Hurricane Irene : Miller’s Island.

Hurricane Irene - Miller's Island, Baltimore, MD
Hurricane Irene - Miller's Island, Baltimore, MD
Hurricane Irene - Miller's Island, Baltimore, MD

Just got back from Miller’s Island with J.M. Giordano, he was out there on assignment and I tagged along and snapped some incidental shots… Not great shots but it was raining so hard I literally couldn’t see! The wind and rain here was way stronger than in the city – when we got back in the car we heard they were starting voluntary evacuation of the island. It flooded badly during Isobel. Stay safe out there.

Breakdancing In Baltimore.

Breakdancers at Dig.
Breakdancers at Dig.   Breakdancers at Dig.
Breakdancers at 4 Hours of Funk

I worked with Sam Sessa at the Baltimore Sun on a piece about the breakdancing scene in Baltimore. The monthly party 4 Hours of Funk (at Wind Up Space) and the weekly Dig (at Joe Squared) are both hotbeds of breaking, as well as popping and locking. Both parties are fun, even for the uninitiated like myself. It’s pretty impressive just to hang back and watch their moves.

[miniflickr user_id=”50009481@N00” tags=”sunbreaking2011″]

Flooding In North Dakota

North Dakota. Souris River flood.
North Dakota. Souris River flood.   North Dakota. Souris River flood.
North Dakota. Souris River flood.   North Dakota. Souris River flood.

The top photo is of the Westhope bridge, the last bridge across the Souris (Mouse) River. They have built the bridge up 4+ feet with rocks and sandbags and so forth. 10′ is considered a flood. It’s at 20′ in this photo and rising. The area with the guard rail, just past the speed limit 10 sign, is the actual bridge. normally the river is no wider than that.

The other photos show how the telephone/electrical poles are starting to tilt over, and a swimming muskrat (for the cute factor).

.

Mobb Deep’s Prodigy speaks at Enoch Pratt.

Prodigy Book Signing.
Prodigy Book Signing.   Prodigy Book Signing.

NYC rapper Prodigy, best known as half of the influential hip-hop duo Mobb Deep who created such classic records as …The Infamous and Hell On Earth in the 90s, spoke last night at Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library. On tour supporting the release of his autobiography, My Infamous Life, Prodigy had quite a bit to say during the roughly 60 minute Q&A, hosted by AJ from 92Q’s Rap Attack.

I’ve been a fan of Mobb Deep since 1995, when I moved to NYC and was exposed to their sophomore album, …The Infamous. I still consider this to be one of THE classic records of the 90s and it’s one of my favorite albums of all time. He also has a successful solo career as well with albums such as HNIC and 2007’s underrated Return of the Mac. In recent years though, Prodigy is more well know for a series of beefs, an abortive signing to 50 Cent’s G-unit label, and his 2007 gun possession conviction which led to him being incarcerated for 3 years.

Prodigy talked about this all, and more. Some highlights: Continue reading

DMV Record Pull – first night.

The Future - DMV Record Pull
Harmony Music - DMV Record Pull   Jimmy Jones / KW Griff - DMV Record Pull

DJ Excel, DJ Booman and Bmore Original helped organize what I hope becomes a regular event, a record pull at Club Reality in Baltimore City. Labels, artists, DJs, Producers, and media from DC/MD/Va got together and talked, met each other, networked, performed, and had a dialogue. A cool event and very chill, low-stress, very little drama. Follow the record pull on facebook, or check out the new website.

Urbanite review of Under The Strobe Light (my book).

Al Shipley over at Urbanite just did a nice little write-up about my book. The thing basically sold out the first run, only a couple left, but I am about to do a second run, with some expansions and some changed design elements, so feel free to purchase one – but if you want the new & improved version, it won’t be out for a bit yet! If you don’t mind the OG edition, go ahead!

car fire.

car fire in mt vernon.
car fire in mt vernon.

the other day i managed to be walking by when a car caught fire on my block… though caught fire is sort of a misnomer, this thing went up like a match… it was spooky/scary how fast it went from smoking to an inferno. i always sort of thought movies exaggerated how fast a car can burn up but they don’t…. there was no explosion, though. one thing i never thought about a car fire is how the door panels and tires kept popping, making gunshot-like sounds. i guess it’s the air inside getting hotter and expanding… pretty crazy.

you can see more photos of it here. one was in the baltimore sun as well.