The 1st leg is over, peoples. I call that one "Lyrics Born's European Vacation Tour".
I had more days off than George W. Bush. It was hot though, I can see why he does it. Big up Galactic and crew for holding me down and bringing me out. Also big up Boots Riley, Gnarls Barkley and band, Kings of Leon and crew, The Hives, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Counting Crows, Alice Smith, Joost, Superfly, Eurotaph, and of
course JB and Team LB for tying it all together. I had a blast, we smashed the EU, now it's on to the next....
Got off stage at the Kurten festival in Switzerland at 3am on the last nite of the Galactic leg, and had a 5am lobby call. No rest for your boy. All the way to
the Zurich airport I kept seeing posters for an upcoming event called "The Blue Balls Festival", headlined by Erykah Badu. I shit you not. Google that shit if you don't believe me. Giant posters of Badu looking over her shoulder as sexy as she wanna
be, then in big bubble letters underneath.. "The Blue Balls Festival". First of all, do the Swiss know what "Blue Balls" is? I mean, are? It's not really something to celebrate. I mean they are not really something to celebrate.
Anyway, I was beat the next day. Got picked up at Heathrow, and had a show at Dingwall's in Camden, London. I was going on about 2.5 hrs of sleep, but fuck it. Shit was off the chain! I haven't done a show with D-Sharp in a while, and we killed it! I was real warm from touring the past couple weeks, and it felt good to smash for a good 90 minutes. I also love hearing Joy perform her new songs live. They sounded
as good as they did when we mixed 'em!
After the show we hit up the Turkish area in London, and it was easily one of the top ten Kebabs I've ever had. NOT the typical street meat kebabs you get in Europe, this was exceptional. Definitely going back next time.
In the dressing room right now @ Komedia in Brighton waiting to soundcheck. I can hear Joy singing "Hott 2 Deff" which means I'm up pretty soon. Oh my God, my "Everywhere At Once" T-Shirts were pressed and shipped also. They look sick! These are probably the best Tees I've ever made! In Europe 1st people, and only at the shows.
Come see about me.
LB
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland….
The oldest and most famous of all festies in Europe. Definitely an honor to play. As a record collector I just remember buying live albums of a lot of my heroes that were recorded at this venerable festival. I used to stare at those black and white photos of the band and crowd on the inside sleeve for hours wondering what it must have been like. Ain’t wonderin’ no more, Fam! I’m looking forward to one day being able to tell my children that Daddy tore that shit down in the Alps.
Woke up, hopped out the bus and, BAM! There were those beautiful mountains. I walked around the town a little, and was blown away. I can definitely see why Al B. Sure! would buy a house out here. I remember hearing that in Jr. High and thought, “Damn, Al’s a Baller!” Well, guess what? Taking a look around, he must’ve been. These people are breaded. Of course, this is my ignorant American generalization, but hey, anyplace they got Benz taxis, my assumption is that economy is robust, and I’m in a super-power nation.
The weather was hella hot! I’ve been to Switzerland before but never Montreux, and I didn’t realize it got so hot out here. After I walked around, the shuttle took me to the hotel, which had an incredible view. I was so inspired I hooked up the Ipod to my speakers right away, and just started writing. Nailed a couple I’m going to record as soon as I get home……whenever that is.
Like I told you I’m going to tell Junior, we tore it down. They definitely came to party. I thought it was going to be a bunch of old farts, but it was all young people. They definitely knew how to get down. After the show, they had a DJ come in and play what I call “Cover Band Funk”. Meaning, all the shit some band your company paid $20,000 for their convention would be playing at nite. Brick House, Play That Funky Music White Boy, KC and the Sunshine Band, etc. Kinda like what the band at Will Ferrell’s wedding on “Old School” would play, but without the “F” word. A little hard to take for long periods of time. You would have thought it being Montreux and all that maybe….
I can’t lie though, I’m a sucker for Bounce, Rock, Skate and Roll. That shit will forever slap to me.
I went out in the general area and it was crackin’. Tons of food, Merchandise booths, music, etc. There was a DJ playing salsa and merengue, where I saw a few Ethiopian couples tearin’ it up on the floor. That was hot. You see all kinds of shit in Europe. I stepped into the official Montreux merchandise shop where they did have a lot of cool shit. I asked for a T-Shirt but they wanted to charge me the equivalent to $80 or something. I told them I had just played, so they offered me a 10% discount. I promptly bounced.
Only a few more days left on this leg. I gotta say, the festival circuit is the shit. D and Joy get out here in a couple days and we start my club run, which I’m really looking forward to.
Maybe one more blog to go on this leg.
See you out there
LB
The oldest and most famous of all festies in Europe. Definitely an honor to play. As a record collector I just remember buying live albums of a lot of my heroes that were recorded at this venerable festival. I used to stare at those black and white photos of the band and crowd on the inside sleeve for hours wondering what it must have been like. Ain’t wonderin’ no more, Fam! I’m looking forward to one day being able to tell my children that Daddy tore that shit down in the Alps.
Woke up, hopped out the bus and, BAM! There were those beautiful mountains. I walked around the town a little, and was blown away. I can definitely see why Al B. Sure! would buy a house out here. I remember hearing that in Jr. High and thought, “Damn, Al’s a Baller!” Well, guess what? Taking a look around, he must’ve been. These people are breaded. Of course, this is my ignorant American generalization, but hey, anyplace they got Benz taxis, my assumption is that economy is robust, and I’m in a super-power nation.
The weather was hella hot! I’ve been to Switzerland before but never Montreux, and I didn’t realize it got so hot out here. After I walked around, the shuttle took me to the hotel, which had an incredible view. I was so inspired I hooked up the Ipod to my speakers right away, and just started writing. Nailed a couple I’m going to record as soon as I get home……whenever that is.
Like I told you I’m going to tell Junior, we tore it down. They definitely came to party. I thought it was going to be a bunch of old farts, but it was all young people. They definitely knew how to get down. After the show, they had a DJ come in and play what I call “Cover Band Funk”. Meaning, all the shit some band your company paid $20,000 for their convention would be playing at nite. Brick House, Play That Funky Music White Boy, KC and the Sunshine Band, etc. Kinda like what the band at Will Ferrell’s wedding on “Old School” would play, but without the “F” word. A little hard to take for long periods of time. You would have thought it being Montreux and all that maybe….
I can’t lie though, I’m a sucker for Bounce, Rock, Skate and Roll. That shit will forever slap to me.
I went out in the general area and it was crackin’. Tons of food, Merchandise booths, music, etc. There was a DJ playing salsa and merengue, where I saw a few Ethiopian couples tearin’ it up on the floor. That was hot. You see all kinds of shit in Europe. I stepped into the official Montreux merchandise shop where they did have a lot of cool shit. I asked for a T-Shirt but they wanted to charge me the equivalent to $80 or something. I told them I had just played, so they offered me a 10% discount. I promptly bounced.
Only a few more days left on this leg. I gotta say, the festival circuit is the shit. D and Joy get out here in a couple days and we start my club run, which I’m really looking forward to.
Maybe one more blog to go on this leg.
See you out there
LB
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
North Beach Jazz Festival
Not much sleep, yesterday was a little crazy. A lotta planes, trains, and automobiles to get us out of Spain and into Rotterdam for the North Beach Jazz Festival. From the moment we got in, there was a lot of buzzing from the cats in the band (I ain’t mentioning no names) about the famous Dutch decriminalization of a certain herb, known in the Bay as “That Purp”. When we finally got to the hotel, several of the guys darted off the shuttle and I ain’t seen ‘em since….
When I got up this morning I saw two of my heroes in the lobby, jazz legends Lou Donaldson and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Mr. Smith was rockin’ the turban and errythang, as he has been for the past 30 yrs. I had actually seen Lou in Japan about 15 yrs ago performing with Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, and David T. Walker, and it was inspiring to see those guys still touring. I was talking to him, and he did start to nod off on me, however.
Stanton and I had Japanese food on the street (5.5/10, but I’ll take it where I can out here), then I got ready for the gig. Caught a little bit of Naturally Seven, a seven-man vocal group from NYC, who absolutely destroyed it. Imagine 7 Rahzels who can fuckin’ sang on top of that! We went on a little after that, smashed as usual, and then I headed for catering. I’ve never played this festy, and as I walked thru the “site”, I noticed it was a tad different from other festies. It was indoors, clean, raaaaahther gourmet, and refreshingly mmm-civilized. Shit felt more like a well-run convention, as opposed to a muddy-ass drunken festival. As much as I like to party, that was kinda cool for a change.
Met up with Joost, the Godfather of Solesides.com, which is always cool. He’s always got a lot of ideas and is open to anything. Big up, Joost. He’s dedicated a tremendous amount of time and talent to turning that site and message board into what it is today. We chopped it for a good minute, had a couple mojitos, and discussed some plans for the fall. Dude is very solid, we’re linking up again in Amsterdam next week.
Next was the afterparty at the Hilton, which was kind of a snoozer. Alicia Keys and Mark Ronson were the headliners for the night, both of whom I’m a huge fan of. “Teenage Love Ah-ffair-aa –a air, aa –ah-ah ah-air.” I love that shit. I would have kept that old-school dialogue going in the break a little longer, but that is my shit! Being that George Benson showed up at the afterparty the nite before, people were hoping they’d show up tonite. No such luck. Instead it was some lady who looked like my 10th grade English teacher singing standards.
At least I got to see my dude Thomas Pridgeon, former drummer for the Coup, who now plays for The Mars Volta. Also bumped into Ryan Shaw and band. We kicked for a second, but the party was in slow motion, so I went back to the hotel, texted my lady “Goodnite” and wrote this bloggie. It’s 3am and I got a 3:30 lobby call for a 6 am flite. In a minute.
LB
When I got up this morning I saw two of my heroes in the lobby, jazz legends Lou Donaldson and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Mr. Smith was rockin’ the turban and errythang, as he has been for the past 30 yrs. I had actually seen Lou in Japan about 15 yrs ago performing with Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, and David T. Walker, and it was inspiring to see those guys still touring. I was talking to him, and he did start to nod off on me, however.
Stanton and I had Japanese food on the street (5.5/10, but I’ll take it where I can out here), then I got ready for the gig. Caught a little bit of Naturally Seven, a seven-man vocal group from NYC, who absolutely destroyed it. Imagine 7 Rahzels who can fuckin’ sang on top of that! We went on a little after that, smashed as usual, and then I headed for catering. I’ve never played this festy, and as I walked thru the “site”, I noticed it was a tad different from other festies. It was indoors, clean, raaaaahther gourmet, and refreshingly mmm-civilized. Shit felt more like a well-run convention, as opposed to a muddy-ass drunken festival. As much as I like to party, that was kinda cool for a change.
Met up with Joost, the Godfather of Solesides.com, which is always cool. He’s always got a lot of ideas and is open to anything. Big up, Joost. He’s dedicated a tremendous amount of time and talent to turning that site and message board into what it is today. We chopped it for a good minute, had a couple mojitos, and discussed some plans for the fall. Dude is very solid, we’re linking up again in Amsterdam next week.
Next was the afterparty at the Hilton, which was kind of a snoozer. Alicia Keys and Mark Ronson were the headliners for the night, both of whom I’m a huge fan of. “Teenage Love Ah-ffair-aa –a air, aa –ah-ah ah-air.” I love that shit. I would have kept that old-school dialogue going in the break a little longer, but that is my shit! Being that George Benson showed up at the afterparty the nite before, people were hoping they’d show up tonite. No such luck. Instead it was some lady who looked like my 10th grade English teacher singing standards.
At least I got to see my dude Thomas Pridgeon, former drummer for the Coup, who now plays for The Mars Volta. Also bumped into Ryan Shaw and band. We kicked for a second, but the party was in slow motion, so I went back to the hotel, texted my lady “Goodnite” and wrote this bloggie. It’s 3am and I got a 3:30 lobby call for a 6 am flite. In a minute.
LB
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Beach Strollin'
<--- Boots Riley (The Coup) and Jeff Raines from GalacticHands down, San Sebastian in Spain is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. The beach is absolutely amazing. It reminded me of Bondi in Sydney a little bit, but about twice as wide. The water is deep blueish-green, crystal clear, & jacuzzi warm. There were tourists, but not like I expected, in fact, I don't remember seeing any Americans at all. I think I saw some Italians, some Brits, but mostly a lot of white people speaking Spanish (is it grammatically incorrect to not capitalize the "W" in white people? Someone respond). Coming from California, that always trips me out when I'm here. I liken the experience to the first time I saw Asians with Australian accents (a Berkeley public school education doesn't prepare you for Asians in other countries).
They speak Spanish differently too, with that lisp, where as back home I always hear it being "sung". Again, coming from Cali, my first instinct was, "They speakin' it wrong". What do I know, tho.
Anyway, I strolled along the beach with my Ipod which was at least a good mile & a half long. I was knockin' that Grace Jones, Lil' Wayne, some Bob, and a new song I'd did w/Lateef just before I left for tour. Don't tell my wife, but there were some topless ladies out there. It was ill, little kids running around while their Moms' bore it all. Some of 'em really needed to put they shirts back on in a major way.
By the time I hit old town, siesta was over (I don't know how they get anything done shutting down 3 hrs a day), & the Tapas was out. I met up w/the crew, & we just went from bar to bar eating the most incredible food in the birthplace of Tapas. My favorite was the baguette with a giant sun dried tomato & a hunk of blue cheese on top. I'm droolin' rite now, fam. After a bottle & a half of sparkling white wine, & more Tapas then any man can endure, I stumbled my ass back along that whole beach, returning to the hotel.
My mother emailed me along the way, & when responded (with hella typos) that we were in San Sebastian, she said she went there with my father in the 70's before I was born. She told me they hit the beach and ate Tapas like champs as well. I didn't ask, but I really hope she kept her shirt on.
LB
Love and Understanding
Day off in Salamanca
Another day off, this time in Salamanca. The weather was beautiful. I’m missing home a little bit today. Mid-July in the Bay is simply exquisite, and right about now I’d be pulling the cover off the ‘Lac, and Joy and I would be riding thru the town with the top down on the ‘68, not doing anything much. Even with the price of gas and the size of that tank, those moments are priceless. Old-school owners feel me. Specifically Cadillac owners, stand up.
She (meaning Joy) is not on this leg of the tour, and I miss her. I’ll see her in about a week when she comes out with D-Sharp for the second leg, and I can’t wait. It sucks for me personally, but to remain positive, I tell myself it’s good for my art (I guess). Inspired by those feelings, I stayed in the hotel most of the day and worked on a few new songs for my next album. In between, for inspiration I’ve been listening to her album, just so I can hear her voice. “Love And Understanding” is bangin’, btw! It’s been such a part of our lives for the past couple years that I needed some distance from it, but for the past couple days I’ve been totally immersed in it again. I can’t wait for people to hear it. Love and Understanding, 10/21 on Quannum Projects, peoples. Sorry, I just had that promo-graphic urge.
Later on that evening we celebrated Stanton’s B-day in town. We went from restaurant to restaurant eating Tapas all over again. Although it wasn’t as good as San Sebastian, it was still off the chain. With all these off days, and good food around, I know I’m bulking up. This ain’t good. I mean it is, but it ain’t.
LB
Another day off, this time in Salamanca. The weather was beautiful. I’m missing home a little bit today. Mid-July in the Bay is simply exquisite, and right about now I’d be pulling the cover off the ‘Lac, and Joy and I would be riding thru the town with the top down on the ‘68, not doing anything much. Even with the price of gas and the size of that tank, those moments are priceless. Old-school owners feel me. Specifically Cadillac owners, stand up.
She (meaning Joy) is not on this leg of the tour, and I miss her. I’ll see her in about a week when she comes out with D-Sharp for the second leg, and I can’t wait. It sucks for me personally, but to remain positive, I tell myself it’s good for my art (I guess). Inspired by those feelings, I stayed in the hotel most of the day and worked on a few new songs for my next album. In between, for inspiration I’ve been listening to her album, just so I can hear her voice. “Love And Understanding” is bangin’, btw! It’s been such a part of our lives for the past couple years that I needed some distance from it, but for the past couple days I’ve been totally immersed in it again. I can’t wait for people to hear it. Love and Understanding, 10/21 on Quannum Projects, peoples. Sorry, I just had that promo-graphic urge.
Later on that evening we celebrated Stanton’s B-day in town. We went from restaurant to restaurant eating Tapas all over again. Although it wasn’t as good as San Sebastian, it was still off the chain. With all these off days, and good food around, I know I’m bulking up. This ain’t good. I mean it is, but it ain’t.
LB
Monday, July 14, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Werchter Rock Festival
One of the many things that was dope about playing Werchter Rock festival on July 4th in Belgium was playing @ noon. My voice felt strong after all the sleep I've been getting on the bus. (I always sleep better on the bus than I do @ home for some reason. Built for this shit, I guess). Ripped thru 5 tunes including "I Like It, I Love It", & then it was Miller time. With my work day done so soon, all I did was hang out in the artist compound, chop it with the other performers, talked about working on a couple new songs with Stanton, watched a gang of performances, & drank hella white wine. That's my new daytime drank.
Never was big on partyin' on the 4th of July, but thanks to all my peoples who texted me, I threw quite a few back for y'all that day.
The artist compound was tight. Reminded me of the courtyard @ the Doug Fir club/hotel in Portland. Very modern (which is my taste), kinda Ikea, but still cool. They had a massage area, which I took full advantage of for once. I always seem to get in to festies too late to get a massage, so I finally got the chance to make it crack. Came up for air after about 15 minutes of medium pressure, festival grade Shiatsu, and noticed a dude from Radiohead was to my right, & the chubby dude from The Hives was on my left getting massages. That was a trip. The Hives were fucking sick, btw. So much energy! Great showmen too, I always appreciate that about groups.
Got a chance to chop it with Ben Harper's band, then Cee-Lo for a minute, which was cool. Cee-Lo's been one of my favorites since the Goodie Mob days. He always ripped his guest appearances on Common's albums also.
It was a very well-run festival from top to bottom. Very green, from what I could tell. Much more eco-friendly than a lot of the festivals I've played. They had bottles of Ecover products all around. That's the shit I use @ the crib, by the way. I may be the first rapper to ever give a co-sign to a green cleaning product. We branching out, peoples!
Meant to catch Radiohead but my jet lag kicked in. I woke up on the bus to the sound of 50K people singing one of the songs off "In Rainbows" (I'm shitty w/titles). I put my pants on, then my shirt on inside- out, and chirped out the bus. Tried to lock the door behind me, but if you've read my previous blog, you know we ridin' in a bucket. The shit wouldn't lock. $500,000 for a bus & the shit won't lock! One of the other band's rd mgr's walked by & said, "Oh yeah, I had that bus before, she's a mess, idn't she mate?". Needless to say, I missed their show. I'll have to wait 'til I play w/them on 8/22 @ Outside lands to fully see it now.
LB
Never was big on partyin' on the 4th of July, but thanks to all my peoples who texted me, I threw quite a few back for y'all that day.
The artist compound was tight. Reminded me of the courtyard @ the Doug Fir club/hotel in Portland. Very modern (which is my taste), kinda Ikea, but still cool. They had a massage area, which I took full advantage of for once. I always seem to get in to festies too late to get a massage, so I finally got the chance to make it crack. Came up for air after about 15 minutes of medium pressure, festival grade Shiatsu, and noticed a dude from Radiohead was to my right, & the chubby dude from The Hives was on my left getting massages. That was a trip. The Hives were fucking sick, btw. So much energy! Great showmen too, I always appreciate that about groups.
Got a chance to chop it with Ben Harper's band, then Cee-Lo for a minute, which was cool. Cee-Lo's been one of my favorites since the Goodie Mob days. He always ripped his guest appearances on Common's albums also.
It was a very well-run festival from top to bottom. Very green, from what I could tell. Much more eco-friendly than a lot of the festivals I've played. They had bottles of Ecover products all around. That's the shit I use @ the crib, by the way. I may be the first rapper to ever give a co-sign to a green cleaning product. We branching out, peoples!
Meant to catch Radiohead but my jet lag kicked in. I woke up on the bus to the sound of 50K people singing one of the songs off "In Rainbows" (I'm shitty w/titles). I put my pants on, then my shirt on inside- out, and chirped out the bus. Tried to lock the door behind me, but if you've read my previous blog, you know we ridin' in a bucket. The shit wouldn't lock. $500,000 for a bus & the shit won't lock! One of the other band's rd mgr's walked by & said, "Oh yeah, I had that bus before, she's a mess, idn't she mate?". Needless to say, I missed their show. I'll have to wait 'til I play w/them on 8/22 @ Outside lands to fully see it now.
LB
Monday, July 7, 2008
Psssst!
L-Beezies,
I got a little somethin' special for y'all over at Myspace. Peep the latest blog post (y'all gotta be logged in to see it).
Peace.
And if you're not a Myspace friend...?
www.myspace.com/LYRICSBORN
I got a little somethin' special for y'all over at Myspace. Peep the latest blog post (y'all gotta be logged in to see it).
Peace.
And if you're not a Myspace friend...?
www.myspace.com/LYRICSBORN
Sunday, July 6, 2008
R2-D2, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Puma.
The first festival was cool, but quite honestly I was so jet lagged, I couldn’t totally remember everything. We were in Belfort, France doing the Eurokennes festy, and the bus had some major issues. It’s one of them old European double decker tour buses, but it’s a bucket. It reminded me of the first bus I was ever on when I toured with Blackalicious in ‘94….Lock busted, toilet don’t flush, no internet, TV doesn’t work, etc.
The minute we parked on the festival site, the driver had to go to work on the engine himself. When the bus was parked, he pulled out a big ass A/C unit that looked like R2D2 to cool off the upstairs. Shit was like fire and ice. The nite before, I woke up in the middle of the nite and my chain was stuck to my neck. I tried to take it off, but the shit was hella hot like when the German dude tried to grab the medallion at Marion’s bar in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
French catering was hella good though, I can’t lie. Duck legs, tomato salad w/feta cubes, delicious fruit salad with the skin peeled off the grapefruit, hella rich ice cream, incredible cheeses, flan, and…..gummy bears. Not bad. Only thing is, and I’ve noticed this now about Europe, nobody out here drinks green tea. It’s a good thing I brought a giant, burlap gunny sack full of Peet’s Jasmine Fancy from the Town. That shit go, anywhere in the world, baby.
One thing that caught me off guard while I was eating, I’ve never seen that many dudes kissing. Both cheeks and shit. I’m cool. I’ve been to France hella times, but I never noticed it before. Being American, I thought what most of us would think, but turns out it’s just cultural. Can’t say I’m about to do as the Romans do. I’m cool.
They had Puma gifting in the artist compound, Stanton and Ben came back lookin’ like a breakdancing team. As soon as I got off stage at 11pm I had one of the runners call the Puma tent to hold the doors for me. I had an interview scheduled, so for efficiency sake, I had the dude interview me while we were smashin’ across the festival site, lookin’ all over the place like dope fiends. I would guess his recorder has about 3 minutes of actual interview, and a good 15 of me asking for directions to the Puma tent every 30 seconds. I ruined a pair of Undercrown Arenas Adidas fastwalking all the way across the site, and as fate would have it…..They were slapping padlocks on the doors. Muthafucka! I was too late, and they were tryin’ to make exceptions. Especially not after dealing with 14 hrs of ravenous, carnivorous artists looking for freebies.
Oh well, 02 is in a couple days, maybe I’ll come up there.
The minute we parked on the festival site, the driver had to go to work on the engine himself. When the bus was parked, he pulled out a big ass A/C unit that looked like R2D2 to cool off the upstairs. Shit was like fire and ice. The nite before, I woke up in the middle of the nite and my chain was stuck to my neck. I tried to take it off, but the shit was hella hot like when the German dude tried to grab the medallion at Marion’s bar in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
French catering was hella good though, I can’t lie. Duck legs, tomato salad w/feta cubes, delicious fruit salad with the skin peeled off the grapefruit, hella rich ice cream, incredible cheeses, flan, and…..gummy bears. Not bad. Only thing is, and I’ve noticed this now about Europe, nobody out here drinks green tea. It’s a good thing I brought a giant, burlap gunny sack full of Peet’s Jasmine Fancy from the Town. That shit go, anywhere in the world, baby.
One thing that caught me off guard while I was eating, I’ve never seen that many dudes kissing. Both cheeks and shit. I’m cool. I’ve been to France hella times, but I never noticed it before. Being American, I thought what most of us would think, but turns out it’s just cultural. Can’t say I’m about to do as the Romans do. I’m cool.
They had Puma gifting in the artist compound, Stanton and Ben came back lookin’ like a breakdancing team. As soon as I got off stage at 11pm I had one of the runners call the Puma tent to hold the doors for me. I had an interview scheduled, so for efficiency sake, I had the dude interview me while we were smashin’ across the festival site, lookin’ all over the place like dope fiends. I would guess his recorder has about 3 minutes of actual interview, and a good 15 of me asking for directions to the Puma tent every 30 seconds. I ruined a pair of Undercrown Arenas Adidas fastwalking all the way across the site, and as fate would have it…..They were slapping padlocks on the doors. Muthafucka! I was too late, and they were tryin’ to make exceptions. Especially not after dealing with 14 hrs of ravenous, carnivorous artists looking for freebies.
Oh well, 02 is in a couple days, maybe I’ll come up there.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Where the Tea @?!
Here we go again....Had a 6 am flight outta the city, which I personally think should be against the law. On the way, half asleep & punch drunk from packing & tying up loose ends the previous day, I started texting while driving to the airport (one day after the hands-free law takes effect, no less), swerved a bit in the Benz & almost gave my woman a heart attack. Great way to start off a 12-country international tour. This was about @ 04:40 pst. I pretty much don't remember anything else, except landing in Philly for a layover.
I brought my sleep mask (the kind my stepfather used to wear, which made me freaked out enough to the point where I recommended he and my Moms get divorced. They didn't, but that's another blog), put it on, & I was out. I haven't been to this airport in a while, & like a lot of American airports, I later learned they added a mini mall. I'm not against mini malls in airports @ all, in fact, being a champion of the road, I'd prefer to eat @ a place that I know what I'm getting, rather than some roody-poot spot trying to look like a chain, but really only exists in terminal A of the Philadelphia airport. Well, as I mentioned before, because I didn't know they had a mall yet, I ended up eating @ some spot trying to look like a chain, but really only exists in terminal A of the Philadelphia airport. It was fucking horrible. Why does everyone have to have a "signature sandwich" with some dumb-ass name where they combine a bunch of shit that really shouldn't be seen together? Turkey, egg salad, & guacamole on dutch crunch? The "Buddy Boy"?!?! I don't even know where to begin. I guess they can't all be Genova in North Oakland.
At this point I'm a zombie, so I started my daily hop-head mission looking for that Green Tea. "Where the Tea @? Where the Tea @?". That's when they pointed me in the direction of the mini mall, in the other terminal. I got on the Automatic walkway, & as I saw it approaching, I thought I had arrived in heaven. Chik-fil-A.....Brookstone......TGI Friday's.......Ahhhh..... Suddenly I heard beautiful mermaids of color strumming harps in the back of my mind. I thought for sure I'd at least find a Starbuck's, & I'm not really a big Starbucks fan either, but again, hey, @ least I know what I'm getting. Instead I found "Brisco's" or some shit, but @ that point I didn't care, I was a fiend nodding off, jonesin' & getting sick. "Where the Tea @? Where the Tea @?" My barrista pointed to a stack of boxes full of fruity-ass, colorful packets, that I thought I coulda swore I smelled from the automatic walkway. Again, why can't I just get some good, pure green tea? Why does everyone have to have a "green tea medley" with some dumb-ass name where they combine a bunch of shit that really shouldn't be seen together? I don't want pear flavored green tea with rose hips, a hint of cinnamon aromatherapy, or some other suburban-ass, Pier One imports flavor combination. They doin' way too much. Well, I guess they can't all be L'amyx in North Oakland.
I need a nap.
-LB
I brought my sleep mask (the kind my stepfather used to wear, which made me freaked out enough to the point where I recommended he and my Moms get divorced. They didn't, but that's another blog), put it on, & I was out. I haven't been to this airport in a while, & like a lot of American airports, I later learned they added a mini mall. I'm not against mini malls in airports @ all, in fact, being a champion of the road, I'd prefer to eat @ a place that I know what I'm getting, rather than some roody-poot spot trying to look like a chain, but really only exists in terminal A of the Philadelphia airport. Well, as I mentioned before, because I didn't know they had a mall yet, I ended up eating @ some spot trying to look like a chain, but really only exists in terminal A of the Philadelphia airport. It was fucking horrible. Why does everyone have to have a "signature sandwich" with some dumb-ass name where they combine a bunch of shit that really shouldn't be seen together? Turkey, egg salad, & guacamole on dutch crunch? The "Buddy Boy"?!?! I don't even know where to begin. I guess they can't all be Genova in North Oakland.
At this point I'm a zombie, so I started my daily hop-head mission looking for that Green Tea. "Where the Tea @? Where the Tea @?". That's when they pointed me in the direction of the mini mall, in the other terminal. I got on the Automatic walkway, & as I saw it approaching, I thought I had arrived in heaven. Chik-fil-A.....Brookstone......TGI Friday's.......Ahhhh..... Suddenly I heard beautiful mermaids of color strumming harps in the back of my mind. I thought for sure I'd at least find a Starbuck's, & I'm not really a big Starbucks fan either, but again, hey, @ least I know what I'm getting. Instead I found "Brisco's" or some shit, but @ that point I didn't care, I was a fiend nodding off, jonesin' & getting sick. "Where the Tea @? Where the Tea @?" My barrista pointed to a stack of boxes full of fruity-ass, colorful packets, that I thought I coulda swore I smelled from the automatic walkway. Again, why can't I just get some good, pure green tea? Why does everyone have to have a "green tea medley" with some dumb-ass name where they combine a bunch of shit that really shouldn't be seen together? I don't want pear flavored green tea with rose hips, a hint of cinnamon aromatherapy, or some other suburban-ass, Pier One imports flavor combination. They doin' way too much. Well, I guess they can't all be L'amyx in North Oakland.
I need a nap.
-LB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)