Candymans blog

‘m still glad that I have a few weeks to perfect my project because I’m not quite sure how to incorporate work cited into this project. I’m sure this is due to my lack of experience with writing, however, with the wiki format it’s a little different then writing a normal paper. I’ve been so busy with everything lately that I’ve concentrated on my work rather than with some of the little pictures in my project which I still need to go back through and add a few more. Other than that I’m very happy with my work.

‘m still glad that I have a few weeks to perfect my project because I’m not quite sure how to incorporate work cited into this project. I’m sure this is due to my lack of experience with writing, however, with the wiki format it’s a little different then writing a normal paper. I’ve been so busy with everything lately that I’ve concentrated on my work rather than with some of the little pictures in my project which I still need to go back through and add a few more. Other than that I’m very happy with my work.

Going back and looking at the MC5 book gave me a few ideas on how to write about the Hendrix album. This book is rather helpful for a couple of reasons: one being that it writes about the 1960’s and two that it’s written in a way that makes it interesting to read. It’s easy to state the facts and not worry if what your writing is actually interesting or not. On the other hand it’s harder when you’re paying attention to every little detail to make sure that it’s descriptive and specific rather than general and vague. If i only remember one thing from this class I’m sure thats what it will be.

Up to this point i have been writing a lot for my final project. I have been trying to use the suggestions from prof. Rice when i write. I’m spending more time going back over what i wrote, proofreading it trying to catch dumb mistakes. But there are also mistakes i make that i dont catch because i dont know there incorrect. Over the years i wrote papers in order to get a good grade as most of us did. However, grammer was not the biggest concern. We wrote for content first then grammer and spelling came later. It’s a hard habit to break but I’m trying. I think another weakness of mine is that i like to write as much can in one sitting and then go back over it and proofread it at the end. I think this is bad because you can become overwhelmed at the end with mistakes because you allowed them to pile up as you were writing. Thats one thing i worked on today when i was writing. I would write a paragraph then go back over it and fix my mistakes.

Its weird, writing a paper like this, because it’s taken some unforeseeable turns. As i been writing, i have had i ideas come to mind which i wanted to put in my paper. The problem with that is i had to figure how to fit them in, which was hard. I felt like the paper was controlling me rather me controlling the paper. The paper took on a voice of its own with out me intenstionally doing it. I felt like i was driving a car that was pulling to the left and had to from time to time i had to point it back in the right direction. I surprised even my self even with this paper up to this point. I can honestly say, this is the best content wise paper i have ever written in my life. I am really proud of it.

I have a lot of connections with my Bruce Springsteen album right now. But I’m neglecting the other album. This is a major problem, I plan on using this blog entry as a way of organizing my thoughts on the album. I left off by talking about what makes Jimi Hendrix so creative and different from other artists before him. The connections that I’ve come up with so far start with his lack of musical training. Hendrix was completely self taught. I feel that’s one main reason why Hendrix was so free in his style of music. Since he has no stylistic boundaries because he doesn’t fit completely under a previous style. Back in the 1960’s and the 1950’s and even before then; blues artists and jazz musicians were some of the most influential musicians of the day. There is a correlation between those styles of music and Hendrix’s. But there is no strict line between the two either. Comparing Hendrix with other musicians such as the Rolling Stones and The Beatles will be interesting because they were also influenced by the same type of guitarists. But yet there music was very different from Hendrix’s. Exploring these differences is one of my plans for the next couple of weeks.

1) “There’s a war outside still raging
you say it ain’t ours anymore to win
I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover’s bed
with a wide open country in my eyes
and these romantic dreams in my head”
This is from the song “No Surrender” off of Born in the USA. During the 1960’s the Vietnam war was in full swing, an American sentiment for the war was getting lower and lower. In this song it is referring to both the wars that were going on. The war at home between people that were for the war and people that were against the war. As well as the war its self being fought in Vietnam. This perception is reflected in the album as well as in todays society. Almost 40 years later, we have another war were the country is divided.
2)The recent movie North Country is about a mining town in Minnesota. This town only exists due to the mine, if it wasn’t for the mine there would be no reason for a town since its sucluded from mostly everywhere. Its just as in the song “ My Hometown” where a town is reliant on a single source of income. In both cases if the mine or factory closes, the town becomes a distant memory because no one will stay because there is no other work.
3)Hamburger Hill was a movie released in the 1980’s. It followed a platoon of men in the Vietnam War. In this movie a solider talked about how all he wanted to do was walk down the streets in his jump boots. However, because of all the Anti-War sentiment people wouldn’t show the man the respect that he deserved, after fighting for is country. This is the same type of idea that is being expressed by song “Born in the USA”. When a man comes back to work for a factory and is treated as if he was the enemey.
4)One of the movies that expresses these same feelings and emotions as the album Born in he USA does is Forest Gump. In the movie Forest goes off and fights in Vietnam and when he comes back Forest and Segeret Dan both get a feeling of the Anti-War sentiment. Which was going on back at home when they were off fighting. Which is the same that is being expressed in the album.
5)Friday night Lights is a movie thats about a small town in Texas that always produces unbelievable High School football teams. The people in this town are all hardworking blue collar Americans. Generations after generations grow up and play football and win championships for the their town. Then come back and have their kids play football and the cycle contineues. The same perception lies in the song “Glory days”. Its all about growing up and reminiscing out the good old days the (glory days
).
6)In the news recently job outsourcing has been a huge issue. More specifically the Delphi situation. Here is a prime example of how a company is no longer competitive in a market. Since they lost a lot of there business to companies that are over seas. This is a major problem that hurts the blue collar worker the greatest. They are expected to take the largest pay cuts, and are the ones to be first laid off. This situation reflects that tone of the Born in the USA.

My strategy is to work on the the wiki project when ever I have time, so that i am not over whelmed. I am planning to start my project as soon as possible. I plan on making stronger connections with Hendrix’s background and see if i can find events that will lead me in the direction of how he influenced the music industry with no musical training. I think that I am pretty much set on the Springsteen album for now and plan on spending the next couple of weeks developing my connections with the Hendrix album.

Between the proposal and the presentation I have been able to discover the strengths and weakness of my project thus far. I discovered that I need to take a deeper look into the life altering events in Hendrix life. That would influence his style of guitar playing. I think I need to explore his relation ship with his mother more because I do remember reading a book back in 7th grade and remembering that his mother died of sciorciss of the liver.
The hardest part of this project so far was the worked cited page. It took me hours in order to get it properly formated and I felt that it was a waste of time since I so many other subjects to study for. I felt that I wasn’t even adding any content to my paper during the time I spent working on the work cited page. Then of course I faced grammar and spelling issues as usual. The paper yet again reminded me that I am weak in those areas. I think it goes back to high school were we were thought to write for the tests, which were content based rather than grammar. However, i relalize i need to work on it.
The project made me gain a greater respect, not for just Springsteen but anyone who is willing to put there views out on the table for everyone to criticize. One reason I respect him is because I believe he actually believes in what he says and its not just to sell more records. When an album has more feeling and point to it, it causes the listener to listen to the lyrics more in order to get a better understanding for the content of the song rather than the beat. This is one of the biggest ideas I found behind Sprinsteen’s music

I finally finished my paper. Proof reading was never one of my strong points. To be more clear grammar and spelling. I always felt my content was good, but the grammar and spelling was always lacking. I did the best job i could on this paper, so therefore, I am happy with the end result. The next step is the final wiki project. I feel i have a good strong foundation to start off with. I hope i feel as strongly about that as i do about my proposal.