Especially a new appreciation for reggae

Since touchdown in LA I’ve got:
- Madlib Medicine Shows #10, #7, #11, #6, #8, #2, #4,
- Low End Theory (re-up from the one I lost lol)
- Diplo Greensleeves mix
- Break Beats, Kenny Dope
- J. Rocc v J-Man
- Nirvana, Nevermind
- The Kings of Funk, RZA/Keb Darge
- Relayted, Gayngs
- Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation/Fear of A Black Plant
- Fulfillingness, Stevie Wonder
- Soul Fire: The Majestic Collection
- The Notorious PArty Boys Soundtrack
- Prince and Friends, DJ Jedi
- Antholgy, Maze & Frankie Beverly
- 21, Adele

And three mixes given to me but don’t feel like looking

You know how I love finding new music and the mixes open me up to deeper cuts, some I’ve heard before by way of samples from rap songs… but it’s always fun to expand the music mind even though half the joints I got are funk based lol

I just bought an Os Mutantes that’ll be here soon… but the next Madlib joint I get will def be the Africa cut… I want to hear that music from there… so far Chalice All-stars is my favorite Madlib to play, but I just got the black soul one and it’s pretty good so that might climb up

Hope you found some new music you can enjoy too

Peace

but anyway, back to life

this is a few weeks worth of photos from random stuff I’ve done in L.A.

3 more weeks (possible)

I want to explain each event but this post would be hella long lol

an overview:

- live art show with a live band towards the end
- band I can’t remember playing the soundtrack to some film I can remember… I want to say Black Soul, but that’s not it… the music was good too… shame I can’t remember
- ciclavie (sp) (too lazy to look up right spelling lol)
- LA Museum
- Record Store Day

I did more stuff but this is what I took pics of… finally got to Pasadena, it’s nice… I’m going to spend Saturday there

I’ve also been meeting up for group rides… one ride we went to a bike event at some gallery in Culver City I believe… it was pretty cool… met some cool people through that

just enjoy some of the pics… some of the pics are complete shit… and some places I went I didn’t take pics but I do get out the house ya’ll

Madlib has been releasing these mixes(?) of different genres of music. And they are dope.

This man is like a music encyclopedia. So far I am 2 for 12. I have the Volume 4 and 7, the Reggae and HIGH Jazz. Gonna admit, I was looking to buy the Jazz: Advanced, but I’ve now decided to get them all. It’ll be my
Friday thing, go get another Madlib joint until I can’t no more.

What I like is like he’s giving you music you might have never have heard before, doing all the leg work by mixing it and presenting it in neat packages. I’m taking it as an invitation to look up the artist he pulled from and listening to their albums. The albums I have have the information as to where the original work came from, so I hope the rest do as well. I don’t think Mad would do us like that though… … ….

I love finding new music, so this is perfect for me. And I trust Madlib and his musical taste lol. I kinda want to hear the Brazil one. I went to this post Adam Mansbach wrote and he featured some Brazilian artist… I think it was Brazil LOL. Anyway, the track was dope… so can’t imagine what Madlib will pull.

So in case you’re like me and missed it, here is some info on the collection.

Wiki Page of Mablib’s Medicine Show >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madlib_Medicine_Show

The ones I have:

#4 420 Chalice All-Stars (AKA Son of Super Ape)

#7: High Jazz

HA! Found the Adam Mansbach post… ‘cept it is NOT Brazilian LOL. But it is still pretty bad ass. ENJOYS!

so here’s the story: obviously I am without a car

so I catch the metro to the Elliot because it’s really close to some station that I cannot remember right now

so I was suppose to take Broadway down to 2nd street and make a right BUT I make a left instead

what a mistake

I end up in effing Chinatown… walking all alone the downtown L.A. streets in my dress and heels at 10pm

I make the smartest decision don’t I?

had I taken the RIGHT… hell, even looked to my right I would have seen big ass signs that said 2nd street *DEEP SIGH*

but I’m alive, so no worries

back to the Elliot, which if you ever go you might miss if you don’t write down the exact address… no signs, or arrows pointing you there… I passed right by it, and almost passe by it a second time but thanks to the help of the doorman waving his flashlight at me I went over to the door which is down an alley lol

The place looks like a time capsule… like Thomas Edison built the place

Vintage Trouble was playing Thursday night and their was no cover! and it was St. Patrick’s day… to be honest, I think that’s the first time I’ve been OUT on St. Pat’s day (not really a drinker)

I met two friends there (who thankfully gave me a ride back lol) and we had a good time

I got a green amerretto and their was this $6 meal with cabbage, potatoes and corn beef… it was like a stew without the juice lol

anyway I took some pics, but my camera ran out of battery so I only got to snap two

Vintage Trouble is a great band live and musically in general… apparently they play for free every Sunday(?) at the Tar Pit on La Brea

go check them out if you’re in the L.A. area or plan on being here soon

Peace ya’ll

there it is

it looks a little different now… I got purple pedals and a new seat

I want to get the seat that thinner, kinda looks like a pad people use when on their period. The new seat I had to get because unfortunatly, my bike got left in the rain and it had cloth on the top. So naturally, the cloth got messed up. So I went to target and got a new joint. It’s a big ass seat, but hella comfy.

and I had to get a new derailleur… that was a blower

but now I want to re-do the body. Want it to be that dusty black, all black. With purple accents.

It’ll come… I just need a job.

But I like being on the bike. I do ride on the road, but the roads in Cali SUCK. So when biking down Whilshire, I like to stay on the sidewalks when I can because their are mad potholes and bumpy bits. And it’s never cold here, so that makes things easier.

but anyway, I love the farmer’s market… the farmer’s market loves me. You know, Fairfax reminds me of Georgetown. I find myself there often and it has kinda the same scene. Younger people with money to spend, everyone dressed nice, tourist, families, the sneaker/street wear spots.

But I went back today. Actually, I walked all the way from Hollywood/Vine to The Grove. If I told you about all the walking I’ve done in the month I’ve been here. But I like walking, gives me the opportunity to take in everything.

So I went through the nice neighborhood right at the foot of the Hollywood Hills.

So far their have not been a lack of things to do in L.A. I have plans for about another month of weekends. Love being in a city, with a reliable mode of transport… and yes, I’m talking about my bike LOL.

This time at the market I go some donuts for breakfast time. Half a dozen to be exact.

I thought about going back to the Flea Market to see if I could get the right Stevie Wonder CD, but I decided against it.

Speaking of Stevie… I was in the Apple store at the Grove and I went downstairs to go to the bathroom. I had to take in my ipod because they earbud jack broke. ANYWAY, there was a line because who ever was in there was taking forever. Little did I know a blind man was in there taking forever. And that blind man was Stevie Wonder… and his friend who I assume wipes his ass.

Mmm damn, these donuts look SSOOOOOO good. I’ll go to sleep dreaming about breakfast lol.

1

never have I biked so much in one day in my life lol

to give you an idea, here’s the one way distance:

if you can’t see it says 13.22 miles… one way… lol

Before heading out I read up on biking to S.M. from L.A. and everyone said to take Venice because it has a bike lane. And it does. The ride wasn’t pretty, so I didn’t take pics… plus, I needed all the strength to keep peddling LOL. If I stopped, I might have not started again. But weird thing is, I think I did the coming back faster than the going. I’ve noticed it’s better to warm up the legs before biking.

ANYWHO, here are some touristy pics of Santa Monica. You’ve probably seen these at one point in time, it’s hard to get creative there. I tried. I went all up and down the trail… well almost… I got bored lol. Well not bored, but I was trying to get back home before it got too dark. Didn’t want to be on the side of the rode in the dark.

PICS

I need to better at action shots, he did a front somersault over all of them. They were all pretty acrobatic. If you’ve been to Venice, you’ve prob seen them. I gave ‘em $3, it was all I had in cash at the time.

what I wore

Some random people playing music at Venice Beach. I also saw some REAL hippie people with some girl who was singing what sounded Indian, but who knows with hipsters. They might have made up their own language just to be obscure LOL.

most expensive lunch EVER! over there raping people in food prices on the Santa Monica boardwalk smh

Pick-Ups: Some ‘Jazz’ mix by DJ Hymn and some books

I hate Chipotle, I don’t get why people love it so much… but this shit right here, it’s authentic. From some food van/truck parked in a parking lot to your mouth. It had beans (I think), cheese, chicken, avocados, damn it was good. Eff your Chipotle, I’ll have the real thing.

When is the last time I posted? Lawd knows when, but anyway A LOT HAS CHANGED! lol

Back in February I came out to CALIFORNIA to get a ‘jump start’ if you will on life after graduation. I can’t be with out a plan, still living at my moms house… so I’m out here interning and in the process trying to find a job.

So I’ve been out here for about 3 weeks right? My current mode of transport is my bike. I had to go and get the derailleur replaced (I bought it used) but now that it’s in complete working condition, I really love riding it. Something about zooming around a new place by your own will… sounds mad corny lol

anyway, I’ve been able to to hit up the more tourist spots. Been to the Beverly Center, which was pretty anti-climatic. I wasn’t expecting it to be just another mall, but it was. So I left at around 7:30 and rode my bike all around, went up La Brea, to Santa Monica blvd… almost got lost lol… then back to Whilshire.

Been to the farmers market today. I just picked up some meat and cheese LOL. Again, on a bike… couldn’t go HAM.

Rodeo Drive.

I happen to stumble upon this flea market deal at Fairfax High. It was really cool. They had EVERYTHING there, including mass amounts on hipsters lol. Anywho, all I bought was two CDs P.E. ‘Fear of A Black Planet’ and what I THOUGHT was Wonder’s ‘Fulfillingness First Finale’ but it was REALLY the soundtrack to ‘Jungle Fever’ Naturally, I was pissed. I mean, yeah I should have checked but DAMN… I really wanted ‘Bougie On Reggae Women’ *sigh*

I also found this spot on Fairfax called Turntable Lab. Really dope spot that I’ll be sure to visit regularly in the coming months.

Uhh what else… oh yea, of course sneaker spots, RIF LA, Fligth Club, Superme, Sportie LA.

I also tried out for Groundlings (didn’t get accepted into the advanced class LOL) but it was a fun experience. Improve is harder than you would think.

I feel like I’m missing a lot of what’s happened so far. But I’ll keep this updated from now on since a new chapter of my life has started.

And I’ll be sure to keep my camera handy lol. Kinda sucks without pics. Next weekend I’m biking to Santa Monica, so that’ll be picture friendly.

Peace.

caught up in the hype? maybe… do I care… no

I feel I do what I want… if something happens to be popular and I like it as well then so be it… I don’t feel like a follower taking interest in something that seems the ‘haps’ at the time

but I digress…

been gathering information on this new form of denim (and general fashion as well) through different websites, forum boards, the internet in general

now, I don’t think I’ll grow into a full on denim buff… naw… not my steez

but I do see the appeal of raw denim

I like being an individual… who doesn’t? the idea behind the raw denim is that it fades, whiskers, stacks to you… how you bend at the leg… how you walk… what you carry in your pocket… all dat lol

no one else will have a pair that looks like yours… kinda like your own personal denim fingerprint lol

that’s why I’ve taken an interest in it… I want my own pair! lol

so the hunting began…

finding raw denim is pretty easy… finding it in my size and for my price range UBER HARD

I wear a 25 in jeans… yea, yea… I’m skinny (I’d like to call it petite lol)

so when looking at the raw denim first thing I noticed it is catered to men and men do not wear my size… or do they?

due to the recent craze of skinny guys, a skinny girl like me has it a LIL easier… guys get smaller and smaller every day and now niggas is wearin the same size as me… creepy, I know

so I scoured eBay… hoping to find a deal… found some WeSC, denimbirds, april77 and some Taknamui… or some shit like that… too bad I didn’t have the money to buy these items when I found them lol

but this was for a reason…

I was getting discouraged thinking I would NEVER find a pair in my size under $100… I’m sorry… in my state I can’t even drop Nudie money lol… and their like the cheapest… and I saw cheap monday, their cheap too… but… I didn’t want that skinny of a fit

long story short… I have found my pair… Urban Outfitters now distributes an unbranded brand… I picked up a size 28 in the skinny fit and guess what… they fit!!!

I need some MAJOR hemming lol (which is why I have the cuffs… these bad boys is going to the tailor tomorrow)… peep the pics… crappy albeit, sorry

(I’m assuming the crotch is doing that seeing as their suppose to be a peen there… their men’s jeans… now that I look… kinda unsightly…)

I’m excited… hey, I’d rather spend $78 on my first raw pair than $100+… this is me feeling out the waters… giving this a try for the first time you know?

I’ll update on the progress (and other things for this blog… kinda let it slip away from me lol) but I’m excited to see how this goes

wish me luck! HAHA

been a LONG time since I’ve been here…

quick update nothing has been going right for me… track is not going good STILL and my grades are not as good as I want them to be

so tonight I decided to go the gas station to drown my sorrows in candy

so I go looking to by hot fries and sour straws (apple flavor)

but BOTH were not in stock :sigh:

so I was wandering around the candy isle desperatly looking for something to buy (sad I know)

and then I saw it…

KAZOOZLES

KAZOOZLES

if you keep up with me I LOVE sweet tart rope… LOVE IT

THIS IS SWEET TARTS ROPE!!!

Wonka kinda secretly re-released it!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE!!!

only drawback: no more nerds inside

kinda takes away… but still… I’m happy

this made my night… maybe things will start to look up

I found something I lost that used to bring me happiness lol… hopefully this translates to the rest of my life

baby steps… baby steps