Death in Venice was a joy to read.  despite its Igmar Berman-like narrative steez (the long shot where not much is going on...), the philosophical textures and eyedeas Mann sampled from Freud/Plato/ Tolstoy invite debate, which is what has always constructed good art. the irony is that Mann utilizes the idea that beauty destroys---that in essence, art is innately negative because it deters us from knowledge and rationality and leads us to the wall-less playlands of the imagination. dudes sound like Republicans, or at least Straussians.  regardless, despite the fact that i disagree with such conjectures (as canonical as they might be), the character of Aschenbach is conducive to a brainy study: why does he follow young Tadzio around Venice? is his fascination purely homosexual? no, say the romantics, its just a metaphor, stupid. 
moral of the story: Venice kills, dunny!

i also got a chance to read the modern Mexican master, Juan Rulfo's Pedro Paramo. this wonderful little novel, written in 1955,  is a staple of Mexican literature for good reason. Rulfo is an aesthetic brother to both dj /rupture (for his meticulous methodology of blending narrative voices, events and a joyous disregard for linear time) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (who sampled Rulfo's usage of the talking dead, and the idea of a town's demise, in this case Comala). not bad for a guy who worked in a tireshop most of his life and only wrote one novel (word to Ralph Ellison, son!).

now on to Jada. like Baraka, Wright and (im sure) Reed, another black writer has been thrown to the conservatives for dead for being politically outspoken. one of the many reasons The Roots album sucks so bad is that they abandonded history for pop and Jada is representative of why most mainstream rappers dont truly follow Pac and Big and throw a few direct punches at politicians: it ends up hurting the bank account.  hopefully Jadakiss will go home and Google "Robeson" tonight. 

 
and i might get my own tv show!
well, its a long shot, but the university's tv station might have space for a "music critic" segment where i babble about some new joints over some music clips.
"tonight, we're going to talk about Can......what? (looks at cue card, grits teeth) i mean, Evanescen-----fuck this, i quit"

playlist:
Smash TV- Bits for Breakfast
The Pharcyde- Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde
Can- Ege Bamyasi
Mike Patton- Adult Themes for Voice
Funkadelic- Maggot Brain