the basic freedoms

I usually try to keep things light hearted and fun on these blogs, but the other day I watched something on HBO that got me to thinking. It was called “Shouting Fire: Stories from the edge of free speech.” I like watching documentaries, most of the time it’s ones about sports or music, but I really wanted to watch this one. I love history, and I also love seeing how people think. This one made me think the past few days, it touched on a lot of topics ranging from gay rights, to opinions of 9/11, to us being dumb Americans and thinking everyone from the Middle East are terrorists and people protesting the way our government got in the past eight years. It also scared me a little to see some of the statistics of how people feel that our Freedom of Speech should be censored in certain situations, because they felt it wasn’t a topic that should be discussed.

I often watch stuff like this and try to apply it to things I love or feel strongly about, and I guess that is what scared me. Some people feel music, art, speech, and what ever they feel needs to be censored should be, without consideration for the rest of the country and world for that matter. As I was watching this I kept thinking how stuff I love could vanish if we didn’t have the right to express our views. For instance, one of the things I love, music, would be hit hard. I mean, music would go back to the stone ages if you couldn’t express your views or thoughts. Think about it, no Beatles, no Elvis, no Led Zeppelin, no N.W.A, no Pearl Jam, no Chuck Berry, no Jackson 5, no Disco (wait, that would have been a good thing), you get my point though. Also, think about sports, in our day and age, athletes can express themselves on the field of play and in the media. If you censored sports or took them away in general, could you imagine the riot that would ensue here? One of the main things I think about is how this would not only affect me, but my daughter. If there is one person in our house that expresses her feelings, it is her. She loves to do “arts and crafts”, sing, and has a huge imagination. I would be sick if people tried to tell her she couldn’t do that stuff anymore, because they didn’t like it.

Of course watching this also came the week of the 4th of July. I feel this is a great holiday. Not many countries get to celebrate the day some brilliant men got together and declared they wanted the right to form a country where people get freedom of expression, speech, religion, and the chance to follow their dreams. I feel people forget about this, and forget that not all people feel or think the same things. I sometimes need to remember that as well, I just wish everyone could remember that.

(sorry for the serious blog this week, just felt I need to get that off the chest, not so serious blog next week, I promise)

Music for this week:

Man do I have a lot of music for you, for this week. I don’t know where to start. I will start off with a band I wish I would have found earlier than I did.

Gomez
This is an awesome band from England. I think I have listened to everyone of their albums since I got their newest release A New Tide. The one interesting dynamic of this band is they have more than one lead singer that will sing on their albums. Ian Ball, Ben Ottewell, and Tom Gray will sing on different tracks. So far I have not been disappointed when listening to their albums. Since I am new to this band I say start with their newest album and go from there. Check out the songs Mix, Little Pieces, and Natural Reaction.

List of Gomez albums:
Bring it on
Liquid Skin
In Our Gun
Split the Difference
How we operate
A New Tide

Passion Pit - Manners
These guys are from Cambridge, Mass, and are an electronic band. Don’t let that scare you off, it use to for me. They are a great up and coming American band. Their first EP was a collection of songs that the lead singer wrote for his then girlfriend for Valentine’s Day. This is their first full album, I have listened to it a lot the past few weeks, and I love it. Check out the songs Little Secrets and Moths Wings.

Matt and Kim – Grand
I have heard the song Daylight a few times on the radio, and so I decided to give these guys a listen. I use the term “guys” loosely, seeing their name isn’t a play on words, it’s literally Matt and Kim making these punkish melodies. My first few listens I like it, but it will have to grow on me. Check out the songs Daylight and Good ol’ Fashion Nightmare.

Lily Allen – It’s not me, it’s you
First off she is probably in the top ten list of female musicians (don’t worry Emily Haines, you are still #1). So after last week’s article, I gave in and listened to some Pop music. I have always wanted to give Lily Allen a try and figured this was the perfect reason. American pop to me is, well…….horrible. I have to admit, I really like her and her music. For one, she drops the f-bomb in songs (kind of like you had me at hello); on top of that the songs are really good. Check out the songs The Fear and Him.