It is true, Nick Diaz is truly one of the more enigmatic fighters today, if not the most. Diaz is one who shuns the spotlight, because of its reliance on marketing versus him being a representative of the pure sport, doing it for the love. Socially awkward and regarded as a someone with antisocial, dark tendencies, it can be said that Diaz definitely Celebrates the Difference in his own way.

Is the quality of Countdown getting to be the same as 24/7? We will only have to see.

“Nick would take on anybody, anything, at any time. If he didn’t get the best of you, tomorrow you’d better be ready to do it again. He had some behavior problems, and also he had some gang problems. Gangs were trying to recruit him because he had a reputation of being tough and the gangs wanted to have him join up.” Tom Domench, Diaz’s 7th grade teacher. Sure, Tom, gang violence is a serious obstacle to overcome, but is it “fire alarm” serious?

“It’s an interesting connundrum that Nick is in, cause he truly doesn’t enjoy hurting people. He doesn’t want to be the guy that’s beating up other people. He doesn’t think it’s fun, but he does know that that’s his job, to win fights.” Cesar Gracie. We’ve heard from Diaz’s teachers, now where the fuck is his guidance counselor? It just sounds like he went into this whole ‘professional fighter’ gig without all of the relevant facts.

Zansky from Brazil showing of his mixed media skills from paper to oil painting and various color schemes.

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Jimmy Castor is really one of the unsung heroes of a generation that defined the funky rhythms that is now heavily akin to sampling of hip hop. However, Jimmy Castor’s work is to be praised individualistically in its purest form without regard for who chose to pay tribute to it or not. It’s a true shame that this year and 2011 has been riddled with the passing away of so many great artists including Gil-Scott Heron, Heavy-D, as well as Guru.

Castor who passed away Monday in Henderson, Las Vegas, passed from cancer at the age of 64. Truly, it was Jimmy with his iconoclastic approach to music, one of a kind persona, swinging rhythm and hard to ignore voice that probably drew inspiration from groups such as Funkadelic. The Bboy community will always appreciate his incredible contributions to the music with “Its Just Begun”, and “When”, which to me are as important to original breaks as “Apache”.

Civil Salutes Jimmy as an artist who really chose to Celebrate The Difference, in fusing Latin, funk and many genres into his own unique mixture.

Karen Civil is one of those really doing it, being on top of her social media game, she provides a relevant insiders look into the hip hop, entertainment and music industry.

I had a chance to catch up and meet with her at Gaby’s, getting her thoughts on Civil and the industry. In addition to covering the music industry, Karen has also helped bring awareness to stars like Drake, Nicki Minaj before the advent of their popularity.

Also Karen is a supporter of Civil Clothing, be on the lookout for Karen Civil and Civil Clothing later this year. =)

Kabob combo with Garlic sauce, chicken, roasted and grilled onion and tomato, basmati rice.

Happy Birthday Martin Luther king…always knew how to Celebrate the Difference.

Biggest Teahupoo ever, shot on the Phantom camera

These guys truly Celebrate The Difference.

Rockin’ Civil Swoop…Celebrate the Difference.

San Francisco is a mecca for world travels and a unique destination for all visitors from different walks of life. It is in this unique journey, that I was able to find some much needed respite from the daily bread of the grind. Instead of the typical New Years’ Spent in the same places with the same people, I decided to embark to the bay with one of the homies from Axium. This trip wasn’t long enough, but Civil will be back next time. Take the sojourn..

New Years Eve started with a little shopping in Haight at Unionmade specializing in some very fresh workwear.

Native Prints have been big this year, this is no exception, however being taken to a furniture aesthetic, this brings new light into the inspiration.

The King of Influence.

Footprints.

The Visuals here remind me of Strangeloop, Lotus, Beeple type graphics. Inspiring.

This guy went off for Christmas, it isn’t over for this guy… probably continues year-round.

The Groove Merchant is one of the most epic spots and destinations for diggers, djs, producers from all over the world. At this store, you actually find a good selection of American Funk, Tropicalia, Baile Funk as well as the ultra-obscure Library records for a fair price.

The finest specialty shop in San Francisco for rare vinyl. For all you beat diggers, this IS the place to go. The records may not be as cheap as other shops, but the time you save looking for that perfect break is well worth the extra cash. Located in the Lower Haight, owner “Cool” Chris is always pleasant and when he’s not in the shop, he’s either venturing around the country in search of those hard-to-find classics or putting out his own records with label-mate Vinnie Esparza (see http://www.dis-joint.com).

As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”, and folks like Eric Hilton (Thievery Corp.), Mike Diamond (Beastie Boys), and Dan Nakamura (The Automator) would probably attest to the quality of this shop. Oh yeah…you can listen to anything you want here, even those $100 albums on the wall.

Check Civil’s Review of Roy Ayers show this year, here’s a poster from an early tour, way back into time.

Picked up this number right here with the Hard Latin break.

Euro- Exotic Psych Pop Covers always do it for me.

GIANT BOMB.

Welcome to Rosamundo’s doing their thing way before Wurstkuche in LA, I had the duck with fig, with german potato jacket and some Black Cherry Soda.

Duck, Wild boar, with Fig, grilled onions and Beef Chili. A hearty-meal.

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