da quatre cent coups

A year ago, the recession began hitting most of us. I was finding myself with more time and less work and I looked for a platform to get out some ideas, reflect, and experiment with everything that went into this blog. I grabbed a slew of old papers, pictures, and various items plugged in the scanner and started going off. I gave myself a six-month timeline initiated once the first post went up. As you can see, it took a little bit longer. What began as an experiment has led to a load of fun and idea-generating for me.

As this is a one-man operation and I've reached the crux of what I intended, it's time to say adieu. Or at least, I'll see you in awhile. I appreciate any shoutouts you give to people about the blog. Stay connected and continue following-eventually, there will be a return of sorts (and it'll be bigger, badder, and unexpected...or at least I'll have a killer scanner).

I want to thank all of you for watching, reading, and giving your feedback. I appreciate you taking a look at personal anecdotes, opinions, musings, and collections of conversations over time. Please get in touch about anything you liked, what could work better, and any ideas you'd like to share.

For the meantime, enjoy. Keep reading and watching and old entries you like (share 'em if you're so inclined). And for the audiophiles, give yourself some new playlists based on most of the entry headings. That's right, you've got a chock-full of classic hip hop, soul, and exotica to go through. Start with the first entry named after Jimmy Castor's uprock classic "It's Just Begun." And continue with Serge Gainsbourg's "69 année érotique," De La Soul's "Afro Connections at a Hi 5," and don't forget Ultramagnetic MC's classic "Poppa Large." (Don't be afraid to ask for artist info based on entry headings)

For now, thanks. I'll be back in the basement soon enough.

Mr. Mark

Washington DC, September 17, 2009

Episode 11- Honest

Hip Hop From Mom's Basment- Honest from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

as jim morrison whispered to martin sheen at the beginning of apocalypse now...

Episode 10- Konkrete Soul

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Konkrete Soul from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

ahhh, the voices...

Episode 9- Crossin' Lines

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Crossing Lines from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

if my train goes off the track, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up?

Episode 8- Rebel Without a T-Shirt

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Rebel Without a T-Shirt from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

are you allowed to wear your own image?

Episode 7- Scorpion Fingernails

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

they get me everytime.

Episode 6- Bathroom Graffiti

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Bathroom Graffiti from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

oh, the mystery that is woman...

Episode 5- Movies & Boobies

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Movies & Boobies from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

you can't spell mammaries without mama.

Episode 4- Paternity Testin'

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Paternity Testin' from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

Mr. Mark do it better than Povich.

Episode 3- Father, Figure

Hip Hop From Mom's Basment- Father, Figure from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

gettin' old's a beach.

what more can i say?

when you talk to yourself, what do you say and who are you talking to? it gets late and i'm all alone, i start voicin' things to myself as a parent. it gets even later, i start talkin' to the technology that's keepin' me floatin' out of dream world. chidin' the participants of informercials for their choices. commentin' on the nursing home speed of my stovetop cookin' late night beans. and pleadin' with my computer to help me finish up somethin' that shoulda gotten started months back, young man.

wait a second, that's somethin' my mom would say. how did she do that?

mom's are like vampires, yo.

montreal, qc, 2000

mr. mark turned down late night term papers for late night bloggin'. the skillz that pay the billz, y'all.

rollin' with kids and play

what do you do with your saturdays now? we were all linked with the cereal and cartoon explosion up until a certain point. I quit around the time kid 'n play got into it and i found out that cap'n crunch wasn't a real cap'n (hint- cap'n is spelled capitano). hormonal time was malltime and lazy saturdays dancing in front of a video camera. the 20's were for sleeping off hangovers and then chasin' 'em again later that night. where are we at now? yard work? shopping at ikea? ny times crosswords and npr?

i'm thinkin' we all need to revisit our saturdays with cartoons and video camera dancin'. as adults, our weekends should sound like paul simon, but that doesn't mean you can't get down to animated interpretations of "still crazy after all these years." god, i love that song.

get out that camera and dance, son.

potomac, md, 1991 & 1995

mr. mark would like to know where he should plan on getting a new chaise next saturday.

so you wanna be a gangster

gangsters live a life of pain and torment. before you get into that lifestyle, you should ask yourself what you're really looking for. 'cause if it's some love, there's always a squad for hug love. they're usually called moms and they drive mazda mpv's with tinted windows.

tinted mpv's? forgot about those. actually, moms live some gangster shit, yo.

potomac, md, 1994

mr. mark would warn you of "the cougar." almost a hit man like status amongst the hug love squad.

brooklyn zoo

mama don't let your babies grow up to be b-boys...

brooklyn, ny, 2003

mr. mark also recommends limited candle use during drunken house parties.

Episode 2- Ethnic Cleansing

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- Ethnic Cleansing from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

When did we start using food analogies, brother?

Episode 1- In the Beginning...

Hip Hop From Mom's Basement- In the Beginning from Mr. Mark on Vimeo.

Where do the skeletons start...?

falln'

encourage broken bones and bruises in your young men. it makes 'em less likely to buy a corvette, put their balding coif in a pony tail, and hit on employees of cosi and panera bread past the age of 40.

children eat danger for breakfast, yo.

puno, perú, 2006

mr. mark ain't never met a slide he couldn't tackle.

microphone friend

it's so easy to convince kids to do anything. it's called bargaining, yo.

copacabana, bolivia, 2006

mr. mark trades garbage pail kids to get his car washed.