Mad at Kanye because Kanye is smarter than you? a.k.a. Kanye's White House Monologue

If you haven't seen the full video from Kanye's monologue during his Oval Office visit with Donald Trump, here you go:

I know how news is disseminated these days, in clips and soundbites, but it's important to ingest some things fully and without commentary or bias.  I've seen or heard so many "takes" already claiming Kanye's monologue was sad, was rambling, was incoherent, was profane, that Kanye doesn't represent how black people feel, and on and on.  Look, some of that may be true.  Kanye did touch on a lot of topics (I'll highlight some later, but again, watch the whole video before offering another unneeded take, like this one, into the world), he did drop a couple curse words and he sometimes switched lines of thought before finalizing his point.  But, he also never claimed to speak on behalf of all black people, made plenty of well-thought out points and once again proved he is always the smartest person in the room.  That's a softball setup for a Trump joke but that's not what this is about.

WHO DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING?  WELL, ME, I GUESS...

 

For anyone surprised by Kanye's monologue, I feel like taking them aside and just playing them the scene from Goodfellas, where Joe Pesci shoots Spider for talking back to him, over and over til Robert Deniro's "What's the matter with you? Huh?  What's the matter with you?" is seared into their skulls forever.

Of course this was outcome when probably the bravest, most outspoken artist in the world had a national audience and was sitting in THE F*%#ING WHITE HOUSE.  This could not have been teed up any better than my left-open Trump joke a few sentences ago.  Of course Kanye was going to seize the moment.  He clearly has a lot on his mind, and from the sounds of it, has ACTUALLY BEEN DOING SOMETHING ABOUT SOCIAL AND LOCAL ISSUES.

He mentions having meetings back in Chicago about gun violence, prison reform and school curriculums.  He's at the White House to discuss prison reform and to try sway the President's mind about "stop and frisk."  He's not just posting Twitter messages or videos about how outraged he is, he's talking with people and trying to get something done about it.  In fact, he's not outraged at all.  Multiple times he uses the words "empower" and "love."

He implores people to talk with people instead of making hasty decisions or judgements, explaining how he was misdiagnosed with Bipolar disorder when he was really just massively sleep-deprived and how that could have led to him developing dementia.

He reiterated the need for more mental health awareness and help for everyone, especially those who need to be "habilitated, not rehabilitated" since they never got the knowledge or help they needed to begin with.

It was clear these were not ideas that randomly popped into his head that he word-vomited out to the world.  These are things he is clearly passionate about and thinks about often and with great depth.  They may sound crazy grabbed as a snippet, but I understood each point he made and agreed with him more often than not.  For instance, it's true I don't really think a hydrogen-powered plane will replace Air Force One anytime soon, but I understand his overall point about wanting American companies to be leaders in industry and in designing innovative products.

I figured Kanye would give us a performance and I was not disappointed.  But, what I did not expect was for us to get a peek into the brain of genius.  Kanye is not just a "musical genius."  He's a plain, old, regular genius too.  He said as much during the monologue and I believe him.  Listening to the way his thoughts formulated and how he articulated them, you can tell he's working on a different level than most of us and there was so much going on in his head he was trying to figure out how to get it all out.  It's sad that this is often lazily labeled "crazy."  Geniuses have been called "crazy" for as long as man has existed and consistently misunderstood them.  Of course some of his thoughts seem incomplete.  I'm sure he could talk for hours and hours (probably days and days) on each of the dozen or so topics he touched on but he knew people will only pay attention for so long so he kept it moving.  No one knows how to entertain better than Kanye but I don't think this was him posturing or just seeking attention.  I believe him.  I believe he truly believes in all these things.

A FEW THOUGHTS ON A FEW OF THE TOPICS HE BROUGHT UP

WELFARE:

Kanye mentions that welfare is a big reason why black people are typically Democrats.  He also points out that because jobs are hard to find, it can often be easier for people to have more kids to increase their income, which can cause its own set of issues.  Kanye mentions creating jobs, multiple times, as the first step to helping curb these issues.

But, to his point about having more kids to gain income, he's right.  I've had more than a couple friends admit to me they had an extra kid to help with rent, or to move into a bigger or nicer apartment, or to help with a medical bill.  I remember asking my co-worker in New York City how she could afford a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.  The answer:  three kids and custody of a fourth.

WHY HE WEARS HIS MAGA HAT:

Kanye states that the hat gives him power.  And, it does.  He talks about the how people try to bully him out of wearing the hat, which he refuses to do; which, in itself, is empowering.  He talks about how it gave him "the balls" to negotiate a better deal with Adidas.  He talks about how wearing the hat reminds him that Trump is a positive male role-model for a guy without a lot positive male energy in his life.  That sounds pretty powerful to me.  I think he may be right.

MENTAL HEALTH:

I don't understand why, but it seems like people hate it when Kanye brings up mental health.  This makes no sense.  Everyone lauds Kendrick Lamar for discussing it but collectively roll their eyes when Kanye brings it up.  I don't like it and it's hypocritical.  If you don't like him, you don't like him.  Fine.  But, the more we can get people talking and learning about mental health, the better.  I didn't find out until I was 28 years old that I had Asperger's.  Having that news earlier could have changed a lot things (mostly relationships) in my life.  As Kanye says today, people need more access to and education around mental health.

He made a great point about "habilitation, not rehabilitation" when it comes to prisoners.  People who come out of prison typically don't come out with lots of money and opportunities coming at them left and right from potential employers.  I've never been to prison but I can't imagine it's positive for a person's psyche.  So, now you have someone who has had a traumatic event (and possibly many more beforehand) occur to them who have no money and little-to-no job prospects due a prison record.  It doesn't really put people in a position to succeed which, he says, puts people in a position to do illegal things and, ultimately, end up back in prison.

Instead, Kanye recommends mental health care, job training and even different curriculums in schools to try and keep kids out of prison to begin with.  That all seems sensible enough to me.

IN SUMMATION

I think people often struggle with Kanye due to lack of understanding.  Perhaps it's because I have Asperger's (who knows?), but I often seem to relate to Kanye and understand his trains of thought better than most.  I find myself constantly explaining, and sometimes defending, him to others.  Ofttimes, they will concede they perhaps judged him too quickly and too harshly.  Other times, they say my explanation makes it worse.  Who knows...  But, I just wanted to offer (yet another...) opinion to hopefully get you feeling more open and loving towards someone who is often misunderstood.  That's all Kanye is asking for; and he's right, as usual...

Scenes from a bubble in a blue state...

Haircuts, Portland, Trump and Depression... Just another day in paradise...

One of the most annoying thing about having Asperger's is how traumatic it can be to do very simple, routine things.  Like I've mentioned before, grocery shopping, for instance, can be very difficult.  To combat this, I buy the same things, in the same order, while walking the same path throughout the store.  This makes it easier to deal with and I can essentially shut my brain off to avoid any potential panic and/or freakouts.  But, if there is someone, say, looking at eggs when I come to the buying eggs point in my route, I can feel my blood pressure rise and I become very agitated to the point where it might ruin my day or I might simply leave the store and all my groceries, and try again another day.  It's frustrating, to say the least; especially for my poor girlfriend.  None of this could (or should, as a practical matter) make sense to her, so she's left to try and deal with my insanity, which, God bless her, she mostly does.  Occasionally, and quite understandably, she'll get upset with me and my shitty attitude which only makes me even more ornery.  It's not a pretty cycle, but, try as I might, I cannot stop or change it in any way.  My brain is just not wired to work another way.  I wish it was; mostly for her sake.  But, we all have our shit to deal with.  Speaking of...

So, another very normal thing that has been traumatic for me for as long as I can remember is getting my hair cut.  I don't really remember why, or what the impetus for this was, but it's very emotionally, mentally and physically draining for me to get a haircut.  For years, it was so bad that I had to literally get blackout drunk before I could face it.  It's very strange to wake up with a new haircut, having no memory of how/why/where it happened, but so it goes.  I felt terrible for the poor gal in New York City who, thrice, had to cut the hair of a man teetering in and out of consciousness/sleep.  Needless to say, she received a very large tip each time, something like $30 or $40 (on a $25-30 haircut) if I remember correctly.  She definitely earned it...

It's getting better, but it still helps a great deal that Bishop's in Portland cracks you open a beer the minute after you write your name down on the waitlist.  Bishop's is one of those "alternative-type" hair salons where there are pictures of naked ladies on the bathroom walls and anything from Bon Iver to Megadeth can be heard on the speakers overhead.  The hair stylists are similarly diverse and there's something very comforting in that, for reasons I don't quite understand.  I suppose it's just because I feel more at home with the black makeup crowd than the typical hair-cutting crowd.  Actually, that's probably it.  I can feel at home with almost any anyone, race/religion/sexuality/etc., but I cannot deal with people who like to get their hair cut.  I just don't understand them and cannot connect with them in any way...  Anyhow, after a cool, crisp, refreshing Montucky tallboy, my name was called and it was my turn.  I started my usual cold sweat and did my best to pretend I wasn't terrified inside.  "Hey, my name is_______." she said very dryly.  I think it started with a "J."  I can never remember hair stylists' names.  It's probably because I'm so focused on not having a borderline panic attack that those details slip through the cracks and right out of my brain, like a hotel key card down an elevator shaft.  She definitely fit the bill for a Bishop's barber.  "Probably a big Deerhoof fan," I thought.  Then, "why the fuck would that be the band I think of?" Then, "but, then again, who isn't a Deerhoof fan?"  "Lots of people, you dumbass.  You're an idiot..."  These are the conversations I have with myself regularly.  I'm sure she said something else while I was having this inane conversation, with myself, in my brain, but I didn't hear her.  Just nod, I've learned over the years...

"What are you looking for today?" she asked.  I, as I always do, pulled up a picture on my phone of what I looked like with the hair I would like to once again have.  She said "OK" and then some other questions I don't remember, to which I replied "that sounds good" while, again, nodding.  She started cutting the constantly growing dead cells of the top of my head.  "Any plans for the weekend?" she asked.  Casually, and without thinking, which I am unable to do during a haircut anyways since the only thought I can muster is "I'm going to be OK..." over and over, I said that my girlfriend and I were thinking of going to the women's march against Trump.  She simply replied with "I have some friends going to that but I'm going to be working."

We chatted for a while about that before it struck me just how fucking weird this whole situation is.  HOW THE FUCK DID WE GET TO A POINT WHERE A MARCH AGAINST THE PRESIDENT OF THE FUCKING UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS A FUCKING CASUAL AFFAIR?  How divided are we as a country that people protesting the President of the United States, normally one of the most influential and respected people in the ENTIRE WORLD, is a normal, expected, acceptable thing?  I understand that by living in Portland, Oregon I live in an extreme version of this scenario (although, racially it's still a very strange city.  I can't remember who made the joke first, but that the black population of Portland is dependent on whether the Blazers are playing a home game or not, which illustrates well the demographic of this city.  It is very welcoming to gays, homeless and other normally estranged groups, but at almost 90% white, it still has a weird not-quite-there-yet vibe).  Like many major cities, there is a bubble that exists here that only takes 5-10 miles in any direction to disappear.  I often compare Oregon to my home state of Wisconsin.  Outside of Portland, Madison or Milwaukee, you're in the "Red" lands.  And no, that isn't a Native American joke because we're all dead (being half Native American and half White is strange.  Couple that with growing up Catholic and it's amazing I don't hate myself more.  I hate myself a lot, don't get me wrong, but not half-white-half-injun-raised-Catholic-level hate myself).  I'll put it this way, if you live in Oregon and don't own a gun, you probably live in Portland.  But, the larger point, again, is that things are so fucked that disavowing our own "elected" (not going to get into my thoughts on that here, but all I'll say is that I'm not certain voting is on the up and up.  Don't worry, I just got refitted for my new tin foil hat...) President is a very nonchalant, normal thing these days.  I could see our country moving farther and farther towards their respective sides, but this is still shocking somehow.  Maybe it's liberals being sore losers (Hipsters especially hate the concept of "winning and losing") but this seems like something more.  And, unfortunately for all of us, we have exactly the wrong President to reunite the two extremes.  He will only make it worse; much, much worse.  It's sad and depressing that (some, well, a big chunk, but not all) humans in America have somehow lost what makes us "humans" and not just another animal:  empathy, understanding and logic...

I remember when I was young and in school, we had to write papers on a given topic.  I don't remember what my topic was, but the instructions were clear:  write your thesis, research it thoroughly, THEN research the opposite so you can understand why people would think that and see how your opinion fits into those two opposing thoughts.  That was also the basis of high school debates as well.  If you can understand the opposition then you can start to actually win over/convince those on the other side, as well as reinforce your opinion.  If you only knew and argued strictly from your point-of-view, you would only strengthen those already there and never win over anyone else.  Well, if this election proved one thing, it was that Horicon, WI had a decent school system, apparently.  The other part of my desire to understand things is very Aspergian.  Being unable to understand the emotional aspect of things, I love to deep-dive into why people think, act, behave, decide, etc. a certain way.  I have a very different understanding of people than most because of my "limitations."  But, that has served me well over the years in understanding that each conflict has two sides, and both are probably flawed in some way and the answer is rarely one or the other.  It's usually neither, in fact.  But, here we are.  I try to avoid thinking of these things daily but sometimes I can't.  And, yesterday, while getting my hair cut/trying not to have a panic attack the reality/gravity of this situation struck me, rough.  I'll go on and do what I have to to get through (thinking bourbon will help).  Remember, nothing lasts forever and there are plenty of noble pursuits to keep yourself busy with for the foreseeable future.  To that point, I have two albums coming out!  Shit, why am I ranting about this?  I have work to do.  Rock N' Roll isn't going to Make itself Great Again on its' own...

Monday Night is for the playlists... a.k.a. time to get your drink on since there literally might not be a tomorrow...

God Save Us All, except Trump.  Seriously, Fuck Trump...  

On the eve of the Election 2016, or as it's better known (insert your favorite John Oliver alternate election name joke here, my favorite being "America's Shit Salad Fuckstravaganza 2016"), I wanted to live it up a little and let loose.  After all, it may literally be my last chance to listen to music and drink as an American.  Let's allow music to take our minds off of the Green Bay Packers' second consecutive loss and our possible pending doom come the morrow.  Enjoy!

The Cardigans - "My Favourite Game"

Jennifer Lopez - "Waiting for Tonight"

Starting this shit off with a two-fer.  Speaking of two-fers, any Gran Turismo 2 fans out there?  One of the most ridiculous things my buddy and I used to do, for hours and hours on end, was firing up the old Playstation, putting GT2 on in head to head mode and playing "tag" with the cars we would choose.  We would stay up all night, racing around the track trying to elude whichever one of us was "it."  We had some epic battles.  Seriously epic fucking battles to the death.  Sort of, but more like stay up all night rocking Jennifer Lopez's "On the 6" on repeat until one of us literally passed out from exhaustion.  "Waiting for Tonight" is the perfect song for three in morning driving, video-game style.  It really gets you in the zone.  One of my favorite things about my then best friend, was the fact that we could, unabashedly, enjoy silly pop music like Jennifer Lopez or Britney Spears or Mandy Moore with no judgement.  Definitely not something I shared with anyone else, being a twelve year old in rural Wisconsin.  For men, listening to Jennifer Lopez was generally frowned upon, to put it nicely.  We enjoyed just being fucking goofy and listening to goofy things.  Lots of great times...

Beach Slang - "Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas"

I know, right?  Fucking left turn immediately but this song kills me.  There just aren't many songwriters who can actually fucking write lyrics worth a damn anymore.  This muthafucker can.  I don't know his name because I hate googling things like that.  Fucking great and smart Rock N' Roll, Punk, or whatever you want to call it.  But whatever you call it, just be sure to also call it awesome.  He focuses a lot on the sense of being "alive," which hits me right where I need to be hit sometimes.  This album, masterfully entitled "The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us," warms the deepest parts of the cockles of my heart and makes me want to find a couple dudes or chicks to start a more hard-rocking version of Bradley Wik and the Charlatans.  I fall in love, rough, with records that inspire me, and this one definitely does.

The War on Drugs - "Red Eyes"

Well... This song has everything I hate about hipster music, but, for some reason, I can't help but listen to it.  They do the stupid "douse everything in reverb" nonsense, I can't understand a goddamn word this fucker is singing, the bridge sucks, the song feels loosely structured and not crafted into its' best possible version, but, despite all of that, I still rock out to it.  Go figure.  Fuck...

Paul Simon - "Kodachrome"

Let's cleanse the palette with this one.  Paul Simon might've been a huge asshole by all accounts, but, fuck, could he write a tune.  I love it when he says "my lack of education hasn't hurt me none."  That's my life.  In this day and age, people look at a (relatively) young man who says he intentionally skipped college quite strangely.  Most people don't understand what I got was so much more valuable.  I spent my college years, the amazing/terrible/hopeful/hope-killing years, traveling this great country across and back playing music.  Believe you me, I've seen more shit than I would've wasting my time learning shit I learned on my own for free anyways.  Maybe I would've banged a few more chicks, but, then again, maybe not.  I'm a relationship type of guy.  Asperger's and depression make it hard for me to be alone for any significant amount of time.  I almost found out the limit of that once, and I don't want to do it again...

Mos Def - "Hip Hop"

Early on in my getting-to-know-hip-hop-music days, my good buddy gave me this record, "Black on Both Sides," along with Talib/Reflection Eternal's "Train of Thought" and Aesop Rock's "Labor Days."  Holy muthafucking shit is that an education on some great hip hop.  I can't thank him enough for introducing me to so many great artists.  Listening back to "Black on Both Sides" makes me sad, though, as all of the issues he poses are still quite prevalent, and getting worse (thanks Trump, you cunt).  You can go back into hip hop further and hear the same things.  After all these years, it's depressing to see we haven't moved forward hardly at all.  It's fucked up.  There's a world full of people who don't look exactly like white Americans and somehow that's hard to accept for some people, and Trump is playing on that ignorance/fear.  Goddamnit.  Please people, don't let him become president...

Stevie Nicks (feat. Don Henley) - "Leather and Lace"

Stevie and Don Henley?  Uh, yes please.  Do I really have to say more?  If I had to pick one song to describe my relationship with my girlfriend, this would definitely be it.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but, well, it's true...

Pearl Jam - "Given to Fly"

For all of those who watch "Touring Band 2000" religiously, as I do, you'll get this one.  This is easily one of the highlights.  Fuck, it's just beauty incarnate.  Truly.  That's all I have to say about this one.

Neil Young - "Albuquerque"

This album, "Tonight's the Night," is one of the main influences on my new album.  I love the rawness of the songs and the recordings, which fits the songs fucking perfectly.  Sometimes, the best way to display the stories is to scale back the production.  This song sounds like I want all my songs to sound like.  I know this record was initially rejected by Reprise Records, but goddamn, did they fuck up.  Labels rarely understand.  Wilco made a movie about it...

Roy Orbison - "It's Over"

Someday, I might be able to listen to this song without tearing up, but not tonight.  I wish that when I grow up I can write songs like this.  Obviously, I'll never be able to sing one note in my life as beautiful as Roy, but I wish to God I could.  I really do.  This song is so beautiful and magnificent.  That fucking vibrato, those sad notes.  Roy was truly a once in a lifetime talent.  Johnny Cash spoke very highly of him, and given his "Black and Night" concert, Roy was clearly respected by his peers.  Well, I use "peers" loosely as not many could touch his level of talent and songwriting.  As far as male singers go, Roy's in a rare class with Otis Redding and Jeff Buckley.  Nobody tops Otis, ever, and I mean FUCKING EVER, but Roy comes close.  These are the kind of artists that make me feel so vastly unable to convey the same level of emotion, pain, hope, love, despair, happiness and longing.  At least I know where the bar is set...

Wu-Tang Clan - "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"

Nine year old Bradley couldn't fucking comprehend this shit.  All I knew was that I loved it.  I heard "Protect Ya Neck" first on MTV and fell in love.  I ran to the library (yes, the library) to check out this CD and revel in it for a couple weeks.  I had friends who liked Biggie and Tupac, but even so, it was hard to convince rural, white Wisconsinites that "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" was brilliant music.  Needless to say, I listened to this a lot by myself.  The music I couldn't listen to around others was usually relegated to the Walkman while cutting grass.  No one could hear what I was playing and it was probably better that way.  I could listen to anything I wanted away from my judgmental friends.  Or, I guess, "friends," as I would find out later.  Maybe I'll tell you the full story sometime, but for now let's just say I ended up punching one of my best friends in the face because he stood behind my (former) friends when they were verbally abusing the only black kid in our high school.  Shit kicked off and punches were thrown and he came to the defense of his lifelong buddy (which is hard to blame him for on that front, but it's obviously not acceptable given the circumstances) and I had to defend myself, and basic human decency, and hit him before he hit anyone else.  It was a strange, confusing time for me and I ended up without friends for a while.  But high school kids don't make great friends anyways and I found out the older kids had better weed.  So, I guess it was a win-win for me.  I won morally and in smokin' that shit while watching WWF on Mondays.  Life is weird but Karma is for real.  For real...

Speaking of Karma, I can't imagine what will happen to all of you who vote Trump tomorrow...  How about we don't find out...  May God have mercy on us all...