It's the Remix

So, I was sitting in H&M the other day with my girlfriend. She had brought me along to go shopping with her and her mum and dinner later. Now, I'm not a huge fan of shopping, in fact i quite dislike it, but there was a free meal involved (I also happen to enjoy the company of my girlfriend).

Regardless, as I'm standing in this H&M, "Read My Mind" by The Killers comes on over the loudspeakers. Only, it wasn't the song I'm used to, it was a remix of the song, and boy, was it terrible. I mean, really, I wanted to find out who was playing this, hit them in the face and then destroy the radio equipment.

And, as I stood listening to the trash, I came to think about remixes and the such, and I came to a realization, remixes generally suck. People write good stuff, and then some idiot with garage band on their Mac or someone with 3rd rate DJing equipment comes along and fucks it up by "remixing" it. It's a perfectly good song on it's own, want to prove you have real talent, create something original.

Another thing I'd like to know it when the hell it became cool to be a DJ? I go to an arts school, and let me say, everyone is a friggin' DJ. Everyone. When did it become hip, and where was I for that? I mean, I could have been sooooo much more popular in high school if that had been the trend. How hard is it? All you need is a computer and a couple program. What really bugs me about it is it's not even relaly music... it's taking other peoples music a putting it together, there' no original composition.

Now, I know you could argue that "They're using them differently to create something new!" or "Well, there's really no such thing as originality." For the first arguement, no, they're piecing together other people's material and calling it their own, that's stealing, not creating. And as for the second argument... well then people need to stop acting like they're the fucking original gangsta' of DJing.

Sometimes I don't wonder if we shouldn't just go back to violin concertos and things of that nature.

Until my next time,
A frustrated music person

P.S. Here's the vidoe for "Read My Mind", in case you've not heard it.

Read a Book

So... this link... it's quite funny, however also quite offensive, so I should warn the faint that... well, profuse swearing is a bit of an understatement.

However, I feel it has a good message.

Blah... when did life start happening? (an update on a bloggers life)

So, I need a better job, and a better place to live... or at least leave my stuff when i'm at my girlfriends (whom i owe much to for sheltering me because she lives a half-hour closer to my place of work).

My job is pretty terrible... it's mostly my boss, who is a jackass, he insults employees in for of customers, he yells, screams and slams things around when he doesn't get his way, he has actually chased away people who came back to help him when we were short staffed and he is an overall asshole to the infinite degree.

That all sucks, but I am happy that I a girlfriend who I love, and a couple good friends to talk to and keep me sane. Also, going and running around the city is fun, 'cause there's stuff to do on occasion. Like the blues fest, that's this weekend, I'm excited for it 'cause I wanna go and listen to the likes of Buddy Guy and others blow me away with the blues.

Anyway, that's really all... I wish I had some semi-interesting musing to entertain ya'll with, but so far the only thing I've been wondering is why so many people think socialism is so great.

Farewell my fine-feathered friends,
The Birdwatcher

A Thought

People need to stop blaming other things for their own shortcomings and learn to accept when they make mistakes, learn from them, apologize if need be, and then move on.

That is all,
Your Lord and Master

Radio

So, I've found work in a bakery in Lincoln Park. I am a dishwasher, and, as with the backs of most kitchens, the primary nationality is hispanic/latino/mexican/whatever. This being said, there is often mexican music playing on the stereo we have in the back, often on a mexican radio station.

This has taught me a couple things about radio:

1) There are always too many commericals

2) The same songs are played over and over.

Believe it or not, these rules apply to all radio, no matter what nationality.

Altruism at it's Core

So, there's something I've been pondering for quite a while now. The past few years I've been wondering if anyone really does anything completely for anyone else. You know, the whole Selfless act thing. I've been wondering if it's really possible for someone to do something and reap no benefit whatsoever in return.But, is this really possible? I've personally come to the conclusion of no.

We'll start first with such things as giving charity and other such activities. Now, these most definitely help other people, and they are good things to do. However, they are far from selfless acts. On the small scale, even giving a little makes a person feel better about themselves and give's them a sense that they have done something to make the world just the slightest bit better. This in itself a reward that most people value quite a bit. Unfortunately, in receiving this award (although your are receiving it from yourself) it makes the act of giving charity just the slightest bit selfish.

But what about donating your time to something you really don't want to do? Well, assuming that your not given a monetary or food reward (or anything else), Most people would still have that smug sense of satisfaction that they've helped someone else. Even if they despised the task, they would also get the reward of a favor. Almost all people, when doing something they hate for someone else, expect that the person they worked for, will eventually do something for them that this other person dislikes. This can be, in itself, quite satisfactory a reward, whether it is simply knowing that you have a favor to use, or whether your watching someone else help you deal with that nasty mongoose problem you have.

There are other situations as well that I can't think of that would seem altruistic in nature, but I imagine there is a way in which they are not.

Until my next installment,
Dancey McBearson

The Swine of Flu

So... this whole swine flu thing...

Yea, people need to calm the fuck down. Everyone's acting like this is gonna be the next pandemic. This is gonna be the one that really gets us. This is gonna be worse than the Avian flu, or SARS or West Nile or blah, blah, blah. Always a new disease, always something to be afraid of.

Yet, this swine flu, is nothing. I mean, it is a flu, and the flu sucks, but it's not deadly.

"But... but... but... people have died!" Yes, and people die of the normal flu yearly. People also die of strep throat and other curable diseases simply because they're immune system is not strong enough. Most of those people are either very old, or very young, and as sad as it is, those people are the most susceptible to most diseases.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, people need to stop worrying and shut up. It's not deadly, it's not gonna wipe out the world's population and destroy everything humanity has ever created. At worst, you'll get sick, it'll suck, and then you'll get better and go on about your normal life.

Now, I'm going back to my mind destroying TV,
The Lord of Nothing-in-Particular

Tea

I really like tea. That's really all there is to say on that. I find it to be one of my favorite drinks. I wish I could give you an exact reason why... but I just find it to be tasty.

There are 6 kinds of teas to my knowledge: Oolong, Black, Green, White, Rooibos and Flower. All of these are larger categories that contain many different varieties of the tea.

Oolong tea is mostly a chinese tea with a medium flavor. Not too earthy, or flowery or tasteless. It's really the average of teas. I'm quite fond of it, and it is definitly my favorite category of tea although it does not contain my favorite tea. My favorite type would be a tie between an oolong called Tie Guan Yin and another called Scarlet Robe.

Next in line are the Black teas. These are the most familiar to the western world as it is the usual type of tea served at most places. They tend to have a stronger taste than all of the other teas and they can range from light to very earthy. Though as a category they are not my favorite, it does contain my favorite particular tea, Pu'er. This tea is the only tea that is better aged, and has an incredibly strong earthy flavor.

Then there are Green teas. These are without a doubt the most famous teas. Touted for their health benefits by celebrities and laman alike, they have a very earthy/grassy taste. To be quite honest I'm not a fan of these teas. They have too grassy a taste for me and they're about second from the bottom on my favorite chart (well, really more of a list).

White Teas are a variation of the Green tea. They are young Green tea leaves picked before they are ripe and brewed. they contain most of the health benefits of the Green tea with a much lighter taste. I find their taste much better than the Green tea. My favorite type of White tea is the Dragonwell.

Now Rooibos teas are interesting. They are from an African plant and therefore unlike the other teas listed. The teas have a sweet flavor that is very smooth and quite tasty. I am not as familiar with this set of teas as I am with others, so I can't rellay pick a favorite variety.

Lastly are the Flower teas... which, true to their name, are made with flowers. These are known in the west as well, mostly as jasmine or chamamille. Flowers have a very perfumy taste as well as smell which is why they are my least favorite tea of all. I do occasionally enjoy Chamamiille tea, but I usually don't drink flower teas.

Those are the kinds of teas I am familiar with. I am quite a fan.

R&C

So, I came to an interesting realization walking about the city. Actors have to learn how to deal with two things more than the average population. Rejection and Criticism.

First, as actors, we go and audition at a multitude of places and all of them reject us, over and over and over. It's like walk through a revolving door of "No". This can go on for quite a while... often times for years. That is not something many people handle well.

Second, once someone finally says, "Yes, we'd like you to be in our show." The actor must work their ass off to create a believable character, which is of course, criticized by the director and constantly molded and changed by other people. This happens until the show begins.

Overall, those two things are what defines acting the most.

AIG

It's been weeks since the controversy, and i'd like to put in my two cents on the whole thing.

All-in-all, it goes like this:
Some idiot CEO's decided to screw over they're banks and spend all the money and generally cause chaos with bad mortgages and loans and whatnot. They lost all their money, and all of their employees money and all of their investors money. In doing all of this the banks fail and people are generally pissed.
Then, the government steps in. They say "Well, you screwed over almost the entire country, or at least a large amount of people, but we're gonna give you hundreds of billions of dollars to fix your banks." Now, let me reiterate this, they gave billions upon billions of dollars to a group of CEO's who were KNOWN to be corrupt.
Then, these CEO's went and spent the money... on things other than fixing their banks, such as parties and other such things.

Now, many people like to blame the CEO's here, and yes, they did screw over their companies and waste away more money than i would ever make in a thousand lifetimes. However, the government gave them all that money to "rebuild" their banks. they GAVE billions of dollars to CORRUPT CEO's and expected them to use it correctly.

Seriously... I mean, Bush wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed... but seriously? congress and the senate both approved it and were ok with it. so... 100 seats in the senate and 400 some in the house... that's over 500 retards!!! C'mon... yes, the CEO's are jackasses, but the government is just as at fault for the second wasting of billions of dollars. I'm sorry, but the government is just as at fault, they gave them the money to waste.

It was really just a bad move by the government, and now they're using it to bring down harsher laws on CEO's and business owners who are good people just trying to make a buck.