Shifting From Pessimism to Something Uplifting... media meditation number 5.

Image taken from Nyle's Facebook

Today, I came onto Facebook and a video popped up on my newsfeed. My brother had posted this video on a mutual friends wall, so I played it absentmindedly. I heard the familiar beat of a Lil Wayne song, "Let the Beat Build." I watched this video and by the end of it, I can only think that I would be perfectly content if I had never heard the Lil Wayne version.This song, gives me a lot of hope for up coming rap artists. I love hearing rap that takes legitimate talent. I wish the world could see this kind of rap, not the "money, clothes, and hos" Because honestly, rap gets a shit rep. Everyone has this preconceived idea of the genre, that it is meaningless degrading violent music, but I really beg to differ.

I think this video is incredibly inspiring. It was filmed in one take in a studio at NYU. The vocals and music was all played live during this one take. It is a collaboration of very talented artists, all probably into completely different genres of music, putting together this beautiful piece of art.

If you like what you see, I suggest checking out the link to his Facebook above, or his myspace. Definitely worth your while.

The Sequel

The other day, I was informed that the new Kid Cudi CD, Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager, leaked. Of course as soon I heard this, I had to download it. I've been excited for this cd for a long time, and it doesn't hit stores until November 9th. I advise you to check it out.

I was a little nervous about Man on the Moon 2, like always. Kid Cudi is one of my new favorite artists, and I hoped he wouldn't create an album that was just trying to impress the public. He did exactly that.

His first album, Man on the Moon: The End of the Day, after a lot of listening to it I realized that sometimes his lyrics were a little too depressing. His beats are always very dope but I hate when I'm listening to an artist and I feel like they're complaining to me. This new album is a whole lot different.

I feel as if Kid Cudi wanted to create a sequel to his first album, but this time change the tone of his songs. His first album focused on dreams, fears, and nightmares. This album brings you into the reality of Kid Cudi's life. The first song on the album, Revofev, really put me in a good mood for the rest of the CD. Kid Cudi sings about something different, one lyric that really stuck in my head was this, "Wake up, things might get rough. No need to stress, keeps you down too much." This lyric is showing us a totally different standing point then his first album, where he did a lot of whining.

Here's a preview of all the songs on the album, just to help you get a feel for it.

All in all, I think Kid Cudi did a fantastic job on his sophomore album. I think this album will really help Kid Cudi's following. The lyrics are way more upbeat and the sound is a lot more psychedelic. I'm digging it. He's pushing the buttons of hiphop, and changing the rap game.

Tree Hugging, Hippie Crap

Image From The Macho Response

So today in class, there was a large debate about the use of the Kindle. From most of the professional writing majors, there was a consensus saying "Fuck that, I love books." I can see exactly where these writing majors are coming from. They don't want to lose the authenticity of reading a real book, I get that.

And don't get me wrong, I do love curling up in my bed with a nice copy of one of my favorite novels, flipping through the pages the scent of the books give off is almost intoxicating.

I used to have a serious beef with the Kindle, I thought it was the stupidest thing ever created. But when my mother so nicely requested one for Christmas last year, my siblings and I put our pennies together and bought her one. After using it, my opinions changed drastically.

This thing is freakin' amazing. The fact that I can sit there, download any book of my choice, for way cheaper then heading to Barnes and Noble, or dealing with the inconsistent, evil librarians in my hometown. I think this is a beautiful machine, and it is changing the way we will read books forever.

But in all honesty, the reason I love the Kindle so tremendously is because of the no-paper reading. The use of the kindle prevents more books from being published, less books sitting on the shelfs of bookstores that may never even be picked up, saving those trees!!!

I've always been one to appreciate the beautiful life of trees. I try my best to avoid all Kimberly Clark products, and do my best to buy hemp paper products instead of supporting the companies which cut down these majestic plants. I've always been very into a group in the city of Boston 15 minutes from my hometown, called Grow Boston Greener. This group plants trees all over the city, and tries to spread awareness of how we can be more conscious of how much paper we use.

I think that the Kindle helps with this mass murdering. I think that if one were to put down that 190 dollars on a kindle, and start downloading e-books. It could help books continue to flourish, without the use of paper. First thing I want to do with my next paycheck, is buy myself a kindle, so I won't feel bad for buying novels of over three hundred pages, and it will be in a convenient little computer type device. I can't wait! :)

Musically Inclined- Five Minute Oral Presentation on Rolling Stone

Image taken from The Hollywood Gossip

Thesis: Rolling Stone is a magazine made for music lovers of all types, whether it be Rock, Pop, Rap, Alternative, Indie- they have something inside for you.

Five Facts: Rolling stone achieves their thesis by sucking a reader in with a Sexy front cover, in the August edition, Katy Perry sits provactively in nude colored underwear, staring at you quite seductively.

Rolling Stone isn't only for music, the articles range widely from the hottest new star to articles in the National affairs section, in the same August Edition, a cover story speaks of "How Wall Street Won"

Rolling Stone was first established in San Fransisco in 1976 by Jann Wener (Who is still editor and publisher)

The magazine was known for it's political coverage beginning in the 1970's, with Hunter S. Thompson (Author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) as one of it's top journalists.

Recently, the magazine has taken over a new depth of content, involving a lot more political matters than just music.

Triune Brain: Rolling Stone really gets into a good mix of the NEOCORTEX and the LIMBIC brain. The cover of Rolling Stone is always a star, and especially if you are really interested in this star, it sucks you in. Also the large bold print on the cover attacks the NEOCORTEX and makes you want to read more. Rolling Stone is also printed in kind of an authentic magazine way, the print is pretty small but the titles are big black bold fonts. On each page there are so many different articles to read it just fills your mind with information on all types of music. This is also connected to the LIMBIC brain because I know when i'm reading about certain artists, and see the pictures of them it makes me want to get on my computer and turn on their music, for some reason it just appeals to me more. It also touches on the reptilian brain, with mating, there are tons of sexy people strewn throughout every issue of the magazine. It keeps people reading when they see all these attractive stars. Lastly, the advertisements are really different and filled with beautiful colors and people. Like in this edition, There is a Ray Ban advertisement that is so beautiful. It's technicolor, with a mini rainbow floating through the sunglasses sitting on a chiseled man's face. It is for the rare prints, and as soon as I saw it I thought to myself "Damn I could really use some Ray-Bans." Too bad i'm broke.

Eight Trends- Rolling Stone holds an AESTHETIC SHIFT, The CONVERGENCE of all this type of media, which could be categorized in sort of a certain music culture. This magazine brings in all different styles of music and come together to create a bible for music fans. A CULTURAL SHIFT is shown widely throughout Rolling Stone. The writers want to create pieces that will make many different people read them. They want to write articles about what the readers enjoy, so they collect different stuff to attract different people.

Seven Principles- First principle I notice when looking at Rolling Stone is the PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES. The cover almost screams at you, The beautiful stars on the front and the thick bold font, with the witty titles of the cover story-it really sucks you in. While flipping through the pages you can see this technique executed with many pictures and styles of fonts. The pictures are decorated with little blurbs, to just give you a little hint of what's going into the article. The ads throughout the magazine have a certain "cool" feeling, like an ad for Pineapple Vodka. You can see a bottle, a wet juicy pineapple, and a hand with bright red fingernails pretty much caressing the vodka. At the top in big white font it says GO NATURAL to advertise for this "au naturale" pineapple infused vodka. The PACE of the magazine is filled with lots of different things to read, different from a lot of other magazines, short articles fill each page, instead of longer more in depth articles. It makes it very jumpy, but it also allows us to gather more and more information. It switches quickly back and forth from articles to advertisements, giving the magazine a good pace. You're not stuck with a mess of ads, and articles, it is broken up very well.

Persuasive Techniques- The big one here has to be BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. Looking through the magazine you see stars of all sorts, from big names to even people who are emerging into this rock culture. Like in the editorial of Katy Perry, her sexy pictures are what get you to start reading about her, and using PLAIN FOLKS they also make you feel like you're getting to know Ms. Katy Perry. Like in all the interviews Rolling Stone has, I feel like they make you feel personal with the stars.The magazine is also filled with many alcohol ads, using this PLAIN FOLKS technique again. There is one Budweiser ads filled with GOOD LOOKING younger people, shows them off partying and having a good time, don't you just want to be apart of that??

Mid Term Reflection- Why I Like This Class

1) I've learned that everything I see on the TV, hear on the radio, or watch on the big screen was created in a certain way to really get inside my head. It's been really interesting to learn how to pick out all the little things that have been placed in this media to make me feel a certain way.

2) I think that once I put my mind to these things, I can really understand how to catch and use the power tools in every day life. I feel like I could analyze anything you were to throw at me.

3) I wish that I hadn't put off the chapter reading until the night before most of the time. This textbook is pretty much the only interesting textbook i've seen in my life and I wish I could spend more time on the chapter.

4) The only thing I would change would be a little more time on the in class quizzes, I always feel a little rushed.

5) Now that I understand the power tools, I see how helpful they are, I really have read those things a thousand times and use them in every day life. The course blog is my best friend, if I didn't have it I would probably forget to do everything. It's way easier than writing down the homework in my notebook. I check it a few times a day. The quizzes make me feel more confident about understanding what we're doing in class, I like that you drill this information into our brains so many times. My personal blog makes me feel accomplished, I am proud of what I put on my blog. I really have enjoyed all the films we have watched, because I would never have sat down and really watched them otherwise. And lastly, this is the first textbook that i've ever actually wanted to read.

It Really Always is Sunny in Philadelphia...

Two weeks ago, the sixth season of my all-time favorite show aired, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I have been anticipating this new season ever since season five ended and I felt quite giddy curling up in my bed watching the new episodes these past two weeks.

The first episode titled, "Mac fights against Gay Marriage" was absolutely hilarious. The whole base of the episode is about marriage, and every character seems to get involved. Frank and Charlie decide that they should get a domestic partnership, so Charlie can get free health care. Also, Dennis meets back up with a highschool sweetheart, and suddenly, the two of them are signing marriage papers! This causes Mac to be kicked out of their apartment. Mac is also facing a lot of problems in his life, he runs into an old "fling" whom also used to be a man... now turned into a hot little blonde thing. He's also introduced into her new husband, a big scary black man, to say the least. This freaks him out, causing him to think that is a gay marriage. He starts whipping out bibles and reading verses to them.

I did not stop laughing throughout the entire episode. They really got me on this one, and the second episode was just as good. I suggest you turn on Fx tonight at ten to see the third episode. And if you've never seen the show before, it's fine, each episode is pretty much a brand new plot line, so you won't be confused by not knowing the show to much.

Oh and by the way, if you're one of those kids without a TV in your room, don't fret, you can watch the new season any time for free, right here.

Congratulations...For what?

A few days ago, I decided it was finally time to download the most recent MGMT album, Congratulations. The album came out in April 2010, and I've heard a few songs in passing, but I hadn't really sat down and listened to the whole album until the other day. And to be completely honest with you, I was pretty disappointed.

The album starts out alright, I didn't hate the first song, It's Working, but I wasn't impressed. The next song was really the one who made me sort of have a sour taste in my mouth. Song for Dan Treacy sounded like it should be the theme song for Scooby Doo.

As I listened more, I started to notice that all the songs have a similar sound. I was waiting and hoping for something to come up that sounded different, but it was the same guitar, same synth and same basic beat on almost every track. Bands like this bum me out, I just feel like they're repeating the same stuff over and over again to impress their fans. They know what the fans like but they're too scared to take risks. Why don't you live a little, mgmt?

This made me sad, for I absolutely love MGMT. A previous album, Oracular Spectacular, holds some of my very favorite songs. I sat on my bed concerned about if this album could really turn me off to a band i've always thoroughly enjoyed. Suddenly, the last song started to play

Woah. Wait a second, did you just hear what I heard? Was that actually fantastic? Yes, Yes it was. I had to repeat the song, to hear the lyrics once more and enjoy the beauty this song has painted for me. After hearing this again, it felt as if the band members had been building up and than bam, shove this in my face. It was perfectly positioned as the last song on the album, it was really the only song that blew me away. So MGMT, I still got your back, but please work a little harder next time? Thanks.