This World and Me

This song always sends chills down my spine. Released in 1983, in the midst of Cold War tensions, the English-translated version of the song is about a couple that releases 99 red balloons into the air, which the government mistakes for a potential military threat. Panicked, "ninety-nine ministers meet" and hastily authorize the use of military force against the ninety-nine red balloons. They order a group of ninety-nine air force pilots to intercept the potential threat and "identify, clarify and classify" it. This show of military force is seen by other nations as an act of war. The confusion and strife-torn atmosphere catalyzes a devastating nuclear war that destroys both sides of the armed conflict. The song was released at a time when the possibility of the events described in the song actually happening was very, very real. The United States and the Soviet Union – the two global superpowers – had huge stockpiles of nuclear weaponry. The most tense moment, th...

This is a rhetorical analysis essay written for my AP English Language and Composition class. My instructor was Mrs. Razem. The year is 1963. The United States is at its momentous period of revolution: the Civil Rights Movement. At the head of this revolution sits Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who, having protested in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, is confined in Birmingham City Jail. Opposed to King's unlawfulness, a group of eight Alabama clergymen compose an open letter , criticizing King's demonstrations as "extreme". King's letter in response, later dubbed " Letter from Birmingham Jail ", eloquently defends his actions to the Alabama clergymen through the use of strong appeals to moral authorities that King and the clergymen share, as well as through his shifts in tone from respectful to accusatory. King is quick to point out that he and the clergymen share a relationship with God and thus appeals to God as a moral authority. King opens his ...

On March 1, Minnesotan musician Adam Young released the second album in  his conceptual film score project . Last month, I posted about this new project. I was ecstatic, as I saw it as the beginning of Young's return to the grassroots style that he started with—the style I fell in love with. In case you don't know him, Young is perhaps most famous for being the creative mastermind behind Owl City, an electronic music project which has slowly morphed from a dreamy, unique vibe to an almost exclusively pop scene. Young is taking a break from the pop music realm to return to that organic, individualized music production of the good ol' days, releasing a 12-track conceptual "film score" every month for the rest of 2016. Each such score will musically narrate Young's interpretation of a famous historical or fictional event. Each album will be available to stream and download for free on his website. February's score was about the 1969 Apollo 11 spaceflight t...