We Can See the Stars At Point-Blank Range

It's been a while. Lets make this worth it.

First off, busy week. And more busyness to come. I have three articles for the Spectrum due by like Tuesday, so that should be fun. I'm going to be looking at a house for next year. And 19 credits don't really help anything.

But Wednesday I turn 21. That's pretty ill. Counter to come later in the post.


A-Rod... I feel like I should say something about him. I'm not sure I can really say anything that hasn't been beaten into the ground yet. But I do have something to say.

At least he gave an apology. He wasn't forced to do this. He really didn't have to admit anything at all. But unlike Mark McGwire, who sidestepped the steroids question by saying he was going to "look ahead to the future" and help kids from avoiding the juice (btw Mac, where the hell are you?), he admitted to using steroids. Unlike Roger Clemens, who flatly denied and threatened his way into looking like douche of the universe, A-Rod admitted to using steroids. Unlike Andy Pettitte, who said he used it once for injury recovery (okay, so that's not cheating I guess?), A-Rod fully admitted to using steroids for a three year span. Maybe he's not being truthful about every deal. He might not want to snitch out who gave it to him or where he received it. I'm fine with that. So far, his admission was far beyond what the cheaters preceding him had provided. Is he noble for doing this? No, not really. But I'm not gonna give him bullshit like the rest of the media. Not that he cares what I think.


By the way, I'd just like to comment for the 407th time that I hate the weather here. It's crazy how cold and shitty and terrible it can be on a day where I'm feeling optimistic about the weather. Yup, the weather.


So my new music obsession is Charles Hamilton. If you don't like hip-hop, feel free to skip this part. He's a 21 year old rapper from Harlem. I have to think that he's the hardest worker in rap right now (that's right Weezy, eat a fat one). He's released about 11 mixtapes since like September. In fact, he released THREE last week. All full length. And almost all of it is quality stuff. His mixtape "Well Isn't This Awkward..." is good enough to be just about any rapper's full-length album. Not to mention he's just about the best freestyler I've ever seen:
Freestyle on DJ Green Lantern's show Part One
Freestyle on DJ Green Lantern's show Part Two
Freestyle on DJ Skee's show

He's also very eclectic as far as the samples he uses and types of music he delves into. The end of "Well This Isn't Awkward..." is basically a romantic masterpiece (as much as a hip-hop record can be) (no homo). He bases a song around the chorus of "Outside" by Staind (and somehow its good). The music for "November 10th" is taken from Sonic the Hedgehog. He uses samples from The Police, Michael Jackson, The Offspring, various other rock bands, soul, "Zombie Nation", Windows XP, Mortal Kombat, and just about everything else he can get his hands on. Really, I haven't stopped listening to him in two days.
"Brooklyn Girls"
"The Penthouse Elevator"
"November 10th"
And he has an awesome blog.

I'd also like to put a good word in for my boy Drake. He's a rapper/singer who's probably going to make it huge too. Couple good ones:
"Houstatlantavegas"
"Replacement Girl"


Most Played Artists Last Week (according to last.fm):
1. Charles Hamilton
2. Drake
3. Cold War Kids
4. A Tribe Called Quest
5. Glassjaw

Days Until I Turn 21 Counter: 6
Days Until I Stop Feeling Insane: ?TBD

-Peace n Love, Jay