Eric Clapton (An Essay)

Eric Clapton is an English blues-rock guitarist-singer-songwriter-composer. With a Silver Clef Award, six Grammies, and CBE of the Order of the British Empire, he has reached number four in the Rolling Stone magazine’s Top Hundred Best Guitarists list and number fifty-three on their “Immortals: Top Hundred Best Artists of All Time” list. Still, with all that, very few young people today listen to Eric Clapton, blues guitar-god and music genius. So who is the man behind the music, and what has happened in his life to make his art so influential?

Eric Patrick Clapton was born on March 30, 1945, to Patricia Molly Clapton, a seventeen year old in Ripley, Surrey, and Edward Walter Fryer, a twenty-five year old soldier from Quebec. Fryer went to war just before Clapton was born, and returned home to Canada after that. Meanwhile, Clapton grew up with his grandparents and mother, believing his grandparents to be his parents and his mother to be his older sister. Several years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier and moved to Canada, leaving her son with his grandparents.

Clapton received his first guitar for his thirteenth birthday, an acoustic Hoyer, and found the steel-stringed instrument to be very difficult. He nearly gave up, but was influenced by blues artists of the time and practiced for hours trying to learn chords and copy the style of guitarists he listened to on his tape recorder.

After school in 1961, Clapton began studies at the Kingston College of Art, but was dismissed after the first year of school because he wanted to keep his focus in music. He played in public places for tips, and joined his first band when he was seventeen, a group called “The Roosters”. He left them in 1963.

This was about when he joined The Yardbirds, where he began to listen to blues artists from Chicago, including Buddy Guy and B.B. King. He formed a distinctive style and was soon talked about all over as one of the most promising guitarists in the British music scene. They first toured England with Sonny Boy Williamson Jr., and just after Clapton left the band in 1965, The Yardbirds had their first major single, “For Your Love.” It was during this time that he gained the nickname “Slowhand,” as a joke because he was such a fast guitar player. It was also during Clapton’s time with The Yardbirds that he became good friends with George Harrison of The Beatles, a friendship that resulted in Clapton playing guitar on the Beatle’s White Album in the song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and many other Clapton appearances on Harrison’s solo albums.

A year after he left The Yardbirds, Clapton started his first ‘power trio’ band, called Cream. Cream consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker, and Clapton himself. This is when Clapton started to hone his talents as a singer and songwriter, though most of the singing and writing was done by Bruce. It was with Cream that Clapton had his first appearance in the U.S.—“For Your Love” made it to the American Top Ten after Clapton had already left The Yardbirds. He became good friends with his ‘rival guitarist,’ Jimi Hendrix.

Cream’s music style varied, from soul-pop song “I Feel Free” to their bluesy instrumentals such as “Spoonful.” They quickly became popular, selling millions of records in both the U.S. and U.K. Although the super group was declared the “best of their day,” Cream was to be short-lived. Fighting between Bruce and Baker caused tensions among the three that led to Cream’s farewell album, aptly named “Goodbye.” In 1968, just two years after their birth and just before “Goodbye” was released, Cream disbanded. The only Cream reunions were in 1993, at their induction to the Hall of Fame, and a full-scale reunion in 2005, which consisted of four sold-out concerts in London and three more in New York.

Between 1969 and 1970, Clapton played in two more temporary bands, Blind Faith first, followed by Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. He also recorded his first, self-titled solo album, and played with several other artists, including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, and Plastic Ono Band.

Next, in 1970, came Derek and the Dominos. This name was reportedly an accident, when the original name Erik and the Dynamos was misread. It was during his time with Derek and the Dominos that Clapton fell in love with his good friend George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. She spurned his advances, and this was the inspiration for the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. This album contained Derek and the Dominos’ explosive single, “Layla.”

Clapton’s success as a musician masked his personal life, which was made increasingly difficult by drug and alcohol addiction. In 1971, he quit touring to hide at his residence in Surrey, where he indulged in heroin, cocaine, and alcohol. He kicked the habit with the help of Pete Townsend of The Who, and by 1974 he had kicked his Heroin habit and was dating Pattie, though the two of them didn’t marry until 1979. He continued to drink heavily. Hit singles such as “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Wonderful Tonight,” and “Cocaine,” came out, and brought Clapton to number one on the charts time and time again. “I Shot the Sheriff” was particularly influential in bringing reggae music to the forefront, and brought artist Bob Marley to a bigger audience.

The eighties saw Clapton performing on Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters’ solo album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and producing more solo albums of his own. Journeyman included collaborative works with George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, Chaka Khan, Mick Jones, David Sanborn and Robert Cray.

In 1984, Clapton began a relationship with studio sound assistant Yvonne Kelly, which resulted in his ‘secret daughter,’ Ruth. Boyd and Clapton finally divorced in 1989 after another affair with italian model Lori del Santo, which resulted in another child, Conor. Boyd had been unable to bear children, and reportedly ‘criticized’ Clapton’s keeping Ruth a secret until 1991.

In August of 1990, while touring with Stevie Ray Vaughn, their helecopter crashed and two members of the road crew, plus Vaughn, died in the accident. A year later, tragedy struck again when four year old Conor fell from the 53rd story apartment window where he was living with his mother. This resulted in the song ‘Tears in Heaven,’ a song expressing Clapton’s grief, cowritten by Will Jennings. That song alone won him six grammies that year.
In 1994, Clapton had a brief relationship with Cheryl Crow, and in 1999, at the age of 54, he met 23 year old store clerk Melia McEnery, whom he married in 2002. The two had three daughters, Julia Rose (2001), Ella May (2003), and Sophie Belle (2005).

Clapton’s grandparents eventually told him the truth about his parentage, and his lack of knowledge about his father was an apparent source of anxiety for him. Then, in 2007, with the help of benevolant journalist Michael Woloshuck, he found was able to get some more information about Edward Walter Fryer, born 1920 and died 1985. A saxaphone and piano player, he was a drifter who had several wives and a few children, apparently unaware that he was the father of Eric Clapton.

Eric “Slowhand” Clapton: well known guitarist, singer, and composer. When Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Lennon, and others fell victim to drugs and accidents, Clapton managed to survive drug addiction, alcoholism, and tragedy. His style has influenced many artists, such as Jonny Lang and Bob Marley, and he has performed with members of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, and The Who. His music will continue to be popular among blues fans, and influence other musicians in the future.

Yeah...Had to write that for my music teacher, because I was unavailable to sing with the Choir for graduation. I figured, well, since I had to write a paper anyway, I'd ask for constructive criticism.

So constructive criticism on what was wrong/write/could've-been-better would be appreciated.

thanks,
Brii333

A Slightly More Coherent Star Trek Review (actual criticism)

ok, i had to come back later when I was more coherent and actually say something constructive...

WARNING: SPOILERS (only a few...I promise. ;) )

Star trek fulfilled my expectations as a Trekki and I thought that the way the new actors did the part was definately to rival the originals. if i'm being honest, the new Kirk was better then Shatner. (Sorry, man, but I didn't think you were that great of an actor.) I thought that the romance between Spock and Uhura was awesome, and totally unexpected, while I found Kirk's fling with the green-skinned chick pretty funny. I thought they made his original role as a lady's man fit in pretty well, also. Scotty was hilarious, McCoy was just as funny. I did think that their villain, an angry Romulan with a desire for revenge, was a bit flat and kind of cliche. Other then that, everything was excellent. All of the fears I'd had walking into the theater were gone within two minutes of the movie.

well, that was a semi-coherent almost-review of Star Trek... I hope they do more, to be honest. It was awesome. (Spock, Spock, Spock, Spock, Spock!!! EEK!!)

Lovez to Yew,
Brii333

STAR TREK! omg STAR TREK!!!!!!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!! OMG!!!!!


Star Trek...Was... Amazing!!! Just...Just...Pure godliness. I mean, the orignal movies were good, I'll give you that, but...but...wow. Just...wow. I'm speechless. O, Gods of Star Trek, you have done absolutely FABULOUSLY!


I think my favorite characters were probably Spock and McCoy (Bones). Spock was so awesome, I can't even describe how awesome! I am going to be Spock when I grow up. No lie.

Also, due to my strange liking of nerds and the fact that I am a tremendous nerd, I think that the guy who played Spock made him REALLY cute. :) Same with Kirk, although he's not really my type...


PROOF of his cuteness...

For those who haven't seen the movie: Top photo-Captain Kirk is on the right, Spock on left

Yeah, I know, the bottom picture isn't him dressed as Kirk, but lets be honest--the uniforms suck. Seriously. They don't look good on anyone. Except for the girls, cuz they're made to look kind of slutty.

Now Spock... Not so cute as a human, I don't think. But he makes a very good half-Vulcan. :) minus the haircut. Of course, without the traditional Vulcan hair-do, it wouldn't have really been the same, so I guess it works.

Okay, Billie. Make fun of me for my tremendous nerdi-ness now.

Love From Your Local Nerd, (live long and prosper...)

Brii333

Hyper, Giggley, Sunburn, STAR TREK!

Haahaahaahaaaaaaa!!! I'm really hyper, really giggley, really sunburned, and really going to see Star Trek in one hour and nineteen minutes in counting! ACK!

STAR TREK! Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek, oh, how I have failed you. Rather then going to see you IMMEDIATELY, I waited a two weeks (until after I was really sunburned). TWO WEEKS! GAH! Though I did not fail X-Men quite so badly, I am sorry, O Gods of Formerly-Realy-Bad Science Fiction, for failing epically to pay homage to you by watching your new movie.

Though I am definately willing to admit that the original Star Trek is really bad and really amusing, I do like it anyway, and I am a big fan of the Starship Voyager series. (heeheehee, I think my favorite episode of the orignal is the one where there are these weird little flying aliens that attatch themselves to the back of your neck and take you over, and it looks kind of like they took plastic vomit and frizbee-ed it across the screen.) (Frizbee-ed? Frizbee-ed? What the hell? Is that even a word? Oh well.)

OMG you have NO idea what I found earier....IT WAS THE ENTIRE SCRIPT FOR THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE!!! On the INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Say whaaaat??? That is so cool, that you don't even know. heeheehee...

Anyhoo...I'm going to go continue bouncing around the house like a leming off a cliff and leave you.

Squeak Squeaker Squeak Squeaken*,
Brii333

*Translation: I owe you a new acorn**.

**I was speaking squirrel

Gah!

Yeah, um... I think I need to learn how to mind my own buisiness. Because my inability to do so got me into a teensy little bit of trouble yesterday.

I think I've complained about them before--my fourth hour "Clase de Espanol." Grrrrr... I get sick of the tasteless jokes. Okay, some of them are funny, I'll give you that, but most of them are just hurtful and cruel and uncalled for. There are only a few in that entire classroom that understand that everybody is entitled to live without harrassment from everybody else, so they can live their life as they want to without worrying about whether their latest action is going to have this tidal wave of ridicule and alienation thrust upon them.

I guess I don't have anything specific against Senora F., but I don't think she treats the entire class fairly, and I need to learn how to shut my mouth and keep my opinions to myself. It's like the moment I have an opinion, I have to state it.

Stupid Me with my Stupid Mouth.

Everclear

I'm not surprised that this band isn't more popular. I ran across them on my dad's collection of around 22,000 songs and god knows how many artists and thought, "Well, this might be interesting..." To be honest, I didn't like them at first. I thought that the singer, Art Alexakis, sounded too strange, that his voice didn't have much tecnique to it. But I was intrigued by the songs "Normal Like You" and "Everything to Everyone," as I could understand what Alexakis was singing about. And they've grown on me.

With an almost grunge sound to the vocals and punk sound to the guitar and bass, Everclear is one of the few bands I can say is truely unique. They don't sound like anything else I've listened to, and, while I will say that a person would have to have a very open mind when first listening to them, they have talent.

My personal favorite album, So Much For the Afterglow, had three singles. "Everything to Everyone," a song about a girl who almost enjoys being pushed around by others and tries to be everything to everyone (hence the name). It was the most popular song of the album, and actually reached #1 on the Modern Rock Charts for a while. The other two singles, "Father of Mine" and "I Will Buy You A New Life," never made it even close. "Everything to Everyone" is one of a very few of their songs to have made it to the charts.

Anyhoo, my absolute favorite song by Everclear is "Normal Like You." It's a song about being depressed and screwed in the head, but not wanting to be like everyone else. He would rather be the way he is then be like the others, and he wants to know why they want him to be like them. There's nothing the medication can do for him that he can't figure out how to do on his own.

Well, now I've given you a rundown of another band/album...I feel special. lol, jk.

Hoping to Broaden Your Knowledge of Music, One Pathetic Review At a Time,
Brii333

Review of "21st Century Breakdown"

Coming from the 90s punk rockers with blue hair nobody thought would ever grow up, this eighth album from Green Day is not only a shocker, but it's absolutely their best album yet. With just a taste of latin ("Peacemaker"), a hint of the original Green Day four-chord progression ("Horseshoes and Handgrenades"), and a little dash of American Idiot ("21st Century Breakdown"), it's an apocalyptic rock opera and musical force to be reckoned with. Billie Joe even manages to mellow his snarl into a croon for a few parts.

As a faithful Green Day fan who owns all of their albums but one, I will say that I'm not disappointed. With American Idiot, I felt that they had regressed to popular style, but now I think that it was an attention grabber, something to get the public back with them so they could get their message across. American Idiot was just a warm up for 21st Century Breakdown, and this album has something for everyone, even mellow ballads for my mother ("Restless Heart Syndrom"). (This is saying something, because my mother is infamous among my friends for getting headaches listening to The Barenaked Ladies.)

Anyhoo, I would definately reccomend this album for anyone. Go listen to it. Right now. I hate to be pushy, but you will love it. (I've been listening to it nearly nonstop all weekend.)

xoxoxo from your Faithful Green Day Follower,
Brii333


1. "Song of the Century" 0:58
Act I: Heroes and Cons
2. "21st Century Breakdown" 5:09
3. "Know Your Enemy" 3:11
4. "¡Viva la Gloria!" 3:31
5. "Before the Lobotomy" 4:37
6. "Christian's Inferno" 3:07
7. "Last Night on Earth" 3:57
Act II: Charlatans and Saints
8. "East Jesus Nowhere" 4:35
9. "Peacemaker" 3:24
10. "Last of the American Girls" 3:51
11. "Murder City" 2:54
12. "¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)" 3:48
13. "Restless Heart Syndrome" 4:20
Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades
14. "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" 3:14
15. "The Static Age" 4:17
16. "21 Guns" 5:21
17. "American Eulogy" (A. "Mass Hysteria") 4:26
18. "See the Light" 4:36

Hercules

The children's cartoon Hercules is the most pathetic representation of mythology I've ever seen in my entire life. Seriously.

I understand that it was for children, and children don't care if it's accurate or not, but still!!!

While some of their situations were nothing but fact, some of it was twisted beyond recognition.

For example, The Fates were completely fact. They really were old hags who shared an eye and spun the thread of life and cut it when you died and bla bla bla. However, Pegasus had nothing to do with Hercules. Hera wasn't his mother, and Hades didn't have anything against him. For that matter, Hades wasn't evil. That was Ares, god of War and Violence. Also, the Hydra wasn't crushed under a landslide, he had all his heads cut off and the wounds burned shut. Hercules didn't have any training from a goat-man named Phil, and Hercules didn't marry a woman named Meg. Actually, his wife's name was Deianeira. When he finally died, he was made a god, he didn't refuse his godhood because of the love of his life. Not only that, but he was kind of a jerk in the 'real' myth. (Real myth? What an oxymoron. heeheehee, I love oxymorons.)

GAH!! There's definately more, but I have work to do, so I'm going to wrap it up...

That movie just kept getting worse and worse and worse. When I thought it couldn't get any cheesier, it did. The songs were aweful, the plot was cliche, and they kept just throwing a bunch of different myths together, just because they thought it worked.

grrrrrr....

From Your Irritated Fellow Blogger,
Brii333

Heeheehee

Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... rofl I'm sixteen today. To be honest, I feel no different. Well, except for the fact that everybody is being all embarrassing and Billie's mad at me for not letting her throw any parties. **sigh** I hate parties. Oh yes, and Justin is being an annoying little insect, the silly goose. He seems to find it an excuse to bother me. Why must I be so stinking ticklish?

Why isn't 'lol' in spell check and 'rofl' is? is 'rofl' a word? This is something I must discover the answer to. Someday. When I have to time.

Anyhoo...

Peace, From The Blog Ninja-In-Training,

Brii333

Stupid Career Planning

I know, I've ranted about this before. I can't help myself. It's pissing me off!!

Everyone expects me to choose right now what I want to do with my life. I'm supposed to be figuring out where I want to go to college, what I want my career to be, where I want to live, how much money I want to make, bla bla bla bla bla. For the love of Mercury, can't they just lay off???

All I know is that I want to do something that helps people to be happy. I want to entertain and bring beauty and art into their lives. I don't care how much money I make, where I live, how I live, or how I do it (to an extent). As long as I'm not hurting anyone or anything in the process, that's all I care about. I'll probably go to college, because I have a thirst for knowledge that never seems to be quenched, but that's the only reason. I want to learn why things happen, why people think certain ways, so that I can help them somehow.

I don't think that a career investigations class is going to help me do that. A few things I've learned might be useful someday, but really, when am I ever going to use this?

Shit.

Kay, I'm done with my rant. :P I'll behave and go do my homework for this dumb, pointless class now.

May Your Life be Free of Suck,
Brii333

Chevelle!!!! ++also& a reveiw of 'Funhouse'

Wow...I was really out of it last post...

Anyhoo, I very very very possibly will be able to go see Chevelle in concert!!!! As in like, Chevelle!!! As in, one-of-my-top-favorite-bands Chevelle!!! Along with Staind and some other band that I can't remember. I'm not wild about Staind, but Chevelle!!!!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EEK!

Oh yeah, and I borrowed P!nk's album Funhouse from a friend and...uhm...made a backup of it on my computer, you know, just in case it gets scratched or something... heehee... **cough** Anyhoo, it was excellent, and I'm going to be P!nk when I grow up... lol, probably not, but I can wish. It's got a wide veriety of music, from the upbeat songs 'Bad Influence' and 'Funhouse,' to excellent calming peices such as 'I Don't Believe You,' Please Don't Leave Me,' and 'Crystal Ball.' It's definately an album I would reccomend getting. She's got an impressive voice and an addictive, contagious out-there attitude.

xoxo,
Brii333

????

Wow, I don't have anything to complain about. hmmm... That's a once-in-a-blue-moon occurance...

Oh, wait, I do have something to complain about!!!

Birthday parties.

Yuck. I've always hated them. Always. Not even kidding you. I don't know why. Actually, I probably do. I absolutely HATE being the center of attention that way--people trying to give me things has always bothered me. My BFF, Billie Jo, has this thing where she thinks that just because I'm turning 16 next week, I have to have this huge party and celebrate and bla bla bla bla bla. Personally, I think she just wants an excuse to have a party. Me, I don't want an excuse to party. I don't like it.

Anyhoo, I was just thinking..."Why is it that people in America will use any excuse they can to have a party and drink?" I mean, depending on the party, it can be fun. I suppose I just don't like birthday parties. My birthday parties, in particular.

Grrr...

I'm just really bored, and I don't know what to talk about. **sigh** I'm feeling a little brain dead. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr..............

Yeah, Tony is sitting next to me talking about how he's going to drop out, get his GED, and go straight into basic training and then he's going over to Iraq. I think he's an idiot. I mean, why? What is it with guys and going into Army/Navy/National Guard/ect? I suppose not just guys--my cousin Ashley is joining the Navy after she graduates. Tony says he's going cuz he wants to drive a tank...Okay, whatever. I'm feeling WAY to brain dead to talk about anything that requires thinking....

Wow, this is one of my most boring, scatterbrained posts yet. **yawn** I'm going to pretend I'm paying attention to class for a while so I can take a nap...

xoxo,
Brii333

Pedifiles? Right...

I just heard the news that, apparently, people are saying the Matthew Shepherd Act, which would include the LGBT community in protection against hate crimes, would be giving protection to pedifiles. Okay, so now people who don't want to get beat up for their sexual orientation are pedifiles?

We don't go after children. Get your fucking facts strait.

Here's the difference... Pedifiles are sick individuals who like small children. Gays are people who happen to prefer people of the same gender. That's not wrong. I like girls, does that mean I'm going to go seek out some little kid? No! I've never dated anyone younger then me, male or female. And some gay people I'm friends with are the sweetest people you'll ever meet.

For the love of all that is holy!

From One Who Is Trying Really Hard Not To Throw Something Through The Computer Screen,
Brii333

Research Paper on Controversy of Bullfighting for Spanish Class

Bullfighting
By Brianna F.
______________

The matador faces the bull, his cape fluttering slightly in the breeze. The enormous black bull charges forward, aiming for the vivid, flapping movements of the cape’s fabric.

This is a bullfight.

Bullfights have been occurring in quite a few countries—It is traditional in Spain, France, and Portugal, while Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala, and, more recently, the U.S. have all had bullfights occurring regularly for years.

Considered an art form by many, the bullfight is a deadly, dangerous dance between a man, called the matador, and the bull. The bull is a minimum of four years old and is usually several tons. The matador executes many passes with a cloak, appearing graceful and confidant while establishing dominance over the animal, which grows steadily angrier. The dance ends with the matador killing the bull with a thrust of his sword into the space between the shoulder blades, which severs the aorta. Sometimes this fails, and the matador has to use another sword to sever the spinal chord, just at the base of the neck.

This is all towards the end of the bullfight. Before this, the bull is stabbed with barbed spikes and taunted so that the matador may see how well the bull performs. Sometimes, if a bull is unwilling to fight, the president of the bullring will grant the bull a pardon, and it will be spared.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the bullfight. Those who side with the bullfight claim that it is traditional and the bull would have been killed for food anyway. Others state that while this may be true, the bullfight is barbaric, cruel, and torturous for the bull, which has no choice in the matter.

In order to make an educated decision, we must look at the history of bullfighting.

Bullfighting can trace its roots back to bull worship and sacrifice, which was iconic of the ancient Roman ‘mystery religion’ in the act of Mithras. It is often linked to Rome, because of the many man-versus-beast fights that took place. One theory is that it was started by Emperor Tiberius Claudius I when he introduced a very short-lived ban on the Gladiator games.

As bullfighting developed into the Hispanic culture, it started being shown in the public plazas of towns and villages. Originally on horseback, it evolved into the more dangerous man-on-foot version we see today. The modern style of bullfighting was introduced by a daring man by the name of Juan Belmonte, who is seen as the greatest bullfighter of all time. Belmonte would, in a very daring and dangerous fashion, remain within inches of the bull during the entire fight. Though he himself was gored on more then one occasion, matadors usually try to imitate his style. Bullfighting is still very similar to the way it was at this time.

Bullfighting was banned several times in Europe’s history, first in 1567 by Pope Pius V, then several times in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The bans never lasted more then a few years and were always abolished later governments.

Many Hispanic cultures look at bullfighting as their signature art form, a chance for the bull to show its bravery and strength before it dies. If the kill is messy, the crowds will look upon the matador with disfavor and he will be disgraced. They do not want the bull to suffer a cruel and painful death.

However, several organizations look at the entire fight as one long, cruel, painful torture for the bull. The entire point of the bullfight is to stress, exhaust, and injure the bull before killing it. The League Against Cruel Sports states that it is “A cruel blood-sport that causes enormous suffering to an animal.” Many other groups agree. Many hold rallies outside of bullrings, protesting the torture and death of the animals awaiting their fate inside.

So, is bullfighting simply a sport and art form, or is it a cruel, needless torture for another living creature? The Bullfight is a source of vicious controversy. It has a different meaning to animal rights activists then to those in Spain. It is one of those instances where the conflicting cultures simply cannot agree, and the differences clash so profoundly that it cannot be ignored. As a tradition which has been taking place for centuries, should we ban the bullfight and take away a source of pride for one group of people to pacify another? This is the decision that must be made.

______________

Bibliography


“A Noble Death.” Prospect. September 2008. May 4, 2009.
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10357

Bullfighting FAQ. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Tim Hardman. May 4, 2009.
http://coloquio.com/toros/timfaq.html

League Against Cruel Sports. “What is Bullfighting?” League Against Cruel Sports.
2006. May 4, 2009. http://www.league.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1938


Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. “Bullfighting.” Wikipedia. May 5, 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfight

P!nk

The music artist P!nk. I think that she's mis-labled.

This is my whole problem with all these stupid genres. I hate them, with a passion.

Anyhoo, P!nk is labeled as pop. Okay, the label 'pop' SO does not fit, because her voice is so big. That's the only word I can think of that fits. And her lyrics have more meaning to them then any pop song could ever have.

I like how Tony (kids sitting at the computer next to me) labels her--really Kinky Rock. Kind of like how MSI are kind of tehno-electronica-pussy-punk.

Great. Now he's giving me crap for taking his label name. whatever. fuck you, too, Tony.


anyhoo, now i got that out of my system. i feel better.
peace,
Brii333

stupid labels.

Stupid Family and More Points on Bullfighting

Okay, they aren't stupid. I love them to peices. I'm actually just complaining about my father.

He's such a workaholic! I suppose I understand that he needs to work a lot right now, because his buisiness is moving to a different building and they're expanding and all that stuff, but you think he could take a little bit, like an hour, to spend time with his daughter he sees twice a month.

It hurts, you know? I mean, am I really that annoying? Unloveable, even? This sort of thing has been happening since I can remember; Dad goes to work, comes home, goes on his computer and works some more, takes his turn on the back-and-forth game of Civilization he's had going on for forever, sometimes watches Red Dwarf or Monty Python, and goes to bed.

I come here because I love my father, and I miss him, but I hardly ever actually see him! It gets really lonely.

And them I'm lonely at Mom's because everybody's got their thing and I'm the odd one out. Even when my best friend Billie comes over because Mom and Billie are like this (twists two fingers together). Not that that's a bad thing, Billie needs Mom there, but I get so lonely. I've got no one.

It might help if I could stop being such a bitch. Like, I'm not exactly Super-Bitch or anything, but I could be a lot nicer. I'm a very bitter and jealous creature, and I need to fix that.

I feel better now. If you made it this far into my teen-angst rant, thanks for listening.

I'm going to go work on my stupid bullfighting project for Spanish Class.

Can't get away from the stupid bullfighting. **sigh** although, Okie (another blogger) did make a very interesting point on it. (Comment In Previous Blog Post)

Now, Okie, my problem with bullfighting in general is not just the torture part, it's that they kill the animal. I don't kill animals or even eat them, because I believe that they have souls that are just as complex as a person's and it is morally wrong to kill them. If the bulls had a choice in the matter, that would be different, but we can't communicate with them to ask, and so we shouldn't use them for this "art form."

It was nice to hear someone elses opinion on it, though. :) Thank you for the comment.

xoxoxo,
Brii333

QUOTE OF THE DAY
The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.
~Erma Bombeck

Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald