Getting Shot at...

Some more pictures from the shoot today...took well over 300, so more will prolly trickle out little by little...enjoy!

All photography courtesy of Rob Drake.

RESPECT

Today I read an article in GQ Magazine about pop star Rihanna, entitled 'Good Girl Gone Badass!'. Considering the title and racy photos, I fully expected the article to be centered on Rihanna's newfound 'badass personality', and how she's out there having fun being young and sexy. Such a presentation would seem totally appropriate, especially in a men's magazine. Unfortunately though, such was not the case.

The story started out innocent enough, with the writer explaining the circumstances of the interview. Even when the opening questions were centered on her "incident" with Chris Brown, I still didn't feel they were out of line. Soon enough though, it became apparent such questions would be the rule and not the exception. The interview started to feel less like an opportunity to hear what Rihanna had to say, and more like an indictment of sorts.

As the interviewer continued to jab Rihanna with queries ("...Did you think you would die that night?"/ "Do you think you two willl ever be friends?"/ "By the way, did you ever graduate high school?"*), it became very apparent our young diva was feeling a bit uncomfortable; and so was I. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so shocking if our interviewer wasn't also female. Call me sexist, but I figured a female journalist would be a bit more...tactful. Instead, she seemed to take pleasure in being, well, kind of mean. In fact, not only did I get the feeling our writer was a jerk, but also that she flat out didn't like Rihanna.

The writing was so uncomfortable for me that at one point I put the magazine down and stopped reading. It was only when I thought of writing this blog that I picked it back up. The entire article felt like our so-called-journalist was going on a power trip and was subliminally saying to the subject "you're weak" and "I'm better than you". Even after Rihanna's manager told her to stop, her forked tongue continued to dig at Rihanna's wounds with off-handed questions.

Of course my assessment of this story is completely speculative, and you would have to make up your own mind by reading the article, but it does bring us to my point in writing this, which is: What is it in our nature, perhaps only as Americans, that leads us to be so unappreciative..so demeaning and unabashedly cold towards our celebrities? The same people who entertain us. The same whom we idolize over all others. Why can't we treat these people like...people?

Perhaps that weird kid was right when he said "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!". At this point I'm apt to say amen...

-Tony "el Tigre"

hoponthehighhorse.blogspot.com

(editors note: "that weird kid"'s name is Chris Crocker...and "weird kid" isn't a very nice thing to say about someone)

*Seriously, that question came out of nowhere. It had no precedent and really wasn't 'by the way' at all.

My Humbug

Yesterday, Christmas came and went. Instead of spending my Christmas eating and conversating with family like most people do, I spent mine at a friend's house watching a Canadian ripoff of Harry Potter.

Now the official reason for leaving was that my friend no longer has family in the state, so I was going to keep them company. Valid, but not entirely true. The truth is, I hate Christmas. I hate the lights and decorations. I hate the music. I hate the superluous spending. And most of all, I hate this odd obsession with santa clause.

Normally all this dislike just leads me to stay in the backdrop and not ask for any gifts. This year however was the first I skipped the whole thing. The thing is, while some of my reasoning may be sound (i.e. the lack of giving to needy causes; people spending money they don't have, etc), I really can't think of any reason for a complete avoidance of the festivities.

I mean, I like food enough, and even if I dislike the fact we all feel required to spend time with each other (as opposed to finding normallized time with family), I do love and appreciate my family. So what's the problem then? Why can't I just participate on the most basic of levels?

Well honestly, I can't tell you. But I can tell you Christmas isn't the only day I behave so anti-socially. I did the same thing on Thanksgiving, and haven't celebrated a birthday since high school.

Maybe I'm just not a festive person, or perhaps alternative thinking has lead me to avoid normalcy. Whatever the cause, it is bothersome enough for me to write about it.

I should probably work on that...oh well...

Have fun in the New Year everybody :)

Tony "el Tigre"

hoponthehighhorse.blogspot.com

Heat Wave

Heat Wave is a new track from my upcoming E.P. "Outrunning the Cold"

The project is due out in early 2010, and is a collaboration between myself and Viper Creek Club's own Mat Wisner...it's something that we are both super excited to put out...

...so excited in fact that we threw this track up with reckless abandon!

Enjoy, and thanks for the listen!

Songs by the title of...

Google image searches for song titles that may just possibly make it onto the name the uncanny/Mat Wisner EP...

"Outrunning the Cold"

"Heat Wave"

"Divine Comedy"

A Long Tale...

...er, umm...

The Long TAIL:

So there is this theory right...it's ramifications apply to many a niche business...blah blah blah. Basically what it boils down to is the idea that in the new mass marketplace, with so many options readily available to the consumer, businesses are now finding that more profit is derived from selling MORE less popular niche products than is derived from selling LESS more popular mainstream products.

[Whew, what the fuck kind of sentence was THAT?]

Let's try this again:

So the Long Tail is full of niche stuff, and is gettibg longer everyday. The reason I feel that this is exciting/interesting/worth mentioning is its ramifications with regards to INDEPENDENT MUSIC. The wikipedians said it best:

"Often presented as a phenomenon of interest primarily to mass market retailers and web-based businesses, the Long Tail also has implications for the producers of content, especially those whose products could not — for economic reasons — find a place in pre-Internet information distribution channels controlled by book publishers, record companies, movie studios, and television networks. Looked at from the producers' side, the Long Tail has made possible a flowering of creativity across all fields of human endeavour."

Summed Up:

"Make your shit. The people that want it will find it."

Now to act like you all didn't already know that...

[preach to preachers much?]