putting the j in jjosh

2 tracks have been on my mind this week, so I thought I’d spin them like a college DJ, one after the other. Sidebar, I was packing up my old photo albums the other day and came across my college DJ FCC license…expired, but still official looking. Sidebar 2, I had a dream last night about running into someone who had the same (Bates) Jr. High yearbook I had, but that I didn’t know…weird…

Anyway, track 1 is one of my favorite tracks of all time. JG and i were talking about it earlier in the week, ‘cuz summer’s running out, and recently the sun has been on maximum good vibes. It’s an unreleased track from a Ghostface Killah album (he couldn’t clear the sample or something) and it is spectacular. Makes you feel good to be alive.

The second track is San Diego Zoo by Barbara someone-or-other, a track I was really into in college. It’s in my head because we’re heading to San Diego tonight for 5 days on a shoot. The great thing about this track is that I put it on a mix tape for my sister when she was living in Bolivia, and she subsequently digitized the tapes I made her into mp3’s. Laborious, I imagine, but I am so thankful as I know I’d never track down all these tracks…enjoy…

Hey nerds, get a job.

Or actually don’t, instead keep making stuff like this.

[via Waxy]

Hey remember when Hype Williams was all over MTV and his signature wide-angle style was every every everywhere? Maybe you don’t. For me, it coincided with sophmore year at college — a time of more TV watching than ever before, or since. His style got tiring pretty quickly, and the artists who he did videos for could sometimes be pretty weak (Puffy), but when he started out, the Hype style was mind-blowing. Especially when matched with rappers who were actually pretty weird, like Busta or Missy. I came across this video the other day and remembered how it made my eyes explode when I first saw it. Crank it up, it’s Monday!!!!

sometimes Pandora can surprise me…

At some point I came across the blog Goulash (where did I come across it?) and started reading it because I love that word. I feel the same about the word "aardavrk", is there a blog called Aardvark? there should be. Goulash is pretty dam funny, and though he doesn’t post much, when he does it usually makes me laugh out loud. His most recent is worth checking out, here’s an excerpt:

There are a lot of these overused phrases, but there are 2 that I hear all of the time that contribute absolutely nothing to a conversation. They are "it is what it is" and "I know, right?" Let’s tackle these one at a time.

"It is what it is." Isn’t that obvious? If it isn’t what it is, I’m barricading my front door and hiding in the closet because I no longer have any idea what in the hell is going on.

"I know, right?" This one is trickier. I usually hear this when a person is agreeing with me, but it still confuses me because it ends with a question. I can just see some terrible mystery movie where the femme fatale has given the brain surgeon an amnesia drug. He’s looking at his scalpel right before the surgery starts, certain it looks familiar, and he whimpers, "I know…. right?" And then he bursts into tears. In most conversations, yes, you know and you’re right that you know.

Good stuff, right? Check out the whole post, it gets funnier…

I’ve been reading (courtsey kottke) this amazing New Yorker profile on Ricky Jay, the master sleight-of-hand conjurer and expert on the history of magic and cons. It’s fantastic. In the blog post, kottke then links to one of Jay’s tricks, and it’s right up my street — clever, old-timey, shmancy patter…good stuff…watch the cards…