Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Big Cities of (me) Dreams?

I'm sure that by now everyone is cognizant of which city was crowned ("crown 'em") the most dangerous in the US. Of even further interest was #2 and #3, both of which topped Compton (and unseated Camden) - "big" moves by these respective cities. Of most interest is that The Generalist himself can roll up these cities at or near the top of the list to his stomping grounds. The Generalist - naturally able to adapt regardless of the circumstances.

By the way, it's always funny to me when some negative news like this comes out about a place you've spent significant time and somebody (re: parents (re: mother)) sort of refers to it as if they had known this a priori that it might have affected that previous decision to spend significant time there when it wouldn't have. This happens in the opposite direction as well like having to convince the majority of the population that New York City is really the safest big city in the US. (I spent a lot of time trying to make the penultimate sentence intelligible.)

BUT just for the hell of it, I have no idea how I came upon an article from a magazine found on AirTran Airways but it hit me with the following:

"To newcomers, Flint, Michigan, might look more industrial big city than cozy little town, but to AirTran Airways customer-service rep Monique Morrison, it's a refreshingly small - and tight-knit - place to live. 'Everyone knows everyone else here, so there's a definite sense of family and community,' she explains. 'We take care of each other. We have a lot of community events too, such as carnivals, family socials and outings sponsored by church groups. Flint is a great town.'"

Monique goes on to discuss how people rave about the good food and the myriad of eating choices, the cultural and recreational choices, and the accessibility to the Great Lakes Crossing mall and adequate nightlife.

So see...situations are all about perspective.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

52 Books, Week 29: Bridges of San Luis Rey (i missed one)

Pulitzer Prize winning book about a series of coincidences in a small South American community.

Wikipedia: It tells the story of several unrelated people who happen to be on a bridge in Peru when it collapses, killing them. A friar who has witnessed the tragic accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die.

Philosophically, the book explores the problem of evil, or the question of why unfortunate events occur to people who seem "innocent" or "undeserving".

Generalist: The book is often described as a masterpiece, but I didn't think so. Unfairly, I'm comparing it to Gabriel Garcia Marquez' masterpiece 100 Years of Solitutde, which may explain my response. Make no mistake, this wasn't a bad book. I just didn't think it was a great one.

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Music

Now why’s everybody so mad at the south for Change your style up.. switch 2 southpaw

So I've been on this huge music kick lately (must be the graduate school applications); seriously, the guy in the music department at Best Buy knows me by name (no shit). So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the stuff that's going in my playlist..

Last 5 CD's I bought:
  1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
  2. Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal
  3. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
  4. The Roots - Game Theory
  5. Various Artists - Bossa Nova for Lovers
Having a little bit of buyer's remorse about the Pink Floyd album, but the Anberlin CD is hot (so that evens it up for me). And I definitely need to get another Bossa Nova album, ASAP. The Roots albums and the Lupe album are both classics... Don't sleep

Top 5 CD's I bang, that the other generalists will probably never own:
  1. Interpol - Antics
  2. Mae - The Everglow
  3. Metric - Old World Underground
  4. Bjork - Vespertine
  5. Joanna Newsome - The Milk Eyed Mender
All bangers... Although Joanna Newsome takes some getting used to (i've heard her voice compared to a 6 year old, as well as a 80 year old. She plays the harpsichord). You probably want to be in a pretty melancholy album when you listen to that Bjork album. And the Mae album might be the best album i've heard all year.

Top 10 Tracks on my Computer (by number played... since Aug. 2006)



Where is Stuntin' Like My Daddy???

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Frontline

There's a pretty interesting documentary that debuted on PBS last week that's available on the internet if you're so inclined. Its about the first year of the iraq war, and its good background for folks who are wondering what the hell is going on in baghdad...

PBS Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq

Thursday, October 19, 2006

52 Books, Week 32: The Covenant

As you know, the posts at GMFG have been coming few and far between (like a free hot lunch).

As a budding jetsetter, I just got back from Denver (4 days), and before that DC (4 days), so the lack of writing wasn't lost on me. But, as you may or may not know the first rule of blogging, is don't write about it, be about it, so what better time to come back then for Mr. Smiley's shot at solving all of the ills of the black community... The spectre of grad school applications looms large, but 52 Books waits for no man (or woman)...
The Covenant is a compliation of policy issues affecting Black folk. It attempts to provide an introductory look at social issues (education, healthcare, prison reform. the digital divide, etc.) along with actions that citizens can take, and/or specific ways to get public officials involved. The scope of the book is ambitious, as it tries to be a handbook of sorts for fixing some pretty thorny complicated issues. I wanted to like The Covenant more than I did, but I still think its worth checking out. Because its designed to be accessible for a variety of readers, the depth involved in the essays leaves a little bit to be desired. As a thought piece, as well as a catalyst for conversation, the Covenant is exceptional. If you're looking for anything more than that, you may come away a touch disappointed.

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Sssssnappin!

Yes... I could have refrained from posting this, but with the lull in postings...

Hey, why not?

Sunday, October 08, 2006

52 Books, Week 31: Contact

Hmmm. So I was going to write about officially hitting the middle class, as I finally bought some pants from banana republic that weren't on sale... Instead, I decided to forge ahead with the books.

Why: When I was studying abroad I met this kid who never got to watch tv growing up. In casual conversation, he mentioned how he read like a billion books because he was constantly bored out of his mind. Blah, blah, blah, so eventually we got to talking about Contact which is one of my favorite movies of all time He said that there were some pretty significant differences between the book and the movie, so I decided to put it on my list.

Should You: If you're into science fiction, I would recommend this one. Actually, even if you're not into science fiction, I'd recommend this one. If intergalactic/space travel isn't really you're thing, Contact probably isn't gonna get you into it, but its really well-written. Carefully, the book examines religion and science via a pretty interesting story about a mysterious space message. Some of the seocndary themes about human competitiveness and geopolitics are also engaging, but Sagan never crosses the line into preachiness. All in all, pretty good fiction.

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Friday, October 06, 2006

In Case You Forgot...

...about one of the craziest people in the world. My favorite part of the article:

"Jackson was limping but refused medical treatment at the scene."

- Of course he did, this is Stephen Jackson we talking about...

Thursday, October 05, 2006

What is...

Do you think Alex Trebek has grown significantly smarter just from hosting Jeopardy!?

Quick Read

While I prefer the NFL over any other league or sport (mostly due to competitive balance, schedule, un-saturation, etc.), I often find myself "defending" the NBA. ("Defending" is probably better described as putting it in the same comparative context.) Like the league or not, I don't care...but don't dog it for certain reasons and then turn a blind eye towards the same things in the NFL. See this article by my man Jack McCallum - one of the best sport-particular writers in the country.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Seriously...

To Whom it May Concern:

Corinne Bailey Rae may be The One. She has a performance on VH1 Soul that is sick, sick, sick. If you haven't seen it, plant yourself in front of a television at your earliest convenience and bless yourself.

OR ... you can go to the VH1 Soul website (in Internet Explorer, Mozilla gets no love), click on "You Oughta Know: Corinne Bailey Rae", go to her artist page, and select the Live "Til it Happens to You" performance.

Either way.

(also fyi, there are a number of her live performances and videos floating around YouTube... if you're so inclined. but none of them comes close to the VH1 joint so i refrained from posting.)

"That is all."
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