Thankfully today went a lot smoother, Just to make sure, I slept on the couch so I wouldn't have any chance of locking myself out of the room =). I'm smiling about it now but that was not fun.

 

So if you want to check out a live webcast that Lauren is doing from the E3 conference in L.A. go to www.gamespot.com. Click on one of the Gamespot Live Shows for more info on times etc.

 

I'm headed to Boston aka Bean Town for the next few days so that should be fun. My homeboy Shawn is in town finishing a video game so I'm gonna meet up with him. Full report coming soon....

 

My drive from Brooklyn took an hour longer then expected. I made a 4-hour drive out of a normal 3-hour trip because of highway construction on many interstates. I'm also still getting used to paying tolls in ever location. So, I made it.

 

I arrived at the ParkHotel @ MIT(in Cambridge) around 1200 and was greeted by my boy Shawn. He's in town putting the finishing touches on some Karaoke game. I'll get the specs soon. Shawn and I go way back to Pinole Junior High School, when I was sporting a Jerry Curl and acid washed jeans. God, how embarrassing just to paint this picture, but it's true. If he could be my friend at that period of my life, I know is one of my true friends. Feeling a bit hungry from the drive we went out for a slice of pizza on MAss Ave.

 

My first impression of the place is that its a lot less intense then New York. I don't have a true feel for it yet because I'm in a heavily populated student area. I'll have a clearer picture when leave.

 

Well that was it, tomorrow (Friday) I will be out and about gathering info. I wont have the picture uploaded because I forget the cable at home, but I'll have them on Monday.

 

In the beginning of time, music & theatre were two separate mediums(don't you just love how I make grand statements of b.s. and call it truth) . Brave souls that have the resources and talent, experiment in merging both in what we now call musicals. I attended something considered a rock opera which I'm not quite sure where it fits, but when the show was over, I couldn't find too many good things to say about it.

 

I got to the theatre in Arlington an hour into the show, so maybe I missed the good parts. Upon arrival, some guy who looked like a combination of 'Jeff Garcia' and 'Mini Me' was talking non-stop bringing the show to a screeching halt. He went on and on about how he put everything together and how they were 'filming'(it was shot on video) the remainder of the show to make an appeal to the guy who holds the rights to music written in Jesus Christ Superstar, begging him to allow them to recreate the music for an upcoming album. In essence that made a promo with the audience who paid to be in the 'film'. Wait did you catch that? We paid to be in their film! Actually, Shawn had free tickets so we didn't pay but still, as Chris Rock says 'that aint right'.

 

You know the actually singing was pretty good, they were just constantly being upstaged by the director/composer.

 

Shawn and I went out tonight to this night club called Matrix. There was no cool action stunts but there were plenty of green lights. We were also totally appalled by their wet T-shirt contest! Not really, but it was kinda cheesy.

 

Supposedly this place was a good spot to hear 'hip hop', so we went and checked it out. Before going out, I came across and interesting thread about how hip hop in Boston is under attack.

 

 

The discussion is based on strict dress codes and how its racially motivated. Club goers, promoters, venue owners and dj's all chime in on the subject.

I personally think that these policies attack individual expression, which is fascist in nature. Hip-hop as a culture was never about catering to the needs of people who can afford to buy  $700 outfits and pay $20 bucks to get in. It was based on kids making something beautiful with the resources they had. DOnt even get me started preaching =)

 

Maybe we just went to the wrong spot, who knows? The highlight of my night was seeing  Shawn get freaky on the dancefloor with a bunch of some bridesmaids! Go head pimp daddy.

 

Well, after spending a few days in the Boston area, I was leaving with a good feeling that this was an interesting city and I would like to come back and visit. There's so much history that I read about pertaining to the birth of this nation and also that plight of Africans to regain their freedom in a foreign land. It never crossed my mind that during this trip, I would be witnessing another historic event taking place in Massachusetts.

 

I was headed toward the Mass turnpike, but ended up going the wrong way( that seems to be my trademark lately). I encountered a large gathering of people and news media thinking that it must be some minor local issue that people are protesting about. As I drove closer, I could see that one side of the street was about 12 people holding signs saying things like "Thank God for Sept 11" and "Fags go home". Then it hit me that the state was set to become first to fully allow gay marriage. New York would have to wait, I parked grabbed my cameras and started shooting.

 

The scene was really surreal. On the city hall side of the street, gay couples lined up to be granted the right to marry. Across the street stood the family of 12 who came all the way from Kansas to "represent". I can't believe that we are still trying to tell people in foreign lands how to live their lives, but we still oppress our own citizens. I'm not a democrat or republican, that's irrelevent. I am a humanitarian and that is the closest term I can use to describe how I classify my believe structure in relation to social interactions. In my view, the world needs more love and love is never a bad thing.

 

We're still a young nation and it's a step in the right direction to living up to what this place is supposed to be on paper. That will probably happen before the Red Sox win a World Series though.   

 

Although I'm loving the 'not having to work for 6 weeks & counting plan', I know that its time for me to really get a solid plan and come to grips with the idea of working again. Yuck. I'm not down to my last dime yet, but in 6 more weeks I will be.  

 

I have to go and grab one of those daily planners because I have plans for like the next month and a half! Ny is just incredible like that. I came here for a change of pace so I guess I got it right?

 

I can't think straight right now cause I'm operating on just 3 hours of sleep in a 36 hour span. Before I go, remember that this is Hip Hop appreciation week so go out a buy a platinum chain for me ok?