Category: Life and How to Live it

Happy New Year, everybody.

It’s a new year, which means that it’s January and you are now the farthest away from next (insert seasonal holiday that you may or may not celebrate here) that you’ll ever be. I say this, thankfully, with all of the decorations and lights neatly stowed away in the attic.

On another note, this new Oprah network is pretty interesting. Didn’t grow up watching Oprah. A lot of behind the scenes stuff, revelations of her foul mouth and inability to operate her own blender, but I think what I find most interesting is the jay-z master class interview show preview.

The issue of chasing what’s popular at the moment, versus what is real. The concept of hip-hop evolving past the niche, and sustaining it as the artists mature as a cultural force that jay-z suggested may have done more for race relations than ….

Well, at least, he mentioned Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m not quite sure what he meant, and I hate to put words in the master rapper’s mouth, but … I found that feeling interesting.

There was a soundbite or two from Oprah about why Jay-z was picked as a subject for this master class episode or whatever it was, I wasn’t paying it my full attention as i was busy with this sim city deluxe game I’m hooked on.

Anyway, maybe I know way too much about Oprah now, but it’s as if she was attempting to justify the selection of jay-z as one being at the top of their game, with a unique experience that epitomizes American life (the stated theme of the guests of the master class series program). She said something to the effect of: He speaks to a large audience and even if you don’t listen to hip hop, you have to appreciate that his popularity is based on the fact that his message is received by so many who feel the same way.

Did anybody else see this? Thoughts? Resolutions? Answer below in the comments.

I was surprised when later, a commercial advertised that Diane Sawyer would be the first subject of the masterclass series premiere. What? Has she ever been on the cover of Rolling Stone?

Perhaps Jack Pendarvis said it best in the latest issue of the Oxford American (12th Annual Southern Music Issue) …

“Everyone knows that music is better than writing. … Even ‘bad music’ is better than ‘good’ writing. … There are no facts in music. Music is like this: ‘Dee doodle doodle dee dee dee.’ Writing is like this: ‘Blah blah blah, there is this amount of oats in a typical bin of oats.'”