You may be familiar with a few Jim Jones’s. One is the loveable hip-hop star and member of Dipset who brought you such hits as “We Fly High” and “Honey Dip.” But then there was another Jim Jones—a much creepier Jim Jones. This Jim Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples’ Temple, a cult which carried through one of the largest mass-suicides in recorded history. After murdering a San Francisco congressman who was visiting Jones’s purchased land in Guyana (which had been dubbed “Jonestown”), more than 900 of his devoted followers toasted their accomplishment with a refreshing glass of cyanide-laced Flavor Aid. Flavor Aid?! Jeez, they couldn’t even spring for Kool-Aid?! Or Tang?! Jones later put a bullet in his brain.
Author Archives: smith
SPRING & TWIN SISTER
Things officially began budding today! We’ve turned a corner! Fuck you, rain, snow and gloom!
To celebrate the official 2010 blossoming of life, I thought I’d share some lovely Twin Sister with you. If you haven’t heard this NY-based band yet, start hearing them. And as luck should have it, if you’re in New York, go [...]
In Search of the 80’s: This is the Day
-One freak’s commentary on one song each week-
In a short amount of time, there will be a party to honor the birthday of one John Oates—the moustachioed force behind half of the genius 80’s pop duo, Hall & Oates. In honor of this party, I have been considering music from the 80’s a great deal [...]
ADVICE FROM AN 8th GRADER
Words from Joshua: “Right now I’m livin’ in Player City. I can’t even stay single.”
The Ides of March / A Lighter Fare
New York sprung alive this weekend with the scent of spring. Public parks buzzed, brunchers dined on patios, and sunglasses dominated the landscape. Ah, if only it wasn’t but a brief illusion! A momentary reprise!
They say of the month of March that it comes “in like a lion and out like a lamb,” but those in the state of New York know better. In reality, March is “in like a polar bear, then sort of like a seal for a little while—where it’s still pretty cold, but you bake on a warm rock in the sun—then like a stuffed rabbit riding a caribou, then a robin flying back north, then, finally, out like a warm plate of veal.”
HERE’S TO WEEKENDS / GOLD ZEBRA
Usually, I’m sort of ready for the weekend to end. Let me be clear: this is NOT because I want to go back to work. Usually I’m ready for the weekend to end because I need to recalibrate my being. Like, you know, stop drinking.
I spoke to a friend of mine this weekend that I consider a life-guru—one of those people who has an infinite reserve of energy and is naturally good at anything they get their hands into. We drank red wine out of empty beer glasses and I voiced my concerns about the “working for the weekend” lifestyle. Like, isn’t there more to life than this?
ADVICE FROM AN 8th GRADER
Words from Rahmel: “I am 10% black, 50 % ninja, 30% never give up, but actually, it’s 99% never give up.”
PARTY, NOLA, & CHAT ROULETTE SOUNDTRACK
Hey everyone. A few things today:
1) I missed last week’s post because I was down in the Big Easy showing my breasts for plastic beads shaped like pot leaves. Much props to N’Orleans for its drive-thru daiquiris, crawfish etouffee, and street-corner brass bands. But mostly, thank you for all the beautiful hip-hop of the Dirty [...]
ADVICE FROM AN 8th GRADER
Advice from Q: “When 2012 comes, our world’s gonna turn into District 9, and everyone’s gonna be mutated. Dogs are gonna have three heads and huge muscles, and fish are gonna be as big as a bus, and sharks and whales are gonna be as large as central park.”
ARCADE FIRE WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!
Dear Superbowl XLIV,
You were the best Superbowl ever because you played my favorite Canadian indie-rock band, Arcade Fire, like twenty times. Also, Superbowl, you announced the rejuvenation of New Orleans—the comeback story of the decade. Does this mean George Bush finally cares about black people?
As if all of this Arcade Fire didn’t have me stoked [...]
ADVICE FROM AN 8th GRADER
Advice from Luiz: “They wanted me to make me to take pills at my old school, but I told them I was too niice* for that shit.”
Holden Caulfield’s Comfort Music
It was a pretty tragic week for bookworms across the world. On Wednesday we lost history buff, WWII veteran, and all-around genius Howard Zinn. Then reports surfaced that the reclusive and highly influential fiction writer J.D. Salinger had also passed. Double-whammy.
After work on Friday, the teachers from my school congregated for happy hour. Being the [...]
Conan’s Best Musical Guests
No doubt you’ve kept abreast of the late night shake-up unfolding over the past couple weeks. I have to admit, I myself feel a bit guilty about Conan’s sudden change in fortunes (relatively speaking). I’m sure many of my demographic feel similarly—for it was us that fueled the success of NBC’s lanky, wire-framed longshot. Conan [...]
Morris Day and the Time
-One freak’s commentary on one song (or artist) each week-
Not too long ago I met up with some friends for drinks at one of my favorite Brooklyn bars called Moe’s. Moe’s is great for a number of reasons—it’s rather unpretentious, it draws an eclectic crowd, it’s located in the underrated neighborhood of Fort Greene, it [...]
Solving the Lady Gaga Mystery
-One freak’s commentary on one song (or human) each week-
There are many longstanding mysteries on our vast planet: the Great Pyramids, Stone Henge, crop circles, the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. But during the last two years a new mystery has materialized that has scientists and [...]