Hello World
Today, I thought it was pretty ironic to see a recent post from a random blog featured on my WordPress dashboard say, “I give up. Bye.” I was going to dedicate this post to the death of this blog. FML.
Blame it on Twitter, blame it on a change of lifestyle (a.k.a. the 9-ta’-5 grind), blame it on me feeling un-creative as of late, I’m beginning to worry why this blog is in terminal condition. I hate to say I’ve been soul-searching, but at the very least I’ve read all my posts from the beginning of Jamaicanjerk at least twice this year. I think that says something, especially when I just look at it longingly…instead of going ahead and posting. Do people with 10,000 tweets ever go back and read that oh-so-significant 1st tweet? Or was it only relevant the moment they submitted it? I know I’ve tried to inject meaning to posts here at Jamaicanjerk. I thought of it as a conversation with myself, an easy-to-access time capsule, or a scrapbook that doesn’t require you buying wavy-cut scissors at Micheal’s. I felt like my blog was a way I could remember what I thought was worth remembering by putting it out there for the all-knowing Internet to remember. I remember one of the most meaningful validations to maintaining this blog was some reassurance from an anonymous reader who found some value in what I said. That used to make me skip a heartbeat.
There are a lot of Internet applications out there, and I could argue that at some point I could reflect a true-enough representation of myself donning a utility belt equipped with Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Last.fm, Yelp, MySpace, what-have-you as I parade around the Internet. And I’m not trying to make excuses. I’m just smoke-signaling the end of an era. I think it’s unusual that I sometimes fear writing liberally on media that supposedly has no rules. I think it sucks that I can have every person I’ve ever met from the last 5 years in Bay (and even people I’ve known in Saudi and the Philippines) on Facebook and feel it’s hunky-dory that we’re only deep enough to be “Facebook Friends.” I’m beginning to feel concerned of what people think of the makeshift identity I’ve constructed with free Internet Web 2.0 apps. Either I’m becoming too sensitive to how much I’ve invested my life to public scrutiny online, or I’m becoming too insensitive to what’s really going on around my physical non-Ghost-in-the-Shell body. Either way, I think it’s unhealthy.
Jamaicanjerk added some mean flavor to my life these past 2-almost-3 years. As of today my posts are private. (No you can’t access them silly, I’m writing them in a brand new notebook. With a pen. And paper. And maybe Post-It’s) All good things must come to an end, and indeed it has been a good run. I think the best feeling to associate this with is Forrest Gump deciding that he’s going to stop running and go home. It’s about that time.
I will still be authoring posts in my new-media baby, Skulls and Spectacles, and maintaining my private Jamaicanjerk and public JarrettBato Twitter accounts for things like food, drink, love, life, art, and music. I sincerely thank you for reading my blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.
[Motions to pick up imaginary bowling ball, tho' it, and get an imaginary strike.]
Filed under: Uncategorized
I know this is going to be a beautiful day
Beats that make me go blind with pleasure
- Shower Party – James Pants
- Chopstyle – Madlib
- So Beautiful – Musiq Soulchild
- M.I.L.F – 88 Keys feat. Bilal
- Another Victim – 88 Keys
- On the Hill – Sound Directions
- Latin Lips – The Invaders (EDIT: Found the title! This is seriously too hot a track…)
- The Funky Side of Life – Sound Directions
- No. I said I LIKED you – 88 Keys
- Pyramids – Madlib
- Snake Charmer – Madlib
- Blaze Bonus – Oh No
- Victory – Oh No
- Bigga Jigga (Cookin Soul Remix) – B.I.G and Jay-Z
- Coffee Cold – Oh No feat. Fergus Macroy
- Song 2 – DJ Krush
- Caged Birdsong – Aloe Blacc
- Clouds Observer – The Daniel Pemberton TV Orchestra
- Sunrays – Yesterdays New Quintet
- Flower of Life – Yesterdays New Quintet
- Runnin’ – The Pharcyde
- Waterfalls – TLC
- Gypsy MC – Jason Mraz
- Your Ex-Lover is Dead – Stars
- Outro – Percee P
The aural terrain of this one is nasty. If Lance Armstrong could ride this mix, he’d say it was fun. Back to the basics with this one, it has a bunch of ups and downs, and in my experience, that is what makes a mix last.
Cop it for phreee
Filed under: AWESOME, Aww that's nice, Big Idea, Just cuz, Music, Nerd it out, Space
Gosh, it’s been very long since I’ve posted. So much for posting at least once a week. It’s officially March, and I have a great day job. Still no night job but that’s always a labor of love, so I’m not worried. I’m spending my days listening to a one month old playlist, and it’s definitely time for a new one. Which means I should prepare the metaphorical Jeep for an ideological music hunt. It’s an exciting time to be getting grips with 2009, and I find myself digging my toes in the dirt for a spirited sprint to steal second base. It’s definitely something I would very much give an internal but boisterous “huzzah” at least once a day.
Speaking of the daily I blame my lack of blogging on a definite spike in illicit online activity due to me joining the twitter army. And by illicit, I mean feeling like finding things this awesome online should be illegal. The future of this app could be the most useful form of collective intelligence for your PDA phone. Now to get me one of them phones so I can twitpic pictures of awesome things. Palm Pre vs. iPhone?
Meanwhile, groove to some music, I’ll catch you on the flipular side.
This dreary weather is getting on my nerves, I went blog surfing in order to find shelter and entertainment. This is what I found.
I hope you find my lame excuse for a blog post entertaining, and if you’ll excuse me I shall return to my cave.
Props to Ian and Owen for the power’s of ten feel for their blog, this looks like a good way to spend a birthday! But no, I shall take Ian’s time machine for a spin, now.
1 Minute Ago: Cyber-stalking celebrities in my new obsession for documenting my life, Twitter. Rhymefest is up to something.
1 Hour Ago: I was in bed awake wondering if I should run this morning but I forgot to charge the iPod last night. Cheap excuse but the bed was just too comfy and warm.
1 Day Ago: I was running to 51st and Telegraph and noticed that I ran the route that I would see if I was driving back to my apartment in Berkeley from Soledad. In Soledad, I would run a similar route where I would pass by the things I would see on the way home. It reminded me of Initial D where they would go over the track they would race in that night on foot so they could appreciate what they’d be passing by at 60 mph.
1 Month Ago: It was the Monday I just came back from my trip to LA and my parents came back home early that morning from San Jose and were still asleep. My grandpa had been taken to the hospital on Sunday because of a high fever just weeks after a new blood transfusion. Things are looking grim, and I was singing passionate karaoke just days ago. My mom’s birthday will be the day after, and I took her out to for her favorite: returning the things she got for Christmas. We talk about how Lolo looked in the hospital. She tells me he jokes that he’s going to hurry it up because my Titas and Tito Boy from the Philippines’ visitor’s visas won’t allow them to stay in the States for much longer.
1 Year Ago: Looks like it was about the time us seniors just came back from Tahoe, and I’m feeling anxious that the people around me are starting to gravitate on to bigger and better things. The playlists I brought on this trip/made in this era are: Frequencies that make me want to go extra hard, Frequencies that make me want to step on clouds, Rythms that make me want to keep on keepin’ on, and Rythms that make me want to straight up tell a girl she’s hot. It doesn’t feel like a recession, but I feel stressed. Amongst pasae-renades, my spirited but conceited participation in Industrial Design class, my struggle to stay afloat in my Discrete Event Simulation class, and the resulting I-love-to-talk-shit demeanor, I force myself to grab on to some time and wonder if I’m doing what I have to be doing. I remind myself that I am the project manager for my Lonely Planet senior project, and yes, indeed, this is what I’ve been created to do. My peers that I look up to await acceptance to great grad schools, I’m feenin’ to do the same. Thanks for the swift kick/slap on the back, Mr. Marlin in New York, Mr. Rodriguez in LA, Ms. Prudencio in LA, Mr. Anandarajah in Berkeley, Mr. Szeto in Palo Alto, and Ms. Cordova in LA.
I think I’m going to run now.
I almost wanted to run today, but it was raining when I finally got back to Berkeley. Curiously, I did run in the rain one time in Soledad. Maybe cuz when it rains in Soledad, the sun still shines through the clouds, since there’s soo much space is the Soledad sky. (It is happenin’ in Soledad.) Anyway, when I decide to run the next morning, the night before I would watch youtube videos of Duran, Hearns, or Iron Mike Tyson running in the rain. It’s like if they’re running in the rain I have no excuse not to run. (EDIT: and if M.I.A. can perform at the Grammy’s pregnant, fuck I’ll run 5 tomorrow. Oh my GOD.) I like watching boxers run specifically because I run like that too, more like a fast waddle or really determined walking. I also like reading quotes from Mike Tyson’s first trainer, Cus D’Amato.
“I tell my kids, what is the difference between a hero and a coward? What is the difference between being yellow and being brave? No difference. Only what you do. They both feel the same. They both fear dying and getting hurt. The man who is yellow refuses to face up to what he’s got to face. The hero is more disciplined and he fights those feelings off and he does what he has to do. But they both feel the same, the hero and the coward. People who watch you judge you on what you do, not how you feel.”
There are definitely things I have to do. I feel it now more than ever. It’s just sometimes, I feel like I just want to be there when I tell the story. Alas, there’s the thing that creates the story in the first place, which needs to happen sometime.
I need to unpack already.
Filed under: Aww that's nice, Ego as big as Kanye, Music, Space | Tags: Estelle, Foreign Exchange, Nneka, Pharcyde, Playlists, QTip, Slum Village
Thanks for showin’ love!
I made this new CD the other day, and with this one I worked backwards from the last good albums I’ve heard, aka Estelle’s The 18th Day… and Nneka’s Victim of Truth, aka the women of my life thus far. I would say, I feel these albums are definitely of more of a chill frequency compared to their newer albums, which I particularly need right now. Q-Tip’s new album was great too, so I threw in his stuff under his alias, Kamaal the Abstract. (Plus Foreign Exchange’s Leave It All Behind) And finally, to round it out, some Slum Village and Pharcyde. (Cop out, I know, Slum Village always round it out…)
1. Dance With Me – Estelle
2. Crazy – Estelle
3. Hey Girl – Estelle, J. Legend
4. I Wanna Know – The Foreign Exchange
5. Barely in Love – Q-Tip
6. Validiction – The Foreign Exchange
7. Sometimes (Remix) – The Brand New Heavies, Q-Tip
8. Runnin’ – The Pharcyde
9. Tell Me – Slum Village, D’Angelo
10. Forth & Back - Slum Village
11. Once Upon a Time – Slum Village, P. Rock
12. Get Thy Bearings – Connie Price & The Keystones
13. God of Mercy – Nneka
14. Criminal – The Roots, Truck North, Saigon
15. Showin’ Love – Nneka
16. Three Kings, Ratatat Remix – Slim Thug, TI, Bun B.
17. 2u4u – Slum Village
18. Medieval – Dangermouse, The Pharcyde
19. 1980 – Estelle
I was starting to get pissed that I can’t listen to the lists I put up in here, so I plan to start an imeem account so I can do what y’all savvy bloggers have already been doing. (My first idea was to try to stick the CD’s I’ve burned onto the screen. Blogs aren’t bulletin boards, Jarrett Bato.) That way, I can just plug it the Internets to some speakers when I make my new mixes. Whoo hoo! If I happen to give you a ride somewhere on my station wagon/love machine, I will gladly give you the copy I have in my car. (Her name’s Ester.)
I’ve found some difficulty naming this mix, right now it’s named Music that makes me feel like doing the Christopher Walken in the White House, or the Walken in the White House Mix for short. Or maybe plainly the Music that makes me feel barely in love… in honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day. (ech) Next post: Jamaicanjerk Imeem Radio Station Launch Party.
Filed under: It's a mystery
I dunno if the Internet reaches all the way to heaven, but I just want to say I believe I’ve inherited my subtle sense of fashion, my freedom to fart out loud, my tendency to find pleasure in solace, and my unstoppable dancing feet from you. I am nothing but grateful. Rest in peace, Lolo Ike.
