how to dj-scratch with dj jazzy jay and afrika bambataa.

this is the best shit i’ve seen all day:

Hip-Hop bringing people together.  I’m gonna ask Bam to preside over my wedding and be Godfather to my children.  I love that guy.

-mlv

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philippines thingies.

I still don’t know what to call these.

If I got paid, I’d probably make up some bullshit like “well, it’s really an extension of my writing.  My expression.  I think there’s EVERYTHING in NOTHING.  My story, your story, our story, THE story doesn’t have a beginning or an end.  A lot of times it doesn’t even make sense.  IT just IS.  I’m constantly searching for IT and finding new ways to express what the fuck IT is.”

But I don’t get paid.

No.

So the other day they asked me why I went to The Philippines for so long and I answered “to find myself.”  Which, of course, never happened.  But this shit did:

-mlv

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chocolate covered chicharon | pork rind valentine.

this is the best shit i’ve seen all day:

shit.  this is the second time chocolate has come up on ‘best shit’.

big up to Jodi-jodz for getting PAID for this shit.

(you should watch his other shit.)

word! it actually looks . . . like . . . shit.

-mlv

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the onion on J.D. Salinger.

This is the best shit I’ve seen all day:

article from THE ONION

Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger

January 28, 2010 | Issue 46•04

CORNISH, NH—In this big dramatic production that didn’t do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud. “He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of readers,” said hot-shot English professor David Clarke, who is just like the rest of them, and even works at one of those crumby schools that rich people send their kids to so they don’t have to look at them for four years. “There will never be another voice like his.” Which is exactly the lousy kind of goddamn thing that people say, because really it could mean lots of things, or nothing at all even, and it’s just a perfect example of why you should never tell anybody anything.

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kendrick lamar – compton state of mind.

This is the best shit I’ve seen all day:

Fuck YOU!  This shit is dope.  It doesn’t get more hip-hop than shouting out your town, everyone you know, and hollering PEACE.

My screwface was on deck and ready to twist, but when I heard the bursting positivity he was spitting I put it away.  And you know, he’s not bad.  I love it.  He’s a got a cool cali kid, b-boy flow.  Made me think of Ahmad.

I’m ecstatic to hear a new kid coming up and not trying to prove how HOOD he is.  To go ahead and say that he’s “just a good kid” is braving territory I haven’t heard in a bit, even from khats like K’naan and Blu etc.  It’s different.  It’s fresh.

Actually, he reminds me a lot of another emcee with a K, Toronto’s Kamau.  Except, like- younger souled and from Compton.

There’s a confidence and cockiness there without the full of himself, inflated ego.

After going through his other material . . . I’m now a fan.  He won’t blow your mind off the bat.  I’d say that a khat like Blu has more in the way of pizzaz-swag.  But Kendrick’s still a young khat and there’s potential for some great records.

It’s his positive energy and around the way dude perspective that’s going to carry him over.

Here’s a dope track he wrote about his crush on Beyonce.  Spit with humour and class.  Saying what a lot of us were thinking when we saw that ring on her finger.  More to honour her husband than to get at him.

HEY: boy’s EP is free! http://2dopeboyz.okayplayer.com/2009/12/31/kendrick-lamar-kendrick-lamar-freep/

Ok.  This was only supposed to be about the video.

That’s all, good night.

-mlv

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one4tom.

random ass mix of tracks I so kindly put together for my buddy only because he asked me to.  The mofo took so fucking long to upload I’m sharing it with you because it would be a waste of internet to let it go to only one person.  did you know Roger’s is limiting ‘lite’ to only 250gbs?

anyway, nothing too special here for a not too special dude.  he asked for no hip-hop, but i couldn’t help it.

“http://www.mediafire.com/file/o3z4kvnto4m/one4tom.zip

it’s about 30 fuckin songs.  so it might take a while to download.  it seemed easier to wait for it to upload then to try to slim it down.  it’s the first comp i’ve ever sent you, plus i got shit on the mind.  i guess some tracks don’t really need to be there, but i couldn’t decide.

just be glad i put the time in while you’re at your mom’s spooning your new girl.

tell both i say hello.

enjoy.”

-mlv

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frank d’angelo – it’s just got to go.

This is the best shit I’ve seen (heard) all day.

So I used to work this bar called Joe Mama’s on King St. West in Toronto’s Entertainment District.  Down the street was a restaurant called Forget About It Supper Club (formerly Milano’s.  Where they’d toss the dopest small Drum ‘n Bass jams).  The joint is owned by Toronto entrepreneur, Frank D’angelo, made famous for his line of shitty beer and bringing Ben Johnson back.  What he is not famous for is his music.  Most (un)notably his singing.

But when you’re rich you can make shitty beer, compromise a man’s dignity, and sing lead in your own fucking R&B band.  Frank (we’ll call him Frank cause I don’t want to mix him up with D’angelo) performed in his bar with his band every Thursday, I think.  Nobody, I knew ever went to check them out.  I know a lot of fans and people involved with live music in Toronto, so that’s rare.  But, every Thursday Frank’s horn section would come into Joe Mama’s.  As soon as they’d walk in the door they’d smile at me and roll their eyes.  Then head straight for the stage to jam with Blackburn.  Glad to be in a room where they can play real shit.

I can’t hate a man’s game though.  I mean, I always wanted to front a band.  I don’t think I’ll ever do it, even if I had the money.  But it turns out there’s good reason nobody ever saw him play and his whole band would rush to my bar every break they got.

I’m listening to talk radio today and it’s all news flashes.  The radio guy goes ” . . . and you might think it’s the introduction music for an 80s sitcom” and rolls a soundclip that sounded like exactly that.  Now I don’t know how to feel about this.

Turns out he’s selling downloads of his track It’s Just Got to Go on his website for $2.99 with all net proceeds going to Haitian Relief.  On top of that all the money donated will be matched by the federal government.  Great for Haiti.  Bad for music.

I mean, it’s a genius way to sell your music . . . guilt.

Question is, will it even sell?

You tell me: http://frankdangelo.ca/

songs starts when you click the website.

-mlv

P.S.  for some real ass soulful R&B click that Blackburn link or check them out every Wednesday and Thursday at Joe Mama’s on King Street.

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J.D. Salinger is dead.

me: what do you wanna do?

k: Vodka.

This one’s for you, Salinger.  Thanks for the book.

“If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late?  Nobody.”

-mlv

more reading:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2010/01/postscript-j-d-salinger.html

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las vegas models.

it’s still in the AM, so it’s pretty early to be claiming that:

this is the best shit i’ve seen all day (via Carlos Celdran).

it’s gonna be pretty tough to top that on a Wednesday.

peace, yawl!

-mlv

powers for good.

(SCROLL DOWN IF YOU WANT TO GET TO THE POINT)

Last year I had the great opportunity to volunteer with the Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns in The Philippines.  My participation in their projects opened the country up to me and I was able to accrue some of the best experiences of my life.  One experience I’ll never forget was when I tagged along to help teach basic photography to out-of-school youth in a farming town called Hacienda Luisita.  The objective of the program was to get the kids on their way to being able to document their unique environment.  Specifically cases of child labour.

Many children in the area don’t make it into high school simply because by a poor farmer’s logic, it makes more sense to work.  Access to knowledge is easily taken for granted by many.  That’s why I was put in my place when I saw these teens (in my experience, teens hate everything except music) excited to take up something new.  Many of them had never even held a camera before, but after learning some basic principles and tricks they were off in their element.  They were snapping shots that a city-kid wouldn’t really think of.  One kid, Rudy, brought me out to a hidden fish pond where we waded in waist high water so we could shoot men fishing with bats and nets.  Some of the kids became exceptional despite spending such little time with the cameras and expressed interest in taking their talents further.

Unfortunately, the cameras we used for the lessons were loaned to us and needed to be returned.  So they were only left with the knowledge and no equipment to expand it.  Even the loaners were not enough to continue the program and bring it to other areas of The Philippines where rural kids wouldn’t normally get the opportunity.

(STOP HERE!)

Fortunately, I got this blog.  If you’re one of the five folks that read this, I guess I’m talking to you (maybe I’ll get lucky today and break double digits).  Maybe you or someone you know has a point-and-shoot digital camera lying around in a junk box.  Maybe you’re like me and hate throwing shit out.  Maybe you’re suffering from “nothing bad ever really happens in Toronto, it’s all somewhere else.  But what can I do?” syndrome.

Well, it’s simple:  you let me know that you got a camera you’re willing to part with.  We meet up, we talk a bit, maybe you buy me a drink.  You hand the old camera over to me at some point.  I give it to my buddy, Alex who’s going to The Philippines in February.  He goes to say hello to our friends at the Salinlahi office in Project 4, Quezon City and he gives them your donation.  Hopefully, he accompanies them on another workshop where he can impart his vast knowledge of photography skills to another group of eager young folk.  A kid who’s never held a camera before absorbs the joy that you once had snapping away the first time you handled a digital camera.  BAM!  You’ve made a direct impact on somebody’s life half a world away from where you live.

Get at me:  mlv@oldeyorke.ca

-mlv

to view some of the work the students shot at Hacienda Luisita go here: http://wp.me/pvQl-aL

Salinlahi on facebook

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