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I’ve got a few quotes that randomly appear beneath the navigation bar at the top of the page. Instead of choosing from the regular fare of inspiring quotes, I’ve chosen to focus specifically on quotes from interesting hip-hop songs. Some of them are funny, others quite serious. I see much hip hop as a sort of poetry, and most of it quotes quite nicely. Here is a little list of the quotes you might see on the top of the page, and where they are from.

* “Muthafuckas better realize! NOW is the time to self actualize!” This quote is from Saul Williams and DJ Krust’s bizarre diatribe “Coded Language”, found on the album of the same name by DJ Krust. Saul Williams is a unique and powerful urban beat poet who’s passionate voice and penetrating words stand out amongst the rampaging beats of DJ Krust. The whole song is quite a trip to absorb, and this line stands out as one of the more odd.
* “High velocity verbal atrocities.” This quote is from Deltron 3030′s song “Things You Can Do” from the self titled album “Deltron 3030″. The MC is Del, who manages to mix his special brand of humor with political commentary in a science fiction setting. The line is attractive to me because it describes what I think many blogs consist of. You can post a lot of stuff, some of it very bad, as fast as you can type it. High velocity, verbal atrocities.
* “I’m seein’ robots!” Kool Keith is always seeing robots, and I’m afraid that sometimes, just sometimes, I see a few also.
* “Rat-atat-tata and all the cops scatta’ed!” This quote is from Slick Rick’s song “Children’s Story” about a man who makes some bad decisions. Slick Rick has a great story telling voice, and the song is quite interesting. I like this line because of how it just flows out of his mouth, and because I find it sort of humorous for some reason.
* “I don’t mind if you use this, but when you abuse this, you’ll feel the rough side of my smoothness.” This is from Black Rob’s song “Smoothness”. It would be a rather typical rap song if it weren’t for Black Rob’s precision, and Dan the Automator’s unmatched beatsmithing. I think this line is hilarious. The whole song is pretty funny actually.
* “Fuck the First Amendment, my speech was Free the day that my Soul decended.” From the Jurassic 5 song “Jayou”. Jurassic 5 produces some of the most pure hip hop out there. Top quality DJs, simple but precise beats, and old fashioned, no bullshit, rhyme till you drop MCs. I like this line, because it expresses a sentiment that I’ve always held. Freedom is something you are, not something you are given. The First Amendment is something to be protected, but my freedom is something inherent to myself. The body can be held, but your voice is your own.
* “Tested and scarred, pressed through the storm, found who we are, with true desire.” From “Aural Pleasure” by Blackalicious. The song is pretty good, but when it ends, attached to the end of the same track is a little freestyle by two rappers whom I can’t identify (bonus points to whoever can identify these guys). The part at the end is my favorite part of the track, since the flows are perfect, and the subject matter is quite enlightening.
* “As if the heartbeat wasn’t enough… They got us using drum machines now.” Another Saul Williams, this is from the track “Twice the First Time”. The song isn’t like most hip hop, but has a powerful but sad message. This song helped turn me on to hip hop in the first place.
* “Apathetic, therapeutic and extremely addictive. The methadone metronome.” What is the methadone metronome? Why, its television! This line is from the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy song “Television, the Drug of a Nation”. The song is quite funny and poignant.

Finally, the title of this post is also a quote from a hip hop song. Bonus points to whoever can name the song and artist! Also, any suggestions for quote additions would be welcome, or even just songs that you think have a great message are welcome.

Like hot peppers? For a dollar, I purchased a serious quantity of habenero peppers. One of the hottest peppers in the world, the habenero is a special thing. Here they are, chopped and ready for drying. I will grind them up into a delicious powder, to be added to anything that needs a little kick.

Click for larger image

Look, and enjoy.

Two days ago we moved our pregnant female Platy into a little breeding tank so she could have her babies without being harassed. The tank also has a little ‘trap’ so that the babies get separated from the mother after birth so they don’t get eaten. Well, when we got up the next morning, we looked in the breeding tank and noticed numerous pairs of tiny eyes looking out at us. A brief count revealed about 47 baby fish! This morning, we moved the mother (now considerably less bloated) back into the main tank, which she seemed very relieved about. I don’t know what I’m going to do about all these baby fish. They are very tiny right now, but they will grow. Not all will survive, in fact, I’m expecting about 50% mortality as the weaker ones die, or are eaten by the others. Its a harsh world, but its part of the strategy for animals that have lots of babies. However, even if we are left with 20 platys, I don’t know how we will take care of them. I suppose I could put an ad in the paper or something.

As soon as I’m able to get a good picture of these little guys (they are awfully hard to photograph) I’ll post them. They really are quite cute.