Pop-Break.com

Pop-Break.com is the brainchild of journalists Bill Bodkin and Brent Johnson.

Founded in late September 2009 as the B&B Entertainment Blog, Pop-Break has become a site where we, along with our staff, can share our unique, humorous and sometimes out-there views on all things related to the world of pop culture.

Our goal is to provide you, the reader, with a place you can and take a break from the everyday grind and enjoy the interviews, reviews and opinion pieces that we produce about: film, music, television, dining, nightlife, sports and pop-culture trends.

Here’s a little bit about each of our authors …

BILL BODKIN
Title: Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Media Contact
Contact: bill.bodkin@gmail.com
Hometown: Edison, N.J. (But resides in Matawan, N.J.)
Columns: Self High-Five, Trailer Tuesday
Favorite Music: Metallica, Bon Jovi, The White Stripes, Anthrax, Flogging Molly, U2, Clutch, Bruce Springsteen, Big Baby Ernie, Soulive, The Raconteurs, The Beastie Boys, Black Label Society
Favorite Movies: The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, The Royal Tenenbaums, Inception, Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, The Big Lebowski, Point Break
Favorite TV Shows: Spaced, Top Chef, Bones, Man vs. Food, Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, The Walking Dead
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Review: Inception, In Memoriam: Hero Pattern, The Best Show Ever: Spaced, Interview: “Weird Al” Yankovic, Interview: Life of Agony and Interview: Clutch.

Bio: Bill has worked for the past seven years as the managing editor of Night & Day Magazine — the premier entertainment magazine of the Jersey Shore (working as a writer, ad saleseman, ad designer, promotional and intern coordinator, social media specialist and delivery manager). But his pop-culture and entertainment life started when he started his first heavy metal column, The Mosh Pit, in high school. He also served as the editor of Inside Beat, the weekly entertainment magazine of The Daily Targum, Rutgers’ independent and critically acclaimed student newspaper. He is also one of the founding members of the sketch comedy and media group Therefore Productions, LLC. He is currently married to a beautiful woman named Sue, who puts up with his shenanigans.

BRENT JOHNSON
Title: Co-Founder, Creative Director, Chief Copy Editor
Contact: bdavidjohnson@gmail.com
Columns: Lost Songs, Brent Johnson’s Oscar Series
Hometown: East Brunswick, N.J.
Favorite Music: Elvis Costello, The Smiths, Roxy Music, Billy Joel, Blur, Squeeze, The Kinks, Dave Matthews Band, The Beatles
Favorite Movies: Annie Hall, Good Will Hunting, A Fish Called Wanda, Good Night And Good Luck, Anchorman
Favorite TV Shows: Parks & Recreation, Community, The Office (U.K.), Curb Your Enthusiasm
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Did Ricky Gervais Go Too Far?, Review: Guster’s Easy Wonderful, Review: The Social Network, I Will Not Be Incepted: Not Buying Inception or Christopher Nolan, Review: Applebee’s and The British Office — The New Shakespeare.

Bio: Brent has worked for a variety of publications, writing on a variety of topics. He covered James Madison University sports for The Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va. He wrote a weekly music column for The Trenton Times. He contributed a chapter on the Rutgers University rock scene to Rolling Stone’s college music guide. He’s spent the last two and a half years at The Star-Ledger of Newark, first as a news reporter and now as an online sports editor. When not working, he’s the lead singer in New Brunswick rock band The Clydes.

=================================================================================
SENIOR WRITERS:

LOGAN J. FOWLER
Hometown: Martinsville, N.J.
Title: Senior Writer
Columns: Link to the Past, Trailer Tuesday
Favorite Music: Green Day, Foo Fighters, 311, Incubus, Beastie Boys, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Soundtrack, “Weird Al” Yankovic
Favorite Movies: The Incredibles, Back to the Future Trilogy, Toy Story trilogy, The Muppet Movie, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, The Departed, Shaun Of The Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Favorite TV Shows: Community, The Office, Walking Dead, Firefly, Arrested Development, Scrubs
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Link to the Past: Super Mario Bros, Link to the Past: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Bio: Logan is a kid at heart, and he exploits this personality trait by working with 4- and 5- year-old children as Junior Kindergarten teacher at Cedar Hill Prep School in Somerset, N.J. During the weekends in the summer season, he picks up shifts at Rita’s Italian Ice in Branchburg. On the blogging side of his life, he began working for Pop-Break in December 2009 and in time he developed his own column, “Link to the Past” where he discussed significant pop culture events In May of 2011 he began writing for a second site, supermarcey.com, where in addition to posting pieces, he also podcasts from time to time with fellow bloggers. He still cannot believe that he has the privilege of working for both sites, and he enjoys writing for both immensely because not only can he offer personal opinions, but he has to take in several forms of entertainment and critique them objectively, which is something he always wanted to do.

When not working or writing, Logan is most often reading comics, playing video games, or taking in the best New Jersey has to offer. If the weather is right he’s at the beach, crabbing, kayaking, or hitting up the boardwalk. He loves to venture to New York City when possible, or spend time with those closest to him. He’s a geek 24/7, which many can easily see from his choice of wardrobe (multiple tees featuring Mario Bros, Muppets, Marvel Comics, along with many other references to the pop culture things he holds near and dear) or his knowledge of nostalgia stemming back to his childhood days. Whatever he’s doing, Logan doesn’t take anything for granted, so therefore he is extremely grateful to be writing for this site and owes many thanks to the founders for giving him his debut into the writing world.

=================================================================================

JASON KUNDRATH

Title: Senior Writer
Column: ‘Rath on Record

Bio: He was Inside Beat’s music editor in 2001 and had the exquisite pleasure of editing many of Bill Bodkin’s earliest album reviews. When he wasn’t at the Targum office, he was down the hall at WRSU, the Rutgers University student radio station, where he was the music director. And when he wasn’t either of those places, he was probably practicing with his band, Hero Pattern. Upon graduation, Kundrath quickly abandoned his journalistic aspirations to seek rock stardom full-time. Though he never found it, he followed his dream, saw the country and met the love of his life along the way. He is now married and living with his beautiful wife in Bergen County, N.J. They recently bought their first home and their first pug. During the week, he is a manager at Trader Joe’s in Florham Park. In short, Jason Kundrath is one of the main reasons Pop-Break even exists. He gave Bill Bodkin his first break in the journalism world. The exquisite words of Jason Kundrath can be found in Pop-Break’s tremendously popular column ‘Rath on Record. In ‘Rath On Record, Jason shines the spotlight on local New Jersey-based bands who are on the verge of releasing a new record. Spiked with humor and the insights of seasoned musical veteran, ‘Rath has featured bands like: Readymade Breakup, The Gay Blades, Val Emmich, Only Living Boy, The Milwaukees, The Nico Blues, Fairmont, Status Green, The Parlor Mob and Quincy Mumford. Outside of ‘Rath on Record, Jay has written a review of Get Him To The Greek, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s musical The Book of Mormon and contributed to the Watermark Wednesday series with an interview with The Dead Exes, contributed to the MAD Wednesday Interview Series with his piece on The Obvious, Inside Beat Reunion blog, MixTape Monday: Believe the Hype? and 2010 Year in Review.

=================================================================================

JASON STIVES
Hometown: Hamilton, N.J.
Follow Me On: www.smorgasbordofme.tumblr.com and www.twitter.com/jaystives
Title: Senior Writer
Columns: Angry Nerds, First Picture Show, Dr. Who
Favorite Music: The Kinks, Scott Walker, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, Big Star, Bruce Springsteen, Oasis, Billy Joel, Neil Young, Something Corporate, David Bowie, Kings Of Leon, The Hollies
Favorite Movies: Back To The Future, Almost Famous, Night Of The Hunter, Catch Me If You Can, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, Reservoir Dogs, Fight Club, Once Upon A Time In The West, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Clerks, Straw Dogs
Favorite TV Shows: Doctor Who, The Office, Parks & Recreations, Mad Men, The Simpsons, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Idiots Guide to Timelords, Interview: Nils Lofgren, Two Angry Nerds: Transformers, First Picture Show: Sweet Smell of Success

Bio: Jason has become a bit of work horse at Pop-Break, covering music, film, and television. In high school, he spent his junior and senior years writing music reviews and conducting interviews with school officials. While attending community college, he became his school paper’s viewpoints editor and had a very successful column called “The Way It Is,” covering social and political issues as it pertains to the college mind. After transferring to Rutgers University in fall 2008, he became a contributor to Inside Beat, the official entertainment paper of Rutgers and The Daily Targum. His senior year, he became IB’s music editor, interviewing artists like Jack’s Mannequin, Lights, and covering the 2009 MTV Woodie Awards. He is currently one of the most frequent contributors at Pop-Break and recently became a contributing writer for DenofGeek.com. When he isn’t show boating his talent he can be seen enjoying a good craft beer, ogling cougars at the supermarket, and writing the Great American novel.

=================================================================================

JOE ZORZI
Hometown: New Brunswick, N.J.
Title: Staff Writer/Social Media Coordinator
Favorite Music: Taking Back Sunday, The Dangerous Summer, Brand New, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Explosions In The Sky
Favorite Movies: Get Him To The Greek, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, The Room, The United States Of Leland, Forest Gump, Red Dawn
Favorite TV Shows: Misfits, Weeds, Entourage, Boy Meets Worlds
Favorite Piece on Pop-Break: Bayside Interview

Bio: Joe has only been pursuing his career in journalism for the past year, but has done a lot in a short amount of time. Last September, he started writing for the Rutgers Review magazine, and since January he has been the music editor. Music has been his biggest passion since he started playing the guitar at 11 years old. Joe is currently about to begin his Junior year at Rutgers University as a Journalism and Media Studies major. He also plays bass guitar in the band Mercer Avenue, works on his solo material, and makes beats in his spare time.

=================================================================================

MAXWELL BARNA

Title: Staff Writer/Senior Photographer
Contact: Maxwell.Barna@gmail.com
Hometown: Keasbey, N.J.
Favorite Music: The Slackers, Mos Def, NoFX, Westbound Train, Toots and the Maytals, The Stiff Little Fingers, Wu-Tang Clan, Bob Dylan, The Shins, Captain Beefheart, Billy Joel, The Velvet Underground, Sublime, The Clash, Gang Starr, Big L, People Under the Stairs, Chuck Berry, Dillinger Four, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jimmy Cliff, and anything with a funky-ass beat.
Favorite Movies: Shaun of the Dead, High Fidelity, Idle Hands, The Faculty, Dawn of the Dead (Original and re-make), 28 Days Later, American Pie (Classic!), American Graffiti, Dazed and Confused, and a bunch of other stuff I probably won’t remember until I see it again.
Favorite TV Shows: The Walking Dead, Sons Of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, Louie, Super Jail, Entourage, That 70s Show.
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: CAKE, Interview with Toots and the Maytals, From The Governors Ball, Governors Ball Wrap-Up

Bio: Max has been honing his journalistic chops for nearly four years now, having found work in nearly every facet of the industry at the ripe age of 21. He has been published by newspapers and magazines, in both digital and print formats. He got his start writing about music and entertainment in 2008, fresh out of high school, for the California-based Your Music Magazine. There, he blogged for the website and was published in their monthly print magazine. He has also written extensively for the student newspaper at Rutgers University, The Daily Targum. Over the past three years, Max has also developed an eye for photography, covering everything from high-profile criminal trials to live concerts to portraits and scenery. It also certainly doesn’t hurt that Max is an avid musician who’s been playing the Bass guitar for nearly a decade, as well as a record collector and D.J., foodie, movie junkie and beer/malt liquor connoisseur. He enjoys motorcycles, fist-fighting, and long walks on the beach.

=================================================================================

DANIEL COHEN
Hometown: Marblehead, Mass. (But reside in White Plains, N.Y.)
Title: Movie Editor
Column: Angry Nerds
Favorite Music: Billy Joel, Tom Petty, John Williams, and the soundtrack to the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme film Bloodsport
Favorite Movies: Star Wars Trilogy, Godfather (I & II), Rocky, The Dark Knight, Back To The Future, Braveheart, The Royal Tenenbaums, Wayne’s World, The Truman Show
Favorite TV Shows: Seinfeld, The Simpsons, South Park, Community, Lost, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Why the King’s Speech Shouldn’t Win Best Picture But Will Anyway, X-Men: First Class Review

Bio: Daniel is an entertainment professional who lived in Los Angeles for 3 years. He is happy to be back East, missing only the weather back on the West Coast. Daniel worked as an NBC Page (yes, like Kenneth on 30 Rock) in L.A. where he gave tours of NBC Studios in Burbank. One time he gave three tours, all in the same day. His voice was very tired after that. He also ventured into education, working as an Academic and Career Advisor. Daniel started writing for Pop-Break in February 2011, writing weekly movie reviews. While he absolutely loves it, he never imagined he would walk up to a movie theater counter and say the words ‘One for Red Riding Hood, please.’ He’s also contributed pieces on the Oscars, and made embarrassing box office predictions for the summer of 2011. You can also see Dan’s work at danjewish.wordpress.com where he writes more movie reviews, other non-sense, and is currently breaking down every single super-hero movie ever made in his ‘Superhero Movies on Steroids’ series. Daniel writes diligently, hoping one day to become a screenwriter. He fell in love with movies after watching Star Wars when he was 4 years old. Daniel actually saw Return Of The Jedi before Empire Strikes Back, and to this day is still ashamed about watching the trilogy out of order. He believes Episodes I and II suck, but will defend Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith as a worthy Star Wars movie to the death. When he isn’t watching movies or writing, Daniel loves poker, bowling, fantasy sports, NFL, NHL, and bagels.

=================================================================================

JEANNE CRUMP
Hometown: Front Royal, Va.(off the map)
Title: Staff Writer/Senior Indie Music Writer (Jersey Shore)
Favorite Music: Murder City Devils, Frank Turner, Minus The Bear, Lost In Society, Fugazi, Hot Water Music, Rise Against, Lucero
Favorite Movies: Dumb N’ Dumber, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, V for Vendetta, Anchorman
Favorite TV Shows: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The Office, Louie, Damages
Your Favorite Piece on Pop-Break: As of now, I’ve only contributed interviews with local bands on Pop-Break, and I really couldn’t say one was more important than the other. I love getting perspectives from these bands that are up and coming, or playing solely for the love of it. I also enjoy helping them get a little publicity!

Bio: Jeanne is currently one the busiest human beings on planet earth. She works in event marketing for vitaminwater by day, manages the Asbury Park trio Lost In Society by night, and when she sees breaks of silence in the middle, it’s pen to paper (or fingers to keypad) for interviews, columns, and features on Pop-Break, Tri State Independent, and Patch.com. Previous to her hustle-and-flow lifestyle, she worked as the Marketing and Promotions Director for the local entertainment site Metromix Jersey Shore. Before moving up to the shore she was clawing to make that music industry dream a reality — working in music venues, interning at artist management companies and radio stations, and working for James Madison University’s student run-record label. She enjoys walks on the beach (really), sunsets, loud music, mosh pits, adventure, and of course writing.

=================================================================================

COLLEEN & MOLLY HURFORD
Hometown: Pattenburg, N.J.
Title: Senior Fashion Writers
Column: Trends on Trial
Favorite Music: punk rock, with a hint of twee indie
Favorite Movies: 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That, and of course, anything and everything Harry Potter
Favorite TV Shows: X-Men Evolution, Batman Beyond, Arrested Development
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Punk, Redefined and Superhero Chic

Bio: The Trends on Trial columnist sisters Molly and Colleen have been fighting over fashion for years, though more often than not, they agree on the trends, just not on which shoes belong to which sister. With very different style sensibilities, the two try to bring a blend of fashionable with sensible to the style scene.

When Molly isn’t writing about fashion, she’s writing about bikes at Cyclocross Magazine, where she serves as online editor. That, or she’s working on “her novel” or doing other freelance work. Her snark towards the fashion world started at a young age when she discovered punk rock and started wearing more than her fair share of plaid and safety pins, and that fashion attitude eventually led to an internship writing for ElleGirl magazine. However, today, the safety pins are mainly in use to pin race numbers when she’s out riding for her cycling team, Rockstar Games. Molly prefers writing on the practical nature of the trends — cheap ways to make runway styles work without looking ridiculous.

Colleen, arguably the more fashionable of the two, focuses more on the “what” rather than the “how” when it comes to the trends the two cover. As a visual arts student now shifting focus towards a career in cosmetology, it’s no surprise that fashion has become a serious passion.

=================================================================================

SUE
Hometown: South Amboy, NJ..
Title: Pop-Break’s Legal Eagle
Favorite Movies: The Social Network, Heat and/or The Town, The Wizard Of Oz, Reversal Of Fortune, Love Actually
Favorite Music: Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and “Boner Jamz” AKA guilty pleasure pop, dance and hip-hop
Favorite TV Shows: The Killing, Modern Family, Bones, Law & Order, Home By Novogratz, Jersey Shore
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Jersey Shore, Manolos & Martinis: The Best of Sex & The City and Deliciously Tragic Movies.

Bio: Sue is a legal eagle with no last name, much like a judicial Beyonce. Her writing experience ranges from motion briefs to screenplays, and began when she was a wee lass and wrote the “book” entitled “Why My Dad Is Awesome” for Father’s Day. When not pursuing litigious glory or hunkering down for an HGTV mega-marathon, Sue writes the occasional biting review/editorial for Pop-Break.com. She is also self-deprecating enough to scoff at the Hubs’ suggestions of beauty … but frank enough to agree that there are, in fact, many shenanigans.

=================================================================================

ERIN PETRIE
Hometown: Garfield, N.J. (But resides in Jacksonville, Fla.)
Title: Staff Writer
Column: Music Cities USA
Favorite Music: The New Pornographers, Talking Heads, Dwight Yoakam, The Kinks, Britpop, indie rock, etc.
Favorite Movies: Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Being John Malkovich, Donnie Darko, Crooklyn, Garden State, The Ice Storm, American Psycho
Favorite TV Shows: Mad Men, Dexter, True Blood, The Big C, Parks & Rec, Community, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Ana Egge Interview, Music Cities USA: Jacksonville

Bio: Erin graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism and worked as a news reporter before moving into the equally low-paying field of non-profit management. She currently serves as the community liaison for the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, which leads a community effort to improve the health of children, childbearing women and their families in the greater Jacksonville area. She is still, however, a writer at heart who manages to keep practicing her skills at her 9-5 gig by maintaining her organization’s blog (http://nefhealthystart.org/blog) and grant writing. While she is still getting her feet wet in the world of entertainment writing, Erin has a sincere love of all kinds of music, quirky movies and quality television shows (although she does enjoy the occasional episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey). A Jersey girl at heart, she can currently be found playing the role of reluctant Floridian in Jacksonville, where she enjoys the simple life with her boyfriend Joel and dog Miko. Other interests include: playing tennis, escaping the oppressive heat with a cool drink and spreading the word of the Garden State’s greatness throughout the South.

=================================================================================

ILONA PAMPLONA
Hometown: Old Bridge, N.J. (But resides in Jersey City, N.J.)
Title: Staff Writer/Senior Indie Music Writer (NYC/Jersey Shore)
Favorite Music: alt/indie rock, local Jersey pop-rock, Latin Alternative, international pop
Favorite Movies: The Baxter, V For Vendetta, Clockwatchers, Volver, Amelie, Science Of Sleep, City Of God
Favorite TV Shows: Modern Family, Chuck, Sliders, Mad Men
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Interview with Jesse Malin and Xie Xie Mao: Indie Rock in China

BIO: Since the fall of 2004, Ilona Pamplona has dedicated herself to higher education by day, and supporting live music by night. Her need to support the local music scene is so great that in 2006 she briefly served as T-shirt designer/merch girl for those bands she so strongly believed in. When Bill asked Ilona to interview her local musician friends [Anthony Walker, April Smith] for Pop-Break in the fall of 2010, she knew this was her way to not only continue her support of the local scene, however also the way to spread the word on any other music she find worthy of praise. When not traveling to other continents for her day job, Ilona is excited to share the pop culture she finds both home and abroad to the Pop-Break readers.

=================================================================================
MICHAEL DWORKIS
Hometown: Glen Rock, NJ
Favorite Music: The Offspring, Bad Religion, Muse, Authority Zero, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Less Than Jake
Favorite Movies: Transformers (1986), Star Wars, ID4, Goodnight and Good Luck, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Big Lebowski
Favorite TV Shows: Transformers (Original 1908’s), Thundercats (current), Law and Order (original), Law and Order SVU, Hetalia, Samurai 7, Fullmetal Alchemist, Justice League Unlimited, Young Justice, WWE Raw, Venture Brothers, Cowboy Bebop
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: The Angry Nerds

BIO: Born and raised loyal to New Jersey, Michael is a former writer for WWE.com and its former monthly publications, RAW and SmackDown! magazines. A graudate from Rutgers University, he is now attending a graduate program at William Paterson University in the field of Mental Health. Michael currently is working on a number of projects, as well as freelancing and maintaining his own site (www.michaeldworkis.com). Michael actively seeks work in various industries. He currently resides in northern New Jersey with his wife and twin girls.

=================================================================================

ANN HALE

Hometown: Johnson City, N.Y., now living in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Favorite Music: Tori Amos, Circa Survive, B-52′s, Bjork, Madonna, Portishead, The Mama’s & The Papa’s, Kimbra, Radiohead, No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, A Perfect Circle
Favorite Movies: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Amelie, Dancer In The Dark, Halloween, Scream Quadrilogy, Edward Scissorhands, May, Hellboy, Zombieland, Halloween II (Rob Zombie)
Favorite TV Shows: Dexter, The Walking Dead, How I Met Your Mother, American Horror Story, True Blood
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Review: Scream 4, Ultimate Zombie Blog, Halloween vs Halloween, Horror Movie a Day

Bio: Ann attended East Carolina University, double majoring in Criminal Justice and English. After far too many years there, she moved back home, where she has been working for UNC Healthcare for the past three years and helping take care of her beautiful niece and nephew, Declan and Scarlett. In her free time, Ann collects horror movies and memorabilia and spends as much time as she can with her amazingly beautiful and understanding fiancee, Jenny. As a child, Ann watched hundreds of movies with her family. They watched a Christmas movie every night from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, inspiring her 31 Days of Horror marathon every October. Her love of horror stemmed from her sister leaving her alone, at 5 years old, with Nightmare On Elm Street 2 while she made out with her boyfriend in the kitchen/ (And probably from her father’s love for ’80s Arnold Schwarzeneggar movies).

=================================================================================

LAUREN STERN

Hometown: Marlboro, N.J.
Favorite Music: Jack’s Mannequin, Dashboard Confessional, Something Corporate, Circa Survive, Portugal the Man, As Tall as Lions, Good Old War, Minus the Bear, Jimmy Eat World, dredg, Brand New, Say Anything, Fang Island, The Front Bottoms, River City Extension
Favorite Movies: Say Anything …, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Requiem For A Dream, Boondock Saints I&II, Garden State, Fight Club, Zoolander, Stepbrothers, Office Space
Favorite TV Shows: LOST, Dexter, Adventure Time, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Arrested Development
Favorite Pieces on Pop-Break: Jack’s Mannequin, Ivy, Beavis and Butthead, Inspecter 7

Bio: Lauren became interested in music journalism at the age of 13 after reading the book Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, And Emo and multiple works by pop culture columnist and author Chuck Klosterman. Though she has always aspired to go the editorial route, she has dipped more into radio broadcasting over the last two years. Throughout her time on air, she has recorded interviews with artists such as Jack’s Mannequin, Circa Survive, and Portugal. the Man. Currently, she hosts two shows called “The Spot with DJ Leopard” and “Cardiac Rock Show” on the Rutgers University radio station 90.3 The Core. Lauren hopes to pursue an occupation in both editorial journalism and radio broadcasting after graduating from Rutgers this fall.

=================================================================================

Mike O’Hara: the writer of The Got To Be Scene, a punk-influenced music column — The Aggrolites, Punk’s Not Dead, The Path is Shown by The Gaslight and We Are Guilty As Charged

Veronica Slaght: Review: The Hunger Games and contributed to MixTape Monday: Ladies Choice. She has interviewed Aimee Mann and Antigone Rising, and taken photos of Antigone Rising, Peter Tork and The Clydes.

Also check out blogs by: Michael Dory (inside beat reunion blog), Darren Phillip (inside beat reunion blog), Nicole Kotsianas (Decade & Reality TV), Kimberlee Rossi-Fuchs (Best of Futurama, FX’s sitcom Louie and the Zombie Fiction of Max Brooks), Brian Johnson (Best Film Noirs, Radiohead’s King of Limbs), Scott Thurlow (Best Video Games of the ’00s) and Jennifer Castoro (Jon & Kate Gone Wild), Allyson Schettino (Top 10 Reasons to Get (Into) LOST), Ryan Hutchins (Entourage and Blu-Ray Technology) and Brooke Bates (Bands to Discover, Acoustic Music and bands from the Secretly Canadian label, a feature on KFC’s Double Down and two pieces on American Idol), Karalynn Rapp (True Grit and 2010 Year in Review), Alexandra Johnson (MixTape Monday: Ladies Choice and MusicFest Mix and Jessica Todd (Fashionista File: BODKIN).

Mr. Bodkin: The father of Bill Bodkin, a retired computer ace and former Marine, has contributed to the site since day one. You might see his comments (on almost every blog) under pseudonyms like TFPM, YOM, YIF and other various lettered names. If his comments seem a little harsh, especially towards Brent Johnson, it’s all in loving jest. However, his contributions to the site have not been in comments alone, he is also a major contributor in terms of bringing readers to the site (through e-mail blasts), as well as posting three blogs about watching movies in the 50s, his top movies from the 50s and a Marine’s perspective on The Hurt Locker.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Mr. Bodkin, passed away on July 7, 2011. Pop-Break dedicates its efforts and success to the memory of such a great, amazing and wonderful man.