Got Caffeine?

Rockstar, Monster, Red bull, AMP, 5 hour energy, coffee--whichever your preference, odds are you drink some form of caffeine on a daily basis. Caffeine is a part of our everyday lives. To some extent one might even say its our human fuel. Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed each day--each day! Just think about that for a second. If every cup of coffee costs 3 USD, then that's over 6 billion dollars a day, just spent on coffee (and that's not even including energy drinks and other caffeine based beverages, so the total spent on caffeine daily is even more)! Personally I enjoy all caffeine based beverages, from coffee to Rockstar energy drinks. I drink coffee in all of its many forms and varieties--hot, iced cold, with cream and sugar, or normally just strong and black with nothing added. I'd even go so far as to say that I'm a caffeine addict. Just for fun though, let's consider a world where caffeine (pause for effect) doesn't exist.

How different would everyone be without their daily cup of happiness? How much more cranky and unpleasant would we be? It's rather frightening to think about, to say the least. I expect that we would find some other source of "liquid energy" of sorts to fill the void and complete their daily rituals. On the other hand, anything taken in excessive amounts can be deadly. When one considers the harmful effects of caffeine on the body, perhaps a world without the energizing substance would profit.

Caffeineinformer.com has said that a Mayo clinic partnered study has revealed that men who consume more than 4 8 fl oz. portions of coffee a day have a 21% increase in all-cause mortality. A more common danger of consuming caffeine is that it can raise your blood pressure (this is especially true for people who suffer from hypertension). Furthermore, women who consume 31 to 250 mg of caffeine a day have been 1.5 times more likely to contract fibrocystic breast disease, while women who drink more than 500 mg a day are 2.3 times more likely. It is also commonly known that caffeine in a person's system before bed can imitate the effects of insomnia. Consuming Caffeine can also increase anxiety and depression-like symptoms.

So while the world may suffer in some senses from the absence of caffeine, it is clear that it will conversely benefit. Regardless, much to our delight (or subconsciously our dismay) we live in a world where caffeine exists. It is apart of most of our everyday lives, and it is rather frightening to consider a world without it.

Making an EDM track: the Basics

EDM, or electronic dance music, is a genre of music I really enjoy. Recently I've discovered a mobile app called Music Maker Jam that allows you to use stock sounds and beats to create your own unique track, for virtually any genre of music. It is very addicting and I've taken to it right away.

For those that don't know, most EDM tracks follow a standard sequence. I listen to this genre quite frequently and this mobile app is a great medium to construct decent original  EDM tracks.

First, you want to start off with a simple beat or sound. Play it on a loop a couple times, adding different elements each sequence, drawing the listeners in.

Add different percussive beats, with a unique musical sound as a recurring underlying basis for your track. As the song progresses, you can feel free to edit and experiment with different variations in the sound, to eliminate extraneous redundancies.

The next addition should be something that is commonly referred to as "the drop". The drop is simply where there is a transition where isolated musical sounds are joined together at once with the percussive elements. Genres like Dubstep, trap, EDM, techno, and even some hip hop all feature drops, more than once in the same track. It keeps things fluid and interesting, building up to a wonderful climax that listeners always enjoy.

I can't share my created tracks on here for some reason, but if you're that curious, download the app, create an account or simply link to Facebook: then follow me, Scott Stanley, and listen to my track Tiger Trapt to get an idea of a generic drop. You'll know the drop when you hear it, it's impossible to miss.

These are just the essentials in creating an EDM track. Feel free to experiment in any way you want. It's all about originality. Try simplifying the ending of the track, digressing back to the first opening sequences. At least, that's what many DJs do with their tracks.

If you end up downloading the app and giving me a follow, listen to Attraction and Escape, my two personal self made EDM tracks.



https://api.jam-community.com/song/detail/ceef94fb-242b-11e6-bd70-0661aaff07f9


https://api.jam-community.com/song/detail/02c195b0-23fb-11e6-bd70-0661aaff07f9

Robot

The absence of emotion,

Coupled with Nothing's bittersweet Sting,

Embrace me.

They wrap their arms around me, with near 

Inaudible whispers.

You are one of Us now....

My blank hallowed mind takes their words

With lackadaisical indifference.

I am a 3-Dimensional being, slowly being eroded

by The coarse, calloused hands of Time,

Into a 1-Dimensional Robot.

Views From the 6

Being the music man that I am, I enjoy listening to anything and everything out there (with the only exception being hardcore screamo). Among other things, I thoroughly enjoy rap and hip hop. When Drake's new album, Views From the 6, dropped on April 25 of this year, I had to give it a listen.

By itself, I would give his new album a 7. He has some really good tracks that feature fresh bars only Drizzy can produce. The more I listen to it the more I appreciate his lines and original mixes. My personal favourites from his new album are 9, Grammy, and Controlla (which is probably the most popular single on the album).

Now, when you compare it to his counterparts: YG, Kcamp, and Kanye West, all of whom released a new album of their own this year, there is no comparison. Views gets a solid 10/10 in this no-contest. People want tracks they can feel, get into, and sing along with. No other new album gives a listener this like Drake's new album. I am actually a fan of YG, and I was pretty disappointed with his new album. A lot of his tracks are just reminiscent of his old hits, and frankly, just doesn't cut it this time. People want new, fresh beats with fresh sounds, and Views does this beautifully. With that being said, it is IMPERATIVE to include tracks that can be compared to an artist's older stuff. After all, its the older stuff that brought you up to where you stand today. In spite of that fact, it is a 50/50 shot to put only new, different stuff in your album in the hopes that you start a new trend or different kind of feel in the hip hop industry.

Take J. Cole's new mixtape that released this year. J. Cole is my favourite hip hop artist. I was very disappointed in his new album. It seems he just got the short end of the stick with this one. He took that 50/50 shot and failed miserably. It's clearly evident he is just trying to hard to produce new, trendy tracks, that sound nothing like J. Cole's traditional stuff. I can't name even one track that I really enjoy listening to from his new album, and it is very sad.

I regress though.

Drake's new album is another great success to add to his already impressive career in the hip hop world. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you enjoy that sort of music.

Broken

My heart, reduced to shreds like wet paper.

My hands, calloused and scarred from my vain efforts.

My eyes, turned stone cold from the icy reality besetting me.

My legs....

I can't feel my legs.


My skin, a living organ one with the earthy ground,

Trampled upon, bruised senselessly, without

question or remorse.


Warm, red blood, oozing out of every orifice of

my body, over the dried blood already scabbing.

Blood, filled with my pain, weaknesses, flaws...


Regrets.


And yet Broken I stand, and Broken I will heal.

Superpowers

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

For me there is not a second's thought required. I would want the power of teleportation, to be able to envision a place I have once been, or can see on a computer screen or paper, and teleport there simply by thinking about it.

Jumper is one of my favourite movies. It focuses on a "Jumper", or teleporter, who is on the run from an organisation determined to vanish people who "don't deserve power that should only belong to the gods". The protagonist shares the same abilities as mentioned previously and also possesses the ability to teleport people and objects of great magnitude with him, simply by touch; I encourage anyone who hasn't already seen the film to check it out. It really made the idea of teleportation that much more cool and fascinating to me.

To be able to be present at will, at any location that can be seen or imagined, is extraordinary to say the least, and far more fun to me than flying or reading minds, as most commonly mentioned by people who would want powers. 

Scientists have already managed to teleport a photon (a microscopic particle of light) across a distance in excess of 20 kilometres. Take a quick look at the link below:

http://www.iflscience.com/physics/physicists-achieve-quantum-teleportation-photon-over-25-kilometers

I am keeping my fingers crossed that divine intervention will intercede and make human teleportation a reality.

What about you? Comment the superpower you would wish to have and why :)

Dream Destination

Chances are we've all been asked this question or something somewhat like it: If given the opportunity and the financial resources needed, where in the world would you travel to and why?

This question is a good one to ask when getting to know a person because it can tell a lot about him/her. For me, my dream paradise is in isolation from the rest of the world, just me and my wife (maybe kids eventually). I really want to live in a chalet in the Swiss alps, close to mother nature. I want to smell the cool fresh air, look at the gorgeous mountain peaks silhouetted against a amber coloured sunset--No politics, no corrupt government, no society present to sway you one way or the other, no external force of any kind save for the gorgeous scenery and peaceful atmosphere.


Where would you go? Feel free to comment below :)
http://www.idesignarch.com/luxury-ski-chalet-with-stupendous-view-of-the-matterhorn/