Music Monday: Lil Wayne

I love hip hop and I'm not sure how that happened. I'm a white girl who mostly grew up in redneck country, but from the time that hip hop started infiltrating my radio, I've been enamored. Though I wouldn't necessarily listen to it today, I think it started with the Will Smith songs that were played on pop radio when I was a teen, then Eminem blew up right around the same time we got MTV for the first time.

Over the past couple years, Lil Wayne has solidified himself as my favorite rapper. I won't claim to be in touch with the rap underground or to be a fan of gangsta rappers most people have never heard of. My tastes run to the mainstream stuff that gets played on top 40 radio, so my first exposure to Weezy was probably Lollipop, even though I vaguely remember him as part of the Cash Money crew from years ago.

Though I love his style, my affection for Lil Wayne is also about his personality. If you get the chance, check out his Behind the Music. The man is outrageously intelligent and loves his home city of New Orleans. He's in prison in New York right now and his people are posting letters from him at Weezythanxyou.com. The first letter is humble and poetic, so check it out if you're curious about him as a person.

Just a few songs on the playlist, but there's some good stuff in there. "A Milli" is probably the best rap song I've heard in the past 5 years, and "Forever" is a fantastic collaboration, as is "Swagga Like Us". Enjoy!

Music Monday: Lil Wayne

Fun Friday: The Organization of Cartographers for Social Equality

This is probably my favorite West Wing scene ever. Its not unusual for me to quote it randomly, even if no one knows what the hell I'm referencing. Enjoy!

TV Thursday: Justified

I'm loving FX's new show Justified! The show, based on an Elmore Leonard character, follows US Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) as he's re-assigned to his home state Kentucky after he shoots a suspect under slightly suspicious circumstances. The supporting cast includes Raylan's boss, his fellow US Marshals, his ex-wife, and assorted people from his past.

The first villain introduced in the pilot is Boyd Crowder (such a great Southern name, and I'm pretty sure I've known several Crowders and a couple of Boyds), and I hope he's the one that sticks around. He's played brilliantly by Walton Goggins as a Neo-Nazi hellraiser. Olyphant is just as brilliant as Raylan, and I think the show would work just as well for me if every episode spent half the time just watching these two interact. Olyphant (who I've always liked, even in cheesy movies like Live Free or Die Hard) is hugely charismatic, playing Raylan with a simmering intensity that's hitting all the right notes for this viewer.

The writing on the show so far seems to balance drama with some hilarious one liners that keep the show from being too heavy. I've watched the pilot and episode two, "Riverbrook," and those two episodes seem to suggest that we'll be getting a mix of overarching plot and stand alone procedural type episodes. That's a difficult line to walk, but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.

I think my favorite part of the show, besides Olyphant and Goggins, is the way the show has captured the atmosphere of a small Southern town. I know there's a lot of miles between Arkansas and Kentucky, but the show still feels like it could be taking place in one of the small towns I grew up in. The music is a huge part of that, and I'm loving the rap-bluegrass-country tone of it.

Its also worth noting that the accents on this show don't get on my nerves, which is quite an accomplishment. I'm usually driven up the wall by fake Southern accents, but that hasn't happened here. Fingers crossed that remains the case.

Justified airs Tuesdays at 9 central on FX!

What's On the Needles Wednesday

A knitting post on my knitting blog, imagine that! Sharing my projects will be much easier now that Ravelry has enabled us members to share our projects with non-members. Clicking the links below should actually allow you to view my project page on Ravelry.

Right now, I'm knitting on the second sock of my Twin socks. When I'm done, they'll match a pair knitted by my fabulous Twin, Lewzilla. I'm knitting one at a time, using magic loop with KnitPicks Harmony 40" circular size 1.



I also wanted to show off my last finished project, my Ravelympics success story, Citron:



It still needs to have the ends woven in and blocked, but I'm very proud of it!

Happy Wednesday!

Its a Very Special Post: Twilight Fan writes to Advice Column

I saw this article on Twilight Examiner about a Twilight fan who wrote into the LA Times advice columnist seeking some direction on her Twilight obsession. You can read the whole letter here.

I think there is some outrage going on around Twitter that feel like the advice columnist was way off base in advising this woman to seek counseling. On the surface, it may seem like Amy is saying that any obsession with Twilight is unhealthy.

I'll confess that after reading through the letter carefully, though, I have to side with the advice columnist. And this quote is why:

I'm so sorry I don't have the same type of love that this character has for the female character. I have been depressed about this.

To me, this is where it goes from fairly harmless fandom into something more intense. I love Twilight, and there was a time when I was certainly obsessed with it. I'm still fairly involved in the fandom, and have made some fantastic and lasting friendships because of it.

However, when your obsession of choice (and most people have them, whether its doll collecting or sports or growing your own herbs) begins to make you feel depressed, then I say professional counseling is in order. True depression is nothing to trifle with. I think the Twilight fans see this as an attack on Twilight, but I think, in reality, it has nothing to do with Twilight specifically, but with this woman being confused about her life.

As the daughter of a manic depressive and the friend of several people who have battled depression, I urge anyone who thinks they may be suffering from depression to seek help, regardless of what made them think so. Its the words that this woman uses that's important, not the fact that she's a Twilight fan.

Music Monday: Kings of Leon - Only By the Night

Okay, so I'm not all indie and cool, so I wasn't a KoL fan before hearing this album, and I haven't gone back and listened to their earlier stuff. However, that doesn't change the fact that I consider this album the best album of the past 3 or 4 years that I've listened to. Nearly every song has a catchy hook and the songs go together wonderfully to create a unified tone for the whole album.

If you haven't heard "Use Somebody" in the past year, its possible you've been living under a rock, and I'd argue that it might be the best song on the album, but they're all great. There aren't a ton of albums where I can push play and listen to them all the way through, but this is one of them. My faves (besides "Use Somebody")are: Closer, Revelry, and Cold Desert.

Enjoy!

Kings of Leon

Fun Friday: Sue's Corner

This week's Fun Friday clip is Sue's Corner: Sneaky Gays. Glee returns from hiatus next month.

Enjoy!