On My Right to Read and Singers

Recently, I've been reading some non-fiction, mainly philosophy or political (which are one in the same, really). For my birthday/Christmas (they've close so the gifts received are simultaneous) I attained a copy of the six hundred page monster that is Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf . I'm kind of on a Hitler thing at the moment (before that it was Che Guevara) and I've read many books about his life, views and promiscuity. Now that I read Mein Kampf, which is semi-autobiographical, I can see where he's stretched the truth to achieve his means. On that note I will say that Hitler was quite an awesome man. He's certainly no one anybody should emulate, but his power to gain popularity through a book? His legendary oration? These are all the skills of a super hero. Here old Ben Parker comes into play for, "With great power, comes great responsibility." Hitler did not shy away from his responsibility, he just thought of himself as a bit too great. I believe that he did what most would do, he attained riches and power through a certain lifestyle and he tried to impress that lifestyle on others. But his eyes were clouded by hate and vengeance, so he ultimately failed.

I'll save my full thoughts on Hitler for a later date, my point of this post was to rant about my outrage at my lack of freedom of readership. People give me weird looks when I read this, even my history teacher is questionable? I'll admit that a white-boy with a soon to be shaved head (world's greatest shave) in a community of mixed ethnicity may look a bit sus, people should realize that I'm merely trying to gain his perspective, and I'd be a fool to enact his desires. If I hated other races I'd lose 95% of my friends, and how many good songs have been written by or about on white people? Like, every single one: Brown Eyed Girl (originally Brown Skinned Girl) Vanilla Ice Cream. You cannot beat these songs. I digress yet again. I should be able to read whatever the hell I want without receiving weird looks. Okay, maybe The Story of Ois pushing it, but nobody knows what that is.

My second point of posting is to state my thoughts on music. I like all music, and I'm forever trying to broaden my tastes. I currently struggling with the heaviest of metal, but I'll persevere. Anyhow, a few months ago, I was listening to Rihanna, I had two of her songs thanks to some compilation CDs, and I was thinking that her music was pretty space (that's the new word for "cool", kiddies). However, a quick wiki search of her revealed that she doesn't write her own songs. I was shocked by this. I'd never given it much thought until recently when I realized that one just goes into the studio and sings what's on the paper. The artist doesn't have the connection to the song that they would if they'd written it, that magical bond is shattered, so the singer just becomes a sort of whore.

Music: Downloading, playing and listening

I like music in most, if not all, of it's forms. I do prefer "oldies" as that was the music I was weaned on. As of October 2008, I've found myself listening to more and more modern pop music, though I've always enjoyed a few songs. I've got a relatively small CD collection, but if I see something for cheap enough I'll invest in it. Currently being in want of an Mp3 player, I'm finding my only outlet to hearing new music is through either youtube or music television, the latter of which I watched sporadically this morning.

In recent musical news, British pop star Lily Allen is set to release a new album. I like miss Allen's work, it has a nice rhythm as well as being fairly funny at times, plus she's the best ecstasy dealer turn singer on the market today. The best female, that is. The Kings of Leon are coming down for a tour in early March next year. All of my friends are excited, though I'm at odds to care. Firstly, tickets are ninety dollars, which is relatively cheap but still out of my price range. I'm not too big a fan of the Kings, I've heard some of their songs, I didn't like Charmer but I enjoy Sex on Fire.

When in comes to downloading music, I rarely do it. I only download out of necessity, such as hearing a song in a movie and it not being on a soundtrack, or specifically, that soundtrack not being released here (Drawn Together). If I do download a song, I'll usually end up falling for the band and buying their albums if fiscals approve.

To really simplify my tastes, I like acoustic songs, covers that take a song in a new direction and parodies. As for youtube musicians, I recommend David Choi and James At War.