#8 in 8

To celebrate my making it to #8 in Tony Hawk's Project 8 for the PS2, I figured I'd upload some vids of Stevie Williams catchin' wreck. Big up to the 215:

"Untitled Documentary"


Mo-Cap session for Project 8


from the DC Video


Hope you enjoyed your BHM...

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Definitive Swim

Just dropping a quick note to let you guys know that the good peopel over at [adult swim] have linked up with Definitive Jux and Old Spice (???) to put out a new, FREE batch of music: Definitive Swim. Featuring the Def Jux stable, with tracks from Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, El-P, Camu Tao, Hangar 18 and others. If this is your cup of tea, go drink some. For FREE.

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DJ Nappy on the prank tip

Crank Yankers ain't got shit on the THUGSTEP king! More to come!

www.myspace.com/djnappy

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LOST, Season 3: "Stranger in a Strange Land" [recap]

Nice episode, let me just get that off my chest first. I had been waiting for the producers to give their origin of Jack's tatoo for a while (ever since I heard them mention it on a podcast last year some time), and I wasn't disappointed. He always seemed like a character in search of something, and him going to Thailand and boning some fly chick for months or so doesn't seem that far off. Plus, it reminded me of one of my favorite Tales From The Crypt episodes, which featured Heavy D without his glasses, working in some tatoo parlor where the tatoo artist just puts whatever your skin is telling them on your body. In reading up on this episode, though, I realized something: homegirl was doing a lot of namaste in that episode. Remember when she received the gift from that man when her and Jack were eating lunch? I didn't hear it at the time, but she made the 'namaste' symbol with her hands and said it. Plus, in reading up on LostPedia, her name, Achara, is actually synonymous with the word dharma. So, who else is thinking homegirl is more than just a tatoo artist? I mean, those references can't just be chance, right?

I am just puzzled as to why her brother beat Jack up... is it not right for him to have even gotten that tatoo, or did they see what she wrote and got freaked out, thinking he might bring bad karma or something to their island in Thailand? I am puzzled over that...

...as I am puzzled over the LOST commercial for this episode, saying that "3 Questions Will Be Answered"... the more that I think of it, the more I have more questions as to WHAT WAS ANSWERED. Follow me here, and see if any of these might be what they eluded to:

• Karl revealing to Kate & Sawyer that "The Others" don't live on the island where the Hydra is located. This makes sense though, as this island seems to be smaller than the others, and there's no way they could have their backyards and homes and such out there. The question is, WHY? He says they conduct "projects", but how does breaking up rocks fit into that? And what is this "better life" that he figures his people give the children? His speaking that "God loves you like he loved Jacob", which was taken directly from Room 23, was creepy...
• Cindy, the stewardess of Oceanic 815, making her return with what seem to be like a whole other set of Others, on their way "to watch" (I assume they meant watch Juliet die for her murdering Pickett), which is both eerie and I guess telling of how rigid their group dynamic is. We also saw that Zack & Emma, the kids from the tailsection, were straight. I'm guessing this is their way of answering "what happened to Cindy and the kids?"...
• Ben is still the leader. Duh. I mean, he calls the shots, he has been since towards the end of Season 2. That Isabel lady was a cold bitch though, right? Even she couldn't shake his ruling. Jack's decision to stick with the Others is going to be a true test... it also makes me wonder how many of the Others ended up with them based off of some similar situation...
• Jack helping Ben because he said he would. That's no real surprise or answer, I don't think. Jack's a pretty stand up guy, and has been one of the only members of the cast to stick to his word, thick and thin. His brewing romance with Juliet is going to be an interesting situation, if it happens... and what's up with the marking they gave Juliet?

In any case, it was a tight episode that makes the real fans out there go "Hmmmm?!?!" with all of the innuendo, and others be like "eh, filler"... the fact that a show like LOST is so vast that you can think that gaining more info on the characters is "filler" is beyond me... And that preview of next week looks like it will be a big one. Don't be surprised if someone gets killed in this one... just a hunch I have over here.

Until then... namaste.

related links:

LostPedia: "Stranger in a Strange Land" recap

MSNBC LOST recap

LOST.ABC.com: The Official LOST podcast for 2.20.2007

Doc Jensen of EW's thoughts on "Flashes Before Your Eyes"

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NEW TV: Dancing With The Stars Cast Revealed!

I was just watching Good Morning America, and figured I'd drop the dime on the new Dancing With The Stars cast (premieres March 19th), even though I'm not the biggest fan. Here we go:

• Paulina Porizkova (actress/model)
• Laila Ali (boxer, Muhammad Ali's daughter)
• Ian Ziering ('Steve' from Beverly Hills 90210)
• Shandi Finnessey (Miss USA 2004)
• Billy Ray Cyrus (country singer/"Achy Breaky Heart")
• Vincent Pastore ('Big Pussy' from The Sopranos)
• Apolo Anton Ohno (Olympic Gold Medalist, speed skating)
• Joey Fatone (N'Sync member, actor)
• Leeza Gibbons (talk show host)
• Clyde Drexler (former NBA star)
• Heather Mills (Paul McCartney's ex-wife)

Do I know who is going to win? Right now, just based on their past, I'd give it to Ohno or Fatone, just because they've had to dance and be light on their feet. I don't know which of the females would be a good fit, I would naively say Laila Ali, but being a boxer doesn't mean you can dance. Her father could float, though, so who knows...

Maybe I will blog about this... maybe not. We'll see.

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Fattie Tuesday

Nice play on words, no?

Just popping in to say what's really really to you guys out there. I first want to apologize if my last shuffle was kind of 'blah'... kind of hard to get jazzed about some of the nonsense stories out there.

In any case, I saw that today is Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, depending on what part of the world you live in. The reason I remembered, though, was because they said it was "Pancake Tuesday". I remember this time last year being down in South Jersey, with my Marines-bound cousin Mike, making sure everything for his father's funeral was straight. It was a rough Feb., with my Uncle Allen passing, and J. Dilla passing, just a surreal time really. Shit, I grew up on Dilla beats and my Uncle's eats. He introduced my to Canadian bacon and the joys of pepper on fried potatoes. He taught me how to be smooth and cool, and how to not take everything so seriously, even if he was a principal at schools for developmentally disabled teens. His desk would have a drawer full of brass knucks, knives, all kinds of things, and he toko it all with a grain of salt. It was hard seeing him in that casket, emotionless, when his face was all salt and pepper beard, puffy cheeks, Winston in hand/on lip, cracking a joke or a sarcastic face.

His life was spent helping others, and it was his own body that couldn't help him. He drank and smoked for years, and his ticker gave out. It was all so mind-blowing until I saw him in that coffin, with hundreds of people in that auditorium. Crying, rejoicing, reconnecting, all over Smitty.

Why am I bringing this up? I dunno, it's Pancake Day. Get fat and reminisce on your loved ones.

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Big L, Rest In Peace

God Rest The Dead.

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American Idol 6, "Hollywood Week" [recap]

FINALLY, we've got our contestants. Were you surprised at who made it and who got left behind? I sure as hell am a bit pissed... what can you do, though?

I was surprised Sundance Head made it, with his lackluster performances over the entire Hollywood Week. I am also surprised that Antonella chick made it, even if she's a Jersey girl.

My early predictions? Well, I really like that girl Haley - she's very cute, she can dance, and her voice is nice. Not the best, but I think she has the total package. My early pick for the guys is Sanjaya, just because I think his voice is phenomenal. He murked his sister. The backup singers (Melinda and Brandon) also stand out to me, just for the fact that you can tell they are not only great singers, but they love it.

Now for who I wish would just fall out of the competition early: Blake Lewis. I get it, he can beatbox and act like Justin Timberlake-lite. My thing is, dog, you are getting through based on personality, dancing and your beatbox. I have no doubt that he will do great in the votes (as long as he doesn't totally bomb on his songs), but I couldn't help but getting annoyed when he started beatboxing during the group comp. Just cheesy and really not necessary IMHO. I'm also not too into that Gina girl either - just not seeing how long she can keep it up. Especially since she got cut during last year's Hollywood Week. There's a reason you didn't make it, ma. For the same reason, Nicholas Pedro should go - you quit, dog!

The wild card? Chris Sligh. He might be this year's Taylor Hicks: not that much to look at, but with his wit and his damn good vocals, he might stay under the radar longer than many might realize. Don't sleep on Lakisha, either. That girl can BLOW!

Those are my picks! Next week, the guys perform first. We'll see who makes it...

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rock the love (V-Day Feb. 2007)

I told you guys yesterday that I had a treat for you...

I wanted to take some of my favorite songs about love and put them into a mix... but figured, what the hey, let's just throw them out in a .rar, unmixed.

So, here you go!

rock the dub presents: rock the love (V-Day Feb 2007) (sendspace link) (more links to come)

Here's the tracklisting:

01-Justin Timberlake ft. T.I. - My Love
02-Portishead - It Could Be Sweet
03-Christina Aguilera - On Our Way
04-Bobby Caldwell - What You Won't Do For Love
05-Teddy Pendergrass - Love TKO
06-Michael Jackson - The Lady In My Life
07-D'Angelo - The Root
08-High Contrast - Global Love
09-Whodini - One Love
10-J Dilla ft. Pharoah Monche - Love
11-The Perceptionists - Love Letters
12-Nas - Getting Married
13-The Notorious B.I.G. - Me And My Bitch
14-Method Man ft. Mary J. Blige - I'll Be There For You-You're All I Need (Razor Sharp Mix)

You like how it goes from R&B and Pop to DNB to Hip-Hop, right? And how we cover all facets, from thinking about ditching love to cautionary tales to straight up Bitchery, right?

I know you do. Share and share alike.

Spend your afternoon/evening rocking the love with your loved ones... and finding out what this Valentine's Day is all about.

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Valentine's Day Eve 2007

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I wanted to do for V-Day this year, seeing as this is the first V-Day I'll be blogging ever. I figured, gifts are always a good gesture, and the best gift I can give is the gift of music... there's going to be a SPECIAL rock the dub treat tomorrow, but there are some songs I felt needed to be highlighted, and they ended up focusing on Lauryn Hill, one of the oft-forgotten heroes of R&B and Hip-Hop. I mean, we all know her meteoric rise and surprising fall/disappearance from the limelight, and I don't want to dwell on that, for I'll just get upset for the lack of her voice in the mainstream music scene, but I still love her music. Her words, her soul, she just poured everything into her music, and nothing was as telling as her songs about love. You know she had some deepness going on when it comes to love, in all facets. So, today, I wanted to share with you guys a few of my favorite Lauryn Hill tracks and videos (if I can find them!) that accompany, with some words to go with them...

01/Lauryn Hill "Ex-Factor" [taken from her debut solo CD, she breaks down a relationship all of us have had: one where you hate this person so much, but you love this person so much that you end up hurting yourself just to keep them around. I think The Sopranos called it "Amour Fou", one of those undying loves, all encompassing, and all consuming. Not a healthy thing @ all, but when Lauryn sings it, it's timeless. My wife's favorite track off Miseducation... btw.]


02/Lauryn Hill ft. D'Angelo "Nothing Even Matters" [this is one of MY favorite Lauryn Hill tracks of all time. Very seductive, soulful number featuring the boy D'Angelo, just riffing on all the craziest shit that could go down, but in the end, even if that shit is poppin' off, it doesn't even mean a thing, because you have that one person. Possibly one of the simplest, yet most beautiful displays of that theme I have heard in my life. Just a great song, from two artists who were in my King and Queen spot 8, 9 years ago... and where are they now?]

03/Lauryn Hill "Just Like Water" [this is one of the tracks off of the Unplugged 2.0 set she did, the one everyone dissed her for, because she sat there pouring her heart out with her guitar and her thoughts. I mean, I personally feel a connection when I hear these songs, because they show the creative process in action, which I love seeing, whether it's Jay-Z working on his album or Busta Rhymes being inspired by a random Timbaland beat. The song seems to deal with finding love after being hurt for so long, and the river of emotions that cascade down when you really realize what's going on. That guitar is on point, I wish she did this in the studio with a nice, subtle drum underneath. We can dream, can't we?]

04/Refugee Camp All-Stars ft. Lauryn Hill "Sweetest Thing" [this is my personal fav. Lauryn track of all time. I remember buying Miseducation... and hoping this cut was on it, as a bonus or whatever, but my copy did not contain it. (it wasn't until years later that I realized I had to either cop the Love Jones OST or one of the singles to get it...) It was all over the radio that summer, I remember I was dealing with this female who seemed to be into me but only when no one else was around. She was big on making things feel one way when we were alone, but forgetting me when she got a phone call or when she was out. I got over it, but that shit hurt after a while. In any case, this track helped soothe my soul, from that soft guitar, complete with the noise of the fingers stroking the strings to that laid back beat. When the beat switches up, its MURDA! True Refugee Camp stylee on this one. That video was kind of ill too...]


Finally, I leave you guys with a track Talib Kweli wrote for Lauryn, simply titled "Ms. Hill", which is a letter that he wrote specifically for her, but many of us feel the same way. No more words to describe it, really...

related links:
Lauryn Hill's official website
Lauryn Hill page on Wikipedia

Ah, here are a few extra video pieces of Lauryn performing:

"Motives & Thoughts", performed LIVE on Def Poetry


"Killing Me Softly" video, with The Fugees


Enjoy.

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