a blog involving N*E*R*D, michael jackson, hungryboy10, youth ministry books and calculus tutoring.

i've been getting back into N*E*R*D lately. and by "getting back into" i mean that i've been listening to strictly fly or die and in search of... for about 3 weeks now. i've decided that the neptunes (pharrell williams and chad hugo) are the source of my favorite beats - maybe with the exception of mr. kanye west and the king of pop himself.

speaking of MJ: i was at 810 zone with one twittering and one non-twittering homie watching the mexico/usa officiating nightmare, and this chunky, newly-corporate, mid-20's babyface sitting at the table to my right says the following phrase to the other gentleman at his table...

"dude. did you hear michael jackson died?"

um.

have you not been out from the rock you live under/your parents basement in the last 2 months? is this boy really that removed from all sorts of media? has he not gone into a single store and seen the various magazines putting out michael jackson tribute editions at every register aisle? do you even know what the internet is? how does someone miss news like that? my guess is that he was hungryboy10 in the flesh, and that he had failed to notice due to the copious hours of world of warcraft he's been playing.

moving on.

i got two new books last week that i'm really excited about. marko's newest book "middle school ministry: a comprehensive guide to working with early adolescents" and doug fields'* book "your first two years in youth ministry". books with straightforward titles are my favorite i've decided. except for catcher in the rye. that title is in no way straightforward, but it's my favorite book. i should probably say that it holds true for non-fiction at least.

* - okay. i've asked about this before, but how do you make a name that ends in an 's' possessive? mostly i'm curious about the name "JESUS" because thats the one that comes up most often in my lifecourse. jesus'? jesus's? i'm very clueless.

also i'm tutoring my youngest sister in pre-calculus this year. i'm actually excited about it. not only do i get to see my sister, but i get to do math and get paid and do my laundry and eat a meal when i come home to help her out. it starts tomorrow. i'm going to probably have to add a math book to my list of new books too. can't wait.

anyway. thats probably enough things to talk about. otherwise my title will keep getting longer and longer. sweet. late.

-ap.

ps...i might get twitter? gasp.

all the girls standing in the line for the BLAH BLAH.

there is something that bugs me about recording artists, specifically rap artists. i've been able to look past it up until this point, but i need to say something.

why is it that incredible beats and off the chains synth and ridiculous samples MUST be voiced over with sex and drugs? i understand that artists have to stick to their roots, express their political views and frustrations through their lyrics and rapping abilities, but there are so many instances where sick beats are compromised because of morally questionable lyrics. the example that i would like to share with you all:

n*e*r*d - everyone nose
(thats the music video too. it adds to the annoyance.)

i've never experienced a song that i was able to love and hate so much simultaneously. i can't help but groove to it. the bass is great. the drums are way great. the brass** is great. and the mixing is great. yet overall? its average to me. which bums me out to be honest, cause i was ready for an n*e*r*d breakthrough in my life.

this song is about snorting coke. that is its only topic, and that pisses me off, frankly. cause it not only ruins the image of n*e*r*d in my mind, but it also wrecks the track completely. most of the time i can ignore/look past the explicit slash not-so-necessarily-moral lyrics. but this track is just too blatant about it. if an artist is going to go to all the work to create an incredible back beat just to repeat drug-related phrases over and over - why bother with the lyrics at all? it makes me sad that the all the work that went into the beat is nullified by ridiculously weak lyrics.

the video definitely doesnt help.

i understand how people can hate hip-hop and rap. there are way more inspiring lyrics out there, but it does somewhat surprise me when people can't appreciate sounds that make you wanna bounce. and i will admit, n*e*r*d excels here despite their bummer lyrics. so overall - i like the track, but the lyrics blow.

i wish more artists just did what daft punk does - add lyrics and vocals simply to enhance the sound of the back beat. they're just as simple as the lyrics in "everyone nose" but they're a) not crude and b) an asset to the established sound of the track.

turns out in searching for that picture of n*e*r*d (above), i stumbled upon the greatest example of this whole blog in one great track. the neptunes are n*e*r*d minus shay haley (also read the neptunes = pharrell and chad hugo). which means that 2/3 of n*e*r*d have redeemed themselves in my eyes. phew. maybe this can be my breakthrough instead.

so i will leave you with some goodness from the neptunes.
daft punk - harder, better, faster, stronger (neptunes remix)

...and life is good.

-ap.

** - had you asked me yesterday what this instrument was i would've responded "saxophone" without a moment of hesitation, but after the instruments section of my music final last night my confidence has been greatly shaken.