As mentioned on my About page…I’m all about divergent musical tastes. Quite simply, I just grew up that way and the different genres I’ve gotten into have contributed to different stages in my life.

Cypress Hill, babies.

I miss LA, I really do. It may have been a lifetime ago but a lot of memories from when I was a teen are as fresh as a hot shower with a sensorial exfoliating gel. LA is where I learned to love beats, adore the Lakers, dream of the Dodgers, embrace the combination of dry heat and wind chill on the same day, shop on Melrose, girls girls girls, sneaker sneakers sneakers, the game of football, graffiti appreciation, the running man, real lifelong friends and LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow on PBS, among countless other things.

1991 was the year Cypress Hill hit the scene. 8th grade, a whole lotta khakis going on and earphones were a constant accessory. Back then it was all about the college hoodies and beanies (Georgetown, Michigan, Syracuse), Starter caps of the black and silver LA squads (Kings/Raiders), Huarache runners, big jackets, Chevy Impalas, Ford Escorts, Honda CRXs and Preludes, tagging and bragging and a whole lot of posturing for the girls. As I look back I’ve always wondered what I would be like today had I remained.

Anyways, going back to Cypress Hill…talk about redefining the gangster rap era. We already had NWA, Ice T and DJ Quik setting the tone for west coast gangster rap as well as Kid Frost and Mellow Man Ace asserting themselves as pioneers in latino rap. B-Real, Sen Dog and DJ Muggs, though, brought it all to another level, crossing over into the mainstream – in a good way – and paving the way for multi-ethnic artists all over the place. The intro and subsequent popularity of Cypress Hill brought House of Pain, Funkdoobiest and Soul Assassins to the fore and paved the way for collaborations with Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Velvet Revolver and others. And not to mention helping build the relationship between rap and rock.

This track laid the groundwork for a 21-year Cypress presence in music. And yeah, that is Ice Cube (before his beef with B-Real) and Q-Tip of the Tribe in the video. Instant cred, my friend. A truly hard, fierce, and f*cking awesome track.

And yes, it does mean something to me. It’s my TIME TO GO APESHIT ON THE BADMAN track.

Plus a special appearance alongside the Rage…

THURRRSDAY, 25 SEPT

I don’t know about Jon Swift’s quote up there. Then again, maybe I’m just not that wise. But hey, a quotable quote is always worth posting.

Had a very happy Thursday as my little boy came for a splendid weekend visit and helped make my mom’s birthday a happy one. We took in the sights, sounds and smell of Pepper Lunch in Rockwell. My mother had been wanting to try it out as she had been hearing some raves and was noticing the omnipresent line that gathers outside this fine establishment.

The latest hot shit at Rockwell.

Pepper Lunch is a DIY steak joint that fancies itself as a new trend for the lunch crowd. Of course it took all of 2 minutes for mom to realize that it had a self-serve, order at the counter MO, which did not sit well for a few minutes. Ho hum, have some fun mom. And we did. Some favorite aunts, uncles, cousins (including the infamous Collector) and nephews came to help celebrate the occassion. I had the pepper steak (duh) since I figured it must be the specialty of the house. I was taken aback, however, when I realized that the steak comes on a hotplate and oh – que horror – I actually had to mind the cooking of the slab myself.

Disclaimer: I cannot cook to save my life. I ended up with one well done side combined with a rare underbelly – a bit of a mishmash of chewy, juicy and tough. Hmmm. Tasted fine though, but I think I preferred Bup’s chicken rice meal. Bup is Sebastien, my son…he used to say Bup quite often and I thought that was pretty cute, so Bup my secret monicker for the tyke.

The food was tasty and the piped-in music upbeat and quirky, but in a good way. Bothered mother a bit, but had to point out that it is perhaps the point of the joint. Really only had 2 problems: a) that icky, sizzling hotplate, garlicky smell that sticks to your clothing for hours and hours and b) some family took one of the 2 precious high chairs available. I have an 18 month old nephew and of course Bup was in the house – so this did not sit well. Sneaky family. They had a stroller so they could have made without the high chair you know. Pfft. Foreigners. Haha.

All around, we had a great night. I washed down my steak with some Mrs. Field’s action, semisweet goodness to tickle the tummy.

TOTAL DAMAGE – Pepper steak, a half bowl of the chicken meal, a semisweet cookie, a stolen high chair and that ridiculous smell.

LIGHTS OUT – 0200 (I think)

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT – “Heard you want to DJ…”

PHOTOS STOLEN FROM - The Nokia N95 8GB Music series mobile, which is starting to come in handy.

Eggstone is one of those 90s indie bands whose beautiful compositions and complicated lyrics either a) made your day (Eggstone/Blueboy) or b) depressed you like crazy (paging Trembling Blue Stars). Either way, the tracks are ones to remember. Eggstone in particular makes me want to throw a happy lunch party together on a rainy Sunday afternoon, complete with cheap wine and fancy hors d’oeuvres.

Anyways, check out this ridiculous YouTube video. Some dude who also happens to dig Eggstone got his hands on Adobe Premier and went crazy with the controls. It is just too much. LOL/HAHAHA/all that jazz. It is so dang funny, I want my own. Enjoy.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE - Thanks to Skeletor, again…nice find!

ANOTHER LAZY SATURDAY, 20 SEPT

Well I didn’t exactly get a nice bath on last Saturday, but oh well. The quote is there to kind of exemplify the expectations one has on a typical Saturday – the power and right to do whatever your little heart desires. That’s what Saturday is. The one day where you can seek refuge from an otherwise mundane week. Sunday doesn’t count – that day is spent worrying about Monday. Boo.

Spent this particular Saturday at Salcedo Market again, this time having a go at Filipino food versus last week’s Indonesian fair. Utter fail – was not loving my food, a combination of BBQ and a tilapia-strewn fried rice combo.

A white chocolate mocha, some icey mix, an exotic tea and Mrs. Supergift's aviators. In gold. The only color aviators should be.

Sought respite at the local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. I have to say CB&TL is my coffee shop of choice these days. Nice interiors, better coffee than Starbucks and pretty good locations. The CB&TL I paid a visit to is my favorite, right across Salcedo Park on Tordesillas Street. Good times. Mrs. Supergift tagged along, spending the next 2 hours listening to me rant and rave about other peoples’ choice of pets and the difference between CONFIRMED and CONFEERMED.

After CB&TL I headed back home to take a nap and sort out the rest of my Saturday. It wasn’t long before I headed out for Salcedo again though, because I had a dinner date with my cousin the Ballerina.

1B signage. The girl sitting directly under this sign thought I was stalking her.

The Ballerina is my sounding board, an eye for eye mirror of myself when it comes to pure complaining. She also loves to eat as much as I do, so it’s always good times. Went to our favorite neighborhood joint, Apartment 1B. Which is particularly convenient for the Ballerina since the 1B is on the ground floor of her apartment building.

The menu at 1B is a short and sweet one, with a nice combination of new eats and good old comfort food. I have heard the chicken wings are fantastic, the sandwiches are delish and the desserts are pretty good – however, my drug of choice is the marlin on pesto with veggies. This dish is effing amazing. I can’t get enough of it. My recommendation should anyone find themselves looking for a fairly healthy, filling and all-around delicious dish at 1B.

The Ballerina and I had a nice heart to heart and after my marlin and a couple brews, I trekked over to Guijo for more of that UDD love. Was an overall excellent night, hung out with my future business partner Not-So-Silent Bob and the Martian and taking in my fav Fil band. UDD has a new album coming up so we like to come out in full support. Waiting for my signed CD, Supergift…

A lousy photo of never lousy UDD..

...and another. I think I should cart a real camera around.

After hours were spent at Hap Chan with Mrs. Supergift, the Martian and the Collector, devouring the garlic fish fillet whilst speculating on the demise of old school adidas people. Where I used to work. Which is a story for another day.

TOTAL DAMAGE – a bunch of beer, the lovely marlin and pesto and garlic fish fillet.

LIGHTS OUT – 0500

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT – “…and he applied at Leo Burnett!!!”

PHOTOS STOLEN FROM - The Nokia N95 8GB Music series mobile, which when combined with me sucks to high heaven.

I first heard this track way back in 1995, sitting at Groove Nation Records with my cousin The Collector, Bossanova Girl Marie and my dear, long lost friend, um…Marimar. Haha, that’s hilarious. The Collector had it on vinyl – of course – and when it first played in-store I thought it was an amazing, epic track and had come just in time at that point in my life. 17, out of school and basically experiencing Manila for the first time. To this day, Gene has remained one of my favorite all-time bands. Yeah they sound like The Smiths, so the f**k what.

Have a watch.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE - Thanks to Skeletor and her fervent music video searching on YouTube…I think she is one of maybe 12 people I know who share my appreciation for Gene.