I've got the Magic Stick

2003-08-04 4:10 p.m.
Aiight, so the weekend went well.

Friday, went to a small party at a place called CODE that my boy T invited me to. Turns out CODE is a gay bar which wasn't a big deal, especially considering it was mostly us, but the weird part was the large group of older men huddled together checking a few of us out.

I mean I've been hit on by guys before, and I'm secure enough to see it as a compliment. Especially when people are respectful enough to chill out with flirtations once the straight card is shown and then continue the conversation anyways. But these guys were old. And I don't know anyone (in their 20s - man or woman) who feels comfortable being hit on by men around 50+.

So we decided to break the odd thing and hit SOB's (Sounds of Brazil for the not here's). There's usually a good mix of people and some good music there, although the drinks are a bit pricey. I was already doing well off the $3 corona's anyways. But we get there and it's $12 at teh door, and I know the beers are $7+.

Just as I was contemplating, turns out my boy, A is at Madame X and they got some good hip hop playin. Phew.. Pockets saved. I'll remind you I'm saving for a cross country drive in a few weeks, and I'd already put in $70 on $3 beers (i bought a few rounds, I'm not that bad off, yo).

So I get there, and it turns out the guy on the decks is this cat I met about 2 months before. So as the night progresses, he needed a smoke and me and A take over the decks. I haven't touched decks in front of a crowd in about 4 years. It felt like my third time in the sack, yo. Finally know what I'm doing and starting to make it work right.

So A and I were putting on every other record, helping each other pick the next track. I know A pretty well. He worked in the game store for which i did the website for their magazine. We've chilled plenty of times. The guy's a master beat maker. But we've never come together on the decks.

Well, our 15 minute set between the two of us with some other guy's records moved the room. I mean people were leaving before we got up. Not cuz the music was bad, but mello plays the good old shit. He reminds me of my old self a bit as he's a lil too selfish to rock a room. I always knew that was my downfall, but I liked being the asshole.

So here we are, we've got the small crowd shakin their ass, and I'm getting flashbacks t omy first couple times rocking crowds. Early on in my table turning career, Around hte time One More Chance dropped by biggie, I rocked a couple rooms that were shoulder to shoulder. I mean the sea of hands, the smiles, the asses shaking.

And when I say rocked the room, I mean every single person in the place was jumping in sync. All 500 - 800 peaople were MINE. So much so that when my boy begged me to put on 4 records, I gave him the wheel, and he could do no wrong. Rocking a crowd this well, early on was a bad thing. My ego (although internal, as I'm generally modest on the outside) was just too fucking big.

So after such a great experience on Friday, me and A went out back to smoke one and talk in the rain. Great thing was we could actaully drink and smoke. Not something we can do very much when out 'round here anymore. I'm a big fan of summer rain, btw.

So we get to talking, and it looks like we're gonna put a demo together and try to start hitting the bars. A knows music VERY well, and I know crowd rockin. We agree on what's good and what's not for the most part. PRobably gonna hit the record store on Thursday, grab some club rockers and put together a nice set of club shit and 'our' shit.

Not that we don't love a good club shaker once in a while, but as you gain intelligence and leave high school, a lot of hip hop just becomes repetitive garbage. Why? Because it's written for a particular market. One that thinks little and moves much. At one point this wasn't an issue as there was variety. This is no longer true.

Hip Hop is now a product. It has a target market and a marketing budget. It's got merchandising, endorsements, and corny white people snapping their fingers to it.

So you gotta put it together.. At one point in time the reason a DJ existed was to shake your ass and introduce you to new music. NOT play the same song 3 times in a set cuz the labels say we should like it and train us to do so.

We hope, with our little corner of whatever we can get, to introduce the minor masses to music that good DJ's listen to, but never play.

Ok, enough of that. At the end I'm geeked we're doing something. I gave up on finding people to turn tables with 2 years ago as I found that a lot of heads out here were flaky. And this is going to be the first time i've recorded anything in about 9 years. (That tape sold really well, btw - back when i was DJ Kronik)

I talked to the very cute bartender as well. Writer going for a Masters. My interest had my toes clenched. But alas, my game is horrible at introduction, and I was a bit too tipsy to make sense, so I told her I appreciated meeting an intelligent woman, and went on my way. Maybe I'll run into her again. Not that I'm looking, but we can all use more beatiful and intelligent people in our lives. Or at least people with one of the two.

Rest of the weekend, I was rearranging my lil apartment. This is far more serious than one might think. I remind you that it's 3 people in 450 square feet of living space. But I'm a master at this shit, and my room is very clean and mucho livable once again.

Oh, final note. I can NOT get these 5 words out of my head. By far the funniest break of the season, if not because of what he says then cuz of how he says it...

"I've got the magic stick."

Back to work.