“The afternoon withered like a balloon around Dylan on his stoop, waiting for Robert Woolfolk to return.”

“She was wild with information he couldn’t yet use: Nixon was a criminal, the Dodgers moved to California, Chinese food gives you a headache, Muhammad Ali resisted the war and went to jail, Hitchcock’s British films were better than his American ones, circumcision was unnecessary but women preferred it.”

“Rachel sprayed language as the hydrant opened by the Puerto Rican kids around the corner on Nevins on the hottest days that year sprayed water, unstoppered, gushing.”

“Her raven hair haloed in sunlight, her fingertips stained with nicotine or marijuana.”

“It’s not too soon for you to know, my profound child, the world is nuttier than a fruitcake. Run if you can’t fight, run and scream “fire” or “rape”, be wilder than they are, wear flames in your hair, that’s my recommendation.”

“Mingus led Dylan to the back yard, where they winged rocks into the sky, let them plop into the Puerto Ricans’ yard. The air smelled like somebody’s arm up close. You could hear the steady ding of a Mister Softee truck on Bergen Street, probably with a string of the usual kids hanging on it.”

“You met zones everywhere. The schoolyard was neighborhoods: black, black girl, Puerto Rican, basketball, handball, left behing. Black girls had a language of partial words, chants harder to learn than anything in class. The place was a cage for growing, nothing else. You couldn’t be left back from fish sticks and sloppy joes.”

“The high-school kids pouring out of Sarah J. Hale all afternoon, black girls already bigger than yo mama, Third Avenue another no man’s land, the empty lot where they raped that girl.”

“The halfway house. It was all halfway, you walked out of your halfway school and tried to chart a course through your halfway neighborhood to make it back to your own halfway house, your half-empty house.”

“It was a season of vanishing, of a silence like raw stupidity, like the unbearable ticking silence of a teacher expecting an answer from a kid everyone knew couldn’t even say his own name right.”

In this article, written on popular blog Zoilus by Globe & Mail editor, Carl Wilson, discusses the different tastes in music that people have, and who would be considered one of the first rock stars. Wilson comments on another article written by a Jody Rosen, for  Slate magazine, entitled “In search of Eva Tanguay, the first rock star”. Eva Tanguay is said to be one of the first female performers to have perfected the vaudeville style which consists of a theatrical performance of variety entertainment, that is often deemed ambiguous. Tanguay was a young lady from Canada, who’s energetic enthusiasm, and sexually suggestive songs soon made her a crowd favourite. She received the nickname the “I Don’t Care Girl” after her famously liberating song after the same name. She was a woman who was all for individuality, and the emancipated woman.

In Rosen’s article, she states that though, people may have forgotten about this once great rock star, the culture that she’s inspired and some of her eccentricity seems to have rubbed off on some of the greatest performers of our time. Rosen suggests that some aspects of Tanguay’s performance and style have been emulated by the likes of Billie Holiday, Betty Boop, Lena Lovich, Cyndi Lauper, Gwen Stefani, Bjork, Madonna, and last but surely not least, Lady Gaga. These famous faces, and catchy voices, all have one thing in common: odd sex appeal. Their image is one of austere sexuality, and style, that makes for discussion worthy topics. Tanguay, like her successors, has had many odd costumes, and sexually suggestive lyrics to compliment her oddity of a persona. When people see something different, they are quick to judge, and even quicker to do some follow-up research. This is the case with many of the women after Tanguay who’ve received much criticism on their performance.

Lady Gaga, who seems amazingly similar to Tanguay, seems to have carried on her spirit, in, well.. spirit. With her average voice, but eclectic persona and astounding performances, they’re very much alike. Throw in some large head pieces and a few costume oddities and you’ve got yourself a pair of twins.

Much like the chain of trendsetters, and avid fashionistas, this chain of women in odd performance seems to have grown. From, Tanguay to Lady Gaga,  the world has most definitely changed, but it seems that there are some parts of the past that have been carried on into the 21st Century, and have seemed to found a likely home for themselves. After all, it doesn’t really seem as if Lady Gaga’s doing poorly for herself now, does it?

In a link found on the blogosphere, Metafilter.com, there was an article claiming that Lady Gaga was a puppet of the Illuminati.  The article, written on a blog entitled, “The Vigilant Citizen”, has a tag line that says to “never take freedom for granted”, and spews his theories for why Gaga is in with the bad boys. Can it be possible that this revered recording artist could be a part of this secret association bent on New World Order, and mind control? It seems that everything from her robotic, here-nor-there attitude, to her “symbolic” fashion statements, that include wearing a ram’s head (the sign of the devil), to her covering one of her eyes. Despite the many theories, can this be the truth? And if this is just one very popular recording artist, what’s to say that there aren’t many others, just making catchy tunes to really get their “message” into our heads.

One of the first points that the article claims is that the name itself, Lady Gaga, screams empty-headedness, and a larger opportunity of brain control. He then goes on to say that women in music such as Gaga, and Beyoncé have paths that resemble the plot of a movie entitled “Metropolis”, which tells the story of a woman from the working class, that’s transformed to take control of working class minds. These women become robots of sorts, that are both sexy and alluring, and take the working class by storm.

With the next claim, the webmaster says that Lady Gaga is definitely an illuminati puppet, based on the fact that she often covers one of her eyes, in a striking resemblance to the “all-seeing eye”, that’s frequently used as the FreeMason’s logo. In many of the pictures shown, she is covering her one eye, or looping her fingers in front of her one eye, to indicate the fact that we’re all being watched.

In many of Gaga’s videos it is said that she uses a more robotic voice, and has blatant images pertaining to the Illuminati, and mind control. She has recurring themes that are said to represent, Satanism, hypnosis, rebirth, and murder. This I must admit, that I refused to believe as an avid fan of the Gaga, and her- for lack of a better word- hypnotizing video sequences. However, when delving into her few and entertaining videos, I found that these four themes are apparent themes in her videos, and seem to add more ambiguity to her persona. The question remains though, is she really this ambiguous, or is this supposed ambiguity all an act, conspired by the “higher-ups”, in order to make her seem “unique”, and therefore more susceptible to media scrutiny?  That seems to be the case, according to this article, which plainly put, makes her the poster-girl for illuminati mind control, and who’s main purpose is too corrupt the minds of the youth of tomorrow. However, there is much to be said on whether or not, Gaga is an actual puppet to this secret association, or if she even has any association with this association. Ladies and gentlemen, this is all just speculation, so just relax, go take your microwave dinners out, and watch the Top 40 for some more “mind control”! Mmmm…mind control.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who was born in 1986 in New York, goes by the stage name Lady Gaga and has become very influential to Pop music. Some are starting to call her the new Madonna, and she seems to come with the same quirks and controversy as her predeccesor. With a flaming bra, she set the world of Pop on fire with her catchy lyrics and pumping club bangers. She’s always been someone who has gotten viewers more than enough bang for their buck and she has sold  over 20 million digital singles and more than 4 million albums worldwide. What is it about her that’s so fascinating? Is it because she seems sexually ambigious? That we just can’t figure out what she’s wearing more than half the time? Or is it because she’s taken the Pop world by storm? She’s always just the right amount of provocative and manages to flash us her woman bits at every turn, but is she the new Madonna? That’s very high praise and a title that it seems she is ready to take on. After appearing on Saturday Night Live, in a sketch with Her Madge herself, it seemed that the torch had been passed. This new generation of electro-pop enfused with glam-rock and hip hop beats makes for an interesting genre of music. In our time nothing is ever really constant. From the latest technological device to the latest must-have jacket, the only thing constant is our change.

Lady Gaga got her name from an old Queen song entitled “Radio Gaga”, and cites Bon Jovi, Madonna, Micheal Jackson, Queen, Blondie, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie. She manages to get a little of everything and incorporated it into yet another #1 hit song. Her latest single, “Bad Romance” has all the bump-bump that we expect in a Gaga song, as well as the wiked video that is truly a piece of remarkable art. She repeats many different sounds such as “Rah-rah. Rah-ah-ah-ah… ” etc. Her music would be very interesting to listen to in class because she incorporates many different sounds that are very similar to the ones that we experiment with in class.

Fashion has been an integral part in establishing Queen Gaga. Her Hause of Gaga, is made of the very best to assist her with costume designs, as well as hair and make-up. Whenever photographed, or out and about, Lady Gaga always manages to do things slightly strangely. Nothing is just normal for her. An errand is a chance for her to wear a leotard with purple hair and fake blood oozing out of her neck. She definitely manages to take it up a notch. She’s been seen on numerous occasions to have built in bows in her hair, and to randomly carry a teacup wherever she goes.

This woman is fascinating to me because I’ve never seen a stranger musician in our time. We are in a world of structure and she has a complete disregard for the conventions. She’s been photographed partially nude, with bubbles clinging to her every part. She is someone who’s music and actions would inspire me to write. I would be able to right about the hidden meanings behind her strange songs, and the piece of art that she sees herself as. I would look very closely at the genius behind these sci-fi movie-esque music videos that have made her iconic. Lady Gaga has a definite air of uniqueness that will ensure her longevity in this business.

Move can also be Bustle, Propel, or Traverse.

Cry can also be Bemoan, Sob, or Wail.

Laugh can also be Chortle, Guffaw, or Shriek.

Smile can also be Beam, Grin, or Smirk.

Not only is this hilarious, but I feel like it’s really making a statement about our world, and how pathetic we are. The auto-tune made it more comical, but the content of the news itself, seems somewhat unappealing and comical on its own. The news actually talks about gay-marriage, the legalization of illegal drugs, pirates, and our environmental crisis, but when listening to this compilation, I close my eyes and feel like it’s just another pop song. This could be true, and actually shows a connection that is not exactly flattering to both sides. When put into this context, the News and pop music sound awfully alike, and not in a good way. The lyrics of most auto-tuned pop songs are non-sensical, and these sound artists could be trying to show us that the content of the News these days may be non-sensical and worthless as well.

This compilation seems to say it all, and really sheds some light on our stupidity as a society. It’s not only a parody of just the news, or just the music. It’s a parody of Us, as a Western society. This influences me to get creative and write about anything that comes to mind. I also want to watch their entire collection of videos, and maybe try creating one of my one. This makes me unafraid to do anything because of stupidity, or the fear of seeming stupid. This may be one of the greatest videos I’ve found on YouTube. Thank god for parodies, I am highly entertained. =)

I may just be unaware of my surroundings, but this pieces seems very astonishing to me, and when I first heard of Blonk in class I was surprised, to say the least. To make these types of noises he must have to go through rigorous vocal exercises, that would help him in sounding crisp. Crisp and loud seem to be the only two words that come to mind when thinking listening to this piece. Everything just seems so well done, and put together, but it’s all VERY LOUDDDD! This could probably make an excellent piece of writing as well. As an experiment I think I should just write down whatever noises come to my head or write down whatever words come to my head after listening to a sound compilation such as this. It would be interesting to see if the sounds from the piece I would be listening to would somehow manage to seep in, or if the sounds that appear in my head would be as strange as JHYYYYYAPP’s. Hmmmm… one could only hope!