Quote of the Day, 2/20/2013

Quote of the Day:
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.
--Herman Melville

Verse of the Day, 2/20/2013

Proverbs 17:9“Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Music Is Very Beneficial

Music and music history has been a major part of my life. I have been a closet musician myself, having been playing guitar since I was 10. I am not the greatest guitarist however, since I am only able to play one song by memory and can’t play lead scales. I am also an amateur musicologist. I enjoy reading books on music history, particularly 20^th century American music, and it remains my most favorite topic of discussion. Whether performing in a band or just listening to it, music can be a very beneficial activity to take part in because it is very healthy, it can teach one how to be a team player and can also teach about different cultures.

One way that music can be a beneficial activity is because it’s a very therapeutic and healthy activity. I was about 10 years old when I first got turned onto the power of music. I was a loner as a child because my classmates harassed me, which caused me to go through bouts of depression. Sometimes back then I had thoughts of suicide but it was the healing power of music that saved my life. If it weren’t for the lyrics of some songs I heard growing up, I don’t think I would be alive today. For example, “Tears In Heaven” by Eric Clapton. This is a very sad song he written about his son which fell out of an apartment window in 1991. This song helped me feel better about my life because Eric lost a son, but I had not lost any family members at that point yet. I felt my life wasn’t as bad as it is for some others after hearing that song. Another example of what saved my life is any song by The Beatles. At 15 I was questioning constantly, “Why am I here,” and “What should I do with my life?” I saw the Beatles Anthology in 1995 on TV and thought it was very interesting and very informative. That is where my interest in music history started and I felt I needed to become a music historian, however it was never in my cards to go that route. I still like reading about music history and discussing it for fun, though. Music can ease pain, relieve stress and also improve overall well-being. According to Linda Wasmer Andrews, who is a health and mental health writer who has a degree in psychology, “There was a study done at Tzu Chi University in Taiwan. New nurses with high stress levels were randomly assigned to either listen to slow soothing music or just rest quietly. The ones listening to the slow soothing music reported feeling less stressed than the ones who chose to rest quietly.” She adds that they had lower blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormone levels. She even states in her article that music may even boost up one’s immune system. She said that a study on mice showed that the mice music was played for had an increase in cells compared to those that didn’t have music played for them. She also argues that listening to music can help encourage exercise, stating that it can motivate you to work out longer and harder. Music can also benefit spiritually and to do better at math, particularly fractions. In the words of local guitar broker and lead guitarist of the Harrison First Baptist Church Praise Team, Tut Campbell, “For the musician himself, the emotion of the song can allow him or her to develop feelings of happiness or sadness and can be an outlet for one’s spirit and soul as well.” He also adds that a 4/4 time signature song can have the basic quarter notes, half notes and whole notes as well as eighth notes and sixteenth notes that make up a measure of music in 4/4 time. Therefore, music has many health benefits. If one listens or plays music, they can be more relaxed and less stressed and will feel very healthy. It can also be great for you spiritually and mathematically.

Another way music can be a very beneficial activity is as a musician, one can learn how to be a team player. As a band member, one has to work with their band mates to make sure everyone is on the same page, and make sure the song sounds well. They can be in the studio all day with their band mates to make sure the recordings are perfect, so each band member should put their egos aside and be team players and work together. This is sometimes very difficult however, because everyone has their own creative ideas. If everyone in a band can get along well, they can work together better and there music would probably sound even better and would help them in the future if they ever needed to find a job where they had to be a team player. Team players usually get more respect compared to those that aren’t. If we are not team players, how are we able to get along with everyone who wants things done a certain way? For a peaceful environment, one needs to be able to agree to disagree. We don’t have to agree with what is to be done, but in order to get along with everyone, we should do it anyway. This will keep everything flowing more smoothly.

Learning about different cultures is another way music is a very beneficial activity. Listening to blues music from the Mississippi Delta can teach about what it was like living in the rural south in the early 1900s. Robert Johnson lived in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which is known as ground zero of blues history. When he started playing guitar at the juke-joints he wasn’t any good, and it is rumored that he met the devil at the crossroads of highway 61 and highway 49 there one night. He supposedly sold his soul to play well, which is the topic of his song “Cross Road Blues.” Cream, with Eric Clapton singing lead, later covered this song as “Crossroads” in 1968. Robert Johnson died in 1938 at the age of 27. Since he was a womanizer, a girl’s jealous boyfriend poisoned him. Jimmy Reed is another great example of how blues music can teach how it was in early 1900s rural south. Jimmy Reed was so drunk, that his mother had to be at the recording sessions, and sing the songs in his ear for him to know the next line, even though he wrote the songs. Some of his greatest works are “Big Boss Man,” “Bright Lights, Big City,” and “Baby, What You Want Me To Do.” Songs from the 1960s can teach about the counterculture of the hippies and the antiwar movement. Buffalo Springfield put out a great song that remains to this day as one of the leading anti-war songs. It was called “For What It’s Worth (Stop Hey, What’s That Sound),” which was about people protesting in the streets and being against the Vietnam War. Bob Dylan also put out a song called “The Times, They Are A Changin’,” that was a great song expressing how he felt about how quickly history was changing in 1963. Another great example of his songs is “Like A Rolling Stone,” where he expressed about how a lot of people of the baby-boom generation were on their own with their views, and ending up living on their own because of it, and didn’t get much support from their parents also. Even though some people do not agree with rap music, it can teach what it’s like living in the ghettos of America. “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA, Dr. Dre’s “Nothin’ But A G Thang,” or Ice Cube’s “Today Was A Good Day” are great examples of this. These songs express the artists’ feelings about police brutality, how hard life can be in the ghetto, and what the party scene is like there.

Music is definitely a very beneficial and rewarding activity to be involved in. I do not know how people would survive without it. I personally feel that it can save lives and can teach things. It can make one a much healthier person, teach how to be a team player, teach about the different cultures, and also help people feel more relaxed and less stressed. Because of its many benefits, I would invite everyone to have an open mind to it and just try and give every genre of music a chance, and I would also invite everyone to give every musical instrument a chance as well.

 

This is an original article I wrote for my English Comp I class but here are the works I cited:

Andrews, Linda Wasmer. “5 Health Benefits of Music.” Yahoo! Health. Yahoo, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. <http://health.yahoo.net/experts/allinyourmind/5-health-benefits-music>.

Campbell, Tut. E-Mail interview. 17 Feb. 2013

Can't even relax with all this technology

I recently got my first smartphone. I can now be updated on stuff i have on ebay, check my email &amp; get Facebook email amp; messages without going to the sites. Don't even need to open the apps on the phone!!! I can even let you know my current location and upload my work for you all to enjoy much faster now!! Unbelievable!!!

Quote of the Day, 2/13/2013

Quote of the Day:
False freedom leaves a man free to do what he likes; true freedom, to do what he ought.
--Anonymous

Verse of the Day, 2/13/2013

John 13:34-35““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

My Love For Films

Ever since I was young, I have enjoyed watching films and became interested in filmmaking. I believe this helped me become the creative individual I am today. My love for watching films and my interest in filmmaking had been influenced by some of my relatives including my mom, dad and my grandmother. If it weren’t for these three individuals in my life, I don’t think I would have been turned onto films like Star Wars and Back To The Future, which have always inspired me. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are two directors I have always enjoyed. I have also enjoyed films directed by Robert Zemekis, Ron Howard and John Hughes.

The one who had influenced my love for films and interest in filmmaking the most was my mom. On weekends she would rent or buy movies for our family to watch and we would have a movie marathon over the weekend watching them. There have been several movies I have seen because of these marathons. The first movie I remember her renting that inspired me was Back To The Future. The storyline of the film and the visual effects amazed me, and it got me interested in the concept of time travel. It made me want to see other films that Robert Zemekis directed. One Robert Zemekis film my mom bought that I really enjoyed was Who Framed Roger Rabbit? When I saw that Steven Spielberg played a role in the making of Back To The Future, it got me interested in his films also. When I heard he was close friends with George Lucas, it got me interested in his films as well. Sometimes, we would also watch movies on TV together. Star Wars was one of those movies on TV. My mom also bought a camcorder from sears around 1992 that was a bit big and bulky and recorded on video tape. Although it was her camcorder, and she used it most of the time, she would allow me to use it to film several family outings. I remember using it several times, especially to film our family while we were at Disney Land one year. She also let me use it to film camping trips and other family events. I took a course in junior high that helped develop my skills using a camcorder, and mom influenced me even more when she allowed me to use her camcorder to do various creative things for the class. When I bought my own camcorder in 2000, she took me to Branson and I shot video of various things there.

Additionally, my dad influenced my love for films and filmmaking. He may have not encouraged me to make my own films as much as my mom has, but little did he know that when he took my brothers and I to the movie theater several times he was actually encouraging me. The movies he took us to see really opened up my imagination and my creativity. One film he took us to in particular was Honey I Shrunk The Kids. Even though the story was kind of corny, it made me interested in wanting to see other films Rick Moranis was in. It also made me a fan of other Disney films of the time. Also one night, my dad took me to see Home Alone while it was playing at the drive-in. Even though it was his biggest hit, it made me want see other films Macauley Culkin was in. It also made me a fan of films directed by John Hughes. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is one of my most favorite films he directed. Young Guns 2 was on after Home Alone, and I was able to watch a little bit of it, but unfortunately I fell asleep through most of it while dad watched it.

My grandmother also helped influence my love for films and filmmaking. When I was in high school I wrote a screenplay that she read and enjoyed, and told me that if I wanted to make films and write as a career, that I should go to school for it. Looking back, I wish I had went to school for it, but unfortunately I never did. When I was younger, she took my family to see Jurassic Park while it was in theaters; I just thought the visual effects of that film were amazing. It got me even more interested in Steven Spielberg’s films. I wanted to see Schindler’s List in theaters, but I was too young to see it; However, I was able to see it when one of my teachers in junior high brought it into class for us to watch. My grandmother also took my cousins, aunt and I to see Forrest Gump in theaters. Even though at that time I didn’t understand most of the historical references mentioned in the film, I did enjoy it very much, and it made me interested in other films Tom Hanks was in. It also made me even more of a fan of Robert Zemekis’ films. I also remember watching Apollo 13 with my grandmother but I can’t remember if it was at her house or at the theater. I sat and watched it and I really enjoyed it. It made me a fan of Ron Howard’s directing style. Watching this film had helped fuel an interest I have in NASA and space history. It made me even more of a fan of Tom Hanks.

Recently, I acquired a digital camcorder. I can plug it into my computer and download shots from the camcorder to the computer and piece them all together. I can also add music like they do with real Hollywood films. It is probably the coolest device I ever owned. If it wasn’t for my relatives turning me onto films and the interest of filmmaking, I don’t think that I would have seen some of the movies that have made a major impact on my life. These movies have sparked my imagination and creativity and made me have an interest in making my own films someday. They also helped spark my desire to want to write and make me the creative individual that I am today.

Quote of the Day, Thursday 2/7/2013

Quote of the Day:
You cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.
--Liz Smith

Verse of the Day, Thursday 2/7/2013

Psalm 97:10“Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.