Boyz II Men Review

Much to my own chagrin, I have to write this piece over who are what I would classify as the African-American version of the Backstreet Boys. It could be worse though at least I didn't get have to listen to a Lil' Wayne or Kanye album. See the problem I have with "bands" such as Boyz II Men, N'Sync, 98*, Kanye, Lil' Wayne among the endless supply of similar groups is that they do not play any instruments. Generally I would consider having the ability to play an instrument as well...instrumental in creating music, which is usually considered an art until it turns into the constant rehashing of the same themes. Another thing I enjoy in music is being able to relate to the subject matters of the lyrics, but Boyz II Men, to their credit really, have made not only an entire album but career where every song deals with love, and women. I'm into girls too, but there comes a point where there's no further to go on about a subject matter and it just becomes monotonous. Also I have other things going on in life other than my "love" life to me it comes off like they're just trying to produce a product that will sell which is very insincere, and is the polar opposite of a creative artistic process which is what music is in theory. The sad part is, from hearing this album it does sound like they have talent as singers, their melodies aren't bad and I do like the almost barbershop style of singing they use; but the beats are completely interchangeable and I sincerely doubt they played any of the piano parts throughout the album. As is plainly obvious to all the two or three people who may read this, I am not the type who's into R&B I openly admit my favorite types of music are heavy rock and metal. But I genuinely believe any style of music can be good, I for one have no hesitation in expressing how much I like Elton John or David Bowie both are fantastic musicians who surround themselves with other terrific musicians and create amazing art, without just appealing to the lowest common denominator of people or selling out to record companies with uninspired work. With that said talentless hacks seem to rule the landscape of music and they are from all genres see Hinder, Coldplay, Daughtry, Ronnie Millsap, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and the list goes on infinitely. But there are good groups from each genre, I for one really like De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan, OutKast, pre-2000 Snoop, etc. these guys had something they wanted to say through their music and it was genuine, they weren't concerning themselves with selling albums they said what they believed and that is much more respectable then creating insincere bullshit to sell to the idiot masses. That ultimately is what separates the great musicians from the hacks, the Boyz from the Men if you will. A lot of people have good singing voices and great technical musical talent, but not all of them have something to say or have the nerve to say it regarless if it will sell or get your music on the radio.

2012 GOP Candidate Race

The Presidential cycle is coming up again and with Barack Obama locked in for one spot; it is the GOP Republican seat that is up for grabs in 2012. There are four major candidates still in the race at this point, in no particular order those vying for the nomination are Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul.

Rick Santorum: The former senator from my home state of Pennsylvania is currently contending the count from the Iowa caucus. But finished a distant third in the recent South Carolina poll trailing Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich considerably. My thoughts on Santorum is that he is not likely at all to gain the nomination even if he were to be awarded the Iowa victory, and also I would never vote for him. He seems to me to be delusional on a lot of issues and makes me uncomfortable with his rabid homophobia and constantly quoting or referencing the Bible on what our marriage laws should be, not to be harsh on the Bible but it's over a thousand years old and if we incisively use that as our guide to life there would still be slavery, and polygamy. We say marriage is a sacred, yet Kim Kardashian can get married as a stunt to get attention and a new show on E!, add on the fact that marriage fails 50% of the time in the good ole' USofA, and marriage looks more and more like a joke every day. It's time for a new philosophy in this country and Senator Santorum is in the opposite direction of said new philosophy.

Mitt Romney: So far in the 2012 GOP campaign Mitt Romney has appeared to be the front-runner for the majority of this race. The former governor of Massachusetts has won the first two state of the 2012 GOP primary campaign and is now attempting to fend off a fierce surge by his competitor Newt Gingrich. Romney comes from a wealthy background with his Harvard education. My favorite part of Mr. Romney is watching him attempt his ordinary guy routine, I'm just waiting for a line like "Look my team of tailors sew my pant-suits on one leg at a time like any other jagoff". Above all, to me, Mitt stands for big business, big government, and more business as usual which is why he seems the most likely to gain the nomination. This would be another example to me of how broken our political system is, I see no difference at all between Romney and our current President Barack Obama. Slick talking big business, big government corporate shills, the only thing they care about the American people is their vote to further their career, and yet another GOP candidate I would never in good conscience vote to be the "leader of the free world" even if that is a bullshit title.

Newt Gingrich: The "hot" candidate since the most recent 2012 GOP debate Gingrich really did well for himself that led to a runaway victory in South Carolina with over 40% of the vote 13% more than his nearest opponent Mitt Romney. Good for him he's had an up-and-down campaign which had a lot to do with the negative ads from the Pro-Romney Super-Pac. The reality for Gingrich is this though; my dog has a better chance at winning the Presidency than he does. There's no way in hell the American people are going to vote for an old fat ugly white guy over giving Barry four more years just ask John McCain, I mean at least he was a war veteran. But even if he was to gain the nomination there's still no way I would vote for him, I suppose he's a little less of a corporate sellout than Romney but that is a relative statement.

Ron Paul: This native Texan is the only candidate I have seen that stands for any type of change or anything but "business as usual". Unfortunately he is not treated well by the media or other candidates, often saying how he's crazy or questioning his sanity which scares voters off, and he's become something of a punch line in the Political world. It's amazing how in this world anytime someone comes out and expresses an idea that may go against the grain we immediately condemn those people as crazy or a lunatic or whatever tag line we use to keep each other in line. We humans actually manage to out-sheep the sheep; at least sheep need a sheep-dog to keep them in line. We keep each other in line by casting-out those who go against the social "norms" and placing shame on those who dare to break out of the line to the slaughter house. For example years ago before the Law of Gravity when people thought the Earth was flat people condemned those who dared to say the world was round because if you lived on the bottom of a ball you would fall off, then comes the Law of Gravity and what once seemed radical and insane is completely logical and accepted. This is the plight of Mr. Ron Paul expressing ideas that he believes in and not allowing others to program their shame into him he says what he believes and more power to him. I can honestly say he is the only candidate in the 2012 GOP primaries that I would even consider voting for even though he has absolutely no shot at winning the nomination let alone the actual presidency. But even if we were to see the Bizzaro World situation where Ron Paul gets elected President of the United States he would be assassinated less than a few months into his term because he stands against those who truly run this country, the banking cartels such as the federal reserve, the oil and phamaceutical cartels, and those who own the mass media outlets, which are all privately owned corporations by such families as the Rockefeller's, Rothschild's, Morgan's, Bush's, and Royal Family Windsor's. Good luck America have more fun with business as usual because it's only a matter of time till we all wake up out of our manipulated illusion and start a new revolution of Love, Peace, and Knowledge and all these control systems come crashing down.