TATTOOS - WHY ON EARTH?

OK, I can honestly say I don't get this younger generation and their fascination with tattoos. Do they get tattoos because they generally want to have something on their bodies forever or are they just doing it because everyone else in their age group is doing it? Either way, I just don't get it! I personally cannot imagine anything I like so much that I would want to have it tattooed on my body forever except possibly the Laker logo HAHA! I'm sorry but there is just no way I am trusting some so called "artist" to disfigure this perfectly chiseled body! Now I have seen some tattoos that are really works of art but have seen others that look like crap. Some tattoos look like the "artist" used too much ink and the lines run together. Other so called tattoo "artists" should just be arrested for their obvious lack of talent.

To me having a tattoo is like wearing the same shirt everyday that you can't take off. It just seems to me you would get tired of looking at the same thing everyday on your body.

There also doesn't seem to be any respect anymore for the tradition of tattoos. It used to be a spider-web tattoo on the elbow meant you committed a murder. Nowadays you see just about anyone with one of these spider-web tattoos. Jeez.....no respect for old school traditions!

Call me old fashioned but that's my two cents on this new craze with this younger generation.

NEW TARANTINO MOVIE COMING SOON

For those faithful followers of my blog you know that I am a big Quentin Tarantino fan. I have all of Quentin's movies and of course own the Super Duper Special Deluxe Limited Collectors Edition Directors Uncut Two DVD set versions of all of these movies (yes, even Death Proof haha!). Would you really expect anything less of me? Anyway, currently screening at the Cannes Film Festival is the latest movie by Quentin Tarantino titled Inglorious Basterds (yes, that's how it's spelled). Touted as part Kelly's Heroes and The Guns of Navarrone this is another one of Quentin's movies that I can't wait to see. Anyway, I'm not sure exactly when this will be coming out but I expect sometime soon so be sure and keep an eye out for it! Remember, it is my duty to hip you to these things so get hip and if you haven't seen all of Quentin's movies then what are you waiting for? Get moving!

JAZZ ARTIST OF THE WEEK - WARNE MARSH (AN UNSUNG CAT)

This weeks jazz artist of the week is the great tenor sax player Warne Marsh. Who you may ask? Well many of you out there in the jazz world may not be familiar with the name Warne Marsh but you may be more familiar with the recordings he did with the group Supersax. What? Still drawing a blank? If your not familiar then get hip! Warne is one of the true under recorded and under acknowledged legends of the tenor sax. I actually had the privilege of taking sax lessons from Warne at a local Pasadena music store in the early 70's and later on at his home. At the time I started my lessons I was a teenager who didn't even know how to play a single note or hold a saxophone and here I was studying with a jazz legend. Incredible! I just recently re-read a book about Warne's life (see photo) titled An Unsung Cat. This book title came from an interview with sax great Branford Marsalis when asked what he thought about Warne Marsh and his comments were "Warne was a really unsung cat". Although an acquired taste is needed to fully appreciate Warne's playing, his music is definitely worth checking out! Me? I have about 15 of Warne's cd's along with a few others he did with Art Pepper as well as some with Pete Christlieb. Although there is not a lot of video of Warne performing, here is an early clip of Warne with Lee Konitz that I was unable to paste into this blog but go to the link and check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZKJdpbh4g

SHOPPING AT AMOEBA MUSIC - IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER?

Since my graduation about a week ago I have had several gift certificates that were burning a hole in my pocket. Thank you to all that gave me these! Because of this I decided to take a trip to my favorite music store, Amoeba Music in Hollywood (see photo). It had been a while since my last visit so I decided to take the drive to Sunset Blvd. and do some long overdue cd shopping. I was able to find parking in the underground garage (which is rare) and there I was! As I walked in it was just sensory overload with cd's everywhere. Where to start? What to look for? Did I bring a list? Did I bring my iPod?

I grabbed a shopping basket and dived in head first to the Soul section. From there I moved to the Reggae section, then the Latin section and then hit the Jazz room. As I am always looking for a deal I will usually pass on the overpriced brand new cd's that they carry and instead focus on the ones that are used and a lot cheaper (more bang for the buck!). Anyway, after hitting all of these rooms I debated whether or not to go upstairs and look at the dvd's. OK, why not I said to myself.

Once up there I saw they now had a full martial arts section of dvd's and even had the dvd's separated by actor (Jet Li, Gordon Liu, Jackie Chan, Sonny Chiba, etc.) Aaughhhhh....get me outta here! I left the dvd section in a hurry as I already had way too many things in my basket.

I get to the cashier and pull out my gift certificates and the clerk tells me "I'm sorry but we don't accept American Express Gift Certificates"

WHAT!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? WHY NOT???

After I calmed down I said OK I'll put this back, and this back, and this back, etc..... By this time I was close to tears as to all the things I could no longer buy.

Anyway, I got out of there with several good things so I guess I should look at the positive side of it. I picked up several early Temptations cd's (how could I not have these?), Mandrill, Bobby Hutcherson, Los Amigos Invisibles, Tina Brooks, Cannonball Adderley, Ike Quebec, Eddie Lockjaw Davis. All and all a great day of shopping however I'm still thinking of all those good things I had to leave behind. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make another visit!

OH YEAH, AMOEBA ONE MORE TIME!

REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - BOB MARLEY

It was suggested by one of my many readers that I include Bob Marley as the Reggae CD Pick Of The Week. In my efforts to hip my many readers I thought my past reggae selections of the week would expose you to other reggae artists you may not be hip to. I had deliberately ignored the obvious choices (Bob Marley) and went with the lesser known but still deserving picks. Maybe I misjudged the hipness level of some of my readers. With that said this weeks reggae pick is Bob Marley's great live double cd titled Live At The Roxy. Recorded in 1976 this is a must have for your reggae collection so go check it out! Click the Amazon link for some audio samples of this great cd and get hip!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009V7T0/ref=s9_simx_gw_s0_p15_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=11FRJ81PJ4W51HA19J3S&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
Here's Bob Marley and The Wailers singing Get Up, Stand Up. Dig it!

MANDRILL - STILL FUNKY (OH YEAH)

Back on 5/13/09 I blogged about Mandrill - One Of The Most Underrated Funk Group Of All Time. One of my many readers reminded me that I was referring to Mandrill in the past tense and that I needed to check out some of their recent release. Imagine, someone hipping me when my mission statement is to "hip the un-hip". Although I had Mandrill's web site bookmarked as one of my favorites I was not familiar with some of these recent releases. To my surprise I then received some blog comments from one of the actual members of Mandrill (Doc Ric Wilson) asking for my mailing address so that he could send me these recent releases and bring me up to speed as to what Mandrill is doing now. I was stunned! Shocked! WOW! There are people that actually do read my blog and one is a member of Mandrill! Yours truly (SAXOMAN aka Afro-Samurai) was speechless!

A few days later I received Mandrill's Live in Montreux DVD, the Live in Montreux CD and also the ballad cd titled Sunshine. Too much! I have watched the dvd and listened to the cd's and all I can say is that these are great! Mandrill is still as funky as ever.

For those of you that want to get hip to these items then go to Mandrill's web site at http://www.mandrillis.com/ You will not be disappointed - Guaranteed! Have I ever steered you wrong? Check it out and get hip!

Now how about one of those Mandrill Original Logo t-shirts in XL for SAXOMAN? HAHA!

LATIN CD PICK OF THE WEEK - EDDIE PALMIERI

This weeks long overdue Latin CD Pick of The Week goes to the great Eddie Palmieri with his classic recording titled Sentido. Released in 1973 with vocals by the great Ismael Quintana this is a must have for your salsa library. Although somewhat short with only five songs (and a somewhat cheezy album cover) the standout cuts for me are Puerto Rico, No Piensas Asi, and the over nine minute classic Adoracion. Go to the Amazon link to hear some audio samples of this classic recording or check out the the video of Eddie performing Adoracion. Check it out and get hip!
http://www.amazon.com/Sentido-Eddie-Palmieri/dp/B00000JP9W/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1242741371&sr=1-33

OLD SLANG - WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

What's up with people that use old slang? I don't get it. It's like wearing something that is ridiculously out of fashion. There comes a time when a slang expression needs to be dead and buried (see photo). Don't people realize how silly they sound when they use slang that is severely outdated? Now even yours truly SAXOMAN has a family member that still uses the slang word "bitchin" that I haven't heard since Junior High School. This is clear cut evidence that hipness is not hereditary! HAHA! I know of others that have recently used the slang word "bad" as in meaning good and others that still say "that's the bomb". There are others that just recently gave up the Snoop Dogg slang "fo shizzle my nizzle" or "off the hizzle" and still others that use the Bud Lite "whaaazzzzuuppp" slang. Now maybe at one time some of this slang was cool and hip but there comes a time when it "plays out" (some more old slang for you!) and you have to move on.

So don't be using old slang or your gonna hear about it from SAXOMAN Dig daddio? Out! HAHA!

LAKERS VS ROCKETS - GAME 7

Well my beloved and unpredictable Lakers won a deciding Game 7 against the Rockets today. It was a dominating game from the Lakers from start to finish. I only wish this dominating team that I saw today is the team that would show up every night to play. My swan dive off of Suicide Bridge in Pasadena is now on hold as my Lakers continue to torture me with their inconsistent play. So now it's on to the next round! Yeah!

PHOTO OF THE WEEK - THAILAND

This weeks photo of the week is one that I took when I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand about two years ago. This photo shows that you have people of all ages trying to make a living by selling things.