I'm going to have a "21st Century Breakdown"

First off, I would like to commend these tire-less thirty some year olds for bringing out yet another great album. To anyone that disliked "their newer stuff" before they "sold out," let me tell you, "21st Century Breakdown" will not disappoint, no matter how much you seem to hate them with a passion of a thousand suns. But maybe it will, because some people are just so anti Green Day, it's ridiculous. Anyways, it definitely feels good to listen to Billie Joe's voice again with a brand new style and beat that doesn't differ completely, but mostly from their previous work.

The album opens up with their intro "Song of the Century" with spoken words that seem to be mixed in with some distinctive static in the background. Listening to it makes me feel relaxed and I only wish it could be longer.

Then bam, their second track "21st Century Breakdown" really hits you in the face. This song focuses on the downfall of society right now such as the economy. Billie Joe describes our generation as the ones who have to deal with the problems that our ancestors left us when he sings, "we are the class of 13 / Born in the era of humility / We are the desperate in the decline / Raised by the Bastards of 1969." And since our generation is having to stress about the many problems of the world, we are left with, well, a "breakdown.

I will not speak of every track, but yes, I will bring up Green Day's hit single, "Know Your Enemy." This song reminds me of "American Idiot" with the infectious drum beat and fast-paced guitar riffs. And yet, I still manage to somehow love this song no matter how overplayed and repetitive it seems when Billie Joe sings, "DO YOU KNOW YOUR ENEMY?"

"East Jesus Nowhere" really lures the reader into the song with the pounding guitar riffs in the intro. The rhythm of this song is amazingly contagious and keeps you listening throughout the whole song. This track is definitely one of my favorites, along with "Peacemaker."

"Peacemaker" is one of the songs that Green Day has really portrayed their new style in. I sense some Mexican vibes from this with the distinct maracas, constant strumming of the guitar and the fact that he rolls his R's at the end of this song. The best part of this track is when Billie Joe says "Well call the Peacemaker! Hey hey! Hey hey hey hey hey!" I seem to love that part because like everything else, it IS infectious.

Even though most of the tracks on "21st Century Breakdown" are upbeat and head-shaking, they also reveal their softer, less hectic side. "21 Guns" is definitely the most captivating song on the album, and it isn't just because I'm a sucker for acoustic songs. Billie Joe sings about war, and how it needs to stop because it isn't worth it. It really strikes you from the beginning, when you hear "Do you know what's worth fighting for? / When it's not worth dying for? / Does it take your breath away? / And you feel yourself suffocating? / Does the pain weigh out the pride? / And you look for a place to hide? / Did someone break your heart inside?" The beat of the song in the chorus even sounds a bit like marching, and it's brilliant how they created this song with a light and acoustic tone for a serious topic.

Yes, there's no song about how Bush is an American Idiot here, but instead, Green Day tackles topics such as the problems of the world and portrays them in a way that can make listeners feel what they're feeling. This album is definitely their best yet, and I admire how they can still create music that boggles people's minds. Although their sound has changed throughout the years, it is definitely for the better, and "21st Century Breakdown" won't dissapoint.

The power of childhood memories

It feels like just yesterday, when I gripped my purple Nintendo 64 controller; having sore thumbs and wide tired eyes. As I repeatedly tapped A and titled the joystick forward I can recall the peaceful times of when I made the character swing his sword and do little barrel rolls. The game that became my all-time favorite: Zelda.

The Zelda series really started it all for me. I grew up playing this video-game series, and as a result it has become a part of my childhood memories, and a thing I cannot forget. Ocarina of Time. My first Zelda game. I remember that sunny afternoon in the 1st grade where my dad brought me this game and handed it to me and told me to play it on my nice new console. I recall looking it over several times, asking him "what's this? what's this?" and he would reply "Zelda." And I would still question him because his answer didn't make any sense. So he showed me, and he played about the first 5 minutes of it. By then, I was too excited to watch any longer. I yelled, "I wanna play now!" and was able to try out this adventurous journey. Little did I know that the first 5 minutes of this game would keep me hooked on Zelda in the future. And I can honestly say that I am still an avid "gamer" throughout my high school years.

However, the sad part is, I've been brainwashed into playing mindless, violent, videogame shooters. I currently own an Xbox 360, with games such as Resident Evil 5, Gears of War 2, and Call of Duty 4. The innocent, adventurous storyline of the Zelda series seemed to have escaped me; as I get ready to headshot an enemy veteran with a sniper rifle, or chainsaw some alien zombies with my highly advanced weapon. No more swords and neat little items when I've got a load of technological guns and explosives now, right?

Eh, wrong. Soon after playing these videogame shooters, a part of me starts to realize what's missing. I think back and remember what made me so into this video game thing, and I came to a conclusion: Zelda. After days of mindlessly searching on Youtube, I come across the Zelda songs. And as soon as I clicked play to hear the theme song, a load of Zelda memories rushes through my mind, and it just makes me sad. It brings back so many memories, I wish I could just play those games again. Zelda's "Majora's Mask," "Wind Waker," and "Ocarina of Time" just fulfills that empty void that was created with the videogame shooters. Honestly; nothing was better than the classics, not even the great shooters of today could ever possess the unique elements that Zelda had that drew me into the series so powerfully.

So, as I sit here and reflect on my childhood memories, there seems to be a simple solution for the absence of Zelda. All I need to do is to just play it again. Simple, right? It would be. If only I could trace the whereabouts of my Nintendo Gamecube or Wii, or even Nintendo 64 for a matter of fact. But all of my Nintendo consoles are nowhere to be found, and whenever I look and see that ol' Xbox 360 collecting dust, I just stare at it and think, "where is my old-school Nintendo?"

End of season brings discourgement

It didn't seem too long ago that I was conditioning for badminton. Now, it's the end of the season and the end of practice for junior varsity. How time flies! It's funny how I never considered joining a sport at all in the first place, because I always knew I wasn't very athletic. Any sport, you name it; I was a complete clutz. I hated sports, but I decided to try badminton.

And well, I'm glad I did, because I absolutely love the sport now. Ever since I made the team, one of the things I looked forward to at the end of a long, hard day was badminton practice. Excluding the fact that I'm probably the worst player on the team, I really enjoy going practice. I don't know what it was that drew me towards this sport so much, but I tried to never miss a single day unless it was for journalism or some sort of doctor's appointment.

The blisters on my feet, the non-stop running around the school and the extremely hard warm-ups at conditioning were brutal. I almost gave up during the first week, because conditioning made me so sore that it was painful to walk. But now, I realize that it was worth it despite the hardships I went through and the games that I've lost.

So, I may not be the best badminton player in the world, but I love the sport so much that I'm more than willing to improve myself. The friends I've made and the games I've played have been a great experience for me, and it's just so disapointing that practice for JV ended today.
I guess there's nothing left to do except to wait for summer to start. Then, I can play again. :)

Easter day surprise

So today, my mom woke me up extremely early. 7 o'clock. Too early for a Sunday, anyway. The family was up early because we were planning on reserving a spot at Micke Grove Park. Every year, we seem to always celebrate Easter at Micke Grove, it's almost like a tradition. Since it being Easter, the park would be packed with big families celebrating this egg-hunting festivity.
And so we leave early, about 9 o'clock. My dad has been there since about 7 however, saving a good place for us to settle down.

And so, with the chocolate goodies in the trunk, and a few of my little cousins too, we were on our way. We planned to meet up with a few friends and other family members there as well.
After we laid out our Asian mats and prepared the food, the day just seemed pretty relaxing and fun. I took my sisters and little cousins to the playground for a while, and afterwards we played catch, football, and even a little badminton.

Or maybe, just too much badminton. I became so caught up in playing the game with my cousins that I didn't notice my 4 year old sister was gone. My dad, however, assured us that she was at the playground. I became relaxed, but when a few more minutes passed by, my cousins and I seemed to get a little worried. We immediately stopped the game and rushed to the playground to look for her.

While searching through the mess of little rugrats running around and screaming on the slides, I yelled my sister's name. "Mariee! Mariee?!" After a few seconds of searching with frantic eyes, I became worried. My little sister wasn't there.

All sorts of thoughts flooded my mind, thoughts that I didn't want to think about and I tried not to think about. Even after discussing what happened to that 8 year old girl Sandra yesterday, I understood that that could've been anybody. Filled with worry, my pace quickened, and I kept on searching for a little girl in a white blouse with blue cut jeans.

Finally, I saw her. Extreme relief rushed inside me as I yelled, "MARIEE!" She came rushing so quickly towards me, with tears streaming down her cheeks, and the sound of her crying echoing in my ears. All I could make out from her was "I want mommy," as her sobbing was painfully loud. As she jumped into my arms, I tried to console her, but at the same time I was also trying to call my mom and tell her that everything was alright.

Then, I noticed a blond, tall woman standing next to her. This woman explained to me that she found Mariee about twenty minutes ago, looking for her family. It turns out my sister was walking in the wrong direction, and that she got lost. When my mom came, the sheriff did also, and the blond woman explained everything. With the look in my mom's eyes, I could tell she was extremely grateful for that woman, but also feeling deep regret as if she wasn't a good mother.
And so, after this horrible incident, I'm sure my mother vowed to never leave Mariee's sight again. I'm just glad that I found my sister, but I also learned that chocolate filled eggs aren't just the only thing that could go missing on Easter.

Student misses chance to see favorite band

Alesana, a screamo band, came to play at the Stockton Empire Theatre last Friday. April 3rd to be exact. They came along with I Set My Friends On Fire, and a few others. Anyone who knows me pretty well, or has seen my MySpace, probably knows that I obsess over Alesana. And that I probably worship them daily. Maybe. I have their band picture as my desktop wallpaper, their icon as my AIM icon, and the wallpaper on my phone is Alesana. I have dozens of pictures of them in my computer, almost all of their songs, a big poster that says ALESANA on the front of my bedroom door, and heck, I’m even wearing my Alesana tee shirt right now.

So, did I go to the concert? The Alesana concert? Me? Why of course you would think so, anybody would. A friend told me that I was the first person he thought of going.

Well, no. I didn’t go. Crazy, right? Yeah, my parents, or rather my dad said I couldn’t go, because I’m only 15. Said there would be crazy teenagers there and that I couldn’t go without my aunt or anything. Didn’t really give much of a valid reason, but that’s what he said. So I immediately felt sort of heartbroken hearing this. I didn’t really know what to think. So, after this, I despised my dad. My mom just told me to shut up and get over it.

I went to school the next day, telling my friends the heartbreaking news. “What? You love them! Why not?” “Whaa? Ask again!” And so on. I told them that there was no way that my strict parents could change their mind about this, and so that was the end of it. As the day went on, I tried to forget about it, but my friends who didn’t know the news were constant reminders, e.g. flashing the ticket, talking about the show.

So after school, I decided that I was going no matter what. I was going to disobey my parents’ authority and go anyway. Now, I normally wouldn’t even think about doing this, I wouldn’t even consider that option. But this was Alesana. I really loved this band, and would do anything to go to that show. My good friend Jeremy told me not to go, and that I’ll regret it later. My aunt also told me this, because my birthday was coming up and I was going to feel sorry for what I did. But really, I didn’t care. Seeing Alesana was worth getting in trouble, it was probably worth anything.

So, I was supposed to go to my friend Alisya’s house that day also. We were going to work on our Huck Finn English project, thanks to Mrs. Dei Rossi. So we took the bus and went to her house. And that was when we would sneak off to the show. We had to wait until her mom came back from work though, because her mom would let her go. So we worked on the project until 6. The show starts at 6:30. I began to lose all hope, knowing that I would never be able to go. Alisya knew this too, and just told me to call my dad to take me home.

So now, here I am. My parents didn’t know that I planned to sneak out, so I wasn’t in any trouble. The show was on Friday, and today is Sunday. The feeling that was attached to me all those 3 days hurt more than I could possibly imagine. I tried not to think about the show, but every time I did I could not stop crying. To know that I missed Alesana and all their glory when they finally come here. To know that people who didn’t even listen to them went to the show. To know that I had a chance to go to the show and see my idols. That hurts the most.