missy, revirginization, intelligent design, iran

With the announcement that a new Missy album is dropping this summer (apparently called Block Party), I thought I'd do a little aside on how I think the Missy-Timbaland collaboration is the best form of one type of hip-hop. I actually like her old stuff (Supa Dupa Fly and Da Real World) better than her newer stuff. In any case, Missy and Timbaland together really pushed a different kind of style in hip-hop, putting a lot more emphasis onto using different rhythms (particularly their pioneering of a more staccato style with emphasis on the off-beats). Their raps also tend to have more of a sonic component to them, which makes them more listenable. I mean obviously as a female rapper there are a bunch of other reasons that Missy is a pioneer. I would also say that its totally LAME that Timbaland is seen as more of a visionary than she is - frankly, her album without him (The Cookbook) is far superior to any of his solo albums (whose names i don't even remember), but they're definitely the best when they work together. So. Missy is the shit.

Coming soon: review of the Bang Camaro/Giraffes show that I am going to see tonight at Bowery Ballroom!

For what its worth, Missy would probably not be very down with this. I would argue that its more societal rather than religious pressure which is making these women want to re-virginize (pay attention to the final paragraph of that story), which makes me even more adamant that religious leaders stand up and urge their constituents to not support this. I mean far be it for me to stop women from doing what they want with their bodies, but this seems like the type of elective procedure that one would not do if there were no pressure to do it.

I completely agree with this editorial opposing movements wanting to teach "the strengths and weaknesses" of evolution. (Forget the fact that "the weakness" is that its obvious correctness interferes with Judeo-Christian chronologies) The point here isn't even necessarily that evolution is right and believing in something else is wrong. The idea is that scientific inquiry is good.

Apparently, in Zimbabwe, you can not only get arrested for winning the election, but for saying who won the election.

In other news, tension mounts in relations with Iran as Ahmadinejad is really trying to call the bluff of the UN (and the US, for that matter). Chancellor Merkel, despite the photo-ops, is not really aligned with President Bush. Mostly because she favors diplomatic interventions that proceed under the aegis of the UN. The question is, why type of sanctions are likely to have the most efficacy?

Finally, game 4 of Lakers-Celtics tonight. You know Kobe is going to show up, and so will the Celtics defense. The question is which front line will dominate: the Lakers' (primarily Odom and Gasol) or the Celtics (some combination of Garnett, Pierce, Perkins). We'll see.