Rest in Beats Nujabes.

Jun Seba, a Japanese producer and DJ has passed away in late February. Confirmed by his own record label on March 18, he has died in a car accident upon exiting the Shuto Expressway late at night. He was only 36 years old.

More commonly know by the name of Nujabes, he produced beats with a strong jazz influence, adding in his own mix of saxophone, guitar, piano, and flute in order to produce a warmer, more mellow track. The death of Nujabes struck a blow to the underground hip-hop scene. The first time I listened to one of his tracks it was completely different compared to anything that I have ever heard before. I would just feel so much emotion from his beats. No matter what mood I was in, there seemed to be a track that would match it. Whatever the mood was I could always turn to Nujabes. I would rely on his music to focus when I did homework, or when I had a headache and needed to relax. His music was just always there for me, always soothing. The mellow beats would always paint pictures, memories, scenarios in my head. There's only a few artists that I can never seem to get sick of no matter how many times I listen to their work and this man would definitely have to be one of them.

Listening to his music not only helped me emotionally, but it has also influenced my taste in music. Before listening to him, I was stuck in the same overall genre of music. No variety. No change. Everything was the same, snares here, bass here, and a mix of fast paced lyrics. Nujabes' music was different. You can't really predict the type of tracks that he will produce since each one of them has it's own uniqueness. From listening to him, I've expanded my playlist of music past the common mainstream music of the radio, or general hip-hop and rap and started to progress into instrumentals from such producers like J. Dilla.

Man, now that I think about it, J.Dilla died really early in his life too. So many young and talented people seem to die at an early age. It only leaves the rest of the world to wonder what they would have become, and what else they could have contributed. Nujabes touched the hearts of countless people across the world. His work has changed the lives of many and his presence will truly be missed. He brought a new style of sophistication into his work, accompanied with nostalgic undertones, he's put out some of the most beautiful tracks to emerge from the underground scene. He brought with him a real taste of hip-hop in a world of rappers talking about money and drugs. This just makes me believe more strongly that we really have to appreciate the type of people who are contributing to the world while we still can. Whether it's in music, sports, politics, etc. Before we know it they won't be with us any longer and only then will their work be honored. He was truly one of the geniuses of the music industry. You will forever be missed and always loved. Your music is just that much more meaningful to me now that I know you won't be putting out any more new tracks. Rest in peace Nujabes.

COMEBACK.

I haven't blogged in about 3 weeks due to winter break and since then I really haven't gotten any inspiration to write a blog either. So this week I tried to get readjusted to school life again just like everybody else. Coming back from not sleeping until the early morning and waking up in the late afternoons to walking to school in the freezing cold at 7AM can take a while to get used to again.
During this week I've decided that I really want to focus more on my academics since I cannot afford to slip up since finals are coming up. Sadly today I found out I have a C in math class. The irony huh? The week that I decide to work harder is the week I realize I'm really slipping fast in school. I guess I've just had a lot of outside distractions as of late. A lot of hanging out and not enough book time would probably be the blame for it.
So anyways, school also had some good sides to it, getting to see friends again and well, learning again. I know a lot of the times school can be a real pain, but I really do appreciate the fact that I actually learn some important information during the 7 hour period. You know the saying "Somethings aren't taught in school"? Well, the same goes for both ways. Somethings, you just don't learn without school. I guess I'm starting to have a new found appreciation for the place in which most kids dread. I'm not saying I completely love it, but it's a start. So Mr. Sutherland thank you for teaching me something new everyday I enter your classroom, even though you don't get paid as much as you should nor receive enough of the respect that you deserve, I'm grateful.

To the Teens

Recently I've been seeing a lot of kids stressing about their classes, grades, school in general, and basically just life. A lot of people don't seem to understand that in this point in our lives, we don't even have much responsibilities. For most of us, we're just counted on doing chores and homework. We don't have to deal with taxes, full time jobs, paying the bills, etc. and yet, a lot of people are just freaking out. I understand that high school is important and all, but sometimes people just need to take it easy for a while and relax. Just stop and live life a little. Go for a walk along the beach, hang out at the park with your friends, or look at the clouds. Look around you. Life is beautiful and you should enjoy it instead of going along with the rest of society all the time. Universities and colleges in general nowadays are more competitive than ever to get into, and because of the economy finding a job can be a hassle also.
I think basically anyone could just go straight home everyday from school, study and do homework, and get straight A's. I don't see that as much of an accomplishment. I have a lot of respect for kids who go out at night to hangout with their friends, or go to parties on the weekends. I'm not saying go get wasted and high and I'll respect you or something, it's just the fact that they show that school isn't their only concern.
So the next time you feel stressed out or concerned, just take a breather. A small break from life and spoil yourself. It's a healthy thing to do. Do what you enjoy, and stick with it because when we're older and grow up all this stuff is going to seem like a walk in the park.

Inspiration. Teachers? -[WBP]

I'm feeling kind of depressed right now. Sad? I don't know. Either way, I'm in no mood to write, but this blog must go on. Determination is key.

So I came up with this topic earlier in the week and saved it as a draft to write later on in the week so I could get some more thoughts about it.

The key to success is education. It's how we get anywhere in life. I think the United States as a country takes education for granted. In other countries education is a privilege, not a right. One of the big key issues in government is education. Anyway you look at it, education is a big deal. I mean, we go to school from when we're a young child until we are fully grown adults. School is where we learn everything. It's so much more than standard education. It's where we make our friends to last our whole life, where we learn about life, trends, culture, etc. We learn so much more from just being at school compared to being in a classroom. School sets us up for life. Recently a friend told me he was having such a great time at school. In response I asked how that was possible because I can't really associate being at school with genuine fun. Then he gave me probably the most simple answer ever. School is only fun if you make it fun. It seems like a pretty obvious thing to say, but it's so true. If you are actually into it, it really does become fun and I know because I've tried it for myself. It's a totally different experience.


Anyways, the main point of this post isn't even to talk about schooling. The point is about the people who are responsible for preparing us for the world. Teachers. Yeah, that's right. Underpaid, grumpy and annoying teachers. They are core that make up schools. The supplier of knowledge. Now, from personal experience most have my teachers have been pretty standard throughout middle school and high school. Lecture, notes, bookwork, homework, and tests. The classic schedule for most teachers. What I want to talk about are those select number of teachers that have actually gone over and above their job of simply teaching me the subject that they are oh so wise in. They've made me actually think, given me inspiration and so much more.

It probably began in 8th grade. For Core class (consisting of English and History) I had the ever so amazing Peter Hill. This was probably the first teacher that I've ever had that actually challenged me. Not by being such a harsh grader or assigning massive amounts of homework. No. While I wrote constant essays to turn in to him, he would always give me back feedback. 'Where did you get this idea from?' 'How did this event lead to this?' I mean, these were actually good points, its not some bs reason like 'Didn't use proper format'. He actually cared about writing. In the beginning of the year I was getting around C-'s- C+'s for my writing assignments. Being inspired to improve my writing, by the end of the year I was reaching B-A range on my essays. This was the first time I was actually passionate about writing. I wanted to improve and get better to prove to myself that I could do this. And for that Mr. Hill, I'm forever grateful.

When I entered freshman year I was put into standard English class. The main thought in my head after the first week was 'WHAT KIND OF ENGLISH IS THIS?!' It felt like I was honestly in the 3rd grade. The teacher had me doing worksheets consisting of correcting sentences missing commas and common punctuation. I don't blame the teacher for this either because I talked to my other friends in regular English and we could all agree that this course was just ridiculous. By the end of the year I felt like I lost all the progress that I've made during 8th grade.

And so this year, I'm lucky enough to have Mr. Sutherland as my English teacher. (No, I'm not sucking up).
This guy is pretty amazing. He's not your average English teacher. I mean he does things so differently. He's showing us videos about new information about the world, having us blog weekly, etc. He's constantly trying new things to teach us in different ways and sometimes it doesn't work out as planned, but that fine. At least he's trying something new. It's refreshing and for that I have respect for him. He's a pretty laid back guy, and his class rules are a little unstable, and it's amazing, but in my opinion he doesn't get the respect and attention he deserves. I feel like I'm learning updated standards that actually applies to the world of today, instead of some California State Standards written 10 years ago. I believe after a few years of trial and error experiments on what appeals to the students and what gets through to them, he'll be the best teacher you could have. I'm excited to see what else he has in store for the class, and what I will learn throughout this school year.(http://sites.google.com/site/sutherlandu/)

Now this last person I want to talk about is pretty surprising to me. Yong Joo, my mid-30 year old, horrible public speaking honors chemistry teacher. I've heard throughout my freshman year that he was the best teacher ever, and all the best compliments you could possibly give to a teacher. My first impression of him, he's a boring guy. I mean, I'm sure he's a cool person, but when he teaches chemistry, it's pretty dull. He didn't live up to the hype that I expected. Now that I've learned a little more about him, he seems like a genuinely amazing guy. Today he told us his life story about how he was a nerd in high school and got into MIT. Then he didn't really understand the reason for why he wanted to do well academically in school, so he started slacking. He got on academic probation twice and finally graduated with a chemistry major after switching in his mid-junior year. After finishing college he struggled to find what he really wanted to do and hopped around doing a variety of different jobs. Through this he picked up some skills and finally took a shot at being a teacher. I'm almost as glad as he is that he's made the right decision. From the exterior he looks like some dorky, awkward guy, but that's not him at all. He goes on crazy motorcycle trips throughout the United States with his buddies as well as random strangers, he's a pyromaniac, and probably most significant of all, he can relate to us (the students). He didn't know what he wanted to do when he was growing up, he didn't even know when he was out of college. He's struggled through this and has succeeded and for this I admire him. It gives me comfort knowing that I'm not the only one uneasy about my future career and my purpose in life. I can't wait to get to know him better. In case you want to learn a little more about him here's some blog posts or e-mails he's written a while ago. http://yongjoo.fastmail.fm/

These people are not just your standard teachers, these people have given me so much to look forward to in learning as well as motivation to do good. I'm grateful to have/had these people as my teachers, giving me so much more than just a 
standard education.

If you've read this far, leave a comment on which teachers have inspired/motivated you and why.(=
 P.S Sutherland, I'm sorry this post was 1200+words. Have it in your heart to forgive me. Haha. I'll slim it down next time.