Foto Fridays – Best Of 2012 – Music Festivals

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405, 5, Aaron Bruno, adidas, Adidas Superstar, ALLEN STONE, Alternative, Amtrack, ANDREW BIRD, ANIMAL KINGDOM, Atlanta, Avcii, AWOLNATION, Azalea Banks, •ALABAMA SHAKES, •AMADOU & MARIAM, •ANTIBALAS, •BOMBA ESTEREO, •CITY AND COLOUR, •FUN., •JOVANOTTI, •MIMOSA, •OF MONSTERS AND MEN, •SHARON VAN ETTEN, •TAME IMPALA, •THE WALKMEN, •TRAMPLED BY TURTLES, •WASHED OUT, •WOLFGANG GARTNER, •YACHT, BART, Beats By Dre, BECK, Beer Lands, Big Boi, BIG GIGANTIC, BIRDYH, BLOC PARTY, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Blue Lines Coachella Weekend 2012, Bon Iver, Bromance, CA, California, CAVEMAN, Coachella, Coachella 2012, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Comedy, concert, CORY CHISEL AND THE WANDERING SONS, Dabs Myla, David Grohl, DIE ANTWOORD, DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, DISPATCH, Do Lab, DR. DOG, Dr. Dre, dubstep, Earth Day, ELECTRIC GUEST, Empire Polo Club, End, Explosions In The Sky, FATHER JOHN MISTY, Feist, Festival, FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS, Foo Fighters, Foto Fridays, FRANZ FERDINAND, FUTUREBIRDS, Gary Clark Jr., GEOGRAPHER, Golden Gate, Golden Gate park, GRANDADDY, gravel, Haight Ashbury, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, iMovie, Indio, INFANTREE, Instagram, Intel Outside, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone Post, iPhone4s, iPhoneagraphy, iPhoneography, JACK WHITE, Jerseys, Jukebox the Ghost, JUSTICE, Key Yemaya Walker, Lands End Stage, Last Time, Little Dragon, Live Music, Los Angeles, Love, Marraige, Marta, Metallica, MICHAEL KIWANUKA, MSTRKRFT, Muni, music, Music Festival, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, National Basketball Association, NBA, NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, Norah Jones, Norcal, Northern California, Occupy Coachella, ONE MusicFest, ONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND, Outside Lambs, Panhandle Stage, PAPA, Park, PASSION PIT, Photography, Portugal. The Man, Proposal, Radiohead, Raise Your Weapon, REBELUTION, REGGIE WATTS, REGINA SPEKTOR, Richmond, Ricky Watts, Roadtrip, rock, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Francisco Outside Lands, San Francisco Outside Lands 2012, Santigold, SBTRKT, SEAN HAYES, Seek Bromance, Shutte, SIGUR ROS, Skrillex, Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Socal, Southern California, Stevie Wonder, Straits, Sutro Stage, TANLINES, Tennis, THE BE GOOD TANYAS, The Black Keys, The Grande Wheel, THE KILLS, THE M MACHINE, THEE OH SEES, Tim Berg, TOM MORELLO: THE NIGHTWATCHMAN, Train, Truth, Tupac, Tupac Hologram, Tupac Shakur, Twin Peaks Stage, TWO GALLANTS, UN Square, Vacation, WALLPAPER., Wedding, WHITE DENIM, Wine Lands, YELLOW OSTRICH, ZOLA JESUS

A “Best of… Foto Fridays” Essay of 2012’s Music Festival travels.
2012 Ranking:
1) Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA)
2) Music Midtown (Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA)
3) Outside Lands: Music, Food, Wine, Beer, Art (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA)

A combination of Porta-Potties, Hot sun, VIP Showers, compressed hot bodies, cold, fog, band reunions, amazing covers, crowd surfing, 90’s classics, dirt, dubstep, car camping, road trips, bad artist scheduling, vacation, plane flights, MARTA, BART, gravel, fun!
A super-hot weekend in the California desert where NBA Basketball jerseys seemed to be the uniform, water was the best thing, and music was unbelievable. Enjoy.

Coachella Music And Arts Festival, Weekend 2 2012

Overhead view from “The Wheel.”

Alarm Clock…HOT!!!

The weekend’s boarding.

Blue Lines Blog – #FMSPhotoADay – December – Day 7 – Stars

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#FMSphotoaday, accordion, activist, bass guitar, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, bongos, California, Calvin Judkins, clavinet, congas, Day 7, December, Detroit, drums, Eivets Rednow, Fat Mum Slim, harmonica, harpejji, Hollywood, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone Post, Key Yemaya Walker, keyboards, keytar, Little Stevie Wonder, Live Nation, Los Angeles, Lula Mae Hardaway, melodica, Michigan, Motown, multi-instrumentalist, music, piano, record producer, Saginaw, Singer-songwriter, Stars, Stevie Wonder, Stevland Hardaway Judkins, Stevland Hardaway Morris, synthesizer, Tamla, United States, Vocals

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – GZA/Genius feat Inspectah Deck & D’Angelo – “Cold World (RZA Remix)”

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1995, 1996, 4th Disciple, actor, Allah Justice, Angeles Records, Babygrande, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Brooklyn, Cold Chillin', Cold World, Cold World (RZA Remix), D'Angelo, Dot Da Genius, East Coast Hip-Hop, Frank Zappa, Gary Grice, Geffen, Geffen Records, Geffen/MCA, Genius/GZA, GZA, GZA Entertainment, hardcore hip hop, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Quotable, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, In The Rain, Inspectah Deck, Jason Hunter, JUSTICE, Key Yemaya Walker, Koch, Life, Liquid Swords, Loud, Lyricist, Maximillion, MCA, Michael Eugene Archer, music, New York, New York City, Park Hill Projects, Plastic People, Producer, Rapper, Relativity, Rocket Love, RZA, songwriter, SRC, Staten Island, Stevie Wonder, The Bronx, The Dramatics, The Genius, the Head, traffic, United States, Universal Republic, Urban Icon, Wu-Tang Clan

Intro: (first three lines LP only)

I had a bad dream
Don’t be afraid, bad dreams are only dreams
What a time you chose to be born in…

Babies crying brothers dying and brothers getting knocked
S–t is deep on the block and you got me locked down
in this cold, cold world…

Verse One: The GZA

It was the night before New Year’s, and all through the f–kin projects
Not a handgun was silent, not even a Tec
Outside as I’m stuck, by enemies who put fear
and blasted on the spot before the pigs were there
You know hoods robbers snipers new in sight f–k blue and white
They escape before them flash the f–kin lights
Gunshots, shatter first floor window panes
Shells hit the ground and blood stained the dice game
Whether broke callisthenic, any style you set it
Beat n—az toothless, physically cut up like gooses
But with iron on the sides thugs took no excuses
Therefore, your fifty-two handblocks was useless
Links was snatched off necks, scars on throats
Jackets took, after bullet rips through coats
Against those who felt the cold from the steel made em fold
and squeal, once the metal hit the temple of his grill
Destruction worker, who was caught for his bomber
No time to swing the hammer that was hangin from his Farmer’s
And it’s bugged how some n—az catch slugs

Foto Friday – San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music + Art Festival 2012 – Photo Essay

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adidas, Adidas Superstar, ALLEN STONE, Alternative, Amtrack, ANDREW BIRD, ANIMAL KINGDOM, Atlanta, •ALABAMA SHAKES, •AMADOU & MARIAM, •ANTIBALAS, •BOMBA ESTEREO, •CITY AND COLOUR, •FUN., •JOVANOTTI, •MIMOSA, •OF MONSTERS AND MEN, •SHARON VAN ETTEN, •TAME IMPALA, •THE WALKMEN, •TRAMPLED BY TURTLES, •WASHED OUT, •WOLFGANG GARTNER, •YACHT, BECK, Beer Lands, Big Boi, BIG GIGANTIC, BIRDYH, BLOC PARTY, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, CAVEMAN, Comedy, CORY CHISEL AND THE WANDERING SONS, Dabs Myla, Dave Groh, DIE ANTWOORD, DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, DISPATCH, DR. DOG, ELECTRIC GUEST, End, Explosions In The Sky, FATHER JOHN MISTY, FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS, Foo Fighters, Foto Fridays, FRANZ FERDINAND, FUTUREBIRDS, GEOGRAPHER, Golden Gate, Golden Gate park, GRANDADDY, Haight Ashbury, Hip-Hop, Indio, INFANTREE, Instagram, Intel Outside, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone4s, iPhoneagraphy, iPhoneography, JACK WHITE, Jukebox the Ghost, JUSTICE, Key Yemaya Walker, Lands End Stage, Last Time, Live Music, Los Angeles, Love, Marraige, Metallica, MICHAEL KIWANUKA, MSTRKRFT, Muni, music, Music Festival, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, Norah Jones, Norcal, Northern California, ONE MusicFest, ONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND, Outside Lambs, Panhandle Stage, PAPA, Park, PASSION PIT, Photography, Portugal. The Man, Proposal, REBELUTION, REGGIE WATTS, REGINA SPEKTOR, Richmond, Ricky Watts, rock, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Francisco Outside Lands, San Francisco Outside Lands 2012, Santigold, SEAN HAYES, Shutte, SIGUR ROS, Skrillex, Socal, Southern California, Stevie Wonder, Straits, Sutro Stage, TANLINES, Tennis, THE BE GOOD TANYAS, THE KILLS, THE M MACHINE, THEE OH SEES, TOM MORELLO: THE NIGHTWATCHMAN, Train, Truth, Twin Peaks Stage, TWO GALLANTS, UN Square, WALLPAPER., Wedding, WHITE DENIM, Wine Lands, YELLOW OSTRICH, ZOLA JESUS

San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival is one that combines music, food and arts into a weekend playing out at Golden Gate Park.

Based on last year’s lineup, it was virtually a no brainer. This year’s lineup, though, included headliners who were more established and had decades of success. Stevie Wonder rounded out a group including Metallica, and Neil Young. The major highlight was Foo Fighters Friday performance on the Land’s End stage, where they performed Aurora, from the 1999 album There Is Nothing To Lose. Dave Grohl stated that they performed it especially for Outside Lands, and it was speculated that they added it to their setlist due to the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. Again, Foo Fighters were the shining star of the weekend, spending time listening to my favorite band for the first time, with a fave.

Using Coachella as a measuring stick, the pros were definitely the cooler weather, though by Sunday night the fog easily made one glad that the event was ending. The app was definitely better, and the spacing of the stages was tremendously better than Coachella, where I remember rocking to The Black Keys on the Coachella Stage, and during breaks in play, I heard Explosions In The Sky (who I got to see at OLF) playing on the Outdoor Theatre which was steps away. Only two stages (Twin Peaks Stage and the Panhandle Stage) closely bordered each other at OLF. However, the sets that neatly fit between the hours of 12 noon until 10 left you wanting for more, and the commute back and forth was taxing, as opposed to walking back to your tent and crashing.

Coachella’s car camping, and sets that ran well into the wee hours of the night, morning…take your pick, were a definite added bonus. Also, the diversity of Coachella’s acts compared to Outside Lands 2012 were a bonus that ranked Coachella higher. Other than a sprinkling of Atlanta’s (yeah) Big Boi (likely making up his set from 2011) and a lack luster Santigold set (she killed her set at Coachella in the heat with her energy, but she has me NOT anticipating her Atlanta debut next month), most other acts were similar in genre and nothing really separated the acts.

Listening to people I ran into after the festival, who had been to Coachella, Outside Lands, Bonaroo, and some others, they were not as high on this year’s OLF, due to the lineup, length of show, and the crowds (that they said were the biggest they had seen) though reports said after a certain point fans rushed the entrances and jumped the gates (which would explain why people were running/pushing there way through the crowds.

I cannot rate the festival, simply because on this level, I have been to two, and with the exception of the Foo Fighters, I had seen Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica in their own shows prior to this festival.

I am glad that I was able to enjoy the festival. Would I go again, and go without knowing the lineup, yeah, I’d do it, hopefully it will mirror 2011 more than 2012. Just change some of the particulars to better fit the fun.

Outside Lands Music Festival

The walk to Golden Gate Park through Haight Ashbury.

Cover Sundays – Stevie Wonder – “The Way You Make Me Feel” Michael Jackson Cover At Outside Lands

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2012, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Cover, Cover Songs, Cover Sundays, Covers, Fun, Golden Gate, Golden Gate park, Instagram, Key Yemaya Walker, Lands End, Lands End Stage, Life, Michael Jackson, music, Music Festival, MW, Outside Lands, Outside Lands Festival, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Francisco Outside Lands, San Francisco Outside Lands 2012, Stevie Wonder, Sunday, The Way You Make Me Feel

This was a cool and unexpected tribute by Stevie Wonder to the great MJ.


The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Cover Sundays – Esperanza Spaulding ft The Roots – “I Can’t Help It” Live – Michael Jackson Cover

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?uestlove, African American, Ahmir Khalib Thompson, Ahmir Questlove Thompson, alternative hip hop, alternative rock, Atlanta, bandleader, bass guitar vocals, Black Thought, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, bossa nova, BROther ?uestion, Brother Question, composer, Cover Sundays, Def Jam, Def Jam Recordings, DGC, educator, Esperanza Spaulding, Festival Pier at Penn's Landing, Funk, Heads Up International, hispanic, Hush, Interscope-Geffen-A&M, James Poyser, Jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-rap, Joe Lovano, Key Yemaya Walker, MCA, Merge, Michael Jackson, Montuno, music, musician, neo soul, Off The Wall, Oregon, PA, Patti Austin, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Photo Care of Carlos Pericas, Portland, Portuguese, Qlove, Questlove, Questo, Radio Music Society, Soul, Stanley Clarke, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, The Roots Picnic 2011, U.S., Upright bass, Vocals

CUTE Women with AFROS!!!


Photo Care of Carlos Pericas
The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Music I Like – Stevie Wonder – “All I Do”

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1980, All I Do, Blue Lines, Hotter Than July, Key Yemaya Walker, Music I Like, Stevie Wonder

From 1980’s Hotter Than July. Great song that started my day.


The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog – Blue Lines, Blue Skies, Change, Escape, Music, and Smiles

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Andreya Triana, Andy Allo, Björk, Blue Lines, Bon Iver, Citizen Cope, Corinne Bailey Rae, Golden State Warriors, Greg Laswell, Hana Zen, Joi Gilliam, Kanye West, Key Yemaya Walker, Little Dragon, Mos Def, Norah Jones, Radiohead, Roy Hargrove, Roy Hargrove Quintet, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santigold, Stevie Wonder, Talib Kweli, UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Yoshi's San Francisco, Zaki Ibrahim

Other than little bits easily expressed by limited facebook posts, or tweets, I haven’t really expressed many of my thoughts in long form in quite some while. Musically…yes, with the choice of a song. Songs, or anything matching with my current feelings at a given time. So here’s another attempt while playing Stevie Wonder’s Music Of My Mind.
Blue Lines – my manuscript that I began 12 years ago, it will always be the initial base of this blog until it’s date of publish, and until it is time to promote my future works. (more below regarding Blue Lines)
Blue Skies – sitting at the Cliff house at Golden Gate Park 1/20/11 staring into the Pacific Ocean, actually beginning that morning, as I peered out into the San Francisco sky. I thought of two very distinct concepts: 1) I was glad that although I love…and I mean LOVE the state of California, that I was glad/happy/content that I was Northern California, rather than L.A. to the south. Especially to experience the clear bay air, and the blue skies that reminded me so much of the smogless days of my youth in Atlanta, Georgia. It has been quite some time that I could remember a clean blue sky. The purity of waking up on a Saturday…the long blue days of the summer. In an unexplainable way, it was almost a religious or spiritual experience, although there were no specific thoughts referencing God or any particular religion or such. 2) Unlike a Hawai’i or tropical island, that this experience was “real,” in a city that I could live and do my work in, although I do not have plans moving in that directions. Well I sat there at the Cliff House, tired from the event the night before, focusing on seeing someone I consider a valued friend (that’s funny that I reconnected with two friends this past week, the aforementioned from school, and then a former intern who is now working in my/our industry and married with children), as I built upon strengthening relationships with the members of my organization all in attendance of this conference.