The Comebackers

Has anyone else noticed this, that the year 2007 seems to have more Comebackers than usual.

Every year we have some singer or rapper even an actor/actress that has been lost to our memories try and make a comeback and kick start their dead careers, but through out this year I think there maybe a higher number of comebackers than usual.

Let us try and name some of these comebackers and see how many We get.

Ja Rule: Whose last album was in 2005 and I think I am not alone in thinking that he would never make a come back to music, after the damage to his rap reputation at the hands of 50 Cents, but lo and behold Jeffery Atkins has a new single called Body for his upcoming album The Mirror (Its safe to say I will never check that shit out)

Redman aka Reggie Noble aka Funk Doc : About 5 or 6 years after his last album, Redman release his sixth solo album Red Gone Wild and it was well recieved by the fans because it encompassed all the elements that made us fans in the first place but yet still managing to update his sound to fit in with the modern times.

Spice Girls: This out of all the comebackers seem to be the most desperate, with the only sucessful solo career belonging to Geri Halliwell (and damnit that woman can sing). The new single though I dont see doing too well, unless they've paid some radio djs who would then shut off their common sense and feel the need to play the songs 5 times in every 30 minutes and thus implanting it everyones head and making most of us being addicted to it regardless of whether we hate it or not, but even I (as a renowned skeptic) dont think thats gonna happen with this single.

Dave Chappelle: I don't want to go into the whole discussion of Dave Chappelle missing and but would just like to point out that he made his comeback to stand up comedy on the 15th of April of 2007 in the laugh factory, where he performed for 6 hours (and I can't wait to watch that)

Jeru the Damaja: Jeru released his latest album Still Rising October 2007, after missing for about 4 years .

Jay Z: After telling all of us he quit rap but still appearing as a feature on various songs, it came as no surprise that Mr Shawn Carter finally dropped an album. The title of the aforementioned album is American Gangster inspired and named after the upcoming film of the same title.

David Slade : Director of Hard Candy(2005), which did moderatley well, made his come back to the film industry with the comic book adaptation with the same title; 30 Days Of Night.

Michael Jackson: Yes even they King of Pop is a comebacker for 2007. I have heard a new single but not sure yet if it is official but his name has been popping up so much that I felt the need to include him in this list.

Wu Tang: Even though I am not overly excited (which is what I thought I would be) about the upcoming album, I am glad that at least some material is coming out from the Wu Tang Clan, it is just a shame that all the singles released thus far are all average and somewhat boring even.

Craig David, Celine Dion & Boys 2 Men also some people making comebacks for 2007.

I am sure that I am missing a lot of names and would appreciate it if people could add some more Comebackers for 2007 or at least tell me if they think that the number of Comebackers is not that high or maybe even very small compared to other years. Thanks For reading and please post your thoughts.

My Majority Conflict

I have many faults....many many faults, but one that I have always been aware of is the fact that I tend to (intentionally or unitentionally, I am not entirely sure) shun most things that are popular. I tend to ignore or avoid or dislike a lot of societies fads and craze, and I have been known to go out of my way to make my feelings known.

To elaborate my point further I would like to point out a couple of instances when I have delved into such mind frames and avoided a product or idea that was popular or even considered the norm and the reasons why I have done so.

A couple of years ago the world went Digital Audio Player rampage, more specifically ipod rampage (because there were many mp3 players years before the arrival of the ipod but people were still largely into discmans and MiniDisc players) and people had now found a new fashion fad...and if you thought the ipod was nothing but a device used for listening to music, podcasts and watching videos, you would only be half right.

Being that I am music junkie, I have gone through my fair share of personal audio devices (about 8 discmans, 4 minidiscs and countless flash based players) so it was only right that I moved on to the next level, which was Hard Disc Drive; for which to sedate my beastial musical cravings. You would think I would just go out and buy the most popular gadget that (on the surface) satisfied my needs, but then you probably never had a conversation with me so you cannot be blamed for thinking that.

I researched on various Hard Disc Drives in the market and ended up buying the Creative Zen Vision M, for two main reasons. 1. It is renowned for having great battery life, unlike that of the ipod which most owners complained about. 2. It wasnt an ipod. So now even though I had something to sate my music listening hunger, and I wouldnt be one of those people that thought they were somehow cooler than you because they had white (shitty, i feel i must add) earphones in their ears.

I know it seems sort of harsh, but the truth is that most people that do own an ipod only buy it because everyone they know owns one and it is the in thing.

I would like to point out another instance that I have avoided something that was popular and I have to warn you that from this point on you might start to get an idea of how strange and weird I can be sometimes.

I am an avid reader, most of you reading this probably already know this. My taste usually tends to be confined to fiction but every now and then I will read something non fiction. But my love truly lies in horror and mystery genre and so I am always on the look out for something that challenges my beliefs and rocks my imagination. With this in mind you would think it would be apt that I would be willing to or already read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

The reason why I havent or refuse to read it? well it annoyed me when the world went crazy over a book that covered a subject matter that was not even original and also the fact that i meet a lot of people who didn't even enjoy reading but picked up the book and acclaimed it for it's "greatness". I'm sorry but if you only read Harry Potter novels and the few novels you had to read in your english class and yet proclaim a book as one of the best things written this century, I cannot respect your opinion.
Even I have some gripes with my favourite authours and I believe that if you are going to give a book or authour criticism you should be able to spot the greatness and the shortcomings but I have never ever meet anyone of these Dan Brown lovers (and I have meet a whole lot of them, the world seemed to be filled with them a couple of years ago) that has a problem with him and they just go on about how great his works are and I am convienced most of these people dont know what they are talking about and only say how good he is because they feel they need to and everyone else around them is saying the same thing.

There have been a lot of instances where I have avoided something because of how popular it is but that there are also many instances when I have rejoiced and enjoyed over the popularity of something. When I have tried to get people that arent interested in something famous or popular interested in it. The quickest example I can think of is with the Lord Of The Rings films, practically everyone loves the films but I have meet a couple of people that arent into fantasy films and yet I have tried to persuade them into the awesomeness that is Lord Of The Rings.

I do admit that I do have an unexplainable lure to the underdog but even though I have avoided popular crazes and fads I dont do it because everyone else is in it; I do it mostly because I cant stand it when people don't think for themselves and just follow the general population.
You should be able to enjoy something because it appeals to something inside you (regardless of whether it is famous/popular or not) instead of that trying to fulfill that shallow and capricious desire to fit in.

I Don't Know But I Do Wonder...

Last night I was in the kitchen with a cousin of mine (Simi) and we got into an argument over something I thought was inane at the time. She said that a survey was carried out in Africa to determine who were the happiest people in the world and statistically Nigeria came up on top and that she agreed with it.

I immediately disagreed with her, stating that apart from the fact that surveys always have so many holes in them and so to rely on them especially when it comes to a capricious topic such as "happiness" is really....well sort of silly, and also the fact that most Nigerians I know, even though they are some of the most friendly and nicest people are not the happiest of people.
Her defense was that Nigerians suffered hardships of a third world country in what is supposed to be a developed country and yet the people still live their lives with determined fortitude and gratitude (which was sort of evident in them being some of the most religious people in the world)
I countered what she said by pointing out that it is a condition most humans are blessed with, even during the most dire of times we still seem to unconsciously find something to hold on to, something that keeps us going, we also seek comfort in each other knowing that we are all living in hardship. I also said that yes Nigeria maybe afflicted with some really fucked up donkey shit but if you were born in hardship and that was all you knew you would be used to it and you may not realize how bad things were until it was pointed out to you.

Granted neither of us was so eloquent during the argument... the whole discussion was more of us just yelling at each other and neither really listening to the other but Simi then said something that stuck with me and made me actually think she had a point.

She said that we didn't hear of any Nigerians that committed suicide or that suffered from depression (yes I know just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it doesn't happen but it does mean that theres is a very small percentage of it happening) but it got me thinking and even though I still skeptic about the survey, I found it intriguing that there is a lower number of suicides and depressed people in African countries than there are in more developed countries.


It is an interesting phenomenon, where by people that live more comfortably are the ones that are more mentally unstaible, and even though very little data is collected that documents the suicide rates in Africa I think its easy to see that there is a lower number of suicides just by talking to a Africans you meet about. Granted that there are a lot of different reasons for suicide and not all involve stress, depression and loneliness/isolation; some do it for religious reasons others for honor and in some cases protest (as in the case of Thich Quang Duc) but I am specifically talking about suicide which involves people depressed and unhappy.

Does that mean that you have to suffer to appreciate life and want to live? Maybe there is some truth to that irony but it might be something much different and I apologize for the insinuation of this statement. But maybe it is a race thing, maybe some races are just more susceptible to be more depressed and suicidal, I know it sounds very far fetched and even I dont believe it but it is still a possibility and I would appreciate it if anyone could provide or inform me about any research that might have been taken relating to this train of thought.

I think the first theory holds more water than the race thing though.

It would mean that the will to live is somewhat paradoxical, and people that stricken by poverty or some sort of suffering usually have a strong will to live and find a way to enjoy life and live life. (e.g Terry Fox) On the flipside people that are rich, relatively comfortable and are seemingly in good health find ways to destroy their lives with drugs, alcohol and Et cetera.(e.g countless amount of famous people)

I don't know for sure if any of this is true but I do wonder.

The Art Or The Artist?

Someone asked me today if I had read any H.P Lovecraft books, and my answer was; Yes I have but I don't own any of his books.
It got me thinking why I didn't own any of his works since I am an avid collector of not just books but horror books, and since Lovecraft is/was one of the most influential writers of the horror genre it was indeed strange I owned nothing of his. Then I remembered why I had never bothered buying any of his books was because I found out he was racist and that lead me to the point of this Blog.

Should an artist's life or way of life affect your thoughts on the art? I'm on the fence about the whole issue. If a rapper came out that he was gay, should it affect how much I enjoy his music? I don't think it should but I know it probably would, I'm sorry for that bad example cause it makes it seem like I'm saying homosexuality is wrong.

Its like the whole Michael Richards issue, should I stop enjoying the Kramer character or enjoy it less after his idiotic "nigger rant"? I checked and it doesn't affect how much I like the character, but then why does it affect me in the case of Lovecraft? I am not sure really, maybe it depends on how much you love the art and if we do we become hypocrites and shun the negative aspect of the artist's life or maybe it just depends of the severity of the negativity.

If Hitler painted one of the most beautiful things ever would people still view it as something beautiful without judging the art cause of the painter?

I would like to hear any and everyone's thoughts on the whole issue so please drop some comments.

Unheard Words

As known by most, I am an ardent reader of fictional works and I have been ever since I was yay high.

I don't feel I need to go into an indept speech about why I love reading so much but I feel I need to point this out, that picking up reading a good book will enthrall you into it and will capture and stimulate your imagination in a way films will never be able to....or maybe its just me.

With the preposterous amount of Ipods out there and the creation of the podcasting feature I have noticed that there has been a massive increase in people listening to Audio books. While I am happy that more people are interested in listening to something much more than music (not that I'm a music hater...far from it) I find it almost a travesty that people are resorting to audio books instead of actually buying a book; one with pages and words.
Maybe I am missing something but arent audio books meant for people with disabilities like bad eye sights and general problems reading. I try to be open to all sorts of things and give them a fair chance until I have actually tried it out myself and being that I have never listened to an audio book I'm trying not to pass too much of a harsh judgment on the medium.
I have decided that I will give it a shot and see what all the hoopla is about but now the problem is that I have no clue as to what book to read, i mean listen to (see the confusion this shit causes). So far I am leaning towards Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and read by Lenny Henry, I'm leaning towards this because I have read the actually book and i think it will help in the transition of listening to an audio book, but I am open to any suggestions people want to throw at me.

So, we will see how my little trail goes and I will be reporting back on my thoughts on the whole issue. Wish me luck people.

Note*: The picture posted is just a few of the novels I own, I'll take a picture of my complete collection when I get round to buying new batteries for my damned camera.

If You Had Any Doubts...

This post will eradicate any and all of them...check out the youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u2tuKF6yxU

Read my Father Where Art Thou post and you'll understand what I'm on about...If that video is not confirmation I dont know what is. I know what you're all thinking, but shes a singer; yes, she is but you'll notice that in the chorus she raps and thus acknowledging and confirming my notion that rappers have no fathers.

Good Writer, Shitty Storyteller...

Truth is I dont know if I can rightfully classify myself as a nerd, I not am not of above average intelligence, I dont have a multifarious array of trivial knowledge sparsely stored away within my head that I can pull out any given time and impress people with.
The Only thing I can justifiabley say that sets me apart from unnerdy folks is my love for reading and that alone places me in the realms of nerdiness(even if slightly)....can't say that I'm happy or not about slightly being a nerd, its just who I am and I accept it.

As for my reading, it has developed into somewhat of a major problem, I spend so much of my money on novels and it's become so bad that I cannot function normally through a week (which it usually takes for me to finish reading a 500 plus page novel) if I dont read a novel. When I'm out of money and can't afford to buy a new book, I pick up one of the old ones and re-read it. I've read most of the novels I own at least 3 times...some 4 or 5 times, and I'll be posting a picture of my collection for you all to see for yourselves.

Through my reading escapades I have read many a great books by good writers, terrible ones by bad writers but I am here to talk about (as the smarter ones amongst you might have already gussed from the blog title) bad books by good writers.

The concept is very easy to wrap your head around, just think of it in this sense; a good director making a crappy film for example...Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. You can actually see the potential the film has to be very good but through a number of obviouis bad decisions (like casting Orlando Bloom as the lead role) it has fallen into the section of shittiness.( again sorry for lack of a better word)
The same can be said with novels/novellas and truth is not too many writers are guilty of this because it is easy to confuse a bad writer as a good writer that has written a bad book, but thats another discussion for another day.

I think one writer that is the most guilty of this is Dean Koontz and it does hurt when I read his books because I can actually see the potential to be great instead of corny, cliche and trite works of literary fiction which most of his books always end up being. I read a short Bio of him on Wikipedia.org and it said he grew up in poverty and with an abusive alcoholic father and I was a bit suprised because it doesnt show at all in any of the books I read of him...usually a writer incorporates a dark part of themself within their books and you can sort of detect the kind of person they are from reading a number of their books, but with Koontz all his books seems to be too happy go jolly, you pretty much know what you'll get with a Koontz story. The main character wins effortlessly at the end, even the bad guys dont die all the time and it usually some alien or creature thats the cause of distress. All in all I dont think I have ever read a memorable bad human character in any of his novels, he just doesnt seem to possess the skill to create a character that is trully evil and I find it weird that someone thats actually got good skills as a writer and been through something as fucked up as an abusive father cannot do that....I guess it boils down to him having being a very kind person that doesnt see the world with any malice and but with hope and an almost annoying naivety.

Another Writer that falls into this catergory and although a lot would disagree with me is Jeffery Deaver. I like Jeffery Deaver, its hard not to but I think a lot of his books have the most ridiculous plots and they are the most implausible crap ever written on paper. Come on a magician serial killer that wears more than three costumes and change in 30 seconds or so, wtf?
And his signature suprise endings, where you can never guess who the hell the killer is untill the very end, I won't be suprised if in one of his books a chicken is the killer and i'm serious thats how ridiculous his endings are...some random person that is not even related to the story or plot whatsoever happens to be the bad guy...think along the lines of the idiotic ending of the film Saw.

I would have been convienced he was a really bad writer but I had to change my mind when I read his collection of short stories, pure genius and I wonder why he doesnt write more of his longer stories like that. I do appreciate the research he does for his books, because if one thing is guaranteed in a Deaver novel is that there is always a new topic you will learn about and its usually correct facts. point in case his novel The Empty Chair, where he talks and explains a lot about insects and theres something he says (and i'll have to paraphrase because I don't remember the words exactly) "If all the humans in the whole world dropped dead right now, life on earth would continue for millions of years, but if every single insect dropped dead right now life on earth would probably die within a few week" I have no idea if this is a fact or not but it is something very interesting to ponder.