In response to this week’s Photo Challenge: Angular
Weekly Photo Challenge: Angular (Art Gallery and Library)
Tag Archives: john
Weekly Photo Challenge: Minimalistic Music Room
John Lennon’s Music Room – The Beatles Story Museum, Liverpool
In response to this week’s photo challenge: Minimalist
What does Chris Brown, Luis Suarez and John Terry have in common? The responsibility of the famous
Recent football events involving John Terry and Luis Suarez (separate incidents) have caused a major stir in football. John Terry was caught on camera shouting racially abusive words towards Anton Ferdinand:
People can easily make out what Terry shouted towards Ferdinand. This incident caused John Terry to be stripped off the England captaincy, and is still being investigated. In a separate incident, Patrice Evra of Manchester United claimed he was also racially abused by Liverpool’s Luis Suarez in their match last year. This resulted in an 8-match suspension for Luis Suarez. However, in Liverpool and United’s match a few weeks ago, Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand during the start of the game, causing the issue to remain unsettled:
Also recently, Chris Brown was slammed after winning a Grammy for the Best R&B Album (F.A.M.E.) and being nominated for both Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song, on top of being allowed to perform in the said awards show. People’s anger stems from Brown’s domestic abuse case against Rihanna which occured only a few years ago (disturbing details from official court documents available here).
These incidents highlights the responsibilities of these famous people. They must realize that day in, day out, they are in the public’s eyes. People search for their videos, pictures and the latest news about them. Every action should be calculated and precise because people of all ages from all over the world, thanks to the internet and the media, can know what they are up to. Whether they like it or not, they are role models. I am not saying that we all do everything that these celebrities and sports people do. However, I cannot deny the influence they have towards our choices. Otherwise, why put them in commercials? Terry and Suarez represents not only their teams’ ethos and pride, but also the whole of football. Similarly, Chris Brown represents hiphop and is a part of the whole music business.
What they’ve done is terrible and shouldn’t be done ever again. But I do believe that all of them deserve a second chance. There is no doubt that I am angry with each of them. No one should ever be allowed to beat up another human being, let alone your romantic partner. Nobody should get away with racially abusing someone else, regardless of whether the whole world is watching or not. But we all make mistakes, small or big. Yes, Terry, Suarez and Brown should know that they shouldn’t have done what they have but the damage has been done. I just wish that they have learned from their experiences.
People will always remember what these three have done to tarnish their reputation. It is up to them whether or not they want to win their fans (and the whole world) back and how they will do it. It is also up to us to give them a second chance. People should remember that we have a choice of whether or not we continue watching Terry and Suarez’s games, Brown’s concerts and whether or not we continue buying Brown’s records. I just hope that other celebrities and sports personalities learn from these mistakes.
😉
My favourite guitar solos of all
As a guitar player, I’ve always been asked to name my favourite guitar solos of all time. I’ve been inspired by players from different genres and my favourite solos/songs change from time to time. Below are only a few of my favourite ones. Please note that they are not ranked and I am not claiming that they are better than any other songs that were not on the list. This is simply a list of the solos that inspired my own personal style of playing. These songs are the ones that I would listen to time and time again:
Mr. Big’s Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy. Introduced to me by one of my best friends, Mr Big features Paul Gilbert- one of the best alternate-pickers of all time. This song took me a month to learn and 3 months to perfect.
Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Randy Rhodes’ Crazy Train. This song has the groove that makes me wanna pick up my guitar everytime I hear it. The solo’s easy to learn but involves leggatos and tapping techniques that I believe every guitarist should have in their arsenal:
Guns n Roses’ Paradise City. No, it’s not Sweet Child o’ Mine. This song’s solos are far more complicated (for me) than Sweet Child’s and far more harder to learn and play- I still don’t know how to play this song in full.
Pantera’s Walk. I don’t need to explain why I like this song and it’s solo. If you’re a guitarist, you SHOULD know how to play this note for note. This is one of those solos that you don’t change when you play it live.
Avenged Sevefold’s Afterife. Yes, A7X lost it’s appeal when they went mainstream, but this song’s riff and solo is just out of this world. Learn to play this really really slow in order to play it up-tempo:
Derek Trucks’ I Wish I Knew. Honestly, I can’t pick a single song that will represent the genius of Derek Trucks. Just watch and learn:
Poison’s (Ritchie Konzen) Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice). I know the songs cheesy. But everytime I hear the solo, I always wish that I was the one who wrote it!
Al Di Meola’s Mediterranean Sundance. I know this is not your typical song and it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but watch him! I am too scared to try to play like him!
Gary Moore’s Still Got The Blues. Slow, easy listening song with a mean, mean solo!
B.B King’s The Thrill is Gone. This man plays fewer note than most guitarists, but the notes that he plays are the right ones. I never knew what the BLUES is until I’ve seen this man live:
Lastly, my favourite solo of them all is John Mayer’s Slow Dancin’ in a Burning Room. I honestly don’t know why I love this solo so much. Everytime I hear/play it, I discover something new. I would never get tired of this song:
John and Edward: X-Factor’s biggest asset?
Whether you love them or you hate them, you have to admit that John and Edward (a.k.a.’Jedward’) are the most popular act in this year’s X-Factor finals. People all over the country talk more about these two than any other contestant in the show. Those who hate them watch the show attentively every Saturday waiting for them to screw a song up, whilst those who support them watch the show waiting for a chance to prove the critics wrong. Every Sunday, the same people watch the results show just to know whether the twins will survive or not. And (so far), survive they did, to the amazement of many.
So, are you still wondering why these guys are still on the show? As stated above, they make people watch the show, and in turn, ITV’s ratings go up, which makes the bosses at ITV happy due to the revenue. Not only do they raise ratings up, I’m pretty sure that the longer they stay in the competition, the more people will vote for other acts just to get them out, which again means more money for the show/network’s big bosses. And when Jedward finally exits the show, it will provide a cathartic feeling to most of us who dislike them, especially for those who begin to question the show’s credibility.
I for one do not like the twins simply because they cannot sing and also because I feel sorry for the other contestants who are more talented than them but got booted off before them. But then again, I will keep on saying this until people get it: X-Factor needs acts like the twins to keep the show interesting in many ways. As Hayley Restall wrote in her blog , X-Factor is NOT JUST a talent show.
SItes:
http://hayleyrestall.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/vex-factor/
xfactor.itv.com
Understanding and Embracing Diversity 