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Take 4 minutes out of your day and listen to this guy spit.

Heroine

Casey Anthony is the closest approximation of a hero the 21st century will ever have. 

hilarious

lost

So clearly, talking about Lost is a dated way to pass the time.  The show ended a few years ago and, honestly, stopped being relevant long before that save for the devoted following and the curious bystanders that wanted to know how it ended.  I have a habit of watching shows like that on DVD so I was late to the party and devoted a lot of energy to never finding out how the show ended. 

Last year a novel called a visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egan won the Pulitzer and, frankly, it seemed an odd choice.  I read the first few chapters several times before actually getting into it and even now that I can admire the brilliance of the novel I am surprised that it won.  Not because it isn't good enough but because the the tenor feels wrong.  Almost as though the committee wants to change it's image and decided that awarding this novel was the best way to do it.

goon squad and the end of Lost deal with losing things we love.  Oddly enough they stray from the party line of realism and tell us that what we love can never be lost.  As Lost comes to a close, we see all the main characters have died or will die and, in death, have come together.  Bix, a character in goon squad, tells his friends that in the future (I suspect he is referring to facebook as the scene takes place in the early 90's) we will lose nothing but, rather, turn to spirits and reconnect with everything that we love. 

Are these explanations easy outs?  Mystical attempts to give people hope about a topic that is inherently hopeless?  Cunning ways for writers to infuse their media with both loss and connection, love and abandonment, while ensuring that the consumer has their happy ending?  The last is most likely I suspect.  But as I look at my life I can see that what frightens me most is everything that I have lost and everything that I will lose.  I can feel innocence and freedom and selflessness and the knowledge that anything is possible escaping me.  This is an important part of growing up, I suspect.  In the novel Dance Dance Dance the main character staggers though an indefinite existence, plagued by apathy as he is unwilling to devote himself to anything for fear of loss.  As the novel concludes, he accepts this.  He cries for all that he has lost and all that he will lose but wraps his lover tightly in his arms and prepares himself because he sees that it is worth it.  This is growth and maturity and it eludes me.  I do not have the strength for such acceptance.  What appeals to me more is Bix and Lost.  Explanations that free me from loss, infusing me with the knowledge that I stand to lose nothing.  No matter how much it feels like childhood has passed, I can cling to the knowledge that it will find me once again.  It seems illusory but I have to belief this.  I have to belief that what has been lost can always be found again and that the future is always infinite and that possibilities are never limited.  For time immemorial I can go back and try again and be young and be an astronaut or a fireman or a lawyer or a doctor or a janitor and have a parents that actually love me and not want to kill myself.  I can go back and regain everything.  I have to believe this but I fear I can't because it probably isn't true.  We lose so much.

Absurdity

Take a look at the picture below and think about what these people might be in line for:

Consider their shining faces and hopeful smiles; fists and hands thrown up in excitement and expectation; the captured frame exuding togetherness as these people, previously strangers, come together to experience something fulfilling and inspiring.  Right?  It's a line-up for a new summer blockbuster or some massive concert.  Surely, just beyond the back of the frame, is a Katy Perry or Brad Paisley cut-out or some poster advertising the most recent Marvel character defecting from still life to animatronic motion.  What do these people wait for?  They wait for this:

And this:

And this:

They wait for a mother convicted of murdering her daughter.  Their raised fists and exalted expressions await the trial of a woman that murdered her child.  I have little more to say on this.  It is appalling.  It is heart-breaking.  It is utterly absurd.

I hate my fucking life

Like most people of my generation, I'm pretty fucking miserable.  A large part of this misery, ironically, probably stems from how much time I spend thinking about why I'm miserable.  These long years of introspection, however, have granted me some insight into why I hate my life so much.  Now I'll preface this by saying that I know it has been said before.  The idea of there being another mid-twenties douchebag bitching about how awful his life is (considering how fucking much I have) is, in itself, depressing, which is only making my situation worse.  Its one thing to hate a life that is good, its another thing entirely to hate yourself for hating the life because it is such a cliche.  I watch people acting out cliches (white girls being prostitutes, teenagers drinking, etc.) and I hate them, criticize their inability to be anything but what they are supposed to be.  Like most things, its projection.  In any case, I hate my life because it has failed me.  The problem, of course, is that life is not a thing that can fail so there is an inconsistency in my depression.  To that I'll respond by saying that depression, self-loathing and suicide are inherently irrational.  Let's be honest, most of the people who hate themselves and their lives shouldn't and those that should don't.  Otherwise, the ones that should would have killed themselves and we wouldn't even know that such people exist.

From birth our meritocratic society instills in its fodder the knowledge that working hard will bring great things.  Work hard and you'll get whatever you desire but this goes beyond materialism.  There is, we are told, an inherent benefit in the simple act of working hard.  Doing something to the best of your abilities is supposed to be satisfying and meaningful in and of itself.  As an interesting aside, there is a syndrome that used to exist amongst African-Americans called John Henryism.  Essentially, there was an overwhelming prevalence of hypertension in American blacks and researchers found that this was true in those who held the belief that hard work would allow them to escape their desolate socio-economic position.  These people were working hard believing that it would elevate them and, when they remained poor and marginalized, blamed themselves thereby precipitating massive levels of stress causing the hypertension. 

But I digress.  Considering the watered-down nature of a current university degree, I assume I'm not the only person that was told education was important.  You work hard in school, suffer through it and come out the other side with a valuable degree and a greater sense of self-worth.  I have three university degrees (mathematics, economics and psychology), graduating near the top of my class in all three.  In fact, I haven't gotten less than an A+ in a class in almost 3 years.  Yet somehow I still hate my fucking life, thoroughly convinced that I have accomplished nothing of consequence.  I assume that I'm not alone in this.  Our parents ascribed meaning and purpose to education for two reasons: 1) they didn't have the same opportunity and, 2) they were told to.  The system has failed them as significantly as it has failed us except they get it once removed and see us as the failure.  In Jonathan Franzen's Freedom (Note: if you don't like it you're a fucking moron and don't even think of telling me the characters are unlikeable) the characters suffer from one flaw above all others: they over-commit to being different from their parents.  If a woman felt neglected by her parents, she smothered her children thereby causing her children to neglect their children for fear of smothering them.  I risk doing the same thing if I ever have children.  I'm probably going to be so lax about education because I had such an unfulfilling experience that my kids are going to be fucking homeless.  They'll over-emphasize with their kids and so on and so forth.

Education is a singular example but our lives are strewn with similar ideals.  The point, I guess, is simple.  I did everything I was supposed to do.  I went to school, worked hard, got good grades and thought about my future.  I've worked summers since I was 13 instead of being a fucking teenager, thereby saving inordinate amounts of money (unfortunately, my dad still thinks I'm lazy and hates me (god damn cliches)).  I didn't wrong people growing up, did right when I could, smiled at and complimented people, help open doors and tried to be a good person.  I met a beautiful woman that loves me unequivocally and am prepared to start a life together.  I did everything I was supposed to do and they (society, my parents, etc.) told me that this was the way to happiness and contentment.  Fulfill your end of the bargain, work hard and you'll be good.  Well I'm not.  I'm fucking sad and depressed and broken.  I cry and scream and break things and feel hopeless and get consumed by my self-hatred and eventually it will destroy me.  And I'm pissed off.  I'm angry and frustrated that I worked so hard and sacrificed so much and got nothing in return, received nothing I was promised.  And I can't be alone in this.  Odds are, if you're still reading this it makes sense to you, on some level.  We've all been promised something in return for our compliance.  I'm tired of working, where the fuck is my paycheck? 

Best Hip-hop Albums by Year

Saw a dude on last.fm do this and thought it was ace.  Figured I'd give it a go.  Comments and dissenting opinions are welcome.

1988 - Long Live the Kane by Big Daddy Kane

1989 - No One Can Do It Better by The DOC

1990 - Amerikkka's Most Wanted by Ice Cube

1991 - Low End Theory by Tribe Called Quest

1992 - The Chronic by Dr. Dre

1993 - Innercity Griots by Freestyle Fellowship

1994 - Illmatic by Nas

1995 - Liquid Swords by Genius/GZA

1996 - Soul on Ice by Ras Kass

1997 - Funcrusher Plus by Company Flow

1998 - Imaginarium by L'Roneous Da Versifier

1999 - Internal Affairs by Pharoahe Monch

2000 - Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah

2001 - Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox

2002 - The Listening by Little Brother

2003 - Rip the Jacker by Canibus

2004 - Madvillainy by Madvillain

2005 - The B.Coming by Beanie Sigel

2006 - whutduzFMstand4? by PackFM

2007 - Da Drought 3 by Lil Wayne

2008 - Ode to the Ghetto by Guilty Simpson

2009 - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. 2 by Raekwon

2010 - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

2011 - The Greatest Story Never Told by Saigon

Jokers In Trousers

Around the time that Blueprint 3 came out, Jay-Z was spotted at a Grizzly Bear concert and it became news because black people don't listen to Grizzly Bear.  When asked about it afterward, Jay-Z had some rather poignant things to say about the state of hip-hop.  Essentially, he believed that hip-hop had lost the pioneering spirit that had driven it through the late 80's and 90's.  This spirit, he argued, had been adopted by indie rock and he saw in bands like Grizzly Bear everything hip-hop had been and should be again if it is ever to reattain a semblance of artistic relevance. 

I've been listening to hip-hop a long time and I'm with Jay-Z.  There is something dramatically wrong with modern hip-hop because everyone, including Jay, is absorbed with what he needs to be instead of what he is.  Consequently, even geniuses (!) like Kanye West have their lyrics mired with generic shit.  For about 8 months, 3-4 years ago, Lil Wayne almost singlehandedly changed all this but then he sold a milli in a week, made a rock record, got arrested and will never be the same.  It all just feels like a role, a persona, to be fulfilled.  This says nothing about the talent of the individuals involved but, rather, the perception of what is being created.  As a hip-hop fan all I can see is what it is supposed to be which is tiresome.  I'd like to be hit with something free of associations and reference points.  This happens all the time with indie rock (provided I check my jaded hipster cynicism) but rap hasn't done it in a long time.

In any case, 2 days ago I stumbled on this group of teenage girls from Florida that rap under the same Jokers In Trousers and have listened to their EP about 100 times since then.  On their last.fm page one of the girls indirectly asked me how I could possibly listen to so much of their drunken joke.  Frankly, I was taken aback by the question since I had no answer.  On the one hand they have much going for them.  Their beat selection is impeccable (Fabolous and DOOM, awesome), there is a Cracker Barrel reference, they are pretty fucking funny and, I suspect, are much better rappers than they think.  On the other hand, its pretty fucking brutal.  There's a love song to Marty McFly.  Enough said.  All told there is some charm but no reason that I should be listening to it so obsessively.

But then I remembered what Jay-Z had said about the state of hip-hop and I realized why this was so fucking swag.  These girls have no reference point.  They're just rapping.  Its not about anything and, more importantly, its not supposed to be about anything.  There were no shout-outs, no references (Tyler and Lil B don't count) and, most importantly, no cliches.  They just sat down, got drunk and made music.  It is exactly the kind of think Jay-Z was alluding to.  Hip-hop where the music comes before the image and the idea.  This is why the absolute worst part of the EP is the dude on k/trev.  He's not a bad rapper but he's a high school boy singing about his dick.  Its exactly what he should be doing which means its fucking redundant.  He doesn't belong alongside these girls because he's thinking too much about the fact that he's a rapper instead of just rapping. 

Am I thinking too much about this?  Probably.  But for the past couple of days I've seen hope for hip-hop.  Not because these girls can change the game but because there are still people putting hip-hop before rap. 

Leaving Comments

A short note to anyone who wants to leave comments.  Don't be a bitch and make an argument in the comments section without giving me the opportunity to respond.  Leave your email address or go to my last.fm (WeirdoRipper) if you actually wish to engage in a conversation.  Otherwise don't say anything.

Why you gotta hate?

There has been a recent rash of responses from the gay and lesbian community regarding Tyler, The Creator and his homophobic and misogynistic lyrics.  GLAAD and Tegan and Sara tantamount amongst these.  First of all, Tyler responded quite succinctly to Tegan and Sara on Twitter the other day so we can lay that issue to rest.  GLAAD has also stepped forward and said that these lyrics are inexcusable.  The problem with GLAAD (other than the fact that it is a wholly redundant organization) is that it fails to understand something that the members of OFWGKTA seem to be intimately aware of: words, inherently, are meaningless.  When Eminem and ICP and other shock-rap tacticians have engaged in this type of behavior in the past they were relying on the lowest common denominator of humanity.  Namely, 13 year old boys who got a kick out of listening to something their parents hated and middle American rednecks whose slight remaining intelligence was soon to be weeded out by inbreeding.  Fortunately for Eminem he grew up as his fans did.  Neither ICP nor their fans have been so lucky.  In any case, these were the types of groups against which complaints of this nature mattered because the fans were too young/stupid enough to believe that what was a tactic, wasn't.  Tyler's fans (for the most part save for the fucking moron throwing bottles in Detroit), I believe, understand that these are not tactics but, rather, a simple case of a young black man fully understanding the weight of his words.  Which is to say, he understands that his words mean nothing.  Tegan and Sara (and GLAAD) are still living in a world where people believed that their words carried weight, consequently opinions were valued or at least commented upon (trust me, I am well aware of the irony of writing these things in a blog).  Tyler seems to understand that in the modern landscape everybody is talking all of the time and words, like anything else in overabundance, have seem their value reduced to nothing.  Economically, a system of infinite supply and little to no demand renders the commodity valueless.

This is all to say that if you have a problem with Tyler's lyrics being misogynistic or homophobic, please be quiet.  Everyone is listening but no one fucking cares.

Tyler, the Creator: Goblin Review

 
Let me preface this by saying that there is a fundamental flaw with the way many people review music that seems to be particularly prevalent with the initial responses to this album.  Many people have a hard time believing that anyone could be smarter, or have more intricate machinations, than they are/do.  Consequently, you get shockingly obtuse statements like those made by Needle Drop, continually referring to the fact that "Tyler is human" (really?) and that his art has been affected by attention, resulting in "Tyler's need to preface his angry outbursts with assertions that he doesn't mean it".  Now it is entirely possible that these things are true and that Tyler is just as fucking stupid as the people reviewing his music.  However, just for one second, let's give the young man the benefit of the doubt.  Let's consider the possibility that he is rap's Lady Gaga and that he has done a masterful job crafting a persona for himself, subsequently eliciting the exact response that he wanted to evoke.  Let's consider the fact that he is smarter than we are.  He might not be, and I might be dramatically overstating his abilities as an artist, but so many people are falling on one side I'll take the other just to be different.

Goblin is astonishing in it's breadth.  It tries, explicitly, to tackle just about every hip-hop cliche song as possible.  Bullshit club song about drugs, guns and women?  Check.  Longing songs about women?  Check.  Posse cut? Check.  Introspective final track?  Check.  Fine, so thus far he's a man who has done his homework.  That view can be compounded by the rap references strewn throughout the album: Redman, Eminem and Jay-Z to name a few.  Admittedly, if this was all he was doing I would ride with Needle Drop and cast Tyler aside.  The problem, though, is that he doesn't do any of these things in a straightforward manner.  The bullshit club song mentions anal rape.  Obviously he's not the first artist to rape a bitch, but he's the only one I can think of to do it in a club song.  The longing song about a girl (complete with R & B hook) sounds generic enough until you find out he's stalking her.  He kills his crew at the end of the posse cut.  The introspective, and Redman referencing, final track gets all fucked up when Tyler is his own therapist.  Alone, none of these things mean shit.  Taken as a whole they start to imply that Tyler may have something bigger to say.  As he subtly manipulates hip-hop history and prototypical songs it becomes easier to believe that he is doing the same thing to listeners and critics alike.  At that point I am tempted to say that he might be doing it all on purpose.  He prefaces songs with disclaimers in the hopes that critics will think he is bitching out and letting the attention alienate his art when, in reality, the disclaimer was always an implicit part of the music.  He's just getting frustrated with moronic responses so he's spelling it out.

For a bit more evidence, look at what happened with the supposed B.o.B. insult and his subsequent response.  Hilarious.

Look, the point is that no one can have any idea what his intention is and, in the case of OF more than any other music in the modern landscape, intention is everything.  My only hope is that a few people can look at the other side and assume Tyler is more, as opposed to less, intelligent than those listening to his music.

10 Years

I, along with everyone else in the western hemisphere, learned last night that Osama Bin-Laden had been killed and buried at sea (cue the conspiracy theories).  Now I could care less about him and his organization and his supposed activities but the response to his death has been astonishing.  I was watching the Mets-Phillies game last night (I can't believe, with their rotation, that the Phillies are losing any games but they'll still win it this year) and the news of Bin-Laden's death was released.  The game actually stopped while fans gave a standing ovation while chanting "U S A".  It was sickening to see this group of people staring at their cell phones waiting with bated breath for updates regarding the death of someone that they "hate" for reasons completely unknown to them.

The fact is that Americans needed an outlet for their anger and fear 10 years ago, finding it in a relatively benign individual.  Psychologically, such outlets are necessary for maintaining sanity because explanation is a form of control.  Consequently, some joy at his death is logical.  However, something about a large group of people cheering for a man's death left a bad taste in my mouth.  It felt like a lynch mob.  It felt barbaric.  It felt sub-human.  It felt as though what makes us human was suspended for a moment.  It was a disturbing event (and the Phillies lost).

Update: Later in the morning, I thought a little about what was driving these douchebags at the Mets game (and elsewhere) to cheer to Bin-Laden's death.  Patriotism seems to be the most likely candidate, an absurd concept that appeals to the lowest common denominator of humanity.  To believe that the "enemy" of one's country is also an enemy of the individuals that comprise that country is to suspend individuality, a suspension only the most timid and pathetic of us will make.  Those who identify so strongly with their country are regressing to a stage of development many of us vacate in early childhood.  Such a regression is the hallmark of an anxiety-riddled person without the wherewithal to sustain such pressure and retain that which makes them adults.  They rely on their country to identify what they are as people.  By extension, only children and regressed adults should be experiencing joy on this day.  Only those without a concrete sense of self and who are, fundamentally, devoid of makes us people, can enjoy the death of someone that has had so little direct influence on their lives.  The influence Bin-Laden had on many was cursory at best and, while the US is painting this as a victory I can assure you that they are shitting their pants in fear.  Small-minded individuals have been willing to sacrifice their children and their lives for the country so long as there was a common enemy, someone to hate as a group.  With the death of Bin-Laden only the most moronic won't ask the most logical follow up question: "For what purpose are we still sacrificing, our enemy is dead?"  The US had better find a new communal enemy to convince the weakest, and most numerous, of us that there is still a reason for their sacrifice, otherwise even they might start asking the questions the rest of us have been asking for 10 years.

Top 5 Alive - Rappers

A list of hip-hop's current scions.

1- Jay-Z

There is so little that still needs to be said about Jay-Z.  He has demonstrated throughout his career that he can literally do, both musically and otherwise, whatever he wants.  Singles?  Check.  Upstage the greats?  Check.  Slaughter MC's on diss tracks and win beef outright?  Check.  Oscillate between radio-friendly hip-pop and displays of flow and lyricism that put BIG to shame?  Check.  He's done it all while getting the hottest chick in the game to wear his chain.  Through your diamond signs up.

2 - NaS

His magnum opus, Illmatic, is the greatest hip-hop album of all time which, by itself, secures him a spot in the top two.  He loses to Jigga because he has dropped too much weak shit over the course of his career.  A large part of this is beat selection and aligning himself with unworthy partners in rhyme.  Having said all that, his late career work has been better than Jay's, making up for inflammatory album titles with solid tracks.  Without Illmatic he's barely on this list but that album was so integral, so defining, that his position amongst rap's greats has been secure since 18.

3 - Saigon

At some point in the middle of this decade, Q-Tip went on New York radio and proclaimed an effectively unknown Saigon one the 5 greatest living rappers under the weight of a few mixtapes.  The host thought he was crazy but it turns out he was right.  After dropping a modern classic and a slew of brilliant mixtapes I am willing to anoint Saigon as the NEXT ONE.  His ability to brag about street activities in one breath and tell the youth to avoid these pitfalls in the next is astonishing insofar as he doesn't come across like a preachy jerk-off.

4 - Pusha T

Pusha single-handedly reestablished coke rap as a viable and legitimate hip-hop subgenre while overcoming a disgusting amount of label drama.  He isn't the greatest in any single area of hip-hop but he does it all well and, like Clipse, there is something about this dude that is irrefutable.  He floated through Fear of God and still dropped what will probably be the mixtape of the year.  Having this follow his being the driving force behind one the best hip-hop albums and one of the best mixtapes of the last decade secure his position amongst rap's elite.

5 - Phonte

As a member of the best hip-hop group of the last decade and a half (two classics), he proved himself a more than capable MC.  Phonte followed Little Brother with some crossover work and a slew of excellent guest appearances.  He retains his credibility (at least in my eyes) in spite of (or because of) singing on a DJ Shadow track and working as Foreign Exchange.  Also there is no one better with homonyms which are an endlessly entertaining device in hip-hop.

Honourable Mentions:
- MF Doom (disappeared for too long)
- Pharoahe Monch (too inconsistent)
- Raekwon (same as DOOM)
- Ghostface Killah (hasn't been the same since Bulletproof Wallets)
- Papoose (drop a fucking album already)
- Andre 3000 (if the next Outkast album sees him spitting like he did on Art of Storytellin' 4 he's moving right to the third spot)
- Redman (has sucked for too long)
- Slug (his recent work has been sub par at best)

Unpopular Sentiments

Psychologists have done innumerable studies identifying the average person as terribly prejudiced but, because no one wants to see themselves as prejudiced, these feelings are relegated to sub-conscious levels of awareness.  In other words, you're racist but your brain knows that you shouldn't be so you remain blissfully unaware of your racism.  I'm kind of wary of anything going on that I'm not conscious of and so I'll readily admit the following: I prefer attractive people to unattractive people, I am disdainful of overweight, homeless, poor and/or addicted people and I think I am better than anyone wearing crocs and/or jogging pants as well as people with mullets.  This is mostly because I am afraid of becoming a member of any of these groups.  I view my generation (18-25) as predominantly pathetic, a group whose obsession with drinking is the logical consequence of how much they hate their lives and fear the future.  This is mostly because I have existed on the margins for quite some time and am jealous of their ability to merge seamlessly into normal (re. absurd) life.  I'm also convinced that anyone who is against porn is sexless and ugly.  Finally, because I am cognitively lazy I rely almost exclusively on stereotypes and am certain that most (re. all) are true.

What is the purpose of family programming?

Like most people I loved cartoons when I was young but they stuck with me through adolescence.  shows like Pepper Ann, Recess, Kim Possible, etc. were far more interesting than most sitcoms.  Consequently, I developed an affinity for family oriented TV channels and have kept that attachment as cartoons have slowly been removed from daily programming.  I find myself, now, watching Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Victorious and the like.  Now many people have discussed the sexualization of teenage girls and have pointed to some of these shows as evidence but that is not my goal here.

What is strange about these shows, and the networks that carry them, is that they seem unable to decide who their target audience is.  If you watch daytime TV you'll see an astonishingly coherent relationship between subject matter, dialogue and advertisements.  Everything is aimed at unemployed or underemployed people slightly below average intelligence.  Similarly for evening shows.  Every show on every network has a stated audience and everything about that show aims for that audience.

On the other hand, family channel programming seems to have no unified purpose.  The show is clearly aimed at preteen and early teen girls, as are the associated advertisements (though some for boys often come up).  Clearly, these girls care nothing for overtly sexualized main characters (at one point Selena Gomez has pigtails and a cheerleader outfit on and if you haven't seen the Ariana Grande scene from Victorious where she gets sprayed with water you haven't fully experienced televised jailbait) because such sexualization means nothing to them.  In addition, episodes consistently use references to things and events preteens know nothing about (Miley references both the Godfather and Goodfellas in one scene).  Is it possible that these references and the overt sexualization are aimed at the fathers of these girls in the hopes that the parent will actively want to watch the show, ensuring both an audience and someone close by to ask for stuff when the commercials come on? 

RIP Post-Modern Pornography

Does anyone remember Joanna Angel?  No?  Well a few years ago she was to be the saviour of modern pornography.  As the self-proclaimed messiah of "alt-porn" she proclaimed silicon and blonde hair dead, asserting that what the modern generation really wanted was to watch people just like them have sex.  Her fame was short lived (though I'm sure she's still screwing on-camera in some capacity) and I, for one, thought that the shadow of Jenna Jameson would cast darkness over the adult industry for time immemorial.

Sasha Grey materialized around this time bringing, dare I say, intelligence to the industry.  Her scenes were disgusting, invasive and altogether exhilarating while her business sense and self-direction created the illusion that a porn star might actually have a goal beyond piles of coke and money.  Her appearance on the Tyra Banks show (look it up) was hilarious.  For once someone was acting like being a porn star wasn't the modern equivalent of slavery.  By getting drilled on camera better than anyone else she brought a male-centric industry to its knees.

It may sound as if I am dramatically overstating the importance of a porn star but the ability of a woman in her late-teens and early twenties to accomplish any legitimate progression in business is astonishing.  For her to do so within the confines of an industry that is more male-dominated than Augusta National and is typically the realm of exploited and broken women, is legendary.  Her retirement is meaningful nor only insofar as she won't be making porn anymore (which is sad) but because she is leaving on her own terms.  After a life-changing one-night stand she's leaving with our wallets, car keys and credit cards.  I, for one, am willing to let her take whatever she wants.

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2011/04/sasha-grey-retires-from-porn-still-squinting-full-time

tUnE-yArDs: W H O K I L L Review

Typically, these reviews will be longer and more involved.  This album, however, warrants neither.  It is little more than an example of the kind of trite shit that gets labelled inspired in the modern musical landscape.  There are plenty of independent artists doing something worth your time; Merrill Garbus is not one of them.

3/10

http://www.mediafire.com/?vqtww45g9nxu4gj