Published Material

Comic to Watch

My Dudes, Published Material

nickkroll-web

Westcheddar alumnus Nick Kroll was recently featured by Variety on their 10 Comics To Watch list.  Click the link below to read about all the projects he’s currently working on, and how he’s found his comfort zone doing stand up comedy.  It’s always good to see a friend’s name in print…

Nick Kroll- Variety 10 Comics To Watch

And here’s a funny clip of Nick doing stand up on the Jimmy Kimmel Show earlier this year….

Hey Nick, did your name pop up in your Google Alerts?

*UPDATE*

Check out these two LOL videos featuring Nick on Funny or Die:

Bobby Bottleservice

Rich Dicks

Best of Westchester’s Top 5 Tables of 2009

Events, Interviews, My Dudes, Published Material

BOW09-Home-Page-Image

My wife and I, along with my dude Killa Kam, attended the event of the year last night, Westchester Magazine’s Best of Westchester party at the Glen Island Harbor Club in New Rochelle.  Over 2,500 people came out to celebrate the finest Westchester County has to offer.  Best of Westchester winners had tables set up all over the premises, giving out free samples of different foods, drinks, and products.  It’s mad fun just hopping from table to table, schmoozing, and tasting all the amazing dishes (and indulging in every free alcoholic beverage on the premises).  Plus, there’s live music playing inside and outside, and plenty of locals to meet and talk to.  We had a blast (and got blasted) just like last year.  Having lifetime free passes to this event is one of the great perks of writing for Westchester Magazine.  Thanks to “Lawyer Mike” Martinelli for the hook up and hospitality.  And for this year’s Top 5 Tables, I once again will refer to Pelham Bay’s finest food critic and Westcheddar correspondent, Billy Henderson…

Shout to Uncle Ralph for hosting my friends and family. Shouts to the Martinelli’s, Hayes’ and the Krueger’s for being so kind. Shout to Caitlin Krueger for burying Bronxville by her lonesome while Carlito had a national championship ring on his finger. Shouts to Stan Ipcus, Mrs. Ipcus, Killa Kam, and Miss Info. On to the food.

1. Crabtree Kittle House
    11 Kittle Road
    Chappaqua, NY 10514
    www.kittlehouse.com
    914.666.8044

I was served a shrimp dumpling in a ginger broth.  My broth was served by two blondes warm.  Sorry, that’s the effect I have on blondes.  Delicious.

2. The Willett House
    20 Willett Ave.
    Port Chester, NY 10573
    www.thewilletthouse.com
    914.939.1894

Best steak at the place.  Frankie and Johnnie’s or Johnnie’s and Frankie’s need to to step their steak game up.  Holla.

3.   Sushi Mike’s
      146 Main Street
      Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
      www.sushimikes.com
      914.591.0054

They were #1 for three years.  Did they fall off?  Absolutely not.  Did they leave the only Japanese speaking chef alone with me to explain what I was eating?  Yes.  A Westchester County can’t miss.  God bless.

4.    BLT
       Ritz Carlton Westchester
       White Plains, NY 10601
       www.bltrestaurants.com
        (914) 467-5500

They served a braised beef cheek with a jalapeno mashed potato and mango mayo (which is a version of something close to a French Aioli).  I take notes like a retarded two year old.  Sorry.  Very tasty.

5.     Sonora
        179 Rectory Street
        Port Chester, NY 10573 
        www.sonorany.com
        914.933.0200

 A free range chicken/ avocado/ yogurt mix served on a corn cake with a beet vinagarette (a Venezuelan Pepeiada ladies) and a chive oil.  

*Sorry little Iron Chef you didn’t make the list.

JulyCoverBlack

Nice job Billy as usual.  Cop the new Westchester Magazine, at your local news stand now, for the complete rundown of this year’s Best of Westchester winners (cover above).  And check out my Groom Guy blog and Wedding of the Month feature on Westchester Magazine’s website if you missed it.  See you next year.  Scream.

Big Daddy

My Dudes, Published Material, The Good Old Days

Had a great Westchester afternoon with my Dad yesterday.  Went out to lunch in Yonkers together then took a walk at Pepsico Gardens in Purchase.  We talked about life, family, our wives, work, friends, old times, and new plans.  Then we met up with the rest of the Izo clan for dinner at Turquoise in Larchmont to celebrate Father’s Day and also my parents’ 40th anniversary.  Lots of laughs.  Anyway, here’s an article my father wrote for the Journal News (our local Gannett paper) about his son’s use of slang, published back when I was a senior at White Plains High School in 1996.  Check it out…  

dad article 1291

dad article 4294

dad article 3293

Hope all the fathers out there enjoyed their holiday.  Shout out to all my dudes with seeds…

Mag Bag

Events, Fly Spots, My Dudes, Published Material, Stan Ipcus

I got a great response from the Jay-Z and the Roc live at the Tunnel videos I posted yesterday.  Almost every respectable hip hop blog, from Nahright to Rap Radar to Miss Info’s blog to 2dopeboyz linked to Westcheddar and gave it props, and my site hits skyrocketed!  So thanks for that.  In coalition with that classic footage, I completed my Cribs series with my final installments, where I dig into my hip hop magazine collection and also open up a package I received from Amazon.com courtesy of my wife’s birthday gift certificate to her rapping husband.  Created for hip hop enthusiasts who went to high school in the 90’s and anyone who wants to get to know me and my interests a little better.  Check out Stan Ipcus “Cribs” part 3 and 3 1/2…

In addition, our recent nuptials are being featured as the Wedding of the Month on Westchester Magazine’s website!  Check the link for the story and pics from the big day, and also my GROOM GUY blog that I write for the magazine too…

Westchester Magazine Wedding of the Month

Westchester Magazine GROOM GUY Blog

IMG_0946

My wife and I outside Battery Gardens last weekend at my cousin CI’s wedding

Tunnel Vision

Events, Published Material, Stan Ipcus

jigga288

Years ago, before Youtube, I used to look for rare hip hop videos the same way people look for hard to find sneakers: on Ebay.  One night, I stumbled across someone selling a DVD of Jay-Z live at the famous NYC nightclub The Tunnel, filmed right around the time In My Lifetime Volume 3 came out.  It was fairly cheap, so I ordered it, figuring it would at least be something cool to have in my collection of hip hop memorabilia.  Anyway, I was going though some of my old stuff recently and I pulled it out to watch, and it’s doper than I remembered.  Sometimes footage like this gets better with age.  And since I couldn’t find it anywhere else on the web, I figured I’d put it up here on Westcheddar as an exclusive.  My DVD has no tags or credits so I have no idea who filmed this and I don’t remember who sold it to me, but whoever did, PROPS ARE DEFINITELY DUE.  It’s pretty good video and sound quality and shot right from the stage so you can see everyone up close and also get a feel for how off the hook The Tunnel crowd used to be during the late 90’s/early 2000’s (I never went but I’ve heard stories).  The four part video of the full set (about 40 minutes long) features the original Roc La Familia in full effect, including Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Amil, DJ Clue, and even Pain in da Ass.  Enjoy.  It’s the Roc!!!!

Pt. 1 “Pain in da Ass Intro”, “It’s Hot”, “Jigga My Ni$a”, and “So Ghetto”

Pt. 2 “Can I Get A…”, “Money Ain’t a Thang”, “It’s Alright”, “What You Think of That”, and “Bleek Is”

Pt. 3 “What a Thug About”, “45 Freestyle”, “Who You Wit”, “Ain’t No Ni$a”, “Imaginary Player”, and “Jigga What, Jigga Who”

Pt. 4  “Money, Cash, Hoes” and “Do It Again”

As a bonus, here’s a throwback song I did over Jay-Z “It’s Hot”, off my 2006 DJ Roz mixtape Real Breezy:

Stan Ipcus “Mr. Maven”

And for those of you visiting this blog for the first time, yes I’m a rapper, but I wear other hats.  I actually have a full time job directing youth programs here in Westchester County, and I also am a freelance writer.  In fact, I used to write for XXL during the Elliott Wilson years for their MOVE THE CROWD section, covering live shows up and down the east coast.  Check out a couple of my favorite clips HERE.  And please, scroll through the rest of the blog too when you have some time (check out the interviews section).  Thanks for visiting Westcheddar…

Holler back.

Ipcus and Matisyahu Live on Hot 97

My Dudes, Published Material, Stan Ipcus

Matisyahu and I were on the Hot 97’s Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg Morning Show last Friday.  It was a blast, especially being up there with my childhood friend.  It was a historic moment for us and for White Plains as neither Matis or myself had ever been on Hot 97.  And they let us GO IN!!!!!!  I rapped “My Ferris Buellers” while Matis blessed me with a sick beatbox (see the pic below of Matis doing his thing), and we even had something special prepared just for the show.  Check out the clip…

IP AND MATIS GO IN LIVE ON HOT 97 (updated)

Oh, and I put together a video for “My Ferris Buellers” during my day off from work.  I got the idea to film the whole thing from my crib using my Mac Book built-in camera and I Movie, using an updated editin technique I implemented back in high school in my video art class, which is the last time I made a music video.  It worked!!!  Yo, less than an hour after I finished it and sent it out to some people, it was up on nahright.com, which is the bible of hip-hop blogs.  They finally posted something of mine after me sending stuff to them for six months.  And now it’s all over the internet.  Not bad for a video made with no budget.  Check it out, it’s fun…

Wow, this “My Ferris Buellers” record has gotten me some pretty good looks…Stay tuned…and check the new Matisyahu x Kenneth Cole ad….

Best of Westchester’s Top 5 Tables

Events, Fly Spots, My Dudes, Published Material

Best of Westchester

Last night was Westchester Magazine’s annual Best of Westchester party, held at the Glen Island Harbor Club (check the picture below, the place is super pimp, right on the Long Island Sound in New Rochelle).  My fiancee and I had a blast (and got blasted), checking out all the tables, eating free food and drinking free drinks, fully enjoying the live music and feel good ambiance.  It’s basically set up like a job fair except instead of going table to table talking to prospective employers, you pop shit at a bunch of chefs and get loaded off free drinks and deliciously creative small portions of high quality food.  Me personally, I was really getting after it last night.  “Best Chili in Westchester huh fellas?  We’ll see about that.  UMMMM.  Not bad, it’s got a little kick to it!  Not Bad!”  So fun.

glenislandday

I saw my boy Billy Henderson last night, Pelham Bay’s finest food critic.  Great times.  Shout out to “Lawyer Mike” Martinelli too for hooking me up with the free tickets.  Anyway, here’s veteran Best of Westchester party-goer Billy Henderson’s assessment of the 2008 event:

Billy Henderson’s TOP 5 TABLES:

1.  Sushi Mike’s
146 Main Street
Dobbs Ferry, NY
http://www.sushimikes.com

Once again, there was a line. Once again, they ran out of food early. Once again, the sushi was insane. I asked the non-english speaking chef what is in the poppy seed roll and he replied, “EER”. I think that means “awesomeness” in Japanese.

 
2. The Willet House
20 Willet Avenue
Port Chester, NY
 
   Sliced “melt in your mouth” Steak on a crustini, with three phenomenal sauces to choose from, next to a free bar, on an outside deck, at high tide. Hard to screw up.
 
3. Sonora
179 Rectory Street
Port Chester, NY
914.933.0200
  
   Braised Duck on a jonnycake with a dot of saffron aioli. I could of ate a hundred of those things.
 
4. The Kittle House
11 Kittle Road
Chappaqua, NY
 
   There were many “shots” of food this year. X2O had the shrimp-watermelon cocktail, 44 Tapas had the shrimp in gazpacho and 42 at the Ritz-Carlton had the ceviche with the beads of ginger. The Kittle House decided to serve a gazpacho with a cilantro foam that just exploded with flavor. Impressive.
 
5. Belle Havana
35 Main Street
Yonkers, NY
 
   Although the owners are very suspect, he might be french and she might be a man, they make an incredible mojito. I didn’t eat their food but I did have a dozen mojitos.       

Billy Henderson’s special thanks:
I’d like to thank “Uncle Ralph” Martinelli for another great year. I’d also like to thank the electricians who are tearing up my office as I type, FORCING me to drink beer and grill burgers on my boat. Holla at the kid.

 

Thanks Billy. Stay tuned for more TOP 5 posts from Billy Henderson. And check out my blog, GROOM GUY, up now on Westchester Magazine’s website, all about the male perspective on getting married. Here’s the link…

GROOM GUY

My Book of Rhymes Part 1

My Book of Rhymes, Published Material, Stan Ipcus

I found this in one of my many old notebooks of raps sometime last year.  I wrote this in the spring of 2004 during a four month stay in my old bedroom on Ogden Avenue.  I was working at White Plains High School as a substitute teacher by day and recording in NYC at Sony Studios by night, fresh from a seven year stint on my own in Maryland and D.C., now at home sharing a bathroom with my Mom and Dad.  Of the millions of bars that I’ve written in my life, these are my 16 favorite.

It was my most personal, meaningful, and lyrical verse long before it ever ended up on the Matisyahu song “WP”, and that’s the truth jack.  In fact, I spit this verse on stage with Matis in November 2004 at SUNY Purchase, about eight months before “WP” was recorded.  Matis saw me in the back of the audience (he didn’t know I was coming to the show), and he motioned for me to come up on stage to spit something.  And I spit this verse that I had been listening to in my head for months.  

He didn’t know it at the time, but he indirectly inspired this verse.  It was about us, our experiences growing up in White Plains, all the nostalgic thoughts I was having at the time, working at my old high school and living in my old digs.  I loved the verse for so many reasons, but mostly because I felt it so accurately represented me and how I felt as young guy growing up in the NY suburbs.  AND THE LYRICS ARE SICK.  Peep the alliterations kid.  MISTY MORNING AND MY MOMS A MESS.  I knew the second I wrote the first line that this verse would be perfect for those special kosher Matis moments where a rap about blunts and tits was not gonna fly.

Well the verse must have resonated with Matis, because in July 2005 when he was working on the YOUTH album, he called me up and said “remember that verse you kicked…?”  No one ever heard it before that night at SUNY Purchase, but thanks to Matisyahu and Epic Records, this verse is now immortal.

My “WP” verse, live from the SPAC in Saratoga Springs, NY, with Matisyahu on the 311 Summer Unity Tour, July 2007.

Move the Crowd

Published Material

My first experience as a journalist was with XXL Magazine, covering live hip-hop shows for their “Move the Crowd” section.  Free tickets to see my favorite artists perform, and a nice little check when the work was done.  Not bad.  Here’s a few of my favorite clips.