LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD - VOTE NOW

I am trying to get an idea from my many (2? 3?) readers what they enjoy most abut this blog. I have added a poll on the right side of this blog where you can let your voices be heard. I know some of you enjoy my real life stories while others count on my musical picks to help hip up your music library. I'm not sure how many Asian cinema fans are out there but this is one of the reasons I am having you all vote on what you really like. Hurry! Vote now! I've only let this survey run until Sept. 30th so vote now and as often as you like! NOTE: ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS THE VOTING (TALLYING OF THE VOTES) IS NOT WORKING WHEN YOU VOTE, PLEASE VOTE ANYWAY. I CAN ONLY ASSUME (HOPE!) AT THE END OF THE POLL (SEPT. 30th) I WILL STILL BE ABLE TO VIEW THE FULL RESULTS. SAXOMAN (aka Afro-Samurai)

REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - BERES HAMMOND

This weeks Reggae CD Pick of the Week is Beres Hammond with the cd titled Sweetness. I had just picked this cd up earlier today as I was doing some long overdue cd shopping. Now I don't have a lot of Beres Hammond cd's in my collection but every one that I have picked up has been a winner! Now for some reason most casual music listeners that I know are not even aware of this great reggae singer. For those of you that are not yet hip to Beres, all I can tell you is check him out. His smooth vocal sound and laid back style (known as Lovers Rock) is something I'm sure you all can enjoy. Here is a live video of Beres performing one of the hits from this cd titled Double Trouble. Check it out!

HITCHHIKING - DOES ANYONE DO THIS ANYMORE?

Does anyone hitchhike anymore? I know when I was younger and before any of us had cars my friends and I used to hitchhike all over town. At that time we thought nothing at all of hopping into a strangers car to get where we needed to go. We used to hitchhike to each others houses, to the bowling alley and hang out, hitchhike to other schools to go to their dances, hitchhike to parties. We would even hitchhike home from school because it seemed like about a 5 mile walk. I just checked the distance and it was only 1.5 miles to my house. Oh well, it seemed much further at the time. Sometimes one of us would do the hitchhiking and two or three others would hide out of site because nobody would typically stop for a group of delinquent teenagers. Sometimes we would be hitchhiking around midnight just trying to get home from somewhere. Anyway, nothing ever happened to us but I'm sure that would not be the case today. I can only believe that hitchhiking has become a thing of the past and is a reflection of the times we currently live in. How sad.....

IT'S TIME FOR THE L.A. COUNTY FAIR

Today starts the L.A. County Fair! Now I don't know about the rest of you but I really enjoy this fair and go many times while it is going on. I eat an assortment of foods that you just can't find any other time of year. Some of the many foods for sale at the fair are: deep fried Twinkies, deep fried Oreos or Snickers bars, funnel cakes, pork chop on a stick, giant turkey legs, Pink's chili dogs, sausage sandwiches, ice cream, pretzels, onion rings, corn on the cob, ribs and on and on...See what I mean? Great healthy stuff! HAHA!

I also enjoy the concerts and in the past have seen many top name acts such as: Earth, Wind and Fire, War, Tower of Power, Smokey Robinson, Ohio Players, Grover Washington, Rose Royce, Brothers Johnson, Heatwave. This year I'm looking forward to seeing War and Average White Band on the same night! Whooee!

Now I don't go on any of those crazy rides (scared) but I enjoy wandering around looking at all the stuff. Some of those people that give the demonstrations are really funny to listen to. Oh yeah, I always get my wedding ring and tennis shoes cleaned for free when I go there too. HAHA! Anyway, check it out! It's a blast!

LATIN JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - YESKA

This weeks Latin Jazz cd Pick of the Week is by Yeska with the cd titled Skafrocubanjazz. This cd came out way back in 1998 but it has stood the test of time to my ears. Go to the Amazon link to hear a sample of each track of this very hip cd. http://www.amazon.com/Skafrocubanjazz-Yeska/dp/B000007N9M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1251997594&sr=8-1
Now I couldn't find any live performances of Yeska and don't know if the group is even still together or not but here's one of the standout tracks from this cd titled Fideo Para Aqui. Check it out and get hip! Remember, that's my mission statement.

MY VERY FIRST FIGHT

Now I'm not positively certain if this was my very first fight or not but it is one that I still remember to this day. I was in Elementary school (5th or 6th grade) and remember one of the school bullies telling me to "meet him after school". Now I'm not sure what I had done or said but as I saw this person throughout the day he kept reminding me to "meet him after school". So after school I go to the side of the school where a crowd is gathered around waiting to see me get beaten to death (sadistic kids!). After a few minutes it looked liked nothing was going to happen and I would be home free. I said "well if nothing is going to happen then I'm leaving". So then the bully pushes me and I push him back. He pushes me again and I push him back. Then, BAM! he smacks me right in my jaw! OWWWWW! I was shocked! Stunned! He hit me! Right in my jaw! I couldn't believe that this guy actually hit me! I grabbed my jaw with a stunned expression on my face and turned and walked away without saying a word. I walked the 4 blocks to my house holding my jaw the entire way home. When I got home I looked in the mirror and saw that my jaw was all red.

Now what's funny is that this bully eventually became a friend of mine in Junior High and High School and would beat up other kids for stepping on his suede shoes HAHA! I haven't seen this guy in many years but know others that have. I have relayed a message to him that I haven't forgotten about this incident although he now claims not to remember this happening. Even if he's in a retirement home or on his death bed I will seek my revenge!

Here is a clip from the 1987 film Three O'clock High that reminds me about this whole situation. This is a really funny movie that I recommend you check out!

JAZZ / FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - THE HEADHUNTERS

This weeks Jazz/Funk CD Pick of the Week is the classic 1975 recording by The Headhunters titled Survival of the Fittest. The Headhunters were the group that backed up Herbie Hancock on his groundbreaking jazz/funk lp titled The Headhunters (another classic must have!) but also released a few solo lp's without Herbie Hancock. This is the debut solo release by The Headhunters. Now I had bought this album (yes I mean album) when it first came out way back in 1975 and had been waiting for years for this to be issued on cd. When I finally saw this in the cd bin one day I almost passed out and couldn't grab it fast enough!
Now two of the funkiest cuts on this cd (to me) are God Made Me Funky and If You Want It, You'll Get It. Because I couldn't decide between the two I decided to post them both. Anyway, check out The Headhunters and see what I'm talkin' about.

GETTIN' FUNKY AT THE LONG BEACH FUNK FEST

Advertised as "All Funk and Nuttin' But The Funk", The First Annual Long Beach Funk Fest delivered! This was the real deal with some serious funk music on display. I decided to avoid the drive and the hassles of parking and took public transportation to get to the festival (a serious mistake on my part that you'll read about later). As I arrived Slapback was performing and throwing down some serious funk. I thought to myself "this is going to be good!". Bands that followed (like Delta Nove) were all superfunky and Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Band worked the crowd into a frenzy. The only performance that was a disappointment was by an ex-Meters member whose set failed to do much to energize the crowd. There were two stages and the music was constantly flowing. Off to the side were DJ's spinning endless funk, plenty of places to eat, a place for kids to beat on drums and some cool Funk Fest t-shirts for sale (of course I got mine!). The DJ at the Amoeba booth was mixing an endless blend of some super serious non-stop funk where dancers were given the opportunity to freestyle and show their moves. I even heard a DJ spinning some Funk Inc. as I strolled thru the crowd. Yeah, very hip indeed!

Now the faithful readers of my blog know that I love the funk group Mandrill (see blog posts on 5-13 and 5-20). Mandrill was the headline act at this festival and were set to come on last. The problem? I failed to check when they were coming on against the train schedule and if I stayed to see them perform I wouldn't make it home! What? Yes, what a dilemma. I could either watch Mandrill perform and be stranded in Long Beach or leave early and catch the train. So.....with tears in my eyes I left early and boarded the train home, missing a chance to see one of the greatest funk groups of all time. Riding home through Compton, Watts, L.A. and Chinatown I finally arrived in Pasadena where you could see the hills burning. From there it was a short drive home to the comfort of the Vanilla Suburbs. Regardless of my mistake the Long Beach Funk Fest was a rousing success and I can only hope that it becomes an annual event.

WOLFMAN JACK ON XPRS

Way back in the day (early 70's) we used to spend our Friday and Saturday nights cruising around looking for parties or things to do. We would typically be listening to radio station XPRS which had a program called The Soul Express which played the best soul music around. The disc jockey on this program was the one and only, Wolfman Jack. This radio station would broadcast out of Mexico so the reception was not always the strongest and would fade in and out of your AM radio. (What? Yes, AM radio!) For us XPRS was the best station to hear the music we wanted to listen to so we dealt with the poor reception. Now, eventually Wolfman Jack ended up getting squeezed out of this gig by the Mexican government and ended up in the Los Angeles area working for the local oldies station KRTH and also KRLA. Wolfman Jack was a true original and his talents are sorely missed. Here is a clip of Wolfman Jack for those of you that remember him and for those of you that don't, well get hip and check him out!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - 5 DEADLY VENOMS

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is the 1978 Shaw Brothers kung fu classic, 5 Deadly Venoms. Just re-released this past Tuesday on Dragon Dynasty this is a must see for all old school kung fu fans. You can pick this up at Best Buy or rent it at your local video store. Either way, go check it out! Have I ever steered you wrong with my Asian cinema picks? I think not! Check out the trailer for this classic piece of kung fu cinema. Enjoy and get hip!