In the spirit of the Halloween season, the band I will be talking about today is The Smashing Pumpkins. While the only real correlation is that they have the word pumpkin in their name, nevertheless that is who I will be mentioning in this post!

A lot of people in my family also enjoy The Smashing Pumpkins, so I guess that would be where I sort of first heard them. Also of good note is the fact that they have a few songs on Guitar Hero, that of which I played all of the time when I was younger and likely cemented the songs into my brain. 

Forgetting the name alone, much of the music is fitting for autumn and sort of the picturesque heavier, darker scene that is associated with the fall season. 

Compared to the other artists that I have so far talked about, I am less versed in their whole discography. However, I still have a favorite album that I listen to frequently. That album is their second album Siamese Dream that was released in 1993. This album has many great songs that are all very unique from some of the other music during this time. Siamese Dream is a very acclaimed album that has high praise from many listeners. 

Some of my favorites off of that album are “Mayonaise”, “Today”, and “Cherub Rock”. All of these tunes are fairly different from each other, but at the same time feel within the same genre. “Mayonaise” is a particular favorite of mine. I once read someone’s description of the guitar in this song as a “warm blanket” and I think that is a really great visualization of the connotations associated within the song. I have really taken a strong liking to this song over the past few months, and I definitely concur with that opinion. 

Going past the heavy guitar sounds in the songs, the lyrics are also very great. They point to a lot of heavier topics, but in many cases are perfectly supported by the accompanying instruments. 

The album that follows Siamese Dreams, Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness, also contains many hits that I do like. Songs such as “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” and “1979” are popular in their own right, but are very good songs nonetheless. 

The Smashing Pumpkins are an essential rock band that have a very unique, long discography. I really do enjoy listening to their music and overtime will learn more of their songs and probably listen to them even more.

The TED talk I chose to listen to was “”The danger of a single story” by Chimamanda Adichie. This talk is one of the more popular ones, but it is popular for a reason -which also speaks to how good the talk is. 

The goal of the talk is to remove the unfinished narrative that surrounds many ideas in the world. These narratives can be cultural or just on simple ideas, but the speaker is trying to convey that the known story surrounding many of these ideas are only showing one aspect, not the whole. This turns into what she references as the ‘single story’ and how that idea is dangerous to society. 

Instead of viewing everything through the single story, Adichie asks the audience to be more open to content that is contrary to what stereotypes say. A line that I found to be everso interesting was when she states how stereotypes may not be completely false, but they are never finished. This idea that if we leave any prejudices behind and take a deep dive into different cultures, we may find them to be more similar than different. 

To be truthful, I sometimes find myself falling into the trap of the single story, as unfortunate as that is. It is hard to break away from the stereotypes that have been set in place surrounding different countries and cultures for centuries. Adichie’s words definitely helped me to realize that and make me want to view the full stories. 

In my opinion, while the message is very profound, it is the delivery behind it that really seals the deal. Adichie stands up at the podium and speaks strongly and powerfully about her culture and beliefs. There is a twinge of humor in the delivery that helps to engage the audience. I personally found myself laughing at some of the ironic stories that she was telling to help support her point of people being unaware of other cultures. 

Overall, Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk “The danger of a single story” reveals a new take on the views that people have on different cultures and countries. When I first heard this talk it truly opened my eyes to how oblivious we can be to countries that are smaller or less privileged than the U.S. is. Even though this talk came out in 2009, it still stands today. People continue to not try to understand the cultures of other countries and succumb to only viewing them through their stereotypes.

Up until now, most of my posts have been, I feel at least, pretty similar within each other. This week will be no different as I will be talking about another extremely famous British musician. However, I will be diverging away from some of the genres explored prior. This week I will be talking about the glamorous Elton John!

I really was always aware and knew who Elton John was ever since I was very little. My late grandmother was a huge fan and always played his music. Due to this, listening to his music definitely makes me feel closer to her. 

Also of worth to note, last summer I was fortunate enough to go see Elton John on his final tour in Philadelphia. My family and I had a blast and it was a really fun and unique concert experience. 

There are many songs that people know and are able to recognize, which is what makes Elton John’s music so special. I know as a child I really gravitated towards songs such as “Bennie and the Jets” and “I’m Still Standing” due to their upbeat qualities. 

Nowadays, I find myself listening to more of the earlier songs off of albums such as Elton John and Honky Château both debuting in the early 70’s. 

“Your Song” is one of the most beautiful songs that have been put out. It is so endearing and really makes the listener connect with the lyrics and the whimsical melody that supports it. There is a rare quality to it that feels almost as if you are singing it right to someone else, an idea that is not replicated often in songs. 

The partnership between Elton John and Bernie Taupin, his songwriter, is a very intriguing dynamic that really is unique in music. This is only another aspect that makes Elton John’s music more interesting and adding to the camaraderie that is talked about in many of the songs. 

Some of my other favorite songs are “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” and “Border Song”, both of which are also very good and offer different aspects of Elton John’s discography that is lesser known. Also, “Philadelphia Freedom” is such a great song considering the area in which we live. 

If you ever need a comfort artist that has a large range of different types of music, I can recommend Elton John to be that artist for you. Anyhow, I still recommend you to take a listen to some of the songs that I have mentioned in this post!

The “Baby On Board!” stickers on the back of a car is one, if not, one of the most famous bumper sticks out on the road. It is practically guaranteeable that everyone has seen at least one in their life. 

The sticker’s origin has tie backs all the way to 1984 when one father wanted other drivers to be more cautious due to the fact that his baby was in the back seat. This is understandable, but in recent times it is almost as if the sticker has lost a bit of that meaning. 

I will be discussing a sticker today is a play on that sticker. The “Adults on Board” sticker pokes fun at the idea that babies are the only ones that need protection while in a moving vehicle. The origin of this sticker is unknown, but it is a rather original idea. 

The satirical sticker says directly, “Adults on Board/We Want To Live Too.” There is direct allusion to the “Baby on Board” sticker. If a viewer was unaware of the “Baby on Board” sticker, then they would likely not get the reference. Though, the message still stands. Adults want to feel say while driving a car, even without the reference, the message still comes across, just not with the same implications. 

 While this is alluding to the older, more known, sticker, there is nothing beyond the message to let the viewer know that. I feel as if the message was put in a similar shape, or even had a yellow background, then it would have a more effective message and be even funnier, in my opinion. The sticker is plain, but at the same time adds to the blunt, sarcastic message. 

With that being said, it is funny because it’s basically saying “What about the drivers themselves?” 

The reckless driving should not be present in any situation, let alone if there is a baby on board. The plea “we want to live too” helps to support the message that all lives are important when driving on the road. 

I think the sticker is meant to be funny and point out how many cars have the “Baby on Board” sticker on the back of their car. So many people have that sticker, so if a driver were to see this while driving they may think it to be refreshing. The message definitely has humor tied into it, so I think that it is pretty effective- at least I laughed a bit when I saw it

*Link to the sticker*

An idea that I feel is shared among many people is that there are the one or two main artists that you listen to and really know a lot of their songs and history of the artists. For me, that is The Beatles and Oasis. Those two bands make up much of my listening time. But, of course, I listen to many other artists. The rest of my passion blog posts will highlight different groups/artists that have a few songs on my playlists and that I still really enjoy listening to, I just do not know as much as I do about them, as I do my top artists. 

For this post in specific, the band I will focus on is The Smiths. While this may seem as a bit of a wild card, it really is not. If anything, I think it adds on to the pattern of British musicians that I have mentioned so far. 

The Smith’s music is definitely one for a particular taste, not everybody loves it. The poppy beat is very reminiscent back to the 80’s when The Smiths had their run. While their music was not the most popular during their production, I think in recent years it has had a bit of a revival. 

One of the main attractions I have is the feel of uniqueness each song has. I often find myself thinking “How did they come up with this?” when I listen to their songs. The upbeat rhythms are often paired with sort of melancholy, sometimes even sad, lyrics. More somber themes in lyrics is something that is not everyone’s cup of tea- but it surely is mine!

The albums get sort of tricky to try and sort through, simply because their label put out so many compilation albums. However, their 1986 album, The Queen Is Dead has a lot of great songs on it. Some of my favorites include: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”, “The Boy with the Thorn In His Side”, and “Bigmouth Strikes Again”. 

Other favorites off different albums are “Panic” and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. Which are fun, each in their own rights. 

There are many other songs that I really enjoy listening to, but those are the ones that made it to my main playlist, and that I listen to frequently. The next time you find yourself needing to listen to some different music, I encourage you to check out The Smiths.

While to some extent this may be a repeat of an artist, with George Harrison being a Beatle and all, I would like to ignore that fact because I tend to view George’s solo stuff as a separate part of his career, post-Beatles. 

Now that that has been addressed, I can say that George Harrison has become an integral part of my listening habits. All Things Must Pass is just one of those albums I can put on and sing all of the lyrics. 

I believe that this album has become such an important one to me due to the time of which I discovered it. During this past summer I had to attend the summer session here at Penn State. Needless to say it was tough because as all of my friends were free to enjoy their summers, I was hundreds of miles away taking classes. While I do not regret my decision to come here, so far, it was probably the toughest part of my life. 

Being away from home was, and still is, a hard task to fathom completing. While facing this task, I turned to music as an outlet to express the complex emotions I was enduring. Fortunately, I found All Things Must Pass at the perfect time. The songs just seemed to speak to me and affirm that everything would be okay in the end. As weird as it may seem, this album almost turned into a companion. In the sense that I could rely on it to provide the comfort I was lacking during such a pivotal time. 

I truly do have an admiration for the first 7 songs on the album, oftentimes starting at the beginning and just letting it play through. However, I will say that songs like “Behind That Locked Door” and “If Not for You” were the heavy hitters. Specifically “Behind That Locked Door” which just seems to say all the right things to make me feel better. It is a rather sad song, but it encrypts the idea that you are enough, and are capable of anything you want if you do not hide behind your fears. 

In many situations, I would look at these songs and be able to think of my sister, who I frequently listened to this album with. “If Not for You” paints the picture of someone being almost the one person who makes it all worth it. For me, that is my sister. Being away from her for the first time in my life was extremely difficult. This song helped to remind me of the strong bond we have, and even though I missed her, I knew she would always be the person to make it all better.

While to the initial eye, and without any of the context behind this ad and when it was published, this may seem like a harmless Starbucks ad promoting their new drink. However, when taking a closer look at the time of which this advertisement was published, the implications behind the meaning is really shocking coming from a well established coffee shop. 

The ad depicts two new Starbucks drinks front and center with a dragonfly in the background, almost to imply that it is interested in the new drinks- this seems pretty harmless, so what’s the issue? 

This ad circulated in springtime of 2002, almost 6 months after the terrorist attacks that took place on 9/11/2001. 

Depicted in the ad are two figures standing staggered in front and center with something appearing to fly into them. It is almost as if it is meant to resemble the two World Trade Center buildings that were hit in the attack. 

The picture alone may not totally allude to 9/11, but together with the tagline it certainly does. “Collapse into cool” to me totally seals the deal that, for whatever reason, Starbucks tried to make a profit off of the terrorist attacks. Collapse is clearly in reference to the two towers that fell due to the planes hitting them. Both the illustration and the slogan paint the picture of the 9/11 attacks that occurred only months prior. 

I find this ad to be very insensitive considering the time of which it was released. Many people’s lives were affected, some of whom lost people who they were very close to. So for Starbucks to try and advertise their new product based on a tragedy that hit close to home for so many Americans is honestly sad.

The ad itself promotes the new drinks, yes, but the timing and rhetorical situation surrounding it is what makes it such a poor advertisement. 

I am surprised that I have not heard anything about this before. It seems like it would have been something that would have circulated in the media and caused some uproar. Starbucks trying to capitalize on one of the biggest terrorist attacks in American history, I think, points to their main goal- making money. I honestly do not understand how officials previewed this and thought it was appropriate for the times. The source I found this on did not provide this, but I wonder if this ad lasted long before it was pulled and stopped being shown. Anyhow, this ad is a poor showing at how not reading the room can lead to mistakes that otherwise would have been avoided

The topic for the two artifacts I chose surrounds the idea of fake news shaping a society. Now, the relation between my two artifacts may seem surface level as just being about misinformation, but there is a deeper connection between the two. My primary artifact is an image of a plane being propelled by the “hot air” (lies) of Joseph Goebells, the chief of propaganda for the Nazi party. In the secondary artifact, Facebook serves as the source for the lies and fake news. In both of these cartoons there is a main source serving as the valve of this false information. 

Not to say that Nazi Germany is the same as U.S. society today, but parallels can be drawn between the state of society during both and how reliant people were on news. Though, the fault cannot be put directly on the people. It is of certain civic duty to keep up with the news and absorb media. However, the fault is more on these people/outlets that seemingly spew this false news. 

For my primary artifact, or the one that I will focus my speech on, the main aspect that really drew my eye was the fact that it was produced by a woman. Anne Mergen dubbed the “first lady of editorial cartoons during WWII” was the only woman cartoonist during her time working. This fact is a rather fresh, interesting viewpoint of the war. Many times it would have likely been a man making comments on the war, let alone publishing them. This point will draw an interesting connection to ethos, or credibility, behind the piece. 

The main call of the pieces is to be aware of the media and information that is spreading, more likely than not it is not true. As pointed out behind the similarity of the message behind the two artifacts, this is an issue that has caused problems for society for well over 70 years, but really longer than that. In a way, much of the propaganda during mid-american history was built as a scare tactic, so sometimes that meant including lies. 

The main reason why I chose these artifacts is because I find it honestly fascinating how a movement, such as the Nazi party uprising, was able to gain such popularity, even though inherently immoral, through the spread of media and propaganda. It is during a time where much media cannot be trusted that we, as a society, are forced to look back on the repercussions that fake news had on a society, hence the comparison from past to present. 

Over the course of High School I found many of my music tastes to be everchanging. With that being said, one of the bands that I found that really stuck with me was the British rock band Oasis. This post flows perfectly from my last passion blog post that focused on The Beatles, coincidentally one of the main influential figures behind Oasis. This influence helped to shape one the most infamous music movements in the 90’s-Britpop. Britpop has a very unique sound that really encapsulated what the mood in England was during the nineties, Oasis being a figurehead of that. 

Oasis’s Definelty Maybe is constantly in the debate for best debut album, deservedly so. The rock feeling of the album transports you back in time and radiates nostalgia. While many times only certain songs stand out on an album, all of the tracks on Definitely Maybe made their way onto my playlist. For me, that too can be said about another Oasis album.

Their second album, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, takes the cake for me. The extremely popular “Wonderwall” is a staple song that everyone knows and can sing along to. My personal favorite from that album is “Champagne Supernova”, a song that quickly became my favorite and topped all of my yearly recaps. From the somber start, to the very chaotic middle, capped with a fading echo, the whole song settles me everytime I listen to it- which is frequently. Honestly put on any song from that album and it is a quintessential Oasis record. 

One of the aspects that really draws you into the band is the lore behind them. Based around two brothers, it is an understatement to say that much drama occurred over the years. If you put all of the bad behind, you are left with a pretty beautiful thing- a band that was the best in the world, and knew it. This attitude was what made them so powerful, especially with the younger generations. 

The backstory behind the brothers is truly one for storytelling. Being raised with an abusive father in a council estate in the working city of Manchester, hard work was instilled from an early age. If you ask anyone who knows about the band, most people would be quick to comment on the shenanigans pulled by the brothers and the sort of stunts they pulled. That aside, the band truly made great music, for a period of time they were truly the greatest band in the world and I wish I had more time to talk about what their music means to me.