Phoning It In For Post 400

Straight up. I'm phoning it in today. I woke up late and have been disengaged since. I'm going to leave you with a song about phones: The Firm's Phone Tap. If you don't know about the Firm, it was the other Junior Mafia, a collection of dope emcees who made shitty team tracks. The Firm consisted of Nas, Az, Nature, and Foxy Brown. This track is with Dr. Dre on the secret phone type shit. Alright, dig it. I'm going to do something else. Later. Be back on Sunday.

Keep it Jazzy, Net People

Today, a study came out about the fact that men talk just as much as women. I thought about blogging this a couple of times, but I can't think of why I should actually care. People talk. It is how we communicate. I'm glad that the stigma of men only doing and not talking is gone. So many men get into trouble by doing and not saying. I can only think it positive that it is now proven that men talk just as much as women. Aside from this story, everyone is on vacation, working it out in bikinis and other light clothing.

So, for the relaxed times, I'm going to chill it out for the smokers, the tokers, and the cool kids with some jazz, although jazz isn't really cool anymore because suburban wannabes made it not cool. These suburban wannabes are usually white people, but it is unfair to blame them exclusively.

A lot of white people came into Jazz with hella respect for the game and did it up real big, taking on other forms and cultures as well as putting soul into the form while flexing their musical skills. Good examples of this are Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd, and Diana Krall (I'm not huge on her music, but she can play the piano like a wizard. ) But, for each white person with a love of the form, there are three or four others who make jazz sanitary and safe. This is not what Jazz is. Jazz is the exploration of the soul, of emotions, of the spirit of youth and of life. Some people just don't have this spirit within, so they bastardize the form.

So, in the essence of true form and to show that white people can show respect for cultural forms and ADD to them, I give you John Coltrane and Stan Getz playing Rifftide. If you've listened to jazz, you probably know this song. Coltrane, powerful yet sloppy. Getz, smooth and technical. Oscar Peterson on the piano. Paul Chambers on the Bass. Jimmy Cobb on the skins. Good quality video of a fantastic line-up.



And if this isn't enough of you, laugh at this picture of Elizabeth Hurley's son Damien humping her side in a deliciously dapper schoolboy outfit. She clearly hates her son. But, I don't blame him. I'd hump her arm too.

25 Important Films

Today, USA Today published a list of 25 films that have had an impact on culture and the film industry.

The first thing that has to be commented on is the fact that The Lord of the Rings trilogy is considered by the staff of USA Today to be the most important film in the past 25 years. I understand it in principle, as it was a high-grossing movie with a lot of special effects Oscars. But, I'm having problems agreeing with it. They were interesting, but I can't watch them again. Firstly because they are too long. Secondly because the stories weren't really that engaging. I saw all of these movies out of my dome, and they tripped me out. But, sober, I couldn't stand them. I haven't been able to watch them again since the first viewing.

Also, I can't be the only person who hated Titanic with a passion, enough so to have a disagreement with it being the 5th most important film of the past 25 years. I wholeheartedly disagree with that choice. It didn't even launch DiCaprio into the public sphere. The Basketball Diaries and What's Eating Gilbert Grape were far better performances from him and showed his true talents as an actor. Also, Kate Winslet was magical in Heavenly Creatures. So, this is clearly a monetary decision more than an actual acting decision.

Along with all of this, I disagree with The Cable Guy being on this list. I saw The Cable Guy when it came out. It was a waste of a matinee ticket. Seriously, if I could get back the money I didn't pay for it, I would. I didn't expect it to be The Mask, but I also didn't expect it to suck. USA Today justifies its choice by saying that it was the first movie to pay an actor $20 Million dollars. While that may be true, it has also sunken Hollywood into an era of overpaid actors making mediocre films with bloated budgets. Waterworld anyone?

Also, I am not OK with MI:III being on this list either. Tom Cruise's ode to himself is justified by the writer as being what can happen when an actor becomes a fanatical religious zealot*. But, it is a bad film. I would think that Top Gun would be a better film that doesn't appear on this list. How many movies can you think of that take off the spirit of Top Gun? I don't know....THE WHOLE DIE HARD SERIES! And this only one. Top Gun is the modern action movie personified: overly melodramatic, seething with sexual tension (man/man and man/woman) but having tons of actually good action sequences. I don't know how this movie couldn't be considered, but MI:III is. This is clearly them wanting to stick it to Cruise for being a Scientologist.

Also, as much as I may like Pretty Woman (I do. It's a nice romance story. I don't watch it all of the time because Julia Roberts upsets me, but I don't think that it's a bad movie.), I don't measure anyone against Julia Roberts as a newly rising actress. She's not that nice. Apparently, USA Today believes that she is the young woman that all are measured against when coming into Hollywood. If this is true, can Helen Mirren save us all? Maybe Judi Dench or Cate Blanchett? What about Kate Winslet? All maybe be British, but they are all better than Julia Roberts in my book.

While I may have slammed a lot of this list, I don't actually disagree with a lot of them as good films, although I think that Goodfellas, The Matrix, and Batman should have been a little higher. But, in the end, I don't really agree with a lot of their justifications; I think they are a lot of bullshit that are more based around making money than actual artistic reasoning. But, then again, this is also why I hate reading USA Today: it is a dumb paper that plays to the most basic of instincts. I'd like to see this list in a forum that I actually respect like, I don't know, Video Hits One's Best Week Ever or E! The Soup.

*This term "religious zealot" is relative; you have to believe that Scientology is an actual religion. I don't, so this is a relative term for me.

I Don't Want To, But I'm Obligated

In the ongoing fiasco of Iraq, a point of hilarity. From McClatchy:

A now-dead plan to ring Baghdad with a trench to keep out insurgents has found new life in Karbala, a predominately Shiite Muslim city 50 miles south of the capital.

Iraqi construction crews this month will begin digging a 12-mile-long trench to the west and south of the city of 1.4 million residents to help prevent car bombs and protect two holy Shiite shrines.

This is pretty good, but it gets better:

Local officials think that the trench will offer another layer of protection from insurgents, even though it won't surround the city.

Now, I'm not someone to make critical comments, but I'd have to say that this isn't one of the better ideas ever. It most likely will not protect the city and is another waste of money. But, then again, should I expect something different?

Padma's Playing The Field

Aside from some tragic incidents involving a very nice girl named Yara and a video of a huge douchebag, I don't really read Gawker because it has a problem with accuracy and actually holding my interest as I don't particularly care about New York City. With that said, I am going to restore the hope of so many men in the world.

Due to a reporting error at Gawker, Padma Lakshmi, formerly Mrs. Sir Salman Rushdie, is still on the field. So, if you do want to date a super hot woman with a refined palate and a taste for the gange, you will have your opportunity to do so. Get your shoes shines, suits pressed, and game in order because I don't see a dude coming with B+ or B game pulling Ms. Lakshmi. She's probably hit on all of the time and can't stand to be bothered with some small time, wannabe ballers because of it.

To the single men of New York City and the other metropolises of the world, I only have one word for you all: godspeed.

Should I Be Surprised?

Given the overemphasis put on women's appearances and the continual erosion of their confidence from the hypersexualization of base products due to the capitalist culture, should I really be surprised by the following news. From Ananova:

Breast enlargements are now the most common graduation gift for girls who pass their secondary school exams in Italy.

This all strikes me as putting values in the wrong place. These girls are on their way to university. They can make huge advances in their lives, but they want fake boobs? I don't get it, but this might come from being a man who has only had his psyche shattered because he's not cut enough, not because his breasts aren't large enough or body slim enough. Yes, capitalism is a wonderful thing.

Shame on Multiple Fronts

On the Fourth of July, President Bush made his somewhat frequent trip to my area to address the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard. This not only puts him a few miles away from me, it also allows him to make a ridiculous connection between an actual important war and the war on terrorism. Without fail, and exactly like in Jamestown, Bush made a connection with a piece of important American history and this travesty of a war. From the article:

President Bush equated the war in Iraq on Wednesday with the U.S. war for independence. Like those revolutionaries who "dropped their pitchforks and picked up their muskets to fight for liberty," Bush said that American soldiers are also fighting "a new and unprecedented war" to protect U.S. freedom.

On multiple previous occasions, I've commented on how this war is nothing like we have done in our history. The British started the Revolutionary War through overexerting its influence in the colonies, visually manifesting itself in the slaying of Crispus Attucks in the event that would quickly become known as the Boston Massacre and the passing of the Stamp act in 1775 which led to the act of rebellion known as the Boston Tea Party. Additionally, that war was a REACTION to the oppression of the British. And, yes, farmers did put down their pitchforks to fight the war, but they also had help from the French, who also did not want to see the British succeed. Whatever the French's motivation was, they helped America gain its freedom from the tyranny of the British. As can be seen, this is absolutely nothing like the war on terrorism. Afghanistan would be alright, if it weren't horribly mismanaged from the outset by allowing al-Qaeda to dip into the mountains and disappear. Iraq is a war that we started ourselves against a country that, while led by a tyrant, was of no real consequence to the events that were used to justify the action: the destruction of the World Trade Centers. You could make the argument that the positions have been switched, that America is now the British and the Islamic fundamentalists are the revolutionaries. I'm just throwing it out there...

So, along with making tenuous connections with history, Bush is patently lying to people. Example:

In a reprise of speeches he delivered throughout the 2006 congressional campaign, the president said that the threat that emerged Sept. 11, 2001, remains and that "a major enemy in Iraq is the same enemy that dared attack the United States on that fateful day."

As can be gleaned from any embedded reporter in Iraq, this is just not true. Both Shi'ite and Sunni Islamic militants are attacking American troops. Al-Qaeda, as he is suggesting in dense language, is not the only group.

As if this weren't enough, Bush goes in front of an audience that has been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan two or three times to get people to volunteer. Frankly, I'd be surprised if people enlisted now. I know that people are dedicated to the principle of freedom and fighting for country, but there has to be a division between fighting for country and going on a suicide mission, which is what deployment into Iraq and Afghanistan has become.

I'm out of words to condemn Bush with. I'm only disappointed because he was only ten minutes from my own home, spreading disinformation and revising history, a history of an event that defined the foundation of this country, to justify a war that has reversed the work of those patriots of the late 18th Century.

Watch This

Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC's Countdown and generally accurate while being cantankerous, made one of his occasional special comments last night. This special comment was a lot different from his other ones. This one was very pointed towards the White House, in particular the 1st and 2nd in command.

Olbermann, in a feat that has to be something close to unparalleled in news journalism, called for Bush and Cheney to be real Americans and resign from their offices due to their commutation of the prison term of Scooter Libby.

Although I thought he pronounced one of the words wrong, his message was strong and he made the connection between Nixon and Bush effectively. I have to say that, while he may sound paranoid, he is on to something. The fact that Libby hadn't gone to prison but was commutated is really quite the questionable situation. Everyone normally has to go to jail or flee the country. They have to do something before they can get an assist from the head of state. Clearly, this action has something to do with the fact that the White House is involved in this process. I agree with Olbermann; Bush and Cheney do need to resign. First, the Attorney Scandal. Now, the Libby pardon. And, before all of this, there was the concerted effort to out Valerie Plame after Joe Wilson refuted one of the primary arguments for going to war.

At this point in time, I can't attribute the sketchy actions of the Bush administration to my general paranoia as a leftist. I think this is an administration that has jettisoned the law to achieve its own goals. The Democrats should impeach, but we all know they won't because they ndhave no spine. The Bush administration should resign. On the 4th of July, it is what our founding fathers would expect of us.

I'm Trying

But, I've got nothing so far.

Superhead

The name Karrine Steffans might not actually mean a lot to you. But, if you've watched BET or MTV Sucka Free, you've probably seen her before. She's one of those girls in rap videos setting everyone back by prancing around scantily clad and shaking her ass. But, she didn't get to where she is by just doing that. Oh no. She's slept with pretty much every major rap star and Black athlete in the world. She didn't get the name Superhead for nothing.

She's written of her exploits once in a book called Confessions of a Video Vixen. It turns up that she is writing a new book called The Vixen Diaries, where she will now recap all of her affairs since she published her last book up to the month of June. June 2007 that is. In this book, she claims that she has slept with Lil' Wayne and Ne-Yo amongst others.

I'm actually not going to do what you think I am. Steffans has made a career out of opening her legs for rap stars. I can't actually hate on her for it, even though I wouldn't hit that for a couple of reasons. The fact that she is trying to juice me for my (non-existent) papes is one. The second is I know my ass would end up in this book, especially if I was famous and knew that she had already written one book about the same damn thing. I know I'm not, but, if I were, I would not be trying to get with this chick because she is only using me to keep her name in the press for no other reason than the fact that she craves the limelight; being a background dancer in a rap video is not the best way to get the constant media attention that all mainstream rappers receive.

This brings me back around to the rappers. They are the idiots here. These dudes know that they are going to get caught up in some bullshit with this chick, but they still go to her anyway. They know that she is just piggybacking off of their talent and celebrity, but they still carry her on their arm. I don't roll like this. To quote Phife: "You didn't want me then/ so, hon, don't want me now" But, rappers are too busy trying to prove they're men and thinking with their dicks instead of their heads.

As long as this is the standard, do your thing, Superhead. Do the damn thing.

The Failure of Government

So, yesterday, President Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby was the vice president Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff. This is frankly a tragedy of justice. But, I'm a liberal, I'm supposed to believe stuff like this is a travesty of justice. It's just in my purview to believe things in this manner.

I didn't expect journalism to be so soundly against this too. Now do you believe me in saying that he will go down as the worst president of all time. He will never recover. Ever. Bush gets no mulligan in the face of history.

Mexico Sticks It To America

So, it appears that America, along with losing its grasp in the war on terror, is losing its grasp on having the world's richest people. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and Harvard dropout, was formerly the richest man in the world. This title has been taken away from him, and not by a small margin either.

According to the Guardian, Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecoms tycoon (how quaint of a term!), is now the world's richest man by a difference of about 9 Billion dollars over Gates. Slim is worth about 68 Billion while Gates is only worth about 59.

While this is interesting, I'm willing to concede that this isn't important.

A Question for the Heads.

I'm wondering if El-P and Aesop Rock are the David Lynchs of hip-hop. Before you shrug that off, think about it. Both have the attributes of being impenetrable with iconoclastic flows engrained with a deep sense of clastrophobia, exactly like David Lynch. They are both based in the core of hip-hop. But, they draw detractors. Some people see them as visionary. Others see them as pretentious. No one can really diss the pure skills displayed by either, but there is plenty to critique on the actual presentation and content. There is much passion within this argument as well. I know my answer. You probably know my answer, but I'd like to know where you stand. Let me know. Leave a comment.

After Giving Dap To El-P...

I must cleanse myself of the inherent shame. I really don't like El-P. He's without question one of my least favorite emcees of all time. I love his production, but I hate listening to him rap. Listening to Funcrusher Plus was an exercise in self-torture for that reason alone. That's why you'll never hear me bumping that album on my own time.

So, with that said, I'm going to post a video from some rappers who I find to be on the cutting edge of rap but not as torturous as listening to either El-P or Aesop Rock, a vastly overrated emcee in my opinion. This is a video from Edan and Mr. Lif, an emcee signed to El-P's label Definitive Jux. I'm not a fan of El-P as a rapper. I didn't say he sucked at everything else. If anything, I give him props for having a good ear and giving opportunities to dudes that wouldn't otherwise have one because they are too out there.



Edan's Beauty and the Beat is a good example of what I would consider to be an album that is progressive yet still utterly listenable. Mr. Lif: I caught him live with Akrobatik and Fakts One in The Perceptionists. I was engineering. System blew out, but they still rocked it to the fullest. It was fun, old school, and Fakts One got lost. One of the best hip-hop concerts I've ever been to. Actually it was second to when I saw People Under The Stairs in 2002.

El-P: Overrated or Genius?

Today, I was reading the blog over at XXL. When not being dumb, they actually do make some decent comments about music. Bol, one of the bloggers over there, was doing a mid-year recap. He was talking about how El-P's I'll Sleep When You're Dead is one of the best rap albums to come out this year. With everyone pretty much roundly loving it and sicing it, I figured that I would give it a listen.

After listening to the album through, this album's good, but it's not album of the year material. I want to like this album. As much as I really don't like El-P, I'll Sleep When You're Dead is really close to being a classic album. El-P sharpened his form, started rhyming on the beat, and opened up his overall sound. But, there, of course, are problems keeping if from being classic.

Primarily, the album doesn't thump. The beats are menacing, and that's whatever to me. I grew up listening to Autechre, a band that scares people with the manic nature of their beats. So, chaotic beats are the last concern in my life. But, as a hip-hop head and someone who lives on quality production, I want a thump, especially from a hip-hop album. All of the tracks are very trebly and midrange, which doesn't attract my attention to the music as it should. Hip-hop commands attention from the listener due to its beats and their heaviness. El-P's beats do not require, or ask, for such attention. And this is one of the weaknesses of the album.

The second, and last, weakness is that the album is not memorable to me. I've listened through the album twice and there are no lines that pop out to me, nothing that sears in my mind as a classic punchline or a classic hip-hop quotable. If there were a few of these on this album, I think that it would more successful.

To really only do two things wrong is something that more hip-hop artists could only wish for on their albums. But, these are two fairly large problems for an album to have, especially a hip-hop release. I would expect baseless lyrics from post-punk, but post-punk is about sound and not lyrics like hip-hop. These two problems are what keeps this otherwise good, if not by the numbers, El-P release from being the class of 2007. Don't worry: this album will appear on a lot of best of lists at the end of the year, especially the Pitchfork list. But, it won't appear on mine.

If I had to quantify how I felt about this album, it would be a 7/10.

I Didn't Make This Up

Even if I did, I wouldn't admit to it. From Ananova:

A Bulgarian professor has promised students A grades if they write about Angelina Jolie's boobs and buy a copy of his new book.

Professor Stefan Karastoyanov, of the Geology and Geography Department of Sofia University, made the promise as a protest after he was not paid for three months because of cash problems.

He said: "If they write about Angelina Jolie's boobs and buy my book they'll get an A."

So far 80 of the 120 students sitting his classes have ordered his book.

That's one way to get people to read your book.

R.I.P. AND PSA

This is Hi-Five. If you didn't grow up listening to Black urban radio, this song might lost upon you. Anyway, this is I like the way. This song was the jam. They were like the replacement New Edition or Boyz II Men or Jodeci, but I'm getting away from my point. Today, it was reported that the lead member of the group Tony Thompson died. Thompson, age 31, died from huffing freon. This is not a joke. This dude seriously huffed freon. Kids, I hope this serves as a valuable lesson for not huffing. While 7th Heaven might have tried to tell you this, the WB was alarmist and had a clear, right-wing agenda*. This is real shit. Don't do it.

*7th Heaven always struck me as having a right wing agenda, along with a lot of the other shows. This is clearly refuted by the support given to Gilmore Girls, a show that revolves around a single mother and her daughter. But, I need an inflammatory comment to end on. I think I achieved that.

Well, There Goes That

The Guardian has reported that Padma Lakshmi and recently knighted Sir Salman Rushdie are getting a divorce after three years of marriage. According to the report, Lakshmi asked for the divorce. It's all good. If you are looking for a man of danger, Salman's playing the field. If you want to date a super hot woman with a refined palate and an affinity for the gange, you'll have to keep waiting. Gawker reports that Ms. Lakshmi has been seen on the town with grouchy foodie Anthony Bourdain.

A Washingtonian Gripe

As you have well figured out by now if you read this blog on a somewhat frequent basis, I am an Washingtonian by birth. I was born and raised in Washington. While I don't live there anymore, I'm still in the metropolitan area (seriously, look that shit up). One of my major gripes with living in D.C. was the fact that public travel was very difficult.

Some of you who have traveled to D.C. might be saying, "What, how is that possible?" My short answer to you is that you're not Black. The Black neighborhoods in the city are not easily accessible by subway, the system you are most likely familiar with as a tourist. They are only accessible by buses that can either run on time or run about 10-15 minutes late all of the time. As well, they are ridiculously slow. This is a good example.

When I went to school, I had to go out to the D.C./Chevy Chase border to catch a shuttle to school. In a car, this trip would take 10 minutes, 15 if you caught traffic. It took me, on average, 40 minutes to take the same trip. It was only 20 minutes if I did it on a half-day, but this wasn't too often. I had to catch two buses to make the trip as well: one to cross the park and the other to go up the road back to my block.

The reason that this is so is because the vaunted D.C. train system does not run near my house. If I need to take the train, I could expend the time to make the 15-20 minute walk to my nearest train station, which is in the primarily white enclave of Takoma Park and then spend another 45 minutes on the train to go downtown, only to slingshot back out on the other side of town. I can also wait around for 10-30 minutes for the bus to go down the road and transfer from the green line, adding another 15 minutes or so to my already long trip. The reason that this is so is because the Metro was not built to actually serve the city. They have been making efforts, but it is all for naught until the city gets a line that circles it.

While the D.C. system is trying to improve, it is also vaunted due to its clean, quiet nature. This is really appealing to the suburbanites who like to forget that the city is 3/5s Black and still extremely violent. They can avoid all of the ruffians who may not be able to pay the fare to get into the system or the 3 or 4 dollars that it might actually costs to get to their destination, which was myself on many occasions. While these aesthetic concerns will not be addressed, others will. The new general manager of WMATA wants to brighten the very dim underground stations, take out the carpet, and throw up more ads to cut costs and generate revenue.

To address all three of these things at one time, I say let's do it. More ads won't kill me. I'm already overadvertised-to anyway. Additionally, the carpet in the trains is stained and gross. It serves no function and holds smells. Lastly, the subway stations are really dark. You can't read a book or a magazine while waiting on the platform because of it. My viewpoint is immaterial because people believe that Metro should maintain an elite status as a train system by holding on to these vestiges which separate it from the crowd. Such vestiges include: high fares, inconvenient locations, overzealous transit cops, and overcrowded trains.

I've ridden train systems in other cities. And, yes, Metro is quieter. But that's really the only upside. Other systems are cheaper, have flat fares, and *gasp* can actually get me where I need to go efficiently. And I'll choose efficiency and cost over comfort any day of the week, especially with a bus system that actually has a solid reasoning behind it.

In the end, I guess this is just me. The suburbanites would rather have their space of comfort and relaxation while the rest of us swelter in the oppressive summer heat waiting for the E or 70 bus (If you are at this intersection (Georgia & Kennedy NW), go to Wings and Things) to show up instead of supporting a system that actually helps people in the city traverse it with greater ease.

Stick a Fork in 5 A Day

As I was standing over my cereal this morning, I realized that doing 5 A Day is way too stressful. I'm woefully behind in my reading. The time that I take listening to cds can be better spent reading, especially since it is nice out nowadays. I'll definitely talk about albums that I like, but they will be written more like actual reviews instead of blasts. So, with all of this said, the 5 A Day project is dead. It lasted for two weeks, which is a week longer than I thought it would.

This is Not A Wingman

Some enterprising college students came up with an enterprising idea to capitalize on the stupidity of people who drive to the bar, get wasted, and shouldn't drive anymore. Called the Wingmen Driving Service, the students serve as chauffeurs for the night. You call them and two wingmen will show. They will pick you and your car up at the agreed-upon point. One will drive your car. The other will follow behind. The service is only available in the Red Bank-Sea Bright-Atlantic Highlands triangle of New Jersey. If you are in that area, the service will cost you 20 bucks, the same probably as getting a cab. Outside of the triangle, add $10. Between bars, another 5.

Now, this is a brilliant idea. I'm glad that someone somewhere is capitalizing on the heavily popular drinking industry while also keeping the streets safe. But, I do have a problem with the name. Now, they might be using the term in the Goose to Maverick sort of way. But, when I hear wingman or wingmen, especially in relation to drinking/partying/socializing, I think of the guy who runs interference so his friend can get some play without getting cockblocked. I've run wingman a lot before. It's a fine art. If you are not familiar with the skills needed, read this fine, and oh-so-square, article from the Washington Post and their resident teen/college specialist Laura Sessions Stepp. The feminists have huge problems with her, and I understand why. But, I can't explain it; you will have to take it up with them.

Weekly Check-in With Myself

I usually read through this blog for quality reasons. While it has been up for about three months, I'm still getting the hang of it. I'm used to doing a lot of editing while writing, something that I can't do if I want to post frequently like I do. I'm going to start using simpler sentences and fewer commas. That should help me a lot since that seems to be where a lot of the problems are. What will also help me is finishing ideas that I start in paragraphs. The response to the racists is a good example. I name check a lot of people, but I don't explain why they are important (They are important to the social sphere AND Black). Or, in an older post, I talk about other forms of football but don't explain why they are better than American football. In short, every other form of football is more exciting than American football. This is coming from someone who likes American football.

Additionally, I'm going to tighten up the 5 A Day writing a bit. They aren't bad, but I think that I can get rid of careless errors like forgetting band names and repeating phrases. It's not a big deal, but it looks bad. And, I like to keep a tight verbal ship. Also, I'll keep my facts in line as well since I was called out on in with regards to a review of Howl.

Everything is going pretty well for the first three months or so. It started off as incoherent rambling. It is now grammatically unsound, but coherent, rambling. I can only go down from here.

Alright, that said, this is a video for Fade into You by Mazzy Star



And these are random songs:

Waiting for the Man - OMD
Decoration Day - Howlin' Wolf
Theme From Within - Blue States
Too Tired To Shine II - American Analog Set
No Complaints - Beck
Tell 'Em I'm Surfin' - Fantastic Baggys
The Hustler - The Sonics
I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore - Dusty Springfield
Concrete Seconds - Pinback
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Don't Ever Get Tired - Tindersticks
Keeping You Alive - The Gossip
Karl Blau - The Microphones
Poppin' My Collar - Three 6 Mafia
What Can I Say - Yo La Tengo