Good links to look at!

I've done enough music projects. for anyone following this blog (and didn't catch the description as much), you can go check out my two main projects. My solo work, and with The 30th of February. more coming soon...

OB-1 muzik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/OB-1-muzik/108277809190351?fref=ts
Bandcamp: http://ob11.bandcamp.com/

The 30th of February
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The30thOfFebruary
Bandcamp: http://the30thoffebruary.bandcamp.com/
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/endofcrappyrock
****VOTE US FOR BATTLE OF THE BANDS!!!!!
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Top 11 Best movies of 2012

Top 11 Best movies of 2012

#
11	The Hunger Games
10	Frankenweenie
9	21 Jump Street
8	Wreck-It Ralph
7	The Avengers
6	The Amazing Spider-Man
5	The Dark Knight Rises
4	Zero Dark Thirty
3	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2	Skyfall
1	Argo

Runner-ups:, Man on a Ledge, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Dredd, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Jack Reacher, The Bourne Legacy

Linkin Park's "Meteora" (for Recording Fundamentals)

Kevin O’Brien

MSR

11/18/12

My favorite album of which I choose to express is Meteora by nu-metal group, Linkin Park. As a musician, songwriter, and overall someone with an interest in music, this album has left the most impact on me. The album’s dark and edgy sound has filled me with excitement and amusement every time I played it.

This album is the follow-up to their debut, Hybrid Theory. Meteora follows the nu-metal essence (crossing of hip-hop with metal) of the band. The production on this album feels darker than its predecessor because every instrument and every effect is solidly updated – allowing every instrumental detail to be heard. It released in 2003 and produced by Don Gilmore, who also produced for The Apex Theory, Dashboard Confessional, and Good Charlotte.

It was the last album before Linkin Park made an experimental shift in their musical direction in 2007 with the release of Minutes to Midnight, which was said to be the least-favored album amongst fans for forging a new identity.

The first songs I listened from Meteora were the singles, “Somewhere I Belong”, “Faint”, and “Numb”. I never listened to the full album until 2008, a year after Minutes to Midnight came out. When I played the CD one Tuesday morning, I was left in a mesmerizing trance. Since then, I learned every lyric, and learned every part on guitar and drums. Every track was catchy, flawless, and compelling. Meteora has its loud distorted songs such as, “Don’t Stay”, and “Lying From You”, and soft peaks; “Easier to Run”, and “Breaking The Habit”. This album even has tracks that leave me in awe. “Nobody’s Listening” is a hip-hop track that features a shakuhachi flute, and “Session” is an electronic-and-turntable instrumental that feels hypnotic.

My final for Intro to Music Industry

Kevin O’Brien

Intro to Music Industry

12/3/12

The 1960’s

     The 1960’s were a time of change in the country. The war in Vietnam was a brutal collision between the Americans and the rebellious North Vietnamese, and it was the first war to be graphically shown on television. Social inequalities were becoming equal. Music was revolutionized to accompany the civil rights movements and the protests of the war.

     Vietnam was the first war to be watched on public television, on the battlefront and uncut almost every second. The Tet Offensive in 1968 was recorded and distributed to television by CBS. Rebels of the Viet Cong attacked the US embassy in Saigon massacring innocent civilians and soldiers both American and South Vietnamese. Today you do not see war action on the news anymore. It could be that the government and the media only want to keep this country secured and unaware of any signs of death to the public.

     People both black and white used to be discriminant towards each other, and consequences were faced if anyone was not otherwise. Civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X made it safe for their community to be unjudged. Malcolm X wanted to form independent communities for African Americans whereas Dr. King fought segregation laws through peace rallies such as the march to the White House.

     The youth America felt separate from their parents. They did not live through World War II and not feel obligated to hold responsibility like their mothers and fathers did. The young began to challenge the norms of society. The new age of music was there to accompany these high times. Rock and Roll was a genre that was mixed with early rhythm and blues from the black community and country music from the white community. This interracial musical blend ticked off conservatives.

     People in the 60’s would listen to songs related to war, drugs, and the counter culture. Velvet Underground’s “ Heroin” is an anti-hippy song. The pacing of the song is based on the life of a drug addict. The tempo of the song frequently changes over time, and towards the end the distortion symbolizes the addict’s breakdown. Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” was the first song to sneak drug indications past censors on the radio. It made trippy references to Alice in Wonderland and connects them with drugs, most commonly mushrooms and LSD. Other songs, such as The Beatles “Revolution” and The Fugs “Kill for Peace”, spoke about ongoing war that they changed the minds of listeners to go against it.

    It is interesting that both African American and Caucasian musicians would cover each other’s songs to sound more entertaining as the original. Chuck Berry took the country song  “Maybelline” and sped it up with the addition of guitar. Elvis Presley’s version of “Hound Dog” is very ecstatic where as Big Mamma Thornton’s original version was more meaningful and edgy. European rock groups such as The Beatles grew on classic R&B. Their cover of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” was true to the original, but could never beat the talent of “Little Richard” Penniman. Besides, what other pianist plays with one leg off the ground?

     There has never been such a pivotal point in American history than the 1960’s. The War in Vietnam brought many people together through peace and unity. People of different ethnical backgrounds started to integrate and civil rights leaders made it possible for blacks and whites to get along in the same community. The music the 60’s changed the perspectives of Americans, especially in the eyes of the youth, with songs that focused on drugs and war. Black and white musicians began to play each other’s cultural music. The 1960’s were controversial, and served as a turning point in the 20^th century.

Toy Story 3 (a look back)

For a summer movie I went to see three times in theaters, Toy Story 3 was a film that hits home. As I have mentioned before, Toy Story is and always has been my all-time favorite Disney animated movie. This series was very entertaining to follow, it opened my imagination, and when I heard that a third movie was being made, I went nuts. I had the dignity to walk into that theater three times buying my ticket for the next showing. As long as I saw Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Slink, Rex, Bullseye, Ham and the Potato Heads on the big screen again, my summer was complete.

When this movie came out, my cousin was just graduating high school, and I was just entering my senior year. It was interesting to see how some kids around that age group could grow up with the series, how they’ve grown old with Andy, and how they’re ready to put the toys in the chest one last time. Even as we enter a new generation of kids who haven’t seen the other 2 films in their prime, it still grabs the attention of the kids. You get so many people dressing up as cowboys, spacemen, or even slinky dogs for that matter. I saw a kid dress up as Buzz Lightyear this Halloween. Considering it was 16 years ago when I was Buzz for Halloween, that made me smile.I remember sometime after Finding Nemo, some studio was going to create the original idea for Toy Story 3. It involved some plot where Buzz was being recalled to Taiwan and the toys were going to save him AGAIN before he malfunctions. While thinking about another Toy Story was being released, I thought it was too soon. I would have lost faith in Pixar. I couldn’t bear to see Pixar screw up a film like this and make it a slap-in-the-face like…again stick around next post. But I’m glad that Pixar waited it out long enough. It actually allowed the team to release new and very interesting material. And the final setup for Toy Story 3 was perfectly executed.

So the toys are at a daycare center, oblivious to the grown up Andy who left all the toys, but Woody, in a garbage bag to be taken up to the attic. The toys are welcomed to Sunnyside by a secretly power-hungry bear, Lotso, and a very flamboyant Ken doll, played by Pixar veteran Michael Keaton. Everyone is excited to be played with again and make children happy. All except, again, for Woody. He feels that Andy still needs him and leaves his friends behind. The toys try to move on and embrace the cute and adorable children that abuse and torture toys as much as Sid. Buzz goes to Lotso to have his friends be with more mature toddlers (If that makes sense). Lotso doesn’t take his warm-heart story light, so he has his henchmen reconfigure his settings, ultimately manipulating himself as the annoying space ranger from the first movie. As Woody goes to find Andy, he ends up being picked up by a little girl named Bonnie, who share the same love and imagination Andy had when he was little and you can see where this all leads. He encounters Bonnie’s toys and even discovers the backstory of Lotso, who has a reason to be a greedy tyrant at a daycare center, so of course, Woody goes back. And from there, so many things happen that reconcile with my joy and appreciation for the other two movies.

I like how they got the same kid who voiced Andy in the other two movies to voice Andy one last time (instead of some popular Disney star to fill in. that would’ve sucked). I am sad that few of the secondary toys are gone. Wheezy’s gone, Bo Peep is gone, and the last of the green army men abandon the gang as they venture to new battlefronts (What dicks). They do introduce Barbie though! Okay, that doesn’t help. I also like how big this movie is. It’s really broad and open. It took risks, it got dark, serious, it did leave some comical moments, and some moments were dramatic. I like the nods from the other two movies. Like when Andy has to choose if he should take Woody or Buzz to college, similar to when he had to choose who’s the favorite toy of the first movie. How about the opening play sequence? Both a tribute to the first and second play sequences, I knew what the toys would say because it’s drawn from the first movie (the Death By Monkeys button made me laugh hard).

I was for the drama in this film. There were times I thought the movie would just end, but it kept going into darker routes, and that made it interesting. I’m glad to see the toys and Andy finally develop as characters. You see the emotional struggles they’re going through to get to this conclusion and that’s what makes a well-created story arc. I’m sure the biggest tearjerker was at the very end. I remember my mother crying when Andy and his mom were looking at his room, being all empty. My room’s not empty but any parent could feel emotional watching this scene. I can’t seem to recall if I did make a decision like Andy did. But seeing how awesome my childhood was, I bet I would have one last play day if I were to give my toys to my 4-year-old neighbor. See what Toy Story 3 has done to me?

I hear rumors and people saying they want to see a Toy Story 4 be made. As huge of a Toy Story fan that I am, as much as I love what this series has brought me, I do not want to see that happen. Seeing how Toy Story 3 delivered the series to a close in the most emotional way, there’s no reason to have another one. How can you continue a story after you finished it, without directly copying the original product (I’m talking to you Sandlots 2 and 3!)? It’s kind of like how I feel about the upcoming Star Wars 7, it’s nothing I’d bother to go see despite the hype. I honestly can’t see something groundbreaking like Toy Story continue to milk itself like most Dreamworks movies have (feel free to prove me wrong), or even the people who made Ice Age. I do enjoy the 5 minute Toy Story Toons that come at the beginning of every other Disney movie recently. I’ll stick to watching those over another theatrical film. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see Andy’s toys interact with Bonnie’s toys. It gets some laughs here and there. Again, I can take a 5-minute short over an hour and a half movie.So I’ve rambled enough about this movie. I’m glad I saw the Toy Story trilogy. It completed my childhood, it was an amazing experience, and it closed itself just right.