"80 Blocks..." Coming November 23rd!

80 Blocks From Tiffany's will be released November 23rd! I'm excited to see that some blogs are already showing it love! I've seen samples of the finished product and it does not disappoint. The hard cover book the DVD is housed in is amazing (shouts to KARMA for the ill design as always)!

The reprint of the original Esquire magazine article by the late Jon Bradshaw, titled Savage Skulls, is quite a juxtaposition to the film. Although shocking in its own right, the film allows the viewer to witness the camaraderie of the youths featured in the film, as they crack jokes and sometimes even play things up for the camera. However, the article touches upon situations the film can not. I say "can not" because no gang members were foolish enough to do some of the awful things they indeed did in the presence of a film crew. The article, however, depicts some truly heart breaking and terrifying situations. If you cop the DVD when it's released, I urge you to not be intimidated by the length of the article. It is quite the article!

I don't know if I've already said this in a previous post, but shouts to David Hollander (Wax Poetics) for putting together a wonderful forward to the book and organizing the bonus features! You're the man!

Now that I'm (somewhat spontaneously) typing out some shout outs, I can't leave out Gary Weis, the Director of the film, and Joan Churchill, the Director of Photography. Aside from creating a work of art back in 1979, they were also essential in making this re-release possible! Victoria Allen and Carolyn Pfeiffer-Bradshaw are two wonderful people who helped us make the reprint of the Savage Skulls article possible. Everybody at Broadway Video, your willingness to facilitate the film's re-release gave me a great project to work on!

I haven't had an opportunity to ramble on about what went into making this release possible as much as I've been hoping to, but most likely I'll be able to post up some pictures of the finished product in the near future. In the meantime, here's some links to other sites discussing 80 Blocks...

HipHopDX

Peace Magazine

Brooklyn Ski Club

Digital Soul Experience

From SpineTV.net:

"A loose, unobtrusive, and, given the lawlessness of the organizations, rare glimpse into brutal South Bronx gang culture, 80 Blocks captures a struggling community driven on tension in which emotions run dangerously high, populated by what Churchill terms 'people about to burst into violence.'...'There’s no actual mention of hip-hop in the film, yet it’s one of the most hip-hop films ever made.'

[says ego trip’s Jeff Mao].”

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Seeerious, Seeerious... Get On Down Announces Upcoming Reissues

Get On Down just announced three of their upcoming reissues and they are all bangers. Breakwater's 1980 Splashdown, Kleeer's Intimate Connection, and Faze-O's Riding High. If these don't ring a bell with you, be sure to check out the below video. You might be surprised at what you hear!

These three remastered albums will be available November 23rd. I like your style Get On Down. I've been wondering though, where the hell are the members of Breakwater on their album cover? It looks like the deep end of a swimming pool, but those benches for them to sit on seem very uncharacteristic of a pool's deep end. I'll leave it at that and remain confused.

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Nothing Will Get Me To Watch the 2010 Scream Awards

Not even this amazing remake of the Back To The Future trailer...

Word to Marty McFly, and word to Marty at JTTS for hipping me to this!

Nothing beats an original...

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Wildman Steve and DJ Riz - WBAU 90.3 / Keys Open Doors Thursday!

This Thursday at Boston, MA's Good Life marks the return of the Keys Open Doors event. These nights are always very memorable and I'm sure this week's will be no different, as the line up includes DJ Riz, 45 King and The Bladerunners! If you're in the area you should definitely check it out. Over at the Bladerunner Blog, DJ 7L had a chance to catch up with DJ Riz and hear a few stories. Head over there to learn a little bit about how to obtain a key and also to check out side A of a Wildman Steve & DJ Riz WBAU 90.3 radio tape.

Here is side B of that same tape -

Wildman Steve and DJ Riz show - WBAU 90.3 (1992?) -

This undated cassette is probably from 92-ish. At one point Wildman Steve is talking about some cassettes he has for giveaway, which include tracks by Redman, Public Enemy, and "a group called Onyx."

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The Poetry of Reality

My friend just told me she was shown this video in science class today. Maybe it's time I go back to school. Now, I understand that the "auto tune news," "auto tune sports" etc thing is overdone, but for some reason this one hit me in the heart. Maybe it's because I like science so much.

I will regret this post.

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