I reminded myself about the Peanut Butter Wolf vs. LA event with an email. June 10th came out of nowhere and I had told myself I was going to shoot PB Wolf every night of the week for fun. Besides needing sufficient sleep for my day job, the biggest problem was money. After two back-to-back vacations and a couple substantial investments, I was living very light. $60 a week light. And we’re talking about going out every night in LA, which means parking, show charges, gas, maybe a brewski. Even in a best-case scenario, the odds were that I would go bust by Friday night. Here’s what happened.
Sunday, June 10th Day 1
The first night was at Crane’s Tavern. I left around 9:00pm and street parking added another twenty minutes to my commute. I was hoping I didn’t miss the start of PB Wolf’s set, so I was relieved when I saw Diplo and Hollatronix spinning.
I asked “When is Diplo meets Dipset (Diplomatic Immunity 3: Diplosaurus) coming out?” He then made this pose. I think it means March 3rd.
I had to take a leak and I asked this dude in the bathroom if he knew when PB Wolf was going on. He said Wolf already went on, like at 6:00pm. My pee stream stopped out of befuddlement. It stung. As easy as that, I missed out on night 1. I was close to scrapping the entire project since it would be incomplete. Plus, I would get to keep my $60 for things I need to live, like food. But after the consideration, my week seemed too empty.
Monday June 11th Day 2
The second night was Funkmosphere at Carbon, which is about four minutes away from where I live. I arrived around ten, not paying cover or parking. Wolf got there around ten-thirty and he wasn’t going on until midnight. I talked with him at the bar and told him what I was doing. We exchanged information and I got his card, which became useful later on. I had two beers, eight dollars plus a two-dollar tip, ten dollars spent total so far. Funkmosphere was dope.
His shirts were themed according to the genre of the night.
Tuesday June 12th Day 3
Day 3 was Cover Me Badd at Cinespace. I hunted for street parking, but caved in and payed six bucks for parking. The line into Cinespace looked about an hour-deep, so I went straight to gate. I told the guy at the gate that I was on the Stone’s Throw’s list, and gave him my name, which of course wouldn’t be on there. When he came back and said my name wasn’t on the list, I told him it was a mistake and showed him PB Wolf’s card. The guy didn’t even look at it and let me in, but said I would still have to pay. I figured I lucked out and payed the ten dollar entry fee. That’s twenty-six dollars total spent so far. I got home around 2:00am, downloaded the photos, got to bed around 3:00, but didn’t fall asleep until 3:30.
Wolf put on an Alvin and the Chipmunks cover song and that dude was like, “Yo, I used to rock this shit.”
Wednesday June 13th, Day 4
The lack of sleep was adding up. My alarm clock went off, but I kept snoozing it until the last possible interval. I even skipped the time allotted for a shower. I was tired the whole day at work and money was getting slim. I had spent 14 dollars on miscellaneous stuff since Sunday leaving me with 19 dollars for the rest of the week. Day 4 was Dub Club at The Echo. After getting past the doorman with a business card and a camera, I got to the main floor around midnight. There were more people smoking weed than drinking alcohol, which made me feel comfortable since I showed up high.
I had to get gas on the way back. 10 dollars didn’t go very far, leaving me with 9 bucks until Saturday at midnight. When I got back home, I had the hardest time falling asleep and knew the next day was going to suck.
Thursday June 14th, Day 5
My alarm woke me out of REM sleep, which makes you feel twice as tired. When I got to work, I took a fifteen-minute nap under my desk and woke up with carpet patterns on my face. All I could think about was sleep.
When I got off work I took a three-hour nap and woke up around 11:00pm. I was still exhausted. Serpico was on HBO5. I remember liking it just ok when I saw it about five years ago, but I was really into it this time around.
Maybe I was making it better by pretending it was the prequel to Pacino’s character in Heat.
The movie was ending, it was around 12:30am now. I was literally 50/50 for going out at this point. ‘Tough it out, kid’ I told myself. I decided to suck it up and head out. I was putting on my shoes right as the Serpico credits ended. The next movie came on as I grabbed my keys.
It was Scarface.
I’m not a ‘The World is Yours’ shirt wearing fan, but when the intro hits with all the Cubans coming to America, I’m hooked. The intro song reminds me of “It’s Mine” by Mobb Deep where they use that same beat. Nas kills it on that track. I stayed in, watched it, and fell asleep around the ‘Take it to Limit’ montage.
Friday June 15th, Day 5
Woke up to some bittersweetness. Yes I was rested, but the project and I couldn’t survive on $9 bucks. It was one or the other. It’s hard for me to leave something that’s incomplete, but there was no story-book ending in this one. I used the rest of the money for tuna cans, bread, and bubblegum tape.
I guess what I learned from this experience is that Pacino always delivers.
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