I think that "Lightheaded" just became my #2 NW Hip-Hop group, just passing "Common Market"; but got a ways to go to pass the "Lifesavas". ★22 hours ago
Decided to get a ride in after work. Got to the farthest distance of my trip. Got a flat. Now a 6 mile walk. I've GOT to change these rims. ★2008/07/21
8:36pm: About to eat Thai before a gig while wrapping up reading a book. ★2008/07/19
I'm not sure why, but something about this row of very expensive boats filled w/ rich white kids listening to reggae rubs me the wrong way. ★2008/07/19
As Thiland’s “sex tourism” industry is fairly well known, it was surprising to find out that Thai culture is farily conservative in many regards. We’ve been denied entry to sections of town for wearing open-toed sandles and for females wearing shirts whose sleeves showed sexy bicep. But even with all that, they swing ALL over the place and seem quite accepting of it. Or at least seem pretty good at ignoring it.
RESTRICTED WIFI
We’re staying the same place as Mark Morgan in Chiang Mai, and the place is a little lo-fi; so I bought a second room across the street just for the wifi that reaches (don’t tell). For $6 a room, I can afford it.
UNRESTRICTED MOTORCYCLES
My $6/day scooter does 87mph! Too bad it’s capped at 50mph…
Anytime Greg and I hit anything remotely resembling a tourist trap in Bangkok, we’re surely going to get asked by locals, “How many years?!” They then commence to point at our beards (occasionally even tug on them). Following this, we’re always propositioned to whatever service that they’re pimping. This happens with enough consistency that it’s clearly a script.
What I want to know is, who disseminates this script. Somebody once studied how spangers were able to consistently display the same sign (”Parents Killed By Ninjas. Need $$ for Kung-Fu Lessons.”) across the country by a matter of months. I wonder if the same logic applies in Thailand. Or if there is some sort of conference where they agree on the best street sale strategies.
There appears to be a parallel in Thailand to Americas obsession with being tan: I’ve seen tons of “whitening” products. All of the lotions in stores contain “whitening” and even most of the advertising here feature very pale Asians that clearly attempt do their best to emulate the West. But as currious as they are about Western culture and our beards (boy, do people like to stare at them), facial hair is apparently regarded in Thailand as unkept and frowned upon, unless it’s a single hair emminating from a mole (?!).
I think I’d rather have a beard.
We just got into Chiang Mai and checked in with the woman at the front desk. The first thing she said was “You should shave that off. You’d look very handsome without the beard.”
Greg and I just got into our layover in Seoul before hitting Bangkok. Best plane ride ever. They have Tetris built into the seats! Greg and I were able to play vs. each other for about 9 hours. Outlets in the seats, hot towels applied to the face, spacious seats. I applaud you, Korean Air. Congratulations on superior air travel service and being awarded the BrumBrum Sky Travel Level Of Excellence Certificate.
I love discovering overlooked music from back in the day; particularly those that have been used in samples. Below is a mix of all sorts of stuff form the 60’s and 70’s: soul, jazz, mood, Orleans, ska; some of which as been sampled more than just a couple times. I have no real reason to share outside of the hope that someone might share back. If you’ve got an interesting song, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear it…
Trinkas - Remember Me:
The intro to this song was used in Jurassic 5’s “Quality Control” in an interlude, but the rest of the song is even better.
Serge Gainsbourg - La Horse:
Harpsichord detective funk, with a touch of banjo. He’s more than just a father of a hot girl who can’t write her own material.
Bob James - Take Me To The Mardi Gras:
Sampled over 40 times, most notably in Run DMC’s “Peter Piper“. Miles Davis even sampled it in the song “Work It”.
Soul Brothers - Free Soul:
Recently caught this one through Lily Allen’s “Smile“. Her producers have good taste…
Toots & the Maytals - Pressure Drop:
I can’t believe these guys are still playing. Their version of Radiohead’s “Let Down” is every bit as good as the original.
Hugh Masekela - Grazin’ in the Grass:
Just played last Sunday in Seattle. Sold 4 million in ‘68 as a jazz instrumental.
Gunther Kallmann Choir - Daydream:
This song is showing up a lot these days with Lupe Fiasco and Jill Scott.
Professor Longhair - Big Chief:
Another Lily Allen sample from the song “Knock ‘Em Out“. Their use of this one is more blatant than some of their others.
Jean Jacques Perrey - E.V.A.:
Mostly this guy does quirky show-tunes with crazy bing-bong noises, but this was his hit. Grabbed by Tribe, Dr. Octagon, Gang Starr, etc.
Collie Stuff - Chosen Few:
Covered a few years later by Kool & the Gang and re-branded as “Funky Stuff“.
Vincent Geminiani - Ophis Le Serpentaire:
Heavy French soundtrack mood music.
Bobby Hebb - Sunny:
One of my favorite songs. Not necessarily obscure, as BMI calls it the 25th best song of the last century, but I rarely run into someone who knows it.
On and off for the last few years, I’ve taken my sweet time working on scanning/cleaning/color-correcting/tagging my old photos. They’re now up on my Flickr account. I’m now trying to geo-tag as many photos that I can remember where they happenend (It’s fun!). If you have photos that relate or might be of interest, PLEASE let me know. Here are some sets that might be of interest:
It’s been up at CultureMob.com for about a week now, but I just wanted to point out how much I love this feature and want to make sure that people see it. We’ve added the ability to save calendar feeds for your recommendations, saved events, custom searches, artists, and venues.
I’ve set up my calendar to auto-update and show any event I save on CultureMob.com to give me a reminder on my computer and phone. I’ve got it in my calendar to tell me about any music that matches “Hip-Hop” AND “Funk”. You could set up a search that populates your calendar to tell you about any event that mentions “kinky fetish sex“. You could follow all the events at Neumo’s on your calendar. Follow your favorite band.
