fifteen days separate me from my 35th birthday.  and i'm more concerned than happy.  while i'm looking forward to the three days off from work that start on my birthday proper, i'm not looking forward to the actual celebration of said birthday.  every year my mother calls me on the time of my birth, 4:02 p.m.  if she forgot this year, i really wouldn't be mad at her.  i just don't feel like being reminded.  but she won't forget.

last week was my father's 65th birthday.  gave him a call, which is a pointless exercise because he doesn't speak.  lately our conversations end and i wonder to myself if we have finally run out of things to say to each other.  to be brutally honest, i'm tired of putting in the effort.  i'm tired of doing all the talking.  he had a stroke this summer which slurred his speech for a bit, then things got better.  my grandmother has alzheimer's and my mom suspects that dad may have it as well.  can't say i entirely buy that, though.  all i know is that conversations between a father and son shouldn't be so silent.

where is the point that we become our parents even though we try so desperately not to?  there's too much in me that i don't want to pass on to my daughter.  and kids are sponges.  they soak up everything around them.  parenthood is undoubtedly the most difficult challenge of my life thus far.  i see anger within myself.  i see a lack of remaining calm and collected within myself.  children feed off of the feelings you project.  this is far from easy.  the complications mount when you're fighting every battle at work because you have to, but you have to pick your battles at home when it comes to disciplining your two-year old kid.

beth's on a three-day business trip starting tomorrow.  i pray that i have the mental stamina and spiritual strength to make it through this week.  actually, truth be told, the next three days don't scare me half as much as the prospect of still working at the same job when i turn 36.  careerwise, i feel like a failure.  with parenthood, failure is not an option.  i can't fail my baby girl and i don't plan to.

okay, so the economy's tanking, the dow is up, the dow is down, the bad blood between obama and mccain supporters is spilling from buckets galore...don't ask me for a solution, all i can provide is a soundtrack.

hot off the hard drive, it's another installment of us & us for the motion podcast service.  i think this one turned out well.  lemme know what you think...

click here for file access and tracklisting...

i won't front like i read wax poetics from cover to cover, but i have respected the magazine from a distance. this documentary snippet makes me want to know more...a lot more. and has totally convinced me that i ought to pick up their coffee table anthologies and catch up on what i've missed.

by the way, they just started a digital music store. not having a record player's no longer an excuse. lucky you...

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

it was between 9:40 and 9:45 a.m. last night. i was brushing my daughter simone's teeth and getting her ready for bed. she was seated on my lap in the kitchen and i still had earplugs in my ears due to the fact that she was screaming her head off several minutes beforehand. the gun shots sounded like they were right in my back yard. if simone was startled, she didn't show it. she just sat there and let me brush her teeth.

my wife beth calls out from the bedroom. "jason?"

"yeah?"

"were those what i think they were?"

i hesitated before answering. i didn't want it to be gunshots, either. i was hoping that garbage cans fell over in the back yard from the wind or something. " i honestly don't know."

within five minutes, the cops had blocked off our street and were searching for shell cases. beth initally thought that one of the kids downstairs had gotten their hands on a gun, but that wasn't the case. the shooting took place two houses down from us. someone fired four shots at the house (i could see where the bullets entered one of the windows this morning), jumped into a black BMW, and got the hell outta dodge.

when i dropped off simone at day care, the head provider called out to me from upstairs.

"JASON!!"

"yes?"

"WHO SHOT UP YOUR BLOCK LAST NIGHT???"

like i know who did it. all i know is this: our street has far too many kids for that to go on. kids can get into enough trouble by themselves; the last thing that they need is trouble looking for them...

K.A.L.I.

for the past three or four weeks, i've had no internet connection. and you know what i've found out? I CAN LIVE WITHOUT IT. granted, a dial-up connection's coming back to my house and i could have FIOS by november. but if i didn't get it back at home at all, it would be a nuisance, but nothing life threatening. i continue to define myself as an old head that was forced to get into new media. i'd rather have two turntables, a microphone, and the airwaves. instead, it's a computer, piles of MP3s, a microphone, a usb recorder, a mixer, and an rss feed. it's better than nothing, but the more i have to rely on technology and computers, the more i like pad and pencil. is it weird for a podcaster to say that?

a nice mix of sources for today's tunes, coming from the podsafe music network, ioda promonet, ariel publicity, and some creative commons works from a pair of netlabels. there was so much great material to play that the playlist kept getting changed around. here's what made the final cut...

download ||| rss feed ||| subscribe to podcast in itunes

go here to stream shows

you can contact me via twitter, facebook, email, or the voice mail line at 206-339-8732.

id drops courtesy of darrenkeith wyatt and ej flavors. theme music co-produced by macedonia and techniken defunkus.

other key info:
macedonia's playlist on blip.fm
september episode of us and us

1. oddisee - "sand to the beach" {iTunes | Rhapsody | More On This Album}
2. dj k.o. - "someday (feat. talib kweli, torae, john robinson, and tiffany paige)" {iTunes | Rhapsody | More On This Album}
3. hired gun - "locust culture (feat. core rhythm)" {CDBaby}
4. apes on tapes - "grand 5" {free download}
5. juba dance - "the porpoise et la mer"
6. dapayk solo - "right here" {free download}
7. the pimps of joytime - "joytime radio" {amazon.com}
8. aaron jerome - "late night mission (feat. yungun)" {amazon.com}
9. natalie walker - "pink neon (the amalgamation of soundz dub)" {release info}
10. the foreign exchange - "daykeeper (feat. muhsinah)" {free download}
11. rodriguez - "sugar man" {iTunes | Rhapsody | More On This Album}

iodapromonet free downloads:

Juba Dance
"The Porpoise et La Mer" (mp3)
from "Orange Juiced"
(Audio 8 Recordings)

More On This Album

Technorati tags: Blog, Podcasts, Podcasting, Music, Hip-Hop, Electronic, funk, Soul, Radio, mp3

JUBA DANCE
Orange Juiced:  Remixes & B-Sides
[Audio 8 Recordings]
Release Date:  September 23, 2008

As a follow-up to their debut album Orange, Ben Lamar and Polyphonic the Verbose (otherwise known as Juba Dance) present a collection of new songs along with some remixes.  While this project does push the boundaries of musical genres, some experiments don’t always prove successful.  However, their hits certainly outnumber their misses.  Juba Dance is at its best when channeling their hip-hop influences through other formulas.  The best example would be “The Porpoise et La Mer,” R&B deep-fried in electronics and topped with b-boy swagger that’s undercut with real man sensitivity.  Planet Juba is consistently off its axis, which makes for unexpected listening pleasures.  “Vivo Viajar” is aurally seductive while remaining enigmatic in classification.  “Gone” is soulful techno that, for all its harmonic oddities, is surprisingly accessible.  The revisited material receives admirable remix work, from Sicker Man’s head-nodding take on “Cachaáa” to Turbo-Rexxa’s electro spin on “Union Hall.”  Orange Juiced will quench the thirst of the musically dehydrated, but sip slowly for best results.   -JRS

for those that don't know, you need to know one simple thing:  FLYING LOTUS IS THE TRUTH.  easily one of the most brilliant producers in electronic music today.  this album will definitely be on my top ten of the year.  absolutely fantastic from beginning to end.  whatever he's producing or remixing, pick it up on sight...you'll never go wrong.

click here for a review of his full-length for warp records...

for the record, i like the debut album better, but there are some good songs on this album and the production is noticeably polished.  dug the demo feel of the first album, though.

anyways...click here to read more...

apparently, this is the start of a series that artist shaun boothe is behind. he's real nice with the videos, from what i hear. the above should give you some idea of what we're in for. shaun plans to cover 12 artists in 12 months. i'm down. how about you?