[black soap palace]

blacksoappalace is open for bidness.

2009-04-22T16:51:00.002-04:00

yay.

moving again ..

2009-02-02T13:27:00.004-05:00

this time i'm giving tumblr a shot.
i've been using tumblr to collect portraits but i've been enjoying it so much that i've decided to start blogging over there.
i spend more than enough time on my tumblr dashboard so i might as well.

so for all 1.5 people that read my blog ..
see ya on tumblr!

The Wrestler.

2009-01-14T03:14:00.004-05:00

wow.
mickey rourke is amazing.
tragic, lovable, self destructive.
i don't want to jump on the "he deserves the oscar" bandwagon cause i haven't seen a lot of the seasons movies yet but his role is fantastic and its really going to be hard to top.
i've only seen two darren aronofsky films but between the wrestler and requiem for a dream he's 2 for 2 in my book.
marisa tomei is lovely (even though i must admit that i have a weakness for ms tomei).
evan rachel wood is the sleeper ..
she has a couple of scenes with rourke that were my favorites.

i'm trying to watch most, if not all, of the award season favorites before the oscars ..
up next: slumdog millionaire & let the right one in.

and of course ..
check out the portraits.

i love tracy morgan.

2009-01-12T23:00:00.002-05:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

and of course ..
check out the portraits.

is ratner on the ropes?

2009-01-10T08:56:00.004-05:00

he's already scaled down on the commercial and residential space ..
now he's scaling down on the arena ..
looks like even ratner's feeling the pinch.

and of course ..
check out the portraits.

dustin humphrey is dope.

2009-01-07T22:01:00.005-05:00

real dope.
read about dustin here.

and of course ..
check out the portraits.

i have a thing for portraits ..

2009-01-07T01:11:00.004-05:00

i love them.

i spend hours looking at portraits by everyone from avedon to the agytators to leibovitz to my own lady, miss kristy.
so i've decided to start a tumblr account to start collecting & sharing portraits that i love, that inspire me and that i've taken.

enjoy.

*barbra streisand by richard avedon.

i received some fun links tonight ..

2009-01-03T02:47:00.004-05:00

ecstasy under her & rules for my unborn son.

thanks mr d'leau.

i'm off to enoy them ..
you should do the same.

and for dessert ..

2008-12-31T21:04:00.002-05:00

.. i made cinnamon banana crepes w/ vanilla ice cream & honey.
easy, quick and fat boy fun.
once we realized that we were going to be staying home for nye i decided i was gonna whip up some fun stuff for dinner.

at home with good food ..
perfect way to ring in the new year.

thank you, yogurtsoda.

2008-12-31T18:08:00.002-05:00

so i decided to give the parmesan-encrusted chicken with asparagus and sauce maltaise recipe from yogurtsoda a shot and gotdamn it was GOOOOD. my sauce looked a bit thicker than the sauce mariam made but i guess i'll figure that out next time around. i've been trying to get used to eating spicier foods since i grew up as a punk to the heat so i added a dash of cayenne to give it a little kick.

i wonder how the panko-parmesan mix would taste w/ some good ol' fried chicken?

tonight i made 2 donuts ..

2008-12-30T23:34:00.005-05:00

i was bored and watching tv and got a sudden fat boy craving for a donut.
so i looked up a recipe, readjusted it to make just 2 donuts (1st time doing it so i didnt want to fuck up a big batch) ..
and made a donut for kristy and a donut for me.

not too bad but i can tell the recipe is gonna need some tinkering.

ok, i'm gonna go enjoy my donut and watch family guy.

yay 2 donuts!

my favorite blog of the moment ..

2008-12-29T00:16:00.003-05:00

YOGURTSODA.com.

i just drool every time i read it.

NY77: The Coolest Year In Hell.

2008-12-26T12:54:00.002-05:00

i'm sitting here watching this documentary on vh1 classic ..
i'm a whore to anything about nyc during this era.

darondo - didn't i (scrabble remix)

2008-12-26T03:56:00.004-05:00

i can't remember what blog i found this on ..
i don't know who did the remix ..
and i don't know if it's an official remix.

but i do know that it samples rene costy's scrabble ..
i do know that darondo is smooth as hell ..
and i do know that this damn remix is fresh.

so please ..
enjoy.

what a game ..

2008-12-21T23:43:00.002-05:00

just wow.

please support.

2008-12-13T00:44:00.001-05:00

i really don't wanna be one of those parents.

2008-12-12T15:19:00.004-05:00

you know, the kind that sends out daily emails with 3,298,764 photos of the baby doing the simplest of things ..

"here's peanut's 1st diaper change!"

"here's peanut's 1st bottle!"

"here's peanuts 1st poop!"

"here's peanut BREATHING! YAY!"

is his 1st burp so serious that 40 photos of his blank post burp stare need to be emailed to all friends and family, causing everyone's inboxes to crash under the weight?

don't get me wrong ..
i understand the holiday, birthday photos ..
1st walk, 1st word (video email!) ..
you know ..
the big things.

BUT ..
sometimes i just won't be able to hold it in and you'll see his face plastered all over my blog.

and i mean come on ..

.. the kid is too damn cute.

eleventeen random things & thoughts [12.10]

2008-12-10T13:48:00.009-05:00

won. we've started to buy baby clothes. we went out and bought peanut a houndstooth button down with a plaid bow tie that he's gonna rock for christmas with his creme cable knit cardigan and some denim .. oh and did i mention the blue bomber ( with the faux fur lined hood) we bought him?? i ALSO saw some baby wingtips that i may have to buy. lawd almighty .. my wallets in trouble.

too. peanut's 1am, 3am and 5am outbursts were really wearing on me but now i've started painting between feeding/changing. its been awhile since i painted .. i'd forgotten how relaxed it made me feel.

tree. so is all this clean coal talk just bullshit?

fore. nba 2k9 is pretty damn dope .. i haven't had this much fun with a basketball game in a minute.

phife. pfunk's cosmic slop, the stooges' i wanna be your dog, junior murvin's police & thieves and this lil snippet jahmal sent me are currently in super rotation.

sex. i usually dig my gals with a lil more meat on their bones but yasmin warsame & yordanos teshager are gawjuss.

lucky. i'm addicted to the national geographic channel, the discovery channel and anything with similar programming. i shall be watching journey to the edge of the universe tomorrow at 8pm.

ate. it's been an italian week. made pizza (with my own dough!) and lasagna. fresh mozzarella is where it's at .. i'm gonna try and make my own soon. and fuck sauce yo .. holler at some tomatoes.

nova. the ifc media project is pretty damn good.

tin. i want.

eleventeen. dear single moms. i've always had a respect for what you do but now i have a much bigger understanding of it all. the life of two parents is hard enough .. i couldn't imagine going at it alone. single moms are warriors.

i don't have time for much these days ..

2008-12-04T02:22:00.003-05:00

.. so i'm learning to enjoy the simple things.

recently added.

2008-11-26T10:03:00.006-05:00

itunes' "recently added" playlist is my crutch.
my inbox keeps a steady stream of new and old music coming my way and "recently added" is how i keep track of all the stuff that i keep forgetting to listen to.

this long weekend i'll be listening to ..

haven't heard the booty albums in quite some time and i've never heard bartz or purim (purim's album has a dope cast which made me very curious .. ron carter, earl klugh, george duke & carlos santana all make appearances). e-40 may seem like a weird one for me but most folk that know me know about my love for most things bay related.

right now i'm listening to aeon's aeon got beat vol 1 ..

dude is pretty damn fresh.

thank you, kristy.

2008-11-24T19:21:00.005-05:00

you've humbled me and given me the greatest gift ever ..

i will never be able to thank you enough.
i love you.
and i love you too elijah.

Alejandro Chavetta.

2008-11-18T11:56:00.004-05:00

dude's dope.
check him out.
thanks to gutta for putting me on.

eleventeen random things & thoughts.

2008-11-17T11:43:00.013-05:00

won. today's the due date. peanut's a hip hop baby so its his release date. but being a hip hop baby prolly means he'll be late.

too. shot elucid's police & thieves cover, che grand's breakfast @ wimbledon, kami jones' pumps and now kristy & i shot donwill's high fidelity

tree. i'm dying to lay on a warm beach.

fore. the giants are the best team in football. fuck a titan. i hope they can stay on course till feb 1st.

phife. listening to raekwon's only built for cuban linx is bringing back memories.

sex. i'm loving ellen von unwerth's revenge & wicked.

lucky. man up yo. seriously. you're grown .. supposedly.

ate. fried chicken, mac n cheese, greens, yams, cornbread

nova. i hope this car industry bail out comes with a responsibility to make smarter cars.

tin. i need a projector in my life.

eleventeen. kristy's become my hero. the way she's met the challenges of pregnancy with style and grace has me in awe of her. she's going to be an amazing mother.

*photo from von unwerth's revenge.

trueblood.

2008-11-16T21:08:00.002-05:00

say what you will about the show (i hate the horrible southern accents and my love/hate of the shows sways from week to week) but the opening is stunning. every week i sit up like a giddy lil kid for the minute and a half sequence.

end of an era?

2008-11-16T00:30:00.007-05:00

a couple of years ago i was lucky enough to spend a nice bit of time with ahmir & tariq of the roots. back in those days i was working with j*davey and they were a big help in getting the name out. i grew to gain a lot of respect, not only for what they do, but for who they are and how they treatied three kids trying to make something happen in the ugly music world.

tonight i saw this video and i was both thrilled and saddened. of course, the sad part is purely selfish. there was a certain comfort in knowing that if i ever needed my faith restored in the power of a great live hip hop show all i had to do was go to a roots show and even on a bad day i'd enjoy myself. i've seen them live so many times and from so many angles. from backstage at radio city music hall, kool haus in toronto and house of blues in los angeles to nose bleed at the apollo with cuban hip hop all stars to central park's summerstage .. and i've never grown tired of their performance.

but on the other end, i'm happy. its a great opportunity and i wish them nothing but the best. the nation exposure and a way of breaking out of the rut that touring can become is pretty dope. i've been on a handful of tours and that was enough for me to know that i couldn't live a life on the road, so i can't help but respect what they do.

so to ahmir, tariq and company ..
y'all may never read this but my best to you on your new journey.

and thank you for the hard work and dedication.

black girls rule.

2008-11-14T09:55:00.004-05:00

recently i've been flipping thru black girls rule issues of trace magazine. i love some of the photography in it. there's a great photo of the homie muhsinah in this years issue. a not so great photo of the homies j*davey in the june/july 2006 issue (von unwerth has some good shots of ms keys in the same issue). great spreads from brasil and the far east (july/august 2005). and issue 37's bad ass, super saturated fashion shoot featuring ms jessica white.

it got me wondering ..
who do we have to bribe (kristy makes great cobbler, cinnamon rolls and chicken) to shoot for trace?

i've gotta know someone over there.
i'm gonna figure this out.
and we need to get our portfolio in order ..
SOON come.

the further adventures of von pea

2008-11-12T08:13:00.004-05:00

this is one of my favorite projects of 2008 ..
von is something else.
download here and enjoy!

happy belated von!

rip mama afrika.

2008-11-10T01:35:00.003-05:00

see you on the other side, mama makeba.

wonder woman?

2008-11-09T10:24:00.003-05:00

aussie/brit/polynesian megan gale is supposedly tackling the role of wonder woman in the justice league movie (which is on hold) but i'm wondering if they're going to use her in the wonder woman film.

anyone know anything about her (aside from the little facts that pop up on google)?
i know nothing about her except that she's tall as hell (damn near 6 feet tall), fine as hell and that kristy loves the fact that she's mature 32 years old,

rep 4 spec.

2008-11-07T11:32:00.002-05:00

and download kid gorgeous.

and then make your way to the bed stuy video shoot ..
this saturday at liquid lounge.

don't be foolish and miss this.

today was a good day.

2008-11-05T00:19:00.001-05:00

self portrait.

2008-11-01T22:09:00.003-04:00

just me & my bitch.

poor kid.

2008-11-01T03:55:00.005-04:00

this month clutch magazine has launched a history making blog network.
kristy and i have been invited to join the blog team with our new parenting blog, poor kid.

check it out or we will spread nasty rumors about you.

greatest halloween costumes evAr.

2008-10-31T18:53:00.003-04:00

n.icky as pregnant kristy.

donwill as me.

i died laughing when i saw this mess hahahaha ..
classic!

che grand - breakfast @ wimbledon.

2008-10-29T19:15:00.003-04:00

don't be dumb, download the homie uche's mixtape "breakfast @ wimbledon"

portraits001.*

2008-10-28T19:09:00.004-04:00

elucid, summer 2008

spank pops, fall 2008

n.icky (of heavy), fall 2008

moonshine, fall 2008

diz gibran, fall 2008

*click photos to enlarge.

killing pablo/che.

2008-10-28T18:44:00.012-04:00

i've been looking forward to the soderbergh/del toro film for damn near 10 years now and seeing the trailer has me amped as hell. and the fact that its over 4 hours long and has been split into 2 films is even more exciting. AND benicio won best actor at cannes for che. so um yeah .. i'm ready for this damn movie.

i'm gonna have to dust off john lee anderson's biography again .. can't remember the last time i read it.

i was also a bit juiced about javier bardem (as pablo escobar) and christian bale (as major steve jacoby) starring in killing pablo but now i'm reading that bardem is denying those rumors and that edgar ramirez is going to play escobar. personally i've always thought that alfred molina could be a dope escobar.

i just hope it doesn't take nearly a decade to get killing pablo done .. AND i definitely hope its not some corny nod to scarface cause the story is way too good to fuck up.

dj quik is underrated.

2008-10-21T02:06:00.004-04:00

chauvinist pig?
yes.
shit talker?
yes.
dope emcee?
hell yes.

too short's been honored ..
quik should be too.

and if you don't agree ..
"before I nut I shoot some piss in your face" © quik

workin' on it?

2008-10-14T17:43:00.001-04:00

thank you briana ..

2008-10-11T23:29:00.005-04:00

between last weekend's baby shower and spending this week sick like a dog, i haven't had much time to edit the last shoot we did (i'll have those to you soon nicky!). but i'm feeling damn near 100% now and we decided to get together for a bit of shooting. lots of editing to get done but i'm excited about the final look. so far the project's going pretty good.

thanks bri!

thanks to all that came out ..

2008-10-06T11:39:00.004-04:00

thanks to sean for the photos.
thanks to napoleon & katherine for driving from north carolina.
thanks to von & don for flying back from touring in time for the shower.
thanks to bri for surprising us all the way from los angeles.
thanks to monica & bj for trekking it from dc.
thanks to derreck for the wings.
a BIG thanks to toya (don't worry about the figs boo!) and royan (feel better dude!) for the grub.
and HUGE thanks to tara and anton for planning everything from invites to wine selection!

thanks to all of our friends who made it out ..
our little boy is blessed to have so many wonderful folk ready to greet him into the world.

and of course ..
thank you for all the gifts!

che grand - everything's good ugly

2008-10-05T13:08:00.003-04:00

the music industry can be an ugly beast and right now its really putting my close friend and brother from another mother, che grand, through it.

i've had the pleasure of hearing a good amount of tracks from che's everything's good ugly and the album is impressive. it's a damn shame that this album hasn't hit stores yet but we can make a difference. thanks to rock the dub, and with the support of von pea & 2 dope boyz, a petition has been started to help get this album out to the masses.

sign it and lets work on getting this album the exposure it deserves cause trust me, y'all wanna here this.

and che, hold your head ..
we love you man.

elucid - police & thieves

2008-10-05T12:57:00.003-04:00

elucid - police & thieves

support the homie elucid ..
or i'm sending someone after you.

shut up and enjoy 001.

2008-10-03T03:18:00.008-04:00

freshselects.net

the homie kenny fresh (and bling 47 solider) shares his library of tunes with the word ..
and in turn makes sunday afternoon cleaning bearable.

clutch, october issue.

2008-10-01T10:56:00.003-04:00

the new issue is up ..
check out interviews with john legend and kid sister (interviewed by yours truly) ..
and of course our lil jerk column, baby what do you think?.

read it now damnit!

stupidity with ichat video.

2008-09-30T15:22:00.001-04:00

wtf is wrong with us?

thank you nicky.

2008-09-29T23:54:00.005-04:00

bella and i had the pleasure of shooting miss nicky today ..
here's a rough sneak preview (again, saving the grown stuff for the bigger project).
still need to go through the raws and edit but overall i think we have a ton of great shots.
thanks again, nicky!

goodbye shea.

2008-09-27T19:20:00.003-04:00

thanks for the memories ..

and thanks to johan santana for pitching a gem.
who woulda thought a rainy day at shea would be so much fun.

my boo can shoot ..

2008-09-23T11:54:00.004-04:00

and as always she explains things a bit better than i do.

best wedding dance ever ..

2008-09-22T11:55:00.001-04:00

my cousin and his groomsmen (which included my insane brother) danced this at his wedding this weekend ..
wearing a tie and vest and no shirt.

i love my crazy family.

please support my homie isis ..

2008-09-22T10:51:00.004-04:00

she'll be running the nike sf marathon and i'm super proud of her ..
so please give her a dollar or 2 or 300, as the $$ raised will go towards cancer research.
if you don't its because you hate life and freedom.

yay!

we're shooting again ..

2008-09-22T10:26:00.004-04:00

and last thursday, the fantastic kami jones was a wonderful subject ..
here are a few of the safer shots (we're saving the others for a much bigger project).

gutta.

2008-09-16T17:41:00.002-04:00

shooting again?

rip richard wright.

2008-09-15T17:16:00.002-04:00

richard wright, gone at age 65.
thanks for the sounds.

naomi, hawaii, 1989.

2008-09-12T21:41:00.004-04:00

i found this postcard* at junk and snatched it up right away. i turned the card over and it had this note written in silver marker ..

"I always loved this one of you!
May you never walk in the shadow of Linda again!
Love P x"

linda? linda evangelista, maybe? it made me curious about who'd written this postcard.
could it be written by one of naomi campbell's friends? maybe it'd gotten lost in a friends move or estate sale?
that'd be pretty dope.

but it would be even more interesting, and scary, if it'd been written by some crazy fan.
someone who swore they had some connection to naomi and felt the need to write a postcard that would never be mailed.

who knows .. it could be someone who wrote it to fuck with the poor sucker (me!) that found it.

regardless, i think its pretty damn interesting and its become my bookmark cause reading is more fun when naomi's helping.

*photographed by herb ritts and with proceeds from the sales of the card going to amfar

wow.

2008-09-12T14:55:00.002-04:00

i'm watching season 1 for the 1st time ..
just wow.

i ain't naming no names ..

2008-09-12T13:24:00.002-04:00

but to the young lady who decided that she wanted to tell me that i "don't understand the pain of 9/11" simply because i don't agree with all the bullshit tv coverage and lengthy memorial services .. fuck you.

i promised myself i wouldn't blog about 9/11 this year because i feel like everything about that day has been over exposed and exploited. but this shit has pissed me the fuck off.

mainly because i was there ..
mainly because i saw the second plane hit from less than a block away ..
mainly because i saw bodies hit the ground while you were watching them jump on tv ..
mainly because i was 3 blocks away when the towers fell ..
mainly because that day fucked up my head for a bit longer than i'd like to admit.

i don't think we need to forget the day or ignore it but there's beauty in subtly. we can honor people without turning the day into a fear circus. granted this is my opinion and it doesn't mean that i'm right. but its disrespectful to dismiss someone's opinion with "you don't understand" .. i swear this country and its citizens are really starting to wear on my damn nerves.

its sad that 9/11 doesn't seem to have taught us much.
learn from it ..
and maybe then we won't need 24 hours of repetitive coverage.

Linden & Van Siclen 001: Protect The Pole.

2008-09-12T11:01:00.013-04:00

Today Charles Jones hit his head against the school's flagpole.

We've been playing Protect The Pole for about a month now and no matter how many times we get in trouble for it, nothing has been able to stop us. It started with about 6 of us but the game grew pretty quickly and today we had a good 20+ players. With that many players we can't be too surprised that someone finally got hurt.

Protect The Pole is a really simple game, all you need is two teams and a pole. One team protects the pole, the other team tries to touch the pole. I guess the game is like a mix of football and the charge on some medieval battle field ... minus the spears, swords, and sky full of arrows, but apparently not without the blood.

And believe me, there was a lot of blood. I didn't actually see when Charles hit, but I heard it. There was a loud bell sounding gong followed by a chorus of kids yelling "OOOOOOH!" and when I turned to look I saw was Charles, lying on the floor, folded into himself, holding his head ... blood dripping down his face. During math, Clarence told me that Charles tried to tackle him, missed and went right into the pole. "His head bounced off the pole like a basketball," Clarence said. That shit must have really hurt.

I'm still a bit weirded out at how quickly the mood changed after the accident. It's funny what it takes to get some kids attention. We've been getting to school about 30 minutes early just to play but now we're starting to rethink the whole thing. Maybe we should just start playing something safer, like basketball or some two hand touch, but that just doesn't seem to calm me down as much as Protect The Pole. We're gonna have to figure something out though cause I'm not trying to get suspended over this shit.

-filthygomez, early 90s.

pregnancy is beautiful ..

2008-09-10T12:25:00.005-04:00

but pregnancy culture is bullshit.
i'll let her tell it tho ..
she has a way with words.

this shit is inspiring.

2008-09-09T16:35:00.001-04:00

Izza Kizza -Hello from Izza Kizza on Vimeo.

i've always been in love with stop motion ..
i'm gonna get off the computer and start working on a short stop motion video.

brb.

watch fringe tonight or die.

2008-09-09T12:28:00.003-04:00

starring my dear friend jasika nicole and some other people that i've never met.

so yeah ..
watch fringe tonight ..
fox, 8pm.

thanks.

tonight's playlist.

2008-09-09T01:47:00.002-04:00

Didn't I (Scrabble Remix) - Darondo
Riding High - Faze-O
Drivin' Down The Freeway - Outlawz Feat. Young Buck & Dion
Get On The Dancefloor - Poly
Melody - Serge Gainsbourg
Comic Strip - Serge Gainsbourg
Loose Rap - Aaliyah
La Da Da Dee - Arthur Lewis
02_00 - Nhmiah Su
Make It With You - Ralfi Pagan
Get Me Inside - Tanya Morgan
Funny Funk - George Duke
March to the Witch's Castle - Funkadelic
14 Crumblin' Erb - Outkast
Bus Stops - The Nonce
Catch a falling star - Francoise Hardy
Daykeeper - The Foreign Exchange feat. Muhsinah
The Weight - Smith
Some L.A. Niggaz - Dr. Dre
It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube
We Can Freak It - Kurupt
New Bed - Benny Sings
Buy U A Drank (Aw Snap/Muhsinah Remix) T-Pain featuring Young Joc
Grind On - Sleepy's Theme
Let's Make The Water Turn Black - Frank Zappa
Who Is It - Talking Heads
Tentative Decisions - Talking Heads
Forever - Little Dragon
Silly Pop Song - Arthur Lewis
Constant Suprises - Little Dragon
After The Rain - Little Dragon
Say It (Over and Over Again) - John Coltrane
Dance this Mess Around - The B-52's
Safe & Sound - DJ Quik
Stacey Adams - Snoop Dogg feat Kokane
Wrong Idea - Snoop Dogg feat Bad Azz & Kokane

between monday night football, comic convos, twittin' and talking to mec i listened to tunes.
fun night.
time for bed.

this made me beam ..

2008-09-02T17:30:00.004-04:00

*click-clack here to play*

"in a world .."

2008-09-02T11:45:00.003-04:00

rip don lafontaine.

played for peanut 010.

2008-08-31T11:23:00.003-04:00

artist: little dragon
album: little dragon
released: 2007
favorites: twice, no love, constant surprises, forever, after the rain .

thanks mec.

rip kevin duckworth.

2008-08-26T12:31:00.003-04:00

duck was a big part of those big bulls-blazers battles of the 90s ..
which was back when i was watching a TON of basketball.
rest in peace dude. thanks for the memories.

diving bell and the butterfly.

2008-08-26T00:56:00.005-04:00

just finished watching this damn movie and i'm in love. the perspective that schnabel uses to tell the story is uncomfortable and at times even a bit intrusive but so gotdamn effective. and even tho alot has been said about schnabel's directing, the cast is just as impressive. between this, basquiat, before night falls and the pink building i support this dude .. even if i've heard that he's a bit of a prick. but what artist doesn't have a little egomaniac in 'em?

played for peanut 009.

2008-08-25T16:43:00.003-04:00

artist: ibrahim ferrer
album: buena vista social club presents ibrahim ferrer
released: 1999
favorites: bruca manigua, herido de sombras, guateque campesino, cienfuegos tiene su guaguanco, silencio, aquellos ojos verdes .

i woke up with a bad case of wanderlust.

2008-08-24T11:57:00.002-04:00

i'd kill to be at a beautiful beach right now ..
too bad beaches in nyc suck.
shit i'd even settle for a pool ..
not some public pool tho ..
you get the herpes at those.

ah well.
i'm gonna go sit on the stoop or something.

the last few nights have been crazy ..

2008-08-22T12:56:00.006-04:00

.. i'm fucking exhausted.

*photos by mel d cole, meczilla & muhsinah (human, where the hell are the photos you took??)

the day that doesn't end.

2008-08-19T04:11:00.010-04:00

you ever have one of those days where you get home a couple of hours later than you normally do, but with a ton of energy? that's where i'm at today. We started the day with the new pregnant lady power walk routine and then headed to babies r us to work on that registry. i think we both figured we'd be in and out of there in no time but we were wrong.

that little trip to the store was so damn intimidating. you really get hit dead on with this whole new culture of stuff and things. stuff and things i need to learn about. it seems like there's so much to learn that you'll never quite get it all. now don't get me wrong, i'm excited about this whole process .. most of today was spent laughing and smiling and just thinking about what little peanut's gonna look and act like. it seems like the duality of it is what makes it so beautiful. one second you're worried about the college fund that's 18 years from being needed and the next you're grinning at the thought of your little one coming home for the first time. it is quite the head trip. so after babies r us we headed to a late lunch, then over to whole foods and finally for a stroll downtown. by the time we hit home it was well passed 9 and i was far from tired.

fast forward to now. creeping on 4.30am and i'm still up. time flies when you get in front of a computer. who knew that checking emailing, finishing up work, and checking in here would kill so many hours? i literally blinked and the evening was over. and as much as i planned on coming here and blaming my long day for throwing off my sleep, who am i kidding? my ass knows that going to bed at 4am isn't very rare for me at all.

but .. finally the lights are dimming and i'm starting to fade. i need some shut eye cause tomorrow we're hitting the movies.

i really need to start getting to bed at a decent hour.

played for peanut 008.

2008-08-18T10:16:00.004-04:00

artist: poly
album: poly
released: 2006
favorites: all we really want, connectro, diamonds under your tongue, get on the dancefloor.

happy birthday heffa.

2008-08-18T10:02:00.002-04:00

here's to many more ..
cheers.

played for peanut 007.

2008-08-17T12:31:00.003-04:00

artist: tanya morgan
album: the bridge
released: 2008
favorites: the bridge, filthier interlude aka place, get me inside.

rip isaac & jerry.

2008-08-17T11:52:00.003-04:00

from hot buttered soul to the memphis sounds to i'm gonna git you sucka to south park, isaac definitely had his hand in not only music, but popular culture as a whole. i was a bit shocked when i heard the news of his passing .. he was still very young, just 65, so i thought he'd be around for quite some time.

finding out jerry wexler passed away hit me in a different way .. i'd never met the man or even spoken to him but over the last few years he'd become a good friend of my boy buddy. through buddy i came to gain a new respect for the man that helped shape the careers of aretha franklin and ray charles, who signed led zeppelin and who produced albums for bob dylan and carlos santana .. not to mention that he turned atlantic records into a powerhouse. he left us at the tender age of 91 .. now that's a full life.

interesting tidbit: at one point stax, homes of hayes, was being dsitributed by wexler's atlantic records.

its sad when our icons are taken away from us but if we learn from them and keep their voices alive, have we truly lost them?

played for peanut 006.

2008-08-12T11:20:00.005-04:00

artist: herbie hancock
album: head hunters
released: 1964
favorites: chameleon, watermelon man, sly, vein meter .. lol that's the whole damn album.

played for peanut 005.

2008-08-11T14:29:00.003-04:00

artist: stan getz & joao gilberto (featuring antonio carlos jobim)
album: getz/gilberto
released: 1964
favorites: the girl from ipanema, desafinado, corcovado, para machucar meu coracao .

played for peanut 004.

2008-08-10T11:26:00.003-04:00

artist: funkadelic
album: maggot brain
released: 1971
favorites: maggot brain, can you get to that, hit it and quit it, you and my folks me and my folks, super stupid .

played for peanut 003.

2008-08-09T12:21:00.004-04:00

artist: magnetic sounds
album: super erotica
released: 1970
favorites: p.z., doin' it, teach me tiger.

rip bernie mac.

2008-08-09T09:57:00.000-04:00

thanks for the laughs dude.
godspeed.

the agytators.

2008-08-08T18:53:00.003-04:00

these heffas is bad ass.
check 'em out if you have any sense.

played for peanut 002.

2008-08-08T13:35:00.003-04:00

artist: talking heads
album: speaking in tongues
released: 1983
favorites: burning down the house, making flippy floppy, girlfriend is better, this must be the place (naive melody).

tom ford & terry richardson.

2008-08-07T12:03:00.004-04:00

i'm a bit late on this one but this is the tom ford spring/summer 2008 ad campaign.
it's pretty typical richardson, full of nudity and assholery and the clothing is pretty gotdamn fresh.
i need tom ford money son.

what yall think ?
and please save the "no homos" ..
be grown.

played for peanut 001.

2008-08-07T10:59:00.007-04:00

artist: squeeze
album: cool for cats
released: 1979
favorites: slap and tickle, revue, it's so dirty, up the junction, goodbye girl, cool for cats .

persepolis

2008-08-07T01:36:00.003-04:00

so i finally got around to watching persepolis. i was really excited when i first saw the trailer but for some reason we didn't really go to the movies last winter. that turned out to be a good thing because in the spring ms nicole let me borrow the graphic novels that the movie was based on. both books were great reads so naturally it made me even more excited about the movie. fast forward to earlier this week, checking the mail and boom .. netflix sends persepolis (sidebar: am i the only one who gets excited whenever i see that damn red netflix envelope?). all that to say that i loved the film. its equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking and the animation is gorgeous. this should be required viewing for kids all across this selfish twisted country, maybe then some of us would realize that we all go through missteps, confusion and heartache regardless of how or where we grow up.

so yeah ..
persepolis ..
check it out.

a next set a rockers.

2008-08-07T00:09:00.010-04:00

i was bank and post office bound on tuesday afternoon when i bumped into the homie dego of 2000black. he hooked me up with a copy of "a next set a rockers" which i listened to while i went through my nightly wind down and i have to say that it's a pretty good album. i'm not gonna get into a song by song rundown of it but if you enjoyed so right you'll probably dig the entire project.

RIP Heath Ledger.

2008-01-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

rest in peace dude

god bless america.

2008-01-22T02:18:00.000-05:00

the nonce.

2008-01-15T03:31:00.000-05:00

The Nonce - Bus Stops
Uploaded by PeteRock

these are a couple of the reasons why hip hop had such a hold on me while i was growing up.
it feels like it was all so simple back then ..
but i probably just didn't know any better.

rip yusef afloat.

pacific division - f.a.t. boys '08

2008-01-14T13:03:00.000-05:00

Pacific Division - F.A.T Boys 08
Uploaded by imtironjeffries

the homies out in la are doing it.

pay attention ..

2008-01-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

boogie's bloggin'

"lights out !" : an open letter to the record industry & the idiots who work for the fascist regime.

2008-01-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

from the desk of jack davey:

read this out loud !  

this is intended for all of you lowly puppets who sit in your big offices in big buildings that will soon be out of business & thus, forced to hold vacant memories of an industry that once was . this is for all of the big wigs in suits & ties who sit at the head of the conference room table with creative opinions as empty as the "music" they force down the throats of the now bored & uninspired creative consumers . this is for all the idle assistants who only work hard enough to get their names on the grammy party lists, or whose only existence remains obsolete if he/she can't get into the hot new band's hollywood show debut . this is for the borderline retarded a&r guy who should in fact abandon his dreams of changing the failing record industry to become a highly paid talent scout at a modeling agency . this is definitely for all the marketing low lives who fail to avidly push great talent because the world's fave reality slut randomly decided one day while botoxing her armpits that she wants to be a rockstar.

  yes .
 this open letter is for all of you . come feast your eyes upon the truth behind your insolence for 5 minutes , if you even have your job for that much longer.   your blatant lack of respect & worship for the oldest & dearest artform has brought a once thriving & artistic industry to a grinding halt . your willingness to believe that the world wide web has killed the consumers' thirst for new & exciting talent is wildly ignorant & safe . you would like to feed into this stupidity because you are too lazy to stand behind substance ; you'd rather take the low & easy road than take the time to nurture true talent . you'd rather tirelessly feed us the same carbon copied , lip synching , sex dripping , faux punk "i got my entire outfit from hot topic" rocker , buffoonishly ghetto "are they even speaking english?" hip hop , "same old same" sound from song to song type image & force us to believe that this is all the world's artists have to offer . you'd rather watch your company stocks & yearly record sales severely plummet than take strong initiative to fix the current problem . you'd rather see hundreds of employees laid off & out of work during the holidays because you're too afraid to stand up for something new & different . you're content with creating a 1-hit wonder society , where any idiot with anything shockingly catchy can enjoy a sorry 15 minutes of fame & a future segment on vh1's "biggest 1-hit wonders of 08" extravaganza .

where is the new generation of legends ?

  beyonce & alicia keys are old shoe ins . r kelly , sure , but his personal dramas easily overshadow his genius . radiohead & outkast comes to mind , & then i draw a big blank .

  the latest thrill in music has been an over abundance of great dancers with mediocre voices , albums , singles , concert ticket sales , etc . thank god the internet allows every joe blow in the universe a free forum to overexpose every little thing , especially mediocre celebrities . thank god for online music forums , such as myspace . artists are able to directly connect with the people & expose themselves & their art to everyone everywhere at the click of a button . myspace proves that music can no longer fit into a box . long gone are the days of urban vs pop vs alternative radio . gwen stefani had hit songs for years on the pop & alt charts , but she records a song written by pharrell & she's instantly on top of the urban charts as well . this new r&b dance pop music crosses over to white kids & that kelly clarkson "since you've been gone" song was smeared across the lips of many a young black girl last year . m i a is all over the indie alternative stations , & lets not even get started on gnarls barkeley .

all signs point to the obvious : true music consumers right now are a ) young , & b) smart . young kids are able to point & click their way to every new trend . they arguably have short attention spans & they want to be in on what's cool & personable to them . when madonna emerged in the '80s you had tons of girls around the world imitating her every move & style down to the mole . kurt cobain turned grunge commercial when he was exposed to millions of kids who felt like society's outsiders looking in . hip-hop has been a huge influence on mainstream culture since the early '80s because of it's relativity . kids have not changed . young people are not mindless robots who like what you tell them to like with no opinions . the youth are always looking to be enthralled .

  they want to be entertained . they want to feel as though they are a part of something that will be written about , studied , & revered 20 years later . they , like all of us old & young alike , want to be inspired . when i was a kid i saw prince prance around on stage & dazzle people with his art & i felt inspired to do the same thing . why are you music industry idiots attempting to tell us that we don't want to be touched ? why are you trying to rob us of new musical experiences ? will there ever be another motown 25 / michael jackson moonwalk experience ? will we never again hear a single like queen's "bohemian rhapsody" on the radio because the hook isn't catchy enough ? will we never see another band like the talking heads & joy division or parliament ? will there never be another artist to rival frank zappa ? will we be forced to hear different versions of the same dumb song on every single radio station every 5 minutes simply because the record label had enough money to pay off the station manager ? are we still supposed to care about mtv when there are hardly any videos in rotation ? do i even need to mention b e t or v h 1 ? are any of the classic record industry outlets working these days ? as of late it seems that artists are independently breaking ground with their own efforts . songs are being licensed for national commercials from artists' myspace pages & personal websites . ellen degeneres has been known to book musical guests from videos seen on youtube , & as i aforementioned , gnarls barkeley not only created a new genre , but they also won grammy awards for an album that was recorded in home studios & released through an indie label .

  why should artists even seek major label deals ? they are completely outdated & obsolete . artists are sold the dream that talent can secure superstardom , but it becomes evident that labels only sign bands nowdays because of the band's existing fanbase & record sales , or because they dig the artist's look & want to cash in . they don't want to develop the art . they don't want the artist to express his/herself entirely . they just want the artist to comply with what will get the company a big monetary return . they sign you for millions , pimp you for pennies , then drop you a year later when the music they made you record & release is no longer relevant . you're left on the streets unsigned & irrelevant & ready to infect the world with the music you've always wanted to make , but no one will take a chance on you due to your previous material . meanwhile , the label has already put white out over your signature on the slave deal & replaced it with a younger version of you . cold game , ain't it ?

  the age old model is failing . as an industry based on faithful consumers you have lost your connection with the people who matter most : the PEOPLE . you have yet to show them that you are with the changing times & able to adapt to something new . you are proving that you are too afraid to promote good music . you would rather let the monotonous drone of what is today's music remain unbalanced by substance . you would rather watch more legendary artists abandon you for direct deals with itunes & touring companies . you would rather allow the internet to defeat what should be your life's work . maybe you should excuse yourself from the next a&r meeting to go take a look in the bathroom mirror . stand there & ask yourself why you took this job , & when you realize it's simply because you wanted to be cool & "in the mix" then return to the conference room , take that gun out of your pocket , & shoot yourself in the head in front of your coworkers so that you are made an example of . if you can in fact leave that conference room & look in the bathroom mirror with pride & hunger to break the monotony then head back into that conference room , jump on top of the table & read this manifesto .

this is a challenge . 
we're calling your bluff . 
record labels are nothing but banks that give artists hi price loans in exchange for artistic control . put your money where your cocks are . go out on a limb & support real music for a change . find the line where the internet & the real world meet & infect more people with something magical . start building more legends . it's almost too late . interscope is dead . def jam is next . motown who ? mca what ? warner , you're not too far behind . the war sirens are ringing & you're content with playing deaf & dumb .
we're calling your bluff ! 
we're here to reprogram how you & the rest of the world listen to music . 
we can do this together , or you can stick to your own devices & peril in the process .
we are the people . we are the future . we are the present .
who are you ?   

*******************************************************************  

copy this , paste this , & repost it wherever you see fit . email it to those who you believe can benefit from somethin like this . this is from the heart in jerry maguire "who's comin with me?" fashion . lets open our eyes , our ears , & our hearts . lets stop standin for the bullshit & start demandin these idiots to take charge & make change . substance has the right to be heard . support real shit & start takin it to the streets !

  c'mon people . 
it's 2008 . diddy killed music in 94 . it's time for some better shit .

pass it on . . .

movie night!

2008-01-04T00:32:00.000-05:00

so tonight don, von, che, spec, gutta, my brother jon, kristy and i sat around, ate pizza, the fellas drank arbor mist* and we watched Black Sheep.

this.
movie.
is.
fucking.
AMAZING.

its as bad as it looks and i loved every second of it.

afterwards we saw Happiness cause jon and kristy hadn't see it yet. those 2 hours were just as uncomfortable as the first time i saw it.

all in all a funny and interesting evening.

*which one of you shameful mofos brought arbor mist to my birthday party??

clutch magazine is crazy ..

2008-01-02T01:21:00.001-05:00

.. for giving us our own column.

let's see how soon before they realize we're a couple of nutcases.

Bilal & The Witness Protection Program - Since I've Been Loving You

2007-12-29T03:22:00.000-05:00

from the okayplayer holiday party ..
thanks to ahmir for the audio & brainchild for the video.
splicing the video and audio together wasn't as complicated as i thought it would be.

No Country For Old Men

2007-12-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

so last night we headed out to see No Country For Old Men. and while it really wasn't what i was expecting, it was still good as hell tho, and javier bardem is TERRIFYING as anton chigurh. the story really plays out on some "this world isn't what i remember it" shit .. it got me thinking about how time passes us by .. how we evolve as a people and how those of us that don't end up left behind, kinda like those older folk who don't know shit about computers so they find it hard as hell to fit into a work force that they've spent their entire lives in. and anton plays the role of the computer. its actually kinda sad and beautiful at the same time. some of the movies i've seen as of late have been really disappointing so it felt good to go see a movie and come out not only satisfied but thinking.

but the more that i think about it, between this movie and jurnee smollett i'm gonna be hollering at aarp sooooon.

jurnee smollett is my anton chigurh!

um ..

2007-12-28T11:50:00.000-05:00

can someone please tell me when jurnee smollett grew up??

i can't even concentrate on how she's lookin' pretty damn good ..
all i see is my youth ..
gone.

i'm officially old.

merry christmas bitches!

2007-12-25T10:56:00.000-05:00

film list.

2007-12-21T01:11:00.000-05:00

i'm throwing this up here as a checklist for myself. i need to see these before the winter is gone and i figure this is as good a place as any to keep a reminder for myself (bookmark!). i came across the list i started in textedit and realized that i need to put it some place more visible because i hadn't opened the file in over a month. i'm sure i need a late pass for some of these which is good cause i can just netflix em and get them out of the way (black sheep viewing next week yo!). plus i want to start going to the movies more and planning those trips better, like that couple we met at imax when we went to see beowulf that brought ice cream and sushi with them from outside the theater (i'm brangin' popeyes to the angelika son!). with netflix and a few theater visits this list shouldn't be very difficult to run through.

but also, while i coulda just put up a list of movie names i figured i'd share so that y'all could peep the trailers.

ok, bed time.

peace.

Atonement

Lust, Caution

There Will Be Blood

Sicko

Into The Wild

American Gangster

Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix

4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days

The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

La Vie En Rose

The Orphanage

Juno

Lars & The Real Girl

Gone Baby Gone

Sweeney Todd

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

I'm Not There

Charlie Wilson's War

The Assassination Of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Eastern Promises

Persepolis

City Of Men

Chicago 10

Rambo

Funny Games

Untraceable

Cloverfield

Mr. Untouchable

Control

Across The Universe

Be Kind Rewind

Trade

Right At Your Door

1408 & transformers.

2007-12-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

so we got 1408 from netflix today ..
we'd been curious about it since it was released in theaters but never got around to seeing it.
um ..
this movie was terrible.
terrible.

fuck horror movies yo ..
they're usually a let down.

we got transformers a couple of days ago ..
i hadn't been interested cause tyrese is in it and he annoys me.
but i finally got around to seeing it and i can't front ..
i enjoyed it.
yeah the acting sucked and the story was eh ..
but it was loud and loud and loud ..
and there were soooooo many explosions ..
and it was transformers!
that megan fox girl is sexy in a biker/tattoo artist's girlfriend kinda way.
i bet she knows all the best dive bars.