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| Photo by Studio 7042 |
And now the weather:
Too Good at Goodbyes by Sam Smith
~ Stacy N.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
12/4/19
I know I'm not the only one (a 2018 thought)
And now the weather:
Too Good at Goodbyes by Sam Smith
1/24/17
#Hamilton
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| By Pete Souza - Behind the Lens: 2015 Year in Photographs By Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer, Public Domain, |
It started when I was procrastinating for my spring 2016 finals when I finally decided to listen to the Hamilton cast album and see what it was all about. That then turned into a downward spiral full of expensive button sets (the shipping was more expensive than the buttons themselves), Ham4Ham videos, Hamilton cast member interviews, any other youtube related Hamilton videos, getting the physical CD version of the musical and listening to it twenty million times in my car, pining over Hamilton clothing and the book that I don’t have the money for, reading the biography that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write the musical, and more. Honestly, it’s my second favorite fandom, right behind The Hunger games. And if I had the money I would have gone to see the musical by now (and paid off my tuition while I’m at it.)
But anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about why I love it so much and it's predominately because of these four reasons.
It has a diverse cast
One thing that you don’t often see in Broadway or popular stories in general. There’s mainly Latinos and blacks, with a scattering of white people, and not really any Asians (which isn’t surprising because Asian parents want their kids in the science/engineering, medical, business, and lawyer fields, nothing creative.) And I remember hearing somewhere (Lin?) that the reason for the diverse cast is to show that history, especially the history concerning the founding fathers, doesn’t just belong to white people. It also belongs to us, marginalized people. Literally, America was founded on black slavery and the genocide of indigenous Americans*. So, it’s nice to see marginalized people in positions of power instead of the other way around. And it’s nice to see how it relates to now, how freedom is still being fought for every single day by marginalized people. Especially blacks because the United States specializes in anti-black racism that’s very systematic. So, it’s important for this musical to show that yes, black people and people of color are just as equal as whites.
*As well as the Chinese labor on the railroads and in general the exploitation of people of color.
The fashion
Instead of stiff white wigs, white powder, and the hot multi-layered clothing, there’s beanies and some traditional colonial clothing but with a modern twist that would have been scandalous back then (Ahh! People in their underclothing! *Faints*). And it’s better that way because it connects the audience to the history of the founding fathers better. Especially to all the teens that are being bought to see the play for pretty cheap. And again, it’s also showing that that kind of history isn’t just white history but our history, a history belonging to everyone.
Burr is the narrator
Typically, the “villain in your history” doesn’t narrate the protagonist’s life story. However, Burr does, and Leslie Odom Jr. does it in a way that’s very Tony worthy. It’s funny because Burr and Hamilton are frenemies, friends at one point, and enemies at another. And Burr isn’t really a villain until later on when he kills Hamilton (though I’m sure some historians disagree). Plus, all villains see themselves as the protagonist of their own story (no one really sees themselves as a bad guy). Plus, there are times when Burr is humanized. The most famous being when he sings “Dear Theodosia”, you see him as a proud father at that moment. And upon one of my internet stumbles, I found a Hamilton workshop song, the “Dear Theodosia” reprise. And it’s heartbreaking because Burr’s voice cracks when singing because his wife just died. Another time when Burr’s voice cracks is when he sings “I don’t want him to make an orphan of my daughter” in the duel song between him and Hamilton. Even though, if I remember right, Theodosia was already married and was in her twenties when the duel happened. In other words, Burr being a father who really cares about his family humanizes him. Another thing, it’s better that Burr is the narrator because of his cautious side that makes you curious as to what’s going on (as seen in “The Room Where it Happens”). If the narrator was Hamilton he’ll overspill his life story which would be a bit overwhelming.
The music
It’s the main reason why I love the whole musical. Since the tickets are probably my whole college tuition for one semester, the only way I can really experience the musical itself is through the sound recording and a few clips of the musical. And the songs are pretty unique. The musical may not be the first rap musical in history (if I remember right, the first rap musical was released in the 90's but it wasn't as well known), but it may be the first historical rap musical. But the musical is not all rap, it does have a bit of 80’s, R&B, etc. If it was all rap, it would be interesting but a bit boring. And that’s what a story needs, a variety of elements like metaphors, irony, imagery, etc. If it doesn’t have variety, it’s not going to do well. And that’s why Hamilton does so well (along with a lot of celebrity endorsements), it has a variety of songs that appeals to a wide audience like the Obamas, Beyoncé, teenagers in AP U.S. History class, etc.
Note: This was one of the posts that I've written for my reading and watching journal that I had to do for one of my classes last semester. And I already know that Leslie Odom Jr. isn't Aaron Burr anymore.
Note: This was one of the posts that I've written for my reading and watching journal that I had to do for one of my classes last semester. And I already know that Leslie Odom Jr. isn't Aaron Burr anymore.
And now the weather:
~ Stacy N.
2/18/15
Do you hear that?
If you came into my room and saw me writing, you would hear either one of two things: silence or music. Oftentimes it will be silent. The only sound will be the clickety-clacking of my keyboard. However, there are plenty of times when music is in the air. When it’s hanging out in the background, spurring me to write and write and write.
That music can come from Pandora, ranging from pop to rock to instrumental. Or it can come from the instrumental playlists on 8tracks. Or it can come from my phone, where the music is either too poppy, too rocky, too alternative, or too something. Hell, it could be all the music found on my tumblr.
In the end, the music is inspirational, exciting, sad, happy, or so full of messages about love. And all of that inspired me to start making playlists for my own characters and stories.
List of all the songs mentioned in this post
The first playlist that I've ever created was for Eliza Vuong, a character from my Camp Nanowrimo 2013 story, Everybody Talks (but me). She's a young girl who has her own web diary, for those who are willing to listen.
Nanowrimo 2013, The Shadow & her Lover, is a book about Peter and Eliza falling in love. This playlist describes their relationship from beginning to end.
This playlist describes parts of Rain and Beth's relationship. They're from my novel, Immortality Doesn't Exist.
This blog post was part of the Teens Can Write Too Blog Chain. Where the prompt for February is:
If you're curious about the blog chain and want to find out more information go here: https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/blog-chain/
And don't forget to go check out the other lovely bloggers participating in the blog chain:
Read More
That music can come from Pandora, ranging from pop to rock to instrumental. Or it can come from the instrumental playlists on 8tracks. Or it can come from my phone, where the music is either too poppy, too rocky, too alternative, or too something. Hell, it could be all the music found on my tumblr.
In the end, the music is inspirational, exciting, sad, happy, or so full of messages about love. And all of that inspired me to start making playlists for my own characters and stories.
The first playlist that I've ever created was for Eliza Vuong, a character from my Camp Nanowrimo 2013 story, Everybody Talks (but me). She's a young girl who has her own web diary, for those who are willing to listen.
Songs:
Nanowrimo 2013, The Shadow & her Lover, is a book about Peter and Eliza falling in love. This playlist describes their relationship from beginning to end.
Songs:
This playlist describes parts of Rain and Beth's relationship. They're from my novel, Immortality Doesn't Exist.
Songs:
The last playlist that I've created was for my Nanowrimo 2014 book of aus, You Again. I was trying to capture the feelings between the three couples, Rain and Eliza, Lana and Parker, and Eliza and Peter.
Missing from this playlist: Coffee Shop (demo) by Chad Sugg because it is nowhere to be found on youtube. However it could be found on spotify.
Songs:
How does music relate to your writing?This was a surprisingly fun prompt to write about. Because I like music and I like relating that to my writing.
If you're curious about the blog chain and want to find out more information go here: https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/blog-chain/
28) https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/
[They’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.]
[They’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.]
~ Stacy N.
12/31/14
Goodbye 2014
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| Text reads: goodbye 2014 picture source by So-ghislain |
2014 seems like forever ago. But now it’s the very last day of the year
and I’m surprised to feel this kind of sadness in my heart. Despite all the
turmoil that’s been going on in my life as well as around the world, I kind of
liked it. I was happy. But that seems kind of incomparable to all the sadness,
stress, worry, tiredness, procrastination, anger, and bad mistakes that I made
this year. But like any human being, I learned from them, to a certain extent.
I learned to never date guys who aren’t feminists. I learned that it is
definitely better to keep the mean stuff to yourself instead of saying it to
another person (because that can cause a lot of trouble). I learned that
putting on makeup is a very hard thing to do, except for lipstick. I learned that
I like ballroom dancing and analyzing what I’m reading and the book Crime and
Punishment. I learned that I still like writing romantic stuff. I learned that
saying thank you can go a long way. I learned that I really like skiing. I also
learned that selfies are quite fun. I also learned that it’s sometimes better
to go with the flow, to avoid conflict. I also learned to like myself a bit
more. And despite everything, I shouldn’t be too hard on myself because I’m
growing up and still learning about everything around me. (Yet, that will
probably not stop me from being too hard on myself). There are of course other
things that I learned, but I’m not willing to indulge in those.
2014 has also been a year of wants. Wanting to change my look. Wanting to
cuddle with someone. Wanting justice to be served. Wanting to stop being sad.
Wanting to be empty. Wanting something, anything.
And in general 2014 has just been a bad year, a progressive year, a year
full of new music, a year about learning more about myself, and a kind of good
year.
And despite a few bad bumps along the way, this year was worth it.
Though, I don’t think I did well on my New Year’s Resolutions for this year.
But from looking at the list, I think I did pretty okay.
- For three or four times a week, write for at least 15 minutes.
- Save money.
- Find a job.
- Volunteer.
- Turn in at least one scholarship application.
- Study for the ACTs.
Read at least twenty-four books this year.Work harder in schoolGet my driver’s license.- Once a week, write a random sentence in French.
- Write a blog post on my little talks, at least once per month.
- For once a week, do something nice for someone else. Even if it is pretty small.
- Take better care of myself.
- Help out around the house more often.
Note: bold means that I kind of did it. And strikethrough
means that I actually did it.
And now the weather:
And now the weather:
Style by Taylor Swift (Slightly
nsfw-ish because it's the one from the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show)
- Stacy N.
11/17/11
♫ La musique quotes ♪
Music is a total constant. That's why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in your or the world, that one song says the same, just like that moment.
~ Sarah Dessen, Just Listen
