THOUGHTS: Hip-Hop as a Tool

The first time I ever heard Hip-Hop my head exploded.  I couldn't get enough.  My neighbors had Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff's "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper" aaaaaaaand Beastie's "License to Ill".  I would hang out down there and play those tapes back to back to back.  Hip-Hop was the rebel soundtrack to my nice, white, safe life.

I always saw this music as a tool to get stuff done.  It was like a hammer that smashed everything as I knew it.  And I carried around this hammer all damn day.  It was always by my side.  Everyone made fun of my hammer and wondered why a white kid from the burbs would carry such a thing.  It only made me get a bigger hammer and swing it more often.  It's not something everyone can carry comfortably.  They didn't make em light and easy to hold in the early nineties.  But it didn't take long for a couple people to get one too.  They got tired of making fun of me and saw how fun it was to smash stuff.

Fast forward to the end of high-school and everyone has a hammer.  Every guy, every girl.  Every commercial, every show.  It was a little sickening.  My hammer looked cool still, but it wasn't my thing any more.  It was everyone's thing.  Oh well

THOUGHTS: The Religion of "DO".

How much stuff do you do in a day?  How much can you get done?  How many to-do lists can you blow through in a week?  I can get mad stuff done!  I can do and do and do.  All I do is do.  Word.  I wake up and check my list and do something on it.  Then I go on Facebook and post what i'm about to do and report to everyone when I'm doing it.  Oh man, it's so awesome to do stuff.  Then I sit back on the porch and look at my list and add more to-do's.  There is no endgame.  There is no cease to the tasks.

When I see a friend and say hi, they ask if i'm keeping busy. I say yes. If they don't ask, i just tell them how i'm stayin busy.  busy is good.  busy is safe.......

Here's some things I cannot do.  Build a fire from scratch.  Grow food.  Hunt food.  Build a house. Fight effectiviely.  I cannot stop Cancer.  I cannot stop AIDS, greed, poverty, malicious intent or any other evil behavior.  The things I pride my self on doing are basically just distractions while I learn how to relate to people.

MUSIC: Purging.....all of my music is now free.

I just put everything I've ever released on my bandcamp page.  It's all free too.

The idea is to purge it all and move on to music from a new angle.   I hope you stay tuned.  Actually, you should.  it's gonna be fun.

www.jdomusic.bandcamp.com

THOUGHTS: The Assassination of Creativity

 I just finished Post Office today and read the blurb on back under the picture of  Bukowski.  It said he didn't get published until he was 35.  It was a poem, then the novels came.  Supposedly he wrote Post Office in one weekend.  I wonder what he would say now about the word processors and e-books and tablets.....etc.  I wonder if he would have got stuck writing some obnoxious sitcom and lose his edge.

I hope Bukowski would take a look around this culture and ask "what happened?"  I want to know, what happened to creativity?  We've made contests out of every form of expression.  We tell people that if you cannot win this contest, you're not good.  Even cooking shows have a "gong" factor.  Cooking is a basic need!  We made a business out of music, writing and art.  We established a new "reality" where your personal expression has a monetary value.  This is bizarre.  And I fully admit this is coming from someone whose expression has a low market value.  You can't rate an expression of my soul.  But I suppose it's like the way certain style of women come and go as the new beauty.
70's- Farrah Fawcett
80's- Brooke Shields
90's- Pam Anderson
00's- Paris Hilton
10's- Kim Kardashian.

The spotlight switched.  Is that to say that Brooke Shields is no longer beautiful?  No, but she's not the new beauty.

I say all that to say this:  Be creative and forget about winning.

RANDOM- Movies I've been checkin

I love movies.  Sometimes more than music.  Sometimes more.  I can't think of life without them.  I watch a flick everyday.  These are a couple of my recent favorites.  I watched them a few times.

Here's a couple of movies you probably didn't know about and need to watch today.  I stumbled upon Harmony and Me thru a Netflix suggestion.  I heard of Brick from one of my customers.  The two are very different and equally creative and awesome.

Harmony and Me is a break-up movie with tons of subtle, awkward humor.  It stars Justin Rice who is actually the lead singer in a band called Bishop Allen from the Austin area.  I did a little research and found out the whole crew of people in this flick are from Austin.  Bob Byington is the writer/director.  He also plays the older brother.......Hilarious.  The movie also has an appearance from Bob Schneider, another singer/songwriter from the same town.  Look out for the wedding scene.  It was incredible to me.  simple, archaic, and funny.



Brick is a dialogue-driven, noir murder-mystery that plays out on a high school level.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the star of this one.  You saw him recently in Inception but he used to be the pipsqueak kid on 3rd Rock From the Sun.  Dude is serious.  I had to rewind a few scenes because i couldn't understand what the hell they were talking about.  Crazy dialogue.  Written and directed by a scarcely heard, Rian Johnson.   This movie slapped me in the face a bit.

WRITINGS- get going: lessons learned in a barber shop

I did a piece for my buddy's online mag last month.  It was supposed to be more story driven, but I couldn't get it there. #FAIL. Instead we used it as a basic blog entry for WWW.OCSPLORA.COM

I used to talk about opening a barbershop like I talked about skating the big half-pipe at 8-Ball Skate Park. I learned all the lingo, purchased a membership and climbed to the top of the ramp. But every single time I got there, I'd look down at the 12 inches of vert and say, “Nah, not today.” I 'd follow that up with a myriad of excuses: “Too many people are on this one, I'm tired, I could do it but I don't feel like it.” The truth is, I didn't know how. I loved the idea of it but never put practical methodology to my quest. More importantly, I didn't even know why I wanted to do it. So when I was asked to think about this piece it crossed my mind that I have no idea how to open a business. Honestly, I googled it. But I do know why I opened a business and how to navigate through trouble. Here's what I learned.......   

Read more at Ocsplora.com

POETRY: Broken Things

I watched a documentary about Charles Bukowski , "Born Into This".  He reminded me of my late grandfather so much, that I kept watching it night after night to feel like I was hanging with Grampa Bob again.  I learned something: I'm attracted to broken things and broken people.  I gravitate towards the low-life, late-night, dark bar rooms filled with men who can't seem to get it right.  Because somewhere in there, is a Bukowski, a Hunter, a Kerouac and their artistry.  After the 3rd night, I wrote this......

I'm attracted to broken things.
The one who played it safe, 
experience was not my teacher.

I'm attracted to broken things
and the exact point
where beauty pulls itself  from carnage.  

I'm attracted to broken things.
The assuredness of rock bottom
and the men who drink for work.

Men have never gotten over themselves.
The planet, the sun, the stars revolve around man
or so he would have them believe.

THOUGHTS: God as a vending machine.

One thing I think needs some serious correction is the idea that being a “good” Christian entitles people to receiving all their heart's desires. Like God is a vending machine of some sort where you can approach him, perform steps in the right sequence and boom, out pops your order. Now before you run around and freak out and call me a heretic or something worse, I understand that Jesus says, “ask anything in my name and you shall receive”. (paraphrased from John 14:13 NIV) I get that it's a direct quote. But, I think we need to understand something. Life is not going to stop handing you problems, issues and other friction. So when it starts coming at you, don't be surprised. In fact, I think that we, as Christians actually get pushed to the front lines of battle. I have a warfare worldview, meaning I look at everything as Good v. Evil. It's a constant battle and we are the loot, the booty, the treasure, the spoils. When you join the Kingdom and start fighting for the God side, the other side deems you more threatening and they attack harder. So yeah, I'm gonna have some bad times. Yeah, I'm gonna be unhappy sometimes. It does not reflect a lesser faith. It does not mean that God is not paying attention. It only means the battle is on.

Another thing: Let's say a guy owns a water proofing business like my brother in law. He is praying for rain to increase business. Meanwhile, a woman across town is having a heart attack and calls an ambulance. She prays for a safe pick up and drop off. The rain comes, the water proofer is psyched. The ambulance is slowed down and the woman passes away in the back. Does God love one more than another? Did she just not pray right? I think that the world is broken and God is trying to get it all together but other forces are at play. You might ask, “Isn't God omnipotent?” and to that I say yeah, but let's look at what that looks like in the Kingdom. Christ was tortured and put to death on the roman equivalent of the electric chair. I believe he is God so I believe that's what all-powerful looks like. Victory over death but through major pain. It's totally subversive and upside down and counter-intuitive. It's definitely not a vending machine.

THOUGHTS: Surfing as a metaphor

This has been on my mind for a while.  I don't even surf, but I want to.......   I also never use semi-colons so this is a first on that front.  Any editor's out there, feel free to correct the usage.  I need to learn

Life is moving and pushing and slowing and quickening all around me. I cannot manipulate it more than anyone else. I cannot tell life how to happen. I can only ride the currents and waves as they come. Some are good waves, some are bad, but I ride them all anyway. I cannot stand up on this wave and tell it to stop or slow down or go another way. I can only ride it and get back in position to catch the next one. I can learn from each wave and apply it to the next run, but I can never stop the course of that wave. It's a natural force. It's not a product of my actions. My actions are a product of it and I choose how to act once said wave is unfavorable.

I notice a lot of people standing on their boards, facing the wrong way while waves come at them; while other riders come at them. And they don't get it. They don't understand the fact that the waves don't stop. The waves don't care about your idea of surfing. They don't care if you want to go the other way. They're bigger than you. You ride them. They don't adjust to you. So you cannot stand up in the face of these waves and an onslaught of other riders and get mad at the fact you keep falling off and eating it. Ride the wave. Go with the flow. You never know, a seemingly bad wave might take you to a better place; a place where every wave is awesome.

SHORT STORY: N.O. LA part 1

This is the first post of it's kind here at Humble Giant. I want to throw these rough-copies out there so i can get them off my drawing board. Maybe they continue, maybe they don't. At least the ideas are out there.

I got into New Orleans at about 12:30 on a Thursday afternoon. The air conditioning on the plane stops short and a thick cushion of southern humidity pushes against my face. The airport AC picks up the slack and I wipe grease off my forehead. I'm 22. My lady-friend and fellow traveler, is 25. She lived in New Orleans for 5 years. Her name is Sarah Lynne and this trip is sort of a pilgrimage for her. She walks ahead of me as we wander through the airport, looking for her friends.

We are staying with one of her old girlfriends and I don't mean a friend that's a girl. I mean a past lesbian relationship with a girl who was much younger and, very clearly, still in love with her. The thought of it made me tense all week. I never said a thing. Now we're here. It's happening.

Her name is Brandy . She looks like Betty Paige and listens to tons of Ani DiFranco. She was at least cordial as we did the introductions. Along side Brandy is Andrew, another old friend to Sarah. I had met him a few months earlier while he was in Boston for an art opening. Talented dude, but I suspect him of secretly being in love with her too. He was already married to a head-case named Lori. Later that week, Lori would incessantly rub my big toe while high on Ecstasy.

We stopped at the first gas station so Sarah could grab a beer. Ever the rebel, she cracked that sucker right outside the store. I nervously looked around for cops, but apparently there's no open container law in New Orleans. This could make for many nights running between bars holding the same beverage and a sort of seamless, nonchalant buzz. The ride was awkward. Besides saying she liked my Boston accent, Brandy never spoke directly to me. She would just ask Sarah Lynne a ton of questions about me as if I wasn't there.

Taxidriver, BlackOut IPA and an Arcade Stick

Taxidriver is celebrating it's 35th Anniversary and for that, they re-released the flick in theaters for 2 days. I got to check this early-Scorcese masterpiece with a gang of hooligans ranging from film-aficianados to just-killing-time viewers. It was a dope experience for all. I kind of viewed this as a once-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity, so I been hypin it up for a week. It lived up to it.
this is the best pic i could snap all incognito and what not.......

After that, a couple of us headed to John Harvards and took down some tasty beverage. The blackout IPA is crazy good. Crazy strong too. I had to leave 1/2 of my 3rd pint on the table. DUI's are for suckers.



As if this isn't' a bomb weekend already, my wife and I slept in till about noon on Sunday and had a huge breakfast courtesy of Johnny Jacks. We walked it off down at Patriot Place where I found a Street Fighter 4 arcade stick for half-price. Random sale and I had a gift card. Word?
cipher complete. an incredible 2days and I still have Monday. (barber's weekend, goons)

How to lose your heart.

Decide that you know all there is to know about yourself and life in general.

This should allow you to act holier than thou towards your lady, your friends and the general public. This will offend them deeply and put a decent size wall between your false and true-self. Once you've alienated people, they will no longer tell you that you're being ridiculous. For most of my life my friends have been my litmus. They've called me out on counterfeit toughness, huge delusions and a few terrible outfits, like the overalls with only one strap.

When the potential of failure pops up, so does our false-self. We're trying to be the person we wish we were in these tight situations. Instead, it's a completely mixed up and messy hybrid of old wounds and people we look up to.

Allow your relationship to crumble.

By now your significant other will be wondering what happened to the person they fell in love with and if you're ever coming back. You won't be coming back. They will be leaving. It's not easy to say how long this could take. For my girl, it was about 9 mos. Pretty good on her part.

Spend a month or so blaming them and of course, God.

It's funny. When a situation I'm in doesn't work anymore, I look under every other rock except my own. There's no way I could be the common denominator in these jacked-up relationships. I'm a super-christian. I pray, follow the commandments and even tithe (not quite the full 10%, but still). I'm not comparing my self to Jesus or anything, but I'm as close to perfect as it gets. It's God's fault. He is always doing these Job-like attacks to see if I'm tough enough. Well it's starting to piss me off, God. Back off a bit.

Hit rock bottom and pray for answers.

Now the real journey begins. This is the equivalent to purchasing plane tickets. You are definitely booked on a flight and turning back now would just be blasphemous and a waste of time. Let him take you on a trip. Let him work in your life. Let him use this situation

The Anti-Hustle Movement......who wants to join my club?

I'm pretty sick of every person doing music.At least, every person doing underground hip-hop. everyone is about that hustle.....all about that grind son!......always trying to push and prod their product into your earhole.......well, I would like to initiate a movement.......the "anti-hustle". I've never been much of a salesman, so i'm just gonna sit back and anti-hustle. I'd rather play Street Fighter and search for rare comics anyway. Who has time to put out mixtapes and promote on various websites? Especially after working 40hours, going to the gym and attempting to be a good husband. If you feel like me, then the movement is for you.

I'm still messing with the mascot, but so far............this works.




#ANTI-HUSTLE

breakfast spots

I recently moved to a new town in a new house with my new wife. I don't do change so good. There's been some intense adjusting. I hate the burbs. I have since i was about 8. But I'm looking at it more like an adventure than torture. Along with small-mindedness and a whole bunch of white people, the small towns do offer some serious breakfast joints. I love breakfast. Well, food in general makes me smile but particularly breakfast. Breakfast spots are a lot like barbershops. You frequent one, become a regular and then it's hard to stray. I suggest these places to you and here's what to get.


Tony's on Main before the Hospital..............steak tips and eggs. Huge portion and if you get there before 9:30, free coffee.

Marty's on East Main............................Steak n Cheese Benedict. tasty as all hell and it might give you heart disease.

Johnny Jacks on Main.............................Italian omelet. tons of cheese. The dopest thing about Johnny's is in addition to mornings, they open Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 3 for that after-a-few-brews meal before you crash.

Lowell's on 140 in Mendon.........................Pancakes. These are the best pancakes in the area. Even though it's a town away, it's a 10 min bike ride you lazy jerks.