Arts/Cultural Blog Post #8: Album of the Year

The name Kendrick Lamar sounded extremely familiar to me. I've seen it on TV, on Twitter, on Facebook... everywhere. I knew who the man was, but I never listened to his music. That all changed when the album, "good kid, m.A.A.d city," was released on October 22, 2012. On this date, I officially became a Kendrick Lamar fan.

It's not even a question to me that this is the album of 2012, especially for the hip-hop genre. In what is considered to be a dying field of music, Kendrick has put life back into it, giving us arguably our best artist since a young Kanye West came onto the scene. In the album, Kendrick displays a unique ability to tell stories in a song. The album is about his rough upbringing in the gang laden town of Compton, CA. It hits all the emotions, as different tracks make you laugh, make you cry, and make you fearful. It is truly a work of art and has thrust Kendrick Lamar onto the pedestal of being hip-hop's new golden child.

My favorite track on this album has to be "Poetic Justice" featuring rap sensation Drake. Using the sample of Janet Jackson's song "Anytime, Anyplace," Kendrick and Drake turn this mellow beat into a soothing hit. MTV has called this song "flawless," and it is easily the highlight of the album. It's moving, especially my favorite line, "I can never right my wrongs, unless I write them down for real."

If you're into the hip-hop genre and haven't had a chance yet, please check out "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" and you won't be disappointed.

Arts/Cultural Blog Post #7: My First Bruce Springsteen concert

I've never really been a Bruce Springsteen fan. Not to say that I disliked him, but I've never been the type of guy that could jam out to his music on my iPod. My mom, on the other hand, might be the biggest Bruce fan in the world. She's been going to his concerts since she was in middle school and has been to close to 200 of them in her life time. Surprisingly, she had never asked me to go to one with her... until this summer.

I was awaken early one morning by a call from my mom excitedly telling me "The Boss" announced he'll be coming to Penn State and performing at the Bryce Jordan Center in the fall. I was told to get up and get over to the BJC immediately to get two tickets. Two tickets? I wondered, was my dad going to come up? Nope, my mom was coming up by herself and wanted me to come with her. If I told you I was excited, I'd be lying.

On November 1st, the day of the concert, my mom flew up and arrived here around noon. I was extremely excited to see her, but I got the feeling I was only the second most important person up in State College on this day... she was here to see Bruce. As night came down and it got to concert time, her excitement rose. I was shocked when we got to the venue how many people were there. This was going to be different than I thought.

For a man that's in his 60s, Bruce Springsteen is an impressive performer. The amount of energy he put out during his show was shocking. Even more impressive were his die hard fans, my mom included, who knew every word to every one of his songs. Bruce wasn't just a musician... he was an artist. Even though I'm still not the type of person who will listen to his songs, I have to say I have gained tons of respect for him and the career he has put together. Definitely an eye opening experience.

Arts/Cultural Blog Post #6: Self Evaluation, etc.

#1 Self-Evaluation
It's unreal how fast this semester flew by. It feels like just yesterday I was the big quiet hockey player from Florida looking for my first friends here. Now I'm a completely different person... or so it feels like. I learned so much this semester, from managing my time, to putting school first, to even getting the right amount of sleep. College is no joke, you have to be focused to succeed.

When it comes to Penn State, I learned a ton. Being from out of state, I never dreamed of going here. I always pictured myself at a Miami or a hockey school in the Northeast. But ever since I've made my decision to come here, I've been in love with this place. I feel like if you love the school, the school will love you back. Just ask the football team about that!

What I learned about myself was that I can handle change and adversity. As many of you know, I came here to play hockey. That plan unfortunately needed to be put on hold this year because of a shoulder injury. When the news came down, I took it hard. I was borderline depressed for about a week and seriously considered leaving and never stepping foot in an ice rink again. Luckily for me, I found something to pick me up. I joined a fraternity and got heavily involved with Greek life and realized there was much more to this school for me than hockey. I can proudly say that I'm a much happier, better person now than when I first enrolled here.

Overall, this semester has been a great learning experience for me. I now know what to expect in the future and what to do to make myself a successful student and person here. I really enjoyed this class- especially the teacher! Thanks so much for everything!

#2 Blog Comments
http://tstratford.blogspot.com/2012/09/palmer-museum-of-art.html?showComment=1355433326556#c2210995167426356002

http://englishscaresme.blogspot.com/2012/09/flowers-flowers-and-more-flowers.html?showComment=1348891643761#c7680764063438784074

http://emmatabacchi.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-social-network.html?showComment=1355433054072#c7867458404872190347

http://kaylaswritten.blogspot.com/2012/10/wonder-boys-review.html?showComment=1355433207993#c4725695665078061444

http://sedwards10.blogspot.com/2012/12/never-forget.html?showComment=1355432828168#c1356561460679695158

http://cuesandcommissions.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-end-unless-there-is-lesser-quality.html?showComment=1355433491076#c2316141698373244502

http://showmetheartspa.blogspot.com/2012/09/photos.html?showComment=1355433640955#c3538709658557749133

http://pbandkelly122.blogspot.com/2012/12/self-evaluation.html?showComment=1355433874794#c9176250735313507610

http://abbyejackson.blogspot.com/2012/12/spilling-on-one-direction.html?showComment=1355434024666#c6284098185380368465

http://thebodaciousblogger9.blogspot.com/2012/12/self-evaluation.html?showComment=1355434169134#c5750652235789253017

#3 SRTE Evaluations

Hi Ms. S-- I completed my SRTEs!