The Igloo

After the last heavy snowstorm we had on 2/10/10, we decided to build an igloo. I started off by myself but eventually got some help from my nephew, my cousin and a good friend. All we used was water, an igloo cooler, a rectangular garbage can, and 3 toy bins. It took a total of 14 hours in 4 days, and that is only because 2 of the walls fell and we need to fix them. It's big enough to hold about 3 to 4 adults and it even has a wifi single = )...

The Re-Session

Akai Lounge & DJ Lingo are bringing you the "Re-session" every last Friday of every month starting January 29, 2010 @ Akai Lounge in Englewood, NJ

The economy is hurting everyone these days, so why pay the toll to cross the bridge/tunnel, look for parking, wait on line, deal with door politics, or be stuffed in a crowd of hundreds of people. With that time and money spent you could be chilling in a more comfortable and chill atmosphere.

Akai Lounge & DJ Lingo want to provide that place where you don't have to deal with the NYC madness. "The Re-session" will rebirth NJ nightlife with its reoccurring sessions of diverse crowds, special guest DJs, and wide range of musical treats from, hip-hop, R&B, reggae, funk soul, 80's, house, and more.

So please tell a friend to tell a friend that Akai Lounge will become the place to go on a Friday night.

Doors open @ 10:30PM
Feel free to come earlier if you would like to have some dinner, the food is excellent!!!
check out:http://www.akailounge.com

RSVP: djlingo1@gmail.com
21+
NO COVER
Dress is casual but neat

The Down Low

Day 10 Sunday 1/17/10

Since my trip was coming to an end, I wanted to keep it light. My friend however had more partying in mind, so we hit up another reggae spot called Shattuck Down Low. On Sunday nights they bring you Kings of Kings Reggae with resident DJ Smoky and rotating guests. There was a $5 cover, again the crowd was diverse. The reggae that they were playing was just as good at Milk Lounge. I was too drunk to even get my dancehall on, but it is definitely a place I would go back to. We hit up some mexican trucks for some late night grub, but was already KO'ed from drinking. The last 2 days of my trip consisted of me doing laundry, packing, and just getting ready to go back to reality. I want to shout out all my people out there who made the trip happen for me, good looks and see you all soon.

It’s got to be the shoes

Day 9 Saturday 1/16/10

Saturday was a perfect time to do some site seeing. We started the day with some fresh dim sum from King of King Restaurant in Oakland. Then we went to the Japanese Tea Garden. Being that it was winter there weren’t too many things to see, but we made the best of it. I’m sure that during the warmer weather the garden would be really beautiful. After the garden we drive down the famous and very curvy Lombard St. then head to Coit Tower. It’s located in Pioneer Park atop Telegraph Hill and has an excellent view of San Francisco. We later had dinner at Max’s restaurant of the Philippines, and then hit the club again. This time we went a spot called Manor West. If you like dressing up and listen to top 40 this is the spot for you. I tried to get in with timberland boots on and even had the group circle around me to block my shoes. Right before I was about to get in, I was pulled from the line. I asked what the problem was and the bouncer said, no boots allowed. I was impressed by his ability to spot out my shoes in a sea of people. I should have told him that he was really good at what he does for a living, being a doorman LOL. Fortunately for me I was prepared, I just so happen to bring a pair of wallabees with me in the car. Although the walk to the car was a bit of hassle, I did manage to get in for free as a result. When got back to the door I told them that I just had to change my shoes and that someone already paid my entrance. The girl recognized me gave me a ticket, and I just walked right in.

201 son what!?

Day 8 Friday 1/15/10

I was in the mood for chicken and waffles. I asked if there was a spot like Roscoe’s and my homey suggested the Merrit Restaurant & Bakery. The only difference between Roscoe’s and Merrit is, Merrit serves belgian waffles and Roscoe’s serves a regular waffle. Both have good chicken so I recommend trying it if you are in Oakland. Later that night we went to the Heights Lounge on Van Ess Ave. I walked in and gave a $20 bill at the door thinking it couldn’t be more than $10 to get in. I was mistaken, the cover was $20 and as I had my hand out waiting for my change, they took my wrist turned it and stamped it. I was taken by surprised by the amount, but it was all good and what could I really do about it? The club wasn't too crowded but it was still popping. The music was just ok if you like hyphy and west coast hip-hop. They did play a few more other tracks but I was too drunk to remember. Now, I’ve noticed that outside the tri-state area people are a lot nicer and more relax. I was chilling by the bar with my drink when someone bumped me trying to pass through. I politely pardoned myself thinking I might have been in his way, but the dude was sorrier than I was. He went out of his way to even shake my hand and apologize. I was like, damn, really, it is like that out here. People outside the tri-state seem to be more polite and civil. Maybe it's because there is a lot of sunshine over there. Back home, Jersey aka the swamp, people are more aggressive, defensive, and have a chip on their shoulder. If this were NYC club that person probably would of been rude enough to bump me and then keep it moving like I wasn't even there. Now being that I was with people from back home, it didn't take long for that aggressiveness to come out. We were all on the dance floor in our dance circle, which is like a soul train line but in a circle. Since you really can't just dance with strangers like that, I was told that the dance circle allows you to dance freely with anyone within it. All of a sudden this drunken guy comes shimming his way over trying to dance with one of the ladies. The drunk guy stumbles over my friend while my friend was dancing and the Jersey attitude came out with the quickness. Instead of excusing himself and squashing it, he instinctively pushes the guy away. The drunken guy gave him a confused look, he probably was expecting the handshake of peace like I got earlier but instead he got shoved and ice grilled. The bouncers quickly broke it up and we all continued to party like nothing even happened. My friend was in Cali mode, to Jersey mode, back to Cali mode in a matter of seconds. That night really demonstrated how different people really are outside the tri-state area, thanks for the reminder LOL....

It's a bird

Day 7 Thursday 1/14/10

Day 6 is a blurrrrrrr, too much Oaksterdam brain is mash potatoes and forgot to write stuff done. Day 7, Thursday night, we went to Club Waziema. It’s an Ethiopian bar located on Divisadero St. I linked up with my homey, Erwin, had some drinks. He was celebrating a going away party for a friend who was moving to New Orleans I believe. The place is small and doesn’t have music unless you rock the jukebox, but it definitely a chill spot. The most entertaining part of the night was this lady standing outside the door. According to the bartender, she was kicked out earlier for being too drunk. This lady had to be out there for at least 30 minutes flipping everyone the bird.

Milk

Day 5 Tuesday 1/12/10

Tuesdays at Milk Lounge is reggae night. It's located on Haight St. and there was a $10 cover. The Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi brings you ”BLESS UP“ w/ resident DJs JahYzer, Ivier, and Irie Dole. The crowd is very diverse, and the DJs played all the hits. If you really want to get your dancehall on, you have to check this spot out. Just be sure to holla at the lady you want to dance with first. Unlike the east coast its disrespectful if you roll up behind a girl and start ya na meaning....don't say I didn't warn you.




DJ, DJ Ja Warrior along with other guest DJs were on the set. Every Tueday night is reggae night, and they play hits. I mean some DJs can’t play the same genre the whole night, but Ja and company had the crowd going all night. I don't dance like that, but I still got my dancehall on.

Movie Snacks

Day 4 Monday 1/11/10

After engaging in the oaksterdam activies and that long bike ride across the Golden Gate, we decided to keep it light. We hit up Bay Street, to watch the movie Daybreakers. The million dollar question for the night was, what is your favorite movie snack? Here is the list of my top 10 in no particular order;

1. Chocolate covered raisins
2. milk duds
3. twizzlers
4. skittles
5. nachos
6. pretzels
7. sweet tarts
8. peanut M&Ms
9. starbust
10.reese's pieces

Ruff Riders

Day 3 Sunday 1/10/10

So one of the things to do on my list was to ride a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. So we hit up Blazing Saddles (http://blazingsaddles.com), located at Pier 41 in Fisherman's Wharf. We rented some mountain bikes and preceded to bike the 8 miles ride. The along the bike route you can see, Fort Mason with its vistas of Alcatraz, Fort Point to check out the surfers, and then you reach the 1.7 mile ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. The end of the bridge takes you into Vist Point then you will ride into Sausalito aka the sauce. To get to Sausalito we took a hill so steep that riding down it will make you feel free as a bird. As nice as that sounds after a long bike ride, there is always a catch, whenever there is a nice down hill on a bike path, most likely there is a nasty up hill. Sure enough we hit it and at that point three of us walked our bikes up. We got into Sausalito and got something to eat. The town was filled with shops, restaurants, and art galleries. I wanted to take the bike ride back but unfortunately it was too dark, so took the fairy back. If you arrive after 5:30 PM the fairy drops you off at Pier 39 where you have to bike a few more miles to Hyde St to return the bikes. I highly recommend doing this if your ever in SF.

The Wharf

 Day 2 Saturday 1/09/10

My first stop in San Fran was Fisherman’s Wharf located near the San Francisco bay. It kind of reminds me south street seaport in New York City. It’s a long strip with plenty of shops, restaurants and attractions. There is Alcatraz, bay cruises, or the seal lions at pier 39. And just like in NYC there are street acts everywhere, from break dancers to cartoon artists, and even a guy who hides behind a bush and tries to scar people. There is even a bum who is keeping it real by holding a sign that reads need $ 4 weed. We went to the Fisherman’s Grotto first. We ordered some clam chowder served in a bread bowl, fried shrimp, and calamari. The food was excellent so we decided to walk it off and head towards the Boudin Bakery. They take sourdough bread and bake them into all types of different shapes. After the bakery we tried to catch the seals at pier 39, but it was too dark to see them.

The Town aka the Savage aka Oakland

Day 1 Friday 1/08/10

Got to the EWR at 5:00AM. The line was long but was moving, when someone directed me to the self-check out. I got my boarding pass and proceeded to security. After the recent attempted airplane bombing, security is now tight. We already had to remove belts, shoes, laptops, but now they request you to remove sweatshirts and hoodies. Before you know it the airports are going to look like Frank Lucas’s apartment in American Gangster. It’s now 5:39 AM and I’m starving, so I got a bagel then boarded the plane. When I got on the plane I was surprised it was not that full and for a minute thought I was about to get a whole row to myself. Turns out I was wrong, but did have one empty seat next to me. I Arrived in SFO at 10:00 AM and waited for my ride from the airport to Oakland. Oakland is home of the Warriors, Raiders, and Athletics. It’s also known for the hyphy movement, Oaksterdamn, Oaksterdamn University, and the Paramount Theatre. To get there we had to take the Bay Bridge, which crosses over the Bay Channel, towards downtown Oakland. I stayed with some friends, Romeo, Tsuki, and Erica on telegraph “do the math” ave. The apartment is attached to a nail salon, and it's located right next to mortuary. The city has Newark, New Jersey type feel, with less urban decay. It was still early and after a long flight I was hungry. We hit up this Japanese restaurant called Samurai Sushi Boat. They told me that there is a wide selection of sushi and the food is delivered about every two days, so it tastes fresh. They also have a nice sushi bar that is surrounded by a mini motto that has floating sushi boats. Everything looked good on the menu but I went with miso soup and the raider roll. The roll consists of tobik, unagi, avocado, and crab. When the soup came we didn’t get spoons right away. My friend Romeo started drinking from his bowl, but Tsuki, wasn’t. I was a little bit confused. I thought that maybe they served soup without spoons, but Romeo answered that for me after Tsuki started looking for her spoon. He logically and metaphorical said, did samurais use spoons? I couldn't argue with that, so I drank the soup right out the bowl and housed the raider roll like a samurai who just killed a dozen ninjas. What a way to start my trip, good company, good food, and good conversation.

Hello World

After years of being a DJ, countless motivational talks, and endless ball busting, I finally have the testicular fortitude to get my blog on. There are so many things that I could talk about, but first thing is first… allow me to reintroduce myself… the name is Mark Anthony Laqui aka DJ Lingo of the iRT crew. I’ve been in the DJ game since 1996 (first single I bought on vinyl, Jay-Z’s Dead Presidents). I grew up in T-neck, NJ, which is known for its diversity, and I’ve always loved good music; I was that dude who had the radio in school or in town blasting the new tunes. It wasn’t until I saw the movie Juice, that I decided that I wanted to be a DJ. So I saved up what I could, went down to Your Beat (a former record store in Englewood, NJ), and copped some wax. I went through endless DJ names like SNAFU or DJ Mark, but felt like nothing stuck. So one day at Manhattan College, my homey Jake, was like your name should be DJ Lingo because of the way you talk. He said I had a unique way of talking and had my own slang. I started working with other DJs around the neighborhood and linked up with DJ OnPoynt to form P-Noise (get it Pinoys), Vinyl Method (DJs Reason & JonyFraze) , DJ Kurt Kryptoknight, DJ Cuekut & DJ Swerve. Later I linked up with DJ Rik Guyver (Rik Cordero) at Manhattan College where we all decided to join forces and created iRT (interboro Rhythmik Turntablists) So here we all are doing our thing years later. It’s time to embark on an historic journey starting right now....