Culture Laura Mooney Arts Editor hile the students were relaxing and out enjoying their summers, the entertainment industry and pop culture were hard at work creating the “next big things” in movies, books, video games and more, dishing out exciting announcements, box office-shattering releases, internet sensations, and some shocking revelations. Here were some of the biggest and best events of summer 2013. JK. Rowling Reveals Alias: Possibly some of the strangest news of the summer, an unassuming crime novel entitled The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, originally released early 2013, was skyrocketed to super stardom when it was revealed in July that Galbraith was in fact a pseudonym for Harry Potter author JK. Rowling. When the news was released that Rowling had written a ‘secret book” of sorts, fans of the author rushed out fo purchase the novel without question. Overnight the once unheard of novel was launched onto bestseller lists all around the world, including topping the New York Times bestseller list mere weeks after being released. While Rowling claimed the reveal was due fo an unwanted A Baby by Any Other Name Nicole Halseth News Editor A: conflict abounds and tensions continue to rise worldwide, the international community has been dealt a slightly less than unexpected bundle of joy in the form of Prince George. Son of the recently titled Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose wedding on 29 April, 2011, sparked an international media frenzy, this little newborn has already merited a headline or two of his own. Born on July 22nd in Kensington Palace, the event itself was kept somewhat quiet in comparison to the attention garnered by the royal family in previous years. However, pictures of the happy family, taken by what one can only presume is an equally happy grandfather, have recently been made available. Naturally, they have spread like wildfire and are already spurring international debate and speculation. Baby Prince George, according to his leak from her law firm, one cannot deny that the mistake only increased Rowling's already massive reputation, while providing deviation from once just being known as the Harry Potter author. The Internet Goes Vine Crazy: Who would have known that a phone app dedicated to amazingly short videos would ever hold its own against an online video giant like Youlube? But in a generation where attention spans are continually growing shorter and shorter, you have to admit the creator of Vine was probably a genius. Initially released in January 2013, Vine simply allowed users fo record videos, much like any other recording app. The catch? Users could only record six seconds at a time. As the year progressed, average users, YouTube sensations, and well-known actors all rose gloriously to the challenge of creating a work of comedy in such a restricted period of time. Soon hundreds of thousands of “Vines” began to circulate on the app, and by summertime many of the shockingly creative video clips had progressed to internet stardom as the next great hit. Compilation videos began to go viral, as the best six second clips, such as admittedly exhausted looking father Prince William, is of course “extremely good looking”. | am sure we can expect great things from him in the future. Now, why exactly should residents of our lovely city, and indeed students Culture: Summer 2013 Edition Will Sasso's “Lemons” and KingBach’s “How Thugs Shower”, were grouped together to showcase the best of what the app users had to offer. Soon the Vine compilation videos skyrocketed up to 40 million views on YouTube and continue to climb higher each day. While this trend may not survive the year, it is definitely a defining internet moment of summer 2013. It is worth checking out the “Best Vine Compilations’ on Youlube while their star is still burning bright. Xbox One Finally Announced! But Do the Gamers Rejoice ?: The cries of dedicated gamers and fans all across North America filled the air when in June 2013 at the E3 conference in Los Angeles, game console heavyweights Sony and Microsoft finally announced their greatly anticipated system successors. However, not all of the reveals were met with good reception, with one of the announcements in particular sparking controversy and raising eyebrows about the company’s credibility and dedication to their fans. While some information about Microsoft's Xbox One had been discussed in the past months, during their time at E38 much more information BD, here at UNBC, spare a thought to this new ‘royal baby’? First and foremost, because of the inevitable plethora of puns and royal jokes inherent in our same name situation. It is practically a gold mine, and face it, opportunities this good just do not happen every day. We are a lucky, lucky city. Or he is } about the upcoming system was revealed. Not everything being said, however, was to the ever curious listener's liking. New so- called features were being introduced; the Kinect having to be connected at all times, the limitations being placed on lending or sharing games with friends, having to log in at least once per day. This caused many dedicated Microsoft fans to ask questions about privacy in one’s own home, because the Kinect camera would be on at all times, and incited outrage when they realized they could no longer loan their friend the game disc to play, instead the friend would now have to buy a digital copy, or play on the game owner's account. To top everything off, the Xbox One also revealed a price tag that was one hundred dollars heftier than their main competitor, the PlayStation 4. However, after much explaining and defense of their system, Microsoft rose to the occasion, listened to their fan- base's criticisms, and made the necessary changes. While both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are due out late this fall, only time will tell if Microsoft successfully did enough to be the top gaming console of the year, or if the Xbox gamers will finally switch their allegiances. a lucky, lucky baby, depending on how you view it. Second, because our illustrious mayor Shari Green appears to have extended an unofficial invitation for little Prince George to visit, especially during the upcoming February 2015 Canada Winter Games. Should the Duke and Duchess ever actually take up this invitation, it would mean the first royal visit since the couple last popped by during their post-wedding international tour. Above and beyond the natural boost to the local economy and our image this would garner, it is very likely the royal family would swing by UNBC, as one of the larger sites of interest in the city. Meaning, you the student may get a chance fo see members of the royal family in person, maybe shake their hand, even. And how cool would that be, really? So the next time you see coverage of little baby Prince George on the news, or floating across the social media site of your choice, give it the respect it deserves. Because one day, Prince George may be in Prince George.