Febuary 2009

the have-nots...

1. Moved back to Oregon, I'm never leaving....
2. Unemployed for the first time in a long time...
3. Pandora Internet Radio is dope
4. Old punk rock, mid 90's hiphop, all kinds of metal...
5. Molalla, OR is still homo...
6. Johnny Cash is still the man...
7. Outta the coffee biz...Thank God
8. 60 pounds lighter...
9. Cigarettes
10. Pabst Blue Ribbon
11. Valentines was rad...
12. Miss my car...
13. Stranded on the hilltop
14. Cash Black
15. Vans

Sicko and more....

Yo, I caught Sicko with my wife on Sunday. I gots to say I enjoyed it, although the whole Michael Moore schtick is a little played. But, he means well, and you can tell he trult cares unlike the hacks on the right. i won't go into details but. I think we should all move to France.

The Republicans continue to fall apart in front of our eyes. Paybacks's a bitch yeah, I just wish the Democrats had some more balls. It seems that the ticket for '08 is going to be Clinton/Obama, a woman and a black man, I'm down for that. Although I would prefer Al Gore.

Current digs....

The Wire

After the disappointing end of The Sopranos, my wife and I have gotten hooked like heroin on The Wire. Through the grace of Netflix, we have been averaging about a season a week. Straight up, this is the dopest show on TV. Season One's inside view into the drug game, and the hard drinking cops who pursue it. The shit has everything, humor, pathos, and action, this is my new favorite show. We are almost done with Season Two, which has upped the ante with its frightening look into the art of smuggling.

Top Chef

Am I wack for being hooked on this? I can't really tell you what I like about it, maybe Salman Rushdie's wife is why.

The Roots

I have listened to these guys since high school, but in the past few weeks, I have gotten hooked again. By far the most talented group in hiphop, after listening to jazz music I have developed a finer ear for small intricacies in music. There is dope shit all over all their all their albums, and they keep doing it. I am not saying anything that hasn't all ready been said, but they are mindblowing. Black Thought is my new favorite mc, check this verse of Things Fall Apart:

Ghetto related with this hit the whole world awaited Y'all Dorito-head cats that yak and stagnated Black Thought, The Doug E. Most war vete-ranCrown ruler, soul controller of this lyrical land spliff wizard kid, who is it?Fifth Dinosaur Ghetto, beat detonator Apex my level, NEXT, my complex pattern of speech is like sex I mastered the art of makin you snap the necks And Chase Manhattan endorse my mic fuckin with The Rootsthat's as good as it get, Ultramagnet We pull you in a Drag-net then brainwash your click and extort your assets, then roadie all your homies on some old school shit, Roots crew represent

Go out right now and pick up last year's Game Theory. No doubt.

Anyone see Sicko yet? Its not playing out here. Fucking Hawaii.

Get Rich or Die Tryin...

I am not a big 50 Cent fan,(in fact I think he is kind of an idiot) but the flick Get Rich or Die Tryin is fucking dope. When I first heard about it, I was like whatever, but then I heard that Jim Sheridan was directing. For those who need to know Jim Sheridan directed a little movie called In the Name of the Father, which I happen to really dig. Get Rich or Die Tryin is pure quality, I even hooked up the soundtrack. Plus its got my boy Terence Howard, playing a character very similar to Djay in Hustle & Flow.I was amazed, 50's flow on track 1, "Hustler's Ambition" is actually all right, he makes the mushmouth sound good. Some good beats too, lots of classic soul shit. Window shopper.

it is back....

Well, after an extended hiatus due to computer issues, cheaphotelbloodymary is back to fuck up your shit for the '07. Shit has been good in some ways, but bad in others I guess, in a Dickens kind of way. I got a boy on the way (Cash Black, is that not the most gangster name ever?), still slaving in the coffee world, my wife got a new job, and my daughter graduated preschool last week. Enough though of the boring, personal life shit...

My favorite posts before were always the "What I'm Diggin" ones, so here we go....

Books:

Miles: The Autobiography

Excellent, Miles Davis is a personal hero of mine, and he went through some crazy shit, another plus the book is wholly written in his voice. So its like he is telling you his whole life, from drugs, to women, to the music, it is uncomparable. Also, I think this book has the most use of the word "motherfucker" by far.

The Naked and the Dead

Norman Mailer's first novel about an army unit during World War II, not your typical war novel, there is hardly any combat, it is basically a multiple character study. I like how he goes back in time with each character and gives you some of their history.

Flicks:

Pan's Labyrinth

Dope imagery, an amalgam of horror, fantasy, and period war drama where the protagonist is a little girl. Good shit.

Emanuelle in America

That good old sleazy 70's Italian shit, Laura Gemser, and hardcore inserts with the ugliest people imaginable. Its worth it alone for the soundtrack. Disco funk grooves with lots of flute action.

Beats:

El-P: I'll Sleep when You're Dead

Half of it is mindblowing, the other half kind of ho-hum. But the good half is groundbreakingingly good, The first track is the best.

Eric B. and Rakim

Like 2 months ago, I picked up their greatest hits. Timeless NYC hiphop. Rakim quite possibly is the best mc ever. "Microphone Fiend" is my shit. I don't really need to say anything about this, because anyone who is down knows.

Misfits/Danzig

The bug bit me again, word. Let it bite you.

Type O Negative: Bloody Kisses

An oldie fromm the golden year that was 1993, Gothed out, simple heavy riffs, and a cover of "Summer Breeze" It makes me want to paint my fingernails black.

the best portrait ever

Slick Rick, courtesy of my man Noz over at Cocaine Blunts.

Ice Cube

For some odd reason, the past month or so I have gotten really into late 80's/early 90's West Coast hiphop. I always dug Straight Outta Compton, but I have even been diggin on shit I hated when it was out. The Chronic, Doggystyle, Too $hort, but mostly vintage Ice Cube. Ice Cube from 1987-1994 was some of hardest shit out at the time. From the tongue in cheek nihilistic/mysogynist in NWA to the almost punk rock politicism on his first 3 solo joints, our man Oshea had it. You can hear the anger, immediacy, and power in the his voice, and he was always a good lyricist. Its amazing how much hiphop has changed in 15 years, while some shit he says is cringeworthy, its his "I don't give a fuck" attitude that overpowers all of that. Straight up the shit is like if Minor Threat had grown up on P-funk, 8-Ball, and Dickies. That angry energy of punk rock is there. I think a little reverse racism is just as bad as creating something as stupid as sXe.
You know what else hiphop doesn't sound like this anymore at all, mainstream or underground. At the time Death Certificate was released, it was double platinum in two months. But it was also revolutionary to own something so politically charged. That shit never happens anymore. Nowdays, people think the Black Eyed Peas are groundbreaking.