my birthday is next sunday, may 6th! YAY
My last show in Seattle I performed Applesauce Baptism just for Kat and Justin because they said they really liked the song, and since I really like them and they were coming all the way to Seattle for the show, I figured I’d do the song. I had never done it live and I was a little nervous about it because there are a lot of anime fans in Seattle and I didn’t want to upset them. Thankfully the anime fans in the audience had a great sense of humor and can take a joke, so it went over really well. I might start doing that song at every show now. I only bring this up because one of the coolest guys in Seattle, Jarod, records most if not all of the shows he goes to and in his most recent blog entry he posted the audio for AB. So what I suggest is going to and bookmarking alienbobz.com as he will also be posting a lot of great Northwest shows in the near future. Tanuki also posted a video of me performing that very song on YouTube and I’ve posted it on my MySpace. If you’re still not my MySpace friend at this point, what’s wrong with you?
Speaking of MySpace, I’ve decided that I don’t like/trust anyone without a MySpace account. If you’re over the age of 30, ok you don’t need to have an account, but everyone else does. It seems the only people who don’t have one are pricks who think their too cool for school who call the eight-thousand-billion people with accounts “sheep.†Well baaa motherfucker. It’s just a fun little site people can use to keep people posted on their lives and check out what’s going on with their friends. The only reason I can think why a person really wouldn’t need a MySpace is if they don’t have any friends. If you don’t have any friends, I guess you don’t need an account, but you should get one anyway or else you’re going to die friendless. Don’t die friendless, and don’t be a pretentious douche, get a goddamn MySpace you wannabe radical.
I’m ranting today because I don’t have much to talk about. I was finally bested today in Monopoly, but I didn’t go down without a fight. How nerdcore is it that I would describe this game of online Monopoly both epic and exciting? Very nerdcore, I agree. The day belonged to Justio Von Awesome who left Kat and I in his digital dust. I ended up feeling really sick and it turns out it was just something I had ate, but I napped the pain away. Poor baby Beefy. Speaking of baby Beefy, go check out my MySpace. I’m fuckin’ cute. Z wants to nurture me, Kat wants to smack me, and Justin mocks me. Justice will be served!
Today’s TotD you ask? Who talked me into the IMBC? Bitch, I’m the co-founder! Two years ago I was whining to Hank about his lack of blogging. I love to read the blogs of my actual friends. Sadly all my friends are lazy fucks who never blog. Like ever, unless I beg and whine. Hank, immune to my whining, needed to be forced in a different way. Hank and I are competitive and we just really like winning games. So I suggested the idea of the IMBC and Hank came up with the rules and the name and all that noise. I ended up winning cause Hank just up and forgot to blog, but I think we both had a little fun with it and this is now the 3rd time we’ve gone head to head. Sure there are others playing, but I like to keep it real and I really want to beat Hank because I’m a purist.
Ha! I can’t wait for tomorrow. $20 says everyone “forgets†to write about the topic of the day. Wink! Have A Nice Day.
-Beefysauce
See me at the Comfort Inn, on the world tour!
The above is an Optimus Rhyme lyric, figured I’d share that. Ok so here’s the thing, as some of you know I am a big fan of the HBO show Entourage. Well last night in my boredom I started watching season 1 episodes (was going to watch some 30 Rock, but the site is the devil and wouldn’t load some of them) I had work in the morning at 8:30am, so around 1am I thought it would be a good time to sleep, but then Kat logged on so I chatted with her for a little while. Then I got hungry so I grabbed a snack. Before I knew it I had finished season 1 and it was something like 3:30. Needless to say I’m not a wise person.
It was a struggle waking up for work. The alarm clock and I did a dance that it normally loses, but I eventually gave in to a shocking awakening provided by the shower. Work was the same ol’ same ol’. The new kid is terrible. Tanner and I goofed around. It got slow and I started txt messaging. It’s like nothing changes but a few of the character’s names. For some reason I thought today was Sunday all day. Along with not being wise I’m also not very smart. Ask anyone. Finally saw Tabitha again which was really nice. She’s going to be going out of town a whole lot this upcoming month so much that it reminds me of me. She’ll be all over California as well. Me thinks she’s copying me. If she spends most of her time in the Bay I’ll be sure of it. Also while at work I was thinking what the opposite of dopehat would be, and I decided it’s wackboots. “How was that new album?†“You shouldn’t get it, it’s totally wackboots.â€
Got home, ate food, and watched more Entourage. Shael sent me a new Captain S remix beat to rap to which was much slower and so much easier to write and record to. Threw down on that after I got some inspiration from the latest Captain S adventure. Shael has some really great lines in the new episode. Go watch it now. After I unleashed my science I hit up a power-nap. I cannot stress the importance of power-naps. Oh! Before I hit the hay I was able to talk on the phone with Kevin for a little bit! So dope! I told him I sent him another letter and he was telling about booze I should be looking into for his return. Sadly he’ll only be home for 10 days unless he’s able to land a gig as a recruiter. As much as I hate the idea of him duping others into following his footsteps, I do like the idea of having someone to hangout with for more than 10 days. Beefy is teh lonely and the people I wanna hangout with are 3 and a half hours away. Weak! Have A Nice Day.
-Beefy, who kind of misses being obsessed.
There’s a bit of controversy about the name, you see. The torch has been passed so many times by now to different stewards that no-one is entirely sure what PRD originally stood for. The P is for Public, that much is universally agreed upon. And R is either for Rhyme or Rap, which are practically synonymous in this context, so that’s a matter of aesthetic preference really.
But the D is where some contention is raised – does it stand for Display or Distribution? The answer to this burning question may indeed be lost forever to local rap (or rhyme) historians. The one man who may know the answer is Glenn “Process†Harrington, erstwhile Halifax rapper, late of the rap groups Dert Roads and Alpha Flight and a founding member of the Backburner crew. He was a legendary figure, spoken of in hushed and reverent tones to me by Wordburglar when we would talk rap at the comic shop. He was the guy who would show up at your house at lunch to freestyle before you went back to school. He was the guy who would call you on the phone to freestyle whether you were on the other line or not. He was the guy who would freestyle for the volunteer firemen at his local Tim Horton’s. He was the guy who ran into Classified on Spring Garden Road and challenged him to a freestyle battle on the spot.
Let me define my terms, here. People use freestyling in a few different ways, and I’m going to clear that up for you right now. A freestyle rap is one that you make up on the spot, as it comes out of your mouth. A few “pre-meditated†lines are cheating but inevitable, but a whole verse you wrote some other time is just a whole verse you wrote. When you show up to the freestyle cipher and kick “writtensâ€, you’re breaking the rules. Some people refer to any performance of rap outside of its context as a completely original song a freestyle, but they are wimps and cheaters and that is disparagingly known as “New York freestyling†because it was popularized on NY mixtapes and radio shows in the 90s.
It’s obviously kinder to the rapper and the audience to have something prepared, because almost everything a person thinks up off the top of his or her head is going to be ill-considered if not outright stupid. But that somehow makes it a nobler enterprise to fly without a safety net, it becomes a quixotic mission to pull worthwhile ideas out of the ether and present them unpolished. My friend Cyril “Ill Seer†Guerette earned a Ph.D in Theology writing a thesis which posited freestyling as a direct line to the divine. At its worst, it can be intolerable to endure. But it can also be a lot of fun.
So Glenn was a nut for freestyling, and as times changed and values shifted in the Halifax hip-hop scene, the venues for this activity became fewer and fewer. Eventually, it wasn’t even really happening at house parties anymore. So what was the solution? Create a venue.
Glenn and his little black CD player full of beats and batteries established PRD on the front steps of the Spring Garden Memorial Library, Fridays from 6pm until whenever. Invitations were extended by word of mouth and people would just show up, stand in a circle and bust out rhymes off the dome. Over the last four or five years, attendance has waxed and waned. Beatboxes both electronic and human have come and gone. Stewardship has traced a hazy succession since Glenn moved to Ottawa to study horticulture and get hitched (I’ll say this about girlfriends – they looooove Ottawa) and has rested with Darren “Ghettosocks†Pyper and somewhere between Justin “Jus†Kinch and Joey “Ambition†Ward in latter years. Two devoted and stalwart young participants have met untimely ends since the tradition’s inception – Kyle “Aziz†McMullin and Jason “Litterbug†Walsh – and the ciphers are never better attended or more impassioned than when their remembrances are invoked.
I’m going to level with you – I think freestyling is kind of dumb. It’s never been my forte because I’m too afraid I’ll say something stupid. I prefer to compose my thoughts carefully and really give people something to chew on. But hip-hop, more than any other musical genre in my opinion, can’t exist without a community to share it. Halifax’s hip-hop community has been orphaned over and over again by closing venues and diminishing public activities, and this freestyle cipher is an ideal foster home. It’s free to attend, free of intoxicants, open to all ages, centrally located, outdoors and well-lit. People who want to rap or be around people who rap are welcome to come stand in the cipher and participate however much they wish. I can’t promise it will be free of judgement, but it’s hip-hop. You’re supposed to prove how dope you are to people who think they’re doper than you.
Even if you don’t like to be put on the spot, it’s a great place to hand out fliers for your upcoming gig. To exchange phone numbers, e-mail addresses, beat tapes and ideas. To lay a foundation and build. To sell your crappy new mixtape with ripped-off beats or your amazing new album no-one would know about otherwise. It’s a gathering of individuals with at least one thing in common. Maybe more.
Fridays, 6pm, on the steps of the Spring Garden Memorial Library. Look out for my big silver boom box and a small crowd of rappers. Don’t be scared, you’re probably better than half of them. Let’s find out!
So it turns out my website goes to shit when I overfill my allowed server space. Good to know.
Wow. Site broken again…fuck you website.
I actually left the house today! It’s amazing! I actually have a few things to blog about today. How exciting. Ok, not really all that exciting at all, but fuck you, what of it?
Yesterday was kind of cool. I finished a song (I think it’s pretty dopehat, the Portlanders seem to agree) I got letters from both Kevin and Doc Pop (well, technically it was DPiddy’s lady Shannon) and I got my ass kicked in Boggle. Ok, that last one wasn’t too kick ass. Kevin’s letter was great. It does however feel like someone else wrote it because the penmanship is pretty much 90 times better than it used to be. Then again he used to write in cursive and only chicks can pull that off. I wrote him a letter and finished it this morning and sent it off, and it better get there before he comes home on May 11th. Doc Pop’s email was also really freakin’ sweet as I was sent a copy of his mini comic “The Flapjack Incident†which documents what happened at a Denny’s in Seattle the first time I met him. And I’m in the comic. Yay! I also got a nice little letter from Shannon which was quite lovely.
Today was my first day back at P. Murphy’s. It’s almost sad how easy it was to get back into the groove of making pizza. It’s never been a hard job at all, but I was kind of hoping I would at least forget a few things. But I guess after being at the same job for over a year and a half nothing really changes in one month. What did change though were some faces. A ton of people left in my absence (I like to think that it was because of my absence) so there are a lot of new kids. I was caught up on the latest in P. Murphy’s gossip and regaled TanBam with my touring adventures and great big chunks of my own drama. While we were slow though I thought to myself and even though I’m poor as hell and I’m very much in the hole, overall I haven’t so happy in a good long time. It feels really good to be back to slightly normal, uber productive Beefy.
I got home, had some pizza (I hadn’t had some P Murphy’s in ages. It really hit the spot) and got on the internets. Kat logged on and I was chatting with her for a while and I leaned back in my chair at one point…and I totally fell asleep. I woke back up and she had logged off. Kinda felt like a dick. I cleared the shit off of my bed and hit up on a power nap. Woke up, read some comics I had downloaded, sent an unfortunate message on myspace that was returned with optimism, and now I’m thinking about stealing another hard cider from the parentals. Seriously, I love living at home.
So I have to share this story with you. Last night I was chatting with Router and she said I needed to see her outfit. We Skype and it turns out her outfit is quite…revealing. She says she’s going to a “scandalous party†and she was more than dressed accordingly. Think slutty business woman, a fetish not totally ruined for me. Thank sis. Anywho, I went to bed really early last night and I get a call from Router. I wake up cause I will take a call from Router anytime day or night, and she tells me that she ripped her skirt. I was half ready for some kind weird Router sex story, but that wasn’t the case. Turns out that when she went to her car to leave the party she saw a raccoon. Because she’s a girl and girls can’t see a cute, furry thing without trying to touch it, she approached the raccoon with the purest of girly intentions. The raccoon however was having none of this and began chasing Router! While making a mad dash she ended up ripping her skirt. From what I understand she climbed on top of her car and waited for her friends to help her out, which they did after laughing their asses off. Stories like that my friend are why I’m glad I have that ladyface in my life. Have A Nice Day.
RE: Today’s Topic of the Day, I think it’s more than foolish to assume that we’re the only intelligent life in the entirety of the universe. Just last night I was informed that a new super-earth was found 20.5 light-years away which could very well be the home of some kind of life. While I know there must be intelligent life somewhere in the universe, I assume that it is possible that we are the most intelligent and most evolved. But I could be wrong. Considering how little we actually know about space, I’m curious if I’ll ever see any breakthroughs or trips to other planets in my lifetime. I just want to live on the moon and be a Mooninite. That would be dope hat.
As far as board games go, I’m only good at the ones that don’t involve skill or intelligence. Last night I was victorious over April O’ Neil in games of Battleship and Sorry, but I had my ass handed to me in a game of Scrabble. Let it be known that I’ve never considered myself a bright person. This recent flood of online board games has sparked my interest in a song idea. So far it’s coming together rather well.
I made up a list last night and it turns out I’m working on 7 songs at once. This is pretty incredible. The most incredible part is that I’m making progress on each one. The latest Grammar Club idea I’ve gotten from Shael is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. I loved Heart In Your Tits, but I think I like this new pitch even more. We’ll see though. I might ruin it. Three of the songs I’m working on are for my album and the other 4 are all Grammar Club projects. I actually love feeling this busy even though most people couldn’t give two shits.
Have A Nice Day.
-His Beefyness
p.s. I always seem to forget a few things. You might notice that at the very top there is a new tab that says Remix. If you make beats and whatnot and would like to remix a Beefy track, I have posted vocals for a few songs from Tube Technology. Also I made a doodle last night and figured I’d post it. I haven’t doodled in so long. ALSO today is DJ Snyder’s birthday! Go to his myspace (Linked to the left) and wish him well! Love, peace, and chicken grease.
RE: Today’s Topic of the Day, I think it’s more than foolish to assume that we’re the only intelligent life in the entirety of the universe. Just last night I was informed that a new super-earth was found 20.5 light-years away which could very well be the home of some kind of life. While I know there must be intelligent life somewhere in the universe, I assume that it is possible that we are the most intelligent and most evolved. But I could be wrong. Considering how little we actually know about space, I’m curious if I’ll ever see any breakthroughs or trips to other planets in my lifetime. I just want to live on the moon and be a Mooninite. That would be dope hat.
As far as board games go, I’m only good at the ones that don’t involve skill or intelligence. Last night I was victorious over April O’ Neil in games of Battleship and Sorry, but I had my ass handed to me in a game of Scrabble. Let it be known that I’ve never considered myself a bright person. This recent flood of online board games has sparked my interest in a song idea. So far it’s coming together rather well.
I made up a list last night and it turns out I’m working on 7 songs at once. This is pretty incredible. The most incredible part is that I’m making progress on each one. The latest Grammar Club idea I’ve gotten from Shael is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. I loved Heart In Your Tits, but I think I like this new pitch even more. We’ll see though. I might ruin it. Three of the songs I’m working on are for my album and the other 4 are all Grammar Club projects. I actually love feeling this busy even though most people couldn’t give two shits.
Have A Nice Day.
-His Beefyness
p.s. I always seem to forget a few things. You might notice that at the very top there is a new tab that says Remix. If you make beats and whatnot and would like to remix a Beefy track, I have posted vocals for a few songs from Tube Technology. Also I made a doodle last night and figured I’d post it. I haven’t doodled in so long. ALSO today is DJ Snyder’s birthday! Go to his myspace (Linked to the left) and wish him well! Love, peace, and chicken grease.
Congratulations are in order for my buddy Kenny who was accepted into Western Washington University the other day. Way to go sir. Now you and Paige can hang out and frolic and maybe blow stuff up. It’s Bellingtonhamfieldville, I’m sure they love blowing shit up.
So it turns out I’m some kind of Monopoly god. The Atari website has a bunch of board games you can play online with friends, so Kat, Justin, and I decided to take advantage of such things. Justin had homework, so Kat and I played a quick game where the computer randomly gives out property at the very beginning. The game moves a whole lot faster online, but sadly one does miss out of the table interaction which is of course my favorite part of any kind of gaming. I won the first game against Kat and we waited around while Justio Von Awesome finished his homework. He finally finished up and we were back to the game. In the beginning it looked like I was done for as I had like no money at all, but after a trade with Kat that gave me a monopoly it was the beginning of the end. I ended up winning by some ridiculous total which was pretty dopehat. I look forward to more matches in the future. Drop me a line if ya want me to defeat you too.
While in Portland I learned that I have a new favorite beer. It’s called Sol and it’s like Carona but like 80 times better. It lacks the bitter aftertaste that plagues Carona and is perfectly wonderful without a lime, but still fantastic with one.
My grandma made me a bunch of friendship bracelets that have my name on them for me to sell at my shows. I don’t know who’s going to buy them, but they’re pretty badass. Big ups to Thundercat for this one. Pictures will be included below.
Wanna see Beefy talk a bunch and give his phone number to a girl who is not at all interested in him? Want to see Justio Von Awesome wearing a badass bowtie? I thought you might. Watch this video chump.
Also if you’d like to see me acting like a re and talking to myself while sitting at the computer, you can feel free to watch this vid as well. Have A Nice Day.
-awesomefantasitc (yeah, I decided that’s my new nickname. Deal with it.)
p.s. Forgot the topic of the day. Cynthia is the love of my life. She has been my trusty sidekick/vehicle since I was a senior in high school. She carried Router and Doc all over the West coast during our tour. And she most recently got me around Seattle and Portland. She’s a tough broad who I would be lost without. Seriously, you can’t live in the TC without a car. We have a crappy public transit system and it’s to spread out to walk anywhere really. And after hanging out in big cities I realize she’s a little large but I’d rather learn how to parallel park than be without Cynthia. Sadly I don’t take care of Cynthia like I should. She’s a dirty girl and doesn’t stay clean long. The driver’s side chair is all kinds of fucked up. The driver’s side back door doesn’t open. She also has a kill switch inconveniently placed under the passenger’s left foot. That being said, I’d rather have a crappy car (I don’t mean that Cynthia my love) than no car at all. My fat ass and hills don’t get along at all. (Damn you Denny St. in Seattle!)
Congratulations are in order for my buddy Kenny who was accepted into Western Washington University the other day. Way to go sir. Now you and Paige can hang out and frolic and maybe blow stuff up. It’s Bellingtonhamfieldville, I’m sure they love blowing shit up.
So it turns out I’m some kind of Monopoly god. The Atari website has a bunch of board games you can play online with friends, so Kat, Justin, and I decided to take advantage of such things. Justin had homework, so Kat and I played a quick game where the computer randomly gives out property at the very beginning. The game moves a whole lot faster online, but sadly one does miss out of the table interaction which is of course my favorite part of any kind of gaming. I won the first game against Kat and we waited around while Justio Von Awesome finished his homework. He finally finished up and we were back to the game. In the beginning it looked like I was done for as I had like no money at all, but after a trade with Kat that gave me a monopoly it was the beginning of the end. I ended up winning by some ridiculous total which was pretty dopehat. I look forward to more matches in the future. Drop me a line if ya want me to defeat you too.
While in Portland I learned that I have a new favorite beer. It’s called Sol and it’s like Carona but like 80 times better. It lacks the bitter aftertaste that plagues Carona and is perfectly wonderful without a lime, but still fantastic with one.
My grandma made me a bunch of friendship bracelets that have my name on them for me to sell at my shows. I don’t know who’s going to buy them, but they’re pretty badass. Big ups to Thundercat for this one. Pictures will be included below.
Wanna see Beefy talk a bunch and give his phone number to a girl who is not at all interested in him? Want to see Justio Von Awesome wearing a badass bowtie? I thought you might. Watch this video chump.
Also if you’d like to see me acting like a re and talking to myself while sitting at the computer, you can feel free to watch this vid as well. Have A Nice Day.
-awesomefantasitc (yeah, I decided that’s my new nickname. Deal with it.)
p.s. Forgot the topic of the day. Cynthia is the love of my life. She has been my trusty sidekick/vehicle since I was a senior in high school. She carried Router and Doc all over the West coast during our tour. And she most recently got me around Seattle and Portland. She’s a tough broad who I would be lost without. Seriously, you can’t live in the TC without a car. We have a crappy public transit system and it’s to spread out to walk anywhere really. And after hanging out in big cities I realize she’s a little large but I’d rather learn how to parallel park than be without Cynthia. Sadly I don’t take care of Cynthia like I should. She’s a dirty girl and doesn’t stay clean long. The driver’s side chair is all kinds of fucked up. The driver’s side back door doesn’t open. She also has a kill switch inconveniently placed under the passenger’s left foot. That being said, I’d rather have a crappy car (I don’t mean that Cynthia my love) than no car at all. My fat ass and hills don’t get along at all. (Damn you Denny St. in Seattle!)
Beefy plays music for you by MC Frontalot, Regina Spektor, Lupe Fiasco, and Optimus Rhyme
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