Yesterday I read that Scott Storch bought a $1m diamond necklace for Lindsay Lohan. Yes that Scott Storch — the one who got the boot from the Roots about a decade ago because the Roots decided they wanted an all-black band. Storch went on to produce a number of hit records including the Terror Squad’s famous banger “Lean Back,” and has recently been romantically linked to Paris Hilton whose, um, album he produced. According to reports, Storch has made over $70m as a producer.

Almost ten years ago, swept up in the cultural typhoon of the time that was the Wu-Tang Clan, I picked up a copy of Cappadonna’s album The Pillage. Two days later, taking advantage of a little known policy of Tower Records, I returned the album for a full refund and vowed never to purchase another bad Wu album again. A little over a year later I did the same thing with Raekwon’s Immobilarity. Some vows are less sacred than others I guess. Now there is no Tower Records. No tangible one at least; and I doubt If the online store would ever allow me to save 28 bucks that way again.

Point is, there’s only one member of the Wu right now. Through hard work alone, he has clambered to the top of the Wu heap. A doff of the cap to you Ghostface Killah. And to you Scott Storch. Anyone not named Ghostface or Storch would be lying if they said they saw things working out like this all along.

There was some combination of poor sleep and caffeine that had me staring out into my alley at 7:30 this morning. And though I can hardly say that Storch or Ghostface had anything to do with the event, it only makes sense to mention it now — that time renders truth into light. And an alley that was worth photographing once, might still be worth photographing if only to mark the passage of time.