[Press-N-Play®] Sizemen – Chao Phraya River

And speaking of Thailand...

[Press-N-Play®] Sizemen – Chao Phraya River
[Press-N-Play®] Sizemen – Intro Shadow Funeral

RZA on the power of imagination

  I was playing with my son and he goes "shoo-shoo"––making like he's shooting powers at me. "I'm sending my powers at you!" he'd yell. And the first time he did it, I said, "You know, that really won't hurt anybody."
   But the second time he did it, I didn't say that to him. Because I thought about it and realized that if you really have that will and that chi energy, and that understanding, who knows? Maybe you can fuck someone up that way. That thirty-sixth chamber in martial arts, that's the one where the fighter just forces energy at his opponent and knocks him across the room. So I don't want to take that away from a child.
   It's imagination. To imagine means to image. And once you make an image, you can make flesh. It's power upon power. And it's real. That power, that force--if you let it, it can move mountains.

– RZA

Source: The Wu-Tang Manual, pg. 87

The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu – Collect 'em all!

One thing that every collector realizes early on is that there will always be something new (or old) on the horizon that will trigger the desire to covet  hoard collect. My present guilty pleasure is the Marvel-affiliated magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. Published during the kung-fu craze of the 1970s, this eye-gougingly good mag ran for 33 issues, between 1974 to 1977. In addition to serialized black and white comic strips starring a rotating cast of characters like Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, White Tiger, Daughters of the Dragon and others, each issue of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu also offered great interviews, articles, pop culture reviews, and so much more. How it was that not a single issue of this series was represented in my collection is worthy of a Scooby Doo Mystery. But the oversight has been corrected. Thanks to Ebay, I now own five of the seven or so issues that have piqued my interest: Since the Iron Fist comic book runs of Marvel Premiere 15-25 is complete, and Iron Fist 1-15 is one issue away from being complete, I'm focusing on the Deadly Hands issues that feature this kick ass character. I've got some classics, true believers. Check 'em out.

 

 

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[Press-N-Play®] Shaq ft. Rakim – Game of Death

[Press-N-Play®] Shaquille O'Neal ft. Rakim – Game of Death

Retrospective – Nike's "Chamber of Fear" Ads Featuring LeBron James (circa 2004)

 

 

 

Nike's "Chamber of Fear" starring LeBron James and Jim Kelly, circa 2004.

Jim Kelly – Requiem for a Fighter

Jim Kelly, who passed away on June 29th, was the star of Black Belt Jones (1974). It was the first martial arts movie that I ever saw up on the silver screen. Although only five-years-old at that time, I still easily recall many of the details of that evening. Uppermost among them was the excitement that I felt walking out of the theater into the night with my parents and four-year-old sister--and how she and I launched little kung-fu kicks into air on our way to the family car.

Like so many other African-American children who grew up in this country in the immediate aftermath of the civil rights struggle, the gulf between movie heroes and heroines within whom we could regularly see our brown faces reflected was both deep and vast. But along with actors like Diane Carroll, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Billy Dee Williams, Teresa Graves, and a smattering of others, Jim Kelly was one of the proudly watched, though rarely visible few.

Admittedly, for me in those very formative years it was Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee who were my two biggest pop culture idols. But Jim Kelly was placed high among them on very short list. And though he had only appeared in a few films -- even fewer of which were actually good films -- the impression that he made on me, and so many others like me, was positive, strong, and long lasting.

Nearly four years ago this month, while attending the San Diego Comicon in 2009, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Jim Kelly. And though I've never been much in the way of anybody's fanboy, I found myself that day temporarily awestruck. But then, for me, there was actually so much more involved with meeting Jim Kelly than just meeting Jim Kelly.  

In the theoretical principle of six-degrees of separation, it's said that a connection between any two people located anywhere in the world could be established through the identification of five or fewer shared acquaintances. You know such-and-such, who knows so-and-so, who knows blasé-skippy-woo-woo. Well, because Jim had known both Lee and Ali, being in his presence for that brief moment made me feel somehow much more closely connected to all of my boyhood idols. 

Yesterday, in the wake of Jim’s passing, my buddy Joe Doughrity (Akira's Hip-Hop Shop) gave a touching remembrance on his Facebook page. There he mentioned that he'd also met Jim at a comic convention. But this meeting was much more recent than mine, having occurred just in the past few months. Fortunately, due to the growing popularity of such conventions, people like he and I will often get a chance to shake the hands of some of the pop culture figures that we looked up to as kids. Master Jim Kelly was one of them.

Feeling a tad bit overwhelmed at the moment, and losing my way on just how I should close this post, I’ll defer to Joe, who I think summed it best when he said of Master Kelly that: "He fought the good fight."

That he did, true believers. That he did. 

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Mama said knock you ouuuuuut!

Set Adrift on Chocolate Memory Bliss

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Not that there's any reason to even recall this, but I forgot that Chicago's Beatrice Foods was once the home of some of America's sweetest candy treats. These include Milk Duds, Slo Poke and Black Cow suckers. As early as the 1920s, these cavity causers had been made in Chicago by the Holloway Company. In the early 1960s, Holloway was bought by Beatrice Foods. Around that same time, the Clark Company of Pittsburgh (maker of Clark and Zagnut bars) was bought up by Beatrice's expanding candy empire.

By the end of the following decade, it was a familiar sight to find text-heavy centerfolds in the pages of comic books that advertised Beatrice & Holloway's "Infamous Milk Duds Superduds Sweepstakes!" First place winners were awarded with an all expenses paid trip to New York City. While there in the rotten apple, the winner and their guests (limit 4) would be given a tour of the offices of either Marvel or DC Comics. Even better, an artist would draw the lucky winner's sweet-toothed likeness into the pages of their favorite comic.

Well, as happenstance would have it, while on my break at work yesterday I found myself noticing the Clark candy bars perched in the spiral rings of the snack machine. I'm still not sure as to why they caught my eye, I was never particularly a fan of Clark bars. In fact, as far as crunchy peanut butter bricks covered in milk chocolate went, the Butterfinger (another well-known candy originally made in Chicago) was always so much yummier.

But then today, with the Clark bars in the snack machine at work still hovering at the back of my brain, I happened across one of those old Superduds Sweepstakes ads. After focusing on a small image of the Clark bar's blue and red wrapper at the top of a cut-out entry blank, I had a realization: Save for Milk Duds and maybe Zagnut, I never see any of Clark's fellow candies anymore. Are any of 'em still even made? And as my thoughts reached for the remnants of sugar sweetened memories, I found myself gripped with a gnawing pang for the tastes of days gone by.

[Press-N-Play] Doom, Are You Awake?

[Press-N-Play®] MF Doom – Doom, Are You Awake?
[Press-N-Play®] MF Doom – ? ft. Kurious

Fuck This Noise! – Beatrice Foods Building, 1987

 

 

Fuck This Noise! Raven & Upski. Chicago, 1987

Kanye West + ReggieKnow + Toy Tokyo

CHANNELZEROTV.COM presents the never-before-seen clip "Chicago Hip Hop 101", starring Kanye West and his trusty, fashion forward barber, Ibn Jasper. Filmed in the years prior to the release of the multi-platinum Roc-A-Fella debut album "College Dropout", we join the duo mid-haircut as Kanye drops knowledge on the iconic Chicago hip-hop fixtures they grew up with. Along with in-depth narration by Kanye, we bring you exclusive CREATIVECONTROL.TV footage of the Toy Tokyo gallery showing hosted by Fashion Figure, Inc.'s creator and stylist, ReggieKnow aka "Polo Reg". Shot & Chopped by: Danny Joe Sorge and Directed by: Coodie & Chike

Published on Apr 17, 2013

Kickin' Live Productions – I Got Rhythm

[Press-N-Play®] Kickin' Live Productions – I Got Rhythm

Fanboy letter to BROTHERMAN, circa 1992

 Dear Sims Bros.,

I have just finished reading Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline number 5, and as I type this letter, I continue to admire the book's fantastic illustrations. Dave Sims' art is unique, innovative and quite distinctive of urban youth subculture. May I say that Brotherman is a graffiti artist's dream? The "ERUPTION" splash-page was striking, and the last panel of page 14 resurrected memories I retain that only few individuals could share: remnants of broken glass, soda pop cans and empty spray paint cans intermingling on a 'Big City' rooftop. Humph! Knowotimean?

Dave's art coupled with Guy's amusing, insightful, poignant prose provides each reader with a captivating street-level view of life in the megapolis...or a view from the underground, if you will, which brings me to my point. A book like Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline is a gem in the comics genre. It is a gem because it is one of the only such books in which graffit art or urban art is presented in such a professional manner. "A View From Da' Underground" by Tramp, Hayz and Cee, printed in The Source is one other such gem. But gems indeed are rare.

Hence, it is my hope to one day see other innovative illustrators like Tramp, Hayz and Cee--and still others like Pikasso--contributing toward the expansion of this art form in comics. It would also be a privilege to see famed graffiti artists like Dondi, Futura, Gnome, Seen and Skeme providing diverse interpretations of cover art for Brotherman comics.

Peace in the East.

PDT
Chicago, IL

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Letter originally published in Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline #6, 1992

Samuel L. Jackson on pursuing his new dream

David Carradine on superheroes

"When I was a little kid I read a comic book called Supersnipe. This maybe six-year-old kid was the world's biggest comic fan, and he dressed up in baggy red long johns with the window in the back, plus a cape and a little black mask, and went around trying to fight crime and stuff. But in a couple of the stories, he actually became Supersnipe, over six feet tall, with lots of muscles and skintight long johns, but still with this tiny six-year-old head on top of it all. And it wasn't exactly a dream in the stories; the daring deeds really did get done.

"Well, I was the world's greatest comic fan, and I got my grandmother to sew me a superhero costume and tried to fly in it, off the garage roof. I really believed this stuff, and I'm not embarrassed to say I still do... Superhuman abilities are a lot of fun. Rarely in the comic books do they get into the price. It's heavy, as I remember. But, hey, you live only an infinite number of times, so why not make yourself useful."

– David Carradine
Source: The Kill Bill Diary, pg. 131

Esthero – Superheroes

 "Stay a while longer, sweet tongue of fur and feather / There is a white breast, waiting for you here / Between the superheroes and the electric blanket, it's warm..."

[Press-N-Play®] Esthero – Superheroes
[Press-N-Play®] Esthero – Country Livin'

Love my good-n-plenty

Good times at Phoenix Comicon 2013

This post won't contain any boasting about how fantastic a time I had at the Phoenix Comicon. I had a good time this year, but not a great time. There were scads of pop culture pushers, famous faces (Nichelle Nichols, Bruce Boxleitner, Garret Wang), artists, writers, and geek culture freaks of all ages. But something was off, something was missing for me this time around.

I didn't get enough deals steals.

Last year and the year before, I got spoiled. Dealer Ed Robertson brought boxes jammed with old and newish comics priced at $1 buck each that would leave you breathless, and nearly penniless too. But not this year. Well, he did have dollar boxes. But they were filled with none of the books that I was interested in getting, which was something of a serious letdown.

Still, I was glad to get another chance to chat with Ed and his wife and grabbed a half-dozen of his dollar comics offerings for old time's sake. He also had a nicely priced copy of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #2 that I purchased ($10) from amongst his higher priced selections. It was also the first book I bought at the convention that was on my list.

I only spent two days at the con this year. Thursday had to be scratched for the Kings of the Mic concert in Tucson. In the time I had there, though, I managed to get my hands on all but  two of the books on my list. The only ones I didn't buy were Hero for Hire #8 and Iron Fist #5. One dealer had a copy of the latter, but it was laughably overpriced at $50 dollars.

Thanks to more reasonably priced retailers (All About Comics, Graham Crackers, Harley Yee), I got copies of Iron Fist 3, 4 & 7, Hero for Hire #10 and Marvel Premiere 16 & 19. Finding those last two books enabled me to complete my Marvel Premiere run: Issues 15 through 25 feature the very the first Iron Fist stories. 

At some point on Saturday, I also grabbed nice copies of issues 7, 8, 11 & 12 of the original Black Panther series. These were actually dollar offerings, too, but I scarcely remember who I bought 'em from. It could have been Ed. I recall taking another casual pass through his dollar boxes on Saturday. Oh, but there was one other guy who had about a dozen boxes--all of which contained books he priced at $1 dollar. So I'm gonna say that he was actually the source of these four books.

All in all, I left the con with a handful of nice books at very decent prices. But I also got to see some old acquaintances: Mike (the former owner of the gone-but-not-forgotten Atomic Comics, now immortalized in the movie Kick Butt) was there, as was Tom of Caveman Comics. Ol' Tom and I used to get into some of the best debates over social and political issues--and were right back at it again.

Yes, a good time was indeed had at Phoenix Comicon 13. But with next year's con already in mind, I'm looking for something more in the way of greatness.

Kings of the Mic Tour – Tucson, AZ

On May 23rd, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Public Enemy and De La Soul kicked off the Kings of the Mic Tour in Tucson, Arizona. It was one helluva concert--one of the best I've seen, in fact. If you haven't already missed your chance, do yourself a favor and get "down with the kings." You will not be sorry.

As I'm trying to shake off the dust of simply not having blogged in some months (!), I'm gonna take it real easy on myself with this post; I don't have the energy for full-on review and I ain't even gonna try. What I will do, though, is quickly detail my top 3 favorite Kings of the Mic Tour concert moments:

#3. My third favorite moment came when I saw Ice Cube boogie--albeit briefly. Cube has had a really good sense of movement, in terms of his stage presence. But he has never tried to present himself as a dancer. He's too "G" for that. But he was obviously feeling good about his performance. Near the close of his monster set, he tossed his gold mic across the stage to Dub C and "repped that west" with a few smooth steps of the O.G. Crip Walk--done with the biggest smile on his usually snarling face.

#2. Flavor Flav taking the stage. Like many others in attendance that night, I somehow found myself not expecting Flavor Flav to be performing with Public Enemy. That carried with it no small measure of disappointment; Flav has always been the wild and crazy Yin to Chuck D's disciplined Yang. But a few minutes after Chuck, Professor Griff, DJ Lord, Davy D (yes, that Davy D) and the S1Ws were introduced, Flav ran out and sent the audience into an elated tizzy. Yeahhhhhhh boyyyyyyyy!

#1. My top Kings of the Mic Tour moment came when LL Cool J and Chuck D performed together. That's right, kiddies! In addition rocking classics like "Jack the Ripper," "Radio," and "Going Back to Cali," LL performed a handful of tracks from his newly released Authentic. When the song "Whaddup" began to play, which features a Public Enemy sample, Chuck D dashed out and rocked the hook live. I can't even describe how good it felt to see those two legends of Def Jam rocking the stage together. (But you can get a hint of what it felt like from this clip that someone who was much further back posted to YouTube.)



 Honorable mentions

• Arizona's own DJ Z-Trip backing LL Cool J on the wheels of steel.

•  Having a seat so close to the stage (7th row) that my hearing was almost damaged––seriously.

•  Hearing LL rock a medley of tracks including songs by other artists, like Eric B. & Rakim!

• Hearing the homeboy Darrell D complaining about the $35 dollar price on tour t-shirts...and then watching him leave to get one near the end of the show because it was such a great concert! Haha.

Goddamn, that b-girl made my day!

The utterly amazing 6 year-old b-girl from the UK seen gettin' d-o-w-n in the video posted below won the hearts of the crowd and a special award for herself in the "Baby Battle" category of the Chelles Battle Pro dance competition in Paris recently. To read more about her, click here. To see even more of B-Girl Terra's spine-tingling breaking, click here.