Freestyle Sundays enjoyed a popular night here at adrianfung.com. Thanks to those who came by and even browsed the Store link. Even though no one bought anything, I appreciate window-shoppers. There may be a rap show this summer where you'll be able to see epideMIC and 8dubbs get into action. If I never mention it again, it fell through.
For those who listened to the Why track at "8W Classical" and wrote in asking about upcoming concerts, I will be playing a recital to raise funds for student musicians in Belize. The program will include works by Bach, Rachmaninoff, and Piazzolla. It will be held at Oakville, Ontario, on the 13th of June, 7 pm. Email me for details if interested.
Today, we kick off Freestyle Sundays. Before you listen, please realize that this freestyle caught us at a very -- how should I put this? -- wack period. Neither of us have freestyled during the year and the first thing we did was press Record. Like, don't try this at home.
Before you refuse to listen to anymore Freestyle Sundays, realize that it gets better. Really. But in the meantime, we want to make sure you know how honest we are, so we're starting you off from the very beginning. As we brush off the rust, keep in mind that Week Two is a notch up on the not-so-wack scale. We'll keep doing this until it's back to normal.
Without further delay -- I'm going to regret this -- here.
What a prolific weekend this one is turning out to be. Why is up in the Media Classical section and a new Irrefragable post is up to welcome the new track. "Freestyle Sundays" are also kicking off tomorrow.
Anyway, I was looking through an old Reader's Digest the other day. One from 1989. Hilarious. How come we don't see grown women wear pink jogging pants from Northern Reflection anymore? And how are stores like Northern Reflection, Cotton Ginny, and Arlene -- stores that just scream "sequined jean jackets" and "pink ruffles" -- still keeping up with the mall rent?
I find that when I'm updating things for a series in the Media section, I cannot switch gears and write new posts for any of the other pages. It's almost like they use different parts of my brain. I feel writing poetry is easier these days than writing anything definite and with clear lines. As mentioned before, there'll be a new update on Media this coming Sunday to kick off the 'Freestyle of the Week' series; however, a new instrumental will wiggle its way into perhaps the Classical section of Media on Saturday, called "Why".
I plan on there being something to read sometime tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned. Thanks for clicking,
I spent last night cleaning my room and realized that it's another one of those things I'm not particularly good at. When your strategy is to never throw anything away, I think you can only manage to shuffle things around. Over the years, it's gotten a little ridiculous. I keep everything because you never know when you'll need it; I operate under the assumption that if I throw it away, I'm going to wish I didn't the next day. So last night, I found I'm keeping things like post-it notes, used tubes of chapstick, and those tiny metal clips that keep your new dress socks together.
If you are ever in need these items, I'm here for you.
Thought of the Day: As far as I'm concerned, Taco Bell is fiber.
It only came to my attention today that some of you have had problems getting to the song. As you can tell, I'm trying to handle this site solo at the moment, and 'making things work' is proving to be a little too daunting of a task for me.
Heads up: "Til The Next Stop" will be followed by the "Freestyle of the Week" series. We recorded three last Saturday and -- how do I say this? The first cypher does not catch us on the top of our game. It makes for some entertaining moments though. The weekly installments will appear every Sunday in the Rap Media section.
Whether you'll be able to hear it is another question.
A product of Saturday afternoon, Til The Next Stop is now available for listening in the Media section. It originally started with Ep wanting me to come over and watch the latest Scribble Jam battles on DVD; by my insistence, we ended up doing something more productive. If I had to hear a bunch of guys with mics over-compensating, I'd rather listen to a Blunt Ethiks CD. Wouldn't you?
Some of you caught my published secret to a clean face: SpectroJel and St. Ive's Apricot Scrub. I hereby tell you that this formula works only in New York, as I have, since Wednesday, broken out. Can someone please tell my face that I'm twenty-three.
While going through the inbox lately, I came across a funny message from Epidemic, who, during the heat of the "online 8W trashtalking" wrote one of his own, which, aside from the preposterous notion that he can actually rap, is a collage made entirely of emails I had gotten at the time (long-time readers will get this):
Email of the Year 2003
Subject: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!? Hello, 8W. I got your site from a friend of mine who said you're a wrapper. You don't sound like a wrapper to me. She also told me you're not even black. Stop rapping! Chinks don't rap! And if they do, they suck at it, unless they're epideMIC! So please stop being so smugly flippant.
Yesterday was the day that I replied to all the email sent to me from this site. Don't call it "fan-mail". Fans don't write things like, "Adrain. Adrian your an idiot. YOuget zinc from otherthings thancount Chocola. spreading lies andd hate store page. eveyrhting same."
See, hate-mail must always be horrendously spelled and trickle off into a total breakdown of grammar. I wonder if they're all coming from that guy in Pakistan who wanted my hotmail address, and threatened to steal it if I didn't give it to him. He approached me on MSN and I tried to be as polite as I could, seeing that the threat was decidely by a 14-year-old nerd, which, with their age bracket sprouting geniuses that cause international banks to collapse, amounts to, in the real world, a 200-pound muscled threat in leather holding a broken barstool.
In light of the last News of the Day, several people have written in with their opinion about whether or not it's really Lenny Kravitz in the picture. One person thought that the big guy on the phone was "Lenny Kravitz" and took it upon himself to tell me that I'm an idiot. (He did this with the most intelligent spelling, as always.) I know Lenny is black, guys.
As vindication, Linda from Cleveland, wrote: "i believe you that you took a pic of lenny kravitz. i saw him on the today show this morning so that means he's actually in new york. did you know that he's turning 40? i know, you don't really care."
In the NoHo area today, I saw Lenny Kravitz. Do not be deceived by the period ending the previous sentence. It is simply uncool to open sentences with fifteen exclamation marks. I, being an accomplished and talented photographer, pulled out my camera and took this great picture of the back of his head.
I know you'll mock me now that I have a totally useless picture. Some will say I didn't see him. I think it was him because a small crowd followed him as he was trying to get into an apartment near Houston Street and he was wearing his signature aviators. Someone asked him for an autograph and he obliged while cordially shaking his hand. I didn't approach him because I honestly don't know what he's done apart from "Guns and Roses" with Jay-Z.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I thought it was a very sweet movie, sometimes chillingly trippy, but not quite as confusing or loopy as I've been warned. I found the acting to be convincing and touching and it's one of most intelligent movies I've seen this year. Of course, seeing that the last movie I've seen in the theatres has been "Crouching Tiger", I could have watched "Soul Plane" and the statement could still stick.
Incidentally, I paid $10.25 for to see the movie today. Is this ridiculous or is Famous Players in Canada charging $15 for a Saturday matinee, too?
So I was in Chinatown today, where I'm realizing that, for the past six months I've been in New York, I haven't seen 5% of it. As much as I made fun of my New York friends for their weak Chinese food, their Chinatown is bustling and colourful, full of beautiful sights and smells. I have to say that their Chinatown definitely has more character than Toronto's. In any case, I bought a fake Rolex today on the street, and, while paying, the famous NYPD came by, sending my vendor flailing his arms with his briefcase of merchandise down the street. He literally threw my change at me while running. Bustling indeed.
I have to clean my apartment before I leave New York for the summer. This is not going to be an easy task considering that I have to somehow make all my stuff disappear into one closet. Last night, while looking through some pictures a few friends took of my place while they were here, I found a picture that aptly describes the daunting task ahead of me.
This is one part of my bedroom. Don't worry, it's much cleaner now. Like, the red Yankee cap you see in the picture? Ivan's -- no longer there. One of the good things about having your room like this, though, is that when thieves break in, they'd leave on the basis that my apartment's too hot and has obviously been hit already.
Some mornings go better than others. Today, I was in a mad dash to get to work earlier, by which I mean to get there less than half an hour late. Thinking I had grabbed my bottle of facial cleanser, I ended up smearing hair gel all over my face.
To those who were curious about whether I had found the magic blend of all the facial products given to me by good Samaritans, who are also keenly observant, I think I have found it. And it's not hair gel. The answer is Spectrojel, which kills bacteria and germs, coupled with: St. Ives Apricot Scrub. You know when your face gets itchy right where a zit's coming? That's what the scrub's for, man, and it works like you wouldn't believe. I've been relatively clean for a few weeks -- which means, ultimately, that I will not be tomorrow. See what I do for you, guys.
Blogger has made some changes to its interface and I hate it when they do this. If you ask me, if something's working well, don't change it. After posting a new poem on Irrepressible, I realized that they have decided, against all things that make sense, to display nothing I've written from January 25th and on. And I'm writing about this because I'm happy about it.
I took this picture with my Canon Powershot on a recent trip to Spain. Just kidding. I still take pictures of omelettes. But whatever happened to the guy after he took this picture is how I felt after the opera last night. Actually, that's how my butt felt.
Honestly, I'd like to declare March 12 Mother's Day as well, since that's the day that my mom went through much pain to bring me into this world. Alas, Hallmark.com, my E-Card Depot, has failed me twice this month (May 1st was Baba's birthday), I will have to resort to my deep and brooding poetry to praise my mother's patience.
Some crayons are red Others are blue Our walls were white But not after I was two
Thanks for not killing me, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.
Email of the Week: What is the direction of your poetry? Other than boring, I mean. haha Jkust kidding. I really love it but needd to know what it means so i can recite it to my girlfriend as my own. Anyway, please elasborate. Dan, Ottawa - greatest city in da world - Ontario, Canada
Essentially, it's about cheese. I'd elaborate, but first, please tell me, because I've been wondering: "What is so great about Ottawa?" Everyone I know from Ottawa is incredibly proud of it, but, to date, the top reason they feel their city is great rests on their Rideau, which is just a man-made creek. I would understand how this catapults a city into greatness if I, too, operated under the assumption that moving water is fascinating and cannot be found anywhere else. Anyway, please elasborate. The News Archive|Email
In light of the last News of the Day, a whopping three emails came in asking me why I'm single. One of them was my Uncle Joe in Hong Kong, who, though reading nothing on this site, found it within his busy schedule to check on whether his nephew is just focusing on his education or is just not interested in girls. I'm happy to say that if you combine these two half-truths, you get the full truth. First of all, let it be known that I'm totally interested in girls. However, when I'm in the same room, girls choose to focus on something else. Like the weather.
Just kidding. (Awkward silence.) Anyway. I hope that answers your questions.
The News Archive|Email
A product of Saturday afternoon, Til The Next Stop is now available for listening in the Media section. It originally started with Ep wanting me to come over and watch the latest Scribble Jam battles on DVD; by my insistence, we ended up doing something more productive. If I had to hear a bunch of guys with mics over-compensating, I'd rather listen to a Blunt Ethiks CD. Wouldn't you?
So I was in Chinatown today, where I'm realizing that, for the past six months I've been in New York, I haven't seen 5% of it. As much as I made fun of my New York friends for their weak Chinese food, their Chinatown is bustling and colourful, full of beautiful sights and smells. I have to say that their Chinatown definitely has more character than Toronto's. In any case, I bought a fake Rolex today on the street, and, while paying, the famous NYPD came by, sending my vendor flailing his arms with his briefcase of merchandise down the street. He literally threw my change at me while running. Bustling indeed.
This is one part of my bedroom. Don't worry, it's much cleaner now. Like, the red Yankee cap you see in the picture? Ivan's -- no longer there. One of the good things about having your room like this, though, is that when thieves break in, they'd leave on the basis that my apartment's too hot and has obviously been hit already.
I took this picture with my Canon Powershot on a recent trip to Spain. Just kidding. I still take pictures of omelettes. But whatever happened to the guy after he took this picture is how I felt after the opera last night. Actually, that's how my butt felt.