True Urban Legends

ok, so this is kind of the wraparound (real time post hip hop fest June 23-Pride Sunday, June 24)

oh, the AMC Loews, what a great theatre. the NYC chapter that i visited on 34th (after discovering that there are Forever 21s everywhere at my disposal) was hosting the VIBE Urbanworld Film Festival, of which i caught “Backstab”, which was very well done considering its budget. it’s also where i found Nemo and provided all kinds of jokes for one Big Ced (whatever magazine he works for now

sunday morning was yet another gorgeous sunny one, and perfect for a parade and Popeye’s (damn i love their biscuit!). i don’t know what is more unbelievable, the fact that Ce Ce Peniston is still singing that song “Finally” (love that jam), the fact that she was doing it for 5 hours on a float for Pride, or that I had seen Ghostface and Ce Ce Peniston in within a 12 hour turnaround time.

washington square park, whole foods, and half naked debauchery in the village (i was mostly a happy spectator), as well as an eerily bang on $5 psychic reading were the balance of the visit in manhattan.

after that, it was the promenade (which apparantly don’t mean “walk” in brooklyn) and White Castle (yippee little burgers!) to close it out in the am.

y’all laughed at me for planning this trip 6 months ago, but on the most gorgeous day of the year, with a stage situated on the water in Dumbo directly in between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge, who can even try to play with a lineup like this?!

Print, Blitz, Pack FM, Kidz in the Hall, Tanya Morgan, El Michels Affair, Emily King, The Large Professor, Skillz, Dres, Uncle Ralph McDaniels, Sean Price, Consequence, and Ghostface Killah?! with surprix guests like Fat Joe….

don’t sleep on my events calendar, peoples. it will be back soon enough, its coodinatrice has kind of been on hiatus (as evidenced from the update of this blog en masse).

here’s a lil’ something from a big someone who SHOULDA been in this lineup, stay tuned for our work coming through Shotgun very soon….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G18IqCnzPnM

better late than never, right? the following events happened Friday, June 22nd, 2007:

i gotta send a HUGE shoutout to miz chelle, who i met on the F train, going to Brooklyn for the first time unsupervised. get your GED, woman! and don’t forget your soup pot for your next free concert, like i gotta tell you.

i finally got to go to Halcyon, the most delightful record shoppe in the world, i had to visit to pick up my tickets for the big show tomorrow, and also to thank the folks in person for all the lovely emails that i’ve been receiving since i lived in Vancouver, somehow, but hey, blessings come in all forms, virtual and actual. we got action shots, Ben Harper was shooting something in the parking lot when we rolled up, and i heart the rocks on the ground.

after that, Mister Truth took me on a tour of Bed-Stuy, to the set of Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (yes! i went to the house! and the sally ann! and the daycare!) Michel Gondry did shoot it better, but i do have some flix up on facebook (yes, i caved. insert flack for gulping the haterade here:……………). i also went to nurture.org, a lovely lil’ art gallery to see my girl Karen Tam’s embroidered rice bags, all the way from Montreal (they don’t call me the number one fan and supporter of everything for nothing, after all).

we rolled back to Dumbo to make an appearance at Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style Sampler book launch party and to catch the outdoor screening in the park.

next up, Manhattan to NOT find any food! i’m saying, i think this is really the city that never eats, because lately, it does seem asleep, and it’s certainly the city that drinks, but where’s the food at? where?!

so you know it’s been a dream since i saw Slam and found out that saul won the nite on this stage? and it was nice, so intimate, kinda reminded me of bowery, but only because i had been there first. it was so small that i got a shoutout “come on miss canada, come closer…” and the folks on the mic rocked it, namely miz jaha nainzabu and of course, the man i went to see, mister taalam acey. dangit. shoot.

then, lovely ayana came to meet me (that’s two times in less than a month in two different cities, makes up for the two years before that that we didn’t see eachother) she came to get me in the thunderstorm (jaha did that) and took me to kim’s on st.mark’s st. and out for my first arepa at Caracas (93 1/2 E7th-www.caracasarepabar.com) damn, that food tasted so good, i had the chorizo. we went up to Union so that i could get something to cover up my tank toppedness because i knew the subway would be freezing.

this morning, we slept in then went for columbian chicken on the corner (i heart queens!) you know your trip isn’t complete until you have some plantains and a manzano soda. yummmm. now i’m gearing up for the Brooklyn! though i’m torn between Wild Style and going to the Urbanworld Vibe Film Festival. so many things, so little time!

if you need to get ANYWHERE in new york city (and any of the other cities listed) just go here:

 www.hopstop.com

so much more helpful than Chris the transit bi-atch in vancouv. i’m sayin’.

just make sure you plan your trip home ahead of time too, cuz that’s where i’ve been slacking, then getting lost and grumpy on the way home. poo.