I have read some really tragic stories over the last few days. The two that caught my attention the most are two articles that ended in death involving cell phones. In one story a man jumped into an icy river in Chicago to go after his smartphone. His friends who were with him followed in after him. One man and One woman trying to save their friend from going after his phone. The woman is missing presumed drowned, and the other is in critical condition from report I read on here. The next story which can be read clicking here. It was between two men in a theater and texting during the trailers. There was a verbal altercation that ended in one man being shot and killed, and another being injured.
So here's the question: What the hell happened to people and their phones?
In one instance let the phone float away, and in the other, someone text messaging during the trailers doesn't mean kill anyone (The man who was shot, his son was just two seats away.) over it. Also what's so important that you can't shut your phone off and watch a movie. Sit down, be at the theater with your family, and enjoy the show. That is what you came there to do right? Then again it happened in Florida, you don't have to hold much in that state to get shot. I digress, The actions by these people over someone using their phones and what they escalated too is simply mind-boggling.
Selfies, foodies, snapchats, and instagrams are fun ways to use our phones. However do we spend to much time capturing moments with our phone than being apart of them? Here's a video I watched via Upworthy.com. I would check them out, they find videos that challenge the way we think, and sometimes just uplift you. Directed by Miles Crawford and Written by Charlene deGuzman and Miles Crawford.
Phones now have speech functions that make it seem like you are carrying on a conversation. You what carries a conversation well, a person. Breathing human beings, in my opinion people see it as social acceptance. Playing games, showing pictures of nights before. It's a great tool, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day it's just that. A tool. Nothing more. Maybe people should try this game more:
It's a thought, because do we really want a track worthy statistic of people dying from cell-phone related incidents like the two above? What the hell happen to People and their cell phones? #WeLostConnection.
Recently in Salon.com Prachi Gupta has an article that highlights a bloggers extensive interview with Jim Derogatis on villagevoice.com with Jessica Hopper here. Jim Derogatis, a music critic, is the reporter who broke the story of sex abuse acts alleged against R. Kelly. Now in Salon's piece they raise the very important question which is: Would these allegations and lawsuits be more public if one of them involved a white girl? Gupta quotes Derogatis from the interview with Hopper:
“Nobody matters less to our society than young black women”
In the article Derogatis brings up issues surrounding R.Kelly and the lawsuits against him. His opinion is strong and you should definitely read it for yourself
However the interview on villiagevoice.com Derogatis brings up something that has bothered me really as a listener, critic, and blogger of music. What the hell happened to Artist Standards? In the interview Jessica Hopper has with Derogatis he says quote:
A lot of art, great art, is made by despicable people. James Brown beat
his wife. Rare is the amount of evidence compiled against anyone apart from R. Kelly. I
got the Bonham three rings [tattooed] on my foot. Led Zeppelin did disgusting things. People are always, "Why aren't you upset about Led Zeppelin?" I have a couple of responses to that: I didn't cover Led Zeppelin. If
I was on the plane, like Cameron Crowe was, I would have written about
those things if I saw them.
The art very rarely talks about these things. There are not pro-rape
Led Zeppelin songs. There are not pro-wife-beating James Brown songs.
Derogatis sites the list of lawsuits against R.Kelly that are on public record in Chicago courts. R. Kelly's multiple lawsuits involving sexual abuse, child pornography, and rape (Yes, Rape. Read the interview) Jim Derogatis can't really understand why Pitchfork in particular, a music festival in Chicago, would endorse this artist he refers to as a "Monster" as a headliner. Derogatis says:
I can still listen
to Led Zeppelin and take joy in Led Zeppelin or James Brown. I condemn
the things they did. I'm not reminded constantly in the art, because the
art is not about it.
And that's a very important distinction. R. Kelly's current album is titled "Black Panties." Just by the title alone you can't help but be reminded of the long list of accusations after reading the interview and hearing the account of Derogatis' encounters with the dozens of women who have lawsuits against the singer.
In my personal opinion I believe that the pedestal we put these artists on is unrealistic, and we give them the excuse of being "rich and famous." That allows them the ability to do whatever they please without potential of a real consequence. It forms an absolutely terrible standard for creators of art we, I believe, based around the mindset that we too one day will all be millionaires so when our day comes we will act in the same manner if it was us in the same position. Derogatis refers to him as a monster, after reading the interview with Jessica Hopper and Derogatis' account of the reporting you can make your own conclusion.
What the hell happened to Artist Standards? Society somehow see's artist and their actions as a reflection of ourselves in those positions and instances that broadens the perspective of what we find acceptable, excusable, and justifiable. Maybe that is the real monster.
With a new album on the way Kanye West is back in the spotlight. Which means interviews and more eye-catching, eye-popping moments from Mr. West. Being labeled everything from narcissistic to a**hole Kanye West's new album "Yeezus" is getting pretty amazing reviews From Rolling Stone to an "Uneasy Listen" by the Chicago Tribune. The album cover of "Yeezus" seems a lot like another band's simplistic album design. He takes on new ideas like interracial couples and most eye catching is "New Slaves" where he brings up the privatization of prisons.
Kanye's Ego is all over the place which is why it is so big. What's the best and worst trait about him is that he knows and believes everything about himself. To quote an old song of his: "I'm on the TV talking like it's just you and me."
Now this is a video of The Young Turks they discuss Kanye West.
and I also have to add Kanye says he's the "Michael Jordan" of music. Debatable obviously.
However, his undeniable confidence/arrogance or determination is explained. Does purchase of the albums he creates validate his behavior? Is it a form of glorification? Cause if this is what success looks like, What the hell happen to Kanye West? Follow me on Twitter @JusJ_ONTNews.
