bad news

I stayed up three nights in a row studying for this chem test (it was at 8AM this morning) and I decided to get a power nap in before going. Forgot to set my phone off vibrate, slept through all but 7 minutes of the test. That's a zero, which has a couple of effects. Chem is my weakest class, so it pulls my grade down even further. I need to keep a 3.2 to maintain a few of my scholarships, so without them, because I doubt I can get a 3.2 if I don't do well in chem, I don't know if I can return next year. It looks like if I ace the last test(there are 3 of them) and the final both I would pull a 76, that's a C, and the only way to pull above a 3.2 is to get an A- in calc, comp sci and intro to lit. I need all three above a 90, AND I need to ace(perfect 100s) the last test and the final. I don't believe that to be possible, but I'm gonna try.

comp sciiii

Stayed up all night writing a comp sci program, good thing I don't have classes till my 3pm calc class that I don't go to... :) plus my program is the SHIT! :D

crazy week

This week I've got so much shit to do, so I'll be up mad late most nights, hopefully I'll also be listening to some of the music that I've got on my list so I'll get some more reviews up. Went up to RISD this weekend, saw Mari and Benji. It's weird to see people and talk about shit from back in high school. Meh. Long bus ride, been looking at trucks, I want to see if I can get one second semester or next year or something. That would be type illin'. Also been working on comp sci, I'm really enjoying this shit, thinking I might want to minor or double in it maybe, we'll see, my schedule is jam-packed already. Goals for next semester: classes starting at 10 every day, nothing after 5(wrestling). Maybe a day off(friday or monday). That would be perfect, if I could get classes from 11-4 every day except monday. that would be perfect. that's a good 20 credit hours... 5 every day except monday. Hope I can swing something like that, then I can sleep late every day, get enough sleep, still get to my classes and then have time for wrestling. This semester everything is spread out and ridiculous, so its mad annoying to remember all the shit I need to take care of in a day. Oh well, it is what it is. The weekend was amazing. One of the best I've ever had, but I only did a little work, not a ton like I shoulda. meh. Also watched the original Frankenstein on the bus ride. It's so fucking good...why did we stop making good horror movies in favor of shit like saw 6....retarded. Just thought I'd drop a line or two, gotta get back to work before class. One love.

Quick note

I like some of these shirt designs:
SHirts

and a really interesting(how fitting) site:
http://www.damninteresting.com

and for all you book nerds out there, if you don't already know about it:
Books

A short story I really like:
Story

and something delicious:
Mmmm

that's all!
-Russ

reviews

So here's a couple new ones:
Only built 4 Cuban Linx pt II by Raekwon
-This album is money. A real quick summary is to say it's a flash back to good old Wu stylez with a lot of new age hiphop/rNb style mixed in, without trying to conform to the new ways or anything. Use of harsh lyrics and uncompromising rhyme mixed to catchy hooks and beats makes a killer album. Featuring most of the Wu, in true "solo" wu album style, it's really a collab from the whole gang, but Raekwon also included a few of my favorite old school rap stars: Styles P, slick rick, and jadakiss, as well as others on various tracks. Amazing old school track that really flashed me back; "House of Flying Daggers" made me wish it was still the days the Wu ruled (arguably they still do...). Almost every track is on point, except for one, which IS point; "mean streets". It's got message, impact, power, a money hook, and the flow of experienced rappers knowing what they're talking about. Blew my mind, def not party music as is, but all together they really stepped up and put out an amazing album, once again, the Wu is on top.

Ghostdini by Ghostface Killah
-On the other side of the Wu, as well as featuring on Raekwon's new album, Ghostface put out his own album, and I don't believe he featured a single other member of the Wu. Impressive album, Ghostface pulls through again with great flow, not as much of a focus on the hiphop aspect, instead focusing on lyrics and message, one of the reasons Ghostface is one of my favorites. Even Ghostface is influenced by popular culture and you can see some more bait and hook style tracks in the album, like "let's stop playing" or "She's a killah". It's an interesting medley of different styles. and Ghostface is sometimes out of his comfort zone, yet he performs admirably, one of my favorite tracks that shows a little different side of Ghostface is "Do Over". All in all definitely worth the time to listen to it, and as always you have to pay attention to what Ghost is saying, not just the beats as you can in most new "rap".

Summoning
-Interesting metal band, their classification is LORD OF THE RINGS METAL! Holy shit how did I not know about these dudes? They're amazing. they have a lyrical quality and musical continuity that lets me listen to them, not just screaming and loud crashes like some metal sounds to me. They sometimes have a real heavy guitar, but it's in tune and sounds like music! So it's all good. Their style does vary a lot depending on the album and the song, but they're very exciting to any LoTR fans...(hinthint). Their songs feature heroic themes as well as dark riffs and heavy drum kits, quotes from the movies, and even SONGS IN THE BLACK SPEECH OF MORDOR. Ok i really can't get over these guys, they just rock my world. Shout out to my brother for linking them to me. Although they have several songs in the black speech, my favorite is "Mirdautas Vras". Love the epic heroic music. Taking epic to the next lvl as metal always should. Amazing. (it's so epic, here's a clip: w00t enjoy!)

Artists on my list (it's pretty long but I'll try to keep narrowing it down):
Oyster Band
Brad Paisley
BIlly Currington
Brooks and Dunn
Mark wills
John Michael Montgomery
Ben Folds
The depreciation GUild
The rescues
Desafio
Fairyland
Faith No More

P.S. Are those NAZGUL in the background? They are. Cant' get over this shit.

Keep posting with more stuff, I'll work my way slowly through it.

the RZA

So I need to pick myself up a copy of the new memoirs by RZA, called "the Tao of Wu" It looks legit real interesting, but I don't know when I'm going to have time to stop by a bookstore, and I don't really know if any bookstores around here will have such a book. We shall have to see; here's an interesting article w/ RZA interview about the book and a little bit of the WU: ... anyway. Been working a lot, chem is buttfucking me badly, but it's ok, i'll get used to it maybe. Haven't been looking over too much music recently, but I plan on trying to get some of that done this week and weekend. Visiting Mari this weekend. suped! seems like there's a lot of drama going around, some shit hit here, couple of friends in places south of here too. Wish that shit didn't happen but w/e. all you can do is pick up the pieces and put humpty the fuck back together. Much love to everyone.