INVALIDATNG THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC

Ever since the death of Whitney Houston, millions of people across the world have mourned the loss of an amazing musical talent. For many, this is a person who created music that touched their lives. One of the most frustrating things is seeing people who are attempting to invalidate the sadness of her fans with statements about the conditions of the world.

I’ve seen quite a few posts on social networks slamming the fact that millions of people around the world are crying for a dead celebrity, but that no one is crying for the millions suffering. Others have slammed the concept of calling Houston a hero while service men and women are deployed fighting for the freedoms of America. These are arguments that are totally irrelevant.

I do agree that more people need to care and be aware of the troubles of the world. More compassion for those who are starving, dying, or suffering at the hands of their government would make the world a better place. More respect for service members of the military would yield only positive results. But suggesting that people should not mourn the loss of someone who touched their lives because there are “more tragic things in the world” is absolutely absurd. I saw someone state that it is just a suggestion to put things into perspective. But if our whole lives are spent putting things into perspective, then we will never have the right to feel emotions for anything. If I have to spend every day feeling sad because a child starved to death, a mother was beaten, a woman was raped, or a solider was killed, I will never be able to enjoy the happiness of my life. Furthermore, I would never be able to feel sad over the things that happen to me.

SEASONS OF FUN

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

The seasons of sunshine and fun are quickly approaching. I feel it is necessary to go over my provisional itinerary of activities and festivities. You are all cordially invited to enjoy life with me.

First in business is to do some serious cliff jumping during the Spring months. I intend on making trips to Hermit Falls (Arcadia), Malibu Creek, and Tar Creek Falls. Tar Creek is said to be the best cliff jumping spot in SoCal and is located near Filmore, California. Obviously all of these water pools and falls involve a decent hike of at least a mile. So hiking + cliff jumping, it makes for an enjoyable & adventurous day.

Sometime during spring or summer, whenever it is comfortably hot, the adventure I’d like to embark on is a camping and river tubing session along the upper Kern River. Kern River is located in surprise!Kerville, California. For those who have no idea where that is, it is slightly further boontown than Bakersfield. There are also white water rafting tours available for those who wish to do something more daring. Personally, I’d like to chill out lazy river style.

During fall there is the long awaited, legendary Run for Your Lives zombie obstacle course. I will be registering for this sometime within the next 2-3 weeks. Run for Your Lives is a 5k obstacle course where runners try to evade zombies & and preserve their health. Health is represented by a flag belt given to the runners prior to the race – think flag football. The Los Angeles/San Diego edition of Run for Your Lives is happening on October 20th. Currently, registration for runners is $77. I have been told by officials that they expect registration to sell out prior to the registration deadline, September 28.

Those are all my fun-time ideas at the moment. I’m definitely taking note of the people who want to participate. So if you are interested, let me know so we can do the damn thing!

LADIES, V-DAY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

Yes, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. It’s a holiday that I despise and don’t celebrate, but I do find myself pondering the traditional Valentine’s Day etiquette. And yes, as Martha Stewart told Seth Meyers last week, I think ladies should pay for the date.

In this day & age, this holiday has become a day when women expect their men to buy jewelry, chocolates, a card, and plan a romantic date. When the man fails to do so, a wrath will ensue. The pressure of this holiday is put squarly on the shoulders of the man in the relationship, with women usually expecting nothing but gifts and romance. This is quite bothersome to me. Firstly, the fact that people look to a calendar to tell them when to celebrate their love is ridiculous to me. Secondly, the fact that this holiday has become “National ‘Men, Do Something Nice for Their Ladies’ Day” is even more ridiculous.

Women should take on the responsibility of Valentine’s Day. All year society expects men to get the check. Whether it’s a first date or an anniversary, the rule is that men should never let their date pay. So why is it that in addition to the daily expectations, we need a holiday to tell them they need to pay the bill? Hey guys, just a reminder! As women fight for equality in the work force, relationships and on the streets, why is it that so many women are so quick to assume the role of the damsel when it comes to dating rituals? How can we reasonably expect equal pay when we’re still forcing men to go broke for the sake of being in a relationship. It would be nice for women to take the reigns and show their men the romance of Cupid’s day more often. Perhaps it would be a nice change in gender roles to buy a gift, make reservations, & pay the bill.

I strongly believe that relationships should be an equal divide of power, respect and responsibility. This applies to everything including spending habits. Girlfriends and wives should be treating their men year round, not just on Valentine’s Day. And men should be doing the same for the ones they love. There is no reason why a man should see his bank account balance decrease just because he has a woman in his life. As mentioned before, it makes no sense to me that women can argue the cause of women’s rights, yet fall back on the traditions of women being taken care of by men.

As silly as V-day is, if you’re going to do it, do it right. Step outside the bounds of tradition. Truly make the day special by doing what your partner doesn’t expect to be done. The real surprise & the lack of predictability could quite possibly make this holiday salvagable.

PAUL MCCARTNEY, WALK OF FAMER

Yesterday, Sir Paul McCartney finally received his very own personal star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located outside of the historical Capitol Records building aside his fellow Beatles Ringo, John, and George. It has been said that McCartney did not receive his star until now because he was never available to participate in the ceremony.

Rumors swirled about appearances to be made by Ringo Starr, Stevie Wonder, and Eric Clapton. McCartney informed the crowd of fans that Ringo was ill and unable to attend the ceremony. No reference was made to Wonder or Clapton. But to everyone’s delight, fellow rock musician Neil Young did make an appearance and spoke many kind words of the legendary Beatle.

When he finally took the podium, McCartney spoke of listening to Buddy Holly and other rock & roll legends during his youth. He explained the idea of reaching so much success being an impossibility.

Tags: Hollywood, Paul McCartney

MACHINE GUN KELLY TAKES LA

The up and coming Cleveland based rapper Machine Gun Kelly performed last night at The Key Club in Hollywood. MGK recently signed to Bad Boy records and is currently touring and promoting his upcoming album which is due to release in March of this year. It was a high energy show that combined the the excitement and wiles of rock and rap. The diverse crowd brought in supporters of all backgrounds, including Lazy Bone of Bone Thugs N Harmony and Drew Carey. Most noteably, Diddy was spotted watching his new artist from the second level and later appeared onstage during the hit song “Wild Boy”. Machine Gun Kelly is surely on his way to becoming the next big thing in the world of hip hop. All of the MGK mixtapes are available for free download on the official website MGKLaceUp.com.

Photos by The King Lion

Edited by Pam Diddy

Tags: Diddy, Lace Up, Machine Gun Kelly, MGK

WHOVILLE VIDEO

#BayAreaBoyfriend

Last week, Rafael Casal released the video for the first song off of his LP. The video is quite a piece, creative & innovative and directed by Casal himself. In this video, Rafael took a journey from what seems like a wonderland train, to a wonderland pond, through a wonderland forest, and finally ends up in the place where it all makes sense. The visuals in this video are simply gorgeous. I’m definitely curious as to where the locations are, I’d love to visit someday. All around a great piece of film to accompany a great piece of music.

Tags: BayAreaBoyfriend, Get Back, Mean Ones, Rafael Casal, Whoville

CAPITALIST, RACIST, AND IGNORANT

My friend posted this image on his facebook yesterday. Much to my disgust and horror, some obviously racist and ignorant douchebag from Anaheim Hills decided to post his not-so-valid opinions.

Read the conversation, go ahead. I’ll wait.

Tags: Africa, racism, Robert Fruth, Santa Ana College, women

RAFAEL CASAL – MEAN ONES

The long awaited LP from Bay boy Rafael Casal is now out! The project formerly known as Whoville has been retitled, but still exceeds all expectations. This Bay Area native recently moved to LA and is documenting his rise to local domination on BayBoyInLA.

Spread the word, tell your friends, and #GetBack.

#BayAreaBoyfriend

Download The Mean Ones

Stream at BandCamp

Tags: Get Back, Mean Ones, Rafael Casal, Whoville

BURN THE SCHOOLS

College Scam infograph from AskMen.com

Over the past few years it has become increasingly obvious to me that higher education is a waste of time and money. The only problem is that I, like so many others my age, are so far down the hole it is nearly impossible to get out at this point. Last week marked the beginning of the Spring semester at Cal State Northridge and many other schools across the state. To the horror of many students, it was soon realized that enrolling in a full load of classes would be nearly impossible.

State budget cuts over the past few years have severely cut the amount of classes available for students at Cal State schools, as well as other school systems in California. This semester the problem was exasperated by the CSU system’s threat of fining schools who have exceeded their enrollment cap. What does that mean? The Cal State system sets enrollment targets for every campus and at this point in time, CSUN has gone over its target by 7%. This could result in up to a $7-8million fine for the school, in addition to the millions already lost in cuts.

CSUN’s solution to this problem was to freeze enrollement. A letter was sent out to department heads and professors on the first day of class that explicitly stated they were NOT to enroll any students in their classes, no matter the availability. If 5 seats were available in the class and 3 students wanted to enroll, they would be denied. This is the school’s attempt to drop enrollment numbers. Across the school, this means that students are unable to achieve the 12+ units that are required for so many things. Not being a full time student could put at risk the eligibility for health insurance as well as financial aid.

GO BACK BITCHES

and it’s the honest truth.