Ewf: Fill & Download for Free

Husker Du - Zen ArcadeCurtis Mayfield - Superfly soundtrackMinutemen - Double Nickels on the DimeEWF - That's the Way of the World soundtrackJoy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Good question.I won't take the standard liberal dodge about how "music is art, man, you can't put one above the other". The Isley Brothers and, probably to a lesser extent, Earth Wind & Fire were both keenly aware of the frankly Darwinian component in African-American music: cutting, dissing, the Apollo Theater, James Brown's and Ray Charles's habit of summarily dismissing sidemen they found wanting. The Isley Brothers gave a good deal of slack (including room and board) to a promising young guitarist named Jimi Hendrix before finally letting him go.I think the Isleys and EWF were both conscious of the need to put disciplined entertainer-ment ahead of tortured artistry. Even the Isley's seemingly crazed "Shout!" and "Testify" are carefully orchestrated. EWF, with their flights of flying saucer spirituality, were always moving in step with coordinated outfits. My "live" experience with these bands consists of watching an EWF concert movie, but it was one of the best of its kind.It's tempting to put the Isleys down as a groove-oriented band with an occasionally brilliant hot guitar solo for the white people ("Who's That Lady?", "Summer Breeze") and EWF as a proggy big band. But if you listen to a lot of material, a more nuanced picture emerges. I didn't realize the Isleys did the can-this-be-allowed-on-the-radio? "Between The Sheets", a steamy Eighties hit. "Contagious" is a gut-wrenching rap-inflected tale - and it marked the sixth consecutive decade that the Isleys cracked the Billboard Top 100, a remarkable achievement.I can only really answer this question based on personal preference. EWF records always sound great. The tunes are first rate. The lead and harmony vocals and big band arrangements are terrific, but they never lose the groove (huge hat tip to Verdine White.) Their jazz excursions are enjoyable. Throw in their goofy but unfailingly positive spiritual vibe, and there's nothing quite like them.

How hard it is to Exercise While Fat (EWF). Being a fat person is so hard and I underestimated it. While I like to think I knew it was hard, and was appropriately empathetic to the obese people in my life, I knew nothing. And my well meant entreaties to “Just take a walk” are so incredibly stupid in retrospect I’m shocked nobody punched me.I'm tall with Swedish blood and started out skinny, which means I could carry the ten- pounds- per -decade typical American weight gain. Working out by riding my bike, or, after many injuries and some years, an hour on the elliptical plus 30 mins of weight training five days a week, kept me in shape even as I gained ten pounds each in my 30s and 40s. I looked pretty good and was proud of how I’d kept myself in shape despite serious arthritis, many surgeries, and more than my fair share of chronic disease. I still managed to do something most days, even as simple as an hour walk.Until this year. I got sick again and thought I’d be able to pull out a victory like I always had. Fate did not deal that hand. Instead, I’ve spent six months on medical leave and am facing the loss of the career I spent 20 years building. My self-image never included disability. Some days I think it's all more than I can survive and stay close to sane.Anyway, because of disease, medication, and forced inactivity, I gained weight. Thirty pounds more than I’ve ever weighed. No problem, I told myself, just take a walk, do some step work on the curbs, push-ups off whatever I can find, etc. It'll be fine. I was so wrong. It's not fine because I failed to factor in how hard it is to do any of that while fat.First, EWF requires hardening one's self to the judgment of passing motorists and fellow urban athletes. The Fat Police are ubiquitous and harsh. In a way, I get how the super fit could be contemptuous of people EWF; they never let themselves get that fat and don't understand how the cycle of immobility, and consequent weight gain, compound until the weight becomes a prison. In my experience roughly half the people I'd see eyeing me with contempt while I EWF fit this description. Mostly, these are young people so they don't bother me; life will kick most of them in the balls in the coming years.The other half are, to a surprising degree, fat, too. I make no pretense of understanding this phenomenon.In any event, I never had to steel myself for mockery before going outside for exercise when I was a non-fat person. It's a growth experience in learning (finally!) what it means to truly not give a fuck about other people's opinions.The second thing is dealing with the fat. It moves even after I've stopped and that feels weird. My legs rub together uncomfortably and my body is unwieldy. My skin chafes between my belly rolls. Now, I can't rush into the intersection when the light is about to change and jog to the other side. It's hard to do those step ups with 30 more pounds on your back. In all, my workout became far less intense and uses less calories, which makes weight loss even harder. Its been a slow realization that getting my health back is going to be exponentially harder than I thought it would be.The bottom line is that the fat, and people’s attitudes, conspire to keep me happily indoors, where I will get fatter unless I do something. It takes a courage I never needed before to force myself outside to exercise. I always thought anybody can start a fitness routine by walking and how hard could that be? Protestations to the contrary must be exaggerated. The truth is it's hard. Really hard. Just take a walk is callow advice; after all, if it were that easy why wouldn't everyone do it?