Another Current Event - Revelations

 Just so you know, this has near nothing to do with world news. The title revelations is related to two things. The awe inspiring, kick ass, and well put together Halo Machinima series: Red Vs Blue is starting a new season, Revelations.

The second thing is that I have come to realize that if you want to be good at something, one of the best, its best to get a good and early start. Me, I've decided that being in or creating an extreme metal band that sounds like my two favorite bands Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir is what I want to do. So what do I need to do?

 First I should figure out what instrument I want to play. I think vocals are the most powerful and clear instrument in a bands arsenal, so I'll put that on my list.
*Learn how to sing, both normal and the retching black metal sound.
 I've also been playing guitar for a while and I love playing it, listening to others play it, and I want to be throwing out riffs on stage. Another thing to add.
*Keep practicing the guitar!

 Now these things take time, as cool as it would be you won't become an Yngwie Malmsteen over night. Practice is essential. You may think as I used to that people just keep ranting about practicing over and over when you sound just fine with how much you practice right now, so you ignore those people. Here's the thing, we want to become one of the best. We want to go down in history as that person who made his crowds feel like they were having an orgasm due to the sheer epicness of our solos.

But why is practice good? For guitar players, it keeps our fingers loose, and so many more things that it would take too long to put down. Especially if you're just starting to play guitar, practice is the best thing you can do. If I had been practicing every day for my first year of guitar playing, right now I could be playing the solos to all my favorite songs off the top of my head. Right now, I've been taking maybe a month and a half to learn the song Honey and Sulpher. I'm at the few ending riffs and I probably won't get the solo down.

Motivation a problem? It is for me. Do something that involves whatever instrument you're playing, but don't actually play it yourself. Go see a concert of your favorite band. In two days on April 23rd, Cradle of Filth is playing in Bangalore, India on the Palace Grounds. India if far from the U.S., so not a big chance of me getting there. I could also read about on of Cradle of Filth's guitar players, and learn more about him, how he became a guitar player, bands he's been in etc.

Play for some people. Show them what awesome riffs, or vocals, or chords on a violin you can crank out. Getting used to performing in front of an audience is a big thing, especially for vocalists as they're probably the most listened to instrument.

So, stay motivated, practice, play for some people, go see a concert, read up on a musician, just stay with music! Listen to it, love it, play it.

Practice really will make you loads better. As soon as I get home I'm going to practice all day. Getting an instructor is really useful too. Have fun out there guys and girls, guitar and banjo players, flutes and violinists, pianists and drummers. See you in the musical hall of fame.

World War II Studies

Our class is just starting to study in depth World War 2. We started by putting together lists that show what we want to know and what we already know about the war. Personally I would be very interested to know how each of the world leaders rose to power, and how they were being presented by the media.

For example, our president Teddy Rosevelt was in a wheelchair suffering from a bone related disease in his legs so was often filmed sitting behind his desk, the wheelchair hidden. Hitler was portrayed by many if not all Allied powers media, and possibly due to the course of the war he will be known as the villain forever. He was also portrayed by his own media as a savior of the people, a messiah. I need to find out who the real Hitler was, not the mass murdering cynacil villain that many know him as. Would his reputation be different if he had won the war? Of course it would. But how?