Happy Birthday Dave Gahan!

It's way after midnight in LA and I just looked at the date, May 9th.

May 9th? Oh my goodness, that means it's Dave Gahan's birthday! WHOO HOO! Another excuse to go Depeche Mode crazy on a Friday!!! Love it!

If you've never been here before, let me bring you up to speed:

1) I'm a huge Depeche Mode fan. How huge? Well... I have a Depeche Mode poster on the inside of my front door. How's that?

2) Dave Gahan is the lead singer of Depeche Mode and today's his birthday! He's 46! Happy Birthday, Dave! (like he's reading this blog, right?)

3) If you don't know who Depeche Mode is, I feel bad for you. Really, really bad.

In honor of one of the best front men in rock, let's take a fun little trip down memory lane. How about a little listen to "Photographic" from their very first album, "Speak and Spell"? It's not their first single but it's the first song DM ever recorded together.

This particular performance of "Photographic" is from when Dave was just 18 years old and Depeche Mode was just starting out on their journey to being the Best. Band. Ever. And in case you're confused, Dave's the very innocent and shy-looking young man with brown hair:



It's sooo cute, it makes my heart melt!

Fast forward 25 years to April 30, 2006. I got to hear them perform "Photographic" at their show in Vegas!!! You can read all about that adventure right here if you want! I was like three rows from the stage going NUTS when they played it and it was a total surprise to hear it because it's not a song that gets played a whole lot. It was cute to see them go back to their pure synthesizer roots.

There is some Vegas footage on YouTube but it's not that great, so instead, here's footage from a show in Berlin. I really like this footage because you can see how much fun Dave is having performing, especially between the 1:16 and 2:29 marks:



Yeah, rock it out, birthday boy! Bright lights! Dark room! Love it!

So in honor of Dave's birthday, I hope you go and do something to celebrate it being such a beautiful day today. You're alive and you've been blessed with another day! Use it wisely!

“It’s 2008. We will vote.”

While the mainstream media is all in a tizzy over what John McCain may or may not have done (Do you have pictures? Video? A stained dress?) with a lobbyist, I came across some real news over on Black America Web:

"Over 2,000 March at Prairie View, a Reminder of Young Voters’ Engagement in ‘08 Election

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By: BlackAmericaWeb.com

A huge banner carried Tuesday by Prairie View A&M University students at the head of a march to the Waller County Courthouse said it all: “It’s 2008. We will vote.”

The Prairie View students, hundreds of them, waited for hours in line to vote after walking seven miles from campus to the county seat. Students say they wanted to protest changes the county recently made in early polling locations and show officials the impact of their political participation.

The unofficial crowd estimate was 2,200, said Prairie View Student Government Association President Andre Evans. He said about 3,000 Prairie view students in total are registered to vote.

Waller County had reduced the number of early voting locations from about six around the county to only one at its courthouse because county officials said they could not afford to operate multiple early voting locations.

After getting pressure from federal government, the county added three early voting locations, still there was not one announced for the Prairie View campus, convenient to students. An early voting site will be open this weekend at a community center in Prairie View.

The activism demonstrated by the Prairie View students is yet another example of trends observers across the country are noting as more people between the ages of 18 and 30 register to vote and take roles in political campaigns."

Wow. And then, to get even better, I was visiting some new blogs, stopped by ReadingWritingLiving and came across some video of them marching.



I had tears streaming down my face watching this. Hey, New York Times, MSNBC and CNN, this is real news. Fox News, why don't you have Bill O'Reilly talk about how students at a historically black college are standing up to the voting discrimination that's persisted for years? It must be easier to have him talk about he doesn't, "want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence."

Yes, these students marched 7.3 miles to vote. This is not a passive generation that's coming up and I'm so happy to see them claiming what's rightfully theirs, by any means necessary.

Making Myself Laugh on a Saturday Night

I love to poke around on YouTube, mostly in search of music. There's a whole lot of good house, techno and trance on there and some of the old-school stuff takes me back to the days when I used to go dancing a couple of times a week.

Most of the house music on YouTube doesn't have an actual "video", but sometimes something gets made up, like the video for this Chip E. classic. And of course, since some of these records are impossible to get now, it's nice to know I can access the audio. (I love vixy.net!)

Last night I was checking out stuff by my current favorite DJ, Fedde Le Grand and I got to thinking about the DJ I loved most back in the day, Julian Jumpin' Perez.

For those of you that don't know, Julian Jumpin' Perez is one of the most famous house DJs in Chicago. He was on the legendary radio station WBMX for years but then in the late 80's, he began a mix show on top 40 station B96. The B96 mix show was a huge success. It was such a success that in the mid-nineties, B96 apparently decided to have a live dance show on TV called U Dance.

Take a look:



I keep watching this clip and laughing hysterically. Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I was living in China at the time because I'm sure I would've tried to get on this show. Then I'd be in this super embarrassing YouTube video! God was clearly looking out for me!

If you ever went dancing with me at Shelter, Kaboom or China Club back in the mid-90s, please tell me I did not look like this! The fashions are killing me. What was everybody thinking wearing shorts like that? With socks and dress shoes? Wowzer!

And the dancing? I'm convinced B96 imported 99% of these folks in from the suburbs because maybe three people in this can actually dance and two of them are at the 2:50 mark. You really cheer for that pair because you've just viewed the train wrecks that are moving around between 1:57 and 2:49.

While watching the guys, at started thinking about how guys cover up their inability to really dance by humping on the ground. Dancing "sexy" becomes a way to distract us from their lack of real moves.

But they do look like they were all having fun and that was one of the best things about going dancing in Chicago. It was always less about a scene and more about having fun.

I miss that.

...A Field of Green Grass For Four Hours!

It's Friday night and I'm having a get together at my house right now. I have absolutely nothing meaningful to say except to tell you that some crazy Depeche Mode fans have decided that tomorrow is National Depeche Mode day. So, wear a DM t-shirt if you have one.

Oh, and the following song by Dave Spoon 100% describes how I have felt today as a result of yesterday's Rock Star energy drink consumption:




I'm telling you, when he says, "I laid in a field of green grass for four hours, going "My God, I love everything!"" -- yeah, I think I know what that means now.

Never again. Never ever ever again.

And I'm patting myself on the back for rocking it out on both Nanos this week! :)

I'm Never Drinking Rock Star Energy Drink Again!

I drank a can of that Rock Star energy drink about nine hours ago and I'm telling you, I'm still buzzed. I even went back to the park for a second jog and I swear, my right eyelid is twitching. I had no idea the stuff would affect me like this!

I have lost the ability to focus on just one thing...and that's totally fine since there's lots of things going through my head. Here are a few:

1) I'm Still Feeling Foster's Pig Tattoo: Almost a week later, I still think the pig is awesome. Only in NYC would I see this tattoo. I just can't picture a pig and a carrot going down as an LA tattoo. I'm also still loving Foster's explanation about these.

Come to think of it, my nickname as a child was "bunny". Maybe I should get a carrot like Foster's.

But I don't like pain and I've heard tattoos hurt...and two weeks later, I'd be trying to remember why exactly I decided to get a carrot on my shoulder.

So much for that idea. What else?

2) I hate Jay-Z: Even though I was in NYC last weekend, I did not go see the movie American Gangster. Yawn. Another glamorized drug dealer. Yawn again.

And I didn't buy Jay-Z's "American Gangster" cd either. But get me a bonfire and I'll toss one in there for you.

Every time I hear Jay-Z spitting his stories about how he came up selling drugs and committing other various criminal actions, I want that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to find something that the statute of limitations hasn't run out on. Next time he alludes to his drug money, someone arrest Shawn Carter. (And throw Beyonce in there with him. Sentence her to three months without hair weaves, okay!)

I'll keep it real and tell y'all that I believe drug dealers should get the death penalty. They're killing other people, aren't they?

Plus, not only am I sick of Jay-Z's glamorization of drug dealing, I will also forever hate him because of his "Jigga, My Nigga" song. In case you're not familiar, here's the catchy chorus:

(Jigga) What's my motherfuckin name? (Jigga) And who I'm rollin with huh? (My niggaz) Uh-huh-uh-uhh-uhh-uhh Niggaz better get it right, bitches better get it right, WHO?

That song came out in the summer of 1999 and it was played all the time on the radio. The n-word was bleeped out on radio, but at parties, everyone, black, white, Latino and Asian, would sing it out loud. I really blame this song for the proliferation of the "n-word" in music. It made it mainstream. Jay-Z made it cool to say it. He's burning in hell for that one. For real.

Did I already say that I can't stand Jay-Z? Well, let's move on to Damon Wayans.

3) Someone PLEASE Slap Damon Wayans. Damon went on The View and agreed that those Rutgers women were "nappy headed hoes". Oh, he also thinks a woman's place is in the kitchen cooking. Don't believe he's really that dumb? Here's the proof:



Is he going to have to apologize for his remarks? Somehow, I highly doubt it because someone has passed around a memo that it's okay for black men to get up in public and disrespect black women. According to Damon, it's a "cultural thing". Yeah, let me make my foot in his ass a cultural thing too.

4) But, even though I wish Damon Wayans and Jay-Z would disappear, I'm proud of Chas Reynolds: Chas is one of my good friends out here in LA. He used to be a teacher in Compton and I was his supervisor through Teach For America. He was a great teacher but he was thankfully smart enough to follow his dreams into the entertainment business.

He's had a couple of very cool jobs with lots of cool perks, but after he started his blog, I became convinced that he needed to be writing for Rolling Stone. He's well on his way to doing just that with his latest gig writing for Artist Direct. Check out his thoughtful interview with up and coming hip hop artist, Gorilla Zoe. I'm so proud of him! Go Chas! And when you get the chance to interview Depeche Mode, remember your girl!

5) Speaking of Depeche Mode: There's going to be a Depeche Mode party next Saturday night the 17th at this place in Downtown LA. It's officially for some of the Depeche Mode albums that are being remastered. But really, it's a great excuse to come and dance to lots of great Mode remixes. I'll be there with one of my Depeche Mode shirts on:

The Grand Star Jazz Club (second floor)
943 North Broadway
Los Angeles (Chinatown), CA. 90012
10p-2a
$5 before 10p - $10 after - and no you can't bring your kids with you because it's 21+

Also, if you're some weird stalker, just stay home. Seriously, I really don't want to meet you and I'm not at all cute in person. Plus, I talk a lot and I like to dance so you'll never even get the chance to whisper your stalkery threats to me. And the slightly bored looking black guy with me...that'll be my husband.

Besides, there's plenty of great Depeche Mode music on YouTube. Stay home and watch/listen to those instead. Here's one to help you calm down. It's a rare acoustic version of "Nothing's Impossible". And come to think of it, as much as I really dislike Jay-Z, he did give Depeche Mode a shout out on his latest record. Maybe we shouldn't send him to the gallows after all.

Gosh, I promise, no more Rock Star energy drinks for me!