Abbey’s Neighborhood

As I imagine many of you heard, Chad Butler, aged 33, died today. He was better known as Pimp C, or "that other dude with Bun B in UGK."

Robert sent me an e-mail today, I had to do a double-triple-take. The subject read "PIMP C IS DEAD." I was totally baffled and confused. I was hoping it was a joke I was missing or something, but a quick check of music blogs showed that he was, in fact, dead.

Fuck.

Ever since I was a pretty young kid, I always enjoyed rap. I was 10 or 11, that first real music buying age, during the rise of the G Funk Era. So I always had a soft spot in my heart for the rap of that era. Being young and angry in my adolescence, I listened to lots of heavy music. As I grew up, I got hooked on college radio, and kinda fell into totally strange pop, punk, and other sorts of strange music. Somewhere in here someone played New Kingdom for me, and I totally loved it. It was scuzzy, and great, and it was RAP. I was shocked I could love rap so much.

Once I hit my 20s, I was introduced to DefJux and all sorts of other wild left of the dial rap. For some reason or another, in a sort of probably-not-the-normal-way-of-things, this sparked my interest in more mainstream hip hop. It started fairly small, but kind of spun out of control after really loving Hell Hath No Fury and The Inspiration last year. Particularly, that Young Jeezy album pushed me to search out more southern rap (mind you, this is in great part Robert's fault, so I suppose it was fitting he sent me that e-mail today).

As I listened to more and more of these albums (and best of all, on the newest Dizzee Rascal album), I heard more and more guest spots from UGK, and was like "if these boys can spit this hard on guest spots, I bet I'd enjoy their albums a lot." I checked out Ridin' Dirty and was pretty impressed. The beats were like nothing I'd ever heard before, the raps were as tight as the guest spots, but for some reason it didn't grab me a whole lot at first. Maybe because the production wasn't as clean as some of this newer stuff (which, I mean, is 11 years later), maybe because it was more laid back. I liked it but I didn't love it.

Fast forward to this summer when UGK dropped Underground Kingz. There wasn't a really huge summer rap album I had my sights set on, but I planned on checking out the new UGK because it had all sorts of guests I liked and I figured it could be pretty good. Even better, though. It was awesome. From the opening lines of "Swishas & Dosha," my mouth was agape. I was listening to an absolute banger. Pretty much the entire first disc was unbelievably fantastic rap music. The album kind of weakened once I got the second disc, but oh my god, what was good was amazingly good, and I was super into it. So, of course, I went back to Ridin' Dirty.

This time, was a totally different story. I was eating up every second of the album. While the beats were pretty laid back, it was obvious how hungry they were. Listening more closely to the lyrics, mixed in with the stories of dealing drugs and riding slab were interesting commentaries on what was going on in the streets.

Man, I'm a kid from a small city. I've never been in the trap. I don't have a lot of money, I drive a Civic, and I really can't relate to a lot of what UGK rapped about. But for some reason this shit all reverberated so much with me. And I devoured every bit of UGK I could listen to. Between Pimp's production & hooks and the raps which took pieces of every kind of rap I loved, I was almost overwhelmed. Ever since I've listened to UGK almost every day. Super Tight and Ridin' Dirty have been banging in the deck in my new car for months now. It's the winter, and I usually slow down my rap intake after the summer. But I listen to UGK every day.

As much as I love Bun B, my favorite part of UGK is Pimp C. Well, was I suppose. His nasal flow grated on me at first, but I fell in love with the way he'd flip a beat. How he'd go to a double time cadence at the drop of a hat. How he would rap with bravado about his sexual prowess, then immediately afterwards spit a line that would make me pause and think about what he was saying. I love his production, the way he sings a hook. Pimp C was rapidly ascending my list of favorite emcees. In addition to loving UGK albums, I also spent a lot of time listening to Pimp's two solo records which are similarly great. He kind of condensed almost everything I like about different styles of hip hop into one person. UGK condenses most of those things into one group.

And I skipped seeing them this summer.

I'm probably getting rambly. I'm kind of broken up, though. This surprises me, because I've never really felt a whole lot when I've heard about stuff happening to celebrities. I vividly remember Eazy E, Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, and others dying and not feeling a whole lot. But I didn't really like most of them nearly as much as I liked Pimp.

So, rest in peace Sweet Jones, Tony Snow, Percy Mack, Pimp C. Even though I probably wasn't who your raps were aimed at, I love them. They've gotten me through dozens of bad days at work, long sad drives, getting myself jacked up to go out, working out... I'll miss you, Chad. I, too, hope there's a heaven up there for you. I hope you're up there riding in a candy slab with Screw.

UGK 4 Life. R.I.P.

What are some things that are worth (and not worth) spending money on? 
Submitted by pinejar.

At this point, it's really difficult for me not to curl up into the "I'm just a poor American living in Europe and trying not to get shafted by my country's political failings i.e. the moves that culminated in the ever so rapidly sinking dollar" ball. I have to make myself spend money, because otherwise I will miss out on opportunities. I keep telling myself that I may never again have the freedom that I do right now, the freedom to travel, the freedom of a lack of real responsibilities. It is still so difficult to convince myself to spend money. Most of my purchases have been day-to-day food-type (read: alcohol) expenditures. I haven't spent that much in the way of clothing; 75€ for a pair of heels, two shirts, three dresses, four scarves, a skirt, and a thick winter coat (which alone was 35€) - I think I'm doing very well.

As such, I am spending - or perhaps forcing myself to spend - money on travel. Train tickets aren't actually expensive. For instance, my last exciting day trip was to Ravenna. I spent 10€ round trip on transportation and about 10€ on museums and the like. It doesn't sound bad until I remember that I spent about 20€ total for 4+ days with my cousins in Tuscany which included a trip to Cinque Terre that I curl back up into my cheap ball.

The good news is that I'm working and, as such, earning money in euros and not dollars. I just have to keep forcing myself to put things in perspective, but it's so hard when I have to look at my bank statement at the end of the day. That 70€ trip to IKEA? (Necessary evil, but I hated spending the money. Sheets, towels, ironing board, pillows, comforter - essentials, yes, but still terrible.) Definitely about $100. Aren't I just a jaded, cheap little American? For heaven's sake, I'm living in Europe and my rent (even with the € shaftage) is less than it was in the U.S. What's my problem?

Thanks, American foreign policy.

It seems weird that Vox is already asking Halloween questions. Maybe it's just me, but I've never started prepping for the holiday more than a week ahead of time, as far as I can remember. The great thing about Halloween is rushing around after school trying to pull together a costume.

I'm told that Halloween is beginning to be celebrated over here. As much as I'd like to stick around and see what the bars pull out for the holiday (Transilvania, anyone?), but the game plan right now is to wake up in Nice on the 31st. It's funny to be in Italy and realize that you are in fact having an on-going love affair with France.

On the travel front, I haven't been out of the country since I arrived, but I have managed to visit Liguria and Toscana, not to mention some minor exploration in Emilia-Romagna. Train travel is so much simpler than... well, California travel i.e. driving everywhere. I would really like to go back to Paris at some point, but I think that would involve getting more work first!

http://flickr.com/photos/underthewaves/

Read all about it! I'm in the process of getting some photos together, so I'll update when they're up.

Thank You for Smoking

Hey, how about a return of the Bullets of Laziness?

• Actually funny
• I loved the warm lighting throughout the movie
• As an armchair design nerd, the opening title cards were bordering on obscene in their prettiness
• Full of Hey! It's That Guy!s
• It sorta broke my brain momentarily when I looked at the cast page on IMDB and discovered that Nick Naylor and George in Erin Brockovitch are the same actor - what can I say, I'm unobservant sometimes
• Speaking of Nick: he was certainly charming but if I knew someone like him in real life, I would probably punch him in the face every time I saw him
  
• I was hoping the kid playing Joey was being directed to act that stiffly, but then I realized that he was the kid with the boner for TV on the Radio in the season premiere of The 4400. He's actually just a really crappy actor
  
• Rob Lowe and Adam Brody totally stole every scene they were in
• Katie Holmes's character was awesome and her arc was completely satisfying, but holy moly, she was completely the wrong person for the role.  This has nothing to do with her marrying Tom Cruise and everything to do with her just being too sweet and bland for the kind of person (I assume) Heather was supposed to be

The Fountain

So, I saw The Fountain a couple days ago, and I honestly can't decide whether or not I liked it.

I think part of this lies in me feeling a little stupid because I'm not so sure I understand what the movie was trying to tell me. I'm not the type to hate on a movie I don't understand - I actually really like difficult movies because they make me think - so I don't know why this particular movie is inspiring a big "meh" feeling in me.

In a way, The Fountain is a lot like 2001: A Space Odyssey, in that the story is laid out in the vaguest way possible and it's up to you to put it together.  2001 is about, well, quite a few things, but the main storyline is about the evolution of man.  So kind of using that as a framework, I'm figuring The Fountain's about coming to terms with death.  At least I think so. If it's not, please school my tiny plebeian mind.

And that's all lovely and everything, except it was executed in a really bizarre way.  The movie was (I think) billed as a sci-fi film, full of time travel and epic love or some shit, but what I got out of it was the whole 1500/2000/2500 AD business was a metaphor, and that the movie actually only happened in the year 2000.   So that'd make this a drama.  Whatever.

Again, I might just be an idiot. Who knows.

What makes me wobble on my rating and not want to give this a straight thumbs down is the acting. It was good.  Really good.  Like, I was close to tears for a few scenes because Jackman and Weisz (mostly Jackman though) sold it so well.  I am a solid non-crier, so this is kind of an amazing feat.  I can also appreciate the artistry and skill involved in making the film, so it also gets brownie points from me for that.

Still, the most I can muster is staggering indifference.

Meh.

So, some realizations over the past few weeks:

• Even if I regard this Pumpkins reunion nonsense to be illegitimate and Billy Corgan to be even more of an asshole than I previously thought because he thinks he qualifies as Zeitgeist, I can't stop myself from liking "Tarantula."
• I don't know where "Carry That Weight" ends and "The End" begins.
• I will never finish cleaning up my music, but that I've finished The Doors, The Beatles, Iron Maiden, and the entire Led Zeppelin corpus is an accomplishment. Radiohead's next, I fear.
• I have a real problem with the Giants using "Bulls on Parade" and "Calm Like a Bomb" for lets-get-fans-pumped music. It's just wrong.
• The real reason that I like baseball more than football is that baseball is the most superstitious sport on the planet... but Lucky Lou-ciano is 5-1 this season, a statistic rendered incredible by this: 34-45.
• I like "Black Mountain Side" better without "White Summer"
• "Who Do You Love?" was originally a Bo Diddley song. I've gained a new appreciation for George Thorogood's version, thought Quicksilver's is my favorite. Or rather, Quicksilver's Happy Trails is my favorite.
• My taste in music is steadily improving. I've been listening to gobs of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. With  a little Iron Butterfly thrown in for good measure.
• If time travel were possible, I would go to Monterey Pop. And for sure over Woodstock.
• Despite my best efforts, Janis Joplin (with or without Big Brother) and Bob Dylan will most likely never be listed among my favorite musicians. I can't get past the voices. And yet I love listening to Bruce Dickinson...
• I am the only person who still supports Barry Bonds whole-heartedly in my section.
• Though I love being right when everyone else is wrong, this Giambi thing doesn't sit well with me.
• Gustavo Santaolalla makes cool music and has a cool name. It's a good life.
• I didn't know that Noel Redding died in 2003 until Wikipedia told me so this morning. I have no idea why I overlooked it.
• Lewis Hamilton is my hero. It's such sweet vindication for McLaren to finally be winning for the first time since 1998. In other words, for the first time since Mika. Traitorous Ferrari racers don't really do much to boost a team...
  
• Maybe it's a good thing they're not racing Imola; it would be the 13th anniversary of Senna and that can't be a good thing.
  

Audio: Share a favorite song or album from your least favorite genre.
Submitted by emily sears.

Oh my goodness gracious, how me is this?

As badly as I want to say "Powerslave," Iron Maiden, we all know that to be false. I'm not sharing any audio because I am done with worrying about that all, but the first song that comes to mind is "Flood" by Jars of Clay. Maybe YouTube will be my friend..?