Everybody's screamin about the new Madlib album yadda yadda.. Hell, I posted about it earlier.. Everyone talking about how sick Doom is etc.. Underground hip hop yay.. bleh... I remember when it was ALL underground all the time.. Radio wouldn't play us and whatnot.. Ah, the good ole' days.. Here's a little then to now for ya's.. Doom, step to the front please.. Or should I say, "Zev Love X" as he was formally known before the passing of his baby bro.. R.I.P Sub Rock!!
Then! A thinner Doom rockin spectacles, and riding bikes with the crew KMD.. Cameo's by the vets of the time; Grand Puba Maxwell (Brand Nubian), Pete Nice/MC Search (3rd Bass).
Now A little bit chunkier with a deeper toned voice in the 21'st century... Venomous lyrics all the same!! The femme in the vid has ridiculous abs!! She throws the whole video off because she doesn't fit! Proper!
Monday, January 25, 2010
debrief: the hurt locker
last year during the time of the independent spirit awards i remember hearing about a film called the hurt locker. the thing that seemed apparent was that it was about the war in iraq. the only faces i recognized in it were anthony mackie and jeremy renner who at the time i only remembered as colin farrell's ex partner turned bad guy from the movie s.w.a.t. i'm not sure why this film caught my attention other than the fact that it was being recognized by the independent spirit awards and had a respectable actor in anthony mackie who usually chooses good projects. i normally don't get excited for films about the war in iraq/military because of what i feel is predictability and poor execution. there are a few exceptions and the hurt locker stands as one of them.
it revolves around three main characters in an e.o.d. (explosive ordinance disposal) team played by jeremy renner as staff sgt. william james, anthony mackie as sgt. jt sanborn and brian geraghty as specialist owen eldridge. there are also a few recognizable faces such as guy pearce, david morse, ralph fiennes and evangeline lilly playing smaller but effective roles. all the characters are well played but it is renner's performance as staff sgt. james that is the driving force. an apparent "wild man" with a penchant for disregarding procedure. he seems to be reckless but there is method to his madness or at least a reason for it. every mission seems to be a challenge for him in which he lives and thrives. anthony mackie's character is the rational one of the group who wants to follow procedure and get the job done avoiding any unnecessary bullshit. brian geraghty's character is the impressionable one who seems to be the most fragile of the group always seeking guidance. he looks to both staff sgt. james and sgt. sanborn who are two different type of soldiers/men. the film is well paced never making you feel bored. the use of documentary style shooting was an excellent choice giving you the feeling of being in the action with them. you always feel a sense of imminent danger as well as tension which is important for a film of this kind. there are also a few visual flourishes which compliment the action. i like the fact that you get a total sense of the experience not just the missions. you get to feel the whole spectrum of emotions that they go through. i feel this film encompasses all what a film about war should. it shows the camaraderie, determination, discipline, paranoia, fear, anger, depression, sorrow and guilt. now there are a few slight hollywood moments but nothing that really compromises the integrity of this movie. the film feels very authentic and embodies all the qualities of a good movie. definitely one of my new favorite war films and one of the best movies i've seen this year if not the best. i'm glad i finally saw this film especially after all the eye sores i've witnessed this past year. its out on dvd now. i recommend you check it out. peace.
It has to bug you out just a little bit to know that we are all on a huge rock hurling through space around the Sun at approximately 67,000 miles per hour. And that we're spinning at approximately 1000 miles per hour on our axis... All of that is happening at the same time, perfectly, to give us this.... This shit is so "money" WE don't even know it!
Working at your town's "local current rave computer store" over the past few years has taught me a few things.
1. Discussions about World of Warcraft can and will pop up at any moment, either in front of customers or in the break room.
2. There were apparently a lot more people starved for attention than I thought originally possible (thanks reality f*ckin TV!)
and..
3. Just because you work for a supposed west coast, free thinking, on the edge, liberal type of company, it doesn't necessarily mean it is run by people of that ilk.
A few months ago, I had a discussion with a "higher up" about perception. This "higher up" seemed to think, and tried to advise me, that perception is more important than anything. He told me that perception is so important, that it can determine whether you have a job in certain situations. Puzzled by this thing called perception, I decided to ask his "higher up" if she agreed with this. She agreed. To that note, I also had a discussion with a friend of mine yesterday who kind of agreed with this philosophy as well. I totally disagree with all three of them, and here's pretty much why.
The term perception's first definition clearly states it as being; the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; or understanding. So to gain understanding of "me" as a person, another person will use their senses (based on what I give them no doubt) to gain some sort of cognition or understanding of who I am, or who I perceive to be. Again, this is based on what I give them at any given moment. It is also based on what they see at any given moment, and this is where I have a problem.
People are lazy man. I can understand the fact that the use of perception can come in "handy" every now and again, but to use it as a doctrine in which to guide one's life when dealing with people is both lazy, and a bit silly. Why? Because some of the time, I dare say most of the time, people's "perception" is completely wrong. Instead of trying to actually understand, or know what someone is talking about, or where they are coming from; people will instead prefer to use their "perceptions" as a sort of mini-judgment factor. Again, this can come in handy, but it usually falls under the guise of assumption, and well we all know about ASS U(&) ME ing. Take some time lazy birds!
Perception also opens up the door for you to get totally taken advantage of. If you guide your life by perceptions, and a person figures this out, you're in big trouble. Because they can play to your perceptions, and lie to you right to your face. Have you thinking they are someone completely different. We see it in relationships gone bad everyday. In the case of work, its extremely easy, because these people hardly know the REAL YOU. They get an idea, but don't ever truly have to know the REAL YOU. And you can play on their perceptions all the way to the top. You can "look busy" without really ever being busy. You may get found out, or you may not. Kinda sucks for the good guy I suppose. I say that because the snake will figure this out quick as shit! What ever happened to trying to get to know someone based on merit? Perception was used greatly in the racist South during the Civil War. Hell, it was used in the racist North, East, and West for that matter!
Another co-worker tried to tell me that trying to perceive what people are like, is made easy because of Facebook!!! This conversation was started because we were talking about how companies enlist someone to scour the web for people's online identities to try and help determine work eligibility. This was both appalling, and a bit alarming at the same time. Appalling because; STOP BEING LAZY MAN!! Alarming because this guy was a manager as well, and is actually in control of hiring people. Facebook? REALLY?! I know I bullshit ON PURPOSE on Facebook because it ISN'T real. So now we are even using perception as a means to play God (in a sense) with people's lives because of what they write on the internet? I'm sorry, but if I say some stupid shit online, that shouldn't work against me. And if someone perceives something that I'm not because of it, THEY are in the wrong, not me. Karma will end up kicking them square in the balls/chocha from the back because of it too. Thats one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
So be careful when you guide your life by way of perception. Like Maf once said; (and I'm paraphrasing) "If someone is trying to sell you friendship, they probably aren't interesting in really being your friend". Take the time to try and figure out who someone is. If you are a hiring manager and are interviewing people, bullshit rises to the top. I don't even hire anyone and I know this. You can tell the bullshit ARTISTS from a mile away. If you can't, then you need not be hiring people because you are probably wasting your company's money due to turn around on the given position. Society is getting really lazy with how it handles the interactions of people on a day to day basis. Jesus, lets just start scanning finger prints for genetic preference already!
Lately, I find myself sighing constantly over the lack of empathy-humanity-decency that I observe in other human beings. It's more of a world-weary sigh than an I-can't-believe this sigh. And this "lacking" comes in all shapes and sizes: jerks stealing parking spaces in crowded mall parking lots during the holidays, assholes writing bogus checks to charities, certain ignoramuses' ridiculous comments about a natural disaster that destroyed the lives of innocent people… My solution to being jaded: when I find myself feeling this way, my trick to reconnecting is to re-visit my childhood and read one of my favorite books from back then. So, I've been reading some Madeline L'engle. A Wrinkle in Time featuring the Murry family is undoubtedly her most popular book and I love it, but I've found some new appreciation for the sequels to it as well. The other day, I read one I haven't picked up in a long time - A Wind in the Door - and I just realized what a phenomenal book this was. It was exactly what I needed.
I was too young to fully understand the novel when I read it as a pre-teen. The discussions of relativity, scientific theories and methods and how they all could actually be applied to real life… well, in a fantasy version of real life as we know it anyway (but still applies)… most of the concepts went way over my head. Even now I have to tap into that side of my brain I hate using sometimes in order to comprehend parts of this book.
The set-up: The Murrys return in A Wind in the Door. 6-year-old Charles Wallace Murry is having problems in school. Due to the nature and level of his genius, unsurprisingly, neither his teachers nor his classmates appreciate his contributions to class discussions and his sister Meg is worried about him. It becomes clear that it's not his biggest problem, however, as he starts to deteriorate physically. Based upon their scientist mother's tests upon her youngest child, it is concluded that he has mitochondritis… his mitochondria are dying. Meg, her kind-of-boyfriend Calvin along with some other-worldly help must pass tests and travel to unexpected places to save his life, while avoiding the Echthroi, beings that destroy for the sake of destroying (these exist in real life, too). GREAT book... definitely read it, no matter what age you are.
That said, one of the keys to the survival of the characters in the book is learning to love a PART of someone in order to gain a better understanding of that person as a whole. To see who they are beyond the bullshit, the bluster, the façade…
My realization: Before I get angry at other people for their lack of compassion, let me look at me… Too often, I think, I've made assumptions and drawn conclusions about people based upon the evidence placed neatly before me. And I'll give myself a break... I've been burned by people more than once, so I tend to be suspicious and mostly correct. Though I haven't necessarily judged a book by its cover, I might have gotten through only a chapter or two before believing I had it pretty much figured out. It isn't always a bad thing… people who are shallow enough… that might be the whole book for them. Chapter One, Chapter Two, THE END. You might also meet the same basic characters over and over again, different face, different name, same person. And there's a DISCLAIMER: Some people ARE EXACTLY who they seem to be. But not always. Not always. Though a person you've never really cared for may never be your BFF or even your friend, you might be able to at least tolerate them a little better or soften towards them, even if only slightly, if you observe or hear something about them that shows a different side. I think it's important to our evolution as people… seeing the totality of a person (even if in bits and pieces), before completely X'ing them out. I can now look at someone and instead of thinking the "F you" that would generally pop into my mind before an immediate dismissal of that person as a whole, I will instead think, "That guy can be kind of a dick, but he's a great dad to his kids." Or "I really don't like her much because she has such an awful attitude… but she took care of her sick mom for two years." Or even, "He's a jerk most of the time, but I saw him quietly tip that bartender 40 percent." A small thing perhaps, but it's a start…
