PUDGY PELLUCID

"Niggas Bleed" translation

2010-04-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is an attempt to write a formal interpretation of the rap song "Nigga's Bleed" from the album Life After Death (released on March 25, 1997) by posthumous rapper Notorious B.I.G., written by Christopher Wallace, Sean Combs, S. Jordan, Nasheim Myrick and produced by Nashiem Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan (source: Wikipedia). Notorious B.I.G. was murdered on March 9, 1997.

As an avid listener of rap/hip-hop while growing up, I've often wondered about the way our culture idolizes rappers even though their lifestyle choices are seemingly unwise and unpleasant. It took me several hours to carefully scrutinize and type-out my own interpretation of this song. I suppose this is more of a translation of sorts—a translation from slang/ebonics into “standard”/colloquial English. Nonetheless, I am satisfied with this final product. Any feedback on my interpretation is greatly appreciated.

"Niggas Bleed" by Notorious B.I.G. Lyrics taken from www.sing365.com, www.lyricsfreak.com, and www.metrolyrics.com.

I strong encourage the reader to listen to this song first before reading my interpretation. Here are a couple youtube.com links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mBilft7RiE

Notorious B.I.G. lyrics in black.

My personal interpretation in red.

VERSE ONE

Today's agenda, got the suitcase up in the Sentra
Go to room 112, tell em Blanco sent ['cha]

[For today’s daily activities, I have a suitcase inside a compact Nissan Sentra and plan to go to hotel room number 112 and tell whoever is there that Blanco sent me in order to carry-out a business transaction.]

Feel the strangest, if no money exchanges
I got these kids in ranges, believe them niggaz brainless
All they tote is stainless,

[Based on my gut intuition, if I feel uneasy about this drug deal and, particularly, if no money gets exchanged, then reckless individuals inside Range Rover sport-utility vehicles will murder the criminal business associates involved in the deal. To accentuate my seriousness, these reckless individuals will be in possession of stainless steel hand guns.]

You just remain as calm as possible, make the deal go through
If not, here's 12 shots, we know how you do
Please make yo killings clean, slugs up in between
They eyes, like True Lies, Kill em and flee the scene

[I am reminded by my gang leader to remain as calm as possible during the drug deal. If the deal is not successful then violence is an acceptable solution, specifically the use of 12 bullets to murder the other criminal associates during the drug deal. This is how I carry about my business. I am politely asked to kill in an efficient and precise manner by aiming between the eyes while making an analogous reference to the movie True Lies, in which the characters also murder people and flee crime scenes.]

Just bring back the coke or the cream
Or else, ya life is on the shelf, we mean this Frank

[I have been requested to acquire the cocaine or the money if this situation were to arise. If I do not, (now referring to The Black Frank White), then the other criminal associates will likely attempt to murder me. This is a serious threat.]

Them cats we fuckin wit put bombs in yo moms gas tank

[To further the importance of this death threat, my gang leader specifically mentions that these other criminal associates will attempt to murder my mother by placing home-made explosives in her automobile gasoline tank with the intentions of exploding her car while she drives (note: I believe the posthumous rapper is making reference to the movie Scarface, specifically, to the scene when the character Tony Montana is requested to explode a vehicle containing wife, kids, and an important politician).]

Let's get this money baby, they shady, we get shady
Dress up like ladies and burn em with [dirty] three-eighties

[So, let’s collect the drug money and, if we suspect that their intentions on the drug deal are disingenuous, then we will be disingenuous as well. We will deceive the other gang associates by disguising ourselves as women and shoot them with street-bought Colt or Bersa .380 caliber compact pistols.]

Then they come to kill our babies, that's all out
I got gats that blow the wall out, clear the mall out

[If the other gang associates attempt to murder our infant babies, then this will greatly infuriate me and I will have to use my entire offensive gun arsenal to murder them. My gun arsenal includes weapons that cause extensive damage to building walls and also cause people in shopping malls to flee.]

Fuck the fallout, word to Stretch, I bet they pussy

[I don’t care much for the undesirable consequences that result incidentally from a situation or event by my actions. To be honest, I am willing to wager money that the criminal assailants on the other end of the drug deal are frightened by what may ensue during the exchange.]

The seven digits push me, fuckin real, here's the deal
I got a hundred bricks, fourteen-five a piece
Enough to cop Six buy the house on the beach
Supply the peeps with Jeeps, brick apiece, capiche?

[The amount of money involved in the exchange, which includes monetary values up to seven digits (e.g., a million), greatly motivates me. This is an unpretentious statement. From a business perspective, I have a total of 100 bricks of cocaine valued at $14,500. In this particular drug deal, if I sell all 100 bricks that would be enough to purchase a 6-series BMW vehicle and a house located on the beach (Note: 100 bricks X $14,500 = $1,450,000). I will supply my gang associates with off-road Chrysler Jeep vehicles each transporting one brick of cocaine. Do you understand?]

Everybody gettin cream no one considered a leach
Think about it now, thats damn near one point five

[Every one of my associates will be well-paid from this successful drug deal; therefore, no one associate feels he will be short-changed due to the total amount of investors involved. Considering the math carefully, I can achieve an income of nearly $1.5 million dollars.]

I kill em all I'll be set for life Frank pay attention
These motherfuckers is henchmen, renegades
If you die they still get paid, extra probably

[However, secretly, [the posthumous rapper now thinking to himself] if I kill all my associates, then I will attain enough money to be wealthy for the rest of my life. My gang boss tells me [Frank White] to pay attention: these are reckless and rebellious members of a criminal gang and, if you [Frank White], were to die from this drug exchange the gang investors would probably attain more money than if you were alive.]

Fuck a robbery, I'm the boss
Promise you won't rob em, I promise
But of course you know I had my fingers crossed

[My gang boss does not desire to rob these other criminal associates and requests that I promise him to honor this request. I promise them I won’t, but hypocritically, I lie to my gang boss by crossing my fingers while promising.]

CHORUS

Niggaz bleed just like us
Picture me bein scared
of a nigga that breathe the same air as me

[A dehumanized African American bleeds just like everyone else. I will not be frightened by a dehumanized African American because he is just as human as I am since he/she breathes the same air that I breathe.]

Niggaz bleed just like us
Picture me bein shook
We can both pull burners, make the motherfuckin beef cook

[A dehumanized African American bleeds just like everyone else. I will not be frightened if a situation occurred where I was required to use a pistol to defend myself.]

Niggaz bleed just like us
Picture a nigga hidin'
my life in that man hands, while he just decidin'

[A dehumanized African American bleeds just like everyone else. There is always the chance that a dehumanized African American will hide to murder me and, unfortunately, because this is the lifestyle I choose, my survival is based on his decisions.]

Niggaz bleed just like us
I'd rather go toe to toe with all of y'all
Runnin ain't in my protocol

[A dehumanized African American bleeds just like everyone else. I would prefer to carry-out violence face to face rather than flee from a precarious situation.]

VERSE TWO

Since it's on, I call my nigga Arizona Ron
From Tuscon, [push] the black Yukon

Usually had the slow grooves on, mostly rock the Isley

Stupid as a young'un, chose not the moves wisely

[Since the drug deal has been agreed upon by both parties, I call my dehumanized African American friend Ron from Tucson, AZ. Ron drives a large, black sport-utility vehicle, namely, a Yukon. Typically, Ron prefers to play slow, R&B, American music by lead singer Ronald Isley of the group The Isley Brothers (Interesting fact: This man and I share the same birthday). Ron is a young, irresponsible, and reckless individual who has made some unwise choices in his life (Note: I believe the posthumous rapper is making a reference to a Ronald Isley song, but unclear which one.).]

Sharper with game, him and his crooks, [caught a Jux]
Heard it was sweet, bout three-fifty a piece
Ron bought a truck, two bricks laid in the cut
His peeps got [buck], got locked the fuck up

[At one point in the past, Ron and his criminal associates happened upon a favorable opportunity to commit a robbery. The monetary gain from this particular robbery was very rewarding with a gain of approximately $350,000 dollars for each individual involved. Ron purchased a truck and stored two cocaine bricks in a safe location. During the robbery, Ron’s criminal associates became careless, which resulted in prison time for Ron.]

That's when Ron vanished, came back, speakin Spanish
Lavish habits, two rings, twenty carats

[At this point, Ron was virtually non-existent from illegal business activities. But during his time in prison he learned how to speak Spanish, which evidently, proved to be a beneficial skill upon re-emerging into illegal business activities. The result was a luxurious lifestyle, which included the possession of two twenty-carat rings.]

Here's a criminal, nigga made America 's Most

[Ron is an illegal businessman and a dehumanized African American who harms innocent people with dangerous products or a ruined environment and things that belong to other people. His criminal activities have warranted an appearance on the American TV show, “America’s Most Wanted”.]

Killed his baby mother brother, slit his throat
The nigga got bagged with the toast[,]
[w]eeded, took it to trial, beat it

[Ron slit the throat of his brother-in-law. Ron was arrested for gun possession while high on marijuana, but acquitted at the trial.]

Now he feel he undefeated, he mean it
Nothing to lose, tattooed around his gun wounds
Everything to gain, embedded in his brain

[Ron believes he is an invincible person who has nothing to lose by dying, which is a statement he has tattooed around various gun wounds on his body. Possession of money and power is prominent priority in Ron’s life.]

And me I feel the same for this money [ya dyin']
Specially if my daughter cryin, I ain't lyin
Y'all know the [science]

[Admittedly, I share Ron’s passion for money, especially if my daughter is crying. I am not lying about this. You should all understand the system of knowledge I am referring to that is an attempt to understand the world around us through observation of natural phenomenon.]

CHORUS

VERSE THREE

We agreed to go ['in'] shootin is silly
Because niggaz could be hidin in showers with Mac [milli's]

[We agreed that impulsively shooting bullets at the other criminal associates, as a means of robbery, is an impractical strategy. This is because dehumanized African Americans could possibly hide inside bathroom showers with MAC-10 submachine guns (Note: Scarface movie reference).]

So I freaked em, the telly manager was Puerto Rican
Gloria, from Astoria, I went to war with her
peeps in ninety-one, stole a gun from my workers
And they took drugs, they tried to jerk us
We blaze they place, long story

[When we arrive at the hotel, a Puerto Rican hotel manager named Gloria from Astoria (Queens), New York became apprehensive. I have had a violent history with Gloria and her criminal associates, specifically in 1991, where they stole a gun and drugs from one of my criminal subordinates, in an attempt to make my gang appear stupid and inferior. As a result, we shot bullets at the place where they frequently reside. This is a long story that I will not continue to tell.]

Glo seen my face, got shook, thought a nigga was comin for the safe

[Again, when Gloria the Puerto Rican hotel manager saw my face she became apprehensive and thought I had arrived to steal possessions from her safe.]

Now she breakin, shut up, 112, what's shakin
A Jamaican, some bitches I swear, they look gay

[I interrogated Gloria to reveal information regarding the other criminal associates involved in the drug deal. Eventually, Gloria revealed there was a Jamaican and two unpleasant lesbians in hotel room 112.]

In a black Range Rover, been outside all day
If it's trouble let me know, I'll be on my way
Please, I got kids to feed, I done seen you make niggaz bleed

Nightmares this bitch don't need

[I observe a suspicious black Range Rover vehicle parked outside the hotel, which appears to have been there all day. If the criminals associated with the Range Rover interfere with the drug deal in some way I will have to address them. I have children to feed. I have seen dehumanized African Americans bleed, which is a terrifying dream that this unpleasant woman does not need to bear witness to.]

Ron, get the gasoline, this spot, we bout to blow this
get the cash before the cops and Range Rover cats notice

Room 112, right by the staircase, perfect place

When they evacuate, they meet they fate

[I tell Ron to grab the suitcases from the hotel quickly enough so police officers and the criminal associates inside the Range Rover do not have enough time to confront us before we leave while setting fire to the hotel with gasoline. Furthermore, once I start the fire we will stand on the staircase next to room 112, which is a perfect vantage point to shoot from when the occupants of hotel room 112 evacuate.]

Ron pass the gasoline, the nigga passed me kerosene
Fuck it, its flame-able, my hunger is unexplainable

[I tell Ron to hand me a can of gasoline, but instead hands me a can of kerosene. Based upon my knowledge of paraffin and combustible hydrocarbons, I deduce that kerosene is just as flammable as gasoline. This logic is furthered by my unexplainable hunger to act violently.]

Strike the match, just what I expected

The dread kid ejected in seconds
And here come two, opposite sexes, one black, one Malaysian

I strike a match and ignite the kerosene, while also anticipating a Jamaican man, a black woman, and a Malaysian woman running out of the room to escape the flames.

We in the hallway waitin patient
As soon as she hit the door we start blastin
I saw her brains hit the floor, Ron laughin, I swear to God
I hit Maxi Priest at least twelve times in the chest
Spin-t around, shot the chink in the breast
She cryin, headshots put her to rest

[We wait in the hallway patiently for the occupants of hotel room 112 to run out of the room. We begin to open fire as they escape the flames. A woman ran out of the hotel room and was shot in the head which resulted in her brain spilling-out onto the floor. Ron thought this to be humorous. I make a pledge to the monotheistic Christian god while shooting at a Maxi Priest-looking Jamaican man with dreadlocks (note: reference to Max Alfred "Maxi" a reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent), in the chest area with 12 bullets. I then spun around to shoot the Asian woman in her breast. The woman began to cry. To end her misery, I shoot her dead by firing a bullet into her head.]

Pop open the briefcases, nothin but Franklin faces
The spot's hot, sprinklers, alarm systems
Thats when other guests start to slip in

[We open the briefcases and observe several $100 US bills. The hotel is physically and metaphorically hot due to the fire and the violent events that have ensued. The hotel sprinklers and alarm systems are activated. Hotel guests begin to enter the hallway to exit the hotel due to the fire.]

It's time for us to get to dippin
I know them niggaz in the Range is on they way up
Flippin, pistol grippin, I load the clip in
The hallway, got real loud and crowded

[At this point, we decide to leave the hotel. I suspect the dehumanized African Americans from the Ranger Rover have been alerted to the flames and gunfire and have entered the hotel to intervene with the drug deal. The hallway has become very loud and crowded with hotel guests.]

They walked right past us, I don't know how they allowed it
The funny thing about it, through all the excitement
They Range got towed, they double parked by a hydrant
Stupid motherfuckers.

[To my astonishment, the criminal associates from the Range Rover did not notice when we passed them by in the loud and crowed hallway among the other hotel guests. Ironically, during this unusual violent activity, the Range Rover was towed away due to illegally double-parking in front of a fire hydrant. The Range Rover criminal associates are mean, despicable people who lack ordinary quickness and keenness of mind.]

* Note: For unknown reasons, the fonts, colors, and spacing seem to get "lost" when I publish the post. I've tried a few times to make the font the same and to make the entire piece appear orderly, but it just won't happen.

What is the difference between a headache and a migraine?

2009-03-17T21:10:00.001-07:00

One day I was asked the above-referenced question. To my frustration, I did not know the answer completely. So I kindly told this person that I will get back to them. Subsequently, in my opinion, being a good person in life means keeping your word. Word is bond (yo).

This is a semi-complicated question. I think the misconceptions around headache and migraine,prevalent in our society, has continually provoked this confusion. I’m going to strive to answer this without going absolutely over-board with information. Most of my answer is taken directly from Dr. Cowan’s book “Keeler Migraine Method”. This is my most current headache doctor located in Ojai, CA.

Headache is simply pain the head.

Migraine, as defined by The International Headache Society, is “a one-sided headache that is throbbing, moderate or severe, and associated with nausea and/or vomiting or sensitivity to light and/or sound, lasting from four to seventy-two hours.” For me personally, migraine can occur on one or both sides of my head pretty much randomly. I can’t recall ever vomiting, but I do experience nausea. My migraines last anywhere from 4 to 12 hours on average and can become extremely severe. During severe headaches the only thing I can do is lie down in a dark, quiet room, not move, and go to sleep. The pain is exacerbated by almost any stimuli. Furthermore, I have been diagnosed with tension-type headaches as well, which is just another type of headache similar to migraine.

All headaches have one thing in common: they all cause a particular nerve pathway in the head to fire. The trigeminal nerve sends pain messages from the face, head, sinuses, and lining of the brain into the brain for processing. If a tumor presses on the blood vessels of the lining of the brain, this pressure will activate the trigeminal nerve, which will then send a pain message to the brain and create a headache. If the nerve itself happens to have an overly sensitive response threshold, the result is the same: the brain gets a pain message, and the headache will feel like a migraine, a perceived pain resulting from stimulation of nerves in the trigeminal pathway.

[Figure 1. Sideview of homo-sapien showing trigeminal nerve pathway in yellow. Source: Wikipedia.org]

So, migraine is a particular type of headache. It is a common misconception that a “big”, severe headache is a migraine. However, migraines can range from mild to severely painful. They are the most common type of headache. Another misconception is what many people think of different kinds of headaches are actually different triggers for the same kind of headache: migraine.

Whether the pain is triggered by food, sinus congestion, or tension, [in my case: bright light, skipping meals, continuous loud noise, stress, alcohol, oversleeping, insomnia, too much junk food, exhaust, cigarette smoke, and other smells, too much caffeine, lack of exercise, and others…] it is still the trigeminal nerve that communicates that pain to the brain. Complicating an already complex picture, the rare “sinus headache” and the very common migraine can share a number of features, which can complicate both the diagnosis and the treatment of these headaches. This is also true of tension-type headaches.

The overwhelming majority of headache sufferers have headaches because of a genetic predisposition to migraines. Migraine is not psychological, emotional, or “mental”. Migraine is real – as real as diabetes, asthma, or congestive heart failure. My dad always liked to tell me that I’ll just grow out of them just as he did. I’ve realized this is a poor approach to migraine. There is no cure for migraine. No cure-all pill exists. Instead, migraine has to be treated by identifying your own set of unique triggers, lifestyle change, preventative techniques, and treatment (i.e. rescue medication).

Migraines begin – often with a triggering event from outside the brain – and then progress to a pain cycle that is quite independent of external (or extra-cerebral, internal) stimuli. In other words, there appear to be two phases to a migraine headache, the first tied to the brain’s response to the trigger(s) and the second involving a central (in the brain) feedback loop that perpetuates the pain, even after the trigger has been removed.

Mounting evidence indicates that headache suffers’ brains are different from other people’s brains, even between headaches and even when there is no hint of a headache. According to Dr. Cowan's research, the composition of spinal fluid in migraine sufferers is different from that of people who don’t easily get headaches, and this means that their brains are, too. For example, prostaglandin D2, which is involved in sleep, is markedly increased in migraineurs’ spinal fluid between headaches, and it spikes even higher during a headache. Omega-3 fatty acids are lower during migraines, and sodium levels are abnormal as well. Most migraineurs will also attest to the fact that even between headaches they feel more sensitive to certain stimuli such as fluorescent lights and loud sounds.

So the acute pain may just be the loudest expression of a chronic condition. To change your thinking on this, consider whether you would ask “When does a diabetes start?” or “Do you have an asthma?” Certainly, diabetics and asthmatics always have these conditions but can have crises or “attacks” when things get out of control. The same is probably true for migraine sufferers. This important notion changes the way we think about living with the condition. For example, even when things are under great control, diabetics will not go for Twinkies unless they have their insulin close by. Similarly, a migraineurs, even between headaches, should be mindful of the triggers that can erupt into a migraine crisis.

In conclusion, a headache is simply a perceived pain resulting from the stimulation of nerves in the trigeminal pathway. It is no more mysterious than arm pain from touching a hot frying pan or foot pain from stubbing your toe. But headaches are different. Often, the causes are less obvious, the pain lasts longer, and they sometimes have some strange accompaniments. But to doctors, headache simply means a pain in the head. Migraine is just one type of headache, which also happens to be the most common form of headache.

I hope this answers the question.

Cali 2 (uncreatively)

2009-02-08T18:10:00.001-08:00

Hello again everyone. Thank you for choosing to read my blog. If you are, in fact, reading this then you've most likely had profound influence on my life. Because of this I am eternally grateful. I firmly believe that an individual is the product of all the people they've ever met. (Plus all of the choices they've ever made.) If you don't allow people to change you, then you're not growing. You're stagnant. You can fight change all you want. It's human nature to do so. But to accept trials and tribulations. To accept that life is hard and painful means you're winning the battle. Once you truly accept pain you transcend it. You no longer suffer.

First I just like to say that the game of basketball is awesome. At first, after-work curricular activities were near impossible because of long work hours and fatigue. However, Sean and I now routinely play at Reed Park. There are lots of people to play with (including Woody the pedophile). The competition is great. The weather is great (although kinda rainy). And my stamina is building. At first I felt like dying - but after intense playing my body has gotten over the shock. I hope to lose weight by the end of this era in my life.

I saw The Rock give a boring speech in front of the Staples Center while on my way to the Mosley vs. Margarito boxing match. I'm guessing celebrity spotting is normal here. The speech was about the Special Olympics. I wasn't particularly excited about seeing The Rock, nor hearing him talk about how Special Olympic athletes are truly the greatest athletes in the world, but I found it interesting how celebrities in general create such a buzz.

Here's a photo at Venice Beach where they filmed the movie "White Men Can't Jump". I don't anticipate ever playing here since I've heard the games are extremely physical - and I'm not trying to get hurt. This particular day it was relatively cold - the courts were dead.

This is a video, also at Venice Beach, where a team of acrobats performed various stunts and tricks drawing crowd. In this video, one of guys performs the finale. Pretty cool.

In this particular video, at Venice Beach, this Bushman-type-guy does a little street performance by stepping on glass. He's a funny guy.

"The product homeless people are selling is their absence."
-Pratchett via Seth courtesy of Brian L. Schulman (The Laminator)