get the jurassic 5 on the microphone ...

... and you know you're going to have a good show on your hands. i've seen j5 four times before last night (most recently a few months ago), but they never cease to amaze me. this group is the epitome of chemistry and harmony. the way the seamlessly pass lines back forth and pick up whether another member left off is very impressive.

for the most part, they put on the same set i've seen from them a few times before, except they switched out some old songs with some of their new ones. although now, the quirky cut chemist is no longer in the group. i'm not sure why, but my guess is confusion of having a group called jurassic five with six members finally took its toll, and they played rock, paper, scissors till cut chemist was left out.

they did their usual mix of new and old songs. nu mark did his whole mini-turntable/beat machine thing, as well as producing some dope beat (sounded like johnny cash on crack) using kiddie toys hooked up to a cross fader. they also did their school desk routine. in the past, all of em would sit down at a school desk. nu mark's would have a beat machine on top, and he'd do a clipse beat with the others pounding on their desks with their fists or palms. they switched it up on me this time, and it was beautiful. this time all five desks had a beat machine built into it. they started with the hyphy tell me where to go beat and then moved into a creation of their own. each member had his own set of sounds, and the fusion was awesome, especially seeing chali 2na go wild everytime he'd hit his funky sample.

at the end of the show, they all stuck around and signed autographs and stuff. as a fan, i really appreciate when the artists make time for us, and everytime i've seen j5 headline, they've always done that.

if you ever get a chance to see jurassic 5, DO IT! you will not be disappointed ... and if i'm nearby, i'll surely roll with you.

... and at the end of the night, not wanting to let a good night end quite yet, i stopped by dynamite for a bit and enjoyed the usual goodness there.

oh yeah ... go pick up their new album feedback. while i don't think it's as good as their ep or quality control, i still think it's pretty damn good ... especially 'gotta understand.'

my favorite mutiny

the coup played at the casbah down here in sd last night. despite having the j5 show to go to tonight, i went to this one as well. i saw the coup sometime back during my sophomore year at cal, but i didn't know who they were then. i picked up their newest album pick a bigger weapon, mostly because it was being hyped by okayplayer a lot. i really like the new album.

anyway, info said the concert started at 9. i didn't know if anyone was opening and decided to get there around 9. as i was walking up to the spot, i see boots (lead mc of the group ... i recognized his huge afro) hanging outside. a few minutes later, he gets in a van with some other guys (who i later find out are the band behind him) and drive off. the venue isn't even open yet despite doors supposed to be open at 830. i end up talking to some other guy in line.

eventually, we get in ... and no one is there. some local sd group called the kneehighs performed. they were decent but nothing special; although, i suppose the fact that there were only 10-15 people inside at the time may have contributed to that. people are slowly starting to trickle in. group called big spiders played. i wasn't feeling them much. after a bit of a delay, iselyfe performs. he's been touring with the coup for the past few weeks. the place is still relatively empty, but he manages to get the crowd hyped. i'm thinking, this guy did a good job upping the energy for the coup.

it's too bad that the coup didn't get on stage for another hour or so, and the energy died. while waiting for the coup to show up, emilio (the guy i was talking to in line and for most of the night until now) decided to go outside. we end up sitting down outside next iselyfe and chatting with him a bit about ... music, politics, apathy in san diego, etc. as we're talking, we see boots and the band roll up. the band goes in and sets up their stuff. meanwhile, boots joins our conversation for a bit, then gets his game face on and starts preparing himself for the show. we end up following him in the side entrance, which is right next to the stage. he hops on stage and we move to the front. since we've been outside, the crowd has grown to a good size and they've all moved to the front of the stage.

these guys put on an awesome show. they did a good job managing the energy level of the crowd. they'd get things hyped, then bring it down a bit for one of their slower songs, then take up a few notches again. boots was rocking out on stage and the band was jamming. they did some of the older stuff, which i wasn't familiar with, and most of the tracks off their newest album.

after the show, i talked to boots a bit more. i decided to pick up one of their older albums party music. outside, i chatted with some of the band members before heading home. really good show ... and it's always nice when the artists are chill enough to hang out and talk with some fans.

next up tonight: j5 ... i know this show is going to be good. i've seen em four times already and they never disappoint. unfortunately, it looks like i'm going to be rolling solo to this show too.

make way for the alkaholik crew

awesome past fews days. most of the stories wouldn't be conveyed well over a blog, which means i won't get into most of em ...

first of all, since thurs night, things have been pretty good. however ... the days before SUCKED. a project deadline was looming, which meant long hours of work. i'm glad to say that the model is now done with only minimal work left to "pretty it up" and i'm confident it's bug free and accurate.

aight ... to the fun. i made sure to have the model done by thurs evening, ensuring i had time to hit up dynamite thurs night. you all know i love this place (it keeps me sane), but this past thurs was my best dynamite night yet. i met SOO many random people, and unlike most nights, i was talking to someone or the other almost the entire night, which includes but isn't limited to:

- my new regular friend who's not as good looking as alexia is but much much more interesting and down to just hang out and talk. i think she's going to come with me to the jurassic 5 show this week. i'm hoping this will move outside the confines of bar dynamite.
- cute indian girl that goes to usc law, whom i met a few months ago there.
- fobby indian dude who's been in the country only a year. he was by himself, and i decided to go talk to him.
- two random guys from vegas. these guys were straight comedy. one of em started talking to me in the line for the bathroom because i was wearing my gang starr shirt. they told not to go to vegas this past weekend and go next weekend because they'd be back there and would be able to hook me up with tables and vip treatment. one of the guys told me to lookup the law firm he helped start next time i'm going to be in vegas.
- martin smith. just graduated from cal and used to play point on the bball team. but seriously though, this guy looked like he had ZERO game (not that i have any) and was having a horrible time ... didn't end up talking to him much.

so yeah, awesome night. what a good opening for a good weekend.

ahh ... vegas. i don't think there's much i'm going to say about vegas because, frankly, unless you were there, you wouldn't understand. one of those 'you had to be there' things. for the most part, we didn't do much but drink and gamble. we ended up going to jet in the mirage sat night, but not much other than that. anyways, to highlight a few.

- jay's flight being delay over FOUR HOURS!
- wyborny B*TCHES
- yeah, that's what she said
- byyyyaaahhhh
- trying to wake up labonee one morning and then having her say she's a light sleeper the next.
- jay and i being horrible shooters on the craps tables. one of the dealers was even like, "uhh ohh .. this guy" when i got the dice and later called told jay "you're slow today." ahh, that chack, good man.
- jay's adventure getting home saturday night.
- labonee's drunken walking
- vivek getting his nipple/shoulder bit on on the dance floor (and having marks to prove it)
- "i like mexican food"
- losing my first nine blackjack hands while labonee is tripling her money next to me.
- hearing about sanjay and viren's drunken exploits

good times. unfortunately i lost about $175 gambling, which means the next vegas trip probably won't be anytime soon (though i can probably be convinced if you try hard enough ... okay, you probably have to try that hard).

... and i miss spending time drankin with tash and ol dirty. get tha liks together and you know it's gunna be a good time.

UPDATE: pictures

luck be a lady ...

... i really hope i spend some time with her this weekend.
off to vegas i go.

b-boy document

i know i've posted a lot about b-boys (and b-girls) recently, but i couldn't pass up on this one. compared to this kid's parents, my parents obviously didn't know how to raise a kid. one of these days, i'll try to expand my breaking repertoire beyond the uprock, a simple six step, and a hand spin (though i doubt i can even do that now).



here's the link.

oh ... and just kidding, mom. you guys did a great job raising us.

i got the williams

- made my first car payment ever the other day, and as much as i like my new car, i liked not having car payments much more ... or at least, i would have liked to been able to delay the purchase a few more months to get some other things in order.

- my stupid self accidentally transferred money out of my checking account instead of transferring money in. imagine my shock when i check online and my account balance is a fat $0. the overdraft charge shows up in my account today. i figure, i've been a good customer for years, and this is the first time i've done this, i'm going to ask if they can waive the fee for me. i call up and the customer service rep says, "i can't do that. we are allowed to waive the overdraft fee the second time it happens, but not the first." how does that make any sense?!? you think they would show leniency the first time but crack down once it starts becoming a repeat occurence.

- today i get my cell phone bill, and i went over my minutes. i NEVER go over my minutes. i don't need more unnecessary expenses like this.

yeah ... i got the williams ...

i need love

i have to echo the sentiment on my brother's last blog entry (even though, 90% of my audience reads his blog too). why can't i find my own b-girl ... and to quote the anonymous commenter, that article is "devasting news."

out of all the girls i know, only one was really down with hip hop, and she shot me down quicker than ... umm ... i dunno, quicker than something really fast. but that's a completely different story, involving school nights and whatnot.

not too long ago, i came close to snagging a b-girl. i mean, come on ... cute chick, down with hip hop, very interesting and seemingly responsible, and get this ... part of hip hop dance troupe. damn ... if only ... but alas, after numerous phone calls back and forth (but not actually seeing each other again), that one fizzled out too.

more recently, i met another regular at dynamite. cute girl, very down, into hip hop ... and get this, she approached me because of my j5 shirt. i was telling jay about this girl the other day, and he was like, "so what's goin on there?"
"i dunno ... i'm not interested."
"dude, why not?"
"uhh ... i dunno. good question."
i'm going to have to reevaluate that decision when i (hopefully) see her tonight.

anyways, i need a b-girl in my life. not that i wouldn't date someone that wasn't into hip hop (sueellen wasn't a huge fan), but it's high up on the list for me. unfortunately, i think the chances of that actually happening are slim-to-none. oh well ... i guess i'll have to compromise on that front.

x-men 'bout to blast off

so i finally got around to seeing x-men: the last stand on friday. i went with my friend krithi who is just about the only person i know, besides my brother and cousins, who would appreciate the movie in the same way i would. after reading reviews and being warned by angelo many times not to waste my money, i was expecting much worse. for an action movie, it wasn't bad at all.

... but the movie REALLY BOTHERED me!

**possible spoiler alert**

i grew up reading many marvel comics, mostly x-men, and i watched the cartoon all the time. the movie diverged from both a LOT ... particularly, the story behind the development of the phoenix. plus the phoenix was scary looking, and in the comics, she's supposed to look the same as, if not better than, jean grey (and it's a shame doing that to famke janssen). she never once was engulfed in fire! then you throw in what happens to cyclops/professor x and magneto/mystique/rogue and i mean, come on. yes, i realize all those things could be reversed or accounted for in a subsequent movie, but that would just be lame. okay ... i'll stop now. i just had to rant about that for a bit. i would have done it earlier, but i was too busy this weekend being lazy.

**end spoiler alert**

oh yeah ... before the movie, they had a preview for the new ghostrider movie, and although it doesn't look particularly bad, it really doesn't look particularly good either. either way, i'll end up watching it ... why? because i feel compelled to watch anything put out by marvel since as a kid, i was so fascianted by the world marvel created. let's just hope they have more x-men/spidermans and less hulk/daredevils.

and hopefully, my shares of marvel stock will actually do something for once.

and thanks to the x-ecutioners, i was able to continue to provide relevant post titles while having the title reference a song, artist, etc.

i love being a b-boy

crown city rockers has been a new favorite of mine since junior year at cal. i would see them perform around campus often. at some point, i picked up their latest album earth tones, which gets heavy rotation by me. if you don't know, crown city rockers is a hip hop band complete with a dope girl on the keyboards, drummer, and bassist (both upright bass and bass guitar). they blend their jazzy sound with hip hop seemlessly. i've seen em live a buncha times and everytime i do, i leave inspired to attempt to teach myself how to play something (the feeling never gets far).


anyway, my favorite track of theirs is easily "b-boy." awhile back, i heard talks somewhere of a remix coming with zion i and the grouch. the track finally came out, and it's HOT. not only are the grouch and zion i on it, but planet asia, mystic, and chali 2na from j5 bless it as well. talk about some of cali's finest. check it out at www.myspace.com/crowncity. and if someone finds somewhere to download it, please let me know.

brasilintime

unfortunately for all you soccer fanatics, this post isn't about brazil's loss on saturday in the world cup (actually, i'm pretty sure no one in my blog audience is a soccer fanatic). this post is about brazil's greatest exports ... brazilian women and brazilian cut bikinis ... and even more so, brazilian women IN brazilian cut bikinis.

last week, i came to the sad realization that june was almost over, and that got me thinking, "what have i done with my summer so far this year?" the answer: absolutely nothing. i resolved to make it to the beach at some point during the weekend ... no matter what. i rolled out of bed around noon on saturday, just in time to watch the brazil/france game. i was rooting for brazil because of sibling-esque tie between brazil and goa, though that guy zidane from france was impressive (go portugal in the next round). the plan was to hit up the beach after the game. normally, i head to mission beach because it's closest to me, but after/during the game, i remembered archana telling me about windansea beach (i thought it was wind and sea, for the longest time). according to arch, this beach is the local hangout for brazilians, and everyone knows brazilians are simply good looking ... and hey, maybe some cutie will need consoling after the game. i get there ... and boy was she right. at least 90% of the people there were brazilians. considering about half of those were female ... in skimpy bikinis ... my eyes were in heaven. i got out the ipod and portable speakers (i immediately regretted not having sergio mendes with his samba soul on my ipod that day), laid down my towel, picked up my book, and just chilled for a couple hours. granted i spent most of the time enjoying the eye candy ... and unfortunately for you guys, my words do those lovely ladies no justice, and i have no pictures. still, i felt compelled to share. maybe i should work on some portuguese for the next time i go.

in other news:
saturday night, i went out with archana and some other medschoolers to the lamplighter (a local kareoke bar). i don't think i've ever done kareoke unless it was with my servite buddies ... and if that's the case, beware! first things first, i immediately thanked archana for the windansea tip. anyways, not the point. at some time during the night, i was hanging out near the pool table with some people, and all of sudden there's ruckus coming from my right. basically two girls were yelling at each, and things were coming to shoves. next thing i know, one of the girls picks up an empty beer, raises it above her head, and is about to start swinging. luckily, i was close enough behind her and able to react quickly to grab it out of her hand from behind her. people separate the two. i manage to get between the two girls and am slowly moving one of them in the opposite direction. of course, it doesn't help when her bf is yelling at me to "stop touching [his] girl." throughout all this commotion, i still have my gin and tonic in one hand. the drunken girl i am ushering away, who is still yelling, notices this and tries to grab the glass out of my hand (probably to throw). luckily, i had a pretty good grip on it, but she didn manage to spill the half i had left out ... mostly on archana. eventually bouncers/bartenders came by (uhh ... what took you guys so long?) and escorted the girl out. umm ... can i get a replacement for my gin and tonic. i later found out that the girl picked up the 7 ball off the pool table and threw that too.

i hadn't been around drunks like that in awhile. in the words of slick rick the ruler, hey girl, walk straight, master your high.