Plugged In

Ramblings Post #394
I love music. Music sets the vibe. The right song can soothe the soul. The right song can set a party off. The right song can make a quiet, intimate evening head in the right direction, if you know what I mean. The right song can move a crowd and change an empire. The right song can bring THAT memory and suddenly you're transported to the time and place. And the wrong song can sit in your ear for hours, circling and distracting, muddling your thoughts to no end, because you know it's in there...somewhere, you just need to remember it. Music has power.

So, I few weeks ago I guess, I stumbled across a video snippet of a UK rap group that took me by surprise a bit. It was good. I'm talking way better than a lot of the stuff I hear on radio. And me being me, I took a trip through ye olde internet and found the group and watched the whole video. It was very very good. So I good i actually paid for the song with iTunes.

Note: Most of what I buy through iTunes is what I call Work Jazz, because it provides lively background music without words to sing along too, something I tend to do without even realizing it, so to trick my brain with sound its got to be all horns, strings and drums. Lively, but it allows me to concentrate.

In any case, I popped on YouTube to look up something else, probably game related I don't really remember, and in my suggestions were some reaction videos to that particular song's video. Now I've been very bored on occasion, and watched some reaction videos. There are couple of young fellas I watched a couple of times who announce that they like to get into that old stuff, then will play something I used to listen to when it first came out, for instance, House of Pain's Jump Around. Not to hate on them, but damnit, why you trying to make me feel old with that. I mean, it's not an old song. It came out when? ....Don't make me knock this whole thing over. 

In any case, I clicked on one because I was curious, and I wanted to see what other people thought. And down the rabbit hole I went. 

I have watched maybe twenty five or thirty since I started, and they follow a general pattern. The reviewer is hype, click subscribe, join the family, and now they've been sent a link or request to look at this, or they've heard it's hot and want to see for themselves. The beat comes up first while the screen is all black, and the person generally stops video to ask what the sample is. (It's the Fugees, which sampled it from Enya I think). The video starts with the producer looking smug and it cuts to the artists in studio and then it happens. Most of the time one of two things happen: The reviewer stops the video and asks the camera "is this a joke?" or they pause it and look at the screen for a few seconds puzzled.

Because the group is Pete & Bas. And Pete is wearing a pork-pie hat and Bas has a suit on. Oh, and they're both white. And Pete is 70. Bas is 74.

Probably should have mentioned that earlier.

Honestly, Pete looks like the guy who runs an independent garage, the kind that will put a new transmission in for $500 if you don't ask where the transmission came from. And Bas looks a no-nonsense version of Batman's butler Alfred. Basically couple of old villains from a Guy Ritchie gangster movie. Yes, Bas has on three Rolex watches and gold chains. Pete looks like he keeps a kneecapper under the bar. But if you've never seen them before,  there is a moment of pause. A lot of people thought this was a parody group and it was a comedy riff of some sort.

Then the reviewer starts the video again, going back a bit of course, and the song starts. The beat is infectious, and before you know you're bobbing your head. And Pete starts, his raspy voice fits his rapper's braggadocio perfectly, as this pensioner tries to pick up a girl at the bar. Reviewers suddenly shouting, "Wait, they got bars" is the a regular comment. Most people agree that Pete can go, as he bellies up the mike and lets loose. Every now and then a review will pause the video and immediately declare "He didn't write this," as though that's a disqualifying act. A number of rappers don't write their own stuff. Big names too. And I understand that these guys do write there own stuff, but that their grandchildren help them with the slang. I'm not getting into that.

Then Bas comes on and his voice is like butter. And he explains that a woman is after him, and tells her what time to come through. This usually raises some eyebrows and howls of appreciation. And because now that I've heard the song about 50 times, i know that they're not even getting started. Some reviewers try to translate the UK slang, other stop and go back multiple times perplexed at how well the lyrics and cadence go together. Quite a few bars cause people to pause and go back and appreciate the wordplay. One or two reviewers even got up and started dancing.

Then, when they switch off, Bas takes off his jacket. Some reviewers, already into it, start getting really excited.

Watching them is kinda funny. They don't bop around like regular rappers, they look stiff and a little bit off. But then, they are in their 70s and their bodies don't work quite the way a younger mans' would. And although from the ease in which they apper to do it, they haven't been rapping since the 80s. I understand that they only having picked it up in the last four years or so. According to Bas in an interview they shot after making this, if he wasn't doing this he figures he'd be sitting around waiting to die. So I applaud them for getting out of their comfort zone and having a little fun.

The duo apparently have albums. And a number of videos. One of the vids has Pete golfing with hand grenades and Bas in a gilly suit.  Another could have been a scene from a Guy Ritchie film. They have following. They're damned good rappers, better than a lot I've heard.

And by the way, when Bas takes the jacket off...he really does go in.

The hardest song of 2021 so far is by two grandfathers. Damn. 

Barkeep. Some of that good good from the back. Why does everyone note when Fumez the engineer spills his drink?

A Venture Out

Ramblings Post #393
I'm going to have to go back and actually finish Red Dead Redemption 2. I just realized I did the same thing with GTA V the first time. At some point I just stopped playing. Work, other things came up and then I picked the controller back up one day and was like...okay what am I doing here? I think I may have gotten more into PC gaming - strategy and the like as of late - but there is still some much more game in there I know it. Does that put it on my backlog list though?

I got my oil changed for the first time in a year a few months ago. It was then I realized that the travel and going out thing wasn't really sourced from the lockdowns and stay at home...er, "suggestions." (Because every other person I knew rolled out at some point. Except me apparently) I had gotten my oil changed last March right before the pandemic first came out, and in the interim I had put less than 1500 miles on my car. In twelve months. I was when I got the notice that I only had a few more payments left and that I had owned it for the full 60 months did I realize the weight of the issue. 

I bought the car with 15K on it. I have not yet reached 62K. 

I don't go nowhere. 

I used to roam the streets of Atlanta. A dive bar here, a odd eatery there. Sometimes just to see what they had. I'd drive halfway across the city for a bookstore or an odd computer part. I've driven to parties in Stockbridge and north of Kennesaw, quite possibly in the same night. 

Now I look at what's in my fridge and say "eh, I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow." 

Life comes at you....well, I think it's got to come at me now because I given my choice me and Netflix doesn't sound that bad at all.

Barkeep. Apparently I'm not driving anywhere. Everclear and two cubes of ice. And a cot in your back room. 

  

A Visit Home

Ramblings Post #392
Life changes tend to sneak up on you. A lot of times we make small shifts over time and before we know it our new normal isn't what we think it is. I made deliberate efforts to stay home and safe last year. And I filled my laptop and TV with distractions and other entertainment. But as this starts to wind down....we hope.... the changes which before were a chore now feel comfortable. Maybe a little too comfortable. Changing back may mean giving up these Oreos and the spot on the couch shole is comfy. Hopefully what comes next is a getting it together montage before the big, well, something or other. I hope the music is thrilling.

Home isn't a place, it's a feeling. And despite being put out by the travel in the past, I have long missed the feeling of being in the presence of my folks. Sometimes aggravating, sometimes a little overbearing, but always with love, my folks. So now that I'm properly vaxxed up, and they have been for a few months now, I loaded up the Pacer and for Mother's Day weekend got on the road to see my Mom.

Now my mother is a practical woman. Last year when before I even broached the subject of coming down despite the pandemic she quickly headed me off at the pass. She said the phone worked - both ways - and wasn't no need to risk our health with all that riding up and down the road. They weren't planning on going anywhere so we should just wait it out. And during the Great Homestay of 2020 I did speak to my people frequently, sometimes two or three times a week, way more than I did usually. So it wasn't like I was out of touch. But the phone is different than actually seeing someone in person. 

So I gassed up Friday night after work and got on the road early Saturday morning, driving straight through. I don't usually like to do that because that was my father's habit when I was kid. Okay he had three fairly hyperactive children with him so maybe he had some purpose. But now when I take a road trip, and I drove more this past Mother's Day weekend than I drove pretty much the last nine months of 2020, I'll stop at a spot on the side of the road because I'm the driver and I can. Stretch my legs if you will. Or anyways, I used to do that, in the before times, in the long, long ago. No, this time once the car got rolling it didn't stop again until I rolled up in my parents driveway.

My parents looked older. I guess they've looked older every time I've seen them, it's just that it's becoming more noticeable. But they're alive and kicking so that's all that counts. My mother even cooked, something she swears she doesn't do very often anymore. And we ate, and talked about the past and remembered better times. I washed dishes, hung pictures and fixed computer issues. We caught up and just were together.

I also forgot that my mother's house contains THE harshest mirrors on the planet. There is no forgiveness in those babies. I mean swore I had been losing weight lately until I saw myself in her mirrors. I was feeling good, getting my steps up, then bam! The mirror in the bathroom I grew up in could even be considered cruel. Might have to go back to wheat bread and brown rice.

Since last year's lockdown, I had been three places other than a grocery store or a drive thru: My brothers house twice, to my old Running Partner's spot where we sat outside in the driveway and to Spanky's house. Other than that, and to get my vaccine shots I have been home. Luckily I was able to find a ranching gig that let me work from home so I can keep the lights on and the phone working. Going to see my parents felt good. And not just because of the hours in the car seeing the countryside for the first time in a while.

Life needs to get better.

Barkeep. Yes, I've been vaxxed up, now give me a tall cold beer. Yes, I have my card....

Dowhachalike.....

I kinda hate to do these so close together, but they say it comes in threes.

I have much respect for Shock G.

Or Humpty Hump.
Or Mc Blowfish.
Or the other names he called himself. 

Honestly the album Sex Packets almost could have been on an 8-track, it was stuffed with goodies and flow and just played like what it was...a concept album. I must have jammed the crap out of it. Now, these were days before everything was gangsta, back when guys could just get super creative. And they did. The videos were half concert, half party. The guys wore silly outfits and did silly things. And Shock G was their leader. 

By the way, the reason we were all confused about if Shock G and Humpty Hump were the same person was because they did occasionally appear together. No shit (it's at minute 3:20). That and we didn't have twitter to leak the truth.

Now, Digital Underground wasn't considered a top tier group by most, but they were up there. And remember this is where the legendary Tupac got his start. With a bunch of guys who engineered songs like "Dowhatchalike", "The Humpty Dance" and "No Nose Job." And long before Drake they were the guys that sang with "Kiss You Back."

They weren't just a rap group, they were artists.

Damn, everybody is going too soon. 

Deja Voo....all over again

This is a political post. 

How are we HERE again? 

I have avoided writing about the Chauvin Trial.

As someone said on Instagram the other day, I'm just not up for anymore black pain and suffering. It is becoming a carousel that we can't get off for some reason and the longer we take the more dangerous the pressure grows.

I did catch snippets of the closing arguments. When his defense attorney argued that the framing of the prosecutors "completely disregards" what happened before Floyd was pinned to the pavement it brought back an old memory. After the riots in Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict long ago, one of the daytime talk show people had an episode where they went down into the neighborhood and white and black people together. And I remember distinctly a young white woman standing up and trying to justify the beating Mr. King took at the hands of the police. She pleaded with the crowd to understand that "we don't know what happened before the video started." And an older white woman stood up, as young girl stood there repeating we just don't know and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Her words were profound. She simply told the young woman that "there is nothing he could have done to have deserved what happened to him."

There was nothing that George Floyd did that day, or any other day, that deserved a penalty of death. Period.

And for the record, his medical condition and previous drug use should be no defense. The eggshell plaintiff rule should be in full effect here. I'm still amazed that the defense attorney characterized Chauvin as feeling threatened by the crowd, despite all the testimony and video showing otherwise. I'm not sure if he was expecting cheers as casually killed a man by leaning on his neck ..with his hands in his pockets. Threatened? I'm really not sure what was going through his mind. And frankly I kinda don't want to know.

Now, even if you don't believe in defunding the police (still a dumb name for a good idea) as many of the jurors indicate they do not, the concept of watching a man in custody being killed in slow motion, casually as it was, should move something inside you. I hope. As the prosecution stated, "To be very clear, this case is called the State of Minnesota versus Derek Chauvin. It is not called the State of Minnesota versus the police." The idea of bad cops getting away with it, time and time again, only undercuts the idea of the police as the good guys in the eyes of the public. And will eventually begin to increase the real, not just perceived, danger that officers face out in the field. This nightmare scenario has to stop somewhere, so why not here? Believe it or not, if you think about it, this actually is a pro-police prosecution.

And considering that during this trial we have experienced the deaths of Daunte Wright at the hands of the police just a few miles from where this trial is taking place, and Adam Toledo's death while his hands were raised as instructed. Meanwhile, another part of the same state a man who rams two police cars, assaults an officer and led the police on a chase with an officer hanging onto the side of the truck is taken into custody. I can only wonder what the difference in circumstances was.

I'm hoping for the best. Maybe we've woken up that continually granting ultimate power on an individual basis to people usually not vetted for bias or other dangerous tendencies probably isn't a good idea. I mean, the evidence should be clear here. Because if not, then I think 2021 is coming for 2020's Most Turrible Year belt. 

'Cause that's how Rough Ryders Roll...

A young DMX looked like a the bad ass avatar in a video game that was never made. His frame thin but muscular, his style and demeanor one you couldn't hope to achieve. His voice that raspy sound that gave gravitas, and his face an expression that let you know without question he'd seen it all and done and it all and that he wasn't about to fuck around on the way to the final boss. 

An older DMX looked like your favorite uncle when you were a child. A little thicker but still with a aura of joy. Quick with a joke but working every day to make sure the spiritual was right too. This was the uncle that would spot you twenty and beer out the cooler when your mother wasn't looking, but would also show up when you were in trouble ready to handle business.  

In between we got classics. I spent to today jamming to It's Dark and Hell is Hot, the classic ...And Then There was X, and The Great Depression and singles from Grand Champ and Year of the Dog Again. I was stunned at how many of the songs I still knew the words too. (I was also surprised that at this age simply rapping like we used to I was out of breath, damn.) 

And then the social media deluge started. Of DMX being Earl Simmons. Father. Friend. Philosopher. And guy who while he struggled with his own demons didn't let it color his zest for life. 

His kind shall not pass this way again.

Because they don't even try to do it like this no more....