Grey Album

The Grey Album Critique
Raymond Mendoza

In 2004 Dj DANGERDOOM shocked the rock world by remixing the renowned 1968 White Album by The Beatles with the 2003 Jay-Z Black Album, giving birth to The Grey Album. Personally, while I believe that DANGERDOOM did commit copyright infringement, I think that the Grey Album is a vibrant mix of hip hop and rock and roll. I’ve found that some of the best rock albums of all time have had a hip hop influences, and the same can be said about some of the best hip hop acts. Artists such as The Hives, The Gorillaz, Diddy (formerly known as P. Diddy, also formerly known as Puff Daddy), Akira the Don and OutKast are only a small portion of rock and hip hop cross-overs that I feel are breaking traditional musical barriers.
With Jay-Z’s “legendary” hip hop status, I think that this mix of his song “Encore” along with the Beatles’ songs “Glass Onion” and “Savoy Truffle” is an enjoyable mix with a nice beat. I’ve got no problem with a fusion of rock and hip hop; however I am against illegal sampling of music (i.e. Vanilla Ice stealing Under Pressure from Queen and David Bowie). I personally liked the song, and found nothing wrong with it…and I don’t even care for Jay-Z’s music very much. I guess one song can change a person’s opinion.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

So, today we learned about writing a press release. It seems very interesting to be in PR. it sounds fun, and it sounds like you make a ton of dough...dough meaning money. It does seem like a nice alternative to journalism...however, I think I'll stick to being a writer.

Anyway, I've got to write a sports story on the upcoming men & women's soccer season and then an overview of the music department for next semester as well. Looks like a ton of fun for myself with the next coming two weeks.

Then its all downhill from there, and I've got the summer.

Currently listening to;

The Damned- Machine Gun Etiquette
Mika Miko- Capricorinations
The Beta Band- Wonderful
Stevie Wonder- I believe when I fall in Love
The Rolling Stones- Time is on my Side
Motion City Sountrack- Resolution

This is a definition of my life

Ok, so its another Sunday. Nothing too strange or out of the ordinary for me. So here is yet another post, I think i'll put up my opinion on drinking on holidays.

Fear and Loathing: Two tequila slammers and a Holiday

Raymond Mendoza

Opinion

As another Cinco de Mayo passes, I can always count on three things to happen to me. For starters, I’ll get a vicious case of the spins after several drinks. Next, I’ll end up in some incriminating photos that will destroy any chances I once had of becoming the president of our great nation. And then finally I’ll wonder to myself, as I’m trying to stop my friend from throwing up in a nearby convertible, why does this party remind me of Easter?

The reason that the lines are blurred, pun intended, between the celebrations of holidays is because we do the same thing for every holiday. For every holiday that comes up, the only idea of how to celebrate it is to get completely drunk. Sure, we take a moment to toast our spiked eggnog to Jesus, thank the luck o’ the Irish and Saint Patrick as we down another Irish car bomb, and yell ‘Happy Kwanza!’ as we shoot a beer bong for…who ever the hell invented Kwanza. However, do we ever really care about the meaning of the holiday we’re celebrating? Does anyone know what Cinco de Mayo is about, and what happened on that day? Can anyone recite the history of Saint Patrick and his contribution to the world? And, really folks, can anyone tell me about Kwanza? I am drawing a blank on the meaning of that holiday.

The meaning of holidays are being lost and replaced with cheap catch phrases like ‘Cinco de Drinko’ courtesy of the radio station Kroq. As my generation turned 21, we all found ourselves ordering drinks at a bar in Fullerton instead of going to Grandma’s house for Christmas Eve. Drinking became the solution for not only a boring weekend, but a boring holiday that usually has nothing to do with the general population. At the bar I went to for Cinco de Mayo, I noticed that the majority of the people celebrating a Mexican holiday were Asians and Caucasian people, not Mexican people. I’m not offended or angry at this and I’m not saying that Cinco de Mayo is only for Mexicans, I’m just making a joke about an observation.

So, for the next holiday you spend in a bar, try to think about the meaning of the day and what it might mean to the world in terms of culture, religion and tradition…then you can take your jello shot off of that drunk girl’s stomach.

Happy Mothers Day

Well, its mothers day and I just wanted to post for all the mothers out there in the world.
Have a good one!


I'll write more later when I'm not tired.


-Ray

You're an idiot babe

Thursday morning by my count. Its a few minutes past midnight, and I'm not tired, so I decided to post. I wonder if I'm the only one keeping up with blogger for my journalism 102 class...or maybe I'm behind...I guess I'll never know unless I ask at the end of the semester.

I probably won't though, so wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhatever.

I'm not really affected by it...unless it really does reflect my grade. In which case I'm gonna write the shit out of this blog.

I think thats my new catch phrase: "I'm gonna (insert action here) the shit out of this (insert objective here)!"

For example:

Someone: Raymond, you need to read this book by tomorrow.
Me: I'm gonna read the shit out of that fucking book!

See, you can do it too...We're not ALL idiots.

However, "it's a wonder we can even feed ourselves."
-Bob Dylan

Well, so far for the newspaper, I'm gonna be writing an opinion piece on drinking just because its a holiday.
I'll post it later I suppose.


Well, since this blog is called inside my head; I'll put something on here from my train of thought.


"smiles in pictures...that have nothing to do with me

3 a.m. and tired

too busy for some books

oranges. simple.

not getting a note.

1300+ choices, and I am not interesting

2nd period English

how many cds?

moving the couches and cleaning the floors

you couldn't hear me; you were passed out

no more Sunday driving, damn

Oh, but people look well in the dark

we meet in the street, we catch eyes

just shy under 35 minutes long

lets go to Vegas

lets build a home

lets leave here


I can see it now. I can see that place so well. I can remember the couch. I can remember the talk. I can remember the cold. I can remember the smell...beautiful. I remember that speech so well...you had the whole human race pegged.


I leaned in on purpose."



more for later kids.



maybe someday



-Ray

I'm not there

This post is kinda early for me, its only 10 p.m.
This was my weekend, all timed down.

Friday:
10 am- 7 pm work
7:30-9:45 pm Jazz concert
9:55-10:20 pm pick up 2 friends (one drunk and at a restaurant) and drive to west covina
Saturday:
11pm-1:40 Iron Man
1:45-2:25 drop off friends
2:45-3 am shower
3:10-6 am sleep
6:01 wake up, get dressed, drive
7 am-5 pm work
5:20-8 refill gas tank, shower, get ready for show, study for a bit
8:30-11:50 watch the Visionaries at the Glasshouse in Pomona
Sunday:
12-1 shower, eat music
1:30-9:30 sleep
9:45- 10 shower
10- 11 eat, watch tv
11-5:30 finish 2 news stories, 1 psych report
5:30-8 GTA 4
8-10 music, movies, nothing else
10:13: Now.


I had a pretty full day. And my god, my mind was always thinking of something else at the time. I was thinking of something else.....somewhere else.

Guess who?


-Ray "The Idiot"