Pointless Man

Having been conceived over ten years ago, it has long puzzled me that no other accounts of these events have been published. Yes, it was more than a decade ago when I first set out with my friend, JB, to write the story of the Beatdown Squad and its fateful encounters with that infamous Mass Murder Guy. We got so far as a rough script detailing the Squad's misadventures in a nameless prison--a tale which housed the origin of the Squad's interest in Mass Murder. After accomplishing an outline of what would follow, the project foundered. However, my involvement did not end there, nor did I cease involving others. I cannot say how many people I have regaled with the Squad's exploits, but surely it was enough for someone else to take up this task. The Beatdown Squad and Mass Murder Guy will not leave me alone. They insist their story be told. I cannot express how bitter their persistence has made me. Their demands can be resisted no longer. Well, fine then. In some measure of v...

Crows are ubiquitous, intelligent, and often mean spirited. They have decent memory, can fly, and fashion their own tools . Having been attacked by crows before, seemingly apropos of nothing, I realize the danger they represent. The Birds , man. The Birds .

Really. I find, when I download or burn new music to my computer, or when I'm discussing it, I want to be able to pin it down, if only a bit. In conversation, I don't mind imprecision, because there's room for it, and it can be explained. But when it comes to MP3 labels or the like, where they want a single entry, damnit. That is so frustrating. How the hell am I supposed to label Joy Division (who straddles punk, post-punk, new wave, and proto-goth) , Television (with similar and even wider conflicts), or the vast swath of R&B/Jump-blues/Rock-&-roll artists? Bah. It gets worse dealing with small scene stuff, with all the crazy sub and cross genre work. And the silly thing is I don't even think genre classification matters all that much. I think arguments about whether electronic music should be called 'house', 'techno', 'drumb and bass' (all genres or sub-genres unto themselves, as well as blanket terms in certain communities), 'EDM...

In brief-- The notion of 'truth' can be confusing, especially given its complex relationships with fact and fiction. The application of 'truth' is likewise problematic. Religion is tied up in this. In long-- There are fictions few believe to be actual, but which are spoken of as though real. "Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit," "Captain Hook is obsessed with 'good form'," "Hamlet is troubled by the facts of his father's death," and, "Superman wars a cape," would all count as true statements in a test on any of their respective works. These statements are all true to their respective fictions, and do not seem to require qualifying notes in general speech. It helps that most native English speakers are at least somewhat aware of The Hobbit , Peter Pan , Hamlet , and Superman as works of fiction. An ignorant eavesdropper might just as well assume discussion including such statements applied to the real and actual world of nonfic...

While alive and creative, every piece the artist commits to may be seen as a work in progress. Even when finished, each painting, sculpture, or sketch is part of an ongoing labour, a single body of work. When output ceases entirely and finally--and it is worth noting, artists may take sabbaticals from their endeavors, but they cannot simply stop, not so long as they are capable of going on--only then is the opus complete. Process is as much art as method. Thus, finished worked may be seen as punctuation marks amidst paragraphs...without too much effort of imagination. Whether the artist's life is part of this process or merely its cause may be a matter of perspective. I do not see the two possibilities as mutually exclusive. On a tangent less poetic, I believe a wholistic (though not necessarily Wholist) approach is compatible with an individualist take, so long as both are realisitc or pragmatic, rather than idealistic or dogmatic. If my fingers were not separate from one another,...

In the beginning, there was no beginning. Instead, there was nothing. How much time might have passed, had there been time while this state persisted, cannot be said. Anything might have been birthed into this void. Probably, a number of real and imaginary objects came into and out of existence, there being no laws to stop such occurrences, and nothing to sustain them. Indeed, in the absence of physical and logical laws, something could come from nothing--and that is exactly how God came to be. Noticing nothing else in existence, God fashioned the universe, an orderly mess, in clear counterpoint to the neat chaos of the void. Being, as an author once put it, "unstuck in time", God saw everything that ever was or would be in its creations, all at once. God also watched the universe as it unfolded, seeing each act only as it transpired. And, then, God did not see any of it at all. Yes, God did and did not do all of this at the same time. For although it had made logical and ph...

Mad different from their live, band-backed show, but still tight. It's nice to have my hands on it a month before it comes out nationally. Hopefully, when it drops, its publisher, Rawkus, will help it get the recognition it deserves. This shit could be a crossover hit if it just gets enough exposure. If the Seattle hip-hop scene is going to break nationally, this is the level its albums will have to be at. Though it's pop friendly, Bayani stands as an artistic move forward for Geo and Sabzi, both of whom show growth in their trade on this disc. More importantly, the two have exhibited greater synergy with each new release. Their latest record has an expanded sound; each track sets its own tone while remaining consistent with the whole of the album. As has been pointed out in local reviews, it doesn't entirely abandon the boom-bap sound or leftist principles that made the Scholars local heroes. There are a few party tracks that could be bumped by some frat boys without muc...