Monday, February 20, 2012

Break on through to that dirty drop

Those of you who are more musically-inclined than others have probably come across the new Skrillex EP titled Bangarang. One of the most prominent Electronic/Dubstep/Whateveryouwannacallit artists right now is undoubtedly the ex-screamo/weirdo Sonny Moore, better known as Skrillex. His "filthy drops and wobbles" are his staple, and they have permeated every house party and club known to college students.

Initially, I believed that dubstep would fade out, as college kids would get increasingly bored with the underground genre and unlike other music, it would not filter down through high-school and younger demographics like most music does. (Disagree? How about Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller for starters?)

But the bass keeps dropping and wobbling, doesn't it? Admittedly I have grown accustomed to spin-offs of dubstep and electronic music, but some songs like Cinema by Skrillex and I'm In Need by Savoy still give me goosebumps every time.

I'm channeling my inner-Nick Swardson from Grandma's Boy and referencing the "You would like this music too if you had robot ears" line. So great.

On his new EP, Skrillex collaborated with musical pioneers of their own era, The Doors, as part of a musical regeneration project. (http://www.regenerationmusicproject.com/)

As The Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek says in the song, "That's kick-ass!" I absolutely love this song, and this idea. Why? Because The Doors and Skrillex are exactly the same idea.

Started in LA in the 60's, The Doors were not widely accepted by the public upon the release of their first few album releases. They casually slipped into the hippie-drug using genre and were looked upon as taboo for not only their music, but Morrison's controversial antics as well. (He started a riot - reminds me of some people I know)

Skrillex absolutely fits the same profile. I have had adults on more than one occasion propose the "Do you know this new Skrillex band?" question, which induces giggles every time. Hehe, how naive. His half shaved head, greasy hair, all black clothing, and chain smoking surely do fit the profile of a demonic little creature, and even though his music may sound like it is the beginning of some sort of satanic ritual, Skrillex is widely popular in the college scene. Whatever he is, and whatever he will become in the future, I'm sure he shared his thoughts with the members of The Doors regarding what they thought of being simultaneously rejected and idolized themselves.

Below is the video of the collaboration between the two underground legends of their respective eras. Check it out if you have not already seen it.


Sunday, February 5, 2012

Week 5: Halftime for all

Week 5 of Winter Term. The ambivalence felt towards you is tearing me apart. 


You are great in the sense that you mark the halfway point for the term. In many ways this is fantastic, especially if you are stuck taking the Geography 202s and the Comparative Literature 102s of the academic spectrum. (I'm sure Mark Twain's biography is great, but no, I do not want to compare it to Joan of Arc's memoirs. Also, no one cares about igneous rocks.)


Alternatively Mr. Week 5, you are hell. 


As a Journalism Major, perhaps the biggest emphasis placed on any aspect of this seemingly broad career field is the importance of deadlines. Obviously the Lillis Business School kids would be drilled for turning in a project late or missing a quiz . However, met deadlines are the sole means of survival for any journalist. Miss a deadline, get fired (or worse, fail a class..) Bottom line.


Now that I have successfully scared myself, I suppose I could talk about how I have the largest project I have done thus far due Friday. Have I started? I'm telling myself I have.
Our assignment is to write a feature piece (basically a dramatized bio) on a person- any person. I have found that person, and even conducted an interview. 2 points for John. 
I have yet to listen to this interview, determine the meaning of my piece, or determine why I even chose to interview the person I did. 


I think I just threw myself out of an airplane without wearing a parachute.


This week should be a good time. Which got me to thinking- what won't I see by being occupied with school work this week?


1.) A Patriots Super Bowl parade, complete with Vincent Wilfork shirtless.
2.) A super exciting and intense Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling match. (meet? game? event? what to even call it!?)
3.) Gonzaga win a game.
4.) A good episode of that Napoleon Dynamite show on Fox. (Can't believe Fox wasn't kidding with this show.)
5.) Oregon players declare for the draft. The madness MUST be over.


Looks like a media-free week might be just okay after all!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

First Time-Lapse Project

I put the following clip together today in a span of roughly 3 hours. I set my Go-Pro camera on our TV stand in our apartment, set it to 30 second intervals, and did a little homework, watched some football, and played video games. I plan to redo this style of video again maybe later this week. Enjoy!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Then and Now

It is oh so good to be back. Apologies for a lack of a post in quite a while. Being surrounded by incessant consumerism, lazy lifestyles and sports placed me into a coma-like sedation where ESPN and NHL Network (both in High Definition, of course) served as my intravenous nourishment; while Battlefield 3, Skyrim and Busch Light acted as an oxygen-delivering breathing apparatus. Back to a half-vegetated, American state has opened my eyes to many things, not including how incredibly awesome America is - that is incessantly obvious.
The Journalism school here at Oregon emphasizes 100% infusion with mass media, social media, and multimedia 100% of the time. Basically if you are NOT on Twitter during class reading up on what Lamar Odom had for breakfast, well, you're... different. In a word- being overseas was strange at first because I could not experience the instant gratification and now-now-now lifestyle I previously basked in. To catch up, I thought I would look at each major sport association (Hell yeah I am including the MLS) and examine where that association was in August of 2011, and see where it is now.

MLB
August- St. Louis was 10.5 games out of first place in a division which only had 2 out of 6 teams over .500
Now- St. Louis did what? Whats that? Old news? Still ridiculous. That means the Mariners have hope this year, even if we trade away a phenomenal rookie pitcher. (Cue the Dumb and Dumber line: "So you're tellin' me there's a CHANCE!") Pshhh who needs Pineda anyways...  I swear Seattle is a New York Yankees farm team. First John Olerud, now THIS!? BLASPHEMY!

NBA
August-A pathetic lockout drudged on in the shadow of the NFL's own relationship between rich hood-rats and richer owners. Players were putting on Pro-Am shows to stay in shape, and everyone thought Kobe was going to Italy.
Now- A season is well underway, with me fully on the Clippers bandwagon. Shoulda gone to Italy, eh Kobe?

NFL
August- Players were scrambling to get into shape, as the lockout ended and many thought a season would not even happen. Also, most San Francisco fans were ready for another sub-.500 season. Weird.
Now- The Packers are out. WTF OMG That is all.

NHL
August- Who knows, and who cares, really.
Now- My Canucks are struggling after a mental and physical beating by those blasted Bruins a few weeks ago, and the St. Louis Blues are surprisingly good. What's going on in that city!?

MLS
August- Teams were mid-season in a season that proved to be quite entertaining, even with my Sounders under-preforming in the playoffs yet again. The Galaxy had the West Conference locked up by this time, and were heavy favorites to win the Cup.
Now- Well, the Galaxy didn't win, and arguably two of the biggest stars in the league, Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry, depart for European Clubs on loan. Great. Hey, at least the Sounders had a good draft!

Yeah, admittedly I missed quite a bit, both when overseas and in this post. (No need to discuss the Ducks. I'm still celebrating from the Rose Bowl, and won't let LaMike or Darron ruin it.) But it is good to be back, and it is great to be current on Lamar Odom's diet as well. 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

До свидания, Россия. Goodbye, Russia.

As my last 12 hours in Russia are upon me, I reminisce on the times that I had and the things that I experienced. I still do not think my mind believes that I am in Russia and for 4 months I was surprised daily by odd occurrences, cultural differences, and just plain bizarre events. The best way I could sum up a 120 day blitz of Eastern Europe is through, you guessed it, a TOP TEN LIST!
Top 10 things I will miss:
1.) The ability to drink wherever, whenever. A common activity when club hopping during any given night would be to stop in a 24-hour "Prodooktee" (basically a convenience store specializing in alcohol) and get a drink to sip on whilst walking to the next club at 3:30 in the morning. That's right. No open container laws in these streets.
2.) The hilarious death-stares given by anyone and everyone in public. Quite normal, really.
3.) My host mom's borscht. This beet soup is literally the best soup I have ever had in my life. Gonna miss that purple concoction.
4.) Academics that require 2 essays and 1 quiz for an entire course. Such is the Russian way of higher education, and it fits quite well with the lazy tendencies of Russians.
5.) Public Transportation- For 25 rubles - 80 cents or so - I could get anywhere in the city via the subway in under 30 minutes. Part of this was my super-central location smack dab in the middle of the city, and part of this is the always on-time Metro system of St. Petersburg
6.) Watching FC Zenit games with the host dad. While I have been led to believe that he has been in and out of rehab for alcoholism, (information given to me by my host brother - quite the alcoholic himself) this did not stop us from watching a soccer game on a 10-inch fuzzy TV and drinking vodka for 90 minutes.
7.) Corrupt law enforcement. The one day I forget my documents when going out to do who-knows-what, I was stopped by a police officer in the Metro for a routine document check. While this is utilized to catch illegal immigrants, it so happened that that day I was the illegal. Luckily that was nothing 500 roubles couldn't fix. Roughly a 10 dollar bribe and I was on my way. So easy, so efficient.
8.) Gypsy-cab rides. These are cabs that operate without license, and which are driven by Central-Asian immigrants who speak very little Russian. These are always an adventure due to them trying to charge you more than you agreed on when you entered. I have been threatened and locked in the cab until I pay more. Regardless, the rides never cost more than 7 dollars- and it is literally an amusement park ride between interacting with crazy Kazakh drivers who think they are Jason Statham in the Transporter- except they drive a rusted-out hatchback.
9.) Teremok. This is a fast-food chain which specializes in "Bliny". Bliny are basically Russian crepes. They are thin pancakes wrapped burrito style around basically anything you can think of. My favorites- the banana and chocolate, the cheese and ham, and of course the caesar-salad blin- which tastes like a Big Mac.
10.) Conversational Russian Skillz! While I did not learn as much as I hoped in my academic classes, being out in public, asking for directions, ordering food, making small talk in bars and discussing cab fares are all actions which I feel increased my Russian far more than sitting in a desk in front of a chalkboard. Why? I was forced to speak the language if I wanted a desired result. That in itself, I believe, is the beauty of living in a foreign country.

That's all folks! I will have one or two last posts regarding Russia, and what my home stay was like, and maybe a few pictures from my travel-week to the UK and Ireland. But those places aren't nearly bizarre enough to blog about.

Russia- I will miss you. I will miss your frigidness, both literally and figuratively. I will miss aspects of life here which no one from America could ever begin to understand without experiencing first-hand. I feel a sense of accomplishment for having survived here for a semester. That in itself relates the ridiculousness of this crazy, crazy country.

42 hours till America. Let it begin, and let my hectic and awesome journey come to an end.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Smurf Turf and Stuffed Ballot Boxes


The past week has been nothing short of tumultuous here in St. Petersburg. Unless you are stuck in Afghan caves, the Amazon jungle or Middle Earth, you have indeed seen news coverage of the Russian presidential elections.
            In years past, the political machine of United Russia, a party led by current prime minister Vladimir Putin and Dimitri Medvedev, holds a grip, to put it lightly, on the state duma. (Russian congress) This power has come under intense scrutiny lately due to alleged - no- actual vote rigging by United Russia (There have been reports of hundreds of filled out ballots already in ballot boxes for United Russia before voting opened Monday morning. Consequently, many Russian citizens are sick of fake democracy and want a legitimate chance. 
People whining about a legitimate chance? That reminds me of a certain blue and orange-clad college football coach!
Enter Chris Petersen coach of Boise State, who commented on the Russian elections just a few days ago: "“The whole thing needs to be changed, there’s no question about it,” he said. “… I think (change) is coming, I really do.” Even the coach of a Mountain-whatever conference sees the elections as utter garbage.

Wait... He wasn't talking about Russian Democracy? He was talking about what? The BCS system? OH!

Yes. Unsatisfied individuals within College Football and Russian Democracy are currently in the same state. I just pictured a beer-bellied Boise Fan with a cowboy hat and Kellen Moore jersey agreeing with a leather jacket wearing Russian with a man purse. Ha.

Boise State? Mad about their wins not counting towards something legitimate. Russian citizens? Livid about their votes not mattering in a "democratic" election. But the solution is so applicable to both parties! (Granted the BCS system is not rigged, unlike the Chechen regions of Russia turning in above a 99% vote for United Russia.)

If there is any hope for an out-vote of United Russia, Russians must actually vote first of all, and second of all, they must find and fully support a party. The communist party came in 2nd in the elections, with many citizens voting for the Party simply because it was the only party with an adequate chance to overthrow United Russia's majority. These vigilante voters opposed to United Russia must abandon small political biases and reach for a higher goal of fair and true democracy. Same goes for Boise State. Coach Petersen, please abandon your complaints about a one-loss season and join a bigger and better conference which would give you a better chance come BCS selection time.
The underlying theme is drastic change which would theoretically overwhelm things that either groups cannot change. Obviously a Russian citizen in Saint Petersburg has no control over radicals holding people at gun-point and forcing them to vote for United Russia, just as Boise State has no control over LSU trampling SEC opposition. However, a Russian can help another party campaign, compel his lazy neighbors to vote (legally), and protest BEFORE the elections actually happen, just as Boise can join another conference.

Stop complaining, Start changing.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Tallinn

On the occasion that St. Petersburg does not have much to offer adventurous students on the weekend, a common weekend getaway lies in the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, an ex-Soviet republic highly dependent on the floundering Euro, and the European Union. This country is extremely small, and 1 full day in the city was enough to explore every nook and cranny of this beautiful Baltic state capital. The main attraction is the medieval old town, complete with cobblestone streets and old churches. Here are some pictures from our wandering/exploring, whatever one might call our activities that weekend.

The only hilarious thing worth noting besides being in eastern Europe - the kind you imagine from movies - was that our hostel was located 30 minutes by bus outside of the city in an industrial park, full of women with lesser morals, and migrant workers. Quite the experience...

Europe Hostel in all of its glory 

One of the first establishments in Old Town!

The Old Town square
Enjoying a fantastic sandwich overlooking Tallinn, Estonia.