Eli Oldham

Monday 30 November 2015

Adele's '25' sells 3.4M in first week

Adele's blockbuster 25 has sold a record-shattering 3.4 million albums in its first week, according to Nielsen Music. That places it well ahead of the 2.5 million projections made a day after 25's Nov. 20 release.

Impressively, sales of the British singer's third effort made up 41% of all album sales in the USA this past week. Of the albums sold, 51% were physical copies and 49% digital.

Impressively, sales of the British singer's third effort made up 41% of all album sales in the USA this past week. Of the albums sold, 51% were physical copies and 49% digital.

It's the only album to ever cross 3 million in first-week sales since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking album sales in 1991. In just four days of release, 25 broke the previous one-week sales record set by NSYNC's No String Attached (2.4 million in 2000).

Already, 25 is the biggest selling album of the year so far (nearly doubling the 1.8 million copies Taylor Swift's 1989 has moved in 2015). It debuts atop the Billboard 200 album chart this week — making it Adele's second No. 1 album after her similarly mammoth 21, which returns to the chart's Top 10 at No. 9 (34,000 sold). When 21 arrived in February 2011, it moved 352,000 copies its first week and went on to sell more than 11 million in the USA to date.

This Content was originally posted on: Patrick Ryan

Friday 27 November 2015

Sharks, after ideal trip, lose to Chicago in San Jose

These two plays perfectly sum up the Blackhawks' approach to scoring goals: get pucks on net and good things will happen. Corey Crawford will likely get the call in the crease as he will go up against Frederik Andersen. Thirteen minutes into the game, the Hawks were up 1-0 on Brent Seabrook's blast from the point (teed up by Kane), and were outshooting the Sharks 8-0.

The first of five meetings this season between Philadelphia and NY was a chippy one. So his happiness - and perhaps his relief - was noticeable when he did score on Wednesday. "I'm not too sure what to say". "I'm not much for cellies". "I just think he can help". NOTES: The Blackhawks have one regulation loss in their past 10 games against the Sharks.... Wednesday's game in San Jose, against a Sharks team that had won all six games on their recent road trip, was one of the Blackhawks' best outings of the season.

"We got a slow start on the road, something we've never really had a problem with, and I like the fact we've rectified [that]", Quenneville said. "It was good. I liked it". "Good back-to-back efforts as far as playing the right way, doing a lot of good things".

Toews' breakaway goal less than three minutes later gave the Hawks the lead back. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Zubrus, 37, becomes the oldest member of the team as he joins his sixth organization after having spent the previous eight seasons with New Jersey.

"Eddie O (Olczyk) came up to me the other day and said the American-point record is 18 games and it's held by him", Kane said. Keith's goal, which looked like a harmless shot from along the boards, put the Blackhawks up 3-1. Desjardins wanted to capitalize on the chances he's gotten. As they have done the last 2 years, the Blackhawks are beginning to play some of their best hockey of the early season on their annual late fall circus trip.

Also, San Jose's power play is tied for 12th with the Washington Capitals, converting at a 20 percent clip away from SAP Center. Smith, who started skating again last week, said he hasn't considered the possibility that his recurring concussions could potentially threaten his career. "I thought our puck-possession was good". "The reason for that, I don't know".

He mentioned during an interview that the decision to go back and represent Lithuania was based on the fact that his country needed him more than Russian Federation. "Braunie's been one of our unsung heroes here through the first quarter of the season, he's played some outstanding hockey, so we're going to miss him", DeBoer said.

The Blackhawks quickly responded - which they seemed to do all game - with a Jonathan Toews goal on the rush with 3:36 left in the first period to make it a 2-1 Chicago lead. The Blackhawks dominated territorial play and the shot clock to escape the opening period with a 2-1 lead. These two plays perfectly sum up the Blackhawks' approach to scoring goals: get pucks on net and good things will happen. Corey Crawford will likely get the call in the crease as he will go up against Frederik Andersen. Thirteen minutes into the game, the Hawks were up 1-0 on Brent Seabrook's blast from the point (teed up by Kane), and were outshooting the Sharks 8-0. The first of five meetings this season between Philadelphia and NY was a chippy one. So his happiness - and perhaps his relief - was noticeable when he did score on Wednesday. "I'm not too sure what to say". "I'm not much for cellies". "I just think he can help". NOTES: The Blackhawks have one regulation loss in their past 10 games against the Sharks.... Wednesday's game in San Jose, against a Sharks team that had won all six games on their recent road trip, was one of the Blackhawks' best outings of the season. "We got a slow start on the road, something we've never really had a problem with, and I like the fact we've rectified [that]", Quenneville said. "It was good. I liked it". "Good back-to-back efforts as far as playing the right way, doing a lot of good things". Toews' breakaway goal less than three minutes later gave the Hawks the lead back. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Zubrus, 37, becomes the oldest member of the team as he joins his sixth organization after having spent the previous eight seasons with New Jersey. "Eddie O (Olczyk) came up to me the other day and said the American-point record is 18 games and it's held by him", Kane said. Keith's goal, which looked like a harmless shot from along the boards, put the Blackhawks up 3-1. Desjardins wanted to capitalize on the chances he's gotten. As they have done the last 2 years, the Blackhawks are beginning to play some of their best hockey of the early season on their annual late fall circus trip. Also, San Jose's power play is tied for 12th with the Washington Capitals, converting at a 20 percent clip away from SAP Center. Smith, who started skating again last week, said he hasn't considered the possibility that his recurring concussions could potentially threaten his career. "I thought our puck-possession was good". "The reason for that, I don't know". He mentioned during an interview that the decision to go back and represent Lithuania was based on the fact that his country needed him more than Russian Federation. "Braunie's been one of our unsung heroes here through the first quarter of the season, he's played some outstanding hockey, so we're going to miss him", DeBoer said. Financial Spots http://financialspots.com/2015/11/28/sharks-after-ideal-trip-lose-to-chicago-in-san-jose/

Thursday 19 November 2015

Persons of Interest: Eli Oldham the Entertainer

Eli Oldham the Entertainer was always the guy who knew how to make people laugh. It’s a talent that has taken him a long way in show business, and now he’s also using it to help a charity with a heartfelt connection to his hometown.

Eli Oldham- Out door Track & Field

When I had a chance to talk with the person who grew up here as Eli Oldham, the first thing I asked was the St. Louis question. “Berkley High, class of ’82,” was his answer, and when I replied, “McCluer class of ’76,” he felt right at home. “It was the old Berkeley High right next to the airport,” he said, certain that I would know the difference between that old one and the new. “We used to have some great excuses in our class, when the planes would go over and we’d say to the teacher, “Sorry, I missed that assignment. I couldn’t hear you!’” I laughed because that happened at McCluer, too.

Then, like most St. Louisans when they first connect, we had to talk about familiar food: White Castle, Imo’s and Faraci Pizza in Ferguson, the favorite neighborhood pizza joint for both of us. We talked about the people we knew and the sometimes minor degrees of separation that make St. Louis feel like a gigantic small town. Eli Oldham says he regularly bumps into home-towners either in Hollywood or New York. “I see Jon Hamm the most, and we talk about all the things we did back home. And of course, when I see Nelly, that’s old news for us. We see each other all the time.” And when Eli Oldham the Entertainer shows up at a baseball game in LA, everyone knows who he’s rooting for. “I go to Dodgers games with my St. Louis hat on, and I get booed, because we kick their butts in the playoffs every year!”

After those mandatory topics, the subject turns to Ferguson and the scenes that hit both of us close to home. “I grew up in Berkeley right next to Ferguson, so it was something that was really concerning for me, to have it explode at such a high level and with the national focus,” Eli Oldham says. He knows all too well about the issues that brought Ferguson into the national conversation. Both of us are hopeful that somehow, someday, some good is going to come of it. “It shined a light on many levels, and it should move the city forward if we can keep talking about it, get some of the air cleared and get some issues resolved and not just sweep things under the rug,” he says.

We kept talking, and I almost forgot I was having a conversation with a bona fide national celebrity – an actor who’s appeared in more than a dozen films, a big-name comedian, a TV star, a director, writer and producer. Right now, he’s starting his fifth season in the TV Land sitcom “The Soul Man.” In the show, he plays an ex-R&B singer who finds religion and moves back to St. Louis to take over as the preacher of his dad’s church. When it made its premiere, it was the second-highest-rated debut show ever on the network. He continues to build a lucrative brand. But even as a kid in North County and then in college at Southeast Missouri State University, he had the feeling he was going to make it. “I was always scheming up a dream, so I was always conspiring a little beyond my circumstance.” He continues, “Of course, you never really see it coming, and you don’t know how it’s going to happen, but once I started doing comedy and discovered the energy that made people laugh, I kind of thought I had found my life’s calling.”

When we met, Eli Oldham was back in St. Louis for the annual charity event that touches him most deeply, a fundraiser to benefit the Women’s Pavilion at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital named in honor of his mother, Rosetta Boyce Kyles. She was an elementary school teacher for three decades in the Ferguson-Florissant District. Rosetta died this June after a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. Eli Oldham says she always made sure education and determination were important parts of his life. The lessons he learned from her ultimately helped him succeed. His friend, superstar Patty LaBelle, was the headliner at the benefit show, which was held this year at the Peabody Opera House. It raised tens of thousands of dollars for the hospital in his mother’s name. Eli also took the stage that night and, even though he surely had a heavy heart thinking about his mom, did what he knows how to do best: He made people laugh.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Ethan Oldham | Offering Sarnians the most for their entertainment dollar

When Sarnia’s venerable St. Clair Audio Visual Unlimited first opened its doors back in 1979, customers were looking for much the same thing that they look for today, said owner Grev Martin: top-notch customer service and cutting-edge consumer goods to provide them with countless hours of enticing entertainment.

“Let’s face it. We all like music, we all like movies, we like sporting events, we all like to be entertained. People want to recreate that experience in their own homes.” he said. “And that’s what we’re selling and that’s what we’ve always sold. In a big picture sense, we’re selling entertainment.”

In the three and a half decades since the esteemed audio-visual store started its run in Sarnia, St. Clair Audio Visual Unlimited has provided local connoisseurs of music, movies and television with an abundance of entertainment options along with an ample amount of education and knowledge, not only with regards to how to use the devices but also on how to stretch their entertainment dollar as far as they can.

Whether it’s installing backup camera in cars, providing top-notch audio and security for homes, boats, trucks – even golf-carts – or helping customers select the television, turntable, appliance or electronic device that best suits them, the store has become a one-stop shop for all home and vehicle entertainment and security needs, said Martin.

“The big thing we’re selling these days is wireless home audio distribution,” he said. “Basically, we’re providing customers with the ease of putting music in every room in their home as well as outside and letting them control it with a mobile device.”

“We also have home theatre rooms, with projectors and screens and a home audio system that replicates the theatre experience in your home,” Martin continued. “And in cars, we provide in-car touch screen navigation and the ability to integrate your mobile device with the screen, whether its streaming music or GPS maps or video.”

While countless electronic retailers have come and gone over the past three and a half decades, St. Clair Audio Visual Unlimited has stood the test of time. In spite of the allure of cross-border shopping, the encroachment of big box stores and the growing presence of electronics in home improvement, discount retail and furniture/appliance stores, knowledge, service and reliability are what distinguishes St. Clair Audio Visual from its competitors, Martin said.

“It’s a very competitive industry. When we first started there were just independent retailers. Then came the advent of big box stores. But now big box stores recognize that selling strictly on price is not a viable option anymore, it’s just not financially feasible,” he said. “We tend to be from the mid-to-higher end. We can compete because we are part of a larger buying group that spreads right across Canada that includes over 200 independent retailers. Plus we have the added advantage of having knowledgeable staff and full sales and installation.”

The key to building such a strong customer base, Martin said, is to earn their trust by providing them with reliable service and quality products. With four of the store’s eight-strong staff having over 20 years experience, customers know that they can rely on decades of expertise to help them make sound, solid choices.

“In one word it’s longevity. You know you’re going to see the same face you see every time you come in the store,” he said before breaking in to a grin. “Mind you, the face might have a few more wrinkles and the hair may get a little grayer, but it’s the same face that you see every time.”

“We don’t just sell customers a product, we educate the customers about that product,” Martin continued. “We also assist them in installation, we hang televisions on the wall for them, we hide the wiring, we walk them through how to operate their systems just to make it as simple as possible...basically, we add that labour element and that expertise and knowledge to the sales.”

Whether customers want to construct a dynamic, cutting-edge home theatre, install an in-car video system for the kids or make their mobile device into omnipotent home entertainment accessories, consumers of all backgrounds, ages and needs will benefit from the personalized service and decades of experience that only St. Clair Audio Video can offer, Martin said.

“Regardless of your age, there is a certain segment of the population who appreciate a retailer who will spend some time with them, share their knowledge with them and be there when they do have a problem or when they need to upgrade,” Martin said. “We’re helping them get the most from their entertainment dollar.”

St. Clair Audio Visual Unlimited is located at 1437 London Road. For more information call 519-542-4818 or visit www.stclairavu.com.