Silent Cacophony

We Love Books Day (Not Valentine's Day)

2012-02-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day... (Photo credit: Јerry)

I've never liked celebrating Valentine's Day in the classroom. I'm always happy to see when the day falls on a weekend so I can let it slip by relatively unnoticed. But even on those special years, the kids manage to bring in Valentine's cards or treats to share.

It's inevitable, Valentine's Day will make it to your classroom in one way or another. So, this year, I've decided to embrace it (pardon the pun.) But instead of focusing on romantic love, we will show our love and appreciation for great litearture.

We will start off in the morning by creating a "We Love This Book" bulletin board. Each student will have to make a poster about a book that they enjoy.

Next, we will go to the computer lab and each student will create a list of movies that have been based on novels, short stories, or books. When we get back to the classroom, we will compile all of the student lists together. I am sure there will be a lot of content duplicated on their lists, but I am also certain that we will have an impressive number of movies when we are done.

We will then discuss why there have been so many movies made that were originally published as novels. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that the movie producers really love those books and wanted to bring them to life.

I will bring in a variety of movies that were based upon novels, and we will have a vote as to which one we will watch. The students that have brought in treats or Valentine's cards can exchange them at this time.

I think this might be the best way to observe this day in the classroom.

Do you have any great Valentine's Day ideas?

Please leave a comment below with things you have done to celebrate this day in your class.

Thanks.

They're Not Allowed in Their Tree Fort Over There!

2012-02-13T00:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, the English language is a crazy entanglement of confusing rules and spelling patterns.

That being said, I think we actually need all three versions of there. And I get really upset when I see the wrong spelling being used.

The Internet is full of people using the incorrect form of "there, their, or they're," and it frustrates me to no end.

That is why when I saw this image on Tumblr, I laughed out loud and knew I had to share it with you.

These fill in the blank forms are used to prove that you are actually a person and not a malicious computer program. Usually they are just a random set of letters placed together. I like the grammar lesson / reinforcement of the English language here.

And I like the error message you get if you type in the wrong answer.

That is great!

Just because the Internet is wild and free (which I hope it always will be) is no excuse for bad grammar and spelling. Come on people.

Their shows belonging
There refers to a place
and They're means "they are"

It's not that hard, is it?

Maestro Fresh Wes (Red Carpet Interview)

2012-02-11T00:40:00.000-05:00

The red carpet was hectic at the 2011 Stylus DJ Awards this year. We had some technical difficultlies but managed to talk to a dozen artists, including the legend, Wes Williams, better known as Maestro Fresh Wes. Here is a transcript of the interview.

Chase: “Talk to Hamilton, Maestro.”

Maestro: “Steel City!”

Chase: “This is Chase March and Daddy J from DOPEfm. We’re really honoured to talk to you because we wouldn’t even have a scene without you man. You put Canadian hip-hop on the map."

Maestro: “I’m continuing to do my thing, supporting the DJs, and I’m about release a brand new single.”

Chase: “It’s so cool to see that you are still doing your thing. I got the mixtape celebrating your twenty years in the game. It was called 20 / 20 – twenty years with twenty classic joints on it."

One of your biggest hits was ‘Stick to Your Vision.’

Chase: "We just talked to the producer of that track, 2 Rude."

Maestro: "Yeah, 2 Rude is here. Just seen him."

Chase: "You’ve been doing a lot of things. You just wrote a book recently as well.”

Maestro: “The book is called, ‘Stick to Your Vision.’ It’s from Random House Publishing and it just went into paperback. I’m really excited about that. I’m working on a brand new album too. Things are happening. My foundation is hip-hop, and the foundation of hip-hop is deejaying. Rakim said, back in the days, that he was gonna nominate his DJ for president.”

Chase: “That’s why is really nice to see these Stylus DJ Awards. It’s nice to see them honouring someone who truly deserves it, like yourself. But, it’s also nice to have this focus on the DJs and the producers because they often don’t get a lot of shine. The guy on the microphone gets most of the shine.

As far as hip-hop legends go, sometimes they lose their appeal to a younger generation but I don’t think that has happened with you. You have a whole bunch of new fans just from the work that you’ve done with Classified."

Maestro: “There are always peaks and valleys, no matter what. And now that I’m working on a brand new album, it’s like I’m reintroducing to a lot of fans.”

Chase: “I think in some ways, it will be a reintroduction. But I’ve got students in my class who are big fans of Classified and they love ‘Hard to Be Hip-Hop.’ That song is amazing, and the video is really cool too. I love what you guys do in that.”

Maestro: “Thank you. I hope you like the new single too.”

Chase: “I’ll definitely be checking for that. I always check for you. Maestro Fresh Wes, a legend in Canadian hip-hop. Thanks, man. Peace!”

Valentine's Day - DOPEfm Style

2012-02-09T00:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a special mixtape for you and your loved one, Valentine's Day - DOPEfm Style.

I hope you put this on while you make your loved one a nice Valentine's dinner. Or you can spin it anytime you want to hear some smooth, respectful, hip-hop love songs.

Be warned that this is some mushy rap but each song bangs. I especially like the closing song by Common, "The Light." I think that is quite possibly the best hip-hop love song of all time. Of course, we had to start out with one of the very first romantic rap songs, "I Need Love" by LL Cool J.

We then go into some Slick Rick and Masta Ace before hearing D-sisive's "I Love a Girl," which is a sweet song for his special lady. We also hear from Atmosphere, 2Pac, The Roots, and many more in this special 90 minute mix.

Download Valentine's Day - DOPEfm Style for free

I hope you enjoy it, pass it along, and tell your friends about DOPEfm which can be heard each and every Saturday night on CFMU 93.3 on your radio dial or worldwide at http://cfmu.mcmaster.ca You can also catch us anytime at DOPEfm.ca

Thanks for tuning in!

Using a Deck of Cards in Math (Teaching Tip)

2012-02-07T00:53:00.000-05:00

Here is a quick and easy math game you can have your students play. All you need is a deck of cards. You will need to remove the face cards so that you are only left with the numbers 2 to 9 and the aces. For the purposes of this game, an ace will count as the number "1"

The game is called Target Zero

The students will need to be familar with positive and negative numbers.

In this game, black cards are negative and red cards are positive. For example a red 7 is +7 and a black 3 is -3

Shuffle the cards and deal them face down until all the cards are dealt.
The player to the dealer's left goes first, and play continues clockwise
The first player turns over the first card and places it in the centre of the play area.
The next player turns over a card, adds the number to the card already played, says the sum aloud, and places the card on top of the previously played card.
The next player turns over a card, adds the number to the sum, says the sum aloud,and places the card on top
Play continues until a number is added to give a sum of zero
The player who gets a sum of zero wins the round and scores a point
The winner begins the next round.

Here is an example of this game in action.

The first card dealt in this game is a Black 6.

Since black cards represent a negative number, the total value right now is -6.

The second card is placed on top of the 6 is a Red 5

Since red cards are positive, we need to add this to the -6 already in play.

-6+5 = -1

The total sum is now -1. In order to win, we need to get a value of zero. We could do that with a red ace.

A Red Ace has the value of +1

The last sum was -1, so by adding a positive 1, we have hit the target of zero.

-1 + 1 = 0

I found this game in ONAP- Ontario Numeracy Assessment Package: Grade 8 and thought it would be a great game to use when ever you needed a few extra minutes. It would also be a great tool for supply teachers to have. Decks of cards are fairly cheap and if you brought four or five decks with you on your jobs, you couldhavae the students playing a game while practising their number facts. It's a win-win.

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Tuesday Archive (over one hundred tips, lessons, and resources)
Math Drills (help your students learn number facts)
Smarties Math (use candies to teach every strand of the curriculum)

Lovely Ladies of Silent Cacophony (Part 4)

2012-02-06T00:23:00.000-05:00

These Lovely Ladies are welcome here at Silent Cacophony anytime.

Lyndsy Fonseca is one of the stars of Nikita. She also appeared in the film version of Kick-Ass.

Tara Overholt is the anchor of CTV News in London, Ontario. I met her last year at the London Music Awards and she looked stunning.

Zooey Deschanel. What more can I say? I just love her! She is talented and beautiful and makes great music. Check out her band "She and Him"

Pascale Arbillot. Just saw her in a French film with English subtitles. I'd learn French for her.

The Lovely Ladies of Silent Cacophony

Grafh (Red Carpet Interview)

2012-02-04T01:37:00.000-05:00

Chase: "Yo, Grafh! DOPEfm radio. We got Chase March and Daddy J here. How's it going, man?"

Grafh: "Just enjoying the festivities."

Chase: "So what does this award show mean to you?"

Grafh: "I think it's pretty dope. Anything highlighting the DJ is always a big deal. DJs paved the platform for artists like me to get busy and say what I got to say to the world. It's beautiful."

Chase: "For sure. Hip-hop started with the DJ."

Grafh: "People forget that sometimes."

Chase: "A lot of people forget. That is where it all started. It's really great to see this celebration of, not just the artists, but everything that goes with the music."

Grafh: "It's a beautiful thing. I came all the way from New York just to be a part of it."

Chase: "There are producers here, MCs, even some hockey players. We have some New York Rangers in the house. People are showing love. It's definitely the place to be tonight."

Grafh: "I'm hyped."

Chase: "So what are you working on right now?"

Grafh: "I created a whole album right here in Toronto. It's pretty dope. It's called "The Rule." It's all Canadian produced."

Chase: "Very cool."

Grafh: "Check out the new website - grafhonline.com"

Chase: "All right! Will do. Thanks a lot."

4 Hip-Hop Memoirs Worth Reading

2012-02-03T01:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some great hip-hop memoirs that I had the opportunity to read over the past several months.

Decoded by Jay-Z

Jay-Z writes about hip-hop in an open and honest way.

Here is one of my favourite passages from the book . . .

Hip-hop has always been controversial, and for good reason. When you watch a children’s show and they’ve got a muppet rapping about the alphabet, it’s cool, but it’s not really hip-hop. The music is meant to be provocative—which doesn’t mean it’s necessarily obnoxious, but it is (mostly) confrontational, and more than that, it’s dense with multiple layers that you don’t necessarily figure out the first time you listen to it. Instead it plants dissonance in your head. You can enjoy a song that knocks in the club or has witty punch line the first time you hear it. But great rap retains mystery. It leaves shit rattling around in your head that won’t make sense till after the fifth or sixth time through. It challenges you.

Which is the other reason hip-hop is controversial: People don’t bother trying to get it. The problem isn’t the rap or rapper or the culture. The problem is that so many people don’t even know how to listen to the music.

Jay-Z then goes on to "decode" over thirty of his songs. He celebrates the art and poetry of hip-hop by showing us exactly what he was doing with his lyrics. Even if you've listened to his songs hundreds of times, you will probably learn a few things you didn't pick up upon repeated listening.

He covers some important topics and hip-hop history on this book. It's a page turner and I worked through the entire book in only four days.

Highly recommended for all MCs

Cover via Amazon

The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats by Grandmaster Flash

Grandmaster Flash used a turntable like it was musical instrument. He was the first DJ to actually put his hands on the records. Up to this point, deejays would pretty much just drop the tone arm on the record and hope that the music would be on time. Flash was obsessed with making deejaying an art.

He would mark up the records in a way so he would know how to manipulate the sounds on them. He could extend breaks and mix records without skipping a beat. Nowadays this is common practice among DJs.

This memoir documents his love of hip-hop, his elevation of the art of deejaying, and the trials and tribulations of his career.

I have a new appreciation for this pioneer of hip-hop after having read it.

Should be required reading for all DJs and hip-hop fans

Image by mp3waxx.com via Flickr

One Day It'll All Make Sense by Common

Common's biography shares the name of one of his albums. It was a clever way of him reclaiming his name after a legal battle forced him to change his name from "Common Sense" to "Common."

Here is on of my favoruite passages from the book . . .

My journey in love has led me to this place: of loving with my whole heart, of embracing the opportunity to build a life with someone else. I read somewhere that on average people have about sixty thousand words in their vocabulary, but that on most days we use only a fraction of them. As someone who creates with language, I'm fascinated by the shades of meaning and the range of sounds that different words can create. For all the words I may use in an average day, though, the most important word in my vocabulary is love.

Some rappers are afraid to use the word "love" because they think it makes them sound soft. I've always appreciated how Common can craft love songs that still bump. He's a great lyricist and poet and it's nice to hear him share his story in a memoir.

Recommended for the intelligent listener

Cover of The Way I Am

The Way I Am by Eminem

The coolest thing about this book is the lyric sheets that Eminem includes. He shares with us his scattered writing process. I know plenty of his songs by heart and still couldn't make heads or tails of his lyric sheets. He says that he deliberately bounces around the page and leaves words out so that know one could steal his rhymes.

He explains the process . . .

I can rarely sit down with the intention of writing a rhyme and just do it. But when I have an idea, I have to write it down on the first piece of paper I can find: I have to get that idea down on paper right then and there, or I'll lose it. Sometimes I look at my old lyric sheets, and I have no idea how I ended up kicking those lines out. I might write an idea down, and it'll end up in a song years later. I try yo keep track of rhyme schemes, and I used to copy ones that I liked from one sheet to the next. Then I would take the paper into the booth and kind of go all over the page.

There are about thirty original lyric sheets included in the book. Many of them are on paper that has been folded and just thrown into a bag. A few of them are pretty beat up. The writing is small and bounces all over the page in several different colours of ink.

Eminem is a perfectionist with his rhymes and his songs are brilliant. I think he is the best wordsmith the English language has ever seen. The fact that he can share his creative process and these early rhyme sheets (including lyrics that never made it into any of his songs) is pretty cool.

Recommended for fans of lyrics

New Vs Old Album Review

2012-02-02T08:28:00.000-05:00

I have a review up on The Word is Bond site today.

It is for the album "New Vs Old" by IV the Polymath. It's the first review I have ever written for an instrumental hip-hop album.

Head on over there and check it out. You can listen to a few of the tracks and get my opinion on them. If you like the album, there is a link to the bandcamp page where you can download it.

Chasing Content - February 2011

2012-02-01T00:33:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

It's a brand new month. A short month but one with a lot of potential. Hopefully February 2012 will be just as much fun around here as February 2011 was.

It's time to hit the road with the snowplough to see just what we can dig up.

You can read all of the posts from last February

or just these favourites . . .

Keep Shining, Together We Are Fireworks - Sometimes pop radio actually surprises me with content that actually says something. Wish it happened more often.

How To Find Time to Write - Brian Jenkins contributed this post that can help us all find the time to squeeze some writing into our busy and hectic schedules. I definitely used some of these tips to hammer out my novel last November.

1000th Post Celebration - Last year at this time, I reached a milestone. I wonder how long it will take me to reach 2000 posts.

Recommended Reads: The Shack - The Shack is novel by William P. Young that explores some interesting religious territory but makes it accessible for everyone.

Teaching Tip: Multi-Syllable Rhymes - Here's a nice way to bring hip-hop and poetry into your Language Arts and English classrooms. I tried it with a Grade 4 class but it could work with any grade.

Flash Fiction: The Lonely Cactus - Here's a short story I wrote as a Friday Flash. The goal was to write 1000 words. I really should work on writing another one of these soon.

Hope you've enjoyed Chasing Content with me.

The Way You Speak Depends on the Situation (Teaching Tip)

2012-01-31T01:29:00.000-05:00

Image by mp3waxx.com via Flickr

I got the idea for today's Teaching Tip as I read the memoir by rapper, actor, and songwriter, Common. His book is entitled "One Day It'll All Make Sense"

There are a few passages in the memoir that were written by his mother. When I read this one, I immediately thought of how it could be used as a discussion point for the classroom.

"I remember one time when Rashid was maybe eight years old, he overheard me on the telephone talking to a professor . . . When I got off the phone, Rashid was giving me a funny look.

"Mama, how come you talking white?"

It took all of my composure not to bust out laughing. He was giving me that little-boy serious look, like he was deeply concerned.

"I'm not 'talking white,' honey. I'm talking with someone from the university, and when I do that I change up my vocabulary."

He still looked confused.

"Look, Rashid, do you talk to me the same way you talk to your cousin?"

He shook his head.

"Do you talk to your cousin the same way you talk to God when you pray?"

He shook his head again.

"Well, see, that's what I'm talking about.l You change the way you speak depending on whom you're addressing."

Since he's been grown, he's mentioned that moment to me several times.

"Now I understand," he says. "The words you choose matter."

I couldn't help but read that passage and think about using it in a classroom discussion.

Part of the English program requires us to teach students how to communicate orally. You can check the curriculum document to see how you could apply this quotation to your specific grade.

One of the Grade 7 expectations from the Oral Communication strand states that students need to be able to "demonstrate an understanding of appropriate speaking behaviour in most situations, adapting contributions and responses to suit the purpose and audience."

After reading the above passage, you could brainstorm a variety of situations or people that the students would have to interact with and how they would speak differently for each. You could have them role-play discussions with friends at the park, a police officer, a store clerk, a judge, their grandmother, etc.

I hope you enjoy my Teaching Tip Tuesday series. There are over 100 useful tips, tricks, and lessons that you can access at any time. See you here next week for a new one.

Arctic Air Soars

2012-01-30T00:26:00.000-05:00

I like uniquely Canadian television and that is precisely the reason that I have been enjoying Arctic Air.

Arctic Air is an ensemble drama that can be seen Tuesdays at 9:00 on CBC. The show is set in Northern Canada and revolves around a small airline that has outdated planes. The pilots must navigate through the tough weather, small dirt runways, and small communities.

It is nice to see First Nation characters on prime time television. Adam Beach plays Bobby Martin, and at first, he's not a very likable character. He seems to be more concerned about making money than having any connection to his hometown or to his people. (Spoiler Alert)

Bobby comes back to negotiate a mining deal with a local land owner. Just when it looks like he is about to sell out his friend, he has a change of heart and does the right thing. When he finds out that the airline that his now deceased father had founded is in a bit of financial difficulty, Bobby decides to stay and help out the struggling airline.

I've really been enjoying the show. The pilot episode didn't completely blow me away. It had a few lines of contrived dialogue but it did help set up the theme and mood of the series. The second episode is where things really started to gel and last week's episode was full of suspense and great drama.

It's rare that we get such uniquely Canadian programming on our televisions. I think we need to support shows like this; shows that put First Nation peoples in the spotlight, shows that tell our stories and are set in our country.

If you have ever had to travel to Northern Canada, this series will bring back memories of riding in those small charter planes. If you haven't, you will get a nice glimpse of what it's like to live in a remote area of the North.

I hope you give this series a chance. The fourth episode airs tomorrow night at 9:00 on CBC. You can also catch full episodes online at CBC.ca.

Enjoy!

Know Your History - The Complete Second Season

2012-01-28T00:23:00.000-05:00

Here it is, The Complete Second Season of Know Your History, your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge.

You can download all 12 episodes from the 2011 season in one handy zipped file. This is 6 hours of hip-hop radio brought to you by DOPEfm and your host and producer of the program, Chase March.

We covered a lot of topics last year from sampling to comedy to rap battles to personification to gender roles. If you missed the shows when they aired on the radio, or you missed the podcasts, I hope you will take the time to download the complete series sets.

Download Season One of Know Your History

Download Season Two of Know Your History

Season Three starts really soon. Look forward to hearing twelve more episodes this year that dive deep into hip-hop culture. It's my way to share some of the classic material that this art form has produced while highlighting the significance of songs and artists from this rich, cultural history that is hip-hop.

Batman: The Mixtape

2012-01-26T00:09:00.002-05:00

Batman deserves a mixtape, doesn't he? After all he does to protect the city from crime, the least we could do is honour him with a mixed CD.

The tape starts out with the theme from the television series and then moves in to Snoop Dogg's "Batman and Robin." The song blends into The Last Emperor's brilliant take on rappers battling super-heroes and villians in "Secret Wars." We then have two songs from the soundtracks of Batman films.

Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" seems to fit with the persona of Bruce Wayne and how he has to hide certain aspects of his life to protect his secret identity. The next song totally fits with the theme since Bruce Wayne is a Billionaire.

Side B starts off with a track from Robin's point of view. It's a pretty interesting take on being a "Sidekick." And when Nazareth sings, "Now you're messing with a song of a b*tch," they could definitely be taking about Batman. I certainly wouldn't want to have to go against him in battle.

I originally made this tape as a birthday present for my brother. He's a huge Batman fan and owns hundreds of the comics.

I hope you enjoy this mix. It can easily fit on to one CD or you can download the mix to play on your iPod or MP3 players. All of the songs blend into each other but they are on their own track so you can skip through songs at your leisure or listen to the mix straight through.

Download Batman: The Mixtape

Lighter or Darker Words

2012-01-24T01:40:00.000-05:00

I found this excellent teaching tip today on the local message board. You need to be a member of my school board to access the site so I thought I would share this tip with you here. It was originally posted by Dr. Megan Cyrisse Parry-Jamieson.

"Hi all -- I've been having good results with word work in my grade 7 class - the first thing they loved I stole from a colleague (Christina Young) -- I hit up Home Depot for the out of style paint chip strips. Each kid got one -- and got to put one word on one of the colours. Then they had to come up with 'lighter' or 'darker' versions of the same word -- they loved it, kept the strips, and I've heard them talking to each other about 'that word is too light, you need a shade darker' -- so it stuck! woo hoo!"

I tried this activity out myself. I really like how it gets the kids brainstorming about different words that mean the same thing. We can introduce the term synonym during this lesson and get the kids using a thesaurus.

I thought I'd come up with words for fight as an example. This is what I came up with.

You can see that at the bottom of the paint strip I used the most tame version of the word fight I could come up with.

Scrimmage is a friendly game or competition.
Scrap is a word we often use to describe a small fight between two people. Sometimes a scrap will break out during a game or a scrimmage.
Match is a more formal word for a game than scrimmage (like a boxing match)
Bout is also used in boxing and we can see that imagery with this word.
Fight is a strong word and you can see that we've been working on way up the strip so that as the colours get darker, the definition of the word does as well.
Brawl means lots of people are involved in the fight.
And finally a Melee is used to describe a fight that is utter chaos and involves a large group of people.

I think if I were going to do this activity with younger students, I would give them a small list of words to choose from. This way they wouldn't be overwhelmed by all of the choices in the thesaurus.

Megan also had something else to share on the message board . . .

The other thing I've discovered are the word scafolding organzers at freeology.com -- I've added several to my website under 'student stuff' and 'daily 5' -- the top 3 are word work specific -- find a word, the definition, several examples, and several non-examples, where they will find it, and how they will connect it

I'm finding it awesome in terms of improving word choice, but it's also really helping for concept retention and vocab comprehension in my rotary science classes -- for kids to see that 'conductor' is something that transfers energy well, NOT the guy driving the train.... helps. Also helps when they make the link between Conductor and Contact -- build in reminders.... my ESL kids are attending to specifics better -- whenever they incorrectly substitute a visually similar but not related word they get a word sheet -- feel free to pull them off my site -- they're free for teacher use etc. from freeology.com

More Teaching Resources

Freeology (Dr. Megan Cyrisse Parry-Jamieson website)
Teaching Tip Tuesday Archive (Silent Cacophony)
The Book Shook (Great site with tons of resources and ideas)

Spotify: A Review

2012-01-23T00:07:00.002-05:00

Image by Dekuwa via Flickr

Many online music players have become available in the last few years, including popular sites such as Pandora and I Heart Radio. With the rise of social-networking sites, some players have been developed for the purpose of listening to and sharing music on these sites. Spotify is one of the leaders of the social-network music players, and it deserves its place near the top.

How it Works

New users must install the player on their personal computers when they sign up. After that, users can sign in through Facebook or through any computer. Your personal music library will be available through the app when you sign in through your home computer, but you'll be limited to Spotify's library if you sign in elsewhere. However, Spotify's library includes over 15 million tracks, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding what you want. The free membership option includes 20 hours of streaming music, but you'll have to pay $4.99 a month if you want to get unlimited music and hear it without advertising. For $9.99 a month, you also get access to an offline mode, mobile access, and exclusive content.

The Pros

Spotify offers an easy way to listen to free music without resorting to illegally downloading it. The service is also a great way to share your musical interests with friends through Facebook or Twitter, which can also help you to discover new music. There are a variety of features, which allow you to organize your music and to discover new favorites. For example, you can create playlists of your favorite artists, find new music by clicking on "related artists" or by browsing "artist radio" channels, and learn about your favorite musicians with biographies. You can also find new music by browsing songs according to their popularity. Searching is easy, and you can find music by artist, song, or album.

The Cons

There are few drawbacks to the service, and those that exist are based more on personal preferences rather than actual problems with the service. For example, though you can connect with friends to share musical tastes and to learn about new music, you can only search for friends through your Facebook connections. You can't browse user profiles on the site. The interface is easy to use and looks quite similar to the iTunes music library interface. The drawback is that it is quite text heavy and does not use many images, such as large logos, album covers, or artist photos. Those who are looking for an intuitive way to discover new artists may be a bit disappointed by the lack of features.

Overall, Spotify is a great service with a wide variety of free, streaming music available. I was able to find all the artists I could think of, even some that were a bit obscure. There were soundtracks and karaoke versions of music, as well. Though the basic service only offers basic features, you can listen to the music you want to hear and share it easily on Facebook or Twitter. The drawbacks of the service are minimal, and users will find a lot of great benefits in the service.

About the author

Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor's degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on scholarships and grants for women and federal grants for graduate students.

Lissa Monet at The Stylus Awards 2011

2012-01-21T00:51:00.000-05:00

Lissa Monet: "How are you guys doing? Here for another interview?"

Chase: "We're doing awesome. Yeah, it was a great interview with you last year. Did you get a chance to hear our International Women's Day show we did earlier this year?"

Lissa Monet: "No, I didn't."

Chase: "You should check it out. We dedicated the entire overnight show to Women in Hip Hop."

Lissa Monet: "It's still up there?"

Chase: "Yeah. You can check out the podcasts and articles. It was really cool. So, you are nominated again this year?"

Lissa Monet: "Yep. I'm up for two awards, Female DJ of the Year, and Mixtape, which DJ P-Plus and I won last night for 'Love Letters and Broken Hearts.'"

Chase: "Congratulations! That's awesome. I remember last year we talked about the Girl DJ category and now you are outside of that as well. That is very cool to see."

Lissa Monet: "Exactly."

Chase: "I mean, it's good we have the Female DJ category, but it's nice to see just "DJ." I'm all for getting rid of the gender terms like actor and actress. Just get rid of them. A person who acts is an actor, you know?"

Lissa Monet: "Absolutely."

Chase: "What do you have to say to any young girls listening right now?"

Lissa Monet: "Just be persistent and consistent. Do what you love, and the passion will reap the rewards for you. It's one of those things where if you do it for all the right reasons, it will come back to you ten-fold."

Chase: "For sure. Good luck with everything tonight for your second nomination and congratulations for the award you got last night."

Lissa Monet: "Thank you very much."

Chase: "It's always great seeing you."

Lissa Monet: "See you next year."

Redefining Masculinity in Hip-Hop Part 2 (Know Your History: Episode 24)

2012-01-19T02:22:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Know Your History. I’m your host Chase March and today we are continuing to explore masculinity in hip-hop culture.You can listen to this episode with the player below, download it for free, or just keep reading.

I hope you were with us last episode as we discussed what it means to be a man in this day and age and how that is reflected in our lyrics and music videos. If you missed that episode, you can go back to read the transcript and download the podcast for free.

We started off this episode of the show with a quote from Jackson Katz. It’s from his documentary “Tough Guise,” which is a clever play on words. He talks about the violence we see in the media and how equating violence with masculinity sets unrealistic standards of what it means to be a man. The title of his film refers to not just guys as men but guise as in a disguise or a costume that we put on and wear. Some of us aren’t even aware that we are wearing this costume. It has been so ingrained in us from birth.

Judith Butler refers to this as performativity. I discussed this in the last episode but basically what it means is that we perform our genders much like the way Katz describes it as wearing a disguise. We often aren’t aware that we are engaged in any kind of a performance. We don’t think much about gender roles at all. It’s time we did though because if we recognize that we are playing a role and it isn’t exactly working, than we can change it.

Tony Porter says, “See collectively, we as men are taught to have less value in women, to view them as property and the objects of men.”

That quote was from Tony Porter’s excellent TED talk and I encourage you to go watch it. We played a few clips from it last episode and you’ll hear from him again later today. He raises a great point there and rap videos clearly show this to be true. Women are often seen as eye candy or sex objects.

Women aren’t shown the respect they deserve in hip-hop culture. Of course, hip-hop isn’t solely to blame for this inherent lack of respect towards women. It can’t be.

But as hip-hop writers, artists, and producers, we do have a lot of power to start shifting towards a culture of respect towards women. It’s about time we started we started taking that responsibility.

How do we make women a subject and not just objects?

We do it by our words, actions, and responses to everything around us. Like Chuck D said, “a man tells his business situation like, ‘We can’t do that. We won’t go there. We can’t. It’s a slap in the face to me and my constituency, my family, where I come from, and all.’ That’s a man.”

I want to play a song from a really amazing rapper. Her name is Eternia and she has been making quality music for years now and has to work really hard to be heard in a music industry that is male dominated. The track is called “Everything.” It was produced by 9^th wonder. Listen to what she has to say and we’ll be back to continue our discussion in this special edition of Know Your History.

That was Eternia and her track called “Everything.” She starts off the song by saying, “I wish I wasn’t a woman, I mean wouldn’t change it now, but imagine if respect was a given.”

I don’t know why respect isn’t a given. I don’t know why we treat women as inferior to men. We do though. I’ve seen it time and time again in this culture we call hip-hop. A lot of people will shoot a female rapper down before even giving her a chance. It’s not right. We have a lot of talent and a lot of voices out there that aren’t being heard.

I listen to a lot of female emcees. One of my favourite currently is Kadyelle. She’s from Australia and when I interviewed her, this is what she had to say, “Considering basic hip-hop culture is about respect and humanitarianism and love and mutual appreciation for each other, and yet when you bring females into the equation, it really brings out the worst in a lot of males in the industry.

It’s a shame that I am constantly being told that if I want to be out there touring and putting out releases that I just have to accept it. It’s the kind of criticism that you get that not a single person will comment on your songs, they’ll comment on the fact that your skirt maybe isn’t short enough, or your top isn’t low-cut enough, or maybe there is another female rapper out there that happens to be skinnier than you or hotter than you. It’s pretty ridiculous.

I don’t know why there’s so much tolerance for that kind of behaviour in hip-hop culture. I don’t know why it exists. It’s a shame and I hope over the next decade or two we see the last of that. It’s a ridiculous, out-dated situation that really needs to end if people want to see more females in the industry be successful.”

That was Kadyelle from an interview I did with her last year. You can find the entire interview at chasemarch.com You can find her music online on her bandcamp page as well. Her name is spelled Kadyelle. Let’s spin something her from right now This is Class A, featuring Kadyelle and the track is called “You Drive.” This is Chase March for Know Your History on DOPEfm and we’ll be right back.

That was “You Drive” by Class A featuring Kadyelle. When I interviewed Kadyelle she told me that women are still seen as second class citizens. At first I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. I knew that there weren’t enough female rap artists in the game though.

Kadyelle explained it to me like this, “It's really hard to be taken seriously. The reality is, you don't even realize how much misogyny there is in the world, and especially in the hip-hop community, until you start putting yourself out there, doing shows and tours. People will basically hate us, just because we're female, no matter how good you are.”

I know that rappers often use language to villianize the feminine. We talked about this a lot in the last episode of Know Your History. We also talked about how rap fans always seem to leave female MCs out of their Top 10 or 20 lists. Some of these rap fans will have one favourite female MC some will go some will completely distance themselves from female MCs. When interviewed for Vlad TV, Sean Price had this to say.

And he’s not the only rap artist or fan to have this view. Kadyelle said that many people will hold female artists to a much lower standard. Many people unfairly assume that women can’t rap or that they can’t rap well. This is ridiculous. Some of my favourite rap acts are female. In fact, my last year’s Top 10 list included 3 female rappers.

Kadyelle: “It’s well past the hour where we need to all put our prejudices behind us. It would be completely unacceptable if these prejudices existed racially. Everyone needs to support the notion that having prejudice against someone’s gender is wrong in society and it’s wrong in music.

I really do think the bar needs to be raised. I think holding females to this lower standard is just silly and detrimental. I think there are so many females out there that are, or could be, as good as any of their male counterparts. It’s time that that got recognized.”

We’ve been talking about redefining masculinity within hip-hop culture. One way for us to do that is to actually start spinning more tunes from the talented women that are continuing to make quality music. We have the female pioneers such as Queen Latifah and MC Lyte that many artists or fans include in their top ten lists but women are still creating quality music and all you to do is to tune into DOPEfm to hear some of it. We spin tracks from female MCs pretty much every week. And since we’re a campus radio show, we only play the music that we like and enjoy.

There are a lot of issues to talk about when we look at gender roles within hip-hop music and culture. I hope this two part episode has helped bring some of them to light. I hope it gets us talking about this in a way that we really haven’t before.

It’s time for us to redefine what it means to be a man in hip-hop music. We can show vulnerability. We can stop villainizing the feminine. We can show our wives, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers in a positive light. We can do a lot more than what we have been doing.

Let’s listen to Tony Porter again,

“I grew up in New York City, between Harlem and the Bronx. Growing up as a boy, we were taught that men had to be tough, had to be strong, had to be courageous, dominating -- no pain, no emotions, with the exception of anger -- and definitely no fear -- that men are in charge, which means women are not; that men lead, and you should just follow and do what we say; that men are superior, women are inferior; that men are strong, women are weak; that women are of less value -- property of men -- and objects, particularly sexual objects. I've later come to know that to be the collective socialization of men, better known as the "man box." See this man box has in it all the ingredients of how we define what it means to be a man. Now I also want to say, without a doubt, there are some wonderful, wonderful, absolutely wonderful things about being a man. But at the same time, there's some stuff that's just straight up twisted. And we really need to begin to challenge, look at it and really get in the process of deconstructing, redefining, what we come to know as manhood.” – Tony Porter

I hope this show will serve as a call to arms for those of us creating hip-hop. Whether you write lyrics, make music videos, write for a blog or a other publication, or whether you are merely just a fan, it’s time to step up and let people know that there is a different way.

Hip-hop historian and writer Kevin Powel had this to say about how women have been portrayed in rap videos.

That’s a great quote about balance. We need to see women portrayed in a positive light in this music. And truthfully we do see that in rap. Unfortunately these messages are few and far between nowadays.

Let’s close off the show today with a song from 2Pac, but let’s not close the dialogue. We need to redefine what it means to be a man, and hip-hop has a great deal of power to help make it a reality.

We’ll be right back. This is 2Pac “Keep Ya Head Up.” And this is Chase March for DOPEfm.

That was 2Pac “Keep Ya Head Up.” Take those lyrics with you. Take them out into the world.

Let’s challenge the notion of what it truly means to be a man.

Let’s stop associating anything we don’t like, or anything we see as inferior, with language associated with the feminine. Let’s be to true to women and real to ourselves as men.

In response to my original article on this topic, Muriel Richards wrote a piece about it on her blog. A Fresh Start. She writes, “We need more people writing about negative and damaging masculinities, and we need people to look at the media they take for granted with open eyes.

She does have one criticism of the article however and before she pointed it out to me, I wasn’t even aware that I was using possessive language. I mentioned “our women” just as 2Pac did in the song we just heard. Muriel writes,”if you're trying to break the problem of women being seen as the sexual property of men, don't use possessives such as “our women.”

I want to play one more passage from Tony Porter’s Ted Talk, “So quickly, I'd like to just say, this is the love of my life, my daughter Jay. The world I envision for her, how do I want men to be acting and behaving? I need you on board. I need you with me. I need you working with me and me working with you on how we raise our sons and teach them to be men -- that it's okay to not be dominating, that it's okay to have feelings and emotions, that it's okay to promote equality, that it's okay to have women who are just friends and that's it, that it's okay to be whole, that my liberation as a man is tied to your liberation as a woman.”

Very powerful words right there. Tony Porter is calling us all to action.

Kevin Powell did the same thing in the documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, “How many of us are willing to step to the plate and say, ‘You know what, this definition of manhood might not been the way to go anymore. We need something different, something new.’

It’s time for hip-hop to redefine what it means to be a man. That responsibility falls to us men.

I hope that my article has inspired you to think about these issues. The next time you hear a rapper call a women a bitch or a ho, you could start a conversation about it instead of silently accepting that this is a part of our culture, because it doesn’t have to be.

Thanks for listening. If you want to find out more, please visit dopefm.ca, the wordisbond.com and my site, Silent Cacophony. This has been Chase March and you better Know Your History.

Download Know Your History: Episode 24 - Redefining Masculinity in Hip-Hop (Part 2)

Music and Movement (Teaching Tip)

2012-01-17T01:10:00.000-05:00

This is brilliant!

Bobby McFerrin takes an audience that was there to simply watch a panel discussion and he has them signing in unison with very little instruction.

I can see how this sort of thing could be useful in the classroom or at a school assembly.

He doesn't have to explain what he is doing. The audience buys into it and they create some music together.

I like how it involves movement and a simple way of conducting. Just by jumping from the left to the right, Bobby McFerrin is playing a virtual xylophone or keyboard. The audience members respond and actually produce the notes he is hitting on the invisible instrument.

Think of how this could be used in a the classroom.

A student could lead the class for the vocal warm-up activity in music.
Use it for ear training and have the students move to illustrate whether the notes you play are moving up or down the scale.
Play a memory challenge game using music and movement.
Split the students into groups of 5 and have them create a simple song pattern by jumping back and forth to sound their specific notes

And to think, I discovered this video by seemingly wasting time on Google+

Click on the link above and check out my profile there. I post lots of teaching related links and will be dropping about half a dozen throughout the day as an extension to the Teaching Tip Tuesday series I run every week here.

Enjoy!

Stealing Time at Work?

2012-01-16T00:20:00.000-05:00

As a society, we are overly obsessed with time. In fact, certain employers have started accusing their workers of "stealing" time.

I think the idea of stealing time is ridiculous. As far as I am concerned there are only two ways to steal time at work. The first one has to do with the time clock, which itself is becoming outdated. Nevertheless, if you are required to clock in and out at work. You need to physically be there to do it. You cannot have someone else punch the clock on your behalf. That is stealing time.

The second way to steal time is by not completing your work. You are there to do a job. If you do not complete your work for the day, and you get paid for basically doing nothing, I think there is a case to be made that you have stolen time.

I think we really need to look at the ways we compensate workers for the amount of work they do. I don't think time should be the most important factor. I think the quality of work should speak for itself. As such, I think it is time we threw away the time clock.

Of course, as teachers, we can't really do that. We need to be at school and on the job before the students arrive, all day while they are there, and a few moments afterwards to complete the daily tasks. We are pretty much on the job at all times.

There are several other jobs I can think of that fall into the same category. Jobs where you need to be there to do the work.

That being said, I don't physically need to work every minute of the day. I can take a ten minute break while the students are outside at recess to check my email and Twitter. I can go online during my lunch as well. That is not stealing time.

I always put in a good effort at work. In the past, I have done some jobs where the measure of a job well done was a number. I needed to make a certain number of parts, write a specific report, load an entire aisle of merchandise. And oftentimes I would get this work done so quickly and efficiently that the employer had to drum up new stuff for me to do.

My question was always, why?

If I finished the work, couldn't I just get paid for it and go home? Why did I have to sit around waiting for another assignment or for the clock to hit a certain hour? It didn't seem right.

If we change our perceptions about what work is, and the true value behind it, then we can throw out the time clocks and we will no longer worry about stolen time.

Now's your turn.

What do you have to say on the topic of stealing time?

Please leave a comment.

We All Need Rules (Just Don't Let the Kids Pick Them)

2012-01-14T00:16:00.000-05:00

Every school seems to have its own rules, procedures, and routines. There are subtle differences among the schools but they pretty much all have the same things in common.

We expect our students to keep their hands to themselves and to be respectful.

Some schools will spell these rules out and have them posted in the front hall. In other schools the rules are implied and each classroom has its own set of rules posted.

I expect my students to behave in a certain way, so I don't have a set of rules posted in my room. I have a list of expectations. These expectations are clear and succinct and read as follows . . .

“In this class, we. . .

Respect – each other, property, rules

Cooperate

Do Our Work!

Do Our Best!”

I like how those rules are simple to understand and remember. They pretty much cover every action and move beyond the hands off, be respectful policy seen in most schools. They illustrate the need to cooperate, put it a solid effort, and to get the work done in the classroom.

I have seen school rules written in complete sentences before such as this brief list. . .

"Our rules are fair and reasonable. We ALL have to follow them. They are posted for all to see.

We will use respectful actions and words.

We will keep our hands to ourselves and respect the property, belongings, and feelings of others.

We will be responsible participants at school.

Our rules are supported by the principal, vice-principal, staff, and students."

Once again, another great set of rules. I like how this one has a rule that pretty much shows bullying is not to be tolerated.

Some schools are now developing what they call "The Big Five" and drafting these new rules with help from the students. I really don't think this is a good idea, and I'll tell you why.

You don't get to choose the rules anywhere else in life. I can't make up my own rules when I'm driving on the highway. I have to accept the rules when I step on the soccer field and play in a house league. I can think of many other examples to illustrate this point.

Educators know what rules should be enforced and ultimately have the best interests of the children in mind.

Our students are well aware of how they should behave in school but they might not be the best ones to draft up the rules. We could end up with something as extreme as Lord of the Flies or we could end up with a list of privileges and entitlements that allow our students to engage in activities that take away from the reason they are there - to learn.

Nonetheless, it's a good idea to open up a discussion about rules, their importance, and why each schools needs their own set of rules.

Just leave the final drafting of those rules to the teachers and the principal.

Please!

What are your thoughts?

Does your school have a "Big Five?"

Does it work?

What would you change?

Please leave a comment below and add to the discussion.

Redefining Masculinity in Hip-Hop (Know Your History Podcast)

2012-01-12T00:08:00.001-05:00

“I sometimes feel bad for criticizing hip-hop. But, I guess, what I’m trying to do is get us men, to just take a hard look at ourselves.” – Byron Hurt

“The definition of manhood might not been the way to go anymore. We need something different, something new.” – Kevin Powell

From childhood we are socialized to believe in a binary gender system, men and women. Each with attached expectations for dress, behaviour and sexuality. For example, men are taught that visible emotions are not acceptable. We are told not to cry, even if we legitimately hurt ourselves. Male role models such as parents, teachers, or coaches will tell us to shake it off, get up and move on. We get the message that we need to be tough and that showing weakness is a bad thing.

These behaviors are often reinforced with verbal taunts. You throw like a girl. You run like a girl. You scream like a girl.

Those phrases that paint the feminine as something undesirable are doing a lot more than simply teasing young boys.

As babies, we are often adorned in blue as opposed to pink which is reserved only for females. We use language to describe things as feminine or masculine.

We don’t think much about what it means to be identified by our gender. Oftentimes we don’t think at all about this. Some people can go their whole lives without ever thinking about their gender role.

J.L. Austin, a Brittish philosopher, believed that language was not passive, that it could actually shape our reality. Thus, in some situations, we are not just saying something, we are performing a specific action.

Judith Butler, a feminist theorist and author, looks at how we talk, act, and dress. Her theories of performativity illustrates how “gender is thus, a construction that regularly conceals its genesis, the tacit collective agreement to perform, produce, and sustain discrete and polar genders as culture fictions.

In other words, we behave in certain ways and continue to act in those ways to reinforce this unwritten definition of our genders. What it means to be a man is agreed upon by most of us who carry out this fiction of manhood in all that we say and do.

This fiction of manhood sets up an “artificial binary relation between the sexes.” And hip-hop reinforces this binary with its over the top imagery. We show ourselves to be tough with our lyrical content, or style of dress, and the way we present ourselves as gangsta or thug.

I was influenced by the golden era of hip-hop. Most rap groups or artists in the early to mid 1990s did not dance or even smile to make themselves look tougher. To this day, I do the same thing.

It’s almost as if we create this good vs evil universe where anything even remotely considered to be feminine is bad.

Hello, my name is Chase March and welcome to a special edition of Know Your History. This episode was born from an article I wrote for the The Word is Bond and their Food 4 Thought column. You can download it for free, stream it with the player below, or continue reading.

For the next half hour, we will be taking a close look at ourselves – men in hip-hop music and culture. We will look at the roles we play as men in this music and how they are flawed and ultimately harmful. It’s time for us to take up arms and redefine what it means to be a man.

Let’s start off with a quotation from Ted Porter. He gave a very inspirational Ted Talk that I encourage all of you to go and watch. It’s well worth ten minutes of your time. This is a little portion of what he had to say . . .

“Now I also want to say, without a doubt, there are some wonderful, wonderful, absolutely wonderful things about being a man. But at the same time, there's some stuff that's just straight up twisted. And we really need to begin to challenge, look at it, and really get in the process of deconstructing, redefining, what we come to know as manhood.”

That’s right. We have it twisted. Things aren’t right with the way we portray ourselves in this culture. And if we look at what our performance really does, we can see that it reinforces traditional conceptions of gender.

Byron Hurt illustrated this tendency in hip-hop with this brilliant metaphor, “We’re like in this box. And in order to be in that box, you have to be strong. you have to be tough, and you have to have a lot of girls. You gotta have money, you gotta be a player or a pimp, you gotta be in control. You have to dominate other men, ya know, other people.

Ya know, if you’re not any of those things, people call you soft or weak, or a pussy, or a chump, or a faggot. And nobody wants to be any of those things. So everybody stays inside the box.”

That is a great way to define performativity. We want to show that we are tough, that we are real men. Anything outside of that prison scares us. So we stay within it and we don’t even think about how we are performing this fiction of manhood. A fiction that has us displaying our heterosexuality in more blatant.

It might be easier to see this in rap songs since the rapper is usually male and usually reciting rhymes from the point of view of a stereotypical male. This can probably be traced back to the very roots of this music.

Hip-hop started with the DJ. The DJ would play records to get people dancing and sometimes would get on the microphone to say a quick rhyme to hype up the crowd. These rhymes were often an exercise in bragging and it was all in fun. At least that was the context and it still is for a lot of people.

I have often heard the kids calling anything they don’t like as gay. This is once again a reinforcement of the compulsory heterosexuality that we as a society seem very quick to uphold and defend. But not all of us feel this way. We can stand up and say something when we hear the gay insult.

In fact, MC Lars did just that with his track “Everyone’s a Little Bit Gay.” I’d like to play that song for you right now. We’ll be back to continue looking critically at what it means to be a man in this society and in hip-hop culture. Stay tuned.

MC Lars had a lot to say in that song. He said things that you don’t normally hear in hip-hop. You’d be hard pressed to hear another rapper defending homo-sexuality on a track. In fact, most rappers are so scared of saying anything even remotely considered to homosexual. They want to make sure their image is on par with that of the hyper-masculine tough guy.

But MC Lars let us know that staying inside the box isn’t a good thing. He raps, “they ban gay marriage they say it's weird /

But tradition comes from habit and tradition comes from fear.”

So, if this hyper-masculine posturing that we so often participate in is simply a habit, then it is a habit that we can break. We first need to see it though. We need to see how it is harmful, and how we can help change it.

I do that by speaking up whenever I hear a gay slur in the classroom or on the playground. Sometimes speaking up is not enough. A conversation has to follow.

It’s easier to see the problem behind gay slurs if you replace the word gay in those slurs with another word. Just for effect, I will sometimes repeat the offensive phrase with the name of the person who said it. “That would be me like saying, ‘That’s so Michael’ for everything I thought was stupid. That usually does this trick.

The words we use have power. We often don’t stop to consider that. We let words fly without thinking about what they really mean, and how they might be offensive to others.

We need to stop using language that divides us. We cannot continue to villainize everything outside of the hyper-masculine identity we’re accustomed to in hip-hop.

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson put it this way, “The greatest insult that a man might imagine for another man is to assume that he’s less than a man and to assign him the very derogatory terms that one usually associates with women.

The insult is double. It’s both an assault on women, but it’s also a reinforcement of a negative and malicious form of masculine identity.”

I never thought much about my masculine identity before. I don’t think that is something we often do. It’s definitely not something we do often in hip-hop music. In fact, other than the MC Lars song we just played, I can only think of one other song off the top of my head that deals with how we use language to construct and reinforce what we think it means to be a man.

Think of how many times you’ve heard a derogatory term being aimed at a woman in this music. We are quick to call them bitches or hos in our lyrics. This shows an inherent disrepect for women that we shouldn’t stand for any more.

It’s high time that we stop dividing the genders and can come together in unity.

That was Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” She starts off by saying, “Instinct leads me to another flow / every time I hear a brother call a girl a bitch or a hoe / Trying to make a sister feel low / You know all of that gots to go.”

That song came out in 1994 and I remember being shocked to hear the word “bitch” not being censored out. It made me take notice of the video and the message.

So, we can see that rappers do call attention to our use of language and the construction of gender. Unfortunately that is not the dominant message we get with this culture we call hip-hop.

When I interviewed Eternia, she put it this way, “I do think that in general there’s really only one or two voices in hip-hop, two dominate kind of narratives. And I think that hip-hop should represent every slice of life, every slice of culture, and every slice of the world globally, not just America. So I think that’s one thing in which my culture, hip-hop, lacks, is having a voice for everybody not just for certain demographics.”

That dominate voice is a masculine one that purports a compulsory heterosexuality. A male dominated form of music that pushes aside anything other than the tough, powerful male figure.

Most rap fans will be able to name their Top 20 MCs. Go ahead and ask a rap fan next chance you get. I bet that they will not include one female artist in that list. If that’s the case, ask them to name their Top 5 female rappers. I’ll bet some will be hard pressed to name 5. And if they do name 5, they will probably just name the handful of female artists who have managed to make any sort of mark in hip-hop culture, names like Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Lauryn Hill, Salt N Pepa, and most recently Nicki Minaj.

Why is it so hard for female artists to break through?

It’s partly due to the artificial binary we often see in Western culture. No matter how far we have come in the past hundred years or so, women are still seen as inferior or less than men.

Eternia has been making quality music for nearly 15 years. She still has to prove herself daily to the hip-hop audience in order to be taken seriously.

“It would be much easier to hit the game being faceless and genderless and let people listen to the music and all of a sudden become fans, and then an album in be like, ‘Ha-ha, I’m a chick and you didn’t know. I tricked you! ‘cause I bet they’d listen to it and like it.’ That’s all I have to say.”

Is that even possible?

Well, first we’d have to get past the language we use on a daily basis that places masculine on the side of right and feminine on the side of wrong. Women are identified with their gender and their sexualized features. They are often treated as objects in music videos, song lyrics, and in real life situations.

We have a lot of power in this culture and I think we don’t take that seriously enough. We have the power to make music videos such as Shad’s “Keep Shining,” videos that show women are important and valued.

That was Shad. He has a lot to say in that song, and it just goes to show the power we have in this culture. He actually criticizes the dominant narrative we see in rap music. He suggests that we can show a different side by honouring and respecting women. We shouldn’t be ashamed of showing our feelings and to put it in our lyrics.

He says, “It’s funny how words like, ‘consciousness’ and ‘positive music’ can somehow start to feel hollow, it’s become synonymous with polishing soft collagen lips.”

That lyric illustrates how we how we use language to maintain the artificial binary between the genders. We do it all the time without even thinking about it. Hip-hop is especially guilty of using feminine terms or language to describe things we see as undesirable. We really need to stop doing that as a culture.

Shad also tackles the lack of female artists within hip-hop. He says,

And I’ve been known to talk about women

on a track or two

I talk to women, I just can’t talk for women

That’s for you

We need women for that

More women in rap

Even tracks like Kwali’s Four Women

That’s still only half the view of the world

There’s no girls rappin’ so we’re only hearin’ half the truth

What we have to lose? Too much

Half our youth aren’t represented, the better halves of dudes”

I love that verse. He readily admits that things need to change within this music. That we need to hear from women more frequently in this music. I whole heartedly agree. I listen to female rappers a lot. We play female MCs every week here on DOPEfm. I am regularly bumping music in my car or my MP3 player by Eternia, Kadyelle, Dessa, Kool Kyrs, and Nilla, among others.

We will continue this discussion in next episode of Know Your History. We’ve only just scratched the surface here. It really is time to redefine what it means to be a man in hip-hop music and culture. And that responsibility falls to us men.

I hope this show has inspired you to think about these issues. The next time you hear a rapper call a women a bitch or a ho, you could start a conversation about it instead of silently accepting that this is a part of our culture, because it doesn’t have to be.

Let’s change the perception of masculinity in hip-hop. Let’s do it by sharing this episode, by sharing the original article I contributed toThe Word is Bond dot com, by having discussions about it on our radio shows, or blogs, classrooms, street corners, and everywhere people talk about rap music or hip-hop culture.

Thanks for listening. This has been Chase March and you better Know Your History.

Download Know Your History: Episode 23 - Redefining Masculinity

An Online Jukebox for Your Classroom

2012-01-10T01:13:00.000-05:00

Here's a Teaching Tip that can really help supply teachersout. It's tough going into a new classroom or a new school all the time.Sometimes, having a little reward for the students can really help to keep themon task and the classroom under control.

In the past, I have used YouTube as an online DJ. It's easyto find songs and you can play pretty much anything you'd like to hear. Theproblem with doing this in the classroom is that some of the videos are not appropriate for school. You also have to deal with intrusive ads, andthe fact that many students simply cannot turn themselves away from the screen.They will watch the videos simply because they are on. They will also argue about what songs to play next.

I found a perfect alternative, Grooveshark.

Grooveshark is an online music streaming service that iscompletely free. It lets you build and save playlists and I have found thatthis is a great way to give every student in your class the chance to hearsomething they like.

These playlists give the students the opportunity to program a virtual radio station. Once they have constructed the setlist, they can click play and walk away. The students don't have to worry about what song comes on next, there is no distracting video on the screen, they can then get back to work.

You can see the setlist on the screen and the songs that are in queue at the bottom of the screen.

Regular classroom teachers could make this a weeklyclassroom job. You could have one student be the DJ of the week. I would have arequest list where students could write down songs they'd like to hear. The DJwould have to play some requests but would have the flexibility to build thesetlist however they saw fit. I would also caution then to only include songsthat were appropriate for school (no swearing or offensive lyrics)

If you started this DJ job off at the start of the year, youwould have enough time for every student in the class to be the DJ of the week.

You could also challenge them to create themed setlists. Forexample, you could have them make a mix about rainy days. They could includesongs like “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, “Only Happy When it Rains” byGarbage, and “Singing in the Rain” by Gene Kelly.

So try out Grooveshark, play some music for your class, andget them involved in the music selection process.

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Archive (over 120 useful tips, tricks, and lessons)
5 Steps to Getting Supply Teacher Jobs (sure-fire ways to get your phone ringing for jobs)
How a Gluestick Works (sounds simple, doesn't it? Wait till you get the kids to explain it scientifically)

Star Trek: Year 4 - Finally Comes to Life

2012-01-09T00:40:00.001-05:00

I am a huge Star Trek fan. I have been ever since my dad introduced me to it when I was a kid. There was just something about the show that spoke to me.

There really is a magical quality to Star Trek, which is how it has remained alive for close to 50 years now.

I must say that I have always preferred the original series over any of the other incarnations of the show. There was just something about ship itself and its bridge crew. They had a natural chemistry that made you look forward to each and every new episode.

Of course, I wasn't around for the original airing of this remarkable series. But I was there for the reruns on the weekend. My dad and I would sit down and watch those shows. Me, for the first time, my dad for the twentieth. And somehow, it never got old. It still hasn't.

As a teenager, I loved the films. They couldn't come out fast enough for me. I needed new Star Trek adventures and turned towards novels and comic books for my fix.

I have read quite a few Star Trek adventures over the last twenty years and I must say that I am really enjoying this new series from IDW that effectively tells the fourth year of the Enterprise's five year mission.

As many of you know, Star Trek only survived for three seasons in its original run. That leaves the writers with two seasons of Star Trek to tell. Plus, knowing how the movies advanced the storyline of the Star Trek Universe, how further television shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, and Enterprise all contributed to Star Trek lore, gives the writers of this comic book a pretty good blueprint for where the story may have gone had Star Trek had a fourth season on television.

I love how this comic book series has focused on the cold war between the Federation and the Romulans. It has also fleshed out the story of the Klingon Empire and given us sequels to some of the great episodes from Seasons 2 and 3.

If you are a fan of the original series, you will love what is being done with the comics right now. That is why I am adding it to my Recommended Reads section of this blog.

So go out there and explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldy go where no one has gone before.

More Trek Posts

Some Trek is Better than No Trek (my review of the movie reboot)
Best Gift I Gave This Year (I bought my dad a season on DVD and got a great deal on it)
Comics Meme (find out more about my collection)
Star Trek: TNG Didn't Live Up to Its Potential (how the comics were better than the series, kind of)

A Reality Where Bruce Willis isn't Bruce Willis

2012-01-06T00:02:00.000-05:00

I came across this blog post from Dan Wineman and thought that it was a pretty interesting observation.

I then saw the film Cop Out and it dealt with this very issue. (Spoiler Alert)

There's an interrogation scene in the film that is absoultely hilarious.

Tracey Morgan plays a police officer with a flair for the dramatic. He clearly doesn't know how to interrogate a suspect and just spouts dialogue from movies and television shows that he has seen.

From behind the one way mirror, his partner, played by Bruce Willis, looks on at the spectacle. He quickly identifies every movie Morgan quotes from during the interrogation. He names close to a dozen different movies. He gets stumped when Morgan quotes a famous line from Die Hard.

Bruce Willis then says, "I've never seen that movie."

So in the fictional universe that is Cop Out, the Die Hard movie franchise exists. And this particluar police officer, who seems to know every single police movie, hasn't seen it.

As Dan wrote in the above post, "So either Bruce Willis doesn’t exist in the world the movie takes place in, or he does exist but he looks like someone else?"

But if Bruce Willis looks like someone else in this movie, how come he hasn't seen Die Hard? Who hasn't seen that movie. It's awesome!

Chasing Content - January 2011

2012-01-04T00:54:00.000-05:00

It's time to click links, dust off some old posts, and explore what Silent Cacophony had to offer us last year at this time.

You can read all of the posts from last January . . .

or just these personal favourites.

Know Your History: Season 1 - It's hard to believe that this year I will be launching the third season of this monthly radio show. If you missed the podcasts of Season 1, you can download them all here in one easy zipped folder.

A Proud Goofy Foot - As a kid, I taught myself how to skateboard and it felt more natural for me to ride goofy foot. I'm not the best skater in the world, but I enjoy it, and am proud to be a goofy foot rider.

The What-If Activity - Here's a good activity for you to try with your students. It is one of over a hundred such ideas you can find here every week for Teaching Tip Tuesday.

The Promise - I believe in soulmates. I wrote about it after watching (500) Days of Summer last year. It was refreshing to reread just now. I just wonder about when you can actually "know" that you've found "the one." Does it have to be immediate? Or can it take a lot longer than that?

To Call or Not to Call - I was driving to work last winter and I noticed a car in the ditch. I thought about calling the police or the radio station to report it, but I didn't. I wasn't sure that was the right decision. What do you think?

Thanks for Chasing Content with me!

Skillz 2011 Rap Up

2012-01-03T09:34:00.001-05:00

I look forward to this every single year. Skillz is brilliant at taking the year that was and retelling it in a rhyme for his annual Rap Up tracks.

This is his take on 2011.

Enjoy!

No Resolutions - Set Some Goals Instead

2012-01-01T01:47:00.000-05:00

I don't like using the start of the calendar year to make resolutions. I never have. That is why I won't be making any New Year's Resolutions.

Unlike Calvin in the comic strip here, I don't think I'm perfect. There are a few things that I could improve upon. That is why I've decided to set some New Year's Goals instead.

By writing these goals down and sharing them with you here, I am committed to making these things happen. I also have you to help keep my accountable. It's a little extra motivation and I thank you for your support.

So here we go. In 2012, I will . . .

1) Release Know Your History episodes on time

I tag my show "your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge" and this year I want to make sure that I don't fall behind on that promise. The episodes usually make it to air in the month they were intended but I often don't get the transcript up for the blog in a timely manner. And sometimes I do get a little behind on the show.

This year, I resolve to change that. I plan on having the episodes ready for the 1st Saturday of the month. That is when you can expect to hear them on DOPEfm. I will have the podcast and transcripts up on the blog by the 15th.

2) Do an artist interview every month

This year, I am joining the team over at The Word is Bond and will be launching their brand new podcast. This will be done in conjunction with DOPEfm. I'm very excited to be on board and start this new partnership between our radio show and their excellent hip-hop website. I've committed to doing two half-hour podcasts each month. The first Saturday of each month will feature the Know Your History episode and the third Saturday of every month will see an artist interview or discussion. These segments will run on DOPEfm and then will be podcasted the following day.

3) Polish and Perfect my YA Novel and try to get it published

My original goal when starting this blog was to become a published author by 2012. I finally feel that I am ready to start the query process. I will need to sharpen up my novel and work on writing the query letter. I might not get published this year but I will start the journey.

4) Write a novel

I would like to write another novel this year. Perhaps as part of NaNoWriMo again.

5) Write a screenplay

Script Frenzy in April is always a lot of fun. I actually enjoy it more than NaNoWriMo so I plan on participating again this April.

6) Monthly Mixtapes

I really enjoyed all the mixtapes I made last year. You didn't get to hear all of them. I made one as a wedding present and it was quite personal. I also made a few for my girlfriend that I decided not to share. But the ones I did post were pretty well received. Making a new mixtape every month might be too ambitious though. Perhaps I could make one every other month.

7) Keep Fit

I will start trail running again in the spring and I plan on finding new places to bring my camera for the Photographic Tour section of this blog. I will continue to skateboard as well.

8) Write an eBook

I've been thinking about this one for a while. I think it would be a good idea to write one for teachers. Hopefully I could make a few bucks in the process and finally pay off my student loans. Wouldn't that be nice?

9) Read a lot

I want to create a digital bookshelf of every thing I read this year. I get a lot of material from the library so I don't have a bookshelf to display what I've read anywhere. When a book really strikes a chord with me, I write about it and include it in the Recommended Reads section. But I think it would be really cool to keep a record of everything I read this year, good, bad, or mediocre.

More?

It sounds like a lot, doesn't it. I know there are probably a few other things that will come up as well.

So far, I've been doing interviews and extra segments for DOPEfm whenever I've had the opportunity. Committing to doing a bi-weekly podcast will be a lot more work but I am up for the challenge and think the schedule might actually help.

I have a lot that I'd like to accomplish this year.

What about you?

Resolutions? Goals? Or Both?

Or do you want to tell me I'm crazy for trying to do so much this year?

Please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.

Top 11 Albums of 2011

2011-12-30T00:04:00.000-05:00

I started this tradition two years ago when I wrote the post Top 9 albums of '09 and continued it last year with the Top 10 Albums of 2010. So I guess I need to compile the Top 11 Albums of 2011.

The problem is that I listened to a lot of mix tapes and podcasts this past year. I also continued to bump my favourite albums from last year. So I really didn't listen to as many new albums as I normally would have. At first I wasn't sure I'd be able to compile a list of eleven albums, but I did it (with one little cheat)

Here are my Top 11 Albums of 2011.

11. Sa Roc - Journey of the Starseed

This was released at the end of December in 2010 but I only discovered it last week while randomly using Bandcamp as a jukebox. It's been in heavy rotation since I got it. The beats are nice and she's got a great flow. It's a conscious hip-hop record that is worth your time.

10. Muneshine and Vinyl Frontiers - Larger Than Life

Muneshine has really stepped up his game. He's always been nice on the boards but he has proven time and time again in the past few years that he can rock the mic with the best of them. This is a great collaborative project between him and the production team, Vinyl Frontiers. I so love that name.

9. Evidence - Cats and Dogs

Evidence always laces us with hard hitting beats and intelligent rhymes. He never fails to disappoint. This album has been in constant rotation this year.

8. The Roots - Undun

The Roots are one of the most consistent acts hip-hop has ever seen. They constantly up their game and hit us with quality music. They made this list two years in a row now. Nice!

7. OK Go - OK go

I'm cheating a bit on this one. It came out nearly ten years ago. I knew of the group and really enjoy some of their ground breaking and innovative music videos but I'd never checked out any of their albums. That changed this spring after my girlfriend and I watched all of those videos online one night. We then decided we needed to get their album. I don't know why I hadn't picked it up prior to this. It really is great.

6. Common - The Dreamer / The Believer

We've been waiting for this record for a while. Common is back with producer and friend No I.D. and together they've crafted a great album. He also wrote a memoir this year. In between those two projects, The Internet was abuzz with tribute mixes, remix compilations, and a few leaked tracks. Common didn't disappoint. This was his year.

5. Torae - For the Record

I love Torae when he comes smooth. I wasn't overly impressed with Double Barrel last year, but this record hearkens back to his classic mixtape Daily Conversation. The beats suit him better here and his delivery is sharp. Love this record!

4. Avril Lavigne - Goodbye Lullaby

If you only heard the single "What the Hell," you really missed out on a great album. That single doesn't reflect the album at all. It is a more mature sounding record full of heart-felt ballads. It's a bit of a departure from the dancier pop music of the day.

3. Kadyelle and Kiel - One Nighter E.P.

I so love Kadyelle. I was hoping we'd have her new album this year. Instead we had this dope E.P. that I had in constant rotation. It was my most played record of the year.

2. M.O.P and Snowgoons - Sparta

This is classic M.O.P. Hard hitting beats and hard hitting rhymes. It's a perfect length as well. Some critics think it was too short at only ten tracks long. But this album really works. I wouldn't change a thing about it.

1. Hassaan Mackey and Apollo Brown - Daily Bread

This is classic East Coast hip-hop that reflects back to the Golden Age. Apollo Brown delivers the classic boom-bap landscape he's known for as Hassaan Mackey delivers smooth rhymes and dope narratives. There really wasn't any contest here as to which album deserved the top spot this year. Amazing record!

Top 11 Albums of 2011 by Chase March on Grooveshark

George Stroumboulopoulos on the Red Carpet

2011-12-28T00:17:00.000-05:00

George Stroumboulopoulos came through The Red Carpet of the Stylus Awards just as the organizers were shutting it down.

He was very popular and there were about four media outlets that all wanted to grab a quick interview with him.

The organizers rushed him through the line right passed us. I made eye contact with George and he motioned to me that he'd come back to talk.

He was being pushed along in such a hurry that I was sure he was just being polite and that I'd missed the interview.

He did three quick interviews and wouldn't let the organizers push him along any further. He turned around and came back to us. All the while, one of the organizers stood behind him and motioned for me to make it quick.

George: "What's happening?"

Chase: "I'm good. Chase March from DOPEfm. I'm a huge fan, man. Ever since you were a VJ on Much Music."

George: "That feels like a life time ago, man."

Chase: "We're a hip-hop show from Hamilton."

George: "Very cool! From The Hammer, I love it!"

Chase: "What's it feel like to be at the Stylus DJ Awards?"

George: "I'm happy to be here. There are a lot of talented people here. We've been doing a lot of this stuff on our show, having different DJs play their thing. I like being around it."

Chase: "What DJs are you looking forward to seeing tonight?"

George: "M-Rock. I love M-Rock. He was just killing it the other night I saw him play. They're all good though."

Chase: "I love how you've been supporting the female deejays."

George: "You have to. If you have the opportunity to play stuff, then you should play stuff."

Chase: "One of the coolest Canadians I know."

George: "You're very kind."

Chase: "Keep doing your thing. Peace."

And with that, he was gone, the doors were closed, and the Stylus Award Show officially began.

Personification in Rap (KYH Episode 22)

2011-12-27T04:42:00.000-05:00

Hip-hop has the power to make things come alive. Whether itis due to the process of storytelling, the persuasive message behind the song,or through an infectious rhythm or hook. Hip-hop has power. Of course, that isone of the reasons we celebrate it each and every month on this segment ofDOPEfm, we call Know Your History.

My name is Chase March and I’ll be with you for the nexthalf hour as we explore personification in hip-hop. You can download the podcast of the show for free, stream it with the player below, or continue reading.

When you think about wherehip-hop cam from, it might be surprising to hear that rap music has evenemployed this literary device. However, rap has grown and developed over itslong history. It may have started out with simple, pithy rhymes, but it was notcontent to stay there.

Certain artists have pushed the boundaries of what this artform is capable of, and in so doing, have changed the entire culture. There’sno better way to start our discussion today than with this song that reallychanged the face of hip-hop. It came out in 1994 and immediately took hold ofthe hip-hop audience. It sparked a lot of discussion, a few answer records, andkicked off the idea of concept songs in hip-hop.

This is “I Used to Love H.E.R.” by Common Sense. Listen tothis brilliant track and we’ll be back to discuss it in detail.

That was from the album “Resurrection” that was released in1994. It was Common’s second album and while he made a little bit of noise withhis first release, it was this song and album that made him a star.

A band fought him over the name “Common Sense” so he droppedthe “Sense” part of his moniker and became “Common.” Strangely enough, thisshortened name really works for him. He’s a great lyricist and artist but he isalso very close to the regular people. In that sense, he is a common man.

The track we just played was anything but common, however.It’s hip-hop’s first example of a concept song. When listening to the song, weassume that he is talking about a lady. Everything in the song leads us tobelieve that. It’s one of those songs that upon hearing the ending, youimmediately want to hear it again to see exactly what he has done with thelyrics. Of course, I’m not going to do that right now. That is what rewind isfor. If you’re listening to this on the radio, go find the track yourself tolisten to it again, or check out our podcast on DOPEfm.ca.

That song was produced by NO I.D, by the way, a dopeproducer who has crafted quite a few hip-hop classics. Common starts off thesong by saying, “I met this girl when I was ten years old. And what I lovedmost, she had so much soul. She was old school when I was just a shorty. Neverknew throughout my life she would be there for me.”

He talks about how this girl grew up and how a few thingsled her astray. It’s a familiar tale that’s been told in books and movies,although Common really flips it by letting us know that he hasn’t been talkingabout a girl at all. Instead, he’s been talking about hip-hop.

Common personified the culture of this music as a woman, andin so doing, charted brand new territory for this art form. Prior to this song,the speaker in the poetry we had always heard in rap music, was the rapperhimself. Now, all bets were off. Rappers could go into character, they couldrap from different perspectives, they didn’t always have to stand behind thepersona of the rap icon or superstar MC. This song, literally, took hip-hop ina brand new direction.

Organized Konfusion ran with that concept in their song“Stray Bullet” later that same year. Let’s drop that song right now and comeback to talk about it. This is Know Your History: Episode 22 – Things ComeAlive: Personification in Hip-Hop. This is your host Chase March and this isthe group that introduced the world to Pharoah Monche. This is OrganziedKonfusion’s “Stray Bullet” and be forewarned, it tells the graphic tale fromthe perspective of a stray bullet.

That was “Stray Bullet” from Organized Konfusion’s 1994album “Stress: The Extinction Agenda.” It’s the first story rhyme withinhip-hop to be told from the perspective of a bullet. Since this iconic song,this concept has been done to death (pardon the pun.)

That song gets rather graphic. The bullet kills a kid at aplayground and the bloodshed continues with a lot of innocent life lost.Hopefully this song makes people think twice before shooting a gun off near aplayground or a busy crowd on a street. It’s a shame that we have to deal withgun violence like this at all.

This concept was done again by Nas a few years later in his1996 release “It Was Written.” Andwhile it’s true that this song, “I Gave You Power” probably owes its entireexistence to the first two songs we played today, it’s hard not to be blownaway by the story Nas weaves in this tale.

This is “I Gave You Power” by Nas. We’ll be back to discusshow he uses personification in this song to tell a great story and deliver apowerful message. We’ll be back with more Know Your History.

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. That’s what theysay anyway, and that’s what Nas illustrates in the story we just heard. The gunhad no choice in the matter. He was used in ways that a gun should never beused. Nas says that himself with the lyric, “I’ve seen some cold nights andbloody days. They grab me, bullets spray. They use me wrong, so I sing thissong to this day.”

At the end of the song, the gun fights back and jams at acritical moment so he doesn’t have to take any more lives. He is actually happywhen his owner is shot dead because he thinks his days of being used to killpeople are over. He has a brief celebration until someone comes by and pickshim up. That’s the story of a gun and Nas paint s powerful tale with the song“I Gave You Power.”

Of course, personification in hip-hop can go beyond womanand guns. In the next song, the object that gets personified is ignorance.Ignorance is a villain in this tale that plays out like a comic book. It isJeru the Damaja’s “You Can’t Stop the Prophet.” I really love this song.

Check it out and we’ll be back to explore how hip-hop usingpersonification to craft brilliant concept songs such as this one.

That was the first time I ever heard a comic book beingplayed out over the radio waves. Jeru the Damaja gives us an origin tale alongwith an arch nemesis. “One day I struck by knowledge of self. It gave mesuper-scientifical powers. Now I run through the ghetto, battling my archnemesis Mr. Ignorance.”

I love how Jeru has constructed a story rhyme that basicallymakes him a super-hero. And he isn’t battling an ego-maniac. The evil that hefights is real, even though the song is based around a high concept. The enemyis persuasive and attacks everyone. The song ends in a cliffhanger, much likethe old Batman television series. “Will the Prophet be able to get out of thisjam?”

It symbolizes the daily battle we all have againstignorance. It lets us know how important it is to learn as much as we can aboutourselves, our situation, and our society.

Hip-hop has used personification to deliver some greatstories and political messages all at the same time. The songs we’ve playedtoday are the best example I can think of. XXL has compiled a list of the Top25 Personified Rap Songs and you can check it out if you want to find out more.I would have trimmed the list down a little. I don’t think all 25 of thosesongs deserve that shine.

A few songs that I think use personification well areEminem’s “25 to Life” from his album “Recovery.” That song is a Dear Johnletter to hip-hop where he considers divorcing the music. Ultimately he comesto realize that hip-hop is so ingrained into who he is that he could neverreally leave it alone. It’s like what they say about women. Can’t live with‘em, can’t leave ‘em alone.

I also really like Masta Ace’s “Hold You” featuring Jean Grae.This track deals with Masta Ace’s relationship with hip-hop, and in particular,with the microphone. Papoose goes undercover to police hip-hop in his track“Sharades.” Krs-One’s “I Can’t Wake Up” is an interesting tale where KRS-Onedreams that he is a blunt and is being passed around by a who’s who of hip-hopcelebrities.

And then of course, there is Mobb Deep’s “Drink Away thePain” where they focus their lyrics on alcohol dependence, while Q-tip uses hisverse to tackle to subject of some people’s obsession with name brand clothing.

Those are a few of my favourites.

It’s hard to believe that hip-hop went nearly twenty yearsbefore employing personification. Common changed the game forever in 1994.Since then we’ve had nearly twenty years of records and I’m sure we’ll haveplenty more. We’ll probably have someone else come out with a game changingsong as well.

Thanksfor listening. This is Chase March and you better Know Your History!

Download this episode now or stream it with the player below.

A DOPEfm Christmas

2011-12-24T00:04:00.002-05:00

Here's a Christmas album unlike anything you've ever heard.

I know that I get bored of the same old Christmas music every year, so I wanted to put together a straight hip-hop Christmas mix. I had to dig to find enough content to fill an entire CD but I found some really interesting tracks.

This mixed album starts out innocently enough with the classic Run-DMC song "Christmas in Hollis" and continues that way with music from Cross Movement and Random. Next up is a remake of Kurtis Blow's Christmas Rappin' by a who's who of Canadian MCs.

The album then gets explicit. Parental discretion is advised for tracks 6, 7, and 8. First we hear an Eminem impersonation "What if Eminem did Jingle Bells." Then Mr.Lif tells us about the time Santa used a machine gun. We also hear Easy E wishing us all a "Merry MFing Christmas."

The rest of the album is pretty tame. You can skip through the tracks if you find any of them offensive.

I hope you enjoy this mixed album. It will also be played on the show tonight. Listen to us live starting at 12:00 midnight on CFMU. You can find us on 93.3fm on your radio dial from the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada area or online at http://cfmu.msumcmaster.ca/

Download A DOPEfm Christmas for free.

Merry Christmas!

The Bridge Wars (Hip-Hop History Podcast: Episode 21)

2011-12-23T00:40:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Know Your History, your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge. We’re all about the music here and not about boring dates, historical figures, and battles.

Wait a minute, hold that thought. Hip-hop has those things too. And unlike high school history class, I think you’ll enjoy our half hour together.

Download this episode for free or stream it with the player below.

My name is Chase March and today we will be looking at an historical battle in hip-hop. This battle began in 1985 and several shots were fired back and forth until a truce was called twenty years later. The shots were records and the truce was an entire album. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

It’s pretty much embedded into hip-hop culture that you need to represent who you are and where you’re from. So when MC Shan did that back in 1985, it was not an unusual thing. He wanted everyone to know that he was from the borough of Queensbridge with his record “The Bridge.” Little did he know at the time, this record would start a feud within hip-hop and launch “The Bridge Wars.”

And it all started with this one song, MC Shan’s “The Bridge”

That was “The Bridge” by MC Shan. In that song, he was doing what we all do in hip-hop culture. He was saying where he was from and representing his neighbourhood. A neighbourhood with a rich history of hip-hop. Queensbridge would go on to produce notable acts such as Nas, Mobb Deep, and Capone-N-Noreaga, among others.

So, this song started off innocently enough,

“You love to hear the story, again and again,

Of how it all got started way back when,

The monument is right in your face,

Sit and listen for a while to the name of the place,

The Bridge,

Queensbridge.”

I don’t think MC Shan was trying to infer that hip-hop began in Queensbridge with those lyrics. But I can see how they could have been interpreted that way but some people.

Today, it’s a well-known and undisputed fact that hip-hop began in The Bronx. But in 1985, rap music was just becoming popular. Records were starting to get played outside of New York. And while most people knew hip-hop started in New York, they might not have known about the differences among the five boroughs.

The two members of Boogie Down Productions wanted to set the record straight. Krs-One and Scott LaRock released a record quite similar to “The Bridge.” They called it “South Bronx” and instead of just representing their neighbourhood, they took a few shots at MC Shan.

Listen to this track and we’ll be right back with Know Your History: The Bridge Wars. This is BDP’s “South Bronx.”

That was “South Bronx” by Boogie Down Productions and for a lot of people, it was their first exposure to Krs-One. Of course, he would go on to have a very successful career with BDP, and later as a solo artist.

That was a classic battle record in every sense of the word. It wasn’t simply an affirmation of where they were from. It wasn’t a love record to The Bronx and the birthplace of hip-hop, but it is often read that way.

These lyrics show how Krs-One came out swinging at MC Shan,

“Party people in the place to be, KRS-One attacks,

Ya got dropped off MCA cause the rhymes you wrote was wack,

So you think that hip-hop had its start out in Queensbridge,

If you popped that junk up in the Bronx you might not live.”

Hip-hop heads from the Bronx are proud of hailing from the official birthplace of hip-hop, and while Krs-One threatened violence, fortunately, the Bridge Wars stayed completely on record, where they should have.

In 1985, MC Shan was rolling with the Juice Crew. This crew was comprised of rappers, producers, and DJs, most of them hailing from Queensbridge. The collective was formed by legendary producer Marley Marl and included radio DJ Mr. Magic, and rappers; Roxanne Shanté, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Craig G, and later, Tragedy the Intelligent Hoodlum, and Grand Daddy I.U.

There was a history between Krs-One, Scott LaRock, and Mr. Magic that might have fueled this answer record. DJ Red Alert tells the story on “Beats, Rhymes, and Battles Part 1” on a track simply titled “Conversation 2.”

Red Alert: “[BDP], one time, was called 24/7 on an independent label. And when that record was put out, Mr. Magic at that time, went back to WBLS. He dissed the record. As he dissed the record, Scott LaRock and a guy by the name of Kris, who was Krs-One. So, when they heard that record “The Bridge” that represent for Marley and for Magic, they said, ‘We gonna answer back for that.’

Bud: “So it was ulterior then.”

DJ Red Alert: “No question, son.”

You know what? It doesn’t matter what the motives were behind this answer record. “South Bronx” was a dope jam that called attention to the birthplace of hip-hop.

Of course, the Juice Crew needed to respond to this personal attack and did so with the track MC Shan’s track "Kill That Noise."

That was “Kill That Noise” by MC Shan. It was from the album “Down By Law,” which was released in 1987. Although, it was called “Kill That Noise,” it really didn’t kill anything. The Bridge Wars were far from over.

In a spoken word break in that song, Marley Marl says, “Yo Shan! I didn't hear you say hip hop started in the Bridge on your record?”

MC Shan responds truthfully, “I didn't. They wanted to get on the bandwagon.”

Truth is, the answer record had already been established with The Roxanne Wars just a year prior to The Bridge Wars starting. We covered that in the last episode of Know Your History. If you missed it, go to chasemarch.com to download it for free.

Battles had been common in hip-hop well before the answer record took hold in 1984. The Bridge Wars started with a single record released in 1985 and two years later the war raged on. In fact, it would carry on for decades. And to this day, some people still take sides.

Music is timeless and tracks like this next one continue to blast out of car speakers, iPods headphones, and college mix shows such as this one. This is “The Bridge is Over” by Boogie Down Productions. I’m Chase March for DOPEfm and we’ll be right back with our extensive coverage of one of hip-hop’s biggest battles, The Bridge Wars.

We’re back here on Know Your History. We’ve been exploring The Bridge Wars in this episode and we just heard BDP’s “The Bridge is Over.”

In the lyrics to that song, Krs-One acknowledges the contributions the other boroughs of New York have made to hip-hop culture. He says,

“Manhattan keeps on making it.

Brooklyn keeps on taking it.

Bronx keeps creating it,

And Queens keeps on faking it.”

At this time in hip-hop history, Staten Island hadn’t really made a mark on the music and that is the only reason the fifth borough of New York is absent from that verse. It’s interesting to see how he gives credit to the other areas of New York but tears down an entire borough.

This wasn’t about Queensbridge. It wasn’t simply a neighbourhood battle or a bit of a turf war. It was bout beef between two crews, Boogie Down Productions and the Juice Crew.

There were several other records made including Roxanne Shanté’s "Have A Nice Day," Craig G’s "Duck Alert," Rockwell Noel & The Poet, "Beat You Down" and "Taking U Out," BDP’s "Still No. 1, MC Mitchski’s "Brooklyn Blew Up The Bridge," and MC Shan’s "Juice Crew Law"

The final squashing of these beef didn’t happen for decades. Remember that it started with one record back in 1985 and it grew from there with a number of answer records.

Lines continued to be thrown back and forth on record all the way up to 2001 when MC Shan appeared on the compilation album QB’s Finest with these lines,

“Hip hop was set out in the dark

The Bridge was never over, we left our mark.”

History shows us that BDP came out on top. All three of their responses were huge records and they went on to have a great career that continued with Krs-One’s solo work. No member of the Juice Crew has had the level of success that Krs-One has had.

At least Krs-One didn’t just rub it in. He finally got together with Marley Marl to record a project in 2007. Their album “Hip-Hop Lives” said a lot before anyone even heard it. But there is a record on there that kind of explains the whole situation. This is “Rising to the Top” and listen to the story Krs-One recounts.

That track put an end to The Bridge Wars. It’s called “Rising to the Top” and it’s from Krs-One and Marley Marl’s album “Hip-Hop Lives.”

Krs-One explains the beef like this in those lyrics,

“Answer records were big then;

after Shante did it, everyone was trying to spit them

So we spit on...

To tell you the truth, it was the only way a MC could get on

We answered MC Shan's "Queensbridge";

A dope jam about where he was from and where he lived;

But in the Bronx there was these kids

KRS, Scott La Rock tryin' to live...”

Krs-One admits that he owes his success in part to MC Shan and Marley Marl.

It’s hard to say whether there would have been room for the Juice Crew and BDP to both be successful artists. Perhaps they would have both strived. Who knows?

Does healthy competition even exist in hip-hop. We have winners and we have losers. Quite often the losers fade away into obscurity, remaining famous for the one record and that’s about it. Those MCs who find themselves on the losing side of popular opinion, those who don’t come correct with their response so that it resonates with the hip-hop audience, become a footnote in history.

When it comes to the battle of words and putting them down on a record, I think it is like a sport. We can keep score and appreciate the art behind both sides. I hate when rap battles spill over into real life and become violent. This should never happen. We should all strive to show our best sportsmanship. Keep the battles on records and focus on the art behind all of it.

So that’s my take on The Bridge Wars. Remember you can go to chasemarch.com to read the transcript and download the twenty other episodes in the archives. And don’t forget to go to dopefm.ca for great mixsets, free podcasts and downloads as well. You can also tune us in live each and every Saturday night on 93.3 on your fm dial in Hamilton, Ontario or worldwide at cfmu.mcmaster.ca.

Thanks for listening! This has been Chase March and you better know your history!

Rych Kydd

2011-12-22T00:44:00.000-05:00

Chase: "We're on the red carpet at the 2011 Stylus Awards with Rych Kydd. You've got a trophy in your hands."

Rych Kydd: "Rated Next DJ 2011."

Chase: "How's that feel? That was handed out last night?"

Rych Kydd: "Yeah, at the pre-nominee party. It feels amazing. A lot of hard work, a lot of effort, long nights, early mornings, all paid off. It's good to be recognized by your peers."

Chase: "What kind of gear are you using?"

Rych Kydd: "I use two Technic 1200s, a Rain TTM 57SL Serato Mixer. I'm always on the vinyl. I can get in touch with the CDJs."

Chase: "Nice! That's really cool to see a traditionalist here. How do you get your vinyl? Are you a big digger too?"

Rych Kydd: "Of course. I go to see Eugene every two weeks to see what's going on at Play De Record. If I go somewhere else and they have record stores, I shop around. But Play De Record is my number one place."

Chase: "Are you excited about seeing anyone in particular tonight?"

Rych Kydd: "Yeah. I'm excited about seeing JD Era, A-game, all my other peers that are nominated. All love. All love."

Chase: "It definitely is cool to see something like this where we celebrate the DJ and show them some love. They are the foundation of hip-hop. It all started with the DJ."

Rych Kydd: "Grand Master Flash. Exactly."

Chase: "All right. Well, congratulations on your award. Thanks for talking with us."

Rych Kydd: "Thank you!"

Visual History of Christmas Trees

2011-12-20T00:54:00.000-05:00

I've always wondered about Christmas trees. The entire idea seems quite ridiculous. Cut down a tree, bring it inside, and adorn it with shiny things. Why do we do this exactly?

Well, here's a great poster that might shed some light on the subject (pardon the pun)

There are a lot of interesting facts and points of discussion here for your students to ponder.

Perhaps you could have your students make a similar poster about another holiday tradition. I wonder why people started making fruitcakes?

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Tuesday Archive (100 useful tips for the classroom)
Christmas Cone Craft (I love this easy to make craft from Art Attack)
Sometimes you just need a break (that's why this will be the last Teaching Tip of the year. Enjoy your Christmas Break!)

Tell Her She's Beautiful

2011-12-19T00:55:00.000-05:00

Is that true?

Do beautiful girls need to hear that they are beautiful?

And if so, how do we do that?

I've wanted to compliment women before on their beauty but I've often been afraid of the reception I'd get. I don't want to make someone feel uncomfortable. I don't want to put forth unwanted comments. And I don't want to come off as sexist.

So what do I do?

I'm not talking about cat-calling either. Men have no business shouting at a woman, whistling, or make rude gestures. I'm talking about a sincere compliment with no attached awkwardness or sexual pressure.

For example, last week I went downtown. I walked past a bus stop and noticed a young lady waiting for the bus. She looked like she might have been a college student. She was absolutely stunning. I walked past her and thought to myself, "She is gorgeous!"

I didn't say anything, however, because I didn't know how to.

Can you tell a random person that you find her attractive? Do some of these women want to hear such a compliment? And what you about someone you know? Can you tell a co-worker that she looks good on a given day?

What do you think?

For the guys out there, do you compliment women often on their beauty? And how do you go about it?

For the ladies, do you like to hear compliments on your beauty? Does it make you uncomfortable?

Please leave a comment below and add to the discussion.

Thanks!

The Roxanne Wars (Know Your History: Episode 20)

2011-12-17T00:34:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Know Your History, your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge.

I’m your host, Chase March, and I’ll be with you for the next thirty minutes as we explore a huge war within hip-hop.

You can download this episode for free or stream it with the player below.

Like most wars, this one was started with a single shot. In fact, I highly doubt the original artist had any idea that their song would create such a stir within hip-hop, while at the same time, sparking an interest in female emcees, and laying the ground work for rap battles move to recorded music.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s set the stage by playing a track by U.T.F.O. They released a 12” single in 1984 for the song “Hanging Out.”

It was the B-side to this record that received all of the attention, however. This is the first shot that started what is known as The Roxanne Wars. This is “Roxanne Roxanne” and will be right back with this look at hip-hop’s first bout of recorded warfare.

That was “Roxanne Roxanne” by U.T.F.O. The song recounts what happens when a fictional girl won’t respond to the advances of the guys in the group. They all try to win her affection but she simply isn’t interested in any of them and lets them know this in no uncertain terms. Of course, they act like it’s absolutely preposterous for her not to be won over by their charms, their fame, or their smooth rhymes. As such, they call her “stuck up” and even go so far as to insult her family.

It was a catchy song and not aimed at anyone in particular. It reminds me of another famous B-side that came out one year early in 1983 from a group called Run-DMC. That song was called “Sucker MCs” and it was a battle record where Run attacks any would be opponent on the microphone. He didn’t direct his message at anyone in particular. He just unleashed rhymes to let people know that his group was for real.

U.T.F.O. didn’t direct their record at anyone in particular either. They were just having fun with it and the hip-hop audience responded well to the song. It was a big hit and they would likely draw in a large crowd for the concert they were supposed to be in. For some reason, however, they cancelled their appearance at this particular concert, a seemingly small move that would have huge repercussions.

Hip-hop was a male-dominated genre of music at this point in time. There were no successful female rappers. Since hip-hop had moved from the live atmosphere to recorded music, females on the microphone were conspicuously absent. That was all about to change do to this one innocent record, a cancelled show, and a young girl who just happened to be in the right place, at the right time.

What happened was, legendary producer Marley Marl, radio personality Mr. Magic, and Tyrone Williams from WHBI were angered over the cancellation of the UTFO show. A fourteen year old girl overheard their discussion, and knowing who they were, suggested that she could record a song in response to “Roxanne, Roxanne.”

It sounded like a huge opportunity. After all, what is worse that a woman scorned?

From that moment on Lolita Shanté Gooden would be known as Roxanne Shanté. She was already an avid rhymer and a fierce freestyler. She seized the moment like most freestylers and acted like a woman scorned by what they men had said about her on the record. As legend has it, Shanté recorded the song in one take. It was laced with profanity, had a real street edge to it, and was unlike anything we had heard from a female emcee up to that point.

The song was rerecorded with a new beat and less profanity so it could be released as a single. Both versions of this song came out in 1984 but I want to play you the original right now.

Listen to this song, and we’ll be back to explore how this record sparked an interest in female emcees and paved the way for rap battles on wax. This is “Roxanne’s Revenge” by Roxanne Shanté.

That was “Roxanne’s Revenge” by Roxanne Shanté. That one record proved that there was an audience for female emcees. It helped warm up the game for females on the microphone and set the stage a few years later for the success of acts such as Salt N Pepa, MC Lyte and Queen Latifah.

That record made Roxanne Shanté a bonafide hip-hop star and also established the tradition of the answer record. Tons of people tried to follow in her footsteps by releasing their own response songs to the original U.T.F.O record. It got so convoluted that there were over one hundred such songs. I haven’t heard them all, and quite frankly, I don’t have any desire to. Roxanne Shanté did it first and she made a memorable record, and made her mark on the industry.

Of course, UTFO didn’t like this at all. They manufactured their own Roxanne, much like Shanté and Marley Marl had done. While it made The Real Roxanne a star, the record really paled in comparison to what Shanté had done. But judge that for yourself. This is “The Real Roxanne” and we’ll be back to look at a few of the other answer records in this long battle known as “The Roxanne Wars.” Stay tuned!

That was “The Real Roxanne” but I have a hard time calling her that since she most definitely wasn't the first Roxanne. Roxanne Shante put a record out a year earlier and kept it pretty real in the process. She was a writer, an avid freestyler, and she adopted the persona of Roxanne in a real and honest way. In my humble opinion, she deserves the title of "The Real Roxanne."

Several rappers tried to capitalize on the popularity of these Roxanne records. All in all, there were close to 100 singles put out that year in response to either “Roxanne Roxanne” or “Roxanne’s Revenge.” Most of them were pale imitations of the original recordings and completely forgettable after the first listen. You could tell that these artists were blatantly attempting to ride the coattails of someone’s success.

I have a few minutes to play you some of those songs. Let’s start off with this one from someone claiming to be Roxanne’s sister.

That was DW and The Party Crew featuring Roxy (Roxanne’s sister.) I kind of like how siblings stick up for each other. It’s a cute concept and I think it works better than some of the other countless Roxanne Wars shots.

It wasn’t just females responding to these tracks either. Here’s one that from some other fellow that have beef was well.

Enough of that. That was The Invasions “Roxanne’s Dis” and by this point in time, a lot of people had just about had enough of these Roxanne Wars, including these guys.

Sorry, but I couldn't find an embed link for this song. Download the podcast or stream it with the player below to hear it.

That was The East Coast Crew “The Final Word: No More Roxanne (Please)”

I can definitely understand the sentiment there. I mean, there were so many Roxanne records coming out that it was just preposterous.

I appreciate what the first Roxanne did, Roxanne Shant
é. That was nice! That was unique! That was clever!

Unfortunately, everyone tried to copy her success in exactly the same way and started releasing their own response records to either "Roxanne, Roxanne" or "Roxanne's Revenge." But it wasn't original and it got really watered down. And we ended up with one hundred Roxanne Records. It's ridiculous.

Next month, we will look at another famous battle within hip-hop, The Bridge Wars. It was between the Juice Crew and Boogie Down Productions (BDP.) Strangely enough, Shant
é got caught up in this battle as well since she was part of The Juice Crew. But that's a story for next time.

While The Roxanne Wars were the hip-hop first battle taken to the record, it certainly wasn't the last. There have been some famous ones between Ice Cube and NWA, Common and Ice Cube, Canibus and LL Cool J, to name a few.

There were some awesome battle records that came out in hip-hop culture. But The Roxanne Wars were the first. Before "Roxanne's Revenge," the answer record in hip-hop didn't exist. You gotta give props to Roxanne Shanté. I love what she did with that record. Not only did it establish the tradition of the answer record in hip-hop, but it also sparked an interest in female emcees.

One record can do a lot.

This has been Chase March. Thanks for tuning in to Know Your History. See you next month for another great episode.

Riviera for Skype (Product Review)

2011-12-14T19:34:00.000-05:00

I have recorded dozens of interviews for my radio show over the past few years. Some of those interviews were done at the radio station and some were done on location at the concert venue. Of course, these ways of conducting interviews can sometimes be a little trying. We have to work within time constraints and things don't always go according to plan.

I have been trying to figure out how to record telephone calls from home to help simplify the interview process and for me to be able to produce more radio segments.

I'd heard of Skype but really had no interest in video conferencing with anyone. But I found out that you can use it just like a phone. You can talk to other Skype users for free and you can also purchase time to call any landline or cell phone number.

In order to record your phone conversations on the computer, you need a VOIP recorder. I have been using Riviera for Skype and I am impressed with how simple it is to use.

Here is what the Skype Call Rercorder looks like . . .

The interface is not overly crowded with options. You can access it easily through the desktop icon or from the system tray on the start bar.

You can set it to automatically record your conversations as well. They are recorded as MP3s so you don't need to load any conversion software, or worry about where and how you can playback the files. You also are not limited by time. You can record conversations of any length.

The calls are conveniently stored as MP3 files in a folder labelled "Calls."

You can record Skype calls of any type including the free Skype-to-Skype calls, SkypeIn / SkypeOut, Conference calls, calls to cells, etc.

They offer free support, free lifetime updates, and upgrades.

In the interest of full disclosure, Riviera for Skype, is giving me a full version of their VOIP recorder for writing this post. However, after using this program and seeing how easy and effective it can be, I'm sure I would have forked over the money to buy it.

You can try Riviera for Skype for free for 14 days. If you like it, you can purchase the program for less then $12. That's a great deal.

Teaching Tip - Making Comics Online

2011-12-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a comic strip that I created in less than five minutes, using a website I had never tried out before.

Comics are perfect for the classroom. They allow students to explore all sorts of new environments and feel confident with what they have written and created.

There are quite a few free websites that allow you to make comic strips quickly and easily. Here are two that I have tried and think your students will enjoy.

Boy's Life - This comic creator gets kids writing and creating short comic stories right away. I created the above comic in two minutes using this free online program.

Arthur - Arthur is a great character that many children enjoy. I particularly love the television series. It is humorous and intelligent. This comic creator will appeal to anyone who has seen the show or read any of the books.

Why make comics in school?

It gets students writing - The students might not even realize they are actually writing.
It gets them creating media - They can save the images or print them out.
It encourages creativity - Students love clicking on the buttons and using the elements available to create a story. It forces them to be creative.
It's fun - Most students will enjoy creating comics online.

But . . .

Some students might feel constrained by these programs that only allow them to use certain characters, settings or props.

Some students might want to draw their own comics from scratch.

Creating comics is a great activity no matter how it is done.

So go out there and get creative!

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Tuesday Archive (bookmark this as it gets updated each end every week)
Comic Strip Drama (have your students act out comic strips)
Letter Writing (send your kids a letter in the mail and have them answer it for homework)

Take it Down or Cover it Up - Please!

2011-12-12T00:04:00.000-05:00

It really annoys me when a store goes out of business, everything gets cleaned out, the store is left vacant, and the owners fail to do this one simple thing.

I can't tell you how many times I have been driving and noticed a store that I'd like to visit. Sometimes, the store is inside a strip mall. Sometimes, the store is downtown. Sometimes, it's a stand alone shop.

No matter where the store exactly is, it usually takes a bit of effort to get there. I have to turn down a street, find a parking spot, and walk a little bit.

The store's sign and familiar brand lead me to my destination. That's what they are designed to do. That's why I think when a shop goes out of business, for whatever reason, they owe it to us to . . .

Take Down The Sign

If the sign is on an awning and would be costly to take down, I can understand leaving it up. However, it would only take a few minutes and one can of paint to cover over their logo and store name. That way everyone would know that the store is out of business. I think they owe us that much.

For example, a can of orange paint could be used to cover up the logo and store name in the above photo with ease.

Cover Up The Sign

Here's one business that did it right.

It doesn't take long to cover up a sign. Sometimes, it is as simple as taking out the plastic and flipping it around so that the logo now faces in and not out.

Does this bug you too?

Leave a comment below and add to the discussion.

The December Mixtape

2011-12-10T00:02:00.001-05:00

I don't know if this is going to become a tradition or not, but I really felt like making another December themed mixtape.

Unlike last year's mix, this one is fully tracked and in album format. It's meant to be listened to straight through, but since each song has its own track, you can skip through them at your leisure.

You can download this new mix for free or stream it with the players below.

I really enjoy making tapes and sharing them with you. Please feel free to pass then along. Download them to your iPod or MP3 players, burn them to CD, give them away as presents, +1, tweet, or Facebook it as well.

Thanks for listening.

I hope you have a great December!

DOWNLOAD - The Decemeber Mixtape (album format)

The Birth of the Rap Battle (Know Your History: Episode 19)

2011-12-08T00:05:00.004-05:00

Battles are as old as hip-hop itself. The crowd was the ultimate judge when it came to the early days of this culture. Whether it was to determine who ruled the dance floor, which neighbourhood had the best deejay, or who could rock the microphone the hardest. Battles have been a staple of hip-hop since its very inception, but not in the way you might think.

Welcome to Know Your History. I’m your host Chase March, and we’ll be exploring all those questions and more in Episode 19: The Birth of the Rap Battle. You can download this episode for free or stream it with the player at the bottom of this post.

To start off, let’s go back to 1981. Imagine an era where hip-hop had to be experienced. You would go to a party and hear a DJ throwing down long music sets where the tracks all blended together seamlessly. There would be MCs on the stage rhyming and rhyming and rhyming. The microphone would be passed around but the vibe was pleasant and cheerful.

Most of the MCs at the event would take a few lines to praise the DJ. They would then spend a good portion of their rhymes telling the crowd how awesome they are. Sometimes rappers would tell stories that were humorous and playful but most of the time, it was an exercise in bragging.

In fact, that is exactly where hip-hop started. The DJ would be spinning a set and occasionally jump on the microphone to hype up the crowd. He would say short rhymes to get the crowd dancing and to remind them of just who it was, providing the musical entertainment.

DJs were awfully competitive and tried to improve upon their skills. They soon employed MCs or master of ceremonies, to hype up the crowd so they could be free to concentrate solely on the music. It wasn’t long before the short rhymes became longer and longer and developed into entire songs.

Recorded rap music was still fairly new at this point in time, however. There were roughly two hundred 12” singles put out in 1981. You can find a list of those releases on RapHistory.net.

200 releases in one year. Nowadays it feels as if there are that many rap singles released every week. And with the ease of the Internet, mixtapes, soundcloud, bandcamp, blogs, etc, that number might be even higher.

One of the most popular records of 1981 was this one. I want to play it for all of you to help set the scene for a special night around Christmastime that year where everything in hip-hop changed. I’m not kidding. Stay tuned to figure out what it was. This is “Feel the Heartbeat” by The Treacherous 3.

All right, Chase March back with Know Your History. You just heard “Feel the Heartbeat” by The Treacherous 3. The group consisted of Kool Moe Dee, who went on to have a successful solo career, LA Sunshine, Special K, and DJ Easy Lee. The boys were riding high on the success of that record in 1981 and were invited to host The Harlem World Christmas Rappers Convention.

There were several MCs performing at that legendary, but now defunct New York night club for the event. The Treacherous 3 were there as hosts and were not scheduled to perform. All of the MCs that did perform that night had that same light-hearted, bragging-type routine similar to the song I just played. This is what is known as old-school rap.

No one knew it at the time, but a new era was on the precipice. This event would go down in history as the start of a new culture of rap battles.

Today, we are all familiar with what a rap battle is. Most everyone has seen a battle on television or in the movies. Eminem’s 8-Mile was a pretty good portrayal of what you can expect to see at a rap battle. 106 and Park on BET has a segment called “Freestyle Fridays,” Aux-TV has “The Ultimate MC,” and Toronto has “The King of the Dot” contests.

If you haven’t seen a battle, it basically works like this. Two emcees are pitted against one another and have a set amount of time to perform a short freestyle rhyme. Someone goes first and then the opponent responds immediately with their own freestyle. There are often two or more rounds. The object is to deliver funny and witty rhymes that tear down your opponent. The goal is to one-up them and come up with the best rhyme. Of course this is putting it in the simplest of language. Rap battles aren’t all about the rhymes.

This Christmastime show at Harlem World wasn’t a battle as we know it today. It was more of a showcase that allowed rappers to get up on the stage and display their best rhymes, to hype up the crowd, and to just have fun with it.

Before we go any farther, let’s make it clear that this rap showcase turned into the historic Kool Moe Dee vs Busy Bee Starski rap battle. It started off innocently enough as well.

Busy Bee Starski was one the biggest acts in hip-hop at the time. He had an incredible stage performance and delivered fluffy party rhymes in the classic old-school style. He was always a crowd pleaser and felt pretty confident that he was the best MC on the bill that night.

But like I said, earlier, hip-hop has always been competitive. There was always a desire to show that you were the best at rocking the microphone. And ultimately, the crowd was the judge of this. Hip-hop fans aren’t content with album sales, radio spins, or artificial ways of determining who is the best. It all comes down to skills and a show-and-prove mentality.

Troy L. Smith interviewed The Treacherous 3 about this battle. In the article, you can see how the fans at the show wanted to see who the better MC was, Busy Bee or Kool Moe Dee. You can see exactly how this battle came to be. It’s a really interesting read and I suggest you go to Tha Foundation website to check it out.

Kool Moe Dee is quoted as saying, “Busy Bee got beside himself that night and I let my ego get caught up in it.” End quote. Basically Busy Bee was on stage doing his bragging type rhymes and they sounded nice. Someone in the crowd suggested that Busy Bee was only safe because Kool Moe Dee was not on the bill.

Busy Bee couldn’t do much else but respond to that little comment. He didn’t explicitly disrespect Kool Moe Dee. He simply repeated that he was indeed the best rapper in the house and that no one could touch him.

L.A. Sunshine told Smith, “I was laughing at him when he was talking shit. But Moe took things to heart. I felt what Busy Bee said was kind of harsh.”

Kool Moe Dee recalls, “So the agitator is pushing the fight, so Busy has to defend himself and he ends up dissing me by saying, ‘It don’t make a difference who’s in it. Ain’t nobody beating me.’ So I’m like did he just say that?” End quote.

You can see that both rappers egos were on the line here.

Kool Moe Dee continues, “So this night I am hosting the show because we just finished putting out a record. We were hot so I was like the celebrity host. After he said those words I was standing there, saying did he say that? And one of the brothers screamed out, ‘What you going to do now?’ So I am literally pushed into the circle to fight. So I’m like oh shit. I run upstairs and I tell Charlie Rock who is also hosting the show, ‘Yo put my name on the list.’ He said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Put my name on the list. I’m in the contest." He’s like, ‘You getting in it?’ I said, ‘Yes and put my name right after Busy Bee.’ Charlie’s like, ‘Alright.’

That’s the story behind what happened. But you really need to hear the entire exchange that happened on the stage. Kool Moe Dee’s response wasn’t the typical old-school style rhyme we were used to. I’m going to leave it at that for now, play you the clip from 1981 and be right back to talk more about what many people call rap’s first battle.

You could hear Busy Bee getting a lot of audience participation in that clip. It was a typical of what you would hear in the live hip-hop events back in the early 1980s.

What Kool Moe Dee did, however, was anything but typical. He decided that instead of just bragging, he would actually come out swinging. He starts by attacking Busy Bee’s old-school flow and actually tells him, “You ain’t shit.” This is quite a departure from, “I’m better than the rest.”

Kool Moe Dee continues his verbal assault of Busy Bee by criticizing his name, claiming that he stole rhymes, saying that his verbal skills were repetitive and boring. Kool Moe Dee continues to take shot after shot at his opponent.

This exchange has been credited as the first rap battle. At the very least, it was hip-hop’s first direct attack of an emcee that we have on tape or record. It signaled a shift in the culture as well.

Kool Moe Dee had some time to figure out what he was going to say in that rhyme. He admits that he threw it together quite quickly, jotted it down, and that it wasn’t exactly a freestyle.

A freestyle is a completely improvised rhyme. Nothing is written down. You basically think of a line or two before grabbing the microphone. You start with what you have and then just keep going.

It’s a difficult skill and not every great rapper is able to do it. It’s kind of like juggling. There are so many different things you need in play for a freestyle to work.

I found a website that has some Great Advice for BattleRappers and Freestylers.

The best advice is that practice makes perfect. You can only get good at something by doing it. So get yourself some instrumentals, start rapping, and record your rhymes. This will allow you to figure out what sounds nice. In fact, you can even write down your favourite lines and start collecting them like weapons you can stow away until they are needed.

Observe what is around you. If you can add details of your surroundings, you can really get the crowd on your side. They can tell that you are in the moment and will respect it. It also gives you specific things in which you can attack your opponent.

Good freestyle rappers don’t have routines. They make up their rhymes right off the top of the head. They are quick and witty, but this comes from practice, attention to detail, and a good memory.

One of the best freestyle rappers is Supernatural. Every time I have heard this guy he has blown me away. He has done shows where fans hand him random objects in rapid succession and he manages to fit them all into an improvised rhyme that flows, makes sense, and uses humour in completely novel ways.

That was the brilliant freestyle rapper, Supernatural. There are plenty of rappers out there who can come up with rhymes off the top of their heads. When rappers use improvisation this way to come up with lyrics, we call it freestyling.

I know many people listening to this, myself included, who have been in an argument with someone and walk away steaming. Ten minutes later, we think of a brilliant comeback and will then kick ourselves for not being quicker. Freestyle rappers can just come up with this stuff instantly while in that moment.

Freestyling is a skill but it is also a talent. Not every successful rapper can freestyle and not every freestyler can compose a great song or album. But it does earn you respect and can open the door to a promising career.

When it comes to battling, freestyling is probably your greatest asset. If you have to write all of your rhymes, you might not have something that will completely suit the moment. I have been to battles where it is obvious that the rappers were reciting rhymes that they had already pre-written.

If a rapper is truly freestyling, they should never repeat the same rhyme. It is like talking because most of the time you don’t rehearse what you are going to say. Also, the freestylers just sound better, in my humble opinion.

You know, an emcee can display technical skill, have amazing rhyme schemes, and literally out-rap their opponent and still lose a battle.

Why?

Because the audience doesn’t often pick up on all that stuff. It does get the humour, however.

Humour is something we can all relate to. It’s universal. When you hear someone making fun of another person and doing so in a clever rhyme, you can’t help but laugh. That is one of the appeals of battling.

Several rappers have made their careers out of being witty. Eminem, for example, puts so much into his rhymes with punchlines, situational comedy, and sometimes he even pokes fun at himself. I think he often puts people off with his offensive lyrical content, but when you look at how he puts his words together and the beauty behind exactly what he is doing with his rhymes, you have to marvel at what he does.

Eminem actually established himself in hip-hop by entering battles, and totally destroying his competition every step of the way. He is definitely one of the best emcees ever in the way he puts his words together. He is, in my humble opinion, the best wordsmith the English language has ever seen.

If a rapper is truly freestyling, they should never repeat the same rhyme. It is like talking because most of the time you don’t rehearse what you are going to say.

I found this article, “How to Survive a Freestyle Rap Battle” If you’re an aspiring rapper or want to learn how to freestyle or improve your skills, you should go check it out.

We’re just about done this month’s dose of hip-hop knowledge. Time flies. I didn’t even get to the answer record yet. I was hoping to, but we are running out of time.

We covered a lot of hip-hop history today. We started talking about how hip-hop began with improvisation. DJs would say short rhymes to hype up the crowd. This lead to MCs bragging about their DJ and about their own rhyming skills. This lead to friendly competition and then to outright battles.

The rap battle became a culture unto itself in the early 1980s thanks to the legendary battle between Kool Moe Dee and Busy Bee. A few years later, this blatant attack of fellow rappers jumped from the stage and live venues to records. We then got something called the answer record. But that is another tale for another time. Next time, actually,

This has been Chase March for DOPEfm bringing you your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge. Thanks for tuning in. Remember to check my blog, chasemarch.com, for transcripts and free downloads and, of course, the show’s website dopefm.ca for all of your hip-hop needs.

See you here next month for another installment of Know YourHistory.

Scaredy Squirrel Drama Lesson

2011-12-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

Scaredy Squirrel by Mélanie Watt is a really great picture book that children of all ages will enjoy.

It's about a squirrel who is afraid of anything outside of his nut tree. He stays in his tree trying to avoid all the harmful things in the world such as poison ivy, sharks, and killer bees.

There a probably a million things you could do with this book in your classroom. Today, I thought I'd share with you a drama lesson that I tried out last week with a Grade 1 class. It takes roughly half an hour and is suitable for the primary classroom. It involves cooperation and movement.

My students really enjoyed this lesson. I'm sure yours will as well.

1) Read the picture book "Scaredy Squirrel" to the class.

2) Brainstorm a list of things that scare the students.

3) If no one brings up thunderstorms, tell them how your dog whimpers and hides whenever there is a big storm.

4) Have the students sit in a circle and tell them that we can create a thunderstorm right here in the classroom.

5) Rub your hand on the floor or carpet in a circular motion and instruct all of the students to do the same. This will sound like the wind that comes before a storm.

6) Then use your fingers to quietly tap on the ground. This will sound like light rain drops.

7) Next, tap harder to simulate a harder rain.

8) Slapping the ground will sound like thunder. Some students might want to clap their palms together for an extra thunderous effect.

9) Then have the students repeat these sounds in reverse order. This way it will sound like a storm slowly coming in and then moving away.

10) Some students might suggest flicking the lights on and off for the lightning.

11) It may take you a few tries to get this sounding great. When you do, have the students focus on just the sounds.

12) Next you can choose a student to act out part of the story. He or she gets to pretend to be the squirrel.

13) Have another volunteer act out the part of something scary. They can choose something from the story or from the list of things we brainstormed.

14) The rest of the students will practise being good audience members.

15) Coach the students on how to use their bodies and voice to act scared. They can run. They can shake. They can hide. They can make a whelp or a (little) scream. Encourage them to get right into the role.

I hope you have found this lesson useful. It's really amazing how a group of people can come together to simulate the sound of a thunderstorm. Plus, it's a fun story and fun to act out.

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Tuesday Archive (over a hundred great tips, tricks, ideas, and lessons)
Level Everything (use the level system to mark papers and save lots of time)
Using Video in the Classroom (make use of excellent teaching guides)

Jully Black (Red Carpet Interview)

2011-12-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

Daddy J and I caught up with Jully Black and her producer on the red carpet at the 2011 Stylus Awards.

Here is a transcript of our interview.

Chase: "Jully Black! Chase March and Daddy J from DOPEfm."

Jully: "Nice to meet you. I'm here with my producer, Young Pete Alexander."

Chase: "Nice to meet you! We've been fans of you, Jully, since back in the day when we first heard you singing the hooks for all of the hip-hop groups in Toronto, like Choclair and all those dudes."

Chase: "We've seen you progress all through the years. So, how does it feel to be at the awards today?"

Jully: "It's an awesome feeling. It's nice to know that hip-hop is being celebrated in Canada. It is a genre that is pretty new to this country, even though we've been doing it for about ten - fifteen years. It's just nice to come together. It's nice to bring my boy from Atlanta. (to Young Pete) How do you feel about hip-hop in Canada?"

Young Pete: "It's definitely progressing. You got Drake, definitely opening up a lot of doors. He's got a great production team, which I've never met, but I've been hearing about Boi 1da, T-minus, and people who are the new generation in Canada coming up. It seems like it's the perfect season for what is going on in Toronto. It's really progressing."

Chase: "You have a great video for 'Seven Day Fool.'"

Jully: "Thank you."

Chase: "My girlfriend really loves that song. She's a feminist and is really into strong female role models. She's impressed with what you do. I think she'd want me to ask you this, 'How important is it for you represent femininity and be a strong woman role-model?'"

Jully: "I think it's very important to embrace your womanhood and your femininity. Just because you are into female empowerment doesn't mean that you are in opposition of men. I think that a strong woman needs to be able to support a strong man as well. So, there's a balance. It's important to have your self-esteem in check. I think that is the core of femininity."

Chase: "It's hard to know exactly what you are saying in that song because it sounds like you are saying 'this' and then it sounds like you are saying 'that.' But I think you just answered that question right there."

Jully: "You gotta go back and ask Etta James. That song originally came out way back in 1961. It might have meant something different back then."

Chase: "Yeah, maybe. But your take on it was really nice. It's great to see you still doing your thing and making such good music all the time."

Jully: "Thanks!"

Putting Graffiti In Its Place

2011-12-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

This is a bridge in a Kitchener suburb. You cannot see the underside of this bridge from the road. You cannot see the graffiti art if you are simply walking by on the sidewalk.

The colourful logos and words are pretty much completely hidden from view.

That is why this is the perfect spot for graffiti artists to work their magic.

This isn't intrusive graffiti. It isn't rude or crude. It doesn't disrespect anyone or anything.

This graffiti is perfectly placed so that it is unobtrusive. It isn't an eyesore for anyone.

True, some people might like to walk down to the creek or river bed and not be bombarded with bright, unnatural colours.

But I think, graffiti art, when done well (and these pieces are done well), is actually quite nice

These pieces took time and effort. There are a variety of colours, line styles, and shading techniques used in each piece.

The artists were also respectful of each other. No one has taken more than their fair share of available wall space.

Unfortunately, there are a few tags and words of profanity to be seen on these walls. I can tell you that these were added well after the fact by people who were not artists and had no affiliation to any of these pieces. It's a shame really.

Graffiti isn't always bad. It gives kids a chance to be artistic. It can brighten up an area. And when done in places such as these, it really doesn't hurt or inconvenience anyone.

Let's open up more of our city spaces and suburb spots like this to talented artists and finally put graffiti in its place. A place where it can be viewed, shared, admired, and practised safely.

More Graffiti Art

Know Your History: Graffiti is Art

I'm a NaNoWriMo Winner!

2011-12-01T00:14:00.000-05:00

I did it!

I wrote an entire 50,015 word novel in the month of November to win my very first National Novel Writing Month prize.

It feels good!

When I first decided to take on this challenge, I only had a rough idea of the story I wanted to tell. I wasn't sure I should tackle it though. I'd written novels before but I'd never tried to stuff the whole creative process into one month. It sounded crazy.

But I felt like I needed the challenge. I thought that it would at least get me started on a new fiction project. I'd been working on a lot of hip-hop articles and podcasts but my fiction had taken a bit of backburner and I wanted to correct that.

I spent the last week of October trying to get my blog in order. I'd pre-written posts and scheduled them all so my blog would pretty much run on auto-pilot for the whole month. This freed me up to write, write, write.

I set a goal to write 1,700 words every day and I was able to stick to it for two weeks straight. I wrote a blog post to fill you in at that point. I had planned on writing weekly updates for you but I just couldn't find the time.

I spent roughly three hours a day writing, every day. There were a few days in the month where I didn't write but I managed to stay right on top of my word count goals nevertheless. Sometimes I would write during my recess or lunch breaks at school. I did most of the writing at home though.

The novel is called "Outside of the Blocks." It's a play on words because it's about reclusive Lego artist, who doesn't even realize that he is an artist. He basically plays with Lego blocks all day. His young neighbour comes across his hobby and puts some photos of his creations online and this forces him out of his self-imposed exile.

Here's my original blurb,

Eli Thomas keeps to himself. He stays at home most of the time and creates elaborate structures out of Lego blocks. His world is turned upside down when his nine year old neighbour discovers his art creations and helps him break out of his self-imposed isolation. But is Eli ready to get outside of the blocks? And is the world ready for a socially awkward Lego artist?

I had a lot of fun participating in NaNoWriMo and I'd like to thank everyone who cheered me on. I don't think I could have done it without the motivation. Thanks!

Chasing Content - The Best of Last December

2011-11-30T05:25:00.000-05:00

Image via WikipediaBlog posts roll in and cover the landscape like a fog on this chilly November morning.

Underneath the misty clouds are some great articles, podcasts, mixtapes, and photos.

Let's tread carefully and explore the posts hidden by the fog in this monthly feature we call Chasing Content.

You can read all of the posts from last December

. . . or just these few gems.

Graffiti is Art - I dedicated an episode of the radio show to the art of graffiti. You can stream the show, download it, or read the article. You can also read Part 2 of this transcript.

Canadian Christmas Rapping - A great video from last year's music spectacular on George Stroumboulopoulos Tomight. It featured a who's who of Canadian MCs. Can't wait to see what he does this year on his show.

Art Attack - Art Attack is an amazing television show with a great website. It definitely is a resource that every elementary school teacher and art teacher should take a look at.

December 10th Mixtape - I still bump this tape. I plan on making a sequel to it as well. You can go download this tape for free or stream it with the player on the page, and get ready for the new December mix coming soon.

Snowmageddon 2010 - Remember this crazy storm? Hopefully we don't have one like that again. I truly think that each generation gets one big storm like this. This was ours.

The Movie Was Better - It doesn't happen often, but this is one time that the movie was actually better than the book that inspired it.

Thanks for Chasing Content with me!

5 Minute Daily Language Activities

2011-11-29T00:37:00.000-05:00

Here is a great resource that you can use every day in your Language Arts program.

It's called Daily Language Review and there are editions available for each grade level (1-8)

I like how the activities explore several different areas of the Language Arts curriculum. The students get a chance to edit and correct two sentences every day. There are three other questions that cover punctuation skills, grammar, spelling, analogies, onset and rime, and more.

Here is the Thursday page for Week 2 of the program.

I really like how these worksheets can be completed in about five minutes. I normally write the questions on the board to save paper and photocopying. Of course, you could also purchase the whiteboard version to project the worksheets onto your Smartboard so you wouldn't even have to do that.

Taking up the questions together as a class will also help reinforce the variety of topics covered each day. It gives you a quick review and might even give you an idea about topics or lessons that your students need further work in.

Plus, the variety of grade level editions allow you to differentiate your instruction. You can use a book at a lower level for your students who are struggling with the concepts. You could also use a book above your grade level for students that need a little more of a challenge.

I have purchased a lot of teaching resources over the years, but this one is definitely one of my favourites. I have the Grade 2, 3, 4, and 5 books. I highly recommend them.

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Tuesdays (every Tuesday a new tip, idea, or lesson)
Cereal Box Book Reports (a fun way to follow up on a good read)
Picture Prompts (get your students writing)

Doctor Who: The Mixtape (Free Download)

2011-11-28T01:50:00.000-05:00

I have been making mixtapes for a long time. I always made them on actual cassette tapes though. When it came time for me to transition to the digital era, I still made my tapes in two parts. I did so because I really didn't know another way to make them.

However, I just discovered a way to make a mixtape where you can actually skip through the songs. That is why I am reposting this mixtape for you right now. The songs still flow together seamlessly, but now they are presented to you in an album format.

Instead of having two long tracks of 40 minutes each, you can now download a 22 track album. Each song has its own track so you can skip through songs at your leisure.

Click here to download the zipped mixtape file for free.

I was inspired to make this mixtape by a meme that was floating around on Tumblr. It was a 30 day challenge and Day 17 asked, "What songs would appear in your Doctor Who mixtape?"

I found this great blog post from Janine. She came up with a song for each of the major characters and justified her choices with song lyrics. The blog, Meanwher, elsewhen also offered some great suggestions for this hypothetical tape.

After reading those two posts, I was determined to make my own Doctor Who mix and to include some of their suggestions. I was unfamiliar with a lot of these songs prior to making the tape, but I got right to work, and was delighted with what I found.

I knew I had to start the tape with "Spaceman" from Bif Naked. If you're a Doctor Who fan, you will see how perfectly that song ties into the very first episode of Series 5 when Amelia Pond first meets the Doctor.

Another highlight of the tape was including Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream." It made me think of the time stream, the relationship the Doctor has with his companions, or even the one the Doctor has with the TARDIS. I know it sounds complicated, but give the tape a listen and I'm sure you'll get it.

I included sound effects from the show and even an audio clip from an episode. The songs are blended together and you will never hear a song fade out. I'm doing my best to preserve the art of the mixtape. That is why I've divided it into two-sides because I really miss cassette tapes and how each side of a tape can have its own identity and flavour.

The Doctor Who Mixtape will fit on one CD, so download it for free, burn it to disc, save it to your iPod or MP3 player, and turn up the jams. You can also stream it with the player below.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about it. And if you enjoyed this mixtape based upon a television show. You might like to check out the other one I made last year, "The Lost Mixtape"

Spread the music, and enjoy!

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Rap City Host T-RexXx (Red Carpet Interview)

2011-11-26T01:08:00.000-05:00

Chase: "Continuing with our coverage of the 2011 Stylus DJ Awards, we have the host of Rap City, T-RexXx."

T-RexXx: "How ya doing?"

Chase: "Awesome. It's so great to see Rap City back on the air."

T-RexXx: "Thank you. I'm definitely excited. As much as you are."

Chase: "Yeah, for sure. They've been playing something called 'Rap City' but they've just been showing rap videos. It never went away, but all of us knew it went away until you brought it back."

T-RexXx: "You know what's so funny? You're the only person who has ever interviewed me and actually knew that. Kudos to you. You just did a Nardwuar."

Chase: "Very cool. Thanks, man. I pretty much discovered my favourite artists and especially the Canadian ones was by watching Rap City. I always looked for that little Videofact label. I'd be like, 'Oh, that's Canadian. Better go support!'

Of course now we have this huge industry. And it's great to see that we have all of these Canadian rappers, DJs, and producers. And with award shows like this and TV shows such as yours, we can celebrate our own now.

Whereas, before, I seriously could buy every single Canadian hip-hop release. I can't do that any more. There is just so much good stuff coming out. I can't afford to buy all those records."

T-RexXx: "That's true."

Chase: "Well, thanks for popping through. It's nice to be able to meet you and we're gonna keep watching Rap City for sure."

T-RexXx: "Appreciate it!"

Happy American Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T00:48:00.000-05:00

Here's a special Thanksgiving mixset I put together for the radio show.

I hope you will enjoy it today for the American observation of Thanksgiving. You can download it for free to take with you on your drive to or from your Thanksgiving destination today.

I wish you all the best for this holiday long weekend.

We already celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada, but this mix still bumps on these cool autumn days up here as well.

You can also stream the hour-long show with the player below.

I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving!

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Extra-Curricular Activities Benefit Both Student and Teacher

2011-11-22T01:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to another edition of Teaching Tip Tuesday!

Today, we welcome Amber Barnes to the community of teachers who read, contribute, and enjoy this weekly series.

There are over one hundred useful tips, tricks, and lesson plans in the archive. If you have something you'd like to contribute, please contact me.

Teachers helping teachers is what this series is all about.

Without further ado, here is this week's guest post.

Why I Get Involved

Extra-curricular activities wouldn’t exist without the generosity of teachers who dedicate their time to provide students with athletic, academic, art, and friendship opportunities outside of class time. But, teachers who volunteer only because they see the innumerable benefits for their students are missing out on rewarding experiences.

As a teacher candidate I got involved in extra-curricular activities as a way to build my reputation as a leader and member in the school community, but I stayed involved (now entering my second year of teaching) because I would miss the rewards.

Here are ten of my rewards.

I learn more about my own interests by sharing them with others.
My students tell me things about themselves and their families that they would not reveal during class time.
I get to meet and connect with students that I do not teach.
I enjoy hearing stories from my students about how they benefited outside of our club from what I taught them (soloist in choir because they could sign O Canada while singing, artwork featured in a newspaper, composed their own song, taught family/friends a game, etc.)
My students begin to teach me by organizing and running their own clubs to share their interests with others.
I love the look of a crowded classroom (40+ students) of eager and happy faces that voluntarily slide over, set down their own work, and begin to help late arrivals.
I love the question “Is there ___________ club today?” and the smile that follows when the answer is yes.
Every teacher loves to hear “You’re the best!”, “Can you teach me…?”, “That’s okay. I can show them.” and “Can I take this home with me to work on?”
I inspire other teachers who take my ideas and apply them in their classrooms.
It makes me happy.

Why do you get involved?

What activities do you run?

Why do you do it?

What are your personal rewards?

Please leave a comment below and continue this discussion.

Peanuts Should Be Illegal

2011-11-21T01:03:00.000-05:00

I love peanut butter. I always have.

As a kid, I refused to eat anything else for lunch. It had to be a peanut butter sandwich. My mom always threw an apple in my lunch box, a granola bar, a few cookies, and a thermos of juice. That was all I needed.

Now that I am an adult, I still prefer to have some toast for lunch topped with some creamy peanut butter. I cut up an apple, pour myself a glass of water or juice, and I am good to go.

Of course, I can't have this lunch at work. Schools have been peanut-free zones for as long as I have been teaching. It's due to the severe food alergies that a very small portion of school age children have.

I am sure glad that I am not a kid in this day and age. I don't know what my mom could have possibly packed me for lunch. I begged my mom to make me a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day. She'd suggest other things, thinking I needed a variety. I really didn't. Peanut butter is healthy and combined with my apple and juice, I had a balanced lunch every day.

Now, there are a few alternatives to peanut butter on the market. I was excited to try out these products for a few different reasons. First, peanut butter is a low-cost lunch food. It is something that you can keep in the cupboard and always have on standby.

These peanut butter alternatives are pretty good. Many of them look and smell like peanut butter. It's a perfect solution for all the parents out there who need a cheap and easy lunch food item. Right?

Wrong!

The problem is that this fake peanut butter is too close to the real thing. And in order for schools to be completely safe for the small population who suffer from food alergies, some schools have decided to ban these totally non-harmful alternatives.

I don't think that is fair. I think we need to educate students, parents, and the community at large about what is and what isn't acceptable to bring to school, either in a lunch bag, or for a classroom snack.

Food alergies are scary. There is no doubt about that. But I don't think banning peanuts or anything resembling them is the answer.

What do you think?

Please leave a comment and join in on the discussion.

Ghettosocks on Mixtapes, Liner Notes, and Vinyl

2011-11-19T01:38:00.000-05:00

Ghettosocks: “All right, we’re back.”

Back with our exclusive interview of Ghettosocks for DOPEfm. Download it for free, stream it with the player below, or keep reading.

Chase: “Yeah, that was awesome. We just heard ‘Ricochet’ and there’s an awesome line in that song that says, ‘I make it fit like I’m playing Tetris / so don’t get it vexed when I’m coming after your ex like the ‘a’ in ‘Texas.’”

Ghettosocks: “You like that, eh?”

Chase: “It’s like a battle rhyme. I could see you saying that in a battle against someone. Do you battle, or work on battle-type rhymes during your writing process?”

Ghettosocks: “I’ve battled. I don’t consider myself to be the best battler ever, but I like to freestyle battle. I have a pretty decent battle career under my belt. I like battle rhymes. It’s like part of rapping. L.L. Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, those types of dudes have these sick rhymes and were really aggressive. That’s where it comes from. I’m glad you appreciate that.

Chase: “Another thing I appreciate about what you do, Ghettosocks, is that your mixtapes are actually mixed. There are so many mixtapes floating around the World Wide Web that, number 1 aren’t mixed, and number 2 are just using other people’s beats. When you go over someone else’s beat, you pay tribute to the original artist.

When you did ‘Sock Ebonics,’ you flipped Big L’s “Ebonics’ in your own way, but you made it known that, ‘This is the track I’m rhyming over.’ You also said, ‘Rest in Peace Big L’ at the end.

I’ve heard too many mixtapes where they don’t pay any tribute to the original artist. And that is something you do very well.

Your mixtape, ‘I Can Make Your Dog Famous,’ is completely mixed. Even your album, ‘Treat of the Day’ is mixed too.”

Ghettosocks: “Yeah, it’s got a continuous flow to it. I wouldn’t say it’s like a mixtape per se, but it definitely has like a show continuity to it.”

Chase: “And I love to hear that as well, from a listener. Eternia and Moss did the same thing with their ‘At Last’ album where all of the tracks flow in to each other. It gives you a hip-hop experience. I don’t want to see a show where all the tracks fade out. So, your album reminds me of the radio show, college radio, it’s kind of seemless.”

Ghettosocks: “I think mixtapes should be used as a way to show what kind of music the artist is feeling, what other artists that they’d like to be paired with, whether it be influences or just their taste. That’s why I think it’s appropriate to pay homage. Whether it be ‘Catch a Beat Down’ which is paying homage to Run-DMC ‘Beats to the Rhyme’ or ‘Sock Ebonics’ where I’m doing Big L’s ‘Ebonics’. Paying tribute is a natural thing.

Mixtapes should be fun and interesting. I think a lot of people are just making mixtapes so they can get up, and get known, and saturate the market. I think mixtapes are a lost art nowadays.

College radio is doing it right every week. You guys are doing your show and there are people who are recording it or saving it into their iPods. And it’s like a mixtape every week, so it’s up to you guys to keep playing the dope shit.”

Chase: “I agree with that. I used to do that way before the Internet. It was a lot harder to keep up with the shows and record them, but I still did. I’d stay up till midnight when Mastermind was on Energy 108 just to hit record and then go to sleep. I’d listen to it in the morning.

It was more of a hustle to get the music back then. Nowadays, music comes to you all the time. There isn’t as much an effort needed. Kids don’t appreciate it as much. Kids these days! I sound old when I say that.”

Ghettosocks: “That’s what it is. We’re living in a different era.”

Chase: “That’s why I like podcasts. But there are still some great radio shows that still don’t have a podcast so you do have to hustle to listen to them. It’s nice when they have the podcast too. It’s like you said, ‘Free mixtapes!’”

Ghettosocks: “It’s also cool because it’s not like one artist and that’s all you hear on the tape. It’s not them on every single track. You get a sample of that DJ or that radio show’s style and what they are feeling collectively. You never know what you are gonna find. It’s a surprise. Big ups to the DJs. That’s what it is. Big ups!”

Chase: “For sure. That’s definitely where it started. You’re getting a lot of love worldwide too. You’re getting play in Europe, Australia, Japan, and places like that. Have you ever toured overseas?”

Ghettosocks: “I’ve been to Europe. This summer it’ll be the fourth time. Going with Muneshine for the Twin Peaks tour. Been to Japan once. Been to the states a bunch of times too. I love touring. That’s where it’s at.”

Chase: “I have never been overseas. Is there a difference in the crowds or the audience depending on where you’re playing?”

Ghettosocks: “In Poland and the Czech Republic we have a lot of fans supporting us. At the show in Hip-Hop Camp in Czech Republic we were pouring vodka into the mouths of those in the front row. It was just like a wild party. It’s just the type of energy. People are so excited to check us. It’s just a good feeling to be out there.

It’s the exotic thing, like the grass is greener on the other side kind of thing. People come from the country of Canada they get all excited. It’s like that in Europe. When they get to see some real rap, they get real in to it. So, it’s a good feeling.”

Chase: “I know. I’ve had the chance to grab the mic and rock the stage. And it’s just a good feeling to perform and have the crowd respond to it. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, I think.”

Ghettosocks: “It’s one part of the art from. We do the music in the studio, but when it comes to rocking shows, we take that very seriously as well. Big ups to Jorun Bombay, DJ Irate, DJ Frame out in Ottawa, and everybody I work with. They’re all talented DJs and that’s where the party originates, that’s where the music comes from. When we do live shows, we like to integrate deejaying into the routine and have all this stuff going on. Rocking shows is very important and that’s what gets me to where I am today.”

Chase: “Do you freestyle in your live shows?”

Ghettosocks: “Sometimes. It’s fun to slip into a freestyle. You make friends every show, you get introduced to new people, and if you can reference them right away on the spot, drop some inside jokes. Some people might not get it, but they know it’s live. And even if they don’t get it, they are still interested and they can tell that the pieces of the puzzle are floating together. It’s not contrived. There’s that live element that we all enjoy.”

Chase: “I love a good freestyle. You can tell when someone has slipped into one and it’s not a written. It brings a new element to the show too. Another thing you did on one of your mixtapes, was you had a beatboxer in the background. It’s nice to see the different elements of hip-hop in play. Like, you’re rocking actual vinyl today. A lot of DJs aren’t doing that any more. So, you’ve got this whole old-school hip-hop vibe.”

Ghettosocks: “Shout outs to EMC (the beatboxer on the track you mentioned) Beatboxing is all part of the whole thing. It’s an awesome aspect to the music. Fat Boys, Buffy-”

Gamma Krush: “Rest in Peace.”

Ghettosocks: “Rest in Peace. Rahzel brought a lot of people into the culture of beatboxing. Not to say that everybody is a great beatboxer. Some need to spend more time smacking the lips in the shower. It all belongs.

Twin Peaks put out a vinyl peace. A 12 inch for ‘Kaboom’ which features production by M-Phazes. It’s available on our website too. Just Google ‘Twin Peaks Bandcamp’ and you’ll find it. Order that online.

I think it’s important to have vinyl. It’s a testament to the physical artifact of music. It exists, it’s tactile, and you put it on the platter, spin it, and you hear the crackle. It’s like a fireplace.”

DJ Irate: “You read the sleeve. Find out who’s on it. Read every little credit. Find out who produced what, what label.”

Ghettosocks: “Exactly. And then you put it in your collection. You have your wall of records and it becomes part of your archive.”

Gamma Krush: “We need that too, People just start to make up their own history. They don’t own the record and they don’t know those credits. I meet people all the time who make up their own history. It’s like, ‘Oh, how do you know?” I know because I actually own a physical copy. You’re going by something you read on the Internet.”

Chase: “Even so, not having liner notes. We have tons of digital music at the station. And I was just talking to 2Rude and I had no idea how many records he produced. I get so much music that I don’t have time to look at the liner notes or try to find them for all this digital music I’m receiving. So when I talked to 2Rude and he mentioned some records he’s done, I was literally surprised. ‘You produced that?’

I used to be on top of these things when I owned physical copies of my records. I used to know all that stuff. Gamma Krush still does know most of that stuff. But for most people only know the MC, they don’t know the DJ or producer anymore because they don’t have a physical product to look at. It’s kind of a shame.”

Ghettosocks: “I met 2Rude for this first time last year at the Junos. He came and checked out our showcase. But it’s true, you don’t know what’s going on. Half the time nowadays, you don’t know the name of the song. New jacks will go download some shit and to them, “It’s track 6’ whereas if you own the album, you know the name of the song, you know who’s featured on it, not the guy who raps second on track 6 of that album or whatever.”

Muneshine: “What made me want to make beats was reading credits. I’d keep seeing produced by Pete Rock and I’d be like, ‘Who’s Pete Rock?’ and then I’d find out other shit that he produced. Then this guy became my f*cking hero. Then I learned what he does. You can learn so much from credits.”

Ghettosocks: “There’s a whole academic side of the thing. People are hesitant to be considered academic. They just want to be the cool guy or celebrity. But it’s a culture. Just enjoy it. It’s there to be enjoyed and savoured. So vinyl, keep it alive. Keep buying it. Big ups to all the DJs still spinning it. That’s what’s up!”

Chase: “Let’s spin a song. Do you have anything you’d like to hear?”

Ghettosocks: “How about we play an exclusive Wolves joint, ‘Air Pump and a Mushroom Cut.’ Let’s play that.”

Chase: "One last note, about your unique style."

Ghettosocks: “I’m wearing Frames, glasses that were hand made by my homeboy BJ. Big ups to BJ, Big ups to Keith Relic and the whole State Family Guilds. They sponsor me and give me gear. I wear lense-less glasses. I’ve been wearing them since junior high school. I began wearing them as a social experiment to see if I’d get better grades and it worked. Here I am now, still applying that science and dominating the world.”That's right. Dominating the world.

Hope you enjoyed this podcast.

Stay tuned for more of the best in underground hip-hop each and every week from DOPEfm.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Ghettosocks on Video Games, Music Videos, and Hip-Hop

2011-11-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

Chase: ‘We’re back with Ghettosocks. Just chilling on the patio here at Hess Village before he takes to the stage.

If you missed Part 1 of this interview, you can go back and read it now, you can download the entire show for free, or stream it with the player below.

Besides Ghettosocks, we also have Muneshine and DJ Irate in the house.

Much Music has been pretty kind to you, Ghettosocks. You’ve had quite a few music videos on regular rotation, haven’t you?”

Ghettosocks: “’Don’t Turn Around’ , ‘Out for Treats’ , “Step to a T-Rex,’ my first video, “Stolen Kicks’ with Pumpkinhead from Brooklyn Academy is my latest one.”

Chase: “Have you been on the new incarnation of Rap City?” Ghettosocks: “I don’t know. Funny you should ask that. I have been on the show. Maestro Fresh Wes invited me on during the Juno episode. I came and sat on the couch and hung with Maestro. I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t spoken to. But I chilled on Rap City. I was on TV hanging out.”

Muneshine: “That’s what I did too.”

Chase: “It’s really good to see that Much Music has brought Rap City back as a show. It’s been stagnant for years and they just played videos. They didn’t have a host or commentary or anything. I think that it’s important that we have these kind of outlets for hip-hop instead of just commercial radio, which a lot of it is just garbage, in my humble opinion. You need to dig a little bit deeper and listen to Muneshine. Listen to Ghettosocks. Listen to some quality hip-hop instead of the garbage kind of stuff tha’s on the radio.”

Ghettosocks: “Agreed.” Muneshine: “But the problem is, it seems like Rap City isn’t really going beyond what is on commercial radio, at least what I have seen of it. It seems like they are still going with the same people. I don’t think they’re utilizing that avenue that they have to showcase new artists. I don’t think that’s really happening. They’re still playing it safe with people who are already out there and you already know about.”

Chase: “Yeah, and that’s a shame because then it comes down to us in community radio. That’s why I love campus radio. We have a lot of shows here, not just ours, and some of them play a different range of stuff like the more jiggy or commercial stuff, but there’s a lot of support for underground artists in community radio. Do you find that as well?”

Ghettosocks: “Definitely. I’ve gotten a lot of support from campus radio across Canada. I’ve charted really well. Every single one of my releases have made it to Number 1 at some point. I’ve held it down for weeks and weeks. So, yeah, it’s very important. If it wasn’t for guys like you coming through and playing it on your shows and letting people know what time it is, then a lot of people wouldn’t know about it. You guys play a very important role.”

Chase: “One DJ that’s really got your back is DJ Premier.”

Ghettosocks: “Apparently.”

Chase: “DJ Premier has played you a couple times on his show.”

Ghettosocks: “That’s a connect I got through Muneshine. Big ups to Muneshine, the man sitting next to me. He hooked that up.” Muneshine: “That’s what friends are for.”

Ghettosocks: “Premo played ‘Richocet.’ Shout out to El Da Sensei. Shout outs to Bix, again.”

Chase; “When you look at your discography and the tunes you have put out, you’ve worked with tons of people, like anybody who is anybody in hip-hop. It’s pretty impressive. Is there anybody that you’ve been dying to work with?”

Ghettosocks: “Premier is definitely one of my main influences and I’m dying to do something with him. D-sisive is another guy I’m dying to do something with. Cat Lundy is another dude I’d like to get in the booth. We have a lot of dope projects on the go. We’ll just see where it goes.”

Chase: “It’s interesting to see that you’ve got your solo career but then you keep doing these extra bands.”

Gamma Krush: “Super-groups.”

Chase: “You’ve got one with Muneshine called ‘Twin Peaks’ and according to your bio, you’ve got one coming up with D-sisive as well. You’ve got a couple other ones And Teenburger?”

Ghettosocks: “Shout out to Jorun Bombay, again. Shout out to Timbuktu. We actually just finished the Teenburger album and are about to do some shows on the East Coast, and some in Quebec and Ontario. ‘Burger Time’ is the name of the album. But there is a lot of crews; Wolves with D-sisive, Muneshine, and Bix. It’s just different combinations, all under the Dropping Science umbrella. That’s our label. It’s more like an orphanage where dope artists go and we can get our music out.”

Chase: “The album is called ‘Burger Time.’ That reminds me of that old-school video game. You ever play that game?”

Ghettosocks: “Of course.”

Gamma Krush: “You had the salt to stop the hot dog from chasing you or something?”

Chase: “Yeah, a hot dog was chasing you around and you had to wlak over the bun and the toppings and they’d fall down as you built the burger.”

Ghettosocks: “Yeah, Burger Time.”

Chase: “It doesn’t compare with the new school games, does it?”

Ghettosocks: “It’s better. There is no comparison. It’s way better.”

Chase: “Do you still play video games?”

Ghettosocks: “Yeah, man. I like games. I have an arcade game in the middle of my living room that I never use. That’s how into games I am.”

Muneshine: “Except when you do to Timbuktu’s.”

Ghettosocks: “The game that I play all the time when I’m at Timbuktu’s is ‘Super Ghouls and Ghosts’ from Super NES. It’s a really unique game. It has easy, medium, hard, expert, and professional as a difficulty setting. So when you beat the game on professional, you have to beat the whole game, win, and then go back to the beginning find a bracelet and rescue the princess again. So they send you back to the beginning and it’s even harder.”

Muneshine: “And even on easy it’s hard.”

Chase: “I had a cheap version of that for my Commodore 64.”

Ghettosocks: “It’s probably ‘Ghosts and Goblins.’ It’s the earlier incarnation. Easily confused. Anyhow, you start the game again and you go all the way through again. You get to the final boss and you have to use a certain weapon. You can’t use your gold armor, heat-seeking crossbow. You have to use this stupid bracelet fireball. I have yet to beat it. Every time I’m in Toronto between shows or recording hot new bangers, I’m playing ‘Super Ghouls and Ghosts’ for Super Nintendo and I will beat it some day. Matter of fact, anybody out there who has beaten this game. Hit me up. Go to Ghettosocks.com and send me a screen cap. I want to see what happens when you beat the game.”

Gamma Krush: “Go on YouTube, they’ll show you the whole game play.”

Ghettosocks: “Oh really?”

Gamma Krush: “No matter how hard the game is. They have that stuff.”

Muneshine: “So we shouldn’t engage the listeners then? We should just go on YouTube.”

Gamma Krush: “Nah, engage us, please. Hit up Ghettosocks!”

Ghettosocks: “You’re blowing this for me Gamma Krush.”

Muneshine: “You blew it! Gamma Krush is krushing it!”

Gamma Krush: “So you really have an old school style arcade in your living room?”

Ghettosocks: “Go on to YouTube. Check out ‘Treat of the Day’ episodes. There are six episodes. All of them showing me playing an arcade game, and that’s an actual arcade game that is in my living room?”

Chase: “Let’s drop another track and come back and talk with you some more. I want to play ‘Ricochet’ because that’s a dope track.”

Ghettosocks: “Spin it!”

Chase; “All right, Gamma Krush is gonna spin that and we will be back with more from Ghettosocks, Muneshine, and DJ Irate here in Hess Village.

Download this show for free, stream it with the player below, and come back tomorrow to read the conclusion of this interview.

Read Part 3

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Ghettosocks Interview

2011-11-17T00:30:00.000-05:00

Chase: “All right everybody, this is Chase March here with Gamma Krush. We’re in Hess Village for an exclusive interview with Canadian hip-hop legend, Ghettosocks. We also have Muneshine, and DJ Irate with us. You can download this show for free, stream it with the player below, or keep reading this transcript.

So, Ghettosocks, have you performed in Hamilton before?”

Ghettosocks: “I think this is my first time.”

Chase: “Beatbinjaz brought you through here. Very nice to see. You’ve been making a lot of noise recently. You won an East Coast Music Award. Congratulations on that.”

Ghettosocks: “Thanks, man.”

Chase: “That was off your ‘Treat of the Day’ album, a track you did with Edgar Allan Floe. How did you two come to work together?”

Ghettosocks: “I met Cesar Comanche, who is another member The Justus League, and we did some touring in Europe and Canada together. That brought me in touch with E.A. Floe and then we worked on a track. The rest is history. Award-winning music.”

Chase: “How did you fall in to hip-hop? You went to university for media arts, so was hip-hop a love of yours or did that grow out of your studies?”

Ghettosocks: “It was before. I went to school for a Plan B. Bring something to the art. Bring a skill set to it.”

Chase: “So when you were there, you just started doing shows and producing some of your own music.”

Ghettosocks: “Sometimes I do, make my own beats.”

Chase: “Can you tell us a bit about your production? What kind of gear you use? What kind of things you do in the studio?”

Ghettosocks: “It’s a secret. I don’t share that information with the public.”

Chase: “Who is handling some of your production now?”

Ghettosocks: “I got some beats from the DJ Ollie Teeba from The Herbaliser. Muneshine provides me with beats. Bix, my homeboy from Alpha Flight and Wolves. He did ‘Don’t Turn Around.’ Who else? Jorun Bombay, Halifax godfather of rap. Fresh Kils.”

Muneshine: “Rich Kidd.”

Ghettosocks: “Suff Daddy, Freddie Joachim, M-Phazes, DJ Spinna, Boombaptist. Lots of dudes throwing beats. Too many.”

Chase: “A lot of those cats are Canadian too. It’s nice to see that we have such talent here. Several years ago we didn’t have much of a scene here. Several artists now seem very supportive and work with each other here now.”

Ghettosocks: “Yeah.”

Chase: “I think we should drop your track, the one you earned an East Coast Music Award for.”

Ghettosocks: “’Don’t Turn Around!’ Let’s get into that!”

Chase: “We’ll spin that and come back for more with Ghettosocks in Hess Village, here in The Hammer!”

Chase: “All right! We’re back! That track is wicked! I love that track. So, you’ll be performing later tonight right here in Hes Village. How important is it to get out there and tour?”

Ghettosocks: “Very important. You gotta stay visible. This show was a kind of a last minute, more grassroots, less official thing. But I think it’s important to get out to places you haven’t been or haven’t played. We’re out here for the love and trying to reach people out in Hamilton and show them what time it is. So, it’s very important to get out there.”

Chase: “I remember the first time I saw you. It was in a music video on Much Music. It was J-Bru’s ‘Help, I’ve been Robbed!’ That track was hilarious. I think that track was the first taste of Ghettosocks for a lot of people. Was that your first appearance in a music video?”

Ghettosocks: “That was my first music video, yeah.”

Chase: “J-Bru is from Halifax and put out a pretty decent album last year under Classified’s label, ‘Half Life.’ There is quite a lot of quality music coming out of The ‘Fax.”

Ghettosocks: “Word up. Big ups to J-Bru. Big Ups to Jay Bizzy. Shout outs to the whole Backburner camp, the whole Half Life camp.

Chase: “Awesome! Let’s drop that video right now for the blog audience. This is a bonus that will not be on the radio or podcast. Special for the Silent Cacophony audience.”

Ghettosocks: “Let’s do it!”

Chase: “All right. This is J-Bru featuring Jay Bizzy and Ghettosocks. ‘Help I’ve Been Robbed’ and we’ll be back tomorrow with more of this exclusive interview with Ghettosocks from the pub patio of Ceilidah House in Hess Village. Stay tuned!”

Download this entire show for free right now, stream it with the player below,or come back to read the second part of this transcript tomorrow.

Read Part 2

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Page by Paige: The Book and The Soundtrack

2011-11-16T02:10:00.000-05:00

Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge really took me by surprise.

I have never marked up a comic book with this many sticky notes before. This book spoke to me on several different levels.

The main character is named Paige and she is a reluctant artist. When her family moves from Virginia to New York City, Paige finally surrenders to her desire to create art and buys a sketchbook. She keeps her art to herself for a variety of reasons. Eventually, she becomes comfortable displaying it and acknowledging that she really is an artist.

This graphic novel is beautifully illustrated in black and white sketches. It feels like it has been drawn by Paige herself and reads like her memoir. She plays with imagery and creates pictures that come to life, pictures that really capture her feelings, and even a few that illustrate a pun. It really is amazing how seamless the words and pictures are.

One cool thing about this book is the "Page by Paige Soundtrack" that is included in the back. Of course, it is just a list of songs that were either referenced in the book or have inspired Laura Lee Gulledge.

I was unfamiliar with most of the songs she listed. But since I enjoyed the book so much, I thought I'd seek them out. I then added a few songs that fit with the theme of the book to craft the first ever mixtape I've ever made based upon a comic book.

So here it is, Page by Paige: The Mixtape

You can download this mixtape for free.

The songs all blend into each other so you will not hear a song fade out. I divided the tape into 2 sides to keep the feel and vibe of the old-school mixtapes I used to make. This one, however, has a track for each song. There are 21 tracks and they will fit on a standard CD.

I hope you the music . . . and the book.

Need Something to Read?

Recommended Reads Archive (over two dozen of my favourite books)
Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card
Grease Monkey by Tim Eldred

Healthy Lunches that Kids Will Love

2011-11-15T01:31:00.000-05:00

Choosing and preparing healthy lunches that your kidswill actually enjoy can be quite a challenge. They have to be easy to make,portable, healthy and tasty?

That’s a tall order.

Fortunately, yourchildren aren’t likely to be gourmands who need a lot of variety for theirpalette, and a few basic lunch ideas can be modified with several varieties tocreate quick and healthy options. Here are a few simple ideas for healthylunches that your kids will actually enjoy:

Turkey Pinwheels

While kids might love anything that comes sandwiched between two slices of bread, most breads just add a lot of extra calories and carbs without the same nutritional punch. Experiment with creating tasty wraps that your kids will love for all the same reasons – delicious ingredients in a carby package and easy to eat.

Try out turkey pinwheels by spreading a bit of hummus or cream cheese on a small whole-wheat tortilla, then layer on slices or strips of turkey, lettuce, tomatoes and any other favorite ingredients. Roll up your wrap and cut into small rounds.For variations, try different sauces (though avoid anything that will make the wrap too soggy), meats, cheese and veggies. By rotating the ingredients you use, you can ensure that your child gets a variety of nutrients and doesn’t tire of the same old lunch

Pasta Salad

Pastas can also represent a lot of empty calories if you choose processed varieties made with white flour. Opt for whole wheat varieties and experiment with add-ins for a nutritious and delicious lunch. Whole wheat spirals or macaroni make a good base for a kid friendly lunch.

Add in a source of protein, like turkey, beans, tuna or cheese, then add in some vegetables such as peas or broccoli. Choose a light tomato-based sauce or one that uses olive oil and vinegar. Pair your pasta salad with other fun sides like apple slices, carrot sticks, cubes of cheese, or berries.

Smoothies

With the help of a thermos and an ice pack, smoothies can become a viable option for lunch time. Kids will love the creamy flavor and what feels like a “milk shake” or other dessert item, and parents can sneak in a lot of nutritional favorites when preparing the smoothie.

Start with a fruit base like bananas or strawberries; add water, milk or yogurt; and blend in a protein source (a dollop of peanut butter, some protein powder, or a quality yogurt).

You can make endless varieties by changing up the types of fruits you use and even by adding in veggies. If you have a high-powered blender, you can add veggies to a smoothie with fruits, and the taste of the veggies will be masked by the fruit. However, if you use dark vegetables, you might get a green smoothie, which kids could shy away from just because of its looks.

Bento Box

An easy kids’ favorite is a bento box, or a snack box. Choose favorites such as slices of cheese, cups of yogurt or cottage cheese, whole wheat crackers, deli meat slices, carrot sticks, grapes and other fruits, and more. The idea is to include a variety of finger foods that your child will enjoy eating with his hands. Be sure to include good sources of proteins, grains, and vegetables and fruits for a balanced meal.

There are many other kid-friendly lunches that can be made quickly and offer nutritious options – such as soups and stews, mini quiches and roll ups. Experiment with versions of favorites that your kids enjoy at home and focus on including a variety of nutrients.

What other kid-friendly lunches do you and your children enjoy?

Tell us in the comments!

Bio: Born and raised in North Carolina, Heather Green has worked as a fashion and beauty consultant as well as freelancing for various wedding, fashion, and health publications. She currently acts as the resident blogger for Online Nursing Degrees where she’s been researching lpn to bsn degrees as well as online msn degrees

Buzz and Praise (It is Time to Redefine Masculinity)

2011-11-14T10:11:00.001-05:00

I hope you had the chance to read my latest article over at The Word is Bond.

It's entitled "RE: DEFinition: Changing our Perception of Masculinity"

It's generated a little buzz and I'd like to share some if it here.

They called my post "genius,"

and Mariel Richards LOVED my article on the Word is Bond site.

She then wrote a post on her blog, Mariel's Fresh Start, about it.

She called it "a breath of fresh air"

and she also said that "the writing and message behind the article is amazing."

"One of my favourite quotes from her pieces isHip Hop music is wonderful, I love it, but anytime I pay enough attention to the lyrics, or I'm unlucky enough to catch a video, it does upset me. Why must this genre of music in particular be so unbelievably offensive? The link between hip hop and the black community in particular is seriously undermining the black feminist movement, but articles like this are helping to change that."

She then ends her post with "SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL ARTICLE"

I agree with her criticism about the article as well. She doesn't like the use of "our women" in it.

I have to point out here that the only time I used the phrase "our women" was in a direct quote. Mariel is absolutely right when she says, "if you're trying to break the problem of women being seen as the sexual property of men, don't use possessives"

We have a long way to go in hip-hop music and in the feminism movement. A lot of people probably don't think so. We don't often think of these issues within our music and culture. I'm glad we've had this discussion and that it has sparked a few posts, Tweets, or reblogs as well.

Thanks for the support. I really appreciate it!

A Visual Tour of Lambeth Centennial Park

2011-11-14T02:17:00.000-05:00

Lambeth is a small town just south of London, Ontario.

Today, we will be going on a Photographic Tour of Lambeth Centennial Park.

This park really is something different. It has unique playground equipment including this skateboarding type ride. You stand on the black platform, hold on to the handle and swing yourself to the left and to the right to simulate riding a skateboard on a half pipe.

There is a nice trail that runs along a soccer field. There is also an arena and a public library on the grounds.

The trail then heads across a small ravine.

I love this long bridge. It turns at sharp angles and doesn't resemble any other bridge I've come across in any of my trail runs.

These photos are from earlier this summer. This is usually just a small stream.

You can see how much rain we had earlier this summer. The entire forest floor was flooded.

The trail opens up and we can see all sorts of plant life around us.

This little pond is very peaceful. If you follow the trail past it, you will come upon the suburbs. You can run around the block and back through the Royal Canadian Legion to make this a decent sized running route.

I hope you have enjoyed this visual tour.

Photography by Dana Gill

More Photographic Tours

NaNoWriMo Update (Part 1 - The Set Up)

2011-11-13T15:35:00.001-05:00

It is Sunday night, day 13 of National Novel Writing Month.

I was planning on writing a post every week about my progress but I simply haven't had the time.

It's tough writing 1,700 words a day for two weeks straight.

But I've done it each and every single day so far this month.

I've been giving updates on Twitter, but thought I'd give you a quick update here as well.

As of right now, my novel is

70 pages
7 Chapters
22,114 words

I feel like I am off to a pretty good start.

I just closed off Part 1 of the book a.ka. The Set Up.

This first portion of the novel was all about establishing the characters and showing what is at stake. I think this portion may be a bit long right now. There are things I should probably cut out of the final manuscript. I was hoping to close this act in 50 pages or so, but I can tighten it all up during the revision stage. Right now, I just have to keep hammering on.

Here's a brief summary of what my book is about.

Eli Thomas keeps to himself. He stays at home most of the time and creates elaborate structures out of Lego blocks. His world is turned upside down when his nine year old neighbour discovers his art creations and helps him break out of his self-imposed isolation. But is Eli ready to get outside of the blocks? And is the world ready for a socially awkward Lego artist?

Next up, is Part 2 a.k.a. The Hero's Response. When I finish this section, I will write the second update for NaNoWriMo.

Thank you to everyone who has cheered me along on this journey. I really appreciate it.

DOPEfm's Podcast and Archives Need a New Home

2011-11-13T02:48:00.000-05:00

DOPEfm.mypodcast.com has been our podcast provider now for years.

We have hundreds of shows . . .

dating all the way back to November 2008.

It's been comforting to know that the shows are online and accessible at any time. Unfortunately, I got this email earlier this month.

We must regretfully inform you that effective December 1, 2011, MyPodcast.com will cease all operations. Due to the current business climate, our current revenues can no longer cover the operational costs associated with hosting and serving the large amount of podcasts avialable on the site. We would like to thank all our podcasters and listeners for their years of support in making MyPodcast one of the most popular podcast hosting sites on the web.

Effective December 1, 2011, all podcasts currently hosted on the site will become permanently deleted and unavailable for download. For this reason, we strongly encourage all of our podcasters who do not have locally stored copies of their recordings to please take the time to download and save them from the site. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide ANY recordings on or after December 1, 2011, as they will have been permanently deleted from our storage servers.
Once again, we would like to thank everyone for using the site over the years, and wish you all the best of luck with your podcasts in the future!

- Regards, MyPodcast Team

That basically means that the DOPEfm podcast will be deleted.

We are looking for a new podcast provider. We hope that you've enjoyed our shows and hope that you will continue to enjoy the new episodes each and every Saturday night. We promise that new episodes of DOPEfm will be available to you as a free download.

However, if you want to enjoy the shows that are in our archive, you will need to . . .

start downloading the podcasts now before the disappear.

It really is a shame that this amazing podcast provider is shutting down. They have been good to DOPEfm for the last four years.

Thanks for listening to us for the past eight years.

DOPEfm will continue broadcasting from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario each and every Saturday night. We will also figure out a way to continue the podcast with brand new episodes. It's a shame that this rich archive of shows will disappear soon.

Go to the site

- http://dopefm.mypodcast.com

and enjoy the archives while you still can.

They will be gone come December 1st.

Redefining What It Means to Be a Man

2011-11-12T09:02:00.001-05:00

Today, I have a guest post on the website "The Word is Bond."

It's featured in this month's "Food for Thought" column.

The article is entitled "RE: DEFinition - Changing our Perception of Masculinity in Hip-Hop"

If you are on Tumblr - please go click on the heart emblem at the top right corner to "like it" and then click "reblog" to share it with your followers too.

You can also go to their Facebook page and click "like" as well.

Or go to mine.

If you're on Twitter, or Google+, you can use the buttons at the bottom of this post to share it as well.

Thanks for showing me support.

This is an important topic to discuss when it comes to hip-hop music and culture. We don't often stop to consider our roles in this culture.

It’s time for us to redefine what it means to be a manin hip-hop music. We can show vulnerability. We can stop villainizing thefeminine. We can show our wives, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers in a positivelight. We can do a lot more than what we have been doing.

I hope you enjoy the article. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Please leave a comment below.

DJ Charlie Brown

2011-11-12T02:57:00.000-05:00

Chase: "I'm here with Canadian Single of the Year and Toronto DJ of the Year nominee Charlie Brown. How's it going, man?"

Charlie: "I'm good. It's a beautiful feeling out here."

Chase: "It definitely is. It's nice to see this celebration of what's behind the scenes. It's not just about the artist and the person on the mic."

Charlie: "It's unity. It kind of brings everyone together for one night."

Chase: "Is there anyone here that you are a major fan of and are just hyped that they are here walking around?"

Charlie: "I saw Maestro. Maestro Fresh Wes is in the building. He's a legend to hip-hop."

Chase: "We wouldn't be here without him."

Charlie: "Oh, for sure!"

Chase: "So which of the four elements of hip-hop are you involved in? Do you do more than one?"

Charlie: "I throw parties, I deejay parties, I co-produce records, I structure records, I tour. I do it all!"

Chase: "Very cool! What kind of gear do you have?"

Charlie: "I got ProTools, gotta have that. Turntables, got the mixer, Beats by Dre headphones, Mac computer. Everything is all set, ya know?"

Chase: "Any artists you'd really like to work with that you haven't had the chance to yet?"

Charlie: "I saw Melanie Fiona. That's very big for our city. I'd love to work with her in the future. But it's guys like you guys that make it happen. The radio, with the support from everybody. It's all unity. Everybody working together to get there."

Chase: "We're an underground hip-hop show - all volunteers. We just do this for the love. I know you get paid but it definitely sounds like you're doing it for the love too."

Charlie: "The love is first. If the love goes away then it just becomes a job. But definitely, it's love. Creating your own name and doing things and being different will separate you from everyone else."

Chase: "Thanks a lot, and best of luck tonight!"

More from the 2010 Stylus DJ Awards

DOPEfm Transformers Themed Hip-Hop

2011-11-10T02:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest mixset I did for DOPEfm.

You can download it now for free.

This is a limited time offer!

Seriously, the podcast provider we have been using for years will be shutting down operations at the end of this month.

I interviewed Ghettosocks earlier this year and he provided the drop you hear at the start of this mix. I just ran with it. I put the theme music from the original Transformers cartoon show behind his words and then mixed in the Transformers themed "Roll Out."

You can download this show for free, or stream it with the player below.

And stay tuned to this blog for the transcript of the interview we did with Canadian hip-hop legend Ghettosocks. It will be featured in three parts next week.

Enjoy!

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Chasing Content - November 2008

2011-11-09T01:45:00.000-05:00

Let's jump in the TARDIS and go back in time.

You can read all of the posts from November 2008 without even having to leave your time machine, computer, or mobile device.

What can I say? I aim to please here on Silent Cacophony.

Check out these great posts from only a few years back.

Inspiration from Television - It's not always mindless entertainment, sometimes a TV show or even a line of dialog can inspire you to do something more.

What Does it All Mean? - Sometimes our expressions or phrases that we innocently toss around, aren't so innocent. It can be eye-opening when you see a phrase for what it really is.

Say No to Gift Cards - They are not a good idea for Christmas gifts, and here's why.

Fundraising in Schools - I really don't like fundraising in the schools. I try not to ask the parents of my students for money. I always feel guilty when I have to. School should be free for all.

A Wrong Can't Be Right, Can It? - I fear we've gotten too good at rationalizing things. We all do things that we know are wrong. Why?

Thanks for Chasing Content with me.

I'm still working on making these "Best of" posts for every month this blog has been in operation. This feature normally runs at the start of every month but I need a few extra posts every now and then to catch up.

Please feel free to comment on any post that you enjoy.

I'd love to hear from you.

File Folder Seating Plans

2011-11-08T02:13:00.000-05:00

I just came across a novel way to make seating plans. It's so simple and will save you a lot of time. I can't believe I didn't know of this method earlier.

I can't tell you how many times I have had to write a seating plan over the years. I like to rearrange the desks and seating positions in my classroom quite often. As such, I have had to draw up a new plan each and every time.

Here's a time-saving tip that all teachers will appreciate.

You can make a file folder seating plan that won't require you to write your seating plan over and over again.

Here's how . . .

All you need is a pad of sticky notes, a marker, and a file folder.

Simply make a stickly note for each member of your class. Place the sticky notes inside of the file folder in such a way that it forms the seating arrangement of the classroom.

Now whenever you move a student or change seating arrangements, all you need to do is go back to the folder and move the sticky notes.

I really like this new way of making a seating plan. It doesn't require you to draw a new classroom map every time. All you need to do is move the sticky notes around. And, if you keep on top of this, you will always have an up-to-date seating plan.

Seating plans are great for supply teachers, guest speakers, or teachers that come in to your class on a rotary basis. Just knowing a student's name can really cut down on any behaviour problems that may arise. Take it from me, names are powerful. Students respond to their own name a lot better than they do to the generic classroom instructions such as "boys and girls."

So go ahead and make a file folder seating plan.

If you have any great ideas you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email to myname (at) gmail (dot) com, send me a message on Twitter, and you can contribute a guest post.

More Teaching Tips

Teaching Tip Archive (over 100 useful tips, lessons, and ideas)
Seating Plans (and why you should switch them often)
Student Numbers (give each student a number and get things organized)
Rules to Live By (we should teach these social skills too)

Komoka Side Trail

2011-11-07T03:45:00.000-05:00

Komoka Provincial Park is one my favourite places to go for a run. It is located just minutes from London, Ontario. I profiled it before but I discovered a brand new section of the trail last week, and it is even more beautiful.

That's why it's time for another Visual Running Tour.

I've only ever ran the white main trail and then looped up to a unmarked side trail.

This is a great route to run because there are several hills. It also loops up to an unmarked side trail to form a nice loop that begins and ends at the Oxford Street entrance.

The above map, shows a second parking area off of Gideon Street.

That is where we start our tour today.

From the parking lot, there are two different ways to start on the trail. Both of them have blue trail markers and it really doesn't matter which way you go since they loop up to the main trail and then again to each other.

This section of the forest was absolutely beautiful. It was quiet and peaceful as well.

The trail then opens up into a meadow . . .

before merging with the main white trail.

I had never been this far down the white trail before.

I like how it brings your right along the Thames River . . .

and across several bridges.

These stairs came about 19 minutes in to my run.

Those steep stairs might tire some people out, but I had no use for this bench.

I did stop to admire the scenery. I took about 40 pictures along this 27 minute run.

Here is where the main trail meets back up with the blue one.

It was about a kilometer back to the parking lot, through the woods, and then the meadow once again.

What a great run!

I can't believe that I have never been to this section of the trail before. It's been here the whole time. A second great running route that is completely different. Love it!

More Running Tours

Avril Lavigne - The Black Star Tour (Live)

2011-11-04T03:17:00.000-05:00

Avril Lavigne played the John Labatt Centre on October 22, 2011.

It really was an amazing concert.

I wanted to be able to relive that show over and over again so I put together this mix CD. I was able to find all of the songs she performed at the JLC that night. Here is the tracklist,

I pieced together the material from a few different sources so it isn't a perfect representation of the London, Ontario concert. But it is pretty close.

You can download this concert for free. It will fit on a standard CD and it is tracked so you can skip songs or just play it straight through and enjoy reliving the concert.

Enjoy!