Two Unique People
Why had I not heard of Saul Williams before this week? He is a brilliant, inspiring artist with a powerful message, which he relays masterfully in seemingly any medium he wants (poetry, singing, spoken word, rapping, and more…) Admittedly, everything is over the top about him (I mean, he often wears war paint and feathers!), but that is kind of the point. His presentation is as important as his content. He often performs as his alter ego named Niggy Tardust (listen to him explain the name here), and has crafted him into almost a mythological figure. Here are a couple videos:
Or listen to his album, a collaboration with Nine Inch Nails.
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The second person, Charlie Todd, is a mastermind prankster, who, with his “agents”, organizes and carries out “missions” in NYC for his group Improv Everywhere. Explore his website.
The missions are undeniably awesome, but the ethics of his actions are complicated. In one prank, “Best Gig Ever”, he gets 35 agents to pretend to be enthusiastic fans of a struggling rock band in order to give them an amazing concert. Unfortunately the band finds out the gig was staged a couple days later, and needless to say, it hits them hard. One of my favorite radio shows, This American Life, explores the issue here.
Have a wonderful New Years everyone!
-Akhil
