Sundays in the Park

Food Fights, Five Blondes and The Flu



Gilberto Gil - "Domingo no Parque"
(purchase here)

This week I will try to introduce some structure to the daily postings. The first is "Sundays in the Park," a late merienda meant to ease us into the week.

• E-40 is bringing Fatburger to the Bay. Ok, former Raider Chester McGlockton shares top billing in the venture. But I'm abliss imagining the ad campaign potential: Fonzarelli in a red and white tracksuit -- Kingburger in one hand, snifter of Carlo Rossi in the other -- strolling over to the juke to give it a firm knock, leading to the music cue, "Rapper's Ball"; or, a series of radio spots, not unlike St Ides'. The Last Great Hamburger Stand, fa'shiggadale.
  
  
• ...and a beverage to complement that order? Kentucky's finest for G Dub! Please, Miss Laura, keep him away from the red button while he's gettin' his redface on.
  
  
• Madonna's new single "Hung Up" (from her upcoming album, Confessions On a Dancefloor), samples ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Man After Midnight)." This is actually only the second time the 4 Über Blondes have given sample clearance; blue ribbon goes to the Fugees' "Rumble in the Jungle" for doing in "The Name of the Game." (nod to Michelle)
  
  
• Jin The Emcee got took at Fight Klub. And over some silly racist isht?. New champ Serius Jones brought some heat, "You've been wack your whole career / Ain't there two billion people in China, you can't even go platinum over there" (although I can only imagine "-reer" and "there" rhyming in Kanyese). However, other lines like, "You ain't a Ruff Ryder, you on the back like one of them broads / DMX tried to kill him for trying to cook one of his dogs," are, in the words of Miss Info, only reaching out to the lowest common denominator. Let's put it in perspective: equivalent lines from Jin could be: "Silly booch, givin' dilz to your kids / 'swhy 30 million in Africa got AIDS, not your discs"; or, "You're at Fight Klub, not the Chicken Shack / Here's some watermelon; now hit the road, jack." Jin spoke about the battle on Shade45, and had an interesting take (fast forward about a quarter of the way through); regarding racist barbs, he said, "as a battle MC, I don't let that be my weakness." True; but, that does not exempt an audience that "erupted" after that first Jones line, let alone an MC who chose to spit that thought. That Serius seriously insinuates key lines were prewritten only makes the case more disappointing.
  
  Bonus: Not in the industry? That's what the internet's for! Clips from Jin's previous Fight Klub win in 2004. Note the homo dis, too.
  
  Double Super Bonus: peep Jin's site for his "Top 5 (Dead or Alive)" video/single. Fat Beats and Kool Herc make cameos, as do the streets of New York (well, Times Square... ick).
  
  
• And, when keepin' it real goes real wrong... While the debate on global warming and super-hurricanes continues, the avian flu is poised for AIDS-like pandemic status. According to a Mike Davis piece, "The new US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told the Associated Press in early August that an influenza pandemic was now an 'absolute certainty', echoing repeated warnings from the WHO that it was 'inevitable.' Likewise, Science magazine observed that expert opinion held the odds of a global outbreak as '100%.'" More on this and The Constant Gardener in a moment...