mr. obbs blog

hiatus

2009-10-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated this in a long ass time, and for that I apologize.

I was laid off on Sep 2, which was both a blessing and a curse. I hated my job and made that apparent to management. They understood I was unhappy and laid me off, which qualified me for Unemployment Insurance, thank god.

Funnily, I make almost as much with Unemployment as I did while working 40 hrs a week answering mundane questions and dealing with irate and demeaning customers.

I'm not missing work.

I had an interview on Friday. After 5 or so minutes of talking and answering questions with the CEO, he told me that I didn't have the job. He then told me I need to be more enthusiastic during interviews, and that I really need to find my passion in life.

I suppose that's true. People say you find what you love, and you never work a day in your life. I'm 24 and still can't really say what it is I love to do. I love music... but don't play an instrument or know how to use any music-making software.

I love video. But again lack any experience using software that I would need to use to secure any sort of employment.

So anyways, that's basically where I'm at. I'm also applying for Naval Officer Candidate School. I should find out in mid-to-late November if I am accepted.

We'll see. One door closed, and now many more shall open!

I've had the opportunity to do other fun things lately, such as travel to NYC and help a friend film a techno dance concert. I put together a short promotional film for it, which you should all check out below.

Day in the Life

2009-04-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

1. Work
2. Sleeping Beauty ballet at the Wang
3. Watch the Celtics beat the Bulls

sleep.

Just another Day in the Life...

and a live version:

MAMA MIA

2009-04-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

So i think I've mentioned how my company pays for my "pod" of people I work with to go out once a month and socialize.

Welp, tonite we are going to a local Italian establishment-- Maggianos-- for a "family style" dinner. It's essentially all-you-can-eat of deliciousness.

Peep this Final Menu:

Apps:

Mozzarella and Calamari

Salads:

Caesar and Maggiano’s

Pasta:

Ziti with Sausage

Fettuccine Alfredo

Entrees:

Chicken Parm

Chicken Saltimbocca

Dessert:

Profiteroles and Cheesecake

Needless to say-- I am excited!!

all for now.
-- obbs

P.S. My gf got me and her free tix to the Xavier-Pitt and Duke-Villanova Sweet 16 games. It was so friggin exciting. I love March Madness!

My ick was Pitt over Memphis in the Final. Wah.

dew

2009-03-30T08:55:00.001-07:00

Why, in elementary school, were we scared of Mountain Dew lowering our sperm count? I don't think I even knew what sperm was back then...

conker

2009-03-17T14:33:00.001-07:00

wON ANOTHER bball championship WHAT WHAT!!

First time company League CHAMPION!!

I am happy. Some people make a huuuuuge deal about it tho.

It's similar to bragging about highschool. I am proud of what I did in highschool, sure. But do I still wear my letterman's jacket? Hmm no. It's highschool. Come on people. Always funny/pathetic when you see a grown-ass man wearing stuff like that, however.

Just a lil stream of consciousness while I wait to enter NEXT season's company league DRAFT and jam to "Feel Me Flow" by Naughty by Nature. I am a team captain this time around. It's nervewracking! What if I pick a bad team... there will be no one to blame but MEEEEE.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

Weather is gettin decently nice out... I love spring. LOVE it. Anything is better after 5 months or so of winter. YEEESH.

ALL FOR NOW!!

Peep the NBN vid. Treach was/is a monsta on the mic.

REMINDS ME OF SUMMER!!

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

fings

2009-03-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

let's see what i done did the last few weeks.

1. Got free luxury box tix to Starbury's first game with the C's. Celtic great Jojo White stopped by our box too and I got my pic wid him. Sik.

2. Attended the funeral of my uncle. Very sad. However, it was held at Philips Exeter and was really well done. Some of the speeches his peers gave were amazing. Them being English teachers definitely helped in that area. They told some funny stories of tricks he'd pull. For instance, one semester all professors had to branch out and teach a group of students a skill. Uncle George picked "wood-harvesting." He got the school to buy a bunch of chainsaws, gave them to the kids to use, had them cut down a bunch of trees, split them, and stack them outside his house.

3. Finally gotten my mouth healthy. I had to go BACK to the dentist and get MORE drugggz. But now I can eat. I'm happy.

4. Led my team to my 3rd company championship game. It's in a few hours. It'll be a close one.

5. Oh and this past weekend some of my best friends and I went down to Hoboken, NJ to celebrate their St. Patty's Day. I'm not sure why they celebrate a week or so before everyone else... but it's a drunken day of fun. Who knows, it may even be the last one they have.

That's about it for now.

Tonite is bball. Tomorrow i'ma see some live muzack. Then Boston's St. Patty's Day in Southie on Sunday.

Speakin of muzack.. I've been watching a lot of videos of this dude Ryan Leslie lately. He's friggin dope. Graduated from Harvard at 17 or something.

He makes real hi-quality vids of him creating his songs. I find them very interesting.

peep this one!

"Addiction" is also good, as is "Gibberish."

All for now.

-- obbs

Also, I think this video is awesome just cuz it shows you how accessible Ryan is tryin to be for his fans.

Dinner at Scala's from Ryan Leslie on Vimeo.

Gimme an F! (F!) Gimme ANUG! (silence)

2009-02-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

Good evening readers.

I sit at my desk at work... not exactly looking forward to the next 2 hours of overtime, but understanding that, to live my life of luxury, I must "do work."

Though recent health problems now have me questioning my life in the fast-lane-- what with its frequent frozen-pizza dinners and booooozing.

You see, last Tuesday I was elbowed in my company basketball game. Nothing intentional... but it caused one of my teeth to cut the underside of my tongue, creating a nasty sore. I figured it would be gone in a few days, as usually happens when one bites their tongue (literally).

Buuuuut it didn't. Then, around Weds or Thurs i could feel the beginnings of a sore throat coming on. I had managed to stay healthy alllll winter, but it looked as though I was finally going to fall ill. Waaah.

But then Friday night came. I started to get chills... aches... bad signs. But my cousin was coming to town and she had JUST turned 21 earlier in the month. This would be my first time to drink legally with her! So I had to go out. Enough alcohol managed to mask my pain. I could finally relate with homeless people! (not true, as I had lived similar to a homeless person a year or so ago... living on a friends couch for 2 months with no job).

After the club, we munched on some potato chips. They were delicious, but I remember my gums being VERY sensitive. So sensitive that I had to stop eating. Yikes. That never happens.

Saturday morning I still had a fever. I was achier. We went to brunch. All i could eat was clam chowder... at Sunset Bar and Grill!! Everything they make is amazing and I had to get a bowl of chowder. Got dammit. I went back to my girlf's apartment and didn't move from her couch until it was bedtime. 8 straight hours of rest and being doted upon. Glorious!

Sunday I awoke to my t-shirt completely soaked in sweat. I had some nightsweats. Blech. I couldn't swallow. My gums were on fire. This was no longer something I had experienced before. I was scared something was seriously wrong. Buuuuut there aren't any dentists open on Sunday. So I was screwed for another 24 hours.

Today I awoke after another night of intense sweating (tmi? gtfo!) and knew that seeing a dentist was my #1 priority. I went to work and told my manager about my condition. Found a good dentist nearby and got an appointment for 2pm after telling the receptionist that I was in immense pain!

I told him my story (this one!) and he knew what I had immediately, which was scary, but comforting. He said I had a case of ANUG!!

My getting sick and getting beaten up in basketball, mixed with my generally unhealthy eating and drinking habits provided a bunch of nasty bacterium to utterly destroy my mouth. Honestly, it is some of the most pain I have ever felt.

I'm getting some antibiotics tho, so hopefully all will be well in a week or so. In a week. Hopefully I'll see some effects in a day or two, which is depressing but at least gives me something to look forward to.

I can't take much more meals consisting of soup. I think I may pick up a bunch of pudding on the way home... maybe some milk so i can make SlimFast shakes.

Anywhoo... that's the latest saga. Remember to floss daily kiddos.

-- obbs

Peep the new CunninLynguists music video. It's a great song!

hatin on the club

2009-02-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

yo yo yooooo!

mr. obbs checkin in workin the late shift for some extra monayyyy.

Things are going splendidly. Went to a Bruins game with the girlf on Sattaday. Then hit up a local club at night for some shenanigans. This place was PACKED with bro-doods! and lots of Yah-Doods too!

We waited about 25 mins to get in. Had a few drinks, then decided to go downstairs to the dance club part. That was another line. Took about 45 mins.

Once downstairs, we danced and drank some more. I saw some of my coworkers. Then this one dude who had to have been blackout went barreling through the place pushing people. I got pretty pissed at that and shoved him back. He turned around and there were almost fisticuffs. But my lady calmed things down by saying she pushed me into him or something... iunno. I don't remember her stepping in and don't like the idea of a lady breaking up my fight... but wateva.

I still managed a decent time, but i was hatin on the club for a bit.

Which segways RIGHT into this new jam I can't get out of my dome!

It's Rihanna (who I am NOT a fan of usually) but i am a BIG fan of The-Dream as any blogreader should know. Ri-RI even looks pretty smokin in the pic on this vid...

The-Dream knows how to write a damn catchy hook. This time he uses a "whyyiyiya" harmony that reminds me of something outta the 50's. Like Del Shannon's "Runaway" almost...

In other big news, I'm gettin into some event on Weds where I get to meet some of the Bruins! It's some wine and dine for season ticket holders... and my girlf gets to bring a +1 since our company has about 6 season tickets. Oh the fringe benefits!

adios!

-- obbs

joined the cult

2009-01-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

Yep. I never thought I'd do it... but I got an iPod. Not content with just an iPod tho, I went with the iTouch. A coworker was selling his and sold it for DIRT CHEAP.

I was anti-iPod from the start... didn't like it. Didn't like how Dr. Dre's songs were categorized differently than Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg. I'm picky.

But my iTouch is amazing. Wi-fi internet. 8 gigs of music (I had to go through my 100 gigs or something and pare it down-- survival of the fittest!). What else could you want in your palm? Don't answer that.

I'm listening right now and have been lovin a mix of James Taylor, Nate Dogg, Suga Free, and now Mr. SOS. Glorious! After work I'ma buy a cable so i can bump this through my audio receiver in ma living room. Booyah.

This weekend is shapin up to be a good one. Got some close college budz comin into the Bean. Seeing Harvard vs. Princeton in basketball (EPIC rivalry!!), then the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Let's root for the Cards. My bro rocks the season tix to them and I saw a game this year. UPSET CITY!!

sorry this writing sucks. I am constantly in a rush it seems...

-- obbs

improv everywhere

2009-01-17T13:40:00.000-08:00

It's a pretty slow day at work, so here's another blog entry.

Iam a fan of random crap, and this troupe outta NYC does some pretty good stuff.

Here's one that's decently funny. There's something about Starbucks and its stereotypically snooty patrons that I don't like.

They also are known for their pants-less subway rides, where people will board the subway as normal and casually take off their pants in front of unsuspecting travelers.

Check out their YouTube channel here and enjoy.

I'm bout to go skatin.

-- obbs

p.s. oooh I just staqrted watching this one and it is awesome so far.

get yo skate on

2009-01-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

Good morning all,

I have had a whirlwind week. Workin late on monday... basketball on tues... watchin the BC Eagles get whupped by Wake on Weds...workin late on Thurs...then chilled last nite. Life in the city has a few more options for entertainment than Maine!

Anywhoo. Tonite is shaping up to be a good one. My girlf won an hour of free ice skating for her and 19 friends in Harvard Square. Free hot chocolate and skate rentals too! AND we get to pump our own iPod playlist over the PA system! My roommate and I worked on a killer list of tracks last night. Let's just says I'm pretty excited to get my skate on to "A Whole New World."

Oh, in other news, my company laid off between 40 and 45 peeps on Wednesday. It was pretty unsettling to think of a bunch of guys you've been working with for quite some time are out desperately searching for work. It's a pretty depressing time... I really feel bad for people trying to find work right now. The whole economic crisis we're in somehow had not hit home with me yet... but it finally did on Weds.

Luckily I am still employed, and will try to hold onto this job-- no matter how crummy it may seem at times. It sure beats moving back home to live with mom and pops-- tho I bet they'd love that.

all for now. I should probably get back to my job.

-- obbs

music?

Check out Mysto & Pizzi's fairly dope remix of Rockwell's classic "Somebody's Watchin' Me" ft. Michael Jackson.

Did you know that Rockwell was Berry Gordy's son? Didn't make cash of the name too much, but I bet it didn't hurt in securing a record deal...

KG get angwy!

2009-01-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

First off, watch this video.

How ridiculous is that! KG is furious, and rightfully so. Now, I have been a referee before and totally understand how thankless that job is... but if I had been playing, I woulda said some pretty bad shit to this crew. I'm sure Garnett wasn't exactly censoring himself either.

This game was on while my trivia team was REPEATING as champion at a local bar. A 1 point victory for $40 off our bill. Not bad.

Hope all is well, fans. Peep this old school Eric B and Rakim track. Rakim is known as one of the greatest emcees of all time. Not necessarily for what he says, but how he says it.

This video (though they spliced out the chicks in bikinis) was on an old VHS i had growing up -- NBA Jam Session. It was an amazing collection of highlights and bloopers from the games greatest set to old school hiphop. I love basketball.

-- obbs

and just in case you were wondering, Rakim is still at it-- rhymin with some other names you're probably more familiar with... it's pretty sick when the beat drops out. Acapella rappin always seems more profound.

The intro of Premier makin the beat is pretty cool too.

Also, Kanye does not belong here. And, as one of my coworkers said after watching this, "needs to get his head out of his ass."

adios!

no dumping...

2008-12-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

Obbs gon weigh in on a very sensitive and often stinky subject here folks.

You see, my place of employment thought it would be wise to consolidate from 3 floors to 2 four or five months ago. I thought this would be ok at first.

Little did I realize that I would be crammed onto a floor of approximately 275 other people. I would say that 75% of these people are male.

You can use your imagination as to how this affects our 3 stall bathroom...

Needless to say, I often have to make 2 or even 3 flyby's before I am granted clearance to land and drop off cargo. It is absurd. And quite possibly a health hazard!!

And once I DO finally touch down, I am astonished at how often I am the first one of my two wingmen to exit the hangar-- even when I was the LAST one in!! Am I simply a speed-demon? Are they reading a novel over there? Was there some step that my parents forgot to teach me in my upbringing that is giving me an amazing advantage in the race to get back to work? I simply do not know.

*sigh*

In music I want you all to check out the producer of my favorite hip-hop act, CunninLynguists. He graciously has put out 5 albums worth of purely instrumental beats. They even include a few "interludes" which feature the *shhhh* undisclosed samples that he used in some of his beats. It is here that I am most interested, as you can see how he took certain elements of the original song and re-wove them into his art.

This isn't Puff aka Sean Combs aka P.Diddy using a Duran Duran lyric verbatim... this is a dude using a simple drum beat or rhythm and completely reworking it.

Check out what I mean.

He took this sample from some obscure cover of the Rolling Stones "Wild Horses" and reworked it to make a beat which uses the word "do" or "due" to complete to emcee's rhymes. Mr. SOS does a damn good job on the song as well, incorporating the sample into his story-- gotta give HIM props on that as well. He just had a baby, by the way. I know this by stalking him on Twitter.

Jus lissen.

sample: link
Mr. SOS (produced by Kno of CunninLynguists) -- Time

Also, just listen to this instrumental. If I were an emcee and asked to write rhyme over this I honestly would say "no way, that track should just stay the way it is." At least those are my thoughts. This is simply beautiful by itself.

Kno -- What'll You Do?

sleep well princes of maine, kings of new england.
-- obbs

winter whites

2008-12-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

Obbs checking in from behind the desk. All this holiday shopping has hit the wallet a bit, so I need to do some overtime shifts here and there to gimme dat cash flow, yaknow.

Last nite me and the ladyyyy checked out the Boston Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. It was at the Opera House and was gorrrrrgeous. What a spectacle. I'm usually not one for ballet, but I was very impressed by the dancers and the set design and the whole production. Well done, Boston Ballet. To make things even nicer, we got 'student' tickets for only 20 bones... and our seats were 20 rows away from the stage!! Nuts!

Boston is covered in snow rite now. It started last night and we've gotten 5 inches or so. It's cold... but the first snowfall is always kind of magical. By February I probably will be cursing it... but what the hell.

This evening I hope to spend some time with my cousins and the girlf. Should be a solid evening.

All for now. Enjoy yet another amazing R. Kelly remix. Beyoncé did the original, but as expected when the King of R&B jumps on your song, is outdone on the remix.

R. really sings on this one. And gives the women out there some real talk.

have a good day fans!

-- obbs

good night

2008-12-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well my trip to Arizona was pretty awesome. Nice sunny weather and some good times with my brother. That's pretty much the two reasons I went... so I'd say it was a very successful and enjoyable trip!

We hung out in Tempe a few times. That is a real cool area it seems. It has a young vibe to it, as ASU is located there. There is this place called the Tempe Marketplace which is essentially an open-air mall with restaurants and bars throughout, as well as stages for live music and couches with fireplaces for shoppers to sit and warm up during their frigid 65 degree winters. Pretty awesome.

In music news, Kno -- the producer for CunninLynguists -- was recently asked to do a remix for the now-released Maroon 5 album called "Call and Response," where famous producers like Swizz Beats and ?uestlove from the Roots reworked M5 songs.

That's pretty awesome, and I think he actually made the song better than the original. The beat seems to fit the subject matter of the song a bit more, IMO.

Sadly, Kno's version had to be left off the final CD due to issues regarding the sample he used. I asked on the blog run by the label Kno is a part of why Maroon 5 couldn't have ponied up the funds to pay to clear the sample, and Kno replied:

The issue wasn’t money, a sample used in my track was too obscure and they couldn’t find the publisher. Instead of just saying fuck it and mashing on with it, the label dropped it last minute. Understandable.

Cool. Bottom line is Kno is getting recognized for his beats by some bigger ears... which is exciting for a fan who has been following for 5 or 6 years now.

Check out Kno's remix to Maroon 5's "Goodnight, Goodnight" below:

Last night was my company Christmas party. It was pretty amazing. With the economy in the crapper, I keep seeing stats about how companies are canceling or down-sizing their holiday celebrations and gifts. My whole company gave us a mug, and (since I am dating the event coordinator) know that they spent over $70,000 for the party last night. Food, DJ, and 4 hours of open bar for about 700 people will do that.

It was a good night. No, it was a great night.

goodnight,
-- dr. obbs

raisin arizona

2008-12-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

Welp, I had an awesome thanksgiving. Food, friends, family, and football. And a nappie on a couch. All that eating really took it outta me... phew.

Then on Saturday, since all my cousins were still in town, we threw an ugly sweater party. It. Was. Epic. People really got into the spirit of it which just made it all the more fun. Showing up at a bar all dressed like fools is something I hope to do more often. Read my entry detailing the pirate pub crawl for more thoughts on THAT.

BUT! The big news is that tomorrow I am flying out to Arizona to see my brother and his fianceé! And their doggies. I have not been out there yet... and they've been there for... a little over 2 years. I had to do some mental math there.

It'll be cool. He has season tickets to the Cardinals, so we're gonna tailgate and see them destroy the St. Louis Rams. Not sure what else, but i don't leave until Tuesday the 9th, so that's a pretty solid stay.

That's about it for now. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Until then, check out this hilariously sexist badger!!

-- obbs

I DID IT!! UNBELIEVABLE!

2008-11-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

It's official! The gospel of obbs has reached the White house!

You see, I keep my ear to the streets, people. So when I was checking the news this morning, I noticed that, due to my blog on Septemeber 11th, George W. Bush decided to give one of his 14 Presidential pardons to the one and only John Forté.

I was pretty humbled and amazed at the news, as presidential pardons in general seem like such bullshit to me... but I suppose as long as no murderers or rapists are getting released it's okkkkk... hmm.

Anyways, for more info, I'd recommend giving this lil rundown a read: MTV News

It's cool how Carly Simon and her son with James Taylor went to bat for Mr. Forté.

So that's pretty dope.

In other news, I can't wait for Thanksgiving.

Oh, I also went to a concert a week or so ago. Hellogoodbye. I used to play them a lot in college on the radio show I had with my friends. So to see them (only $15 too) was pretty cool.

Check out this vid, and have a Happy Turkey Day!

-- obbs

Squeeze Me

2008-11-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quik note.

Heard this song on a Rhapsody commercial... did some e-snoopin and found the video for it.

It's amazing...

Makes me wonder why stuff like this doesn't get the shine it deserves.

Gonna go read the book "The Game" by Neil Strauss.

It's about the pick-up artist, named Mystery, who now has his own tv show on VH1 which I am oddly intrigued by. Perhaps because I see a little of myself in some of the nerdy, struggling men? I dunno. I was pretty shy around girls back in elementary and middle school. And even high school...

anyways, all for now!

-- obbs

GRUSTLE

2008-11-18T16:27:00.000-08:00

yo wattup homies. mr. obbs droppin by while pickin up some DOPE overtime skriller at the J-O-B.

Things is gettin hectic in life but in a good way. Goin to concerts (hellogoodbye last week, all-american rejects this week), seein the bruins and celts (FO FREE) and pretty much just ballin' outta control as much as possible.

In other news... I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL THANKSGIVING.

I love that holiday. All my cousins, family, and food. And football.

NOW WATCH THIS DOPE VID!

all for now, just thought I'd check in.

-- obbs

times they are a-changin

2008-11-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

There aren't many things that really get to me emotionally. Sometimes the national anthem can do it... Schindler's List reaaaally did it... the loss of a loved one.

But, as I read the paper on November 5th, I was overcome by a feeling I had never felt before... not sadness... not utter joy even-- though I was happy... but just a feeling that something so amazing and important had just happened in the world. Something people died for... struggled for... or never thought they would see.

Now, I don't think my words are quite strong enough to do this moment we are living justice, so I won't speak on it further. But I do know that I have never responded this way about anything before in my life-- ever. I was riding the bus home by myself after work and just thinking about the election and its results put a lump in my throat and my eyes started to well up.

And I don't care what the pundits said-- I thought Michelle's dress was pretty friggin fly.

-- obbs

FCC won't let me be

2008-11-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hello fans.

I got an unsettling email the other day.

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog infringes upon the copyrights of others. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.

It went on a little while longer saying they'd deleted my post. Apparently someone didn't like me giving away Phil Collins tracks!! lol.

Anyways, a few days laterrrrr I got an email from Facebook.

We have removed your video entitled "Owner of a Lonely Heart" uploaded at 8:34pm July 1st, 2008. We did this because we learned that your video might include copyrighted material owned by a third party, such as a video clip or background audio.

Damn!

Ok, so I used some footage from a Bonnie Raitt concert in my video... gimme a break. And think of allll the amature videos that use music in the background! Come on Mark Zuckerberg... quit bein such a d-bag.

In copyright infringement-free news, i went on a pub crawl the other day for a friend's birfday and it was friggin awesome. The only rule she had was that we had to dress as pirates. First of all, I love gettin dressed up. Secondly, I like dressing up with other people. So it was a blast and everyone at the bars were nice and inquisitive. It was like we got to celebrate Halloween a week early!

And who doesn't love Halloween?

Sorry for the brevity... but i gotta go buy some clothes.

Peep out this amazing Scarface track for some music. It's off his album "The Fix" -- one of the best rap albums I've heard in a long time. Every track is damn good. You probably know of Scarface from the song "Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangster" by the Geto Boys. He is 1/3 of that group. 'Member dat.

What Can I Do? - Scarface/Kelly Price

Gimme a comment if you want the mp3 -- for future reference. Don't want mr. obbs to hafta pay any fines to the RIAA!

-- obbs

'LYNGUISTS SHOW

2008-10-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Me and some homies rolled to this concert last night.

It was dope.

We showed up around 9:45 to a pretty terrible opening act. Motionless on stage. Meh.

The next guys weren't too bad, actually. I think that was The Camp (?) The main MC was wearing jorts... that's all i took away from his performance.

Anyhow, we'd been pregamin for quite some time prior to the show.. so i was fairly crunk by the time I rolled thru. Saw Substantial walkin around and said wattup and introduced him to my friends. Noice.

Peeped the merch table. Bought PackFM's new Best (Of) CD/DVD. They've only pressed 1000 of them, and each one is hand-numbered. For the record, I have #65 of 1000.

Went back and watched the guy in the jorts finish up. Not bad... but I wanted Stan to start. He did and rocked. He did some beatboxin and acapellas which were friggin schweet. He did his latest single, which has actually gotten airplay on MTV Sucker Free Countdown! It's a dope video and doper song. Check it outttt.

I love the piano intro. Kno of CunninLynguists made the beat... and i think it's a beauty.

Pack kicked it up a notch. His live performance is really a special thing. He did a long acapella of a song off his upcoming album, titled "I F***ing Hate Rappers." It was pretty impressive from what I could make out.

And CunninLynguists fuckin tore shit down. So much energy... so much stage presence. These guys have been touring a lot-- perfecting their live show all across europe and the US, and it shows. The way the songs transition into one another keeps the crowd locked for the whole performance. Simply awesome.

I got more and more inebriated throughout the show, but not out of control. I hung out afterwards and chatted with Stan and Kno. I picked up the last copy of Substantial Evidence, an out-of-print CD of Stan's-- pretty happy bout that. I bought a red CunninLynguist T. Talked with Kno about the presidential debate and the upcoming shows still left on their tour. Stan showed me a picture of his baby on his cell phone and how he's dyin to see her when he gets back to the DMV area. These guys are my favorite musicians due in large part to just how much they appreciate their fans.

Then the bouncer told us we had to leave, as I noticed I was pretty much the only person still there.

All in all, an awesome nite.
--obbs

It's a gas gas gasss

2008-10-09T14:55:00.001-07:00

in this world of overconsumption and dependence on foreign oil leading to exorbitant gas prices, commuters have turned to walking and riding bikes as a way to cut monthly spending. I, personally, think this is awesome. Less cars on the road... less pollution... more money into public transportation which will )hopefully, but not likely) lead to an improved rail system like Europe, and maybe even inner-city congestion laws like the one London uses to keep minimal cars from clogging the main roads of the city. You may say that I'm a dreamer...

Anyways, one thing that REALLY pisses me off is the stupidity shown by so many of my fellow pedestrians and bicyclists. Bikers constantly are looking for respect on the roads... and yet the majority still run red lights, weave in and out of traffic, do not signal, or, for my pedestrian brethren, LOOK both ways. There's an intersection near where I work where it can look completely in the clear, yet one lane has a green light for a right turn... needless to say, I have seen many a person almost get taken out 5 feet from me. That would be a sad start to the day...

Sorry about that spiel, but I felt as though I needed to vent.

In other non-co2-emitting news, I told my parents that I didn't see myself needing my car anytime soon, and that they could sell it. It had pretty much been sitting idly in my parent's driveway since I had moved to Boston last December. They put it out for sale on my front lawn (how things are sold in Maine and many rural areas)
and it was sold by the end of the day. To my neighbors across the street. Turns out the wife works in Portland and it was costing her $16 a day just in gas to make the commute. With my Honda they can cut that in half... not to shabby!

Plus, my rents were generous and gave meeeee the money. So I can buy some other beater if/when I need it. I will most-likely blow the money on other luxuries, however.

this song is cool, in my opinion. Good beat. Catchy hook. Doesn't hafta change the world with it's message... but makes me happy and wanna dance. ooooh yeaaa.

All for now!

-- obbs

love lockdown

2008-09-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence.

not having internet at home has been a fairly interesting time actually. I don't do anything too interesting instead... I work more. I worked 22 extra hours at work over the last 2 weeks... so I guess that's good money.

I watch tv. I go to bed at a better time. That's bout it.

Anywhoo, I also find myself missing out on a lot of new music. So when Tonedeff dropped his "re-imagination" of the new track Kanye premiered at the VMA's, I still had yet to hear any of the buzz about Mr. West's latest offering.

'Ye was going into uncharted territory for himself by debuting his all-sung track. He went into it using the beat-to-deaf autotune effect, however. But anyways, it's pretty cool, though the crowd acts as if they don't know whether to applaud or not...

Interesting.

I think Tone does it a lil better tho. Pretty much tosses everything out but the drums really... maybe I haven't compared them enough, but I can't get thru the kanye version. He also added a pretty nuts verse at the end. Check it out.

Tonedeff - Warden (Love Lockdown rmx)

The Chew Fu remix is pretty awesome too... more for the dancefloor perhaps?

Tonedeff - Warden (Chew Fu house rmx)

Other than that, not much goin on. Workin and clubbin... got some friends comin to town this weekend... should be frickin SHWEET!

keep yo stick on the ice.
-- obbs

we tryin to stay alive

2008-09-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Not to seem all doom and gloom lately... but being the anniversary of 9/11 I figured, why not keep the sad motif a-rollin!?

This morning I waited for the bus and read about the anniversary of 9/11. I remember I was in my junior English class of highschool, taking a quiz on some reading I had not done. I was struggling to make up answers which could possibly be considered correct when my principal came over the intercom to deliver the news. THe class sat in awe and left once the class was over to go watch the news on some tvs which had been set up in the library. I was always a little miffed that my English teacher had GRADED those quizzes. Probably because I hadn't done the reading... but still, considering the circumstances in which we took them, you'd think she coulda let it slide for once.

I'm actually writing this as I do some overtime in one of the larger, more recognizable skyscrapers in Boston. Believe I had thoughts of horrible things happening. Sad but true...

Anyways, my mother emailed me a week or so ago with some sad news. You see, I have an uncle-- or rather a step-uncle as I consider him, seeing as he fathered none of my cousins and my aunt just married him 10 yrs ago or so and he has played no significant role in mine nor many of my close cousins' lives-- who recently overcame throat cancer. It was a pretty terrible ordeal he went through. The surgeons actually had to take tissue from his stomach to recreate the lining of his throat. Thus, his stomach became MUCH smaller and he didn't eat as much and thus lost a LOT of weight. He wasn't lookin too good, but the doctors took some tests and found out the cancer had finally left his body.

He slowly gained his strength back and was able to go golfing quite a bit with my father. He is a professor at the prestigious Philips Exeter Academy, and also was the coach of their golf team. Essentially, he could golf at the Portsmouth, NH course whenever he wanted for free. I even played with he and my father on one occasion. It is easily the most beautiful course I've ever walked. Sik.

Anyways, he went to the doctor a few weeks ago and was told that the cancer had come back. Not only that, but the doctor predicted that he only had two months to live.

I have a hard time imagining how I would react to being told that. It must have been an absolutely awful moment... to go from thinking you had beaten this horrible disease, to finding yourself with 60 days remaining in your life. Gotta be hard for the doctor too... sheeyit.

So my uncle, who I'm not very close to but still wish no harm upon, is faced with the often-hypothetical question of what you would do if you were told you had x amount of days to live.

He has already planned a trip out to Santa Fe, NM, which I hear is beautiful at this time of year. Other than that I am not sure.

He's a real interesting guy... just came into my life late and in very small doses. He was really well-liked by his students, which included my cousin, Big Sauce, who went to Exeter for a PG year before Bowdoin College. Interestingly enough, he even served as a character witness during the trial of John Forté, the member of the Refugee Camp who is currently in year 7 or 8 of a 14 year sentence for the trafficking of liquid cocaine... dayum. Not smart for a dude with such an education.

As I browsed YouTube, I forgot how awesome this music video and song was. I gotta say, Forté may very well have the best verse in the whole damn thang. I also can't help but notice how appropriate the title now seems...

'Clef looks so young!

The Fugees and Wyclef was the first rap I ever got into. I think his album "The Carnival" was my first rap CD...and its damn good. I think that's all I have to say about that.

Though it may sound cliché, try and live each day to its fullest... i know i often forget to.

until next time,
-- obbs

wake up time

2008-09-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Mr. obbs has had a few things to deal with...

I moved. It was one of the most exhausting endeavors I have done. Moving all my crap, plus my tiny asian roommates crap, up to the third floor of our new place left me utterly exhausted for the majority of this week. If it hadn't been for my friend, Steve Nichols, and his brother letting us borrow his truck, I really don't know what I would have done. Thrown down a buttload of money on some moving broski's probably... Steve didn't even have to help me... he didn it out of the kindness of his heart. How precious!

Then on Friday I found out that I did not get the PR job I had applied for within my current company. This after having a great interview, where my would-be boss fawned over my resumé and experiences. In the rejection email he wrote:

Dear mr. obbs,

Thanks so much for participating in the search for our next PR Person. I really thought your writing and background were quite impressive and you interviewed extremely well. The competition was remarkably intense for this spot, making the decision very difficult. In fact, you were among our top candidates.

You would be a great addition to our team at some point down the road, but for now, I’m sorry to say we’ve selected someone else for this particular position. Though I do hope you apply for the next spot that opens on our PR team. If all goes well, we should be expanding in the future. In the meantime, I’d also like to tap you for periodic brainstorms in the PR Department, as we’re developing new ideas. (If this would be of interest, please let me know.)

Again, I thought you were a great candidate. Thanks again for going through the interviewing process with us.

While I understand that you might be disappointed, please try to emphasize the positive here. You are extremely talented and we’re really fortunate to have you here at our company.

Let me know if you have any questions and have a good weekend.

All the best,
benny mcBleh

Sooooo yeah. I didn't get the job, BUT!! He would still like me to contribute my ideas, for the good of the company. Pro bono. I guess I could think of it sort of lie... oh, an unpaid internship. I haven't emailed him my decision on that opportunity quite yet.

I was about 90% sure i'd get the job, so I was bummin preeeeetty hard for the rest of Friday and then Friday evening. I joked about doing nothing but going home and listening to "Everybody Hurts" on repeat. On the busride home it really felt similar to when that girl you've been crushin on for the whole school year tells you she's been foolin around with the tight-end on the football team. I actually felt physically sick to my stomach that I hadn't gotten this job.

I got home and made dinner. I had made plans earlier about goin out... but really didn't feel like moving. I sipped a natty light on my bed while i played Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" album and thought about applying to other jobs and the general state of my life.

The album is one of the greatest i own. I remember buying the cassette, alongside Tp's greatest hits back in about... hmm 5th grade or so. For an album to still be classic that many yrs after is a testament to the quality of this thing. Tom Petty is one of the most-consistent songwriters I know. Every song is good. Not just the singles.

Anyways, "Wildflowers" is one of his more somber albums, I'd say. Lots of good songs to just chill/cut your wrists to. I stayed staring at my ceiling until about 10:30 when I decided to wander outdoors.

"Wake Up Time" is the closing track on the album, and it is beautiful. I'm not going to break it down lyric by lyric for you... but petty wrote well. Lots of stuff in that song i can relate to. If I had the internet at my new apartment, and weren't writin this from work, I'd put up the mp3. This youtube vid will have to suffice for now.

Petty sure is an ugly lookin dude. Yeesh.

Anyways, I ended up meeting some co-workers that nite and we danced and drank and ate chinese and didn't go to bed until about 4am or so. The night actually ended up turning out pretty well.

Saturday night i didn't do much. I was supposed to meet a friend for her birthday party, but i had a late dinner and watched some college football with my cousin. I literally 'hung out forever, and still missed the dance.' my bad.

and now i'm at work. gonna start lookin for a new job i guess. Sad, because i liked a lot of things about my company, just don't like my actual job. It was bearable for awhile, but now that we're understaffed, the workload is not reasonable.

we'll see what happens...

--obbs

fire water burn

2008-08-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Prepare for perhaps the most immense blog yet! Buckle up.

Mr obbs returned to beantown Monday after one of the most enjoyable weekends he's had in quite some time.

My company sponsored a rafting trip up in the nether-regions of the great state of Maine. The plan was to go and camp Saturday, then get up early Sunday and raft until 3 or so, thus leaving ample time to get back to Boston Sunday night.

Being a native of 'vacationland,' I took a few hrs off from work and left the stress and congestion of the city mid-day Friday alongside co-workers joe mac and Marfa and headed up to my momma and poppa's house. I had spoken with the cook prior to our arrival and put in my request for the menu-- shish kabobs... burgers... caesar salad. There's something about cheese on a salad that I am a big fan of. Anyways, my body was fiendin for a square meal. During my frantic and stressful apartment hunt i had often completely forgotten dinner. One night it consisted of a bowl of canned vegetables. Pathetic.

Friday night was great. A cousin of mine from my dad's side of the family is currently sailing around most of the world with his wife. They are now docked in a harbor about an hour from my house, so they were actually able to come for dinner as well, thanks to a man near their boat who was generous to let these two strangers borrow his car for the evening (does stuff like that happen in other states? Really? Some stranger letting two sailors use his car for whatever they want. That blows my mind.) Anyways, I hadn't seen this guy in approximately 21 years (my dad's side of the family is MUCH more spread out and distant than my momma's).

He's had a pretty remarkable 34 years, to say the least. Grew up in British Columbia, CA. Went to trade school... learned the pipe-fitting trade and also got trained in welding and scuba-diving, among other things. He worked for the film industry doing special effects and explosions for awhile. He grew up fishing and being outdoors, so he told me he just could not imagine having a job where he would be stuck inside. I don't blame him, really. Somehow he lucked out and found a job doing underwater welding, which paid him enough money that he could afford to work 4 months a year. I asked him what he did with the rest of his year. "I was in Australia." "Oh, that's awesome. What did you do down there?" "Surfed. Yeah I'd work, make money, then fly down to Australia until the money ran out. Then I'd fly home and work some more." I was growing mildly jealous of this guy's lifestyle and total disregard for the traditional model of working, saving, and then retiring.

And now he's taking a solid 3 year vacation. on a sailboat. Who does this guy think he is? Marfa compared him to Hansel from Zoolander. And I have to admit, she nailed it. His mannerisms, way of talking, APPEARANCE, and general aloofness were so Hansel-esque that I was a little disappointed in myself for not thinking of it first.

Anyways, we ate and drank and made smores all while sitting around a firepit in my backyard as the stars shone down from above. Friends Kbell and my future housemate Al_Likes_Waffles also joined. To put it plainly, it was perfect.

Saturday we arose and played pool... then basketball... then horseshoes as we waited for two of my highschool friends, Jon and JJ, to arrive so we could make the 150 minute jaunt to the sparsely populated town of Jackman, ME-- where we would camp and eventually raft.

Whenever I get together with JJ and Jon, it's pretty much laughs the whole time. I get on a high I'm laughing so much. We took a trip to Montreal a few years ago, along with my good friend Jarrod, and-- not only was it an amazing experience alliteratively-- but we had an awesome time just catching up and, well, laughing. I didn't get too many pics from that trip... but here's one:

ahhhh memories.

Anyways, we got up to the cabin after a car-ride full of laughs and a massive stop for booze. Got all set up and pretty much commenced the crunkulation. We went swimming and played wiffleball and flipcup and ate burgers my company provided. Partied until about 2 or so. I'm not sure really... i turned my phone off due to there being no reception. Regardless, there was fire, foods, booze, and friends. What else does one need? honestly.

I realized how much I love a fire. I always have... but now they just seem to be such great settings for endless nights of conversation. I mentioned last entry how much I enjoy just sitting and talking with people... and I guess a simple fire or firepit is a great way to do that.

Two years ago at New Year's Eve I went to a huge party with family friends in my hometown and they had a huge bonfire. There were friends playing live music and people singing and drinking and reminiscing and talking and just generally enjoying one another's company. My hometown has a great community feel to it. I hope to experience that when I get older and hope my children can as well.

Anyways, on Sunday we got up and made it to the rafting site at 8am. I. love. rafting. It is pure adrenaline and laughter and exercise and... just an amazing time. Also a great cure for a hangover. I wanna go more often... a tad expensive... but so damn fun. It's similar to paintballing in that adrenaline-rush sort of way... only less ingrained with redneck DNA.

We finished up without any flips or people falling overboard and headed for home. Marfa, Joe, and I got to my house and decided that A) none of us felt like trekking another 3 hours back to Boston B) None of us wanted to work on Monday morning and C) We would much rather eat homecooking, and drink cold beers for another night.

So we did. Made it back to the city for a few hours of work on Monday...and it was perfect.

_________________________________

Garth Brooks -- The River
Just a cool song. We went rafting. Talks about a 'river.' Damn...Garth sure can write a song.

Schooner Fare -- Portland Town
This is pretty much the perfect osng for anyone from Maine who is coming back for a visit. "Momma... won't you make my bed?"

The Rolling Stones -- Play With Fire
I like fire... but I'm not really a pyro. My bro and I would occasionally melt our GI Joes and such... but that was really the extent of it. I always loved just standing around the fire when we'd go camping and burning a stick or something, howveer. I love the smell of a campfire too... wouldn't mind if AXE made a 'smoke' spray one of these days... hmm.

all for now fans!
-- obbs

real talk

2008-08-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

First off, this book above is essentially based on my younger years and how I remember my relatives and the 4th of July. I think I had a post where I touched on that. Great book. I'll let you borrow it sometime.

Anyways, I just got back from a weekend of spendin some QT with my cousins, aunts, and uncles. I'm real close with the cousins from my mom's side, so I love being with them, and now that we're a bit more spread out over the eastern seaboard, need to take advantage of the times when we are all in the same area.

Saturday I went to my uncle's in Holliston, MA and we had a huge lasagna feast. It was friggin amazing food and a great time watching to Olympics and catching up. One of my cousins had ridden his bike from California. Another cousin had just returned from 5 weeks in Argentina. So they had some stories to tell. I regaled the crowd with stories of how I spend my day in front of a computer. Somehow they didn't make quite the same effect as my cousins' experiences. This life.

Today I went to another aunt and uncle's place and just chilled all day with my two cousins. We played Scrabble, then went to a neighbor's house for more good eats and good conversation. The shish kabobs were friggin amazing. The neighbor's were cool. They'd gone to Dubai to visit one of their sons who works there-- so they had some interesting stories. That country is friggin crazy. Unlike anything you can imagine.

Have you heard about the structure they are planning that will constantly change shape and has built-in wind turbines...?!

But anyways. I realized I really miss just sitting around with other people and talking. Not in a loud bar. Not with a bunch of broskis about who the Patriots will be playing. But adults. You really don't get it much in the normal day-to-day routine, really. Have you ever sat down with a senior citizen who can tell a story? Storytelling is a lost art, I tell ya. Everything and everyone is getting increasingly detached. I watch the people around me on the way to work. Earbuds stuck in their ears. Completely shut off from the world. Boring. I saw this cute girl on the T one day, but there's no way in hell i'm even gonna say hi to them if they have their headphones in. Got dammit.

I'm goin home next weekend to see the parents briefly and to go whitewater rafting with my company. Dope. So i'll catch up with the 'rental unit and perhaps have some more intellectually stimulating convos around some foods and such... should be good.

Anywhoo, for some music, check out Pink Floyd's take on verbal communication.

Pink Floyd -- Keep Talking
"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals... then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination..."

And for some hilarity, check out R. Kelly's absurd take on givin it to a psycho bitch over the phone for hasslin' her man in "Real Talk."

enjoy the week.

-- obbs

supastah

2008-08-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

I love music. I don't really know why I didn't get into it more in the performance side of things... but I wish I had. Sports pretty much dominated my childhood. I was traveling every weekend for soccer tournaments or basketball tournaments or practicing. But I loved it... so I guess i can't complain.

Anyways, karaoke is my golden opportunity to live out all my musical dreams of glory. Last night I went to a bar in the Harvard Square area with some buds and performed some classic numbers. I had been before and rocked "Friends in Low Places" with joe mac, but this night wanted to switch things up a bit.

80's numbers are always popular-- Livin on a Prayer... Like a Virgin... 867-5309... you get the idea. I wanted to take it back. Motown baby. Joe mac and I did a rousing rendition of "Sugar Pie Honeybunch" to get our vocal chords loosened up.

It was merely a taste of what was to come.

Now, a few years back, NBC broadcasted perhaps the greatest musical made-for-tv movie in the history of western civilization. I am talking, of course, about The Temptations.

Most people only know these guys for sangin "My Girl." A typical sappy, catchy Motown love song.

But they had so much more. VH1 Behind the Music needs to get their shit together and do their story. They had a whole funk era... drugs... fights... you name it. Anyways, I ended up buying the VHS and watched it bout 18 times. They had some awesome dance moves which I like a lot better than the synchronized crap in today's videos. Chris Brown ain't got nuffin on David Ruffin!

One of my favorite scenes in the biopic was when David Ruffin, lead singer for most of their biggest hits but had been kicked outta the group for bein a self-absorbed piece of s, storms one of their concerts and steals the mic from their new lead singer to do a few songs.

It's drama!

Anyways, back to the karaoke. I chose "I'm Losin You" and had Joe Mac and Senator Cream as my dancers and backup singers. I even did the spin with the mic behind my back! So sik! To get a better idea, just watch this vid...

Anyways, the performance was epic. People were dancing and all that shiz. Awesome.

The actor playing David Ruffin is Leon. Just Leon. Like Cher. He was in "Cool Runnings" if your memory is good.

Here's another dope vid of the REAL Tempts. This song is one of my favorites. Check out the pink suits!

i should get back to work.

-- obbs

party hard

2008-08-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

When i first heard Andrew WK on Saturday Night Live, I watched a group of disgusting, hairy dudes in cutoff flannel shirts wielding guitars for a few seconds and switched the channel. For their second song, I gave them a longer chance, and was eventually sucked in by their crunchy riffs and catchy hooks.

Ever since, this man has amazed me. His devotion to partying and living life the way he wants to is truly an inspiration for all! I remember going to his website one day. It was simply a solid wall of text. No pictures or anything. Just straight up talk from Andrew WK about how much he loves life and wants to live every moment as if it were his last and how he just wants fun.

What a role model.

His music is evidence of that. I am not sure how many songs have the word 'fun' or 'party' in them, but it is a lot.

He's an interesting dude. He went to the same highschool as a buddy of mine, before transferring to some special music school. He's classically trained on the piano, and performed ALL instruments on his album "The Wolf."

A buddy at work said he performed here in Boston once, and after the show he chilled with some kids at Emerson and sat and played video games.

Whenever I'm driving home late at night and need some caffeine, i put his cd in. Instant adrenaline. It's crazy.

Please. Just watch some of his videos and try not to get amped up.

"We Want Fun" with the dudes from Jackass.

Here's an interesting interview. He sounds like an everyday dood.

...i think it's a joke?

and one more vid for your nite.

For some reason i can't imbed it... but its rockin. just AWK on his piano and playin air drums.

"Never LEt Down"

enjoy your thursday.

-- obbs

tweekin'

2008-07-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

Some important things of the past week:

-- Still working til 9 every night. My day is a total waste. I sleep til 1030. Eat. Go to work. Go home. Watch tv. go to bed. I had originally thought I could get up early and go workout or something... but nope. Not motivated enough! meh!

-- Nelly was named a model for Sean John underwear. Deservedly so!

-- Housemate michele moved out. Upsetting! It was cool havin her around cuz she was a super fly chick in mr. obbs' book. She had a pretty shitty job though, so I don't blame her for peacin out. She will be missed.

-- Ricky Ross had his past exposed by The Smoking Gun. Apparently he used to work as a Correctional Officer at a prison-- thus blowing his whole fabricatd persona as a huge drug runner out of the water. I don't really care... I guess I just wish MC's wouldn't put so much emphasis on building up their personas instead of their skills.

-- I watched the clip of Bill O'Reilly flipping out.

-- I began looking for a new apartment. It's about as fun as a vasectomy.

-- I learned that CunninLynguists will be playin Boston Oct 15th. It will be epic.

-- I just saw Lil Wayne's video for "A Milli" and it makes me angry at America that this man sold a million copies of his album in a week.

I think that's about it.

OH! and today I laughed so hard at work that i actually cried. I watched this video. It's a remix to the Bill O'Reilly clip I cried at a day or so ago.

One more thing. I have been watchin the Daily Show and was VERYYYY surprised to see DJ Quik's name dropped on the air in a "Rapper or Republican?" segment. THe dude gets no love on MTV or tv for that matter, so to see his mug on The Daily Show really warmed my heart! Enjoy his music!

DJ Quik - Summer Breeze remix

This song is PERFECT for the summertime!! Listen to it!

2nd II None - Princess

A beautiful song DJ Quik produced. Sing it to your loved one please. James DeBarge provides the glorious falsetto.

adios music lovers!
-- obbs

WE'LL DO IT LIVE! FUCK IT

2008-07-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

obbs checking in from his work computer once again... slowly drifting off into insanity while his peers are all out enjoying their Friday evenings.

The only thing that's gettin me through right now is my discovery of the Bill O'Reilly clip where he flips his shit. Nothing further needs to be said. Just watch.

I hate this man so much.

Anyways, Colbert had his take on it.

In related news, there's another clip of Chris Berman floating around where he just goes off. This is a dude I thought was always just a chill funny guy. So it was a tad shocking to see him so pissed. Funny though.

And here's my boyeeeee Danny Marino losin it a little. Surprising after the grace-under-pressure he displayed during his career, and most notably during Ace Ventura.

I almost forgot... this one goes out to all the kids who got called 'fat' or maybe dropped a pass in the town pickup football game. Coach Mike Gundy from Oklahoma has a spot for you on his football team.

ok thats all for now. I will likely continue watching television personalities fuckup on YouTube for the next hour.

I have some college frands in town tonite. So that will be fun I hope.

-- obbs

argghghh

2008-07-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

NO INTERNET MAKE OBBIE GO CWAZY

*breathes in*

So there was this huge lightning and thunder storm on Sunday... and apppppparently it did somethin f up the router or modem in our crib. Somehow only one of our 3 computers gets internet access, and it is NOT mine. GAH.

It's sad how addicted we've come to the internet...

Luckily I am behind a computer ALL DAY at work... where I sit now.

Not much else to report. The storm only affected our internet, not cable, so I can still watch the latest, greatest, reality tv. My new fave is "From G's to Gents" hosted by the inimitable Fonzworth Bentley. He's an interesting dude...I knew him mostly from dancing in some OutKast videos and swirling his signature parasol umbrella.

Regardless, he hosts and mediates as a bunch of thugs attempt to be transformed to gentlemen. So far I have only caught one episode, but it looks promising.

Fonzworth has also completed his album... some people are a little surprised, but judging by the loads of crappy MC's spewing out garbage these days, why not give Mr. Bentley a chance behind the mic?

So here he is, in a pretty awesome video for a fairly mediocre, yet catchy, song featuring some of the heaviest of hitters in the game right now-- Kanye West and Andre 3000.

brings it back to the days of the temptin' Temptations.

all for now.
--obbs

god bless america

2008-07-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

welp.

mr obbs is back from a whirlwind week or so of non-blogging. I had an awesome 4th of July. Went and saw the Boston Pops and Rascal Flatts perform for free at the Hatch Shell along the Charles River. I had seen Cake perform there (also for free) a month or so ago. It's a pretty cool locale... and the price is of mr. obbs' liking. The Boston Pops performed some classics-- the Rocky Theme, the 'Shipping Up to Boston' tune (Boston's anthem, apparently), and their signature piece: 1812 Overture. All in all, a great night capped off by some drunken singing of "God Bless America," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "America the Beautiful," etc, etc, and some cool fireworks over the river.

I then went home Saturday morning to spend some time with the 'rental unit. We played some games (I won in a VERY close game of Scrabble with my mom... 172 -170 i believe) and I ate a lot of free food. At nite, we hit up LL Beans in Freeport for ANOTHER free concert. This time? The ultra-cheesy, ultra-catchy playing of Daryl Hall, the non-mustachioed half of "America's Greatest Songwriting Duo," -- Hall and Friggin' Oates!

He put on an awesome show. Apparently he wrote a lot of the classic hits... not that I am takin anything away from Oates, but Daryl had said he only likes to perform 'his' hits, and he covered "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List," "Sara Smile," "You Make My Dreams," (sounds exactly like the theme to Ducktales btw) and of course, an encore of "I Can't Go For That."

Sadly, youtube won't let me link directly the the friggin awesome video, but there's a live version to display the showmanship of Mr. Hall. He was awesome and you could see how much he really enjoyed performing.

He is still a busy dude-- touring and recording live jam sessions straight from his house called, well, "Live From Daryl's House."

I had actually not heard "I Can't Go For That" before... and yet, once he dropped that synthesizer riff I knew I had heard it before... I just didn't know where. Once I got home and hopped on wikipedia (love that shit) I came to realize that the song has been sampled by more than 200 times! Who knows where I heard it. For the love of god, even "Billie Jean" sampled the bass groove. Listen for yourself! YouTube "Robot Rock" by Daft Punk and see if you think they're riff is the keyboard riff. I think it is...

But anyways, to tie this blog together, I won a ticket to the Red Sox game today. It was awesome. A co-worker invited me and the other ticket winners (you know, augustus gloop, veruca salt, and Violet Beauregarde! LOL!) to his apartment with a friggin ROOF DECK and we grilled some franks and slugged some brews prior. It was glorious. The 4th co-worker who won a ticket was actually already at the ballpark, cuz her friend just happened to be MISS VERMONT 2008 and it was Vermont Day at Fenway! Her friend sang "God Bless America" during the 6th inning.

and it was glorious.

For some toonz.

1. Daryl Hall ft. Travis McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes [of Geneva, NY]) This little track was handed to mr. obbs by a fan of the blog, and was performed/recorded during one of the "Live at Daryl's House" sessions. It is, for lack of better words, the shit. "Be Thankful."

Apparently, there is supp to some mash-up album featuring all GCH vocals over classic Hall and Oates beats, a la the Jay-z/Linkin Park thang. So says MTV, and we all know they're never full of shit.

2. Tamia ft. 213 "I Can't Go For That (remix)" -- 213 is the supergroup made up of Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Warren G-- named after the area code they all grew up in. This is a sub-par r&b chick wit some of the greats. Nate Dogg is one of my faves... so i downloaded this back in like... senior year of high school or somethin.

3. While we're on the subject of Nate Dogg... didja know he had a whole album that was never even properly released? It was dope (I downloaded for free... meh!) but they made it only available on iPoons or somethin. Here's a track with a beat and verse by my 2nd favorite producer -- DJ Quik.

Nate Dogg ft. Warren G and DJ Quik - There She Goes

4. Ok one more song. This is a remix of the Coldplay hit "Viva La Vida." Beat by Kno, of CunninLynguists, and verses by Natti of CunninLynguists. Natti takes on two personas... listen carefully. It'll blow your mind.

Natti - Ruled the World

all for now fans!
-- obbs

independence

2008-07-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

The 4th of July is always a great holiday. It's usually sunny... parades have people in floats throw candy at you... barbecues and open flames... oh, and sparklers (fireworks are illegal in Maine booo).

When I was younger we'd have large family reunions at my house. The relatives would all drive up from Massachusetts and we'd laugh and swim in my pool and eat boigahs and tater chips. They were habitually late, so sitting and waiting on my front steps for them to arrive and the good times to begin was one of the toughest things for a young child like myself.

Sometimes, years after, I'd hear certain songs on the radio and they reminded me of those summer family reunions. My parents probably had the songs playing as we got the house ready for all the guests, or maybe I heard them on the way to the grocery store to load up on meats, cheeses, dips, fruits, and various mayonnaise-based salads.

That's really all I have to say. I love how certain songs can take you back to certain times. Kenny Chesney wrote a damn good song about that -- "I Go Back." Oh yes.

I'm at work, so no mp3's. Just peep these vids.

Steve Winwood - Back in the High Life

This is great stuff right here. Another song would be "Finer Things." Those songs are amazing. So is "Higher Love." The story behind this song is real interesting too. read it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xdZIZ7UPCs under the 'more info' link.

Bruce Hornsby - Mandolin Rain

I couldn't find any real music video... but this will do. Beautiful song. Bruce Hornsby is a talented mutha.

Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

Petty is amazing. One of the greatest American songwriters, and so consistent. As I've gotten older and heard this song more and more, it kind of has lost it's magic from when I'd hear the opening guitar chords as a child, but it's still a great song, co-written by Jeff Lynne. I saw Petty live with a bunch of friends, and he puts on an awesome show.

Some other ones I'd hear were "Walkin in Memphis" and "The End of the Innocence" by Don Henley (co-written by Bruce hornsby ooooomg!) and other various adult-contemporary 80s hits. Some Phil Collins I'm sure.

Anyways, thats about it. I hope everyone has a happy 4th of July.

-- mr. obbs

For some fun, here's something that a co-worker showed me and that i like a lot.

nashvegas

2008-06-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Can someone tell me why the only black dude remaining on 'Nashville Star' is named 'Coffey?' That shit just ain't right.

But anyways, I just saw this show for the first time. Fairly entertaining. Tonite's episode all the contestants did their own country-fied versions of classic and recent pop songs. 'Love Shack,' 'P.Y.T.,' 'Umbrella' all got redone, and done quite well. Coffey did "Umbrella" and brought the frickin house down. The only judge who liked it was John Rich tho... but watever.

Here he is doing a mix of Akon's 'Locked Up' and throws in a verse from Jay-Z's 'Dirt off Your Shoulder." Pretty impressive on the acoustic gee-tar.

But speaking of John Rich, and Big & Rich, if you remember from previous obbs' bloggery, I picked up their latest CD for free offa some stranger on the street-- and it's pretty damn good. They are something I've never really seen before-- fusing hip hop, pop, rock, and country. I saw them do a concert on MTVHD and it kicked ass. Some will say they're too rock for country, others too country for rock. They even signed a black country dude to their label, Cowboy Troy. They call it 'hick hop.' It is terrible... but the bottom line is that mr. obbs gives them credit for doing what they wanna do.

On their latest they have collabos with John Legend and Wyclef Jean. The Wyclef track is pretty wack... but the Legend one is catchy.

Speakin of which, Legend is going for the money on his newest album. He's doin some collabos with some heavy-hitters. I first heard a snippet of the track with Andre 3000 (OutKast) and literally went 'hot damn.' Listen for yourself and you be the judge.

Big & Rich - Lost in This Moment
Big & Rich - Eternity (co-written by Legend)
Big & Rich - Radio
John Legend ft. Andre 3000 - Green Light

"So I went hard like Medusa starin at me..."

enjoy my faithful followers.
-- obbs

Celtics get their 17th

2008-06-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Bein in the city for the playoff run was frickin awesome. Nuff said. It's amazing how everyone gets drawn to the team and the whole city really comes together. I got to see the parade from inside the Prudential Center today... not the same as bein there on the ground... buuut close enough without blowing vacation time i guess.

Go Beantown.

Here's some Boston music.

Boston -- Something About You (classic)
7L & Esoteric -- Watch Me (flow is ridic)
Aerosmith -- You See Me Cryin (somber)
Donna Summer -- Hot Stuff (classic)

throwin a party saturday. holla.

--obbs

squirm in my skin

2008-06-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

As part of my job, we get a nice discount at the local fitness center. Pretty awesome. I made sure to sign up and try my best to swing through after work whenever I don't have other plans. My workouts are pretty half-assed... but at least I get a good sweat in.

Anyways, when I first started going, I couldn't help but notice the complete unabashed nakedness of my elder gym-goers in the locker room. Now, don't get me wrong, I have been in many a locker room in my day, but I have never seen this level of pride and free-spiritedness before.

Now, as a disclaimer to this blog, I do not consider myself an overly homophobic person. That being said, I do not go out of my way to get a daily dose of naked, saggy old man. I can tolerate a naked body. I saw the David by Michelangelo in person, and it was frickin amazing.

I used to use a locker near this one guy. He'd get out of the shower... come to his locker, take out his bag, kneel down, get his clothes out... rearrange stuff... dry himself off... ALLLLLL NAKED. Would it TOOOOTALLY inconvenience him to wrap a frickin towel around???!

And then today. This dude is shaving. Naked. I don't even do that in my own home when no one is within 100 feet of me. That's not even comfortable. And what if you drop the razor??

Now, there's funny nudity. Streaking is funny. Will Ferrell in Old School, for instance. I had a friend who went to Hamilton College and was actually on their streaking TEAM. Yes, that is right. Competitive nudity!! Hilarity ensued wherever they would 'compete.' They'd convene upon an unsuspecting NESCAC campus and begin. If no students from the home campus joined in the streak, they crowned themselves the winner of that match.

Check out this clip from FOX NEWS of all places. The host being, oh, i'd say a medium-to-large sized bag of douche, and the Hamiltonians givin it right back to him.

Thinking back... I even went to a nudist spa with my hippie aunt and my whole family back in third grade! That actually didn't freak me out too much, surprisingly. We first dipped our bodies in steaming hot water to open our pores and 'release the toxins', then went outside and sat in a cold free-flowing stream to wash them all away. NAAAATUREEEEE!!! Goulet. Mr. Obbs highly suggests some quality nude time with the whole family.

So there you have it. Bein nakey can be fun sometimes for sho. Buuuuut i think it's just the last thing I wanna do after lifting or goin for a run.

...I gotta go shave.

-- obbs

For some music, here's some stuff from an artist whose CD I stole from my college radio station about 10 months ago yet I'm JUST gettinga chance to listen to now. I may have too much music. Anywhoo... it's DJ Shadow. The first thing I ever heard from this guy was Organ Donor. Decent. Wasn't a huge fan. Then I heard "BUilding Steam With a Grain of Salt." I love that shit. Totally blew my mind. Still to this day, I don't really fully understand this guy. He makes rap beats, electronica, trance, folk(!?), pop-rock... I dunno. It seems that, for his rap production at least, he's doin a lot of the 'hyphy' beats so popular in the Bay Area of Cali. I'm ont a huge fan of that... but his other stuff is awesome. I really don't know much about him besides the 8 or so mp3's on my computer and this CD i stole, The Outsider, which I finally sat and listened to on Saturday while chillin on my porch readin the free periodicals and makin small talk with the homeless dudes walkin by ("...Sox game at 7:05 tonite, maaaaan..." ..... "nice.")

So check some DJ Shadow.

DJ Shadow -- Organ Donor
DJ Shadow -- Building Steam With a Grain of Salt
DJ Shadow -- This Time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way)
DJ Shadow -- You Made It (ft. Chris James)

sleep well. Celtics tomorrow.

historic

2008-06-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

THursday was a good day. Went to work. Went to my company basketball championship. Played well and won (TWO-TIME COMPANY BASKETBALL CHAMP!! SUCK IT MARK LESNEWSKI IN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE!!)

After the game I went to my cousin's place as he was having a chicken and beer gathering for Game 4 of the Finals. My cousin is a pretty damn good cook when it comes to grillin meat on an open flame. I would trust any cut in his hands. So the chicken was delicious, the beer was just what a dehydrated man needed. The group of people was awesome. The game started. And it was horrible... for awhile.

Now, I am not going to give you a blow-by-blow of the game, because Bill Simmons from ESPN has already done that. And i am man enough to admit that he is just a little bit of a better writer than I. So, I suggest you go read his highly entertaining and humorous blog. Simmons.

A few things I will note, however:

--I said in the 2nd quarter that, if we could get the lead down to 10 going into the 4th quarter, we'd be in fine shape.

--The refs have ENORMOUS leverage in basketball. Is it strange how the foul shot disparity swung in the favor of the hometeam in the early games of this series?? Sometimes I see a horrible call and just think of how much extra millions of dollars in advertising NBA commish David Stern (NOT related to Daniel Stern of Home Alone fame) is counting in his head if the series goes another game or two. They were makin some straaaange calls in this one.

--I been saying we need Eddie house out there. The dude has energy and quickness. Sam Cassell is about as old as James Naismith. He has the experience, yes. But he's old.

--I am so happy to see Ray Allen playing like he can and not like he was for most of the first two rounds of the playoffs. Seeing a shooter lose his confidence is one of the hardest things to watch as a fan. Now that it's back, all is well in the world.

I think that's it. It was one of the most amazing games I have ever seen.

Read the Simmons article for some laughs. or watch this ESPN recap.

music.

A new song from N.E.R.D. (No one Ever Really Dies. That's deep, Pharrell.) I like their production most of the time. Most. I just heard a new song they produced for Madonna and, it's a little much. Sometimes they go over the top a bit. This song is frickin awesome tho, in mr. obbs' opinion. I am diggin the sax on the bridge/chorus/whatever the technical musical term is.

N.E.R.D. -- Yeah You

all for now. Game 5 on Sunday. Tomorrow.

-- obbs

Testosterone.

2008-06-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

So, on Thursday at work, I am minding my business. My eyes are slowly begining to melt out of my head from staring at my computer screen. I get an email saying that I've won a ticket to the Red Sox game that evening. Sikkk.

So I head over to Fenway after werk. I end up missing the first inning. I am under the bleachers as Manny blasts a 3 run homer. Gad dammit.

Anyways, I get to my seat. Begin to take in the sights and sounds.

Coco Crisp steps into the batter's box and quickly gets nailed by a pitch. He is not happy and charges the mound. After he got hit, the crowd let out an 'ooh.' But when he charged the mound, people flipped out. Everyone jumps to their feet. The teams spill out onto the field, even the guys in the bullpen make the sprint from right-field to get in on the action.

Now, I am no fighter. I have never thrown a punch at another person's face-- but fights are interesting.

I was in Worcester maybe a month ago for an alumni rowing event. About 6 of us had decided to pitch in on a hotel room for the night after the race, so we could go out and spend a nite in lovely Worcester-- seeing the locals and checking out the bar scene. So we hit up this place with a sik dancefloor. I kid a little... they had this stage a few feet above the dancefloor. Of course, i attempted to climb up and dance, yet was quickly ushered off by some bouncers.

Apparently only females were allowed to dance on this elevated platform. MEH!

So there was maybe one attractive girl at the whole bar. I tried dancing in her vicinity but nothing really happened. Later, she came up to me and, reading the crimson t shirt i had on, asked if I indeed went to Harvard. Now, lots of guys lie to girls... and i definitely could have, but I did not. Instead I said "No," thus killing the conversation dead in its tracks.

Later in the nite I go back and dance near her. Its 2, and the music stops. Then, for no reason whatsoever, the chick sprays her drink in the air-- a majority of it landing on me.

I am pretty pissed. One of the dudes she was with, rockin the black dress shirt, unbuttoned to show some chest, with a gold chain, confronts me.

"Yo man, you know how people get when they're drunk yanow."

I get drunk. I get drunk a lot. I do not throw beer on people. Not on purpose.

I stare at him.

"Yo man... we got a problem here?"
"Yeah we got a problem. She just threw her fuckin drink all over me."

Now, some of his dudes have decided to join in.

And behind me comes the boys I'm with. Being all crew guys, we have a couple guys at 6'5", one at 6'3", myself at 6'1" or so, and then the Kressticle at 5'11". grenier tells them to start walking. I am pretty heated and yell at them to go find their favorite tanning booth.

Anyways, I never really understood baseball fights. But it's all about standing up for yourself and your boys. Later in the game, a Red Sox pitcher nailed a Tampa bay batter. Nothing happened, but that stuff usually happens as a way for a pitcher to stick up for his teammate.

After the game, and after the Celtics game (sik game by the way. KG's tip-dunk at the end got me so amped) I was watching the news. Apparently Kevin Youkilis and Manny had to be separated by teammates in the dugout. Later i would find that Youk was mad that Manny hadn't gone out of the dugout to fight after Coco got nailed. He was pissed Manny wasn't goin to battle for his boyee.

One thing I will not get, and that really pisses me off, is the baseball celebratory circle-jump. After a walk off homer, or a world series or big win, the whole team gets into a big pile and just bobs up and down. Weeee! For some reaason that really annoys mr. obbs. At least they get a little more creative in football and soccer.

For some music, check out a solo track from Jeff Lynne. He was the mastermind behind Electric Light Orchestra, the Traveling Wilburys, and a lot of Tom Petty's classic 80's material.

This is from his solo album, Armchair Theatre, which is now out of print. I bought it off some dude on Portobello Road in London for like 2 pounds. Sik.

Jeff Lynne -- Blown Away

And check this vid of Jeff talking about his writing process for Livin Thing, a song I previously posted here on the blog. The dude's good at writin catchy songs.

-- obbs

craigslistin like a muhfucka

2008-06-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

There are many things a person can become attached to. For some its drugs... alcohol... consumption... bananas. I am, possibly, addicted to craigslist. It's amazing.

Last weekend, my brother was in town for a nite. He also had driven down his girlf's (scratch that: fiancee's!!) mother's Chevy Tahoe. Now, we had a couple hours to burn, so I figured I may as well take advantage of what I had to work with here. I went online and found a sectional couch down in the dorchester area. Drove there, crammed it into the back of this Tahoe, and made it back to my place. It was free too. Sik.

Then today, I need an extension cord. Who the hell doesn't need an extension cord sometime? Am i rite? Anyway, I find one for free about 2 miles away. Some family had a yard sale today, and they'd left everything that didn't sell on the curb for the trashman to pickup. I ran the two miles there (with frequent breaks) and started digging through the stuff.

As I did this, I realized I was now digging through trash... i let thatthought marinate for a second... but didn't let that stop me. I found a bag of those hawaiian umbrella things that you put in your fruity tropical drinks. I got a frisbee. And i got these plugs that turn a 2 prong outlet into a 3 prong outlet, something i desperately needed. No joke.

Content with my pickups, i started walkin home. Only about 10 minutes into my 2 mile return journey home, some dude and his girlfriend walking towards me randomly asked "Dude, you want some CD's?"

Not one to turn down anything free, I of course say 'HELL YES I DO.' He had a whole box of em, brand new promo copies. Apparently his roommate had worked for Warner Bros and had been given all these new CD's. I picked up some Big and Rich, Jason Mraz, Craig David, Simple Plan, and a compilation from the show Entourage.

What an awesome, free Sunday.

For some music, we're gonna try and tie this all together here.

I got a free Entourage CD today.

In this clip from the show, Turtle wears some t-shirts designed by Akomplice.

Akomplice also sponsors QN5 and Tonedeff.

In this song, Tonedeff samples Jason Mraz.

Tonedeff - Optimist

I got a free Jason Mraz CD today.

ehhhhhh?

-- obbs

ups and downs

2008-05-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

First off, mr. obbs apologizes to his legions of fans for the long delay in posting. Things have been pretty busy. Some good things and some sad things.

On the 16th, I was at work. The plan was to head to Norton, MA after work with my cousin Big James to do a lil partyin wit my other cousin Lil T. We'd see him graduate on Saturday, then I'd drive back to Maine to help my family move my grandmother from her current home to one which could provide her with better care.

At 11am on that Friday, though, my mother called me at work and informed me that my grandmmother had passed away the nite before in her sleep. I was pretty sad and pretty much didn't do anything the rest of the day.

After talking with some cousins and my mom again about what I should do, we decided I ought to still see the graduation and represent my family there. Gran would have wanted to have me be there and celebrate T's day with him.

SO James and I drove out and we ended up having a completely crazy nite on campus. T's whole class (so it seemed) was crammed into one big dorm complex, about 3 floors high, and in an L shape. Every floor and every 'leg' of the L were seemingly throwin parties. If security came, people would just all run to another floor. In one hallway, they had turned all the lights off save for a few black lights. They'd handed out a bunch of glowsticks and were pumpin out some mad techno beats. Someone had the genius idea to bite their glowstick and spray the liquid everywhere. Seeing the walls, floor, and fellow partygoers glowing in neon greens, yellows, and reds actually was one of the cooler things I've seen lately. I even bit open my glowstick and poured it on Big James and some innocent bystanders.

The graduation was cool. I am really close to my mother's side of the family and all my cousins, so whenever we get together, it is nothing but laughs and good times. It was only because of this that the whole funeral and viewing hours and burial weren't a total sobfest. I shed my share of tears, as did my cousins, not gonna deny that, but whens it's all done, we're able to have fun and smile. My grandmother was old, so it wasn't a total shock, but funerals are terrible, regardless of age or situation. You think you'd be prepared, especially if the person had been sick for quite some time leading up to it, but you really aren't. I had to do a reading from I Corinthians 13 during the funeral, and I thought, going into it, that I wouldn't even be able to get the words out. But I was ok, luckily I got to do it before the eulogy and stuff, cuz after my uncle read that, I don't think there was a dry eye in the place.

But anywho... the reception was awesome. It reminded me of the old family reunions we'd have in the summer. All the cousins, all the aunts and uncles alng with dogs and cats and horses and enough food for all. Granny would have loved it.

Its kinda sad how the only time a family can all get together is for funerals and weddings.

Next post will be happier, I proooomise.
-- obbs

This song's lyrics contain a lot of what I had to read at the funeral... it's all I could think about as I read the passage to myself before taking the podium.

Todd Rundgren -- Real Man

all aboard

2008-05-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

mr. obbs saw an ad about 2 weeks or so ago in the daily Metro boston daily that caught his eye. It was for a new PBS series called "Carrier," and was set to chronicle the lives of the shipmates during their 6-month deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom. My interest was piqued, to say the least.

I saw the first two hours of the 10-hour series, and mr. obbs was hooked! It doesn't glorify things at all. You are shown the seaman swabbin the decks, flying off the runway, gettin punished, having fun, bein tourists in Hong Kong, Perth, Kual a Lumpur and other exotic locales. You are shown the highs and the lows. How 6 months away can make people go nuts and put horrible strains on families. It is interesting.

Perhaps I am more interested due to the fact that I have been thinking of joining off and on for some time now. We shall see. But it looks like it'd be pretty frickin sweet to be a pilot or officer and get to visit some of the places they did. I would be sure to not have any family though. I couldn't put them through that.

I highly recommend you check out episode one. From the opening montage set to "All the Things I Have Done" by the Killers to the ending montage of the sailors in their whites paying their respects to those who passed during the attack on Pearl Harbor set to the overly dramatic, yet effective, song "World" by Five For Fighting, it'll suck you in. Check it out at PBS.com.

and that's all I have to say, about that.

For some muzack, I hear Coldplay is preppin a new album to be released in a month or so. I got a track here offa the new album, not sure if it's the new single or if its all over the radio because, well, I don't listen to the radio.

Irregahdless, it has a sik staccato string riff. And god knows I am a huge fan of the string riff. Check it out, along with some other tracks featuring some cool string riffs. Love em.

Coldplay -- Viva La Vida

Electric Light Orchestra -- Livin' Thing (this was played at my parents wedding)

Miri Ben-Ari ft. Anthony Hamilton and Algebra -- She Was Just a Friend (while not played at my parents wedding, this chick lays down sik violin riffs for the likes of Kanye and... maybe some others. She has a bunch of jazz albums, and did a whole hip-hop alb with peeps like 'ye, John Legend, and Scarface. It's good.)

Oh, and one more thing... AMERICAN GLADIATORS RETURNS TONITE!!!!

I just found this vlog from Chris Altice from "Carrier." He seemed like a really funny, laid-back kid who just made a mistake... as the director said it was like he was literally growing up right in front of the camera. They follow him through the whole series, and, well, it's really intersting to see him struggle and then what comes of his whole saga. You'll hafta watch the show to see how things turn out for him.

all for now my loyal fans. time to go watch some gladiators...

-- obbs

allston carnage

2008-05-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday began like pretty much any Thursday. I walked out my door in the morning to start my daily commute, and noticed a helicopter circling my neighborhood. While out of the ordinary, I thought that maybe the ghetto bird was circling to deter trashpickers from looting BU students belongings as they began moving stuff out of their houses. I'm not sure why I thought that... probably because I love trashpicking and subconsciously hoped that the police would not get involved. It's not even illegal so what am I worried about? *takes deep breath*

So anyways, I walk out onto Brighton ave and take a look down the street for my bus. All I see are firetrucks, police, and flashing lights. And in the middle of it all is a pile of smoldering and smoking wreckage. I am a bit dumbstruck, and figure the only logical thing to do is walk over and inspect the scene from up close, right? As I walk by, I make sure not to get in the emergency crews way, yet still manage to stop and take a picture with my cell phone.

It was pretty nuts. As I continued walking to the Packard's Corner T stop, I noticed ANOTHER vehicle which had run straight into a big glass window. Hot damn... I was used to watching some old lady wash that window every morning. I crossed the street to board the T, but when I got there, everyone was being ushered off. I was like 'damn!'

So I kept walking. I looked across the street and saw something that REALLY blew my mind.

I had never seen a car so completely and utterly beaten to shit before.

I waited for the T at a nearby stop until a T worker told all us stranded commuters to continue walking down a few more blocks. Why you ask? This is why.

About 2 or so blocks from the BIG crash was ANOTHER crash. A truck was across the T tracks, and a few other vehicles were all smashed up. I was like 'damn.'

Finally got on a T. Got to Kenmore. Waited to transfer with a bunch of other people in their business garb. Heard this guys cell go off. He was rockin the Glenn Frey (of Eagles glory) "You Belong to the City" midi ringtone. Loved it.

Got to work 30 mins late. My boss then asked if I'd like to take half a lunch break, or stay a half hour late. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but I guess it was legitimate to ask. For some reason i guess i thought I should still get paid when a car crash makes me late.

For the music today, gotta give it up to the dude at kenmore T station rockin the midi ringtone.

Glenn Frey - You Belong to the City

straight offa the soundtrack to this classic show.

adios fans!

-- obbs

not homeless!

2008-05-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Welp, in a stunning turn of events, I was able to use the power of persuasion to talk my landlord into letting me stay here throughout the summer. I had a couple things in my favor:

1. I'm a pretty damn good tenant, if I do say so myself. I pay my money... I throw parties every now and then, but GAD DAMMIT this house is surrounded by college students, and i am a fairly young person still who enjoys the occasional good time, so I think it's a bit unreasonable to think there would never be a party here.

2. My Chinese roommate said the only way she would stay is if I stayed here as well (apparently girls feel unsafe in a house all by themselves without a strong man to protect them. *shrugs*)

3. I knew another girl looking for housing. She could move into one of the rooms vacated by my evicted roomies.

So essentially, I told the landlord he could: kick me out, and thus make the china girl leave as well, thus earning him no rent, or he could let me stay and he'd get a total of 3 rent checks. And we all know how much landlords loveeee the rent checks.

So there you have it. Mr. obbs the wheeler and dealer.

In other news, the Celtics finally dispatched the Hawks from the playoffs. About damn time.

For some music, treat your head to some country music. Yes, mr. obbs even listens to some country now and then. Both these lead singers ahve pretty cool, deep, voices.

The first is from a group I was introduced to by a real-life cowboy friend of my family. We met him while at a dude ranch in Montana. He's been a Marlboro Man in some magazine ads before. If you've seen City Slickers 2, he is a lot like Curly in appearance, to give you a mental picture of this guy. Anyways, the song is more cowboy music than country, if ya feel me. For some reason I can imagine the lead singer as the father of some girl I'm asking out. With his voice, I would hate to get him mad. Or to get her pregnant.

Sons of the San Joaquin - Great American Cowboy

The second is a vid by Josh Turner. Apparently he's a big hit with the ladies... but anyways, this song is catchy, in my opinion.

adios.
-- obbs

homeless...?

2008-04-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

so... mr obbs is in an unfortunate situation. Due to too many raucous parties being held at my current abode, my landlord has decided to evict two of my roommates, and not allow me to extend my lease once it is up at the end of May. Hunting for apartments is perhaps one notch above spending time in Port Authority on mr. obbs' official list of unenjoyable activities. It's an ass-pain, to put it lightly.

Either the room is too expensive, too far out of the city, or the roommates are too crazy, or the landlord is a psycho, etc etc ad nauseam.

So currently I am trying to see if i can stay through the summer at least. i mean, I pay my rent, I keep the place looking decent, I do my dishes. What else do you want from me. So we'll see how the landlord responds to my email.

SPeaking of the homeless though... can someone explain to me why so many homeless people insist upon speaking all sorts of gibberish ALOUD? I can really not think of any reason why they do it. It's usually expletives, or just total nonsensical blather which does nothing to better their standing in my mind. It's gotta be the crack. That's the only justification i can think of.

Last week I was waiting for the T and witnessed one man have a full conversation with the Virgin Mary. Apparently Mary was also waiting for the T, and wearing skintight spandex which the man found arousing. It was uncomfortable to listen to this guy shout, and eventually another guy next to me went and reported him to the MBTA guard on duty... who really didn't do anything.

But anyways... homeless people. What're ya gonna do with em. I also don't understand why they insist on living in Boston. It's cold as hell here. If I had no home... I'd go south. Just start walking. Maybe that's just me, I don't know.

I realize it's been a while since we've had some music here on the blog. So without further ado, check out this funky track by the English singer Estelle featuring the highly talented John Legend. After watching him on the Colbert Report, I think Legend is a pretty cool dude. and talented.

Estelle ft. John Legend -- You Are

And peep legend doin his thang on The Report:

mr. obbs' marathon weekend

2008-04-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

mr. obbs went on a journey this past weekend back to his alma mater. After a weekend of shenanigans with some fellow esteemed alums, i was faced with a rather complicated journey home. Now, someone once said, *famous quote* and it has occurred to me that the unbeaten path is sometimes seldom traveled for a reason. I was approximately 6 hrs from boston as the crow flies, yet my only potential rides were not planning on going to boston. not at all.

So I was faced with two options: Option 1: travel on the most boring stretch of highway evar, then take a $30 bus from Hanover, NH to Boston, arriving at approximately 11pm. ORRR Option 2: Wait awhile at college watching playoff basketball (cue the classic John Tesh theme) while my escort and her boyf played checkers together in his room, then depart for NYC, arriving around 9pm, where I would take a $15 china town bus back to boston arrivin around 1am, and (hopefully) catch the last citybus home (for free).

Being a cheapass, i of course opted for the latter route.

The trip to NYC went greeeat! No traffic, good playlist on my friend's iPod (Hall and Oates, Baltimora, Foreigner, Eddie Money to name a few), and a bag of doritos for mr obbs to snack on! Once in the city, i even got a ride directly to Port Authority (turns out it was much more on the way to Long Island (my escort's destination) than China Town. So instead of the chinatown bus, i'd take greyhound. But i knew greyhound was only $20 one way, i should be ok money-wise and my cheap plan would still go off without a hitch.

I run to the ticket booth at 8:50 and ask for a one-way to beantown. Thirty-two bucks. WTFRIG!! mr. obbs not happy! but, short on time, i pay with cash (leaving just one bill) and run to the bus terminal. get there at 8:53 and get in line. One by one they let people on until, 6 people away from the door, the bus is full. SHIT.

mr. obbs now has to wait for the next bus, which, though states on the board is leaving at 10, will get pushed back to 10:30. I think I mentioned how much I love spending time at Port Authority in a previous blog. So, yea.

I arrive in boston at 2:34. Now, with only 1 dollar in my pocket, and the T long-closed (GM Dan Grabauskas of the MBTA says that they must close the T every night to do all their "repairs," and yet T's are still broken down, disabled, and habitually alte every day... hrmm) I realize i gotta A) get to an ATM and B)holla at a cabbie.

The closest ATM i know of is... like a mile or so. Not bad. It was a warm night and I had nothing better to do really (besides sleep and get ready to wake up at 8 for the red sox monday).

On the walk to the T, I notice that I am making great time. I'm not tired at all. I also find that I'm really enjoying the city at night. Deserted. Calm. Peaceful. I walk by the finish line to the Boston Marathon and my mind begins to think crazy thoughts...

I decide to make this walk home my own personal marathon. Inspired by the pain my fellow marathoners will endure in the nearing hours, I begin to pick up my pace. I was also inspired by the fact that I did not want to end up paying more for my decision to go to NYC over Hanover (which was looking pretty amazing at this time).

Poor cabbies drive by shaking their head at me. Honking. FLipping me the bird... but I stay focused. My stomach begs for pizza. I give in, only to notice they closed at 2. I don't need pizza anyway. I only need late nite pizza when I'm drunk.

I push on.

Past the one hour mark, I am making great time. I turn down the final turn. I climb my steps and openthe door. I am greeted by the pounding beats of Sytem of a Down. So. Much. Emotion. I walk into my living room to find some shady looking characters playing poker. I hit my stopwatch: 3:42am. I have shattered the marathon record with my finishing time of 68 minutes (unofficial). I looked up the distance from South Station to my home the next day: 5.5 miles. Not too shabby!

I didn't sleep til 5am cuz my roommates were partying. Party on a Sunday til 5? makes sense.

Monday I get up and head to a buddy's place to pound a 40oz of Natty ICE. Go to the Sox game, watch the 'real' Boston Marathon, then help polish off a keg at a friend of a friend of a friend's place next to the course.

It was a beautiful end to a long and exciting weekend. I think I am still recovering.

-- mr. obbs

i get angra!

2008-04-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

I had an unusually frustrating weekend, which is unfortunate, but i shall explain. Let me first state the 2 things that, in particular, pissed me off this weekend.

1. Friends not calling/texting me back
2. shitty bars with cover charges

Now, I picked up an extra Saturday shift at work to make some money, so at first I wasn't going to go out on Friday. BUt after an hour of not doing anything, I thought I'd give it a try. I text some people... call some... IM some. Leave messages. One guy texted me at 1am saying 'sorry, but let's hang out tomorrow.'

cool.

I ended up going 'out' by myself. And that is 'out' in the most general sense of the word. I walked around, found a local Burger King, and treated myself to a late dinner. Fun.

So saturday I went to work. Got a text from the same buddy who wanted to hang out. So I called him once I got out. No answer. Left a message. Texted another friend who had said they would call me the previous nite (and hadn't) to see what they were up to. 2 hours later I text the first dude... End up getting no response from either.

Gotta love it.

I ended up goin out with my cousin who was meetin some lady friends of his at a place called Gypsy Bar. Finally got there, and knew this wasn't "my scene." Dude's with tans... hair product... tight designer t-shirts. *sigh* My cousin asked a guy in front of him what the cover charge was. "10 bucks." Fuck that.

So we ended up ditchin that idea. Went to a different bar I'd gone to before and enjoyed. Live music and such. $5 cover... it was ok. Buuuuut the band sucked and it was $4 for a bottle of Bud Light. Really? Fuck that. A waste of $5.

I hate cover charges, to put it lightly. We ended up going to some total dive bar, throwin some bills into the jukebox, getting some $10 pitchers of the High Life and enjoying ourselves with the rest of the clientele. Not swanky dumbasses with their designer shit they spent their last paycheck on, but chill people rockin Red Sox jerseys and pink "Support Your Local Vagina" tees. I felt at home.

Honestly, from now on, I may very well stick to this one local place for my nightlife. No cover, no stuck-up dresscode, cheap Molson ($2 drafts... my personal heaven), and lots of ladies. How the F can you beat that? Also, I won't hafta throw down for a cab either, cuz it's only bout a 10 min walk from my crib. Hallelujah.

So that was my weekend. Pretty dismal. Today was chill. Went to a bar at 2 and had wings for 10 cents a piece. Awesome. My cousin also spilled my beer on me, which was funny. Then we watched the end of The Masters, then some of the Bruins and Red Sox games.

All i've eaten today is 1 banana, 20 hot wings, 1 beer, and half an order of french fries.

But my diet is a whole nother story.

Adios.

bump it up

2008-04-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

A strange thing has happened since I've moved into the city. It's happened on more than one occasion now.

I bump into people. And it's not just an innocent, understandable bump. It's a collision that, I'm guessing/hoping, most people do not commit.

Now, in my defense, it could well be due to the fact that Boston has a much higher density of people than I am accustomed to... possibly. But I think it's just mostly due to my absent-mindedness.

On the way to work one day, I was waiting with some other workers from my building for the elevator to come to the ground floor. I was reading the paper, heard the bell ring, and began walking to the door. Ran straight into some woman... almost knocking her over.

Like I was some sort of Pavlov dog, I heard the bell and immediately thought that meant the door would be opening and we'd pile in. I didn't think that A)maybe I should look up from the paper or B)that maybe the woman in front of me would be waiting until the elevator unloaded before she entered. What made it even better was that I had to spend a nice lil awkward elevator ride with this woman I had just nearly assaulted.

I also ran into some dude as I entered the grocery store. I love watching myself on the security camera (who the f doesn't) aaaaand wasn't watching where I was going.

I read something today that made me feel a little better about myself, though. It appears that the world is actually growing more and more incapable of walking without bumping into things/people.

Don't believe me? Check out this article from Time, or, if you love the British accents like I do, this shitty, unfunny video.

"higgledy-piggledy fashion..." Gotta love it!

All this London talk reminds me of time in the great city. I had a sik internship for a DJ booking agency. My part of the company booked the artists for shows and such, the other half was was kind of a record label type deal. This one artist, Harry (love the artists who go by just one name), had a new single they would play ALLL DAYYY. It was alrite. I downloaded it (ripped it from his myspace actually, my bad) just to remind me of those days. Check it out.

Harry Brooks - Neon Lady

peace and love everybody.

-- obbs

fans

2008-04-06T18:18:00.001-07:00

So I went to see my cousin's DIII men's lacrosse game today. Pretty awful weather-- cold, drizzly, just plain 'raw.'

Anyways, I've been around organized sport for some time, so I have heard many a "yeller" let their opinions be heard from their perch in the bleachers. They know who should have done what. They know whose son just f'ed up horribly but are careful as to not make their disgust too apparent in their exclamation, as the failure's father is also in earshot. So a simple, exasperated "OH COME ONNNN" after a mistake will suffice.

The collection of fathers at the game today were some of the worst I've witnessed. Honestly... some of the shit they were saying made me wanna smack em in the face.

"Did you see that pass? What is he doing? Jeeeeesus."

*kid takes a shot on goal*
Random Mom 3 rows back: Nice try Jimmy!!
Long-haired father: What the hell kind of shot is that?! You have no angle on the goal... there is absolutely no chance of that going in.

At one point, a father actually said "We know more about the game than these kids do!"

So I, knowing I will not see these people again and looking to push things a little further, said "You know what? WE oughta be out there playing!"
and the father turned to me... and I could see the gears in his head turning as he struggled to figure out if I was serious or not... and he replied "Yea!! ... but maybe as the JV."

Good answer, pops.

Anyways, I remember a basketball game I was in back in like 8th grade. I actually started trash-talking with an opposing team's father in the stands. His son was guarding me, and he made some remark, knowing I could hear just as much as his son could, about how I couldn't keep up with him (his son) or something equivalent. I turned to him and made fun of his goatee.

Bottom line is: I know that, when I am older and watching my son or daughter school all the other kids in just about any sport they desire to play, that I'll friggin keep my mouth shut. At least until the car ride home, where I will berate them unmercifully.

adios!
-- mr. obbs

lissenup

2008-04-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

attention fans. I think, after some soul-searching (read: i read over my last blog and bored myself) that this blog needs... a direction.

That is why, starting... this blog or next... I will try to focus on one thing and dissect it as i see fit. I have a lot of time on my hands to simply think. I see people on the subway on the way to work... and I think. I don't have an iPod to blow out my eardrums (seriously, my cousin thinks she has some hearing loss cuz of that dang machine) so I can devote all the time of my commute to A) the song that's currently already playing in my head and B)judging the people around me, which (i believe) I am REALLY good at.

Like yesterday, I was on the T and this dude, all tatted up and stuff, was just chillin mindin his own business, then his cell went off. And guess what. His ringtone was "It's Britney, bitch." I was like "waaaaaahhH!?" Hilarious.

So there you have it. A new chapter in mr. obbs blog. Brace yoself fools.

-- mr. obbs

march madness

2008-03-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

another weekend full of shenanigans is in the bank.

I threw a huge party on friday at the house... it was a combination of three people's burfdays, so the guestlist was pretty big. Then, some really ballsy underclassmen from BU decided to stop by. I'm not sure how the logic goes in their heads, but it must be something similar to "hey... it sounds like there's a party going on in that house. Even though we don't know anyone there, let's invite ourselves in and drink the beer!" Crazy kids.

Joe Mac had to yell out "COPS!" a couple of times to clear a bunch of em out. I didn't realize just how many young'ns were there until he did that and about half of the people in my kitchen fled out the back door. I was like "damn!"

Saturday required me to set my alarm for noon, as on Friday I had won a Bruins ticket from my company and wanted to catch the game. Turns out our company seats are frickin amazing. 5 rows up from the opponents face off circle. So I got to see the Bruins attack their goal for 2 of the 3 periods. They also won, beating the Senators 4-0. I'm not a huge hockey fan, but it was an awesome game to see (for free).

Saturday nite, Steve Nichols drove back down cuz he wanted to hang with some friend of his from Northeastern. I said I'd be down for that cuz I didnt have any plans. So we went over, met his buds, and walked to a small bar. Waiting to get a drinkie, I see a girl I went to elementary school wit sittin at the bar with her friend! Random! I'd only seen her once since I'd been in Boston, and that was when she came to a party of mine (the one where I was passed out at midnite-- bad news). So it was cool seein her. We ended up rollin to another place and gettin our dance on. I was dancin wit her friend for quite a bit. Then we went back to her apartment and she said I could crash on her futon (I'm too cheap to get a $20 cab ride home, i mean seriously).

So, I had known my friend had posed for some calendar that had featured all these Northeastern girls, but I hadn't actually seen it. But there it was on her wall-- open to her month! I must say, the photos were pretty frickin hawt. My friend was in two fotos which she showed me, then she took it down and showed me the cover (see the foto at the top of this entry.)

I looked at it for a bit. Dayummmmm it was her friend! Her friend is def an attractive young lady, but this pic was redonk (i mean, LOOK at it!). My friend said they had put on just a little bit of makeup. These pics were real professional-looking. I mean, I only pose when i know i'm dealing with professional quality people, and they hafta have good PhotoShop ability too.

Speakin of which. Check out this crazy vid showing just how amazing PhotoShop can be in the right person's hands.

It's also March Madness of course. I have UCLA winning my bracket, but frankly Memphis is looking NAAAAASTY. They're a really exciting team to watch. I absolutely hate UNC. It's mostly just Tyler Hansbrough. He bothers me a lot, for some reason. I wasn't too upset when this happened last year:

Anywhoo. How bout some muzack. I've been wanting to plug the following group for awhile, as they are awesome and a part of Maine culture. Schooner Fare plays marine songs (hard to describe i guess...) but their folky guitars and awesome, clear voices are some things I was raised on. I even saw them live a couple times, and they are great performers-- telling lots of jokes and stories between the classics.

So here are three good tracks by a great Maine band.

Schooner Fare - Day of the Clipper

Schooner Fare - Portland Town

Schooner Fare - Summer Roads

"Summer roads all full of turns and bends,
Summer roads that lead to my old friends,
Summer roads by summer streams,
where I live all my winter dreams,
and the good times always start down summer roads."

adios!

-- obbs

out of touch, out of time

2008-03-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

so much has happened in the last week. mr. obbs apologizes for the lack of updates!! I know you fans are growing impatient. Thanks for all the blog comments too, btdubs.

So much has happened that I'll prob hafta break this into two posts to catch everyone up.

1. My company basketball teram came back from a 9 point 2nd half deficit to win the championship!! The prizes kept snowballing too... first a trophy, then a picture with 2 of the Celtic cheerleaders, then a bag full of warmup shorts and shirts, then a free spread of pizza, boneless wings, and a keg of lite beer!! I was like 'hot damn... i'm in heaven.' It was definitely a great ending to great season.

2. Thursday I went to a Bruins game. They lost... but I got a free t-shirt and my cousin James got on the jumbo-tron! Success in mr. obbs' book.

3. Friday I turned 23. sweet.

4. For Saturday I went home to see my gramma. She was feelin ill... but now is better. yay.

5. Had a delightful Easter brunch with two cousins and an uncle. Fam is good.

6. Today I went to work feelin great (maybe it was cuz i didn't get shitfaced at all this weekend... maybe. meh!). Got an email saying my company had 2 Celtic tix to give away. I'm not too superstitious... but I felt soething inside me. It was my time. I'd never won any of the Celtic tix they raffle off. Only 2 Bruins tickets (BOTH on nites I couldn't go... wtf). So I entered. When they announced the winners at 2pm... i didn't get it. So as 5pm approached, i waited at 4:59 for the clock to turn.

I get a call. What. the. fuck.

I answer it... talk to some guy for 12 minutes and finally hang up. JUST as i hang up i get an email saying "we have 3 more tickets. First 3 people to email me get em!" I hit 'reply' mash on my keyboard, and hit 'send.'

And tonite I got to see the league-leading Celtics lose to the lowly 76ers!! It was awesome! Naw but seriously it was mad fun. Thank you CSN. Maybe I will fill out that application to name you as one of the best employers of Boston. Maybe.

Welp, i guess one post was sufficient!

For the music, here's a techno remix of a song I heard about 4 times this weekend, but can't find the original anywhere... which is aggravating. If anyone has 'Out of Touch' by the marvelous Daryl Hall and John Oates, holla at me. For the interim, here's a sik dance mix which was huge when i was in london. I def got my trance on to this on the danceflo.

Uniting Nations - Out of Touch

until next time folks.
-- obbs

padraig!

2008-03-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

welp... it was anotha rawhide weekend. no doubt. I really gave the ol' liver a workout, bein st. patty's day and all. Nothing too insane, but I made sure I was imbibing. TK, a huge 6'5" beast of a man I met while studying abroad in London, was in town for a solid 4 days. It was definitely good to have him around and have a formidable wingman to hit the town with mr. obbs.

Friday we just kinda chilled, as TK had been travelin all day. Saturday we checked out some Boston touristy sites and such. blechhh. I dunno, bein a tourist can be kinda boring. Walking around... seein a statue. wooooo. BUt anyways. We checked out a few shops and the original Cheers bar. Good ish. Stevy Nichols aka Jake Michaels drove down that night as well. We three men went out for some man time at a bar watching basketball.

That nite we had plans for a nite on the town... but they kinda got busted by a)long ass lines at clubs and b) our shabby dress code of sneakers and non-collared shirts. My bad! Meh. We ended up goin to this place the Cask & Flagon right next to Fenway Park which was a pretty lame time. The bar was so packed it took a solid 10 or 15 mins to get a beer. Then my posse moved to the danceflo'. I swear this was the worst DJ i've ever witnessed. He'd play a song, people would get into it, then he'd switch it to some other track after about 45 seconds. wtf! the ONLY redeeming moment was when he played this one R. Kelly song.

R. Kelly -- Burn It Up

Hearing that album cut make it into the usual club rotation was a welcome surprise.

Rather than pay for a cab, Steve Nichols and I walked home. Not too bad. Found a party goin on at my house that kept my sleep nice and interrupted til they left at 4:30am. shweet.

Sunday was a day of rest... nope! I'm kidding! Got up early and headed to South Boston for nthe big St. Patty's Day parade. My cousin had a contact who was throwin a pahty rite on the parade route. It may have taken a solid 2 mile walk to get there, but it was worth it. Delish food, jello shots, beers, and a funnel equaled great times! Plus there were some funny and beautiful ladies to provide some great conversation. Tony was along, and my other cousin Annie was back from school as she was on spring break from Barnard. After partyin all day, we went back to my cousins house in Natick for some homecooking!! What an awesome day. An A+ in mr. obbs' book.

Mr. Obbs had taken Monday off from work in order to a) enjoy the weekends shenanigans a bit more and B) get to see TK more. So i got to sleep in Monday morn which was NOICE. Both the Sam Adams and Harpoon breweries were closed, so we resorted to plan dos: go to a bar. It was about 2ish i guess, and we got in line to get into a frickin North End bar. I was feelin a little "mehhhhh." Got in line behind these two whitehaired dudes. I walked up to see what the cover charge would be-- "10 bones" I told TK. The two white-haired guys overheard. "Wot, just to git ehn?" One asked in an awesome English accent. Now, spending a semester in England was awesome just for the accents and the people. They're real laid back. So I took this opportunity to chat it up with these dudes. We ended up ditchin that bar and goin to another. Spent the whole time talking and gettin drunk with these two English gents from Nottingham-- I guess a small mining community. One of the guys absolutely LOVED how American's give each other "pounds" sometimes instead of a handshake. When they finally left, I made sure to give him a pound and every other dap and american variation I could think of. Hilarious. I gave one em my card... told him to shoot me an email sometime. That shit pays off... knowin people around the world that is.

Some of the best times I had while abroad was staying with my family friends in Poitiers, France (home of a French exchange student my fam's hosted a few summers) and Horschbach, Germany-- long story how my family knows those people, but my last name is german and apparently i had ancestors from there. But yeah... keep those contacts cuz they pay off.

So anyways, I went home round 530, still buzzin, and got ready for my basketball game. We ended up winning and am in the company championship game tomorrow nite!! Craziness! I need to carb up asap.

all for now. I am still mad tired.

I found this soundtrack to the movie "The man From Snowy River" last nite randomly. It's really nuts the music you can find online if you know where to search. I don't have any of that LimeWire shit either... I just know where to look. Anyways, this is perhaps my mom's favorite movie, as she is obsessed with horses and also thinks the main character is pretty hot. I must say, it's a pretty cool movie, and has a solid soundtrack as well.

Check out this clip with some intense chase music and some nutso horse clips. Makes me wanna ride one again... honestly galloping atop a huge beast is pretty frickin sweet now that I think about it.

Bottom line: mr. obbs recommend you see this movie. Add it to your NetFlix queue **cough**katiebell**cough**

And here's the love theme to the movie. Pretty cool piano loop there.

Bruce Rowland -- Jessica's Theme

That's all for today folks.

-- obbs

"that's not the saddle-horn, ma-lady."

arms and sleepers

2008-03-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

I made a decision to try and make it to some more live music shows a while back. So, when yesterday, my cousin called me to go to some show at a nearby bar with him featuring some "ambient/electronica type stuff" I was, honestly, a little iffy. I meannnnn I had a basketball game and i was gonnna be tireeeeed after.

But I sucked it up and told him i'd be there after my game. I guess a guy he used to play in a band with went off and formed some group to start making this ambient music and actually got signed by some label in Germany (unable to verify this).

So I get to the venue last nite and the opening act is on. Paid the $8 cover and got a brewski. The music was real chill. For some reason "electronica" had brought images of raves and poppin ecstasy to mind (kids: mix it with viagra and you have 'sextasy'). But this was so lax and i was so tired i almost fell asleep. Good music no doubt, just something i put on when i'm bout to crawl into bed.

But eventually my couin's buddy's group came on. They're called Arms and Sleepers, and they were pretty dope. Now, honestly, this type of music isn't exactly the best live experience... i mean, you just kinda watch. You can't sing cuz there's no lyrics. Arms and Sleepers was pretty sik cuz they have this video they broadcast onto a sheet screen behind them as they play. It's sort of like watching a live music video... if that makes any sense.

Watch this vid and you'll see what I mean. This was a pretty cool song they played.

THere's a few more on Youtube you should check out if you like dat one. The videos were also cool cuz some of em had Boston scenes in em.

Anyways, I'm real glad I went.

Makin music with machines is pretty amazing stuff. A kid i went to elementary school with has sent me some songs he's made, and I gotta say I am mad impressed. This kid is very talented musically, playing the trumpet I think since gradeschool, and is skilled on numerous instruments. He makes his music with a program called Reason. He goes by the name Bigadiga. Just check out the track below for god's sake.

Bigadiga -- Waiting For June

aptly titled now that I look at it!

Also, on the other end of the spectrum, check out this beat D-Drens aka DJD made with a program on my computer called Frooty Loops. I need to learn how to use this gaddamn program better. I think this is pretty good for Dave...

DJD -- beat

pretty cool.

All for now. Gotta rest up... tomorrow is a company trivia night followed by open bar at a local establishment. Long story short... Friday is gonna be a hungover mess of a day.

twerkin'

2008-03-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

Mr. obbs took a weekend trip back to the Maine homeland this past weekend to see those who raised him and get some good ol' homecookin. Also celebrated my birthday a little early. My present were pretty cool. My parents framed this big poster I was given during graduation from my crew coaches. It was a sort of collage of pics of me and my teammates. Pretty sweet. It looks really good framed.

I also got a scrapbook my dad made. Starts with a pic from March 21, 1985 of me as a baby! It has some really great photos in it, and I laughed and smiled on every page. Kinda ties into my lsat post or so when I mention how we forget a lot of the great moments throughout life. My dad said his mom amde a picture book for him, so he thought he'd make one for me. It's pretty cool.

I didn't do much but just relax, which is really the only reason i went home, other than to sate my 'rents need to see me every now and then. Watched some basketball on tv.. ate lots of food.

On Sunday I spoke with my bro on the fone. He's a corrections officer at a prison in Arizona. He helps with the transport of inmates from facility to facility. Think of the police guys in the bus in the Fugitive when the inmates break out. That's what my brother does.

Anyways, they were transporting two vans full of inmates from one locale to another. My bro was in the rear van on the highway, goin about 75 mph. All of a sudden a tire on the lead van blows and the driver loses control. The van jerks into the median and begins to flip. It rolls over and over as my brother and the CO's in his van can only watch.

His van quickly pulls to the side and my bro jumps out to help. The crashed van's driver has been thrown through the windshield and is now laying face down in a pool of water. He attends to him and helps others while calling for backup. 3 officers and 3 of the inmates are MedEvac'd out of the scene. The inmates had it pretty bad cuz they're just sitting loose in the back with their hands and ankles bound shackled together. They musta been flyin around the van smashing their faces into the walls when that thing was flipping over and over and over. Long story short, my bro is getting Employee of the Month.

This is actually his 2nd time getting the award... the first time was for breaking up a knife fight and saving one of the inmates lives.

So... my brother has a home he is paying mortgage on. I am handin my landlord my hard-earned money each month. His job is important. Mine... is not. He makes almost 3 times what I make... conservatively, at least double.

Anyways... my lease is up at the end of May. Mr. obbs is gonna make some moves by the end of the year. Startin with a cross-country trip to see some sights.

For the music today we have the Ying yang Twins. Two of the most prolific writers in hip hop music history. Two of the greatest to ever grab a microphone. Nah i kid, but this track offa their "United States of Atlanta" album is pretty solid. It features Adam Levine from Maroon 5 doin the damn thang on the hook in all his high-pitched glory .

Talks about a stripper... but really it's an allegory. Aren't we all strippers? Selling our body and time for the dolla dolla bill. Right? That's what they meant when they wrote this, right?

Ying Yang Twins ft. Adam Levine - Live Again

"This road is a dead-end, I wanna live again."

a slew of activity

2008-03-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

MR OBBS HAD A FULL WEEKEND.

Hot damn... got back from NYC yesterday. It was fun, and I had a good time seein people and the city as a whole. I hopped on the Greyhound after work and got down the Port Authority at 1030. Lemme just say how godawful Port Authority is. Has to be one of the dirtiest, sketchiest, awful places on earth. A nice welcome mat for what its residents consider the greatest city on Earth...

Anyways, I was tired and so was my cuzzin Dee, so we just went back to her place and chilled. Had to rest up for Saturday.

Saturday
Woke up round 10 to phone calls from a drunk-sounding Kress telling me to get up and start drinking. I chose to hang up and eat a breakfast of Cheez-its and instant oatmeal before finding my way on the subway out to Hoboken. Got to the train round noon and it was full of revelers... I knew it would be a good time.

Finally got to the party at dOey's cousins place at 1pm and I realized i was by far the most sober person there. Quickly played catch-up and started some rando convos with people i didn't know. One being this girl who, as I talked to her more, realized she couldn't really form sentences. She tried dancing with me and nearly fell face-first to the floor. Sooooo I brought her over to a couch and told her to chill. Noticed half the room staring at us. I turned back to the girl only to catch a stream of brownish green liquid comin at me. I couldn't fuckin believe it.

So with my shirt splattered with drunk girl's stomach fluid. I took off my festive green T-shirt and managed to put on a happy face for the rest of the party. I gave the girl's friends some shit for lettin their friend get blackout (who DOES that anyways...) and you know what they said to me? "Well, what were you expecting?"
I then had a Lil Jon moment...

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAT!?

apparently this was MY fault! I am such an idiot! But to answer your question, friend, I expected to NOT get thrown up on. That's what I expected.

Next time I will make sure to draw upon my wealth of knowledge when it comes to being puked on and act accordingly. "What a miiiiiiinute, i see what's about to happen here... this person is about to *bolts for the door*"

but anyways, it was actually my 2nd time getting thrown up on. First time was at a Holy Cross basketball game. Only then, the culprit fled the scene before I could confront him/her. That lucky bastid.

Anyways... eventually left the party and napped at dOey's for a bit. Left round 6 and went back to the city with my cousins. We ended up meeting a friend of my cousins at a piano bar. It was a real dive... imagine a guy at a piano surrounded by people singing Broadway show tunes. Later I would realize it was a predominantly gay bar... We met a few interesting characters there and I got a few "looks" but I was a total cocktease and ended up leaving the place alone.

Sunday morning was chill. Met up with my cousin who goes to Barnard and we all went to brunch. Nothin too exceptional here... except for my two pancakes, which came with bacon and sausage and eggs. Now, the eggs tasted more like a lumpy, yellow pureé, the bacon had NO flavor whatsoever, and my sausage? Excuse me, my "sausage," was really just a hotdog cut length-wise with the outsides charred to near ash and the middle grilled.

I was like "hmm... looks like a hotdog. Even smells like a hotdog... have I really just been given a hotdog for brunch from a NYC establishment?"

My cousin brought it up with our server who could barely speak Engrish, and he said that it was their turkey sausage. That's what they serve as "turkey sausage." Welp, I'm a pretty big fan of hotdogs, so I didn't pursue it any further... just thought it was kinda strange.

Anyways, got on the busride home and made it back to Boston in time for some trivia at the White Horse tavern. They have a special on Sundays: $4 burger and fries! Not too shabby, plus it was trivia nite... so needless to say, I was in heaven.

Today I made it through work and then met the lady who ran the MRI study (see my blog a few back) for a followup meeting. It was actually really interesting. It turns out all those disturbing pictures of mutilation, violence, and suffering I had viewed last time were now shown to me again and I had to see how many I could recognize from the first viewing with 100% certainty. When I first saw them during the MRI I had no idea I'd be seeing them again, so I hadn't really paid FULL attention. Well, it turns out I could remember the disturbing ones much more than the normal ones (like pics of an ironing board, or a kitty cat!) So it's kinda sad, but it seems you remember lots of sad, depressing things more than the happy, serene, peaceful things. As I walked home I started to think of all the happy things I've probably forgotten... isn't that too bad?

I was happy though... after the last picture and once i'd filled out some paperwork she handed me an envelope with $100 in it.

Do you know how many hotdog sausages I could buy with that???

for some music, check out how these two producers flipped the same sample, mmk? Lemme know who you think did it better.

Common -- Faithful (prod. by Kanye West)
Inverse ft. Trek Life, Deacon the Villain - 'Til the End (prod. by Kno)

trip to da Apple

2008-02-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

Welp, mr. obbs just wanted to check in before a loooong weekend. Not in length, but it promises to include quite a bit of activity. I just bought an e-ticket from Greyhound buses for a roundtrip jounrey to NYC this weekend! Mr. obbs in the big apple...

Last time I was there was during the summer. I met a buddy, the Kressticle there as his ship which he was spending the summer on was in port, and then also met up with doey and found a bar serving $9 pitchers of PBR... needless to say it was a fun time. Not such a fun time for one of Kress' shipmates tho, who ended up hurling onto the wooden floor, which-- though I didn't know at the time-- splattered all over my shoes and bag. The next day I had some mighty stanky shoes (I just noticed that I'm also wearing them right now.)

So anyways, I'll actually meet up with BOTH doey and Kress THIS weekend too!! What are the chances!! Tomorrow, I guess all of hoboken celebrates St. Patrick's Day. Granted, its a week or so early... but why the f not!? I'm also gon spend some time seein some cousins who work/go to school down dere.

Should be a good time.

No time for mp3s today, as I'm at work... buuuut here's a fly music vid. No booy shakin ho's... just sexy models suckin on ice.

-- obbs

got kells on ya ringtone

2008-02-26T19:13:00.000-08:00

mr. obbs is friggin tired, so i'ma keep this relatively brief.

1. R. Kelly is the king of R&B. He actually put the 'R' in 'R&B.' That's a fact.
2. If the "Trapped in the Closet" series were to be turned into a full-length movie and released in theaters, it would become the first film to win Best Original Screenplay, Film of the Year, Soundtrack of the Year, and Documentary fo the Year Oscars and R. Kelly would win both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards.
3. In an effort to be more hip, I tried multiple avenues to get an R. Kelly ringtone on my phone. Now, being a cheap sonofabitch, I of course would not buy said ringtone. My boyee joe mac had recommended a site which sends you the tone to your fone in a text, so I tried that.

No luck. Tried again. Nothing.

I was gettin pissed. I tried another site... nope. I somehow stumbled upon this site sponsored by Verizon Vcast sayin all i had to do was play the song I wanted and it'd be uploaded to my phone! Too easy! So I played the song on my speakers and held my phone up to em, and -- don't ask me how this works-- but my phone was able to recognize the song! But then it asked me to pay $4 for it. Fuck. That.

Next day at work, takin phonecalls... runnin shit... the usual. Out of the blue my phone blares at full volume "OHHHohhhOHHHHH! OHHohhOH!"

It's R. Kelly! Like a voice from God coming to embarass me in front of my co-workers for being that dumbass who forgets to put his fone on vibrate... but it wasn't my fault!! I'd PUT my fone on vibrate... I looke at my screen and it's f'ing VCAST!! Playin the song I uploaded, askin me if I wanted to buy it! Apparently they have some pretty guerilla sales techniques over there at Verizon.

Boss: "Alrite team, how the frick are we gonna sell more of these R. Kelly ringtones?
Richard: "Well... we could send unsolicited ads to phones of our
unsuspecting customers..."
Boss: "Goddamnit Richard, you are a goddamn genius... now meet me in my office after work, and bring a pack of PopRocks."
Richard: "...yes sir."

Anyways, R. Kelly would call me at least once a day for about 2 weeks. I called Verizon Customer Support multiple times, asking them to cut the crap. Long, annoying story short, apparently some application had installed itself when I held my phone up to my speaker, and I ws finally able to delete that shit.

Oh! and that site joe mac recommended FINALLY sent me my ringtone. Mr. obbs wins.

Now for the music today, I'ma put up the ringtone I have so you can see what would scare the shit outta me at work when the silence would be broken by R's screamin vocals.

mr. obbs' r. kelly and rick ross ringtone

And this next one combines two of my favorite musicians: DJ Quik and Rob Kelly. Of course what is produced is nthing short of an eargasm.

DJ Quik ft. R. Kelly and Mausberg -- It's Like Everyday

And next is a track as powerful as "I Believe I Can Fly" or "The World's Greatest." I believe it was on the Michael Keaton Batman soundtrack... but do NOT quote mr. obbs on that one. Regardless, it's epic.

R. Kelly -- Gotham City

And finally, of of, in mr. obbs' opinion, perhaps Kells' best album, Happy People, is a song I hope to dance to with my wife at our reception. It is pure happiness. The whole album is, actually, hence the title.

R. Kelly -- Ladies Night (Treat Her Like Heaven)

time fo bed.
-- obbs
doey!

selling my body

2008-02-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

mr. obbs had himself a pretty busy last 24 hours!

Last nite Grenier and a buddy of his, Ben, came down for a nite in the city. Ben is in the Marines and currently has some time off before going back to Iraq. It was interesting listening to his stories and the things he's experienced. He's traveled to Okinawa, the Phillipines, Saudi Arabia, Iraq... some other places. I've had some experience with enlisted guys as there is a big Naval Air Station near my house in Maine, and I used to work with Navy guys when I delivered pies for Pizza Gut.

Ben just reaffirmed in my mind how most young soldiers have far too much money than they know what to do with. WHile at the Hut, the guys would talk about their motorcycle insurance payments and their new trucks and shit... all this stuff they'd be blowin their money on. They didn't need the job of delivering pizzas at all, they just did it to meet people in the area. Anyways, before we went out, Ben threw down for a 30. Then at Kenmore we went to an ATM and he handed the homeless bum squattin on the floor a $20. And gave him his cigarettes. Then we continued on to the bar and he bought a sausage sammich and tipped those guys $5... then once inside he bought a round of shots, and two rounds of beers. He'd buy me at least one beer later in the night as well. Real generous dude.

Anyways, I had to be up at 10 this morning cuz I was scheduled to aprticipate in an MRI test seeing how people's brains work. I was part of the control group, and all they did was take some pics of my brain, show me a bunch of pictures of random thigns like an ironing board and then follow it up with something like a rotting dog carcass. Noice!

Seriously, it was kinda cool gettin an MRI... not something I'd want to HAVE to do, but a good experience. Plus I'll get like $100 or something. And i got to see my brain! How many people can say that...?

Anyways, in other news, if I could model my life after one man... it's probably be Chris Isaak. The dude's had a solid musical career, hooked up with supermodels, been in movies, and also had his own TV show for a bit, which was actually decent. Also, in a totally heterosexual observation/compliment, he has a frickin sik 'do.

You've probably heard his classic track "Wicked Game" or at least seen the ridiculously beautiful video:

Anyways, I was practically raised on his classic album "Heart Shaped World." Isaak kinda has that rockabilly sound like Elvis or... i dunno I'm blanking on comparisons. Nothing too rock, but not too sappy either. I useta play that shit front to back on my parents old headphones and lie on my living room carpet. So, enjoy a track or two of that album and get an idea of some of the tunes I grew up on.

Chris Isaak -- Kings of the Highway

Chris Isaak -- Wrong to Love You

the hard road

2008-02-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

mr. obbs checkin in on... a friday nite. lame.

After a long ass week I thought I was gonna go out tonite, but i got home, irritated as shit from dealing with annoying people, crowded subways, and shitty weather all week and decided to just chill.

Cracked a Bud and sat and listened to Phil Collins "No Jacket Required" on vinyl.

Then I ended up falling asleep for an hour on my couch. Got a call fom Steve Nichols and found out he was NOT coming down to the city tonite... so, long story short, I scrapped the nite. Didn't feel like going out to the bars by myself. It's also snowing like a banshee outside... I'll save my energy and funds for tomorrow nite. Grenier is comin down witha friend of his in the Marines... it should be interesting to say the least.

As far as music goes, CunninLynguists are currently at the beginnin of a 3 week or so tour through Europe. They are surprisingly HUGE in Europe. Watch this vid for an idea of the crowds they've rocked (skip to bout 3 mins for concert footage):

Anyways, they're currently in Germany doing shows with an Australian hip hop group called Hilltop Hoods. Now, I wasn't too familiar with these guys til I heard they'd be doin shows with CL, but now that I've learned a little, I'm pretty impressed. Apparently they are the biggest hiphop act in the land down under.

They recently released their album titled "The Hard Road" and then later went back and did a whole remix album with accompaniment by a full orchestra titled "The Hard Road Restrung"... how sick is that!?

Anyways, check out their music vid and then give a listen to the restrung mix of the title track. Mr. obbs thinks it's mighty good.

For the love of god go to their myspace and listen to Roll On Up. It's crack for the eardrums.

Hilltop Hoods -- The Hard Road (Restrung)

adios all.

-- obbs

American Gladiators!

2008-02-17T18:55:00.000-08:00

Wattup loyal fan.

Anyone who has talked with mr. obbs lately or has the privilege of being able to read his away messages knows he was a pretty big fan of American Gladiators, shown on NBC the last month or so.

Welp, the season came to end tonite, as the men's and women's championships were held. Hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, the show was the ultimate Joes vs. Pros competition of muscle and agility. The Hulkster is a new idol of mine and Ali is now one of my least favorite people due to her absolutely terrible ability to conduct even the simplest of interviews.

But anyways, in the women's event, my favorite contestant -- Monica-- ended up winning. SHe is beautiful and strong and has a great attitude, in other words, if she weren't married and the mother of twins... well, yeah.

On the men's side, Evan won. Dude was just really strong and quick... nuff said.

Also... my crush on the female Gladiator aptly named Crush continues to grow. For some reason, knowing that this chick is an MMA fighter who could kick my ass is very appealing.

Good lord... look at her.

Aaaaaanyways, it was a great weekend. Worked on Saturday during the day... which sounds awful, but it was actually enjoyable. Maybe that's too strong of a word... but anyways, got the overtime pay plus some free pizza from Regina's Pizzeria and then headed home. Rested up and went over to my cousin's place for a beer or two before heading out to meet up with some friends of his at a bar.

Ended up getting to the bar and hittin the dancefloor. This place was crawling with these 'guidos.' I thought maybe the New Fuckin Haircut video or the fact that people make fun of these dudes would maybe deter them from actin and lookin the way they do... but nope!! But then again... mullets still exist even with society's opinion of them, so i guess some people just don't learn.

But anyways, it was good to get some dancing in, even if the girls in the group my cousin and I were with were both A) only interested in themselves and B) pretty terrible dancers. Now, don't get me wrong... I am not saying I am a good dancer. I'm not. Speak to me when I'm blackout and I may say differently... but I am not good. But anyways, just a message to all the girls out there: there is something seriously wrong if you are worse at dancing than me. I know there's already a lot of shit you put up with (pregnancy, periods... ew thats enough), but take an hour to dance in front of a mirror or something.

Regardless, I had fun. As we were heading for the doors to leave, I looked back to the dancefloor and saw one of the guidos being told by the bouncer taht he better put his shirt back on. Bouncers these days!! Won't let a brother grind on a lady in a wifebeater! *sigh*

The place was seriously packed with these guys and other meatsticks. Awesome. Where do these guys congregate during the week? ok ok ok... besides their parents basement. Do they have jobs? Where will they be in 20 years? ... still in the basement? *shrugs*

Anyways, as it's getting late and mr. obbs needs his beauty sleep, the music for today is Gladiator themed. Awhile back I stumbled upon what I first thought was a joke... sadly I was wrong.

For some reason, someone thought it would be a great idea to write some music for Hulk Hogan and have him sing it. My friend Jonnymarks thought it would be an even better idea to buy the CD for me, and it was, cuz whenever I'm a little angry or mad and need a laugh, I just play a song from the Hulkster.

Enjoy, brothers.

This one's a little sad (both musically and in subject matter) as it talks about some kid who I guess was watching Hulk wrestle at Wembley Stadium and got hit in the head with a folding chair or something and died. Ouch!

Hulk Hogan -- Hulkster in Heaven (click, then right-click+save target as on next page)

And this one I use whenever I need some inspiration or guidance. Can you say 'inspiration?' Can you say "Is that the Hulkster 'rapping?'"

Hulk Hogan -- I Want to Be a Hulkamaniac

Pluckin' Daisies

2008-02-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

Mr. Obbs here checkin in on a Friday evening. Of course Valentine's Day was yesterday, a day to spend money and time with the object of your affection. I spent the day with my coworkers and then came home for a romantic dinner of slimfast and a raisin bagel.

Ended up goin to harvard square where i met up with emirry, dapa, and joe mac. Apparently, Harvard throws these parties like 2wice a month where they provide beer, munchies and all dat stuff for their socially awkward students. I was in heaven! Free Papa John's, free keg of Blue Moon, free Fritos Scoops!! I'm not positive... but Joe Mac may or may not have relieved himself in one of the hallways. I chose to instead go into some random janitor closet and piss into a sink.

You'd think that Harvard of all places would at least have better directions in their hallways for the closest lavatory...

Anyways, woke up still drunk today for work... unshowered and smelling horribly I made it through the day.

Anyways, in the spirit of V-Day, QN5 created a 6-song EP which they released exclusively through online mp3 retailers. They called it Baby Blue for Pink. I'd put up an mp3 for download, but honestly, these guys are some of the only artists who I REALLY support. They deserve your 99 cents people. 5.94 isn't too much to ask for some good music.

Judge for yourself. PackFM has an awesome track on the EP called "Pluckin Daisies." Deacon the Villain (see my blog bout him...) made the beat and also sings the hook (which the director oddly chose to morph and distort in the video... hmm) and they are both fly as shit.

PackFM - Pluckin Daisies (prod. by Deacon)

"I wonder what this flower would say if it could talk... besides ow..."

Check out www.qn5.com

-- obbs

days go by

2008-02-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

Not the best qual pic of John... but you get the idea

well a lot happened in the last few days... sorry mr. obbs didn't have time to update his mcblog for all you eager fans!

Last Thursday my buddies Kress and Grenier were both crashin at my crib as they were attending a job fair in the cittay, so it was good having those dudes around. We all went to an MMA fight on Friday night in nearby Wilmington, MA. Grenier's buddy John Benoit was fightin this other dude so I thought I'd check it out cuz I'd met John before and he was a real cool dude, plus I wanted to support and see firsthand what all the rage was about for MMA.

I'll admit I really don't like MMA... but since I knew the guy I figured i'd give it a shot. Seeing it live would be cool too, I thought. And I was right. It was quite exciting and watching someone you knew out there grappling was actually pretty nerve-wracking. John ended up winning in the 2nd round via whats called a Triangle hold or something. The other dude was on his feet and John was on the mat... and John somehow strangled him with his legs or something until the other dude tapped out. He's now 4-0 and I guess now gets to fight in a title bout in the near future. Pretty cool.

The crowd was quite a mix as well... it seems MMA fights draw the same crowd (or at least similar) as most fairs or NASCAR races... so, well, yeah.

Then on Saturday I threw a party at my place. Drensface drove down from Dartmouth... had a decent showing at the house. Unfortunately i drank wayyyy too much and had a bit of rough nite, not to mention a very short nite. I think I was in bed at midnite or so... not sure. I'm not sure what got into me... maybe i thought i was back in college again. Freshman year. Actually junior year. I didn't drink much til then really.

My sunday was spent entirely on recovery... i slept a lottt. Which was good. Did some laundry and found that our dryer no longer produces heat... sweet. So i resorted to hanging all my clothes around my room and lettin em air out overnite.

Thats it, briefly. Time for some muzack, people.

Not in the mood for anythin too upbeat rite now.

Lady & Bird -- See Me Fall

Garth Brooks -- New Way to Fly

Bedroom Walls -- Kathy in Her Bedroom

PackFM -- Token Love Song

peece yall.

So Fly

2008-02-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Wattup folks. Hadn't planned on a blog today... buuuuuut I am doing nothing else with myself but listening to music, as I just illegally downloaded the newest Suga Free CD!

So he has inspired me to write a lil blog in his honor.

The dude is a pimp-turned-rapper. Not like 50 Cent or Snoop saying they're a P.I.M.P. This dude's gone to jail for prostitution... I'm not condoning, but at least Free is rappin the truth. He has one of the craziest flows I've ever heard. Lyrically nothing amazing, but HILARIOUS at times (misogyny abounds, for all you feminists...).

One of first lines I heard from him was "Why does the lil girl walk around with a goldfish in her pocket? ... So she can smell like the big girls." This was in a rap. I was like "gad dayummm who is this guy!?"

His debut album, "Street Gospel" was entirely produced by the legend DJ Quik and was an underground classic. Since then he's released about 3 albums and been featured on tracks with Lil Jon, Xzibit, Snoop Dogg, Mac Dre (RIP), and loads others. He has two whole albums just of tracks he's been featured on.

Check this music vid from his album "The New Testament." It features Katt Williams.

Free all permed out and shiiiit. I'll admit he's a strange lookin dude.

Now for some tracks... It's hard to pick a few.

I'ma start usin rapidshare so these tracks don't expire in 7 days like yousendit. Just read through the page a lil, click the "Free" button, and it you may hafta enter a code somewhere, but you'll be able to download it. Pretty simple if you are patient.

Mannie Fresh did a sik remix of this first track, so here it is fo yall:
Suga Free ft. Snoop Dogg, Katt Williams -- So Fly (remix)

Here's another collabo where Free just destroys his verse. You could almost change the song after his verse if you wanted to.
Snoop Dogg ft. Suga Free -- Trust Me

This is just dope. In 320kbps quality too...
Suga Free - Suga Free

And here's an old funky classic featuring DJ Quik and AMG.
Suga Free ft. Quik, AMG - Inside Out

All for now folks... got a party tonite to prep for.

-- mr. obbs

...followuz

2008-02-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is doin well today.

Welp, the super bowl was pretty frickin exciting, can't deny that. While I wished the pats coulda completed the perfect season and all, I'm not gonna dwell on it too much. I've learned to not get wrapped up in stuff I can't control. Sometimes i don't get too worried about things I can control too... which maybe is a bad thing. Anyways, I remember one time a few years ago when the Portland TrailBlazers got beaten by the Spurs on a three-pointer by Sean Elliot after he somehow caught the ball with two toes inbounds, turned and drained it. Which, now that I look into it, was rated one of the greatest shots in NBA history. Anyways, I was a HUGE Brian Grant fan and almost lost it when they lost that game. I was throwin shit all over the room. It was a pretty sad display on my part. Since then I have tried to chill a bit. I'm a fan, but not too crazy.

In other news, Mondays frickin suck at work. They are the busiest days... I'll end one call and immediately the phone rings again. I wonder if the people can hear the boredom and exhaustion in my voice when i answer...

Bein a workin stiff, I saw this ad while watching American Gladiators aaaaaand I loved it. Peep it.

As far as the music goes, as the picture and text at the top suggest, the man of the hour is Deacon the Villain.

Simply put, the man is a genius. Writin raps, makin beats, singin hooks. The son of a preacher with an education from Morehouse... he's not your typical MC. He talks bout his life in his verse in "For My Kyn." Lend it your ears. That beat is straight up haunting in my book.

Besides bein in CunninLynguists, he also is in the group Kynfolk-- reppin Kentucky (get it!? KY!).

Check out these tracks. Beats are hot.

Kynfolk - Followuz
Kynfolk - For My Kyn

Bout time to go to bed... aaaaaand I just realized i never washed my basketball uni from last weeks game... i pity the fool guarding me tomorrow. meh!!

nitenite fans.

...Where's the Cream Filling?

2008-01-31T18:17:00.000-08:00

wattup my faithful blog followers.

Nothing too earthshattering has been going on lately. My company basketball team is currently riding a 4 game winning streak, which is nice. Yesterday I won a ticket to a Bruins game in late February from my company as well. Our company owns a bunch of season tickets to all the Boston sports teams and occasionally raffles them off to employees. I guess it's a nice perk, though I'm not a huge hockey fan, to be quite honest.

My company also has something called "pod outings" where they give everyone in a certain group of the company $20 once a month to go out together and, ultimately, get shitfaced. It's really a great way to get to know the, often, downright strange people who you share a bulk of your life with. Before we hit a local bar, a colleague of mine attempted to eat 40 Twinkies is 30 minutes. It was quite the spectacle, to put it lightly. To heighten the drama, another co-worker started taking bets, with 29 Twinkies being the line. I bet $5 he'd go over. My gut told me he'd hit the wall, but I knew this guy had the heart of a champion, so I put my money on him to pull through.

As each Twinkie was unwrapped, the pile on the plate just kept growing. We had to expand to another plate. The contestant chose to stand for the duration of the event. The timer started and he was off. Armed with only two Solo cups of water, he grabbed for one after the other and downed them. Cream coating the edges of his mouth and parts of his shirt, he made it to double digits in approximately 7 minutes. The themes to Rocky and Top Gun, respectively, blared in the background over the shouts of encouragement from the crowd (actually just those who had bet on him).

At around Twinkie 21 he paused...

the crowd held their collective breaths.

He turned to a bag next to him and spit out a stream of yellow liquid. With only 22 minutes gone by it seemed all was over. He retreated to his corner of the ring to regroup and wallow in his humiliation. His supporters gathered around while others in the crowd shook their heads in disappointment. The judge ruled that, since it was not actual throw-up, but instead an expulsion of the Twinkie that he was attempting to eat, that he was not disqualified, yet would be assessed a one Twinkie penalty.

He returned to the table with renewed vigor. The crowd was loving it! Their hero had risen from the ashes for ONE LAST RUN AT GLORY! 9 Twinkies were placed on a platter-- the 9 he'd need to top 29. With still a solid cup of water at his disposal, he mowed through 3 more creamy, caked delicacies. Reaching for another, a look of fear and sadness crept across the man's face. Time seemed to slow as I realized that this seemingly invincible man, the man who I had supported since approximately 30 minutes prior when I had handed my asian bookie a crisp Abe Lincoln, the man who was a living idol to so many young children, would indeed succumb to a 1.5 oz moist dessert cake.

He turned his head and threw up again into the bag. It was over. A valiant effort, nonetheless. The final count was 25.5 Twinkies, or, according to CalorieKing online, 3825 calories. Not bad for an evening meal.

After that event, we all went to the nearby bar Crossroads and took full advantage of their 'buy a pitcher get a free large pizza. The pizza is surprisingly good... sometimes those deals either have really shitty beer, or really shitty pizza. My cousin Big James stopped by as well, which was nice.

all for now... onto the music. I do love a good mashup. This one may not be the greatest, but it's so frickin catchy. I been sangin it on the T to and from work. People around me seem to love it. I lip-synched it to a cute young lass I spotted from a distance, and she was naturally entranced by my skillz.

Anyways, here's a mashup of two current pop hits. OneRepublic's "Apologize" beat with J. Holiday's vocals from "Bed." Now, I am a fan of "Bed," and have been an even bigger fan ever since I learned that The-Dream is the one who wrote it.

J. Holiday and OneRepublic -- "Apologize in Bed"

Check out the story behind "Bed.":

"The track was considered for Chris Brown -- he thought it was his -- but it was my record and I decided to give it up to J. Holiday," The-Dream explained to Billboard.com. "Chris said the record won't be No. 1 unless he's on it. I bet someone $500,000 that it would go to No. 1 and I collected my money just last week."

Chris Brown's comments may have actually cost him his relationship with The-Dream, who said he plans to never work with the young singer again.

Seriously. The-Dream is just that much of a baller to bet someone half a mil on his skills with some no-name R&B singer and tell Chris "Can't Sing Worth Shit" Brown to go f himself. Dream also has another song he wrote for Holiday called "Suffocate." I gots to check that one out.

peece my people.

Another lazy Sunday... Tally it up

2008-01-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

Twas another busy weekend for mr. obbs, readers.

As usual, at about 7pm on Friday, I still did not have plans for the night. Luckily, my buddy from college, David, rang me up and informed me that he was in town. Pretty random, but I made some calls to another friend, Steve Nichols, and he made the 35 minute drive from his house so we all got to hang out and reminisce bout days passed. Or is it "days past"...? Regardless, it was a chill night.

Ended up not getting to bed til 4am... which is kinda unusual. Even on weekends I'm usually in bed round 230 or so. Dave and i watched this video below a couple times before going to bed. It's pretty hilarious:

Anyways, Steve wakes me up at 10am on Saturday to go get some breakfast. Granted, we had spoke bout getting brunch somewhere the nite before, but i was thinkin I wouldn't have minded a lil mo sleep. Nonetheless, we got up, met Dave's gf and had a lovely brunch at some place in South Boston. I had an absolutely delicious grilled blueberry muffin. The homefries were not as good as my homemade ones (which I think i'll make as a side for dinner in a bit...*drool*), however.

Sattaday nite i played some poker fo a bit wit friends, then hit up this benefit event for Kenya hosted by some dude from Colby College. A bunch of Colby alums were there, so naturally i fit riiiight in. There was this cool band onstage. This chubby dude seemed pretty into them, so I started chattin wit him. Tuned out he was the bassist's brother. He told me he was pretty impressed that I was "double fisting with a beer in one hand and a pitcher in the other." I was actually splitting the pitcher with a buddy, but I didn't wanna break this guy's heart, so I played along. Anywhoo... the band was called AcoustiCeol and they played lotsa cool Irish tunes plus some classic covers. Live violin is always a good thing in my book as well.

My posse ended up takin a taxi home and hittin up some late nite McDonald's to round out the nite of money-blowing and high-caloric intake. Again, didn't get to 'bed' (i slept on a chair) until about 3 or 4... not sure exactly of the time.

So... great weekend, but my circadian rhythm is probably gonna be effed for a while... and i've already had to take a nap today. I found a free rug on craigslist and went and picked that up... i friggin love craigslist, though i know i've mentioned that befo.

Oh! We got a new roommate too. An international chick doin some grad school work at Suffolk U. So far she seems cool... she moved in saturday mornin. Haven't seen her since. We'll probs have to throw her a welcoming party in a week or so afer the Patriots kill the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Welp, onto the music. In honor of Dave stoppin by Friday, I'ma put up a track from his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I actually got to see these guys live in Ann Arbor a few years ago with Dave and my friend Doey and they put on a jolly good show. They were also recently on a soundtrack to The OC doing a cover track of... a Killers song I believe.

Anyways, their name is "Tally Hall" and here is their song "Good Day." I just read in some review that this track won first place in BMI's John Lennon Scholarship Competition... awesome.

Tally Hall -- Good Day

Good day all!
xxoo. -- mr. obbs

born and raised in compton

2008-01-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

mr. obbs was actually born in rural-ass Maine. A small town of about 2,500 scrubs. One traffic light (blinks yellow one way, red the other-- it's pretty straight forward) one gas station. But anyways, one of my favorite artists out there has to be DJ Quik. Straight outta Compton with a voice similar to that of Eazy-E's, Quik has been makin albums since 1991.

He's worked with 2pac, Jay-Z, Xzibit, Eazy-E, Big Syke, Ludacris, T.I., Wyclef, and Dr. Dre... yet a majority of people have never heard of him! Friggin MTV culture... I stumbled upon him during a freak downloading adventure. I've always been a big Nate Dogg fan, and found this song called "Medley for a V" featuring Snoop Dogg and a whole gang of others. I loved it. Turned out it was produced by Quik and on his album titled "Rhythm-al-ism." Weird title perhaps, but an amazing album.

Quik really is a musician. He has some of the funkiest rap beats I've ever heard. He is also one of the only hiphop artists to include a full-length instrumental track on every album-- titled Quik's Groove. he was greatly influenced by Roger Troutman and his use of the talkbox. Troutman, if you were wondering, is the dude in 2pac's "California Love" who provides the chorus-- he also had a solid career fo his own, for the record. If I had my external hard drive I'd throw some more tracks up for your eardrums, but until that baby comes in the mail, you'll hafta just get by with these two tracks below.

The first one, "Born and Raised in Compton," was off his debut album back in '91, titled "Quik is the Name." After downloading some Quik tracks, I went to my local muzack store and was browsing the used section (cuz I'm a cheap bastid). Found the CD for 99 cents... brought it up to the counter to see if it was a single or if maybe the disc came in two pieces or something. Nope. I was like "gimme it." The cashier took it, read the tracklisting, and said "First track: 'Sweet Black Pussy.' This is definitely the sale of the day." Walked outa happy man.

DJ Quik - Born and Raised in Compton

The second track is off a mixtape Quik threw together before releasing his last solo album "Trauma." It's a dedication of sorts to the late DJ MixMaster Spade. It's a pretty funky track. Some nice horns. It'd fit nicely at a summer bbq or somethin. I hope you dig it.

DJ Quik -- Sure Shot

I'ma upload a bonus track cuz I just can't help myself. It's Playa Hamm from the Penthouse Playaz Clique on the mic. Quik laces a funky beat of course.

Playa Hamm - Sucka Free

Everything else is going alrite with mr. obbs. My boss e-bitched me out today (this has happened more than once now) for browsing the internet too often. Apparently now, if I am on hold (which can be for 5 minutes at a time) I am only allowed to stare at my screen. I used to browse other sites while waiting, but that is no longer acceptable. Good times. I got yelled at previously for browsing Help Wanted ads while at work. I will admit that was perhaps not the smartest thing I have done in my life. meh!

My life is more and more like Office Space every day. I'm serious.

cankles

2008-01-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!!

mr. obbs here, actually checking in from work. I am now working the 8-5 shift... which is a real blast. Not really... i liked the extra hour of sleep... but now I get out an hour earlier, so that's nice too i guess. The ol' catch-22.

My company basketball league continues to wreak havoc upon my body. Last weekend I got a nasty virus and blew chunks across a 4 mile swath of Boston, and this past Tuesday I went up for a rebound and came down on the side of my ankle. It then made a noise not usually heard (mix a crunch and a pop and you'll be close). It was some intense pain. I walked it off as I was told that that is what real men do. I even ran on it a little in the second half. Not a great idea probably, but we won. I got home and iced it. After a few days of limping I'm walking ok today... but my ankle still looks like this:

Pretty awesome. I can barely fit my fatfoot into my shoes now.

Aaaaanyways, Wednesday me and my buddy Joe Mac hit up a bar in Harvard Square. After a pitcher or three we stumbled onto the karaoke stage for a rousing rendition of Garth Brooks' classic "Friends in Low Places." The crowd loved it... we even got a couple out doin a nice lil country waltz! What a great song, btw.

Last nite me and some peeps hit up Anna's Taqueria... pretty decent. I dunno though if it's better than Qdoba... I love the smaller establishments, but Qdobes is f'in good... though it also is a proven cure for constipation. Another catch-22 folks. This lil baby looooves the qdobes:

Tonight my buddy JJ from hiskool is comin down to Boston. It will be good to see him. Gonna tryand meet up for Happy Hour or somefin. We'll see. In the meantime, check out the myspace page for a new hip-hop group (kind of...) which is puttin out their first album sometime this year.

The group's called Chico and The Man. Tonedeff is "Chico" (cuz he's Hispanic) and Kno (of CunninLynguists) is "The Man" (cuz he's white and... the man). Kno will be making all the beats, and Tonedeff will be writing all the rhymes. It could potentially be t he greatest album in the history of Western Civilization. Kno makes some of the most beautiful beats and Tonedeff has the skills to write some pretty deep lyrics. This track on their myspace has two verses: 1 bout a motherly figure, and one about a lover. You gotta listen closely, cuz Tone can put a lot into a small amount of space. Tell me if you think something sinister is gonna happen when you hear the end of the 2nd verse... cuz i think somethin is!

Chico and The Man -- My Lady (http://www.myspace.com/chicoandtheman)

ratatat tat that ass

2008-01-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

Not sure what that title is from... but it's some rap lyric which imbedded itself in my memory. It probably took the place of something useful. meh! Anywhoo... mr. obbs has been fairly busy the last few days, so excuse the lack of updates. The world is one big paper chase, folks. I put in a day of work yesterday, but I'll get time-and-a-half pay for the 7 hrs I put in, so once i see my paycheck it'll make it worth it. Work is exhausting though... I get home and am friggin tired. No energy to go out during the week really, and once Friday rolls round, if I don't get a nap in, my motivation to go out is pretty weak.

Anyways, I had a very relaxing day today. One thing I love is a big breakfast. I felt ambitious today and looked up a recipe for homefries on epicurious.com. Since it called for lots of ingredients I either A)can not afford or B) do not own (probably becuz they are so expensive) I instead chose to dice up some potatoes and throw them in a skillet with some vegetable oil. Let me tell you... it was friggin delicious. I was so pleased with myself. I also threw some bacon in there and then made me some eggs. It was a great start to the day. I then proceeded to lie on my couch for a few hours. Erin G hollered at me and donated an old microwave from Gramma Gian to my abode. Much appreciated, to say the least. Now I can make lots of healthy Hungry Man dinners and hot pockets in mere minutes.

My cousin Big James rolled through to provide some human interaction and laughs. Always good spending time wit family. He also helped me cut my hair, as I friggin hate barbers or hairpeople or whatever you wanna call them. I hate givin money to those dudes. I can cut my own damn hair, fank you vedy much. Sorry for the rant, but I had a bad experience a few years ago. I looked like an idiot, and ended up taking scissors to my head once I got home... which didn't affect the cut either way, if that tells you anything.

Anyways, as the title suggests, I'ma lace all the mr. obbs fans with some Ratatat. I first heard these dudes at a party in Muchigan, and i had to politely excuse myself to go check the computer playlist. It was unlike anything mr. obbs had ever heard before. They currently have 2 instrumental albums out (1 instro mixtape, if you will, titled 9 Beats) and 2 albums full of their beats accompanied by some of the biggest rappers in the game, dead or alive. You can check out rap remix Vol. 2 at Ratatatmusic.comfor a free download! mr. obbs recommends this highly! Today I feature a track from the mixtape.

Kanye West - Diamonds (ratatat remix)

And for the love of god check em out at Amazon or any other method you may have **cough**hype machine**cough**

ooooh the american dream

2008-01-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

wattup errybuddy.

Had quite an eventful tuesday night. Played some basketball with my company league (sounds like i'm forty..) and anyways, after winning on a near-midcourt last second shot, started to walk to the T. Got that queasy feeling... got to the loading platform and realized i had to hurl. Aimed for the tracks and let it rip. This dude sitting on a bench didn't seem to mind too much. Anyways, I was feeling better, so I got on the next T and took it one stop, where i had to transfer. While waiting for the next T, I puked again into a trashcan. More spectators this time, which was cool. Felt better, so I got on the next T. Took it one stop, when i realized i had to get off. Puked into another can of trash. Decided i could no longer take the subway home... luckily i was only about 3 or 4 miles from home. Started walking. Came upon a CVS open 24hrs! Quickly bought a Sprite and asked where the Pepto was. Upstairs!? Gad damn. Grabbed some and asked how to get to the checkout. Take the elevator... I wasn't gonna make it. The elevator door opens, I throw up in my mouth, and spit it down opening between the door and floor, dropping some spew down the elevator shaft. Quicky paid for my goods, put em in a bag and headed for the closest T stop. Took some pepto, chugged some Sprite. Got on the T. Do not mix pepto and sprite. Just makes for an extra frothy mixture. Anyways, at least I had that CVS bag... as I could sit in the back of the T and puke at will. Got off, disposed of the bag, threw up one of more times, then went to bed. Got up 5 or 6 times during the night to hurl. Good stuff. Anyways, I'm just now getting over it. Took some time off werk and such.

Anyways, I've been listenin to this new R&B guy a lot lately. The-Dream. He wrote Umbrella for Rihanna (not a fan of her, or the song really) and also Bed by J.Holiday (i like that song actually). He claims to have written Umbrella in 12 minutes. Not too shabby. Anyways, he's got a solo album and a remix of his first single "Shawty is a 10" with the greatest, R. Kelly, so he's off to a good start in my book. Check out this jam bout clubbin and havin some dude's chick grindin all up on you. I hate that, but have learned to deal.

The-Dream: I Luv your Girl

Also, gotta shoutout CunninLynguists. Big fan of these guys, and they just finished their first music vid. After 4 albums and 2 mixtapes, here is the video for "K.K.K.Y." off of their new album "Dirty Acres." Check it out people.

Fatterday

2008-01-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

Just got back from an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet with my cousin and his buddy... bad news. I don't know what my problem is, but when an endless supply of something is put in front of me, or if there is something offered for free, I feel like I must take as much of it as humanly possible. I'm such a glutton. Anyways, we three stuffed our guts until no room remained. Then drove home and i actually had a foodburp. Gross.

Ever since I stopped rowing, my health has gradually declined. It's started to level off now that I have joined a gym, but the fact is that I will never, EVER be in the same shape that I once was. I lifted weights for about 45 minutes yesterday and am now pretty sore. Pathetic. I'm trying to buy healthier food (kind of) and am actually going to go buy potatoes for possibly the first time in my life. Cut em up, add some salt, sizzle em on the stove and you have a nice lil batch of homefries, right? Is that healthy? I've honestly pondered trying one of those diets where you only drink lemon juice with cayenne peppers for 5 days. We'll see.

In the same healthy state of mind, I wanna bring some attention to the passing of Dan Fogelberg. I sort of was a 'joke' fan after hearing his song "Same Auld Lang Syne" which consistently put me into a mental trance once it played, yet everyone I sent it to told me it was the worst/corniest song they'd ever heard. I stood behind Fogelberg, however, even while others threw salt... and once I heard he was living in Maine, I realized that I couldn't start sippin' the Haterade like all my peers were. So, when a friend informed me a week or so ago that he had died, I at first shrugged it off, as all I knew about the man was that he wrote one of the greatest songs in the history of Western Civilization. But as I read more about his life and the cancer he had been battling, I became legitimately sad. Check out this letter he wrote to his fans:

To each and every man….

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to get a DRE (Digital Rectal Exam) and a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test EVERY YEAR.

The medical community suggests this for men over 50, but men with a family history of prostate cancer should start getting tested at age 40.

The PSA test is a simple blood test…it only takes a minute or two. The DRE, okay, every man squirms at the thought of this exam, but hey, it too takes only a minute or two, and IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Prostate cancer can be very slow growing or very aggressive, but detected early while it is still confined to the prostate gland, it can usually be treated and cured successfully.

Once it spreads beyond the prostate it is called Advanced Prostate Cancer (PCa). At this point it becomes imminently more life threatening and harder to treat. Do yourself and your loved ones a huge favor and GET CHECKED REGULARLY. I promise you, you DON’T want to go through what I’m going through if you can avoid it.

Education and awareness are key, I urge you to follow the link below to the Prostate Cancer Foundation web site and read up on how best to protect yourself and reduce your likelihood of contracting this terrible disease.

I grew up hearing stories of people battling various forms of cancer... who hasn't. I guess sometimes it is something that you really don't pay full attention to until it affects you. I hope all fathers and those of age take these testing opportunities seriously, as early detection really is your best chance in most cases.

That's it for the day.

Dan Fogelberg -- Someone's Been Telling You Stories

happy 2008

2008-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

hello readers.

2008 is upon us... sorry i haven't posted in a bit. I had a few visitors over the weekend to help ring in the new year and such. It went pretty well... though i perhaps imbibed a bit too liberally. I also got a new toaster for my apartment the other day off of craigslist fo FREE. Pretty pleased bout that. i frickin love craig and his lists.

I went to a college bball game tonite thanks to erin g. Basketball is a great sport... for the record. I remember as a young'n my parents would take me to Bowdoin College games fo FREE. Those guys were my heroes. Nice lil trip down memory lane there.

Anywhoo... the music for tonite comes from two different artists. I have a live version of Rainy Day Women by Bob Dylan performed by Tom Petty (saw him live and he kicks a lot of ass) and Eddie Vedder which i jacked offa some other blog, and then i have "Let's Go Get Stoned" by Mr. SOS (beat produced by Tonedeff).

Petty/Vedder -- link
Mr. SOS (prod. by Tonedeff) -- Mr SOS

SOS is one of my favorite rappers. This is not a typical track of his, as a lot of his topics are more politically charged... but it shows how he can make a fun, party song as well. Before going solo, he recorded an album with CunninLynguists-- my favorite hip hop group. Anyways, I founda lot of similarities between the orig Dylan song and SOS's. Hope you like em, and be sure to check out Mr. SOS' music on amazon.com... and Robert Zimmerman's as well.

all for now.
-- mr. obbs

Guess who! .... (Mr. Obbs.)

2007-12-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. Day 2 of the greatest blog in the world is upon us all. Had another rawhide day of work, and I actually have tomorrow off, strangely enough. The parental figures are descending upon Boston... and we're going to see some sights and such. Friggin love alliteration, btw. Not much else to say as of right now... I had ideas of goin to a bar tonight... buuuuuuuuut no one else is around. I need to find someone in my close proximity with which to share a beer every now and then. But anyways... the song of the day comes from an unlikely source: doey.

You read correctly. The man with the pierced ear. The man who has (proudly) seen multiple movies by himself in empty movie theaters. The diehard blink-182 fan. I could go on... but anyways, on to the music.

The Guess Who - These Eyes

google image "Joe Jameson" for some interesting results...

genesis

2007-12-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody!

After much soul-searching, I have decided to start a blog. I don't really have anything to say, and not much to whine or bitch about... but I do like music and thought this would be a cool way to talk about things I like and what's goin on. Hope you enjoy it, and stop by e'ry now and then to see what's up and listen to some new muzack, mmk?

I thought about how I should start this thang... an figured I might as well start where I started. My first CD was a classic: "God Shuffled His Feet" by the inimitable band Crash Test Dummies. It really is a pretty solid album... and Brad Roberts' vocals are pretty amusing in their delivery. He also isn't afraid to sing about pajamas, as he manages to mention them in numerous songs... a plus in my book.

So here's the first track of many:

Crash Test Dummies - The First Noel

A nice lil holiday song for the season. It's nice cuz it features Ellen Reid's voice pretty prominently. She has a good voice, and she and Brad rarely appear on the same tracks together. I actually just jacked this song and link from another blog. My bad. I'd put up another... but currently my external hard drive with alllll my music is in the hands of a man named Dickie... he better give it back to me soon.

all for now. byebye. -- mr. obbs

mr. obbs blog

hiatus

Day in the Life

MAMA MIA

dew

conker

fings

Gimme an F! (F!) Gimme ANUG! (*silence*)

hatin on the club

joined the cult

improv everywhere

get yo skate on

KG get angwy!

no dumping...

winter whites

good night

raisin arizona

I DID IT!! UNBELIEVABLE!

Squeeze Me

GRUSTLE

times they are a-changin

FCC won't let me be

'LYNGUISTS SHOW

It's a gas gas gasss

love lockdown

we tryin to stay alive

wake up time

fire water burn

real talk

supastah

party hard

tweekin'

WE'LL DO IT LIVE! FUCK IT

argghghh

god bless america

independence

nashvegas

Celtics get their 17th

squirm in my skin

historic

Testosterone.

craigslistin like a muhfucka

ups and downs

all aboard

allston carnage

not homeless!

homeless...?

mr. obbs' marathon weekend

i get angra!

bump it up

fans

lissenup

march madness

out of touch, out of time

padraig!

arms and sleepers

twerkin'

a slew of activity

trip to da Apple

got kells on ya ringtone

selling my body

the hard road

American Gladiators!

Pluckin' Daisies

days go by

So Fly

...followuz

...Where's the Cream Filling?

Another lazy Sunday... Tally it up

born and raised in compton

cankles

ratatat tat that ass

ooooh the american dream

Fatterday

happy 2008

Guess who! .... (Mr. Obbs.)

genesis

Gimme an F! (F!) Gimme ANUG! (silence)