Mid-Term Elections

J.Cole and Dom Kennedy - Bun B For President

Dom does Dom, and Cole is on fire. Caught it last night on the tweeter. Disfruta.

Type Set! It's like Dip Set, 'cept it's not.

From about kindergarten to 3rd grade, I had impeccable handwriting. My teachers would fawn over my penmanship as though I were the Frank Lloyd Wright of writing. I was an architect with lines and curves, ya dig? I'm not sure why or when I stopped writing neatly, but I think it had something to do with learning cursive and moving from wide-ruled to college-ruled paper. Not enough space for a young scholar to express himself. I also had learned how to behave in school by that point, which prolly meant my handwriting suffered as I tried to keep myself from saying and doing inappropriate things to my classmates and teachers. All that evil energy worked its way out my body through my hands. But I digress...

I've always been a fan of people with good handwriting. Experience has shown that these people are usually Chinese (read: Asian) and almost always female. I'm not sure why, but why question God? He chose the Jews to write the Bible, the Mexicans to have excellent landscaping skills, and the Chinese to have great handwriting. You know, those people who can write straight without lines on the paper? Or people whose handwriting looks like comic sans or helvetica without even trying? Yeah, I think those people are cool. I admire them.

I admire them so much, that I might cop this book so I can be like them and regain my lost prominence as a handwriter par excellence. Along with giving a history of typography, it's designed for people like me, normal folk with below-Chinese handwriting abilities, and uses activities to help you learn the art of lettering. It's not out yet, and really this post is more of a reminder to myself to check for it in the coming weeks, but if you're like me then keep clicking this link until it says it's available for purchase.

Sole Music

A small rundown of some of the flyest footwear I've come across on the information superhighway. There are others--Visvim is always a standout; also Mr. Hare continues to make the absolute flyest grown man dress shoes in the streets--but these are a few of my personal favorites. Disfruta.

Ronnie Feig for Clarks

Luke Meier for Vans Syndicate

Cody Hudson for Converse(RED)

Parra for Converse(RED)

Band of Outsiders

Playing Chess With Death

Among other things, this summer has allowed me to watch a crazy amount of movies, new and old. Outside of the same big summer movies everybody else has seen and some other art-house flicks, I've had the chance to catch some classics, like Annie Hall, for the first time, and rewatch some others. On a whim, I got the chance to see the classic Ingmar Bergman film The Seventh Seal and my oh my...

First, let me say that I can't usually bang with black and white movies. It prolly has something to do with my latent ADHD which is really just my cockamamie excuse for saying I'm too lazy to pay attention, but I needs some color when I'm watching the telly. I don't care how good you tell me a movie is, if I find out it's black and white then you've lost a potential viewer. I've seen the movie a few times on the shelf of the video library and thought about renting it, but I could never bring myself to pull the trigger. The subject matter--a knight returns from the Crusades during the Black Death and runs into Death himself, whom he challenges to a winner-takes-all game of chess--was a little too heavy for me to endure in my leisure time, especially sans ROY G. BIV.

Well, absolute boredom and an existential crisis can do wonders for your palate. I saw it was available one night while flipping through OnDemand's free movies and figured it was worth a shot. It was. It definitely was. By the end of the opening scene I was hooked. If you wanna sit down and watch something that makes you think without broadcasting the fact that it's making you think, this is the one. At its essence it captures the spiritual struggles of mankind perfectly.

This clip is one of my favorite scenes as the knight, unknowingly, makes his confession to Death. It cuts off early, but if it piqued your interest, then make it do what it does and go find the whole movie.

How You'll Get Me To Sing

I've been listening to a lot of Beirut lately. Their music is grand but simple, haunting but still light. It's a long way from Gucci Mane and Yo Gotti, and yeah, you could prolly call it pop polka music, but who cares? Heat is heat, and this is highly flammable. This track is definitely my favorite off The Flying Cup Club, and considering that I've prolly played it 20+ times today to myself in the crib, I figured I'd at least share a vid or two. The way that accordion opens the song is too sick. Word to Urkel. And the harmonies of that hook are my favorite kind. I useta love to play those kindsa chords on the piano. They don't come out as well in this vid since it's a live performance, but holler at the CDQ version below to get my drift. Disfruta.