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Recognize
9.29.2006
This Week Has Been a Disaster. In a Good Way.
Disaster. Get it? It's the Update Your Resume All-Stars!
Just a lot going on--work, social life. You know. And don't begrudge your boy that he's gotten two free dinners, some good times, and a pantload of work crammed in. My bad on letting the Bangin' languish, though.
Take 'em to church There will be nothing bangin' here--straight or otherwise ()--on Friday or over the weekend, as I am riding out to Ann Arbor to watch the Wolverines ride out on Wisconsin.
Following yesterday's brief tirade, I was reminded of this sadly prophetic De La verse, courtesy of our man Dave, from "Stakes Is High":
I'm sick of bitches shakin' asses I'm sick of talkin' 'bout blunts Sick of Versace glasses Sick of slang Sick of half-ass awards shows Sick of name brand clothes Sick of R&B bitches over bullshit tracks Cocaine and crack Which brings sickness to blacks Sick of swoll' head rappers With their sicker-than raps Clappers and gats Makin' the whole sick world collapse The facts are gettin' sick Even sicker perhaps Stick a bush to make a bundle to escape this synapse
That was dropped a decade ago. Meanwhile, we get this kind of verse from Lupe, dropped this year on "Daydreamin'":
Now come on everybody, let's make cocaine cool We need a few more half naked women up in the pool And hold this MAC-10 that's all covered in jewels And can you please put your titties closer to the 22s? And where's the champagne? We need champagne Now look as hard as you can with this blunt in your hand And now hold up your chain slow motion through the flames Now cue the smoke machines and the simulated rain
And you wonder why so many hip-hop fans who didn't start listening in 1999 are upset about the current state of the genre. It's been more than a decade of mindless stupidity. Worse, agenda-setters like Hot 97 happily employ morons like morning-time brain-cell-killer Miss Jones to spread the ignorance.
I couldn't help but dwell on this today as I read the latest Bill Simmons column. (I know that I said no more linking, but sometimes we all slide back into regrettable habits....) While discussing why he enjoyed Gridiron Gang (which I thought was alright despite a laughable script) and why he's become obsessed with The Wire (it is wonderfully appropriate that this New Englander, who still cites Snoop and Nate Dogg with reverence, would have gotten on this four years late), Simmons writes:
Now I'm wondering if I avoided "The Wire" because its central themes--drugs, corruption, urban decay--were realities that I simply wanted to ignore. Instead of being haunted by a show like this, it was easier and safer to skip it entirely. Most people feel this way, I'm guessing; it's the only conceivable reason why five times as many people would watch "The Sopranos" over a show that's better in every way. See, when most Americans dabble in inner-city TV shows or movies for our "taste" of street life, we're hoping for the Hollywood version. We don't want despair and decay, we want hope and triumph. We don't want the zero sum game of drug dealers killing each other, we want the Rock coaching juvie kids and turning their lives around in two hours. We want them to win the big football game, we want the movie to end, and we don't want to think about these people ever again.
Not so dissimilar from the reasons that most people choose to glorify the absurd and reward those who traffic in the exploitative rather than ask that hip-hop be about something sometimes. Right? Don't get me wrong: partying is great; I do it and love it. The romanticism and mystery of a gripping Wu-Tang crime narrative are compelling; I have elevated that sort of authentic storytelling. But we run into trouble when we lose perspective and celebrate the empty indulgences that come easily instead of keeping our focus on the uncomfortable truths that oftentimes seem incurable.
When you're like Simmons--white, from Boston, a graduate of Holy Cross--it probably is easier to partake in your urban escapism through the happy Hollywood lenses. That's also probably why it's fun to love Young Jeezy, or Juelz Santana, or even 50 Cent: their drug- and violence-fantasy versions of a bleak world come replete with cartoon renderings of reality and rags-to-riches stories. I mean, they wear gold chains and everything! And that isn't nearly as daunting as the truth.
I think he's making that face because he's again failed. Quick question: What happened? I mean, for real--what fucking happened? Through the beginning of July, things were going so well: We had more than ten quality records; we were on our way to 75 legitimately good songs for the year; and there was still so much to look forward to, notably new shit from a third of the Clan, Luda, Nas, and the Legendary. And then...summer malaise seems to have set in. Or something.
Method Man was medium and pretty unremarkable; Masta Killa was a bust; Pharrell's album was a joke; Nas's album--what he's calling a deliberate attempt to make club music--sounds like it's gonna be horrible, and Jay's back, so there goes any Def Jam artist's promotion. Lupe's album got worse (Old intro was better, "Ghetto Story" was hot, hyped Jay collabo wound up being a recycled track); Rhymefest is already irrelevant again; and Fishscale feels like it dropped a decade ago. Thankfully, the Roots came through. But we didn't even get a truly memorable summer anthem from anyone (Ne-Yo's "Sexy Love" might have been the catchiest song from the last four months). Overall, the second half of the year has been a dud.
Am I wrong?
It's not gotten better lately. Get familiar!
- Consequence, "Intro" This is, literally, the best beat on Consequence's latest mixtape. And this is only good if you go for the sweeping, dramatic stuff. Dude will just never put it together and make a quality record. Through four mixtapes, he probably has a really strong 12-track record. Lame.
- Ludacris, "Warning (Intro)" Again, the only good thing on Release Therapy that you haven't heard yet is an intro. I guess that some will make a big deal about the collabo with the Hip-Hop Prison All-Stars (Beanie, Pimp C, and C Murder), but even that is not as amusing as it could be and not authentically good. This is all kind of sad, really. "War with God" and "Tell It Like It Is" were promising, focused tracks, but this record sounds like it's gonna be just like every other Luda joint: a few truly strong tracks; lots of annoying beats; inconsistent concepts. Overall, I don't think it's unfair to say that Chris Bridges has a great personality, is a good lyricist, but is a mediocre artist. It's almost a waste.
- Kenn Starr ft. Median and M-Phazes, "Back @ It Again" Don't know Kenn? Get your Clinton Sparks on. This is a soft, graceful, slightly muted soundbed that is characteristic of "this kind of music"--underground hip-hop that is very much in the Justus League mold. It's pretty eh, overall. I like how Median flows, though.
You know what was a hot track, though? Killer Mike's "That's Life." A blaring beat accompanied an unabashed look at black leadership. Not everyone's sound, but at least it was something to think about.
And the Lord smote the Irish Still recovering from a triumphant weekend (and whatever kind of alien death allergies I seem to have contracted as a 24-year-old). See here, here, and here.
- And the biggie (pun intended--this will likely wind up on a Def Jam album now)...Jay-Z is returning.
1) The first person who writes "Allow me/him to reintroduce my/himself" is getting shot.
2) The first person who claims that Jay-Z is back to save hip-hop is getting shot.
3) Feel free to make as many jokes as you'd like about Memphis Bleek.
4) Now Ludacris, Method Man, and all them are really gonna be pissed.
5) I find this annoying, to be honest. Sorry if that is sacrilegious or if it makes me a hater, an idiot, or worse, but I am kind of over Jay-Z. Black Album was mediocre; large swaths of the In My Lifetime collection aren't really that good; and while Jay's personality was and is intriguing and steeped in cool, at some point he became too obnoxiously self-aware and arrogant. In some ways, I feel like I am channeling all of the enmity that has likely built up among rappers who probably saw this whole retirement charade as a way for Jay-Z to hold hip-hop hostage: He would occasionally regularly descend from on high to drop a guest verse and lend credibility to some crappy rapper like Rick Ross; he was happy to let rumors fester that he was coming back; and his very public retirement but sustained presence allowed many people to, if they had nothing else to say, fall back on the old reliable argument that "the game" hadn't been the same since he left.
It all felt and now feels very contrived. And sort of worthless--what ultimately came from all of this? A great retirement concert? Yes. A lot of annoying-ass music put out by Def Jam? Yes.
If we're lucky, the ~three years that Jay has had "off" will have served as time for him to have gotten his shit together and to have generated ideas for another great record. Although bullshit like this Chris Martin news is not encouraging. And Lord help us all if we get another derivative Jay-Z/Beyonce collabo or some Mike Shennadoah/Linkin Park bullshit passed off as artsy musical exploration.
Excuse me if I'm not excited. This just seems like a media spectacle that will likely receive undue hype and result in creative disappointment. We'll get a lot of rhymes about being a CEO, shepherding along artists who went platinum, being above the fray of the hip-hop hoi polloi, spending long money and doing exclusive things...and then we can all weep as Jay-Z ultimately retires again. I can hardly wait.
There was a time--when Blueprint dropped and Kanye was still making hip-hop beats and Jay-Z was building toward the exaltation he now enjoys--that this kind of news would have been truly electrifying. But that was then, and then is certainly not now.
The title says it all; I have bird flu or some shit. In lieu of a real post (I'm going to sleep--I'm tryna live!), let's play a little game. What's the common theme? And if you're really good, without looking 'em up, what am I getting at for each song?
Everyone should watch the video above, which I first saw thanks to my mother and the fine people at Crooks and Liars. Take a moment to appreciate both the sincerity of Olberman's outrage and the veracity of his charges.
Next, read this account of how President Bush and his lieutenants--specifically, Dick Cheney--spent yesterday, September 11th. This part was touching:
Addressing a crowd of 500 that included relatives of victims, Mr. Cheney said the United States would keep pressing the fight. “We have no intention of ignoring or appeasing history’s latest gang of fanatics trying to murder their way to power,” Mr. Cheney said, quoting the president and reprising a theme that has been taken by critics as a veiled effort to portray Democrats as appeasing the enemy.
If there's one person who can reliably ruin anything, it's Dick Cheney. And really, if there's one group of people who can reliably make me frustrated and angry and ashamed of being an American, it's the Bush Administration.
And I hate that because I feel fortunate to live here.
Of course, as anyone who reads this site or knows me is already aware, I am not one of those people who owns a "These Colors Don't Run" bumper sticker or adheres to some arbitrary, binary system of morality that dictates that "you're either with us or against us." I see September 11th, 2001 as a day of tragedy, and as a historical moment that simultaneously demanded a response to America's enemies and a reassessment of America's behavior. The United States should be fighting terrorists like al-Qaeda. But September 11th was an epochal episode that should have spurred discussion about national priorities and the United States' place within the global community; a day that might have encouraged the world's lone super power to examine how it was meeting the needs of its citizens and fulfilling its role abroad. Instead, that day has been co-opted by champions of partisanship for the usual pissing contests and myopic policymaking while also fueling the empty, mindless rhetoric of people who think that being an American means waving a flag and spouting off about "never forgetting" while they infringe upon the rights of others. It's ugly, lazy Americanism.
I am very patriotic, though. I am a patriot who believes in the mostly obscure creed that this country can and should be about meritocratic accomplishment. I am a patriot who believes in equipping all people with the tools that they need to succeed, such as an adequate public education. I am a patriot who believes in using power to help the powerless. And I am a patriot who believes in the Constitution, a document whose words and spirit comprise a national foundation of which I am hugely proud.
That's why September 11th is a hard day for me. It has come to symbolize the Bush Administration and every horrible thing that this administration has perpetrated in the last five years. There is no crueler irony than the steady transformation of a day that once stood for national unity sickly coming to represent the complete betrayal of Americans.
While 9/11 does not fully reflect Bush's "economic policy of transferring the budget surplus to the wealthy, social policy of hewing to the demands of the Christianist far right" it does stand for the abhorrent conflation of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the fight against militant jihadists, a complete outrage that all Americans should remember while at the ballot booths this November; it does stand for the lies used to plunge the nation into a war that the U.S. can no longer win; it does stand for the squandered political capital that has left the U.S. nearly powerless in the face of rising nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea; and it does stand for the general ineptitude of a government run by a man who is unqualified, unintelligent, inarticulate, and disgustingly content in his privilege and misguided priorities.
The New York Timesgot it right today as it reflected on what is truly a horribly sad day in American history:
Iraq had nothing to do with the war on terror until the Bush administration decided to invade it. The president now admits that Saddam Hussein was not responsible for 9/11 (although he claimed last night that the invasion was necessary because Iraq posed a “risk”). But he has failed to offer the country a new, realistic reason for being there.
Establishing democracy at the heart of the Middle East no longer qualifies, desirable as that would be. Where Mr. Bush sees an infant secular Iraqi government, most of the world sees a collection of ethnic and religious factional leaders, armed with private militias, presiding over growing strife between Shiites and Sunnis. Warning that American withdrawal would “embolden” the enemy is far from an argument as long as there is constant evidence that American presence is creating a fearful backlash throughout the Muslim world that empowers the fanatics far more than it frightens them.
Fending off the chaos that would almost certainly come with civil war would be a reason to stay the course, although it does not inspire the full-throated rhetoric about freedom that Mr. Bush offered last night. But the nation needs to hear a workable plan to stabilize a fractured, disintegrating country and end the violence. If such a strategy exists, it seems unlikely that Mr. Bush could see it through the filter of his fantasies.
It’s hard to figure out how to build consensus when the men in charge embrace a series of myths. Vice President Dick Cheney suggested last weekend that the White House is even more delusional than Mr. Bush’s rhetoric suggests. The vice president volunteered to NBC’s Tim Russert that not only was the Iraq invasion the right thing to do, “if we had it to do over again, we’d do exactly the same thing.”
It is a breathtaking thought. If we could return to Sept. 12, 2001, knowing all we have seen since, Mr. Cheney and the president would march right out and “do exactly the same thing” all over again. It will be hard to hear the phrase “lessons of Sept. 11” again without contemplating that statement.
How sad is it that a day that should be reserved for mourning will also forever be inextricably linked to such faulty leadership? And how depraved is it that this day was purposely stolen away by President Bush for use in the defining mistake of his misbegotten reign?
The People Who Run Disney and the NFL Should Be Sent to Paris Hilton's Vagina
Here we have the cast of the most annoying show that I'll never watch and Peyton Manning wearing his traditional mid-winter scowl of disappointment.
Or some place just as dirty.
Have you heard of the Grey's Anatomy? I bet you have now. I've never seen it, although I'm told that all women lose their shit for it, and that somemen do too.
And what about this group called "The Mannings"? Peyton, Eli, Archie--a pack of exalted quarterbacks. Do you know them? I bet you do now.
Over the weekend, I watched a lot of college football, which is something of a sacrosanct routine for me. As you may be aware, Disney-owned networks--ABC and ESPN--broadcast a majority of the games. As you may also be aware, a person can purchase ESPN's Gameplan package from a cable operator and watch pretty much every game possible. I do this because I have a sports-obsession sickness. It's the same reason that I purchase NBA League Pass on the first day that it becomes available each year; the same reason that I purchase the college basketball package; and the same reason that I would happily spring for a Pay-Per-View service that allowed us to see every single swing that Tiger Woods ever took. (Seriously, why doesn't this exist?)
Needless to say, I spend plenty of hours in front of the television, and only The Wire is poppin' off right now; Lost and Survivor and all that haven't even started yet.
A television expert (though a mere mortal compared to the deity of television fandom known around these parts as "The Buckets"), I am no stranger to the conventions of broadcast television, the most irksome being the self-preservation manifestation that we know as fall-time promotions. Each September, the networks endlessly promote their newest shows and returning biggest hits. If it weren't for this practice, the Sports Guy would lose about half his jokes and we'd all...not be upset in the least (about the absent promotions or the absent Sports Guy schtick). But needless to say write, you can't turn on a TV and expect to avoid these ads.
This weekend was fucking absurd, though. ABC basically ran one long 12-hour ad for Grey's Anatomy. I mean, I heard that same annoying-ass song during every commercial break. I saw those same black panties pinned to a bulleting board during every commercial break. I saw that same cute-but-not-that-cute Ellen Pompeo pinned up against a wall with her tired-ass pensive gaze into the distance plastered onto her face during every commercial break. Every...single...fucking...commercial...break. Are you kidding me? I can't remember the last time I was so annoyed and simultaneously catatonic, having been bludgeoned into submission.
No, wait, I can. It was yesterday, when all NFL-related content became one big fucking commercial for Archie Manning's sperm. Peyton and Eli are the face of this league? The guy who can't ever win shit and the guy whose facial expression is more idiotic than George Bush's on its worst days? No wonder I can't really get into the NFL. And the other players don't mind that the NFL, which is so vigilant in its marketing and licensing, has basically said "fuck you" to everyone who doesn't sound like a cartoon character and play quarterback for the Colts or the Giants? This must be going over real big in the Patriots' locker room. Terrell Owens is loving this, too, I'm sure.
Seriously, there's overkill and then there's Peyton, or Eli, or Peyton and Eli, or Peyton and Eli and Archie making commercials for literally every product in the world: DirecTV, insurance, credit cards, the WHOLE LEAGUE IN AND OF ITSELF. I mean, I think I saw Peyton selling jewelry yesterday, and he's obviously the last person who would know about it. How's that whole beating Florida thing going, Peyton?
The only good thing about all of yesterday's NFL coverage--which, again, was basically ruined by the ubiquity of those fuckingMannings--was that during NBC's broadcast of the Colts-Giants game, they showed video of Peyton as a three-year-old whining when he and his brothers were playing football in the yard. It was nice to see that so many of his best habits began expressing themselves so early on.
Really, the only news that was perhaps more disappointing about the NFL coverage--not the league itself, so be easy, dunny--than the Mannings was the fact that ESPN is no longer showingNFL Primetime on Sundays. That was the show, and that was strike one. I notice, also, that it's supposed to be on tonight at 3 AM with Stuart Scott, and that's strike two. (I'm no Chris Berman lover, but Primetime is his thing. And Scott?!) If, for some ludicrous reason, Primetime doesn't have the Primetime music--which easily is the only sports-broadcast music worthy of canonization alongside "Roundball Magic" and CBS's college basketball theme--that will be strike three, and we'll all have to firebomb Bristol, CT.
He'll be here all week It's not always easy to explain why we find humor in some of the culture and situations that make us laugh. Nor can we always explain why some of these ill-defined incarnations of comedy are funnier than others. For instance, while reading today's New York Timeswrite up of the new Borat movie, I basically died when I saw:
In one scene Borat insists on driving to California rather than flying, “in case the Jews repeat their attack of 9/11.”
That sent me into a hysterical fit of laughter. More so than what followed, something most of my fiends and family thought was even better:
As he tours the South, he becomes terrified when he learns that an elderly couple who run an inn are Jewish. When cockroaches crawl under the door of his room, he becomes convinced the innkeepers have transformed themselves into bugs, and throws money at them.
But then there are times when the comedic appeal of some thing or one is so obvious that it almost ceases to be funny, as the overtly abundant humor stops inspiring so much laughter and instead encourages us to marvel at the improbability of such a fortuitous circumstance.
That sort of thing happened today when the Associated Press reported that Kobe Bryant is concerned about USA Basketball's team chemistry:
The U.S. basketball team will have to work on its internal chemistry if it wants to perform well at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Kobe Bryant said Thursday.
The Los Angeles Lakers' All-Star guard was visiting Taiwan on a five-leg tour of Asia to meet with fans.
Last Sunday, the U.S. players returned home from the world championship in Japan with bronze medals -- just like the country won at the 2004 Olympics.
Both results were widely seen as disappointments.
Bryant, 27, told a news conference in Taipei that a newly assembled team always needed some time together before starting to play with consistency.
"Years playing together will jell us as a unit, [but] if there is no chemistry, it's going to be tough to beat all those talented teams," he said.
Bryant said he was confident the two years up to the Beijing Olympics would be enough to find that chemistry.
Bryant's tour took him to Japan and Hong Kong. On Friday, the basketball star was scheduled to leave Taiwan for South Korea. He will also visit China.
I mean...really? Kobe Bryant said that? The same guy who destroyed a dynasty because he hated playing with Shaquille O'Neal? Pardon me for being so amused, but this is like Bobby Brown attempting to take a principled stance and re-cast himself as noble by insisting that healthy marriages require that the partners not smoke crack.
In Kobe's defense, it could have been worse: it's probably a good thing that he didn't come out and announce that the best way to avoid trouble during the NBA offseason is to stay the fuck away from white girls in Colorado spas.
A known Kobe hater, I am, of course, inclined to immediately prey upon these bizarre moments. But when considered in concert with the relative selflessness and maturity required to carry the flawed Lakers into the playoffs last season, Kobe may, in fact, be maturing, and perhaps this is one way to put a petulant past behind him. I am open to that notion, although it will be sorely disappointing should it come to be acknowledged as wholly true.
More practically, what Kobe probably should have said was that Team USA really needs Michael Redd, Ray Allen, and a real center to be ready in 2008.
If you aren't sitting in front of or immediately adjacent to something that you would be upset about covering in vomit, watch the video above. That's right, it's Kevin Federline's debut "joint." The shit--emphasis on "shit"--is called "Lose Control." Perhaps not surprisingly, I received the following email about the video:
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – August 31, 2006 – On Friday, September 1, 2006, rapper Kevin Federline will make his video debut exclusively on Yahoo! Music with his new single "Lose Control." Filmed at the alluring Las Vegas hot-spot PURE, "Lose Control" is the first single from Federline's much anticipated debut album, Playing With Fire, scheduled for release on October 31, 2006.
Not such a bad note, save for the fact that I was completely unaware of this further societal decline until I received said missive. Now, of course, I will have to seize every opportunity possible to bash this no-talent, abhorrent motherfucker.
Sometimes I wonder if these people read the blogs to which they send promotional material.
And is this dude really trying to call himself a rapper? Now more than ever, we could all use a Yayo shirt.
Three of a kind? One of the shitty byproducts of what was, in effect, a month-long absence from the blogosphere is that a lot of the topics I'd like to now write about have become stale, or perhaps old news if even still vibrant. Well, with this in mind, I shall soldier on, anyway...
A few weeks ago, The New York Timespublished a story (Times $elect, I believe) in its magazine section about OutKast. Written by Jonathan Dee, the story was meant to capitalize upon the public's renewed infatuation with Andre and Big Boi in immediate advance of their movie, Idlewild. Filled with the verbal flourishes one might expect of such a piece given its source--"Everyone can agree that it was O.K. to be an outlaw back then, so outlawry is unencumbered by any sort of moral hesitation"--Dee's feature was a fairly generic, admiring glimpse into the contemporary happenings and relationship of OutKast set within the standard context of group history and the omnipresent tension of potential dissolution.
If white people and the cultural elite want to continue the sustained exaltation of OutKast that began around the time that Aquemini dropped, that's just how it goes. But at least get the shit right. Far more irritating and telling than any wordplay found in the article was this absurd attempt at exposition meant to communicate OutKast to a universal audience:
"But a growing creative tension between them kept upping the ante. In their brand of Southern hip-hop there had always been traces of the more outward-looking, less preening, light-on-samples rap of bands like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. But by the time they released ''Stankonia'' in 2000, OutKast occupied that rarefied air reserved for artists whose work can't easily be compared with anyone else's." (emphasis added)
Are you fucking kidding me? As the blood rushes to your head, please go here and here and tell me if Tribe and De La were making "light-on-samples" rap music. *Shakes his head*
This is just another manifestation of the mainstream's sustained fascination with a cultural "other"; yet another example of an embarrassing misstep taken during the exploration of the alien. What a joke. For Dee's sake, that line had better been unauthorized and put in there by an editor. Otherwise, Dee should buy some Meters records and bone up a bit.
I might be grilled out nicely (oh!)/In my white tee (oh!)
It took a few months, but the Reincarcerate Yayo shirt has finally arrived!
I apologize for the delay, but starting a sweatshop can be tough. You need to round up orphans and other children whom you can exploit; you need to find land in a developing nation on which you can erect your polluting factory; you need to find American universities with which you can contract in order to piss off campus activists; you need to arrange for your shirts to get transported from the third world to western civilization on barges that carry livestock, monkey pathogens, and everything else that you've seen in movies; etc. It was a logistical nightmare.
But that's all in the past, now. The Reincarcerate Yayo shirt is now available in sizes S-XL, and you can own one for just $10.
What is the shirt? It's what you see above--a white tee (of course!) with the simple black lettering "Reincarcerate Yayo."
Why the shirt? Because you're tired of the way that idiocy and mindless corporate greed have ushered in an era of hip-hop that has seen the marginally talented rise to the top. Because you're tired of crappy rappers making videos, getting their own posses, and commanding undue attention. Because you want to be a part of the solution as hip-hop fans who care about the genre start to strike back and make it clear that the ascension of mediocrity will no longer be tolerated. Because--well, read this.
How the shirt? Send an email to straight.bangin@gmail.com with the quantity and size desired. You'll be able to pay through PayPal and your shirt will get sent through the mail.
Simple enough? I hope so. This is gonna be the hot shirt for the fall.
And just because I care about you, here's some music to make it worth your while, Nas gunnin' for 50*:
Below, please find the way that the transition into fall is beginning: college football is back, and your favorite BlogPoll voter is on his grind. Below is my week one ballot. Want to learn more? Agree? Disagree? Stop by Schembechler Hall and drop some knowledge.
Rank
Team
1
Southern Cal
2
Auburn
3
Texas
4
Ohio State
5
Louisiana State
6
West Virginia
7
Tennessee
8
Iowa
9
Notre Dame
10
Florida
11
Georgia
12
Oregon
13
Florida State
14
Miami (Florida)
15
Virginia Tech
16
Oklahoma
17
Louisville
18
Nebraska
19
Michigan
20
TCU
21
Clemson
22
Fresno State
23
Georgia Tech
24
Cal
25
Northwestern
Dropped Out:
No one (yet)
Also, I just want to share some important opinions that have fomented in the past month:
- Game Theory is one of the two best records of the year and the best Roots album since Things Fall Apart.
- Idlewild the movie was horrible; Idlewild the soundtrack was basically as bad. I have no problem with Andre trying to grow as an artist, but the only thing is that he's not so good at this nouveau-Prince/ragtime/conspicuously-suffering-artist bullshit.
- The Illusionist is a movie that you should see.
- I have never had less fun than I had watching this year's Video Music Awards. I hate Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, and pretty much everyone else from that show. The Hype Williams tribute was annoying.
- One of the best feelings in the world is that which occurs when someone driving by while listening to Killa Season stops you to ask how to get to "41 Cam'ron Street" and you can amuse him by demonstrating just how much you know about Cam and the Dip Set. (And please note that said anonymous inquisitor meant the Parc Cameron building at 41 West 86th Street in Manhattan.) One suggested answer: "You mean the Parc Cameron...Cam'ron is likely up in Harlem...and if you see Cam, ask him if his baby girl's gonna suck it or not. Dip Set!"
- I am already tired of all the NFL coverage and the season hasn't even started yet.
In the words of some dude who I saw in concert last week--feels good to be home!
