Let's Get Started

First things first... If you're reading this, thank you! I was very hesitant to start a blog because somehow I just didn't think it was my style. But my co-worker and friend Duran gave me the idea and kept bugging me to get one started, and my girlfriend Johie was also very supportive. Their logic was very simple. "Alex, you talk and write about all this stuff anyway, so why not just go for it!" Point taken, and so here we are.


So now, here's my vision for what I want this blog to be, as well as a couple things about myself, and a few other points about how I will approach certain things.


I have always been a big fan of film and music. For as long as I can remember media has been a big part of my life, all the way back from when my dad would play Depeche Mode on his stereo for me to dance to when I was about 5 years old. And now that I think about it, my dad is really a major reason for why I developed certain tastes in music and movies. From the beginning, he's always emphasized that the media we ingest should be of a certain quality. Why listen to some piece of crap on the radio just because some record executive wants to push it down our throats?


Now, this is not to say that popular music and movies can never be good. They often are. But let me be very clear... a good amount of the mainstream is total shit, and even if it's enjoyable at a certain base level, it should always be viewed from the perspective of acknowledgement of how bad it really is. Here I'm talking about things like Transformers (2007) and Britney Spears. Sure, we all like to see stuff get blown up from time to time, and Britney is fascinating from a certain sociological point of view, but make no mistake, both Transformers and Britney contribute nothing of any real value to society.
So, this leads me to the point. In this blog I want to discuss issues like WHY so much terrible media is forced on us by the powers that be, and celebrate the great movies, television, and music that DO get made. I will review the movies I see and the music I listen to, and I will try to keep an eye on the bigger picture as much as I can. The fact is, we live in a society where we are bombarded with advertising from the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep, and it affects us in ways we don't realize. My goal is to help people separate what some big company tells them is good from the products that actually are good. I want people to learn to think for themselves and demand a quality product.


Just remember, every time you buy a ticket to a movie or buy an album, you're voting. You don't have to go see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) just because it's the only movie out. You don't have to go buy Lady Gaga just because you've heard that stupid Poker Face song on the radio 18 times in the last week. The more we, as a people, demand quality entertainment, and support the artists creating it, the more power gets transferred from them (the corporations) to YOU.



Just a couple other things...


-When I do reviews I will score out of a scale of 10, 10/10 being the highest possible score. I don't have an exact formula for how I arrive at my final score, but it's some combination of gut reaction and technical merit.


-When I refer to albums and movies I will include the year it was released in ( ) following the title.


-Other than that there are very few rules I will follow. I'll use this as a platform to talk about whatever I feel is worthwhile at the time in any format I deem appropriate. Most of the time I plan on writing articles or editorials that argue a certain viewpoint, but if I feel like posting a few sentences to rant about the latest thing that annoys me... so be it.

-ENJOY!