out 22

Hello again outsiders, this is your
outside observer Ma'at here trying
to give you the happenings around the Lou and beyond and still be able to walk around for the next go around. Alright, let me be like a hammer to a rusty nail and hit it.


This blog post will be kind of short because I wasnt really feeling going out in that windy hawk last weekend, but I managed to go to a few things that I promised I would tell you about so, here it goes.

Last Friday, I attended this funny one man play called the SantaLand Diaries at the Lemming Armada Theatre in downtown Belleville. This is the same rathskaller that put on the Taffetas last month. This play was way out funny. It is about a down on his luck shopping Macy's shopping mall elf who tells his story about being an elf (I wrote a review of this on kdhx.org and you can hear a live review of this on KDHX-FM 88.1. this Thursday at 10 a.m.).

Here is my written review of Sanataland:

The Santaland Diaries, currently being staged at the Lemming Armada Theatre in downtown Belleville, is a one-man play about a sarcastic, sad sack Macy's store elf named Crumpet, played by Charlie James, who tells his wacky journal stories about his experiences playing a shopping mall elf.
Written by NPR humorist and best selling author David Sedaris and directed by Lemming Armada co-owner Tim Daly, The Santaland Diaries reminds me of the 2002 film Bad Santa as it deals with the anti-Christmas slant of the holiday season, and disgruntled temporary employees who have to be happy and jolly in order to pay their bills.
James does a credible job with Sedaris' piece. His performance is a mixture of Ray Ramano's deadpan wit and Andy Dick's nerdiness. Some of the better journal sketches include his talks on elf training, how children and department store managers treated elves as opposed to Santa, the rude parents of the children and different celebrities who come to see Santaland like Phil Collins and Goldie Hawn.
There is also a Mad Magazine-esque undertone to the play. For instance, when James talks about how two husbands sat on Santa's lap and asked him, " I want a woman with big tits."
The Santaland Diaries has become an anti-holiday cult classic and Daly definitely didn't stray from the original. Although, it would had been nice if Daly had taken poetic license and changed the setting from Macy's to let's say the Galleria or St. Clair Square Mall, it is still enjoyable.
That is my review of The Santaland Diaries. For more ticket information and performance times, call 618-234-5998 or visit the Lemming Armada web site.


If you go to check it out, it is about an hour and a few minutes. What made my viewing of this show interseting was, well, free drinks from the owner of the Lemming (I started off with two Kamos, WHOOOOOOOOOOO) and they had a false fire alarm just when the actor was about to go on stage. The owner of Lemming had the crowd to leave the theater and wait outisde for the firemen to go upstairs where the fire alarm was going off. They had a blowing fan in front of teh thetaer just in case they needed it. Talk about Third Watch, okay? What made things even more interesting, I had to take my glass of wine outside and hide in my leather coat so the cops wouldnt see an open glass of alcohol. Mind you it wa salso pretty cold, so, I walked up and down the street until it was time to go back in the theater which was about 20 minutes later. Two wine glasses later, and half way to my car, I had to urinate. It was too late to turn bakc to the theater, so I had to let nature take its course so I went in an alley between the theater and another building and let Mr Richard set free of his water balloon. One guy was walking near me but stopped and saw what I was doing and said, "You know there are cameras around here. up above the buildings." I turned around, looked at him like he was fly in my ear. I wanted to tell him, "As long as you aint hoolding the camera, mind your damn bizness!" So, I drove off and headed to First Friday which was Formula of all places. I thought that this wa san interseting spot to have FF. There must be a change in the wind becasue I wouldnt even think that FF owners Harry Michel and Fred Finely would even go to another club to hold their popular event, and Formula of all clubs which is their stiff competition. Anyway, I met up with my boy Kameron and we were ready to parlay the crowd. Oh, I had on an outfit that was very Common (as in the rapper): brown kangol hat, light brown collared shirt, with rolled up sleeves, a brown tie with pink , brown and white dots on it, a multipatterened brown vest, brown courduroy pants and brown dress boots. And to top it off I had pink sahdes and a retro light brown coat with dark brown fur collar. I was dressed for coverstion for sure. We got there around 11 ish and my boy Clifford Wade of Spin City Recordz hooked us up in there. I was there to check out his artsist Nick Demio and sexy Jzanell (both are pictured in the pictures above). this was definitely a change of pace cause FF rarely has performers entertain for FF. It is usually people walking around drinking, netwowrking (on all levels) and dancing). Before the entertainment , I peeped out who were there. Up in there were comedian Arvin Mitchell (you have nothin to worry about. LOL) , BET's Timothy Lampley, the-person-who-I-refused-to-talk-about (I did gunslinging signs at them),Kwame thompson, Jamie, Ingrid Sams, Nathan and his lady (who danced background for Jzanell) and Rams tackle Orlando Pace. Now I must talk about him. He showed up there and doing his thing checking out the scene. Let;s fast forward to Saturday when I was checking out KMOX and the sports announcer on theer was saying that Pace may not play in the Redskins game on that Following Sunday becaus eof a hamstring problem. Huh? Now mind you, I know you can walk with a hamstring problem, but dont you think he shouldnt have been walking around in a crowded club like Formula with over 500 people in there and take the chance of stepping on someones foot, tripping over somebody, whatever. Or even walking on it period. Hamstring problem? Okay. I'm sure he didnt have a problem with his leg when he was stepping onto the dance floor. But I digress. I also was tripping off of actor Kelvin Roston who I'm cool with and is a bartender up in Formula. I greeted him and all and Kam was behind me. Kelvin said, "Man you two are always together." I just smiled and laughed it off. I'm sure he didnt mean anything by it, but I must say, if people are talking about you and you are a part of the VIP click in the Lou, then you must be in the in crowd. I love all of my fans. LOL. My thing is if people stopped talking about you, then it is a problem. Around midnite, Jzanell came up on one of the stages in the club and performed. She was fully clothed from head to toe (a black hat, jeans, a coat). I was shocked. She is usually dressed in a sexy, skimpy garb (like the pic above), but I guess the winter hawk got even this sexy siren to put on some clothes. But she did OK. It has hard to hear her. I dont know if the sound system was too loud, or what, but she did her thang. She performed a couple of tracks from her upcoming CD, Private Thoughts, and got the crowd's attention with her club banging joints. I was then expecting Nick Demio, but Cliff told me he wasnt performing (I dont know if he told me what happened or not cause I was little lifted from the drinks I had consumed before getting Formula and the free samples they had up in the club.)

Before I go on, I had the chance to review teh new single by rapper Nick Demio, that was given to me by Clifford Wade, CEO of Spin City Recordz, called, "We (Bout My Hustle)" I promised Wade I would review it and I had a chance to peep it out and the following is my review:

Spin City Recoirdz recording artist Nick Demio definitely has a catchy ditty on his hands with the single, "We (Bout My Hustle)" This club jam, with a haunting, sinister crunk beat, will definitely get the crowd head bobbing moving from side to side. Demio's delivery reminds me of a gangsta LL Cool J with a touch of DMX. He definitely has a rap style that punctual and tight. The catchy hook is also worth mentioning: We creep/we ride/We grind/We Shine/I'm all about the hustle/Lasies call me hustle man..." He also has a self imposed testimony in the song quipping, "If I wasn't rappin,I'll be pistol packin."

Overall, this single will fit right on in with the other gangsta crunkstars like Lil Jon and David Banner. It would not be surprising if this jam starts gettig heavy airplay and requests from the hip-hop stations here in the Lou the same way Ebony Eyez' summer jam "In Yo face" was played in constant rotation.

OK now back to the Formula recap

Afterward, me and Kam went up in one of the VIP areas (I saw darrious from teh Freeman Bosley Show up in VIP there) and spoke to Sonia Brascomb, one of the owners of Formula. I must give it to my girl. Even though she is plus size, she has no problem showing off her body. She had on a sleeveless top and was sexy in it. I tip my hat off to her for reppin the big sexy girls. She was telling about a book signing one of her friends were having the following night at the Formula and the celeb guest was Soul Food (the flick not the tv show) and Living Single star Mel Jackson (the light skinned cat from "Deliver Us From Eva." Around 2 in the morn, it was time to roll out of there and sleep off the alcohol and gear up for the rest of the weekend. NOT!

Last Saturday, I went to the gym at Ballys in Clayton (I saw a couple of fitness trainers who work there up in FF, one of them actually was able to work but was yawning at the front desk--not cute)and was planning on going to BET personality Big Tigga's party at Toxic. I was not feeling that mainly cause money was gettin tight for gas and the cold cold weather. So, I just chilled and watched some Tv like Saturday Night Love (I love the Weekend Update segment--Maya Rudolph must still be on maternity leave).

Last Sunday, I was supposed to go to Arvin Mitchell's Funny First Sunday event at Blueberry Hill and Kam even text messaged me to see if I was going. I wanted to. Then I got a booty call text and wasnt feeling that either. I was just not into partying this past weekend., I just wanted to chill. So, I just watched TV and checked out Desparate Housewives which is actually apretty good show that is a dark comedy spoof on thoise nighttime soaps of the 80's but with a new school twist. Its good that they put some more color on the show with Alfre Woodard and Mehcad Brooks, beside Latin siren Eva Longoria. I also peeped out Michael Ealy's (Halle Berry's new flame) new show on Showtime called Sleeper cell, about an ex-con Muslim who joins an Arab terrorist group that is planning an attack on Los Angeles. talk about interesting. This show is definitely a must watch. All of the dynamics are there (Black Muslims v Moslem; terrorism, racism, Moslem punishment etc.) When you get the chance, check your local lostings and peep this one out.

BLIND ITEM: What female local TV reporter was recently spotted at Ballys gym in Clayton getting worked out until they couldnt sweat anymore and begged for their work out partner to stop torturing them? I'll give you a hint, she works at Fox 2. If you think you know who, post up on my blog or hit me at maatspear@yahoo.com (Aaron you should know this one.LOL).

Well that is it. Again, thanks for those who have been hittin me on my email and in person who say they have been checking out this site (and even those who ask that I dont call them out in my blog. LOL). Until next time, see ya outside---with gloves, hat and winter coat on!