Welcome back, faithful few! It has been a little bit since I have put fingers to keys, but I am here for my second annual Christmas post. Last year I wrote about my distaste for the way people act around "the Season", and wonder why they can't be like that all year round....amongst other things. We are not here to rehash last year's blog though. So then why are we here? Is it to talk about who is better; Heat Miser or Snow Miser? Is it to debate white lights or colored lights for the Christmas tree? Is it to ask all of you to combine your efforts to get me the complete BJ and the Bear series on DVD? I say nay nay....well except for the last one, of course. It is a Christmas poll question! Come on, everyone loves poll questions. This time around, the question is, "what is your favorite Christmas movie?" We aren't going to get into television shows, but any movie that is about Christmas, or takes place with Christmas as a backdrop qualifies.
How is it that I could ask you all to tell me your favorite without me first telling you mine? It is impossible! So...my favorite Christmas movie is set in the South Bronx in 1984. The movie follows Kenny, his brother Lee, and Kenny's friends Ramon and Chollie. Kenny is the local DJ for house parties, but he lands a job at Kool Herc's club; The Burning Spear. During this scene, Kenny introduces one of the acts...which turns out to be The Treacherous Three featuring Doug E Fresh. Watch the scene here Kenny's performance earns him a New Year's Eve gig at the Roxy, and leads to the ending scene of the film. So my movie takes place all through the Christmas season. The movie, for those of you who still are unfamiliar..is Beat Street.
How can Beat Street be my favorite Christmas movie? Because it contains some of my favorite things....classic rap, break dancing, graffiti, and Doug E Fresh! What could make a Christmas movie any better? I hear all of these people saying that It's A Wonderful Life is the greatest Christmas movie of all time. Are you kidding me? That movie is soooooo slow, and at times very boring. There are no boring scenes in Beat Street! I understand that not everyone likes what I like, but you won't know until you try! Beat Street is streaming on Netflix, so for those of you who have never seen it..and have Netflix...go ahead and watch it. It is a Christmas movie, after all. Plus, how many times can you really watch A Christmas Story? I am sure that one of your cable channels will be running it again... and again...and again in the next few days. Take some time to watch (for many of you) a NEW Christmas film, and the Salty one is serving it up to you on a silver platter.
So, to recap....Beat Street good....Wonderful Life bad. But, that is just one guy's opinion....I came here to ask for yours. What is your favorite Christmas movie? If you haven't seen Beat Street yet, I will take your answer with a grain of Salt. Oh, and don't forget your friend and humble narrator when the 25th rolls around....I really wasn't kidding about that BJ and the Bear thing. Until next time... Stay Salty.
-Salty Dog
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
A Parent's Response
WHEN 6 AND 7 YEAR OLD CHILDREN ARE GUNNED DOWN IN THEIR SCHOOL, THE ANSWER IS NOT "IF WE HAD PRAYER IN SCHOOL, THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED." STOP TAKING TRAGIC, HEART WRENCHING SITUATIONS AND USING THEM TO THROW AROUND YOUR RELIGION. FUCK YOU, FOX NEWS. FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.
-Salty Dog
-Salty Dog
Monday, November 5, 2012
Back In The Day
Welcome back boys and girls! While most of my forays into the writing world are driven by anger at the stupidity that surrounds me, today's journey is more nostalgia based. Is this a trip back to the days when I thought PDDFL was a great producer? Is it the fact that I could really go for a Chocodile and a Zeltzer Seltzer? Is it that I want to organize a Million Man March on Netflix headquarters in order to get BJ and the Bear streaming? Sadly, nay nay. What brings me here today is music.
I was driving to work this morning and heard LL Cool J's "I Need Love" on the radio. Hearing that song immediately brought me back to 1987 and the release of the BAD album (LL's BAD, not MJ's). This was the first "slow jam" rap that I had ever heard, and I can remember it playing after Mama Montego had told New Yorkers to "take care, darling...and walk good." This was LL's sophomore effort after he had stomped on the scene with the Radio album. As a 16 year old hip hop head, (pre lip licking) James Todd Smith was one of my favorites. We all know that he has gone on to become a film and TV actor today, but back then he was just a bad ass kid from Farmers Blvd with a hat like a shark's fin. He was so BAD that he had not one, but TWO DJs; Bobcat and Cut Creator. I can, to this day, sing every song on that record from "I'm Bad" all the way down to "The Do Wop". While many kids of my era will tell you that Zeppelin or Floyd shaped their musical tastes, I will tell you that LL's BAD album shaped mine.
Music is amazing; it can transport you to a time or place that is long gone. It has magical powers that do not require you to go 88 miles per hour, nor are you required to generate 1.21 jigawatts of power in order to go back in time. I am not a music snob, there are many songs from many different bands that can take me to many different times. Jethro Tull takes me back to my early youth, A-ha takes me back to the early days of MTV (back when they still played videos), Queen Latifah takes me back to the Catherine Street Center and my High School days, Another Bad Creation brings me back to Boot Camp....the list goes on. What I am trying to say is that music is a great thing.
I have been into hip hop since I was about 12 years old, but there is really no record that stands out in the "shaping of my youth" more than that one. While I know that this is not what all of you may have listened to, but you all have a song or a record that takes you back. Don't get me wrong, I do not wish that I were a kid again, like Ahmad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVu_v82vjM) but I do wish they made music like they used to. So...what am I trying to say? What is the song that takes YOU back? And where does it bring you? That's all for now...see you all in Los Gatos, California for the Million Man March on Netflix! Until then...Stay Salty.
-Salty Dog
I was driving to work this morning and heard LL Cool J's "I Need Love" on the radio. Hearing that song immediately brought me back to 1987 and the release of the BAD album (LL's BAD, not MJ's). This was the first "slow jam" rap that I had ever heard, and I can remember it playing after Mama Montego had told New Yorkers to "take care, darling...and walk good." This was LL's sophomore effort after he had stomped on the scene with the Radio album. As a 16 year old hip hop head, (pre lip licking) James Todd Smith was one of my favorites. We all know that he has gone on to become a film and TV actor today, but back then he was just a bad ass kid from Farmers Blvd with a hat like a shark's fin. He was so BAD that he had not one, but TWO DJs; Bobcat and Cut Creator. I can, to this day, sing every song on that record from "I'm Bad" all the way down to "The Do Wop". While many kids of my era will tell you that Zeppelin or Floyd shaped their musical tastes, I will tell you that LL's BAD album shaped mine.
Music is amazing; it can transport you to a time or place that is long gone. It has magical powers that do not require you to go 88 miles per hour, nor are you required to generate 1.21 jigawatts of power in order to go back in time. I am not a music snob, there are many songs from many different bands that can take me to many different times. Jethro Tull takes me back to my early youth, A-ha takes me back to the early days of MTV (back when they still played videos), Queen Latifah takes me back to the Catherine Street Center and my High School days, Another Bad Creation brings me back to Boot Camp....the list goes on. What I am trying to say is that music is a great thing.
I have been into hip hop since I was about 12 years old, but there is really no record that stands out in the "shaping of my youth" more than that one. While I know that this is not what all of you may have listened to, but you all have a song or a record that takes you back. Don't get me wrong, I do not wish that I were a kid again, like Ahmad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVu_v82vjM) but I do wish they made music like they used to. So...what am I trying to say? What is the song that takes YOU back? And where does it bring you? That's all for now...see you all in Los Gatos, California for the Million Man March on Netflix! Until then...Stay Salty.
-Salty Dog
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