My Guide to Classics 80's Arcades!

There's multiple things that I try to accomplish while I'm traveling the globe DJing which is of course finding records spots, eating the best burger, copin' some kicks and finding out if your town has a classic old school 80's style arcade. Not this new sh*t either! None of that Dance Dance Revolution crap or this put a dollar in nonsense, I'm talking about the official 25 cent joints. I've actually been collecting classic arcade machines since 1995 when I bought "Defender". Just like records, these arcades can be found in the most obscure small ass town that hasn't been hit yet, so over the course of a few different blogs I'll list the top arcades in the U.S. Normally I would start with #5 and work my way to #1 but in this case I'm starting right at the top, Porland Oregon has the "OFFICIAL" arcade, Ground Kontrol! Now this is the spot, I'm talking not only classic games from the 80's up but also a slew of pinball machines, all for a quarter! This place looks as though it was around in the 80's but it wasn't, its only been open a few years but it's set up to look classic. If I didn't know any better I would have thought it was straight outta the 80's, everything from the dark blue carpet to the wood. But what also makes this spot official is that there is a bar that opens after 7pm and they have live bands / dj's playing from time to time. I've definitly been known to jump on a plane from Philly to Portland just to spend the day playing video games, its alot more fun then wasting money in a D&B!

Cereal Conniseur

I consider myself to be a conniseur of many things but good ol' Saturday morning cereal is my shit! Which brings me to one of my favorites of the bunch, let me start by giving my top 5 cereals of all time (which I still eat to this day).

1. Franken Berry
2. Boo Berry
3. Count Chocula
4. Lucky Charms
5. Fruit Brute (discontinued)

This whole topic came about while I was watching Pulp Fiction for the 100th time and in true Tarrantino fashion he always throws something iconic in from the 70's. This time it was in a scence where Vincent Vega (Travolta)was taking Mia to this hippy drug dealers house where he was watching some 70's late nite tv and eating Fruit Brute ceral, this is classic shit! If I can take a trip back in a time machine it would definitly be good to have a box of this and watch a few Kung Fu flix on UHF channel 48.

Fruit Brute was discontinued in 1983.

The Art Of The Sticker

What happened to the sticker? The whole "art" of the sticker design and collecting is a culture within itself and in my opinion just as important as the product that it came with. From the Wacky Pack stickers of the 70's, the classic BMX logos of the 80's all the way up the 90's Hip Hop stickers these were always a great addition to your already important purchase. I miss the days of seeing these stickers all over the buses, trains, mailboxes and bathroom walls, theres a story to tell within each one.

Check the classic Triple 5 Soul and the Not From Concentrate stickers, classic NYC shit.

Coffee Table Status....."Sneaker Lover"

I remember a few years back watching an episode of MTV Cribs with Moby and they were at his residence, he made the statement that he's watched the show and nobody seems to have any books and I agree with you 100%. In todays age of reading and getting your info online people don't take the time out to stop at the news stand or book store to grab some reading material, not me though! The first thing you'll peep when you walk into my house is the ill selection of reading material on the coffee table, nothing too fancy though, just a few choice magazines and an occasional hardback piece on something of interests. So this months "coffee table status" goes to this dope little limited edition book that I cop'd called "Sneaker Lover" by Kiks Tyo that features photography by Yonehara Yasumasa. The book is all about sneakers and miniumally dressed women. Not many words but damn good pictures, definitly worthy of coffee table status for a month or so!

Classic Flyers

Its been a long time that I grabbed a flyer and was like damn, I definitly need to attend this event. Yes I'll get the occassional one where I would attend regardless of seeing the flyer or not but new flyers don't have the attraction like the classic ones. I've accumulated a nice collection of flyers from the vintage 80's paper flyers that you did at home and made mad photocopies of and then the dope early 90's New York parties which are some of the best events that I have ever gone to. There were mad spots that seem like they got lost in the shuffle and people don't really talk about anymore but these places had the ill DJ's, performances and all around classic Hip Hop vibe and feel. Some of the highlights for me was seeing Wu Tang Clan at The Muse...c'mon, the Muse??? Damn! Showbiz and AG doing "Soul Clap" and on the same bill was Organized Konfusion doing "Fudge Pudge" and Kris Kross doing "Jump". Or how about when our crew 2 Kannon performed at my favorite hangout "Homebase" with Common Sense doing "Take It EZ" while DJ Jazzy Joyce and Kid Capri rocked the 1's and 2's!! Its almost impossible to get shit jumpin off like this now but anyways here's a few joints.

Sneaker Pimp!

So its a crazy rainy day here in the 215th so I decided to go thru some stuff that I have accumulated over the years and I came across something special. I remember having these kicks as a kid, Im talking around the age of 6 years old but the memory is so clear like it was yesterday. This was way before your favorite teams or city had signature footwear!

Ohmega Watts Instore @ Access Records. San Diego

Found out my man Ohmega Watts and his crew was in town shooting a video and doing an instore @ Access records so you know I had to link up with him to support. Be sure to cop this brothers material or catch him while he's out touring he's definitly the complete package, DJ, MC, and producer. Check the audio clip of Ohmega rockin the mic while doing the drops on the 1's & 2's all in sync.

Top 5 Burger Spots!

For those that know, and those that don't Ynot and myself have been on this mission for the last few years to have the best Hamburger in all 50 states. During the course of our travels we've documented with pictures and video footage these tasty treats so be on the lookout for our review of "The Top 5 Burgers" in the United States.

Futura 2000

Ok the story goes like this, one night I'm out spinning an event at the Puma store and I go out to get some air, I walk a few paces down to take a peep at some window displays and something says to look at the the tags on the mailbox. I look at the box but its buffed clean then something says look down....hmmmm what do I see? Just like EdO G said..."I got to have it"!

Sneaker Collecting w/ Cormega

It seems that everyone is a collector of some sort these days, some do it because it is truly them, some to be in some sort of scene and others simply dont know why! Case in point the whole sneaker collecting explosion. You've got those that buy because its the limited / rare edition, those who buy just for the sake of saying that they have it and those that buy the straight up ugliest pair of shits which they'll never be able to wear!

A few years back I had the honor of entertaining one of the illest MC's, Cormega at my home to conduct an interview for our radio show, "The Formula" w/ The Science Patrol (www.radiovolta.org / Sundays 1pm-3pm est) that I do with my partners in crime Fredy Blast and DJ Primetime. While at my home we talked about various topics ranging from the status of the music industry, beefs, sneaker collecting, my extensive toy collection (which by the way Im still waiting to make the trade for that Rock'em Sock'em Robots for a pair of kicks he has!) and other things. Here's a snippt of the interview and his take on sneaker collectors.....Say word!

The Overusage of Colaborations

Is it me or are there more colaborations between companies that don't have any connection whatsoever to each other? Everything is footwear company x dog biscuit maker getting together to make the edible sneaker thats shaped like a dog bone?? When did this whole "urban street fashion" thing become the cool thing? Heads that were apart of this scene always rock'd the ill shit, now it seems as though "everything" and "everybody" is cool. Growing up in Philly in the 70's, 80's and 90's we were always about rockin the fresh footwear (Puma Clydes, Shelltoes, Top Tens, Concords, etc) I remember going to The Balcony which was the spot where you cop'd name belts, tshirts with the iron on lettering, Devil jeans, french cut slacks and other gear that you put together to fit your own style. No two people looked identical, even if they sported the same style outfits they rocked them totally different. I remember my cousin put me up on (which sounds wack now, but was dope in the 80's) taking the Lacoste emblem and glueing it to the outer left or right rear side sole of your Shelltoe adidas. The first time cats saw this it was like "oh shit, thats fresh"! But that was one person being totally unique and different from the next, so what happened to that individuality?

The Ecko Stretch & Bobbito shirt is one of my favorites.

Some of my favorite pieces of yesteryear that I didn't see everyone walking down the streets of Philly with. All these designs were as Mr. Williams aka Jim Kelly would say are "Simple, but effecitve!"

Mission Statement - Anything Goes!

Ok, let me start out by saying that I was totally against doing a blog of any sort! I didn't want to take on anymore tasks in my already hectic life that would come in between me and being musically creative. Recently I've been hired / contracted to write for several sites and a new magazine so writing for my own site was a definite no no but alot of people seem to enjoy reading my views on various topics, rants and other interesting things (why? I don't know) but thanks! So when an independant company (that shall be nameless) asked me to write a blog about things that I was feeling or not feeling I told them why don't I just tell you what Im feeling / not feeling and you write the blog....there response was "Shut up, you write the blog and we'll write the check". Ok, done deal no need to ask twice. So here it is my own blog "Anything Goes". I guess I'll discuss anything of the moment which peeks my curiosity ranging from music, pop culture, toys, fashion, movies, art or fond nostalgic memories.

So be sure to check back on a weekly basis (when time permits) to read about whats on my mind.