Batson's Blog

I was going through some of my holiday photos and videos and finally got around to uploading some of them. First up: Christmas at the Western Mall. This light show is a yearly tradition in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It originally became a local attraction in Crooks, South Dakota -- a small town outside of Sioux Falls.When the show became too big for the residential neighborhood it started in, the show was moved to a mall in Sioux Falls. I did a story on the move when I was still a reporter in South Dakota. It doesn't cost anything to watch the show, but organizers and sponsors ask that people donate to Make-A-Wish. With over 55,000 lights, the show is incredible. I went to watch it twice this year.

2013 ended too quick! I didn't get the chance to finish up my 'best of 2013' lists. Today I'll tackle the best albums of 2013 and tomorrow it'll be the top movies of 2013. I didn't get the chance to listen to every album that was released in their entirety, but I did get the chance to check out the 13 of them that were listed below. 13. BEYONCÉ by Beyonce Sorry Beyonce fans, but BEYONCÉ didn't do it for me. While many praised the album for being groundbreaking, I struggled to maintain any interest in it. Overall it was boring. The theme of almost every song was about sex. There wasn't much variety when it came to the music either. Beyonce has a nice voice, which was showcased on a handful of songs on BEYONCÉ, but most of the songs consisted of her trying (and failing) her hand at rapping, singing breathily the way Britney Spears would or simply speaking. Maybe that's new ground for Beyonce, but it's hardly groundbreaking. ...

There were a few things that were learned over the course of the last 12 months. Here are the most important things: If you want a successful movie at the box office, put The Rock in it . The man was the highest grossing actor of the year (even beating out Robert Downey Jr.). Batman is the best super hero of all time . They wouldn’t even let him rest in peace. The Dark Knight trilogy just ended and they're already planning more movies with a new Batman. Even Spider-Man got three years before they rebooted his franchise. Billy Ray Cyrus is not the father of the year . Watch the Mtv Video Music Awards to see proof of that. The Carolina Panthers can be a legitimate team . They've had the best season in over a decade. Super Bowl chances?? We'll see. One thing is for sure: it's Cam Newton's best season yet.

It's 2014, but I'm not done looking back on 2013 yet, so let's take a look at the top 40 songs that were played on the radio this year. I was tempted to put songs like “Blurred Lines” or “Royals” on this list because of the fact that they were so successful, but this list isn’t about commercial success or radio play. It's simply my favorite 40 singles of 2013. 40. Come and Get It Artist: Selena Gomez Release date: April 7, 2013 Album: Stars Dance Peak position on Billboard's Hot 100: 6 Selena Gomez proved that she's nowhere near as annoying as her ex-boyfriend, Justin Bieber. While her songs aren't as good as someone like Pink or Kelly Clarkson, Gomez may just end up being a decent pop singer yet. 39. Feel This Moment Artist: Pitbull (featuring Christina Aguilera) Release date: March 15, 2013 Album: Global Warming Peak position on Billboard’s Hot 100: 8 This song, while not Pitbull's best, was a nice collaboration between the two po...

So 2015 is shaping up to be what looks like a good year at the movies. The Avengers 2 in May 2015, Batman vs. Superman in July 2015, and Star Wars VII in December 2015. That’s not counting James Bond #24 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 in November, Fantastic Four in June, Ant-Man in July or the next Bourne Identity movie in August. Let’s not look past 2014 though. There are several 2014 movies with potential to be awesome too. There are some movies that can wait until they are available on Redbox. These don't appear to be Redbox movies. I better start saving my money because it looks like I'll be making a few trips to the movie theater this year: 8. Hercules: the Thracian Wars Release Date: July 25 Don't get this movie confused with Hercules: The Legend Begins (release date TBA). The Thracian Wars is the one starring The Rock as Hercules. There hasn't been much artwork released yet. No trailers to build excitement either. Let's...

There’s one more to review before I’m wrapped up with my year-long search for Charlotte’s best cupcake. It was back to Rock Hill to try out one more bakery: Carswell Bakery . It's a small shop located in a strip mall on Mt. Gallant Road. It looked like there may have been some remodeling going on when I went inside. There was a small display case with a variety of cookies available. There was also a table with 6-pack cupcakes. The shop had your three standard cupcake flavors: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. I wouldn't have gotten any if they only came in 6-packs, but thankfully they were available as singles too. I passed on the chocolate, but bought a strawberry and a vanilla.

All year I’ve been trying to track down Southern Cake Queen . Since there’s no actual location, it’s hard to track them down. There is a food truck and they update their Twitter account with whatever location they'll be at, but whenever they are out serving cupcakes I seem to be busy or on the other side of the city. Thankfully I was at Charlotte Douglas waiting for a flight recently. See, Southern Cake Queen doesn't have an official shop in Charlotte, but their cupcakes are sold at Phipps Bistro's location at The Charlotte-Douglas Airport in Concourse A. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcake There weren't an entire slew of flavors to choose from, but there didn't need to be. If you eat Southern Cake Queen's Peanut Butter cupcake, you don't need much else. It had buttercream frosting on top and a Reese's chocolate as well. The cupcake was soft and had a great, fresh Peanut Butter taste. The woman working the counter did offer to warm the cup...