Top 5 for Larry

I fight the tears that come upon laying my eyes on the boy's smiling eyes and sweet nature that emanates from the top of his head to the button of his nose. A princess named Larry, your reign ended much too soon. Today I mourn you little baby stolen from your family and friends--your nascent ferocity that we could see with our eyes and hearts open couldn't protect you from the vile teenage hate that took you from us. Little do they know that there are so many people that love you and us alike--our intentions are never to hold up the mirror to those that kill us. If they see themselves in the innocence of our skin and fight us with fear then how and why does that become your burden? I mourn you from the comforts of an antiseptic office that purports to create knowledge about that kind of thing.

I offer these songs to help us find words to feelings, melodies to our mourning. Que descanzes en paz, Lorenzito King.





and finally
"Ela Sonha" by Giovanni Venostra
http://play.rhapsody.com/giovannivenosta/princesa/elasonha

A Soundtrack All My Own...

It's that time of the month where my 75 downloads at eMusic get refreshed and I get to select new stuff to pass the days with and lo and behold James Spooner the dude that made the kinda interesting film, AfroPunk, has a top 12. He picks bands with black people in them. There's only room for 12 so he's got to make it really good which explains maybe why there's no Trenchmouth or Nation of Ulysses. Trenchmouth was a great band though and Nation's Steve Kroner was not a singer but a guitar player. Spooner makes some good recommendations--feeling the Spank Rock from way back, been rocking to Sun Ra's Space is the Place since the 90s. The boys I played drums for in our band would play SITP while we watched the heyday of Traci Lords in our rehearsal space. But damn, Spooner hits his mark on Swiz. Damn, he's core. Bad Brains is a no-(bad)brainer but to slip in Swiz shows serious authenticity--not about being black, silly, but about digging in them 90s punk crates. Only heads know them some Swiz.


But I'm rocking out to Kirb & Chris' Niggaz & White Girlz This Oakland duo are seriously using plans for Nigel in this lover of color ode to the irrepressible desire for white girl.



Yeah, finally something for me. To be a lover of color interpollated by hard to place new wave gems underscoring random love-making banter by a couple of Yay Area MCs. These guys are earnestly rapping over lesser Human League. It's kinda tripping me out. There's samples all up and down from my KROQ emotional archive--the Cure, Simple Minds and from B-52's "Legal Tender"!! 10! (Pay me) 20! (Pay me) 30! (Pay me) Million Dollars! Download this shit, they rap over The Smiths. I don't know what more I can say to you.

This is so good. It's totally the part in Afro Punk that I enjoyed the most--being punk, of color and loving on the white people or trying to and failing so miserably. You have to listen to the skit "Murs Lives To Tell" and it just breaks the interracial melancholia DOWN.

Sure it's all bio-dudes talking and there might be a call for me to insert some sort of queer critique in here but I'm still in the midst of identifying and over-identifying to somehow put a masculinist critique in here. I'm making it my own--does that somehow introduce some kind of transgressive possibility in it? For now I'll just ride the fucked up butch tag for a minute because truth be told I don't mind penises or the dudes that swing them. I have love for Sayid Jarrah and the King of Siam so I'll just chock it up to belonging to a special kind of fraternity of misunderstanding.

Hip Thrusting for Obama Victories

You know that dance, right? Don't forget the elbows at hip level and pumping them in and out while you hip thrust to do the dance of victory with a small 'v.' Obama took the Potomac states and it's like I'm too scared and hesitant to say that he's got it. But, looks like he has it to me. So hurry up and drop out already, Hillary.

More later...especially tales from Berkeley.