Kanye West - Runaway (Full-length Film)

No matter what you think of Kanye West, you can never say he is like everyone else because he's not! I don't have to explain why, that why we have search engine! He always on a different level than us and his unique vision makes him extraordinary! This short film is a testimony to that! Kanye's directed this piece (with assistance from Video Connoisseur Hype Williams) and the visuals are stunning but with all sights and sounds to behold, the lyrics to his songs have been the most interesting part of Ye's repertoire!!! Genius is a term we use way too frequently for describing individuals work that is impressive to others, Kanye's work is made to let people knows that he can Kiss The Sky!!! So, runaway fast as you can!!!!

Open Your Mind (Wide)...to Heaven!

The GAP Band used to dominate Philly's Radio Station WDAS-FM when I was young! I even got to see them live in 2002 in a club in Yokohama, Japan! It was a great show but sadly it won't be the same since Robert Wilson the bassist & co-founder of the band passed away today. I'll be definitely jamming their music today as a salute to these FUNK legends!

Here's my favorite cut by them:



RIP to Robert Wilson!

http://www.bvbuzz.com/2010/08/16/robert-wilson-gap-band-dead/

Tunes to Cue With!

Since this summer is a hot one & everyone is trying to stay in the shade or inside with the AC Blastin', DJ Jazzy Jeff & Mick Boogie came out with the Ultimate Mixtape called Summertime! The music is mixture of old school R&B, Pop & Hip Hop plus the best thing is: IT'S FREE!!!! Cop this & Chill!

http://usershare.net/ploibccxvi6c

RIP to Keith Elam aka GURU from Gang Starr!

Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal aka GURU the rapper from the Legendary group Gang Starr has passed away, RIP! Gang Starr Foundation will never die & here's my favorite Gang Starr track with Nice & Smooth!

Undiscovered Gem: Rosechild!

Music videos was made to accomplish two things: one is to give a visual representation of the artist song & two it get you motivated to buy the artists music! It was a genius marketing tool because I was always happy to record the videos to show off to my friends and go to music store to buy the product. In the 90's where MTV was king for showing music videos (today it's completely different, ugh) other channels tried to compete with this colossal giant. TNT used to have a music video show that was shown on Friday & Saturday nights. This was one of the video that left an indelible impression on me when I first saw it. Stress was a band out of the UK with a psychedelic sound that was trying to break into the US music scene! Though they were unsuccessful and released only the one album this track stood out from the rest! Almost 20 years later I still play this ditty and reminisce all of the fun I had at the time! So I present to you Rosechild!

Stress "Rosechild" from Andrew Doucette on Vimeo.

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The Disconnection Performance

In the last quarter, I was taking a course called Performance Of Literature. You have to do solo, duo & a group performances from a book, a poem and your own narrative piece in front of your classmates. Some of my classmates found it challenging but I found the experience fun because I am such a ham!!!! Our instructor videotaped our final performances and I wanted to share it.
The piece is uncut so the language is raw but also it's very funny. Enjoy!

Greed Is Good!: The Free Market Economy Mantra

GREED IS GOOD!

Gordon Gekko! The master manipulator of Oliver Stone's film Wall Street. Forbes magazine named him the 14th richest fictional character.(1) The poster child for Milton Friedmans's Free Market Economy. He uttered those words 23 years ago at fictional company Teldar's meeting to best describe how to save their business as well as the economy of the United States. Even though Gekko was based on a real life stock trader Ivan Boesky convicted for insider trading, set the tone of the way things are occurring today.

Milton Friedman beliefs of Free Market Economy in which marketplace can take care of it self and the government to not interfere is one of the keys to seeing this thrive. The business practices of Wall Street Investment firms are not only affecting US Economy but the World Market, too. French President Nicholas Sarkozy spoke at the World Economic Forum stating it was time to restrain all free market spending because it's only concern for the means and not the ends. (2) Natural disasters that hit New Orleans, Haiti and now Chile is are a terrible tragedy for everyone but it is a "perfect" situation for the followers of Milton Friedman to exploit with privateering of public functions. The irony of what has happened in Chile is Friedman's economist students from the University of Chicago aka "Chicago Boys" actually helped the former dictator Pinochet to rule his country. (3)

The article Gekko & Greed- Friedman & Freedom (4), show a correlation between the two and how things have not changed. It's funny because after all that has been happening, the man who first believed this would come to a fruition is now back! Gordon Gekko is now large and charge in the 21st Century! Oliver Stone revived the character in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, to return to the scene, survey how the economy has been wrecked and also how he can get a slice of the pie! This film is made for entertainment value and escapism but in 2010 is it?





(1) http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/13/400fictional_15.html

(2) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/27/business/main6147148.shtml

(3) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10

(4) http://investingcaffeine.com/2010/02/28/gekko-greed-–-friedman-freedom/

RIPPED: New York Low-Wage Workers Are Cheated!

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5 - New York, NY
Uploaded by iameternal. - Watch more music videos, in HD!






"New York New York, big city of dreams
And everything in New York ain't always what it seems
You might get fooled if you come from out of town
But I'm down by law and I know my way around

Too much, too many people, too much (aha-ha)
Too much, too many people, too much, Raaah!"


Ah, the classic sounds of old school Hip Hop, there is nothing like it! This classic verse is provided by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (1) for the city that they love New York. As this gem was released in 1983, you would figure that by the arrival of the 21st Century times would be better but alas this is further from the truth. A New York Times article (2) reported that more than half of low-wage workers are cheated of fair pay. Jobs such as deliverymen, grocery baggers, and health care aides are grossly underpaid for weekly salaries and even overtime pay. Communities that have a larger base of minorities and immigrants that live in the city are affected. New York Department of Labor is aware of the ill business practices of employers in the low-wage industries and they are planning “aggressive” approach to correct such action.

There are several theories from Marx are in play here. From the determination of wages to give just enough to survive and be dependent to the owner, surplus value to increase profits for the employer plus the competition among the owners who are utilizing the divisions of labor to depreciate the wages to take advantage of the poor.

These issues have been going on since the introduction of money was used for trade. Business people will always find a way to cheat the common man so they can increase profits for themselves. People need to fight for their rights so their voices are heard by either voting, the Internet via message boards/blogging or take to airwaves by putting out a song. Nothing will be changed unless everyone acts.


1."New York, New York" Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Greatest Message's 1983 Sugar Hill/MCA Records
2. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/patrick-mcgeehan-wage-post/

Tanks For The Memories!

Welcome to Tank Graveyard! For nearly ten years, The Soviet-Afghan War was raged in the Afghanistan Desert. The result of the conflict known as the Afghan Civil War showed the Mujahideen Rebels victorious and the Soviets went home to Russia defeated with the sting of their version of Vietnam War is now apart of history. On February 15, 1989, the Soviets left all facilities and machinery in the region after the last troops has withdrawn. Hundreds of tanks left in the sandstorms for over twenty years.

Today, the people of Afghanistan are doing the same thing as the factory workers in Argentina (1), utilizing the waste. The Afghan Army are using the former Soviet base as a training facility for their troops to better prepare them in armored tank warfare. Whatever materials that are not being used in the training exercises are being sold as scrap metal to the Chinese Government.

Locke's theory comes into play for seeing that the Soviet Union who occupied Afghanistan for a long duration, withdrew their forces after losing the war and left all weapons of war behind. They obviously didn't want it so, the Afghan Army claimed it as their own personal property. Once the Army is finish using the materials, they are selling it to China once again proving they are adhering to Locke's principals of not wasting goods since it would spoil from the climate. These actions would be seen as progress but Locke would ponder what if the countries of the west would follow suit.



1) http://www.thetake.org/index.cfm?page_name=the_zanon_struggle

Living Well: When Wealth-Getting Goes Wrong

The term bailout is a rescue from financial distress. It's funny that a couple years ago, the only ones whom paid attention to that word would be people working on Wall Street and the U.S. Government. Today, the single utterance of that phrase is an automatic beatdown! Do we blame the previous administration for the fallout that the country and the world is suffering? Is there a time limit for President Obama to rectify this mess? The most obvious question is: How did we get to this point? All valid questions but for this entry I will concentrate on the philosopher Aristotle, his views on living well and the dangers of it.

Aristotle's Art of Acquisition states governing the household is the primary concern of the individual. His views includes the most natural way of exchanging is to barter, that it should be limits on all goods to maintain the household plus have economic uses for the items and money should be a subordinate never identical to these beliefs. Of course over time, the desire of living well over just living, consumed the world and it grew into the 21st Century Monster (?) that we see today!

Some would argue the introduction of retail trade is the root of the problem. The deal for the customer who use money to purchase items became a necessary evil to acquiring goods but also gave birth to what Aristotle called a fetishtic desire for money for the seller. For all the good retail for selling products and growing businesses there are a few individuals who feel that is not enough. Greed has taken over the financial landscape with corporation's bottom line is the most important to the executives and shareholders. Why Not? They have the confidence to feel this way since all of them know the Federal Government will bail them out to save the Nation's Economy. President Obama is trying to convince Congress to create a "bailout tax" for all the financial institutions who request one to ensure all the money is returned.(1)

Time will tell if this measure will pass and this will help the economy rebound. Aristotle's ideas on money is still argumentative to a certain degree but the reality is as long business dealings continue this way the world will suffer.

"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
— Oscar Wilde



1. http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/14/news/economy/bailout_tax/index.htm

My 1st Post As The Mystery Unfolds...

Even though this blog was created to fulfill my class assignments for Business Ethics, I will maintain plus utilize this form of ideas, observations & commentary through the eyes of deesoul (once this class is done). Stay True!