Saturday, November 17, 2007

Lupe the Novelist, Fifty-Two Days Down

I heard in a few songs there you mentioned the name of your next album, L-U-P-End. So I take it you're sticking to your promise of making three albums and then you're out?
Yeah, I think so. I'm 85 percent. My final album is L-U-P-End, and it comes from video games. I love video games, especially Capcom, and you can only put three letters when the game is over — three letters and ''END.''

Do you have a concept for that album yet?
I don't know. I was thinking about having it be very schizophrenic, just all over the place and loaded with features. Or having, like, 10 songs, like back in the day when they'd do 10 songs and be done.

You're obviously someone who puts a lot of thought and intelligence into your albums. After you make your third album, what are you going to do with all that creative energy?
Oh, I'm writing my book! It's tentatively titled Reflections of a Window-Washer. It's about this character who has limited amount of conversation with the world. But he has simulated conversations, as if he had ever went past saying to someone, ''Hi.'' It's a real cerebral kind of piece. I've got maybe just a few chapters. They published one of the chapterettes in a magazine in London, where [the character] sits and ponders the notion, the physics, the ideals, the commercialization of the future.

So you can see yourself becoming a novelist full-time?
Yeah! That's where this [music] comes from. Hip-hop is like a byproduct of telling stories and writing. Some of the stuff that I want to talk about can't be compressed into a song.

(Read Whole Interview)

I'm still on the fence about the use of the word "nigga" but to me Lupe made a very Dumbledore (from Harry Potter) point I think in this video interview. When the guy was like "how do you feel about Nas titling his next album the "N" word" and Lupe is like "Nigga?" like "why are you so afraid to say the word. It reminded me of what Dumbledore said in the first book "fear of the name only increases fear in the thing itself."


And I've got something to say to folks who don't like Lupe. Back in the day folks didn't like the genius of Shakespeare either. I'll elaborate later but just think that over.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Macs are Cheaper than PCs, Fifty Days Down

Once and for all, proof that Macs are cheaper than PCs

Let's put to rest the myth that an Apple computer will set you back more than a Windows PC. In fact, it'll cost you less.

By Farhad Manjoo

Macs are cheaper

It's time to buy an Apple computer. Indeed, it's been that time for the past five years, at least, but only now, slowly, are people waking up to this fact. Thanks to Apple's relentless flash -- the John Hodgman ads, the iPods, the iPhones -- its Macintosh business is now in league with that of the biggest PC companies in the world. Everyone who's used it agrees that Leopard, the operating system that Apple released late last month, is to its chief rival, Microsoft's Windows Vista, roughly as Richard Wagner is to Richard Marx. This simple truth is dawning: If we forget about computer-industry network effects and monopolistic business practices, if we forget Apple's various ancient missteps -- if we're going just by what's better -- the ages-old Mac-vs.-PC debate is over. Long over. Yell it from the rooftops: The Mac has won.

(Read More)

What's this a counter argument? No. Just a silly comic.


Best moment in Boondocks Season 2 for me thus far:


Best moment in Boondocks Season 1


The Official Album Cover for "The Cool"
Did some editing for the stuff I do at school. I was just making the closing titles so that I can just tack them on at the end of each project I do at school for my teacher "Ms. I". Makes things a hella lot easier then constantly making new titles for each project which comes out to 24 animations and well over 30 beginning video production projects. It's cool to do just to get familiar with Final Cut Pro. Especially since I'll be using it a lot more often now if I get my camera to capture some footage onto the G4.


Blogger video isn't working so I used my dailymotion account



Peace

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Order of the Phoenix DVD Preview, Forty-Nine Days Down

Harry in Solitude


Sybil Trelawney's Messy Meal


A Walk Through The Hall of Prophecy


Fun Fact:
Over 50 Million People in the United States naturally have bad breath (see why here).

I can finally post this now since Lillian got her reply mail! I think I'll draw more this weekend of interesting photos I have in my inventory of pictures.

Powerful (this is a must watch)


Dude makes a good point


I'd argue against the third guy who spoke because if the younger generation is throwing around "nigga" without any meaning then it's not degrading them. Is it? If you tell them that it is negative then it becomes negative. But I do understand that if it is thrown around freely it is sort of abolishing what it is that did happen in the past.


Peace

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Bandele Tofurky Day Practice, Forty-Eight Days Down

The Bandele Family (my dad's side) had ourselves a good little football practice in preparation for the Bandele vs. Brikser (stepmom's side) Thanksgiving Day Game. It should be mucho fun. I had a lot of fun today with them. Kai (see child above in red stripes) is talking a lot more now, making full sentences and the like.

Fiasco Goes High Concept On Sophomore Album
Lupe Fiasco

November 14, 2007, 2:05 PM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Rapper Lupe Fiasco embodies multiple characters and concepts on his sophomore album, "Lupe Fiasco's The Cool," due Dec. 18 via 1st and 15th/Atlantic.

Among the characters are Michael Young History, the Game (described as "a male personification of a hustler's damaging influences") and the Streets ("a female embodiment of an urban area's corrupt allure").

Throughout, dark production by Soundtrakk, UNKLE and Chris and Drop enhances the weighty themes, particularly on "Street on Fire" (about a burgeoning epidemic) and "Put You on Game." Among the few guests are Snoop Dogg, who turns up on "High Definition," while Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump serves as the producer of "Little Weapons."

A number of tracks diverge from the conceptual theme, including "Gold Watch" and "Paris Tokyo," on which Fiasco longs for a simpler life atop a jazzy backing track with shades of A Tribe Called Quest. Perhaps the oddest song is "Gotta East," which is apparently written from the perspective of a cheeseburger and is rife with food/life metaphors.

Fiasco makes at least two allusions to quitting the music business after one more album, "L.U.P.N.," but he ends "The Cool" on an up-tempo note with "Go Baby Go." "Congratulations ladies, this one's for you," he says.


"The Cool" is the follow-up to last year's "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor," which spawned the Grammy-nominated single "Kick, Push."

Here is the track list for "Lupe Fiasco's The Cool":

Iesha Poem
"Free Chilly"
"Go Go Gadget Flow"
"The Coolest"
"Superstar" featuring Mathew Santos
"Paris Tokyo"
"High Definition" featuring Snoop Dogg and Pooh Bear
"Little Weapon"
"Hip-Hop Saved My Life" featuring Nikki Jean
"Gold Watch"
"Street on Fire" featuring Mathew Santos
"Hello Goodbye"
"Gotta Eat"
"Dumb It Down" featuring Gemini and Graham Burris
"The Die" featuring Gemini
"Put You on Game"
"Fighters" featuring Mathew Santos
"Go Baby Go"

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Characters of the Cool, Forty-Seven Days Down

Lupe Fiasco (star/narrator/writer/director)

Born: 1982
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois

Biography: Born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, Lupe Fiasco is a rarity in today’s record industry – an artist more concerned with creating timeless, not timely, music. After years of false-starting label deals and mixtape dominance, Fiasco broke through the mainstream’s shield in early 2006 with “Kick Push,” a breezy skateboarder’s ballad that only hinted at his lyrical wizardry. Such verbal gifts became crystal clear on his critically lauded debut, Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor. Having brushed with fame while admirably maintaining his integrity, Fiasco is now taking his substance-over-style approach to new, conceptual levels on his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

Cool Points
- In 2005, Fiasco delivered a scene-stealing verse on Kanye West’s hit single, “Touch The Sky.”
- Fiasco was nominated for three Grammy Awards—Best Rap Solo Performance (“Kick Push”); Best Rap Song (“Kick Push”); and Best Rap Album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor).
- In addition to the Grammys, Fiasco was also honored at the 2007 BET Awards (Best New Artist nomination) and 2007 Soul Train Awards (Best New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist nomination for “I Gotcha”).
- His most nominations came at the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards: Hip Hop CD of the Year (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor); Hip Hop Video of the Year (“Kick Push”); Rookie of the Year; and Element Award – Lyricist of the Year.
- Through Atlantic Records, his homebase, Fiasco launched his own company, 1st & 15th Entertainment. His first artist (outside of his own projects) will be Gemini.
- In January 2006, Fiasco signed a deal with Reebok. As part of the footwear/apparel company’s “O.G.” campaign, he designed his own sneaker.
- GQ Magazine named Fiasco as the “Breakout Man of the Year” for 2006.

Michael Young History
Born: March 2006
Birthplace: Every Hood, USA

Biography: Since his early childhood days, Michael Young History was conflicted. Raised by a single, hard-working mother, History never really knew his father, a man who abandoned both History and his baby sister. This lack of paternal guidance turned an otherwise intelligent, promising boy into a drug-selling, money-grubbing Scarface-wannabe. Starting off as merely a petty crook, History’s torrid affair with his mentor’s (Game) wife, The Streets, sent him on a downward spiral of greed, deception, and, ultimately, death.

Cool Point
- An unabashed atheist, History anointed his own “holy trinity”—himself, Streets and The Cool.

The Cool
Resurrected: Amongst the undead since September 2006
Birthplace: Six feet under the Earth’s surface

Biography: The Cool is the physical manifestation of History’s debt to humanity. Payback for every user abused and every family torn apart by History, The Cool walks amongst the living as a zombie. “He” – that term used lightly, considering The Cool isn’t human – reeks of death, an ironic contrast to his polished three-piece-suit appearance. Searching for his purpose, The Cool haunts The Streets.

Cool Points
- His only possessions—two diamond earrings, a gold chain, and a letter from History’s eight-year-old sister.
- Despite the long-finished settling of rigor mortis, the sharp sensation of three bullets constantly causes aching in The Cool.
- Only one thought plays in his head like a broken record – “Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster.”

The Game
Born: Given life the moment the snake suckered Adam and Eve
Birthplace: The Garden of Eden

Biography: An immortal, soulless entity, The Game scours city blocks and country landscapes with equal menace. Scheming from morning until night, he changes targets like the wind – hustlers, politicians, celebrities, and impressionable youth have all succumbed to his charms. His most valued accomplice is his wife, The Streets. Together, this “Bonnie and Clyde” duo have affected the lives of every man, woman, and child. The victim closest to their affections, however, was Michael Young History, a tortured man seeking acceptance through fame and fortune. Of course, nothing from The Game comes without a price.

Cool Points
- Quite convincing, his foolproof method of touching minds is through blunt fingertips.
- Through his wire-tapped ears, he’s able to hear the approaching of any enemy.
- When not hovering over common society, he lives behind bars, plotting ways to see his son, Heroine, and secretly conversing with his marital lover, The Streets.
- Despite carrying out such heartless actions, The Game does have a blood-pumping system – an amplified system pumping beats through woofer-like veins.

The Streets
Born: Conceived thousands of years ago, when the first paths and roads were paved.
Birthplace: Unknown

Biography: A temptress like none other, The Streets possesses an uncanny knack for seduction and betrayal. An equal opportunity heartbreaker, she exudes an allure irresistible to both men and women. Some have accused her of pedophilia, having lured people into her tangled web at ages as immature as eight years old. The word “love” isn’t in her vocabulary –although The Game is her admitted soulmate. Yet, The Streets has always felt a peculiarly strong connection with Michael Young History.

Cool Points
- Often referred to by her condemners as a “demon in a dress.”
- No stranger to loss, she’s tattooed the names of her murdered ex-boyfriends across her breasts.
- Her ambitions are clear upon eye contact, with dollar signs in the place of her pupils.
- Witnesses to History’s slaying reported seeing brown, almost Hennessy-colored tears roll down The Streets.


Electronic Music was alright today (see below). Seeing there mini recording studio was cool. This is where Whoopi vs. SilentBat II will be touching up most of its dialogue audio in February.
I pulled out my mini iPod once again. It's been claiming dust over a good few months.

In the next Harry Potter film (The Half Blood Prince) Ron gets himself a girlfriend named Lavendar Brown and she will be played by this actress (below) named Jessie Cave.
Peace.