[hip hop] more than a way of life

Matt Murrell ain't sure bout this hip-hop quote:

Philosophically Hip Hop is best thought about in the same way as radical western philosophical movements like existentialism and libertarianism that promote freedom of thought and expression.

Oh, I don't know, Matt. Think of the most profound philosophers - Augustine the Hippo, Tiberius Gracchus, Heraklites, Immanuel Kant, Philo of Alexandria, Jean-Paul Sartre, Socrates, Bob Piper, Neil Clark or Polly Toynbee and then compare their major works to the dulcet prose of the hip-hopper below [whose link I've lost - so sue me] and you'll see the rapper wins hands down:

Ode to a Shag

imma buy you a drank ooo then imma take you home with me

i got money in the bank shawty whachu think bout that

find me in the grey cadillac we in the bed like

ooh ooh ohh, ooh ooh we in the bed like

ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh young joc

[verse 3]

wont you meet me at the bar respect big pimpin

tell me how you feel mama tell me what you sippin

u a certified dime piece deserve louy 1-3

150 a shot 3 for you and 3 for me

im checkin yo body language

Fabulous stuff - simply fabulous.

[my site] how difficult to access

Wednesday evening

There's apparently a problem for some people getting into my site and so I'm running a poll top left concerning how you're finding it getting into my site. It would help if you could respond. Thanks.

Thursday morning

Well, as you can see, I've moved the blogrolls to a linked site from the gold navbar and am currently running through them, trying to get them aligned with the Blogreader. The result might be better.

Thank you for responding to the survey so far and in the comments below. I'm trying to make access faster.

[ראש השנה tonight] and don't forget رمضان tomorrow

Blow the Shofar!

Rosh Hashanah [ראש השנה ]

This evening is the evening of the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah - a happy time and happy new year to Jeremy Jacobs and family and all others of the faith! Responding to his request:

* Are we better off now than last year?

Sadly, overall, I think not - economically, politically, socially and spiritually. However, perhaps we understand more now than at this time last year.

* Did we spend our time and energy wisely?

Some did - I started my blog, as did you and it was time well spent.

* What difference did we make to people's lives?

I hope brought some of the truth into the open and helped people improve in the corporate sphere.

* How is this year going to be different from all other years?

If you mean next year - the positive thing to say is that we might just be able to check the inevitable drift and cause some sort of return to more altruistic values.

Shana Tova Umetukah! Ketiva ve-chatima tovah!

1: Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

2: Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

3: Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

4: For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

Ramadan [رمضان ]

From Thursday, September 13th to Friday, October 12th, 2007, Muslims should refrain from anger, envy, greed, lust, sarcastic retorts, backbiting, and gossip and put more thought into their faith. Seems good advice for all of us.

O' Allah be pleased with my fasts, in this month, as Thou gives credit to those who (sincerely) observe fasts; and (be pleased with) my special night prayers, in this month, as Thou gives credit to those who pray (sincerely) in the night; direct me to be on guard and pay attention to free myself from the lethargy of forgetfulness.

O' the God of the worlds overlook my wrongdoings, and grant amnesty to me, O' He who shows sympathy to the wrongdoers.

Allah be with you all.

Christians

May peace come to adherents of both religions and all hatred and intolerance be washed away in the joy of this special time.

[blogfocus wednesday] whimsical pondering

Kate's extremely helpful Lewisham crime incident map which heads her blog. The idea is that you can pinpoint the latest flare-up in sleepy-hollow at any time. Especially useful for those of us in the U.S., France, Canada, Germany, Australia and Russia.

This evening:

1] Nige, at Bryan Appleyard's, welcomes a bit of common sense:

The nation seems to be coming to its senses at last about the London Olympics. Meanwhile, last night's Dispatches (Channel 4) raised some uncomfortable questions about 'Seb' Coe's finances and the total meaninglessness of the original budget figure. It's not too late to hand the whole thing back to Paris. Or give Beijing a second go.

2] Had to laugh. Timmy was referring to the Renault/Nissan head who was referring to oil running out and hydrogen taking its place:

So, the oil runs out in 2050 and we all use hydrogen. Great! That's climate change solved then. Next problem please!

Then reader Kit innocently asked:

Silly question but why does the Guardian have a business section?

3] Vox ascribes sadistic motives to George instead of realizing Dubya is just controlled:

So, the surge has been predictably "successful" by stabilizing Baghdad, but this is just a temporary measure which will only last as long as the extra troops stay there. Once they are withdrawn, the attacks will begin again in Baghdad.

The commanders know it, the insurgents know it and the administration knows it. A few of the more intelligent members of the media have also figured it out. About the only ones who haven't are the Republican politicians who are walking the plank again for Dear Leader.

4] Paul Linford is correct, correct, correct:

Iain Dale won't be watching the Rugby World Cup - his light-hearted explanation of why brightened up my Saturday morning and is well worth a read - but as a huge fan of the oval ball game I certainly will be tuning in and even writing the occasional blog post on the tournament as it unfolds over the next few weeks.

5] The blogger formerly known as Istanbultory but now known simply as Stan, describes the ritual of the dance:

It's a sad reality but men who troll for sex in public places, gay or "not gay," are, for the most part, upstanding citizens. In this regard, one might think of George Michael , LBJ aide Walter Jenkins, or global media mogul “Mighty” Dyckerson. There is, I have read, a delicate choreography involved in the men’s room “lewd conduct” tango.

The various signals - the foot tapping, the hand waving and the body positioning - are all parts of a ritual of call and answer, an elaborate series of codes that require the proper response if things are to advance (if ya see what I mean).

6] Mousie has this piece on Gordon Brown:

"Under a 136". This is when the police invoke Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 to detain someone who is in a public place and who, because of a mental disorder, is in immediate need of "care or control." The police officer then takes the person to a "place of safety" (i.e. A&E) to be assessed by a senior psychiatrist and an approved social worker so that a decision can be made as to whether the person needs to be admitted for further assessment and/or treatment.

7] Rilly rilly takes some following and I think this one is something to do with gays, the Metro and Fabio:

My husband looked puzzled. ‘ Noël Coward being gay and everything’, I elaborated. ‘Noël Coward was gay?’ he queried. ‘Are you quite sure dear?’ It was almost as if he was teasing me but I knew he would never do that. ‘I’m a woman dear’ I began. ‘We girls can tell gay man a mile off you know’, I said. My husband and Fabio exchanged glances so I could see they were keen to get back to work now.

8] Lewisham Kate is an active lass - she's doing all sorts of petitions and things and one day she'll even publicize them:

Well the deadline for the petition is today it looks like it has crashed and burned ....but Kate is back to the drawing board and planning bigger and better things:

Some of the things that have been suggested are :-

Climb big Ben ....fathers for justice stylee,

March to the town hall in Catford,

Another petition,

Another newspaper....sorry mrs woman from the mercury , not going to happen,

Any ideas welcome, within reason...

See you Saturday evening if we're all still alive.

[rhetoric] free protectionist trade

Hope I won't be in trouble for this but don't you just love the rhetoric?

…Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said they would urge their European Union partners to develop a joint “foreign economic policy”…

Read: shut the Yanks, Russkies and Chinks out whilst Europe gets free access*.

* Read: France and Germany

…the two leaders said such a policy would buttress the EU’s Lisbon strategy on improving the bloc’s competitiveness…

Read: shut the Yanks, Russkies and Chinks out whilst Europe gets free access*.

* Read: France and Germany

…While reaffirming their belief in open markets as “the guarantor” of prosperity, they expressed concern that the use of non-tariff barriers and restrictions to investments and the political manipulation of exchange rates had reached a “preoccupying scale”…

Read: shut the Yanks, Russkies and Chinks out whilst Europe gets free access*.

* Read: France and Germany

…“This is about reciprocity,” Ms Merkel told a press conference. “We are for open markets but they should be open everywhere.”…

Read: shut the Yanks, Russkies and Chinks out whilst Europe gets free access*.

* Read: France and Germany

…Paris wants the EU to be more assertive in ensuring equal access to markets, particularly in regard to public procurement…

Read: shut the Yanks, Russkies and Chinks out whilst Europe gets free access*.

* Read: France and Germany

Don't you just love the world of trade? Pro-protection here. Anti-protection here.

[efficacious speaking] some points

It's a risk putting up this post when it is basically only my own notes for the day on the topic of Efficacious Speaking.

Please remember - it's a point form skeleton only, has no meat on that skeleton and is only intended as a reminder for myself in a speech I have to give today. I have to add the meat from my own experience as I go.

Still, it might be worth looking at so it's below:

PART 1

1. There are different types:

a] report of facts, figures and dates, e.g. history, science reports

Style: Didactic delivery like a parrot;

b] speech to an audience

Style: combination of the report and the play [below];

c] play or dialogue type

Style: playing a role, acting skills required.

2. Looking at 1b in detail, certain things are required to deliver an excellent speech:

a] Knowledge of the topic - you have to have done your preparation. If you haven't had the chance, then there are ways around it:

[i] have a store of general facts and figures from life and connect them to your topic;

[ii] change it into a rhetorical question session e.g. how many of you know about …?

[iii] not always possible but if the rules allow, turn it into a forum where the audience input their knowledge or even turn it into a dialogue with a knowledgeable friend;

[iv] use it for an analogy for something you do know about e.g. this reminds me of …

[v] if all else fails, try to remember what has been said about this topic in the news, film etc. and give a highly personalized view e.g. I'm not at all sure about this because …

b] Passion for the topic which requires:

[i] knowledge in the first place;

[ii] developing a personal point of view and arguing it. All good research uses this, rather than the fact after fact, cut and paste method;

c] Connection with the audience - a speech will always fail without this:

[i] personal warmth - caring for the audience e.g. don't say: "Do you love holidays, I do."

[ii] sense of humour which comes through to the audience by:

- your manner

- carefully placed dry comments, anecdotes, rhetorical questions or even facial expressions;

[iii] not taking yourself too seriously;

[iv] eye contact - the 2 second rule;

[v] playing the room:

- the four corner procedure

- proximity or immediacy to wake people up;

[v] handling sleepers or talkers;

[vi] handling interruptions, always with:

- humour

- tact

- honesty if you don't know something e.g. I'll find out and tell you tomorrow if you like.

PART 2 [not to be given today and these are only some rough notes so far]

The speech itself

There are four major factors militating against a good speech:

1. lack of preparation - preparation gives confidence;

2. unreasoning fear;

3. time;

4. taking your speech too seriously without remembering why the audience is there:

a] to hear something interesting you might not have known before;

b] to enjoy the speaker and feel a bit special for these few minutes;

c] to not be bored by endless facts and figures.