Radio

In eighth grade I had to a project that was to write to a congressperson about an issue so I wrote about Clear Channel’s consolidation of radio stations throughout the country and how this was ruining radio I felt. The stations had too many commercials, not enough variety, and played the same songs over and over. Well in the five years since nothing has happened and Clear Channel still is the radio juggernaut that it was then. What has changed are a couple of things. I stopped listening to the radio stations I listened to then so I no longer cared what Clear Channel did. Also when I did listen to the radio in my car I had a new option, The Current. The Current is an alternative station owned by Minnesota Public Radio. In other words there are no commercials, there is tons of variety, and rarely are songs played twice. While as great as this option has been I have found that it is not a million times better than regular radio like I thought it would be. There are problems that I didn’t think would exist with this station. I barely ever know songs that are played and it almost seems that the DJs play songs that are alternative, very alternative just for the sake of being alternative. So while I used to be as opposed to homogenized radio as one could be I have now come to the realization that it isn’t the end of the world and while the radio market could probably use a little more regulation than it currently has it isn’t the end of our country if things stay the same.

Artist Integrety

I don’t think illegal downloading is as a big of a problem as it is made out to be for the top selling artists. Mostly when people download they are downloading one song and not an entire album. This brings me to what I think is a big problem then with these artists. Their music is terrible. They have one catchy song but all the rest is just terrible and annoying to listen to. Soulja boy is a good example of this. He has Crank That for a big hit but all the rest of his songs sound exactly the same and are terribly annoying. This one is one of the most annoying things I have ever heard. I think people are more likely to buy the whole alhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifbum if all the songs are actually good. When an artist is relying on one or two hits to sell fifteen songs they don’t even necessarily deserve to be making lots of money. Artists like that don’t even have very strong fan bases anyways. An artist like Radiohead has a very strong and loyal fan base that is wiling to pay eighty dollars for an album and doesn’t rely on just hits to sell their albums. To me music should be an art and not just about making money. I’m not saying I don’t like those catchy songs and one hit wonders but I am saying that those artists shouldn’t complain if they make one good song and ten terrible ones and it doesn’t sell.

Movies

It seems every decade has a genre of movies that are not very good but many of them are produced in hopes of commercial success. In the 80’s and 90’s there were the action movies that are always rerun on TV that don’t have very good plots but always end up with one guy blowing up a lot of stuff and killing a lot of people. In this current decade though we have come upon the comic book movie, endless sequels and remakes. A few of these have been successful and pretty good. Spiderman was the first big one to hit it off and that movie was a good one. The rest of the movies that were spawned because of this though the same cannot be said for. Catwoman was awarded with a Razzie as worst movie of the year. This is a good example of the blockbuster syndrome in the movie industry. One movie makes it big and then many in the same genre but not nearly of the same quality are thrown out and most of them end up failing because they are bad. It would be nice to see more original movies out too. So many of the remakes that are constantly being put out are no good either. When trying to remake a movie that is already a classic is not already hard enough they are usually put out quick in the hops of making money so they are not very good either. Well last year The Departed was a really good movie and I hope for another one like it this year and it seems like there are some good ones but I haven’t been able to see any yet. Oh well I will soon enough.

Rolling Stone

In my lifetime the magazine that I have kept the longest allegiance to was Rolling Stone. That was until recently. Last year as my subscription ran out and I was sent letter after letter trying to get me to renew, I realized I really didn't care whether or not I kept receiving the magazine. To me it had become boring to read, all the articles were the same, and I could find better information about the people the editors considered important in five minutes of surfing the Internet. The magazine has strayed far from its roots. The magazine started out as part of the sixties counterculture and now has come around to being an advocate of mainstream pop culture. The winners of American Idol have appeared on the cover along with other actors and musicians who are essentially one hit wonders. They are shown at the top of their fifteen minutes of fame and have no real significance. The article or profiles of famous people in the magazine are never very interesting. The reviews are biased heavily to in favor of artists who are very established. Certain artists will get great reviews no matter what it seems. Many people may dislike the magazine as well because of its heavily liberal bias. It doesn’t bother me but many people subscribing for a music magazine will not be happy with some of the opinion pieces. I liked the magazine at first but after awhile it seems with all magazine it starts to become repetitious and it is time to move on.

US to Iran

Last week the leader of Iran spoke at Columbia University, President Ahadinejad. He made some controversial marks, especially relating to the Holocaust.
While I do not personally agree with Mr. Ahadinejad’s comments I think it is good that he was allowed to speak. According to our president, Iran is currently one of the greatest threats in the world. Therefore getting to know what the leader to of this country says can provide many insights into whether it should be a serious concern.
His comments also give the public a good idea of how different some people view history in other places. The fact that the holocaust is not considered fact and needs to be researched further would be crazy talk in America and the most of the rest of the world. I was exposed to the holocaust in elementary school and never doubted its existence. Yet in Iran one would assume this is a widely held opinion if seeing as the president believes it.
It illustrates that perhaps the United States current foreign policy focus more on the education system of these countries than threatening them militarily. Sometimes the greatest ways to make change can be pursued through alternative methods other than violence.
I think it was good for a college to allow this kind of speaker. It shows that colleges are one of the great forums open for any ideas no matter how controversial. It is especially important because it shows that America is still upholding the first amendment rights even if it is for a country that is our “enemy”.