Rock 'N Roll

Extra Credit: what kind of learner am I

2009-12-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Through taking the quiz that was on the blog, I learned that I am a practical learner. This did not surprise me, since I hav always suspected that I would learn best this way.
In the beginning of the semester, I did not study very much at all. I was too busy meeting people. However, as my grades got worse, I learned that I need to study. I really started to crack down. I tried studying in the dorms at first. I always seemed to get very distracted while studying, whether it was other people catching my attention, or the need to check email or Facebook.
I decided to go to the library and try this out. This seemed to work very well for me. I do not have a laptop, only a desktop, so this also pushed away those distractions. The best way for me to study is to get as far away from distractions as possible.
I tend to go the library to write my papers in a notebook, then I will go back to my room adn type it out. The less time I spend near distractions, the better.

Extra Credit: attend an extra Non-Muse event

2009-12-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

I attended the Hall Government Quorum last week on Tuesday. This meeting was a gathering of the governments from all the resident halls. I learned that these meeting are open to everyone and I thought it would be interesting to learn what our governments are doing. This was a very fun meeting.
The president was very energetic and funny. She really brought some life to the meeting. I have never seen such a fun and energetic meeting. I sat with the Bricks residents, since that is where I live. They discussed all of the current issues, and many new programs that would possible be implemented. I really liked being in the know. It was nice to hear about how events were created also, and not just see the finished product.
I do not think I will attend every single meeting, but I would definitely enjoy occasionally attending these meetings. I think it would be good to know what is going on in the government for my hall.

Extra Credit: attend a club meeting

2009-12-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

I recently attended a club meeting for the Baja SAE club. In this club, the members build and modify a small off-road vehicle from scratch. This interested me very much since I am a mechanical engineer and I enjoy working on cars.
I went their early Saturday morning to the SAE shop in the engineering building. I spent a few minutes watching, but was soon put to work. One person showed me how to use a giant drill press to cut angled pipe with a hole saw. It was very interesting and I am glad that I learned how to use this machine. I cut some pipe there for a little while. I was then moved to help sand down the ends of the tubing for easier welding. This was a very simple job, which just required sandpaper and no other tools. I watched the main welder weld on a couple of tubes to the frame. I found it very interesting.
I really enjoyed attending this meeting and I am glad that I did. I plan on attending future meetings as well.

Top RnR Moment

2009-12-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

I did this presentation in class, but never posted a piece about it on my blog. I think that is what led to the fact that no grade was present in your book.

I chose to do a report on Peter Townshend of The Who starting the act of destroying instruments on stage. This all started due to an accident: cracking the head of the guitar on a low ceiling during a performance. He continued to smash the guitar to make it look like he did this on purpose. Also, A famous incident of instrument destruction happened to the The Who. This included explosives in drums going off too early, harming a few of the band members. No one was seriously hurt. Jimi Hendrix later copied this art by burning his guitar at the Monterey pop festival.

Music Memories #1

2009-12-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

My music taste have changed a lot since I was a little kid, and I would not be surprised if they continue to change as I grow older.
As a child at 5 years old or so, I seemed to only listen to Barnie and Sesame street music. That was definitely the best music for me at that age. I also listened to some other theme songs from television shows, like power rangers. I do not remember much of the music from this time in my life.
At 10 years old, I did not really listen to much music. I actually did write a couple short little songs at that time, that I showed to my friends. They were not very good, but I really liked to write them for some reason. Here is an example:
Chewy or Chewbacca, Chewy or Chewbacca
whatever you call me I'm Still the same guy
Chewy or Chewbacca, Chewy or Chewbacca
If you call me Chewy I'm Still Chewbacca
Chewy or Chewbacca, Chewy or Chewbacca
I'm a big green monster that's actually brown

That was based on the character chewbacca from star wars.

When I was 15 years old, my tastes really started to develop to what they are today, I started to listen to a lot more classic rock. I really enjoyed the famous bands of the time:Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc. From there, I started to get more and more into classic rock, learning about some of the lesser known bands.

Today, I still enjoy classic rock a lot, but some red dirt country( a mix of rock and country) has been catching my interest lately. Bands of this type include Ray Wylie Hubbard and Cross Canadian Ragweed. I also am starting to like some of the rock from the 1990s like the Red Hot chili Peppers and Nirvana.

Muse Workshop #3

2009-12-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

I attended the mused workshop "uppers, downers, and all arounders." This presentation was about all the different types of drugs that were available on the streets. The number of drugs range from prescription drugs, to plants, to drugs created in a lab for the purpose of getting high. This was a very interesting workshop and I learned a lot about the harmful points of drugs. Some drugs that one would think are not very harmful, like marijuana, actually deposit a lot of tar into your lungs. This was a surprising fact for me. Also, we learned a bit about different types of roofies. One type can actually very easily kill someone from an overdose. This is a very dangerous drug.
We started the workshop by everyone getting the name of a drug, and having to write the effects, dangers, and how it is put into your system. My group got Nicotine. This seemed to be one of the easier drugs to write about since the effects of nicotine and smoking are so well known. Not very many myths that one has to work through. My group and I then gave a report on the drug.
I very much enjoyed this workshop and I am glad that I went.

Non-Muse event #2

2009-11-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

I attended the play "The Colored Museum" here on the SJSU campus. Prior to attending this play, I was unaware that we even had a public theater on campus. My friend Ryan , a theater major, invited me and a few other friends to attend. He was not in the play, but he really wanted to see it.

I thought the play was very entertaining and it had a lot of comedy in it. One of my favorite parts was the cross dressing man. He had some very funny lyrics, as this play was a musical, and his crowd interaction was very entertaining. There were also a few confusing parts to the play that maybe someone who had a better knowledge of the era when this play was made might understand, or someone who had more artsy, creative viewpoint may understand. One of these such parts was a part of the play where a 15 or so year old girl had an egg. This egg seemed to be her baby and her mother wanted to get rid of it. She cared for this egg very much. Overall it was a good play and I am happy that I attended it.

Lyrics Analysis

2009-11-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

Sweet Home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynyrd

The song starts off with "big wheels keep on turning', carry me home to see my kin, singing songs about the south land, I miss Alabama once again and I think its a sin."

I believe to relates to Ronnie Van Zant's ( primary songwriter and vocalist) father, Lacy, who was a semi-truck driver. This talks about a man heading home on "big wheels," probably a semi-truck, to see his kin, his family. he is listening to country and southern rock songs as he heads home, and he really misses his home.

The song continues to say "Well I heard Mr. Young sang about her, Well I heard old Neil put her down, well I hope Niel Young will remember, Southern Man don't need him around anyhow." and then the chorus about coming home to Alabama.

This relates to Niel Young's soung "Southern Man" where he seems to attack the Southern Man for all his wrongdoing, where as Sweet Home Alabama is basically saying "We don't care."

Later, the lyrics are "In Birmingham they love the governor, (Boo, boo, boo) now we all did what we could do, now watergate does not bother me, does your conscience bother you, now tell the truth" and onto the chorus.

This talks about the governor at the time, saying boo boo boo after his name to suggest that they dont support his racist policies. It also mentions that there were people who tried to fight it by doing what they could do. Watergate is an issue that the band did not care about.

The song continues
"Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feeling blue
Now how about you?"

I do not know if this has any significant historical value. It may just be a rememberance of old times that were a lot of fun, hanging out with the swamp workers listening to music.

Talking About Drugs

2009-11-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

I think that there are many drugs that are easily available to college freshmen. The most prominent by far is alcohol. Most of the people I know at least drink it occasionally, and a few people I know might be considered alcoholics. It is very easy to get a hold of since just about everyone in college knows someone over twenty one that will buy them some alcohol. I do not think this is a big problem though, since most people do not get hurt while doing this, only the few people that take it to far on a consistent basis.
Another drug is caffeinated drinks. These are probably not as popular as alcohol, but they are very easily to get. One only needs to go into a store and buy it. These are popular mainly because they are so easy to acquire.
Marijuana is a relatively easy drug to come by as a freshman in college. I know a number of people that sell this drug even though I have never seeked them out and I don't use it. It is very easy to acquire even though it is illegal. I do not think that the illegality of the drug deters anyone who wants to use it from using it.
I have never actually met anyone who sells it, but ecstasy seems to be relatively popular too. I know a few people who use it on occasion.

Music List #4

2009-10-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Top Five Comedy Songs

1. hiphopapotamus vs rhymenocerous- The Flight of The Concords
Funny, wannabe rappers

2. Business Time- The Flight of The Concords
A very unromantic Sexual encounter. Pretty Funny

3. Lazy Sunday- SNL Skit
One of the first comedy songs I heard, really got me into the comedy songs.

4.Jizz In My Pants- SNL Skit
Very funny, Cant get enough of it.

5. Show Me Your Genitals- John LaJoie
Very funny song, slightly degrading towards women, but not serious at all.

Muse Workshop #2

2009-10-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a workshop that was titled "Spartan Sucess: Goal Setting." The point of this workshop was to teach the students how to create and achieve their goals. We started off with everyone naming off one of their goals that they have. It could be one that has been achieved or one that is in the process of being achieved. My personal goal was to restore my 1969 cutlass. They later asked us to decide to show a smaller goal that we could use to divide up a major goal of ours. My smaller goal of was to get so insurance for my cutlass, so that i could start driving it on a daily basis.
This workshop was a waste of time in my opinion. I feel that I had already learned just about everything that they were trying to teach us, so therer was not much point for me to be there. I should have chosen a better workshop in the long run, but at least it was not incredibly boring.

Interview A Senior

2009-10-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

I chose to interview my brother , Sam, and one of his friends, Scott, for this assignment.

My brother Sam plans to graduate in May of 2010 and is on track to do so. He started as a geoogy major, but since then has decided to change to a different major. The major he chose is Hospitality and management. He is really enjoying his new major and is almost positive he will stick with it. He tells me that it is ok to change majors, because it is important to be happy with your future job. The one mistake my brother made was to not attend enough of his majors informational sessions. If he would have done so, he may have realized earlier on that he did not want to be a geologists and could have wasted less time.

Scott also plans to graduate in May of 2010 and his is currently majoring in mechanical engineering. He has not changed his major at all, and is happy that he started off right. He said that he is glad that he did plenty of research before college to be sure of his major so that he did not waste time with any unnecesary classes. He did however, fail calculus his first semester. He wasn't prepared for the large workload that was expected of him. He tells me to be ready for a lot more work compared to highschool.

Non-muse event report

2009-10-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

I went to a Foreigner concert at the Filmore in San Francisco. It was an awesome concert, especially since we were so close to the stage. We were about 15 yards from the stage itself. At one point in the concert they were throwing out guitar picks and I got one of them. One thing that I did noticed is that the room was filled with smoke and it smelled a lot like cannabis. It was a very fun concert, although driving to it was difficult. The San Francisco traffic was horrendous. As I was leaving I was about to grab one of the free posters but a drunk homeless lady shoved me out of the way to grab the last one. My favorite song from the concert was Juke Box Hero!!!!!!

Scholarly Article Summary

2009-10-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Devil sings the Blues: Heavy Metal, Gothic Fiction, and Post Modern Discourse.
Elizabeth Jane Wall Hinds

Novels and rock in general followed the same basic path, both went from being unaccepted to being part of popular culture. Gothic fiction, a subset of novels, and Heavy metal, a subset of Rock, seemed to follow an extremely similar path from when they were first created. The 1960's Rock band was singing the music of rebellion. Similar to how the gothic novels played out. The Rock slowly progressed to become more sexual and drug related. They gained more and more popularity. The gothic novels also suddenly became popular to the culture they were in.

Heavy metal changed rock from a sequence of well placed events in a three or four minute span to what seemed like random episodes loosely held together. The guitar solos seemed more far out, and rambling. Heavy metal of Led Zeppelin is very sexual and drug oriented, compared to the feel good bands of the early 60's. Gothic fiction was also very sexually focused.

Sometimes, Led Zeppelins heavy metal would add references to the devil for some more popularity. Gothic fiction also used horror as a means of shock value. These are just a few of the ways that Gothic fiction and Led Zeppelin's heavy metal rock can be compared. They are very similar in many ways.

Music Memories #2

2009-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

I interviewed two people for this assignment. The two people that I interviewed were my father and my step mom. My father is 55 years old and my step mom is 51 years old.

My dad started off by saying that, when he was younger, his favorite bands to listen to were Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Allman Brothers. Later on, he began to like the bands Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band. He actually did not attend any concerts at all as a young man. He has only attended one concert in his whole life. It was a local country concert and he does not remember any of the names of the bands. The only reason he went to this concert was because it was a date with my now stepmom. He went to this concert about 6 years ago. his music tastes seem to have slowly changed to be more focused on country today. He does not know too much about what bands he likes, so he mainly listens to it on the radio, but one that he mentioned was Kenny Chesney. He does still listen to some classic rock and southern rock type of bands occasionally.

My stepmom said that she rarely listened to any music as a teenager or in her twenties. She did listen to some music from her brothers, very occasionally, which had artists like The Beatles and Cream. She did not go to any concerts as a teenager. She has gone to three or four local country concerts, none with extremely famous people. Now, she likes to listen to country. she often listens to the same radio station as my dad. She now rarely listens to those artists that her brothers had exposed her to. Artists that she likes are Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift.

My musical tastes seem to be very similar to my dad's early musical tastes. I really enjoy bands like creedence clearwater revival, lynyrd skynyrd, and the allman brothers. My tastes seem to be more diverse though, since they include led zeppelin, the beatles, johnny cash, red hot chili peppers, and many more. I have been to many more concerts then both of them. The concerts i have been to include kenny chesney, rush, lynyrd skynyrd, journey, heart, and , last weekend, foriegner.

My progression of musical tastes is similar in some ways to my dad and step mom, but also very different. I do not think it is really possible to find two people with the exact same musical tastes in every way, though. I am eager to see how my musical tastes will change in the future, as i seem to be leaning towards the newer rock that is coming out today. I really did not know too much about either of their past musical likings before this assignment. this was a very interesting assignment.

Muse Workshop Writeup

2009-10-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I went to the workshop called "let's talk about sex." This was a very interesting and informative workshop. I learned that sex is not something you should be afraid to talk about. This is important especially with your significant other. You should be able to talk to the significant other about sex so that you are very comfortable with it. You do not want anything that is this serious to be in the unknown.
You do not want to be in a sexual situation with your partner and not know what he or she is comfortable with doing. You should also always talk with your partner about this subject prior to actually being in the situation. If you talk about immediately before perform sexual activity, then you may make a decision that you will later regret. This is some very good advice and I plan on following it.
I also learned about some other services that the Health Center offers. For example, one can go in there and get up to four free condoms a day. Also, most checkups with doctors are free to students and faculty. This is very nice to know since I have asthma and may need to see a doctor while I am attending SJSU.

study tip #3

2009-10-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

The library is a great place to study. It has a lot of peace and quiet on the upper floors, or you can participate in group study in the lower floors. Make use of this free resource that we have.

Music List #3

2009-10-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

1.Oops I did it again- Britney Spears
It is very overplayed and repetitive. I do not think it is a well written song.

2. Yellow Submarine- The Beatles
It sounds too much like a kids song. The beat is a little unusual.

3. Drop it low-ester dean
I already do not like this song, but it makes it worse since the guy across the hall from me plays it atleast once a day.

4.Crank That- Soulja Boy
It is played too much and no one knows what the lyrics mean.

5. Through the Fire and Flames- Dragonforce
I could never beat it on guitar hero.

Talking about sex essay

2009-09-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is tough to tell the difference between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable when it comes to relationships with the opposite sex. This is a touchy subject, where one mistake could ruin an entire relationship. Through my high school experiences, as well as my first month of college life, I have learned the difference between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Sexual pressures faced by college freshmen, the rules of dating, and giving advice to those still in high school is what i hope to explain.
There are many sexual pressures that the average college freshman will face during his first year. Sexual activity seems to be more active in the first 3 weeks of the fall semester for freshman, according to a representative of the student health center. It is tough to adjust to all the other challenges of college, let alone worrying about sexual relationships. Many freshmen, especially guys, are pressured to think that they are not cool if they do not have sex. Basically, the more people they have sex with, the cooler they are. A lot of freshmen fall into this because they already want to make friends, and impress them, since they have so many new people around them.
There are many rules of dating that one has to be aware of if they want to have a successful relationship. I think it is a good idea to google someone before you start a relationship with them. This will let you know what kind of person they are, and you will have an idea of whether or not it will last. This is good information to have when going into a relationship. I have heard that you should not come on to strong to someone, at least when you are first getting to know them. This can often drive people away and make them think that you are clingy. Also, you need to get to know people before you start dating them. If you start a relationship solely based on looks, it will probably not last too long. You should have a connection with the person before you start the relationship. Sometimes, long term relationships are looked down on, because you are not "getting around." Long term relationships work for some people, but not all. If you can't handle being with one person for a long time, than it is not for you.
Some advice that I would give to someone would be to make sure you use protection. This is very important to prevent the spread of STIs and to prevent pregnancy. Also, remember to , if possible, attempt to not engage in sexual activity while you are under the influence of Alchohol. Also, if you are under the influence of drugs, do not engage in sexual activity. This seems to always cause problems. This advice is in addition to the advice in the previous paragraph.
This is how freshman seem to handle sex these days.

-Ian Thorp

Music List #2

2009-09-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

1. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles
2.The Needle and the Spoon- Lynyrd Skynyrd
3.White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane
4.Junkie- Lynyrd Skynyr
5.Mother's Little Helper- The Rolling Stones

Junkie is my favorite out of these five. I really like the sound of Lynyrd Skynyrd and southern rock in general. Also I like the relatively slow pace of the song in combination with the really cool guitar riff.

study tip #2

2009-09-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Often, making flash cards can help you study. I will make the cards of certain vocab words that are tough for me to memorize and I review them that way.

Google Yourself!!!

2009-09-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

I typed into Google the words "Ian Thorp." The first thing at the top was the statement "Did you mean Ian Thorpe." This was not a surprise, since the Australian Olympic swimmer is , no doubt, much more famous than me. There was a link to my facebook profile within the first page, but the rest was either a different Ian Thorp, or the swimmer Ian Thorpe.

Study Tip

2009-09-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do for studying is actually quite simple, yet effective. I like rewrite all the notes that i took in class, but i try to write them in a different way in order to make them easier to remember.

Top Ten Songs of All Time!!!

2009-09-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is my personal list of the top ten songs ever created and the reasoning behind my decision. This may not be in exact order, just to hard to compare some of these great songs, but this a good a gist of my top ten.

1. Pinball Wizard - The Who
Great beat, great story, best song on the best album (Tommy) ever made.

2. Junkie -Lynyrd Skynyrd
I love the guitar riff on this song. Also, its not very well known, which makes it more appealing to me.

3. The Ballad of John Henry- Joe Bonamassa
Slow, but intense guitar. I love sound of the vocalists voice.

4. Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen
The ultimate karaoke song.

5. Money - Pink Floyd
Amazing bass line for being so simple. Best bass line ever in my opinion.

6. Civil War- Guns N' Roses
I really like the opening quote from Cool Hand Luke. Also, the whole song is really good.

7. Tush - ZZ Top
I like the beat, like the song, love the beards.

8. My Generation- The Who
All around a good song. I like the unique stuttering. Also, awsome bass line by John Entwistle.

9. While My Guitar Gently Weeps- The Beatles
Cool ,relaxing song

10. Happiness is a Warm Gun- The Beatles
I like the guitar. Has an interesting sound to it.

Thats it, the ten greatest songs of all time in no particular order. This was a very fun assignment.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll

2009-08-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Ey!! This is Ian Thorp, and I am in the class Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll. I enjoy working on cars, especially classic muscle of the late 60's and early 70's, but i still do not mind dreaming about the new super cars. I own a 1969 Cutlass that is a work in progress and has been for the past 6 months. I really enjoy classic rock. It is my favorite genre of music. My second favorite is red dirt country. A few of my favorite artists are The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Led Zeppelin.
I was in 4-H from the time i was 9 years old until last year. I enjoyed making money from selling the pigs that i raised. I grew up in the Salinas Valley, and lived there my whole life until i moved to San Jose for college. I have two brothers and one sister. My brother Sam attends SJSU, while my brother Nick attends Cal Poly. My sister graduated from Georgia Tech with a masters in Environmental Science. Cal Poly was my first choice college, but, unfortunately, I was not accepted.