Back in early December, I won a Spanish contest. The person who wrote the best composition in their level of Spanish class would win a prize. When my Spanish teacher told our class about the contest, I asked, “¿Qué es el premio?” The class laughed, as did I and Professor Vicente. Hey, I can’t always hide my driving determination! He just said that it was a Spanish book, or so that was the case in previous contests over the years. In each SPN 212 class, the teacher would assign a composition which we had to write in class. He or she would pick the top three out of twenty to enter into the contest, and there were three SPN 212 classes – that would be mean there would be nine possible candidates for winners. Out of those nine there would be one winner for the whole SPN 212 level, which comprise sixty plus students out of the three SPN 212 classes. My teacher chose me as one of the possible candidates. I can’t say he wasn’t affected by my asking about the prize, to be honest, although the class probably knew I was the only enthusiastic about it.
As it turned out, I won for the SPN 212 level. The prize? A substantial Spanish-English dictionary and a Borders gift card, worth twenty dollars. So what did I do with the Borders gift card? There was a book that I had in the back of my mind for a couple months now, actually since last summer. It was a book of short stories by Ray Bradburry entitled The Illustrated Man. But something else came up last summer. I started really getting into The Killers, and they just released a DVD/CD of their concert in Royal Albert Hall in London. Their drummer, Ronnie Vannucci, inspired me to finally buy a drum set and take up drumming seriously. No more using pillows, although it’s fun. No, I’ll still use pillows; I can’t betray roots.
Today, I went to Borders. Which did I decide? Sorry, Ray, your book is going to have to wait. I bought the DVD/CD. Now I’m not saying that I prefer watching TV and listening to music over reading. It’s just that I already have a lot of short story books from my English classes and music has really been the main vibe in my life since summer and always, really, when I come to think of it.
As I am speaking, or writing rather, though technically typing, I am listening to the live CD and I’m lovin’ it. I love buying new CD’s and locking myself in my room, going through the whole track. Although, that doesn’t happen often, since I now really listen to only three main musicians.
Back in the 1990’s, I went through the Nsync phase – dancing and all. But then they split up. The time they split up was also the time I stopped listening to the radio – Z100 and 106.1 BLI. Instead, I turned to 103.1, which was the oldies station. I won’t lie: I was influenced by my parents. I remember listening to The Temptations CD after Daddy, Steph and I went fishing. There was a time where I always had Phil Collins somewhere in the background. Then my mom revived Elvis. We went to a wedding in Canada during a summer vacation with The Beatles monopolizing the speakers of the min-van. Oh yeah, how can I forget the tango music before all of this, back when my parents were into ballroom dancing because of the FAMILII organization!
As the 1990’s slipped into the early 2000’s, I was still listening to whatever my parents wore on their ears as well as little tid-bits of what Ate Sherry and Steph were listening, however dim it was in the shadow of oldies songs. Songs of Keane were what really penetrated me. I borrowed Ate Sherry’s Keane CD, “Hopes and Fears” and never returned it. Then Ate Sherry thought she might as well give me their second CD as well, a couple months later. However, it was through “Hopes and Fears” that I learned basic drum beats.
I first heard of Jason Mraz when Ate Sherry and Steph were listening to him on youtube back in 2004. It was there that I heard him sing “I’m Yours” and “The Remedy.” Now, I’m not the type of person who listens to a song once and instantly remembers it when it pops up again months later. Unfortunately, I’m notorious for forgetting. Heck, I sometimes don’t remember family vacations unless I see pictures! Anyway, Jason Mraz was the exception. He capitalized my ipod when I was a freshman in Stony Brook University. And now, four years, two burned Jason Mraz CD’s, countless Jason Mraz playlists on youtube and two new musical hobbies (djembe drum and guitar) later, here I am reflecting on when it all started.
How did I start listening to The Killers? Whenever I talk about the Killers I have to talk about the drums. The Killers came in my ears the same time Rockband came out. I wanted to know what this whole Rockband was all about, so late one night, I looked it up on youtube and saw someone score a 100% on the drums expert level for “Mr. Brightside.” “Mr. Brightside” was the first song I heard from them and I loved it just as much as “I’m Yours”. The next day I asked Ate Sherry if she had any CD’s of the Killers because based on “Mr. Brightside,” I assumed they had really good drum sections. She did! “Hot Fuss.” My Killers crave lifted off from there. The next summer, I went to the Commack Branch library, and borrowed two other Killers CD and listened to them throughout the whole summer. Then just recently I went back to the library and borrowed the CD’s again and burned them. Ronnie Vannucci bangin’ on the drums, and then I started to do the same.
And now I have their DVD/CD, “Live from Royal Albert Hall.”
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