DJ ZAK BROWN : NEWS

Clearly this needed to be posted.

Stop the Bloodshed, Ceasefire NOW!

Please go to Ceasefore Campaign and sign the petition. No matter where you stand on these issues, it's time for the bombs to stop falling in Lebanon and Israel.

From the Lab to the Hat.

It has been said that those who cannot do, teach. :)

KPFK appearance with Wolfie on Monday Night.

My great friend Ali Lexa who happens to be the webmaster at LA's KPFK 90.7 invited me to fill in for another DJ named Kristi Lomax who has a show called Restless Soul. I'm a frequent listener of that station so I was very excited. I called up my good pal DJ Wolfie to join me. Can't play a radio gig without a posse can you?

The best thing about the gig was that the cool folks in the control room were dancing and laughing as we played. It's so much more fun to play when people are dancing. It's an obvious point, I know, but it makes a big difference.

It was fun to do the little interviews. It's no secret that I like the sound of my own voice, so it was fun to have the chance to put it out in the ether. We also had a chance to plug our upcoming Hipgenesis event. I'd love to see some people from KPFK's audience make it.

You can download the whole thing here. The levels are all over the place in the recording, the problem was that we were monitoring the signal going out over the air rather than a signal off of our mixer. So when the engineer would lower the level to compensate for a hot signal coming out of the DJ mixer the monitor would get quieter. Which would make us raise the level on the mixer without thinking about it. Which would make the engineer lower the level... repeat. There's a section where one of the channels has dropped out as well, an issue between the two boards again, but it was fixed pretty quick. It sounds alright overall though. Except for Wolfie's trainwrecks.

Pirates v Ninjas v ?

While I certainly consider myself more a Ninja than a Pirate. I find that neither really suits me that well. I think it's time for a third catagory. Let's consider some other options:

Cowboys: Billy the Kid, Wyatt Erp, Anyone Clint Eastwood played, Cowboy Curtis, Ennis, Yosemite Sam.

Pros: No gayer than Pirates. Known to carry a 6-shooter. Ponies! They've got a good call, "Yeeeeeeehaw!" All American. Lots of great lines. Costuming is easy. Killing Indians.

Cons: Gender specific. Western stuff is out, way out. The Indian lobby. All American. Saddles Sores easily mistaken for herpes. Stinky. George W. Bush.

Astronauts/Space Explorers: Han Solo, Eric Larson, Luke Skywalker, Flash Gordon, Buck Rodgers, Barbarella, Captain Eo

Pros: SPACE! Light Sabres. Killing Aliens. Gender Neutral. 0 Gravity sex. Freeze Dried Ice Cream. Dark Side of the Moon.

Cons: 0 Gravity atrophy. Bulky Costumes. Someone might film you with your Light Sabre. Space Herpes. Trekkies. The Alien Lobby.

Spies: James Bond, Austin Powers, Boris and Natasha, The Avengers, Agent Cody Banks

Pros: Sexual Infiltraion. Gadgets. English Accent. Martinis. License to Kill. Classy and Smooth. Nice Tuxedo. Sweet car.

Cons: You'd never be able to say what you were, you'd just look like you just came from a wedding. Nemsis'. People keep blowing up your car. English Accent.

UPDATE: This has been brought to my attention. A very important point, but one that makes me feel even stronger that there must be more heroic archetypes out there.

UPDATE II: Bears: Smokey, Yogi, Fozzie, Baloo, Winnie the Pooh, Andrew Sullivan.

Pros: Honey. Fur. Admired in California and Berlin. No one calls you a fag and gets away with it. Hibernation. Taoism. Pickinik Baskets. Fish. Cuddling.

Cons: Can be smelly. Conan O'Brian. Steven Colbert. Hibernation. Obsessed with food.

One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen.

Check this out.

I don't often talk about politics here, but I probably will more and more as time goes on.

My only thought on this matter is about the soul of Israel. I consider myself to be someone who has an interest in both the Israeli people and their Arab neighbors. My step-father is a Jordanian immigrant with roots in Palestine and many people close to me have roots in Israel. When I see pictures and accounts of the recent fighting I can relate to everyone involved. I've been trying to imagine what would lead me take children to write messages on shells meant to be fired across a border. I think it would take a complete lack of empathy for the other side, it would require me to dehumanize them. If that's possible, it's possible to inflict any horror upon someone. I understand that land is worth your life, but is it worth your soul?

Of course the same should be asked of those on the northern side of the border as well.

LIB Review.

This is all I have to say about LIB for now:

More later.

Alma Paradiso Review

I know I always say this, but that was seriously one of the most fun parties I've ever been to.

The system was setup close to the water so you could listen to a mix of the waves and the music. The dancefloor was full of people cutting loose. All of my friends got CRA-Z, I saw a lot of things out of my friends that I never expected to see.

The music was all around very good, lots of breaks (the good, funky kind) and house. I had a great set on Friday night to get things going.

The party was very well organized, the promoter DJ Blue from San Diego as well as Ninja Skillz did a great job taking care of everything and making sure that we were left alone.

The water and the sky was beautiful the whole time. The weather was balmy.

I'm so excited to do it again, I'm going to help organize the next one.

Fun Fun Fun at Yuri's Night, Spundae and Giftcast

Big Ups to Jesse and the whole Pocket Gang. I had a great time at Spundae. I didn't know what to expect from the night but it was definately something I'll remember.

Yuri's Night was great fun. Sadly I had to miss most of the VIP event and about half of the party to play at Spundae. One of those days that you wish you could be in two places at once. Later I had the chance to tag a little bit with John Kelley, one of my very favorite DJs. I very clearly remember getting his funkydesertbreaks CD when I very first got into Electronic Music. It was a real treat to share the stage with one of the guys who's inspired me the most.

Spaceman and I are beginning work on the Giftcast again. For those of you that would like to listen to Spaceman and I talk for half an hour here you are. We've branched out to more topics than strictly discussing the Burningman community. A few topics discussed on this week's show:

Landmark Forum: Ripoff or totally worth it? I take both sides of the issue. Spaceman tells it like it is.

Memory Loss: More likely caused by alcohol, marijuana or am I just a dick for not remembering people I meet at parties?

Burningman: Fuck is it time again already? We just got our lives back in order.

Pirates of the Spanish Main: Matt DeWitt's first impressions. Later after taping Spaceman again demonstrates his mastery of booty collection.

Who's shouting Spaceman's name? And more importantly, who Isn't

My travel plans to Africa and the Middle East for the fall: On my return will the Department of Homeland Security hold me with, or without charges.

Our Civil Liberties: Do you miss them?

Warrentless Domestic Government Surveillance: Hello G-Men, we're making coffee, want some?

Police Brutality: Oh how you suck.

Yuri's Night: By the time you hear this, it will already be over.

And More!

Probably the Dorkiest Post Evar.

Recently I've been geeking out something fierce. I had a string of injuries at Jiu Jitsu and the vectors kept getting me sick. So I've had a lot of time on my hands. This time has been gobbled up by my new obesssion. Booty. I recently ran across this game called Pirates of the Spanish Main. It's a little collectible card game where you punch out and assemblelittle ships, islands, crew and treasure, then you sail about collecting gold. The game play is sorta like Warhammer or Carwars, but very simplified. I've been playing it with my friends when we're not engaged in even more geeky D&D 3.5 edition. It's super fun, check it out. You only need two packs to play...

I left my heart in San Francisco

At the city by the bay, the place of my birth, neighbor to Berkeley (the home of Top Dog), cousin to Santa Cruz. I fucking love that town.

This last trip was intended as a chance to meet up with all of my G-Spot buddies that I never get to see except at the burn. That aim was completed, but I also had the most fun three days of my life. Seriously, it was all so much fun.

Here are a few highlights:

The best costume store ever is Piedmonts on Haight. I'm not even that into costumes and I was blown away. I bought a dayglow orange necklace.

GeoCaching in SF is fun. So much in fact that we lost our umbrellas while rushing to return a cache before any muggles saw us.

SF is beautiful rain or shine.

Went to Anon Salon in SF. What a great crowd. String Cheese Incedent was the main attraction. Some people were calling it a cross between a rave and phish concert. I just kept wondering why all these hippies were so afraid of bass? The art at the party was really good. There were lots of cool smaller attractions and trip toys. Quote of the night from my buddy Andrea: "Let's go make another puppet."

Took a Limo from Anon Salon to "The Ranch" Sorta like Bassworks with a hot tub. We had a 2 hours to kill before Space Cowboys' Breakfast of Champions. Fun little party, met up with lots of people that I'd met in previous recent trips to SF, all of whom ended up being Andrea's friends. After a soak and some broccoli we got a ride over to "BOC" as it's called. It was 7am when we arrived and there was a big line out front, took 45 minutes or so to get in. It was in a medium sized club with two rooms ironically called "Whisper". It was elbows to assholes full of a really fun crowd. NYE is ameteur night to be sure, these people were all Champs. I didn't quite care for the breaks, but the house music was cool. I like that SF sound, even if it can be a little light on the drums.

Later on Andrea brought her kids (She's a Nanny) over to hang out. Cuuuuuuuuuuuute.

Here's pics from the weekend. The big guy in the 2nd pic is Mark Mitchell, the main man of G-Spot. Be sure to note the Penguin, with a ukulele that needed a ride to "MILL VALY".

Also from this weekend, we met one sad clown.

Four Stripes

My school had an in-house tournament and belt tests on Sunday. Wander Braga promoted me to 4th degree white belt in Jiu Jitsu. I'm pleased with advancing, though I lost my match in the tournament (armbar as the clock was running out). I'm now just one little notch short of my blue belt. I'm pretty stoked about the promotion of a few of my teammates, one fellow made his brown. Congratulations Peter.

1491

I just finished a very interesting book. 1491 by Charles C. Mann.

I've always felt like the common historial portrayal of pre-columbian America lacked a certain credibility. The story of the slow occupation of America by Eropeans has also seemed more like an moralistic tale expousing the rightness of progress and the unstoppable superior technology of our ancestors.

As Mann describes, the Indians (he uses this term, rather than Native American or American Indian, for reasons that he describes in the book) were every bit as technologically advanced as the Europeans with whom they made first contact. It should be noted that the Indians had different types of advanced technology. For example they were highly adept at using compression and tension in construction. When Pizarro and his men first travelled through the Inka empire they were amazed by the suspension bridges made of natural fibers that spanned many a canyon. At first the Spaniards refused to cross them, unable to believe that you could walt on something with nothing under it! This also points out how advanced the Indians were at using natural fibers. Again a good example is the Inka armor, it was made of plant fibers and was so much lighter than the Spanish soldiers' steel breastplates that they soon cast them aside in favor of the Inka's armor. This also brings up the oft-sited gunpowder weapons that the Spanish carried. In many cases, even up to the time of the Pilgrims in the 17th century, Europeans knew that their weapons were no match for a skilled bowman and they did their best to keep the unreliability of their weapons a secret. The Europeans didn't need advanced weapons though, they carried disease.

From the time of first contact, until the arrival of the first Conquisadors Mann estimates that some 90% of the occupants of the Americas died from a multi-waved pestilence. The first was hepatitus, then smallpox, influenza, measels and every other infection that was common in the European populations, but for a variety of reasons unknown to the Indans. One main reason for this was the lack of large domesticated animals in the Americas, no cows, no horses. Many of the diseases that were common in Europs were continually being re-introduced by cross species contamination, much as the modern conserns about the bird flu. The Indians had no cows and thus no immunity to smallpox. It's likely that as the point of first contact there were vastly more people living in North America than there were in Europe. However when the first settlers arrived from Europe they found a ghost continent, a place where many great civilizations had JUST fallen, sometimes as little as a few years prior. They found a world that had already been settled but where the people were missing...

In any case, check out the book, it's an excellent and informative read.

PPB

That stands for "Post Party Bliss"

The Blizzard left a few feet of fun on all our psychic driveways. Everything went off without a hitch. Many thanks to our wonderful voluneers.

Whew.

Next up, I'm going to be competing in an in-house tournament on Sunday at Lion Training Center. I think I have a good chance of doing very well in competition.

BLIZZARD OF OZ

Saturday December 10th

9pm - 5am ( 21+ event)
Safe, Secure Comfortable Venue
Free Shuttle Service - parking at Japanese Village Parking Structure
Multiple Levels of Dance Floors
10,000 Square foot location
Beautiful Visual and Art Creations
TURBO SOUND
$10 presales available at https://www.djwolfie.com/event.php?id=17
$15 before Midnight at the door, 20$ after that

directions at the bottom of this email.

This event is creation of:
Hipgenesis, Mutaytor, Entertainment Is and Zak Brown

This holiday season, before shopping and safe family get-togethers overtake you, give yourself the gift of one last night partying with the community.
The Mutaytor, Wolfie, and YOU, ripping it up PLAYA STYLE!
The Mutaytor will rock
the house with their special brand of insanity and spectacle. Wolfie is bringing out some of the best dj's the West Coast has to offer. There will be musical acts from San Francisco, San Diego, Las vegas and LA.

We're going to have:
ART CARS
PAINTINGS
SCULPTURES
and an ALTAR created by Satchi.

teas and snacks provided by GEMINI'S ORGANIC KITCHEN

A full bar staffed by Santa's Fallen Helpers...

BUY PRESALE TICKETS, THIS EVENT WILL SELL OUT
click here for presales: https://www.djwolfie.com/event.php?id=17

Musical entertainment for the evening:

UPSTAIRS: ( LIVE, BREAKS, WORLD BEAT)
MUTAYTOR
WOLFIE (Hipgenesis)
OSCURE (LABA)
JANAKA SELEKTA (coming down from SAN FRAN!)
PORTER TINSLEY
DJ BLUE ( coming up from SAN DIEGO)

VISUALS BY CURIOUS JOSH, VMX, and many more...

DOWNSTAIRS ROOM: (GROOVY HOUSE MUSIC)
HOSTED BY ZAK BROWN
DIVA DANIELLE
EDGAR (SOULKITCHENNV, FROM LAS VEGAS)
WONDER BRED
BRADLEY B.
TODD SPERO
GARIN

LASERS BY NEWAJE, PROJECTIONS BY SALTYROBOT

Though we definitely expect our fair share of wicked witches and flying monkeys, this event has NO DRESS CODE or costume requirement. IF you want, we'd love to see you in naughty elf outfits, santa hats, reindeer costumes, or anything that makes you feel warm and cozy.

As a holiday gift to our family, get there before 1130 pm for a 15$ cover.

The music will be incredible from the first needle drop, so come out early and be ready to stay late.
We're doing this so that everyone can make it out. You're our family, and we want you there even if the holidays have you strapped for cash.

We'll see you at the last big bash before the holidays.

weblinks for this event:
Hipgenesis
Mutaytor
EntertainmentIs
Zak Brown
Oscure/ LABA
Porter Tinsley
Dj Blue
Wolfie
Saltyrobot
NewAje

DIRECTIONS:

We are having you park in a secure area downtown. Shuttles will take you from this area to the warehouse. We have 3 shuttles running every 5 minutes. They will say "HIPGENESIS FILMS" on the dash board. Know that adventure, excitement, and wonder await you at the end of this shuttle ride.

you will be picked up on the south west corner of Central and 1st street.

for you map questers, thats:

S Central Ave and E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

There are several parking lots on this corner. You can park for free at the japanese village parking structure. Or, if you prefer, You can pay 4$ and park in the lot across the street. There is ample street parking as well. This is a well lit, safe area. There is parking down near the office depot, which is 1/2 a block away as well.

Jump in a shuttle, ON CENTRAL, WHERE 1ST STREET CROSSES IT. Its a 3 minute ride to the location. Shuttles will be running all night from 9 pm until 5 am.

HERE ARE DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM HOLLYWOOD:
101 S
Take the Broadway exit 3A - go 0.2 mi
Continue on Aliso St - go 0.3 mi
Turn right at N Alameda St - go 0.3 mi
Turn right at E 1st St - go 0.1 mi
END AT CENTRAL STREET.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM SANTA MONICA:
10 east to 110 north
.Take the I-10 E ramp to Los Angeles - go 12 mi
Bear left onto the CA-110 N ramp to Pasadena - go 2.2 mi
Take the US-101 N ramp to Hollywood/Santa Ana (I-5)/San Bernardino (I-10)
- go 0.1 mi
Take the ramp to San Bernardino (I-10)/Santa Ana (I-5) - go 0.4 mi
Merge into US-101 S - go 0.0 mi
Take the Broadway exit 3A - go 0.2 mi
Continue on Aliso St - go 0.3 mi
Turn right at N Alameda St - go 0.3 mi
Turn right at E 1st St - go 0.1 mi
END AT CENTRAL ST.