Monterey Jazz Festival

The Monterey Bay Jazz Festival was this weekend, September 19th and 20th 2009. I was not able to make it, but many of the articles I have been reading online are telling me that the festival was very nice. A lot of the jazz players have been very good friends for a long time. The reviews were great, and the music was fantastic. Lots of the players were in high school, which was very cool to read about. It's cool to read about jazz players in high school because they are accomplishing many things in life already. I wish i could have gone to the festival and experienced it, I am definitely going to try and go next year.

Club Fair!!

I went to the club fair on Wednesday! It was really cool to see all of the different clubs and groups that CSUMB has to offer. It made me realize that there is so much more going on on campus that I didn't know about!!! I had alot of fun going. I signed up for the running club, becuase i figured I run on my own , anyways so I might as well join a club so I can do it with other people. I also joined the nature club becuase it would be nice to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Overall, I really enjoyed going to the club faire because it opened my eyes to lots of new oppurtunites.

"Connections"

1. One item in my room that i completely rely on is my laptop. I use it for EVERYTHING: I do my homework on it, I talk to my friends on it, and I do everything else on it that I need to do.

2. A technology trap is something that people use, but not think of it. A technology trap would be a cell phone, because they don't think about how they are used, they just use them. Another would be an escalator. People don't think about how they are created or put into use, they just think about using it.

3.I believe that our dependence on technology is actually pretty hopeless. I mean, if you think about it, people have no way around technology. Since we have become so dependent on it, if we lost power for a year we would have to find new ways to do things. We would be able to, but it would take lots of thinking and creativity.

4. We are better off becuase we have more technology, but we are worse off becuase we are even more dependant on it than they were back then.

5. Technology does sort of seperate us from being a community. Since now -a-days we have texting and calling, talking to people face to face can be a challenge for some who really rely on it. When the power went out, people were forced to talk to each other which was good.

6. If the power went out at CSUMB, we have emergencey power. This would allow us to cook food for a limited amount of time. We would have snacks and things too, so we wouldn't go hungry! In the dorms and the dining commons, the power will last three hours and if everybody ate on campus t would only be able to last for about two days.

Local News Story

Gatway Center honors those who helped save facility

The center that serves the developmentally disabled, in 2008, was thought to be shut down. Struggling financially, when the community found out, people were eager to help. The 100 Heroes campaign ended up donating 66,000 dollars to the facility. They held an event to thank these heros and I found it very heartwarming to read about people helping people in need. It reminds you to stop sometimes and do your part in this world!!

Multi Tasking

Multitasking is something that works for some people, and doesn't for others. For example, multitasking is something that completely works for me. I do it almost every day, and I am very used to doing it. It's part of my daily routine. I can be watching TV, text messaging, going on Facebook and typing an essay. The only subject I CANNOT multitask during is math. I have to have it completely silent so i can focus. In the article, the author says "Those who extol the virtues (or at least proclaim the necessity) of multitasking behavior seem typically to constitute three non-technical and non-professional communities: career professionals already saddled with overwhelming job-related expectations;young students who seem intent on justifying their “attention deficit” practices; and, interestingly enough, academic administrators and humanities educators." I believe the author is saying that people who engage in multitasking end up doing things that require lots of tasks. People who multitask can handle being busy and having more things to do in a short period of time. The author is also probably correct to say that multitasking doesn't save time. I usually end up focusing on one thing at a time, anyway. People who multitask typically get more focused on the task that is NOT homework or academic, and end up not finishing the priority task first. I agree with the 2nd myth too, because if you are doing two things at once the likeliness that you are going to remember what you are trying to retain is much slimmer than if you were doing it by itself. Lastly, I also agree with the last myth. I think that almost everybody I know multitasks while doing homework. Its a part of our generation, almost everybody does it.

Jazz Gallery Experience

My impressions from the jazz exhibit at the library changed and varied from the time I got there from the time I left. When I first got there, I wasn’t really into it very much. The stuff seemed really boring to me, so I just read everything and walked around. What interested me the most was all of the pictures, you could tell the people who played were very passionate for jazz, because they looked so happy and full of life in every photograph.

The music that Tupac and Nina Simone’s were placed in the gallery for a specific reason. I believe that they were placed in there because even though their music wasn’t specifically jazz, they still wrote very passionately and felt very strongly about what they were writing.

I believe that there is a STRONG connection between jazz and democracy. In a democracy, every voice is heard. The same applies for music and jazz. It’s a way for a person to express themselves and show how they truly feel. But instead of it being a government, it’s a song or poem.