JAZZ / FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - FUNK INC.

This weeks Jazz/Funk CD Pick Of The Week (or Soul/Jazz as some like to call it) is the debut release by Funk Inc. titled Funk Inc. This is available as one cd with one of their other albums titled Chicken Licken (another good release!) This album originally came out in the early 70's and I had the original LP.
In High School I had a class called Audio Visual where we would go and run the projectors for teachers that needed to show films to the students. When there were no films to be shown we would hang out in our class listening to music. One day I brought this album to class raving about how good it was. Everyone looked at me with skepticism as they had never heard of this group. I dropped the needle down on track 1 (Kool Is Back) and all jaws dropped! Everyone looked at each other with a "what the hell" look on their faces. They then studied the album cover and looked at me with jaws still dropped. How could this guy SAXOMAN know about something so hip that we were completely unaware of? Well, as you know my mission of hipping the unhip goes way, way back. Anyway, one of the guys asked to borrow the album so they could listen to it at lunchtime in the "Blue Note Room" where only the hippest jazz music was played. I said "sorry but I don't lend out my vinyl but I can bring it by at lunchtime".
At lunchtime I showed up at the Blue Note Room with album in hand and everyone looking at me with a "what the hell is this guy doing here" look.
I pulled out the album, dropped the needle down on track 1 and once again, all jaws dropped. Everyone was shocked at what a hip piece of music they had never heard before. I then left with album in hand and some much needed respect in the hipness society of High School.
Anyway, go to the Amazon link below to hear some samples from this great cd! Especially check out the song Kool Is Back. Too funky!
http://www.amazon.com/Funk-Inc-Chicken-Lickin/dp/B000000ZER/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249081774&sr=8-1
The video is another track from this great cd. Check it out!

STARVING FOR MUSIC - HUH?

Back when I was in High School and Junior High, I would starve myself all day! But why SAXOMAN? How could you do this to yourself? Well what would happen is that I would get a small amount of money to buy lunch from my Mom but I would save all of this lunch money so that I could buy records. Yes, I had my priorities! I would then go down to the local record store on the weekend and pick up some hip music. Now I can tell you that when I got home from school I would be starving and would quickly down two large bowls of cereal before my parents came home and also before dinner. HAHA!
Anyway, I don't know how I managed to go all day without eating as I would surely not be able to do this today!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is the Korean action/comedy titled My Wife Is A Gangster. Although this movie came out a few years back (2001) I am still recommending it to my many readers. This is one funny as well as action packed movie. This is the original and there are two sequels that followed this one.
Here is the trailer for my pick of the week! Check it out and get hip!

ODOM SIGNS DEAL WITH LAKERS

Yes, you heard right! After weeks and weeks of negotiations, the Lakers and Lamar Odom have finally come to terms. These were some tense negotiations with several other teams bidding on Odom (Miami and Portland). A few weeks back Laker owner Jerry Buss had even pulled the original offer to Odom off the table after Odom had hesitated and started shopping around. Now with Odom back in the mix my beloved Purple and Gold (Lakers) have their top five scorers and top four rebounders from the 2009 championship team all back as they get set to defend their title! A good move by the Laker organization and I look forward to next season!

SHAQ - ALWAYS THE CLOWN

I saw today on ESPN where Shaq participated in some wrestling last night with the WWE (whatever that stands for). Anyway, Shaq as always was quite the clown and even ripped up a fans sign that said Kobe. HAHA! What was even funnier than this was that since Shaq was in D.C. he stopped by the White House (unannounced) to see the President and they wouldn't let him in! HAHA!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - THE MACHINE GIRL

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is the ultra-bloody Japanese movie titled The Machine Girl. Basically what happens is the girl gets her arm cut off while seeking revenge against the bullies that killed her brother. She then gets a custom made machine gun fitted where her arm used to be. The way the movie ends gives you a clue that there may be a Part 2 coming. I can't wait! HAHA! The attached video clip is just the first five minutes of this movie and gives you an idea what a bloody gore-fest you're in store for. A really bloody and funny movie that is my recommended pick of the week. Enjoy!
CAUTION: This is one bloody movie so if you are squeamish (like me) and turned off by blood then do not view this video!

THE CAT THAT LIKES TO BITE

I have a cat that likes to bite me for some odd reason. I don't know what it is but one second she can be nice and friendly rubbing up against your leg and then BAM! She bites me on my foot. When I go to pet her BAM! she bites my hand or fingers. Now maybe this early photo of her as a kitten should have been a warning sign but maybe we just failed to notice. Oh well..........she doesn't seem to bite strangers, just the one that feeds her every day (me!) HAHA!

REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - PETER TOSH

I know I am way overdue for a Reggae CD Pick of the Week so here we go. This weeks reggae pick is Peter Tosh with his classic cd titled Legalize It. Now I can remember several friends having this album when it came out way back in 1976 but I think these people bought the album more for the cover than for the great reggae music inside. Anyway, a great reggae cd that is a must have for your sorely neglected reggae collection. I have the cd with the bonus track (of course) but this just contains an instrumental version of the song Ketchy Shuby.

Anyway, here is a live video of Peter Tosh performing the title track Legalize It.

Note: This blog and SAXOMAN do not endorse the use or smoking of the illegal substance shown in this video.

THE VIEW - DO ANY MEN ACTUALLY WATCH THIS SHOW?

OK, now I want to know if there are any men out there that actually watch the tv program The View. Basically this show consists of five women (see pic) yackety-yakking for an hour about a variety of topics. Now my wife likes to Tivo this program and typically likes to watch it in the evening. All I can say is that there is nothing that can put me to sleep faster than this program. This is just as bad as being dragged to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Guys, I don't know if you watch this show but if you do, all I can say is what the hell is wrong with you? HAHA!

HOT, HOT, HOT.......

Now I don't know about the rest of you but I am really getting tired of this heatwave we've been having. For those that live in the Southern California area or worse the I.E. (Inland Empire) like me, the temperature for the past week has averaged around 100 degrees every day! If this is what hell feels like then I don't wanna go! Looking at the weather forecast for the next seven days it looks like this weather will continue until who know when. Jeez.......this is really awful!

Although I did manage to go to Venice Beach yesterday and keep cool it was miserable once I got closer to home. Now I do know people with swimming pools but for some reason I never seemed to get invited over. I mean it's not like I'm expecting them to feed me or anything. HAHA! Anyway, I just want it to be cooler again.

SAXOMAN - A MAN OF MANY TALENTS

Along with my superior knowledge of music and Asian cinema, yours truly SAXOMAN has some additional skills as well. That's right! SAXOMAN is also a cartoonist! The attached cartoon is one that I had drawn as a joke to my co-workers prior to leaving a company I was working for at the time. I know the quality of the cartoon is not that good but I thought I would still share it with my many million readers. Enjoy! HAHA!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - THE WORLD CHAMPION LOS ANGELES LAKERS

I'm sorry but this week I am straying from an Asian cinema pick (again) and have selected the just released (today!) Los Angeles Lakers 2008 - 2009 Championship dvd! Although the season, playoffs and finals are covered in a mere 70 minutes, tears of joy were flowing from my eyes as if the Championship had just been won. There is a lot of extra bonus material on this dvd that I haven't gone through yet but what I've seen so far all looks good! A must have for the true Laker fans! (Faker fans, stay away!)

REQUEST: As you all know I bleed purple and gold for my beloved Lakers. I try to buy all of the Championship dvd's but I waited too long one year and can no longer find the 2000 - 2001 Lakers dvd where they beat Allen Iverson and the 76'ers. If you ever stumble across this dvd, pick it up for SAXOMAN and you will have a friend for life.

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - FREDDIE HUBBARD

This weeks Jazz CD Pick of the Week goes to Freddie Hubbard with his classic recording titled Red Clay. Now I have to say that I've bought this particular items four times! What? OK, let me explain. I bought the original album (vinyl) when it first came out, then bought the cd when it was first issued, then bought the cd again when they added a bonus track (Cold Turkey), and then bought the cd again when they added another bonus track, Red Clay (live version).
Anyway, I've bought it four times because it is one of those classic jazz cd's that you all need to have in your library. Featuring an all star lineup of Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (electric piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Lenny White (drums) this is a cooking recording all the way through. The live cut features a different but also great lineup of George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham and Johnny Hammond to name a few.
Now I couldn't find any decent live performances of the songs from this album on YouTube but you can go to the Amazon link (below) to check out the entire cd. Dig it!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068D1J/ref=s9_simz_gw_s0_p15_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0SAMMS8KRC72DB1FFG12&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

BEEP - BEEP, BANG - BANG...

My Junior High School football team was called the Tigers and the school colors were a hideous combination of orange and black (much worse then the photo shown). This hideous combination of colors led opposing teams to yell out "Trick or Treat" whenever they saw us coming. For the last few days I have had this old school cheer from Junior High rattling around in my brain. It goes something like this: BEEP - BEEP, BANG - BANG - UNGAWA - JOHN MARSHALL'S GOT THE POWER! BEEP - BEEP, BANG - BANG - UNGAWA - JOHN MARSHALL'S GOT THE POWER!

Now I'm not sure but I believe "Ungawa" is what Tarzan used to say in the movies to make the animals move. So I guess they were telling us to get moving!

Anyway, this cheer would be repeated over and over at games until it was ingrained in your brain as well as in your sleep.

So...... all together now! BEEP - BEEP, BANG - BANG - UNGAWA - JOHN MARSHALL'S GOT THE POWER! HAHA!

DIRTY CARS - I DON'T GET IT

OK now I can honestly say I don't understand people that drive dirty cars. I can understand if your car is dirty occasionally because you didn't have time to wash it. What I'm referring to is people that drive a dirty, filthy car all the time. I'm not talking about people with old, beat up cars either. I'm talking about people with newer (and nicer) cars than mine. I guess to many people it just doesn't matter what their car looks like and that a car is just something to get you from point A to point B.

I know other people who's inside of their car is just as bad. Some cars look like a bomb went off inside as there are papers and crap everywhere. I'm talking about crap all over the front and back seats, all over the center console and all over the floor too! I just don't get it. I mean my car isn't exactly new (far from it) but I always try to keep the inside and outside clean. I don't even have trash in the ashtrays, just change. Anyway, to me driving a dirty car is like wearing a dirty shirt or dirty pants. Now you wouldn't do that would you? Amen!

SMOKING? - NOT FOR SAXOMAN

When I was in Junior High school all of the so called "cool" kids were smoking cigarettes. Because I wanted to act and look cool as well, I started smoking cigarettes too. Yes, SAXOMAN was a smoker. Oh no! First I would sneak a few of my Dad's unfiltered Lucky Strikes (yuk!) and then I started buying Marlboro cigarettes at various cigarette machines. I really thought I was one cool kid puffing away like a grown up.

When the busing and integration started (see post of 7/6) I switched over to Kool (menthol)cigarettes so that I could be even cooler. HAHA! Actually smoking Kool's was a way of acceptance and instead of getting hit up for my lunch money I would get hit up for a Kool cigarette instead.

Now I was smart enough to only smoke for a few years before I wised up and quit this terrible habit. As a sax player I felt that smoking was detrimental to my lung capacity. I know other people that never were able to quit smoking and have smoked since they were teenagers.

I really feel sorry for these people as I am a pretty anti-smoking guy now and only look on with disgust at people that continue with such a self destructive habit. Anyway, just my two cents on smoking.

SAXOMAN GOES HOLLYWOOD - WHAT?

Yes, you read that correctly. SAXOMAN (aka Afro-Samurai) is going Hollywood! Now you're probably wondering what does this actually mean? Well it means that I am taking my unlimited supply of witty tales and life experiences and am going to write a screenplay. Yep! That's right! A screenplay that will eventually be made into a major motion picture. Yes folks, SAXOMAN is going Hollywood!

Because this blog has an astounding two followers (thanks guys!) but probably millions of readers, I've decided to share my talents with the world.

Now the real questions are, will I finish this screenplay and what will come of it once it is completed? Well I can tell you that it will be written and then major Hollywood studios will be bidding after it. After that? Well I'm envisioning an Academy Award and then a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (see photo). As you can tell I have modest goals. Stay tuned!

THE NEWEST LAKER - RON ARTEST

I thought I would welcome the newest Laker to Los Angeles. So with that being said, Ron Artest - SAXOMAN welcomes you to L.A. Although I was sorry to see Trevor Ariza go, I understand the NBA is a business and the players chase dollar signs and not Championship rings. Now when you can replace Ariza with a quality player like Ron Artest then why not? Now I know Ron has exhibited some nutty behavior at times such as punching out fans in Detroit (see YouTube) and getting kicked out of several games for flagrant fouls (recent Lakers vs Houston playoffs) but I think Ron also brings some much needed toughness to the Lakers. Ron will also spew more nonsensical quotes then you can imagine and that haven't been heard here since Shaq left. Here's a short video from the recent playoffs with Artest blowing by Ariza and then dunking over Gasol and Odom left handed. Oh my!

MICHAEL JACKSON ON THE RADIO

Now I don't know about you but I am getting a little tired of the same Michael Jackson songs currently being played on the radio. Now don't get me wrong, I love Michael's music and all but what is irritating to me is that the radio stations are typically playing the same songs from Off The Wall, Thriller or Bad. Yesterday when I was listening to radio station KJLH (102.3) in the Los Angeles area and which happens to be owned by Stevie Wonder, I heard a lot of great old Jackson 5 songs and early Michael recordings that I hadn't heard in years. So if you want to hear something different than the same old songs, check out KJLH - 102.3 on your FM dial.

JAZZ ARTIST OF THE WEEK - HORACE SILVER

This past weekend I picked up a Horace Silver cd (The Jody Grind) and it got me to thinking of what other Horace cd's I have in my collection. A quick check shows that I "only" have 10 cd's by Horace Silver. Anytime I come across something by Horace that I don't have I usually end up picking it up. Every Horace cd I have bought has been a swingin' recording and typically features an all-star lineup. Because of this, pianist Horace Silver is my pick for Jazz Artist Of The Week. For those of you squares that are not hip to Horace Silver then all I can say is go check him out and see what you've been missing!
Here is a video of Horace performing one of his biggest hits - A Song For My Father. This is a live and slightly edited version but definitely worth checking out!

BUSING AND INTEGRATION

Way back in 1970, Pasadena, CA held the distinction of being the first non-Southern city ordered by the federal courts to desegregate its public school system. Basically this meant that all of the lily white schools would be integrated by implementing forced busing and would bus in black students from other neighborhoods. Now I didn't realize it at the time (because I was just a kid) but I guess this was a hotly debated topic. I always wondered why one of my longtime friends and his family suddenly upped and moved away to Newberry Park. I think I know why now.

Me? I have many, many experiences about this whole busing situation that I will be blogging about. Because I was a pretty cool kid (at least I thought I was) most of my experiences were pretty good although there were the occasional bad ones as well. All I can say is that if this busing would not have taken place I would be probably be one square peg and then I wouldn't be here writing this blog and trying to hip you, the unhip!

What this experience brought me was an exposure to various cultures and races but most of all it hipped me to all of the great music that I had been missing out on. Music like The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Moments, The Jackson 5, The Temprees, The Whatnauts, and many, many more. I probably would still be listening to Iron Butterfly or Rare Earth! Nooooooooo! So all I can say is God bless this experience because I am all the hipper for it.

CYCLE BOOTS

OK now back in Junior High some of the older thugs on campus used to wear motorcycle boots or what we commonly referred to as cycle (pronounced as sickle) boots. Now none of these people actually had motorcycles but they just thought that the wearing of these cycle boots was cool. Several of my friends who were in the same grade as me started wearing these so that they could also look cool, tough, or whatever. What was funny was that when we would go to a party the older thugs would see my friends wearing these boots and tell them to "take those boots off! You can't wear those!" My friends would then be walking around the party in their bare feet as they either had to take off the boots or get beaten up. HAHA! The only friend that got a free pass and was allowed to wear these boots was Eddie Van Halen. He could wear these boots because he was giving guitar lessons to one of the members of the Los Compradres motorcycle gang.

Anyway, when my friends would get humiliated and have to take off their shoes I would just shake my head and say "Man, I don't know why you wear those stupid things".

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - SUPERBAD

I know that I normally give you an Asian cinema release as my pick of the week however this week I've decided to switch things up a bit and make the comedy Superbad my dvd pick of the week. This is one hilarious movie (to me) and I think it's mainly because it reminds me of when I was in high school and the things we did to score booze as well as adventures to and from parties. This movie covers all of that! A very funny movie that you need to check out! The attached video clip from the movie shows the obtaining of the fake i.d. to score the liquor.

BASKETBALL JONES

Now I don't know about the rest of you NBA fans but I can say that I am really having a basketball jones with no hoops on tv. I mean I'm as happy as can be that my beloved Lakers won the World Championship however I still miss the excitement of sitting on my butt every night and watching basketball. Oh well, I guess I can watch the Dodgers or some more Asian cinema. Anyway, here's a classic old school song (and video) from Cheech and Chong titled Basketball Jones based on the song Love Jones by Brighter Side of Darkness (Huh? What? How do I know this stuff? HAHA! Get hip!) Enjoy!

iPOD HORRORS - NOOOOOOO........

Well the photo of Homer describes exactly how I felt earlier today when I was trying to update my iPod with some recent cd purchases. Basically what happened was that everything and I mean everything was erased from my iPod! WHAT? I kid you not. I was close to a heart attack as well as tears. I have over 90 gigs of music in my iTunes library and only have an 80 gig iPod so I have to manually manage what I can store on my iPod. I have been patiently waiting, and waiting for Apple to release a new and hopefully bigger iPod but so far no new Mega 250 gig iPod.

Anyway, I'm not sure what exactly I did to erase everything but I was eventually able to recreate some playlists and have now put my entire jazz and reggae collections into these playlists (about 54 gigs). My collection of R and B, Latin, World, Hip-Hop and Easy Listening will have to wait to be downloaded. Jeez......that sure was scary though. How could I go cd shopping without my iPod? I can't remember everything that I have. You may wonder why does a person need so much music? My theory is that if I am ever stranded on a desert island (like Tom Hanks in Castaway) I would have 64 days of music to listen to without repeating any songs. Now granted my battery would only last a day (or less) but that's besides the point. Hmmm......why doesn't Apple come out with a solar attachment so that I could charge my battery by the sun and not have to worry about battery life on a desert island.

Anyway, all is well and no heart attack for me.