Hotter Than a Tea Kettle

New York has been hot, hot, hot. Finally cooled a little today with the rain. Spent most of the weekend indoors at the Urban World Film Festival. Favorites included Bullet Boy, which is about the cycle of violence in a London neighborhood. Melancholy, it's true, but so well done. Also loved the southern pimp tale, Hustle & Flow. The show was an advance screening (the flick doesn't come out for another couple weeks) and the house was jam packed. It was loads of fun to see it in that setting. Not fun trying to get my phone back afterwards, though. Major mayhem at the cell-check table. (They are guarding this movie like crazy. Bootleggers beware.)

Had the pleasure of meeting the infamous Jay Smooth on Saturday night. Went down to the Underground Railroad at WBAI 99.5 FM to interview him for the New York chapter of my book. He surprised me by putting me on air to talk about my global hip-hop research. I've heard about his show for years (whispered in reverential tones by Canuck hip-hop aficionados), so it was very cool to be able to sit in. Especially dug DJ 3D's set.