Spring break 2012!!

Recently, I was explaining to a group of 20-somethings why the 30s are so much better than the previous decade.  They were skeptical.  The full exposition is for a later post, but here’s a teaser: one reason that your 30s are so much better than your 20s is that you have the money to do more things that you want, like take sweet vacations.  And speaking of sweet vacations, I’ve been spending a lot of time these days thinking about my sweet “Spring Break” plans.  I’m not headed to Panama City to get wasted with some 20 year olds.  It’s not that kind of spring break (although I may or may not have just added that to my bucket list).  Instead, I’m taking advantage of a window of opportunity in mid-April and heading to Arizona for a 4-day solo jaunt in Saguaro National Park.

Time Capsule: 1998, Part 2

A few weeks ago, while cleaning in my apartment, I uncovered a treasure trove of things from high school and college.  You may have read the first Time Capsule installment, which included an amazing set of lyrics written by Jules Winfield.  Yes.  Lyrics.

Here’s one by yours truly.  It’s indescribable, written (apparently) after an epic night out in New York City.

“Wait”

Waiting sucks because I’m druunk.
Vomit sleepers?  I don’t know, but the bottom
feed [indistinguishable] what substitutes
[indistinguishable]
for that which comes from eternity.

Time Capsule: 1998*

A few weeks ago, I got a jump on spring cleaning and uncovered a treasure trove of things from high school and college, including song lyrics that the other dope boy and I wrote during the summer of 1998. 

I’m not sure what our inspiration was (though I’m sure it involved some dranks), but I AM sure they will inspire you in one way or another. Unfortunately for you, we didn’t actually write more than the lyrics.

This one is untitled. If I could title it now, it would be called “We Be Pimpin”.  I’m pretty sure it was written by Jules Winfield.

Finger lickin, tasty chicken,
Gin and juice sippin while my mom’s trippin on the

The love below (part 2)

I have a secret love that only my closest friends know.  I don’t think my parents know.  Very few colleagues know.  Most people would be very surprised to learn about it; some even shocked. Underneath the business attire, despite the fact that I’m a preacher’s kid, and even after 20+ years and two degrees in classical music, I can’t deny how much I LOVE Outkast.

In part 1 of this series, I broke down the highlights of ‘Kast’s debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.  Part 2 is now long overdue.  Today I’ll be focusing on the incredible sophomore effort, ATLiens.

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was a unique and, I’d argue, better than average first effort.  But in the grand scheme of things, that album was just a talented 9th grader playing on the varsity team: it showed skill, promise and enthusiasm, but it was unproven.  ATLiens, on the other hand, which dropped in August 1996 (actually, on the other dope boy’s birthday.  Happy birthday, Versastylist.  You’ve already been helped), is all the proof you would need to trade as many prospects and future picks as it takes to move way up in the draft to take this future hall of famer.  This album proved what Andre and Big Boi were capable of: a huge learning curve over the previous 3 years and the potential to eclipse every other artist in the genre.

“If you don’t want to be challenged by your hip-hop, ATLiens is not the album for you; matter of fact OutKast is not the group for you. They refuse to be conventional in a world of formulaic mediocrity, which may make them harder to grasp but ultimately makes them that much better to listen to.”

Steve ‘Flash’ Juon

Why I drink: five good reasons

I love to drink and I do it regularly.  But I didn’t have a repressed childhood, I wasn’t in a fraternity, and I’ve never done a keg stand (actually, I’m not even sure exactly what that is). Over the last few years, I’ve just come to the conclusion that, like many fine adult beverages, drinking gets better with age.

Here are FIVE GOOD REASONS that I’m right.

Tasty brew

This gallery contains 9 photos.

I’ve been brewing beer for just over a year. It’s a beautiful combination of two of my favorite hobbies: cooking and drinking. While it’s not all that difficult to make drinkable beer–and you can do it in your kitchen with … Continue reading →

The love below (part 1)

I have a secret love that only my closest friends know.  I don’t think my parents know.  Very few colleagues know.  Most people would be very surprised to learn about it; some even shocked. Underneath the business attire, despite the fact that I’m a preacher’s kid, and even after 20+ years and two degrees in classical music, I can’t deny how much I LOVE Outkast.

Yes. I’m about to shout from the rooftops. I love Outkast, the trend setting, boundary pushing, multi Grammy® award-winning hip hop duo from the ATL.  Andre Benjamin, aka Andre 3000, and Antwan Patton, aka Big Boi, aka Daddy Fat Sax, aka General Patton.  I remember the first time I heard “Player’s Ball” (on a mix tape, I was 15) and buying my first ‘Kast album (ATLiens in 1998).  I remember taking the bus to buy Stankonia the day it came out in October 2000 and telling people how “B.O.B.” was different from anything I had heard before, never mind that they were singing about Shock and Awe three years before it actually happened.  (Some people think “B.O.B.” was the song of a generation; not quite true. That would come three years later.)  I was so excited to find out that I actually grew up in the SWATS that many subsequent screen names and email passwords included the five-letter acronym.