LOS ROCKERS DE LA CIUDAD DE CROWN

Last Saturday I experienced a great hip-hop concert at TheIndependent which featured the likes of Native Guns, Lunar Heights and the Crown City Rockers. Oh yes, and this show was hosted by the man, Charli2na himself! Always love to see the big man smiling up on stage.

What really blew me away though were the Crown City Rockers. I had seen them perform once before, about 3 years ago at the Elbo Room, but at that time they were completely overshadowed by 4th Avenue Jones'. This time I was immediately and fully impressed. I'm not much of a dancer, but their music made me move. Even though I had a pretty harsh sore throat and cough at the time, I couldn't stop feeling their music. They played a video before they started their part of the show, and I'd like to share it with you all. I found it on youtube the other day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXtJRv36ttU

GATOR COUNTRY

More like cockroach country. Yesterday at lunch somewhere between Fort Myers and Naples, Florida a coworker and I stopped off at a decent-looking (from the outside) restaurant called Margarita Grill. The meal was nothing spectacular and turned to horror when a cockroach crawled out from underneath some of his lettuce. I was sickened the whole remainder of my drive down to Naples. I also felt like puking as soon as I started work this morning, but I think that was unrelated to the cockroach incident. There truly is no good food down here. Every place sells steak and fried ocean creatures. There's no cultural variety in cuisine. Been here since Thursday night and I've had enough. I don't think I could ever reside here. Get me out of this humid swampland of a state! I miss my East Bay cave habitat. Oh, and I haven't seen any alligators yet, even though they are eating people at a rate of about 1 per week.

CREATIVE LOGOS

So I'm sitting at SNA and there is this big square advertisement featuring Katie Couric, apparently a co-founder of the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. She's got a big smile on her face, holding a giant picture frame with both of her hands. The picture frame seems entirely out of context as to the genuine topic of the poster. What does a 4-foot tall picture frame have to do with colorectal cancer? Obviously they want people to get screened, but I don't think I'd have a huge smile on my face like that holding what looks like the frame to Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Anyways, what really caps off this poster is the logo that the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance uses. It's a not-so-sharply shaped 7-sided star. That's right, it's an artistic interpretation of an anus. How fitting, and how hilarious! I gotta hand it to those marketing geniuses. Way better than a logo that would be representative of their acronym NCCRA. A mistral-font looking sphincter is a much more effective marketing tool. Does anyone know of a similar logo? If so, let me know.

How could I leave you without a visual example?

Oh, yeah, let's all fight cancer. Cancer is bad. I don't want myself or anyone else to miss the important part of the message.

APEFRUIT

Words of wisdom...

Tortaholic: always the laundry
HostOfCholesterol: always wear glasses whilst eating grapefruit

What's the deal with grapefruit? I mean isn't a grape also a fruit? Why are the two so dissimilar? *Head explodes*

STILL DIGABLE?

Last night I attended a concert which headlined the group Digable Planets, one of the first hip-hop groups that I became interested in. I still consider their album, Reachin', one of my favorites of all time. The combination of jazz, funk and smooth lyrical flow has entranced me since I opened my ears to the trio.

Unfortunately, a few things have changed. I felt that 2/3 of the trio was spot-on from a vocalization/rhythm/flow perspective, but Butterfly was lacking. His voice used to be the most velvety of the group, but now it sounds as if he's just smoked an entire pack of Marlboro cigs. Such a change. I admire his showmanship at the very least. He seemed to enjoy what he was doing, albeit 10 years past the group's prime. Aside from that, my main complaint would have to be the sound quality in the venue, The Independent. The microphones were saturated the whole time, there was some unnecessary feed-back and some moments that appeared to cause some eye-rolling from the band members themselves. Not only this, but the start was delayed a bit while they were working out some equipment malfunctions and microphone problems.

The shining star has got to be Ladybug Mecca. She's adorable up there on stage with her chill, smiling presence. Her voice is as sexy as ever with a high-pitched bouncy drawl. I solidify her as my favorite female MC in the industry. She destroys all the competition. I'm interested in hearing some tracks from her solo venture, Trip the Light Fantastic. Here's a nice picture of her.

Aside from this, Doodlebug was impressive and has the same voice and flow that he always had. He seemed to be having a lot of fun as well, smiling and joking in the back when he wasn't at front stage. The band was also very talented and worked their ass off! Props to them.

Digable was a force and they continue to be entertaining so many years after their Grammy winning days. I don't regret attending this performance at all.

Sidenotes:

-X-Clan was fun to watch, but not to listen to. The gyrational flag-waving rasta dancer was hilarious at first, but then his shtick got old. Also, their security detail reminded me of a Black Panther version of the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace. He stood their as a giant stationary muscle, ready to kill whoever dare climb on stage or insult the clan.

-Lateef the Truthspeaker was technically awesome. That guy can flow. I'm very interested in picking up some of his work, and his DJ was very talented as well, spinning the digital turntables and scratching with ease. Lateef is way underrated and I think he deserves to be a headliner if he keeps up the work. The quality of his performance was better than all the other artists on stage that night.

-DJ Zeph is a stocky, bearded white dude who can spin the turntables. His selection of old-skool hip-hop beats was refreshing and his scratching was extremely tight.

LIFE QUESTIONS SOUNDTRACK

I jacked this idea from my friend at chezpete.com, but he jacked it from somewhere else:

Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question even if they don’t make sense. You might be surprised though.

1. How am I feeling today?
Norwegian Wood - The Beatles
Yes, depressing, yet fitting...

2. Will I get far in life?
Sur de Rien - Shurik'n
This is a bit scary since I think the translation is: "On Nothing"

3. How do my friends see me?
Dictionary - Hooverphonic
I would have preferred Thesaurus by Dysonphonic

4. How do I see myself?
Please Go Home - The Rolling Stones
"I won't be the first or the last."

5. What is my theme song?
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Ack!!!

6. What is the story of my life?
Cousin Kevin - The Who
This is twisted considering I've never been on the giving or receiving end of child abuse.

7. What’s school/work like?
Dreamer - Supertramp
This one makes me smile.

8. How can I get ahead in life?
One Way Ride - Hooverphonic
So there really is no such thing as free will, is there?

9. What is the best thing about me?
Hey Tonight - CCR
That's right, I'm not much of a morning person.

10. What is today going to be like?
KC Accidental - Broken Social Scene
Hauntingly slow and then chaos?

11. What is in store for this weekend?
Twelve - Jurassic 5
I'll be counting all of my fingers and two of my toes.

12. How is my life going?
Southern Cross - Crosby Stills and Nash
Dragging on-and-on over waves like an ocean vessel.

13. What song will they play at my funeral?
High Flyin' Bird - Richie Havens
I'm not religious, but this is such a great song for a funeral.

14. How does the world see me?
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead
And I think i'm naive when it comes to the streets.

15. How do I want the World to see me?
L.A. Woman - The Doors
OK, no.

16. Will I have a happy life?
Looking for the Next Best Thing - Warren Zevon
OK, depressing. But I guess it shows some aspiration.

17. What do my friends really think of me?
Let's Spend the Night Together - The Rolling Stones
No, I'm not interested in a friend orgy. Sorry.

18. Do people secretly admire me?
Smash the Mirror - The Who
Yikes, I guess they think I'm vain?

19. How can I make myself happy?
New Kid in Town - The Eagles
I really don't want to move.

20. What should I do with my life?
Teach Your Children - Crosby Stills and Nash
Teaching sounds fun, but so underpaid and tortured. Maybe in the future.

21. Will I get married?
Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me - Warren Zevon
After listening to this song I had to take a shower.

22. Will I ever have children?
Don't Talk No More - 4th Avenue Jones
OK, I won't ask.

23. What will you name them?
Blue Guitar - The Moody Blues
Better than Pilot Inspektor Reisgraff Lee.

24. Where will I be in 10 years?
Let it Roll - Hieroglyphics
Word. I'm so optimistic now.

25. How will I feel tomorrow?
Embrace the Chaos - Ozomatli
Such a fitting end. *Hugs Chaos*