Hip-Hop/Music/Life

2004-05-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

the concept of web design has drained my life....... *sigh*

2004-05-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

I'm going to get back to my web page, but I may return to blogging closer to 6 and possibly later on this evening.
I really enjoyed this class, even though my web page looks like a monkey from a third world country created it. But i'm proud of it, which doesn't speak well of my goals.
Everyone in this class is so cool. I'm gonna bite Joe's style and give props to everyone.
Joe- you're sitting like 15 feet away from me and i've already given you 3 or 4 compliments today. But you are a dope hombre ('guy' in Espanol). Thanks for answering my asanine questions. your site is awesome. The sushi recommendation helped alleviate crunch time anxiety. i'm looking forward to when u and lori are in turlock, we can have mediocre sushi or really good mexican.
lori- aside from being totally jealous that you got to go to England, i adore u. you should really try yogurt sometime...it is quite yummy. See above to the food reference above for turlock bonding time.
Jean-You surpassed me a long time ago in web production, and i'm proud of you. I'm still waiting to hear some stories about the original hippie days
Kei- Your dope. I hope your perception of us is a good one; being an international student is such a great experience and i hope you earn lots
Brian- i wish you would have gone to sushi with us, we had fun. Your site is awesome and I cant wait to check it out. Your super smart and should read the Da Vinci Code!!!

2004-05-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Everyone should listen to my radio show. Sandy P and I have a radio show on KCSS 91.9 on Fridays from 4-6. It's a speciality show, it's a merger of hip hop and drum and bass, a lot of people like us and we hope to continue the show. We talk about relevant issues: politics, guys, beer, and the state of ignorance we both live in.
TUNE IN!!!
If you cant the station on your radio (we broadcast 25 miles outside the campus) go to KCSS.net and hit the PLAY button.
Call us let us know what u think 209-667-3900

2004-05-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

joe and I are sitting in the lab working on our web pages, I totally enjoy talking to him. We're listening to Coldplay....which totally rocks. he ate an orange and imma tell that big mean computer guy, Richard. He's gonna have his arse for disrespecting the lab.

2004-05-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, I haven't blogged in forever, I can only blame it on the perils o being 21 with 12 units, 4 jobs, and an acute case of laziness. I'm going to take up some blog space with random rantinds (which is all too common for me)

I got bit by a spider earlier in the month, sickness freaks me out and i'm not convinced that i have a nest of something embedded in my neck. I'm going to go to the health center so the nice people there can tell me that i am over reacting. i look at it this way: it's better to freak out over something and be proven wrong than not worry and be oblivious. Gee...that sounds really ambigious.....(once again: typical patty behavior)

2004-04-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

President Bush is an idiot, hes wasting our money

2004-04-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Strep thoat sucks. I've had strep throat twice this semester.The Health Center on campus is awesome. Check out the link for services they offer. I got an exam and medicene for $4!!!!!!!!

2004-04-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

I was shocked when I read this. I think this this will spark some interesting conversation and comments:)

2004-04-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Something to smile about

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

2004-04-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

On a lighter note....

I'm taking persuasive messages, a class which is sucking the life out of me...but I love it at the same time. Since getting into my major work in communications, I cannot see an ad, or hear a speech and not dissect its persuasive qualities....

We are doing our research papers on the right to free speech...i found this to be really funny whatcha talkin bout???.I'm sure we can debate a later time about it.

2004-04-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

I believe in karma.
I think that the balance between inherent 'good' in people is directly related to the inherent 'bad' in people, and the actions that are related to these traits will result in the life that you will live ...almost like a ying and yang thing. Lori made a reference to karma in one of her blogs, and I'm happy to know that other people believe in it as I do. Her reference made me think of...

Something that has to do with karma (and why it's been on my mind for so long) has to do with my friend Lisa, who I grew up with. She was killed in a drunk driving accident in late February. This is where the karma comes into the story. The drunk driver was Lisa's husband who forced her physically into the car, slammed it into a guardrail and then ran...leaving his wife in the car. So it's been a trying time...
Our families are close, through an odd connection. My brother was married to Lisa's sister (Stacie) for five years, they had three boys, and through my nephews our families have remained close. Her sister Stacie is still like a sister to me. I've tried my best to be here for her on days where thinking about her sister is too much. Lisa's husband had a preliminary hearing yesterday, and at one point during the hearing he began to laugh to himself. I know this isn't going to bring good karma to me...but is it bad to wish quik and bad karma on someone else?

2004-04-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays are as good as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on a rainy day
Tuesday is my favorite day of the week. It is on this day that brand new albums are put on shelves in music stores across America. On April 6th, Neighborhood Watch was released. The masterminds behind this piece of music genius is the LA based underground hip hop crew, Dilated Peoples. Since Tuesday, I have played this every chance there is a CD player nearby; I fall asleep to it, and wake up to it. I was alittle skeptical of of their third album, it was supposed to be released last October, it got pushed to November, then December, then February, and it was finally released on the 6th. The intentional corporate marketing of it left a bad taste in my mouth, but the album is awesome from beginning to end.

2004-04-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

I was walking through school today and almost peed my pants....well, not really. That was obviously for emphasis....dramatic emphasis at that. So I saw flyers up for a slam poetry crew from Oakland that is coming to STANISLAUS to perform. I would have posted this sooner, but I just saw it today. They will be in Mom's tomorrow (Thursday) from 5-7 to perform. I've seen them 4 times!!!! These guys are awesome. If you can go, GO!! It's completely free!!! I will be there for an hour before my night class. Check out their site and you can listen to some of their stuff...it's powerful Suicide Kings

2004-04-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Having a day off was awesome!We visited my cousin Freddy who just got back from Kuwait...I'm so glad he's home! He's got this wierd tan line from his glasses. We spent the afternoon eating pizza and drinking beer while watching the lil cousins play basketball...I think it was the best afternoon I've had in a long time

2004-03-25T17:46:00.000-08:00

So, its a few moments before class and I wanted to some 'blogging'. I read my last post and realize that some people may have no clue as to what I was talking about when I mentioned 'The Wiz'. Well, in 1999 my friend Karina Lau co-directed and starred in 'The Wiz', a Broadway musical with Teens-n-Theatre. My best friend, Chente directed it. November 2, 2003 Karina was killed in Iraq. It is in her memory that we are doing a revival of the play in her honor. It is a non-profit and all the money we make is going to go to her scholarship fund at Livingston High to benefit drama/music/art students. We've been fundraising for it since January; going to businesses, organizations, and private citizens for donations (monetary and otherwise). A couple Mondays ago, we (Teen-N-Theatre) got a call from 60 MINUTES!! They want to do a piece about the show...something that is very exciting and will hopefully mean that lots and lots of people will come to the show, thus making our donation to the scholarship fund bigger:)

2004-03-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

MAN-O-MAN it has been FOREVER since I've written in here. I need to ask Thomas (who seems to know a lot about this) about how to add cool links on the side to everyone else's blogs.
Whats been goin on.....I have the GREATEST news!! well, besides the 60 Minutes thing:) My cousin Freddy is back from Kuwait!!!! He's in Texas right now being 'debriefed' whatever that may mean...we pick him up on Sunday in Fresno. My whole family is so excited....which can only mean...lots of food, lots of tears, and lots of beer. I love when my family gets together. I always end up hanging out with the eccentric aunts that rag on everyone....I just hope I don't end up like them.
The Wiz is going great, I had lunch on Friday with Livingston Rotary...we're hoping they will sponsor the show.
As for as music, I've been ADDICTED to Mos Def's Black on Both Sides (which is actually an old record) and Aesop Rock's Float. For those of you don't know who Aesop Rock is, he is one of the DOPEST poets/MC men ever. His flow pattern is so original and is almost like a lecture. This is an excerpt from his album Float:

Television, all hail grand pixelated god of
fantasy, murder scape and perspective
f**k a sore channel changed digit
I sit with a nasty network intervenes plan
with a stable diet of my cable pirate
yo, the doctor is in, the doctor is on
born the bastard son of static radiance cloned to welcome in every
home
lead a blue screen, bruised dream canope
victim of the cursed nursed Technicolor drunk support team
ooh, I love all advertisements
though accused by robot news casters who capture and pollute

spoon fed hazardous fog to joy luck catholic squad
please take me, please calm me, please make me a zombie
please I want to donate my brain to the monstrous Panasonic profit
-Aesop Rock, Basic Cable

yeeeeeeaahhh, can we tell where he stands on corporate television??? well, I'm off to a meeting and then class. tootles!

2004-03-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

I don't think a day goes by that I don't talk about music. I'm not sure if this something I should be proud of, or something I should start worrying about. That's not true. I love talking about music.
Being a communication major has made me acutely aware of people around me in a given setting. For example, I can't go to a bar or party and not analyze people. The sad part is, I like analyzing. Most of the time, I end up talking about music with a bunch of guys....and it sometimes turns into drunken debates about the fall of music by commercial 'rappers' that lose grip with reality in a bottle of booze or in a diamond necklace and perpetrate ignorance for the nation's children.
A verse to offer:
It's you they card
It's you they charge
It's you they complain about strollin the boulevard
You the one claimin' and screamin you all hard
Are you in control or is it just a facade

If Uncle Sam wants you it's you
It's you that he'll need
It's you that he'll sacrifice and it's you that'll bleed.
I think you need to reflect on some old Sam Sneed
And recognize in life there's only two guarantees
Some proceed to believe
And thus we gotta discuss
Have we all lost our trust in us,
Cause you and I
We us together we must
Live change and die
Everybody's inlcuded it's up to you to decide
-Kanetic Source from Ozomatli, 'Dos Cosas Cierta' (Two True Things)

2004-03-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

My friend Manuel gave me a great idea and I'm jealous that I didn't think of it. When I told him that my blog was about music, he said, "Why don't you include a verse in your blogs"....DUH!! Not to bite Martha Stewart's style but: it's a good thing.
This is from a lyrical genius, Mos Def

My restlessness is my nemesis
It's hard to really chill and sit still
Committed to page, I write rhymes
Sometimes won't finish for days
Scrutinize my literature, from the large to the miniature
I mathematically add-minister
Subtract the wack
Selector, wheel it back, I'm feeling that
(Ha ha ha) From the core to the perimeter black,
You know the motto
Stay fluid even in staccato
(Mos Def) Full blooded, full throttle
Breathe deep inside the trunk hollow
There's the hum, young man where you from
Brooklyn number one
-'Hip Hop' from Black on Both Sides
Learn more about Mos Def at www.mosdefinitely.com

2004-03-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

I was looking at some of my classmates blogs and I am really impressed. I feel like such an underachiever now. I had to wing this blog's creation because I wasn't there the day they were all made.
It's about 7:18 in the am and I was doing homework until 1AM and got up at 6:00 to finish it. It totally sucks to be me. I'm not really keen on the waking up early thing, I'm typically not a morning person. I enjoy sleep and try to sleep in often, but it rarely happens.
This is off on its own tangent, but I think my dog was a cop or something in a past life. As I type this, he is howling like he's dying. He only does that when he hears sirens, never at any other time. And when hes howling, he stands at complete attention, almost like a salute. He is also very affectionate and needs constant affirmation that he is a good dog, if he doesn't feel like he's been properly appreciated, he'll sulk until someone realizes that he is 'sad'...I know it sounds odd. But the thought just occured to me. I think I'll tell my mom later....is it obvious how delirious I am???
I'm staring down at a long day and think I'll go for a run to give me a burst of evergy or I don't think I'll make it through the day in a coherent state.

2004-03-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

I want to talk about music, because that is what my blog is supposed to be about. I love the music I listen to, more so than any blog could convey and I hope to get into its production in the next few years. But I hate how 'stereotypical' people assume it is that I listen to hip-hop.
This is where the conversation begins. I don't listen to most commercial artists, the artists I listen to are what is considered by many to be 'underground'. It is in underground music where spoken word becomes art audible. This music is void of 'ass-clappin', 'bling-blingin', 'crystal-drinkin', 'benz-driven', or 'I'm a badass rapper bc I make this amount of money'. For me it is the truth, it is my urban-philosophy.
My mom is a single mother who got her degree, worked two jobs, and raised 5 kids all on her lonesome, so I spent most of my afternoons hanging out in my neighborhood with all the 'homeys', not really having toys we relied on our bikes and intelligence to occupy or time. My neighborhood is reminiscent of Lil Mexico, it was like a communal upbringing for kids in the neighborhood. I remember getting punished for wrongdoing by my friends mom...and it was ok. I don't know what it's like to grow up getting what kids my age got, being able to do some of the things my friends were doing, because that wasn't even an option. So on this level, I relate to the music I listen to (maybe this is where the 'stereotypical-ness lies).
Since this blogging is for a class. I hope that by the end of the semester, my classmates will understand a little more about the music I am talking about. I do not expect them to like it, but hopefully be able to recognize its content compared to mainstream rap....which is horrible music that perpetuates ignorance in society (gee...do i sound biased???)

2004-03-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

I don't usually get news from Yahoo or what one would call popular commercial media, but as I was logging on to my email I read the article about John Muhammed. He was senteced to death for killing numerous people using sniper-like tactics. And I'm not sure how I feel about this. I sit in the grey when it comes to the death penalty bc being 100% for the death penalty would be a contradiction in the way that I view the world (hence my name: universalkarma). But I do know that it would not matter to me how much 'rehabilitation' some criminals went through (like Charles Manson), I would not want to be anywhere near him. And my issues with the prison system....well, that's whole seperate posting.

2004-03-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

I have some blogging to catch up on. I think that I've decided (I sound so decisive, don't i?) I want to use this as a quasi-journal. I'm so overloaded in school work and my various jobs that using this as a informative/journalistic platform will be the stick the breaks the camels back....(me being the camel I guess).

2004-03-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog, so if I do 'un-blogger-like' things...forgive me. This is for my web design class. I hope it works out. I would like to use this as a platform for discussions relating to music and the world. Yeah, I know that is a pretty broad topic, but it's something that I think about on a daily basis. So in a sense, I would like to take the dialogue that occurs in my head, and spew it out on this...