Woah. I just found the coolest thing ever. It's called The Laybrinth of Genre, and it has officially blown my mind. I was on it for a good forty-five minutes yesterday, it it's pretty fascinating. Some of the artists featured I had never heard of, but they are definitely going to be added to my iTunes library.
Music is a pretty amazing thing. Not to sound too horribly cliche, but music really does bring people together. I was in a choir in high school, and last summer we went to Spain, Andorra, and France. I don't speak a lick of Spanish, and whenever I had traveled overseas before I had always known the language, so getting around the English- Spanish language barrier was very hard. I couldn't understand anything that the people were saying, but when we were singing, all the barriers just stopped existing. I could understand their expressions just as they could understand the words I was singing, and we just had this moment of harmony, where it was okay to not know what each other was saying but we could feel what each other was feeling.
This was one of the many songs we sang while on tour, and it's still one of my all time favorites to sing. This video was recorded in Cavaillon, France, where we had the pleasure of singing with the local choir, whose average age was approximately eighty. But that sang with the spirit of children. I was an absolutely amazing experience.
I am a huge advocate of music everywhere. I can't go an hour without listening to something, and I don't really care what it is. I listen to Sublime, Lil' Wayne, Justin Bieber (oh yeah), Kenny Chesney, Mozart, and the Dave Matthews Band. You name it; I listen to it. I love it all because music is so much more than a beat and some lyrics, each song has it's own personality. Music extends across all boundaries made my race, gender, language, and geography. It can take you by the soul and show you something that could never otherwise be seen. Sorry for waxing poetic, but I can't help it.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Post That Has Nothing To Do With A Website
Sunday night, a horrible thing happened to me: my computer broke. Oh, the unspeakable horror! Yes, I have gone a full three days without my laptop, and have had to do the seemingly impossible: live without the Internet. However would I be able to survive? It's been a rough go, and seeing as I will probably be without a computer for at least another three days, I have found other ways to occupy my time, and honestly, it's been wonderful.
I have rediscovered the simple joys of a hard copy of a piece of literature. I have read the entirety of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (which I highly recommend to anyone in need of a good book), ALL of my assigned readings for the week in very class, and every copy of SURFER and SURFING magazine I own, and even a couple of copies of USA Today and The New York Times. I had forgotten the feeling of holding a book or magazine in my hands and turning actual pages. I love being able to look at a book and see exactly how much I have read, and how much more I still have to read.
So this week, I am asking each of you to take a step away from the electronics, and read a good, old paperback for a change. Magazines and newspapers are becoming somewhat of a lost art nowadays because subscriptions have plummeted. Which makes sense. The internet is so convenient now that it takes more effort to get a magazine than it does to pop open a tab on your internet browser and type in a dot-com address. And those pesky Kindles are lighter and smaller than lugging three novels in your carry on luggage. But don't give up on these more traditional mediums just yet! Go pick up a recent copy of SURFING, Sports Illustrated, or Glamour and you'll see so much that is missing on the web. The advertisements, photo editorials, and articles are just not the same on a 600x800 pixel screen. Come on, what's more satisfying: finishing that last sentence on the last page of a 700 page tome that you've been working on for the past three weeks, or clicking away for a webpage? Call me old-fashioned, but I'd take the dusty book over the flashy Nook any day.
I have rediscovered the simple joys of a hard copy of a piece of literature. I have read the entirety of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (which I highly recommend to anyone in need of a good book), ALL of my assigned readings for the week in very class, and every copy of SURFER and SURFING magazine I own, and even a couple of copies of USA Today and The New York Times. I had forgotten the feeling of holding a book or magazine in my hands and turning actual pages. I love being able to look at a book and see exactly how much I have read, and how much more I still have to read.
So this week, I am asking each of you to take a step away from the electronics, and read a good, old paperback for a change. Magazines and newspapers are becoming somewhat of a lost art nowadays because subscriptions have plummeted. Which makes sense. The internet is so convenient now that it takes more effort to get a magazine than it does to pop open a tab on your internet browser and type in a dot-com address. And those pesky Kindles are lighter and smaller than lugging three novels in your carry on luggage. But don't give up on these more traditional mediums just yet! Go pick up a recent copy of SURFING, Sports Illustrated, or Glamour and you'll see so much that is missing on the web. The advertisements, photo editorials, and articles are just not the same on a 600x800 pixel screen. Come on, what's more satisfying: finishing that last sentence on the last page of a 700 page tome that you've been working on for the past three weeks, or clicking away for a webpage? Call me old-fashioned, but I'd take the dusty book over the flashy Nook any day.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Soundtrack to My Life
I'll admit it, I've got some strange musical tastes. Just the other day I subjected my roommate to something that my computer likes to call 'Dream Crunk.' Apparently the genres of Rock, Pop, and R&B just aren't enough anymore, and so we get 'Dream Crunk.' The band that was under this genre was Sleigh Bells, a wonderful duo of hardcore guitars and psychedelic vocals. I would never have discovered this gem of a group were it not for SoundCloud or 8 Tracks.
Both of these websites are music sharing mega sites. I can be on them for hours and hours on end, happily discovered perviously unheard of musical acts. Some of my all time favorites have been found on here, including Sleigh Bells, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Chew Lips. SoundCloud (as soon as you get past the pesky sign up stage) is used mostly by unsigned and unrepresented band who are hoping to get a record deal, or small record companies looking for the next great indie sensation. On SoundCloud, you can search for specific people, labels, or songs, and you can also download many songs completely free (and it's legal!) Another nifty little function is that you can post a comment directly onto the song, so while listening, you can read what other people think about the songs.
8 Tracks is a simpler concept than SoundCloud, but just as good for finding interesting new stuff. I'm listening to a 'friday night dance party' playlist right now (Ray Ban Vision by A-Trak feat. CyHi Da Prynce), and it's given me a great mix of rap, pop, and dub. You can find a playlist for any mood in 8 Tracks; I've got a great go-to studying list, and also a rainy day list. Anyone can submit a playlist to 8 Tracks, so if you're ever feeling creative and want to share your musical prowess with someone, here you go. So, I'm writing this blog at 11.52 pm, and I just made a list. Here it is. Enjoy!
Both of these websites are music sharing mega sites. I can be on them for hours and hours on end, happily discovered perviously unheard of musical acts. Some of my all time favorites have been found on here, including Sleigh Bells, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Chew Lips. SoundCloud (as soon as you get past the pesky sign up stage) is used mostly by unsigned and unrepresented band who are hoping to get a record deal, or small record companies looking for the next great indie sensation. On SoundCloud, you can search for specific people, labels, or songs, and you can also download many songs completely free (and it's legal!) Another nifty little function is that you can post a comment directly onto the song, so while listening, you can read what other people think about the songs.
8 Tracks is a simpler concept than SoundCloud, but just as good for finding interesting new stuff. I'm listening to a 'friday night dance party' playlist right now (Ray Ban Vision by A-Trak feat. CyHi Da Prynce), and it's given me a great mix of rap, pop, and dub. You can find a playlist for any mood in 8 Tracks; I've got a great go-to studying list, and also a rainy day list. Anyone can submit a playlist to 8 Tracks, so if you're ever feeling creative and want to share your musical prowess with someone, here you go. So, I'm writing this blog at 11.52 pm, and I just made a list. Here it is. Enjoy!
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