OS 15: OUT ON THE TOWN

HEY OUTSTAGRS!

IT'S THURSDAY!!

TIME TO GET TOWN!!!

UPDATE..Before we get into the towning, the solo calendar of Inky Chris is for sale NOW!

 The cost $20 (with discount plus shipping ) If you want to get on board for one, just email to snaphoney2011@gmail.com and an invoice will be sent to you. Or you can Paypal to www.paypal.me/Maatology   (Be sure to note INKY CHRIS CALENDAR when doing the paypal me option ) LIMITED TIME ONLY. 

Also, be on the lookout for the 2020 OBSDN Men of Color Calendar where 12 guys from across the country in various fields pose in black white pic collages consisting of tasteful artistic body poses , undergear and fashion styles. The street date is set for late November  is set for pre Thanksgiving and it will also be $20 (plus shipping). Parts of the proceeds will go Jessie B's Academy for Preschoolers in St Louis. We will have the link for orders starting Nov 11!

Now lets get town!

YOURS TRULY taking a selfie with House of Soul owner Nichol Stevenson during the return of Cafe Soul at the newly established venue in downtown St Louis.

Last Friday, I  finally got the chance to go to House of Soul (located at 12th and Tucker in downtown St Louis) and check out the space since my failed attempt two weeks ago for their Grand Opening due to parking.

So the first person I see is Brian from Frontline Security and I knew that the spot was going to be held down. A nice young lady greeted me and had me to sign the mailing list and then I saw several vendors in a corner spot, One being a lady at the Hair Solutions booth  that had some sample products  for natural hair.

Then, I saw Nichol Stevenson and immediately hugged her tightly and told her, Congratulations." The hug was not just for her opening up her own spot for her 

long running monthly open mic event (that got started in the early 2000s)but her update on her cancer free journey.

She smiled and said, "Thank you for coming. For real, Get some food."

Well, she didnt have to say that, twice. LOL

There was a nice food spread buffet for the patrons (that baked chicken was off the chain)

As I continued to walk around the swanky ambience of the room was quite sexy and mellow. The paintings on the wall of famous black musicians also added to to the vibe of the venue.

YOURS TRULY with former Cafe Soul host Tendai Morris

One of the vendors, Hair Solutions , a company owned by Tendai Morris.

Some of the paintings on the wall of the venue.

Meanwhile,  I greeted Tendai Morris, who told me that she was stepping down from hosting Cafe Soul (she was the second host, succeeding the first host Coco Soul) and that a new host, a young lady by the name of Briana  Elise aka Be Be who she was introducing that night to the crowd.

Morris asked me, "So what do you want to hear?" (meaning what song did I want for her to sing on stage)

I replied, "How About Prince's 'Sometimes It Snows in April.'"

She looked at me as though she was saying, "NEGRO PLEASE." LOL

I laughed and then said, "How about Lizzo's "Truth Hurts." that song is was happening right now."

She said she needed to learn that song.

                                        

                            The bar area  had a special Cafe Soul mix for people to indulge.

After the dee-jay spun the soul and hip hop, Tendai walked up on stage to greet everyone and to get everyone ready for a night of open mic for anyone who wanted to perform. Meanwhile she introduced Be Be on stage as they sang some Jill Scott (the song they sang slips me). 

Morris with new host, Be Be 

YOURS TRULY with an on location video . 

One of the performers was Tiffany Balton, one of the performers who used to perform in Cafe Soul's heydey. She performed Daniel Caeser's "Get You."  

 Morris performing with some signees who performed, Monica's "Why I Love you So Much."

                  Painter/artist Tony D. Lockett drew a painting during the Cafe Soul event.

The ones who I saw who performed, one guy (he was a regular) performed Johnnie Taylor'ss' Last Two Dollars,"  sounding  with a strong voice for blues in a young body and a guy who was celebrating his bday was a background dancer and sang with Tendai (picture is above). He was lit on liquor that is...LOL

Again, congrats to Nichol for the opening of House of Soul and the return of Cafe Soul! 

EVENTZ COMING AND ONGOING 

 A picture of the famous painter Pablo Picasso's Guernica, 1937

Pablo Picasso page provides visitors with Picasso's bio, over 3500 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Picasso exhibition listings. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond our Picasso page.

The link is

https://www.artsy.net/artist/pablo-picasso

For this week, I have one

So, I was driving down Jefferson Avenue last Thursday in Midtown St Louis and looked to my left while at the stop light  and saw that the costume spot Johnny Brocks had police cars out front. At first, I thought there was some burgalry taking place but NO...it was to thwart the thought of a robbery---OVER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES!

I guess its that serious for some flammable wear and plastic masks 

LOL

If you have an event, service or an artist to promote or a random journey moment email to maat.atkins@gmail.com

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OS 14: OUT ON THE TOWN

HEY OUTSTAGRS!

IT'S THURSDAY!!

TIME TO GET TOWN!!!

UPDATE..Before we get into the towning, the solo calendar of Inky Chris will be ready for sale OCTOBER 23 

You can order your copy now!  The cost $20 (with discount plus shipping ) Starting OCT 23, the cost will be  $20 plus shipping. If you want to get on board for one, just email to snaphoney2011@gmail.com and an invoice will be sent to you. Or you can Paypal to www.paypal.me/Maatology   (Be sure to note INKY CHRIS CALENDAR when doing the paypal me option ) LIMITED TIME ONLY. 

Now lets get town!

YOURS TRULY outside of Chaifetz Arena in line waiting to enter for Art, Beats and Lyrics.



So I decided to flip a coin on whether to attend House of Soul's Grand Opening in downtown St Louis or Art, Beats and Lyrics at Chaifetz. In my reasoning, I said to myself, "House of Soul will be there for me to parlay in the atmosphere.:" So I drove to the Chaifetz. I saw the rows and rows of cars parked on the curb for this annual touring event and saw a lot that said '$10 to park. Ten bucks??? I didnt think so and there was parking in the Harris Stowe lot for FREE 99.

I walk up and the line to get in was moderate. I saw the crowd and got Hip Hop Head Central in their style of dress and got me into the mode for the evening. The motion to get in wasnt too bad as the security people did their thing as though we were at the TSA at an Airport. After showing my e-ticket I was instructed that the event was downstairs on the floor area and proceeded there.

                                   The floor of the event.

    The price list of beverages. And yes, you see correctly....$4 bucks for water!


As I walked down the countless steps to the floor area, I saw the elaborate paintings and drawings on the canvases and the St Louis  artists who were to explain their pieces. I saw one piece that was for $13 K and thought, "One day I will make that investment."  As one should know, artwork has value especially when the artist becomes famous for their work and can be sold to other art dealers.

But, just like the rest of everyone, window shopping was the only option. LOL


Below are some of the art pieces that were displayed:

Yours Truly wearing my glowing multicolored glasses as a piece of art.

The event should be renames, "Art, Beats, Lyrics and Reunite," because I reunited with so many people that I havent seen since my OUTTOWN-OUTCAM fervor or just out and about during my comeback on the event scene. More on their faces than their names but it was all love.

Yours Truly with Rodgers Sisters: Lisa (middle) and Rebecca (right) at the event

Photo by Rebecca Rodgers

    DJ Needles was one of the deejays who spun during the spinning on the 1s and 2s.

                One of the impromptu break dancers during the DJ spins.


Meanwhile, the food people put out food for us to partake (chicken and meatballs are all that I remember eating LOL) during all of the walking around the huge arena causing growled stomachs.


So while getting nourished, I began bathing in the music played and how the younger crowd responded. For instance, the DJ spinning at the time played some vintage R&B then mix it with a hip hop beat such as , Michael's "Wanna Be Startin Somethin," Whitney's "I wanna Dance With Somebody," and then played slow jams such as L.T,D.s "Love Ballad" and the young crowd knew the words! That was very telling showing that Mature Soul is not dead.

     The crowd (and one eye hustler LOL) as they wait for the main act, Pharcyde.


It was around 10pmish when everyone started walking up near the stage area to catch the headliner Pharcyde. Its DJ got the crowd hyped before they entered the stage and when they did, the hip hop heads went up for them.

                           The hip hip group, Phracyde on stage.

                They were total rock stars spitting their  old and new tunes.

                                 Pharcyde in concert mode.

When Pharcyde walked on stage, I was intrigued for a minute, then, I lost interest. They were very animated and engaged the crowd but from looking at the crowd's reaction to them, it was more watching them as a live painting than being engaged. So after the 15 minutes, I decided to hit the exit and didnt wait to hear them perform their biggest hot, "Passing You By."

Some of the STL stars I saw there were St Louis Post Dispatch's Kevin Johnson, STL-TV's Tim Lampley ,  and event promoters Rhashad Whittier (I saw you gettin your dance stroll on LOL) and Larry Blue, Jr..

Afterward, I decided to drive downtown to see how the scene was at House of Soul's Grand Opening, the proprietor is Cafe Soul creator Nichol Stevenson (who have been winning her battle with cancer) who have been trying to get this spot opened for some years now and finally got it open (Congrats, sis). So I drove around Washington and Tucker a couple times and saw people were still schmoozing and going into the balloon heavy entrance area. But trying to find somewhere to park to sneak a peak inside was going t be a task so I decided to just drive back to the Maatspear Compound and call it a night.

EVENTZ COMING AND ONGOING 

 A picture of the famous painter Pablo Picasso's Guernica, 1937

Pablo Picasso page provides visitors with Picasso's bio, over 3500 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Picasso exhibition listings. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond our Picasso page.

The link is

https://www.artsy.net/artist/pablo-picasso

St Louis native Joel P.E. King has an Acting Course. It’s for children and adults. The times and days are as follow:

October 21st - 26th
Monday thru Friday

Children/Young Adults: 4:30pm - 6:30pm (early arrivals are welcomed)
Adults/Seniors: 7:00pm - 9:30pm

Saturday classes are from 11 - 3pm
6pm begins the Culminating Show on that day. It’s the public performance to showcase what you have learned for the week.

Price: $75 (secures the entire week-you choose your days of participation)

Submit your inquiry to jpektheatre@gmail.com, and we will take care of the rest.

I look forward to having you in my class. Come and be inspired!

Joel King
www.jpek-thearts.com

For this week, I have one

So, I was getting gas at a BP Station  late night on Newstead in the Central West End . I went inside prepay and saw this mature black guy who was in a wheelchair schooling this youngster about cursing in front of the cashier.  He said, "You young people want people to respect you, but you dont want to respect anyone else." I was like, "Okay, whats going on here?"

Well, after the guy in the wheelchair  left out, come to find out, the youngster was tripping off that he had to pay extra cents for ice in a cup. You heard me.

Then, picked up a honey bun and asked the lady cashier, "Can I get  a deal on this(honey bun)?" 

The cashier head motioned, "No."

The youngster again started going off and looking at me for an Amen Corner moment.

A deal? What was the deal? A deal is both people compromising on something and both people agree and get something out  of it. What was the cashier getting out of the deal? A short changed drawer?

Ridiculous. 

So when I walked out to pump my gas, the youngster walked out and then said towards me, "Hey, Unc (Uncle) can you believe this?"

I just said, "Its part of life."

I finished pumping my gas, drove off and just did a SMH.

If you have an event, service or an artist to promote or a random journey moment email to maat.atkins@gmail.com

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