On ABC 2 tonight

Some of the highlights from the recent FODI event.

Rhymes of Reality

I saw the latest edition of D-Nice's documentary series True Hip Hop Stories reposted over at Dukes blog. Rather than doubling up and embedding it here, here is the direct link.

Here’s what D had to say about his video on the Homeless MC.

“This is the story of a homeless rapper I met on the streets of Brooklyn. There’s a part of me that feels for him because it’s quite obvious he suffered a great deal as a child. But it’s hard to show sympathy for a man who has lived life the way he has. I guess everyone deserves to be forgiven.”

Thank god for people like the Derrick Jones of this world, who shed light on an the story of people whom the majority of the mainstream music media hardly touch!

Law of the Garbage Truck

This well known PSA just came through my inbox, thanks to Marion who most probably got it from someone else forwarding it. Figured although most of y'all are hip to the LOTGT, some of you may not be.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car backed out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. He was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call,'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks.
They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so ...

Love the people who treat you right. Maybe pray for the ones who don't. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a wonderful, garbage-free day!!

Quote of the day

We are in an age of vacuous consumerism, of crap, free newspapers, vapid news channels and a reliance on google. Its a whitewash.

Reclaim opinion! become passionate about something, anything - fashion or stamp collecting. Research it, become an expert. Lets re-open public debate and stop our brains from turning into mush!

...From Rachel, found over at the Active Resistance forum.

I picked up the Vivienne Westwood Dazed abd Confused collaborative issue this morning, very inspiring reading, lots of food for thought.

Yeah, yeah this is dope

Sk8Mafia Saturday - August 9th, 2008 - AM Video Trailer

PE's "Prophets of Rage" over some fresh San Diego street skating, can you dig it?

Elsewhere - be sure to check to DJ Mike B's July 6th set from Banana Split he threw up at the home of sporadic nuggets. It has not left the IPod, goes to demonstrate once again Why the Los Angelian is one of the best deejays. He is skilled at the art of building a mix, creating a atmosphere, taking the listener on a journey, a trip.

For anyone who's checked out the "Mothership Reconnetion" podcast, you may think that this is something (doing a flawless, great mix), that I'm still working at. You'd be right!

Good deejays play things in context, pretty musch every track they drop is perfectly beatmixed, blended, dropped, cut up, doubled up (when necessary), not to mention they have an other wordly knowledge of music.

Said it before - any suggestions, requests, constructive criticism you've got for these mixes, let me know folks.

Oh and another thing, shout out to a mate of mine that posed the question to me the other week what would you do without a blog, without a podcast, if you didn't dj? Well aside from my day job.... thinking about it...well Weight Of A Nickel is somthing I can't stop doing, even if I wanted to. I've always had a drive to pass on stuff that blows my mind, is inspiring in the slightest, blogs are just a way to spread all the cool stuff you find to others, whether they're in Sydney or overseas - that's all. Some turn into paying avenues, with adverts, sponsorship and rediculous amounts of traffic, others float through the online quagmire dying slowly.

The podcast, seeking out cool tunes all day, every day - anyone who knows me personally knows that I've been obsessed with music, deejaying since mid high school, that was ten years ago, I'm now in my late twenties. I've never been able to shake it. Although, it's good to say part of the addiction is under control. It's like this, I ain't spinning anywhere, the last time I played out was 06 (if you could call it that), Mothership Recon is an avenue to put out mixes. Yes, the internet is saturated with the same old, same old mixes, that's obvious....

Shit, I hope a couple people out there find a track or two that's spun on the show that they hadn't heard, that they love. I guess that's why I keep perservering cause that feeling of hearing a track for the first time that makes the listener say wow, that's rare these days, to be able to play that track over and over is ever rarer. That's why deejaying, good music, cool 12's are special, cause each time you hear a great song for the first time, the feeling (as y'all know) is pretty much like nothing else.

Before I jet, check out Poni Hoax's "The Bird Is On Fire", "Antibodies" tunes posted over at Missing Toof. I'm loving these songs right now, these guys music sounds just like Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry meets LCD Soundsystem and the result if pretty much classy, sassy, grown folk, shaken martini shaken sipping at a cool club laidback, punk-funk perfection...

Global happenings

In the words of the SBS television promo a few years back, "the world is an amazing place". The Sydney Morning Herald's Snapshots gallery (see the AFP credited shot above of scrabble players in Dakar, as just one moment in time, somewhere in the world),is updated daily.

APEX, Eli tribute tonight on FBI Radio's Stolen Records.....

(APEX on far left. Pic from Sleeping Monk)


...May You Both Rest In Peace...



(Main picture: Eli Westlake. Insert: Sarah May Ward pic from Channel 9)

This blog goes worldwide, so I wanted to shed some light on what's happend here in the Sydney Hip Hop community, the terrible losses we have suffered of late....

...Struggling to type this....

Firstly I wanted to send my condolences, thoughts and prayers out to all the family and friends of Eli Westlake.

His death is all over the news here....

We (even those who has just met him a couple of times) are all in shock, many of us still can't comprehend APEX's (Angel Amado's) death and then to find out that a talented, humble, honest, genuine human being such as Eli was cruelly taken from us at just 21 years old. Some of us (especially those close to both these amazing human beings) are struggling...try to stay strong peeps!

Update: The main focus of the Stolen Records on Sunset tribute edition was on the life of APEX. Hopefully they do something similar for Eli. Big shout out to the Yoda of Hip Hop in Australia - Blaze - for recording it, check Sleeping Monk and 13th Son speaking about APEX, who he was - here (starts just past the four minute mark).

Seldom seen often heard

There has been a serious lack of activity on this blog, as of late. However this is no time for apologies. I'm about to throw up a feature I did with Meg and Stu of "Disrupt" - a really cool clothing, jewellery, toy store in Sydney's Surry Hills. I'm also working on an hour mix for my homegirls radio show on FBI called "Sat Night Discotek", which i'm really excited about and honoured to be doing. Also working on a mix for DJ Nes's blog - "Dirty Waters" and one for DJ Blueprint's "This Is Tomorrow" page, both of whom were kind enough to invite me to do guest posts...

A tribute to Angel Amado aka A.P.E.X

(Ear Infection cd cover image courtesy of Sleeping Monk... A.P.E.X leaning on the rail in the centre of the photo...Cover design Monster Zero)

Angel Amado died on Saturday 24th, as the result of a severe motorcycle crash that took his life.

Words can't really describe who Angel was and the memories that will live on in those who knew him. He was a king. A warrior who told it like it was. He was one of the most authentic, loyal, intelligent, powerful human beings I and many others had ever met.

My condolences and thoughts go out to his family and friends! Gone but not forgotten... R.I.P Angel!

To my readers

I'm taking a hiatus from Weight Of A Nickel for a while. There are a number of other areas in life that I need to get sorted and being on blogger for however many hours a day isn't helping.

Be sure to check out all the links to the right hand side of this post, for lots of good music, film, art, gear, etc.

As always thanks to anyone who's visited and got something, anything from this page thus far.