every morning when I wake up

One of my heroes plays on my dad's soccer team (which is almost entirely comprised of Scottish immigrants). The man is in his mid 60's and is still a very good soccer player. He's also a union man who swears like you could not believe. His secret to this health is that he drinks (at least) one pint of beer a day, takes one good shit a day and only eats one meal a day(!). Today I have started this diet. I'm gonna try to do the one big meal a day thing, snacks are for the weak. The theme today is pretty damn somber and I think I am bummed out just by thinking about. The best artists to have been murdered...

If you know me as a human being you KNOW who I am going to start with on this post. I have posted about this man before and I will most definitely post about him again. Christopher Wallace a.k.a. THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. . This guy is one of my favorite artists. Bar none the greatest rapper to have ever lived. I saw a tshirt on the internet that said "If Biggie were still alive most rappers would be working at McDonalds" this is true. Every rapper on TV today owes him everything. Many people think of Tupac as a "deeper" artist. I would disagree as Biggie was heavily introspective. He has a song about suicide which is a HEAVILY taboo and stigmatized topic amongst the african-american community. The song today is PARTY AND BULLSHIT which at first glance seems to be simply about partying but he really takes us into that whole high school house party world. Painting a picture of the epic events of adolescence. His posthumous album was already called Life After Death before he was murdered by drive-by shooting in Los Angeles 15 days before it was released. His murder remains unsolved to this day.

R.I.P. May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997



A band I got into towards the end of my high school was THE GITS. A Seatle punk/grunge band that was active from 1986 to 1993. When you listen to them its truly Mia Zapata's voice that reaches out and gets you. She was apparently a huge influence on Bikini Kill/Le Tigre's Kathleen Hannah. She sings about hopelessness and alcohol. Their music really strikes a chord with me. Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered in 1993. Her murder was finally solved due to new developments in DNA analysis. I know I joke around a lot but it makes me really angry that a woman still can't feel safe walking home at night. The song is called SEAWEED and if ever you have the time you should check the lyrics as they are really beautiful.

R.I.P. August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993.



Everybody has favorite genres of music but I'll be damned if you can't appreciate a true ARTIST. A person who's talent seems to be infinite. One of these artists is MARVIN GAYE. He was the most popular artist on Motown during the 60's and he went against the grain big time in refusing the song writing formula at Motown at the time. He made the creative process a collaboration between songwriter, producer and artist. In high school my friend Sam's grand father gave him his car once he was too old to drive. It was a huge Oldsmobile. Sam installed a thumping sound system in that thing. Marvin was a staple in the cd player. Marvin Gaye was tragically shot dead by his own father. You can't write stuff that sad. The song is SEXUAL HEALING.

R.I.P. April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984

Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
Uploaded by hushhush112

The final person is probably the most culturally important. JOHN LENNON. I haven't ever really been big into The Beatles. I think this is because everybody loves them and I never liked to be on the winning team. Lennon though has the same birthday as me (9th of October) which always got me interested in him thinking we had some ridiculous connection. Having recently read an interview with him I think he quit The Beatles for the same reason young Iain never wanted to like them, not wanting to be in the majority. The song is WORKING CLASS HERO. I think it's easily my favorite of his. Green Day should have never touched it. Lennon was sadly shot in the back 4 times in New York City.


R.I.P. 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980