Currently watching Syracuse get their asses handed to them by the Oklahoma Sooners. Otherwise, the NCAA tournament has gone fairly well, according to my non-gambling brackets. Anyway, since there's little chance of the Orange making a comeback (forget about Arizona...they've been taken care of), I figure I would be the star performer of the night and get a LOT of information out there...
As part of the self-improvement tour (which, and I'm sorry to say this, Tyler Durden, is not about masturbating wherever I go. I WOULD like to get a job instead of being a degenerate at some point), I've been reading and musicking quite a bit. Here's the latest few books devoured:
1) I Am America (and so can you!) by Stephen Colbert- A less-hilarious version of America: the Book. It covers facets of society through the eyes of Colbert's on-stage persona, making it fairly amusing. I will say that I can only take Colbert at one episode per night (you will NOT see me hunkering down for a Colbert Report marathon...now 24, on the other hand...), so if you are like me, it makes for a great bathroom read, as Colbert's tangents and side-tangents and mini-pages ("Fun Zone", among others, in each chapter) are easy to isolate in 5-minute intervals. If you're a Colbert-nut, you may find that it is a must-have. And that's fine by me.
2) The Freedom Writers Diary by Various Authors and Erin Gruwell- As a teacher-to-be, I found this story to be intriguing (just like Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds, and 21 Jump Street)...first-year teacher in rough area of LA documents her transformation of students who supposedly wouldn't amount to anything into students who make something of their lives. She does so through their diary entries, kept through all four years of school in her classroom. It's a pretty subtle change in their attitude and writing abilities, and it's a really fine demonstration of students being able to help make the connection between art, literature, and life. Since Social Studies is my game, I will have to rely on my old costume stand-by:
I just saw a Natty Light commercial. This is officially bizzarro world.
3) Freakonomics by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt- Fantastic book about outside-of-the-box ways of thinking about social questions (favorite chapter discusses the idea that the legalization of abortion via Roe v. Wade is largely to thank for the drastic decline in crime across the nation in the 90's). Many of the theories had me scratching my head before I read the full explanation of how the authors came to their conclusions. Needless to say, I felt much better about them at the end of the chapters. In the spirit of middle school book reports, I recommend this book to people who- like me- have had questions that stretch the norms of conventional thought. By digging (and I'd imagine that this sort of digging would be treacherous work) around through stats endlessly, it just demonstrates that unexpected results are possible. Great read, too; Dubner and Levitt are good yarn-spinners.
Pro-choice activists are shaking their heads...they apparently have never seen D-Wade flyAlright, now a list of music I've listened to since the last update:
Bedouin Soundclash- Sounding a Mosaic
John Coltrane
Benny Goodman- Forever Gold
Duke Ellington
John Butler Trio- Sunrise Over the Sea
Kings of Leon- Aha Shake Heartbreak
Lupe Fiasco- Food & Liquor
Radiohead- Kid A
Radiohead- Amnesiac
Beatles- Abbey Road (I know...)
Beatles- Rubber Soul
Van Morrison- Moondance
...and rounding it out, what I have yet to listen to, but will get to before the month's out:
Beach Boys- Pet Sounds
Doors- The Doors
Led Zeppelin- Zep II
Led Zeppelin- Houses of the Holy (never straight through)
Pink Floyd- The Wall (x2)
Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
Pearl Jam- Ten
So that's where I'm at. Once I finish this post, it'll be time to pay the pied piper and actually review my reactions to these albums, starting from the ones mentioned in an earlier post...fucking stupid of me to be so behind on that work, but here we are. Can only change it.
I've also figured out a few things about what I dislike about rap:
1- Digitized vocals. It sounded fucking terrible for Cher, it sounds fucking terrible for you (even you, Kanye...brutal).
2- Overbearing bass. Takes away the often-impressive lyrical contribution of many great artists. "Everything I Am"- possibly my favorite Kanye tune- features very little in terms of musical accompaniment...which I think is part of what makes it great. Just one man's opinion, but still...I'm the one typing.
3- Moreso than anything else, I fucking HATE the self-absorbed rappers who dwell on material possessions. Cut the shit and tell me something insightful. If I wanted to hear about cars and expensive shit that gets rented out for awards shows and music videos, I'd ask. Tell a fucking story or something! This ego-fuck of narcissism is really off-putting.
THAT SAID, I find I'm enjoying just about all of the additional hip-hop and rap that I've been listening to (I refuse to say R&B...Rhythm&Blues is something entirely different in my book). Story-telling and commentary makes it work; the beat, in my opinion, is secondary (that's the poet in me).
Anyway, I've been doing the trivia thing for a few months now, and it's been going quite well. Last night, there was a brawl! Certainly becoming a fierce facet of local flavor, this trivia game...apparently this one dude was giving the bartender some shit and was told to leave, so another patron decided he'd HELP the man out...which ended with one guy topless, and one guy beerless...and of course the rest of us speechless. Trivia's not exactly the rough-n-tumble environment, and so to see this go down was pretty intense. Quite a memorable night, compounded by people using my name in their team names; I thoroughly enjoy the clever team names that come my way each week. It really is a highlight of the job (playing DJ doesn't hurt, either).
While I have your attention, I'd like to emphasize my hatred for the over/misuse of the word "literally". Stop that shit. Thank you.
Lastly, for those of you interested, here's a general idea of how well my month-long struggle to quit shaving my 'stache is going:
Ain't it sexy? (answer: yes, it is.)
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