Over at the Tampa Bay Times, I wrote a profile piece on Nick Major, a mainstay in the Tampa hip-hop scene. I have known Nick since his days with All-Stars Wrestling of Florida and in my opinion, although his wrestling promotion was a local favorite of mine, his skills at putting together a hip-hop show is far, far better.

Over at Bus Leagues Baseball, I wrote about what promotions I would like to see happen in Minor League Baseball in 2012. Among my ideas are a Star Wars night in the Florida State League and the destruction of the worst minor league movie ever.

Finally, and speaking again about wrestling, I cameoed at The Wrestling Blog again, this time with a post on why Impact Wrestling should move from its current location in Orlando.

First, a great read on Etta James by Rebel Frequencies. I never got into Etta James, but I think it is damn past time for me to do so, especially after reading this.

A really cool description of political songs in Sierra Leone and their effect on elections (with videos).

Rebel Frequencies interviewed Egyptian political hip-hop group Arabian Knightz. Very cool insight on the Egyptian scene and the message coming from there.

Finally, a video from several Columbian hip-hop artists in a song that translated means “Conspiracy for Peace”. Interesting to see such a wide swath of the Columbian hip-hop culture. There are parts that resemble the LA scene, there is the skateboarder scene, and all four of the “essential” elements of hip-hop: MCing, DJing, break dancing, and graffiti.

Here are a few music links I found interesting from around the world. Some of these links are from Global Voices Online and the rest from other sites I read regularly.

In Trinidad and Tobago, Master Drummer JaJah Onilu passed away. Here is a good bio on him and his career. He turned down touring with Bob Marley and The Wailers to stay in his homeland.

Here is an interesting book called “Live from Dar es Salaam” about the Tanzanian music economy which has grown from nothing to something in 16 short years.

The 2011 Neilson Soundscan report came out recently listing album sales. Purchased music actually went up, lead by digital downloads. iTunes is changing the game. Total album sales went up by 4 million, which is coincidentally exactly how many albums Adele’s 21 sold. I, meanwhile, found more sites to download free albums and added over 1,000 free songs to my collection.

This site explores the independent music scene in Puerto Rico.

There is a dance called “Azonto” gaining popularity in Ghana and spreading worldwide. It looks complicated. I have trouble with the Hokey Pokey.

In Columbia, there is a Salsa song criticizing the public transportation system in Bogata.

Finally, from the mean streets of Orlando comes rapper Wes Fif’s latest video “International Drive”. I’ve talked to Wes Fif on twitter a few times and he seems like a cool dude. Unfortunately, I can’t get into a song where he is rapping about peeling caps on a road more known for tourist traps. It’s gangsta, yo.

First, I found this really interesting article on National Geographic on the development of angel mythology. I think it is very interesting to see how the images that we think have been around forever have developed.

Evolution of Angels: From Disembodied Minds to Winged Guardians – National Geographic

Second, according to the image below, the US Department of Defense employs more people than any other organization in the world. That’s insane. Defense departments don’t produce anything tangible for common consumption. They don’t produce cars or food or chairs. They pay for non-tangible items such as intelligence or they produce items other elements of the defense department use in national defense or offense against other nations. The sad thing is that these products need to be used. If we didn’t use the missiles we make, we would have a huge surplus and no need to manufacture any more. Which would leave people unemployed. Not the smartest or most peaceful way to propel an economy, I guess.

Now a few music links that I checked out this week:

Over in Indonesia, government foot their foot down on punk rock musicians and fans. On December 24th, there was a solidarity march in support of the members of the  punk rock community the government oppressed.

Here is a cool website on Afro-Peruvian Christmas music. Some neat stuff there, with video.

Another site I recently found, SeaIndie.com, showcases Southeast Asian Indie Pop Rock. I wouldn’t normally listen to this, but they have whole collections for free, and it is oh so happy, poppy, and catchy. Yippie!

Whereas SeaIndie.com covers all of Southeast Asia, Popscene MNL focuses only on the Philippines. They have eight mix CDs for free on their site. I couldn’t resist, I downloaded four of them.

Ok, well maybe one that captures the true feeling of spending money for Christmas.

Sung to the tune of the Big Tymers’ classic rap joint “Still Fly“, this song perfectly posits the juxtaposition of the American working man to his struggle to buy material goods for his family while still maintaining economic self-legitimacy in the cutthroat capitalistic nvironment of 21st Century America.

In order to capture the spirit of the song, I recruited famous rapper and actor Ice-Tay and the musical genius of the world renown Jingle Jamboree band. Unfortunately, I only had the money to pay the Jingle Jamboree band to stand behind Ice-Tay; I didn’t have enough to pay them to play music. So you don’t hear them.

But you do hear Ice-Tay. And to me, that’s worth the price of admission.

Let me know what you think!

At the Tampa Bay Times, I wrote an article on Morrisound Studios. They were broken into six months ago. I checked in with them to see how they are doing.

Six months after break-in, Tampa’s Morrisound Recording is back on its feet

I also did another appearance on local blogger Clark Brooks blog. I wrote about the cost of fast food coke and fries. Did you know it changes per value meal? It’s true.

Guest Author: Mike Lortz – The True Value of Fries and Coke

But while I haven’t blogged here much, I have been collecting a few links I think are worth checking out.

First, the amazing Metalcakes heavy-metal themed cupcake site has a new recipe: Crumb-wich Cakes for the band Electric Wizard. They look mighty tasty.

Over in Iran, they saluted recently deceased heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier. I had no idea he was that big in Iran.

Here is a post on the Russian army promoting badminton to their troops. Interesting.

In Trinidad and Tobago, a local blogger calls for a National Bullshit Council. That would be big in America as well.

The Ukrainian media mistook a photoshop for Chuck Norris’s endorsement of the Ukrainian language.

You can finally go on vacation in North Korea as long as you leave your cell phone at home. This will make North Korea a haven for people like my Dad, who don’t own cell phones and who complain about poor cell phone etiquette. No driving on the phone, no phones in movie theaters or restaurants or concerts? Hmmm, maybe I’ll go for a week or two.

Speaking of repressive regimes, the Death Star Public Relations site lists the 10 dating rules you can learn from the Star Wars movies.

And lastly, this is awesome. My friend Ro took my last poem, American Pain, and recorded it through her voice reader program for the blind (Yes, she is blind and this is how she “reads” the web. So awesome.).

I bet you didn’t know Chewie got down like that.

After Colma, I picked up Buckethead’s Monsters and Robots, then I dipped into the guitar great’s back catalog and have been following along since.

I discovered Buckethead was not only a guitar virtuoso, but also one of the most creative musicians out there.

As the years past, Buckethead crept up my list of guitar greats I had yet to see.

I’ve seen Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, Dimedag Darrell, Alexi Lahio, and Magic Red, but never saw Buckethead.

Finally, on September 22, 2011 at State Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, I had the chance to finally see the bucketed one live. And outside of two minor complaints, he didn’t disappoint.

Seeing Buckethead is visual experience as well as a musical treat. After his stage was prepared by a dreded tech in a hospital mask, Buckethead took the stage with his trademark KFC bucket on his head and dressed in black. Immediately he started his guitar wizardry with his fingers flying up and down the fret board. I’ll admit, I am not good at memorizing the titles of instrumental songs, but I recognized a few songs from his classics Monsters and Robots and Giant Robot.

Buckethead is also part Carrot Top in his show. The dreded tech placed several toys on Buckethead’s amp and speakers for the guitarist to play with during the show. These included a hand-held distorting mirror (like those in an amusement park House of Mirrors), a toy chainsaw, and of course Buckethead’s nunchucks.

Seeing Buckethead whip his nunchucks to and fro was a treat I looked forward to. As was seeing Bucket put down the guitar and dance like a robot on stage. These are things Buckethead is known for. Of  course all the while he kept his bucket and Michael Myers mask in place.

Halfway through the performance the theme song from the movie Space Jam played and Buckethead walked to the front of the stage with a big blue bag. He reached in the bag and started handing out toys to the fans. Buckethead gave out Halloween masks, Star Wars toys, action figures, and other assorted goodies.

I guess that shouldn’t be that unusual considering Buckethead has a song called “Buckethead’s Toy Store“, he runs his own “abusement” park, and he is the friend of children everywhere.

I was surprised however when the toy giveaway turned into a toy exchange and fans gave Buckethead gifts as well. If Buckethead saw something he liked, he simply traded toys with the fan.

Speaking of Star Wars, Buckethead is a huge Star Wars fan. As of course, I am. Needless to say, when he played the Star Wars theme song and the Imperial March, I got goosebumps. For real.

One of the strangest things about a Buckethead concert is seeing an artist that looks completely emotionless. That’s his schtick and being a big fan, I get it. But to not see an artist smile, laugh, or talk on stage is an interesting phenomenon. The emotion of the show comes strictly from his music or the crowd.

This lack of emotion is part of one of my complaints. The show was only and hour and 45 minutes long. That’s it. Granted, I’m not sure even I could have withstood three hours of guitar shredding, but not even two hours? It went by quick. And when he was done, Buckethead simply walked off stage. No bow, no cheering the fans, no thank yous. He just walked off as if his programing was finished and he had something else to do.

My other small gripe: Buckethead’s t-shirt selection was awfully small. There was only one t-shirt for sale. And not only did it not have the tour dates on it, but it was an ugly white design.

Oh well, I guess that’s another reason for me to visit Buckethead’s Toy Store. I hope they have a clothing department.

Here is a video a fan took of Buckethead’s performance Thursday night.

It might seem hypocritical for me to post this video and then complain, but I’ll have an opinion piece soon on the absolute annoying trend of people who hold their phones up to video record entire concerts. You can enjoy the music without being a cinematographer. Trust me, it’s possible.

Anyway, here are a few links worth checking out . The post title might seem a little strange, but I promise it will make sense.

As I mentioned a few days ago, Star Wars has been taking over Major League Baseball ballparks across the country this month. A few days ago in a state far, far away, they invaded Shea Stadium Citi Field, home of the Mets. Jason Fry, one of the writers from Fear and Faith in Flushing, one of my favorite baseball websites, dressed up as a stormtrooper and joined the festivities. Check out his account of the day.

Over at National Geographic there is a neat article on overconfidence, what causes it and why we are prone to exhibit it on occasion. In the last few months, a few people have called me arrogant and other not-so-flattering things. That’s not true. I may have my tendencies to think a bit too highly of my abilities, but as Nat Geo points out, that’s human.

I don’t normally read Andrew Sullivan. I think I’ve heard he is a prominent blogger or something. But I couldn’t resist checking out this post on the decline of meth use and the rise of marijuana use in the US. If I was going to invest in illegal narcotics on my block, in my town, or in my state, I think it would be time to dump the meth lab equipment and put my money in hydroponics.

Speaking of local, one of my neighbors is an aspiring rapper. His name is M-16 and he recently put an new song on youtube. Check it out.