Monday, May 25, 2015

FINAL ESSAY SONG PORTFOLIO

Owen Maguire
5/25/15
G Period
Godmintz
SMELLS LIKE TEENAGERS WASTELAND

The theme chosen was teenagers and teenage life. The songs of this theme are, Teenagers- My Chemical romance, Smells like teen spirit- Nirvana, and Teenage Wasteland- The Who. The most interesting aspect of these three songs is the common mood of negative emotion, violence, fear, and pain. Yet, all three songs are considered anthems to their respected generation. All three songs have similar moods, but are all also from different time periods.  

            What poetic devices can be found in each song? First off, the song “Smells like teen spirit has rhyme and repetition. “Hello, Hello, Hello, How low.” Is repeated numerous time throughout the song showing the songs alliteration while the lines “With the Lights out it's less dangerous , Here we are now entertain us, I feel stupid and contagious” are examples of Rhyme. There are many possible instances in the song where metaphor could possibly be found but the line, A mullato an albino, A mosquito my libido,” is the most powerful, really showing that the message is that teenagers really just feel like a “fly on the wall” or in other words, just pests to everyone else. Comparing his libido to a mosquito and an albino created a strong image and uses metaphor to help describe a negative feeling that the teenage people felt.

            Poetic devices in the song Teenagers are harder to find but are still visible. A lot like the song “Teenage Wasteland”, there are various metaphors and images portrayed. Such as “Just another cog in the murder machine” and “They’re gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds.” Lastly, this song uses some foreshadowing to help support the negative theme of anger that teenagers are feeling. They say “But if you’re troubled and hurt, what you got under your shirt will make them pay for the things that they did.”

            Within the lines of the third song “Teenage Wasteland” are more examples of how the teenage culture felt unwanted and just wanted another place to go. This song portrays adult’s dismissive attitudes towards teens and how sick and tired of it they are. The line “They’re all wasted” is a good example of the feeling of complete anger and exhaust teens have of being treated the way they are. Though the line is a large exaggeration, it still created an image saying that they are all in this teenage wasteland.  Another powerful line in this song is “And don't look past my shoulder, The exodus is here.” This line is a metaphor, comparing the exodus stories to the fear the teenage culture had of the end of what they knew.”


            There are evidentially many very common themes to these tracks, anger, fear, and exhaust. Each song came from different time periods, and even from different countries, but for some reason, they are all almost identical in the point they were trying to make about how the teenagers felt at the time. The feeling of over control and dismissiveness that adults were displaying to teens was angering teens and these songs were ways to express these feelings.  In conclusion, no matter what country, what year, or what genre you are a part of, all teens share a common anger and fear towards what adults are doing to us. The lines within these songs are evidence to support this fact. 

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Pedro's finally home!

Legendary Redsox Pitcher Pedro Martinez is in and many consider him to be the most domimating pitcher of all time. The righty's first attempt to get in is successful as he enters with players such as John Smoltz and Randy Johnson. Pedro finished his career with a Championship and 3 Cy Young awards. His career strike out % was 67% higher than the league average. If that stat isn't crazy enough then consider the fact that 6 of his first 7 seasons he finished in the top 3 for Cy Young voting, finishing 1st three times, 2nd twice, and 3rd once. His 3rd place season was riddled with injuy after starting the season on pace for 1st place. The one year he didn't finish top3 (2003) was also a season he spent most of his time injured, while still making a run at top 5 in voting.

Pedro led the league in ERA in every season he finished except one (2nd) not to mention did it with his home field being the best ball park for hitters ever played in, Fenway Park. He also did it in the Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa "Steroid era." Pedro dominated some of the greatest hitters of all time and made it look easy.

In the year 2000 Pedro had the greatest season by a starting pitcher on MLB history, and its not even a debate. He went 18-6 posting a 1.74 ERA. The average ERA in the MLB that season was over 5, a result of the "Steroid Boom." He was 2 runs better than the pitcher with the next best ERA that year. He also held batters to a .176 average that year, the best OBA in MLB history. His .737 WHIP that season was also the best in MLB history.

"I loved embarrassing those guys (roided out scrubs) at the plate" said Pedro in 2007. He knew he could make some of the best hitters of all time look foolish, and he did it with ease. The legendary Sox pitcher is now where he belomgs , among the greatest of all time on the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Who actually deserves to win NFL MVP?

This past NFL season had many players deserving of the NFL MVP award some candidates for the award include Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Demarco Murray, and J.J. Watt. I am here to tell you that absolutely none of these players are as deserving of the award as Tony Romo. Ya, that Tony Romo. The same one every NFL fan said "wasn't good enough" to get Jerry Jones his first Super Bowl, the one who broke under pressure in big games, the one who couldn't seem to get his team out of the 8-8 black hole they were consumed by the previous 3 seasons.

This year was an entirely different story finishing with a 12-4 record and winning the NFC East. Romo led the NFL in passer rating (113.2), completion percentage (69.9) and yards per attempt (8.49). Romo took a team with a defense consisting of a bunch of scrub, no names to a 12-4 record and a Division title. Not to mention his second back surgery this past off-season, and fractures in two small bones in his back against Washington in Week 8.  Romo has the Cowboys in position to do what they haven’t done since 1995, have the words Cowboys, and Super Bowl contenders, in the same sentence.  Romo threw 12 touchdowns and only one interception while posting the highest December passer rating in NFL history (133.7).

The reason this season is so different then the past few? Protection. This season Romo finally has room to breathe, kick back, and do what he does best, sling the ball. Romo has 3 Pro-Bowl lineman protection him this season while not having a single decent lineman the last few seasons. The fact that Romo can finally throw the ball without knowing his face will be in the dirt is what has set him apart from previous seasons. Some are saying Romo is finally "growing up," I say he has been grown up all along. Being sacked on the game winning drive after being pressured all game was a normal thing for Romo the last few seasons. Critics claimed its because he "wasn't clutch." When in reality all he needed was some decent protection and look what happens! Impeccable stats, a division title, and a playoff run. Tony Romo is the NFL MVP.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Is Ball Really Life?

Is ball really life. The most debated theory since Lady Gagas exact genitalia type was questioned. The answer to this long debated question may surprise you. The answer is actually going to surprise me due to the fact that I have put together a total of Zero thought prior to the start of this essay. 


Ball is in fact, life. Little children in Africa have been giving up their daily servings of ground rocks and dirt since the beginning of time, just to play with a soccer ball for one day.These kids will straight kick around a machete for 90 minutes as long as they got a decent game of pickup soccer going. The Earth is what shape again? Oh yeah.....a BALL. 

Some people automatically assume that when someone claims that ball is life, that they mean sports. This is not always true. Some people claim ball is life in reference to the ball of lint in their pocket that they have been saving for a rainy day. 

Most people will argue that ball is life because of the fact that almost 70% of people on Earth have played a sport, watched a sport, or follow a sport in some way. 26 Billion people watched the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Jesus Christ and the Big man himself have actually reincarnated into human form of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick solely because they know ball is life.  People used to spend their Sunday's at church, but now that ball is life, we spend our Sundays posted up on the couch watching Brady tear apart any defense unfortunate enough to be scheduled against him.

 I could throw more facts at you but to be honest there isn't many supporting this statement. I'm pretty sure someone, somewhere has died for ball before though. I'll even mix it up and throw some reverse psychology ish at you. Is Ball NOT Life? Did Kanye wife Kim because of her awesome personality? Nah.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Browner can pick up slack of struggling Revis

The 2-2 Patriots have looked disgusting to say the very least through their first 4 weeks. Losing 42-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs last week. This loss is out of the ordinary for the Patriots. Though the losses show that the offensive line is awful to say the least, and defense is still struggling as a whole, there are a few rays of hope.

Next week the Patriots will have two returning players coming off of suspensions in CB Brandon Browner, and WR Brian Tymes. There is no doubt that each will be coming into some struggling positions for the Patriots. With Darrelle Revis struggling to get back into his normal form, Brandon Browner will hopefully be able to pick up his slack with his agressive play. The Patriots have been lacking a solid aggressive tackler on defense, and Browner is the perfect man to fix this. While Brian Tymes is just another scrub Wide Receiver the Patriots don't need.



Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Captains Legacy

Derek Jeter, a 12-time All-Star with five Gold Glove and four Silver Sluggers and is the all-time postseason leader in hits, games played, extra-base hits and runs, is set to retire at the end of the 2014 season. To make it worse, his season is cut short with the Yankees elimination of playoff contention. Jeter will retire as one of the greatest to ever play the game, and his numbers show it. 

During an interview of Jeter ' ex team ate, Tina Martinez, Martinez says, "He led by example,"His whole career has been that way. Plays hard, plays to win. Expects the most from his teammates. When you're in battle with a guy like that, it's important not to let him down. From superstars to the 25th man on the roster, we all felt a responsibility to play hard and play to win because of Jeter. That's rare." Jeter will finish his career with 5 World Series victories. The Red So, Yankees long time rivals, even plan to celery Jeter last game at few a park. Not all agree that Jeter is the best of all time, but almost everyone shares an immense respect for what he has done for this game. The Number 2 will be reitred at the end of the season, finishing off the Yankees retired mumbers 1-10. RE2PECT: http://youtu.be/X03_bNuihLU

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

#Kaser4Heisman

A punter from Texas A&M for the Heisman Trophy? Most don't know the name Drew Kaser when they hear it, but it his his goal to change that. Kaser has started his campaign to become the first punter to recieve this award by roaming the Texas A&M campus asking people to vote for him. He even started a trending topic on Twitter, with his campaign quote "#Kaser4Heisman."

Though Kaser does not have any touchdowns, interceptions, or sacks on his resume, he does have an incredible 77 yard punt to boast about. Kaser knows his campaign is a long shot, but he is not doing it for himself. This campaign he claims to be for his position and to gain respect for his position that he feels has lacked in recent years. Texas A&M is an offensively based team, averaging 54.3 points per game. With an offense like this, defense and special teams are not of main concern.

This bothered Kaser and lured him into wanting to make a change. To show his support for his position, and wore a "Punters are people too" shirt to an A&M press conference before the season. Though most agree Kaser is not one of the most common Heisman Candidates seen, they will agree what he is doing is very amusing and maybe will one day change how football fans view the Punting Position.