- Static On The Radio -

We forgot to call it quits after the radio stopped working 
Giving into society standards and buying into the monthly subscription 
Happiness for 69 easy payments of $19.82
Looking towards the day the mirror leaves 
Falling away like every other soul that shakes my hand 
My name is a warning for you to stay away 
Clearly my mind is hiding as well
The visions stay behind to taunt me 
Nothing more is clear 
Days turn to unused paint
Nights become the canvas
Painting a picture you will never see
An interpretation of my thoughts laid out for the blind 
Turn the radio off
Close your eyes 
I gave into the night

The Ups and Downs of the Placebo Effect. (School Essay I Wrote Last Year)

*** I wrote this essay last year for a class. I forgot to post it, but here it is. I wrote this essay in under 20 minutes. I recived an A for it. ***

The Ups and Downs of the Placebo Effect 

When we were little we would fall down and hurt ourselves, and the only way it would feel better if mommy kissed it. This worked until we got old enough to realize that mommy’s kisses weren’t magic but a type of a placebo effect. This type of practice has been around a very long time. Though it hasn’t been accurately pinpointed when it was started but we still practice this today in a variety of ways. So what really causes the placebo effect?

The placebo effect is used a lot more in medical practices.  Many doctors and other health practices use some form of placebo to cause a desired effect on the patient.  A placebo effect is positive transformation that can occur in our lives when our observations, interpretations, and actions are aligned to reinforce the change we want. (Danial, 2013)  Basically this says that doctors use different types of methods to get the desired effect on the patient.

One of the most notable types of placebo effect accrued during the 1800’s and early 1900’s with traveling so called doctors. These people go from town to town and sell some kind of tonic that is supposed to “cure what ails you.” The stuff in the bottles ended up being a mixture of alcohol, some kind of narcotic drug, and random roots or berries. This mixture would numb the drinker long enough for the man to leave town. But it didn't stop there some folks where so set in that this method works that it killed them from drinking a lot of the stuff.

This type of placebo practice is used today. During late night infomercials there are people who sell all types of stuff that is supposed to cure the person. This type of placebo preys on the elderly. They believe that what the person is selling them will help something that is bothering them whether it magnets to heal there arthritis or cream to get rid of those varicose veins.  A lot of the tricks that people have been using for years still work but most of them are placebos.

In 2008, just under 700 American internists and rheumatologists were surveyed about prescribing placebos. Only a small percentage had ever prescribed "pure" placebos like sugar pills or saline solutions. But about 40% reported that they had prescribed over-the-counter pain relievers or vitamins as placebos, not because they believed these compounds would have a direct effect on the person's condition. Even if patients feel better, prescribing pain relievers and vitamins in that way involves some deception. 

Given the large placebo effect, we can expect that these treatment, even if unethical, resulted in significant improvements in conditions that those same doctors were unable to treat using conventional methods. Still, it doesn’t feel good to know your doctors have to lie to you to make you feel better, right? Well they might not have to.

The patient is left tricked into believing that the doctor has given them something that will help them with their issues. Hypochondriacs are often prescribed placebos to help fight off all the different types of problems that bothers them. They go to the doctor’s cause of some new flu virus that is going around in another part of the country and the doctor checks them out and then prescribes them a type of sugar pill. Doctors know their patients and knows which ones are hypochondriacs or not.

In the middle ages doctors would use leaches to get rid of the bad blood in the body to cure the person. This method worked in a few different types of cases but most times it didn’t work at all. Though this is a type of medical practice that is still used in small cases today it still is used to “help”. There are some con artists that do a kind of placebo effect on a person. They will find someone dying of cancer and tell them that they can take the cancer out without cutting them open. They will then create this whole set up where it looks like they are taking the cancer out and the person will believe that they are cured and for some time they will feel better. Just like every other face cure it ends up killing them or making them sicker and losing faith.

A new study demonstrates that the placebo and nocebo responses to pain may be activated by subliminal cues, thought to occur outside of a person’s conscious awareness. Both placebo and nocebo have different effects. Placebo has a positive effect and nocebo has a negative effect. Though placebo is the better known effect, there is an opposite reaction, called the nocebo response, where people can feel worse after an intervention that should have no ill effects. Not all placebo effects are good, just like the lesser known nocebo effect, it has the opposite effect in some patients. 

By studying placebo and nocebo effects, today we are beginning to understand how medical symbols affect the patient’s brain or, in other words, how positive or negative psychosocial contexts can change the brain and body functioning of the patients. (Hale, 2011) This study could help us better understand how the mind works when a placebo is applied.

Given the large placebo effect, we can expect that these treatments, even if unethical, resulted in significant improvements in conditions that those same doctors were unable to treat using conventional methods. Still, it doesn’t feel good to know your doctors have to lie to you to make you feel better, right? Well they might not have to. 

Not all placebo effects have any effect on patients; there have been some cases that the placebo has cured the person. This effect is caused by the mind believe in the cure so much that the body will fight against the problem and win. This is what some people call mind over matter. By believe that this medicine worked the person feels a lot better.

Some doctors are known to just push placebos on patients without properly diagnosing them with the proper illness. For an example give a sugar pill to a person who is a diabetic. This will raise the person’s sugar so high they will eventually die because they didn't get the proper treatment.  What does this mean for the doctor? Does he get in trouble for not properly checking the patient or does he walk for not knowing?

The use of a placebo has its ups and downs, but it doesn't just revolve around medicine like I have been talking about so far. In the beginning of this essay I mentioned that when we are younger that it was our mother’s kisses that made a cut or bruise feel better. This is a type of a placebo that we learn at a very early age, but grow out of it pretty fast. When a child gets hurt the mom will tell the child that if she kisses it it would feel better. Well this tricks the child into believing that it worked and then the child will stop crying, but in all reality it really didn't stop hurting.

Another type of this kind of placebo is when a child gets hurt they will need a Band-Aid to make them feel better. When they are younger the parents would put a Band-Aid on their cuts to keep the infection out, but in the mind of the child this makes them feel better. This to the child is a kind of like a shield, something that protects them from the bad that would reach the cut.  Or when a parent uses a sucker to get the child from stop crying, doctors use this method with stickers, and suckers when giving the child a shot. This will quiet the child and they will feel much “better”.

There are all types of placebos that are used today. You wouldn't be able to go through your local grocery story or as seen on TV section at your local mall or department story without seeing a type of placebo placed upon that shelf. There are all types of different types of placebos out there. It doesn't just revolve around medications and making someone feel better from something that is causing them to feel sick.

An example of non-medication placebo is when a person will go to a psychic to get closer for losing a loved one. The psychic will tell the person what they want to hear to get that effect of closer that they wanted. This is very similar to what the doctors do to patients.

Placebos are all over the place, you just have to take a closer look at what your surroundings hold. I am not going to get into the debate whether a placebo is good or bad, it all revolves the person that is taking the placebo. It is up to you to decide whether the placebo has a place in this society. 

- Following You Home -

Just like the raven
We have quoted nevermore
Busting through the doors
Like Trojans did to Troy
I wanted to follow you home
And watch you bleed
We have all died before our time
An early grave for us to play in
Breathing life's last breath
You choke on the air      
I have written these words a hundred times
And like a hundred before you just ignore            
So this is how our story ends
Forgetting about the ending we once dreamt of
Today's sorrows
                                                    

Johnny Questionmark "Falling In Like" Review

First things first this is going to be my first ever real review of a CD. In the past I did what I like to call lyrical breakdowns. That is where I take a song from an album and write my own interpretation of the song while I was listening to it at the time. It seemed to be well received and people enjoyed them. But this is going to be a full CD review with I hope a sort of review on each track. I hope I can do the CD justice. Ok then onto the review.

Falling in Like is an album you wasn’t expecting coming from a person you may or may not have known about in the past. First off this album holds nothing back. Johnny Questionmark comes out swinging and it really shows. This album is a labor of love. It found life on Kickstarter and did amazingly for a relatively unknown rapper from Minnesota. Johnny was one half of the Minnesota rap group Playaz Lounge Crew (PLC). They had a pretty good following and some great music. They lost out on getting signed to a Psychopathic Records to Axe Murder Boys. This reviewer is actually pretty happy they didn’t win even thought their talent was much better than AMB. It is hard telling what we would have gotten if they would have gotten signed. Ok enough boasting about PLC or Johnny here is a review of his debut solo album “Falling In Like.”

I can go on and on about each track on this album but I will highlight a few tracks and then give my final thoughts on the album. The album starts off with the track Written In Lights. This track is featured in Season 6 of the YouTube series Lights and a Backdrop (link to video will be placed at the end of this review.)  Before the album came out I listened to this track a lot. It’s a great opening track to start off this album with. The track plays off like an anthem, and expresses it in the chorus, “we ain’t quitting until it’s written in lights.” This track also gives the listener a glimpse to who Johnny is and that he isn’t going to stop regardless the hardships that come about. The record starts off strong and keeps getting stronger from there.

Each track holds its ground on this album. The track 6,7,8 has to be my favorite on the album. With some amazing lyrics, amazing production from Caesar, and very catchy chorus it’s hard not to like this track. “So hit me once and call it nothing but beginners luck. And begging for attention wishing I would give a fuck.” This track was on heavy repeat for a long time, and each time I listened to it I didn’t grow tired of it.

The next track I want to high light is Whiskey featuring Dood Computer from Albany. For those who that know me knows I am a huge supporter of Dood Computer’s music, and have shown, shared, and forced everyone to listen to his music. This track is a perfect drinking song produced by Lazerbeak of Doomtree fame. The production on this track is top notch and so are the lyrics from both Johnny and Dood. The track Hang With Us features Mac Lethal, and it’s another drinking song.  This track is a little more upbeat. Again Johnny shines with this track, and so does Mac. It has another catchy chorus and top notch production.

The cd ends with the track Not Coming Back. It’s a perfect ending to this cd. The track is just Johnny talking about losing someone in your life. Relationships end and in the chorus Johnny basically talks about no matter how much you drink they are not coming back. The production is a slow beat that goes really well with Johnny’s words.

I only highlighted a couple tracks off this cd, but honestly every track on this cd is amazing and holds its own. Johnny shines on everything he touches on this cd and his hard work really shows in this cd. One thing that kills me about most radio rap is that it lacks heart, and most people don’t understand my hate for it. This cd to me is better than anything I have ever heard on the radio because it has heart. The track MN Mean (Touble) is a good example of where music is heading to, and Johnny expresses his feelings on stuff being dumbed down for the masses. You can tell that Johnny loves what he is doing and that music is his passion. There is no stopping him now. Johnny Questionmark is a force to be reckoned with. The bottom line is that this cd is just the start and the next thing his does is going to be even better. For those inspiring artist that listen to this cd be sure to take notes, because you can learn a thing or two. Just remember don’t listen with your wallet listen with your heart. This album is one of my top albums of the year, and will be for years to come. This cd is a buy for anyone who is a fan of PLC, or of rap with heart.

http://www.johnnyquestionmark.com/

https://twitter.com/JQuestionmark

https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyQuestionmark

- Star Crossed -

Is this something you know to be true?

The end is nothing new

To rise upon this starlit night

Over and under and back again

Watching the moon reflect on our souls

Drowning out the sound of the traffic below

We look out for one another

Sharing our moments without a thought

Let’s close our eyes

And drift into sleep

The sky is falling

Each star is a new chance

Love isn’t for everyone

But there is always that one

To change your mind

To give you hope

We begin to feel the end is near

But do we rely on our conscious

Or do we go with our guts

As we sip this drink

The very last one

We hold on tight as we fall asleep

One last rest until our very last breath

Like star crossed lovers

Another Romeo and Juliet

- Sleep Sheep Sleep -

She was created from an image that is copied
Over and over again
Made from the same clone
Torn from the nipple
Mothers milk spilt upon the floor
Sheeps over sheeps
Fucking each other
Little babies fall from the creator
Images in a magazine
Teens wanting to be each other
Torn from the womb
Mirror images from a beauty pagent
Hope you fuckers burn
Little fires everywhere
Flesh fall from the bones
Smell of death in the air
Mothers milk is spoiled
Little sheep are being brough to slaughter
Laughter without a sound
Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bastards
Killer in need
Copies upon copies
No one is ever different
Twinkle twinkle
Little star
Goto sleep
And never wake up
Lambs to the slaughter
Sheep umong sheep
Douchbag clone
On the alter they prey
On the alter they will die
Behead the sheep
Lead them to their deaths
You will never be the same
And that is ok

- We Have Come This Far -

We have come this far

Under tomorrows sun

Drove all this way

To reach into our dreams

We can’t turn around now

For we are out of words

Fueled on the hopes of a future lost

Guided by unspoken bond of man

We have come this far

We will ride on into the night

We can’t turn around now