The Daily Show: "The 11/3 Project"

You can either call Glenn Beck "batshit crazy", or you can just show the world how batshit crazy he is by way of mockery. On Thursday's episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart opts for the latter.

WATCH:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
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2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards: They Saved the Best Cypher for Last (VIDEO)

(via nahright.com)

Yet Another "Guess What Happened on Twitter?" Blog

I'm sure you know by now that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize early yesterday morning. And if you're a political junkie like I am, you also know that not every American was happy about it, including a fellow Twitter user who decided to vent his frustrations by way of the site:

what the FUCK did Obama win a Nobel Peace Prize for??? SMH

I answered his question by linking to a New York Times article that quotes Thorbjørn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee:

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," Jagland said. "We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future, but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do."

As I said to the other guy, "the headline speaks for itself".

Then he hit me with this one:

FUCK OBAMA!!! and his peace prize and anyone who dont know he's a puppet for international banking cartels...

So basically, fuck America.

I asked him if he had proof of those claims, and he linked me to The Obama Deception, a YouTube documentary by Alex Jones - a documentary full of lies and half-truths that can be easily debunked by anyone with access to Google and basic reading comprehension skills. (Yes, I watched it.) Anyway, after posting a link to a blog that debunks the movie, he continues to quote lies from it in a series of tweets:

he borrowed $800 BILLION at HUGE interest from the Fed Res bank (owned by int. banking cartels) that ints. is UNREGULATED!

you dont get out of debt by borrowing more money, that we pay back at unregulated interest. JFK wanted to abolish the Fed Res!

And my favorite:

he could have printed that stimulus money thru the National Treasury, at no additional cost to the American people.

If it were that easy, the Great Depression would never have happened.

Anyway, while he was tweeting, I found an even more thorough debunking of the documentary (31 pages long, with over 400 references), and this is the thanks I got:

wow, some shit blog just changed my life. Obama's not a puppet for the N.W.O. the Fed Res is good, Big Brother is love...SMH

Now, I know a "shit blog" when I write see one, and that wasn't it - not with all of the research that went into it. I doubt he even bothered to read past its title.

But we weren't done. I responded with this:

I know the feeling. Some shit YouTube documentary changed my life, too. Hell, at least I watched the thing, man!

He decided to declare himself the winner of the debate with this one:

you spell five and four with a PH...yeah, im done debating with you...keep following blindly : )

Said the pot to the kettle.

Oh, and he was quite proud of himself for that jab at my username - so proud that he re-tweeted his own tweet - and added the word "SWISH" behind it. Yeah, you really got me with that one, pal.

And I always know I've outdone someone when they have to resort to insults, anyway.

I won't reveal his username here, but I will say that it's way more difficult to pronounce than mine. Also, I clicked the link to his site, and it turns out that he's a(n aspiring?) rapper - which means he'll probably record a song about me.

But here's the good news: No one will hear it.

Am I the Bill Cosby of Hip-Hop Fans?

You know, when I was a kid, my mom constantly questioned my love of Hip-Hop. One of her initial criticisms of the art form was that there was no singing involved; later, she was bothered by the strong language used by groups like NWA and the 2-Live Crew. (One of her favorite rap songs, however, was "The Message" by Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five.) OK, she had a point with the language thing - I mean, not many parents would willingly let their kids listen to songs like "Me So Horny" - but I didn't understand why she hated songs like "Paid In Full" or even "Rapper's Delight". I remember promising myself that no matter how old I got, I would never stop keeping up with current music. That promise is becoming more and more difficult to keep.

I still love Hip-Hop, but listing to the local Clear Channel-owned "Hip-Hop" station has become an exercise in futility. There are exceptions, but most of the songs are just unbearable. I hear almost no lyrical skill, no innovative beats, and even the song titles make me grimmace. ("Stanky Leg"? "Stanky Leg"?! Why not "Busy Leg"? "Shaky Leg"? "Restless Leg Syndrome"? But I digress.) When a friend asked me why I'm always so critical of mainstream Hip-Hop, I responded, "Because I'm tired of hearing it done wrong."

Not long after that conversation, I realized something: Bill Cosby and I have a lot in common.

I don't know what sparked it , but ever since that controversal "Pound Cake" speech, Dr. Cosby hasn't backed down from being critical of Black America when he believes it's warranted; ever since that whole "Jiggy" era, I haven't backed down from being critical of Hip-Hop when it's neccessary. Cosby often turns his listeners off with his bluntness; a friend once warned me that voicing my criticisms of Southern Hip-Hop could get me jumped. I know Cosby does what he does out of love and concern for Black people; I'm more concerned about Hip-Hop than I've never been. Cosby wants us to do right by ourselves and each other, and so do I. But I also want Hip-Hop to do right by its listeners.

But despite my criticisms, no matter how much shit I talk about it, no matter how many times I've wanted to shoot my TV like Elvis after seeing a whack-ass video, I do believe Hip-Hop will get better. It has to.

And when it does, I'll have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up.

The Life and Times of DJ Calculus: The Prologue

Ever since I started this blog, I've been wondering if I should tell more of my personal stories instead of just sharing my opinions on certain things - like politics and the current state of mainstream Hip-Hop. ("You're A Jerk"? Seriously, people?) But then I realized something: My personal life simply isn't all that exciting. Sure, I could bore you to tears with "That's when I realized my shoestrings were un-tied" stories, but I'd like to keep the two readers I have, thank you.

However, there was a time when my life was almost too exciting.

If you've ever read my "Tell Us About Yourself" survey on my MySpace profile, follow me on Twitter, read one of my previous blogs, or know me personally, you already know that I used to be a DJ. Interesting times - times I spent spinning vinyl, dancing (yes, dancing), drinking way too much Budweiser, and trying to get laid (something you should never do after drinking way too much Budweiser). I can honestly say it was the time of my life, something worth writing about.

So let this serve as an advertisment of sorts for an upcoming series on my last five years in New Orleans, which were spent doing something I wanted to do since I saw Herbie Hancock and Grand Mixer D.ST. (now DXT) perform "Rockit" on SNL, when I was twelve or thirteen. I'll talk about everything from how I got started doing it, my favorite (and least favorite) gigs, and how some bitch named Katrina took it all away. Also, you'll hear some now-embarrassing tales of drunken mayhem (at least the ones I can remember - it was drunken mayhem, after all). Stay tuned...

(I should also mention that these blogs may be slow in coming. My life may be boring, but I'm still a busy guy.)

Now THIS is a "WTF?!" Moment!

Normally, whenever I post a video in my blog, it's preceded by some sort of commentary (a fact both of my readers are well aware of). But nothing I say about this video - from tonight's Countdown with Keith Olbermann - can do it any justice. You'll just have to watch:

...And In Other News, Hell Freezes Over

On Wednesday's edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Fox's resident douchebag himself accused CNN of undercovering the shooting of Army recruiter William Long. CNN's Rick Sanchez didn't take kindly to O'Reilly's, ahem, "misstatement", as seen in the following video:



Later on the Factor, O'Reilly does two things he almost never does: (1)He apologizes to CNN, and (2)he actually admits he was wrong!

WATCH:



You know what's amazing? Even as he admits his "mistake", O'Reilly still manages to get in a swipe at Sanchez. I guess anyone who proves him wrong is automatically "snide" and "surly".

O'Reilly promises a follow-up report on Monday. This should be interesting....

Examination of a Meme: Make That Money!

As a former DJ who considers himself "a Hip-Hop aficionado"; someone who doesn't take the art form lightly; someone who more than likely has better taste in music than you do (I'm just sayin'), it bothers me to hear fans defend today's music. I suppose I should get with the program and "stop hatin'" - I mean, things have changed, as they always do - but damn it, it's just not that easy for me.

Here's what happened: A few months ago on Twitter, I said that the Burger King commercial Darius Rucker did a few years ago led to the "downfall" of his career. (I know "Hootie" isn't a rapper, but you'll see where I'm going with this. Just bear with me.) I was half-joking, but minutes later, I get a reply from a troll Rucker fan who doesn't even follow me: "So you're saying it's not OK to do a commercial and get paid?" I responded, "No, but it's a bad commercial, in my opinion."

Earlier today, I saw all kinds of tweets in my timeline from people, mostly women, who were talking excitedly about Soulja Boy Tell'Em's appearance on the View. Now I didn't say anything, but I did re-tweet another user who basically said he wouldn't turn his television on since he knew Soulja Boy was going to be on it. Seconds later, a fan/defender says something to the effect of the following: "Stop Hatin'! He's making his money!"

See, that's what I'm talking about. Nowadays you can defend anything as long as you remind the naysayer of any financial gain. Lawyers could have a field day with this: "Yes, Your Honor, my client did indeed supply the drugs that caused the victim's overdose. But he should be found 'not guilty' because he did make money off of the deal. The prosecution is just hating."

The point I'm making is this: I can give you a list of reasons why I think Rakim is the greatest rapper ever, or why I affectionately refer to my favorite producer as "Lord Premier". But if you list any variation of "he's making his money!" as one of the reasons why you like a certain rapper, it will be almost impossible for me to consider you a true Hip-Hop fan. I'm just sayin'.

The Listening: A Few of My Mom's Favorite Songs

As of this writing, Mother's Day is just hours away. A joyous occasion for most of you, it's the day you show appreciation for the woman who gave you life by showering her with flowers, cards, gifts, and maybe by taking her out for lunch or dinner - or better yet, maybe you'll do the cooking. But it's not exactly the happiest day for me.

Because tomorrow is also the 18th anniversary of my mother's passing.

One thing I inherited from Mom is a love for music. She had quite a collection of 45s and albums that I wasn't even allowed to touch until I was about 12 or 13 years old. It was probably a good decision on her part; it was around that time when I learned how to scratch and cut, using the volume knob as a cross fader. I got an ass whipping every time she caught me doing it. (And you know what? I still wouldn't change a thing. I would go on to become a DJ from 2000 to 2005 partly because of it.)

My mom had little tolerance for the music of the 80's. She would always say things about music not sounding like it used to. I get a feeling that if she was still here, she would hate today's music even more. Lord knows I do (with a few exceptions). I swear, every time I complain aloud to no one in particular about songs that actually have the word "stanky" in the title, it reminds me of her complaining about songs with no singing in it. "It's not even music! 'Hip-hop, hippity-hip-hop'? What are they talking about?" (She did like a few rap songs, though. Three are included below.)

So if you'll indulge me, I would like to share a few of her favorite songs here. I think of her everytime I hear these (including "A Song for Momma", released a few years after her passing), and I know she is somewhere listening and smiling - and when appropriate, dancing.

I love you, Mom. (Monday, January 31, 1944 - Sunday, May 12, 1991)

Rachel Maddow, and the GOP's Fear Mongering

If there's one thing we know about the Republican Party, it's the fact that they love to scare the living shit out of the citizens of this nation. It's a fact that's certainly not lost on MSNBC's (and Air America's) Rachel Maddow, who not only criticizes the GOP's latest attempt to make us lose control of our excrement, but also shows the absurdity of that attempt through parody.

WATCH: