SUMMER TIME!!

     Woo! The spring ’11 semester is coming to an end! It’s felt short yet long at the same time and I really can’t believe that next week I won’t have all these assignments to do, or a blog to write. This class wasn’t exactly a walk in the park but I definitely enjoyed it. I’m glad that I decided to take English 101 online and I’m even happier that I was lucky enough to have had such a good teacher. Jennifer always made herself available, was always really understanding, and really helped me learn a lot. I feel like my writing skills have improved and writing has become easier in general. I used to have to really get into it and think about what I was going to write before I began an essay, but now it’s like my mind and my hands just know what to do. I’ve enjoyed the blogging assignments the most because we got to read other students’ writing and really got to know each other even though we never met in person. Most online courses are pretty impersonal and down to business so I thought that was pretty unique. I think that we would have had less work to do if we would have met in person every week but I liked that I could work at my own pace and set my own schedule. This course being so awesome has really persuaded me to take other online classes in the future. What did you think about it?

     Have any cool plans for summer? I’ll mostly be working Monday through Friday so that’s not too fun but at least I’ll have money to blow (not that I don’t manage to blow the little money I make now). Last summer felt like an eternity; in a good way though, because everyone is so carefree in the summer. That’s probably the one advantage about being a teacher. No one else gets the whole summer off every year. I’m not sure if the positives outweigh the negatives though. Overall, did you enjoy the course? Are you doing well in your other classes? I took Biology 101 with Rainbow this semester and all I can say is, do NOT take his class. Really though, I usually like all of my teachers even if they’re not exactly “fun” or “easy” but that man is something else. So glad yesterday was my last day in there. I’m just praying that I pass because I really need to have good grades in order to get into the Radiological Technology program. I started a semester late so now I’ll have to either wait another year to apply or try to take some courses at College of the Canyons on top of the courses I will be taking at AVC next semester. Talk about stressful! What are you studying at AVC? Are you trying to transfer somewhere? Anyway, it was a pleasure taking this course with all of you and I hope you enjoy your summer!

Penultimate

Wow! Finally, the last two weeks of school. I’m so excited. I can’t wait until summer is here. I have a feeling these next two weeks are going to fly by! I took some rather tedious courses this semester, and I’m just happy that I can say “I survived spring ’11”. I’ve actually learned so much and I feel extremely fortunate for having access to an education unlike it is in other areas of the world. I can’t believe that anyone would take that for granted when we know that Americans have it so good compared to other places. You could be a member of an impoverished emaciated tribe in Africa, whom often has close to absolutely nothing.  When you feel like your life is hard and unfair, stop and think about how your problems compare to theirs.

Anyway, I’ve noticed in taking English 101 that at the beginning of the semester it took me a lot longer to write a blog or an essay and now it’s a breeze. But I guess it would become easy after writing so much week after week, right? I thought that I was pretty familiar with MLA format, but I was pretty rusty and there have been some changes to it so I guess it’s always helpful to keep up to date on that sort of thing. I also had never taken an online class before, and I realized that I really like it. Everything is according to your own schedule and although there is sometimes more work to do because you don’t meet in person, I still prefer it over having to drive all the way to school and back. Especially since gas is extremely overpriced right now, (thank God it’s going down).

Despite the heavy work load, I actually enjoyed taking this course because at least it was consistent and you knew what to expect every week. What did you think of English 101? Are you glad it’s almost over? Have any cool plans for summer? I have a couple of things planned this summer one of which is filming an audition tape for Survivor. I’m obsessed with Survivor and they’re casting for the next season so I’m taking it upon myself to audition and you have to submit a three minute video. I’ve come up with some pretty good ideas, and I think that if I really put my mind to it, I have a good chance of getting on. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I also really want to go camping in Oceanside at Camp Pendleton. Also, I’m taking my mom to a concert. I actually bought her the tickets for Mother’s Day but it doesn’t take place until the end of July. Summer is my favorite time of year and you have no idea just how bad I wish I could snap my fingers and skip forward to it! Thankfully, it’s just a couple more days until the long Memorial Day weekend!

A Damper on Creativity

What is your view on sampling? Do you think that sampling takes away from creativity and originality? If you are unaware of what sampling is, Wikipedia describes it as the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. In my opinion, sampling may make your song a hit, but it definitely hinders creativity and originality. I mean, in most cases the reinvented song becomes inseparable from the original, and that should be exactly what a performer doesn’t want.

For example, every time I hear the intro to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”, I immediately also think of the song “Under Pressure” by Queen. Listen to P. Diddy and Faith Evan’s hit “I’ll Be Missing You” and tell me that you don’t confuse the lyrics with those of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. Why? Because once you’ve heard a really good and original sound in a song, you’ll never forget it. In both instances, the reinvented songs got a lot of air play, but you can’t honestly say that the songs were unique. In music, it’s extremely important to bring something new to the table. Whether it be the voice, the style, the sound, or all three. What’s the point of signing artists that just regurgitate what’s already been sung? It doesn’t make sense, and it’s a shame that some performers aren’t even creative enough to at least use the samples in a more unique way.

If you are going to use sounds from another song, at least make sure that it is hard to tell that sounds are samples. If you are using samples to ADD to your music that contains your OWN creative touches and sounds, then I think it’s fine. But don’t just put different lyrics on the same track! I mean really? How can you even call yourself an artist when you do that? Andy Warhol was so awesome because he was painting things that no one had even contemplated painting before. However, if I were to go paint a picture of a Campbell’s soup can, it wouldn’t be nearly as impressive or innovative because it’s already been done!

It’s funny because it seems like performers are trying to recreate the success of past artists, but they should be focusing on creating something completely unheard of rather than comparing themselves to others. There will never again be a band like The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin. There won’t be another Britney Spears, or another Madonna. Take Lady Gaga for example, She’s kind of like Madonna, she’s kind of like David Bowie, but she’s definitely 100% Lady Gaga and I think that’s exactly what makes her stand out from the crowd and has helped her achieve such enormous success. Notice that she recently caught a lot of heat for her song “Born This Way” being similar to Madonna’s “Express Yourself”? You can’t expect people to pay to watch the same movie twice, just like you can’t expect the people to respond favorably to music that they feel they’ve already heard.

     Well I think that calling it “The Dreaded Research Paper” was very appropriate. It’s getting closer and closer to the end of the semester and the stress is definitely starting to get to me. I feel like I have so much to do but so little time to do it. I have gone to the library and picked up a couple of books so I think that I have enough good sources to complete the page requirement. I haven’t written a whole lot quite yet but I’m hoping that once I get some tests and assignments done for other classes that I can really dive into the research paper and get going on it before it’s too late! I’ve written a couple of research papers before, but they were on much easier topics that didn’t require so much close attention. I really have to know what I’m talking about and I hope that I can do a good job on it because I am dying for a good grade in the class but it’s getting harder and harder to focus on school as summer rapidly approaches. I also work every day during the week so that just adds to load that I am taking on and sometimes it just gets to be too much for me.

     As of now, I’m just going to take it one day at a time and focus on the tasks at hand. I’ve learned that if I just breathe and go about completing things in a calm fashion that I can get more done and do a better job at it. As I often say, “I’ll figure it out”, I always do. At least I can say that I chose an interesting topic so it’s still dreadful but not horribly dreadful. I don’t think writing it will actually be that hard, I think it’s motivating myself to really focus and do it that’s the issue. I’m not too big on procrastinating because I like to enjoy my weekends and not having to worry about doing homework instead of relaxing but I might just have to suck it up and get to working on it this Sunday. I don’t think that I’m not the only one in the class that is feeling so overwhelmed right now and that makes me feel better. Actually, I feel the worst for Jennifer since she’s the one that has to grade them all! I could really never be a teacher, I have absolutely no patience. But anyway, good luck on your research papers and on finals! Summer will be here before you know it!

Technology

I think it is so crazy that we now live in a world that is so connected through the means of technology. We have the internet, cell phones, iPods, and devices like the iPhone which has all three of those things in one. I can’t help but wonder what is going to come next. Now it takes mere seconds to communicate with someone across the globe when years ago it would take months to send mail across the country! Or what about the fact that a decade ago the only way to buy music was to go the store and by a physical copy in the form of a CD, or better yet a cassette tape! Those times are far behind us and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us.

I think it’s safe to say that the “net and desktop manufacturers are making the average American kid a true citizen of the world” (196). There’s Twitter, and Facebook, Blogger, and Tumblr where kids can make friends with people from anywhere in the world. Borders don’t exist over the internet. One minute someone can upload a video onto YouTube and the next day it’s gone viral with millions of people having watched overnight. Actually one of my favorite videos on YouTube is a 1994 clip from NBC’s ‘Today’ show where Katie Couric is completely confused by the concept of the internet and can’t seem to understand exactly what it is. Seems ridiculous that it’s now almost twenty year later and even small children know what the internet is. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 31 percent of children age three and under are already using computers. Sixteen percent use them several times a week, 21 percent can point and click with a mouse by themselves, and 11 percent can turn on the computer without assistance.

However, there are some downfalls to all this exposure to technology. According to Leah Klungness, Ph. D., incessant exposure to "all day TV," violent video games, instant messaging, and the always accessible cell phone interferes with the development of the psychological traits known to be essential to positive outcomes for children. It’s a scary world out there and even though the internet is used to connect to people, you might connect with people that can be a danger to you and/or your family. It’s important that we know what are children are accessing through technology but it’s becoming harder and harder to monitor exactly what they’re doing when there’s at least one computer in every home and cell phones with internet capabilities are ubiquitous.

There are pros and there are cons to this greatly technological world we live in. The internet allows us to learn about everything and anything we can dream of with just a couple clicks of the mouse but it also provides a place for predators and cons to hide behind their screens. Kids can now be citizens of the world, but can also be exposed to things that they shouldn’t be exposed to. I wish I could say that technology has done nothing but benefit society, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case. We’ll just have to stay tuned and hope for the best.

Real Housewives

           Human beings are innately curious and inquisitive. That’s the reason toddlers always manage to get into the bathroom drawers and pour an entire bottle of lotion on themselves. Due to advances in technology, communicating, even with those on the other side of the world, is fast and easy. The human race is more interconnected and aware of each other than ever before. Humans like knowing what’s going on with other people and enjoy being able to see others’ lives unfolding right in front of their eyes. I believe that is why reality shows have been such a hit. People don’t want to a watch a scripted show with actors, when they can watch a show featuring “real” people. Think about it, celebrities aren’t just famous for their work anymore, they’re more known for their personal lives. Hence, our fascination with all those trashy gossip magazines and shows like E! News or Access Hollywood. Shoot, even the local news feels the need to report on the lives of reality show stars like those of MTV’s super hit, Teen Mom. We just love “being a fly on the wall”!

            To my chagrin, I cannot say that I too am not a fan of reality television. My favorite would be any of the shows from the Real Housewives franchise. There are currently seven different versions of the series which follow “the lives of relatively affluent, bourgeois housewives and professional women in the suburban or urban areas of several American cities, and the suffix portion of the title takes on the name of that city or suburban region” (“The Real Housewives of…”). There are currently Real Housewives shows in Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills and Miami. The Real Housewives of D.C. aired in 2010 but was discontinued due to low ratings. Although many say that Beverly Hills is the best of the seven because of their obvious wealth and high social status, I definitely like Orange County the best; they’ve got spunk! I think the reason so many people tune in every week is because they like to see how lifestyles change according to location. You can immediately see how they differ from one another, yet are the same in many ways. The similarities they share with one another are also things that real housewives of the United States can relate to. Such as motherhood, their jobs, divorce, etc. And of course, Americans love the drama!

            The Real Housewives shows manage to bring in millions of watchers and have consistently opened or closed seasons with high ratings. There’s even an aftershow which airs after every new episode hosted by the creator of the series, Andy Cohen. It’s called Watch What Happens: Live and they have a new guest every week. The housewives themselves are sometimes the guests or celebrities that watch the series come on to discuss what they thought of the night’s episode. The series has been a huge hit so far, and Bravo is striking while the iron’s hot and is in the process of filming three international installments in Athens, Israel, and Toronto. One of the housewives from New York City, Bethenny Frankel, even got her own spin-off show, Bethenny Ever After. I don’t personally believe that Americans have had quite enough yet of the women and there’s no sign of Bravo slowing down with production.

“The Real Housewives Of…”. Wikipedia. 28 Apr.2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Housewives>. 

I’ve always said that if I could trade lives with a celebrity for the day, I would be Snoop Dogg. Snoop is legendary and in my opinion, a pioneer in gangsta rap. He’s best known for being in the West Coast rap scene of the 90’s, as Dr. Dre’s protégé. You can’t really get much more gangsta than that. It’s exactly how gangsta he is that appeals to me. Twenty years later, he is still making and taking hits. Recently, however, he has taken more of a “music for entertainment” approach to his music but will forever be an icon.
 Snoop Dogg was born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. at Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California. “He is a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach, although he stated in 1993 that he never joined a gang. Shortly after graduating from high school, he was arrested for possession of cocaine. Snoop Dogg's conviction caused him to be frequently in and out of prison for the first three years after he graduated from high school. Snoop, along with his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead and friend Warren G, recorded homemade tapes as a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code at the time. When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg” (“Snoop Dogg”). He was heard by big time producer, Dr. Dre, who called to invite him to audition.
 “Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure.To fuel the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" and "Gin and Juice" reached the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months. Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others” (“Snoop Dogg”).
 Two decades later, he is still a successful recording artist and one of the most infamously gangsta rappers of them all. His most recent album, Doggumentary, was released in March, 2011. He now focuses on his family and coaches his son’s football team on his down time. Naturally, his life isn’t as gangsta as it once was, but there’s no way he and his songs will ever be forgotten. If you forget just how gangsta Snoop was, just put on “Gangsta Party” to remind yourself.

Snoop Dogg. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoop_Dogg>

The Eminem Show

“Not only is Eminem accepted as a supremely skillfull practitioner of rap, many say he is the salvation of an art form that they say has been corrupted by a focus on Bentleys, yachts, and Cristal Champagne” (144). I think this is one of the reasons that teenagers across the country praised Eminem for “keeping it real”.  Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, Eminem took the beginning of the 21st century by storm and became the number one selling rapper in the country; Quite a feat for a 30 year old white guy from a suburb of Detroit. Mathers doesn’t rap about all the money he has to spend on Ferraris and Patron or walk around with a blinged out grill on his teeth. He raps about his life and his feelings very skillfully and a way that many can relate to.  “You don’t see him wearing thousand-pound gold chains encrusted with ice,” 17 year old, Manuary Reyes, said of Eminem. “He’s always dressed regular in sweats like us. The sweats might cost more, but he ain’t frontin’. He’s not rapping about clothes, cars, and jewelry like all those other rappers. He’s rapping about life-you know, stuff that we go through out here. Some of it’s a goof. But some of it’s real, and it sounds like it comes from the heart, you know. A lot of us can relate to that” (144).

“Eminem is better than the best. In his own way, he is the best lyricist, alliterator and enunciator out there in hip-hop music. In terms of rapping about the pain that other disenfranchised people feel, there is no one better at their game than Eminem” (145).  Eminem is what I would describe as raw. He goes there, he says exactly what is on his mind and it usually has a hard edge to it. He uses his lyrics very skillfully and uses words to alleviate the pain that he and his fans feel.  Mathers divulges a lot of personal information in his songs. His album, The Eminem Show, describes his depressing childhood with a brutal parent and the hatred he has for his mother for not being loving or supportive. He pledges to never do that to his own daughter, Halie. You could say he has angry appeal and the fact that Dr. Dre was his mentor gave him credibility from the get go, but it was his unique touch that made him what he is. “It’s the kind of music that makes you stop and say, ‘Is this dude for real?’; He’s not like everybody else” (147). Lastly, teenagers love that Eminem is controversial. It almost seems that his albums have become even more controversial as time goes on.  Many elected officials and public figures have had bad things to say about the rapper, describing him as “vulgar, degenerate, homophobic, antisocial, misogynistic and ‘noise and mind pollution’” (146). What they need to understand is that that’s what teenagers love about him. Everybody loves a rebel, especially adolescents.

Lady Gaga

David Bowie was able to achieve cult status in the early 70s because he created a sexually ambiguous image for himself and played it up with makeup, dyed hair, and nonconventional futuristic-like clothing. He was successful at “confounding the images” and free of gender in a way and therefore was pushing the limits in ways that had never been pushed before. Another artist that is known for pushing the limits in extremely similar ways is Stefani Germanotta. You may know her as Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga released her first album, The Fame, in 2008 after many years in New York working as a songwriter for Interscope Records. The album included the singles “Just Dance” featuring popular rapper Akon and “Poker Face”. It was a commercial success and the album reached number one on the charts in six countries and she quickly became a world-wide success. She released a follow-up album, The Fame Monster, in 2009 and it also went on to top the charts with songs like “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” featuring Beyonce. “Her second studio album, Born This Way, is scheduled for release on May 23, 2011 after the arrival of its eponymous lead single "Born This Way" which achieved the number-one spot in countries worldwide and was the fastest-selling single in iTunes history, selling one million copies in five days”.

Lady Gaga has said many times in various interviews that she has been inspired by glam rock artists like David Bowie, Elton John, and Queen and also by pop singer Madonna. Her stage name was actually inspired by the song Radio Ga Ga by Queen and she is infamous for having an odd somewhat Avant-garde sense of style which she herself creates with the Haus of Gaga, a group of stylists and designers that work on her projects. She has worn a dress made out of meat which caused lots of controversy and even appeared at the 53^rd Grammy awards earlier this year in an “embryo-shaped incubator”, or what many referred to as an egg. In 2009, Gaga was rumored to be intersex and responded by saying, “At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny”, on a Barbara Walters special that aired on ABC.

Gaga claims that she is trying to incorporate performance art into the mainstream but critical reception of her persona, music, and fashion sense are mixed. In my opinion, she brought something new to the table for the current generation which is why she became such a huge phenomenon so quickly. I also have to say though, that she is not original, or the first one to do what she is doing but she has said who were influences were and I’m glad she did a good job of reinventing what Bowie did in the early 70s as well as recreating the appeal of Madonna in the 80s. She’s different and although I’m sure not everyone is a fan of her outlandish style, there are plenty of people out there who are inspired by her message and in return have helped her break records and win five Grammy awards amongst 12 nominations to date.

Lady Gaga. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga>

2Pac

I wrote about Tupac Shakur in a previous blog post in order to illustrate how generation after generation a new form of music arises and the general public always seems to be outraged by it while younger members of society take to it and interestingly enough are actually responsible for the artist becoming so popular in the first place. I can remember being little and having older cousins in high school who would bump Tupac in their cars everywhere they went. Although I didn’t know who he was or the names of any of his songs at the time, perhaps this is where my current appreciation for him and his music came from. In my opinion, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight, Dr. Dre and other old school rappers of the 90’s are what could only be described as the original gangsters of the industry.

Although Shakur was very well known and incredibly successful as an artist, there were also many downfalls to his fame. He left behind a legacy in the form of lyrics which were grossly misinterpreted by the media and other members of older generations who just didn’t get it. The media has served to tarnish Tupac's image, masking the true worth of his work. Many classified Tupac as just another angry black male, a thug, who advocated violence. “In 1992, a Texas state trooper was killed by a teenager who was listening to 2Pacalypse Now which included songs about killing police. This caused a swirl of media controversy. Dan Quayle, the Vice President of the United States at the time, demanded that the album be withdrawn from music stores and media across the country; Interscope refused. Shakur claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against law enforcement. Quayle publicly denounced the album as having ‘no place in our society’” (Wikipedia, Tupac Shakur).

What Tupac really wanted though was change. He wanted to stand up and rebel against those who stereotyped him as just another thug. He did a lot more than just entertain through his music; he used it as a vehicle for his message, to be heard and speak to young black Americans about the injustices they are up against. He was actually quite poetic and also had songs like “Dear Mama” in which he describes his love for his single mother who raised him. In fact, Tupac thought very highly of women; he raps, “since we all came from a women, got our name from a women, and our game from a women. I wonder why we take from women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it’s time we killed for our women, be real to our women, try to heal our women, cuz if we don’t, we'll have a race of babies that will hate the ladies, who make the babies. And since a man can't make one he has no right to tell a women when and where to create one” in one of his more popular songs, Keep Ya Head Up.

In September of 1996, Shakur was shot four times and died seven days later in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many dispute that he is dead, insisting that he faked his death in order to escape the music industry and all the negativity fame seemed to have brought him. I highly recommend watching “Tupac: Resurrection”, a documentary on Shakur and his impact on the world.

14 March 2011

Dear Editor:

I found the article in Music and Culture titled “It’s Easy, but Wrong, to Blame the Music” by Hilary Rosen, to be very interesting but I also have some qualms regarding Rosen herself. It seems obvious that she would be in favor of music regardless of content, and even more obvious that she would claim that music isn’t the cause of anger or violence amongst young Americans but merely a reflection of their feelings. I mean, she was the chief executive officer of the Recording Industry of America from 1998 to 2003 and a prominent spokesperson for the music industry founding programs like “Rock the Vote” and “Stop the Violence”. She is the face of the music industry, so of course she would be opposed to admit that maybe explicit language, sexuality, and violence in lyrics could have an effect on children.

However, I do like that she has made an effort to combat the violence, drug use, and other problems young people now face by founding and supporting programs that help encourage positive action in their communities. For example, the Drug-Free America campaign with artists was a very influential movement and really helped bring awareness to the issue in a way that adolescents were open to. Although I do not agree that the music industry is completely without blame for increasing violence and other societal issues, I do like that Rosen mentioned parents and their roles in preventing their children from listening to things that do not approve of. In my opinion, parental locks on televisions and computers are crucial as well as being aware of what your children are listening to and their feelings. Chances are, your child is listening to heavy metal all day and dressing in black because they are in the midst of teenage angst. Know your children and use music as a tool for opening lines of communication with them.

People are indeed influenced by their surroundings. I find it hard to believe that someone could even say that the media doesn’t infiltrate our brains or that it may affect how we feel and think. In fact, “Children, Violence, and the Media: A Report for Parents and Policy Makers”, also in Music and Culture by Anna Tomasino(62), is a government report that provides statistics and other data on media violence and how it has had detrimental effects on society. The media is definitely not completely at fault for the world’s evils but it could do a better job of steering in a more positive direction knowing their influence on children. “Not every child who watches a lot of violence or plays a lot of violent games will grow up to be violent. Other forces must converge, as they did recently in Colorado. But just as every cigarette increases the chance that someday you will get lung cancer, every exposure to violence increases the chances that someday a child will behave more violently than they otherwise would”(67). It is important that the media take some social responsibility but also important to stop playing the blame game.  

Alexis Martinez

Punk rock = abjection?

In the mid-70’s, punk rock bands had become a major cultural phenomenon, especially in the United Kingdom. The Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Clash had made it big with their anti-establishment lyrics and fast edgy music. Punk rock was mainly geared toward those who rejected any association with the mainstream. Punk rockers usually played shows in local or underground venues where a punk subculture then emerged, expressing youthful rebellion with distinct haircuts and style and an anti-authority way of life.

      The general public, however, was not very fond of these so-called punk rockers and their message. According to Paul Cobley, the press took abjection (vomit, snot, spitting, menstrual blood, fetishism, obscenity, perversion, violence, and unreason) and made it synonymous with punk rock. The funny part is that the press featured these bands in their newspaper articles as reprehensible and filthy, but it only brought more attention to the punk rockers and provided more appeal for youngsters in the midst of teenage rebellion.

      Those that were appalled by the “moral depravity” of punk rock were mostly of older generations. Of course parents didn’t want their children listening to punk rock and being a part of the new twisted culture that they not only didn’t understand but were against. Punk-rock was new, something different than had never been on the scene before and the press was magnifying its appeal to adolescents and young adults who wanted nothing more than the opportunity to be rebellious. The rise of punk rock isn’t the only time nor genre that has caused panic amongst parents and the older members of the population.

In the 1990’s, rap music became very popular with the rise of artists like Tupac Shakur(2Pac), Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Notorious B.I.G. “In 1992, a Texas state trooper was killed by a teenager who was listening to 2Pacalypse Now which included songs about killing police. This caused a swirl of media controversy. Dan Quayle, the Vice President of the United States at the time, demanded that the album be withdrawn from music stores and media across the country; Interscope records refused. Shakur claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against law enforcement. Quayle publicly denounced the album as having "no place in our society”.” (“Tupac Shakur”, Wikipedia).
As you can see, every decade or so there is the rise of something new in music. A new genre makes it big because it’s different; out with the old, in with the new. Young people, who are very impressionable, immediately take to it while parents are outraged. Times change and therefore music changes with it. Parents who listened to music of the 70’s and 80’s are appalled by the suggestive lyrics their children are now listening to just like their parents were of the music they listened to. It’s all a matter of a generation gap and the inability of older people to get out of their ways. Remember, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Deaf

Bloom’s ideas on rock music are that it is decreasing the morality of children by allowing them access music that is highly suggestive which may lead to sex, violence, or drug use. Or at least this is what I understood his article to be about in Music and Culture. In my opinion, he makes a very valid point. Before, music wasn’t so easily accessible to kids and it was wholesome. Now that we have the internet and the invention of iPods and CDs, music is everywhere. There are radios in every car, television channels dedicated to music, and there’s even music being played in elevators or when you are on hold. It’s like the world doesn’t know how to function in silence, like we need to be constantly amidst chaos. Perhaps if music was the same as it was in the 1940’s it wouldn’t be considered so detrimental to youngsters. Unfortunately, today’s music is saturated with profanity, sexually suggestive lyrics, and references to drug use. Are these the kind of messages we should be sending to the people in control of society’s future?

Children of today learn early on that being successful means being rich, beautiful and famous thanks to the media and glamorization of celebrity. Working hard at an ordinary job isn’t what kids are aspiring to anymore. They want it all and they want it now. Bloom wrote that because students "cannot hear what the great tradition has to say," they "find they are deaf." I think this means that Bloom wants today’s youth to appreciate all the work older generations put in to pave the way for them. Our parents and grandparents worked very hard to achieve the American dream and they did it not just for themselves but to ensure that their children would have greater opportunities. Regrettably, young Americans are commonly without a strong work ethic and a proper education. They expect everything to come easy and fast just like everything else in today’s world. Nonetheless, whose responsibility is it to make sure that children “hear what the great tradition has to say”?

I’m sure many people, especially rock stars, would disagree with Bloom’s ideas. I personally agree with his ideas but I do think that today’s youth is not completely hopeless or “deaf” as he put it. If parents practiced instilling good morals and ethic in their children the world would be a better place. I know that there are good parents out there that are showing their children how to “hear”. Monitoring what kind of music your children are listening to, shows they’re watching, and internet sites they access is very important and your right as a parent. We should be teaching children by example what it is to be a good person with strong work ethic and respectable morals. Encourage them to partake in extra-curricular activities, go to church, help others, and be the best they can be. We cannot just turn a blind eye to parental responsibility and blame it all on society and the media.

Ways of Communication

I like to think that I am a spontaneous fun person. I like being on the go and having places to be, things to do, and people to see. I like living adventurously. I do things somewhat impulsively at times but so far nothing too bad has happened as a result of that. My idea of communicating with friends and family is by doing things with them. I go out with my friends to parties or to a friend’s house to hang out because that’s how I communicate that they are important to me. I go shopping with my mom or help her cook and that’s how we bond. My father and I like to go out to eat and travel to different parts of the world. As you can see, I do different things with different people depending on what it is we have in common. The point, however, is that they know I want to spend time with them.

I communicate how much I love people with how much time I spend with them. How I see it, if I didn’t care for you why would I spend a vast majority of my time with you? I have a limited amount of free time and there are lots of things I need to get around to in any given week. Relationships need to be nurtured and require real effort from both parties in order to maintain it, I know that. I have to spend my time wisely in order to balance my social life with school. But, I always make sure I spend even just a couple of hours with those that are important to me.

There are many different ways that people communicate, like through sports or music. Like Mr. Dara said, "When we get together, there's no words thrown away, no idle talk. We'll sit down, play drums, and just conversate musically". I have lots of friends who play instruments. When I hang out with these friends they usually all have their guitars in tow and end up “jamming” at least once before the end of the night. Other people like playing basketball, baseball, or hockey with their friends and bond over their common interest in the sport they play. If you don’t have any hobbies or talents like sports or music, you can do what I do. I use my personal/social life to communicate with others. I like to get friends together and go out to eat, to the movies, to a party, to the beach, wherever! The possibilities are endless! A good thing to remember is that there is no “right” way to communicate.

Making Connections (In response to prompt 1)

If a stranger were to take a look at the music library on my computer he or she would probably be a little confused. I don't listen to just one type or genre of music. In fact, if you looked at my playlists you would notice that I make each playlist according to genre or band. When I listen to music, I like to listen to one type of music at a time. It's actually kind of weird.

Some days I wake up in a very relaxed mellow mood and I end up just listening to reggae all day. Other days, I may be be really excited about something and want to be super pumped up so I blast techno. You see, I go through phases. Sometimes the phase may last a day, a week, or even months. It all just depends on my mindset.

As you age, you grow both physically and mentally. Your mindset changes as you go through different stages in your life. My musical choices have also changed as I went through those different stages. There are a lot of artists in my music library that I haven't listened to since I was in high school. It's like their albums are just there collecting virtual dust. I have thought of just deleting the music files, knowing that I will probably never want to listen to it again since my taste in music is now so different, but I can't bring myself to do that. I think it's because every time I see it there in my library I might not want to actually listen to it, but it reminds of when all I did was listen to that band or that type of music. It reminds me of a different time in my life.

For example, rock bands like Armor for Sleep, Senses Fail, Dance Gavin Dance and Hit the Lights are all bands I saw perform at Warped Tour in Ventura, Ca when I was a sophomore in high school. Listening to their songs takes me back to that day. Almost like a mental slide show. I remember what I was wearing, who I was there with, the crowd, how excited I was to see them perform, everything. That is what is so great about music; it represents eras. Just like listening to The Beatles reminds you of the 60's or what you could at least imagine the 60's were like if you weren't alive yet. This is why I can't just delete the files, stop wasting iTunes space, and call it a day. It would be like looking through my yearbook and tearing out the pages. Memories would be thrown away.

I know that I may be into one particular kind of music right now, but that I will soon be on to something else. Why? Because soon I will also be in a different place in my life. Whether it be new friends, a new career, or new surroundings, the end result is always just a “new” me. Well, a new STAGE of me, and the music I will be listening will represent that stage. I can't wait until I am fifty and I can look back at how much my musical choices have changed throughout my lifetime.

Music

Music has played a substantial role in my life. My parents are not only loud individuals when they speak, but like to be in loud environments and they have successfully passed the trait on to me. My dad is known to blast music as early as 8:00am and sometimes not only wake me, but the entire neighborhood. Some of my earliest memories are of my father and I going to concerts or singing along to the radio in the car. I still love turning up the volume and belting out lyrics when I'm on the road! My mom is actually constantly surprised by how many songs I know the words to. My taste in music is all across the board. From country to rap. I enjoy it all! I think it's more so the lyrics of the song and if it catches my attention than the genre that attracts me. I am often looking to attend concerts and music events when possible. I was actually just recently trying to purchase a ticket to Coachella but they sold out before I got the chance. Coachella, for those of you who don't know, is a 3 day music festival that takes place near Indio, California every year. I can't believe they sold out of tickets so quickly but I suppose there is always next year! It's probably for the best anyway...I shouldn't be spending 300 dollars on "events" right now.

My boyfriend introduced me to a band he discovered, Rebelution, a couple of years ago after a trip he took to Santa Barbara. Most would consider their genre to be reggae. They are a perfect example of how music has directly influenced me and my life. A few of their songs are "Bright Side of Life", "Feeling Alright", and "Courage to Grow". They have made me see life in a completely different way than before and have inspired me to be a true optimist and to never take anything for granted. I have seen them live twice and am going to another show of theirs on April 2 for my birthday.

Music has influenced so much that I even have a tattoo that represents peace, love, and music.

 

It's fascinating how artists such as Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry have become world-wide megastars and that their music is something that not only English-speaking people can relate to. Music crosses borders with ease and impacts every culture. My family members in Mexico have many of the same songs on their Ipods as I have on mine. Music is something that people bond over and sometimes the root of friendships. For example, one of my good friends plays guitar, and he started a band with classmates from high school. The band didn't go very far, but he is still friends with the band members and still invites them over at times so they can "jam". I think learning about about music may possibly change my views on the matter or maybe even enlighten me on new or different types of music. I could possibly even be inspired to learn how to play an instrument!