It's A Good Time To Be A Fan of Good Music

People wanna know why I don't like Sarah Palin….truthfully, I don't NOT like Sarah Palin. I just have a problem with people who overstep their boundaries and claim that they are capable and qualified to do things which the world knows is not true. Honestly, she'd be a great elementary school teacher. Or sports news anchor. Or one of those nice ladies who wears the green apron at Starbucks. Or one of those sweet gals who work in the entertainment business as a private entertainer at social business establishments designated for gentlemen. Just not Vice President of the United States. (and I don’t really delve into political blogging, but the ones who piss me off the most are the conservatives who won't admit that she's drastically unqualified. I mean, its ok if you wanna go ahead and vote McCain, but don’t insult everyone including yourself by actually defending her as a legitimate candidate. Don’t be a friggin buffoon!)

I am sorry for that. Let me move on to the purpose of this entry.

In my effort to be a better person, I want to always be able to admit when I am out of my league. For example, I'm not great at reviewing albums. I just never really know the right thing to say. I know when I like an album, and I know why I like an album, but I can never convey this without failing to resist the temptation to sound intellectual and creative and insightful into the world of music (and once I try, I usually fail miserably at that too.) Honestly, I think the whole notion of critiquing someone's artistic expression and saying something that might discourage others from sampling it is just wrong. We all feel things differently, and we see paintings differently, we smell the flowers differently, we taste gourmet food differently, and of course, we hear music differently. Just because I think that Jason Mraz sounds like pure musical bliss doesn’t mean you will. Just because I think Danity Kane has less than talent than the crud at the bottom of my kitchen sink doesn’t mean that they actually do have less talent than the crud at the bottom of my kitchen sink. I can gladly recommend new music, but I hate to discourage people from experiences that they might otherwise enjoy.

But I still have to at least address the recent surge in good music. This time last year, we had just received the Kanye/50 Cent albums, but beyond that the market was dry as John McCain's epidermis. I bitched and moaned for weeks about how there was no music. A year later, there is nothing but good music, so here are my top 6 albums (in no particular order) that you should be listening to and why...

T.I. - Paper Trail - Something about the prospect of federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison brings out the best in an artist...

Day26 - Day26 - Sure it’s not as new, but you'd be surprised how many people have actually written these guys off before giving them a chance. You heard it from me…they have vocals…and the harmony is the stuff only rivaled by classic boys ii men

Kanye West - 808's & Heartbreak - I'm deeply offended that you think I actually need to explain why this will be good…as if the name Kanye West wasn't enough….

Beyonce - I Am….Sasha Fierce - Ok remember that stuff I said earlier about not being a hater who discourages people from listening to stuff that they would otherwise like? Well that’s the basis of Beyonce making this list. In the interest of full disclosure, I just can't get excited about Beyonce's music…not cause she can't sing…I just can never understand the words…maybe a lil yahoo lyrics would make it better for me….

Mary Mary - The Sound - I've never really given them a chance before…but I should have… this album takes contemporary gospel to a whole new level. Well I don't really know what level contemporary gospel currently is so I cant accurately say whether or not Mary Mary takes it to a level different from the one that it currently resides. (This is why I don’t review albums…I never know what to say)

John Legend - Evolver - You ever bite a steak when you're really hungry and the first bite is just "mmmmmm wow"? That would be "Get Lifted". But then after that first bite, you think, "the first bite was the best bite, and although I am looking forward to cherishing every morsel of this steak, the first bite was the best…" and then…"HOLY SHIT the second bite tastes even better…" That would be "Once Again". Then after the second bite… you drink some water, take a bite of your roll, eat a little bit of your side salad. Then you're ready for bite three. And you have expectations that bite three will be as tasteful as bite one and two, but you also know that not every bite can possibly be great. Then you take bite three…."mmmmmmmmmmmmmm so great. I can't believe it. My compliments to the chef…" I love the new album "Evolver". And I'm hungry.

Honorable Mentions of 2008 - The Roots - Rising Down

Dishonorable Mention - The most overrated, overplayed, overhyped album ever - Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III

Was Today A Good Day?

"Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God
I don't know but today seems kinda odd" - Ice Cube

Sometimes it's hard to say that today was a good day. It was. But sometimes, it doesn’t feel right to say that today was a good day for you, when so much tragedy surrounds you. I can't help but be focused on this Jennifer Hudson family tragedy. I don’t think the tragic loss that celebrities suffer is any worse than that of us common folk, but there was something about the brutality of this situation that has stuck with me.

To preface this, I guess I should explain my own feelings on the senselessness of murder. Ending someone's life, under any circumstances, to me, is an unnecessary irrevocable extreme. But my sympathy for murdered drug dealers, violent criminals, men who abuse their wives, adults who molest, assault, neglect children, thieves who would rather put effort into taking your shit than to get a job to earn their own…my sympathy for these people has its limits. So when I see on the news that someone has been murdered in the midst of a drug deal or some other violent act, I guess its easy for me to move on. When I hear that someone innocent has died in some kind of altercation, my heart goes out, but at least I can imagine the circumstances that led to such a killing. I mean, it wasn't justified, but I suppose I see the reason it happened. But when a man, for no reason, takes the life of an innocent unarmed woman, or a small harmless child, I have almost no remorse for whatever horror befalls that person.

I was saddened to see that Hudson's mother and brother had been murdered on Friday, but when I woke up yesterday to find the news that the little 7 year old nephew had been murdered, I was shocked. I will never understand what the little boy could have possibly done to deserve that. It would have been just as easy for the man to dump the boy on the side of the road. The man has already been identified, the world knows who he is, the police know exactly who they are looking for. What could the boy have possibly told the police that they didn’t already know? Senseless. Merciless. Heartless. Cruel. I just don’t understand why this is what we have become…hearing about this type of news makes everything else seem so small.

Still that is what separates us from them. The merciful from the merciless. We should care, we should be upset, we should be bothered, we should be saddened. Not just about this, but all of the tragedy we see. (and in this world, we see plenty). When we see the names of soldiers who have been killed or students who have been shot at school or innocent drivers who have died in horrific accidents on the same highways that we drive up and down everyday…we should feel something. It has become so easy to allow ourselves to become desensitized to the world around us. Let this be a reminder to those I care about to cherish your life, and the lives of those around you. Tragedy shouldn’t have to hit us or our families in order for us to feel. I love you all and I thank God for every day that we continue to share on this earth...

Thought for the Day

"Remember that show on Nickelodeon with Mark Summers called "What Would You Do?" and the pies in everyone's face all the time...? Good show..."


The Thought for the Day...
If you were given the chance to witness an execution, would you go?

Saw V Review - You Will Believe How It Ends

Review of Saw 5

I am a huge fan of Saw V. Saw V, however, did not win the box office last weekend, because of High School Musical 3. Someone close to me, without just cause, has supported and even blogged about HSM3, and it saddens me. He is indeed less of a man now because of his recent actions. But more importantly, he has shed light on an ever-increasing problem with our generation. We are getting soft. We prefer cheesy dance musicals instead of good ol' fashion horror movies and suspense thrillers. I will not live in a society that tolerates such softness, especially by those who are close to me. Therefore, for every action there shall be an equal but opposite reaction. My equal but opposite reaction to my friends horrible blog post about HSM 3 is the following:

A great blog review of Saw V.

**SPOILER ALERT**…

I will try to avoid giving a full synopsis of this film, because that's not a review (and because it would take too long to explain…instead, go see it…right now…). But here goes….My biggest anticipation of this film was the background that would be revealed about John Kramer aka Jigsaw, and the new apprentice, Detective Mark Hoffman. I must say that the writers came up with a clever way to tie these two individuals together, surprisingly, from the very beginning of Jigsaw's journey. The four prior movies gave us no indication that there was a second apprentice alongside Amanda Young, but V's explanation was completely realistic and legitimate. Obstacle #1 has been overcome.

My first criticism of the movie, (yes I am capable of being critical towards SAW), deals with the plot line of the 5 individuals in the new game. I have yet to articulate what it was that I didn't like about their story arc, but it just didn't match up with the previous films. They were supposed to be five individuals, all from privileged backgrounds, who were selfish and incapable of teamwork. One of the problems with these characters was that their character development was less than subtle, and instead of us finding out what we needed to know based on their actions, they would just come right out and say it "I'm rich and spoiled and I take shortcuts on my job". The second flaw in this arc was the traps….every trap centered around the same concept…a room with a pipe bomb, and 15 minutes for them to figure out how to get out of the room before the bomb goes off. I always take pride in the creative gruesome ways that the Saw writers come up with to kill the characters, but sticking them in a room with a bomb four times, jut not impressive. The last trap was quite gruesome and fairly complex, but that was about it….

Finally, let me go "stereotypical black dude" on you for a second. Do you remember the movie Scream 2 where they crazy ass killer murdered Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett in the first 5 minutes of the movie? That sparked a huge controversy in the black community based on one simple question "Why do the black people always have to get killed first?" Well, as Hollywood/white people always do, they came up with a solution to take away our argument while ensuring that we stay oppressed. So instead of killing us FIRST, they have now decided to kill us WORST. For example:

Saw 2 - Glenn Plummer gets in a fight with the crazy drug dealer and gets a bat full of nails to the head…splitting his head open.

Saw 3 - Mpho Koaho is placed in a device called The Rack, a machine that slowly, torturously twists his arms, legs, and head until the bones break, popping out of the skin.

And in Saw V, Megan Goode, well, let's just say, the other victims turn on her and make sure that she dies in an unnecessarily violent fashion. But I won't ruin for those poor saps who have yet to see it….

Finally…the ending…

The Saw franchise has developed a reputation of having great plot twists in the endings, and usually with the purpose of setting up the next film…

And for some reason, the writers and directors began to believe their own hype…

So they marketed the film with this tagline …"You won't believe how it ends…"

Bad idea. Why? Because the ending wasn't great? No, and the ending was great. Because it opened up a whole new world of questions to be answered in the next film, frustrating fans for another year? No, it actually answered more questions and explained many things from the previous films.

So why was this such a bad marketing scheme? Because Saw, despite its gloriousnessnessness, has developed a very small die-hard fan base, and the rest of the world is full of speculating douche bags who flood our message boards with things like "why do they keep making Saw movies, they suck….they're stupid….they're not even scary…isn't he dead?" So the last thing we need is another movie that has been overhyped so much that it is impossible for the movie to meet the unreasonable expectations it has set for itself. I feel like that is what happened with Saw V. A lot of fans, NOT ME, were disappointed with Saw IV so they were looking for V to revive the franchise. And this movie did. But was it as great as it was expected to be? To me…absolutely..but to the average moviegoer…perhaps not. That's not a reflection on the movie, but on the idiots at Lionsgate who decided to publicize the movie by declaring in advance that the ending would be unbelievable. Hey Lionsgate…just let it happen, don’t force it….

With all of that being said, I highly recommend Saw V. Here is my preference of the movies. Saw 1, Saw 3, Saw 5, Saw 2, Saw 4. Would love some feedback on the movie for those REAL Fans….and for those who don’t like it…DON’T GO SEE IT!!! IT'§ THAT SIMPLE. IS IT NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU TO JUST AVOID THE MOVIE YOURSELF, DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO DISCOURAGE OTHERS FROM GOING? ASSHOLES.

www.saw5.com