To read my latest piece published in Counter Arts, zip on over to Medium by clicking on my friends link here.
Your Kung Fu Sucks!
The Online Companion to Kung Fu Grip! Zine
3.24.2024
Finger 5 Was J-Pop’s Sugary Sweet Answer to The Jackson 5
3.23.2024
When You Finally Get Around to Seeing Your Name in the End Credits 5 Years After the Film’s Release
“By the time that 80s and 90s babies (see Millennials) were cutting their teeth on later broadcast imports like Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon, grown Gen-X geeks like me were booking airplane tickets or driving to places of fan pilgrimage near and far, like the already mentioned G-Fest, or Anime Expo in Los Angeles, and San Diego Comicon.”
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Yooooo, you still come back to check out this old blog? You rock!!
To read my latest piece in Fanfare, zip on over to Medium by clicking here on my friends link. (I mean, if you're here, you must be a friend.) ^_^
12.09.2023
Untold Tales: The shocking secret history of Europe’s Black ‘Santa Claus’ tradition
Back in 2005, I published a very early draft of my groundbreaking essay "The Secret Santa" in photocopy zine form. Then, in 2012 it was moved online here to the Kung Fu Grip blog, where it would gradually manage to garner some some 2,000+ views.
Six years later, after I'd established another online home for my writings on Medium in 2017, I published the revised final edition of the essay. If you'd never had the chance to peep it before, I'm making it available now to visitors to the KFG blog by clicking here.
Or...if you're like yours truly and just enjoy giving good stuff a re-read, please feel free to return to one of the classics. LOL
Seriously, y'all. After all this time, I still think that "The Secret Santa" is one of the best things that I've ever written. It's certainly one of the pieces of which I am most proud.
Keep warm. Stay woke.
8.25.2023
Because You Asked For It (Kinda Sorta): The Art of Arthur 'Art' Adams
8.23.2023
Great Debate: 7 Times ‘Hip-Hop’ Was Used in Print Before Historians Say
"It was perhaps that casual use in “Rapper’s Delight” that lead some to surmise that the meaning of the term hip-hop wasn’t clearly understood by party-goers in the Bronx or that it hadn’t been meaningfully defined until Manhattan took an interest. But this looks to have been a mistake on the part of regional and/or cultural outsiders."
To read my latest piece celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop, zip on over to my Medium page by clicking here.
6.16.2023
[Press-N-Play®] Elvis Presley - 'I Got a Feelin' in My Body (Take 1)'
5.31.2023
Collector's Gon' Collect: Arthur Adams
Yo, the homie Darrell D has been living his best friggin' life recently by expanding his impressive Richard Corben comic book collection (and taking us all along for the journey via weekly vlogs on YouTube).
His passion towards this righteous effort has recently inspired me to do the same, but as it pertains to the comic book works of artist Arthur Adams.
Oh, and no. Not to vlog (nah, not my thing...yet), but to go diggin' for the "weird, startling, uncanny" stuff that my collection is missing!
Although I have a few different artists who make my "favorites" list, Adams, who first made his splash in comics back in 1984, has probably been on my list the longest. I certainly have more of his work represented in my collection than anyone else, so I wanted to honor that by filling in some gaps in my already extensive Adams library.
One of the biggest gaps has been Urban Legends #1, a black and white anthology comic produced by Dark Horse back in 1993 that somehow escaped my notice until fairly recently. The issue features a gorgeous 1-page submission by Adams documenting a once über popular urban legend about the 1966 film King Kong vs. Godzilla. (All of us kaiju geeks believed it was true.)
How this work by Adams slid by me is a friggin' Area 54-Level mystery. I mean, when it comes to comics and whatnot, Paco stays in these streets! So I'm utterly mystified as to how I missed out on it––and for nearly 30 years! [Que Twilight Zone theme]
Oh, ironically, Urban Legends #1 also feature cover art by Dan Clowes (Eightball, GhostWorld), whose name came up recently on one of Darrell D's related vlogs on underground comics. D isn't particularly a fan of Clowe's work, so I had to laugh to myself, considering the timing of that vlog and this post.
So on that note, True Believers, if you're interested...click here to peep the homie's Darrell D's latest haul of Underground COMIX, or click here to follow his wondrous journey into the world of Richard Corben comics.
And if you, like I, are an Art Adams fanboy who missed out on Urban Legends #1, look for your copy wherever fine comics are sold.
5.06.2023
Wild Style Revisited: My graffiti art records covers joint deserved better, so...
After some seven years (or so) of an older piece that I wasn't totally satisfied with just eating at me, I finally gave the work the 'level up' it deserved.
The original version of this record cover art listicle (2016) was one of my earliest attempts at exploring the then new direction of online content creation: listicles.
And I had a lot to learn.
This promptly became apparent when I started writing for MoviePilot (and then CBR), which taught me the fine art of listicle making and gave my online writing the creative boost that I was looking for.
So...without any further delay or ado, the revised, remixed, and remastered version of an older blog post that ya didn't know ya needed.
Enjoy. (Click here)
9.04.2022
YASUKE'S LIQUID SWORD: African/Black Presence in Asia (Feat. Paco Taylor)
What's up my ninjas! (Long time no see, right?)
Earlier this evening, I had the great pleasure of being a featured guest on the inaugural episode of Yasuke's Liquid Sword Podcast with hosts Clarke Illmatic & Floyd Webb (The Search for Count Dante). These kind gents moderated a super cool hourlong discussion that gave yours truly a chance to talk about my writings, to geek out over the historic and prehistoric Black presence in Asia, and to even help debunk an uber-popular urban myth about a famed Samurai of Japan.
If you've exhausted the new episodes of all your favorite podcasts, puh-leez do feel free to give Yasuke's Liquid Sword a listen by clicking here.
[Rated C for Controversial; well, kinda but not really. LOL]
7.03.2022
Actually, Lo Lieh Was Not the First Martial Arts Superstar (Bruce Lee Was)
Um... I did a thing, y'all.
Somebody over at Screenrant wrote a piece of revisionist pop culture history that had me feelin' some type of way. So I let my fingers to the walking.
No blood has been shed, but this "friendly" rebuttal of mine may still leave a few bumps, bruises...and scratches. LOL
So strap your headgear and protective pads on–just to be safe– and then head on over to Medium to read it by clicking here.
6.05.2022
Is Spider-Gwen #0 Really Worth the High Prices it's Fetching on eBay? (Nope.)
Hey there, True Believers!
4.06.2022
Italian pop singer Sabrina Salerno's 1987 music video is, like…so totally TITANIC
"According to Internet number crunchers, Sabrina Salerno's 1987 music video for 'Boys (Summertime Love)' is one of the all-time most downloaded videos on the web."
To read all about it, click here.
3.21.2022
Do You Love Harley Quinn? Thank a TV Soap Opera for Her Existence
3.13.2022
16 Times Comic Book Artists Totally Rocked Rock Music Album Cover Art [Hot Linked]
The long wait for a new post is finally over, kids! Exhaustively curated here for your viewing pleasure is a new spine-tingling
2.19.2021
A ‘100 Best Martial Arts Movies of All Time’ List That Actually Doesn’t Suck (This is a Remix)
2.18.2021
10.31.2020
[Press-N-Play®] DJ Darrell D sez..."Let's Talk Prince Bootleg Vinyl!"
And speaking of Prince...
This super dope illustration came through my Facebook feed a few days ago.
Can you guess the song? Of course you can.
7.23.2020
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