Thoughts Thunk Too Hard

I will officially NEVER watch soccer.

2006-06-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/v/jwpO-nnFY9g

Being Creative and stuff

2006-06-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

I met with my creative group over the weekend, and it was pretty inspiring. I got similar feedback to what I normally get (be excited with your delivery, the music and the lyrics are good), but this time I really embraced the feedback that I need to be by myself, or at least where I can get loud and/or rowdy without worrying about waking people up. I combined that with the thought of standing instead of sitting, and watching Rakoo Nation's weekly Run Yo Mouth, I moved my setup into a fairly filled closet, closed the door, and re-recorded "Distracted By Your Tears" and "Everybody Strugglin". Both are on the MySpace.
I wish everything in music was similarly happy, but I'm not really in that place right now. A fairly prominent local guy put out a video, and, being a fairly active dfwhiphop.com participant during the summer, I gave feedback saying essentially that I really liked it, but I'm your target audience, so I'm biased - if it's first single, then is it going to get new listeners? He responded (on the forum for this part) that it wasn't really a first single, directed me to the first single, and thanked me for the constructive criticism. So, of course, I go run and listen... and the song sounds very similar. Not in a "same beat" sense, but in a "very, similar vein and style" since. I e-mail (this time privately through MySpace) my thoughts, and, eventually, receive a response essentially saying they are just going to toss it out there and see what happens. It wasn't negative, but it was definitely a blow off...

... wait, I forget... this is the PRIVATE blog. Only those that know me will come here. Yea! Here's the video for the "second" song, and here's the MySpace where you can hear the first song.

I don't mind advertising for them, because I like this group. It's the closest thing I've found to the stuff I'd want to do. They would easily have my money... but there was something in the response, and I realized why it was there. I was overthinking it, and it sucked to realize that. This is a local group. They're not worried about first and second singles. They just wanna have some fun and maybe make something out of the music.

That's the part that scares me, I think. PPT is good. A LOT of the local stuff I've checked out is good. They are MUCH better than I. Yet they are not signed. What makes me different? What is the point of what I'm doing (beyond the fact that I enjoy it)?

I dunno... I'd like a bit more light at the end of the tunnel.

MySpace Blog entries

2006-06-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

I've decided to do my blogging in two parts. Music related stuff is on MySpace; person stuff goes here. Whenever I updated the MySpace (a few times), I'll post a link here.

With that said, some thoughts are here.

Peep the MySpace

2006-05-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

New MySpace page here. I plan on doing some blogs there, for the music-related stuff. I haven't figured out what sort of system I'll use to balance these two, as I don't think I want personal entries on there. I'll figure something out.

And the end draws near...

2006-05-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

... end of the school year, that is. This year feels pretty weird to me, as I don't feel like I have a real "summer" coming. I have three weeks of summer work (plus a "come when you can" gig), as well as a weeklong conference. In addition, everything is spread out; my first responsibility is the week of June 5th, and things come roughly every other week or so thereafter. So, unlike a lot of other teachers that take the summer off, I'll probably be busy the whole time.

If I'd done a good job this year, this would be pretty tough to deal with. Specifically, if I had done a good job, I'd be tired now, and wouldn't have the energy for sustained employment. I know I've slacked off this year, depending too much on my "teacher secrets" and the flexibility of a computer lab to make up for the fact that I really wasn't into teaching for the first three or four months of the year. Part of my distraction was my Dad dying, and part of it was Katrina, and the family issues (still unresolved in some cases) that came with it. I'm also sure a huge part of it was that I'm now good enough to be lazy, and I need to step up my motivation in order to try to continue to excel.

This will be even harder, as I'm sure the temptation to leave my school will be there. I'm fairly certain our principal will announce her retirement today, and this always leads to question marks. The beginning of the personal exodus of my circle here has begun, as the teacher I'm closest to is leaving to work downtown as a "meta-teacher" in some capacity. Obviously, I'm not going to go into detail, just in case The Man is reading my blog... but it will be harder without someone next door to bug whenever I'm bored.

In music news, I posted some of my tracks to GarageBand.com a couple of weeks ago. Don't bother looking for them; I've taken them down since then. The input I got from GarageBand was incredible; ignoring people who use GarageBand as a forum to try to break the spirits of others, I got a lot of valuable insight into my strengths and deficiences as a musician. The one sentence version is "I'm a good producer, a bad engineer, and a bad rapper". I'll accept that - the feedback I've gotten tells me the two things that are most important to me - the concepts and the music - are good, and the things I've not given enough time to - mixing and delivery - are bad. You can't be upset at that; if the things I actually FOCUS on were bad, I'd be more worried.

Sooo... next update... daJAM enters the world of... MySpace. Pray for me.

Woo-hoo! I'm an official Starving Artist!

2006-05-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

I now have a profile on GarageBand! Yea! I have decided to go by the pen name "JAM Renaissance", as every possible version of just "JAM" is taken. :) Check me out here. Plus, review my songs, I need more feedback.

Of course, the feedback I've gotten is interesting. Check out the reviews for "Wannabe". The quickie version is that I can't rap. My music is good, the ideas are good, but I can't rap. I would be mad about this... but... ummm... I already know I can't rap.

Check it out : I bought my first program, Music Maker, sometime in 2000/2001. I didn't really get serious about it until 2003 (about the time I recorded "Touched" with Big Big Luv as a present for the then-girlfriend-now-wife). I probably became good at it sometime around the end of last year, coinciding with getting Pro Tools. So, realistically, I spent 3-4 years learning how to be a producer and arrange hip-hop.

Now, let's compare. How long have I seriously worked on writing lyrics? 3-4 months maximum during those 3-4 years working on the music. How about mixing what I have, mastering it, and other things an engineer does? 4-6 months, max. These are all things that would be full-time positions otherwise (see: "Hustle and Flow", which I recommend now that I've finally watched it). So of course I'm nowhere near as good at them as I am in figuring our samples, hacking out melodies (and, given my musical background, "hacking out" is probably a good term to use), and designing percussion beds for my music.

So... I'm cool with the reviews, perhaps even happy. "Wannabe", as of this typing, has a 2.9 rating out of 5. I'm on the good half of the ratings... that's enough for me! :)

Check out the page, and holla back!

Grown Folk Music, Part One

2006-05-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Wow. I actually got an e-mail complaining that I have not updated the blog. I didn't know that you guys cared so much about my rantings on how utterly stupid the thought of someone dropping out of high school to be a professional basketball player is (check out the idiotic commentary here), My continuing fascination with "Big Love", and a brand new Sopranos video game. I haven't posted much because I haven't really had a lot to say, to be honest. The old birthday came and went, and I'm now even older.

Besides that, though, the only other thing I've been focused on is music. I really, REALLY wanted to have a "full album" done by my birthday, but, instead, I only have a "mini-album". I think I'm at a crossroads. Now is the time to make a serious investment into music, from a time and priority viewpoint, if this is going to be anything more than a hobby. On the other hand... I am still pretty unconvinced about whether or not I'm actually good. Once again... I need thoughts, if anyone can listen to my stuff :

Grown Folk Music, Part One
--------------------------
Wannabe
Feels Like Another One
Take It Down
Distracted By Your Tears
Everybody Strugglin'
Work It Out
Grown Folk Music

Of these tracks, only "Wannabe", "Distracted By Your Tears", and "Everybody Strugglin" are as-before. I wrote totally new lyrics to "Feels Like Another One", finally sat down and put my concepts to paper for "Take It Down" and "grown Folk Music", and put new music behind "Work It Out" (though I have had a student tell me that he likes the original, "gritty" version more).

Is it worth it to create things (be it music, stories, etc.) that only you will enjoy?

EDIT : I found video of the Stephen Colbert White House Correspondent's dinner! Yeah!

My "real" personality

2006-04-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

Braggart
You are 85% Rational, 85% Extroverted, 14% Brutal, and 57% Arrogant.

You are the Braggart! Like Muhammad Ali, you would surely tell everyone that you are "The Greatest" whilst bragging incessantly about your intelligence, your skills, and your abilities. You tend to be a thinker rather than a feeler, and combined with your extroversion and arrogance, this makes you someone who probably just LOVES to brag about his accomplishments. Despite this, however, you are a very gentle, tender person and truly care about others' feelings. You just happen to care more about yourself. Unlike Ali, of course, you are rather rational as opposed to emotional, and you are also much more gentle. But his arrogance and extroversion best reflect the most visible aspects of your personality. Your personality defect is the fact that you are extremely overconfident, extroverted, and perhaps rather lacking in emotions. YOU ARE THE GREATEST! Or so you keep telling yourself every night, in hopes that eventually everyone else on the planet will agree. Well, sorry, we probably won't.

To put it less negatively:

1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.

2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.

3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.

4. You are more ARROGANT than humble.

Compatibility:

Your exact opposite is the Bitch-Slap.

Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hand-Raiser, the Haughty Intellectual, and the Capitalist Pig.

If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits.

The other personality types:

The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 73% on Rationality

You scored higher than 87% on Extroversion

You scored higher than 8% on Brutality

You scored higher than 62% on Arrogance

Link: The Personality Defect Test written by saint_gasoline on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

New Music!

2006-02-27T13:45:00.000-08:00

One interesting thing - found a bunch of Implicit Association Tests from Harvard's website (well, a student directed me there... but not a big difference). Apparently, I have a slight tendency to favor Arab-Muslims. Didn't have time to check out anything else, and I'm already afraid Mr. Cheney will tap my phone line as-is.

In better news, I finally buckled down and recorded lyrics this weekend. Which lyrics? All of them. I went through every instrumental and recorded anything I had written for each one. In some cases, it's a full song. In others, it's a hook and a verse. In still others, there's only a hook. In a couple of rare cases, I have nothing that was solid enough to work with. In any case, everything is redone, frequently (as is the case with "Wannabe" and "Distracted By Your Tears") with brand new music. Thoughts definitely needed, as I'm now getting near the "do I want to show this stuff to the world" point.

And yes, this is in the order of how I would see it on some theorhetical album, not in "demo-order" (i.e. best/catchiest stuff first)

(1) Song is complete, or nearly complete (i.e. only missing a bridge or something)

(2) Only a hook and a verse are written

(3) Only a hook is written

(4) Total Instrumental

Reality

2006-02-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

I was prepared to write a rant about what reality is.

Reality, as I viewed it, is the thought that the average person does not get to do what they love. They have to do what is most profitable, and that which gets them through the day. My credit is horrible, and that is my own fault, but fixing my mistake is hard. Well, correction - fixing my mistake is harder while I do what I love for 40 Gs a year instead of what was profitable for 70-80Gs a year. Of course, it is questionable whether or not I would still be able to pull that kind of money, particularly given my skillset... but I can't help but wonder "what if".

I have to balance this with the thought that I'll have some pretty profitable summer employment, which, combined with varying bonuses due to the class I teach, should knock me up ten Gs. That doesn't help me right now, of course, but I do know that it is on the horizon.

I honestly don't know what to think. I only know of one person to do something similar to what I've done, and he retired in a position where, to my knowledge, money was not a concern.

I've honestly considered lacing my student's vocals with me own beats and making a mixtape for them. They've liked the stuff I've let them hear, so I doubt they'd have a problem. The real issue, though, is that I would have an ulterior motive - getting music out there so that I may possibly get someone to buy a beat. Until the Adventures of The House, I never considered something like that. Now, I'm hustling, hoping for whatever.

I'm not sure if I like becoming that.

I don't need a title to rant.

2006-02-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

Well, with the death of the Friday News Bootleg (http://music.insidepulse.com/articles/46443), I am now left with nothing to look forward to every Friday morning on the Net. Yes, SOHH does do their weekly hip-hop news that I use as material to rant to my students about, but it's just not the same.

So, in the spirit of nostalgia, I decided to actually give a few details of what is going on with me.

Ahem.

Buying a house sucks.

There ya go. You're caught up with my life now. For those that are still unmarried or without child - this is you in a few years. Be happy where you are now, for very soon you too will sum up your entire life in a single sentence (of merely four words and grammatically incorrect to boot!).

Also in the news...

Busta Rhymes gets shot at, his bodyguard catches the bullet leading to his unfortunate demise, and Busta doesn't want to talk to the police. I wish I could take credit for the following theory, but someone on a message board originally posted it. I will co-sign it, though. People in hip-hop nowadays love to yell "Stop Snitching". "Snitching" is not working with the police to ensure that a guy that gave his life for you is brought to justice. "Snitching" is doing dirt with a bunch of people, and, once caught, choosing to work with the police to take down those that worked with you in exchange for gain on your part. There is a non-subtle, large difference between the two things, and I think it reflects poorly on Busta as a person that he doesn't understand that. I'm not even going into skipping the wake.

The Patriot Act will be renewed. Who cares? It's quite obvious that G-Dub will do what he wants to when he wants to, and it will be legal. Why? Because G-Dub says so?

... c'mon, it can't JUST be me that sees "Because I said so" as pretty much his entire argument over the wiretapping, right? "It is illegal because it breaks this specific law." "No it's not. It's legal." "Why?" "We don't want to talk about that, but it's legal." This is a longer version of what you tell a two year old when you don't want to explain something... and I certainly feel like I've been de-aged thirty years.

Violence is breaking out over the Danish Political Cartoons. What makes me sad is the feeling I've heard from a few sources that this is happening "over a few cartoons". This is not about "a few cartoons". This is about an utter and total disrespect to an entire culture. Everyone involved KNOWS the feelings Muslims have towards this, and any sort of laizzes-faire, "they're overreacting" reaction sickens me. By the way, allow me to point out that violence WAS the first recourse; a number of Arab countries asked for an apology for the cartoons, and both the newspapers involved and the governments involved refused. If negotiations don't work, what do you expect?

... okay, I admit... I didn't expect that one Muslim newspaper to run a contest about Holocaust denial cartoons. Guess you have idiots everywhere.

Also, can someone smarter than I am answer this - for a place with all of the Free Speech that most European countries are claiming right now, don't a number of them have laws banning anti-Semitic speech? A cursory Internet search tells me France and Belgium, at least one of which has said that they would not apologize for the cartoons (France) on the grounds of free speech, do.

And... ending on a positive note...

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		75%
The Flash		75%
Iron Man		70%
Superman		60%
Green Lantern		60%
Robin		58%
Hulk		50%
Supergirl		38%
Wonder Woman		33%
Batman		30%
Catwoman		25%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero personality Quiz

IT'S TIME! IT'S TIME! HONEST-Y TIME! (time time time echoes...)

2006-01-31T14:06:00.000-08:00

(mega-points to those that can point out that wrestling reference... because everything I reference is either comic book, wrestling, or Boondocks related)

As the Wife and I continue moving towards home ownership, I find myself having to question my current profession. With only a single exception, each person that I've spoken to that is in The Business (Information Technology) has said they admired my choice. Without exception, each one still makes more money than me, and will continue to do so even this year, where I have almost $9,000 in Summer work already lined up.

I know that this is a catch-22. Those in my circle that are in The Business and have children have mentioned how much they wish they could spend the time at home I have allotted to me. In The Business, you RARELY get out at 3:45. I /CAN/ leave at 3:46 every day (I don't always do so; I have a student working right now as I type this, and I'm serving as a reference for her). I have the summer "off" (though, ironically, I usually try to find some sort of additional work). We get a zillion holidays outside of our vacation time. Buuuuuuuut... the money is simply not I.T. money. It's hard not to think about the new houses and nice cars of those still in The Business as I walk up the stairs to my apartment from the '97 Escort that I bought after graduating college and wonder what went wrong.

Of course, I know part of what went wrong. I've been incredibly irresponsible from a fiscal standpoint in the past. I could have paid off all of my debts many times over in the year and a half in which I worked at A Fairly-Major Middleware Company. I didn't, because I arrogantly thought the money would never end. When it did end, I didn't really look for a job; I thought the industry would always be there. More importantly, I realized that I didn't really enjoy what I was doing, which was much more of a problem. At the time, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but was somewhat sure The Business wasn't it. So, I do know why I got here... I simply look back, and realize that I really, REALLY didn't expect to get here.

Which leads me to now. I've been in the classroom since November of 2001. That's about four and a half years. Whereas some of my skills (specifically my soft skills) have been sharpened into a keen rapier of communicativeness (yes, it is a word - I looked it up), it's been a hot minute since I've done some serious coding. I purchased a guide last summer to passing the Sun Java Developers Certification test, and cracking it open last week (not the first time I have, for the record...) made my head spin. Can I do it? Do I still have it like Sting, or am I a one-trick, overhead vertical suplex machine like Scott Steiner (the wrestling references... they never end)? I plan on getting my Sun Associates Certification this summer, in preparation to teach a special Independent Studies class for a student of mine that wants a fourth year of CS (c'mon... how much more arrogant will I become if I can teach a high schooler enough Computer Science to pass a professional exam, even if it is a low-level one? I HAVE to try it!). I plan on going for the Developer's Certification by next April. After that? Who knows.

A couple of weeks ago, The Wife, The Prince, and I met a couple of fellow teachers and their families to take our children to the playground. The topic of returning to the industry came up, and the two fellow teachers both said they never wanted to return to their old gigs (one in I.T., one in chemistry). I not only said I would, but I had a figure - a $25,000 a year raise (factoring in, of course, summer work and the like). There's a weird emotion to not only knowing you can be bought, but knowing exactly what the dollar figure is. I'm not sure if it is positive or negative... but I'm feeling it right now.

To Miss New Orleans...

2006-01-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, Stacy Brown (who explicitly asked for credit, hence the rare "real name" listed) sent out an e-mail to her circle of friends and associates throughout the country, and I asked her if I could reprint it. Obviously, she said yes, so here it is, with the thoughts it made me think ("thoughts that I thunk"?). As background, Stacy and I went to high school together, so she is a native New Orleanian (specificalyy, from the West Bank) like myself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Family and Friends:

I just wanted to express a word or two, especially to those who are out of state. I am so sick of people getting on the national news saying how New Orleans will never come back or be the way it used to be. Yes, we have a mayor who has gone batty, and we have challenges and problems down here. Yes, we have many people who have not been able to get back to this area because of the bullshit bureaucratic red tape. Some places in the city are progressing faster than other areas. Yes, some areas are still very slow in coming back. Still destruction in the lower 9 and the east.

But, you know what. It is coming back. I moved back to New Orleans a week before Halloween, and I have seen such a significant improvement since then. Things continue to progress. Businesses and musicians have been coming back. I go out and have great time. The music is good, the people still talk about their experiences and losses, and that is how we heal. Every time I go somewhere, I run into a native of the city who just recently moved back, or who is about to come back in a couple of weeks. As we continue to come back, we continue to turn it into what it was.

The media seems to want the country to think that it is not worth coming down here to live or visit. Well, they suck. Yes, we need the president and the rest of the feds to realize that they need to stop sitting on their hands and help us speed up the progress. Of course, we have alot of new people here, too, who are helping rebuild the city. But, this is what is going to contribute even more to the cultural diversity that has always existed. I love the fact that we have so many cultures here. It makes it so interesting and unique.

Yes, we have the bad and the good down here. We had that before the hurricane. We are in the deep south. We have a tropical climate. Even though we are in the south, we are unlike any other southern city. In fact, we are unlike any other city in this country. I am not saying we are better or worse than any other city, for we are just different. People live here for a reason. When you live here, it sucks you in and makes it hard for you to stay away for the rest of your life. Eventually, you come back. You can't stay away from here. If you do stay away, you still have to visit here. But, maybe only a native understands that. Some people I have met who have moved here from elsewhere come under the spell of the city, too. There is a spirit and a soul that floats through the old homes, the trees, the marshes, etc. It grabs hold of you and makes you fall in love.

All I can say is to please keep up the fight to help continue our effort to get better and better. This place after Hurricane Katrina is still better than most cities that have few problems. I lived in Houston for 2 months, and as big and progressive as it is, it is dull. No soul. People did not know how to live. And this is one of the biggest cities in this country. I am not saying that partying all the time is the key to happiness. We just have all that flavor. Maybe I am boasting too much, but I am proud of this place, what is was, what it can do better, and what it will be. Get the dishonest people out who are corrupt, and we can get better and better. yes, we have problems, but we have to deal with them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stacy's e-mail sparked a LOT of thoughts from me (particularly as a native that moved away and had little desire to go back (other than visiting family and friends)), but I'll try to keep things succinct, as the e-mail wasn't short and I wanted the whole thing posted, in context. I am FAR from a New Orleans apologist. There's a reason I moved away : I have this bad habit of eating, and the job market for a non-tourism-industry position sucked. I never considered it a major city once I got to a major city (Dallas), and with every subsequent major city that I spent time in (Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Ottawa, Detroit, Chicago, etc.) I felt like it was less and less of a major city. As an educator, I think the education system in New Orleans sucked much worse than the average sucking of American public education, and the pay for teachers was so low that it wasn't economically feasible to move back and try to teach there (once again... that nasty habit of eating creeps up again). It is home, not Dallas... but there wasn't a lot (outside, again, of family and friends) that I really wanted to go home to.

With that said, I cannot imagine the thought of not rebuilding the city. New Orleans is a cultural mecca, and I do not mean just as a "party central". From the music to the museums to the language to the food, there is so much that our city brings to this country that I cannot fathom someone willing to fix their mouth to SAY that it should not be rebuilt. This does not begin to factor in the strategic placement of the city and its various natural resources. The best arguments I have heard to not rebuild have to do with those saying that another hurricane can take out the city - to be blunt, once you hit Category Five, you're pretty screwed. HOUSTON would be taken out by a Cat 5 hurricane, and noone is looking at pointing at them that they should go. At the risk of downing my Florida brethren, Miami should be moved before New Orleans should.

I think the big difficulty with bringing New Orleans back is the planning. Wanting to get New Orleans back to where it was is short-sighted and inefficient; for every person that shares Stacy's sentiment, I found someone who thought New Orleans "sucks out your soul" (and yes, that is a direct quote of a former Tulanian that thought life would be better in KANSAS. If you have the opportunity to redo things, let's redo things right. It seems like there are two tacts towards rebuilding New Orleans, and, as such, two possible directions:

Rebuild only the part of the city that is most economically sustainable. This plan, seemingly, would get the parts of New Orleans that make the most money (i.e. where people would want to go to) on its feet first, and use that part to generate income to rebuild everywhere else. Most of the people that fall under "everywhere else" think this plan sucks, and it would seem the model up as an option isn't really as strong in this direction. If you want to do this, though (and I think it is a sucky idea, for the record), go all the way with it. Yes, I sang the praises of half of New Orleans' culture earlier... but there is that other half. The gambin' half. The strippin' half. The Drive-Thru-Daiquiri half. You want to do a quick rebuild? Let that half go. Make prostitution legal. Allow more gambling. Summarizing in a single phrase? OutVegas Las Vegas. We could always do it; the fact that Vegas still makes money is ONLY because being in the Bible Belt held the N-O back. If we're going to move in that direction, lets go all the way.
Try to rebuild as much as possible at once. This seems to be the current, albeit still controversial plan - determine what neighborhoods would be rebuilt based on how many people move back by time, and do a forced buyout of those neighborhoods that don't have enough people back. For the record, I suspect that "forced buyout" part is the part people don't like. Maybe it's just me. In either case, you will still have a LOT of rebuilding. What can we do about this? Well, since we have an opportunity to attract a TON of blue-collar work, let's make it to where people want to stay. Play up all of the "grown folk" culture I discussed earlier. New Orleans has culture for a family town; people just don't know about it, because it isn't as flashy as stories that end with "and when we realized we were still drinking at 9:00 in the morning, we went to the casino for breakfast". Play up this part while advertising people to come to help rebuild the city, and suck them in. Make them want to stay for the new more friendly New Orleans - they will be the foundation for the new metropolis. Summarizing in a single phrase? OutOrlando Orlando.

The committee that is doing the New Orleans planning met throughout the week last week, and you can get Powerpoint summaries of their findings at http://www.bringneworleansback.org/ . We'll see how things go from here...

While I await a student finishing his test...

2006-01-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

... a few Boondocks (and other randomness) thoughts.

The Boondocks has fairly actively avoided direct political commentary this week. That is not to say that it's all about downin' Black folk... but I don't think President Bush has been mentioned once. I think a large part of that is the fact that they have to establish the characters before you can get that far, so, if he hasn't talked about Bush yet by next season, he's copped out.

I think it's safer to say he's done more social commentary than political, and, when he talks social, it TENDS to be about Blacks. Going over to http://www.adultswim.com/shows/boondocks/index.html , we see these subject matters :

Ep 1 - the Garden Party - Ep 3 in their episode guide, but this aired first, and I think it was more an introduction. DEFINITELY about White people, in specific the ostritch nature of rich white folks. And, of course, "how-white-peo-ple-say-ev-er-y-syll-a-ble".

Ep 2 - The Trial of R. Kelly. This is a Black Folk episode.

Ep 3 - Guess Hoes Coming To Dinner - This one is just general; I didn't even know Crystal was Black until it's specifically mentioned ("old light-skinned ho!").

Ep 4 - Granddad's Fight - Ah... the introduction of a "Nigga Moment". Okay, it's a Black ep.

Ep 5 - The X-Box Killer (6 in their Ep Guide, with no title). As a spotlight story for the Wuncler grandson (can't remember his name) and, more generally, how White people seem to emulate the WORST aspects of Black culture, that is a White people ep.

Ep 6 - The Story of Gangstalicious. Definite Black Ep. ("you know who used to be my favorite rapper back in the day? Ice Cube." "You mean that dude that does all the kid's movies?").

Ep 7 - A Huey Freeman Christmas. General. "You gon' pay what you owe!".

Ep 8 - The Real - Only caught half of this one, about reality TV shows. General social commentary. Don't forget... Huey also confronts the government agent that's been sent to follow him.

Ep 9 - Return Of the King - Though the end of this was definite a Black ep, this was the first with solid general commentary. "Do you love America? Why is it that you liberals have a problem answering the question? When someone asks me that question, I just say 'Yes'".

So, out of nine episodes, only four go out of their way to target Blacks? Not THAT bad.

In reference to the frequent "nigga"'s... I try to avoid the word personally, but a LOT of people don't. Even listening to "conscious" artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, or Common, and you'll hear a whole bunch of "nigga"s (as well as general cursing). That's just hip-hop (and, as a result, a large segment of Black culture) right now, I guess.

If anyone hasn't seen it, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. It has NOT had the political commentary of the cartoon, but it's still good. I wonder how quickly they can work phone taps into an episode?

An example of why UrbanSherpa always wins

2006-01-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

I had stuff to talk about Friday, but couldn't log in to blogger. :( Strike one.

New Boondocks, with Martin Luther King, Jr. reviving from a coma. Loved it. Boondocks has taken the place of Chappelle's Show, in my opinion, though the Reality TV ep was a letdown, and this one needed to focus on the message, so humor took a slight backseat. Anyways, after MLK finally gives niggas the dressing down that was needed, he pulled out the line that almost made me fall out of my chair.

"And I won't be there to help you, because I'm going to Canada."

Man... when Dr. King ends up in Canada, THAT says something.

A case of the Randoms

2006-01-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ack. I'm waiting the Visual Application Builder for my Eng. Math class to re-install on my PC. It took about an hour to uninstall it, as I somehow screwed up the install, and now it's taking forever and a day to reinstall. Soooo... since I wanna knock out my Eng. Math planning first, I will take this delay to mean I should post to the old blog. Actually, I take the delay to mean I should probably upgrade my computer / get a new one, but why quibble?

I worked on a new track last night, inspired by finding a tom drum similar to that of "The Whisper Song" in my drumkits. I decided, for once, to stop obsessing about my seeming inability to write the kind of melodies Sly Stone or Prince would do (amazing I can't duplicate that, not having any formal musical training and all), and focus on what I do better - precussion/rhythm. In addition, I also specifically tried to avoid doing my standard New Orleans highhats/tamborines-every-sixteenth-note background for the beats, ending up with a mindset somewhere between the aforementioned "Whisper Song" and the new Busta Rhymes single. What I ended up with ( a combination of sampled drums, programmed drums, drums played via a keyboard and SampleTank, and a SLIGHT touch of melody samples) ended up being fire. I so very, VERY seldomly step away from a song thinking to myself "Damn... this mug is FIRE!", but that's what went though my head. I already have a lyrical concept - thoughts of a woman being sexy, but focusing on the non... well, non-booty/titty fixation of sexiness - for the song, tentatively labelled "Sexiest". Hopefully I can come up with lyrics sometime this century and post it.

What the hell is up with Pat Robertson? Man... crack kills man.

Some have reasoned that the Texans would take Reggie Bush with the number one pick in the NFL Draft, since you simply don't pass up on a player that talented, even if you just re-signed your rather good starting running back. By this same reasoning, wouldn't they instead draft Vince Young, who is a Reggie Bush-level talent, except at Quarterback? I mean, I hope this doesn't occur - I want to see the Saints take Vince Young... but as a man of science, it makes sense.

On a related note, how p'oed would Reggie Bush be? Going from Heisman Trophy winner to #3 overall taken (behind Vince Young and Matt Leinart, who the Saints would assredly take at #2 since they've made it pretty obvious they've given up on Aaron Brooks). How's this for fantasy-GMing - Houston takes Vince Young with the #1 pick; New Orleans trades Aaron Brooks and the #2 pick in the second or third round to Houston for David Carr, and then takes Reggie Bush with the #2 pick of the first round. Now the Saints have David Carr and a running back tandem of Bush and Duece McAllister. Now THAT would kick A$$.

Amazingly enough, a Utah multiplex decided not to air "Brokeback Mountain". I wouldn't expect that in Mormon country. At all.

I'm not sure why statements that Sam Alito is a conservative, but does not define himself that way given by his former associates make me so much more comfortable with the guy... but they do. On the other hand, I physically CAN'T have an abortion, so I'm probably somewhat safe.

Okay... off to lesson plan.

New Song, and MySpace

2006-01-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

Got a new song uploaded, which you can hear right here. It is a newer version of "Wannabe", with much, MUCH better music and some lyric changes. The version I uploaded is actually a version old; I've since worked on tweaking the volume of the vocals, so I may update it a bit later.

In addition, I now have a MySpace account, which can be viewed here (or by typing http://www.myspace.com/46879043). I have not yet decided whether or not I want to link these two, or move totally to a MySpace blog. I did want to put my music up there, so we'll see how things go. Anybody else use MySpace? It initially came across as being a place to meet people if you're single, but it actually seems kinda cool now. We'll see how long that lasts.

One of those "Father" moments.

2005-12-26T22:20:00.000-08:00

As soon as I mentioned to the wife that I wanted a "good" microphone for Christmas, I was hit with the request to record our son doing the incredibly cute things he only does whenever there is absolutely nothing to record the phenomena. With this in mind, I give you

My first Pro-Tools vocal recording.

Please note how the little one causes me to revert into TOTAL Louisianian dialect. Only he can do that to me on command, people.

Now THIS sort of news wakes one up...

2005-12-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

Apparently, Canada now allows for legal swingers clubs. My first reaction was to call out the Sherpa and ask her what's wrong with those crazy Canadians... but the fact that I initially thought of consensual sex between adults as "wrong" pretty much labels me a Puritan American and as such not worthy of taunting her about Canada. What makes this really funny is that, as I prepared to type this, the new Jamie Foxx CD was playing in my wife's computer, and I got to have my rant about those promiscuous Canadians serenaded with such American lines as

"I know you're used to dinner and a movie
But why not be my dinner, and we can make a movie".

Just which side of the border /IS/ freakier?...

Merry Christmas and Alladis and Alladat

2005-12-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas all! Hope things are festive and drama-free!

...

...

Is this a sign of being a "grown man" that Christmas has stopped being about Jesus or joy and is now pretty much about avoiding as much drama as humanly possible? Plus... look at the wording of that sentence : "avoiding as much drama as humanly possible". It's as though I've already given up on having NO drama, and have merely settled for damage control.

In better news, I have a new microphone for Christmas. Actually, it's a mic/condenser set (the MXL 990/ MXL 991 combo), so I'm planning on hitting the music harder. I've been inspired alot recently, though I've spent most of my time figuring out Pro Tools and the various mini-versions of the software that came with it (SampleTank, Reason, and Ableton Live - the latter two of which are so freakin' cool that I'd want the full versions if they weren't $500 apiece) to the point where I can do with them ALMOST everything that I can do with Music Maker (the only thing I haven't figured out how to do is timestretch (change the tempo) a sample to a tempo that is different from that of the rest of a song I'm working on. Of course, I realize that I've figured out about 10% of Pro Tools, 5% of SampleTank, 20% of Reason, and 15% of Ableton Live, so this bodes well.

With that said, while Christmas cleaning, I unearthed my old album. Yes, I indeed completed enough songs a while back to make my own "album". VERY few people got to hear it, because I thought it sucked. Admittedly, I still wouldn't try to sell it, but I can hear a lot of things I like about a lot of the songs. One of the things I want to do in the next week (where work permits... I still have mad grading, and should probably try to get ahead on my lesson plans) is tweak some of the tracks as much as possible (given limitations of what I kept - I don't think I have all of the component parts of the songs anymore) and try to create a (gasp) MIXTAPE.

Yes, I am one of The Body.

Anyways, here is the "album" for your perusal. I think I'll start with the tracks I will salvage, then list the rest :

Depths : This is a song that I think my kids would actually like musically - it's a lot simpler than most of the stuff I try to write. I may actually salvage some of the lyrics as well - they just need to be rewritten to actually FLOW, and not be preachy. Of course, given that the original premise for "Depths" was that it was my second crack at theme music for my Paladin character in AD&D...

This Is The... : Again... my kids seem to like more simple music (damn Houston screw...), and, since I've learned to flow better since this song (and, well, it's not really about anything), I may be able to salvage some lyrics.

Mistress Lover Friend : This is probably the second closest to a usable track that I made. It's just a bit to pretentious (music as a woman... heck, I did that better in "Intoxicate"). Musically, though... I actually REALLY liked this, and still do. It's REALLY sample heavy, so I may keep the original instrumental if I can't find the composite pieces.

Wannabe : This is the closest one. I think it just needs to have the vocals re-recorded for flow and energy (too laid back), and maybe a slight adjustment on some of the percussion (I think the highhats are too loud).

Distracted By Your Tears : This song will never die until it's usable, dammit. :) It's my favorite in terms of actually writing good lyrics. It kicked in recently what's wrong with it - the horn and guitar are both played via my keyboard. Now, about two years later, I could use my keyboard to make a sound that is like a horn or guitar only if I used the "one thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters" method. Two years ago? Not even a thousand monkeys could have helped me. Replace the guitar and horn with sampled guitars and horns, and I think this'll be it.

Other, less usable tracks included Not Like The Others, Shakin (the samples have too much noise, and would have to be redone from scratch), Tight, Forbidden, Give In To Me, and Does It Matter.

So... ummm... why doesn't every politician hate everything?

2005-12-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

According to the latest issue of Rolling Stone, in an article that can be found at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/8898189 , the DeLay Leadership team in the House of Representatives is planning on implementing $70 billion dollars in tax breaks, half of which would go to the wealthy (those with incomes higher than $1,000,000). The article cites the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 as the balance to this (though, according to the article, it will actually add $20 billion short-term). In researching the Act (which can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.4241: , and, in summary, here ), I wanted to see if it indeed made cuts to Student Loans, Medicare, and rural assisitance programs. It /SEEMS/ to, though I have not had time to properly read the exceedingly long Act, and, well, I hae songs to write and video games to play. What DID strike my fancy, though, was the fact that it also authorizes the government to pay for 100% of the administration fees for any food stamp program on a State level that benefits those hurt by Hurricane Katrina.

So... let me look at this through my somewhat-cynical glasses : 35 billion in tax breaks to those that don't need it. To pay for this, we cut student loans and Medicare. Most importantly, if I am a Representative, and I vote AGAINST this, I'm voting against the Katrina victims.

What... in the hell....?

Blogs by people better than I

2005-12-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

I would really like to get together the blogs by Those Who Are Or Could Be Interesting (that means you too, Berggren!) in one mega-blog. Until then...

http://johncbragg.blogspot.com - Right Wing Viewpoints With Left Wing Sarcasm!

http://urbansherpa.ca/ - the Arbiter Of Good Taste And Common Sense, currently tackling Canadian Politics (where Liberals are the Bad Guys... it really is Bizarro-World up there).

http://www.livejournal.com/users/nojojojo/ - Soon to be the baddest Sci-Fi-Sistah out there.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/corzican/ - RANDOMNESS RULES!

Okay... time to take a break from All-Wrestling, All-The-Time

2005-11-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

I was working on creating a solution to an assignment I gave my advanced kids last week, and, for some reason, I decided to pump Korn in the old headphones while I code. So, after creating an all-Korn iTunes list, "Alone I Break" came on. For some reason (perhaps the Chardonnay I decided to drink with dinner), I felt more attached to this song than anything I ever was attached to from Korn (which is quite the feat, as "Cameltosis", "Did My Time", and "Thoughtless" all resonated on some level, for better or worse). This attachment was weird, because I think "Alone I Break" hits near Linkin Park-levels of having a lot of words without concretely saying ANYTHING.

Any insight on this song? I may, for giggles as well as for contrast, toss out the words to the other three Korn songs I mentioned. It will help people realize that the perception of sanity is relative, whereas actual sanity is not; necause my friends are all VERY crazy doesn't mean that I'm not crazy. ;)

Alone I Break

Pick me up
Been bleeding too long
Right here, right now
I'll stop it somehow
I will make it go away

Can't be here no more
Seems this is the only way
I will soon be gone
These feelings will be gone
These feelings will be gone

Now I see the times they change
Leaving us, it seems so strange
I am hoping I can find
Where to leave my hurt behind
All the shit I seem to take
All alone I seem to break
I have lived the best I can
Does this make me not a man?

Shut me off
I'm ready
Heart stops
I stand alone
Can't be my own

I will make it go away
Can't be here no more
Seems this is the only way
I will soon be gone
These feelings will be gone
These feelings will be gone

Now I see the times they change
Leaving us, it seems so strange
I am hoping I can find
Where to leave my hurt behind
All the shit I seem to take
All alone I seem to break
I have lived the best I can
Does this make me not a man?

Am I going to leave this place?
What is it I'm hanging from?
Is there nothing more to come?
(Am I gonna leave this place?)
Is it always black in space?
Am I going take its place?
Am I going to leave this race?
(Am I going to leave this race?)
I guess God's up in this place?
What is it that I've become?
Is there something more to come?
(More to come)

Now I see the times they change
Leaving us, it seems so strange
I am hoping I can find
Where to leave my hurt behind
All the shit I seem to take
All alone I seem to break
I have lived the best I can
Does this make me not a man?

Old and Out Of Touch, Yup... That's What I Am

2005-10-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

I decided to give my kids that say they want to go into hip-hop a "homework" assignment. I listed my frontrunners for the five greatest rappers of all time (2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas, and Rakim), and asked them to design for me a compilation CD of their work. The rule was that I need four songs from each artist.

In my first class, one kid said he had some problems with finding Rakim stuff, but that's understandable. So, I decided to challenge some kids in my second period.

"All of those guys suck. Ain't none a' them go hard!".

After a moment of "debate" (translation : "Nah, man... none 'a them spit nothin' gangsta!", I decided to ask him who he would put in his Top 5.

T.I., Chamillionaire, and Lil Wayne were listed before the entire thing broke down into chaos (stopped only by my instistence on getting back to their assignment once I regained the Internet access I temporarily lost... of course, I wouldn't ask about that INSTEAD of work unless they just COULDN'T work). Yes, there is an obvious slant towards Southern gangsta stuff here... but still...

Am I /THAT/ much out of touch, with either the tastes of the youth or the tastes of this region? I mean, I could say TI may EVENTUALLY get up there... but no time soon.

For the record, in coming up with my list, my criteria were (1) Lyrical Variety, (2) Flow, (3) Word Choice, (4) Danceability (can you make a club record), and (5) album sales. I believe all five I named, for their eras, excel in each. Yes, I am giving the Rakim Gold albums credit for sales, since it was the early nineties and Gold records were viewed as very good. As well, "Oochie Wally" is the song that saves Nas in terms of danceable music.

Six Hundred Gang Members vs. Twenty-Four Nazis... and the cops.

2005-10-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Due to some conversation that has popped up over in my Sports and Racism entry (http://thoughtsthunktoohard.blogspot.com/2005/01/sports-last-great-safe-haven-for.html), I decided to peep my head over at FoxNews.com. Gotta be fair and balanced and all that. At http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172379,00.html , you'll see an article about a Nazi march that exploded in violence. The Nazis, part of the National Socialist Movement, wanted to demonstrate against Black gangs harrassing White people, according to the article.

Two sentences came off as weird to me.

"They were mostly "gang members who had real or imagined grievances and took it as an opportunity to speak in their own way," Ford {Toledo, OH Mayor} said."

and

"At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said."

Lemme get this straight. Almost six hundred gang members all organized themselves to jump these twenty-four Nazi guys. Six hundred.

Riiiiiiiiiight.

I find it disturbing that this article seems to try to paint what I would assume to be regular people acting stupid as gang members. That's more disturbing than the Nazi march, honestly.

Ya know a wrestling show is good when...

2005-10-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have lost my voice. In fact, I felt myself losing my voice during the first segment of last night's "Monday Night Raw" taping, during Mick Foley's entrance. It is a GOOD thing when you start to lose your voice early. It means I CARE.

Of course, it also means I can't teach at all today, which sucks. As well, it means my kids will make fun of me for losing my voice at a wrestling show. Such is the sacrifice I make in the name of dudes pretending to beat each other up for my amusement.

BTW - there were a lot of kids there. A LOT of kids there. That worries me a bit, particularly considering what kind of fans me and my friends are.

And now... in the hip-hop news...

2005-10-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Jay-Z is probably untouchable as an MC. If the foremost lyricist in the game (Nas) cannot credibly defeat him (Nas is acknowledged to have won, barely, but the lack of sales of the projects following their tiff has caused people to retroactively give the "battle" to Jay-Z), one has to question who can. So, from there, you would think nobody would mess with him, right?

Apparently not one of my fave MCs, unfortunately. Game has apparently, in a concert in London, expanded his campaign againt Young Gunz and Memphis Bleek (known to pretty much be Jay-Z's "boy") to the head of Def Jam records himself. In response, according to http://blogs.sohh.com/ya_heard/archives/2005/10/jayz_drops_game.html , Jay is planning a retaliation.

You see, Game was apparently, in a past life, a stripper. It would seem that there is a tape of Game stripping for men, and Mr. Carter got hold of it, and will air it at his first "return concert".

I really liked Game. I did. This is where he calls Def Jam offices, or goes there, and simply BEGS, on his hands and knees, for that tape to NEVER see the light of day. Hip hop is rather homophobic, and his career is O-V-A (ironically, not H-to the -Izzo, V-to-tha-Izzay, however) if ANYBODY ever sees anything like that.

... and just when they do a video for my fave song off of his album, 'Put You On Tha Game"...

The children... they can be so cold.

2005-09-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm now officially doing ANYTHING to procrastinate away from doing my grades.

I let one of mys tudents listen to my beat CD today. Specifically, I was concerned about "Work It out" being too "heavy" of a song (his words were "Lyrics and beats are fire!!!", according to his notes, which was the OPPOSITE of what I was expecting), and whether or not the hook on "Intoxicate" worked ("It's okay, lower the percussion a little through the chorus" - not an acceptable answer for what is supposed to be the most commercial offering I have, so I'll have to really work on it). One of my other students heard me talking about it, and asked if he could listen to the CD.

Now, this student is one of the most sarcastic, disingenious kids I have met yet as an educator. Take note that I encounter 150 or so new kids a year, so I'm at 750 or so in my career as an educator. This guy has it. The reasoning I had, though, is that I need to put it out there; I NEED to get the scathing commentary to advance as an artist.

Man, scathing commentary would be nice. Sarcastic compliments aren't. And that is pretty much it. You know how people say they like something to the point where it is INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS that it is hated? That's what I got. For about half an hour.

My New Orleans evacuees were a little more helpful; they said "This isn't something Lil Wayne would buy." Part of me took it as a compliment. Part of me actually wants to be able to create commercially successful music, so I have to rethink it. We had a bit of a conversation about the problem (I KNOW what I make is too melodic for the Dirty Dirty, or for standard "gangsta" stuff), and I have to really rethink how I want to make music. I'm trying to be an artist, and not trying to make a hot beat. It is hard for me to focus in that way, particularly when I am distracted by Madden 2006 and Marvel Nemesis : Rise Of The Imperfects (a surprisingly good game - I plan on doing a gaming night soon for it).

In any case, though, I know that, ultimately, I need to let my kids listen to it. They will WANT to trash it, and will go out of their way to spot what's wrong. The good part, though, is the identification of what's wrong. It's just really hard to put yourself out there on that level.

Destined not to have AC in Texas

2005-09-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, my AC died in my car about three months ago, and I ended up going about ten weeks without AC. In the summer. In Texas. Why? Because they had to order a part to fix it, and that part needed about FIVE WEEKS to come in. After that, it became a function of getting the right money together. So, of course, my car gets broken into a few days ago, and they take the radio...

... and the air-conditioning controls, which are attached to the radio.

So the nice guys at Car-Toys (which are surprisingly well-priced - my uncle, a solid Internet shopper, was unable to beat their prices at any of his normal haunts) told me I needed to get the AC controls, and that I had to get them from the dealership. Okay... I call up Troy Aikman Ford, and ask how much it costs.

"I'm sorry... we don't carry that part anymore".

Seems that they stopped making Ford Escorts in 2001 or so, and they no longer have the part buyable... anywhere... except a scrap yard.

Now, here's the problem with scrap yards - they expect YOU, for the most part, to get the part you need. I have no clue how to take a radio out of a car. None. Zero. Zilch. So I'm pretty limited as to what scrap yards I can use. Only /ONE/ had the part and would remove it for me. I was uncertain of this, because the guy spoke Redneck so strongly that I couldn't understand him. Seriously. I caught two phrases: "Yeah" and "Seventy-Five Dollars". That was about it. I could have been agreeing to an ass-raping for all I knew - and paying seventy-five bucks for it at that - because I could NOT get anything that he was saying.

However, since I need AC (if nothing else, I'll start needing the heater soon as well), I venture out to the section of Dallas where the Good 'Ol Boys apparently live. Of course, once I get there, there are only two Good Old Boys - everyone else there appears Mexican, and can barely speak English. The scary thing is that I understood them better than Capn' Redneck running the place - I at least could follow "Gimme the pliers" from the Hispanic guy. By the way - if you ever see those pictures of scrap yards... they're pretty accurate. What was interesting is that my Uncle tells me that they usually take a car that is stacked on another down with a forklift before someone goes into it. Not the Mexican SpiderMan, who climbed over one wrecked piece of junk covered in jagged metal and glass into another wrecked piece of junk covered in jagged glass and metal to retrieve my precious radio / AC unit.

So... think I have a working AC? Noooo... that would be too easy. Apparently I need a vacuum pump as well. I haven't bothered calling a dealership, but I suspect I know the answer.

The one good thing? My new radio plays mp3's. That makes me happy. :)

Hurricanes and Family

2005-09-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, my family is okay. With a single exception (my cousin Jessie and her family), we know the whereabouts of everyone in the immediate family. I don't know about all of my cousins, though, but we are doing alot better than most families.

I've not yet heard from my friend Marty, who went home to Mississippi to ride out the storm. I'm very worried about him.

People are being told that Monday would be the SOONEST they were letting people get back in, and that it would be at least a month before electricity and water are restored. Essentially, if you were at all considering relocating, now is the time, 'cause there ain't much left to go back to.

My family left New Orleans Sunday morning. My stepfather and one of my uncles stayed, and were fortunately okay. They attempted to come to Dallas, but couldn't get past Jackson, so they stayed with my cousin in Jackson Sunday and Monday. My cousin lost power Monday, as well as water. They left Tuesday for Dallas, getting in Tuesday night. In addition, another aunt and uncle (Uncle Robert and Aunt Christine), unbeknownest to us (he didn't know I lived in Dallas) left Saturday night and was in Dallas early Sunday morning.

Despite the fact that everyone really needs at least a month away from New Orleans, the majority of my family left this morning to go back to Jackson. My cousin in Jackson has power and water again - though he has a one bedroom apartment - So everyone is going back. It is a very emotional, very tiring mess which I don't feel comfortable discussing publicly. My Uncle Robert and Aunt Christine will probably stay with us, though.

This has been one of the worst weeks in my life. I've gone from worrying myself to tears (literally... yup, a macho man like myself can FEEL) about my family to watching them all leave so that they can pile into a one-bedroom apartment in an area where people are stealing gasoline due to shortage (which I think is REALLY messed up). This is not to mention how much the lowest forms of humanity are crawling to the surface in my home city, which will never be the same again.

I am blessed to be able to say that most of my family, though they upset my greatly and make my want to continue loving from a distance, is okay, and that there is no major death that we know of to deal with. I have to clutch that blessing to my chest and squeeze it with all of my might in order to make it through the week.

Ummm... or NOT Pro Tools.

2005-08-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Apparently, when the box said "384 megs of RAM" as a minimum requirement, it MEANT it.

Yup, you may think I was busy for the last week mastering what is, from what I can see, the single most complex piece of software I've ever seen (and that is BEFORE installing Reason, AmpliTude, SampleTank, and any of the rest of the wide variety of mimi-versions of expensive plug-ins that come with this thing)... but that's not it. Nope, this is the standard "first week of school sucks" thing, TRIPLED by the fact that the contractors that "enhanced" our school over the summer decided to cut a three foot gap in the data line to my classroom. This means no Internet for the guy whose lessons, tests, and gradebook are all traditionally online.

I guess it's... good... that I haven't had time to think about having to buy a whole new computer for a week?

And yup... that's exactly where I'm at right now. I'd have to buy proprietary RAM for my laptop, and that would require a lot of navigation of Compaq/HP customer service. Moreover, if the sound card on my laptop ever needs upgrading, I'm screwed. As such, Heckle and Jeckle (aka the DeVry twins, aka P and A-Dub) will assist me in building a new computer. By "assist", I mean "I'll tell them how much money I have to spend, they tell me what I can get, I give them the money, and they build it for me". Of course, I won't be able to do THAT until next insurance check comes in, which could be God-Knows-When.

This "artist" thing is mighty frustrating.

Thanks to the people that have given commentary on the music, as well as the thought out response to the Christian thing (I'm really curious who that is). Hopefully I'll be able to do something new soon.

PRO TOOLS!

2005-08-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

I got the first insurance check from my father's death yesterday. Most of the money has already been earmarked for "real" things, such as paying down debt and a down payment on a house. However, I decided that I wanted to get both myself and my wife "something cool".

Back in the day, I had four professions that I thought I could do long-term : computer programming, teaching, music production, and professional wrestling. When I told my Dad this theory, he told me that he always wanted to be a teacher, and that he flirted with the idea of being a DJ at one point, so music and education were the two things he liked the thought of me getting into. As such, I decided that part of the money he left would be used to buy Pro Tools, so that I could learn "real" techniques.

Guess this is the first real step, huh?

Christianity in America

2005-08-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Wow. After reading this, I don't feel so bad about some of the stuff I cited in my song "Dove Or The Sword". Only 40% of America can name at least four of the Ten Commandments? Wow.

BTW - Yup... the kid pulled off four... BARELY. I would have failed at five... though now that I looked through them, I feel silly for not being in the seven or eight range.

The Various And Sundry

2005-08-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

Got AP scores back today. one-third of my students passed the exam, which sets new records for the school both in actual numbers and percentage. As is typical, I find myself focusing more on what I could have done differently (specifically, focusing on problem solving and structural strategies instead of Object-Oriented concepts), but such is life.

I've gotten some good feedback on "Work It Out", which makes me happy. Heck, ANY feedback makes me happy. I actually have another song in the can, "Dove Or The Sword". It's meant to be theme music for my AD&D character in the campaign I play in, a paladin, but it became me breaking down my thoughts on Faith and Society. Unfortunately, the hook is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE currently, so it will go unposted until I get a chance to redo it. Besides which, I need to make some shiny-happy music (or, at least, cocky-dancey music) at some stage soon anyways.

Over at UrbanSherpa, there's racism in Canada. I'm actually surprised. Really. The fact that it IS suprising is kinda freaky.

I sent some friends an e-mail about this, but check out my college buddy Nora's short story, Cloud Dragon Skies.

If anyone knows where I can get Summerslam 1995, I'd appreciate it. Seeing such stuff as HHH vs. Bob "Sparkplug" Holly, Bret Hart-Isaac Yankem, Michaels-Ramon Ladder Match II, and Mabel-Diesel, given where some of these guys are now, would be pretty cool. I mean, who would have EVER thought Isaac Yankem would get the success he did as Kane?

Okay, now I'm taking this "artist" thing a little far

2005-08-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Okay... so I'm on baby-duty today (and every Saturday for a while) so that the Beautiful Wife can attend her New Teacher classes. The Prince decides he's tired early, so, after an unfortunately botched attempt at lunch (I NEED to make sure his soy milk bottle's top is screwed on TIGHT), I put him to sleep.

Now, those that have kids realize this is now the time, if you are at ALL tired, for you to sleep. Noooooooo. Not da JAM. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I get inspired to redo the first verse of "Work It Out". I already know that it will be gone (as so many of my other ideas were) if I do document it now, so I get out of bed and begin writing. It comes out fairly quickly (this song has been bubbling in my head for literally years), so I knock it out, and realize there is a specific flow I want.

Nuts. That I can't do quickly. Sleep... or recording? Sleep... or recording?

Sigh.

There's a new version of "Work It Out" with the new verse (and a few tweaks to the volume levels of some stuff; I lowered some vocals and upped the bass in the last verse), in the same spot as before. If you've already heard it, the new verse is:

Never an emotion, seen that look in your eyes and
Seems like every moment steady hoping for surprise or
To see some sympathy written cross a stony face
Have it fill the space, still, always in the last place
Of a race that I'll never win, never feel the medicine
Hard, scarred victim like a post-Iraqi veteran
Greatest sin, from you, was thinking as your daughter
I could feel a little love & affection from my father
But's not that tough, not as much, used to the eye blind
After year sixteen, no in between in my mind
I'll be the epitome of everything you couldn't be
No mirror left within me, reflections you will never see

I rewrote it in part to make it flow better, and in part to make it obvious that this song was NOT written from JAM's viewpoint. Actually, it is the story of one of my students a few years ago. She was graduating, and I handed out report cards. I messed with her about one of her grades, and she told me that her Dad wouldn't care about how well she did, as he pretty much expects her to be a high school dropout pregnant at 18 anyway. This girl was a good student, well above average intelligence-wise with a work ethic that allowed her to compete with anyone. As such, I was more than a little taken aback by what she said.

Worse, though, was not what she said, but HOW she said it. It was simultaneously angry and unemotional. She was used to it. She'd been told how bad she was and how she would never amount to anything for so long that it could no longer flame the fires within her. The flame would simply sit there, smoldering underneath it all until she could get away from this cruel guy who seemed more like a sperm donor than anything else. I really couldn't understand it at first; though I had a few people in my life that did tell me I was stupid, my Mom and Dad were the two biggest cheerleaders in my life (and, in fact, only my Beautiful Wife has been able to supplant them as my chief supporter). After I wrapped my head around it, though, I thought that it was a story that needed to be told; if I ever became a Platinum Selling Artist (tm), I needed to communicate what youth like that young lady was feeling.

Hence... "Work It Out".

Okay... NOW I need to go to bed.

Two posts in the same day... it must be.. MUSIC

2005-08-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am an artist. It is 1:25 in the afternoon when I type this. I have not eaten all day. I have not showered. I have not gotten dressed (sorry for that image, fellas). However, after yet another great IM convo with UrbanSherpa, I became inspired to write. Check out my new song, "Work It Out", here.

Yup. I am an artist. And it feels GOOOOOOOOOD. ;)

I try not to be a conspiracy theorist, but y'all making it hard...

2005-08-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

"Y'all" in that above line could be viewed as mainstream media, the dominant culture, "white folks", some combination thereof, I don't know and I don't care. The ultimate problem is that some stuff isn't right.

A young Philadelphia woman named Latoyia Figueroa was reported missing since July 18th. The young lady, according to an article presented here on CNN.com, had just come from a doctor's appointment to check up on her five month old unborn child. She went back to the home of the male friend who accompanied her to the doctor (by some reports the father of the child) for a few minutes, left, and was never seen again. Friends and family became suspect when she did not pick up her seven year old child from day care later in the evening and didn't go to work the next day.

Now, the above link is a CNN.com story on the subject matter, which, while it did run late (nearly ten days after she was declared missing), at least ran. A Google search on Latoyia's name showed nothing from FoxNews.com or MSNBC.com, and I have not seen any news reports on it. Note that I was home in New Orleans last week, so I ended up watching considerably more TV (as my family watches a lot of TV) than I normally would. Not a peep.

Why do I feel like a conspiracy theorist? Well, alot of my thoughts are articulated well here at BlackAmericaWeb.com's article on the matter. The quickie version is that Latoyia is getting a mere fraction of coverage that a Laci Peterson, Natalie Holloway (the Alabama girl lost in Aruba), or Jennifer Willibanks received. On another website someone noted that America only cares about whether or not attractive White women come up missing. I have to argue with that, as Jennifer Willibanks looks like she's either constantly shocked or constantly trying to activate her heat vision, so looks cannot be much of a factor. The "White" part, though...

Of course, in the BlackAmericaWeb 's article, someone cites that the issue could be more than just race, but also one of socio-economic stature. Latoyia worked at TGIFridays, so maybe she doesn't count. After all, Janet flashed a tit, and the airwaves were changed forever... so maybe it isn't just a skin color thing.

Oh, yeah... props to Philly hip-hop artist Beanie Siegel, who, according to this article, gave some of his own money to help up the reward for info leading to Latoyia from $10,000 to $100,000. My respect for him has tripled, particularly since he has his own problems, being that he's currently in prison and all. Beans, you just got yourself another sale of the "B. Coming" album as soon as I get paid.

I HAVE to see "My Date With Drew"

2005-08-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Nope. No followup to my last post.

In perusing Rotten Tomatoes, I saw a link for the movie "My Date With Drew". The short version is that an aspiring filmmaker gets $1100 from a gameshow, and decides to film a documentary of his quest to get a date with Drew Barrymore (for whom he has a far-too-unhealthy obsession) within 30 days. Why 30 days? Because he bought a video camera at Best Buy, and has to give it back while it's still under his Return Policy.

A documentary on trying to get a date with Drew Barrymore.

By an ordinary guy.

$1100. And 30 Days.

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?!?!?! WHY AM I NOT RICH?!?!?!

;)

My Dad Died

2005-08-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

My Dad died. I went to New Orleans and dealt with it. I'm back in Dallas.

The hard part isn't reconciling the feelings of death. The hard part is getting myself back to regular life.

There are no "smart" wrestling fans!

2005-07-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Man... I'm setting myself up with that title line. :)

Traditionally, a wrestling fan that did not know that wrestling results were predetermined were known as "marks". Wrestling fans that understood the "true" nature of wrestling were known as "smarts". In the last ten years or so, exposure of the industry via the Internet and other media such as the rash of wrestler biographies (particularly Mick Foley's "Have A Nice Day - A Tale Of Blood And SweatSocks" and the Hardy Brothers "Live For The Moment" (and, to a much lesser extent, programs like "Tough Enough", which I believe came after this mindset was adopted) blurred that line cnsiderably. Now a "mark" is someone that does not intimately follow the inner workings of the business, whereas a "smart" fan is the guy or girl that reads spoilers on the episodes, follows hirings and firings, etc..

I would consider myself a "smart" wrestling fan, except for the fact that smart fans are the most annoying and irritating people in the world. At the very least, those on the Internet are. "Smart" fans write long diatribes about how horrible wrestling has become since the good old days of . The exact time or circumstances of doesn't matter; it could be the Ric Flair/Four Horsemen NWA,, it could be the glory days of ECW, it could be the Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart "athleticism-based" WWE run, or it could be the last "golden age" of WWE, where the Big Four of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, and HHH all came to their respective apexes in the same year and a half or so timeframe. No matter when you chose to look at things, to a smart fan, the current product sucks as compared to "that time". Most importantly, though, every smart fan thinks they could book (decide the outcome) the shows better than the current team of writers.

Herein lies the point where I think the "smart" moniker becomes a silly one. Smarts get mad when the show is not booked the way they want it to be booked. They get angry and upset when their favorite, usually athletic-based wrestler (see : Guerrero, Eddy; Benoit, Chris; Angle, Kurt; T, Booker) loses to someone who is more of a character, with nowhere near as much athleticism (see : Batista, Dave; Layfield, John Bradshaw; Cena, John). So, they go on rants disguised as "news articles and commentary" (high on the latter, low on the former) about why wrestler sucks and wrestler should have been put over (should have won).

The silliness about it is that they are playing into the hands of what wrestling companies want. You see, a mark is characterized by someone who wants a certain set of wrestlers (usually the "good guys") to win, and another set of wrestlers (the "bad guys") to lose. The smarts want a certain set of wrestlers (the Ineternet Wrestling Community Favorites) to win, and a certain set to lose (the JBLs, HHH's, etc.). Not really much of a difference, particularly in light of what the WWE wants. The WWE wants for you to keep watching each week to see if the people you want to win win and those you want to lose lose. They'd also like for you to plunk money down for live events and merchandise, but that's beside the point. As long as you keep watching the show, the WWE wins.

In this light, HHH may beat out Ric Flair as the greatest heel ever. EVERYONE hates HHH. Marks hate him because he is a despicable character that is easy to hate. Smarts hate him because they know the guy that plays the character (Jean-Paul Levesque) wielded tremendous power over the stories and company before he permenantly solidifed his position by marrying the daughter of the owner of the company. Because he uses his power to keep himself in the World Championship stories, as well as changing the in-ring matches to that wrestlers adapt a lower-risk style that is nowhere near as exciting but results in less chance of injury, smarts feel like he has ruined the show. The one thing everyone agrees on - EVERYONE wants to see HHH lose. Therein lies the greatness of Jean-Paul Levesque/HHH : wrestling fans CONTINUED watching to see him lose, and continued to buy PPVs hoping he'd lose. Then the smart fans would jump on the keyboards and bemoan, week after week after week, how horrible HHH is... while he merely laughed his way to the bank, knowing that he's just added to the value of the company he'll own 25% of whenever Vince and Linda McMahon kick the bucket.

Ultimately, the solution, if you really think wrestling sucks, is to stop watching. A number of friends of mine have done so - I used to joke that, among my circle, I'd be the last guy clutching to my love for pro-wrestling. The fans that say wrestling was better in time and stop watching until they find it entertaining are the guys I can respect. That makes sense - if you love Star Trek but hate "Voyager", why in the heck would you keep watching Voyager. But there are so, SO many fans that complain and complain and complain... and then are tuned to their sets at 8:00 central every Monday on Spike TV for WWE Raw.

Mark... Smart... WWE sees you as all the same.

(BTW - I can't claim an unconditional love either. My wife used to find it weird that I watched Raw from 8 until about 9:45, and then would give her the TV during the main event. Why do this? Because /I/ got tired of the reign of HHH, so I decided to stop watching the main events, where I was sure I'd see the latest HHH storyline. Vote with your remote...

BTW II - It's fascinating, but since HHH decided to concretely put Batista over as World champion, losing to the Big Man three PPVs in a row, then removing himself from the program... Raw's kinda sucked. That says something, on some level...)

JAM is... happy about music?!?

2005-07-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm amazed by this as well. :)

My goal for the summer was to create an album. I now have 14 instrumental tracks I feel good about. I don't know when I last felt good about the stuff I was doing. Part of it is working with others on a second project - I find I'm much more creative when I have people to bounce off of. Yes, that is an amazing bit of insight, I know. ;) But even if I am not feeling a blues-industrial-hip-hop vibe (which is where our shared interests moves towards), after hanging out, I feel energized about coming home and working on some hip-hop tracks. BTW, check out "Intoxicate", which is the one song with lyrics that I feel good about. It still needs at least one more lyrical revision, but I'm cool enough at the moment. Since I don't yell throughout the entire track, I probably shouldn't post this link, but since about six people read my blog, I'm not too worried about beatjacking. :)

Of course, there is always a negative side to the coin. I have, like, NO inspiration to write. It's not that I don't have song concepts; most of the time I have a lyrical concept in mind when I sit down to create the music. It's just that the words aren't coming.

...

...

Yes, it is possible for me to not want to talk.

In other music-type stuff, last week I watched "Fade To Black", the Jay-Z concert movie, and it is a major reason why I've been inspired to do stuff. The concert stuff I can take or leave (I love music, but am ambivalent about concerts... weird, I know), but the background stuff about Jay-Z's creation of "The Black Album" was GOLD. Part of inspiration is that, in the work I've done, I have yet to get a "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" or "Lucifer" moment. For those who haven't seen it, Jay-Z will go to producers and get instrumentals to write over, and there is a certain look on his face that he gets when Timbaland ("Dirt Off Your Shoulder") or Kanye West ("Lucifer") gives him an instrumental that he KNOWS will be a mega-hit. It's this weird, scrunched up, sour, "Oh My God!" expression that just lets you know the beat is CRAZY. That's the next step for me - I want to write something that I need to describe as "crazy" with all capital letters.

Oh, yeah... and actually write the words to a second song. :)

{BTW - Quick rant - I finally saw the video to Kanye West's video for "Diamonds (From Sierra Leone")" yesterday, and I have never seen a song that more epitomizes the love-hate relationship I have for "conscious" rapper Kanye West. Though the video makes statements about the "blood diamond" trade in that region of Africa (read about it here), is there a PEEP in the song itself about it? No. Never. The song, despite its title, is about Kanye West being slept on at award shows and how he represents the New Roc-A-Fella records (the Roc symbol involves putting your hands together to form a diamond). W...T...F?!?! We KNOW he must have a some knowledge of something, or else he wouldn't have named the song what he named it. But NOTHING is mentioned in the lyrics. And, of course, on the opposite end of the coin, the music is simply unf&*&witable. It is a great, GREAT track, just like "Through The Wire", "Lucifer", "Get 'Em High", and, most importantly, his other supposedly deep song that is suprisingly shallow, "Jesus Walks". The arrogance is horrible (C'mon... when HIP-HOP people are going "DAMN you are arrogant!", you are freaking bad), and he says an amazing amount of nothing for a "conscious" rapper... but the musical genius ensures I'll be right there in line to buy "Late Registration". Like R. Kelly, if the music is good enough, people will still buy your stuff.

And, for the record, no, I didn't buy any R. Kelly stuff after the child pornography thing... but I didn't buy any before that, so I'm not a good judge of the guy's stuff. The above statement has to do with the fact that his last release was multi-platinum, and his next one, from the buzz the first single is getting, looks to follow up.}

More comic book stuff...

2005-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

According to http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/10/box.office.ap/index.html , Fantastic Four not only was #1, and not only broke box office expectations, but also is being hailed as a sign of an upturn in the movie boxoffice this year. So to all of the FF haters out there...

Ahem...

SUCKITSUCKITSUCKITSUCKIT! :)

In related news, according to http://www.wizarduniverse.com/conventions/chicago/WW20050701-con.cfm , there will be a Straight-To-DVD animated version of the Ultimates comic book, which kicks MAJOR ass. The Ultimates is like a more mature version of the Avengers; you can check out the trailer of the DVD-version of the comic book (not actual animation; just someone reading the comic over panels from the comic at http://www.intecinteractive.com/trailers.asp?type=qt&movie=ultimates-512 . I love the Thor introduction the most... "A New Age Guru who may be the reborn son of a Norse God... or a crazy lunatic with a big hammer".

I am disappointed that there won't be a live-action Ultimates... they even did "fantasy casting" in the book itself. For the record, they cast:

Captain America - Brad Pitt
Iron Man - Johnny Depp
Giant Man - Matthew McConoghey (or however you spell it)
The Wasp - Lucy Lui (whom Wasp hated as her, as Wasp is Japanese-American, and Ms. Lui is Chinese... great humor moment there)
Nick Fury - Sam Jackson

The only person that went uncast was Thor... HHH actually would have the look for Thor, but you would need some great acting chops, as well as be noticeably bigger than Brad Pitt. THAT is a tough call. Any ideas?

Yes, I saw "Fantastic Four"...

2005-07-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

... and I'd pay money to see it again. :)

I could see where comic book "fans" would have issues with the movie, just as wrestling "fans" hate the fact that guys like Kidman and Akio get fired while people like JBL get pushed to the moon. There is such a thing as being too "smart", and knowing too much; just as "workrate" wrestling fans hate guys like The Rock and Hulk Hogan (you know... the people who are actually entertaining), comic book fans often get too bogged down with the minutia of details left out from the movie.

On a similar vein, I've noticed a lot of reviews downing Fantastic Four because it's not as good as "Batman Begins", "Spiderman", or "X-Men". That, of course, is like saying "Starship Troopers" isn't a good movie because it isn't as good as "Independence Day" (or some similar comparitive statement). Let's be honest - the F.F. don't have the everyman appeal of Spiderman, the dark pathos of Batman, or the deep social relevance of the X-Men. The Fantastic Four is essentially about a family of explorers dealing with hardships. This isn't as engaging as the three concepts I mentioned before (though it is more engaging than the psycho-drama that is Bruce Banner or the "I-Have-The-BIGGEST-Set-Of-Mommy-Issues-Ever" path of Daredevil), so to expect the movie to be as engaging is foolish. To be honest, I think that one should toss out any review that begins with a comparison to any of those three flicks (or "The Incredibles"... man, did Pixar ever screw Fox by putting out THAT gem a year before "Fantastic Four"), a complaint about some derivation between the movie and the comic book("Dr. Doom is an industrialist. This movie SUXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!"), or some complaint about the casting of Jessica Alba as Invisible Woman. Look - Sue would get overshadowed by Reed in the brains department because EVERYONE is overshadowed by Reed in the brains department, so get over it.

Now, I did read a bunch of reviews about the movie, good and bad, that looked at it in a standalone sense. This I can deal with. I like Tim Story as director, and he brings a lot of what he brought to "Barbershop" to this. Admittedly, Chris Evans is no Cedric The Entertainer, but the famile/interpersonal dynamics in "Barbershop" are evidenced here. The plot is okay. You're not going to be shocked at what happens at every turn... but how many action movies do that anyway? It's not deep - the Thing's plight is the deepest twists you'll see here. But it does have a lot of good character interaction. It has a lot of thoughts about dealing with celebrity. The sibling relationship between Sue and Johnny is fun (as an only child, I don't know how well it works... but I bought it). And, yes... I actually did buy Jessica Alba being older than Chris Evans; she reminded me a lot of Charlize Theron, for some reason. And, finally, was it a fun flick? Yes. That's the bottom line. I felt like a was watching a college role-playing session come to life... and that is a good thing.

Would I go to watch it again by myself (well, I had one friend with me, but you get the point)? Maybe not. Would I go and share the fun time with my friends? Definitely.

An Artist Moment

2005-07-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

First off, I should be shot for typing "w-i-n" for "when" in that last post. Yes, I've fixed it now. :)

I came up with a song concept a while back that I named "Take It Down". I name concepts after the first phrase that pops in my head, hence the bit of nonsensicalness. The thought was to do a sort of club-booty-song from the viewpoint of a guy who's wife/girlfriend/chick-he-came-with/whatever is grinding on/dancing with him in such a way that he forgets every other woman in the club. It would essentially be a call for the women out there with men to show how they plan on keeping their men - provocative, yet very appealing to my current sense of hip-hop-morality.

So I write a track based around a guitar sample that I think one might hear in a porno (hey... it fits the concept), but I can't quite get it balanced just right. Something seemed... off. I had a key difficulty between my bassline and and the guitar, but I didn't realize that until my wife told me. Yes, there are difficulties with growing up listening mostly to 90s hip-hop. In the interim, I try adding new percussion to the song, changing the tempo, and doing a bunch of other things that didn't really address the difficulty. On encouragement from my wife, I went in the new direction I was coming up with, which involved putting in newer, faster percussion, a new bassline to replace the old, and an added string section (quick programmer humor - you know you think about code too much when you go to capitalize "string" in the above sentence). By the time I was finished, the final product was thoroughly superior to what I started with, without the problem keeping the same key throughout the song.

Of course, I immediately scrapped it, because... it just didn't fit the vision. I don't care if it's good or not... it goes to the garbage because IT IS NOT MY VISION.

I feel like I've achieved a milestone of some sort. :)

Man... it almost makes me want to go back to when they were stealing shoes.

2005-07-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ironically enough, I watched "Boyz In Da Hood" last night, before reading this article this morning. You can read here about a kid getting jacked for his iPod.

Ummm... welcome to the information age?

You, yes YOU... can help da JAM!

2005-06-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, I need ideas.

For the first time ever, I am trying to move outside of the realm of Hip-Hop/R&B/Black music in the music I'm writing. I'm working with a few friends, the Dunlappians and He-Who-Hates-Discussion-In-RPGs (I'm trying to adapt UrbanSherpa's method of "No Real Names", but it's not working very well... though I'm sure it will be fun as my role-playing friends try to guess who the latter is), and trying to do... well, we never really discussed a specific genre, but I want to do something that's not hip-hop or (my rather poor attempts at) R&B. In doing this, I need ideas of good bands to listen to in order to properly find out how to do "rock" drum tracks and basslines (which is my self-appointed duty in this little endeavor - come up with good percussion and bassline).

I find that "first reactions" give a good idea of where one is. In doing some research on my own, I found myself checking out the following bands/songs

N.E.R.D., "In Search Of" - I listened to a number of cuts from these guys over the past few days... particularly "Lapdance", "Truth Or Dare", "Am I High", and "Rock Star". However, as I ned to write stuff (or, at least, sample stuff) conducive to melody, I'm uncertain if this more funk/hip-hop-based stuff is the best idea.
Three Doors Down, "Kryptonite"
Santana, "Wishing It Was"
The Crystal Method, "PHD"

What other stuff would one suggest for really good percussion / bass to emulate?

BTW - here is my first attempt. Thoughts?

W... T... F... Take Two

2005-06-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, I fully expected to sign in from my conference, but the AP teachers partied too much and wore me out.

...

...

...

Why is NOONE surprised at that sentence? I'm SHOCKED at it, personally.

On another note, I've decided to do another of my lyrics postings. This is the latest "hit" from Usher. I need some explanation as to how this got out. Did someone blackmail him (Chili?)? Does he owe somebody money? The best explanation is that /HE/ wrote the song, and noone had the guts to tell him that this was stupid.

Anyways, as I almost got into an accident laughing at this... "hit writing"... here is "Dot Com" by Usher...

... and remember... this is not some starving artist looking for attention... this is USHER. The guy that keeps Justin Timberlake awake at night. The only guy left that gets GOOD Michael Jackson comparisons. The undisputed king of the pop stage show (Take it take it take it, Brittany Spears and Jessica Simpson). As you read the following, remember... he doesn't HAVE to do this. He WANTED to.

"Dot Com"
[VRS1:]
Ooh, I love the way you dirty type
I can take you home on escape
Ooh, I need your backspace in my life
Thank God you don’t have a flat screen

[VAMP:]
Please, baby I got to see you
And I really wanna please you
So get on my laptop so I can download

[HOOK:]
Online, I love the way you log on
We can do it all night
I’ll make you dot com
Baby, if you sign on
I’ma make you lights off
Ooh, Baby, if you log on
I’ll make you dot com

[VRS2:]
I wanted to link up with you, baby at first sight
With you I get to use my f keys
I can’t wait to give you mega bytes
I got all the memory you’ll need
Let my fingers do the talking

[VAMP:]
Please, baby I got to see you
And I really wanna please you
So get on my laptop so I can download

[HOOK:]
Online, I love the way you log on
We can do it all night
I’ll make you dot com
Baby, if you sign on
I’ma make you lights off
Ooh, Baby, if you log on
I’ll make you dot com

[BRIDGE:]
Ooh, baby you want this I know
I can’t wait to give you my hard drive
My moonlight
If It’s alright, baby
I’m always at your window
Ready to shift and control you
If you want me to
Say yes, baby
Say yes, baby
Say yes, baby
Say yes, baby
Got to say, ooh
Say yes, baby
Say yes, baby
You got to say yes,Yes

[VAMP:]
Please, baby I got to see you
And I really wanna please you
So get on me baby, get up on me, oh

[HOOK:]
Online, I love the way you log on
We can do it all night
I’ll make you dot com
Baby, if you sign on
I’ma make you lights off
Ooh, Baby, if you log on
I’ll make you dot com

Any explanations of this would be appreciated.

On a nicer note...

2005-05-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

... after that last entry. :( Why do i feel my Dixie should have been higher?

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

25% Dixie

15% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

W... T... F... ?!?!

2005-05-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

How... in the f^&^... do you still have cross burnings in 2005!?!?! Where in the hell are we in our country!?!?! And I have to GO THERE in a couple of weeks. I may need to turn down the whole AP grading thing... :(

Where I was

2005-05-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

Got this from UrbanSherpa, which is where I get most of my blogging ideas. :)

10 Years Ago

I was 22.
I lived on Tulane's campus in New Orleans.
I was at the end of my first senior year of college, and was enjoying the fruits of the loophole I found that would get my scholarship continued to the next year.
I was setting up being a summertime RA, so that I'd have a place to stay without moving back home.
My life consisted of role-playing, drinking, and occassionally making it to class.
I had come to the firm conclusion that, even if a graduate school would accept me, I was really beginning to tire of school, and would not want to start grad school.
I was also concluding that I was not ready for the real world yet.
I was on the on-again side of my relationship with Shawntell, and we were planning marriage at some point. This was killed sometime before the middle of the next year.

5 Years Ago

I was 27.
I lived in a one-bedroom apartment by myself in Irving, TX.
I had just left Sprint, where I was feeling overworked and underappreciated despite only really giving my all on two projects in my entire tenure (ironically, my last two) for the greener pastures and greater money of BEA.
I'd jumped from doing Enterprise JavaBeans to C++ to Tuxedo, and was about to start working using WebLogic. This was the time that I realized I actually can pick this stuff up quickly, even if it is only surface knowledge and not in-depth programming stuff.
I was a month away from The Ottawa Project, where I met UrbanSherpa, realized that Canada wasn't that bad, and Good God, snow sucked.
I was now beginning my second major relationship, the also on-again, off-again relationship with Jamilah.
I came close to my goal of $100,000 a year; I never met it.
My life consisted of travelling and video games, and I really wasn't happy.

3 Years Ago

I was 29
I was at the end of my first year as a teacher, where I made less than half I made at BEA, but was more happy, career-wise, than I'd ever been in my life. For the first time, I was no longer questioning my decision to leave the BEA Gravy Train.
I'd been dating Kellie for a bit, in the first and only major relationship which was not on-again, off-again.
Speaking of which, despite still having my apartment in Irving, I functionally lived in Dallas with Kellie.
I'd completed my first CD of music. It sucked. Later that summer, I would take a course in arrangement, and vowed to try to get more actual training.

1 Year Ago

I was 31.
I was married to Kellie, with a three month old son (Alexander Baker Mitchell).
Kellie, Alex, and I lived in a new, bigger apartment in Dallas.
I was now teaching Computer Science, and doing well professionally.
I'd made other music CDs, these with songs that actually sound decent.
I was on the fence about going to graduate school. Later, working at UTD in the summer, I decided that I wanted to go there.
I stopped hanging out anywhere near as much as I used to, as I now had "real responsibilities".

Now

I am 32.
I am still happily married.
I still teach Computer Science and Computer Applications, but now also teach an Engineering course at my school.
I still make music, and I vowed to record an album with my friends Aaron and Perry by the end of the summer.
I'm on the fence about returning to the field for part-time work (or perhaps more) or going to graduate school. Grad School is winning. I really want to be "Dr. Mitchell" one day.
I still live in the Dallas apartment, though we are planning on beginning a house hunt this summer.
Life is pretty good.

Waiting... forever... for Java...

2005-05-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

When I began this posting, I was uninstalling Java Software Developer's Kit 1.4.2_04 from my computer so that I will have room for Java SDK 1.4.2_07 (specifically, actually installing the Servlet stuff), and was shocked at how long it took. It takes a while. A long while. A really long while. Long enough to where I updated myself on Corzican's, Nora's, and Luis' blogs all while sitting there waiting for it to uninstall. In fact, it took SO long, that I ended up moving on to other things. I did get to start on my next entry, though... filled with tidbits

My son got his first video game yesterday. It's a program for my wife's old IMac that will make a cute sound and show a new geometric shape on the screen every time he hit a button on the keyboard. He loved it. For a long time. Like, "Baby Einstein" levels of interest. To explain that, I measure how interested my son is in something by equivalent TV shows / activities that he will do for the same amount of time. For example, "Tigerrific Tales" interest is around 15 minutes; the amount of time he will have you read his "Tiggerific Tales" flip book to him. Over, and over, and over. 15 Minutes may not seem that long, but it is when you are reading the same 10 pages repeatedly. Similarly, "Wiggles" time is 10 minutes, the amount of time he'll watch the Wiggles. The "Boobah Show" clocks in at about 20... which, if anyone has ever seen the Boobah Show, is a very scary thought. The Baby Einstein videos have the longest shelf life, in around half an hour.

Now, we didn't get the chance to see if the "Shape Game" would last longer than Baby Einstein, because it was time to go to bed. Unfortunately, he did not agree with our decision, and he let us know. For around twenty minutes. People had to think we were performing cruel experiments on him with the way he WAILED and CRIED and THREW HIMSELF because we wouldn't let him keep playing the game. Eventually, he wore himself out... but it was really fascinating, and we have not let him play since.

As a side note, Kellie made me add this to the blog, after, later in the night, I stayed up until 1:00 AM playing "Fight Night: Round 2". That was different, though... as I NEEDED to try to get to #1 contendership. ;)
On UrbanSherpa's blog, there is an entry about a woman who essentially changed parties mid-term. What's interesting is to read people's reactions. Why is it that when men do something like that they are traito rs, but a woman that does the same is a whore and has "sold her body"?
You need to see Star Wars Episode Three if you have not already done so. I will go ahead and make the controversial statement now : It is the best of all of them.

THAT'S RIGHT... I SAID IT. "RETURN OF THE SITH" WAS BETTER THAN "EMPIRE STRIKES BACK".

Yes, it is better than "Empire". Sad endings and the good guys getting waxed does NOT a good movie make. Plus, all "Empire" had to do (and, for the record, I enjoyed RotJ more) was tell a good story. This had to tell a good story while tying up a LOT of plot threads... and I think it did so masterfully. Some people have a difficulty with the way Anakin falls... I dunno. I understood his reasons for what he did, even as I disagreed with them... and I think the movie is a better one because you can understand him even if you don't agree. I think it would have SUCKED if he just turned evil for evil's sake.

Of course, what do I know? I'm an intellectual elitist who LOVED the second two Matrix flicks. YOU DO IT BECAUSE YOU CHOOSE TO. :)
Yes, I removed my name from most of the blog. I don't think I mind my kids seeing this stuff. Potential employers, however.

In Preparation...

2005-05-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Check out the link above... which is GREAT.

It's sad that my blog is becoming where I post links to cool stuff I find on other blogs...

See... THIS is why I don't do online polls... yes, I'm afraid of self-discovery...

2005-05-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

I am:
42%
Republican.

"Congratulations, you're a swing voter. When they say 'Soccer Mom', they mean you. Every Democratic ad on the TV set was made just for your viewing enjoyment. Don't you feel special?"

Are You A Republican?

The Votes Are In... Send 'Er To Tha Slamma!

2005-05-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

On the page linked above, there is a poll about whether Jennifer Wilbanks should be prosecuted for deceiving the police. Overwhelmingly, people have said she should be charged, and precedent supports it as well; according to the article, someone did it last year and was placed on probation and ordered to reimburse the police. Of course, since the cops are saying searching for her cost around $60,000, that's no small amount. On the other hand, given that her family was offering a $100,000 award for anyone who found her...

I can't help but find myself thinking that the fact that she "came from money" had something to do with the amount of hoopla involved. If the wedding cost $10,000, and not $100,000, would there have been this large, nationwide search?...

Wow...

2005-05-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

... just... wow.

Man... wow. :)

Irony... what cruel and bitter hand you may play...

2005-05-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

I can now officially confirm that you care less and less about your birthday once you get past the "Thirty" hump. :)

The Kid is now 32... which would make one think that he should stop referring to himself as "The Kid", but I'm far too self-centered to listen to what would seem like simple logic to others. Much of the celebration involved simply hanging out with others, including doing the Code Red Caper charity affair on Sunday. Check it out here. It is actually pretty cool, and, now that we actually know what we're doing in the scavenger hunt, we can kick butt next year. Of course, that presupposes us being able to rake together at least a G for the lowest-level limo, but I'm sure that all of my engineer and programmer friends would have no difficulty at all spotting the lowly teacher.

What made the weekend ironic, to me, was that my favorite gift was a copy of Korn's Greatest Hits. Scroll down a little bit, and you'll see my discussion on how I didn't think Black people listened to Carly Simon. To contrast, when I think of bands that have shaped Black culture from a musical standpoint, Korn really sticks out as a Top-Five contender. Yes, that was meant to be sarcastic. It's actually a great CD (their cover of "Word Up" by Cameo (I believe... anyone care to correct me) went over really well in the limo... and, surprisingly, that is NOT meant to be sarcastic).

The only problem with the disc is that, like most Greatest Hits albums, it seemed like songs were missing. Not having "Thoughtless" seemed pretty big, though I wrote that off as me liking a song more than others. Not having "Hey Daddy", though... that seems unforgivable. Wasn't that their biggest commercial hit (or, if not, top three?). Again... if someone knows their rock more than I do, let me know. In any case, this gets a higher rating than Michael Jackson's "Number Ones" (who wants to listen to 'Man In The Mirror' anymore? Give me "Who Is It" any day), but I still am going to rip it, and add the songs I like to make it a proper Greatest Hits.

Remember... I'm still accepting more late gifts, and I never did pick up 'red Hot Chili Peppers" second Greatest Hits album. :)

The Randoms...

2005-04-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

I was told yesterday that I am too smart to become a rapper. Rather, the fact that I am smart is a detriment to me being a rapper. On the one hand, there are a few MCs that have college degrees (David Banner pops to mind, though I'm blanking on the others). On the other hand, Banner and the like are also very, VERY street. The Kid, on the other hand, is not street. Given my background, you would think that I would be able to pull up some kind of hidden or reserve streetitude, but, alas, the very fact that I would make up a word like streetitude pretty much dooms me to never being street. So, does that mean I should just give up? I dunno.
On a related note, I was chosen to be a reader (i.e. grader) for the AP Comp Sci exam. Whereas this is a kick-butt thing, both in terms of career development and money... it makes me wonder how much the music thing is just this pretty idea I have in my head and not what is functionally becoming my real career.
My kids read my blog. That's kinda freaky. Of course, given that one simply has to type "Jerone Mitchell" into google to get the blog imples that I shouldn't be shocked. That stil doesn't stop it from being freaky. Of course, all they can find out from a google search on me is that I am an Internet-Wrestling-RPG-playing, music overthinking, video gaming nerd. That much is patently obvious within a week of my class, so I'm not terribly worried about that.
Speaking of freaky, check out zaba. You can get way, WAY too much information on people here. It's like stalking made easy. We should all be very afraid... except for Viv, who lives in Canada. Canada apparently doesn't matter to the Zaba people.
I really need to apply to be a writer for the WWE. It may be one of the few things that I could put as much passion into as I could music or teaching, and I actually think I'd be able to make a difference. Of course, there'd be that whole "move to Conneticut" thing...
I NEED a video game night soon... between fiending to play Smackdown Vs. Raw against others and fiending to play NBA Street V3 against others... I need a fix!

I should know better...

2005-04-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

I had a situation occur a couple of weeks ago that inspired me to write, but it took me a while to get my thoughts together. I frequently look back at situations that occur, right after they occur, to determine how I feel about the choices I make. This was one of them.

I greatly enjoy a game called "Cranium". For those unfamiliar with it, it is a combination of Charades, Pictionary, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit, and Play-Doh Sculpting. For the intellectual elitist, it is indeed the sweetest of candies. On this day, I played with a few sets of couples, and we got a "hum dinger" card. A "Hum Dinger" involves someone humming a song deemed popular by the makers of the game, and the other people on that person's team has to guess the song. So... I read the card and rules aloud to the other team, and then looked at the song to be hummed. I came to the conclusion that, some of the people on the opposing team will probably have never heard the song, so, if they were chosen to hum it, there was no way the team could win it. As such, I decided to warn the team about this :

"No Black person will have ever heard of this song."

Of course, that little "DANGERDANGERDANGER" light went off in my head about a second after I said it. As an aside, one of these days I'm going to remove the three second delay between thinking of something and the activation of this light, so that, just once, it will go off BEFORE saying bad things. That's definitely moved up on the old "to Do" list.

However, that's neither here nor there. I make the above statement, and realize immediately that I need to clean it up. One difficulty, however, is that I am often prone to hyperbole - if saying something makes an impression, saying something five times as strong will make five times as much of an impression. Yes, there are obvious problems with this logic. I plan on fixing it, but it's somewhere a thing or two after the above "three second delay" difficulty on my "To Do" list. Anyway, I go to clean it up:

"Anyone who has ever listened to a Hip-Hop song EVER in their life will have never heard of the song."

Not much better. At all.

The exact details of the song or whether or not anyone got it aren't really relevant. What is relevant is that I immediately went to pick up pizza afterwards, and found myself continually replaying this scene in my head. How, exactly, did the guy that prided himself on basing his knowledge, hobbies, likes/dislikes, etc. on his own experiences and not the experiences others expect of him say something so wrong, stupid, and ignorant on so many levels? This is not to mention how insulting this had to be to all of his friends.

Honestly? I don't know. I know that my feelings on "Blackness" are in a near constant state of flux. I don't think "Blackness: is something that can ever be truly defined or quantified, so I always find myself updating this weird, gray-ly defined structure with current and new input and thoughts? Is Condeleeza Rice considered part of "my culture" even though she has never made (to my knowledge) any public statements of "Blackness"? Was Michael Jackson "more Black" after making "They Don't Care About Us"? Does Darius Rucker lose "Black Points" for those horrible Burger King commercials? I mean, he should lose some points from something for those... I'm just curious as to what pool these points will be removed from. Maybe (to get my mind back on track and cleanse it of the images of Hootie singing to me about all-beef patties) this was a hiccup in my development. Maybe I was trying to prove I was "Black enough" to someone? That, at that moment, I tried to establish a "boundary to Blackness" of some sort?

I don't know. Maybe I just say stupid things sometimes. Or I don't think. Or something.

I apologize to all involved in the situation. I have a feeling this was probably blown off as "Jerone saying another thing out of his ass". And, whereas I have no difficulty with talking out of my ass on some things... this is not something I should be talking out of my ass about. I'm sorry.

WOO! That man 'gon DIE!

2005-03-11T10:18:00.000-08:00

In the posted link, the writer writes about a general harderdashery of things hip-hop related, and ends with an anecdote about his family. Said anecdote is usually the reason why I read the column. This week, he mentions that his wife wants to quit working to stay home with the kid. He mentioned his dilemma to a male friend, who responded :

"The modern woman...I want to be independent...until I find someone else to work for me...or when I have a kid...and I'm going to live at home till I'm 28 "to save money".

That's why the majority of them become teachers. The first option they go for involves the least amount of work (summers off and more holidays then Styles P), not having to deal with other adults, and never having to learn anything new at their job ever again after the 1st year."

WOO! Somebody put out an insurance policy on him QUICK! ;)

Man... I've been sucked in...

2005-02-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in my blog in a minute, and I would love to say it's because of the combination Math/Physics certification test I'm taking tommorow. For those who don't know, I teach a class in beginning Engineering which my kids can take for either Math credit or Science credit. Well, because of this, and all of the wonderful pressure brought on by GWB's NCLB, I now have to be certified in both Math and Science to keep teaching the class. So I thought, "Okay, J... I can take this combined test and get certified in both and knock it out in one fell swoop."

This, of course, was before I realized that the combined Math/Physics takes the hardest of the Math and the hardest of the Physics and makes it all one test. I was told to expect two or three Calculus problems max on the Math test. There were two or three Calculus problems in the SAMPLE QUESTIONS in the prep guide for the test.

So, of course... around my 15th page of "Crunch-time Physics", I realized that there was no way in heck I was going to pass the test. As such, I fell to the mighty addictiveness of...

NBA Street Vol. 3 : http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/nbastreetv3/review.html

It's amazing how addictive this game is, particularly when you've already admitted defeat. :(

Seriously, I expect to retake the test... maybe seperately (doing Math at the beginning of the summer, and Physics before school begins). I'd like to switch to being a part-time Math teacher, so I need to be certified in it before next year. It shouldn't be a problem... I've come to the conclusion that you can solve any Math problem as long as you know the following :

(1) The Quadratic Equation
(2) The Law of Cosines
(3) The Equivalence Rules for Triangles (i.e. Side Angle Side, Angle-Side-Angle, Side-Side-Side, etc.).
(4) Finding the area between two curves (i.e. Integral Calculus).

Those rae the only ones you NEED*. Everything else you can solve by plugging the answers into the formula and working your way backwards.

...

...

...

Was I always this nerdy-intellectual-type? And, if so, why can I STILL not build my own computer?

* No, I intentionally did NOT include the Pythagorean Theorem. Anything you can solve with that, you can solve with the Law Of Cosines.

CURSES!!! Foiled by... my own idiosyncracy?

2005-02-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Despite now being married and thoroughly happy during Valentine's Day, I decided to play my own... special... Valentine's Day mix for my kids... just to keep them in that V-Day spirit. Among the tracks...

Dust - Van Hunt
halfcrazy - Musiq Soulchild
Used 2 Love U - John Legend
If U Can't Say No - Lenny Kravitz
700 Mile Situation - Res
Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake
Hope She'll Be Happier - Sweetback
In this Bed I Scream - Prince
Down Here In Hell (With You) - Van Hunt
No More Rain (In This Cloud) - Angie Stone
Feelings Of Love - Ambersunshower
Lonely's The Only Company - Maxwell
You And Me - Musiq Soulchild
Who Will Love Me In Winter - Van Hunt
Never Is A Promise - Tracy Chapman
17 Days - Prince

Thus far, I've played it for five classes... and it's been very chill and everyone could hear the words... and NOONE has noticed ANYTHING unusual about the list. :(

...

If you're unfamiliar with the songs, this is one of the single most UNVALENTINE'S set of music I've ever created... and NOONE has noticed.

Man... my bad guy image remains unmade. :(

Uncomfortability...

2005-02-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

Uncomfortability is a female student asking how long you have to wait before you can tell the sex of a fetus from the ultrasound.

What About Bugs?!?!

2005-02-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

See the link above.

Ya know... nobody was saying anything for YEARS when Bugs bunny was kissing every guy in sight...

I asked the kids in my classroom (I have six in here, as it is my off period) whether or not they think it is my job as an educator to teach, on some level, morality. Only two thought that it was, and both answers were qualified ones (more "don't show immorality" than "teach morality"). I don't understand why so many people have a problem with a genuinely NEUTRAL stance on things. "Be tolerant of everyone" pushes no agenda; "Be tolerant of everyone except homosexuals" pushes an agenda.

I really HATE the thought that I'm supposed to be doing the job of the church (and the parents)...

Ah... to be a good guy....

2005-01-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

I'm working on moving my blog; there is a blogger service that comes with my webspace that does all kinds of cool things, like let me link my site to other cool sites such as http://urbansherpa.ca (cheap plug... and to warn you, someone has a periodic pottymouth...), so I've been a bit hesitant. As well, I've been ADDICTED to Front Office Football, which is surprising, as I barely WATCH football. However, I love having the pretend power to control people's lives, and this GM-based game is the best I've ever seen at it.

Speaking of GM-ing, I have a slight rant to go on. Maybe I should apologize to my role-playing crew in advance. :D Seriously, I've been role-playing for a minute now, and I've noticed something that is at least a bit disturbing to me.

Wolverine has killed it for anyone that wants to be a good guy.

Why do I pick on Wolvie? I think, before the rise of Wolverine, good guys were good guys. There were variances in personality (see : Any of the great arguments between Hawkman/Green Lantern and Green Arrow in some of the classic JLA stuff), but there was a certain amount of "good" you could expect.

Wolvie tossed that out of the window. He was really a bad guy aligned on the side of angels. it was edgy. It was cool. He could do what everyone always wanted to do - just stab the bad guys in the freakin' chest. End of discussion. End of argument.

When it was just Wolvie, that was great. then it was Wolvie and Punisher. Then Lobo. Then Vigilante. Let's fast-forward, until we get guys like Venom and Preacher as the "good guys" (I may be wrong on Preacher... I couldn't get myself to read past the first 8 issues or so of the series - good writing, unfortunately, did NOT trump utter and repeated blasphemy). Now, the stuff that was "edgy" is normal.

Of course, what if you liked the thought of being "normal" before edgy was "normal"? This leads back to role-playing with a character I run, which happens to be a paladin. Of course, as all of you role-players know, "Paladin" = Lawful Good, more-Jedi-than-Jedi, Doer of What is Right. And, as the role-players would know "Does of What is Right" = "Guy That Gets In the Way of What The Party Wants To Do". Why? Because our idea of a "good hero" is now Wolverine, and anyone trying to be Cyclops (another character only I seem to like) is just a speedbump in the way of progress.

I am actually kinda worried about that. When I grew up, again, "Edgy" was unusual. True, you had your Hank Pym's , with nervous breakdowns and spousal abuse but still trying to be a hero. But that was rare. Kids nowadays seem to get Blade as the norm, and Peter Parker is an unusual anomaly. Think about it.

I know it's weird to compare role-playing games and superheroes to real life viewpoints on what our children think are heroes. Maybe I'm just putting a societal theory into a vocabulary I'm familiar with. But I am worried about what I see every day.

Rant off. :)

Losing out to a fourteen year old

2005-01-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

According to the link above, there is a teacher in Florida that is about to go to jail for having sex with one of her 14 year old middle school students. The teacher, Debra Lafave, is now pleading insanity. By itself, this case has come off crazy... but if you go to http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0628042teach1.html and check out the police report, one of the reasons given (besides the fact that the sex was a turn-on since it was forbidden) was sexual inadequacy with her husband.

I think I would make up a crime so that I could snitch on someone and enter the Witness Protection Program if my wife ever said she cheated on me with a fourteen year old because of any sexual inadequacy. Just... wow.

I wil say, though... as the guy who's blog I linked to said... that certainly doesn't look like the mental picture I'd have of a pedophile.

I'm not a "real" gamer anymore...

2005-01-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

One of my students today got an X-box, which sparked a video game conversation before class (and towards the end of class). The student recommended Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon to me, as a PS2 owner. I responded that I don't play games like that anymore, as I don't have the time to invest, and I'll never finish them. I cited he fact that I had Metal Gear Solid 2 for two weeks and was still doing training sessions, and I NEVER got around to finishing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Their reactions?

"Stop using your family as a crutch, Mr. Mitchell!"

Darn that "Wife and kid" thing getting in the way of my gaming...

Sports... the last great safe haven for racism.

2005-01-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

I actually have nothing to add to what this guy is saying, but I will quote parts of the article. You can find the full one at the address above.

"Last Sunday, Randy Moss mooned the crowd. Joe Buck went wild. Calling it a disgrace. Of course, he didn't tell you the context behind it. That there is a group of Packers fans that moon (for real) the visiting team when they leave the stadium to go on their bus. Moss tried to make fun of that. That's all it really was. I thought what Randy Moss did was silly and stupid. But that's it. It wasn't shameful or a disgrace to western civilization. It was just silly and stupid. And Randy Moss is simply a silly and stupid man. A 27 year old with a mindset of a 17 year old; a very immature 17 year old that is. Even people who love T.O. shake their had at Moss' schoolgirl antics for attention. But why are people going crazy? Why did people go crazy when Terrel Owens does the heel act? Why were people so vilified that Joe Horn answered a cell phone, quite possibly one of the funniest things to ever grace the humorless NFL field? Why is the NBA pegged a 'thug league' when MOST of the players are good guys? You guys who read my column regularly know where I'm going with this....

This new moral superiority is a costume for racism, Period. Jake Plummer can stick a middle finger to the crowd and gets forgiven, Tie Domi gets into fights with the crowd but that's just that crazy Tie. Romanowski can spude a Third Reich lecture and break a teammate's neck but he's just 'competitive'. Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens: Five pitchers whom are appalling human beings. Yet, it's Pedro Martinez that gets stuck with the 'Diva' label. For every bad egg a person can name in the NBA, I can name 50 good eggs. This includes the entire roster of their defending champion, Detroit Pistons. Forget about the fight, worse brawls have happened in Hockey, Baseball, and Football. "

Stuff deleted

"The question is why? Where is the angst coming from? This is where I stop the preaching and start the asking because I don't know. What are racist people so mad about? They won. The black American is the most de-franchised race in our country. Health care and education in black neighborhoods are not given infrastructural support and as a result percentages of poverty, imprisonment, unnatural death, and drug addiction are all highest with blacks and the United States in now more then ever owned by Anglo-Saxon old money. Hey nazis, what more do you want? So a few minorities show actual human emotion in sports. It's ok, don't cry nazi. Listen, this will make you feel better. For every one that's making a 5 million a year, there are a thousand who make less money then YOU. So relax. "

Song Lyrics and Tori

2005-01-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

My kids are actually working SO well that I can play music in class for the first time all YEAR! Woo-hoo! :)

Anyways, this came on (it's part of my "Chill Music" playlist, even though it's not really chill... I kinda blindly put all of my Tori songs onto that list), and I thought about a conversation had at last Couple's Night on how Tori is kinda a weirdo and makes music which is hard to understand. Now, don't get me wrong, as both statements are true. :) However, as I listened to this, I really liked the writing of the song. It's one of those songs (like most of the Van Hunt I've been listening to) that gives me something to aspire to as a songwriter. I will admit, though, that I'll have to look up what a "bogenvilla" is, though...

TORI AMOS
"Cruel"

So don't give me respect
Don't give me a piece of your presiousness
flaunt all she's got in our old neighbourhood
I'm sure she'll make a few friends
Even the rain bows down
Let us pray
as you cock-cock-cock your mane
No cigarettes only peeled Havanas for you

I can be cruel
I don't know why
Why can't my ba.ll.oo.n stay up
in a perfectly windy sky
I can be cruel
I don't know why
I don't know why

Dance with the Sufis
Celebrate your top ten in the charts of pain
Lover brother bogenvilla
My vine twists around your need
Even the rain is sharp
Like today as you sh-sh-shock me sane
No cigarettes only peeled havanas for you

I can be cruel
I don't know why
Why can't my ba.ll.oo.n stay up
in a perfectly windy sky
I can be cruel
I don't know why
I don't know why

(Repeat Chorus)

Missing People

2005-01-08T23:47:00.000-08:00

After some lively discussion for "couples night" on Friday (thanks to Luis, Johanna, Pam, and Terrence for gracing our humble abode with wit and witticism), I've really begun thinking alot of the nature of friends and relationships within the context of a marriage. More specifically, within the context of "getting older" and being married.

Allow me to give a more specific scenario : I don't really "lose track" of people very often. There's really only been a couple of people, until recently, that I've been totally unable to contact for whom I was once very close post-high school. Unfortunately, over break, I finally admitted to myself that the number increased by one, as I've had a number of attempts to reach an old college friend fail over about a year or so. I suspect that it may have something to do with the fact that this friend is female and married; though I knew then-boyfriend-now-husband in college, I've always suspected that he's never been comfortable with my friendship with his then-girlfriend-now-wife*. I have nothing with which to prove this, other than a gut feeling. In any case, the bottom line is that there is one less person in my life, and for that, I am somewhat saddened.

However, isn't this the inevitability? As you develop your "marriage life", and your "career life", and your "kid life", where do you find the time to talk to others? Friends that I used to talk to long-distance once every two weeks have become people I talk to once every two months. Those who I previously contacted once a month are now probably closer to once every six months. Everyone else is a once-a-year check-in e-mail... or an invite to read my weblog, I guess. :) If I'm going to develop the stuff mentioned above, plus make more beats (as an aspiring producer), plus get a little video game time in... when do I call? Even better, if everyone else is doing the same thing, when do they have time?

I guess what it comes down to is that this is my weird, roundabout way of thanking those that get time to read a weblog amongst power-lunches and working out and dating and trying to find the childproof gates so that their toddler won't crawl into the kitchen. I'm one of those "extroverted" people** that does recharge from communicating with people, so I do appreciate the time.

-JAM

* Ironically, I have NEVER tried anything with this friend, and, in fact, the LACK of trying, even though I found her very attractive, probably defined a lot of my attitude towards women. I must admit that there is a dark, slimy trail of thought in me that wishes I WOULD have done something; if I'm going to lose the friendship, I could have at least tried to reap the rewards, right? I know that isn't moral or right... but it doesn't stop one from thinking about it.

** It's difficult for me to think of myself as an extrovert given the amount of liquid courage I've needed to initiate a conversation with a woman across a dance floor, even if she is communicating with me by writing "Do Me, Jerone" in lipstick across her chest (or some other form of communication which is obvious to everyone else but the idiot guy she's trying to holla at, such as Jerone-As-Single-Male). I think I'm really just loud and talkative when I'm comfortable. ;)

Oops!

2005-01-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Apparently, you have to specifically change the settings to allow people to respond to your posts if you don't have a blogspot account. :) Fixed that.

History is written by the victors. Now Ethics are too.

2005-01-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

According to http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/04/congress.ethics.reut/index.html, there has been a change in the way the House of Representatives' Ethics committee, the main source of self-policing within the House of Representatives. The Ethics committee, made up of 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans, vote on issues of questionable ethics. Previously, a tie vote would result in a proble being launched into an issue. Now, a tie (or more than 45 days going without a decision made) results in no action being taken. Essentially, if there is any reason to vote along party lines (which would, of course, NEVER happen), no internal probes would be launched.

Now, I realize that CNN.com has been accused of being biased, so I checked FoxNews.com. FoxNews, in an article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143347,00.html, focused on the fact that the Republicans backed off of a rule change that would allow their current Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, to keep his position despite being indicted in Texas as a result of a proble into his politcal action committee. It also did not mention the five/five membership, preferring to say that the new rule "requires a majority" (which sounds a heckuvalot nicer, admittedly), and requires a result in 45 days. Man... that sounds a lot better than the CNN thing, though every bit of actual LOGIC that I have agrees with CNN.

Ya know... I want to feel comfortable with the power structure in this country... I really do... but these guys are NOT helping...

Social Commentary... in pre-wrestling?

2005-01-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what this says, but I now officially have a new favorite heel (or favorite heel team, depending on how they run things).

A few weeks ago, vignettes began on WWE Raw for a new character Muhammed Hassan (who, apparently, has a "manager", Khosrow Daivari). Hassan and Daivari, as the story went, were Arab-Americans from Michigan, who publicly denounced the country for the sweeping wave of anti-Arab (more specifically, anti-Arab American) sentiments since 9/11. He called out the country for its racist policies, such as the profiling of Arab-Americans. Of course, this being wrestling, he challenged us to change our ways, or else he would beat us into changing our ways. Check out a sample at http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/raw/related/Hassan.jsp .

I love the Kurt Angle Syndrome - the best wrestling heels are the ones who tell us the truths we don't want to hear. *

Of course, as these characters are heels, they had to actually do genuinely bad things. I missed Raw the last couple of weeks, but I understand that they called the soldiers in Iraq cowards (citing the recent abuses at the Iraq prisons) **, thus getting on the bad side of the announcers (Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross). Ross and Lawler debated Hassan and Daivari culminating (after a surprisingly lucid set of replies by the normally super-childish Lawler) with Jim Ross telling Hassan and Daivari "America - Love It Or Leave It". Hassan and Daivari, of course, beat up Lawler and Ross.

Now, I understand that they have to be "bad guys", hence the troop commentary and beating up announcers. However, I think it's very telling that PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING is the forum in which abuse against Arab-Americans comes up. I read CNN.com and a number of other web news sites (usually when I'm looking for assignments for my kids), as well as sites like MTV.com, Sportsline.com, etc.. Nothing like that is EVER mentioned. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.

Irregardless... it's a pretty interesting character, that is far deeper and better handled than anything one would expect from WWE.

-JAM

*Kurt Angle is an Olympic Gold Medalist who decided to do pro wrestling after the Olympics. His character debuted saying that he would be the only real athlete in the WWE, and every single wrestler that the fans liked were not as good as he was as an athlete. How could they be; they never won a Gold medal in the Olympics. It was great, as every wrestling fan immediately hated him for being right.

** I don't know if they specified that the troops who committed the atrocities were cowards, or all of them. However, I think it wouldn't have made a difference. As Kellie so quaintly put it, "The average wrestling fan isn't that smart... this guy's gonna get shot". I'm going to see if I can find out, as I think it makes a big difference in terms of the shades of gray on the character.

Am I An Internet Pariah?

2005-01-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

Check out http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/01/03/online.underground.ap/index.html

It's an article about online groups that allow you to download movies onto IRC and newsgroups.

First thing... I feel like an "Internet Old Man" in that I didn't NEED them to define IRC or newsgroups. From what I've seen, unless you are either old, or part of "the scene", you have no clue what either of these are. Of course, given the level of security on both, I don't see how they manage to avoid notice for so long. I mean, you just download mIRC and put in a channel name... I can't believe noone's been able to track them.

Of course, if they managed to shut down, in TWO THOUSAND TWO, a group that released Windows NINETY-FIVE before it was released publicly... well, I'll just say that I'm sure my kids could probably do a better job of shutting this down... if they aren't already part of The Scene, anyway.

I'm... too liberal for this class...

2005-01-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Check out http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/12/28/academic.freedom.ap/index.html .

Maybe I'm just a little crazy, but I would think that learning more about Islam right now would be a GOOD idea, not one which would "offend our Christian beliefs" or be an example of conservatism being held down. In fact, given the current Executive and Legislative branches of the government, I can't see how ANY conservatives could argue that they are being discriminated against.

More importantly, I can't see how someone can complain that they are being "held down" while arguing that the appropriate way of dealing with things is to LIMIT what is taught.

Can someone help me understand this?

Transitions Track Listings

2004-12-31T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

About three months ago, I was hit with the idea of creating a single mix CD with all of my favorite songs of all time. One disc... 15 or so cuts... representing the epitome of music as chosen by Jerone A. Mitchell. As I collected songs for possible entry, I was struck by how much my tastes in music changed - when younger, I listened to nothing but R&B, and it was all "Black Music" (George Michael had a ghetto pass back in the day)... then it became predominantly hip-hop... then I went to Tulane and it ALL changed... etc.. I was able to track the major changes in my life by the music that I listened to (not unlike how certain songs are associated with certain relationships... but that's a story for another day), and decided to expand the project out to really listen to how things changed. That became the Transitions set of CDs.
I want to give people copies of the CDs (or, at least, specific years), but my printer isn't working, and it's a LOT of CD jackets to make. As such, I've decided to just post the song lists here, and have people reference this to see the songs included. I hope to, at some time, go through and provide explanations as to why song X was chosen and what makes song Y so special to me and blah blah blah... but that's a LOT of stuff. :)

Transitions : 1969 - 1988
Son Of A Preacher Man -- Dusty Springfield 1969
Let's Stay Together -- Al Green -- 1972
If You Want Me To Stay -- Sly & The Family Stone -- 1973
All Your Goodies Are Gone Parliament -- 1974
777-9311 -- Morris Day & The Time -- 1982
Between The Sheets -- The Isley Brothers -- 1983
The Glamourous Life -- Sheila E. -- 1984
Don't Wait For Me -- Morris Day -- 1985
Love Bizarre -- Sheila E. -- 1985
Paul Revere -- Beastie Boys -- 1986
Let's Wait Awhile -- Janet Jackson -- 1986
Smooth Criminal -- Michael Jackson -- 1987
Microphone Fiend -- Eric B. and Rakim -- 1987
One More Try -- George Michael -- 1987
Can You Stand The Rain -- New Edition -- 1988
If It Isn't Love -- New Edition -- 1988
NE Heartbreak -- New Edition -- 1988

Transitions : 1988-1990
Oooh This Love Is So -- Al B. Sure 1988
My Philosophy -- Boogie Down Productions 1988
Strictly Business -- EPMD 1988
Goodbye Love -- Guy 1988
Paper Thin -- M. C. Lyte 1988
The Moment I Feared -- Slick Rick 1988
Mind Blowin' -- The D.O.C. 1989
Potholes in My Lawn -- De La Soul 1989
My Fantasy -- Guy 1989
Electric Chair -- Prince 1989
Poison -- Bell Biv DeVoe 1990
Wake Up -- Brand Nubian 1990
Father Figure -- George Michael 1990
Cemetary Gates (Album Version) -- Pantera 1990
Fight The Power (Edited Album Version) -- Public Enemy 1990
Time After Time (The Saviour Is Waiting) -- Take 6 1990

Transitions : 1990-1992
Word is Bond -- Brand Nubian 1990
Freaks Of The Industry -- Digital Underground 1990
Feels So Much Better -- Johnny Gill 1990
The Question Of U -- Prince 1990
Mistadobalina -- Del Tha Funkee HomoSapien 1991
Who Is It -- Michael Jackson 1991
Head Like A Hole -- Nine Inch Nails 1991
Gett Off (Extended Remix) -- Prince 1991
Shut Em Down -- Public Enemy 1991
Give It Away Red Hot Chili Peppers -- 1991
BloodSugarSexMagic -- Red Hot Chili Peppers 1991
Breaking the Girl -- Red Hot Chili Peppers 1991
It's Gettin Hectic (feat. The Guru) -- Brand New Heavies 1992
Otha Fish -- The Pharcyde 1992
Winter -- Tori Amos 1992

Transitions : 1992-1994
Live And Let Live -- Souls Of Mischief 1993
All I Need (Radio Mix) (feat. Mary J. Blige) -- Method Man 1994
Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang (feat. Snoop Dogg) Dr. Dre 1992
Loungin' (feat. Donald Byrd) -- The Guru 1993
I Am I Be -- De La Soul 1993
Passin Me By -- The Pharcyde 1992
Aint No Thang -- OUTKAST 1994
Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) -- Digable Planets 1993
Big Poppa -- Notorious BIG 1994
Gin & Juice -- Snoop Dogg 1993
Captain Save A Hoe -- E-40 1994
Pocket Full Of Stones -- U.G.K. 1993
No Ordinary Love -- Sade 1992
Leather -- Tori Amos 1992
Move With Me -- Neneh Cherry 1992
N.Y. State Of Mind -- Nas 1994

Transitions 1995-1996
Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine -- D'angelo 1995
Protection -- Massive Attack 1995
Soul Searchin' (I Wanna Know It's Mine) -- Me'Shell Ndegéocello 1995
Some Bomb *** ***** (feat. Snoop Dogg) -- Tha Dogg Pound 1995
Music Makes Me High (feat. tha Dogg Pound) -- Tha Lost Boyz 1995
Slow Like Honey -- Fiona Apple 1996
Fu-Gee-La (Sly and Robbie Mix) -- The Fugees 1996
Spinning The Wheel -- George Michael 1996
Welcome -- Maxwell 1996
Elevators (crazy 'c' trunk remix) -- OUTKAST 1996
"Friend, Mother, Sister, Lover," -- Prince 1996
Au Natural -- Sweetback 1996
Caught a Lite Sneeze -- Tori Amos 1996
Mary Magdelene -- Me'Shell Ndgeocello 1996

Transitions 1996-1998
The Child Is Gone -- Fiona Apple 1996
What They Do (LP Version) -- The Roots 1996
Get With The Wickedness (Flow Like That) -- The Lady Of Rage 1997
"Victory [NIN remix] (feat. Notorious BIG, Busta Rhymes, and NIN)" -- Puff Daddy 1997
"All About The Benjamins (feat. The Lox, Notorious BIG, Lil Kim, and Rob Zombie)" -- Puffy Daddy 1997"
Nowhere To Run (feat DMX, ODG, and Ozzy Osbourne)" -- The Crystal Method 1998
"Pure Uncut (feat. Sillk Tha Shocker, Mystikal, Master P, and Psycho Drama)" -- Eightball 1998
They Got Me -- John Forte 1998
It's On! -- Korn 1998
If You Can't Say No -- Lenny Kravitz 1998
Come On -- New Power Generation 1998
Anna Stasia -- Prince 1998
No Shelter -- Rage Against The Machine 1998
Sometimes It Hurts -- Stabbing Westward 1998
Waking Up Beside You -- Stabbing Westward 1998
i i e e e -- Tori Amos 1998

Transitions 1998-2001
Would Not Come -- Alanis Morisette 1998
User Friendly -- Marilyn Manson 1998
That's The Nigga -- Mystikal 1998
That`s How I Get Down (Featuring Ludicris) -- Ginuine 1999
What's So Different -- Ginuine 1999
Hey Daddy -- Korn 1999
Caligula -- Macy Gray 1999
Ms Fat Booty -- Mos Def 1999
5 Women -- Prince 1999
Wishing It Was -- SANTANA 1999
Hey Papi (feat. Memphis Bleek) -- Jay-Z 2000
A Long Walk -- Jill Scott 2000
Papercut -- Linkin Park 2000
Fool of Me -- Me'Shell Ndgeocello 2000
Girl Next Door -- Musiq Soulchild 2000
Mary Go Round -- Musiq Soulchild 2000
Legend -- Nelly Furtado 2000
Last Resort -- Papa Roach 2000
Name Of The Game -- The Crystal Method 2001

Transitions 2001 - 2004
Contagious (feat. Chante Moore & R. Kelly) -- The Isley Brothers 2001
Turn Off The Lights (Remix) (feat. Timbaland & Ms. Jade) -- Nelly Furtado 2001
Deep -- Nine Inch Nails 2001
700 Mile Situation -- Res 2001
I Know What You Want (Feat. Mariah Carey & Flipmode Squad) -- Busta Rhymes 2002
Truth Or Dare (feat. Kelis and The Clipse) -- N. E. R. D. 2002
Awnaw (Feat. Jazze Pha) -- Nappy Roots 2002
Don't Forget Me -- Red Hot Chili Peppers 2002
Not Meant For Me -- Wayne Static of Static-X 2002
Dirt Off Your Shoulder -- Jay-Z 2003
Cry Me a River -- Justin Timberlake 2003
Counting On Me -- Korn 2003
Hit the floor -- Linkin Park 2003
Dracula's Wedding -- OUTKAST 2003
Get By Talib Kweli -- 2003
Damn! [Radio Edit] feat Lil Jon -- Young Bloodz 2003
The Marrying Kind -- Prince 2004
Going Hard -- Talib Kweli 2004
Down Here In Hell(With You) -- Van Hunt 2004

Woo! That was alot. Comments hopefully to come later.

Christmas Thoughts

2004-12-24T21:20:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me recently how I felt about "the holidays", and I responded that, as an adult, Christmas has become a lot less fun. I spent most of the holidays driving myself (considerably more) crazy by worrying about maintaining the budget set for the family at the beginning of the month. As I can tell by looking at the rather large pile of toys lining my living room, this is not only an impossibility to try, but something I went back on myself well before the last stores closed on Christmas Eve. Indeed, I went out (with Alex) to Toys-R-Us looking for stuff for him. To take it a step further, I had him try stuff and play with it to see if he'd like it. Of course, this will only work for another Christmas; I think he'll begin remembering the stuff we played with by the time he's nearly three. For the moment, I'm going to enjoy his lack of long-term memory for the varying toys that are coming his way, and enjoy the look in his eyes when he sees his new walker and piano for the "first" time.

Merry Christmas!