Lightheaded

In the deck: Lightheaded / Wrong Way / Tres Records

Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Saturday night, JR and I went to Lightheaded's album release party in Oakland. I also had tix which I won from KZSU Stanford to see Slick Rick perform with a live band in SF. It was a fun little show. The venue is called 2232 MLK. It's one of those upstairs venues, so it took a while to find to locate this hole in the wall. Talking to the guys from LH was mad cool. Braille seemed a bit preoccupied with his two-way however.

For those who are unaware of the Lightheaded crew, it consists of three MC's from the Pacific Northwest; Braille, Othello, and Ohmega Watts. Their sound is funky and positive with crafty samples and some lurical acrobatics. Definitely an exercise in listening.

A RealPlayer for ya...

In the deck: Live from Planet X / MF Doom / Nature Sounds Recordings

Ha hah! Those suckers at Real.com aren't aware that they're selling a full-length live album by MF Doom in their Music Store for 99¢! That's right, y'all. you can buy Live from Planet X for ninety-nine centavos. It costs $9.99 if you purchase it at the iTunes Music Store.

The entire album is one long track consisting of a live set recorded at the DNA Lounge in SF. I'm guessing it was recorded some time in late 2003 or early 2004. Songs include a few of my favorites such as "Rhymes Like Dimes," "Places, People, Things," "Fine Print," and "One Beer." I recently caught Doom's show at the Independent last month. He definitely caught wreck and I became a fan that evening (I was there to see Pigeon John and Count Bass D (who was a no-show, by the way)).

The only drawback is that the sound file is encoded only to play on RealPlayer v10 (for PC's only). My challenge was to convert this .rax file to .mp3 without purchasing their stupid premium version of RealPlayer to do the job. Done. Here's how... Simply use RealPlayer to burn the .rax audio file to a disc, and then use iTunes (or whatever) to convert the song from CD to MP3. Easy!

A Feast of Rest

In the deck: Why Hip Hop? / Various Artists / Cross Movement Records

Wow, what a weekend. I'll tell you what I saw and did because only YOU are privy to such information. Ready? Here goes...

Friday night was a blast. JR and I went to 24 Hour Fitness. Usually I go to Gold's Gym, and I was somewhat biased toward 24 Hour because of all the things that I had heard about it (e.g. "It's a meat market in there." "They're [staff] like used car salemen.") It wasn't really all that bad though, just different. Then we watched "The Fantastic Four" film that came out last summer. I was in the mood for a little mindless entertainment and it definitely filled the bill.

Saturday brought a rain storm and a new roommate, Tim, moved into my house. In the afternoon, JR and I went to cheer on the Cardinal women's basketball team as they crushed the California Bears. Then it was on to Oaktown to have dinner with longtime friends, The Dluzaks. Joining us were my good friend Jeremy and his fiancée, Jackie (more on them in a subsequent blog). We ate curried chicken and played games like Guestures and Who? What? Where?, which I particularly enjoyed. I drew a picture of Fred Flinstone breakdancing in a volcano which I am very proud of. I should have saved it, so that I could share it with you.

Sunday, in the words of Saint Therésè, is a feast of rest. And what a feast! I slept in until noon, and then joined a friend for a discussion of Zane's Book Club® January selection, Story of a Soul, by none other than Saint Thérèse of Lisieux! Truly a beautiful piece of work written by a beautiful soul.

Then it off to mass at Saint Athanasius to celebrate the Eucharist. Well, not really, because I'm Presbyterian. I will conclude by saying that this weekend a fun time was had by all.

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Let us give thanks.

Okay, this is the second day out for The GTC Web log. You may wondering, "Just who is the Give Thanks Crew?" Well, right now, the Crew consists of me, myself, and I, but we will be accepting applications for new members shortly. Why the name Give Thanks? Well, that's what we do. We give thanks for the blessings that we breath in moment by moment, day by day, year by year. But seriously, if you'd like to join this blog ring and be down with the Give Thanks Crew, just shoot me an e-mail.

I hung out with dear old Mom yesterday evening. We took in the film Memoirs of a Geisha. It was a visually enticing film that gave me insight into Japanese culture, pre and post WWII. Then, we followed up the film by eating sushi at Sushiko in Los Altos. Wow, what a meal. Very hospitable service, too, might I add. My only complaint is that it was a tad chilly in the restaurant.

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Subtitle's lopsided drum kit is water-proof.

Went to see Subtitle (http://www.giovannimarks.com) perform at Hush Hush Lounge in SF last night. It was an intimate show as ST performed on the floor with his audience in a small huddle. For those who aren't familiar with Subtitle, he's a rapper from Los Angeles who stands 6'8" and spits loquacious raps at the speed of your micro processor. He's definitely on that electronic, experimental vibe. His latest record is called "Young Dangerous Heart." I recommend that you cop that disc immediately as it was one of the more interesting underground hip-hop albums of 2005. My favorite lines include: "I'm still ballin' like Tupac 'cause I'm 6 foot 8 and I can shoot well..." and "Me and my date hate dates, but we love Fig Newtons."

JR and I drank some drinks like Red Stripes (which were $2!) and took in the deep underground vibe coming from the DJ, Willow the Gas Lamp Killer. He opened for Pigeon John and MF Doom last month at the Independent. We did a little dancing, but the crowd seemed hostile to that. But you know us, we simply can't be faded! It was a fun little outing for an otherwise typical Wednesday night.