orange chocolate chip scones

lightly breaded chicken with french fries that we made with our fryer, and you can't forget the tynertoppings.. cheese and BBQ sauce. Ty was a great helper

and for dessert- blueberry crumb cake -which is now a favorite in our home 

And of course you can't end the holiday without some fireworks, and I was really looking forward to it

                         Did i mention that the firework show is in Mexico?....

I miss you so much.

xoxo

Saturday the 24th was the occasion on which I went (wiv me muvver) to experience a bit of this year's Fierce Festival. Fierce has been going for a while, but the only bit of it I’d ever managed to catch prior to this was Ballet On The Buses last year. That was amazing and I was absolutely determined to see more than one thing this time around.

Our day started with The Divine Edgar (darknesscoffinsburials) at The Vaults (a restaurant in The Jewellery Quarter that more than lives up to its name – from the street you walk down stairs into darkness and a confusing layout. It’s very nice once you get the hang of it, though, albeit a’spensive). After eventually gathering our bearings and getting where we were meant to be, it turned out that Chr-Chr-Chr-Chr-Chris Uniiiiit was doing the door for ‘Edgar’, and so it was lovely to meet him at last. It’s difficult to describe the actual event without spoiling it (which I really don’t want to do in case it ends up happening again somewhere near you, dear reader, although there won't exactly be an appropriate space for it to take place in on every street. The Vaults really was perfect in that respect), but it really was very genuinely atmospheric. Silly too, of course, but knowingly so in an endearing way. Like the Mr Poe who inspired it himself, even. Also you get a glass of sherry.

It was to the The Fete Encounter at Brindley place, after that. People had a whale of a time attempting to do Scottish country dancing and a lion wandered round bothering children and falling asleep on people's shoulders. We tried to stay on the outskirts and not get involved until we had a better idea of what was going on, but I nevertheless found myself assailed by an excitable fella wanting me to contribute some steps to the dance he would be performing later.

I completely failed to realise that B1 Labyrinths involved riding bikes, in spite of the fact that the promotional blurb therelinked clearly states so. I’m clever like that. I can't actually ride a bike and so that might have prompted problems, but (fortunately) I was nevertheless allowed to walk alongside the cycling massive. This is another one where I can’t really say a massive amount without fear of spoiling it all, but we were led around town and at various points encountered actors doing their bits. That was great (a fair few of them were strangely evocative for such little vignettes), but even more entertaining were the reactions from neutral spectators. In retrospect it seems obviously intentional that we (with our bicycles, trikes and Army Of Shiny hi-viz jackets) were meant to be part of the performance. Perhaps most amusing of all was when we found ourselves moving contraflow to the Pride march hurtling down New Street – the copper clearing the way ahead of the marchers was getting very agitated, but the performer woman leading us was quite spectacularly brazen in not moving to one side until she chose to (she did the same thing when crossing the road in front of a bus, later on. A bus).

(There are videos on the Fierce Festival website if you click the ‘Fierce TV’ tab, and they’re fairly spoiler-free. My mom’s (pissed) account of our day, meanwhile, is here).

Saturday the 31st of May was occasion for The Flyover Show - an Increase The Peace type event organised on the traffic island under Hockley flyover, by the jazzman Soweto Kinch (EDIT: Actually, no, that’s more dismissive that I want to be. To elaborate: the idea behind it lay more in the fact that Hockley was once known as an artistic and cultured area, but nowadays you only ever seem to hear it mentioned in connection with people being shanked. The Flyover Show, I gather, was at least partly to demonstrate that there is potential in the area beyond the negativity; a symbol of this was picking a venue that many would formerly have said to be quite unpleasant but actually turned out to be fantastic. More on that in a minute). The man himself gave an interview to CIB in which he spoke of some of the trials and tribulations involved in getting the thing actually happening, and it’s well worth a listen.

It ran all afternoon and into the evening, but I got there just before 2pm to find very, very few people actually in attendance. A jazz-theatre sort of thing was going on (the posters on the flyover pillars suggested that it was by 'Youth Group'. That narrowed it down, obviously) and I was immediately impressed with flyover as avenue - it looked fantastic for anything, and for an ‘urban’ (Sorry. See above interview link) event in particular. Sadly, I was far less impressed with the fact that I could barely hear what the performers were saying over the cars screeching around the outsides of the island and wooshing overhead. I gave up after a bit, and decided to come back later when (hopefully) the PA system would have been turned up a bit for the more music-centric portions of the day.

Blessedly, it was. I arrived back at about just gone six, and found Black Voices onstage. Such of their set as I heard was gorgeous – beautiful acapella singing, with a really endearing Bob Marley medley. Lovely stuff.

The next few turns involved artists doing very short sets of a song or two (“public appearances”, p'raps? Never keen on that. I know that doing it like this means that you can get more turns on, but as a punter I prefer proper-length sets) with the same band backing them. This did have the slightly unfortunate effect of making all of their backing sound pretty similar-ish. It actually did work to a pretty strong extent and didn't turn out to be as much of a problem as it might have done, but it was certainly the case. Kosyne and Sonny Jim were entertaining for as long as they were briefly on, with plenty of life about them and what seemed to be some pretty funny lyrics at times, but I headed along to the off-license over the road to get a few drinkies straight after they’d finished and so missed the next artist or two. I returned in time for Tor, who was an absolutely fantastic blur of speed-rapping energy. It’d be nice to see a set long enough to get a proper idea of her one day. Zena Edwards was next with her jazz ‘n’ poetry styles. I liked various bits of her lyrics but musically it did get a bit ‘jazz odyssey’ at times (a bizarre thing to say about a jazz act, but I’m sure you get my meaning). The tracks on HerSpace are more interesting, though.

A very quick break (it couldn't even have been ten minutes. Absolutely everything was rat-a-tat-tat one-thing-after-the-next at this) followed. It was at this point that it dawned on me - take what I was doing out of context and you're left with the fact that I was drinking cans of Special Brew while sitting on an embankment under an A-road flyover. At last, my true station in life.

Gabbidon was next for about three or four songs and is always a pleasure. Marley-esque poppy reggae, as we know, with Steel Pulse’s “Handsworth Revolution” getting a really good reception. Another (very) short break followed before it was time for the main man himself, Soweto Kinch. He was joined for a few songs by Eska Mtungwazi, although I’m not sure whether they were doing her songs or his or what. There was some more lengthy solo-ing but I was even beginning to enjoy that a little bit after a while (the Special Brew was kicking in, obviously). The bit of the day a lot of people had obviously been waiting for then followed to finish things off, with short sets by grime geezer Bashy (“Black Boys” got the biggest reception of the day, even more than “Handsworth Revolution”) and Ty (who I was most keen to see out of the whole line-up. Yet again it would’ve been nicer with a sensible-length set, but I suppose you can’t complain for free).

It was a really fun event, all in all; any fears anyone might have had about trouble or anything like that proved unfounded, and everyone present just revelled in the music and good vibes. More of these, please.

(The Post wrote, The Mail wrote, and Chris U wrote. No, I’m not posting a link to where the photos of myself can be found).

Sunday the 8th saw me in Birmingham, this time again with Mother Dearest. Or it did eventually, at least. London-Midland seemed to be having a bit of difficulty organising the coaches to replace the trains called off for line repairs. I found it funny at the time, although I am glad I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere.

We first went to have a look at The Secret Garden, near The Custard Factory. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't what I was or wasn't expecting. Or something. Good, though. It was once a bit of overgrown waste ground with a shed and abandoned shipping containers on, until Beyond Closed Doors were given the chance to reclaim it for the purposes of their art installations. I particularly liked the little things to discover in the cupboards inside the shed, and the ingenious small model of the whole site in one of the containers.

The thought occurs (literally only just now as I’m typing this) that although ‘finding potential in things and places where it would not usually be noticed’ is far from a rare theme in art, it seems to be particularly common in Birmingham art. The Secret Garden is Hockley Flyover is Modified Toy Orchestra is… who else? There seem to be parallels, at the very least. There’s a bigger article in this, although I suspect someone may already have written it.

We had a bit of a look at the Custard Factory market next (my thoughts are the same as last year – it’s great, but it really would be so much better with more. It’s hard to imagine anyone being tempted to go significantly out of their way for it at present, as lovely as it is) before heading back city-centre-wards to have a quick look at some of the Climate Change Festival stuff lying around. I don't understand what the big pylon was trying to tell me, but some of the local fauna seemed to appreciate the cornfield around the outside of it. I liked the video on the town hall big screen about the trees being planted in Brum city centre in the 70s, though. It had some very jolly music.

To Ikon gallery to finish. I really don't go to see enough art in galleries, which is something I may have to rectify. Lutz and Guggisberg’s “Impressions From The Interior” was the main exhibition, and while I’m not sure I found a lot of meaning in any of it (I am thick, though) I did enjoy a fair few bits. I liked ‘Globe’ (not mentioned in the PDF notes you can get from that link, but a wooden ball made of lots of really cute little carved animals), the ‘Tonies’ (so sweet! They looked like Morph), and ‘Population’ (200 abstractly rendered birds created from seared wood. Eerie. I made sure to keep quiet while walking through).

Three consecutive weekends, anyway, with loads of fun things to do. A sterling testament to Out And About In Birmingham-ness.

noticias novas: cast members aparecendo no msn pra conversar e se conhecer! agora que estamos quase em ferias, da tempo.. ja falei com o Iran, com a Laura e a Naty. todos de outubro! galera, adoro papear com vcs!

vou terminar meus slides e ver a materia da prova de segunda..  ainnn

como diria o Sr Ty Pennington [Extreme Makeover Home Edition]

"its gonna be a loooooooooong night!!"

XOXO

Friday was summer solstice - shortest night and longest day of the year. It did seem like the shortest night - I got up at 5 a.m. and was hiking by 5:20. Here's a timeline of my morning hike, trying to illustrate the horses in the light - and shadow - of their home range:

5:58 a.m.: Sun not yet risen. I saw a flash of white and a couple of the bachelors (Aspen and Hook) nearby and thought I'd found Alpha and Steeldust's band. Nope. It was the "southside boys," who range far and wide throughout Spring Creek Basin. Above is Ty and Copper.

6:03 a.m.: From left: Cinch, Copper, Corazon and David. You can just barely see Copper's markings on his left front and hind pasterns.

6:23 a.m.: Grey/Traveler and his band - still missing Jif (see next post) - in the shadow of "lizard mesa," northeast of Knife Ridge - with Round Top in the light in the background.

6:25 a.m.: Seven's band on the edge of night and day ...

6:32 a.m.: Iya, Houdini and Grey/Traveler (and the yearlings following) ran through the light over the saddle on the edge of Knife Ridge to the shade on the other side, following Steeldust's band.

6:44 a.m.: The just-past-full moon took a long time to set over the far ridge on the west side of Spring Creek Basin. That's Mahogany and Steeldust's band.

7:06 a.m.: Almost full light. Grey and Twister looking back at Cinch and David and the other bachelors. I was still in the shade of Knife Ridge when I took this photo.

7:06 a.m.: The objects of Grey's interest: Cinch and David. The rest of the boys are down the little slope behind the trees.

No bugs until 8-ish. No breeze until 9-ish. Simply gorgeous.

bo jestem drobiazgowa. nie patrzę na to, czy mi się ktoś podoba czy nie, tylko czy podobają mi się jego dłonie, i gesty; oczy, i to jak patrzy; sposób w jaki się porusza; głos i to, co i jak mówi. i zapach.

bo On jest drobiazgowy. bo zwraca na te "małe" rzeczy uwagę. i podobam mu się pod każdym tym względem. wiem, bo mi powiedział. i choć nie powtarza tego sto ani pięćdziesiąt razy dziennie (a czasem szkoda), to wiem-czuję (może dlatego właśnie, że nie powtarza).

bo dużo wie i dzieli się tą wiedzą, choć czasem trudno przyjąć taki nawał informacji.
bo ma wspomnienia i dzieli się nimi, choć czasem troszkę bolą.
bo tak wiele widzi, dostrzega, zauważa dookoła.
bo nie przechodzi obojętnie obok.

i nadal fascynuje. choć czasem jedynie na dal.

jak śpiewa M.B.:

Spójrz
ja jestem naprawdę bogaty
bogaty
Mam przecież gwiazdy na niebie
i ciebie i kwiaty

Spójrz
gdy zgodzisz się ze mną
to będzie nas prędzej
stać na to, by
na wiele długich lat
móc ofiarować dziś
ja tobie świat i ty mi świat
  

podczas mycia okien tak mnie naszło, by słowami wyrazić.

Yep.

Nope.

And no sign of Duke.

Ms. Molly had her foal between June 3 and June 7. David Glynn, who visits the herd area frequently, provided news about the new foal while I was on vacation. He also emailed that he saw Duke this past weekend, not limping, and that he was interacting with some of the bands. Good news.

Molly is thinner than the other mares, but given her estimated age (older than 20!), that's to be expected. This might be her last foal; she was gathered and released, and she got the immunocontraceptive. In her case, I think it might be beneficial for her overall health. I didn't get very close to her, but her foal is a sorrel with the "muley" coloring around its muzzle. No telling yet if it's a colt or a filly.

Alpha might be going for a world record gestation ... or I have another theory. Last April, she was with Grey/Traveler, but she was gathered with a stallion I called Junior. She has always been one of the last to foal, and although I didn't follow her (or the other horses) as closely in the past as I do now, I didn't think it was quite this late when she foaled previously. So, what if, between Grey and Junior, she missed her heat and was bred a month "late"? She looks like she's bagging up, so I hope she's close.

The "other" bachelor group was down in the southwestern part of the herd area when I saw them, right from the county road. This photo shows all the boys but Ty, who was a short distance to the left. Here, from left: Cinch, Corazon, David, Copper and Mesa. I stopped and took pictures from over the roof of the Jeep until they "hid" behind some juniper trees. I moved down the fence until they moved into the open. They ran back and forth some as their wariness vied with their natural curiosity.

David (bay with the blaze), Mesa (solid bay) and Cinch.

Copper, Corazon and Mesa. Copper is a slight muley bay with left front and hind pasterns; his mane falls mostly on the right side of his neck. Mesa is solid bay; his mane falls on the left side of his neck.

Copper and Ty (black). Such sweet boys.

With such a fortunate encounter for my first sighting of the horses since my return from vacation, I knew it was going to be a great day. I used four memory cards (of various storage) and *saved* almost 800 photos (I probably culled at least that many). I don't know why I took so many pictures this particular day, but a friend suggested that maybe it was because I really missed the horses. :) She might be right.

The northern bands were all up in the northeastern part of the basin again ... which is really, truly the eastern part. I tend to think of it as northeastern because it's "in the back" as far as the loop road goes, and tucked under the natural boundary hills. But I looked at a map recently (who needs a map when you know where you're going?), and realized it's pretty well centrally east. In this photo, Alegre and Gaia are in the foreground, and Molly, her foal, Roja and Seven are in the background. You can see the road in the foreground.

Sweet baby Ember and mama Luna.

Grey/Traveler and his family also were in the area, closest to the water hole - what's keeping all the bands in this area, I think. Jif was just a little apart from them.

A picture like this is my favorite to take because it's my favorite thing to see: interaction and evidence of affection among the horses. That's Two Boots with her head over Twister's back. They're about shed out now. Two Boots shed out a lot lighter, even though she's still dark grey. Last fall, she was *really* dark. And Twister is showing his pretty rosy grey color. Stepdaddy Grey in the background.

Too cute! Pinon here, standing up nice and straight for the camera. Definitely a colt. His little dark patch is clearly visible here. I've noticed something similar on a couple of other horses: Luna has an ever-so-slightly-darker spot on her right barrel, behind her shoulder, and Comanche has a dark spot that's maybe about the size of a baseball on his right barrel. Luna's spot is bigger but almost unnoticeable.

Back to front: Aspen, Chrome and Hook. While I was thinking about Duke, I realized the Bachelor 7 (six without Duke) have been dogging Steeldust's band since just after I realized he was limping, around April 15.

Aspen and Hook decided to relieve the monotony by play fighting - with an audience. In the immediate vicinity were the other bachelors, Grey's band, Steeldust's band (of course) and Bounce's family. Hook initiated the whole thing (tattle tale), and at one point, he got one foreleg up over Aspen's back, and they went around in a full circle before Aspen was able to shake him off. Notice Mouse and Comanche snoozing in the background. That's Kreacher at upper left, and in the middle ground is Grey and his band.

I had walked out from the road, over a hill, through a couple of arroyos and up another hill to try to get a better look at Molly and her new foal and was returning to the Jeep when I saw Bounce, Alegre and Gaia closest to me and the other horses a little farther out. I took the above pix of Aspen and Hook, wishing I was closer to them, but then I had an opportunity to get a little closer to where Gaia had just laid down and Alegre was grazing. A juniper shielded me from Alegre, but Bounce had me in full view. Conspirator? I'm pretty sure that even Grey and some of the other horses also knew I was there, but I don't think Alegre ever did. She grazed farther away from me and closer to the other horses (which were back toward the water hole), and I waited until they were gone before moseying on back to the road.

Alegre and Gaia near sunset, taken from the road.

I drove around the loop road twice, looking hard for Duke. Never did see him, but on my way out, I saw Poco, Bones and Roach at the water hole below the roller-coaster ridge road.

He's in the (obviously) dry part of the water hole - photo taken from the ridge road. Poco and Bones were just behind him to the east. This water hole and the one in the east, off the doubletrack, are the only water holes I know of that still have water. Spring Creek has water in places. No sign of the horses anywhere near the water catchment.

Not quite full ... but pretty cool.

It's good to be back.

There are older babies there too crawling around - Jason said 'what is it like a dog park for babies?'

exactly.

 And here are some random pics from the past few days; sucking on some sweet potato and chillin' in da crib.

 
| View Show | Create Your Own

Wish me luck this afternoon folks, I need it.  Ty is really strugglin' today for some reason and this makes me feel like jumping out the window.  His nose is really runny - so I guess he is getting a cold. (sucking on the tambourine perhaps?)  He has taken the shortest and crappiest naps today and I am exhausted.  He is alot of work to keep entertained when he is like this.  And Jason has been home the past few days and now I am spoiled :)  It would really be awesome to have 2 people home all day with a baby!  We had some appts. with Estate agents to come and view our house.  That's right - WE ARE SELLING!  Now - don't get your hopes up or anything - this actually doesn't mean we have any 'news' on the moving front.   So stay tuned :)

Y'all should check for Shawn Jackson's new album “First Of All…“. A lot of Detroit luv here on production.  One my favorites,  Jack Sample Pros have like 7 joints on it, Taraach is on it, and much ore.

Shawn Jackson - Go There With You (feat. Ty of Ty & Kory)

via The Exactly.

Click here for more details

Forget Glastonbury, T-in the Park or any of the other Summer festivals this year and make your way to the Midlands for the ultimate explosion of music, art and culture at the BASS Festival.

BASS Festival is a unique collaboration of four cities and entertainment organisations that collectively celebrate Black art, culture and music.

Throughout the month of June, venues across Birmingham, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham will play host to over 50 events that form the basis of the BASS (British Art and Street Sounds) Festival.

Under the banner of ‘The Elements of Hip-Hop’, this year’s event brings together over 100 artists from across the UK, Europe, the US and South Africa to celebrate Hip Hop culture through a series of interactive master-classes, workshops, performances, exhibitions and installations that will open the doors to the general public and break down the misconceptions and myths that surround Hip-Hop.

Celebrating the four elements of Hip-Hop – MCing, DJing, B-Boying and Graffiti are at the heart of the Festival, and the organisers have taken each genre and brought together icons from across the world as well as new talent, to give inspiration but to also ensure that the history and heritage of Hip Hop is understood, respected and taken forward.

Line up for the festival includes a foray of international Hip-Hop stalwarts including New York based producer Lord Finesse of DITC, lead MC of Philadelphia-based Hip Hop group The Roots - Black Thought, DC born electronic and experimental Hip-Hop musician DJ Spooky, one of the best known exponents of South African Hip Hop – Tumi, veteran rapper Ben Sharpa, leading turntablist and producer DJ Spooky, London-based poet, producer and DJ Charlie Dark, and UK Hip-Hop artists Ty, and Stig of the Dump.

The driving force behind BASS, Ammo Talwar says of the event: “The past three years have seen such a phenomenal growth in support and interest for BASS. This year is the most exciting to date, with artists from the UK, the US and even South Africa coming to celebrate The Elements. I love the fact that BASS breaks down preconceptions and allows us to demystify Hip Hop Culture for the masses. It’s not just the music, it’s a way of life that includes art, dance, drama and language.”

The range of work and artists that are featured across the month long festival is truly indicative of the global impact and influence that Hip Hop has and shows the variety of disciplines that are included within the framework of Hip-Hop. Talwar continues: “We’ve been exceptionally lucky with the artists that are taking part this year. We wanted to show the impact and reach of Hip-Hop – from the streets of Harlem to the theatres of Birmingham, from the shanty towns of South Africa to the galleries of Nottingham – this festival is going to break new ground, showcase British Art and Street Sounds for what it really is – a unique and exciting mode of expression.”

The festival, which takes place over 30 days across 40 venues, will also feature performance poet Ursula Rucker, South African playwright and actress Napo Masheane, leading UK graffiti artist Temper and the innovative and inspiring female graffiti artist from South Africa, Faith 47.

The full line-up is available on www.bassfestival.co.uk. Some of the musical highlights across the region include:

Birmingham:

Date Details Venue

2^nd June DJ Masterclass with DJ Kayper The Symphony Hall

The UK’s leading female turntablist provides a unique hands-on

learning opportunity to budding DJs

14^th June Battling Masterclass Patrick Centre

A fantastic opportunity to polish your battling moves with world

champion BBoy ‘Mouse’ and members of his internationally renowned

crew ‘Soul Mavericks.’ Come as an individual, or come as a crew and learn

winning techniques from the best in the game.

21^st June Birmingham Jazz Concrete

Dance meets jazz with Jazzanova and Eska Mtungwazi

all playing live

Leicester:

20^th June MC Masterclass Rodney Attinborough

Masterclass with legendary UK MC Rodney P

27^th June BASS Slam The Peepul Centre

Battle of Urban poets from the East Midlands.

Featuring Stephanie Hernandez, Dave 'Stickman' Higgins

and Lydia Towsey. Compered by Carol Leeming.

Nottingham:

7^th June Bounce Quantum Matrix

Masterclasses in breakin’ and street dance

13^th June Freddie Kofi presents Brit Gospel Nottingham Playhouse

Singer/song writer Freddie Kofi presents a

celebration of British Gospel music

19th June Mix It, Make It Rescue Rooms

An evening to celebrate urban music makers/song

producers from the Midlands. The entire evening

features urban music that is 100% the creation of

people who are from/live in the Midlands.

26^th June REAL R.A.P. - Hip-Hop, Poetry & Fusions New Art Exchange

Spoken word/Hip Hop/Jazz fusion featuring Ty & Ursula Rucker

Derby:

8^th June Women in UK hip hop Q&A wit Tor and Cookie Baby Studios A Q&A with UK hip hop artist Tor and legendary Hip Hop artist

Cookie, one half of the pioneering duo The Cookie Crew. This

event will be filmed to be featured in a documentary to be shown

at the BASS Film night on June 26th

15^th June Graffiti Convention Baby Studios

Public art piece delivered by local graffiti artist Dilk.

Seminar and displays with guests including the highly

celebrated UK artist Temper

26^th June BASS Film Night Derby Dance

Film night showcasing women in Hip Hop. Featuring documentary

and film recordings of other BASS events plus a showcase of local

artist music videos.

27^th June ‘Let Me Tell You About My Love...’ Derby Dance

The UK premier of a theatre dance and music piece by

leading UK B-boy Steady, with music by Baby J Ent artists

Hola amigos de  Flas Grup

hoy despues de no haber actualisado por un  buen tiempo  a qui les traigo una buena actualisasion  muchos se preguntaran que es  pero muy pronto selos dar es para el dia del estidiante algunos les gustara algunos no  pero  vale la pena  hacerlo  por flashgrup   verdad  pero  tengo una pregunta  solo nos importa  la  vida o demas la muerte  palabras asvis de  un gran compañero my que me iso qures aserles es te regalo para el dia del estudiante  pero es solo para ese dia asi que preprense  a ahlos maestros como aveses me cain mal no les dare nada mañan  ok  asi que no se enojen  no soy yo son ustedes  asi  que qudense  con la doda asta el dia del estudiante  ok  me despido flashgrup  yo su amigo  z

Jim Kirchherr tours the Brown Shoe headquarters in Clayton. For more than 130 years, the company has been making fashionable footwear—with its most notable brand, Buster Brown. The company's archivist presents the history of this cartoon character and how it came to be a household name. Originally a comic strip cartoon, Brown Shoe bought the rights to Buster Brown for just a few hundreds dollars and first began promoting its shoes at the 1904 World's Fair by hiring a circus midget and a trained dog to portray Buster and Ty. After the fair, the company sent these characters out to shoe stores to promote the brand. Recently, Buster and Ty were retired, but the Buster Brown name still lives on.

After he was rolled out from the cargo dock they lifted his crate off the pallet and I said "I wanna let him out!"  I was tickled to see him! I opened the crate and got his leash on him and he just went berserk! Not with me but because there were 4 of us standing around him. He didn't know which end/way to go. His tail was waggin' and I'm guessing if he could kiss the ground he woulda. He's been on the same amount of plane rides as me. LOL!  Anyway... I sat down on the ground and called him over. I called out a few "key" words that only I would say to him and he just about attacked me!  3 times his front paws jumped on my shoulders and his tongue was all over my face!  Now THAT's a greeting!  I started to cry.

Got him home and introduced him to one of Lyn's kids. (the eldest, 16). She adores him. The 4 cats that occupy the house pretty much scattered. Of course we knew that would happen, but they'll come along soon enough.

Today, I took Ty to get him registered here in the city and then we went down to the creek we could catch up on old times. Rocks and water and water and rocks!  LOL... Took a picture of him on the ride home. Adorable as usual!

So all is good now. I'm feeling very complete! Now all we have to work on is our Interdependency Visa. More flights to come yet as well. I'll still be posting!

If you want to hunt out some fresh stuff in the hip hop game, Britain should be on your map and I´m not only talking about Grime & Dubstep, two of the main hypes in the last years. With Manchester´s finest hip hop heads Broke ´n´ English I am going to start, more music out of Great Britain is going to follow.

On the cover of their 2003 Nothing Will Come Of It EP, the image of Broke'n'English (MCs Strategy & DRS) staring comically into a bare fridge containing only a half-eaten pattie and an old bottle of Encona Hot Pepper Sauce rang true across the UK's streets and beyond. As their MySpace page jests they even state they sound like "some Manc doleys that aint got shit else to do."

"I was on the dole for so long," describes Strategy, "they said 'either you get a job or go to college', so I was like alright then I'll go to college! Ha-Ha! I went and learnt music production and the first tunes I made was Weekend Love and Foolish, Giles Peterson played them and 1Xtra played them. Listening back they sound raw and you can almost hear the hunger." Seriously you can nearly hear their stomachs groaning with the need to succeed and not only was the music vital - check the killer horn blasts on Weekend Love - the tunes had inspired lyrics like "...there must have been something special in my pop's crotch".

Strategys talents were respected early on; his first guest appearance being alongside Roots Manuva on the Track Trade Study which featured on the LP From the Country.

Joining forces with Konny Kon amoungst others, he joined up with legendary Mank hiphop supercrew the Microdisiacs and released material with them working from their base up north. Several releases from Broke ´n´ English made soon some noise and helped their status escalate. Slowly but surely the boys have been deservedly gaining recognition and a reputation for having one of the hottest live shows in the country. 2007 their full length debut "subject 2 status" was released, with a self-tribute to the art work of the first EP. This 18 track Manc opus features previous favourites such as Squeeze and last years smash single Tryin as well as more recent bigguns such as Who's that Kid? and This is our Life. Listen to their music and you can hear the northern accents, but furthermore that besides the big british heads like Roots Manuva, Ty, The Streets etc. there are more ill acts who know how to rock.

Jingle Jangle

BUT - and this is a big BUT (hee hee) - he is changing so much and being so personable lately!  Just the past 3 days or so he has been sitting up for extended periods on his own and playing with his toys AND reaching for his bottle and guiding it into his mouth!  crazy.

Here is a video of the new bottle grabbing  *WATCH VIDEO HERE*

and evidence of the cuteness

 and continuing with my Charleston recap in pictures...

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PAM & RICHARD'S WEDDING DAY - MAY 2nd, 2008 * CHARLESTON, SC

The boys

Thank goodness for Grandma's

my girls

shagging with Kyle

MORE PICS IN A BIT!  XO

Le célèbre label indépendant Ninja Tunes vient d’atteindre l’âge adulte, de quoi rendre fier ses fondateurs Johnathan More et Matt Black, les deux membres des Coldcut. Mars 2008, la maison-reine-mère, abritant sous son parapluie les sous-labels Big Dada Recordings et Counter, publie son nouveau catalogue, « You Don’t Know », 5^e volet de la série Ninja Cuts.

Cette compilation triple-CD rassemble pas moins des 50 meilleures créations (dans leurs versions originales ou remixées ainsi que 9 inédits) édités par notre label anglais, avec notamment un panorama des récentes sorties (Cinematic Orchestra, Ty, le millésimé Sound Mirrors des Coldcut, Fink et The Heavy) et signatures (Ghislain Poirier, DJ Kentaro, Bonobo et le petit dernier, Cadence Weapon).

Voici, dans l’ordre numérique, ce qui vous attend dans les trois menus.

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Le premier disque peut se définir comme une playlist idéale alternant Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Electronica, Rock et Folk. Les morceaux se suivent et ne ressemblent à aucun autre, pourtant on y retrouve une cohésion certaine, celle qui fait l’identité musicale de Ninja Tune.

Ça commence par le maxi tout frais « Blazin’ » de Ghislain Poirier, amputé des sonorités electro-dancehall par les Allemands de Modeselektor, pour enchaîner sur du Roots Manuva dernier cru. La liste continue : le « Nightlife » de Bonobo ‘reconstruit’ par Zero dB, l’inventeur Daedelus et le duo infernal Mr Scruff & Quantic.

C’est vers le milieu du disque que l’ambiance dancefloor finit par éclater des enceintes à travers un mix infiniment discret : le monstrueux « Gadget Funk » des Herbaliser transite sur l’instrumental déchaîné de « Getting Dumb » de Cadence Weapon, partageant la même piste avec le Switch remix de « Bump » de Spank Rock, en plein sur le couplet d’Amanda Blank !

C’est la folie générale jusqu’au virage rock indé avec The Heavy , puis re-bifurcation du côté hip-hop jazzy  (« Epistomology Suite 1 » des Diplo). La fin du CD s’adoucit sensiblement à partir du morceau de Fink (« Pretty Little Thing ») avant que les Cinematic Orchestra, Amon Tobin et John Mathias rendent l’atmosphère littéralement planante et instrumentale (au sens propre et musical du terme).

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Le ‘disc 2’ s’agit d’un portofolio reliant Hip Hop aux accents anglais, Abstract et Trip Hop. La majeure partie de ce disque est un kaléidoscope de ce qui se fait de mieux au sein de la scène britannique, regroupés parmi d’autres perles rares venues d’ailleurs.

Le Grime (ce mélange de rap et dubstep) est à l’honneur en début d’album avec le « Chin High » de Roots Manuva (dans sa version ‘Manuvadelics’) et « No Qualms (re-vox) » du mentor Wiley, avant de passer par un « Drop Audio » signé The Qemists et deux extraits à la suite des Coldcut, « Just for the Kick » et « Walk a Mile in my Shoes » (revu par Tiga pour l’occasion), extraits du millésimé Sound Mirrors édité en 2006. Quelques raretés - les fameuses - sont dispatchées dans le tracklisting : un live des Cinematic Orchestra (« Rites of Spring »), le « Blah Blah » du slammeur américain Mike Ladd (enregistré en 98 pour l’anecdote) et le remix signé Orgasmic de « Travailler » du groupe électro-rap frenchy TTC.

Autres tracks incontournables : le clin d’œil rendu par DJ Shadow au producteur vedette de la maison Stones Throw ( « Bring Madlib Up ») et le mix house ultra-groovy de « Pat Song » de Pest.

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Le 3^e CD est sans aucun doute le plus instrumental de tous. Hormis les remixes du démentiel « Free » de DJ Kentaro (featuring Spank Rock) et de « Wait A minute » de Ty, ainsi que « Fear the Labour » de Oneself et le « Say Goodbye » final par Bigg Jus, tous les morceaux sont quasiment instrumentaux (à l’exception de « Breathe » des Cinematic Orchestra privé de beat dans son remix nippon), et se suivent continuellement sans linéarité, comme une météo qui changerait entre teintes soulfuls, des éclaircies exotiques et chaleureuses, des courant d’air frais, quelques légers nuages annonciateurs de mélancolie,… Des noms au hasard : Ammoncontact, Blockhead, Fog, Bonobo…

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Ces lignes ne sont qu’un modeste descriptif de ce que recèle cette fantastique compilation. Les maxi-singles ont été écartés au profit de remixes réalisés par des figures réputées de la scène DJ internationale, et chaque morceaux qui y figurent ont été sélectionnés avec soin pour garantir cet éclectisme indéfinissable. Le mieux serait de jeter un œil sur la trackliste complète ou dans le meilleur des cas vous l’écouter, en vous rappelant qu’il s’agit juste d’un aperçu de la richissime trésorerie de Ninja Tunes.

Pour information, Big Dada Recordings a sorti sa rétrospective discographique et vidéographie complète (!) de Big Dada Recordings avec Well Deep, paru en Octobre 2007.