More Bands

K, so my last few blog posts have been about some of my favorite bands. I've enjoyed it because it's so easy to write about things you love! So I'm gonna be continuing tradition for a few more weeks!

If you had to name the one band that had the biggest influence on rock 'n roll, it would be The Beatles hands down. No other band has had nearly the impact that The Beatles did back in their day. They are another one of my all-time favorite bands. Unfortunately, they broke up in 1970 after John Lennon left the band.

I first head The Beatles when I was in fifth grade. I had heard of them before, but I didn't really hear any of their music until then. Every year, my teacher would write a different fifth grade program. She put in some pretty cool songs now that I think about it. Among them was I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles. A group of friends and I tried out to sing it. We were the only ones to try out for that particular song, so we made it. We got to dress up like The Beatles and use blow-up electric airs. Man, we were so cool! During the performance all the girls would scream for us and we got to act like rock stars, it was the best!

But yeah, that was the first time I had ever heard them. My teacher had a Beatles album that she let me borrow. I started really listening to them after that. I discovered so many songs that were just absolutely amazing! There's no other word to describe some of them. One of my favorites is Across the Universe. John Lennon sings it in a way that brings this feeling of peace over you. There's this part that he starts the chorus with that's in a different language. I don't know exactly what language it is, but he sings, "Jai guru deva om", which I think translates to something like, "Victory to God divine". I think it's pretty cool. But there are so many fantastic songs that they sing. Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, Hello Goodbye, Help, Here Comes the Sun, Hey Jude, I Me Mine, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Let It Be, Love Me Do, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, and of course Yellow Submarine.

Hey Jude is another one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs. It starts out with Paul McCartney singing with a piano in the background. It's another one of those songs that makes you feel at peace. In a way, it gives you hope. Paul sings to someone named Jude that things are going to be better. It has great lyrics. He sings to Jude for a few minutes, and then sings, "Na na na na na na na na na na, hey Jude" for the last couple minutes of the song. It's truly the work of a genius.

So there's my opinion about The Beatles. I know most people would agree with me in saying that The Beatles are one of, if not the most influential bands out there. On top of that, their music is great! Definitely one of my favorite bands. I guess that'll be it for this week, I'll have another band for next week! ;)

Music this Year (contd.)

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd finish my post from a few weeks ago! It's just about my favorite bands releasing albums this year. Last time I covered my two favorites: Green Day and U2! There are a couple more that I want to hit before I'm totally finished.

311 is another one of my all-time favorite bands! The first time I heard about them was when my dad downloaded a few of their songs off of iTunes. He downloaded All Mixed Up, Beautiful Disaster, Creatures (For a While), and Down. They are three incredible songs if you want to listen to them! Anyways, they were the only four songs by them that I listened to for a while. One day, my dad came home and one of his coworkers had a bunch of 311 CDs that that he let us borrow. We ripped them onto our computer and there turned out to be some awesome songs! So 311 became one of my favorite bands.

A year or so later, we found out that my uncle gives golf lessons to the manager of 311. This was huge news for us! The manager hooked my uncle up with an all access pass! He got to go backstage and meet the band! It was so cool! We had already missed to Salt Lake Concert, and we were going to be in California while 311 was playing at the Greek Theater. My uncle let us use the all-access pass, and it was awesome! It didn't get us back stage like we had wanted, but we were front row of the mosh pit! It was one of the coolest concerts I think I've ever been to! So that's my story behind 311. Their new album, Uplifter, is coming out June 2nd. I know I'm going to be buying it!

Linkin Park is another one of my favorite bands. While their album is supposed to be released early next year, I still want to talk about them a little bit. The first album I heard of theirs was Meteora. The first time I heard it was in my dad's car when I was 6 or 7. I thought it was hilarious because I had never really heard music with yelling in it. Eventually I started liking it more and more and soon became one of my favorite bands. I bought their first album, Hybrid Theory, off of eBay and it is pretty good. They released their third album, Minutes to Midnight, in 2007. It was a little different, but still awesome!

I got to go to their concert last year, and it was a great experience! Coheed and Cambria opened for them, and I had never really heard of them. I really didn't like them because I couldn't really tell one song from another. Also, they were just taking to long. I wanted Linkin Park! But I listened to a few of their songs after, specifically Welcome Home, and they're actually pretty good. Anyways, the concert was awesome! They know how to play a good show.

Are you excited for this year as much as I am?! Like I said in my previous post, I'm the most excited for Green Day! I downloaded a leak of the title song, 21st Century Breakdown, and it's awesome! I just can't tell you how excited I am for the new album! But that's it for me this week, cya all later!

The Death of Dwight and Jim

For an English assignment, we had to write two epitaphs about two closely related characters. I chose to do mine on Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert from The Office. They haven't really died in the show, but I made up possible ways that their characters might die. I mostly just tried to have fun with them. Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R.I.P.



Dwight Schrute
December 22, 1970 - October 13, 2013

I was born on a beet farm,

I lived my life on a beet farm,

I should have died on a beet farm,

But it just wasn’t so.

Halpert brought an end to my life.

His ninjas should have been but a bother.

I went for my knife with agility like a cheetah.

But alas, I was to fast.

I slit my wrist with my knife.

I was an animal struggling for life.

I bled & died at the hands of worthless ninjas!

How could it have happened?

I know they were halpert’s men,

For I saw him scheming with them earlier.

my dream was destroyed.

I should have died on a beet farm.

Halpert will get what’s coming to him,

Like the man who shot Lincoln.

One day, I’ll have my revenge.

One day…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R.I.P.



Jim Halpert
October 1, 1978 - May 14, 2059

I lived a good life.

I had a wife, kids, and a job that I loved.

After Dwight’s death, I left Dunder Mifflin.

The shock was too much to return.

I didn’t mean to kill him,

Honest I didn’t!

I felt bad for constantly tormenting him,

For my pranks were almost daily.

I made the decision to throw him a party.

It was out of the goodness of my heart,

Not for another laugh.

The hired ninjas were meant to be a surprise.

Dwight, being as analytical as an aardvark,

found all nine of them.

I didn’t mean to kill him,

Honest I didn’t!

He tried to attack them,

but killed himself in the process.

I couldn’t believe what I’d done,

How could I live with myself?

I left dunder Mifflin,

and It worked out for the better;

I married pam,

We moved to boston,

We lived happily married for 50 years.

Our 50th anniversary was a day for the books.

I took pam skydiving,

But my shoot never opened.

As I fell to my death,

I looked back on my life.

I lived a happy life with my family,

Like the Brady bunch or the Simpsons.

I had no regrets,

But that infamous day,

When Dwight lost his life,

And I was to blame.

Romeo and Juliet vs. Romeo + Juliet

Just because I have a lot of homework today, I'm using an extra credit paper I wrote for English as my blog this week. Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare tells the tale of two tragic lovers. Romeo and Juliet meet at a party held at the Capulets’ house. Getting over his former lover, Rosaline, in a matter of seconds, Romeo dances with Juliet. They fall “madly in love”, and get married. Romeo’s family, the Montagues, do not get along well with Juliet’s family, the Capulets. Naturally, the two lovers can’t let anyone about their marriage. A day or so later, Romeo kills Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, out of rage for killing his friend, Mercutio. This gets him banished by the prince. Romeo has a plan, however. He will go away to Mantua for a period of time, after which he will return and win everyone’s respect back. Things become complicated when Juliet’s father arranges for her to be married to Paris, a relative of the prince. Friar Laurence decides to step in with a plan. Juliet fakes her death, but word doesn’t get to Romeo in time. Once he finds out that Juliet is “dead”, he poisons himself. Juliet sees Romeo dead and stabs herself. The two families find out about everything and decide to make peace with each other, ending the play.

Australian director Baz Luhrmann put a modern twist on Romeo and Juliet in his 1996 film Romeo + Juliet. Instead of taking place in Verona, Italy, Romeo + Juliet takes place in the fictional Verona Beach. Instead of a family feud, the Capulets and Montagues are rival mob families. Instead of fighting with swords, they fight with pistols. Even though there are many differences in the setting, Baz Luhrmann still used the original script from Romeo and Juliet. The only difference was that it was condensed to fit modern movie length. It was actually pretty funny to watch gangsters speaking in Old English. When Mercutio did his Queen Mabs speech, I was cracking up! There was this punk kid on the screen going on about dreams and Queen Mabs in Old English. The director was pretty creative with that.

My favorite scene from the movie was the balcony scene. In the book, Romeo is watching Juliet on her balcony from behind the bushes. After a few minutes of listening to her talk about him, Romeo reveals himself. They talk for a while longer until Romeo agrees to marry her. In the movie, it is totally different. Romeo hops the fence into the backyard of Juliet’s estate. He walks past the pool and climbs some vines up to the balcony. You expect Juliet to come out right then, because, you know, it’s the balcony scene. Instead, the nurse pops out, and you can tell that Romeo is kind of disappointed. A few seconds later, Juliet exits an elevator and walks around the pool. Without being seen, Romeo follows her. After listening to her for a few minutes, he shows that he is there. He scares her and they both fall into the pool. After almost getting caught, Romeo agrees to marry Juliet, just like in the play. I thought it was a pretty good take on the scene.

I didn’t see the whole movie, but from the parts I did see, I loved it. While the director changed it to fit the modern generation, it still retained the same script as when William Shakespeare wrote it. It takes some pretty creative thinking to be able to come up with an idea like that. Not only that, but it takes talent to be able to make a good movie using that idea. There are modern remakes of movies out there that are nowhere near the quality of the original. Romeo + Juliet could easily rival the quality of some of the earlier movies and plays. Baz Luhrmann kept the original drama, but put a modern twist on it. This keeps the attention of most audiences. I know I sure loved it after reading Romeo and Juliet just once. If you are familiar with this classic by Shakespeare, I know you’ll enjoy watching this version of it.

Music this Year

I can't even explain how excited I am for all the music that is coming out this year! It's going to be great! I'm just going to explain why I am excited for each band that is releasing an album.

First of all, there's U2! I started listening to them back in 2004 when they released their album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. I fell in love with the song Vertigo along with most of the others on the album. It turned out that my dad had been a big U2 fan back in the day, so he had some of their older CDs that he let me borrow. Their older songs are amazing. Some of my favorites are Desire, I Will Follow, Stuck in a Moment, Beautiful Day, Sweetest Thing, and many more.

How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb was their most recent album up until a few days ago. If you do the math, that's five years between albums. That is an insanely long time between albums! I was really excited back in February when they released their first single off of the new album, Get On Your Boots. It's an upbeat song about how everything's screwed up right now. It's a great song. And finally, after five long years, No Line on the Horizon was released! I downloaded it the first day, and was a little disappointed the first time I listened to it. But then I listened to it a few more times, and I love it! Bono's vocals in No Line on the Horizon are amazing! It has some great guitar in other songs, great singing, and great drums. U2 really didn't disappoint!

Green Day is probably my all-time favorite band. I started listening to them also back in 2004 when they released the massively successful American Idiot. It was, and still is an amazing album. Their older stuff is awesome too. Their first album, Dookie, has some of their best songs on it. There's Welcome to Paradise, When I come Around, Longview, and a few others. One of my favorite songs, King for a Day, is about a crossdresser, and it's actually pretty funny.

American Idiot is their most recent album as of right now. It was released back in 2004, so it's also been five years since that. Their next album, 21st Century Breakdown, is due in May. The first single, Know Your Enemy, is due April 20th. I cannot wait for this new album! Five years is way, way, way to long to wait for Green Day! A few weeks ago, one of the songs got released accidentally (although it's not fully mixed yet). It's called 21st Century Breakdown, and let me tell you, that is one amazing song. The beginning reminds me a little bit of Baba O'Riley by The Who. I think this is going to be one epic album, so I am dying waiting for it!!!

Well I'm almost at five hundred words... There are a couple more bands I want to write about, but I'll just save them for next week so I have something to write about! ;)

Finishing Up

For the last couple weeks, if you've been following my blogs, I have been just plain swamped with school work. I've had all sorts of projects and assignments that have been keeping me up every night until ten or eleven finishing. A lot of them were due this last week, and let me tell ya...it's really nice to have them out of the way!

In science, I've been stressing over my term project. I finally got that done last weekend and turned it in early for extra credit. There was also a big test this week that I had to study for. I got an 88 on it, which isn't to great, but considering that most people got 50s to 70s on it, it's pretty good. I got those two big things out of the way, and I am done stressing over that class for a while.

There is still a lot going on in English, but a couple of big things are out of the way. First of all there was the Word Cells Test. It was just another big test that everyone was stressing over, but I got 100 on it. I just studied for a few minutes every night, and I really didn't think it was that hard. Then there were the job interviews. I wasn't really stressing over those, but it's nice to have them over with. I still have to finish A Tale of Two Cities, write a literary analysis on it, memorize a passage from Romeo and Juliet, take the DWA (Direct Writing Assessment), and make sure all my AR points are in.

I never have to stress over Seminary. There was the Ancestor Report, but that wasn't hard at all. I put it together in one night and did just fine on it. Besides that, I just have to read my scriptures every night and I got nothing to worry about.

Math is difficult, but there are never long term assignments to worry about. They are always due the next day, so there is never really the chance for me to procrastinate on them.

Geography has started to be one of my favorite classes. Mr. Carter is hilarious, and it really isn't that hard of a class either. Everyone had been saying that it is crazy hard, but I really don't think it is. As long as you pay attention, take good notes, do your assignments, and study, you'll get an A easily.

Choir isn't hard at all. As long as you just try, you can get an easy A.

Student Government is just a goof-off class. We never do anything harder than go to the games.

So right now, I still have a lot to do, but a little bit of the burden is gone. It will be nice to have everything done. In a couple more weeks, I will. But right now, I have to just keep pushin'!