god is kinky

...according to subway evangelists.

to wit, taken from a sign on 42nd st.:

If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink

-John 7.37

diiiiiisgusting.

Making Underground Raw Shit!

ok, some music stuff is necessary in this blog, so here goes:



I've been listening to Murs' album Murray's Revenge (beats by 9th Wonder) a lot at work. It's excellent, and for some reason gets me going with the ole' AutoCAD.

He's apparently coming out with a new album next year, but it's already on sale (?). Which makes me think I should probably look into some of his other albums. He's got absolutely sick flow.

He's signed to Def Jux, which is a good place to look for some badass hip-hop (with a few mediocre acts thrown in).

here's his myspace...

and some videos....

Murray's Law

[Murs]
And I'm the four-letter word that you don't bleep out
Got a question for you rappers rollin wit'cha heats out
Is this really where you wanna be when Jesus come back?
Lyin 'bout your life, over beats comin whack?
And you say I'm backpack, cause I don't have a gat
Man I just love life, and I'm dealin with the facts
I'm young, I'm gifted, I'm beautiful and black
And my momma didn't raise no fool like that
I understand that you broke, you tryin to get money
But you don't start gangbangin in your mid-20's
Don't know nothin 'bout the beef, or the gang that you claimin
You ain't even worth namin!
... But I got a right hook that'll vacate your Timberlands
Take this outside, set it straight like gentlemen
I do feel the music so I kinda respect it
But don't confuse ill lyrics with real street credit, c'mon

[Interlude]
Wat'chu gon' do man, ha?
Get knocked out
I'm real official like a referee with a whistle boy
Get it right man
My man Murs yo shut these cats down, holla!

[Murs]
I got my wallet in my pocket and my money in my sock
Cause that's how it be when it's funny on the block
Like it be on TV when these dummies try to rock
With they secondhand flows like they runnin on a clock
In a one minute cycle, I'm done with the rifles
The tecs, the 9's, the killers, the psychos
... Look, now can we party?
And I want a Shirley Temple cause I don't drink Bacardis
... But in a minute I'ma probably
try to holla at a hottie with a, nice shaped body
If she's into what I'm into we should worship at my temple
I'ma, grind from behind as we wind to the tempo
If she break it down slow, then it feel like mo'
That's a Mayfield line for all of y'all who don't know
All I do is have fun and bring life to the fans
And I, don't need a gun cause I'm nice with my hands, c'mon

[Interlude]
Nice with my hands dawg, never seen the floor man
Ask somebody, check the stats!
Murs man, yo get at these fools though
Let 'em know what's good baby, woo!

[Murs]
We shocked the world last year when, nobody heard of me
My boy he got skills that's like, musical surgery
Me you know the deal I'm a lyrical emergency
We keepers of the real, just consider us security
of the world, 9th, somethin like top flight
As long as we in control everything's alright
While the rest will steer you wrong with them songs that they thought up
I wrestle with these words but I'm never gettin caught up
... In the drama and the BS
Jumped up out the underground, you know I gotta be fresh
Rhymes runnin through my mind all day, I press eject
I gotta lay 'em down on these beats cause they need wreck
Yesssss, I'm back for the title
And I brought an iron fist, just to smack all your rivals
Woulda thought I ran track, the way I ran through my rivals
Man I swear I'm the truth, slap my hand on the bible
Let's go

insomnia, how i miss thee...

As my obsession with staying awake to live as much as I can every day has become more and more of a preoccupation of mine, I have become more and more lazy/tired/sleepy. Maybe I just overdid it in college, maybe working 8 hour days instead of having 3 to 4 hour increments of work interspersed with other activities is more exhausting, maybe having to worry about sustaining myself is too worrying, maybe i'm just getting older. But how I do miss those days of being up all night, and acting even crazier than i still sometimes do... ...I think that'll be my New Year's resolution:

to bring back some of the funk (while still bathing regularly) of my college days, when I had more control over my body and mind, and seemed to enjoy life a bit more

Saúde! (clink! - gulp!)

*excuse the size of the comic. Resolution was too low... you insomniacs may find it too fuzzy behind glossy eyes...

Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto was killed a couple of days ago, and the press is claiming this could "throw the country back into turmoil".

I really hope that they're wrong. If in this day and age, after all of the warfare in the past century, one would think we would be past failed martyrs. I understand the need for leaders, and the shock of having them leave their perch, but if her followers' will to achieve democratic government is broken by this event, then she was alone in this to begin with. In an age where the alleged enemies of democracy and freedom, terrorists, can recuperate from the loss of a leader by appointing a new one and continuing t fight, the "good guys" must do the same. This is not to take away from her accomplishments and her power as a motivator and political figure, but to place the importance on the goals at hand, on what she placed importance on. Long live democracy, equality and freedom! I really hope her death isn't a catalyst for yet another chapter of war.

There are a few other issues at hand here.
One is the continued volatility of the political and living situation in Pakistan. I think if President Musharraf was trying to get rid of Bhutto, this is the worst way in which to do this. I don't think he was explicitly involved, because it would be extremely stupid to make such a public statement of ruthlessness. He recently lifted marshal law in the country, and had begun to make arrangements for a new election. Maybe these strategies would make sense, especially if it gave him time to continue to change his image in the eyes of the Pakistani people (by the way, I'm not sure how the general public there feels about this, of course). While Bhutto was a beloved figure in many circles, symbolic of democracy and better lives for the women of the country, she had her political baggage. Musharraf could bring back memories of corruption and other scandals of the Bhutto family during campaigns, and perhaps even win. But the same strategies that made sense for him politically also gave a perfect platform for Bhutto's assassination. These political protests and rallies that had become the norm in the past few weeks were the perfect forum for political change, but also put Bhutto in the spotlight, in the perfect position to be murdered. How will Pakistan react? Will they blame the current administration? Will they blame terrorists? Will they unite in a pursuit of democracy in Bhutto's memory, or allow the country to delve deeper into lawlessness and military rule? There are riots right now, but this is just the knee-jerk reaction of an emotional people in crisis; we'll find out more soon.

An important thing to remember in this mess is that we may be fed the platform that Bhutto was a savior, but we don't know that. It's funny that the Bush administration backed (and still backs?) the Musharraf regime, but also had no ill feelings towards the Bhutto side of the story (at least, not that I can find so far). In my book, most people the Bush regime is associated with or has some sort of tacit relationship with (in turbulent regions) are suspicious people. Narrow viewpoint, I know, but it's more of a defense mechanism than anything. Bhutto and her family had been charged with corruption many a time, and while corruption is not a cut and dry issue, it does cast a shadow of doubt on Benazir's motivations and methods. The corruption charges may in fact have been fabricated or embellished by opposing politicians (as is most often the case), but they had to have some basis; and judging from her aristocratic background, it wouldn't surprise me if her family saw nothing wrong with these practices of skimming some off the top, and even some bribery. In fact, I'm not sure I see so much wrong with it, at least to make it relevant, if her regime actually caused enough positive change to offset these troubles. Which I think it did, but I have to read up more on. So I'll get back to this point at a later time, after I've gained more knowledge on it. How much of a savior was Bhutto?

The world needs more people like her, some may say. I would say something more like: the world needs more people to lead like her, to take charge of their destiny, and create a better place. This event should not be a lesson (when is death a lesson?), and if it is a catalyst for something, let it be a catalyst for a continued fight for democracy, freedom, and equality.

Here's a heated discussion on the topic.

casa de areia

Just saw Casa de Areia (House of Sand) with my parents last night. We got just because it was yet another Brazilian movie with Fernanda Montenegro... ...it's kind of the equivalent of having Meryll Streep in an American movie; yeah she's all over the place, but she's still a good actress. So if the script itself is any good, then she will do an admirable job, sometimes exceptional. If it's not so good of a movie, then she will not necessarily make the film any better. I'll go with admirable in this one. The film isn't so great, but there's some beautiful scenery and some funny dialog. It's difficult to get at the isolation of living in the middle of sand dunes with almost no one around, and no connection to the outside world, so this movie did a decent job at that. But there were too many sloooooow parts to this film; I guess I expected more internal dialog for each character; I know my mind would be going at a mile an hour (especially when first confronted by the isolation).
Fernanda Torres does a decent job as Montenegro's daughter, which shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the two share that bond in real life. Side note: my mom pointed out that this family is the least creative in the planet: Fernanda Montenegro married Fernando Torres, and they named their daughter Fernanda. I think i'll just leave that one alone.
Seu Jorge is in this film too, and he alternatively helps and hinders the women's plight to escape this desert.
The "desert", by the way, is the Lençóis (blankets) in the state of Maranhão. These sand dunes flood with water when it rains, creating a beautiful rippling of sand and water. It's most interesting from above, and though it is beautiful, i gotta say: it might get boring after a day or so (especially after seeing this film). That and the price of the plane ticket there steered me away from including it in my trip next month...

modernist vs. postmodernist tendencies, according to Nan Ellin

As I was reading the book Integral Urbanism by Nan Ellin, I was a bit intrigued by her arguments regarding a balance between radicalism and traditionalism. It is her opinion that in order to create balanced interventions in the urban fabric, one must pay attention to the present, and concentrate on the issues of our time. To do so, one must find an equilibrium between radical and traditional ideas in each intervention.
Previous to this point, Ellin had mentioned that radicalists and traditionalists do not pay attention to problems presently in society/urban fabric, and that the integral approach should be different than either of those, and more integrated within current conditions. She never quite explains whether or not she means that the approaches of radicalism should be merely borrowed from, or that they should be actively engaged in by each individual to create a personal balance. I think she probably means that according to each specific situation, it may be good to borrow from each of these trends, but I also believe that she discredits the creation of new ideas from personal obsessions, and even from suspension of reality, more than she should.
I see radicalism as a way to create more long term progress; ideas such as carbon fiber structures, translucent concrete, and building generating scripts may not seem either feasible or useful right now, but who knows what advantages they may provide us in the future? I don't feel that Ellin gives enough credit to this type of innovation, mainly because she sees urgent problems in today's cities that need more attention. While I won't contest this, I believe that it is important to have innovators looking at ideas that are not necessarily solutions yet, but may become important pieces to be inserted into the puzzle later on. So it is my belief that designers should not merely strike a balance between past, present, and future, but should be active participants (or at the very least interested parties) in each. It is only by taking a more holistic look at the problems and solutions that we may find the best answers. And by taking some chances.

"ônibus 174"

Storefront for Art and Architecture Film Series- O Morro
2007.12.18

This film (Bus 174) documents the hijacking of a bus in Rio de Janeiro in 2000, through TV and original footage, including interviews; it opens discussion on many sociological problems in Brasil, specifically for homeless children in Rio de Janeiro. The issue of the overcrowded, poorly administered prison system in Brasil, specifically Rio, was thoroughly covered, ranging from the decrepit conditions of prisons in Rio, to the unabashed beating of inmates by guards (even in the juvenile delinquent halls), the inability of the system to reform criminals (to the point of enraging them even more through mistreatment to make them more vicious than they were before, if that was even the case), and the lack of security within these prisons (prisoners routinely escape).

Another issue is the story of the "crianças de rua", or street children. These kids run away from home, or are left without parents for one reason or another, and roam the streets of the city fending for themselves. They gang up with others and try to survive through any means possible,taking to begging, selling candy at stoplights, doing circus tricks for money at the beach, stealing, etc. They sometimes get hooked on sniffing glue and cocaine, as with the protagonist in this film, and often have no prospects of life without anyone's guidance or love. The events on the bus relate back to a previous massacre at Candelária church in the center of the city, where 8 children seeking shelter were murdered by policemen trying to exert their authority.

The police are involved in these previous issues, but the center of the next discussion. The inability of the policemen to do anything during the whole time of the hostage situation was appaling at best. They failed to secure a perimeter around the bus, did not try to get a good psychological profile on the criminal (who had a long history of emotional problems/drug behavior, stemming from the brutal murder of his mother before his eyes), did not try to disarm him or take out his shooting arm in the numerous occasions when they had the chance, shot one of the hostages by mistake (probably delivering the fatal blow), almost allowed the oncoming crowd to lynch the hostage taker when he exited the bus (perpetuating violence), and finalized their blunders while taking the man back to the precinct. The undertraining, underpaying, and undersupplying (though these supplies would probably be sold to drug gangs in the favelas by corrupts cops) poice forces of Rio and Brasil are asked to be constantly active and go on numerous missions a month, but they are not in any way ready to do so. Did I mention underreducated? corrupt? the list goes on...


The film was directed by José Padilha & Felipe Lacerda, and produced by Video Filmes/O2 Filmes. These production houses tend to push important socioeconomic issues to the forefront of Brazilian consciousness, often in conjunction with inovative cinematography. In this case, they had some frightening shots of the actual botched robbery turned hostage situation. Except wait! Some of that video footage, supposedly taken directly from reporting video crews, were actually filmed with actors in order to get the best shots, and connect some dots a bit more clearly in the story. SO is this still a documentary? This was the question our host, Daniel Perlin (an American artist who has done a lot of work with O2), posed to us. The intertwining of "factual footage" and "fictional footage" seamlessly creates an alternate reality, one that perhaps elucidates the points of emphasis of the documentary, in ways that purely "real" material would fall short. Instead of being presented with facts, one is presented with facts contextualized by emotions. Sure, the filmmaker has an agenda at hand and tries to push this while filling in the blanks, but this can be done in the way a documentary makes edits any film. I believe this format of documentary engages the viewer much more in the story; regardless of whether or not he may be fed somewhat weighted information, it is still information. Having more of an emotional investment in the film, the viewer will be more inclined to become better informed on the topic at hand, where he may debunk any myths created by the EVIL filmmaker.

This movie is HEAVY, but it rocks!
Thank you Daniel and Storefront!
Let's hope these issues gain more visibility in the future...

give one, get one

So, in conjunction with the judeo-christian holidays, (maybe a little late for some of them), I'd like to offer up an idea for a gift. Not so much a gift to oneself, but to children all over the world. It's not just a money donation that will never reach them, it's a tangible product that will help educate them. It's the OX Laptop:

It's the concept of a group now led by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT Media Lab. A light, durable, simply designed educational tool to be distributed to children around the world. The program, called One Laptop per Child, was to initially set costs for the laptop at $100 US each. But as of now, it still costs $200 US. So the people at One Laptop per Child are asking us in more secure situations to buy two laptops, one for a child and one for ourselves, at a total cost of $400. This promotion has been extended until the end of the month, so hurry!

For more (and better) information on the program, here is a speech by Negroponte a couple of years ago.

mis-conception

haphazard (the best kind) attempts at making sense of what is to follow:

1. misconception: people have to hide all potentially damaging, embarassing, and personal information from these blogs.

concept: if i hide my life and thoughts from people, there is a growth of this stigma in my mind about what is proper, what is accepted, when should i hide facts from people. I personally don't like to live in deceit; and if this is the way i'm expected to carry myself on here, then why even bother? No more proliferation of tacit dishonesty!

conception: talk about anything that comes into my mind at any time, carrying myself in the same way i try to in real life. This is in an extension of that, not a separate entity.

2.
misconception: different topics belong in different arenas, separated by guidelines and organizations that make sense for each discipline.

concept: many supposedly disparate theories/thoughts/fields have a lot to offer to each other, whether on a personal or a global scale, or anywhere in bettween.
conception: be open to information to anyone that comments on this site or off it, and incorporate it as i see fit into my personal goals and aspirations, serious or silly.

3. misconception: only finished products, thoughts can be put out to the world to be scrutinized.

concept: perhaps discussion of works in progress critically galvanizes/inspires/synthesizes ideas and motivations.

conception: put shame and fear in the back of the mind, put myself out there, for all (who give a shit) to see; maybe i'll learn something, maybe you will, or even both...who knows?

on that note, i think i'll finish this later...