That should read "supporters' wishes" above.
#39
Don't get me wrong. I want to see the telecom companies in court for what they did, and I really like the fourth amendment as it is. If I had a vote, I would not have voted for that bill. I don’t think Obama should have voted for it either. He should have filibustered it as he had threatened before.
And yet, I can’t help thinking that he had some very compelling reason to vote for it. I can’t imagine that he was ignorant of the flack he would take for his vote. He must have known that voting this way would hurt his popularity with a large block of his supporters. And yet, he still did it. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that fascinating. I really wish I knew what he was thinking.
On top of that, I’m really impressed by how gutsy a move this is. Most politicians are too frightened of alienating voters to even try voting against their supporters wishes. Obama may be wrong, but he has guts enough to do unpopular things.
Of course, this doesn’t change my vote in November. So long as Obama is the Democratic nominee for president, I’ll vote for him. (I’ll never vote for a 3rd party or Republican. And staying home is not an option.) But, at least now, I have no illusions about his saintliness. He is (and always was) a shrewd politician above all else.
To put it simply, one does not go form near total obscurity to presidential frontrunner in less than a decade without being a master politician. As much as I dislike what he's done, I have to respect his skills.
I think I might be one of the few people who feels that Obama was very shrewd with his vote on FISA.
For some reason, he felt that he had to make that vote. I’m not going to try to read his mind. He had a reason. He didn’t do it without some calculation on what it would mean for his campaign. He knew that it would anger his netroots supporters, but (and this is the shrewd part) he knew that this is July and the election isn’t happening until November. I assume he realized that he would take a hit in his fundraising in the short-term, but he probably has money enough to last him a while still. He knew that the voters who would be most angered by his FISA vote were people of principle, and, therefore, people who would vote for the candidate that most represented their principles, which is Obama (certainly not McCain). All Obama needs is time for the FISA anger to die down and common sense to inform the netroots people that they need to vote for him. And, as I mentioned above, he has the time.
In the end, Obama gets to make an unpopular vote and win an election.
What a shrewd bastard he is. I almost respect him more after this for his political savvy.
Almost.
If rap isn't music, then why is it that when I listen to it I get excited and want to dance? Am I doing that in order to rebel against my parents? Have I been brain washed by my culture to be thrilled by rap music? Is there some defect in my comprehension of sounds that makes it so I can't tell the difference between music and noise? Should I be reading rap lyrics instead of listening to them performed, since they are only poetry and therefore performance quality doesn't matter?
Is there something wrong with me for liking rap music? Is there something wrong with everyone who likes rap?
Thanks, ethan. It was your excellent writing that inspired me to post again.
re: C. Wingate @ #240
If I understand your argument correctly, then that would mean that--to you--a percussionist is not a musician. They make music solely with rhythm, and therefore there is no melody to the sounds they produce. If music can't exist without melody, then those sounds are not music. Of course, I disagree, and I don't think I'm alone in that opinion.
Think of rappers as verbal percussionists. Instead of drums and cymbals, they use vowels and consonants to beat out rhythms. The words they use are just collected beat sounds. Those words' primary importance is to create the correct rhythmic sounds. This is why meaning is secondary in rap lyrics. The words must sound right, they must fit the right beat in order for the rap to work, regardless of what they mean. The best rappers are the ones who can take their words to the next level and give them coherent meaning as well.
Also, who said that pitch doesn't matter to rap? There may not be melody to rap, but pitch is an important part of the delivery. To use the percussion analogy again, percussion instruments all have a pitch as does speech. If rap is just a form of speech, then rappers are using pitch when they perform. In fact, talented rappers will carefully raise and lower the pitch of the words they are using for emphasis. It won't usually be to any melody, and it might not even be on key. But, it is the same sort of pitch control you hear in everyday speech. Consider that few people speak in monotone. This fact is most noticeable when you hear a person speaking in monotone. It sounds wrong. There's no emphasis to the words. The same is true for rap. It may not be noticeable at first, but if you listen to a talented rapper, you will hear a variety of interesting changes to the pitch of the words he or she is using.
I hope this helps to explain the artistry of rap a little better. Thank you for your response.
I've been watching the conversation comfortably from the sidelines, as Ethan has been making all the points I would like to make better than I could make them. But, I do want to add one thing.
Concerning melody and rap, I would say that the great innovation of rap as a musical form is the idea that you can have lyrical content in which rhythm takes the place of melody. Time is essential. Rapping is about timing the right words perfectly to a beat. For that reason, you cannot read a rap from a book like poetry and experience it properly. It exists only with the 4th dimension included. It is the play of pauses and changes in tempo that gives it its impact. In fact, I would argue that the delivery of the lines is even more important to rap than the words used.
I suppose that it was the moment that I realized all of this about rap that I started to really appreciate it for the art form that it is.
Xopher.
I'm sorry I mentioned The Beastie Boys (especially now that I think about their past misogyny and homophobia). They were exactly the immature A-holes you describe. They've since grown up a hell of a lot (and openly apologized for their homophobia). I would definitely avoid their earlier work.
I mentioned them because I feel that their later work really transcends hip hop and could be a good starting point to look at the style.
***
I keep trying to write more from this point on, but I don't think I have much more of use to say. Honestly, I'm really intimidated by the high quality of the discourse here. It's why I lurk. I know I'm out of my league.
I'll just finish up by saying that there's something of value in hip hop. I like a wide variety of music, and for the longest time I desperately avoided hip hop. It didn't make sense to me. Somewhere along the way, something clicked in my head, and I started to understand it. I started to value the art of phrasing and flow in rapping. I began to understand the sublime power of a beat and a sample repeated endlessly.
I suppose I feel just a little more complete musically with hip hop in my life. That's it.
Thank you.
Hi.
I'm going to delurk a minute in order to repond to the whole hip hop appreciation issue.
It took me years to really "get" hip hop. Even now I'd say I'm just a casual fan, but I do appreciate the style more than before. I'd like to offer a few suggestions for getting into the style.
First, I'd recommend starting with a group that mixes genres such as Outkast or The Beastie Boys. A little bit of familiar soul, jazz and rock can really help ease the transition into a new genre.
Next, you can stretch out to the deeper lyricists such as Mos Def, Common and Saul Williams. At their best, their work verges on poetry.
If you are looking for pure artistry in the style, then I have to point you to the greatest hip hop artist that I've yet found, the late J Dilla (AKA Jay Dee).
J Dilla on Wikipedia
He's been described as "your favorite producer's favorite producer," on account of his influence and the respect he has from other artists. I'm still working through his various projects with other acts, and so I can't really talk about his career in full. But, his solo work is mind blowing.
Check out "Nothing Like This" from his RUFF DRAFT EP. (I'm sorry if that link doesn't work. I'm at work right now, and I can't access youtube here to check it.) I'd say that song is hip hop's answer to "Tomorrow Never Knows."
I hope these suggestions provide the curious with some places to start. I'm sure that there are others around who can offer better suggestions as well.
Thanks. (Time to relurk)
It just sort of boggles the mind that this is happening: a Naruto/Star Trek cross-over convention.
The only thing I can imagine that the two fan groups have in common is that they both like to wear costumes. I'm just fascinated by what a potential train wreck this might be.
Funny that you should mention Dr. Who and Shakespeare. I was just reading that David Tennant will be playing the lead role next year in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet. And, none other than Patrick Stewart will be playing Claudius opposite him.
So, there's a nice fanfic crossover setup there: The Doctor stabs and poisons Picard.
(Also, Stewart has said he'd like to appear on Dr. Who at some point. I hope they make that happen.)
And now, the MSM's take on it:
Two plead not guilty to Boston hoax charges
According to a new post on Daily Kos:
Breaking: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Guerilla Marketers Make Fools of MSM
Apparently the guys who made the ATHF ads (and were arrested for it) gave a press conference earlier in which they blew off questions about the ads in order to chat about meaningless stuff like 70's hairstyles.
I can't decide if this is cool or stupid, which is how I generally feel about ATHF a lot of the time. It is funny, though.
I started reading Molly regularly a few years back. She was always insightful and funny. Even when things seemed particularly bleak, she was able to charge me up either with a good satiric quip or with her righteous fury. It was partially due to her influence that I got involved in the ’06 congressional campaign of my local Democrat. (We won. Yes!) Who knows how many others she influenced to take action and stand up for what the US is supposed to be? We need more people like Molly Ivins in the world.
She will be deeply missed.
Internet addiction? Hmmm. Maybe I should get back to work (if I can, that is).
This all makes me think of Rory Stewart's book _The Places in Between_ in which he recounts the walk he took across Afghanistan in 2002, just after the Taliban fell. If you haven't read it yet, go out and buy it now. Stewart is one of those rare people who are simultaneously daring, intelligent and unaffected. What's more, his writing is wonderful. More than a few people have called the book one of the great all-time travel books.
In one passage of the book, he describes coming across the remains of a lost city that is being plundered by the locals. (Here's an excerpt from the book in which he writes about finding The Turquoise Mountain. And, here's a fuller account of the experience: In the footsteps of the King of Kings.)
In describing the villagers unscientifically digging into the lost city with pick axes, he writes:
They seemed to perceive the objects as some natural bounty of the earth and pulled them up and sold them as though they were potatoes: it was their land and as far they were concerned they owned it. The looting, supplemented the money they had been given by foreign countries to fight the Russians and each other, the income from taxing the heroin transit trade and the few rugs woven by their women, which they sold to Pakistan. ‘The city was destroyed twice’, Bushire added, ‘once by hail-stones and once by Genghis.’ ‘Three times,’ I said. ‘You’re destroying what remained.’ They all laughed.
It's not quite the same as destroying the artifacts for some boneheaded religious reasons like the Taliban had done. Though, it's absolutely heartbreaking to imagine how much history and ancient artifacts are being trampled and misused all the time.
Bill (#20) and Serge (#10)
I think that previous thread about wonderful machines ended up bleeding over onto Neil Gaiman's blog as well (or vice versa): Tuesday, April 22, 2003.
Also, someone provided him with a link to Arthur Ganson's mechanical sculptures, which you really must see.
Serge, don't forget "in a nutshell."
Although it is Hamlet's line, I can't help but think of Austin Powers when I hear that phrase now.
Vanessa Kensington: That's you in a nutshell.
Austin Powers: No, this is me in a nutshell: [mimes being trapped in a nutshell] "Help! I'm in a nutshell! How did I get into this bloody great big nutshell? What kind of shell has a nut like this?"
Jim and Kristian,
The button for continuous is on the toolbar at the bottom of the window. It is in line with the buttons that show a single page at a time and facing pages.
This is funny in a "life is funny that way" kind of way.
Right now, I'm sitting here reading complaints about Adobe Acrobat, while I have a supervisor in my office waiting not so patiently for me to finish up eight PDFs to post on our company website.
I wonder if people will grumble about them when they're done.
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| 2008 | 9 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2006 | 107 |
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