The Music Review

Dro Carey - Journey with the Heavy

The album, Journey with the Heavy, is amazing. I picked it up after being recommended to check it out through a friend. It has an ambient(not sure if this is the word I'm looking for) feel to the song. Journey with the Heavy is an experimental house album, which to most people means that it should be similar to stuff like Deadmau5. However, it really has a similar to feel mostly to stuff like Karenn, if anyone you have heard them.

Dro Carey is a a pretty new artist. He is an Aussie. Most other of artists that were born like him, from the internet, lean towards a more bass-leaning "thumpity-thump," heavy sound. Journey to the Heavy, however, has a much softer "trance" feel to it. It still has a steady, prominent beat, but the emphasis and the "thump" is much softer, and the bass really goes with the music instead of standing out.

You should definitely check Dro Carey out, no matter what music you think you like to listen to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tUUMrq3bxE

Winter Poem

Before I start, I have to say that I'm horrible at poetry. I have no sense for writing it, only a sense of knowing that it's horrible when I read it aloud. That said, this is my attempt at a something that could pass as a poem.

Joyful times, playful lights
Rays shine off the snow
Clear and bright.
Sea coat floes.
Gazing through the window.
Moonlight casting shadows.
Wondering why I have to wait.
'Til in comes winter break.

Bleh.

The Catcher in the Rye - Where did you go, J.D.? o.O

So, Mr. Salinger was a recluse. I didn't know why, but that's why I'm doing this blog. (Hurdur)
Apparently, Sir Salinger was a recluse because he didn't enjoy the public eye. He didn't want fame to come with his writing, but it did at as a cost (in his case) to publish his books, so he chose to live alone as a recluse. J.D. Salinger's writing can have parallels drawn from them to J.D.'s own life, where he lived in a well-to-do home and served in the Army.

The Catcher in the Rye was considered a controversial book, because depicting a child with an unstable mental nature. On the other hand, some claimed it was a book that looked in the minds and problems of the American youth.

Mr. Salinger did not want his book transformed into a movie, to avoid further fame, but various characters in many films have been based on Holden Caulfield, the main character of "The Catcher in the Rye." Some of these include Holden McNeil of "Chasing Amy", who was named after Holden Caulfield, and Neil in "Chasing Holden", who compares his life to Holden's and the movie is named after Holden Caulfield.

Holden

I really, really, really, don't like Holden. Sure, he's had tough experiences and all, but his personality is just... meh. For one, he's hypocritical. Some of you that are reading this might say "Oh, well, everyone's a bit hypocritical!" That's true, but he condemns other people for doing the same things that he does. He's willing to hate people just because of little things, and then from there he jumps to them being "phony." For example, Stradlater is a "secret slob" or in other words, "phony" because he pops his pimples privately. Wow. Honestly, I was thinking "this dude needs to go out more." He sees nearly everyone as "phony," but he isn't willing to look at himself and really try to recognize and evaluate what he's doing. If he actually did look at himself and compare it to what everyone else did, he'd probably look at things differently.

- I haven't finished reading the book, so it's only so far.

The Catcher in the Rye - Red Hunting Hat

TL:DR? - Read the second paragraph for why it's my hunting hat.
So first off, I think this blog post is supposed to be about something important/symbolic to us, like how the hunting hat relates to Holden (In "The Catcher in the Rye"), and then how it relates to the hunting hat itself.
    I think my "red hunting hat" would be my long-board. Why does it make me stand out? Uh, because we're in Illinois and freestyle is underground. I actually started skating before I did long-boarding, mainly because my friend got me to do it. Bought a complete, skated for about 3 or 4 months, then I realized I sucked at it. By "suck," I mean really, really, really, really, bad. I still skate now after a 2-3 year hiatus and I'm still super-bad (not bad in a good way), but I chose to switch to long-boards because I was so bad at skating.
    Anyways, I think my long-board is my red hunting hat because it makes me stand out. You don't really see long-boarders around unless you look for them, or if you live by a college or something. People says stuff like "That's a cool skateboard (not that it's one)" and "I've never seen a board like that before! :O)
 Uh, I really don't know what to say from this point on.

Thankful for a Classmate

A classmate that I'm thankful for?.... What an odd question. Is it only in English or classmates in general. Whatever.

Uh, I suppose that a classmate that I would be thankful in English for would be Eddie Yanez.

Met the dude this year, and I also have Chemistry with him.

I'm thankful (o.o) for him because I have someone to talk to in class! :3 

We don't talk about anything concrete besides SKYRIM, because everyone knows Skyrim is awesome. 

But uh... beyond that, not really.

I mean, what else would you be thankful for with a classmate? o.O

CORMAC MCCARTHY BLOG.

WSJ: "The Road" is this love story between father and son, but they never say, "I love you."

CM: No. I didn't think that would add anything to the story at all. But a lot of the lines that are in there are verbatim conversations my son John and I had. I mean just that when I say that he's the co-author of the book. A lot of the things that the kid [in the book] says are things that John said. John said, "Papa, what would you do if I died?" I said, "I'd want to die, too," and he said, "So you could be with me?" I said, "Yes, so I could be with you." Just a conversation that two guys would have.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529703577274572.html

Both McCarthy and Oprah clearly enjoy their conversation, showing a kind of opposites-attract chemistry as two people who have excelled at the highest level of very different fields. She catches him blushing as he admits that The Road is a love letter to his son, and chides him for his failure to understand women even after three marriages. As she leads him through topics from life to literature to personal finance, he never seems inclined to dumb down or dress up his answers, but gives carefully considered responses that show real respect for the questioner.

http://www.flakmag.com/books/cormacoprah.html

Paternal love

The theme of paternal love is ubiquitous given the relationship of the two protagonists. As the man's wife points out before her suicide, "the boy was all that stood between him and death" (25). In other words, the man's thirst for survival is fueled by the love for his son. While the man may expect his own death, he lives in order to seek life for the boy. Unlike his wife in her suicide, the man does not wish to "save" his son from civilization's destruction, rape, murder, and cannibalism by killing him preemptively. To the father, suicide is only an option for the son if he is to be imminently harmed. Perhaps for this purpose he leaves the pistol with the boy whenever he explores a new and potentially unsafe location alone.

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-road/study-guide/major-themes/

In "The Road", one of the biggest themes in the story is the theme of love, and paternal love. The man demonstrates great love for his son throughout the story. For example, the man gives his son all of the treats that he finds in their quest to reach the south. One of the treats they find is the Coca-Cola can. He is willing to kill his son in order to protect his son from the cruel reality of the world they live in, and he also takes the burden of keeping his son alive while his wife, "The Woman" committed suicide to relieve herself of a burden of fear and pain. The father also refuses to abandon his morals in order for him to support his son's innocent outlook on the world. The boy could very easily be the reason that the man refuses to resort to cannibalism - his love for his son supersedes the need for survival.

LETTER TO THE MAN - CHARLES BUKOWSKI

Dear Mr. Bukowski,

  In your work - "Dinosauria, We", all the examples you wrote detailed made sense to me. I see society as a sort of..... entity? I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for. I see society as an entity that consumes people and makes them self-destructive. I personally believe that ambition is dangerous, and the future you described is a result that I completely see as a possible future that comes as a result of ambition.

                                                                                                                                 Sincerely,
                                                                                                                               Milton Chung

Father and Son

Barren wasteland, gray skies, cannibals roaming about.
Not exactly the best place for a kid to grow up.
In the book - "The Road" a father and son grow up in a post-apocalyptic land, where they fight everyday to find food, evade cannibals, and simply try to survive as humans, with no real goal.
As the story develops, we gradually learn about the child's relationship with his father, and how growing up in a place like this affects the boy.
The father tries his best throughout the story to try and protect his son from everything in the world that can harm him. In my opinion, it's because of the fact that he's not accustomed to this new world.
The father grew up in a "better" world than this, and he's teaching his son to live by morals and principles that he grew up learning. His principles however, may not be suited for this world. Some of his principles actually hinder their progress. For one, his refusal to resort to cannibalism even in the circumstances may seem admirable to us, but in their current reality, him and his son may actually die if he keeps holding on to principles like that. If his son continues to live after his father dies, living by these morals without the skills to actually survive by himself can only lead him to his death.

PROCTOR - Manly man or just pretending to be?

Herro. So, this blog post is supposed to be about John Proctor, and whether he's a hero or a stooge. Hero = Manly man. Stooge = unmanly man. Hope this doesn't become TL:DR, but I'm not editing this, so whatever.

ALRIGHT. LET'S START THIS OFF.

   I think John Proctor is a very unmanly dude. Unmanly.

I mean, he cheated on his wife, man. That's just not cool. I find Proctor as sort of a.... hypocrite. Actually, he's the ultimate hypocrite. He hates people for being hypocrites, but he's being a hypocrite, so he's hypocritical for other people being hypocritical. That doesn't even make much sense, but let's just go with that.

   I think Proctor tries too hard to be a manly man. I feel like he's constantly pressured to be a manly man because he's sort of this "ideal man" to the townspeople. He's supposed to be this nice looking (I'm assuming, since he actually got the opportunity to cheat), strong, supposedly manly guy who takes good care of his family. This pressure of having to keep up this "image" eats at him, which is why he feels so guilty about doing such an unmanly thing.

By this point, you, the reader, might wonder why I think this way. After all, he might just feel guilty because he did something wrong. I don't think it's as simple as that. Because of this image he's supposed to hold, the fact that he did commit adultery hits his community that much harder. Think of it this way. If a leader of a country was found doing something immoral like stealing, it'd have a much stronger impact then if I stole something. After all, nobody cares about what I do because I'm insignificant. No one knows me. But when everyone knows you, there's pressure. Lots and lots of it. Any minor slip-up can be blown up to epic proportions. With a big unmanly move like this, anything could happen. Add that all on top of the fact that the Puritans are incredibly zealous and are willing to use death as a punishment, you can see why John is scared and guilty. 

    There's also the fact that his wife is chill about it. She knows he cheated on him, but she doesn't do anything about it. This lack of action also eats away at Proctor. If you've ever done something that leans significantly towards the "wrong" side, you'll know that not getting a reaction is hard to handle. You don't get to argue. It's like they're silently accusing you, which Proctor feels. He actually accuses his wife of accusing him when she never really said anything about it. That's his consciousness poking him. 

  All this, along with the fact that he can't just deal with it, leads me to the conclusion - PROCTOR IS VERY, VERY UNMANLY. I think the question "hero or stooge" is stupid. Why? Because I don't think he's done anything that's worth calling him a hero for. He has the face of a manly man, but on the inside, he's unmanly.

Well, hopefully this wasn't a wall of text. Hope it wasn't extremely boring, and if it was, sorry for the long read. :P I just really wanted to use unmanly and manly as many times as I could because the subject worked so well with it.

RELIGION IS #1. Or so the sermon claims.

Berfore I start, I have to say that I am agnostic. Which is saying, I believe in a god, but I don't believe in naming the god, or claiming to understand the god. I won't go in depth on my beliefs, but I think that it's important for you, the reader, to know that I am not a follower of any religion before you read on. Hopefully, this doesn't become TL:DR, but I don't have my thoughts gathered, so whatever.

I think of religion as a tool. Anyone claiming to have heard a god, speaking a god's word, or being a son of a god is an idiot, if I'm allowed to use that word. I think that religion can drive people into acts of valor and bravery, because of their beliefs and and faith in their beliefs, they can be driven to incredible acts. I also think that religion can be perverted and used for personal means. Zealots can be powerful, but I believe they are also easy to manipulate.

The sermon that our class read, "Sinners in the hand of an angry god" is, to me, an example of that perversion. I believe that Jonathan Edwards, the author, is, again, an idiot. He's preying on the fears of the people that listen to his preaching. He is probably a zealot, but I personally think that using fear as means to deliver his message is probably something going against his religion. If he truly believes that the people he is teaching believes in his "god" there is no reason for him to use fear to preach. What does using fear do? It means that the followers of that religion are following out of that fear, not because they truly love that relgion and live for it. They're not willingly believing in it, he's just making them feel forced into that religion.

I personally believe that religion serves as a light. It's purpose is to give people hope. The "god" exists to give people a goal, a model they can strive to become. It's a tool, one that exists inside people, and is wielded verbally. But people never fail to believe that they are in the right by doing things that their book of worships openly bans.

If your god is a loving one, then why would you kill? If your god is a forgiving one, then why do you condemn? If you truly believe in your god, why would you need to take matters into your own hands?

Religion is just a tool. It's a double-edged sword, one that's incredibly dangerous in the right hands.

Wall of text is no fun. :(

Arrivals.... There goes the Neighborhood.

Okay, so I only have the absolute vaguest idea on what post was supposed to be about. Something about cultures blending after meeting a new neighbor that moved in that was from another ethnic group, culture, or something like that. I'm not entirely sure, but whatever. I think that when two different cultures meet each other, two things can happen. Either one overtakes the other, or they meld and create a "hybrid" culture of sorts. I guess an example of a culture meeting another would be something like the missionaries for any religion converting people to Christianity or whatever religion they represent. I think a good example of a "hybrid" culture would be something like the US, where the various cultures of various ethnic groups are all represented and respected, through festivals, parades, and the right to practice whatever religion you wish.

Introductions

Right. Uh, my name's Milton Chung. People who know me well call me "Milkman," which is cool, if you want to call me that. Anyways, I skate (I'm so-so at it), play various musical instruments (acoustic, electric and whatnot). I also play video games, and I'm trying to get a sponsorship deal and get competitive in one specific game. I guess I'm sort of introverted, I don't really bother to talk to people or feel an urge to do so. I'm 15.... and not going to be able to drive, unfortunately, until junior year. 


I like pretty much any type of electronic music, besides really, really mainstream stuff on the radio. So yeah, I'm a bit of a hipster. I'm currently really, really, really into remixes of classical pieces, like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. But whatever, that's enough, I guess.