"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac."
George Carlin.

Whaddup from da Kat unda da Kangol cap; and what a week it's been. I've been trying to get a freelance going for days now, and nothing seems to be coming my way. However, a lot of action had passed since this rain came back to visit us over the weekend...

Costco trip turns Crazy as Cops Capture Cab Con...

On a usual Saturday trip to Costco, my brother and I grab our usual goods to take our usual train ride home. When we got inside the store however, not only does it start to rain, but minutes later, it pours. Looking at our usual items (large Wisk, some juice, eggs, cheese, etc...), we decide to get a cab home. We get out of the usually long ride, and pack our stuff inside our usual Pathmark bags, and prepare to fetch a cab.
Next thing we know, a guy approaches us, asking us if we need a lift. To our house from Costco is usually $15, and this guy proved to be no exception to the rule. So we put our belongings in his van, and sat in the front, ready for what turned out to be a rather unusual ride. Before we hit 5th Avenue, the TLC (Taxi & Limousine Commission) pulled him over on 4th Avenue and 36th Street. The guy, who looked very apprehensive with the cops approaching, attempted to reason with them, saying that he'll pull over at the curb. Next thing you know, the pedal was on the medal, and the knucklehead was doing 75 mph, trying to outrun the TLC. For a good two minutes, my brother and I felt like we were in a video game; zig zagging across streets, crossing red lights, and all for some $300 summons. Two minutes later, we found ourselves on 25th Street, with the driver telling us to get out the van. We all escape in one peace, luckily, and the dude managed to run and escape from the TLC, who arrived at the scene a short time later. After questioning us on what happened, the police attempted to open the doors so we can get our belongings.
As the policeman described it, the guy has been ripping Costco customers off for weeks now; charging them a normal fare at the store, then making them pay a higher price when they arrived at their respective homes, denying them access to their purchased items without paying his outrageous fees. What I realized then was exactly what the guy planned to do in the event TLC caught up with him; he was to run and hide for a few minutes. After attempting to open the van doors with no success, TLC would give up and leave; and if we aren't there when it all ends, the dude goes away scot-free with the van and the groceries. And as I suspected, he passed by the vicinity a few minutes later to see if they left; only to be greeted by another cop from behind. The dude was arrested; we got our groceries back and hailed a cab to go home. It was supposed to be at max, a 25 minute ride; and it became a 45 minute rollercoaster. The fact we or no one else was hurt is either an act of God, a miracle, or a coincidence.
While I wasn't worse for wear, my brother has not stopped talking to me about the incident ever since. And while I learned that if it ain't my usual guy Philip, wait 20 minutes for a TLC cab, there is one silver lining to the cloud: at least no one else will ever have to deal with this Costco-Con; we may have helped nabbed this kat and put him away for good! So in everything, I give thanks. I just wish my brother would register that right about now...

Ok. On to some techno-babble. I've been converting some of my greatest hits CDs into AAC format, and I happened to notice something that may only be apparent on my computer: a 128 kbps AAC file is about .1MB bigger than a 128 kbps MP3 file. And that .1MB difference does not include the artwork which I have to acquire from Amazon.com, not even from iTunes. I mean, if I'm gonna get the CD cover, I might as well be able to gather the artwork from Apple's CDDB...
In any event, 36 albums on AAC format so far have taken up 1.67GB of space. And what Apple has failed to alert my brother to is the fact that AAC won't play on OS 9. How about that...

iPod update: So far, my 6 month (technically several weeks old) iPod had one dent on the side, and about two scratches on the screen. Other than that, it works like a charm; unlike the holder Apple provided, whose clip broke off a few minutes before I got here. At press time, the second-generation, 10GB model has 1900 songs and 1 full gigabyte left. Whoa; one full gigabyte. It took me 6 months, 1 week, and 5 days to get this far. I always assumed it would take me longer. And have I put all my music on the iPod? Nope...

All right. Enough techno-babble for now.
Reggae Gold 2003,
Various Artists

Get Busy by Sean Paul was guaranteed to be there. But when you add Pon De River, Pon De Bank by Elephant Man, Thank You Mamma by Sizzla, and the No Letting Go remix by Wayne Wonder, you're guaranteed a great compilation. The Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Morgan Heritage, and Beres Hammond tracks were great additions, and the DJ Black Chiney mix CD is actually worth a listen. But when you take into account that one can acquire almost half the music through conventional means, you have to ask yourself: is it still worth it? Well, if you ask da Kat, who spent $12 for it at J & R Music World, it is well worth it.
Next time, I'll review Soca Gold 2003...

After exactly two weeks of being rain-free, I had to trade in a Totes Windmaster umbrella for a normal Totes automatic, plain-jane, much smaller, full size umbrella. On a Saturday 2 weeks ago, I went to Macy's for a good umbrella, and walk away with this huge, extra-large cane stick of an umbrella, known as the Totes Windmaster. And for two weeks, it kept me (and any nice female trying to hide) sheltered from the rain. On a Saturday not too long ago (in fact, just last Saturday, when we helped nabbed the "Costco Con"), I got to use it at the time when I really needed it. And lo and behold: one of the hinges broke off; it looked like I had it for two months. I did not wait for sunshine to take it back to Macy's for an exchange, and I was too disappointed to get an exact replacement; I walked away with a much smaller umbrella. Even though it suits me fine, I still miss walking around like Ronald Isley...

I'm trying to get the freelance going. So bear with dis Caribbean New Yorker, meanwhile enjoy yourselves!