Urban Arson

Tidal by Fiona Apple

She came out of no where and brought a voice that was just as surprising. The writing is honest and deep, sprinkled with genius sized portions of metaphor and imagery, this album is beautifully crafted from beginning to end. 

I came to the Fiona Apple game late. I’d seen her in a couple of interviews and listened to her songs without putting much thought into their lyrics. The first time I heard all 10 tracks in a row from “Sleep to Dream” to “Carrion” something clicked, I suddenly got it. 1996 was in important year for music and this album was among the best. Its an incredible debut.

Incredible Debuts is a new article which highlights the debut presentations of artists. I’ll be covering the debuts of musicians, directors, writers, actors and producers.

The US electorate seems to believe that the office of President is equivalent to a King or some other monarch. This isn’t the case. POTUS (President of the United States) is a position in the executive branch of the federal government. He is not even elected by the people (the Electoral College elect the POTUS). The President’s most important powers are selecting the Judiciary (with Congressional approval), sitting as Commander in Chief of the military, and vetoing Congressionally approved bills before they become law as a check to their power. Nothing more.

This whole President worship thing started when Abraham Lincoln abused his executive office power, declared himself dictator, suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus, jailed his dissenters and started an unnecessary war with the Confederate States of America which claimed the lives of over 600,000 Americans. Abraham Lincoln’s Constitutional violations made George W. Bush look like Thomas Jefferson, yet he is still the most celebrated POTUS of all time. He has an enormous monument in DC, he’s on the penny and the $5 bill, and no one even knows about the mock-dictatorship he helmed for 4 years during the Civil War. His Kingly image has been wiped clean. I do not use the image above to condone violence (an act that I find barbaric and atrocious, except as a last resort), I use it simply to illustrate the cause and effect of certain actions. The assassination of anyone is an untenable offense, but historically it is the most common end of both patriots and tyrants.

How many people can name the nine members of the current US Supreme Court? How many even know what they look like? Even closer to home, how many of you can name your Senator or Congressman? So why should the President, a non elected official of lesser power, be anymore celebrated than the Congressmen and Senators who we actually put into office with our votes? The only members of the federal government who we directly vote into office are the members of the Legislative Branch. The Congressmen/women and Senators who’s names you don’t even know. 

You want to orchestrate real CHANGE in this country? Turning the POTUS into a celebrity is going to get you nowhere. We as an electorate have to wise up, we’ve been tricked into thinking that we are in control of the direction our country takes while they downplay the only weapon we really have for making the federal government do what we want. Read the Constitution and get on the same page folks. We want liberty, in which we are all individually equal, but are quickly heading back to the days of tyranny where a select few sit on top and tell the peasants how to act, think, speak, dress, and raise their families. Fight back the war is not over just yet.

Italian Police recently confiscated a gun disguised as a cellphone. Ok, so you’re a hardcore bad ass assassin, but too much of a wuss for a real weapon, so you get Zach Morris (from Saved by the Bell) to sell you his huge 1980’s monstrosity of a phone, beat him to death with it, then turn it into something with stealthy stopping power. Your target would have to either be blind or mentally handicapped but it you get 4 shots.

It holds 4 bullets and goes on sale at your local Chinese black market this fall.

The Boston Globe has an excellent photoblog called “The Big Picture” where they post high resolution photographs of news worthy events.

Today the International Space Station turns 10 years and with every passing day it brings us closer to understanding our origin and future. The best and the brightest minds on our planet have collaborated on this for the betterment of mankind. None of the terrestrial conflicts matter when you’re orbiting 190 miles (350 km) above the Earth. At this scale all we have is each other. Beautiful!

Read all about it

The New York Times has a story about a PSU scientist who believes he can regenerate a mammoth for $10 million once its genome is sequenced.

Show of hands, who thinks this is a good idea? Did you people not see Jurassic Park? Come on you this animal died off for a reason, no second chances!

“Mammoth escape at the San Diego Zoo, Neanderthal resurrected to capture or kill it.”

“Neanderthal escape at a local lab, Sabertooth Cat resurrected to kill it.”

This is just the start, we’ll have a full fledged Jurassic Park before this century’s over. What a terrible idea.

Read All About It

808s and Heartbreak by Kanye West

Since the release of his third album Kanye West lost his mother and broke up with his fíance,  how could his 4th album be called anything but Heartbreak. The album art above has been retouched by Kaws, a deflated heart shaped balloon being ripped in two. Its simplistic and complex and beautiful and I could go on all day about it. Its genius. This albums has been described by Mr. West as a presentation of a new genre called “Pop Art”, not to be confused with the visual art movement of the same name.

Kanye’s voice has been altered by Auto-Tune (a plug-in for correcting pitch imperfections) it makes his voice sound choked up, like he has a lump in his throat and yet he still tries to sing his heart out. The palette used for the beats is simplistic yet expertly used combining unique instruments and sounds to create something brand new. Its easy on the ears and heavy on the heart.

Recommended Songs:

Say You Will – Excellent intro song, it sets the tone and gets you ready for an experience.

Welcome to Heartbreak – West describes the regrets and disappointments which come from his fame.

Heartless – Classic Kanye, this song is a throwback to his first three albums but still incorporates the feel of 808s & Heartbreak. I love this song.

Love Lockdown – Kanye first performed this song at the 2008 VMA’s. The bass drums play throughout the verses like a heartbeat. 

Paranoid – Classic Kanye, I really like this song, this gonna be a club hit for sure.

RoboCop – THE STRINGS! I really dig this song, its so fresh.

Bad News – This song is anything but Bad News, it really shows Mr. West maturing as an artist. I totally dig it.

Coldest Winter – This song is the definition of heartbreak. Losing your mother so swiftly. He lays it all on this lie in this one. Incredible.

This album is an incredible 4th effort from Mr. West. I hope next year brings another one. Pick it up on iTunes at 12am tonight. 

4.5/5 Stars

Yes, you heard me right. I am a black man who didn’t vote for Obama. But before the Neo-Cons start dancing with glee I did not vote for that crotchety fart John McCain either. My reasoning is simple, neither of these men are best equipped to be President of the United States of America. They were put in place to keep the status quo and will be no different than the men who came before them. Politically they are both turds. Ron Paul was the answer but that opportunity left as soon as it came (more on him in the future).

Barack Obama is an attractive, intelligent man of direct African descent. He attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. His credentials are undeniably impressive but don’t necessarily make him a good candidate for POTUS (President of the United States).

I’m not talking about experience or decision making capabilities. The problem with President-Elect Obama is he like so many politicians before him will not take his Presidential Oath of office seriously. It’s a simple oath laid out in Article II, Section I of the US Constitution.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Every President since Washington has taken this oath and sadly only a handful have followed it to the letter. Simply Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States and you’ve kept your promise.

You might have never heard of Santogold but I can almost guarantee you’ve heard her music in commercials video games and other forms of subconscious intrigue.

I first ran across her on Kanye West’s excellent blog (Kanyeuniversecity) when he posted her music video for L.E.S. Artistes. I was shocked. It was a play on Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “Holy Mountain”, she was black and didn’t feel the need to mimic the ghetto ignorance that plagues today’s music. I had to know more. Luckily her first album came out soon after that. 

Santogold lived up to the promise of L.E.S. Artistes and provided me with so much more. She has a voice like Gwen Stefani and isn’t afraid to stray into other genres. Pick it up today!

Recommended songs:

Every song on the album! They just flow so well together.

5/5 Stars

My political ideology is strict Constitutionalist. I carry a combination Declaration of Independence and US Constitution in my back pocket at all times. I even have a US Constitution application for my iPhone. I hold this document in a position of reverence. It is the single most succinct and important document to ever govern a group of people.

Our Union, the United States of America is not a country in the traditional sense. It is a group of 50 separate countries (states) which follow a common charter, The US Constitution. So long as the states do not violate this charter they may conduct business in their state in whatever manner they see fit. 

The federal government is meant to do nothing more than enforce the regulations set forth in the US Constitution, but after 2 centuries I’m afraid we have drifted far off the Founding Father’s original mark. The federal government is now a bloated entity filled with bureaucracy and greed. Without swift action our Union will never return to its former glory.

My country (state) is Texas. It was where I was born and I still spend the majority of my time there. I wave its flag with more pride than the flag which represents the United States.

I am a Texan first and an American second.

Urban Arson is the personal blog of Aaron Burns.

I decided to start this blog to become a better writer. I’ll be using this as a forum to talk about things going on in my everyday life as well as:

• Reviewing movies and electronics.
• Discussing politics, philosophy, science, technology and the future of our species.
• Posting short stories and creative writing.
• Sharing anecdotes and other things that interest me.

I hope you enjoy my blog and feel free to leave a comment in the comments section.

Aaron Burns

PS – Yes that is my eye.