This just isn’t right. I haven’t written here in months. And what’s worse is I seem to start all of my posts with the, “I haven’t written here in months” line. I guess that’s just how it is.
I’ve been trying though. Here’s something I started a month ago.
1000 words. 1000 words a day. With those first two sentences I’ve managed to kill six, and including this, 20. I read recently in a Boing Boing article, that this is a number I should strive for. Daily.So here goes. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if this is sustainable. I rarely find the need or the subject catalyst that prompts me to hammer something out. Even then, I find I put down a few things that make me chuckle, and then call it good. 86 words. Hey, almost 10% there.
So what’s been going on with the Poidawgie? Let’s start with the thing that currently has kept me up nights: The car. My lovely Toyota decided that it was too cool to be bothered with its daily commute, so it seems to have trashed its transmission. And in grand fashion too, I might add. There’s nothing like having a mechanic tell you how many digits he can count similar situations on. “Those Toyotas are normally bulletproof.” Yeah, that’s why I bought one, guy. Oh well, sometimes you win the big one, and sometimes you lose it too. The new transmission is on the way, and in the meantime the silver bullet sits in a shop. The silver bullet’s silver lining is that I needed a new clutch anyway. So thankfully the mechanic will be throwing the clutch in gratis, seeing as the transmission was coming off anyway.
I’m starting to wish the author of the article and book suggested writing two pages daily. For that I’d jack up the font size to 14, bring in the margins, and double space the hell out of this. In fact, by that measurement, I’d be done. Thanks for reading.
So now you’re caught up. My car’s running well for the time being. Maybe the money fairy will stop by my pillow one of these nights: Feels like the economy’s been kicking my teeth in lately. I really shouldn’t kid around, it ain’t that bad, just not as good as the boom times. First world problems, son. I’ve got a roof and things to nuke up for dinner.
Moving along. I finally bit the bullet and ponied up for some Premium Spotify action. I’d been using that service since before the US release (a VPN tunnel through to the Netherlands allowed me access), and had been enjoying the free, desktop-only-riddled-with-ads product. However, I’d been creating some pretty nice playlists, and the ads were getting old. So now I’ve been going down the neverending music rabbit hole that is music discovery. You know, this artist collaborated with that one, and I’ve never heard that album, and who produced that AWESOME TRACK?!?
As an example, I’ve been on a J Dilla kick lately, and I don’t think I’ll be over it anytime soon. If you don’t know who he is, I don’t blame you. I was only loosely aware of him when he was producing for the likes of A Tribe Called Quest (Did you know I love them?). There had been a track on a Funkmaster Flex album, maybe volume three, where Dilla (Jay Dee at the time) and his group Slum Village performed with ATCQ. It was awesome. In fact, it’s the only track I have from that album.
So as much as I’d love to go into my understanding of Dilla’s life, someone’s already taken the time to do that. However, I will point out some of the highlights. He produced some of my favorite albums from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Labcabincalifornia by Pharcyde. Things Fall Apart by the Roots. Fantastic Vol. 2 by Slum Village. He worked on some of Common’s awesome tracks from Like Water for Chocolate. I have listened and listened and listened to those tracks for years and they haven’t gotten old yet.
I left this last part out on purpose. James Yancey, AKA Jay Dee, AKA J Dilla passed away in 2006 of Lupus. His music still seems so fresh that it’s hard to believe he’s gone. The great thing is his brother Illa J seems to be carrying on his legacy, and Busta Rhymes apparently is using a lot of his beats these days. That makes me happy. There is also a great instrumental tribute to JD and his mother called “Timeless: A Tribute to Ma Dukes.” It features Posdnuos, Talib, and Bilal in concert, backed by a 80-something seat orchestra. Damn it’s awesome, and give me more than a few chicken-skin kine moments.
OK, that’s enough for now. I need to go to the gym. I’ll do some editing on this later, or maybe I won’t.
Love,
Poidawgie