Solve street art

Solve street art
Chicago, 2006

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

King Stitt, the oldest living Jamaican DJ





Along with Count Machuki and Sir Lord Comic, King Stitt (wiki) was arguably one of the first three DJs ever (or at least in regard to what we deem a DJ to be today). These guys would 'toast' at the beginning or during music they would play on their massive portable sound systems creating the first freestyle form of rap and DJ style in the mid to late 50s. Stitt began deejaying on Coxsone Dodd's Sir Coxsone's Downbeat Sound System in 1956 or 1957. Coxsone Dodd's ideas and these talented individuals together gave rise to many more competing Toasters/DJs and sound systems in Kingston. This cultural phenomenon would then go on to massively influence (and many would argue give birth to) pioneers like DJ Kool Herc and Hip Hip music/DJ culture in general.

King Stitt - Fire Corner

A recent post from one of my favorite blogs in existence

http://freedomguerrilla.com/


The Sunday Monday Connection

I hate jobs/careers with a burning, goddamn passion.  In fact, I could claim that my life’s goal is to not have one of these things, and that every career maneuver I’ve ever performed has been with the goal of reducing the amount of people I’m required to take shit from.  It’s amazing how high you can climb out of sheer annoyance.
The modern job is a complete abomination to humanity and has absolutely nothing to do with life’s work or purpose.  Now, if you love your job, I am very happy for you, but I’m thinking that you may have a fair amount of cognitive dissonance happening — which is lucky.  It’s hard to imagine a human being designing anything that I’ve ever seen termed “a job.”  I believe it’s an unnatural act to wake up, go somewhere you don’t live at a time somebody tells you to be there, work on long series of tasks for 8-22 hours, then go back to where you live.  Here’s a quick test:
  • If somebody tells you when to eat lunch, you are not a free person.
  • If you do something called, “vacation,” you are not a free person.
  • If this “vacation” must be scheduled far in advance, you are not a free person.
  • If you’ve ever wanted to walk away from the giver of money (called “job”) but didn’t, you are not a free person.
  • If you are the “boss” but really — have a boss, you are not a free person.
Dont’ worry.  I’m right in there too.
Whenever I meet somebody who claims to “looooove my job” I’m both skeptical and jealous.  I’m skeptical because I think you may have realized a way to deal with the prospect of doing the same or similar shit for 40 or 50 years then dying.  I’m jealous because I think you may have realized a way to deal with the prospect of doing the same or similar shit for 40 or 50 years then dying.
This is a similar reaction to people I meet who have found God.  “But… but, I have Faith.”  Oh, really?  To me this type of leap is both incredibly awesome and incredibly naive.  I am both skeptical and jealous, but I don’t dare scratch too hard at a person’s religion whether it be a Christianity or Corporationianity because I hate seeing people’s firm beliefs crumple in a fire.  Anybody else see a Sunday/Monday connection?  Anybody else think it’s convenient that an afterlife exists for people who are obedient and have Faith?
It’s going to be hard to convince me that jobs are meaningful regardless of what you do.  It’s going to be equally difficult to convince me that God or an afterlife exist.  I have spent so many years asking people about their jobs and their religion (I guess that’s considered impolite) and digging into the discomfort level, but I have never heard an adequate explanation.  Inevitably people who are ready to defend their decisions (as we all are occasionally) will tell me they like their job because, “they get to help people.”  Hee hee!  I love it.  Let’s examine these people we’re “helping” verses the people we should be helping…
  1. When you spend the VAST majority of your time and energy helping people who generally don’t really care if you live or die (I said, generally) are you really helpful?
  2. When the most important people in your life (assuming friends, family, and tribe) head to their respective institutional events everyday, how much are you really helping them?  Is helping them paying for them to get some more of those jobs (think: school)  in the long run?
  3. When the goal of nearly every job is to retire, can this really be considered your life’s work?  Should it be?  Isn’t retirement sort of a release from a type of sentencing?  Isn’t corporate retirement like an afterlife?  And, who is most excited that you’re retiring?  I’ve been to dozens of retirement ceremonies and the toughest guys always cry and everybody else forgets about it 20 minutes later once the cake is gone.
  4. Can you remotely help your tribe without being physically present?  Does money compensate for or replace your hands, heart, and mind?
But, listen, I’m really not judging.  Do you know how many times I’ve played the “help people” card when discussing my job?  In fact, I’d say that the more people you can justify “helping” the more respectable you may become.  I’ve received medals for helping people.  Of course, you may be fucking over the people who need you the most and ultimately fucking yourself over.  Our choice.
I’m going to tell you a secret.  You know the heroes we’ve been discussing lately?  The cops, firefighters, soldiers, doctors, etc?  They don’t really give a fuck about you the way you see in a movie or TV show.  Of course, you already know that.  Here’s the secret that you’ll have to lean in close to hear….ready?  They get paid for that shit.  It’s their job.  Most of them become emotionally attached to their surrogate family and work for them — not you.
Once it became their job, they cared a little less.  The obligation that money demanded sullied the purpose — maybe not at first, but it’s nearly universal.  Most of the greatest minds I’ve ever encountered were flooded with just enough money to keep them quiet and focused on their jobs.
Now, if you’re disagreeing — just think:  Why are you on this website?  Did you work on your job shit this weekend because you really, really wanted to?  Or, did you intentionally escape your job shit?  If so, why would you escape your life’s work if that was what a job represented?
Free people exist, but it’s becoming increasingly rare.  I’m not bullshitting when I say that I want to be one of them, and I want you to be one of them.  I think free people have a certain understanding of the world that all the other human cogs can’t or won’t understand.  Once we look around and ask questions like, “do I really need to be here?” we are challenging a system that does not give a fuck about you or your family.  It is a system of order that we have created to serve a minority.
Crush this system — one by one.  It’s time for it to fucking die.  It is time to be free

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Making Of Aquemini, one of my top five favorite hip hop albums of all time.


Excellent overview of the making of this monumental album.

Get acquainted with Aquemini: Outkast - Aquemini, The Making

Thursday, June 24, 2010



Farcical Yo-Yo champion gets himself on TV in my hometown

This guy was creative enough to trick a bunch of local new stations across the midwest. This clip is from Madison, WI and there are more of his antics on youtube. If you watch the papers in the male newscaster's hand when K-Strauss starts to tell his "scary story" you can tell the guy must just completely freeze up. Enjoy.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010



I just discovered some great footage of Skip James on YouTube. Original bluesman & musical genius Skip James. He recorded an amazing album in Grafton, WI in 1931 Skip James - 1931 Sessions , fell into obscurity and didn't record again for 30 years.

Pre-Internet, no possibility of us viewing video like this. We are lucky, that is all.

Skip James "Devil Got My Woman" Newport Folk Festival 1964

Skip James Im So Glad 1964 Newport Folk Festival

Skip James "Crow Jane"

Skip James "All Night"

Monday, June 14, 2010

Courtesy of Captain Obvious

I had to post this sign made by captain obvious himself.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Best drum solo by a blind man you will see today.

Stevie Wonder. Quite possibly the best all around American musician that has ever lived. Watch the clip if you are unsure. Actually watch the clip even if you are.
















Stevie's face melting drum solo