![]() SPF 15 will prevent about 94% of the sun's harmful rays from hitting your skin, and will only do so for about 2 hours. It's easy to think that SPF 30 provides twice as much coverage for twice as long or that SPF 100 will wrap you in a cloak of invincibility and perpetual youth. You've probably seen SPF, 15, 30, 50, 100, and so on. Note here there is nothing mentioned about UVA protection. Also, “because SPF values are determined from a test that measures protection against sunburn caused by UVB radiation, SPF values only indicate a sunscreen's UVB protection.” In short, SPF tells you how long you could potentially stay in the sun without getting a sunburn. According to the FDA, SPF measures how much UV radiation it takes to burn protected skin, relative to the amount of UV radiation required to burn on unprotected skin. Regardless of the sunscreen formulation, each sunscreen has a Sun Protection Factor, SPF. The instability and degradation rate of the UV filter is why it’s necessary to reapply sunscreens as directed.ĪBOUT SUN PROTECTION FACTOR (SPF) RATINGS They are often combined with ingredients to help stabilize them as well as Avobenzone in order to provide broad-spectrum UV protection. Homosalate, Octisalate, Octinoxate, all filter UVB rays and are also unstable. Research shows that when stabilized and paired with Zinc Oxide it provides better protection than when it’s paired with Titanium Dioxide. It is the most used UVA filter in the world. Avobenzone filters UVA rays but is highly unstable and breaks down easily when exposed to light. Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are stable (don’t break down in UV light) and provide broad-spectrum protection on their own, though both may be too white/chalky for use on dark skin. While not yet mandatory, many brands market their products as being broad spectrum. The FDA is still working on a proposal to make it mandatory for approved sunscreens with SPF 15 or greater to be broad-spectrum. Sunscreens that provide protection from both UVA and UVB rays, (all wavelengths) are referred to as broad-spectrum. UV Rays are present rain or shine, snow or sleet. Approximately 95% of the UV rays that reach the earth’s surface are UVA rays, with the other 5% being UVB Rays. To help us remember which is which, we often refer to UVA as the aging rays, and UVB as the burning rays. They are also thought to cause most skin cancers. They can damage the DNA in skin cells directly, and are the main rays that cause sunburns. UVB rays have slightly more energy than UVA rays. UVA rays are mainly linked to long-term skin damage such as wrinkles, but they are also thought to play a role in some skin cancers. These rays can cause skin cells to age and can cause some indirect damage to cells’ DNA. UVA rays have the least energy among UV rays. Not all sunscreen ingredients protect from both UVA and UVB rays. You might be wondering, why do sunscreens use a combination of sunscreen ingredients? Well, that's a good question. That combination of micronized particles from physical sunscreens and chemical sunscreen ingredients can be the basis for a sunscreen product for dark, sensitive skin. The smaller the particles of the Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide, the more sheer the formula. There are also hybrid sunscreen formulas that contain micronized physical blockers, along with some chemical ingredients. The FDA has a proposal out for more research on these ingredients. There is evidence that UV filters are absorbed in the body though it is not yet clear how these ingredients affect us. Ingredients include ensulizole, octisalate, homosalate, octocrylene, octinoxate, oxybenzone, Avobenzone, Cinoxate, dioxybenzone, meradimate, padimate O, sulisobenzone. It also includes the percentage of each ingredient that can make up the final product. The FDA has a list of chemical ingredients that are approved for use in sunscreen products. These sunscreens need to be applied 15-30 minutes before sun exposure to "activate." They are also generally reapplied every two hours while exposed to the sun. While physical blockers create a shield on the skin to block and absorb the sun's UVA and UVB rays, chemical sunscreens absorb the sun's rays and dissipate them. Instead, those formulations contain a mix of chemical ingredients or UV Filters. Today, several sunscreen formulas don't contain either Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. For those with deeper skin tones, even a micronized zinc oxide and titanium dioxide formula may not be enough to render the sunscreen transparent upon application. This dramatically reduces the grey or white cast left behind by these types of sunscreens. Many brands now use micronized Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide in their formulas. Over the years, formulas containing physical blockers have gotten more elegant.
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Some nests are constructed around a small twig or branch which gives them added resilience in the wind. The nest itself is an impressive structure for its materials and method of construction, its durability, and its functionality. Upside-down flask-shaped nest in early summer. ![]() They will also forage around sweet foods at picnics, etc, and can be a nuisance at times. Once the number of larvae in the nest declines, the hornets’ diet consists mainly of nectar and pollen from flowering plants. Insects preyed upon include yellowjackets (a favorite), flies, caterpillars and many other insects. During early to mid summer when there are many larvae to feed, insect prey are caught, chewed up, and fed to the larvae. The fertilized females overwinter in sheltered places such as tree stumps and become next year’s queens.Īs mentioned above, the bald-faced hornet is beneficial both for pest control and pollination. Fertilized females from this generation will overwinter and all other members of the colony will die of old age or freezing. In late summer to early fall, fertile females and males are produced and mating occurs. Eventually the nest will contain several layers of cells resembling a honeybee comb, may be as large as a basketball (or more!), and will be home to hundreds of hornets. They take over the feeding and nest tending duties while the queen spends the rest of the summer laying eggs. The young are fed and tended by the queen and grow up to be sterile female workers. ![]() The queen constructs several cells within the nest and deposits one egg into each. The surface may have streaks of gray and tan that give it a swirled appearance. The grayish-brown nest is small at first and is attached to a tree, shrub or building, usually at least three feet off the ground. This results in a sticky, papery material that is used in nest building. These hard workers collect tiny bits of weathered or rotting wood from trees and fences and mix it with saliva by chewing it. In the spring, each fertilized queen selects a site for a nest and begins construction. The overwintering stage is the fertilized queen. To find out a little more about this sometimes intimidating insect, let’s take a look at its life cycle. The bald-faced hornet is native to North America and is found throughout most of the 48 contiguous states, Alaska and Canada. The paper wasps build exposed nests in which the individual cells are visible. Members of the genus Dolichovespula all build large, papery nests in trees, shrubs or on structures. ![]() The bald-faced hornet ( Dolichovespula maculata) is not a true hornet, it is a yellowjacket wasp. ![]() I then asked, “ Why should patients know that their doctor cares about them?” ![]() The 10 trainees nodded their heads, indicating that patients should know that their doctor cares about them. Is it important for patients to know that their doctor cares about them, and what do caring doctors do that indicates to their patients that they care about them?” I said, “I do not have the temerity to add to those statements, but I will emphasize them by asking two questions. One of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient. Time, sympathy and understanding must be lavishly dispensed, but the reward is to be found in that personal bond which forms the greatest satisfaction of the practice of medicine. I read to them the last part of the speech that Peabody gave to the medical students at Harvard on 21 October 1926: The trainees had never heard of him, although he left indelible tracks for medical students, house officers, and practicing physicians to follow. On one occasion, after reading 2 different stories about the unprofessional work of a few physicians, I pointed out that our profession needed Dr. We usually discuss the pathophysiology related to clinical conditions, but we occasionally discuss the current ethical problems related to medicine. I am now 90 years of age, so the interns and residents come to my retirement home on the second Tuesday of the month for dinner and a teaching session. I have taught medicine for over 60 years. ![]() UTorrent classic lets you play media in streaming as you download, rate, and comment torrent files, drag and drop files to share them, and disable the UDP tracker.
The adult over here wants to say this sneezing doll, that many kids love, seems rather fitting in the time of a pandemic. Hasbro Baby Alive Lulu Achoo Doll ($72.99) Blue for sleep, green for hungry and red when she’s a bit cranky. This interactive toy shows its feelings in its colour-coded eyes. Press her heart button and her wings flap. You’ll notice it may be tough to find themįurReal, kids like these. ![]() Ok, so these continue to be a favourite among kids ranging from quite young to near pre-teens. This soft, plush toy has a double-sided, two-colour design that can be easily flipped into different colours and expressions. Kilne is all fired up by demand for their knives With this, it’s absolutely fine if the kids draw on the table. Hey kids, it’s OK to draw on the table, when they have this colourful kit. The enduring love affair with Lego makes it a go-to gift. LEGO Super Mario Adventures with Mario Starter, 231 pieces ($59.98) Lego Super Mario Bowser’s Airship 1,152 pieces ($159.99) When we say convertible in Canada, we mean an all-season wagon with a weather shield and ski-fittings in lieu of wheels for snow days. Millside Deluxe Convertible Wagon ($249.99)Ī wagon for all seasons. This will help them improve their drawing skills. Scribble Scrubbie for your little artists. We checked … with kids.Ĥ84-piece set with a green baseplate for hours and hours of fun. Repeat.Ĭlassic choices that kids still love. Pack the chicken with Play-Doh and squeeze out some colourful feathers. Messy for the adults but fun for the kids. Up to 36 projects.Ĭrayola Gross Science Experiments ($24.99)Ĭrayola Gross Science Experiments. ![]() Photo by Michael'sĮverything your kid needs to make tye-dye t-shirts. ![]() If you find an online retailer who has these at reasonable prices, feel free to reach out and let us know. If you want to wait for a lower price, put it in your shopping cart and it is marked as ‘sold out,’ you will be notified when Amazon restocks. The Mixie (a stuffie of sorts,) loves to be cuddled and nurtured by their creator.įYI: Right now, you can get this for the above price on Amazon but through a third-party vendor. In reaction, the cauldron will light up and make sounds whilst a Magic Mixie comes to life. The pros? It’s imaginative fun which starts with children reading a spell from their spellbook, adding magical ingredients to the cauldron one step at a time, followed by a tap with their magical wand. It’s also quite the trick to find for flustered parents. This spell-creating cauldron is popular with younger would-be magic makers. Magic Mixie Cauldron is proving popular with kids these days. Magic Mixies Magical Misting Cauldron ($90) We’ve put together a list of classic finds, unique gifts and some of what’s hot in toys. ![]() Window_length=WINDOW_LENGTH, batch_size=1)īut now the strange thing is that when I train the model as before, but using this generator as the input, model.fit_generator(generator=data_gen_custom, def get_generator(data, targets, window_length = 5, batch_size = 32):ĭata_gen = TimeseriesGenerator(data, targets, length=window_length,ĭata_gen_custom = get_generator(data, data, As a step towards this, I create a generator function which just wraps the TimeseriesGenerator used previously. Now the problem is, in my non-toy situation I want to process the data coming out from the TimeseriesGenerator before feeding the data into the fit_generator. pile(loss='mse', optimizer='rmsprop', metrics=)Īnd train it using the fit_generator function: model.fit_generator(generator=data_gen,Īnd this trains perfectly, and the model makes predictions as expected. ![]() Model = Model(inputs=input1, outputs=output) Output = Dense(data_dim, activation='linear')(hidden) Hidden = Dense(20, activation='relu')(lstm1) Input1 = Input(shape=(WINDOW_LENGTH, data_dim)) I use a simple LSTM network: data_dim = 1 To illustrate the problem, I have created a toy example trying to predict the next number in a simple ascending sequence, and I use the Keras TimeseriesGenerator to create a Sequence instance: WINDOW_LENGTH = 4ĭata_gen = TimeseriesGenerator(data, data, length=WINDOW_LENGTH, Model.So I'm trying to use Keras' fit_generator with a custom data generator to feed into an LSTM network. Val_set = load_dataset('images/val', (patch_height, patch_width), noise_sigma, batch_size) You can then use the above like so: train_set = load_dataset('images/train', (patch_height, patch_width), noise_sigma, batch_size) Generator = group_by_batch(generator, batch_size) Generator = corrupted_training_pair(generator, sigma) Generator = image_generator(files, crop_size, scale=1/255.0, shift=0.5) Sources, targets = zip(*)īatch = (np.stack(sources), np.stack(targets))ĭef load_dataset(directory, crop_size, sigma, batch_size): Source = img + np.random.normal(0, sigma, img.shape)/255.0 from import load_img, img_to_array, list_pictures After which, you can use Model.fit_generator to train using these methods. You could easily modify this to add other types of augmentations. Here is an example code I've used for an image denoising problem, where I use random crops + additive noise to generate clean and noisy image pairs on the fly. There are works on extending ImageDataGenerator to be more flexible for exactly these type of cases (see in this issue on Github for examples).Īdditionally, as mentioned by Mikael Rousson in the comments, you can easily create your own version of ImageDataGenerator yourself, while leveraging many of its built-in functions to make it easier. Train_generator = zip(image_generator, mask_generator) # combine generators into one which yields image and masks Mask_generator = mask_datagen.flow_from_directory( Image_generator = image_datagen.flow_from_directory( Mask_datagen.fit(masks, augment=True, seed=seed) Image_datagen.fit(images, augment=True, seed=seed) # Provide the same seed and keyword arguments to the fit and flow methods seed = 1 ![]() Mask_datagen = ImageDataGenerator(**data_gen_args) Image_datagen = ImageDataGenerator(**data_gen_args) # we create two instances with the same argumentsĭata_gen_args = dict(featurewise_center=True, You zip together two generators seeded with the same seeds and the fit_generator them. The two front buckets are firm and supportive. The C230 Kompressor seats five passengers, but is more comfortable for four. It also uses data from the cruise control system and engine temperature to control shifting. The system reduces hunting between gears by discerning uphill grades. Press the pedal quickly and the computer will assume the driver wants to downshift for quicker acceleration. By sensing through throttle position and speed, for example, it can determine the car is going downhill and will hold the car in gear rather than upshifting to provide engine braking. The computer modifies shifting to match how and where the car is being driven at the moment. Brake Assist detects panic braking by how quickly the brake pedal is pushed and applies full braking force faster than the driver could.Īll C-Class models have a driver-adaptive 5-speed automatic transmission. Mercedes-Benz research determined that many drivers don’t brake hard enough for emergency situations. That means the car tends to be more stable in corners, under hard braking and during hard acceleration.īrake Assist, standard on all C-Class models, goes one step beyond the standard anti-lock braking system. It also eliminates unwanted rear steering effects and incorporates anti-lift and anti-squat characteristics. The rear multi-link rear suspension is space efficient - allowing a larger trunk. By not requiring the shock absorber to help locate the front suspension, it can be softer the wide placement of the upper and lower wishbones contribute to sturdiness. The double-wishbone setup is superior to a strut-type design. Rear-wheel drive combines with a double-wishbone front suspension and a patented five-member multi-link rear suspension. The C280 is smoother and quieter, while the Kompressor rewards the driver with more mechanical sounds when pushed hard. That’s more torque and at lower revs than the 2.8-liter V6 in the C280. ![]() Maximum engine speed is only 5800 rpm, but the supercharger and 10.4:1 compression ratio yield a broad torque plateau, generating 200 foot-pounds of torque from 2500 rpm to 4800 rpm. The 2.3-liter engine produces an impressive 185 horsepower at 5300 rpm. The crankshaft-driven supercharger compresses intake air that is then cooled by an intercooler packing the engine with a dense charge. The C230 Kompressor is powered by the same double overhead cam, 16-valve inline-4 that goes under the hood of the SLK roadster. (All prices include $595 destination charge.) Three C-Class models consist of the $31,795 C230 Kompressor reviewed here, the V6-powered $36,195 C280, and the limited-production, ultra-performance $53,595 C43. There is no doubt the C-Class sedan is a Mercedes-Benz, from its unmistakable profile to its three-pointed hood ornament to the latest iteration of the traditional Mercedes grille. WalkaroundĬ-Class sedans are the smallest of the three classes of Mercedes-Benz sedans, which includes the larger E-Class and patrician S-Class. The only reason to pass on this package is its slightly firmer ride, but we found the optional sport-tuned suspension pleasantly firm. It not only sharpens the handling of the C230 Kompressor but also gives the junior Mercedes four-door a slightly naughty track-ready look. Our car was equipped with the Sport Package, a remarkable bargain at only $890. That may not be as quick as the limited-production V8-powered C43 performance sedan that tops the C-Class line-up, but it is quick and the C230 Kompressor is much more accessible with a base price not far over 30 grand. ![]() Anyone driving last year’s C230 would quickly find out, however, as the 1999 C230 Kompressor scampers from rest to 60 mph in a factory-claimed 8.1 seconds, a full two seconds faster than the older model. Mercedes renames the C230 in honor of the sports car’s engine, appending “Kompressor” – German for supercharger – to the alphanumeric, adding a shiny badge to the trunklid to make sure everyone knows. Stir in the Sport option package, and the solid but stolid C230 becomes a sport compact with a 0-60 mph acceleration time only a tick slower than its V6-powered C280 sibling. Installing a sports car engine in a sedan often results in an unhappy combination, but when Mercedes-Benz took the engine from the SLK230 and dropped it in the C-Class, it added wings to the heels of its entry-level sedan. ![]() As Isaiah Swerve Scott, he made his video game debut in WWE 2K22. They are followed closely by the New Day and The Outsiders who both came in at 87. Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and rapper currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The highest non-mixed gender team goes to The Hart Foundation with a high overall of 88. The highest overall for a Tag Team goes to Fenomenal Flair with an overall of 90! This, of course, is a mixed tag team. The best of the best from the AEW talent roster means players can look forward to playing as some of the most legendary wrestlers to enter the ring plus. The first of these superstars would be first shown off by 2KEspana who would be Eddie Guerrero that has an overall rating of 90 in WWE 2K22. Members: Austin Theory, Johnny Gargano, Candace LeRae Here are some of the legends who have been revealed for WWE 2K22s roster along with their overall ratings.Rhea Ripley & Nikki A.S.H WWE WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS.Members: T-Bar, Mace, Slapjack, & Reckoning.Members: Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Syxx, & Eric Bischoff. ![]() Members: Kalisto, Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik.Members: Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza, & Joaquin Wilde.This marks the debut of Joaquin Wilde / DJZ in the main WWE Games series. Members: Walter, Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner, & Marcel Barthel Joaquin Wilde is featured as a playable character in the WWE 2K22 Roster, as part of the NXT brand.Members: Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher.Members: Humberto Carrillo & Angel Garza.WWE 2K22 launches March 11 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.On this page, you find the full list of all the Tag Teams and Stables included by default in WWE 2K22, with their respective Team Overalls!Īs always, you can create and customize any team you want both for Exhibition and WWE Universe Mode. WWE 2K22 has yet to reveal its full DLC plans, but it has been confirmed that musician Machine Gun Kelly will be added to the roster as DLC, and rumor has it that Ronda Rousey will likely be DLC for the game as well. It should be noted that the WWE 2K22 roster will grow with future updates. There are also instances of wrestlers who are appearing in competing companies besides AEW, like Mickie James, who appears in Impact Wrestling. Keith Lee, Kyle O'Reilly, and Murphy are all included on the WWE 2K22 roster, yet they are also featured on AEW. Boneyard Match (Undertaker Immortal Pack): 91.Phantom Mask (Undertaker Immortal Pack): 88.Ministry of Darkness (Undertaker Immortal Pack): 93.Hollywood Hogan (nWo 4-Life Edition): 92.This marks the 2° appearance for Trent Seven in the main WWE Games series. There are also some wrestlers on the WWE 2K22 roster that are active stars in the competing company, All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Trent Seven is featured as a playable character in the WWE 2K22 Roster, as part of the NXT brand. This is the key point of that AEW game if it doesnt play or look as good as a user created CAW or arenas in WWE2k games - they better become self aware because nobody wants to say it but the AEW game doesnt look very good Visually. It seems those cuts have not had a significant impact on the WWE 2K22 roster, with released wrestlers like Braun Strowman, John Morrison, and Samoa Joe featured. Notably, the WWE 2K22 roster even includes some wrestlers that are no longer with WWE because of the real-life cuts. RELATED: Kenny Omega Says AEW Video Game Can't Compete With Production Value of WWE 2K22 The nWo 4-Life Edition is required to get access to Eric Bischoff, Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Syxx-Pac, but even without them 163 wrestlers is still quite a lot to choose from. The 168 wrestlers featured in WWE 2K22 include modern stars like AJ Styles and Roman Reigns as well as legends like Andre the Giant and Randy Savage. Those worried about the WWE 2K22 roster shouldn't worry any longer, as the final lineup is rather comprehensive. It seems those concerns were misplaced, as it's now been confirmed that the game has a whopping 163 wrestlers in the base game and 168 for those that spring for the nWo 4-Life Edition. After all, some very popular superstars were cut from WWE's roster between the releases of WWE 2K20 and WWE 2K22, and so there was some worry that the new game would be light on choices. The past couple of years have seen WWE release swaths of talent, to the point where many fans were expressing concerns about the WWE 2K22 roster. ![]() The October MJO Phase 1 composite (right) would fit with the heights rises over Western Europe as we move from September to October and also sits fairly well alongside the 0z ECM and GFS day 10 mean anomalies as we head towards the beginning of October… Still in the centre circle with the MJO, but hints of a match with the September composite for phase 1 (at least for our neck of the woods!) in the coming week, so it might be showing signs of working its way back through the CoD in that general direction. Though the heights rises aren’t in exactly the same places, the broad profile is the same, good heights over Europe, eastern parts of North America and Greenland, low heights over the Atlantic and the Western US. Here are yesterday’s ECM46 charts for the same weeks, now the coming week and week 2. I posted them back then along with the suggestion that taken at face value, the trend raised the possibility of a better end to the month as tropical storms stall in the Atlantic, pumping up a ridge over Europe. ![]() These are the charts from 8 September for the 18th to 25th September and 25th September - 2nd October, week 2 and week 3 at the time. If heights do rise over Western Europe during the last few days of the month, it’s hats off to the ECM extended range forecasts. You are one of my go to posts and have been for a long while, always concise and well written thoughts that makes it easier for a novice like me to read and understand □ Here’s to the next 10 years, all the very best. Would you Adam and Eve it, apparently I’ve been a Netweather member for 10 years! Just want to take the opportunity to say a big ‘thanks’ to everyone who posts here, I have learned so much about all aspects of the weather from the contributions from everyone, it is a great community to be a part of. The regimes plot still shows a signal for blocking over Scandi (red) once the unsettled Atlantic spell (blue) is done, so I would expect the overall CET for September to be very high when the month is done and dusted, be interesting to see if any records are broken there. Looking a bit further ahead of an unsettled week next week, the ECM clusters have this at T192-T240:Ĭluster 1 here with 34 members heralds a return to warmer and more settled weather, whereas cluster 2 with 17 members stays unsettled.Ĭlusters 1 and 2 (totalling 36 members) continue towards something settled for the last week in September, not so cluster 3. ![]() By day 10, the pack is doing its job, digging deep, -18 to -20 degrees over northeastern parts of Greenland, and as the opposition tires, the opportunity for a more expansive game going forward. There’s the quick little offload from the passing Lee at 180h, bringing the UK and Ireland into the move. The second seasonal feature is the cooling of the polar region, shown here by the T850s, a clear and steady build through the park in general, with the occasional offload in our direction.Īt day 1, the zero degree isotherm being kept tight in the early stages. There is something aesthetically satisfying about watching the movement of the low pressures that the jet stream is directing, the first pulse directing the movement southeast from Greenland to the north of Scotland, the second picking up ex-hurricane Lee, passing it to the first low, that swings it down through the mid Atlantic, to bring the remnants of Lee through the UK and Ireland by the end of the week at day 6.Ī long way off, but the result of the modelled strengthening of the jet stream through our neck of the woods around day 9 is the deepening of the low between Iceland and Scotland to around 955mb. We haven’t seen that in a while, indicative of a somewhat more mobile phase. This too gets pushed along, with the ribbon passing all the way through Canada by day 9. No return of an Atlantic meridional pattern, though there is on the Pacific side for a while, south of the Bering Sea between days 4 and 6. A nice looking move, the jet stream running to the south for a while around day 6, oscillating north-south thereafter, with a further pulse of energy charging through the UK and Ireland by day 9. The first clears out the meridional pattern at the ruck and the second bursts down the middle spreading it left on the loop. Two pulses originating to the south of Greenland over the next few days. The first is an injection of energy into the Atlantic jet stream, any straggling remnants of meridional pattern quickly swept away. Two standout seasonal features of the Northern Hemisphere weather in the week running up to and through the autumn equinox to be seen in the 0z ECM operational run. ![]() Put online in September along with three other tracks, the song is an obvious banger with an instantly catchy hook and some truly great lines-"I just bought a crib, three stories, that bitch a trilogy"-that also leverages his broken engagement with "Glee"’s Naya Rivera in a way that feels authentically inspired. The best example of this is "I Don’t Fuck With You", the song that kick-started the album and perhaps saved Sean’s career as we know it. But it is by many lengths his best album, and the first one that gets closest to hitting an elusive sweet spot where his music works as mindless fun while still leaving you just enough to chew on. Big Sean has an appeal, but that is not it.ĭark Sky Paradise, his newest, does not wholly shed his aspirations for a certain level of legitimacy, as the nonsensical but very official-sounding title would implicate. ![]() Where Sean’s debut Finally Famous was blandly listenable but anonymous-with its big hits driven by guests Chris Brown, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj- Hall of Fame felt like an overcorrection meant to position him as a rapper’s rapper, the kind of guy who you tune into to focus on lyrics. Too little of that persona was present, though, on his weirdly dour and entirely too serious second album. He is the class clown of rap, entertaining or annoying seemingly at random, but just witty enough that he’s enjoyable to have around. Music’s "Mercy"-"ass-quake," "ass-state," "ass-tray"-are his most quintessential lyrics: funny and stupid in not-quite equal measures, but memorable in their shameless goofiness. He is good at being dumb, even if sometimes he is too dumb. Over the course of his career, Sean has honed his on-mic personality into a charming sort of gleeful obnoxiousness. Hall of Fame was not just a problem commercially, but artistically as well. |
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