Everything in its Right Place

When we examine art we see that it is communication. Communication in the most traditional sense is seen as art, where before it had to be segmented off into the other netherworlds of perception. The respect that was once owed to painters, sculptors, composers, rock-stars, movie stars, is now in other hands. The art of verbal and visual direct communication is now being perfected on YouTube. I'm rather excited to see what this is going to mean for education, fifty years down the line. It seems the schools are going to make a more educated decision when it comes to picking their teachers. They will be able to inspect carefully a teacher's ability to teach. This is very much an understatement because they will have access to understanding the teacher's mind because they will be able to track their growth from the very earliest stages of their life. Children will grow up in an ocean of varying ideas and ideologies and be able to examine everything and make sense of it. Those who are in charge will understand exactly the nature of the puzzle pieces which it is their job to fit together. Children will get to learn under instructors which they already know they respond to, because the resource will be put in front of them. Different kids learn different ways and it will be much much easier in the future to see who fits where.

No Gettin Around It

Everything you do that can be perceived by another individual is communication whether you think about it that way or not. There's no gettin around it. Art attempts to isolate this into a medium and say that the artist can communicate whatever he wants because this is art; this is a separate world from reality but this is an illusion. Its a construct that both the art maker and art viewer agree to unspokenly but the artist will break the agreement if it is in his interest or for reasons of ethics.

The Instrument of Language Itself

More new thoughts about rap, namely gangster rap. Having a very narrow, very primal message and then, basically riffing on that same message over and over with every album and every song leaves the variable to everything but the message. It might be sort of the same relationship between classical music and jazz.

Lets say classical is all about the ingeniousness of the composer and jazz is all about the ingeniousness of the performer. The job of the composer is to create a masterpiece. The classical performer must do the masterpiece justice. It might be a professionally trained performer or a small child learning violin or some schmuck whistling it down the street. The focus is on the genius of the composer. Jazz is about the genius of the performer, the individual, riffing in his own unique way on some supposedly simple tune. Sure its nice if its a brilliant composition, but a brilliant performer can express himself through twinkle twinkle little star or happy birthday or anything. With classical, the message is what the composer has to say. With jazz, its what the performer has to say.

So now lets look at gangster rap, or gangsta rap. I'm not sure the proper way to write that and I feel like a tool even writing about it in such a fashion, but I don't give a flying fudge. The message is more or less the same in more or less every gangsta rap song, and I can tell you it right here, but the whole point is that words aren't enough to communicate an idea. I see the message as being something like, I'm a very dangerous and powerful person. I will kill you or hurt you badly and not even blink an eye. I can get any woman I please and I will treat them like property. I smoke weed and drink all the time. People are always out trying to kill me, but of course they can't. I might be leaving stuff out, but that's the gist of it. The rapper talks about himself. It can be very specific. I think the more specific the better. You don't wanna say I shoot people with a gun, you gotta talk about exactly what sort of gun it is, and you must be specific about all of your possessions, your cars and drugs and what not. I might be drifting off topic a little bit here. A point I am getting at is that if the message stays the same the variable is the word choice and the delivery and through that the rapper will express his own personal ego. The rhythm of the words is of utmost importance. Gangster rap turns language into an instrument. That sums up my thoughts on this pretty well. Scatting turns the voice into an instrument, but gangster rap turns language itself into an instrument. Well, I guess I could say hip hop in general, but I feel like gangster rap is a more pure device for of this, because I think the term "hip hop" allows for the rapper to have a message like in the singer songwriter tradition, but when this is taken out the words can be varied much more because the listener will know what you're getting at. He'll know your talking about your gun or your car or your weed...or maybe your dick.

Prediction

I'm just gonna make a prediction right here and now. Rap is going to be something which unites all languages. It might be...oh...I'm gonna say 300 years, but we'll see. Well, I won't see, but someone will see. Its gonna be all one language and its gonna be thanks to rap. Cuz, think about it, rap is like a mushy melting pot petri dish of language. Formal rules of grammar pronunciation and use and most everything are out the window and its all based on sound really. The artist wants to be understood most likely, but the burden of understanding is on the listener. Its like when DOOM says, "He who ain't get it ain't suppose too..." and then he says a bunch of other stuff cuz its a whole song and that's just a small quote.

Ingenuity

If you look up, "creativity" in the dictionary, and I did, you find: "The use of imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of artistic work."

I think we can substitute the word, "art" for the words, "artistic work." There is little difference, except in the fact that "artistic work" sounds like it's trying to be "art." Or it might be the dictionary being hesitant to use the word "art" all by itself because its too heavy and up for debate. Artistic work is aspiring to be art and may actually be art but it might depend on if the perceiver regards it as "art."

The dictionary defines "art" as "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination." It also speaks of what is typically considered art by mentioning painting and sculpture and it speaks of purpose when it says, "works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."

So I guess the point is to use your creativity to paint or sculpt something that is beautiful and evokes an emotion, for the most part. The point is to create a moving decoration. I'd say that's pretty noble. I was thinking about the word "Ingenuity," and wondering if it might be a synonym for creativity in the way that I see it, and be more thorough than the word creativity when it comes to the way the general public uses those words. Like what I'm getting at is, if the word "creativity" didn't exist and instead the word "ingenuity" existed we might be better off.

The dictionary says "ingenuity" is "the quality of being clever, original, and inventive." I like the sound of that. That holds within it creativity and much more. And you know, I would say ingenuity is more valued than creativity in general, but I think it needs to be supported in our education system. Its just a slight little change for the better. Forget about creativity. Its all about ingenuity.

Art History

I think I have art history all figured out. I'll tell you where we are right now, or rather where future historians will say we were. Its like this. The way art history comes across to me is it starts out very limited. Painting and sculpting is art, and slowly but surely other things become art as well. Then modern art comes and post modern and now its to the point where anything can be art and its up to the viewer as to wether they are perceiving art and its up to the maker of the thing or idea or situation as to weather they are making art. So where does this leave us? Well it leaves me asking the question what's the point of the idea of art at all? And it has me answering this question by saying, "the point is creativity." Creativity can manifest itself in any situation in life. Its lateral thinking. Its seeing the whole picture and recognizing similarities of patterns between two seemingly different things. So what does it take to be a good artist? Can a painter be less of an artist than a stay at home mom who doesn't paint or draw but only takes care of her children? This sounds like a weird question, but stick with me. I would argue "yes."

A painter could be well trained and know all the proper techniques and what sorts of subject matters and poses are thought of to be beautiful and he may hardly have to think creatively at all but just go through the process and produce an elegant piece of "art." But tradition guided him the whole way through to completing his objective. As for the mom, what if it's her first time being a mother and she has little guidance. She knows more or less what the child needs to survive and grow up and be healthy, but lets say she's naturally a very creative person and she uses that creativity to make the right decisions that bring up this child to be a happy and integral part of society. Her audience was partly the child and partly the world in which the child will grow up in and be a part of and she has, in this situation, an intimate relationship with her audience through her "art."

So its all about ethics then too, huh? Yeah. Can a work of art be created that in the end is destructive to those around it and life as a whole? Well, I don't know. I would say, no, but I would say, lets stop using the word "art," if at all possible. Its probably not possible though. The real question is the question of purpose. What is the purpose of a painting which hangs in a house who's only purpose is to be looked at, hanging there on the wall. Its purpose is decoration and this is as noble a purpose as any I'd say. Is it only decoration? Of course not, but no matter what type of artist we're talking about, a piece can always be looked into on a deeper level to evoke other feelings and thoughts. These thoughts may be about the artist's experiences and thoughts about the world or the culture the painting was created in or any kind of commentary the work might be making. But this can come about from any act of creativity. If you can think of a situation where no creativity is possible, that's only because your mind hasn't solved that particular puzzle, and that's where the creativity comes into play.

Let's think of an example. People might have said at one point that shoe design can't be a place for creativity. You just need something to keep your feet safe from stepping on stones. You need some laces so the shoes will stay on, but look at shoes today. There are all kinds of different shoes. This is due to competition. Competition requires creativity. Competition use to be mostly a matter of who was the fastest and had the strongest muscles, but now its, more than ever, a matter of who has the strongest brain, and since the brain is capable of creativity there's no holding it back.

So where is art today? Art history tells me that today we are all artists because we are all required to think creatively. In most any situation there's a way you can break the rules of tradition and get a better outcome than you would have if you just stuck with them. Its a matter of always being on your toes and having your brain on. Life keeps moving. If you want to be alive you need to understand that you get some sleep once a night and even then you're thinking. There's no rest. There's no getting to a comfortable point. Enjoy it. Roll with the punches. Be an artist however you know how to be an artist, but always remember the point of it all is to enjoy the company of your fellow humans.

The Best Part of Waking Up

is the chemicals you put in your body.

Alcohol, tobacco, caffine, and good ol THC. These are all wonderful things aren't they. I have about a cup of coffee or two a day. Can I go without it? Not too well, but I'm gonna be quittin here pretty soon. I've scheduled for myself a steady and progressive abstinence from these fine

chemicals in the beginning months of 2010 and through out the duration of the year. In 2011 I will allow my self to partake once again, but in a much more moderate way. I'm tired of being dependant on these things for my ups and downs. I been done with the weed for about two months now and am happy without it. When I was smokin I was pretty out of control with it. Some people are good with moderation, but anytime I had a little bag of it in my possession it seemed I had to smoke every chance I got. I couldn't save it up for another time. When 2011 comes I think I'll keep it to one day of each month. That will be much better for me. As for alcohol, I will quit entirely although I never really had any addiction to that. I may allow myself a drink once in a blue moon but my status among my friends will be that of the tea tottler. Tobacco I'll be quitting entirely. Caffine. Um. I'm not sure. Maybe once a week. I've yet to decide that one for sure. I don't think I can make the proper call for that until I'm off it. But at the current time I have, like I said, about a cup or so a day. In fact I'm drinkin a large iced coffee right now, and it's SOOO good.

There comes a time in a man's life when he needs to decide what sort of person he wants to be and just fuckin do it. I can't live with myself if I am a slave to my every vice. Now that I got a good woman who showers her affections on me without hesitation and makes every effort to show me real love and experience this world beside me, I can be strong and do this. She is the best part of waking up, and I will be strong for her and for myself.

Best Youtube Channel

Here it is. This is the objectively best Youtube channel. Hands down. Check it out will ya.

Free Will/ Love me or Burn

So, like, with God and stuff. People say God gives us free will cuz he wants us to love him freely of our own free will and stuff, and yeah. Its like how can he say, "I give you free will to accept me and love me or not" and stuff, and then if we don't accept him and love him he will send us to a place of eternal torture if we don't and send us to a place of eternal bliss if we do. I have had a few girl friends and stuff and many relationships, and its hard to be good to somebody when they're not good to you, but its possible. And if I want someone to love me freely of their own free will, I think, ideally, I would just treat them like a regular person kind of rather than setting up some kind of reward system. The fact that this reward system has supposedly been set up, makes me suppose that God wants to push me to love him as hard as he possibly can. Like, he'll do everything but violate my free will, BUT, since I have my doubts about the bible and since I know I have sinful nature, and since it doesn't seem to me that a loving god would send anyone to a place of eternal torture because it seems inconsistent with the whole loving God idea, I wish he would, just up and violate my free will. Reading and talking about the bible and theology really feels to me like an elaborate manmade doohicky built to justify a book which was written by a bunch of different human beings who really didn't know what they were talking about except for a spark of insight here and there, which can be found in any book. Anywayze. God is real, but the bible is fake. Thats alls I gots for now folks.

Real Definitions

When you look up a word, you'll notice that there are a bunch of different definitions. I think, maybe there are too many. Well, maybe not, but the reader needs to understand that these aren't a bunch of separate definitions usually, not as often as it would appear. Here's a word with two different definitions actually. "Too" is an example.

too

adverb- to a higher degree than is desirable, permissable, or possible. "you're too big."

too

adverb- in addition. "Is he coming too?"

Here's when it looks like the definitons are different, but they are not entirely seperate from each other.

teach

verb- to show or explain to someone how to do something. "When will you teach me how to ride a bike?"

teach

verb- to cause someone to learn or understand something. "Michelle taught me that dames ain't so bad after all."

The dictionary seperates these definitons, but maybe we ought to decide which of these means to teach rather than to say they both do. People can claim that they teach children how to read and everyone will think they're so wonderful, when the reality is they try to teach children how to read, but not a one has read yet, for example. With these both being acceptable definitions it enables "try to teach" to be synonomous with "teach."

Language is a very fluid thing that changes all the time and right now, the dictionary acknowleges this and attempts to act as a general guide for the actual dictionary which exists in our hearts and minds or something, but what if there was some kind of precise human language dictionary that didn't allow for silliness like the above sillyness. Well, maybe there doesn't need to be a dictionary like that, but there does need to be me, posting about the definition of words in a more essential sense. Kind of like this:

How about the word "beat"? "To hit or strike something in a very definite and repetitive fashion. How would this definition apply to different versions of the word "beat?" Well, it certainly works for "beat" as in to "beat up or assult physically." Parts of it also work for the "beat" in music. It works a little bit for a cop on his beat. Its repetitive. It's the rout he takes, day in day out. Its very definite, because he is supposedly a steadfast force that is there for the sake of safety, and people feel more safe when they know there is regularity. Yeah. That's a good example of what I want to try to do.

So What's the Deal With Rap Anyway

So what's the deal with rap anyway? I'm coming from a white, lowermiddleclass background, and this is my take. First off, I'm not gonna differentiate between rap and hip hop. Why? Well, maybe it's cuz I don't see such a clear distinction between the two, and maybe that's because I'm white. Hip hop is supposedly about telling stories and stuff and rap is supposedly a lot of shit talkin club music. How am I suppose to know if what somebody's saying is just shit talk or if its true? What I enjoy about this music is how well these artists put rhyme and rhythm together using words. Wether its true or not true, wether its meant for dancing or not, makes no difference to me.

The big question, I think is this: What redeeming quality does music which seems to advocate violence have? This is the question, because there are a lot of people out there who still don't like most rap and this is one of the main gripes. I was thinking about this. Rap might give us an insight into the criminal mentality. Maybe this is helpful. Also, it shows us the struggle for power in a different sort of light. Next time your listening to some hardcore gangsta rap, think about how this guys point of view is no different from the biggest richest sheistiest people in the world. You can look at rap as their dirty inner thoughts or something. There's this harmful but common mentality out there that goes, look out for yourself and your family. Make sure that they're taken care of and that's all that you need to do. This is the thug mentality, and if its your mentality, you might as well be a thug. This line of thinking makes things nice and simple, but its wrong. We are all one community working and living together interdependently.

Rap can also be looked at as anthems. Its a genre of music that was once reserved to give respect to a whole country, so it would only make sense that nowadays allegiance has shifted. Patriotism is seen for what it is: some 1984 shit and the stuff of Nazis. A rapper writes anthems about himself and how great he is, and naturally its way exaggerated which is in the tradition of anthems. This idea fits good within the postmodern view of things which is all about the individual.

Another good thing about gangster rap is it helped to create and sustain a certain thuggish, primal attitude that refuses to be stepped on, even if it means violence is necessary. As the government becomes more powerful and the media more coercive and the bullshit machine gets bigger and tries to dehumanize humanity, there is a solid front of people who are first and foremost human and ready to fight if and when the time comes. Alright. That's about all I got. Well, I don't know how well I summed up my thoughts on this, but there you have it. When it comes to gangster rap I have to recommend Brotha Lynch Hung. He's the hardest nastiest, rapper with the most agile writing and spitting like I could never imagine till I heard it.

The McGlaughlin Group

The McGlaughlin Group is a great show. Its, far as I know, the only show that shows politics in a negative light, but appears to be a serious news show. The way its all set up its a big joke on politics, because that's what they ususally talk about, not the moral issues, but how these issues are dealt with in the game of politics, but it also seems the joke is on the media itself and the whole circus of it all and whatever.

We're DOOMed

MF DOOM aka Viktor Vaughn aka King Geedorah is one of my very favorite rappers, and thankfully for this post his stuff translates to written word exquisitely. I will present to you my ten favorite DOOM lines in no particular order.

What makes DOOM truely stand out is his rhyming skills, and I mean this in the most literal sense. I don't mean his rapping skills, I mean the pure act of finding words and phrases that rhyme with each other. To do this well you must have a good brain and a lot of patience. It's easier to rhyme two phrases that have been rhymed before, but part of the art of making a rhyme is putting something together that makes sense where the listener is like, wow! How did he come up with that, and why didn't anybody think of that before.

A lot of people have trouble listening to DOOM. His voice is kind of monotone, his flow is kind of clumsy at times, and its hard to know what he's talking about most the time cuz he uses a lot of obscure figures of speech, but I feel some of the parts are so juicy and unusual its hard not to enjoy it. He can rhyme two phrases together, six syllables each and make it make sense. Another very neat thing is he'll spit the thuggist ghetto slang and he'll also spit the white-collar white people type of lingo. Both flow natural and joke off each other. Here we go.

"...Hell, I made it, Momma.

Grammy for the worlds most celebrated rhymer (pronounced 'rahma')..."

From "GMC," off Vaudville Villain

"...These crews is too soft.

He came to tear the roof off, to get paid to goof off.

They don't really wanna battle.

All they gonna do is get mad and go tattle..."

From "GMC," off Vaudville Villain

"...Border line skitzo. Sorta fine tits tho.

Pour da wine;

whore ta grind;

quarter ta nine;

lets go..."

from "Meatgrinder," off Madvillainy

"...Groovy Dude. Not to prove to be rude,

but this stuff is like what you might put on movie food

uh...what is Jalapeñas? Get it? like a woopin, when you holler at your señas..."

from "Great Day," off Madvillainy

"What up.

to all rappers shut up,

and once you shuttin up,

keep a shirt on, at least a button-up.

yuck!

Is they rappers or stripper males?

Outa work jerks, since they shut down Chippendales

They chippin' nails. DOOM tippin' scales

Let alone the pre-orders as counted off shippin' sales

This one goes out to all my people skippin bail, dippin' jail, whippin tail, n sippin ale

Light the doobie till it grow like a ruby

after that you can't find the Villain like Scooby..."

From "Beef Rap," off MM Food

"...Now you apologize. That's what they all say. You wasn't sorry when you sucked him off in the hallway..."

From "Fancy Clown," off Madvillainy

"...Don't mind me.

I wrote this rhyme lightly off of two or three heinies,

and boy was they fine, G!

One Black, one Spanish, one Chinee.

It keeps the woody shiny year round like a pine tree..."

From "Money Folder," off Madvillainy

"...They too carefree with they mouth around here.

Off with his head! and display it in town square

atop of seven feet spike

make sure its on tight

in light of when the peasants throw stones with all they might.

Skull gets smashed for weeks

till vulture beaks eats the last meat off the cheeks..."

From "The Fine Print," off Take me to your Leader

"...Viktor the director flip a scrip like Rob Riner

The way alota dudes rhyme, they name should be Knob Shiner

For a buck they'd likely dance the jig or do the hucklebuck

To Vik its no big deal. They just a bunch of knuckle fucks..."

From "Vaudville Villain," off Vaudville Villain

"...Listen, youth. Its like me holdin up the line at the kissin booth.

I took her back to the truck. She was uncouth.

Spittin all out the sunroof through her missin tooth..."

From "Doomsday" off Operation Doomsday

Groups are People Too

It seems to me that groups are people too. Think about it. If all we are is our brains, and all are brains are is networks than what differentiates a person from a cooperative group? Nothing really. Both can do the same thing. Both have internal disagreements that must be resolved. Thinking about it this way makes group think make sense. Its not just a peculiar phenomenon, but part of a bigger picture. Looking at life this way makes one see everything not as people trying to get along with each other, but rather, like, a bunch of ideas and a bunch of systems performing functions. I don't exist. My body exists, but my mind is just a collection of ideas, which belong to many other brains, not just my own. My brain also contains lists of orders to which I belong. Me and my friends ad up to one entity. My group of friends is part of a larger, perhaps regional group, which is part of a national group, which is part of an international group. Its all unofficial. Whenever I meet someone I hit it off with real good, its likely that they're a member of my group on some level.

Arts and Sports Once More

When it comes to hard times there's two philosophies in life that you can have. The first is artistic. That is to say, it may seem you have made a mistake, but it all contributes to the whole big picture which is what ultimately ought to be a good picture and that's what one strives toward. So when a mistake is made it is not looked at as a mistake, but, well, with me, for instance, I kind of try to roll with it n try to create an outcome that justifies a decision.

I'm more seeing it a different way now, and that is like sport. Surfing, in particular, illustrates the point. You fuck up, you get back up, you hope for the best the next time. The problem with this approach is that it treats the path like some kinda idol, like its infallible, but its not, so this approach isn't necessarily more solid and logical than the other approach which seems more touchy feeley, but its equally if not more valid.