrats and the few similar voting Independents occupying 51 of the senate seats, with Republicans occupying the remaining 49.
Before this election, the senate was split evenly, with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tie breaker.
Now, with the majority, Democrats will be able to process legislation and nominations much faster, filling a Supreme Court vacancy would be easier, and Vice President Harris will not be needed as often to break up tied votes.
So, although the Democrats didn’t continue to hold the majority in the House of Representatives, they still have control of the White House and now the Senate, allowing them to get more bills passed more efficiently.
This is from my mom’s own personal food website, and I wanted to make this because it usually only takes her half an hour to cook, but is still one of my favorites.
It has less than 10 ingredients and only 4 steps, could easily be made by a middle schooler, but still manages to cover every base a taco should. It is easily better than many of its restaurant counterparts. If anyone is interested in learning to cook, this would probably be my number one suggestion.
Even though the recipe says to grill, a cast iron skillet does the job just fine. This is the only thing you actually have to cook, the rest is just prep and assembly. The night I made this I was in a time crunch, so I just microwaved the tortillas. In total, it took around 25-30 minutes. For an experienced cook, it is easily doable in under 20.
With all the talk about speed, I don’t mean to understate how good the taco itself is. A beautiful golden crust on well seasoned shrimp, mixed with the acidity from the lime is already a good dish on its own. But combined with the texture and freshness of avocado, and the multi-layered flavors of pico de gallo with a slight dash of hot sauce elevates it to extraordinary new heights.
This would certainly be an accepted dish at a fine dining restaurant, but it was made by a home cook in half an hour. This is truly a gem among dishes. I could eat this every week and be left with an appetite for more and plenty of time to spare. One of the best and easiest meals to make I have ever seen in all my years of eating. 10/10
SZA’s 5 year hiatus has finally come to an end, and her new album ‘SOS’ has broken the internet, reaching the No. 1 spot on Billboard 200. This album contains 23 tracks, is filled with several collaborations, and is a definite sign of expansion in this upcoming musician’s artistic style.
Image of SZA taken from: max94one.com
Solana Rowe (SZA) is a 33-year-old R&B singer from Missouri. She began making music in the early 2010’s, and released her debut album, ‘CTRL’, in June of 2017. This album gave her a great deal of her fame, but is filled with nearly all contemporary R&B, which is what got her the reputation she has in the music world as an R&B singer.
She has also gained huge followings through social media, and experienced success with TikTok, where many of her songs, such “Good Days”, “Broken Clocks”, “Drew Barrymore” and many more are used by fans making videos.
She also made an appearance in the movie ‘Black Panther’, in the song “All the Stars” which she collaborated on with Kendrick Lamar.
She has also been featured on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, and performed in the Good Vibes Festival, Panorama NYC, AFROPUNK FEST Paris and many others.
Though she is relatively new to the music scene, she is definitely making a large name for herself and her music is only on its come up now.
While she has stayed relevant through social media, she hasn’t been releasing much music since her debut album in 2017. Since then, she has added a deluxe version of her first album ‘CTRL’ and has released three songs. “I Hate U”, “Good Days” and “Shirt” were all songs she released between albums which kept her relevant online. But really, this new album has been a big deal in her career since she has been off the grid musically for a long time, and many people didn’t know when, or if, she would be releasing music again. There were even rumors that she retired, or is retiring from music altogether.
When speaking on how releasing music has negatively affected her she said, “I’m making the best album of my life for this next album and I know that, because it’s going to be my last album.” ‘SOS’ was the last album she had been referring to, setting the standards high and the audience eagerly waiting on its release.
This album is a very unique one musically, and artistically, considering her previous label as an R&B only artist; she has definitely expanded on that and added a variety of rap and pop songs to this album.
The songs “Kill Bill”, “Conceited”, and “Seek & Destroy” all explored an upbeat pop side to her, which is a fun one to see because her music is usually very beautiful in more sad or quiet ways, while these were more bold and bouncy.
I also was so excited about her expansion on her rap side with the songs “Low”, “Smoking on my Ex Pack”, and “SOS” which were fun and very singable. She doesn’t get enough credit for her plays on words which were shown off in those songs, and many others on this album.
I thought expanding on her skills, and also keeping some R&B songs that she’s known and loved for, like “I Hate U” and “Blind” was genius because it caters to many different needs fans might have had for this album.
Side by side of the album cover and its inspiration from Daily Mail
Another interesting detail about the album is its cover; in the cover photo, SZA is sitting on the edge of a diving board over an ocean as seen in a similar photo of the late Princess Diana, who was photographed sitting on the edge of the diving board on Mohamed Al Fayed’s Jonikal yacht. The photo was taken in 1997, before her death. When asked about the resemblance between the two photos, SZA said, “I just loved how isolated she felt, and that was what I wanted to convey the most”. This unique attention to detail in every aspect of her album is something key to understanding the type of artist that SZA really is.
I rate it a full 5/5 because the songs were all so good and special, and music aside, it spoke volumes about her as an artist and as a person and I’m excited to see where her musical journey will take her in the future.
In May of 2022, the University of California- Berkeley started an ongoing investigation, and coach Teri McKeever was sent on administrative leave. McKeever is under investigation for verbal and emotional abuse and promoting a toxic culture on the University of California- Berkeley women’s swim team.
A report from the Orange County Register was published with interviews from 19 female swimmers, 1 swimmer from the men’s team, and 6 parents. The report claimed that she has been abusing swimmers for decades now.
Teri McKeever is known as the first female to be the head coach of an Olympic team in the 2012 London Olympics. She has coached the Cal team to 4 NCAA championships and has won the Pac-12 coach of the year award 9 times.
The investigation has lasted longer than anyone expected it to. The athletic director at Berkeley released a statement when the investigation started saying it should last no more than 6 months. However, the investigation has lasted almost 9 months at this point.
McKeever’s lawyer has raised the question of whether or not Dave Burden (Berkeley’s head coach for the men’s team) also acts the way McKeever is being accused of acting. He has claimed that McKeever’s coaching offended people because she is a woman, and they expect her to be more kind and motherly than a men’s coach.
According to Swim Swam News, when asked about the name-calling and bullying of swimmers, McKeever’s lawyer claimed they misunderstood what she was saying.
Over the past couple of months, multiple former swimmers and coaches have sent letters to Berkeley to support Teri McKeever. Many coaches have expressed that this is simply gender bias and that the girls targeting McKeever are looking for attention.
According to Swim Swam News, a former coach from Princeton, Susan Teeter, said, “As a women’s coach, I have seen years of immature athletes who take on the role of ‘mean girls’ and become toxic and hateful, which is what I believe we have on our hands right now.”
People have expressed that the problem is not McKeever, but it is, in fact, an administrative problem. It is unlikely that Berkeley will address an administrative issue right now. Still, they have hired a law firm to investigate McKeever. Dave Durden has been coaching the men’s team but has overtaken both teams in McKeever’s absence.
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