Stories

A friend that was in Kyle Singler’s art class at Duke was kind enough to share this link with me. This is not an elective for Kyle, it is his major. I doubt he will be falling back on his art skills after basketball, but he should seriously consider comedy.

WATCH HIS END OF THE YEAR PROJECT HERE: http://www.artsvis54.blogspot.com/2008/12/art-on-dukes-campus.html

Favorite quotes:

Coach K is a person that has a strong belief in visual art, I believe, because he gives us pictures of us doing good things.

Here we have some posters that were done, um, in some photoshop. They are black and white pictures and I think the color contrast on the posters gives it a kind of cool effect.

“In this project i wanted to take the integrity of the pop cans and make a rocket ship out of the cylinder shape of the cans. I thought it would be a cool effect if i was able to make curls at the end of the ship to represent smoke coming out of the end.”

If our football team can’t have a babysitter do their homework, I don’t think Singler should be allowed to have a baby do his. All I ask for is justice.

I’m not looking down at Singler here. I think it’s cool he has an artistic side and tries to express it. I’m a Chapel Hill raised, son of two UNC employees, die-hard Tar Heels fan though…

I am obligated to make fun of this

PEACE!

I was 17 when I did my first show. It wasn’t even my show, I was just doing a song with Endless Mic at some venue across from Cats Cradle (can’t remember the name). When I got to the front door I told the bouncer I was performing, but he didn’t believe me. After trying to convince him for a few minuets and getting no where, I decided to just pay him the 5 dollars and go into the club. It was my first show ever so I didn’t really think much of it. I didn’t know the rules… maybe you had to pay to perform. This was also the first night I met L in Japanese. After performing the song, and getting a good response, I told Zano that the door man had charged me to get in. He laughed, brought me to the front, and got my money back.

Fast forward 7 years…

Last night was my first show in Virginia. Much like my first show in NC, I did not have my own set, my boy Flex Mathews just let me come and perform a song during his. I went out there solo, and when I got to the door I told the bouncer I was there to perform with Flex. Let me try to break down the conversation:

 Me: Hey, I’m here to perform with Flex.

Bouncer: What are you his hype man?

Me: No, I just came to perform a few songs with him.

Bouncer: Well then you have to pay $10 to get in.

Me: (laughing) Look can I talk to whoever’s show this is.

                      Bouncer goes to get the headliner (Impulse)

Impulse: Who are you?

Me: I’m here to perform with Flex, and I’d rather not have to pay $10 to rap.

                     Flex Mathews coming out from the back…

Flex: Ohhhh, that’s my man. Yo this is Addictive Nature; he is rocking with me tonight.

Impulse: Ohh word, I thought he was someone else. I was going to have to push him out by his face. You’re good, come on in.

What am I supposed to say to that? Am I supposed to be happy that this guy isn’t going to push me out by my face anymore? Hmmmm, I decided to just swallow my pride and let the music talk. The show ended up being fun. We rocked out; I got rid of a few CD’s and met some new people.

The fact that I don’t look like a “rapper” has gotten me into a lot of these situations. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. It lets me move like a ninja through this hip hop world- no one ever sees me coming.

I was riding with my aunt, uncle, and their three kids through Westminster, MD on our way up to see my grandfather for his 77^th birthday yesterday. Little did I know I would get a chance to (almost) be a hero.

As we pulled up to a red light, about 10 minuets from his house, my aunt noticed a kid riding a four wheeler on the property to the right. I brought it to the attention of my cousins, who watched in awe as the kid zoomed around the farm land. In a split second we went from jealous to concerned, as the kid tried to make a sharp turn and fell off the ATV, flipping it twice and landing under it. It was surreal to see… one of those events that seem to go in slow motion. It was an immediate change in attitude for everyone in the car.

After realizing the kid wasn’t moving, I opened the door and jumped out into the middle of the road. I began sprinting towards the property. My first hurtle was a guard rail on the side of the road; the next, a barb wire fence that surrounded the farm land. Once over the fence, I came across a stream. It was small enough to jump over, so I got a running start and went for it. I landed in a pool of mud and pulled myself out. As I got closer to the ATV I started to see a little girl, no older than 14, crawl out from under it. She was crying but seemed to be more startled than hurt. I stopped about five yards from her and asked if she was okay. She told me she was fine, turned around and drove away. I walked back to the car in a daze, still living in a moment that didn’t really exist. It wasn’t until I got back into the car that I realized my clothes and shoes were covered in mud. I felt like I had to ask my uncle what happened, like I wasn’t even there. We ended up going to some crab restaurant in the middle of nowhere, where my muddy atire seemed to be quite normal. Moral of the story… you can always buy a new pair of Nikes.