Author Archives: datajournalism395

From the Big Screen to Broadway: The Recent Rise of Musical Adaptations of Movies

by Christa Ryan

Recent years have seen a huge rise in the number of non-musical movies being adapted for the Broadway treatment. Even now, five musicals currently playing on the Great White Way are adapted from films that were originally not musicals. (The number of movies-turned-Broadway musical grows to 12 when you include movie-musicals adapted for the stage.) An even greater number of movies are undergoing adaptation, several in talks of world premieres and imminent Broadway transfers.

Take Mean Girls, for example. Adaptation for the wildly acclaimed 2004 film was in works by 2013, and it was announced in October 2016 that the musical would run in Washington, D.C. from October 31, 2017 to December 3, 2017. Mean Girls began Broadway previews at the August Wilson Theatre on March 12, 2018 before opening on April 8.

Mean Girls on Broadway celebrating its one-year anniversary on Broadway.

During its first week of previews, Mean Girls raked in a total of $1,320,146 at the box office. That same week, by contrast, the hotly-anticipated revival of My Fair Lady began previews, raising a total of $934,717. While the content and styles of the two shows are quite different – Mean Girls, fueled by the film’s screenwriter Tina Fey with a sharp millennial pop-rock take on a 2004 cult classic, My Fair Lady returning to Broadway with a classic score and a sound spot in the Broadway canon – there is something to be said to the appeal of a beloved movie-turned-musical and the success it begets. My Fair Lady closed July 7, 2019 after 55 previews and 674 performances and a total gross of $79,772,272; Mean Girls, still currently running, has grossed $104,604,844 after 29 previews and 640 performances.

On the flip side, the 1988 Broadway premiere of the musical adaptation of Stephen King’s hit novel Carrie infamously flopped. The musical first premiered to a four-week run in England in 1988, then transferred to Broadway in April that same year at the expense of $7 million, an inordinate amount for the time.  After 16 previews, Carrie opened on May 12, 1988 and closed a mere three days later after five total performances. Despite sold-out audiences each night, the show was a critical bomb, becoming the fastest and most expensive flop in Broadway history at the time.

In 2009, Carrie’s original composers Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford and writer Lawrence D. Cohen reworked the musical for the modern audience, simplifying and minimizing the structure and writing new music in a more contemporary style. The revised Carrie opened off-Broadway on March 1, 2012 after 34 previews, and ran for 46 performances before closing two weeks ahead of schedule on April 8. Today, due largely in part to the original production’s iconic flop and the improvement of the content, the musical is a cult hit among theater fans.

The initial flop of the 1988 Carrie and its lukewarmly-received revival in 2012 compared to the current commercial hits of movies-turned-musicals like Mean Girls, Beetlejuice, Tootsie and Waitress call into question, are some movies just not meant to make it to Broadway in this format? Many critics and producers alike believed that the 2012 revival of Carrie to be “fundamentally unworkable;” perhaps the bottom line to an adaptation’s success is whether or not the story, so to speak, sings.

JLo’s Iconic Versace Dress Ressurected for Milan Fashion Week

It was a standing ovation for Jennifer Lopez (JLo) during her catwalk exhibition while recreating her iconic Grammys green leaf plunging dress, two decades since the Jennifer’s first appearance as a key fashion model. The renowned singer posed her incredible shape in a breathtaking dress during the just concluded Milan Fashion Week.  The dress is defined by large downward neckline, bareback, as well as a fabric train significantly extending lengthwise. The twitterverse was quick to circulate the video of JLo walking on the runway.

Just like in the 2000 Grammy Awards, the singer managed to capture all vital aspects of the Grammy’s appearance during the Milan Fashion Week. Her blonde locks were styled in a high curly ponytail, reminding the spectators of what went down close to two decades ago.  The latest exhibition solidified JLo’s prestige as a fashion queen, becoming the very first fashion dress to go viral. The Milan Fashion Week comprised of numerous opinions on the jungle theme, in a sensual show. The Italian brand offered feminine outlines between prints, having designed and bold openings: quintessential Versace. The breathtaking collection, capped by JLo’s appearance on the exhibition walkway, signified the plans by Versace to play the center stage during the highpoints of Milan Fashion Week (Aficionado n.p.).

This event has triggered an online reaction by JLo’s fans dubbing her the legend, the queen, the diva. The dress was reimagined, a modernized version, with the singer come fashion icon striking in it to wild ovation. Despite the fact that there might have been slight changes to the dress, it is beyond anyone’s qualm that, two decades later, JLo appears better than ever. To add flavor to the show, Donatella revealed the services of Google image in aiding the illustration of the ‘green Versace dress.  All the screens surrounding the arena were filled with images of the dress, followed by a real exhibition by Lopez herself; what followed was a standing ovation. A hash tag, “there is no calm,” dominated Twitter, where hundreds of thousands of JLo’s followers focused all attention to the internet. The fashion pack received from Lopez what can be termed as a significant dose of nostalgia during the Milan Fashion Week (Sawyer n.p.). According to Lopez, before she was able to identify the dress, one of the spice ladies and Donatella Versace had worn it. The singer further confessed that while the dress received much attention than anticipated, she never imagined that it was predominantly salacious at the time. Further, Lopez mentioned how the 2000 Grammy’s exhibition gave rise to the establishment of Google images, besides meeting Donatella Versace. 

Close to 2 decades ago, JLo’s Versace outfit broke the internet for the first time, giving rise to Google images. February 2000 was the month which saw both a fashion legend and a singer become the most legendary search query witnessed by Google back then (Haig 15).  The iconic outfit of the original Versace dress remains as the most prestigious apparel that gave a brand name to Donatella’s passion and career. The outfit went ahead to be nominated by Lisa Armstrong (a fashion journalist) into the Fashion Museum collections.  The outfit further became the discussion topic by fashion and media professionals several weeks after the February 2000 exhibition.   JLo’s images in the jungle green attire were downloaded over 700,000 times within a timeframe of 24 hours. Prior the event, Google’s search results only offered blue links, and when Google was unable to meet the expectations of people (an image of JLo in the jungle dress attire), the developers were motivated to develop Google images, and that is how Google images came to be (Lee 70). JLo and Dontella Versace recount the green dress’s history for an exclusive video for Vogue down below.

Influence of Memes in Mainstream Music Culture

By James Corrigan

More than ever before, the world has become a contest of popularity, people are perpetually focused on the lives of celebrities and other prominent individuals. This is not a new phenomenon as groups of people have always idolized individuals in our culture (organized religion, family royalty), but mass media formats have allowed more eyes than ever before to focus on a specific person or group. These prominent individuals are followed and worshiped like gods; people constantly check up on news about their lives and become extremely envious of their lifestyle of adoration and fame. Television began this intense relationship, and social media and smart phones has intensified it. Hundreds of millions to even billions of people can all witness the same event with the advent of screens and mass cultural media.

The largest difference for the media of today, compared to 50 or even 20 years ago, is that unlike television, social media allows the viewers to decide what content gets the most views. Twitter culture uses photos and short videos of people as a creative way to represent a comedic situation or respond to a controversial/interesting post, this is called a meme. It has become a popular way for people to converse in a more entertaining and impactful way than by text only messages. Anyone can be meme’d, many of the most viral memes are of everyday people, some of whom have used it to make a name for themselves as a social media personality.

This is has become an incredibly important aspect of music culture in particular. Ultra-famous musical artists such as Kanye West and Drake, already boast a high level of popularity in the music scene, but instances of memes involving their likeness keeps them on people’s minds, even when they’re not putting out hit songs or a new album.

Popular meme that uses a clip from the music video for Drake’s 2016 hit single “Hotline Bling”

Not only do artists who are already famous use memes as a way to maintain popularity, but also it is also a way for up and coming artists to gain notoriety among the public and boost attention to their own music. New wave rap artists in particular, such as Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert, Tekashi 6ix9ine, Cardi B and Lil NasX, are some of the prime examples of the use of social media to enhance popularity. For example, a popular trend of memes came about in July of 2017 that used words that rhymed with Post Malone’s name to mock him in a fun way.

Example of one of the many hundreds of internet memes created mocking post Malone’s name

Post’s song “Congratulations” which ranked at the #12 spot in May of 2017, jumped up to #8 on the billboard hot 100 by the second week of July, and stayed there for another month, just after this social media trend began. People creating viral memes of artists like Post Malone are practically creating free online marketing for the artist that isn’t even truly marketing because it’s made by fans for viewer entertainment. In fact a picture of a girl flashing her breasts to Post at a recent show was instantly turned into a viral twitter meme, and has helped to keep Post’s new LP “Hollywood’s Bleeding” at the top of the billboard charts for a fourth week.

An even better example of this phenomenon is controversial artist Tekashi 6ix9ine. His song “Gummo” gained him initial attention and landed him at #12 on the billboard hot 100 in late 2017, but his eccentric rainbow colored hair, gold teeth and uncaring/provocative attitude made him a meme star and is what truly put him in the limelight. His social media presence has slingshot him into being one of the most notorious rappers in the game. He is still talked about a huge amount on social media today, even though he hasn’t released a song since he went to jail on criminal charges in the latter half of 2018. The level of fame to be gained from silly Internet trends and memes is not something to be shrugged off, the potential to become a well-known public figure is there and many are becoming inadvertently popular because of it.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8531887/post-malone-flashed-audience-member-meme

https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/tekashi-6ix9ines-controversial-career-a-timeline.html

Activism Plays Prominent Role at 2019 Emmy Awards

Cristina Nosonowitz

Activism has always managed to find its place in award shows. At last year’s Grammy awards, Hillary Clinton surprised viewers with an excerpt from “Fire and Fury.” Going even further back, Marlon Brando declined an Oscar for best actor in 1973, sending up a Native American activist in his place. 

Throughout the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards on September 22, several celebrities used their moments in the spotlight to highlight prominent causes in today’s society.

Before the show even began, actress and LGBTQ+ activist Laverne Cox spoke during the preshow about the Title VII arguments presented to the Supreme Court on October 8 that potentially threaten the protection of the LGBTQ+ community from employment discrimination. 

We do not want to roll back civil rights protections for anyone and the stakes could not be higher.

Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox at the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards with her customized clutch highlighting the Title VII Supreme Court Cases.

Awareness for attacks on the LGBTQ+ community continued within the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles with Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for “The Act.” Arquette mourned the loss of her transgender sister, who passed away in 2016 from health complications related to AIDS, and stressed the need to fight against the persecution of LGBTQ+ people. 

Trans people are still being persecuted… I’m in mourning every day of my life, Alexis, and I will be for the rest of my life for you until we change the world so trans people are not persecuted — and give them jobs. They’re human beings, let’s get rid of this bias we have everywhere.

Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette dedicating her acceptance speech to her late sister, Alexis.

History was made when Billie Porter became the first openly gay Black man to be nominated and also to win an award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “Pose.” He expressed his joy for simply being alive to witness the achievement.

Visibility and representation are the only things that create change.

Billie Porter

Shifting to the topic of gender equality, Michelle Williams gave one of the most captivating speeches of the night on the pay gap between men and women while accepting her award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Williams was only paid $1,000 for reshooting the film “All the Money in the World,” while her co-star Mark Wahlberg made $1.5 million. 

So the next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterpart, tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her. Believe her. Because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it.

Michelle Williams

Several other stars also used their time on stage to discuss widespread issues. This influx suggests that more celebrities will step forward and use their voices to bring attention to problems when given the microphone at an awards show with millions watching live, especially with a presidential election on the horizon. The next major award show is the Golden Globes on January 5, 2020. 

Astrology in 2019: The New Trend or the New Lifestyle?

Nia Sago

Astrology has made a huge impact on millennials due to a recent rise in interests, following the age of the internet, and a feeling of uncertainty of the future. 

            Do you know what your sun sign in? That is, the astrological sign that corresponds with the day you were born, something that most of us are told very early on in our lives. What about your moon? Your rising? Your Venus? Finding out these aspects of astrology require knowing the position of the stars and the planets during your exact time and exact location of your birth. These can be uncovered on many different websites on the Internet that interpret your birth chart, and can tell you about your personality, your likes and dislikes, and even who you are found to be compatible with. Astrology isn’t something that has always been as popular as it is in this day and age, as a large amount of people just do not believe in it. According to a 2017 Pew Research Center poll, almost thirty per cent of Americans believe in astrology.

            Astrology is defined a new age belief where the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies, or planets, are interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world. This being said, one’s birth chart containing the day, time, and location of their birth has an impact on their everyday lives. The rise of astrology specifically within millennials and generation z seems to just be a new trend, but there are reasons for this recent change in beliefs, the most prominent being the internet and the decline of traditional religion. 

            The Internet has definitely had an impact on the way astrology is looked at today. Horoscopes based on your sun sign used to really only be found in the back of your favorite magazine, used as a page filler. However nowadays, astrology has become a way for people to deal with their struggles, and to find comfort and insight. It’s not out of the norm to hear “You’re such a Leo” or “You only do this because you’re a Taurus”. This is due to people using their astrological signs as an excuse for their bad tendencies, which astrology is not about. Due to the internet age, there are countless amounts of websites, apps, and social media accounts to tell you more about yourself-which let’s face it, people love to be told and to talk about themselves. A popular magazine website named The Cut has gotten 150% more traffic on astrology related posts in the last few years. Also, the rise of meme culture has a great impact on the popularity of astrology, finding humor in specific aspects of your particular sign.

            The decline of traditional religion. People now are more likely to believe in new age beliefs such as astrology. Millennials are known for their drive to change and become more aware and open to new ideas. Many religions lack just that. Religions with rules on premarital sex, same sex marriage, etc., are no longer appealing to this generation. This results to many of them turning to other factors such as astrology and spirituality, things that are more open to new ways of living. 

            The rise of astrology is definitely going to be present for a while- and will probably continue to grow over the years to come. Astrology is a tricky subject to completely grasp, but with the rise of the subject will come the rise of more experts. 

Survey Shows Increasing Number of College Students Feeling Overwhelmed, Struggling with Mental Health

Victoria Sanseverino

An increasing number of students are feeling overwhelmed and experiencing feelings of hopelessness, anxiety and depression, according to a survey conducted by the American College Health Association.

The ACHA’s Spring 2018 National College Health Assessment revealed that nearly 90% of the just under 88,200 students at 140 schools surveyed reported feeling overwhelmed by all that they had to do within the past year.

Of the students who reported being overwhelmed, almost 78% of the respondents were male while just over 90% were female.

This is a notable increase from the Fall 2018 NCHA where of a significantly smaller pool of students surveyed—almost 26,200—about 86% reported feeling overwhelmed within the past 12 months.

The NCHA also asked students about their experiences with anxiety and depression, issues which, according to TIME Magazine, record numbers of college students are seeking help for.

Approximately 64% of students responded that they had experienced feelings of overwhelming anxiety within the past year, while just over 40% students reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function.

Studies show that these numbers will continue to rise.

College—even for young adults who previously had a lot of responsibility during their high school years—is a major life transition, said Director of the Iona College Counseling Center Dr. Brielle Stark-Adler.

“Sometimes in situations where is there is a lot of promise and opportunity, along with that comes a whole lot of stress and confusion,” said Stark-Adler. “With all that focus [college students have] on the self and on the future, sometimes there’s also feelings of hopelessness.”

Just over 53% of students surveyed in the Spring 2018 NCHA said that they experienced feelings of hopelessness at some point within the past year.

In addition to increased academic responsibilities, college students are tackling existential ideas and thinking about careers, said Stark-Adler; all this while still having a few years to go before their brains are fully developed, which means lower levels of impulse control and increased levels of emotionality.

“Everything that happens in young adulthood and in college life feels incredibly significant…every feeling is extremely intense,” said Stark-Adler. “That makes it, sometimes, hard to bear; having to navigate who you’re going to be and what you’re going to do and all of your feelings at the same time.” 

Schools were self-selected to participate in the ACHA’s spring assessment. Only schools that surveyed all students or used a random sampling technique were included in the final Spring 2018 NCHA data set.

Four of the 140 schools administered the survey on paper while the remaining institutions utilized a web version of the survey.

The gradual decline of America’s pastime and it’s new role

By: Matthew Chaves

A baseball fan gets up and gets ready to go to the game in the afternoon. Hyped up, she puts on her jersey, cap, and even has some face paint meticulously put on to show her spirit. She gets in the car with her family and heads towards the stadium. When she gets there, the parking lot has less cars than expected. She gets to her seat, she looks around and notices a lot of empty seats. Throughout the whole experience, that grandiose feeling game day gives gets weaker and weaker, as less people show for the game.

This seems to be the growing trend for MLB fans in recent years. Popularity for baseball was lower than other sports in 2018 and years prior, according to attendance reports from ESPN.com.

Average raw numbers are in favor of the MLB here, though. The average attendance for each team ranges from around 10,000 to 47,000. Those numbers beat out the NBA and NHL’s averages, which range from roughly 12,000 to 21,000. But hockey and basketball are played in arenas, not stadiums.

Compared to a sport that’s played in a stadium, you can see the difference. The lowest average attendance number in the NFL was around 32,000, with the highest being nearly 92,000.

Even the MLS is beating out MLB attendance numbers. Averages go from around 12,000 to around 53,000, showing that even soccer, one of America’s less popular sports, still edges out baseball when it comes to the big leagues.

Television viewership isn’t safe from the decline either. In 2018, the World Series had an average viewership of 14.13 million viewers, according to sportsmediawatch.com. Compared to the 23.4 million viewers in 2016, that’s down roughly 9 million viewers in two years.

Baker Mayfield playing for the University of Oklahoma. Even college football outranks World Series viewership. The College Football Playoff National Championship had a total live viewership of 26,979,000, according to footballfoundation.org. (Photo from flickr.com/brettmadisonelliot)

To be fair, the other big two of football and basketball have also seen declines in the past two years, but have nonetheless amassed more viewers than baseball. In 2018, according to sportsmediawatch.com, the NBA Finals had an average of 15.14 million viewers and the Super Bowl had an average of 98.2 million viewers.

Despite this, the MLB doesn’t see any reason to work on their ratings though when they’re making record profits. According to an article by Forbes, they achieved a record revenue of $10.3 billion in 2018, which doesn’t include their $2.58 billion deal with Disney.

The revenue doesn’t reflect real success when it comes to popularity though, according to Washington Nationals player Sean Doolittle. He tweets about the article aforementioned but goes into the reasons why he thinks attendance is down throughout the league.

New York Times writer Juliette Love talks about it best in her article about the declining attendance and viewership ratings. Love crunches through the figures to come the conclusion that baseball isn’t dying but instead is making a transition. The fans care about their team and how well they do, and, as Doolittle says, if most teams are going through rebuild seasons, fans aren’t going to go watch. They want to see their teams try to win.

Rock and Roll May Not Be as Dead as People Think

~Michael Greaney  

Rock and roll has been revived and is making a comeback in a big way. But how can a genre that has stayed stagnant for so long make a return this big? It turns out, according to various statistics, that the nostalgia that follows rock music may be enough to revive it along with the help of some newer artists.  

Google Trend analyses as well as Spotify listening records show that searches for rock and related genres such as lite rock and metal have seen a steady decline since the early 2000’s.  

Recently though, there has been a rising trend where artists who grew up with said music have been incorporating rock icons into their new tracks, playing on the nostalgia that follows them. 

 Post Malone is one such artist, who on September 6th released his newest album, Hollywood’s Bleeding. One track features rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, who was most notably the front man for the band Black Sabbath. 

Post Malone // Stavernfestivalen // Post Malone // 2018-07-14 20:21:28 // Larvik golfbane, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway (NOR) /

According to Billboard, that song Take What You Want took the No. 8 spot on the Sept. 21 Billboard Hot 100. The appearance is Osbourne’s first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 since 1989. 

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/collections/8532957/post-malone-ozzy-osbourne-song-facetime

Before this feature, statistics from both Google Trends and Spotify showed Osbourne’s popularity was on a downward trend. The day the album was released though, search results for the rock singer skyrocketed for the first time in years. 

One twitter user posted about the feature saying, “Idk who this Ozzy Osbourne guy is but Posty just put him on the map”.  

According to an interview with The Sun, Osbourne himself was shocked by the response to his comeback saying “I’ve missed music so badly. My fans are so loyal and so good. Up until making the album I thought I was dying.” He also stated that working with Post inspired him to record a new album for the first time in almost a decade. 

Ozzy Osbourne finishes “greatest album” with Post Malone producer

Ozzy isn’t the only rock and roll hall of fame legend to be making an impressive comeback. An article by NME reports that rock and metal veterans such as Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, and Bob Segar are all on a list of the top 25 artists with the highest grossing world tours of 2019. 

Metallica comes in at number four on the list with $69.7 million in ticket sales and Fleetwood Mac at fifth with $67.7 million. KISS, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band also appear in the 7th and 9th places respectively.  

These are the highest-grossing world tours of 2019 so far

Pollstar also puts the rising popularity of rock music into perspective as according to their data, 12 of the 30 top trending tours of 2019 have fallen under the genre of rock.  

https://www.pollstar.com/

As it seems, rock and roll still has its place in music culture. Even though a new generation dominates what’s played on the radio and streamed, the iconic songs and rock legends of the past are still alive and kicking and will be for some time.  

The Return of 1990’s and 2000’s Fashion and Culture

In recent times, teenagers and young adults have been showing their appreciation for style icons of the 1990’s and early 2000’s by dressing like them. These figures such as Britney Spears, Courtney Love, Jennifer Aniston and more serve as fashion inspiration that is being brought back today.  Many wonder just why these trends are making a comeback; perhaps it is for the aesthetic appeal or simply kids wanting to dress like their parents back in the day.

These trends may include, but are not limited to, hair barrettes, denim on denim, chokers, flare jeans, spunky hairstyles, vibrant makeup and of course, freshly glossed lips. Denim has been a huge staple in the fashion world, pretty much since it was invented, because of its sensibility and style.

Satendra Kashyap of Apzo Media states in the article, Why 90’s Fashion Trends Are Back in 2019, “For women, the denim skirt is an all-rounder and can be worn with just about anything. It began its life in the 1990s, and since then, it has refused to die.”.

With this being said, one can see that denim jeans, skirts, jackets and more have essentially never gone out of style due to their popularity. 1990’s and 2000’s fashion is not just limited to denim and other fabrics but are linked to so many other trends that people have known and loved.

Teenagers and young adults have also begun to wear accessories that represent this era. Funky hair clips, choker necklaces, chunky jewelry and even colorful makeup have appeared in the aesthetic atmosphere of social media. Influencers are now able to show off their revamped style on sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

There must be a certain psychology as to why these trends are coming back so rapidly, and the reason is that the youth of today are simply nostalgic. They want to relive their earlier days and even their parent’s glory days before the age of technology became more widespread.

Anne T. Donahue of Fashionista.com explains this phenomenon when she states “By re-introducing the likes of fanny packs, bedazzled denim and Steve Madden sandals, fashion has been reminding us, consciously or not, that it’s possible to go home again.”

https://fashionista.com/2017/08/90s-early-aughts-2000s-fashion-trends-revival?utm_source=site&utm_campaign=related

This could be true in the sense that people simply just want to feel young again, and they go back to dressing in a way that they were once comfortable. Additionally, the idea of self-expression and personal style factor in when it comes to certain trends such as Gothicism.

The trend known as “goth” is explained by Nancy MacDonnell in her article, Can A Grown Woman Wear Goth Fashion?, as people tend to migrate towards Gothicism to express their dark and edgy style that stems from rock and roll.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-a-grown-woman-wear-goth-fashion-11569521376

Surely each decade has or will make a comeback in terms of their fashion and freedom of expression, but for now it looks like the 90’s is essentially all that.

The Airbnb effect

San Francisco Chronicle July, 2015

Both Airbnb and its San Francisco critics are correct. Most of the booming vacation-rental company’s local listings are only occasionally rented to travelers, as Airbnb says. However, at least 350 entire properties listed on Airbnb — and hundreds more listed on competing sites HomeAway/VRBO and FlipKey — appear to be full-time vacation rentals, bolstering claims by activists that the services remove scarce housing from the city’s limited inventory.