Friday?

So I had something completely different in mind for this blog post, but I just felt as if had to change it for this. It's all about a song named "Friday" sung by a 13-year-old Rebecca Black. Now the name of a song doesn't really give away that much. In fact some songs I know have nothing to do with their names at all. But this song, has very much to do with it's name. In fact it has too much to do with the days of the week to begin with.



Yeah. So if you don't make it through the first minute with clicking escape or attempting to rip your ears off from the side of your head, don't be alarmed. Those are both very normal. The song is well...well it's terrible. When ever somebody says that a particular song is horrible, I try to play the devil's advocate and find something that's good about it. I couldn't find anything good about this song. At all.

Now the obvious first response on the internet is to flame it, the same thing they do to Justin Bieber's videos. But as I looked at my friends Facebook, and some of the YouTube comments, it became apparent to me that the first response may not be the correct one. Everyone was complaining about how much they used Auto-Tune and how meaningless the lyrics were, both of which are quite true. But a lot of the comments were targeted at Rebecca herself, and many of them I wouldn't even repeat. I wanted to know why everyone hated this girl so much. What exactly did she do?

So I did a little research. Rebecca Black is a regular girl, albeit very talented. Her profile page on the Ark Music Factory websites reads of several achievements in the realm of acting and singing, but even those aren't too extravagant. They were mainly things like school plays and music camps. Ark Music factory allows young artists to record a song for a small fee so that they can experience what the music industry is like. Naturally, like anyone would, she took the opportunity to record a song. Who didn't want the chance to record and actual single and make a real music video when they were 13? And so...Friday was born.

To be honest, the whole debacle wasn't Rebecca's fault. She didn't write the lyrics. No, that came from a lyric writer in the Ark Music Factory by the name of Clarence Jey who should be fired forthwith. She was merely given the song to sing. And she didn't Auto-Tune it either. I'm pretty sure that a girl who's spent most of her life singing in front of audiences wasn't worried about her voice. Auto-Tune is the fad these days, and I'm sure that's why Ark Music Factory did that. Either way, all these insults and attacks on Rebecca are meaningless and ill aimed. If anyone should be blamed it's the Ark Music Factory. They did the bulk of evil.

So Rebecca Black, I do wish you the best. You may have gotten off to a bad start, but you currently have the world of publicity and I'm sure you have many supporters. At the rate at which you're going, everyone would be clamouring to listen to you're next single. Good luck with your bright, bright future.

But don't sing "Friday" again. Ever. Seriously. Don't

A Return To Blogging

I don't remember exactly when it was that I stopped blogging or why exactly. All I know that everything had suddenly converged on me suddenly. I was confused, lost and worried. I could not see a clear path forward. The feeling lasted for a while and somehow, I was able to finish and succeed in all that I had to do. I don't remember how. The past couple weeks were a blur, all the events smashed together.

And now that I'm back, there are so many many things that I want to talk about. About the play that has changed and gone through so many iteration that it bares little resemblance to the original. About a friend who, well, is still a friend, at least for now. About the Japanese earthquake and the eerie vacation house in Tobago. I have much to talk about, but so very little time to do it. I have so much to say, but so little time to say it. Projects and midterms, Bible study and play rehearsals all swim around me, threatening to devour my mind. I will not fall. I will fight to the bitter end, to win to or to fall, sword in hand, knowing that I did not give up. My break from blogging has renewed me, and I charge into the unknown, yelling the battle cry of some long forgotten age. I am reborn

Forgive the melodrama that the previous paragraph runs thick with. I'm reading a fantasy novel of the might and magic type, so it's sort of influenced by that. There will be a new post tomorrow and hopefully many to come after that.

See you guys tomorrow.

Mythical Creature Saturdays - La Diablesse

YES!!! I am back after a very long and confusing hiatus. More on that tomorrow. Right now, I have an old favor to fulfill to a friend. I ended MSC a long time ago, but one of my friends from school had begged me to do a MSC on a La Diablesse, a myth the features prominently in Trinidadian folklore. What is exactly is a La Diablesse you may ask? Well, she sorta looks something like this:


Anyway, on with the blog.

What is a La Diablesse?

A La Diablesse is on those myths that target men specifically. They are usually defined as a very beautiful woman wearing a broad rimmed hat that drops down over her face, hiding her eyes. She's dressed in rather vintage clothing, usually a long flowing dress and a lace bodice, mostly all white. She has the most beautiful voice and enchanting laugh. She is said the enchant men, leading them off into the night, where they are never seen again. To the naked eye, she may well be the most beautiful creature in the world, but there is one this off about her though, and it's this: one of her legs is in fact that of a cow, complete with a hoof at the end. Since the La Diablesse usually wear long dresses, this leg isn't seen, but once seen, it is enough to break the spell she has on the man.

La Diablesse Origins

The La Diablesse has it's origins in the European myths of the succubus and other myths of beautiful supernatural creatures, beguiling men into infidelity. The origin of it's hoof comes from the idea that whenever the devil manifested, he, for some reason or the other, could not change his feet. Hence many demonic creatures have been associated with having cloven hooves. These thoughts came together in the boiling pot of the Caribbean and created the La Diablesse.

La Diablesse Abilities

La Diablesse have the ability to make men swoon unnaturally. Most men don't remember anything before their appearance, often leaving their girlfriends or wives at the appearance of the creature. In most myths, she would lead them to the silk cotton tree kill them, similar to the Soucouyant myth. They also have the ability to suddenly appear and disappear.

How to defeat a La Diablesse

Legend says that if you turn your clothes inside out and where them, then you'd for sure avoid encountering a La Diablesse, which one, seems somewhat non-sensical and two, would probably make you look stupid as well. However, if you ever did meet a La Diablesse, a lighted match or a lighter would instantly drive her away for fear the her leg would be seen. Once discovered, a La Diablesse would not approach the same man again.


Why La Diablesse are awesome

1) They're hot! No seriously, they are. Demonic and evil, yes, but still hot!!
2) Once under they're spell, it's very hard to escape.
3) They can't be killed, just chased away and avoided.

Why La Diablesse suck

1) They have a really crappy weakness when it comes to that's fire thing.

Personally the La Diablesse is one of my most favorite myths ever. What about you?

Stay tuned for a regular post tomorrow. Bye!!

I Kill Giants

On Monday, one of my friends lent me a graphical novel entitled "I Kill Giants"by Joe Kelly. The cover seemed innocent enough. Just a picture of a the face a of a cartoonishly drawn little girl. When you turned the cover of the book at a particular angle, you could see the light outline of little fairies scatter all over the cover. The back of the book had no synopsis, just some review comments. When I asked him what it was about, all he could say that it was about a little girl and that anything more than that would be a spoiler. He also said that it would make me cry, which it didn't by the way (well the tears were there but at least they didn't leave my eyes).

Now, to tell you about this, I'll have to tell the story contained within the novel, which is pretty much the spoiler to end all spoilers, so I'm not going to tell you. The book is way way WAY too awesome for you to get a crappy summary on a blog. I'll tell you this much though. The little girl, the protagonist of the story, has a very unique way of dealing with some serious issues affecting her life. It's a book about fighting against something so very hard that you don't even realize that that isn't what you're supposed to be fighting against. Sometimes the enemy isn't out there. Sometimes the enemy is in you. It's in your denial to accept the truth, in you struggle to believe in your self-righteousness. Sometimes the giant is of our own creation.

On the very first page of the book is this little quote from the author. It goes "To those fighting their own giants, you're stronger than you think". It's a theme echoed throughout the book. We always feel that we can defeat outward threats, but inward threats are the most difficult.It's hard to fight yourself, because you are your own limit. But remember, that you are stronger than you think. You can overcome anything, even your own giants. I really do suggest you read that book. It's one of the most wonderful things I've ever read in my entire life.

Singles Awareness Day

Everyday on the 14th of February, people all around the globe celebrate Valentine's Day, where they give gifts to their loved ones and the people they consider more than just good friends or hope to one day consider more than just friends. I, personally, have never celebrated Valentine's Day. (Ok, I lied. I celebrated Valentines day in 2007. That was a good year.) I instead celebrate Singles Awareness Day, also known as S.A.D (because it is impossible to come up with a better acronym than that). It's less complicated, a whole lot less expensive and somewhat sadder, depending on how well your Valentines Day goes.

My parents were never really big on the celebration of holidays when I was growing up, so natrually, I never particularly cared that people were giving each other weird cards when I was younger. I guess this disconnect sort of carried over into my teen years, only then, I actually started wanting to give people card and flowers and stuff. The only time I ever felt the need to ask someone to be my Valentine was the day that I mentioned above. It's weird. I want to celebrate Valentines Day. I want to be one of those guys who walks to school with a dozen roses and hands it to a star-struck girl. And at the same time I don't want to be that guy. The guy who believes that his future happiness depends on how much money he can shell out.

I've always been confused on this day, wondering exactly what I should do. The only thing that I'm really sure about is how acutely single I feel on this day, hence the whole S.A.D thing. For some reason this year, either because I was bored or because my inner masochistic tendencies began acting up, I decided to make a S.A.D playlist. It's probably the most emo thing that I've ever done, despite liking all these songs separately. If you wish, you can listen to them on YouTube here. I meant for it to have a particular progression, but I'm not sure I got it right. The thing is, while I was roaming YouTube for songs, I cam across this one:



And I must admit, it's the most comforting all the songs I listened to. To think that there is someone else, maybe celebrating Valentine's Day or S.A.D, who is waiting, even though they themselves don't know it. It may sound like a pipe dream, but I do honestly believe that each one of us has a special someone that's made just for us. That's the way God made us. And maybe next year, I won't be celebrating S.A.D.

Which means I should probably start saving.

Auditions

So this Thursday and Friday, I had auditions for the IVCF play. It was the first time I've actually been a part of something like this. All the other times that I've been a part of a play all we did to get the cast was ask,

"Hey, do you want to play the crazy guy that nobody likes? No? You want to be the princess? But how can you be the princess? You're a guy. What's that? You're not a guy? Oh, sorry about that. I just thought you were a guy. But the fact that you're wearing pink dress should have told me that you weren't. Ok, you can be the princess."

These auditions were different. Myself and two of my friends sat at the back of the classroom while the acting populous of our IVCF body improvised the characters we gave them. We graded them according to their varying ability and came out with a final cast. We're supposed to start rehearsals this week.

It was really amazing though, watching people perform. There was this one girl who was so very amazing that she made me feel sad for my own fictional character. I've always imagined out scenarios in my head where my stories take place in real life, and now, for the first time ever, I have people who are willing to step up and fill those shoes. Needless to say, I am unbeliveably excited for this play. I could see that something amazing is going to unfold. Good amazing or bad amazing, well, only time will tell. But there is one thing I do know. That if I weren't surrounded by so many wonderful actors and actresses, it didn't matter how amazing my script was. I might have well used it for toilet paper. I am nothing without those guys.

A Little Help From My Friends

Wednesday, I got home really late from school which is why did post anything. You see it all started with doubles. Yes, doubles. And for those of you who have no idea what a doubles is (yes, "a doubles" is considered proper English seeing as how a "doubles" is one unit), it is a delicious snack consiting of curried potato and channa (or chick peas) on fried flour patties called barrah that could be found almost anywhere in Trinidad, much like Chinese food. Now the doubles aren't (yes, the plural of doubles is doubles) actually vital to the story, but I felt the need to explain it before I continue.

So anyway, the design group that I'm in stayed back after class for an hour to finish an assignment that's due next week, because we're studious like that. During that time of one my friends and group members, decided that she wanted to buy doubles. So, we were all like, "Ok, cool!" So we finished our assignment and went to the doubles vendor and stood in the line. It was then that my friend pushed here hand into her pocket and realized that she was walletless. Now this girl happens to be my first and best female friend in all of university. So I did what you'd expect me to do. Myself and one of my other friends decided to help her find it. We scoured the place she had lunch, searched that classrooms we were looking in, asked the store clerks where she last bought stuff if they'd seen a wallet ("a big brown man's wallet" as she described it) and generally went in circles around to campus, making sure that we had exhausted ever possible possibility, and still no wallet. We eventually ended up in to campus police station so that she could make a report.

Time literally flew by while we were searching for it. By the time we left the police station it was dark. My sister called me and told me that I was supposed to be home by now, since no one else was there. I told my friend goodbye, hugged her and wished that everything would work out right. As I walked towards the gate to catch a taxi, it struck me exactly how late it was. I had tons of stuff to do and I had just spent a fruitless afternoon walking around UWI. Now I'd have to put some very important things on hold. Normally, I'd be really mad at myself for wasting time like that. But instead, I felt good. I had helped my friend through something that would have disoriented that crap out of me if I were in her shoes. If I were home, I'd probably be wasting time on Facebook or something. I realized that time spent helping someone is never time wasted. It's time invested in a friendship. And it's the one investment is life with the greatest returns.

By the way, she got her wallet back to following day, money and credit cards intact. Thank God honest people still exist.