Seasons Greetings

First off, let me start off by saying Happy Holidays etc. to all and sundry. Last night I went to Midnight Mass with my aunt and cousins. I'm not a regular church goer so I felt a bit like the guy who follows a team's progress in the papers and then turns up at the playoff game next to the guys who stand there chest naked in the middle of the winter, painted in team colours. My mind also wanders a lot. When I'm supposed to be pondering the holy, something weird will just pop in there. For example, there was a creak in the roof at one point during the service. I instantly thought that it could be a Godzilla-sized Jesus, looking for a snack.

I'm going to Hell for that.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, I don't go to church a whole lot these days. Maybe Christmas and Easter to hear the reverend spit the classics. I mean, the crucifixion story is very moving, but I've heard it so many times now that it's become a bit like watching an old horror movie. I know where all the scary parts are and I'm pretty much desensitized to them....

I have also beaten a member of the clergy in an arm-wrestling contest (Where is your God, now??!!). This makes my destination in the after-life a little uncertain. I would like to think that I get the good reverend's guest list spot to Paradise. but on the other hand I might have bought myself a condo next to the furnace in the Underworld....


Anyways - today, I am mainly doing the family thing. I shall doubtless meet more of the several thousand cousins I have never met before. So far I have eaten a monster breakfast, spoken to assorted family members across international borders and spent most of the morning in the basement watching The Chappelle Show with Punch.

The afternoon was mainly spent eating and digesting an exquisite meal cooked by my aunt and cousins and watching basketball. I had the Lakers down to win, but backed the Suns in the first game only to see them lose to a last second three pointer.

Uncle Jojo came up with a religion based movie concept, most of the ideas of which involved the Son Of God on the run from the FBI. Coming to a multiplex near you soon....

"Gawd bless us, one n' all!"

Not being back at home I missed this. The video for the new Wiley single - produced by Mark Ronson f/ Daniel Merriweather.

Cash In My Wallet - another city themed video for yous....

Eskiboy!





I was just telling my sister yesterday how much I miss Waitrose Mince Pies. What should my aunt be baking today, but those delightful treats of the festive season. Gawd bless 'er!

So much blogging, so little time

Today I am a blur of motion. I am acting on instinct. I might get some things wrong. Bear with a brother.


Black Milk Interview:

http://www.formatmag.com/features/black-milk

Cereal Challenge # 2

My experiment with sugary American breakfast cereal continues apace. Yesterday, I bought a box of Froot Loops!;considered by many to be Holy Grail of sugary American breakfast cereal. As I opened the plastic, I was greeted by a sweet chemical aroma (I'm getting.....Magic Marker). I left them to soak in the milk for a while, turning it a soft blue - not unlike the colour of fabric softener. They were, however, delicious. There was no headache or sugar rush, as you would expect with Reese Puffs. I was very mellow. Froot Loops! are the downers of the cereal world. I watched the Colbert Report and waited for the inevitable shooting pain, but it never arrived.

Next on my list is Lucky Charms. I don't really get the logic behind them though. Are kids so spoiled that they will only eat cereal with sweets in it? When I was growing up, I got Weetabix. No Gummie Bears or Twizzlers included. If I didn't eat them - I went to school hungry. Simple.

At some point in the near future, I will also go Coocoo for Coco.

Well, the snow has finally arrived with a vengeance. It's times like this that a Star Trek teleporter would be handy. I have yet to be asked by a Canadian what I think of the snow. My response would undoubtedly lead to the statement "YOU THINK THIS IS SNOW??? THIS IS NOTHING!!!" You've got to love that dependability. I have to go to the bank in this. I would rather not. At least not without a team of huskies and the necessary supplies to make camp if the ten minute walk overwhelms me. If I don't put up anything for a couple of days, send out a search party.

Preach....

So, I was on the lurk once again today when I spied the video to one of my favourite songs off one of my favourite albums to be released this year. In these times of economic turmoil, Stock Market P and the other 2 who may not speak without his permission, perfectly captured the zeitgeist with their latest video.

May I present: N.E.R.D - Sooner or Later





Also a message for someone who has been a little under the weather, recently....


4A

She loves loud punk rock,
Cats with personality,
And Nosferatu.

I rest my case.

So, back home I tend to have a lot of conversations with my boys about the state of hip-hop. DJ Merkin, in particular is of the opinion that hip-hop as we knew it when we were young is dead. I agree with him to an extent, but believe that there is a new generation of kids who make music with the same aesthetic that we knew and loved.

Charles Hamilton's Pink Lavalamp was released this past Monday for download and I feel vindicated by this pseudo-album's existence. Charles has only just turned 21, yet here he is hooking up the jazzy loops that were the preserve of the likes of Primo and The Chocolate Boy Wonder during our salad days. Indeed, the recent exchange of comments with Soulja Boy has in some ways set Mr. Hamilton as a champion of the underground (despite the fact both artists are signed to the same label). The album really gives me that De La Soul/ MF Doom feeling. Expect some fiercely introspective yet playful lyricism and beats that make you screw up your face just a little....

It would be cruel of me to offer such high praise and not share. May I present:

Charles Hamilton - Brighter Days.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/526361339ed834aa/

Regular service resumed.

Dearest blog,
It was never my intention to neglect you. I got a little caught up in the things that make you so fun to write. Nevertheless, I am here now. I have consorted with mysteriously beautiful women. I have drunk whiskey in darkened bars. I have taken the stinky dog for walks at the crack of dawn. Last night, after another solid day's work I decided to trek downtown and see my cousin, Punch. I went to see him support Vernon Reid's band MYID at Pepperjacks last Saturday, but my attention was a little divided to say the least....

Yesterday, however, we just hung out. We ate burgers, smoked and drank rum with orange and pomnegranate juice. We watched a Nina Simone performance on DVD. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to Nina, and I think I learned a lot about her from that. She has the spirit of Jimi about her. She used her voice and her piano like he used his guitar. They both had unconventional techniques about their musicianship, but it was that difference that makes their work beautiful. I also started to see why Amy gets a pass for acting a bit off key. I have witnessed Lauryn Hill in full Nina Simone mode, turning up 45 minutes late for a show, rambling for extended periods, but playing some heeartbreakingly beautiful music occasionally. She was also heckled by a lone member of the audience. "Sing some songs, bitch!" I believe, was one of the comments. I came to find out after reading an interview last year, that the heckler was actually Amy Winehouse, who had taken her cousin to the gig as a birthday present. Small world, eh?

Nina was a rare genius. She admittted to being high on stage, but it was difficult to tell where the drug ended and Ms. Simone began. She was a virtuoso soul. Very bewitching to watch at work. The epic 10 minute version of Feelings, was beautiful to watch. Between her voice and the piano, it was like listening to someone navigate their entire emotional spectrum in a single sitting. At the end of it you feel tired on her behalf.

So Christmas is on it's way. I have yet to do any shopping. I'm not sweating it though. You're talking to the Xmas Eve Killer. I hit the mall, early doors - gangsta rap in headphones and I go for mines. The festive spirit is yet to truly embrace me this year. I've been a little busy, but a planned road trip to Niagara to look at the lights and lay up in a cheap hotel like an outlaw, drinking wine in the bathtub with Ms. Alana, may actually provide me with a little breathing space to get my jolly on.

In other news - Whiskey and Whimsy continues to evolve as Steve colours the artwork for the proposal. I know because he told me in an e-mail yesterday. He also said that Woolworths is shutting down.

Feelings - Nina Simone

This fish is freaking ready to blog!

(c) Ms. Alana.

Coming next: Life's little meteor strikes.