A Classmate's Blog: A Review

As I walked into my English class at the beginning of the semester I saw several familiar faces from my English Composition I class last semester. One individual in particular was Dakota Mohan. Although I did not really talk to or know him that well  it was good to see a familiar face. Dakota, just like the rest of the class had made a blog as part of the requirement. His blog, The Mind of the Storm, not only has a great title, but also contains many posts that I found interesting, enjoyable, and often agreeable. While most of my blog posts stuck to a topic, music, Dakota used his blog to share and express his views and thoughts on a wide range of topics.

His latest blog post, entitled LAST BLOG EVER(maybe),  just got me distracted for the past half hour on YouTube, and I really should be studying for exams right now. No matter what is post is about, Dakota is not afraid to share his opinion on things from the LGBT issue to which is better: iPhone or Android. He even used his blog to share his writing process with us (How generous!).

Although I may never have any classes with Dakota again, I do think he should keep up with his blog and keep on posting about everything and anything that interests him; that often makes the most interesting posts on blogs.

People Under the Stairs

People Under the Stairs is a hip hop group from Los Angeles, California formed in 1997 by Thes One and Double K.The group has released eight critically acclaimed full-length albums and performed on every continent except Antarctica.

With their success early in their career Thes One created Piecelock70, an artist collective dedicated to sustainable creative independence. On the site it goes on further to describe Picelock70 as:

 "Founded in 2004 by Thes One, Piecelock 70 was developed to provide an independent business framework for prolific hip-hop group People Under The Stairs. As the popularity and reach of the group burgeoned globally, PL70 expanded beyond touring and logistics to merchandising, full scale production and manufacturing. With the addition of a one-stop licensing department, professional studio facilities and an exclusive webstore, Piecelock 70 is rooted in the idea that the artist should have a direct relationship with the fan. With no label or middleman to answer to, PL70 ensures that every dollar spent sees the pocket of the artist. With absolute creative control and unmitigated ownership paramount, Piecelock 70 provides a space where modest commerce sustains limitless creativity. We believe in free downloads and paid purchases, that music lovers discern value in quality."

I have seen People Under the Stairs in concert twice, both times at The Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights, on June 23, 2011 and December 2, 2012. They are amazing live and they do something few other music artists on tour do. Their tour consists of them, and that's basically it; no crew or anything. The first time I saw them they were just chilling outside the venue hanging out with everyone. And the second time I saw them they ran the merchandise booth before and after the concert in addition to setting up their own gear and then back to the merch booth when they were finished performing.

Below are two of the groups most famous songs: "San Francisco Knights" and "Acid Raindrops".

Firefly and other TV series

Richard Castle, Jessica Pearson (from Suits), and that dude from Suburgatory(I don't really watch Suburgatory, but my parents do, so i catch some of it then) all in one show??? Whhaatttt??? I've heard of TV series Firefly before and knew that the cast included Nathan Fillion, the star of ABC's hit TV series Castle. I was aware that it was a science-fiction show but I was not aware that it only lasted one season, in 2002. I also did not know that it was that highly thought of, with a rating of 9.2 on IMDb. I've heard my brother talk about the show before, and I think he has watched it all, and I think I need to know too.

Overqualified and Underemployed

While this topic doesn't relate to my musical theme throughout my past blog posts I feel that overqualification and underemployment are issues in our society today. This whole concept came to my attention the other day when I was at Subway purchasing a breakfast sandwich (I was taking advantage of Subway's April deal of buy a 6 inch sub before 9am and get a 6 inch sub of equal or lesser value for free. So like you get breakfast and lunch for the price of one sub! Unfortunately like I said this is for April only, so... It's over now.) . The lady working at Subway seemed to be in her late 30s to early 40s or so. Now I do not know anything about this lady or her background, but I thought to myself, "Is this the best place you could be working?". I have noticed this trend other places as well; mainly fast food restaurants ( if the can even be called restaurants). I have noticed older people, middle-aged people, working at places such as fast food restaurants and Walmart. Now like I said, I know little about these people, so maybe they only have a high school diploma and no college education, but nevertheless, I would think there are better jobs that these adults would be better qualified for so they are not underemployed in a job that they are potentially overqualified for.

Now this whole underemployment thing could be a result of the whole economic thing and the recession, after all I have felt the affects of the recession myself with my father having been laid off and out of work for an extended period of time. My dad has even been turned down jobs he has applied for because the hirer felt that he was overqualified for the position. Is this really what the world is coming to? Adults in their 40s working minimum wage jobs at fast food restaurants? That's just depressing... And what does that mean for us kids in college at the moment? What will the job market look like when it comes time for us graduates to find a job? Luckily for me I'm planning to be a mechanical engineer, which are in demand, as most other engineering fields. Underemployment has become so common today that last year a new TV series was introduced called Underemployed. This show revolves around 5 recent college graduates unable to find work in their field of study.

I feel that many people are underemployed, me included. I am not trying yo say I am a genius or anything, but I think my brain could be better put to use than it is at my current job, not that I have anything against my current job. Last summer I had an internship at a paint and coating manufacturing company working in their research and development lab. While that was a wonderful experience, I am partially to my regular summer job working at Portage Country Club. Nonetheless, like I stated before, I just feel that my mind could be better utilized at a better job rather than a minimum wage job; but I suppose there are plenty of college aged kids out there to snatch up the minimum wage jobs.

And also I have noticed a lot more pan-handlers begging for money on the side of the streets in downtown Akron on my way to and from school (I'm one of the many AkronU commuters). Is it really that hard get cleaned up and to find a minimum wage job? I feel like there's always someone hiring, even if it is minimum wage. As much as I feel bad for the pan-handlers I feel like they should spend time looking for a job rather than standing on the side of the road begging with signs such as 'Fiance and I expecting".

If anything noticing older adults working minimum wage jobs at fast food restaurants has given me motivation to do well in school and work hard to complete college. I do not think I will have a problem finding a job when I graduate. 

My Guilty Pleasure: Taylor Swift

I mean, how can you not love Taylor Swift???

But really, I do love the girl and I really do like all of her music. I don't know where my obsession started but in the past couple of years it has really taken off. It's not an attempt to attract girls or anything either, and even if it was it hasn't worked. I just really like her music... I don't know if it's her voice or what but I'm just attracted to her. It would normally seem like a crazy obsession, but I think it's ok because I'm going to marry her some day, yeah.

I started listening to her after the release of her second album, Fearless. I very much enjoyed that album and several of the different versions of songs featured on the album's Platinum Edition stood out to me.

For example the Piano Version of "Forever & Always":

Also the "Clear Channel Stripped Version"s of "Untouchable" and "Fearless":

I didn't really enjoy her next album very much, Speak Now. It was a good album, but nothing really stuck out to me. My favorite song from the album is probably "Long Live".

Taylor's most recent album, Red, released on October 22, 2012, and you bet I was there at Target at 10 in the morning to get that Target Exclusive Deluxe Edition with the 6 bonus tracks. It was clear not only through Taylor's changing image, but also through her music, that she was growing up and maturing. I find it very interesting to watch as Taylor changes as she grows and discovers herself through her relationships and emotions. My favorite songs from this album are as follows:

"State of Grace" ( Acoustic) on the Deluxe Bonus CD thingy. I find something magical about acoustic versions of songs. I find this song in particular to be more emotional and down to earth, similarly to the Piano version of Forever & Always.

"All Too Well" is up there in my top favorite as well. 

I also really like "22". It is just such a fun upbeat song. 

In addition to those songs, there are three distinct parts of songs on the album that I like. 

1. In "22" when she says "hipsterzz", I don't know, I just love it!

2. In "Stay Stay Say" at the very end when she say "That's so fun!" it's just so genuine seeming and cute.

3. In "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" When she says "you call me, I love you". It's so freaking cute. I don't even like this song that much it is so over played it's sickening. 

And I also had the opportunity to attend her concert in Cleveland last Thursday, April 25th. It was too amazing. Probably one of the best nights of my life and one of the like top two concerts I've been to, the other being Elton John at Blossom. I took the following pictures at the concert:

 

 

In addition to being so amazing and cute, she has the cutest cat in the world, Meredith.

I also LOVE her performance of Train's "Drops of Jupiter" that she did on the Speak Now Tour and that appeared on the Speak Now: World Tour Live album.

She also did a cover of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and Uncle Kracker's "Smile" on that tour as well.

I just think Taylor Swift is freaking cute and a great musician in addition to an excellent performer. I look forward to her future work and hope that she can some day find true love.

Concerts

I love concerts; they are amazing.They are, in my opinion, the best way to experience music and I find that live music can often sound better than a cd. It's really difficult to compare the two though. Last night I attended the Taylor Swift concert (Yeah I'm a guy that loves Taylor Swift, get over it) in Cleveland and it was fantastically amazing; probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

I think it is wonderful to attend concerts and everyone should. I find it shocking when I hear people say "oh, this is my first concert." I'm like whhatttt??? How have you never been to a concert before. I often go to concert venues' sites to see what concerts are coming up and then I make a list of what I'd like to attend. I just did that this morning and here is what I've come up with.


Waka Flocka Flame - The GFSE Multiplex Akron, Ohio - May 4th

MGMT - Masonic Auditorium Cleveland, Ohio - May 4th

The Insane Clown Posse - LC Pavilion Columbus, Ohio - May 14th

Juicy J Stay Trippy Tour - House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio - May 22nd

Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab Soul - Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica Cleveland, Ohio - June 4th

Flobots - Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, Ohio - June 10th  

Weird Al Yankovic - New Port Music Hall Columbus, Ohio - June 11th

Portugal. The Man - House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio - June 13th

Whitest Kids U'Know Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, Ohio - June 13th

Alabama Shakes LC Pavilion Columbus, Ohio June 18th

KINGS OF THE MIC featuring LL Cool J with Special Guests Public Enemy, Ice Cube and De La Soul - Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica Cleveland, Ohio - June 15th

Kid Rock - Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - July 2nd

The Dirt Heads and the Expendables - Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio - July 9th

Fun. with very special guests TEGAN and SARA - Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica Cleveland, Ohio - July 9th
Vans Warped Tour - Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - July 18th

Under the Influence of Music Tour: Wiz Khalifa and A$AP Rocky with JOEY BADA$$, B.O.B., and Trinidad James - First Niagara Pavilion Burgettstown, Pennsylvania - August 3rd

The Killers - Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica Cleveland, Ohio - August 5th

John Mayer and Phillip Phillips - Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Fall, Ohio - August 6th

The 14th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos - Hog Rock, Cave-In-Rock, Illinois - August 7th - 12th

America's Most Wanted Festival 2013 starring Lil' Wayne - Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - August 7th

Hanson - House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio - October 19th

City and Colour - Stage AE Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - November 5th


So those are most of the concerts I'm looking at going to this spring/summer/fall. I most definietly won't attend all especially because some of them are on the same day, but I hope to attend many of them. What concerts are you looking forward to attending in the future? 

Jack White: The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and His Solo Career

Jack White is an American musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. He began his musical career in 1997 with the band The White Stripes. He has also formed other bands including The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather in addition to launching his own solo career. 

He formed The White Stripes with his then wife and drummer Meg White, however, they divorced in March of 2000, but continued to create music together. Interestingly enough Jack, born John Anthony Gillis, decided to take Meg's name. The band began its career as part of the Michigan garage rock underground music scene. The White Stripes were signed to Italy Records, a small and independent Detroit-based garage punk label and the band released its self-titled debut album in 1999, and a year later the album was followed up by the cult classic De Stijl. The album eventually peaked at No. 38 in Billboard's Independent Albums chart when the band had established their popularity. While performing and in music videos, Jack and Meg are very recognizable visually, as they dress only in red, white, and black.

The White Stripes have been nominated for 11 Grammys and have won 6. Their last three albums each won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

On February 2, 2011, it was reported on the main page of whitestripes.com that the duo has decided to part ways. White stated that it was not due to health issues or artistic differences but there were a "myriad of reasons". This marked the end of a musical era.

Below is a small selection of songs by The White Stripes including their most recognizable song, Seven Nation Army, and some of my favorites.

Formed in 2005, The Raconteurs is an American rock band that was formed in Detroit, Michigan, featuring four members known for other musical projects: Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler. The origin of the band was the song 'Steady, As She Goes' which White wrote along with Benson. This inspired them to create a full band with the addition of Lawrence and Keeler. The band came together in Detroit during 2005 and, for the remainder of the year, recorded when time allowed. The band's debut album Broken Boy Soldiers was recorded at Benson's home in Detroit. The band set out on tour to support the album, including eight dates as the opening act for Bob Dylan. The group's second album, Consolers of the Lonely, and its first single, "Salute Your Solution", simultaneously in 2008. The album received a Grammy nomination. In an interview in February 2010 Brendan Benson stated that the future of The Raconteurs was ambiguous, stating "I think we're all just really focused on other things." He went on to add that "it will come around and we'll get together again and hang out and maybe make a record or maybe not."

Below is their song Steady, As She Goes, and one of my favorite songs Carolina Drama.

In 2009, Jack White, along with  Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita, and Jack Lawrence, formed the band The Dead Weather. The group debuted a handful of new tracks on March 11, 2009 in Nashville from their debut album Horehound, which came out July 14, 2009 in North America, on White's Third Man Records label. On October 16, 2009, Mosshart confirmed that the second album was "halfway done". The first single "Die by the Drop" was released on March 30, 2010. The new album, Sea of Cowards was released on May 11, 2010.

Throughout his career Jack White has worked with other artists. On January 30, 2012 White released "Love Interruption" as the first single of his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, which was released on April 24, 2012.

 

 

Throughout his career Jack White has created  and produced beautiful music and worked with many amazing artists. 

Urban Exploring

All of my posts up to this point have been about music, but I've decided it's time to expand the content of this blog to include other random and interesting things. In this post I will inform you about the activity of Urban Exploring. Wikipedia defines Urban Exploration as "the exploration of man-made structures, usually abandoned ruins or not usually seen components of the man-made environment." Wikipedia goes on to say that  "photography and historical interest/documentation are heavily featured in the hobby and, although it may sometimes involve trespass onto private property, this is not always the case and is of innocent intention."

Many Urban Explorers are also photographers, and many amazing photos can come out of the hobby.

To me, the thrill of Urban Exploring comes from the fact that many of the buildings and structures were once in full use, maybe hundreds of years ago and that they are now forgotten. It amazes me how such structures can be simply abandoned, left to decay. For example, the following photo of an abandoned state hospital asylum. Unfortunately there aren't many local places of this brilliance and magnitude. Many of these larger older hospitals and such are in Europe or remote places in the US. 

There are several websites dedicated to Urban Exploring in the Ohio and Great Lakes regions. Unfortunately many of these websites are out of date. It is difficult to work with outdated information because the status of a building can change in a matter of months. Many of these buildings may be torn down, or purchased and renovated for use. Some websites that focus on the Ohio and Great Lakes area include:

Ohio Exploration Society

Illicit Ohio

Dead Ohio

Great Lakes Urban Exploration


Some awesome local Ohio sites include the following:

Edwin Shaw Hospital

Chippewa Lake Amusement Park

 

St. Joseph Byzantine Church

Urban Exploring can come with several dangers. First off, it is mostly illegal as you are almost always trespassing on private property. Unfortunately police can often be assholes, to put it bluntly. There is a sort of code of conduct for Urban Explorers that you don't take anything or vandalize anything. Dangers can include asbestos, other contaminants and chemicals, dangerous heavy machinery, and structural instability such as decaying floors and ceilings. It is important to not carry any weapons, pry bars, lock pick sets, etc. that could lead police to breaking and entering or vandalism.

Urban Exploring is also some what seasonal. It is much more difficult to explore in the winter than the summer. An additional danger during the winter is homeless people. The homeless often take shelter inside abandoned buildings. Homeless may not always be a threat and can even be friendly, but it is the uncertainty that makes them a danger.

The following video is a documentary made about the hobby of Urban Exploring.

Unfortunately, over time the buildings and locations are forgotten and torn down. It is heartbreaking to do research and find a spectacular location only to find that it was recently torn down. Urban Exploring is a fun, adventurous, and sometimes dangerous activity, however it is a wonderful way to appreciate society, architecture, and civilization.

The Insane Clown Posse

The goal of this post is to not only share the Insane Clown Posse with you, but to get you to understand and appreciate the group's music and fan-base. If you are unfamiliar with ICP here is a short excerpt from a paper I wrote on Juggalos for my English Comp 1 class. 

"The Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is made up of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective stage-names of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. The Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore and is known for its elaborate live performances. The duo has earned two platinum and five gold albums during its career which began in the late 1980s. Throughout the groups career they have earned many followers and fans. These fans and dedicated followers have been come to known as Juggalos."

I'm not so much a fan of ICP's music, but rather their live concert experience. I first saw ICP in concert a few years ago with a friend at a small venue in Cleveland. I had never listened to their music before then, and I still really don't, however I still consider myself a fan.

Every year the Insane Clown Posse holds their annual Gathering of the Juggalos a 5 day music festival.  This past year, 2012, I was fortunate to attend the 13th Annual Gathering. This was probably one of the greatest experiences and greatest weeks of my life. I went with my friend that I went to the other ICP concert with. I won't go into the full details of the week, but it was amazing. The Gathering was 5 days long, August 8th through the 12th. This years performers included George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, Master P, DMX, Biz Markie,  Eazy-E’s son, Lil Eazy-E, and Who's Bad, a Michael Jackson tribute band in addition to many Psychopathic Records artists and  many other artists. 

The Gathering draws tens of thousands of Juggalos every year. One of the main apsects to the Juggalo culture is family and unity, Juggalos are all about family, and they consider The Gathering of the Juggalos the largest family reunion in the world. 

The below video is one of the singles off of The Insane Clown Posse's most recent album, The Mighty Death Pop!. The song is entitled "Chris Benoit". The video was directed by The Deka Brothers who also assisted with the video to the well-known Skrillex song First Of The Year (Equinox).

The below video is of the live broadcasted Pay-Per View of ICPs performance at The 13th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos. Just a little interesting tidbit: towards the end of the performance Shaggy 2 Dope takes off his shirt and throws it into the crowd. You can't see it in the video, but I happened to catch that shirt. I still have it, it's a 5XL Tall Pro Club T-Shirt.

 

I hope now you are a little more familair with the Insane Clown Posse and their music and fans. Feel free to share your opinions on the musical group in the comment section below.

Oasis

Oasis is probably one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite band, and I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to attend an Oasis concert, but alas that will never happen. They're an English BritPop Alternative Rock band that formed in the early 1990s, but have since disbanded. I'll start this post out with an Oasis song I believe everyone knows, and I would say it is their most popular song. Wonderwall. This song is described by its writer, Noel Gallagher, as being about "an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself" (BBC).

The band was originally formed by Liam Gallagher and was called The Rain. They were joined by Noel, Liam's younger brother, and they became the band known as Oasis.  The band saw their main influence as The Beatles, and were even said to be obsessed.  Many bands have cited Oasis as an influence including The Kooks, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, The Strokes, and many more.

Throughout the bands career the brothers had argued, disagreed, and fought. This led to the bands break up in 2009. Following a backstage fight between the Gallagher brothers before a concert on August 28, 2009, Noel posted a statement on the band's website saying that "with some sadness and great relief...I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."

The following are Oasis songs that I particularly like. It is hard to choose just a few songs from so many.

Liam Gallagher vowed to continue with the band despite Noel's absence. Liam took the remaining members and formed the band Beady Eye. I am unfamiliar with Liam's band, but I will most definitely have to look into them. 

Noel Gallagher later, in 2011, formed the band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The band has since released one album. Here is my favorite track from that album. 

 Also on the album is the song Stop the Clocks written by Noel Gallagher and originally recorded for the Oasis album Don't Believe the Truth in 2004.

Since Oasis' break up an album titled Time Flies... 1994–2009 has been released that contains all of Oasis' 27 UK singles released by the band between 1994 and 2009 in addition to some live performances. This album is a must for any Oasis fan or anyone interested in listening to Oasis. 

The following is a video of a live performance of the Oasis song Don't Look Back in Anger performed in 2009 shortly before the band's break up. It is such an amazing and emotional representation of the band's music. I believe this is one of the best live musical performances ever. I get chills every single time I listen to this live version. I hope you will enjoy and appreciate this performance, as well as the band Oasis, as much as I do. 

Blink-182 & Tom DeLonge

For those of you familiar with Tom DeLonge you probably know he is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the well known pop punk band Blink-182. I've known and loved Blink-182 for a long time now and I recently made a few new discoveries about Tom DeLonge as well.

I feel like everyone is familiar with Blink-182, so I don't have much to say about them. They were in town a year or two ago and I really regret not going to their concert at Blossom. Here are some of my favorite Blin-182 songs.

I was just looking through my collection of CDs a couple of months ago and I found my very first ever burned mixtape, it has to be close to 10 years old. I listened through it and it sure did bring back memories. There was one song that I just had to look up because I remembered it and liked it so much. I loved it because the singer's voice reminded me of Blink-182! Well what do ya' know, the lead singer of this band, Box Car Racer, was the same as the lead singer of Blink-182.

Box Car Racer was only together for two or so years and I really only like a couple of their songs. Here is my favorite.

After discovering that DeLonge had other music other than Blink-182 I delved further into his musical career. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he had formed another band as well, Angels & Airwaves. I had definitely  heard of this band before but I was unfamiliar with them and had no idea that DeLonge was a member. 

From my basic research Angels & Airwaves was a band that Tom DeLonge started when the members of Blink-182 decided to take an indefinite hiatus in 2005. It seems that DeLonge found some other musicians and formed Angels & Airwaves, while other members of Blink-182 formed the band +44. I am unfamiliar with +44 although now I may decide to look into them. Since Blink-182's reformation in 2009 +44 has broken up, while Angels & Airwaves has continued to create music. Here are a few of my favorite Angels & Airwaves songs, In addition to a single off of their most recent EP.