Radio with a Kick

       Ever get sick of listening to the same old songs on the radio day after day? Well, with today’s technology, you can now create your own personalized radio station that only plays the songs you want. This is all made possible through the website www.pandora.com. Pandora allows anyone (over the age of 13) to create an account. After creating an account with Pandora, you can customize your own radio station, adding artists and songs as you please. You simply begin by telling Pandora what song or artists interest you and with help from the “Music Genome Project”; Pandora will create a station with songs from not only the artist you choose, but with other songs with similar attributes.
           “What is the Music Genome Project” you may ask? In simple terms, The Music Genome Project is a system used to categorize musical works based on specific attributes (i.e. rhythm, lyrics, vocals, harmony, etc).
                After taking this first step, you can add artists and songs to the station to further customize your “radio”. With this free account, you can create 100 unique stations. Pandora also gives you the option to “upgrade”. Paying a small fee ($36 a year) eliminates all visual and audio advertising, gives you the option to listen in high quality, and provides several other incentives for an upgraded member. Using Pandora, you are able to expand your musical awareness as each station you create introduces you to music you may have never heard. This is what makes Pandora unique. The ability to choose what you listen to is right at your fingertips. To learn more about Pandora and all its exciting features, go to www.pandora.com.

Thursday Nights with Walker Art Center

The Walker Art Center, a center dedicated to art and cultural education, is offering some exciting new programs for teen exploration of the arts. The Walker Art Center is the world leader of teen programming. The center’s teen programs are dedicated to connecting teens to contemporary art and artist. Some of these programs include the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC), a group consisting of 12 teenagers who organize events and programs for other teens; Teen Exhibitions and Showcases; giving teenagers the opportunity to show off their own artistic works in a professionals way and receive positive feedback from their peers; Teen Art Workshops, provide teens to interact with local and national artist; and the WATCAC Target Free Thursday Nights, events and programs that interest teens, such as exhibitions, files, videos, screenings, and performances.
Some events that are taking place within the next few months:
- Target Free Thursday Nights: Every Thursday night in October (1st, 8th, 15th, 22th, 29th )
o Each Thursday night includes free gallery admission from 5-9pm, and free special events.
o October 1st Special events include:
Sound Bites: Haegue Yang’s Installations, and 6:30 and 7pm
Poster Mart, 5-7pm
Drawn Here: Contemporary Art in Conversations Film Screening/Discussion: Dies Young, Stayed Pretty, 7 pm
October 8th Special events include:
Panel Discussion: There’s Just Something about Clay, 7pm
October 15th Special events include
Sound Bites: Tour Guide Choice: Collection Favorites. 6:30 and 7pm
Film: Burn after Reading, 7:30pm
October 22nd Special events include:
Sound Bites: Haegue Yang’s Quasi MB, 6:30 and 7pm
Artist Talk: Astra Taylor on the unschooled life, 7pm
Film/Discussion: Inside Iraq, 7:30pm
October 29th Special events include:
Student Open House: School of Rock, 5-9pm
For more information about the Walker Art Center and their upcoming events go to www.walkerart.org