The Return of the Travelers?

Hello all, this is to let you know that The Travelers WILL be returning, hopefully during my month-long Christmas break. I have left Taylor and her friends (and enemies) hanging in the balance for too long--and, more than that, I've left The Travelers' loyal readers hanging!

On another note...pop music...because of riding on a bus several times a week I have been forced to listen to pop music a lot; there are many songs I like...but I have been forced to listen to the terrible ones as well!! (Like Everybody Talks by Neon Trees...yuck...) Also popular at the moment are Wide Awake by that robber of name-spellings, Katy Perry, and Whistle, by I don't know who but I don't like it; I see it as one of the worst pop songs ever. I heard Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye the other day; this was a happy surprise as I thought this song was not on the radio much anymore; I thought it had gone with Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen into the world where extremely popular songs go after a few months. Where is Adele in all this? I have not heard her songs very often lately. Also, I am happy there are new Taylor Swift songs, but I was disappointed by We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. This is frankly just not up to Taylor Swift's standard. So, what do YOU think...? Any songs you have been loving/hating?

On ANOTHER note...Pretty Little Liars is officially going into a fourth season! The Avengers came out on DVD! and it's so cool! Also...The Dark Knight Rises is coming out on DVD in early December!

I know it's not usual for me to take practically a whole blog post to talk about popular culture, but the fact is, I like to talk about it, so I think this is a good thing to use my blog for...:) so, you'll probably be seeing more posts about songs, movies, tv shows, etc....and don't feel bad if I'm ever criticizing something you like...it's nothing against you, I just sometimes like to look at things critically! :)

Hope you enjoy this post....:D

New albums from Taylor Swift and/or Bruno Mars?

So we all have singers where we're like, "Oooh, I want MORE awesome songs from this person!" For me, those singers would be
1) Taylor Swift (I would love it if she recorded a new album! I love her other ones!)
and
2) Bruno Mars (he has some great songs on his album and now I think he should record another one, maybe with "It Will Rain" on it!! :)
So who do YOU want to record a new album? :)

Consider giving these songs a try...

My thoughts on the following songs...
Stereo Hearts, by Gym Class Heroes:
this song is a bit ridiculous in nature but fun to listen to!
Far Away, by Nickelback:
this song has a country/pop feel and a bit of rock feel as well. It's a pleasant song to listen to, although at times I find the lead singer's voice gets a bit too husky.
If Everyone Cared, by Nickelback:
A feel-good kind of song (country/pop/bit of rock feel): this is the type of song I find helps to bring my mood up. Pleasant like Far Away, and like Far Away, the lead singer's voice gets slightly too husky at times!
Home, by Chris Daughtry:
Chris Daughtry is a country singer (I am not crazy about country music...) but I found that this song also tended to pop and rock (I am also not crazy about rock music but, a little bit doesn't ruin my fondness for a song...) This is a soul-searching, feel-good type of song that may either help to bring your mood up or leave you sympathizing with Chris Daughtry...or both, as it does to me.

I realize that all of these songs are all sung by men artists/groups. However, I do like certain female artists, such as Taylor Swift, and although I don't always like Adele's music, I have to admit that Adele is a talented singer, and actual, talented people are hard to find within the pop music industry!

Bruno Mars

Some pop music with lots of bells and whistles (such as when it's obvious the person's voice has been run through auto-tuning and other electric stuff) can be fine and even enjoyable to listen to. I would call it an art form, really. Other times, however, you may wish you could hear pop music being sung by people who actually can sing. Or, you may be listening to the radio, and suddenly you hear someone singing, and you think, "Hey! They're actually good, and it doesn't sound like they had to do tons of stuff to make the singing enjoyable to listen to!" If you're really wishing you could find music like this, however, I would recommend Bruno Mars. Bruno Mars isn't totally new, but he's also a sort of recent sensation in the pop music world. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to be as famous as maybe he should be. In an industry of many artists and songs that have obviously been tampered with to make them worth listening to, Bruno Mars seems to need very little help. He is a very good singer, with a nice range, of fairly low to pleasantly high. You don't hear many men pop singers who 1) sing high or (2 sing high well, but Bruno Mars can do both. He has very good technique and is obviously a skilled and gifted singer. I really recommend giving his songs a try.