Istanbul

Sitting at the top of the Marmara hotel for lunch with a group of Greek Economists from
Athens. They eye the goregeous city. One turns to me "My
grandmother was from here...she spoke only Turkish". He tells me.

Wiki-Whipped

Got lost on Wikipedia again. Learned something crazy the guy who Sunk the U.S.S Indianapolis lived until 2000 and died at the age of 91 a Shinto priest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochitsura_Hashimoto

verse

We laughed and the laughter was foolish,
           It seems to me;
Far better that we should be crying
           And bitterly:
Behold! We are broken by Time,
        We are failing, we fade–
But think of the poor, broken glass
       Whereof glasses are made.

—Abu’l Ala al-Maarri, Poems, 87.

Gorgeous Car

Which ever Gulf royal purchased this bought a beautiful vehicle that looks like a pain to drive unless you have serious goggles and a toothpick...

http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19286/lot/452/

I try not to contradict myself but.....

“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. “

-Walt Whitman

Jose Tomas is back!

I had dreamed of going to Barcelona this summer to see the final season of bullfighting in Catalunya. Don't know if it will end up happening but, to add more intrigue Jose Tomas is back. In his return he was nearly gored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i3jIKfu7MY

Bad Moon on the Rise?:

 Was emailed some unfortunate news about a possible job and then nearly crushed when a telephone poll collapsed following a small explosion, witnessed a motorcyclist nearly pitched into the Nile river in an accident. So I quickly checked the box scores and upon learning the Dodgers had lost 4-1, I decided to call it a night.

Christ Entering Bruxelles

One of my all time favorite paintings is Christ Entering Brussels in 1889 by James Ensor. An image which for me captures the continuing importance of religion in the chaos of modern life.

http://silverandexact.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/the-entry-of%C2%A0christ%C2%A0into-brussels-in-1889-james-ensor-1888/

I think Kanye West's "Devil in a New Dress" or at least the beat is a perfect compliment to the visual.

Some background on James Ensor
http://www.worldprintmakers.com/masters/ensor/ensor.htm

Jimi Hendrix: The Blues on the banks of the Nile

Sitting on my couch in Dokki, Cairo with my feet up,  listening to Jimi Hendrix's Blues album at the momment. I bought this album as a kid, I'm pretty sure this was the first CD I ever owned. I'm sipping some Date Milk which has to be the ancient ancestor to Mexican Horchata and plotting the rest of my day. 

Prague

I have been living on the top floor of 100+ year old apartment building a bloc or two from the Moldau River in Prague, a bright morning with a cup of chai and the Wall Street Journal is divine pleasure...the Wall Street Journal is increasingly my American newspaper of choice. Mainly because unlike the New York Times it doens't feel the need to photograph every Libyan rebel who wears Ray-Bands. Best thing I read was this article on chocolate: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704415104576250693887454856.html

Female MCs

Back when I was in Cali, I remember I was in the car with this girl who was then the reigning ASUCI President. Anyway we were going to get Japanese food around 11 o clock and this is whats amazing about California is you can find amazing food at 11 pm at night. It was kind of like a going away dinner.

Anyway after we left I'm driving her back and some Nicki Minaj cut came on and I tunned it up. I was surprised she wasn't feeling it. I countered that its tough being a female MC.

Certainly it's gotten easier over time and some of my favorite female MC's are those London girls like M.I.A and Estelle.

I mean and it really, the shelf life of a female MC is so much shorter than a male MC. Plus, there has to be a certain look. Let's be real if there was ever a female MC that was huge like say Big Pun there is no way she'd make in the industry I don't care how amazing her voice, flow, lyrics and beats were.