Very good, detective.

It's better than this commercial shows, believe me.

I am moving in a couple weeks, so my use of the public library system to fetch interesting books here in Boston is coming to a close. In times like this, I start to watch a lot more movies and favorite TV shows. I don't really watch shows that are currently broadcast; for the most part, they bore me. Instead, I stick with my old favorite "Curb Your Enthusiasm." But, about two and a half weeks ago, I saw this post and was inspired to revisit an old favorite of mine as a kid, Batman: The Animated Series. It should be obvious at this stage of my blogging that I am a nerd, and as many of you know, being a nerd starts at a young age. This show, from its design to its storytelling and characters, captured my imagination (as well as my brother's) as a six or seven-year-old. Amazingly, it still does now. I never got into collecting comics, it was so tedious a habit and I always felt that I had to start at the very beginning to catch up and gain some perspective on what was going on in the issue I was reading. Luckily, this show created a world of its own, still rooted in the original comic's mythology, that I could follow along with every Saturday morning. For whatever reason, even though I watched much too much television as a child and there were all sorts of hero shows on the air, Batman has been the only character whose stories I find interesting. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the writing (the shows with Marvel characters were atrocious, as I recall), but I also think treating Batman as a detective made for a more interesting character than a Whiz! Bang! approach. Watching these old cartoons, I can't help but think of Christopher Nolan's recent take on the Caped Crusader. For all the legitimate problems those movies have, at the end of the day, they captured how I envisioned a live-action Batman, in part because the movies are somewhat similar to B:TAS in their treatment of his relationships with Gordon and Alfred, as well as using his detective skills. I doubt many people cared about the scene where Bruce and Alfred reconstructed a bullet using forensic testing, but that scene, more than the costume or his fighting style or anything else, captured what I like about the character. End of nerd rant, I just needed to get that out there.

For reference, you should watch this with the volume off ("Who Are You" plays in the background):

Uh...

Among others, where was this man on this list? Yet somehow, Little Brother made it? Look, I have their first album, and it is good. But come on, people.

The 2009 Elders.

I had planned to write this before I left for my vacation, but then MJ died and I got discombobulated and before I knew it, I was off. Then returning, I was still somewhat stuck in MJ mode, it was my birthday, and I just got lazy overall. Now, most of you know already that I am a big fan of the former comic strip/current (?) tv show "The Boondocks." As some of you know, the strip and show are not too popular with some people, especially some older African Americans. Conservative Larry Elder apparently created an award on his radio talk show called "The McGruder for the Most Outrageous Statement by a Black Public Figure." This was started either in response to one of my favorite ideas from "The Boondocks," the "Most Embarrassing Black People" awards. It was nicknamed the Elder. I forget what the actual stipulations were for nomination, but I think they were pretty self-evident: any black person who acts, says, or does something so ridiculous it reflects poorly on the entire community can be nominated. Seeing as how we are a little more than halfway through the year, and it's been an interesting and somewhat angering year for race relations, I thought I might continue this tradition. So I now present my candidates for the 2009 "Most Embarrassing Black People" awards:

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Call Tree!

I am not going to go through the case again. It's all over the internet and tv. My dad really only holds two black scholars in high regard: Gates and Cornel West. They're both around my dad's age, and they books can be found in my parents' home back in Jersey. Growing up, I saw these two, and especially Gates, as basically the men my dad wanted to be if he had the same access to resources. I remember reading Gates' memoir, Colored People, in high school. I don't remember much about the book now, but I do recall how much it resonated with me, which is amazing since we were born 35 years apart and he's from West VA and you know where I hail from. All that said, I'm not too big a fan of his Genealogy Project, I just don't see the goal. Regardless, from an academic standpoint, the man handles his business and you have to respect that.

Given how I viewed him growing up, his arrest stuck me as completely absurd. Not in the sense that the cop is a racist or a moron, but Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the absolute last person I would imagine getting arrested anywhere (nevermind his own home). Honestly, when I found out, all I could do is laugh out loud. I also found his question to the officer, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" very ridiculous. Just say it out loud. There's something about pointing out that he is a black man in particular that stuck me as odd phrasing. I can also imagine him saying it, and putting an extra emphasis on "man." It's a statement straight out of 1990, which is strange for a man at the forefront of his field.

You may be asking how this embarrasses black people, and I am not quite sure. I think the way he has handled this situation, talking about doing a documentary on the relationship between people of color and police, but at the same time ignoring the recent cases of Shem Walker or Omar Edwards, strikes me as opportunistic and creepy. At the very least, it discomfits me given how my dad has looked to him as a shining light. Of course, I have heard that he is called the "academic capitalist" so his behavior should not shock me too much.

If you want a sense of my thoughts on this debacle, watch this clip. Harold Ford, Jr. and Carlos Watson get at what I am thinking. To sum up my thoughts really insufficiently, this was a case of "When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong" on both sides. It just so happens that one of the people involved has the ability to arrest the other. I maintain that the president's comments at his press conference were fine. The media just lack the ability to deal with full sentences. More generally, you really should be reading TNC, period.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Juan Williams



Back in college, I wrote an opinions column for my school newspaper my second semester of sophomore year. It was mostly hit or miss, in my view, but somehow signaled my arrival on campus in terms of larger, "more important" discussions. I'll have to write about my experience sometime, I guess. Anyway, that next Christmas, my dad bought me a copy of Juan Williams' Enough. At the time, I was a little familiar with Williams and some things he had written, disagreed with him a lot, and to this day, I have not even so much as opened that book. Considering the above clip, I think I made the right decision. When I watched this, my mind was blown. He cannot honestly believe what he is saying, he has to only do it because it pays well, right? I don't know, things like this kill me.

Shelby Steele



As I mentioned above, I read the blog of Ta-Nehisi Coates. A lot. I enjoy and sympathize with his perspective, and unlike a lot of bloggers for prominent publications, the comments section is actually worth reading and can help deepen your understanding of a topic. I mention all this because TNC has a strong dislike of Shelby Steele. He did claim, after all, that white guilt was responsible for our failures in Iraq. RIghtly or wrongly, I tend to be wary of black conservatives. In the case of someone like Steele, his take on Obama strikes me as incredibly dishonest. How is President Obama a "bargainer?" I can see how other successful black liberals fall under that category, but it's not a very useful generalization at all. The same is true of conservatives. There are/were people like John McWhorter, who I disagreed with all the time, but at least his arguments were well reasoned (mostly). With Steele, he is falling into his own trap of bargaining for the dominant group of his party. He lacks the ability to just admit he was wrong and adjust his views to fit the current circumstances. Instead, he makes the circumstances fit his views. As a scientist, that sort of behavior is endlessly frustrating. Also, after watching this clip, I get the feeling the choices he describes for prospective black politicians fits in with his own life experience, especially at a place like the Hoover Institution.

Michael Steele

Like I said, I am wary of black conservatives. In my experience, some are like Shelby Steele in that when you talk to them, you get this sense that they are responding more to how they have been treated by people of all types than their claim that they have come to their views through some rigorous test of logic. I am also have issue with black conservatives complaining about identity politics, Affirmative Action, and the like while failing to self-reflect and realize that the only time they are called upon by the media in any fashion is to talk about issues of racial or ethnic identity. I very rarely see black conservative (or to some extent, liberal) commentators talk about health care, the economy, the wars or any topic without it being related in some way to race. One of the reasons I stopped writing my column was I that I tired of being the go-to person for all things related to people of color. I have very broad interests, though this blog may not reflect them all. That black conservative commentators lack the clout to talk about issues that concern all Americans shows me that their claim to be above identity politics is crap.

Anyway, there are black conservatives who have ideas that I find stupid, like Williams. There are others whose ideas I find disingenuous, like Shelby Steele. Then there is Michael Steele. For about a month or so, he was laying low and doing a good job of it. Then came this shit:



Personally, the "fried chicken and potato salad" comment is not what offended me the most. It is bizarre in his choice of potato salad as a quintessentially African American food, but I digress. For me, saying "Y'all come" is what was more bothersome. It's so incredibly lazy and shows that he simply has no idea how to make Republicans more appealing to minorities. It's also much, much too forced in terms of the way the sentence in constructed.

Of course, this is not the only embarrassing remark made by Mr. Steele. I don't have the time or the energy to go through them all. Between showing some "slum love" for Bobby Jindal, to claiming that government jobs "aren't jobs," if I think about all the things he's said, my head might explode. He'll probably win the award in a landslide, he bombarded us with nonsense at the beginning of the year. But I'm saving hope for an appearance from Stanley Crouch slapping another person. Or Jermaine Jackson, who might be one of the greasiest people on Earth.

I'll also happily take any suggestions, in the good chance I have overlooked anyone.

Dish pan hands.

camron 6 minutes freestyles hot 97 (fuck you beat) - camron

I'm back. There will be more soon.

Another part of me.

I'll be on hiatus/vacation for the next two weeks. In regards to recent events, at this point I really have nothing to say. The more I read about his life, the more this hurts me. I'm sure I'll write more later, but I'm still processing about what he meant to me. Also, that move at 2:25> Usher's career.

The would-be "Best of Both Worlds"

After hearing Jay's boring new song about how he hates Autotune, but somehow, not the most famous artists who use it (because they're creative?), I got to thinking again about what is the best Jay-Z album. Now, if someone like Noz or Trey Stone are to be believed, then it's Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter. A couple years ago, back when I was living in Seattle, I had a lot of free time and mostly thought about rap and went to my local used record store. After reading Noz's defense of Vol. 3 in the comments section of these posts, I figured I would actually cave and buy a record that is really only known for "So Ghetto" and "Big Pimpin'." Just in case I wasn't feeling up to buying the album that day (or ever), I could listen to it at some handy listening stations. Now, those of you who read Posse on Blogway way back when may remember some post he did about a fantasty Timbaland/Hov album and embedded some songs in that post. One of those songs is Vol. 3's "Come and Get Me." For whatever reason, I wasn't really able to get into while reading his post, but I figured that If was was going to buy a hard copy of the album, I better know what this song sounds like, so it was the first track I listened to. It started off decent enough, with talk of "remov[ing] your roof" over some beat that did not sound like Timbo at all... then it changed to this slow, sort of futuristic album cut. As though it should be the title track, with Jay defending his rise to stardom following Vol. 2. With this song at least, I was convinced.

I went looking through the album credits to see who was responsible for the rest of the production, since Jay fans love to celebrate Jay-Z's beat selection meanwhile shitting on Nas. "So Ghetto?" Check. The other four Tim tracks? Check. Everything else, though, was just not grabbing me. To be honest, all the other beats sound horribly dated from the DJ Clue?/Dame Grease/Swizz Beats era of New York rap... except these sound like their throwaway beats. Remember the first single, "Do It Again?" It's not a bad beat or song, per se, but it isn't engaging at all, and certainly shouldn't deserve Jay's supposed seal of excellence or approval. And do not get me started on "S. Carter." As soon as it started, with Amil's shrill whine, I stopped the CD player. Why he dumped Foxy for her I will never understand. Overall, the songs I heard from the album just didn't convince me that it was an album worth owning.

As I mentioned before, Noz had this rap nerd fantasy post about a Tim/Hov collaboration album. Personally, I don't think that would have worked in 2007, or anytime since Jay-Z has retired. He simply cannot rap as well as he could back in '98-01 and Timbaland, except for a few cases (like Jeezy's 3 A.M.), has simply outgrown rap. I'm not sure he could bring it anymore. But, there is a wealth of material from the past that could have been compiled to make probably Jay's best album. Think of this as a missed opportunity. Now, I would say Timbaland's best beats were from about '97-'02 or '03, and if certain people are to be believed, Jay was at his best around the time of Vol. 3. Now, what would an album look like if Jay had waited two years between Vol. 1 and Vol. 2? Here's my idea of the tracklist, in no particular order:

Intro: Hand It Down
So Ghetto
Paper Chase
N*gga What, N*gga Who
It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)
Snoopy Track
Hey Papi
Lobster and Scrimp
Big Pimpin'
Come and Get Me

Look at that, what album in 1999 could touch a lineup like that? Even with Bleek on the first track? It's amazing what a little quality control could have done for his place in 90's rap. Maybe then DMX wouldn't have been the megastar at that point in time. Oh well, I can dream.

Do you see what I see?

A while back, I wrote a post about the Backwudz's first album Wood Work. Again, if you haven't heard it, check it out. A couple months ago, on MGG's site, I saw a youtube video from Big Marc of the group doing this song he entitled "Concrete Complications." What struck me at first was how he had changed his whole look and rapping style. From throwbacks and fitted caps to a Freeway-esque beard and a fledgling mohawk as well as an over-enunciated cadence (a change from his thick Southern drawl) that OutKast has always been so fond of. I would say that he got this from Wayne, but it's clear from his style to the topics he chose to write about in that short song that 'Kast was a more direct influence. Anyway, I thought it was pretty serviceable, nice to see someone who'd been out of the spotlight for so long back giving us something to consume for a little while, but I figured that would be about it. I also knew he'd released a mixtape over old (?) Dilla beats and renamed himself "A. Leon Craft," which I passed on since it felt a bit weird to hear the combination of those two for whatever reason. But maybe a month or so ago, I heard his appearance on "Caddys" and started to take notice. For one, he's putting out music rather consistently, so clearly there is something in the works. But also, the thing that made me hesitant about "Concrete Complications" was gone from his verse. Before, it felt like he was trying much too hard to be Andre from the way he presented himself physically, to his style and writing subject. On "Caddys," he sounds more comfortable with his new flow and he's just rapping well, not overly concerned with getting a message across to the streets. Then, a little more recently, I heard his song "Spaced Out." It's pretty nice. I am sure some of you are skeptical of someone who calls himself A. Leon Craft and hails from Atlanta, but don't worry, he's not treading old ground. Instead, he's taking Andre's verse on "Xplosion" to it's logical extreme and taking the space meme as far as he can. Given that on the songs I've heard he's used it for cars and women, he seems pretty comfortable with it. I'm looking forward to what he has in store next.

Also, I have no idea what's gotten into me recently, but enjoy this posting streak while it lasts.