venice beach / pch july 3, 2003 after walking venice beach more comfortable and with more relazed confidence than ive ever had i was ridin up pch in a semi groove but very relaxed state. then is see these 4 white girls in their early 20s ridin in a huge black luxury suv. they looked like hollywood entertainment industry administrative assistant types, very cute with that southern california white girl glossy prettiness. so i pull up beside them and lower my music to hear what they playin. they was listening to outkasts "sorry miss jackson." i very relaxedly look back at them, made eye contact and crinkled my nose and face like it was just soooo cute to see 4 white girls listening to that music. at least one of them instantly got it and more then one of them laughed and said "that was so cool." i digged that they felt me the way i meant it but more importantly without any verbal communication they knew exactly what i was implying. 
driving farther later down pch they are 3 lanes over as i pull up. i make eye contact with the one i

 still outkast but i can barley hear it. i couldnt hear it clearly enough to find the beat ands this felt weird. it has been so long since i havent instantly found the beat that the fraction of a second i took to find the beat with her watching seemed like a "long" time. maybe the beat is hard to find when any pressure to do so is applied. anyways when i did find it i raised my hand to snap my fingers to it. writing this now i realize i intended to show her something about rhythm. but when i was doing it i was in the moment and just wanted to find the groove and enjoy that with her.
so i raised my hand as i listened and she did too. she was slightly head noddin to the beat (not sure is she was on it or not) and now we both had our hands in position to snap our fingers where we both could see each other and it was as if she was waiting for my cue. i did put my head down like i was trying to listen to something and block out distractions. then when i found the beat i snapped my fingers on it and slowly raised my head to regain eye contact with her and to experience us being sync'ed in a groove. she was definitely following me and after a few beats we were snapping our fingers in time to the music in their suv. 
it may have been showing off for an attractive female cause more than likely i felt like puttin it on somebody. and i wanted to showoff to her that i could easily find the beat to to her groove (music) that i could barely hear and was remote from and make her feel it. 
after the few snaps we were in groove together and she followed my head nod. she was just ever so slightly hurried, but i could tell she could feel it. she wasnt relaxed on the beat. like she was hurrying to it and starting early as opposed to waiting to late for it and having to quickly catch up or sumn. 
by this time i have her in groove so its our groove now. we are together and i can feel it and i know she can too. i can clearly see that she can feel that same space and time as me. and ive never seen her before but now we have this instance in space and time in common forever. 
by this time other people in the car notice and there are a few giggles. writing this now i realize that during all this with her i had a more serious look. i think a look like i didnt want this to get silly and giggly. like i want to show you sumthin so pay attention. but not in a mean demanding way. i wasnt trying to scare or frighten her. i wasnt to aggressive in movement or instruction. i know i did want to put her on beat. most of the time i want to show people how to find the beat so they can know.
i know that sometimes when im out doing it at a concert some of the people there have never seen happy like this. maybe they dont realize how to respond to music. they see me in my car and im groovin and being happy. my movements and gestures are that of a happy healthy animal. non aggressive strong playful animal. agilie, coordinated (also big and black) rhythmic. the way i move tells alot about me. it shows intelligence. that my movements are well thought out. this goes for life all day. in everything i do. i move like a strong, healthy, agile, confident animal does. let alone human animal, ALL animals move in these ways. 
sometimes i just smile cause i know. i stick my chest out and just bounce on the beat showing them this is what this animal can do. i believe it sometimes to be a show of happy power. happy strength. almost aggressively happy. sometimes i imagine groovin to "their" music, music that they have listened to all their lives and maybe for the first time they see an animal respond to that music in this way. finding and swinging on the beat. (example is til tuesday's voice's carry). i experience the music in a joyful way using the beat to drive this happy experience. 
i know this energy is not just contagious. and it may be undeniable. 
where was i? girl, car, others in car notice and giggles. giggles are enough to throw a person off beat. the moment after we got into groove i could no longer keep a straight face and i exploded a laugh scream growl. it felt good. couldnt have lasted more than 20 seconds this whole thing. 
everybody cant do this. some may have the rhythm ability, but not the appeal. the desire. the communication ability. the demeanor. its a combination of having the skill and the ability to make it so people can understand and be receptive to it. not like im selling it, but a lot of human nature lies in response to presentation/appearance. maybe marketing/media has a lot to do with it in that the black male is portrayed as having this quality. white people know old black men are cool like this and have this ability. they see it in movies from beverly cop to martin's black male comes in and cools everybody out movies. 
anyhows more and more i cant ignore the fact that what i got may be special. i thought to myself if i keep going like this i will be able to walk in a room and heal people. its about faith and believing. convincing a person that they will be better. actually the adrenaline will make them feel better at least briefly. maybe thats it, i know how to excite people. touch them. or maybe i show them a pure happy. a geniune happy. they can see in my eyes and openness im hiding nothing and i can be trusted. that theres nothing threatening or misleading there. its a way to light. they can see it. no hidden agendas, and no reason for any. they can i see i dont want nothing. 

titus fotso cd release party oct 13, 2002 century club

titus fotso's band was pretty good. what i noticed about this music was that it had no aggressiveness. it was totally happy. almost a sappy happy. then i pondered about the existence of a people who never learned anger or developed an aggressive nature. i pondered more about music that is almost apologetic. funk is not that way at all- it is very aggressive and has tons of attitude. there is a spirited "meanness" to funk.

orgone dec 12, 2002 templebar
the special about this night was a little black girl with rhythm. i sat and watched and was so moved seeing someone else besides me who could find the beat. watching her move in proper time she was so attractive. moving to the music the way it seems only a black female can. i sat and watched and enjoyed her from across the room. then her and the asian girl she was dancing with came to the table right next to me. this made me smile. then she asked me something about the band and i made conversation about saturday night and weapon of choice, blah blah blah. we never danced together, but i was always aware of where she was and what groove she was on.

leaving the place i saw her, we made eye contact and i lit up. she saw me so she was ready as immediately turned to her extending my hand. i smiled and shook her hand and said it was a pleasure to be in a room with someone else who could find the beat. she laughed and so did her asian friend, who actually could dance fairly well compared to the rest of the non-rhythmics. but she couldnt come close to the little black girl with rhythm.

maintain june 27, 2002 venice beach  bistro
i was so on that i was able to anticipate a breaks and changes. like i could sense the guitar or whatever preparing for the last beat before a change. one time i had my back to the band vibin out and nanoseconds before the break i felt it coming abd i was able to jump on it and hit it. and in the quiet of the one beat pause i was able to take a breathe and go "wheeeew," then i spun around facing the band dead on the beat when the music started up again. it seemed like i was clocking faster than life so small spaces of time seemed long to me and i was able to do multiple things within these minute lengths of time. 

i thought as i left about the delay in our perception of reality. we depend on the speed of light to get us visual data the fastest way. but what if there were other energies given of by events that traveled faster than light? what if i had another sense that i could use to perceive reality "sooner" than i do when depending on light and seeing. i thought if i could do that i could "go faster" than normal life. clock at a higher frequency. it seems by attaining and maintaining rhythms and higher rhythms that i sample life at a faster rate and can do more things in a section of time 

either there is a distinctive pattern to funk or i anticipate well cause i never heard this band before and more than once i knew where they were going and when the beat would change and when the breaks would come. this one guy played bass and he had his back to me but i predicted what he was gonna play very accurately and i air strummed it for the few folx in the bar to see.

orgone july 31, 2002 venice beach bis
in the back passenger side, i turn down my music and i listen for their music. itstro
there were moments when i was able to "predict?" where the music was goin. once again ive never heard this band live before but i was able to air play songs note for note and hit every break or change. is the music that predictable? am i so in tuned? am i feeling it so deeply i can feel the music at the nanosecond sampling level so i can anticipate and react to beats microseconds before they happen? prolly just my experience with music and the patterns in it that i am very familiar with.

playboy jazz festival june 16, 2002 hollywood bowl doin' it with black folx Posted by  PFUNK1 on  6/17/2002, 1:27 pm. i did the playboy jazzfest yesterday at the hollywood bowl and it was good to be in a crowd that had rhythm. it was nice to be around folx who could fingerpop and clap to a relaxed mid-tempo beat. to vibe to the beat and to float easily and effortlessly on it...so many times ive been in crowds and looked around and nobody was even close to being on time. im not talking about style of dancin, you can dance anyway you want. but when you do and your movements are in time with the music and others it creates synergy and a deeper vibe. like in church when it gets going good and the whole house is on the one...

im into everybody being on their groove and all but it is really something special when a whole room or crowd is groovin on a one (or "the" one) i think white people understand the high energy beats. but i dont see many of them gettin the slower tempo grooves where you have to wait for the next beat. the slow and nasty stuff that drags. when white crowds clap they often clap double time cause there is less delay between beats and its easier...

 and i also think black american is very unique and this uniqueness maybe something special... i wonder if the "vibration" or "natural tempo" of the black american is different from other blacks- different from carribean or african blacks. i get a different vibe from reaggae and carribean music and african music and maybe thats cause we vibe at different internal grooves...i also saw a billboard for "african funk" at the hollywoodbowl june 28th and i thought about our discussion here about africa...sooner or later, im going to africa...funkentelechy.com

wendel-mendel feb 2, 2002 templebar the music was kinda upbeat dance trance played live i guess. the funny thing about this was the crowd that was dancing. i dont usually laugh at white people dancing but tonight what these people were doing on the dancefloor could only be called chaos. it was a group of about 9 barely 21 white girls and at any given time none of them were on beat. i literally laughed out loud watching some of the "moves" these young girls were attempting. there was no rhythm or harmony to what they were doing. they all seemed to be dancing to their own music and not what was being played. 

living color may 10, 2001 key club 
weapon of choice came on next and once they got going they ripped. i was so deep into the  music that the spirit energy from inside me and the show had me pushing the physical limits of my body. i was deeeep in the grooove and so sync'ed with the beat it had me higher. i could anticipate what was gonna be played next so one time lonnie (groups leader) switched up  tempos and we bounced at the same time and on the exact same beat. we were doing a full  head and body bob that started at exactly the same time without cue. he was playing his bass and this turned into us jumping on beat. it got to the point my body was being pushed to its physical limits but the energy kept me going. it went so deep into it that i could feel my body jumping higher than it normally could and with more strength than i usually have. i thought to myself im not gonna stop till he does. i started to get cramps and thats when i actually felt  myself going beyond my physical limits. my increased energy and strength was tangible.  i am going higher and higher as time goes by and i can feel it.

in the audience was a white girl from georgia who had rhythm like ive may  never seen in a WG. she was pounding the beat as hard as i was, she was sweaty as i was and i could tell the music took her as high as i was. she was with her boyfriend or date and he felt a bit threatened (as he should have) cause me and her were on it. we weren't dancing  with each other but the music had us danicng together. i vibed off her the whole night. i even asked her where she learned to dance like that. she said the music makes her do it and i knew exactly what she meant. not many folx was dancing in our area and it was only me and her so aggressively pounding the beat with our body movements. i was polite as possible and really  didnt push it, but boyfriend or not she was my dancing date this night. i gave her my webcard as she left...

soulive may 18, 2001 templebar 
soulive turned me completely out. their music took me higher than any other music has taken me before. this includes p-funk, but p-funk got me to this point that im oscillating at which is a higher rate now vs the last time i saw funkadelic. the main thrust of soulive is the organ and its player neal evans. maaaan, this group takes it to the next level like back in church. i grew up with the organ as the principle piece in a pentecostal type service. so when the "holy ghost" was in the church and the rooms energy was up, it was the movement of the organ music that moved us. funkadelic has one of the best keyboardist ever in bernie worrell but he does not tour with them so i dont get my p-funk with strong keyboards. man if did, wow.
soulive had me vibrating to the music so high that i passed my physical limit more than once and literally had to stop. neal on organ had this head-bob-bounce when he plays and i was so into the vibe that we would bounce simultaneously without cue. a hard bounce dead on beat. he would take it higher and higher to the point i was screaming for him to stop. i "went away" more than once this night. i was so in sync to the vibe and beat i could float on it. hard, pounding, strong, physical moving music. it generated so much physical power in me that at times i was just doing things just to challenge my body. i used the energy to dance on one leg and to balance myself on beat, (ok, some of it i was showing off) i was on and hittin it and i knew it and could feel it.
i saw wozani before and these chicks is coool. the middle one was cute to me this time with her sexy black girl butt and shape and sexy brown skin (no make-up). i was right there as they grooved and i vibed her as she sang and it was coooool. the other group was funky also and so was dj haul.
in fact, once again it hit me how "black" the templebar is. everything about this place is ethnicly black except the people. dj haul looks like a little punk white kid but he played some serious serious music. more than once i had to go ask him who that was playing. he played all originals, no remixes or sampled beats. he was so good i looked him in the eye and shook his hand. i even asked a bartender who owned the place and there demographics, a 40sumn white couple. and when i say everybody is white i mean 95% of the crowd and performers. but these folx is kickin out some serious serious soul funky jammin music with good positive movement. white folx gone funky...
soulive was so good and turned me out so well i had to go and see them the next day.

the crowd was a mix of white country and white pop folx. a coulple of warm up bands  played and their music had good movement. dave mason played a blue-eyed soulful music that leaned heavily towards blues. the sound system and music sounded good.

as these groups played i stood and looked back over the crowd. hardly any movement!!!  very, very, very few heads bobbing or dancing or anything!! i was amazed. the music was moving, it had groove and this huge group of people just sat there. they were paying  attention cause you could see them sitting up and looking straight ahead. but no body  movement to the music!!!! i was so amazed that i studied what i saw. it was amazing!!!

dancing for me comes from the inside out. an energy or spirit in me forces my body to  move. this is why i dance sometimes without any music (more than once white person has asked me "what music are you dancing to?" and were really trying to know how i  danced without music "he has his own music"). 

so it is hard for me (especially lately since im so happy) to sit still when there is music on.  anykind of music. hell, even if a car engine knocks at a steady rate i will dance. 

now i know this aint my neighborhood. i know this aint my house and these white folx  (or any folx) is drinking. so im smart enough not to antagonize nothing. i know a lot of  these guys who dont dance brought women who would watch me curiously as i moved  to the music. and once i lock into a groove that movement would become very sensual. being watched when im groovin like that is a thrill, and its a special added thrill when its  another man's woman and i look back and see her looking at me and him looking at her. thats when i shoot that quick eye contact and smile and do a little sum sum extra for 'em.  and that little extra comes from inside because of the energy i get from the attention.

anywayz, it was like i gave respect to the home team by not showing off and being  careful not to do this or antagonize nobody who might be drunk. like i said, these folx  was drinking... 

but when dave mason started groovin it was tough. i didnt stand up but i chair danced my  ass off. the band was movin and mr mason did a guitar solo that was hittin. i felt the energy inside me build up, but i had to hold it. forcing myself to sit increased the intensity  of it all. i had my eyes closed and focused on that energy. i let the energy's intensity go all  thru my body. i deliberatly focused to amplify it. at one point i knew i could maintain  enough concentration to make myself cry, literally. i could bring the excitement type energy up in me to the point it makes my eyes water. the feeling that deep love brings. like seeing your kids do something that your so proud of. or feeling intense joy.

i knew that even in my chair i was jammin my ass off. i knew i was moving sensually  and i knew i was being watched though i never checked, i knew. knowing this adds to  the energy.

i really want to interview some white people about how and what they feel when they  hear music. is it like the connection from their emotions or something got disconnected from their physical and they can feel something but not the desire to move? could it be  something in the nervous system?

this non dancing thing is cut so sharply on racial lines that to think that the races are the  same cant be true. maybe even to say the "races" are different species or breeds. the  differences are so great that it is obvious that there is something majorly different between  different colors of people. way beyond socializtion or cultural- geneticly and inherently  different. and if ya know me, this is the stuff that moves me...

santana photos oct 15, 2000 hollywood bowl
the biggest thing about this show for me was the crowd. my seat was front row terrace far right. below the rail in front of me was the first main walkway behind the garden boxes and to my right  off to the side was the open space for the terrace stairway landing. the point: there was a time when  i was standing in this open space groovin to the music looking back up over maybe 300+ people  who were just sitting there!!! i was the only one standing and dancing. 99% white folx and it was  statue land extrordinaire. they were just sitting there as this funky funky music with all these different  rhythms blasted from a top notch sound system!!! and because of the slant of the seating i knew they  all had a clear view of me too. we're talking like maybe 4-500 people!

when i first noticed this i got a huge rush, it was kinda overwhelming. then it tickled me, and i screamed a laugh of exhilarition. i felt it all thru my body. i was doing my dance for maybe my biggest audience and i was on it. i turned and faced the crowd. i felt it. eyes closed. i would  open my eyes and glance every so often and it would give me a huge rush. i knew i was standing  out because of my ability to let the music move me. move me to a nice gentle groove. an easy  sway popping my fingers with smile as i showed the statues how good the music makes me feel.  as i showed them how free i was, how uninhibited i was and how happy i am.

i even got the people around me groovin and dancin. at one point we clapped in sync to a moderatly moving  music flow- not to fast, not to slow...the synenrgy was there, im sure they could feel it. we were in sync as we clapped. during one of the more sprited faster moving music moments when  the crowd got up, a couple of girls came up and started dancing with me. (my ego digged that cause i knew the fellas around me saw it). the hispanic girl had her groove together but the white girl who probably had a beer or two was trying to follow my steps. it was cool cause i had seen this before but i wasnt in a slow it down for the novice mood, she had to keep up or do her own thing. she danced to her own groove next to me as i g-rated freaked her and her friend...

fishbone dec 27, 2001 keyclub
this place this night was 14 & over so there were alot of young white kids there early to see the opening bands. in fact i felt very old for awhile. though i dont fully vibe fishbone's punk/ska energy, i can still feel it. as the show was going on i looked around and noticed how these mostly white kids feel the music- how many were dancing, head bobbing and what beat they seemed to be on. i tried to sync with the bounce and beat they were on to see what part of the music they were responding to. i think i found alot of the music was not rhythmic at all. i think the music is designed not to have a central beat. most of the energy is expressed in the mosh pits and that needs no rhythm, just chaotic energy.