In Memory of the Pulse 49

This post is dedicated to the 49 victims of the Pulse gay nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida. These 49 beautiful souls were tragically taken from this world five years ago to the day – and they will never be forgotten:

1. Stanley Almodovar III, 23
2. Amanda Alvear, 25
3. Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26
4. Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33
5. Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
6. Martin Benitez Torres, 33
7. Antonio D. Brown, 30
8. Darryl R. Burt II, 29
9. Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, 24
10. Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28
11. Simon A. Carrillo Fernandez, 31
12. Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25
13. Luis D. Conde, 39
14. Cory J. Connell, 21
15. Tevin E. Crosby, 25
16. Franky J. Dejesus Velazquez, 50
17. Deonka D. Drayton, 32
18. Mercedez M. Flores, 26
19. Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
20. Juan R. Guerrero, 22
21. Paul T. Henry, 41
22. Frank Hernandez, 27
23. Miguel A. Honorato, 30
24. Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
25. Jason B. Josaphat, 19
26. Eddie J. Justice, 30
27. Anthony L. Laureano Disla, 25
28. Christopher A. Leinonen, 32
29. Brenda L. Marquez McCool, 49
30. Jean C. Mendez Perez, 35
31. Akyra Monet Murray, 18
32. Kimberly Morris, 37
33. Jean C. Nieves Rodriguez, 27
34. Luis O. Ocasio-Capo, 20
35. Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25
36. Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
37. Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
38. Enrique L. Rios Jr., 25
39. Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37
40. Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24
41. Christopher J. Sanfeliz, 24
42. Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35
43. Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25
44. Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34
45. Shane E. Tomlinson, 33
46. Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25
47. Luis S. Vielma, 22
48. Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37
49. Jerald A. Wright, 31

I am an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, and support the idea that every human being – regardless of sexual preference or gender identity – should enjoy equality and nondiscrimination.

And I will never stop supporting the community. I stand with them no matter what.

May each of the 49 victims rest in peace. Let there be peace and love throughout the world.

Valentine's Day 2021 Update

I forgot I still had this blog, so...hello again, I guess.

Happy Valentine's Day as well. :)

Favorite Vaporwave Artists

According to the Vaporwave Wiki, vaporwave is "a music genre that emerged in the early 2010s among Internet communities. It is characterized by a nostalgic fascination with retro cultural aesthetics, video games, technology, and advertising, and often involves the fusion of modern popular music with lounge, smooth jazz, and elevator music." It is a very experimental genre that really has no boundaries.

With the definition out of the way, here are some of my personal vaporwave artists - complete with their Bandcamp pages linked so you can support the artists. Let me know in the comments if you have a favorite vaporwave artist that didn't make my list:

1. Telepath
2. Vektroid/Macintosh Plus/PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises/New Dreams Ltd.
3. death's dynamic shroud.wmv
4. 식료품groceries
5. 猫 シ Corp. (Cat System Corp.)
6. 2 8 1 4
7. INTERNET CLUB

Favorite Synthwave Artists

Synthwave (also known as outrun or retrowave) is a genre that I found in my YouTube recommendations, and it's one of the few recommendations that YouTube gave to me that I actually like.

For those who don't quite understand what synthwave is, it is a sub-genre of electronic music that is heavily inspired by the 1980's music of films and video games. It's called synthwave because of the use of synthesizer instruments.

With that explainer out of the way, here are my favorite synthwave artists (complete with links to their music so that you can support them):

1. Scandroid - one of three projects of American multi-instrumentalist Klayton, Scandroid's tracks focus on the futuristic, neon-lit city of Neo Tokyo. He takes the normal synthwave sound and transforms it into an awesome futuristic sound that resonates with you. His most famous track is "Neo-Tokyo", and you might like it.
2. Miami Nights 1984 - classic retrowave is what you will find with Miami Nights 1984, and the sound - in my honest opinion - never fails to fascinate me. It brought me to a time I'll never really know (because I'm a 2000's kid). I would recommend giving their track "Accelerated" a listen cause it's a masterpiece.
3. LeBrock - his tracks give me a sort of synth-pop vibe, mixing elements of pop music with synthesizers. And it makes for a great combination. Tracks like "Please Don't Cry" and "Juice" are tunes to dance and/or sing to.
4. PYLOT - He has two EPs: Shadowtask and Solai. But Solai is the one I tend to go back to, primarily because it tells a story. A story that can be read on his website in the form of journal entries that provide backstory and context to his music.

A Rant About Space

Space is so incredibly immense and so infinite that the human psyche fails to comprehend its true size. For as long as we've existed, we've looked to the stars - wondering what other life is out there, wondering to ourselves "what if we could travel past the confines of Earth?" In July 1969, we took the first major steps into space by sending three brave individuals - Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins - to the Moon and returned them safely back to Earth in the famed Apollo 11 mission.

Now, my generation – consisting of teenagers and young adults – will be the generation that sends humans to Mars within ten to twenty years. This is the side of humanity I would like to see more often: one making progress not only in peace and honor, but in science and technology.

I conclude this blog post with the following questions: Once we start to establish colonies on Mars, where do we go next? What is our next destination? What will the future look like in twenty, thirty, forty, or even fifty years?