So I was watching this new show Jamie Oliver's Food Nation and they has this part where they sort of did a live dance/cooking performance on a college campus. They used this song and I thought it was pretty good. At 1st I thought it was Sean Paul, and I don't like Sean Paul, but this song was good.
So I go to look it up and find out it is by a group called The DNC and the song is called Jungle Flames. I look them up some more and they have 1 album out. I listened to their songs and they are all pretty good. They make the kind of music that is super popular right now, which makes me wonder why they are not supper popular? Apparently they have had songs featured in various tv shows and movies, yet I haven't heard them in the actual music scene until now. Anyway, check it out:
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Youtube, Stop Changing!
Why is it that Youtube feels the need to keep changing everything up once we finally learn how to use it? I liked Youtube's format way back in the day and every update seems to make it worse.
Why is it that every feature you want to use seems to be hidden behind a button? It's like you have to jump though hoops to get to features that should be right there.
Information that used to be in the sidebar is now hidden underneath the video. So this means all the millions of video that were posted before this change which referenced content in the side bar are now obsolete.
And by the way, what happened to time stamps on comments? Now you can't tell if a comment was posted 2 minutes ago or 2 months ago.
Youtube, go back to basics. Stop changing everything to make it less user friendly.
UPDATE: 7-14-11
Youtube continues to mess things up and make the site less user friendly. Now they have decided to hide the most basic buttons that everyone needs including the play and stop button. What other necessary features can you hide from us Youtube? Why not hide the actual video so we have to click on something just to display the video?
Why is it that every feature you want to use seems to be hidden behind a button? It's like you have to jump though hoops to get to features that should be right there.
Information that used to be in the sidebar is now hidden underneath the video. So this means all the millions of video that were posted before this change which referenced content in the side bar are now obsolete.
And by the way, what happened to time stamps on comments? Now you can't tell if a comment was posted 2 minutes ago or 2 months ago.
Youtube, go back to basics. Stop changing everything to make it less user friendly.
UPDATE: 7-14-11
Youtube continues to mess things up and make the site less user friendly. Now they have decided to hide the most basic buttons that everyone needs including the play and stop button. What other necessary features can you hide from us Youtube? Why not hide the actual video so we have to click on something just to display the video?
Monday, March 1, 2010
Taxes, Returns and Deductions - Income Tax Reform Needed
So I just filed my 2009 income taxes. I did it myself online with one of the free services through the IRS. Overall it went pretty smooth but I didn't get back as much as I would have liked. I ended up owing the state a little which is annoying.
One of my main points to address in this article is how I think the tax system really needs to be changed. I understand income tax. But what I don't like is all these hundreds of tax deductions. It makes the system very complicated and leaves a lot of room for error. I don't understand why they have tax deductions in the 1st place.
There needs to be a better way to keep track of people's income and the taxes that are deducted from it. I don't see why they are leaving it up to individuals to report it. That is not good enough. I think it should be deducted and reported by the employer. But what about people that make their own money and have their own business? I guess they have to report their own.
Going through the filing process I just think there are way to many options and steps to consider when filing your taxes. It needs to be much more streamlined and accurate. It should just be, how much did you make and how much do you owe, simple as that. Maybe I don't know enough about the topic of taxes, but those are just some of my thoughts.
One of my main points to address in this article is how I think the tax system really needs to be changed. I understand income tax. But what I don't like is all these hundreds of tax deductions. It makes the system very complicated and leaves a lot of room for error. I don't understand why they have tax deductions in the 1st place.
There needs to be a better way to keep track of people's income and the taxes that are deducted from it. I don't see why they are leaving it up to individuals to report it. That is not good enough. I think it should be deducted and reported by the employer. But what about people that make their own money and have their own business? I guess they have to report their own.
Going through the filing process I just think there are way to many options and steps to consider when filing your taxes. It needs to be much more streamlined and accurate. It should just be, how much did you make and how much do you owe, simple as that. Maybe I don't know enough about the topic of taxes, but those are just some of my thoughts.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Reggae Style Music Recommendations
In this post I will recommend some songs that are not necessarily reggae style, but they all come from bands who have a little bit of reggae influence. And yes I meant to spell style with 2 e's in the title.
The 1st song is Fred Astaire by Lucky Boys Confusion. LBC is a band from Chicago that had moderate success but never really made it big. It's a shame because they really deserved it. They have tons of great songs and are probably one of y favorite bands. Today they still play shows occasionally, but each of the members is kind of doing their own thing with side projects. Check out this live performance of one of their hit songs:
Next up is a legendary band, another one of my all time favorites, Sublime. These guys were huge in the mid 90's and what is ironic is that most of their success came after the death of their lead singer. Brad Nowell died of a drug overdose before they released their self titled album which went on to sell millions. Here is a song I like from that album called April 29th 1992:
Last recommendation is a song called One Day by Matisyahu. It's hard to classify which genre it falls into, but it's just good. Good music and a good message. It's nice to see someone doing their own thing in the music business these days. We need more music like this. Have a listen:
The 1st song is Fred Astaire by Lucky Boys Confusion. LBC is a band from Chicago that had moderate success but never really made it big. It's a shame because they really deserved it. They have tons of great songs and are probably one of y favorite bands. Today they still play shows occasionally, but each of the members is kind of doing their own thing with side projects. Check out this live performance of one of their hit songs:
Next up is a legendary band, another one of my all time favorites, Sublime. These guys were huge in the mid 90's and what is ironic is that most of their success came after the death of their lead singer. Brad Nowell died of a drug overdose before they released their self titled album which went on to sell millions. Here is a song I like from that album called April 29th 1992:
Last recommendation is a song called One Day by Matisyahu. It's hard to classify which genre it falls into, but it's just good. Good music and a good message. It's nice to see someone doing their own thing in the music business these days. We need more music like this. Have a listen:
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Youth Today - Teen Behavior Today vs Years Ago
Have the youth changed over the past 10 years? I work at a high school and I am troubled by the student population I see everyday. Keep in mind, the school I work at is recognized as being one of the top schools in the state. You would think being one of the top schools means you have the top students. From my experience this is not the case.
As I walk through the halls, I see students with their pants sagging down below their butt, piercings through various part of there face, and hats turned sideways. These kinds of things are not encouraged, but there is not much enforcement of the dress code rules. Another thing that bothers me is the language these kids use. It's pretty much impossible to get through the halls without hearing several bad words coming out of the student's mouths.
It's also quite common to see a couple students making out in the hallway or outside the school. This is one that really bothers me. I and I'm sure other student's don't want to see people making out as we walk to our next class. Again, it's not allowed, yet the students do it anyway.
Another thing that makes me question the intelligence of these students is when they come to school dressed completely inappropriate for the weather. It will be negative 10 degrees outside and there will be tons of kids coming to school without coats. You might even see some kids going outside in just t-shirts. Then there are the kids who come out to the bus in this weather carrying their coat. I really don't understand the logic in that. Why not put your coat on? What is it for?
Now not all students I encounter are bad. There are lots of good students too, but overall I guess I'm just wondering if kids have always been like this or if it is just a change in the times. I was in high school not all that long ago and I don't think the kids were like this.
One thing that makes me wonder is this. I hear kids listening to mainstream rap, stuff that is not very good, and would be considered a bad influence. I look down upon this, but then I remember when I was their age or even older, I was listening to the same kind of music. Same thing goes for the baggy pants. I don't like when I see the kids wearing really baggy pants, but when I remember back, I had really baggy pants when I was their age.
Given these comparisons, I turned out alright. So then I wonder, should these kids be judged on these characteristics? Maybe I'm being to hard on them with my impressions. I mean, when you are in high school, you are just trying to fit in and survive basically. These kids are still young and they have a long way to go. So even though many of the things mentioned above bother me, maybe I need to be a little more understanding and less critical.
As I walk through the halls, I see students with their pants sagging down below their butt, piercings through various part of there face, and hats turned sideways. These kinds of things are not encouraged, but there is not much enforcement of the dress code rules. Another thing that bothers me is the language these kids use. It's pretty much impossible to get through the halls without hearing several bad words coming out of the student's mouths.
It's also quite common to see a couple students making out in the hallway or outside the school. This is one that really bothers me. I and I'm sure other student's don't want to see people making out as we walk to our next class. Again, it's not allowed, yet the students do it anyway.
Another thing that makes me question the intelligence of these students is when they come to school dressed completely inappropriate for the weather. It will be negative 10 degrees outside and there will be tons of kids coming to school without coats. You might even see some kids going outside in just t-shirts. Then there are the kids who come out to the bus in this weather carrying their coat. I really don't understand the logic in that. Why not put your coat on? What is it for?
Now not all students I encounter are bad. There are lots of good students too, but overall I guess I'm just wondering if kids have always been like this or if it is just a change in the times. I was in high school not all that long ago and I don't think the kids were like this.
One thing that makes me wonder is this. I hear kids listening to mainstream rap, stuff that is not very good, and would be considered a bad influence. I look down upon this, but then I remember when I was their age or even older, I was listening to the same kind of music. Same thing goes for the baggy pants. I don't like when I see the kids wearing really baggy pants, but when I remember back, I had really baggy pants when I was their age.
Given these comparisons, I turned out alright. So then I wonder, should these kids be judged on these characteristics? Maybe I'm being to hard on them with my impressions. I mean, when you are in high school, you are just trying to fit in and survive basically. These kids are still young and they have a long way to go. So even though many of the things mentioned above bother me, maybe I need to be a little more understanding and less critical.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Music Recommendations, 90's Dance Pop
I've been into music since around the mid 90's. Sometimes it's nice to go back and listen to the hits of that era that have been forgotten. Some of those songs would be hits today and the kids might never have heard them. One such band from this time is Fun Factory. They are a group that made pop/dance music and became very popular on Chicago's B96 radio. They had several catchy feel good hits so I thought I would share one here.
By the way, I recently learned that the lead singer in the videos and pictures was not actually singing at all! They pulled a Milli Vanilli on us. The songs were sung by some other girl apparently and she was just a face for the music. It's amazing the new things we learn about the past with the help of the internet. I looked it up to see what the band is up to these days and it looks like the original members have all since left but there is a new band taking the same name Fun Factory. You can't market yourself as Fun Factory if you are a completely new band! That's like if 4 guys today got together and said they were the Beatles. Your not the Beatles! Anyway, I'm getting off topic. This post was going to have a couple other music recommendations, but I'll throw in another FF video and save the other songs for the next post. Enjoy. By the way, I know these are super cheesy by today's standards, but I don't care, I still like them.
By the way, I recently learned that the lead singer in the videos and pictures was not actually singing at all! They pulled a Milli Vanilli on us. The songs were sung by some other girl apparently and she was just a face for the music. It's amazing the new things we learn about the past with the help of the internet. I looked it up to see what the band is up to these days and it looks like the original members have all since left but there is a new band taking the same name Fun Factory. You can't market yourself as Fun Factory if you are a completely new band! That's like if 4 guys today got together and said they were the Beatles. Your not the Beatles! Anyway, I'm getting off topic. This post was going to have a couple other music recommendations, but I'll throw in another FF video and save the other songs for the next post. Enjoy. By the way, I know these are super cheesy by today's standards, but I don't care, I still like them.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Concerts Are Too Loud
Somewhere along the line people running shows decided that louder is better. You know what? It's not. When the music is so loud, you can't even hear it because it just sounds like noise. I think there needs to be some better regulation on sound levels at concerts. It's a known fact that extended exposure to loud noise causes hearing loss. People should be able to go see their favorite bands play without having to worry about their hearing being damaged.
I for one would like to see a lot of my favorite artists play live, but the fact that I know it will be way too loud at the show is a big deterring factor. So this message goes out to all artists, concert venues and particularly the people in charge of the volume levels at concerts. Turn down the volume! We are not deaf, and we don't want to become deaf! Thank you.
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