That's how I started my day. To clarify, Anthony is a student in the grade 10 Computer Tech class I was teaching this morning. Some students come in before the start of class to play video games on the school computers, and this particular zombie annihilation game had carried over to the start of the school day, I hated to interrupt his kill streak but it had to be done! Oh, Canada!
Just figured I'd start off by sharing that anecdote with my good friend, the world wide web, as well as my mother. I know you're out there and I know you're reading. It's been a good week so far, generally speaking, life is good. There is the familiar fragrance of spring in the air, the mornings are a fresh cool, but not a frozen cold. I hate to jinx the emerging new season, but I think we're finally out of the drones of winter - long
overdue. In fact, we are now 73 days away from the summer season, starting at 70 I will begin a countdown of summer "things" to help keep up the morale as we look forward to the best season Eastern Canada has to offer. If your summers are anything like mine, 70 highlights should be a warm summer breeze - and I'm not even counting that one. Countdown to the countdown - 3 days.Quick Movie Review - I saw "Lincoln Lawyer" with my father a few nights ago,
and I pleasantly surprised by what I saw. For once I felt they didn't spill too much in the trailer. (An aside - some previews these days should be accompanied by a spoiler alert following the "intended for all audiences" green screen - I'm of the mind that I've already seen the movie "Company Man". So let me see, Ben Affleck loses his job and his sense of worth, only to rededicate himself, pull himself up by his bootstraps and overcome the recession like a good hard working American, I know, I've seen the trailer like 3 times) But I digress, it's rare with the media hype these days that a film lives up to or exceeds expectations and LL exceeded my initial expectations, so boo-ray. Don't get me wrong you likely won't see this film up for any year end awards and Matthew McConaughey doesn't exactly stretch his range as a smooth talking, arrogant, defence lawyer. But the film is highly entertaining and does move from one scene to the next with good pace. Ryan Philippe plays a convincing role as the wrongfully accused (uh oh, is he?) defendant. If you enjoy a good legal thriller, where ethics and morals are put to the test then I would recommend checking it out. If you're just in it for Matthew McConaughey's jaw structure and abdomen, Surfer Dude is widely available at your local blockbuster.In other movie news, "Your Highness" is one film debuting this week. It's the follow up to director David Gordon Green's stoner success, "Pineapple Express". Follwoing a similar blueprint it features a couple of the major players from PE in Danny McBride and James Franco. This time the fellas are joined by Natalie Portman in a movie set in medieval times. This film promises to be "high" on laughs, if not on plot. "Hanna" also has piqued my interest and comes into theatres this weekend. It should be an action packed thriller, in which a young girl is trained by her father, an ex-CIA agent, play by Eric Bana. She undergoes rigorous training from a very young age to be a skilled assassin. After years of training, the young girl, play by newcomer Saoirse Ronan, (Also in The Lovely Bones) who is sent out by her father to complete a mission. I won't delve any further but think "Bourne Identity" meets "Leon (The Professional)". And lastly, there is the comedy "Arthur", starring comedian Russell Brand which also debuts this weekend. Based on the previews this film looks like a skipper for me, despite the fact that "Get Him To the Greek" and "Saving Sarah Marshall" were both worth watching. I think the formula grows a bit tired here and I question whether Brand has enough gusto to carry a full feature length film on his own, whereas he had a brilliant cast of supporting comedians in the past and was more of a bit player than the star of the show.
Pretty slow week as far as DVD's go: you can pick up a copy of Tron Legacy, on the 3rd instalment of the DeNiro/Stiller series "Little Fockers". Rush. Or don't. Also if you're an aficionado, the 10th anniversary Blu-Ray edition of "Memento" comes out this week. Loaded with extra features, and if you have yet to see it, do rush.
Mid Class:
Me: "Alright Anthony, let's get back to work there"
Anthony: "Alright, just as soon as I kill all these zombies!"
Me: "Of course, first things first."
Brilliant stuff really. So I was writing that Big K.R.I.T. review and listening to the album ad nauseam, when I concluded that the reason I like it so much is that it reminds me of what good Southern rap should sound like - good Southern rap should sound like Outkast. (IMHO, apologies to UGK, Goodie Mobb and the Geto Boys) While Big K.R.I.T. is undeniably his own man and has his own original flavour- it it is the heavy bass, Southern soul and g-funk that stands out to me as signature characteristics of an Outkast album. So in the days that followed I took a trip down memory lane and got back into some mid 90's Outkast.
This inspired me to share with you all an inspired list of the top 20 efforts by the dynamic duo of Andre "Three Stacks" 3000 and his partner in rhyme, Big Boi. It is important to note that this list will solely deal with albums the tandem completed together and will not include their individually complete double album "Speakerboxx/The Love Below" (despite the fact it kicks ass) or Big Boi's solo 2010 release, "Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son of Chico Dusty" (Arguably the best rap album of the year!) I'm looking more specifically at the Organized Noise produced, raw Southern Hip Hop that put them on the map as a rap power group in the mid 90's. So without further a do, he is my list of Outkast's best work.In descending order, from transcendent piece of art to uber-transcendent piece of art.
The sneaky extra honourable mentions: Over Da Wudz, West Savannah, Hootie Hoo, Git Up Git Out
20. Ms. Jackson (Stankonia)
19. Gasoline Dreams (Stankonia)
18. Aquemini (Aquemini)
17. Skew It On The Bar B (Aquemini)
16. Da Art of Storytellin' Pt.1 (Aquemini)
15. Babylon (Atliens)
14. Ain't No Thing (Southernplayalisticadillacmusic)
13. Jazzy Belle (Atliens)
12. B.O.B. (Stankonia)
11. Southernplayalisticadillacmusic (Southernplayalisticadillacmusic)
10. Elevators (Atliens)
9. So Fresh, So Clean (Stankonia)
8. We Luv Deez Hoez (Stankonia)
7. Rosa Parks (Aquemini)
6. Slump (Aquemini)
5. Return of the 'G' (Aquemini)
4. Wheelz of Steel (Atliens)
3. Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac) (Atliens)
2. Atliens (Atliens)
1. Chonkyfire (Aquemini)
Many rappers would be hard pressed to put together a top 20; coming up with twenty from 'Kast is easy. It was making the cuts and fixing the order that was the order of the day.
My comparison to Big K.R.I.T. may be premature and is mostly concerning
their earliest work where they collaborated almost exclusively with Organized Noise. Big K.R.I.T can only hope that he matures as an artist in a similar fashion as the pair of Andre Benjamin and Andre Patton two artists in the rap game that would fit on my Rap Mount Rushmore, if it had five heads or a Siamese thing going on. What an adventure of different sounds they have explored, nearly always with great success, save for the Idlewild thing. Otherwise the catalogue is top-notch. From early space funk era of "Southernplayalisticaddilacmusic" and "Atliens", to the ethereal feeling of "Aquemini", transformed the futuristic sounds of "Stankonia", only to switch it up and release a double individual effort with "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which emphasized each rappers individual talents. Clearly they have grown in different directions musically throughout this process, we can only hope that their paths find a cross section again soon. Check out "Royal Flush" on YouTube for one of their latest sessions. It's not overly new but if you haven't heard it, both 'Dre 3000 and Boi cut this one up, one of Benjamin's epic verses in my opinion. Raekwon also drops by and holds his own.
In other music news, this week marks the 17th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's descent into the netherworld. Pretty unbelievable that it has been that long, also hard to believe the impact himself and Nirvana continue to have on the music world after all these years. In really doesn't get much better than 1991's "Nevermind", an album that changed the landscape of popular music in the early 90's and propelled North American music out of the anthem hair metal of the 80's and into the grunge alternative sound of the 90's. Rest in peace KC.
Newly available albums include: Bizzy Bone has a new album out, Jim Jones drops "Capo", so it's one of those weeks where you just save your money I suppose.
10 minutes left in class.
Me: "Anthony, for the last time stop playing that game. I thought you had only a few left to kill?"
Anthony: "Yeah I do, but then they just keep on coming!"
Me: "Ain't that the truth."
Some people's kids.
Keep on rockin' in the free world. P
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