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June 29, 2005
Refreshingly Common
At the onset of every summer I seem to discover a higher percentage of great music than I do in the colder months. I don't know if it's just my appetite that expands at the onset of higher temperatures or if the majority of artists/labels hold these works in stasis to be released when the golden demographic has more pocket money. Either way these familiar conditions have produced the little gem I referred to yesterday as the best hip-hop released so far this year.
Its fresh production by Mr. West and Common's ever adroit lyrical stylings were what prompted that uncharacteristically brief and spontaneous post. I would like to go in greater detail on my affection for the album, shall we?
Let's just go ahead and get the one part I didn't like about Be out of the way: the album was far too short. It has oft been said that when one crafts a creative endeavor the intended audience should be left wanting more. I certainly agree with this but in the world of the compact disc, where seventy to eighty minutes of audio is possible, it seems like a waste to only have 45 minutes of music. That said, it is an enthralling three-quarters of an hour, something that many albums today are certainly bereft of.
Common's lyricism has always been a present and formidable force stretching from 1992's Can I Borrow a Dollar? through Like Water For Chocolate, Electric Circus to this most recent offering. He is an incredible story teller with a conscious preferring to share uplifting words of love and hope rather than retelling the exploits of selling drugs, exploiting women and a mounting 'bling' collection that characterizes the vapid hip-hop dominating the airwaves today. Jay-Z once said that he wishes he could rap like Common but that there wasn't any money in it. I certainly wish Jay would take a paycut and add something positive to this earth but that's enough from the soapbox for now.
Providing the appropriate backdrop for Common's talented poeticism is Kanye West who churns out another solid production effort that continues the fresh feel of College Dropout. I could do without the 'Oompaa Loompa' pitch bended vocals loops but they aren't distracting enough to really detract from the whole affair. If you buy it from iTunes you get a bonus video interview with both Kanye and Common that isn't really informative or engaging but I do appreciate the extra effort to add some much needed additional content to supplement the albums aforementioned short running time.
Every track is a strong one but my favorites are Be (Intro), Go, Testify, Chi-City, and They Say. Definitely chock-full of summer anthems (especially Go) so pick it up on your way to the beach. Word to your moms.
Posted by Jon at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2005
Just Be
I was rollin' around, in my mind it occurred,
What if God was a her?
Would I treat her the same? Would I still be runnin' game on her?
In what type of ways would I want her?
Would I want her for her mind or her heavenly body?
Couldn't be out gettin' bogus with someone so godly.
If I was wit' her would I still be wantin' my ex?
The lies, the greed, the weed, the sex?
Wouldn't be ashamed to give her part of my check;
Wearin' her cross, I mean the heart on my neck.
Her I would reflect on the streets of the Chi'
Ride wit' her, 'cause I know for me she'd die.
Through good and bad call on her like I'm chirpin' her,
Couldn't be jealous 'cause other brothers worship her.
Walk this earth for her, glory, I'm grateful
To be in her presence I try to stay faithful
Prophetic positive hip-hop awaits you. iTunes users can snag it here.
Posted by Jon at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2005
A Siren's Call
As with any respectable consumer I have a mentally tabulated list of all those material goodies that I desire. Each product, good or service that occupies the list is scored in an abstract, semi-objective kind of way with its number of priority fluctuating due to a myriad of random forces. For instance: if I am desperately craving a Milky Way Midnight, my strong desire for it coupled by my ability to afford it joined with the fact that I am approaching a convenience store will instantly promote it to the number one spot (and its impending purchase). For other more important purchases (such as this delicious piece of heaven) its rank may be upgraded due to something like a price drop or free RAM etc.
Two devices that fluctuate in their priority (but rarely ever reach the top 15) are the Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP. Though they are adept at stimulating the gadget preceptors in my brain they can never find purchase on the absolutist value-oriented region of my cognitive process. I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on a portable object that I will never take advantage of while on-the-go. Every time I slip into a reverie while standing in front of either of the devices in question I try to mediate a discussion between the aforementioned gadget and value sides of my brain in hopes of coming to some sort of consensus.
Mr. Gadget presents flashy graphs in a Powerpoint-esque style presentation, dazzling me with facts and figures on how much joy will be gleaned from the device. Inevitably Dr. Value (yes he has a degree) responds with a single statement outlining very simply that these antecedent experiences will take place on my futon directly in front of an already purchased television, XBOX, Gamecube and N64. In a well rehearsed manner he concludes in a verbose, lucid way that this essentially would both render their purchases and the portability of this new device obsolete. I assure you he is quite persuasive and I will notify you of any lectures he may be conducting locally in the near future.
However, more recent news has arisen over the PSP which instantly promoted it on my list that would impress even the pragmatic Dr. Value.
I have always been a rabid fan of emulation citing the ability to relive my earliest experiences in electronic entertainment without having to haul out and set up the archaic hardware it once ran on as my reasons for absolute affection. I remember the first time I saw Super Mario Brothers load on NESticle in my 75mhz Toshiba Satellite Pro during my sophomore year of high school being an experience akin to falling madly in love with a women. This moment was accelerated to ecstasy when I learned I could download an unrestricted amount of these ROMs for free allowing me to have the game collection I always dreamed of.
I was so thankful to these websites that I started my very own despite the fact that at the time I was utterly incapable of doing so. I began viewing the page source of my favorite websites teaching myself to construct my own creations a la Dr. Frankenstein eventually revealing 'DaRKCaT's Emulation Zone' (oh, how I wish it still existed so I could provide a nostalgic link) as a hub for all manner of NES emulation addicts such as myself. In fact, these first piracy driven forays into web design is what led to the career I now find myself happily involved in. That first site proved to be a successful venture ending in an e-mail from Tripod stating that my creation would be taken down because of notification from Nintendo stating that I was violating copyright law. For a moment I contemplated surrounding myself with a team of savvy lawyers to fight this noble battle but decided against it considering one of my high school buddies was coming over with a freshly purchased eighth.
Though my days of ROM distribution and pot smoking are long in the past my affection for the medium of emulation remains because it allows one to experience old software on a new platform and this is exactly what the KXSpoit Homebrew Pack enables on all PSPs. What makes it different from other emulators is that this one is portable allowing one to enjoy a game of Excitebike on the train or some virtual hacky-sack in California games after a rousing session of actual 'hacking' outside of your dorm room.
What is so amusing to me about this whole situation is how adamant Sony is at obstructing the proliferation of this application to everyone who has a PSP. Now not only could you play PSP games on this thing but actual Nintendo software which would instantly help the device sell to the company's adamant fanboy contingent. Hell, you guys all remember how much I was against it but with the prospect of fluidly functioning emulation (sans card swapping) I am thrilled with the future possibilities.
I am aware of their existence but if I find myself privy to a first-party demonstration of a competent SNES emulator it will arouse in me an intense desire to have the sublime experiences of Extra Innings and Super Punchout (among others) in my pocket. Nintendo could cut off this very dangerous horse at the pass if they would just release these treasures through that downloadable content they lauded prior to the DS's release. I don't really care who does it best just as long as I can take part in the nostalgia.
Wow, three posts in a week. I'm a veritable machine.
Posted by Jon at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2005
Vapid Crossovers
Have you seen this? Seriously, have you seen this?! I wasn't sure how to react when I first viewed that introductory trailer: laughter? disgust? anger? Such a mix of conflicting emotions but they all ended in one conclusion: there was about as much a chance for me purchasing that piece of licensed filth as severing my own limbs with a rusty blunt saw blade after refusing a tetanus shot.
I think that piece of interactive refuse is a symptom of a larger problem. An illustrative lesson from history perhaps? I assume you all remember Vanilla Ice, that beacon of whiteness intent on insinuating himself into the hip-hop, urban collective. Well actually, let me rephrase that: the corporate machine of Capitol Records tried to insinuate Vanilla Ice into the then, ripe market of the hip-hop urban collective.
As with all market research experiments that take place on the MTV stage Vanilla became ultra-famous for his fifteen minutes with legions of suburban youth memorizing every word of his infamous 'Ice Ice Baby'. The summer one-hit-wonder phenomenon is akin to the most dietetically stringent individual entering a convenience store for some much needed sustenance but forgoes the healthy choice of yogurt settling rather on a bag of Doritos and bottle of yoo-hoo. The meal was instantly gratifying but hardly satisfying, leaving our patron feeling ill; both gastro-intensinally and emotionally for their poor decision making.
Not content with the Vanilla Ice brand simply saturating the top-40 market the folks at Capitol Records thought it would be good for Mr. Van Winkle to break into film. The result was this piece of garbage. Have you seen it? It was absolutely horrendous and served as a lesson illustrating that the chasm separating successful one-hit wonder to film star is not easily leapt across. Our friend Vanilla's once summer anthem is now a comical hit at wedding receptions but his place in respectable hip-hop and film history remains elusive. His vapid lyrics, terrible acting ability and corporate driven image are a testament to the awkward adolescent transition of hip-hop in the 90s from underground sensation to corporate driven top 40 radio fodder.
Oh, speaking of top 40 radio fodder and the music industry's tradition of ruining everything respectable in an art-form let's get back to talking about 50 Cent. This new Bulletproof project isn't the first time a game has centered around a celebrity (anyone remember Shaq-Fu?) but it's predisposition to complete suckage is so astronomical that assigning a numerical value of percentage to it would be an exercise in futility. This is evidenced by the ridiculous interview near the end of the feature where 'Fiddy' talks about what he liked in the game. Only it wasn't a game that he was showed at all but a pre-rendered teaser trailer and the fact that he didn't know that is sickening.
I don't know about any of you but when I escape into the fantasy world of an interactive experience I don't want to take on the mantle of a character whom already exists in real life; especially when they talk (and rap) like they have marbles in their mouth. Though I understand that there is an element of over-exaggeration in the genre of the video game, I find it highly implausible that a man who got shot nine times in the face would have no problem flawlessly dodging all those bullets. I could go on by Jada says it with so much more panaché.
Posted by Jon at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
The Dark Knight Has Returned
On my way up to Randolph to see Batman Begins on Sunday I had asked the three other people in my car a myriad of 'what if'/'either or' questions such as, If you had to choose between the ability to fly at up to 150 mph or have the power to instantly teleport anywhere you wanted which one would you decide to have? These sorts of things come in handy as diversions especially while sitting in traffic on 93 near Boston. One of the last questions I had asked was, If for the rest of your life you had to choose to either never listen to music ever again or never watch another movie again which would you choose to go without? All of these sorts of queries are disorienting because nearly everyone takes them seriously and works hard at discovering what their choice would be; as if it was actually plausible that you would be faced with this choice by an angry, jihad minded terrorist standing in back of you with a gun pointed at your head demanding you sacrifice either your rabid movie addiction or extensive music collection.
Our small, intimate fellowship unanimously decided on forfeiting movies due to our shared passion for music. I personally would never be able to give up my precious iPod, even if faced with giving up Star Wars forever; it's just the sort of sacrifice I'm willing to make. I am glad that if I am to be faced with this bizarre choice that it happened after I had a chance to see Batman Begins, a cinematic experience I am still reeling from. I have often preached on avoiding expectations but these sorts of life-shaping ideals are thrown out the window when I pay $7 for a freaking matinee showing with no hope of popcorn of frosty beverage unless I surrender an additional $10. I've recently become fond of the internet as a place for indulging my wanton cinematic desires but contrary to the MPAA's claims on the intentions of 'pirates', I still prefer a proper cinema as the venue for my introduction to any worthwhile movie.
Within our group who attended I had occasion to sit next to Ms. Vader who is notorious for her propensity for ruining perfectly good films with her uncontrollable desire to talk throughout the entire showing. This picture was so good it silenced her into a stunned open-mouthed gape that was occasionally interrupted by giddy outbursts of pure joy. Let those who know her bear witness...it's that good.
I won't give away any spoilers for the same reason why I hate the trailers before the film: it sucks when you're teased with just enough pertinent information to ruin the twists of a plot with none of the delicious details. And no, Hollywood, this doesn't entice me to see the movie, it does the exact opposite. I am now avoiding War of the Worlds for two reasons, the other being Tom Cruise's unabashed publicity whoring.
Let me just say this: director Christopher Nolan achieved the nearly impossible balance between creating a great movie with keeping the hardcore fans happy. The way the origin plays out is terrific and throughout the action packed feature there are small, delicious details that the truly dedicated fans will pick up on and relish with delight. Batman Begins was refreshingly void of unnecessary CG with live action photography and miniatures serving as the pillars from where the film's special effects found their foundation. That, combined with excellent casting, soundtrack, sound effects, pacing, fight choreography and character development made for a magnificent summer movie experience.
Since reading Dark Knight Returns I have been salivating for a movie remake of the comic book with Frank Miller as co-director and Michael Keaton returning as the man in black. Vader said this fantasy may become a reality. Please, Hollywood, say it is so....
Oh and if you have any great 'what if'/'would you rather' questions please post them in the comments section so we can all take part in the pointless speculative fun that has been at the heart of my existence for as far back as I can remember. Here's a few to get you started (all answers must be accompanied by an adequate explanation of course):
1. What ability would you choose: being able to fly at up to 150mph or instantly teleport anywhere on earth?
2. What ability would you choose: traveling back in time or traveling into the future? (NOTE: once you go into the past or future you cannot go back to the present because you can only move one way.)
3. If you could travel back in time (not related the previous question) and prevent World War II (and all its accompanying atrocities) by strangling one innocent person with your bare hands face to face would you do it?
4. If you could be in control of one person's body, living or dead (like George Washington or another historical figure. And no you wouldn't be in their casket, imagine you traveled back in time or something.) for 24 hours who would it be and what would you do?
5. Imagine you have the ability to give the gift of immortality to one person other than yourself, who would it be and why did you choose that person?
Well that's all for now, I have a whole bunch more but I want you to post your answers and any questions you can think up first. If it's a hit than I'll put up more later.
Posted by Jon at 04:44 PM | Comments (6)
June 15, 2005
Solitary Confinement
Last night I had the occasion to talk to a good friend about the opportunity costs involved in human relationships and no matter how you break it down they are simply not worth it logically speaking. The time and energy we invest into other people rarely breaks down into an equal return of positive feedback from those we devoted our care to. In spite of this we continue to torture ourselves by placing so much expectation into an investment that rarely pays dividends in the short term and occasionaly becomes a source of agony as more time passes. Don't get me wrong here, I am not advocating the life of a despondent hermit but, one must be willing to endure times of hardship with those they care about in order to accommodate the temporary struggles their counterpart may be facing that restrict them from giving equally to that relationship. At any one time the breakdown of investment is rarely 50/50 but from a wider angle all does seem to even out in the end.
I don't think that it's the payoff that we are interested in but instead we are inexplicably drawn to engage in these relationships. We do not have to be taught to interact with other individuals; it comes as a base instinct during our infancy. We only turn inwards when those few initial experiences during our formative years left a nasty taste on our palette that is not easily cleansed. The real mystery left in the wake of this minor revelation is can someone who has been conditioned to turn inwards reverse this process and interact with their peers with the same fluency as one who been constantly surrounded by unconditional love? Any help with this relational conundrum would be appreciated.
Wow, who would have thought that this whole project would have gone from geek to emo in only six short months? Perhaps I should invest in a web-cam so I can post ultra-close-up, contrasty pictures of myself with my knees locked tight to my chest to further accentuate my recent despondency. I kid, I kid...there is little doubt that in time I will return to my more traditional manner of casual, vacuous content after those major decisions I alluded to are finally decided upon.
Oh, and as promised here are some pictures of my more recent clothing designs.
Here's a shirt I made for my friend Mel's birthday:
And here's one we made together (she came up with the idea and I knocked out the design) before she left for California:
I've made a few others but haven't taken pictures yet, don't worry they'll be up soon.
Posted by Jon at 11:18 PM | Comments (3)
June 06, 2005
The Cosmic Metaphysics of Success
Lately my mind has been marinating on the subject of success and happiness, how it relates to me and whether or not it is truly subjective in the cosmic sense. A default assumption that I held for the majority of my youth is that happiness is the ability to have regularly scheduled moments of relaxation. Both of my parents were school teachers and I noticed in them how much weekends, vacations and the summer were treasured periods of time in which you didn't need to be anywhere nor had to be involved in anything. We certainly weren't a wealthy family by any means but food was constantly on the table and as a collective whole my parents, brother, sister and I all were under the assumption that unscheduled time super-ceded in value any sort of material possessions.
I can recall lazy summer afternoons spent exploring the powerlines in back of my house, relaxing on the couch for hours wearing out the Star Wars VHS tapes my father had recorded off of the USA Network or outside with my neighborhood friends building bike-jumps or playing street hockey. If time travel was possible I would be tempted to live in those halcyon days of my youth forever but a sense of purpose inevitably accompanies the awkward voice cracking and pimple-pocked days of adolescence and early adult-hood. I am at a point now where the choices I make professionally must fulfill the duplicitous edge of both value and leisure; allowing me to take pride in what I do for a job but that the time I invest at my place of employment is not so much that the treasured social aspects of my life are not infringed upon. As I suspect with many of you, human relationships play an essential role in my emotional well-being. Without them even the most noblest of careers would be devoid of anything worthwhile if I could not share its fruits with those around me whom I love.
Certainly happiness could be defined as that which releases the most endorphins in the brain but success is an entirely different beast. The definition of success will inevitably vary from individual to individual but even with the different premises one common thread runs throughout: the achievement of a clearly defined goal. In the days of my youth, as mentioned before, this meant arriving at a place of rest but now it has evolved into me making a positive impact on the world. Though I have matured in my outlook as a member of the world community the carnal instincts for rest, relaxation, great food and engaging company have persisted to the point in which I feel as their existence in my life is just as important.
I must admit my jealousy for the life of C.S. Lewis whom spent the day lecturing the young minds of Oxford and writing his acute ingenious observations of the Christian faith while at night he spent hours at the pub relaxing with friends over choice cuts of steak, tall pints of beer, savory tobacco and intellectually engaging conversation.
My life is certainly not devoid of blessing for I have more wonderful things than I could ever hope for. Even so, I must constantly check my motives and intentions because if my gaze moves, even for a moment, from my glorious relationship and service to Christ onto the fulfillment of worldly desires than I will truly be transplanting myself far from the most cosmic, metaphysical and absolute definition of success that I could ever hope to achieve: that I would decrease so that He may increase.
Posted by Jon at 06:56 PM | Comments (2)
June 03, 2005
Paralyzing Choices
In the past month or so I had been making a point of consistently posting twice weekly. This was at times very easy to do while at others I found as though I had to literally force myself to come up with something interesting. This, I understand, is what is referred to as writers block: an anomaly that exists only when the equally powerful and opposing forces of a creative (but lazy) consciousness and immovable deadline collide demanding that something relevant is produced, whether or not it was fully and spontaneously inspired prior to its creation.
I had been doing rather well in making these imaginary, self-imposed deadlines until this past week when other, more important things demanded my attention. For the most part I cannot elaborate in great detail on what those 'important things' actually are but they are the types of decisions and opportunities that, once acted upon, will result in me sharing the results of those choices with either a triumphant full-disclosure of success or with those bitterly vague and cryptic references that communicate the acceptably shared details of my failure while simultaneously masking the pertinent bits of information that truly display its gravity.
Speaking of choices, I found something terrific for you all to listen to. In the past month I have discovered ITConversations; one of the many content producers that have sprung up recently due to the podcast craze. The site primarily provides speeches, interviews and presentations having to do with information technology. It's entirely free entertainment for those of you who relish lectures, talk radio, documentaries and lengthy essays into the sort of subject matter that the masses would deem 'boring', 'nerdy', 'over-intellectual' and 'self important'. Naturally I'm an absolute addict.
The particular audio presentation I wanted to draw all of your attention to is one by Barry Schwartz, a Psychology professor at Swarthmore College, entitled Less is More. It's a little under an hour long but I assure you that it is well worth your time. The thrust of his thesis is that, 'We can't have it all, and worse yet the desire to have it all and the illusion that we can is one of the principal sources of torture of modern affluent free and autonomous thinkers.' His thoughts on the subject are very exciting; it's the kind of freewheeling insight that spans the spectrum of adroit observation to unfounded utopian theorizing that runs rampant on college campuses across the country. I would be excited to go into greater detail on my reactions to the subject but only if you are all interested in that. If you take the time to actually listen to this please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail and we can geek out over its multifaceted implications. It's the sort of thing that is best ingested while driving or on a walk with headphones so go ahead and burn a CD or transfer it to whatever device suits your fancy.
Now for more entertaining fare: As all of you know I am utterly enthralled by religion and belief in other powers. So much so in fact that I am constantly analyzing my own beliefs and how they relevantly relate to my behavior. What do I base my belief set on? Can this really be truth? Is God simply a construct to fill in the inconsistencies in my own life? Is faith just an emotional coping mechanism? As a believer in Christ I both envy the fanatics for their steely, unwavering resolve and critically analyze their intentions. At other times I just sit back and admire the spectacle. I'm not sure what is the source for my complete dismissal of any integrity for what I just linked to; perhaps it's the little green singing man or maybe it's the creators basing their proclamations on the fabled 'lost books of the Bible'. In all honesty I think that if both God and alien technology where to team up to form a sort of Super-Christianity that they would have allotted more resources to production costs.
I've also made three new pieces of clothing so when I am back home and within reach of my digital camera I will promptly post more pictures.
Posted by Jon at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)