Jason Toney

I Am Music

"Close your eyes, can't you see it's burning slow?" - Zero 7, Over Our Heads (live, Sessions@AOL) Hmmm, it seems like all I talk about 'round here these days is music. Blogghorea provides a lovely list of mp3 blogs. They don't include 3hive but they do include a whole host of other places that I didn't know about or had forgotten. Of particular interest today are The Suburbs Are Killing Us (whose design and current reggae/jazz focus are killing me), Moistworks, Totally Fuzzy, Punk Ass Bitch (which has mp3s of Mos Def's upcoming EP!!!!), Soul Sides, and Copy, Right (which has a cover of Jermaine Stewart's We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off, which would be an awesome answer to one of the good questions off the music meme from the other day). Please note that Zero 7 has a Sessions@AOL EP available at itunes. Also note that I will be seeing them at the John Anson Ford with The Lovely Miss Anna Baby in tow on June 6th.

Why He Walks and Talks This Way

"Forget about your worries/Forget about your bad times/Life is but a shadow" - Handsome Boy Modeling School, Sunshine (So, How's Your Girl...) It's a harrowing dance the DJ has with his music. We imagine the good DJ is always in control and command of his partner, manipulating and moving the sounds to his whim. Watching Live! In Tune & On Time, however, you get the sense that even the most masterful of disc jockeys are on the brink of chaos. The beat drives and builds to a crescendo, ever faster and harder, the crowd reacts ever more strongly wanting only to grow as the music grows. The DJ must be in that moment while also being two steps ahead. He's in a race with the rhythm and he has to win. In Tune & On Time was shot on October 19th, 2002 in Brighton (UK) about a month before I got to watch Shadow do his thing at the KCRW Sounds Eclectic Evening after-party. He was tight and focused that night spinning a lot of hip hop that didn't bear his name. Now I understand why. The nearly two hours that made up his tour sets consisted almost entirely of self-produced tracks--many off of his solo albums (Endtroducing, Pre--emptive Strike, The Private Press and the U.N.K.L.E. collabo) and the rest of the set filled with several of the pieces he had cut together for others like Handsome Boy Modeling School and Blackalicious. There are very few hip hop DJs that could spin 40 tracks of original instrumental music that they created and command the attention of thousands of people. Who knows what lurks in the hearts of sweaty, head nod maniacs? Only the Shadow knows. Would you know Josh Davis if he walked past you on the street? Unassuming in his Quannum sweatshirt and jeans, hat cocked to the back, he walked down the aisle of the Cecci Gori Fine Arts Theatre right next to us. He was dressed the least hip in this very hipster crowd and initally I assumed he was just another early twenty something angling for a better seat to view what was sure to be musical majesty. He introduced the film, thanked everyone for coming, and walked back up the aisle as the lights dimmed. He was no different on that Brighton stage and as he welcomed us to his show on screen we were transported to that night. "Love is the Answer," someone screamed from the right side of the theatre and we all relaxed into our chairs realizing this was more night at the club than night at the movies. Shadow's visual and audio performance didn't dissapoint. Using short films by Ben Stokes to complement his beats, the film merges the aural and the optical perfectly. We quickly found ourselves nodding our heads and raising our hands. We suppressed the urge to scream "Put Your Hands Down!" to the people on screen who for a moment might block our view of Shadow's stage. None of this could really prepare us for what it would be like to get an up close and personal view of him mastering the turntables. I was mesmerized by the scratching that took place in Scratch: The Movie (particularly Q-Bert and Shadow's section of the film) but I hadn't seen anything like this before. No overdone grandstanding like you might see at a Turntablist contest, Shadow presents the most spectacular crab scratch you are like to ever see. It's brilliant. It will make you want to DJ yourself. "Engage the moment!" the disembodied voice in the theatre screamed. Really, how could you not? This is the perfect party DVD. Even if you're playing other music, having it on screen and on repeat would be a wonderful touch. Especially if you want to impress hipster cats like me. The DVD and accompanying CD hits stores June 15th. On June 14th, DJ Shadow heads home to Mill Valley to spend the rest of the year working on his next record. I'm not sure which piece of news you should be more excited about.

Procrastination for the People

"On the phone for hours about nothing/A brain in a room" - Kennedy, Brain in a Room (found via 3hive) There really is lots of work to be done. My PA is leaving me to work with her boyfriend. I'm doing a one year review with my content manager where we'll discuss how to take our new media projects to the next level (and isn't that some fun bullshit fast company style speak?), I should be on my way to the LBC to talk about my finances with a hot chick who intimidates me with her rapier wit but I've gotta be here for a meeting in a couple hours and tonight I will be hanging with DJ Shadow at his DVD screening and after-party so there's no time to get shit done later. So, of course, I'm going to procrastinate by doing a little music meme. 1. Your favorite song with the name of a city in the title or text. Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far) - The Thrills (especially right now when all I really want to do is get in my car and road trip to some of my favorite places and maybe find some new ones) 2. A song you've listened to repeatedly when you were depressed at some point in your life. Starkville City Jail - Johnny Cash 3. Ever bought an entire album just for one song and winded up disliking everything but that song? Gimme that song. Steal My Sunshine - Len (shut up!) 4. A song whose lyrics you thought you knew in the past, but about which you later learned you were incorrect. probably every song. 5. Your least favorite song on one of your favorite albums of all time. Beastie Boys - Shambala (Ill Communication) 6. A song you like by someone you find physically unattractive or otherwise repellent. Floetry - Say Yes 7. Your favorite song that has expletives in it that's not by Liz Phair. I'm a hip hop head. That's not even fair. Okay, there are two by KRS-One that I love. The Message (featuring Shuman) and Love's Gonna Getcha (that one mostly for how the expletives are dealt with) 8. A song that sounds as if it's by someone British but isn't. I don't know. All you Europeans sound alike. 9. A song you like (possibly from your past) that took you forever to finally locate a copy of. Double Dutch Bus by Frankie Smith. I just never ever knew who it was by. 10. A song that reminds you of spring but doesn't mention spring at all. Everybody Loves the Sunshine - Roy Ayers 11. A song that sounds to you like being happy feels. Somersault - Zero 7 (also Dirty Pop by *NSYNC but don't tell anyone) 12. Your favorite song from a non-soundtrack compilation album. Mirror in the Bathroom - The Beat 13. A song from your past that would be considered politically incorrect now (and possibly was then). Again, I'm a hip hop head so this is unfair but I must begrudgingly admit that I loved Pop that Coochie by 2 Live Crew 14. A song sung by an overweight person. Flashback - Gift of Gab 15. A song you actually like by an artist you otherwise hate. Toxic - Britney Spears 16. A song by a band (whose members actually play instruments) that features three or more female members. Was It a Lie? - Sleater-Kinney 17. One of the earliest songs that you can remember listening to. Le Freak - Chic 18. A song you've been mocked by friends for liking. I'm Lovin' It - Justin Timberlake 19. A really good cover version you think no one else has heard. Ring of Fire - This Kid Named Miles 20. A song that has helped cheer you up (or empowered you somehow) after a breakup or otherwise difficult situation. Mama Used to Say - Hepcat found here.

The Good Times Are Killing Me _ May 2004 Faves

"Jaws clenching tight we talked all night, oh but what the hell did we say?" - Modest Mouse, The Good Times Are Killing Me I think I'm getting old. I should be at Spaceland right now listening to The Like but here I sit in front of the computer thinking about laundry. I left work early today to take a nap after spending the last 4 days out partying hardy. Not going to sleep before 3:30am most nights and waking up before 9 on all them can fuck up your hair-do. So, oh well, we'll catch the miniature rock chicks next time. I haven't dealt with my April 2004 faves yet (and I'll do that next) but I really like my current favorites for May so let's cover them (11 of the tracks on it you can actually purchase on itunes, so lucky you...link below)

1. Horn Intro - Modest Mouse. Have you heard Good News For People Who Love Bad News? We'll talk more about this album later but the 9 second horn blaring by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is just kind of perfect right now and flows really well into...
2. Since We Last Spoke - RJD2. RJD2's album has been haunting me since I purchased it and the track with the same name is expansive, moody alt-rap at it's finest.
3. Somebody Told Me - The Killers. The Las Vegas band is going to be the buzz band of the summer and this is the track that sold me on them.
4. Fix Up, Look Sharp - Dizzee Rascal. I've been avoiding the Dizzee Rascal hype for a minute but his performance on Basement Jaxx's Lucky Star (which follows this) led me back to look at Boy in Da Corner again. I think it's the Billy Squier sample that I love here but Dizzee's energy is infectious.
5. Lucky Star - Basement Jaxx featuring Dizzee Rascal. Kish Kash is, I think, so much stronger than people give it credit.
6. Could Well Be In - The Streets. The album doesn't hold my attention but this track, well, it's just sweet and melancholy enough to appeal to the parts of me that love Belle & Sebastian and The Postal Service.
7. Beat The Clock - Ghostface Killah. The Pretty Toney Album, despite having my last name in the title, isn't the banger I want itto be but I'm always a sucker for hip hop that sounds like the soundtrack to a Melvin Van Peebles flick. If you can listen to these 3 minutes without dancing or walking with a strut, well, you ain't got no soul.
8. Fall Back - Jean Grae. I know it's hard to shine on an Okayplayer Comp but Jean Grae is easily the star of True Notes Volume 1. If she doesn't blow up sometime soon, hip hop really is dead.
9. Don't Say Nuthin - The Roots. Black Thought keeps shinin'.
10. Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals featuring Bootsy Collins and The Roots. This was starting my mix early in the month. Toots and Bootsy are both a babillion years old but they sound lovely here working together wonderfully with Questo and Black Thought.
11. Reggae Got Soul - Toots and the Maytals featuring Marcia Griffiths and Ken Boothe. What I'm really saying here is that you need to own True Love. We won't even talk about the really wonderful pairings of Toots and Willie Nelson and Toots and Gwen Stefani.
12. Flashback - Gift of Gab. It's really nice to be able to love a little hip hop in 2004.
13. Ch-Check it Out - Beastie Boys. The rhymes are really weak but this is fun, happy music.
14. Chali 2na Comin' Thru - DJ Nu-Mark. You've now reached the Nu-Mark portion of the playlist. Just shut up and listen.
15. No Good - Vitamin D. I won't drop the mic if you drop the beat...
16. 68 and I Owe You One - All Time High. Nu-Mark's got a sense of humor.
17. Since '76 - RJD2. Give us some horns RJ and take us home.
18. Somersault - Zero 7. This is how I wish love was.
19. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service. This is how it really is.
20. The Good Times are Killing Me - Modest Mouse. Isaac Brock and the boys are experimental and interesting, adept at turning a reflective lyric into Emily Dickinson like poetry. Obsessed with the problems of mortality, Good News for People who Love Bad News is speaking to me on these late Spring days when I'm more inclined to be alone in a seedy venue with questionable acoustics and no ventilation listening to some band, any band, with a stiff vodka in my hand than wrapping my arms around the one that I want and holding her tight. These times they are a killing me, indeed.

Good Times Are Killing Me (My May 2004 iMix) is partially available on itunes.

Nice Manners, Babe

"Welcome back to the classic stories that's been told" - Gift of Gab, Flashback (4th Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up) My favorite John Hughes film has always been Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's the sexiest and smartest of his teen comedies. There is perhaps no better acting in his films, however, than Anthony Michael Hall's and Gedde Watanabe's star turns in Sixteen Candles. The HSW and I went to a midnight showing at the Nuart Friday night. We'd both never seen it in a theatre before. There's quite a difference. You notice the subtle things you never saw on television (the female DJ in the top right corner of the screen at the dance, the scribbling all over the curtains in Jake Ryan's house when we first enter the party, the license plate on his dad's car which reads "NYSE", etc. etc.) and you are amazingly aware of just how good 15 year old Anthony Michael Hall is. When his Farmer Ted, wearing an apron and mixing horrible cocktails, talks to Jake Ryan in the kitchen after everyone has left the party, it is one of the most nuanced comedic performances you can get. He is holding court with Jake, dropping olives into short glasses, discussing Samantha and women in general. He slides up onto the counter and crosses his legs lightly tugging his jeans up onto his knee. In the midst of this genuine conversation between the geek and the prom king, Anthony Michael Hall's character visibly grows up in front of you. He turns from geek to prophet all while offering Jake Ryan pretzels and peanuts. Meanwhile, Gedde Watanabe is in the comic stratosphere turning what could have been a woefully awful stereotypical character into a tour de force. Which brings me to my next point and problem with John Hughes films. I know Chicago is crazy segregated and was even more so 20 years ago but, damn, where all the brown people at? There ain't no brothas on the football and basketball teams in that high school? And, twenty years later, there are some jokes in the script that didn't get laughs from this midnight audience. Like,

Geek: Will you fix your hair, Bryce. Bryce: (trying to) I already did. Geek: Wheeze, close your bone, all right. (Cliff turns his back and zips up his fly. He then turns back.) Geek: And be polite to his parents okay? Bryce & Cliff: Okay. (The Geek rings the doorbell and Dong answers the door. Bryce and Cliff both take a step back.) Dong: Hey, come on it! The party’s hot, dude, person. (laughs) Geek: He’s from outta town…he speaks English, all right? Don’t be such faggots!

and some that still did

Randy: Why don’t you remind them? They’ll feel some massive guilt, it could be highly profitable. Sam: I wouldn’t stoop to remind them. Since I was about 12 I’ve been looking forward to my sweet sixteen. You know, a big party and a band, tons of people… Randy: …and big TransAm in the driveway with a ribbon around it…and some incredibly gorgeous guy that you meet like in France, and you could do it on a cloud without getting pregnant or herpes. Sam: I don’t need the cloud. Randy: Just a big TransAm and a guy right? Sam: A black one. Randy: A black guy? Sam: A black TransAm, a pink guy.

Randy's absolute shock that Sam's dream guy might be black was jarring to me. Not to anybody else in attendance, though, so maybe I'm just sensitive. It is wonderful to see at the movies, however. Absolutely satisfying. And a fitting final hurrah for me and the HSW as it is nearly time for her to go spend 15 months in the future. I'm going to have to go see Clash of the Titans without her. One tear.

One Nation, One Beat

"Moods don't command you if you don't know what you're going through." - Rilo Kiley, Commanding Moods (The Execution of Things) There's something wrong with Corin's set-up. She's getting feedback from her amp and can't tell what her rapid fire guitar licks are putting out through the monitor so there's a lull in the set. Janet, who is a human drum machine, taps out a few riffs to pass the time. You can see the only slightly contained energy crackling in her body. She's already done 45 minutes banging out the hard driving off-kilter songs of her oddly-paired side-project Quasi but her arms scream to smash through more tunes. She looks desperate to rock out. And so Carrie stands there, lips near the microphone, in a simple dress, knee-high, guitar sitting almost like a side-arm on her hip. If you hadn't just seen her blow your mind with 3 crowd-pleasing tracks that marry her and Corin's intricate guitar dance and vocal gymnastics, you might mistake her for the hipster soccer mom picking up your daughter instead of the Riot Grrl Sleater-Kinney fans know she is. She turns to the crowd and says, "Since we have this moment, I'd like to let you know that Human Rights Campaign and Music for America are here. There's a lot going wrong with our country. Please register to vote and get Bush out of there!" The crowd roared. On a night when S-K would play tracks that they haven't performed on tour in quite a while to the delight of a pretty packed El Rey Theatre, that would be the loudest singular reaction from the audience.

You're No Rock & Roll Fun

"All day when I say that I'm much more than some backpack crap, intelligent rap act, or militant black cat..." - DJ Nu-Mark, Chali 2na Comin' Thru (Hands On) We'll see if I actually get through this without deleting it. Don't expect anything earth shattering, I'm just going to talk music a little bit but I just haven't had the energy to post. This week sucks. Outlining why it sucks, however, will surely lead me to delete this and not post so let's just talk about what's really good right now. That track up there? Loves it. Chali 2na is absolutely my favorite MC to see live and he killed it last week at DJ Nu-Mark's record release party. J-Live also performed and he was nice, especially when he took to the ones and twos for a little scratchin' lesson but it was Chali and Nu-Mark who dominated the night. We danced where we could in the crowded Temple Bar and drank ourselves into oblivion. There was a cat with crazy Garfunkel hair and a happily drunk friend decided she must touch it through the open window that separates the bar area from the stage. We cringed. He didn't even feel it. We laughed and laughed. And Laughed. I was, however, hating everything in my itunes library this week. The last time I had gone on a music buying frenzy I found myself with a lot of fair to middlin' stuff. Nice music but nothing that was setting my house on fire. Hell, I haven't even listened to that Gary Jules record all the way through yet and while I really enjoy Madvilliany, it hasn't found itself on heavy rotation like Champion Sound did back in December. Then I was pissed that I had missed what was apparently the hot shit on Monday at Spaceland and after having probably my most unintentionally fucked up day of the year, I was hating on myself for not being in the scene like I'm s'posed to be so I went bug shit in both itunes and Ameoba records yesterday. New Streets, New RJD2, old Sleater-Kinney off itunes? Yup. New Nu-Mark, Okayplayer True Notes 1, Gift of Gab, Modest Mouse, Blue Note Revisited, and most recent Rilo Kiley album at the mecca of music? Oh, mos def. And it's all very very good. All Hands on the Bad One and The Execution of All Things fit very nicely in my current Rockin' Chicks playlist (which you will likely be able to sample as an itunes imix soon...although, itunes doesn't really have enough of my hard rockin' chix in their library yet). All Hands on the Bad One is particularly relavent as I'm heading out to party with the underage crowd at the S-K show tonight. I love One Beat but All Hands is a little more raw and aggressive. If you see me at the show tonight, hipster ladies, come visit. You can rub my t-shirt. And, finally, some hot hot hot hip hop for 2004. Outside of Cee-Lo and Dilated, I've found myself listening most regularly to Danger Mouse's Grey Album and a lot of non-hop in 2004. RJD2's Since Last We Spoke is outstanding and The Streets A Grand Don't Come for Free is growing on me. RJD2 has successfully moved into that space that only Shadow, Prefuse, Madlib and King Britt (on occasion) had found. And speaking of Shadow, I'm hitting the Los Angeles Premiere of his upcoming DVD next Tuesday. He will be there talking and spinnin', rhymin' and stealin'. Speaking of spinners, though, Nu-Mark's album is amazing. It is on par with DJ Babu's excellent effort on the first Duck Season but decidedly more eclectic. I've always loved Nu-Mark's rare grooves DJ sets but this selection which is more hip-hop centric is spectacular. The Okayplayer Joint has me hankerin' even more for New Roots and all the Madlib creeping through my recent purchases has me kicking myself for not picking up Stevie. But the head's noddin' and the sun is shinin' and the words and sounds sound right again. Thank god. Otherwise, this week would've just had to blow up.

Don't Say Nuthin'

"I don't puff blunts so I always got my breath." - Fugees, Nappy Heads (remix) I'm real low-energy today, probably a result of not sleeping in my own bed and having not worked out at all this week, but whatever, I need to shake it off. I'm on a sabbatical from discussing politics and race and the state of the world in 2004 because, for the most part, it depresses me and that's no good for an optimist like myself. So, I'm going to put itunes on party shuffle and let other folks talk. "Some days just make me wonder why/I feel the pain my daddy felt, I see the tears in my mother's eyes/But it's my day, leave me to my life/Funny how things rearrange when you think you can make right" - Larry Gold Presents Don Cello & Friends, Everybody Cue dru...

I was reading a small victory yesterday, even though I promised myself I wouldn't do that anymore. And I ran across a comment from the lone leftie who still tries to post there. He said something that I've been thinking and I've tried to articulate, but I've never done a very good job. He said:

What I implied— and I stand by this —is that rage and sadness are no excuse for imprecision, especially on a subject as important as this is. Because, I'm fairly certain, you're wrong about all terrorists, even terrorists in Iraq, being "the worst kind of human being from top to bottom." Some of these people, like you, are reacting to rage and sadness. And not the rage and sadness of seeing someone they don't know murdered over a grainy internet feed; the rage and sadness of seeing their entire family killed by a bomb that dropped out of a U.S. airplane.

I don't think that excuses terrorism. I don't think that fact allows for beheadings or torture or murder on either side. I do think it's something we must think about and figure out how to incorporate into our policies and strategies for diplomacy and communication. For me, the question is what causes the rage and sadness? What causes people to feel so much rage and so much sadness that they would do unspeakable acts because of it?

"My words leave your nerves unsettled/you take it to the next level down/looking like a circus clown/cats like you can't even get a pound" - Mos Def, Speed Law Prometheus 6 brings us to the chorus:

Black people have never been the ones to make "integration" difficult. Black people only pursued separatism when they became convinced there was no way to gain respect in the USofA…to this day most hold out hope for integration; the separatists are a significant but still small fraction of the communities. The collective has been struggling desperately to do exactly what Eric suggests the mainstream requires. The opposition has flavors that range from subtle to bombastic but is still highly active. When the Black community had exactly—EXACTLY—the same values as the mainstream we were not accepted. Roughly 50% of the country thinks we don't know how to decide who is our enemy and who is our friend. No way I lambast the crew for not trusting the mainstream, be they liberal or conservative. I do lambast the community for their belief they understand white folks. If they did, they'd be able to manipulate the situation better.

"Well see the sun's in the east and the moon reflects/Like the knowledge and wisdom I manifest/If you wanna go to heaven lay up on my breast/I'm ye yo" - Erykah Badu, Ye Yo Blunted goes to the second verse, different from the first:

We are NOT a color-blind society. Many conservatives talk down about "group identity" and promote something they call "individualism", when they don't realize that the segregation and racism in this country have created the phenomenon. It's a lot easier to be an "individual" in a country where white people are recognized as seperate from the whole, but blacks & other minorities get painted with numerous stereotypes. I don't pretend to know the solution to this, but abrasively telling people to "get over" a problem that still exists is hardly the answer.

"See I can make the heavens cry and I can make the oceans sigh" - Fertile Ground, Take Me Higher And Aaron takes us to the bridge:

I expect I'll be accused of not being civil for posting this. And for implying that conservatives are evil, racist fuckheads. Anyone cares to explain why, precisely, I should be civil with people who consider me subhuman, please, go right ahead. Oh, and to hell with implication. Conservatives, this lot at least, are evil, racist fuckheads. What puzzles me is why they get so defensive when someone points this out.

"But still they lead me back to the long and winding road/You left me waiting here a long long time ago/Don't leave me standing here/Lead me to your door" - The Beatles, Long and Winding Road Happy Birthday, Anna Baby.

Hodgepodge of Things Spinning Round My Head

"Rock Children hold your heads up high in the night while I try to tell the ballad of Valentine" - The Killers, The Ballad of Michael Valentine () subtitled Misc. Info and Requests now, how does Michelle do these kinds of posts? Let's start here... Supersize Me was the best 90 or so minutes of film I've seen this year. Funny, enlightening, and far from preachy, it's exceptional documentary filmmaking. Nevermind the visible deterioration of Morgan Spurlock's body over the course of the thirty days, what blew my mind was what is being served in school cafeterias and how much we don't think about how what we put in our bodies affects our lives. No sodas, no fast food since the show. In fact, I think I'm only drinking water, juice and vodka. Okay, mostly vodka, but it's not filled with refined and processed sugars. It's like water with a kick. Anyway, I'm strongly encouraging you to go see it when it comes to your town. L.A. is a rock town and I'm in a serious rock kick. There's something special happening at labels like Saddle Creek Records (which is in Omaha and not Los Angeles but ignore that for the sake of this bit). Innovation, emotion, and the need to really say something is pretty powerful. Like a generation of kids might almost be getting it. But what the hell do I know? I just know that new in my itunes are Sahara Hotnights, Cursive, The Killers, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and Rilo Kiley. And Pixies because, as a co-worker says, Pixies rule. At some point, I should really do my April Faves listing, huh? And speaking of kids "getting it," I'm starting to feel more positive about the November election. It started with Coachella and being impressed with how much more positive people were to political discourse from the bands. A year prior folks were booing and walking out of the Beastie Boys set when they talked about getting Bush out and ending the war. This year, Plea for Peace was there registering folks to vote and getting people to cheer for John Kerry. I'm still not ready to cheer for John Kerry (because, I'm saying, if ever there were two weeks in which he could have shown that he's a different kind of leader, these have been it) but getting rid of President Bush gets a big ol' thumbs up from me. (How is Rumsfeld on TV today smiling and gladhanding with the Prez and the VP? Why isn't there a raucous call from our politicians for the man to go. Trent Lott stepped down from senate majority leader for intimating some racist shit but American bred torture under Rumsfeld's watch gets a pass? We're in fucked up times, my friends) Back to the Los Angeles thing. I've added and organized a whole bunch of Los Angeles based shit in my bloglines. I'm giving LA's craigslist a go and finding more LA based online journalers, bloggers, what have you that I actually like. It's good times. I'm not talking basketball much this year because, as much as I delighted in seeing the Daddy and the Mailman play well yesterday and D-Fish and Kareem Rush and Luke get some minutes and hit clutch shots, it's hard as hell for me to support the Lakers right now. GP and Kobe are just killing it for me. I can't wrap my head around someone entering pleas in a sexual assault case during the day and then going to play a game the same night. And Gary should just shut his pie-hole. I didn't like him in Seattle and I don't like him now. Shut up and play the game. And, finally, Port Hueneme.

It just must be said

"Shazam and Abracadabra. In my whip, I'm going to cruise past ya." - Beastie Boys, Ch-Check It Out (5 Burroughs) Fuck F*R*I*E*N*D*S. And Frasier, too. Making the Band 2 is ending tonight. What if Diddy fires everybody 'cept Ness and Sarah? What's I'm goan do then? Oh lawd.