Favourite Band at the Moment

This post promises to be shorter than the last one, if for nothing else there really isn't a whole lot to be said about this particular question. Onto the question though, and man am I glad that I'm writing this now instead of in April/May. Back then I was in a stint of listening to 50 cent constantly, and that would have been such a pain to write about since in reality it's not that good. Instead I get to write about Keane since I've been listening to them a lot again. This is good since they are probably in the top 3 of my favorite bands ever and you know... they're really good.

One of their many great albums, give em a try if you haven't already

So why do I find myself always coming back to this band? Seriously, I go through these phases of listening where I'll listen to a couple of groups obsessively and then burnout (remember that term?) and find myself back on Keane, I never seem to burnout on these guys though. I think the simplest answer to that is that so many of their songs just connect with me on a very emotional level. More so than any other band I find personal connections in their songs. Not all of these emotion connections are happy ones though, let's get that straight. I think the best word to describe the feelings I have when I listen to Keane would be, "bittersweet."  The main reason would be that I was introduced to Keane by a very dear friend of mine, and one that I have not seen in a long time. I miss them very much and regret that we've somewhat grown apart. The music does remind me of those good times we had though and I appreciate it for that.

Welp. That's not really a happy note to end on now is it? I'm not going to use Corgis to fix it either, just wallow in sadness with me Kappa.

^ = Grey Face with no space

State of Mainstream Music.

Let's see if I can rattle some more people like I did with my last post. Today we're talking mainstream music, and when I think of mainstream my mind immediately drifts towards pop music so I'll be pretty much be focused around that genre, although I'm sure some of these ideas will apply to other genres as well.

So obviously I'm not a huge fan of mainstream music right now, if you were to ask me what kind of music I listen to I would tell you anything but pop and country. I don't particularly like the fact that to get big in music, and therefore be considered "good" by the masses you basically have to follow a simple formula and then promote the absolute crap out of the song. Step one: have a chorus that anyone can sing along with. Step two: Put it to a beat that would fit well at a party/dance/club/whatever. Step three: Make sure that stuff isn't too heavy, subject matter should always be about things like your swag, your money, your girl/guy, a party you are going to, or just having fun in general. Don't you dare write about struggles unless you are insanely confident in the song. That's it, three easy steps to create the next big hit, easy stuff. Now obviously there are exceptions to this guideline, but seriously just take some time and listen to the radio and see what's playing, these things are the three uniting factors for nearly every song on the radio.

Is there a solution? I guess hypothetically it would be really cool if people just formed their own taste in music and bought (BOUGHT, not downloaded.) music according to that and then who ever made good music would then succeed while the terrible artists would never leave their bedroom, but that's just not how it works. All I can say is that I think you should be looking to purchase your music legitimately if you really do like the artist. Vote with your dollars man.

Man, that's really all I have to say? How short and boring, oh well next time is confessions so that should surely produce something interesting to write/read about. Peace buds.

Here's a really cool song so there's something beyond the text here. 

Ten People Who Influenced Me?

 Alright so I didn't get this done on Thursday, but I'm going to say I have a good excuse so it goes up on today instead. So I'm supposed to go over ten people who have influence me today. Thinking of ten people who have influenced me and how they influenced me might be a bit difficult, none the less I will give it a shot. Let us remember that the number on the list does not indicate level of influence just which ones I wrote first. The exception being #1/2 since that's just true.

#1/2. My Parents. I'm going to put the two of them together unless I really can't think of ten specific examples, then I'll cheat and count them as two. Beyond that I couldn't imagine having a list like this and not mentioning them. They raised me for crying out loud! Like how much more influential can you be on a person's life? Like seriously, they gave me all the basic foundations that would later lead into pretty much any good characteristics I've developed in my life. My negative ones are likely a result of me not listening to them either so there's that.

#3. Bishop Boyes. I can't think of any particular characteristics about Clay Boyes that really made him so influential to me, I know that if I'm ever in a lost in the wilderness type of situation that he's the person I want with me though. I think though it was his humility that always stuck out to me though, despite being a pretty great man you would've never guessed it from his mannerisms, he seems the perfect example of someone who is leading a regular life and is then thrust into the spotlight. After being pushed that far though, he never faltered, simple grew at his own pace and flourished because of it.

#4/5. John Spencer/Brad Smith. I'm only lumping these two together cause they've both influenced me in the exact same way. They both seem to completely lack social inhibitions that would normally keep a person from expressing themselves 100%. This leads to both of these individuals being completely themselves at any given time and that level of drive to be yourself is something I can truly appreciative and seek after myself. Here's to becoming less #Filtered.

#6. Keane. There had to be a band in here somewhere right? Keane wins my personal award for having the most influence on my thinking out of any musical group and therefore I award them this prestigious spot on this arbitrary list.

#7. Duncan "Thoorin" Shields. This guy is probably a tool, but he does incredible journalistic work in E-sports and I hope that one day I can give this kind of quality content out in whatever field I work in. I'll lump in Slasher in here as well cause that guy doesn't give a care in the world if people hate him, so long as they still let their players take interviews from him.

#8. Alysa Lybbert. This crazy freaking girl will without a doubt in my mind stick to her guns no matter the situation so long as there is a chance that she's still correct. It's not even out of stubbornness (Usually) but a sincere idea that she's correct. Wait a minute. Yeah it's just stubbornness. Oh well, I said she influenced me, not that I intend to copy her methods. Still good.

This is where the list actually gets a bit harder, because I can think of several people that influenced me, but now I have to decide who I put on the list. I'd probably just be safer putting whoever might actually read this so they can feel good about themselves/not feel snubbed by me. So I'll do that regardless if they would've made this list of ten. I'm not ranking who is the most influential just ten people who are/were influential on me.

#9. Samara Dewey. This woman ( I think I have to say woman now that she's married) taught me an awful lot of things, but the biggest one I think is simple loyalty. She's a fiercely loyal person and I hope that I can one day reach that level of commitment to those I care about.

#10. Kim Passey. So maybe she's here cause I think she'll tear me a new one if I included Samara and not her, but regardless I have learned quite a bit from her. The biggest lesson I learned from her though was that thinking objectively doesn't mean that you can hold grudges/not forgive a person. No matter how far you think a person can fall don't be shocked when they not only get back up, but are even taller than they were before.

Wow didn't that get a little heavy right at the end there, but I unfortunately don't have time to dwell on that because I have to get a whole new post done today in order to keep on track with this challenge. So I hope you enjoyed or at least didn't hate what I had to say. Peace buds.

Let the Heckling Begin!

            So I haven’t written here in like forever, but I’m not even going to go into that, because I’m here now to start getting a schedule together. That’s all this post is going to be about, me putting together a few goals before I head back off to post-secondary education.  

            Firstly I want to become consistent with this blog, to help with that I’m going to give this blog a clear definition. I will talk about things that are interesting to me. That means that there are going to be E-sports posts, there will be ones where I rant about stupid things people do, I will talk about my personal thoughts on a variety of subjects. I will occasionally rant about what a dork I am. I will talk about cute girls; I will talk about a good restaurant I might go to. I will post pictures that are related to all these topics.  There will be many Calvin and Hobbes references. I am definitely going to talk about music in games and movies, as well as games and movies. I will probably say things that people will subsequently call me out on. It’ll be a good time. I will criticize almost everything.

           - I’m going to read 3 full books by the end of the summer. Any suggestions?

          -  I’m going to reach Diamond rank on Starcraft 2, and complete a play through of Pikmin and The Legend of Zelda: Wink Waker and Ocarina of Time.

           - I’m going to learn to cook 4 new dishes.      

         -   I am going to find a steady exercise schedule and be consistent with it.

          -  I will go on at least 2 dates.  

          -  I will discover one new band that no one else knows about (Hipster cred inc!)

            We’ll cut if off there for the sake of being realistic. I think Starcraft, exercise, and dates will be the hard ones on this list. Ok blogging consistently will be the toughest, but that’s a given.  Still, dates will be difficult just because of what a recluse I am and breaking out of that shell. Exercise because well because I’m pretty freaking lazy. Starcraft because it’s a really difficult game to get good at, and I’m prone to getting really really frustrated at myself when I play it. I think if I accomplish the other two difficult tasks though I should just become a happier person which will make it easier to tolerate the rage inducing nightmare that is the battle.net ladder.  

            Why blog this though? Because the biggest lesson I’ve learned in my life knows when you are beyond your own capabilities. Not that I can’t do these things. Just that I know that I won’t on my own. So I humbly ask whoever reads this, to please pester and bother me about accomplishing these things. Pick the ones you want me to do and hassle me. I think that’s manageable. Another excuse to get on my case? Gladly. That’s what I imagine most of you are thinking about this. That’s all for now, happy pestering!

            Don't think I forgot about that 30 topic thing though, nice and quick. Something little that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. The ending to Rudy. Goodness me I love that movie and I hate how it can just play with my emotions like that, but it can. If you haven't seen it, let me know. I have a copy and will gladly loan it to you. Heck I could even watch it with you if you want to see me nearly break into tears. 

So good.....