NPR‘s second installment of John Coltrane:

Though steeped in the feel of swing and the blues, Coltrane’s music quickly absorbed influences from around the globe, including Spain and West Africa. Spiritually, he was drawn to the teachings of Hinduism and the music of sitar master Ravi Shankar, and Coltrane also incorporated South Asian textures into his work.

Check out the program here.

With the soaring gas prices, more people are hopping on the train. During the peak time, taking the Metro in and out of DC is quite a hassle. When I got into the station last Friday, the passengers already packed the platform waiting for the late trains. I knew this was not going to be a good ride. My train boarded and everyone cramped in like sardines. I was standing in front of a white woman with big tits and behind a black guy. As the train started to take off, the engine stalled because the doors wouldn’t shut tight. The Metro driver had to ask people to stand clear off the doors. Every time the train stalled, the lady’s tits rubbed my back. I tried to move up to avoid the contact, but I was faced with a big ass in front of me. I was stuck and all that I could do was praying the lord not to make me hard.

A must-read article by Atul Gawande on itching and scratching:

Itch, it turns out, is indeed inseparable from the desire to scratch. It can be triggered chemically (by the saliva injected when a mosquito bites, say) or mechanically (from the mosquito’s legs, even before it bites). The itch-scratch reflex activates higher levels of your brain than the spinal-cord-level reflex that makes you pull your hand away from a flame. Brain scans also show that scratching diminishes activity in brain areas associated with unpleasant sensations.

Jerry Seinfeld pays tribute to George Carlin:

He worked over an idea like a diamond cutter with facets and angles and refractions of light. He made you sorry you ever thought you wanted to be a comedian. He was like a train hobo with a chicken bone. When he was done there was nothing left for anybody.

“Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits.” From Carlin’s infamous routine.

This guy has some weird artwork. Check out leda and the swan.

Reuters:

Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs, dirty words and the demise of humanity, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71.

Oh damn! He was my favorite comedian.

T.I.’s “A Better Day” and Lil Wayne’s “Never Get It.” Both are pretty hot.

The comments from my post regarding to the little incident with Samantha has taken off into another direction. So let’s talk about respect.

First thing first, I haven’t bothered to response to an Anonymous because I don’t feel that I get the respect from someone who doesn’t leave a name. Just put down something. Dickhead is fine.

So now we have a female teacher who witnessed her sixth grade students yelled at their parents and the parents just sat back. How old are sixth graders? And isn’t that the age kids most often misbehaved?

Samantha now is in her 3rd grade and I am proud to say that she is very well behaved. Thank you. I do teach my niece the proper respect. Even if I don’t, my sister does, and she is very strict about it.

Let me also clear up the confusion. Samantha was frightening and didn’t want me to come near her, which was understandable. I was careless and caused her to fall. She was sure mad at me, but I didn’t feel the disrespect. At three or four, the poor little kid knew a few words to express herself and “go” was one of them. If I were to tell her to go do her homework and she yelled back at me. That is disrespect.

Respect goes both ways. I’ll respect someone older than me because he earned it, not because of his age. If he’s older than me and shows me no respect, why should I give him my respect?

One time an old man was cursing my mom out because of some friction between his wife and my mom at work. He used the words “du me” toward my mother, and he was younger than my mother. I asked him nicely not to use those two words when addressing my mom and he told me that he could say whatever he wanted. Of course, I cursed the motherfucker back. If he didn’t give a fuck, why should I?

You want respect? You better earn it.

HillmanCurtis.com sports a new, clean, crisp, white design. Such a great approach to showcase his work. Speaking of work, check out his new short film, Bridge as well.