A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

First of all, Coltrane just got his stickman back. Elvin Jones has passed.

J-Smooth gets his blog plugged in Spin. First order of business: dealing with all the hipsters now peeking at his site.

I love the spring and its bounty of new-ness: grass, trees, flowers and updated blog designs. It's about time! (Now, would someone please cajole this guy into doing the same? It's all love JP but c'mon man, your template is so 2002.)

Jazzbo updates his Crunkster blog about as often as I shave but he always brings the rilly real from the world of urban pop.

Meanwhile, his crosstown NY buddy Jon Caramanica slays Black Eyed Peas:

"Lose your illusions That BEP are anything more than recipients of hip-hop affirmative-action, the type of rap act beloved by white people who hate black folk. Calling them the poor man's Outkast would be too generous. More like the poor dog's Arrested Development. With an R&B bitch over bullshit tracks."

Where is the love Jon? Where is the love?

In between dissertation (in)activity, I've been killing massive time (and brain cells) with the Monkey Billiards mini-game on Super Monkey Ball. Don't ask.

Unlike Super Monkey Ball, Smackfest 2004 is not a Gamecube title but a contest sponsored by NY's Hot 97 where two people take turns slapping the shit out of one another (complete with video feeds). Raw like sushi.

One of the best mix-CDs I've heard this year has been Junichi Semitsu's The Best Songs of 2003. Slick segues, a generous embrace of music ranging from Jet to 50 Cent to Fountains of Wayne to Jay-Z to the White Stripes, et. al. I'm just mentioning it because I think it's great - it's amazing what you can do with Pro Tools these days - but it's not like you can buy this anywhere (not yet anyways). I'm just giving credit where it's due.