Category Archives: drama
(All photos Courtesy of Princess Photography: 716.837.4822) Call Today!!
Shouts out to the Links Organization and their selfless and relentless efforts to raise money for Student Scholarships. Most recently, The Links organized another successful party with a purpose, with the Harlem Renaissance as the theme and back drop with young and seasoned guests alike, dressed in Zuit Suits and Flapper dresses. My wife and I had a delightful time, as we had to perform Cab Calloways’ “Minnie the Moocher,” hence the Bumble Bee Zuit suit. NOTE: Great JOB to Sundra and Janessa!!
Continue reading
1 comment | tags: cab calloway, cam, harlem, holiday, jones, links | posted in dope stuff, drama
Sorry for putting the kicks in your face, but after all the walking, my “dawgs were talking.” Fresh off the Vans Warped Tour 2008, with a little time to reflect. Much love and respect to the “DTR45 Crew” for hitting the road and making it fun, memorable and tolerable. There’s nothing worse than traveling or hanging with a bunch of clowns for an extended amount of time. So I thank the intelligent minds that traveled along.
Thanks Yall! 
J LoPro (Mr. Blame it on me. It’s cool!), A1 (Mr. Where in the world is A1?), Sean Harwell (Mr. I Can Sell an iPod to Steve Jobs) and T1X (Mr. Passing in the Right Lane is Illegal).
Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis were incredibly “HOT.” I’m not using “hot” as a slang word for “great time, dope, fun or exciting…I’m talking 95 degrees with humidity Hot! But to be clear, despite the heat, we met good people and had great time!
The days went pretty much like this:
Check-in time: 10am or earlier to find out what time our performance was going to be.
Sharpies: We wrote what the performance time on small flyers and canvased the parks hitting anyone who “looked” like they knew what hip-hop was
Hustle: Pushed Cd’s and tees all day and networked
Show: Performed. Do the daayumm thang!!
Post-Show: Mo’ and Mo’ Hustling. Sean was top seller by far. Killin’ em!
A mighty Thank You again to all of the locals who came out to show support at the Darien Lake show. Congrats to Drew and Mike (contest winners) for not only “knowing their hip hop” but for being able to take a day off work and hopefully found some time to enjoy the festivities.
Lastly, Peace to the Entire Skull Candy crew, Add.verse, Othello, Dante, Pirate Signal, Joel, Two Mics and a Kick, Twilight Sentinels, DJ TopSpeed for the heavy rotation, Geoff with GFist (great hook-up homie), and ummm a whole lot of others. Oh yeah, Kyle and Kurt…Hope to talk with you guys soon.
2 comments | tags: every time I die, gym class heroes, kicks, warped tour | posted in drama, Music, photographs
READ
This just in…”Buffalo is #1 for arts and culture of mid-sized cities.” Interesting how a place so severly crippled by the cuts to arts programs, still ranks number one among medium sized cities. One would be lead to believe that the city is stirring with culture and thriving with budding and well recognized/appreciated artists. Hmmm! For those of you that live in Buffalo, PLEASE put a brother down with the special 3-D glasses, because I must be missing all the good parts of the movie.
In 2005, the city was badly wounded by a deep budget cut, where the first thing to bleed out were the art programs and cultural societies, which still haven’t fully recovered. I was once the Assistant for Community programs for one of the most recognized Art galleries in the world, right here in Buffalo, and I painfully watched 20% of the staff get walked out in one day due to the cuts. I also witnessed an entire community of well-deserving children and parents, already economically and emotionally strained, become abandoned overnight by the withdraw of the support of the FREE art programs afforded them.
Since that time, there have been a couple of improvements, but why is it, that as a Buffalo resident, I still find it hard to experience the joy and jubilation of the arts that its been recently recognized for?
I WILL say this, the Buffalo Society of Artists surely opened my eyes to some really hardcore, dedicated and talented individuals, whom refuse to let the “arts flower” wither, whether in the cold of winter or the heat of summer, the cultural rose will stand strong and the torch will remain lit. There are armies of artists, art administrators and institutions that are doing ALL that they can do to make keep this city #1 among mid-sized cities in the arts, with very little money, and we must all support and applaud their efforts, because it is them alone that fight the good fight for what remains.
1 comment | tags: #1, american, art, artists, buffalo, culture, rose | posted in art, drama, life, love
I’m a BIG Ultimate Fighter fan (UFC), which comes on Spike TV and Pay Per View depending on the fight. It’s very gruesome at times, but what I admire is the discipline, the physical conditioning and the level of mental preparation in these guys. You hear people talk about having the “Eye of the Tiger” and the “Heart of a Lion” etc etc…but these cats are on an entirely different level of determination. These professional fighters get paid decent sums of money to entertain crowds of fight fanatics, millions even, both in audience numbers and salaries.
But there is one particular fighter who is absolutely terrifying to me. 6’2″ and 240 lbs Kimbo Slice. This dude gave me nightmares, literally, the first time I saw him fight. He is a “YouTube made” STAR. He started out as a street brawler, who would fight for thousands of dollars against any tough guy who thought he was “bad a$$” enough to take him on. I got chills watching this guys killer instinct in real-life fight mode captured on video and posted online. You can check out the fights online if you WANT to…but, trust me..the dude is an absolute monster. If I hadn’t eaten in days, and he was the only thing standing in between me and a buffet…I’d be skin and bones…and enjoying “sleep” for dinner. For Real!
The good news is, he is a talented professional Mixed Martial Artists and no longer fighting in the streets, and gets paid to do it in the ring. And get this, the guy had an academic scholarship to college, so he’s no slouch, contrary to what you may assume. He seems like a bright and intelligent cat…but those hands of stone are sho’nuff deadly. Check him out on Jimmy Kimmel.
INTERVIEW
CLICK FOR VIDEO
1 comment | tags: bird, fight, jimmy, kevin, kimbo, kimmel, knock-out, lil' wayne, street fight, UFC | posted in drama, life, Video
I’ve heard it said that “shopping can become and addiction.”
Here are a couple suggestions for you fabric fiends out there:
1) Try scraping the ice from your car windshield in 7 degree weather in ONLY your undergarments (undies, bra, tee, socks, etc.).
Desired result: You will realize that you dont need something NEW…you just need something ON!
Negative result: You may be SO addicted to shopping that you will sit your bare bottom, and house shoe covered feet into the 5 degree Farenheit car with freezing leather seats and proceed to the nearest Macy’s, TJ Maxx or Marshall’s to pick up a new wardrobe.
2) Take a look at some homeless person that you tend to see as ‘less fortunate” and recognize their contentment. They arent worried about how they look to anyone. We tend to call them crazy when we see them talking to themselves and laughing and smiling, meanwhile the joke may actually be on US and we are the source of their daily humor and comedy relief!
2 comments | tags: addicted, bare, chilly, cold, Gear, homeless, joke, need, shopping, store, weather | posted in drama, laughter, life, photographs
Have you looked at yourself today? Have you told yourself how special you are?
We are taught throughout our childhood to fear, praise, admire and learn about everything outside of ourselves, and discover as an adult that we don’t know anything about ourselves. We know who Santa and his reindeer are. We know that Bunny’s lay eggs of various colors. (Sorry if I ruined your dreams there) Whether 20, 30, 40 or 50 years old, you have lived with yourself and actually know very little about who you are. What do you like to do? What do you love to do? What gifts were bestowed upon you at birth? What is it that you do better than anyone else? What brings you happiness? It’s truly shameful and painful to realize that you have been living and existing by the standards of those around you, whether they be family, friends or strangers. Imagine living in a home for 30 years or so, and every time you blow a circuit/fuse, you have to hire someone to walk and simply turn your circuit breaker back to ON, when THAT you can do yourself. That’s how I feel about those of us who live in our bodies for however many years and can’t tell you what makes them tick, what they love, what they’re good at or where their internal circuit breakers are so to speak.
I encourage you all to have a talk with yourself today. Look in the mirror and check out the person whom you never really got a chance to know. Other people see you, but you have been turning a blind eye to yourself, and that self needs some attention. More than just wiping your face with a cloth in the morning. Look into your eyes and start off by saying “Hello or What’s Up (name) …It’s a pleasure to meet you!” When you say that, you will see what other people see when they meet you, as the wonderful and special person you are.
Begin to learn about YOU!
Love
Edreys
3 comments | tags: dark, deep, happiness, image, love, me, mirror, pleasure, self | posted in drama, laughter, life, love
We can all spare a little change. Whether regarding change in the world, in your personal life or shoving a little change into the hand of someone who is in need, we can all spare some change.
Well, today people are hitting the polls and casting their votes for the next presidential candidate. I won’t share my ENTIRE view on how I feel about voting, but I can sum it up like this:
It’s amazing to me how people still think they have the power to ELECT someone. Now before people get all crazy and telling me about how it’s our right and how many people died to vote, the same argument that’s always presented when this is a topic, lets be clear that people did not die ONLY to vote. Voting was only a facet, a page, “one” hair follicle on the nasty balding head of injustice that people were fighting and dying for. Civil Rights in its entirety was the fight.
Now, that we can all vote, women as well as those of african decent, I feel and have always felt it to be a slap in the face that we aren’t actually able to ELECT anyone. Elect means to choose something or someone by a vote. Since we can’t vote for just anyone whom we feel may be qualified, for example, (the awesome professor you had in college, or the kind bus driver or whomever…) it seems like such a joke. We aren’t able to “elect” whoever we want, we can only “SELECT.” It should be called the Presidential Selection. So to that effect, it’s like choosing which is going to harm you less since you know they all play on the same team in the end. It’s like being a vegetarian and all they have on the menu is: A) Steak, B) Chicken, or C) Pork. What do you do, just enjoy the water they serve and not choose at all..OR…SELECT the one that will harm you least?
go vote
2 comments | tags: clinton, election, Food, obama, polls, pork, selection, vegetarian, vote | posted in drama, life, photographs
Just in case you haven’t seen the incredible debut video, or for those of you that STILL can’t get enough of “LIKING” it, below are the links for your ipods and zunes.
http://www.edreysmusic.com/podcasts/ilikeitipod.mp4
http://www.edreysmusic.com/podcasts/ilikeitzune.mp4
This Happy Meal is on the house. In the words of my nephew Reekie Deek…”Uncle Dreys…I LIKE IT!”
1 comment | tags: debut, happy meal, i like it, ipod, microsoft, superbowl, Video, youtube, zune | posted in dope stuff, drama, Gear, life, Music, Video
In honor of the MLK Jr. Weekend, here is a pic of the bus seat that my dad and I worked on together for an event called “Seats for Social Justice.” Many of my friends know the story about this chair, the work that went into it, the many ideas it spawned for the artists that jacked my style afterwards, and the contest surrounding it. I guess the professional term for “biting” is “Appropriation.”
The bus seat was a nasty, dark, moss-like color that you should remember from back in the day of riding the cheese bus to school. The challenge was to create a unique, creative work of art with a message relating to civil rights and the climate of the civil rights movement.
The chair is hand-painted with images from the civil rights era with people being attacked by fire hoses and police dogs with Rosa Parks sitting in the front seat of the bus looking out of the window as she was watching history being made as well as becoming a part of history herself.
The back side of the chair has a silhouette of Rosa with her jail number across her chest. We also built a faux prison door, made of pvc pipes and paint.
enjoy…appropriators
Photo provided by Kuroji Ntu
Be sure to check out his work out as well.
Leave a comment | tags: art, black history month, boycott, bus, civil rights, dog bites, dr. martin luther king, jr., rosa parks | posted in art, dope stuff, drama, life
Here’s something for you “Movie Go Crazy Heads.” The Sundance Film Festival is coming up this month with the high-anticipation of some really great films for 2008, one of them being the Black List Documentary
Directed by a well-seasoned, not to mention famous photographer with works in countless galleries and by a highly regarded former NY Times film critic known for his unique style of journalism and legendary commentary, Black List is the film to look for in the months to follow. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell have cooked up an Independent Film CLASSIC…and I haven’t even seen it yet. LOL!
But let me explain why it’s a winner already:
√ Finally a production featuring 20 positive African Americans from politicians to athletes to actors…DOPE
√ I LOVE Documentaries/Biography and Autobiography related films and books
√ I Love photography and films that are shot with an artistic aesthetic
√ Black is my favorite color
√ I LOVE INDEPENDENCE! Anything independent is pretty much DOPE!
Lastly, every movie + film should have some theme music, and thats what sweetens the deal. My “little brother from another mother” Neal Evans was responsible for scoring the Black List. Also, his good friend and former Buffalonian (my hometown), Lukas Hauser is credited with editing the film. Now THATS dope! So cheers to the heros of this independent film.”Every hero needs some theme music.” – I’M GONNA GET YOU SUCKA
If you aren’t familiar with Neal, or Soulive…or Timothy Greenfield-Sanders…or Elvis Mitchell…ummm…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? CLICK THE LINKS WOULDYA…!!
So check it out, read about it, talk about it. Peace!!
1 comment | tags: african american, black celebrities, black list, chris rock, elvis, elvis mitchell, famous, film, soulive, sundance film festival, timothy greenfield-sanders | posted in dope stuff, drama, life, Video
