Song of the Day - 3/26/2012

Stream the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAURatEXp9k

I will do my best to try and make this a daily post. The posts that will annually follow this one will feature the same format: a write-up on a song and I'll link it for listening pleasure. Regarding the songs, I will use songs that have been recently released but I may change it up on some of the days.

Death Grips - Lost Boys

The latest single to be released off the Sacramento-based experimental hip-hop group's upcoming album, The Money Store. I loved their 2011 debut album/mixtape Ex Military and it ended up being one of my favorites of the year.

Death Grips is one of those bands that you either love or hate. At first listen, I really didn't like them. But after a couple of listens to Ex Military, I fell in love with it. The whole album is unlike anything I have ever heard before. It doesn't take the word "experimental" lightly.

As a whole, Death Grips is an unforgettable and insanely energetic band and with their latest song, they prove and enforce that statement.With Stefan Burnett's distinctly loud vocals over a raw, powerfully driving beat, I can't help but love this song. It's addicting. I can't wait for The Money Store; if this song is any indication of what the rest of the album will sound like, then The Money Store will be one of the best albums of the year.

Another Post

I'm posting even though I don't really have any followers. I just like writing. Tumblr gets annoying after a dashboard filled with black and white pictures of cliches and terribly contrived quotes of teen angst. So here's a post.

I'm working hard on listening to as many albums as I can this year to have a Top 50 list that is thought out and precise. I already have almost 20 albums that I've really liked so far this year, so this year will be more accurate; looking back at last year's list, there is a lot that I'd like to change. So, lists like that are subject to change frequently and I'm just hoping this year's won't change as frequently.

As you know, or do not know, the Oscars are in a week and I have finally caught up on watching almost all of the Best Picture nominees. The only one I have left to watch besides War Horse, which I am watching at this moment, is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I'm saving watching that one for last because I am still in the middle of reading the book which I should finish tonight, so I'll watch that one tomorrow.

I don't mind having all this extra time on my hands, having had an operation done on Friday, I have a whole week for recovery and for watching movies, reading books, listening to albums I haven't gotten around to listened to yet, and just sleeping. It'll be a great week, I have a bottle of percs and a massive amount of movies and books to go through, along with many TV shows on Netflix to occupy every second of my week.

I'll have a finished list of my top 10 list of movies released in 2011 at the end of this week!

My Little Pony and the Brony Meme

All the characters that have been featured on the show.

The latest show within the My Little Pony franchise, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust who created other successful cartoons such as The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends,  has garnered a dedicated cult fan base, in addition to being well received from critics, that is an Internet sensation with many of the cartoon’s fans being males from 14 to 35 who refer to themselves and other fans of the show, regardless of gender, bronies, a portmanteau of “bro” and “pony”.

The reason for its growing popularity on the Internet, is rooted within the fans of cartoon and animation on the Internet board 4chan; this reaction has spread throughout many Internet forums and resulting in an entire section of Memebase dedicated to pony memes, entitled My Little Brony, and blogs dedicated to the show such as Equestria Daily and Pony Chan which features artwork and news regarding the show. News outlets such as FOX News and the Wall Street Journal have given the brony fandom media attention and PC and Time Magazine both named the brony meme in their top ten lists of 2011.

“I like the show because it’s animated very well and unlike other shows, expecially kid’s shows, it actually has a moral to tell,” said senior Dalton Ripley, as to why he is a brony and loves the show.

“I really have on idea [why its so popular among teenage males]”, Ripley continued, “I like it for the appeal of the animation and the story. There are also a lot of great little Easter eggs hidden in the show.” Easter eggs are little intentional hidden messages within a show, sort of like an inside joke for fans who are lucky to catch them while they are watching, such as, in one episode, the opening scene takes place in a bowling alley and you can quickly see the four main characters from The Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski as ponies.

The show takes place in the land of Equestria and focuses on the adventures of Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn pony who was sent to Ponyville by her teacher, Princess Celestia, to learn the magic of friendship; Pinkie Pie, a hyper pony who loves to throw parties and eat cupcakes; Fluttershy, a shy Pegasus pony who has a fondness for animals; Rarity, a sometimes conceited unicorn pony with great fashion sense; Rainbow Dash, a Pegasus pony who controls the weather and one day dreams of making the ultimate flying team, the Wonderbolts; and Applejack, a southern-accented pony who tends her apple orchard on the outskirts of Ponyville.

“My favorite pony is Rainbow Dash,” said Ripley while wearing a “brony” shirt with his favorite pony on it, “because she’s just really arrogant and self-centered and for some reason I really like that, she’s so different from every pony on the show, and also because she’s the most awesome pony and she’s 20% cooler than all of them too.”

“Fluttershy is my favorite pony,” said senior Mike Michaud, “She’s adorable, I love her so much.”

“I have only seen the first episode, but from that, I’d have to say Pinkie Pie is my favorite pony,” said senior Kathryn Lowney, “I did really like it, I just haven’t had time to watch the rest of the episodes.”

The show and the brony meme has its critics, some people on internet forums have called bronies the “scum of the internet”, there was once a temporary ban on all things related to My Little Pony on 4chan due to the “trolling” attacks from the show’s fans which consisted of non-stop posting of pictures and posts related to the show. Even when googling the words “Bronies are...”, the options to finish that phrase include “annoying”, “stupid”, and “creepy”.

“First of all, it’s a show for 3 year-old girls,” said junior Matt Calvin, “I’ve seen ten minutes of it and its not like what any brony will tell you.” Calvin also said that he’d compare bronies to the die-hard, or “twi-hard”, fans of the Twilight Saga. “There are just way too many fans that are obnoxious, if they keep it to themselves, it’s fine; if they display it, it’s annoying.”

Regardless of the people who hate the show and the brony meme, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is in the middle of its second season at the moment, which premiered with almost 340,000 people watching, with thirteen episodes left to air in the current season, and a third season is already in production and is scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2012.

Change

A poem that I wrote for my Creative Writing final, this was the result of a prompt about what we would change about the world we live in. I wrote it last year, but just recently edited it and added more lines responding to current events.

Many people have discussed
and thought about what they would change
about the world we live in
and I am no exception to that

There would be no laws
that discriminate against anyone for whatever reason
that strip any being of their human rights
that prohibit the consumption and planting of harmless substances
that establish a national religion
that censor what we watch, what we listen to and what we see

Why do current laws like this exist?
How can we pass this off as a democracy?
What is there left to do?
Peaceful protests have been ended
Petitions seem useless and
politicians do little to help or yield no results
What else is there left to do?

In this world I often think of
There would be
no greed
no wars
no religion
no inequality
no oppression
no capitalism
no muddled talk of politicians
and no blindly following masses

Just humans, all equal

thinking for themselvesin a true democracy

As impossible as a society like this may seem
It’s nice to sometimes dream

of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks REVIEW

of Montreal's eleventh studio LP, Paralytic Stalks, is one of the band's best albums in years. I've always loved this band, even when their at their worst (Skeletal Lamping) and feeling like they've done this before (False Priest), but this album mixes everything great about of Montreal; It embraces their indie psychedelic pop while experimenting enough to feel fresh and interesting every time I listen to the album.

The style of music on this LP is darker and more hypnotic than their past albums while staying true to their psychedelic pop roots, the album as a whole experiments, especially the second half. In addition to a darker sound, the lyrics that accompany those sections are also quite dark, such as in their 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?; the lyrics feature many dark themes and it has been said that it is Barnes' most personal record to date as they are moments where he mentions his painful relationship with his wife.

I've listened to the album five times and I still want to listen to it more, I feel that there is a lot left to discover on the LP and that it is one worth experiencing again and again. I wouldn't rank this album among their best, The Gay Parade and Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies, but it's a fantastic step in the right direction and I'm excited to listen to it again soon.

SCORE: 4/5

50 Best Albums of 2011

The list is subject to change since plenty of great albums came out this year and I haven't had time to give them all a fair listen. I've listened to some over twenty times, yet others only once, so I may decide to change something about the list months from now, I don't think it'll ever be complete. I am going to try to be more organized about this next year.

1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
3. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
4. The Roots - Undun
5. La Dispute - Wildlife
6. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
7. Destroyer - Kaputt
8. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
9. James Blake - James Blake
10. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
11. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
12. Yuck - Yuck
13. Death Grips - Ex Military
14. Childish Gambino - Camp
15. Wilco - The Whole Love
16. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
17. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
18. Liturgy - Aesthetica
19. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
20. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
21. CunninLynguists - Oneiroligy
22. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
23. The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual
24. Battles - Gloss Drop
25. Wild Flag - Wild Flag
26. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
27. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
28. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
29. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
30. Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
31. O'Brother - Garden Window
32. Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
33. Adele - 21
34. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch The Throne
35. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
36. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
37. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
38. MellowHype - Blackenedwhite
39. Puscifer - Conditions of My Parole
40. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
41. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic
42. Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man
43. Wormrot - Dirge
44. Toxic Holocaust - Conjure and Command
45. Mastodon - The Hunter
46. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
47. All Shall Perish - This Is Where It Ends
48. My Morning Jacket - Circuital
49. The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne
50. Blink-182 - Neighborhoods

Paralytic Stalks

I just pre-ordered the new of Montreal album and they let you download the mp3 for free once you do so immediately, before the album comes out. I've listened to it five times and I love it. The album officially comes out February 7th, and I highly suggest buying it or listening to it. I'll do a review for it soon!

Teenagers and Car Crashes

One highlight of every teenager’s life is getting their license. No more do they have to depend on their parents for rides to and from where they want to go. They are given the new sense of freedom, to not rely on anyone for a ride, et al. But teenagers must be aware that the risk of getting into a crash is much higher in their first year of driving than any other year of their life according to car-accidents.com.

This statistic reflects the Massachusetts law for not being allowed to drive other people except family for the first six months of having your license.

33.9% of 16 year-olds were involved in a car accident, where as when a teenager is 17, the number drops to 18.4%; and some of the students at Dartmouth High School are more than familiar with one of the most fatal and dangerous situations - a car accident.

An DHS freshman said, “Of course I’ve been in a car crash, how do you think I got this scar?” The student then pointed to the faint yet still visible scar that dashes across the top of his eyebrow, “We were in Fall River when it happened, somewhere around Dick’s Sporting Goods, I remember. It was a couple of years ago and my brother, 17 at the time, was driving right after he smoked weed and he was really high. At one point he lost control of the car and hit someone and then crashed into a pole.”

The student said that they didn’t want to say any more to protect his brother’s identity and because it bothered them to talk about the crash. Then, during the next couple of months, the student said that there were many visits to the chiropractor as a result from the crash and a lawsuit from the other driver.

An anonymous freshman said that he had recently gotten into a dangerous crash the day before. “My friend was driving and we were going 85 MPH down a road with a speed limit of 25. I was joking around, egging [the driver] on to keep going faster and faster; we were just kids being stupid, we weren’t thinking. Then we saw a sharp turn coming straight up ahead and [the driver] couldn’t stop the car in time. We flipped over the rail and landed in the ocean, landing on the roof of the car.”

The student said that him and his friend was then approached by a park ranger who informed them that he had to inform the police of this accident. “After he said that and turned away, I booked it; ran in the opposite direction since [the driver] wasn’t old enough to be driving other people yet.”

“We weren’t under the influences of any kind of drug,” confirmed the student, “We were just being stupid.”

A former DHS student knows what it’s like to be in a car crash all too well; the student has been in a total of four car crashes. The worst accident that he said happened to them was a three-car pile-up on the highway. He said that he was speeding, roughly driving at 80 miles an hour while raining and began to hydroplane and could not press the brakes in time, causing the student to crash into the car in front of them, and that car into the one in front of it. The student was not fatally injured in this crash even though the car was totaled.

The other accidents that the student was a part of was a crash where he swerved off the road at night and smashed into a tree and another that was not the student’s fault where a truck coming in the opposite direction did not fully take a turn and cut across the road, smashing into the side of the student’s car. The majority of his accidents are a result of reckless driving and he was not under the influence of drugs while operating his vehicle.

According to Mass.gov, 33.9% of 16 year-olds, and 18.4% of 17 year-olds will get into a car crash and 4% of those crashes will end in death in the state of Massachusetts. Also, according to car-accidents.com, each year over 5,000 teenagers die from car crashes and over 400,000 will be seriously injured in the USA alone and that they are the result of 12% of all fatal car crashes.

The risk of being involved in a car accident is the highest for teenage drivers than it is for anybody else. For each mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are about four times more likely to be involved in a car accident.

Classes

I'm done with my classes next week, so I plan on finishing both of my 2011 lists when I'm done. At least I finished my giant research paper, but I still need a couple of big things to do before the end of the semester, I just have about 10 albums left to listen to, but I lost track of all the movies I've missed. I'll get on that soon.

About Lack of Posting

I haven't had time to post anything lately; I'm almost done with my latest article in my Journalism class and have been busy working on a research paper for English and trying to boost my grades to A's so I don't have to take any finals.

After my classes end, I'll make sure to finish my 'Best Of' lists and post more often.