12.29.2011

Cali's been fun so far. Hungout with Siera all day yesterday and finally chillin' with Kyla for a bit. I'll write more later but I've been really busy. Jetlag can suck a dick.

12.23.2011

St. Vincent.


Yet Another Reason I Want an iPhone.

These will be dropping in February. If I don't have an iPhone by then, bring one to my funeral that will probably be around the same time.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

I remember reading about this movie before it was released here. About how it was causing such a stir overseas, about how it was such a phenomenal movie, and how the American version would be just as good. Well, I finally got to see it last night and I must say, it didn't disappoint. This movie was amazing and I loved every aspect of it. The actors they chose, the wardrobes for the characters, the witty (and often dark) humor, every aspect of this movie was genius. By far one of the best movies of 2011 and might I add, quite the coming out party for little known actress Rooney Mara.

It's amazing to think that the makeup team could take a girl as beautiful as Rooney Mara from this:

To This:




















I didn't know much about the movie or the books that proceeded it before seeing it last night, but apparently it's the beginning of the trilogy that makes up the "Millennium" Series. The story behind the author and how the whole thing came together is quite interesting as well.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (original title in Swedish: Män som hatar kvinnor – "Men Who Hate Women") is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series".
At his death in November 2004, Larsson left the three unpublished novels that make up the trilogy. They became posthumous best-sellers in several European countries as well as in the United States. Larsson witnessed the gang rape of a young girl when he was 15. He never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, whose name was Lisbeth – like the young main character of his books, herself a rape victim, which inspired the theme of sexual violence against women in his books.
Larsson wrote about three-quarters of a fourth novel before his sudden death in November 2004. His partner, Eva Gabrielsson, is in possession of the notebook computer with the manuscript but does not own the rights to Larsson's work. This is because Larsson, in an attempt to protect Gabrielsson from the people he was investigating in real life (Swedish Neo-Nazis and racists), never married and wrote his will without any witness (thus making it invalid according to Swedish law). Thus, at his death, it is his family that ended with the succession. Outlines or manuscripts for one or two more books may exist.
I've always believed that things that are meant to inspire, things that are meant for the greater good, things that are meant to impact people in a positive way, can never be stopped. Meaning that they will come to light no matter what the opposition or the circumstances that they face. Sure it may take time, it can take years, but eventually things that are meant to be seen, heard, or read, those things will eventually be appreciated for what they are, they way they were intended to be.

12.22.2011

why don't you want me like the other girls do?
they look at me while i stare at you.
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations.

Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:
  • The tendency to desire what is best for the other.
  • Sympathy and empathy.
  • Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart.
  • Mutual understanding and compassion; ability to go to each other for emotional support.
  • Enjoyment of each other's company.
  • Trust in one another.
  • Positive reciprocity — a relationship is based on equal give-and-take between the two parties.
  • The ability to be oneself, express one's feelings and make mistakes without fear of judgement.

There are few people in my life that I call "friend". Sure, I may refer to someone as a friend, but that doesn't necessarily make them a "friend". I would literally do anything for those that I call my friends. Anything. I don't care what time it is, where you are, what you need, if it's in my power, I'll do everything I can to be there for you. As much as I've made myself available, as much as I've allowed myself to forgive those who don't demonstrate the same level or friendship that I do, I feel like I've finally come to a breaking point. I've said this in the past, hell I've even attempted to sever ties in the past, and it didn't work. I'm not saying I need to sever ties this time, I'm not saying I need to completely remove people from my life, but I do feel like I need to withdraw my services. If I'm not receiving the same level of friendship, why should I offer a higher level to you? I shouldn't. I've come to the conclusion that from now on, I will be a mirror. I will reflect whatever is being shown to me. They say insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Let's see if this works. 

12.20.2011

Creatively Disgusting.

The Great Action Bronson Debacle.

So, the other day I'm on rapradar.com and I see the following picture of a rapper, who goes by the name of Action Bronson.
After seeing this picture of a large bearded rapper, I noticed an uncanny resemblance between Mr Bronson and another large bearded rapper.

So of course, I did what any decent person with a Twitter account would do; I tweeted about it.

Little did I know, Mr. Bronson keeps his ear to the tweets and caught wind of me talkin' greasy.
That's right, Action Bronson retweeted ya boy. At first I was like, did this really just happen? I mean, I didn't even @ dude in my tweet? So of course I knew a few stans would be on their way to defend their leader. Here's what later ensued. (read from bottom to top)


I had about 10-12 Bronson stans at my neck within 5 minutes! It was just as hilarious as it was impressive. I don't know who this @6thBoroBomber guy is but if I ever get in a fight, I want that guy on my side. He wouldn't let this go! I must have went on with him for about five minutes about how this wasn't that serious, but dude wasn't having it! While I admit that I had never listened to any Action Bronson music before saying he was gettin' his Rick Ross on, I honestly didn't mean anything about it. I actually gave dude a listen, and he's pretty nice. Reminds me of Ghostface a little, and I've always fucked with Tony Starks. I assume Bronson saw that his stans were at my neck because I wokeup to the following tweet.

In an attempt to smooth things over, I tweeted Mr. Bronson back the following, to no avail.


I still haven't heard anything back from Action, but if somehow he reads this, I was absolutely, 100% kidding. I don't want it with you or #teambronson. My arms are too short to box with the God. I dig your music and I look forward to hearing more material from you.

Of the few songs that I peeped by Action, this was definitely my favorite. Peep the 1:32 mark and the end of the video to see the big homie work his magic. CLASSIC.

Ron English.

12.18.2011

Focus: KAWS.

People who know me, know that I love art. I love the feelings it releases. I love the way your brain struggles to make sense of it. I love that for literal people like myself, it often leaves me at a loss for words. It reduces me to the vocabulary of a 6th grader. I can't tell you how many times I described amazing pieces or art as "cool" or "badass". But that's what I love about art. If you want to exhaust your brain trying to figure the meaning or the image in a piece, you can do that. If you want to just observe and appreciate a piece for what it is, you can do that too. Essentially, there is no "wrong way" to absorb art. For me, it's inspiration in it's rawest form. To me, art is one of the most concentrated forms of expression. Musical artists record a song over and over before releasing it to the public. Often times, the way a song originally started out the finished project are completely different. The same goes with literature. Writers revise their work tens, sometimes thousands of times before the public ever gets to read it. I'm not saying every painting, drawing, or sculpture is the result of an artists first attempt at the piece, but I feel like the process that artists take to get to the finished project goes through the least amount of filters. It's undistilled emotion.
KAWS is by far my favorite artist. On the surface, one may look at his art and feel that it's not art at all. I mean, the guy simply defaces existing characters by putting x's over their eyes and crossbones through their heads. Anyone can do that right? Wrong. The exact reason that KAWS' art is somewhat insulting is the same thing that makes it great. KAWS has essentially taken some of the most iconic characters, some of the most famous brands, and made them his own. He is the the ultimate chameleon of not only art, but branding in general. It's amazing to me that KAWS can take characters as iconic as The Simpsons, Smurfs, or Spongebob, and completely change the image association that comes to your brain when you see their images in his art. Do you know how hard it is to show someone a swoosh and try to make it possible for the word "Nike" to not be the first word to pop into their head? Exactly. 
When I read that KAWS was coming to Fort Fucking Worth of all places that he's been in the past, I nearly shit myself. Though the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a great museum and an outright marvel in terms of structure, Fort Worth is definitely the last place that I ever thought I would see KAWS art. If I gave you a list of the following cities: LA, Tokyo, New York City, Fort Worth, which one seems out of place? Exactly. Nisha is currently going to school for art and to my surprise, loves KAWS as much as I do.
After browsing the permanent collection, we finally got to the see the KAWS exhibit. It's amazing how you can see pictures of something online and it looks amazing and then you can see that exact same thing in person and it's just as amazing but multiplied by 10. The sheer size of the both the paintings and the sculptures is breathtaking. I don't care how expensive your camera is, there's only so much that photos can capture, and seeing these pieces in person definitely proves that. The vividness and the contrast of the colors used in each painting, the balance of negative and positive, way certain colors seem to dance across the canvas and leap out at you,  the precision and the placement of every line, the use of the entire canvas, even the sides. Absolutely stunning. There is a reason that people will pay ungodly amounts of money to have art like this in their homes. When I first walked into the room, I remember staring with this stupid grin, reminiscent of a teenager seeing a pair of boobs in person for the first time.  That's the only way I can describe the feeling that I get from seeing amazing art. It's the feeling of not having to try to make sense of something, of just being able to fully immerse yourself in something and just be. Maybe KAWS isn't your thing, hell maybe art isn't your thing, but I encourage you to find whatever it is in life that gives you this feeling, and experience it in person. It's amazing.

Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed for this exhibit, but I did manage to get a few pics of the art that I saw from a few websites online. As amazing as these look in the pictures, they still aren't done justice. This exhibit will be at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art through February 19th 2012, get more information here.

12.17.2011


"It's crazy and it's delusional before it comes to fruition."


we walk away like strangers in the street 
gone for eternity 
we erased one another 
so far from where we came 
with so much of everything, how do we leave with nothing? 

12.15.2011

Like Crazy.

I've been saying that I wanted to see this movie for a while. I remember seeing the preview for this movie and thinking that it looked amazing. I've said this before and I'll say it again, there is absolutely no other type of movie that is better than a perfectly executed love story. Real love stories. Not corny or cheesy ones. But love stories that you feel, love stories that provoke thought, love stories that bring out actual emotions that tie to real life experiences. This movie did all of those things. Dare I say that that it took the place of 500 Days of Summer as my all-time favorite movie? I dare indeed. The entire story, from how they met, to how so much of it took place in the bed, all of that... my life. The conversations they have. "Don't think about it", "Did you sleep with anyone while we were apart?", "I miss you.". The part where he leaves his phone on the table. The scene in the shower, where you can tell something changed... Never have has a movie been able to capture my exact feelings with little to no words at all. Absolutely beautiful film. Go see it, it will change your life.

I usually don't shoutout just anyone on the blog without having known them for sometime, but I feel like I've known this person forever now. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the lovely, Nisha.
Nisha is the "voluptuous indian friend" of Camila's that I told you about a few weeks ago on my trip to Austin. It turns out that her folks live pretty close to me and she's in town for a while. Woop woop! Not only did Nisha also go to the Watch the Throne Tour, not only does she enjoy hip-hop as much as I do, but her outlook on music (I'll share that later), and life in general is just as diverse as mine. In the past two weeks I've discovered some of the best music that I've heard and had some of the funniest/deepest/weirdest conversations that I've ever had with a human being. Shoutout to Ninja Nisha, you're dope as fuck.