respect the knife, the music...

A guy i follow on Twitter, Daniel Ponder tweeted the other day about how hes recently got a new knife, which is usually a big deal amongst cooks. He was saying how he still doesnt trust the knife and thinks heed need to lose a finger before the blade would accept him.
to those outside of this profession this might sound ludacrist, but not to us. The idea that blade and weilder must be on the same page and that the blade must temper itself to its new owner has been around for ever. Its about respecting your knife for what it is, it is your tool but also an extention of yourself if used properly. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy, there is no middle ground. The knife is regarded as almost a child, or even a women. One cringes when shes held by another cook, "dont touch my knife" is said with such reverence as "get your hands off my women, or man" it is literally the same feeling for me as when someone almost drops a baby or a vase or handles something of upmost importance improperly.
When i got my first real chefs knife, an 8 inch J.A. Henckel, i was afraid to use it. i had the same feelings as Ponder, that somehow i would lose much blood before I gained her respect. Its like that scene in Full Metal Jacket, "this is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine" there is an equal level of respect for the hunk of razor sharp steel.
at this time like an old married couple we have and understanding, i almost never cut myself, and when i do its because i was doing something stupid or not paying her enough attention.
If i put her up for for than a week i have to come back cautious, i have to mind my words and my actions and gently get back into rythym lest I shear off a digit.

yeah, on a side note, last night i was screwing around on the T.V. and stopped everso momentarily on B.E.T. black entertainment television- (entertaining and enlightening the masses for years, right?) something to the equivilent of Rap City was on, and the video i was watching shocked me. note from the author, I am no prude. I listen the speed metal, Ska-core, death metal, punk, 3rd wave ska. really hardcore shit most of the time, I'm very VERY political, i'm a rabid democrat and liberal and a cook to top it off. I routinely surround myself with vats of boiling shit, razor sharp knifes and fire for gods sake. i pretty freaking open minded and tolerant. but this video nearly killed me. like seriously, Aneurysm. It was CS BOYS with the hit song "Stanky Legg" nearly the entire song was i bunch of shifty lookin' niggas yelling at the screen "Do tha Stanky Legg!!!" to the beat of poorly produced beats and flashing lights. interspered in the the video were cuts of endowed women doing the Stank legg scantly clad, and A DANCE TROUPE OF 5-8 YEAR OLDS DOING THE STANKY LEGG EXACTLY LIKE THE ADULT WOMEN. if there were a video of little white girls doing the exact same thing, it would be considered pedophilia without a doubt. It was disturbing.
As a half black man i feel obligated to point out when either side of my heritage is acting suprisingly idiotic. At this point, I FEEL OBLIGATED.
Seriously, as a whole, it is time for the black populus to stand up and demand better music. I demand a return to funk, old-school politically conscience rap, MEANINGFULL SHIT! put a fucking HORN SECTION in the band! as a whole listeners of this garbage are being dumbed down into submission by record companies that will only sign idiots like the CS boys knowing that they will produce music like this. Cheap mass produced beats with guys screaming barely inteligible, barely ryming lyrics while video of naked women shaking their asses is played with video of 8 year olds shaking their asses. Something has got to be done. Please black people, a return to Biggie, heavy D and the boys, PUBLIC ENEMY, tribe called quest, the greats.
As a people it is time we stand up from out of this garbage and demand better music.