The Piano

The piano.  In my opinion, the best instrument to ever be created.  The range and sound of it can't be mimicked be anything else.  It can be soft and sweet, but also loud and powerful.  I'm dedicating my life to this instrument, as did many great pianists before me.  Though I am not great yet, I plan to achieve greatness and mastery on the piano.  I plan to focus on mainly classical/romantic music just because of the depth and talent it takes to play or even create a piece.  This music doesn't need words.  It can tell you everything just through sound, and that's why I love it so much, it is the purest form of emotion.  I have many idols, including pianists such as William Kapell, Frederic Chopin, Beethoven, Arthur Rubinstein, but most importantly Franz Liszt.  Liszt was, in my opinion, the greatest pianist to ever live.  He performed monstrous feats on the piano, changing the instrument and the capabilities of music making forever.  He was the first to create the concert pianist, the solo pianist on stage in front of a large audience.  He was also the one who came up with the idea of having the piano face horizontally so the audience could see the pianists hands.  He could play any piece of music masterfully on sight, and his own pieces are some of the most difficult and fascinating pieces of music ever created. Though I cannot play any of them yet, I plan to in the future.  Liszt, and the violinist, Paganini, were both believed to be in league with the devil because of their almost supernatural skills with their instrument.   Here is one of the pieces by Liszt that I think is one of his most genius pieces, Totentanz (Dance of the Dead).

Dedication

Next year I start college.  But I'm not only starting college, that is besides the point, what it really means to me is the fact I'm going to begin studies of my instrument.  I have played piano for six years.  Even when I began I didn't practice that much, maybe five hours a week, now it is even less, maybe two hours a week.  It's not that I didn't want to play, the music just came naturally to me, I could learn a piece within an hour, and then just have it, and find no more need to practice.  Also i didn't (and still don't) have the time to practice as much as i want. 

This is all going to change.  I have been studying famous pianists, and each and every one have one thing in common, complete dedication.  One such pianist I have been researching is William Kapell, a young pianist who tragically died at the age of 31.  Before his death, he accomplished much.  From what i have read, he was always immersed in his music, it's all he thought about.  He would practice eight hours a day and wouldn't play a piece to anyone until he had mastered it.  This dedication is what I want to achieve. It is what I need to achieve in order to accomplish what I want to accomplish, and that is mastery.

It is hard for people who have never practiced at least two hours on an instrument to comprehend this.  I will spend every day practicing up to at least five hours a day.  Just me and the piano, and all the the time I can utter perfecting pieces, practicing until my fingers do exactly what I want them to do.  And I will do this, and when I finally emerge from my studies, the first concert I play will be like a gateway to heaven.  I will know when i'm ready, I won't play until I am completely satisfied with my skills, whether it takes two years or eight.  I won't brag until I know I have the right to and I won't play in public unless I know the audience won't hear anything other than perfection.

This is what it will take.  I can't do this now due to all the distractions and schoolwork that come with any highschool.  College is my fresh slate, and this is what I believe I am meant to do, and so I shall.  Below is William Kapell, a man who has inspired me deeply and a talent we will never see fully flourish.

I'm a musician? Damn right.

So I finally have a way to record my keyboard!  In case you didn't know, I am a pianist, I enjoy the instrument and the music I can create with it.  Music means more to me than anything. I could spend countless hours immersing myself in different pieces, and I plan to do that once I start college.  Anyway, this is me messing around with my new recording software, jamming it out.  It is not meant to be perfect (as you will be able to tell), just thought I would share it for shits and giggles.  Enjoy.

Real Talent (Moving Mountains)

This band... there aren't even words to describe this band.  Their sound is so unique, they perform flawlessly live, their music has emotion, this is real music.  This takes talent.  This deserves peoples ears.  I could listen to this band for hours.  Do you agree?  Maybe there are some flaws I am missing?  But even if you find some, go look up your favorite artist live, and tell me if their sound has the same quality.  I bet that will be hard to do, but i could be wrong.

 This is Moving Mountains, i began listening to this band years ago, back when they were an extremely unknown indie band.  Since then i have watched them grow, perfect there sound, and obtain loyal, devoted fans.  Musicians like this deserve recognition.  All i can say is, thank god for this band.

If you liked what you heard in that video, check out their first album (below).  In my opinion it's the best music they have ever produced, incredibly original, and the melodies will leave you wanting more.

You're pro or you're a noob, that's life

This is Athene!  I love this guy, he is one of the best gamers out there.  Originally gaining his fan base due to his PvP skills in World of Warcraft, Athene has done so much for the YouTube and gaming communities.  This is just one out of the hundreds of videos he has.  I chose this video because I'm sure it relates to just about any high school guy with an Xbox.  This guy is hilarious, he is from Belgium and has been making videos for years now.  Check out the rest of his videos, he has started numerous charity programs and is completely non-profit.  He really cares about the community, whether it be YouTube, or the games.  He wants to see them grow and prosper, earning my respect and many others.  He is incredibly popular in the gaming world, so if you like to play the gaimez! Check this dude out.

A Sad Death

A freshman from my own school committed suicide yesterday.  I don't think the halls of my school have ever been this quiet.  People don't usually like to think about death.  Today I could feel the effect death has on people. I didn't know this kid too well, he once stole a Halloween mask from me. He would laugh and run away from me every time i tried to reach for it, all in fun, he seemed to be a happy kid without a worry in the world.  This was the only time I had the chance to talk to him.  It's hard to think that one day he was a person like the rest of us, he laughed, he joked, he could feel just as we feel, and then the next day he is gone.  Forever, just a memory, a life that was, but is no more.  I now understand why so many people feel so strongly about an afterlife, it's too hard to believe that someone you knew, that you talked to and shared memories with, can just be gone.
He wasn't just a human, he was a person, a soul, a being with potential.  To think  you can simply flip the switch and be gone forever is too much for us to accept.  Suicide is a dark subject, for one really has to feel dark to actually commit it, and it gives us a melancholy feeling just thinking about it.  Whether it was depression or a sudden lack of sanity, I truly am sorry for him.  I'm sorry for the people who cared for him, and the people he has effected. I don't know why he would give up for whatever reason he did, but we should all learn from this.  Life is a gift.  Live it to your fullest for it may be the only one you get.  We will all have problems, we will all feel depressed, and we will all want to give up.  But when you overcome these problems, this is when you are truly living.  You can find happiness in everything, as long as you try.  There will always be a way, no matter what.  Never give up.

The Ultimate Mystery

Since the beginning of time humans have wondered, and searched for answers.  Though many things have come from this, one thing is not certain... how this all began.  Though some may not agree with this, they are acting purely off belief.  Religion gives a reason behind living, and answers, but is it true?  The truth is, there is just no way to know for sure.  Religious people would shun the idea of uncertainty, but for people like me - open-minded yet hard to convince - we need some kind of proof.  I am completely neutral on this subject.  I don't know what to believe at this point in time, but here are some of my thoughts.

I'm going to look at this through a Christian point of view purely based on the fact that it is the leading religion in the world with over 2 billion followers.  If you were to do the research, you are to see that religion has a lot more evidence to back it up.  From phenomena such as accounts with the afterlife, out of body experiences, prayers being answered, miracles, psychic abilities, numerous similar stories of near death experiences, all the way to the darker sides of things such as accounts with the devil, possessions, religious visions, exorcisms, etc... You have to take all of these wide spread reports into account.  All imply that there is some unknown super natural force.  Some of these cases can be very alarming and eye opening.  Let's take demonic possession for example since i just read a book based off one (A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans in case anyone is interested).   Many skeptics shrug possessions off as mental illness, and usually, that is the case.  That someone makes their self believe they are being possessed by a demon, therefore causing them to act the way they do.  But when you research these cases, that is when you can discover how odd this phenomena is.  There are documented cases of demoniacs speaking languages unknown to them, knowing information impossible for them to know, and supernatural occurrences. There have been accounts of demoniacs levitating, vomiting sharp objects that seemed to have formed in their stomachs, committing feats of strength, having multiple personalities, and the repulsion of holy instruments.  All this can seem very convincing.  Or is it all fraud? Maybe people want a religion to exist so bad, to have answers, that we begin to make it a reality.  This ties in with the next argument, science. 

" We have all heard it said, more or less non-chalantly: Reality is nothing but the result of a mutual consent between people who just agreed to consider certain experiences and perceptions Reality. But we seldom consider how profound this statement really is. And the other carelessly shared statement is more profound yet, if we really let it sink in: Our world is nothing more but the result of collective agreements. No news to most of us. But if we ask ourselves what that really means today, right now - especially in a world such as ours - we realize the tremendous power of choice we have, and the participation in the way we see, experience and create our world."

~Yuri Smirnov

This idea is mind boggling, and is becoming a more recognized view for scientific philosophers.  More scientists are starting to look at this philosophy in a new light.  This would explain peoples accounts with religion.  Since about 80% of the people on this planet believe in a religion, based on this philosophy, we are likely to agree religion is a reality.  If you think about it this makes sense. Thousands of years ago, nations, empires, were all built on religion, to them religion was reality, everyone believed.  This is the kind of stuff that plays with your head.

Aside from philosophy there is the theory of evolution.  This, overlooking its disagreements with the Bible, cannot disprove religion.  Along with the big bang theory.  If everything was created by two atoms, what created those two atoms?  What created the empty void of space we built our universe in?  These are the questions with no answers. Einstein is probably the best known and most highly revered scientist of the twentieth century, and is associated with major revolutions in our thinking about time, gravity, and the conversion of matter to energy (E=mc²). Although never coming to belief in a personal God, he recognized the impossibility of a non-created universe. Maybe we will never find the answers, maybe we will.  But as for me, in order for me to fully believe, i need proof.  I must witness something supernatural, or have a sudden revelation on what is life.  But until then, these are my thoughts.