Music Festival Review: CoacHELLyeah!

    I never felt so lucky as I woke up on Friday April 13th.  It was a perfect day in Coachella land, the sun was shining, the air was fresh, and the people were eager.  As our troops began to rally, an indescribable energy began to rush through my body; I was ready.
We started Day 1 with R3hab and followed them up with Kendrick Lamar, a new addition to Dr. Dre's Aftermath label.  After his performance, we decided to explore the festival grounds.  The festival was filled with unique and amazing art displays from all over the country.  There were the Giant Black Toobs from Seattle, a giant metal lobster from New Mexico, an mesmerizing Balloon Chain from New York, and my favorite, the Gateway from Los Angeles.  Each piece is a perfect example of modern day art and all of them made the experience more memorable.  After we explored the festival grounds we saw Madeon, Alesso, the Black Keys, and Swedish House Mafia.  There was a rumor that the Mafia would include a laser/light system that was illegal last year, they were the first performers ever to use this because it causes people with epilepsy to seizure.  If you saw the performance, you know what I'm talking about.
    Day 2 seemed like a resting day so we started kind of late.  Childish Gambino was awesome, Zeds Dead was absolutely incredible.  We went back to the camp grounds after that to change into warmer clothes and came back for Sebastian Ingrosso.  I was going to see Ingrosso at the Wavehouse in San Diego but he canceled due to a family emergency.  Either way, his set sounded the same as the Mafia so we left early and went to the main stage for the Shins, who were pretty good for a first listen.  From the main stage we went to see David Guetta, the number 1 DJ in the world, who threw it down like no other.  He's never a disappointment because he ALWAYS puts on a memorable performance because he loves the crowd.  Hence, his guest Usher.  The best performance of the day goes to Sub Focus.  While everyone was at Radiohead and Kaskade, we were the few people at the beginning of Sub Focus, what an honor.  He threw down the sickest, hardest, nastiest, filthiest dubstep/drum and bass that I've ever heard live.  If you missed it, tough luck there's week 2.  It was the most EPIC show thus far.
    Day 3, the day that we've been waiting for and the day that we dreaded the most because we didn't want Coachella to end.  We started the day with Zedd, Flux Pavilion & Dr. P, Porter Robinson, and I migrated to araabMUZIK solo.  Although I don't listen to his music on a daily basis, araabMUZIK was one of my favorite performers.  He brings a unique performance not like any other at the festival.  Rather than using a MacBook or a turntables, he uses multiple beat pads as he creates his music LIVE.  He never looks up,  this is real talent.  If you ever have a chance to see araabMUZIK take that chance! I ditched DADA LIFE to see him and I have no regrets.  Plus he was rockin' a LA Lakers Fitted.  Not to mention I got to see Skrillex in the press area.  After araabMUZIK's performance I met up with my friends for Nero.  This duo was crazy and had the crowd going absolutely wild, to top it off they had a live singer, Alana who tore it up as well.  I'm pretty sure I lost my mind at that time.  While we were walking to see Justice at the main stage, I came across this stage called The Do Lab.  Shit gets kind of weird in The Do Lab but it's fine, it was like the 3 different sizes of ice cream from Cold Stones; I liked it, I loved it, and then I HAD TO HAVE IT.  I kicked it in there for a little and all of a sudden Mimosa comes up on stage and plays a 45 minute surprise set! Then I saw KRADDY, who was also one of my favorite performers.  He threw down a dirty "N*ggas in Paris" remix that got the crowd giggin'. From there we went to DJ Shadow for a while and then finally, DR. DRE, SNOOP DOGG, WARREN G, KURUPT, WIZ, 50 CENT, KENDRICK LAMAR, EMINEM, and what? TUPAC!  My west coast inner child can die happy now that I've seen my favorite performers live.  Even though 50 Cent was out of breathe his whole performance, everyone else killed it.
Day 4, Coachella was so awesome that I had to go back the next weekend, so we went Sunday.  We did pretty much the same thing but saw Girl Talk, who was pretty good and we also saw Minnesota at the Do Lab.  After all is said and done Week 1 was definitely better than Week 2 the surprise factor was a big difference maker.

TOP 10 Performances of Coachella 2012:
1) Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

2) Sub Focus

3) Zeds Dead















4) Nero

5) KRADDY with Mimosa surprise guest















6) araabMuzik

















7) Swedish House Mafia/ Alesso

8) Minnesota















9) Flux Pavilion & Dr. P

10) the Shins















Honorable mention Porter Robinson


Coachella was an awesome experience and I suggest that everyone go at least once in there life.  It's not an anti-Christian, Pegan ritual colt gathering for hippies; which is what I was told when I was younger.  It's a festival where good, friendly, and drama free people go to have a good time.  Where strangers become life-long friends and where mass unity becomes feasible.  Everyone is in harmony with the music in the air and attendees are intoxicated with the spirit of Coachella.  See you next year Coachella, Thanks for the memories.

5 Things to do on St. Patties Day

March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day.  Nobody really knows why we celebrate this holiday or who St. Patrick was, it's sort of like Cinco de Mayo, we just celebrate to celebrate.  But if you were wondering, St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and because of this, Ireland made March 17th a holiday.  It soon became part of their culture and now we all celebrate.  Now that you're a little smarter, here are 5 things you should do during St. Patties Day:
1) Drink: Obviously you should drink.  Not drinking would be like not giving presents during Christmas, it's a must.  If you drink green beer, that's double points.  Beer Gardens, Irish Car Bombs, Guinness, Bailey's, Jamison- these are your choices for the day.
2) Corn Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes: I don't know why but I always ate this on St. Patties day and it's good.
3) Watch The Boondock Saints: Only because it's the best Irish movie ever. Make it a drinking game if you want or use this time to recharge your batteries.
4) Wear GREEN: Don't be a nonconformist, seriously.  Unless you hate Irish people...I guess.  You're not cooler than the rest of us for not partaking on the festivities.  Wear green or don't complain about getting pinched/punched.
5) Kiss an Irish Girl: 1/32th Irish doesn't count and just because she's wearing a, "Kiss me, I'm Irish" shirt, probably doesn't mean she's Irish.  Find a pretty Irish girl/guy to kiss and if you can't find one, drink till she/he is good enough!
6) Don't Drink and Drive: Because that shit is stupid and you're going to kill someone. Be safe, call a taxi-double points if it's green.

-GC

How To Remove Tagless Labels

With a low budget and low supply, it's difficult to produce quality products at an affordable price.  I'm still experimenting with different products but I like the tagless feel so I chose HANES to embroider my first shirts.  In order to present a more professional feel, I had to find a way to remove the HANES label without removing the instructions on how to wash the shirt.  Long story short I ended up wrapping the shirt around my iron until the label looked hot.  Then I got a rag and rubbed it against the label until it rubbed off.  It wasn't that difficult but it was kind of sketchy because you could easily burn yourself doing this, so be careful.  After I removed what I wanted, I washed it and now it's ready for the next step, embroidering.  

Alfredo "Fredo" Corvino

    Alfredo "Fredo" Corvino is an up n' coming young rap artist comin' straight out of Oak Park, Los Angeles. He has been working non-stop on his mix tape since graduating from M.I. Music School. His style is similar to Wiz Khalifa but with some Jay-Z swag in the mix. His tracks are feel good and laid back, they'll make you want to kick back, put your feet up, and chill. This kid has talent, motivation, and creative diction that contributes to his unique rap style. His mix tape, "Don't Hate Smoke an 8th" will be released within the next few months so be ready! Here are some exclusive singles from it, enjoy. You can follow him on Twitter @itsFredoo

- GC

New Shiet (prod. by Philthy)
#SWAG (prod. by Philthy)

Coachella SOLD OUT!

    I've never seen anything like this.  Coachella tickets went on sale at 10:00a on January 13th and for most people, Friday the 13th was in fact unlucky.  The event, both week 1 & 2, sold out in 3 hours, leaving many eager attendees ticketless.  From my experience, what it came down to was the internet browser you used.  For those of you using Google Chrome, traffic was incredibly high and few users got past the Stand by screen.  If you used Internet Explorer,  Safari, or  Opera, congratulations! I'll probably see you in Indio.  It's going to be crazy! This is going to be my first time attending this event and it's mainly because of Dre and Snoop too bad Tupac isn't alive or he'd probably be there too.  Dre hasn't performed in front of a huge crowd like this in a while and he is for sure the main attraction.  So it's going to be interesting how he'll perform.  Either way there are about 20 other artists that I can't wait to see.  If you're not too sure what to expect, take a look at Wiz Khalifa's performance from last year:

    Holy shit bro!  There's so many people, it's going to be sick.  I wish I got see Wiz last year, I almost spontaneously drove out there to sneak in for Sunday to see him and Kanye.  Here's the line-up if you haven't had a chance to take a look:

    My buddy and I are going to produce a "The Coachella Experience" like documentary for all 3 days of the event, so that other may live vicariously through our footage and so that we can relive these awesome moment.  Hope you guys are ready! 92 days left.

Kawhi's First Start

David J. Phillip - AP

    Kawhi Leonard had his first start of the season over Gary Neal, as the Spurs snap their 2-loss streak defeating the Houston Rockets 95-101. He played well, putting up 11 points and grabbing 8 boards during his 37:44 minutes of PT. The game was close as it went into overtime, the Spurs’ age started to show. In OT, Tim Duncan missed a few shots that he would’ve drained a few years back. He missed 2 free throws in a row and a wide-open 18-foot jumper that were go-ahead opportunities. Kawhi is also playing phenomenal defense while guarding the best scorer on the team, Kevin Martin, coming up with a key stop late in the fourth. He also came up with a huge defensive board with 11.3 seconds left in OT and was fouled immediately. He went to the line where he scored 1 of 2 free throws to put the Spurs up 95-99, a two-position game. Looks like the Spurs have a new starting 5, for now.

-GC

Kawhi Not?

Image by Jeff Passan

I met Kawhi at Phi Kap one time, "Damn, you got some big ass hands" I blurted out after I shook it.

Kawhi Leonard- rookie, fresh out of my very own SDSU. He left San Diego State University in 2011 as a sophomore and took the 15th overall pick in the first-round by the Indiana Pacers but was quickly traded to the San Antonio Spurs for George Hill, which also included Erazem Lorbek in a 2:1 swap. So for this season, he has averaged 6 pts, 5 boards Rebounds and .7 Dimes assists per game. According to Yahoo! Sports:

Jan 8 F Kawhi Leonard got some serious on-the-job training Sunday night in becoming a stopper. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had the rookie guard Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant."Kawhi did a good job," Popovich said. "When I called the timeout, I told him that he was now going to guard the leading scorer in the league for the past few years and you're not coming out of the game. I told him he was going to get experience and see what it was like. He did a good job."

It's awesome that Popovich sees the potential in Kawhi, averaging a double-double at State (15.5 pts, 10.6 boards). He's going to need Kawhi to step-up his game since Manu broke his hand and is out for 6-8 weeks, which is a lot in this 66 game season. The Spurs have also been struggling with age issues, Kwahi (20) provides energy and youth to this squad Can I mention, it's a weird feeling when you realize the athletes on television are younger than you. as well as a weak center in DeJuan Blair. But for now, Kawhi will have to be the spark off the bench using his giant hands to pick pockets, average 1 steal per game and grab boards. This article was sparked by Kawhi's outstanding performance in the Spurs 106-103 loss to the Bucks. He had 19 points and 3 boards of the bench in 32:58 minutes, showing that he's getting more PT Playing Time. If he keeps this up, I think Popovich might have to move Richard Jefferson to the 2 (shooting guard) spot and have Kawhi start as the 3 (small forward), replacing Gary Neal. That would be awesome.

I forgot to add, Malcolm Thomas of San Diego State University, that's right, another Aztec, is headed to San Antonio to join his former teammate Kawhi, after getting pulled from the D-Fenders, D-League team. It looks like the Spurs are finally getting some fresh legs on their team. Check out what Malcolm Tweeted 2 days ago:

Everything works out! He bailed on the Korean League to participate in the LA Lakers training camp, but didn't make the cut.  However, he showed a tremendous amount of motivating and energy in his dominating performance while playing on the D-Fenders, so it's no wonder the Spurs had to snatch him up.  Congrats to you both you guys made it, it was chill kicking it with you guys at Phi Kap, you dudes are dope as fuck.  @imrichbitch! 

Check out more about Malcolm Thomas here: San Antonio Spurs Call Up Malcolm Thomas From D-League ShowcaseLehgo Aztecs!p/o GC