awkward family photos.

one of the funniest things i've ever seen: awkwardfamilyphotos.com

a few of my quick glance favorites:
the bird.
abracadabra.
the choker.
osh kosh: the prequel.

-ap.

december 4th.

there are certain days where you simply must respect certain musical artists by dedicating the day to listening to their music. however, it is rare for these days to manifest themselves as an annual event. usually it's just phrased "today is a (insert artist here) day."

however. today is a jay-z day. as is every december 4th. there is a point during every december 4th when i remember jay-z's mother on track 2 of the black album: "shawn carter was born december 4th..." and my day is immediately altered.

example: i'm currently at my favorite manhattan coffee shop (the one that didn't screw me out of a job) writing a paper. i was listening to johnny cash and just chuggin along without any idea how my day was about to change. then i went to read my introduction and realized i hadn't included the date in my header at the top of my essay.

12/4/08.

and i realized it. oh goll. 'shawn carter was born december 4th.'
later jc*. hola hovito.

im not sure if there is any other artist that constitutes an annual musical adjustment to my life than jay-z. good thing i have 212 different jay-z items in my itunes on 8 albums, 1 accapella album, 5 mash-up albums and an additional 23 tracks as a featured artist. this translates to 14.2 hours of audio. ought to be plenty of time to get me through a day packed with article reading, studying and paper writing.

i'll leave you with three of my favorite jay-z tracks.
minority report - jay-z (feat. ne-yo)
produced by dr. dre
album: kingdom come (2006)


heart of the city (ain't no love) - jay-z (feat. bobby bland)
produced by kanye west
album: the blueprint (2001)


dear summer - memphis bleek (feat. jay-z)
produced by just blaze
album: 534 (2005)


also shawn wears scarves. i don't have one. sigh. yet another great reason to go get one.
my list of reasons include:
- they're awesome looking.
- karlie likes guys in scarves.
- it's freaking freezing outside and i have to walk to campus.
and now
- jay-z rocks a scarf.

ugh. thats it, i'm getting one.
have a gay jay day.

-ap.

* - in this situation "jc" equals johnny cash...not jesus christ. also, listening to rap/hip-hop does not mean i am forsaking my Savior and following the devil. on the contrary, it brings me closer to Him. but that is for another day and another post - just turn on minority report and listen for Jesus' voice. he is there.

why i'm voting for Barack Obama...*

Brian McLaren has been doing a really terrific series on his reasons for supporting Barack Obama. his reasons are scarily similar to my own thoughts** - each of these posts is something that i've been passionate about before reading them and they've just fueled the fire - part three even rose a fist pump out of me.

i don't know if anyone even glances at my 'take a gander' section on the right side, but all three of these were posted on there (as well as shared on my google reader). i think everyone - especially Christians - should read them.

Why I'm voting for Barack Obama, and why I hope you will too - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

there will be more to come too, but these are all three great. especially part 3 (which is the number one reason i will be voting for BO on november 4th too). -

-ap.

* - this is the third and last post for today. i promise.
** - however, his thoughts seem to be slightly more level-headed than mine.

808's and Heartbreak.

i've been toying with adding the "check out these interesting links that i've stumbled upon" gadget to my side bar, but i didn't really think there was a whole lot truly worthy of it until now.

if you'll take a gander...
KANYE WEST IS RELEASING HIS NEW ALBUM DECEMBER 16.

-ap.

false alarm.

'half blood prince' release pushed back to summer.

well that sucks. they want to push i back to next summer so they can make more money off it. if it was a good reason like "daniel radcliffe has chicken pox" or "emma watson fell down an elevator shaft" then i would understand. but just cause you want more money?! i mean cmon - has the harry potter legacy not done well enough as it is? and why can't you just push it back to december?! you'd make a crapton then. i guess they realized that november is the worst and just wanted to sprinkle a little salt on the wound.

-ap.

a cloaking device.

Berkeley Researchers Take Big Step Toward Invisibility

so much for asking people if they'd rather be able to fly or be invisible. that's such a great question too - you can tell a lot about someone's character based on their answer...anyone who chooses invisible is a pervert. if you were offended by that statement and would like to act like you were going to use your invisibility for a nobler use* - don't. cause then i'll think you're a liar too.

the ones who want invisibility are deceivers. they're con artists. they look to spy and creep and sneak around. real sleuth types. they're shifty shifty characters and cannot be trusted.

now flying, on the other hand, makes perfect sense. it's practical on so many levels: gas prices, time, convenience, enjoyment - none of which are shifty. flying is the way to go.

but thats not what's important here. what IS important is that we're actually freaking doing it. like the article says, 'what is this, harry potter?'** science is advancing at a scary rate nowadays. we're tampering with rather unhealthy things. while technology is a great thing (i mean, hello, i'm typing this on my macbook, wirelessly on the internet - what did any of those things mean 15 years ago?) it's still scary. example: atomic bombs. example: airplanes. example: the internet. example: credit cards. all technologies that can be, and have been, utilized as something other than an asset to society.

so when berkeley claims they've made progress toward an invisibility cloak i can't help but shudder at the implications. i'm assuming that it won't be available to the public if it ever makes it for real - that just spells disaster in jails and locker rooms - but just the thought of it being possible is pretty unnerving. oh sure, harry, ron and the lovely hermione are able to utilize it in the vanquishing of voldemort, but lets be honest with ourselves, the wizarding community is, as a whole, a much nobler society than mankind...even if ron has had some less-than-pure thoughts about the cloak's use.

i guess it'll probably continue as long as the conveniences continue to outweigh the negative implications. why don't we work on genetically altering humans so we can fly instead? that seems like something i'd rather dabble in. however, when it comes to invisibility cloaks i might have to draw the line. i just can't see them ever being a betterment to society.

-ap.

* - military use is not noble either. why is it that with every new invention America's gut instinct is to use it militarily? does that seem slightly unhealthy to anyone else?

** - this isn't verbatim from the article, but it's undoubtedly the writer's initial thought.

visuwords.

http://www.visuwords.com/

i could play with this all day. just type a word at the top and watch the site do its magic.
so awesome.

-ap.

kudos to marko.

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.