No More MTV?

Well on Time Warner cable at least. Variety reports today that TWC and Viacom are at an impasse in renewal contract talks. So come tomorrow morning, you may not have a 12 hour marathon of Parental Control - oh no, what to do!? Not sure who the bad guy is here, the network that went from music pioneer to a gossip magazine, or the cable carrier that touts "free movie trailers" and has shotty service. The real bad guy is greed, and these two media giants are under that perpetual spell. Good news is MTV has decided to give themselves a massive facelift with a whole new slate of shows, in an effort to seize back some of adults that left when MTV went after Nickelodeon's crop. And to get their ad rev back up. And TWC? Comcast LA was a million times better.

Xmas Food Coma

Back in 2005, I recall getting an invitation for a works-in-progress screening of "Planet B-Boy" at Sony Studios. It was an effort by producer/director Benson Lee to raise finishing funds for the film. Boy, did they use their money well. It's beautiful to see that determination followed through to the completion of a really wonderful documentary. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the theatrical release in LA, but I opened my mailbox yesterday and found a nice little surprise..



The doc was thoughtful, clean and well rounded. With so many hip hop documentaries out there, it's def a cut above the rest in both content and quality. Great job Benzonio, here's the trailer..



Later that night, I stopped by Foxtail with a bunch of old friends. There's Stacey, haven't seen her in over a decade!



Ran into my promoter friend and overall wild man Craig Clemens, who I currently happen to be building on a project with..



If you're going to one of the mega NYE parties, chances are you'll see him. Or me.

Substance Abuse on Vimby

Merry Xmas Eve! Here's a Vimby video I just shot on hip hop duo Substance Abuse. They're also good friends of mine from back in the daze. Here it is..

VIMBY - Substance Abuse

"To Live"

With all this chatter about a worsening economy, and a reporter hurling the shoe we've all wanted to throw, I find it always good to put things in perspective. Zhang Yimou's classic "To Live" will definitely do the trick. Zhang Yimou finds all of our thumbscrews here, some of the scenes are outright tear jerking! Here's an old Siskel and Ebert clip w/ scenes from the 1994 film..

Obey the Holidays

Last night, stopped by the Ricardo Montalban Theatre on Vine for the Obey Holiday party..



There's Rick Rodney..



There's Miles Tackett of the Breakestra. He unveiled the new Barack Rootdown flyer.



And there's Shepard Fairey and Raymond Roker of URB .



It was a pleasant night. And if YOU, not you, but YOU are reading this. You know to stay home.

Tokyo Recap

After all business in Pusan, I was looking forward to my first trip to Tokyo. Touched down late, checked into the Granbell Shibuya. $200/night, right near Shibuya Station. Perfect, you can shower and watch the telly at the same time!



Slid over to Le Baron around 1am since Tokyo nightlife doesn't start until around then. Le Baron is a members-only club for the Japanese tastemaker elite. Oh, what?





Me and Marie. Apparently she's a famous celebrity/model/tv host in Japan. I was just trying to pet her head piece.



Some of our JP connects, Haji and Kaji on the left. Sounds like some Japanese tag team wrestling!



Next morning, hopped in a cab..





Got off in Harujuku..



Stopped by the newly minted sneaker shop Kicks Lab. There's Koji and Haji..



Andre, the 'sneaker celeb' in JP..





Took a walk around, looking for some Harujuku girls..



Instead found this French Bulldog..





Circled back and their grand opening party was underway. There's Dre and the wild man Surumaki!







She picked a winner!





Uh oh, Surumaki behind the wheel!





Surumaki takes us to Shinjuku!



Sleeptime. Few days later, wake up, it's slurptime!



Order ahead..



Hearty..



Shibuya Station..





Checked this @ Undercover..



Went to Gonpachi for din din..



Few days later, the rain came.



The calm before the storm..



No wonder everybody smokes in Tokyo.



Dinner reservations by Kawa. Def the best eats of the trip!



Love hotels..





Near Club Air..



Revok..



Few days later, Roppongi Hills..



Dre making an indecent proposal. Lucky he didn't get the X!



So shortly thereafter, he made some fellow Polish friends..



Real good friends!



Last day in Tokyo, what else to do? Grub!





Goodbye for now Japan. Next time, I'll know how to count to 10! Promise!