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October 29, 2009
Dom Said
Dom said Friday came early, so play this.
Posted by caps at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2009
George Will on "Dithering" i/r/t Afghanistan
Posted by caps at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2009
Saturday Morning
Man, I had this - Will Vinton's "The Adventures of Mark Twain" - on tape as a kid. My dad "ripped it" from the Disney Channel on to a VHS cassette. I watched it a lot. I loved it. I still have the tape. The whole thing's on YouTube now.
Posted by caps at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2009
Friday PM
Things to read:
1. Das Racist see SFJ, raise him. Excerpt:
SFJ is savvy enough to know that before pulling a "white man speaks authoritatively on black culture" move, he needs to first establish an acceptable precedent for his argument by locating it in the ideology of a credible black artist (in this case Nas's 2006 album Hip Hop is Dead). But notice how SFJ then immediately undermines that credibility: while he could just say "Nas called it three years ago," he instead claims that while Nas's sentiment was correct, the proclamation was three years premature, as if to say "Nice try, Nas, but leave it to the professional (white, college-educated) music journalist to make sweeping statements about (black, ghetto-originated) music."
Before a handful of (white) internet commenters wild on me saying "Sasha Frere-Jones is not a racist," let me clarify that I'm not saying he's consciously and intentionally trying to assert his superiority. I'm just trying to point out that his language is typical of that (white) journalistic voice which presupposes the (white) journalist's authority.
2. Das Racist bonus beat: Hima of DR interviews hero of el stence and close personal friend, DR. Jul. ESCOBEDO SHEPHERD. Excerpt:
Who's the most interesting person you've ever interviewed? (Interpret interesting in any way you please). Any crazy stories?
This is obvious, but any member of Wu-Tang - I've interviewed Ghost, RZA, Rae, Meth and Red - and they all have their own utterly unique crazy styles, the last of a dying breed. Most recently I talked to RZA about The Tao of Wu which was amazing. He's is so focused and responds to every life experience like a lesson, from poor and hustling to being incredibly famous and well off. Most rappers, when they talk about spirituality, are corny as fuck, but anybody'd would be privileged to listen to RZA discuss wisdom, chess, Sun Tzu, five percenters, whatever.
My stories aren't that crazy, mostly just anecdotal. I was having a really bad interview with Cam'ron and I asked him something totally random like "DO YOU TAKE YOUR GIRL OUT DANCING" and he was like "This interview is over, B." He's said those exact words to like three separate people I know. It felt like some sort of milestone, getting shut down by Cam'ron. Like a battle scar or a music journalist bat mitzvah.
Posted by caps at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2009
Lord Vader Drops the Puck
Meanwhile:
1. Tim from Tim & Eric on Glenn Beck:
bonkers! Just bonkers!! http://tinyurl.com/ygbofy4
2. "On the narcs who visited the occupation"
3. My latest Sporting Observation.
4. Sabres win big down in Florida. So far, everything's cool. See how even I'm keeping myself? Discipline!
Posted by caps at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
David Lynch Interview Project: Clinton
Lynch's description:
We met Clinton on an overcast afternoon. He was standing on the side of the road as if he had been waiting for us to come along. We quickly turned around and drove back to ask him for an interview. He agreed and began telling us his story. He told us about his obsession with Stevie Nicks and about his trip to Hollywood where he met Rosanne Barr. Clinton also told us a story about his friend Johnny S. who was murdered and dumped into his fireplace one night during a three day party. When we finished the interview we said goodbye to Clinton and drove north, listening to Fleetwood Mac at high volume.
Posted by caps at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2009
Monday PM
Hell of a weekend in Buffalo, fulfilling my final live djing appearance with a Christ-like Jonesy for Big Jed's wedding at the Ellicott Square Building. "Step in the Name of Love" never sounded so right. Congrats, Jed & Wem!
I know the updates haven't exactly been flowing like cool mountain water since I renewed the site's lease on life, but that's because figuring out how to keep five year's worth of back entries while switching to a new hosting service and new publishing software is a drag. I'm on it, though.
What I'm reading today:
1. The always clear-sighted Glenn Greenwald on today's news from the Department of Justice regarding federal drug agents and the 14 states wherein medical marijuana is protected by law. I share Greenwald's assessment: "This is one of those rare instances of unadulterated good news from Washington." More from Reason's Nick Gillespie here, and here's Jacob Sullum warning that the continuing ambiguity in the law means that today's announcement, however hopeful, may not mean much in practice.
2. NY Mag: "Ten Things That Actually Happened at Friday's R. Kelly Concert"
3. Bills win in their last game at the Meadowlands! Or did the Jets just lose? Either way, I was happy at 8 PM last night.
4. Tonight, Restless People make their live debut! Come through if you're in the greater New York metropolitan area.
Posted by caps at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2009
Ron Darling & Telly Monster
... on Sesame Street.
I just saw that Darling was doing color for this Yanks-Twins game on TBS and remembered this somehow.
Bonus beat: The Count, Mookie Wilson, and Keith Hernandez.
About to head up to Buffalo. Getting in round 5 AM.
Posted by caps at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2009
Tecmo Bowl, Cat Joke, and Update on the Future of El Stence
Guy walks into a bar wearing a Bills jersey and carrying a cat that also has a Bills jersey on with a little Bills helmet on his head, too.
Guy says to the bartender, "Can my cat and I watch the Bills-Browns game here? My TV at home is broke, and we always watch the game together."
The bartender replies, "Normally, cats aren't allowed, but it's not very busy right now, so you and the cat can have a seat at the end of the bar. But, if there's any trouble, I'll have to ask you to leave."
The guy agrees, and he and his cat start watching the game. Pretty soon the Bills kick a field goal and the excited cat jumps up on the bar and runs up and down the bar and gives everyone a high five.
The bartender says, "Hey, that's pretty cool! What does he do for a touchdown?"
Guy answers, "I don't know, only had him for two years."
Via my man Bart.
A Stencil future update:
As the five year anniversary approaches - we launched the Stencil in November '04, in what seems like nearly another world - I've been thinking hard about what I'd like to do with this ol' blog. It's been a really wonderful thing for me, both early on when I had company writing here with my best friends, and later when I became a sole proprietor. El stence has seen me through the death of my father, my courtship and marriage to the love of my life, two presidential elections, five years of our nation at war, the worst economic climate in seventy years, two Sabres appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals, too many Damn Yankees video posts, what seems now like hundreds of caps & jones flyer posts, law school, my move to and from Philadelphia, and the release of several hours worth of our mixtapes, amongst a million other things. It's been a real outlet, a favorite spot, and I've met many, many people through writing here. Just the other day I had a dude come up to me and say, "Hey, are you Caps? From the stencil?" I love that - not because of some kind of ego boost, though I'm happy of course that folks read the site, but because it means this seemingly real nice, cool dude has taken the time, for whatever reason, to check this place out more than once. Maybe he just likes aliens; maybe he like the Bills; maybe, like me, he likes both. But for whatever reason, he kept coming back - and I like that.
So, can I give it up so simply?
No. After long thought, I'm gonna keep it going. Why? Well, selfishly, I like having a place to talk to myself. And there's the 4:20 alien to think about. I like that when one googles "4:20 alien," this here site is the #5 result for the web and the #1 and #2 results for images. That's a bullet point on any resume.
But there will be definite changes - a new URL, maybe, or a new publishing software. My misadventures in web publishing over at Mishka's Bloglin this past month (thank you, MB, for your patience with my formatting fuck-ups) have taught me that this old Movable Type build is creaky as hell, and it's time for me to upgrade.
So, in the months to come, some things you should expect:
1) A possible URL change;
2) A definite web-builder change;
3) More posts, more often;
4) More pictures and some new mixes (seriously - they're done);
5) A Damn Yankees video.
Thanks for all the support, the 10 of you still checking this. I'm gonna fix up this old blog and make it vibrant and shiny again, one word after another, until I've built a stairway to the year 2014.
Posted by caps at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)