Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Top 5 Call Me Maybe Covers

"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen is pretty much the only song anyone is singing nowadays, which means that the internet is abound with fantastic covers of it. I wanted to put together my favourites.

The original song (for if you've been living under a rock):



1. Best elementary school cover (is it a cover if she's still singing?):



2. Best choral and orchestral cover:



3. Best indie cover:



4. Best Sesame Street cover:



5. Best Presidential cover:




Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Week 15: Peace Memorial Museum

On 8:15 a.m. on August 6th, 1945, "Little Boy" was released from 31,060 ft, and detonated 1,968 ft above the city of Hiroshima. The atomic blast almost wiped out the entire city. It is said that there were between 90,000 and 160,000 casualties, with roughly half of the deaths occurring on the day of the blast. This was one of the only two nuclear weapons used in war, and it was also the first.


And on that cheerful note, this was also the reason Cian and I decided to visit Hiroshima. We wished to learn more about the Japanese side of events and see the city firsthand. Needless to say, we weren't disappointed. Cian and I took the night bus to Hiroshima, which got into town at the delightfully early hour of 6:00 am. With nothing to do, we promptly got lost. Seriously, we couldn't even find our way to the right side of the train station. Eventually, we dragged our exhausted bodies over to the other side, and decided to walk to the peace park. It looked like a short distance on the map.

It was not.


After a few hours, we arrived at the park. It was beautiful and peaceful in the early hours of the morning. Before the bomb dropped, the site that the park is now on was host to the busiest area of downtown Hiroshima. When it was all wiped out, the city decided to turn it into a Memorial Park instead of rebuilding the buildings. Design competitions were held, and they eventually decided on the current design. I can't even begin to describe it, so I urge you to visit. You know, if you're ever in the area.


At the end of the park is the Peace Memorial Museum, which is what we were most interested in seeing. We went in, paid our 50 yen entrance fee, and were promptly taken aback. I can't remember the last time I was so moved by a museum. They didn't take sides, they explained the events leading up to the blast clearly, and they did not hold back when explaining the horrors that the bombing caused. It was a sombering experience. It ended with letters from the Mayor of Hiroshima to the countries that have recently undergone nuclear testing, urging them to stop in the name of world peace. That part felt a little overly optimistic, but after all they've gone through, I think they have done a fantastic job of making the world a better place and promoting an amazing message.



The park also features a number of other sights, such as the A-Bomb Dome, above, and the Children's Peace Monument. All of these are tied together beautifully in the park, and really serve to make an impression. I was half asleep, and bone-tired from walking all morning, but I will never forget how Hiroshima made me feel that morning.