The Catalyst

First thought that comes to mind when I think of a catalyst is the Terran Marine & Marauder's Stimpack ability in Starcraft II. Don't worry non-gamers, this post isn't about video games, it's about Linkin Park's new song: The Catalyst. Ever since I heard it performed at the Video Music Awards (VMAs), I've been crazy about this song. It's even going to be the new Call of Duty: Black Ops theme song! The Catalyst's lyrics are very thought-provoking and I wish to *discover* what is up with this song!!

Here's a little background on one of my favorite bands. Linkin Park is very well-known for making popular themes to mainstream media (i.e. Transformers Theme Song: New Divide). After the release of their 'Hybrid Theory' album, many fans have not been appeased by their new contributions to the music industry. Hybrid Theory instantly went Platinum and has had been remade, remixed, restructured in many different ways. Jay-Z even teamed up with Linkin Park to add some of his rap to Linkin Park's rock/screamo!!




Alright, let's get into this song. Throughout the entire song, the singers constantly ask God to bless everyone. By saying such, they're saying that God is a greater entity than everyone, and ask him for his blessing. Why? Because "We're a broken people living under loaded gun." This means that our society is pretty much underneath the justice system of a country and that we are not whole any longer, implying that we were whole at a previous point in time. Why are we broken as a society? Because, according to Linkin Park, we cannot run away from it, fight it, or change it. Essentially, we are helpless.

Closing his eyes to symphonies of blinding light could represent the singer dying. The song seems to suggest that he is dying, as memories are becoming cold and decaying, while all transmissions (messages) are echoing away. The part that really confuses me is that they suggest a place far away from our world where oceans bleed into the sky. Oceans can be very calm or they can be extremely rough. To imagine a world where oceans can be cut and bleed seems more abstract than something like Heaven or Hell. If anything, bleeding would indicate that the area in which the song discusses could be hell. BUT, as he is dying he hears symphonies of blinding light! Through that symbol, wouldn't that indicate that he would be going to heaven?

The religious theme to this song continues, as the band questions what we will burn inside the fire of a thousand suns (suffer) for. They ask: are we going to suffer for what we've done, what our ancestors have done, what we've said, or what our offspring has done. It seems like a common question asked in every person's mind: why am I in this situation? Was it because of what I've said or done, or what someone related to me has said/done? LP continues to ask God to save them from their sins in this verse.

Finally, the ending of the song. LP orders, we can only presume, God to lift them up but also let them go. This push-and-pull idea makes perfect sense of why people sometimes go to church and sometimes don't. God is there when we have nowhere else to turn to. But when we get everything we need from him, we tell him to let us go and not hold us by and restrictions. Then we find out we need him again, and the whole cycle starts again. We are sinners in this world and we will never be perfect. Linkin Park discusses the frustrations of life in their song, as we will never know the answers to all the questions we have.

Time Management

Seriously? Is it already 3am? For the first time in a long time, I didn't do anything at all in a single day. I know midterms are coming up, not to mention presentations, but studies today was overrun by my will to fall asleep. Even whilst writing this entry, I listen to music, check facebook, twitter and kotaku to keep up to date with the world. My studies are getting pushed back more and more, my workout regimen is suffering and life is stressing me out!! In an attempt at organization, I want to create a schedule for myself to follow and incorporate all aspects of my life into it: sleep, meals, classes, meetings, study-sessions, and etc.

Life is about contradictions. I say I want to create a schedule for myself, when I'm already (trying my best to) handling the ROAR calendar!! Events pop up left and right, and I try to keep track of them, for ROAR. Work is only simple in a couple ways, one of them being: do this at this time, or you're gonna get in trouble. My life, however, isn't all about work. Sometimes I want to slack off; sometimes I want to take a break and play video games. Breaks are just impossible to plan, as they are just too spontaneously taken.

Linkin Park, one of my favorite bands of all time, constantly sings about the end, the result, the finale. I think the reason I like them is that they seem very big-picture oriented. They sing about the future and they look towards it. By that thinking, I now understand why I can't keep a set schedule for myself: I look with the majority of my time toward the future, and do not concentrate on the present.

Going off on a tangent, the present is something I am completely unaware of and I need to work on. Add 'keeping up with world and local news' to my schedule, and make it even more hectic. Constantly, were volunteering to help support shared ideas and beliefs of peoples that are extremely noteworthy in our community, and it's embarrassing to not know about all the issues that are brought up.

Google Calendar, you're going to become my best friend this year. You sync with my iPhone too, so you're mobile ready aren't you? God bless you. Hopefully when I get my schedule finally set up, I can take a snapshot and share it on my blog. Because as of right now, it looks crazy.

Music

Everyone listens to music. Whether it be the sounds of a full ensemble of musicians, to a solo hip-hop legend, or even the droplets of water dripping from the roof of a small shack, music is everywhere. My dear friend Ayasa Suzuki asked me tonight, "Do you play an instrument?" Short answer, yes. However, I have forgotten how to play one and am thinking of pursuing my musical career, yet again.

The cello and the bass were my life during 5th-8th grade but as Blizzard Entertainment released new titles at the time (Warcraft 3), I slowly began to stop taking lessons from my music teacher and get into online gaming. I made excuses to my teacher: my parents are getting a divorce, I have to concentrate more on school, I'm sick, and etc. I regret not continuing my musical career. I loved the sounds my bow made across the strings of my bass, and I loved getting one-on-one lessons from my music teacher, since I was the only one tall enough to handle the big bass.

Onne thing that makes me shy away from picking up and playing an instrument is that I have no idea how to play one anymore. Sure I could read sheet music and play my instrument accordingly, but I could never find my own voice and write songs. It's the same with any other form of self-expression. I was never able to write a poem, but I knew the format and layout of the many variations of poems and half-assed my way get a grade. If I pick up an instrument now, I want to learn how to play it, and find my own voice playing it.

Another thing in my way is time management. As it is now, I volunteer a lot of my time to ROAR (Raising Our Asian Rights) and the rest of my time is dedicated to school, eating, working out, ballroom dancing, writing on this blog, and the very recent Hawaii Club on campus. It may not seem like a lot, but this is the busiest semester I have ever been in, and I still hunger for more on my plate. Maybe, just maybe, this music thing will fill that gap.

What kind of instrument should I pick up? I own a guitar at the moment, but I don't have it here with me in Vegas. Plus I don't know how to tune it, how to play it very well and how to learn how to play it. I'll send my guitar up from Hawaii just in case, and try to start learning how to play from a couple of my friends.

What I would really like to do with my playing ability is to not form a band, but just chill and make music with others. Some people play wind instruments, some people play strings. As long as we can make music together, I want people to jam with me :) Cheers to learning how to play instruments again!

My Discovery Blog

Expression - my most difficult subject. Anyone can express how they feel, but can everyone express how they feel effectively and persuade others to have empathy with them? Definitely not. I can't do it, let alone know where to take it. This is my effort, no, this is my resolve: I will immerse myself into the world of expression; art majorly.

Who the hell am I? My name is Jonathan Chang. I grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in January of 2010. Ever since the day I stepped foot onto the mainland, I've taken the form of a student. A student - a naive, uncertain, confused child not ready for the real world. That's exactly what I am, and what I believe every student should come into college as.

As a kid, I was constantly told to focus on what I'm good at and get good grades. It was parsimonious: Do what I'm good at and get a job accordingly. I hated the system that Alexander the Great created. Liberal Arts education? No. Figure out what you want to do, go to a trade school and learn it. That's it, simple. BUT, I want to become a leader. A leader needs to go through this dreaded system of education. There are two things I've avoided learning in my entire life: Science and Art.

Biology, Geology, Chemistry, and etc. are all things I hated learning about. As to why: I hate learning about things that require me to learn a whole new set of vocabulary. With my major, Communication Studies, I learn theories and models that I can relate to easily and I can understand them a lot easier than understanding theories and models of Nutrition or any other science. My insolence has negatively affected me by deactivating my expressive, artistic side. While a lot of kids run around in their youth looking to world artistically, I grew up very plain and simple. My look at the world today has changed a little, but it still looks pretty clear cut to me. It wasn't until a friend of mine introduced me to the concept of art that I finally figured out what's missing in my life.

Guide me art. I don't understand you at all. I looked to you as if you as a commodity, and not as an accessory that can be wielded to instill power in others as well as myself. Become the water to my roots and give my life... a life. Wave your brush upon my plain white t and transform me. I need you in my life, you are necessary for me to live. Without you, I am nothing. This blog's purpose is to discover what I am missing in life. What answers have I not come up with yet? As I come across them, I will write about them. See you in the future.