Currently Listening Homework By Daft Punk Indo Silver Club see related

  Side note:  It was good to hear from a couple of my Milwaukee peeps today (Cynthia and Mike aka Deuce aka Deuce Deuce aka D-Dub)--I hadn't been online for a bit and the time was well spent.

  Work has been slow as of late cuz nobody moves during the middle of the summer, so I've been occupying my time with random stuff for the past couple of weeks or so--getting my new drivers license and regirstration and tags, getting my fishing license, going to malls and arcades and other such friviloties, running up and down REALLY BIG-ASS HILLS, etc.  Other than that, I've been pretty much doin what a southern man does best durin the summer days--chillaxin.  it's been a nice (but tankfully temporary) change from the crazy hours of work that I put in earlier in the month, but that all comes back this Thursday when I'm back on the schedule.

  But let's remember that you're not dealin with your average Southern hustla here--we're dealin with the cocky-ass, peudo-intellectual southern black man extraordinaire.  And when you give said extraordinaires that much time off of work, they get to thinkin.

  About what exactly did I get to thinkin about over these past couple of weeks?  Well with such frivoloties as MTV, VH1, BET and Seattle's number 1 hit music station, KUBE 93.3 FM being so close at hand, one topic in particular kept jumpin out at me.

  You guessed it--hip hop.

  Now before I go on, a disclaimer:  no offense is intended at all to any of my wonderful Caucasian peeps and they all should know that.  Also, we all know the fact that African Americans are no longer the number 1 consumers of hip-hop anymore, nor have they been for quite some time.  With that in mind, I'll make this short and to-the-point. 

  I think that I'm understanding more and more the true nature of the direction that hip hop finds itself heading in this first part of the 21st century.  The target market that hip hop (and all of today's genres of music) tries to reach is that of the biggest potential consumer, correct?  Well I think that the biggest potential consumer of hip hop today is Caucasian males and females age 13-18.  See, not only are those the kids with the money to actually go out and buy CD's (with a little extra help from Mom and Dad from time to time), but also it seems like the consumer potential of other similar markets--Blacks, Latinos, Asians, etc. age 13-18, ages 19-24, etc.--is much lower than the potential of Caucasians 13-18.  And the reasons for this difference in consuming potential are as numerous as they are debateable.

  The result?   hip hop by default caters to this market, offering it an exciting, "popular" way of viewing the world, having fun and socially acceptable behavior.  So basically, I'm saying that "pop" or "popular" music as a separate genre doesn't exist.  It's just the badly-conglomerated sum of various other genres' attempts to target the most potential consumer in today's world.

  Lemme know what ya think about THAT one.    

Currently Listening Fantastic, Vol. 2 By Slum Village I Don't Know see related

It's pretty much all about work in this update, and in the words of a hip hop legend,

"Today was a good day."

My brother and I impressed a few guys at work today, so we'll prolly be gettin more hours to work soon--and that means more money.  LOTS more money.  There's a guy I work with named Paul who in the past 11-day pay period logged more than 150 hours and brought home a $10,000 check because of it.  How, you may ask?  Because overtime pay is anything more than 8 hours that a person works during the day.  And because loading a house onto a truck usually takes all day (usually more than 8 hours), AND because overtime hours  pay time and a half.  

The math is easy:  somebody workin for say, $10/hr (like me) for 8 hrs. is $80.  Each hour after 8 pays $15/hr.  Erego, a day like I had a week ago when I worked from 8 to 7 pays me $125.  Since Paul is gettin about $20/hr and usually starts at 7AM instead of 8. . .well now you see what I'm gettin at!  I won't be workin nearly as much as Paul, nor do I get his salary since I'm just starting with the company.  But I'll still get my piece of that change--I'm already lookin at about $400+ for 3 days work, with 2 more days of work for this pay period left.  If I keep this up I should easily be able to pass my goal of $3000 for the summer (and maybe even pass it by quite a bit if I play my cards right).

Moneymoneymoneymo--nay...

Maaaaaaaaaaaa--nay!!!    

The side effects from work are also startin to show up for me, too.  On the down side, I leave work every day with coarse, dirty hands that only a generous spritzing of Softsoap and Jergens can remedy.  I've got various dings and scratches from bumping into objects (or having objects bump into me).  I definitely get beat up a bit on the job, and I have to be extra-careful about my back and joints at all times.  

But on the up side, 10+ hours a day of lifting furniture, large crates, boxes and other surprisingly heavy items that people decide to store or move does wonders for the muscles and for the heart.  I already feel stronger and more energized when I wake up on the weekends, and even when I wake up on a work day I'm pumped and ready to go.  I imagine that come September the folks in DC will see a Marcus that's a little rougher around the edges--but in a good way.

The bottom line?  It's pretty hard work, but I'm gettin pretty chiseled and pretty paid doin it.  My brother and I start at 8AM every day and are done whenever the job is done--which when we're in the warehouse is usually between 4 and 6 but when we're on the street movin somebody can be well into nighttime--last Wednesday we started at 8 and didn't get back home until midnight.  But like Paul says:  "We can bitch about it now, but when we see that paycheck it all that bitchin goes away."  And Monday is payday. . .

That's pretty much all I've been doin in Seattle thus far--as you can see with the hours I'm workin.  I promise that the next update will be more subject-diverse as my Xanga usually is, but I'm jus tryin 2 let my peeps know everything that's goin on with me rite now.  With that, I'm off to bed cuz--of course--I gotta wake up early tomorrow morning.  U know how to get me--HOLLA!!!

Currently Watching Chappelle's Show - Season 2 By David Chappelle see related

2 words. . .

AWWWWW SHIT.

I just found out that my boy Laroy is back in town.  Seattle, this is your official warning:  You have very little time left.  Use it wisely.

Currently Listening Raiders of the Lost Art By Sugar Hill Gang, Fearless Four, Cr (2392-32102) Rapper's Delight see related

Lots to report, but I'll be as concise as I can.

First off, my computer's dead.  It finally happened--my baby that got beat up with numerous trips around the country for three years in a backpack finally got to the old girl and she refuses to start back up--I even tried punching the back and it still didn't work--lol.  The REALLY bad part about that, however, is the fact that all of the 2000+ songs that were on my computer are now gone forever--it's gunna be one helluva time tryin to get all of that back.  That's also the reason why I haven't been posting more frequently--I'm on my mom's old computer for the time being.  I should be getting another one soon here--same make and model as my old one which is just fine by me.

My brother and I have been slowly inching our way around our new stompin grounds.  We've ventured into Tacoma, the closest big city to where we live.  We also found a mini golf/batting cages/go kart place not far from where we live, we've walked every mall in a 20 mile vacinity and we've seen all movies worthy of being seen up to this point (looking forward to a couple that drop in July, though).  We also tried to sign up for a health club up here but had to cancel because of the distance from home that the club was--we were still used to Milwaukee distances and forgot that Seattle's just a biiiiiiit bigger.  That's no big loss, however, seeing as how my job will certainly be keeping me in decent shape for the summer n e wayz--it's not on the docks, but it's the next best thing--a moving company (which also pays cash, by the way).  Next on our agenda is a trip to a Six Flags theme park close to our house and then another trip to downtown Seattle to check things out after that.  Pretty soon here my parents will be done doing all the work on our boat that needs to be done and then it's off to explore the Pugeet Sound (sp?), a body of saltwater just off of the Pacific.  HOLLA!

I wrote out a several page list of goals I'm tryin to get accomplished by the end of the summer broken down into three categories--apparel, appearance and other.  I've gotten very few of the things on the list done so far, but next week will be my big push to start on more of them.  The list mainly consists of stuff that will hopefully give me an edge in getting to where I wanna be after I get back from DC.  I'm not sure whether or not the amount of detail I have about life after Les Aspin is good enough or not, and that worries me quite a bit.  I always feel like I'm behind the curve in terms of motivation to act on getting a life after college together for some reason--even though I know that that's prolly not true.  Still, stayin on top of thangs is what I do.  What can I say?

So much for bein concise--but really, I could write a lot more about all of this stuff.  It's been goin through my head for a while and I don't have anybody up here to hash it out with anymore--I definitely miss my MU and ATL peoplez.  Holla at me--yall all know how by now.

Most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN, PETE!!!  Yall have no idea how happy I am for the both of yall!  If ever there was a match made in heaven, yall two are definitely it!

Currently Playing Be By Common They Say see related

So much stuff to talk about, so little time!

First off, the obvious--I am no longer in Milwaukee.  Everyone's favorite Southern playa has just become a west coaster--and his new location?  Seattle, Washington.

My new house is actually in Orting, WA--a little less than an hour south of Seattle (which makes me a south sider now--wierd).  The area is beautiful in general.  Mountains everywhere, greenery everywhere, people everywhere and of all cultures, races and walks of life, it is definitely all good.  Apparently there's lots of black folk in a couple of cities called Puyallap and Tacoma which are right around the corner from me, so I'll be checkin those places out very soon lol. 

I live on the high part of a valley now, so in the early morning if I'm ever awake (which has happened quite often thanks to the 2 hr. time zone difference here) the clouds literally come up from right below us and rise into the sky.  There's also a giant mountain, Mt. Rainer, which is practically in my backdoor--about 40 miles away if that. 

There are only 2 disadvantages to all this:  The unpacking that I'll be doing from Wednesday until further notice when my stuff finally gets here, and the fact that none of my homies are up here to enjoy all of this with me.  It's still all good though--I'm not exactly the kind of person who has difficulty meeting people.  I think I'll manage.  And besides, my partner in crime will be up here before too long, so we'll run around for a bit until he takes off again. 

Things are definitely lookin on the bright side from here--and I mean that figuratively cuz it's always overcast or raining up here lol.  I'll be hittin up the docks soon once my car gets here (Thursday, I can't wait--I hate being away from my car), and then let the money roll.  I'll be postin my exploits, lawbreaking activities and general debauchery in the city of Seattle and surrounding area much more often once my room gets Internet in it, so look forward to those.

And by the way, for anybody who thinks that Miami won't win tonight, think again.