#and everytime you read an article about a band please also remember that it takes effort

[heavenknowsffs]

8 hours photographing shows, 6 hours editing the photos, god knows how many hours to review the concerts and write it all oof please light a candle for me

[starchild--27]

15 Questions Tag

thank you so much @loser-dot-com for tagging me ^^

i ... can’t really think of anybody to tag rn. please, excuse me, it’s shortly after midnight xD so i just won’t tag anybody this time.

1. It’s your birthday! What did you ask for and did you receive it?

i usually have no idea what presents to ask for so i always say i want cake and money - it works out everytime ^-^

2. What was the last song or album you listened to?

the soundtrack to Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain <3

3. What is your go to snack when you’re hungry or bored?

depending on my mood either fruit, something very sweet and unhealthy or something salty and unhealthy xD

4. What is your morning routine?

these days it’s just waking up whenever my body tells me to and having breakfast with my family. during school days it used to be waking up at 5:30am, getting up a 6, washing up, dressing, pack my stuff for school (yes i was the kid who never did it the night before), preparing a snack for school, having breakfast withmy sister, a 10 minute rest before putting on shoes and a jacket on cold days at 6:30 to walk to the bus stop at 6:35 so i wouldn’t miss the bus at 6:40. but i’ll never need that routine again so.... another piece of useless information xD

5. What mythical/cryptid creature would you be?

fairy, i’m pretty sure of that. even though my sister said i’d make a pretty decent vampire too not long ago.

6. How do you interact with somebody that you don’t like?

i am very shy irl and barely have to deal with people i don’t like often, simply bc i don’t have to deal with people a lot. but i would never show my dislike of somebody, at least not on purpose. i am pretty sure i am just as awkward and shy but polite as with anybody else who doesn’t heppen to be my family or one of my close friends.  

7. How do you define a toxic person?

i think the easiest way to put it is: somebody who makes another person small or feel bad only for them to feel superior. that’s at least the kind of toxicity i have experienced myself. i am sure there are more than only one way of being toxic but i think in the end it always comes back to this.

8. Have you ever been to a concert or fan meet type of event? If not, would you want to?

i’ve been to several concerts and i had the chance to meet some more or less famous musicians too. they are not huge, not even where i live, but they have steady concerts and albums/projects coming, so i’ll count them in here. but as previously mentioned, i am super shy and never know what to say in these situations, so it’s difficult. if i had the chance i think i would use it and meet other celebrities but i’d feel uncomfortable and wouldn’t be super-sad if i didn’t get the chance xD 

9. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?

i think i would if my horoscope would fit me, which it absolutely doesn’t xD i don’t judge anybody who believes in it tho, i personally find it very interesting and love to read astrology posts for fun without looking for a deeper meaning for myself in it. but it’s always sweet if i read about people who do ^^

10. If you had only one sense (hearing, touch, sight, etc.), what would you want?

hearing. i wouldn’t surive without the presence of music and i am certainly no Beethoven.

11. Who is your favorite celebrity or idol?

well, i guess it’s all of EXO

12. If you could talk to your favorite celebrity(s) for a limited time, what would you tell them?

how proud i am of them bc business is tough for them - even if they chose that way for themselves, there are things not a single person, well-known or not, rich or not, should have to deal with. i would tell them, that they make me very happy with what they do, that their music inspires and touches me, that they helped me to overcome hard times again and again. that i wish only the best for them and that they have the all opportunities needed to pursue their dreams further (which is basically what i would tell anybody, who i know i probably won’t meet again)

13. I’m taking you out on a date and it’s your choice. Where are we going?

a place the two of us can enjoy together, where nobody feels bored and we can leisurely talk and get to know each other. only for the selfish reason of me needing a loose atmosphere to warm up to somebody and begin to have a decent conversation lol

14. Do you like sweet or savory foods?

now it’s both, haha. but i used to like sweet food more when i was younger.

15. Do you have any band merchandise or merchandise from any of your favourite artists? If so, what?

i do. i have albums from my favourite musicians, posters and a couple of band shirts. i also have that EXO-SC luggage tag that came with the “What A Life” album (it’s on my backpack) and some fanart articles from one of my favourite exo fanartists (mardyart on instagram and also on twitter if i remember correctly, in case anyone doesn’t know her and wants to check her stuff out ^-^)

[hello-amine-benaissa]

Blog Post #17/18 (20 points) Due Tuesday at Midnight

The last two weeks of class are going to be intertwined. Next week we will watch a documentary on Bob Dylan. It was going to be Pete Seeger, but I only have that on DVD, so we’ve switched it!

The last week of class we will be surveying modern protest songs together during class time. Lots of fun! In preparation for that, please complete the two assignments below.

Download the article from Moodle about Socially Responsible Music Consumption.

1. Turn to the appendix and complete the interview questions for yourself and post them here. (Don’t forget the one on the next page.)

The main factors that influenced my purchase are the need for me to have it and how much of an essential item it is to me, alongside how much I like it. So basically the need and desire for this purchased item.

The last music related purchase was Eminem’s latest album “Music to be murdered by”.

I mainly bought this album because I am big fan of rap music and Eminem signature fast rapping style, alongside really enjoying the songs in the album.

My kind of music is very diverse since I enjoy any type of song as long as it has a melodic tune and great context. But the genres that I prefer are rap and classical music.

I mainly consume music through spotify and youtube.

The current music industry is not so appealing to me since it mostly leans on the same rebellious ideas and context of partying and breaking the rules.

My favorite musicians really know how to leave a positive emotional or nostalgic impact on me as a person.

I definitely continue to prefer buying albums of my favorite artists which limits my perspective on music.

I don’t consider any social responsibility when buying music as long as it’s from my favorite artists and knowing that I’ll enjoy it.

I honestly can’t think of ways musicians are engaging in socially responsible behavior except when it comes to the lyrical messages, that either have a positive or negative impact, they are sharing with the audience.

 No, I can’t think of any examples of socially responsible behavior within the music industry except for the mumble rap contributing to unacceptable sexual behaviors, drug or alcohol use, and violent illegal activities.

I have never attended live music events. But if I do, I would definitely  consider the general aspects of socially responsible behavior.

 I have never attended musical live events. But if I do, I would engage in socially responsible behavior.

A socially responsible musician is an artist who takes into consideration the lyrical messages and context of his music while studying the general impact it would have on the listener whether it’s positive or negative.

I definitely believe it is important for them to act in a socially responsible way in order to achieve the general benefit of the audience.

I would accept to buying an album or attending a concert of an artist that I perceive to be engaged in socially responsible behavior as long a I enjoy his music and art.

I have attended a live music event.

I would compare the role that social responsibility plays in everyday consumption decisions to music consumption decisions to our consumption of visual contents on the internet or television. The more beneficial and positive the impact of the music has on the listener, the more this music supports social responsibility.

Social responsibility is an ethical framework which suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large.

Read the article, focusing on the results section (skim the beginning).

1. Discuss how authenticity is important to an artist’s efficacy in promoting a social or political.

I believe it’s important for the artist to establish, at least minimal, authenticity not only because it would help his work to financially succeed and maintain the market value of the created art, but also enabling the listener to understand the practice and history of this art as an intelligible history of the expression of values, beliefs, and ideas, both for artists and their audiences. Furthermore, art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experiences across space and time. At the end, this shows how art authenticity promotes the social or political notion of responsibility affecting the fundamental sense of self and representing the repository of a society's collective memory.

2. Cite an example from the text.

As the article discussed the results of their experiment: “Musicians are also considered to be more authentic in their promotion of social causes where they are actively involved in these behaviors themselves. For example, although one of our participants here expresses frustration at one of his favorite bands for their seemingly repetitive promotion of homelessness and the implications therein, he recognizes that they have legitimacy to locally campaign for this particular social cause.” (T. Green, page 240)

3. Can you think of an example you have witnessed of either an artist promoting something that didn’t seem authentic and one promoting that did? Post a link or video if you can.

Whenever I imagine of artists promoting something that’s definitely not authentic, I think of all the useless mumble rap advertising sexual activities, drug use, and violence while pretending they are cool and modern unlike normal civilized people. Most of this music uses strong language and visuals in their music videos, hence, I don’t believe I can post an example of this unauthentic music on Tumblr. In contrast, unauthentic music doesn’t have to be useless with a bad impact. Therefore, I think a good song that promotes the same inauthentic idea of dancing and being happy, but still have a positive impact is Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” ft. Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers.

Nevertheless, a good example of a song that promotes an authentic idea with a positive impact is the example of Bob Dylan’s song “Knockin' on Heaven's Door”.

Read this piece on what makes a good protest song, at least historically, and how that may be changing today.

1. Write a paragraph on what you think makes a good protest song. Reference the article and choose to agree or disagree with something they said.

The article states a solid argument that shows what makes a good protest song is its durability across our history and how its message is a response to multiple conflicts and debates. As the son of Minnesota’s Iron Range argued in the article about how Bob Dylan’s folk music is a good example of how much meaning and depth a song can have: ““Blowin’ in the Wind” endures, he said, because its message of being responsive to suffering can apply to so many episodes in history.” I totally agree with this idea since music reflects the culture and folklore of a society. This is seen in our national rhythm, compatriotic song, traditional songs, which emerge from classical literature, epics and heroic poems. Songs and music mirror history, values, norms and the mentality of a society.

2. Look up a favorite artist (keep going until you find something) and find some ways in which they are trying to make a positive impact. This can be either charities, benefit concerts, lyrical messages, etc. Share you findings.

I really enjoy John Denver’s music because it shares a strong message of belonging and nostalgia to your home country or setting where you grew up. For example, “Country Roads” is such a good song, not only it was sung well with great lyrics and context, but also in its transcendent ability to evoke feelings of home and belonging. Although I am not from West Virginia, listening to this song made me miss Morocco everytime thanks to its broad lyrical messages which supports the previous argument I agreed with. This song uses a relaxing beat with slow tempo allowing the listener to truly indulge and experience the song’s relatable ideas. In addition, I think the song is strong enough to evoke the listener’s feelings and memories thanks to the description of famous places in West Virginia which helps the listener to remember his home and the memories they spent in them. These findings show how music can relate to a person using meaningful lyrics alongside a good beat, much like “Country Roads” that uses the mentioned methods to stimulate the audience.

3. Discuss if you think they are effective, why or why not.

I certainly believe the methods “Country Roads” uses are very effective thanks to the relatable lyrical messages and emotional context it shares with the listeners. Furthermore, it shows what makes a good protest song displaying the beautiful and meaningful lyrics that appeal to a broad audience and emotionally influence the listeners. Hence, a good folk song bypasses the listener’s beliefs, ideologies, and nationality allowing the music to reach out and relate to them. At the end, the methods of creating nostalgic lyrics alongside a relaxing tune helps the song become even more effective and enjoyable.

[katlyn-yo]

Patriots Day

Before I began I’d like to say that my intention of this writing is not to review the film as you’ll likely realize if you read on but to put the thoughts I’ve had inspired by the film and the impact it has had on me. The block of text below is not in anyway meant to be taken too seriously and was only revised/edited once for grammatical errors and minor changes in wording. It is written much like I write in my personal journal so I’m really sorry for that because I don’t know when to use punctuation while thinking.

It has only been a week since I saw Patriots Day. Before seeing it I had not seen any previews and only knew it was a Mark Wahlberg film about the Boston Marathon bombing. I remember seeing the images of the bombs erupting on the news when I returned from school that day and seeing them over and over again. If you had asked me before seeing the movie what year the bombing took place before I saw the movie I would have said (I did say when my dad asked me) 2011. I’m not sure why but I really do remember being in middle school at the time but nonetheless I was already 15 years old and it bothers me to no end that I don’t remember this event having a huge impact on me. I still went to school and laughed with my friends while that whole week there was a manhunt for one of the bombers, Boston was shutdown and I don’t even remember caring. I mention this because at this time I had a strange inexplicable attraction to the city and had since I was very little. My dream was to attend Harvard and be surrounded by hardcore Pats fans who would agree with my 10 year old self that the Patriots weren’t cheaters. Thus, I find it strange that I don’t remember all the little details or even the big ones for the matter. Anyway, I remember seeing the faces of the bombers on the news when they had been caught (I don’t recall knowing one had died) and vaguely remember Jahar being caught in a boat but I remember it with a dream like quality as if it never actually happened at all. After watching the movie and seeing the date of the bombing - April 15, 2013 - appear on the screen I realized my family and I went to Boston at the end of June 2013 and celebrated the fourth of July in Boston that year. It was my first time ever visiting and the first time I ever met my family from Boston. Now I wish I could really remember the significance of that fourth of July because I’m sure it was a special one for the city being as patriotic as they are year-round and to celebrate their unity and freedom after being in the face of a terror attack. I am proud and I can’t even imagine the pride Bostonians must have had. I remember being around Quincy Market and all the street vendors were selling Boston Strong shirts/sweaters/hoodies/hats/ bracelets you name it and I knew that it was related to the bombing but even being there only months after the attack I don’t think I would have been able to tell you it had happened that April.

*WARNING SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD*

The beginning of the movie has a montage of looking at what some of the survivors were doing the night before and the morning of the bombing. The camera eventually shows a new house with the words Tsaernaev residence at the bottom of the screen and I thought this must be the house of another runner. When we get a view of the inside I immediately recognize Alex Wolff (beard and all) as the one sitting at the table on the computer. I got excited because I enjoy watching the Wolff brothers acting and love their music (though I never did watch or listen to them when they were part of the Naked Brothers Band) and then I hear my dad say “Wow, he looks exactly like him” with such disbelief in his voice and at that moment I realize this is the house of the bombers. As I said before, I do remember seeing pictures of the bomber(s) on the news after he was caught but I couldn’t recall any distinguishing details of those faded memories to say their was a resemblance. As the movie continues I had this inexplicable attraction to Alex Wolff’s portrayal of the character as if I could relate to him in an odd and disturbing way. I felt bad for him because from the movie it seems like the brother was the mastermind behind the attack and Jahar just did as he was told and would do ANYTHING he was told just to please his brother. He also says they should have placed the backpacks at waist level to kill more people and stands by as his brother Tamerlan shoots and kills an officer point blank(2) and I was brought back to reality, he is an incredibly horrible sociopathic human being, who deserves absolutely no sympathy. Even as I write that I think about how he lost his brother and I feel sad for him and I think “what’s wrong with me?!?” but that is testament to the incredible power of Alex’s performance throughout the film. With a seemingly perfect blend of raw talent and dedication to the job at hand he was able to create and bring to life this character that was so evil yet at the same time just as emotional and human as the person next to you. After the movie I searched the name Dzhokar Tsaernaev and I saw the picture I had seen on the news but now with the details filled in I saw the resemblance. I read that it was a tough decision for Alex and his family to make having him portray this villain and what kind of image that might cast on him especially with the resemblance in mind but he decided to take the role to make sure it was given justice. As for Boston native Mark Wahlberg I watched an interview with him also where he says something similar, that he had hesitations of doing the movie but ultimately decided to do it because he knew he could count on himself to handle the film with the respect it deserves. Jahar is the same age as I am now when he set a bomb on the ground in a crowd full of people with the intention of killing if not all then as many as possible. That is mind boggling to me and I really think that is one of the reasons why the retelling of this horrific event had such an impact on me now than it did at the time it took place. I could never even imagine thinking of doing anything like that and definitely not to go through with it. I don’t think any of his friends would have thought him capable of the act either (not that I am capable because I most definitely am not but I say this in the sense that who do we really really know?). I was afraid this movie would incite and entice some of the audience to become Islamophobic and/or xenophobic or even even heighten the phobia but I was pleased that there was a distinction made that these boys were not Muslims, they were/are radical Islamists (3). Just as well I understand those who are Islamophobic do not see the distinction between Muslims and Islamists anyway. I say this because my own father was one who walked out of the theater spewing Trump-esque rhetoric about closing the borders to refugees and Middle Eastern immigrants. Even if one person, poses the question to google about the difference between a Muslim and a radical islamist and educates themselves​ on that difference this movie has made a positive impact on our society today. There are very few movies I will watch again while in the theater or even after they are out but this one I cannot wait to see again because I feel like I will take away something different everytime. This movie came out at such an important time where Trump has divided the nation and I hope people can take away that even through lows our nation is resilient especially the people of Boston and I hope the United States can have the strength Boston did through these next four years. Edit: After reading this I noticed I didn’t talk at all about the heroes of this story and the impact they also had on me. I had never heard the story of Dun Meng, who was kidnapped by the bombers but was brave enough to risk his life to escape them and help police find their location since they were driving his car. I had never heard about the battle between the bombers and law enforcement in Watertown which also involved explosives. I had never realized the effort it takes to catching two criminals on the run, where there was virtually no sleep for days. I pray for the friends and families of the three victims who were killed in the bombing and Officer Sean Collier who were all taken too soon. I pray for the survivors, those who lost limbs and those who were there to bear witness to the tragedy that they never lose hope and strength in the power of humanity. I say thank you to and pray for the law enforcement, first responders, and medical personnel in Boston and around the nation that they may also remain faithful, never lose faith or may they find faith in the power of good and it’s power to always overcome evil despite all of the bad they may see on a daily basis. Edit 2: There is a correction made where I had previously stated Jahar killed Sean Collier however it was his brother Tamerlan who killed him, thank you to this-is-myomancy for that info. Here is the link to the article I read on Alex Wolff taking on this role https://www.google.com/amp/www.thewrap.com/patriots-day-alex-wolff-boston-marathon-bomber-tricked-audition/amp/ and here is the link to the video of Mark Wahlberg talking about his decision to do the movie https://youtu.be/Rvwsme9N0gQ

Edit 3 (3/28/17): I would like to amend the statement I made that there was a distinction made between radical Islamists and Muslims because it was incorrect. The movie never made that distinction. It was questioned in the film whether the act should be labeled as terrorism by Special Agent Deslauriers because with the term there is a link to anti-Muslim backlash however there is no mention of radical Islamists at all during the entirety of the movie. Update 1 (3/28/17): I have just finished watching Patriots Day for the second time and reread my post for the first time since posting it. Watching the film this time around I no longer felt any connection to Jahar which honestly, relieves me. This time around I did also take more notice to the production of the film. I think what is so captivating about the movie for me is that the way it is filmed really makes you feel as if you are apart of the action in certain scenes which really tugs your emotions whether it be anger, fear, or sadness. Another large part of the film was the music and noise. Of course the sound of the bombs and gun shots being fired were crucial but what I most noticed this time around was when the governor orders the city to go on lockdown; from one moment to the next there is chatter and phones ringing and dramatic music to just complete and absolute silence. It is incredible the feeling that you get the you too must also be silent.