Composing Music

This past week, I went to a camp where we learned how to compose music. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay 4 out of the 5 days the camp took place. Even more unfortunately, it was the last day where everyone throws a celebration and shares what they learned and created. However, I still got to learn a lot.

When I first arrived, I was a little wary of how this whole class would be taught. Soon enough, I felt comfortable with everyone else. They passed out sheets of blank music paper for us to start composing. The instructor teached us how to compose and how to use different scales and chords. By the third day, we were all using a program called Finale Notepad to create our official pieces. We worked day 3 and day 4 composing and rehearsing for the final day (day 5). Like I said, I was unable to go to the final day because I'm currently on vacation.

You may be wondering, how did I write my piece? Well, I took four chords from a song I know, "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green which I had figured out on my own piano at home a while back. The rest just came to me. My piece turned out really great for my first time. It was written for piano and was finished in one day, with a couple minor boo-boos fixed by the next day.

Here is a picture of some of the song:

If you would like to listen to my song, click here to download Finale Notepad. When you get on Finale, click here to download the song, titled "Skies of Colors" (please tell me if the link does not work). Don't worry, there are no viruses on the song. To play it, open Finale Notepad and click "file," then "open." Locate where you saved the song I composed and open it. Press the play button and listen to my song. Be warned, the way I have it written in Finale isn't exactly how I wanted it to sound, for example I added a repeat and it does not repeat.

My question for the week is...

What do you think of my song, "Skies of Colors?"

The Phantom of the Opera

This week, my grandmother and I traveled to New York to see the longest running Broadway musical that is STILL playing, The Phantom of the Opera. This musical was created by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I recognized the name from my jazz band; he was the one that wrote most of our music! After I heard that, I knew the music would be fantastic. The first showing of this play was in 1986, but it is based on a book in French by Gaston Leroux which was writting in 1910.

It was hard to make out what the plot was because almost everything is sung. Despite this play's "hard to understand" storyline, I really enjoyed listening to the loud music. I now understand why this play is still running strong on Broadway. I couldn't get the music out of my head after seeing the play! Here is the theme song of the Phantom of the Opera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5z_l6NE3qs

Pretty catchy, right? I have to admit, this musical does not compare to the Lion King which is another Broadway musical I saw last year around this time. It is a kid-friendly Broadway musical and is a classic Disney movie. I guess because I knew the Lion King better than the Phantom of the Opera before I saw it made it more enjoyable for me.

My question for the week is...

Have you been on Broadway, and if so what musical(s) have you seen?

P.S. Towards the end of the musical, the people are located in a sewer. As a sound effect, you could hear running water from the sewer. I don't realize they were in a sewer, which made me believe there was rain outside. I finally convinced myself that it was part of the play. The ironic thing is that when my grandmother and I stepped outside, it was pouring rain in New York City - not a good thing! So my grandmother and I were soaked by the time we got to the bus terminal. Oh, the irony!

Do You Feel Comfortable in the Ocean?

This past Wednesday and Thursday, My parents and I went on a mini vacation to the beach. Our skin was kissed by the sun while we relaxed in the sun and we shorely had fun dodging the waves in the water (pun intended). I used to be one of those kids that would want to go into the ocean for every second of the day, but this year, I've changed and I have allowed myself some time to rest and relax on the sand.

At a point when I was in the ocean, I was wondering to myself how many thing could be lurking beneath the waters of the sea; sharks, turtles, fish, octopuses, jellyfish, and many more. Some are dangerous and can threaten to sting, bite, strangle, or kill you. Scary thought right? Good thing we can't always sea them (yes, pun intended again). The reason we can't see them? Humans.

It's hard to see in the ocean because of all the junk that ends up in it. This ranges from pollutants such as oil to the urine of some uncontrollable people. Have you ever stopped to think of how much pee you're probably swimming in when you're in the ocean? Here's a way to check how much pee is in the water; when you get out and take a look at the edge of where the water hits, there may be a thin line of yellow. That's urine alright. Truly disgusting, but no one seems to care. Also, no one can help getting that salty water in their mouth or on their lips, so what ends up happening is spit flying out of mouths everywhere. So, to sum it up, the ocean is 15% water, 30% pee, 30% saliva, and 25% salt.

Sorry for putting that disturbing mental picture in your head, but on another note, my parents and I went out for dinner to a restaurant with very large portions and excellent food. When we were trying to find a parking spot, we found a car parked with a sign in front of it. Here is the picture:

If you can't see it, it says "Don't Even Think of Parking Here." What. The. Heck. It gave us a laugh and we knew we had to take a picture of it. After we took the picture, a guy that was cooking food in the restaurant shouted out the window, "are you guys taking a picture of the sign?" and we said yes. The next thing he said was "everyone has seen that before!"

So back to the ocean. My question for the week is...

Do you feel comfortable in the ocean?

ALSO DONT PARK HERE

Independence Day

What does Independence Day mean to you? Does it mean staying up late watching fireworks? Having a neighborhood barbecue? Viewing a parade? Or does it mean understanding the history of this historical holiday? It upsets me that not many people do not know the history behind the holiday, so I am going to give you a quick lesson on Independence Day.

http://fg-a.com/july4.htm

To begin, we should all know that Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, is the celebration of our country, (or most of my blog viewers' country,) the United States of America, adopting the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our country. Now that everyone knows that, we can read on...

On July 2nd, 1776, the thirteen colonies (the first thirteen states of the United States along the east coast) was seperated by Great Britian. This happened during the American Revolution, which was a historical event where the thirteen colonies tried to break free from Great Britian's rule. A committe called the Second Continental Congress voted on the idea brought up by a person by the name of Richard Henry Lee that proposed a resolution for independence. This congress voted that they should further the explanation of the resolution by creating the Declaration of Independence.

John Adams, one of the past presidents and one of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence, sent a note to his wife explaining what has happened and that he believed that July 2nd would be a historical day in history. His prediction was off by two days, because Americans decided to celebrate on the 4th of July, the day that most of the copies of the Declaration of Independence were published in, and not the 2nd of July when the idea for the resolution was approved.

Now you know a little bit of background behind the holiday that happened last week, Independence Day. My family celebrated Independence Day by hosting a barbecue for our neighbors and going swimming.

So my question for the week is...


How did you celebrate Independence Day?

http://www.bestanimations.com/Holidays/Fireworks/Fireworks.html

An Introduction to Memes

Ever heard of memes? Well, if you're one of the oldsters out there reading this, probably not. If you're a youngling, you may recognize what I'm about to talk about. First, let me tell you what memes are. Basically, memes are anything that spreads very quickly through the Internet and becomes well known by Internet users. Memes can be a picture, a video clip, or something else in that nature. You have probably seen more memes than you think! I'm about to talk about memes and how they can influence you (not really, but you get my gist).

...Okay, actually, let's cut the chase and I'll just show you some pictures of popular memes you may have seen. Do not look at the link below the image unless you want to check your answer, because it may have the name of the meme in the address and it is a required citation:

<>

 

http://ohinternet.com/File:Trollface_HD.png

This meme is called "Troll Face." Some other names for it are "Coolface" and "Problem?" It first appeared as a drawing made on a popular website for drawing artists called deviantArt. With the growing rate of memes in 2008, the popularity of comics on the Internet went up. People would use memes in a four block comic strip. The meme symbolizes the expression on someone's face when they theraten or bully someone else on the Internet.

http://lulzindustries.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/forever_alone.png

Here is "Forever Alone." He symbolizes the face of someone who feels loneliness and rejection in life. 

http://hardtosayoutloud.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/me-gusta-jpg.png

This is "Me Gusta." For those that do not know, "me gusta" is Spanish for "I like." This face symbolizes the expression you make when you realize you like something that everyone else finds strange or unusual. Here's a poor example: Everyone at school hates the school lunch one day, except for you. You could say, "Me Gusta."

http://www.tutoriales7.com/img/rage_guy.jpg

Everyone say hello to "Rage Guy" also known as "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" This guy usually appears at the end of a rage comic when someone is furious with the result of something. The long string of letters resembles a bad wor-- ...Yeah, you know what word it is.

If you would like to look at some of the comic strip memes with these meme faces, please visit http://knowyourmeme.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&context=entries&q=rage+comics, but be aware that some may be innapropriate for some viewers. I'll tell you now, there is a LOT of bad language and possibly some sexual references, so be aware and look at your own risk.

But wait! Memes aren't just faces; there are videos and other things too! To check out some meme videos, look below:

NYAN CAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4

TROLOLOLOLO (this video relates to the "Troll Face")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FUR_nhGX8

RICK ROLL'D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

KEYBOARD CAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J---aiyznGQ

NUMA NUMA

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o

To go to the ultimate source of all memes, visit http://www.knowyourmeme.com/ and you will learn EVERYTHING about current memes and old memes. Also, go to this site to search for the reason that the videos and pictures above are memes. It's a very great and reliable source for all your Internet needs.

After studying and seeing many memes, a video by a very talented group came out in late 2011. The creators used over 40 memes in the song; for example, it will have them playing "Numa Numa" on intstruments while jumping around with the meme faces like "Troll Face" and "Me Gusta." It is really creative and you need to check it out if you have seen some of the memes. It is called "Le Internet Medley"

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghhLqu31cQ

 

 

And so, my question for the week is...

 

What do you think of memes?

Don't Let Summer Waste Away!

This summer, my friends are off to camps, going on vacation, and all other fun activities while I'm stuck at home waiting for our July vacation to start. It kind of surprises me that my friends and their families immediately go on vacation right after school lets out, though. Usually people will take a couple weeks to relax and then head off, like my family. So, I am scavenging daily for activities I can take part of. It's quite a hard task to look for things to do, and I end up repeating the same thing I do the day before.

At the end of the summer, I go back to school and everyone talks about vacations and everything that happened. I then begin to tell them about my vacations, but totally forget what I had done at home before my family's vacation had begun. I completely get paranoid and think, I just wasted a whole summer doing nothing! I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that, but I REALLY felt bad for myself.

This summer, my mom came up with the idea to keep a calendar chart of everything I did every day, such as go bowling, swimming with friends, or going to a lake. That way, at the end of the summer, I can look back at what I did each and every day. Now, I can say, hey, I didn't waste every day typing blog posts or sitting at home watching TV. My goal is to do something exciting every day this summer.

I forgot to fill out Friday's, but click on it to make it larger. Take a look at what mine looks like so far:

Pretty cool, huh? Well, I think you guys should give it a try.

My question for this week is...

What are you doing this summer?

Mario Party 9 - BIG DIFFERENCES!

I've always talked about nostalgia and how I can't relate to it as much as "90's kids" could, but the Mario Party series continues to grow in popularity from the first installment of Mario Party in 1998 to the present with the most recent Mario Party, Mario Party 9. It was released this year in the United States on March 11. It has always been a classic video game, where players choose their favorite character and travel across a board collecting coins to buy stars and become the "superstar" by collecting the most stars. This Monopoly-styled game is very fun. The game can change in numerous ways, such as buying and using items on yourself or other players, winning minigames for coins, using the dice to land on a desired spot, etc.

Here is a picture of the front cover of Mario Party 9, which I got on Monday this week:

http://www.nintendo-universe.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Mario-Party-9.jpg

 You may be thinking, how has this series lasted through nine games and still remain popular? Well, for many reasons! Each game has an addition of new minigames, items, maps, characters, and many more to make it even more exciting than before. But, this all takes a big turn in Mario Party 9. Mario Party 9 probably brought the most changes from one game to the next. First off, in the others, players traveled seperately, but now everyone travels together in a vehicle. This doesn't allow much strategy for some other players; for example, if you want to turn left when the player whose turn it is (the captain) wants to go right, you are goin' right. Second, in the other games in the series, you could set a limit to how many turns everyone takes. Now, you go from start to finish, meaning games could range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Third, usually after everyone takes a turn, a minigame is played. Now, a minigame is only played if you land on the specific space on the board that starts a minigame. And fourth, the creators this time tried to incorporate "boss battles" into the game. You can't lose them, and it is basically a minigame. You have to understand that this game was designed for younger kids, and inside, I am. They have used many ideas from other Mario games to make it more interesting.

Don't run off thinking I hate this game, because I don't. I just enjoyed the original style Mario Party games, where players try to get coins to get stars and have a set amount of turns each. This is obviously not my favorite Mario Party game, but there are some good things about it. One thing is the exciting music. With the growing rate of techno music, Mario Party 9 has also used some techno-dubsteppy music to suit minigames. Just listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWuVx4gNjzk

While this is very upbeat and catchy, I actually enjoy a specific song from Mario Party 7. It is the theme of the board, Pagoda Peak. It is a Chinese-style board, with gongs, mountains, pagodas, and a koopa master. This is the theme of the board:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozv-8Doyx6s

I recommend purchasing this game if you enjoy Mario games, especially the Mario Party series. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I do. Also, try buying one of the older Mario Party games to have a different experience! Have fun!

My question for the week is...

What do you think of the differences?