Here are some hilarious ideas offered up by Leah Goldenson
For anyone who keeps darting off to paint action figures
For the guy who just will not come out of the closet
Some people think that sports are silly, stupid, something to pay no mind to. They have been described as inconsequential and superficial phenomena, a waste of time, a trivial pursuit. While the issues surrounding elections, wars, systematic racism, illegal sex trades and responses to natural disasters swirl around us, the dismissal of sports sometimes seems reasonable. After all, are there not more important things in the world than whether or not the team with which you have superficial affiliations with wins?
In a column this week Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated defended the institution of sports. His defense of his choice to be a sports writer covers some salient points, points that have been brought up and defended for ages. They boil down to the reason that sports occupy such a large part of American, and in fact World consciousness. Americans may go crazy American football as other parts of the world riot for soccer, and others study the intricacies of figure skating extensively. Regardless, there is a universalness to …
Welcome to a weekend in review.
After two consecutive weeks of losing to academies, Coach Weis is confused, he thought his players were smart.
Click: ND -Not fighting too smart these days
Norman Mailer, a great American writer passed away. Anyone remember his essay, The White Negro?
Click: Remembering Norman Mailer
Another internet gem has surfaced. Two little kids have invented weggie proof underwear, with a fatal flaw.
Click: Glad this isn’t a problem anymore
The angry poet has brought us lots of different artistic expressions. Here Beau Sia, venerated slam poet, reminds us how to live.
Click: Love.Live.Life.
By: AJ Hopkins
Before the heady critique starts, here are some indisputable facts about this film:
1) Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are impeccable.
2) The cameo casting of rappers should upset any young black actors looking to break into the business.
3) Even those with the strongest moral compass will find themselves rooting for the bad guy.
4) If every post-Godfather generation has a gangster classic, this is ours, though the lack of notable quotables is disappointing.
5) American gangsters (outside of the government) should be included in American history.
What is it about the gangster flick that drives us to the box office in droves? Is such patronage evidence of society’s continued downward spiral? Are shoot-em-ups the modern extension of Shakespearean violence? Personally, like all art that I voluntarily consume, I look to gangster flicks to see myself.
No, I do not see myself as a gangster. I do, however, see myself as each of us should — as an individual who faces day-to-day challenges and is forced to choose one course of action out …
By Sharifa Love
YouTube, the Internet enterprise that sold for 1.65 billion dollars last November has given us some doozies both good and bad over the years. To be more specific, the past 2.5 years seeing that it was created in February of 2005. In that short lifespan YouTube has become a cultural phenomenon, much like Facebook or MySpace, perhaps even more universal with old and young enjoying it the same. YouTube links float around all different types of workplaces, family e-mail lists, and chat room boards all with a wide range of demographics.
This past weekend when a friend implored me to view the yet another “SOOOO AWESOME” clip I was skeptical. Something about hands, blah blah, Daft Punk, blah blah, so I put if off for a while. Finally, hanging out in a group, a laptop surfaced and said video was sought out.
At first, the two hands bobbing on the screen are rather unengaging, but as the strains of music began to play, I soon realized this …
By Thomas Nakanishi
Country is not a very multicultural genre, in terms of artists or fans. It brings to mind people like Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks and others whose songs reach over 75 million adults every week on radio; whose videos rotate constantly on CMT; and in particular instances artists like Shania Twain and LeAnn Rimes who mashed a pop-country sound into the mainstream. Yet, for all that it is as a genre, country music and its story-telling through folks-y, blues-y tones never got play on my family’s car radio dial and could not be found as a genre in my iTunes Library.
That all changed when I came across Rissi Palmer.
When you hear Rissi Palmer sing or watch her “Country Girl” video, you
realize just how “country” she is and how there is a space for black in country. The first Black female artist on the Billboard Country Music charts since 1987, Palmer turned down Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ deal to be a pop/hip-hop artist a few …
By: Steve Whittaker
When the powers that be (we love you Sharifa Love!) commissioned me to get my feet wet (yet AGAIN) and do music reviews, I was honestly less than keen to the idea. But here I am, thankful the authoritative prompt in the aftermath of the amazing 5-track release that is Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase courtesy of Janelle Monae. Safe to say, I’m definitely feeling like I’m back in full effect. My influence not enough for you? So be it. Such things happen. Still I know that the superstar that is J. Monae protects me from all indifference or scorn. Give this LP a chance and it too can save you from the villainous conventions of the currently style deficient world of music.
Once a mild mannered citizen from Kansas City, KS, Janelle Monae transforms on cue into Rhythm and Rock Goddess on Earth, champion of the different. Her style doesn’t simply blend the before and after but also bends the past and future into a neat …
With the release of a new book, A Lifetime of Secrets, Frank Warren is continuing to run away with one for the most inspiring community art projects around. Beginning in 2004 Frank printed out 3,000 addressed and stamped envelopes and left them in public areas. The responses came pouring in and now PostSecret is the largest ad free blog on the Internet, and Warren is continuing to release quality books.
A better, stronger, longer book than both The Secret Lives of Men and Women and My Secret, this book returns to original PostSecret roots. It’s easy to get lost in this collection of secret ranging from funny to scary to devastating to freakish to profound. While there are some weak secrets in the book that seem to be trite or some without impact, for the most part, each secret holds you, probing you to think about life. Who is the person sending it? What exactly did they mean? How do I feel about this? …
At this point, after Superman, Spiderman, Aquaman, and Peter Pan to name a few have been ho-ed on, I’m pretty sure that everyone has been cranked out. The phenomena that swept the nation in waves, underground, black radio, and then finally mainstream success may have finally run it course. While I personally am more than happy to say goodbye to the ever so catchy strains of Soulja boy remixed in every way possible, I can feel a hole opening up in my heart. That special place for music that I know I shouldn’t like, and yet love anyways. The music that cries, dance to me, abandon your rational critique of music…
Never fear, the south has struck gold again.
Street Runnaz Click, a group from Atlanta has started working their way up the Soulja boy ladder. After signing a development deal, they began pushing a mixtape on the streets. As they worked on building a fan base, they recorded …
By: Sharifa Love
M.I.A’s most recent album is full of contradictions. The Bollywood influences of “Jimmy” ride alongside the smooth hypnotic styling of the Timbaland marked “Come Around.” The album’s throbbing bass beats seem reminiscent of techno, yet bridled by ethnicity from Sri-Lankan roots and world travel. After the groundbreaking debut album Arular which sent spasms of musical ecstasy through the ears and spines of high school girls and middle-aged music critics the same, Kala arrives as an interesting sophomore effort.
Less surfacely political than her debut, the music still speaks to a political agenda, as proclaimed on the cover art, “Fight On! Fight On! Fight On!” Yet even as the album can be viewed as another subversive political statement, M.I.A herself is attempting to name it as a personal record, creating distance between herself and radical political views. After such a loud and proud proclamation on her 2005 effort Arular, one wonders where this reversal comes from.
It seems that M.I.A has found herself in a familiar political fold. After visa …
The Boondocks, "Hunger Strike." Full Episode. Aw, shucks.
Will paying educators $125,000 make for smarter kids?
"Pistanthrophobia/Philophobia" - Poetry by Frenchi Urban
Sometimes getting back on the horse is a scary thing
Somebody's got a crush on the Clipse
Yale gives back to employees
An audio text for a new school of thinking
