Victory, on a different field

This past Tuesday, I excitably raised my beer above my head in celebration of victory. As I watched my team standing on the winner’s podium, I cheered and applauded. And as I surveyed a long season of “leaving it all out on the field” finally at its merciful end, I felt simultaneously inspired and perturbed.

Somehow, this particular win had me more enthusiastic than any in many a moon. The happy, vicarious experience of watching eleven – perhaps even as much as twenty-five – men emerge victorious had faded, now being duplicated (perhaps even topped) by the efforts of an Army of One, or an Army of All, depending on your view of the American electoral process. For someone who grew up clinging to every hit, strikeout, touchdown and interception, it was an experience at once familiar and foreign, comforting and distressing. It was – to put it in stark, perhaps even devastating, terms – mature.

In short, I felt old.

Two days before Barack Obama stood in the front of the nation, proclaiming himself once again Our President-elect, I watched my Giants lose in wretched fashion to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And as Ben Roethlisberger took a merciful knee, rendering all hope of a positive outcome false, I made a quick, efficient decision: to move on with my life.

No doubt, important things were left undone. I was hungry, for example, so I walked downstairs, went for a walk, and picked up some Thai food. I then retreated to my dorm, set up a plate and some napkins on my desk, and devoured my curry-flavored dish. And Good Lord! – disappointing football outcome be damned – was it delicious. The spice was excellent, the naan fried to perfection, the peppers crunchy, the chicken well-prepared. Once I was done savoring every bite, I wiped my face, logged online, and checked the latest projections on Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight blog, before finally winding down with a book in bed.

I’m not yet twenty years old. Since I was five, I’ve derived much of life’s pleasure from the athletic achievements of superhumans I’ve never met, and likely never will. I’ve jumped up and down, and I’ve cried, and I’ve screamed, and I’ve moaned, and I’ve written, and I’ve been silent, just because a few men did or didn’t do something I could never and will never do even on my brightest, most spry day. I’ve experienced incomparable elation in Super Bowl victory, and three shameful, hiding days away from school in World Series defeat. I’ve won and I’ve lost with my teams. I’ve lived and I’ve died with their successes and failures.

So, as I stood in front of my television at one in the morning, beer in my hand, listening to MY President explain why he was the right choice, and why the right things will happen moving forward, I couldn’t help but feel…different. And the same. Sure, I had hoped for this outcome for many years, and I was delighted to see my prayers manifested as reality. But the elation I experienced felt distant, a feeling felt long ago. Which was strange and unsettling, because it hasn’t been all that long since one of my teams did what I had hoped and prayed they would. Just three years ago, the Yankees won the World Series. Just last February, the Giants won the Super Bowl. And just now, the experience of watching the victories of my youth was being replicated, one political, rhetorical word at a time. My vision and my hopes were coming to life, through the mouth of a superhuman man I will never meet, and whose talents I will not match even on my brightest, most articulate day.

We tend to use sports as a microcosm for life, as a prism through which to view the world around us. The quarterback is a field “general,” the conquering of insurmountable athletic odds as a reason for hope and inspiration. Finally, as I watched President Obama speak, I understood why my father looked so devastated (more devastated, mind you, than after any of the hundreds of sporting events I had watched with him) as he watched the Florida Supreme Court finally declare George W. Bush the winner of the 2000 Presidential Election.

Back then, I had asked him “What’s the big deal?” I cannot recall if he had a good answer to this question. All I know is if someone asked me the same question after last Sunday’s Giants game, I would have responded, without hesitation, that the deal was not very big at all.

But if someone asked me why I was so excited over a victory that aligned with my vote, I would not hesitate: I’m not always proud of my country. I am right now.

 I know what it feels like to be a patriot.

And guess what? Being a patriot doesn’t feel all that different from being a fan.

Comments Off on Victory, on a different field

Short Story: Election Day

Bare with me here. I’m experimenting with new ways to make fiction relevant and timely (which in many ways isn’t the purpose of fiction), so I submit to you this story, which revolves around Tuesday’s election.

Got any comments or critiques? Let me know.

Image

Election Day

It was election day. Election day! All that morning the whole fourth grade had been talking about it. Everyone was voting for Romney, even though he was a Mormon. Evan didn’t understand that word: Mormon. (What was a Mormon? Someone who didn’t drink sodas? What was so wrong with a coke?)  But still, Romney was better than Obama. Obama was stupid. Obama was a fartbag.

Evan’s sister Caroline was voting for Obama. Their dad had flown her in to

Houston the day before, all the way from Vermont, where Caroline went to college.

“She didn’t fill out an absentee ballot,” Evan’s dad had explained. Then he’d called Caroline on the phone. “I’m spending three hundred dollars on a ticket, and you’re going to vote.  This isn’t just any election. This affects your future.”

Evan and his mom went to pick her up from the airport, and she was all wrapped up in winter clothes. In Houston, it was warm out. Evan had worn shorts to school. That was one of the only things Evan knew about the North. It was cold and there was lots of snow.

On election day, Evan’s dad picked him up from school (this alone was exciting, because Dad normally worked late, sometimes until after Evan had gone to bed). Caroline was in the car, and together, the three of them drove to the polls. Evan’s older brother Paul, who was a consultant (just like Romney!) would meet them at the voting station.

Paul was voting for Romney. Mom was voting for Romney. Evan was voting for Romney, though only through Dad, and Caroline—Caroline had been brainwashed by her professors, like Paul had guessed. Caroline was voting for Obama.

The voting station was at the neighborhood community center, next to the neighborhood pool where Evan’s babysitter took him to swim. When Evan walked down the white plank of the diving board, he could look over through the community center windows, where the old white-haired ladies jazzercised in the afternoons. Evan’s babysitter, who was also training to be a nurse, was voting for Obama. She was the only person beside his sister who wasn’t voting for Romney.

When Evan’s dad pulled the car up to the polling station, there was a long line of people waiting to vote. Paul stood at the curb, wearing his work suit and a bright red tie. They parked the car and Evan skipped up to Paul. Caroline and Evan’s dad followed behind.

“Hey look, it’s our little lib,” Paul said, giving Caroline a hug. She laughed and punched him in the arm.

“Nice to see you, too,” she said. Caroline was wearing leggings and a college sweatshirt, and she didn’t fit in next to Paul and Evan’s Dad, who was also wearing a suit. She looked too young to vote, even though this would be her second voting election.

All the time they were standing in line, Paul tried to convince Caroline to vote Romney. “Just tell me one good reason why Obama would be better.”

Caroline had just laughed and shook her head. “I’ve got lots.”

“Let her vote for who she wants,” Evan’s dad said.

But Paul didn’t stop bothering her.

“You’re a hippie!” Evan said, and that was mostly to make Paul laugh. Paul gave him a high-five. Evan’s Dad laughed, too, but Caroline crossed her arms.

When they reached the doors to the community center, Caroline had to go to a separate table to sign in for voting. There were only two other people in line at her booth. It made Evan feel embarrassed. Everyone in line was looking at Caroline, or at least it felt that way.

But soon enough they had reached the Republican sign-in table.

A little old lady with bright red lipstick and an American flag pin looked up his dad’s name in the roster. She smiled at Evan when she’d found his dad’s name.

“And who are you voting for, young man?”

“Romney!” Evan had squealed, raising one fist in the air.

The woman had laughed. “Good boy. You’re smart.” Then she gave him a sticker that said “I Voted” to put on his shirt. That made Evan feel proud. He grinned and puffed out his chest, and then he went with his dad to the booth, where they found Romney’s name on the computerized ballot. Evan’s dad even let him do the voting. He felt a little surge in his chest when he touched his finger to the ballot, and after they left the polls, Dad took Evan and Caroline out to ice cream.

That night they had an election party. It wasn’t much of a party—just the family—but it had been a long time since everyone was home, and they ordered fajitas, Evan’s favorite, that came in round cardboard boxes, greasy on the bottoms with oil and heat.

The whole family took their fajitas to the living room, where CNN was forecasting the election. Paul insisted that they flip to Fox, which he said would have better coverage. And look, look what was happening! Romney was in the lead!

Now that Evan had finished his fajita, he worked on his Legos. Legos were his favorite. They taught him how to build things, and he wanted to be an engineer. He also had his pile of Halloween candy sitting on the table.

Caroline came over and sat down on the carpet beside him. “Look, Ev, you can make a castle out of the chocolate bars. That’s what Paul and I used to do when we were kids.” She took a few of the Hershey’s and began to stack them up on top of each other. But soon enough they lost balance and toppled.

“That’s okay,” Evan said. “My Legos work better.”

“Yeah, true,” Caroline said. She picked up a Kit-Kat as she stood. “Don’t mind do you?”

“No, I’ve got a lot,” Evan said, pointing to the pile.

“Gracias,” Caroline said. She plopped back down on a chair. Meanwhile Mom and Dad were discussing the election.

“Romney really might win this,” Mom said. “And I’m glad. We need this economy to change. We really do.”

But Paul wanted to argue. He’d been a debater in high school, and that was his thing. He especially liked proving Caroline wrong.

“So, Caroline, really, I want to know. Why would you vote for Obama? Because honestly, I just don’t get it.”

Caroline had said a lot of things. She didn’t believe in the tax cuts. She wanted to protect the environment. She wanted Roe-vee-Waid, whatever that meant, and she thought the stimulus was working. Besides, she believed in Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security.

“Evan, it’s like this book, The Catcher in the Rye. You’ll read it in high school.”

“Yeah, it’s about some loser wandering around New York feeling sorry for himself,” Paul said. “What Caroline’s going to do next year once she figures out the economy’s shitty and she can’t get a job.”

“No,” Caroline said. She raised both her eyebrows, like she did when she was angry—and most always with Paul. Now she turned back to Evan. “It’s like this. There’s this part where Holden Caulfield is listening to this song. ‘If a body catch a body, walking in the rye.’ And he imagines all these little kids, playing in the rye fields, but there’s a cliff. And all he wants to do is be the person to save them, to catch them if they go over the ledge. Isn’t that great? And that’s what Obama wants. All these people, getting too close to the edge. He wants to help them. It’s like when Holden thinks about what happens to the ducks in the winter in Central Park. He cares about them. He worries.”

Paul snorted when she finished. “All this liberal do-gooder bullshit. Who’s going to pay for it?”

“People like us!” Caroline yelled. “People who can afford to help!”

Paul smirked and turned back to Evan. “Okay, Ev, here’s how it really is. Do you remember that book you read when you were little? About that dumb mouse? Remember? If you give a mouse a cookie, it will want some milk. And if you give a mouse welfare, it’s never going to want to work another day in its life. You start with handouts, and people get lazy. They’ll never want to work ever again. And you know who pays for that? We do. People like Mom and Dad and me, who work, and not silly artists like Caroline, who’s going to milk Mom and Dad for all they’re worth.”

Caroline gritted her teeth. She made a noise like a train screeching across the tracks. “For the millionth time, I am getting a job. I’m going to get my PhD and I’m going to be a professor and believe it or not they make good money and do important work. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Paul glared at Caroline. “Right, Art History. And I just hope you know that 1% of PhDs are on welfare. It’s people like you who are so selfish that you go after these jobs that aren’t useful to anyone. You don’t understand how the real world works. You’re living some little rich girl fantasy.”

Now that Caroline was a senior, one of the only things Evan’s mom and dad had been talking about was what she would do once she’d graduated. Paul would come over for dinner some nights, and he and Evan’s parents would discuss “Caroline’s future,” as they called it. Paul already knew what he wanted. He had just gotten engaged to another consultant, and they were already searching for a house. Paul had sent Caroline consulting job applications, and she hadn’t applied to a single one.

That’s because Caroline was a painter, and she was getting her degree in Art History and Studio Art. The whole family loved what she made—they had one of her paintings hanging in the downstairs bathroom—but still, they didn’t want her to be an artist. That made no sense. How was she going to pay for her kids to go to private school?

Evan liked her paintings, too. He didn’t understand most of them now, but he knew she was good, or at least he thought he knew she was good. When Caroline was in sixth grade, and he had just been born—a surprise, like his Mom said, for the family—Caroline had painted a picture of a mommy and baby zebra together in the Serengeti, touching their muzzles together in a horsey, sweet way. The painting was a little bit embarrassing, now that Evan was older, but it still hung in his room, underneath the silvery painted wings of model airplanes Paul had made with their Dad.

Now that Evan was older, he was good at drawing, too, but he wanted to be an engineer. That’s why his parents gave him so many Legos, even if they liked his drawings, too. The Legos would help him think like an engineer, they always said.

Now Paul brought up Evan, who was busy putting gray, blue, and black lego pieces together to make a helicopter.  “See, Evan’s going to be an engineer, but he can always draw for fun, right Evan?”

“Right,” Evan said, grinning. “When I’m an engineer I’m going to make sure you get enough to eat, Caroline. I’ll buy you a house.”

Paul laughed, but Evan felt bad—just a little bit—because even though Evan was being nice, offering to help, he felt guilty for some reason, too.

“Don’t do that, Paul,” Caroline said. “That’s not fair to Evan. You can be whatever you want, Evan. And besides, this isn’t even about me. Don’t even worry about me. There are people with real problems. People who can’t afford to go to the hospital. Who don’t have the money to feed their kids.”

“Maybe they shouldn’t have had kids in the first place, then,” Paul said.

“Well maybe you’re right, but maybe they won’t be able to decide in the future. I’ve had a lot of friends who have been in that situation. What do you want them to do, drop out of college?”

“Because they’re sluts.”

“They’re not sluts,” Caroline said. “God, you’re such a fucking asshole.”

Evan’s Mom stood from the couch. “Jesus, you two. Ev’s right here.”

But Paul never stopped talking, not unless he was sick of everybody. “You wouldn’t need an abortion,” Paul said.

“What’s an abortion?” Evan asked. But his sister and his brother weren’t looking at him. Maybe they didn’t hear him. They were looking at each other—like they were in a staring contest—and all the time they were blinking, but the staring contest didn’t finish when they did.

Caroline didn’t say anything, and for a second everything was quiet. The only thing Evan could hear was the news in the background. Romney pulling ahead. The closing of the polls.

Then, what was it—a smile?—flickered at the edge of Caroline’s mouth. “You think you know everything,” she said.

And then there was another pause. Evan looked down at his Legos. He squeezed the edge of plastic block between his thumb and  his forefinger.

What?” Evan’s dad said.

“Nothing,” Caroline said. “It was a joke.”

“Jesus Christ, Caroline,” Paul said.

“It was a joke!” she said, but her face was red and her eyes were shining.

“Some fucking joke,” Paul said.

“Fine,” Caroline said. “I’m done.” She grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse and wrenched open the front door. She didn’t have a car, though—she’d flown in—so Evan didn’t know where she’d go.

“Jesus,” Evan’s mom said.

“So she smokes, now, too.” Paul said. “I bet she expects Obamacare to pay the cancer bill, huh?” It was meant as a joke—he was grinning—but nobody laughed.

Evan’s mother finished her glass of wine. Evan’s father cleared the plates and took them to the kitchen.

Evan looked at Paul, who was still looking at the screen.

“She’s our sister,” Evan said.

But Paul was distracted. “Oh shit,” he said. “Oh shit. Obama just got Ohio.”

Evan turned back to the screen, where blue and red and white confetti was falling around Obama. People were cheering. He’d won?

“It’s over,” Paul said.

Obama had won. Was he supposed to have won?

Caroline was outside. She didn’t know yet. Evan stood and went to the front door. She stood in the middle of the driveway end, smoking one of her cigarettes. Evan walked up, quiet, behind her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

“You won, Caroline. Obama won. Aren’t you excited?”

But Caroline didn’t say anything. Above them, the sky was a dark blue, skidded with clouds. There weren’t any stars. It was hard to see the stars in Houston. Evan could see the moon, though, the silver of its light behind the trees.

“You’re a good brother,” Caroline said.

Evan smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back. She looked sad.

“Okay. I’m going to go back inside now,” he said, but he didn’t go anywhere.

Caroline nodded. She smoked the cigarette down to the orange and then pulled out another. Evan didn’t want to leave her, but he didn’t know what to say. Finally he turned and made his way up the sidewalk to the front door.

When he got inside, he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to play with his Legos and he didn’t want to draw. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. He went upstairs to his room without saying goodnight to anybody. He didn’t ask for his mom to tuck him in, and he didn’t ask for his dad to tell him a story. He just pulled his covers up to his chin and looked at the ceiling for a long time. He’d stuck glow-in-the-dark stars up there, a few years back, and they glowed a dim green in the dark.

Posted in election day, fiction, Life, obama, Original Fiction, Politics, polls, romney, Short story, writing | Comments Off on Short Story: Election Day

President Obama’s Most Hip Hop Moments According to Complex

President Obama’s Most Hip Hop Moments According to Complex

Comments Off on President Obama’s Most Hip Hop Moments According to Complex

going green…very green

Along with a few other important election decisions last night, recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado and Washington:

“Thanks to their votes, we will now reap the benefits of regulation. We will create new jobs, generation million of dollars in tax revenue, and allow law enforcement to focus on serious crimes. It would certainly be a travesty if the Obama administration used its power to impose marijuana prohibition upon a state whose people have declared, through the democratic process, that they want it to end.” –Brian Vicente, co-director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana

Now, what does this mean for our carbon footprint? I really cannot tell. Here is what my research has come up with so far.

Huffington Post: “Specific energy uses include high-intensity lighting, dehumidification to remove water vapor, space heating during non-illuminated periods and drying, irrigation water preheating, generation of CO2 by burning fossil fuel, and ventilation and air-conditioning to remove waste heat….this energy use costs about $6 billion annually.”

Western Farm Press:

Fox News:

Scientific American:

Posted in environment, legalization, marijuana | Comments Off on going green…very green

Four More Years – Congratulations, President Obama!

First I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to President Obama on a predictable* re-election! So much Chicago pride right now. I also want to offer sincere condolences to those whose candidate did not win, Stein and Johnson fans included. As a competitive person myself, let’s all just agree that nothing sucks more than the morning after your team doesn’t advance to the finals, your favorite on American Idol gets booted off, or the guy chooses the wrong Bachelorette. Except, of course, when the presidential candidate who lined up best with your values and in whom you invested all your passion, money, time and Facebook statuses for the past many months… doesn’t get the job.

I think we’re going to be okay, though. The Olympics reminded us all how good it feels to be on the same team. Go USA! 

*All of the important factors pointed toward four more years: an improving economy, the huge advantage of incumbency, Romney’s inability to connect with women and minorities. If you’re wondering what my politics are, let’s just say that I grew up in a conservative household – my dad’s a Baptist pastor and my mom is a social worker for a Christian community center in Chinatown. I hope the GOP can restructure itself and become the moderate party it needs to be for the 2016 election.

Plus, exciting news in the world of environmental justice: President Obama’s awesome inaugural speech (read the transcript here) finally brought to national spotlight the fight against climate change: “We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.”

I hope I’ve made it clear throughout these posts that I truly believe the environment is the most important issue that the candidates needed (and largely failed) to address. Progressive laws need to be championed by a progressive President in order to regulate the use of our resources, enforce a tangible plan of attack against climate change, and ensure environmental justice for all socioeconomic classes, races and ethnicities. Jobs are good, but what use is money to deteriorating health? As my EJ hero, César Estrada Chávez, once said:

With all of these grave problems [that farmworkers face], why focus on pesticides? Because our people are so poor. Because the color of our skin is dark. Because the discrimination, the racism and the social dilemmas we confront transcend mere economic need. What good does it do to achieve the blessings of collective bargaining and make economic progress for people when their health is destroyed in the process? 

The problems of an unhealthy environment will compound every other problem that we face, whether it’s a shaky economy, unemployment, health care, even social issues like gay rights and abortion will be moot points if rising sea levels causes freak weather systems to wipe us all out.

As Scott Rosenberg writes on the Grist blog, “In the wake of Sandy’s coastal devastation, there’s at least a chance of reopening the national conversation about global warming. It would be great for that conversation to be led by a president who’s a real climate crusader. Obama hasn’t been one, so far. But at least we’re not getting a denier in the White House.” It could be worse. No candidate can cater to so many different private and public interests that complicate the ways we protect the environment. However, President Obama at least acknowledges the need for change, whereas Gov Romney came across as openly hostile towards such efforts.

So what does this election mean for environmental justice in America? I hope the President remembers how close his structural victory was. That is to say, half this country doesn’t agree with enough of his positions to vote for someone else. Laws that enforce environmental justice, hold big corporations accountable and decrease our carbon output won’t come easy.  Changing the fossil fuel industry will not be easy. Obama is returning to a divided country and Congress (Senate remains under the control of Democrats and the House under Republicans, who will challenge the President as much as they did the past four years.) But he seems to be getting off on the right foot. Let’s hope his actions speak louder than his words last night.

“I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I’ve never been more hopeful about America.”

 

Here’s to four more years of change.

Bonus Reading!

Posted in climate change, election, environment, environmental justice, President Obama | Comments Off on Four More Years – Congratulations, President Obama!

PEOPLE: Electing a President Is (kind of) Like Recording a Song

How did you spend your Tuesday night? Chances are at least 50% of your Tuesday night was spent just like mine. If you are an even remotely politically aware American, that is.

I spent my Tuesday night knee-deep in CNN updates and election forecasts.
I spent my Tuesday night cramped in a refurbished closet, as we laid down drum tracks.
I soaked my mind in concern for two futures: the nation’s and my own. And when my mind was wrinkled like a prune, having lounged too long in worry, I found the fate of both futures had perhaps different ends, but similar processes. The process of electing a president is very much like that of recording a song.
I’m a singer-songwriter, in case you missed my bio. I spend any free moment I have thinking of poetic ways to rephrase clichés and recording little ditties that swirl around my head on my iTalk app. People probably think I’m allergic to daylight with the amount of time I spend in the basement practice rooms at Vandy. But the result of my basement-dwelling, never-silent brain is a song. And right now, a song the best thing I am capable of creating, so it’s a joyous event. Sometimes I think about naming them and yelling “It’s a girl!” …Too over the top?  But a song is nothing if it is never heard. It might as well not exist. You must record the song – add different instruments, layer the voices, tailor it to a certain style or genre if you wish.

So the recording process begins.

Though I have recorded demos before, this is my first experience recording full band tracking for my songs. I’ve got an EP in the works! More on that here. With modern technology, the recording process has become both simpler and more in-depth. For my EP, we are recording one instrument at a time (in that little closet I mentioned). First, you get a clean take of the guitar track, playing to a click. Then you lay down some scratch vocals over the top so that all of the other instruments have some sense of a flow of the song. And this is where it gets fun! You bring in different instruments and have them each record unique complementary parts.
Layer upon layer upon layer.
Hour upon hour upon hour.
Then you’ve got to decide what you like and what you don’t. You can decide that along the way, weeding out the parts that clash early on. But in the very end, there comes a point where you add finishing touches, artistic flare to make your song unique, catchy, appealing, and standout.
At last, you have a masterpiece. You’re about to introduce something new and revolutionary to the ears of the universe. You’re welcome, world.
And just before you send the song to iTunes, somebody suggests you mute all of the tracks except for the original acoustic guitar and lead vocals, just like it was when you first wrote it. Sounds like a fun idea. Just for kicks, you do it. You scroll back to the beginning of the tracks and push play.
Ah. That sound! It fills the room and resonates in your mind. It sounds so pure. So true. It sounds like the song you created in the basement with all of its promise, all of its sincerity, all of its simplicity. So just like that, you scrap all of the other layers of tracks on tracks and send just the acoustic version to iTunes.
           
Was all of that work for nothing? No! It was the process.
You had to go through it to realize that you wanted what you had all along.
 So, sometimes, I spend my Tuesday nights recording things that will never be heard, all to realize that I had what I wanted all along. And that’s the 50% of my Tuesday night that probably doesn’t match yours. Once every four years, however, there comes a Tuesday night on which you and I are undoubtedly doing exactly the same thing.
The election process comes to an end. Finally.
And whether you are knee-deep with me in politics, or you are wading in political ads, or you are drowning in the vast ocean of information that is available and pertinent during the presidential election season, we are all in the same pool.
Guess this makes me a real adult. #yeahright

This election is the first in which I’ve had my own ballot. A real ballot! For all of the years I’d been a US government student and somewhat of a poli-sci geek, I’d never imagined opening that giant envelope to find the contents so disappointing. Don’t get me wrong. The official statements are important and I read every word of every one of them. Can you believe some candidates don’t turn one in? WHAT. It just didn’t measure up to the proclamation of democracy I’d learned to expect it to be.

From studying the history of the presidency, here’s what I’d imagined: A couple of good-natured people decide that their best way to create positive change in the world is to govern the nation, they run for the presidency, and one wins.
Now, I’m not naïve. It was impossible to maintain this “founding fathers” perspective on the process of presidential elections. My democratic dreams were squashed with the first television campaign ad I saw.
But I do still hope that those politicians who manage to work their way up the bureaucracy high enough to run for the presidency have some sense of ethical and moral responsibility. I imagine that both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have good intentions and ideas for bettering the American people.
They probably each started off as regular guys; grew up with an interest in politics and realized that social change through policy was the best thing that they were capable of creating. They jumped through the hoops and passed the tests, and along the way they picked up ideas to make them each unique, catchy, appealing, and standout.
Plan upon plan upon plan.
Promise upon promise upon promise.
At last, you have the presidential candidates we know today. And, Republican or Democrat, they’re each about to introduce something new and revolutionary to the universe. You’re welcome, world.
Somewhere hidden in all of the political rhetoric and debate, there must be a remnant of the original person who is now the candidate. You’ve researched the hot-button issues and you’ve decided on a candidate because they have a new, interesting approach to solving America’s problems.
And just before you put the ballot in the mail, somebody suggests you mute all of the media sources yelling in your head, evaluating the candidates’ actual ability to carry out the role. Sounds like a good idea. And it is. So just like that, we scrap all of the political nonsense and choose someone we deem reliable and true to his word.
           
Was all of that work for nothing? No! It was the process.
You had to go through it to realize that you wanted what you had all along. In this case, America wanted Obama.

PS Just as a song is nothing if it is never heard, so is an opinion nothing if it is not voiced. Thank you to all of you who voiced your opinion in this election. And remember that the presidential election isn’t the only important election!

Posted in election, EP, PEOPLE, Politics, presidency | Comments Off on PEOPLE: Electing a President Is (kind of) Like Recording a Song

PEOPLE: Electing a President Is (kind of) Like Recording a Song

How did you spend your Tuesday night? Chances are at least 50% of your Tuesday night was spent just like mine. If you are an even remotely politically aware American, that is.

I spent my Tuesday night knee-deep in CNN updates and election forecasts.
I spent my Tuesday night cramped in a refurbished closet, as we laid down drum tracks.
I soaked my mind in concern for two futures: the nation’s and my own. And when my mind was wrinkled like a prune, having lounged too long in worry, I found the fate of both futures had perhaps different ends, but similar processes. The process of electing a president is very much like that of recording a song.
I’m a singer-songwriter, in case you missed my bio. I spend any free moment I have thinking of poetic ways to rephrase clichés and recording little ditties that swirl around my head on my iTalk app. People probably think I’m allergic to daylight with the amount of time I spend in the basement practice rooms at Vandy. But the result of my basement-dwelling, never-silent brain is a song. And right now, a song the best thing I am capable of creating, so it’s a joyous event. Sometimes I think about naming them and yelling “It’s a girl!” …Too over the top?  But a song is nothing if it is never heard. It might as well not exist. You must record the song – add different instruments, layer the voices, tailor it to a certain style or genre if you wish.

So the recording process begins.

Though I have recorded demos before, this is my first experience recording full band tracking for my songs. I’ve got an EP in the works! More on that here. With modern technology, the recording process has become both simpler and more in-depth. For my EP, we are recording one instrument at a time (in that little closet I mentioned). First, you get a clean take of the guitar track, playing to a click. Then you lay down some scratch vocals over the top so that all of the other instruments have some sense of a flow of the song. And this is where it gets fun! You bring in different instruments and have them each record unique complementary parts.
Layer upon layer upon layer.
Hour upon hour upon hour.
Then you’ve got to decide what you like and what you don’t. You can decide that along the way, weeding out the parts that clash early on. But in the very end, there comes a point where you add finishing touches, artistic flare to make your song unique, catchy, appealing, and standout.
At last, you have a masterpiece. You’re about to introduce something new and revolutionary to the ears of the universe. You’re welcome, world.
And just before you send the song to iTunes, somebody suggests you mute all of the tracks except for the original acoustic guitar and lead vocals, just like it was when you first wrote it. Sounds like a fun idea. Just for kicks, you do it. You scroll back to the beginning of the tracks and push play.
Ah. That sound! It fills the room and resonates in your mind. It sounds so pure. So true. It sounds like the song you created in the basement with all of its promise, all of its sincerity, all of its simplicity. So just like that, you scrap all of the other layers of tracks on tracks and send just the acoustic version to iTunes.
           
Was all of that work for nothing? No! It was the process.
You had to go through it to realize that you wanted what you had all along.
 So, sometimes, I spend my Tuesday nights recording things that will never be heard, all to realize that I had what I wanted all along. And that’s the 50% of my Tuesday night that probably doesn’t match yours. Once every four years, however, there comes a Tuesday night on which you and I are undoubtedly doing exactly the same thing.
The election process comes to an end. Finally.
And whether you are knee-deep with me in politics, or you are wading in political ads, or you are drowning in the vast ocean of information that is available and pertinent during the presidential election season, we are all in the same pool.
Guess this makes me a real adult. #yeahright

This election is the first in which I’ve had my own ballot. A real ballot! For all of the years I’d been a US government student and somewhat of a poli-sci geek, I’d never imagined opening that giant envelope to find the contents so disappointing. Don’t get me wrong. The official statements are important and I read every word of every one of them. Can you believe some candidates don’t turn one in? WHAT. It just didn’t measure up to the proclamation of democracy I’d learned to expect it to be.

From studying the history of the presidency, here’s what I’d imagined: A couple of good-natured people decide that their best way to create positive change in the world is to govern the nation, they run for the presidency, and one wins.
Now, I’m not naïve. It was impossible to maintain this “founding fathers” perspective on the process of presidential elections. My democratic dreams were squashed with the first television campaign ad I saw.
But I do still hope that those politicians who manage to work their way up the bureaucracy high enough to run for the presidency have some sense of ethical and moral responsibility. I imagine that both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have good intentions and ideas for bettering the American people.
They probably each started off as regular guys; grew up with an interest in politics and realized that social change through policy was the best thing that they were capable of creating. They jumped through the hoops and passed the tests, and along the way they picked up ideas to make them each unique, catchy, appealing, and standout.
Plan upon plan upon plan.
Promise upon promise upon promise.
At last, you have the presidential candidates we know today. And, Republican or Democrat, they’re each about to introduce something new and revolutionary to the universe. You’re welcome, world.
Somewhere hidden in all of the political rhetoric and debate, there must be a remnant of the original person who is now the candidate. You’ve researched the hot-button issues and you’ve decided on a candidate because they have a new, interesting approach to solving America’s problems.
And just before you put the ballot in the mail, somebody suggests you mute all of the media sources yelling in your head, evaluating the candidates’ actual ability to carry out the role. Sounds like a good idea. And it is. So just like that, we scrap all of the political nonsense and choose someone we deem reliable and true to his word.
           
Was all of that work for nothing? No! It was the process.
You had to go through it to realize that you wanted what you had all along. In this case, America wanted Obama.

PS Just as a song is nothing if it is never heard, so is an opinion nothing if it is not voiced. Thank you to all of you who voiced your opinion in this election. And remember that the presidential election isn’t the only important election!

Posted in election, EP, PEOPLE, Politics, presidency | Comments Off on PEOPLE: Electing a President Is (kind of) Like Recording a Song

Election night

The purpose of this blog for the past few months has been both a way of discussing the election amongst college-age voters, and a call to action for the youth vote. Well, the day has come and gone. The day our country decided on keeping an old president over gaining a new, the day when Democrats and Republicans were more at war than any other day of the year. Apparently, the day when Twitter and Facebook come alive with political rhetoric, breaking news, and witty commentary – whether welcomed or not.

Let’s face it – we’ve had an eventful week. With Hurricane Sandy, the final few days of election anticipation, and the announcement of a Boy Meets World spin off in the works, our generation has had more than enough to talk about. But this didn’t stop us from transforming Facebook into an outlet for expressing political opinion, and didn’t stop thousands of us (both politically active and politically uninterested) from tweeting in support of one team or the other.

There were the uplifiting I don’t care who you vote for, just VOTE statuses, the irritating Anyone who votes for Candidate B is an idiot statuses, and then there were these: I can’t wait for the election to be over. Or the sarcastic, biting remarks that make fun of a political status by saying something like Insert political rant here (not far off base), or I plan to avoid Facebook for the next week until this stops (and then they don’t.)

As the first generation to really experience Facebook and Twitter, it feels almost like we have the ability to shape or mold them as we see fit. As a way of communicating political information and opinion, social media couldn’t have been developed in a more perfect way. But this election makes me wonder if social media really is an appropriate place for political discussion. To be honest, even for someone interested in politics, reading post after post of often ignorant or disrespectful commentary is exhausting, and certainly not enjoyable.

In ’08, President Obama used social media in a way that no presidential candidate had done before. In his efforts to mobilize the youth population, he used the one tool he knew would excite and provide access to almost every single youth voter – and it worked. Not only did he utilize social media in an unprecedented fashion, but he rallied young voters like never before. This year, Obama easily matched ‘08’s success with youth voters. Surprisingly, we may even have seen an increase in the youth vote, despite the fact that his campaign wasn’t nearly as social media heavy as in the last election. So has our generation taken on the initiative ourselves? Have incessant Facebook posts and tweets become the new campaign for youth mobilization?

In years past, Rock the Vote has been the most successful youth initiative in politics. Started in 1992, Rock the Vote has used influential music artists to empower young voters with the slogan, “Building political power for young people.” Nevertheless, the era of social media may be taking over.

While people whine and complain about the incessant flow of political word vomit online (not pointing fingers, I complained too), I guess it comes with the territory. Facebook is coined as a way of expressing oneself to our peers – expressing our thoughts, our interests, our daily lives, so why not this too? You can say it’s not the place, it’s unwarranted behavior for a site that’s made for liking photos and writing on friends’ timelines, but at the end of the day, we should be thankful that Facebook and twitter didn’t turn into the mind-numbing wastes of time that our parents and older peers proclaimed them to be.

So whether you voted or you didn’t (I hope you did!), whether you’re thankful the election is over, or itching for more political sparring, whether you’re the person posting on Facebook or the one begging for it to stop, let’s at least be thankful for one thing: in the land of the free and the brave, we not only have the ability and the right to vote, but the opportunity to express our opinions frankly and unashamedly with the only consequence of annoying some of our followers, and maybe starting an unwelcome debate with a friend. I’m thankful that I could contribute to the election of a world leader, that I could read others’ opinions and have the ability to respond even if I chose not to, and I’m thankful that all of this occurred peacefully and (most of the time) respectfully. I’m even thankful for the comments I didn’t agree with, and for Facebook for bringing them to my attention. I’m thankful…are you? (If not, direct your attention to the top right hand corner of the screen where it says “Log Out.”)

Comments Off on Election night

The Hip Hop & Twitter Mayor

So I have pretty much been obsessed with the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker, ever since I saw him speak at my cousin’s graduation at Hampton University in May.  My obsession peaked when I saw him on “Oprah’s Next Chapter”.  Let me tell you, this man is AMAZING: undergrad at Stanford, Varsity football player, Rhodes scholar, and Yale Law.   So that day I followed him on twitter and tweeted him.  The tweet expressed my love and admiration for the handsome Mayor, and to my surprised he followed me back! From then, I’ve been hooked.  The way he uses twitter to connect with his constituents is amazing.  While he doesn’t reply to each of the thousands of tweets he receives everyday, he responds to A LOT of them, offering help in anyway that he can. When Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, Cory Booker took his amazingness to a new level.  Mayor Booker relentlessly responded to tweets in the days following Sandy to address the concerns of his city. He visited people, gave them his number to call if they needed further assistance, he even opened his home for people to stop by to eat, relax, and recharge. 

Throughout the seriousness of the hurricane and power struggles, Mayor Booker kept his sense of humor.  When a man from Dublin tweeted Mayor Booker about fixing his pothole, Mayor Booker responded, “Sir, it looks like you live in Dublin, Ireland. I’ve got 99 problems [and] your ditch ain’t one,” remixing Jay Z’s “99 problems.” 

(That same day in a rally for Obama in Ohio, Jay Z himself changed his song to say, “I got 99 problems and Mitt ain’t one.”)

But this isn’t the first time the Mayor has used this remix:


Or the second time:


“99 Problems” HAS to be one of Mayor Booker’s favorite songs; he even talks about it in this interview!

Many people have suggested that Cory Booker could be the next black president (although he’s denied any interest in being president, his main goal being making Newark a better place). But like our current president, he’s obviously a fan of Jay Z and hip hop.  In an interview with All Hip Hop, Mayor Booker says he loves Queen Latifah, Eminem, Jay Z, Common, Tupac, Biggie, and Run DMC. Mayor Booker says that “music is a great unifier: it bridges racial, religious and cultural divides and actually unifies a people.” And I couldn’t agree with him more!

            Although his “99 problems” joke is a little corny, it shows just how important hip hop is becoming in our country.  A major hip hop artist is close friends with the president, and is admired by a potential presidential candidate (or at least one of the greatest mayors out there). And imagine if all elected officials used twitter like Cory Booker, for one, the youth would definitely be heard and so would many other people.  I think Cory Booker is great example of the future of politics, and now that Obama has been re-elected, I can finally get my hopes up for #Booker2016 or 2020, etc! 

Comments Off on The Hip Hop & Twitter Mayor

The Hip Hop President

 In 2008 the world of Hip Hop endorsed President Obama and in turn help Obama get votes he might not have gotten other wise. 4 years later as we approach the upcoming election, where does Hip Hop stand on President Obama? Did he live up to the expectations and are artists still supporting him? Or did he fail to reach the potential Hip Hop thought he had? The 7 Hip Hop artists listed below have had a huge impact on hip hop and each take a specific stand on their support or lack of support for President Obama.

At a performance earlier this month, rapper Common endorsed the President by rapping “People out there I don’t want no drama, this year y’all better vote for Obama.”  Common is the same artist Michelle Obama invited to the White House for a poetry reading.  When this happened the conservative media turned Common, one of the most positive rappers out there into a violent thug. Despite the sandal, Common still supports Obama.  He told the Huffington Post that Obama “understands that hip-hop is expression and about individuals.”

Pusha T’s dislike for Romney’s financial history makes him feel “like Obama is definitely the man and the man we should be putting in office again,” he told The Smoking Section. The member of the rap duo Clipse feels that Obama has handled the situation’s he has been in a “classy” manner, unlike others, therefore he should be re-elected. 

R&B singer and songwriter Ne-Yo has recently joined forces with Johnny Rzeznik and Natasha Bedingfield to write and record a song in support of President Obama.  The song “Forward” tells us that we “can’t give up on hope,” a central theme to Obama’s campaign.  Ne-Yo and his fellow singers tell us that if we keep Obama in office we will help move the country forward.

If you read my last post, you would know that Jay Z and President Obama have a great friendship and are constantly supporting one another. Jay Z has recently appeared on an Obama ad.  Jay Z may be one of the hardest working rappers campaigning for Obama. Jay Z and his wife Beyoncé hosted an event brining in an estimated 4 million dollars for the campaign. Jay Z, who strongly supported President Obama in the 2008 election, is still a strong supporter after four years.

In 2008 rapper DMX told XXL that he had never heard of President Obama… At All. When he was informed that there was a black candidate in the race named Barack Obama, DMX had this to say, “Wow, Barack! The n*gga’s name is Barack. Barack? N*gga named Barack Obama. What the f*ck, man?! Is he serious?” But this year, DMX told the Global Grind that if he COULD vote (he can’t because of his criminal record) he would vote for “Obama n*gga, Obama n*gga!” and why? “There are no scandals that came up like the other presidents. If he is smoking weed and f*cking b*tches on the side, he got his sh*t on lock.” Luckily DMX has gotten of whatever drugs he was on in 2008 and has caught up on politics.

The up and coming rapper, Kendrick Lamar, seems to be indifferent towards the Presidential Race.  When asked by Truth is Scary “Does your vote count?” Kendrick bluntly said no and that his vote doesn’t count. Lamar also talked about how he believes that the President does not have power so no one’s voice or vote counts. Although it’s unfortunate that he doesn’t believe in voting, he had some pretty interesting theories that many people don’t think about in this interview.

Lupe Fiasco is one of the most outspoken rappers on his dislike for President Obama. He tells CBS “What’s Happening” that Barack Obama is the biggest terrorist against America, causing other forms of terrorism. Like Kendrick Lamar, Lupe also admits that he doesn’t vote, saying that it is meaningless.  You can watch the rest of the interview here.

Overall most Hip Hop artists are still supporting President Obama.  Although the endorsement is not as strong as it was in 2008, many artists still have faith in president Obama. Despite who they do or don’t support, I think it is great that the majority of these artists are speaking out about voting, resulting in more of their fans getting information about voting and making them more likely to vote as well. Although there are a few hip hop artists who speak out against voting, there are many more artist who do encourage their fans to vote. 

Comments Off on The Hip Hop President

The Top 5 iPhone Apps for the Clueless American

This week marks one of the most monumental moments in my young adult life. Ever since I was young, geeky little me longed for the day I too could partake in one of history’s greatest fought-for privileges. I craved the little “I Voted” sticker. I would watch as my parents shuffled into the voting booths. Waiting to be up next to pull the levers and pick my favorite. Now it’s finally my turn. Election Day has come. Campus is buzzing with excitement, the clashing of opinions, and the quiet anticipation of who’s chosen candidate will rise to the top. Though of course, times have changed. Giant levers have been replaced with technology and old-fashioned booths substituted in my case with a signed, sealed, delivered absentee ballot. And with this 2012 election came a lot of decisions and, admittedly, a pinch of stress for me. Though I love my country, keep in the loop with current events, and value the freedoms that we have, I’ll admit it, up until recently, I’ve been a very checked out American. So when the moment came to make my own mark and vote for the first time, I wanted to be informed enough to make a decision that best reflected my values. The media is cluttered with opinions and it’s often hard to know if what’s being said is true. Luckily living in this technological era, we have the access to tools right at our fingertips. Literally. And this is exactly what helped a relatively lost girl solidify her vote. So let me brag for a minute and show you how I was able to pull it together in time for Election Day. Here are my Top 5 iPhone Apps for the Clueless American.

5. Get Your Facts Right: PolitiFact

As we all know the media is jam-packed with opinions, propaganda, and a mix of lies and truths – leaving us with a confusing cluster of who’s saying what. This app jumps in to clarify the blurred array of press. PolitiFact has a list of statements with illustrated meters ranking how valid they are, a list of promises Obama has made and if he has fulfilled them, a map of the weekly truth index, and a page on top stories. For someone hesitant on what to believe in this race, this app displays all sides to the stories.

Image

PolitiFacts

4. Get on Board with a Candidate: Candidates

Don’t know who to vote for? Through an interactive survey, you’re taken step by step through the policies in question for this election. At the end of the survey it offers the percentage to which you agree with each candidate, ranking your matches to who you agree most with to who you disagree most with. Then you’re free to search around the app to read more on each candidate. Hate to share this embarrassing truth but this little guy helped me on my way to deciding which candidate matched with my ideals best.

Candidates

3. Get Policy Positions Fast: PocketPolls

One of my absolute favorites. This is the ultimate foolproof guide to Obama and Romney’s individual positions. Broken up into sections such as “On the Economy,” “On Iraq,” “Education Policy,” etc. it lays all of the policies on the table with their positions. After the Candidates app ranks all of those running, PocketPolls is here to help you decide which of the top two you agree with most.

PocketPolls

2. Get the Top News Now: Politico

Politico is a great one stop shop for all things politics. Some of my friends recommended this app to me as an easy way to keep up-to-date with articles on the Politico website. Though the app only features coverage from Politico’s site, the easy navigation through the app helps me stay informed and follow the race. Constantly updated with articles, it’s been bringing full coverage of the race.

Politico

1. Get the Full Coverage: NY Times Election 2012

Being a big NY Times lover, their app rose to the top in terms of sorting through the news surrounding this election. Unlike Politico which focuses solely on their own material, the Times app has a list of their own “Top News” articles along with their “Opinion” section and a multimedia array of popular Times slideshows and videos from their online paper. However what makes this app so great is the sources section. This section has links to all major coverage from across the Web – The Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, CNN, and BuzzFeed are just a few of the 14 sources featured on the app. Having a nice mix of writing styles, I can easily navigate to find different views on every single step of this race. On Election Day, the live Election Guide portion of the app has been keeping the race constantly updated while I run to meetings and work in the library.  Though other apps could’ve been downloaded to have the same access to the live results, having the journalistic styling of NY Times writing tied with access to major media coverage and a live interactive map with polls gives me everything I need to follow the election effortlessly on my phone from wherever I am. The NY Times Election 2012 app is the ultimate multitasking of the election that I could find. As an admitted clueless American, having all of this right in front of me is helping to keep me in the loop and up-to-date with the streaming of the election without having the TV distraction of broadcast or the refreshing of a webpage.

Posted in america, american, apps, candidates, clueless, election 2012, iphone, ny times, obama, pocketpolls, politico, romney, vote | Comments Off on The Top 5 iPhone Apps for the Clueless American

Homemade Natural Glue

Homemade Natural Glue

This is so cool! In my hunt for craft glue around the house, I stumbled upon a nifty recipe for all natural and nontoxic glue. Perfect for playing a prank on friends by pretending to overdose on perfectly edible paste.

Posted in eating glue | Comments Off on Homemade Natural Glue

WTF is a Buzz Band?! The Best Advice You’ve Ever Read On How To Be a Buzz Band

So, after a long day of work at your shitty day job, you and your bandmates are playing another show to an empty dive bar. It’s a sultry Saturday night, and you can’t help but feel sorry for yourself because your 90’s cover band hasn’t taken off yet. You’ve spent thousands of hard earned dollars on studio time for your EP that no one is buying and spent countless hours beautifying your band’s MySpace page that is getting only a few plays a day. What am I doing wrong? You ask yourself.

All the while, indie bands like Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Twin Shadow, and Neon Indian are becoming mainstream. Psh, they’re lamestream, you smugly retort, but in the deepest part of your tortured artist’s soul, you long to be just like them. In those quiet moments, smoking your cigarette alone in the alley behind the dead dive bar, you ask yourself, “How did they do it?! How did they make their break?”
Answer: they became buzz bands….

Read More…

 

You are probably wondering: WTF is a buzz band? Is it a band that stands on stage and buzzes like a swarming hive of bees? To confuse you further – YES – that could be a buzz band in the making (gimmicks work). But seriously, “buzz band” is a relatively new term. It can be traced etymologically to the 90’s MTV show “Buzz Bin,” on which artists would be deemed “buzzworthy” before their videos would be played. Sorry, Carles, while you may claim authorship of the phrase “chill wave” – which many buzz bands are – you commit hipster hubris by claiming that you created the term, buzz band. Just sayin’.

Okay, that’s all great and interesting, but I still don’t know what a buzz band is? Fine, I’ll tell you, but it’s really quite simple. In today’s terms, a buzz band is an indie band that rises from obscurity to stardom by going viral in the blogosphere. There are many ways to achieve this online virality, and seemingly endless ways at that, so there’s no excuse not to try, especially because if you don’t become a buzz band, you are most likely never going to succeed in today’s music industry.

It hasn’t always been like this. Less than five years ago, the blogosphere’s power was only a small fraction of what it is today. The music industry has seen a paradigm shift. Social media and blogs are helping indie musicians go mainstream every week by launching so-called “buzz bands.” These new artists gain massive exposure that can launch careers from complete obscurity to international celebrity overnight. Sup Twista?

Now you know what a buzz band is, but how do you become one? You need to be featured on premiere music blogs that have dedicated followers. So, how do you get featured? And what are some good examples of blogs that have single-handedly launched the careers of now mainstream buzz bands?!

Remember that Carles guy that I mentioned earlier? Well, his blog – www.HipsterRunoff.com – is not only the hilarious guilty pleasure of millions of hipsters, who are too cool, or too apathetic, to laugh in public, but it is also one of the most powerful websites for launching the careers of buzz bands. While his blog paints indie artists in an absurdly offensive and inaccurate light, it is all in good fun, and it’s smart because these tabloidesque headlines are amazing at generating buzz – albeit untrue -about your band. Ever heard the phrase, there’s no such thing as bad publicity? In this case, it’s true.

Another important music blog is www.GorillaVsBeart.net, which was actually started by an alum of my high school, David Bartholow and his pal Chris Cantalini, who both still live in my hometown of Dallas, TX. Just like Carles, these guys also host their own show on Sirius XMU (my favorite radio station, ever). Having either of them feature your song on their blog, or better yet, play one of your songs on XMU is instant indie cred and guarantees to get hipsters and music nerds talking about you as if they’ve been listening to your stuff for years.

The sad truth is, you and your 90’s cover band are probably never going to get featured on either of these extremely selective music blogs. Lucky for you, there are thousands of other great music blogs to choose from. New estimates indicate that there may be upwards of 50,000 music blogs on the Internet today, so finding the right blog can be daunting. You should utilize music blog aggregators such as HypeM.com, or Google Blog Search, to find blogs that feature music in your genre.

Once you have one or two high quality songs that are mastered and ready to share with the world, start sending emails to your favorite music blogs to see if they might want to feature your music. But please remember to be personal, not spammy. Most top music bloggers get upwards of a hundred or more submissions from needy artists on a weekly basis. You will be immediately disappointed when only about 30% or less of the bloggers you’ve emailed even respond, but don’t give up now. You’re just on your way! There are numerous techniques that can be used to guarantee that some bloggers will respond to you and most likely want to feature your music, potentially on a regular basis.

My advice (and what I’ve done) is create a “Blog Promotions Contact List” using a GoogleDoc spreadsheet, include columns for the name of the blog, the genre, the name of the blogger, their email address, the date you last contacted them, and the date they last contacted you, if at all. The great thing about a Google Doc like this is that you can share it with your bandmates, or promotions team, and divide up the time consuming work of finding the blogs, their emails, etc… Also, you’ll want to divide up the work of sending out personalized emails to each of these bloggers, which – if your list has a couple hundred, or even thousands! – can take endless miserable hours if done alone. Do not be tempted to send out one mass email to all of your contacts because – as a rule – music blogs will always reject these types of messages a spam, your music will be automatically sent to the trashcan, and likely, you will be blocked, preventing future emails from ever being seen, forever ruining your chances with that blogger. I cannot emphasize enough: DON’T BE SPAMMY, BE PERSONAL.

So, that’s definitely enough to get you and your band out of the darkness and into the Internet spotlight. You are now on your way to becoming the next big Buzz Band!!! GOOD LUCK! And below are some quick tips that you might also want to consider, thanks for reading, and goodbye for now!

Quick Tips for Any Aspiring Buzz Bands:
1. Get a Hot Chick in your band
2. Beards
3. Play SXSW
4. Remix popular songs
5. Let other bands remix your songs
6. Blend different styles
7. Be mysterious
8. Befriend other buzzbands
9. Make the effort to put yourself out there
10. Know how to make music

Written by Houston Golden

 

 

 

Posted in blog, blogosphere, buzz band, buzz bands, Conner Youngblood, Featured, Hogo, Houston Golden, Indie, MGMT, music, music blog, Neon Indian, Passion Pit, Twin Shadow | Comments Off on WTF is a Buzz Band?! The Best Advice You’ve Ever Read On How To Be a Buzz Band

A Spooktacular Frankenstorm – Hurricane Sandy shouts in the face of climate silence

Not one week after I posted about the peculiar phenomenon of climate silence during this year’s presidential debates, Hurricane Sandy ripped through the northeastern seaboard and left devastation in her path.  Yesterday morning, people across the affected regions woke up to survey the damage from Tuesday’s record-smashing Hurricane Sandy. The effects of what many called “a perfect storm” were felt from the northeast to Appalachia to the Great Lakes, affecting power lines, setting fires, flooding subway systems and ultimately claiming upwards of 40 lives in the United States and Canada (NY Times). Hurricane Sandy even hit home in the Midwest; waves of record heights crashed upon the lake shore, leading authorities to warn Chicago residents to stay away from the dangerous waves (Medill). Damage is estimated at 1 billion dollars.

ImageImage

In my blogging course, we talk a lot about the importance of focusing our blogs and filling a niche in the blogosphere. It’s safe to assume that you, my wonderful audience reading this blog, almost certainly arrived here due to a pre-existing conviction that everyone deserves a safe and healthy environment in which to live. Through the lens of environmental justice, you most likely have accepted the following claims:

  1. Climate change is real (given)
  2. Environmental degradation affects the poor first and worst (given)
  3. Therefore, climate change is an issue of environmental justice (1 + 2 > 3)

Was Hurricane Sandy caused by global warming? Some scientists are wary of connecting any one weather phenomenon to climate change:

The bottom line is that climate change is unquestionably having an effect on the weather around us by raising the average temperature of the planet. This is producing warmer temperatures and very likely increasing the magnitude of droughts. However, it is a big stretch to go from there to blaming Sandy on climate change. It’s a stretch that is just not supported by science at this time. — Eric Berger, The Houston Chronicle

However, in general scientists recognize the effects of climate change on our weather systems. An article posted by Time this morning, Why We Need to Prepare for a Warmer World, is a must-read for those who care about what environmental degradation is doing to our world and the causes that exacerbate its effects, such as overpopulation and the dramatic rise of sea level around the world. Jamie Henn, contributor to 350.org writes, “If there were any poetic justice, it would be named Hurricane Chevron or Hurricane Exxon, not Hurricane Sandy.”

Yesterday, President Obama declared New York and New Jersey as emergency disaster areas, and it seems that since Hurricane Sandy they’ve put off politicking for a couple days. Perhaps Frankenstorm will successfully scare our two candidates into talking about how to deal with climate change (and not in a mocking tone, like Romney’s comments about President Obama’s promises to slow sea-level rise. Is that really such a far-fetched goal? Bill Clinton doesn’t think so).

The Time article linked above goes on to say:

We don’t demand absolute certainty before we take action in foreign policy, the economy or health. We’d be fools to wait until there’s perfect scientific consensus on the role that global warming may be playing in tropical storms before we take action to prepare for both. “Anyone who says there’s hasn’t been a dramatic change in weather patterns has been denying reality,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters today. “We need to make sure that if there is weather like this we are more prepared and protected than we have been before.”

Perhaps the storm will lead to better infrastructure and preparation that saves even more lives. If we can’t slow down global warming, particularly sea-level rise, this trend of devastating weather events will continue and we’ll need to be prepared.

In conclusion, we can only hope that something good will come out of this horrific disaster, and that the next President of the United States will stand firm in his convictions to actively fight global warming in any way we can. Stay strong, my northeast friends! You’re in the thoughts and prayers of the whole country.

Some humorous takes on Sandy (too soon?):

Image (“what if Gangnam style is actually a rain dance and we’ve brought this all upon ourselves?”)

Image

Posted in climate change, environmental justice, Hurricane Sandy | Comments Off on A Spooktacular Frankenstorm – Hurricane Sandy shouts in the face of climate silence