…but a good night for me. I was content to sit at home and play video games all night, but I got a call from Drea who was bored and wanted to go do something. She mentioned a movie and I was kind of hesitant. I had been to the movies the day before to see Sideways (excellent) and Million Dollar Baby (also excellent….my pick for best picture….despite having not seen The Aviator or Finding Neverland). I think she wanted to see Constantine. I had heard mixed reviews on it, and I know how comic based movies can be.

Then she mentioned grabbing something to eat and hitting up Level 88 (the jazz club from last week). Now THAT I was down with. Then she said the magic word….SUSHI. Man ya’ll I’m addicted.

At first we went to Ru San’s but the wait was 45 minutes and I’ve got no patience and I hate waiting (yes that’s a Jigga reference). So we went to Ken’s. It was great. I had the sushi combination A as always. I made my soy and wasabi MUCH spicier than I usually do. I’m surprised I finished it.

Anyway after we left there we went to Level 88. We sat at the bar/counter thing that faces the house band. They weren’t as good this time. Well….actually they were, but they did the SAME exact songs, minus when this older dude named Herschel got up and did “Let’s Get It On” and a Teddy P. Medley that me and Drea were clowning.

Speaking of clowning. There was an aquarium under the area where we were sitting. I LOVE tropical fish! They had Lion Fish, two sea snakes, and all sorts of other colorful fish, including some Clown Fish (like Nemo from Finding Nemo). I discovered early on that one of them was injured. He was sideways and a second from dying. Sure enough I looked down later and he’d kicked the bucket. Then later on I looked further down the tank and there was ANOTHER one dead. Pardon the pun, but I think something fishy was going on!

I’m surprised I didn’t notice the fish tank YESTERDAY. Yeah I was up in Level 88 yesterday too. I really like Level 88. There are some beautiful women in the mix up in there if you can wade through the older folks. Tonight I saw a woman who looked JUST like this girl I went to high school with, Staci (who I’ve written about before….search through the archives). I hope I didn’t creep her out staring at her, but she looked JUST like her man, except she had a bit more weight on her.

I realize it’s been a hot minute since I’ve updated here. I doubt anyone still reads this. I ALMOST wrote an entry the other day, but I would have revealed a hand that I’m not ready to play yet involving this chick that I kinda dropped the ball on. We’ll see how that situation plays itself out and maybe I’ll write about her and maybe I won’t.

Being a lover of music sucks sometimes, especially when you are like me and have a mind like a steel trap. Every thing reminds you of a song. Even that last sentence reminds me of a song (Naked Eyes’s “There is Always Something There to Remind Me”).

But yeah I’m listening to an advance of this new Tweet (it’s great by the way) and I’m reminded of a time not so far back, but that seems like forever. I know for certain it was less than 2 years ago when she was in my life, but it seems now like a lifetime ago.

*deep sigh*

Anyway, I added a link to my friend Eman, under my family tree. His entry from last night is a perfect example of why med school sucks so much. I’m sure he’ll have alot of interesting things to say. We don’t always agree on things, but that’s one of the things I appreciate about him. He says what he feels and he’s true to himself. Ya’ll check him out!!

Last night I went to the Meharry basketball game on a last minute whim (don’t beat me up Drea….the devil convinced me himself!!!). It was a damned good game. Niggas were so into it, they almost ended up fighting. The Freshman Med team ended up winning the battle of the last two undefeated teams pretty handily. I realized then that I just don’t know ANYBODY at all. I sat with my girl Kendall yesterday…I hadn’t seen her since like September. She was one of my first friends up here. I guess I’ll end up posting Drew’s wedding pictures on here at some point because of her.

I saw another cute girl last night. She reminded me of this girl I used to harrass at Spelman. Maybe if I see her again……I still won’t say shit.

Joe from Dallas is the authority on this, so he can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the term of endearment that Spike LeeOssie Davis (thanks Joe for the assist!) bestowed upon Malcolm X.

I woke up out of a not so restful slumber this morning by a thunderstorm. This is the earliest I’ve awakened in quite a while. I flipped channels as I tried to get my eyes to readjust from the the big screen (the back of my eyelids) to the real world. I finally arrived at Fox News (I like to keep abreast of what the enemy thinks about) and they were mentioning that it was the 40th anniversary of Malcolm’s death.

Damn man, 40 years!

Anyway, his family is going to help rededicate the Audubon Theater (subscription required, but it’s the NY Times, you should really take the time to do it if you haven’t already) where he was shot today. They are STRONG for that, because I don’t think I’d be capable of going back to that place if I was in their shoes.

I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t read The Autobiography of Malcolm X in it’s entirety. I made a few ill-fated attempts, but I could never give it it’s due diligence (see Adrienne you aren’t the only one!). I’m still mad about when I went to see the movie with my church youth group and being given a ticket to see Dennis the Menace. I’m thinking I will make a stop today to pick up the special edition DVD.

…also known as Randomness while i wait on the Daytona 500 to start….

- yeah you read that right….I’m watching the Daytona 500 today nukka and what??! Another year of hoping Ryan Newman cuts down on his DNF’s (did not finish) and contends for the cup!

- I don’t know if she reads this at all, but I want to thank Charlie for her encouraging words! She signed off while I was on the phone….but she’s great!

- I know I’m ruining the surprise if she wanted it to be….but I don’t care, I’m so proud….CHE GOT INTO HARVARD!!!

- Did anyone else catch the slam dunk contest? It was pretty quality viewing! Charles and Kenny were in RARE form last night clowning and such….that white dude Chris Andersen set back all of the hard work Brent Barry put in with his performance last night….they’ll never let another white dude enter now! And way to represent for Atlanta Josh Smith!! We needed that!

- When is Dominique going to get his props as one of the best ever? I’m still mad they snubbed him from the 50 greatest list!

- I’m tired of having nightmares….

- Inferiority complexes are a muthafucka!…so is low self esteem….

- Tina YOU FAT LARD, come and get some dinner!!!

- If you don’t know what the above means, it’s YOUR loss….GOSH!

- Yeah, I’m that guy who lets people into the inside jokes….

- I might repost my Beatles entry once a week for the duration of this blog….I really liked it….I think I did a great job with it….

- Thanks Carmen for calling me “Rummy” and telling me I’m awesome!

- I finally found Public Enemy’s Apocolypse 91…the Enemy Strikes Black

- Since Will and Jada’s marriage is “open” (I’m not posting a link, but google it….you’ll see it’s not an urban legend or rumor) does that mean I have a shot with her???

- Not everything on the internet is a hoax ya’ll….sometimes shit you read on the intarweb is *gasp* TRUE!!

- Here’s a “strange but true” for you ladies out there….when dudes are looking at fine chicks on the internet on a thread called, “Fellas, Who Do You Find Attractive” we don’t give a damn about her eyebrows….

- Oh yeah Young Buck was up in the jazz spot the other night…he arrived right before I left….you think he would have “got it” if I came up to him and said, “I want the knife…please!!!”…or do you think I woulda got shanked like that dude in Cali…

- when did it become fashionable to call inside jokes or jokes that you don’t get “lame”? If the intended audience got it, I’d say it was successful…not every joke is taylored to the masses and the ones I find most satisfying are generally the ones that go as planned…..

- also arguing isn’t a bad thing….arguing is when two opposing sides of an issue are discussed in the hopes of reaching a common ground….when yelling, screaming, and/or belittling enter the picture it becomes a fight…see the difference?

well, let me jump in the shower…

Yesterday was interesting. I went and picked up a router so I could get my PS2 Online gaming on without having to unplug my internet every time I wanted to and I also picked up the movie Napoleon Dynamite. That’s my new shit ya’ll I LOVED that movie, like I thought I would. It was TOO, TOO funny.

Anyway, after that I went to this little Jazz Bistro called Level 88. It was a nice spot. It was really grown up (NOT Crowe’s Nest grown up thank goodness). I was packed. Good eye candy. We fanagled a table and watched the house band, Higher Ground. They tore it up for the most part. The male singer was a bit out of place in my opinion, but the girls were outstanding, and the band itself was pretty good. My favorite songs of the night were “Dr. Feelgood”, “If Only You Knew”, and a GREAT version of “Lady Marmalade” which was most likely based more on the Moulin Rouge version than the Labelle version. I drank 3 or four glasses of scotch as well.

I had a wild dream last night and I wrote about part of it on my livejournal. I woke up disappointed, as I stated over there, not only because my dream wasn’t real, but also because I had a slight hangover. But I had fun and that’s what counts I guess.

(this is my third attempt at this entry…the first was on my livejournal but I thought it was more “Under the Bridge” material…the second was accidentally closed out….needless to say I will take another failed attempt as a “sign from above”)

It took me some 24 odd years to get into the Beatles. For the longest I think my sentiment toward them was like, “Fuck those White boys who stole Black music”. I think I started to broaden my horizons from more than just “a touch of Nirvana and Alanis” to exploring the other great music made by the likes of Radiohead and Aimee Mann when I got to college.

I recall many days in the Maroon Tiger office when Joe From Dallas, Tash, Biff, and Stretch would debate the merits of Abbey Road vs. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I had no frame of reference but I decided then I’d dibble and dabble and download a few Beatles songs like “Hey Jude”, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (their American debut), and “Here Comes The Sun”.

I didn’t really give them too much thought until around last Christmas when Rolling Stone came out with their top 500 albums and there were SO MANY Beatles albums on it, especially in the top 50. I decided then I would check them out.

I started with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band since it was ranked number one. I was immediately hooked. I recognized quite a few songs like “When I’m Sixty-Four”, “Getting Better” (from the Philips/Magnavox commercials “gotta admit it’s getting better…better all the time), and “With A Little Help From My Friends” which Joe Cocker covered (the theme from “The Wonder Years”). I also discovered songs like Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, which was an ode to LSD (and a precursor to two of my favorite songs now, “I Am The Walrus” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”), and my favorite song on that album “A Day In The Life”.

I then began my search for Abbey Road. I think Biff had listed this as his favorite album of all time. I didn’t like it quite as much as Sgt. Pepper’s, but it was still damned good. Then I got into The Grey Album (the remix of Jay-Z’s Black Album with beats from the Beatles’ White Album). I went full blast into trying to get my hands on as much Beatles as I could.

Now I have about 7 albums and a few other random songs, plus the complete Anthology. I don’t have any of the early period albums. The earliest album I have is Rubber Soul, and I’ve read that this was the first of their “mature” albums. My favorite of the albums is Magical Mystery Tour (which has my two favorites along with other great songs).

I think anyone who considers themself a music fan and hasn’t checked out the Beatles should. Here are a few tracks to get you started:

Hey Jude - This is their best selling American single (sold 5 million copies) and was number 1 on the charts for 9 weeks. It was written by Paul to comfort Julian Lennon whose father John was getting divorced from his mom Cynthia and marrying Yoko Ono. It’s a long song (over 7 minutes) but it’s damned good.
Come Together - This was on Abbey Road. You might recognize it from commercials (I can’t remember which product right now) or some other group covering it. It was written as a campaign song for LSD-head Timothy Leary’s run for California Governor in 1969 (see, Cali was wacked out WAY before Ahnahld)
Here Comes The Sun - Another song from Abbey Road. It’s a fan favorite that was performed famously on Saturday Night Live by George and Paul Simon. It was written by Harrison in Eric Clapton’s garden.
I Want You (She’s So Heavy) - Another Abbey Road song. The last time all four Beatles were in a studio together, this song was the result. Another long song, it was written for John Lennon for (big shock here) Yoko Ono.
I Am The Walrus - As mentioned before, from Magical Mystery Tour. It’s one of the most debated songs. John Lennon wrote this non-sensical song in an attempt to vex people who looked deeply into the lyrics of the Beatles’s songs for deeper meaning. There were college classes at the time which looked into Beatles songs if you can believe that. It’s a combination of sick children’s tales and inside references to other songs of theirs.
Strawberry Fields Forever - My other favorite song, from Magical Mystery Tour. This song is written by John about a place he used to visit when he was a child which was basically an orphanage. Strawberry Fields has since been closed. If you google Strawberry Fields Forever, most of the webpages are about the closing of said orphanage.
I, Me, Mine - This song is from Let It Be. It was written by George and is about ego’s and the problems they present. The Beatles had a lot of internal problems toward the end of their run. George later entitled his (sort of) Autobiographical book after this song.
Let It Be - From the album of the same title. As you may imagine from the song title, it’s about moving on from problems and such. I listen to this song a lot.
Drive My Car - From Rubber Soul, this is one of the songs Paul performed during the Super Bowl Halftime show. It’s just a good upbeat song. A touch of “old beatles”.
When I’m Sixty Four - This song is on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I’ve written in my livejournal about this song. Its a nice little happy go lucky song about love and whether it will last. Paul actually wrote it when he was 15! The version heard in Allstate commercials was performed by Julian Lennon.
A Day In The Life - Musically this song, which closes Sgt. Pepper’s is probably their best song, in my opinion. It’s amazing to listen to. It was co-written by John and Paul, and each part is very distinct. A 41 piece orchestra contributed to the crescendo in the beginning and at the end of the song.
Glass Onion - This song is from the White Album. It references a few of the rumors and what not from overanalysis of their songs (like, “the walrus is Paul”). It’s another Lennon written song as well.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Eric Clapton actually played guitar on this song from the White Album. It’s featured prominantly on the Grey Album version of “What More Can I Say”. George Harrison wrote this one, which almost didn’t make the album.
Happiness Is A Warm Gun - Written by John for the White Album, it’s ironic given the way he died (at the hands of a gun). You might remember it’s use in Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine”. Just as it was intended, it’s use was sarcastic.

I hope at least one person decides to give the Beatles a try based on this!

I’m in a terrible mood right about now.

I wish I could pinpoint the moment/incident in time where things started going bad and just travel back to that moment and make the right decision.

It’s funny because I got an e-mail from an old high school classmate who stumbled onto my website and left me a very kind e-mail. That was a good moment in this otherwise craptastic day (week, month, year…take your pick).

Maybe this is just my “down” cycle. Shoulda known it would be that way around V-Day.

Only here can you get 2 80’s movies mentioned in someway in the title and not mentioned again in the main text!

Last night I babysat my favorite little guy, P.J., while I washed some clothes. Young P. Jizzle is a funny little guy. I was trying to feed him some spinach and chicken fetticuini alfredo and at first it was too hot, then when it cooled down he decided that he was only going to eat like a fourth of it. But it was cool. He had eaten a little beforehand. Then he started to play with his toys. Somehow he got this little police hat off of this little plastic figure so I kept putting it on his head and he would knock it off. It’s great that little things like that can keep a kid amused for almost 30 minutes. Between that and me lifting my foot up and letting him knock it back down to the ground he wore himself out.

When his dad got back we played some video games. I have a new addiction (at least as far as sports games, nothing is replacing GTA: San Andreas for the time being), FIFA 2005. Man that game is fun, for real. I had a passing interest in soccer from my Trini friends at Morehouse (who call it Football). But man there is nothing like actually playing it. If I didn’t have such crappy lungs I’d try my hand at it for real.

Anyway I ended up staying over there with Julian, TaTa, and P.J.. I caught Tupac: Resurrection on Showtime as I was about to go to sleep. I ended up watching the whole thing. I highly recommend it. It was surreal at times, the way Pac told his story in retrospect. Dude was amazing.

Anyway I ALMOST managed to sleep through P.J. waking up in the middle of the night crying, but I didn’t. I still managed to get a few hours of sleep though. I really have problems sleeping away from my own bed though honestly. I can do the couch (or if necessary, floor) thing, but I always wake up feeling cheated.

We got up and left around 8:15 or so and to my surprise there was snow on the ground and on the cars! Nashville had been dusted overnight! I like surprises like that, although I didn’t like the cold air! Damn it was cold!!

By the time I got settled in and such A Different World was on. They are on the last season that I have such mixed feelings about. I have to admit though, the more I see the episodes, the more positive I feel about them.

I caught a few winks before there was a knock on my door. It was Julian and he wanted to play a few games of FIFA and then go grab some lunch at Ru-San’s (sushi….a sushi buffet even!!…I’ve written about it before, but I’m too lazy to find the entry and link it).

All in all we played 3 games (he as Arsenal of the English Premier League, I as Chelsea of same league), two before lunch and one afterward. I won the first 3-2 (coming from 2 down…assisted by the injury of his star player Thierry Henry…he’s possibly the best player in the world…even better than Beckham!), he won the second game 2-nil (a clean sheet), and I won the last game on penalty kicks (score was tied after extra time). I love that game man!

The sushi was good. I also took a tour of Brentwood and saw the corporate office of the realty office Julian works with (Crye-Leike…if you need a house buy one from him…hit me up for info!).

Anyway, after Julian left I bullshitted for awhile, and then Drea scooped me up to grab some food and watch some Meharry intramural basketball games. I think I’ll make that part 2, tomorrow. This is long enough.

It’s officially Birthday season in my family. Nina’s Birthday marks the first of the birthdays for the year, going until Universal Recognition of the Birth and Life of The Killa Cal Day.

What can I say about Nina P this year? She’s still beautiful. She’s even more mature. She’s still funny as hell.

I can’t express how glad I am that Nina and I continue to grow in our relationship. I’m glad she and Mia came and visited me in November. We had a lot of fun that weekend.

She just got a new car and she’s getting ready to go to grad school as well. I think the plan is for she and Che to try and go to school in the same area and live together or something. I’m with her no matter what she chooses to do.

Your brother loves you Nina P!

In other news, check out Max over at www.bolivion.com. All month long he and others (like me!) are going to be reviewing Black movies, some essential, others you may or may not have seen. So far it’s pretty interesting.

I may have something up my sleeves for the near future. Stay close, if you care.

Undisclosed location within Metro Nashville

*The theme song from Dynasty starts to play as The Killa Cal enters flanked by 2 female bodyguards (like in Halfbaked) and the spokeswoman in front, flashbulbs go off as The Killa blocks his eyes*

Spokeswoman: You all know the routine by now. No crazy questions, you WILL be thrown out! First question, down front.

Reporter: Killa your 600th entry came and went without much fanfare. How does it feel to be so prolific?

The Killa Cal: Well…I wouldn’t really call it prolific. Alot of these entries have been some rambling nonsense, whereas prolific kind of implies that each entry has substance. I’d say I was more, ummm…..verbose.

Spokeswoman: Next question….in the back there!

Reporter: What was with the music upon your entry?

The Killa Cal: Well a few things actually. I really like the theme music to the old TV show Dynasty for one thing. My dad used to close his Radio Show with that music on occassion (either that or Vanessa Williams’s Dreamin’ which I really like as well). Then there was the Patroits winning yesterday to start up all of the talk of a football dynasty and such. I was annoying everyone in the room as I was the only person openly rooting for the Patriots. I was also being a tad bit racially insensitive as the consensus in the room was that the Eagles were the official “black man’s team” and “Oh Killa how can you go against a Black QB?” Simple, I knew who was going to win….the WHITE MAN! But yeah, they are a dynasty now. 3 Championships in 4 years, in the salary cap era…..geddafuckouttahere!

Spokeswoman: Next question, you in the middle!

Reporter: Well did you get into anything else yesterday? You seemed kind of rushed.

The Killa Cal: Yeah, yesterday was a pretty hectic day. Me and Baby J went to the first birthday party of Madison and Sydney, Meharry’s favorite twins. They were adorable, even if they didn’t really know what was going on. They each got little miniature cakes which they proceeded to smash up and smush on their arms, face, and clothing as well as anyone who happened to get near. I took pictures, but my battery ran out as I was doing so.

Reporter: Well what about reports that you spent most of the time outside away from the general populace?

The Killa Cal: No comment *looks at Spokeswoman*

Spokeswoman: Guards, take care of that reporter! *looks about the crowd with a serious glare* Okay, one more question. You over there on the side.

Reporter: Does it feel good to be correct about the outcome of the game?

The Killa Cal: Well I’m not the kind of guy to toot my own horn *audible groans in the audience*….well I kinda am, but yeah I KNEW New England was winning a close game. I haven’t been this correct since the days of Old Reliable Joe Montana. Brady reminds me of Joe Cool!

Spokeswoman: The Killa will now make a short statement before the conclusion of this press conference.

The Killa Cal: Wow man, 600 entries. I was reading through my archives the other night and I couldn’t help but laugh at the instances where I threatened to quit. I was serious each of those time, but alas I haven’t the will power to actually go through with it. Anyway, to however many readers remain, I hope you enjoy reading my crazy shit as much as I enjoy typing it. I realize that I’m up and down and all over the place, but this is a true reflection of me. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a slight hangover from the keg yesterday (oh and shout outs to Dave for hosting and Kwanza and Heather for the food…oh and Drea for the cuban cigar!!)

*a helicopter appears suddenly, dropping a ladder down….The Killa and the three ladies climb aboard and are whisked away*