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I wish I had that much ability. |
That got me thinking about other teenage phenoms in music and I instantly thought of the man behind one of my favorite songs of all time, Bernard Wright. Wright was 18 when his first album dropped and made a deep impression on the Queens jazz-funk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He recorded this week's "Flashb... |
What was I doing when I was 22? I was probably either in class or at a bar, obviously not making enduring music. Oh, if I could have my youth back... |
Thursday, October 23, 2008 |
Is This Real? |
This is the latest right-wing outrage. |
Obama supporters are carving up white women. |
Drudge is pushing the hell out of it. |
The idea is simple, real or fake, Obama and his supporters are OUT OF FUCKING CONTROL. And this is only the tip of the ice berg. Further this story plays into alleged white fears. A stealthy black man crept along in the night to attack an innocent white woman. |
Still...when you read all the details...I don't know if it's real or not, but it's very suspicious. |
1. He robbed her then hung around |
2. There were no witnesses |
3. He carved a "B" and not an "O"...and not just any "B", but a very well written one...I dunno, if someone was doing that to me, I might squirm so it would be difficult for what they did to be that perfect. |
4. He carved it backwards (i guess if he was standing over her the other way, it's reasonable to assume this is not substantive) |
5. She was from Texas, a McCain staffer, and it happened just days after he announced he needed to win the state in which she was attacked. |
6. She didn't seek medical attention |
THAT's EXTREMELY possible every detail she recounts is true. |
But this story has red flags all over it. And, unfortunately, after stuff like's hard to know what's real. |
Only time will tell. |
What do you think? |
It's The Taxes, Stupid |
so Obama has a large lead and things look favorable to his camp. Still and all, I try to keep my ear to the ground and finger in the wind to detect trends. |
If Obama loses, it will be because of taxes. |
Not racism and not, probably, vote suppression as both camps have a ridiculous amount of lawyers at the polls. |
It will be about taxes. My favorite morning DJ Adam Carolla went on a tangential rant about "income redistribution" (aka Joe The Plumber-esqe concerns over monetary fairness). He was dead serious. It struck me how important this issue is to people. Even people whose taxes Obama would cut...think they'll be rich one day... |
Illustrative Anecdote: One of my best friends is a finance guy in New York. We agree on most things yet his vote is usually based on one issue: Taxes. Here's his arguments and mine. |
GOOD FRIEND: High taxes kill business. End of story. Further, on a macro level, high taxes dis-incentivize the very innovation that leads people to create things better for all of us. Put down Mother Jones and pick up Atlas Shrugged. Everything that everyone in America wants is based on the ability to afford it. If you... |
BASHIR: Rich people and corporations don't pay their fair share. Period. Oil companies pay low taxes but poison the environment making people sick who then have to go to the hospital. And the oil company doesn't pay those medical bills. The same rich guys who claim their taxes are too high and that they "earned ever pe... |
Okay, guys, who's right? |
So...taxes have become a bad word in America. And many people will vote on this ONE issues. Time and again I talked to friends much smarter than I about why they're voting for McCain. They admit Palin is worrisome...but taxes trump everything. |
If anything, this is the result of the Bush years. The rich got richer during Clinton's years, but they got CRAZY STUPID RICH during the Bush years...more than they probably deserved. And they kept pushing the ball. They blamed taxes for outsourcing... |
...meanwhile bridges in Minnesota collapsed, levees broke and our border patrol is a joke. (I'm liberal as hell, but if a terrorist wanted to bring a weapon of mass destruction into our country...the southern border offers little to stop them.) may be too late for McCain to pick up votes based on this one issue. But if... |
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 |
Homegrown Hatred |
There's no racism quite like the racism from your hometown. I was reading an article about pending city budget cuts in Chicago and came across this gem in the comment section. |
To Wit: |
The Irish saved this city. Under Harold Washington you had high taxes, property taxes increasing, bad bond rating, white flight, high crime, and affordable housing destroying good neighborhoods. Let's be honest Daley did the impossible and took down Cabrini Green, Robert Taylor, the Taylor Street homes, the State stree... |
Still, I love this damned city...and though I know it's segregated as all hell, I don't feel the racism when I'm home. I just feel the love. |
See you in Thanksgiving, you Windy bastard. |
ps - If I'm shot and killed on the South Side this holiday season, please delete this post. Cuz then it'll just look stupid. |
Chuck Todd |
With some amazing comments after interviewing McCain and Palin earlier today. |
Apparently they are coming apart at the seams. |
This Is Awesome In Every Way |
(via Huffpo) |
Same Sex marriage will lead to earth being engulfed in flames...or, something like that. I can't really tell what they were saying, cuz I was too busy laughing at it. |
Man, this video challenges everything you think about young people. doesn't but is still priceless comedy, nonetheless. |
Guess these kids didn't read Craig's brilliant post. |
Saints Row: Better Than GTA IV? |
Finally, a video game about Urban Planning and Renewal. |
Watching this video game trailer the other day, I couldn't help but wonder if this game is better than the latest (and in my book disappointing) entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. |
Any opinions out there? |
I'd love to hear from some gamers. |
The Next Club Anthem? |
(via Kanye West) |
You ever hear a song you don't like at first, then realize... |
...wait a minute. This is gonna be a club banger. |
I think Jim Jones' DAY AND NIGHT remix is that song. |
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 |
Why Does It Take The Daily Show? |
Why couldn't a regular news broadcast point out something so obvious about Palin's credentials...? |
Jason Jones interviews the current Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. |
Don't Get It Twisted |
Friends of mine like to pretend that if Obama will be the end of the world. |
I was reading CNN's excellent article on Sexual abuse and brutality as a weapon in Congo's decades long war; it forces a sense of perspective. |
It's brutally depressing. |
(Also, don't do a google image search for "congolese women"...I figured I'd find something to post with this blog entry. Big mistake. The images drain you of your ability to desire anything except curling up into a ball.) |
Here's the accompanying piece. |
My point? |
1. If Obama loses: it's not the end of the world. Death is the end of the world. And, possibly, so is being an outcast in a small social network, where you can't just move to a new city and re-invent yourself....Everything else that happens is just shades of existence. |
And please stop telling me at all the cool, upscale dinner parties I attend (what? I like brie)....that if Obama loses you're moving out of the country...that's the kind of weak-kneed bullshit that explains for why liberals lose elections. If Obama loses I'm staying right the hell where I am. Shit...somebody has to tel... |
2. If Obama wins: We still have SO much work to do in the world. Perhaps, and it is my hope, that his administration will lend more support those visionaries trying to restore Africa. Some of us are probably related to some of the women in these stories. I understand that we have to fight the battles before us, and Oba... |
3. Why isn't African life precious? Or Arab for that matter? |
(Obama's gonna win, by the way.) |
ps - What the fuck is wrong with some men? |
I don't believe in the death penalty...not because life is precious, but because it doesn't work as a deterrent to ANY crime. The only people the death penalty people like us, reading this blog, who would be hard pressed to commit a murder in the first place. Also, I'm pretty sure the government shouldn't be in the bus... |
Still and all, maybe rape should be punishable by being stabbed in the face. Just sayin'. |
Damn You, Hollywood (p. 4) |
So I watch this trailer for WATCHMEN about once a week. |
I'm a sucker for a good trailer, and hope at some point to have a hand in editing one... (Forrest Gump still has the best trailer of all times, IMHO.) |
I first saw that trailer on IMAX (waiting to see The Dark Knight)...and was blown away by the way the music and images worked. Also, is that young William Patrick Corgan, Jr. lending his fine vocals to the track? |
BUT...I wasn't planning on reading the graphic novel. As much as I love graphic novels (300 is WAY better book than the annoying/fake wife-stabbing storyline) I was gonna sit this one out. I got video games to beat.... |
Well, rumor has it, Hollywood is considering changing the bleak ending. I haven't read the book and don't know the ending (DON'T GIVE IT AWAY)...but why change it? |
Sometimes, my industry really irks the shit out of me. |
Read it now before it's ruined forever. |
ps - not all ending changes are bad. Apparently the ending for FIGHT CLUB is better in the movie than the book. |
ps 2 - I saw WHAT JUST HAPPENED last night. Not a great movie by ANY stretch... but parts of it were hard to watch as I think it was brutally accurate about the entertainment industry. DeNiro's character has to basically live as a man so steeped compromise that he doesn't really stand for anything. Sadly, those are the... |
This Guy Is A Beast |
(via Daily Kos) |
Look at Senatorial Candidate Scott Kleeb DESTROY the answer given by his Republican Incumbent counterpart at a Nebraska State senatorial debate. |
In many respects Kleeb has what Obama has, he's young, good-looking, well spoken...and has no extensive legislative record. |
It's very easy to take the high road, when your record isn't extensive; just like Palin tries to do all the time. My boy Mike and I talked about this at length, every day you're in office (House/Senate) you LOWER your chances of becoming President. |
Every bill that passes has things on it to offend some interest group. |
ps - Is it me or does this guy look SUPER scandal-prone. He's just a little too polished by half. Still and all he's WAY DOWN in the it's a long-shot he'll even get to office. |
"God" Bless America! |
Monday, October 20, 2008 |
Caption, please! |
I'll just start this by saying it's good to see Com and Serena are enjoying each other's company. |
But if 2008 Jacarl visited 1994 Jacarl and told him that Common Sense was in Hawaii surfing with his girlfriend, 1994 would've thrown his bootleg Enta Da Stage cassette at 2008's head and declared that the "Boney Homey from Stony" would never be caught dead anywhere but the Southside. |
Fourteen years can bring a lot of change. |
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