-To the Batmobile, let's go.
-Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed
Batman & Robin
My friend Mikhail, an obsessive compulsive former roommate with a love for the nerdier side of life, was my comics guy or better yet the Obiwan to my Anakin; a mentor who later I would master, anyways the guy liked his comics. I never was tempted by that beast as a kid and my stepdad has a massive chest filled with old comics from the 70's, something like that should be a young boy's dream but it just never clicked for me. That all changed when Mikhail hooked me up with Watchmen. In the 2ish years since that fateful introduction I've reread the book at least a half dozen times, every time finding new intricacies in the work of writer Alan Moore and illustrator David Gibbons. Watchmen, of course, is the canonical superhero text, the text that invariably gets teached in comics courses along with Maus and The Dark Knight Returns. Watchmen does the comic book such a big favour because of its realism. When Moore wrote it he was growing tired of the continuity of the comic book world where nothing could be fundamentally changed. In Watchmen heroes and villains were subject to human extremes and could easily die at any moment, not only that but the characters were old and mostly past their prime, rejected by a world they were trying to save. Not only that, most of the characters make you wonder whether they are heroes anyway. These were not your friendly neighborhood Spiderman-types, these were Watchmen (actually New Minutemen) and who watches the Watchmen? Certainly not editors interested in selling Moore's characters to young boys. The Watchmen story is set in a world so close to our own that masked vigilanteism and masked crime reasonably exist, become a fad and eventually die out. The masked criminals give up their flashy costumes first and the heroes have to fight political protesters and the Vietcong until the government outlaws them permanently. Of the Watchmen characters only one has superpowers (given to him by science, of course) and the rest are just really good fighters with various methods of punishment that go all the way up to capital. In this way the Watchmen always comes off to me as a Batman story sans Batman. Batman is not a superman, unless we're factoring in Nietzsche. However, Batman does live in a world where many of his friends and foes do.
I bring up Watchmen because I think that that world is one wherein all the heroes are similar in their odd ways to our beloved Bats. Rorshach, for instance, strikes terror into the hearts of criminals through violent force and a wicked costume but him and Bats split on the whole killing evil bad guys front. Rorschach states that he truly owns his name when he burns a child molester alive, Batman would never do this because Batman believes in the justice system and even though say the Joker has a nasty penchant for murder and mayhem and Batman knows that if he kills him he'll undoubtedly save lives Batman refuses to do so and has even saved the Joker's life. Nite Owl and Ozymandias also remind me of Batman with their intelligence and resources but Ozymandias, I feel is very much in his own class of heroism. But anyways you can read the book for that one. For the next chat, we shall hopefully touch on Batman in the 80's starting with more Moore and some Miller time as well and maybe touching on the theatricality of messrs. Burton and Keaton in the film adaptation. And of course, still to come: Adam West, Kevin Smith, Christian Bale's retarded voice, Brian Azzarello's urban retelling of the Batman myth and so much more... So stay tuned: same Bat time, same Bat blog
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Let Mee Tell You about Dead Prez's Hip Hop
If you a fighter, writer, biter, crowd exciter or you wanna just get high, then just say it
But if you a lie, lie, wolf cry, pants on fire, agent with a wire then I'ma know it when I play it
-Dead Prez
You've heard that beat before probably, the one that sounds like congress between Moog and tuba, backed by a simple drum machine loop. Well it's been a while but Dave Chappelle used to walk out to each of his shows with that beat. What a perfect hip hop beat, it's small in scale but not in size, it makes you wanna dance but it also makes you think "what the fuck?!" It's the right beat for a political statement, which is exactly what Hip Hop is.
Generally every rapper has some level of social conscience. They might rap about selling crack or use the bitch word so freely but most got something to say that's worth your time. Then there's Dead Prez, followers of the no compromise political rap music pioneered by Public Enemy, the kind of rap that pretty much guarantee's you won't be partying like a rock star.
I'm not a big fan of DP but I do admit they "got some crazy shit" and there are few songs as perfectly crafted to their genre then this. The beat points to the past with its economy (LL Cool J's first album wasn't produced but "reduced" by Rick Rubin) but the lyrics are very much a product of the late 90's. The pain from the deaths of Biggie and 2pac was still being felt but people were also "Pissed off, cause Biggie and 'Pac just missed all this / Watchin all these cheap imitations get rich off 'em / and get dollars that shoulda been theirs like they switched wallets," to quote a certain blonde haired MC. Hip Hop is about the anger that the two greatest purveyors of the gangster subculture since Scorsese and Coppolla had been gunned down and that nobody knows shit although even the FBI suspects police involvement. I don't wanna get into it cause it's a fucking shame.
Hip Hop is about hip hop. This thing that anybody can do because it just requires your passion and a little inventiveness. Like punk rock in that way but without the necessity of rebellion, although when that shows up hip hop is at its best. I can't say anymore about this song and my epigram says it all anyways.
But if you a lie, lie, wolf cry, pants on fire, agent with a wire then I'ma know it when I play it
-Dead Prez
You've heard that beat before probably, the one that sounds like congress between Moog and tuba, backed by a simple drum machine loop. Well it's been a while but Dave Chappelle used to walk out to each of his shows with that beat. What a perfect hip hop beat, it's small in scale but not in size, it makes you wanna dance but it also makes you think "what the fuck?!" It's the right beat for a political statement, which is exactly what Hip Hop is.
Generally every rapper has some level of social conscience. They might rap about selling crack or use the bitch word so freely but most got something to say that's worth your time. Then there's Dead Prez, followers of the no compromise political rap music pioneered by Public Enemy, the kind of rap that pretty much guarantee's you won't be partying like a rock star.
I'm not a big fan of DP but I do admit they "got some crazy shit" and there are few songs as perfectly crafted to their genre then this. The beat points to the past with its economy (LL Cool J's first album wasn't produced but "reduced" by Rick Rubin) but the lyrics are very much a product of the late 90's. The pain from the deaths of Biggie and 2pac was still being felt but people were also "Pissed off, cause Biggie and 'Pac just missed all this / Watchin all these cheap imitations get rich off 'em / and get dollars that shoulda been theirs like they switched wallets," to quote a certain blonde haired MC. Hip Hop is about the anger that the two greatest purveyors of the gangster subculture since Scorsese and Coppolla had been gunned down and that nobody knows shit although even the FBI suspects police involvement. I don't wanna get into it cause it's a fucking shame.
Hip Hop is about hip hop. This thing that anybody can do because it just requires your passion and a little inventiveness. Like punk rock in that way but without the necessity of rebellion, although when that shows up hip hop is at its best. I can't say anymore about this song and my epigram says it all anyways.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Let me tell you about Hip-Hop
Grindin', when you know what I keep in a linin'
Niggas better stay in line, when
When you see a nigga like me shinin' - Clipse
What is hip-hop about? That's something I created this blog with the intent of exploring; you see hip-hop, for me, has been for years now this thing to which I wish to explore and know. As a white Calgarian it's not a genre that I am normally exposed to and thus due to my own cypher I feel the need to speak for it to whoever it is that listens to me, to open their minds as mine has been opened.
I start with the verb to shine. Shining is something that happens when you rock a fat gold chain or a fresh pair of sneaks or some platinum or bling bling (to use a term so dated my mother uses it with her church friends). When you take a girl to Jacob's and play which one's the bluest. Essentially shinin' is when you show off how much money you got. Some people fake their shine and we can see this in Slick Rick's "The Moment I Feared" or Trick Daddy's "Tuck Ya Ice," while others hate on shine like the subject of Big Boi and Gucci Mane's "Shina Blockas."
Generally rappers always present themselves as shinin'. Devin the Dude, Slick Rick, KRS-One, Ice Cube and Kanye West have referenced their broke-ass non-shine before but generally rappers do like Sandy Cohen in American Beauty and present themselves as kings whether they're making money or not. A great example of this comes from Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause LP wherein Rock states that he's making "Matchbox 20 money," which is simply untrue until after the album is released and does make "Matchbox 20 money."
The nature of shining of course leads to hip hop's controversial uses of words like bitch and ho. You see, the nature of rap is that it takes a person from a state of non-shine or faked-shine to hopefully a state of actual shine. R. Kelly and Mike Jones both have expressed how the shine has drastically changed the way they appear to woman, as Jones puts it "back then hoes didn't want me / now I'm hot, hoes all on me." Of course this blog will explore the nature of the word bitch as used by rappers from Common to Ice Cube, Ice-T to Jay-Z but for right now I will make this argument, if rap is about achieving shine then rap is the music of capitalism. Rappers are self-made entrepreneurs that use the resources they have to make their music and when they bring themselves up from poverty they now have to deal with those that want a piece of their action. Thus with the shine comes the bitches or hoes that exchange sex for money, not necessarily as prostitutes but as trophy types that love the rapper in his shine. Of course it could be true love but how does one know?
Of course the terms bitch and ho can refer to a lot of things and not just "in the sense of having a pussy." Biggie's "Me & My Bitch" might just be hip-hop's greatest love song, Common's "The Bitch in You" is a battle rap against Ice Cube and Ice-T's "Bitches 2" deals with the ways in which men can be bitches. I like to think of myself as not a prejudiced person and I think that hip-hop gets a bad rap, pun possibly intended, from other people who probably think of themselves the same way and so I feel that the genre should shine in more than a commercial sense. This is the first blog of hopefully many that will analyze and confront hip-hop controversy.
Niggas better stay in line, when
When you see a nigga like me shinin' - Clipse
What is hip-hop about? That's something I created this blog with the intent of exploring; you see hip-hop, for me, has been for years now this thing to which I wish to explore and know. As a white Calgarian it's not a genre that I am normally exposed to and thus due to my own cypher I feel the need to speak for it to whoever it is that listens to me, to open their minds as mine has been opened.
I start with the verb to shine. Shining is something that happens when you rock a fat gold chain or a fresh pair of sneaks or some platinum or bling bling (to use a term so dated my mother uses it with her church friends). When you take a girl to Jacob's and play which one's the bluest. Essentially shinin' is when you show off how much money you got. Some people fake their shine and we can see this in Slick Rick's "The Moment I Feared" or Trick Daddy's "Tuck Ya Ice," while others hate on shine like the subject of Big Boi and Gucci Mane's "Shina Blockas."
Generally rappers always present themselves as shinin'. Devin the Dude, Slick Rick, KRS-One, Ice Cube and Kanye West have referenced their broke-ass non-shine before but generally rappers do like Sandy Cohen in American Beauty and present themselves as kings whether they're making money or not. A great example of this comes from Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause LP wherein Rock states that he's making "Matchbox 20 money," which is simply untrue until after the album is released and does make "Matchbox 20 money."
The nature of shining of course leads to hip hop's controversial uses of words like bitch and ho. You see, the nature of rap is that it takes a person from a state of non-shine or faked-shine to hopefully a state of actual shine. R. Kelly and Mike Jones both have expressed how the shine has drastically changed the way they appear to woman, as Jones puts it "back then hoes didn't want me / now I'm hot, hoes all on me." Of course this blog will explore the nature of the word bitch as used by rappers from Common to Ice Cube, Ice-T to Jay-Z but for right now I will make this argument, if rap is about achieving shine then rap is the music of capitalism. Rappers are self-made entrepreneurs that use the resources they have to make their music and when they bring themselves up from poverty they now have to deal with those that want a piece of their action. Thus with the shine comes the bitches or hoes that exchange sex for money, not necessarily as prostitutes but as trophy types that love the rapper in his shine. Of course it could be true love but how does one know?
Of course the terms bitch and ho can refer to a lot of things and not just "in the sense of having a pussy." Biggie's "Me & My Bitch" might just be hip-hop's greatest love song, Common's "The Bitch in You" is a battle rap against Ice Cube and Ice-T's "Bitches 2" deals with the ways in which men can be bitches. I like to think of myself as not a prejudiced person and I think that hip-hop gets a bad rap, pun possibly intended, from other people who probably think of themselves the same way and so I feel that the genre should shine in more than a commercial sense. This is the first blog of hopefully many that will analyze and confront hip-hop controversy.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I Dream of Hitler
Last night I had the strangest dream I've ever dreamed before, I dreamed that all the world agreed to put an end to war - Johnny Cash (but originally Ed McCurdy)
You're young, you're healthy and let's face it you're white, which is a big advantage these days - Tony Soprano
Tomorrow People...that's what I call mixed race babies - Shameless
I don't dream that much, or I don't remember my dreams much, I've never been clear on how that works. Whatever the case, when I do dream I'm always wanting to publish them, speak them, put them out there. I have my series regulars like where I fly through a series of video-game style double-jumps and of course the naked in school ones although not so much anymore, although I did have a recent detour to share on that but we'll save it for later maybe.
So where was I? Oh yes! My Dream, which is so much better than all your dreams and thus deserves Capitalization!
---Quick Thought!!!---A dog person is someone who has no qualms with having a dog lick them. A dog pedophile is someone who has no qualms with using peanut butter to get the dog to, as Slick Rick puts it: Lick tha Ballz---End of Quick Thought!!!---
I dreamed two dreams last night, one about Harper, the other about Hitler. Now you have to understand despite the Februaryesque feel of my blog page I am very much a white guy and only a semi-fly one at that. So the first one was me in a men's bathroom with Harper. We're taking a piss and the election comes up and I think this was a guilt-type dream cause I was telling Harper (who's somewhat Vote or Die in my dream) that I really didn't wanna bother with voting cause it didn't make any difference, my riding (entire city) being devoutly Conservative, I have no need to vote and besides I like the Conservatives. Anyways in writing this I realize that I'm not being fair to this democracy thing but either I can tell you that I'm gonna make a donation to a party of my choice in place of my vote or I'm gonna refer you to the South Park episode on the matter.
Wow I didn't mean to spend so much time on that...The second dream took place in World War II and I'm not sure what my role in it was. Basically the Americans had taken a Nazi fort and the German soldiers were all standing together and they were all very white. So were the Americans for that matter, aside from a few black soldiers who were quite dark. Hitler was there too and he was kinda rallying his boys and saying it's not so bad to be imprisoned and I can't remember what he said but it was quite rousing and all day I've kinda carried this positive image of Hitler around with me all day. That's not where it gets racist though, instead it's this feeling I had in the dream, where I felt that it was nice to see all those white people. And I'm not even sure it was racist cause you know I've seen beautiful skin and I've seen it in all 8 of Crayola's multicultural shades of brown and peach but I was loving these whities and being white and all that, I was having a little white pride one might say. And it sounds racist and if you're gonna analyze it then having Hitler in it probably makes it racist but well yeah ok that aforementioned feeling also brought on the thought that it's too bad that with all these mixed-race babies whiteness and for that matter blackness and brownness and whatever-colour-asainess-is are peacing the fuck out.
The little white guy inside me says that it's a time to point out that I'm not racist, as white people can never be seen as being racist, and that instead I just dreamt up an agreeance with the racists, that purity of race is a beautiful thing too, as beautiful as any human mutt really when you think about it.
You're young, you're healthy and let's face it you're white, which is a big advantage these days - Tony Soprano
Tomorrow People...that's what I call mixed race babies - Shameless
I don't dream that much, or I don't remember my dreams much, I've never been clear on how that works. Whatever the case, when I do dream I'm always wanting to publish them, speak them, put them out there. I have my series regulars like where I fly through a series of video-game style double-jumps and of course the naked in school ones although not so much anymore, although I did have a recent detour to share on that but we'll save it for later maybe.
So where was I? Oh yes! My Dream, which is so much better than all your dreams and thus deserves Capitalization!
---Quick Thought!!!---A dog person is someone who has no qualms with having a dog lick them. A dog pedophile is someone who has no qualms with using peanut butter to get the dog to, as Slick Rick puts it: Lick tha Ballz---End of Quick Thought!!!---
I dreamed two dreams last night, one about Harper, the other about Hitler. Now you have to understand despite the Februaryesque feel of my blog page I am very much a white guy and only a semi-fly one at that. So the first one was me in a men's bathroom with Harper. We're taking a piss and the election comes up and I think this was a guilt-type dream cause I was telling Harper (who's somewhat Vote or Die in my dream) that I really didn't wanna bother with voting cause it didn't make any difference, my riding (entire city) being devoutly Conservative, I have no need to vote and besides I like the Conservatives. Anyways in writing this I realize that I'm not being fair to this democracy thing but either I can tell you that I'm gonna make a donation to a party of my choice in place of my vote or I'm gonna refer you to the South Park episode on the matter.
Wow I didn't mean to spend so much time on that...The second dream took place in World War II and I'm not sure what my role in it was. Basically the Americans had taken a Nazi fort and the German soldiers were all standing together and they were all very white. So were the Americans for that matter, aside from a few black soldiers who were quite dark. Hitler was there too and he was kinda rallying his boys and saying it's not so bad to be imprisoned and I can't remember what he said but it was quite rousing and all day I've kinda carried this positive image of Hitler around with me all day. That's not where it gets racist though, instead it's this feeling I had in the dream, where I felt that it was nice to see all those white people. And I'm not even sure it was racist cause you know I've seen beautiful skin and I've seen it in all 8 of Crayola's multicultural shades of brown and peach but I was loving these whities and being white and all that, I was having a little white pride one might say. And it sounds racist and if you're gonna analyze it then having Hitler in it probably makes it racist but well yeah ok that aforementioned feeling also brought on the thought that it's too bad that with all these mixed-race babies whiteness and for that matter blackness and brownness and whatever-colour-asainess-is are peacing the fuck out.
The little white guy inside me says that it's a time to point out that I'm not racist, as white people can never be seen as being racist, and that instead I just dreamt up an agreeance with the racists, that purity of race is a beautiful thing too, as beautiful as any human mutt really when you think about it.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Poetic People: An Update
I am just a cowboy, lonesome on the trail. Oh Lord, I'm just thinking about a certain female - Thin Lizzy
On the day that she left, he died but it did not show - Neil Young
The lyrics are from one of my favourites Cowboy Song and a classic earl Neil Young track The Loner. I cite them cause I think that for today's blog I should address my level of isolation. I am a lover of people but I am a contradictory fucker too. I'm a loner, always have been, things gotta be done my way or no way at all. I have problems with rules and I think I call myself 5000 because I like the anonymity of it. Anyways I've been writing a bunch of poetry lately. I've always had troubles with writing because I don't like a lot of the options I have. Writing on paper isn't a forte of mine as a matter of fact my hand writing sucks and typing on word feels too muddled, like whatever I write will be lost in a sea of binaric coding. Maybe I need to organize my word files like I do my porn but you know when does one find the time lol.
I'm thinking about people and the fact that I don't know some people as well as I'd like to. The fact is I'd like to know everybody intimately but it's not always easy. I like the poetry of a person; ie their vanities, their desires and goals, their families, their pets or lack thereof, their sex-life, their tastes in music. My friend Mikhail for instance is a very vain man and I'm not doing some punk-ass internet hating on the guy because the hating on Mikhail is present in all aspects of our very deep friendship like when Lando gave Han all that shit when he arrived in Cloud City.
Some people fade in and out of my recognition, their lack or seeming lack of poetry makes me forget their names or count them in broad mental stereotypes that hopefully will break as I get to know them better. Some stereotypes of people I don't know that well: the snow-bunny, the straight-A student, the white person with dreadlocks, the jock/business student, the "look at me I'm an actor/actress" type, the evil monster...Actually that last one I made up, and most likely if I did meet someone that made me think that about them I'd probably go ahead and get to know their poetry.
I guess what I'm saying is a part of me wishes I got to know people better than I do but I'm a sensitive fuck and I stick close to my peoples. My peoples, I know their poems quite well as I've read and reread them many times. Still their are those that have their poems written on their sleeves, I just recently stole an old high school buddy's facebook status update which was about wine and sounded like it could've come from Sideways, anyways I never knew that guy well but I knew his poetry.
I recently read Michael Ondaatje's book on Billy the Kid, it's a book of mostly poetry and it started a national tradtion of books of poetry about historical figures. My book is called Cowboy Songs and I'm typing it out on my iPhone on the notes app as I've become very good at that and so I shall now find a poem for you guys so you can see what I'm up to, I'm hoping to get enough material one day to do a reading, or well a good reading I could probably pull one off with what I have provided I do a little editing.
Follow the muse
step out of your shoes
Do Anything You Want To
The kings of rock and roll are dead
replaced by broad strokes but it's complicated
I write to you after studying a man
And know that no man should be studied and
yet when we write it all down
for everybody that is around
well, anyways I guess I'm not the only one reading into it
Phil Lynott died as so many of his type did
And we weep for him but we forget about his kids
We don't know him like Scott, Brian or Brian did
I refer you back to those that died in its service
their heartbreaks shown for the whole world to see while we sit back nervous
From Karen Carpenter to Kurt Cobain
Tragedy, sadness and disdain
To those who lived for their work
for those who had to tell how they'd been hurt
Those departed due to their poetry
Leaving only words and memories
On the day that she left, he died but it did not show - Neil Young
The lyrics are from one of my favourites Cowboy Song and a classic earl Neil Young track The Loner. I cite them cause I think that for today's blog I should address my level of isolation. I am a lover of people but I am a contradictory fucker too. I'm a loner, always have been, things gotta be done my way or no way at all. I have problems with rules and I think I call myself 5000 because I like the anonymity of it. Anyways I've been writing a bunch of poetry lately. I've always had troubles with writing because I don't like a lot of the options I have. Writing on paper isn't a forte of mine as a matter of fact my hand writing sucks and typing on word feels too muddled, like whatever I write will be lost in a sea of binaric coding. Maybe I need to organize my word files like I do my porn but you know when does one find the time lol.
I'm thinking about people and the fact that I don't know some people as well as I'd like to. The fact is I'd like to know everybody intimately but it's not always easy. I like the poetry of a person; ie their vanities, their desires and goals, their families, their pets or lack thereof, their sex-life, their tastes in music. My friend Mikhail for instance is a very vain man and I'm not doing some punk-ass internet hating on the guy because the hating on Mikhail is present in all aspects of our very deep friendship like when Lando gave Han all that shit when he arrived in Cloud City.
Some people fade in and out of my recognition, their lack or seeming lack of poetry makes me forget their names or count them in broad mental stereotypes that hopefully will break as I get to know them better. Some stereotypes of people I don't know that well: the snow-bunny, the straight-A student, the white person with dreadlocks, the jock/business student, the "look at me I'm an actor/actress" type, the evil monster...Actually that last one I made up, and most likely if I did meet someone that made me think that about them I'd probably go ahead and get to know their poetry.
I guess what I'm saying is a part of me wishes I got to know people better than I do but I'm a sensitive fuck and I stick close to my peoples. My peoples, I know their poems quite well as I've read and reread them many times. Still their are those that have their poems written on their sleeves, I just recently stole an old high school buddy's facebook status update which was about wine and sounded like it could've come from Sideways, anyways I never knew that guy well but I knew his poetry.
I recently read Michael Ondaatje's book on Billy the Kid, it's a book of mostly poetry and it started a national tradtion of books of poetry about historical figures. My book is called Cowboy Songs and I'm typing it out on my iPhone on the notes app as I've become very good at that and so I shall now find a poem for you guys so you can see what I'm up to, I'm hoping to get enough material one day to do a reading, or well a good reading I could probably pull one off with what I have provided I do a little editing.
Follow the muse
step out of your shoes
Do Anything You Want To
The kings of rock and roll are dead
replaced by broad strokes but it's complicated
I write to you after studying a man
And know that no man should be studied and
yet when we write it all down
for everybody that is around
well, anyways I guess I'm not the only one reading into it
Phil Lynott died as so many of his type did
And we weep for him but we forget about his kids
We don't know him like Scott, Brian or Brian did
I refer you back to those that died in its service
their heartbreaks shown for the whole world to see while we sit back nervous
From Karen Carpenter to Kurt Cobain
Tragedy, sadness and disdain
To those who lived for their work
for those who had to tell how they'd been hurt
Those departed due to their poetry
Leaving only words and memories
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