I don't care what your opinion is of Kanye West right now. He may be egotistical, he may think Bush hates black people, he may say he is the new Elvis. But all of those things are exactly his point. He says what he wants when he wants because he has an opinion and isn't afraid to have it heard. What I like to see is an artist get heated up, and be passionate about something. I like to see someone stop trying to fit a mold and focus solely on success rather than musical progress. And I think that is something Kanye West embodies.
Some of the things in this video may be a bit extreme, but he does it to make a point, and while many may shut down and refuse to hear it, I heard it loud and clear. One thing in particular struck me, which was when he commented on how writers these days feel a need to HAVE to find the negative. "They can never just sit back and say, 'damn that was good'" It's a very true statement that shouldn't be overlooked. Music is entertainment, and while it is fine to put in your two cents, many critics take it to a point where they ONLY look for the bad. I'd like to be one to break the cycle, but maybe I'm not so different from the writers that West is commenting on, but if thats the case I hope to be more aware of it in the future.
In my opinion, just as he has self proclaimed, I DO think West is the Elvis, the Morrison, the Cobain of our generation. Just because he's living doesn't mean he isn't the stuff of legend. Yes. I called Kanye West legendary. Because when I hear his music, I sit back and just say "damn that was good". So deal with it.
Last night, all I wanted to do was listen to some christmas music. Seeing as my car is in the shop, I was borrowing my roomate's car for the evening. Some of my friends had changed all 6 of his presets to the same Christmas station, making it extremely easy for me to fulfill my desire to play holiday tunes for the ride. However I had the unfortunate timing to be listening while Delilah was manning the booth.
I had heard of Delilah before, but never actually given her a listen. I cannot say anything has made me as annoyed as hearing her speak between songs. It almost took the joy out of Christmas for me. If you have never heard her before listen to her in the background of the stupid video below (ignore the girl trying to mouth what Delilah is saying).
I honestly have never heard someone sound as calm and relaxing as her, but this persona is so extreme it comes off as clearly fake. I have seen her in interviews and out of the booth and she is nothing like what she does on the radio. She even seems somewhat cool to hang out with in these interviews, so why the need for the AWFUL radio personality.
I guess what I really want to see is that annoying, overly verbose lady try to take some kind of leadership position in a time of crisis. Just watching someone try to do something effective using that voice would be extremely entertaining to me. O well. I strongly dislike Delilah. Bottom line.
This is all in good fun of course. But seriously, don't fucking turn her on while I'm in the car with you.
the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
2.
ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.
Listening to other people's opinions, and being too close to something you're passionate about can cause you to lose sight of some feelingsyou may normally have towards that thing about which you are so passionate. This was my case with Kentucky Basketball.
After a controversial coaching change, college basketball's winningest program went through some changes in their style of play. Tubby Smith has been replaced due to his unwillingness to change up his recruiting staff, do to the lack of big prospects that had come into the program during his reign. Gillispie's first few games were far from smooth and as a result the team went under fire. The thing people forget is that the new coach, Billy Gillispie, has already revived two programs in UTEP and Texas A&M. The only thing is that this time he was handed a team who went 22-10 and was told to revive them. How do you revive a team that had made the tournament 16 consecutive times before you arrived. And the coach before you won a title. UK forward Perry Steven puts the expectations of UK fans into perspect very well when he says "They want you to win 7 out of 6 games"
Kentucky fans don't care about their record, but they do care about championship banners, and Tubby Smith just wasn't hanging any with his own recruits. His lone title came from the team Pitino had forged before he decided to leave to coach in the NBA.
During the change of regime from Smith to Gillispie, I had to listen to people attack the Wildcats, a daily occurance in Cincinnati, and it caused my faith to falter. They started last season 7-9. However, he coached the cats down the stretch of their last 16 games with a 12-4 record. His plan started to sink in and it showed. Their tourny hopes were crushed as their leading scorer, Patrick Patterson, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his leg that would force him to sit out for the rest of the season.
This season we opened with a loss to a mid-major team. Cue pessimism. They would continue to lose to North Carolina, however this stung a bit less considering that they're the number one team in the country.
Then things started to turn. The cat's had a few cupcake games to fine-tune their skills, and bump their record to 3-2, after beating Kansas State to make it to the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Welcome the night of November 29th. West Virginia made an amazing Sweet 16 run last season, and this season jumped out to a 5-0 start after defeating Iowa the night before. The Wildcats and Mountaneers delivered what was expected to be a big defensive struggle, the halftime score WVU led 26-16. Sure UK's defense looked good but their shooting was ice cold. WVU would push the lead even further, at one point leading by 12 with only 15:00 to play.
Then I remembered something I'd seen before the season's start. A video that played at the opening of Big Blue Madness, UK's 1st practice of the season, annually performed in front of a sold out crowd...
I lost sight of the fight in the Wildcats I had always seen as a kid, watching the "Comeback Cats" cut down the nets in '98. I'd assumed we'd slipped to mediocrity. I'd forgotten that UK has the most wins in the entire history of the sport. I'd forgotten that they have more SEC titles than all of the other SEC teams combined. I'd forgotten that they have the 2nd most National Titles out of any team in college basketball. I'd forgotten they were a team that was bred to win.
Kentucky would ralley to take a 37-36 lead with 7:36 to play and they would never trail again. The Mountaneers would score just 7 more points for the rest of the game as Kentucky went on to land the huge upset 54-43 over Huggins' WVU, and won the Toyota Las Vegas Invitational Championship.
For the first time this season, Kentucky is on the winning side of the upset, but that isn't what has me excited. It was the scrappy fight, determination, and resilience the Wildcats displayed that has me excited. It's that the swagger is back. The "we are the best team in college basketball history" mentality. Regardless of the record, that is what has always made UK special. Watching what SOUNDED like a home game, and seeing the THOUSANDS of UK fans who traveled to Las Vegas inspired me. Hearing GO BIG BLUE in Las Vegas being screamed just as loud as it is when it thunders through Rupp Arena in a home game made my heart race.
I lost sight. The magic shouldn't dissapear just because I attend the school now. It should only amplify. The Return to Excellence Begins Now. Maybe this isn't THE year. But if its not, its just a stop on the path to the inevitable.
I have a specific self-enforced rule regarding Christmas music, and the more I have shared it with friends and family, I have learned that many people feel a similar way.
The rule...
Absolutely NO Christmas music before thanksgiving.
This rule is crucial for multiple reasons. For one it ensures that the holiday season doesn't extend all the way back through November and to Halloween. Christmas is a 1 day thing. Unless you count Christmas Eve, I'll give that to you. So ok it's a two day thing. UNLESS you're into the 12 days of Christmas thing. OK thats where I draw the line. It can be 12 days... but... by this point we're already talking December 13th... we may as well make it the whole moth of December at this point. TWENTY FIVE DAYS. But Thanksgiving is so close to December 1st. Why not just let Christmas begin right after Thanksgiving?
See what I mean? It's an addicting mind game that can take over your life. There needs to be support groups for this kind of thing.
BUT, I have exhibited some level of self control, despite the fact that in my mind I have let a single day holiday extend back into the previous month... making a 24 hour event somehow become a 30 day event. BUT I mean business when I say no celebrating it before Turkey Day.When the clock strikes midnight and Thanksgiving has passed, start up those radio stations that play the tunes non stop, and let the celebrating begin. And what better way to celebrate christmas than with christmas music.
A NOTE ON CHRISTMAS MUSIC: In reality, christmas music is actually just a collection of about 20 songs, performed by countless different artists. During what other time of year can you hear artists from such different spectrums as these two below, cover the same tunes or in this case go as far as to perform them together...
If you were to take the music and put it outside of the context of Christmas it would be a completely absurd notion: Listening to 40 variations of the same song. But we do it. And most of us love it. I am no exception. I counted the minutes to midnight when I put on Dustin Kensrue's new Christmas album, titled "The Good Night is Still Everywhere" (A GREAT folk christmas CD if you're into that kind of thing. I wanted to post a link but its not on YouTube. It is on iTunes however...) and rocked out. I recommend you do the same... its good for the soul, regardless of your beliefs. Most of them are more about the season than the holiday itself. Its more marketable that way...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
I wish I had been blogging before the elections, but I'm only a week late. Anyway, the bottom line is that I will never forget the moment I saw Obama's acceptance speech. I'll remember where I was, what I was doing and how I felt. Call me sappy, but the music, the images, the power of this video will transcend through generations to come. I truly believe this will be one of the most historic clips of our lifetime and I am honored to have been a part of it.
Varying beautiful movements containing accelerando's and glissando's artfully changing tempos in complete stealth.
All things you can hear in works of classical composition by composers such as Motzart and Beethoven.
You can also hear these brilliances in composition from Metallica.
For 25 years only one band has constantly pushed the envelope in all senses of their musical existence. They refuse to remain unchanged while refusing to change at the same time. They don't want to be defined by their fans but rather want their fans to come along for the ride along with them.
Okay. Deep breath. So they attacked Napster. Someone was going to do it. Sorry it was them. That has nothing to do with their talent as musicians, so let it go.
Why do I feel the need to share all of these things? Tomorrow night I will be returning to the Schottenstien Center in Columbus Ohio, the very place where I witnessed the epic sound that is Metallica live, for the first time.
If you haven't seen them live, do it. As soon as possible. I have witnessed the band win over fans with my own eyes. The first time, it was my parents. I was 15 so I needed someone to drive me to Columbus and see them with me. My parents had always written them off as some Death Metal band who screams too much (they don't scream at all). After the show they were begging me to take them to see the Metallica documentary in theaters.
Winning over 2 fans in front of me was only the beginning. 3 years later I saw them at Bonnaroo, infamous for it's happy go lucky, indie, hippie crowd. Before unleashing their dark maniacal music over the 80,000 onlookers, Hetfield asked how many people had seen Metallica before. Only 1/3 of the crowd raised their hands. 150 minutes later 80,000 fists were in the air screaming, begging, "Obey Your Master".
I'm sorry you couldn't be there. The best I can do is take you there via a 4.5 inch screen...
However tomorrow night, I get to take someone with me. Someone who has already begun the process of being won over by the army that is Metallica's music. Amy. My girlfriend. One person I REALLY want to understand my obsession. So hopefully in 24 hours I'll have good news. Hopefully I'll see her face change from apathy to utter excitement, just as I saw happen to 80,000 bystanders at a field in Manchester Tennessee. Only time will tell.
ns
