Two distinct things happen when I say I'm going to do something and don't:
1) I feel guilty/disappointed for not having done that thing
2) If I later decide to get my butt in gear and do that thing, the moment has often passed and I'm left in an awkward game of catch-up
Both of these apply to my resolutions for blog-writing a couple weeks ago, so in an effort to ease the guilt and make the awkwardness shorter and less painful, here's a quick update.
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Article 1: 'Rose Garden' by Shad
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Actually made some progress on this one, but i'd like to do a pretty complete breakdown. In the meantime, here's a couple of phenomenal lines to consider:
I'm not in the zone, there's too much in the way
I weigh two bucks and if I had two slugs to spray like 'Raa Raa'
Glenn Beck better duck like foie gras
The 'weigh'/'way' usage here is wonderful - he uses a homophone pair to end the first line and (almost) begin the second, tying the two together in a very natural fashion. Next, the 'uhh' vowel sound in both 'bucks' and 'slugs' are assonant, and help the repetition in the lyrics feel stronger. Similar word orders are paired with similar phonetic sounds and it flows great to the listener - but Shad isn't done here. The rhythmic pattern of this verse so far has been very on-beat:
I'm not in the zone there's too much in the way
I weigh two bucks and if I had two slugs
All the bold lyrics here hit with the on-beats of the tempo - even the words 'too much' are spoken like 'twomuch' to give this part of the verse a very pounding, grounded feel. However, instead of continuing this pattern, Shad extends the line longer than what we might expect and adds:
to spray [] like 'Raa Raa'
The bold here still represents the on-beats, and in this case that falls in the silence after the lyric - meaning that 'spray', which we would logically anticipate falling on the 1 beat of a new bar ('weigh', 'bucks', 'had', and 'slugs' being the 1, 2, 3, and 4) instead falls on the 4-And off-beat of the same bar. This is rhythmically different from what has come before, and sets us up perfectly for what will be lyrically different: The 'Raa Raa' onomatopoeia.
Now it is not uncommon rappers make use of sounds effects, and some marvelously (See Lupe Fiasco's 'Kick, Push') but i'm hard pressed to find a more joyous and clever use of onomatopoeia in current hip-hop than rhyming 'Raa Raa' with Foie Gras. The punchline is clever, the sound is ear-catching and words are a playground in which gunshots and fine cuisine join in the same exuberant game.
Check back for more later!
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Article 2: Withdrawing Sexual Consent
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There was a (semi)recent article I read in the Globe & Mail about a woman who retroactively withdrew her sexual consent after later finding things out about man she had slept with that bothered her. Though giving her full consent at the time, she now considers the sex 'rape'.
I'll dig up the article in question and write on it properly later, but here's my thoughts in brief:
1) Feeling guilty about sex after-the-fact is unfortunate. Feeling heartbroken is unfortunate. Feeling like a sucker is unfortunate. None of these things are rape.
2) This is an insult to social justice, intelligent people everywhere, and most importantly survivors of actual rape
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Article 3: The Calgary Mayoral Race
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Over 50% of Calgary voted, and Naheed Nenshi is the new Mayor. BAM.
