RIP Michael Jackson, The (Sample) King of Pop

Earlier this month I found myself digging through the collection of “Sample Maps” that Ethan Hein has been creating. I was mesmerized to say the least. It is truly amazing to see where the musical samples come and go, and the intricate web they weave. If you know me then you know how stoked I am every single time I open up a new CD. Reading through the CD inserts and playing connect the dots with artists, writer, composers, and producers, is one of my favorite pastimes. You also know I have quite the list of songs that I someday want to sample to create my own music. As you can imagine, discovering Ethan Hein’s sample maps was comparable to tasting Sour Patch Kids for the first time.

Little did I know at the time, that I would be revisiting the site as part of mourning the King of Pop’s unfortunate passing. Michael Jackson’s influence will never truly be known in my lifetime, it so far beyond comprehensible. The man sold out tours nearly instantly with outrageous prices priceless tickets. No culture, no location, no country, was exempt from his popularity. From groundbreaking videos, to sold out tours, to dance moves that every artist emulates, he not only was the King of Pop, he defined pop. All aspects of it.

Musically however, he was and always will be on a level of his own. The whole world has been revisting his music for the past few days. Listening to songs from his time as a child leading the Jackson 5, to his disco influenced “Rock With You”, to songs like “Scream”, where he was finally able to speak his mind more freely. One thing about EVERY Michael Jackson song that most artists need to strive for, they are truly timeless. No matter what era they come from, they lose no quality of impact listening to them today. That is what makes him the best ever, that is what makes him the King of Pop.

Wherever Michael is now, I am sure he is finally enjoying the childhood that he so longed for, and all the while singing tunes that those around him will be singing from now until eternity, just like he did in his time here with us.

Adidas Special Ops – Guerrilla Marketing at It’s Best

House of Pain x Adidas Campus 80's Mission Accomplished!

Since March I have been hunting for some sneakers, specifically the House of Pain x Adidas Campus 80′s. When these shoes came out I was able to get my hands on a pair of size 14′s, one size too big. I bought them with the intention of reselling them and using the money to pick up a size 13, because there is now way I can own a pair of shoes and not wear them. Wearing a 14 was out of the question. I was able to resell the 14′s fairly quickly, within a day or two, but unfortunately the one size 13 on eBay had already disappeared. So I added it to my notifications that day so eBay would email me every time a new listing was posted that included House of Pain and Adidas. I was amazed, and entertained at how many people use irrelevant keywords, but I have not seen a single size 13 since March.

After hunting through the pages and pages of for sale posts on all of the sneaker message boards, I thought I would give twitter a try. The following is what I posted…

Music of the Moment: La Coka Nostra Featuring Snoop Dogg – Bang Bang

Recognize…Analyze…

3 times in the chest, point blank range, 44 right on the back like Danny Ainge… can’t wait to pick up this CD!

Greatest Nike/Air Jordan Commercial of All Time

This has got to be the greatest Nike/Jordan Commercial of all time. I remember being blown away that Jordan Brand would buy 5 minutes worth of continuous ad space during all star weekend. Watching this one never gets old…

Music of the Moment: Do Or Die Playa Like Me

Do Or Die seems to always have such a distinctly smooth sounding flow, especially when teamed up with Johnny P. Timeless.

Rest In Peace Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur

Every year on this day especially, I find myself explaining to people how Tupac Shakur influenced my life. It seems odd to most people that a person, obviously worlds apart from my path in this world, could mean so much to me. So I’ve decided rather than write a poem, only to have people think I took it from another person, I would write it in this way.

My goal in this life is simple. I want to leave this world a better place than it was when I was brought into it. At this point in my life, I don’t know as to the degree of influence I will have, but I do know that each and everyday that is my goal. Tupac was a man who had this same goal in mind. I am not a gangster, a rapper, a musician, an actor, a politician, a music mogul, a revolutionary, or a Panther, like the people he connected with in his day-to-day life, yet somehow I connected with him through his words without ever meeting him.

I don’t know exactly when I heard Tupac’s music for the first time. I have always listened to an extremely wide variety of music all of my life…

Horoscopes: Generalized or Generally Good?

Rob Breszny’s Free Will Astrology has been a long time favorite for me. The most recent horoscope is the perfect example of why I continue to look forward to reading these weekly horoscopes. I read this for the first time on Thursday, and it’s been like an earwig digging through my mind throughout the weekend.

Leo Horoscope for week of June 11, 2009:

This would be a good time to activate your sleeping potentials by chanting positive declarations about your relationship to what you need. Instead of typical New Age affirmations, however, I think you’ll benefit from something edgier and more poetic. That’s why I’m offering you the statements below. They were originally written by Andrea Carlisle for use by spiders. Say the following several times a day:

“I am now receiving many fine fat flies in my web. My web is strong and masterful. My web is irresistible to all the attractive creatures I like to nibble on. I am amazingly clever and extremely popular. Even now, hundreds of juicy tidbits are headed towards my web.”

Many people believe that horoscopes are generalized to fit everyone under the sun, and are therefore a waste of time. Maybe so, but after reading something like this, I cannot help but think everyone could benefit from an “earwig” of positive thinking like this once in a while. Now, I am off to see what my strong and masterful web has commandeered.