Review: Blue Scholars @ Pacific University

Sorry it's been a while, school's been killing em and I can't get any photos ripped of my cell phone. Anyway, I heard about this Blue Scholars concert out at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR the day it was happening, so I told all my friends and mustered 3 of them to go with me. I'll break this session down into so key components for you.

1. Venue: The PU Mensch Festival is some hippy shit that happens on the quad of the campus. The campus itself is really nice, but the festival was pretty low grade. However, things were pretty simple, the crowd was relatively small, and there was plenty of grass to sit on (we only stood though). Overall, it wasn't that bad, but if Blue Scholars hadn't been there, there's no way you would've caught me checking on that hippy shit.
2. Performace: The Blue Scholars rocked the campus hard. They played some new tracks off their EP, OOF! that they've never played live before and rocked some of their old joints off their self-titled debut album. They even played a song off their EP, Butter and Gun$ (and of course a few off Bayani). DJ Sabzi and MC Geologic sounded tight and played some awesome tracks. The stage was humble, but they rocked it as hard as it could be rocked. They even let the crowd up no the stage for a few songs. The only thing that got me was that when Geo asked if we'd heard about their new EP, I shouted "OOF!" and he gave me a straight-up death glare then started another song. I don't know what the hell was up with that.
3. Quality: The sound quality was good for the performance. Despite taking a while to get the mics and sound equipment in sync, everything turned out alright. The bass was powerful, but not too much. I didn't hear any squeaking mics either, so it was good. But like I said, the stage was pretty humble, but it was quality.
Song list (from memory): 27, Bayani, Blue School, Coo?, HI-808, Inkwell, Loyalty, No Rest For The Weary, Sagaba, Second Chapter, and a few others I can't remember or didn't know their names.

Final Decision: I'd go again next year if Blue Scholars show again. As long as Geo doesn't kill me.
Also, I shook Sabzi's hand.

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Now playing: DJ Spooky - Creation Rebel

Rhymesayers Entertainment Records

I've been discovering a lot of new artists lately with the help of Twitter and Mufin.com (a website that finds similar artists/tracks to the ones you search for). I evenutally stumbled onto the Rhymesayers website and started listening to some of their signees (Abstract Rude, Eyedea and Abilities, MF Doom, P.O.S., Jake One, Vitamin D; to name a few) and found that they weren't that bad; so I thought I'd plug their label.
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rhymesayers has been bringing hip-hop to the streets of the Twin Cities since 1995. They have a few nationally renowned signed artists such as Atmosphere, Brother Ali, and Evidence of Dilated Peoples. However, they're mainly focused on the local underground scene in the Minneapolis metro area. Not much else can be found about this independent record label other than it's the largest one in the state of Minnesota.
One uniquely awesome aspect of this label is their record store in Uptown, Minneapolis called Fifth Element. It's an offshoot of the Rhymesayers label and dedicated to underground hip-hop. They carry records and clothing and you can expect a review from me coming soon.
Rhymesayers website.
List of Rhymesayers artists.

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Now playing: Abstract Rude - Stuff's Ruff

The Ethics of Traffic Police

I was talking with may friend Jordan the other day on the way to Five Guys (best burger I've ever had) when we noticed that there were a ton of cops out. Then we got to talking about what the cops do and why they do it.
What really got me started was this Speeders program I saw a few weeks ago where a police bureau in South Carolina (I think) dressed an officer in camo and hid him in the woods along the freeway with a speed gun. When he saw someone speeding he would radio ahead the model and color of the car to an officer stationed up the freeway who would pull them over. the one guy I saw who got pulled over reacted the same way I would've, issuing forth profanities like a drunken marine (that's another story for another time). He called this whole operation "bullshit," and I'd say exactly the same.
What is the police department doing here? Are their methods actually causing people to slow down? While they're inciting fear in the local population, I don't think they're actually making anybody slow down except maybe those that they pull over. In my opinion, this is just an over-thought money scheme. Basically, the cops can pull over anybody because everyone goes over the speed limit by at least 5 and usually 10 miles per hour. If you're like me, you cruise with the flow of traffic and when you see a cop car you slow down, the accelerate back up when you're out of sight. Cop cars make you slow down, not hidden, chicken shit cops who are just in it for the money.
So that brings me to my point. While this single bureau probably shouldn't set the precedent for every other cop in the U.S., I can't help but notice that it looks like the police are working for themselves/their careers and not to protect the people. The cops are trying to fill their quotas and get paid, not enforce the law in a manner that benefits the most people.

A few more examples of shady, stingy police work:
1. A friend got ticketed for J-walking; she was walking against the line inside a marked crosswalk. Had she been outside of the white cross-walk lines, it wouldn't have been a ticketable offense. Classic douche bag officer.
2. Another friend is ticketed for going 26 in a 25 mph school zone. She goes to court to fight it and loses. If this isn't bullshit I don't know what is. How can you watch your speedometer so close as to not go over the limit by 1 mph. That's just unreasonable.
3. Again from the show Speeders (my brother watches that a lot), there's one officer they often follow who brags about always giving out tickets. This just flat out makes him look like a jackass. We need less douche bags on the force.

But then again, there's always a couple cops who deserve and honorable mention for giving people breaks:
1. I got pulled over after cutting off a cop, but only after some asshole cop kicked me out of a public school parking lot (it called it private property, my ass). I didn't have my license on me and it was after curfew (my 1 year wasn't up yet). He said he could impound my car, arrest me, and make my parents come get me, but the guy let me off. So I shook his hand and he said not to let it happen again and I got the hell out of there.
2. My friend was in downtown and got confused and pulled the wrong way onto a one-way street. A cop pulled him over and helped redirect him back onto the correct street going the right way. It was all good.

You got any cop stories? Let me know in the comments.

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Now playing: Dilated Peoples - Last Line Of Defense

Link the Weak: Blog Edition

Alright let's see if I can jump-start this thing back up again. This is a list of 7 of my favorite blogs that I read on a regular basis from most checked to least. If you don't have any blogs you read regularly, try some of these out and see what you think, this stuff is gold. If none of these fit your style, no worries, there's tons of other blogs out there that should fit your interests. So here they are:

1. Swim At Your Own Risk -- Nearly every ocean/marine life related story to hit the web with a focus on sharks.
2. Badass of the Week -- Shit is ridiculous, makes me laugh every time. You've got to read at least one of these stories to get the feel for this blogger.
3. I New Idea -- Daily updates of crazy and inventive designs/products. really gets you thinking sometimes, other times it make me feel retarded for not coming up with that idea in the first place.
4. Oddee -- Just strasight crazy shit from around the world. Tons of articles to look at and read. Definitely worth a visit.
5. The Hoop Doctors -- These guys know basketball. Check this for all the big NCAA and NBA stories as well as a fair amount of offbeat stuff.
6. Engadget -- The tech blog of the internet. Posts are made constantly so you're always in touch with the latest electronics.
7. Web Urbanist -- Really itneresting website dealing with urban design and art. My favorite articles are the ones about abandoned buildings.

Source: 2leep is like a blog compiler, taking all of the best stories from a large collection of blogs and putting them on one page for your easy viewing pleasure. Check it out if you're too lazy to look at individual blogs.

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Now playing: Common Market - Nothin' At All

Mariner Game 8/26

Hey guys (or anyone who reads this). Sorry about the hiatus, I've been busy with college and summer work for school and my idea well for blog posts is running dry. So I thought I'd share with you a recent personal experience.
I headed up to the Emerald City for the Mariners game on August 26th with a few of my friends to see them beat the A's into submission (we won 5-3). Our seats were four rows up from the right field wall, right where Ichiro plays. Unfortunately, Mr. Suzuki was benched for this game, so we had Bill Hall in the outfield, who didn't play bad at all. Then, out of nowhere, John Cust of the Oakland A's, drives a moonshot into the stratosphere that lands about 10 feet away from me. I wound up being on TV along with my friends, check the link below. I'm the tall guy just to the right with a white t-shirt. You can see my friend Sam in a tan shirt running for his life out onto the stairs haha.
All-in-all it was good stuff and a great game. The more I see Seattle, the more I want to just stay there. Hit up my facebook for photos.

Video.

Also, expect a Bumbershoot review coming up (I'll be there on the 6th).

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Now playing: Above and Beyond - Anjunadeep:01 Pt. 1

"Gigography" and Bumbershoot 09

Ever since I joined this site Songkick, I've been more dialed into music than I ever have. So I thought I'd share my "gigography" as they call it and let you in on some of the upcoming shows I'll be at.
1. Kanye West @ the Rose Garden: This show wasn't all that great because I'm not a fan of Kanye. His opening acts were alright though. He had Lupe Fiasco and NERD which were both, in my opinion, probably better than Kanye himself. The lighting and stage and everything was pretty cool though. At the end of the show Kanye ranted about all his haters and how he was the best. My conclusion is that he's a douche.
2. Lil Wayne @ the Rose Garden: As with the last concert, somebody bought these tickets for me. As my musical taste has evolved, I've come to like Weezy less and less. But at the time, he was one of my favorites and I thought he tore the place up. His opening acts were trash, but he practically blew me away with his epic show. He played some of his best songs and had a ton of guests come out and lay down some bars with him. Overall, a good show, but an overrated artist. Side note: the guy behind me got a lap dance haha.
3. Dead Prez @ the Roseland Theater: I found this concert through Songkick. This venue wrecked the greatness of Dead Prez. The concert was 4 hours long with 3 hours of opening acts and no seating, all standing. By the time Dead Prez came out, I was ready to go home. The sound system also sucked ass. M-1 had to cut a few songs short because the mics were squealing so bad. Dead Prez is a great duo, but the Roseland Theater is a terrible venue.

Now, here's what I've got in the works for the coming months:
1. Bumbershoot 2009 (Sept. 5-7): This is a huge music festival in Seattle that happens each year at the Seattle Center. The groups that are playing that I want to see are Common Market and Swollen Members. It's a three day festival, but I'll only be there for one day (Sept. 6th). Check the website for details, it's going to be legit.
2. D. Black CD Release (Oct. 3): This is going to be a normal venue up in Seattle at the Vera Project (a local spot for underground music). I haven't really heard of D. Black, but Common Market will be there and Prometheus Brown is hosting it, so it should be a pretty chill venue. I'm not sure if I'm going to be up for making the trek to Seattle again though.

Comment and share some of the venues you've been to, and come to Bumbershoot in September.

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Now playing: Zion I - Caged Bird Pt. 1 (feat. Brother Ali)

Khmer Krom

Sorry about the hiatus, been busy with school stuff and camping.
Last Saturday I had the opportunity to race in one of my first Asian American Dragonboat Association sponsored events: the Bon Om Tuk Festival. The dragonboat race was at the Port of Commencement in Tacoma, WA. There were only 15 teams and my team was a combination of my team, Sundragons, our alumni team, Sundragons PLUS, and a few other teams from the Portland metro area called One Race Wonder. We took second place in both the mixed and open divisions behind Khmer Krom; the reigning champions of the venue. Despite the overpowering Cambodian soundtrack and deafening bass, the place wasn't that bad (I like a good bass, but 9 hours of this shit was too much). After seeing all of the Khmer Krom signs I decided to check it out.
Turns out the Khmer Krom are the indigenous people of Southern Vietnam who have been oppressed for decades both politically and spiritually (they practice a different form of Buddhism than the majority of Vietnam). Their struggle began when they lost a civil war in 1620 and were forced into the Mekong Delta. As time has progressed, their oppression has grown with the addition of the Khmer Rouge in 1976 who has been driving the Khmer Krom from their ancestral homelands. The Vietnamese government does nothing to help these people.
Now you know about the Khmer's struggle, so next time you see one of their organizations, Khmer in Action for example, help them out.
Here's some photos from the race.
P.S. Join us on the waterfront for the Portland Dragonboat Races on September 12 and 13.


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Now playing: Atmosphere - Painting