Sunday, March 15, 2015

Music

Sixth grade was a big time for expansion in my musical knowledge. I had just discovered Bon Jovi the preceding summer and a whole new world of non-radio music had opened up to be. I quickly fell in love with the band, the era, and the music. I would not look back onto modern music until tenth grade.

It follows that every time that I want to 'discover' an artist I go through their albums in chronological order. I like albums over scattered singles because I enjoy discovering the overarching conceptual stroke the artist tries to put into their album, the conceptual statement that unfolds with each song. Chronologically because it feels right listening to it that way. It almost feels like I was right there, enjoying the progression of the artist's career as if I grew up with them. 

So in middle school it followed that almost every month(that's how long it took to properly 'discover' each artist) I would find and be fascinated with a certain artist or band. Bon Jovi however would never be topped because you can't top kings. I started with eighties music, then explored not only sixties and fifties music, but their respective cultures too. More recently I've delved into 90's Bon Jovi and 90's pop culture, mainly through T.V. shows. I was nostalgic for a time I had never lived. It was a romantic time for me. 

And now here I am. Stuck. Unsure of where to go next. My playlists are getting stale. I've been thinking about going back through sixties music but instead of looking at the folk revival this time I could look at something else. There is a world of music out there. I just need to see where it takes me. 

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Will Humans Ever Break 3:30 for the Mile?

In 1954, Roger Bannister was the first human ever to break four minutes for the mile. Ever since then, the record has slowly been tapering down to its current time of 3:43:13 for men. This record has stood for over ten years, longer than any mile record has ever been kept since IAAF has been officially keeping track. This could mean that we are nearing the maximum speed that a human can possibly run.

Does this mean that the exciting days of running are over? The days when records were broken left and right and we were beginning to see the true potential of ourselves. Unfortunately I was born too late into the 20th century to experience any of it. It very well may be that records will never be broken by more than mere milliseconds. 

In looking at the data of mile times from 1900 to today, it shows an exponential decay going towards the limit time of around 3:39. (https://gravityandlevity.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/the-fastest-possible-mile/) 

However, I believe that there is still hope that we will one day break 3:30 for the mile without any artificial help. As humans evolve, we become better and faster. I hope our limits have not been reached yet as I this track season am looking forward to breaking 5:00 for the mile.