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denthecanuck-blog · 14 years ago

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The Underbelly of Rap in Flatbush

Hopefully to become a recurring thing, for the few of you who follow.

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"I wanna take life by the throat, just once, to see if I can. And then, I'm gonna ask, 'Well, what're ya gonna do?'"

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I have not met a more lucid-minded, business-savvy tree-lovin black man than Zayd Bigavell, who seems to be better known as 'Space Man'.

When I first met Space, my impression was that I should really learn rap from this man - like, immediately - which quickly grew into weekly tutoring lessons over many a syph. For the first time, I came to appreciate the forms and figures of the genre.

That's about when I realized that Space can throw a few verses, too - and they tend to be heavy and fast. It took me a while to put the whole picture together, but some white-boy awkwardness, Space Man took me into the PMER fold.

Power. Music. Electric. Revival. The name itself struck me, as does the man's lines, with the kind of visual immediacy that tends to mark good music - it communicates to the listener faster than one's consciousness can keep up.

PMER is the collision and collaboration of the Professor Space and Andrew Downs; no slouch in rap knowledge himself, but tossing into the cauldron a whole mixed bag of rock guitar and piano, plus a wholly different music background that meshes damn fine with Space's spat.

The pair's creative collusion, plus their experiences living every day as college Gods with connects, has already led to a recorded album and ambitions of grandeur with a new one combining PMER's unique flavor and punch in the kitchen with the spices and continued insanity of KontaBand - another underground rap wave flowing through the Brooklyn scene.

PMER's album hasn't dropped just yet, but what they've already let out of the PMER Box - a single from Drew, plus a remix, and many live performances from Space Man - demands attention.

No one has laid siege to the societal status quo like these Flatbush Kings since Rage Against the Machine broke up.

So white boys, black guys, guidos, Argentines, and everyone in between, keep your ear to the ground. Cuz the movement's already begun. Either join the stampede or know enough to get the hell outta the way, because when these guys hit the airwaves, everything'll change.

#PMER

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denthecanuck-blog · 14 years ago

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Food Musings

I love food. Don't we all? But preparation can be a pain in the ass for some, and simply not a skill for others - particularly, college students. I've been hopping from one dorm to another going on four years now, and I've come up with a few go-to recipes that keep me full and reasonably happy on a decent budget - less than $100 for two weeks' or more of foodstock.

I observed long ago the apparent bylaw of cooking; the more effort you put into the meal, the better it will taste. But, I personally and many others like me have taste buds that don't need to have the absolute finest tastes for every meal - but a little variety in flavor, texture, and temperature can go a long way. The following meal satisfies many Dormfood(TM) requirements: cheap, quick to prepare, comparatively healthy (against, say, fast food), and as an added bonus, vegetarian!

Eggs Benedict Burrito Dormfood(TM)

You will need:

a loaf of your favorite toastable bread

a proper-sized tortilla (recommend 8-10" diameter)

at least one egg

Alfredo sauce (replacement for Hollandaise sauce)

butter or margarine

veggie chick'n patties (recom. Bocca brand "Original" variety, but the spicy could be a good addition to the other flavors)

your choice of cheese or cheese product

and whatever other season-to-taste condiments you love / happen to have around

Start out by laying out the tortilla - this is the base of the meal, and will provide the landing zone for the other separate elements.

Depending on your particular dorm or dorm room's appliance selection, there are a number of ways to cook the egg(s) and patty. Do you have convenient access to a stovetop, microwave and toaster? Fantastic, you lucky bastard - not all of us are so fortunate. I made this entire meal with a microwave. Yes, it is possible to nuke-fry an egg, check out this site for details: How to Cook an Egg in a Microwave | eHow.com

So assuming the bare minimum of tools, start with your cheese product. Spread this out evenly as a place for the bread to sit on. I was using shredded cheddar jack, but you could really use any cheese in any form. After this, I outlined the area with Grey Poupon dijon mustard, because its a great way to throw some instant, distinct flavor into things off the microwave, but I'd recommend you experiment with your own tastes too.

Now we've got the complete base. Next, figure out whether you can toast your bread or not (again, appliance-dependent, and I haven't experimented with toasting in the microwave. Something's always told me that it would end in sadness and tears). If you can, then set that up now and have your butter/margarine ready to go when its done.

About now you can also quickly microwave your veggie patty, as after the bread it'll be the next layer. Sometimes the faux breading on the chik'n patties will slide off after microwaving, which is a travesty, but this can be countered by putting it down on some folded paper towel and flipping it after 45 seconds or so on either side - this keeps the patty fairly together, sometimes even a little crunchy. Alternately, if you are unequipped with paper towels, use another slice of bread. After you use it as a hotplate, you can dip it into your Alfredo and have a snack along the way!

So now we've got our tortilla with cheese and condiment, topped with a slice of bread and the chik'n patty. This brings us to the egg. Depending again on the tools at hand, you may have the freedom to start the egg while the patty's in the microwave. If not, just make sure you follow the layering process and you'll get to it in the right order. The idea is that the egg crowns this pile of insanity, with an Alfredo bath. If you make your egg in the microwave, your egg preparation choices are a little more limited, but if you have a stovetop, make whatever eggs you want. The only style that may not work would be scrambled, I think.

Once your egg is done, plop it onto the pile and drizzle on the Alfredo. Now, quickly double-check that everything you want to consume is somewhere in the mix, because next, we're closing up shop - fold up the sides, then ends of the tortilla to turn the thing into an easily handleable pouch. If you have trouble trying to roll the tortilla, don't worry; the "burrito" in the name is just a guideline, really. Thought it was cooler to say than any of the other Spanish words I don't know. When I run into tortilla trouble, I forget its a tortilla and think of it like a box or mail package I'm about to tape up.

If you want a little more overall heat, you can microwave or lightly bake the whole thing if you'd like - the latter may help hold it all together better - but this is the step where I started eating. From beginning to end, with one microwave, I think the prep time was less than fifteen minutes, more around ten, which is astonishing for how tasty it came out! I like lots of creamy texture in my food (one "that's what she said" and I'll blow up the moon, fuckers!), so for me the mix of Alfredo, dijon and a little cheese was fantastic. If the egg was cooked properly and still had a yolk perhaps the flavors would have to be rebalanced, but that's the beauty of this little home-made hotpocket: its completely modular, according to the tastes of the creator.

Enjoy!

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denthecanuck-blog · 14 years ago

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Memoirs of New York

The following is a collection of thoughts, all stream-of-consciousness, that came to me one after another on a train ride home from New York City, after finishing my first year at Brooklyn College. I publish it here with the most minimal editing, to preserve syntax and the original heart behind the words.

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"There are just some people who, when you look at them, you can sense the utter evil in them. They have a facial interest, smiles and all, but their eyes... those tiny, blankly wide-open-but-deep-set eyes. With them, they record every move you make. They learned it as a predatory instinct, from all over the animal kingdom. But do you know what it means? Fear. They fear the unknown and fear change because they are a suspicious lot. Its an instinct that belongs to a predator - but gives away their prey inner heart."

"It happens pretty fast, but rarely do you ever feel it coming. City life takes the natural state of being for a 21st Century Human and warps it. But as you pick up the mutation, you're thinking you're just learning about city life. Just picking up new skills. But its deeper. The more you learn to love it, the less you question new tendencies. You refer to a group of mexicans as spics because you truly know what kind of mexicans would deserve the title. You watch hundreds of disasters and homeless, never to offer a dime. You won't even take a pamphlet on the street. All the books and movies were right. I can become invisible in a crowd. I can work magic to make the train when I need it, or stare down my roommate - nearly two feet taller than I. I have mastered the behaviors necessary to subside, and as long as I can keep control of these behaviors, the better equipped I am. These ARE skills. One must just use them responsibly."

After having re-read this, I can truly say that I have been morphed by this place. And while the addition of skills is a boon, it does come at a price.

"I'm lousy with alliteration, but I'm perfect with parallel rhyme!"

"It's a really simple truth, actually. We don't have to hate each other any more. I don't see what all the fuss is about. New Yorkers do it every day. Relatively fewer problems, great public transit. We all know we're the dominant life on the planet, no one's kidded. Toddlers problem-solve like you. Countries have to grow up a lot faster, but morally and responsibly, not technologically. We already have all the tools to kill us, now's time for some that'll save us.

This is all derived from a properly raised and cultivated common sense."

"I've written a lot on the evils of the city. I think I still hold to those, because it never hurts to be aware of all the options, which is still permissible without hate. Its how one - or a community of individuals of any size - responsibly prepares for eventualities, having a highly intelligent defense to mutually eradicate war."

This is what happens to a paper without a clear thesis. Ugh.

"I'm slowly learning things about myself. I'm constantly questioning my surroundings, looking for possible information to use, and now I'm using it. This is the cool thing about being a skilled learner. You can do more things."

"I think one of the things I'm coming to terms with is that my views - all of them - are from a New England seashore perspective. Things like weather I get used to, social settings and public rules change naturally. But somewhere, I feel that I don't quite fit. I never feel sand under my feet, the pigeons are meaner than the seagulls, and I never feel anything but nauseous when I pass a sewer grate in the summer. People turn synthetic to cope with the synthetic landscape, with waterways only good for freight. The synthetic people - the true city lifers - as much make up the fearful and frightening in America as the religious right and politicians. When you're back in your small town, people have accepted you mostly as you are, or at least as much as you show. But only showing a part of you is something slow to learn in a small town, cities provide the express night courses. In the city, the fearful synthetics watch you, both line hawks and rabbits, and constantly measure you in their city matrix of city friends to see if you fit in their city life. Largely, they will not accept you, as long as you're doing something right."

"Connecticut is just rich enough for state-wide air conditioning."

"I feel that the trouble in understanding people often derives from both a lack of investment in the conversations, and an utter lack of willingness to see the other person's view or point (or both, which is combined a lesser effort). The instant you understand a person happens the second after you unstick yourself from your own narrow and immediate perspective. Not to say that such things are bad, it's our way of focusing our mental faculties. But the complete refusal of removing one's own head from their ass (because, let's face it, we all find ourselves there from time to time), now that causes an issue. Watch District 9. It seems like a hopeful movie, but Wikis very nearly gets the worst-case-scenario ending when he finally starts to talk to the foreigners and understand their position a little better."

"I can learn anything, or I can destroy anything. In the end, which one'll keep me entertained longer? Which one'll be the biggest challenge?"

"Does everyone else have a physical sensation when they feel like they've dodged a bullet from karma, or just stoners?"

"Friends in small towns spend less time trading stories and more time making new ones. However, city stories feel bigger. I mean, look at the backdrop! Bit they do have less adventures, which I can imagine is fearful. May I emphasize that; a night in a bar where everyone cheered for your karaoke rendition of "Piano Man", so you went home with the hot chick - is not an adventure. That's just the weekend release. Real adventures involve 'dragging Capn. Jack through the Maine woods with your brother, dodging campus cops and trying to sober up because its 5:30AM and Parent's Weekend'. It was a fun weekend, too."

"I realized that, in Stripes, Bill Murray is just a little faster than he lets on, but not much, and he does whatever makes him laugh. Harold Ramis is making fun of everything because he lives far below his potential and knows it, but isn't ready to get rid of Bill. Perspectives change over time, and subtlety only gets deeper. Stripes is the Army's Animal House opus."

"I just passed a cop while speeding and my heart skipped a beat. Then I remembered I'm in a train."

For whatever reason the following line came to me after a short break of endurance, in Rodney Dangerfield's voice,

"I'm sorry my wife's been cheating on you, sir, but trust me, it's not with me."

"I'd like to express my gratitude to Led Zeppelin for doing the absolute minimum to sensor their songs. You have truly mastered the single entendre, Mr. Plant."

"I think up until recently I've been afraid of what I may have gotten myself into in my future. I have a bad tendency to fear and worry about situations I've only just glimpsed the opportunity of. It sort of feeds into my tendency to procrastinate. I actually hope a lot of people feel this way, but never understand it. Hell, I may not understand it, but the explanation fits for me here and now, so I'll change with changes. At this point, I'll assume that good common sense and a friendly attitude, with a drive to motivate me, will get me where I want to go, and I can switch all the proper nouns whenever I want. I mean, at the base of it, I'm just an organism. My only limits are physical."

"I wonder why we haven't made public life more beautiful? Imagine the concept art for a city bus drawn by an expressionist! We can find so many more practical uses for our artists, and thereby support art as a legitimate career choice. And besides, how cool is it to ride the duck tours in Boston? Imagine that EVERYWHERE!"

"So I've traveled a lot for someone of my financial bracket. Its been a very fun bunch of journeys. But sometimes it leads to a little confusion when memories show up in the wrong places. I'll be in a bathroom on campus looking at the soap and sinks, the mirrors, the wall paint, and suddenly remember high school. When I step out, I surprise myself that I'm in Brooklyn. Along my train ride to my personal beach town, there's this small hill that's made of red sandstone, covered in trees on all the flat surfaces. It looks perfectly fine in Utah around Monument Valley, but not outside of New Haven. Then I see the statue atop it, and my memory recalls every picture it can of Rio de Janiero. I think memory works interesting like that, almost another entity separate from normal running consciousness. For me, its a true conscience."

"I have observed that influences in art include experience and reflection. Why has it taken until college to really kick up the reflection?"

"Connecticut's the only eastern coastal United State that features all three types of shoreline: sandy, rocky and marshy. Know what that means? Infinite types of beach parties. ...I think that's what they mean when they say the East Coast's behind the West."

"The same thunder that echoes through a hollow city later shakes an entire household to the foundation. Thought exercises like this are part of being aware of others."

"Religions typically agree on the big things that are morally right and wrong; they only really disagree on the finer points of not why you should be moral, but who for? Our cultures may not understand each other, but it is up to each to develop the urge for change, none can effectively force it without issues and complications. So in the end, why do we take it personally?"

A baby was crying on the train, and at the moment I decided to translate it thus;

"Translation: Excuse me, whoever's in charge of the atmospheric conditions in this compartment? I would greatly appreciate it if you could make the air more temperate? I just took the 3:07 out of New York and it was cooler in Tribeca than it is in this car!"

At this moment in time, I understand the specific kind of ridiculous employed in the Family Guy character Stewie. After the quotation above I added the following,

"Of course, the baby was praying to God. Silly baby, it'll grow up and learn that God's an ancient spectral Jew."

"I would be really interested to know how CT would fair in the Zombie Apocalypse, but I'm also glad it's not."

"I don't have a problem with Sarah Palin. It's her voters I'm worried about."

"I've been looking for my own Hero's Journey since I watched Star Wars. It's only natural that I'd come to New York."

"The ride's nearly done, and I may have run out of long rants and two-liners, but the city will always be there, and my thoughts will continue to run rampant as they should. I'll be back."

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This whole thing was a writing exercise I tasked myself with at the beginning of the nearly three-hour trip home to South-Eastern CT from Grand Central Terminal in New York. In its entirety, I think it provides me with an excellent study of my consciousness, allowing me to understand how my mind works and moves from one idea to the next, and hopefully allowing me greater discipline in artistic endeavors. In that sense, please forgive me of a large swath of this makes little to no sense, as I had also smoked before the trip.

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