cville / biking / goonies

Well, oddly enough blogging hasn't been coming naturally to me--but I want to bring it back and anyway I read somewhere recently that blogging about blogging is a cardinal sin so that's enough on that.

My departure from Charlottesville is imminent (about three weeks now) so it's time to (a) live it up and (b) reflect on what I like about this place. One thing I've always liked is these taxis with the puns on them ("punishment" as Rat would say), so here's my favorite one of late which happens to be parked around the corner from my house on the regular.



Let's see what else: this week is Bike Week in Charlottesville which is pretty sweet. I got some fruit and reflectors and stuff at a "bicycle pit stop" today and entered a raffle to win an awesome oldschool bike from Syklos. All that stuff was from the city & biking advocacy group ACCT, but tomorrow Community Bikes gets in on the action with the first Bike-In Movie of the season

By the way, another thing I like about Charlottesville is Shelly's signs/posters/handwriting/etc., an example of which is the Bike Week sign (also, that might look like my car in the picture but it's not, I was on my bike, so there). For the Bike-In Movie we are showing THE GOONIES, which I'm pretty psyched for, seeing as it's basically the first movie I ever remember seeing. (I really hope it doesn't rain on us--it's raining here now.)



And I can't really talk Goonies without mentioning the NES game, which was one of my favorites as a kid. Watch the YouTube clip below for a trip down memory lane -- the audio at 4 minutes in is like the soundtrack to my childhood.

Space Disco 3000: WTJU marathon tonight

Jake & I will be on the radio tonight, trying to rustle up some cash for WTJU. Tune in to 91.1FM if you're in C-ville or at http://wtju.net/stream.rb if you are afar. See the show description below, and for more information on the marathon, go here:
http://wtju.net/cache.rb/marathons/spring2008/index

Space Disco 3000

When:	Tuesday, April 01 11:00PM - 1:00AM
Hosted by:	The CEO & DJ Atom
Category:	Rock

Finally, disco is back. Check in with The CEO and DJ Atom for a show that celebrates the far-out, danceable sounds of electro-disco. We'll explore the mutant disco of Cristina and Was (Not Was), the electronic sounds of classic German and Italo disco and check out the new wave of disco sounds courtesy of LCD Soundsystem, Chromatics and Daft Punk. This is a can't-miss show for anyone who wants to experience the dance floor of the future.

The studio will look something like this:

Remembering Mikey Dread & Joe Gibbs

Well, the record score of my last post has pushed me into where we all probably knew this blog was going, which was into my love of music, and here is a place for me to move that forward. In the past few weeks, the reggae world (which is the whole world) has lost two great pioneers and giants of roots music, producer extraordinaire Joe Gibbs and radio DJ turned reggae superstar Michael Campbell aka Mikey Dread the "Dread at the Controls."

First things first, I'm going to be doing a musical tribute to these greats on my radio show, Reggae Vibrations, today from 2:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern on WTJU 91.1 FM in Charlottesville. Listen live online here.

I won't attempt to write their obituaries, as more capable and suitable people have done that already (for Gibbs here, and Campbell here). However, I would like to share a bit of their work, and what they've done for reggae music. You would do well to check out all of this stuff, but at least look at the first clip for each of these guys. And do yourself a favor and turn the volume UP.

MIKEY DREAD
Mikey Dread - at the controls live in the dancehall, London 1981:


Mikey Dread - "Natural Roots"



JOE GIBBS: the Youtube tributes to Joe Gibbs consist mostly of record-play videos; sooner or later, I'll be making these myself, but for now you should enjoy the following:

Junior Murvin - "Cool Out Son" produced by Joe Gibbs:


Joe Gibbs & the Professionals - "Runnings Irie" (Money in my Pocket version)


If you want to hear Mikey Dread in action you can download one of his JBC radio shows on Rapidshare here. Shit's ridiculous: "Michael, you make me feel so good!"

Also, I'll be DJing tonight in Harrisonburg at Clementine if you'll be around the area or know people there who might enjoy it.