The Temper Trap

The Temper Trap:
I have to admit, I don't know a lot of indie bands. Frankly, I don't really know what I have in my iTunes.

That was a lie.

I do know what I have in iTunes--except they don't happen to be English songs (KPop and JPop...go for some culture shock with Alice Nine [アリス九號。] and KAT-TUN !).

Band: The Temper Trap
Genre: alternative rock
Discography: "Conditions" 2009 (plus a remix album)

But anyways, I do recommend you go on the Wikipedia page, since I think it can explain the band better than I can. Basically, it is an Australian band whose members met in college. I'm not sure if I should call them indie, afterall, they just debuted with their first album, but their single "Sweet Disposition" has already won numerous awards. To top it off, it has been featured in commercials (Project Runway) and movies (500 Days of Summer). I believe they also performed at Lollapalooza this summer. This makes me want to cry, since I wish I knew about it and went.

I'm not exactly sure what Wikipedia meant by "atmospheric sound" or what grand guitars are, but I absolutely love their instrumentals. (They remind me of U2! Yay!) I think that the band and its style won't appeal to everyone. A lot of my friends listen to popular music (I put my hands up in the air sometimes), the Beatles and other acoustic-y and strum-y guitar songs, and rock. No one I know nods at me knowingly when I mention U2 (they give me the same face they gave me when I mentioned chocolate candy canes to them last year) or share the same love for Modest Mouse as I do. Of course, Temper Trap is neither U2, nor Modest Mouse.



(Ugh. I spent about an hour times 3.2 trying to figure out that player above...) I'm recommending the whole album because it is just so awesome (in my opinion, of course). Tracks 1, 2, and 4 (3, 6, and 9 on the album, respectively) are singles, and "Fools" I just love. Check out the lyrics--they aren't about love exactly, nor are they weird, weird lyrics. The songs tell a story, and though the messages are easy to understand, there's always a deeper meaning to them if you think about it.

Overall, I really like the "atmospheric" sound to them, if that's what it means. They don't use a lot of synth or whatever, but they use some, and it really adds a nice touch. The lead singer's voice is pretty nice as well, with a strong nasal sound.

Thank goodness I'm not doing a video review. I think I would've blubbered and blabbed about the same things over and over again. And if anyone's interested, you guys should check out Passion Pit and Robyn too.(Sleepyhead by Passion Pit and Robyn's Body Talk Pt. 1 album. -smiley face-)

-JYT

Jay and Nick

Mr. McCarthy: I am currently working on a jazz piece by Gershwin that I hope to put up soon. Just by-the-way.

I think that in an alternate universe, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway would've been the best of buddies, and in the words of Iemaan, like a fat kid and cake. In many ways they are similar, except this pairing doesn't quite work out. (Haha, I sound like I'm talking about Jay and Nick's gay love-child. So wrong...)

I haven't read far, but already Jay seems extremely suspicious in the way he lies about his past (oh yes, San Francisco is in the Middle West--I would expect more from an "Oxford man"), in the way he and Wolfsheim somehow have "gonnegtions", and exactly how he earned his money. In comparison, Nick says he is the most honest man he has ever known, and while that is debatable, in this case this statement is not hard to believe.

Similarly, both Jay and Nick are the "new moneys" trying fit into an "old money" society. Both of them seem to draw people towards themselves like lighthouses in a storm. Nick calls himself a "politician", while we know from Nick that Gatsby tends to observe his hectic and lavish parties from a distance (most likely hoping Daisy and Tom would show up).

However, so far, it is obvious that Gatsby and Nick's so-called friendship is fake. Gatsby wants what he doesn't have (Daisy) no matter the cost, and he intends to get her through Nick. And so he does, and after an extremely awkward moment their love seems to be rekindled. (Though personally, I don't think it's going to work out...)

A Winter Poem

(Pretend this is morning, not night.)

when the world turns white
i think i am in a different
dimension
but it is just white powder
that has spilled over
everything
the sky
the ground
the trees
i know
even though i haven't
left this hearth of mine

i like to think that
the trees are carefully lined
in whipped cream
the roads drizzled
in chocolate syrup
the houses decorated
in multi-colored sprinkles
i don't know
but i rush out
in my pajamas
to observe this
peculiar new taste
on my tongue

and what sort of fetish
has overtaken me?

Thanksgiving

(I just have to add, as a side note, that Sydney's comment about the crank to feedback ratio makes sense. I cranked out that excerpt for that last blog post, and as much as I appreciate Mia's comment, it's not enough to tell me what exactly I can improve on.)

I give thanks to...

S E R I N A : She helps me in classes and is nice to talk to. Whenever I have problems, I talk to her and she gives me advice. She explains things to me, and helps me out all the time (turning papers in for me along with hers, letting me borrow her calculator). I appreciate even the littlest things she does for me, and for her consideration of me. Just thanks in general, for being an awesome chemistry partner.

H E L E N : Helen is like my own personal Sparknotes. Whenever I have troubles understanding something in Scarlet Letter, I can ask her about them. And if neither of us understand something, we figure it out together. She's always really nice about everything, and I admire her piano-playing skillsss.

M I A & J E N N Y : They both are very cool people that I happen to sit between. They are so fun to talk to, and make me laugh. And so just for that, I am thankful for them.

I am a Plow...

I have decided not to personify myself as the plow or anything like that. Or describe the plow, for that matter. Though it may be a bit off-topic, my thought process is as goes: "I am a plow" > "what if the plow wanted to be a butterfly, or water, or wanted to be used?" > "we all want something we don't have or to be something we are not" > "sometimes, the things we want most are the things we'll never get".

(Brielle is the main character's older sister. And please do not steal, as this excerpt will go into my NaNoWriMo.)

I Need I Need - Class Needs

(The title happens to be some random song that popped into my head. I think it might be HSM2 O_O )

I like American Lit class. The atmosphere is very informal and everyone seems to respect each other. I can write whatever I want in my journals and in my blog posts. As long as I put some effort into it and write, I get a 100% (insert smiley face). We don't have a ridiculous ultimate-AP grading scale and we don't have to do ridiculous things like having to copy and define vocab words by ourselves. 

I tend to be a very introverted (shy doesn't sound quite right...) person, so even though I don't participate in class discussions, I like listening. People tend to have really good ideas, sometimes they make me feel dumb and uncreative.

But I think that what we need is to write more. Not just essays, but stories that help us wield our creative minds and develop good vocabulary (outside of the vocab book). I guess I just find it really hard to force myself to write in my free time, because I don't have free time anymore, and also because I don't really have much to write (art class is draining all my creative juices). I tend to be very self-critical, and currently I dislike my writing style because I don't like my current vocabulary, and it in general doesn't really apeal to me anymore. Journals are nice, I guess, but sometimes I don't have anything to write about, and I don't have enough time or spur-of-the-moment creativity to make my response into a story excerpt and/or beginning.

A five-page short story would be nice. Haha, as much as I dislike homework...

-JY

The Presence of Slavery

Currently, I'm taking AP Human Geography, and even though the class is hard, in these two months, I've already learned a lot. Lesson is, it's given me a better understanding of the world and its people.

As soon as I was given this topic, I immediately knew: illegal immigrants.

Employers like employing immigrants because they can take advantage of them. They can pay them low wages, not have to give them regular benefits like retirement plans, and threaten them with deportation if they are troublesome or incompetent. Unlike slavery, in this case, immigrants are benefitted too--even though they are working for what we think of as low wages; it keeps them out of poverty (the state they would've been in if not for the illegal migration).

And I find it a little weird that when people think 'racism' most people only think of black versus white. But  there are lots other combinations, and lots of other kinds of prejudices. I think that that itself resembles slavery, because there was a certain prejudice at that time, which put someone/something over somone/something else. Men versus women, Christians versus Jews...

Our world is so messed up.

-JY

Why We Must Learn about Puritans:

Nathaniel Hawthorne was of Puritan descent, and if we all haven't figured out yet, Puritans happen to follow a set of strict guidelines we find ridiculous today.Two of Nathaniel's ancestors happen to be involved in religious persecution, one of them a judge known for giving harsh punishments during the Salem Witch Trials. Boo.

His family’s name originally was Hathorne, but to avoid tying himself to his violent ancestors  he later added the “w”.

It started off when Nathaniel injured his leg and had to remain immobile for a very long period of time, during which he developed a taste for reading and thinking.

His wealthy uncles helped pay him into Bowdoin College, where he made many famous friends, like Franklin Pierce and Henry W. Longfellow. Later in life, he befriended Herman Melville, who wrote Moby-Dick.

After being dismissed as surveyor from the Custom House in Salem, he wrote The Scarlet Letter.

Salem at that time of his book was primarily occupied by the Puritans, who had tried to isolate themselves from outside ideas, but failed, obviously, because Hester Prynne was not executed literally.

Though we may now think that Puritan religion is ridiculous and harsh, Puritan ethics are very much prevalent in our society now. Many people in our society strive to have and practice good morals; to work hard and have self-discipline to achieve salvation. Laws were made to be broken, but they were also made to dispose of/correct those who strayed from the path of Puritan ethics. Or in more general terms, we are all seeking rewards for righteous, hard work. For those that do not, they can spend their happy lives in jail or in Hell.

As for Hester Prynne, she was merely humiliated and shunned for committing adultery. Nowadays, adultery is not a crime, but it isn’t going to get onto the List of Morally-Correct Things anytime soon.

I think Puritan roots can be found in many other places, but ultimately, Puritanism has taught us an uncommon common sense: stick to your morals, and work hard.

-JY

I'm American?

The definition of "American" depends on the person you're talking to. Frankly, I'm not quite sure myself (hence the uncertainty in my title). But I guess when I evaluate myself, I have to decide that I'm not American.

Boohoo. Whatever. For legal reasons, I'm not an American. We're currently in the (ridiculously) looong process of getting a Green Card (which means I can't travel abroad or anything like that, or go overseas for vacation). I can't even mention anything about my currently non-existant American citizenship.

Although I have adopted some American habits like the 5-second rule, or the fact that I now am not afraid to sit on the ground, or to plop down on the very dirty floor in Gym B. I don't think sweets and snacks were as sickeningly sweet as I used to find them (though they are still too sweet, and I still hate angel food cake).

Including my dislike for angel food cake, I also do not like eating pears/apples with their skins, and I still think potato chips are toooo salty.

But besides food likes/dislikes, there are other weird habits I've come grown used to, and ones I have not. I still have Asian parents with Asian "connections"--meaning they yell at me about the littlest faults on Edline, they decide they want me to do SAT/ACT practice problems everyday, and they go psycho over the fact that I still try to maintain a social life (even though I'm already biting off more than I can chew). I guess it's racist/stereotypical for me to say this, because these are not necessarily Asian-parent qualities. But I feel like our customs and values are so different. I may have picked up some American ideals/habits, but does it necessarily mean I'm American?

I guess those with kind of a vague, open, and welcoming definition of "American" would probably say I am, but sadly I don't quite see myself living up to that kind of image.

A Death in Result

The only time someone got in trouble because I didn't want to confess was when I decided to throw an orange at someone's head during lunch.

Although at first, thinking about it, it seems ridiculous that people with their own selfish needs end up making a small disagreement into someone's death. But I've gotten people to ignore me for weeks over something incredibly stupid (and it wasn't even my fault!), so I know better.

Another case would be a fight to death. Unless the other person dies, you don't win, and you don't stop. I find that extremely ridiculous, but then again, I don't feel satisfied winning fights unless I've crushed the other person (in some cases their dignity) so much that they apologize. Sincerely.

I think that saying that fighting to death is ridiculous now is so much easier, because when it comes down to it, we're hypocrites. We've all got on the wrong pants, but we don't care. When I'm against someone, I want total defeat, total victory. There's never a "oh, thanks for apologizing insincerely--I don't really care, so I'll just let it go" moment. When we fight, we want a clear cut decision. And when that doesn't happen, someone dies. Because after all, first and foremost, once you're dead, you lose! (And after that, we take into consideration that you're actually no longer alive.)

It's not a matter of how your opponent's kids are going to avenge their relative's defeat, but because if you don't get rid of them completely, they'll just keep coming back. Things are awkward, and most importantly, they'll stay up late every night, devising tricks and stupid comebacks (that are so stupid you can't think of a good rebut) and someday they'll spring up and defeat you when you least expect it. They'll laugh at your humiliation and step all over you.

Haha, no thanks.

Hero or Stooge?

The Crucible (Penguin Classics)
So we happen to be reading The Crucible right now, in which the extremely obnoxious Abigail tries to get rid of John Proctor's wife so that she can continue her affair with him. John Proctor dies in the end because of Obnoxious Abigail (funny, since Abigail set this all up to get Proctor, but she makes him die in the end). Under normal circumstances, he would've died a hero, a martyr. But because this situation was completely stupid, I think he died a stooge.

He was the one that made the whole play interesting. Without him, there wouldn't have been an affair with Abigail, who wouldn't have tried to kill Elizabeth Proctor in the first place. Therefore, it makes sense that he was a stooge, his death created a juicy ending for the story, and he was in the plot all along just to make things interesting.

If the whole "children are innocent!" thing was part of the Puritan's belief, than I couldn't possibly say that the situation was that stupid because it's their religion, their belief. But it was only a general stereotype of children at that time, and both Rebecca Nurse and Proctor knew that the girls were pretending. Furthermore, Proctor waited at the last moment to tell the court of his secret affair, when the girls had so much attention and power over the adults. Not to mention, before he was killed, he did lie and confess. Why? What for? To make an attempt to save your butt, just to give your life away?

As I was reading this, I was literally groaning in frustration. Abigail and the whole situation annoys me so much. And the saddest thing is, stupid things like this happen all the time.

-JY

26-Handed God

So..."Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"... Before I say anything, let's start with this: I believe in no god. (I wouldn't say atheist or agnostic, because there are always those cuckoos out there who have some weird radical definition for the said terms, and then they'll come and get me with their stolen snipers. No thanks.) In fact, sometimes I like saying "oh gods" because Greek/Roman mythology is really cool, and because I can!

If I were to listen to Jonathan Edwards preach to me everyday about how God is such a sadist, I would be scared. I would be afraid, such that I'd have no thought of rebelling. I would probably hate God in my mind, and hate Jonathan Edwards, and I would most likely disagree with him. If at most I ended up believing in God, I would think that God is pure and loving, and I wouldn't be so conceited as to think that I'm pre-destined to go to heaven.

Personally, I don't know how I would've survived back then living a life like that. Being so restricted, wanting to escape, yet not being able to (because you would've died from the wilderness). I hate being told what to do, hate not being able to say what I want to say, hate not being allowed to be ethical and smart. In other words, back then, in that kind of society, I would've floated like a cork in water.

I just find it a bit ironic that the Puritans were the ones who immigrated to America to escape religious prosecution, yet they were the ones who ended up prosecuting/killing people who weren't as insane as them.

I think that a lot of Puritans weren't Puritans, that they were just putting up a facade in order to avoid being killed. But with me the way I am today, with freedom of speech, religion, and all that jazz, I would rather commit suicide or something than live in that kind of society. I think I'd feel better dead than to have to put up with the Puritans and their religion. And maybe, just maybe, based on their belief, I might just go straight to heaven.

How depressing.

-JY

There Goes the Neighborhood

Personally, the only "There goes the neighborhood..." moment I've had was when the woman living two floors above us decided to remodel her bathroom and therefore now causes the pipes to leak everytime she takes a shower. But thinking on a bigger scale, I realize that the foreign invasion of Asia was a real kind of "Oh shoot me NOW." I read about it today again in The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, of British India and Burma.

Starting at the beginning with Christopher Columbus' "India", I personally don't like him very much. Or more precisely, I don't like his fame. (I am not jealous.) Although he is the reason why we are all here, and why corn exists in Europe, I dislike the fact that we celebrate him in America even though he didn't discover the present day US. I dislike that he was the cause of smallpox spreading to the Native Americans, and that he came as a missionary to convert them to Christianity. Most people don't care much because all this is offset by the fact that we exist here in America today and whatnot. In comparison, Hitler accomplished a lot in his reign, like the creation of Volkswagen, jet propulsion, and laid a foundation in genetic engineering. But we don't remember him for those things, do we?

Columbus coming to the Americas was like genocide. Genocide like Hitler, genocide like Rwanda. He even came out to explore for treasure; he purposely said he was out to seize the wealth of others. In the end, however, no one cares about that.

As for colonialization of Asia, I'm starting off with the British rule of India in 1847 to 1856. First of all, I don't understand why, if India was already a country at that point, a bunch of white people decided to come in and take countrol. Was it a race issue? That because people were white they were superior to others? James Dalhousie who was the governor-general (a system of ruling) at that time, insulted Muslims and Hindus by using sacred cow and pig fat to lubricate bullets cartridges that had to be bit open, and annexed princely states and regions.

European penetration of China comes as a pretty personal thing for me, since I'm Chinese. China was split up between so many European countries. On top of that, the British got many Chinese people hooked unto opium. Countries fought over China and reduced it to rubble and chaos. The whole history is long, confusing, and just plain insulting.


At the end of the day, countries fight and invade each other--that was reality back then and even today. I'm only voicing my opinions (aka ranting). Columbus-was-an-idiot or not and China's-Old-Summer-Palace-was-looted-and-burned-to-ashes or not, we're here today, and that's all that matters.


-a piece of JY

Me.

My name is Bob Jiayin Tang.

I dislike writing essays and such because I sound stupid. Informal writings are good, and I like writing random things. (Just random things; don't ask me to expand on that.)

I used to swim. I swam at a club for 7th and 8th grade. I should almost be considered good (obviously, I'm better than the average person), except I was three seconds too slow to qualify for regionals in my 50 breast. I joined cross country in 8th grade, because I thought it would help condition me for swim team. It did, but I ended up liking running more than swimming (and for other reasons), so now I'm running instead of swimming.

I play piano. I should say that I'm good (I've been learning for seven years now), but since I have low self-esteem, I'll say that I'm not. I've seen way too many child prodigies on YouTube, who are such great confidence boosters.

I like reading.

"Inception" was really good.

I'm a very nit-picky and factual person. I hate it when people brag to me that the only thing they managed to learn on the piano is "Mary had a Little Lamb". And then they go on and tell me all the wrong notes for said song. Why would you brag to me something you failed at? I also hate it when people say that "Apologize" was written by Timbaland, featuring OneRepublic. My friends, it is exactly the other way around. In other words, I am a perfectionist.

I always have some sort of "interest of the moment". Maybe today I'll want to learn how to work with Adobe Illustrator CS5, but the next day I might be interested in springboard diving. Commitment comes as a hard concept for me, I admit, because of my fleeting obsessions and the fact that I'm afraid I'm going to fail. I told my mom that I wanted to be a doctor and she agreed to buy me a new piano.

I'm too honest. Translation: I'm really blunt. But I'll only tell you the shocking truth if I know you well enough.

-JY