BE

My brother:

"Check out the title track on Common's new album."

Two days go by before I get to peep it. Two days wasted. I am now listening to it for the 5th time or so as I respond back to my brother:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! THIS SHIT IS BANANABONKERS!!!!!"

And this one's for the folks who don't know my brother or Common. I got an interesting Houston Chronicle article when I googled to find some info to share with my blog-reading friends.

But back to this BANANABONKERS track!! Common has always said things that make me stop and rewind. My girlfriend, bless her heart, listened to me go on about the importance of artists like this for a while before I got off my raving. If I really get into it right now, I'll probably have to go to work without any sleep. Suffice to say that Common provides a message without sacrificing skill. Some artists lapse on what they are trying to say in order to exhibit skill or a keep a groove going in their song. Common is on a different level: no, I wouldn't give a perfect 10 to every song from his albums, but I do respect that he doesnt falter on his expression. It's not just a drive to say something positive, it's just his expression. "I just wanna be..." that's what he leaves us with at the end of this track.

But I haven't even talked about the SONG! the song, the song, the SONG!! It's so musical, the bass and the strings, I'm sure that's Kanye's doing. I could listen to this groove ride on instrumental for a long time, but the music is just the gravy. I really almost posted the lyrics here, and I'd love to, but go hear the track before you ruin it by reading them. Hit up yahoo Launch! or CDNow or something, you don't even have to buy it to hear a sample, though you should. I'm loving this moment because it the rest of the album doesn't matter right now: I've never heard an album where every track is the best; there may be a better track on it. All I know is that this is brand new to me now and it's hot; there's a highly unlikely chance that the record is trash, maybe I grow tired of this song, whatever, but none of that matters now, because this moment, when it's new and dope, and it's telling you so many vital things that you can't hope to catch everything it can offer, is one of the defining reasons why we have music.

Wow, that was the short version. I'll tell you how the rest of the album is after I get it.

Country-Ass Roads in the C.O.V.

The town of Covington in Newton County is a place that probably has a very different history from the cities I grew up around. I hear that the apartment complex where I live was farmland just a few decades ago. Back then, they say Atlanta was a much smaller town that was far, far away from Newton County’s residents. Now, Newton County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. The development and urbanization scares some of the folks around here – there was a local politician who made his campaign slogan “Let’s keep Atlanta in Atlanta!”

Wow. I could tirade for hours about the ultra-conservative, racist undertones to a statement like that, but I leave that to another post, or to my commenters. From my view, Covington still has a character to it that you cannot get in a more developed place, like the sprawling city that lies within I-285, 35 miles west of me.

I’ve never minded long drives with no destination or direction; it usually gets me lost temporarily, then allows me to prevent myself from getting lost in the same area later on. I inherited my grandmother’s car two years ago when she passed on; I was still in Providence at the time; I was lazy about getting my driver’s license because of the public transit in the northeast and the thought that I would never get a car until I could afford one. Most of my aimless driving trips have been in Covington, Atlanta and in between, but my first was in Providence; I drove through providence, Pawtucket, and another town I can’t remember before I ended up in Cumberland. Hungry and lost, I ate lunch at a family Portuguese restaurant, found some directions back to the highway and made it back to Prov. just in time for a staged “chance meeting” to quickly greet my girlfriend’s parents before they headed to the airport. That meeting and the history behind it are also worth a separate post.

Back to aimless driving, no longer in Prov., now in Cov. The roads here wind and meander through middle-of-nowhere areas and into your town square; they can pretty quickly take you into the next town's square and into the next county before you notice. If you’ve lived and driven in a city all your life, it’s very interesting. Signs are less abundant since the roads are for the locals whose best road guide is their memory. You can’t get directions without someone referencing the local church or some other story-worthy landmark. And trees… trees, trees and more trees. The trees give you a comfortable feeling of solitude in your car without making you feel boxed in. The music that goes best with these country road drives is stuff that comes from this type of geography. Without me telling it to, my Ipod seems to spit out “American Pie” by Don MacLean or some Nappy Roots when I’m on these drives, listening to my library on shuffle.

I’m sure that my writing turns something very exciting for me into something boring and random for you to read, but take this away if nothing else: grab some good music, and your phone, or some other form of emergency communication (you will get lost if you do this right), and go on a drive with no particular destination. See what you see, and let me know how it feels.

Serrated Innuendos and Book Riding

*Until I come up with something good for each person, I’ll come up with whatever nickname for my closest friends and fam until something sticks for each one. Friends, apologies if they come off deeply lame.

The topic of discussion over lunch: “Fashion Nugget” by Cake . Some of you have never heard of them, some of you heard them in Grade School or High School. As usual, I am somewhere in between. My playlist will generally consist of odd cominations like Boot Camp Click and Audioslave; A Tribe Called Quest and Vanessa Carlton; Etc, etc. I grew up listening to mostly Hip Hop and my favorite Hip Hop is from my teen years. Now I’m discovering other music that other people have known about forever. My musical tastes are now a bit eclectic: I’m like a spurned urban 14-year-old boy, or a poetry writing suburban 14 year old girl. I guess I’m a punk 14-year-old either way.

Anyway, Cake – The song is “Italian Leather Sofa” and it’s rife with innuendo. Is this particular part innuendo?

She’s got a serrated edge, that she moves back and forth,
It’s such a simple device; she doesn’t have to use force,
When she gets what she wants, she puts the rest on the shelf,
In a ZipLock Baaaaaaaag… in the freezer.

Weird band, lots of fun.

*Bar-Chemist Coworker Buddy: Well it could be, but I’m afraid to say for what.
Me: Uh… well, its not violent…
Buddy: Yea. Ok…
Me: Ok, we know what it is.

My girlfriend saw the innuendo too, then commented:

*GF/Future Healer: And what about that other song [“Open Book”], “She’s riding, she’s riding, she’s riding a novel…”
Me (amused): That’s “writing” a novel, babe.
GF: Ah hah! I wondered what the hell she was doing with that book.

I love the girl.

WWW (What a Work Week) for BootyJarvis

An experienced blogging friend of mine told me to update my site at least once a week, even if it’s just unpremeditated brain farts and ramblings. Maybe a few things happened this week that are worth mentioning:

Monday, Two idiotic exchanges in about 30 seconds:

Coworker, from across the hall: “Hey!”
Me: “Good Morning!”
Coworker: “How’s it going?”
Me: “Good!”
Coworker: “Good!”
Me: “Good!”

?!!??!?!!?

My manager, walking down the hall: “Good morning”
Me: “How’s it going?”
Manager: “Getting ready to head out of here [for the airport]”
Me: “Well let me know if you need to … let me know anything before you go”
Manager: “Thanks.”

Remind me not to speak to anyone before I’ve had coffee, please.

I get a call at the end of Monday telling me to show up at 6:45 am Tuesday if I want to see some procedures in our local hospital Operating Room.

Many people wouldn’t jump at an opportunity to get up 90 minutes early to see a human butcher shop, so let me explain why this is very exciting. Guys in medical device Research & Development tend to spend less time going to conferences, seeing customers, etc. I’ve been lucky lately: conference in southern Florida, conference in Vegas… even the trips to our plant in desert-like Nogales, Mexico have been cool. BUT, I was looking to see some of our nurse and doctor customers since last year. It lets us see how our devices help folks and such, and gives us new ideas to work on.

It takes a strong stomach to see that stuff, but I was fine… even though two weeks ago I was getting queezy watching online footage of surgeries (later, I’ll give y’all a flashback on this that I find pretty funny). I saw two procedures that were cool, but not really mind-blowing. Urology procedures… it was a lot more male anatomy than anyone really wants to see.

Then, 30 minutes before my O.R. day is done, half of which was spent waiting, a nurse says “If you want to see a stat C-section, put your masks on, go in room four and stay out of the way!”

Ho-lee shit! A young woman comes in with a breech baby. The mother’s already numbed up from an epidural and the baby doesn’t seem to be in a rush anymore, so the pace slows just a little bit, no big danger for mom or baby.

They get the room set up and it begins… Lots of blood, but seemed to be under control. I think a natural birth would have been tougher for me to watch. “The Miracle of Childbirth”…I am almost speechless about it to this day. All I can say is that it really is a miracle. She goes in with a big belly and seemingly out of nowhere, there’s another person there! Simply amazing. One might think this would kill someone’s sex drive, or make the rest of life seem a little scary; folks, don’t be scared. From my vantage point, watching wide-eyed from the corner of a room full of medical magicians facilitating a miracle for that couple, there’s a lot in life to look forward to.

Did I say what a week? That was just Tuesday. More to come, but I’m spent after writing that experience down, and my coffee’s also kicking in pretty hardcore, killing my focus a bit. Ever had enough caffeine that your screen shakes a little? You’ll get Wed-Fri. after mine slows down. Be back soon!