Album Review: Dylan and the Dead

   The 1989 live album, Dylan and the Dead, was recorded by Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead. Dylan and the Dead is made up of the finest songs from the American tour that the two famous musicians did together. Performing exclusively Dylan-penned material, the Grateful Dead provided possibly the world's most well known backing band of all time. However, the Dea were hardly in their prime in 1989 and Dylan's already gravelly voice had regressed to an ugly, nasal attack on the microphone. Jerry Garcia's drug-induced health issues had previously left him in a diabetic coma for weeks, and by 1989 he was but a shadow of his former self.

   The album is fairly short, clocking in at just a few seconds over 43 minutes long, in other words, roughly one third of a usual Grateful Dead show. The first track is a decidedly average rendition of 'Slow Train' that was performed in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Dylan sounds worse than ever and although the Dead give the song an interesting jammy feel to it, 'Slow Train' kicks off Dylan and the Dead to an unimpressive start. The first side of the album continues with an awesome version of one of my favorite under appreciated Dylan classics 'I Want You' which is perfectly suited to Dylan's gravel voice and Garcia's psychedelic-folk riffs that made the Dead so famous. One of the best tracks on the album, 'I Want You' has the album headed in the right direction. The final two songs of the four-song A-side to the album are 'Gotta Serve Somebody' and 'Queen Jane Approximately', respectively. These are also two of Dylan's finest songs and two of my personal favorite Dylan jams, but neither live version does any justice. Dylan sounds so ancient rattling off the stanzas of 'Gotta Serve Somebody', once one of his fiercest songs, that the audience almost feels bad for the man. 'Queen Jane' is also below average despite the best efforts of the Dead to keep the audience interested.

   The B-Side begins with a long, sloppy rendition of 'Joey' recorded in Foxborough that could not be saved by the all-time greatest jam band. The longest song on the album, 'Joey' leaves the listener with nine minutes of average concert material from the Grateful Dead at this time, which was far past their glory days of the 1970s and early 80s. Closing the album with the album's two best songs, 'All Along the Watchtower' followed by 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' leave the listener with a good final impression, but neither is near the quality of work that Dylan or the Dead had put out in their lifetime. Dylan sounds almost as old as Jerry looks, and the album's closing track makes the audience wonder just how long Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia have before they are literally "knocking on heaven's door".

   Overall, I would rate the album a 6 out of 10 because it has it's bright spots on both sides of the album, but is nowhere near the quality of material that each artist had out out throughout their glorious careers'. Dylan and the Dead is definetly worth a listen, but be forewarned that this is not the Bob Dylan from Highway 61 and these are not the Grateful Dead from American Beauty.

H$PPY HOLIDAY$!!!

H$PPY HOLIDAY$!!!

            As a country, Americans spend over 228 million dollars every year shopping for holidays. That’s more than $228,000,000 spent on gifts, food, and the other accessories that go into making holidays the wonderful, joyful time of the year they are. Although the holidays bring cheer and happiness to Americans across the country, we spend far too much money every year. Almost 150 million dollars every year are spent on Christmas alone, the most costly of all the holidays in America. If we could spend less money each year on holidays, an amazing amount of money could be saved throughout the country. Furthermore, if we spent half of what we now spend as a country and spent it on charity organizations, the money would go to a much greater use than more toys and games for the already privileged children in this country.

            Christmas, of course, is by far the most expensive holiday in this country. Christmas rakes in about 130 million dollars, and that number is growing with every passing year. This accounts for nearly 60% of all the money spent on holidays. Second place goes to Thanksgiving, as the November food-infested celebration rakes in over $30 million every year. Spending so much money every year to eat turkey and stuffing, and buy the latest Xbox and PlayStation is ridiculous. The money could be used, as a real tribute to the Pilgrims and to Jesus, to support good causes and charities that give the money to those less fortunate, displaying the values bestowed upon us by those for which we celebrate the holidays in the first place. Do your sons/daughters really need one thousand dollars of presents again? Or could that money be spent in a more thoughtful, productive way instead?

           

 Levi Kahn

Album Review Examples

hotnewhiphop.com Stay Trippy by Juicy J- 7.5/10
sputnikmusic.com Animals by Pink Floyd- 5.0/5
allmusic.com Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull- 4.6/5
rollingstone.com Ringo 2012 by Ringo Starr- 3.0/5
rollingstone.com Coda by Led Zeppelin- 4.0/5
pitchfork.com Boats II by 2 Chainz- 6.2/10

Bluff The Listener

Levi Kahn

            Hawaii Woman with 40-Character Surname Not Allowed License, Vote

Lokelani Khineuhanilahenualkiaklekiliamaenanelili, a young Hawaiian woman, was not issued a license or identification by the Kauai County government because of her 40-character surname. The county could not fit the woman’s full last name on a license card, much less her first name or middle initial. Deciding not to issue her any license or identification at all, Kauai County found itself a victim of its own indiscretion when Khineuhanilahenualkiaklekiliamaenanelili was pulled over for a routine traffic stop and was promptly taken to the town’s police station for driving without any form of license or identification, despite her protests that she was denied identification due to her lengthy surname. The county realized that they had denied license and ID because of the length of her surname, and Khineuhanilahenualkiaklekiliamaenanelili also claimed that she had been denied the right to vote for the same reason as her arrest: no form of license or identification. The indiscretion has since been corrected and Lokelani Khineuhanilahenualkiaklekiliamaenanelili is now a fully licensed, registered citizen of Kauai County, as well as an easily identifiable citizen thanks to her impressive last name.

           Company Sending Stuffed Animals on Vacation is Launched

A company in Tokyo is sending stuffed animals on vacation. The business is run by a 38 year old woman who feels that providing vacations for stuffed animals is therapeutic for people who can’t experience vacations for themselves. Apparently, clients who aren’t able to afford vacations or have disabilities are often relieved when they receive pictures of their plush toy in the center of Tokyo, or other landmarks. The best part is the cost of sending your stuffed animal around Japan is only about $50.

Ethos Pathos Logos

In the article, '5 Reasons the Miami Heat will not win the NBA Finals' displays why the two-time defending NBA champions will not win a third straight title. The "ethos" that this article presents to the reader is that the article is written by Conor Volpe, a leading NBA expert and contributor for Bleacher Report. Pathos is shown several times throughout the article, including this sentence, in which Volpe appeals to the reader giving multiple reasons why the Heat won't win again: 'Bottom line, it is extremely hard to go to three consecutive finals, much less a fourth. And that is what the Heat would have to do this year. ' The phrase "extrememly hard" appeals to the readers' feelings, giving reasons why the Heat will not repeat their success. Finally, logos is displayed in this quote in particular, 'Only three times in NBA history has a team made it to the NBA Finals four years in a row. Once when Bill Russell led the Celtics to nine championships in 10 years. Once when Magic Johnson and the showtime Lakers won two in four years. And once when Larry Bird led the Celtics to two championships in four tries.' By giving historic facts to back up how hard it is for a team to continue such prolonged success as the Heat are attempting to do, the author utilizes a great example of logos.

Ken Ross Technology Question

I agree with these recent recommendations for parents to limit their teens' daily entertainment screen time to two hours a day. Not counting homework, most American teens spend well over two hours every single day tweeting, watching TV, or attached to their smartphones. Almost all of these teens, whether they would admit it or not, are addicted to their smartphones and/or laptops. On average, teens spend almost 7 hours every day on their smartphones or laptops, and this growing addiction leads to teens staying up all night on the Internet and texting their friends. The main element is the overuse of smartphones and laptops in the dark at night, which is something that almost every teen does regularly. The artificial light from the smartphones or laptops being used in the dark after being used all day affects melatonin levels in the brain, making it much harder for teens to fall asleep. Two hours should be more than enough for the average teen to entertain themselves with social media, while balancing the rest of the day between homework and other, more stimulating activities that do not addict the teen and do not disrupt the teen's sleep cycle every night.

Levi Kahn, Norton High School

High Interest Question

What makes you, you?

High Interest Question

If you could offer one single piece of advice to your child, what would it be?

High Interest Question

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

Magazine Analysis

   In a 100 word excerpt from The New York Times Upfront, the passage contained 5 sentences as well as 153 syllables. According to the Fry Readability Graph, 5 sentences and 153 syllables places the magazine at a 15 year old reading level. I believe that this is a perfect characterization of the magazine's readability, because it is meant for a teen audience. A 15 year old reading level is exactly what the writers of the magazine targeted for teens want. Throughout The New York Times Upfront, there are several pages of advertisement. However, the balance of content pages to advertisement pages is heavily in favor of content. I think that the editors left the reader with more than a favorable amount of content compared to many magazines of today. With only a few pages of advertisement thrown in with a magazine full of pages on informative content for the reader to enjoy, the magazine did a great job balancing the ratio of content pages to its advertisements.
   Out of 5 students at my table, four students' articles were measured at a 15 year old reading level, including mine. The 5th student's article came out to a 10 year old reading level. This discrepancy could be attributed to the specific 100 word excerpt that each student chose, but more likely should be attributed to the fact that the 5th students magazine was a Boston Red Sox preseason flyer from 2008. Each magazine was directed at completely different audiences, but 4 of 5 were measured at a 15 year old reading level. This leads to the conclusion that a mid-teen reading level is where most magazines are directed at, most likely to widen the target audience of the magazines. The average reader of The New York Times Upfront is a teenager, anywhere from 13-18 years of age. They are most likely an intelligent, curious young person eager to learn about the government and news of today, but not at the reading level of the New York Times and therefore searching for a news magazine more directed to their reading level. The reader could easily be male or female, but it most likely of good economic standing because this magazine is not an incredibly easily found one.

Who would you vote for?

Why do people vote for a candidate?

  Why do people vote for a certain candidate? Is it the political know how of the candidate, and the agreement upon the issues between a politician and a voter, that garners the vote? Is it the influential ads that attract a voter? Is it the charming, irresistible smile of the candidate and the firm handshake that gains the check mark come election time? More often than not, sadly, it is the latter that is truest. Most voters decide who they will cast their vote for just by taking a brief glance at the candidates. The difference between candidates in the average voters' mind is their appearance, not their political views. As wrong as this is, it is all too true in our society today.

   According to a study done by Princeton University, "researchers determined that they could accurately predict the winners in approximately 70 percent of the races for U.S. senator, and governor in the 2006 elections, based solely upon the faces of the candidates." I performed similar research to this 2006 survey by asking students as well as adults whom they would vote for when shown two politicians who had previously run against each other. I did not tell the survey-taker who the people in the photographs were, I just asked them to tell me which person they would vote for. In 62.5 percent of cases, the majority of those surveyed chose the eventual winner of the election. Without knowing the party of the candidate, or anything about what either person stood for, the prevailing candidate was chosen in over 60 percent of the time in both surveys. Such an incredible preference shows that the actual issues of politics are not nearly as important to voters as they should be. Instead, voters are more caught up in what a candidate looks like than anything else. By providing those surveyed with several female candidates as well as multiple minority candidates throughout the survey, I was amazed to find that those surveyed were still able to distinguish which women and minority candidates, and which lost. This just goes to show to an even more extensive level how greatly the voters' decisions align with solely the appearance of the candidates as opposed to their reputations, stances, speeches, ads, or campaigns.

   In the most recent elections for President and Senate, voters under 30 years old were much more likely to vote Democrat. Furthermore, voters over the age of 65 were much more likely to vote Republican. Disparities like these display that voting cannot solely be based on appearance, but it is impossible to dispute how shocking it is for more than 60 percent of people to select the winning candidate just based on appearance. The majority of those polled were younger voters, but there was no recognizable deference towards specific candidates between them. However, the fact that appearance decided nearly every race in both surveys is undeniable, and is a testament to how politics has gone wrong in America, and possible could attribute to why we have suffered such a harsh several years economically as well as globally.

Interview: Gianna Larson

Levi Kahn

9/23/13

F Journalism

Interview: Gianna Larson

    A self-admitted bore as well as rising soccer star, Gianna Larson is a sophomore unenthusiastically attending Norton High School. "I only go to school so I can talk to my friends," Gianna states. Soccer is her main hobby, and her hard work at the game has paid off, as she is the leading defender on an incredibly talented JV girls soccer team. Despite being a deft defender, Gianna seems to be decidedly interesting. The most interesting fact about her is, as she says, "My dad works as a cop." The most thrilling place she has ever been is in New York: the Statue of Liberty. Claiming to be a fan of every genre of music, Gianna also claims that soccer is one of two interesting talents that she offers. Incredibly, she is able to write with either hand upon request. Furthermore, if Gianna was given the opportunity to travel back in time to any point in history, she would travel back only as far as 2010 so she could go on vacation to New York again. Also, if given the chance to spend the day with any person from history, she would, "spend the day with Pele playing soccer, learning as much as I could." In ten years, Gianna plans to be a preschool teacher. Her favorite relative is her mother, but she does not have a favorite sibling out of her two younger sisters.