In 2017, the Big Brown Backyard Boogie to end all BYOB BBBBs went down.
I invited some local locos to flex their vocals.
tio snag and big brown dad
My former student, Modern Day Souljah came thru to bless the mic. & friendly funny man, Johnny Roque rocked a set. In this video, Modern Day Souljah flexed some Spanish on our pocho asses. Then we talk about how certain hair styles increase the likelihood of being harassed by the cops.
Tio Snag sets this video off with a beat box and then Johnny Rock sets off a set. He talks Latino conversion therapy and how little we knew about how much our parents knew. Johnny then waxes comedic on the power of prayer and old time magic. And then the beats play on.
In this clip, Tio Snag freestyles, shots out mijos, mijas, tios and tias. Modern Day Souljah then sets it off with a session. Then another freestyle session. And then he’s followed by Lord Zuela, Adrian Brizz and from the big homie Byron Brizz.
Word on the block is that another is brewing. WHAT?!
Look, I’m not trying to be on my bullshit like that but the facts speak for themselves. And when those facts are attested to by footage, then only a fool would dare discount the claim.
Feast your eyes on The Aguilar’s Who Run Covina, Ca.
The battle never took place because of a riot that happened while
standing in line but the experience did land me my first television job
when Carlos Caro interviewed me about my experience for a fledgling new network.
He read about my exploits inAbelardo de la Peña Jr. Latino LA newsletter where I placed an ad in the classified asking for donations to fund my trip—on some pre-Go Fund me shit.
Two weeks after I came back from the NYC battle that never happened, I
saw an ad in Latino LA looking for a writer for new cable network
catering to English speaking Latinos, Mun2.
The guy who interviewed me for the show then interviewed me for the job. I got it. Big ups Carlos Caro.
There’s a parallel between hiking and praying that is often overlooked.
Many ‘folk Christians’ resort to free-form prayer. Free-form prayer is stream of consciousness; it’s unstructured rambling, even if earnest. But the greatest religious traditions, including Xtianity and Islam, have tomes of scripted prayers that abide by a logic and aim.
Take, for example, The Lord’s Prayer.
The opening, “Our Father” establishes the person to whom the prayer is directed, is grounded in a claim about the nature of the relationship and serves to remind the supplicant of her dependancy; “who are in heaven” establishes transcendence, and on and on. The prayer advances by a certain logic. The formulations allow for a guided prayer.
Regrettably, I couldn’t find any books that lay out how we ought hike. Like prayer, the operating assumption is that some benefit simply in virtue of our participation.
But like prayer, we would truly benefit from some reflective prescriptions while hiking or else, you’re just sorta walking around with a wandering mind.
One prescription might be to focus on the sounds for the first 1/3 of the hike. Then colors and then smells. Or, imagine yourself an animal on this hike.
By now, you know the story. Al Gore and an heir to the Hyatt or Hilton or Motel 8 fortune launched a cable netlet in 07 that promised to bring the creativity of the internet to TV.
This wonderful experiment was Current TV. They were bought by some internet behemoth who didn’t care to archive or license the bundle of dope content that was produced, and I don’t care to remember which behemoth it was or is or whatever.
What I do know is that I’ve uploaded a handful of about a dozen short documentaries I produced for them.
Here is a fan favorite that seems to be generating views on views on views.
What can I say about this video that I didn’t say while making it?
soccer o’ soccer
that game of yore
whose kicks and cuts
shan’t waylay the bore
whose hustle and heart
shan’t be denied
but zero to zero?!
they cried till they died
soccer o’ soccer
that salve of youth
sacrifice thy ankle, your knees, his tooth
it’s like chess on grass, a science they say
but I’m just a soccer dad trying to get on with my day.
Do you remember when Al Gore took “YouTube” to broadcast with the ill fated Current TV?
I do.
Shit was dope.
Short-form video programming tapped into the subcultures around the world.
At some point I’ll need a full reckoning on why the model failed–and why the Current TV archives can’t be accessed–but until then, you can enjoy an occasional POD (that was the nomenclature–and it sure beats mini-doc, or short doc or wdvr).
Real deal, Current TV game me the opportunity to produce about a dozen pods, all featuring Latino life in one respect or another–including a paid McDonald’s campaign where I flexed some poetics.
I’ve only had a chance to upload a few but I’ll start to roll them over the next few weeks here.
This is a pod I produced with Don Q, my long-time collaborator. Produced in ’07, we sensed then that Baja was changing. 11 years later, the renaissance is in full swing.
I wasn’t there in any official capacity but as you quickly learn, any and every parent is a chaperone.
Chaperone is French for “one who stares at phone.”
We were there on what must’ve been International Let Your Students Run Amok Day. Directions to Aquarium were straight forward. Parking was a breeze, while traffic home was a pain in the ass…but it did give some time to reflect on the experience.
Here are 3 Not So Obvious Reasons To Tag Along On Your Kids’ Field Trips
1.Captain of the Relationship
The field trip reminded me that he’s “my son” and I’m “his dad.” He was introducing me to his friends as his version of “dad.” Many parents met Joaquin for the first time and I was meeting kids with familiar names, too. I was wiping snot and taking names.
And the parents, the parents were everywhere. More on that later.
2. Kids Are Creepers
It’s depressingly easy to lose sight of kids at this age. They’re attracted to everything. The kids who had parents on hand felt free to roam, and those orphans who didn’t operated with even more license. And, hey, kids aren’t the only folks distracted in a place like this.
They’ve spent millions and millions to keep visitors fixed on the attractions, is it any wonder I wondered where Joaquin wandered? And where’s what’s her name? Shit.
“What’s your name, where are you?”
“Have you seen what’s her name?”
“What was she wearing?”
Hey, I’m not even a chaperone.
Or am I?
3. They Said Who Said What?
When parents gather, important information is shared–information stored up in our bones. Chisme, perhaps… but it’s important chisme. For example, I caught wind of dilapidated temporary classrooms with a history of poisoning students!
Dafuk? The district office, principal and teachers complicit?
Huh?
And I got all this over a bag of Cheetos. Had lunch been longer I’d likely know where the bodies are buried on campus. For now, I’m guessing…under one of those temporary shit hole classrooms.
