A few years ago I woke in the night with an idea about a little snail going on an adventure. I quickly sketched it down, and incorporated it into Motion 101 class, which led to this.

Lately, I’d been thinking about creating a 3-dimensional slug, but just of its bust. Sort of a “happy face” to hang on the wall. Or a hunter’s prize, which is rather silly – not just because how could you stuff a slug for a wall bust, but rather why would you be proud of being able to snag a slug? Well, silly things give me joy, so here’s to some clay, slime and love.

Posing on the wall

“Spludge” – what I call wonderful slug neck fat. Looks better in person.

Slime test

Painting clay. Forgot to take pics of sculpting process…

I do not know that I could understand my understanding of Christianity apart from an old Anglican Saint whose birthday is today.  C.S., Clive Staples (His friends called him Jack) Lewis was born on this day in 1898.  He has come bounding back into influence in the past several years with his “hero” status in John Piper’s Desiring God and with the recent re-interest in his Narnia Chronicles that are being brought to life by Walden Media.  His nicotine habit, producing a smoke ring that would make Santa Clause jealous, and yellowed teeth coupled with his super intellectual and awkward appearance probably are not the images many look for in someone who would reveal Jesus to them.  But this “most reluctant convert” had a great deal to say, a knack for saying whatever it may be, and a few of those things are quite worth listening to.  Other than my insistence that you run and read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe immediately, regardless of age, I thought I would share a few particular insights of Jack that have meant volumes to my personal faith. 

Incarnation

“The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab. “

Lewis actually wrote an introduction to Athanasius’ volume On the Incarnation that is worth reading, but this particular insight from one of his World War II radio addresses that is memorialized in Mere Christianity is one that I always think of this time of year for advent.  Somehow in this witty quip I believe is part of the power of the “kenosis” of Philippians 2.  The emptying of God, and His putting on of flesh (John 1:14) we can get at just a little bit if we could try to wrap our minds around this whole slug thing.  Lewis was not afraid to go here in his thought, and I think it quite helpful to let our imaginations run with his long enough to realize there is no way that we could  really “get the hang of it.”

Celebration

“we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”

This insight from Lewis in his Reflections on the Psalms is one of the most helpful thoughts I think he could have shared.  We must delight, and we must celebrate.  He prior to this rattled off a list of all those things that we delight to enjoy and praise from lovers to favorite teams, but none could encompass the great deal of delight that we must have in God, and that is ultimately reflected in the language of the Psalms.

Transportation

“Further up and further in.”

Last but certainly not least,  Lewis has probably done more for me in my thinking of heaven than any other source I can think of outside the Bible itself.  All the business of The Last Battle, coupled with The Great Divorce (as well as myriads of other thoughts and comments throughout other volumes) merge to make for quite a robust vision of Heaven. The idea that heaven is more real than anything else we can imagine, with all the brightness and color, delight, and realization that Jesus himself is the light, that we see, work, and do and enjoy is all wrapped up in this neat package.  Heaven for Lewis is not a whispy Spirit world, it is real, and is more real than we could ever imagine or anything we could experience. We will talk, we will recognize, and we will find there our ultimate desire, and find that He really was worth it after all. We will never get enough as we go “further up and further in” and we will find that it is only the beginning of the first chapter of the real story.

Thanks Jack, and happy birthday.

There is a stage in everyones life when one starts to think – is this a joke.

Take one example for instance, if you please.

I was making a sandwich in the kitchen, as you do and it came across me – yeh just like that, this big bulbous slug came across me. Not just across my foot or anything normal like that but hoisted its body right over my vertical self and was that heavy i actually bent at an angle….an angle ffs!….I thought, right I better not come across as being shocked or offended by this huge under belly snugged over my entire physical self, as I don’t know what kind of slug Im dealing with here – hey, for all I knew it could have been one mean mutha and Im a pacifist.

Anyway, so Im standing at an angle (at a guess probably about 45degrees to the horizontal, but its a guess) holding my butter knife in my right hand (yeh, i could have stabbed it but as i said before – I aint no hater) with my mouth unfortunately open (your right, it tasted like shit) and listening to my ears pick up my heartbeat while my throat chewed it, while wondering if my toast was going to set off the fire alarms when after about five minutes of exertion from this hefty but warm slim muscle it finally reached the other side and it grumbled (what? was I not any good?).

I looked down, realised my clothes were clean on that morning (almost stabbed it then as I have no washing machine) gave up the idea of king fu revenge a la butter knife and burnt toast and just slowly turned round to see where the big fella was going.

I wiped my mouth so that I could speak and asked the slug hey man! where you going? His arse or face turned around slowly and with a determined air shrugged….maybe shrugged, who knows he didn’t have shoulders. But, I thought to myself, if I were a slug and I just crawled right over some dude making a sandwich then I would shrug too…right?

I gave in to asking him anything, who I am to stand in the way of fate right….so, I thought I would grab a few beers and sit with the thing that spent 5 minutes on my face and maybe talk about the weather.

hey! man! sit with me for a while, have a beer before you go.

Now Im guessing the slug thought, shit why not as it stopped, reversed its muscle and came up beside me.

We drank, I told some jokes, he shrugged (Im guessing) and then he desiccated…..and I put it on my toast.

My friend and I were walking out of my apartment when she noticed a three-inch slug.

“My god! That thing is huge! You know,” she said to me, “you can kill those things if you just sprinkle some salt on them. They just disintegrate. Literally disintegrate. It’s kind of gross. But what can you do? It works.”

“Ew! Why should I do that? Poor thing, it’s outside and not bothering anybody. As long as they’re not in my way, I wouldn’t want to kill them.”

“I don’t know. Just in case you need to get rid of them.”

As if to put my humanitarian values to the  test, the very next morning I found a three-inch slug in my kitchen. (How convenient! The salt shaker was an arm’s length away!)

I don’t know if it was my pity for the slimy creature or my disgust at the prospect of cleaning up disintegrated-slug, but I didn’t kill it. I wished it, willed it, hoped it away.

And go away it did.

I thanked my stars for a problem not solved but shelved (I hope, not literally) and went on about my business. But today — today the slug reappeared, and I’m left with my week-old conundrum. To kill or not to kill? And if to kill, then how?

I wish, for its sake if not mine, that the slug would quietly, elegantly leave the way it came. Yes, slug, just pick up your slimy skirts and run along (at your more-than-leisurely pace). I tell you, a few grains of effort a day will keep the salt shaker away.

Merry Thanksgiving Bonus.

The Orphanage – Hold Mine prod. by RJD2

Collaborating for the third time under the name Felt, Murs and Atmosphere’s Slug recently released Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez. On previous albums Felt had chosen a producer close to each member, working with The Grouch and Ant from the pair’s respective groups. Felt 3, however, sees the duo work with somebody mutually close to both Murs and Slug, with Aesop Rock manning the controls. Although much better known for his skills on the mic, Aesop’s production lights up the record with big bass filled hooks and truly original beats.

The first video from the album is for Felt Chewed Up and features mad tricycle skills. Seriously, this kid is tearing it up and is pretty much the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Check it out below, and then your probably going to want to head over here and BUY.

Download: Felt – Felt Chewed Up

…right here:

Books:

Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker (Graphix/Scholastic)
Scholastic is really putting their graphic novel foot forward, and this first installment in an ongoing series from writer/illustrator Jake Parker is proof. Parker, an animator at Blue Sky Studios, has created an action/adventure sci-fi hero in Missile Mouse, a pint-sized secret agent who packs a big punch. The storytelling is fairly straight forward  for the genre (good versus evil, inter-galactic war, surprise double-crosses, et al.), but Parker’s illustration work is what really makes this book pop. His background in animation is apparent; with clean lines and solid coloring, each frame looks more like an animation still than it does a comic book panel. The humor is definitely there for kids–which is appropriate since the book is geared toward eight- to twelve-year-olds–but I do wish there was some subtle adult humor peppered throughout.

The Customer Is Not Always Right by A.J. Adams (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
A quick-read coffee table book that collects the best material from the website NotAlwaysRight.com. If you’re not familiar with the site, the gist of it is this: People email in recent on-the-job humor/horror stories, and bored worker bees visit the site daily to remind themselves that they’re not alone. The stories focus on the service and retail industries, as well as any other 9-to-5 where pain-in-the-ass customers are a factor. It’s not a hilarious read–I’d say there are more misses than hits here–but the occasional funny/tragic anecdote does pop up, reminding me of why I haven’t had a “real” job in nearly a decade. If you’re looking for a book to throw in the drawer next to your toilet (after all, that’s where I read it), this is an appropriate title for future sittings.

CDs:

Slug, Murs & Aesop Rock “Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez” (Rhymesayers)
In 2002, Slug (of Atmosphere) and Murs created a sex-inspired love letter to actress Christina Ricci. From that moment on, “Felt” was born. Three years later, in 2005, they returned to the world of love letter writing, this time aiming Cupid’s arrow at the heart of Cosby kid Lisa Bonet with “Felt 2.” And this year, the duo returns with the third installment in what has now become the “Felt” trilogy, now passing the tribute torch over to actress Rosie Perez. For the production of “Felt 3,” Slug and Murs turned to their good friend Aesop Rock for production. (The first “Felt” was produced by The Grouch of Living Legends, the second by Ant of Atmosphere.) But while I’m a fan of this disc’s entire creative team, I feel like something is missing from this third chapter. Or, more accurately, there’s too much. Unlike its predecessors, “Felt 3″ feels very heavy-handed both in what it is saying and how it is put together. Because of this, it’s missing a beat in both substance and style. With that being said, the collective talent of this trio is still worth the price of admission, but having the “Felt” label on the album set up an expectation for me that was never truly fulfilled. Oddly enough, I feel like if they had released this album strictly as a Slug/Murs/Aesop joint side project, sans all things “Felt,” I might have had a very different reaction to it. Instead, I was left thinking, “Is that it?” Guess I’ll have to wait for “Felt 4: A Tribute to that Robot Chick from ‘Small Wonder’” to get my next “Felt” fix.

Various Artists “In The Christmas Groove” (Strut Records)
I’m not really a fan of most Christmas music. Sure, there are a few exceptions to the rule (Elvis, the Muppets with John Denver, etc.) but, for the most part, it’s just not my thing. This collection of rare funk holiday tunes from the sixties and seventies, however, is the exception to the rule. Why? Because unlike most other holiday music, these songs don’t scream Christmas. In fact, most of these songs can be listened to year-round, whether Santa’s coming to town or not. Not all of the songs are A-plus material (Wild Honey’s “Angels Christmas” is laughable, especially when they sing about seeing the angels of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy), but almost every other song on the disc is good music; the fact that it’s also holiday-themed is just a bonus. If you want a taste, track down “Home On Christmas Day” by Captain Elmo McKenzie & The Roosters.

J Dilla “Dillanthology” (Rapster Records)
This three-disc tribute to the late and great J Dilla is a pretty thorough look at an impressive career. The first disc collects thirteen tracks of Dilla’s famous production work, from The Pharcyde and The Roots, to Common and De La Soul. If hip-hop is a genre you’re deeply into, chances are you already own a lot of these songs on full-lengths. If not, this is an appropriate sample platter of what Dilla was capable of in the studio. The second disc collects a dozen Dilla remixes of tracks from Slum Village, The Brand New Heavies, and Busta Rhymes, among others. But for me, the two stand-out tracks are his remixes of Four Tet’s “As Serious As Your Life,” and DJ Cam’s “Love Junkie.” Both songs are a nice break from Dilla’s norm, and it’s refreshing to hear what else he was capable of beyond the realm of straight hip-hop. The third disc collects fourteen tracks of Dilla’s solo work, including songs from his team up with Madlib (known as Jaylib). Again, if you already own J’s solo albums and the Jaylib album, chances are you already own most of this work. But what’s really great about this set is that all three albums are sold individually. So, for example, if you already own most of what’s on the first disc but really want the second disc, no problem. If you are a rabid Dilla fan and already own all of his work, you might want to sit this one out. But if you’re looking for a solid retrospective that touches on each and every facet of who he was as an artist, this set’s for you.

Still getting free stuff,

-Shady

Aus der albernen Tourbuswette, wer wohl zuerst die Schauspielerin Christina Ricci aufgrund seiner Wortgewandtheit in die Kiste bekommt, entstand 2002 das spontane Albumprojekt Felt: A Tribute To Christina Ricci. Murs aus dem Kreis der Living Legends und Slug von Atmosphere waren die beiden Akteure, die sich dieser Herausforderung stellten – zu Gesicht bekam Christina am Ende jedoch keiner. Auf ging es also mit dem nächsten Wortgefecht um die Gunst eines Hollywood-Starlets: Felt 2 und das Tribut an Lenny Kravitz’ Ex, Lisa Bonet, war geboren. Mit einer Hommage an Rosie Perez geht die Kultserie nun in die dritte Runde. Diesmal hat sich kein Geringerer als Aesop Rock vom Definitive Jux Label den Produktionen angenommen. Nachdem mit dem Opener Protagonists besonders DJ Big Wiz durch erquickende Cuts auf sich aufmerksam macht, treibt Rock die zwei reimenden Wettstreiter anschließend mit seinem komplexen Bassmonstrum Felt Chewed Up zu ersten Höchstleistungen an. Abstrakt, verschachtelt oder einfach nur grotesk, lässt sich ein Zugang zu Aesop Rocks vielschichtigen Beats meist erst nach mehrfachen Hörgängen erschließen. Like You, bei dem Aesop die Hookline gleich selbst einrappt, schmiegt sich mit sehr eingängigem Thema hingegen direkt ins Ohr. Anders als die Vorgängeralben, die Ant und The Grouch produziert haben, trägt die Rosie Perez Widmung eine weitaus finsterere Handschrift, wie die düster komponierten Tracks Permanent Standby oder Ghost Dance Deluxe verdeutlichen. Mit brachialen Bässen sorgt Aes für mächtig viel Druck und ergänzt das bestens miteinander eingestimmte Felt-Team perfekt. Im Back-to-back sorgen Murs und Slug für ein ausgewogenes Zusammenspiel an Rapzeilen und überzeugen einmal mehr mit Wortwitz und ausgefeilten Lyrics. Neben ihrem Faible für weibliche B-Promis der amerikanischen Filmlandschaft, zollt das Independent-Rap-Duo auch Respekt an seine musikalischen Wegbereiter wie EPMD oder Run DMC. So liefern sie mit We Have You Surrounded einen postmodernen Ansatz einer Neuinterpretation des Klassikers Sucker MC’s. Murs und Slug in bestechender Form, unergründliche Beats von Aesop Rock und jede Menge Scratcheinlagen von Big Wiz machen Felt 3 zu einem innovativem Gesamtkunstwerk. Für den Fall, dass es diesmal mit Rosie wieder nicht klappen sollte, hat Slug vorsorglich einen vierten Teil von Felt angekündigt, bei dem bereits das in Hollywood-Kreisen umtriebige Callgirl Heidi Fleiss in der engeren Auswahl steht.

Andreas Margara (18. November 2009)

I’ve lots of things to update now since I have not updated my blog for almost a week=X. Hence, I am going to separate them into two different entries just to make me seem less long-winded and for readability.=)

NCT last week was pretty fruitful for me. Just from the lecture alone, I’ve learnt quite a lot of things about technology in business and work. I also get to know some interesting websites and I am going to share with you guys on my blog. Cheers!

I don’t know if this works for Singapore. Do you know there’s a website for you to share your books with others after you’ve read and you’ll be able to trace where it is later? The website is named “Bookcrossing”. I thought it was quite a cool idea. You just have to print out the number code from the website and slot it in the book. After that, you could just leave the book anywhere in the public (E.g. on bus, on the benches, in foodcourts,etc.) and if someone picks up your book, He/she will enter it into the website and you will be able to track where it goes to. And it was said that this happened in one country and the girl tracks that her book went all round the country. It’s really pretty nice to share books with people and even more fascinating to share with strangers that you don’t know. However, according to my teacher, one of our seniors did the same thing and when she went home to see if she could track the book; it was nowhere to be found. But well, it didn’t really surprise me. After all, not many Singaporeans know about this website and seriously, not many will keep a book that is found in the public. Perhaps that will only happen if the book is made of real gold.

URL: www.bookcrossing.com

For those who are interested, you can visit the URL above. Try it and tell me. I am really curious about this bookcrossing thing but I doubt I’ll try it. After all i do not have many books to spare.

 Another interesting website that Ms Kwa introduced us is www.meetup.com . It is a place where one can find interest groups to meet up with. It ranges from studying group (I bet lots of students need this) to Taichi group to fans group (Fans of Korean celebrities look here). But it’s really sad when I can’t find my favourite pianist fans meet up group in this website.=( Perhaps Yiruma isn’t that famous in Singapore yet.

Seriously, I really got to say that Singapore is quite an uninteresting place with uninteresting people, or should I say audience? Have anyone heard for the Singapore Flash Mob Dance that was held in Raffles Place? Even though I wasn’t there, I saw the video on it which Ms Kwa showed us during our lecture. The response was pathetic. Especially when you compare it with the T-Mobile Dance held in Liverpool Street Station in London. The ideas are similar but the responses are very different. You will know what I mean after you see the two videos below.

The T-Mobile Dance

The SG Flash Mob Dance

Can you see the difference? Singaporeans are just walking past those dancers even though it’s really unusual for people to suddenly dance on the street or in the public. Okay, I should stop using “Singaporeans” but “we” since I am a Singaporean too. Should I say we are getting less observant or are we getting boring? Or perhaps we are just living in our own world? 

However, I think some changes could be made to the Singapore Flash Mob Dance in order to have better responses. Instead of an open air Mob Dance, make it indoor. The music will be louder and more surrounded this way. Indoor also means lesser distractions (e.g. car noise, nature sounds). The selection of songs should be more interesting. Maybe a mixture of slow and fast songs will allow people to pay more attention to the Mob Dance. Well, just some opinions I have.

And saying about dance, it kinds of reminded me of the BK subservient chicken. It is really a good way of advertising as it is interactive and different. You seldom see such advertisement. For those who don’t know what I am talking about, visit http://www.bk.com/en/us/campaigns/subservient-chicken.html

Just type in commands such as “dance”, “sleep”, “sit”, etc. and you can see the chicken does what you want. This relates it back to BK’s tagline “Get the chicken the way you like.” or something to that.

Speaking of advertising and doing business, people are really innovative in doing all these online using the latest technology. Many companies now get their employees online to tweet and blog during their working hours. The old rules all now gone and technology is the thing now. However, there are still companies that prefer the traditional way and limit them to go online. Even SMS-ing is not allowed during work time. I seriously wonder how long will those traditional rules last. Everyone is now tweeting and Facebook-ing almost every day. If there are still companies that keep those traditional rules strict, I guess is sooner or later that everyone will start leaving. Who doesn’t want a job with high pay and all you have to do is just tweet about your company and build relationships with customers on Facebook?

Well, maybe not everyone now. But in 5 years’ time, I guess it will be the whole world.

Luckily, there are still some great companies who are establishing these new rules now. Here are the two of them:

Zappos – www.zappos.com

The Garden Slug – www.thegardenslug.com

And I just viewed “The Garden Slug” menu. The food looks nice! I really hope to eat there one day but isn’t it a little too far and inconvenient to get there?=(

Anyway, that’s how fruitful the lecture was last Wednesday=). Followed on were presentations about the future of things due to the technology. First was Aaron’s group which presented on “The Future of Music”. I like the prediction they had about online live concert. If such things really happened, i seriously won’t mind paying $10 to see my favourite idol’s live concert online. Even though the atmosphere won’t be the same but it’s better than not watching at all.

Next was my group presenting on “The Future of Journalism”. Luckily I did much research about it and I thought i handled pretty well during the Q&A. Well, at least I wasn’t speechless or confused when people asked questions.

The last group on Thurs was Andrea’s group, presenting on “The Future of Learning”. They predicted that in the future, there will be more online lessons and assignments. There was a small discussion in class and Nick said that online lessons could shorten the study years. Come to think of it, I kind of disagree. If lessons were to be online, I doubt no one will study. People could just find their classmates who are hardworking and copy their work. Even though SP isn’t totally online yet, there are already students copying others’ works. If everything were to go online, I guess it will only make students get lazier and more anti-social. Perhaps there will be even an increase in number of retainers. Personally, I don’t fancy online lessons. I can’t ask questions immediately when I don’t understand something, and I can’t enjoy the feel of being a student. Being a student is so much fun and everyone is dread of it. I seriously don’t understand why.

On Friday, Elizabeth’s, Shiqi’s and Ned’s groups did presentations. I was especially fascinated by the content of Ned’s presentation about “The Future of Advertising”. I admitted that I’ve never thought of advertising that interactive and fun. Yes, i love advertising and all these future advertising makes my heart burns even more for advertising. It also somewhat let me feel that what I’ve learnt in poly for the first 2 years about advertising a little wasted. Okay, maybe wasted is not the right word because I still got to learn the basics after all. But I think in the future, in 5 years’ time, maybe advertising is not just about Photoshop and drawings and painting. It’s about Flash, videos, social media and technology. Sometimes, i really feel like the world is going too fast for me to catch up.

Shiqi’s group presentation kind of confused me. No, I am not saying it is bad or what just that the ending really makes me wonder what exactly their predictions are. I don’t know is it just my problem or what. After the presentation, I asked Shiqi and she explained to me about it. I understood a little then.

All these presentations about future make me think that the future is really a confusing world. Or either is made up of confusing humans. Perhaps this world should just end in 2012. But I really want to live on to see how the world will be like in the future=)

Le frère Ali revient cet automne avec un troisième opus, faisant suite à l’époustouflant The Undisputed Truth paru en avril 2007. Ce dernier essai reçut un succès unanime lors de sa sortie, propulsant ainsi le rappeur albinos au sommet du rap underground outre-Atlantique. Entre temps, il y eut la fournée The Truth Is Here, en mai dernier, censée préparer l’arrivée de ce nouvel album. L’EP composé de 9 titres laissait entrevoir une nouvelle vibe, moins voluptueuse qu’au préalable, mais tout aussi appréciée par la critique. Puis comment oublier cette collaboration miraculeuse (« The Truth ») entre Jake One, Freeway et Ali sur le White Van Music du producteur de Seattle, fin 2008 ? Autant de réussites qui présageaient le meilleur pour la sortie de ce Us, le 21 septembre dernier.

 Le meilleur… Il y avait tout de même un doute qui me pesait depuis la parution de ce troublant EP daté du 4 mai. La production, pourtant toujours signée Ant du groupe Atmosphere, semblait migrer vers un univers plus cuivré, et surtout nettement moins majestueux que sur The Undisputed Truth qui, je le rappelle, m’avait laissé pantois. Une gène rapidement (et malheureusement) confirmée par l’écoute de ce nouvel essai. Une gène qui s’est rapidement (et péniblement) transformée en déception. Pas simple d’un côté de faire mieux que ce deuxième opus, ô combien remarquable et remarqué. Seulement voilà, un artiste ne peut pas se permettre de rester bloqué sur un disque sous prétexte que c’est son œuvre de référence. Au lieu de s’entêter à vouloir la reproduire continuellement, son dessein est d’évoluer, de grandir, et de se développer musicalement. C’est en somme le pari que se sont lancés Ant et Brother Ali avant de confectionner cet album. Murir, s’ouvrir et se renouveler.

 Attention tout de même à ne pas vous y méprendre. N’imaginez pas qu’entre deux projets, le ‘preacher’ s’est convertit à l’auto-tune et à l’euro dance. Non non non ! Il s’agit seulement d’une évolution logique dans la façon d’aborder la musique. Et une chose est même certaine : d’un point de vue purement objectif, cette livraison est un nouveau joyau. Les critiques l’encensent et les magazines l’adulent. Suite à ce que je viens de dire, j’entends déjà les : « Mais alors, d’où te vient cette déception si la réussite de cet opus est unanime ? ». A ceux là je répondrais simplement : « Des beats ! ». Voilà, pour moi, l’unique (mais gros) défaut de ce disque, que je tiens vraiment à souligner. Comparées au précédent effort, certaines productions sont, non pas mauvaises, mais nettement moins mordantes. J’en veux pour preuve ces mollassons « Crown Jewel », « House Keys » et « Bad Mufucker Pt. 2 », mais également cette collaboration sans intérêt entre Ali, Freeway et Joell Ortiz (« Best@it »), qui n’arrive pas à la cheville d’un « Truth Is ». En somme, ces instrumentaux aigus et cuivrés sont, selon moi, inappropriés à Brother Ali. L’irritant « Games » en est l’exemple. Connaissant sa voix déjà haut perchée, les productions basses et profondes lui conviennent mieux.

 A ce titre, comment ne pas succomber à la beauté d’un « You Say (Puppy Love) » ou à la force d’un texte comme « The Travelers », traitant de l’esclavage avec une vérité et une émotion déconcertante. Dans le rôle du street « Preacher », Brother Ali est toujours le maitre incontesté. Ce n’est d’ailleurs pas un hasard si l’album devait initialement s’appeler ainsi. N’oublions pas que, malgré les critiques personnelles que j’ai assigné à certaines, les productions de Ant demeurent toujours angéliques dans la plupart des cas. A noter que des morceaux comme « Babygirl », « Tight Rope », « You Say (Puppy Love) » ou « Us » relèvent tout de même du miracle.

 En somme, cet album est la preuve que l’équation Brother Ali + Ant = réussite assurée, se vérifie (pratiquement) toujours. La parenthèse est pour ma pomme car, pour la première fois, le rappeur m’a déçu. Enfin, plutôt sa musique et ses choix artistiques devrais-je dire, car lui, en temps que MC d’exception, reste fidèle à lui-même. Dans tous les cas, Us apporte la certitude qu’en matière d’underground, le Hip Hop se porte bien. Avec en ses rangs des pointures comme Freeway, Atmosphere, Evidence, Jake One, Doom, P.O.S. et Brother Ali, Rhymesayers Entertainement est un label qui marche, et bon Dieu, pourvu que ça dure !

15 / 20

After Lisa Bendall and her daughter spotted some unusually coloured slugs while walking to school one day, they launched an investigation that has the world of amateur and professional malacologists (that’s slug- and snail-watchers to you and me) scratching their heads.

“We were in awe,” says Bendall, a freelance writer, of the pumpkin-coloured things, which are 10 centimetres [about 4 inches] long when extended.

More at  10 cm Etobicoke slug a big, slimy mystery – thestar.com.

In the musical justice system, the people and the musicians are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups — The District Attorneys who investigate the crime, and the defense who claims it’s all a bunch of bullshit. These are their stories.

Judge: Docket Zero-Two is in order, Sean Daley aka Slug of Atmosphere vs. Marshall Mathers aka Eminem to answer the dispute of which one is the grandest cracker of them all. Counselors, because this is a civil suit, we are just going to have a good old fashioned debate, with minimal interruption. Counselor Scootsie Finkerton, you may begin.

Scootsie Finkerton: Thank you, your honor. Ever since The Slim Shady LP was brought forth into the world there has been little doubt as to who is the greatest white rapper of all-time. Eminem was the answer, now and forever. And truthfully, who could say otherwise? His competition consisted of a Surreal World cast member (Vanilla Ice), Jewish New Yorkers (The Beastie Boys), several underground emcees nobody in real life has ever heard of, Everlast, Bubba Sparxx, need I continue? Eminem was declared the king without so much as a whimper.

But upon further review, not only should this claim be contested, it turns out to be false. The crown of cracker rapping should rest on the head of my client, Slug, who not only is the greatest melanin-deficient rapper ever, but one of the 10 most influential hip-hop artists of all-time. All-time. Yes I said it, this guy:

From Overcast! to When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that Shit Gold, Slug has given more to hip-hop than Marshall Mathers, and it’s time he be rewarded as such.

Ronald McClownShoes [Ed's note: played by the esteemed Joshua Mosley]: Your honor and esteemed members of the hip hop jury: I am here to tell you that hip-hop is a niche industry. Simply put, if you find your niche, you’ll move along in the industry. Busta Rhymes had that rapid-fire flow that captivated B-boys and emcees alike. Run DMC had the Addidas. Biggie had his gut. I’d list them all but that would leave us running short on time.

The white rapper also falls into this category and if there is any one entity that got the ball rolling for Honky-Hop, it is the boys. More specifically, the Beastie Boys. But with all the flow that those Menshes had, they had a twinge of rock in there. I dig the Beasties but I don’t qualify it as pure hip-hop.

Then there was the canker sore that was Vanilla Ice, who rose to fame by trying to claim that there was no similarity between his hit “Ice Ice Baby” and the classic Queen/Bowie cut “Under Pressure.”  Right, Ice. Helen Keller could have heard that one. My opponent brought up Everlast, Bubba and other names but to me the Grand Pubah of the white rap game is about as clear cut as an R. Kelly pee-pee video.

My case today is to go to bat for one Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem, also known as Slim Shady. While my opponent has listed the accolades of Mr. Slug, and believe me Slug brings HOT HOT fire with his torch, facts are facts. Any pub or credibility that Slug has garnered this century has come off the doors that Marshall Mathers opened.

Mathers’ albums were a part of the soundtrack of my adolescents, showing me for the first time just how fucking crazy white people can be. At the same time, his lyrics had meaning and, in the event that his daughter Hailey Jade was a topic, he showed that he had heart.

Ultimately, my case will be built on the fact that Mathers is the clear cut choice in this argument for one reason: he opened doors. While Slug is accomplished in his own right, Mathers major label success at the beginning of the decade got Slug’s feet in the door. In fact, I got another nickname for Eminem: the Bellhop. Dude opened some SERIOUS doors.

SF: Opened doors? OPENED DOORS? Objection your honor! The fact of the matter is that Atmosphere’s first record, Overcast!, was released in 1998. Eminem’s first record: The Slim Shady LP, was released in? You guessed it: 1999. Eminem didn’t open shit for Slug and Atmosphere that he wasn’t opening on his own.

The fact is that both of these fellas are the exact same age (birthed in 1972) and started contributing to hip-hop at the exact same time independently of one another. Counselor’s initial argument should be null and void.

Instead of listening to inaccurate drivel, I suggest we look at the facts. Specifically, the discographies. Atmosphere’s first three albums were Overcast!, Lucy Ford and God Loves Ugly. Eminem put out The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show. As fantastic as Slug was on those first three albums, I’ll give the edge to Eminem. He was better. It’s a fact.

But one of these artists continued to get better and better while the other floundered to the point of sucktitude. When you compare their two most recent albums (Atmosphere: You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having, When Life Gives you Lemons you Paint That Shit Gold vs. Eminem: Encore, Relapse) you not only come to the conclusion that Slug is superior to Eminem at this stage in his career, but also realize that Slug is far better than Eminem now than Eminem was better than Slug before.

Combine the fact that Atmosphere have released a host of quality EPs sprinkled in between their albums and have collaborated with Murs to form Felt, and the argument is nearly flawless.

RMcCS: I tried to be civil but now I guess, I’ll have to go with the SCOREBOARD argument, your honor. It’s right after the Chewbacca Defense in the Big Law Book of Life. Look it up.

My esteemed opponent raises some accurate points with his assessment of Mr. Slug in the court of life, we value results. And Mr. Mathers has them IN SPADES! Since debuting on a major label with The Slim Shady LP in 1999, homie light has racked up worldwide sales of 80 million records. 80 MILLION!!!! Can you even imagine what that looks like? Think about it. No don’t think about it. It’ll take too long. We’re on a schedule. Critically, his first drop was the best.

Commercially, he told Hammer to go fuck himself and decided to hurt them with The Marshall Mathers LP. The joint had singles such as the catchy “The Real Slim Shady” and the legitimately tough “The Way I Am”. Then he continued his lyrically homicidal assault on his baby mama with the succinctly “Kim”.

With the “fuck the world” attitude of Tupac and the lyrical ability of Big, and a pinch of aesthetic marketability, Eminem was the biggest name in the game at the beginning of the decade. He even got thrown in there with the Mt. Rushmore of hip-hop (Tupac, Jay-Z, Big) as one of the all time greats. And he hasn’t abused release deadlines like Jay did by dropping an album once a menstrual cycle.

His confrontational rapping style has worked in his favor. He took on haters and built anticipation for his albums with fans by making the public wonder “What will that crazy saltine say on this one?”

Has he slipped? That’s debatable. But the fact of the matter is that he is 10 years, nine Grammy’s and an Oscar into his career and he is STILL considered the Hottest MC in the Game. Not just of his race, of the HUMAN race! Try as you might Slug but Em has you by the short hairs. Which is strange because Slugs are typically challenged when it comes to follicles. That’s unlike my worthy opponent Scootsie, who has lovely golden locks 365 days a year.

Judge: Hold on, I’ve received some documentation that might be relevant in this case. It seems that Slug’s father was a man of half-Native American and half-black ethnic make-up. This would make Slug only half white, well past the American societal norms for what constitutes a person as non-white.

SF: Really???

RMcCS: Really???

Judge: Really. I have no choice but to side with counselor McClownShoes here and declare Eminem the greatest white rapper in the game.

HOWEVER, both sides should should take more than the verdict away form them. Arguing over who is the best in their respective racial categories, while entertaining as it might be, is utterly pointless. Racial boundaries are essentially a convoluted combination of social, ethnic and economic variables this day and age, especially in this fantastic country we call America.

Simply put, there is no black and white when it comes to black and white.

Felt [comprised of Murs and Slug] dropped their latest cd, Felt 3, today. If you have any sort of love for legit hip-hop you will run out and cop this ASAP!

Shout out to my boy Neezy F. Baby for the heads up!

I often check ARTINFO’s website for new gallery exhibition calls, jobs, and news.  It’s a hip site.  Today, I happened upon this:

Call For Submissions – Reduplication of the Real
An exhibition of photographic Performance Art documentation
Deadline: 1st December 2009

During the last decade a curatorial style has arisen that gives greater significance to the soiled, worn, damaged and defaced props left at the conclusion of a Live Art performance. Often these objects are considered Art in its own right and have been showcased in various stand-alone exhibitions. Yet the other significant permanent Live Art by-product: photographic documentation is often simply understood as a prosaic method of documenting the act for future reference and so its strengths as a stand-alone Art form has yet to be fully tested.
However, the photographic documentation of a performance is often fascinating, poignant and even humorous in its own right. It is a montage of esoterically linked everyday objects juxtaposed with a performer, focused in their entirety on a single, ultimately pointless, action; all frozen in a single frame. The photographs, with their distorted quotidian actions and objects, can come across as a scene anywhere between an uncanny distortion of the everyday and a gross and disturbing dream-like sequence
Reduplication of the Real will showcase a diversity of photographs that document Live Art Actions by both established and emerging artists from both national and international backgrounds. Some images will stand-alone while others will form small sets covering an individual performance. The exhibition will highlight the strengths of performance Art documentation and will lead the way towards further dialogue about the images as standalone works.

The exhibition aims to showcase a broad and diverse selection of images and as such, will work on an open submission basis. The curator will review all submitted work and choose a selection of work based upon their strength as standalone images. In order to keep the exhibitions presentation clear and cohesive the curator will request an electronic copy of all selected images which will be printed in sizes to compliment the galleries layout and mounted in a uniform manner.

Images will be valued at a price that will be discussed with selected artists and sold at 30% commission. All unsold work can be brought by the person who submitted it at the price of its creation.

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Seriously?  I was reading this and asked myself, “where do I begin?”  Not only is Live Art a massive waste of anyone’s time (please learn from the DaDa movement), but to profit on and exhibit the leftovers from such performances as art itself?  Have we gone to such a pseudo-refined degree that what we produce from a pre-planned arts demonstrative performance is in itself some sort of communication?  What exactly is this particular form of trash telling an audience that the trash after my last Stop Making Sense party did not?  Yes, “something happened,” I get it, but who cares?

There is a sense of archaeology about such a processual art display.  I keep using the word “art,” by the by, but I hesitate greatly to use it.  I once created a 35 minute powerpoint mini-movie on the archaeology of trash receptacles around my college campus for a contemporary archaeology course – so I do know a few things about trash and leftovers and how people generally feel about it.  People care little for it.  There is no good art-style “shock” about “what remains”.  Few people really care at all.  As the exhibition description says above, these are wastes of time.  Folks that travel the Live Art scene may pick up something from the leftovers and sometimes can swap stories, but what we have here is something more pedantic and certainly post-modernly selfish.  We have forcibly created storytelling among a very small imagined community for the purpose, I believe, in maintaining the ties and ideology – namely the life – of that small group.  People who have been to the performances can see references to what they saw, what they didn’t see but what other’s must have seen, and things no one should see.  We don’t have art for art’s sake, not art for artist’s sake, but art for ‘this guy’’s sake.  What have we become?

I read a number of published theses from the grad students of the Art Institute of Chicago.  A number of them claimed that painting was dead and film was the murderer.  I’d say, rather, that painting is sleeping, and waiting for the confusion of the contemporary western art state to kill itself so that we may move on to making beautiful, mass-meaningful things again, and not waste our high-interest lease on time.

50 Cent – Before I Self Destruct (CD & DVD)

Morning all, We’ve got some quality discs dropping today. I’m especially diggin’ the new John Mayer Battle Studies and Fiddy’s Before I Self Destruct but I was surprisingly disappointed by Rakim Allah’s The Seventh Seal. I need another run-through to finalize my opinion on each, though.

The new Felt record is impressive but I’d rather hear Murs & Slug over Ant’s production than Aesop Rock’s, something just doesn’t fit. The duo sounds more natural over Ant’s backdrops but their third effort A Tribute To Rosie Perez isn’t bad at all.

Ready to support the artists? Click on the covers or text to scoop your very own copy at Amazon and listen for yourself, Enjoy!

John Mayer – Battle Studies

Felt - A Tribute To Rosie Perez

Rakim – The Seventh Seal

Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Message To The Other Side (2 CD)

Edan – Echo Party

I woke up a few days ago and my foot was killing me.  There was a sharp but inconsistent pain in the sole.  This throbbing annoyance was just enough to completely blow a whole painting day.   Every time  I sat down to work, my mind kept focusing on the pain and I could not focus on what I was doing.  Further, I was in a delicate phase of a new oil painting I was (am) working on and the work requires my full attention.

Point being: It’s amazing the simple small things which can kill a mood.  For those of you out there who are not artists in any form, know that motivation for creating is often fickle.  Some of the painting-a-day people can still piss out their terrible works, but for anyone who cares about painting or even some illustrators, a three-day foot pain can lead to the demise of the whole work.  It’s somewhat nice that I have no 9-5 job at the moment, other than the intense poverty which is a whole other problem towards working.

Slug and Ant Don't Like You

Theeereeeeeeee baaaaaacccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. Ladies and gentleman come Tuesday underground hip hop’s super group, Felt, return!. The group’s third album, A Tribute to Rosie Perez, will be produced by another underground don, Aesop Rock. The group’s other two albums, A Tribute to Christina Ricci and A Tribute to Lisa Bonet, we extremely well done and sold pretty well. This time around things are going to be a bit different.

While there is a new producer the album will also be sold some place new too. According to the group’s myspace page the disc will be available for purchase at numerous Target locations.

Whoa. This news came as a bit of shock to me. The threesome have all been known for their underground success, but have scratched the mainstream surface. But Target? That is that big time.

No matter where it is sold, I am pretty sure the album is going to rock. Judging from the track on their myspace, Felt 3 is going be dope.

Do you think you know all there is to know about Felt? If so take my quiz to find out.

Below are a couple of videos. The first is a video of “Early Mornin’ Tony” the group’s seconds album. The second video is Aesop Rock and some other random dude working on the album.

“Early Mornin’ Tony”

Aesop Rock Working on Felt 3

Photo of Atmosphere by Andy King/ AP Images