If you’re a basketball fan, then you’ve probably heard of one basketball newcomer, Jeremy Lin. The newest member to join the Knicks, he really has been causing quite a storm in the sports world. If you’re not already obsessed with this celeb, you’re about to find out why. Here are the top 10 reasons for Linsanity!

5. He’s a YouTube Celeb

TheJlin7, or Jeremy Lin, is now blazing on the YouTube Charts. Not only is he friends with YouTube superstars Kevjumba (Kevin Wu) and Nigahiga (Ryah Higa), he actually has a pretty good sense of humour too. If you want to find out more, or you’re already a die-hard fanatic, check his channel out at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJlin7.

4. He’s Asian!

Sad, but true. Jeremy Lin is the first NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Chinese people already loved the New York Knicks, but after Jeremy Lin joined, it has gone downright insane. Many Chinese people have already expressed concern for Lin’s housing arrangements (he sleeps on his brother’s couch), and have been treating him like family. He even has a video on how to get into Harvard:

3. Harvard?

Unlike most NBA stars, Jeremy Lin hit the books, and hard. Jeremy Lin’s a Harvard graduate! It was one of his conditions when looking for post-secondary education. His dream school, Stanford, only offered him a walk-on; whereas Harvard offered him a spot on their team. Now, looking back, recruiters regret passing on him.

2. Modesty

Throughout all of his newly gained fame, Jeremy Lin is still modest and thanks his heritage, support, and God every step of the way. He also attributes his amazing seven-win streak and new records to his teammates. All of basketball society have been on their toes watching this background-singer-turned-superstar and are waiting for his next move. What will you do next, Lin?

1. He’s Hard-working

Jeremy Lin has been in the background, barely playing for most of his professional basketball career. He was nearly cut this year when they underestimated his talents. He even has a Youtube video showing his daily life:

(Warning, he practices A LOT)

He balanced basketball and grades high enough to get accepted by Ivy league schools: is he an Asian superhero?

I don’t know if you’re sold, but I sure am. If you’ve caught a case of Linsanity too, then I have to apologize for your new addiction. Who knows what he’ll do next…?

The planet has a radius that is roughly 2.4 times that of the Earth, with a orbit period of approximately 290 days, and three possibilities of surface temperatures coming in at -11 degrees celsius, 22 degrees celsius, or 460 degrees celsius. Evidently, there are still many problems and questions that arise with the discovery of the planet that we cannot answer at the moment, hence it is still too early to cheer or fright for the discovery of alien life.

Despite the lack of information on the many features of the planet, such as the mass and composition, the prospect of finding a planet so similar to our planet calls for great excitement. More importantly, NASA has announced with the discovery of Keppler – 22b that there are 48 planet candidates that are in their star’s habitable zone, with Keppler – 22b being the first one confirmed. This means that there is a high liklihood that more planets will be confirmed to be in a habitable zone in the near future.

Truly, it is amazing to even think about the idea that we could be at the start of discovering outer life or even possible resources from outer space. Even more so, we should be awed by the development of human technology in the past few decades, as we are now capable of distinguishing many features of a planet that lies as far as 600 light years away.

While some of us are still in remembrance of the great Whitney Houston, some people have gotten over it real fast. The day after her death, all music stores hiked up the prices on all Whitney Houston memorabilia and music instantaneously. Netflix also had to remove all media even hinting at Whitney Houston, at the suppliers request.

The singer died on Feb 10, less than two weeks ago. The prices are still on the high end, and people are continuing to mourn for their icon. Many people are alarmed, however, because of the price change. Boosting prices is just a slimy tactic to squeeze as much money out of Houston’s legacy as possible.

If you’re out to remember Houston, do it through listening her music and re-living her moments, not buying overpriced memorabilia from sleazy reps from major companies. I bet she’s turning in her grave right now, but the best we can do now is give her respect.

In memory of Whitney Elizabeth Houston – Aug 9, 1963- Feb 10, 2012

Changing for the better sounds easy enough, yet it is incredible how many people would rather take the easy way out because telling them to do so is just not enticing enough. Well, what better encouragement is there to change people for the better than with FUN! To sum it up: “fun can obviously change behaviour for the better.” And that, my friend, is called the Fun Theory. It is an initiative of Volkswagen to encourage people to better their lives with the use of something as simple as fun. Just by adding fun to everyday tasks such as throwing out garbage, taking the stairs, and recycling, people are proven to making a change to better their lives and the environment.

For example, rather than telling people to take the stairs, why not make it into a piano? Check it out:

Surf to the Fun Theory for more videos of theories being tested in Sweden!

So what’s all this complaining I always hear about it being cold out? What’s this whining about it snowing - again? (Actually, I can’t point any fingers, cause I’d just be pointing at myself)

Perhaps we’re good at enduring the cold. We can live with it. Although if we had the chance, we’d fly off somewhere hot and tropical instead (don’t deny you haven’t yearned for a sunny beach at some point during these bleary winter months).

Meanwhile in Russia, young and old are diving into freezing waters for fun!

Just looking at this picture makes me shudder...

There, winter is a friend, a source of pride, a reason for celebration. According to some, complaining about the cold can be comparable to treason. Winter, afterall, has won Russia some major battles.

So every winter, many gather at frozen-over rivers to cut a hole in the ice and jump in for a rejuvenating dip. Every Jan 19, the Orthodox Epiphany involves an imitation of the baptism of Jesus. Those who brave the icy water are rewarded with a sense of purification.

According to ice swimming clubs, the Polar Bears and the Walruses, winter swims do actually help your body – they boost circulation and the immune system!

Okay. Who’s up for a refreshing winter swim?

Polar Plunge: RT reporter takes sub-zero dip on Epiphany

For me, this saviour appeared in the form of a YouTube piano artist by the name of Kyle Landry. Kyle creates his own arrangements for various anime, movies, video games, and even Disney music. Here are a few samples of his music:

A rendition of Go the Distance from the movie Hercules. A smooth transition from the soft, peaceful, quiet motivation in the beginning to the much more powerful and exciting ending. Inspirational music for getting your homework done.

Gotta Catch em All! Need I say more, the title of the song itself is the embodiment of awesomeness.

Can you feel the Love Tonight. Let the sounds of the piano take you back to your childhood as Kyle captures the romantic and soft atomsphere of the song without sacraficing the excitement by utilizing a freedom of tempo and expressiveness (Rubato) throughout the song.

Finally, for my personal favourite: Naruto Medley Special! A combination of three of the greatest pieces from the anime Naruto.

The best part of all of the pieces presented above is that the sheet music for all of them are downloadable for free on his website, kylelandry.com. These pieces are not only beautiful to listen to, but are also quite difficult to learn; hence, creating enough of a challenge that it will inspire you to practice it every day along with the other pieces that you practice daily. These pieces have become the most enjoyable part of my daily piano practice sessoins as each of these pieces takes many days of practice to master, and once you do master them, you can play these songs almost anywhere in public.

I have only touched upon a few of the hundreds of songs that Kyle has on his channel, and I highly encourage any piano lovers or even music lovers in general to check out his channel on YouTube. I promise you that you won’t want to leave his website until you have heard every single one of his renditions.

Screenshot of CBCmusic.ca

To say I am a music lover is an understatement. That’s why I was beyond stoked when CBC announced the launch of their new website, cbcmusic.ca. From classical to singer-songwriter music to jazz to pop, the new and free website has genres to suit every taste, along with blogs, playlists, live concert recordings and artist pages. Boasting 40 web radio stations, the project’s aim is impressive and “will allow listeners to download music, stream podcasts, watch concerts and access CBC’s immense archive. The websites will also feature contributions and content from such popular music shows as George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and Q” (according to an article from National Post).

What CBC is doing with this new website is more than offering digital music to the world. The broadcasting giant is fostering an online community “for music lovers made by music lovers,” as described by George Stromboulopoulos, host of George Stromboulopoulos Tonight (as cited by the National Post). With this unprecedented online music initiative, CBC is 75 years old and going strong.

It happens at around 2:05

This video will totally change the way you view education, creativity and the world around you.

So use your creativity and think of ways to change your world: enter the Mayor For A Day contest and use your creativity to change the city around you! You’re only a (maximum) of 1,000 words away from becoming Mayor For A Day!

I wouldn’t recommend buying one though, it’ll run you $1,250.

Now, onto the top ten real deal. Oh, let’s make this a countdown, I’ve always wanted to do one of those. Most of these songs will be a piano and violin duet since I believe that these two instruments make the loveliest, most emotionally moving sounds. Also, try not to blast these songs, they lose their “emotional” and instrumental soft side. The violin also starts screeching if you do, and that… is not good.

10. Parting Song – Yuki Kajiura

From Pandora Hearts the anime

Pianos, violins, and cellos go together like ice cream and apple pie. That’s why I like this one (…and all the other ones down the list). But man, the melody is good in this one. It introduces the piano, then the violin takes over and I love that.

9. Un Myung – WHY

From Full House the Korean drama

The mix of guitar and piano have a Latino atmosphere to it, but it’s not overwhelmingly upbeat, it’s something I could close my eyes and enjoy. Also, please ignore the background art for this video. It’s disgracing the song and its prettiness. :/

8. Alice in Wonderland [3] – Hiroki

From Touhou the game

Some person just decided to write a 4-hand piano rendition of the original Alice in Wonderland piece. Good for him. I’m biased here because it’s got ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in the title, but it’s got a decent melody and I love how harmonized it sounds. Not a note out of place. But the thing is, this piece has got a full texture and sounds a bit techniquey to me, so it’s probably only good for piano buffs. Anyways, it gets crazy in the middle of the song with all the chords and stuff. I’d like to see the sheet music for this song just to look at all the notes jumping around o_o…

7. The Last Carnival – Norihiro Tsuru

It sounds like a legit last carnival and it sounds like something would play if rain were pouring over deserted carnival grounds. It’s got a waltzy feel to it, which makes it catchy for me. People that like Chopin and Vivaldi mixed together — this is the perfect music baby.

6. Only You – Performed by Ryu

From Winter Sonata the Korean drama

This song is fitting for a drama and it happens to be composed for one. It’s definitely an emotional piece, it invokes sadness. And it makes sense, Korean Dramas are usually sad; someone dies, someone goes blind, someone’s heart gets broken, and people cry all day erryday. That sums that up. Anyways, the music is good because of the piano plus violin.

5. I Say Yes – Mitsumune Shinkichi

It’s catchy, to me at least.

From Zero no Tsukaima the anime

4. Will – Yuki Kajiura

From Pandora Hearts the anime

This isn’t exactly an emotional song, but it’s so empowering and motivating that it had to be on this countdown. It’s got an addictive feel to it hehe.

3. Grandpa’s Violin – Yuki Kajiura

From .Hack// Liminality the anime

It’s another song with piano and violin. At 1:06, I like how the music jumps up to the higher ranges. It’s a wonderful transition and overall, a wonderful melody. The sad thing is, I found the duet for this and the violin gets beautiful parts while the piano gets a bland supportive harmony. It’s disappointing for a piano player like me.

2. To the End of Feelings I – Kaoru Wada

From Inuyasha the anime

There’s a lifting feeling to the echoing melody in this song. Many arrangements of this piece have been done; some too soft, some too edgy. In this one, you can clearly decipher the melody from all its counterparts, and nothing is too overpowering. Okay, ew. Too much technical speak. It’s really good. I like this song.

1. Song from a Secret Garden – Secret Garden

Song from a Secret Garden is the perfect blend of piano and violin which makes this number one on my list of top emotional songs. If you close your eyes and listen to it, it’s soothing. It’s a rainy day song or  a crying song. It’s my favorite.