thosalumpagus droppings

Cave Man Savy

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:59:00 +0000

Cave Man Savy
Originally uploaded by thosalumpagus

Jee Nemz Truck Flower

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:18:00 +0000

Jee Nemz Truck Flower
Originally uploaded by thosalumpagus

Saber is the Man

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:28:00 +0000

Saber steps up to the Health Care debate-

I came across this segment completely randomly Monday afternoon and only caught the last bit, big thanks to the Youtube gods for being able to see it in full.

First off, the raging idiots who are sparking controversy over Saber's use of the flag in his art piece are the ones who are actually desecrating the spirit of the flag and what it stands for.

Something obviously needs to be done about healthcare. Well, obvious to those of us who are in dire need of it. It's appalling how many of my friends don't have health insurance, self included, and how it's kind of just the unspoken norm for a lot of us. On a grander level, I've volunteered in free clinics for the working uninsured and every week was a long wait list. Many of the people seeking care were some of the physically hardest working people in the workforce and had fairly treatable ailments but just didn't have the means to seek the care. There's been multiple times when I've had an ear infection easily treatable with antibiotics but I've had to make the choice to suffer and wait for a free clinic appointment or pay in excess of $450 out of pocket. I really don't mind paying my due but that's ridiculous for a 15 minute doctor visit in which all they do is write a prescription. The way the system is now insurance companies also inflate medical costs which affects the uninsured even more when we have to pay directly.

Ironically, when I did have insurance, about ten years ago, I ended up getting screwed over for necessary dental work. Because of having to pay for insurance, deductibles, and services not covered, I would have saved a couple hundred dollars had I not had insurance at all. Continuing along on that path of irony, the fate of the healthcare bill is in the hands of ones with pretty good insurance policies watching over them. Of course healthcare might not look so bad to many of them.

I've never wanted insurance to be the thing that's keeping me from living my dreams. But every time I talk to my mom she crashes me back down to earth with the question "well, what about health insurance?" This is a huge problem for the non-traditional, non 9-5 worker, the self-employed, independent contractors, consultants, artists, designers, musicians, etc. Saber makes a great point of this in his piece and the interview. He himself is an amazing artist but that doesn't provide insurance and private plans I've seen seem to be more in place for the consultants that can charge $200 an hour. So why, here in the good ol' U.S. of A can there not be a real way for the independent, self-employed, entrepreneurial spirit to get affordable health care?

(I do have to make a note about my indebted gratitude to Harborview Hospital in Seattle which gave excellent care to my uninsured ass when I had emergency surgery for getting hit by a (uninsured and unlicensed) 15 year old driving an S.U.V.)

over/out.

Why Not?

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:20:00 +0000

Femme En Fourrure "Plump Bisquit" (not totally safe for work but not really not safe). Boom.

Femme En Fourrure - Plump Bisquit from miikka lommi on Vimeo.

Ghetto Tourism

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:32:00 +0000

Just saw this from TheWorldsBestEver-

"LA’S MAP TO (GANG)STARS HOME

The next time you’re in L.A., forgo the map to the stars homes and instead embark on the Compton tour."

Curiosity? Exploitation? Bleeding heart Liberalism? Buying a Ghetto Pass?
I've heard about these Ghetto Tours going on all over the place, such as the favelas in Brasil etc. In some ways I'm admittedly intrigued by the whole thing. Who doesn't want a special pass to explore 'forbidden' places? It's like getting into the club where you gotta know somebody to be somebody. Whenever I visit a new city I almost immediately seek out the non-tourist areas for better or worse, whether wandering to boring suburbs of Madrid or being grossly out of place and stared at in an Istanbul ghetto or even getting mean mugged deep, deep into Bushwick. Perhaps there's a bit of a designation between tourist and explorer. But really, what makes taking these ghetto tours all that different from paying thousands of dollars to 'volunteer' in some third world country? To really give them the benefit of the doubt, at least they have the curiosity instead of trying to ignore it all together(?).
Now if you want a real OG Ghetto tourist who put his money where his mouth is you gotta check out Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh. While studying at the University of Chicago he got sick of the scholarly, ivory tower approach to sociology and just rolled up into the Robert Taylor Houses of Chicago and ended up living there for 6 years.

Barretto-Power (Fania) Cover Art

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:22:00 +0000

My most recent $1 bin pick up. Some good funky latin soul and salsa joints. Art by Izzy Sanabaria

Diverse - Escape Earth

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:36:00 +0000

Seriously, Diverse needs to drop his next album. It's been how many years since 'One AM'???
I'm just confused.
He's consistent. He's got flow. He's got the voice. He's got concepts. The man is what I look for in a real artist but it's hard to keep bigging him up without any new material. Usually I wait to hear about new material from artists, in part cuz there's enough publicity about enough artists to keep me satisfied. It's rare, especially in this day, that I'm hungry enough to consistently search out updates on artists. I've been actively searching out new stuff from Diverse. It's time. Feed the masses.

Hipster Grifter

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:50:00 +0000

How come there haven't been any updates on the Hipster Grifter? I miss her. She gave me meaning.

Thought

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Os Gemeos reminds me of 2-d version of Marisol Escobar.

Woman and Dog

"Taking crazy things seriously is- A serious waster of time"

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:23:00 +0000

To Go Along With Album Cover Art

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:04:00 +0000

This is a bit of a curious side project, one i've been mulling around in my handsome little head for awhile. Basically I'd like to develop album reviews over time. Give a short little synopsis of my immediate take and then let it sit, let it marinate before coming back and reinforcing, upholding, or destroying my initial summation(or just exposing I was in a good/bad mood first time round). There's some albums that just grow and open up over time, likewise there are some albums that are seemingly great but just don't pop up in the 'need to listen to' realm after a couple weeks.

To start, a new album by Common:

Universal Mind Control
First Listen:
After listening to it I really did kinda feel like Common is under some Universal (as in Universal Music Group) control. It's just not hitting. I don't feel the soul. It feels like a major label backed album in the sense that it's polished and bland in a 'universally' appealable way. The lead single, self titled, is i suppose, supposed to be an homage to Afrika Bambaataa but, eh. Just that, eh.
Actually listening to it, Common's voice even started to just annoy and become grating.
It wasn't until track 8(out of a whomping 10 song tracklist), "inhale" that a song stood out to me. I'll definitely listen again but have a feeling this will fade into my vast external back up drive.
I'm a hater.
Cheers.
-thos

The Omega Man

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:27:00 +0000

The Omega Man.
Saw again. Interesting. Charlton Heston scares me, then and now.
So many things in the film I haven't even really tried to break 'em down. So many obvious and so many so obvious that they're back to subversive? I dunno. Heston's character is such a great bad bachelor alpha male in this dark hippy film.
I'd like to see a remake, maybe vince vaughn and lauryn hill as the main characters, crackheads as the new birth brotherhood.
Not great flim but great watching.

R.I.P. Matt Smith Day

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:49:00 +0000

6 years...

Brick- Good High/ Ice Cube, Snoop dog, Dj Quick, etc

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:44:00 +0000

Can't front on the cover. Rip the cover off, still can't front.
This is got "Dazz", sampled by a grip of fools including the aforementioned and Das EFX, Dana Dane, MC Lyte, Compton's Most Wanted, etc. I'm gonna give it up for Cube's "No Vaseline".
Disco Jazz. haha.
It's also got "Can't Wait" sampled by Ultra Ultra Magnetic Magnetic MC's
Big up Atlanta '76

Bomb Scare Show

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:41:00 +0000

Big show tonight with a heavy list of artists including our own Common Folk/CaveManSav family member LOGIK-ONE, along with Claw Money, The Date Farmers and others.
And of utmost importance Free Alcohol from Belvedere Vodka and Dogfish Head Beer.

aint no half steppin'

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:54:00 +0000

Half of it is making it, the other half is making people know you made it.

Ronnie Laws- Pressure Senstive/Black Moon- 'who got da props?'

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:46:00 +0000

Hopefully the cracked egg isn't a premonition of the fabulous little sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park. More importantly though, amongst some crazy joints on here you can find the sample from Black Moon's 'Who got da props?' on Enta da stage. Ronnie's baby born in Houston, further immortalized in Brooklyn...

Cover Art

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:36:00 +0000

I want to cover art in a blanket. I mean a jacket. A record jacket. And then I just want to look at it and appreciate it.
Therefore I'm gonna try and do what i've been meaning to do forever and start showcasing some dope cover art from my own vinyl collection. When I feel extra rambunctious perhaps I'll had a few antidotes, note samples and/or personal tidbits related to the cover.
For now i'll just leave you with the Bar-Kays.
Cheers.

Yea, a bit of a homo-erotic jump off but I'm glad they were comfortable enough with themselves to make some great joints.

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Went looking for inspiration in the cracks of the sidewalk again. I can only hope something seeps in through osmosis as I walk about the people, the proverbial 'people'. Good to know, for better and worse, that i can still walk through streets and get mean-mugged and glared at. I'm fairly certain it's cuz i'm so pretty.
Shit, I don't even know anymore what kind of neighborhood I would live in if money and housing crisis was inconsequential. There are definitely certain amenities I appreciate yet more and more I hate the scene that accompanies said amenities.
Basically I want to be special, I want to have street cred. But real street cred, I want to make shit that speaks to fathers, mothers, teachers, bodega owners, teenagers, psp players, thug wannabe's, whatever. That's idealistic. Reality dictates that I want hipsters, artists, and yuppies to feel my shit so I can make connections and make people buy shit I make.
Basically I perpetually live in a non-hip to eternally transitioning neighborhood wherever I lay my hat, mentally and physically.
and I babble.
cheers.

ThoughtPoofs

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Many times I find myself scared of thinking, not scared of what my brain could possibly fathom but rather scared that once I think something i'll forget it. I feel like there are a bunch of thoughts bubbling up inside somewhere but once they rise to the surface, once they manifest themselves as a real thought they also garner the possibility of being forgotten. But in all my glorious faulty logic, I figure that if I don't think them yet then I still have the chance of not forgetting them. I like bunnies though.

a boo to a boo

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:06:00 +0000

Common Folk

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:06:00 +0000

Common Folk
Originally uploaded by thosalumpagus

slow down, take it slow, the early bird gets the worm but the tortoise gets to actually take the time to peep shit out and enjoy life. fuck the worm. the worm wasn't even a real b-boy move, fuck the worm.
but what i'm trying to say, good things coming up for Common Folk and the whole collective. stay tuned. cuz if you don't know, well, you will

matt smith r.i.p. 07.26.73-10.20.02

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 08:20:00 +0000

the saddest part is all of the people that never got to experience matt, they'll never know. a big part of me died four years ago. but i would never be who i am without him. to anyone that does know me, be thankful of that. my twenty five years with him will last me for a lifetime. much love.

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 02:47:00 +0000

well, i finally thought i could get arid of the crutches today.
i fell.
i still need the crutches.

thos@thosart.com (thos diggy) — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 05:08:00 +0000

a big thank you is well in order for everyone that helped out. even though we didn't get the funding it was still an amazing success and for what we didn't get in monetary support we overwhelmingly got in an outpouring of support. it's still a fresh project and now we got a lot more people on board and extremely interested so that next time it'll be even more amazing. again, thank you so freakin much. you know who you are. muchos besos.
-thomass