
I have written this blog post to commemorate how my site has started today. I am especially excited as to how it turned out and I always wanted to make a personal site for myself to display my projects. I built this site using next JS and posting it on GitHub pages.I hope you take the time to look at my blog posts and projects which are on this site 


The Start of My Blog



The text editor VIM is possibly one of my favourite tools for developing and coding. Whenever I have the opportunity to use vim, from VS code to Overleaf, and even google docs, I take it. I just want more people to learn and use VIM because of what an enjoyable tool is

# Macros
Many people often waste time slaving away at menial and boring text editing tasks. Vim makes relative tasks and actions easy using macros, or repeatable sets of keystrokes. 


# Speed
It's no doubt that with all the keybindings, getting from one location in the text to another is usually only a few keypresses. Typing is far faster than using a mouse. I have no doubt that my coding speed has increased twofold due to Vim.


# Efficiency
Often when I realise I have not completed the most keystroke efficient algorithm in VIM, I undo all my changes to try again. There is something immensely satisfying about executing the proper algorithm in VIM which I strive for every time I code. 


Why I love VIM



# Linux

I recently began to experiment with trying Linux, a free and open source operating system. I am a supporter
of open-source software because I believe that it gives us true control over what we do on our electronic
devices. 

# Nixos

For my first foray into the wild world of Linux, I decided to try Nixos because I think the philosophy
of everything being in 1 config file is pretty interesting. 


# My Experience

For the first few days, I couldn't get the X11 server to start and I was stuck in the TTY. I eventually
figured out that it was an issue with Intel Graphics, so I fixed it.

My experience was a bit slow and clunky starting out, but eventually, I became faster after I'd learning
all the tricks of the new software. I actually think I am faster and more efficient now because open-source
software tends to follow the Unix Philosophy of being modular and also has lots of modes and keybindings
to speed things up. 

# Software I've used

The thing I like most about free software is that it seems such software gives ultimate control and
customizability to the user. Here are the software packages that I am using right now, which I believe
grant the user ultimate control

* Nixos
* Emacs
* Xmonad / Xmobar

I'm looking for a new terminal to use. Right now I'm using Xterm, which isn't very good. If you have any
recommendations of terminals that I should try, you can contact me.


# My Configuration

If you want to see what configuration and dotfiles I'm using, go to my github because I have posted
my dotfiles and configuration files there. 



I recently switched to using only Linux. See how it turned out!

My experience using Linux



# Why Look at Historical Music?

In this blog post, I am going to analyze the music of several countries from history that I personally
find interesting. I have been interested in history for a long time, and if you are also interested
in history, then I think that music is uniquely positioned to gain an understanding of the past.
Humans have been creating music for [at least 3500 years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tfBLvlN98),
and probably longer, so there seems to be something intrisic to humans about creating music.
Furthermore, since most songs are short (on the order of 5 minutes), we must distill our soul
and essence into a simple and memorable phrase in order to be musical. This desire creates brevity,
which can easily help us gain the gist of a historical society. This need is amplified
by folk music, which is designed to be easily sung by large groups of people, so is often
melodically and lyrically simple (simple does not necessarily mean bad). These are the
historical societies I will analyze through the lens of music


# Soviet Union / Russia
The first song we will look at is [Swallowing Dust](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iAoibAgAvM).
Below I have posted the lyrics:

| Russian      | English |
| ----------- | ----------- |
|Да один, я остался один |yes, I was alone|
|а все друзья мои полегли,|and all my friends perished,|
|Вся надежда – один магазин|all hope is on one magazine|
|просто так не возьмёте, скоты!| But you won't take me that easy, brutes!|

We can see that the Russians fight till the end with resourcefullness ("But you won't take me that easy"). I think this is in keeping with Russian character. Looking at [Russian History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Russia), it is certainly brutal. This song portrays Russian
stoicism and bravery in the face of hardships, but another song shows the other face of
the coin. [Don't Tell Mom I'm In Chechnya](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHCzaiJEoEY)
is a more depressing song about a soldier lamenting and cursing the horrors of the
Chechnyan War. 

| Russian      | English |
| ----------- | ----------- |
|С другом Саней что он вернется держу пари|I made a bet with my friend Sanya, that he will return|
|Ты только маме что я в Чечне не говори.|Just don't tell mom that I'm in Chechnya.|

The dark truth is that if the singer made a bet against Sanya that he will come back, that
implies that Sanya bet he would die. In the hard history of Russia, I imagine that a
bit of morbid humour would be necessary to survive and make sense of it. 


# Germany
The next culture we will look at the songs of is Germany. One especially moving song is
[Ich Hatt' Einen Kameraden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y1Z1y2PSNw).

| German | English|
| ------ | -------|
|Er liegt vor meinen Füßen|Now he lies here at my feet|
|Als wär's ein Stück von mir|As if he were part of me|
|Will mir die Hand noch reichen,|Yet he reached out his hand to me,|
|Kann dir die Hand nicht geben|I cannot take your hand, right now|
|Bleib du im ew'gen Leben|May you rest there, in eternal life|
 
Prussia has sometimes been described as [not a country with an army, but an army with a country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_Army#:~:text=The%20social%20classes%20were%20all,an%20army%20with%20a%20country%22.). This lead to many great military victories for Prussia, but
also immense loss for the soldiers on the battlefield. The line that particularly stands
out is "As if he were part of me", because it depicts the tight bond that forms between
soldiers on the battlfield. The singer and his comrade are so close that theey feel
physically attached.

On a more uplifiting note, the next song we will look at is [Palästinalied](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2UBQArOa5c), a song based on a poem from the 13th century.
|German|English|
|------|-------|
|Nû lebe ich mir alrêrst werde,| Now I live only worthy|
|sît mîn sündic ouge sihet| Since my sinful eye sees|
|daz hêre lant und ouch die erde,| The pure land and also the earth|
|der man vil der êren gihet.| which is worshipped so much|

You can almost hear the wonder coming from this song. I like to imagine a knight who has
heard so much about Jerusalem finally arriving and praising what he sees. Even though, this
song still remains a tone solumn and humble ("sinful eye sees"). It's almost like
the author is humbled by being in such a special place. 
 
 
# France
Now onto a nation bording Germany, which is France. I have recently taken a liking
to the song [Vive Henri IV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFBD15ehjA)

|French|English|
|------|-------|
|Au diable guerres,|To hell with wars,
|Rancunes et partis !|Grudges and partisanship!|
|Comme nos pères|Like our fathers|
|Chantons en vrais amis,|Let us sing as true friends,
|Au choc des verres,|Clink the glasses,|
|Les roses et les lys.|The roses and the lilies.|

Aside from having a really spritely melody, the lyrics also have a fun and playful nature.
It has a message of celebration, not only of the honourable monarch [Henry IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France), but also of the festivites. I reccomend singing this song
at your next party.

We will next study [Seigneurs, Sachiez](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjSyaOE-O8s), which
was amazingly composed by King Theobald I. Can you imagine any current monarchs writing
such a good song? 

|French|English|
|------|-------|
|Tuit li mauvés demorront par deça| All the bad people will stay behind|
|qui n'aiment Dieu, bien, ne honor, ne pris.| those who don't love God, honor, or pray to Him|
|Et chascuns dit: "Ma feme, que fera?| And some say "what will my wife do?|
|Je ne lairoie a nul fuer mes amis!"| I will not leave without my friends"|
|Cil sont cheoit en trop fole atendance,|These men have fallen into foolish concerns|
|qu'il n'est amis fors de cil, sans doutance,| For man has no friends except|
|qui por nos fu en la vraie crois mis.| He who was put on the true cross for our sake|

I imagine that persuading people to go on the crusades must have been a hard task.
As a king, Theobold I probably had to convince thousands of people to go to a far
away and strange land. A song would be a very effective way to communicate his
message. In the song, he presents possible objections to going crusading ("what will my 
wife do?"), and then explains why these concerns are not valid. 

# Britain
Britain is a country close to my heart, and it also has some very good songs.
The first song is [My England](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU123EhCjBA)

### My England
Born and raised in a laying land  
The guardian of the islands  
Where the rolling hills and the mountain streams  
meet the sweet sweet peace of the highlands  
Oh how I love my motherland, this blessed land of freedom  
Where every heart that shares her peace, feels the glory of her Eden  
And she lifts up my soul like a bright sunny day  
and she stays in my life like a song  

These expressive lyrics capture the beauty of the English countryside. I can almost imagine \
the green pastures of Yorkshire when I listen to this song.

And I would be remissed not to mention the most famous British historical song: [The British
Grenadiers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrxHO-B2TY)

### The British Grenadiers
Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules  
Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these.  
But of all the world's brave heroes, there's none that can compare.  
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, to the British Grenadiers.  

I do like the sophisticated swagger and bravado of this song. It's has the confident tone
of dismissing these heros of antiquity. From the first bars, we can tell from this self-confidence
that this is going to be a fun and uplifting song. 

# Yugoslavia
There is a very good video ["My Obsession With Wartime Yugoslav Music"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8EQllZFqLg) that also covers some of these same songs. I think the reason
why Yugoslav music is good good is because of the harsh tensions of the Yugoslav war,
where 5 societies that were essentially identical (their languages
are all mutually intelligible) had to justify why they were actually distinct.
They accomplished this through music. First, we will look at [My Dad is a War Criminal!
](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TwioIc6a_8).

|Serbian|English|
|-------|-------|
|Moj je tata zločinac iz rata|My dad is a war criminal 
|Vi se potrudite pa ga osudite|You can try condemning him|
|Nema niko muda da vodi ga do suda |But no one has the balls to arrest him |

Apparantly this song is satire of the UN, who called Serbia war criminals. Honestly,
it's a really funny song because it contains an unsual topic. I don't know any other
songs where the singer just openly admits war crimes. 
The next song we will look at is [Crni Bombarderi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=333OVHhpK5c).
It's by Roki Vulovic, who has many other great songs you should also check out. 
|Serbian|English|
|-------|-------|
|Da li je to istina ili se samo šališ|Is it the truth or are you just joking ?|
|Na Balkanu hoćeš vatru da zapališ|You want to start a fire on the balkans| 
|Prijatelju stari iz prošloga rata|Old friend from the previous war|
|Stavićeš i sebi omcu oko vrata|You'll put the rope around your own neck|
|Sa Srbima ne smije inat da se tera|Don't pick a fight with the defiant serbs|
|Izgubićeš jato crnih bombardera|You'll lose your swarm of black bombers|

This song refers to the [1999 F-117A shootdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_F-117A_shootdown)
incident. The US had the most advanced stealth technology in the world, and said
their bomber was invisible. The Serbs had obselete Soviet missile technology,
yet still managed to shoot down the plane.  They said ["Sorry we didn't know it was invisible"](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serbian_poster_%22Sorry_we_didn%27t_know_it_was_invisible%22.jpg).
I think that's a pretty amazing story, and the story is reflected in the lyrics of the song.

# Conclusion
I am trying to expand my collection of historical music. If you have any historical
songs that you want me to add to this blog or that you want me to know about,
please [contact me](/contact).
 



 

 


