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Welcome to our Patreon!

Evening gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here, and we’ve got a huge announcement! As you can probably tell, we’ve started a Patreon! For those of you who don’t know, Patreon is a way for people to provide a monthly income for the creators whose art they enjoy, in exchange for the creator giving certain benefits or rewards to their patrons. It’s used by countless online creators, and we thought it would be nice to jump onto that bandwagon. As far as rewards go, every time we hit 150 patrons, Jonah and I will pick one random patron to become a temporary admin for the blog, being able to put up to posts on the blog, pending our approval. That’s all we have for now, but we’ll start adding more rewards if and when we start getting more patrons or get more monetary benefits. You can become a patron right here: patreon.com/younggentlemansguide.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, follow The Young Gentleman’s Guideon Facebook and Instagram, or donate on Patreon. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

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Gentleman's Philosophy

A Gentleman Stands Up For What He Believes In

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here! So, one of our latest posts, The 1950s: The Greatest Generation for Families, has received quite a bit of heat lately, which isn’t very surprising. Now, we here at The Young Gentleman’s Guide are always open to a thoughtful and cordial conversation, and we were made aware of quite a few differing opinions. On Instagram, a few commenters were saying that I should’ve done some more research into how women and minorities were treated in the 1950s, or how women today can and do live happy lives without starting a family or having kids. Now what would you do in this situation? I would guess that some people would either take the post down or issue an apology for offending anyone. But that is not what a gentleman would do, and that is not what I want to teach to my readers.

Now, I will fully admit that I should have done more research into the era of the 1950s, and I should have also addressed to role of women today. Don’t get me wrong, if you are a woman and are happy with working and not getting married or starting a family, then I’m fine with that. And guys, if you also want to focus on your career and not worry about finding a lady to settle down with, then that’s fine! Pretty much everything I mentioned in that post were just statistical trends, not absolute certainties. However, I have no plans to apologize for what I said or take down the post, because I still stand by the core message of the post: that traditional family values are important and should be preserved, despite them being dangerously undermined in today’s society.

I believe it was Ron Swanson, a character from the TV show Parks and Recreation who says “If you believe something, you sign your name to it.” I’m prepared to take that sentiment to the bank! Caving into the demands of your audience or the people who disagree with you, just shows that you don’t actually believe in what you said. Also, if your first reaction is to resort to violence as opposed to having an open discussion (as is, more often than not, the case with politics or religion), that’s not upholding your belief, that’s just a display of cowardice. Again, that goes completely against what I’m trying to teach our readers. Like Ron Swanson says, “If you believe something, you sign your name to it.” Sure, it is inevitable that other people will have a different opinion than yours, but that’s ok. You should willing to hold an open and cordial debate about your differing opinions. Whether or not one of you end up agreeing on everything shouldn’t matter. As long as you can both stay level-headed and find at least a small amount of common ground, that’s what matters.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Instagram. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

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Gentleman's Philosophy

On Friendship, From the Norse

Evening Gents! It’s Jonah here form The Young Gentleman’s Guide. Today we return to our series on Norse mythology and the many lessons for gentlemen held within.

Today we discuss friendship and its importance. Do you have a few bros? Maybe there are a few guys at school who you see regularly, or a few fellas who go out for drinks with you. But do you have real friends? Men who you aren’t afraid when they see you as you really are?

Image result for friendship

Picture Credit: Google Images

In just two verses, the poet of the Sayings of the High One explains to us the importance of choosing friends and being intentional about our friendships. Keep in mind this just scratches the surface of what the poem has on friendship. Here you can find all the verses: https://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/31/the-80-wisdom-sayings-of-the-vikings/

The Sayings of the High One say,

  1. I was once young,/ I was journeying alone,/ and lost my way;/ rich I thought myself,/ when I met another./ Man is the joy of man./

And back up a bit:

  1. Know, if thou has a friend/ whom thou fully trustest,/ and from whom thou woulds’t good derive,/  thou shouldst blend thy mind with his,/ and gifts exchange,/ .and often go to see him.

I’ll focus on two little bits. First, from verse 47, we learn that “man is the joy of man.”

Gentlemen, nothing will give you joy like other people. That is why to be a gentleman relates entirely to people and how you interact with people. That is where our joy derives – from each other. Never forget that!

Now here’s the friendship-specific bit, verse 44. Let’s break it down:

“Know, if thou…”

Already we have something. When thee, thou, thine, and thy were in common usage, the thou form denoted closeness. Spouses would say “thou”, and friends, while authority figures would be addressed as you. The poet is addressing his audience as a close person or a friend.

“Know, if thou has a friend whom thou fully trustest…”

Do you have a friend who you fully trust? Think for a moment – trust them completely? Who you could tell anything…? If you do, I feel profoundly good for you. If you don’t, then we may be in the same boat. Let’s continue – this one verse is pure gol.

“…and from whom thou woulds’t good derive…” Are you deriving good from your friends? Are you getting advice; genuine, wholesome fun; and a renewing of your spirit? Do your friends challenge you to be a better man?

Or do your “friends” disparage your decisions and pressure you to lower your standards? Do they try to get you drunk, just because it seems cool? Do they try to get you to live short of your commitments in order to hang out? If they do these things, sorry to break it to you, but they are not good friends – or even friends.  

But true friends bring out the good in you.

“… thou shouldst blend thy mind with his,/ and gifts exchange,/ and often go to see him.”

To “blend thy mind”, and “often go to see him”  – what does this say? We must be intentional about our friendships. We must put work into them. We must spend time and effort. We must be magnanimous when our friends can’t hang out because they need to handle their responsibilities. Not only that, but we must support them in their responsibilities.

We must choose wisely. Choose men who challenge us to be true gentlemen. Men who are truly fun to be around. Men whom we trust, men for whom we would put in all the effort and stick through thick and thin.

If we want to be friends with those men, we have to be those men.

On that note, I’m Jonah with The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time.

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Gentleman's Philosophy

The 1950s: The Greatest Generation for Families

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here! So I’ve made it abundantly clear that I love just about anything having to do with the 1950s. The cars, the music, the fashion, and probably my favorite thing, the emphasis on the family! I’ve also made it just as clear that I was born and raised in a traditional family, with both biological parents still married and living under the same roof. And of course, in the 1950s, a traditional family like that was essentially the norm, not the exception as it seems to be today. Now, I’m not going to act like everything in the 1950s was all sunshine and rainbows, but it has been shown to be a generally happier time. And while that can be attributed to any number of reasons, it’s my firm belief that the biggest reason is that traditional family values were a huge emphasis in American society. I’ve stated many times that I’m a huge advocate for traditional family values because said values are what’s important to every single member of the family. Protest or undermine them all you want, but traditional family values and gender roles are what’s best for society. Children who are raised with both biological parents living under the same roof are less likely to commit crime, drop out of high school, and live in poverty. Women who are housewives and stay-at-home moms have consistently been shown to be happier and more satisfied with their lives. And most importantly for our readers, a man who works to provide for his family is taught some of the most important things in his life: responsibility, leadership, work ethic, and how to care for others. And what era had the greatest emphasis on all of these things? The 1950s!

1950s Post 2

The 1950s were a time where men acted like men, women acted like women, and children acted like children. It sounds like a far cry from today where people are aiming to not have any differences between any of those three things. Not only that, but as of 2014, approximately 24% of children grew up in fatherless homes, and it’s likely that percentage has increased in four (4) years. That’s more than twice as high as that rate in 1960, 11%. The value of the family is being dangerously undermined in our current year 2018. With modern social justice and universities trying to teach young people, especially women, that marriage and starting a family is obsolete, I’m hoping we can go back to the 1950s. If a woman wanted to try to call out someone for advocating being a sexist or a bigot for just arguing common sense and science, she might ask him “Why don’t we just go back to the 1950s?” But is someone were to ask me that right now, I would say “Yes, we should. Because life was better back then for men, women, and children. Sure racial relations weren’t the best, and we were slightly worried about nuclear armageddon, but people were happier. Men were real men, women were real women, and the family was going strong. I wish families today were as strong as they were back in that day. Families are the cornerstone of a prosperous society, and the 1950s had that in troves. Plus everything in general was just better back then. The cars, the music, the movies, and especially the government and economy.” Sorry for rambling there, but hopefully I got my point across. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guideon Facebook and Instagram. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

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My Favorite Composers

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here! So, this post will be a little different than most of our other posts. I thought I’d pull back the curtain on shine some light on something that I’m passionate about. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I absolutely love music (I’m even studying it at San Francisco State). And among my favorite parts of music include those who write said music. So today, I thought I’d tell you guys about some of my favorite composers and why I admire them as much as I do. So, let’s start the list!

1. John Williams (1932)

John Williams

Anyone who’s a fan of cinema has heard at least one score by John Williams. As a matter of fact, he’s my all-time favorite composer. As someone who loves movies and cinema just as much as I love music, it’s pretty much sacreligious to not like John Williams. The amount of scores he’s written is lenghty, so I’ll try to keep it to my favorites: Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman (1978), Jurassic Park, The Terminal, Hook, and that’s not even half of what he’s written scores for. Known as “Maestro of the Movies”, this man has the honor of being the individual with the second-highest number of Oscar nominations, second only to Walt Disney. Not only that, but he is also a very long-time confidant to Steven Spielberg, so with very few exceptions, there probably isn’t a single Spielberg movie that John Williams didn’t write the score for. The sheer number of movies he’s scored is enough to marvel at, but another thing that baffles at least me about John Williams is that he can write music in so many different styles, ranging from American march to Italian overture to even jazz (watch the original Star Wars movie if you don’t believe me). He’s definitely one of my biggest inspirations, and I always look forward to hearing a new score from him.

2. Michael Giacchino (1967)

Michael Giacchino

Yet another film composer, Michael Giacchino is similar to John Williams in the sense that he can write music in so many different styles. Probably my favorite film score in the last ten years is the score from the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, which was written by Michael Giacchino. But not only that, but if there’s a Pixar movie that wasn’t scored by Randy Newman, then it was most likely scored by Michael Giacchino. In fact, one of my favorite scores from him other than Star Trek is his score for The Incredibles. That score was pretty much a love letter to spy movie and TV scores of the 50s and 60s, and it fits perfectly with the movie. Some of his other notable scores were written for Super 8, Up, Inside Out, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the TV show Lost. With him contributing the scores to some of my favorite movies of all time, it’s pretty much impossible for me to not love this guy.

3. Pyotr I’lyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Tchikovsky.png

Moving away from film composers, Tchaikovsky is actually my favorite composer who wasn’t a such a composer (he obviously lived at a time where motion pictures didn’t even exist). One of the highlights from my time at community college was working with my music director there to play in the pit orchestra when a local ballet company put on a production of Tchaikovsky’s world-famous ballet, The Nutcracker. After that venture, I gained a much larger appreciation for the Russian romantic composer. If you didn’t know, Tchaikovsky also wrote two other beloved ballets on top of The Nutcracker: Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. His name is pretty much associated with the ballet, but he has had a number of other popular and/or successful compositions. Some of those compositions being his 5th and 6th symphonies, his opera The Queen of Spades, and his 1812 Overture (which I lovingly refer to as “the original diss track”). One of my favorite things about Tchaikovsky is that he seemed to use his music and his compositions as an escape from reality, as his personal life was a disaster. Because Tchaikovsky was gay, he suffered from depression and almost went through a complete meltdown after he got married but then walked out on his wife after only a few weeks. But it was his music that really kept him in check. One of my favorite quotes from him is “Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music.” For whatever reason, that quote just really sticks with me, and I often look to that quote if I’m ever feeling down.

4. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Mahler

Possibly my greatest highlight from community college was getting to perform Mahler’s 1st Symphony, “The Titan” with my college symphony. When we first started rehearsing it, I didn’t like it very much, I thought it was weird. But after we started working on it and came closer to performing, I came to appreciate not just that piece of music, (which came to be my second favorite of all time, right behind The Nutcracker Suite) but Mahler in general. It was also really interesting to find that the most common interpretation of Mahler’s 1st symphony is pretty much me when I’m single. On top of being a prolific composer, he was also a phenomenal conductor. In fact, he was the person most people at the time studies when they wanted to become a great conductor. Not only that, but he was one of few composers that I’m aware of who was Catholic. While he was born Jewish, he later converted to Catholicism in his twenties. I just found that really cool, that the guy who wrote one of my favorite pieces of classical music also happened to share in my faith!

5. Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Bernstein

Obviously, as a lover of music, I’m also a fan of musical theatre. And this man is one of the biggest names associated with the theatre. Bernstein has written the music for some of the greatest musicals in the history of musical theatre, such as On The Town, Candide, and of course, West Side Story. And with West Side Story having made a comeback on Broadway a couple years back with some contributions from the final person on this list (spoiler alert for those who already knows who that person is), his influence shows no sign of going away any time soon. Aside from pretty much being the reason why I could never date a woman named Maria, I also owe a lot to Bernstein because I took quite a bit of influence from him when writing my composition A Journey Through California (which you can check out right here if you’re interested). One of my friends even said that composition even sounds like something from Bernstein, which I consider a big compliment.

6. Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The man who made Broadway cool again, I cannot get enough of this guy! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard about the musical sensation Hamilton. And I agree with the popular opinion, it’s freaking amazing! Obviously, that’s due almost entirely to this guy. I’ve never really been a fan of rap or hip-hop music, so when I heard that there was a hip-hop musical about the life and history of Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury, I had no idea what to think of it. I’m a pretty big history buff, so I was certainly interested, but I still wasn’t sure because of my general dislike of hip-hop. But then after listening to the cast recording on Spotify, I just fell in love. The guy practically started a revolution (no pun intended). Not only was Hamilton one of the biggest hits in Broadway history, it was also one of the biggest influences for an entire generation. Plus he made me enjoy hip-hop, that has to be a plus, right?

So there it is! Just a handful of some of my favorite composers and why I regard them as such. I apologize for how different this post was compared to all the others. This was kind of last-minute since Jonah and I both didn’t really have anything specific planned for today. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guideon Facebook and Instagram. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!