downtown LA

my friend Jaime took me to an area of Los Angeles i'd never been to.... downtown. she tells me that most people don't go to downtown. everyone goes to venice, hollywood...etc. she was nice enough to take me on a architectural tour. here are some photos i took with my point and shoot. (new nikon coolpix - not bad for $99, i must say)


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photos from Prague

4 days - 3 nights in Prague Czech Republic from Dan's bachelor party.
over 400 photos taken.
some of them were pretty good, i think.
you can see them here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djtakefive/collections/72157618396467121/

my new toy

i had wanted to get a nice camera for awhile now. ya know - SLR with fancy lens and quick shutter speed - ability to play with aperture (blurriness) -- the whole sha-bang. so, i got one. Nikon d80. don't quite know how to use it yet - but here are some shots i took this weekend in miami, as i learn.


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a train pulls in

i shot this on wednesday evening. there is something interesting about the emergence of the train from the tunnel i feel. this weekend, i'm gonna figure out how to use iMovie so i can cut this to music. but for now - enjoy the soothing screech of the metal from the MTA's F train.

Photos from visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin

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After All-Star, I took a few days off with my girl - and we jaunted around Arizona.
Above, you can view our Taliesin shots.

Check out some more photos from our trip to Arizona:
SEDONA
CAVE CREEK

fly the 'change we can believe in' skies

on the way to miami we were slightly delayed on the runway, as a "VIP" landed at LaGuardia. the pilot came on and said he couldn't say who it was yet, but that the side of the plane had the slogan 'change we can believe in'. :) (my shot is the second one. i found better one, so you can see the intricacies of the plane)

the staff at LGA were remarkably efficient, as the plane pulled off to a special section of the airport - where approx 20 vehicles immediately circled to collect the passengers as they deplaned. pretty cool stuff. i continue to feel like part of history during this campaign. i just hope and pray that we can come together as country and recognize that Barack will do wonders for this country's economy, improve the face of the USA across the world, and help get us out of Iraq - where we should not be in the first place.

my friend rahsaan is running an Obama office in harlem - and in the coming weeks i plan to volunteer. money isn't enough this election. we democrats have to put in the time to ensure Obama/ Biden go the distance.

i'm straight volleyballin'

this tuesday, i will once again trek to west 56 street to play go to the Big City Open Scrimmage. each volleyball season, they do a night for people to come and play and try to get together with other folks of similar skill level and create a make-shift volleyball squad. two years, this didn't work out so well for me - i ended up on a team filled with scrubs. then last year, we had a really great team, but we ended up getting ranked at too high a level and got pounded every game. good learning experience watching and learning from our opponents though. so, in a little over 48 hours, i'll go back to well.

i hadn't played in a while, except at my uncle/ aunt's 25th wedding anniversary in the backyard. so, last weekend i went to Central Park, and help my own - i'm happy to say. my jumping ability has fallen off, but i'm going to actively try to rectify that.

yesterday, here in miami, i went to see the beach volleyball championships. awesome stuff. it is soooo much harded to play 2's on the beach than you might expect from seeing Misty May/ Kerri Walsh on tv at the Olympics. enjoy a few shots of central park & south beach bumping-setting-spiking below.

?uest @ Love

last nite i went to see ?uestlove at a club famous for hosting underground house parties - the spot is called 'Love'. perhaps they booked him for the cache of the name?... to be honest, who cares. i went to hear some tracks either i haven't heard in a while - or maybe never. he did not disappoint. from 'the show' -- to 'the fat boys are back' -- to 'hit it run' : gotta dig a nice beatbox set. and the new busta track is just plain nutty - and he played a remix of a new kelis song called 'junkie for your love' -- not sure who produced it, but i hope to find it. the roots drummer also played a nice dose of Dilla - some obscure ones, like "eve - the dilla rmx" by spacek, and 'disco' by slum village. it was hot! -- no i mean literally, it was like a sauna in there -- and very appropriately, i ran into two guys from finland (famous for their saunas). they were impressed i knew where they were from - see, i learned something while at nokia besides geek talk. ;)

...on the road again.

this past week was reminiscent of my life while working at old navy. you see, i was a marketing manager concentrating on grass-roots efforts in the midwest of the US. at the time, i was living in san fran - which made for a whole lotta non-direct flights to towns like dayton ohio. i don't mind travel - as long as it runs relatively smoothly.

so... this week, the nba d-league took me to tulsa, ok -- and erie, pa. 6 flights total -- and 5 of them were delayed. the trip featured my running thru the cleveland airport to have the door being closed as a ran up to the gate (impromptu 3 hr lay over)... and a 5 hour mechanical delay in tulsa, from which i got an unexpected free night to see my aunt and uncle in detroit....
and WOW; i ate horribly. good thing i bought a 6-pack of protein bars, or else i'd have been sunk. ok - so back in the gym this weekend - will try to play some volleyball in central park - and try to get some sleep. nice to be back in the big apple. no doubt.

double-fisting ... I mean blogging.

this weekend the NBA Development League hosted our PreDraft Camp in Georgia - giving 200 prospects a shot at playing in front of D-League execs, coaches, and scouts and some NBA former players and coaches as well. I blogged on the NBA D-League site - live from Suwanee, Georgia.

check it out : here.

eat mor chikin

this past weekend, i went back to philly for my reunion - more on that in the next entry. this one i want to dedicate to chick-fil-A. first thing i did when i pulled into philly on the bus was to go to the Gallery Mall to grab the chick-fil-A strips with waffle fries and polynesian sauce. darryl and raffy thought i was jokin' when i called and offered to bring them some after just having gotten off the greyhound, in the rain. but it is NO laughing matter. :) wow -- it was good. their advertisng, speaking of laughing, is pretty cute. it centers around cows urging us to eat chicken, not burgers. (outdoor ad pictured above - some guerilla mktg clips on youtube). if you live in the northeast, you may not have ever seen an ad though...

ya see, they don't really have locations in new york - or north of it. apparently there is one at an NYU dorm, but i'm not sure if you have to a student/ faculty to get to it... i'll explore it more and report back. so as a result i go whenever i can. i even convinced dan & afia to head to a chick-fil-A directly after jamal/ jess' wedding ceremony in south carolina last summer. i think i might have also opted to fly through atlanta once, in order to score more tasty treats. i'm addicted. anyhow, if you find yourself in any close proximity to a chick-fil-A, stop in. it's good eatin'! -- and PLEASE bring me some.

shots from PR

just a few shots from my first trip to puerto rico. i did not have too much time to explore the island this time, but i will be going back -- no doubt!


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the answer to "where you been, dawg?"

this map shows places i've traveled to in my 30.3 years on this planet. i'm headed to puerto rico, for the first time, this coming week. any suggestions on where to visit next?

D.I.Y.

this collage will eventually be on my wall - not just mocked up on my bed. for a time now, i have wanted to change the art above my tv. it's been several months, but i've completed steps one through four:
- selecting photos
- buying frames
- placing photos in frames
- laying out the design

...now the hanging must occur, but my sprained ankle is not conducive to climbing up a ladder right now - so i guess the wall will have to wait a bit longer for its update.

the photos included were all taken by yours truly, and detail some of my travels over the last few years. locations included are london, firenze, berlin, helsinki, tuscany, and of course some shots of NYC. points to anyone who can match the cities with the photos.

hey now - you're an allstar

on my first week on the job, i had a wonderful opportunity to travel to the NBA Allstar Game in New Orleans. the basketball was great - both from the NBA Allstars, and those from the NBA Development League - but hey - i'm biased. :) i also wandered around with afia to experience some of the dynamic art galleries - and encountered a superb photography exhibit - and certainly did some shopping on the Riverwalk.

more important than the play or the shopping, though, was how we banded together to do community service in the new orleans areas that still need help rebuilding as part of the NBA Cares initiative. despite the rain, the work we did was very fulfilling - and i was pleasantly surprised that the star players who turned up actually worked, and did not just stand around for photo opps. Steve Nash and Jason Kidd came to the house we were painting to lend a hand.


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mini vacation

i took a mini vacation and hung out in miami for a few days before i start my new job. dex was incredibly gracious to let me crash at his place, while he was in Finland. i got some rest and alot of sun - met new friends - and chilled out with old ones - and visited miami's burgeoning design district. the view from dex's apt is absolutely incredible - there are numerous shots included in the photo array below.


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cheerio!

earlier this week i was in london for meetings, i took advantage of my time there on the weekend (must fly in early to avoid falling asleep in monday morning meetings due to horrible jet-lag) to do a little sightseeing. photos below. i also had a chance to attend a stellar party thrown by BBE. the dj line-up was outta control : osunlade (house), little louie vega (house), dj premier (hiphop), marley marl (hiphop), kon & amir from fat beats nyc (jazz), gilles peterson (jazzy soul).


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last weekend in San Fran....

...i decided to walk around to a bunch of my old haunts and take photos and reminisce of my times there. i hope you enjoy the journey.



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janice weds

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Originally uploaded by djtakefive.

my good friend janice got married this past weekend. i am so happy for her! she met a great guy in jim and i trust they will live many happy years together. view more photos of their shin-dig in the presidio/ tiburon, san francisco, here : http://flickr.com/photos/djtakefive/sets/72157603008997823/

South Africa - photos in 3 parts

many stories, too many to share - but pics are worth 1000 words...right?

CAPE TOWN http://flickr.com/photos/djtakefive/sets/72157601881621265/ JO-BURG http://flickr.com/photos/djtakefive/sets/72157601875708850/ SOWETO http://flickr.com/photos/djtakefive/sets/72157601875761866/