Monday, January 18, 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Body Scanners????

Seems to me like this is in violation of our civil liberties.

Airports that have the scanners:

San Francisco
Miami
Albuquerque
Tulsa
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas

The scary thing is that most seem okay with the new body scanners, read more HERE


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Matt Lauer v. John McCain


This exactly why I don't like the political system. Barbara Walters or Oprah wouldn't have let him get away with that. "I wouldn't know about that," is that what he would have said as president?

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Just to Get By...

"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."

--Ludwig van Beethoven

One of my favorites of the decade:


"Why should I listen to a system that never listened to me?" --Jay-Z



"Love is unconditional even when the condition is critical and the living is miserable, your position is pivotal I ain't bullshitin you." ...."We get high on all types of drugs when all you really need is love." --Talib Kweli


Where's Kanye When You Need Him?

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Masters of the Universe



"Under the Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" art exhibit opened yesterday at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. The art show is reflective of the the popular 1980s TV show and action figures. Robert Burden's Battle Cat creation. The power of Greyskull is back!



The exhibit runs until January 29, visit the gallery website for more info. Visit Robert Burden's site for more info.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

MJ Suicide Part 2

Sociologist Emile Durkheim wrote about contributing factors to an individual’s suicide in his 1897 work titled, Suicide and Modernity. Durkheim speaks of both internal and external causes that can lead suicidal tendencies. Suicide can result if one’s unique needs are not being met in society (Durkheim 1897:75). If these needs are not fulfilled an individual feels alone in this world because he/she is disconnected. Notable sociologists Max Weber and Karl Marx speak of this same disconnection in a different manner. In Weber’s work titled, The Spirit of Capitalism and the Iron Cage, he speaks of the physical iron cage that capitalism has created around every individual. This capitalist ethic causes individuals to work very hard without experiencing bliss, “the earning of more and more money combined with the strict avoidance of all spontaneous enjoyment in life, is above all completely devoid of any eudomonistic, not to say hedonistic, admixture” (Weber 1905:102). Weber goes on to describe Protestant asceticism and fundamental components in capitalism, however he never speaks of where this disconnection may lead an individual. Also, Weber does not divulge where emotions may lead an individual; for example, if someone is in deep pain they may choose to numb themselves with drugs.

In Karl Marx’s work Estranged Labour he depicts the possibilities of great alienation. Marx describes how this estrangement can occur through labor practices, yet he does not explain the latter effects of this separation. In this work the relations between property owners and workers is portrayed as a greedy one that produces competition. Although Michael Jackson was a wealthy “property owner,” he was still giving his labor to large conglomerates for profit. The loss of reality is also addressed in this piece, “ what is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal” (Marx 1844:33). The human worker no longer feels comfortable in his own skin due to this alienation produced by labor, according to Marx, however no consequences are addressed for this notion.

Rolling Stone's Top Songs of the Decade

Songs of the Decade

1 | Gnarls Barkley — "Crazy"

2 | Jay-Z — "99 Problems"

3 | BeyoncĂ© — "Crazy in Love"

4 | Outkast — "Hey Ya!"

5 | M.I.A. — "Paper Planes"

6 | The White Stripes — "Seven Nation Army"

7 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs — "Maps"

8 | Amy Winehouse — "Rehab"

9 | U2 — "Beautiful Day"

10 | Eminem — "Stan"

11 | MGMT — "Time to Pretend"

12 | Eminem — "Lose Yourself"

13 | 50 Cent — "In Da Club"

14 | Missy Elliott — "Get Ur Freak On"

15 | Johnny Cash — "Hurt"

16 | The Strokes — "Last Nite"

17 | Bob Dylan — "Mississippi"

18 | Kelly Clarkson — "Since U Been Gone"

19 | Kanye West — "Jesus Walks"

20 | Justin Timberlake — "Cry Me a River"


Read more HERE

View top albums of the decade HERE