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"H20, Hip Hop and Oxygen" – HBMS

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Last night was amazing. The roots concert was probably the best I’ve been to so far. I was in the very first row. It was at the Knitting Factory and they could only have sold about a hundred tickets because the place was so small! It was amazing. The guys were standing at waist height to me. The only thing blocking me from being RIGHT next to them was the 2 foot deep speaker between us. I was standing on the far left hand side of the stage.

One speaker was from my waist down, and the other two were above my head to the left. Probably not the smartest place to be, but certainly it was worth it. I think I actually lost some hearing in my left ear (it’s still not back to normal). My arm was close enough to reach a couple people if I wanted. Their new songs seem very inviting, I can’t wait to get the new CD “Phrenology”. Near the end of the concert Black Thought leaned down and set down his water on the speaker I was standing up against.

So here’s a picture. It may look like a normal bottle of Poland Spring water to you, but we (the chosen 4 that went to the concert) KNOW that it’s no ordinary bottle. OK, so I know I sound like a Star Fucker (lyrics should not be read by the light hearted). This is a reference to a song by Nine Inch Nails about people who “worship” famous people above all else. Obviously not a complimentary tune. But rest assured, I will not auction it off on e-bay like my brother told me I should. I took a picture of it and then I recycled it.

Turkey Day Shopping List:
2 loaves cornbread, homemade or store-bought
olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chorizo or andouille sausage
3 cups chopped red or yellow onions
1/2 onion
6 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup dried apricots, halved
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup coarsely chopped pecan halves
1/2 cup defatted chicken broth
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 red apple
6 sage leaves
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
1 cinnamon stick
Canola Oil

and oh yeah – pick up the fresh turkey.

Look at how beautiful he is on the left. Do I have to ask the obvious question?! What has happened to the Michael Jackson I fell in love with? Admitting to that now makes me feel icky, like the fact that I own two R. Kelly CDs. But that’s a whole different mess.

But back to Michael. Numerous articles have been written about him lately (even in today’s New York Times). I guess his descent into madness is a slippery slope. As if all the rumors weren’t bad enough, now you see pictures of his nose caving in and he’s dangling his kids over a railing. I’m not sure why it wasn’t broke for me yet, but this is the straw that broke my camel’s back.

I get misty when I think about the first RECORD I ever bought, which was Thriller! And that’s when I fell in love. “Night creatures crawl and the dead start to walk in their masquerade. There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time, this is the end of the line! Woooo.” That was Michael singing Thriller if you weren’t sure.

Beat it and Billy Jean… I know everyone knows that he’s the King of Pop. It makes me really mad if he has been allowed to ruin himself with self mutilation and all sorts of psychiatric abnormalities while other people stand by and watch. Maybe it should be obvious to me that he’s plain old lost it. I just can’t help feeling really sad and sorry for him. Go here if you want a car-wreck type of voyeuristic look into the many “faces” of Michael Jackson.

“D’Angelo allegedly resisted arrest Monday (November 18) when police went to his suburban Richmond, Virginia home to serve a warrant for misdemeanor charges of aggressive driving and other counts. The R&B singer, whose real name is Michael Archer, got into an altercation with police officers attempting to take him into custody and was subsequently subdued with pepper spray…” – MTV News

So this morning I come up out of the lower level of the GCT tunnels and I see this delivery man in cutoff green shorts. I notice this because it’s freezing outside, and I never understand people who wear shorts in the winter (no offense Garth). So I notice this guy and he has a black hat on that says “drink better water” on the back. I’m just noticing these things like I normally do when I people-watch, but this one turned out to be more interesting than normal.

Even though there is traffic speeding past, he pulls his heavily laden hand-truck into the closest lane, blocking traffic. He was clearly asking for some trouble, and that’s when other people started to watch as well. He specifically was blocking the way of a taxi (which is not good news) so the taxi started honking loudly and continuously. The taxi seizes the chance to pull into a farther lane and go around the delivery guy, and yells something out the window at him. The delivery guy yells something back and beats on the trunk of the taxi. The WALK sign is now ready for all of us non-adventurous pedestrians so we start crossing the street. The taxi stops, the driver gets out, the guy with the hand-truck leaves his stuff and runs over to the taxi and they start a fight. All kinds of names were thrown around and it was a fine display of jackassery.

The good news is a cute boy and I shared a moment of disdain for such behavior by saying at the same time “well good morning” and chuckling and smiling.