End of Semester Black & Blues

If you know a college student, than you know right now, their diet consists of caffeine, energy drinks, and the knowledge of an entire semester being crammed into one week. Yes folks, that’s right, its finals week and most college students around the country right now are tearing their hair out in their end of semester black and blues.
The general college student right now is within a fierce battle between a day job, school, and if you’re a college commuter like me, you battling the winter snow and ice during the commute to Boston. Yes, the elements are against us.

Story:

Today I left my house around 9am to begin my commute to B-town, dodging falling icicles and attempting not to breath in the freezing cold air to avoid nausea. After the beginning half of my first fierce morning battles I arrive at the T stop to catch the subway to take me into town, then realizing that three dollars has been mysteriously taken from my Charlie card. With no time to waste I darted to the nearest entry way and hopped on a trolley. Warming my fingers and constantly checking the time on my cell phone, I waited for the slow MBTA service to take off.

Finally arriving at my class (in this case, the Waltz studio for one of my last audio finals of my college career) I walk upstairs to the smoke filled studio to find no class at all. Come to find out, I was the one out of thirty students who missed the memo about the final being pushed back. I had missed my final by one week.

I walked back to the T stop with my head hanging in grief, kicking the ground of the ice box state, and dreaming about the spring break trip I’ll be taking when I graduate. I pulled out my Charlie card again come to find out I was on empty again, so I spotted the nearest MBTA official and complained about how money seems to be mysteriously disappearing from my Charlie card. Hoping for some explanation, instead I got a blank sort of dear in the headlights stare and was handing another Charlie card with $0 dollars on it. (Like I needed another one of those) I couldn’t help but sarcastically say “thanks” and walk away, dreading the upcoming Thursday where I have to repeat this and go in for another final exam.

So what… (Conclusion)

Unfortunately, there is no good way to avoid going in or studying for the final exams. Until I find out a way, I suggest biting the bullet for a week long, continue to cram the material that applies no where in the world but within the depths of the course description, and look forward to your next vacation.

If you need to share your story, please do.

Cheers to the end of the semester’

Jeremiahcity
P.S

Rent the movie “Slackers.” Laugh your ass off.

10 ways to save the music industry

(all of my blogs have funny links that go to funny places so click'em as you read along.)

10 ways to save the music industry

The music industry has been in a plummet for various reasons including illegal downloading and the simplicity of sharing music over the internet for some years now. Most people laugh and say, “We’ll, the musicians have the money, whatever…” It is however very ironic because these usually are the same people who complain that there hasn’t been any new good music for a decade or two; maybe there’s a connection there everyone.

Bands are not making money like they used to, the industry is going down the drain and it’s because of the change in technology. With mp3 players and what not, people don’t want o lug around or store a bulky CD collection if they don’t have to. Therefore, they buy or (and more than likely) illegally download a couple tracks from an album and then it’s over. This is changing the industry in the way record labels work, the way (and how much) the band works, and even influencing the quality and artistic creativity of the music, song to song.

In the past, during the time of vinyl records (which I have a 400+ and growing collection) if someone wanted to hear a song, the would either find the nearest radio and wait till it came on, sing it, or go to a record store, and buy the full LP. Now, during the digital age, us Gen Xer’s prefer to just buy a sidekick phone and pay under a dollar to buy a song or two. Hear it instantly. Which would be so much of a bad thing, other than; picture this, Pink Floyd’s “Dark side of the Moon,” but you only bought one song. Not getting the full effect hu? We’ll this has created a new consideration for artists when making albums. “Do we connect the songs the way we want? Does the order of the songs matter anymore? Do we have to make every song similar now so people aren’t turned off after buying just the ballad or something? If people are only going to buy one or two songs, why make a whole album?” …and thus, the end of the music industry.

Let’s take a look as to how you and all you’re sidekick, iphone carrying friends can help save the music industry…

10 Ways to help

1. Stop downloading illegally! It’s not good for the band, not good for the label, doesn’t sound as good for you, and will eventually cause all musicians to go bankrupt and music will be no more.
2. Buy the album instead of buying the record on Itunes, take your hybrid to the store hippy, and buy the album. You’ll even get to put it on your Itunes later and keep the CD for fun!
3. Look at the artwork read the album credits, learn something, hug it, believe in it. It’ll make you more interesting to talk to at parties.
4. Get the album at the band’s show! Usually, depending on the label, bands make more money per album sold when they tour and sell the disc’s at there merch booths. If your going to spend money, why not get it directly to the artist so they can eat breakfast in the morning at their next gig.
5. Talk to the band Here is a way to utilize the stuff we’ve got as Gen Xer’s. Every band has a website, a my space page, or pure volume page. They would like nothing more than some feedback from their followers and getting some consumer advice on how they should get there music to you, via Itunes, via radio, via CD store, etc. As long as they know their audience, they’ll want to do the best to please you guys; fact.
6. Talk to the record label Do the same for the label. Most bands that are making it right now are called “indie” bands. That’s not because there coming from India, it’s because they are part of a subculture created by bands signed to independent record labels. Give’em a call. Say hello!
7. Tell other people to stop downloading illegally you could be a hero!
8. Boycott major superstores that sell music and buy from a smaller Indie record store. Okay, maybe you’re a supporter from middle America where there aren’t many independent record stores, but you city folk, no excuses, East coast; Newbury Comics. West coast; Ameba records. Not Wal-Mart.
9. Join a street team They can suck, but most are fun, you meet a lot of cool people and usually get the stuff that you would have rather illegally downloaded, for free.
10. Never stop loving good tunes Musicians can be some of the most passionate artists in the world, most musicians will play music whether there is a market for it or not, so never stop finding good stuff.

I mean really think about, ever ind your parents record collection, or old eight tracks that are cool to listen to, and cool to share memories and cool to pass on? What you going to hear from your kids? “Mom, I found your old play list from 2007, you listened to funny music.” ………….No.

The 6 different types of students you deal with while doing group projects in college.

(All of my blogs have fun clickable links that lead to funny places. Give it a shot as you read.)

The 6 different types of students you deal with while doing group projects in college.

I recently had to work on a project for a marketing class in a group totaling 8 members, 8 members!!! (seven girls and myself.) A lucky man? I wish I could agree. I tried to get my-good for nothing but a waste of time, power point-a-day professor to allow me to work in less numbers so the quality of the content would be great but she refused and told me “that’s life.” As furious as I was (considering I pay about $18,000 a year for some one to teach me something) I bit the bullet and did the project with the Victoria Secret army I was grouped with to do so. After the presentation, the professor gave the project a “C-“ with the remark, “Not enough content.”

Let’s take a look on why working in such great numbers is such an issue.

First, there is the overachiever. this girl will take in more than she can handle and eventually complain that she was the only one working on the project.

Secondly, you have the good student. This is the girl (usually a misguided “business” student who can’t place her finger on what she wants to do with her life other than being successful and avoiding using a Mac for the rest of her time on earth.) who will do the project word for word to the “professors satisfaction” (or meet the requirements on the project proposal exactly) but within this, she will first make it harder for herself and for the group, will bore the classroom during the presentation, avoid the main idea of presenting (to communicate and idea to an audience) and the outcome of the project will lack all creativity, originality, and will ultimately look terrible and unprofessional.

Third, come your casual slackers, These kids (usually male) are nothing to worry about. They will be a part of every project you do for the rest of your life but they are never going to do anything. Best thing to do about the slackers is to act like their not their, don’t include them, they’ll eventually dig their own grave to nowhere and any college professor worth anything will see that.

The fourth is the quiet girl. She won’t be any harm and will do probably C to B level work but come time for the presentation, she’s going to stare at the terrible power point that the “good student” created, avoid facing the audience and confuse the shit out of everybody in the class.

Fifth; the Cutthroat individual. This is usually the person who ends up pulling it all together. They will start from day one and say, I want to know what sections you all are going to do, what you want me to do, and how long. Through his/her eyes, If there is a piece of the project missing, they have dated information as to who to blame and they’ll fight for a good individual grade, regardless of the group grade. Sometimes this person will not pull it all together, and that’s when the “overachiever student” will begin to A) Panic or B) get angry and/or sarcastic toward the rest of the group but will ultimately do nothing to help the final product.

The Sixth and final type of person in a group actually makes up 1/3 of any 8 member group. They are… we’ll no one really knows who they are. Because they never ever show up or do anything for the project at all. They are worse than the slackers because when the “cutthroat individual” is blogging about it in the near future he/she doesn’t know what to call them.

Thank you to everyone who read, and to everyone who has worked on group projects with me for the inspiration to be better than them.

Cheers’

Jeremiah

Nobody listens to Podcasts:

Story:

I was sitting in work recently surfing the pages for a new studio microphone to buy to record some decent sounding demos. I stumbled upon a mic made by Blue called the “Snowball.” The mic was knocked down to about a hundred bucks so I gave it a look. I thought the mic looked pretty cool and useful so I went down to the local guitar center to pick it up.

I walk in to the pro audio section, (and if you’ve ever been in a Guitar center, you know how thick the sales temperature is in their, you are meat with money) So I holler over to a green cardigan sweater wearing salesmen who, judging by the looks of him, knew everything there was to know about computers and star wars in the past decade or so, and said to him, “I’m gonna pick up the Snowball today…” He replied with a puzzled look on his face saying, “You doin some podcasting?” The answer was no, I needed it for something more useful but I wasn’t about to get into it with this guy. I walked out of the store seeing the salesman in the corner of my eye with a small smirk of a smile because of the couple bucks I just threw in his pocket from the sale.While I was playing with the mic I reminisced about moments ago, and what the salesmen had said to me and it dawned on me, no one actually listens to pod casts.

Result:

Given the thought, a pod cast is simply an audio file posted to Itunes or any Joe Smo’s website, as some inconvenient wannabe radio show about god knows what. Sorry Joe, but nobody cares, and nobody’s listening. To Mr. Podcast over in Idaho, my advice is to hop online, search for a local radio station, and start bringing them their coffee as an intern. This may end up being an opportunity for you to eventually create an audio show that some one other than yourself, you hamster and your walls will hear.

Regards,

Jeremiahcity

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