another reason to love jigga ...

... he chose a dope tour DJ. 5th platooner neil armstrong.

click on the pic to read the LA Times article

ok so i'm hella late in finding this out... thank you to djswerve for informing me! lol

another reminder that i need to keep up better with music and community goings-on (especially since i manage this one foo), beyond dale and miz malubay. even though dale is growing on me.

so this lil news brightened my day. i love it when pin@ys are doing their thing! especially in hip hop, in entertainment, because i swim in those sharky waters and it is not a nice always wade in the pool.

so anyways, yay neil!

(switching ipod to WarmFuzzy mixtape)

Heart of the City.

So last night i was at the hollywood bowl for the maryjblige/jay-z show. And what a show it was!

The homies convened by my office around 630ish so we could just cab it up to the Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl is probably my favorite outdoor concert venue. Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, its natural ampitheatre shape along with its trademark layered bandshell makes for great sound under the stars. Something about it is so pretty and romantic (watch 80s classic Some Kind of Wonderful) I've been fortunate to experience some amazing performances here, from greats such as Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson ... saw Lauryn Hill here as well, while she was at the beginning of her transitionary phase... is was o-k... but anyways, I digress.

So the Bowl is home to the LA Philharmonic, the Playboy Jazz Festival (my parents used to go when box seats were affordable), some KCRW joints... (read: bougie) It's rare that hip-hop comes to this venue (trying to remember the last one). So when the announcement was made that MJB and Hov were touring (!) and coming to this venue (!!) it was an automatic must-see.

So the homies (my roll-dogs from UCLA Guthrie house days) and I got together some food, drink, and cabbed it up as far as we could go, jumped out, trekked it up that dang hill - thank god i wore sneakers - and got our butts in our seats just as the house lights came down. I guess i could say they were just waiting for me to arrive ... LOL. Anyways, house lights came down, stage lights and the music came up, to reveal the full band, an orchestra, and an immense gfx screen. At the top of the set stood Jay and Mary - tux'ed out, sleek, dapper. Ana turned to me and said, "hip hop has grown up."

Indeed. The crowd went wild, and they opened with "Can't Knock the Hustle," of course. Mary took over from there, jumping into her classics, like Real Love, Sweet Thing...

ok. I'm not going to go into the whole show in detail, because well, you just had to be there really... and I was pretty tipsy so I don't think I remember everything in chronological order... it was a great show. Jay was a-mazing. All the hits... all the ones about his name... teased the crowd with a few Beyonce beats (oh gawd)...

now the big banger, literally, was that the show ended in fireworks. now, they usually have fireworks on July 4th sync'd with the Philharmonic. I coudl picture Jay in a meeting with the producers going, fuck it we're at the Bowl. Let's do as the symphony does. Super flashy Hollywood. But hey, it was a SHOW. indeed. i had a great time.

attempted to cab it back to our cars, but we ended up just walking (off the liqs). all good. i think it was faster than those waiting in stack parking.

Los Angeles - with every event there is going to be a comment about traffic and driving. but where else could you watch a show like that, under the stars on an april night with crisp breezes, and your homies? =)

sunday, lovely sunday... wish you were here

Sometimes it's a blessing when things don't go exactly as planned. On Sunday morning i ended up in Manhattan Beach with my homegirls, and met new homegirls! Oh my gosh it was lovely. My roomie gave me 10 minutes to put on a suit, throw stuff in a bag, and be on our way. We were laid out on the scorching SoCali sand by 10:30. The water was hella cold, but that's ok. Given the season it shouldn't have even been that hot (frikkin global warming), so it's ok that that water temp didn't catch up.

Hungry by 1pm, so we ate at Local Yolk, home of some of the best banana muffins i've ever tasted (can i get a muffin in that stick of butter?) and then just perused the boutiques in the area.

And just as we were wrapping it up, i get a text from my old roomies... BBQ at their pad! perfect timing. Made a quick stop for some ice cream and sugar cones, headed east to Dena and had a lovely time talking shit and making more new friends.

what more i ask for... a beautiful day to relax, with beautiful energy surrounding me.

i've made a conscious effort not to blog about work, because y'all out there have your own to deal with, why would you want to hear about my biz. and why would i want to let you in on propietary info anyways? =) plus it's nice to remember these moments and reread them, when it does get hectic and i gotta breathe....

Saturday was lovely as well! Woke up to sweet loveliness, got my am workout on, and then met up with my komadre and my fellow ninang for dinner and a girls' night out. it was fun just to be out with the ladies =). repeat is a must!

Have a good rest of the week!

Friday Four-Eleven

It's a gorgeous day in LA. Mid-to-high 80's today. Not a cloud in the sky...

And today's date is special to me - it signifies one of my key physical characteristics (my height!), it's my business name.

I'm proclaiming it a holiday! even though... i'm at the office...!!!

But it's ok, actually. Yesterday after work i hung out with the boss, ex-coworkers, and later in the evening, my mentor and folks i've met through the "industry, " but most importantly, they are all wonderful friends. i woke up thinking this morning, how cool is it that these good folks have come into my life. In this business of Hollywood, which can get stressful and sharky and cutthroat, they certaintly make it more pleasant.

ok, pause on the gloating, back to work! =)

any ideas on how i should signify this holiday for future 4/11's?

on a sunday afternoon...

This past Sunday my brother and i had a picnic at our childhood neighborhood park to celebrate our birthdays. It was so lovely. It was a little cool, but no rain! yay! Our (not so) baby brother got there at 7am to save the spot. Good look on that!

A whole bunch of friends and fam came through. At first I had second thoughts about a picnic, cuz why would folks do that for my old ass! But when my brothers brought it up how could I resist. Aunties, uncles, cousins, homies, and the kids all made it such a lovely time.

I don't have any pictures because I didn't charge the battery beforehand. Doh! So I'll grab photos from my dad and my bro's lady. In the meantime, check out my girl Michelle's recap of the food!

(click here)

and click here for her post about the cupcakes she made for me. Disclaimer before you read: I have never denied being a little diva sometimes. i am so thankful to my friends, who understand this idiosyncracy of mine and still love me. i love you too.

ok so monday is over. thank GOD.

the crescent moon is beautiful though, did you see it?

sites i like.

note to self: add "sites i like" to the right navi of the blog.

surfing around i found this one... cool pinay! hope she doesn't mind i'm posting this up. i haven't read through all but from the lovely quote and photos, i like.

http://tikayiyay.wordpress.com/

i love my people. this time i mean it sincerely. actually, i always do mean it sincerely. even when some of y'all frustrate the f*ck out of me, i still love you. because i know it's not alllll our fault, the way we are sometimes. our parents, our kababayan, our oppressors, our lovers... i'm not letting them off the hook. but it's still love, unconditional.

"crazy"

so like three of my friends today, when asked, "how's it going?" answered:

"crazy."

so of course i check the astrology forecasts for the day... nothing too bad, but it did say:

Meditate for peace of mind and dig a little deeper into your metaphysical studies. If primary partnerships seem a bit off-kilter, you may be tuning into a Mercury-Juno square from Pisces to Sagittarius (i have no idea what that means either). Pushing your own agenda too far and too fast can boomerang against you. Compassion and sensitivity are warranted when sharing with dear ones. Keep a notebook by your bed to record nocturnal wanderings in the astral realm.

as i googled "lori from the real world" after looking at my kompadre's blog, i find this post:

Crazy Carrie (as in, Bradshaw)

and she makes some good points. i'd go more into my thoughts but i gotta go right now. maybe later. what do you think?