Listening without Prejudice PT I
Music Profile
Artist Spotlight
Clay Gyrls Are Easy, The Update
Monster Mash
Its been a few days since my last post, things have been busy, but I want to share what I've been doing that has kept me away. I went to a listening parting for an up and coming rapper named Lady J. We met during one of the Professional Development Workshops. Her and her Manager Daryl attended a music workshop a few weeks ago. Both are driven and passionate about their goals, we talked and I found out more about them and their musical aspirations. The"Self Control" EP release party was in Adams Morgan at the Crown Hookah 2409 18th Street NW. It started at 7pm,$10 at the door. Her video and EP will drop on June 18, 2012. We were late as I underestimated my travelling time. But things hadn't started, so it wasn't a big deal.
I took my daughter-in-law Faith with me, it was time to share the wonderfulness of other artistic personalities with someone else.The atmosphere was high energy and full of the enthusiasm of friends and family who came out to support Lady J in her endeavors. We didn't know anyone other than the artist, so Faith being with me was a good thing, I had someone to talk to, and laugh with. Besides, the only other person there that could possibly be in my age range was Lady J's mom. I try to keep an open mind with art and music and listen to a wide range of things. Having a son that is in his twenties also keeps me informed as to who is out there and doing what. Being old school as far as rap, coming up with the lyrical stylings of Rakim, Guru, KRS-One and others, a person can be judgemental as far as today's rap artist. So to be fair, I'm having my own listening party with a new school rap artist and an old school rap artist. We are going to listen to Lady J's EP and I will compile my notes with their opinions for a review of her work. For now, I will focus on the experience of attending this event.
The Hookah bar was small, long in length with a flat screen TV mounted on the back wall. The walls were yellow brick with splashes of color by paintings or fabric. Couches engulfed you when you sat on them, sinking you far lower to the floor, making it hard to get up, had small rectangular tables in front of them. The refreshments were provided by the artist, since it was apparent that a lot of her friends were between the ages of 18-23, so no alcohol, but a hookah did come out later in the evening. Meeting mom was interesting all by itself. Mom - the Proud (she has reason to be), was oh so queen like. She held her hand out to me in a majestic way, like her hand was meant to be kissed by all who approached her, I shook it like a regular handshake, no disrespect. She was very nice and excited for her daughter's success. Her brother was also there with mom.  |
| Cory and friend |
 |
| A. DOT? |
Then the listening of the EP began. Lady J was introduced by Multiple Man, a local rapper and friend of hers. Each song was played and people were allowed to give their opinion of the song. I took notes of the opinions and listened without prejudice to her music. I noticed the vibe everyone had when her music played, people seemed to groove to it. She also gave away free signed copies of her CD, which I have. The party was going to last into the wee hours of the morning, but metro stops running at midnight, so around 10 or so we decided to leave.That's about the time the hookah came out, and the fun kicked up a notch. I thanked Lady J and Daryl for the invitation to their event. It was fun and interesting to be a part of. Thanks Faith for hanging with me. The full EP review to come.
MUSIC PROFILE: KontacVision-Viz Da Vox
KontacVision (^_^) \/,, is a gentleman that is capturing audiences with an originality seldom seen in this day and age. There are very few male vocalists in this industry that have the ability to keep your attention with such deep, heart-felt songs about city life, love, respect, the failed system of society, and the state of the world today, tomorrow, and beyond.
"Music becomes an extension of myself.... when I write, or sing, I feel like I AM the world! and the people, places, and things resonate around me. An escape, if you will, but I have only begun to scratch the surface. I continue to reinvent my directions, but for fear of getting lost in my own abyss of creations....I pause, take a minute to get my head together, then I'm back at it...I invite anyone, and everyone to enjoy the sounds & 'Visionz' - http://www.stickam.com/vizdavox - live music web cam creations.- Much love to the people and thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and the essence of my soul."
Performing at such legendary venues like Bohemian Caverns, 930 club, Black Cat, Old Town Theater, even a Frat party at Princeton University, Viz has been able to share his music with a large fan base, as well as build momentum for his LIVE web cast and also has shared over 100,000 ringtones with his family, friends and fans all over the world.
"I know the music in my soul will guide me to my horizons, and when I get there, I will show love to all those who showed love to me, and even to those who have not. That is the only way we will survive as a people. Respect for humanity through the music we create must be maintained."
For more about this artist, please check out the following sites:
---
Upcoming Music Events
Charles King, Artomatic Special Event Saturday, June 23, 2012 7pm FREE
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Mr. Stewart is a southern gentlemen who speaks volumes through these elaborate wood burned pieces. Relatively large, it is easy to see his process and his images feel as though they are speaking through the wood.
His work is located at Artomatic, 4th floor, space 342.Last week to see all the great art and experience events. Artomatic closes June 23, 2012.
Clay Gyrls are Easy - The Update
In a previous post, I talked about the ease in which clay gyrls are made. Well, I've got one that's proving to not be so easy. With her head tilting back, I am faced with the issue of the hair being too heavy on the head an causing her to tip backwards. Working with clay, can be a matter of working with patience. The neck has to be a little stiffer, and the hair can't be too long or thick that it pulls the head back. Manipulation of clay then becomes like cutting and pasting elements together with a clay slip, aware that the drying process is happening which can make it difficult to make changes once the clay becomes leather hard. Her hair doesn't whip the way I would like it, but it does stick out like a porcupine. When she's done I will post another picture. Her hair is different than the photo in the last post. Right now, she's covered in plastic awaiting my return. Can't let her sit for days on end, like the StoneWomyn. New stone and some additional tools are coming to pound out more lovelies.
Monster Mash
Back in the day of no cable, Saturday mornings were filled with network cartoons and the movie matinees on channel 20. Some Saturdays were dedicated to Bruce Lee films, or Creature Feature w/ Count Gore De Val. Nothing got my attention more than the Godzilla films and the monster films, such as Mothra, Rodan, Monster Island, Giant Monsters All out Attack, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Ghidorah and many more. Films directed by Ishiro Honda and special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. These were a series of Kaiju films from Toho Studios. As a kid, I knew that the towns of Tokyo weren't real, but I was fascinated with the life like exact scale replicas of the cities, that this big scary monster who you knew was a guy in a suit was destroying. It was so cool! I know the special effects of today knock the live action effects and its simplicity of these films out the box, but it definitely sparked the imagination of others. This is where the George Lucas' and Steven Speilbergs' come from. I spent my Friday night checking out Mothra on TCM channel while medicating my sore lower back. 
 |
| Cocoon being shot by laser |
It was great! It was like almost being a kid again. I say almost, because I realize just how stupid the movie actually is. But I enjoyed it anyway. Being a Godzilla and monsters of the Kaiju genre fan, it was exciting to watch this old movie with wiser eyes. I can appreciate the special effects and being able to laugh at how simple they seem compared to now. The Fairies in the story sing the song that brings Mothra to Tokyo and it was up to the good people in the film to make sure the fairies were safely returned to where they would be picked up by the giant moth. They were captured by greedy men on an uncharted island that was being considered for testing by the government. Mothra begins her journey as a giant larva destroying all in its way. then she makes a cocoon along side of a tall building and transforms into a giant moth.
 |
| Singing Fairies |
 |
| Mothra w/wings |
Mothra (モスラ Mosura?) is
a 1961 Kaiju film
from Toho Studios,
directed by genre regular Ishirō Honda with
special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the kaiju eiga debut of
screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, whose approach to the genre
grew to prominence during the 1960s. The film stars Frankie Sakai,
a popular comedian in Japan at the time,
and Hiroshi Koizumi, in the first of many academic roles
he would adopt in tokusatsu. Jerry Ito(transliterated
as "Jelly Ito" in the credits of the U.S. release)
stars in the film, his only contribution to Toho's kaiju eiga genre. Ito also
appeared in 1958's Japanese/US co-production "The
Manster" (a.k.a. "The Split"), and in Toho's 1961
end-of-the-world science fiction feature "Sekai
Daisensou" ("The Last War").
It's basic plot was recycled in King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla (1962 and 1964,
both also written by Sekizawa), and the daikaiju Mothra would
become one of Toho's most popular, appearing in seven more Godzilla films
and her own trilogy in the 1990s. A little history about Mothra for those who have no idea of why I like this!
Rodan (ラドン Radon?) is a fictional Japanese mutated pterosaur introduced in Rodan, a 1956 release from Toho Studios, the company responsible for the Godzilla series. Like Godzilla and Anguirus, he is designed after a type of prehistoric reptile (the Japanese name "Radon" is a contraction of "pteranodon"). Radon is usually referred to as "Rodan" in the United States, possibly to avoid confusion with the atomic element Radon; any time his name is written in English in Japan, it is written as Rodan. He is occasionally portrayed as a rival and enemy of Godzilla, but is usually depicted as one of Godzilla's allies, much like Anguirus. Rodan and Anguirus both started out as enemies of Godzilla, which explains the occasional enmity between the creatures and Godzilla himself on the rare occasion that they are pitted against one another.
How can anyone be scared of these creatures! My favorite Godzilla, will always be the bad monster I root for. Not to say he should destroy Tokyo, but they rebuild so fast! so its easy to see why he would go there repeatedly. All the monsters like Tokyo for some reason, maybe the same one Godzilla has. They always have a city ready to destroy and citizens who scream in unbelievable horror at the the site of Gojira. He squashes the military tanks and guns without so much as a thought. He has been upgraded to a fancier version over the years. With special effects technology so advanced, he has to be more interesting and advanced than the city destroying monster of old. But its so cool to watch! for all their military hardware, they can't defeat the creature, they must rely on scientist to discover a way to find the monsters weakness and defeat it.
Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira?) (ɡɒdˈzɪlə/; [ɡodʑiɽa] )) is a daikaijū,
a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become
a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other
media incarnations including video games, novels, comic
books, and television series. A 1998 American remake and a
second American version has been
made.
With the atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki and the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident still fresh in the Japanese
consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear
detonations and a metaphor for nuclear
weapons in
general. As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious undertones
portraying Godzilla as a hero while other plots still portrayed him as a
destructive monster; sometimes the lesser of two threats who plays the defender
by default but is still a danger to humanity.
I must put in these little descriptions for each monster. I know it makes the post lengthy, but a little background information, never hurt anyone. Might find a new interest or learn something new.
While doing my research on my favorite monster films. I came across another show I watched growing up....His name was ULTRAMAN! he was the first Power Ranger. When I first saw Power Rangers it was when my son was small, it immediately reminded be of Ultraman. A live action monster enthralled half hour of save the citizens of Tokyo from the bad bad monsters. Got a theme going here! eh feel me! My son lived the Power Ranger existence, copying their moves, even wanting to take karate so he could be more like a Power Ranger. (that didn't last) He had their sheets, pillow cases, lunch box and book bag. Was he Power Rangered out or what! Even tried to defend himself against two local kids like a Power Ranger,and I laughed hysterically to myself looking out the window.The two kids laughed too, leaving him alone. hmmm, "Go, Go Power Rangers!". Later, he would use his old sheets as patches on his pants, he was going through a fashion designer for the hood faze.
I watched a lot of TV as a kid. My allergies were terrible, Claritin and Allegra didn't exist, Benedryl was about as strong as it got. I spent a lot of time in the house. My brother used to tell me that if I stayed up too late on Xmas eve that Ultraman would be waiting for me in the living room. All I could visualize was this giant silver thing sitting, waiting to shoot me with his proton beams cause he thought I was a monster to defeat. Needless to say it never happened, we didn't live in Tokyo! By the time I was old enough to watch these shows, Japan had moved on to another pop culture phenomenon, so he was a frequent re-run in the afternoon cartoon line up on network TV, the monster movies were on WDCA, Channel 20 in the late 70's-80's or at least until cable came along.
 |
| Ultraman fights monster |
Ultraman (ウルトラマン Urutoraman?) is a Japanese Tokusatsu Television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman is a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q, though not technically a sequel or spin-off. The show was produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System and Tsuburaya Productions, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from July 17, 1966 to April 9, 1967, with a total of 39 episodes (40, counting the pre-premiere special that aired on July 10, 1966).
Although Ultraman is the first series to feature an Ultra-Crusader, it is actually the second show in the Ultra Series. Ultra Q was the first. In fact,Ultraman opens with the Ultra Q logo exploding into the Ultraman logo. Ultraman ultimately became a major pop culture phenomenon in Japan. The shows success spawned dozens of sequels, spin-offs, imitators, parodies and remakes.
Ultraman's creator was Eiji Tsuburaya from Tsuburaya
Productions, a pioneer in special effects who was responsible for bringing
Godzilla to life in 1954. Ultraman was from "The Land Of Light,"
Nebula M78 and used the Beta Capsule to transform. The Ultraman series used
various monster costumes, known as kaiju in Japan, before Kamen Rider and
Himitsu Sentai Goranger. The Science Patrol's no-nonsense deputy captain Shin
Hayata's life changed when Ultraman accidentally crashed into his "Delta
VTOL" with his Travel Sphere and killed him, destroying both ships. To make
amends, Ultraman merges his own life force into that of the Shin Hayata before
the brain functions of the latter were terminated. He then gives Hayata the
power-object called the Beta capsule, a microphone-like device, with which he
can transform into Ultraman by depressing a red push-button switch on its side
with his thumb to ignite it.
The 21st century organization known as UNICORN used a giant computerized flying robot ("Giant Robo") as its secret weapon in the battle against evil. A small boy named Johnny Sokko (code name U-7) controlled the operations of this massive flying mechanical man whose head was covered in an Egyptian style head dress.
Emperor Guillotine forced scientist Dr. Garulcher to build Giant Robo on a remote island, but the Emperor was denied the robot's power when Johnny Sokko (Kaneko Mitsunobu) imprinted his voice patterns (through a special watch) into the robot's circuitry.
These shows never cease to be a source of wonderment for me. Makes me remember all the care free Saturdays, when all you had to do for housework was clean your room, maybe a bathroom, vacuum and dust. Your breakfast was a bowl of your favorite sugar loaded cereal, and you plopped down to watch Saturday morning cartoons, then movie matinees. Other than your mother yelling at you for watching TV and not doing your housework, there were no worries. At least for those brief few hours you zoned out and went to another place. A place where monsters were real, and Tokyo got destroyed one weekend, but was built to perfection by the next weekend only to be destroyed again!A little imagination goes along way. Those were the days, my friend we thought they'd never end. We used to dance, and sing the night away.
Hope you enjoyed this Music and Monster Mash up, with all the mayhem in between. Until next time, check you right here, same blog time, same blog channel.
Even done film and aired in 1966-67, the series takes place
in the early 1990. Sinister aliens and giant monsters constantly threaten
civilization and Science Special Search Party, or SSSP, a special worldwide
police force equipped with high-tech weapons and vehicles, as well as extensive
scientific and engineering facilities. T Led by Captain "Cap" Toshio
Muramatsu, the Science Patrol is always ready to protect the Earth from
rampaging monsters, but sometimes it finds itself outclassed. While active as
Ultraman, Shin Hayata's human body goes into a type of deep coma, reviving only
after the threat has been neutralized and Ultraman willingly departs.
Victory is never assured, however, as Ultraman's powers--his
very life force--comes from rapidly depleted, stored solar energy. At the
beginning of each transformation from Hayata-to-Ultraman, the "warning
light" on the giant's chest begins as a steady blue color. Yet as Ultraman
exerts himself, the "Color Timer," turns red, then blinks--slowly at
first, then with increasing rapidity--as his energy reserves get closer to
exhaustion. In episode 39, "Farewell Ultraman," Ultraman fights an
enemy called Zetton, leader of an army of monsters bent on destroying all the
Ultra-Crusaders, who employs an unexpected weapon against Ultraman--one which
damages his Color Timer and disables his ability to measure his power supply
As a result, Ultraman stays in his full-size form too long
and collapses into a dormant state. Fortunately, despite this loss, the Science
Patrol's members are able to defeat Zetton on their own. When Zoffy,Ultraman's
superior, comes to retrieve the fallen hero, Ultraman pleads for Hayata's life
and offers his life completely, so that Hayata may live as a normal man. Zoffy
then says he has brought two life-forces and that he will give one to Hayata.
He then separates them, giving Hayata new life, but Hayata seems to have no
memory between the first episode and that moment as he watches Zoffy take
Ultraman home. This is a rather different finish to the series than stated in
the English dub, which states both that Ultraman will return and that Hayata
retains his beta capsule as he awaits Ultraman's return. -Henshingrid.blogspot.com
Finding this stuff bought back many memories of the fun shows that used to exist. We thought they were the coolest shows on TV. Well, at least my brother and I did! You can probably guess that we also watched Start Trek, and Dr. Who. I watched the Thunderbirds, which were marionettes that went on secret missions in their jet and with overly chiseled (wood) handsome heros'. Don't judge!
Along the lines of Ultraman was the live-action children's adventure program JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT,1967.
The 21st century organization known as UNICORN used a giant computerized flying robot ("Giant Robo") as its secret weapon in the battle against evil. A small boy named Johnny Sokko (code name U-7) controlled the operations of this massive flying mechanical man whose head was covered in an Egyptian style head dress.
With the power of Giant Robo (with laser beam eyes, flame throwing mouth, fingertips loaded with rockets and an atomic powered brain) Johnny Sokko battled the evil minions of sinister terrorist organization BF Dan (Big Fire Organization - aka The Gargoyle Gang)) who serveEmperor Guillotine (Sato Tadayo), an outer space alien who seeks to conquer earth.
Emperor Guillotine forced scientist Dr. Garulcher to build Giant Robo on a remote island, but the Emperor was denied the robot's power when Johnny Sokko (Kaneko Mitsunobu) imprinted his voice patterns (through a special watch) into the robot's circuitry.
For his betrayal, Dr. Galrucher was killed by the BF Dan, but Johnny Sokko was now in control of the doctor's imposing and powerful robotic creation who would only respond to his voice commands.
These shows never cease to be a source of wonderment for me. Makes me remember all the care free Saturdays, when all you had to do for housework was clean your room, maybe a bathroom, vacuum and dust. Your breakfast was a bowl of your favorite sugar loaded cereal, and you plopped down to watch Saturday morning cartoons, then movie matinees. Other than your mother yelling at you for watching TV and not doing your housework, there were no worries. At least for those brief few hours you zoned out and went to another place. A place where monsters were real, and Tokyo got destroyed one weekend, but was built to perfection by the next weekend only to be destroyed again!A little imagination goes along way. Those were the days, my friend we thought they'd never end. We used to dance, and sing the night away.
Hope you enjoyed this Music and Monster Mash up, with all the mayhem in between. Until next time, check you right here, same blog time, same blog channel.
No comments:
Post a Comment