David Ortez

I have been following Rapid Ric aka The Mixtape Mechanic ever since I arrived in Austin for college over 7 years ago. Seem like ages ago but I was introduced to The Fistful of Dollars Mixtape by my roommate and the rest is history.

A lot has happened in the mean time, from serving as Houston rapper Chamillionaire’s personal international disc jokey (DJ) to filming his first video (Pullin’ Up) … Rapid Ric has been on his grind. He moved to Houston as he became more intertwined with our local music scene.

Rapid Ric released his new album, Whut it Dew, this week for free. This should not be confused with his original Whut It Dew Mixtape that was released in 2004 and features a prominent image of Chamillionaire on the cover.

The tragic events that occurred yesterday in Austin, Texas are saddening but not surprising in a nation where everyday demagogues like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Alex Jones are allowed to stir up paranoia.

Joe Stack, the domestic terrorist that decided to attack innocent Federal employees with his small plane is the most recent casualty that folks in the TEA Party have taken up and declared a hero.

I was having a discussion with a friend about the TEA Party and what it meant to the political landscape of America. My friend was curious why the TEA Party was doing a bad marketing job of integrating folks other than Anglos to their cause.

Keith Olbermann brought up this point the other day where he asked TEA Party members to explain why they lacked people of color.

I went to Austin this weekend to celebrate a friend’s birthday. What I did not expect was to learn of a cool new iPhone App that will make going out a bit more fun.

TabbedOut was created to address the problem of leaving an establishment without closing your tab or skipping the long waits just to close your tab.

Developed by ATX Innovation, the App is available for free on iTunes and it let’s you open, review and close your tab from your iPhone.

The catch … just a nominal $0.99 fee for every tab you open. That is not much of an issue when you think of how much you will spend to drink.

“If you wanted to have that safety equipment, the worker had to buy it himself.” – Hector Hernandez on Safety in Construction

Michael King of the Austin Chronicle has a great article on worker safety in the state of Texas. It begins with a recap of the death of three construction workers in Austin on the eve of a press conference held outside City Hall in which the Workers Defense Project released statistics on worker safety in the Lone Star State.

In the Information Age … everyone and anyone can be held accountable. Websites start up by the millions everyday but there are a select few that will have the utility that Stimulus Watch will for Americans these next months.

StimulusWatch.org is a non-partisan, volunteer website in which all projects that will be funded by the Economic Stimulus Plan are listed by location, decription, cost, project type and an estimate of jobs that will be created.

Happy Holidays and I hope you have a safe New Year’s celebration. Do not drink if you intend to drive but most importantly enjoy your night. From your friends at David Ortez!

I found these interesting Barack Obama related stories and had to share them with you.

U. of Texas ends fight over dorm-room Obama signs – Facing a free-speech uproar, the University of Texas backed down Thursday from punishing two students who refused to remove political signs from their dormitory window.

That is refreshing to hear. I am glad that UT President Powers addressed this issue in the best manner. I am also glad that these young men stood up for their freedom of speech right. Who said that young people were apathetic to voting?

I finished my 10k and I am not dead! This is good news since I was concerned that I might not have been up to it physically nor mentally when it came to the daunting hills in Austin. The route was entertaining . . . the little that I could remember. Honestly, the whole time I was thinking, "Damn, when is the Sea of Red Shirts going to spread out." That never did happen. It was a cluster f*ck of people running side by side. There were over 10,000 runners I heard but who knows.

At 6:30 CDT I will be participating in the Nike+ Human Race 10k in Austin, Texas. I have been training for 6 weeks to run this 10k and although I am no where near the shape I was in April of 2007, I am ecstatic about running. Friends will come out to support me like they did on my first run.

This time though, Marco is joining me on the ride. I know how tough it will be but Marco does not realize that hills are deceiving. He has not been training as aggressively as I have but he is also in much better shape than me. He actively swims and plays tennis so that counts. I have prepared mentally for the challenge and am ready to take the hills head on.