it's all mathematics

growing up, my aunt and uncle used to have a bunch of disney straight-to-vhs movies. most of them were of the sing along variety, but the one that sticks in my head the most is "donald in mathmagic land." there's one scene in the movie where donald is learning how to shoot some pool and how math helps out. unfortunately, i don't shoot pool as much as i should be, but i still think about that scene often when i do (though i was fuzzy on the details). sometimes i'll even tell whomever i'm shoot pool with about it. i usually just get blanks stares in response. no one has ever heard of the movie, except my brother and my cousins. anyway, my cousins, terence, and i were talking about it this past weekend. i asked my aunt awhile back about it, but she has no idea where her old vhs copy is. however thanks to youtube and the internet, i've found it (or at least pieces of it).

here's the pool scene:

fire

as most of you can probably imagine, things have been pretty crazy over here in san diego the last few days. fires have rampaged much of the area, but things seem to be getting better. since i live in central san diego and pretty close to the coast, neither i nor my property was ever in any real imminent danger. however, other people i know were a little closer to the action. a few of my friends and coworkers had to leave their houses under mandatory evacuation orders. but even being away from the fires, the effects could still be felt near my place. you could smell it in the air sunday night. i didn't go into work on monday and halfway through the day, i closed all my windows because of all the ash coming in. unfortunately, i had clients flying into town on monday from baltimore for training tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. my manager decided to let them make the call, and they opted to go ahead with the meeting. my office was under voluntary evacuation on monday but not on tuesday. the air was thick with smoke and ash. soot covered everything. i was coughing all day and my eyes were burning. my throat is still sore from all the ash i inhaled. according to my doctor, i'm going to die at the age of 50 because of pneumoconiosis.

on the bright side, things are getting better. much, though not all, of the fire has been contained. the weather isn't as dry as it was and the wind has died down a bit. most people i know that left their homes have now returned. fortunately, no one i know lost anything due to the fires.

check out this map developed using the google maps api.

and here are three maps with some things labeled for a little perspective on where things are. each map gets a little more detailed and closer (notice the scale on the bottom left ).

don't call it a comeback

i've been back to dynamite a few times since it's changed, and when i go, i'll still run into a handful regulars. thing's haven't been the same though. the crowd is a mere fraction of what it used to be. i don't know the bouncer anymore and have to pay cover; though i stilll know one of the bartenders, who takes care of me, though not as well as adrian used to. and the worst part, the music hasn't been anywhere close to what it used to be. you won't hear any gang starr or jaylib anymore and only every once in awhile will you hear some wu-tang.

now, i can't say it's back to where it used to be, but when i went back on saturday night, things were starting to look up. the place was filled up nicely and the music was much better than it had been in months. they weren't playing stuff "that you wouldn't hear anywhere else," but it was still good hip hop, mostly older stuff. i also ran into a few other regulars, the ever-present-at-dynamite chivas and always goofy-smiling paul. paul was a little more drunk than i'm used to seeing him. at some point, i was talking to him at the bar. i turned around to get another drink and when i look back, he's slid in between two girls dancing. eventually i swoop in and play wingman. at first he was trying to get with the blond, but when he found out that she was married, he quickly transitioned over to the brunette. ahh ... that paul. good times. like i told one of the girls, he's one of the most genuine people that i don't really know well.

it actually turns out that paul and i have mutual friends. he's one of the few dynamite regulars that i've seen outside of dynamite. i ran into him at arterra at the del mar marriott. one of my best friends teresa's cousin domanic's friend christine's brother josh dj's at arterra every wednesday from 5-9. since it's really close to my work, i just roll through after work and chill with them for a bit. it's the closest thing i have to a regular spot and a group of friends in san diego these days. josh and domanic, who also spins, listen and play a lot of the music that i'm really into. at arterra, they play mostly slower, loungy music. i've always thought that if/whenever i throw a party, i'd have one of those dj for me.

anyway, dynamite is not back yet, but it's definitely moving in the right direction.

african dream

for those of you that don't know, both of my parents were born and raised in kenya (my dad in mombasa and my mom in nairobi). they were there till around they were 18 before moving to goa. they spent almost twice as much time in kenya as they did in goa. neither has been back since they left in around 1969, but my dad has been wanting to come back for years now. my mom's fears about the safety of the country has held him back, but she finally gave in. terence and i decided to tag along.

getting there:
getting to kenya and meeting with my parents and brother, who had already been there almost a week, wasn't as easy as you would think. to start things off my flight from brussels to nairobi was delayed two hours, which made me miss my flight from nairobi to mombasa ... and of course, that flight was the last one of the night. after an hour or two of talking with airline officials, they booked me on a flight the next morning and put me up in a pretty nice hotel for the night. when i got to the airport the next morning, the excitement of the trip was really starting to hit me. plus, when i got to the airport and was looking for breakfast, i found some mondazis. mondazis are basically african donuts. i love them ... but get them only rarely when my aunts will make them. the flight to mombasa was uneventful ... though i did get a beautiful view of mt. kilimanjaro from the plane. growing up, my dad used to tell my brother and me tall tales of his adventures climbing mt. kilimanjaro, which i believed for a long time. once i touched down in mombasa (which i didn't know was an island till i got there), there was a driver waiting for me with instructions to take me to my parents and brother who were on a city tour of mombasa. the chase was on. to make a long story short, the driver decided to pick up someone else too, and, instead of dropping me off first even though i was on the way, dropped off the other guy first. by that time, my parents and terence had left where they were and now we had to meet them somewhere else. after a lotta driving through mombasa, i eventually met up with the rest of my family.

mombasa city tour:
the first part of the tour (or at least the first part of the tour for me) took us through the old spice market. throughout the tour, it was fun hearing my dad tell stories of how things were "back when [he] was [there]." next we went to fort jesus, an old portuguese fort that constantly fought over. it was only relatively recently made a national monument. before then, it served as a playground for my dad and his childhood friends. they used to play soccer outside its walls, throw stones down its well, and swim to and from its banks. after the fort, it was time for lunch. lunch was aboard the tamarind dhow while it floated through crisp blue waters. we ended the city tour at hallers park, basically a zoo. there we saw hippos and crocodiles eating, giant tortoises, monkeys, and even got to feed some giraffes.

mombasa night life:
terence told me we had plans to hang out with some of my mom's friend effie's kids that night. neither terence and i had met any of them before. effie, who used to be my mom's neighbor in nairobi back in the day, has two kids, marissa and jeremy, and jeremy was celebrating his 21st birthday (not a big deal since the drinking age is 18 and even that isn't enforced much). the plan was to pre-party at their house and then head out to some bar. i guess you could say they sticked to that plan, but things definitely weren't what i expected. effie's husband mike, who used to go to school with my dad, picked up the four of us from our hotel. my parents were going to some other party with effie and mike. we got to the house around 9. as soon as my parents left with mike and effie, as if on cue, car after car starting pulling into the driveway. in the end there were around 25 (mostly goan) kids between 20 and 30 years old. after a few drinks and a few hours, we get word that the plan is to leave the house around midnight. i'm looking forward to a change of scenery, mostly because my energy level is DROPPING (keep in mind that i flew into mombasa this morning). 1am rolls around and we're still at the house, and fortunately, i start to catch my second wind. it wasn't till around 2 that we ended up getting out of there and heading out to a local bar. after a couple hours of some drinking and dancing there, the fun begins. our group gets kicked out of that bar because one of the guys with us started puking at one of the tables. being kicked out and the way the bouncers treated us in doing so really pissed off jeremy and his friends. they were regulars at this place and knew some of the management. after some strong words with the people working there and some effort to get everyone in our party out, especially ryan (recently returned to mombasa after graduating from college in australia), we decided to move the fun. this time we went to pirates, a bigger place with more of a tourist appeal (though it was 4am now and not much of anyone was still there). we were at pirates till they closed around 6. this is when the real comedy starts. ryan is drunk and acting a fool, tripping over things, falling in the sand, peeing in public, peeing in public while falling in the sand, jumping on cars, talking random nonsense about rapunzel and the devil. STRAIGHT COMEDY! though it's probably one of those you had to be there things. eventually around 630am, we were dropped back at our hotel and i hit the sack. my first full day in the country was over.

the next day, my dad gave us his version of the mombasa city tour. he showed us the church he was baptised in and went to growing up. then he took us to his old neighborhood. the house he used to live in is still there but completely uninhabitable. the thing was RUN DOWN and falling apart ... literally. that night we had dinner with effie, mike, marissa, jeremy, and some of my dad's other friends. we called it a day early ...

... because we had to wake up early the next day to start our seven day safari. we were picked up by robert ... our guide and driver for the next seven days. we got into our nissan van, which was to be our home for the next few days ... and the safari was on!

the safari in general was an amazing experience. i didn't really know what to expect going in. our lodges throughout the safari were a pleasant surprise. great service, (mostly) good food, and nice accomodations. our safari consisted of four different game parks: tsavo west, amboseli, lake nakuru, and masai mara. each park was different from all the others, and each park had different things that made it special. the safari also made me realize that my sense of sight is MUCH better than my brother's or my parents'.

tsavo west:
we had an AWESOME view of a man-made watering hole from our patio and the dining terrace. unfortunately, aside from that, it was hard to see much else because the brush in this park was high and thick. since this park was the beginning of our safari, a sighting of any kind was exciting for us. later on, seeing a gazelle or a dik dik would not have been a big deal but now seeing them still brought out "oohs" and "aahs." we did get a beautiful view of a group of giraffes in a clearing and a brief glimpse of a hyena before it was scared off by a herd of elephants. on our way out of the park, we stopped at a natural hot springs where we were able to see a bunch of hippos, and since the hippos were still wild, we were required to go with an armed escort. that armed escort was not the only one we'd need that day. apparently the drive between tsavo and amboseli isn't the safest one around, and there have been reports of armed bandits roaming the area. we had to travel in a caravan with each vehicle having a person with an assault rifle inside.

amboseli:
amboseli was flat and open. for miles and miles, all you'd see is animals, all kinds of animals: zebras, wildebeest, elephants, warthogs, giraffes, gazelles, etc. seeing all those animals side by side, peacefully coexisting, was incredible. here was also the first place we were able to see some predators. other highlights here include seeing:
- a cheetah chase (but not catch) a gazelle
- a lion eating a zebra by the side of the road
- a baby gazelle and since it could barely walk, it had to have been less than two hours old
- a traditional masai tribe and village
- a herd of elephants up close

lake nakuru:
getting to lake nakuru was not the most pleasant experience ever. the trip was a seven hour drive, but this wasn't your sf-to-la seven hour drive. our driver was constantly swerving left and right to avoid potholes and other vehicles. to make thing worse, it was pouring rain the whole time too. eventually we got there. lake nakuru is famous for the flocks of flamingos that call it home. the sheer magnitude of them was amazing. robert even let us get out of the van at the shore. highlights:
- rhinos for the first time, including a black rhino, which is one of africa's most endangered species.
- a breathtaking view from baboon cliff
- of course, the flamingos

masai mara:
masai mara is kenya's most famous national park, and you could easily spend 6 or 7 days here alone. long rolling hills and vast stretches of grassland. we also happened to be there at the tail end of the great wildebeest migration, and there were wildebeest everywhere. my mom wanted to "rough it" a bit here and had us booked in tents but really these tents were really the best rooms we had. they were basically nice hotel rooms but with canvas walls. we even later found out that the place was owned by gujaratis. highlights:
- a hyena eating something while a bunch of vultures waited their turn
- finally seeing a lion with a large mane
and of course, the highlight of the entire safari:
throughout the safari, we had seen all the different animals that we had expected/wanted to see, except for a leopard. after a long search, we find a leopard. at first we didn't have a very good view and could only see spots. after robert did some maneuvering to get us a better, we could see that the leopard was eating an antelope of some kind. as more and more cars approached, the leopard was becoming noticealbly more nervous. eventually it bites down on the antelope around the neck and climbs up a tree. yeah, it climbed up a tree while carrying the antelope in its mouth. once it felt the body was secure up in the tree, it jumped down and took off in the brush, leaving its food for later, safe in the tree where lions and hyenas couldn't get to it.
what a great way to end our safari.



after our safari, we had lunch in nairobi with my dad's old neighbor (who used to be a jetfighter pilot ... even trained at top gun) and then flew back to mombasa. we spent monday lounging at the beach with ryan. that night we had dinner at "the club." "the club," actually called the mombasa institute, formerly called the goan institute, is goan owned and has its own tennis courts, soccer field, bar, etc. it's basically the hangout spot for all the goans in the area, young and old alike. that night we ended up going out and what we thought would be an early night (since it was monday) didn't end till 3am. the next day was more tame with only happy hour and dinner. then terence and i said our goodbyes to mombasa and flew to nairobi.

while in nairobi, we stayed with shashank, who lives in nairobi working as a journalist. terence and i wandered around the city some while shashank worked, though there wasn't much to see. friday, the three of us went to hell's gate and biked through the park. though we'd been close to the animals before, being close with nothing separating you from them was a completely different experience. terence and i even almost got arrested on the way there. the policeman kept telling shashank "i want to arrest these two" because we didn't have our passports with us. he was even nice about, saying "i want to arrest these two ... let me arrest them ... please." when he realized we wouldn't offer him a bribe, he simply let us go. during the rest of our time in nairobi, shashank showed us around, taking us to good restaurants and bars. we ended our trip on saturday, hour from our flight, at a casino playing blackjack. all three of us started with 2000 Ksh (~$30). i ended with 8000 Ksh, shashank with 12000 Ksh, and terence with 18000 Ksh. you read that correctly ... i quadrupled my money, which was nothing compared to the 9x that terence did with his money! why can't we do that in vegas?!!?

and with that, our trip was over ...

... but i wasn't home yet. i spent most of the next week in new york. unfortunately, since archana was working a lot of that time, i wandered around the city by myself a lot and was able to meet up with both noopur and ramneek.

three and a half weeks and 31ooo AAdvantage miles (and platinum status) later, i made it back to sd. home again.

you can check out all my pictures here.

what time the plane leavin

i know it's been a while since i've blogged ... get over it!

excitement is starting to grow for my upcoming trip to kenya. basically everything's set. i have my tickets, my visa, my immunizations, and just about everything else ... terence, even has his passport ... finally!

for the most part, we have our plan down. i'll spend a couple days in mombasa, where my dad was born and raised, before heading out on 7 day safari through various wildlife parks in kenya. my parents will leave, and terence and i will do some hiking/biking through the rift valley and mount longonot, along with spending some time in nairobi with shashank, who lives there and writes some pretty fascinating stuff. the trip should definitely be good times.

and to make things a little better, i found out i have a meeting for work in baltimore the week i get back, which means, i'm just going to stay on the east coast a bit longer (and on the company dollar), and of course, the more time i get to spend in ny the better =)

soooo ... as it's looking now, SAN to JFK to BRU to NBO to MBA, then on the way back, NBO to BRU to JFK to BWI to JFK to SAN. kinda crazy! ... and all on american airlines.

and thanks to some good looking out by terence, i've signed up for the american's platinum aadvantage challenge. the lady i spoke to at american said that i should hit platinum status halfway through my trip. even better, the status will last through february 2009! time to rack up those miles.

weekend

my brother already recapped his 4th of july bbq here, but there's no way i can not post this video.



the sound is great too.
"nice! well played, brian, well played."
"fuck ... ... ... CAMERA!"
and of course, right at the end, "hey, hey, can i see your camera really quick?" which lead to kathleen getting tossed into the pool as well as soon as the camera was safely out of her hands.

unfortunately, my likwit crew shirt was a casualty of the day; though, i suppose it could have been worse.


friday night was a trip too. good ol time at double dutch with the likwit crew. the end of the night was straight comedy. though nothing i say will be able to recapture the hilarity ... one of those you had to be there things. but a couple highlights:

• vivek's magic tricks
• and jay waking up at 530am in his car, still outside my bro's place

saturday night's garba was a good time too. it was nice finally getting to spend a bit of time with anjali before her big day. santana row afterwards was ridiculous.

• manasa's hair catching on fire ... okay okay, not on fire, but it definitely burned, smoke and putrid smell and all
• five drunk girls and at least four cameras make for a bunch of great pictures
  
• "alright, well we all just took a shot of patron ... probably not a good time to drive home." then seeing the cop next to us look up and smile
• getting bombarded by drunk girls to be nice to my gf during her intern year

the wedding ceremony was beautiful. the reception was a blast.

• drinking in the parking lot with tha liks, bumping wu
• my suit button issues
  
• jay being drunk off his ass during the speeches
• saving a glass of scotch for after my speech (didn't quite work out that way)
• anjali's little cousin with the same ol sass i remember
• guys being all over labonee
• table 13 ... aka the drunk table
• labonee losing her purse at the end of the night (not sure what she was doing while she lost it)
  

good times ... i haven't had that much fun in a long time.

pictures of:
july 4th
double dutch
anjali's garba
santana row
anjali's wedding


and CONGRATULATIONS ANJALI AND NIRAL!

movin like mike tyson

i've never been much of a hindi film watcher ... but maybe now is the time to start.

the shit is real

here's some more free music for you ... and this time a mixtape of some of the best tracks produced by my personal favorite dj premier. the mixtape was put together by dj jaycee, though i've never heard of him. check it out. i haven't had a chance to give it a listen yet, but i'm sure it'll be good stuff ... cause come on, it's close to 80 minuted of primo goodness.

hip hop is dead

i was excited about the nas concert last night. he has always been one of my favorite mc's, and i've never seen him perform before. he has a long list of classic plus some new tracks that are pretty good.

the concert was at 4th and B, where i've seen j5, krs, and ozomatli. doors were set to open at 8, and i got there at 930. to my surprise, there was a long line out and around the building. i saw shawne merriman roll up while i was walking up, and of course, he gets to walk straight in.

after waiting a bit, i finally get in around 10 ... the place is packed. the venue is a relatively big place, and i've never seen this many people in it. i grab a gin and tonic and wait ...

unfortunately, after waiting for 45 minutes, the crowd starts getting restless. people start chanting "bravehearts." why would you do that!?!? ... no one wants them to come out. chant nas, shit ... even chant kelis ... but who wants to hear the bravehearts. a little bit later, someone comes on the mic ... "due to circumstances out of control, this concert will be postponed. you can receive refunds at point of sale." BOOO!

people are pissed and yelling "hip hop is dead" the whole way out. what a disappointment.

and of course, i lose out on my parking money and even if i do get a refund, i lose out on all the bullshit ticketmaster service fees.

damn

*UPDATE*
well at least now i know it wasn't his fault ... idiots

the bay

i've got a slow week at work, and i haven't posted in awhile ... what better time than now.

it'd been awhile since i've made my way over to the bay to kick with friends. seeing as i have a lot more free time these days on the weekends, i figured it was about time. i'm not going to get into details, but it was a damn good weekend, filled with good friends and lotsa drinking.

some highlights:
- ronak telling me that he's disavowed the four prong method for getting girls for a new and improved five pronged method ... apparently because of me. yeah, and i'm still not funny.

- ankita ... good ol drunkita. first, selling her beerfest ticket to my friend then changing her mind and buying another one on craigslist. i'm glad she came though ... pouring beer on people and smashing cake in people's faces ... good times.

- zena's drunk ass not knowing who i was

- our awesome limo driver gus gus

- my drunk ass at double dutch

- since i had a free upgrade on united that expired at the end of april, i flew first class back.

ahh, good times ...

pictures here and here

tonight ... nasty nas live

sf knights

i've been meaning to make a trip up to the bay for awhile now. it's been a long time since i've been up there and even longer time since i've been able to hang out up there with my friends. after ankita and terence mentioned this to me, i finally decided to pull the trigger.

i'll be up there april 27-29. let me know if you want to hang out, and i'll keep you posted with plans. i'll definitely be going to the sf beerfest, but other than that, nothing's planned yet.

on a side note, i bought my tickets through sidestep. that site has the best interface i've yet to see from any travel website. check it out.

push back the first five rows

after seeing another great ozomatli performance last night, i got to thinking about some of the best concerts i've seen. on first thought, my top three concerts would be:

1. okayplayer tour (2000)
the roots
talib kweli
guru
slum village
dead prez
jazzyfatnastees

went with terence, sriram, and shawn.

the roots band was on stage for a good four hours playing back up for the various artists. people came on and off the stage, performing their own hits ... capped off with the roots doing their thing with almost everyone joining them. the roots are incredible live, and since this was my first time seeing them, i didn't know what to expect. kweli also rocked the crowd, especially after getting pissed when two guys started fighting in the crowd. plus being able to see slum village (minus dilla though) and dead prez was pretty cool. GREAT show.

2. word of mouth tour (2000)
jurassic 5
dilated peoples
supernatural

went with terence and ankit

the day after seeing the okayplayer tour, i saw this one. yeah ... needless to say, one of the best weekends in my life. just like above, this was the first time i saw jurassic 5 live. they are also great performers. these guys really know how to put on a show and always come with lotsa energy. dilated people also knows how rock a crowd.

3. ozomatli (2004)

ozomatli
kinky
plastalino mosh

went with shawn

these guys are just a bunch of amazing musicians. they know how to work a crowd and perform with lotsa energy. it was the first time i saw them and once again, didn't know what to expect. all around good music and performance. they ended the show by hopping into the crowd with their instruments and performing in the middle of the audience, playing stuff like ole ole, the chicken dance, and other stuff. then the formed a conga line and ended the show by leading the line out the door. good shit!


anyway, my question to you guys:
what were the best concerts you've ever seen?

the simpsons

one of the greatest mysteries of my lifetime will always be: "which springfield in the united states do the simpsons live in?" now i understand that matt groening has been purposely vague, and in all actuality, the springfield in which the simpsons live isn't a real place. it's been kinda fun reading people's cases for a particular state (i believe illinois and kentucky have the strongest arguments).

anyway, i think fox's decision to have the new simpsons movie premier at springfield is pretty cool ... but which springfield you ask. they get to fight for it. i think it's a clever marketing idea that'll appeal to longtime simpsons fans like myself.

the simpsons will always be one of my favorite tv shows of all time. i can't wait for the movie to come out. the new trailer looks pretty good.

cause the greatest rapper of all time died on march 9th

"cause the greatest rapper of all time died on march 9th
God bless his soul; rest in peace kid
it's because of him that i know what beef is"
- canibus

that line from canibus' "second round ko" (a great diss song pointed at ll cool j) will always be one i remember. i may not think big was the greatest ever, but he was definitely up there with the greats.

10 years ago today, the notorious big died, almost exactly 6 months after pac was killed. it's kinda surprising that it's already been 10 years. just like pac, big was killed at the pinnacle of his career. he had just released his sophomore album life after death, a double disc album filled with hits. he was already in the limelight before he died, and i feel just getting started.

on days like today, i wonder what woulda been if pac and big hadn't been killed when they were. pac woulda been on a fire, continuing his tirade against any and every one. big would have put out more music and probably kept puff in check. i don't people like 50 cent would have been able to emerge in the spotlight like they have. but with big and pac still alive, would the coastal beef continued ... probably. maybe they'd be able to squash it eventually. all i know is that it'd be good music. i can only imagine.

r.i.p.b.i.g.

classic

check out this new song in celebration of the 25th anniversary of nike's air force 1s. the song features some of the best ever and is produced by my personal favorite dj premier. i don't think kanye deserves to be put on the same level as rakim, nas, krs, and premier, but when things are all said and done, maybe he will cause he does "have a right to be a little bit snobbish." granted, he's too damn cocky for his own good.

i think the video is pretty sweet. seeing the guys bomb different walls with each mcs name is pretty cool, and i love how they show primo doing his thing.



i found out about the video/song from okayplayer.com, which is the online home of the roots, mos def, common, and many more. okayplayer is the source of much of my hip hop news and going-ons. it's actually where i've gotten my info on the new free music i've posted about recently.

if someone manages to track down the mp3 of this track, let me know.

definitive swim

i really like what adult swim has been doing lately by collaborating with hip hop artists to provide good free music. lately it's usually been with the folks at stones throw, but now they're offering a new free album in conjunction with the def jux crew. check it out here.

you're nobody until somebody kills you

i've thought about writing this post before ... even started on it a couple times, but then when i couldn't convey in words what i was feeling/thinking ... delete. if you're reading this, i've done better than my past attempts. or maybe i just failed again, but hey you wouldn't really know if that were the case.

on february 10, 2006, james yancey aka j.dilla aka jay dee died after a long battle with lupus. for those of you that don't know, dilla is/was one of the greatest hip hop producers ever, working with people like slum village, madlib, common, d'angelo, and many many more. amongst people in the music industry, he was one of the most creative producers out there.

but this post isn't necessarily about j.dilla ...

it's about a phenomenon that biggie rapped about and eventually became a part of. "you're nobody till somebody kills you." now don't get me wrong, dilla and biggie were, by no means, small players (literally for biggie) in the rap game ... but both were probably more respected, more notable, more whatever after they died. this is probably more true with dilla than it was with biggie, but i believe it definitely applies to both. then you get people like big pun and big l ... and no disrespect intended, but i don't think either would be as relevant as they are if they hadn't died early in their lives. they were both good mcs, but there's not much that distinguished them from other good mcs ... until they died. on the other side of things, you have jam master jay, who was highly influential as a part of run dmc and rightly respected as so when he died. tupac ... he has sold more since he died than when he was alive ... and oddly, put out more albums posthumously. would i have bought an album like pac's life (which i'm listening to now) if he were still alive? ... probably not. then again, i'd like to think if he were still alive, an album like pac's life never would have been released.

back to j.dilla ... i've always been a fan. slum village has always put out good albums. i love tracks like common's the light, pharcyde's runnin', and a tribe called quest's find a way. though as much as i hate to admit it, my appreciation of his work early on was purely indirect. i loved his work but didn't necessarily always know it was his work. if you had asked me a couple years ago about jay dee, i probably wouldn't have thought much. it wasn't until a couple years ago when he started mc'ing a bit (his fuck the police is an awesome track) and started pairing up with madlib for their jaylib album that i was starting to notice him explicitly. then he passed away, and since then, he's BLOWN UP. everything he touches is golden (though maybe that was also true before). everyone that's into hip hop now knows about dilla.

i just think it's unfortunate that a lot of these guy weren't truly appreciated while they were alive, and they weren't able to receive most of that appreciation within their lifetime. i guess it's true that you don't know what you have until you lose it.

i dunno ... i still don't think i've gotten out completely what i was feeling/thinking ... oh well. what do you guys think?

for some more good free music, check out stonesthrow's latest podcast, which features a j.dilla mix by j-rocc.

... and for all of you in san diego, friday, february 8, 2007 ... kava lounge ... j.dilla tribute party with all proceeds going to the j.dilla foundation, which raises money for lupus research. i'll definitely be there.

RIP J.DILLA!

suicidal thoughts

works been kicking my ass. it's not that i have been working extremely hard or long hours lately. i've definitely put in many more hours in a week on other projects. it's just that this project is REALLY annoying ... mostly due to the fact that my manager does not keep me in the loop, or at least not until it's too late, and then i end up having to scramble to get things done. our clients have been here twice since i've returned from canada, and both times i felt we wasted their time (at least partially).

most of my friends are going to be leaving san diego soon. i have few as it is; i don't want to give up the ones i do have. there's still some hope that one or two will stay in the area.

... and here's the kicker.
i received confirmation from multiple sources last night that dynamite is going to stop playing hip hop (or at least not as much). my bartender adrian said it was a long story but the change may only be temporary. one of the dj crew guys ali said they were trying to even out the guy girl ratio. dj profile (with whom i talked to the longest) said they're trying to change up the clientele. too many girls were complaining about being groped. etc etc.

none of that makes sense to me.

too many girls getting groped ... i think that has little to do with the music. it has more to do with the clientele, and if they want to change that, so be it ... but changing the music is not the answer. be stricter at the door. raise drink prices and cover.

and switching the music isn't going to help the girl guy ratio. maybe it was a little better last night than it normally is ... but there was less of everyone. there was probably a third less people than they normally have. hopefully the owner will realize he's losing money and switch things back. both adrian and profile said the change may be temporary, but when i closed out my tab last (after only one drink!) i felt like it was good bye.

i'm now in search of a dynamite replacement. i have a couple places in mind that may be good candidates, but they won't be same ...

=(

instead of flow for flow, let's go show for show

on friday, i saw the blastmaster krs-one live. kid capri and the grand wizard theodore also showed up. though krs is well passed his prime, he still came live with it. the guy was very energetic and animated on stage, yet still delivering crisp flows. he even had local b-boys and b-girls breaking on stage next to him while he flowed.

and for those of you that don't know, krs-one is one of THE most influential rappers EVER. it was a very good show. he went through some classics, such as south bronx, the bridge is over, mc's act like they don't know, and i'm still #1. i'm glad i was able to see this legend.

up next: the upstarts (group with some of the dynamite djs) on the 17th and the roots on feb 12.

too close

as you all know, dynamite keeps me sane (if you didn't know that, WHO ARE YOU?!?) ...

you can only imagine the feelings of anxiety i had when i heard rumors from my dynamite friend j that they were going to end their hip hop nights there ... something about too many girls getting groped. i'm not really sure what that has to do with hip hop. i was dreading going last night because of the chance that the rumors were true.

when i got there last night, they were in the middle of nice funk set. i wasn't surprised because they often get funky there (even did a james brown tribute set a week ago that i missed), but still ... it's not hip hop. i was filled with relief when i heard ohmega watts' mind power come on ... followed by mos def's brown sugar and erykah badu's love of my life. they still didn't play as much hip hop as they normally do ... but i was more than happy that there was any at all.

that was too close ... i'm still a little wary ... keep your fingers crossed for me.

liberation

with all the money that's ruling the music business these days, it's refreshing to see some artists making music for the sake of making music ... or at least, for the fans. in any case, you rarely see artists giving away their creations for free ... and when they do, it's not often quality work.

but here's a change. download liberation, the new collaboration album (9 FREE songs) between talib kweli and madlib, here. mine's still downloading, which means i can't comment on how good the stuff is, but kweli and madlib are two of the best doing it right about now. unfortunately, as far as i know, the album is only free for the rest of today (friday). get to it!