NOISE: Freestyle

No cute title. Our libraries are in danger!

 

Our libraries are in danger of being shut down for good. Our 13 libraries and the Bookmobile are in danger of being taken away. This is a VITAL resource to our survival as a city. 

We need our libraries for many reasons including the fact that we have one of the highest unemployment rates. Many unemployed can’t afford internet,  but can utilize the libraries internet for free. Then you have local students of all ages that we are trying to make sure are above   grade. We have small businesses that rely on the libraries to get vital info to become bigger and better contributors to the local economy. We also have a giant community of home schoolers who find the libraries to be an essential part of moving our bright young children ahead.

I am a father of two children being home schooled. I can not give the education that is required to become the scholars I know they can be without the use of the hundreds of thousands of books that the local libraries provide.  
 
 

We can not move forward as a city without knowledge because knowledge is power and closing 13 informational institutions is outrageous! To find more information on how you can help please check the following.http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/96925209.html

http://www.cadl.org/

http://www.cadl.org/news/2010millage

This is not something we can allow to happen and expect to survive! Make a difference. This is your home too. Can we count on you to help save it?

Music: using destruction for profit. Conclusion.

 I think we are really hurting our chances of ever having a society of caring self assured beings if we dont ever take responsibility of what we are doing to tear it down. I dont think that all music, TV, computer and video games need to be positive but I think the majority should be. And I think that anything that is mainstream should have some type of positive message. You have to pay more money to watch pornographic things on TV. You cant watch real death happen on public access and I think the same should hold true about music.   

Solution:  Let it cost more. Be less accessable. If its that good and people are looking for just that they will pay for it. Just like they do with gentlemens clubs that sit in our fair city that show no signs of going away dispite all of the other businesses closing down around them. 

 This might actually force recording artist to realize that if you tell all of the youth of today that you have to disrespect everyone in order to be on top. That no one can be as good as you. And that no one, not even someone you love can be trusted that you will end up alone and never will enjoy any of the benifits that you have. That is if you ever get there in the first place. 

So now the task is to teach our children that just because a rapper or rock   star says that if you dont have money you dont amount to anything that its just music and doesnt hold any truth is a big task. The first thing that you can do is impower kids to know how important they are with or without influences around them. Teach them that you may feel powerfull when you listen to eye of the tiger from Rocky but it doesnt mean go around trying to beat up on people.  

I dont expect everyone to believe and or adhere to what Im saying but you read it now what are you going to do with the info? Sit there quietly shaking your head or make your voice heard? We are waiting for your side... Comment below.

Music: using destruction for profit. Part 2

                                             
 
 Is there a harmless way to release the frustration of being held down and not getting your fair share? Is Rap the only genre of music that boasts sex and violence? And how can we teach our children that just because you hear something that it doesn’t mean you have to be a part of it. 

I think of some of my favorite movies like   The Matrix and Powder and My Science Project. These movies start out with a very clear message. There is a problem that needs to be addressed. The heroes always find themselves against crazy odds and it seems there is no way out and yet, they find a way. I think this would be a good foundation for a positive style of rap.

But that brings us to our next point, is rap the only genre of music that really exploits the negative as a positive? No way! A phrase was coined a long time ago; Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. And for that matter country music has its ties in violence, drug use and despair.
   The fact is that in almost every type of music you’re going to find some type of negative view on things. Even children’s nursery rhymes are full of hidden darker messages. For instance three blind mice had their tales cut off with a butcher knife. Do we want our children wielding giant kitchen knives to go after small mammals if they should happen to see them?   

With that being said is the problem less music and more parents and guardians who don't spend enough time with the children of today.  Are we as adults not screening what gets into their minds?    I like spongebob, family guy and futurama.  Does that mean that they are good shows for a 3 year old?   When a little four year old girl is breaking it down to the ground like on her favorite Beyonce song is it cute?  Again what are we creating for a future?

Music: using destruction for profit.

 Back in the day I used to rock the polka dots and humpty dance. I can remember listening to the Art of Noise and admiring the KraftWerk. I know that back in the day there were groups like N.W.A. and people like Ice-T who were rapping about hard core crime and violence but like the youth of today I didn’t think it mattered and definitely didn’t think that it influenced me in a negative way. But let’s be honest, music shapes our live in so many ways. 

If you’re watching a scary movie and the killer is chasing the girl through the alley and she falls and they start to play Weird Al's song ‘Like A Surgeon’ its not going to be as scary. Music brings forth emotion. On the way to the club while in the convertible you’re not bumping ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ by Bette Midler. 

So what is this all about? In today’s market everyone seems to feel like the way to get ahead in the rap game is to put others down. To make them appear weak and or to dominate over them with violence. So I studied that behavior and realized that I have seen that somewhere before. I have seen that in your local school yard bully. They have to talk bad about someone else to make themselves feel better.
 

But if this music really does reach the youth, how is it affecting them? Are we creating a giant group of bullies? Kids who are going to believe that you’re nothing unless you have all the money all the power and all the sex?   Will we end up with a society of kids who don’t want a 9-5 because it cant pay them enough to own a Phantom? Who want to murder the competition not verbally but physically because that makes you more respected? And treat potential partners like a perishable item to be used and discarded?

What are we creating our future to be?

Oil spill has reached Lansing Michigan.

 It’s true. The biggest oil spill yet has reached Lansing Michigan. Don’t panic, your water is not contaminated and there will not be oily dying animals on the beach. But it is affecting us even now. Those of us who fear for the future of our children and the planet that they will inherit are terrified. The impact that this is already having on the ecosystem is beyond comprehension and as the years go by it will multiply.    As a photographer I have looked through thousands of pictures and they haunt me now... 

Now, there are some out there that aren’t as affected by the catastrophe that is upon us and they say so what, how's that affecting Lansing? Well, considering that we have built a large percentage of the cars on the road today and most of that crude oil was to be used to manufacture gasoline. That means a large percentage of that spill is a product used to give energy to something we built. Again there are some who say not our problem. I say, if we are not part of the solution, we are the problem. 

We all know about alternative energy and renewable energy, but do we know that it’s being used all over the world?
  Do we know that we have one of the largest unemployment rates in the nation? Then do we also know that with the space that we have and   the eager workers that we have we could make money for a hurting state by building and selling items to help our environment? 

If you don’t care about animals and you’re not planning on hanging on till late in the future think about what it would mean to drive down the streets of Lansing again and be proud of what your city is creating. Think of what it would mean for lowering crimes rates and giving kids hope for something other than a life of crime. People used to be honored to work at GM, Oldsmobile, Motor Wheel and many others. There may be a new factory on the horizon; will you be there to help it? I will. See you there!