Taylor "doc" Walker Archives - Page 11 of 11

Does Club 347 Even Have A $10 Spending Minimum? (Venue Review)

Last night, I attended the 2nd Recrd Breakrs event hosted at jazz club, restaurant and bar Club 347 for a networking event created specifically for local artists to meet with Baltimore bloggers and other media. I attended with my artist and we mingled with people at this event for a total of 25 minutes.

The night started off smooth with nice soothing jazz music. I jammed to lovely rhythms and live music from Lia Songbird & Fmajor and DJ Trelly Trell. The networking event was beautiful itself. But I wasn’t too pleased with the service from the waitresses or owner of the venue, that’s if he can be labeled as the owner because I’m not sure.

I sat down and started speaking with my artist about a possibility of using Club 347 as a spot for future performances, when it wasn’t even 2 minutes later that one of the waitresses walks up to our table and asks us, “Could she get us something?” We told her “no, thank you,” and that’s when the commotion began.

“There’s a $10 minimum because tonight the club is open for free,” said the waitress who looked to be only 5 feet tall, a little on the thick side, and had long blonde tracks of weave.

We replied saying that we weren’t told about the minimum and the flyer didn’t specify it. We knew that the event was meant for networking, and that’s what we were there for. We were there to participate in the cause of supporting local talent.

The waitress walked away from our table on a mission. A mission that would start a chain of events that was completely unnecessary and could have been avoided if things were communicated slightly different. Little did we know the waitress after leaving our table went to her supervisor on a snitching spree.

Five minutes later, a guy who looked as if he’s of another nationality, probably of somewhere of Eastern culture, like Middle East or Asia, walks up to my artist and signals with his fingers to follow him out the door. My artist follows him out of the club, where he is told there is $10 minimum and if he doesn’t have it, he’ll have to leave. Now heated, my artist walks back into the club to tell me we have to leave. I refused to budge because that night was not about the negativity. There was something positive happening around me, and I wasn’t for letting that guy ruining my night if the event was advertised as free. I wanted to be apart of the positive things happening. So we stayed inside.

We continued to mingle with a few folks. I met other artists who shared flyers for their event, which is below…

…and the same waitress approaches us, a second time, reminding us of the club’s $10 minimum charge. My artists look to me with an expression on his face that told it all. He was too through, ready to turn on his “niggerdom” trait, a characteristic I refer to as pure ignorance and disregard when someone feels they’ve been disrespected. So I told him we weren’t staying there long. Then I proceeded to continue enjoying the music of the band.

I moved around the club and started talking to some people, who I’ve spent time speaking to online but never officially met in person, as my artist mingled with the group of artists who were sharing their flyers with others. While I’m on the opposite side of the club, my artist witnesses those who were passing out flyers be told they couldn’t give them out at the event by the same Asian looking guy.

What?! This is a networking event, sir! This is how these artist are choosing to share what they do. How could they be forbidden of this right if the event was specifically for that?! Did this guy not know what was going on? Did he not get the memo that there was a live meet and greet event happening in front of him?

As the night continues, I sit back down at my original table. The waitress comes to me again to tell me, “My boss wants me to remind you of the $10 spending minimum.”

WTH! Am I the only one not buying anything?! This minimum wasn’t specified. How many times is this going to happen? To my surprise, this happened 4 times throughout the night. Look, I may be free loading from the experience happening in your club, sir and ma’am. But isn’t that what I’m there for, to experience a night of great music and meet some awesome people within the Baltimore hip-hop scene, (cough, cough) and for no charge?

The fourth time was our last time. My artist stormed out and went to the car before I caught on to his whereabouts. I had to call his cell to get the idea that we just weren’t welcomed by the owner. We had no money. We couldn’t be there. So I met up with him at the car 3 minutes behind him.

Even as I get home to share my experience on Facebook with my friends because some of them were still enjoying the atmosphere, they tell me that the event was absolutely free. They were lost, also, at the reason for why I was treated like that. It was twenty-five minutes; 25 minutes of a man showing me his pure greed.

Why were we singled out? Why were we followed around the bar continuously reminded about a nonexistent mandatory fee? Were we truly the only two who didn’t buy a drink? If so, well damn!

I’m upset because I felt like I was singled out for not having money. It was embarrassing. It made me more mad as I thought about why I couldn’t pay $10, even coming to the event straight from work. I guess, that damn 9-5 of mine can’t support me attending even the FREE events and that’s truly some genuine bs!

I’m on a come up, seriously. I budget the events I attend under Doc’s Castle Media often. The ten dollars in my pocket that night was actually to go towards my attendance to Baltimore Crown Awards this Saturday. I’ll still be in attendance since I didn’t break down to give into a greedy old man.

Instead of creating a scene, which I absolutely felt like doing after being treated that way, I chose to avoid any further embarrassment to myself and my artist by writing why I’m not going there again. I don’t want to be that one customer who the owner feels is okay to single out. I don’t want to feel ostracized. I damn sure don’t want to spend the same amount of time spent driving there inside of the club, again. So there you have it. My artist won’t have the venue for future shows, and I won’t be writing about this club in future post for other artists, either. So greedy guy, thanks for my first experience in Club 347 and bringing me out of my writer’s block.

Hopping On That Train Back to 1990s

Not too far in the distant past rested a decade where a lovely young writer was born. That young writer’s name was Taylor, know to many of you as Doc. The decade was the 1990s. Oh, how I miss my childhood years so much.

I may have literally been a baby growing up during this decade, but there are so many things I’ve experienced as a child growing alongside a mature family, I think I can luster up at least 3 things a lot of people my age and older may relate to that we all might miss. So here they are, the things I want to bring back from my years of retro.

My favorite things I’d bring from the 90s would be…

Music has always had my heart, man.

The Box

The best music channel in the world is of the past. Forget about MTV. The Box was the best because they played variety with little to no commercials and absolutely no teen pregnancy shows. MTV has always been a little picky with what they wanted on there channel, in regards to music, and always remained mainstream. When The Box was around music lovers could see their favorite underground artists if they wanted. Of course, the music industry was very different then. But what I loved the most about The Box was the option to see what music videos were coming on next during the music breaks. WHY DON’T THEY DO THIS ANYMORE?!

Equivalent to The Box today, we have MTV Jams and MTV University, which can be found if you have Verizon Fios or Comcast Xfinity. These channels are “okay.” But I prefer a more organic and original feel for music. Too much of the same thing turns me off, so you can imagine how much time I spend watching either channel. If MTV Jams and MTV University were combined, they’d probably scratch the surface, but only the surface. Can we please bring The Box back?

The Cassette

I use to listen to the radio all day just to catch my favorite song to record on an audio cassette, and not just any audio cassette. When I didn’t have a blank tape available, I would rummage through my room to find an old “storybook” tape, which originally had Disney bedtime stories on it, and shoved some notebook paper in the top holes, close to where the tape could be found, so I could re-record over its boring stories. Talk about desperate to get a song! My only issue doing this was the radio dj talking through the tracks and the unwanted radio edits. If it wasn’t a Ludacris or DMX song, I’d hate to not hear what the artist was really saying. The struggles of downloading music was too real then. But it was worth it.

Now, life has made it easier to hear my favorites anytime I want. I can simply go to Soundcloud and YouTube with a swipe and click of a finger on my phone. Just type it into the search box and voilà, it’s there! But I do miss the struggles of getting my song from the radio. I knew every song that was played on air.

I’m a cartoon fanatic!

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Remember waking up early on the weekends to watch cartoons like Johnny Quest, Goosebumps, Bobby’s World, or Digimon Digital Monsters? I use to dread getting up in the morning for school during the week. But when Saturday rolled around, I was up watching cartoons right on time while I ate breakfast. Cartoons from my past could be the reason I’m so animated today because I still watch them. I recently rewatched the entire first seasons of Jackie Chan Adventures and Digimon Digital Monsters on Netflix. All it did was make me upset that I had to get ready for work later that day.

I feel so bad for kids today. They don’t get to have that Saturday morning experience like I had. The moment the clock struck noon, I was already outside hanging with my friends afterwards. Of course, going outside is another thing kids don’t experience, but that’s another story. On top of not having the Saturday morning cartoons to wake up to, kids rarely have a good variety of cartoons to choose from. Broadcast networks like The CW, FOX, and CBS rarely show cartoons, unless it’s the holidays. Plus, Every time I’m channel surfing the tv guide, I find marathons of the same cartoons running for hours on cable networks. It was never like that while growing up on 90s cartoons. There were too many that needed to be aired.

There is so much more that I can talk about that I’d bring back from the 1990s. But this blog post would be entirely too lengthy. So I literally shared with you the first three things that came to mind. Haha! What do you think you’d bring back from the 90s? Let me know in the comments below.

ALSO, this post is part of a local blogger competition The Mobbies, sponsored by Baltimore Sun and Creative Alliance. I’ve been nominated for three categories: Best Music Blog, Best Personal Blog, and Best Label Defying Blog. Thanks, Guys!

Voting begins November 3rd! I’d like to ask all my loyal readers to please add this date to your calendars to participate in the voting process and visit this link when voting begins, Baltimore Mobbies. Thanks for all for always reading! I have to do something special for y’all.

Bucket Listing It Up

I can’t sit still for anything. Maybe that’s a good thing. But I always have to do something to occupy my time. It’s how I started writing blogs. It’s how I found all the internship experience in branding and marketing. It’s how I’ve decided how I want to complete certain things in life. While accomplishing all these opportunities while I’m young, I’ll be able to have lots of stories to share when I’m older. It’s what’s considered living!

Last week, I got some thinking done and I randomly thought about creating a bucket list for myself to keep my mind occupied from being idle. I did some research before making my list when searching the web. The Internet makes it seem like it wasn’t a bad idea.

What is a bucket list?

For the many people who are unsure of what a bucket list is, I want to address the basics to you. It’s a list of goals you’d like to complete in your lifetime. A list of things that you’ve always thought were possible for you to do before you die. When I watch television shows or movies, whatever I’m watching usually gives off the intent of a person making a bucket list when they’re close to death. Well, I’m not close to death. Why wait until then? I already know a lot of what I want to accomplish now.

I do not have any serious sickness. I just wish to live a more fulfilling life while I can.

Doc’s Bucket List

First, my plan to make a bucket list was about trying to do things before 2014 comes to an end. I don’t believe I can do that with my list. It’s a bit much. It is a list that needs to be done before I die, most definitely. I have a list for starters that I may eventually add more to. Currently, there’s only one thing I’ve scratched off of my list. Take a look…

~~Make a Rap Song~~ (Listen to my rap song.)
Be in a music video
Write/Produce a music video
Go to 4 different states in one year
Go to a Rave (similar to those that I see in movies)
~~Be in a fashion show~~ (See the recap of the fashion show.)
Go on a Cruise with friends
Hot Air Balloon
Snow Tubing
Go to Mardi Gras
Swim with some exotic animal
~~Put out a mixtape~~ (Listen to Songs From Da Dugout)

I’ll get all of these things done! Eventually, I want to do everything, preferably before I have children and get married. Ha-ha! I can make it happen. As I complete whatever is on my bucket list, I want to keep my readers up to date on what’s being completed. So stay tuned to my post about my bucket list as time progresses.