SXSW – The Darkchild Remix

Originally uploaded by ej flavors.

What does a person who has been on a blog hiatus for quite some time say? I mean, let’s face it. It’s obvious that my foremost love is music and I consider the rest of my life to be either terribly complex or terribly boring simple. I’ve been, without hesitation, been supplying my Old School Wednesday mixes (shoutouts to my man KB for creating the madness). On top of that, I’ve been dropping my In Rotations at least twice a month. Both of those are a labor of love, to be sure, but I was reluctant to resume actually talking about what’s goin’ down with me.

I believe that’s about to change, because SXSW has lit a fire under me to actually move forward instead of keeping things in my head.

With camera in hand, I went there to hang out with RPM, J. Brotherlove, George, Tim Tiffany (who’s also here and here), Lynne d, and Jason, with the promise of new experiences, and a good vacation.

Well, this wasn’t just a good vacation, it was one of the best times I’ve had in years. You see, it started out with Victor Tolbert, Keith Hall, Jeffrey Bowman, Baratunde, JW Richard within the first 2 hours of being there. Then, soon after that, I get to see Tony Pierce. As if that weren’t enough, I also get to see George and Janeane Sessum. But it doesn’t stop there.

After attending the Blogging While Black Revisited panel (the main reason that I attended SXSW), I was more than hyped, and already making my plans for next year. Oh, but I ain’t done. It gets even better. I get to spend some time with three of the coolest women around: Denise Jacobs, Leslye James, and Laina Dawes. Around the way I get to meet Drublood, take a picture of Chris Pirillo, trip on out with Liza, and say hello to Ming Jung Kim.

I could go on and on about how I met many more people. I could tell you how I almost overdosed myself with eating wayyyy too much barbecue at Iron Works, about how I actually danced and didn’t scare people away, and had a nuclear taco that I’ll never eat again ’cause it was too damn hot and I’m sure it will take a month for my mouth to be normal again. I’m also not going to talk about missing a Wendy and Lisa, Erykah Badu, ?uestlove and company. I won’t. Just know I’ll be there again next year…and you needs to be with me. Forreal.

Coming up…. reviews, rotations, and podcasts. And yeah, even everyday thangs in the land of EJ.

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There’s a lot of things going on in the world musically, and having a very
busy week can be time consuming, we all know. Because I’ve had to balance a
lot of things, I’ve had to forego the Friday Melodies this week. I’m sure that
anyone can understand that mixing mellow songs with U2, Gwen Stefani, Julie Dexter, REM, and
Snoop Dogg isn’t a very easy endeavour.

There is, however, something I’ve been pretty proud of that I’ve been able to
help with this week. There was one particular blogger that was mentioned a while
back. As I started reading his blog….which, by the way was all done by hand, I contacted him and let him know that what
he was doing was a great thing. It got even better.

My friends, he discovered Radio Blogging, had a great sense of humor, and kept
me laughing continuously through the day. Who am I talking about? Why, Todd
Kelley of course.

He introduced me to Goblox, The Strange Fruit Project, and he even did his Top
25 CDs of all time. He even challenged me to come up with the top 10 CDs of
the year (and yeah, it’s coming- watch for it). My contribution? I edged him to the realm of Movable Type. Yes, he
has crossed over to blog publishing. You can leave comments, trackbacks,
and even blogroll/blogline him: [xml feed]
[xml feed with comments]

So my friends, check him out- he has his melodies all on the right hand side,
and opinions and humor all around…..

…and tell him EJ sent you.

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I’m sure I could talk about what a great time I had in DC all weekend, so instead
of doing that, I’ll redirect you to the following posts to begin with, as your
prerequisite reading material:

1. Donald has a rentparty
going on. It’s essential that you attend.
2. Prime gives a description
of the weekend.
3. Lise lights
up
the joint.
4. Queen Sexy carries
on.
5. Steven Fullwood
gave lots of energy.
6. Nova gives us major
phatness.

Now that you’ve gotten that out the way, it’s time for a photogenic rundown
of the Hot Ones.

Continue reading “dc 2004: the snapshot view” →

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Fantastic Flavors Fadeproof Flavors Shmoove is all over the place. Hermes is back (finally), and so now I’m happy as hell and trying to get everything straightened out. On my to do list:
1. Sleep. I’m tired as hell. Two letters: O.T.
2. This MovableType 3.0 thing is exhilarating, but it’s also giving me some serious fits. If you think that commenting is painful as hell, join the club. It IS a pain. Just follow the login prompts, close out comments, and then go back into commenting again. Little things like CSS, the comment box, and templates I have yet to work out. All that being said, it’s not a bad thing, and 3.0 has its pluses. I’m still really trying to adjust. Which brings me to Project EJ Cubed:
3. Exponent is on it’s way into being integrated here. With version 3.0 and MT plugins, I can pull it all in. (Exporting from Typepad’s going to be interesting, since it’s not terribly intuitive). The warmer it gets the more the musical notes heat me up even further. There have been a couple of things going on. First off, I lost a signature, and because of it got a nice comment from:
4. Laurnea, which means that I will be reviewing the CD, I Remember. While I did lose her autograph, I did get Omar’s, and subsequently I went record shopping and:
5. Met Lizz Fields, purchased her album, and went to her concert. Photogenic and musical at the same time, it’s been a good thing.
6. Thanks to KB, I’m now on Burn-It: The Spring 2004 Edition. Time’s running out with a quickness, but I’ve managed to pull it off.
7. I’ve joined Blogcritics now.
8. I’ve gotten my swole on, and I’m back up to my weight and my strength I was striving for. I’ll be updating about that soon enough. Time for phase II.
Time to synch up my keyboard with my mind…

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I can honestly say that I’m not much on rhymes or poetry, claiming myself to be either firmly ensconced in technical geekness, or considering myself to be a creatively-challenged person. I’m sure quite a few people would say otherwise. Be that as it may, I thought it would be cool to dig into the crates for Poem On Your Blog Day, declared by RonnTaylor and buttonized by Ofrenda. The first poem that came to mind is by Maya Angelou.
Maya was one of the people that hit me at an early age, though not in poetry, but in books. I would read voraciously when I was younger, and practically memorized some of her books, like I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and Singin’ And Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas. The last poem that I can remember clearly that struck me, however, was Still I Rise, which always makes me smile in the face of danger and uncertainty.

Continue reading “poem on your blog day” →

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Easter. It’s a fine force to be reckoned with, and with traffic, rain, people cooking, and my eating, I’ve done nothing but hang around all day and be proclaimed The Food Bunny by the Flavors. So in between all the chicken bones and coconut cake, I managed to:
1. Listen to Cee-Lo and become strangely enamored by it;
2. Listened to lots of music, keeping myself awake when I really should be asleep: Zero 7 (I feel a review coming on), Knoc-Turnal (still reviewing), and Carl Thomas, Usher (sorry, I’m not feeling it- I need to absorb it more, but coming along the heels of Janet, I’m not impressed);
3. Managed to generate yet another Monday Melodies to start out the week;
4. Try to reconcile the fact that Kwame may not win The Apprentice. Damn that Omarosa. Does anyone have any plaster I can drop on her head;
5. Prepare myself for Dining Out For Life (thanks, Enigma).
And then of all things, I did another meme because of it. Thanks, Karsh. Hopefully, no-one will drop plaster on his head. This time, it was pretty accurate for me, I had to admit:

Continue reading “peter cottontail was here.” →

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Blogging is fun, but mini-blogging is even better. Thus, OrangeMoon, which is accessible on the right side and pops up on the left. Why the shameless plug?
1. It’s quicker.
2. It’s easier.
3. I can link to more people who do some really classy stuff all the way around.
Some quick examples:
1. American Idol – Finals Preview
2. One of the reasons for OrangeMoon was something like this, from George.
3. inTheBasement and I thought this was interesting…a personal sewage power plant…
4. Pauly? Hilarious – on the ones and twos within 48 hours.
5. …and the McGruder Award goes to [via DC Thornton]
Updated at least 3 times a week, Orange Moon is your friend. Check it out- provide more links. Keep me informed.

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S-Train made me do it.
You are Optimus Prime!
Vast, red and ready to turn into a lorry at the slightest provocation, you are a robot to be reckoned with. Although sickeningly noble, you just can’t resist a good interplanetary war, especially when Orson Welles is involved. You have friends who can shoot tapes from their chests. Tapes that turn into panthers. And other friends who are dinosaurs. Dinosaurs who jump out of planes. Will you have my children?
Tell the world you’re an Autobot with the following non-heat-sensitive sticker :

Which Colossal Death Robot Are You?

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The exhaustion has lifted. I’m now packed, and ready for New York City for the weekend. This time, I’m bringing my digital camera.For all who don’t know, there’s a Blog Family Reunion. Check here for further details. I’ll be blogging throughout the weekend as time permits.

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My week (and my year) has started on a pretty hectic note, but it’s been swell. First, let’s give credit where it’s due. Christopher David came by DIC along with SDotPorter and his amazing crew, and I have to say it’s the best time I think we’ve ever had in quite some time. What a way to start the year! It’s good to meet a writer and a friend who is truly gifted and refreshing, and who can also roll through the punches, particularly since we had womynfriends that told us how they rolled. Between J. Brotherlove, Wood, Prime, and Karsh, a good time was had by all. Seeing him, and being in contact with other New Yorkers, further cements the fact that I’ll be a very happy person to be visiting New York City near the end of February.

Continue reading “from christopher to orangemoon” →

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Pursuit of the Pimpmobile, Isaac Hayes, Acid Jazz Classics
What can I say? Blog Body Shop pimps the cosmos, so she managed to pull down the moon for me and put it on me. I wear it well, don’t you think? Give her love, year round.
There are some technical/blogging things of note:
Like the lunar changes? It’s Blog Body Shop all the way, using PHP as the magic touch. You should see a change each refresh/visit. I’m still a fan of Bloglines, and now I have the Blog Change Bot as well. I’ll be putting the finishing touches onsite, but it’s all gravy. Blog Change Bot has the ability to track people who do not have RSS feeds or XML, so of course, I’m feeling that. I’m also adding some things here and there, but it’s because when she rawks, I have to represent and actually keep the place neat.

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This year has already been a birthday in progress, and this is the day of
culmination, of rumination, of appreciation… and any other -ation words you
can think of….

Love goes out to all, and this I really mean. Make some room for it. I gots
a lot to give, ya know. Stay tuned, for this is only one day.

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