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B12: All Over The Place. From KB's Baker's Dozen.

The concert: what started out good and ended up dissapointing...........

1. A lovely weekend starts off with going to see Rahsaan Patterson and Trina Broussard in concert.
2. Problem number one: when a concert is supposed to start at 9pm and doesn't start until 10:30 or so, you know that there's a problem brewing.
3. So, Trina Broussard starts at approximately 10:30pm, and ends a little after 11:00pm. Great intro from her, so it's all great.. We wait for them to setup for Rahsaan.
4. Problem #2: He finally takes the stage at about 11:30.
5. Problem #3: He sings exactly 4 songs 7 songs, all extended versions (read: more than 6 minutes apiece). Also, both Algebra and Sol Elder were also at the joint - singing background.
6. The killer: he then leaves the stage at exactly midnight. And no, he doesn't return for an encore, despite the audience chanting for him to return.
7. I leave a bit irritated, and run into a couple of people that made life a little bearable: Jodine, Van Hunt, and Anthony David. Now that was a proper ending to an otherwise slightly dissapointing experience.

Stir Crazy: when I need to get out of the house......

8. After waking up and needing to get outta the house, I went to go check out Aeon Flux. even though I had read both good and bad things about the movie.
9. My verdict? I liked it. My favorite character? Sithandra. Yes, there are better films out there, but I wasn't going for art, I was going for entertainment. It was entertaining enough for me to keep me in my seat through the movie....
10. ....so much so, I added Aeon Flux to my wishlist. I'm all for taking this season, if you wanna give. I'm jus' sayin.....

Getting Back To Music: since it's obvious I should be listening to some music constantly....

11. I pulled out my Rahsaan Patterson and Trina Broussard, to hear the songs I should have heard in concert but didn't. I also pulled out Van Hunt, Algebra, and Anthony David, since I saw them. But not only that...
12. ...I also pulled out some Benny Sings. Since I was feeling his vibe, I pulled out some Beady Belle and some Si Sé. Yeah, I couldn't let a week go by without a rotation:

In Rotation - 12/05/04

B12: Chillin' in the Summertime. Literally. From KB's Bakers Dozen.

Beyond the music, there's not much to tell, but let's see what I can do. The life of EJ boring? You decide.

1. My weekend started officially on a Thursday, when I figured I would choose my two stay-at-home-days back to back. Wednesday night seemed to be surreal because I started to feel like I was living in the middle of winter while it was 92 degrees outside.
2. While I was in the middle of working, trying to finish my in-rotation and trying to fight this bad cold, I read a post from Sister Outsider which echoed some of the same sentiments Jason had about being disengaged. I felt this as well, since now my blogging feels more like infotainment than actually engaging in conversation about how I really feel. Is this just a phase, or am I really consiously trying not to put myself out there in front of a wider audience? I'm wondering how others feel about that as well.
3. Ironically, this was also mentioned on Wednesday afternoon when I had one of the best lunches ever with Tiffany B. Brown. I think we all echo the same sentiments that blogging has definitely changed. These are the kind of lunches I live for, where there's more going on than just blogging. The conversation was so good, I think another blogger get-together definitely needs to happen.
4. During Thursday, chills turned to fever and then back to chills. Never mind that I was supposed to be taking it easy on Thursday - I ended up working four hours of overtime and caught up on my Star Treks and my CSIs...
5. ...and discovered two new shows that have consumed my curiosity - It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Starved. Those two shows are the best premieres I've seen in quite a while. Why you ask?
6. Well, first you've got It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia which had a bar turning into something more than mixing drinks, which personally I thought was hilarious., and more close to home, even though most of the reviews I've read don't believe so, and....
7. ...then you've got Starved which, of all things, has men using a scale in a restaurant that's usually just for weighing carrots in the pilot.
8. I figure I'd make up for it on a Friday and work a half day...which didn't happen. Working from home again on a Friday was a full day. You too can work from your bed, with two computers, cell phone, and a box of Kleenex.
9. I got an email and a phone call that Gordon Chambers was in town and needed a little assistance, so I went down to hang out with Gordon. It was probably the break I needed. I was glad to had gone, had a great time, but just to be safe, I went back home.
10. I finished up my in-rotation, then took a nap. I got outta bed and stopped by a party that a friend told me about and had a great time even though I stayed there for an hour and hung out with friends I hadn't seen in years....
11. ...and then, true to my promise, went down to go see Fly Girl and Champ down at the Mike Phillips concert at Apache Cafe. As Fly Girl stated, that concert was an awesome one.
12. Sunday evening I chilled, had dinner with Prime, and then put my votes in for the Black Weblog Awards. I suggest you do the same.

Fall asleep yet?

B12: ATL Brown Bloggers II. From KB's Bakers Dozen.

1. With two meetups scheduled for the weekend, got off of work early Friday and rescheduled work for the weekend to get ready for the shindigs.
2. Barley's: free internet but still no outlets for laptops. Talked to DJ, the manager: "Your name is EJ? Cool. Call me Monday. Maybe we can work something out..."
3. The band that played had an...interesting vibe. After a couple of drinks, though, everything sounded good...just ask the lady with the flask Yolanda....
4. With Yolanda, Will (man, what a great guy! Pound pound!), Saga, Karsh, Brown Sugar, Ray, and Xquizzyt1,the drinks flowed, and so did the french fries. Brown Sugar, pass me the ketchup...
5. Because of the meetup, I of course, missed the finale for Enterprise, but got home just before midnight. Thank goodness for TiVo.
6. Saturday, I stayed in the house and chilled to get ready for the evening at Chequers....
7. ....to be met with extreme dissapointment as only three of us were there. We ate and went back home. (Big ups to Fave. My man called on his way back outta the city, and apologized for Friday...)
8. Received a call from D-Nice: "Aren't you supposed to be here? Carmen is here!" Dag. Due to the dinner, I missed her.
9. Thought about doing brunch, but due to Saturday's events and the Sunday work schedule, I elected to stay home instead to watch Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood.
10. I put in a call to KB: "Yo, you done walkin'?"
11. Put together a CD by request. "Mr. Cohen, your CD is ready."
12. Synopsis: next blogger's meetup? I won't be planning it. Lesson learned: more participation if meetups here are impromptu, not planned. Memo to self: add entries to Brown Bloggers.

Fifteen Minutes, Some Food, and a Flick. From KB's Bakers Dozen.

1. I received an an email from Trader Mike which alerted me that I need to keep track of my eleven50 emails, because I had totally missed the fact that Miguel Migs and Lisa Shaw would be in town for the weekend. I had never seen either of them in concert, but being fans of both of them, I wouldn't dare miss this.
2. The excitement of seeing them, however, was alleviated the fact that I had to be on-call this weekend for work and wouldn't be able to go see my mother because of it.
3. Spent Friday night playing Shuggie Otis over and over again and catching up on blog entries. I hate when I'm so behind. It's like reading a newspaper a couple of days after it's on your doorstep, you know?
4. After catching up on blogs, decided I'm ready for blogger Q&As again, so here goes: the call is now open for the 3 question meme that Xquizzyt1, Kelvin and Yolanda have done fairly recently. Yeah, I'm bitin' too. Ask me three questions. The gates are open, people. Go for it..
5. I got up to get my hair cut Saturday morning because I had to look great for Lisa Shaw to see me.....
6. ...but I had also had to rest up for the evening, so Saturday afternoon I appropriately crashed and was awakened by D-Nice who asked me if I was going, so I jumped out of bed, got dressed, made my Miguel Migs-and-Lisa-Shaw-CD in the car, and ran out of the door.
7. Met up with Trader Mike there and after about 90 minutes after his arrival, Miguel manned the turntables and lit up the joint. I swear, people, I'm not a dancer, but I had to get on the floor and at least look like I could. I managed not to break the camera and was able to take some great pictures also.
8. Thirty minutes after Miguel took the turntables over, Lisa Shaw jumped up on stage, sung about 3 songs, and left. Happy to see her? Hell yes. Was I dissapointed that she only sung three songs and then left the stage? Most certainly. Lisa: you know I love you, right, but c'mon, give me more next time, alright? Alright. After her 15 minutes of splendor, she left, so I left also.
9. Got an IM from Brown Sugar and talked to Yolanda and made plans to see Crash on Sunday, so on Sunday morning....
10. ...and went to breakfast with Prime and Karsh to Rays In The City downtown. A subpar meal was had, but hey, it was food. Something had to soak up last night's imbibing. I'm jus' sayin.
11. I went to the movies Sunday afternoon. Crash, hands down, has got to be one of the best movies I've seen in a while. I actually had to concentrate through this entire movie to keep track of all the plots, subplots, and twists, of everything that was going on. I was certainly not dissapointed. I'd recommend anyone who hasn't seen this movie to go check it out. It definitely deserves to win awards this year. Having said that, however, I hope I haven't jinxed it.
12. ....and in case you've forgotten, Atlantans. Friday and Saturday: Atlanta blogger's meetups this weekend!!!!. RSVP if you haven't already so I can get fairly accurate headcounts:
Barley's Billiards - Friday 05/13, 6pm - 338 Peachtree St NE
(404) 522-7177
Chequers Bar & Grill - Saturday 05/14, 6pm - 236 Perimeter Center Pkwy NE (across the street from Dunwoody train station)
(770) 391-9383

Hope you guys had a great weekend and a great Mommies Day!

Skittles and Hitchhikers (or 'The Somewhat Boring Weekend'). From KB's Bakers Dozen.

Alright, let's see if I can come up with 12:

1. Had a gathering at the house. It was alright, but work (and KB) caught up with me, so I stayed up and did some interesting mixes with my vocals and actual MP3s.....
2. ...but you don't really want to hear about that, do you?
3. I stayed home and watched Enterprise again. I'm trying not to give away what actually happened, except I have to say that at the conclusion of the episode, I had to rewind the TiVo at least 3 times. Anybody see it besides me? You feel me?
4. I'm mad that Third Watch's last episode is this week. I was just starting to get into the show too. But why did they have to put Wyclef Jean on there? Cmon.
5. I had the option to go see Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. It was either that or XXX. Guess which one won? Warning: Geek alert.
6. That's right, it was all about Hitchhiker's. And yeah, I enjoyed it. Considering I read the book around 4 times when I was growing up, I reserve the right to check it out and get totally geeked.
7. I went out to brunch with two guys, got full, and came back home.
8. Meanwhile, while we were gone, Anna (the beagle on the right) decided that she wanted to taste the rainbow...so she did.
9. End result on Sunday afternoon? The rainbow. All over. the. carpet. In case you're wondering beagles cannot eat a bag of Skittles.
10. I had a gourmet meal of hot dogs and juice for Sunday. With spicy mayo. Yep... nothing but the finest for me.
11. I watched Grey's Anatomy and now Desperate Housewives and yes, I'm hooked on this show too. I told you I need help.
12. Got a couple of IM's and read a couple of blogs asking about having a little blog meetup this weekend. So here goes: this coming Friday at Barley's, and Saturday at Checquers. People still interested, give me a shout (IM or comment) and I'll make sure we have the headcount. Does anyone have a mailing list? Do I need to make one? Holla back!

From KB's Bakers Dozen.

This weekend ended up being so good, and so impromptu, I decided to name it the ATL Brown Bloggers meetup. Considering the last two attempts at a meetup here were pretty whack, one ending up so strong was very cool, especially it being so impromptu. How so? This is how it went down:

1. The first thing I did on Friday was go straight home, because you know I was exhausted after a long week, I got an IM. "Yo, EJ, come on down to Barley's. Bruthacode is on his way back from the mall! I'm thinking, "who's Bruthacode? Let me read now.....
2. After that it was all over 'cause he had me laughing at his posts. By the time I got there, he was there with FlyGirlATL, the invisible blogger (when you gonna come out with a blog, Futura?!), Yolie (hilarious, vicacious, and definitely not rated PG!), and wonderful Swayzee.
3. Kelvin was nowhere to be found, though, and I kept getting dizzy as I watched Bruthacode's glass go up, and down, and up, and down, and then another drink appear, and then him swaying back and forth, and then....
4. Brown Sugar showed up. Soon afterwards, my homie Saga and Hammy dropped by. It all capped off with DJ XStacy AKA Xquizzyt1 and Gorgeous Grayse, who lit up the joint.
5. After 1 bad meal, 2 hilarious hours, 3 bad sweet teas, 4 (or was it 5, or 6...hell, I can't count!) drinks had by Bruthacode, I took off with a promise to make an Apollonia Six CD for Brown Sugar, and take my the Davina CD I made for Caramel back home.....
6. ...only to find out that Fave came by, took pictures and left...dag. That's alright, I'll just go back home and watch Enterprise and trip on the parallel universe. Hmm, I wonder what Bruthacode would be like in a parallel universe..... and for that matter, how does Kae really look? Yet another person I didn't get to see.
7. So then Saturday rolls around I go to hang out at the park with Karsh (mental note - next time whatever's going on, I gotta call him, cause I've seriously been slacking). After a pretty nice time and a bad meal, I head home. Then I get another call from Yolie. "Meet us up in Marietta....cause Kelvin's gonna be there. You have 30 minutes!" Sure enough, they come rolling through....
8. ....and as I'm hanging out and talking about Soul II Soul, Thelonious Monk, and a camera with a floppy disk (you know I had to mention that, right Brown Sugar?), some lady comes up and says "gimme my CD!" That's no one other than Caramel, who was pretty cool. She even let me take a picture.
9. After that, I duck out and run back home to get close and personal with my bed, but on Sunday, as I go online, the first person who IM's me is Brown Sugar. Considering that Prime and I are starving, we jump in the car and run up to Checquers.
10. As I'm pulling in, Grayse calls my cell phone and says, "I'm comin' even though you didn't invite me! Where y'all at?" Yeah, I've done it again. First Karsh, now Grayse. Dag.
11. We came, ate, drank, ate, took pictures, ate, talked some more, ate, took more pictures, hung out in the not-so-warm spring air, talked some more.
12. The outcome of the weekend?
-- Preliminary plans for a Chicago meetup to coincide with The Taste of Chicago;
-- Another blog meetup here in the ATL, centering around the possible appearance of In My Write Mind;
-- Making sure I call everyone, because I'm sure that the people who are reading this and are from the ATL area and didn't get to hang out will probably kick me when they see me, right? Right.

So, clear your calendars, ATLiens. I'm targeting for the weekend of May 6th. Drop me a line if you wanna be down, and I'll give you all my vital info....let's work it out. I had a blast this weekend, as you can tell, and I know this can be done again.