Grad school? Who me?

It has been 11 years since I set foot in a classroom, well to be taught. I've done contracts in schools before, but that's different. This time I am in the graduate educational Technology program at NC Central University. Grad school seems like its going to be a breeze. I have alot of experience with the hardware and software used in classrooms nowadays, having done consulting work NCCU and a few other schools in the area in the past, in addition to my corporate experience (same equipment, older kids :-)

One interesting thing that I've experienced thus far is far less books than undergrad, and so far all my professors emphasize "There are right or wrong answers" unless of course you don't know and can't talk a good game. My goal is to finish in a year and a half (by challenging several of the lower level classes) and graduate summa cum laud? (glad I don't need to know how to spell it to get it). Wish me luck!

And you know some things change, but some things stay the same. This time I was able to register for class and financial aid online, so that saved tremendous time that during my undergrad years were spent in long lines in the summer heat. The things that stayed the same...My classes got dropped over the weekend before classes start and I had to re-register (but online though-yay) There were still waaaaay more women than men on campus.There still plenty of hot (but young and insecure) women (well, girls) baring pretty much all that they legally can. Straight out of a rap video wardrobe, that can never seemed to be pulled down (to cover) enough if they are not met with curious eyes. Funny and sad, first time away from mommy and daddy and they choose to go that route. You thought THAT would be cute? There should be a message board where parents could see the result of efforts. Well, maybe not that harsh, because some of that is growth, or a "phase", then after realizing the the kind of guys that "all out there" revealing clothes attract, things change.

Blog Tag, schmlog schmlag

Okay, for some reason I was "tagged" by some cohorts to give up some private goodies, ten of my favorite songs or songs i've listened to the most or the last ten songs...sumpin'. All this drama, you would think a guy could have some privacy in his blog. :-)

So here ya go...

1. Mondo Grosso (Kyoto Jazz Massive) - Subtream
I was recently turned on to him listening to a house stream on iTunes. The only translation of the name - if it's italian is "Large (or big) World" He's apparently really big producer in Japan - like Dr. Dre or Quincy Jones His albums are often compilations of other artists. Some of his music is soulful, most of it is upbeat jazzy house music. Nice to work to or drive on the highway. Zooooom-zooom. Okay so I drive a mazda. :-)

2. Brand New Heavies - Boogie
This group is from the other side of the pond (Great Britain) and their sound is kind of an eclectic, jazzy 70's funk redone for the 05. ....you need to hear it yourself. They have turned out quite a few albums, and gone through many led singers. They started with N'Dea Davenport (who was my personal favorite), but then she left and Siadah? Garrett came on (remember her from that one song with Michael Jackson). In this song, Boogie vocals are provided by Nicole Ausso, maybe 3rd time's a charm.

3. Men Against Cool - Pivot Throw
Okay this is another group down with Mondo Grosso. I've never heard of them, but this song is niiiiiice. It's a jazz thing, maybe you'll get it. Trumpets, drum high hat....whuuuuut youngblood? Check, check check check it out!

4. Pieces of a Dream (featuring Ronny Jordan) - Philly High
Ronny Jordan is a jazz guitarist from....the UK (maybe I need to go there and get some bootleg mixtapes) He was really big when acid jazz became popular. He has been labelled a contemporary jazz artist (aka smoooooth jazz), but alot of his stuff is more soulful and rhythmic, oftentimes with things other than him (guitar), drum beat, piano, etc. He is one of my all time jazz favorites, one of the first musicians I "understood" in terms of music without words. Early Miles and Contrane and the like was a little beyond me, but Mr. Jordan I loved.

5. Jill Scott - Golden
C'mon now, it's Jill Scott! You know the deal. Soulful, vibrant and classy

6. Masters at Work (Jody Watley featuring Roy Ayers) - I love to love (Masters at Work original)
You ever heard of these guys? They are the masterminds behind New York dance music. They have worked with everybody, like a Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis of club music. Uptempo, you know that music that make you wanna dance...get all in your shoulder and your foot. Matter of fact, excuse for a mome....

Okay, next song :-)

7. Arturo Sandoval - Trumpet Fanfare
This guy is master trumpeteer, born in communist Cuba and became a student the late great Dizzy Gillespy. He left Cuba so that he could play his music when he wanted. He is still alive (I think) and has become a naturalized US citizen. You may want to check out the movie about his life "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story" (2000) This song sounds like the trumpets that will play at the rapture, heroic and majestic. It's only 2:52 but man you will appreciate it. Arturo's music is wonderful to listen to when you want the latin flair, and for when you want to hear a pure musician at work.

8. Greyboy - Freestylin'
This guy is somebody else you ain't neva heard of. He is a DJ, and he mixes beat tracks over live instruments (if I'm not mistaken) and samples other songs. Its acid jazz (late 90') type, before all the other genres were born (trance, drums and bass, etc.) It's like a hip hop beat, but instead of rapping, its a sax or a flute. Great for a "approaching mid-30's guy" so I can still be hip hop, but not that one old guy at club with the beer gut and the fat gold chain sayin "cum 'ere baby gal...."

9. Elis Regina - Zazueira
The era was mid 1960's. Remember "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In"? No? Okay nevermind. Elis was really big back then....in Brazil. This song is intrinsic, fun and carefree...and spanish - i have no idea what she's saying. I can't even find a translation of the title on Google. She was a breakout performer, in jazz/latin and bossa nova. I've read some of her live performances can be likened to Billie Holiday in the way she sretches her voice. Tragically, Elis died of a drug overdose in 1982.

10. Cassandra Wilson - Nine
I'm on this yahoo writer's listserv Prolific Writers Network, and we were discussing poetry and rhythm rhyme. This song by Cassandra Wilson reminesces about being nine years old, and towards the end she says some phrases that you remember from back them, and they rhyme, but her rhythm is such harmony....breathtaking. Download itunes for free (www.itunes.com) and sample it, or heck buy it for a $1. You know you got it.


There. Happy now? I feel so naked and vulnerable.

SIKE!

Do realize that this is not my top ten favorite songs, cause its no MIles Davis, Grover Washington, De La Soul, etc., etc. But it is a nice glimpse into my taste for music and world culture. Maybe one day I'll get to see and hear this music in the countries that they were born out of.

oil, politics and greed

Ever since this whole Iraq thing started, I was suspicious. After I saw Farenheit 9/11 I was more suspicious. I think Sept. 11th was planned, but that is a whole other set of blog entries. Even before 9/11 I remember hearing on the news that "due to miscalculations, more heating oil was produced then needed so expect higher gas prices this summer" and vice versa for heating oil. I always thought that was a bunch of croc, a line to feed the public to justify higher profits. I think this iraq war stuff is just a cover for the military industrial complex Lyndon Johnson was talking about (the speech at the beginning of the movie JFK) There is no other way to justify all the money being spent with no enemy in sight. Saddam? Got him. Bin Laden? Do you think they REALLY want to find him? Reminds me of Vietnam, which was a cover for moving drugs in the "golden triangle." But this is much easier because what, OIL IS A LEGAL HUSTLE. They can make money all over the place, imagine if you knew what oil was going to do (increase or decrease in production), and you have a friend in the stock market. You could make a mint!

I also think an increasingly present side effect of this whole "war on terror" thing is getting people to trust that their government will protect them, and for alot of people they will. People can see terrorism, you can see government, you can't see God (if you even believe in God) He's not in the news very often. Faith is being tried in times like these. Those that don't have strong faith in their God will have faith in something....why not the largest entity they know...government. I prefer Jesus.

I read an article today in http://english.aljazeera.net/ that said...

"People talked about $60 (per barrel) crude slowing economies around the world. But here in the US, (Federal Reserve Chairman) Alan Greenspan is telling us the economy is doing great and getting stronger," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Florida. "It bodes well for crude testing the $70 range."

Even so, Cordier said he has been stunned by the recent runup in oil and gasoline prices and the lack of any response from motorists. Gasoline prices averaged $2.37 a gallon nationwide last week, while demand picked up by 1.4% from a year ago, according to the government data.

Cordier said prices at the pump may continue climbing "until consumers are crying uncle, which they're not."

What that says to me is that they will keep raising the cost of gas as long as the market continues to go up. Throw in the fact that SUVs have outsold cars over the past 2 years and you have a very large amount of money going in the wallets of a very small group of people. I've read that the US is only 4.5% of the world population, but we use almost 20% of the world's fossil fuels. NOT GOOD. What's worse is that best case scenarios say that at current consumption rates, there is only about 50-70 years of fossil fuel left on the world's reserves. When that happens it will be pure chaos worldwide. Thats not just car gas, but cooking gas, household (heating) gas, lawn mower and chain saw, boat and airplane. If they can't get folks to realize that AIDS can kill you, how in the world do they expect people to realize the earth is running out of gas? That will cripple the world economy, people will go back to horses and plows...unless of course hybrid tractors!?!

It's also interesting how the media portrays "environmentalists" as strange people that live on compounds, farming their land, meditating with "the one" and scrounging restaurant dumpsters for clothes and odd items. These are all extreme examples, but if its so important, why does recycled stuff cost MORE than regular stuff? I think we could all do our part with say fluorescent light bulbs and maybe a hybrid car once the prices come down some. I think I'm going to do the solar panel thing when i can afford a house, but I have not seen a "practical guide to saving energy" yet, so it's all a big mystery soo far.

A friend of mine that is from Africa (I forgot what country) says that they have electricity, but sporadically it will blackout or brownout anytime. So I said "what if I wanted to build a house there...could I get a generator(s)" He said yeah, but then I would have to worry about neighbors and looters stealing it. Can you imagine that. No wait...generators run on gas! Dayum, dayum dayum. Yeah, this thing is serious. But who cares right?

the bad part of convergence

I was watching this show on E! called "Kill Reality" and its about a bunch of ex reality show people that have been picked to to star in a horror movie. In the first episode the producer of the show played an answering machine message from a talent agent that was....well, a little peeved. He went on about "reality wannabe's taking food out of the mouths of real actors" etc. I thought about it and I realized that is going on in every industry nowadays.

-Rappers are getting more movie roles
-Print on Demand allows no-name authors to get published (and shelf space) next to accomplished authors
-Neophyte (Internet) business owners can be as successful as MBA from college grads

Then there are those anomolies that have always happened
-kids that can sing and get a record deal from being heard while they are listening to thei walkman, and adults with singing coaches that couldn't get a record deal if they mute the entire planet
-"walk up" tryouts in sports do better than trained pros
and so on.

My point is that the world is changing in so many ways, time is too short to hold a grudge. Make the most of your time here. Smile at somebody (without drooling-its unbecoming), do something nice for no reason, pass gas and pretend it wasn't you...have fun and take it light.

Every time i try to get out...

So they finally got me. After months of "honey, you should get a blog, it would be nice." and "Yeah John, bloggin' is cool." I finally gave in. This is my first entry. My life will never be the same.