Despacio...

Yeah, so I'm going to really ask time to slow down. I've been at work everyday for the past week cus one my co-workers "resigned" leaving the boss and I. Guess who's getting overtime; well, barely cus I had 10hrs buffer before overtime, but I crossed that threshold. Oh yeah... thus leaving me tired.

Did a show on Tuesday night (3/21) at Harper's Ferry. Not really "my" show, but more-so a substitute show for what would otherwise be a missed gig for the band. I don't think there was one song I did where I didn't flip the words somehow. Only one/two people actually noticed though. In fact it was actually REALLY fun. Maybe the most fun I've had at a show in a long time.

I have resolved also that I need to make a point to warm-up before each show. I thought I had a sore-throat from quickly and quietly practicing just before arriving at the venue. But it turns out that what I think is 'straining my voice' before a show is actually 'my voice warming up'. For instance, this show I didn't actually warm up... thus my voice didn't really start to open up until the last song (Mos Def - Umi Says). It's not good to show that you can sing circles around yourself, LoL. it begs the question... "what does that say about you?"

The pay off though was a huge compliment. At the end of the headlining band's set they launched into a freestyle. Not like hip-hop but just a tune they made up there and the vocalist just sang whatever came to mind. Within that, she spent a good 32 bars (musically a long time) on how much she loves my voice and what it 'does to her'. I mean that is cool were anyone to say it, but definitely cool coming from another singer. It's respect from someone who is passionate about the same thing you do. It's the true value behind a Grammy. So that made my night (as well as performing cus i love performing). I hereby encourage all you to spend some time on your passion right now.

That's my word.
Peace.

In case you were wondering. The band.


I hope that I will be able to save the moment I have to respond to ignorance and that I enjoy my response as much as I enjoyed this one:
"If You Have Big Nose, You Shouldn't Call People Niggers"

Awwwwww BT wooooooo


I thought that was them. When I first seent it, I told my housemate "man, they have the same uniforms and everything." Interesting...

Courtesy of Th'Abad: "Washington Students "Touch The Sky" with Recording Artist Kanye West"

P.S.> Jes' blog is the sh*t right now. Please read it.
And visit this link that I stole from her:
Librarians are okay with you being gay...

Bill Napoli hates America

Bill is the kind of person who yearns for the good-ole days. The days when entire neighborhoods came together to do what was right. That being said... Bill is exactly the kind of person who scares me. Bill is the reason most nations hate us and why Bush is STILL president. (Insert a rant about how one administration can have two of the greatest disasters in the nation's history and still go out with a high approval rating.)
Anyway, the reason Billy scares me is because the good-ole days which he so loved were probably the 50s. I don't know if you paid attention in your history class, but the 50s weren't exactly among the better decades of my people. In fact, I can't say we've been doing so hot in the last half of a millenium. But if ole Billy gets his way... to the back of the bus we go. (Clearly that wasn't the worst it ever was, but I'm sure Bill wouldn't mind that.) It probably eats at his core to have to participate in a society that nominates movies like Crash and Brokeback Mountain for prestigious entertainment awards. He probably can't stand that his offspring can recognize 50 Cent faster than Buddy Holly. Honestly, can't say that I'm too keen on that one myself, but it doesn't really phase me to the extent it does him.
Where in "conservation" is there anything about "regression"? Aren't these right-wing fundamentalists supposed to be keeping things as they are rather than as they were? You can't "conserve" something as it "was"!! That makes no sense and in that case neither does Bill Napoli. Let's keep this bus we call a nation moving forward. Leaders have to move in front, patna!

Courtesy of Jes: Bill Napoli Video

Peace.
Actually... let's amend that to "Peace & Understanding"!

A great Boondocks moment...

[Click Here] <--edited...
Peace.

Time for another: Moment from the Daily Show...

"Evil democrat empire?! I got news for you. If we're going to do the whole 'star wars analogy' thing, the democrats are at best Ewoks. At best. Believe me, you'd be pumping up their egos to call them Jawas. Why can't the republicans just admit it? You're in charge. You control the white house, both houses of congress, the supreme court...you're not a bunch of ragtag rebels fighting the empire; you're the empire." ~Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
(via cocacolafreak07)

Today's Best Away Message


"Mommy: it hurts baby I know but it gets better... toughen up!
Me: I know it gets better, I just wanna know when.
Mommy: B*tch I don't know, do I look like Jesus or Dionne Warwick to you? jeez!

... ahhh my momma, always good for a kick in the ass and a good laugh, lol, also the only idiot who group together Jesus and Dionne Warwick, lol." ~ Honey86627

Run Train, Patna!!

It's a warm evening. Super suprising for East Boston (as well as the region). I got out of work early enough that I had time to grab a snack before going to wait for the shuttle. I ate my snack, and it seemed a little more delicious tonight. Then I gathered my things and went to wait on the shuttle. Soon after I get there it shows. Tonight is going marvellously well. I mean I have the day off tomorrow, everything could take as long as it wants to, but no it's being super-nice to me tonight. Thank you. So as I get on the shuttle I see a couple people eyeing me, but it's no biggie, I'm singing in my head. Smile on my face. THEN the moment of truth. Will the train come in a timely fashion so that i don't have to wai...
OH SNAP!! There it is... No!! No!! To early, run... I can make it. I can make it. I'm in the station door as it stops. People are leaving the train as I pass through the gate. Warning bell of door closing as I sprint and make a world-series slide right into a closed door. THUD!! As I bounce off the train I watch it pull away without me, lol. "NO SOUP FOR YOU!!" Now all the people behind me file in. They know. And they know I know that they know.
Imagine "Grant Hill drinks sprite?!" times two.

Egg.

Peace.

Today's Best Away Message

"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence." --Rummy from Boondocks
posted by: Lilishortyrox23

The Boondocks

Today's Best Away Message
(First time, hope it keeps up.)

"SENIORITIS--We'd fight for a cure, but we're too lazy..." ~ dayseedo

The Re-pimping

If you have noticed, I have been rather absent on the blog as of late. Heck, from the internets (plural, lol) period. But no more, why, because I have Microsoft 2000 (Professional) again. See, I engaged in a war with my computer. It then proceeded to basically b*tch me. Whatever it did, I had to put up with. Then I got a bootleg copy of windows. Which wasn't that bootleg, but it was not as useful as my re-installation disk. So then I was winning, except for this "Please Activate Windows" but each time i went to do so... it said "Already Activated". I paid the countdown no attention. "21 Days Left to activate". Uh huh... "12 Days Left to Activate". Started to be like a countdown to New Years. Then the big day came. And that's when I realized that i had been re-enb*tched. Yep. Couldn't log in without activation, and you couldn't activated cus it said "Already Activated". Then logged you out. Yep. So i conceded that battle and ordered a new 2000 disk from Amazon.com. I used Knoppix 2.0 in the mean time, which was cool-ish minus that it would kill my computer whenever u stopped using it. As in turn the power on and nothing happens. Except a small acknowledgement that ur comp has power.
The 2000 CD, however, arrived a day early; pimp. Installed it real easy; pimp. Had all the important old files, program installation files, internet favorites, and important pictures burned on a ReWriteable; pimp. And now I've cleaned all the BS from my college days that was still lingering around in here without fighting the little bit of pack rat in me; pimp. All hail the reinstallation disk. Mwa ha ha ha ha.
Peace.

Filler...

I'm not even going to lie... I have no idea what this blog will be about until it's done. So let's just begin.

Tonight I spent most of it writing a letter to my half-brother who was recently let out of jail. Not that they 'gave us us free'; he's in a "transitional center". (Think possible ankle bracelet, but maybe that's just for house arrest.) Anyway, in the middle of writing the letter my girlfriend IM's me that Coretta Scott King has passed on. It is like someone cocking back and punching me in the chest.
Take a moment (of silence if you wish) and think about WHO she is. Dr. King didn't want to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This means at some point she was probably talking him into being who he was. It's like they say "Behind every great man there is a great woman." She was not only 'behind' though (in both senses of the word) but she was also beside.
Definitely have to be strong when Klan members know where your live, want you dead, and your stance is non-violent protest. ... Yep.

So then I come back to my brother and wonder what his life would have been like if he had different people influencing his life. He was the smarter, stronger, more handsome brother. It makes you think about what your own life could have been like.

Anyway, I feel like we've (as a people) have literally lost a little bit of our strength with Mrs. King's passing. The media doesn't help and i see people following our image there religiously so where are we headed. It's like we should get a do-over right after Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's "The Message". Or maybe the Panthers. I dunno.

Let it marinate.
Peace.

Jobba the Hutt
(Backlog pt. I)

THE SETTING
So as of January 5th I started my new job at a retail store in the airport. Yes, I could have gotten a better job, but I didn't want to have to think or have something to do when I left. I wanted to clock in, do some BS, then clock out and get paid. That's what i found. Not only that, i'm overpaid in my opinion. Who ever heard of $9/hr for retail? But i'm happy there. That's all that matters.

THE BOSSES
Now, this company is run like a company i owned would probably function. On the surface it appears precize to the T (plug). But beneath that, it is very formless. Kind of a 'whoever sees something that needs to be done should get it done or tell someone who can get it done' atmosphere. Which works... so long as people do things. Of course not everyone does, but you tolerate them for a few strikes and then their out. Leaving hopefully the people who are on the ball.
Let's start with my boss. We'll call her 'C-Murder', just cus it's fun that way. Now I can roll with C-Meezy cus she doesn't BS around. Like if the technique worked with customers i'd swear she'd ask them straight up when they walked in, "You gone buy something or you just pussyfootin' around." I can roll with that, cus it saves time. Also she's a Steelers fan to such a degree that you actually get interested in the game too. Oh, and she's one of those people who can't have a "Hi, Bye" phone call... meaning she has to at least say a couple of paragraphs then peace-out. Which is commendable but not necessary with me.
The 2nd tier bosses (her bosses) are fun. Now I don't know everyone's role, but there is a merchandiser, a tech guy, an operations dude, and a bookkeeper (but i never met her). They are all fun, they kinda play hot potato with the tasks that need to be done, but eventually mess gets done. Maybe not on time, but eventually. And usually they have a good excuse, except the tech dude, he's just MIA all the time (maybe we'll find out why one day).
The 1st tier boss is the coolest mofo in the game. We'll call him Nas, cus he seems "hood" (for an Israeli immigrant) but can easily drop some knowledge on you. Also, dude is funny as hell, but smart funny. You have to know stuff or at least be quick to get his jokes, but they'll have you rollin'. AND dude is ballin' so he pays for everything. We went to lunch ... it was on him. We went to dinner... it was on him. Next day same thing. I had to go buy some extra supplies last minute (cus someone below him f-ed up and didn't order it in the 4 months that they knew they were opening the Boston store) and he whips out the cash like, "What do you need? Pick yo president. I didn't know I had bills this small. What are they doing here? Take them away."

THE JOB
So I'm a "key holder" which seems basically their way of saying "manager in training" which I can roll with. It also explains the pay. The first day was spent unpacking the merchandise and putting it up on the fixtures. As well as assembling a few of the fixtures. I know I spent a few hours folding the pashminas. I feel personally responsible for how pimp they look. The next day was more of the same. Of course after that was the whole learn our means of operations. By Saturday at 4PM we were opening the gate for the first time. Then came the crash course, how to open, how to ring sales, assist customers, how to close. Which meant working 14hr days for the first 3 days (if not more) but we pulled in 38hrs in 3 days. "Genarate money. Ch-ching."

So... yeah... two careers, one income.
"She gives me money, when I'm in need..." ~ Ray Charles ("I've Got A Woman")

News to me...


So in these nights of CPU orneriness I've rediscovered the late night news. Maybe they believe that noone is watching so they can be more accurate and informative but for whatever reason the news is just plane better at three(3) in the morning. So good i actually have trouble picking between ABC and CBS. ABC is falling off though. They use to be real good and even had Black anchormen. I guess the ratings went up. I know for a while a couple of my more nocturnal friends used to IM with me as we watched the news. Not like we were really doing homework those days. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe one day The Daily Show won't be the best informative telecast.

I do love The Daily Show.
(The Colbert Report is getting better to...especially "The Word" segment.)
Peace.

Cold Jam...

JAM
Last night Melodesiac had our biggest show at Tufts to date. We played the infamous Hotung Café. Yes, infamous. It was straight. Actually, it was the jam. I ain't even gone lie, we had a blast. And the crowd showed us alot of love, which just makes you feel better and get more into it. We definitely packed the place too; that felt good. So all-in-all, I'd like to thank ANY and EVERY body that came out last night.

COLD
So... I woke up this morning... saw myself some snow outside. As i've said for years, snow is definitely the Batman of weather. (Mainly because of how quietly shows up. Like you look outside and there it is. )
As the day progressed the snow got really intense; like blizzard intense. Then something happened that I've never conceived of before. It started to lightening & thunder during the snowstorm. Though it makes logical sense it just seems freaky. Like I thought thunderstorms were bad, but like real snowstorms... nothing to be messed with. Just now i heard somebody talking about "...well I'll just risk it." This is a serious threat here. LoL, the snow/lightening combo ain't a game, son. It's like tag team terror over here. Granted hurricanes often spawn tornados and that's just wrong by all counts. But snow AND lightening... there should be a warning for that. The meteorologists up here are cool about the mess too like "Hey Bob, yeah seems like a snowstorm will be passing throw tomorrow, we expect a good few inches..." like it's nothing. I'm watching plows strugglin outside. PLOWS...strugglin. Seen somebody's lil snowcovered SUV outside tryina make it and i just shook my head. The REALEST soldier though, was this bird that flew by when i looked outside. Well... flew is kinda a misnomer, it was more like thrown. Yeah, that bird was getting its ass handed to him by the storm, but he was pressing on. That's bold. If i was a bird, i'd be in Texas. That's just me though. Sometimes as a me I want to be in Texas, but again that's just me. Dah well.

Frosty the snow-peace.

Me vs. XCP...


Yeah, so you know that CD you love to listen to on your computer cus you never really bought a nice radio for a couple hundred dollars. Well, you check your Task Manager to see what processes are running and realize that $sys$DRMdrivers.exe is running. That's odd.
Then it hits you. Sony put spyware on my computer. So you look around the web on why that .exe is running. You find it's a program called XCP that is basically spyware for the company. Also you find that deleting it can be risky.
Thus I nearly kayrowed my computer this weekend trying to delete it. However reinstalling a couple of programs should put things straight. I'm already back on AIM. Sidenote: the new AIM is evil. It just isn't as tight as the last version. Plus all the new graphics are just too extra. Basically they tried to hard. Yep.
Anyway, I think I have beaten XCP. I will find out whenever all the scans are done. Spyware is evil!!! Well, that's that and i'm out.

Peace.

First of many...


YEAH, Buddy!!! BlackOut the step team my boy Uchenna and I started at Tufts just one their first 1st place trophy at the step show at Cornell University. I ain't even gone lie, it's been a long time coming. Our history in competition so far has been: Null, 3rd, 2nd, 1st!!!
I'm so proud of the guys.
To check out the old webpage [Click Here]

Peace.

Exactly...

"If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more." ~ Harriet Tubman

Surfing and writing...

Hey, so i've been so busy that i haven't even realized a whole two weeks passed since my last blog. As always i'm still writing my music. I did the vocals for what might be the intro. In the rest of the time i'm just taking in the world via the web. Peep game:

Canada threw out it's government. {more}

I'm more mispelled and revolutionary than I thought. (more)

That's it for now.
Oh and go listen to Marvin Gaye - Soon I'll Be Loving You Again if you never have.
Peace.

Google Video = Yes.

Rolling Bomber Special: Katori's battle to find himself (far less boring than it sounds).

AMV Wars: People have alot of time, sometimes that's good...

Late and errs.

A bat on one hand is worth two at a Bush...


Returning from T-U-F-T-S today, I went to McDonald's. In McDonalds, I sat by the window juxtaposed to this elderly duo who were engaged in banter that did not concern me. I eavesdropped my little heart out though, while i peopled watched out the window. As well, i tried to avoid superfluous eye contact with the brother sitting opposed to me at the table in front of mine.
The conversation between the elderly duo was actually a recitation of anecdotes about church, served a side of updates on friends and acquaintances. The conversation became more interesting when the gentlemen was misheard by the younger elderly woman. She thought he mentioned his friend George Bush to which she replied that she can't stand him. However, he corrected her (it was George Bonner) and also divulged his own resentment for the commander-in-chief.
I sat surprised and delighted. Here, two old white Christians actually did not like the President. For all my gripe about it, at least Massachussetts is a blue state, and that's makes up for a lot. But wait there's more.

Leaving Davis Square I hopped on the T. My car was fairly empty which is always nice cus I'm not a fan of people. At the Harvard stop the woman that was sitting across from me stood up and exited, but as she left the door she seemed to give polite directions to another person about to enter. That person turned out to be a blind woman. She stepped into the car carefully loosely using her cane and sat down opposing me one seat to my right or one over from where the other woman sat. No shades, eyes open and a little cock-eyed but, according to all the clues, still blind.
I tried not to stare, but then i thought... "Wait... it's not like she gone see me!! What? Is somebody gone go tell her, 'Hey that Black guy is watching you'?!" Never-the-less I tried not to stare. But then she started to take apart her cane and put it away; needless say... all bets were off. I was staring. But stopped before she "looked" around again.
As we're riding along i noticed the blind woman fixing her cap, and then her hair beneath her cap, and I thought, "I've never seen a blind person so concerned about their appearance." Really though, the inescapable amount of vanity shattered all acknowledgement of her blindness. By now, I wasn't the only person staring, cus it was like... "dang, that's pretty superficial." It wasn't a couple hair flips and hat readjustments, oh no... she was getting that joint set JUST like she liked it; followed by a double and triple check. Fifteen minutes later we were at her stop and she was satisfied... I hope. She stood up, grabbed her purse and walked confidently off the train.
HOLD UP!!! Ain't this woman blind?! Um, doesn't she wanna break out her cane or something...she's not even walking along the wall, she's dead-center of the side-walk how does she know she's walking in a straight line?! I looked over at another passanger just as confused as I was. By the time the train pulled off she was out! I mean OUT!! Straight Batman, all-day.

Yeah... that's all for now.
Actually... tonight the Mrs. has left me with this:
Go to www.google.com
Type in "failure"
Click "I'm Feeling Lucky"
Smile like me.

Peace.