I will officially NEVER watch soccer.

http://www.youtube.com/v/jwpO-nnFY9g

Being Creative and stuff

Hey all,

I met with my creative group over the weekend, and it was pretty inspiring. I got similar feedback to what I normally get (be excited with your delivery, the music and the lyrics are good), but this time I really embraced the feedback that I need to be by myself, or at least where I can get loud and/or rowdy without worrying about waking people up. I combined that with the thought of standing instead of sitting, and watching Rakoo Nation's weekly Run Yo Mouth, I moved my setup into a fairly filled closet, closed the door, and re-recorded "Distracted By Your Tears" and "Everybody Strugglin". Both are on the MySpace.
I wish everything in music was similarly happy, but I'm not really in that place right now. A fairly prominent local guy put out a video, and, being a fairly active dfwhiphop.com participant during the summer, I gave feedback saying essentially that I really liked it, but I'm your target audience, so I'm biased - if it's first single, then is it going to get new listeners? He responded (on the forum for this part) that it wasn't really a first single, directed me to the first single, and thanked me for the constructive criticism. So, of course, I go run and listen... and the song sounds very similar. Not in a "same beat" sense, but in a "very, similar vein and style" since. I e-mail (this time privately through MySpace) my thoughts, and, eventually, receive a response essentially saying they are just going to toss it out there and see what happens. It wasn't negative, but it was definitely a blow off...

... wait, I forget... this is the PRIVATE blog. Only those that know me will come here. Yea! Here's the video for the "second" song, and here's the MySpace where you can hear the first song.

I don't mind advertising for them, because I like this group. It's the closest thing I've found to the stuff I'd want to do. They would easily have my money... but there was something in the response, and I realized why it was there. I was overthinking it, and it sucked to realize that. This is a local group. They're not worried about first and second singles. They just wanna have some fun and maybe make something out of the music.

That's the part that scares me, I think. PPT is good. A LOT of the local stuff I've checked out is good. They are MUCH better than I. Yet they are not signed. What makes me different? What is the point of what I'm doing (beyond the fact that I enjoy it)?

I dunno... I'd like a bit more light at the end of the tunnel.

MySpace Blog entries

I've decided to do my blogging in two parts. Music related stuff is on MySpace; person stuff goes here. Whenever I updated the MySpace (a few times), I'll post a link here.

With that said, some thoughts are here.

Peep the MySpace

New MySpace page here. I plan on doing some blogs there, for the music-related stuff. I haven't figured out what sort of system I'll use to balance these two, as I don't think I want personal entries on there. I'll figure something out.

And the end draws near...

... end of the school year, that is. This year feels pretty weird to me, as I don't feel like I have a real "summer" coming. I have three weeks of summer work (plus a "come when you can" gig), as well as a weeklong conference. In addition, everything is spread out; my first responsibility is the week of June 5th, and things come roughly every other week or so thereafter. So, unlike a lot of other teachers that take the summer off, I'll probably be busy the whole time.

If I'd done a good job this year, this would be pretty tough to deal with. Specifically, if I had done a good job, I'd be tired now, and wouldn't have the energy for sustained employment. I know I've slacked off this year, depending too much on my "teacher secrets" and the flexibility of a computer lab to make up for the fact that I really wasn't into teaching for the first three or four months of the year. Part of my distraction was my Dad dying, and part of it was Katrina, and the family issues (still unresolved in some cases) that came with it. I'm also sure a huge part of it was that I'm now good enough to be lazy, and I need to step up my motivation in order to try to continue to excel.

This will be even harder, as I'm sure the temptation to leave my school will be there. I'm fairly certain our principal will announce her retirement today, and this always leads to question marks. The beginning of the personal exodus of my circle here has begun, as the teacher I'm closest to is leaving to work downtown as a "meta-teacher" in some capacity. Obviously, I'm not going to go into detail, just in case The Man is reading my blog... but it will be harder without someone next door to bug whenever I'm bored.

In music news, I posted some of my tracks to GarageBand.com a couple of weeks ago. Don't bother looking for them; I've taken them down since then. The input I got from GarageBand was incredible; ignoring people who use GarageBand as a forum to try to break the spirits of others, I got a lot of valuable insight into my strengths and deficiences as a musician. The one sentence version is "I'm a good producer, a bad engineer, and a bad rapper". I'll accept that - the feedback I've gotten tells me the two things that are most important to me - the concepts and the music - are good, and the things I've not given enough time to - mixing and delivery - are bad. You can't be upset at that; if the things I actually FOCUS on were bad, I'd be more worried.

Sooo... next update... daJAM enters the world of... MySpace. Pray for me.

Woo-hoo! I'm an official Starving Artist!

I now have a profile on GarageBand! Yea! I have decided to go by the pen name "JAM Renaissance", as every possible version of just "JAM" is taken. :) Check me out here. Plus, review my songs, I need more feedback.

Of course, the feedback I've gotten is interesting. Check out the reviews for "Wannabe". The quickie version is that I can't rap. My music is good, the ideas are good, but I can't rap. I would be mad about this... but... ummm... I already know I can't rap.

Check it out : I bought my first program, Music Maker, sometime in 2000/2001. I didn't really get serious about it until 2003 (about the time I recorded "Touched" with Big Big Luv as a present for the then-girlfriend-now-wife). I probably became good at it sometime around the end of last year, coinciding with getting Pro Tools. So, realistically, I spent 3-4 years learning how to be a producer and arrange hip-hop.

Now, let's compare. How long have I seriously worked on writing lyrics? 3-4 months maximum during those 3-4 years working on the music. How about mixing what I have, mastering it, and other things an engineer does? 4-6 months, max. These are all things that would be full-time positions otherwise (see: "Hustle and Flow", which I recommend now that I've finally watched it). So of course I'm nowhere near as good at them as I am in figuring our samples, hacking out melodies (and, given my musical background, "hacking out" is probably a good term to use), and designing percussion beds for my music.

So... I'm cool with the reviews, perhaps even happy. "Wannabe", as of this typing, has a 2.9 rating out of 5. I'm on the good half of the ratings... that's enough for me! :)

Check out the page, and holla back!

Grown Folk Music, Part One

Wow. I actually got an e-mail complaining that I have not updated the blog. I didn't know that you guys cared so much about my rantings on how utterly stupid the thought of someone dropping out of high school to be a professional basketball player is (check out the idiotic commentary here), My continuing fascination with "Big Love", and a brand new Sopranos video game. I haven't posted much because I haven't really had a lot to say, to be honest. The old birthday came and went, and I'm now even older.

Besides that, though, the only other thing I've been focused on is music. I really, REALLY wanted to have a "full album" done by my birthday, but, instead, I only have a "mini-album". I think I'm at a crossroads. Now is the time to make a serious investment into music, from a time and priority viewpoint, if this is going to be anything more than a hobby. On the other hand... I am still pretty unconvinced about whether or not I'm actually good. Once again... I need thoughts, if anyone can listen to my stuff :

Grown Folk Music, Part One
--------------------------
Wannabe
Feels Like Another One
Take It Down
Distracted By Your Tears
Everybody Strugglin'
Work It Out
Grown Folk Music

Of these tracks, only "Wannabe", "Distracted By Your Tears", and "Everybody Strugglin" are as-before. I wrote totally new lyrics to "Feels Like Another One", finally sat down and put my concepts to paper for "Take It Down" and "grown Folk Music", and put new music behind "Work It Out" (though I have had a student tell me that he likes the original, "gritty" version more).

Is it worth it to create things (be it music, stories, etc.) that only you will enjoy?

EDIT : I found video of the Stephen Colbert White House Correspondent's dinner! Yeah!

My "real" personality

Braggart You are 85% Rational, 85% Extroverted, 14% Brutal, and 57% Arrogant.

You are the Braggart! Like Muhammad Ali, you would surely tell everyone that you are "The Greatest" whilst bragging incessantly about your intelligence, your skills, and your abilities. You tend to be a thinker rather than a feeler, and combined with your extroversion and arrogance, this makes you someone who probably just LOVES to brag about his accomplishments. Despite this, however, you are a very gentle, tender person and truly care about others' feelings. You just happen to care more about yourself. Unlike Ali, of course, you are rather rational as opposed to emotional, and you are also much more gentle. But his arrogance and extroversion best reflect the most visible aspects of your personality. Your personality defect is the fact that you are extremely overconfident, extroverted, and perhaps rather lacking in emotions. YOU ARE THE GREATEST! Or so you keep telling yourself every night, in hopes that eventually everyone else on the planet will agree. Well, sorry, we probably won't. To put it less negatively: 1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive. 2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted. 3. You are more GENTLE than brutal. 4. You are more ARROGANT than humble. Compatibility: Your exact opposite is the Bitch-Slap. Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hand-Raiser, the Haughty Intellectual, and the Capitalist Pig. * * If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits. The other personality types: The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 73% on Rationality You scored higher than 87% on Extroversion You scored higher than 8% on Brutality You scored higher than 62% on Arrogance

Link: The Personality Defect Test written by saint_gasoline on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

New Music!

One interesting thing - found a bunch of Implicit Association Tests from Harvard's website (well, a student directed me there... but not a big difference). Apparently, I have a slight tendency to favor Arab-Muslims. Didn't have time to check out anything else, and I'm already afraid Mr. Cheney will tap my phone line as-is.

In better news, I finally buckled down and recorded lyrics this weekend. Which lyrics? All of them. I went through every instrumental and recorded anything I had written for each one. In some cases, it's a full song. In others, it's a hook and a verse. In still others, there's only a hook. In a couple of rare cases, I have nothing that was solid enough to work with. In any case, everything is redone, frequently (as is the case with "Wannabe" and "Distracted By Your Tears") with brand new music. Thoughts definitely needed, as I'm now getting near the "do I want to show this stuff to the world" point.

And yes, this is in the order of how I would see it on some theorhetical album, not in "demo-order" (i.e. best/catchiest stuff first)

• Wannabe (1)
• Feels Like Another One (2)
• Intoxicate (1)
• Take It Down (3)
• Sexiest (3)
• Distracted By Your Tears (1)
• Everybody Strugglin' (1)
• He Said, I Said (4)
• Work It Out (1)
• Grown Folk Music (3)
• Take It Down - Remix (4)

(1) Song is complete, or nearly complete (i.e. only missing a bridge or something)

(2) Only a hook and a verse are written

(3) Only a hook is written

(4) Total Instrumental

Reality

I was prepared to write a rant about what reality is.

Reality, as I viewed it, is the thought that the average person does not get to do what they love. They have to do what is most profitable, and that which gets them through the day. My credit is horrible, and that is my own fault, but fixing my mistake is hard. Well, correction - fixing my mistake is harder while I do what I love for 40 Gs a year instead of what was profitable for 70-80Gs a year. Of course, it is questionable whether or not I would still be able to pull that kind of money, particularly given my skillset... but I can't help but wonder "what if".

I have to balance this with the thought that I'll have some pretty profitable summer employment, which, combined with varying bonuses due to the class I teach, should knock me up ten Gs. That doesn't help me right now, of course, but I do know that it is on the horizon.

I honestly don't know what to think. I only know of one person to do something similar to what I've done, and he retired in a position where, to my knowledge, money was not a concern.

I've honestly considered lacing my student's vocals with me own beats and making a mixtape for them. They've liked the stuff I've let them hear, so I doubt they'd have a problem. The real issue, though, is that I would have an ulterior motive - getting music out there so that I may possibly get someone to buy a beat. Until the Adventures of The House, I never considered something like that. Now, I'm hustling, hoping for whatever.

I'm not sure if I like becoming that.

I don't need a title to rant.

Well, with the death of the Friday News Bootleg (http://music.insidepulse.com/articles/46443), I am now left with nothing to look forward to every Friday morning on the Net. Yes, SOHH does do their weekly hip-hop news that I use as material to rant to my students about, but it's just not the same.

So, in the spirit of nostalgia, I decided to actually give a few details of what is going on with me.

Ahem.

Buying a house sucks.

There ya go. You're caught up with my life now. For those that are still unmarried or without child - this is you in a few years. Be happy where you are now, for very soon you too will sum up your entire life in a single sentence (of merely four words and grammatically incorrect to boot!).

Also in the news...

Busta Rhymes gets shot at, his bodyguard catches the bullet leading to his unfortunate demise, and Busta doesn't want to talk to the police. I wish I could take credit for the following theory, but someone on a message board originally posted it. I will co-sign it, though. People in hip-hop nowadays love to yell "Stop Snitching". "Snitching" is not working with the police to ensure that a guy that gave his life for you is brought to justice. "Snitching" is doing dirt with a bunch of people, and, once caught, choosing to work with the police to take down those that worked with you in exchange for gain on your part. There is a non-subtle, large difference between the two things, and I think it reflects poorly on Busta as a person that he doesn't understand that. I'm not even going into skipping the wake.

The Patriot Act will be renewed. Who cares? It's quite obvious that G-Dub will do what he wants to when he wants to, and it will be legal. Why? Because G-Dub says so?

... c'mon, it can't JUST be me that sees "Because I said so" as pretty much his entire argument over the wiretapping, right? "It is illegal because it breaks this specific law." "No it's not. It's legal." "Why?" "We don't want to talk about that, but it's legal." This is a longer version of what you tell a two year old when you don't want to explain something... and I certainly feel like I've been de-aged thirty years.

Violence is breaking out over the Danish Political Cartoons. What makes me sad is the feeling I've heard from a few sources that this is happening "over a few cartoons". This is not about "a few cartoons". This is about an utter and total disrespect to an entire culture. Everyone involved KNOWS the feelings Muslims have towards this, and any sort of laizzes-faire, "they're overreacting" reaction sickens me. By the way, allow me to point out that violence WAS the first recourse; a number of Arab countries asked for an apology for the cartoons, and both the newspapers involved and the governments involved refused. If negotiations don't work, what do you expect?

... okay, I admit... I didn't expect that one Muslim newspaper to run a contest about Holocaust denial cartoons. Guess you have idiots everywhere.

Also, can someone smarter than I am answer this - for a place with all of the Free Speech that most European countries are claiming right now, don't a number of them have laws banning anti-Semitic speech? A cursory Internet search tells me France and Belgium, at least one of which has said that they would not apologize for the cartoons (France) on the grounds of free speech, do.

And... ending on a positive note...

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 75% The Flash 75% Iron Man 70% Superman 60% Green Lantern 60% Robin 58% Hulk 50% Supergirl 38% Wonder Woman 33% Batman 30% Catwoman 25%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero personality Quiz

IT'S TIME! IT'S TIME! HONEST-Y TIME! (time time time echoes...)

(mega-points to those that can point out that wrestling reference... because everything I reference is either comic book, wrestling, or Boondocks related)

As the Wife and I continue moving towards home ownership, I find myself having to question my current profession. With only a single exception, each person that I've spoken to that is in The Business (Information Technology) has said they admired my choice. Without exception, each one still makes more money than me, and will continue to do so even this year, where I have almost $9,000 in Summer work already lined up.

I know that this is a catch-22. Those in my circle that are in The Business and have children have mentioned how much they wish they could spend the time at home I have allotted to me. In The Business, you RARELY get out at 3:45. I /CAN/ leave at 3:46 every day (I don't always do so; I have a student working right now as I type this, and I'm serving as a reference for her). I have the summer "off" (though, ironically, I usually try to find some sort of additional work). We get a zillion holidays outside of our vacation time. Buuuuuuuut... the money is simply not I.T. money. It's hard not to think about the new houses and nice cars of those still in The Business as I walk up the stairs to my apartment from the '97 Escort that I bought after graduating college and wonder what went wrong.

Of course, I know part of what went wrong. I've been incredibly irresponsible from a fiscal standpoint in the past. I could have paid off all of my debts many times over in the year and a half in which I worked at A Fairly-Major Middleware Company. I didn't, because I arrogantly thought the money would never end. When it did end, I didn't really look for a job; I thought the industry would always be there. More importantly, I realized that I didn't really enjoy what I was doing, which was much more of a problem. At the time, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but was somewhat sure The Business wasn't it. So, I do know why I got here... I simply look back, and realize that I really, REALLY didn't expect to get here.

Which leads me to now. I've been in the classroom since November of 2001. That's about four and a half years. Whereas some of my skills (specifically my soft skills) have been sharpened into a keen rapier of communicativeness (yes, it is a word - I looked it up), it's been a hot minute since I've done some serious coding. I purchased a guide last summer to passing the Sun Java Developers Certification test, and cracking it open last week (not the first time I have, for the record...) made my head spin. Can I do it? Do I still have it like Sting, or am I a one-trick, overhead vertical suplex machine like Scott Steiner (the wrestling references... they never end)? I plan on getting my Sun Associates Certification this summer, in preparation to teach a special Independent Studies class for a student of mine that wants a fourth year of CS (c'mon... how much more arrogant will I become if I can teach a high schooler enough Computer Science to pass a professional exam, even if it is a low-level one? I HAVE to try it!). I plan on going for the Developer's Certification by next April. After that? Who knows.

A couple of weeks ago, The Wife, The Prince, and I met a couple of fellow teachers and their families to take our children to the playground. The topic of returning to the industry came up, and the two fellow teachers both said they never wanted to return to their old gigs (one in I.T., one in chemistry). I not only said I would, but I had a figure - a $25,000 a year raise (factoring in, of course, summer work and the like). There's a weird emotion to not only knowing you can be bought, but knowing exactly what the dollar figure is. I'm not sure if it is positive or negative... but I'm feeling it right now.

To Miss New Orleans...

A friend of mine, Stacy Brown (who explicitly asked for credit, hence the rare "real name" listed) sent out an e-mail to her circle of friends and associates throughout the country, and I asked her if I could reprint it. Obviously, she said yes, so here it is, with the thoughts it made me think ("thoughts that I thunk"?). As background, Stacy and I went to high school together, so she is a native New Orleanian (specificalyy, from the West Bank) like myself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Family and Friends:

I just wanted to express a word or two, especially to those who are out of state. I am so sick of people getting on the national news saying how New Orleans will never come back or be the way it used to be. Yes, we have a mayor who has gone batty, and we have challenges and problems down here. Yes, we have many people who have not been able to get back to this area because of the bullshit bureaucratic red tape. Some places in the city are progressing faster than other areas. Yes, some areas are still very slow in coming back. Still destruction in the lower 9 and the east.

But, you know what. It is coming back. I moved back to New Orleans a week before Halloween, and I have seen such a significant improvement since then. Things continue to progress. Businesses and musicians have been coming back. I go out and have great time. The music is good, the people still talk about their experiences and losses, and that is how we heal. Every time I go somewhere, I run into a native of the city who just recently moved back, or who is about to come back in a couple of weeks. As we continue to come back, we continue to turn it into what it was.

The media seems to want the country to think that it is not worth coming down here to live or visit. Well, they suck. Yes, we need the president and the rest of the feds to realize that they need to stop sitting on their hands and help us speed up the progress. Of course, we have alot of new people here, too, who are helping rebuild the city. But, this is what is going to contribute even more to the cultural diversity that has always existed. I love the fact that we have so many cultures here. It makes it so interesting and unique.

Yes, we have the bad and the good down here. We had that before the hurricane. We are in the deep south. We have a tropical climate. Even though we are in the south, we are unlike any other southern city. In fact, we are unlike any other city in this country. I am not saying we are better or worse than any other city, for we are just different. People live here for a reason. When you live here, it sucks you in and makes it hard for you to stay away for the rest of your life. Eventually, you come back. You can't stay away from here. If you do stay away, you still have to visit here. But, maybe only a native understands that. Some people I have met who have moved here from elsewhere come under the spell of the city, too. There is a spirit and a soul that floats through the old homes, the trees, the marshes, etc. It grabs hold of you and makes you fall in love.

All I can say is to please keep up the fight to help continue our effort to get better and better. This place after Hurricane Katrina is still better than most cities that have few problems. I lived in Houston for 2 months, and as big and progressive as it is, it is dull. No soul. People did not know how to live. And this is one of the biggest cities in this country. I am not saying that partying all the time is the key to happiness. We just have all that flavor. Maybe I am boasting too much, but I am proud of this place, what is was, what it can do better, and what it will be. Get the dishonest people out who are corrupt, and we can get better and better. yes, we have problems, but we have to deal with them.

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Stacy's e-mail sparked a LOT of thoughts from me (particularly as a native that moved away and had little desire to go back (other than visiting family and friends)), but I'll try to keep things succinct, as the e-mail wasn't short and I wanted the whole thing posted, in context. I am FAR from a New Orleans apologist. There's a reason I moved away : I have this bad habit of eating, and the job market for a non-tourism-industry position sucked. I never considered it a major city once I got to a major city (Dallas), and with every subsequent major city that I spent time in (Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Ottawa, Detroit, Chicago, etc.) I felt like it was less and less of a major city. As an educator, I think the education system in New Orleans sucked much worse than the average sucking of American public education, and the pay for teachers was so low that it wasn't economically feasible to move back and try to teach there (once again... that nasty habit of eating creeps up again). It is home, not Dallas... but there wasn't a lot (outside, again, of family and friends) that I really wanted to go home to.

With that said, I cannot imagine the thought of not rebuilding the city. New Orleans is a cultural mecca, and I do not mean just as a "party central". From the music to the museums to the language to the food, there is so much that our city brings to this country that I cannot fathom someone willing to fix their mouth to SAY that it should not be rebuilt. This does not begin to factor in the strategic placement of the city and its various natural resources. The best arguments I have heard to not rebuild have to do with those saying that another hurricane can take out the city - to be blunt, once you hit Category Five, you're pretty screwed. HOUSTON would be taken out by a Cat 5 hurricane, and noone is looking at pointing at them that they should go. At the risk of downing my Florida brethren, Miami should be moved before New Orleans should.

I think the big difficulty with bringing New Orleans back is the planning. Wanting to get New Orleans back to where it was is short-sighted and inefficient; for every person that shares Stacy's sentiment, I found someone who thought New Orleans "sucks out your soul" (and yes, that is a direct quote of a former Tulanian that thought life would be better in KANSAS. If you have the opportunity to redo things, let's redo things right. It seems like there are two tacts towards rebuilding New Orleans, and, as such, two possible directions:

1. Rebuild only the part of the city that is most economically sustainable. This plan, seemingly, would get the parts of New Orleans that make the most money (i.e. where people would want to go to) on its feet first, and use that part to generate income to rebuild everywhere else. Most of the people that fall under "everywhere else" think this plan sucks, and it would seem the model up as an option isn't really as strong in this direction. If you want to do this, though (and I think it is a sucky idea, for the record), go all the way with it. Yes, I sang the praises of half of New Orleans' culture earlier... but there is that other half. The gambin' half. The strippin' half. The Drive-Thru-Daiquiri half. You want to do a quick rebuild? Let that half go. Make prostitution legal. Allow more gambling. Summarizing in a single phrase? OutVegas Las Vegas. We could always do it; the fact that Vegas still makes money is ONLY because being in the Bible Belt held the N-O back. If we're going to move in that direction, lets go all the way.
2. Try to rebuild as much as possible at once. This seems to be the current, albeit still controversial plan - determine what neighborhoods would be rebuilt based on how many people move back by time, and do a forced buyout of those neighborhoods that don't have enough people back. For the record, I suspect that "forced buyout" part is the part people don't like. Maybe it's just me. In either case, you will still have a LOT of rebuilding. What can we do about this? Well, since we have an opportunity to attract a TON of blue-collar work, let's make it to where people want to stay. Play up all of the "grown folk" culture I discussed earlier. New Orleans has culture for a family town; people just don't know about it, because it isn't as flashy as stories that end with "and when we realized we were still drinking at 9:00 in the morning, we went to the casino for breakfast". Play up this part while advertising people to come to help rebuild the city, and suck them in. Make them want to stay for the new more friendly New Orleans - they will be the foundation for the new metropolis. Summarizing in a single phrase? OutOrlando Orlando.

The committee that is doing the New Orleans planning met throughout the week last week, and you can get Powerpoint summaries of their findings at http://www.bringneworleansback.org/ . We'll see how things go from here...

While I await a student finishing his test...

... a few Boondocks (and other randomness) thoughts.

The Boondocks has fairly actively avoided direct political commentary this week. That is not to say that it's all about downin' Black folk... but I don't think President Bush has been mentioned once. I think a large part of that is the fact that they have to establish the characters before you can get that far, so, if he hasn't talked about Bush yet by next season, he's copped out.

I think it's safer to say he's done more social commentary than political, and, when he talks social, it TENDS to be about Blacks. Going over to http://www.adultswim.com/shows/boondocks/index.html , we see these subject matters :

Ep 1 - the Garden Party - Ep 3 in their episode guide, but this aired first, and I think it was more an introduction. DEFINITELY about White people, in specific the ostritch nature of rich white folks. And, of course, "how-white-peo-ple-say-ev-er-y-syll-a-ble".

Ep 2 - The Trial of R. Kelly. This is a Black Folk episode.

Ep 3 - Guess Hoes Coming To Dinner - This one is just general; I didn't even know Crystal was Black until it's specifically mentioned ("old light-skinned ho!").

Ep 4 - Granddad's Fight - Ah... the introduction of a "Nigga Moment". Okay, it's a Black ep.

Ep 5 - The X-Box Killer (6 in their Ep Guide, with no title). As a spotlight story for the Wuncler grandson (can't remember his name) and, more generally, how White people seem to emulate the WORST aspects of Black culture, that is a White people ep.

Ep 6 - The Story of Gangstalicious. Definite Black Ep. ("you know who used to be my favorite rapper back in the day? Ice Cube." "You mean that dude that does all the kid's movies?").

Ep 7 - A Huey Freeman Christmas. General. "You gon' pay what you owe!".

Ep 8 - The Real - Only caught half of this one, about reality TV shows. General social commentary. Don't forget... Huey also confronts the government agent that's been sent to follow him.

Ep 9 - Return Of the King - Though the end of this was definite a Black ep, this was the first with solid general commentary. "Do you love America? Why is it that you liberals have a problem answering the question? When someone asks me that question, I just say 'Yes'".

So, out of nine episodes, only four go out of their way to target Blacks? Not THAT bad.

In reference to the frequent "nigga"'s... I try to avoid the word personally, but a LOT of people don't. Even listening to "conscious" artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, or Common, and you'll hear a whole bunch of "nigga"s (as well as general cursing). That's just hip-hop (and, as a result, a large segment of Black culture) right now, I guess.

If anyone hasn't seen it, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. It has NOT had the political commentary of the cartoon, but it's still good. I wonder how quickly they can work phone taps into an episode?

An example of why UrbanSherpa always wins

I had stuff to talk about Friday, but couldn't log in to blogger. :( Strike one.

New Boondocks, with Martin Luther King, Jr. reviving from a coma. Loved it. Boondocks has taken the place of Chappelle's Show, in my opinion, though the Reality TV ep was a letdown, and this one needed to focus on the message, so humor took a slight backseat. Anyways, after MLK finally gives niggas the dressing down that was needed, he pulled out the line that almost made me fall out of my chair.

"And I won't be there to help you, because I'm going to Canada."

Man... when Dr. King ends up in Canada, THAT says something.