Halloween Music

In spirit of Halloween coming up, I looked up a few of the most popular Halloween songs and some facts about them.

1.       “The Monster Mash” by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett

-          Released in 1962

-          The sound effects in the song were all created in the studio

-          One of the only 3 records to hit the Billboard Hot 100 three times

-          Elvis Presley constantly thought it was the most ridiculous song he’s ever heard

2.       “Nightmare on my Street” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

-          Producers of the film Nightmare on Elm Street sued for copyright infringement

-          Released in 1988

-          Reached #15 on the Hot 100

-          Released on vinyl and cassette tape

3.       “Thriller” by Michael Jackson

-          Released in 1982

-          Accompanied by one of the most famous music videos ever

-          Nominated for 6 VMA awards and won 3 in 1984

-          Reached #4 on the Hot 100 in 1984

I find it interesting that most of the popular Halloween songs were created decades ago. This generation should start creating Halloween songs because it isn’t Halloween without creepy music.

Swimming Jargon

I often find myself talking about swimming and using jargon around people that aren’t swimmers. So for anyone that’s ever been confused by a swimmer, here are a few things we talk about and what they mean:

3 beat kick: For every stroke you make (in freestyle) you should have three kicks. The beat in your head should be ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three...etc. Each number gets a kick and to accent that ONE you pull with one arm and enter the water with the other.

Catch: This refers to any stroke. Your catch is the action of pulling the water in your stroke.

Drag: Anything that slows you down is considered drag. This can include hair, jewelry, loose or baggy suits, and sometimes even body fat. Anything that makes you less aerodynamic is considered drag.

Hypoxic: This relates to breathing. If the set says “hypo 3” (hypo being short for hypoxic) then you are going to breathe every third stroke that you take.

Paddles: These are training aids strapped onto a swimmer’s hand. It’s usually bigger than their hand so that way it can improve catch and give a feel of a better catch.

Pull: You don’t kick, you only pull. Basically, all you’re using is your arms.

Pull buoy: A flotation device put in between the legs to keep the legs from sinking while pulling.

Recovery: The period when a swimmer’s arm moves out of the water during the stroke.

Streamline: A body position that reduces drag. A correct streamline means you have your arms straight above your head with one hand over the other. You squeeze your ears with your arms as well. Streamline is used off the blocks and out of the turns.

Time trial: A test of how fast you can go. Time trails are usually done the second or third week of the swimming season to get a picture of where everyone is at.

Turnover rate: How fast your stroke is.

Side note: When I say stroke, I mean what your arms are doing while you’re swimming.

Swimmers are usually pretty good about being able to explain what they’re talking about, but if you don’t want to ask I hope that this was helpful.

Talented YouTube artists

I’m on YouTube almost as much as I’m on Facebook so I find really interesting artists every now and then. Here’s a few that I’ve found talented enough to subscribe to:

KurtHugoSchneider: I’m pretty sure the main guy’s name is Sam Tsui but he often has a lot of featured artists on his channel. He basically puts interesting spins on modern songs and he has a really great voice and can reach high notes that a lot of guys can’t. The artists that he features are aspiring artists and he always manages to find really talented people. It’s worth listening to.

TylerWardMusic: Tyler Ward is a very attractive guy that not only does covers on modern songs but also writes his own music. He posts videos of him in the studio as well as actual music videos. Like Sam Tsui, he sometimes brings on talented artists trying to become more recognizable. Tyler does cover songs from anywhere to rap to rock to country.

Something I find interesting about his videos is that sometimes he has his brother rap with him. He brother is very talented at rapping and I think it’s awesome that they’re close enough to work on music with each other. Not only does Tyler have his brother help him out, but he even has his mom do a few things as well. Here’s a link to a video of their cover of Eminem’s ‘No Love’:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TylerWardMusic#p/u/63/NK4h_ixdR5E

I think it’s so cool that they’re just a musical family.

MeganandLiz: These two girls (Megan and Liz) are best friends and have very strong voices. I started watching them when they were only doing covers of modern songs, which were very good. They change the harmonies just a little in most of their covers but it makes them sound just as good.

Within this year they have started writing and recording their own songs. They also have been featuring better known artists and bands in their videos. They’ve become so much more recognizable that now they are making their own music videos of their composed songs that get over a million views to them. I haven’t listened to them recently, but they are extremely talented and sweet and deserve to become what they aspire to be.

zeldaxlove64: This girl’s name is Christina Grimmie and she has a more unique sound to her voice. Like Megan and Liz, I also started watching Christina when she was only doing cover songs. She can hit both high and lower notes and has something special in her voice and is very talented at playing the piano. She’s very down-to-earth and just a very sweet girl.

Christina happens to be very close friends with Selena Gomez and Selena asked her to be an opening act for her most recent tour. Christina of course accepted and has since then been posting videos of her own music which are also very good. She seems to be a great person with a great attitude and she will go very far.

gootmusic: This is definitely one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube. Alex Goot can play 10 or more different instruments and he can play them well. In each of his videos, he shows himself playing each instrument he used for the song in a music video kind of way. He does covers for songs and has a very good voice. He is extremely gifted and I really hope he will go far.

Here's a sample of his music in Bruno Mars' "Lazy Song":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwHPN5HYXAM

Like many of the other artists I mentioned, Alex also brings on featured artists that are talented. I’m not for sure if he makes his own music or not because I’ve only seen him perform covers but I wouldn’t be surprised if song-writing is another one of his talents.

Basically, those are a few channels to check out because all of those artists are very talented. While you’re on YouTube another channel to check out would be JennaMarbles. She’s not a musician but she’s incredibly funny and a very entertaining person to watch.

Randomness

Do people really not understand the whole concept of turn your brights off when you’re within 100 feet of another car? Anytime I’m out at night people just don’t get it. I am blinded as I’m driving straight towards them. Not a smart idea on their part. It’s not as bad in the city but out in Palo it’s the worst. It’s extremely annoying.

On a side note of driving in Palo, it makes me sad how many dead animals I drove past when I was out there this past weekend. It makes me sad seeing road kill.

Which also reminds me: there is a suicidal bunny that tries to jump in front of my car every morning on my way to school. Sorry bunny, I'm not going to hit you. You're just too cute.

Parents Can Prevent Obesity

There is much dispute on whether obesity is a disease or not. Those who do believe it is a disease often say that it is because it is hereditary and will decrease life expectancy. Other people say it’s not a disease because people make their own choices on what and how much they eat and it can be prevented.

My view on this is pretty cut and dry. I do not believe that it is a disease. I do understand the fact that if weight problems run in an individual’s family, more likely than not, the individual will also suffer from weight problems. This however does not mean that they gained 200 pounds or more purely by genes. That’s just not true. I do agree that obesity does decrease life expectancy but that does not mean that it is a disease. Drinking and smoking also decrease life expectancy but they aren’t considered diseases.

I think obesity can be entirely prevented. It all comes down to your lifestyle. In order to be healthy and fit you have to both exercise and eat right. You cannot exercise and expect that you can eat junk food. That will actually make you gain weight, but at a slower rate than if you hadn’t have been exercising. Really it comes down to eating healthy first.

That being said, there is a big problem about it with Americans these days. Many Americans have become lazy and only buy the pre-packaged food that is a cause to obesity. Parents buy fried foods not only from fast food restaurants but also grocery stores. It is because of the parents that are either too busy or too lazy to make a healthy meal and have the family sit together that the children of this generation think it is okay to eat unhealthy. It is because of parents that let their kids sit around and play video games instead of encouraging them to get involved in a school or club sport. It is the parents of that need to be educated on how to feed their children and keep them healthy.

Kids don’t know what is healthy if you don’t tell them. There are plenty of very great tasting foods that also are very nutritious. My parents introduced me to just about every food and vegetable out there which means I am not very picky at all. I will literally eat just about anything I’m given. And because they introduced me to healthy and beneficial vegetables I am in love with vegetables. Not literally but I eat them all the time. Green veggies make your hair shinier, provide clearer skin, and help digestion. That is why parents need to introduce their kids to just about every food at a young age. This way, they won’t be picky when they’re older and have more options than just fried and unhealthy foods. Even if the parents don’t like a certain food, it doesn’t mean their kids won’t.

Kids also don’t know how fun exercising can be unless you show them. My entire life I grew up with sports. Pre-school through 5^th grade I played softball because my parents signed me up for it. Then because I had so much fun I did it in 6^th grade as well on a more competitive team. They also signed me up for YMCA basketball where I met friends that I still talk to today. I had so much fun as a child playing softball, basketball, flag football, tennis, and swimming. If parents don’t show their kids how fun it is to get involved or bring up the opportunity, then they will believe staying home is more fun. It’s not okay to let kids just sit around and watch TV all day. When I was younger I was outside almost every day just running around and having fun. Every kid should be able to experience that childhood because it’s a lot more fun to look back on that the entire season of Scooby Doo you watched all year.

Bottom line: I think parents need to feed their children well and introduce them to fun exercise activities. It’s not fair for a child to grow up all of their life and feel inferior to all of the kids who weigh less than that child. If we can get parents to start treating their kids right (along the lines of diet and exercise) then Americans can start understanding the way to stay healthy.

Side note on the same topic: I think it’s horrible that we have levels of obesity. I can understand why other countries don’t like America. We have 500+ pound people here while kids in other countries barely survive the day. I really hope Americans can come together and encourage those who are obese to exercise and eat right.

To end this, I just want to let you know I have nothing against obese people. I just think that they made mistakes to get to where they are. I do not look down upon them or see them inferior to me. I just see them as unable to find a light to encourage them to change their ways. And I think each of them just needs a motivator and a friend to get themselves on a healthier track.

Taper Time

Tapering is a term used in swimming that basically means you’re ending your season soon and your workouts consist of less and less yards and more rest in between sets. The tapering I have experienced the past four years begins two weeks before my last meet.

In the first week, morning practices are cut out. The coach does this so we don’t have to wake up so early and are able to catch back up on our rest. Next, our two and a half hour practices in the afternoon start becoming shorter to about 1 and a half hours by the end of the first week. In the entire first week, we work on a lot of drills and techniques to really perfect our strokes.

The second and final week is centered on rest. Our practices go from an hour and a half long to somewhere between a half hour and an hour. During our sets, the coach puts in plenty of resting spots for us so that we are able to catch our breath and give as much effort on each yard as the first one. During this second week we work a lot on short sprints and smooth swimming. Also in the second week, the coach tells us to stay off of our feet as much as possible to make sure we are giving our bodies the maximum rest we can.

By the time the last meet comes around, we are well rested, stronger, and more prepared than ever. Generally the very last meet of any swimmer’s season is where they accomplish their best times.

I don’t know if tapering is used in college swimming but it is used in high school swimming. The duration of tapering depends upon the coaches’ preferences.

Love Em' Or Hate Em' Artists

I know there are a lot of music artists that get ignored because of a multitude of excuses but the most common ones to me I find hard to ignore.

1.       Taylor Swift: A lot of people dislike her because “she can’t sing”. I actually just went to her concert in Des Moines this past summer and I am a singer so I do know what is a wrong note but I literally could not hear any wrong note come from her voice. She really can sing, it’s not just on her CD’s. When she first came into the music scene I do remember one concert on TV I saw that was less than great. But you should also consider how nerve-wrecking it would be to be her and just starting out her career.

She has catchy songs and also really lyrically creative songs. My favorites are “Innocent” and “Haunted” from her album Speak Now. “Innocent” has really solid and deep lyrics that if you really listen to them and try and connect you’ll probably find them creative as well. My favorite parts are the pre-choruses like “Wasn’t it easier in your lunchbox days? Always a bigger bed to crawl into. Wasn’t it beautiful when you believed in everything? And everybody believed in you.” Then also, “Wasn’t it easier in your firefly-catching days? When everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you. Wasn’t it beautiful running wild til’ you fell asleep; before the monsters caught up to you?”  In “Haunted” I find the violin an awesome addition to a partial modern rock song. It adds a fresh new power.

2.       Nick Jonas: I’ve heard so many reasons why The Jonas Brothers are “gay” and “stupid” and have also been called more inappropriate words than that. But Nick from the Jonas Brothers is incredibly talented. He’s the youngest of the brothers and he plays drums, guitar, sings, and writes his own lyrics. Not only that, but he has such an interesting sound.

I’ve only listened to his first CD he came out on his own which included the song “Who I Am”. Many of his other songs though are even more creative. His lyrics are really deep and his sound is so unique to what is normally heard. My two favorites are “Rose Garden” and “State of Emergency”. “Rose Garden” is a great representation of how good of a writer he is. His lyrics start out with “She was brought into this world, out of a beautiful mistake. When her mom was just a girl; and her daddy didn’t stay. She was working at age 9, down at the flower shop in town. Working hard just to survive because life was throwing her around” And the song goes on to tell such a sweetly sad story about this girl who experiences this life. It’s incredible the way he describes it. “State of Emergency” is one of my favorites because it really shows how different his sound is. I’m not really sure which category to place it in. Plus, he has a unique voice and a wide range in his vocals.

3.       Framing Hanley: The song they are most famous for is the rock version of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop”. Some people like it and others don’t but overall, they’re pegged as an’ emo’ or scream group. Their album titled The Moment doesn’t do them entire justice if you’re not too into a heavier rock than modern rock. But one of their more recent albums titled A Promise to Burn really shows their true talents.

Not only did they keep a good rock and guitar feel from their earlier CDs but they toned a few down and enhanced their lyrics. I love “Weight of the World” and “The Burn”. “Weight of the World” talks about how he wants to help this certain person out because they deserve better than what they’re being treated and it’s just so sweet the way he comes across. “The Burn” is all about how he was so excited to be in a band and was “all smiles when I signed on that dotted line” but now he’s losing a lot more than he thought he would and doesn’t really know who he is. The lyrics I like best in that song are “I took the bullet and I never thought twice. I’m always the coolest when there’s money in their eyes.” Or “They took all my dreams, and all of my things. My family counted on me and I can’t let them down. I can’t let them down.” It just puts a new perspective on a life that everyone thinks they want to live and about how it’s really not as awesome as it seems.

There’s a lot more artists I could talk about but those are the ones that came to mind first.

So yes I am a big Taylor Swift and Framing Hanley fan. I don’t listen to Nick Jonas quite as often but I do really love his music.