Rights and Responsibilites

I've ranted on the social contract before.  Still the nature of modern existence weighs upon me.  The supposition is that an enlightened culture needs a set commonalities to facilitate interactions.  That is, we need to know what to expect from our fellows, we need some common ground.  This is all well and good, but its success is based upon a grandiose assumption: we have the ability to recognize what we are doing.  I never signed the GD contract, have no need for boiler plate expectations.  I have come to a point in life where I recognize that my opinions on social mores and folkways are fairly irrelevant.  Still, like the brash child that I am, I ceaselessly attempt to cram the square peg of myself into the slender, round hole of the wider world.  Doomed, doomed to failure. 

**The true issue lies in subjectivity.  While the social contract may guide (read "dictate") our behavior, nothing can alter the way in which each individual parses his interactions.  It renders irrelevant every considered action because the responses to and from carry different connotations.  "Hypothetical" example -- One person has found himself without many to care about or respect.  Thus when this person has contact with the relative few that count, his words are designed to communicate the worth that he sees.  Unfortunately, these compliments are seen as improper, as too intense, they fall as colors outside of the lines.  Does this mean that we should not tell others that they are meaningful to us?  Is it necessary to wrap such soliloquies within the brightly papered wrappings of subtle actions?  Is this all just some game?  Frankly Scarlett, I have no freakin' idea.  As much as anyone might explain the "shoulds" of the world to us, it remains unlikely that these suggestions will become habitual without an innate faith in their worth.** 

Let me use smaller words.  I do not like being told what to do.  Recently, I was blessed with the recognition to find a word definitive of myself: pragmatic.  In this context, pragmatism means that I don't give a damn about social graces, especially those now antiquated.  Let's examine a few that are, pragmatically, similar.  Up until around 60 years ago, most assumed that women should stay in the home with the children.  No attention was paid to the any abilities such women might have to do other works, no credence given to the contributions they might have made to the world.  The masses were given a standard to apply and apply it they did.  30 years ago, the concept of openly gay couples prospering in the world would have been laughable, if not disgusting, to most.  Today, not only are such dyads generally sanctioned, but perception has shifted to the point that such pairs can adopt children, hold places in popular culture and often step through life as fearless as any.  The assumption is shifting.  Now, we come to thorn in my side: the ideal of marriage.  Just as there was legality surrounding the acquisition of women's rights and the court battles over gay unions continue, there is a thick legal syrup poured over the breakfast of marriage (it's a contract, yo).  More importantly is the issue of stereotype.  100 years ago no one evaluated a woman based on the content of her character of the sum of her skills; she was just a woman.  Nothing she could say or do could change that.  50 years ago the same was true of any gay couple, with even more stigma attached.  The key is that the beholders, the great unwashed masses of America, cannot be bothered to critically observe those around them.  They rely on the simplistic definitions of the current social contract (or the their own more colloquial version, see any extremist).  This is the agony that I endure today based within the concept of marriage.  For so many the institution represents a utopia rather than a panacea.  Regardless of the the divorce statistics, many still see the nirvana of having a partner, any partner, as so wondrous as to ignore any specifics.  Just like each woman, each set of homosexual partners, each person is different; each marriage is different.  The end result of profiling is to frustrate and agitate those being profiled.  As a white male, I suppose that I have felt less of this than many in my life, but now I am subject to full scrutiny.  The aggregate expectation of marriage is a noose and a coffin.  For all the hard work that everyone says that the relationship itself is, the impossibility is to fulfill others' expectation.  I cannot be held to the standard of each individual's perfect marriage.  Not that I give a shit what others think, but, rather, I am pretty fucking sick of missing out on the beauty of life because I'm goddamn married.

Given all of this, maybe the assumption has it all wrong.  Maybe none of us has any idea at all.

** Probably irrelevant to my argument, but it's rant and this is how it came out.

Fuck it, here's the Mountain Goats.



Better audio, slightly less fun.

Kanye Sez "Watch This Enough And You Will Become Limitless"

What a tool.  But a cool tune.  Cheers

Sharp Pod: New Music Kanye West "All Of The Lights" Remix Featuring Drake, Wayne and Big Sean

Off the latest album from Rapper Kanye West "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" the single featuring Rihanna 'All Of The Lights' got remixed in a real way. The song feature Young Money's Lil Wayne and Drake and G.O.O.D. Music's Big Sean. Listen here first!

Music To Sit Alone In the Dark By

It's the song that's been in all of those House promos.  Beautiful, but a bit of a bummer. 

While we're at it, here's the tune from the Fable III commercial.

Cheers.

Video Phone: Musiq Soul Child "Anything" Featuring Swizz Beatz

As you all know Swizz Beatz is one of the illest producers in the game and not just for his skills, but also for the way he loves music and invites us into his musical relationship with "Monster Monday's." The music is free and showcases his producing talent and skill full beat making with many of our favorite artists. This weeks "Monster Monday" features R & B's soulful child Musiq check out the song and video.....

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And Let Fall the World

Each day I become more and more convinced that I might outlive the grand ol' US of A.  I understand the nature of capitalism, it's necessity.  Much of the problem is due to corruption.  Our culture is rife with profiteering executives simply looking to line their pockets before they get caught hand in cookie jar.  There is no moral compass, no idea of social responsibility.  None.  Recognizing that profits are not bad, they must, MUST, come last.  Provide your good, provide your service, provide it well.  If, IF, you perform well enough then you cover your overhead and get your profit.  If, instead, you provide a garbage product and continue to raise your rates to ensure your own reward, your organization will crumble unto dust.  Unfortunately, this is now the status quo.  From those who defraud the welfare system all the way to the doors of the Senate, every American is only looking out for #1.

Is there some way to fix all of this?  Is it possible?  Yes.  Is it feasible?  No.  Mired in a system where the only priority aside from personal gain is the evasion of responsibility, none of our elected officials can resolve even a single relevant concern.  Instead of bickering across party lines, perhaps the powers that be might solicit the advice of a variety of experts and apply the objective results in a fair manner.  Does this mean everyone has to agree?  No, but if the best minds in the field create a model, accept the freakin' results.  Don't skew the data to serve your own ends.  Vigorously represent your constituency.  When the vote comes, the plurality will prevail.  This is representative democracy.  This is just.

When no one is willing to make concession, when perception is paramount and reality a pale cousin, then we can rest assured that our voices will fall upon the deaf.  As our proxies seek only to consolidate power and shift responsibility onto the other side rather than affect any sort of positive change, the foundation becomes untenable.  And the house is sure to fall.

I believe that I'll play the guitar rather than the fiddle.

Honesty & Honor

Too much of this never made much sense to me.  All around me are the constructs of society, mores, folkways, rules and regulations.  We're all so afraid of judgment that we hide ourselves from the world around.  I'm not suggesting a filterless spew of dark secrets and deep desires, simply a common trust among our fellows.  No one should have to hide in shame.  No one should have to fight alone.  To quote myself,

We're all so selfish, so afraid, so much like little children cowering behind absent skirts. The magic and the music is to share this with each other, but how can we if all of our gestures are painted with a timid, callous brush?

There's an old line that none of this matters if you're unhappy.  So you you go down the list of things you should want - money, house, wife, kids, fast car, cocaine, star trek collector's plates, fame - and then you strike out on the path that society has laid out to get these things.  You have that conversation with Tyler Durden's dad.  Then, maybe you get there and it's not so great.  Or maybe you fucked up 22 times and never got there at all.  Maybe you're wallowing in self-indulgence at the colossal failure that your life has amounted to.  Or maybe you lucked into getting everything exactly right, hit that goddamn nail right on the head.  Then you get to be a leader of society.  Then you get to tell everyone how you got there.  Then people try to copy it.  I'm not going to go off on a rant about the butterfly effect, but what works for the rooster won't work for the gander.  There is not checklist, no template, no six-lane expressway to personal fulfillment.  I read once that it's very difficult within the human condition to be happy unless you are flourishing.  But here's the joker - you don't need to pull down six figures or marry the prom queen to flourish.  All you need to do is honor yourself.  How I got so deep into the mire without hearing of this is beyond me, although I suspect that it flies in the face of capitalism and the American Dream.  You have to fight those things bereft of existential angst, those things that are to thine own self.  No one can predict what they are and no one has the right to deem yours any less worthy than another.  Chances are that you already know what these things are.  They're unfolding for me as I write.  There are a select few reasons not to do them, but most of us are not burdened with such weights.  So go do them.  Now.  There will always be a thousand reasons to avoid them, scores of faces that still don't get it.  Pay them no minds.  This is not about instant gratification, not about base desires.  Rather this about being human in it's fullest sense.  If you don't do that, then you're not really alive.  So I'm going to keep on talking, even if no one is listening.  Strangely I'm no longer looking for any recognition, not struggling to solve the equation, find the answer.  This isn't the meaning of life, but if you're unhappy I would give it a whirl.  I don't have the discipline to paint a self-portrait, but I would love to sketch it for you, one streak of graphite at a time.

Ah, hell, I'm gonna play you some Justin Bieber for you cuz I have the fever.  No, not really.   I'll let Ed and John take us out.  Cheers.

MVotD - Aerosmith - Cryin'

Yeah, yeah, I saw the same SNL, they all sound the same. Still, it warms my cockles to recall glimpsing Alicia Silverstone for the first time.  Oddly, I had never seen her unpixelated middle finger until 3 minutes ago.  Trivia - 10 years before he played Sawyer on Lost, you can spot Josh Holloway as the rebel purse snatcher. 



Cheers

Sharp POD: "Timbaland Thursday" Timbaland Featuring Brandy '808' listen here first And Get The Link To Download!

Move over Swizz Beatz and Monster Monday's here comes Timbaland and Timbaland Thursday's! This song was just dropped this morning check it out and tell us what you think, we love it....

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MVotD - The Offspring - Half-Truism

Every day is...

MVotD - Sadgasm - Margerine, Politically Incorrect & Shave Me

Aah, a simpler time.

Sharp Pod: Willow Smith "21st Century Girl" Plus Behind The Scenes Pic's From The Video Shoot

Jackie Chan made a cameo appearance!

Over the weekend the entire Smith family Will, Jada and Jaden were on set for Willow the 'Pop Diva' of the family's new video shoot.

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Cover 2 Cover... LL Cool J For Men's Fitness Magazine

The March issue of "Men's Fitness" let's us all know that even at 43 LL is still Doin it and Doin it and Doin it Well! check out the breath taking photos inside.

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Cover 2 Cover... Lil Wayne Covers Rolling Stone, Find Out Why He's Got Beef With Lebron And D. Wade

Lil Wayne is on the cover of Rolling Stone, the issue will be on stands January 21st. In this very candid interview Wayne confesses that he is the ranking UNO champion and dishes on his eight month "T.I. and Vic Vacation" in building C-76, cell 23 at Rikers. He also was an SPA Suicide Prevention Aide, interesting, here's was else Weezey F. Baby had to say including why he's upset with the Miami HEAT All-stars, for the full article make sure you pick up the copy of Rolling Stone:

His Beef with Lebron and D. Wade:

When Wayne sat court-side at a recent Miami Heat/New Orleans Hornets game he was upset that Lebron James and Dwyane Wade never came over to talk to him. "Them niggas never speak to a nigga," he says. "They don't chuck me the deuce or nothing. Nigga spent all that money on them fucking tickets ... Come holla at me. We sit right by them little bitch-ass niggas. At least come ask me why I'm not rooting for you."

While In prison he read biographies and The BIBLE:  

Biographies like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Joan Jett, Vince Lombardi and Anthony Kiedis. "[Kiedis'] Scar Tissue was really good," he says. "I also read the Bible for the first time. It was deep! I liked the parts where some character was once this, but he ended up being that. Like he'd be dissing Jesus, and then he ends up being a saint. That was cool."

?Wayne Confesses that another inmate took the wrap for him:

He spent his final month in jail in solitary after he was caught with an iPod charger in his cell. It could have been worse: He also had a watch with an MP3 player on it, but another inmate took the rap. "He was a solid nigga," says Wayne. "Shout-out to Charles...Solitary was the worst. No TV. No radio. No commissary. Basically you're in there 23 hours a day." The only upside was he had a window where he could watch cars go by. "I used to sit at that motherfucker all day," he says.

   

"Pink Friday" Madness Nicki Minaj Mobbed In London Airport

Last Night Nicki Minaj tweeted before her planes departure from the U.S. to her Barbz in the UK that she was on her way to London and would be there in just 10 hours. She also added that she would be staying with Roman and Martha we're assuming her alter ego's.

When Nicki arrived at the London Heathrow Airport Barbz were in full effect and swarmed the Rap star, those who read the tweet and believed Minaj were in for a treat as she signed autographs and they were able to snap up close and personal photo's of their favorite celeb.

Photo: WENN.com

   

Video Phone: Lauryn Hill's Talk And Discussion With High School Students 10 Years Ago...

We all ways wondered and we never stopped, What was on Lauryn Hills mind back when she left us with nothing but one of the greatest CD's we have and will ever know. Recently a video surfaced of Lauryn at the age of 25, 10 years ago to be exact when she was on top of the world and her game. The footage shows young L Boogie speaking with high school students about everything under the sun. Her thoughts and responses take you back in time to when "Doo Wop That Thing" was all we wanted to hear, she speaks about her career, childhood and also answers that question we all asked, and still do. Why we never got a sequel to "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill?" Here are a few excerpts from the Part 1 and Part 2 of the vid:

I can make money very easily, I can make records that are self indulgent and basically self-promote me �I can do that and promote myself. Lyrically as an emcee that stuff comes easy but in order to promote something higher, I feel now at the ripe old age of 25 that the only thing that I can do is serve others. Because there are people who haven�t reached that point in their walk �Yes, there is a little anger, resentment because you raise a standard especially when you do it and make some noise. You do it and people listen to what you have to say and people are bumping it on the radio and you�re saying something that holds a mirror to a lot of the negativity and self-indulgent things and messages of other people. But we are all young and I have a hard time being so hard on the music world, especially hip hop because we come out of the hood at 17 years old having no clue or concept of what life really is. Because hip hop is so fast and changes so quickly by the time they do get a concept they are no longer making records. I�ve been put in this unique position and I have this very unique responsibility that God has made me aware while I still have the Mic.

I always thought that the matrix was battling the enemy out there. Until I realized, until you conquer the enemy in yourself, you can�t deal with anyone. In order to be used by God, you really have to be used. We always want to be used for the glorious jobs �God put me on a stage, in front of the people at a Grammy show and a nice dress on�let me just praise your name. But that�s not being used, sometimes in order to be used you have to also be humiliated, you have to be kicked and beaten. And in that situation, the person who is kicking and beating..he�s feeling more pain than you are.

As a musician today, I�m not in the studio right now and everybody in my world thinks I�m crazy. What�s going on? You need another album out. The time is running out, you have a certain window to make music. For a little while I listened to that and I was in the studio working real hard trying to get it done. Music was created, definitely music I think people would appreciate but it wasn�t my best. It wasn�t my best because there was no substance and there was no substance because there was no experience. I�d gone from the studio to the stage, back into the studio again. The only reason why �The Miseducation� was the album it was because merited of experiences that took place before the production part, before the creation. What I realized was I can�t create and not live, I can�t be in this vacuum of creativity without life.

In hip hop, we�re all trying to get to this next level without the next level finding us. Life is like peaks and valleys. Some people explain that as good times, bad times. But I actually think its learning, mastership, learning, mastership or study, mastership, study, mastership. I went form the top of one mountain, I�ve mastered something and people appreciated it. Once you�ve been on top on that mountain, you have to move this way but in hip hop people are like, I�m not moving, I�m the master, I�m great, I�m dope, I�m here, I�ve arrived, I�m not going anywhere! That�s when you stay stuck on one hill, one mountain. God�s intention is that we study and master a bunch of things. So here I am descending this hill and everybody is like �Where are you going, we�re suppose to be on top of the hill?� But it�s an exciting time, definitely an exciting time for me because I�m at the foot of another hill. This hill is totally different, navigated differently but I get to learn. Once you learn and you go through that, you�re on the top of another one.

I would encourage everyone to never be afraid of not knowing, find out because that�s how you get to mastership. Let�s not be mediocre in our greatness. Think big and think in doses and think in experiences and don�t be afraid of experiences that teach you

   

This Just In.....Keyshia Cole Takes To Twitter To Make A Huge Announcement, What Could It Be Find Out Here!

Keyshia Cole is one of many celebrities taking to twitter to express her feelings, she made a special announcement to her fans in regard to her music. Her most recent album "Calling All Hearts" was released December 21, 2010, however, she has made a big decision and very bold move with her current management. Check out what she had to say:

While I am not surprised at Keyshia's move I am at her boldness to tweet it, Twitter has become a source for the latest breaking news and not just from news sources celebrities have began to let fans in on what really goes on and we love it. What do you thing of Keyshia's statement?

   

MVotD - The Shins - Caring is Creepy & New Slang

Well goddamn, the Shins were actually using words the whole time!


p.s. The spellcheck is cool with "goddamn." Ha! ;-j

Sharp Announcement: The Notorious B.I.G. AKA Biggie Smalls Murder Case Re-Opened We've Got The Video And Report

I never thought I would live to see the day that law enforcement would crack the case on Biggie, especially after 13 years. However,�that day may soon arrive�CNN.com�is reporting that the case has been re-opened due to the scandal that was at the time heavily occurring within the LAPD. Find out more after the jump....

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Grace Potter and the Goblet of Rock

G'head and pick your favorite.











GPN will cover just about anything.

Cheers.