My 50 cents worth.

Two of my cousins have been staying with us for a while on the way to Wellington. One of them can’t stop talking about 50 Cent. I’m not really a fan and it’s starting to get annoying.
He asked if I wanted to go to watch the movie and I politely turned him down.
I don’t mind rap music some rappers are incredibly talented. What I don’t like is the “gangsta” culture the goes with it – the soft porn music videos, the lyrics about getting love drunk on lady humps (Black Eyed Peas) or the album art of musicians going on killing sprees (Eminem).

It’s not just the music look at the game Grand Theft Auto not only are you encouraged to steal cars but also to shoot prostitutes. They get away with it because they suggest you don’t have to shoot the prostitutes and steal the cars to win the game. But they do give you points for doing it thus they encourage it.

The thing is that they (rappers) are using their talents to sell the “gangsta” culture not sell their music.
What I mean by this is that 50 cent has not only put out music CD’s but also a computer game, a movie and a clothing label. I’m waiting for the lunch boxes and school bags. When you look at it there aren’t many differences between 50’s merchandising campaign and Sponge Bob’s.

But isn’t the rock music I listen to also selling the “rock ‘n’ roll” culture? Yes of course it is. But I’m not buying the culture I’m buying the music.

But then isn’t my cousin buying the music as well? Not the way I see it.

When you start idolising the musician and looking up to them as somebody to aspire to this is different from appreciating their music.

I don’t attempt to emulate the musicians I listen to – except the occasional air guitar session. I would like to sing like Thome Yorke or play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix but I don’t want to be like Thome or Jimi.
I’m quite happy being myself, I don’t want to be drug addict like Jimi or clinically depressed like Thome.

My cousin on the other hand doesn’t want to just be a rapper like 50 but wants to be a “gangsta” like 50 who was a former drug-dealer and convicted felon. That is not something I think people should aspire to at all.

You be the judge

This is pretty random you upload a photo of you and they check their database of famous people to see who you look like.

This was the photo:















And the result
I look like this famous French actor:
Gerard Dipardieu

Second match was THIS guy (Deigo Maradona)

Third match was the Babe himself

Babe Ruth:

You be the judge.

The Good

I have another game of cricket this Saturday. I like cricket, cricket is the good. It is even more fun when you are playing “social” cricket. It was quite funny, last week the players in the other team were actually “drinking” in the drinks break (like alcohol). Can you imagine that in a game of rugby “Half-time is Pint-time.” In “social” cricket the batting team provides umpires, it is quite funny watching the umpires having a sneaky drag on their smokes. Then in between the innings the players have some pies to help with their fielding!! Our team is a Church team so there are no sneaky pints, or sneaky drags or even sneaky pies not that pies are bad. Pies are the good.
On Tuesday I had a game of indoor football. Football is the good. I was goalie AGAIN I always end up in goal. No one else is dumb enough to stand in front of a target. It sounds pretty dumb when you put it like that, can you imagine a “goalie” in darts, standing in front of the target and preventing the other person from scoring – that sounds like fun anyone for darts?
Then on the way home from football I saw some guys playing basketball, so I stopped and joined in! Then after a couple of games I started driving home and went past another basketball court with another group of guys playing. I can’t help myself. Its great fun, dropping in on random games of basketball. Basketball is the good.

Stuff that has happened

Well It has been a while since I posted. Quite a lot of stuff has happened, my family went to Goose Bay between Christmas and New Years that was cool. I like having a tent ten meters from State Highway One and 8 from the Main-trunk line!!
Then I came back hung out and did a kids camp. Which was real funny cause I knew half the leaders just cause we are Christians around the same age. There was Lani (friend of J-Rods and future flat-mate to Shell) Rachel (current flat-mate of Mike) Amanda (friend from youth work stuff who I haven’t seen in about 3 years) and Marty (husband of a woman who use to work for mum). Crazy huh. Camp was awesome though lots of fun and a chance to talk to kids about the gospel. I mean what is better than that? Oh and I munted myself too. We were swimming at Woodend Beach and I got caught in a wave and ceremonially dropped on my head. I got a big lump referred to by the campers as my “alien”. All the kids wanted to poke it lol. After camp I came home and played indoor football on Tuesday and got like four injuries (hip, nose, head, leg).
I also had a look at airfares to Cameroon, I’m probably leaving on the 6th March and going to Yaounde (capitol of Cameroon) via Bangkok and Nairobi on Thai and Kenya Air. I may spend a few days in Nairobi with friends from our Church who will be over there. I still have to get a visa and some injections and by some I mean almost every injection known to man. I had a game of cricket yesterday it was cool after not having played since MG 1st XI days. But I got roped in fairly late and didn’t get time to go home and get ready. So I played cricket with no sunscreen, hat, or sunglasses normally essential attire for a gem of cricket and now I’m paying for it with lobster like sun-burn.