Hero of War

Rise Against's song 'Hero of War' has been in my head all week and I've played it so many times because it's such a moving, confronting piece. I think about it as broken into three sections of the narrating voice's state of mind: the first being the glorified idea of being a soldier and becoming a hero fighting for one's country. The second being exposed to the battlefield and the horrors that occur with the violence and ill treatment to innocents while morals are being abandoned. The third is of complete disillusionment. 

I think the best way to talk about this song is actually just listening to it, so here it is: 

The Awkward Moment When... #6

I can't believe I've reached #6 of these posts in only a couple of years... actually I don't think I should be that surprised. But I've noticed that in my old age (well, in my twenties), I've become a ruder person who has much less tolerance than I used to. I'm literally a premature grumpy old lady, which is actually really upsetting. I used to be so nice! What happened?!?!?!

Anyway, the awkward moment when...

-someone tells you that a singer they liked played in England, in a city called Wales. You think this person is an idiot, but you keep it to yourself. This same person later sees a photo you've taken and asks where that was. You say Cambodia, and they ask where in Australia that is. That's when you accidentally say out loud "wow, you're stupid!"

-you're with a group of people and your friend asks "when you were in that band, wasn't there that girl and guy who were going out and then broke up or something?" and you have to admit you were the girl.

-(same night) you're telling a friend about your baby cousin who just was born and someone overhears parts of what you said and asks loudly "are you pregnant?" The whole room is silent and now staring at you, including your friend's grandparents.

-you're on the bus and a baby is staring at you. Not in a cute way, but in a freaky, unblinking, expressionless way and you smile and it just keeps staring at you. The grandmother is apologising and you're like "it's all good" and keep on smiling even though you are secretly freaked out by this possessed baby.

Jess is portraying what I felt on the inside so perfectly with that baby

-it's the middle of the night and you need to go to the toilet, but your leg gets tangled in a sheet and you end up falling out of bed with a loud "BANG!" which causes your dad to run into the room to see if you're okay

-when you're in a play and the group Facebook page has colourful condoms as it's cover picture and your parents are behind you when it pops up on your newsfeed

-when someone really pisses you off. Like REALLY pisses you off, but you can't confront them because you can't be rude to them, so instead, you read your past messages between you and your ex (who is constantly in your bad book anyway) so you can channel all your anger onto him instead of the other person.

Because violence is never the answer! 

-when someone stops you randomly at uni and says "you're really beautiful. Can I have your number?" And your reaction is "No. Do I look like a prostitute?"

-(speaking of which) when you walk into a room and you're greeted by someone saying "hi! Would you like a condom?"

Secret

Last week one of my friends made me listen to the song "Secret" by The Pierces. They said it was creepy and dark and that I'd absolutely love it, and they were absolutely right. That night when I got home I bought the entire album 'Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge', which was money well spent. I hadn't heard of this duo before, but if you like Lana Del Rey and Melanie Martinez like I do, then you'll really enjoy The Pierces as well.


Also, apparently 'Secret' is the theme song to 'Pretty Little Liars', which I haven't seen and now I really want to watch it because I love this song so much. The singing is chilling and the lyrics are catchy as well as extremely twisted. And to add to that, the fairground sound that is accompanying all of this, just is the icing on the cake. I played this song to my dad the other day and compared it with Melanie Martinez's 'Dead To Me', which too had the threatening suggestion explicitly expressed in the lyrics. I also mentioned that it reminded me of the eeriness present in Tim Burton-esque films. Imagine a film in The Corpse Bride style, with this song... just realised that may be why they chose it as the Pretty Little Liars theme song... okay, I'll stop talking now.

So, just a short post today, but hope you enjoy 'Secret'

21

Yesterday was my 21st birthday and unlike last years quarter-life crisis, I was surprisingly excited about my birthday. To be honest, I personally don't see the big deal about turning 21, because it does not impact on my life in any way. 18 is when we become"legal", so 21 is for me: "I can now legally drink in the USA now"... I'm not American or geographically nearby, so 21 literally is just becoming a whole year older than 20.

HOWEVER I do respect other people's excitement for turning 21, in fact I'm counting on my friends getting excited for their birthdays and for them to have parties, so I can have fun with them. Because what means a lot to my friends, means a lot to me. But in terms of my own birthday, I didn't want a big party or for my family to make it a big deal. So, instead of one huge celebration filled with every single human being that I have ever accounted (like my mum wanted me to do), I have organised scattered outings throughout the week, using my birthday as an excuse to not actually do homework or studies.

On Monday, I made sure I handed in two major assessments that were due this week, so I got it out of the way, so on Tuesday, I was able to hang out with a few uni friends, go to a pub and do trivia then stay out and go clubbing and I danced my way into my birthday, which is what I wanted. No big fuss, just going crazy on the dance floor and as luck should have it "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce was playing when it hit midnight, so it was perfect. 

Wednesday, my actual birthday, I had uni then a read through with the cast and director of a play I'm involved in, so that was really exciting. And when I got home, because I stayed at a friend's house the night before, I was welcomed by balloons and my dad and uncle. While eating cake for lunch, it was really nice to chat with them for the afternoon. Evening came around, mum came home and her, dad and I went to my nonna's house for dinner. Dad made this absolutely amazing lasagne and chocolate and pear birthday cake, and spending time with my absolute favourite people, was exactly what I wanted for my birthday, because nothing beats a home cooked meal with parents and nonna.

okay, it looks gross, but this was one of the best lasagnes I've ever had

And it's not over yet. This weekend is going to be more gatherings, and despite me saying that 21 isn't a big deal for me, that doesn't mean I don't like celebrating. I'm doing what I've done for my 20th, my 19th and my 18th birthdays: meeting up with close friends in the city, eating cheap (but yummy) food and hanging out at a bar all afternoon, and I'm really looking forward to seeing my friends. 

Blowing in the wind

I'm not a fan of his voice, but Bob Dylan is a lyrical genius. Genius is a big claim, but his songs are so well written and there are a few of them that I absolutely respect and love, which I have been playing on repeat over the past few days while writing my most recent essay (that and a few Elton John songs).

When I was studying William Blake in my final year of high school (I am a massive fan, because I'm a nerd like that), my literature teacher showed us a few Bob Dylan lyrics and pointed out that he gathered a lot of inspiration through Blake's poetry. So we spent a lesson analysing Bob Dylan songs and that afternoon, I remember coming home from school and borrowing a few of his CD's from my public library because I loved my literature course and found it so motivational.

My favourite song of his is definitely the 1962 song 'Blowing in the wind'.  I love it's ambiguity, of the answers blowing in the wind and not knowing which direction the wind is going. It holds rhetorical questions about freedom and love, hatred, war and peace, sparking thought, so in that sense, it's not explicit the accusation of how the world's behaviour, however, that's the strength of the song (back again to his lyrical genius). The use of rhetoric is passive aggressive, making this a protest song, with it stimulating the listener's mind.

With the acoustic guitar, as well as the ambiguous connotations associated with the phrase of "blowing in the wind", I find this song extremely comforting and soothing. It's extremely heartbreaking the content of the song, for example "how many times must the cannon balls fly/ before they're forever banned" or "how many years can some people exist/ before they're allowed to be free", but it does give you a sense of hope that maybe things will change and the world can one day be a better place.

[Note: sorry, for some reason my internet had problems uploading the video on the post, so here is the link to the song]

Blowing in the Wind link

Marina

It was only a few weeks ago I mentioned how one of my favourite movie genres are films based on true stories. And I finally discovered what that genre is called! It's a BIOPIC film, which, now knowing the term, seems rather obvious.
In that previous post, I spoke about 'The Imitation Game', 'Big Eyes' and 'The Woman in Gold' and briefly mentioned 'Pride'. Well, today I watched another biopic film purely by chance, a 2013 Belgium film called 'Marina' which is about the early life of Rocco Granata.

Rocco Granata is an Italian musician who moved to Belgium when he was ten because his dad worked in the mines. The film shows how his family were treated as Italian emigrants in the 1940's and how tough it was for the father working in those bad conditions underground and trying to create a better life for his children. Focussing on Rocco's love for music it shows how it impacts the family and his relationship with his father. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, getting completely emotionally invested with the lives of the Granata's. I got frustrated, worried and was literally jumping in my seat in the hope for Rocco to find success.

I didn't really know who Rocco was, and it was only halfway through when Rocco sings his improvised song 'Marina', my mum all of a sudden started singing along. She got really excited because she used to dance and sing along to this song when she was a child. Whenever she hears Italian songs that she grew up with, mum gets very nostalgic, and one of my own favourite moments with her is when she sings Italian songs to me and we dance traditional-style around the house.

'Marina' is a really catchy song and after the film ended and we all agreed how incredible it was, mum and I looked up the lyrics to the song and sang together. I never formally learnt Italian, and I really want to one day, but growing up hearing it all the time with my mum's family, if I were to read it, I use correct pronunciation. It is to the point that when I was in high school, my French teacher told me I spoke French with an Italian accent (I was pretty bad at French).
So this evening ended up being really lovely, spending quality time with mum and is it weird to say that I felt like I was connecting with my heritage? I don't know, it's sort of like my Italian genes are usually put on mute and every now and then they are like "yeah, we want to be present". Mind you, some of my friends see me as 'the Italian one' even though I'm half. With my dad's side of the family, I do stand out quite a lot though, with my Italian features next to my blonde hair and blue eyed cousins. I even remember one of my friends once telling me that I "look very Italian today" and because it's such a weird comment, I was like "It's what my face looks like every other day", which he replied "I know, but I just seemed to notice it more today... it's a compliment."

It's funny how this week in one of my subjects, we were talking about cultures, so this is so relevant. Connecting with one's culture is something that I think is important and living in Australia, because we are such a multicultural country, I find that we establish new identities for ourselves and sometimes forget about our family history which does impact on us when you really think about it.
Okay, that's enough philosophical epiphanic moments for me today, so I'll loop back to my original point: the 2013 film 'Marina' is fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys biopic films.

Fever

I'm so sorry, but I've been really sick recently and today was the first day that I've been less zombie-esque. But that is not going to stop me from posting a song! And despite the very short post, I have decided to have the classic 'Fever' who so many great artists have covered over the years. It's such a great song and a very different kind of fever than what I've had over the past few days, but still, I appreciate it.

Big Eyes

This past week has been very busy, with not just uni going absolutely crazy with homework, but also I've had people visiting from America coming over and a family friend from Sydney staying with us. It has been really nice spending time with everyone, going out for dinner or having really nice dinners at my auntie's house, so because of this, I've been really behind at keeping up with posts. Sorry about that.

A few weeks ago I mentioned the film 'Big Eyes' that I watched recently and thought incredible, especially since it is based on a true story. Another great aspect of the film was the music- Lana Del Rey was an excellent choice for contributing to the soundtrack, with her sultry voice and lyrical genius really haunting, causing chills to run through your body. Her song 'Big Eyes' was quite rightly nominated and won awards as best original song for the Critic's Choice and the Golden Globe Awards in 2015. It is an excellent song and I'm really glad that it has gained some recognition.

In the past few days, I've been in a Lana Del Rey mood, listening more to her most recent albums, rather than my usual preferred 'Born to Die' and 'Paradise' albums. But I just love them all, and the first thing I did this morning was reach out to my docking station and was greeted by 'High by the beach' and working my way through 'Honeymoon' and 'Ultraviolence'.