Jazz it up!

I have never been a big fan of poetry or jazz. So good think that's what we are studying! I have always wanted to be able to express my self through poems and other artistic things. It's just not happening for me I'm lucky to write a sentence with the right punctuation. Going along with today's lesson I would have to say it was pretty enlighting. I'm also sort of intimidated with having to read something I wrote in front of the class. I could never compare to the poems we read today. It makes a person wonder what they think about on a regular basis. The words they use to describe the things in their poems are hard for me to understand. I mean what does a girl with smoke braids coming out of a crater head mean? I know it's supposed to stand for something unimaginable, but I can't even grasp any kind of meaning for it. So, I'm already feeling somewhat lost and completely behind. But I'm going to try to open my eyes and not care so much what everyone else is going to think. I have a feeling they might be feeling the same way.

Lets Get High off of Yoga!

Not exactly what I expected the film to be, but honestly I don't know what I expected it to be like. It makes a person wonder how someone comes up with an idea like this. What made them want to invite all these people to a farm in the middle on a small town, no idea but more power to them. It's a pretty amazing thing to watch all these people come together not knowing what was in store. I don't think most of them knew where they were going to sleep, what they were going to eat, or if they were even going to get in. The thing is no matter how peaceful and nice everyone is; it has to be intimidating for the people running the show. Surprisingly they were so calm and happy with what they had done. I kind of get jealous that I wasn't able to live in the age of the hippies well not that I want to be a stoner, but jealous of how cool and comfortable everyone seemed. The world we live in now is so hectic and unpleasant, who would want to grow up in a world like that? Now it's very hard to find individuals that are happy with just hanging out and not caring about every little detail.

"Live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse"

Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana...such strong lyrics and a lead singer with a big heart. I have always been a fan of the band, but I have always thought Kurt Cobain was just a big junkie. Well I suppose he did end up with that title. After reading about his medical issues I still don't agree with using heroin, but I can see how pain can cause people to do drastic things. I hated reading about the band's rough past. It's always so depressing to hear about children going through rough times, and makes me appreciate my family even more than I already do. It mainly focuses on Cobain's past and how he got into the alternative scene. It is sad to think he grew up having no friends, but thats what shaped him into who he was. He had a big heart for the people the world descriminated against. He also felt for woman all over the world who were being disrespected and not being treated fairly. I really enojoyed this article it is just so sad that it couldn't have lasted longer.

The Man in Black

"You can't wear black. It looks like you're going to a funeral. Maybe I am..."

This is one of me and my mom's favorite movies. So I was very excited when I found out we were going to watch it. The beginning of the movie is devastating, and makes johnny and his families life much more difficult than it already was. He took after his mom at an early age with a love for church hymnals, and he always hoped to accompany June Carter on stage at the Ryman. I know Johnny's heart was in the right place when he married Vivian because he thought he was in love with her. The truth is there was no way for their marriage to work after he broke into the music industry. He was on the go non-stop, getting into narcotics, and straying from the good values he learned as a child. It is kind of unbelievalbe that so many stars end up going down the wrong road. When are they going to wake up and see all the people before them that were killed by this stuff. Luckily forJohnny he still had June when everyone else had given up on him. I think that is why this movie is one of my favorites because it has a happy ending. She helped him find his way back to reality and it was so exciting when June finally said yes to marrying him. This story is different in that they might have went off the right path for a while, but in the end they found their way back and lived a very happy life.

Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do

Wow talk about keeping someones attention! That was one of the most compelling stories I have ever watched. I felt many different things while watching this movie. At points I wanted to comfort Billie when she got into bad situations, then yell at her for doing stupid things, and then I was mad at the people around her who helped lead her down the wrong road. It was just very depressing to see such a sweet young woman got herself into such a bad position. When Mr. Louis McKay was introduced I really felt like things were going to turn around for Billie, but still she refused to listen to the people who loved her. Although, before I can go getting upset with her I have to sympathies with her for how difficult her childhood must have been. A lot of people wouldn't have even been able to get as far as she did. She knew she had a gift and she loved to sing and thats what she did. I hate stories that don't have happy endings, but Billie still left us with many beautiful songs for us to remember her by.

I want to be just like the rockstars!

It's weird to think that a music video could affect the way someone is living, but sure it can. Don't act like you have never watched a music video and never wanted to look like the singer or try to act as cool as they do on the TV. What I got from this article is that music videos have a huge impact on our society, and can make individuals do just about anything if they set their minds to it. They can make us support causes we usually wouldn't, dress in a different style, and do things that maybe we shouldn't. It uses 6 different music videos to express some of the signals they can send to the public.

Even though MTV isn't known for showing music videos anymore at one point that's all they did. When I do occasionally catch them showing one it's crazy how I find myself stopping and watching the whole thing. Then after reading this I really do realize how much affect they can have on a person. I can become sad, happy, or even pumped up after watching one. The funny thing is I would have been feeling none of that before I watched it. So I probably didn't get the full affect of this article, but I do feel I have a better view of how music videos influence individuals.

What in the Blue Blazes?!

This movie was a mix between a comedey, love story, and friendship. I think it needed every aspect to make it as good as it was. Petey was a honest man who had gotten into the wrong things, but you could tell from how he handled himself after the Dr. King shooting that he was a good person. I liked how Dewey the hot shot radio station producer ended up having the most confidence in Petey. They were living in two different worlds, but still were able to find common ground in the end. The chemistry between Petey and Dewey made it possible for them to be as successful as they were. As Dewey said to Petey in the movie, "I need you to say the things I can't say, and you need me to do the things you can't do". I love the concept of that and even though things didn't go as planned in the end they still made a great duo. It was sad that Petey passed as early as he did, but I believe he lived his life to the fullest and helped change people's lives. This is obvious because at his funeral over 10,000 people attended, and that says a lot about how much people respects him and how he affected thier lives.

Rock 'n' roll stops the traffic!

I really enjoyed this 'musical journey' as the members of U2 would describe what the purpose of filming was. I would have to say you can't go into this movie with your mind made up that your going to hate it because you are not a huge fan of U2. You have to watch it with a very open mind and in doing that you get a lot more out of watching it.

I have never really listened to the U2's music, but I really enjoyed this film. I found it so interesting to watch these upcoming musicians and their journey to fame. I mean when am I ever going to know what the ride to fame is like. The band members seemed like they had their priorities in order and becoming famous didn't fill their heads. They wanted to play their music and share whats important to them, and I didn't see anything wrong with that. I actually became very fond of how passionate they were about the cause they were promoting.

Even though the band was from Ireland they were able to show how much they loved America by their lyrics. Then at the same time writing songs about the hurt their home was experiencing during the war, and how much compassion they had for them. I thought this film gave a real look on a band that loves to make music and support something that meant something to them, more power to them!

Experience it. Enjoy it. Just don't fall for it.

I had never seen the movie "Almost Famous", but would definitely watch it again if I had the chance. The movie most definitely held my attention the whole two or so hours. It was a story of a young boy trying to make his dreams of becoming a rock-n-roll journalist come true, but he ends up falling in love and making friends with the "enemy". I really liked how such an innocent 15 year old boy was the main character, and how he really won everyone over with how genuine he was.

At the beginning I thought William's mother was very biased on how she really didn't agree with anything his sister was into, like rock music. Then she completely changed when William said something about going to a rock-n-roll concert and let him do whatever he wanted. She really does show favoritism toward him, and I really do feel sorry for his sister. In the end the family does come back together and you get the happy ending you do in most movies.

Kate Hudson was an outstanding actress in this film. She was such an unusual character, but was very kind to everyone. I did think it was unfortunate that she was the love interest of Russel and William. William really saw her true potential and in the end showed her she had been living in a fairy tail world. Russel was my favorite band member, beside the gay drummer ha. He came off to me as a honest man who really did just love the music, and not in it for only the fame. I hate how he let Kate's character get away from him, and he realized his true feelings for her when it was too late.

When the band's airplane was about to crash I think it was great how they all started confessing their deepest darkest secrets, and in the end I think it was for the best because they weren't all living lies anymore. Overall the movie was really great and in the end everyone ends up doing the right things.

Pirate Nation.

Balance is the word that sticks in my mind after reading the article "FREE CULTURE", but is that even possible? Is it possible to make everyone happy all the time? The answer is NO, that's impossible especially with a topic like piracy. The creators of the music, books, and movies will never understand how giving their products away for free will someday benefit them. They want justice and they aren't going to stop till they get it. The truth is they most likely will never see the money they have lost from p2p, but I doubt they have ever noticed the money they have gained from being advertised on these so called satin programs.
Well starting with the facts piracy can "rob the authors of their profit", but it can help as well. If authors could take a step back and look at how they could use this to their advantage they may be making more profit than they were before. Authors could use the type C file sharing and give out free samples, which could lead to their sales increasing because individuals might really enjoy what they hear or see.

I'm not going to lie I was apart of the huge proportion of Americans that have tasted file-sharing technology. It's kind of hard to not use it when its at your fingertips. I mean whats better than free music at the press of a button, but then I started thinking about the people's work I was stealing and how I would feel if it was mine. It made me see how piracy is stealing and why it would cause such a big controversy in America. The programs also put viruses on my computer and making it run slow. I decided I would quit taking things through file sharing a while back. I know I might just be one person, but just me choosing to stop could influence so many others.

Music in My Prime...

Songs have always had a pretty big effect on my feelings through out my life. I can find that a song makes me happy, or it could put me into a very low place leaving me depressed. I have grown up in a family that loves making music. My Grandfather was in a country music band when I was little and he would always play his guitar and sing to me. My favorite song he would sing was called "Amanda" ha, what a surprise. It was a old country song that I highly doubt was ever very popular, but it is something special I remember when I think about the times we have spent together.

There was also the pop hit Christina Aguilera, who made me believe I was destine to become a pop singer when I grew up. I used to carry around my little microphone and turn "I'm a Genie in a Bottle" up on my stereo, and sing it over and over. Thank goodness I came to my senses.