Jason Rodriguez - The Moose in the Closet: Some People You Should Know and Having it Made (With Bonus Illegal MP3!)

Some People You Should Know and Having it Made (With Bonus Illegal MP3!)

Friday, March 11, 2005

I’m want to pimp out some people that I feel should be well known but aren’t yet, too much time on these blogs are focused on people that are already there. In my time editing for Hoarse & Buggy (and some side stuff) I’ve come across several people that are destined to become big names in comics. For writers, these guys are Chris Fabulous, Jorge Vega and Jay Busbee. For artists, we have Paul Maybury, Jason Copland and Jared Bivens. If these guys got together and put together some sort of jam-book, it would rock your ass harder than an ass-rocking machine. There are more people I’ve come across, too, that every time I see something from them I just hope that they make it. You know what? I’m also going to throw writer and web designer Randal Rozzel onto the list. Good guy, good stories, great web design. Drop them an email, check out there shit, hire them if you have an opening (and, provided that opening can’t be filled by me). And also, a quick reminder that I roll with the DC Conspiracy crowd and those are some talented cats as well. All right, on with the fun.

Ok, admittedly, I am so shallow that I did a Yahoo! search on my name yesterday. Don’t judge me, we all do it. About three pages in I find this article that my boy Guam wrote concerning why people should be mean to me back when he was an editorial writer for BU’s Daily Free Press. Got me all reminiscent and shit, and combine it with my “turn off the metallica, fanboy” selection from yesterday, Special Ed’s Legal, I think my story for today became clear. Let’s talk about the best day ever.

Guam and I have the tendency to have insane amounts of fun doing absolutely nothing. One Saturday, with nothing in particular to do, Guam and I decided to get an early head start and “do something.” We first went to Newbury Street with our boy Tom where we purchased our first cell phones (three months later mine was disconnected since I never paid a single bill). The girl working at the Motorola store was pretty cute, so I was hitting on her. As we were leaving, Tom and Guam made funny of me because the cute girl I was hitting on was reading an R.L. Stine book called Beach House, a sure sign that she was either 13 years old or a retard (needless to say, I’ve received multiple copies of Beach House as a gift since then).

After purchasing cell phones we stopped off at F.A.O. Schwartz and purchased Super Sock 'Em Boppers and nerf guns. We ran through the streets of Boston, causing a ruckus. By the time we were through, it was almost noon.

“What should we do now?” Tom asks.

“Lets get some sandwiches, a boom box and my Special Ed tape and go to the Esplanade.” Guam instantly saw the fun potential, Tom, on the other hand, backed out. Now, Special Ed was big in 1988/1989. This was 1999. He didn’t sound cool anymore, and the idea of blasting him from a boom box doesn’t sound attractive to most normal people. But it sounded like fun to Guam and I.

So we went to the Esplanade to go through with our plans. We brought Uno, a deck of regular cards and a notebook so we can plan the production of Mr. Sandman (our feature “film”).

Now I’m going to fast forward to about 6 hours later because for those six hours we laid out on the Esplanade, playing Special Ed’s Legal on repeat over and over and over and over and DID NOTHING. We made some phone calls, talked to people as they walked by but for the most part, we just sort of sat, trying to look mock-cool and occasionally cracked some jokes.

At one point, about 5 hours into our sitting, side B of Legal came to its 10th (or so) stop. I go to flip to the tape and look at Guam, lying on the ground, laughing hysterically for no reason except for the fact that he’s delirious as fuck.

“One more time?” I ask him.

To which he screams, “This is the best day ever!”

We laugh in delirium for the next half hour, while Special Ed reminds us for the 11th time that he has it made (oh yes, that link is indeed an illegal mp3, feel free to bask in the genius that is Special Ed - don’t tell the RIAA).

turn off the metallica, fanboy: Youngest in Charge - Special Ed, of course

Labels: mitc

5 Comments

Jay said...

Whoa! Hey, thanks, my man...what a pleasant surprise to see me getting props from the New Pimp of Comicdom. And when those comic companies come asking for me, I promise I'll give you your cut...just leave me enough cab fare to get home. And no more slaps to the face, okay? It's getting tougher to explain those to the kids...

Seriously, dude, you rule.

9:08 AM

Jason said...

I think I want to get a faux-diamond encrusted "Pimp of Comicdom" chalice.

It's all good, baby. Plus, you got "Sundown" coming out for Arcana this summer, Jorge has "Zoo" coming out for Arcana and Chris is going to start bombarding the world with his Fat Lip mini-comics (one of the best stories I've read from someone starting out).

Jared has done two things for WTofT (and your Havana pitch) and he gets better every time, Jason did some work for WTofT and has a graphic novel he's doing for A. David Lewis and Paul is doing a back-up for Elk's Run and has some hush-hush shit coming out.

And Randal is a finalist in small press idol and I have a story of his on hold for WTofT that I really want to use.

Looking at it that way, this isn't even a pimp. It's a warning to comicdom.

10:34 AM

Jorge Vega said...

If these guys got together and put together some sort of jam-book, it would rock your ass harder than an ass-rocking machine.

Yo, I'm down. When is this ass-rockery to commence?

Thanks for the pimpage, daddy. But, more importantly, thanks for bringing Special Ed back into my life.

First Jesus, now this. Jason Rodriguez is changing the world one soul at a time.

8:43 AM

Jason said...

I could write an essay on Special Ed and how he represents the need to keep an eye on the industry and watch where it’s going. “Youngest in Charge” was a damn good album and it came out in 1988, without a doubt the biggest year and largest turning point for Hip-Hop. “Youngest in Charge” was very pre-88 and he got away with it but in 89, when the prevalence turned towards the angrier rap groups like NWA and Public Enemy or the intellectual rap groups like De La Sol and Tribe Called Quest, Special Ed released another very pre-88 album in Legal, talking about ho great he was and how much money he made. No one wanted to hear it.

And that’s pretty much why he’s forgotten today and it’s a shame because he has skills. He’s probably the biggest act from the 80s that you can’t get his music anymore in a store, they no longer print “Youngest in Charge” or “Legal”. He was just forgotten because he released a very good but extremely insignificant album.

I remember seeing his cameo in Juice, he was a drug dealer. It was almost as awkward as Mc Hammer’s “Pumps and a Bump” video, with that god-awful penis-hammock rubbing it up against the thong clad girls. Almost as awkward.

Oh, and we’ll talk anthology this summer, me thinks.

9:02 AM

Jason Copland said...

Jason, thanks for the plug for my site! And, if ya'll need some drawing done for an anthology, I'm game.

Apparently, flattery [b]will[/b] get you somewhere!(although cash is better)

3:05 PM

Some People You Should Know and Having it Made (With Bonus Illegal MP3!)

Friday, March 11, 2005

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