Playboy bunny's infamous, goofy little brother...

...now available in a henna tattoo.

Beverly hills sunset

My family names

My daughters art

My lunch walk

Look familiar, Pentagram?

My lunch walk

My lunch walk

Cereal art

Natalie Thai lunch

the older i get

The older I get, the more I fear dying. Not that I fear the pain associated with whatever may have caused my death, but it's more fear of not being here anymore. I imagine myself laying there, on my last breath, thinking of my daughter who will grow up without her dad, and my son who I didn't even get to have a conversation with. Of course, my wife, which at that point, I would have let her down; by dying. By not being there anymore. I doubt they can't live without me, but I'm confident that my dying will impact them negatively.

Now, I don't participate in dangerous behavior or put myself in situations where I might end up dead. Or do I? Is something causing my increasing fear of this? Let's see: driving 3.5 hours a day on the Los Angeles freeways–inevitable. And really, not that dangerous. I'm a very conscious driver, with a ton of experience and an actively aware driver. I actually watch out for others' mistakes as they are happening and adjust.

Kickboxing? Nah, I don't even really fight. I hardly spar. And I wear a cup. Mountain biking? Not hardcore anymore. I don't ride in the real mountains with bears and mountain lions anymore. Do I frequent bars with tough-asses doing the equivalent of an ape banging his chest to impress the ladies? Again, no.

It's the simple, safe, seemingly safe activities that make me think. Jogging tonight, I kept looking out for loose pitbulls, or a pack of wild dogs on their night prowl. I don't want my family to visit me in the hospital and be afraid to look at me because of how the pack left me. Or visit me in the mortuary. I also kept running back up to the sidewalk from the street in case a drunk driver might swerve and run my ass over. Or for that matter, a distracted mother with kids. There are no lights for a good three blocks, so I also feared slipping on some broken glass, causing me to fall, putting my hand down onto–a piece of broken glass, sliting my wrist. I envisioned myself not making it home, but making it just around the corner, before finally bleeding to death and thinking of how I let my family down. "I'm sorry wife, I'm sorry my son, I'm sorry my daughter for allowing this to happen. Please forgive me. Sorry I couldn't say 'Good bye.'"

Let's get something straight right about now. I don't actually think I'm going to die soon, in fact I think I'm going to live to see my 100th birthday. Really. Like I mentioned, I live a relatively healthy lifestyle. I'm full of health. The doctor told me. So what's my beef? I don't know, but I think it's normal. Like when a teen thinks he's invincible because his brain's not fully developed yet, and he has not developed his frontal cortex, enabeling him to think things logically. It's probably normal to feel responsible for your family, and therefore fear not being there more and more.

Natalie Thai lunch

new solid steel show coming today!

New Solid Steel coming up today. Look out for it here!

Well, there goes my fun,

Lunch in East L.A.

I'll have a brain burrito, a guts taco, and one ass cake for dessert, please.

My Devan

Don't stop trying.

Which one of you chicks is going home with me?

Neicksm

Umb

my Dia art.

@ the Grove

Tree lighting ceremony.

Beverly hills sunset

Daily view of my work balcony

Test

Try

Friday August 29th 2008

new solid steel hits the streets today. yes, it actually hits the streets.

it's a classic. i'm sure someone somewhere will post a high-res, high-def, high-fidelity file somewhere soon. someone.

stay tuned.

let's get this puppy moving!

i'm inviting others to contribute to this award winning blog. wait, no awards yet, but i'm sure they're on their way. c'mon people, new SOLID STEEL coming this friday, so let's get some heated arguments started eh?

i'll start: DUBSTEP IS THE SHIT! TUCK FRANCE!

that's PC code. figure it the fuck out.

it's friday- that means: NEW SOLID STEEL

i have yet to listen, but we are spoiled with another vintage SS. 1993.

don't know about the UK, but L.A. was in its 'undergrounds' state. double-hit mickey's, bass by boom boy, ms. kitty, dj doc martin, james brown is dead, etc.

who do dis?

I am beatbum. I grew up in Los Angeles and began DJing hip hop at 15 when I purchased my Technics 1200s and Numark mixer. We're talking mid-eighties here. I was very much into turntable tricknology ie scratching, transforming, accapella mixes, remixes, instrumental beat f-ups, double record tricks, etc from listening to KDAY, L.A.'s original hip hop station.

In the late eighties, hip hop was quickly giving way to a new type of dance music, "house". "What is this weak-ass "house" nonsense?!" I thought. I wasn't liking that simple 4x4 beat at all! However, things were changing. One trip to a record shop opened my ears to some guy rapping over a house beat with a killer bassline. It could've been Fast Eddie, or someone else, but I knew I could give House a shot.

I had discovered Hip House. House parties became "House" parties where I began playing hip house tracks. A favorite was Heavy D's "We got our own thing" accapella over any killer beat. Hip house lead the way to regular House mixing where I included scratching (tasteful, not DJ Show-off style) in my sets. Ahh, the good ole' House Music party days of the late 80s, early 90s.

House lead to Acid-House, then straight to Acid, and eventually to the harder, Techno. Breakbeats were the shit during the 90's underground scene in L.A. (known to the media as "Raves") lol @ Fox Undercover.

In around 93, I was done DJing and began making my own tracks. Messed with a Roland drum machine, an Emu sampler, some keyboards, some real bongos for live drumming, and Cubase. Been listening to Solid Steel since around '96.
** New music never gets old. **

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BEAT, BABY!

Alrighty then!

This is where anyone can write anything about any Solid Steel, any music, any artist, any anything. You have a relationship issue, bring it on!