MAUS

When I was in high school I used to hate reading. In my English class we would always have reading assignments and those were the ones I dreaded the most. But after graduating I began reading books on my free time. So when we were asked to read Maus I was really excited. It has been one of the best books I’ve ever read. In the book Art Spiegelman tries to connect and relate to his dad by listening to his story and the struggles he went through in the Holocaust. His father Vladek tries to make Art understand all the sacrifices he made at the time and how it wasn't easy.

To me Vladek was a great man. He had his flaws like being greedy and not being able to understand other people. But he was also one of the strongest persons in the book. Not only with the fact that he survived, but also that almost everyone in his family died. I admire him for his bravery in trying to keep himself and his wife Anja alive. He did everything he could in order to stay alive and help his wife stay alive. Even though he was scared in certain situations he pulled through. Like when he risked going to the black market to get himself and his wife food they needed. He saw so many people die and suffer but he never gave up.

Anja on the other hand was not like Vladek. She had a whole different mind set. She was very scared of everything and she didn't hide it. Whenever they were put in difficult situations she wanted to give up. She was strong to a certain extent. She knew she had to be strong in order to survive but there were times when she would breakdown and want to die. Many people thought it was crazy of her to kill herself 10 years after being able to survive a tragedy like the Holocaust. In a weird way I understand her. As we learned in the book Anja was not mentally healthy she had to be on medications. She was indeed traumatized. She had seen her whole family die she had seen other people die and she couldn't bare it. Unlike Vladek, Anja couldn't live knowing that all her family including her eight year old son had died.

Many people now-a-days known as the “Holocaust Deniers” say that historians made the whole thing up and nothing like that ever happened. Many believe that it was a tactic to frame the Germans and leave them at fault for something that they did not do. They strongly believe that no such thing happened and that people are lying about the whole thing, even though there are people who survived and are able to provide with proof of the events. They believe that everything is staged. Some can be blinded and that's why they believe that nothing like that happened. They are so set on that others are just trying to make them look bad.

This book is very interesting because it shows all the struggles Art's dad went through and how Art is trying to cope with the fact that his parents were always comparing to his deceased brother. He never really understood why his father was the way he was and he he treated him that way. So he decides to listen to his story to connect with him better. Art gives us full detail of the conversations he had with his dad. My favorite part about this book was how Art portrayed his dad by showing how his dad actually spoke and his grammar.

The "Rich Kids"

The Strokes first began to gain popularity in 2000. After their release of their first record Is This It their popularity skyrocketed and everyone knew about them. The Face published a statement that basically stated what The Strokes had accomplished, “The Strokes. Boys want to be them. Girls want to be with them.” For many people the band had become one of the most prominent and influential rock bands to emerge in the 21st century. Many believe that The Strokes achieved all their success because of who their parents where and the money they had. This is all wrong, they earned they popularity by working hard to get what they wanted.

Coming from New York and Los Angeles they started off with nothing and slowly rose to the top. They all came from very distinct backgrounds front man, Julian Casablancas son of John Casablancas founder of Elite Model Management and Jeanette Christiansen, a former model and Miss Denmark. Albert Hammond Jr. son of former model and beauty pageant winner Claudia Fernánde and singer/songwriter Albert Hammond. While the others Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti came from average families. Many argue that the band has bought their way to fame. They believe that because they were privileged they were able to make records and buy their way through critics and record labels.

In a recent blog Rich Russo stated that The Strokes are a waste of time. He said that “rich prep school kids, some with very influential daddies etc...They release it overseas and daddy’s friends in the fashion world start to manufacture some hype. That hype and maybe even some cash along the line gets the album released here. The album is mediocre but the “chip” cash in hype pulls out all of the stops and makes it a hit.” Russo strongly believes that they have bought their way through everything. He says that because of who their parents are they have hit records. Rich kids as most call them they are far from that. Even though Julian Casablancas' father is a very rich man he had nothing to do with the success of the band. His parents divorced when he was young so he never really knew his father and hardly talked to him. He live with his mother and his stepfather. Albert Hammond only helped his son and the band pay apartment rent and nothing else. Nick V. and Nikolai F. lived in poverty for the most part. As did Fabrizio Moretti. “It isn’t too true that whole thing about us being privileged kids” says Moretti in an interview “Nick, Nikolai and I, we all had to work for our spending cash.” So they were at no means privileged and rich.

They played their first gig in front of 15 girls at a party thrown by Nick’s older sister in 1996. They would play at venues where only 10 people would show up. They would make fliers to get people to come to their shows but not many would show up. Then their hype started spreading. Word of Mouth came into play people would tell their friends about this really cool band they had seen and soon more and more people would show up at the gigs. In 2000 they met their manager Ryan Gentles, who helped them book gigs and began sending out their demo to record companies. Rough Trade in England got a hold of it and decided to sign them. During this time the members still had regular jobs, Casablancas was bar-tending The Lemon on Park Avenue, Hammond was a shop assistant at Kim's Underground record store. Nikolai worked in a video rental store, Nick was a waiter and Fab worked at the State University Of New York. Nick Valensi stated in an interview “To be honest, none of us had money. No one helped us financially. Maybe in the beginning, Albert’s parents helped us to pay the rent. But that’s all.” The band has been trying so hard to show that all they have now is something they've worked hard for and not something that was bought by their parents.

Many refuse to believe that The Strokes are a band who has worked hard and want to make them seem like this band that is all magazine and money. When asked about the rumors that were being said about them Moretti said “rich boys trying to steal the spotlight from someone else. When you try a hard as you can to just be yourself and make music, people like to start making things up.” They have all worked hard for what they have accomplished being labeled as ‘rock’n’roll savors’, this does not come from money and having famous fathers. This comes from being a hard working band who love music. Their parents had nothing to do with their success. It's something they earned on their own.

Maus(Decision Essay)

“10 decisions shape your life”, this is the start of one of my favorite songs, I'll Try Anything Once by The Strokes. This song is about the things you do and the decisions that you make in your life that help you grow up. In our lifetime we are face with many challenges, there are times when we have to make important and difficult decisions and sometimes we just don't know what to do. I asked some people in my family what would they do if they where put in a situation where they had to bring their family to get killed or be killed. Many couldn't answer right away and others who answered later said that they wanted to change their answer because they actually don't know.

For many people it's easy to say “oh I would do this or that” but no one really knows what they would do until they are in that position. In Maus, Abraham has to make a very difficult decision. He had to chose between bringing his family over to be killed or die. He eventually decide to send the letter that would convince the family to go with the smugglers. I did not agree with his decision. I understand why he decided that way was because during that time the important thing was to survive and nothing else mattered but your own life.

If I were in his shoes. I really don't know what I would have done or what decision I would have made. But after giving it much thought I came to the conclusion that I would have not sent the letter. Even if the goal at the time would have been to survive. I would have rather have them kill me than have to bring my family over to be killed. The Gestapo told Abraham to write the letter and he would not be killed. But how was he able to trust that they would not kill him later on. I would've not trusted them how was I going to believe people who have been killing many out in the streets with no remorse. How was I going to know that they weren’t just lying to me.

My decision to be killed than have my family killed is not an easy one. If were to write the letter and later find out that my family was killed because I led them to believe everything was okay when it really wasn’t, I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. It would be something that would haunt me for the rest of my life. Yes I would be a live but it will always be in the back of my head the fact that I had to bring my family to death in order to stay a live. To me this is a selfish thing to do and I don't think I would be able to do it.

Decisions are difficult to make. Of course we can say what we would do because it's the right thing to do and we feel like it's the right thing to say. But when you give it enough thought is it really what you would decide. Decision making always brings me back to something my dad would always tell me when I wanted to do something my friends were doing. He would say “you want to go just because your friends are going, so if your friends jumped off a bridge would you want to do that too?” Making any type of decision is a difficult thing. And I believe that no one really knows what they will do until they are put in that situation that Abraham was in.

Bad Boys...What You Gonna Do?

    Unforgettable lyrics and a catchy tune are the perfect combination for one of the most memorable songs out there. Many TV shows and movies help these songs gain popularity. Many songs aren't even heard of until they are hear on a hit television show.  Like the song "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion for the movie Titanic. This Song will always be remembered as the Titanic song because it was the first time it was introduced to many people.

    “Bad boys Bad boys...” when many people hear this including me, the first thing that comes to mind is of course the show COPS. The song Bad Boys by Inner Circle was first released in 1993. This song was not intentionally made for the show but once the the show aired it was if the song was especially made for it. The song was selected as the theme song because a producer of the show was a fan of Inner Circle.

   The lyrics are what makes this song even more memorable. Almost every 3 out of 5 people will tell you they know this song. The lyrics are so catchy easy to understand and remember.  The song includes the name of "Sheriff John Brown" which is a reference to Bob Marley's song "I Shot The Sheriff".  When this song is heard automatically COPS comes to mind which great for both the show and the song.  The song became more known for being theme song and the show was known because of the catchy tune that played in the beginning.

   This song is also know from the movie Bad Boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.  This helped the song get even more popular.  The Inner Circle were indeed a one-hit wonder but yet they are still making lots of many for their hit song.  Because it has been featured in many shows and movies.  But they're are even more grateful that this song is still being remembered after more than 20 years.
  No matter how much time passes by this song will always be remembered.  And the lyrics will always stay in our minds.  No matter how old people will always remember this song as the theme song for the hit show COPS.  You can say that our minds have been programmed to link these two together.  This song will go down in history and will be one of the most memorable songs in the US.

   

One-Hit Wonders

  Now-a-days many new ad upcoming artists fear of becoming a one-hit wonder. One-hit wonders are artists known for only one hit single. When becoming one of these the artists fame rises but then slowly fades away, some to never be heard of again. Yet they leave us with one hit song to always remember. For many artists, being a one-hit wonder can have its pros and cons. It doesn't always have to be a bad thing. It becomes something that the artist is proud of.

  So many on-hit artists are the result of novelty songs during fads, like Rick Dees, “Disco Duck” during the disco craze in the 1970s. For many having a one-hit is a really good thing and something they will always be proud of. One-hit wonders are popular for only a brief period of time and their fame slowly fades away. But yet they leave the world with a song to always remember. For example, Los Del Rio, with their 1996 it song "Macarena" . This song was a hit during a short period of time but it still lives on.  And there is not one person that hasn't heard it.  This song sparked a dance craze that swept the nation.  The song was heard all over the world making the duo very popular. But there is always a downfall to being a one-hit wonder. As this duo discovered later in 2008 when they released and album, Quinceanera Macarena in hopes of reigniting the Macarena fire, but the public was not interested. 

   The downfall is what artists are afraid of.  Being a one hit wonder can have it perks at the time but later on it can come back to haunt them.  Many artist do not want to became a one-hit wonder simply because they will always be remembered as one.  An example is Vanilla Ice with his hit "Ice Ice Baby" .  At the time this song was a major hit and Vanilla Ice made millions. But after when he tried making other music, he failed.  Because no matter what he did people still thought of him as the ice ice baby guy.  This is what artist are scared of, having one-hit and having an unsuccessful career which leads to a failed comeback.

  Whether its a good thing or a bad thing. One-hit wonders are always remembered. They are also often features in many movie and show soundtracks.  The songs are remembered for their catchy tunes and unforgettable lyrics like Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" .  This song  was made in 1992 but it is still heard al over the world. In Shows, parties and movies. In an interview RSF said that they are proud of their song and are very happy that people still sing a long to it.  They don't think that being a one-hit wonder is a bad thing they believe its something that helped them go down in music history.

The End Has No End

    One of my most anticipated releases of the past few years finally hit stores March 22, 2011, The Strokes 4th album, Angles. In 2001, the band signed with Rough Trade Records in the UK and released their first album Is This It. In 2006 there 3rd album First impressions on earth released and for four years the band took a break and when they announced they were working on a new album and was set to release in early 2011.  Fans became very anxious and couldn’t wait for the new album from one of the bands that is said to have started a new era of "retro-rock". No questions asked this album was definitely one of the most anticipated albums of the year. And yet again The Strokes prove that they are one of the best bands to ever form and remain original.

     In 2001, The Strokes have been making hit after hit and their albums have been very successful. Since then, the band has maintained a large fan base.  They remain original and are different from many mainstream bands. Strokes are one of the few bands that don’t care about media and publicity. Singer Julian Casblancas said in an interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette's that they don't care about what the media has to say about them, they just want to make music their fans can enjoy, which shows that they are dedicated musicians.  Fast forward to 2011 and the guys remain the same except more mature. In Angles the band experiments with many different sounds and styles but they stuck to their roots and are still being themselves. The album leaves you with a feeling of satisfaction. Unlike a lot of groups who go years without recording and feel the pressure to make a masterpiece album for their “comeback” The Strokes wanted to give their fans what they're used to by keeping it simple and not try to change things.

     In early 2009 members of the band were interviewed and they said there was a 4th album in the works, but it kept being postponed. So fans came to believe that there was not going to be a fourth album at all. Then, on February 9, 2011 the first single "Under Cover of Darkness," was released. This was the first taste of what was to come, and fans were pleased because it had the same style as any Strokes song that they have loved over the years. It was said the in the new album the song-writing was going to be a collaboration with all the members of the band and not just the lead singer. Fans were excited to see what the other band members had to contribute. March 22 arrived and many fans got their copy of Angles. Their album topped number 3 in the UK albums chart selling 90,000 copies in a week. Proving to their fans that they still have the magic and they're back. The Strokes have been named one of the most prominent indie bands to emerge in the 21st century and they will forever be loved by many.

And The Grammy Goes To...

  Remember in elementary school when wining an award was one of the best things that could happen to you? Whether it was perfect attendance or improvement awards, it always felt good when they called your name to the stage. Now imagine that feeling multiplied by one hundred accepting an award in front of millions of people instead of just your school. That's how artist feel when they win a Grammy. A Grammy is an award used to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. These awards are annual and the more important categories are presented in a widely viewed televised ceremony. The Grammy Awards are the most anticipated shows in a musicians career. But yet they are the most unfair and confusing awards ever which don't really mean anything.

  In the past year I've noticed that when it comes to these award shows all that the media cares about is what the artists wear on the red carpet. They don't really focus on the music which this ceremony is “supposedly” based on. When on the red carpet the musicians are mostly asked about their outfit and what designer they're wearing. Unlike other award shows where the winners are voted by the fans the nomination process is very difficult and long. Record companies may submit recordings to be nominated the records are then reviewed and copied and sent to the NARAS(National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). In order for one to win, the record only needs a few dozen votes. Which is unfair because not many people have a say in who made the best record and deserves to win. Certain artists have voiced personal issues with the Grammys. In 1996, when receiving an award, singer Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam commented “I don't know what this means. I don't think it means anything.” Also Maynard James Kennan of the band Tool did not attend the Grammy ceremony to receive on of their awards and he explain his reasons by saying “I think the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry. They cater to a low intellect and they feed the masses. They don't honor the arts or the artist for what he created. It's the music business celebrating itself. That's basically what it's all about.” Even the artists believe that these awards are not focused on this art which is music. On the other hand these awards are very important for many artists and are very anticipated because they can help define their careers.

  Winning a Grammy can be a very important thing for a musician because it means their music was voted best out of a lot of other artists. Some artist have won up to five awards or more. There is many categories they could win and the most important are Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, and Record of the Year. To win one of these can be a very valuable thing because it means the artist was outstanding compared to the others. Winning can also get the musician more publicity because now everyone is going to want to a listen to an award winner's music. Interviews and press conferences are going to be offered to the artist to discuss the award and how it felt to win. But yet once asked about the feeling of winning the question “Who are you wearing?” always comes up. And the music which is the main topic is now forgotten.