Northern Downpour by Panic At the Disco

^ This is the song I picked. It dose not violate any of McCarthy's rules, and is not a straight forward song.

'If all our life is but a dream
Fantastic posing greed
Then we should feed our jewelery to the sea
For diamonds do appear to be
Just like broken glass to me'

It is saying that if we lived in our dreams riches mean nothing, they are worth the equivalent of broken glass that washes up on the sandy beaches.

'And then she said she can't believe
Genius only comes along
In storms of fabled foreign tongues
Tripping eyes, and flooded lungs
Northern downpour sends its love'

There is a young girl that falls in love with someone. The only problem is he is from far away, and their love just cannot work out. When she realizes this she cries.

'Hey moon, please forget to fall down
Hey moon, don't you go down'

There it is probably saying that in the girl's dreams they can be together and she dose not want her dream to end because it is the only time they can be "together"

'The ink is running toward the page
It's chasin' off the days
Look back at boat feet
And that winding knee
I missed your skin when you were east
You clicked your heels and wished for me'

The two lovers write to each other but it has been a while since they have seen each other. They remember good times together on a boat and getting a windup doll. But they still long to be reunited again.

'Through playful lips made of yarn
That fragile Capricorn
Unraveled words like moths upon old scarves
I know the world's a broken bone
But melt your headaches, call it home'

The girl remembers the fun they had but understands that it is all fake. He is to far away for them to be happy. The yarn refers to a yarn doll, she can play with but it soon is not enough. And the way he tells her that he loves her become old and do not have the same meaning behind them. She is sad but this is the way it has to be.

'Sugarcane in the easy mornin'
Weathervanes my one and lonely '

They had a summer love. The sugar cane reminds them of each other and the love they shared.

'Hey moon, please forget to fall down
Hey moon, don't you go down
You are at the top of my lungs
Drawn to the ones who never yawn'

The boy doesn't want life to end even though it is a living hell without the girl. He is singing this song about her, telling her that he still loves her more than anything, but living without her, is bringing him more and more closer to his death.

On the Reservation

On the reservation…. What do YOU think about when you here that? Mr. McCarthy thinks about the T.V. show “No Reservations” hosted by Anthony Bourdain. I think about an Indian reservation, not the ones with tepees but the ones with casinos. I think an arid piece of land almost uninhabitable but because the first people understood Mother Nature and what she had to offer they somehow survived.

A reservation to me is a bad piece of land with little resources, where people of the same race live together.  Though on Indian reservations they live by different laws, I see communities within our everyday lives to be like reservations. Think about it, in China Town there are restaurants with menus solely written in Chinese. They also have a larger about of Buddhist temples and their churches are in Chinese as well. The neighborhood has to be brought up. I am pretty sure that they did not get the cleanliest most prosperous land out there.

It is the same for almost all communities because no matter how much people like to say it we are still segregated. Thought people do not think much about someone’s skin color, where groups of people live, that is significant. When people immigrate to a new country they try to find people they can relate to, thus communities what are build with the same race of people.

prop·a·gan·da Say it Right or Don't Say it at All

Propaganda what is propaganda?

WEBSTER SAYS: prop·a·gan·da

   [prop-uh-gan-duh] 

–noun

1.

information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely tohelp or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

There was propaganda way back when you grandmother was born, when your great grandmother was born, when your great great great great great great greatygreat grandmother was born.  There has always been propaganda.  Many time you here about people using propaganda to get what they want, so in wars and in advertisements. 

In history we are talking about the First Indian Rebellion or as Americans call it the Sepoy Mutiny. This rebellion was started with propaganda.  There was a rumor going around that the bullets the British were giving the Sepoy were greased in cow and pig fat.  This posed a problem because to Hindu people, cows are sacred and to Muslims pigs are taboo.  This caused the people to revolt against the British.

Another war related form of propaganda but more resent is the war in Iraq.  America invaded because the government was saying that they had weapons of mass destruction.  And even after multiple spies came back saying they found none with all the propaganda the government had enough people behind them to go to war. 

One last thing that uses propaganda is ads.  I will zero in on McDonalds because I am sure that everyone knows then and has seen a commercial from them.  In all their ads they say it is fresh and healthy for you but that is a lie.  Everyone knows that is clogs ones arteries and increases their chances of plank buildup thus heart attacks.  And that the ingredients are pretty far from being fresh.  But in an advertisement they are not going to say that to get people to get people to buy their food. 

Graffiti Where Is It?

Graffiti is a way to express oneself and show off ones work to the world.   In the movie Beat Street I totally agree with Ramon’s point of view with tagging.  He does great things that have true meaning behind it while there are some that want to write their name quickly and be done with it.  Though I don’t condone writing on people houses without permission I do believe that there are areas that should be brightened up.  In France whenever I take the highway the walls around are always covers in people’s art! I honestly would rather see people spray painting whatever they want in colorfulness, and seeing each person one after another blend their thoughts with other’s thoughts, than a plain gray wall.  I also think it is so cool when we drive under a bridge and you can see graffiti all along it.  It amazes me that people can get there, probably be in mid air and still do such intricate designs. I miss seeing that.  Now in Chicago all I see are little black scribbles in marker on the train chairs and windows.  Occasionally when I walk around I come across really cool things and wonder who did it.  I feel like they have just showed me a little bit of their soul.

Attention is What Richard Wants?

Well for starters I do not think that Wright is looking for attention but in tries to find some form of entertainment in his boredom.  In the first situation the reader comes across is Write secluded in a room with no toys and forced to be quiet.  Obviously a little kid is going to get himself in trouble if no one watches over him.  As all children he is fascinated by the fire so he decided to go ahead and through things in it.  Not being satisfied he lights the curtains on fire.

The second situation is when he is wandering the streets.  His mother is out working and leaves her two little children by themselves.  Richard is curious about the bars and what the adults do in there.  All he does in peep in until someone grabs him and takes him in.   It was not his fault for getting drunk, it was the adults that are terribly bad and force a little six year old to drink.

In these two situations I was not the young Wright’s fault it was the parent’s fault for not having someone watch over her kids while away.  I understand it was hard for the single mother but she could have asked a kind neighbor to check in sometimes.  You cannot blame the child for being a child.  Richard was trying to find something fun to do and let his curiosity take charge without truly thinking out his actions.

'On Being a Mexican American'

I have recently read a story called “On being a Mexican American” by Joe I. Mendoza, which talks about Mr. Mendoza’s life as he grew up.  He was born in America but raised as a Mexican.  He lived in a total Hispanic neighborhood and spoke Spanish or Spanglish.  It was almost like he lived in Mexico.  As a child he didn’t feel the segregation until he got yelled at by a teacher for being on the wrong side of the school.  As Joe Mendoza grew up he became “Anglocized” because he moved to an all white neighborhood, learned perfect English, went into the U.S. Army, attended a university and married an Anglo woman.  He began to teach at an all white school and felt accepted but when he returned to his home town, he realized how much he had almost forgotten.  He realized that this is where he grew up this is where he was shaped into the person he is today. 

Where you were born, how you were raised, your friends are all things that shape you as a person and no matter how much you try you won’t be able to forget it; they will always be there.  I enjoyed this text because it is very true.  People may be born in America but they are not necessarily considered American in other’s eyes.  And it may be hard to see in you but I know that just by watching my brother I have seen him change friend crowds and I have observed a change in his attitude and how he thinks.  It may be because we are all getting older but it also can be because the people that we surround ourselves with change who we are.

King Still King

Martin Luther King’s day is just around the corner so it no coincident that today’s blog be about him.  Mr. King fought for equality; so that all people have the same right and you do not look at a race and think or them as lover or have stereotypes about them.  Martin Luther King started protest after protest, being jailed and beat to fight for something he believed in. 

Now have we have reached equality?  No, I do not believe equality has been reached it.  There are still stereotypes for each color or race; our neighborhoods are still segregated.  Maybe it is because people still subconsciously choose to stay amongst themselves.  Who knows, but look at the neighborhoods look at the churches; do you see the difference because I do. 

Equality means all the same not one over the other but even within the walls of our very high school it is not equal.  The last time we sophomores were in the theater and had and old Whitney Young student come and speak to us, you know what he said he talk about African Americans finally being able to improve he directed the whole conversation about African Americans.  He explained how they were smart how they could succeed, how they could be the best and he left every other race out.  Even our principal concentrates on black people.  Listen to her speeches and you will hear how much she venerates African Americans.  This is not equality.

Why must we boost other races higher that another.  Last I heard everyone at Whitney Young can have good grades.  It all depends now on how much that person cares and tries.  I don’t want to seem racist but if you look deep down its true.  Because of Martin Luther King we have taken great strides towards equality but maybe it’s a human default, someone must always be better.  It was not only the African Americans that were badly treated but other races as well.  It is not just a black and white picture.  People need to understand that EQUALITY is. 

Though you won’t see as much full blown racism anymore there are some things that still linger in people’s minds.  King would be proud of all the tolerance people have today and that it is okay to walk hang in hang with someone of another color.  But would people want to do it?  That is another story.