http://www.awesometapes.com
While for years I thought of the internet as being an amazing invention from which only those lucky enough to be born into the first world could benefit, the day I found this filesharing blog and filled my music library with local African artists totally unknown outside the villages and towns in which they recorded their music finally made me appreciate just how global the internet has made everything for everyone.
If you're looking for new music scenes whose existence you probably never even gave any thought to before, be sure to check this out. You'll not only find new artists but entire new genres in there. The African music scene is just as unexplored by the West as the continent itself was for most of our history. Now, go put on your pith helmet and get exploring!
It's pretty cool, actually. I know an African beadmaker who innovated this really cool technique of making glass beads using recycled glass, molds, and wood fire, and the only way I am fortunate enough to know this guy is because his village has an Internet connection.
I just love hearing about things like this. I'm pretty pessimistic about the future of the human race but I believe that if there's one thing that will save us, it's the internet, 4chan warts and all. Governments around the world are desperately trying to stop this open flow of information between people around the world but their attempts so far have all failed miserably. They don't understand how things work on here.
The internet has allowed me to reach an advanced level of Japanese despite only occasionally using it in the outside world. It's due to the internet that I've met and befriended really interesting people I would never have bothered speaking to had I passed them in the street. I'm actually friends with an old Japanese man who I initially met when the girl I was talking to went to the bathroom and he saw my face on her computer monitor and just started asking me things, surprised that I could understand him. We now talk regularly about all sorts of things and I really appreciate that he's one of the few Japanese who is willing to talk about certain controversial parts of his nation's history. I've learned so much that I could never have done otherwise. I love the internet and I love meeting people who are different, people you wouldn't expect to be on the internet, such as your African friend who is lucky to have internet access, or an old Japanese man who I met by chance through practicing Japanese with his granddaughter. The internet is a sort of anarchist utopia we can escape to after a hard day's work in real life, for some people more than others.
Also, wow, sorry for being so verbose!
