The misadventures of a multifaceted human
I was happy to find the Goldman and Sach Bull but, there was a crowd surrounding it. Everybody wanted a picture with the bull including myself. Some people even tried to mount it. I was hoping they fell off. But this caught my attention: the amount of people who touch the bull’s nether regions. Even more surprising: it was the shiny part on a brass bull. Continue reading “Bull Hunting”
So Cheshire suggested we walk across the Manhattan bridge to return to Brooklyn. Â I was adventurous since, we were hanging in Chinatown and dined in Little Italy for a while. It was a two miles stretch with a gorgeous view of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Many New Yorkers crossed this bridge with or without cars. Their activities varied but they used the scenery and distance to their advantage. I noticed the building rooftops were the tenant’s backyard. Many barbeques and parties were performed on there. Some rooftops even have swimming pools, tennis courts, batting practice area, or golf driver courses. One group were having a wedding ceremony. They definitely utilize all the building space.
After we crossed, we went to Juniors restaurant for cheesecake and black and white cookie. The food was excellent. I laugh now because people associate food with a regional area like NY cheesecake, Philly sub, Florida oranges, Idaho potatoes, or Georgia peaches. But when you are there, it is just food.
I headed to San Francisco to view Austin Kleon’s “Just Keep Telling Yourself: It’s Art” presentation at Mule Gallery in North Beach (80 Fresno St., San Francisco). The Gallery presented 22 Framed Arts and 9 Illustrations from his New York Bestselling Book, Steal like an Artist (which was also available, for sale, at Mule Gallery).  Most of the Framed Art were either Blackout Poems or Pop out Poems. I was able to score a solo viewing with the Art. So, I made a podcast inside the Gallery.
Continue reading “Res on the Go Podcast Ep 2: Austin Kleon: Just keep Telling Yourself It’s Art.”
At age 21, I started to shift my attention from Emceeing to Deejaying / Turntablism. Most of my generation was drawn to the urban aesthetic, but I felt closer to the creative process of Hip-hop. So I purchased turntables, videotapes, books, and recording equipment. Â I started studying the Djs in the clubs but, switched to the turntablist who performed with the music. Â My proudest moment was when my uncle gave me his record collection. My uncle was a main influence to being a DJ.
So I started practicing my scratches and routines on Gemini direct drive turntables and made mixtapes.  I liked the feel of records but I also had a big compact disc collection.  So, I also purchased a Denon CD turntable.  I didn’t know many turntablist in my town but I knew rappers, so I would do shows with them.  My first Dj show was in a bowling alley and I had a great time mixing old and new songs together. Â
Most hip-hop djs are known to remix and produces music for rappers, so I started producing my own music. Since, I couldn’t afford a high end equipment like a MPC 2000, I went the computer route and purchased controllers and software instead. I also founded my production company, A Serious Production. Â It was my label to my work so I would create and have a place to put it under. Â I started to share my music with a few friends and rappers. I got pretty good feedback. Plus, I started doing remixes with my friend Juda to be well versatile in my production.
By 2004,  I was a turntablist and joined a band called Intercourse, a rap-rock hybrid band in Stockton,CA.  I started to understand my role as a band member (a position most DJs don’t acquire), and what kind of rig to use. I would bring a turntable for my scratches and my Roland SP-808 sampler to play samples at the shows.
I started working with Alphabet Asylum in 2006. Our music was slimmed down to samples, turntables, bass, drums, and vocal. I added a keyboard to my rig to expand the sound range to our music. Â This action worked perfectly. We went from a rap band to an alternative funk band. Â I would play keyboards, samples, and a turntable at all our show and our 2011 album, The Balance. Â So, I became a DJ that played music, who evolved into a musician that made music.
With this evolution, I thought that I have explored everything on the Hip-hop scene. But I found  new genres to explore for myself and A Serious Production.
To be continue in our next installment…
Did you wake up this morning and said, “I am going to have an awesome adventure.” I did and made a list of places I wanted to see. But, I needed to finish my goal:
Touch all 5 boroughs of New York City.
I already did 4 of them and now I was on train to complete my final borough, The Bronx. I touchdown on Grand Concourse station. I walked around and noticed that it was more industrial than other boroughs.
My girlfriend told me that each borough carries their own personality. This idea surprised me. I visualized New York City as Voltron. Each borough connection was different. I wondered which part each borough played? I assumed Manhattan was the body and head. I found out most New Yorkers consider Manhattan as New York City. That was interesting.
We started at the north end of Central Park in Harlem and began our exploration. There are a lot of movies that filmed in New York City that always have a central park scene. The Central Park architects actually made another park in the Brooklyn area called Prospect Park.
It was interesting to discover that the Central Park architects like Prospect Park more because they were able to correct any design flaws they found in Central Park.
So, even their most famous and popular design is not their favorite. That make me wonder if the painting of the Mona Lisa is Leonard de Vinci’s favorite work of art?
I went back to East village to check out the Nuyorican Cafe once again. Then I changed my mind and headed to A-1 Record Shop. Today was Record Store Day, so I let out DJ Resolution and went shopping. I felt like Havoc(from Mobb Deep) on Mass Appeal’s Beat Roulette. A lot of records for a small space. They had DJs playing records in the store and doing turntable routines. I like their selection, but I was looking for the new J-Dilla CD and it was only on record. So, I bought a T-shirt to support the cause.
I talked to the cashier at A-1 records and he suggested I check out Turntable Lab around the corner. So that what I did. Now, A-1 record shop is store full of records. Turntable Lab is a DJ specialty store. It amazes me the sizes of these shops are in New York City. Most of these shop are about half the size of a subway car. Â DJ Resolution hit jackpot. Controllers, stands, turntables, break records, lights, and beat machine was all over the walls. Â I definitely enjoyed looking at items that were going on the Christmas list (or Tax return).
Today was an interesting Sunday. I met an actress, Midori Francis (she played a few small acting gigs but I remember her from the Liberty Mutual commercial), at Starbucks. That was wild. I apologies a lot to her for taking several glances at her. I wasn’t sure. Pretty cool that she agreed to take a picture with me. I definitely following her on social media.
Res Wonderland 