Hyuck

Here's a little rant. A little beef, if you will. A beefy little rant, as it were. There's this idea I see put forth in certain corners of our culture. It's rarely the main idea, but it's sometimes in there with the other ideas as a little side clause--a little side dish. It's out there and I think it's false, but maybe I'm just partial, but you can be the judge of that.

It is the idea that less smart people are more spiritually connected. It's the idea that life is such that the more you know the less space your brain has for the spiritual things. I think this is a bone that we have thrown to those mentally less advantaged out there. It's really not true. It's really a load of junk, but dumb people aren't smart enough to know this, so let's just let um keep thinkin it. It's all they got. Now, I don't really know if I'm dumb or smart or what. I could be dumb as a rock, but I won't kid myself into thinking this gives me a spiritual advantage. You gotta stay out there and keep learning and keep your antennae up, I think. I think people that aren't into thinking because they want to be more spiritual just don't understand what spirituality is so they pretend its something else and pretend that this something is a very deep and important part of them.

So, maybe you want me to tell you some places you might see this idea put forth. Now, keep in mind, nobody's coming out and saying it. It's sort of just sneaking itself between the lines. You can catch glimpses of it on the hallmark network, cbn, foxnews, naturally, not that I'm dissing fox news. wink wink.

Now, let me say, we probably should actually just let the dumb dumbs have their cake. Don't go peeing on their cake. We know what's up. You and me are totally smart. But not everybody else is so lucky.

Oh. For Real?

Oh. For real?! That’s the title I’m goin with. Here we go. If something happens in life and you aren’t able to make sense of it, than we call it a mystery. If somebody tells you something or if you read something and it doesn’t make sense, we don’t call it a mystery. We say there’s a hole in the story; it doesn’t add up. It’s not a mystery. It invalidates the story. And you know what? It doesn’t matter if this story is a sacred story. It doesn’t matter if this is a story your parents or your grand parents believe. If there are holes in the story, it’s not a mystery. It’s a hole. It’s a contradiction. I’m talking about the Bible of course. “There are some things we just can’t understand,” they say. Sure, in life there are things we can’t understand, but if I’m to trust something somebody says or writes, it can’t have plot holes. Ok? Let’s say I’m a woman who is deeply in love with my husband, and he’s the one I trust most in the world. He tells me he’s going on a business trip. He tells me it’s in Colorado, and I find, let’s say plane ticket stubs or something that say California, I don’t say it’s a mystery. I say somethin’s up.

Lynch's Best Ten

Brother Lynch's ten best songs are as follows, in descending order.

24 deep. off the album "24 deep." It takes a standard, hip hop sort of approach. Great attack, great triplets, lots of verses, all Lynch. Its very very very good. Its nice how the big drums take a little while to come in. Good start for a good beginning. "I got enough shit on my mind. I just can't care." Good wording, I must say. the bass fits real real nice. Lynch has the juice.

there it is. off the album "block movement." Its slow and a little goofy, but its good in a way that not of a lot of other rap is good. It shows what Lynch does so crazy. He kind of tiptoes up to these little climactic parts and you start to kind of feel the anticipation build up like, like somethin. Somethin sexual or violent. ain't nothin gon' happen that ain't suppose to happen opposed to rappin. i close the gap and hit that ass with the mini mac. close caption.

one mo pound. its very weedy. its very anthemic. its amazing really. it has a wonderful wonderful opening with just enough reverb on the vocal. The beat is very minimal and perfect and the bass is nice and low and grumbly.

return of the baby killer. everybody loves this one. starts out a little slow, but builds up like crazy and the west coast sounds start to come, the bass starts to talk to ya and Lynch triplets the heck out of this thing.

naked cheese. from "ebk 4" nice lil love song. his rappin on this is way too cool. its so great. its very chill gangster rap stuff. he pops in with some way elegant rhythmic moments. Nice and simple stuff like "my weed didn't have no seeds in it. foggin up the cutlas supreme. rollin down the street in it.

situation. off "loaded." wonderful verses by everybody. perfect intro. perfect all the way through really. Lynch is amazing and original and that little clip clap in the beat is the perfect little touch.

siccmade. from the album "season of the siccness" is gross and funny and feels like Lynch's theme song or somthing. Its a very very fine peice of music. lotty da. that cannibalistic nigga that got that nine millamita gun. that nigga that nigga that got them muthafuckas on the run.

XCaliber from "EBK 4" is exciting and wonderful and it builds and you don't know what's gonna happen next. Some of the best little Lynch moments and it all just gels together so smooth. has a lot of good spots of stucturing the phrases in a familiar sort of way but having the parts that rhyme in unfamiliar spots within those sentences.

Now, we are at number 2 which is Last Night off the album, "ripgut collection." and I'm off the OE. you know me. Triplet right there at the beginning. beautiful. Love the little tin sounds in the back. good chorus. Great incorporation of the chorus into the verse. Wonderful bass with it all, too. Came in all alone. put one in yo dome. in the mornin you was gon'.

best song. Die 1 by 1. from "Loaded." it has the perfect lil sample from the movie "Evil Dead." Its got wonderful west coast sounds and such a horribleness to it all. Siccmade music comin up out yo speaka. It just does it. This song does it so so good. I really don't understand a lot of it but I don't mind. After you hear this song you can't be afraid of anything again.

Conservatism and Liberalism

Change is inevitable. Progress is good. Liberalism's role in society is to embrace change. Conservatism's role in society is to oppose change. Through the struggle between these two forces, the change which happens will be kept in check. Neither side can ever outright embrace the fact that both forces are necessary or the balance will be thrown off. Without the force of conservatism present, society's evolution would probably look a lot like natural selection. A random mutation occurs and the adaptations which are beneficial to the survival of the species will stay until the environment makes it so that they can no longer survive. This sort of evolution is not what the human species wants. We want to control which changes occur. We want to mold all of creation to fit the moral standard. This is why we cant just let change happen however it does. We have to guide it.

Hanging out with Guys is Better

Something funny I noticed. guys can't hang around other guys too much or they gotta worry about being gay. Also, when they are hanging around other guys they can't possibly be having a good time. Its more suitable to be like, "man this sucks...if only there were some bitches here." But if there were some bitches present, it would suck way more because everybody would turn into animals, and those who don't would be sitting there all lonesome and depressed, either that or just pissed off at the whole situation. I'll come out and say it: I prefer the company of men. I prefer the sex of women. I would rather hang around men most of the time cuz it's funner to talk to them and we understand each other better, and I would rather go off and have sex with a woman when the night is over. You know what I mean. And a guy that hangs out with nothing but females, he's branded as gay, and maybe that's cuz he usually is. Or maybe he's a pimp, but the point is, be consistent. Don't give one guy shit cuz he likes to hang out with guys and another guy similar shit for hanging out with girls. That makes sense right?

Split-second Belief

When you shoot a basketball into the air, toward a hoop, immediately you are struck by an opinion about whether it's going to go in or not. Sometimes the opinion is very certain. Sometimes its not so certain, but that feeling strikes you regardless of whether or not you want it to. The opinion which strikes you is a belief, and you don't have a say in the matter. I know this is what my last article was about, but I keep meeting people who think that belief is a choice, so this is still on my mind.

The above basketball analogy came to me just recently, and I think it encapsulates how I see this issue very well. Belief happens constantly and so does choice. We are always making decisions and prioritizing and planning and acting and communicating. Belief and choice are different functions of our brain, I think. Belief is a part of our perception. We act on our beliefs, or should I say, we try to act on our beliefs. I think the more time we have to make a decision, the more likely that a decision will directly reflect our beliefs.

If You Understand

If you understand the concept of 1+1=2, you understand that the mathematical phrase, like any mathematical phrase is true by its very definition. It is true because one definition of 1 is that which becomes 2 when 1 is added to it. One definition of 2 would be 1+1. You get it? A number is an abstract representation of an amount. Of course there is no amount which is actually 1, but if there were such an amount as exactly 1, add another portion of exactly 1 and you would definitely and surely and absolutely get exactly 2.

If you understand that 1+1=2, you understand that you hold this truth without choice. You have no say in the matter as to whether you believe it or not. You know it to be true because you perceive it to be true. Something which you perceive to be true is a belief. I read an article on wordpress by someone named Laicite, and they spelled that out for me so that it finally made perfect sense. A belief is not a choice. A belief is something you perceive to be true.

So with this mentality, the only form of Christianity which would make any sense is Calvinism with its concept of "election" where God chooses who believes in him and who doesn't. So that would explain why the concept makes no sense to me whatsoever. I wasn't chosen. This is sad. God's gift of reason was actually more of an eternal curse and not a way to make sense of the world.

But of course I'm joking. God has given me some sense of reason and clear perceptive abilities to make sense of the world around me so that I might best serve those around me and help to make this life a blessing. If I shut my eyes to what I see and hear and understand, it doesn't mean I am choosing to believe that the Bible is the only true inspired word of God. It means that I don't believe that this is true so I must prevent myself from finding out for sure. It would be more of a fatalistic agnosticism or something to take this approach. It would be like saying, I can never know for sure, so I might as well shut my eyes and dive in full force to that bs which is most accessible to me.

Lesser of Two Evils

What is this concept of "the lesser of two evils?" It is an idea most commonly used when a person has to choose between two (or I guess it could be more than two) choices, all of which are unfavorable. This choice is sort of an act of damage control. I understand that this phrase might be useful in pointing out the stickiness of a situation, but I would like to point out how, if taken literally, the idea is a contradiction in terms. I would say that "good" is the lesser of two evils. And I guess you could also say that "evil" is the lesser of two goods, but really there is no such thing as "the lesser of two evils" because if we have a choice between two things and one is the better choice, than it is "good" in this sense, by definition. "Evil" is the bad choice, by definition.

Lose the Truth

The Christian culture would behoove itself to stop using the word "truth" so much. In fact, if they could cut that word out of their lexicon all together like they did with "fuck" and "shit," they might find themselves in better shape and losing fewer souls to the dark side. The proactive approach that Christianity seems to be taking now, in its strongest circles, is to redefine the word. This is not going to work. Its a noble idea, but its just not going to work. They succeeded with the word "life," I do believe. It now means having Jesus in your heart or something. They succeeded with "good" and "evil." These words, now, basically represent the poles on a continuum which represents one's adherence to or rejection of Christian traditions. You know, come to think of it, they might succeed in redefining the word "truth." But once they do, it might make it harder to win converts. The easier thing would be to rid their world view of the concept all together. They're half way there. Science has a stigma about it. Questioning and thinking is sort of frowned upon or laughed off. I think there could be a real draw to a religion that never speaks of truth and just pulls the individual into this imaginary world without acknowledging any ideas of proof or lack thereof. The ultimate good could be a sense of utility. This would give Christianity a leg up on secularism whose culture seems in so many ways to embrace an endless searching.

Music as Language Abstracted

To appreciate music is to appreciate language in its abstracted form. It is to appreaciate all the elements of communication separated from their assumed purpose of relaying a clear-cut peice of information in a precise and documentable manner. Without this necessity we have the elements of rhythm and tone and harmony and pitch functioning still to communicate, but now, it is to stimulate the right side of the brain rather than the left.

I think that with regular old human communication, there is this necessity to put forth some solid idea, but the other elements are present also. You want to have a sense of timing and pitch and entertain that right brain also, but music takes out the first part to focus on the abstracted elements, perhaps with the goal of enlightening us to enjoy the music that we make with each other everyday by just talking.

Communication and Response

What is the difference between talking with someone and deciding that you like or dislike them based on that encounter and seeing someone's art or music and deciding that you like or dislike them based on that encounter? There is no difference. These are both forms of expression and neither is the "official" form of expression. If you walk by someone on the street and neither of you choose to speak to each other, that was still an interaction. That was still expression and communication. Your making judgements about that person based on this interaction is equally justified as with any other type of interaction. If you see a painting on a wall, you are interacting with the painter simply by seeing what he or she has done. It is no different than someone speaking to you, except for the fact that it will be more difficult to respond. Well, actually it might be said that after seeing the painting, every action you do for the rest of your life is a response to what the painter showed you. Same goes with if it was some person speaking to you, though. A response is not just a verbal and immediate reply.

Ego

All communication is an expression of ego on some level.

Everything in its Right Place

When we examine art we see that it is communication. Communication in the most traditional sense is seen as art, where before it had to be segmented off into the other netherworlds of perception. The respect that was once owed to painters, sculptors, composers, rock-stars, movie stars, is now in other hands. The art of verbal and visual direct communication is now being perfected on YouTube. I'm rather excited to see what this is going to mean for education, fifty years down the line. It seems the schools are going to make a more educated decision when it comes to picking their teachers. They will be able to inspect carefully a teacher's ability to teach. This is very much an understatement because they will have access to understanding the teacher's mind because they will be able to track their growth from the very earliest stages of their life. Children will grow up in an ocean of varying ideas and ideologies and be able to examine everything and make sense of it. Those who are in charge will understand exactly the nature of the puzzle pieces which it is their job to fit together. Children will get to learn under instructors which they already know they respond to, because the resource will be put in front of them. Different kids learn different ways and it will be much much easier in the future to see who fits where.

No Gettin Around It

Everything you do that can be perceived by another individual is communication whether you think about it that way or not. There's no gettin around it. Art attempts to isolate this into a medium and say that the artist can communicate whatever he wants because this is art; this is a separate world from reality but this is an illusion. Its a construct that both the art maker and art viewer agree to unspokenly but the artist will break the agreement if it is in his interest or for reasons of ethics.

The Instrument of Language Itself

More new thoughts about rap, namely gangster rap. Having a very narrow, very primal message and then, basically riffing on that same message over and over with every album and every song leaves the variable to everything but the message. It might be sort of the same relationship between classical music and jazz.

Lets say classical is all about the ingeniousness of the composer and jazz is all about the ingeniousness of the performer. The job of the composer is to create a masterpiece. The classical performer must do the masterpiece justice. It might be a professionally trained performer or a small child learning violin or some schmuck whistling it down the street. The focus is on the genius of the composer. Jazz is about the genius of the performer, the individual, riffing in his own unique way on some supposedly simple tune. Sure its nice if its a brilliant composition, but a brilliant performer can express himself through twinkle twinkle little star or happy birthday or anything. With classical, the message is what the composer has to say. With jazz, its what the performer has to say.

So now lets look at gangster rap, or gangsta rap. I'm not sure the proper way to write that and I feel like a tool even writing about it in such a fashion, but I don't give a flying fudge. The message is more or less the same in more or less every gangsta rap song, and I can tell you it right here, but the whole point is that words aren't enough to communicate an idea. I see the message as being something like, I'm a very dangerous and powerful person. I will kill you or hurt you badly and not even blink an eye. I can get any woman I please and I will treat them like property. I smoke weed and drink all the time. People are always out trying to kill me, but of course they can't. I might be leaving stuff out, but that's the gist of it. The rapper talks about himself. It can be very specific. I think the more specific the better. You don't wanna say I shoot people with a gun, you gotta talk about exactly what sort of gun it is, and you must be specific about all of your possessions, your cars and drugs and what not. I might be drifting off topic a little bit here. A point I am getting at is that if the message stays the same the variable is the word choice and the delivery and through that the rapper will express his own personal ego. The rhythm of the words is of utmost importance. Gangster rap turns language into an instrument. That sums up my thoughts on this pretty well. Scatting turns the voice into an instrument, but gangster rap turns language itself into an instrument. Well, I guess I could say hip hop in general, but I feel like gangster rap is a more pure device for of this, because I think the term "hip hop" allows for the rapper to have a message like in the singer songwriter tradition, but when this is taken out the words can be varied much more because the listener will know what you're getting at. He'll know your talking about your gun or your car or your weed...or maybe your dick.