Blue Neighborhood Album Review

The new record Blue Neighborhood is the stunning follow up album to Troye Sivan’s first EP, TRXYE, which sold over 500,000 copies in the US alone. Troye Sivan Mellet is a 20 year old South African born singer, songwriter, actor, and youtuber. Other writers and producers credited on the album include Alex Hope, Pip Norman, Caleb and Georgia Nott, Bram Inscore, and Jack Antonoff, among others.

Blue Neighborhood is generally a pop album, with elements of synth pop. It has strong vibes of vocals that take you through every emotion, from sadness to pride to longing.

The album starts off with Wild, which was released originally as a single, then as a self titled EP, and then in the album. The instrumentals are comprised of fitting snaps, drum fillers, and a lot of  electronic beats and backup. I find that the instrumentals really compliment the vocals, but at times overpower Troye. In terms of the actual singing, it is really good, but unlike some of the other songs on the album, it has a lot less depth and personal touch. Within Blue Neighborhood, there is a trilogy of songs (with the same name) that tell a very powerful story, and are accompanied by music videos, Wild is the first of three, and shows Troye’s affection towards a boy, with whom he has had intimate moments but not a relationship.

After that is Bite, which is significant slowed down as compared to Wild. This song is different in that there are the vocal sections, which accentuate this very raw and slightly raspy voice that Troye has, followed by sections of instrumentals, mostly electronic and drum based. There are a few parts that end up breaking up his voice, which sounds weird at first, but ends up contributing to the overall longing and broken mood of this song.

The next song is Fools, which very quickly takes the listener on the sad route. Fools is the second song in the Blue Neighborhood  trilogy, depicting this sort of impossible love, where “only fools fall for you”, as the love can never be received back. I find that the vocals and instrumentals mesh a lot better in this song, where Troye is well supported by drums and piano, and they are able to follow the pace of the song perfectly. I enjoy this song in that it is neither rushed nor slow.

After Fools is a song called Ease, which features an artist named Broods. It has a lot less touches of synth pop, and focuses primarily on the two artists voice and the drums.This song has this sort of conflicting emotion. It has elements of happiness, but they are pulled down by this sort of hopelessness, regret, and pain. I really like how this song ended up being put together, and I find it quite nice. The blend of the male and female voice also end up working together really well.

The following song is The Quiet which may be one of my favorites. It is highly electronic backup but not in an obnoxious way. In fact, it is done in a way that seems to mimic natural instrumental sounds. there are also some parts where Troye’s voice is layered, but it is done so little that it ends up accenting the song beautifully. There are a few songs on the album that sounds like letters to somebody in his life. This is one of them, and in it he is pleading for the person to respond. It comes out strongly, and it is one of those songs where you can feel the desperation somewhere deep inside.
The next song is called DKLA, which features an artist named Tkay Maidza. It is one of the darkest songs on the album, and shows how you can’t keep “love around”, and you have to remove yourself from this sort of downward spiral. I actually found the rap insert from Tkay unnecessary. It removes the listener from this sort of deep contemplation from Troye. I also found the electronic inserts quite overpowering, to the point where they take away from what seems to be the intent.

The next song on the album is Talk Me Down, which is the third and final song in the Blue Neighborhood trilogy. It is both one of the saddest and best songs. It creates this raw emotion easily felt by the listener. It transfers the pain and earnest feelings felt by Troye Sivan. The idea of talk me down refers to the suicides of LGBTQ+ teens. The lyrics, accompanied by the video give insight into a story, which isn’t Troye’s personal story, of a boy who gets abused by his alcoholic father for being gay. The instrumental is piano and electronic, but it ends up complimenting Troye’s vocals perfectly, and the darkness of it at times helps the mood stay consistent and strong.

These are actually only the first 7 of the 16 songs on the album. There are three other guest artists including Allday, Betty Who, and Alex Hope. I like every single one of them, despite some previously mentioned problems. The album overall is definitely worth listening to as it combines raw vocals and emotions, with innovative electronic instrumentals techniques, and drums.

A Principle To Keep

One principle that I think is important to keep is honesty both to yourself and the people around you, as well as integrity. I found these two moral values extremely important because they dictate how the world goes. To me honesty has to do with not lying, cheating, or stealing. If people begin to lie, cheat, and steal, I feel like the world would descend into absolute chaos, even if bad things are already happening. Dishonesty tends to be a chain reaction. If one person begins to cheat and steal for example, and there isn't a strong form of government especially, it ends up making it okay for everybody else to do it. Integrity, to me, means always standing up for what you find right, and keeping your promises. If you don't stand up for what you think is right, that bad things will continue to happen with no repurcussions, and continually damage the world. I find keeping one's promises also very important, and a principle to keep, because once somebody breaks a promise they are not true to the world they promised. This is something also discussed in "The  Road", with how the son always wants his dad to keep his promises. Promises are the basis of trust, and trust is important in maintaining relationships in general. Obviously, these things are hard to do if you are absolutely alone, but being honest with yourself and not tricking yourself into believing something unreal is still important. In addition, standing up for what is right should still be maintained.

Stay Honest!

Who I Am Thankful For

There are a lot of people in the class who I am thankful for. First off, I am thankful for Makenzie, one of my best friends. She is a constant shining light in my life, as she is always full of happiness and love, and just being around her makes me feel happy. Makenzie is an amaxing friend, and I feel like I can talk to her about anything. Another person who I am thankful for is Marta. Marta is one of the nicest, most patient people ever, and I am so very glad to have her in my life. In many ways, she is the yin to my yang and she really grounds me when I am having some sort of extreme emotion. I love Marta to pieces and am very thanful to have her as a friend. Next is Sydney, who I also love. We met in seventh grade because we had division and lunch together and have been friends ever since. I love that she can always make me laugh, and I love hanging out with her, even if we are doing some boring group project. Sydney is an amazing friend, and I love having somebody like her in my life. Next is Ayanna, who is an amazing person altogether. She is super kind, super supoortive, and very encouraging, and her constant positivity and helpfulness are really nice to have so she is an absolutely lovely friend. Rashmi is another classmate who I am thankful for, because we also always have fun together. I love that we have some commom interests which we can discuss and do together.

I am very thankful to have so many amazing classmates who are also friends, as they constantly encourage, motivate, inspire, and help me, no matter what.

P.S. I didn’t always mention the word “best friends” but all of these people are my best friends.

The Murder of Francis Macomber-Was It Intentional?

At the end of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway, Francis Macomber get a bullet in the back of his head-a bullet shot by his wife, Margaret (Margot). The question is: was the murder intentional?
I honestly think that the murder was intentional, not because of the forensics or anything like that, but to the many motives that the reader is clued into, and to the reaction of Wilson, the main witness.

Margot's two main motives seem to be the pursuit of Macomber's fortunes, and the fear that she will be kicked to the curb by her husband, and his newfound confidence. Their relationship is an interesting one. We start by finding out that "Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Macomber to ever leave her." This shows an interdependence. Their relationship is also definitely unstable, as we are clued in that she left Macomber in the night. It is also worth noting that this shows the relationship is based on anything but love.  Macomber can't get a better lady because he isn't very good with girls, and is a "coward" (as he was called by his wife), and Margot can't find a man with any more money. The reader is told that she is a former model, key word former. This can be gathered from the quote, "five years before, commanded five thousand dollars as the price of endorsing photographs, a beauty product". She was a model, a very beautiful one, and she is still pretty, yet she has lost that sparkle that she had once had. A younger, prettier woman has probably surpassed her. The importance of this however, is it creates this tug of war of power. The minute she finds out that Francis had been cowardly and ran away from the lion, she got excited and said she "wouldn't miss something like today for anything". This shows her excitement, that her husband is also losing some of his past sparkle being a "four-letter man" (a successful sportsman in school).
Everything changes however, after Macomber kills the buffalo, and becomes a hero. During the hunt, he has a newfound confidence. This is apparent when it says, "For the first time in his life he really felt wholly without fear. Instead of fear he had a feeling of definite elation". This is noticed both by Margot who "saw the change in Francis Macomber: and by Wilson, who congratulates Wilson. One can also see Margaret's fear when she says, " 'You've gotten awfully brave, awfully suddenly,' his wife said contemptuously , but her contempt was not secure. She was very afraid of something." This something could definitely refer to this fear of losing power in the relationship, and not having the upper hand. She is scared that if her husband is confident, he may leave her, and with that she would lose the ability to get a good man, and the money.
This described the motives of money and fear of her husband having the upper hand and the control. Of course, even with all these motives, she may have killed him on accident, but she did shoot him straight in the back of the head, "base of the skull" so it couldn't have been aimed at the bull. She probably didn't plan it thoroughly considering she hasn't ever shot a gun or anything, but she seized her opportunity.
The other aspect that could point to this murder actually being intentional was the reaction of Wilson, the main witness.
Wilson, doesn't make any outwards exclamations or shrieks. He also tells her that "That was a pretty thing to do," he tells her in a toneless voice, "He would have left you too". By pretty, he does not mean beautiful, but that killing him was a big thing to do. The second phrase further supports the described motive of the fear of him leaving her. He also asks why she didn't "poison him" since "that's what they do in England". Since poison is an extremely direct and intentional murder, Hemingway may be showing that this was too. Finally he agrees to help her, probably for the money, since he understands that was also part of her motive. he continues very monotone, indicating he is neither upset nor excited, a weird reaction when someone has just died.
Overall, the way I see it, the murder of Francis Macomber by Margot was intentional because of the potential motives, and Wilson's reactions.

MicroFiction Hemingway Style

1. Girl in wheelchair leaves Aldo dejected.
2. Three shots, a final gasp, silence.
3. Funeral: 'Till death do us part?
4.  Wanted a mother; got a babysitter. 
5. Anxiety ridden children run through halls.
6. "Parent Night" makes her tear up.

John Proctor-Hero or Stooge

In my personal opinion, John Proctor is a stooge. This is not to say that he lives an entirely pointless life, or is a terrible person. This is just to say that he, by definition, is a person who serves merely to support or assist others". In the Crucible, he doesn't do anything particularly fantastic. The argument for him being a hero could potentially be that he is consistently trying to clear his wife's name, and is trying to help her no matter what. The problem, is that in actuality he is just trying his best to clean up the mess he has made. He had an affair with Abigail, which is the first problem, not that all adulterers are bad people, but he very well made a mistake. From there, Elizabeth find out, she has problems with Abigail, and Abigail wants her gone so she can be with Proctor. This lustful desire is what got us here. This is what initiated the ceremony in the woods and what caused the chaos that ensued. Now, John is trying everything to protect his wife from what he indirectly imposed on her. I suppose that is a good thing, he is in fact trying to clear his mistakes, but he is also trying to retain his reputation. Him saying that he knows Abigail would usually ruin his name, however in this case it was just taken as part of the trial to understand who is guilty. Even with revealing this major truth, he has so far not gotten any blood on his hands. He doesn't think before he acts, and he has proven to be dishonest. He lives his life in a circle:making mistakes and trying to fix them. This is what makes John Proctor a stooge in my mind.

There Goes The Neighborhood

Their eyes bug out. What is this huge boat floating on the water and why is it here? A mix of excitement, confusion, and fear fill their eyes. The white men come off the boat, men that they had never seen before. The Native Americans cautiously approach them and soon they mesh. They work together, they teach each other their ways, and they trade with each other. It is a good time, but it doesn't last long. Soon, the white men begin to teach the Native Americans their religious ways. It is a new thing for them, and they do not understand. Many try to leave but they get killed. This is when the conflicts begin. The white men and the natives do not agree. They live different lives, and those two lives cannot work together. The white men want converts and money. The natives want to live their spiritual lives in peace. The white men begin to make changes, and own the land. The natives are furious. This is not their land. They do not have the right to take this. It is nature's. In a devastating chain reaction, they begin to hurt eachother, and there is no longer peace. There is only fear. To have constant fear is a life of paranoia. There is tension, such that you could cut the air. Once in a while there is a death. The white men believe the unknown is simply a forest of evil, of the devil. The natives believe that the white men have invaded. They should not be here. They are not welcome. Fear causes conflict. There is no resolve. The white men will continue to want power and money, they will continue to belittle the natives, they will continue to own the land. There can be no compromise when there is fear, and so they live in a state of constant  in-balance, always on the verge of war. The war comes, and it becomes a white man's land. The winner writes the history books.