The Constorium of Greater Minds

I’ve been meaning to post about his for over a month. Last February, I was invited to attend Dilla Day at XM studios, the headquarters of XM Satellite Radio, here in DC. It was a retrospective of J-Dilla’s life and music featuring a panel discussion with hip hop icons Pete Rock and Talib Kweli and special guest Ma Yancey. Attendance was strictly limited to 60 people; mostly people in the music game. I worked my producer/WMUC DJ/music-blogger credentials to scoop up one of the limited tickets for myself. Needless to say, the entrance policy kept things pretty intimate.

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As most people about to graduate do, I started up the dreaded job search. I knew this day would come again, as I had already experienced this when I got my undergrad. This is the great time when you look through hundreds of online job descriptions that don’t make any sense, but you apply anyways.

Sample:

Job: Operations Research Analyst, U.S. Airforce
Major Duties: Apply rigorous methods of logic and scientific disciplines to develop and evaluate alternative approaches and courses of action for a wide spectrum of problems.

wide range of problems, hey why not….

Operations Research Analyst, U.S. Army
Major Duties: This position is developmental. You will utilize professional knowledge of mathematical, statistical, econometric, and other scientific methods and techniques to perform a variety of Cost Analysis duties in support of HQDA.

Do I know what HQDA is? Hell no…but lets apply anyways…

Its also the time when you put your resume for those on campus interviews and talk to some jackass about how much you would love to inslave yourself to his company if given the chance while he talks about how much he loves his job in designing bombs that inflict maximum damage to the target, while i sit and wonder if his work has killed any innocent lives…

And the best part was when I get a missed fone with no voice mail, which i google the number to find out who had called me. Its the patent office, which I wouldn’t mind working for. After calling back to the number 3 times a day for a week, I finally get through to someone who looks up my file and asks if I will finish by may, when it clearly says on my resume that I will graduate in aug. Then he tells me if i change my mind (ie drop out of grad school with 4 months remaining) that i should give him a call back soon, since I can take a lower position with a b.s., if not call back in the summer. Why the hell would I drop out of grad school???

I’m sure the frustrations will continue, and Ill keep you guys posted on who I sign my soul away to…

a poem by yeats:

THAT is no country for old men. The young
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations – at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God’s holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

come ON aron, are you serious? is this really what the kids need – more low quality high priced crap logo tees – kalani and i were taking more chances ironing shit on haynes tees in my parent’s kitchen five years ago?? i mean this cat is undeniably cool and down with “the scene” but what is the scheisse for real?? when there are brands like supreme, visvim, neighborhood, w)taps, etc. etc. how can rubbish like this be taken seriously anymore? [ off bower productions]

i know it’s been out a minute but if you haven’t already – see this movie! it is awesome and i mean old school awesome as in inspiring awe…they don’t make too many movies like this these days. such a character study, such progression you can see the man corrupt before your eyes. and what a performance by daniel day lewis – one of the best in the history of film? the movie is quiet and methodical and dark, so dark. don’t expect a great deal of action but expect an intricate, detailed and insidious look into the evil that lurks in man. the movie is layered and so epic (have i skipped any adjectives?) in proportion and the soundtrack so well fitting – i’m so hyped up, but i truly believe it is a great film. alright, enough – check it our for yourself! peace

Henry Watts made his exodus from the Midwest during the end of summer of his eighteenth year and arrived in Portland with two suitcases and a very constricted view of the world, but he was determined not to fall prey to the small town curse and he made every effort to rid himself of the smell of the farm and the humble life that accompanied it. School kicked off in late September just as cool winds blowing in from the Cascades began to carry away any memory of summer and Henry started the year at Lewis and Clark nervous with a raw naivety born of a childhood confined by narrow horizons.
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This is what sweetness hears when he sleeps

Not Bill Shatner’s but it works

A catchy tune that has novelty value

If you like Lupe this might be your bag

The sample to one of the greatest songs of all time by the greatest woman of all time

have i been living under a rock all these years…i mean, to be honest, i’d heard of this cat, but i just never KNEW. man, such good music and song writing. a sampling

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/FG0-cncMpt8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]into my arms – beautiful, beautiful song

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another weekend, another beautiful saturday…just can’t stay in doors when the world outside is coming out of it’s season long malaise. the vibrancy and life in the air is palpable. families, old couples, young couples, friends, solo travelers, school groups, visitors and locals alike all out in the sunshine…everybody loves the sunshine. the city alive and thriving, alive and well, and me alive within it. i love the city. some shots from a day in ueno

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