North Dakota

North Dakota (pronunciation: ⁱ/ˌnɔːrθ dəˈkoʊtə/; locally [ˌno̞ɹθ dəˈko̞ɾə]) is the 39th state of the United States, having been admitted to the union on November 2, 1889.

It is located in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north, the states of Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south, and Montana to the west. The state capital is Bismarck, and the largest city is Fargo. North Dakota is the 19th most extensive but the 4th least populous and the 4th least densely populated of the 50 United States.

North Dakota has weathered the Great Recession of the early 21st century with a boom in natural resources, particularly a boom in oil extraction from the Bakken formation, which lies beneath the northwestern part of the state. The development has driven strong job and population growth, and low unemployment.

Geography

North Dakota is located in the U.S. region known as the Great Plains. The state shares the Red River of the North with Minnesota on the east; South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are north. North Dakota is situated near the middle of North America with a stone marker in Rugby, North Dakota marking the "Geographic Center of the North American Continent". With an area of 70,762 square miles (183,273 km²), North Dakota is the 19th largest state.

Never Have I Ever

"Never Have I Ever", also known as "I've Never…" or "Ten Fingers", is a drinking game.

Rules

The verbal game is started with the players getting into a circle. Then, the first player says a simple statement starting with "Never have I ever". Anyone who has done what the first player has not must drink. Play then continues around the circle, and the next person makes a statement. An additional rule – uncommon, but beneficial to the game –is that if there is no one taking a drink, then the one who said the particular "I have never…" must take a drink. This rule often forces the players to strategize more and makes for less disposable/pointless suggestions.

A further variation holds that whenever only one person is drinking, that person must give a detailed account of why they are drinking. Another variation of this game involves putting up five or ten fingers, putting one down whenever something mentioned has been done. Those who end up putting down all of their fingers must take several successive drinks.

The Chainsmokers

The Chainsmokers are an American DJ duo consisting of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall. Their 2014 single "#Selfie" reached No. 16 on the US charts and No. 11 on the UK charts while their 2015 single "Roses" reached No. 6 on the US charts.

Career

The Chainsmokers were formed as an EDM DJ duo in 2012 under the management of Adam Alpert in New York City. They started out by making remixes of indie bands. In 2012, they collaborated with Indian actress and recording artist Priyanka Chopra on the single "Erase" which was followed by "The Rookie" in early 2013. Their single "#Selfie", released for free in December 2013, was picked up by Dim Mak Records who re-released it in January 2014 and eventually streamed it to Republic Records. On August 5, 2014, The Chainsmokers released "Kanye" featuring sirenXX, the follow up to "#Selfie". On March 3, 2015, they released "Let You Go", featuring Great Good Fine Ok.

They signed with their manager Adam Alpert's joint venture label with Sony Music Entertainment, Disruptor Records, in April 2015. On October 23, 2015, The Chainsmokers released their first EP titled Bouquet, featuring "New York City", "Until You Were Gone", "Waterbed", "Good Intentions", and "Roses". The duo are to release their debut album sometime in 2016. The first single from their debut album, "Don't Let Me Down" was released on February 5, 2016. It features singer Daya.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Fast Car

"Fast Car" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released in April 1988 as the lead single from her self-titled debut album. Her appearance on the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was the catalyst for the song's becoming a top 10 hit in the United States, peaking at number 6 on the Hot 100, and a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 4 on the charts.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ranked the song number 167 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is Chapman's only song on the list (and the highest ranking song both written and performed by a female artist). Pitchfork Media placed the song at number 86 on their list of the 200 Best Songs of the 1980s.

Chart performance

In April 2011 the track also hit the UK top ten at number 4 after Michael Collings performed it on Britain's Got Talent. The single was certified Platinum in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2014, based on digital downloads and streaming. The song has sold 661,500 copies in the UK, as of January 2016.