life, the universe, and everything

I've been quite remiss in terms of posting, lately. Swim season's ended, and water polo's starting up. Unfortunately, the transition was not smooth. The filter in the pool broke, so we came in one morning to the black lagoon. Our coach insisted that we dive into the murky, green waters, insisting that it was safe. We responded that if we turned into slimy, bog monsters, we were coming for him first. It was highly disorienting, and flip-turns were difficult because we couldn't find the wall. Humorous now, horrifying then. The advantage to living through the murky waters and early morning practice, though...Hawaii preseason during spring break. Woooo!

Tremendous news! I have made contact with one of the elusive Cornell TASPers, Richard. They survived the summer, apparently, despite what the communication lockdown seemed to indicate. I assure I found the Corneller TASPery, and I'm very excited.

Also, I never mentioned this song in TASP, even though I should've: "Uncle Tom is Dead" by Guy Davis. He released the album "Legacy" a couple years ago, and he collaborated with his son to make this song. It's basically a back and forth argument about the blues vs. rap. I know we spent some time discussing the evolution of blues into other things, noticeably the development into what is on the surface divergent genres: rock and rap. My friend Katie and I got some calls and had a lively discussion about the song on our radio show, "Punk, Funk, and Junk in the Trunk," which tries to see lingering resemblances in rock and rap. Guy Davis' son is like, "Blues is an outdated reminder of oppression, and boring, to boot. Rap is the thing, get it into your head, old man." And Guy Davis rejoinders that without blues, there would be no rap, and people need to pay attention to history. Very funny, interesting song. So, check it out.

Top 5 Songs that Make Me Say "Word":
1. Uncle Tom is Dead - Guy Davis
2. Lovin' In My Baby's Eyes - Taj Mahal
3. Blessed To Be A Witness - Ben Harper
4. King Without a Crown - Matisyahu
5. Perfect Gentleman - Wyclef Jean (just 'cause she dances go-go, that don't make her a ho, no!)