One Hello World

One Hello World is Kid's Help Phone except anyone can call, and he shares their secrets with the world.  So I guess it would be good for people who really need to get something off their chest but would rather be anonymous about it.  Personally, I would rather confide in a friend than share my thoughts with the world, but that's just me.  I do think it's good that he does this for people though.  Here is someone who cares about people enough to here what they have to say and put some rhythm to their words.  He also gives a little comforting response to every caller.  It's not much, but it's more than anyone else is doing.

Graffiti is Art

Graffiti is totally an art!  Anyone who sees otherwise is too closed minded and wrapped up in the law to accept it as anything but filthy, disgusting vandalism.  Graffiti is just the same as any other art, you're just drawing on a wall or public place instead of a canvas.  And since graffiti is usually in a public place, a lot more people can see the tagger's work and appreciate the skill and talent it would take to create such a masterpiece.  Now before you read any further, click this link and look at any pictures you want on this site, especially the murals link.
http://www.tatscru.com/tats.html
Can you believe all that is done with spray paint? That site features a group of professional muralists called Tats Cru.  They originated in The Bronx, spray painting in subway stations but their work soon became very well known and they decided to use their fame to promote their hobby.  Tats Cru spear headed the battle to change peoples views on graffiti.  Their murals can be found all over New York and other states, but not just in back alleys.  Their murals are on the front of businesses, the sides of vehicles, or other walls as an advertisement for a product.  If companies literally pay these guys to "vandalize" their businesses, then why do people still see graffiti as not an art form? 
It's because people see it in their own towns on the side of buildings, street signs, or other drawable surfaces.  It's time to face the facts, graffiti is becoming a lot more common.  More kids are starting to draw it in their free time, and eventually their going to want to put it somewhere where people can appreciate it, like a wall.  And there will always be some kids out there drawing graffiti, and if communities don't want them "defacing" their property, then it's time to make some changes.  Take New Hamburg for example.  There is graffiti there, everyone has seen it, and if you haven't, go for a walk some time and actually look i guarantee you'll find some.  New Hamburg accommodates for all other types of  (for lack of a better word) youth activities, why not this one?  For instance, everyone hates kids skateboarding around their businesses for some reason, so they made the Drop in, an indoor skate park open in the summer, and Thursday nights during school.  Now wouldn't it be super easy to put up a wall at the Drop in for people to come and use for graffiti?  It would give the kids something other than people's businesses to write on and everyone else who's at the Drop in can appreciate the new artwork at their skate park.  Some communities have already done this, so why can't New Hamburg? 
http://www.carbondalegov.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B5A35D00B-A6F9-472C-9708-267305D32117%7D

Graffiti should be seen as the art it is.  People really need to open their minds to this modern art and accept it in their communities by putting up a wall.  Since graffiti is illegal, giving kids a place where they can do it in peace will keep them out of trouble and could save their futures.  I myself know people who got themselves in trouble with the law for graffiti and it wouldn't have happened if there was somewhere they could share their form of art legally.

Who

I am deffinitely not a grinch, that's for sure.  I love Christmas so much, you might even say it's my favourite time of the year.  You get to see your entire family, 2 weeks off school, so much delicious food, presents, and on and on.  Christmas is just such a happy time of year.  Everyone comes together to have a good time and team up to help others who dont't have  a lot and are in need of help.  The goodness inside everyone comes out during the holiday season.  But there is one part of Christmas that i do not like at all.  Shopping.  All the malls are so flippin busy i find myself wanting to knock over everyone who's in my way.  I know thats not the spirit your supposed to have at this time of year, but i can't help it.  Some people just don't have commen sense.  They park themselves and their cart right in the most high traffic part of a store and don't move know matter how many people walk into them.  And there is always that one person you get stuck behind in line who takes forever to go through because they're claiming they should get a better price for something, or they're just angry about something.  Walmart is a whole different story.  It is bad enough not during the holidays, but come Christmas time, that place is a hell hole.  You walk in and are immediately hit by the Walmart smell and then greeted by the over cheery greeter, then you mix in with the oh so great Walmart customers.  Walmart shoppers are probably the worst shoppers ever.  I swear most of them try to get in your way and block off as much of the aisle as they can, just to make things difficult for everyone else.  Then there's the kids who are always running around playing with all the toys or riding scooters around the store and running into me.  Plus the cashiers are always the most pleasant people ever to deal with.   Walmart is probably my least favourite place to be at Christmas time.  I have had to many experiences there.  Here are some delightful pictures of Walmart people found on google.  Enjoy :)
 

The first picture is of a lovely woman shopping at Walmart, the second is another woman shopping in her hospital gown, the third is the classic old man in short shorts, then the last one is a man who thought it would be cool to dress his kid in a diaper, leash and cowboy boots.  I rest my case.

President's Choice

http://obscuresound.com/

This just happened to be the first blog i clicked on when i googled "music blog" but it also turned out to be a really good one too.  It's all about music which was a very good start, then i discovered it was all about good music which made it even better.  This blog is dedicated to new and upcoming artists in the indie genre and exploring all the different sounds of the artists.  They have a top albums of 2010 post that is posted daily in increments of 10, and i thought that was awesome.  I literally read about every album they've posted about so far and loved every minute of it.  Not only was this blog extremely interesting but it was also very visually appealing because of album artwork they have up, different pictures of the artists and just the layout of the site.  Obscuresound is a great blog, much better than the ones you picked Miss Feick.

Feicky's Choice

Well, I must say i didn't hate the 2 blogs as much as everyone else.  However, the one with the letters was really,horribly boring.  Who wants to read about someone they've never heard about doing something boring?  I have my own airline custom problem stories too but i don't share those with the world.  Anyways, i did like the Huffington post.  I found a few interesting articles and posts on there, one was about a man who just sentenced to death yesterday in Connecticut for a really horrible crime, which i will not include for obvious reasons.  And i read other posts about celebrity sex tapes that i otherwise would not have known existed.  But something about that site made me stay on it for about 20 minutes so it was doing something right.  My guess is all the catchy headlines and titles or the pictures that always caught your attention. 

Love of my Life

Jake Sommerville.  Need i say more?  Was it the way he shreds the hell out of everyone on his skateboard?  Was it the way he sang me songs and played guitar for me?  Or was it the way the grease shined on his face when he didn't shower for a few days?  I will never know but something in this guy caught my eye like no other had before.  I have had a huge man crush on Jake Sommerville ever since I first talked to him in grade 11.  We would chill and write beautiful music together in guitar class and then make videos and such in comm tech.  Also, we played basketball and the likes in gym class together.  Jake would always hike up his shorts to his nipples and tuck in his shirt and prance around the gym like a baffoon, but it was so funny!  I love Jake Sommerville, and I will for the rest of my life. <3

The top picture is the Louvre park in Paris, France, and the bottom picture is in a park in London, England.  I have been to both places and they are just unbelievable.  Now when I was in Paris that pond had a lot more chairs around it and there were people in almost every single one relaxing, reading, listening to music, or playing music.  It was such a peaceful place, everyone could share the park peacefully and they all respected everything that was there.  The park in London had so many people walking, running, jogging, horseback riding, biking, rollerblading, kayaking, and so on.  This doesn't seem to different then the parks here in Canada, but the one main difference is the people there.  They all respect everything there.  There isn't garbage all over the ground, there isn't people yelling and fighting with eachother and you can feel perfectly safe there.  And all those chairs in the pictures are left outside all summer long.  Think about it, if we had chairs out in our parks like that they would all be smashed and broken the first night.
     That is why if I could go anywhere for the weekend I would go back to Europe.  Not just for the amazing and breathtaking scenery, but for the people and their way of life over there.  There is nothing quite like going to an english pub and getting fish and chips and a pint of some great local english beer.  During the summer my family and I went to England, Scotland and Wales for 3 weeks.  We stayed at this bed and breakfast in Wales for one night and i would give anything to go back to that place.  The man who owns it was unbelievably nice, and he would do anything for us if we needed.  We spent the night hanging around the bed and breakfast mostly talking to Lindsey, the man who owns it.  He treated us so well that my parents left him a 100 pound tip for the amazing dinner they prepared for us.  Needless to say that got us some pretty good service in the morning for breakfast.  But with all that said if i could, i would go back to Europe in a heartbeat, just to see Lindsey again and to climb the Ochil hills in Scotland again, and if you haven't been to Europe I strongly suggest you find your way there at some point in your life.