I had kinda not wanted to go to this spot, small, crowded, kinda newish…. I went last night, and even though it took a bit to get a drink the first couple rounds, it ended up being a really nice time. Nice little dj area, and nice friends of Jennifer. Delirium, Makers. My night was on.
This book is nice. Images that speak for themselves….
That is about all i’m going to say about this…. We have this book at Sprout Home, you can come in and look at it, or buy it online from sprouthome.com or front40press.com Peep game yo!
“Our visual life is spent in the center of a nearly hemispheric transparent shell whose distance from us we fixate. The rest of the world is a jumble of subliminal double images.” -Paul Shepard (on binocular vision, from Man in the Landscape 1967)
I have to start this by saying RIP Steve Goodman, He died of leukemia in 1984, and thats sad, well…. its sad when anyone dies for sure, and especially when ones time is cut short from desease or accident. Steve penned the “Go Cubs Go” song that is blasted through the speakers after every home game victory. Thats not the only way its blasted, all of the lame ass cub fans sing along in the most Jimmy Buffet kind of way. If I happen to catch the final out of a victory, i turn the channel as fast as I can in order to not hear one lick of that terrible song. So yeah, Sorry Steve, but you have totally given the drunk frat vibe of Wrigley Field a shot in the arm, or in the case of Sammy Sosa, in the ass. I would rather hear Queen or even C+C Music Factory than all the people in the stands rocking out to “Go Cubs Go”… I mean, come on… “hey Chicago whataya say? the cubs are gonna win today” If they are gonna win, maybe play the song at the start of the game, like a couple hours before the game. I may start working on a remix of this song, complete with mega beat and bass, with nothing but the haunting chorus for vocals. Maybe we could get it to have a nice european soccer match feel, like at the end of that one Pink Floyd song, with the soccer chants. All of this said, i’m a full on Cubbie Fan, and when we get Aramis back, and get rid of some of these total scrubs on the field, we can get to business. But That song might keep us from doing anything better than getting swept in the playoffs. Like some kind of jinx but on us for bad taste. If you don’t believe me just ask the Black Hawks, Illini, Redskins, Seminoles ( you get what i’m saying with this right?) Lack of respect for first peoples is just like lack of respect for the art that is music, at least in the realm of sports jinx’s. In no way is genocide the same as off key drunks. Speaking of drunks, i’m gonna get me a beer, and start the new mix. Go Cubs Go, and RIP Steve Goodman, you know, in case he is the haunting type.
This image was from an article about this song online..... strange eh?
I completely enjoyed the 2-1 victory of the Pittsburg Penguins over the D
I went home to Champaign Urbana yesterday. It was just a little visit for my mother, and for me. I usually head down for a couple days, or at least for an overnight thing. This was as fast as it gets, arrived around 1:30pm, and left to head back to Chicago around 4:30. My friend was heading down for band practice (Centaur rocks mellow!) and invited me along for the ride. It was perfect. No struggles with who to see, what to do, where to drink, who to try to kiss, none of that! I got dropped off downtown, which I like to think of as my official starting gate of a visit home. I usually visit Dandelion for a deal on some dope used clothing, and Kopi for a double shot, and Westside park for a chill sit down. Not this time. I went over to the Prarie Loop off of Market street, across from WEFT, and had some nice reflection. After that I walked over to my moms house. I walked State Street over to Vine, Vine over to Elm, and that is where the niceness began. I strolled through Spalding Park, which was crazy empty for 2pm on a Sunday. The skate park, baseball diomand, and the pool were kinda empty. Were all the kids playing wii? The basketball courts were in the process of being torn up. That was a bit shocking to me, lots of memories of that basketball court, especially the goal on the east side of the court. That goal was one of the first rims I had ever dunked on, granted it was set at about 9’8 or something close to that. I walked the tracks for a couple blocks before heading north to my Mom’s house. I had texted her on the drive down asking her if we could do lunch at her house. It was more than a hint, I was really in need of some home cooking. My Mom not only took that hint, but she killed it, by making spaghetti and fried catfish. This is my all time favorite Patti Helmick cooked production. So so so so Good.
We hung out in here cute house, and enjoyed the large yard, complete with 7 month old Jamilla (her cute puppy) running circles around the place. It was a scene that put thoughts of home heavy in my head. But alas, Derek hit me with the call to be picked up, and well…. as much as I was missing my Mom, the over large tree’s of Champaign Urbana, Little Porgy’s, Sweet Corn, Brick Paved Streets, and lots of other 217 things, I had to head back to Chicago. And when the skyline creeped into view through the haze of Chicago, I was also happy to be back home, well… to my other home.
Ok, so… I know this might sound cliche, but I woke up with this song by Debbie Deb titled “Look Out Weekend” in my head. I”m about to go to itunes and buy this song. Funny thing is, I won this 12″ lp on ebay and it should ship soon. But I can’t wait, and its Friday. If you don’t know the song, find it, and give it a listen. When i’m tech’ed up, i’ll start posting the songs i’m talking about, but for now. You have to Youtube, or just trust me, and head over to itunes, or wherever it is that you rip tunes from. She also have a super dope cut called “When I Hear Music”, this is also on the way to me. But damn, I’m needing to hear this today. I’m off to work, but if you come into Sprout Home today, lets say sometime after 6, close at 8… I will be playing that song over and over, unless my co workers kinda get freaked out. Peep It, the 80′s were more than gloss. The drum machine on both these songs kick it lovely.
There is a dope song out there for your to peep. It’s titled Top Rank, and is by JR & PH7 – featuring Guilty Simpson. This song has single handedly got my ass ready to spin Hip Hop sets again. Back to the thickness is the way I would discribe this cut. There is an scary vibe to the beat, that make me think of the RZA and the way he creeped out those early Wu Tang cuts. I had never heard of JR & PH7, who are from Cologne Germany. Guilty, well I have some 12′s from that cat, and I like him much. He comes out of that Stones Throw circle of chilled out jams. I’m going to head to Permanent Records on Chicago ave, and try to get them to order up a copy on LP for me. I”m thinking it should be worth the wait. I actually am starting back up the beats by otter dj thing again, and this Lp should be a nice addtion to the rotation, one that will fit right in with my love of the golden era of hip hop. Snug like Bug.
Another cut to peep, Til’ I Retire – by the mega dope Pete Rock. A bit laid back, nothing like the jams on Mecca and The Soul Brotha. That said, i’m a bit more laid back these days, and this song is in heavy rotation in my headphone bike rides. Run DMC scratched into the chorus, what else do you need? “you ain’t gotta like it, but much respect it”. Like other pioneer producers such as Eric Sermon and Diomond D, Pete Rock is the niceness on the mic. Equally skilled in making a beat and laying down the lyrics. “I won’t stop rockin’ til’ I retire” The way it should be.
Thanks Vivian, she brought these back from Canada for me. I went through this phase where where I decided that black socks were the way to go. I got rid of all my old white (no longer actually white) socks, and bought a ton of just black. Kinda like Michican’s Fab 5 team from back in the day, or on some Mike Tyson gladiator look. A couple months ago, I bought some dope gray socks from the Korean Dollar store on Chicago, near Ashland. That was kinda out of the box for me, but come on…. Now i’m rocking some dope white socks with maple leafs on em’. I am actually an officer of the Maple Leaf Gang, which only Barney (down in Champaign) and myself are members of.
“he was killed by this maple leaf throwing star” If you get that quote, you watched too many Kung Fu flicks.
HA HA HA HA….. That hardy laugh if directed to the NBA. Wanting so bad to have a Bird vs Magic kind of moment, that they signed off on a series of commercials that feature puppets that play the roles of Lebron and Kobe, the commercials are actually for ESPN I think. Though they are kinda funny, with voices that are nothing like the actual people they are playing (which is one of the things I like about the adds), they are a bit presumptuous in tone. They started airing while there were 4 teams left in the NBA vying for the title. There was a point when I was rooting for the Nuggets to beat the Lakers, and for the Magic to beat the Cavaliers, just to muddle up the dream match up the NBA wanted. As the Lakers took care of the Nuggets, and the Cavs were still fighting the Magic, I changed my tune. Why not get this thing going, this super battle of mega stars, KOBE V LEBRON! became the very thing I wanted to see, my bitternes about what the league wanted melted once I thought about how much fun that would be to watch. Another thing happened along the way. I became a Dwight Howard hater. Lots of “I statements” come from that dude. While he is clearly the star of that team, I just feel like he thinks he deserves a chunk of what Kobe and Lebron got going, and if he dominates in the finals, that may be true. But yeah, that little 1940 mustache he rocks, and well… his team is called the Magic, that is some soft ass shit. “its and illusion” says Doug Henning in his lispy magical way.
Kobe vs Lebron, Not
So here we go, Lakers vs. Magic i’m not super into either team, and won’t really follow this series. Deep down, i’ll be rooting for the Magic. Even with all my new found Dwight Howard haterness, I still can’t ever go with a Laker team. Especially while their star player calls himself the black mamba. Worse sports name ever. Lucky Lou and Slingin Sammy look good next to that tag. Snakes and sports don’t really go together, don’t know why, but its true. I went to a community college for a couple years before taking off to Evergreen, and our schools mascot was the Cobras. I played on the fall baseball team for the Parkland Cobras, and boy did that feel silly. I have left the topic completely… I’m going to twist the Magics name into the Lando’s, kinda for Orlando, but mostly for Lando. You know which Lando…. There is only one. Damn, that works, i’m fully into the Lando’s winning over the Lake Show in 7 games.
Last night and into the morning… That was the best sleep sound track I have heard in a while. Pure sleeping baby mode. Not sure I want that sound track now that i’m awake.
