Oh lord...this is a sad, sad moment right here

Historic Muscle Shoals Recording Studio Closes

By Christopher Walsh
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, the Alabama facility where artists including the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger recorded classic songs, has closed.
The studio, owned since 1985 by indie blues label Malaco Records, closed last month; a film production company is in the final stages of purchasing the building.
Musicians Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins, known collectively as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, founded Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Ala., in 1969. A Rolling Stones session at Muscle Shoals featuring sideman Jim Dickinson, who played on the Stones' "Wild Horses," is featured in the film "Gimme Shelter," which documents the band's tumultuous 1969 U.S. tour.
In 1978, the facility moved to a 31,000 square-foot building, also in Sheffield.
Malaco Records principal Wolf Stephenson explained that he and his partners were more interested in acquiring Muscle Shoals Sound Publishing, a catalog that includes "Old Time Rock & Roll" and "Torn Between Two Lovers," than the recording studio.
"To be quite frank with you," Stephenson told Billboard, "the only reason we bought the studio was, the banks we were dealing with wouldn't loan us the money on the publishing company; they didn't have any idea what it was. It was just a stack of paper to them."
The two-room facility was used extensively by Malaco artists, Stephenson added, but the last four years saw a sharp decline in outside projects. "When computer and hard-disk recording really got cheap and better at the same time, it just knocked the socks off a lot of studios, (Muscle Shoals) included. It was just a very difficult thing to compete with."
Muscle Shoals was put up for sale on Internet auction site eBay in 2004. The asking price of $650,000, which included the building, property and equipment, yielded no serious offers, Stephenson said. The studio's two Neve consoles have been sold to studios in Detroit and Los Angeles.

Just give me a moment. I'm about to put on Aretha's I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You and shed a tear. Damb, damb, damb...

Just a reminder...

...of how genius the Onion is. Here's a classic kids:

http://www.crosswinds.net/~thereheis/blog/shoutout.htm

Really not cute

So I motor my ass over to Virgin Megastore on Super Tuesday all primed to get the M.I.A. album I have been jonesing for. I first go to the M section...not there. I ask some worker bee* what is the deal and he sends me to the Dance/Electronica section (it really is a misnomer most of the time, but that is neither here nor there) and I start scrounging around. There is not any kind of indication of the M.I.A. around so I ask one or the "dance experts" what is going on and he is like, "Got no idea. We were supposed to get it today and didn't get squat but check later." Okay, so at this point I'm done with the Virgin Megastore Times Square and my soul is just crushed to the point of utter despair...like when they cancelled "My So-Called Life" crushed. With that I head to work and prepared to be bummed the whole day.

After the work obligation is a wrap I hobbit over to the Virgin Megastore in Union Square**, cause you know they be marking shit down and they usually have their shit way more locked than the joint in the Square. Have I mentioned lately how much I can't STAND Times Square and having to work in this pocket of American insanity? If not, there you go. Alright, now I'm there and I'm like what the fuck?! Where is the damn album. So this SUPER amped and helpful employee is feeling my pain and tells me they were supposed to get the shipment last night, didn't get shit and was at the listening party the week before so he don't know what the hell. He's thinking the hipsters were so hyped they couldn't work out the supply/demand ratio. Whatever brother, work it out. I'm just happy he was telling me something. Still didn't take away the hurt.

Now at this point I'm like this is just not cute. I jump on the phone and call Other Music cause in my mind I'm thinking they got to have gotten some copies cause they are OM and you know they think they are IT so they have got to have the hook up. Did you know that they are owned by the same fools that own Tower Records so Tower could have an indie connection? Don't say I don't educate. Tangent...I'm back. So I'm on the horn and dude is like it was SUPPOSED to come out but apparently the majors are courting homegurl to the point where they stalled the release and it might now come out on another label. Huh? I mean good for you I guess but fuck that noize! You already got the press out, the promos out and a release date...release the goddamn album! You can renegoiate on album two...just give me what I want and give it to me NOW.

Shit need to be worked out soon or I will not continue to pimp M.I.A...well, I will again after I get the album. I hear she drops it like it hot.

Fresh.

*When I say "worker bee" I'm not being degrading. I used to work at Wherehouse Records and Video...I loved it...and I was totally a worker bee. And you can be totally self-righteous when fools would buy beat music. That was hot.

**With my soul empty I ended up buying three albums that night. Here we go:
Jimmy Smith-Root Down Live!
Jimmy Smith-Back at the Chicken Shack
Brazilian Girls-Brazilian Girls

I was visiting some people a few floors up at the work and sashayed it into Mr. Robert Mancini's office and he leant me one of his Jimmy Smith albums and now I'm hooked. Nice looking out there son...much appreciated. Again, you are an inspiration. Have I mentioned lately what a great unit him and the Ms. Tanya Mancini are? If not I'm telling you now. Google those fuckers, they are awesome.

I saw the Brazilian Girls open for Van Hunt this summer at Prospect Park and they were pretty damn good. Read a lovely review somewhere, picked up the album and damn if I'm not feeling this lovely mix of bossa nova, trip-hop, world music and a bunch of other shit. Do yourself a solid and take a listen.

Fresh squared.

The L Word=Lestastic!

Hand to God...I love me some hot ass lesbians!

When the L Word first started coming on I was like whatever...I don't need to be watching no kind of show about the puss...cause I have one of my own and you throw in about 6 or 7 more and that shit gets complicated. But this past weekend my girl Toni Ann calls me and was like, for real, you need to check this shit...and about 14 hours later (via Showtime on Demand) I'm all up in it.

Now yes, there is all sorts of girl on girl action, which is fine if that is your thang, but the storylines are just riveting dammit...ri-vet-ing! You got Alice the quirky magazine writer that has found out that she is in love with her best friend Dana, a tennis player that is coming to terms with her lesbianism and has a great apartment by the by. The most annoying character is Jenny, who I can totally do without. She moves to LA to be move in with her boyfriend (who is super cute and nice)...but then sees hot ass Marina, who of course is like French or something, they make out in a bathroom and it is ON! Her boo, who now has become her fiance, finds Marina between Jenny's legs and the shit hits the fan. Then there is Bette and Tina...the perfect lesbian couple. Except they are not that perfect. Well Bette, played by the lovely Jennifer Beals (that bitch is on fire at 40, I'm scurred of her), is this control freak that is the director of an art museum and the "man" in the relationship with Tina. Tina and and her try to get pregnant, do, then miscarry. Drama. Anyway Tina finds out that Bette is having an affair and the pussy goes flying. It is some shit you NEED to see (episode #13 on demand...peep it right quick). Oh, and you got Kit, Bette's sister, well half sister (did I tell you that Bette is bi-racial AND gay...throwing all the shit in there), she is a recovering alcoholic that may or may not be falling in love with a drag king played AMAZINGLY by Kelly Lynch (loved her in Drugstore Cowboy, best Gus Van Sant movie hands down). And then there is my lesbian crush...Shane. Swoon. She is this androgynous hairdresser that just screams sex and rock and roll. Love that lezzie. Her character used to turn tricks on Santa Monica Blvd when folks thought she was a gay man...whatever. She is super duper cute...and Gwyneth Paltrow's cousin in real life. Her problem...besides turning tricks...her soul is crushed so she just breaks hearts left and right...but she is a great friend to the ladies I have mentioned above. And you have to pay attention to the story arc where she has this affair and falls in love with Roseanna Arquette and her husband and daughter find out. This shit beats the hell out of the daytime soaps!

So it's kinda crazy. For the past 72 hours ALL I can talk about the L Word and how awesome it is--and now that I have watched all of season one and first episode of season two I don't know what to do with myself. This past weekend this was my WHOLE existence and it made me so happy.

For real, this show is making lesbianism seem all sorts of sassy and shit...and those bitches can dress. I mean come on, how many really fashionable lady lovers you know? Not many. Maybe only LA lesbians are this fierce. Whatever it is I don't care...I love this show and I want everyone to know! I want the world to know I LOVE LESBIANS!*

Now go call your local cable provider and get yourself some Showtime. Swalla!

*By the by the best line of the show, and what I consider my mantra was this one from "Jenny's" friend that came to visit her (I might be paraphrasing little):

"I'm all about female companionship but dude, I can't get down with the puss. I love the dick." Ain't that the truth. And end scene.

Let me tell you what is super beat

Sulfites. Yes, I said it sulfites. And you might want to ask, "Hey Erika, what have sulfites done to you?" And with that I will say everything my friend, every damn thing on this here God's green Earth.

So I meet Jason and Jim for dinner last night (we were going to go to Canapa but they were closed so we went to their sister restaurant next door that was serving the their menu also...but I'm getting off the mark, as I usually am apt to do) and we get a bottle of wine. Had some muscles and a lovely individual pizza...the boys had lamb and mashed potatoes, and let me tell you that it was divine...and that wine and it was yummtastic. After the meal we headed over to Crudo for the lovely Ms. Cionin Lorenzo's birthday party...nice spot, you should check it. If you are obese you might want to skip it cause the joint it quite narrow, but they have a grand garden that is an absolute delight when the weather is nice. Sweet Lord, right there you just witnessed me channeling my mother. Whatever.

Okay, so I'm thinking just stick with the wine gurl, you know mixing it lame...and I did just that, kept with the wine and I was feeling very mature about it. The problem is this: I should know that most times I have wine my head ends up hurting...like, "Seriously, this is so not funny, I'm too old to feel like I was doing body shots and shit." Okay, the WHOLE evening I had about, maybe 5 glasses of wine, not FULL glasses either and I'm feeling fine about myself, I get home around 2ish, take a shower, get ready to moisturize and whatnot, cause that is what I do, and I just feel queasy so I proceed to PUKE. Now, um, you know what is not cute? When you get home not even near being drunk, have had eaten a full meal before engaging in alcoholic endeavors and then start rocking the vomit thing. And you know what...this happens when I drink fucking wine! The shit is evil and in turn sulfites are evil. I can't trust the fuckers. Now I feel like when I'm kicking it with Riesling I don't get kicked in the ass and I should just learn that that is my friend and nothing else in the wine world is. But shit, I do enjoy a glass of the grape stuff...and all those antioxidants...dammit.

Well this morning, I woke up with a headache the size of Angkor Wat...oh and cramps on top of that. How fucking rad is that?! Super rad. Don't be jealous. The wine head/"lady problem" combo is not sexy.

Moral of the story: Vodka is much cooler to me and in turn I need to throw my full commitment that way. Oh, and I'm getting old, cause the fact that I'm talking about this proves that. I could starting rapping to you all about the weather but that would throw me in the AARP slot and I'm not ready to go there.

Thank you for your time...I'm going to finish a box of Girl Scout Cookies now.

Andre Leon Talley must be devestated

Designers Dolce And Gabbana Split Up
18 Feb 2005

Italian designer duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have ended their 19-year relationship but say they will continue to run their renowned fashion label.
“On a professional level we are still together,” Dolce told the Italian media.
“We work together wonderfully well, we have a very strong understanding. We have a very strong love which ties us to each other.”
The fashion label, launched in 1985, is a favourite with celebrities including Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Beyonce.

...I'm sure the lights in Chelsea have been dimmed. And a one-legged seamstress in Kuala Lumpur is in tears.

You know what is pretty kool today?

1) That I spelled cool with a "k".
2) The Futureheads cover of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love"...fucking GENIUS. By the by the first album I bought from Columbia House was Kate Bush's The Sensual World. Yeah, I was feeling myself at 15.
3) That Liane Su just e-mailed to say that she just got....THE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES I ordered from her niece. I'm on the verge of hyperventilating right now. My plan for Friday night...to be shaking from sugar shock in a corner of my apartment with chocolate all over my face. That right there kids is sexy.

Well kids, it's the end of a damn era...

Oh hell, this is just not right. Great, now we're just left with Madonna*. I don't think anyone wins in that situation. Sigh.

George Michael Quits The Biz
by Paul Cashmere
17 February 2005
George Michael has made a sudden announcement that he is quitting the pop music industry and used a documentary to make his final statement.
In the film 'George Michael: A Different Story' which premiered in Berlin this week, Michael says that he will "move his career into a different form". He doesn't elaborate on what he means by that.
The film is a candid account of the life of George as told by George. He talks openly about his arrest at a Los Angeles toilet, about his late mother and his former Wham partner Andrew Ridgely also joins him to talk about that part of the career.
He also talks his battles with Sony and how speaking out against George Bush and the Iraq war effected his career.
The documentary was originally shown on the BBC last year but Michael has added a further 15 minutes of footage to close off this chapter of his life.
Michael's last album 'Patience' sold 363,000 units in the USA according to Nielsen SoundScan.

For real y'all...get you some Listen Without Prejudice...that shit was tight! And don't even ACT like you were not all up into FAITH. "Why can't you do it? Why can't you set your monkey free?" Honeychile that is a question that has plagued us for years and will probably never be answered with the departure of Mr. Yorgos Kyriatou Panayioutou...George Michael for all you non-playas.

Shit, I need to get on the phone with Andrew Ridgeley and talk some stuff out. My heart is so heavy right now.

*This is not an affront to his Purple Highness, Prince. He flipped it AND reversed it when he went on tour this year, I just think the brother has other priorities and will not be able to constantly give me what I need from an 80's icon anymore. Damb.

They never let me down

Listening to KEXP.ORG and they just went from The Raincoats "Don't Be Mean" to Blackalicious "Make You Feel That Way". I'm sorry y'all, I just needed a moment to let it be known that this is hotter than hell in the middle of summer.

Shit.

Well a big old Happy Valentine's Day to this wacky young couple!

(CBS/AP) Mary Kay Letourneau and her former sixth-grade pupil, Vili Fualaau, with whom she had two children, have set the date for their wedding, according to an online bridal registry.
Letourneau, 43, and Fualaau, 22, plan to wed April 16, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Monday. Letourneau served 7½ years on a 1997 conviction for raping Fualaau.
"It's been long overdue," said Noel Soriano, a longtime friend of the family who confirmed Sunday that they will marry this spring. "It's going to be fabulous, seeing them get hitched finally."
Letourneau was a married mother of four when she began a sexual relationship with the then-12-year-old Fualaau after meeting at an elementary school in 1996, when she was 34. She was pregnant with Fualaau's first child when she was arrested in 1997 and ordered to serve a six-month sentence for second-degree child rape.
One month after she was released, Letourneau was caught having sex with Fualaau in her car. She pleaded guilty in 1997 to two charges of child rape, and gave birth to the couple's second daughter while serving her 7½-year sentence. Fualaau's mother is raising their two daughters, aged 6 and 7.
Shortly after Letourneau was released from prison last August, the pair successfully petitioned a King County judge to lift a no-contact order that had barred them from seeing each other.
"She's not a pedophile, she's a 'Vili-phile,'" Soriano told the paper.
Both made numerous media appearances immediately after Letourneau was released from prison in August.
Soriano said they became engaged when Fualaau proposed last fall, but they have been trying to keep wedding details a secret. But with a guest list that will include more than 200 people, the news was bound to come out eventually, he said.
The wedding will likely be held in a Seattle-area church, Soriano said.
Details are yet to be completed, but plans call for their daughters to be flower girls and Fualaau's nephew to be a ring bearer, he said.
The couple's bridal registry at the Bon-Macy's listed 31 items Sunday.
Letourneau now lives with friends south of Seattle. Fualaau is unemployed but has been studying for his GED and working on his artwork. He's also been meeting with gallery owners to discuss the possibility of exhibiting some of his work, Soriano said.
The couple will likely live in the Seattle area after they wed, he said.
"They have gone through a lot," he said. "That they lasted this long proves how strong their love is."

If anyone wants to go in with me to get a gift on their registry just let me know.

PLEASE GET THIS ALBUM!!!!

And that album would be No Cities Left from the Dears. The lovely Renee Frisch* hooked me up with this near perfect album and I can't thank her enough. No, for real, I'm being serious...near goddamn perfect.

So the lead singer, Canadian dude Murray Lightburn, is this bad ass negro with a heavy Morrissey fixation and he brings it to the table big time. Now I know what you are thinking, "Huh, a colored canuck all up in Morrissey's grill? Oh lord I'm so confused. Please Erika bring forth your infinite wisdom and school me on this." And to you my child I say this: I'm gobsmacked too but shit if I'm not loving it like a fat kid loves cake.

I'm so not into working out someone else's pre-existing persona/vibe as yours but not kidding, it's like some loving tribute to the Moz and his world that inspires old Murray here. I can hear the influences instantly but it doesn't seem contrived or predatory it just...flows. Maybe I'm not too hung up on it because:

A) Dude has a clear and precise voice
B) He be singing from some special place on track 3...give me a crescendo and a scream/sing from the gut at the end of a song and I'm yours
C) Never was a huge Morrissey/Smiths fan so I ain't trippin'...later in life yes, I have developed an appreciation for the Smiths, I do admit
D) The Moz himself asked the band to open for him and this in turn made Murray burst into little bitch tears...touching. Also, if Mr. Stephan Patrick Morrissey ain't got beef there is no need for you to
E) The album just rulz...end o' story

After all that it must be said that the musicianship on this album is BRILLIANT...not okay, not good...not even rad...knock you on your ass brilliant. And yes, I'm an excitable lass but for real, I mean it, I'm not being dramatic and you are going to have to go with me on this. Again...PLEASE GET THIS ALBUM!! And no, I'm going to tell you a track to listen out for cause I don't even have a favorite one, they all are great. (Except for one of em...that is why it is near perfect NOT perfect. I shall not whisper it's name...figure it out on your own.)

Moral of the story: This album hurts my feelings it's that good.

http://www.thedears.org/index4.html

BTW--They will be playing at Maxwell's in star-studded Hoboken, NJ on March 25th (day after QOTSA...one more time...I got tickets!)...$12 a pop. It will be awesome.

*The lovely Renee Frisch has recently been bringing it with all the discs she has been burning mama here. Before this it was Arcade Fire that was IT for me (track #6, "Crown of Love"...yes I will mist the monkeyfuck up about it now)...another gem of an album that must be acquired and loved. I have a crush on it.

http://www.arcadefire.com/

Oh snap...homegurl done gone and tripped!

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:57 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman was sentenced to two and a half years in jail Thursday for ripping off her ex-lover's testicle with her bare hands during a drunken brawl after he refused her sex.
Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage in May last year after Geoffrey Jones, 37, who had ended their long-term relationship, rejected her advances.
She grabbed him by the genitals, tearing off his left testicle, then hid it in her mouth before a friend of Jones handed it back to him saying "that's yours."
Monti, of Birkenhead, near Liverpool, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at an earlier hearing.

If he had never serenaded her with the refrain, "Ohhh baby I like it rawww..." from ODB's "Shimmy, Shimmy Ya" none of this would have happened. That shit can and WILL backfire on you. Damb...Glenn Close would be proud. Thanks Vanessa for sending to me before lunch, really, I appreciate it.

Them Green Day boys clean up well

I'm watching this Access Hollywood/Fuse Grammy special and I have an ephinany...damn Billie Joe Armstrong is sharp as a tack! I've enjoyed that little band for ages--they got some catchy tracks and shit, they seem like they are having a good time but I was never like oh those boys are cute as hell. Lately though I'm like what the...? A shower, tight suit and eyeliner can do wonders! Mr. Billie had a fierce black tie with white polka dots and a well fitted three piece suit. Yeah, I was scurred of him.

Anyway, nothing is sexier than a man in a suit that fits.

Sidenote: Twenty minutes later they interview Scott Weiland, in a suit, and I decided to scratch my idea that nothing sexier than a man in a suit. If you DON'T look like you are going to die and need to be attached to an IV and you are a man, then the sexy thing works. Sweet Jesus, have you seen him lately? Fucker looks like he is about to fall out. I mean for ages he has been working that, "For real, this is the last time I will be going into rehab and/or jail" look, but this is getting really, really extra. Not a good look Mr. Sex Type Thing.

It's about fucking time!

PORTISHEAD-ING BACK!
PORTISHEAD are recording their first album in eight years.
The band have nearly completed their third LP, according to founding member Geoff Barrow.
He said: "We're actually into it as we speak. We took some time off for Christmas, but generally we're doing another record."
Barrow told BBC 6 Music that he was surprised people thought the band had split up, saying: "We've just had our heads down really, we've never actually broken up, or parted, or whatever."
He added: "So for us it just seems, even though we haven't played for years, we still see each other and write - we just haven't released a record for a long time."
As previously reported on NME.COM, Portishead - who won a Mercury Music Prize in 1995 for their debut album ’Dummy’ - will join Massive Attack for a gig at the Bristol Academy (February 19) to raise money for Oxfam’s tsunami appeal.
However, the band are not expected to play any new material at the show, which will feature singer Beth Gibbons playing with an acoustic backing.

Cause you know what folks...there are really not enough albums out there that make you want to get sexy with it and commit suicide at the same time. Man, I love these jokers. "Cause nobody LOVESSSSSS me...not like you do!!!!!" Work it out mama.

Crazy is the new funny

As usual I was watching NY1 on Tuesday morning and they were doing a piece on Fashion Week and Child Magazine doing a kids fashion show. Well they go backstage and talk to Kimora Lee Simmons because her wee tot was one of the models...and it was a hoot. First off she was like we had to hire J. Alexander to teach the kids to walk and be little divas...um, yes, that J. Alexander, the man that teaches the future eating disorder victims in training on "America's Next Top Model" to walk. Extra, yes. Fabulous, super yes. Love that show...can't wait for the new season to start next month. Wanted to throw that out.

My favorite part is my girl then proceeded to say, "The little one's are temperamental but you can't beat them like real supermodels." Ask Naomi Campbell about that...shit is true.

I fell out...that was some comedy. Funnier part, you know she meant it! There is no way of getting around it she totally Crasian and I love it! Say what you want about Mrs. Russell Simmons, she is living and twirling like a motherfucker.

Anyone that raps that they put salt and pepper on their mango better holla back!

Saturday night my friend Mr. Timothy Todd Read, Jr., of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Reads, was kind enough to escort me to see M.I.A. at the Knitting Factory...and you are a straight SUCKER if you missed it. What a great goddamn show that was!

I shall break it down.

M.I.A. (Missing In Acton in the UK/Missing In Action on this side of the pond) is the moniker of a Sri Lankan-British rapper by the name of Maya Arulpragasam and she is pretty rad. My girl is a filmmaker turned rapper that was hired by Elastica to document their tour (they still tour?!)--and in turn became friendly with Peaches who was also on said tour who turned her onto making beats. That is how the magic began.

Now I will let it be known right now, never heard anything about this lass until a few months ago when I was loitering at a Hudson News stand, flipping through The New Yorker, you know, trying to look "extra" smart (I emphasis the "extra" part) and came across an article about a female Sri Lankan rapper. I mean duh, I had to stop and read it...how many Sri Lankan rappers you know? Pakastani rappers tons...Lankans, none, don't lie. But I digress.

So I'm reading this and I'm all like oh this is some stuff. A week later I see a bunch more articles and I was like I wonder how this hype machine is going to play out. Soon enough I get the Knitting Factory newsletter and they in so many words were like you better check it cause you know the bandwagon is gunna get mad heavy....and cause we is givers come on down to Leonard Street and peep this for only 12 bucks. Or something like that. So I purchased some tickets and sent an e-mail out to some my comrades to join me. I was bummed out that my road dawg for life Mr. Jason Black didn't check it cause he would have loved it! Sidenote: Our first "buds for life" concert was at the Knit and it was Moloko. Holding back the years, Black, holding back the years...I'm not mad at you boo, get Melba Moore tickets and it's all gravy. Love you! Wow, let me see if I can get a ticket out of tangentville.

I'm back...

Okay, now I had heard that that a single she had out last year,"Galang", was it...like the song was blowin' up like the fish in the Faith No More video all up in the UK and I wanted to hear it. And apparently a lot of other fools because the place was SOLD OUT. I can't stand the Knit when it is crowded cause they have not mastered that AC thing but Diplo from the Hollertronix crew, who I have been wanting to see for MONTHS, was spinning his own set and for M.I.A. so I was willing to chill with the bitching and moaning...even though it is soooooo fun for everyone involved! Anyway my man went on and I was like wut, wut?! I mean, he just knows what to play, how to play it and when to play it. I tried to work out some 'graphy but didn't have enough space...I tried, believe me that I did.

Let me fast forward. So old girl comes out (by the by, superbabe...yeah, she had a cape on, not trying to objectify and whatnot but hot is hot and it needs to be said, don't be mad) and the crowd was hyped! I mean this "Internet" thing the kids are on is a trip cause the young lady's album doesn't come out till the 22nd and people just instantly started singing along like it was a L'Trimm reunion tour...shit, we all love the cars that go boom.

I got all wrapped up in it that I started dancing like I was auditioning for Debbie Allen or something. I cannot remember the last time I was at a show that I didn't know ANY of the music and I was having so much fun. It wasn't about singing along, it was about just shaking what ya mama gave you and carrying on with the masses. I got carried away to the point where I clipped Mr. Read in the face with my elbow a few times...sorry! I gotta say, he took it like a champ. The fact is that when you drop Ciara's "Goodies" into a set I will Alvin Ailey it and injuries can occur. And don't get me started on dancehall. You just got to move with the spirit. I let the Lord lead me and I just follow. Amen.

Moral of the story is this...get her album...check out Diplo's mixes...see their shows...believe the fucking hype! She was having fun, we were having fun, it was just a great time had by all. The beats were not tired and played out and she doesn't sound like anyone else. Just a smart ass woman with a great accent that has shit to say about where she came from and the state of the world. Kids, that is worth a lot.

BTW...she became a refugee at 10...that is gangsta...all other MC's need to sit down. Except for 5o cause he got shot in the face like 900 times and really, I wouldn't want to fuck with the brother. And Chuck D is cool cause he fights the power all the time and he's like my hero. And the Beasties are cool cause they are the cool. Plus Jay-Z might have 99 problems but a bitch ain't one so he fresh. Well, you know what I'm saying...

Okay, word.

http://www.xlrecordings.com/mia/

http://www.hollertronix.com/

Park it like it's hot...

Just peep this...

SAND LAKE, Mich. - A boy drove his mother’s car to a video store in the middle of the night, police said — and he’s all of 4 years old.
Even though he was unable to reach the accelerator, the boy managed to put the car in gear and the idling engine provided enough power to take him slowly to the store, a quarter-mile from his home, about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Police Chief Doug Heugel said. Finding the store closed, the youngster began a slow trip home.
Weaving and with its headlights off, the car got the attention of police Sgt. Jay Osga, who initially thought he was following a driverless car that had taken off after being left running at a gas pump.
The car turned into the boy’s apartment complex and struck two parked cars, then backed up and struck Osga’s police car.
That’s when Osga discovered the boy inside.
“He knew how to go from forward to reverse,” Osga said Monday. “The mother said she taught him how to drive by letting him sit on her lap and steer.”
No charges will be filed against the boy or his mother, Heugel said.
“He’s 4 years old. His mom didn’t even know he was up,” Heugel told The Grand Rapids Press. “I don’t think he even realizes what he did.”


...if they had Netflix none of this would have happen. Got to say, big up to junior for doing what he had to do. I mean shit, sometimes you need to see Finding Nemo in the middle of the night and you don't want to wake up your moms for it. It happens.

A moment of silence...seriously, shut it

R.I.P. Ossie Davis...that man was a gentleman, scholar, civil rights activist and an amazing actor. I mean Mr. Davis delivered Malcolm X's eulogy...wut, wut! This man was, is and will always be a legend. On top of that a big shout out to him and the amazing Ruby Dee for being married for over 50 years and just being a cool couple. Like that is what you pattern shit after kids.

Do yourself a favor and check out one of his most recent films, Bubba Ho-Tep with Bruce Campbell. Off the bat it seems like a campy kind of cult flick but it really is a sweet film.

http://www.bubbahotep.com/

Carry on the other side sir, carry on. This is totally a bummer.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/04/obit.davis.ap/index.html

Happy Black History Month

And since I am TOTALLY black I will be accepting gifts all month. Just a friendly FYI...oh, and I'm pretty sure it's tax-deductible.

Things I'm loving today

1) My friend Shari
2) The fact that my said friend sent me the new QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ALBUM...she is totally my girlfriend. There is no getting around it.
3) That this said album is rawking me to the windows and to the walls.
4) The tickets that I got to said band's show at Webster Hall on March 24th. Seriously, I almost had a seizure when I kept going to Ticketweb and it said that tickets were not on sale until Noon and it was FUCKING Noon. This kept on for a few and then bla-dang! Luckily I remembered that Webster Hall has their own site that sells tickets and I was able to log on. Praise Jesus cause those jammies sold out like 15 minutes later. Yep, get ready for me to be self-righteous about this.
5) The Terry Bradshaw interview in Time Out New York this week. He is funny and rad...but I have always had a special place in my heart for the man. Sample of his wittiness:

Regarding female fans:
"Chicks dig me. No question about that. I can get a date-I'm a hottie tomattie." --Yes, yes you are Terry.

Being diagnosed as depressed:
"I just got extremely curious as to why nothing pleased me, and then my wife left me for another man, so hell--that'll get your attention."--True

Wisdom comes in many forms.

My FINAL set

People, here is my last set...tear. I'm going to try come back bigger and better. Holla!

Ship of Fools-World Party
Let's Boogaloo-Willie Rosario
Rhythm & Blues Alibi-Gomez
I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down-Elvis Costello
Oh La La-Faces
Sandwiches-Detroit Grand Pubahs
Ambulance-TV on the Radio
It Takes Two-Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Velvet Pants-Propellerheads
Something New-Nicolai Dunger
Kick Out The Jams (Live)-MC5
Bombshell-Operation Ivy
Unity-Operation Ivy
When The Trickster Starts A 'Pokin-Gogol Bordello
The Chemistry Between Us-Suede
Music Sounds Better With You-Stardust
Black Betty-Ram Jam
Back in Black-AC/DC
Right Here's The Spot-Basement Jaxx (feat. Me'Shell N'degocello)
One Plus One Is One-Badly Drawn Boy
Memphis Soul Typecast-Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Vitamin C-Can
The Humpty Dance-Digital Underground
Your Lies-Shelby Lynne
Simply Beautiful-The Great Reverend Al Green
Sugar-System of a Down
So Alive-Love & Rockets
Hollerback Girl-Gwen Stefani
Song For The Dead-Queen of the Stone Age
Gigantic (Live--NYC 12/18/04)-Pixies

...seriously, this is just awesome. I'm scared of me.

I just want to take a moment...

...to give a special shout out to the amazing Mr. Arthur James Solomon.

First off I have to let it be known that I met Artie through my friend Latasha, if I don't say that she gets all sorts of extra black and angry and starts screaming about how I stole her "gay". Calm down honey, I have a stable of my own "gays". Aren't they just grand?!

Anyway, I never took a moment to bring up how Artie got me to sign up for the Move Against AIDS dance-a-thon that happened in December. If it wasn't for homes I would not have shaken what my mama gave me or raised $1,375...thanks everyone! For real, I'm touched that my people came through with the ducats...heart of champions all of y'all!

Because of the inspiration and soul of Artie we created what will be a one day legendary dance troupe...The Black Booty Express. We will be having guerilla style performances popping up all over the city every month. It's dance, it's art, it's sexy. Don't look it straight in the eye, you will go blind. At the dance-a-thon Artie, Latasha and myself came up with moves that shut em down. Until you see 6'5" Artie slide across the floor and through my legs (yeah, I'm 5'0" so we're talking some skill) you have not seen dance and sport combined so effortlessly.

It was at Latasha's 21st birthday (you like that girl) in which we combined all of our moves and took it to the next level. There are very few people that I would let pick me up, swing me from side to side, through the legs and then freestyle it then Artie. If you look up fun in the dictionary there is a picture of Artie all fierce and backlit properly. It was after this moment that we realized that our performance pieces are really for us because you know what...life is for having fun and acting a fool and too many people are too cool for skool for that so Artie and I must pick up the slack. You give till it hurts. And it does hurt, cause the next day my back was killing me. I'm not as limber as I used to be.

Next up--Artie is just genius. It's as simple as that. He says the best things at the right times and he is just him. Being a good "you" is just rad. Not being pithy, just being honest. Love the motherfucker. Oh, and he tells me when I'm being retarded and "blocking my blessings" or whatever Oprahesque/Kahlil Gibran/Dali Lama/Tony Little mantra he likes to throw my way when it needs to said. I appreciate it.

So that is that...sometimes you need to throw out tributes to make sure the world that we live in is balanced.

Fresh.

And one more thing...Artie is the one that sent me the below link...it is what you would call awesome.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com

Congrats...

...to Mr. Keanu Reeves for getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is hot. I love River's Edge and Point Break. He is hot. If Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen can get a damn star so can Ke-Ke. Now everyone stop being mean to him cause he appears to be slow...he is hot. And I bet he is a nice man.

Thank you very much.

By the way...John Leguizamo is on The Daily Show and is wearing a white and green velour track suit. That is fierce.