a change is gonna come?

after months of trash talk, promises, infomercials, electioneering, framed media clips, inspirational talk, and disappointing discourse, tomorrow is Election Day.  just hours until polls open in New Jersey.  we have been lead to believe this is the most important election in our time (it is for me) and with arguably the most important nominee in recent memory (for me, Barack Obama fits that mold as well).  My candidate of preference remains Dennis Kucinich;  i voted for him (DK) in the primaries, but I cannot deny Mr. Obama’s demeanor and potential (if one could measure such a thing).

Yet there’s a part in me that would honestly like to see some random third party candidate win in out in true underdog fashion.  the way both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama have prostituted themselves in the past couple of weeks has been laughable.  From interviews with Mario Lopez and Mary Hart to a halftime spot on Monday Night Football airing tonight,  the lengths these candidates have been forced to go is laughable.  I stress the word forced.  There’s no doubt their respective committees have forced both men to act (and not act) in ways that would supposedly influence “undecided” voters of so-called swing states.  And who are these undecided people anyway?  I don’t believe they exist, and probably wouldn’t have voted in the first place.  At least bigots have the conviction of voting for their party of choice, albeit at the expense of our nation’s economic status.

Rereading that last sentence above, i found myself laughing a bit.  there are some black people who will vote for Obama seemingly because he’s black, just like some white voters will vote for McCain because he’s white (or not black).  A black female coworker felt she would only vote for Obama due to skin color, so she’s not voting at all (she admittedly hasn’t followed these shady media packages like the rest of us trolls; she’s has a child she’s raising and a high mortgage to pay).

on a perverse tangent, i’ve been hearing comments that Mr. Obama will probably be assassinated during his term should he become our new president.  what goes through your heads, people?  are you more cynical than me?  are you Mickey and Mallory?

I don’t know why it surprised me, but on KISS FM in NYC they’re playing a version of Sam Cooke’s timeless “A Change is Gonna Come” with spliced quotables from the Illinois senator.  How would Sam react?  Out of pure selfishness, I want to never hear one of my favorite songs of all time be messed with like that.  It was used to perfection in Malcolm X, i don’t need to listen to a radio station’s political manifestation/manipulation of it.

I’ll see you in the polls tomorrow.

we suck again!!!

Rutgers lost to UNC 44-12 in Piscataway last night. 

This team has absolutely no identity.  Teel can move the ball up the field early in the game but can’t bring us to the promised land.  We’re playing the running back position by comittee (Jourdan Brooks looked impressive), a far cry from Ray rice’s dominance of the past couple of years.

It’s probably too early to panic, but could we possibly see a different option on QB.  It’s abvious Schiano has no other plays set for Jabu Lovelace (and for god’s sake can we see him in a formation alongside Teel?).   How about DC Jefferson?  You did recruit him out the gate.  Doesn’t Chris Paul Etienne have some snaps under his belt?

0-2 is an awful way too start, especially when hopes were high in the preseason.  Any bowl consideration should be thrown out the window, the team is just not good enough in it’s current incarnation.  They should focus on just gettng better and finding rhythm on offense.  the defense ain’t shit either, but they’re spending way too much time on the field.

edit:  that is not to say North Carolina didn’t do the damn thing last night.  i’m looking forward to seeing them in ACC play this year.  Virginia Tech comes to Chapel Hill next week, maybe we’re seeing a rejuvinated Tar Heel team.

edit #2:  oddly enough there was one moment during the game that gave me much pleasure, or should i say i wasnt pouting like a muthafuka getting drunk as hell.  after Teel threw his interception around the end of the first half, ESPN was looking towards the crowd for fan reaction.  one student looks directly at the camera for what feels like 2 minutes, and greets the national audience as only a bratty New Jerseyan possibly could:

cheers to Aaliyah

On the 25th of August in the year 2001, Aaliyah and a few of her associates were killed in a plane leaving the Bahamas on its way back to the states.  At the time this news brought me sadness;  i had come to adore Aaliyah’s music and looks.  she was about 2 years older than me, and thirteen years of age i was infatuated with her and had many a fantasy involving her likeness and myself.  She was on MTV all the time with the “back and forth” video, which in my young opinion was probably one of my top3 songs that year/summer.

Her early work with R. Kelly would pale in comparison to her collaborations with Missy Elliot and Timbaland.  “If Your Girl Only Knew” was a good single, but it just a primer of sorts for the genre pushing sound of “one in a million.”  having been a fan of sum drum and bass music, i quickly took to Aaliyah’s new sound, and so did everyone else.  Soon many clones would arise but none came close to Aaliyah’s Minnie Ripperton-like honey dipped cool.  I would never dare say it was all about Aaliyah, bu once she passed it was clear Timbaland lost his muse.  It would take him to work with Nelly Furtado to regain some of himself back.

“are you that somebody” gave her a bigger audience.  her movie with Jet Li did the same, allowing her to do more of the same for the soundtrack (her “standards” were so far ahead of her so-called peers).  she released great music in her last days, “we need a resolution” is one of the underrated songs of the decade.

with all that said my favorite song of hers is still from her first album.  “At Your Best” is the the perfect teenage song.  A young girl cooing adult lyrics (no doubt written for her).  It is dramatic enough without taking itself too serious.  What a groove.

aaliyah-at-your-best.mp3

Daddy Yankee is totally en favor de John McCain

As reported by MTV and pretty much any media group hungry to fill web space, reggaeton d-bag Daddy Yankee has officially backed presidential hopeful Senator John McCain.  DY chose McCain because “he has been a fighter for the immigration issue.”

Too my surprise, the article also mentions DY is not a U.S. citizen, making him ineligible to vote this coming November.  Why it shocks me, I don’t really know.  it is what it is.

Josh Hamilton: proof that no matter the number of HRs you hit in the Derby and RBIs you’ve racked up this season, you’ll always be an alcoholic junkie

Sports media blows more often than not.

The casual sports fan may not have known of Hamilton’s past struggles with drugs and alcohol, but The Media will certainly not let that piece of info get past you.

Rick Reilly blows.  You’re a great fit for The Ocho. 

Erin Andrews, you’re still hot.

But the real story is Josh Hamilton.  You hit 28 home runs in the first round of the home run derby.  and you still lost to Morneau, who hit half the HRs you racked up.  And we were reminded you drank and got high a lot a few years back.  That’s two L’s for you, my friend.  But next time you come to Yankee Stadium, you will get booed, which is a W, unless you some time in the future come back in Pinstripes and get booed, which is another L.

i need sleeping lessons

Sunday night has transformed into complete hell for me.  I wait patiently in bed for any loss of energy to help me finish the day and fall asleep, but that is a task in of itself.  It’s not for good reason either.  Everyday I’m usually out sometime after midnight, even on Fridays and Saturdays for the most part; maybe it’s some anxiety for the first work day of the week.  But that doesn’t explain why I don’t have the same problem five nights a week.
 
What has become my routine on Sunday nights:  watch some sports wrap-up program with d-bag Mike Francessa of WFAN fame, watch reruns of Sex and the City (last night Carrie started dating Berger), change/remove pajamas periodically, and add/remove sheets/blankets.
 
Maybe 9-to-5 life is not for me.  I can’t remember a time this has ever occurred with such consistency.  It’s getting just as annoying as my tendency to sleep a small number of hours in hotel rooms.

the futureheads are back!

there used to be a time when i was up on all the “latest” music news, used to know all the release dates, yadda yadda.  i’m not in college anymore, and that time has passed, and it’s a bit refreshing to be completely honest.

case in point: i had no idea The Futureheads have a new album coming out very soon, and they already released two videos for “Radio Heart” and “The Beginning of the Twist.”  You might say, it’s only two songs and it’s not like they just dropped 5 albums in the span of the month like Nine Inch Nails, and I would say tru-dat.  But 2 songs and 2 videos totally unexpected is like Xmas to me these days.  BTW i know there’s plenty of people out ther listening to all those NIN albums, but that level of Prolificness (probably not a word) is way too demanding for me; how does one take in that much music from ONE ARTIST in that very little time?  Amazing.  That’s like the rock version of the mixtape a-la when 50 Cent was flooding the market around 5-6 years ago.

definitely lookng forward to this.  going through a bit of music overload today.  I just boiught the Robyn album that came out like 3 years ago but is finally available here in the US of A (awesome album, i’m glad i didnt download it back then), the new Long Blondes album (very cool as well), and the Santogold album only to show my monetary support.  i’ve been listening to the copy have so much already it probably wont leave the shrinkwrap anytime soon. 

annoying songs that i like

Danity kane – damaged.  The not so new female group from Diddy comes hrough with some heat.  I watched their reality show only a couple of times but they seem to know what they’re doing on the creative side.  Makes me wsant to listen to their album, truth be told.  I want to get all of them pregnant, especially the skinny blonde one who looks like she’s high all the time.  Diddy ruins the song with his spoken word lament, but I guess it works as his validation for DK.  don’t get your hopes up, danity kane, my boss has yoursong on her ringtone and will likely wear out your welcome

I’m not gonna write you a love song.  I had to look up who sings this song.  I thought the song was dumb at first but now it sounds like a really queer version of a Fiona Apple song.  God I wish she’d come back with something new. 

Jordin sparks – no air Tom Breihan said he liked this song because it’s  for teenagers sung by teenagers.  He’s right.  It’s pretty morbid, though.  She starts with “if I die before I wake” which you normally hear in cliché rap songs and crappy rock, and goes on about not breathing or living.  Truthfully I haven’t paid attention to the rest of the lyrics, so there might be something else to the song.  I read she really messed up her vocals, meaning this song will be played as some memorial to a promising career, and we will all get sick of it and hate it as it becomes some 2000s cliche.

That’s it just three.  For the rest of the annoying songs, I still don’t like you.  I’m talking to you, “I  keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding,”  or that annoying Madonna/timberlake song.

happy seis de mayo

i was supposed to post this on May 6, but i didnt.  long day at work, and the little free time i had i typed the following.  a nonsensical rant, but what te hell.

This goes out to all the 9-to-5ers who decided to partake in the Mexican nationalist drinking debauchery also known as Cinco de Mayo.  I can say without a shadow of a doubt I haven’t drank that much since college.  I can also say I don’t miss it.  Yes, there were tons of college age chicks that likely treat casual sex like an Olympic event, but if such an environment can exist in say a library or a Barnes and Noble instead of a bar I would trade it no doubt. 

Only in college could you party on Monday and probably do it again the next night.  I work everyday and sadly I can’t pick my schedule like I used to pick my classes (never a class before 1 p.m. ever since my second semester, thank you very much).  Such is life when you have to pay bills.  I’ve never been much of a daytime person.  I’ve adjusted my body to be awake by six in the morning, but that doesn’t mean I like it.

I sit here in my desk pretending to do work and replenishing my body with V8 with a little hot sauce reflecting on the pointlessness of last night.  At least Cinco de Mayo is honest.  It’s not like St. Patrick’s Day where many go out of their way to play bagpipes and eat bad food and inject old school culture on top of their binge drinking.  We live in a country where we treat Mexicans like second class citizens yet we celebrate Cinco de Mayo like we do any holiday:  by drinking a lot.  If I have to hear more typical “wetback” comments I think I’ll flip.  For fucks sake my boss is a Puerto Rican chick and she makes comments like “they’re having me work like a Mexican,” referring to the hard work low wage situation of many Mexicans looking for labor in this country (she gets paid handsomely, I’ve seen her house).  I’m not Mexican but when she said that I had anime fantasies of turning into a bionic giant and ripping her head off.  If only I didn’t need my job that much…

Since that V8 my mild headache is all but gone and maybe for the best I didn’t eat any Tex-Mex food yesterday.  Imagine how bad my stomach would have felt!  I was almost convinced to go to an Irish (read: Caucasian) bar yesterday, but obviously didn’t. 

I wish I had slim hipster jeans to go with my shirt it’s a bit oversized but that was kind of the point when I bought it.  It has slightly wider neck (not unlike those super v neck shirts but not so dramatic either).  Too bad I can’t get a descent pair of 36×30 jeans anywhere.

Anywhoo that’s all I got for now.  Instead of vomiting or calling out of work this was my best therapy method.  I love to write, I should do it more often.

so, that Santogold album is pretty awesome.

some were quick to judge and label Santogold aka Santi White an M.I.A. clone, and I suppose they were right – there is one song that absolutely has that M.I.A aesthetic (the song in calle “Creator”).  but that is to say M.I.A.’s sound is all her own and she absolutely DOES NOT where her influences on her sleeve (I love both her albums but let’s get real).  Santogold displays an unabashedly pop sound, complete with strumming guitars, chill basslines, and drums galore.  upon many first listens Santogold continues to impress, and i find myself listening in many moods and situations; gym, walking, driving, what have you.

“Lights Out” is without a doubt my favorite track.  it is a simple track that features synth lines on the breakdowns.  most importantly, it has bass lines like the ones Kim Deal plays in “Gigantic” or “Cannonball”, or like “Nirvana’s “Lithium”.  everything else in my world is secondary when such a bassline invades my eardrums.  It’s been a while since a song has had multiple playback moments.  can it be that it was all so simple.  so far definitely best album out there.