More ranting, Orianthi, and the Grammys.

In the light of news that the Grammy nominees have been released, I truly am not surprised that Taylor Swift has been given 8..... 8... YES 8, nominations for whatever categories. Only beaten by Beyonce with... 10... YES 10 nominations.

I may be extra hard on the mainstream drivel but somebody seriously needs to explain how or why Beyonce is so highly regarded as the Queen on the pop scene right now? Her music has hardly improved from when she was in Destiny's Child and the only reason I can see is because she got with Jay-Z that suddenly boosted her profile? I'll admit that her live performances are flashy, if not over the top but her songs are seriously quite rubbish. 3 off the top of my head.. the one which goes "To the left to the left", Single Ladies, and Sweet Dreams, all crap. I mean who seriously can listen through Sweet Dreams? Her vocals are nothing special, the beats nothing new, so why? Is it because of her Divaness? You tell me.

Moving on to Taylor Swift, this one is not so mind-boggling as she is manufactured to sell CDs to tweens and teens with songs moms would approve of. But seriously? Nominated for Grammys? I mean, how can anyone take her music seriously? Every song sounds so similar even in the chords used and don't even get me started on her singing ability. I believe that has been covered many times over by other writers out there. Just look around for her live performances.

And then there's this:

Record of the Year: Beyonce's "Halo," Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me."

Make of that what you will. That's the state of the music industry now. IT'S THE GRAMMYS btw. The only decent song in there is Use Somebody and we all know it's just there to make up the numbers.

This is an award that has been given to truly talented artists and we can just look through the past winners to see what mainstream music has become.

In the 50s and 60s, winners included Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, and Tony Bennett to name a few.

In the 70s, we had the Eagles, Billy Joel, Carole King, and Roberta Flack

In the 80s, along came Michael Jackson and Tina Turner.

And in the 90s, we still had Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Nat King Cole, Phil Collins and Celine Dion.

After the Millennium, winners included U2, Coldplay, and Norah Jones.

All the names I've listed out are respected proper talented artists. Closer to today though, names such as Green Day, and Amy Winehouse have managed to bag Grammys, god knows how. Then again, I remember last year, we had the Jonas Brothers perform at the Grammys and suddenly it's all a little clearer.

Anyway enough of the Grammys, I don't think anyone, even in the music industry takes it too seriously anyway. Look on wikipedia for what Maynard James Keenan has to say about it for example.

No, today I'm here to give us a bit of hope. You might have heard of her and seen her video on MTV by now, but I'm still sure the majority haven't even heard of her and I think that's an injustice when we have hacks like Taylor Swift at the top of the charts. Anyway, I present you, Orianthi. She's released an album now and her video, According to You is on MTV, you can search for it on Youtube as for some reason I can't embed it. The song isn't great but it's a smart way to penetrate the market to lead them on to what she is actually capable of.

Santana has been one of the few people who have backed her and she was the guitarist on MJ's This is It tour. The girl can ACTUALLY play guitar and is damn good at it. Anyway here are some clips.


Santana on her and some clips of her live.


Orianthi - According to You Live.


This one is a compilation but mostly of her playing guitar.

Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is a mystery,
Today is a gift,
That's why it's called the present.

Music... or lack thereof.

Soooooo, how's everyone been holding up? Really?? Like I care anyways. So, more casual blogging and something I've been wanting to get off my chest for a bit but never really got down to it.

The story goes, my CD player broke, leaving me with no choice but to be at the mercy of radio, or face driving everyday listening to myself breathe. After 2 weeks or so, I'm beginning to question the choice of listening to the radio. Either option appears to me now as dull as the other.

Alright, that is exaggerating, the DJ's and the Hitz Gotcha's are actually decent, and the only thing that keeps me entertained. Apart from that, being abused with the music, or what qualifies as music today, that spearheads the pop frontier, is frankly, SAD. Pathetic, listless, uninspired, boring. Call it what you will.

Looking at it from a broader scale, I think it is kinda what shapes us today. It represents society in a sort of obscure way. How everyone can be manipulated into thinking certain things are "nice", or being pushed around by corporates and liking something just cause everyone else likes it. In short, originality is dieing.

Turn on the radio, what do you hear? Bullshit? No.... I mean what music is playing. I can bet you at least 8 out of 10 times, you will listen to David Archuleta at least once during the duration of radio listening. David Archuleta is the epitome of boringness and uninspired music. It's basically the same disney-ish crap that's being spouted by the likes of Jonas Brothers and now, Kris Allen. There is no character, they all sing about the same things, even use the same cliches and they just sound the SAME!

On the other hand we have mainstream hiphop, that is seriously just utter bullshit. Leading the list are Rihanna, Soulja Boi and whatever crap is out there. The clearest sign of a manufactured artist is when you listen to them live. I mean honestly, listen to Rihanna and tell me she can sing? If you say yes, then you deserve to listen to that shit daily. BUT WAIT!!!!! SOULJA BOI, SOULJA BOI, SOULJA BOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How is Soulja Boi even an artist?!?!?!?!?!?! Do people seriously enjoy his music? I think you have to bring your mindset down to the level of a piece of mud to actually level with his lyrics.

If you look back just a couple of decades. What was on air? The Beatles, Eagles, Santana, Aerosmith, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Madonna, Queen. Just some examples.

And today? Like I've already stated above, Jonas Brothers, David Archuleta, Taylor Swift, Click 5, Soulja Boi, Rihanna, Sean Kingston, Miley Cyrus.

I'll let you guys work that one out yourselves. How the hell did music fall so far? Or rather how did mainstream music fall so far? Out of the 2nd list, I'm curious to see how many of them are remembered even 10 years from now. People will probably scoff and say, oh... that crap. Why? because the music corporates would've manufactured a new style of crappy music that would be considered "cool" by the listeners.

I don't know why they're getting worse, maybe because it's the fact that talent is either getting harder to find, or real talented people are smart enough to keep away from the mainstream labels. I think even the boyband era was better that the crap on radio today.

Well, I've gone on long enough. I hope my CD player will be fixed soon because then I am reminded there's hope. There's so much talent out there not making music for money, or fame. The roots are still there, the raw feeling of making music because you want to. I think Malaysia needs a rock or underground channel because every channel plays the same crap. At least BFM has the guts to go against the norm, playing good stuff of yesteryears that aren't the same 20 or 25 "oldie" songs LightFM constantly plays.

If you think I've been talking crap, I thank you for sticking through-out the entire post. Maybe I have to accept one man's meat is another man's poison. But in this case, shit is shit. No 2 ways about it. Cheers.

Ah some things change... and some do not.

In a bid to blog more frequently, I think I might just start blogging more casually now. Whereas previously I would pigeon hole my posts down to chicks, movies etc. I think from now I might just post what's on my mind.

After a hiatus from posting to post on Twitter and the like I still think blogging like this is the best way to write. So much more freedom and proper useage of the English language no?

So anyways, I've started watching a TV series named, Californication. Starring the affable David Duchovny in the lead role, the series is about this broken down guy, who's a writer and became famous because his book was made into a movie that he hates but did well. Because of this fame and possibly his good looks, he draws women with no problem at all. Every episode there's at least a sex scene if not 2. So a warning not to watch this with your parents eh?

This guy though, who's aptly named Hank Moody by the way, is a divorcee who's still kinda in love with his ex-wife. She has moved on however and is getting married to another guy, Bill. So it's quite a funny situation where he hates Bill but has to just put up with him cause his daughter, Becca, would be staying with him and all that.

For some reason, I kinda feel there's something inside there we can all relate to. Even though this guy's a loser and a bum, he appeals to the viewer in some weird way. It's also got excellent dialogue which is witty and is pretty funny in most parts.

Yeah... so just wanted to get that out as a start. Check it out if you got the time.

Hope I'll be writing more soon, till then, Au Revoir.

Chick of the Week: Caroline Wozniacki (US Open Watch)

Ah, tennis season is around again and that means my obsession with women's tennis's women will cause this blog to arise from the depths of Davy Jones's Locker. These urges to post are usually caused by watching the matches and wanting to share them with all of you. Ah well, down to the post then eh?

Followers of this blog will be no stranger to the name Caroline Wozniacki, who, at 19 is actually 1 year younger than I am. She turned pro in 2005 and has very quickly risen to her current world ranking of #8.

Affectionately known as Caro, or in other quarters as "Danish Delight", she was also awarded WTA newcomer of the year 2008. Stunningly beautiful and with a megawatt smile, this girl can actually play some tennis, as proven by her match against Kuznetsova. Anyway, some pics of her in action in the US of A.

Trademark smile, in her doubles match.

In action against Kuznetsova.

Some promo shots from earlier.

P.S. Cast your vote in the poll on the right. Vamos Rafa!

Those that cannot learn from history,
Are doomed to repeat it.

Is our education system putting too much emphasis on grades?

Ah, exactly one month from my previous post. So, I wrote this piece for my public speaking but didn't manage to do it due to several reasons. It's something I've been wanting to write for quite awhile so when I got the chance I just sat down and got to it. If you've got the time and interest, I'd be honored if any of you guys read it and give me some feedback.

Right, so here goes:

One of the definitions that the Oxford dictionary gives us for education is the process of 'bringing up' or the manner in which a person has been 'brought up' with reference to social situation, kind of manners and habits acquired, calling or employment prepared for. This definition seems to be the ideal outcome of a successful education system. However, as you will soon find out, unfortunately our education system does not function in this way.

I will start with the simplest of examples and what our entire education system is built upon. Examinations, tests, call them what you will, like it or not, they are the backbone of our education system. And to people that don’t already know, we have these exams in abundance, and quite a fair bit of them are rather useless. The 3 main ones in the school system as of today are the UPSR, PMR, and SPM.

Just an example is UPSR, which is a compulsory exam set by our education ministry to indicate the finishing of primary school. I would like to ask one question. How necessary is this exam? Students are made to believe they study 6 years building up to it, but what does it signify? You continue to secondary school regardless of your results. The problem with our exams though, is how they are presented. Students memorise rather than learn, for the sole purpose of passing or acing the exam, only to forget everything once they have done so. There is a quote which says, Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. I believe this sums up our examination system and the way we are taught to study.

Especially apparent here, is the mentality set in our minds. The need to achieve a certain grade that is deemed acceptable means they are forced to endure countless hours of extra tuition to achieve the grades, sacrificing time for extracurricular activities. As the saying goes, all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. This way of thinking comes from the parents, who value grades so much higher than other achievements, that they are willing to bribe their children with money or gifts to push them towards those results.

Another view here is that the science stream is somehow better than the art stream. The education system streams students with better results into science and students with lower grades into the arts. The logic of this is baffling. People automatically think that students in the science streams are smarter than those in the arts. And because of this, students with good grades automatically go into the science stream, without considering the arts. Students like me, who regret that decision, because it is simply not what I am interested in doing.

The next sign that our education system is flawed and puts too much emphasis on grades, is the dire condition of the nation’s sports infrastructure. Here, it is frowned upon when someone’s ambition is to be a professional athlete. Why? Because there are no proper channels in which someone can reach this goal and make something out of his life. Sport is something schools do once a week, which they label Physical Education. It is not hard to see that the classroom is the emphasis of every education institute here. Look around you for example, we’re in an office building. How often are we encouraged take up a sport or an emphasis put on taking up sports seriously? Never, not in this country anyway.

Take a look at the US meanwhile, how many students there realise their potential at a certain sport in high school, then go on to receive sports scholarships from colleges and universities, and finally go on to make that sport a full time job. Are they products of the education system? Yes; they may not be able to explain to you Quantum Physics, or do integration, but they came out of the schooling system, and made themselves a career. I doubt very much anyone will realise any form of potential or talent from Physical Education, one hour a week. You may ask me, what has sports got to do with our education system? It’s just an example to show that grades are not everything.

So, what can be done to remedy this predicament we find ourselves in? First and foremost, we have to actually realise that the education system is flawed. We have to recognize that something needs to be done to cure this imbalance; because grades do not help us in one of the biggest parts of our lives, which is socially and culturally. Walker Percy once said, you can get all A's and still flunk life. The student who cheats and bluffs his way through school is considered smart, because he does not get caught. In the end, in the real world, he becomes a hopeless, helpless bundle of confusion and unbelief. If this does not show us that the system is flawed, I don’t know what will.

There is a saying that goes, a person may be well schooled, but that does not mean he has been well educated. He may have gone to the best schools, gotten the best grades, but he may be morally bankrupt. Our system is one in which culture plays no role in our education. Does one mature and grow up locked in a study, memorising words and passages simply because that’s how he has been taught to learn? No.

A balanced education system will do more than just help us study better, it will make us more cultured, more refined and overall, more civilised. All the more in a nation like ours, where we are growing as I believe this will do a lot in helping the country mature and develop. The first steps our education ministry need to take are to put aside the politics and have a serious review of the examination system, if that can be achieved; we could already be laying the groundwork and moving in the right direction. They then need to ask themselves, what should we gain from an education? And proceed from there. After all, there is a great deal more to the process of becoming educated than the actual instruction and schooling one may receive. Before I go I would like to leave you with a few sayings to ponder.

The aim of education is the knowledge not of fact, but of values.

The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think.

An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life.