Favorite Song In The World....Right Now : Zan - Backbone

I have no idea why this wasn't or hasn't become a big jam. I love this chune! I found this by accident. I have a blackhole of soca songs and I tend to play my music on shuffle. This came up the other day as I was speeding along Long Island [SHHHHHHHHHH!!] and I jammed to it from West Hempstead to Brooklyn.

Jam with me :)

Favorite song in the world right now: Careful - Lil Bitts/ Satellite - DMB

At any given time I always have a hyper hype-up song and a slow smooth song that I consider my favorite songs in the world at that particular given time. It just so happens, that this week both of them happen to be both Soca, so in Socanese, that translates into "Road March Tune" and "Groovy Tune" (sometimes pronounced "chune." "CH" enunciation is also acceptable. I have a lot of very well educated friends, can't say "Tuesday" to save their infants life, its a cultural thing).

Hype up song - "Palance" by JW and Blaze
Every year there's a debate which song is going to win Soca Monarch or the Roach March for Carnival. This year, unquestionably, one song irrefutably mashed every Fete and the two days on the road in Trinidad Carnival. Palance in it of itself, needs its own blog. Seriously and truly (which essentially mean the same thing, but we like coupling them for literary theatrical purposes.......and yes we refer to ourselves in the pluralar from time to time - straight english language masacration.....and NO spellcheck! I wont capitalize "english" HMPH!....I digress) there is no video on youtube, google, msn or any other tube for that matter that will do justice to true Palancation. Much like The Matrix......"you must see it for yourself." The video comes about as close as you can get in 2 dimension, but MARK MY WORDS!!! YOU HAVE TO GO TO A SOCA FETE BEFORE 2O1O ENDS!! Bug you're west indian friends and tell em "I wanna go to a soca fete [pronounced fet]" they'll know what you're talking about. I wouldn't bother my Jamaican friends if I were you. There are very few that can tolerate soca for more than 15 minutes, if they do not absolutely abhor the music. You can try, you just may get a tainted view. So far, everyone I've converted to Soca, sans most Jamaicans, loves it.
I know a lot of ppl who blast "Eye of the Tiger" before work, meetings, presentations or the gym get them hyped and in the zone. I could easily press 300 lbs with this song in my ears.

I'll return to this video another post so we can discuss some of the blatant tomfoolery going on in this video.



Groovy "Chune" - "Careful "by Little Bitts

This song didn't really grab me in a fete or anything like that. It was more so one of those songs that sneak up on you during down time, either playing in a car or just on a cd while I'm at home blazaying or plotting world domination and various nefarious activities of the such. I literally woke up this morning with the single-minded intention of finding this song on one of my cd's and finding out who it was.



Official is cool, but I'm really feeling this unplugged version. She took it back to youtube webcam videos in messy bedrooms [sorry, but thats one of my pet peeves - if your going to do the whole set up of camera and computer, A:take the time to clean your room or B: throw the mess BEHIND the camera. My ex reminded me yesterday that I'm critical of details, yet within 2 minutes of seeing me for the first time in 2 yrs says "your shoe is scuffed" on the bottom front tip.........arse!].I love Little Bitts now. Her voice is so intoxicating to my ears. Nothing compares to raw vocals.

Sidenote: I had to really think long n hard to shape that last sentence bc I know the perverse would have had a field day.

Sidernote: I notice the sidenotes are starting to evolve into "insidenotes" as not to interrupt the thought or paragraph. I'mma have to start a "Save the Sidenote" foundation. Charitable contributions or in-kind donations are appreciated :)

Sidestenote: Honorable mention goes out to last weeks favorite song in the world right now, but I didnt post:

PEAK PERFORMANCE SEASON - gettin ready for Carnival!

Last year I became a health nut for a number of reasons: health concerns, a "medical situation," high cholesterol, hereditary traits, trips to Miami, Jamaica & Trinidad, 300 - just to name a few. I realized that I've been in my "Off Season" for too long and have fallen TERRIBLY out of shape (to each his own, everyone has their own standards). I lost a total of 15 lbs of body mass. Time to get back peak performance. Winter and Summer is the death of fitness to even the most die hard fitness junkies and gym rats. Everyone runs to the gym in the spring, but its harder to stay there when you'd rather be doing something out in the sun. And as the weather gets colder, unless the gym is in your job, school or building, it takes olympic gold medal discipline to keep it up............or really huge goals....

In less than three months I'll be going back to Trinidad to play mass in Carnival 2k9. There is no font nor exclamation in english, arabic, hebrew, mandarin or germaic that can express my level of excitement. I went last year and I must say it was arguably the BEST week of my life. I only say arguably bc I'm leaving some room for error in the event that I'm forgetting some super phenom that happened to have slipped my mind. I mean, sure graduation is ahsum.....weddings.....relationship things..... maybe for a day or two......BUT SUN!!!!! This whole backside week was just pure and unadulterated fun!

I mean seriously! (did I say that already...nope) Every single day was paradise and bliss. We ate like vikings on some of the most exotic tasty cuisines, drank until we were no longer capable of intoxication (btw, STAG- "A man's beer"- is the greatest beer ever brewed...and I loathe beer) , danced, partied and limed all day - "lime" is a West Indian term for "chill" but more carefree if you can imagine.

Here are a few tips for optimum fun if you go. Now I can't guarantee that everyone who goes will have as much a blast (although I can't imagine how you can possibly noz that up) but the key for me were the ppl we went down with. Nothing was planned until we got there, but we had two locals with us who knew where and what everything was (note to self....for optimum fun, travel with at least 2 locals who know the place, not just someone who lived there 8 yrs ago). Here was the basic planning process...."hey wanna do this? Sure why not? Aiigh, coo!" SEEMLESS!! (note to self.... for optimum fun, travel with drama free, attitude free easy-going ppl)

"OKAY. So Raphael, why is there a half nekked guy on your page lookin like a black ass spartan?"

EXCELLENT QUESTION LITTLE TIMMY!!!!

SO this is the costume of the section that I'm playing with with the band TRIBE!! The name of the section is "Pheasant" and this is the male costume....I'll post the female costume later for future motivation. So on Carnival Tuesday, I'll be jumping down the road dressed like this... but with shoes on.


Now last year I played with Tribe as well, in a section called "Black Magic"


<------------------------and this was the costume, photo courtesy of TRIBE. I made this my facebook profile on September 5th, and from that date I never missed a week in the gym for over a year. My goal was to TRUMP this dude's physique in the photo and look way sexier than he did. And that was a very good motivator, as I said in Staying Motivated in the Gym....Part 1,
"1: get a clear mental image of what you want your body to look like.."

.........but this year.............

I don't know if the ppl at TRIBE watched "300" as often as I did, but these models this year?............. Talk about dangling a carrot [PAUSE]. Looks like I got my work cut out for me this year, bc this dude has more lean and definition than mass......... Me grimlock need new strategy. I'm working on a plan to combat this. Stay tuned and I'll keep yall posted on my 90 day regimen.........