It’s been around for a while, but this documentary does a good job of explaining the origin of the ‘Amen Break’, an oft-sampled drum loop. You’ll recognize the break as soon as you hear it. Check it out:

John McCain’s emergence as the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination has some pundits wondering whether the vaunted Reagan coalition has collapsed. McCain - a maverick senator unafraid to confront the Republican establishment on any number of issues, including campaign finance reform, tax cuts and, somewhat ironically, the war in Iraq - has been accused of driving wedges between the “three legs” of the Reagan alliance: economic, social and national security conservatives.
McCain is particularly unpopular (for a Republican) among social conservatives and evangelical Christians, a constituency with which he has had a long and tumultuous relationship. For …

Endorsements in the Presidential Primaries
or How the Kennedys are their own primary
These days you can’t throw a harpoon without hitting a story about how someone is endorsing one or the other of the presidential candidates. Everyone seems to be getting in on this deal. Starting way back when people were guffawing about how good old Chuck Norris endorsed Mike Huckabee, and witnessed a barrage of endorsements from every direction. Stallone endorsed the Huckster’s rival, John McCain. Hulk Hogan has recently chimed in support of Obama …

See below for some of my current favourites. Ranging from jazzy funk to underground dopeness, these tracks are courtesy of several of the nicest music blogs on the ‘net:
Little Hooks with Ray Nato and the Kings – Give the Drummer Some More
A jazzy, early ’70s jam. Check out the organ solo at 2:20. From Oliver Wang via Captain’s Crate.
DJ Spinna featuring Phonte – Dillagence (One 4 Jay)
“Likely part of the whole homage wave of cuts that started coming out after Dilla passed, this was releases as a 45 by …

Black-Focused School to open in Toronto
Right away, this is probably one of the most controversial topics that has hit the Canadian school system in decades.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this situation (and/or don’t feel like clicking the links above) here’s a quick summary.
The Toronto District School Board voted 11-9 to allow the creation of a “Black-Focused” alternative school somewhere in Toronto. That means, sometime in September 2009, a school in Toronto will open up with a black-focused curriculum, black instructors, and will be aimed …

I recently discovered how much fun futures markets can be. If you’re a political junkie, buying and selling political futures is a great way to stay informed (especially during primary season), make a little money (unless you’d rather take the safer route and play with fake money) and, in a small way, participate in the political process itself.The two prediction markets I use are Intrade and Hubdub.
Intrade
http://www.intrade.com
By far the more sophisiticated of the two markets, Intrade allows users to buy and sell contracts on a wide variety of political …

Three weekends ago I headed down to Seattle to catch Lupe Fiasco perform live at the Showbox.
If you ever get a chance to see this dude perform in person, I highly recommend doing so. He is unreal live, partly because he’s one of the few hip-hop acts I’ve seen who sounds better with a live band than he would rapping over DATs or along with a DJ.
The show in Seattle started fairly early. Our crew got there even earlier (at around seven or eight) so we had to put up …

I managed to catch Mos Def playing in Ann Arbor the other night. His show was on MLK Day and was dedicated to the memory of J Dilla, the slain Detroit producer.
I’ve got to say it was a really interesting style of show. For those of you who’ve ever been to the Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan, you know it’s not exactly the traditional hip hop spot. Plush, upholstered, assigned seating is not the way I normally catch these shows, but it did lend a …