Guerrilla Gardening

These people think themselves a couple of bad ace green thumbs, but in all honesty they are.

Brought to you by your friends at SoulPancake. JV, you should check out the art they post; right up your alley man.

Peace & Love,
sf

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Drug-Influenced Self Portraits

Mushrooms

So. This guy took every known drug, and drew a self portrait after each use. The results are fascinating.

Which ones are your favorites?

Mary Jane

 Most of them are really cool, but some are terrifying. I never wanted to try crystal meth before I saw this...

Crystal meth

...and now, I'm even more terrified of it.

Crazy.

-id

Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeeth Date - The Zeppelin Zoo

Joseph Gordon Levitt is having a good year. He is *SPOILER*. He is Young Bruce Willis. He is Daniel Day-Lewis-as-Lincoln's son. Basically JGL is killing it. Everyone wants him to be their protege/past self/son.

He also runs this artist collaborative project that works together to create books, music, and short films.

The short film I'm writing about today is an explosion of twee charm and adorableness, so you may not like it. But that might make you an asshole, so be careful with that. I like it because hundreds of artists drawings were layered to create this amazing world. Also, I think the narration is hilarious, with all the made up but real sounding fake words. It's so creative linguistically and so visually appealing, I think the overall effect is irresistible. It's a couple years old, but I just saw it recently.



-av

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Cruel Summer- To The World

I haven't listened to the whole album, but the first track is nothing but promising. I'm a sucker for a good string interlude. Listen "To The World" by Kanye Here.


jb

Elevensies

Today is the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit.

For those of you who didn't grow up with James Bergin as your dad, this is the book that comes before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R Tolkien. I read all of these books in the 4th and 5th grade, and have read them many times since. My dad has a huge, red leather bound edition with of all of the books, and he read it aloud to my brothers when they were young. I will probably do the same, whenever I have little babies and such.

People are celebrating the anniversary today in silly ways, including this International Second Breakfast Celebration, which will take place at 11 o'clock sharp. My only qualm with this setup is that if it's at 11 o'clock, shouldn't it actually be called elevensies?

For a Plus1press celebration, I will share a favorite quote from The Hobbit. Here's some sunshine for all of us in New England on this not-so-bright and rather chilly morning:

"Good morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out father than the brim of his shady hat.

"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

"All of them at once," said Bilbo.

A movie version of The Hobbit is coming out in December, and I'm hoping the soundtrack is as great as the others and that the dwarves are fantastic.

-lab
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Nas is THE Best Rapper Alive

I know you are all gonna need more than that to be convinced so here I go. Nas has been in the hip-hop/rap game since it's inception. His song off of God's Son called "Get Down" not only shows his superior lyricism to just about everyone in the game but it also does a brilliant job of showing the evolution of hip-hop as we know it. From the beginning of the song to the end you hear the beat and samples change in conjunction with how the hip-hop/rap game has changed/evolved over the years. This not only shows the evolution of the sound that this genre of music has made over the years but also how Nas has always been a pioneer in this change.

But to be the best rapper alive it's not just about great beats and poetry-esque lyrics but also the message behind it. In an age of hip-hop stars and MC's trying to make a buck off of their name with endorsements and sponsorship's, and self-produced alcohol with others, Nas goes the other way. "One Mic" off of his album "Stillmatic" just shows his mentality on not only what he hopes to accomplish with his music but what this genre of music should be engineered to do which is reaching out to those forlorn youths lost in the struggle.

Best (White) Rapper Alive

Macklemore is the best white rapper alive. As proof I offer these four songs, highlighting four topics of the present day: love, addiction, consumerism, and my favorite rap of all time.




Frank Ocean coming out earlier this year sparked Macklemore to release this song, which kills in so many ways. Starting with the personal anecdote from the beginning, to Mary Lambert rocking it every chorus, and finally the outro of some typical marriage vows wrecks me.



Macklemore himself was addicted to cough syrup for a long time, and this rap doesn't just talk about cough syrup, but almost every substance a person could try. The sample of "Otherside" is well used and his closing line "Hollywood Here We Come" plus a nice gong smash is a nice finish to a valid testament to any addiction and the struggle it creates.



It is impossible to listen to this song and not bob your head to the beat. This is my favorite rap of all time. Taking such a simple, easy, situation like this dance and weaving such a beautiful narrative through it gives me goosebumps. And lines like "Held You In My Hands Like The Skyline Holds The Stars" and "Like There Is No Morning, Like There Is Morning" make me dissolve.




Both the song and the video deserve congratulations. His newest single covers the glory and glamour of shopping at a thrift shop. I watched this video with JV and he kept giggling. That's when you know it's good stuff. Everything he wears in the video is something I would buy if I saw it at a thrift shop, and yes, I will take your grampa's style.


Case closed.


jb


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Songza

See, Plus1Press? It took one or two posts over the summer and now we're rollin'!

Songza is Pandora's older hippie brother who moved out early and left him some memories and an old Allman Brothers LP.

I'll say right off the bat, the app is better than the website. BUT, if you don't have a certain person or genre to listen to, you just are like, "Ugh, its a rainy Monday. I just want rainy Monday music." then Songza's perfect.

Check it out. It comes in handy when I'm teaching a class and I can't really decide what we should listen to. I  find the mood of that class and BOOM, we're all jammin.

Sincerely,
fp

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Best Rapper Alive

Kanye West Is The Best Rapper Alive.
As Proof I Offer These Three Songs.

Family Business


I Love this song because anytime I am talking about music at work and any old person casually rights off all of rap music wholesale as all blah blah blah any bland argument you can make I know that they are dead wrong. This song is a lovely ode to Family. Getting Together, Standing Together, All These Things. And Kanye Goes Hard while being incredibly tender.

Addiction


I used to ride my bike up the Sylvan hill towards the Red House to this song. The Beat MMMmmm. Kanye Sounds Great. The Chorus is So Good. And Completely Understandable. That is really important to me. I appreciate crisp annunciation. Im about that. And those BaDaDaDaDDas! Excellent.

Hey Mama


I danced with My Mom at My Wedding to Hey Mama because the first time I heard It I had to pull over my bike because I had got cray teary eyed I let the song finish and then I called My Mom. Nothing makes me love My Mom more than listening to this song. This Song Is Perfect. And the rhyming is perfect and so natural and flawless everything works together. Theres a verse of You Are So Beautiful To Me. And To ride out the song Kanye sings "Mama" a million times and I Love It.

I Rest My Case.
Kanye Is The Best Rapper Alive.

-jv
fan
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Love

Rainn Wilson, a.k.a. Dwight Schrute, and his friends started up a whole community online called SoulPancake where people just share the most awesome of awesome stuff. They have great visual art and discussions about anything you can think of and I've followed this for a while (even bought their book which I would recommend to everyone to check out) but it is when I saw this video that I thought of everyone who views and contributes to this blog.

Peace & Love,
 - sf

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Most Liked video on YouTube

This is the most entertaining thing ever, I apologize if I'm late to the party on this.

 - sf

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Norton Anthology of Jealous Ass Bitches

So this is a little crude, but it's kind of wonderful. Emily Dickinson is one my favorite poets, and one time JV and I went to her house in Amherst and the tour guide made us read her poems aloud and I loved it. I don't think that was JV's favorite part. Here are some funny interpretations someone posted on a blog entitled the "Norton Anthology of Jealous Ass Bitches" and I've been enjoying them...thoroughly.

because i did not stop for seth

by Emily Dickinson

that f***ing asshole broke up w/ me
& now you are f***ing him or whatever

cool, i don't care i live in a big ass house
alone w/ my dad we hang out

he plays 19th century starcraft
& i cook him dainty-ass meals

i hid all of my early poems inside
my chastity belt & i fed the key

to my cat
f**k u seth & amanda no i will not go 2 ur wedding

I know there are some Shakespeare lovers out there, so here's one for you.

a sonnet

by William Shakespeare 

shall i kick thee in thine teeth

and snap thy neck like wheaten sheath

or perhaps a piledriver harsh

the skull now soft like Norfolk marsh

a sleeper hold or triangle choke

mine legs around thine feeble throat

kick to curse and shatter wanton bones

a man of weakness ne’er to cast stones 

your life to take with violent aims and games

a hospital bed encased in plaster frames

and when the morphine drip, drips no more

i’ll be waiting at the warden’s door

a nailed bat or shining ninja star

your blood will spray to heaven stars up far

For more, including a ghetto rendition of "i like your body" originally by e.e. cummings,  click here.

peace and love, bitches.

lab 

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She RATCHET (Watch the vid)

(We all know about this right? The Ratchet Girl Anthem? If I've already posted about this, forgive me. If I haven't posted this until right now then PLEASE FORGIVE ME.)

Ratchet is a modern vocab term - a deritive of a woman being Ghetto, Hood, Street or well, Ratchet. I'm here, as a ghetto-rehabilitated language teacher to help you understand it more clearly...

Does a lady  have nails that curve around her fingers? She ratchet.
Does her weave hang down below her natural hairline? Oh, she definitely ratchet.
Can you see her chest plate even though she's actually wearing clothes? She ratchet, fuh shuh.
Does she rock a grill OR plastic figurines in her hair? Then she certainly ratchet.

Here is a visual example of someone being Ratchet.

Here's my favorite thing about the term Ratchet....it was started by two DUDES. Brothers, in fact, who wrote a song about how other women talk about Ratchet girls. They sample an old classic rap jam and KILL on their ghetto-girl impressions. These dudes rock duck face SO AMAZINGLY. There's an official video where they even dress up as the Ratchet Girls they are making fun of, but this video is the ORIGINAL CLASSIC. I could fucking watch this all damn day.

 - Yours in ghettoness,
fp



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Flight of The Conchords helping the kids, by the kids, for the kids.

- sf

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Hearmeout: I Love Shakespeare

So seriously, hear me out, guys.

Shakespeare gave us amazing phrases like "in a pickle", "the game's afoot", and "a laughing stock". His plays were filled with double entendres, the bread and butter of the modern day. He wrote hysterical comedies and heartbreaking this-cant-even-be-real-its-so-sad tragedies, as well as historically sound dramas.
Just...fucking....he's cool ok, he's cool. And he can sit at my lunch table anytime he wants.

Now, I'm also a fan of modern-y retellings of old stories, like the Sci-Fi channel's Alice In Wonderland and TinMan series. Thirdly, I'm a fan of the public broadcasting system, especially when they do features that bring me filmed versions of operas and crazy shows.

So, I present to you the ONLY retold version of Macbeth you'll ever need to watch (besides Laura Linney's Mrs.Macbeth inspired performance in Mystic River - spectacular)

It stars Patrick Stewart as Macbeth. RIGHT? And the play is shot half onstage sets and half in real life sets. RIGHT? And its Macbeth and wicked intense. I KNOW.

Watch the whole play here.

Also, did you know the the Artists Formerly Known as Charles Xavier & Magneto formed an alliance on the sets of the X-men movies and then decided to be in a British production of Waiting for Godot? I would have given my right arm to see it.

Sincerely,
fp

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