Spit Hate

Ask Me `Bout Nothing (But the Blues)

Albert King (1923 – 1992) / Bobby “Blue” Bland (1930 - Still Representin)

There is a lot of stuff going on in the world right now. War, murder, thievery, rape, genocide, homelessness, etc…the list of jacked stuff goes on forever. I know I shouldn’t have the blues for what I’m about to tell you, but I really can’t help it. I’ve been working on some new songs as a reinvention of sorts and it has been going really, really, really well. The recordings were awesome. I’m trucking along with a good attitude, kinda happy for a change, and then Boom! Explosion! Death! Destruction! My Pro Tools Drive crashed. I haven’t backed up anything in a few weeks. I’m fucked.

I’ve run about 15 applications to find the data and have retrieved the wav files (along with all kinds of other shit that got deleted a long time ago), but this was a drive dedicated to Pro Tools only and .pft session files are nowhere to be found. Btw, just like they say, data is never really deleted until it is written over by new data a few times…or unless you bust out a 7 to 35 pass file shredding application (which was actually the culprit in my case). Something about the app I was using to really delete old files jacked up the NFTS file tables and MBR or something weak like that. Dunno, this shit feels like someone is sticking a knife in my eye and scraping the inside of my skull while forcing me to listen to a non mixed mixtape of only Black Eye Peas and Miley Cyrus at 1,000,000,000,000 decibels. I hate my life right about now.

In the words of a living legend Mr. Bobby Bland:

Ask me who was the first man to make a light burn so bright
I don’t know, oh lord, I don’t know
Ask me who thought of using a candle for a light
I don’t know, oh lord, I know

But ask me how does a man feel when he’s got the blues
And I’d say, misused, abused, downhearted and blue
And Oh, the reason I know this
Cause the Blues is all I was left with

I can tell you only one thing right now…what it’s like to have the hard drive blues. Ain’t no love in the heart of this Los Angeles city.

Take us out Mr. Albert King:

The beautiful little birds chirpin’ up in the tree, yeah
Buy you know I just can’t dig the sweet melody
I’m so blue and all alone
I’m just a lonely man with everything gone

I’m a fella with a different groove
I’m hung up, I can’t hear nothing but the blues

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Current Odds To Win Super Bowl XLIII (43)

Brett who?   Look at the odds jump today for the Jets!

Colts are gonna smash fools this year.  I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for the season to get started in my life.  It’s time. Let’s go.

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Undersea Explosion

An old friend of mine that I know from my time in Bloomington IN….who I met through Mr. Dope America, Jerold H, is in a band called Undersea Explosion.  I have both USX cds and the discs are my current go to music when I’m in the shower….sometimes in the car.  You can definitely hear the band’s influences coming through in the in the music, but it’s a good thing in this case.  It just sounds like New York City to me.  Reminds me a bunch of skate rock too.  I dig it.  Go check them out:

http://underseaexplosion.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/usx

Let em know what you think.

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Nas, Jimmy Kimmel Live, JFK assassination camera phone theory

Thanks to this site, I didn’t have to take any pictures.  I realize this isn’t the best example, but you see where the theory is going. Not all of the JFK assassination pics were great either.

Another Wednesday night in Hollywood California.  I passed on going to the ESPYs.  I passed on going to see Tropic Thunder. I didn’t pass on going to see Nas again on Jimmy Kimmel.  I caught him the last time he came through (you remember that blues song with his dad?) and it’s only right to go check out NY’s finest again. Checklist:

• Pre show rum and coke @ Scorpions: Check
• Green room Corona #1: Check
• Green room buffet (pot stickers & beef wrapped vegetables and cheese): Check
• Seeing and chatting with some friends: Check
• Green Lantern in the Green room: Check
• Green room Corona #2: Check

When it was time to head out, we walked out and checked out the show from the side.  Nas ripped into “Hero”. Sounded pretty good from where I was standing, but I couldn’t really tell if he was saying all the words or mumbling sometimes.  The live band on the track made it bang more.  The bass player in the band was good.  “Sly Fox” was pretty dope.  I agree that Fox news does suck.  Then the highlight of the set was played…hearing ”It Ain’t Hard To Tell” brings on that feeling of nostalgia  that you can feel in your chest.  Illmatic is one of my favorite albums of all time.  “Made You Look” had intensity and the crowd was into it.  All around, it was a good mini show.  After that…we shook the spot for post show drinks @ Scorpions.  The trip turned into another checklist:

• Kettle One dirty martini: Check
• Sip the white sangria: Check
• Sip the red sangria: Check
• Corona #3: Check
• Corona #4: Check
• Sol #1: Check
• Tecate #1: Check
• Feeling bent = Check

Now, let’s get into my newest theory.  Events these days are like the JFK assassination and the grassy knoll…there are a gazillion pictures documenting the event.  I believe there is no longer a need to pull out your camera phone when you’re at a decent sized event as everyone and their mom is already snapping photos.

First I’m going to backtrack one step and talk about the non public part of the event.  When you roll on some VIP shit and hang in areas where there is only talent, worker bees, and agents/managers….nobody wants to see you with your camera out.  This isn’t TMZ.  It actually feels awkward to have your camera out in those situations anyway.  Hope that makes sense.  Now on to the regular portion of the event, in most cases, everyone has their camera out and are snapping away like crazy.  This means that they’re going to put the photos on flickr or the internet before you even get to your house.  A quick search the next day and boom…there you are.  Pretty simple theory….to sum it up: There may no longer be a need for you to snap your own photos at a concert ever again.

There are always exceptions to the rule.  This is my Robert Greene “Reversal” section at the end of the chapter. If you have to send a picture immediately as an alibi to prove your location…break the rule.  If you’re in a situation where you see some extremely messed up shit…break the rule.  At the Beastie Boy’s show at the Fonda last year, I was standing next to Tommy Lee and some little weird guy was kissing Tommy’s back and neck and making out with him.  It was fucking creepy and nasty, but I wish I had taken a shot so people would believe me.  A followup search reveals that TMZ caught those fools that night getting it on. It’s also ok to break the rule if you’re in a spot that nobody can get to (a good example would be that pic i snapped on the stage watching Prince at Coachella).  Another exception to the rule would be a situation in which you have the chance to take a picture with a legend…you have to go for it.  I regret not taking a picture with James Brown when I had the chance a few times.  I didn’t want to be that douchebag tugging on his arm asking for a photo after he just ripped a sick show.  Other missed opportunities that I regret:  Jimmy Page & Slash, George Benson, Ahmad Jamal & Idris Muhammad, Metallica, Bill Clinton, and Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Adjust these rules to suit your shit, sit back, and enjoy the show.

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Thy Name Is Godfather of Soul

A blue satin cape embroidered with Thy Name Is Godfather of Soul and rhinestone, sequence and metallic embellishments.  Estimated Price:  $15,000 - $20,000

So they’re going to really auction off some of James Brown’s stuff at Christie’s?  I guess he’s not using it anymore, but if there are unresolved conflicts between family, business managers, and trustees…they should definitely be resolved before the slanging begins.  Yes, as Dozanova put it, “Hip Hop died on Christmas Day 2006″, but the legend lives on in my mind…and hopefully in yours.  I don’t have the official Christie’s auction book yet, but I’ve looked at all of the items online.  To jack some descriptions from http://www.thestate.com/local/story/462001.html, this auction is amazing to say the least:

There are handwritten notes, signed contracts and the inmate inventory sheet listing the clothing and accessories that were taken when Brown went to prison in 1989 for aggravated assault and failure to stop for police.

Most items are expected to bring less than $1,000. But others, like the jumpsuit he wore in 1974 when he performed before the Ali-Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire, are expected to go for $5,000 or more.

A black cape embroidered with his name, Brown’s 1986 Grammy for “Living in America” and a Hammond B-3 electric organ have an estimated value of $15,000 to $20,000.

So here’s my plan.  My bank is WAMU and WAMU is about to go out of biz.  I’m going to get my dough out of that sinking ship and instead of depositing it somewhere else, investing it, or saving it….I’m going to buy a cape, jumpsuit, and a moog…and make shit funky.  If I had a JB jumpsuit…I would rock it everyday for the rest of my life.  RIP Godfather….a true legend.

Btw, this is a perfect segue into a brief point I want to make about dead rappers and producers who aren’t true legends.  Just because you made some hot beats or spit some verses and then died…doesn’t make you a legend.  So, no, I don’t get super emotional over dead rappers or producers.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  On the flip side, I respect life very much and am saddened by loss of it …but I understand that we all have to live and we all have to die.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some hardcore death lover as I always take time to reflect on what it means to be alive whenever I hear about someone passing….especially in hip hop.  Personally, I don’t expect anyone to give a damn about me when I’m gone (I do hope my friends to have a party and drink some hen though….haha).  Seriously, you clowns running around dropping RIP for these rappers you didn’t know is a weird hip hop phenomenon.  Why don’t you run around throwing RIP’s to people you know, loved ones, people close to you, and your family?  Or even the real legends who made shit possible (like James Brown, Hendrix, or Muddy Waters)….not some random catch phrase that you picked up.  Maybe you feel like you’re part of movement by doing that?  Maybe they really touched each and everyone of your lives…dunno…anything is possible I guess.  To each his own..don’t listen to me anyway cause I don’t know shit.  I do know one thing though…before I throw a shout to someone I don’t know, I’ve got a massive list of people who are gone that I’ve known and loved…and that’s all that will ever come out of my mouth.

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