Meaning to catch up wit myself____________

this is one of my latest images of boi wonder, Elvis; he's watching TV on a hot day in May at my place; we probably just smoked a bit of weed (blunt);

I used this one to include him in a new series "Shopping Carts" I've been posting on my flickr.com site. 

The shopping cart is an extended methaphor of 'freedom' for me as regards the consumerism of our culture; in essence I belive we all carry around a shopping cart kind of mentality__to quote Soul Position " Homeless people think they free, I think it's funny.. Cause freedom is a joke when everything costs money "*; like the way we use to say 'bag'  e.g., 'what's yo bag, man' or 'that is your baggage, bro', I have extended this to include the shopping cart;  As individuals we are always shopping, and throwing both needed and useless 'things' into our shopping cart, assuming we can cover them at the time of our 'check out'.  We also haul around a lot of consumer desire and/or consumed things which we assume gives us some sort of

status.  I  don't think our carts are necessarily visible to each other,   i guess it

depends on just how preceptive you are about peoples.  I seem to think we can see through each other.  I don't think people are all that original and if you study them hard enough you start to see the same things in many people.  The shopping cart seems to reference people to me; esp., after watch the many cart people in my hood, of which i am speaking the people whom use them as homes and vehicles for hauling; I've seen many variations of 'pimping' out their carts, which seem to match the same ways that the more fortunate pimp out their cars, houses, and themselves.  " Freedom in America, is all about consumption
You ain't free unless you get out there and buy somethin
More spendin, more taxes
More money for our military actions." 

Jean Michael Basquait probably had an insight on this visual image sooner than I have though I don't recall seeing anything in his works; but like my mexican poster series,  he too did a number of works on found street advertisment, boxing posters.

                                     I am so proud to be channeling MJB; since he is an idol of mine.  I wish I had met him.  O.k., all of a sudden I have forgotten the motivation for my blogging today.  I am not even sure I had a base reason for posting what I am posting other than too much free time.  Truth be told, I am at work while i put these pages into affect.  Recently I have taken to 'downloading' music files; suffice to say, I on occassion feel guilty about my behavior.  So, a couple of things are gonna come out of this behavior; One, I will make greater effort to give actual review of some of the music I am listening;  and secondly, I will give greater effort at just mentioning the artist I am so fond towards. 

My latest, artist of choice is this HOJ, or Justus league players, like Little Brother.

Music: Little Brother - "Getback Army"  

 Big Pooh, another of the league, provided this rather excellent 4 disc mix set of little brother and many others, of which I am more than anxious to get home and listen;  Hell, let me go get my little ear plugs so that I can take a listen while i am here.  I mean I only had to look at the play list for cd 1 to know I had to find and listen to this mix;

No way I could sleep on a list like this..no way.. 

01 Rapper Big Pooh - "Interview On Fiasco Fam Radio" (feat. KayCee)
02 Little Brother - "Cool As A Fan"
03 Phonte - "Yellow Lines" (feat. Cunninlynguists & Witchdoctor)
04 Rapper Big Pooh - "Plastic Cups" (feat. Joe Scudda & Chaundon)
05 Little Brother - "Step Off"
06 Phonte - "Think Good Thoughts" (feat. 9th Wonder & Drake)
07 Little Brother - "No Time To Chill" (feat. 9th Wonder)
08 Carlitta Durand - "What If"
09 Phonte - "Africa" (feat. Zo)
10 Rapper Big Pooh - "What Makes A Man" (feat. 9th Wonder & Buddy Klein)
11 Little Brother - "Honey Remix" (feat. Erykah Badu & Wall Sparks)
12 Phonte - "Dillagence" (feat. DJ Spinna)
13 Little Brother - "Lose It" (feat. Jozeemo)
14 Rapper Big Pooh - "Respect It" (feat. Illa J & Bishop Lamont)
15 Phonte - "Letyourselfgo" (feat. Evidence & Alchemist)
16 Carlitta Durand - "Her"
17 Little Brother - "Whatever U Want" (feat. DJ Jazzy Jeff)
18 Phonte - "Paper Chaser" (feat. Playaz Circle)

 You need to go there to see how much more is there for FREE.  I think these are some rather down to earth brothers..(least from this distance, cause you know some bloods look (idealogy wise) better from a distance than up close.)  I mean, i'm like really into hip hop but a lot of hip hop players are rather homo phobic..of which i see no reason for being so, anyhow; i might be really digging a cat productions and poetry, then he goes and makes a rather homo phobic remark that kind'a set the politics clear to me..in other words, the same ole shit just packaged differently;

Another player i've been checking out.who is associated with HOJ peeps. Skyzoo, so far he seems knowledgeable, and sensitive, but I won't be surprise if he comes off homo phobic..in some public context at some point.  If any'ting, I will simply walk away from this player and all associated players..

I check out 'Cloud 9 the three day high' and found it easy enough to get into; after about 3 plays I realized it lacked real depth of thought, but flows easy.  I need to give it a closer listen to write an honest review. esp., since i won't be about comparing him to anybody. 

 another cat i just noticed is CEsar Comanche

 can't say much about him since I need to get into his music first; You know I don't really care about these players public life.; I am only into the music and the voice that music brings into my world.   So let me give him a proper listen and I will get back with you on what the what is for me.

 yo, bit torrents music file sharing has increased my 'experience (knowledge)base' by three fold, of both what has been and what is currently happening in music (esp. the music of hip hop, alternative, house, soul and jazz)

    I'm not just listening to more music, but I am aware of more music and or the artist that produce and make music__see, where I'm going with this? the thing with access to torrents is that if you have material to hold, store and play the stuff you find; you will find so much more than you could haver ever 'retail consumed' in the same period of time;  In all honesty I doubt I could ever afford the physical space required to house my mp3 collection where they actually CD or vinyl; Likewise  I could care less about the 'moral' of skipping over the retail (least the market place retail, cause I still gotta pay for the equipment I use, and the internet acess that I do have, yeah, boi on the monthly) but, I'm more focused on how the experience has advanced my musical appreciation; I'll be clear to admit that much of the music i've been collecting is far from the most current, esp., with the hip hop; i mean, i am just now 'catching up' with the last (easy) 10 years of hip hop.  I simply could never have afforded the retail value of these albums even if I wanted; I mean the side bars are equally fantastic, in that i'm 52 years old and experienced the film 'Coffy' for the first time last nite wit my 17 year old mexican smoking buddy, thanks to a bit torrent file of the movie; true the film is on Netflix and available thru Amazon but that is at least a $10.90 cost plus (i.e., shipping and handling in the Amazon case and or subscription cost in the netflix case). 

I'm thinking bit torrent music file sharing has enhanced and increased my music knowledgebase (definitly cost wise) in the same way TuneCore (and it's founder which is not a bit_torrent, so much as a cheaper access like eMusic then say a store like Virgins or the now defunkt Towers..) has provided musician seeking independence from labels and such an internet platform at almost no cost.

"Taken together these new ways of making and sharing culture could have broad ramifications on the fundamental relations between production and consumption and on the traditional sources of authority for culture and knowledge. We are beginning to imagine how amateurs, file-sharers, and bloggers, by reshaping long-established standards of production and consumption, could fundamentally challenge existing institutional and professional authority. We are today barely seeing the first glimmerings of what a fully networked public culture might look like. Despite persistent pundit predictions of imminent doom for established content industries, or conversely, of the squelching of common culture by the iron fist of corporate power, the future of public culture seems to us very much up for grabs. We are still at the start of the trajectory of social, cultural, and technical change in the network era. Our goal in this chapter therefore is not to declare the forms of networked culture we describe as fait accompli, as inevitable forms of culture and media. Rather, we have specifically selected cases that suggest emergent and radical changes, but which are also sites of contestation very much subject to the forces of government regulation, technological engineering, and corporate maneuvering. The power of networked, viral, and laterally organized Internet groups is just one of many forces contesting these futures, but it is a newly energized player and the one we focus on in the cases of amateur music, anime fandom, viral marketing, and online news."

 see also:

                Networked Publics

               TorrentFreaks

              WarSystems

               Wired