4 posts from October 2008

This is truly an amazing time for the Roman Catholic Church.  Especially, in modern times, it's exciting to see the actual procedure of a Saint beatification in process.  Before that, we witnessed the passing of a pope and the election of a new pope.

While it's a tough time, especially in the United States, to be a Christian, I find comfort in the fact that there are still many people in this world with whom I share the moral values that religion provides.  Yes, there are many dark periods throughout the history of the Church.  It's unfortunate that these dark periods seem to plague all that is good and beautiful about Christianity.

I could probably go on forever about this issue, but I won't.  Check out the story on the current status of Pope Pius' beatification process here.

Once in awhile, I re-discover a musical gem.  This time around, I've gotten reconnected with Eldra Patrick Debarge.  Some of you may know him as El Debarge.  In a popular sense, this artist is known for his samples on lengendary rap/hip hop hits such as One More Chance (B.I.G.) and I Ain't Mad At 'Cha (Tupac).  Unfortunately, too many kids nowadays don't know where these original samples came from.  I've grown tired of educating the young bucks, of teaching them to dig deeper into their music (if in fact they claim to be serious about their music).  I have no problem with those that enjoy music for the sheer enjoyment of music.  There's just a serious distortion these days between performers and artists.  This goes for all genres.  Try replacing the background track on one of these hits with a simple kick drum and snare loop.  Watch "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" to see what I'm talking about.

Anyways, I digress.  The current gem that I've re-discovered is "I Like It" by El Debarge.  This man was a true artist.  You could almost say that he was the Stevie Wonder of his day.  If you listen to his music, he really did have that Stevie vibe, mixed in with a little more late 70s funk with an impeccable and original sense of melody.  But even considering all of these factors - great song and melody writing ability, a talent for piecing together chord progressions - the one thing that sets El Debarge apart from similar talents, such as Rod Temperton and the like, was the voice.  This guy had the complete package.  He had a voice that could not be duplicated, no matter how many performers were trying to bite his style.  And he really worked his vocal abilities when it came to developing melodies.  Of course, the song would later be samples by none other than Grand Puba.  At least, he kept the title.

All triathlon/training blogs have been moved to:
http://nrodrigo.sweat365.com/

This space will now be reserved for random thoughts, like... why do sandwiches taste so much better when they are sliced in half diagonally?