christmas in april

the search is over! after months of hemming and hawing about buying a bass guitar, i will finally be a proud owner of a used japan-made fender standard jazz bass. the best part is, my significant other decided to save me some (a lot) of money by buying it for me as an early christmas gift. i'm crossing my fingers that the duties from importing from japan won't increase the cost of it too much. buying it used only saved us $50 but it was worth it because it has a smaller radius for the fretboard and it's vintage white (more of a cream color) instead of arctic white (pictured). fender standard jazz basses don't come in vintage white anymore so i could only get it used. i eventually want to change the pickguard to black..it's going to look sick! now i just have to buy an amp. but bass amps are so ugly...

blazin' summer

the perfect look for spring/summer. love this linen men's style denim blazer from valerie dumaine. available at shopvaleriedumaine.com

The 36 Chambers of Shaolin

Ah, the infamous "36 Chambers" that the Wu-Tang Clan named their most famous album after. After watching this movie recently, I could see why such a quintessential hip-hop group would name their album after it. I was extremely entertained. Hooked and totally engrossed after the first 15 minutes. I've been a huge Jet Li fan (amongst other various martial arts heroes that I am too embarrassed to mention) since the mid-'90s but somehow this film managed to pass me by. The 36 Chambers of Shaolin (1978), directed by the Shaw brothers, is more than your average martial arts flick. It starts off as the typical avenge-my-school-and-stop-the-political-takeover martial arts movie, but dabbles in teaching you about perseverance and self-actualization (Maslow's hierarchy, anyone?). It's definitely one of those old school classics that you can enjoy at any age. I have since added it as one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, go rent it. Better yet, get it on Blu-ray. The picture quality's pretty impressive.

Warpaint

Warpaint. i posted their video of "Stars" on my FB page a while back and i still can't get them out of my head. haven't been this excited about an all-girl band in years. their songs remind me of a time in my life of years past, when all i could think about was music. they get me excited about music again (although i went through a semi-equivalent Passion Pit phase last year). i love this live session of one of my favorite songs, "Beetles," recorded in Suite 501 @ Levi's. I'm in love.

i'm inspired to embark on my next project...till next time,

j.