Update Regarding the Previous Ke$ha Post

1. Press Control + T in your browser. (If this does not work in your browser, you don't deserve to see this.)

2. Get to youtube.

3. Type in "terrible music" in to the search bar.

4. Enjoy.

5. ????

6. Profit.

This Week's "What I'm Listening To"

If you've read enough of my posts, I'm sure you could surmise that my upbringing is one of a white middle class, privileged, semi-charmed kind of life. (doot doot dooooot!)

And given that fact, you likely could make the logical leap that as a white middle class kid, I love teh hip hops.

And although I do fall quite readily in to that stereotype, I can confidently say that I'm not the kind of white guy that:
1. Turns down his hip hops while driving in an "urban" area.
2. Overly acts like Seth Green in "Can't Hardly Wait," although I have been considering incorporating more goggles in to my wardrobe. (Sorry, LLK!)

So with the above in mind, I am happy to announce and defend the album that I am currently obsessed with:

De La Soul's 4th full album, first debuted in 1996, "Stakes is High." (Repping Strong Island, LLK!)

And again, understand that I love a lot of hip hop, and it ranges across the board. So when I say that this album has recently become one of my top 5 in the genre, I'd like to think it means something.

The reasons:
- It's complete and diverse, featuring a lot of different guest emcees, and although there's a definite stylistic cohesion, its songs play around within their parameters without losing the listener.

- It has genuine lyricism, avoiding cliche rap things. And it's not preachy, either. It's well-written, simple as that.

- It's one of the few albums that features 17 tracks that doesn't get old or feel phoned in at all.

My preferred tracks:
-Dinninit
-Supa Emcees
-Sunshine (arguably my favorite track)
-Dog Eat Dog
-Brakes
-Stakes is High

Bottomline: If you don't like this kind of music, I think this album is worth a listen to try and change your mind. If you do, I think it would be much appreciated.

Enjoy your ides of February, everyone!

Two Post Day!!!!!! Topic Two- Copyright Law

So, I'm still in the office doing actual work that requires writing stuff. Which invariably means I'm going to find any and all means to distract myself.

Awesome tumblrs certainly help. (Courtesy of LLK, and her top-notch ability to find awesome things on the interwebz.)

The other thing nagging me presently is how I believe Ke$ha is blatantly infringing on a song that I have been enjoying as of late.

First, partake in J.U.S.T.I.C.E.'s The Party (which I feel is a quite awesome song, thank you very much):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbN5B93mpFE

Compare with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP6XpLQM2Cs&feature=artistob&playnext=1&list=TLsGHXmmoSTLc

Give me your thoughts!

This Week's "Ripped from the Headlines"

Well, I know I've gone there before, but since she's an absolute gold mine, let's get our pickaxes, pans for panhandling and indulge in some more nuggets.

Here's the latest nugget.

Felony complaint for Winona'ing (stolen from LLK) a necklace from a high end LA store, allegedly.

Lo lo remains on her own recognizance, which means out on her own to do coke, but apparently it has been with a "stern" warning to not violate probation or the terms of her probation while out on OR.

So, Lo Lo is now looking like a lot of my clients- multiple files, new stuff while they're on probation, etc.

The only stark difference (and the one that pisses me off): I CAN'T THINK OF ANY CLIENT OF MINE, SIMILARLY SITUATED IN TERMS OF THEIR CRIMINAL CONDUCT, THAT WOULD BE ALLOWED TO STAY OUT ON THEIR OWN RECOGNIZANCE.

Allow me to hoist myself on to my soapbox. It's more or less a given the the more money you have, the more likely you are to be able to stay out of custody. And the more likely you are to stay out of custody, the more likely you are to be able to fight, and maybe even beat some or all of the charges. The logical deduction, then, is that money affords a criminal defendant to better off than someone who is indigent. Which, I can tell you, by way of anecdote, is more or less true. I've seen people in custody plead guilty just to get out of custody, even though they had extremely defensible cases. Sadly, a Lindsay Lohan would be in a much better position to bail out, and then fight the case.

And I guess that's what really bugs me at the core of this new case. She will probably be able to kick it down the road enough, make amends (with $$$) to the store, and eventually get the charge reduced to a misdemeanor, and get a slap on the wrist. And to me, it's almost all because she has money.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't be held accountable for their actions either, especially when they've admitted guilt. I guess I feel like if we really want to be convinced that our system is fair and balanced, all criminal defendants need to be treated equal, regardless of wealth.

My $.02.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Insert Tom Petty Quote Here

Although I feel a number of TP songs describe my life, this one nails it for how I presently am feeling.

Why?

The jury is out, and has been deliberating for two hours now. It's like taking a final- you prep, study (or in my undergraduate case, do nothing because my major was a joke), stress, get pissed off when you sit down and see that someone has written "While you were studying for your final we were shrooming," and then endure the test. You do everything you can, and then it's completely out of your hands.

There's nothing left I can do for this trial and it's frankly rather irritating, because like anything, you always feel like there's more you could have done. Still, I'm relieved that for the first time in 3 weeks I've been able to be in my office at 10:41 and actually work on things that are more manageable and not so much of a drain on my soul.

For example, today I got to call and berate AT&T for stealing 175 dollars from me. Long story short, I was apparently under contract without knowing it and when I stopped service I got dinged for the cancellation fee. Asking myself WWLLKD, I called up billing and gave them a piece of my mind and threatened legal action no less than 7 times. (At one point I intimated that I work in criminal law and know that for a fact that their actions constituted several violations of state and federal law and just by talking to me they were at risk for criminal sanctions.) This was two weeks ago, and after the lengthy discussion I was assured that the money would be returned to my account within 48 hours.

Flash forward to today. Upon review of my ever-voluptuous checking account, I was surprised to see that there was a shockingly absent 175 dollars from my friendly neighborhood evil company. So I call. I explain that I was guaranteed the money to be returned, and that I was getting progressively more upset. They did not care too much so I talked to the supervisor, who played the whole "I'm as high up as you're going to get card" as he explained that THE REFUND WAS SUBJECT TO REVIEW BY CORPORATE AND WAS DENIED.

Frustrated, but not deterred, I found corporate's number and shot for the top- THE PRESIDENT OF AT&T. Seriously, I was put through to the office. Granted I talked to someone probably much lower, but I'm happy to say that as of 2/9/11, at 10:48 a.m., I have been assured, by the PRESIDENT (of AT&T) that I"M GETTING MY MONEY BACK.

I realize that this story is kinda boring, but it's an exercise in keeping my mind off my jury and wondering what the hell they're talking about.

Also, a Contra Sweater.