The Final Chapter

Last blog.
I can't believe I made it. I have to admit, there were so many weeks where I just wanted to drop this class.
During the semester, I was promoted at work and my hours increased a significant amount. During April, I was working two jobs (around 45 hours a week). It always seemed like there was a lot of homework in my classes. Top all of it off with trying to maintain a home for two sweet, but very demanding little boys (2 years and a one year old). There were just days where I simply said, "Ugh! I just don't have the energy to do English homework right now!" -sigh-

Look at us all now, though. We made it to the end and it was worth it. When we first started the class, I was so confused and perplexed over how Blackboard operated. It was my first online class and I felt lost. I would post in the discussion forum asking questions because I just felt so stupid!

The group activities were a little hard. The assignments themselves were actually rather easy and somewhat entertaining, but the concept of "group" activity was difficult to handle. I'm a procrastinator; always have been and probably always will be (despite how many times you would think that I would have learned the lesson). I felt bad when my group had to wait on me to give my input. However, I would go to the group page the day before the assignment was due to give my input and find that no one else had been on there either! It was just a difficult process to have group discussions with a group that you have never met and do not personally see!

The essays and blogs were interesting. There were occasionally times when I was absolutely frustrated because I did not like the topic we were supposed to write about. I found myself stuck and unable to even start writing. I had no opinion on the matter and in my opinion, felt there was no need to have one. However, this class forced me to actually sit down and think about these alien topics and form an opinion. I learned that instead of saying, "Well, I don't really care about that particular topic", I should be saying "I haven't given it much thought before, but this is what I think..."

It was somewhat exciting to me when I realized that Music and Culture would be our main curriculum. I was anticipated a big ol' English book of my past classes. What a relief! It was also nice that we were not expected to read a ridiculous number of novels in a small amount of time! I barely have time to sit down and focus on a book these days! Another relief!

All in all, I'm proud of myself for climbing this mountain called English 101. Congrats to all of those who did the same!

Writing in English 101

In an English class, I naturally expected there to be quite a bit of writing involved. However, I NEVER expected to be creating a blogging page as an assignment! You know what, though? It was fun. I enjoyed it.

I feel as though there had been English classes in high school that I had been required to do substantially more writing than I felt my hand could endure, but those writings were mainly long research papers or analyzations of various classic novels and such.

This class expected a lot of insight and opinion from me. I enjoyed it. It challenged me to really think about how I felt regarding the various topics discussed. I am so used to classes where I am required to research or read about a topic and then regurgitate the information back. Honestly, in those types of classes, I regurgitate the info and then quickly forget it all. I pass the class and, yet, retain nothing.

I enjoyed the reading discussions that we had to post every week. This is something I was not used to. I'll admit that it was occasionally difficult to create a question to end each post with, but it was still interesting to see how other people would respond. I was forced to really create an opinion on certain topics that I otherwise might not have held a previous opinion. It challenged me to really think about it and then propose my opinions in a semi-professional manner (although they didn't necessarily always come out that way!).

Our group activities were also very interesting with the different comics to analyze, as well as the plagiarism exercise. These were all creative ways to show how we felt about these different items.

From the original blog to our research paper, I will say that some of the writings have definitely been a challenge, but all in all, I have enjoyed this class. It was a nice way for myself to be introduced to online courses!

Free Samples? WHERE?!

I love free samples, ESPECIALLY from Costco. I will go to Costco specifically to walk around and retrieve free samples. Lame, I know. Sometimes a mother will take ANY kind of free time she can get, though!

Anyways, this is not the sort of sampling that I am referring to in this blog.
Music sampling: Creative? Original?

I'm actually quite on the fence regarding this topic. Sometimes it is fun and entertaining to hear parts of songs make special appearances in other songs. I think it switches things up a bit. It gives the listener the, "Hey, I know that song!" feeling. However, I suppose it can also give the listener the "Um, this is NOT their song" feeling.

For example, Dead or Alive featured a song called "You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record)" in 1985 on the album, Youthquake.
In 2009, Flo Rida came out with a song called "Right Round" featuring a sample from the aforementioned band's hit song.
Some listener's liked it. Some did not. I personally found Flo Rida's edition to be quite catchy. It is entertaining.

Another example would be Martika Toy's "Soldier" and Eminem's "Like Toy Soldiers". He cleverly incoorporated her last name into the title even.

If you go to popculturemadness.com/music/samples, you can see several different examples. I'm not incredibly familiar with most of them, but there are plenty there!

In a way, sampling is creative. It is taking different pieces of different puzzles and trying to create something unique, but still familiar.

On the other hand, it's still different pieces of different puzzles trying to be put together and it's creating something kind of ugly and disfunctional.

I am on the fence about it and can see where both points of view would have a fair argument. What do you think?

RESEARCH PAPER?!?! UGH!!!!

Ok. Let the venting begin!
Just the combination of the words "research" and "paper" is enough to irritate me and make me want to look the other way. I hate research papers, especially if they are on topics that really don't interest me. I'm going to be honest. I don't have any interest in this paper whatsoever. That is discouraging for me because I know that my lack of interest is going to come out in my work. The enthusiasm just won't be there. Therefore, I have already set in my mind that my grade will not be the best for this paper. It is a terrible mindset to have, but I am just not feeling it at all.

Out of all of the different topics, I think I have finally just decided to stick with a celebrity and endorsements. Ugh. I am not happy with that decision at all, but I was not thrilled about any of the other topics, either. I looked over each different topic and tried to evaluate how I could write a six page paper on any of them. Six pages is not even that long! It is relatively short for a research paper, but none of the topics stood out as "six page worthy"!

After much irritation, I believe I have settled on Shania Twain and her endorsements. How I am going to come up with a six page paper discussing this, I have yet to discover. I have researched several places and had enough trouble just trying to find five different sources to state in the Works Cited. There were plenty of people talking about the topic, but whether they were credible was a different story. What a pain! I honestly don't even know what to write about. I'm stressing and probably being quite dramatic about it, as always, but it's simply how I feel. I feel like I don't have enough information. I have five forced sources, but they don't all talk about her endorsements/advertisement deals. Am I supposed to talk about why I think they chose her in particular? Can I go into detail about her past and her life that would encourage or inspire her to want to sign with these companies? I don't even know. I haven't even begun to write the actual paper as of yet. I'm procrastinating, as is my nature when it comes to the things that I am reluctant to do.

I have other papers for other classes that I need to write as well as focus on my job and still have time with my two babies. There's no need to even mention that there are plenty of things I need to do around my house (laundry, cleaning, etc.). I'm working my butt off because I am the sole provider for myself and my two kids. This could be a huge factor to my negative outlook on this paper. I'm just overwhelmed with everything else and this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Very dramatic, I know, but I am exhausted. Terribly exhausted. I realize that I shouldn't be complaining because there will always be people who have it worse than me. At least I have the ability to go to school, right? I just need to suck it up and "git 'er done!"

*sigh* Well, I feel a little bit better now...But I still don't want to do the stinkin' paper!

Pirates of the Internet

Before this blog, I genuinely knew nothing about Internet piracy or how the process went about. Of course I knew it existed; I don't live under a rock, but I am still quite naive to the topic. My friend once tried to explain to me that there was a way to download music for free onto the computer. This was before I was even remotely interested in a music player/Ipod...thing. I now own a Zune (which does not seem to be incredibly popular, but it does its job by playing music), and I still would not know how to go about with the illegal reproduction of any music. My friend tried to show me and I don't remember how he explained it, but it did not sound like it was a good thing. Of course, it would appeal to most people. Free music? OF COURSE! I thought, "How does that benefit the artist or the company?" In reality, it doesn't benefit them, and yet at the same time, I think it really can (hear me out, I'll get to it).

According to wisegeek.com, "Internet piracy is the unlawful reproduction and/or distribution of any copyrighted digital file that can change hands over the Internet. This can be done with music files, videos and movies, e-books, software, and other materials."

While the piracy really is not fair to the artist, who put so much time, energy, and money into the production of their music, there is one positive result for the artist. Obviously, the consumer benefits the most due to free music, but the artist has a slight benefit, as well.

EXPOSURE.

There are so many lazy and naive people when it comes to choice of music. If they have to actually go to the store and search for it, sometimes it is just not worth it to them. When music is free, more people are willing to check out new genres and artists. This could easily lead to more fans who will be more motivated to go out and buy full CD's, if even needed, and attend concerts, etc. Also, more fans leads to more sponsorships by big name companies who will support the artist as they go on tour or make special appearances.

While I do not approve of or participate in internet piracy, I can definitely see where it can have some positive results. I do not see a method of stopping it becoming very effective, as there will always be intelligent computer savvy people to invent a new way of cheating the system. It is really up to the consumer. Either you respect the artist's energy and time, or your concern is only for yourself and saving money. It is a humanity issue. Almost always, people will naturally be concerned with themselves.

The Bachelor...and His Happily Never After

Did anyone watch this last season's The Bachelor? It was nothing spectacular. It always seems to be the same old thing. Sexy guy meets 25-30 "eligible" ladies and eventually has to pick and choose, weeding out the bad eggs, until he is left with the one woman he "wants to spend the rest of his life with". Blah blah blah...two months later...SPLIT.

What makes this show SO popular? I realize that the majority of this show's viewers are female, for a FEW obvious reasons. I have a confession...Ok, I have a couple confessions. #1: I enjoy the show. #2: I've had my share of Bachelor "crushes" (I mean, COME ON!! They pick some seriously sexy guys sometimes!) Is there more to this show that has been a huge hit since 2002. Is it Chris Harrison? It very well could be for some ladies!

While the show isn't nearly as popular as, let's say, American Idol, The Bachelor still averages nearly 10 million viewers in its audience. What is the big deal? Why the popularity? The answer: Women will be women. What do women thrive on? Gossip. Drama. Happily ever afters. But is it really happily ever after?

Season 1: Alex Michel and Amanda Marsh broke up several months later.
Season 2: Aaron Buerge and Helene Eksterowicz broke up several months later.
Season 3: Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft broke up several months later.
Season 4: Bob Guiney and Estella Gardinier broke up shortly after the show aired.
Season 5: Jesse Palmer and Jessica Bowlin broke up several months later.
Season 6: Byron Velvick and Mary Delgado split after five years.
Season 7: Charlie O'Connell and Sarah Brice broke up, got back together, and broke up again.
Season 8: Travis Stork and Sarah Stone broke up shortly after the show aired.
Season 9: Prince Borghese and Jennifer Wilson broke up a couple months later.
Season 10: Andrew Baldwin and Tessa Horst called off their engagement and broke up.
Season 11: Brad Womack chose none of the girls to be with.
Season 12: Matt Grant and Shayne Lamas broke up a couple months later.
Season 13: Jason Mesnick and Melissa Rycroft broke up and Jason went after the other girl he sent home, Molly Melaney and they actually got married!!
Season 14: Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi broke up a couple months later.
Season 15: Brad Womack (AGAIN) and Emily Maynard are still together...but let's face it, it's only been a couple of months.

Do you see a familiar pattern? With the exception of Seasons 13 and 15, I would say that this so-called match-making show does not have a great track record. However, who really cares? For the most part, the audience doesn't care about what happens afterwards. We care about the drama and love story to get to the proposal; then it's on to the next season. My prediction is that this show won't last for too much longer. It's always the same old story. Eventually, it will die out, just like all..er..,I'm sorry..MOST.. of the "relationships" it has sparked.

The Origin of Country Music

I guess I've never really thought about where the different music genres came from. For example, if you asked me where country music started, I'd probably say that someone around Nashville or Oklahoma or somewhere that has a Southern accent picked up an acoustic guitar one day and just started playing country music. It started out in the countryside? I suppose I just picture plains and fields of tall grasses swaying in the wind with the banjo playing. That is my version of the origin of country music.

Don't worry. I am aware of how naiive my version is.

Country music was, in fact, founded in the Southern United States around the 1920's. Hillbillies do exist. In the 1940's, this was the movement in country music. It's the kind of picture painted by banjos and guitars on an old wooden front porch with a glass of iced tea.

I feel as though we might only picture country music as being something that is a form of Western entertainment, but other places have their own versions of country music. The United Kingdom and Ireland have their own versions of country music, as well as Australia. Go youtube their versions of country music; it's not the same "My dog died, my woman left me, etc" story, but it's still country music.

After doing a tiny bit of research, I was so shocked to learn that Elvis Presley was known as "the Hillbilly Cat" and a top selling solo artist for country music. WHAT?? He defined rock and roll! It never occurred to me that this is where he began. He could definitely be considered as a crossover artist.

While many of my peers hate country, it is obviously a very popular genre. Statistics show that "while album sales of most musical genres have declined since about 2005, country music experienced one of its best years in 2006, when, during the first six months, U.S. sales of country albums increased by 17.7 percent to 36 million. Moreover, country music listening nationwide has remained steady for almost a decade, reaching 77.3 million adults every week" (Wikipedia).

It's really no wonder why 2006 was such a huge year for country music. George Strait's "She Let Herself Go" gave him his 40th Number One spot on the Billboard chart. Keith Urban got married to Nicole Kidman. Johnny Cash released "American V" which would obviously be a huge hit! The Dixie Chicks' lead singer made those comments regarding President Bush while they were over in England. Carrie Underwood's song writers were awarded a Grammy in 2006. On top of all of this, there was SO much more going on in the country world to gain publicity. Of course 2006 was going to be a good year for this genre!

While this particular genre is always going to get the “This is boring” or “This is just hick music” comments, it will remain a very popular genre. There are enough listeners who appreciate this style of music to help keep its popularity. Although I love this style of music, from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash to Shania Twain and Taylor Swift and everything in between, I am aware that I am one of very few amongst my peers. That is ok with me, though. To each his own.