This Good Life

The New York Times, R. Kelly and Me

I haven't posted in almost a month, and now you get back to back R. Kelly posts.  This is a good story though, so I couldn't pass it up.

Many of you know about my fascination with "Trapped in the Closet".  I can discuss the nuances and dissect the work fairly well, and despite the terrible music, horrible words, and police officers cuckolded by midgets, it can teach us more about art and psychology than any single work that has been created in my lifetime.  I'm not kidding.  The work is beyond the original intent of the creator, and if you gave me 30 minutes and some beer, I feel the discussion would be most enlightening.

So, as I posted previously, I was delighted to find that R. Kelly has made 10 more chapters, which will air on IFC.com.  I went to the site to check the air dates, and made an entry on the message board (under the name Boognish) explaining my interest in the "Trapped in the Closet" series.

Then, this morning, I noticed an article from the online New York Times about R. Kelly's new chapters.  I read the article and in the third paragraph, saw a familiar sentence.  It turns out that the author of the article quoted one of my lines to describe the popular view of TitC.  Now, I'm not mentioned by name, it isn't an amazing quote, and no one will be swayed by my argument, but it was remarkable to see that the NY Times used some of my words in an article.  It just shows how small the internet really can be, and shows how a series of events can suddenly be given meaning. 

We are all just the results of millions of insignificant decisions that, when moved forward through time, suddenly have relevance.  Some people try to call this God, but I think that really takes the beauty out of it.  We have no idea what impact our speech or action has in this world, but it does have impact, whether we realize it or not.  If I hadn't written the article, they would have quoted someone else...or maybe not, who knows.  My writing was unimpressive, and even the quote made absolutely no impact on 99% of the readers...as far as I know.  Its just nice sometimes to see randomness coalesce into structure.  It happens all the time without us knowing it, but when we get a small glimpse that we have made some mark, no matter how tiny, it is comforting.  No matter if your name is recorded in books for centuries, or forgotten at your death, everyone makes an impact.

R. Kelly and the New York Times gave me a glimpse today.  Life is weird.

New Trapped in the Closet !!! (Oh Shit!)

My good friend Collin and I got very into the original "Trapped in the Closet" series by R. Kelly.  If you want my take on the series, you should read my original post about it.  To sum up, for those who aren't familiar with it, "Trapped in the Closet" is an exquisitely bad piece of "art" that is amazingly funny because R. Kelly was serious when he made it.  It must be seen to believe.

Well, now you CAN see the original and more.  Independent Film Channel will be airing new chapters 13-22 starting on August 13th.  I said, "One new chapter a day."  You'll say, "That's ten reasons to say,  Damn!!"  You can see a 2:00 recap of the original (oh shit!), and if you let the player cycle through (oh shit, oh shit), you can see all 12 original chapters (original chapters, original chapters).  Each episode is about 3-4 minutes long.  Be ready to invest some time, and that time best be long. 

If you have already seen the first few chapters, just skip it, and the next chapter will pop right up.  Or better yet, see all the episodes again.  They are just as not-fresh as the first time you saw them.

Thank you IFC for doing this.

http://ifc.com/static/sections/kelly/trapped.html

Note:  The second paragraph of this entry uses five of the literary devices that R. Kelly uses in his work, including making a rhyme by using the same word twice, and simply not rhyming at all.  That's why it reads like I was high and dictating to a 6 year old.  Once you've watched the series again, you can sing the second paragraph.