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December 11, 2003

Thursday, December 11, 2003. ScratchOne

Thursday, December 11, 2003. Scratch
One of the benefits of living in New York is that you run into fascinating, brilliant people all the time. My wife, Julia Bradford, and I were walking around the reservoir in Central Park the other day and ran into a good friend of Julia's (they went to The Madeira School together), Amanda Vaill. Amanda is one of those fascinating, brilliant people. She's a successful free-lance writer and author who is currently writing a biography of Jerome Robbins. We exchanged the usual greetings and asked the obligatory, "how are your kids?" Amanda's response was jaw dropping; she said, "They're great. I'm constantly amazed about how much I learn from my kids," and this from one of the smartest people I've ever met. I was impressed with her wisdom, humility, and openmindedness.

When my son, Chas, who is 23, came to visit over Thanksgiving, he played the DVD "Scratch" for his two younger brothers, also visiting, and insisted that I watch it. Reluctantly and dutifully, I viewed with my three younger sons, ages 13, 21, and 23, the DVD "Scratch," which is about Hip Hop DJs who scratch records. Well, it's actually about a lot more. "Scratch" is a documentary that was selected at the Sundance Film Festival and that examines not only the DJs who scratch records, but also the Hip Hop culture. While I watched it in fascination, I remembered the words of Amada Vail and I was amazed about how much I learned from my kids.

I learned what a break was--break as in break dancing. A break in a record occurs when the singer and melody stops and all that you hear is the background of the rhythm section (drums, bass, guitars)--the basic pulsing foundation. I learned what the four elements of Hip Hop culture are: Graffiti, break dancing, MCs (masters of ceremonies, or the rappers), and DJs (they provide the back-up sound, beat, and music). I learned how the art of scratching records came about in the 1984 Grammy Awards concert that featured Herbie Hancock and Grand Master DXT who played the hit "Rockit." Grand Master DXT was seen on TV scratching a record to create a new sound. By 2000 scratching had become a major art form with its own World Series--the 200 Scratchathon.

I learned that the great scratchers, Hip Hop DJs such as Mixmaster Mike and DJ Qbert, are geniuses of the art. They have incredible physical and musical skills. I learned that all of the DJs are not black. Mixmaster Mike is Hispanic, Qbert is Fillipino, and the duo of DJ Faust and Shortee are a white male and female team from Atlanta.

As I watched the interviews in "Scratch," I saw posters of Bruce Lee. I asked Chas, "Why Bruce Lee?" "Because he was the master of bodily control and usable strength." Chas went on to explain Bruce Lee's philosophy (as expounded in several books he wrote) of building strength in parts of your body that connects you with the outer world. Big, bulging muscles that look good are worthless, becasue they do nothing, they are for show, not for blow. Chas is a very good rock climber and he said that, for example, Bruce Lee's books taught him how to stengthen his forearms, wrists, and hands so that he could grab crevices in rocks or walls.

A practical example of the usefulness of his Bruce-Lee-inspired strength exercises occurred when Julia and I visited him in Northampton in October. We went shopping for apples and cider in the farmers' market and came back to his apartment house, but he forgot his keys. He said, "No problem," and quickly and easily scaled the wall and went in the second-floor window. I think he forgets his keys on purpose just to practice his climbing. Chas's other hobby is break dancing. He practices regularly and has entered several contests at U Mass and at Amherst--yes, staid, old Amherst.

And Chas is no thug or dummy; he's a brilliant (1540 SATs) young man who is studying to take is MCATs (exams for medical school), but he appreciates the physical, athletic, musical, and artistic energy, discipline, and excitement of the Hip Hop culture, and he taught me to appreciate them, too. I learned a lot from "Scratch" and from my kids. I'll bet you can, too, if you'll watch and listen carefully.

Posted by Charles Warner at December 11, 2003 4:21 PM

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