It's Hip Hop Literature Time,Boys and Girls!

Some of you reading my blog may have notice the name Rhymeweaver popping up here and there every once in awhile.For those who do not know, dude's a,in his own words,a struggling rap artist hailing from Malaysia but currently studying in New Zealand (where the milk powder are melamine free) to be an English teacher. I met him in a friendster group for hip hop zealots,and RW, being the experienced rappuh that he is,taught us noobie rappuhs some tricks and shiznit on multiple syllable rhymes,recording techniques and other boring stuff to non-rappuhs.Anyway,I did a little post on his stuff awhile ago,and this will be another 2 cents worth on his new mixtape,The Rhymeweaver Presents THE MIXTAPE SERIES VOL. 1:Music From and Inspired by Classic Literature,or TRPTMSVOMFAIBCL, for short.Which is not exactly short.But I digress.

As the mouthful-of-a-title suggests,the mixtape contains 5 songs that took their sources from famous classic literature (well to some of you anyway),which includes Billy Shakespheare's Macbeth (Ambitions as a Rider),HP Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth (Night of the Deep Ones),and a couple of songs on the Holocaust and Hitler (Maybe RW read Mein Kampf as inspiration besides Maus),and one Persian poem,Layla and Majnun.OK,to be honest,I haven't read some of the original works before,so I cannot bitchfit and wail about how RW should omit or include certain parts of the original works into his songs.But not knowing in detail the classic literature could be a good thing since it won't spoil your experiencing RW's intriguing tales.But of course those who know the original work can easily relate to what RW is talking about.And now I have no idea what I am talking about.Anyways.

I remembered when I first encountered RW,he introduced himself as 'a rappuh that specializes in multis'.And this mixtape is sprinkled with multis all around,which IMHO is no small feat because the songs are basically stories told through rhymes,and every line that follows the previous must have a connection,therefore it is amazing that he can spit lines of multis that makes sense and does not interfere with the flow/plot of the story.With his vivid storytelling,fantasy worlds with eerie creatures,meticulous plans of murder and the horrors of genocide comes to life.

I did notice though that RW likes to end a lot of sentences with 'pair words' (well that's what my teacher calls it anyway)with the conjunction AND in the middle ,such as:
breathing and crying
good and faithful
bruised and painful
pain and hardship
corruption and evil
servants and friends
bitches and wife
spouse and his son
slow and hobbling
oval head and round ears
cold and rigid
etc etc...

I am not sure whether RW purposely use this type of rhyming or he wrote it without realizing it,I for one whore this technique to death when I was writing essays in secondary school,and personally I think pair words are excellent for describing scenarios and ..well all sorts of stuff.But it sounds kinda good on the ears lol.My favorite track off the mixtape is without a doubt Night of the Deep Ones (watup Jin!),where RW describes a creepy encounter between a man and some locals of a small town,which turns out to be bizarre hybrid fish-man creatures. RW told the story with such clarity that you can actually see the whole tale unfolds in your mind's eye.Not really feeling the love story though (The Eye of the World) since I am just a bitter cynical bastard.

For those who like classic literature told with a breath of fresh air,download this mixtape quick, or preview it here.I'm sure you won't regret it.For those who like dumb shit club songs,go download Nelly's new album and give this mixtape a miss.Another reason why you should at least give RW a try is because dude's a hardworking man; he actually included in the mixtape: the 5 songs,the lyrics,cover artwork,notes about the songs,the original works,RW's biography,RW's links, preview of his upcoming mixtape,link to feedback,AND a subscription.ALL FOR FREE. Respect,homie.

Lelaki Besi

I kid you not,chinese subtitle translated the movie's name to "The Man Who is Tough Like Iron".But that's not the point.The point is,this movie is cool.Like uber-cool.What's cooler than being cool?Iron muthafriggin' Man,that's what!One of the most fun superhero movies that I had watched.I will not bore you with the synopsis,most of you know it anyway,heck most of you may have even seen it anyway but who gives a crap cos I just wanna drooooooollllwsrfdsakf akf kafdsa fas minirfireanfianznv jnnfsadfnasd$^%$%#*&$^&*$E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Allright.Now that I had finally got that feeling of orgasmic euphoria off my chest,lets see what makes this movie so great.First,the casting.Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for the role of Tony Stark,and he does kinda resemble his comic-book counterpart,and he plays his part of a flamboyant-playboy-genius-gazillionaire-guy-with-glowing-lamp-in-chest well.I can't imagine anyone else pulling this off so effortlessly and naturally (look out for him in blackface in the upcoming Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller and sohai Jack Black).Then Gwyneth Paltrow as his secretary Miss Pepper Potts is likable and oh so adoring.Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes?ok la..but he didn't really get his shine in this movie,maybe the next one will focus on the relationship between him and Tony Stark.Jeff 'The Dude' Bridges is almost unrecognizable as Obadiah Stane,and as the main villain in the movie he's pretty convincing.

The plot was fast-paced,no dilly-dally,just straight away cut to the chase,intersected with some scenes that highlights the actors emotions and bla bla,but not too much to the point of being cheesy or dragging.The dialog is good,and Robert Downey Jr.'s improvisation and involvement in the script certainly liven up the movie("Please,no gang signs.I'm joking,throw it up").

The biggest attraction of the movie is,no doubt,the Iron Man suit of armor,which by far was the coolest shiznit I've seen on screen since Transformers.If this movie was made ten years ago,I would bet my ass that Iron Man would look like Robocop.In red and yellow.Scary.When Tony Stark suits up,the armor shown attaching together part by part was so painstakingly detailed that I nearly cried tears of joy.And the audience were all ohhhs and ahhhs.Words cannot describe how friggin cool the suit is,you just have to see it for yourself.

Fans of the comics will certainly spot some subtle references to the Marvel Universe and Iron Man comics,such as Stan Lee's cameo,a sly nod to Jim Rhodes' War Machine in the next Iron Man movie ("Next time,baby!!"),Obadiah Stane mentioning that by selling weapons he is a "War Monger",S.H.I.E.L.D.(dayummm didn't see that one coming)..did I missed out anything?

*SPOILERS..Kinda*
The movie was stopped halfway through the credits,so I missed a lil' something something.All around the world the internet forums were buzzing of a scene after the credits,where Tony Stark returns home to find someone sitting on his chair.A black bald man with an eye patch (played by a black bald man who used to fool around with light sabers,and was on a plane with "muthafuckin' snakes")introduces himself to him as the head of something-something,and ask him to join the "something-something".Marvel fanboys will know what I'm talking about.Go watch this shit.You won't be disappointed.Now waiting for what's Coming up:Man in mask and cowl versus man in white face and green hair,and a big green freak vs (what else?) another big green freak(No its not Shrek 4,you lovable gullible poopoo).