Let’s go somewhere

You need to get somewhere. You’re dressed up and ready to go, but how you’re getting there is a question. You can either walk, bike, drive a car, get someone to drive you, or take public transit. Some people prefer one method over the other, while others know when each one is appropriate.

As a kid, teachers during elementary school would encourage you to walk. Most kids lived close enough to the schools to walk so there wasn’t really a need to drive. They mostly did this to promote exercise but also to reduce the amount of traffic at school. As someone who lives close to everything such as bus stops, the dentist, and even a grocery store, there was no reason to use any other method. Since my parents didn’t want to take time out of their days to walk me to school, they would either drive me or they would make me carpool with someone. I only started walking to school frequently towards the end of seventh grade. I also only started walking home more during seventh grade. Although it would take around twenty minutes, it still felt good in the end. I would even walk with some of my friends that lived close enough. Because we didn’t have cellphones as kids, sometimes communication was tough and sometimes we would end up not walking together. To this day, if I had to option to walk somewhere, that’s what I’m going with. A few months ago, I had to film something for an assignment. I could’ve driven there but decided that a half-hour walk one way was the best. Carrying camera equipment while doing that wasn’t fun but once we weren’t just walking for minutes straight, it was a lot of fun. I wouldn’t do that again but if I need it, I will.

Two female police officers walking down 100 block E. Pender Street in evening

(City of Vancouver Archives / Flickr)

Riding a bike, while useful, is actually impractical in most situations. Sometimes there isn’t a bike rack available and you have to share the road with drivers. As someone who crashed on a bike while going downhill at Tynehead, I can’t imagine doing that on the road. My brakes stopped working while going downhill one day and I crashed at the bottom of the hill. My injuries were severe enough to land me in the hospital. I wasn’t able to move my body properly for almost a week because of that. If that happened on the road, I could’ve risked crashing into a car, which could lead to permanent damage or even death. If we lived on perfectly flat land, maybe I would bike more. Crashing into people isn’t fun at all. I was once walking with one of my friends and for some reason, I decided to turn around. One of my other friends was on his bike and had I not seen him, he could’ve crashed into my friend and me. He was known to bike pretty much everywhere. He was even able to bike upstairs which is something that shouldn’t be possible.

Bright Bike

(Becky Stern / Flickr)

If your parents didn’t want you to walk to school, they probably drove you. Driving can sometimes be a mess because if multiple cars are on the road at the same time, there can be traffic. When I used to drive myself to school, I had to make sure to leave early enough to make sure I wasn’t in traffic. Thankfully, later in the year, my only class was once a week at seven in the morning which meant no traffic. Leaving, however, is another story. By the time the class ended, people would start arriving at school. Because of this, I would not leave until the regular school day started. At that time, a lot of the cars would be off the road which meant I didn’t have to deal with traffic on the way home. It only took me a long time to get home one time because of a school bus. I could’ve gone around the bus, however, there was no way to tell if a car was going to start heading towards me. This incident led me to wait for ten minutes before the bus finally started moving. At that time, there was a pile-up of maybe ten cars in that lane.

160618-186

(waferboard / Flickr)

College is a different story. Driving isn’t financially feasible for me because of gas costs. Thankfully, public transit came included in my tuition and since I live close enough to a bus stop, I use this to get to BCIT every class day. While it does take a bit longer, I vastly prefer this over driving myself to school. I will sometimes use this time to do assignments or study for tests. I even wrote a few articles while on the bus since I would get more inspiration on the road than at home. There are a few flaws to this. Wait times are the biggest time waster depending on the situation. If there’s heavy traffic, you will probably wait for a long time before you even get on the road. Sometimes, buses and trains will be too full for anyone else to board. Bus drivers generally don’t like it when people enter through the back doors. One time, a bus driver refused to go until someone that entered through the back got off the bus. If there aren’t any seats left, you will have to stand and hold on to a pole or one of the rubber straps. Since drivers start going when the last person gets on and trains are automated to go, people have to make sure to hold on. One time, a bus had to make an abrupt stop and someone who was standing fell over. I even moved forward quite a bit on my seat and someone’s drink spilt, which led people who put their stuff on the ground to check if their stuff is wet.

TransLink Bus

(GoToVan / Flickr)

You need some way to get to a place you need to be. If you’re close enough, you can either walk or bike. If you’re a bit further, driving or transit will be your best options. No matter what you choose, you will find your way there.

Sing-a-long

You’re listening to a song and someone is singing. You’re impressed by their capabilities and sometimes wonder how in the world they managed to make it fit. Over the past few centuries, people have developed many singing styles that fit the music they try to create.

When you think of old-fashioned singing, you’re probably thinking of classical singing such as the type you hear at operas or symphonies. While you might’ve been turned off as a little kid because of how ridiculous it sounds, you end up growing to like it. The amount of talent this take is unmatched by other vocal styles (except for maybe harsh vocals). The ability to project your voice without a microphone is what makes or breaks a singer for classical enthusiasts. For centuries, classical singers have been singing without the ability to use some kind of amplification. Whenever people see a pop singer sing operatically using a mic, they say they’re not being authentic when it comes to singing classical. However, this is just them gatekeeping classical music from people who aren’t classically trained. When people think of being classically trained, they see it as the only way to develop your voice. While true to some extent, you’ll find yourself limited when it comes to other styles such as rock. 

Maria Biesu (1973).

(Ion Chibzii / Flickr)

Pop (along with other styles such as folk and R&B) singing can be achieved by pretty much anyone. However, good pop singing can only be done by a few. While people see pop as being easy, if they’re not disciplined enough to go that route, it will end up sounding wrong. One of the few reasons why people didn’t like Nickelback at the peak of their hatred is how much Chad Kroegers’s voice doesn’t fit the popish nature of their music. When it comes to pop singing, there is an abundance of music snobs that are turned off by it. They have to always point out the fact that there’s autotune involved. In this day of modern music production, autotune will always find its way into every pop production. Because of the lack of time a lot of mainstream pop singers take to train their voices, they often can’t know if what they’re singing sounds good. Live shows show if the artist is more of a singer or a performer. If they live a party lifestyle, the amount of damage done to their vocal folds is a lot more prominent because pop doesn’t call for rough-sounding vocals. 

Rihanna live on stage at the 2013 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix

(Michael Gethen / Flickr)

Rock and metal singing is seen as a lot rougher and “authentic” compared to pop singing. There’s no definitive rock sound, but when you think of rock and metal singers, you think of people like Robert Plant, Bruce Dickinson, and Ozzy Osbourne. Sure, on a technical level, they’re not that great. But when you break down what they’re doing, you understand why they’re some of the greatest. It’s not all rough, however. Some genres such as pop punk and power metal require a much more polished sound compared to rougher styles of rock and metal.

When it comes to metal, people often point towards harsh vocals. Harsh vocals, however, gets often seen as screaming with no need for talent. Some people think humans can’t even make those sounds and use distortion from their microphones. However, using distortion on a microphone doesn’t work that way. It can add saturation, but it won’t make you sound like Jeff Walker or Angela Gossow in seconds. The only way to make those sounds is through proper techniques. If it’s wrecking your throat, you’re doing it incorrectly. You generally want to use your stomach to produce those sounds. Harsh vocals types include gutturals, screeches, screams, and much more. A lot of people get turned off by harsh vocals because they think it’s not music and they can’t be understood. Saying that harsh vocals aren’t musical is an insult. For millenniums, cultures used “screaming” (for lack of a better) word as part of their music, whether that would be in rituals or other ceremonies. The part where they can’t understand it is also a dumb argument. You can’t say you understand every singer even if they’re singing “normally.” You don’t even need to understand the lyrics for a song to be good. Gangnam Style was one of (if not) the most popular songs in 2012 and most people around the world don’t understand Korean.

cryptopsy

(Felipe Tofani / Flickr)

Your vocal range is also a deciding factor when it comes to singing.

Soprano is generally the highest of the voices. While it is generally done by female singers, some male vocalists are capable of reaching high notes. In a choir setting, they usually carry the main melody. One of the main stereotypes about being soprano is that they have massive egos and they show off. Altos are somewhat lower voices. If they’re not solo, they will usually carry some of the harmonies. A stereotype when it comes to Altos is that they get the most boring parts out there. There is an arrangement of Mariah Carrie’s “All I Want For Christmas” where the Altos are just sustaining notes throughout the song. Tenor is typically the high voice for male singers, however, some female vocalists that have a range that can go low enough will sometimes sing those parts. They will usually do counter melodies in choir situations, but this is also the range solo male artists possess. I’ve always wanted to sing those parts but they are completely out of my reach, no matter how hard I try. I may have come close to it for one piece but since then, I haven’t been able to hit those notes. I guess that at some point, I may have strained my vocal folds to the point where high notes are either unattainable or sound completely strained. There is no way I can sing above middle C these days. Bass voices carry the foundation in a choir, but can sometimes be a solo voice. The most popular piece of music that has a solo bass singer is “Your Man” by Josh Turner. I can’t reach super low but can at least sing those parts comfortably.

Singing will always be part of music. Everyone has a voice, so find what you can do with it.

Footloose

You may or may not be wearing something on your feet right now. Whether you’re wearing nothing, just socks, slippers, or even shoes, your feet will need something.

Going barefoot is only acceptable in a few situations: In bed, in your own house, in the shower, at the pool, or at the beach. Going barefoot anywhere else is pretty much a crime. No one wants to look at your feet in public, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t wash them (Which is disgusting. Please wash your feet). In non-water situations, wearing socks is probably the best thing to do if you’re not wearing shoes of some sort. They at least give your feet enough protection so you don’t feel absolutely disgusting. 

Slippers (which also include flip-flops and slides) are best when worn indoors or in situations where you need to go barefoot right away such as the beach or the pool. They, unfortunately, don’t give you enough protection around your feet to use as everyday footwear but at least they have enough uses for them to be used in other situations. Seeing people wear them as everyday footwear is questionable because of this. I usually just stick to wearing socks indoors but if I absolutely need to, I’ll wear slippers. When it comes to wearing flip-flops, I’ll only wear them at the pool or beach because those are situations where I need to be barefoot in seconds. Flip-flops are also useful in the shower so you don’t get any weird foot infections. 

flip flop

(brando / Flickr)

To me, shoes fall into multiple categories. These categories include:

  • Runners
  • Low tops
  • High tops
  • Dress shoes

Runners are seen as everyday shoes. When you’re a little kid, you often don’t get many opportunities to change footwear (except changing from rainboots to runners). There were many instances where you had to run right away which can make wearing any other kind of footwear extremely uncomfortable. Nowadays, you are one of three people. Either you wear runners everywhere you go, you only wear them while exercising, or you wear them whenever you feel like it. I fall under the last category where I’ll wear them whenever I feel like it. I always wear them while exercising but when it comes to going to school or anything else, it depends on what my outfit calls for. These are 100% inappropriate to wear in formal situations. Whenever I see someone wear them at a formal event such as a wedding or funeral, I just think to myself how disrespectful they are to the dress code. The only valid excuse that exists is that they’re the only shoes that you own.

Sneaker

(Chiara Coetzee)

Low tops are generally seen as skater shoes. I usually only like these ones if they’re thick enough. Ones that are thinner, such as low-top Chuck Taylors, are what I would describe as feeling cheap because I feel like they don’t have enough ankle support. These sneakers are the type you would buy to feel not informal, but still casual. My main pair of low tops that I wear on a semi-regular basis is a pair of Adidas Continentals. They don’t feel super flimsy

Pink Jogging Sneakers

(Christian Ungureanu / Flickr)

High-top sneakers are probably my favourite casual piece of footwear. Something about them feels complete and goes with pretty anything I would be wearing every day. High tops tell the world that you’re a sneaker enthusiast. One of the only problems with any kind of high-top footwear is how long they can take to put on and take off. If you’re in a major rush, you’ll probably struggle to put them on. You usually have to remove the laces from the first few holes to accommodate this. After you get them on, you feel a lot better. When it comes to lacing up high-top Chuck Taylors, I like to lace them where the laces go around my ankles. They give the pair of shoes a lot more grip around the ankles that just don’t exist. 

Converse All Star

(Kai Gradert / Flickr)

Dress shoes are the type of thing that you only wear at a corporate office, at a wedding, or at a funeral. They’re probably your least favourite because of how formal they are. You can only get them in black and grown which makes sense because of their formality. They’re usually made out of leather for formality reasons. If you’re someone to wear a belt, it is crucial that you match your belt with your shoes, otherwise your outfit will scream “I did not prepare myself for a formal environment.”

dress shoes belt and scarf

(Steve Johnson / Flickr)

Boots are usually informal but can be formal if you get the right pair. When it comes to heavy snow, your only option is to wear snow boots. No other kind of footwear will help your feet survive. Years ago, rain boots would be your only option to survive heavy rain. However, now that waterproof sneakers have evolved since then, the need for these isn’t as much as it used to be. In other situations, you can get away with ankle or casual boots. Boots make me feel dressed up without actually dressing up. A pair of chelsea boots can actually go with any outfit and should be in almost everyone’s wardrobe because of their timeless look. For a long time, I would wear chelsea boots almost every day. It was only in the last few years that I

switched to boots with laces or zippers. Lace-up boots tend to have a problem where they can be a challenge to put on in a hurry. One time, it took me almost ten minutes just to put on a pair of lace-up boots. I didn’t wear that pair that much because of it so I continued wearing my chelsea boots before getting a pair of ankle boots with zippers. They’re pretty snug compared to chelsea boots because there was less elasticity. These days, I rock a pair of motorcycle boots (despite not owning or even being able to ride a motorcycle). That pair of boots have both laces and zippers. The laces work as they should, making the boots tighter. The zippers are useful because that means you can take less time putting them on.

My old Doc Martens

(dogrando / Flickr)

Footwear is something that you’ll always have to wear. What you choose can say a lot about you.

Listen everyone

You want to listen to a song right now. You’re opening that song in your favourite place to listen, without giving it much thought. However, the difference between platforms can be pretty significant. 

Back then, you were probably getting your music online from Limewire or Napster. These websites were borderline illegal and were not supervised. You would sometimes get watermarks in your music such as website information. Needless to say, we have progressed since then.

limewire

(hank Mitchell / Flickr)

YouTube, while a video platform, is a great place for music. You’ve probably discovered your favourite artist in the past eighteen years on the platform. It’s also a great place to watch music videos rather than hoping they would get aired. Sometimes, people will use music in their own videos and people will discover them through there. However, what if you wanted to download a song? Thankfully, there are many websites out there that will allow you to convert any YouTube video into an MP3 file. It definitely went against YouTube’s terms and conditions but it was the way we would download music for free. I even used it to download sound effects for the silly videos I used to make. Sure, these websites would sometimes open up pop-up windows that led you to, well, inappropriate websites, however, these websites were our lifesavers. I still use this method sometimes to download music from video games since they’re usually not available on most platforms. These days, we now have YouTube music, a paid service that allows you to download songs legally. Since you can download anything from YouTube when you pay for it, you can have legal downloads of songs that aren’t available elsewhere, especially deep cuts. The upload may have been illegal but your download isn’t as far as I’m concerned. 

iTunes was the first big platform to get your music legally. When the iPod was first introduced. You had to get your music from somewhere, and iTunes was the place to do it. However, it started taking a dump on itself a long time ago. Some features such as burning CDs became hidden in the drop-down menus and proper organisation went out the window. There are now multiple pages that do the same thing which makes the user interface not fun to deal with. Apple Music seems to have taken over what iTunes did, taking the Spotify route as a streaming service. With its high-fidelity audio, people have been using it as their main listening platform. I haven’t got a chance to try out any of the Apple services due to being loyal to Windows and Android, however, I trust that they do what they need to do.

iTunes

(David Becher / Flickr)

Soundcloud is another platform where people can upload and download tracks. However, there is one big caveat. You have to pay if you want to upload more than three hours of audio on the platform. Despite this, it’s still popular for artists to upload their songs and even get some traction.

Spotify is a more universal option that’s insanely popular. I’m even using it right now to listen to music while writing. I’ve been using the app religiously since I was thirteen to listen to music. The ability to listen to any song of my choosing in some official form is amazing. The playlist organization is immaculate. However, it does have its problems. The button to delete a song is easy to press which can make it risky to click on things sometimes. I’ve accidentally deleted an album from my phone one time which should never be a thing that happens. But alas, I was left without the option to listen to the songs I wanted to listen to without the internet. I was only able to download it once I got a connection again. Because of its weird verification system, sometimes you won’t be able to access songs that you’ve downloaded. There have been times when the song was in my playlist but for some reason, is inaccessible. If I have something downloaded, surely it has to stay that way without the internet. Speaking of the internet, Spotify is always looking for an internet connection when your WiFi is on, hoping that it can connect to the servers. I have to turn off my WiFi sometimes just to make the app works. Spotify is one of the first services to tell you your stats at the end of the year. Every year, Spotify will lay out how much time you’ve listened to an artist, what genres you like, and other weird stats that don’t equate to anything.

Spotify

(Marco Darksen / Flickr)

At least there are cool websites to check your Spotify stats. Stats For Spotify is probably the most simplistic out of all of them. It will tell you who you listened to the most, which genres you’re listening to, and which songs you play often. It’s not entirely accurate especially when you check your Spotify Wrapped, but it does give you a good idea of your Spotify activity. There’s also Reciptify, which makes your top 10 songs into a receipt, which is a pretty cool concept. Instafest is an interesting one because it turns the artists you’ve listened to the most into a festival lineup. When I did it with mine, it made me my dream festival. Whenever I posted it, some people thought it was real. They would realize it was fake after seeing artists on there who aren’t around anymore. If these festivals were real, we would be buying tickets in a heartbeat. 

Music streaming and downloading have come a long way. No longer do we need illegal websites (though people still use them). YouTube is still great for getting things almost 100% free. iTunes is still up and running despite some problems. Apple Music has taken that spot which is probably for the best. Despite these options, Spotify still remains the reigning terror of all music streaming platforms. No matter which platform you use, you will always get your music fix.

Browsers gone bonkers

You probably know what a web browser is. In fact, you’re using one right now. Maybe you’re using the one that’s on your device, or maybe you’re using one you downloaded using the one that was included. Either way, you must decide which browser you’re dedicating yourself to.

Internet Explorer is probably one you’re familiar with. You used it when you used the internet for the first time. In its final days, it was seen as a slow piece of garbage that barely worked. Since then, it has been replaced by Microsoft Edge. Edge is honestly not that bad of a browser. It gets what you need to get done and it’s relatively fast. Sure it’s pretty bare bones when it comes to aesthetics but overall it’s not that bad. I would use it if I need to.

Internet Explorer 8b1

(mrwynd / Flickr)

Safari is the one you first used if you’re on a Mac. Since a lot of public elementary schools used Mac, you were probably forced to use Safari. It might be the plainest browser ever but it worked like a charm. 

Google Chrome is probably one of the first browsers you downloaded after being tired of Internet Explorer. You’re first amazed by its speed and clean looks. You were dedicated to this browser for years. Anything else was seen as absolute garbage because of how great Google Chrome felt. Unfortunately, after a few years of glory, Google Chrome started to have its faults. Because of how many resources it eats up, it can sometimes start running slowly. I once opened one Chrome window with one tab while running another program and my computer started going down the gutter. This led to people joking about how having more than one Chrome tab open will set your machine on fire. While this is an exaggeration, it can feel like this sometimes.

google chrome crashed

(Titanas / Flickr)

Firefox is the next one you’ve probably downloaded. When it works, it really works. When it doesn’t work, it goes down the gutter right away. I was trying to log onto Eclincher a while ago using Firefox. The login button would only work once in a while. Once I started logging in using Microsoft Edge, it worked every time. Firefox gave me the last straw when scrolling with my mouse stopped working. I’m sure it was an issue on my end but I was tired of dealing with it. It was the best browser I was using for a while. It was fast and had everything I needed. There was no random junk to deal with and allowed me to just use the internet like normal. Once I started having problems with it, I knew it was time to change to something else. I thought about going to Microsoft Edge full-time before trying Opera.

Opera is a browser that no one really speaks of, but it exists. The regular version isn’t any different from the others, but Opera GX, a version made for gamers, is a standout. You have a futuristic look and is packed with features on the sidebars such as instant access to Twitch, Spotify, Twitter, and much more. The new tab page that has buttons for websites is also great. You can even add websites you want instant access to and customize the button’s look (This feature applies to all desktop versions of Opera). As someone who is still new to Opera, there’s some adjusting I still need to do but overall, it’s a good experience.

Most web browsers on their own look pretty boring. They’re usually white and if they have a fancy design, it will usually be a nature photo. Thankfully, themes can spice up your browser’s look and there are a ton of free options out there. As a kid, I would use a Bullet For My Valentine or Evanescence theme to reflect on my music taste which would encourage me to listen to those bands that day. Most of the themes on my family’s computer would be generic monochrome ones such as a predominantly blue or yellow theme. 

The abundance of extensions is also amazing. Easily one of the most popular ones out there is AdBlock. As the name suggests, you can use this one to block ads on any website. However, most websites caught on to this and will sometimes ask you to turn it off in order to continue. Thankfully AdBlock has a feature where you can turn it off for specific websites however, it is still pretty inconvenient. I would rather just have it automatically turn off when it detects that the website will ask you to turn it off.

AdBlock - Chrome

(Ray Weitzenberg / Flickr)

One of my personal favourite extensions is a pitch shifter, which is only available on Google Chrome. It allows you to shift the pitch of any video or audio that is playing on Chrome. I like using this one to hear songs in different keys. However, some people like using it to change people’s voices for practical or fun reasons. A practical way to use it is to pitch down a person’s voice if their high-pitched voice is grinding on your ears and hearing them for any longer will make your head explode. A funnier way to use it is to make someone’s voice sound like a chipmunk or to make their voice abnormally deep. I usually don’t use the pitch shifter for voices but maybe I will if someone’s voice is piercing through my skull. 

Grammarly is one of the best things to install if you haven’t already. It’s a better autocorrect system than what your computer provides and will even tell you how to re-word your sentences. I’m using it right now to write this article. It does have its shortcomings, however. Sometimes it will get things wrong such as spelling or grammar. It will even give you weird options to replace words even when it doesn’t make sense. When it works properly, it will do most of the thinking for you whenever you need to type something.

Without a web browser, you are limited in what you can do with the internet. No matter which one you choose, you will have a great time surfing the net.

What did you just say?

You’re talking about vegetables, specifically tomatoes. “Toe-may-toe,” you say. “Toe-mah-toe,” the next person says. Suddenly, you are now about to cut off that person’s throat because they pronounced a word differently. Now you’re talking to someone new about this. They hear you out and you thank them, using the name on their nametag. You mispronounced it wrong and now they hate you. Pronunciation is a weird thing and English allowed that to happen.

Tomatoes

(Corey Burger / Flickr)

As a child, I watched Mister Maker, a British TV show about arts and crafts. Because some of the art projects involved scissors, Mister Maker would advise the children to get an adult to help them. Because it’s a British TV show, he would pronounce adult as “ah-dullt,” compared to the American or Canadian way, “uh-dult.” I pronounced it the British way for a long time before my sister corrected me to pronounce it the American way, which still doesn’t sound natural to me because of how long I said it the British way.

One word people often mispronounce is mischievous. A lot of people you know pronounce it “miss-chee-vee-us.” The correct way to pronounce it is “miss-chiv-us.” When you look at the word, you get why it’s supposed to be pronounced that way. “Vous” should only be one syllable, yet we use two. When you say it the correct way, something doesn’t feel right. You want to go back to the way you know because of how natural it sounds. You end up pronouncing it the wrong way only because of how much better it sounds.

Hyperboles are something you learn about in language arts. You would think it’s pronounced “hyper-bowl,” but as you learn during class, it’s pronounced, “hyper-bo-lee.” Nothing about that should make sense. You know the words “mole” and “hole” so why is -bole pronounced as “bo-lee?” We don’t even say mo-lee or ho-lee. 

There’s also quinoa. You look at the word for the first time, questioning who came up with that word. Kin-Noah? Quinn-no-eh? Nope. It’s pronounced keen-wah. While it is a word I’ve known since childhood, I’ve heard people struggle with it. 

Quinoa

(Luis Tamayo / Flickr)

Wednesday has always been a weird day of the week because of its spelling. If you break down the word, it should be pronounced Wed-ness-day. Nope. Instead, it’s pronounced Wens-day. Then why is the D before the N? Nothing about that makes sense. We really should just stick to calling it Humpday.

Coming from Vancouver, you’ve probably heard someone pronounce it as Vang-couver. You’re sounding it right now and it comes out as Vancouver. As you repeat it at a normal speed, you are now catching yourself including that silent G. That’s how you’ve been pronouncing it all long.

Potato and tomato are often pronounced differently. The last two syllables are pronounced either “ay-toe” or “ah-toe.” As far as the world is concerned, everyone but The United States and Canada says “ah” while it’s “ay” here. To be honest, I’ve never been bothered by any pronunciation of any of these words. Because we’ve been exposed to both pronunciations for most of our lives, we’ve become accustomed to accepting both, no matter how we say it. It’s not worth cutting someone’s throat over.

Syllables are also a weird thing. You probably have a smile on your face right now. A sm-ile. Wait, is that one or two syllables? Back in 4th grade, we had an assignment that involved knowing how many syllables are in each word. When it came to the word “smile,” we sounded it out and that’s when fights happened. If you said it quickly, it came out as one syllable. It may come out as two syllables if you sound it out slowly. Others like this include fire, every, and beautiful. While there are correct answers, the wrong answers do have a case for being right.

Smiles

(Danila Mate

Names are even worse when it comes to mispronunciation. Take the name Stephen for example. I knew someone growing up who had it pronounced as “Stef-in.” However, he always got it pronounced as “Stee-fen” by people who didn’t know. Every time we had a substitute, they would always get it wrong. Hopefully, this mistake isn’t as prominent as it used to be in this age of Steph Curry.  

Growing up in Metro Vancouver, there’s a prominent Vietnamese community. One of the most common Vietnamese surnames is Nguyen. If you’re someone who didn’t have Vietnamese friends growing up, you were bound to mess this one up. You probably attempted to pronounce it “Na-goo-wen.” Out of every pronunciation, that one was probably the most wrong. As non-native speakers, we mostly say “New-in.” It’s the closest we will get to the correct pronunciation we will get. According to a few people, it’s pronounced “mmm.” “Mmm” is not how you should be pronouncing a word or name. That’s the sound you make after trying your friend’s mom’s freshly homemade apple crumble.

Another name that gets funky is Ng. You’re looking at this right now, trying to figure out how to pronounce it. There isn’t a single vowel in the name which makes figuring it out without looking it up impossible. My parents pronounced it “ing” which is popular, but incorrect. 

Without any real rules on how each letter is pronounced, people are bound to say things are wrong. It gets problematic when people become disrespectful when it comes to names. When people see a foreign name, they will go “I’m not saying that,” or ask the person if they have an English name they go by when they don’t. This leads to people trying to never be in a situation where they have to say the person’s name. This is wrong because the person feels like their name just means “don’t bother talking to me,” which isn’t fair to someone trying to do things in life.

Words will always have weird pronunciations. How it’s handled is up to you. Is it actually hard to pronounce or are you just not putting in the effort?

Rally behind the music

You’ve probably seen a pep band or marching band at a sports game before. They usually consist of a lot of wind instruments and percussion and play a lot of popular music and theme songs. However, from a technical standpoint, this kind of music ensemble is terrible if you’re trying to learn how to play an instrument.

Notice how most of what they play are show tunes or popular music. Not a lot of original compositions are made for these ensembles. This is because these ensembles are there for one purpose; to bring background noise to the event. They only need to play loud which doesn’t give a lot of room to get super creative. Composers add accents, dynamics, and other fun trinkets that can’t be achieved by playing loud all the time. At that point, you might as well have a rock band which can use amplification and also not care too much about dynamics. These ensembles have a wide range of instruments and music which doesn’t allow that much variation is insulting to their talents. When my old school’s band program decided to do pep band, you had the option to opt-out. I know a bunch of people, including dedicated musicians, who decided to not take a part in it because of how much they despised these tunes. Honestly, I can’t blame them. We hear enough pop music in our lifetime so why does it need to happen in the same environment where pop is almost guaranteed to not be played?

band

(elizabeth loyd / Flickr)

Insulting their talents is a big one for students. Younger musicians have a sense of superiority by thinking they’re above pop musicians in terms of talent. The thought of playing pop music is blasphemy to these people and would rather play something a lot more complex. The people that go to these events don’t care about carefully composed music. They’re there for a great time with tunes they know. Because most of the sound is a wall of brass and percussion, woodwinds (other than maybe saxophones) don’t get to cut through well and either overcompensate or just hide. They might as well not play since no one will notice them. Since these ensembles are loud, they just get seen as noise which isn’t wrong but also doesn’t help aspiring musicians when it comes to people understanding their passion. The only lesson they will get out of this is being mature enough to play simple music rather than thinking you always need to play something complicated. However, they do need something challenging to play and pep tunes do not provide them with anything valuable to learn.

Learning proper techniques is pretty valuable as a starting musician. Because of how loud you need to play these tunes, proper technique will go out the window. I once heard about someone who spent months in a drum and bugle corps and had to relearn their instrument once they started playing in more formal ensembles again. The amount of strain you put into playing loud after maxing out on air is pretty extreme and isn’t something a beginner should be going through. When it comes to marching, doing that while carrying a heavy instrument is not fun. Most of these instruments don’t have workarounds to make it comfortable to play unlike stuff like guitars and bass where comfort straps exist. You have to deal with the ergonomic nightmare that most of these instruments hold while marching around, which requires a lot more thought than just moving around on stage. I’ve known people who suffered from back issues from carrying drums with harnesses that are supposed to give support but end up not doing a great job. There was also someone I know who had to march with a baritone saxophone. The typical baritone saxophone weight is eleven pounds which is a nightmare on your back if you use a harness, or worse, your neck if you use a neckstrap instead. Also, imagine playing in the hot sun. Not fun isn’t it? The fact that you don’t get to breathe like a regular person should already be enough for people to get turned off from playing.

Pep Band

(Dirk DBQ / Flickr)

Some people also have to learn another instrument when playing in these ensembles. French horn players have to play the mellophone which while similar, has enough key differences that make it another beast. People that play double reed instruments such as oboe and bassoon are pretty much advised to play a different instrument due to some technicalities that make them instruments unsuitable for these kinds of ensembles. Besides, they’re going to get buried anyway with the wall of trumpets, trombones, and sousaphones.

 

You generally don’t get recognized for your talents in a pep band anyways, other than being known for being loud. When you see an orchestra, you recognize each musician for their musical talents in serious music. When you see a rock band, you recognize them for playing music while putting on a show. Pep bands and marching bands are just there for filler. No one is there to see the band.

Rally 3

(stephenrwalli / Flickr)

Marching and pep bands are just terrible for music education. They don’t provide that much educational value and they can also result in pain for musicians. Sure, they might be fun for some, but it’s not the type of music you would use to recognize musical capabilities. If that’s all you’re looking for, then go for it. But if you want to take something away from it, you might be better off playing in more formal ensembles. Formal ensembles will provide you with music with dynamics and interesting bits that aren’t possible with the wall of sound. You will get to play a wide range of music from ballads to technical show pieces, rather than the simple pop tunes pep and marching bands play. You will also get to play with proper technique and won’t hurt yourself. You won’t even have to play in the heat for the most part. Overall, formal ensembles are a lot better for your education than something like a pep or marching band.

Integrity of the taste

Whenever you eat something, you like to give the food some enhancements like ketchup with your fries or milk in your bowl of cereal. While people swear by these additions, there are things to consider before adding them.

Milk with cereal is something you’ve always done. It didn’t feel like a bowl of cereal without some good ol’ cow’s milk (or any other kind of milk). However, most cereal will get soggy if you leave it in there for too long. Also, people tend to put in a lot of milk. As someone who is unable to tolerate milk, this is pretty disgusting. Some people like to argue that cereal is hard to eat without milk. If you absolutely need to have milk with your cereal, I would recommend splitting it. Rather than having milk in the same bowl as your cereal, pour the milk into a separate dish. This way, you can still guarantee crunch with every bite without the milk ruining it.

cereals

(Peter Remmers / Flickr)

The one cereal I can get behind drowning in milk is chocolate-flavoured cereal. Chocolate-flavoured cereal is abnormally sweet for what it’s supposed to be. The contrast with milk helps tone down the sweetness by a lot and you won’t feel like you’re just eating a bowl of sweet chocolate. However, I would just recommend getting cereal that’s not super chocolatey such as Reese’s Puffs.

Milk is also popular for dipping cookies. The logic behind this doesn’t make sense. Apparently, you’re supposed to taste more of the cookie when your cookies are dipped in milk. That just says something about the cookies you’re eating. The cookies you’re eating probably just don’t taste good probably from not having a sufficient amount of sugar, severe lack of chocolate chips or other additions, or something went wrong in the process.

Cookies

(david pacey / Flickr)

Making things taste better is one of the few reasons why people put these enhancements. My mom likes to put salt on her mangos whenever they’re a bit sour. Usually, the mangoes that get this treatment are the ones she buys out of season. Why not just wait for them to be in season to guarantee sweet mangos? Fruits are supposed to be sweet, not salty. When I tried putting salt on tart mangos, it did not make them any sweeter than they should’ve been.

Ketchup is probably the most popular condiment you can add to food, primarily french fries. However, the people that drizzle ketchup all over their fries are monsters. Not every bite needs to be smothered in ketchup. Also, don’t you still want the taste of the potato without the tomato alteration? You wanted something savoury, not sweet. Having ketchup on your plate is also pretty disgusting. There’s stuff on your plate that will taste vile with ketchup, so why risk it? Why not just keep the ketchup on a separate dish? There’s stuff on your plate that’s meant to be crispy, and dipping it into something wet seems like it would ruin the integrity of the crunch.

fries and ketchup (gross)

(Matty Farah / Flickr)

There’s also the case of putting a lot of sauce in a sandwich. Sandwiches already have a lot going on with different meat and vegetables. The last thing you want is a lot of sauce ruining it by dominating your tongue. I know someone who used to have all the sauces in his sandwiches. One day, he tried ordering the sandwich but with less of each sauce. He was able to taste more of the meat, vegetables, and even the bun with less sauce. You are now able to taste the full range of the sandwich if you go with less sauce.

Bread is supposed to be healthy to some degree (unless you’re eating white bread. That stuff will never be healthy). However, people love putting butter on their toast. It’s not like putting peanut butter or chocolate hazelnut spread where the bread is there to support it. Butter just adds an unnecessary amount of flavour than there should be. It’s already a hassle spreading butter on toast anyways. You’ve probably broken your piece of toast while trying the spread rock-hard butter before. Rather than going through that pain for something unnecessary, just eat the bread as is.

Toast & Butter

(Clint Budd / Flickr)

Turkey and gravy are also a case of something needing a sauce. People love to argue that turkey will never taste good without gravy. Except for the fact that turkey can stand on its own without the need for gravy. Gravy is usually there to compensate for the fact that turkey is a naturally dry bird. However, this is mostly just by people cooking the turkey to oblivion. If they cook it a bit slower or use other methods such as frying (Note: This method can be dangerous. Please follow safety precautions before frying turkey) or sous vide, they can get better results. You’re already dedicating some time to this turkey, so why not give it extra care so you’re not forced to pour a ton of gravy on the dry pieces of meat? Sauces can also be used to compensate for the dryness of other meat such as cheaper cuts of steak. Again, why not just something a lot more tender to begin with like chicken or pork? They’re cheaper than expensive cuts of beef and will probably taste better.

Things are supposed to taste or feel a certain way. Sauces, milk, and salt brought too much freedom when it comes to dictating what a piece of food is supposed to taste like. Something that should be sweet should not be salty. Something that’s supposed to be savoury isn’t supposed to be sweet. Something that’s supposed to be crunchy is not supposed to be soggy. When you add these “enhancements”, the integrity of the food goes away. The fact that people just accepted these additions rather than thinking of ways to make their food better is odd. Turkey can be moist. Bread can taste good without butter. Mangos can taste good without salt. You just need to find food that tastes better.

Cake for breakfast

Cereal is something you might’ve eaten as a child. Sure, most of your favourite childhood cereals are mostly just cake for breakfast, but who doesn’t want cake for breakfast? It’s not good for you, but at least it’s delicious. No matter which one is your favourite, there will be someone out there to say something strong about your choice of cereal.

Cheerios are the ones you think of right away when you hear the word “cereal.” The flavour you probably know the most is honey nut. The honey flavour can take you back to your childhood. That day consisted of you waking up to your parents shaking your bed, eating your Honey Nut Cheerios, getting dressed, and going to either a great day of arts and crafts or another terrible day of not having friends at school. Another flavour of Cheerios that I have tried is chocolate with peanut butter. It’s not as sweet as you think it is, which is perfect for not having an extreme sugar rush in the morning.

Cheerios

(Rachel Bush / Flickr)

Cheerios are something I like to call the “O” type of cereal. The other O type you will think of is Froot Loops. Children usually think they taste good but as adults, you eventually grow a disliking for them as they are noticeably sweet. The fruity taste plus the amount of sugar that’s in there is enough for adults to not consider eating them. Despite the multitude of colours each piece comes in, they all taste the same. Your brain likes to taste with your eyes rather than your tongue. You can’t really blame yourself for thinking this because of how bold the colours are.

Froot Loops cereal for breakfast

(m01229 / Flickr)

The other popular O type is Apple Jacks. The green ones are supposed to taste like apples while the orange-ish ones are cinnamon flavoured. The cinnamon ones are popular enough for Kellogg’s to release Cinnamon Jacks, which mostly consist of cinnamon and brown sugar flavours. Interestingly enough, Cinnamon Jacks aren’t O shaped, but rather look like jacks (as in the toys). I used to eat Apple Jacks religiously as a child. The green packaging is probably what got me, as green is my favourite colour. I started eating less of them as I started favouring more savoury things for breakfast. Despite this, if someone ever offered me a bowl of Apple Jacks, I will take them in a heartbeat.

AppleJacks

(Kris Miller / Flickr)

Frosted Flakes are probably the most popular non-O-shaped cereal for kids, as they feel sporty, especially in the packaging. The sugar is a lot more pronounced as it mostly lies on top of each flake, rather than being in the pieces themselves. Tony the Tiger, the cereal’s mascot, makes a great point about the cereal, saying “They’re Grrreat!” Vector is a similar cereal, except without a mascot and any visible frost. From personal experience, I found that Vector is just a bit sweeter than Frosted Flakes. Between the two, I would probably pick Frosted Flakes, mostly because it’s a lot cooler to say Frosted Flakes than it is to say Vector.

Frosted Flakes Box

(Nick Zolotko / Flickr)

Despite how popular Rice Krispies treats are, the cereal isn’t something people rave about. From personal experience, it’s probably the least interesting cereal to eat. I would still pick them over whole wheat cereal, but at that point, I just wouldn’t eat cereal. The iconic marshmallow melt of a Rice Krispie treat is missing from the cereal, and putting milk in the bowl will make them a soggy mess to eat.

Rice Krispies, 5/2016, Red White and Blue, Pics by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube #Rice #Krispies

(Mike Mozart / Flickr)

Corn Pops is something you have always seen, but probably don’t consider buying. There’s nothing special about Corn Pops that grab your attention. They sound like a healthier cereal but there are better options out there.

Kellogg's Corn Pops Breakfast Cereal

(Mike Mozart / Flickr)

Raisin Bran is one that you try one day and form your opinion right there. Some people hate them, swear by them, or just see them as another cereal option. As someone who just sees it as another cereal option, it’s really hard for me to consider buying them when another box will do the same for me. If I wanted fruit with my cereal, I would just buy whole grain cereal and add fresh berries to the bowl. If I wanted dried fruit in my cereal, I would pick something with dried cranberries rather than raisins since they’re more appetizing.

Post Raisin Bran Cereal

(Mike Mozart / Flickr)

Mini-Wheats are ones that you remember from TV commercials but didn’t try out until later. You soon realize how terrible they react to milk. They become soggy right away, almost feeling like wet hay. Despite this, they still taste pretty alright, but not something to write home about.

frosted mini wheat

(waferboard / Flickr)

Lucky Charms are a cereal that is carried by sugar. The grain pieces are known to not taste great on their own. That’s mostly to make up for how sweet the marshmallow pieces are. Sometimes, kids will try to pick only the marshmallow bits out of Lucky Charms since they’re a lot more appealing than the boring grain pieces. There is also the option to buy the marshmallow pieces on their own which might be useful for stuff such as homemade Rice Krispie treats and other homemade desserts. Personally, I would buy them just to add to better grain cereal.

Blair's Lucky Charms

(Chris Metcalf / Flickr)

Chocolate-flavoured cereal is something kids desire. They love chocolate cake, so why not cereal? Unfortunately, as an adult, you might find it a little bit more disgusting than you remember. My first experience with chocolate cereal was, ironically enough, sour. The cereal was dangerously sweet even as an 11-year-old who couldn’t tell when things were “too sweet”. Especially as someone who doesn’t like milk with their cereal, there’s something off-putting about chocolate cereal. I don’t mind it as much when they don’t make up the majority of the pieces, such as in peanut butter-flavoured cereal with chocolate bits.

Coco Puffs

(Syed Abdul Khaliq / Flickr)

What cereal you like has a deep connection with your childhood. Cheerios give a carefree feeling, flakes gave you a sense of energy, and any other kind told the world you just like cereal. Regardless of what you choose, you will always feel like a kid while eating cereal.

Music in style

When you’re at a concert, you’re not only there to hear an artist, but also see them. What they wear can leave an impression on you and can tell you a lot about their craft.

A lot of smaller artists dress up in everyday clothing because that’s what they can afford. They’re still relatively normal people at the end of the day so their clothing reflects that. Even artists in a tier above this will wear “normal” clothing. These people will wear t-shirts (maybe a button-down), jeans, sneakers or boots, and maybe a few accessories. While people may think this loses individuality, standing out with their fashion is probably not that big of a priority as a musician. Their music comes before their fashion. This philosophy was made notable by Pantera, who ditched their crazy-coloured glam spandex in favour of wearing t-shirts, jeans, and shorts.

Once an artist starts taking their appearance a lot more seriously, they will start investing in some more elaborate clothing.

The first example your parents think of is KISS. They are the best-known for using black and white makeup and eccentric black, white and silver costumes. Because of the character aspect of the band, whenever a member gets replaced, the replacement will usually still dress up the same, such as Ace Frehley and Tommy Thayer being The Spaceman and Peter Criss and Eric Singer being The Catman.  This style of makeup was also done by King Diamond. Rather than the electric costumes, he would dress up in more godly clothing, with his costumes being more detailed in Mercyful Fate than in King Diamond. His style of makeup would eventually evolve to corpse paint, usually used by black metal bands. As the name suggests, this style of makeup would make the members look dead. Because of the satanic connotations black metal gets, corpse paint often gets seen as the same. The distinct look of corpse paint is heavily associated with metal as a whole despite the majority of metal bands not using it (even within black metal). Since all black and white makeup gets seen as evil, the music is seen to reflect that, even though a band like KISS is nothing like that. They make classic hard rock songs compared to the heavier styles of music King Diamond and black metal bands are known to make.

Kiss

(wonker / Flickr)

There is also the big nu-metal movement also gave a lot of fashion choices. Korn’s fashion popularized wearing Adidas tracksuits on stage along with sporting dreadlocks. Limp Bizkit’s fashion is all over the place. Fred Durst was known for wearing baggy pants and a backwards cap, though his fashion has changed over the years and is now sporting a “dad” look, consisting of grey hair and clothes your dad would wear. Wes Borland is also known for sporting wild looks using body paint. You also have bands such as Mudvayne and Slipknot who wear jumpsuits, wild makeup that can look cartoonish, and masks. They give themselves character names while sporting these looks such as number designations or nicknames.

Limp Bizkit en Chile 2011

(Carlos Varela / Flickr)

You also have bands that dress up like fantasy characters. Bands like Gloryhammer and Twilight Force will dress up in LARP (live-action roleplay) outfits to go alongside the storylines they develop in their music. Because of the geek connotations their outfits get, this will often reflect on the way people hear their music. Other kinds of roleplay wear include Ice Nine Kills, who will dress up as horror movie characters or something similar to go along with the themes of their music.

There are also bands such as Ghost and Sleep Token who dress up to conceal their identities. Slipknot was also the same for a while before finally just letting people know their identities. The ones that conceal their identities like to do this to make their music feel a lot more mysterious than it should be. Whenever you listen to someone, you have a face to associate with that. With secret identities, it’s a lot harder to know what they are truly like as people.

Either the entire band is wearing a special outfit, or only the lead singer will be wearing something unique. You generally see this in symphonic metal bands, as the lead vocalists (usually female) will wear fancy dresses or any kind of outfit that makes them stand out, and the rest of the band will wear thins in one colour, usually black. How formal they go can vary from being completely informal to being somewhat formal, but never any fancier than the lead singer.

IMG_1300

(Zoltan Lippai / Flickr)

You still need to be comfortable in your outfit at the end of the day. If you’re uncomfortable, your performance will suffer. Imagine trying to sing while you’re almost suffocating, or being immobile while playing your instrument. That’s not fun, isn’t it? Even footwear is important, especially if you’re someone who likes moving around on stage. That doesn’t mean you have to wear sneakers. As long as what you’re wearing doesn’t hurt your feet, you should be fine. Something like Doc Martens should not be worn in the break-in process when playing on stage. They should already be past it or the very least, have a special in-sole inside to make them a lot more comfortable. There’s also the heat to think about. Wearing all black in the sun is not a good time and if you’re wearing that while performing, good luck. Despite how terrible that sounds, artists will do it anyways

There’s also the case of wearing another artist’s merch on stage. Despite how tacky this might look to some people, it’s still a common practice among musicians, mostly to pay tribute to artists they admire. Sometimes you’ll get some wacky combinations, such as a pop artist wearing a Slayer shirt or a metal artist wearing a Descendants shirt.

Artists usually wear clothes on stage. Whether that would just be a t-shirt and jeans or a fun costume is up to them. What they wear does or doesn’t reflect on their music. Regardless, they’re there for a concert, not a fashion show.