How About Better Parents?

-Thomas L. Friedman

    "Better parents can make every teacher more effective." says Thomas L. Friedman. He is right. Something I've come up with is how well you do in a subject depends on how much you study it outside of the classroom. In school we are just learning the absolute basics; rhetoric, algebra, and  french still mean nothing to us. We will graduate and never see these concepts again. I already forget how to solve matrices and never really learned how to factor. What I'm getting at is self-discovery is more important than anything you can be taught. If I were to teach myself music theory, I would undoubtedly come up with something never seen before, perhaps a new method of creating a progression. However, I would miss out on much of the classical knowledge offered through classroom education. It is necessary to find a balance.
     My parents have had a small impact on my learning career. I haven't had them look at my homework, study with me, and I haven't even asked them a question in years. They have slipped out of my education in school. It is neither here nor there as to if this is for the better; it is what it is. These studies are made out to seem as if reading is the only thing that will make your child succeed in school. Research is unnecessary to prove the legitimacy of the article: common sense can be substituted. The earlier you start to introduce advanced materials to your children, the better they will do in school.
     I have talked about Friedman before. In my past blog post, I was infuriated by his criticism of Obama. I his past opinion was incredibly dull and was a chore to read. This is much of the same. There is no descriptive language and very little use of any rhetoric tools. He is pedestrian in his word choice, often repeating his basic grammar. I was surprised that his final paragraph did not begin with "All in all". While I like the concept of taking the blame for the lack of development in youth off teachers, I do not agree with some statistics due to personal experience. The article was drab and I would not recommend it to anyone except new parents.


Article by Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times

Black Sabbath, the Iron Men of Rock, to Reunite

Article by James C. McKinley Jr. at The New York Times.

     I was once told a story of how a couple of teenage kids were at a big rock festival. Oink Floyd came on, and they booed, claiming they were an "Old Person Band". To start, I love Pink Floyd. The great gig in the sky is one of the greatest songs ever composed. But Black Sabbath is similar, though I actually don't like them that much. Pretty much the only song that is any good of theirs is War Pigs. Kids my age will be calling the members old Geezers. The band is made out to sound fervent about writing together again, which leads me to believe that this album will be worth listening to. But is Ozzy still kicking? We will have to wait for the release of their new album in the fall of 2012 to see.

     This article reminded me of an advertisement. McKinley clearly loves Sabbath. It's either that or he would make a fantastic agent. His style was that you would expect from a newspaper. It gave facts and offered little opinion on it. There was a surprisingly small amount of bias. He offered both points of view, saying, "Though many critics despised their music, the band sold 8 million records in the 1970's." He makes no personal claims at liking or disliking the music. The purpose of the article is to excite the public so that they buy their music and concert tickets. Any publicity is good publicity after all. The article is compiled using flat, dull language and makes you feel like you're listening to a Black Sabbath album: irritated. Overall, a dull article for a mediocre band.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven By Mitch Albom

I apologize for not italicizing the title; it won't let me do it.

    The Five People Your Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom is a marvelous work of fiction. There is no reason why any person inhabiting earth should fail to read it. The language, the simplicity, the depth, the characters; everything about this book is outstanding. Read this book, and read it today. I have never been so absorbed in anything in my entire life.
     Albom uses basic language. There is little to rant about and nothing to complain about. Nobody should have any difficulty flying through the book. One of the reasons why I enjoyed the book so much was Albom's habit of being direct with the plot. There was never a moment in which I was questioning where I was and what was happening. This is polar to something like Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and it's a nice change to be honest. Albom's method of telling an impossible war story is enthralling. Eddie experiences an extended flashback to Vietnam, in which is the single most disgusting way to kill a man. If you do not wish to know, skip the next couple sentences. Eddie, who learned to juggle on the pier where he grew up, entertains his four guards by juggling four rocks. All of a sudden, he takes the stones and hurls them towards them, striking four of them dead, right in the face, and escaping with his platoon after he burns the camp. It was a "Oh my god, I can't believe what just happened" moment. This book is composed of them.
     The way Albom describes people is phenomenal. For example, Rabozzo, a member of Eddie's platoon which has been captured, contracts a disease in the mines. He describes it in great detail, and, although this is not a particularly violent book, he draws upon the gore of the sickness. Suddenly, the reader is swept off their feet when poor, sick, young, helpless Rabozzo executed with a bullet to the head. All this happens in two lines. It is so instant that it can't help but become real. I actually saw it happen, I swear. His skill in depicting each characters is unmatched by today's authors. You feel the love between Marguerite and Eddy. You feel the Captain's pain as he is forced to shoot his own platoon member in order to save their life. You feel Eddy's pain as he traverses his five planes of heaven to learn the meaning of his life. It feels so real. It is so real.
     Albom sure knows how to present his story to his readers, for it is incredibly well developed and thorough. When the end of the book is reached, the reader is sad. However, there is something more, a phenomenon called "fulfillment". This happens when a book is written so that all information needed to experience happiness for the characters is presented. It is when the author succeeds in creating a utopia of thought in the readers mind because the plot of the book is so perfect that the reader can't help but sit in awe at what just happened. I will never stop thinking about this book. The concept of a good man seeing his triumphs and beautiful, beautiful mistakes makes for an angelic story. Your average writer could never pull of such a grand feat. Albom is a master of his craft, his grace shining through the pages and into his reader's thought.
     Although, I admit, this was not the most challenging book to read, it was of comparable difficulty to Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. The difference between the two is that The Five People You Meet in Heaven is quality. Its themes are vital, its delivery unique, and its tendency to leave you on the very tip of your seat  makes it one of the best books I've read, not just this year, but in my seventeen years of life.

Justin Bieber’s Holiday Album Is a Surprising No.1

     iTunes. Billboard. Rhapsody. What do all these music giants have in common? Their main audience is tween girls. The second JBiebs knocks out an album, they'll be waiting outside of FYE with "Marry Me Justin" signs dragging their push-over fathers by the hand. It doesn't matter how atrocious the music he produces is; since he is "hot stuff", he sells 200,000 albums. I hate it. If Justin Bieber sells this many records, Risky Business should be forever number one on those forsaken Top 100 lists. Unfortunately, pop media is stupid and ignorant of all the good that is going on in the world. If I could slap Justin Bieber in the face, I would. More importantly, I would like to kick Usher where it hurts.
     Usher is absolutely stupid for bringing this kid up for two reasons. One is that he is just a kid. The second is that he is a kid whose vocal cords haven't finished growing. Justin's voice is getting deeper, and it has become harder for him to hit that "Ohhhhh!" In his hit Baby. Seem harmless? It isn't. Over-working the vocal cords is extremely dangerous, especially at such high frequencies for males, and his voice is deteriorating because of it. Damn you Usher! You just killed Justin Bieber's ability to sing! Well, he will always have the drums (which he can't play) to fall back on.
     I pretty much grabbed this article so I could rant about Bieber and his lack of musical integrity.

Here is the link.

A Master of the Piano Whose Performances Receive No Applause

     Lang Lang is incredible. It is difficult to find any finer pianists in the world; the only people that come to mind are Jordan Rudess and maybe Herbie Hancock. I thought this presented some interesting views. It goes to show, especially with pianos, that your sound is directly dependent on other people. Lang asks his piano technician, Stefan Knüpfer, to provide an incredible tone that will make his listeners interested and pleased. I find this ironic because he just tells Knüpfer what to do. I would expect such a prestigious musician to develop his sound himself because I am a sax player, and us saxes need to make our own tone. Lang has no control over who he is as a musician texture-wise, and that is something that really bugs me. I've worked so hard to develop an expressive tone, and he just tells his technician what to do.
     Dargis is a little hard to follow. I found myself drifting mentally because the timeline was a bit whacky. I didn't understand the whole concept of the movie; it was not conveyed clearly enough. I felt the point of the article would be lost in translation to anyone who is a non-musician, and even still, I didn't get it the first time. I'm miserable at sight-reading music, but I'm pretty sure I'm good at it in English. Manohla Dargis, I would make the article more concise because your readers will tune out your words. Also, nothing was really said other than presenting this film. I think the author could've given Mr. Knüpfer more credit for his work; he was made to seem like nothing too special. Overall, I will be staying away from Dargis in the future unless he writes more about music.


Article by Manohla Dargis.