The Grand Finale!

Well I’m glad that summer is around the corner and spring semester is about to be over. Its felt like the semester has been going on forever. Even though it wasn’t that long. I am happy that I decided to take English 101 online. I was a bit indecisive at first because I had heard many negative comments about the class. I also thought there was going to be a ton of work to complete. But I saw for myself that this online course wasn’t so bad and the work was very easy. Professor Gross was very helpful and understanding throughout this semester. I have a wider perspective on peoples opinions on music and their views. I liked the discussions that we had on music because it was interesting to know what everyone had to say. I found it interesting ti understand other’s opinions as well. The blogs were very helpful in communicating with others and to learn different concepts on music. Aside from the many topics that we have gone through as a class I found the different writing techniques to be more successful towards my writing skills. I think the scratch outline, the blogs, and the discussions were a great practice towards writing. They have helped my writing structure along with being able to extend my vocabulary usage. I enjoyed the essay questions in from the readings because it has developed and improved my critical thinking skills. I believe I did a great in answering the questions to the best of my abilities. I found the thesis statement tutorials to be very helpful. the breakdown of how an essay should be written was also important to me and I have based all my writing on it. The different handouts that were made available were also helpful. Especially the handout on how to create a works cited page. That was helpful because I wasn’t so sure on how to do that. Also on learning what internet source is useful and which one is not has helped me to determine which site would be trustworthy on academic papers. As a community I believe we did an all right job to stay civil with each others opinions and views on different topics. I like how no one had an altercation based on what we thought in our blogs. It was a great sense of community. The work that we did this semester was a little intense and very time consuming but it was easy to get done. I had to push myself to do it of course. It was hard to stay on task considering that you work on your time when it comes to online courses. But I liked the suggested week outline of how things should be done. It helped a lot. I also believe the different essays that we did were hard but it helped to develop my writing skills. This English class was overall a great one and probably one of the easiest ones that I have had. I really enjoyed taking this online class. 

My Improvements

Throughout this course I have improved my writing skills a bit. I learned new strategies such as the scratch outline that has been vital in collecting the information that I needed to remember. I learned to organize my thoughts and views in proper order. I also learned how to do block quotes which is necessary to know when you want to cite a long quote. I found that my spelling has improved as well. I can now catch my mistakes much easily now.  I used to repeat some of my points and now i have learned to slow that down. I feel that if I go through my writing a few times instead of just once I can catch a lot more errors than I used to. I also thought the blogging was a great way for the class to communicate with each other. The various different blogs were very interesting in reading because everyone had either a different opinion or the same view. It was a great way to build up my typing skills as well as being able to read long essays. At first I wasn’t so fond with the blogging because it seemed time consuming to me. Soon afterwards I found it to be very easily because what I had to say just came flying out. My blogs were complete in no time. I was a bit sketchy about taking an online course at first but with my busy schedule it had to suffice. I was a little afraid that I might fall behind on my work or I met get lost in the midst of the course. Instead I found it easier since it works around my schedule and I am able to complete my assignments with much ease. What made this course so difficult for me was when I became ill. It was very hard to have the urge and the energy to keep blogging or read the assigned essays. However, I did my best to try and finish my work. I’m just glad that this course is coming to an end. It felt as though the semester had just started and now it is almost over. I feel good about this course coming to an end because I won’t have to worry so much about completing my assignments on time. 

I feel that this course was a great experience for me. It was useful in many ways and it shows me how easy it is to work on your own schedule. It showed me to become more of a responsible person. By being aware of when my assignments were due. I almost mastered that part. I feel this course helped my writing skills tremendously because I worked on my own time and I had enough time to figure out my flaws and learn to better my skills. Also the recommended schedule to complete my work was helpful to keep me on the right track of things. I will be taking more online classes next semester because of my hectic schedule. I just hope they will be as easy as this one.

Culture vs. Craft

One of the biggest divides in hip hop is culture versus craft. By culture I mean, the appearance an artist will reflect to their fans by the quality of their music. By craft, it’s mainly about the lyrics and how powerful the rhymes an artist can put together are. Many famous artists believe that they should have the appearance of hip hop culture rather than worry about what they have to say. They try out new things in their songs by imitating the beat with their voice. Its what they use to stay creative and to keep their fans to continue on listening. They also take the approach to ignore their voice and focus on the sound of the music. The artists who choose culture over craft pay less attention to their voice and more attention to the music. Other artists would rather worry about what they have to say. They mainly focus on their lyrics and figure out what words go together to make their song powerful. Although, I believe a true hip hop artist has to be motivating, lyrically speaking, rather then worry about creative new ideas to make their music presentable. This divide between craft and culture is a never ending story. There are various artists who go in both directions to suit whatever their hip hop image is. When a hip hop artist does use their creativity to emphasize their music, it can sound great but the words are just irrelevant. I do think that the lyrics of the song are of more importance because it grabs your attention more than the awkward noises and bizarre voices. People can choose to listen to a song that emphasizes their creativity but have absolutely no idea what the artist is trying to say. I would rather listen to a song where I can relate to or where there’s an impressive story in the rhymes. I’m not saying using creativity in their songs is bad because it can be catchy when you listen to it. Those types of songs catch your attention because of the beat and the rhythm. However, the choice of words are important. The choice of words is what helps you determine whether the artist is great or not. If an artist can pull words together and make a great song it shows that they are passionate for the world of hip hop. It also shows that they are very much capable of maintaining their status in the hip hop world. The things that hip hop artists choose to rap about is what ranks them to be number one or become at the bottom of the list. Aside from hip hop artists being able to rhyme it also matters what beat they use. The beat helps to emphasize the lyrics, it helps the words to flow together. This shows that craft and culture do not necessarily need to be separate from each other. Many artists choose to use both. This growing divide can change the way that people interpret the world of music. Rapping will always have a role in hip hop but it is up to the artist on which route to choose. 

Research Paper

The research paper is the largest paper so far. The worst issue I’m having so far is getting quality information. With people being able to post anything on the internet it has become very tiring sifting through all mis-representated information. With being sick the last couple weeks it has been real hard to put the needed time into it. I have put all my paragraphs together and set up my paper. I plan to finish my paper within the next week. I am currently working on the completion of my work cited page and my in text citations. I have overcome a couple obstacles while writing the paper. One of the biggest was I didn’t save my paper and the power went out mid paper and the whole thing was lost. That was the biggest issue I have encountered so far. Other than that finding the credible websites has been the other biggest problem. It’s funny how people can just post a bunch of non-sense or opinionated information that only shows half the information. I have been trying to keep everything on track to make sure it’s done on time. Time is the biggest obstacle I think I have had to deal with. With everyday life and work and my current health issues having pneumonia it has caused a wrench to be thrown into my schedule. But hopefully after I get caught up with the homework I will be able to get this paper finished. The paper being five pages with five citations hasn’t been difficult to complete as the information I have found has been more tha n enough to get me started. The first draft is pretty rough as I’m just getting the information on paper then will re-arrange it. I have completed my scratch outline which has really helped me see what the actual organization of the paper will be. I found that breaking down my paper into segments helped me get it completed faster and with more detail. With the class now coming to a close and only two weeks left I find it harder and harder to stay focused. The semester has been very trying and challenging. I have learned so much in the class and trying to use it all on this paper. Hopefully it will meet the standard set as I have invested lots into it in regards to lost sleep that is. This paper to me has been more of a marathon that a sprint. Long drawn lots of re-writes and corrections have helped me get this paper almost done. The research paper has been a worthy challenge but with my eye set on getting it completed I set myself up for success and not failure. 

No One Eats For Free

Internet Piracy is one of the largest theft rings in the world today. It use to be  before the internet that you would by the * track or the tape or Lp and obtain music that way. But now you can go online and download anything you want for free. The file sharing industry has basically broken the music industry. All it takes is one person to upload a song into a file sharing site and a unimaginable amount of people can download the song. The sales of CD’s has dropped dramatically due to this problem. The only way to stop this problem is to eliminate the file sharing sites. But this is far from realistic because  it seems like four more open when another one gets shut down. Plus even if we were able to some how stop the file sharing online would we really stop people from burning a copy of a CD for there friends. Yes  its true they say  they put a block on the CD so people can’t burn a copy but I know there are geeks out there who break the lock and start burning copies. To me this is a never ending war. It reminds me of the war on drugs. It is not possible to control what every person does all the time. Crooks will find a way to continue to break the law. The fact is there are too many people in to many countries to stop this from happening. The internet gets hacked seems like monthly anymore and a credit card company sends a were sorry letter to the customer informing that some of there information may have been obtained. This is closely linked with how music is being stolen basically. But the one that is really affected is the artist. The artist is the one not benefiting from their music being sold to customers because people can get it only for free. Which reminds me of a saying I learned growing up “ No one eats for free”. That is so true because the theft of the music not only effects the artist and label and producer and all the underlying people who make money off the song but if no one is buying the music then the people trying to sell the CD like Best Buy , Target and Wal-Mart don’t need to employ people to sell it. So the people who are stealing it affect the whole water fall of people for downloading a CD. And for the most part the people who are downloading it for free are the ones working at the Best Buy, Targets and Wall-Marts. So they are only hurting themselves in the long run. Maybe if people would stop trying to get everything for nothing then we wouldn’t have all the issue we have today  in regards to lost jobs and to failing companies. Remember this if nothing else “no one eats for free”.

The Ultimate TV Show

The show Ultimate fighter comes to mind when I think about reality shows. Maybe because it is more real life than all the rest. To survive on this show you must actually win in a cage fight.  If that is reality I don’t know what is. Now true shows like survivor and the apprentice are entertaining but I get this feeling like they are rigged some way.  Now on the other hand you have the UFC fairly new as a recognized sport and growing fans by the thousands daily  who come out with a show  where guys who want a shot in the professional MMA world come and just beat on each other until just one man is left is just great as a viewer to watch. For me it is like watch a college sport verse a pro sport. The pro guys already have the big contract and fame where as the college kids are killing themselves day in and day out to achieve the dream of being a pro. So the appeal for this show is that , guys killing there body day in and day out training so that they might get that contract at the end of the show. It also shows a little bit of history about the contestants and they tell why they chose to come on the show and what it means for them to be there. A lot of the guys left there jobs and families in hope of making it so that they can better there families situation. People as a viewing community eat this type of stuff up and get emotionally attached and tune in every week just  to see what happens next. The show has now been around for six years and continues to grow just like the sport does. So maybe it seemed in the beginning like it might be a season or two long show but as long as the fights keep getting scheduled then I believe the show will continue. People compare the sport  to a modern day Roman Gladiator event. And I would agree. These guys are warriors. They fight with broken bones , dislocated joints and knowingly fight with a chance of death. The public knowing this comes together like a pack of wolves stalking a injured animal. The crowed always wants more. Now the show has gone International and has brought fans from all over the world. So as the sport ages and grows it seems that it controls it’s own destiny with  regards to the TV show.  There is no lack of support form fans or sponsors who‘s list includes very high profile companies like Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Pepsi, Coke, Red Bull and Monster. There are also smaller companies that sponsor fighters and get adds right on the fighters shorts. So the sport is well rounded in including small and large sponsorships. So all in all the sport will be around for as long as there  is a want to see people bash each others brains in.

Reality Based Lyrics

 Eminem has gained a lot of popularity and fame over the past ten years. He has crossed the poverty line to his current status of super stardom. Eminem has done so because he speaks about real life events. His lyrical value is more than words just on paper. Eminem has done what no other artist of this current generation has done by crossing all gender and race lines. His fans are not just White because he is but his fallowing has just as many Blacks and Hispanics. His words allow you to place yourself in his shoes and feel in your soul what he is talking about. The reality based lyrics he uses only strengthens his crowd. His songs talk about situations we all can relate with. He is not your typical phony thug that talks about how much drugs he moves or about how many people he has killed when we all know it’s just a lie. But he talks about being white and growing up in the projects and how because he overcame the obstacles of being a white rapper. He talks about the love for his daughter and how he had no father growing up and was always moving because his mother couldn’t afford to pay for rent. These are real life situations that people are living everyday and kids can understand what he has gone through because they have had the same experiences. In these troubled times kids don’t have much to lean on but music offers a way to escape the current situation and while connecting to Eminem kids are able to feel in a sense like they are not going through it alone.  One song mentioned in our text talks about the song “ cleaning out my closet”. This song to me at least touches home because I grew up in a single family home on that it was my father that was around and my mother was gone. Everyone has skeletons in there closet and it might be how they grew up like in the instance of Eminem. The ability to relate to his audience using his real life lyrics is what makes the biggest difference between Eminem and an artist like Ludacris. Not to knock on the music that Ludacris puts out but its more aimed toward the club scene and not to relating with fans. I believe that is why Eminem has such a huge fallowing, because when the club ends kids put on a Eminem CD and start cruising to that music not the music aimed at making people dance. The real situations, emotions and feelings is what drives the rage in Eminem and it is also what reminds us listeners of how we felt and or what we did in those situations. He is one of the few rappers I actually listen to because I do and can relate with the songs he writes and sings. I don’t listen to it because I think I am a thug or want to be something I’m not but listen to it because I remember times I had in my life that were real similar to what he’s is singing.

Bridging Cultures Through Music

 After reading Beatrice Aaronson’s account this week in our readings there was several things I agreed with and several things I didn’t agree with. The topic of the dance floor bridging together different cultures is one that I do agree with. People are able to gather together and just listen to music and dance. The great thing about clubs is they are usually specific to the type of group they attract.  So if I like hip-hop and want to go dance to that type of music then I wouldn’t be showing up at a country line dance bar. So you always know ahead of time what your getting yourself into and if there are groups you don’t want to associate with you don’t have to.  And yes there might be an occasional fight but that is due to the consumption of alcohol.  It’s great to just go dance with friends and meet people at a club. People from all over the place and all different types of ethnicities come to just have a good time. The common focal point that brings everyone together is music. This is why I agree with what was  about the dance floor becoming the so called virtual reality. It doesn’t matter well at least at most places if you are black , white or brown. Dancing and the music that is played is not racially specific. The dance floor lets cultures interact with out having to worry about the outside world. Race doesn’t rule the dance floor the dance floor rules races. I have danced with girls from all kinds of backgrounds. And yet  as I would normally not congregate with them outside the club because I would stick out like a sore thumb at the club there are no boundaries.  This is why I agree with what Aaronson is saying because I have seen it with my own eyes. Music is a very powerful tool and when you include dancing with it there is really nothing stronger to break tension between groups. Some people go to the club to dance because they want to hangout with a variety of people  that in their normal everyday groups might not include. Each  group of  races has been generalized into what different type of music they like and like to dance to. Which I think is crazy. But as its presented to use whites are tagged with country and line dancing  and Asians and Europeans  are tagged with the rave techno music and Hispanics with the ranchera music and blacks with hip-hop. Now me personally love hip-hop and the different beats and artist but I also like a little techno. Techno is just different it is just different lines of sounds intertwining to create a song. Which I think is great because no two songs are alike. With hip-hop you get these young guys that want to steal the beats from songs that were real popular back in the day and just totally butcher them. But this is why I think dancing helps people get along  and lets different cultures interact.

Hated by the Press

When I think of a musician that has been portrayed in a negative light by the press over the years I think Of Ozzy. Ozzy has been  blamed for more criminal behavior over the past twenty years than any other artist in rock. During the eighties he was even blamed for coercing a young man to commit suicide. The young mans parent’s attorney  went to the lengths of saying  if you play suicide solution  backwards and at half the regular playing speed  Ozzy tells people to get a gun and shoot themselves. If this wasn’t the biggest joke I have ever heard of. I have heard the song more than fifty times and not one time felt like the song wanted me to kill myself. The family  drug this law suit on for months and Ozzy had to defend what he wrote and explain what he meant. After months he was let go with no charges but what happened  to our first amendment rights. Isn’t freedom of speech  just that free to say what ever you want. To the press it sure isn’t. After that incident   the press said Ozzy was a follower of the devil and should be banned from performing in the US. They attacked him because he was different. He wasn’t the Beatles or the Stones with their matching attire and very proper stature. Ozzy was a poor boy from England. He brought music that wasn’t for all the little school girls to enjoy. Ozzy brought a kick you in the face style of rock that not everyone approved of.  People hadn’t given him a chance ever since he bit the head off a real dove. This was in part to his future wife advising him to let a couple doves go to show he wasn’t  such a wreck loose. But the poor guy ended up bighting the head of the bird and further sending his career into a spiral with the media. But as we all see today  he is one of the most well known and well respected artist of his era. All the so called bad press just kept his name in the lime light and people kept wondering who is this guy and buying an album to see what all the commotion was about.  But even today thirty years later the press still tries to make him look bad or like a fool as they try and say he is a drug user and is hooked on drugs. Then a week later they print their front page story retraction noting that Ozzy was prescribed all this medicine by a licensed physician . Later to print how Ozzy was a victim of a drug pushing Doctor that wanted to keep Ozzy drugged twenty four  hours a day ,seven  days a week. But never the less Ozzy takes it all in good stride and still puts on a kick butt concert for all his fans, because he says he loves entertaining people. That sure doesn’t sound like a crazy killer to me but what do I know, I don’t work for the media.

Parental Advisory Thoughts

Record companies are responsible to a certain extent to provide the listener with the knowledge of what is on the CD or Tape. But to think that they hold the sole responsibility of who is buying the music is crazy. Maybe we should put some parental advisories on children instead. Maybe if the parent was more involved in the child’s life this wouldn’t be an issue.  But why blame the parenting when it is much more convenient  to blame someone who will never be in contact with your child like a record company. It’s sad  to say but the little sticker on a music CD or even a comedy  CD just makes kids want it more. I see it as telling people smoking will kill you . Do people stop no way they keep on puffing that stuff into there lungs. The record companies have it the worst I think. Not only does their music get ripped off by  people trading music online with millions of people, but then when they do what the law requires and advise people there are lyrics that your five year old shouldn’t be listening to on the CD people buy it and play it in front of the kids that was suppose to be protected. It truly is a joke. On a serious note, the other day I’m driving and see a mother with two cute little babies in the back of a car and she has some foul mouth rapper blasting in the car. I thought I was at a concert it was so loud. Now after reading this assignment I can only laugh and think of this lady  yelling at a town hall meeting saying her babies shouldn’t have to listen to such  vulgar music. Parental advisory stickers on the CD just jump out at a kid and say buy me. I think It is a little bit of reverse psychology myself. Since the beginning of time with Adam and Eve they were told do not eat from a certain tree. Well we all know how that ended up right and if you don’t well they ended up eating the fruit. If the music was such a problem they would sell it like movie stores sell porn. No one under eighteen right. And it would be all weird to go buy it because everyone one knows what’s in that area. But with music it is the exact opposite. The worst music is right when you come in the door’s of the store. It attracts the attention of all the people that walk in to the store as well as their children. And when little Johnnie Sue asks mommy can you buy me this and they say no  at that very section their tiny brain says we have to have it now.  So yes I do believe the record companies do what they are required to do and if people don’t like it then my advice is to get involved with your child and write your congressman. Stop being lazy parents and take care of your children.

The twisted reality of music

Since as far back as I can remember each generation puts down the fallowing generations type of music. Watching the history channel not long ago I saw a special on Elvis. People that were not young enough to be in the crowd that praised this icon said he was the devil. The critics said he should not thrust his hips like he did and had nothing but bad reviews for him. This all coming from a group who listened to big band music and visited burlesque shows. This thought process has gone on for years and isn’t a new thought pattern. People have a hard time with not only change but something that represents something totally different.  I can remember my grandfather telling my dad turn that crap off when he was listening to bands like Ozzy or Iron Madden. I also got it from my dad years later when I would listen to rap or hip-hop. People of other generations try to say that the younger generation has a negative influence on the behavior of the listening audience. I have to disagree because music is not just an outlet for people to express themselves but a way for people to connect. Music can bring people of totally different backgrounds together for one night to watch a performance. Over the years there has been many people that say just the simple fact of listening to rock will kill your brain cells. I mean laugh like I did by all means but these so called Doctors were serious as a heart attack when they said that. People must just take music for what it truly is at its purist level and stop adding things to try and prove their point whatever it maybe. Now there was a song called cop killer that came out some years back that had a large impact on society here in the U.S. Ice T’s song talked about killing cops and how it made him feel so on and so forth not to go into to detail but the suburbs had a meltdown when it was released. After listening to the song myself I had no desire to go out and kill a cop or anyone by that account. But as it was probably not appropriate to talk about killing a cop there was a song that dates back farther than that but in the reggae culture performed by non other than Bob Marley called I shot the Sheriff.  What’s the difference in these songs? They both talk about killing a cop. Maybe because the rap version had more obscene language for Capitol Hill. Maybe if it were performed by Willie Nelson people would have just written it off as crazy Willie does it again. But because and the rap industry was still growing it was taken as a direct threat to all cops and that Ice T was telling the listeners to kill cops. People have twisted reality in ways that best suits there cause and someone could say I’m doing that now with this blog, but with a clear conscious mind I can say that I have never been influenced by any type of music to do drugs or any conduct that is not law abiding. When reading what Paul Cobley wrote that punk music should be filtered I thought of communist Russia. Punk rock yes is out of the ordinary and the kids dress different and they color their hair different wild colors but it’s this great thing called expression that makes all music great. How many times has a Senator been caught tied up in some hotel room with some dominatrix or in a outfit that looks like a baby and being treated like a baby. Maybe the mommy and daddy should worry more about who they vote for and who is running this country more than if the sex pistols are spitting on the crowd or even on little Johnny Sue’s ipod. Music has no impact on society in a negative way but does provide solace on the fifty-mile commute you have to and from work a daily basis.

Peoples Delusion of Rock and Music

    I have mixed emotions that young people today are over indulged in music and that nothing alien to music is not taken seriously. On one hand people today have more access to music via the “IPOD” and any mp3 player. Now if this technology would have been available fifty , a hundred or even two hundred years ago would this still be stated.  The comments made by “Bloom” in chapter two of “Music and Culture” , that state “ nothing else excites them” is a little far stretched. To me it sounds like Bloom is in fantasy land. Bloom makes it seem in his statement that the youth of today is basically controlled by music. Yes music is a very large part of our society but why? I think a good answer is because our everyday lives from the age of ten to twenty are filled with not only growing up and dealing with changing hormones but the level of stress that is applied to the individual.   
    It’s as if we are zombies controlled by music according to Bloom. Music does appeal to one of our senses and we do feel music in the sense of enthusiasm. If a romantic song is on and we are with our girl or guy then yes it does stimulate the mood. And yes if a fighter or soldier listens to some gangster rap or some death medal yes it does make them get amped up for the occasion. But at the same time a composer by the name of Mozart was blind and deaf. His famous symphonies with all that they were, was composed by a person who could only feel the vibration.  I feel that Bloom didn’t have much of a social life  and he looks at youth and all the electronic communication and lack of personable communication that going on and watches all these ways to people are listening to music and thinks they are controlled by it.
    I think the exact opposite of the youths today than Bloom. I feel that people between the age of  ten and twenty are more open to expressing themselves now then ever before. Music just  helps ease the mind and body from the daily grind. I myself have a passion for Football. Yes I listen to music to pass the time sometimes but I do not require music to function. Football is something I love to do and has been a big part of my life for the last fifteen years. Bloom makes it seem as if music in itself propels the world in its daily activity. To me Bloom has explained and shown examples of the effects of the television. He is so concerned about the education and how music interferes with that but maybe that’s because he has never owned a T.V. You talk about people that get mummified, have you ever tried to talk to a ten year old when they were watching T.V.  He says that music has more of an impact than that of the television.  But all day long there is sexual content in cartoon, moral questioning language and he says that its controlled by the right and left of the government.
    I really can’t believe in the final paragraph of the essay that  its says  rock music  leads to premature ecstasy like the drugs with which it is allied by.  I think he has a personal vendetta against rock and demonizes it because of personal dislike not  by any factual evidence other than personal opinion.

The inability to Analyze

    Analyzing music can be good and bad. By this I mean that you have to understand the music. Music is all aimed towards and audience in a certain period of time. For instance  if all the radios played the same genre of music how many would listen to the radio. For this very reason I would caution over analyzing or even analyzing at all.    
    Right now there are millions of people listening to radios around the world. If we could put one song on  all the radios and asked people what they thought how many would listen. Well  If we are playing a “LIL Wayne” song  with all the vulgar words he uses I bet we would lose children, elderly and all foreign countries. If people are analyzing music that they don’t understand  why would they listen to it. Now if you asked the audience that likes that type of music I bet they would rant and rave about the song.   
    Music can only be analyzed by someone who that music pertains to and here is why. When was the last time you played a song by Gene Krupa or Glenn Miller?  Well even if you have ever heard of them which I bet none have,you can ask anyone in there sixties , seventies or eighties and they would say how great they were and how magical there music was. Well if you don’t know these big band names, these artist would be compared to groups from our generation like a “Kiss” or “Iron Madden”. People would pack arenas to listen and dance to there music. The funny thing is most all big band music was just that music no vocals.
    Now if we ask a typical high school kid to analyze a song from a big band group, how could he?  He or she would not understand that there were fifteen to twenty people working together to make this music happen. Its not being generated for a beat machine. The analyzer probably would get board after three minutes  and not listen to the eight to twelve minute song. So for this reason I believing analyzing music has to be done by people who are the audience and even at that not over analyze the music.   
    Analyzing and trying to break down what the song was about and who the song is  or was aimed towards representing  might be totally different ideas then what the analyzer is thinking. For instance, they say if you play a certain Ozzy Osborne song backward they say the lyrics say and I quote “ Get the gun get the gun shoot shoot shoot”. Now this is what a crazy attorney said after a young man took his life. Now I have heard the song and disagree but in the Eighties this made major news media cry out like Ozzy needed to be hung.  Now listen to a Fifty Cent song . He talks about how many guys  are out to kill him and how he has too kill them before they get him and so on. This song doesn’t need backward masking. Not enough ok maybe the analogies are a bit shallow. But lets have  a gay pride meeting listen to a Eminem song  where he calls gays “faggots” and  offends those people. Now people that regularly listen tom his music understands that he is not trying to attack them by any means. But if you have someone trying to analyze the music, really how effective is it. Please don’t take offense to any  of the examples as those are not my views just pure examples.And this is why I don't like the analyzing of music. It takes away from just the experience of the song and takes it to a level above just entertainment.

Music Variety in my playlist

After review of my ipod I see I have a wide variety of music. I notice that over that paste seven years my type of music and favorites have change about once a year. I notice that I have several different types of play lists that I have created at different points in my life. There definitely a trend to the type of music I was listening to in association to what was going on in my life.
    After looking at what type of music I had on the ipod and  comparing it to my taste I realized I had a few songs that I had no interest in. I notice I had songs on it that I had put on there because other people would like them. For instance I have twelve song that are reggatone. Now I don’t speak Spanish good enough to listen to that type of music. But my wife likes that type so I put some on there for road trips so she can’t gripe at me and say we only listen to my music. So kind of think ahead with that one and hopefully avoiding any small scuffle. But I notice I also did that for my friends as well.
    The majority of music that my friends listen to is rap or hip hop which is ok but I don’t like it enough to listen to it all day everyday. But I put it on my Ipod because if we go on road trips they would be ok with the music selection. Now personally like I said in my previous blog I like rock. Now I can listen to that all day long but after an hour my friends and wife start getting these really funny faces and irritated looks on there faces. I laugh  a little bit inside and try to stretch it to the point they try to start a conversation so you have to turn the music off. This is pretty trendy though because my moods change often.   
    If I hear a song on the radio or in a movie or even in a restaurant and something clicks inside of me and I want to hear more music like it. That’s why I really like my ipod because no matter how often I change what I want to listen to or how much  I want to hear something new I always can. If I get in a mood for some eighties rock I create a new play list  and name it something like new eighties rock jams. So  you can imagine how many different play lists I have. Yet I also have patterns of music I listen to at the gym or before a game or tournament.
    Different sports also play a part in what I listen to. Before I step out onto a mat or a field I like to listen to music that gets your adrenalin pumping. Music that sets that fire inside off from the normal level of a small camp fire to that level of uncontainable forest fire.  And as soon as the game or match is over I put something a tad bit more mellow on to put those fires out. So I can really see a wide variety of music for many different purposes. And that’s how I keep my sanity in the daily grind.

Life and the Musical Influences

    As the son of a former rock drummer I have been influenced by music since day one. Music has been a release for me and a way for me to communicate with my father. My parents divorced in the summer of '93 and it was really hard on my father and brother. I on the other hand really tried to block it out of my mind as like it never happened. My Father would practice for hours on ends and listen to a variety of rock. Some of the music was about lost love and some about the hurt of a break up. As I got older I understood the music for more than just the words or compilation of sounds. I really started to associated feelings with the music I was being exposed to after the divorce.
    Music was not only an escape for my father but me to. I would listen to cd after cd in my room just thinking about the changes in my life. My dad made it easier by keeping me and my brother busy with sports and school but we still wanted to know when mom was coming home. And when we were told she wasn’t was normal to go to our room and listen to music. So music has played a big part in my life as far as a comfort item and communication tool with my father.
     I really like southern and classic rock and think that this type of music best describes me as a person. Maybe its because that’s the type of music my dad like s and that’s the type of music I grew up listening to. I like how there are different guys working together to produce a kick you in the face sound. As a former college athlete I used this rough and loud sound to get me ready for the game mentally. I like music where there are actually musicians. Not to down rap or hip hop or techno but its not the same. If your playing an instrument and playing a solo you don’t have time to throw up gang signs or grab your genitals. Now I’m not saying I don’t sometimes listen to that genre of music or don’t admire the lyrical content but I just like rock more.
    I think the music that’s being produced today lacks depth and has spilled over into our community and country. Today’s  kids try to emulate the gangster look and mentality. Its now cool to be in a gang and cool to live the life style of a thug. Music that talks about getting high and having sex with many different partners is the new norm in music. I think today’s music is not much more than the demise of our communities. It’s non productive and hate music. The funniest thing I think of is when I watch a Cop show on TV and one of the lead characters on it is Ice T. Ice T in the mid 90’s put a song out called cop killer and now he portrays a cop. What a sell out that move ways.
    The theme of the music sets the tone for your emotions. I like the kick you in the face style of rock. I appreciate rock more due to my experiences with it as a child.  It’s like I formed a bond with rock at a young age. But I do listen to some artists of Rap and Country as I like there style and the stories they tell. The theme that connects me with my childhood is what I look for in music..