Hiya. It's me, Jared, again, reporting about the second stop on my whirlwind Summer Music Festival Tour '08. This time, I drove over to the tiniest state in the union, Rhode Island, to catch all three days of the Newport Folk Festival.

Though the last two days of the Festival on Fort Adams State Park contain the bulk of the performances take place, Friday night technically started things off with a show by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Warming up the crowd were home-grown acts Willy Mason and Kate Taylor (James' sister).

For those of you Cornellians unfortunate enough to have high-powered internships in Manhattan, D.C. or wherever you may be, let me assure you that you've been missing out on a shit-ton of fun here in sunny Ithaca (as difficult as it is to believe the words "sunny" and "Ithaca" side-by-side, it's true). The Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg was just the latest event that made me happy I've stayed up here, away from the hustle and bustle of real life. Unfortunately, your unreliable correspondent has less in the way of specific details than he would like — Grassroots is a BYOB affair and he's never been given to doing anything in half measures, particularly when it comes to bringing beer.

Karma's a bitch. I stop reading IvyGate for the summer, decide to check in once and find out that I've been turned into grist for the (clearly pretty empty) mill.

What I was trying to express, however clumsily, was that while I love rap I feel that if my favorite rappers are not an option for Slope Day (they've either already played at Cornell or are otherwise occupied) then I'd rather see another of my favorite artists from a different genre (which leads us to the Hold Steady). As for the gunshot line, what I should have made clear was that it was not aimed to dismiss rap as a genre or at any specific rappers (other than T.I.).

I've been thinking about Slope Day. It's early, I know, but I can't help thinking that last year's less-than-stellar concert showed how much potential greatness can be had if the right group shows up. Rap is out, I think, for fairly obvious reasons. For one, the biggest names (Jigga, 'Ye, Fiddy - can you tell I'm down with the street?) are pricey or have already played Cornell recently. Also, much as I love rap -- who doesn't enjoy a little Biggie bumpin' in the car? -- the genre is not always conducive to live performance: the music overwhelms the vocals to depressing effect. Then there's the risk you'll be forced to listen to the sounds of fake gunshots for five minutes.

It may be a function of the late hours, but tonight's music mix has become more and more diverse as the evening wears on. While the afternoon is mostly an "album-only" affair (today's pick was Nebraska, fyi), after 11 o'clock the changes in music selection comes fast and furious, changing minute to minute.

Lately I've been involved in a novel activity called studying. It's discouraging and as it gets closer to morning I am, understandably, more inclined to go to sleep than continue from Labor Law to American History. The key to staying awake, I've found, is music. That seems to be my answer to most things, but in this case it really works. In my limited experience, starting with a little reggae is a nice palate cleanser that keeps one awake and bobbing ones head while not unduly distracting. Desmond Dekker was a particularly welcome study accompaniment tonight. As it gets later though, some of that hard shit is in order. Tonight's recommendation is Dr. Dre's second true masterpiece, Chronic 2001. I challenge anyone to listen to "Still D.R.E." and not immediately wake up. While it does keep one awake it also has the unexpected side effect of encouraging a neglecting of school work in order to go smoke some of that "real sticky-icky" but that's besides the point (don't do drugs, kids!). At any rate, if I end up graduating from this University I will have the good Doctor to thank. And now, back to work.