2004 flashback
one of the most memorable moments in 2004 was performing at the Poetry Jam at the Los Angeles Film Fest. It was the precursor to a free outdoor screening of Krush Groove.

Here are pics from that event.


Pocho Joe and Melinda Corazon Foley


me and my kuya winston emano


mikethepoet


besskepp


brother gimel


yup, that's us


the place was packed. what you don't see is the three levels of the complex- it had people standing on those levels watching us. and finally, the shot of us in the end...

the pregnant lady makes it to the blog again

bunnysahtva: "cinema paradiso"

Alfie says: ok, a love movie? cool... i'll check it out

bunnysahtva: omg..
bunnysahtva: this movie is a million times better than "il postino"

Alfie says: cool.. cuz "il postino" had me sleepy

bunnysahtva: ok
bunnysahtva: you need to work on your ADD
bunnysahtva: don't succumb to that crap that you can't do anything about it
bunnysahtva: you're missing out on a whole lot


well gawddamn.. it's like that huh?

rolling with a pregnant woman

an aim chat at 1am:
Alfie says: fucking aye!!!
Alfie says: i want a cinnamon roll
bunnysahtva: lol
bunnysahtva: are you sure you're not pregnant?
Alfie says: sympathy pains
Alfie says: sympathy cravings
Alfie says: aaaaaaaaaaaah you suck
Alfie says: i eat like a pregnant woman lol

rolling with a homie who is pregnant is an interesting situation. i instantaneously have an eating buddy, at all times. no matter what time of the day, no matter where i am at, if i want some conversation with my meal, i can always rely on vanessa.

it's cool. i mean, from time to time, vanessa would aim me and say "hey! baby's hungry! let's eat!' in fact, for awhile we had a period of time where we were rating all the steak nachos in the greater los angeles area.

and then, she gets cravings...

cravings
sounds like a dream come true? right, it can be. until cravings kick in. one night, we had dinner. i don't remember when and what we just had, but it was definitely was a hearty meal.

"i want ice cream!"

ok, well, i don't really eat ice cream cuz being that i am asian (and i use that in the loosest way possible cuz many of you out there know i relate more to "pacific islander"... ok, asian enough to where i am lactose intolerant). i protested lightly. next thing i know, we are heading to westwood for di di reese's.

ok, di di reese is this place where you can get a huge ice cream sandwiches made with huuuuuge cookies for only a buck.

i ceased to protest. besides, i wasn't going anywhere that night so i can be happy and gassy at home.

anyways...

we ate it.. and after the hearty meal, and the ice cream sandwich...she wanted a hot dog.

so i take her away before we had a hot dog for dessert.

the cambodian donut
as we drove away, she said, "baby wants a donut."

"you have got to be kidding."

"no, i want a donut. don't lie, you want a donut too."

"ok, fine, well there is one right there.'

she looks "no, that sucks. i want a donut from a cambodian"

((Pause))

me, "whhhhat?"

"it has to be a donut from a shop owned by cambodians"

( loooooong pause )

"whyyyyyyyy?"

"cause it tastes much better than the regular donut shops. its something about the oil"

(((pause, well, by this time, i am just cracking up)))

we pass by pink's on melrose...

"oh loooook! hot dogs!!!"

never truly alone
i have been surrounded by hundreds of people the past few nights. about a couple of dozen of them i hug. a few more than that, i have had short conversations.

but i always end up lonely.

and i am not talking about "without a man" lonely. that is not the case. a woman can feel lonely with a man too. i am meaning the kind of connection where outside the smoke, outside the booze, outside the live music and electricity in the air, a connection where two people connect and be like "yea, i know what you mean."

luckily, vanessa was there for me. she swooped me up and over wahoo's steak nachos, we talked... and talked.. and i purged... and eventually felt better. i wanted to share my experience, process them, assess them with someone other than the voices in my head.

and i just missed the talks. the bc women are in their different realms, solidifying their world. much love and support to them but i truly do miss them.

and tonight, i had my roommate mitzi. we went to the temple bar to watch meshell ndegeocello play bass for a band called black gold. every damn body came out for this. it was mass lovely. sy smith and medusa came on and did a set. tonight was the very thing that i needed to get myself ready for more inspiration, more great energy, and more trailblazing.

and after all that is said and done, i give thanks and praise to the Almighty. i really am not alone. whenever i do feel lonely, it never fails that someone, somewhere comes out of the woodworks and keeps me company, whether it be a phone call, an email, a visit to my door, or just meeting new folks. give thanks...

catching up
not too long ago, gabe from abyssinian creole came by with sista onion and ricanstruction, a progressive puerto rican punk group from nyc. they had a westcoast tour not too long ago and i was blessed enough to meet up with gabe, spend time with him and meet the whole crew.

love and revolution... such a lovely combination. they work very well together...


this is gabe. he and his crew stayed with me during the last bboy summit here in los angeles. they are going to drop their vinyl out soon so be prepared! it's the hot ish!


and this be the homegirl, onion. she is organizing in getting a grassroots book published. its a collection of letters from women in hip hop to the female youth.


notforprophet with the vocals





had to put this in. it was toooo cute. gabe and i reppin' los angeles at imix bookstore

aaaaaand... i was blessed with the honor to design the back of ab creole's album. angel rocks the cover album. (check out her site! she comes sick with it!!!)

and i contributed this...

catching up

it's roughly around 4:20am and i am up. nothing new. i tried to go to bed at around 1am after reading 30 pages of george orwell's 1984, but i was up at 3:30 tossing and turning.

i took marc's suggestion and tried to booze it up a bit. it almost felt like it was working but my slumber state turned into a drunken state, as i started to reminesce about every pass love relationship. and not with adoration, mind you. remember, i had liquor in the system so each moment felt like a track from meshell n'degeocello's "bitter" with me putting a fist in the air saying "whyyyy, god, whyyyy?". a bit dramtic,yea? ok, fine i didn't do that but i thought it added to the mood. needless to say, i need to put the bottle away. it's a reason why i am not a drinker.

so, now i am up, catching up with the blog. because several of you say to me, "how come you didn't update your blog?"

yadda yadda yadda...

tree trimming at the bergamot station
ok, so this is a bit late as christmas has been long gone.

frohawk two-feathers had some work up at the bergamot station. this show showcased established and upandcoming artists and their rendition of the holiday ornament.


the happy campers


no vodka, with vodka











frohawk's ornaments...


has balls!!!


this woman was hella interesting. she really truely believe that the puppet she made had some sort of life. scary.. phloe calls them things "jujus".

azikwe's solo show
afterwards, we headed over to the downtown area to check out azikwe's show. azikwe is this dope painter that has been making headlines in the spoken word realm and now, the art world. awesome brushstrokes, application of paint. phloe is impressed by his line work.

but of course. i take more pictures of the homies than the work...





jedi and his optical illusion trick... with me, he does the peace sign


the homies...

afterwards, there were spoken word. that is when we bolted. nothing against spoken word. but it was a long night.

ok, that is good enough for now. i will play catch up later.

meanwhile, i am gonna make some coffee and work. might as well, since i am up now...