| Gen X, Gen Y and Music |
[Apr. 7th, 2005|02:53 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
When it comes to Douglas Coupland's ideas on fragmentation and alienation of our generation, it becomes very apparent when you listen to the music. My parents are baby boomers. They grew up listening to The Beatles, The Monkees and The Beegees. Their generation was fairly upbeat, heading into the disco era. It had its share of "angry" music but not to the same degree.
If you listen to music now on the radio, its all about sex, violence and depression. And they're not hidden in the lyrics anymore like they use to be. I noticed this during the end of my highschool years. We all go through an angsty period in our teenage lives. I think I was done with it when I was 16 but it gave me an opportunity to observe others. I noticed that everyone listened to Linkin Park. What other band embodies isolation, depression, fragmentation and alienation like Linkin Park does. All their songs are the same. I am sad, boo hoo hoo, nobody loves me, it's me against the world. But people still flocked to the music because it related to them. It gave them grounding and a group to belong with.
Music also shows our seperation from religion as we go through time. (If you exclude Country music that is)
I heard this song on the Rock History show on the CFOX a few years ago. Some of you have probably heard it. It's called "Dear God" by XTC, I would recommend a listen if you haven't before. The ending to the song is very.. GenX/GenY. Here are some of the lyrics.
"Dear god, sorry to disturb you but...
I feel that I should be heard loud and clear
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your image
See them fighting in the street
'Cause they can't make opinions meet about god
I can't believe in you"
- Janet |
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| Youth Groups |
[Apr. 5th, 2005|11:37 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Bone Thugs N' Harmony - Paper Paper | ] |
Janet mentioned today's youth being screwed up due to a lack of religion, and we also discussed it in class. To some degree that is true. Before entering University, I went to a Catholic school, and I know for a fact that most of the students in the school aren't as "good" as most people would think. However, this isn't the case for all students. A friend of mine is very religious. He never used to be this religious and I'm not sure what inspired the change in him, but I would consider him to be quite extreme. He organizes and is one of the leaders of a Youth Group called "Youth's For Christ" (YFC) which in a way draws comparison to the Youth Alive! group in Hey Nostradamus! I even heard that he might become a priest. I'm not sure if this is true since I haven't talked to him in a long time because he is always busy, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was true. I guess my point is that not all youth in this generation is screwed up. Although media and other outside forces try to corrupt us, there are a few who are unaffected.
But I'm quite tired and fighting to keep my eyes open, so I guess I'm off to bed.
-Darrell |
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| Relation...? |
[Apr. 4th, 2005|09:19 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
Ok, this entry really has nothing to do with "Hey Nostradamus!" but I found it pretty neat all the same:
http://www.bookblog.net/gender/genie.html
Works with blogs, fiction and nonfiction, which is interesting.
- Stephanie |
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| Pope John Paul II |
[Apr. 3rd, 2005|01:55 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | surprised | ] |
I was watching the news last night and it was, like almost every channel, commenting on the Pope's death. The reporters would comment on the thousands of people who were at the Vatican praying and mourning him. The sheer number of people who felt this tragedy (I think, worldwide, it's about a million-something) was just astounding.
He had so many connections. Even the people who weren't all that religious loved him. He was uniting, in that way, similar to how Jason was uniting for people around him.
I find that the Pope was admirable for taking a stand against communism, but I don't really have that "connection" that so many others have. The integration that he provided for Roman Catholics everywhere simply doesn't reach me because, honestly, I'm not that religious. While I don't feel like the "unholiest thing on Earth," as Jason put it, it makes me wonder if I'll ever become "integrated" like we've discussed so many times in class. Is there a way to be non-integrated without undergoing addiction? I guess there are other ways other than religion to be "integrated."
For any keeners, here's an article about him: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3305285/?GT1=6428
- Stephanie |
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| Sedentary, solitary and anti-social...our generation |
[Apr. 2nd, 2005|02:57 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | tired | ] |
My mom found an article in the March 24th edition of the Vancouver Sun and left it on my desk for me to see when I got home from school. The title reads, "Those MMORPGs - threat of menace?" This article was written by one of our own students, Erin Morisette, who is an undergrad majoring in poli-sci. Now I couldn't find a copy of the article online because canada.com only has a seven day archive of their papers, but the essence of it gives a run down of what MMORPGs are, how the game designers have succeeded in sucking in gamers like myself, the effects of extensive playing, and solutions to this problem.
This is an addiction of a couple million players around the world. I have met players aged 9 to 30+ and I see them on almost every day of the week for more than 4 hours of play. I'm not going to deny that I have become sedentary, solitary, and anti-social, but I'm slowing toning down the game time. That's a step. Sleeping before midnight for the past few days is also a step, but not tonight because I was working on Tech101. I'm making progress.
Scott |
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| Greetings my brethren |
[Apr. 2nd, 2005|02:40 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | David Bowie - Space Oddity | ] |
So it’s pretty late right now, in the week, in the day, in the semester. I’m currently in my hermit mode, stationed in front of my radiation box basking in its glory. Why bask in its glory? Because it solves my boredom. The T.V is on behind me. Instead of having those fun juice or grill infomercials, it’s one of those religious nut bag shows again. The guys preaching to a bunch of teens. I guess I feel like Jason. When we’re young we just want to break free and be our own person. But people preach and try to mold you into some sort of perfect machine. I truly mean machine because anyone so holy and perfect can’t be human. Rules are suffocating. Religion is suffocating.
Now there’s a montage of Christian rock music with the audience bobbing up and down, reaching for the sky. I wonder if they have noticed that the guy preaching to them about life is only in his early 20’s. What does he know about life? I doubt that he has even experienced half of it. I’m typing this up in Microsoft word and all I can see is a sea of green lines. Oh well. Some of you may wonder why I am doing this so late at night or so very, very early in the morning. I’m not rushing a deadline, even though I should be. I didn’t just get home. My thoughts just flow much more easily when I’m halfway to delirium.
I have never really read the bible. I read the first 2 pages because of a high school religion study. So straight off, understand that I am not a religious person in any way. So about Jason, religion and the book. We discussed in class (or rather I watched other people discuss) that the reason our generation and future generations are so “screwed-up” is because of the lack of religion. I would agree to a certain extent. Coupland’s idea was more “finding integration with God”. I think its more “understanding God”. That was what was so special about Jason. He wasn’t a zealot like the Youth Alive! group. He experienced both sides of religion, the acceptance(Cheryl) and rejection(Reg). Jason didn’t use religion to judge people like Reg had done, he used it as a guideline. Like a 12-step plan. No matter how many times you might deter from that plan, you’re still hauling your way through it. And when you complete one step, ahhhh like a giant weight off your shoulder or a cleansed soul. The reason why I think this way is because I don’t understand religion very well. I’m starting to accept the fact that it can’t be deleted but I lash out very easily at it. I don’t other people telling me what to do, I enjoy building my own cages and I damn well better be able to die in it if I want to. Generation Y, we’re a funny bunch of people. I think we’re all emo even though we don’t want to be. But I have a plan. Before I die I will become a catholic. As a catholic I shall confess my sins and be granted access to the kingdom if there is one. Its just as a precaution. If there isn’t a God then I’ll just enjoy my sleep. My name is Janet, and I have a plan.
I was going to end this with some reference to the infomercials, life, and the “set it and forget it” slogan. But my muse collapsed suddenly and I have to go find the defibrillator now.
- Janet |
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| Easter Eggs |
[Mar. 27th, 2005|11:43 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
Just wishin' everybody a Happy Easter.
-Darrell |
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| Probability |
[Mar. 24th, 2005|11:02 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  thirsty | ] |
Today in class we talked about Pascal's Wager and related the novel to how it is easier to believe in God. Funny enough, on my way to my martial arts class later that day, I was approached by some rather creepy and perhaps homeless guy. He asked me what the point was in taking martial arts since I could be taken out in a second with a gun. I didn't really want to talk to the guy as he freaked me out, but I just listened to what he had to say, then went on my way. After when I thought about what he said, I realized that it was much like Pascal's Wager. It is not guaranteed that the person attacking you will have a gun, therefore it is much like how it is not certain if there is a God or not. If you know how to fight, and you are attacked with a gun, then you are helpless, but if not, then you can defend yourself. Whereas if you don't know how to fight, you are helpless either way. So I figure my chances are better with learning how to fight properly. Plus I think the homeless guy who talked to me might be a little off as his eyes were crossed and I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or not.
That's all for me for right now, I'm going to get off the computer and MSN Chat and waste my time doing something else, perhaps get a drink since my current mood is thirsty.
-Darrell |
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| Addictions |
[Mar. 24th, 2005|10:06 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
I wonder if the placement of the book's reading was a coincidence or intentional with the coming weekend...
Last lecture emphasized on addiction and I'm still trying to figure out the surface (as in first impression) addiction that Cheryl had. Can anyone enlighten me on this? Would Jason's addiction be the drink? Heather's addiction be Jason? Reg's? What do the rest of you think their addictions are?
My addiction? For the past four months, my addiction would have to be World of Warcraft. I'm not very proud of it. I it has been my version of "MSN Chat". You know the whole "MSN Chat" - social contact thing, got me thinking about the positives and negatives about MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) which I consider to be like "MSN Chat" because you still are chatting with the other players of the game. In WoW, I have met and made friends with players from Australia and Taiwan. This is something MSN does not provide openly. My local friends who play have made a guild (in-game club/clan) and we converse through the chat too.
Well look at the time, I'll have to continue this post after the lecture.
(To be continued...)
Continued...
Meeting new friends from around the world is an advantage that face to face interaction lacks. You could consider pen pals, but it is not "real-time". But having too much of an online social life is not good either because we lose our ability to communicate when we have to converse with other people. I think that Instant Messages are like blogs too because of the frequency of information. These blocks differ in length and detail with each user, but blogs and IMs are very much a like.
I've lost my train of thought and I think my ideas are getting thinned out. Laters.
Scott |
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| Age Difference |
[Mar. 23rd, 2005|03:04 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | sleepy | ] |
When people have friends, the age of these friends are not always the same. Some may be older while others younger. Yesterday in class, something was brought up that made me think and realize something about my life. In the novel it is mentioned that after the age 33, everybody is about the same age. Currently in my life, I am not yet 33, still I have friends who are a significant amount of years older and younger than I am. The one relationship I have that draws most drama and attention is the relationship I have with a girl about 4 years younger than me. We are just two close friends, no different than any other two friends, yet the age difference causes people to make judgments and in a way "disapprove" our relationship. In my eyes 4 years isn't a big deal, perhaps at our current stage of life it may seem like a big deal, but to me age doesn't make a difference. (unless of course they are an infant, then that is questionable) I guess I'm already seeing us as being at that border line of 33, but thats just me. People see things differently, and I guess thats why I try not to let it bother me. Also, the disapproval of friendship has in a way, strengthened our relationship, so I guess it has its benefits.
-Darrell |
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