Last one (hint hint…)

     This is supposed to be our last blog, so I guess that is a good thing. There are a lot of things in music I want to touch on, but in order to do that I need to explain a lot of things. It would take too much time to do that so I just want to leave you with some recommendations. These are just some songs I like, instrumental or not. I’ll only put songs up that you probably don’t know, since recommending a song by Kanye West will be pointless if you’ve already heard it.  So here they are:

     This is probably one of my favorite albums ever. All the music here has so much depth and layers of instrumentation that you have to actually be listening to it with full attention to catch it all. It is an intrumental album that has a lot of engaging music, there is a backbeat to most of them so you could even write lyrics to them if you wanted. Click the picture for one of the songs.

     You probably know Owl City, and have heardFireflies. It is nice to see that all the music, despite being artificial, is entirely produced by one man. I really appreciate how he put all his work into composing the music, and writing the lyrics. That kind of work is rare nowadays. I suggest hearing The Saltwater Room.

     I know how biased my blogs have been towards hip-hop music, but that is because these blogs were primarily focused on the hip hop genre. I do listen to other types omusic. I would reccomend some of the pop or rock songs I know but they aren’t that appealing to listen to if you aren’t into a lot of screaming. As for the pop music, some of it is in japanese or korean and it is probably not in your interest. If you are curious anyway, check out Chiodos, Alesana, and if thats too heavy for you, try Weezer. The thing I like about Weezer is their music is very simple but there is a lot of passion put into it. The songs are very simple from a musical sense, but it is so honest and sincere that it is admireable.

Other songs I have are just older. Most of the songs I have are 90′s era anyway. You probably have heard most of them. For a unique song that blends many musical styles, I suggest Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz. Again, these are songs that aren’t exactly new.

Another rant…somewhat

    I know I talk down on the mainstream music a lot, and there is a reason for that. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it is all junk. Whenever I talk down on mainstream music, I only talk about the songs that are on constant replay on the radio all the time. There actually are some mainstream artists that make some meaningful music. Look at Taylor Swift or Kanye West to see some evidence of that. Even though they do have those songs that seem like they sell out, a part of it is because they make those songs for the sole purpose of radio play.

    I’m talking about this because I want to show you a relatively new artist that is mainstream, but his music is not like most of the stuff out on the radio. That artist is Kid Cudi.

     His debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day is a pretty good album. I’m sure you’ve heard the single Day n Nite, and you might not like him because of that song. This brings up what I was talking about before, some artists make songs like this to get good radio play so their album has promotion. The rest of his album is not like the single. It is actually very personal and introspective. It is split up into 5 acts that each examine as different part of Cudi’s mindset. If you want to sample some songs I suggest “Soundtrack 2 My Life” and “Pursuit of Happiness“.

Busy week

     Winter break is approaching closer and closer. This is going to be abusy week for me. I have a choir concert Sunday and most of my weekend will be spent with family because I barely spend any time with them. When I finally came back to my old neighborhood to see my mom, she told me how much I changed since I left for high school. She also told me how much different my taste in music is.

     I’m guessing it is because I am taking choir and playing piano now that my musical taste have changed. I start to appreciate the vocals and instrumental values in the song. Lately mainstream music is going downhill, and fast. Listen to “Tik Tok” if you don’t believe me. The production is very minimal, it almost sounds like an old nintendo game’s music. Read the lyrics and try to find any deeper meaning to it behind partying and such. You won’t find anything. All it is is catchy.

     It’s kind of unfortunate that these are the kind of things that become hits. I can understand that the song is catchy but some songs are so catchy that little kids sing them without knowing they are singing sexual innuendo. “One Two Three“  is one of those songs you hear little kids singing without knowing what they are really saying. They sing it because it is catchy, but any one that knows what the words are will be appalled by this.

     I know that the kind of music I like probably won’t ever hit mainstream, but thats kind of what I like about it. No one can overplay the song for you, nor will you hear it on the radio and get sick of it. This gives the song a lasting value that most radio hits don’t have. If my favorite artists went mainstream it would not be good because they would have to alter their style of music to cater to the mainstream crowd. They would have to sell out if they want to be a commercial success. This is why I like that very few of my favorite artists are mainstream.

Instrumentals

     Today I was looking through my ipod, and looked through the songs that I play the most. I found they all had one thing in common: they were instrumental. I don’t know if it is because I play piano and I grew to appreciate instrumental music more because of it, or if I just don’t like hearing voices in my music. Don’t get me wrong, I still like vocals on songs, it just has to be done right. If you want to check out some good instrumental music, I would really recommend these artists:

     Nomak is a hip hop instrumentalist. He makes some really good beats that are really nice to listen to. Check out Sanctuary or Anger of the Earth. He doesn’t have much exposure, which to me is good because it would be hard for the songs to get ruined for me.

Also try the artist from my previous post.

 

Current music

     Lately I’ve been dreading the mainstream hip hop scene. It seems to be dwindling as each year goes by. What used to be subliminal messaging is now just blatantly spelled out for you on songs. Take “If you Seek Amy” and “Hotel Room Service” for example, these songs don’t even try to cover up the meaning behind the lyrics. It seems that this is what the entire industry is fueled by lately. Most songs have shallow meanings behind them, which is why I don’t listen to the radio that often.

    It is because of this that I turn to other artists in the hip hop scene that don’t get too much awareness. One of these artists is Nujabes. I’ve grown to really appreciate his instrumentation in his songs. The songs are very relaxing and the artists he works with are very well suited to his beats. The vocals and production are in harmony with eachother, one doesn’t overpower the other. Which is why most of these songs get constant replay on my ipod. I would recommend listening to one of the tracks he has.

Reality: How do we know anything?

                Reality is a very broad term. Every person in the world might have a different reality in their eyes. Just as our minds work in different ways, each person can have a different perception of their life and what lies before them. What cause these differences in perception could be many things. It is also possible that the world before you could be a product of your own mind. Many people argue that this is not true, but is there any way to prove them wrong?

                Your mind is arguably the most powerful thing on the planet. We humans can only tap into a small fraction of that power.  We are already capable of many things at this low level of power. Imagine what we would be capable of if we could tap into the full power of our minds. It is possible we already are and we just are not doing it consciously. Perhaps we are tapping into that very power by simply perceiving this reality. When we sleep our mind projects images that evoke the full use of our senses. If you can recall any dreams you had then you should remember you could see, feel, and hear what was going on in those dreams. That happens while you are asleep, but imagine if your mind is doing that right at this moment as well. So when people say we can only tap into a small bit of our minds power, it is safe to say we can’t tap into the full power consciously.

                Others wonder whether the lives we live now are just a dream that we eventually wake up from. This is also possible, as there is no way to prove otherwise. The moment you die you never know if you get back up. You might be reborn into another life, losing all prior memories of your previous life (or lives). Since there is absolutely no way to contact a person that is dead we can’t really confirm this. Unless somehow someone retains all memories of previous lives and tells people about it, but since people are naturally very skeptical they will probably dismiss this as a mentally ill person.

                So under the assumption that this is all a product of our own minds, we all perceive a common reality. Since all our minds function differently we will perceive some things differently. How about all the things that we all perceive to be the same, despite all the differences in our minds functions? It is safe to say that those things are part of an external reality that we all have access to. Think of it like the Shared Drive as opposed to our Home Drives. What about internal realities? Students can have all kinds of different things on their home drives, so people can have all kinds of different perceptions in their own internal realities.

                Our internal realities are the ones we can change. Everyone will see your internal reality differently from theirs, and that is when perceptions on things start to vary from person to person. Many things can make perceptions change. Taking drugs is an extreme way to change anyone’s perception of reality. Depending on what drugs you take, the perceptions change in different ways. Some changes are very drastic and some very minor. People can also change those perceptions through their words or actions. However, all of these are outside influences. Is it not a coincidence that the influences that change your internal realities come from the external reality? It isn’t easy proving all these ideas. Honestly, this is all random speculation and nothing more. Trying to prove all this is like proving 2+2=5. It isn’t impossible, but very unlikely.

Poetry

There is no title to this. Also I’m in no way a poet so don’t expect much.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Three minutes from now, this poem will be finished.

So please interrupt me if I exceed the limit.

Life is likea book, you can predict what will happen after

Current events, or even look back on early chapters.

Go back some chapters to the past from the present.

The beginning years as I turn into an adolescent.

Descriptions of teenage angst and rage written all over the page,

Emotions lock up in a cage as I sing “Lean on Me” on stage.

I am among 80 kids singing in front of a crowd.

Beneath the blue cap and gown lies a permanent frown.

Turn back a few years to find an explanation.

I am a child, I seem to excel in education.

In addition, I also have a vivid imagination.

Willing to jump into anything without hesitation.

Kindergarten, learning how to structure sentences

ABC, 123, plus I still have my innocence.

In a sense, I have a distorted mentality.

Having trouble distinguishing fiction from reality.

From that point on it was just emotional regression.

My apologies if this comes off as too depressin.

I don’t want any of you to get the wrong impression.

So let’s flip ahead and read onto the next section.

From Chicago to Niles, I decide to make a resolution.

To turn around everything in my life that was ruined.

Freshman year starts and proves to be a challenge.

Little did I know it has set everything in balance.

I lose the weight, get in shape, and increase my self esteem.

I’ve come to realize things weren’t as bad as they had seemed.

Flip to the most recent chapter titled “Junior Year”.

Built up more on the foundation of my high school career.

My eyes are now opened, and everything’s so clear.

I’m no longer the same person since I first came here.

Skip to the end of the book, the unfinished part near

Chapter 17-18, titled “Senior Year”.

Slow year, slow start, grades aren’t their highest.

Probably came down with a case of “Senioritis”.

I walk out of Calculus, in this gloomy weather.

Hoping that English class will be a little better.

I whisper out a curse, when it couldn’t get any worse

This guy wants us to recite a poem  with events told in reverse.

Whatever, I’ll just go up and start to put together some words.

How to start…………..?

“Three minutes from now, this poem will be finished.

So please interrupt me if I exceed the limit.”

Watchmen Image Analysis

Chapter Two had many important images in it. The image I felt was one of the most important ones was on page 3. It depicts a funeral scene and the weather is rainy. The funeral is for Edward Blake. It is quite a gloomy image. Dr. Manhattan and two other heroes are front and center where the coffin is. Under this image there is bold lettering that reads “Absent Friends”.

                This image is significant because it is one of the rare moments that Dr. Manhattan is in full clothing. Since he is seen with nearly nothing on almost all the time in the book, the fact that he is wearing something must show that even to him this is a significant event. He is seemingly depicted as the “perfect man” throughout the story, but this is one of the panels that shows even the “perfect man” has his flaws and weak spots. Notice Dr. Manhattan and the two people next to him are the only ones in full color. This signifies that those three are probably the most affected by this unfortunate occasion. It is also a technique that comic artists use to make them stand out. 

                This is usually what happens with a lot of people. Those with the perfect life and don’t seem to be phased by anything do have a weak spot somewhere in them. Even someone who removes themselves from their emotions will find that sometimes a nerve will be struck. They will probably feel even worse since they tried so hard to bottle up any sign of weakness and it all just comes flowing out of them due to some incident.  Usually it takes something huge for that to happen, mainly the death of someone very close to you. Which goes to show that everyone has someone that they care about that much, and it is in those people that their weaknesses lie. Regardless of what people do, there is always at least one person that they have a weak spot for.

Me at a glance,

I am Keanu de la Vega, senior, still 17, and currently looking for a job.  I am writing this paper with the intention of informing you about myself. I don’t really know where to start but I suppose I’ll start off with some things that interest me. You might find I have quite a lot of interests; I’m only sticking with the ones that are worth mentioning. If I included them all, I would be writing at least 5 pages worth.

I like hanging out with my friends, watching movies, listening to music, and any form of art. I used to draw very often but that slowly faded as I made the transition into high school because as I got older I lost inspiration to draw anything. I also enjoy making videos using Sony Vegas 9.0 as a video editing software to make cool looking effects. I enjoy playing the piano, it is my second year and I hope to get a lot better than how I am now.  I am starting to learn guitar and I joined choir this year to become more versatile in music. Learning piano has changed the way I listen to music. I listen to some songs and appreciate the production value or the intricate details of the instrumentals. It also somewhat changed the type of music I listen to. I like more of a relaxed jazzy sound in my music now. Unlike most people who listen to the same music I do, I still like the occasional radio hit

Other than music related things I also have a passion for gymnastics and doing any sorts of acrobatic tricks. I hope to get back into drawing as well because I only draw when I have to, but I still have a talent for it. I kind of regret not taking any art classes to fully reach my potential with it, but I guess taking piano and finding an interest in that makes up for it.

Some of my plans for the future include reaching my full potential with the piano, becoming a good singer, and at least know my way around the guitar. My ideal college to get into would be U of I, my back up would be Loyola, and if those don’t work Purdue would be a good alternative too. I hope to further my gymnastics abilities by the end of this year, especially floor moves. Hopefully a few weeks from writing this I will have my driver’s license, because not having one right now is sad.  I’m not sure what else I could write or how to end this. So I guess I’ll just say that’s all I can say about me for now. You’ll probably learn more about me as the year progresses anyway.

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