Japanese Man Marries Video Game Girlfriend

*smh* Some people (read Shino) will probably be mad that I'm reporting this but hey it's real. This Japanese guy has taken his obsession (my opinion) with a Nintendo DS video game character to the point of marrying it. I'm sure this man would not be pleased with me calling his new wife an "it". You just have to see the video to believe it.

Battle of the Aint No Sunshine's

I was discussing Buddy Guy with a co-worker and she brought up that he did a version of Aint No Sunshine. I've always loved this song and was kinda blown away when I heard the version done by the late great (still can't believe I'm saying this) Michael Jackson. In case you haven't been exposed to the greatness that is this song lets go through it.

Bill Withers


Michael Joseph Jackson


Buddy Guy & Tracy Chapman


Tom Jones

Move Your Bag Keep Your Life!

I've been bothered many times by folks who choose to have a bag placed in a seat on the train. Now I'm not bothered by just the bag on the seat instead it's the general apathy towards moving it for a human to sit. COME ON PEOPLE! If your bag is so precious that it cannot sit on the floor, place it in your lap. It's quite simple to me. However it seems not everyone feels this way and on this past Saturday aboard a D-Train in Manhattan this mindset caused a fatality.

Two NYC MTA riders are on the D-Train in they city. One has a seat with a bag on the seat next to him. A man who is standing would like to sit in the aforementioned seat but is denied much like driving to hole on Shaq. The problem is the sitting man was not 7'1 nor 300+ lbs. He also didn't plan on the man he was denying having a temper and a knife. The standing man apparently an exterminator stabs the man siting in the neck and kills him.

Should this man have stabbed another man because he was denied a seat for a bag, probably not. Do I understand his frustration? ABSOLUTELY! The arrogance displayed on the MTA on a daily basis can be quite ridiculous. Now I don't see this shooter being seen as some sort of Bernhard Goetz, the city isn't in the same space currently. However I do feel some folks might not have so much sympathy for the "victim" in this case.

Lesson to be learned: MOVE YOUR BAG!
Read the full story HERE.

New President of Europe, Behold A Pale..

This is the type of stuff I read about in those New World Order books back in high school. Europe no longer being a "continent" but a unified front. The whole world following suit soon after is how the books has it all playing out. I haven't felt like this since I first saw smart card commercials back in the late 90s. Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has now been elected by the European Union officials as the first European President.

Read the full story here.

Smart.fm My New Addiction

An old friend of mine told me months ago about a new job she was taking at a website called Smart.fm. Immediately it sparked my interest because I'm currently a member of Last.fm (the music streaming community site). She told me that Smart.fm was a website where you could learn almost anything you want for free.

For some reason I took my sweet time getting really into the site but once I did I was hooked. I've been teaching myself Japanese off and on for years now. However lately I've gotten a little more serious and started studying how to read the language. I now use Smart.fm on a daily basis to help with my reading comprehension. The really dope thing is that they monitor how much you study for the day so you don't over do it and cram. I highly recommend this site and they even have a (free) app for the iPhone.

My Name In Lights Even When I Didn't Win

Photo by Shino Yanagawa

I forgot that while preparing for the first Hip Hop Karaoke Championship in 2008 I got called for a phone interview. In the mayhem that followed the sound check that fateful day at the Highline Ballroom I must have blocked out this interview. Needless to say it has been unearthed and I've made it available for your reading pleasure. It's in PDF form so you can see how it was intended in print for rather than a simple copy and paste. I think the article is pretty well done and with the new championship coming up it's kinda ironic.

Congrats to the contestants who have been picked thus far to compete for the coveted $1000 and bragging rights. Come check me out Dec. 4th (Ether Day) rocking the Mercury Lounge for the second regional HHK competition.

ENJOY

Song of the day: Carly Simon - You Belong To Me

I discovered this song while working retail in a past life. This song would play daily for a month on my store's monthly CD. I never knew who sang the song nor did I know who Carly Simon was at the time. I would learn years later that she's the God Mother of a good friend of mine John Forte.

Enjoy people.



New Version w/ Forte'

Shaniya Davis, 5 Years Old, Not Like This...

This story has made me sick to my stomach. This poor little girl could not have possibly done anything in this lifetime to deserve such treatment and neglect. A mother of age 25 prostitutes her 5 year old daughter? Files a false report that the child was missing when she apparently gave the child to some man to have his way with. To read the full story of the charges click here. As I type this ABC is reporting that the body of this little girl has been found dead.

If we can't protect the babies who can we protect. My heart goes out to the father of Shaniya who admittedly made a mistake by allowing his lovely daughter to be alone with her mother. It's a shame when a child being with their mother is a mistake and even worse in this case fatal.

She deserved better.

Old School Mondays

We didn't forget about yall. Lets walk through old hip hop for a sec.




To the cops of Suffolk county...


Classic Finesse (oh it's like that now!?)


DJ Premier laced Joe on this one. Peep the Sheepskins!

Dock Ellis & The LSD NO NO by James Blagden

This video is crazy funny. To be the first one my brother James has ever worked on it's dy-no-mite! I've never heard of this pitcher Dock Ellis before, but I love him now. This video is the story of what can happen when a sports star just doesn't give a damn. James Blagden is a talented illustrator hailing from Denver residing in Brooklyn. Visit his work at www.jamesblagden.com

Enjoy people.

Charles Barkley Goes In On Sammy Sosa

I don't know if you've been following sports news but Sammy Sosa has decided to take it light (literally). I'm not gonna weigh in on this because, it's whatever at this point. Dominican man goes and lightens up his skin. Eh what else needs to be said? I'll tell you what else, whatever Charles Barkley has to say.

Hip Hop Karaoke Championship 1st Round

Tonight at Brooklyn's South Paw it's going down. My man Josh Diggs fresh from the altar along with J New and DJ Wex are giving us another HHK Championship. This time there will be qualifying rounds leading up to the big night. Tonight is going to be a lot of fun and if you've never experienced HHK I weep for you.

The sign up starts at 9pm and show starts at 10.
It's 5 bucks with the flyer and 8 without.

See you there and if you need convincing...

Goodie Mob Reunion Show @ BB Kings Tomorrow

One of the greatest groups in hip hop hailing from the south have reunited. Tomorrow on stage together all four original members of the Goodie Mob will perform. It's been years since Big Gipp, Khujo Goodie, T-Mo and Cee-Lo have rocked together. They first got together back in ATL and that day the Atlanta flood rains started. The Goodie have two banging albums under their belt (one classic).

If you are able to I say get a ticket and witness history. If you are unfamiliar peep game and learn yourself on Hip Hop royalty.

1st single, classic.


The title track from their classic debut album.


Another Goodie Mob jam!

Freestyle for the iPhone

When I first heard about this new iPhone app I thought "of course... there's an app for that". Apparently with this app you can write and record songs to original beats. The app has a notepad, a microphone and 10 tracks for the user to record to. Freestyle is also endorsed by my boys Tanya Morgan (Brooklynati in stores now!). For a limited time it's available for free on the iTunes store.

Check this video of the boys Von, Don and Illyas using the Freestyle app.

Empire State Of Mind Draws A Line?

I remember hearing about a new Jay Z song on the Blueprint 3 that was supposed to be crazy. Now I had already listened to 3 weak songs from the album so I wasn't really in the mood. A friend of mine at work said he really liked the album and suggested that I listen to ESOM. So I went on You Tube and listened. The song had a nice beat and seemed to be an anthem. However it didn't move me much even though I acknowledged that it wasn't a bad song. Once Jay performed this song on MTV's VMAs I thought it would be big but not as huge as it is now. I mean the man opened the Yankees 1st home game in the World Series to this song. However on the flip side of the success of this song there is a conversation being had regarding what view of New York does it represent.

No one can deny that Jay Z is a man who pulled himself up from the gutters of Brooklyn NY. The thing is he did that a long time ago. Remember when Jay released his debut album in 96 he was riding around in a Lexus and reading the magazines about living the high life. Jay's mind has always been in that space but as he moved through his career there was always a sense that he was making a way for us to do better along with him. Some might say the overall air of this Empire State Of Mind song gives the impression of a man who is now above it all and rubbing elbows with the city's elite, alone.

I will now post an entry from one cat from Okayplayer who says it all better than I could. I give you OKP L.E.S. Now mind you L.E.S. wants us to know that he's not rallying against Jay-Z, but only describing why he's turned off by the whole thing.

"this is the anthem for the New 'White Washed' New York"

Michael Bloomberg just bought himself a re-election, and changed the law. while I'm very happy the Yankees won, the average person in New York cannot afford to go to a game in the new Stadium, which is basically a giant shopping mall that happens to have a ball field. Big and small business are closing down left and right, even in wealthy neighborhoods like the Upper East Side. Small businesses in working-class neighborhoods are in serious trouble if they haven't already closed down.

So hearing this sentimental, commercial, New York Jay-Z anthem rubs me the wrong way. As a matter of fact (i've always been a big Jay fan) it's the first time i almost feel resentment toward him. He has now gone to the 'other side.' I was never turned off by Jay braggin' about getting money, women, jewels etc. but this song is more of a statement, in my opinion, that he really is an elitist. When i saw Michael Bloomberg introduce Jay at City Hall I thought to myself, these are the people in the top bracket of income in this city and country. they have more in common with each other than they do with me. I can't relate to either of these people and they have all this power politically and culturally. So while i did not cast my vote for Mike Bloomberg, I will also not cast my vote for Jay-Z.

It's a wrap, times up, Jay's term is up, this is the first Jay album I didn't buy or even listen to. Jay is talented and i love his body of work over all. but we need
new voices in New York. Jay-Z is no longer the voice of any people but himself and the elite in this city.

Now I ask you all, do you agree or disagree. State ya biz (c) Young Vito voice of the young people.

Back In The Days w/ DJ Shark

Another night in Deity where folks were getting down to the sounds of my man DJ Shark. I was pretty battered from a sparring session earlier in the evening however I still made it over to the party. You see this was a makeshift birthday party for Shark San and his lovely wife Kazumi was leaving to go back to Japan in a few days so it a special occasion. The turnout was really good. I ran into my homegirl Cynthia in the place to be with a friend in town from the Bay Area. The music was tight as Shark moved smoothly through the mid 90s with uptempo grooves like Janet Jackson's "Alright" and Wrecks N Effect's "New Jack Swing". A lot of my Japanese friends were in the house.

It was good to see people like Toru and Harue having such a good time. I even ran into my friend Hiroko who I haven't seen in months. She seemed to be in good spirits and fit right into the fold of the evening. There was this one Japanese cat dressed in a Cross Colors jacket (you heard me right) and a flat top dancing mega hard. On the flip side was this older Black dude who kept dancing very weird with every woman in the place trying to corner them off for who knows what. You could see many women running from him throughout the night.

All and all it was a good time at Deity. It could always be better though, especially once they get better speakers with more bottom in the basement.

Check these photos provided by Ivan Lam.

Old School Mondays

Let's take it to the land of soulful funk today yall! I want to make your face scrunch up after these videos.

Respect the God Father


DJ Spinna put me up on the jam right here.


One of my favorite EWF jams.


When this man sings something stirs in my heart and I get a lump in my throat.

Oh boy, Hollywood to remake Old Boy

First of all if you haven't seen Oldboy yet do it now. Seriously, you can read this later after you've watched the film. It's a great movie. It's the second installment in Park Chan-Wook's revenge trilogy including the movies Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance & Lady Vengeance. Oldboy is by far one of the most twisted films I've ever seen period. It is a Korean film and completely pulls you into the story. This movie blew my mind when I first saw it years ago and now it pains me to learn it's being remade. Yes once again Hollywood has found another great foreign film and decided well lets do it in English instead of releasing it in America. Oldboy is an incredibly dark film and guess who's supposed to be it's new star... Will "Hell Naw" Smith. Now don't get me wrong I like the man, he's a good actor but lets just say there are somethings the will need to be taken out of the film in order for him to keep his stature in Hollywood.

Take a look at the trailer, and if you're on Netflix you can stream the movie.
Treat yourselves people before Will Smith and Steven Spielberg release their take on it.

What happened to Chivalry?

When I ride the train every once in a while a seat becomes available. I generally look for a woman in need or a child before I sit. However I've been noticing lately that the tried and true practice of giving up ones seat for a pregnant woman 1. doesn't happen as often as it should and 2. only involves a man and woman. Do women have no sense of respect for their sisters? I've seen a woman look right up at a visibly pregnant woman and keep on siting. Not even checking to see if said pregnant woman would like a seat. This leads me to my next question. Why are we as men giving up seats to women when they won't even do it for themselves? WTF MATE?

Has it always been that some women just expect respect and courtesy but not to give said courtesy? I will continue in my crusade to give up a seat to the common lady (especially if she's cute) but it's not easy. It's not easy seeing these women sit and ignore a pregnant woman on her feet. Is it the idea that she has to deal with HER pregnancy on her own? I don't get it, but maybe you do.

I need some feedback people.