Day of Dread

Sometimes it’s really creepy how things happen to coincide. After posting my “Rockers” DVD review at Blogcritics.org, I finally found a minute to check some of the extended features out. One part in particular, bugged me out a bit.

Theodoros Bafaloukos, the writer and director of”Rockers”, was giving commentary on the scene between “Horsemouth” and Burning Spear. Listen to what he says, and then consider the coincidences behind my writing this bit.

I started writing the “Rockers” review last week, but posted it on my site Monday, and then on BC on July 6th. I actually got to hear the commentary bit the next day, July 7th.

We all know what happened in London yesterday. I expected to hear all kinds of good conspiracy theories behind the date, but had no idea how close to home the theory would hit.

Here are some more links on the topic! I am not the leader of the conspiracy theory cult. I am intrigued however, at how eerie close some of these “prophesies” come to our modern day reality. I look forward to responses on this one. (The audio link is temporary, so listen while you can!)

Theodoros Bafaloukos speaking on July 7th, (after you click the link, scroll down to choose FREE)

http://rapidshare.de/files/2905216/rockers_director_quote.mp3.html

more links~

http://www.conspiracydigest.com/

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/

http://www.ctrl.org/graphicHome/CTRLhome.html

Concert Review-Faith Evans @ House OF Blues-Wednesday June 29,2005

“I got to cover a lot of bases tonight ya’ll” said the star of the show as she walked on stage, giving all in attendance a real good look at her. It’s been a while since she was last here at the House Of Blues. Tonight, Faith Evans is ready to give the people what they have been waiting for, the return of the First Lady. As the band swelled and warmed up, the audience roared their love, and Faith began to tear the house down.

It looked like every woman in Los Angeles was in the House Of Blues. Don’t get it twisted, the fellas came out to show love too, but any man who was in the HOB sans a date didn’t have much to worry about. The event brought out some of the music industry movers and shakers as well. But all eyes were fixed to the stage for the performances tonight.

In usual fashion, I arrived a tad bit late and caught half of the openinig acts, a Russell Simmon’s backed group (whose name escapes me and no it wasn't Xscape). They gave a strong performance but I think the crowds anticipation of Faith may have swayed them, as they gave a half hearted response to the group. After a intermission, Faith hit the stage and rocked LA with some of her greatest hits.

When she went into her club banger “Love Like This” and broke into the Fatman Scoop/Crooklyn Clan "Be Faithful” break, the mid size concert crowd transformed the standing room only floor into a club dancefloor! Even the usually too cool for school VIP section had to get up and move something. (I think I saw Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child getting her two step on behind the ropes, as was Kevin Lyles)

Faith keep the vibes tight as she continued to run through her impressive list of hits. Fans were not disappointed as Faith and her band (which included former Beastie Boy- DJ Hurricane on the 1200’s..say word!) gave them “So Emotional”, “You Used To Love Me”, “One More Chance”, "Going Out", "Gets No Love", "Again", and the rest of her classics.

Faith Evans is on tour, promoting her new CD , "The First Lady" out on Capital Records. Check the schedule below and make sure you catch her when she comes to your town.

Upcoming tour dates are as follows:

6/18 Pittsburgh, PA Chevrolet Amphitheatre
6/26 Baltimore, MD Camden Yards Parking Lot
6/28 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
6/29 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues
7/2 Detroit, MI Comerica Tastefest
7/5 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
7/7 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues
7/9 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Resort Casino
7/10 Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance
7/14 Philadelphia. PA Trocadero
7/15 Newark, NJ Newark Symphony Hall
7/16 New York, NY B.B. King's Blues Club
7/17 Rochester, NY Rochester Music Festival at Genesee Valley Park
7/19 N. Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
7/20 Atlanta, GA Earthlink Live
7/23 Orlando, FL House of Blues
7/24 Miami, FL Mansion Nightclub
7/29 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
8/3 Chicago, IL House of Blues
8/5 Columbus, OH Ohio State Fair at Celeste Center
8/7 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
8/19 Cincinnati, OH Paul Brown Stadium/Cincinnati Jazz Festival
8/28 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
8/29 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
8/31 San Diego, CA House of Blues
9/1 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues

(I had press photo passes for this show, but somehow managed to leave the digicam at the compound. If I get passes for the fall LA show, I will not disappoint you, my loyal Canheads!)

Related links:
http://www.faithevansonline.com/

http://faithevansonline.com/sampler/

http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/evans_faith/artist.jhtml

http://www.askmen.com/women/singer_150/164_faith_evans.html

Yahoo Videos
http://music.yahoo.com/ar-314263---Faith-Evans

http://www.artistopia.com/Music-Artists/Pros/Bio.asp?ID=1464&Name=Faith%20Evans

Rockers DVD Review

“Greetings and love to one and all. In I presence I bring coverage of I Heights. Love for everyone everywhere!”

The 25th anniversary edition of “Rockers” is out and available online. If you do not own or have not seen this movie and are a fan of reggae music, you gotta get this! Filled with excellent music, reggae music celebrities and stars, this DVD is a perfect gift for music fans.

Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace is the lead character, a reggae drummer and music distributor who gets his motorcycle stolen. As the movie progresses, we learn the “Mafia boy” in question is non other than Hoursemouth’s boss at the club his band plays at. They picked the wrong dread to mess with, as Hoursemouth and his fellow Rasta’s get what’s theirs and then some!

The anniversary DVD, distributed by Music Video Distributors, is loaded with bonus features such as two music videos that accompany the movie, director commentary, poster galleries, and a Rasta patois glossary for the foreigner boy them who no see it. I-man highly recommend this movie to all who love good music.

"Rockers" is a step above “The Harder They Come” in my opinion, as it has much more musical scenes from many top notch reggae music and artist like Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear, Jacob Miller, Jack Ruby, andRobbie Shakespeare to name but a few.

Get your copy of “Rockers” and view a video trailer here at MVD's link!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079815/maindetails

Happy (and safe) 4th of July!

Have a good one people! I'll hit up a few barbecues, catch the fireworks from Venice Beach, most likely, and head back to the Q-cave. Still working on reviews so stay tuned for those.

In honor of this years 4th of July celebrations, I thought I swing the spotlight on some American patriots that you don't hear about in most schools, or colleges for that matter. (depending on which history class you take)

Prince "Caleb Quotom" Whipple

taken from "Colored Patriots of the American Revolution" by William C. Nell(1851) as referenced by Dennis Robinson (1997) SeacoastNH.com http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/prince.html

"Prince Whipple was born in Amabou, Africa, of comparatively wealthy parents. When about ten years of age, he was sent by them, in company with a cousin, to America to be educated. An elder brother had returned four years before, and his parents were anxious that their child should receive the same benefits.

The captain who brought the two boys over proved a treacherous villain, and carried them to Baltimore, where he exposed them for sale, and they were both purchased by Portsmouth men, Prince falling to Gen. Whipple. He was emancipated during the [Revolutionary] war, was much esteemed, and was once entrusted by the General with a large sum of money to carry from Salem to Portsmouth.

He was attacked on the road, near Newburyport, by two ruffians; one was struck with a loaded whip, the other he shot...Prince was beloved by all who knew him.
He was the "Caleb Quotom" of Portsmouth. where he died at the age of thirty-two leaving a widow and children.

More links on Prince Whipple's legacy

http://www.whipple.org/prince/

http://esperstamps.org/aa10.htm

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Tuskegee Airmen photo journal
http://isis.csuhayward.edu/dbsw/ethnicstudies//NMMMF/NMMMF.html

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"This is an age of wonders, and not the least among them is the celebration of the Fourth of July at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, by the colored people. To see so many thousands, who a year ago were slaves, congregate in the heart of a slave State and celebrate the day sacred to the cause of freedom, 'with none to molest or make afraid,' was a grand spectacle. It was the first time we have ever been permitted to celebrate the Nation's Day."

Sergeant William A. Warfield
119th United States Colored Infantry Regiment (1864).

Camp Nelson site
http://www.campnelson.org/

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"African-Americans were not given the credit some individuals & some units deserved for their service rendered in combat in Korea. The service of Charles Bussey would seem to be a prime example"
General Matthew B Ridgway
UN Supreme Commander in Korea

http://members.aol.com/warlib/dkc1.htm


After years of combat in Korea and being the last unit to actually fight in the last battle of the Korean conflict, they fought for years to have their actions correctly recorded.

Yet, the official history continues even in 1992 unjustly to diminish/distort/denigrate the 24th Infantry's overall Korean War performance as "poor" as well as, therefore, the proximate factor in 8th US Army's beginning to integrate as of 10-1-51. This history uses such terms as "ran away from the enemy", "broke and ran", "threw down their weapons", "withdrew without a fight", "broke ranks", etc, repeatedly in referring to this last black regiment while not utilizing such terms in referring to other (i.e, white) American * regiments. Even the Army's chief of staff 1950-53, the late General J. Lawton Collins, wrote in his Korean War memoir, War in Peacetime, "black 24th Infantrymen broke and ran repeatedly until the regiment was deactivated 10-1-1951---an outright misstatement.

David Carslile, "The Last Black Combat Unit Of The US Army Fights Alongside The Last Black 24th Infantry Regiment: The Last And Most Important Battle Of The Korean War"
see above link.
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JAMES ARMISTEAD LAFAYETTE
http://www.americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/JAMES.HTM

One of my favorites history stories, (pops hit me off with an African American picture history book back in the day) is about the 007 tactics of this man. He played Corwallis in a brave move, acting as if he sided with the English (not really that hard to believe, as the English were granting slaves freedom) and giving them bogus information. All the while he was delaying their moves until Washington could move in.

In the end, he was granted his freedom and got paid, something unheard of for most blacks back then. His image was painted years later and would make history as one of the early paintings to cast African Americans in a heroic setting.

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More on African American Patriots~

Incredible site with links to informative webpages, active groups and events nationwide!
http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/data.htm

Another good site with tons of links
http://www.geocities.com/mclane65/black-heroes.html

Raich vs. Gonzales

taken from oyez.org

In 1996 California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, legalizing marijuana for medical use. California's law conflicted with the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which banned possession of marijuana. After the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized doctor-prescribed marijuana from a patient's home, a group of medical marijuana users sued the DEA and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in federal district court.


GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, et al. v. RAICH et al.

The impact of this case goes way beyond the pot issue. It calls into question federal laws and will be in the news fordays to come.