Music of Twenty-Ten and Back Then

Let’s be honest; 2010 has been a bad year for the music industry.

As pop stars take over the main stream of music , it is difficult to turn on the radio and hear anything but “California Gurls” by Katy Perry  or “Baby” by he-who-shall-not-be-named (not Voldemort). This shows us that we, the fans, have changed our taste. Take a look back to the mid 90’s – The Red Hot Chili Peppers were on the top, 2pac wasn’t dead yet, along with “alternative rock” becoming the new trend for artists.

Back in the day.

When we hear the word “music”, what do you think of? If we go to the year 2000, Sublime would come to mind, along with Jay-Z and Eminem. Their music had meaning; nowadays, it is hard to not hear a 16 year old boy who-shall-not-be-named whining over “One Less Lonely Girl”. You’re a little boy. Shut up please. Talk about pizza or about how your day at school was. Lady Gaga- I understand that in order to be recognized as an artist you need to be different, but you take this to a whole new dimension. When you wear a dress made of 100% raw meat (2010 VMAS J), you know you’re just a little over the line.

Whatever floats your boat.

Obviously you can see that I, as a critic, am very conservative as I don’t like to see good things go even if it is for the better sake of our world. Not all of our modern music is bad- An album I really like that came out this year was Drake’s “Thank Me Later”. I have always loved alternative rock bands such as 311, Sublime, and Nirvana but Drake and Lil Wayne have made me a bit of a hip-hop fan. “Miss Me” along with “Up All Night” had really nice beats and I thought the lyrics fit them.  Eminem, a seasoned veteran in the music department, came back from drug problems to release a well named album of “Recovery”

Drake (sitting) and Lil Wayne (Rapping)

As we all know, it is not 1999. Dr. Dre isn’t on top, Red Hot Chili Peppers aren’t jamming out (without back problems) and he-who-shall-not-be-named isn’t 5 anymore. But I sure hope 2011 is a resurrection of “real” music, with Dr. Dre hopefully releasing "Detox", along with a scheduled album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Red Hot Chili Peppers of 2010. Not the same, huh?

-HAT

California

If you know me, you know that I'm pretty proud to have lived in California; and if you plan on marrying me, that's where we are living .J California in my mind is one of the most diverse areas in the world. In fact, a little too diverse. It's not crazy to see a mansion sitting right next to a destroyed trailer. But either way, I love that place. 

Another way California is diverse is the land. Many people distinguish the state into two parts- Northern and Southern. Northern California, which includes the Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose,) Lake Tahoe, and Sacramento, is where alot of business companies have their headquarters. Apple in Cupertino, Chevron in San Ramon, and many more. In addition, there are alot of recreational things to do. Surf in Santa Cruz, Ski in Lake Tahoe, or hike in any of the large mountains found in NorCal. One of the most famous parts of California is the Golden Gate Bridge, which is found in San Francisco. A lot of musicians hail from this area. Green Day in Berkeley, many musicians San Francisco, along with rappers scattered all over the bay area.

Lake Tahoe, California. My brother

The other area is Southern California. Many people believe the "southern" part of California starts in the beautiful San Luis Obispo. SoCal includes the Los Angeles area (Greater LA, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica) along with San Diego, Santa Barbara and a lot more. You can see that through the names that California is influenced by Latino culture; Southern Cal is no exception. This area is known for various things- Disneyland, Hollywood, along with some of the greatest surf spots on the Pacific side- Huntington Beach, Hermosa Beach, Laguna Beach, and many more. Los Angeles can be known as the music capital of the world- rock bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Beach Boys and many more originate from this area. All over California it is not uncommon to see a celebrity out in public. I know the exact houses in which Daniel Tosh, Audrina Patridge, and Pau Gasol live. I'm not a stalker... go there and see what I'm talking about.

Hermosa Beach, a picture I took

As I mentioned, this is where I plan on living as an adult. Excellent colleges can be found here, including Stanford, UCLA, Cal, USC, and an ample more. I would want to go to a UC school- University of California Santa Barbara or UCLA are my dream schools.

California is a beautiful place full of many things. Obviously, I am a little biased as I say these things; but this is no exaggeration at all. Go there and see why is the most populated area in North America.

-HAT

The Beginning of Something Good

Hello. I am new to this blogging thing, so please forgive me if I don’t have proper “blogging etiquette”. Anyway, let’s begin. I am a 9^th grade international student currently attending an American school in Venezuela. If it weren’t for my English class, I most likely never would have made a blog mainly because I prefer spending my time being active. But hopefully this will be fun and have a good outcome!

            Originally, I am from Canada. When I was about 4, I moved to California because of my dad’s job, and now I call it home. I am a very tall, broad person. To pretty much everyone, I look down on them (physically). As I said before, I love to be active. Not in any way to stay healthy, more because I like the feeling of running around and playing sports. It’s a way to express myself. The main sports I do are basketball, freestyle skiing, watersports (surfing, wakeboarding, etc.) and American football. Unfortunately, I can’t do these as much as I want now that I’m in Venezuela. That is one thing that annoys me, but most things actually make me very happy. I love people and conversing with them, along with other things such as funny movies and sports for an example. When I’m older I hope to be able to have my profession around something that fits my personality. I have always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a lawyer due to the fact that I like being right. Another job that interests me is a sports agent. I would want to take sports marketing and law during university and hopefully become rather successful in that area. As you can see, I like to think about my future and how I will fit in with our earth.

            My goal for this blog is to make something out of it. Obviously this is for a school assignment, but I like to put a lot of effort into things like this. My blog I am hoping will have a decent amount of readers. My blog will be about various things. I love saying my mind and putting in my opinion, so there will most likely be some news and current events discussions. I travel a lot, so I will put on a lot of things to do with my adventures. Whatever I do end up writing about, I guarantee you one thing- you will not be disappointed!