It aint boastin' if you can back it up

From the first time I heard Rakim's 'New York', I could see the imagery, which was actually what partially inspired and motivated me to start taking pictures.
Ive always wanted to make a collage, a strip, with the lyrics dramatising the images - ala the New York Undercover style intro.

Still on my project list to put together.. but at least i have most of the images I need.

New York (Ya Out there?)

[Intro]
If you was born in New york City let me hear say "You know that"!
YOU KNOW THAT
(james brown echo)
I was born in New York City.city.city.city.city

[backbeat refrain]
New York
Ya ya ya out there
new york
no doubt no doubt no doubt
new york
no doubt no doubt no doubt
new york new york

Hey Yo
Once upon a rhyme
where the scenery sets
you see stress
Streets a matter of life and death
no regrets

Life's a test
to trife with
wit special effects

Neighbourhood's full of reps
Cities of Projects
where
the young cadets
get stripes from the vets
And comrades quest
to be the next to finesse
Collect debts
and select bets
with death threats

Object?
Cheddar to better your total net

Where
trends are set
for ways to express
the outfits
Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect

Avenues to check
boulevards to sweat

The smell of gunsmoke
more common than cigarettes

WE GOT
clints for wreck
WE LIKE
Pit's for pets
WE GOT
Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets
WE LIKE
much respect
sex
extra wet
AND
high-tech dialect you ain't catch yet

Da Bronx
Ya ya ya'll out there?
No doubt no doubt no doubt
Brooklyn
ya out there?

[Rakim]
Hey Yo

WE GOT
blocks and blocks of
Big Shots with
Big Knots
and
Big Props
yo
this is where the Bullshit stops

where hurts get got
if you snitch
you get shot

we get down and
we leave da town in a state of shock

WE LIKE
dangerous hang-out spots
and slick cops

place called Riker's Island
where kids get locked

a lotta
gear to rock
with
blocks of clothes shops
styles are top notch
this is the place to buy

so blast the box
the radio station is hot

ease your mind
staring at skylines from rooftops

flip scripts for chicks
and new Whips off the lot

quick to call the shot
politics with thick plots

In the Garden of Eden
the scenery we got
to make sure the core of the Big Apple don't rot

Where
seein' is believing
we be achieving a lot

Where
discjocks
created hip hop

check it out

Queens
ya ya ya'll out there?
no doubt no doubt no doubt
Manhattan
no doubt no doubt no doubt
New York city
Staten Island
new york new york
Long Island
New york ya ya ya'll out there?

[Rakim]
Hey Yo

we got five boroughs of ghettos
with many places to meet
you get lost in busy streets
the city that never sleeps

Mecca to Medina
the population increase

the desert and the oasis

New York, da Far East
with Gods and Sheiks
pretty Amazons for weeks

playah dons that fleece
families of black sheeps
icons that Teach

we ALL act unique

we got stats to reach
so we all have to eat

a mass of peeps
with their own masterpiece
the crafts elite
we be going past the peak
the latest technique
no other place get as deep

whose parks
release
some of the worlds greatest athletes

DJs and MCs and graffiti artistes
who use walls and subway trains for marquees
we go back
to b-boys, breakdancing, breakbeats

and it'll NEVER cease

and on that note
we say

peace

[refrain]

I think the swagger isnt what it used to be post September 11th and the recession, but this is still New York.

It bows to no one or nowhere else.

Today's horrorscope

Some things are worth getting upset about and some things aren't, and at some stage this weekend, you'll realize that you've been taking certain situations a little bit too seriously lately. Even if others have been selfish and short-sighted, the time has come to forgive and forget and move on - not for their sake, but for your own.

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Virgo's stereotypically are compared to the archetypes of the Star Trek Vulcan race... unemotional, logical.

Well, there are reasons we often appear that way.

Most virgo's are far from unemotional, but they DO have to practise emotional restraint, cuz well - theyre an absolute mess when they become emotional. And often cold assholes when theyre trying to control it.

The ideal state really is reflected in this zen koan I came across

A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is that so?"

When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened.

"Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.

Sometimes the best way to deal with situations that seem to demand, even require, an emotional response is to release oneself of that energy and do what you know needs to be done.

Of course, thats usually easier said than done....

Right on time, my friend Coreen forwards me on a joke..

Inner Strength

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take things out on you when,
through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can do all these things,

Then you are probably the family dog.

Heheheh.

We're only human after all.

Chinatown walkabout

Before then, my only forays into Chinatown were on the periphery or accidental stops for specific locations and things.

Then one day she took me for DimSum and afterwards took my hand and led me into the teeming, smelly chaos of commerce and people that is New York's Chinatown.

Simultaneously claustrophobic and confusing, it was an entry into a whirlwhind of people and goods.

From then, I loved deliberately walking into the crowd for no good reason except to gawk or to get cheap stuff.

So, on my walkabout, I indulged to capture that familiar chaos of people and sights along Canal Street.

















The norwegian tourists stepped right in front of me as I was focusing.

I lowered the camera and waited, until her husband noticed me and told her to step out of the way.

Eh, either way.









At that time, I was practicing my long zoom shots, compressing people, space and buildings.

































Then it started getting blustery, the sweltering humidity broke and it rained.











The strip of lights along one of my favorite streets..

All in due time

JPennant: Dear god.. lemme win some cash from the lottery!
McClint: i didnt win last night
JPennant: were you begging like I am now?
McClint: yup
JPennant: hehehe
JPennant: I think god likes begging with a little grovelling
JPennant: maybe we arent grovelling properly
McClint: hehe guess not

Sometimes, there is a reason for a season, and sour things happen to put one on a productive course.

But going through it .. o man o man.

Poo keeps reassuring me that this is a necessary price to get where I want to be, and its only temporary.

Gahrrr. nearly 2 years now kinda temporary.

Every successful artist and businessman tells me the process of success is not cheap, easy or short. Its a long haul.

And its necessary.

Ok.

Doesnt mean I gotta like this part of it.
------
1995

In Jacksonville, on Post Street.. my then landlady fell on hard times, so that she wouldnt have a foreclosure on her record, offered to sell me the house I was renting a portion of.

Nine grand.

Yup, you heard right. That was the obligation on the house.

I declined. Not because I wouldnt have been able to afford it (someone offered to front me the cash), but I was concerned afraid that on my meager income at the time - I wouldnt be able to keep the place going, pay the taxes, make the repairs etcetera etcetera etcetera.

My friend Alice hounded me for months long distance to do it. She made sense, but nah.

However, the house next door had been abandoned by its owner, and was bought by a building contractor for the cost of the land - 6 grand. He put 15 grand worth of material and labor into fixing it up.. and it was sold for 68 grand.
It was sold several times since then.

THAT house, all stained glass, 5 bedrooms, large den, polished hardwood floor, I woulda bought.

That was an opportunity.

Times were hard, but in retrospect - fulla opportunity.

Its 1995 all over again.

But, you know.. a lottery win would help. :-)
-------
In the San Francisco Craigslist, this warning appears above the computer classifieds

the ukranian scammer is active here, ripping folks off via paypal for too-good-to-be-true deals on non-existent computers .. the moral? think twice before fronting cash to distant strangers!

Ive been seriously browsing Craigslist for work and shelter, but for amusement and research (cuz well, there aint no spare cash) Ive been browsing the computer stuff for sale area.

One thing Ive noticed, is that there are a LOT more computers for sale daily than even a year ago. The sale prices often look suspiciously like the rent nut.
Lotta good equipment being let go.

Although there is this one doofus who wants to trade his iMac for World Series tix. *tut*

Random Semi-Interesting Observation of the Day

Apart from the deriguer top 20 hits, the most popular song on South Florida urban/pop radio (while I was there) was LL Cool J's - Doin It. A song from 97. Must be hot in the clubs.

I swear. It was in hevvy rotation.

Listening to it now.
------
For awhile, I was cursing blogger.

I kept getting 500 Server errors every time I tried to post, and weird pop ups from Blogspots host.

Eh, I had nuthin to say anyway, but still.

Then I saw other people being able to post.

So for awhile I thought it was a Mac thing, and I was mad about *that*.

(Im way overstating my irritation, by the way.)

Being the compulsive geek that I am, I started troubleshooting the usual suspects.

Voila. Corrupted cookie.

Woohoo. Fixed.

Yeah, I know...
------
Happy belated birthday, Pammie.

Sorry babe, I know it sux when folk fergit yer day.. but what with the time zone difference and all.. :-)

Plus, Im old. I can barely remember my own *^%^#%# birthday ....

A Crow and a Rabbi walked into a cab

The distance between Park Slope, Brooklyn and Spring Street, Manhattan is only a few miles as the crow flies.

However, that crow will get there a helluva lot faster than you would trying to catch a train or cab from said Point A to said Point B.

Therefore, my choices were limited in trying to make my appointment with Anna on time.

Taxi or 3 trains?

I paid the driver a little extry to get me there in 20 minutes.

He did his best, but it took closer to 40 minutes.

Better than the hour and change it wouldve taken going into the tunnels.

Plus I didnt wanna deal with the sweltering heat.

Here is what a Taxi ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan in the middle of the day looks like..

















--------
PartII of the walkabout.

On Canal Street















































As night fell, a thunderstorm rolled through..







I was worn, heat-stroked and headachy.

Train or taxi?







Part III - Chinatown