Owner: Rant/Rave - Entertainment, Political, and Cultural Opinion Since 2006 URL:http://rantrave.squarespace.com Join Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:51:01 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Rant/Rave is your source for opinion editorials and essays from some of the best young writers on the Net. From humor to interviews to political commentary, Rant/Rave is pointing its finger at the world - one mistake at a time. Site statistics:Click here
10 Questions with...Saul Williams 2007-11-02 17:54:49 From the potent minds of poet-actor-MC-professional hyphenate Saul Williams
and legendary artist-producer Trent Reznor comes "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust", a collaborative album unlike anything we've seen this year. In a move similar to Radiohead's recent online release, Williams and Reznor have chosen to use the Internet as a pipeline to deliver the music to the people, eschewing the Major-label Middleman and the hassles he tends to bring to both Artist and Audience. The album is available for $5 U.S. or free, granting listeners the opportunity to directly support the artists. Rant/Rave has the distinct pleasure of bringing you the following interview with Saul Williams as we discuss the "NiggyTardust" album.Congratulations on your latest album, "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust". You've said that you "chose this [album ]title as a means of furthering the dialogue [surrounding racia
Whatever Happened To... 2007-11-02 02:57:28 Anthrax? The devastating impact Fred Thompson was supposed to have on the GOP race?Democracy in Russia?"Chinese Democracy", the Guns n' Roses album that's turning out to be the musical equivalent of Al Capone's vault?All the rats that fled the good ship Enron with millions before the shit hit the fan?North Korea being incorrigible? Getting mad as Hell at the thought of denying children health care, much less practicing it?Soccer phenom Freddy Adu?Judging a presidential candidate on his track record and platform, instead of his religious beliefs? (Romney still loses, but at least it'd be a clean fight)All the words omitted out of significant EPA findings during this administration?Our promise to support the families of NYFD & NYPD first-responders? (Ask the IAFF about Mr. Giuliani)The days when labor unions weren't so counter-intuitive? (this from a liberal of the highest order)Common sense?
Elvis Isn't Alive 2007-10-27 18:59:22 By CLS, So. Cal.I don't want to go on and on about the fires in California. However, in reading various and sundry posts and blogs, this catastrophe has spawned an alarming amount of conspiracy theories. The speculation has taken on a life of its own and is spreading almost as fast as the fires themselves.These devastating fires, that have consumed so much of our state, are the result of a lethal cocktail and timing is everything. Actually, to boil it down, it's simple Arithmetic--- 1) The driest season in the history of the region 2) Annual Santa Ana winds (in case you are unaware of Santa Anas, they are winds that blow off the desert. Instead of moist, cool air blowing off the ocean west to east, in reverse. The result is like using a hairdryer) 3) Very hot weather 4) Full moon 5) Crazy-as Read more:Elvis
, Alive
The Copy Cat Coda 2007-10-26 17:22:00 By CLS, So. Cal.I've written one piece already about the fires here in California. I tried to find the good, put a positive spin on this horror. Previously, I noted how much better FEMA has dealt with this national disaster. Now, however, I feel compelled to chastise the news media. Anyone who has lived in California for more than a minute and a half knows that we have annual Santa Ana winds. We know that every year, generally during the week in October, surrounding the full moon, we will have fires. This is a given fact of living here. What you may not be aware of, that Californians also know, is that most of these fires will be the result of ARSON. The reason we do not shout from the rooftops, and make screaming headlines exposing this disturbing sickness, is because we do not want to encourage these people. Unfortunately, this appears to be lost on some roving reporters. In their quest for drama, they insist on pressing residents - some of whom are sifting t
Pets or Meat? 2007-10-26 03:12:03 By CLS, So. Cal.I wonder if we can kill two birds with one stone. The operative word here being KILL - I mean there's all this world hunger and even parts of the United States are apparently undernourished. I don't exactly know which bits of America are lacking in the food department considering how scary fat a rising number of Americans are, but I've heard that on the news, so it must be true.Anywho, I started to think - We have this need for food, and we also have millions of DOGS that are dumped on the streets or given to pounds, and it seems like such a waste....EXPORT THE DOGS AS MEAT!!!!( Unfortunately, cats, cannot benefit from this plan, as it is common knowledge that cats are too tough to eat. But, there are some countries, well, I know of at least one - Korea, but I bet there are more - and in these countries, DOG is on the menu! Why then can't we unite those two tragedies? Well, it's still a tragedy for the dog, but at least they would be dying for a good cause..
Dispatch From Karachi 2007-10-24 14:17:21 On Oct. 18th, the transportation convoy of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was attacked by two suicide bombers in Karachi
, killing nearly 140 people and marking the assault as the bloodiest of its kind in the history of the country. In the aftermath of the bombings, the world's second most populated city (over 12 million and counting) has found itself centered in the global media spotlight due to the return of the popular Bhutto. Ms. Bhutto has returned to Pakistan after years of self-imposed exile due to corruption allegations during two different terms and administrations in the late '80s and early 90s to discuss a possible power-sharing agreement with Pakistan's current leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Rant/Rave interviewed Diwal Sachanand, a resident of Karachi and an agricultural landlord in the Sindh province, in order to share the perspective of a native Karachiite. Mr. Sachanand is a member of a prominent Hindu family in the area wi Read more:Dispatch
You Can Sit This One Out, Mr. President...Please 2007-10-23 22:55:57 By CLS, So. Cal In a news conference Tuesday morning, Michael Chertoff, the head of FEMA, gave one of the few straightforward, non politically motivated news conferences that I can remember in the Bush presidency tenure. With fires whipping out of control all over Southern California, FEMA had the foresight to put in place the necessary tools to address the disaster prior to any bills being signed and before an official state of emergency had been declared. Chertoff was on the case and on the scene. Aid in many forms had already been dispatched to the crisis areas, but Chertoff was in San Diego in remarkably prompt time to oversee the latest natural disaster to hit the United States.The most notable difference this time is that the head of FEMA, the agency that is in place to address these disasters, did just that. Chertoff was mindful and sincere. He projected an air of not only competence, but CONFIDENCE. There wasn't a whiff of toadyism in his news conference - No smili Read more:President
, Please
To The Dogs 2007-10-22 07:22:30 Nothing against Ellen DeGeneres whatsoever, but the following clip is yet another piece of evidence to be logged into the records of how we seem to value sentimentality over practicality time and time again. Where are the torrents of tears for children who may have lost out on life-changing medical treatment when President Bush came through on his promise and vetoed a $35 billion expansion of a children's healthcare bill? It's always a shame when kids lose out on a great experience or have something valuable taken away from them. Sad thing is that in both cases the kids suffered due to the mistakes of adults. As long as the death toll in Iraq increases, my interest in distracting myself with the number of dogs who died at the hands of Michael Vick will be limited. As long as children in this country are forced to endure discomfort and illness unnecessarily, my interest in healthy kids losing a dog to an equally loving home is even more limited. The
Congratulations, America! 2007-10-15 09:45:42 Al Gore was our high school sweetheart - helped us with our homework, was caring, patient. Then George W. Bush came along and boy, was he a knockout in a smoking-behind-the-school sort of way. So naturally, we abandoned the nerd for the tough-talking C-student. That's how we do in this country. Things were okay for a minute, so we just wrote off Gore's fight in the aftermath of the 2000 election as sour grapes. He missed us and was willing to do anything to get us back, but we just wanted to move on and enjoy life with our new partner. Except the new chick got pregnant right after graduation, spent all our money on other men, started fights that we had to finish, and berated us in front of our buddies whenever we didn't agree with her. Congratulations
, America
. Our ex went on to get an Emmy and we were glad to see her move on and succeed on her own. Then came the Oscar for a movie that encapsulated all the things she had tried to
Suicide Blonde 2007-10-11 19:21:25 Ann Coulter has viciously attacked a number of people over the years - John Murtha, the widows of 9/11 firefighters, liberals, anyone who supports women in the U.S. military, etc. Her latest remark will sound quite familiar to Jews around the world - Christians are Jews who have been perfected, whereas those who currently practice Judaism are not perfected. Republican presidential candidates have to be banging their heads against the wall every time this woman opens her mouth. As if things weren't bad enough for the party before - the woman just can't help herself.
After all, we are dealing with a writer who, on September 12, 2001, said that when dealing with the threat of Muslim terrorists, "we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." As much of a virus as Coulter is, she's also the representative of many thoughts had in American minds, never to be said aloud in mixed company. War- Read more:Suicide
, Blonde
China, We Need To Talk... 2007-11-09 15:34:06 Dear China
,I know we've been a little at odds these days and I just wanted to air things out. I've taken a lot of flak for you over the years for ignoring your occupation of Tibet, your terrible human rights violations, this anti-dollar thing you came up with to make me look stupid when I try to buy things in your neighborhood, and I don't feel very appreciated. You and the U.S.S.R. - er...Russia have been watching me fight for my life - uh, something in the Middle East and haven't lifted a finger to help. It's almost as if you're waiting to see if I spread myself thin enough for you guys to take advantage of me or something...Anyway, you killed my cats and dogs with the poisonous pet food and never said "Sorry". Then the toys started giving my kids lead poisoning and I was furious. Now you've gone and replaced the lead in the toys with a chemical that breaks down into the "date rape drug" when my kids put the pieces in their mo
Adding Up Radiohead's "In Rainbows" 2007-11-08 16:24:45 Last month, Radiohead
made its new release, "In Rainbows
", available for download and allowed fans to choose their own price. Although the album was virtually free, "In Rainbows" was the most illegally-downloaded album in its first week of release. Now, a study by comScore Inc. has been released that claims that roughly 38% of those who downloaded the album actually paid for it - an average of $6 per purchase. Much has been made of these figures in the mainstream and Internet press with many suggesting that the "pay-what-you-want" model was a failure for Radiohead. Far from it.The "In Rainbows" website has had roughly 1.2 million visitors (you'll notice that almost every other blog is reporting this number as the amount of downloads - erroneous!) since the release of the album. Let's be conservative and assume that 50% of those visitors downloaded the album - 600,000. We'll then take 38% of these people and
Remember, Remember...Ron Paul? 2007-11-07 02:04:37 Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul
(TX) raised an astonishing $4.07 million on November 5th, the 402nd anniversary of Guy Fawkes' assassination attempt on the life of King James I by trying to blow up Parliament. Those who have seen the at-times prophetic "V for Vendetta" are quite familiar with this historical event, as are most Britons. Libertarian Paul has become a darling for third-party lovers even though is campaigning officially as a Republican. He is very much against the Iraq War, supports the dismantling of the Department of Education, and speaks with such sincerity that you wish he were your grandfather. However, for every great outside-of-the-box idea Paul puts forth, there's also a WTF-inducing horribly outside-of-the-box idea. Just like your grandfather. BTW, Hillary's single-day fundraising record of $6.2 million didn't even bother getting out of bed. Read more:Remember
Rave - Jay-Z's "Roc Boys" Video 2007-11-07 01:48:36 The Hype Williams-era gloss compliments the 90's sepia-tinted mobster floss. The guest list is as phenomenal as it would have been a decade ago and most of the names (Mariah, Nas, Puffy) are still the same. The acknowledgement of the newer regions being represented (Floridian Rick Ross) as well as ushering in the new blood (The Wire's Tristan Wilds). The recognition that the game is not a game and that reconciliation speaks volumes (Jay and Nas' choreographed handshake/salute). Flashbacks to when childhood meant nothing less than pure, unadulterated optimism. Translation - In the day and age of the American Nightmare (nooses, anyone?), the persistence of Jay-Z's appeal is rooted in being the living embodiment of the American Dream. As the good folks at Coca-Cola say, Enjoy.
Las Vegas, James Taylor, & A Dog 2007-11-13 22:59:34 By CLS, So. Cal. I saw JamesTaylor
play Saturday night in Las Vegas
. His performance had zero pretense, just an honest simplicity, and the purity that for forty years has been the heart of his music. The show was wonderful and I was having a good time and then, with the opening notes of his song, "You've got a friend", I became choked up with a wave of emotion. As the strains of the music progressed, and JT's clear voice sang the words of this beautiful ballad, so many years, and events, flashed through my mind as the tears burned my eyes. Watershed moments in time passed through this song. But, surprisingly, it was the image of a little dog who had died just two days earlier, that triggered my surprise tears.My friend's dog, Roxy was a tiny dog..But she had a presence. A presence that could fill the room, a heart as big as her huge attitude, and a sublime sense of humor. Simply put, she touched everyone who knew her with her amazing spirit. She made people h Read more:Las Vegas
, James Taylor
Let's Have A Laugh At David Blaine's Expense 2007-11-12 02:45:51 Seriously, we should! This clip is one of director Judd Apatow's ("Knocked Up", "The 40-Year-Old Virgin) favorites on Funnyordie.com. We've got a skit involving DavidBlaine
performing his "street magic" on a couple of guys in an alley. Hilarious. btw, I know Blaine used to be pretty cool with his magic tricks on TV, but when did standing on a ledge, standing in a block of ice, laying in a box or laying underwater with an oxygen tube pass as magic?
David Blaine
Street Magic 2 on FunnyOrDie.com Read more:Expense
Graphic Language 2007-11-16 02:38:46 Ever wanted to see all your favorite rap adages (Mo' Money, Mo' Problems, etc.) represented via Excel-type graphs? Too bad, because Jamphat.com thought you did. To be honest, they're hilarious. Here's the link. Read more:Graphic
A Paul Thomas Anderson Christmas 2007-11-15 22:59:21 This Christmas
will mark the return of Paul ThomasAnderson
, the brilliant filmmaker behind such flicks as "Hard Eight", "Boogie Nights", and "Magnolia". I'll let the clip for his new opus, "There Will Be Blood", finish the post.
Pee Wee Smokes 2007-11-24 01:38:03 By CLS, So. Cal.The days of enjoying a cigarette after a meal, or sitting in a dark bar, or - ahem -after a romp in the hay, have rapidly come to an end. Not just in this country either - all over the world, places where the real tobacco addict can indulge their fix are evaporating faster than a shallow puddle on a blistering day. The only recourse for those who still indulge is to congregate in tiny pods, in alleyways and parking lots, quickly stealing puffs on their poison. More times than not, they are putting the cigarette out halfway through the deadly little thing and then, more likely than not, saving the butt and finishing it at some other clandestine moment....It's a sad state of affairs, to be sure.Throughout the years the smoking population has been fed marketing gimmicks from colored fags, to such skinny little sticks that you have to purse your mouth like an asshole to even get a drag - Well, I have an idea for any or all enterprising tobacco compa Read more:Smokes
Essay - "The Powers That Be" 2007-11-27 00:37:09 It seems that it is always in the best interest of those who wish to remain in power to use men and their gifts, their labor. It allows them to remain faceless while casting a brighter-than-necessary light on their minions - our neighbors. There is a mild complex of self-hatred that moves through us, evident in such actions as our viciousness toward the leader we chose twice to represent us to the world, the balancing act of our relentless pursuit of physical and emotional vanity standing alongside our innate cultural desire to destroy our bodies and the very environment that could save us. We will always complain about being told what to do when, unfortunately, doing as we're told is the greatest skill we seem to be able to offer. Whether a barrel-chested collector for a frontier bank during the Great Depression or a mind above minds from M.I.T. working for the next start-up to "change how we ___", as Bob Dylan once sang, "You gotta serve someb Read more:Powers
Thanks a Lott, Trent! 2007-11-26 16:38:08 Mississippi Sen. Trent
Lott is retiring after 35 years of service to his party. He's also retiring 5 years early, possibly to evade a new regulation that could hinder his bank account and is opening up yet another Republican seat in the Senate. Let's check the numbers. Trent Lott's ranking amongst Senate Republicans: 2Lott's years in the House and Senate: 16 & 19, respectivelyThe date in which new regulations extending (from 1 to 2 years) the "cooling off period" between leaving office and working for the lobbyists - Dec. 31, 2007The date Lott will retire: Before January 2008The date Lott's term ends: 2012The amount of Senate Republicans who have retired (so far) this year: 6The fact that Republicans now have to defend 23 seats next year, while Democrats will have only 12 at risk: PRICELESSThanks
a Lott, Trent!
Sen. Trent Lott @ Wikipedia
The Write Stuff / Cough It Up...Please! 2007-12-04 05:34:58 Rant/Rave is currently seeking writers to contribute in the coming year. Areas of interest include Film, Music, Sports, Politics - just about anything related to pop culture. Email us with links to some of your work online (blog, web copy, message board post...whatever) as well a few reasons why you'd be good for the job. No pay for your writing, just the sweet satisfaction that you'll be hanging with the smartest kids in the room. And your own byline. Also - not to get into any begging, but I'd like to expand the site to accomodate all of our new readers and subscribers who, oddly enough, never leave comments on anything (we'll take that as a sign that you agree with everything we say), but we could use a little help donation-wise. I'm currently dealing with settlement payments to the RIAA (and they wonder why they can't get our trust back) until Spring, so it's a little difficult to upgrade our hosting options. If you've got a little Read more:Write
, Cough
, Please
You Know It's The 4th Quarter When... 2007-12-03 08:53:32 Musicians actually start busting their asses to get that holiday money. Here are THE two craziest Hip-Hop videos of the year - "Blow Your Mind", by Styles P (of The LOX) and Snoop's new "Sensual Seduction". Styles' clip features Idris Elba (of HBO's "The Wire", a magical briefcase bomb, and a wizened old man blowing faerie dust. Snoop's video takes us back to the days when we were thankful for the God-awful quality of a VHS tape, with Tha Doggfather singing most of the song with a Roger Troutman vocoder (sorry, T-Pain fans, but Roger & Zapp did it a generation or two before), doing his best Rick James/Prince impersonation in a move that screams "Hey Ya!".
Styles P - "Blow Your Mind"
Snoop Dogg - "Sensual Seduction"
The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Boomerang 2007-12-02 02:05:10 In 1993, Bill Clinton offered up the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy to members of the gay and lesbian communities serving in the U.S. military. Considering Clinton's pleas for support from gays during his campaign, many saw this compromise as a complete sell-out of what he had promised. Since the policy was instituted roughly 10,000 men and women have been dismissed from service. Now 28 former military higher-ups are proposing that the U.S. repeal the measure, a demand that the Democratic candidates support and the Republicans do not. Maybe it's me, but this seems to be a little too easy. The issue seems to be presented in a light that does no one on either side any good - Dems good...Reps bad. As long as one political party is "the enemy", ALL representatives will be justified in fighting across the aisle as opposed to fighting for the contituency. It also clouds our judgement of what is really going on, which is u Read more:Boomerang
Rant/Rave - Music of 2007 2007-12-17 05:35:48 As we wrap up the end of the year I'm sure it's become evident that our output here at R/R has been slowing down. Hey, we have lives too! We are proud to present the first in a series of year-end lists that will be posted through the end of '07 - the 07 mixtape. The perfect year-end party in a perfect world just might have this list of songs from '07 on its perfect mixtape. Enjoy.
Cold War Kids - "Hang Me Up To Dry"
Kings of Leon - "Arizona"/"Fans"
Jay-Z - "Blue Magic"/"Fallin"
Saigon - "Come on Baby"
Band of Horses - "No One's Gonna Love You"/"Detlef Schrempf"
Arrested Development - "Sao Paulo"
The Reign of Kindo - "Hard To Believe"/"Do You Realize"
Jonathan and Christopher - "Simple Songs"/"Final Embrace"
The Darkhorse - "A Little Bit of Nothing"/"SurelyMaybe"
Van Gogh - "Stuck To You"
Saul Williams - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Nine Inch Nails - "Survivalism"
Amy Winehouse - "Love Is A Losing Game"/"Tears Dry On Their Own"
Kanye West - "Big Brother"/"I Wonder"
The Shins - "Phan Read more:Music
You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Vol. 1 2007-12-15 18:15:18 Islamabad, Pakistan - A man suspected of participating in a plot to blow up transatlantic flights from Britain to the U.S. Slipped out of his handcuffs. In police custody. Right before a court appearance.To be fair, there have been allegations that the British and Pakistani governments have formed some kind of secret extradition agreement (they do not currently have a formal deal), allowing them to trade high priority suspects wanted in their respective countries. Read more here.
Attack of the $85,000 Cell Phone Bill 2007-12-15 18:09:15 A Canadian man thought he was paying $10/month to use his cell phone as a modem. As you can tell by the title of this post, he was sorely mistaken. Yet another reason to hate cell phone providers and love when the neighbors get wifi... Click here for the story. Read more:Cell Phone
Culture Clash / Get Outta Town! 2007-12-11 02:09:37 By CLS The recent "teddy bear" incident in the country of Sudan raises an interesting question. For those who confine their news to the E! Channel, or infotainment news, a British teacher in the Muslim country of Sudan was arrested and threatened with all sorts of hideous punishments for allowing her class of children to name a teddy bear "Mohammed".Apparently, in this part of the world, their interpretation of the Koran makes this a very serious crime. The teacher, after a lot of diplomatic hoo-ha hoopla between the Western world and the Sudanese government, was given a "get out of jail" card. The teacher was sent packing back to parts of the world where the name of a stuffed animal is not a possible capital offense.And, good for her. Clearly, this was a cultural misunderstanding gone horribly wrong. But, the operative words here are "cultural misunderstanding".The advances in technology have far out weighed the adva Read more:Clash
Across the Merry Pond, Pt. I 2007-12-23 05:15:29 Rant/Rave's own CLS is "on holiday" (as the Brits say) in England, but things haven't started off on the right foot. Apparently we have a new addition to our Losers of 2007 list! [Good, because we had forgotten Airlines. Keep an eye out for them on the second installment of the list - R.S.] Okay, finally we're here.Los Angeles to England, via Philly, on a foul little airline called "US AIR". Granted, the tickets were booked through Orbitz, but then maybe there is a REASON they were so easily had, and at a very reasonable price.The bottom line is, even by today's standards of "animals off to slaughter" comfort level, this trip was particularly brutal. The seats were designed for midgets, the tray level could dislocate a child's knee, and the food added a new dimension to the term disgusting. But it was the ground service that was the most notable. The customer care service was downright punitive - and sneaky... The on-ground employees were Read more:Across
, Merry
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