Why Does if Feel Important to Like Rap (As a Jazz Fan)
            I recently read the article “Why does it feel Important to Like Rap? (As a Jazz Fan)” On NPR’S A Blog Supreme Written by Patrick Jarenwattananon where he analyzes the influence that hip-hop and R& B have on modern jazz music. Jarenwattananon became interested in this topic after reading a list of the Top 100 Eclectic Albums of the Year. This list did not include one Hip-Hop album. After scanning through the list myself, which include albums from jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman to rock musician Eddie Vedder, I too found myself asking the same question as Jarenwattananon, how can anyone, despite their musical tastes, ignore today’s hip-hop?
           Jarenwattananon then decided to focus on hip-hop’s influence on modern jazz—two genres that have always been regarded as almost polar opposites. The writer, however, convincingly points out that there are many similarities between the two styles of music. Both are blues based, and they are both forms of African-American popular music. Additionally, many of today’s hip-hop artists incorporate elements of jazz in their music. I witnessed this first hand when I saw rapper Mos Def play at the Newport Jazz Festival with an entire horn section and several improvised solos interspersed in his songs. One of the main points that Jarenwattananon stresses in the article is that the majority of modern jazz musicians under the age of 40 grew up when hip-hop was everywhere. Therefore, whether these musicians actually appreciate the music and acknowledge its impact, it has influenced them and their own music in some way.
          Additionally, Jarenwattananon seems to place the future of on the jazz musician’s ability to embrace hip-hop. He states that if these musicians want to develop a larger audience, they must make their music more accessible. They must provide a bridge from hip-hop to jazz.
           I found this article personally informative because I have never thought of the connections between hip-hop and modern jazz. These two genres seem to constantly be at odds, but in reality they are very connected. I think through this article, Jarenwattananon begins to realize the “next phase” of jazz music. Just as the 60’s and 70’s brought about the fusion of jazz and rock, the 90’s to present will bring about a similar fusion between this improvisation based “academic” music and the more popular hip-hop of the time.
-Sean McGurl

Teen, 14, Escapes After Being Held Hostage for Five Months

I was amazed reading this article by ABC NEWS about a boy who had escaped after being held hostage in The Philippines for five months. He was vacationing with his mother in The Philippines when him, his mother, and another family member were captured. After a couple of weeks his family members were let go but he was kept. One day he convinced the people who had captured him that he was going to take a bath in the stream; instead he ran away and made it to a nearby village. He was saved. Being captured for ransoms is said to happen quite often in this country.
It must have been terrifying to be this boy’s family and friends. Not knowing where he was, if he was okay, or if he was even alive, five months must have seemed like a lifetime. Kevin Lunsmann, 14, is now looked at as a hero, not only for surviving but for wandering through the jungle for two days and finding civilization. I’m sure this was a terrifying task for such a young boy but obviously it paid off. This situation which first started off so tragic has become a victory because not only has this boy reunited with his family; but Warren Richard Rodwell, 53 of Australia was arrested and charged of being a leader of these captors. They are being accused of holding others as well. So this situation has kind of ended bittersweet because thanks to this boy, hopefully others will be found.

-Angeli Hajali

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/10/143502066/dozens-arrested-in-occupy-boston-eviction


While searching the web I came across an article claiming that the last of the Occupy Boston movement had been completely wiped out of the area. At first I couldn't believe what I had read, cause only a few weeks early i had actually been to Boston and spent some time in that very encampment. The people who I had talked to while there had all seemed very adamant about saying there through out the winter creating a permanent campsite. Even though the police came and arrested dozens of protesters, they still kept the same morales and their beliefs and were “very accommodating” to the officers. The entire protest lasted just over ten weeks, and an estimated 100 to 150 protesters lived there permanently This caused public authority such as Mayor Thomas Menino to believe it to be to unsanitary forcing him to send the cops in shutting down the protest. Compared to other occupy protests the occupants were lucky that it ended in the way it did. In city’s like New York and San Francisco the protests ended violently with numerous accounts of violence and public disturbance. Though this protest did not last as long as expected, I still believe it made an impact on a majority of americans causing them to think and become more politically and economically aware.

-Dylan Comeau

Home Since Forever

(© WENDY MAEDA/GLOBE STAFF, The Boston Globe)

        I woke up at noon to no alarm, I hadn’t been setting it anymore because I didn‘t have the best sleeping pattern after my mom died. I hardly got sleep anymore. It was my day off from class, and I thought I’d do some shopping for the house and then head over to my grandmother’s with my brother since I promised I'd see her about 16 hours before. Thirty-two minutes after I woke up, strangely the doorbell rang and I heard my cousin walk up the stairs. My brother let her and my Aunt in, they walked into my room crying and said, “Grammy”.

       There was an accidental fire set to my grandmother’s home at around 2am in Methuen, Massachusetts. The home she cherished, the same home my grandfather built, my mother grew up in, and the one that each member of the family lived in at one point was destroyed. It was home to all of us. It was the one part of the family that stayed secure. And the one woman who held the family together, and me for that matter, didn’t get out in time, and she was so close to the front door. Otis, the dog that meant the world to her, lay 20 feet away in the living room gone as well.
       The article says that the fire most likely started in the kitchen, but it was not definite. All I could picture was that no more than seven hours before, I was standing in that kitchen making her crack up. The kind of laughing that makes your life worth living, where you cross your legs, hold onto whatever’s closest to you and laugh until no sound comes out anymore, as the tears run down your face. I loved when I made her laugh like that. There was honestly nothing better to me, in the world, than seeing my grandmother genuinely happy. She said something about me getting too tall as she always did, and smacked me in the stomach lightly and said, “Stop growing,” as I shrank down to her 5 foot frame and pretended to see the world from her view. I opened cabinets, looked out the window above the sink and looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Man, this is tough.” She laughed so hard, she thought it was one of the greatest things, and said, “Yeah, tell me about it!,” as well as, “Don’t make me pee my pants!” After we laughed for a little more, I told her I had to get going. I said bye to Otis and gave her a huge hug, kissed her on the check and said, “I love you,” and she did the same. She walked out onto the porch with me, I went down the stairs to the driveway and unlocked my car and she laughed at me for locking the car in “this neighborhood”. She closed the porch door, waved through the glass window, laughed and shook her head as she turned back into the house. I pulled out of the driveway and knew I’d be back tomorrow as I promised, which didn’t get to happen.
       “Thank God for Julien,” is what my grandmother would always say before she would tell a story about Julien Plourde, her next-door neighbord. Plourde said, “She was a sweetheart. We were all very close. She was a good woman, a good neighbor, a good friend,” and I know he meant that. I’ve known Julien my entire life. He’s always been the next-door neighbor that took care of Grammy. Always there when she needed him, and the only person on the street she would talk to about my mother’s death thirty-seven days prior to the fire. He came to my mom’s funeral, sat next to me during the mercy meal and I cannot thank him enough for being there for my grandmother at all times. I am forever grateful for him. These are the kind of things the article didn’t mention. He wasn’t just a longtime friend, or a next-door neighbord. He had become part of the family.
       Thankfully, this article points out how energetic, friendly and generous she was and stays faithful to that. I chose this one out of the others because of that reason, and of course because Julien commented in this one. Other articles list the value of the home and other irrelevant speculations that downgrade the purpose of the story, to honor her and Otis. Some also have other pictures, but they're incredibly hard to look at. Plus, I talked about a memory in the kitchen, and this shows it the best view, the right hand corner. I can vouch that she most definitely was what this article described. She was incredibly important to me and my family. She was the only person I could talk about my mother’s death with. She was always there for me and my family when things got hard, even other people including her neighbor Valerie whom she opened her home to when her house caught fire in November of last year. I will always be proud to call her and spoiled-rotten Otis, who ate better than any of us and got more “cookies" than anyone could imagine, my family. My grandmother was one of a kind. She had a very loud personality and she said what was on her mind, without remorse, and without filter. My family and I were talking the other day about her and we just thought, of course Grammy would make the news and papers when she died. It was just the kind of person she was and I will always love her for being her.

- Kristen Carraher

Animals Run Wild

I was on my way to school when i first heard the story of animals escaping from a zoo in Ohio. Now, this is not something you hear everyday so I had to actually turn up the volume on the radio for the once in a great while. I sat there in traffic with this huge smile on my face listening to this story that I could not help but find funny. When I finally decided to switch the station to find some actual music this story was being told on pretty every station I encountered. This is not a story that is suppose to be funny, or amusing but is actually quit sad when it comes down to it.

On October 18th 56 exotic animals escaped from a zoo in Muskingum County. 49 of these animals were killed, one was never found, and then the remaining six animals were rescued by officers. As for the owner of this zoo he was found dead in his house. It was assumed that he had let all of these dangerous animals out of their cages before taking his own life. However, the animals he had caged in his house were the only ones never let loose. Overall, it is just so sad that due to somebody letting all of these beautiful animals out - a baboon, three leopards , three grizzly bears, three monkeys, three wolves, three mountain lions, six black bears, eight female lions, nine males lions, and eighteen tigers- that so many animals had to be hunted down and killed.

As I heard this story the thing that made me smile was hearing about such an odd story and imagining driving down the street or looking out my windows to see exotic animals just roaming freely. Due to all of this schools had to be closed down. Then, the surrounding highways had signs up saying "Exotic Animals, drive slow, stay in the vehicle". The thought of just driving down the highway and reading these signs just seemed like the funniest thing to me, but at the end of the day it really is not that funny when you think of all the innocent animals killed because Ohio did not have the animal rescue teams necessary for the job. Moral of this story, Ohio needs to get some rules on regulating the sale and ownership of such animals because at this point in time there are no rules.

This story to me deserved to be considered one of the best writings on the webs simply because of the story itself. It is an amusing piece that definitely catches your attention. This was one of the rare stories you do not hear about often because if does not happen often and that alone made this piece stand out from others I have read.

-Britney Villafane

Internet Censorship

November 16 appeared to be a seemingly routine day, that is until I logged onto Facebook after classes. I noticed a lot of people posting and sharing links warning others about the new bill in congress that is currently being debated. This new bill is about the U.S government censoring the internet, or completely shutting down sites all together. This bill is very important for the future of certain websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr because these websites allow users to share their thoughts almost completely uncensored.
This bill is not a new idea though. The Motion Picture Association of America brought up the idea to congress in 2008 when the association became nervous of movie pirating. And in 2009 with the Cybersecurity Act which allowed the government to access anyone's online forms/ records without a warrant.
As you can imagine, this is causing and uproar for many. It comes across as a violation to our 1st amendment as United States Citizens. The internet has become a way of life for everyone. It is used every day and helps with everything from big business' sharing files to friends reconnecting. But according to Sen. John Rockefeller, "Would it have been better if we’d have never invented the Internet." That is probably the stupidest thing I have ever heard. The internet has done so much for us and has allowed us to advance in technology and education immensely. Sure people break the law on it and make threats toward governments, but you can do that without the internet as well.

-Paul Poremski

http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/11/16/us-contemplates-unprecedented-internet-censorship-bill-proposes-web-site-closure

Blindness Not Enough To Sideline California Teen

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/06/142031957/blindness-not-enough-to-sideline-california-teen?ps=cprs

At first I was looking at blog entries about the Penn State scandal to write about, but then somehow I found this article about a boy who plays high school football. This isn’t just any typical boy though. Tim Howell, a fifteen year old who plays center, is blind. I found the story to be very inspiring so I thought it would be a good idea to share it here on this blog.
Tim Howell was diagnosed with cancer as a baby and after a year of radiation and chemotherapy, he lost both of his eyes. Most people would be discouraged by this, but not Tim. Ever since he was little, he has been achieving what most think is the impossible. He learned the alphabet in Braille when he was only in preschool and now as a sophomore in high school he’s on the junior varsity football team. He is treated like everyone else when he is on the field too. At times he can take some hard hits, but compared to what he has been through, he is used to taking hits as they come. Even though he is not given any slack, his teammates are always there to help him. Simple verbal cues can help a lot for Howell such as where he needs to be before the play starts or where the ball is.
This story was inspiring to me because despite all of the odds Tim faces, he still acts like a typical teenage boy. We can all learn a lesson from Howell. Not only has he made the football team, but his ultimate goal is to make varsity and even possibly play in college. He doesn’t let his disability stop him from doing anything.

Rachel Bullard