Some knowledge that a GP client passed on to me. I thought it very amusing, much to the dismay of most of the other tellers...

Women = Time x Money

Time = Money

(therefore,)

Women = Money x Money
Women = Money²

(from the Bible: Money is the root of all evil...)

Money = √(Evil)

(if Women = Money², then...)

Women = √(Evil)²

↓

Women = Evil.


Fascinating...

Egad, I haven't been here in a while.
I've tried so hard to come back katz, you just don't understand. I have comprised most of this post on my day off today. With workload starting to increase, season premieres to catch, amongst other items on the to-do list, I have struggled to put my thoughts on computer, despite the relative ease of doing so. My neglect is never on purpose.

But, at least it was for good reason.
Last Friday marked 15 months since I first started at GreenPoint. And finally, finally, I am enjoying its benefits. Took a visit to the doctor, and issued me a clean bill of health, after of course recommending to me to shed a few pounds...
I've also been signing up for tax courses so I can actually do people's taxes. Though my primary focus should be the CPA exam, I feel that if I treat this exam like the SAT's, then with that mind set, and the studying techniques that got me through college, I should be just fine.

What else was I supposed to talk about? Oh yeah...

Irie Jamboree

Yup, the event that New York is still talking about. From Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, it was my first dancehall concert in a long while. I got there around 1 or 2PM, and already Foxy Sorry Brown was performing. A lot of famous acts were there, including Mikey Jared, Ed Robinson, Wayne Under Mi Sleng Teng Smith, Sammy Dread, Mr. Easy, Major Mackrel, Plunky Ranks, and my two favorites from the old days, Half Pint and Frankie Paul. I enjoyed myself a lot when they performed. My only vex: Paul didn't perform Stuck On You.
Later, Richie Stephens, along with General Degree, performed. One thing I learned and appreciated that day: Ladies Love Richie Stephens. We move on to Red Rat, who had issues with R. Kelly and Mario Winans' I Don't Want To Know. I must admit, he was one of the most entertaining and colorful performers there. He did a reggae take of Eamon's Fuck It, which was downright hilarious. He was just cool. Next, Ward 21 came on. They had their dancers, their dances, and their wild behaviour. Very animated performance.
Jabba, of Hot '97's Massive B fame, delighted us by bringing Anthony Cruz, Mikey and Richie Spice. Mad Cobra came next, and was also very entertaining, from the old skool stuff, to Don't Waste Mi Time. Tanya Stephens followed, and had more appeal with the females. Not that I'm complaining, but at least she could have came with some of her old school stuff, Goggle, among others. My friend didn't even recognise her until It's A Pity played.

Now, for the heavyweights. Luciano brought some children to the stage, and brought some more from the audience, to remind us all that the pickney are the future, and keep them strong in Jah. Now I said Red Rat's performance was eye catching; but Luciano was climbing up the stage and what not, jumping across the area in what had to be the most entertaining performance yet. His song arsenal was much more varied, which might explain the extra time he got. I mean, whoa. That dude is off the chain!
Freddie McGregor was next, with my favorite, Push Come To Shove. We had a nice groovy time. His songs are more melodically driven, and I was extremely grateful at this point, considering Barrington Levy, Bounty Killer, and Shabba Ranks, had yet to perform. My mind wasn't too much on the performance at this point, because after taking several pictures, both my batteries were dying. I had about two shots left...
T'was about 9PM, and Shabba Ranks got on the stage; and the audience nearly erupted. He truly proved that he can still hold his own on the stage. However, time was running out; and next thing we knew, police was on stage. It kind of hinted to us that the end was here, even though Bounty didn't perform. Shabba decided to heat things up, and called for a Shabba/Bounty collaboration. But that fell on deaf ears, as the police insisted that they wrap things up. So Shabba came back and pretty much wrapped up the night, and out of pure respect for the man, got a standing ovation. But, when the organizers at Irie 93.5FM came on the stage, they got a much different reaction. I remember starting a Warlord! chant before they said that it was time to go. Next thing I knew, plastic bottles were being thrown on the stage, and I, along with the party I was with at the time, fled the park.

Had this not have been an abrupt and disappointing ending, I would have fully enjoyed Irie Jamboree '04. Amazingly however, despite the controversy, I actually had a fantastic time. Am I not upset that Bounty didn't perform? Of course. Am I pissed off that Barrington Levy wasn't there? Oh hell yes! But despite that, I had a great time. It wasn't Jazz Fest '04, but it was nonetheless.
So what happened with Barrington and Bounty, their main attractions?! Well, Bounty's sound crew would've had to make a makeshift switch with Shabba's crew, which wouldn't have given Bounty enough time to perform. Upset by this, he decides not to perform. I can't blame him. Barrington? Rumor-mill has circulated that he took the money he was offered to perform, and ran, because he deserved more. Needless to say, I was highly pissed off.

But aside from those antics, and the new faces, and a whole bunch of other stuff, it was a great experience.


If you tilt your head left, you can tell that he had a ball, especially when the zouk band started playing...

Rating - 8.3/10

Red Carpet (Pause, Flash!)
R. Kelly
Happy People/U Saved Me

The West Indian Day Parade

Last year, I pranced up and down that parkway until my feet were literally sore. I wined, I limed, and I had a blast! But that was last year.
This year, it seemed that a lot has changed. Or maybe it's just me that changed. I got on the parkway once, and that was when the Barbados float passed by with Krosfyah featuring Edwin Yearwood. I had a great time there, but when I came back, it was near the end. All the big floats passed early in the day, unlike last year. And as the maddening crowd followed, I felt that I need not be a part of that one. There were a lot of Haitian floats this year, not that I'm complaining; but it's a tad irritating hearing Hay-tee every two seconds.
Nonetheless, this year for one reason or another felt a bit dry, as though it lost the appeal it had just one year ago. I can't even rate it to say that I was a full an active participant of the experience. But you know what though, if you were there, and you had a great time that Monday, then forget about it; it was great this year.

Aside from that, one good thing came out of that experience: I went to the roti place near me for some doubles, and these two females literally bought me my doubles and Solo Apple J so that they could avoid the line. Not that I wouldn't have done it for them without compensation, but they were persistent on me odering their food for them, and they insisted that I be properly compnsated.
How about that?!

I heard this from someone last week...


Laura Branigan
1957-2004

While jabronies out there will only recognise this name with the hit track Gloria, true aficionados and Miami Vice fans will remember her for the edgy Gold hit Self Control. She had the beat and rhythm that defined the 80's, and will be remembered for that. We'll miss you Laura...

We are losing so many of our favorites. Gregory, RIck, now Laura. Wow, this is heavy...

Collateral

I saw this movie a while back, and just forgot to comment on it. In the drama category, this film would be the #1 film of the summer (H&K would be #1 in comedy.) I absolutely adored Jada P. Smith's performance in the film. And like Man On Fire, I felt that the ending, while appropriate, could have been more thought out. Aside from that, perhaps it's time to welcome Tom Cruise into the world of bad guys.
My favorite moment had to be the jazz club scene. That spoke to me for some reason.
Rating: 9/10

Jet Li's Hero
I wasn't going to comment on this at all, considering the fact that this is a watered-down US version of the Hong-Kong import issued 2 years ago. Everyone who had not seen that dubbed version had expected much more action and swordsmanship, and was a little let down. If you too had seen the original, you know that this new version was particularly designed to be like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. With that said, my respect for Maggie Cheung (of Jackie Chan's Police Story fame) has sky-rocketed, only because this is the first serious role I've seen her in since The Heroic Trio & The Executioners. I love the idea of how the plot was told 3 accounts, one which phony but believable, another which is based on the phony tale but presented more realistically, then the true account of the story, which takes bits and pieces of the previous two tales. You may not get what I'm saying, but for clarity you might want to watch it (again), just for the story.

"Why didn't you block my sword?
Why didn't you block it..."
Man, that had to be the most depressing moment of the film. And the water fight had to be the corniest. In any event, it was still a good film in my eyes, in light of CTHD.
And yes, Jet-Li's character actually died in the movie. The HK version of that scene might remind you of The Passion Of The Christ, so Quentin Tarrantino had it edited out for you...
Rating: 8.75/10

And still, I know I'm forgetting something. Well, it will have to wait until next time.
Later guys...

Every sperm is sacred, Every sperm is great. If a sperm is wasted, God gets quite irate.
Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life"

Don't ask me why I put that there.
But after watching the DVD, I found something funny to finally put on the blog...

I trust that all and all had a great summer! Da Kat unda the Kangol cap's summer ended on a great note, and an even bigger realization:
No more school.
All I hear and read about now are my friends still in school. One has one more semester left, another has a couple of years to go; in fact, some of my co-workers have already started the fall semester. Meanwhile, I no longer have those problems. I no longer have to grudge to some educational institution three, four, and five times a week so I can graduate and make my parents happy. I feel left out, somehow. But to hell with that, I have finally done it...
And now have some free time!

So, what does a college graduate do in his free time?
After a year and change at GreenPoint, I've been finally granted all my perks, and an option to go full-time. And while I must enter the full-time real world sooner or later, I'm refraining from doing so now; primarily because of my new quest: CPA status. From here with a degree in accounting, there's no other step to take than becoming a certified public accountant. So now, I'm taking review courses at Hunter (and therefore, have not totally freed myself from Hunter) on the weekends. Furthermore, I plan to take the Business and the Financial Accounting/Reporting parts to the test some time in November. And how much is this venture costing me?

Review courses - $1700; well I get to take them however I want, and to retake the course is only $100.
Exam - $345 registration fee; $125 exam fee; Auditing/Attestation $134.50; Business $100.50; FAR $126; Regulation $109.
Grand Total - $2640

Like, couldn't I have went to school for another degree or something with that cash!?!? When they talk about barriers to entry, they really weren't kidding! Well, so much for the car...

Aside from that venture, I gather all the rest I've lost from the five years I've been going to Hunter. And believe me, that's a lot of rest to regain. My iPod is still going strong, and guess what...

Uptown Girl
Conroy Smith
Reggae Penthouse Classics II

I finally got the song! About a week after the last post, someone finally put the song up on the network for download. May God bless the soul who put the song up on that network! The way I talk, you would think I spend most of my time dowloading hard to find music! Well, not quite all of my time...
** lol **
Now, I begin my search for my next track, When You Love Somebody, by Craig T. Cooper.

Okay, music man! What have you done this August that you haven't dropped a line in almost a month!?!
Glad you asked...


The Changing of The Vanguard

In the blockbuster move of the summer, and the year for that matter, I finally upgraded my laptop to the new PowerBook G4, with a 1.33GHZ processor, 60GB hard drive, 768MB RAM, but no DVD burner. My reason for not going all the way with this 12" laptop was due to the fact that there are faster burners out there, and I would want one that I can work with not just my machine, but my house desktop as well. As you can tell, I have even customized my computer in light of my latest DVD acquisition. And I still say that Miami Vice had better be next!

Your Ways
The Jacksons
Triumph

But the real story here is my victory over temptation. And the temptation was to buy the new 4th Generation iPod. And it was so strong, they (Apple) were offering it in a package; Buy an Apple Laptop over $1200 in value along with an iPod, and get $200 back. And with my educational discount, I literally get my iPod for free, and pay full price for the laptop. And it seemed like an awesome idea! My mother, despite her warnings, was almost certain that I was heading to SoHo and coming back with another iPod.
But something happened.
Saturday at work was a bit hectic; so much so, I got to the store in time to watch it repair my iPod and close up! On Sunday, after the first day at CPA review, I went back to the Apple Store determined to get the laptop. While still pensive on the iPod, I went in hesitant, even debating to hold on to my money for something else. Then, the unthinkable: I sit at the Genius Bar, looking at my future expenses, and have deemed buying this iPod frivolous and unproductive. Frivolous? Unproductive? The way I praise these things, I must have lost it, right? Katz, it just came to the point where if I can hold on to a couple of pennies, than that's what I outta do. But, God has always found a way for everything, right? So I should be able to buy this iPod, and still make it right? And at that point, I reverted back to my old self again. Suddenly, buying it was rational, even logical.
While still waiting for my G4 at the genius bar, several customers were there waiting for their iPods to be repaired/replaced. I became inquisitive and started asking around. It turns out there was/is and audio flaw in them that plays the sound distortedly. You would think it was one or two people with the problem; it turned out to be almost everyone waiting on an iPod at the Genius Bar. If that didn't become a hinderance on my final decision, I don't know what did. And with those people still waiting at the Bar, I left the Apple Store with my new laptop. That was it. I finally whipped temptation in the butt! And I felt good about it on the way home. The logic now is that with the iMac G5's out, there's gonna be a better iPod in the future. So, while I sit on my $1000 leather chair at some CPA firm, I'll be jammin to that new iPod.
And with that, I am contented once again.

Something of thought: is it enough to be content? We can be happy, but it will never last; we always want something in order to satisfy a level of happiness. But what if one reaches the level of content, where no matter what, they're satisfied? Can one live off that content? Is it really better to reach a level you can enjoy for a small amount of time, or is it better to live at point that lasts a lifetime? One would guess it depends on what kind of person you are. Enough meditation, on to the rest of August...


The CD 101.9 JazzFest 2004

I wanted to go to all three, On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But I had work on Saturday, and Sunday was the Irie Jamboree. Alas, there was only Friday, and that one day was all I needed. Because heading the event for Friday: Regina Belle, David Sanborn, and Al Jarreau.
I left work around 4PM, and headed to Central Park around 5:30PM. After waiting unnecessarily at a line for about 5 minutes, I finally got to get inside, find a seat to the mid-right of the stage, and enjoy the festivities. En route, I met a CD 101.9 photographer, taking shots of a nearby Chrysler car. Still in my suit, the guy asked me if I can pose with the car. Awkward, I agreed and stood for a couple of shots. Then, getting two for the price of one, the guy got me to pose with a nearby Chrysler SUV. I was very polite throughout, and he was just as grateful...

Regina Belle
There was one dude named Mr. Latham in which Regina dedicated one of her songs to, because they had such a great long history together. Strangely enough, there was a Mr. Latham at my old Junior High school that I was almost certain was the same Latham. In an attempt to prove my point, Latham took a little bow when she called him out; then all of a sudden, I yelled McKinney!, hinting back to Susan Smith McKinney, my old JHS. He looked around, to see who made the comment; and I was too far away to be seen. At least I know that the dude has gotten around since 10 years ago...
In any event, her performance was pretty good. She not only entertained us with her new and old tunes, but she even entertained by interacting with her backup singers, as well as her ponytail that she "pinned to her hair." I don't think I was supposed to say that though...
Big-ups have got to go to Brent Carver, one of Regina's backups who did A Whole New World with her. And he held his own with her; and actually shined the entire performance. All in all, good session, not outstanding, but good.
Rating: 8.5/10

David Sanborn
There is absolutely nothing I can't say about the ability of David Sanborn. I have never seen so many yuppies (no pun intended) jump up and dance to his jazz music like they did that night. But they had good reason: his performance was electrifying. From his great hits like Chicago Song and Savannah, to some of his recent music like Benny, Come Back Home and As We Speak. I got to take some pictures while he performed, and he seems like a cool guy. So much so, after the performance, I got to help his mother and sister walk to the backstage area; in which he was thankful for my assistance. Imagine that, David Sanborn said thanks to me. Whoa.
Okay, outstanding performance, from start to finish.
Rating: 9.5/10

Al Jarreau
Okay, so this one is going to be a little bit biased, considering that I actually came to see Al Jarreau, and got everyone else as part of the package. You know this, because of the autograph you scrolled past to get to this point. But nonetheless, I'll try to come to the point.
There was not a song he performed that I didn't know. From Route 66, to Take Five, to I Will Be Here For You. I was singing along to everything! Even After All and Boogie Down played; and if I may say so myself, I was even showing up some of the forty & fiftysomethings out there!

Groovin' High
Al Jarreau
Accentuate The Positive

Al Jarreau at his best. Not just at the performance, but with his new album. I recommed this one to all jazz lovers.
Going back to the performance, I mean, this guy is just such a great showman. I may have forgot the closing song, but I do remember half the crowd (myself included) calling for an encore. And one to please his fans, he came back! And what song did he close out with? Of course, Roof Garden!
After several attempts, I only got two good shots of him performing. And no, it's not my camera; it's the fact that Jarreau moves his body five movements a second! So after the performance, I waited near the backstage area to catch one good shot of him. As luck would have it, the lighting was very poor, and it was noted that Jarreau would not allow flash photography, so there went that one. On the flip side of that luck coin, I caught up with the photographer from earlier on in the day, who was taking pictures for the CD 101.9 website. I pulled him over, pulling out my $12 '04 JazzFest T-Shirt, and asked for a miracle. Two minutes later...


That happened.

Then, moments later...

I left Central Park, and headed to BBQ's one happy Kat.

Rating: 10/10

Wow, it took forever to finish this one post. Next time, I'll discuss Irie Jamboree, and the West Indian Day parade, amongst other stuff.
Later...