"Paul Revere" My personal favorite Beastie Boys' song.
On Friday, the music world, and the world in general, lost one of the greats. Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was only 47, and although he was way too young to be taken, he left an indelible mark on the world in his short time. You will never hear a bad word spoken about him or the Beastie Boys (except maybe from the Chinese government). There were innumerable tweets, facebook statuses, and other homages to the artist (even the NY Mets honored him, which may have finally gotten me back in their good graces). I didn't really feel the impact of his loss until I read post after post from my favorite artists, talking about how influential MCA and the Beasties were on their lives and careers. I can't count how many amazing artists and musicians said that the Beasties changed their lives, and in an era where people claim that every new song and video is "life changing", when it came to MCA and the Beastie Boys, the claims were not exaggerations.
The Beastie Boys were never my favorite group (I couldn't get into the punk rock aspect too much) but I always enjoyed their music and respected them as icons. Here were these crazy ass white boys playing alongside the likes of Run DMC, Public Enemy, and LL Cool J, and absolutely holding their own. The greatest thing about them, and the thing that all other hip hop artists respected more than anything, was how they stayed true to themselves and true to the music. They didn't get caught up in fads, they started fads.
They went from a straight punk band to a hip hop group, but always stayed true to their punk roots. Even when they got older and started spending more time hanging out with Tibetan monks than guzzling 40s, they kept the punk rock attitude in their music. The song, and the video, "Fight for Your Right (To Party)" is one of the most memorable songs and videos from my childhood. Even though they were mocking other rock anthems of the time, you couldn't help but admire the antics and attitude they portrayed in the video. Most people didn't even get the parody because the Beasties were having so much fun that people wanted to be just like them; not to mention the song was simply catchy and energetic as hell. It didn't matter if they were being honest or ironic in their antics, it was the interaction between the three members of the group that was so mesmerizing. Even if you never saw their interviews, in which their love and camaradery is readily apparent, you can tell these guys were best friends just by listening to their songs and watching them perform. They were never the best lyricists, but their back and forth style, and the way they all complimented each other, is unparalleled. They were never individuals, they were the sum of their parts, which makes MCA's passing that much sadder; the group can no longer exist. Remove one component, and the whole thing falls apart. My heart goes out to Ad-Rock and Mike D. They lost a brother and a large part of themselves.
And the music world lost a legend. My favorite album, and the one that really cemented their legacy as true artists, was Paul's Boutique. Teaming up with the Dust Brothers, the Beasties took their sound to a whole new level and proved they could do more than make ironic party anthems.
They went on to make one of the best videos in history for Sabotage, and even though I didn't like the song that much, I always watched the video when it came on. Losing the MTV video award in five different categories (to Aerosmith and REM, nonetheless) only added to their cult status and led to one of MCA's finest moments ever, pulling a Kanye before Kanye; as Michael Stipe was accepting the award for Best Directing, MCA, disguised as his character from the "Sabotage" video, bumrushed the stage and protested the Beastie's loss in all five categories.
Punk rocker for life.
Their growth as musicians was remarkable, but it was their growth as human beings that was truly incredible. Although it was largely AD-Rock who was considered the best rapper/leader of the group, it was really MCA who led the personal growth of the group. He founded the Milarepa Fund to give royalties to the Tibetan monks who the Beasties sampled on an album, and eventually that led to the Tibetan Freedom Concert series. The concerts, held over a span of 5 years, raised almost a million dollars for the cause of Tibetan independence, a cause that could still use your help.
So instead of simply enjoying his fame and money, Adam Yauch decided to dedicate much of his life to people halfway across the world. And he was still able to put out some quality music while he was at it.
The world is a better place because of his existence, and it's a sadder place because of his early death.
RIP MCA.
I Love You All (And You Will Be Missed, Mr. Yauch)...Class Dismissed.
Travel, from the mental to the physical, is one of my favorite activities. I haven’t done nearly as much physical traveling as I’d like, but this year looks to be a little different. I already went to New Orleans, and I’m planning for Africa in May, so that’s more traveling than I’ve done in a long time. However, I haven’t been out of the country since I went to Spain with my family in my early teens (Canada doesn’t count because, you know…it's Canada) and I still haven’t been to a tropical island. Basically, I have a lot of the world to see.
I also have a lot of America to see. I went to Philly last month, where I met with the people who will be traveling with me to Tanzania. I had already been to Philly on two separate journeys, but each time it was only for one night, and it was no different this time. Whereas on my last visits I saw a baseball game and had a brief taste of the nightlife, this time I went on tours of two museums! An eight hour round-trip drive to see some old shit!
And it was completely worth it. We started off at Eastern State Penitentiary. When I first got the email about the trip, I thought we were going to see prisoners in a literacy program or something like that. When I finally googled it (always google it) I found that it had closed as a prison some time ago and was now open as a museum. It had nothing to do with the trip to Africa, it was just an interesting tour that we all were going to take.
I met with the group, we took the tour, and I learned some fascinating history. But mostly it was just really cool and creepy and interesting to be inside the prison where all this history actually occurred. And it made me think of how many places there are in this country, within very reasonable driving distance, that have so much history and meaning behind them. I like reading and watching movies to learn about the past, but the best way to learn history is by becoming immersed in it. Being inside a place physically puts you in a certain mentality that brings the past to life.For me anyway.
The entrance to Eastern State Penitentiary
The prison looks like an old gothic castle, and it’s located right in the middle of a highly populated city. On one side of the street, typical Philly brick lowrises, filled with coffee shops, homes, and book stores. On the other side, a giant castle wall 30 feet high.
The prison was basically the first prison in the world to focus on rehabilitation, instead of just punishment ("penitentiary" comes from "penitence"). They also introduced the idea of "solitary confinement," aka "the hole." But they used solitary confinement in a broader sense, too; when it opened, prisoners had their own cell and were forced to remain in complete silence, receiving punishments for even humming. Prison officials soon realized that this was not doing much for prisoners' rehab, in fact, it was making people insane. Changes were constantly made in an effort to keep with the times, and to appease lawmakers who did not believe in their progressive methods, and eventually the penitentiary just became a typical, overcrowded prison. In the middle of a major city. There were a few escape attempts (only one man ever escaped successfully) and some famous prisoners, including bank-robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone. Eventually, Philly residents decided it wasn't a good idea to have an overcrowded prison in the middle of their city (next to a school, nonetheless) and it was officially closed in 1971.
The typical jail cell.
Al Capone's jail cell. Like a bawse.
Five identical halls extend out from the center station; the warden could keep an eye on all five halls at the same time.
Looking down a hall from the center station.
Death Row. Inmates were held here, but transported elsewhere for the actual execution.
The hole.
Backstop for baseball, uprights for football, tower for guards.
The field and the wall. They added that fence at the top, not to stop balls from going out, but from coming in...stuffed with razors, drugs, and once, dynamite. They closed soon after that.
The outer wall. The station on top was actually unmanned...until the first escape attempt.
Window love.
Shower love. Lots of it.
This alone would make me repent.
And that's really all the information I'm gonna give you. If you want to know more, you visit. No seriously, you should visit. Especially during the Halloween season because they have what's been labeled America's Best Haunted House, "Terror Behind the Walls." You may want to bring diapers.
We left the penitentiary and went to a deli across the street called Mugshots. 100% of the businesses in the area reference the prison in their names, as well as their products. I got the Machine Gun Kelly sandwich. He was never at the prison, but you know, famous gangster!
After eating we went to the Mutter Museum (pronounced "Mooter"…"Mooseum") at The College of Physicians in Philadelphia. It contained two floors of medical specimens, ranging from animal skulls, to human skulls, to slides with bits of Albert Einstein’s brain, to gangrenous hands in a jar, to fetuses in a jar, to infected colons in a jar. Only a sick individual could enjoy looking at these things. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it.
They had an entire Civil War area, too, where they highlighted the assassination of Abe Lincoln (of course) and also that of James Garfield 15 years later. His was possibly more tragic because it could have easily been prevented with simple precautions. He was shot, but he was actually killed by infections stemming from the attempted removal of the bullet. I read about the entire story on Cracked before, but seeing a fragment of the President’s bone really brought it home. As I said, seeing history in person is so much more powerful than reading about it and watching it on tv.
And that was my trip to Philly: educational, interesting, fun, and creepy all at the same time. I'm eagerly anticipating my next trip, to the Motherland, and looking forward to traveling more after that as well. I'm not making a bucket list or anything corny like that, but there are definitely places I want to visit, and time is of the essence. Pretty soon, I'll settle down and I won't have the opportunity to travel as much as... wait. I'm sorry. I was thinking of a nightmare I had last week. I'll be fine! Watch out, world.
Recently, Will Ferrell announced the return of Ron Burgundy and the Channel Four News Team in the upcoming film Anchorman 2. As much as I love Anchorman, a part of me is a little skeptical about this sequel. Comedy sequels are always a bit sketchy, as they mostly turn into a tired rehash of the original's gags and jokes. Plus, it has been several years, and several horrible movies by Farrell (not to mention the rest of the News Team) so I don't know if the magic can happen again. But, if it's half as funny as the original Anchorman, or half as funny as this viral video, I'll be satisfied.
The announcement got me thinking about sequels. I'm not completely against them, and I even think some are superior to the originals; but there is always a risk in returning to sacred ground because a horrible sequel has the power to ruin your perception of the original.
Some sequels are bad because the original is so good that nothing can compare to it; your expectations are so high and the anticipation is so great that nothing can satisfy you. Some characters just do not hold up for more than one movie and become stale in the second incarnation. Some movies are completely plot-driven, and there is no logical continuation of the plot, so the sequel is completely unrealistic. Some movies are perfectly set up for sequels, yet the second pales in comparison to the original, either in story or execution, or both. And some sequels simply should have never been made.
These next few movies have really let me down. We all have that feeling, after seeing a great movie, of never wanting the story to end; but sometimes, when the story doesn't end soon enough, it winds up faltering. It's better to quit while your ahead. So nowadays, I think it's a natural reaction to be hesitant about sequels because so many have been made simply for the sake of profit. And complain all you want about the lack of original stories, but in 2011, 9 out of the top 10 highest grossing films were sequels (and the other was an adaptation of an old Communist cartoon). So get used to it.
In honor of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus, I'm going to take a look at some movies whose resurrections were also highly questionable and widely debated. I'm not going to include anything past the 2nd movie, so Godfather 3 will not be here (although that was one of the first obvious incidents of producers tarnishing a movie's legacy in the name of a cash grab). I also won't include straight-to-video garbage, so Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure will not be on here, either. Lastly, if the original was horrible, I won't bother putting the sequel on this list (sorry 2 Fast 2 Furious).
As fans of the Greatest Story Ever Told can tell you, sometimes the Second Coming of a great character is so over-hyped that there's no possibility of satisfaction even if that character does return; therefore, the best thing for everybody is for that character to never return at all.
Here are some films that didn't learn that lesson:
Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day
Boondock Saints is a cult favorite that came out of nowhere during my college years to become a staple of my early 20s. The sequel came out almost 10 years later, and it was a sad, sad parody of itself. The music was probably the worst thing about it, but watching these worn-down B-movie actors try to recapture the glory of their best roles ever was brutal. The cheesy lines were forced, unlike in the first movie where it seemed like nobody was taking themselves seriously because they figured it wouldn't be seen. The action sequences couldn't recreate the sense of detached coolness that the first one so effortlessly exuded, and after the third or fourth time seeing the lead actor's bare asses, you start to wonder whether or not the first movie was actually good or if it just seemed that way while watching it four screwdrivers deep with 10 of your best friends.
Be Cool
There is literally nothing good about this movie except Vince Vaughn's laugh. Be Cool continues the story of Chili Palmer, the reformed loan shark who we all wanted to be in Get Shorty.Chili has conquered Hollywood as a film producer and now he wants to conquer the music industry. Most of the movie focuses on him attempting to get Christina Milian a record deal. There is a 6 minute music video to end the movie, with John Travolta watching Milian from the side of the stage as he does the white guy head nod and overbite. Get Shorty fanned the flames of the comeback fire of Travolta's career that Pulp Fiction ignited, and Be Cool kicked dirt over the dying embers of that comeback.
X-Men: The Last Stand
I know I said I wouldn't include anything past the sequel, but this one needs to be on here. As a huge fan of the X-Men comics and the first two movies, this was one of the biggest movie disappointments in memory. There was so much potential, and the second movie was probably better than the first, so there was some indication that the series would continue to improve. Then director Bryan Singer decided to leave the series and direct Superman Returns, which left Brett Ratner in charge of The Last Stand.
(Spider-Man 3 gets dishonorable mention for ruining the greatest comic book villain ever, Venom, and for Peter Parker's emo dance-off.)
Home Alone 2
This is what happens when a family film with a cute kid and an original, some-what believable story becomes insanely successful; movie producers want to cash in on that success and create a sequel that simply repeats the story line (no matter how ridiculous) and move the action to a different location.
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is, in all honesty, one of my favorite movies of all time. The mix of low-brow with high-brow humor and over-the-top antics with subtle intellect, makes it a timeless classic. There is a lot of meaning behind the shenanigans and quite a bit of hidden religious symbolism. I truly consider it the Quran of comedy movies; that being said, Bogus Journey is like The Satanic Verses. This is the shit that was never supposed to go public. This is the shit that totally contradicts and desecrates all that has occurred in the sacred original. This is pure blasphemy and if the Ayatollah hasn't put out a fatwa on the film-makers' heads, I'm doing it right now.
American Pie 2
That still shot is by far the best part of this required sequel to the risque teen comedy about sexing up mom's pie. In the tradition of Porky's, you know what you're getting with this tits-and-ass shock-comedy, but I still expected a lot more. Maybe it was a matter of timing; maybe I was just a bit too old for it, whereas the first one came at the perfect time. The truth is, I didn't like American Pie that much after the first viewing, so maybe this one never had a chance. The characters are pretty much unbearable (especially the Rookie of the Year kid) and the lack of an original story or likable characters can not be replaced by half-naked young women, though I appreciate the effort.
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the first movie, and I enjoyed this sequel, until about two hours in. When it kept going, and going, and going, I lost interest and actually started to grow resentful. The story does not merit that much screen time, and the longer you have to reflect on the fact that you are spending two-and-a-half hours watching pirates being chased by zombie pirates, the more likely you are to question why they based an entire movie series on a Disney World ride in the first place.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze
As soon as I heard the first refrain of "Go Ninja Go Ninja Go!" my childhood was over. This clip is all you need to know about the movie that murdered my passion for the heroes in a half-shell.
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance
This falls into the "How The Hell Did That Happen?" category. The first Ghost Rider was a flop in every sense of the word, yet here we go again. The only answer? Nic Cage needs money and nobody can tell him what movie will or won't be made. Would you argue with this man? Hopefully we'll at least be treated to more bat-shit crazy acting like this:
On second thought, I can't wait for this movie!
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
This video of a random guy bad-mouthing the movie has been watched more times than the movie itself.
After one of the most original and successful horror movies of all time, the studio decided to go in the complete opposite direction in this sequel and make a typical, big-budget special effects, annoying-teens-in-the-woods, slasher film, with typical results.
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
This is actually a prequel, but it is so bad it needed to be mentioned. Fortunately, the previews were honest and didn't try to pass it off as a good movie, so I didn't spend money on it. In fact, I didn't even see this one. The very idea of Dumb and Dumber without Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels is sacrilege and this movie should be taken as a sign to never do a sequel without the major players of the original.
Which brings us to:
Major League 2
The only missing player in this sequel was Wesley Snipes. He was replaced by Omar Epps, a better actor overall, but for some reason, the follow-up to the comedy classic was miserable. Maybe it was the lack of a plot or any original jokes. Or maybe it just lacked the power of the Snipes.
Hannibal
This was another movie that had major casting changes. This wasn't a horrible movie, but there's no comparison to Silence of the Lambs. Instead of intrigue and mind games and tense, dark dialogue, there were shoot-outs, wild boars, a confusing story in Italy, and Ray Liotta eating his own brain (ok that was cool). They took all subtlety from the first film and ripped it out of the characters like Lecter ripped Gary Oldman's face off. Again, it wasn't horrible, but we should have all known something was amiss when Jodie Foster (along with the screenwriter and director of the original) didn't sign on to reprise the role that made her a superstar.
Speed 2: Cruise Control
Keanu Reeves learned his lesson from the disaster that is Bogus Journey and declined to do this sequel to the mega-hit Speed. Who would have thought Keanu knew what he was doing when he turned down millions? This is another one where the success of a movie can not be replicated by simply transporting the entire premise to a new location. Besides, cruise ships don't need to be speeding to be horrifying.
Predator 2
"He's in town with a few days to kill." <--Actual tagline from trailer!
Some people may say the original was horrible so obviously this was going to be bad. Those people are all idiots. The first movie was a classic. If you can not enjoy an 80's action movie for all its cheesy dialogue and ridiculous one-liners, insane amounts of gore, and hilariously bad special effects, than you simply do not understand the concept of pleasure and you should just become a Quaker.
However, there's good-bad 80s action movies, then there's horrible-bad action movies. Predator 2 was the latter. Substituting Danny Glover and Gary Busey for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and relocating from the jungle to the sewer, this movie was so absurdly bad that the studio decided to permanently kill off the predator story line and forget the whole thing ever happened. Just kidding...they made three more! Two with aliens!
Weekend at Bernie's 2
Sticking with the 80's theme...if you lived through the 80's, you know you loved Weekend at Bernie's. And if you saw the first one, you immediately knew that this sequel was a bad idea.
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Eleven was so cool. You got to see a bunch of your favorite actors basically hanging out with each other while some cool shit happened in the background. Ocean's Twelve tried so hard to be that cool, but it had an even more ridiculous heist scheme, and a horrible attempt at meta-humor with that sub-plot where Julia Roberts' character played Julia Roberts the actress to escape the hotel. Horrible.
All the actors seemed to phone it in (maybe they were too comfortable with each other) and I think the only reason they made a third one was to redeem themselves for this travesty (which they did).
The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2
Harvesting dinosaurs from DNA found in insects in fossilized amber, then placing those dinosaurs on an island for tourists to visit, is an awesomely original idea and an even greater movie. Taking those same dinosaurs and letting them loose in downtown LA is just outlandish enough to ruin the entire concept. Even the third film, which had absolutely no plot (or overall reason to be made) was better than this one because they returned to the island in the third film. As an audience, there's a limit to the amount of bullshit we can accept, and sometimes, a movie premise exceeds it's bullshit-acceptability level when it is expanded to a sequel.
It is our duty to call out that bullshit.
(Interesting note: Julianne Moore, an excellent, gorgeous actress, makes her second appearance on this list [Hannibal, Lost World]; both times, she did not appear in the original.)
So that's all I came up with. I was thinking about doing the best sequels, but it's much more fun to talk about the failures.
Are there any sequels that really disappointed you? Which sequels do you think are the worst? Share them with me, because as much as I deride them, I love every minute of these horrible wastes-of-time!
P.S. Remember, the original had to be a good movie, so no Staying Alive: Saturday Night Fever 2 or Grease 2; if you think those originals are good, your opinion should never be made public...
For the last couple weeks, the news has been dominated by 2 stories, and depending on who you ask, one just as important as the other: Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, and The Hunger Games came out in theaters nationwide. At first glance, these stories don't seem to have much to do with one another. In fact, they don't really. Or, they didn't, until people's reactions to the stories became the news.
The reactions to the Trayvon story quickly took a predictable turn to arguments primarily about race, with people choosing sides based on the perceived racism involved in the killing. It could have been (and may still prove to be) the start of an important discussion on gun laws in this country, but we decided to focus solely on the racial aspect, which proves to me that we have a long way to go in this country on racial issues. My conviction was further solidified when race became a major factor in the coverage of the release of this year's biggest movie, The Hunger Games. Racist reactions to the movie's casting became a headline news story, not to mention a pretty funny (and sad at the same time) Tumblr blog.
The movie has already made over 200 million dollars, and any movie with that type of success and popularity will have its share of controversy. This particular controversy is very interesting though, because most of the negative reaction came from young people, and the racist tweets say as much about their awful personalities and outlook on life as they say about this generation's horrible reading comprehension skills.
Apparently, some of the characters in the movie were portrayed by *gasp* black actors and actresses. In particular, the character Rue, was portrayed by a young black actress, Amadla Stenberg. Apparently, many people missed the section of the book where she is described as having dark hair and dark skin. (Readers should have at least realized she was supposed to be black when characters from her "district" were whipped, and later they rioted, the two accepted actions of black characters in American pop culture.) One movie-goer said, "why does rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie." Another said, "Awkward moment when you find out that Rue is black and not the innocent little blonde girl you pictured."
The face of evil.
I'm not surprised by these reactions, I know there are people out there who still harbor these negative thoughts; however, with forums like Twitter and Facebook and comment sections on news stories, these ideas are posted for all to see, and the prevalence of these thoughts is alarming. Go to any news story about Trayvon, and at least 10% are just blatantly racist and hateful. The one saving grace in all this is that at least there's a large backlash against these types of comments...most of the time.
The Hunger Games comments became a huge news story because they not only show how hateful people can be, but they show how ignorance feeds the hatred and negativity. It is pretty obvious that the characters who were played by black actors were black in the book, yet these people claim to be huge fans of the book. Most of them claim that it's not about racism, they were simply upset that the movie didn't follow the book exactly; except that it did. Any time somebody says, "I'm not racist, but..." you know some racist shit is gonna come out of their mouths. It's similar to the defense, "I have a lot of black friends." These are classic racism deflectors, and they are as see-through as saran wrap. In 2012, everybody is aware that racism is not acceptable, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist; racist people have simply modified their language in order to hide their true feelings. As Bill Maher said, denying racism is the new racism.
The scary part is that a lot of these people truly don't realize that they have these negative thoughts and feelings; or they don't recognize these thoughts as being racist. They think that racism is only when you call a black person nigger (which some commenters did, of course). Their views that only a white actress can portray the "innocent" character isn't racist to them because it's so engrained in our society that white = good and black = bad that we don't even recognize it as an issue. Why are we surprised that kids equate innocence with white skin and blonde hair? Have you seen a picture of Jesus?
Looks like every Middle Easterner I know...
We are taught (implicitly and explicitly) from an early age that white is good, black is bad. The villains wear black; good guys wear white. White is innocent, pure. Black is evil, dangerous. Daylight is happiness and sunshine, nighttime is dark and scary. A white pigeon (dove) represents peace and love. A black cat represents bad luck. Black licorice tastes like shit.
This goes back thousands of years. More recently, though, it has been pervasive in cinema. In silent movies, you couldn't identify the bad guy through his words, so the easy solution was putting him in black clothes. Instant villain! And that trend continues to this day.
Many people believe this tendency to associate good with white and bad with black has been the cause of negative race relations throughout modern history. The pervasiveness of cultural representations of the association between black and evil has led to an intuitive prejudice that works on an unconscious level, and it can happen even in people who are not consciously prejudiced. This idea is discussed much more thoroughly (and brilliantly) by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink. He claims it is the reason for such tragedies as the killing of Amadou Diallo, an innocent, unarmed man shot 47 times by the NYPD.
Therefore, laws such as the Stand Your Ground Law are especially scary because they allow people to use deadly force whenever they feel threatened. Oftentimes, all it takes is the wrong skin color, or the wrong hand gesture, or the wrong piece of clothing to be perceived as a threat. Twenty four states now have such Stand Your Ground laws. Nowadays, any mention of even the smallest restrictions on gun ownership is shouted down with claims about the liberal agenda to "take away our guns!", and now the extraordinarily powerful gun lobby has helped push through legislation that further empowers gun owners to use deadly force at their own discretion. According to the Wall Street Journal, "justifiable homicide" has nearly doubled since the laws have taken effect. The laws basically encourage people to shoot first, and it makes it difficult for law enforcement to prosecute shooters (which, unfortunately, will probably happen in the Trayvon Martin case). The laws are particularly scary for people with a skin tone that has been culturally predetermined as a threat.
As sad as these stories are, they have highlighted some of the issues we face as a nation, and if the discussions we are now having don't lead to any changes in the gun laws, maybe they will at least help us confront our racial biases; and if we confront our biases now, maybe in the future, the young man who thinks a characters's death "isn't as sad" when it's a black person, or the 15 year old who thinks a black girl can't be innocent looking, will recognize their prejudices and be able to overcome them.
Otherwise, we will have a lot more tragedies like that of Trayvon Martin.
I Love You All (Black, White, Yellow, Red, Green--I see you Martians)...Class Dismissed.
I decided it's time to do another music blog. Sometimes I feel like doing nothing but music blogs, but I wanna keep the content of this blog diversified. Just know that I could do about 2 of these a day.
Anyways, today's class will be focusing on Danny Brown, an African American rapper hailing from Detroit, Michigan. These last two years have been huge for this guy, dropping the album The Hybrid in 2010 and XXX in 2011, as well as an EP in 2011 with Detroit producer Black Milk, titled Black and Brown (not the most clever title). I heard about Brown after Black and Brown came out, but I didn't actually listen to him for a while after. I'm still very hesitant to give new artists (especially rappers) a chance. Most of it is garbage, and I have enough music on my ipod to keep me happy for the rest of my life. I always want to hear new stuff, but I usually try to find older, more rare songs. I have a habit of picking up on artists years after they actually come out. I finally gave Brown a shot because Blockhead recommended his music. I finally downloaded Black and Brown and XXX, for free, because he's the man and gave them away.
To be perfectly honest, I was not impressed. In most of the songs he took on an obnoxious, nasally, high-pitched yelp. I had been a fan of Black Milk for a little while so at least the beats on Black and Brown were good right off the bat, but I wasn't sold on this guy being the hot new thing that all the hipsters (and actual hip people) claimed him to be. The beats on XXX were very unconventional, so that album was even more of a stretch for me. I liked both albums, and they were definitely interesting, I just didn't think they would be something I'd listen to very much.
After a couple more listens, something strange happened. I didn't want to listen to anything else. I was addicted to that obnoxious yelp and the asinine, brilliant, irreverent, perverted, and hilarious words it was spouting.
I quickly downloaded The Hybrid and anything else I could find from him (XXX is my favorite overall). You have to love a guy who references the Simpsons ("You softer than Flander's son/Don't make me put hands on son"), the Fresh Prince of Bel Air ("But the block was off the hook, said fuck class/Off them same pills that had Carlton dancing fast"), guns and SpongeBob ("AKs with bayonets on deck, rep my set/Sorta like Squidward and his clarinet"), and one of my favorite mc's, Masta Ace ("Dog I'm strategizin, plottin on throne/Masta of the ace, sittin on chrome!"). He's also VERY fond of talking about sex, especially oral sex. Apparently, the loss of his two front teeth has made him a cunnilingus connoisseur of sorts (I'm surprised he hasn't used that line).
"I Will" As in, that sexual act your husband/boyfriend won't do, Danny Brown will.
He's unlike anything I've ever heard. He's gotten the comparisons to Ol' Dirty Bastard, but that's not fair to him or Osirus. He has the irreverence of ODB, that's for sure. He's got the pervertedness of 2 Live Crew and Black Sheep (and ODB). But he also has the insight of Brother Ali or Common, and the wordplay of Andre 3000. In one of my favorite songs, he talks about coming to grips with turning 30 (something I can certainly relate to). He expresses his fears and concerns about ever reaching his goals ("Cause if this shit don't work, ni**a I failed at life") and talks openly about how his drug dependency has paradoxically helped him deal with his struggles and made him suicidal ("Turning to these drugs now these drugs turned my life/And it's the downward spiral, got me suicidal/But too scared to do it so these pills will be the rifle).
"XXX" Which is the Roman Numeral for 30...took me a while to figure that one out.
His rapping style varies, so he's not all high pitched barking, he often reverts to a simple, straight forward style, and he's still more original than the majority of rappers. In one song he talks about growing up in the wasteland of Detroit ("And where I lived... it was house, field, field/Field, field, house/Abandoned house, field, field") and in another, he talks about how grateful his family was for welfare and food stamps.
"Thank God" The best argument for welfare ever made. Seriously.
In addition to all of this, he is one of the weirdest looking mofos you'll ever see, but he absolutely pulls it off. The word is, he was going to be signed to G-Unit, but 50 Cent wasn't fond of his look, in particular the skinny jeans and wacky hair.
How can you not love this look, 50?
In all honesty, it turned me off to him at first, too. As open as I am to music (I don't listen to only rap, as some people--and my nickname--would have you believe) there are still prejudices I harbor that prevent me from listening to some good music; and as much as I despise the media's, and society's, opinions on music and movies/shows, I still let them influence my opinion on things. For example, I didn't listen to Amy Winehouse while she was alive because I really only heard the song Rehab (which was a clear radio friendly hit) and I dismissed her as an over-hyped, over-privileged druggie, because that had become her image. I liked her on Ghostface's song, but I attributed that to the beat, and to Ghostface. But after her death, Questlove of The Roots said something about her being a genius and working with her on an album. So I (definitely not illegally) downloaded her album. If you've been paying attention, you'll know that I ended up loving it.
Now I've gotten a whole bunch of music to enjoy from Danny Brown, and I relearned a valuable lesson from him: don't judge an artist by his or her look, and don't pay any attention whatsoever to critics (or the majority of people in general). Nowadays, to find good music, you have to actively search for it, and you can't let something like skinny jeans, or a stupid name, or being over-hyped, or being really over-hyped, or being a white rock band, get in the way of listening to some new, good music.
"Huzzah Remix" This song features a bunch of artists you should be listening to.
I continued reading the book. Although I still questioned many of the claims, it was interesting enough, and it had quite a bit of good advice for meditation. As I read more, it dove further into the premise of astral projection. The idea of astral projection is to separate your physical being from your astral body; it's basically an out of body experience (all of this comes from memory, I'm not doing research until that google ad money starts rolling in, so if anything is inaccurate, I apologize, but it's your fault for not clicking on the ads on my page!). One exercise I tried was to project my energy/light outwards from my solar plexus and try to envision a "being" several feet in front of me. They stressed that you should not imagine the being as yourself when getting started. Basically, I think, the idea was that if you envisioned it enough, you would eventually be able to project your conscious, astral body outside of your physical body. They also mentioned that this exercise would project any issues/problems/concerns you were having outside of yourself, making them easier to deal with by gaining new perspective. I don't think I ever really believed it would work, but I wanted to try because it was interesting, and the previous exercises truly seemed to help me.
So I went through the process of the glowing chakras, and when I was completely surrounded in the light of my energy, I focused on my solar plexus (belly button area). I followed the book's instructions, and envisioned a grey cord slowly extending from my belly like an ethereal umbilical cord. I pictured the cord extending for about 5 feet, then, as per the instructions, I envisioned the cord coagulating into a grey blob, hovering in the air in front of me. After a few deep breaths, I was to envision the shape dissolving, and the cord retracting, and then go through the chakra process in reverse.
This step was a little harder. I had trouble keeping focus on the grey matter as it floated in front of me. One problem I was having was that it felt ridiculous. Glowing chakras is one thing, but an amorphous blob of energy suspended in air is a whole 'nother ball game.
But I kept at it for a week, and like everything else, it became easier. Basically, you can envision anything in your mind. I never had a problem with that, the problem was believing it was actually there. And I didn't really believe it, but it was a good mental exercise and very relaxing overall. I wasn't really trying to have an out of body experience anyway.
At the time of all this, I was going through a class to become an EMT. I had never done anything like it before, but I was really excited about it. I wanted to help others, plus I wanted to know more about the human body and how to treat it during various emergencies. A part of me was a bit nervous because as I said, I had never done anything like it before. I didn't know what to expect, which was riveting and frightening. Needless to say, there was a lot on my mind regarding what I would be doing as an EMT, and the things I would see. It was a good time to be meditating.
One day, after I had passed the certification, I started to meditate. I went through my entire routine, all the way up to the floating umbilical cord. Up to that point, I had never been able to envision any "being" in the grey floating blob. I tried, really hard, to picture something, anything, but it didn't feel natural. It wasn't natural, I was forcing it, and that never works with meditation. On this day, I expected no different. My light surrounded me and the grey cord ventured out from my solar plexus and I remember the feeling of oncoming disappointment. Another day, another grey, shapeless blob levitating in front of me. The blob appeared before me as usual, but this time, it started to grow larger, seemingly forming into some kind of defined shape. It continued to morph until it became the shape of a small child. I could not make out any distinguishing features of his face, but e seemed sad. I looked at him and it felt like he was looking back. During this spiritual staring contest, my thoughts turned to my future work as an EMT. For some reason, I believed that this shape, this spirit, represented the spirit of a child who had passed, or possibly even a child who would pass. As this thought occurred to me, another thought appeared: there was a good chance that some emergency that I responded to would involve children. It was a fact that my conscious did not come to grips with until that moment. Immediately, the reality of becoming an EMT set in. People's lives would be dependent on my ability to help them. I would be directly responsible for helping people in desperate need, including children. It was something I had been thinking about for a while, but the reality of that notion never hit me, until that moment.
And at that moment, any fear or reservation I was having left. The child was sad, but not scared, or angry. I truly felt as if this was the spirit of a child that I would one day encounter as an EMT, and be unable to save. I wanted to reach out and apologize, but I had the overwhelming feeling that he understood. It was as if he was there to tell me that it was okay, I wouldn't be able to save everyone. Death is sad, but inevitable, and not to be feared. If I was going to be an EMT, I could not let death, or the fear of it, interfere with me doing my job.
Tears were rolling down my cheeks. The child's outline started to wobble, and the shape in front of me returned to a globular grey mass, then slowly retracted to my solar plexus. I finished my chakra routine and ended the session.
It was incredible. I can't even describe what I felt, except it was like every positive emotion all together at once, with all fear and doubt removed. It was very surreal, and something I had never even imagined before.
Not long after, when I was a little removed from the experience, I gave the incident some more thought, trying to analyze what happened. Some would say analyzing an experience like that takes the magic out of it, but I don't think that's true at all. Just because I have a better understanding of something doesn't mean I can't enjoy it, and it certainly doesn't devalue what I was feeling at the time. Anyways, here is what I came up with after much deliberation:
This experience occurred well after I started reading the book. I read each chapter over and over, as each chapter was a step in the process of astral projection. The last chapter I read was very intensely focused on the exact incident I described, I just added my own personal back-story to the vision. It literally took me through every step of the way. So having read that over and over, and attempting to visualize it several times, my subconscious mind eventually projected the vision to my conscious. I basically rewired my brain circuitry so that my mental image became "real".
That's my theory anyway, and Michael Crichton has similar theories. In that book, he talks about his experiences with meditation. I read that book a long time ago and I'm certain it influenced my "vision" as well.
That doesn't take anything away from my experience, or what it did for me mentally and emotionally. It doesn't change the fact that it helped me deal with the stress I was feeling over becoming an EMT. Interestingly enough, I stopped meditating shortly after that. Maybe I thought I reached a pinnacle and figured I didn't need to do it anymore, or maybe the experience bugged me out, or maybe I just didn't have time for a few days and then I lost the motivation to continue and those few days turned into weeks, then years. Or maybe it's all of those reasons. I don't know, but I do know that I want to get back into it, and I highly recommend meditation for everybody. You don't have to go the astral projection route, but some kind of meditation (guided helps). It takes effort, though, so you'll need to stick with it. It's probably not for everybody, but humans are incredibly adaptive, and I think that if they tried hard enough, they could accomplish anything. I may have just read that on a poster in an elementary school, but it doesn't make it any less profound. Besides, meditation isn't that hard, and it's definitely worth the effort.
Besides, the worst thing that could happen is that you relax for ten minutes or so. We could all use more of that.
Souls of Mischief... Always loved their music, and really related to the name.
A few years ago, I decided to try my hand at meditation. I had considered it for a while, but it was intimidating. I could never "clear" my mind. I'd sit for a few minutes trying to think of nothing, but my mind would quickly drift on to some random petty bullshit, like what clothes I was going to wear the next day or whether or not I set the DVR for South Park. So I gave up.
Eventually, I tried again. I actually sought out venues for guided meditation. Since my late teens, I always thought Buddhism was the closest any religion came to my own personal views, and I admired the Buddhist way of life, especially the meditation apect. So I found an advertisement for a group that did guided meditation/Buddhist teaching at a community center on Tuesday nights in West Hartford. When I got there, they immediately asked for a $10 donation and I almost walked out. If I'm paying $10 for Nirvana, I better hear some "Come As You Are". But, I decided to dole out the money and see what they had to offer. And I'm glad I did.
Buddhist Meditation
The center was essentially a small church, with torture benches and everything, but it was a more comfortable setting than any other church I've been in. They even put cushions on the torture benches! There were about 4 other people, ranging in age from mid 20's to late 60's. We all sat quietly until the monk finally walked in. I say monk, and he called himself a monk, but to me he looked like a plain old bald white guy in a robe. Anyways, he read a few things and then started a 5 minute meditation session, which he talked us through. He had a very soothing voice, and although I didn't feel like I was meditating, it was very relaxing to just focus on his words.
After the short meditation session, he talked for 20 minutes on the teachings of Buddha. I've always been a fan, I'm just not all about "worshipping" anybody or anything. Anyways, I don't remember the message but I'm sure I agreed with the premise. After his talk, we meditated again. I closed my eyes and listened to the soothing tones of his voice. He told us to focus on our breathing and follow his words.
Picture the air as it enters your nose and mouth. Imagine it traveling throughout your body, delivering life-giving oxygen to all your vital organs. Then visualize the air leaving your body, expelling all negative energy, from your toes, all the way to your head, and out your mouth.
I did exactly as he said, and after a while, as I was envisioning the negative energy leaving my body, something amazing happened. I started to relax. And I mean really relax. I no longer felt constrained by my physical body, I was simply energy. Maybe that's a little strong, but that's the only way I can describe it as I look back on it. The interesting thing was that my mind wasn't completely "clear", but it wasn't concerned with anything; thoughts came and went and I kept my main focus on my breathing.
About 5 minutes in (5ish, it's hard to tell in that state of mind) I had a vision of my energy as a white mist hovering around me, then spiraling upwards, above my head towards the ceiling. It continued upwards until I could see it spiraling above the roof of the building. I could picture it circling the entire building and twisting its way up into the sky. (Looking back on it I would say it was negative energy, but at the time it didn't feel negative, and it was pure white which is usually associated with positivity, so who knows what was happening.)
That lasted for about ten seconds. Then the vision was gone. I started fidgeting on my seat. I felt the fabric on my shirt rubbing against my skin. I couldn't get back into the same mental state. But for a few moments, I had reached a conscious state that I'd rarely been in without the aid of some external aid, and I enjoyed it. I wanted more.
A Book Makes a Difference
While my interest in meditation was increasing, I came across a book at my friend's place about astral projection. She let me borrow it (one day I'll return it!!) and I decided to give it a look. The book claimed that with enough practice, you would be able to project your spirit outside of your body, into another astral plane. Basically an out of body experience. But it also said that if you were meditating in one room, you could project your self into other rooms to see what's going on. In addition, you could send a type of spirit guide long distances away and it would come back and tell you what was happening there. So if you had family in Florida and you wanted to see how they were doing, you could meditate and send a spirit guide to check on them, and the next day when you meditate, the spirit guide will "report" back to you.
I admit, it's a little out there, but I was reading it more for its tips on meditating. The astral projection was just an interesting side note, and I never truly believed I would be able to do any of it. I just wanted to be able to meditate more easily. And the book helped. It gave tips on focusing your mind and breathing techniques during your meditation session. There was an emphasis on chakras, and as you breathed, you were to envision each chakra as a bright circle of light. For example, your "crown" chakra is directly above your head like, well, a crown. The crown chakra is represented as a purple light (each chakra has a different color association).
After a brief period of concentrated breathing, you were then to envision each successive chakra as you breath out. So you would take a deep breath in, slowly, and when you exhaled, you were to envision a bright purple ball of light glowing above your head. Then as you inhale, slowly,you envision the light flowing to your next chakra, located at your brow and represented by indigo. When you exhaled again, you would imagine the chakra at your temple glowing a bright indigo color. You continue that way until you hit all the chakras. In this book, they included one near your feet, claiming this was actually an earth chakra, representing our spiritual connection to the planet we inhabit.
Once all of the chakras were glowing bright, you envision the light/energy flowing from your toes back up to your head, creating a circle of flowing, bright energy around you. After a few deep breaths, you reversed the order, and envisioned the light/energy flowing back up through each chakra until it reaches the crown. They stressed the importance of completing the entire cycle. You don't want any broken links in your circle of energy, and it ensures that you dedicate a fairly decent amount of time focusing your mind on this one activity.
The first few times trying it, I would get through the warm-up breathing exercises, then my mind would wander right about the time my throat chakra was starting to glow. But I stuck with it, and the book revealed more and more techniques (and theory) as I read, so there was something new to try each time. After a while, I could get through the whole cycle undisturbed. And it worked. I did feel more relaxed, more ready to deal with the world. It wasn't what I had imagined when I began meditating; in fact, it was much better.
Emptiness
During one of the Buddhist meetings, the monk claimed that our mind's natural state is emptiness. It is like a clear canvas or background in which thoughts pass by. Sometimes we latch onto a thought, sometimes they just keep moving past. Meditation is an attempt to get your mind to its natural state, letting thoughts simply pass by (probably the worst paraphrase ever). He also said that even experienced practitioners of meditation will latch onto thoughts passing through their minds. The key is to identify when your mind has latched onto a thought and try to return to emptiness; the easiest way is to keep focusing on your breathing. That helped me a lot. He emphasized to not get upset if you find your mind wandering, it's perfectly natural. That also helped, because I always thought it was some mistake I was making.
The book helped a great deal, too, because it forced me to focus on my breathing by envisioning my chakras. The book described many other types of meditation, but it all revolved around focusing your mind on one thing, whether it be a certain sound, a certain image, your breathing, or even a particular feeling.
The fact that there were many variations of meditation was eye-opening. I didn't have to just sit there and think about nothing (whenever I tried that, I just fell asleep, which is cool with me, but it's certainly not meditating). Once I was comfortable with the chakras, I decided to move on to another level of meditation, and possibly, another level of existence.
