Jason Toney

where i been...

"Sneaking on my mother's phone. The touch that makes me think I'm grown." - Lauryn Hill

Tuesday night, Lakers Game. Lakers vs. Spurs, Conference Semi-Finals. Of course, when I go to the game, they lose. I never ever had any feel like they were going to win the game. But it was fun anyway. I love the Staples Center. Its a great sporting venue. And I had good seats. That's what happens when your mom hobnobs with movers and shakers.

I still hate her. How can a mother be cooler than her kid? Its just not right I tell you.

wednesday night, The Mint. Okay...I'm too old to be out on a Wednesday night. I should be home watching Enterprise like a good geek and then switching between The West Wing and Bernie Mac, not out listening to the strangest lineup of bands. We go from goofy black guy funk rock to smooth white boy folksy (my friend's band, The Red. They did a killer rendition of Little Red Corvette. Queen B said people started coming in off the street when they heard that joint.) to scary hardcore metal rock devil music. It was all good stuff but wow, when the lead singer of the band starts doing that deep bellow scream thing, I'm ready to go. I felt like I was in hell and that he was going to shoot flaming balls of fire at me if I didn't bob my head. Cuh-razy. Pen and Brigitte were my dates for the evening. I love them. Pen cracks me up all the time. You don't look old, kid. I promise. When I tell people your age, they are shocked! You still got it goin' on. Don't trip.

But don't make me watch R. Kelly interviews anymore either. I hate that bastard. I was talking with monique this morning about it since she didn't get to watch it and made myself laugh so here's a pseudo transcript of our conversation:

me: Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer were talking about it on the radio the other day. They want Ed Gordon to ask just one "ghetto question" to shut it down.
me: "Do you meet your girlfriends at 2nd lunch?"
me: "Does your girlfriend like to wear tennis shoes that light up when she walks?"
me: "Does your girlfriend wear klick klacks?"
me: "Does her mom honk the horn outside when its time for her to go to soccer practice?"
monie mon: bwahahahahaha.
monie mon: he's wrong times 10932395209342344
me: he's wrong times pi.
me: just infinite.
monie mon: he needs to go to jail.
me: yeah, cuz Bubba is not going to care if he believes he can fly.
me: Bubba wants to see if he can cry when he's feelin' on his booty.
me: Bubba wants to know if he really has the world's greatest ass.
me: Bubba doesn't see nothin' wrong with a little bump n' grind.
me: Bubba thinks R. reminds him of his jeep. He wants to ride it.
me: Bubba thinks R's hair weave is lookin' kind of purty.
monie mon: no 12 play
me: nope, just 12 inches mother fucker.

heh heh heh...i'm funny.

where i'm going: I still have the poverty discussion to do...its coming. I promise. I also have a edit to my headnod mix from last Sunday and I'm working on a new mix called novels and one called happiness. Music for that head.

where i'm at: I'm in a real poetry mood so that's what I've been working on. I'll toss some new shit at ya'll this weekend.

two fingas like a playa.

quick & dirty

"Cuz I got more than a big dick and some money. You should be here." - Raphael Saadiq

quick & dirty: Spider-Man. Yeah, go see it. I'm not going to review it as apparently everyone and their mother has in some form or fashion somewhere on the internet but suffice to say that my unhealthy love of Kirsten Dunst grows...especially with the red hair. I think she has a teeth issue (like a little short, separated and gnashy) but we can look past that into the brilliance of being twenty and not being a moron. That and its a good story, mostly true to the comic book history and surprisingly good action sequences. The CGI makes me a little dizzy (just as it did in Harry Potter) but I'm just going to have to get used to that I guess.

San Diego was absolutely beautiful on Sunday. It was all about the Perfect Day. I was fully expecting Armageddon to rain down upon me on my way home with fiery balls of brimstone. No brimstone but a mini-van hit a fence and blew up in Artesia. That wasn't cute at all. Real fire close up isn't fun.

Nathan likes to be looked at but not held. At least not by me. He gave me high fives, he looked at me with the quizzical stare that all young ones look at me with (i think they are confused because they can tell that I'm mimicking their facial expressions but they know they aren't looking in a mirror...so I'm an odd one. Plus, I don't do the baby talk thing. I'm a conversationalist not a cartoon, fun boy. Stick a baby in front of me and we're going to talk about "how I cut myself shaving in the morning" and "if he's really enjoying doing the non-crawl that turns into a headflip". Not 'goo-goo ga-ga', I'm sorry, its just not in me.) but he wouldn't sit in my lap. Had a straight spaz attack. Noah loves me. Nathan? Not so much.

The Martinos fed me well. There was lots of meat and rice in my belly. And I was happy. Anna's mom made sinigang. Very tasty.

Oh ooooh...does anybody have a copy of this week's Alias on tape? Digital Cable worked wonders with the multiple show recording...VCR did not. I really need it...really really badly. I'll pay for it to be sent. In cash...or sexual favors, whichever you prefer.

I'm still sick. But it did afford me the ability to leave work early today, get some grocery shopping done, take a nap and cook tonight. Molasses roasted pork, sauteed asparagus and baby red potatoes. You want some...it was damn good.

This Saturday: B.B. Kings, Universal Citywalk, about 9pm. Jason, Anna, many ladies, a few good guys and some ska. Remember the last time I went to B.B. Kings? You know you wanna be there this time.

like you

nod at me like you know me friend
on the street in the scene at the bathroom stall
tell me your only choices are to rhyme to hustle to ball
rub your skin and look at me as we stand against the wall
give me that wink and grin and expect me to fall
brother despite what you see I'm not like you at all
you don't know me and I cannot pretend
nod at me but sell that shit elsewhere friend

--jason toney

saturday night fever...

"Warm and precious love, so good so good. Warm and precious love, the purest thing." - Blackalicious

I just sat down with a Smirnoff Ice, a Savory Lemon Herb roasted Chicken (just like Anna's dogs eat), some brussel sprouts in a light sauce, a little macaroni and cheese, some toasted bread and Cops on the TV. Its a Saturday Night at home and I couldn't be happier. I've been sick (I think its a sinus infection but who knows. I just take over the counter drugs, pass out and hope for the best.) and I'm just about over it but I think another night at home should do me right. Cops is hilarious. They have a cop dressed as a clown soliciting prostitutes. Funny. I have a bunch of DVD's to watch (love jones, The Anniversary Party, Shadow of Doubt, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) but who knows if I'll watch. I'm not feeling very motivated to pay attention. But that might be the Smirnoff Ice talking. You're not supposed to have a drink when you're sick are you? Don't worry, I'm not on drugs today. But my mom was drinking these last night while I was on drugs and I was jealous.

Speaking of which, I hate my mother. She's a name-dropper. She's only home for 2 days before she hits the road again and she told me she met Bill Clinton, the entire cleveland rockers WNBA team and a myriad of others. I hate her. Who name drops like that?

By the way, I saw Maya Rudolph at lunch today. She's my favorite on SNL right now (well, she and Tina Fey)...love it.

Heh...this post is like a real blog. I'm like linking to shit and everything.

Speaking of links...realsimple.com. Not only my new favorite magazine but now rapidly becoming my favorite website. They give you a recipe for 3 meals using the same main ingredient and then give you a list to buy with at the store. How amazing is that? Plus real tips I can use to organize my cluttered life. I bow before thee.

I wasn't planning on random transitions but its working. My old favorite magazines? Vibe, EW and Yahoo Internet Life. My new favorite magazines? Newsweek, URB, and Real Simple. I'm changing up subscriptions now (although YIL is bought and paid for for like another year so I'll keep gettin' that one.). (hey, any of you copy editors out there...is that appropriate punctuation? I always have trouble closing parentheses. I want to end my thought within with a period but I also want to end my larger thought. Do I period both? That feels right to me but I rarely, if ever, see that grammatically. Excuse my word nerdness.) I've grown to love the in-depth coverage that Newsweek gives and URB just covers a lot of the music I care about and covers it well.

Speaking of music...Jason's quick mix CD of the day:

The headnod/heartbreak Soul Mix:

1. Cam'ron featuring Juells Santana - Oh Boy
2. Cee-Lo Green - Suga Baby
3. Remy Shand - Take a Message
4. Blackalicious - Purest Love
5. Musiq - Halfcrazy
6. Angie Stone - Wish I didn't Miss You
7. Raphael Saadiq featuring D'Angelo - You Should Be Here*
8. Cee-Lo Green - Closet Freak
9. Blackalicious - Aural Pleasure
10. Remy Shand - The Colour of Day
11. Cee-Lo Green - Bad Mutha
12. Remy Shand - The Way I Feel
13. Bilal - Sometimes

*You Should Be Here's main bass guitar riff is a riff my dad wrote for The Bill Summers and Summer's Heat 1981 hit "Call it What You Want" My Dad's on a mad search for some publishing cred and a paycheck.

Speaking of which...because I fear the RIAA, I'm not going to post the mp3's on my site for you to download. You should buy CD's people. They support the artists and the industry. (I do think you should buy cd's but sometimes, like when you had your car stolen and then had to drop 1300 bones to get it fixed and registered and what not to get it back, a download of good music will do ya right.) You could however use file sharing software like limewire to get the tracks. That's where I might have found all of them. Maybe. I can't remember. Really. Don't sue me music industry.

Tomorrow's Sunday, Crazy Sunday: I'm going to San Diego tomorrow. Spider-Man and a Martino anniversary and Cinco de Mayo. All in one day. I have sooo much to tape on tv. 2nd half of the Lakers Game, Six Feet Under, America Undercover, Alias and The Practice. I should be back by ABC time, maybe but better to be safe than sorry.

Speaking of basketball...What happened Mavs? I'm trying to give you guys props on other websites and you tank in Game 1. I might fear you but I do hope you guys meet the Lakers in the conference finals. That's just good basketball waiting to happen.

My LA Riots posts started an interesting discussion about poverty and what to do about it between myself and the lovely Miss Mahoney. I think I'm going to bring that to here to expand the knowledge base come Monday.

Final Question: Which song makes you think more about paradise? Green Day's Welcome to Paradise or Bob Marley's Jammin'?

the riot, the return

"He's on his way, he's moving to Hollywood, hope he gets to Hollywood." - Rufus

rebellion: open, armed, and usually unsuccessful defiance of or resistance to an established government.

riot: a violent public disorder.

Can we be clear that The L.A. Riots were just that, a riot? Monday morning, neighborhood leaders took to podiums in Los Angeles and called the event a rebellion. Yeah, no. There was no attempt to march and take over the court, the city council, or police stations. Nobody organized and took to the streets to attack cops. No. A white truck driver got the piss beat out of him on the corner of Florence and Normandy and then a bunch of folks lost their minds and decided to loot and burn. This revisionist bullshit is not going to fly with me. Running down the street with a 100 pairs of jeans on your shoulder is not the same as The Black Panther Party arming people so that they could patrol Oakland neighborhoods to protect citizens from the cops. Its just not the same. And don't let anybody bullshit you into believing that something political or significant came out of the LA Riots of 92. It didn't. Except that the city council is scared to hire anyone except a black Chief of Police regardless of the fact that neither Willy Williams or Bernard Parks has done a good job as the top cop. And don't come with your pro Parks blather. I love Chief Parks as a person. He's a cool guy, a smart guy, a great cop. But crime is up and new cop hires are down. Those are the two major factors in determining a good police chief. He just isn't able to do it.

Hey kids, next time there's a need for a riot here's a tip. When you say "No Justice, No Peace" take it to somewhere other than your own neighborhood. When Rodney King is beaten down again, can we all caravan to Simi Valley and burn the court down rather than go around the block and burn your 2nd cousin's liqour store down? Doesn't that make a little more sense and make a bigger statement? Then we can call it a rebellion and be all politically proud.

Not look like just a bunch of thugs and hoodlums taking advantage of a serious issue, muddying its relavence in the process.

2 weeks away from home: They cut her. Defiled her face. They broke her latches, scraped her sides. She's a little hurt but she's home. Blackberry Beauty has returned to her lover's embrace. My boy L.A. Steve had to drive me out to the middle of nowhere known as Placentia this morning to Mannheim Autos to pick her up but she's back. I'd been driving stick for so long I kept pressing down the imaginary clutch when I hit the brakes. But blasting Viktor Duplaix on my way back to civilization more than made up for her missed days. I get the police report by the end of the week. I'll have more details then. But the car ordeal is over.

Thanks George. You da man. I might even be able to swing Spider-man tickets this weekend. I bow before thee.

by the way, I couldn't wait for the reboot so a little itsy bitsy redesign of negroplease for you folks. I went about 7 weeks with the other design, that's pretty cool for me. Check out etc. to see stats on the site and see what search phrases are being tossed around. Discussing playboy gets you lots of hits apparently.

and its May 1st somewhere so...

Rabbit, rabbit.