i wasn't planning on posting about this, but since i have a lot of dead time while my model is compiling/running ... and seriously, there's only so much surfing you can do, i figured i had nothing better to do ... plus i thought it was pretty damn funny (if i do say so myself).
on tuesday, i read about yahoo's stock plummeting 11+%.
tuesday, also happened to be anjali's first day on the job at yahoo, after a day of orientation.
coincidence?!? i think not.
now this would make sense if they did it to cal, but to their own ... i mean, really?!?
The band was suspended in July after some members vandalized the trailer by breaking windows, sledgehammering walls and spray-painting profanities.sledgehammering your own shit!?!? brilliant, i tell ya.
today marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of tupac shakur.
ever since last night, i've been thinking about what to write in this post. BLANK. NOTHING.
... or maybe too much.
i could write an essay on tupac (actually, i have). but i don't want to bore all of you with all of that because i'd go on and on.
all i will say is that he was a very talented and passionate individual, and it's unfortunate that he was killed when he was because he had much more creativity to unleash on the world. to say the VERY least, the hip hop community misses his presence, and his death (along with the death of the notorious big) marked the end of an era in hip hop.
... but life goes on ...
and if anyone would like to pour out a little liquor with me in his memory tonight in sd, let me know ... or if you're in sf, i'm sure my brother would be more than happy to have you join his celebration of the life and death of tupac.
**UPDATE**
for a better post on tupac, see my brother's blog.
since the end of june, there's been a large void in my life. i'm not talking about a lack of social life or a non-existent love life ... actually those two have been better in the past few months ... well, my love life is still basically non-existent ... anyway, not the point. i digress. ever since d-wade and shaq won the nba finals, there has been no sports in my life. i'm not a baseball fan at all, and yeah, there was those few weeks of world cup action, which was exciting, but other than that, nothing ...
but now ... football has started. i was never much of a football fan before i moved to sd. i did follow some college football, but that was usually limited to things affecting cal's team. many of my coworkers here in sd are big nfl fans, and they (along with an office fantasy football league) got me into the nfl. being in sd, i decided to root for the home team ... the san diego chargers.
so for the next 16 weeks, my sundays will be much less productive, and i won't be staying late at work on mondays.
... and things have started out well for my teams, chargers demolished the raiders behind a very impressive defense (9 sacks and only allowed 9 first downs) and a strong running game. cal also rebounded from an embarrassing loss to defeat minnesota ... and i won some money in the first week in my fantasy league.
PLUS! less than two months before the lakers get back into action.
the other day, i was headed out and forgot my ipod upstairs in my condo. normally, i'd go back up and grab it, but since i was in a bit of a rush, i had to make do without it. luckily, it was late, and there were some good slow jams on, but it got me thinking. now that i have my new car, and the 6 disc cd changer that comes with it, why don't i have that thing loaded?!
... which brings me to my question? what 6 cds do you keep loaded in your car (if you don't have a changer, pretend you do)? now, i'm not asking for your 6 favorite cds because it's different than that ... or at least, it is for me. i'd want albums that would fit different moods and mesh with various people. for instance, even though tupac's all eyez on me, biggie's ready to die, and nas's illmatic are some of my favorite albums, i definitely wouldn't have all three.
here's a first pass at my list (and maybe soon, i'll actually get around to putting these in my car):
- stevie wonder's song review: greatest hits disc 1 (or the temptations' the ultimate collection or the beatles' sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band) - for when my mom or someone else who wouldn't appreciate hip hop or anything else that may be laced with profanity.
- gang starr's moment of truth - my favorite album of all time. it fits almost all my moods and can always lift my spirits ... for we all must me our moment of truth.
- crown city rocker's earth tones - i love this album. not many people have heard of them nor their music, but it's the type of music that even people who aren't really into hip hop can appreciate because of the live instrumentation and jazzy feel. and i like spreading the word of good acts.
- tupac's all eyez on me (disc 1) (or his makaveli album or the nas or biggie listed above) - one of the six has to be some hardcore stuff ... and i mean, who doesn't get amped while driving around to pac's ambition az a ridah? these are the kinda albums you turn up your stereo for and bump with the windows down.
these last two are tough
- maybe kanye's late registration - a compromise between pop hip hop and good hip hop. people know his stuff, and it appeals to the masses, but at the same time, it's a good album.
- maybe blink 182's enema of the state or the cure's greatest hits - to appeal to my non-hip hop enthusiasts.
- maybe lauren hill's the miseducation of lauryn hill - for when i want something a little bit slower or perhaps have a girl in the car.
i dunno ... i'll think about it some more.
... but what do you guys think? would your deck be filled with only hip hop? ... some punk maybe?... only hindi film songs? ... old 80s classics? ... ewok songs? ... stones throw jazz remixes? lemme know ...
(and saying burned mix cds is plain cheating)
my order from okayplayer finally came in. i've anxiously been awaiting the new album from the roots. though game theory had been "leaked" onto to the internet awhile ago, i haven't heard any of it besides the lead single, don't feel right. i decided against popping the new album in at work because i felt i wanted to be able to actively listen to it, which doesn't really happen at work. instead i decided to listen to j.period's best of the roots mixtape that was included in the order. oohh ... this thing is HOT! it's not just a compilation of past good roots songs. there's a lot on here that i haven't heard before, including new songs and remixes with zion i, stevie wonder, and rakim ... to name a few. i CANNOT wait to get off work and toss the new album in ... though it'll be difficult to resist the temptation to listen to this mixtape for the rest of the day.
ripping my entire 200+ cd collection has long been on my 'to-do' list, and recently, my current cd rack has been hitting its capacity. i finally got around to buying a couple new shelves for my cds, and i figured now is as good a time as any to get around to getting all those cds on my computer.
yes, i still buy cds. i think the artists deserve to get paid for their work. shit, they give me a lot ... i give a little back. that being said, i have nothing against downloading either. take zion i, for example. i downloaded their first album after a recommendation from a friend. since then, i've bought three of their albums and seen em live a couple times ... and probably more importantly, i recommend them to others. none of that probably would have happened if i hadn't originally downloaded their first album.
anyway, like rob from high fidelity (which is what i settled on), i found great comfort in sorting my music and find great comfort in knowing my musical collection is now organized exactly as i want it to be. since my last rack was almost completely full, i didn't have the free space to keep the cds as i wanted them in there, and i was growing more and more frustrated with not knowing exactly where a particularly cd was. with my new shelves now only being half full, i was able to get them exactly like i want. i don't sort my music chronologically or alphabetically. my grouping probably only makes sense to me and a few others. the cds are grouped by associations. for instance, there is an la underground group, containing j5, dilated, ozo (because of j5), beat junkies, etc ... an okayplayer group, containing the roots, mos, kweli, common, jean grae, etc.
a few thoughts:
- only two groups did not fit in a single section. the gang starr group, which include premier mixtapes and guru solo releases, and the tupac group. i have more than 15 cds in each of those groups, and it's fitting that they are my favorite group and my favorite mc.
- why did i buy the pj soundtrack and the space jam soundtrack???
- who is militia?
- my biggest challenge was figuring out where to put the beastie boys. i eventually settled with grouping them with the ny heavy hitters group, which includes rakim, krs, jay-z, redman, etc.
- despite long discussions over wingmen, i had no idea jerry bruckheimer worked on top gun. i noticed that fact on the soundtrack case, which is a great soundtrack btw.
... and now that i see so much free space on my cd racks, i feel compelled to go out and buy some new stuff. yes, i did preorder j.dilla's the shining and the roots game theory, but who wants to wait for those to come in (even though they should be here any day now). i think i'll stop by best buy today after work and pick up the new cut chemist and the new outkast. it's too bad i couldn't turn my change into a best buy certificate.
actually, a lot whole lotta dimes and nickels ... and quarters and pennies.
like most guys, whenever i get home, i empty the change in my pockets into a container (in my case, a jack daniels tin). the thing was getting close to full, and i finally decided to do something with it. thanks to angelo, i found out that coinstar will waive their 9% fee (that's a serious rip off right there) if you turn your change into a gift card with choices of itunes, borders, linens n things, starbucks, and amazon. i decided to go with borders because i figure i read enough to make it worthwhile. i would have gone with amazon to get some music, but i knew i'd then be wasting money on shipping charges. it's too bad i already picked up the next book for me to read (i went with high fidelity).
but here's the kicker ... my total came out to $106 and change!!
my last comment in my last post got me thinking that i'm nearing the end of the book i'm currently reading (thomas friedman's the world is flat). what should i read next? i'd like my next book to be less serious and not require as much brain power.
potential next books:
song of susannah by stephen king - the next book for me in the dark tower series. the rest of the series has been pretty good so far.
the voyage of the dawn treader by c.s. lewis - the next book in the chronicles of narnia series
high fidelity by nick hornby - i LOVE the movie, and i hear the book is better.
bringing down the house by ben mezrich - story of mit card counters
any other suggestions?
no, i didn't dumb myself down for you guys ... although i suppose most of my posts aren't very intelligent. i'm referring to jay-z's verse on his "moment of clarity" off of the black album (which is a great album btw).
since i recently reacquired all of their albums, i've been listening to a lot of jay-z and eminem lately. i think most of this post will be about eminem, but jay-z's verse that i mentioned above speaks to my point well.
i dumbed down for my audience to double my dollarsthis is jay-z, one of the best mc's ever. if people were to make an all-time top 10 mc list, jay-z almost always would be included. he's the self-proclaimed "ceo of hip hop" ... and he readily admits dumbing down his lyrics in order to sell records.
they criticized me for it yet they all yell "HOLLA!"
if skills sold, truth be told, i'd probably be
lyrically, talib kweli
truthfully i wanna rhyme like common sense
but i did five mill' - i ain't been rhymin like common since
... 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.'
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.
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
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.
- 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
