A good friend of mine advised that I should get myself a Blogspot and at first I thought, "Why? I already have a livejournal." However I changed my mine 'cause I realized my lj f-list ended up dying off and I wanted to continue blogging with a fresh start. SO, here I am. :)
Another friend of mine has been wanting to read articles/stories/rambles I've done and I figured this would be easier than trying to send him each individual one. So here's one to start off.
This was required for my AP Spanish class. It was a project in which we had to write an article about some current event going on at our school and we had to conduct an interview and lay it out as if we wrote for "La Opinión"
Student and Teacher tribute iconic musician John Lennon
A John Lennon tribute had taken place on December 8, 2009 at the large quad stage during lunch with Freshmen Jamie Becker and Latin teacher David Maust covering John Lennon’s classics. The tribute had taken place on the exact date Lennon had been murdered in 1980.
While there are many artists that have revolutionized music, Jamie Becker feels that John Lennon has impacted her greatly in her own musical journey. “John Lennon has influenced my music playing and writing more than the majority of the other artists I listen to on a daily basis.”
Since Michael Jackson’s death the media had advertising Jackson’s upcoming film, “King of Pop.” It was then that Jamie had become inspired to make a tribute for John Lennon. “In seeing all these advertisements, I had thought of the importance of remembering other artists whom have made impacts on the musical world as well as many peoples' lives. And at that moments artists' names such as Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and of course John Lennon, had flashed through my head.”
Not only had Michael Jackson’s film propelled her to commemorate Lennon but she also wanted to remind her fellow students about Lennon’s classics. “I wanted to remind my peers of the great music John Lennon had accomplished by himself, in addition to the music he accomplished with Paul McCartney, Geoge Harrison, and Ringo Starr.”
Maust said he was pleased to be a part of something new. “I was glad she was taking initiative do something out of the ordinary. I thought it was a good opportunity to do something new.”
Students were drawn in hearing music in the large quad and halfway through their performance there was a large crowd of students watching Jamie and Maust perform.
“I thought everyone liked it. People still follow John Lennon's music because he’s good at expressing how people feel and the students really enjoyed their performance,” said junior Nancy Andrade who was present during the memorial.
Jamie played guitar and sang while Maust accompanied her by playing a range of instruments such as piano to accordion. Together they covered eight songs from The Beatles and Lennon’s original work. Some of the songs performed were: Help!, Hey Jude, Eight Days a Week, and Imagine.
After performing Jamie said she felt like she accomplished what she intended. “It was a fun experience for Mr. Maust and I, and we had done our bests in showing everyone the great music John Lennon had written as well as the music he contributed to in writing.” While both performers were satisfied at accomplishing their commemoration of John Lennon, Maust said, “I felt like there was not enough live music since everything now is based on technology; it was a great way to make average music and make music socially.”
Not only did she wish to commemorate John Lennon but she also wanted her peers to become aware of John Lennon’s impact not only musically but overall. “My only hope now is that it was a good enough experience for those who listened that day, to where they will now remember John Lennon's impact as often as possible and especially on every December 8th from this year forward.”
- Priscella V.
I hadn't done something like this in a long time and when I went to interview Mr. Maust I got a rush of adrenaline and I couldn't stop smiling throughout the whole interview. I felt a stupid afterwords but I couldn't help but feel exhilarated! There are times when I question if I still wish to pursue a career in journalism and it's times like these that help reassure me that this is something I truly love to do.
