May 2011
34 posts
Last fall a website asked me, and many people cooler than me, to write a few words about our favorite “last songs of the summer.” I sent this little bit about one of my favorite GSH songs, that I listen to and sing to myself with the coming of every fall: “I have a tradition every year, when the temperature starts to drop, of setting aside some time to meditate with Gil...
May 31st
54 notes
I grew up on Gil Scott-Heron in a way I did with few other artists, and he means a lot to me in ways that feel too personal to package as social media. So I’m torn between wanting to post about him and share/read memories, and feeling drawn to remember him in ways that are not, for lack of a better word, televised. This clip from Coachella captures pretty well how I’ll remember...
May 28th
33 notes
3 tags
Peace Go With You, Brother.
Peace go with you brother Don’t make no sense for us to be arguing now Time is right up on us now brother Don’t make no sense for us to be arguing now All of your children and all of my children are gonna have to pay for our mistakes someday Yes - and until then may peace guide your way Peace go with you brother; wherever you go Peace go with you brother
May 28th
125 notes
May 27th
6 notes
Who would’ve thought Beyonce was set to become this month’s Controversial Artist Who Sparks a Million Think Pieces? Hopefully the end result is Tyler the Creator goes into a jealous rage, and switches to writing pop-feminist Girl Power anthems so he can get his spot back.
May 26th
74 notes
“The thing with the ‘n word’: it’s very very confusing for white kids who have a lot of black friends and are accepted. And I can’t stand here and say that when I was 9 years old, and all my friends were black, and they were telling me ‘you’re basically black,’ that I didn’t believe that. Now I’m at a place where I’m just...
May 26th
126 notes
1 tag
May 25th
25 notes
damnzig asked: Oh Hi! Just wanted to leave this here..
If you're going to quote something from me, please make sure you use the ENTIRE conversation. Not just some snippet that makes no sense and can be twisted in any form. If you want to bitch about me because I have an opinion, fine with me. Also, really? Glutton for punishment? Everyone is coming to me, bitching about how i'm insulting the...
May 24th
116 notes
May 23rd
13 notes
““This law is simply a backward, visceral objection to the thought of a...”
– Nesrine Malik on Saudi Arabia’s laws that ban women from driving. More on recent efforts to protest the ban here.
May 23rd
19 notes
“what PRIVILEGE DO WE HAVE THAT YOU DON’T? African americans have their own Miss...”
– I just need a minute to bask in wonderment, at the sight of someone still using these arguments in 2011. I suppose it’s heartwarming to see some young people still appreciate the classics! (from this, sparked by this, if you’re a glutton for punishment)
May 23rd
122 notes
2 tags
May 19th
17 notes
Tangents: On Cornel, Obama and Identity
Jay: Much as I admire Dr. West, I have to agree with my fellow mutt Adam Serwer on Cornel’s attempt to diagnose Obama’s blackness. Lola Muldrew: I appreciate this perspective on Dr. West’s commentary, and I also find myself repeatedly troubled when I read about how biracial or multiracial people (where one of those “pieces” is black) talk about their experiences...
May 19th
64 notes
3 tags
“It’s hard to tell whether one is winning or, in fact, losing once one starts to think of oneself as a commodity, or a product, or a character, or a voice for the downtrodden. It’s called losing perspective.” - Roseanne, via Molls This, in a way, is a big part of why it’s hard for me to make videos regularly. Other than my years teaching at the group home, the extremely...
May 17th
83 notes
Wait, what?
. . . . . . . . .
May 17th
158 notes
4 tags
“Initially I was really pleased that all these people claimed that they wanted me...”
– from Kelefa Sanneh’s new interview with Earl and his mother.
May 16th
38 notes
certainshadeofmoreno asked: Jsmoooth! Is there a recognizable consensus on Goblin yet? We wanna hear Jsmooooth disagree!
May 14th
18 notes
Mike Huckabee's Cartoons
We don’t know whether former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is running for president, but he is getting into education. Huckabee wants to help America’s school children connect with our storied past so he’s co-founded an education company called “Learn Our History” which produces and sells cartoon history videos for kids. Notice how they recognized that due...
May 12th
24 notes
5 tags
May 11th
334 notes
1 tag
May 11th
54 notes
After seeing this make-fetch-happen non-controversy about the notorious gangster rapper Common performing at the White House, I went on Wikipedia to confirm my recollection that Johnny “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die” Cash was also invited to perform there, by a Republican President. The answer is yes this happened, and it comes with a cool anecdote: When invited to...
May 10th
121 notes
.jnf.: Oh hey speaking of ridiculous things to get... →
Animal ethicists are calling for a new vocabulary about animals, shunning words such as “pets,” “wildlife,” and “vermin” as derogatory and even suggesting “animal” is a “term of abuse.” Common language on fauna betrays an “anthropocentric bias” and impedes an understanding of our interaction… I do think language matters, and I’m down with dropping “owner” in favor of...
May 10th
115 notes
illwithit asked: Whats your opinion on Lil B?
May 10th
20 notes
1 tag
garden-hoe21 asked: If you could live inside any song, which song would it be?
May 10th
13 notes
“ “The ease with which the larger society absorbed and diluted hippie...”
– Abbie
May 10th
11 notes
4 tags
Addendum to my last post
I respect a devoted fanbase, and this one is well deserved, but really tho: it’s funny how many OFWG acolytes will admonish you never to take OFWG’s humor literally, while tending to take any humor about OFWG quite literally. So for these prickly devotees: no, that joke did not encompass the totality of my thoughts on the group. I’ve been following them since Hot Ass Beat...
May 9th
18 notes
itsallstrange: jsmooth995: A brief summary of the lyrical themes explored on Tyler the Creator’s “Goblin”: 1. Feeling emo makes me want to be provocative. 2. Why are people provoked whenever I say something provocative? This is so unfair and makes me feel emo. 3. Repeat step one. Be careful, he hates bloggers.  This is serendipitous, since bloggers love being hated by artists....
May 8th
122 notes
A brief summary of the lyrical themes explored on Tyler the Creator’s “Goblin”: 1. Feeling emo makes me want to be provocative. 2. Why are people provoked whenever I say something provocative? This is so unfair and makes me feel emo. 3. Repeat step one.
May 7th
122 notes
bethlehemshoals: […] The challenge, and the real reason for engaging art, is finding your way back home. How can you get past that initial impulse to titter? That ironic alienation was once an accepted strategy, and remains ingrained to this day, is kind of disgusting. […] word.
May 7th
10 notes
“That quote from yesterday was pretty good advice, even if I didn’t say it.”
–  Martin Luther King Jr.
May 3rd
320 notes
May 3rd
1,350 notes
3 tags
최선을 다하다★: glitterybacon: jsmooth995: The two big... →
glitterybacon: OH NO STOP EVERYTHING PEOPLE AREN’T ALLOWED TO BE HAPPY OR EXCITED ABOUT A ROYAL WEDDING BECAUSE OTHER THINGS ARE HAPPENING This is a rather unfair misrepresentation of my post. I spoke for no one but myself, and passed no judgment on anyone else’s emotion or reaction. Please see my response to pdaervo here.
May 3rd
352 notes
Feeling mixed emotions, and not feeling inclined to judge anyone else’s emotions. Not even the “dude, we totally killed him, SPRING BREAK!!!” kids I see on tv, even if I feel uncomfortable watching them. I cannot presume to know what’s inspiring it, or how each of them feels connected with the tragedy and history that led up to this. I’m glad, and moved, that some...
May 2nd
87 notes
1 tag
May 1st
76 notes