Friday, September 5, 2008

song of the day

The Cool
little weapon ft. bishop g and nikki jean - lupe fiasco

it is a rare occasion when lupe fiasco gets outshined on a verse but this is definitely a case.  not saying that lupes 2 verses on this song arent amazing but bishop g taking the concept of a child soldier being a kid playing a video game is genius.  i may be looking at it deeper than most but the comment it makes on how the youth today are desensitized to violence through video games that reduce it to "childs play" is definitely a point that should be investigated further.

~charity

word of the day

crux (kruhks)
noun

1.  the basic, central, or critical point or feature
2.  anything that is difficult or puzzling to explain or solve

now use it in a sentence!

~charity

Thursday, September 4, 2008

...you dont have to say a word

did i hear senator mccains speech tonight...no.  but i didnt hear senator obamas until the day after it aired either...but in both situations i did check the facebook status updates.  in both cases i saw people claim that the senators respective speeches moved them to tears!  tears, i guess im too cynical to be moved to tears by the rhetoric of career politicians, especially those who dont address the issues most important to me.  i also saw facebook status about how horrible john mccains speech was, but none about how bad obamas was, only about how he failed to address certain issues (as is customary for all good politicians).  point being that i realized that i have a large social network with bleeding hard liberals, ultra conservatives and everyone in between, as well as those beyond the spectrum of the two considered extreme positions.  through these facebook status updates though, i am able to get some insight into the mentalities of these people.  like the white male conservative who quotes 50 cent but considers it out of the question to even consider voting for barak obama.  or the black feminist who has damn near nakked pictures next to quotes about women respecting their bodies and how men should stop objectifying them.  tying it in to the recent events was a status message by a high school classmate of mine who is currently in the military and has served in the war whose status said that mccains speech brought him to tears...knowing what we (should) know about the iraq conflict and what mccain plans to do about it...and the impact it will have on not only him but many of his comrades...he still supports mccain and his plans for the country...people are complex. lot of megalomaniacs out there (see me using the word of the day) if you really 

just watch the updates you can learn a lot....its written all over your face(book)

~charity



song of the day

Preface
save ya ft. t3 - elzhi

i love elzhi.  honestly when i think about the emcees that influence the way i spit, hes in the top 10 and most people dont even know who he is...hes in the current installment of the detroit group known as slum village.  i know i know its hard to call it slum village with out dilla *r.i.p* and bataan but elzhi is one of the illest spitting right now so id be doing yall a disservice not to give yall a taste of the mans gift...you should actually cop the album. no really, its worth the money

~charity

word of the day

megalomania (meg-uh-lo-may-nee-ah)
noun

1.  a mania for grandiose or extravagant things or actions
2.  a mental disorder characterized by delusions of grander

now use it in a sentence!

~charity

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

song of the day

One
nautilus - bob james

just a little crate digging for the heads out there.  if you arent familiar with bob james, dude was crazy ill on the keys and equally with the composition.  even if you havent heard of him youve heard his work sampled.  of the top of my head i can name some tracks that sampled different elements of this song...

*slick rick: childrens story
*eric b and rakim: let the rhythm hit em
*ghostface killah: daytona 5000
*wale: daytona squared

and my personal favorite use of the song in a sample

murs: murray's revenge...9th put his foot in that

im sure there are many others anybody know any i didnt name, feel free to hit me with em.  i guess nas wasnt lying when he said in carry on tradition "i coulda made a double lp just by samplin different parts of nautilus" he wasnt lyin.  this song is a producers dream and anybody who wants to chop it up and give it to me to spit over...i welcome it.

~charity

word of the day

obsequious (ob-see-kwee-us)
adjective

servilely attentive; compliant to excess; fawning

now use it in a sentence!

~charity

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

minnesota nice


Minneapolis Minnesota
i had somebody at my school ask me if i was from minnesota (its had for people to believe that there really are black people there even though the twin cities is 30% black).  i replied yes but i knew the question was loaded.  the person then went on to ask me how i feel about the republican national convention being held there and what it says about the area.  remember now people...i am currently living in...texas.  so i responded



it makes sense for the republicans to try to mobilize and get support in minnesota, it is only one of the most progressive states in the country.  both the senate and the house have twice as many democrats than republicans.  speaking specifically for minneapolis, its one of the best places to live...and not just because it's my hometown.

-it was recently ranked the most literate city; our school systems public and private are among the est in the country

-we headquarter tons of fortune 500 and fortune 1000 companies so the employment opportunities for young professionals is great

-we have one of the cleanest and healthiest cities in the country

-we have the best of all seasons; statistical fact that the twin cities has the greatest variation of temperatures in the world

-we have amazing facilities for entertainment; museums, restaurants, galleries, parks, theaters, blah blah blah

-the state fair; quite possibly the only state whose state fair is in the metropolitan area 

-we have a progressive tax system, great healthcare benefits

-wonderful housing accommodations

-diversity; all jokes aside because i know how that word is thrown around so loosely

-ok our sports teams currently suck...but people still support them hahaha

i could go on and on and on but theres a point to be made and its trying to figure out why the republican party would want so badly to turn the state of minnesota red...simple as that.  plus there was all this talk about mccain selecting minnesota governor tim pawlenty as his running mate...which wouldve really made sense


minnesota governor tim pawlenty

a little bit about pawlentys track racord

-since being governor in 2002 he took the $4.5 billion dollar deficit and turned it into a $2.2 billion surplus.

-he spent $800 million dollars to improve the school systems

-developed health care reforms with no increase in premiums and one of the best perscription drug plans in the nation

-increased the state's ethanol standards to increase the use of alternative fuels and lower the dependence on foreign oil

so he's done good things for the state...now mccain would choose him for his track record and the fact that he has the following positions
-pro-life

-protecting the traditional idea of marriage

-harsher sentencing for criminals (including a proposition to reinstate the death penalty in 
minnesota)

-proposed an illegal immigration task force

-believes in faith based initiatives

-supports performance pay systems for both teachers and politicians

see! he would've been a great choice for republican vice president and it wouldve definitely went over well to have the convention in his home state, and possibly been a factor in turning minnesota into a red state; considering the great things that governor pawlenty has done for the state, many minnesotans (who arent convinced by senator obama, would definitely consider voting for pawelnty because of his history of improving conditions for the people he represents.

so there...that's why the republican national convention is being held in the twin cities...now somebody in texas tell me why our library is named after george bush and there are statues on campus erected to ku klux clan grand wizards!

~charity

song of the day

LAX
cali sunshine ft. bilal - the game

i like the game, i'm not ashamed to admit it.  i don't condemn him to the fires of hip hop hel for all the name dropping and i dont take sides against him on any "beefs" he had.  i like his music, i like his wordplay, his flow and his content.  this track is dope, the sample, the beat, bilal kills it and it makes me wanna immediately hop a plane to cali

~charity

word of the day

factotum (fak-toh-tuhm)
noun
a person employed to do all kinds of work or business

now use it in a sentence!

~charity

Monday, September 1, 2008

last week's reads

this is the first year of my phd coursework and the reading load has increased to about 3 books a week so i figured to help me make sure i do the reading i would keep you all updated on my assignments so...i'll give you all a brief summary of what the texts and what i've gotten from them

american holocaust: the conquest of the new world by david e. stannard:
this book is about the destruction of indigenous people at the hands of european crusaders (thats my word).  the book paints a picture of life for the indigenous people in the americas before columbus and discussed how europeans brought violence, disease and destruction to the societies there.  stannard's purpose is to establish the roots of euro-american racism and genocidal behavior.  with this text i focus specifically on the use of christian rhetoric to justify the rape, pillage and murder of innocent people.  

been in the stome so long: the aftermath of slavery by leon f. litwack
admittedly i have not finished this book yet (600 pages in a week has been a bit of a challenge) but so far it is a detailed account of the relationships between black and whites and among blacks during the civil war and in the reconstruction period afterwards.  it covers the range of attitudes surrounding the purpose of the civil war and the changes that occurred after its completion; focusing on the south.  with this text i focus specifically focus on is what exactly freedom meant to the newly freed slaves in the south considering there were no conditions to integrate them equally into society.  

i'll most likely be writing some reaction papers, journal articles or just reflections on these texts which i will make available as they are finished

~charity

song of the day

Aquemini
liberation ft. cee-lo and erykah badu - outkast

just some early morning inspiration for those going through this beautiful struggle...shake that load off, shake that load off, shake that load off, shake that load off...

~charity

word of the day

melee (may-lay, may-ley)
noun

1.  a fight or hand to hand struggle in which combatants are mingled in one confused conflict
2.  a confused conflict or mingling

now use it in a sentence!

~charity

the return


a quick apology to those who had been faithfully visiting this blog and were continually disappointed by the lack of posts for the month.  when real life happens, cyberspace is put on the backburner...but things seem to be in order for the time being, so i have returned!

back to the blogging