Retro rewind
Friday night, a friend from my somewhat wilder past got me into his company's corporate suite at Madison Square Garden for Night 2 of Drake and Future's "Summer Sixteen" tour. I still haven't listened to Views, and am in no rush to. And I haven't even heard the radio singles in their entirety. I won't say that I've been actively avoiding the album, but I could tell, during the night's concert, that if he performed a (snippet of a) song I didn't recognize and it was trash, then it was probably from Views. The first part of the concert featured many of the ballads off that album with one rapid-fire selection of hits all the way from "Over" to "Worst Behavior", songs that could have very much enlarged his performance if they'd been performed in a little more of their entirety. My appreciation for the show (beyond the copious amounts of food and drink in the suite) skyrocketed when, somewhat to my surprise, Future came on and absolutely lit the stadium up. The crowd I was with was young, but very international and very professional. I spent much of the night next to a French Moroccan who worked in finance here in the City. My friend's company operated at the intersection of finance and tech. And one of his friends happened to be the guy who officially coined the term "Brexit." I had become, by default, the authority on all things rap. Which, I felt, gave me permission to wild out when Future did his set, also the reason why I didn't feel too much guilt for losing my damn mind when he dug in the crates and did "Bugatti."
The end of the show was much better than its beginning. "Back to Back" to "Energy" to "Legend". I hadn't realized how much of his show would be "for the ladies" so to speak as I still knew him, perhaps erroneously at this point, as a rapper. And this very well could have been a Future concert. But though the show was low on pyrotechnics, there was enough energy to keep engaged for most of it. I realized, though, that I much prefer to see ratchet performed live than ballads.
On another front, it turns out I am no longer in the running for a writing post at Rikers that I'd been gunning for, but there are 2 other gigs, one of which would require the actual practice of law, where I'm still very much in the running. 2nd Round interviews for both over the next few weeks, then on top of that, this professional responsibility exam I have on Saturday that I am pretty much destined to fail at this point. I'd hoped to get more studying done this past weekend, but the weekend had other plans. Often, I'll look back at a span of time, wondering at decisions made, and feel like I'm one of the characters in The Grace of Kings, operating at the whims of dueling and playful gods whose size and contour I can't even imagine. Not to say that I'm absolved or completely blameless for my actions, only to suggest another thread in the tapestry that forms explanation.
Unrelatedly, I've been smitten again with a bit of nostalgia and have spent no small amount of time watching old Toonami music videos. Inspiration for the current WIP has often come in the form of anime I loved and still do. One of the things I've had very little trouble writing over the years is heartbreak. These shows, it turns out, have quite a few things to teach me about humor.
And style.
The end of the show was much better than its beginning. "Back to Back" to "Energy" to "Legend". I hadn't realized how much of his show would be "for the ladies" so to speak as I still knew him, perhaps erroneously at this point, as a rapper. And this very well could have been a Future concert. But though the show was low on pyrotechnics, there was enough energy to keep engaged for most of it. I realized, though, that I much prefer to see ratchet performed live than ballads.
On another front, it turns out I am no longer in the running for a writing post at Rikers that I'd been gunning for, but there are 2 other gigs, one of which would require the actual practice of law, where I'm still very much in the running. 2nd Round interviews for both over the next few weeks, then on top of that, this professional responsibility exam I have on Saturday that I am pretty much destined to fail at this point. I'd hoped to get more studying done this past weekend, but the weekend had other plans. Often, I'll look back at a span of time, wondering at decisions made, and feel like I'm one of the characters in The Grace of Kings, operating at the whims of dueling and playful gods whose size and contour I can't even imagine. Not to say that I'm absolved or completely blameless for my actions, only to suggest another thread in the tapestry that forms explanation.
Unrelatedly, I've been smitten again with a bit of nostalgia and have spent no small amount of time watching old Toonami music videos. Inspiration for the current WIP has often come in the form of anime I loved and still do. One of the things I've had very little trouble writing over the years is heartbreak. These shows, it turns out, have quite a few things to teach me about humor.
Click to viewAnd style.