ENTERTAINMENT - The 9 Most Powerful Lessons Punk Rock Teaches You

“To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It’s freedom.” – Patti Smith

Justin Abarca

2. Question everything, especially authority.

For many, punk rock is their intro into politics and corruption, mostly through reading Dead Kennedys lyrics and then having their minds blown by bands like Discharge and Crass. More importantly, punk shows us that not just politicians are to be questioned, but everyone in authority, including your parents.

Mario Tama / Via Getty Images

3. You don’t have to be perfect.

The beauty of punk rock is that it is pure, raw emotion, an exposed nerve that doesn't need to be slick and polished to get its point across. I mean, Sid Vicious was probably the world's worst bassist but did that stop the Sex Pistols from making history? Hell. No. All punk asks is that you give it your all, and if you make a mistake then even better.

Graham Wood / Via Getty Images

8. There is more out there than just punk rock.

Punk is the perfect gateway to other genres of music, since its family tree is thick with branches — some that lead to metal, some that lead to ska and reggae, some to hip-hop, etc. Diving into punk really means diving into music in general.

Keystone / Via Getty Images

9. You are not alone.

The greatest gift punk rock offers is the fact that there are other people like you out there. There is nothing worse than feeling isolated, feeling like no one understands, and then — BAM! — here's this music and this community that instantly gets you. It's the reason you fell in love with it, and the reason that no matter what, you'll always be punk at heart.

Chris Moorhouse / Via Getty Images

http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinabarca/things-punk-rock-teaches-you

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY: New study shows that graphic novels really do help people learn

If there’s one trend we’ve noticed growing over the years its the use of graphic novels as teaching tools—on the must basic level, comics are now recognized as a way to get reluctant readers to get started reading. On a larger level, comics are being used as a general teaching tool. Josh Elder’s Reading with Pictures organization has been promoting this idea and cataloging the use of comics in the classroom. It’s not just the visceral appeal of colorful pictures that puts comics over—some think that the verbal-visual blend is the future of literacy, and comics could potentially be on the forefront of that.

This is an idea that Scott McCloud has talked about forever, but now there’s a study that shows that comics may actually help people retain information BETTER than traditional text books.

http://comicsbeat.com/new-study-shows-that-graphic-novels-really-do-help-people-learn/

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Humorous video on how to speak the language of my old African home!

https://vimeo.com/37720616

ENTERTAINMENT: I feel this way talking to some people about music!

CULTURE/SOCIETY: How Did You Learn To Be A Father?

This is from National Public Radio's Talk Of The Nation. - OlderMusicGeek

FATHERHOOD POEM NO. 1

sometimes I choke on your laughter
watch with green envy how your face
beams when I enter the room.
is it petty of me to lament that I never
had a father like you—to annoy, mimic,
question, lift your perfect feet up
to wipe your ass, to fall asleep on, to share a face with,
a last name, a space, time, two arms?
-Abdul Ali-

POLITICS & SOCIETY
How Did You Learn To Be A Father?
Listen now [30 min 5 sec] add to playlist download

Talk Of The Nation, June 18, 2009

Men who become fathers learn quite suddenly that the learning curve is steep and kids don't come with a user's manual. The curve can be more dramatic for men who grew up without dads.

Author Abdul Ali and Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal talk about how they learned fatherhood.

RELATED NPR STORIES:
June 15, 2009 Following In Your Father's Footsteps

E-mail Share Comment Recommend

COMMENTS:

Aaron Rosenthal (sfjayhawk) wrote:
The comments of Petra and Taylor are very frustrating to me. I'm a dad in a heterosexual marriage in San Francisco. I hate Prop. 8 in many, many ways. But Taylor creates a false dichotomy. Anyone who states that fathers are important is not necessarily saying that mother/father childrearing is the only way to do it.

Taylor also says, "Fathers offer no benefit that a mother can't provide." That just isn't true. Can a woman talk to an 18-year old son about what it's like to go from being a boy to a man? Can a father truly relate to his 15-year old daughter's anxiety at being seen as a sex symbol by college kids at a concert?

I believe there are myriad ways to have a family and raise kids. But it's simply ignoring reality to say that men and women are somehow interchangeable.

As for Petra - it sure sounds like you're damning Father's Day because someone left you in a difficult position. That's too bad if that's the case. But what do you suggest? Fathers who work, share housework, childcare and overall parenting burdens should be dismissed because some men can't grow up? That's unproductive.
Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:16:24 PM

David Lindblom (Peleg) wrote:
As a father it was nice to hear a couple of guys talking about raising their kids. One thing really disappointed me though. On the one hand while I really respected and appreciated Neil's stating how anger and frustration can be a problem when raising children I was equally put off by the ridiculous response by his guest Abdul Ali. To respond in such a manner as to give the impression that he (Abdul) didn't really even know what Neil meant by anger and then claim it has never been a problem for him is to be disingenuous and very unhelpful to all parents who do have issues w/ frustration and anger of varying degrees concerning their children. Dishonesty in this manner bothers me to no end. It is never helpful to paint oneself in a false positive light, be honest and truly share in others similar struggles and all will be helped.
Thursday, June 18, 2009 5:14:58 PM

wrote:
After 10 frustrating yrs dealing w/ infidelity my wife and I finally had our son Ayden who will turn 1yr old in just 2 weeks. We thought after all the time reading, speaking w/ other parents, etc thought that we would "have it down". But we now know the meaning of the saying that nothing can prepare you to be a parent. I had no idea of how little sleep you could operate on, or how loving your child so much can actually "hurt" your heart when you see them in pain.
Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:37:37 PM

Josh Miller (aguynamedjosh) wrote:
Despite rocky beginnings, and a sticky divorce, I've been a committed and present father to my daughter (now 7) from the beginning.

In February, my ex-wife, and co-parent, died of breast cancer. This left me the sole support and parent of our wonderful child.

What being, and becoming, a father means to me is that from the moment of taking on this responsibility, I have had to internalize the idea that my life isn't wholly my own. My energy, emotional resources, time, finances, creativity and loyalty are spoken for.

Fatherhood means re-aligning priorities; re-committing to the most fundamental principals; nurturing, non-violence, patience, kindness, and actually sharing all of the deepest parts of personal life with the child.

The need is massive: the stakes are everything. A great role model is a boon, but lacking that, adhesion to honesty, clarity, and kind treatment of a child are principles that don't seem to fail us.
Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:20:32 PM

HUMOR: A Joke For Pi Day

Here's a joke I heard back in high school for Pi Day. - OlderMusicGeek

There was the village that was far away in the mountains. And in this village, they had a young boy who was very gifted, especially in math.

But his family had died in a tragic accident, and he lived with his poor grandfather and his nephew. So since no one in the town had ever gone to college, everyone in the village chipped in and sent him off.

The college was far away, and the young man could not afford to visit his home. When he finally got his Ph.D., he went back to his home village.

There was a big celebration in the village with a parade and fireworks. Then the town asked for a speech.

The man was rather shy. "I don't know what to say!"

Someone shouted, "Tell us something you learned in college!"

The man said the first thing that came to mind - "Pi r square."

Everyone looked disappointed and slowly walked away. The only two people to remain were his grandfather and nephew.

"What did I say wrong?"

The grandfather looked at him and said, "Everybody know pie are round!"

Post On Another Blog

"ENTERTAINMENT: If Your Life Were A Movie, What Genre Would It Be? on OlderMusicGeek's Stupid Tests And Quizzes

HUMOR: Now You Can Be Groovy Too

I'm hip! Like, check this out, man! You dig? - OlderMusicGeek

CULTURE/SOCIETY: My Daughter Obviously Never Saw "A Christmas Story"

This is from me, and not reprinted from somewhere else. - OlderMusicGeek

If you read my Twitter page, then you already know something about this. Or if you even read my Twitter updates up above or on the side.

But the other day, my daughter got her ice cream out of the fridge. I wasn't paying attention and was working on the computer.

Suddenly, I hear a "Helf! Helf!"

I don't know how my daughter did it, but she had the front of the spoon deep in the ice cream - and the end of the spoon stuck on her tongue.

Of course, I started laughing hysterically.

"It'th not funnay. It hurth!" she said holding the tub of ice cream up so it wouldn't pull on her tongue!

I told to go pour hot water on her tongue.

She came back a moment later, not much worse for wear.


But apparently she hadn't learned her lesson. She told she had got the spoon stuck on her hand later that night!

"Maybe I shouldn't leave the spoon in the ice cream?" she suggested.

"Might be a good idea," I agreed.