Feeling Kind Of Low...

I will say, I am finally at my wit's end and officially pulling my hair out while crying and eating Ben and Jerry's and telling myself I'm fat! Yes folks, it is mid-term week, other wise known as the turning point in the semester. Not only is school overly stressful right now, my life has turned into a Greek creation myth - filled with chaos and drama - and frankly I just don't care anymore.

So while I was procrastinating, my newly found art, I came across this:

Anyways, I thought this girl was pretty damn funny, so then I did a google search for Ce Lo Green's version, and to be honest, I didn't know who the guy was - because I live under a rock apparently, and I guess he is considered one of the best male singers in America? Crazy!

After watching the original video, I couldn't help thinking about John Leland's definition of hip, and "The bridge between black/white, high/low cultures, rich/poor" (Leland)

This Music video is the essence of that definition.

Ce Lo mixes modern African American culture with the stereotypical white culture of the 50's - like Grease - where the jocks and cheerleaders hang out at the local diner, black framed glasses are popular, Letterman jacket's and so on....but this video is totally hip because Ce Lo meshes the two cultures together and hooks the audience with a catching melody and trust me, I CAN NOT GET THIS SONG OUT OF MY HEAD!

Bam who? zled...

After watching Spike Lee’s film Bamboozled, I find myself very reluctant to name a trickster. With feelings of ambiguity towards the film’s message against racism, I’m still confused which is worse, racism or terrorism?

The main character, Pierre Delacroix, comes off as a trickster in the beginning because he refuses to be labeled as a stereotype, or to even be classified. His power is language and knowledge, but the misuse of knowledge eventually gets him killed. Trying to get fired, he invents a modern day minstrel show with the assumption that it won’t ever make it to television. When the show becomes a hit, Delacroix becomes blurred by society and losses touch with the message.

In the beginning of the film, Delacroix makes it crystal clear that he has a serious problem with the use of the “N” word; especially when whites use it. His father, a popular black comedian, seems to have no problem using the word. So it seems like the verdict is that it is acceptable to use it if you are black? Once Delacroix gives in to using the word in his show, he seems to lose perspective of what he believes in. He losses his true identity, and forgets that he created this in order to get fired.

The TRUE Trickster then is……Spike Lee.

Lee has created a film in which the audience doesn’t know what is allowed to be funny. There is a blend of stereotypes that seem to undermine the rules of the culture, which is what John Leland attributes to trickster figures. Lee also uses his wit to poke fun at the stereotypes of each culture, making disturbingly funny and disgusting gestures simultaneously. 

Spike Lee, The Trickster, did his research in order to use it to his advantage. I think overall, the message is positive in a weird Spike Lee kind of way. There is no room for racism in our society, because it has taken us so long to overcome it. After watching this film, I was extremely depressed and couldn’t even put it into words now. All I can say is ‘Wow.’

Works Cited

Works Cited

Baldwin, James. If Black English Isn’t A Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? July 29,1979. Web. March 14, 2011.
~ This short essay talks about the evolving of Black English through the African Diaspora. Baldwin asks the question that language plays and how it ultimately reveals the speaker. We discover why language is so critical to our identity. The theme of identity is a common one throughout my essay.

Bamboozled. Dir. Spike Lee. Perf. Damon Wayans, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Savion   Glover. New Line Cinema. 2000. DVD.
~The film Bamboozled, by director Spike Lee is a challenge to the status quo. In an attempt to get fired from a major T.V. network career, the main character Dela decides to bring back the minstrel show. After the audience makes it a hit, Dela has a whole other set of problems. This film challenges ideas of racism and identity. I believe I can also tie this film to ideas of the trickster and also the role of language.

Leland, John. Hip: The History. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. Print.
~This will be the main foundation for the definition of hip. Leland uses multiple examples of hip and makes a case for each of the sources I will be using. I plan to examine each source further and relate them to the "shape hip takes."

‘‘The Killers,’ Ernest Hemingway: Interpretation.’’ In Understanding Fiction, edited by Cleanth Brooks, Jr. and Robert Penn Warren. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1943, pp. 306—25.
~This is a Hemingway classic short story that challenges the idea of identity and time. This can been thought of in a hip light due to the break from orthodoxy and challenges the constraints of time. The concept that arises a huge epiphany is when we discover that the time inside is different from the time outside. This concept pokes at the rational construction of reality; and that is hip!

The hour that doesn't exist!

          I don't know about anyone else, but I am beginning to show signs of DHS (Defining Hip Syndrome).
Symptoms are: Increased cynicism, lack of motivation towards time related tasks, the nagging belief that everyone is a hipster, and various minor physical reactions to jazz music. 


In a brief attempt to repair my sanity, or what is left, I have decided to separate myself from these superfluous thoughts.


On to other topics, What happens to the the hour between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. during the upcoming time change?
Hypothetically we are supposed to set out clocks forward around 2 in the morning, thus becoming 3 a.m. right?
So the hour from 2 a.m to 3 a.m is a mystery. 
We don't actually find that hour until fall back, which occurs seven months later. So that mystery hour is just floating around space, probably chillin' with Tupac and Elvis. 


Where ever it goes, I am just relieved that it eventually comes back. Time, like energy, is relative and cannot be subtracted - it is neither created or destroyed; It re-shapes itself.


It was Albert Einstein who said, 
"The only reason for time, is so that everything doesn't happen at once."


Einstein, most famously know for his Theory of Relativity, understood that the faster an object was moving, the faster time moved relative to the stationary object. Since none of us can actually travel at the speed of light yet, this may be difficult to test. I'll just take Al's word for it!

Trickster Me This?

Talking about the Trickster this week has really given me a run for my money; I seem to be at a loss of ammo.

I don’t know why but for some reason when I think current trickster, a picture of Hugh Laurie comes to mind…

He plays Dr. House on the television show House, in which he is a complete smart ass but also happens to be a brilliant doctor. Each show usually ends with House saving someone’s life but only at the expense of making the other characters feel inadequate. House, like most Tricksters, uses his knowledge to fix situations that could potentially make him look bad. After all, it is just fiction.

As for a real live Trickster, that’s a tough one. Normally I would say Lady GaGa, but she has been my answer for everything lately, so I’m pondering this one…

I feel like there are numerous political figures that could be classified as a Trickster, it seems to be their area of expertise.

Take President Obama for example, he had to use his ‘wit and ingenuity’ to win the presidency, and he is constantly having to dodge stereotypes by the mass public but he does it in a smooth operator kind of way that allows you to think he is part trickster. His power is his language and I think he uses that to his advantage; most politicians are this way.

Another current Trickster – Johnny Depp?

Johnny Depp has had a longtime successful acting career, but how did he get started?

He actually avoided mainstream movies to do what he wanted, which were smaller roles and quirkier films, like Benny and Joon. He was looked at as a rebel for giving Hollywood the middle finger and still becoming one of today’s most popular actor. I think in this regard he defies classification. He has done everything from being a musician to making cartoons and still has time to be a family man. I think Johnny gets the last laugh here because he has crafted his stage to fit his lifestyle. 

Hip in Portland-No Thank You!

I have walked through the valley of Hipster and I have seen their wrath!

The city of Portland has taken “hipster” to a whole other dimension, and that’s putting it nice.

I recently took a trip to Portland, OR. to see a true living legend, Eric Clapton – who helped to create ‘hip’ through his various widespread tribute recordings of early blues musicians like Robert Johnson and also his own knack for the guitar, but I wasn’t prepared for the series of strange events that followed.

I arrived at my hotel The Jupiter, just before the rain began its evening pour. All seemed well until I got to my hotel room. I was told that this was one of the ‘hippest’ hotels in Portland, and the brightly packaged condom and earplugs on my nightstand, should have told me everything I needed to know.  Under normal circumstances, this would not have bothered me, but on this trip I happened to be traveling with my Father, awkward is right.

“I thought it was a three star hotel, sorry dad.”

In fact, the Jupiter was just an old Travel Lodge that had been DIY’ed to resemble a modern art boutique. 

“Look, if I wanted to stay up all night getting trashed and listening to indie pop, I would have stayed in Boise.”

I was under the impression I had booked a classy night stay, unless pink condoms are your idea of classy - I apologize.

Also on my nightstand was a guide to Portland, “this should be fun!”

Oh wait, it was actually just a list of things that you have to do to be considered ‘hip’ in Portland, for serious. Apparently it is no longer hip to use an umbrella during Portland’s monsoon season, throw it away!. Also, not hip, being nice to strangers or in my case, out-of-towners. Also on the list was:"Join a food co-op, get thrown off the max, get a haircut drunk, grow a half-beard, hate California and quit a yoga class.”

Only to name a few, there are 100 of them…. “Oh, now I get why everyone is so rude, they are angry, hung-over, pretentious and soaked?”

So basically this is what “hip” looks like in Portland:

Ironically clothed assholes that also look like they could be homeless, but play in a local band and won’t say thank you if you do them a favor.

I noticed that the dress code for the hipsters seemed to be easily recognizable. Guys: Messy hair, business jacket, retro pants and shoes with no laces. (Some of the guy’s just straight up looked like Charles Manson). Gals: Some sort of artistic sexy-fit shirt that barely covers the hinny, spandex, faux leather boots, usually no make-up, and messy hair.

All the hipsters would stand in the rain, smoking their cigs, with no umbrella!

Remember, umbrellas are so not hip.

 

The ‘hippest’ things about the Jupiter were the chalkboard doors! In fact, if the maid likes your artwork, it could appear on the Jupiter’s blog! Think of the potential!

I realize I may sound a wee-bit cynical, maybe it’s because I haven’t had the chance yet to “join an ironic/drunk sport,” my bad.

Get over yourself Portland, you’ll never be New York, and it’s ok because you will always have the other side of the river.

Source: Finder: Willamette Week’s Guide To Portland. 2010-2011.”100 things you must do to be a Portlander.” Portland, OR.