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August 26, 2005
Active Artist
While the possible discovery of the legendary Chupacabra is sure to be a great end-of-summer story, rapper Kanye West's comments in an MTV interview are also gaining speed on the internet. The over-exposure he'd been getting this summer had been wearing on me, but I've refreshed my opinion. In the MTV "All Eyes on Kanye West" interview, Kanye talks candidly about how he thinks the homophobia in hip hop needs to change. There's a good analysis of the impact of Kanye's statements at Pop +Politics. When I finally got to the original interview, I was a little dissapointed that the actual statement is just a fraction of the interview; the responses I had read ahead of it seemed to draw out Kanye West's words into a speech. The value is still there though, in the honest and direct way he asks fellow rappers to change their ways, personalizing it by talking about how and why he was homophobic until he found out a favorite cousin was gay.
Homophobia isn't even the only social issue in the article, and even if you're just browsing you should follow the link to the "Diamonds (From Sierra Lione)" music video. Kanye's explaination of why he still wears diamond jewelry is sort of dodgey, but the imagery in the video is amazing: the clip scene of a proposal where after the ring is put on the woman's finger blood starts flowing from it hammers home the idea of conflict/war/blood diamonds like no news story can.
Posted by Elizabeth Tangora at 09:27 PM | Comments (193)
August 24, 2005
The Intelligent Onion
For those of you who haven't been checking the Onion out over the summer, don't miss a fantastic article, Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory. I admit to a pretty severe bias against Intelligent Design; not against it being discussed, but against it being taught in schools as an "alternative" to the theory of evolution. Either way, really funny article.
For those who are interested in the more serious side of the issue, you can check out a strong dissection of Intelligent Design at The Skeptic's Dictionary, or see ID's defense at Intelligent Design Network :: Seeking Objectivity in Origins Science. Really though, the name says it all.
Posted by Elizabeth Tangora at 12:24 PM | Comments (7)