Holiday spending

                After reading the article pertaining to holiday spending, I have a very strong opinion based on past experiences. I believe people spend way too much money on every holiday. Christmas is a holiday that I believe is changing year to year. People are just into receiving presents, and they think if they give presents then they are very caring people. I believe it is not the quantity of the present, but it’s the quality. America is so consumed with the dollar bill. Quite frankly, I believe money “makes the world go around” for many people. Christmas is great for stimulation for the economy, but that is one of the only good outcomes of it. It is supposed to be a religious time, to celebrate the birth of Christ. I find myself going to a nightly session at church almost annually, and even very religious people forget to do it on Christmas. I think more money should be spent on more important things than clothes, electronics, etc. If the whole country/world focused all of their efforts on more important things, our money would be better spent. World hunger would be a good focus, along with our countries revenue. So many people complain and stress about getting good Christmas for others, but in reality, it is a small issue in a very large, broad area of complaints. People are stressing over their next meal, a roof over their head, and first world issues are apparently more important. Looking at Africa, and the abundance of disease and unsanitary conditions are in need of some sort of compensation to help their growing continent. There is no alternative for them in their evolution into a modern continent unless there is some sort of economic help. I believe the solution to the problem would be to take away from holidays, and focus the money elsewhere. That would benefit not just ourselves, but everyone around us.  Therefore, I believe if everyone took their efforts away from using their money for gifts and holidays, we would become more successful as a species. 

Sublime Album Review

In the summer of 1992, Sublime released their debut album 40 Oz. to Freedom. This album was revolutionary for many ska punk, and reggae listeners. This album was solely recorded in Long Beach California. In total, the album is 74 minutes long featuring former lead singer Brad Nowell. Nowell passed away years later from an accidental heroin overdose, which ultimately made the album more impactful.

            Mixing themes of bad decision making, accidental love, and bad situations of the band’s lives creates sympathy for the band. The audience compares their lives to the life of Brad Nowell, for instance, and notices the overall trend in each song. He sings about indulging in poor decisions relating to drug consumption, and alcohol abuse. This shows the audience how tough his life was, and how the misfortunes he experienced made songs like “Badfish” to have a central meaning. Blending Jamaican sounds like those of Bob Marley, and meaningful lyrics, created a reggae feel in each song.

            Many songs were upbeat and showed Bradley’s drug problem on a large scale. The song that best describes this is “Badfish”. The song specifically relates to his consumption of alcohol and how he has nowhere else to turn, other than drugs. Lyrics that show this effectively include; “Two pints of booze tell me are you a badfish too? Are you a badfish too? Ain't got no money to spend, I know the night will never end. Lord knows I'm weak, won't somebody get me off of this reef.” Brad sings about how bad of a person he is, and how he has no more money. All of his financial efforts went towards booze and drugs. He then goes on to say how he is weak, and he needs someone to get him off of the “reef”. Analyzing this lyric, I noticed the reef was a metaphor for the messed up world he lived in. This was a good literary device that makes the audience think.

Another lyric of “Badfish” includes; “I swim but wish I never learned, the water's too polluted with germs.” His ability to “swim” showed his experimental behavior with drugs. He uses another effective metaphor in saying he wish he never learned, and the water is too polluted with germs. He alludes to how the world is polluted with drug users, and he has put himself in that position. I believe these lyrics would be relatable to both lower income people, and drug users worldwide. This is a taste of how meaningful his music was, and a good reason why the album was unanimously popular.

The album cover shows a lot of intricate colors and shapes. It portrays a sun showing many colors, and mushrooms. The sun also contains eyes, which are squinted. This shows the overall drug use of the band. It shows their love of bright colors, in a way, and shows how optimistic they are towards life. Sublime was just a band that wanted everyone to feel good about their life, and that if they for any reason gave in to temptation, it was justified in one way or another.

I would recommend this album to many listeners. Although, this album would not be beneficial to younger listeners, that are younger than 15. It would be inappropriate in a some ways, considering the harmful, explicit lyrics. Listening to the album, I felt pretty good about myself. I am not a drug user, and I’m glad to have a life without drugs. I would rate this album a 3.7/5 because of the quality of the music itself, the story behind each song, and the emotions I felt listening to it. It was a great recipe for one of the best albums of all time. 

Album Review Samples

1) Daughtry, Baptized

 3.5/5 stars - a moderately popular album

By Chuck Eddy

November 19, 2013

Seven years after he placed on American Idol, Chris Daughtry and his band are opening up their would-be grunge to more nuance: folk instruments and synths, smoother high notes tempering Daughtry's bellow, "boom-b'boom" vocal-bass hook lightening the gender war in "Battleships." The sound on Baptized somehow links U2 to Rascal Flatts, adding Springsteen stances in "Wild Heart." More unexpectedly, there's also a banjo shuffle where Daughtry chooses Van Halen over Van Hagar, catalogs some of his other heroes and wonders who wrote Hole's songs. "Long Live Rock & Roll," it's called – a defense, perhaps, against anybody claiming guys like him helped kill it.

2) Matangi, Interscope

By Maya Arulpragasam

2/5 stars a moderately unpopular album

November 5, 2013

If Maya Arulpragasam has a persecution complex, she's earned it. "Let you into Super Bowl/You tried to steal Madonna's crown/What the fuck you on about?" she spits on "Boom Skit," conjuring her haters: generic racists, critical magazine profilers, and the NFL litigators reportedly suing her for $1.5 mil for her bird-flip during her 2012 halftime performance with Madonna. It's a telling moment on her fourth LP, a mixtape-style mash-up of political provocations, ripostes, tough-gal love songs, neon DJ memes and ass-whooping South Asian-spiced beats. Like Kanye West, M.I.A. seemingly needs haters for fuel. On Matangi, her tank's full.
The standouts are rewinds: "Bad Girls," the Arabic-flavored club anthem from the 2010 Vicki Leekx mixtape, and "Come Walk With Me," a lover's proposal teased last year in a video post, here reworked with echoes of her signature "Paper Planes." It furthered the rumor Matangi would be a "positive" LP, but even her bedroom-R&B attempts – "Exodus" and "Sexodus" – are skeptical interrogations. She shows little need to resolve contradictions or make her dazzling scraps cohere. But the magic is in the frisson. "Preach like a priest/I sing like a whore," goes the quilt-like, Switch-produced title track. And the contradictions keep coming.

3) Luscious Jackson, magic hour

By Will Hermes

1/5 an unpopular album

November 5, 2013

Luscious Jackson were to New York freestyle dance pop what their cohorts the Beastie Boys were to hip-hop: a sly subculture riff that delivered the goods with a wink. On this tight, 10-song reunion (minus singer-keyboardist Vivian Trimble), vocals still waver charmingly off-key, grooves still conjure a Nineties Lower East Side rent party. "You are my male J.Lo/Your jeans fit nice/ What's your price? . . . I have no pride," chants Jill Cunniff on "#1 Bum," a shout-out to a fine rump that rides a punky reggae groove. Homeboy Adam Horowitz lends a production hand for "So Rock On," a sexy midtempo jam whose title sums up the ethos here. Welcome back, ladies.

4) Le Grand Kallé

His Life, His Music Stern's Africa

                4.5/5

In the Sixties and Seventies, Le Grand Kallé remapped an entire continent's music. He adopted Cuban rumba and became the first Congolese musician to record with an electric guitar. His "Independance Cha Cha" (1960) was the soundtrack of a revolution, and his bands spawned world-historic bandleaders Manu Dibango and Tabu Ley Rochereau.

5)
The Wanted

Word of Mouth Island

2/5

The Wanted are a boy band with a man's disposition: They drink, they get into arguments, and they tend to see women as passive creatures waiting around in heels to be redeemed or get their hearts broken. They cloak their casual misogyny in trying to look sensitive, alternating rakish club pop like "Walks Like Rihanna" with post-Coldplay ballads in which everyone gets a chance to brood.
6)

The Who 

5/5

Tommy: Super Deluxe Box Set Geffen/UMe

10

As the first popular "rock opera," Tommy has plenty to answer for. But measured against pale 21st-century Broadway offspring, the Who's magnum opus still rules. Besides an impressive book, the news on this box is a virtually complete set of Pete Townshend demos, with the composer's warm tenor taking lead on every song. It makes for remarkable alternate versions.


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True or false, group

Kylie- A longtime Kansas City Chiefs fan says he swapped six game tickets for a wedding ring set advertised on Craigslist.49-year-old Kansas City resident Rusty Jones, said he first learned of the ring offer last week through a story in The Kansas City Star. He contacted the seller, who wanted to swap the rings and surprise a loved one with tickets to the Dec. 1 game at Arrowhead Stadium. The rings, which the newspaper said were from the seller's previous marriage, were appraised at $2,800.

Keenan- A water tower in the capital Raleigh, Virginia fell on a surrounding house, killing one person, and injuring two. The house was demolished instantly, and water flooded the streets. Surrounding neighbors had massive floods in basements, and was an issue for a month straight.

Alexa- Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau was on the cover of French Vogue in 2011. Wearing gold, stilettoes, and heavy make-up, Blondeau is sprawled out on leopard printed bed covers, which is a typical photo shoot for vogue; however this young lady happens to just be ten years old. Parent groups and other concerned French citizens express their dismay of these photos of the young girl being taken because some of them have her topless chest covered with her long hair and large beaded jewelry.

Lauren- News anchor Kyra Philips caught on the john. Kyra accidentally forgot to turn her microphone off and was talking “potty talk” while in the bathroom. After the potty talk ended she proceeded to call her sister-in-law a control freak. Due to the microphone being on, this was all on air for everyone to hear.

 Lizzie- A family living in Dunedin, Florida notices a screened in room fell into a hole. A sinkhole has formed on an early morning. About 70 feet wide and 50 feet deep and growing. If it rains the hole may get worse.  Seven homes in all were evacuated.  Hole will be filled in soon but not all families may return to their home.

Nicole- Man takes 8 mile fall after traveling in air plane.  The pilot believes the the passenger may have jumped but the causes are still unknown.  Taking the leap of unfortunate fate the man has not yet been found.  Taking the risk without a parachute, once the plane had landed safely, safety crew began an immediate search of the area. Although searches were postponed Thursday due to weather conditions, the hunt still continues.

Gabby- Memphis woman, Harris, sits on landlord, Kellen Carroll’s, face during an argument. When approached about her late rent, the woman became violent with the man. She proceeded to choke the man. She then wrestled the man to the ground. When he tried to call for help Harris, an extremely large woman, sat upon Kellen Carroll’s face.

Bullying Response

   I believe bullying and harassment is no different depending on location. I think there is the same verbal bullying in the locker room as there is in the workplace. The National Football League has many predominately African American players, and Caucasian players, that use foul language on a regular basis. I believe the locker room is a place where the players say whatever they want, without many conversations getting leaked to the media or general public.

Ken Ross style question

Do you believe that wellness class should be primarily fitness or a health class?