Let the Mark Cuban Suicide Watch begin....

Now that it looks like the Dallas Mavericks are going to lose their playoff series with the Golden State Warriors, I'd like to officially start the Mark Cuban suicide watch! Hopefully this guy doesn't off himself after Baron Davis drains another clutch 3-pointer in the fourth quarter of game 5. Then again, I'm sure some people wouldn't mind if Cuban took the suicide plunge.

Mr. Mark Cuban - billionaire, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, owner of HDNet, blogger, entreprenuer, and the most intense owner eVAR in the NBA - will probably spontaneously combust if the Mavericks lose this series in the game 5 in Dallas. Not just because the series would end with a home loss, but because he won't be able to withstand the mail onslaught he'll probably receive after Dallas had one of the most magnificent seasons in the NBA, eVAR, only to lose in le premier rond.

It's a shame that Dwayne Wade's comments about Dirk not being enough of a leader to carry his team to a championship appear to be all the more true at this point. But at least Dwayne and Dirk will be able to talk over their differences in opinion while everybody else is fighting it out for a title.

Meanwhile, my Wizards will be getting swept shortly just like Orlando and Miami. I guess I'll jump on the Suns bandwagon...I'll going to pray that boring azz San Antonio does not make it to the next round. Please, PRAY with me!

NewsFlash: The Orioles still SUCK! But AutoStitch doesn't!

Since this is a New Era, I got a fresh new hat"

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Last night me and my man J-Rock (Jon) went to see the Orioles play the SOX (Red Sox). Jon was nice enough to let me and his cuzzo Dane battle over the second ticket and naturally, I won. Okay, we didn't really battle. I offered Dane to go (read: bowed out) so there would be no kicking of my azz, to which he responded that I could go ahead and go. So that's how I ended up at the game.

As usual, the Orioles sucked. As usual, baseball was boring. Though I will say it is a little more fun being at the game than watching on TV. Jon and I spent most of our time talking about non-baseball related things, drinking beer, eating peanuts, laughing, and joking about how bad Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, and David Ortiz were going to thrash the O's (even though I had that bright azz Orioles hat on I jacked from my brother). Speaking of, here are a few shots of those guys I was able to get.

Big Papi (David Ortiz)



Curt Schilling



Manny Ramirez



In the end, the Orioles lost (as we both expected them to). We left right after the 7th inning stretch (gotta be there to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game") and headed to our cars. All-in-all it was fun because I was there with my boy and we had some banging seats about 10 rows behind home plate. And whenever I'm with one of my boys, we can pretty much make any event fun/enjoyable. Even though the game was boring, I'll probably go again sometime in the summer if I'm bored and have $20 to throw away on something.

Now for the more interesting part of this post. A week or so ago, my co-worker introduced me to this application called AutoStitch. Basically, what AutoStich does is allow you to take all these pictures below and combine them into a single shot.







You may not have noticed, but these pictures are panning the baseball stadium skyline from right to left. I took all these photos right after one another in about 20 seconds time by shooting, moving the camera a little to the left, shooting, and so on.

When I ran the pictures through AutoStitch, it blended all those pictures together to create this (click on the picture for full version)...



I took this flick and cropped it to create the final image you see here (click on the picture for full version)...



Now to me, that's DOPE! To learn more about AutoStich or to download the (free) application, visit:

AutoStitch

1 YASELF! Peace!

LOL: The Anatomy of Dr. Jay

Don't let the rainbow fool you...It's just dinner

First time evAr that I've cooked kabobs on the grill. Kind of surprising considering how often I cook on the grill. Yet and still, today I got my colorful grillin' on...

Before...


During...


After...


YUM!

60 Minutes does not support the silent treatment

"This is so stupid, I might start snitching about old stuff just to show that some of us have some sense!"

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Arguably the most embarassingly ignorant stuff I've seen in a while. When they interviewed the kids I honestly felt embarassed that mainstream America will see this and think that young blacks are unintelligent and ignorant.

Hopefully urban youth get a whiff (of 60 Minutes, yeah right) of this and see how counter-productive this whole stop snitchin' mantra really is. But then again, maybe they'll stop gentrification and provide equal education to all children without consideration of level of income. It'll be interesting to see which one happens first. I'm holding my breath.

Flicked up: My Weekend In Review

The joys of having a new camera!

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Fri-Day

This past weekend was my 5 year college reunion. I'm dating myself, I know. Anyway, I didn't go to any of the reunion events because I ended up having other committments. Not that I really was itching to go hang out with my former classmates anyway considering I really only hung with about 20 people when I was in school and we all keep in touch. Back on topic though, I registered for the reunion so I had to go pick up all the free stuff that you get for registering. And of course because I am a clown I had to take a couple pictures with the stuff I got for free. Enjoy...


Yes, they were giving out some Jon "Ray" Kearney FLAT-AZZ hats and I got one!


No Hopkins Alumni picture would be right if it wasn't in the campus bookstore!


COLD BAMMER!

Friday Night
Before we got our table at the Cheesecake Factory, I ran into a guy I went to school with by the name of Jeff. Check out Jeff's myspace page. We went to Hopkins together and I ran into him Friday night outside of the Cheesecake Factory in Bethesda. We chatted it up for a second and he mentioned that he's a singer/songwriter and he was headed to NYC to put in some studio time. I checked out his myspace page and I've only listened to his profile song, but I like it.


It was Bay's birthday so we hit the Cheesecake Factory and then Ozio's in DC.

Saturday
Saturday was my Family Day for the month of April so my grandmother, grandfather, mom, stepdad, brother, stepbrother (and his girlfriend) all got together at my grandparents place.


My grandmother smiling as usual.


Mom Dukes!

And her are some more random family shots from Saturday at my grandmother's house...





And I almost forgot, but here's a picture of my mother's motorcycle. She doesn't know how to ride so I'll be teaching her over the next month or so. On my list of things to do before I die...Go for a ride with my mom and grand-dad on our motorcycles. Hold up, I don't have one yet...Gotta work on that!



No flicks from Sunday but I did cut my grass for the first time, put my grill together, and grill some chicken, hot dogs and beef kabob.

WebNerd Alert: Google makes it rain!

When they're showering out money to scoop other companies

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On April 13, 2007, Google copped DoubleClick for $3.1 million...IN CASH! (PacMan Jones ain't effing with that!)

In yet another bold move in their quest for world takeover, Google has dropped a fat knot to cop one of those up-and-coming web companies.

"The sale offers Google access to DoubleClick's advertisement software and, more importantly, its relationships with Web publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies."

What this means for us is that as time goes on, an increasing percentage of the ads we see online will be driven by Google. It also means that if we click on these ads and purchase things, we'll be supporting Google.

Surf the Wall Street Journal? You're getting Google ads. Communicating on Myspace? You're getting Google ads.

I am beginning to think that soon people will hate Google as much as they hate Wal-Mart (who also has a plan for world takeover). We'll see though.

If Google and Wal-Mart partnered, there'd problee be mass suicides across the country as *some* would think that this is the first phase of Armageddon. Or, there'd be nerd and rural militias (respectively) popping up out of the woodwork to defend themselves.

But until then, I'll be sitting back watching Google make my life easier and coppin toothpaste, toilet tissue, and boxer briefs from Wal-Mart.

And in case you have missed previous rants about Google...

Fred Phelps: Ghey as a muffuga

That's some serious hatin' you're doin' bruh!

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You know how they say that people who hate something a lot secretly love it or they secretly hate that same thing in themselves? Hence the title of this post...

My co-worker had me look this guy up today because he thought this guy was hilarious. Hilarious as in, so ignorantly serious about his hatred, that it is comical. This recommendation to look-up Fred Phelps was the result of a conversation my co-worker and I had about church and spirituality.

Come to find out, ole' Freddie Boy is quite the allegedly-Baptist-BIGOT! He particularly hates homosexuals (and Swedish people for some reason or another which is quite weird and random it seems). He also sympathizes with Fidel Castro and lauded Sadamm Hussein. Not to mention he's the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church which is classified as a "hate group". Fred and his followers like to picket military funerals and gay pride gatherings using God's anger as his reason for his hatred. Evidently, this guy has missed a few sermons and/or bible studies in his day.

His level of hatred is at once saddening, angering, and (quite) comical. For more on the ignorance and hatred that is Mr. Phelps, check out the first few paragraphs of his Wikipedia bio. It's some classically sad stuff. He sounds like the type of character you expect to have seen Jim Carrey portray on "In Living Color". He also reminds me of the black, blind, KKK member on the Dave Chappelle Show. This has gotta be some Branch Davidian type stuff, I'm tellin' you!

Needless to say, Mr. Phelps is a shining example of freedom of speech gone awry and used for evil. God Bless America!

I walked right into an episode of The WIRE

I was hoping to see Herc and Carver round the corner any second...

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Yesterday I had my evening planned out:

1. Leave work and meet Sei at the gym
2. Leave the gym, go home, cook the steak I have thawing out
3. Work on a website and then hit the sack

I never thought that my night would go the way it went...

5:31 PM: My boy BHill calls me and tells me he ran out of gas. He tells me he is on some street in Baltimore city and he needs me to bring him some gas. Me being the friend that I am, told him YES without a thought. I found out that my co-worker had a gas can, asked him if I could use it, and began to make my way out of work. I called Sei on my way out the door and told him we could push the gym appointment to 7pm. He agreed.

5:45 PM: I'm at the gas station getting gas...Gas for my car because I realized I was almost on 'E' and I didn't want to run out of gas taking gas to him. I also filled up the gas can with about a gallon of gas.

5:55 PM: I look at my cellphone and BHill's called me twice (I missed 'em) and when I go to dial his number he calls me again. I pick up:

BHill: "Yo son, I think somebody's throwing rocks at my car or something. My car just got hit by something. You gotta hurry-up and get here...You know where I'm at right?"

[Me thinking: "These Baltimore ni99as is crazy"]

Me: "You are on Aisquith, right?" [realizing Aisquith is straight grimey] "Man, you are in the hood ain't you? (LOL)"

BHill: "Yeah son, shyt is wild over here. Holla at me when you get on Aisquith! You not that far away."

Me: "Cool. Be there in a minute."

It was at THIS POINT that I realized where he was and that I: 1) needed to get my knife out the trunk and 2) might be walking into some wild shyt. I never did get my knife out of the trunk...

I get to Aisquith about a minute later and talk with BHill up until the point I see his car with hazard lights on, on the side of the road. He tells me that someone's pulled up in a SUV behind him really really close and they have a hoodie on and he can't see anything but the guy's face. At THIS POINT, I am starting to get really nervous because I realize he has run out of gas at "Latrobe Homes." For those of you from urban areas, you know that when a housing development has no grass and a sign with a name on it, it is the PRO-JECTS!

6:10pm: I pull up in front of his car and get out. I notice the black SUV parked right behind him very close. As soon as I get out of my car I notice about 5 young guys (teens) standing in front of a door to one of the apartments. One guy sees me get out, throws his hoodie over his head, and immediately walks towards me.

What am I thinking at this point in time?







This is when my bowels loosened.

I am going to my trunk to get the gas can out and I am a little scared because I think he might think I'm "goin' to my trunk" for real for real and he takes me out. He was obviously a look-out boy for someone in the area. I slowly open my trunk and pull out the bright red gas can and hold it up just high enough for him to see what it is and not blow my brains out. He sees the red gas can, turns around the other way, takes his hoodie off and walks back to where he was standing. Meanwhile, BHill is getting out of his car and grabs the gas can and immediately goes to put the gas in his car.

I SWEAR, this was the longest 1.5 minutes of my life watching him pour the gas in his car with a guy in an all-black hoodie in the SUV behind his car staring us both down. Right about the time he finished pouring the gas, the SUV pulled off and my bowels went back to normal. I hopped into my car and waited for BHill to turn his car on and start driving up a little. He did, and we rolled out.

I think I sweat a river...

On the way to our respective homes, we talked/joked via cellphone about how we'd just dodged death and he thanked me for "saving his life". But I know for a fact we were in serious danger. I'm just glad it was still daylight outside. If it was at night, I might not be here typing this post right now.

THANK YOU JESUS!

If this was an episode of The WIRE, Marlo would have just shot us.

My Fav Videos at the moment...

Joell Ortiz - Hip Hop

This is some real hip-hop right here. I am going to jump out on a limb (yeah right) and say that this is some of that banger NY hip-hop we all used to love back when Biggie, Nas, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and Jay-Z first dropped. We still love it now, but we just don't get it as much as we used to (no Eric Benet).



DJ Khaled and errrybody - We Takin' Over

This is problee my favorite song out right now. Even with the useless presence of Fat Joe on the track I still like it. Joey does do a good job of riding the beat on this track though.

This is another lead-off banger for Khaled Khaled. Holla At Me Baby was that lead single/crew joint that got me to go out and cop his first album. This song is going to make me go cop his next joint...Notice a couple things in this video though:

1. Ricky Ross takes a shot at 50 in his verse. Short, but sweet
2. "Some say Khaled, some say Khaleeeeeed". Classic Fat Joe. What's even more classic is that throwback Versammage shirt he has on. Welcome to 1997 CRACCCKKK!
3. They kept Baby's verse short. Thank you Lord
4. "Feed me rappers of feed me beats". Lil Weeziana kinda rips it
5. Akon and TIP do they're usual...

Kanye, NaS, KRS-ONE, Rakim - Classic (DJ Premier Mix)

The best hip-hop song out right now. Oh yeah, it's about Air Force 1's. This song will be played 10 years from now and give me the same feeling it does today...TIMELESS!



Pretty Ricky (feat. Sean Paul) - Push It Baby

This one is just to pi$$ Dane off and to let you guys know that Pretty Ricky has ANOTHER hit on their hands. You guys already know I was feeling the HotLine song and now this joint is probably going to be as popular as that one. One question I have is, who is pumping money into these Pretty Ricky videos and their promotion? Somebody has to be getting a HUGE return on investment off these joints. And we KNOW it's not Pretty Ricky's A.D.H.D. having azzes! They are the most annoying energetic set of guys I've seen in a long time.

You Friggin McFLY

"Let's see how many dumbazzes go pay $150+ for these joints..."

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Just cruising through NahRight - Lite and found out that Nike is releasing the Air McFly joints from the Back to the Future film. Come to find out that at some time there was an online petition for these joints to be released.

Ahem...WTF?



For more pictures and the full post, check out SneakerHunt.com

I'm a shoe fiend just like the next guy, but my penchant for purchasing tennis shoes ended around the year 2000. I can't see myself as a 26 year old man with a day job walking around in these shoes. Not even to a cookout or a party or a football game or any other casual/recreational event. I just can't! But to each his own I guess. I bet my brother could rock the hell out of these joints though. I wonder if he'll cop a pair...

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(UPDATE: There is an official website for the McFLY 2015 Project. Wow.)

I put dollars on mine, ask Columbine...

[today] when it jumped off at V-Tech, I had this on my mind...



I know some of you are shaking your head at me right now (not you though, DP).

But on a serious note, my prayers go out to the families of those wounded or killed during this tragic set of events. I can't imagine how scary this had to be for the students who survived and how painful it is for those wounded and their families. Not to mention the families of those who lost their lives today.

"It's a war goin' on outside, no man is safe from..." - Prodigy of Mobb Deep

As most of us bruhs have already known, it's not safe for ANBYODY, ANYWHERE! Not in the "hood", not "on-campus", not at church, not at home, not at the club, not at yo baby momma house or your grammies house, NOWHERE! No matter where you are or how comfortable and safe your surroundings may seem, you always have to be ready for crazy stuff like this to happen. It's sad that we live in world where this type of stuff happens all too frequently. I've been to Virginia Tech once and it is definitely not a place where you'd think something like this would happen. But then again, what school could you imagine this happening at? Something like 32 people dead. Worst school shooting in U.S. history...That's crazy!

I wonder how Michael Moore will respond these shootings...

Weekend in Review

Friday Night:

I went to the movies to see "I Think I Love My Wife". This film is definitely not going to go on my favorite movie list. The ending was HORRENDOUS, but seeing Kerry Washington (shot out to KC) in her vickies might have been worth the price of admission. I say MIGHT because she plays a manipulative, attention-whoring jezebel (ouch). But seeing her in the bare essentials toward the end of the movie kind of made up for that. Fellas, if you have seen the movie, you feel me I'm sure. But if you haven't seen the movie, don't waste your time!

After the movie I ate at this spot called Potbelly's which was pretty daggon good. And the guy they had in there singing Aaron Neville songs was off the meat rack (no joke). Thanks K for putting me on (and paying for my sandwich).

Saturday:

Digital Camera

I ran a BUNCH of errands Saturday during the day. The most enjoyable of them was copping a new digital camera, the Olympus FE-230. After having lost TWO digital cameras in South Beach (not during the same trip though), I vowed for my next digital camera to be small enough to wear around my neck so that I could hang it around my neck (yes, like a BAMA) and not have to worry about where it is every 5 minutes. I'd rather deal with that thing swinging from my neck and bangin' me in the chest than losing another one.

With that said, the FE-230 is small, light, but still packs a nice punch with 7.1 megapixels, a 2.5" LCD display, a great zoom, and all types of other stuff I will never use but are great to have. And on top of that, you can buy a metal neckstrap accessory from Olympus to hang the camera around your neck. SWEET! I was so excited about getting a new camera that I copped a 1 GB memory card off Ebay as soon as I got back in the house. Expect to see more pictures on my blog now that I have a new camera and will soon have a memory card that can store a crapload of pictures. Not to mention more pictures on my FlickR homepage that you can check out too (if you have a FlickR account).

Common

This morning I got an email from my friend Lesley asking me about the Common concert. I told her, "It was nice!" She responded by saying:

"Nice, Nice that's all you can say, you went to see Common in concert and all you can say is Nice. I need more details."

The quick run-down:

Common put on a nice performance. It was pretty much the same performance I saw him do last summer here in Bmore at ArtScape, but it was still tight. He did a song off of his new album, "Finding Forever", called The People. It was a pretty good track. And of course, he took the time to pull a young lady out of the crowd and rap to her, grind with her, and pretty much make all the other ladies in the crowd salivate. Aside from that special part of the performance, he took it back to the roots of hip-hop and did a little breakdance routine as well. That was DOPE! And he also gave his DJ the spotlight for a few seconds and this kid (he looked young as hell and I can't remember his name) RIPPED IT! I was nodding my head, waving my hands, and doing the "same ole 2-step" for the entire performance so needless to say, I had a good time.

Sunday:

Sunday was my day to return to being a house-negro (LOL). I washed clothes, went out to a couple stores,returned some jeans to Old Navy (they don't make jeans long enough for me), bought some drapery rods and drapes from KMart, came home and put up my drapes (got to use a drill for the first time though, cool), and then watched the Sopranos and Entourage. Pretty relaxing day. I know, it's boring, boring, boring. But you would never have guessed that it was a long, rainy weekend here in SmaltiWhore, would you?

This weekend coming up, I have my boy's bday dinner on Friday (Bay you old DOG), which will be followed by the JHU Reunion Young NERD Alumni Ball. On Saturday I have my family's monthly Family Day which is sure to be hella-fun, and Sunday I might be getting up early to go hoop at Run-N-Shoot with my boys from back home.

Stop! Camera time!

The presumable HIGHLIGHT of my upcoming weekend...

COMMON CONCERT

I'll be going to see Lonnie Lynn this Saturday night and I am expecting him to hit some old classics from his Resurrection days and some recent hits from BE. And maybe, just maybe, I can get a couple cuts from Finding Forever. You guys know how I feel about Finding Forever, so I'm pretty anxious to see the "conscious nikka with MAC like Steve Jobs."

The second best thing Nick Cannon has ever done

The first being this song...

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Short Circuitz on MTV (Check out the videos on the right side)

This show is from the mind of Nick Cannon, which kinda makes sense based on his Wild'N Out show. That show kinda got old after a while and I just started watching when Katt Williams was on. But this show seems to be a pretty hilarious spin-off of Wild'N Out. Check out some of the skits (hurry up before YouTube pulls these down b/c Viacom sucks!):

Rappers Against Child Support



Judge Mo' Dollars



Ludacris Freestyle



I think Nick can be kind of corny at times (look who's talking, right), but I gotta give him his props for being a industry hustler. It's good to see a young brother making moves like he is.

Two reasons to buy the next Esquire Magazine

And by TWO, I meant the two pictures (get your minds out the guttah)!

How this woman's beauty defies age, gravity, and all conventional logic truly amazes me. Between Halle, Stacey "Life is The..." Dash, and Salma Hayek, I don't know who is aging more gracefully/beautifully.

The cover page reads: "If you had two days with Halle Berry, what would you do?" Mannnnnnnnn oh man!

Most Known Unknown: Clifton Powell

Clifton Powell is one of my favorite actors. I'm sure you can identify him from seeing him in some movie at some point in time or at the very least his face looks familiar to you. He's been a LOT of movies and his list of work is pretty extensive. He's played the leading man in a couple small-budget films and had numerous supporting roles like the role he played in "Ray" alongside Jamie Foxx. He's also played some of the most randomly angry/funny/weird/sadistic/empathetic characters I've ever seen.

My personal favorite recurring role that he had was playing a character named "Pinky" in the Friday series of movies. Pinky is one of those old school guys who is living in the past in terms of fashion and mentality. An old-school player like Jerome from Martin. But he owns a record store that one of the main characters in the movie works at. And any scene with him in it is an instantly hilarious classic. That is, if you don't mind ni99orant comedy.

WARNING: All these videos are explicit!!!

"I almost spilled my YAK on this $200 suit!!!"

"Imma show you how we do it up here in Pinky's!"



"You done hit Santa Claus FOOL!"



And yes, I know I picked probably the worst role to brag about a Black actor, but it's hella funny to me. I can't help it.

He's also played a ton of other movie roles and appeared in a littany of movies. Most notably:

• House Party (1990)
• Menace II Society (1993)
• Dead Presidents (1995)
• Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998)
• Rush Hour (1998)
• The Brothers (2001)
• Bones (2001)
• Ray (2004)
• Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
• Norbit (2007)

For a full list of the movies and television shows he's been in, shows/movies he's currently working on, and other information about him, check out his IMDB entry.

He's quite a versatile actor in his own right. He may never receive the acclaim of more popular (and quite frankly, better) Black actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, or Samuel L. Jackson, but he can definitely hold his own.

Involuntary Workout

Today around 4:30pm I found out I was going to have an involuntary workout. My car has been in the shop the entire day. I dropped it off this morning and rode my bike from the mechanic to my job. At then end of the day I found out two things:

1. That my car was not done but that the original problem diagnosis was incorrect. What's most important about this is that it's not as serious a problem AND it will not cost me as much money to get fixed.
2. I would not be able to get my car today before they closed because they still had my care "tore apart" and they couldn't put it back together in time for me to pick it up before they closed at 6pm.

With all that said, it meant I was going to have to take an involuntary trip from my job to my home, via my bicycle.

The distance from my job to my house...EXACTLY 4 miles

I took off from the job at about 5:15pm and I made it home at approximately 6pm. The ride is mostly uphill so I assume I could have made it home by 5:45 if that were not the case. It was one heck of work-out, I must admit. And to think I planned on going to the gym after work to work-out but instead I got a work-out on my leisurely ride home.

Most Anticipated of 2007

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. will be blessing us all with another album at some point this year. Common, as most of us know him, will be dropping his 7th album, "Finding Forever", sometime this summer/fall. It's slated right now to drop on July 10 on Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music label. Common's last album, "BE", was arguably the best hip-hop album of 2005 and still gets plenty of rotation in my cd changer. And whether you believe it or not, he might just be your favorite rapper's favorite rapper:

"Truthfully I wanna rhyme like CommonSense [but I did 5 mill]/
I ain't been rhymin' like Common since/" -- Jay-Z

I'm looking forward to this album from Common because I know I can count on him to produce thoughtful, thought-provoking, well-written, and conscious lyrics. It's a change of pace from the cookie-cutter club tracks being produced by rappers nowadays and the same ole' gangsta talk or ultra-swag that everybody seems to have nowadays.

I can count on Common (working with Kanye) to concoct some head-nod-producing beats and an overall cohesiveness to the album that'll make it listenable from beginning to end. Common is definitely one of the most slept-on, under-rated, and under-successful rappers of my generation. By under-successful I mean that he deserves far more acclaim and industry success than he's achieved up to this point. Though he's probably not struggling for money with his GAP endorsements, movie roles, and hat line that's coming, I'm sure he wouldn't mind receiving a little more praise for his favorite occupation as a rapper. Forgive me, his favorite occupation as a hip-hop artist.

My favorite Common song is "The Light" off his "Like Water For Chocolate" album in 2000. Specifically, this snippet:

Few understand the union of woman and man
And sex and a tingle is where they assume that it land
But that's fly by night for you and the sky I write
For in these cold Chi night's moon, you my light
If heaven had a height, you would be that tall
Ghetto to coffee shop, through you I see that all
Let's stick to understandin and we won't fall
For better or worse times, I hope to me you call
So I pray everyday more than anything
friends will stay as we begin to lay
this foundation for a family - love ain't simple
Why can't it be anything worth having you work at annually
Granted we known each other for some time
It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine

You can read the lyrics to the entire song here. Second to "The Light" is "The 6th Sense", off the same album. Hopefully the new albums brings about some new favorites to add to my list.

I had the opportunity to meet Common back in 2005 right after BE came out. He was as cool as you thought he'd be. Pleasant and easy to talk to, even if they were rushing you so other people could get his autograph. Fortunately, I was able to get this picture with Com and my man Big J.



I'm going to jump out on a limb and say that "Finding Forever" will probably be one of my favorite albums of 2007. Up to this point I don't have a favorite album yet even though several artists have dropped albums this year. In the past year or so, my musical tastes have changed a bit and I'm beginning to wonder whether it's a result of my growth as a person, musicians helping me grow and helping to open my mind to new types of music, or a combination of both. Regardless of what it is, I'm glad that I'm noticing a change and that the change is for the positive. Less hard-core rap and more meaningful music. All this right after I pumped TI's Trap Muzik...EXACTLY!!!

Some other HIGHLY anticipated albums this year:

TI - TI. VS TIP

Beanie Sigel - Return of the MAC

Little Brother - Get Back

UGK - Underground Kingz

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II

Kanye West - The Graduation

Maxwell - Black Summer's Night

India.Arie - Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics

Ne-Yo - Because of You

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DID YOU KNOW?

Common and the late J-Dilla were roommates? I didn't.

Picture of Le Week

Bored in the bayou waiting to check into your hotel...What would you do in the sweltering, humid, 90-degree heat??? Hit the driving range, RIGHT?

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"Bruhs be on the golf-course JUST WRONG! Du-rags...Timberlands..."

-- Cedric the Entertainer

The Best TI/TIP Album of all the times

Most people know of TI from his fame around the time(s) he released Urban Legend ("Bring 'Em Out", "U Don't Know Me") or KING ("What You Know", "Why You Wanna") times. However, I have been a fan of the TIPper since his album Trap Muzik (which is his second) and I even went back and copped his first album, I'm Serious. TIP has four albums so far in his collection:

• I'm Serious (2001)
• Trap Muzik (2003)
• Urban Legend (2004)
• KING (2006)

To his credit (or perhaps detriment), T.I. has pretty-much stayed the course and stuck to his street-rapper tendencies rather than completely crossing over like rap some contemporary rap artist/superstars have. Yet and still, TI has shown growth through his music as well as the ability to branch-out to other audiences through tracks like "Why You Wanna" and feature appearances on tracks from artists like Justin Timberlake and Be-YONCE (aka Beyoncé).

This weekend I took the time to go back through my collection of TIPper albums and listen to them all again. After taking a listen through each one I realized that my favorite TI album is TRAP MUZIK. And since that revelation, I have not been able to stop listening to this album.

From beginning to end, Trap Muzik is TI's most cohesive, easy to listen to, lyrically sound, and most creative album. TI shows versatility in his flow, lyricism, and content. He keeps it street on songs like "Doin' My Job", "Rubberband Man", and "Look What I Got". He puts his story-telling ability on display in "Long Live Da Game". He pleases the ladies on tracks like "Let's Get Away" and "Let Me Tell You Something". He even gets retrospective, regretful, and introspetive on "I Still Luv Ya". And he addresses the battle between his alter-egos on my favorite song on the album, "T.I. vs. TIP". T.I. is his more corporate/rapper side. While T.I.P. is that dude from the trap in Bankhead that still loves the life of the street. I'm sure T.I. isn't the first rapper to have this sort of alter-ego complex, but the way he addresses is stands out prominently. And even today he appears to still have a battle going on as he's decided to name his upcoming album T.I. VS. T.I.P.

Lots of people would probably note Urban Legend or KING as TIP's best album. But you gotta go back and take a listen to Trap Muzik. It's a classic TI album. And if you have more time, go all the way back to I'm Serious and check out "Still Ain't Forgave Myself", "Chooz U", and "What Happened". In the latter he addresses his kidnapping, which I assume took place during is dope boy days.

If you take a listen to all the albums in his discography, I think you'll find that TI has a nice collection of albums and has shown considerable growth as an artist since his first album. I gained a new respect for TI over the weekend and maybe if you take my advice, you will as well.

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Naturally, I have to share the album with you after all this right? Check it out in my Virtual Playlist to the right...

WebNerd ALERT: Google knows everything about you!

"Google, improving the lives of stalkers worldwide!"

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Your phone number...

Where you live...

How to get there...

Try this:

1. Go to www.google.com
2. Enter your phone number like this: XXX-XXX-XXXX
3. Click the "Google Search" button

If you're lucky, this won't produce any results. If you're not lucky, you'll get your name, address, phone number, and a handy-dandy map of where your house is located via GoogleMaps. And Im sure there's a way you can take a look at a still photograph of your house if you throw it into GoogleEarth.

Fortunately, if your information does come up after following the steps above, you can click on the link below your information to have yourself removed (though it's said to take a couple days). If you care at all about your name, address, phone number, and a map of the area your residence is in being broadcast on the InterWeb for all to see (if they know your phone number), then you might want to get yourself removed. Otherwise, ignore this post.

I've been chronicling Google's efforts for world-takeover for some time now. This is yet another step in their quest to rule all of mankind. Some of the previous steps and/or notable moments are listed below:

Google Hearts YouTube

Google Hearts Nerds

Google Hearts TextMessaging

Google's Smorgasbord of World-TakeOver Services

FlickR: San Diego

I've been a FlickR member since last year but I never really used it. I did add some pictures from my trip to San Diego in March of 2006, but since then, I haven't posted anything. Once I get a new camera though, I think I will begin to harness the power of FlickR...But here's a throwback slideshow for ya in the meantime:

San Diego Slideshow (You will probably have to sign-in or create an account to view this...)

Picture of the Week

"Just gimme the light..."

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Picture Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/dariusz69/

When you come visit your boy, wear your vest!

Kevlar vest, that is!

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Baltimorians listen up! Just in case you were wondering what that was that just whizzed past your ear while you were walking from your office building to your car..It was a bullet! Probably one that's helped contribute to the 64 deaths (homicides) in Baltimore City (so far) this year.

I found it rather funny last night while watching the news that the Mayor of Baltimore, Sheila Dixon, had this to say about the city's ridiculous amount of homicides so far this year:

"We could have had a police officer on every corner, but some of those cases would have happened anyway because, again, those individuals have chosen to be violent, to go back and get back at a person versus trying to talk through it,"

Oh really? Isn't it sort of a proven fact that police presence is a very good deterrent for violent crimes? People tend to think twice before doing something illegal when the police are around, right? But I get your point, you're saying that even if a crime was put off (on hold) for a day or two because of police presence, bodies would still eventually be getting dropped because people just want to kill one-another, rather than resolve the conflict. Perhaps this is true. And with that said, you have suggested a solution...

Your solution: Operation Safe Streets
--> Catchy. But what does it really entail?

Your prediction: "You'll see perhaps by mid-year or around the fall that it'll taper off compared to last year"
--> Oh really? Let's hope so. But again, what does your plan entail? As in HOW are you going to deter people from committing homicides?

As a citizen of Baltimore, I'm wondering if "Operation Safe Streets" will include the following:

• A snitchmobile: A mobile unit for people to snitch on people they know may potentially commmit homicides. This will probably prove very effective in a city known for it's lack of snitches. Sarcasm, yes!
• More police officers on the street: What a great idea? Those little blue cameras that let me know where not to buy real estate also tape people. But eventually people forget about the cameras, get used to them, or find ways around them, and go ahead about their illegal business
• Conflict resolution programs in schools since the murder rate is going up most among juveniles: How about a program city-wide in public schools for conflict-resolution that has the proper funding and staffing? It might take some time to get this rolling but it could be part of a larger initiative that's implemented over time
• Parental counseling: Most of the problems of the inner city can be traced back to what goes on in the home. Somebody get these parents some help because they obviously aren't doing a good job on their own.

The ironic thing about all this is that I don't feel unsafe in Baltimore. I don't feel unsafe in my neighborhood, at work, or when I go out. But maybe that'll last until I get my brains blown out or until something happens to someone close to me. I hope not. In any case, it appears that the potential for a human being to be on the wrong side of a homicide in Baltimore is second to ONE (place). That place being Philadelphia where they're already at 100 murders for the year and averaging a murder a day (yikes!).

While I may sound skeptical of Mayor Dixon's plan, I glad that she is addressing the issue and has developed a plan. And I am also hopeful that it does help lower the murder rate. Anything that can make this city safer is something that I am all for. Like Jack Johnson closing down the go-go clubs in PG County, she's making a stand to let the residents know that she is not ignoring the problem, but trying to find a solution that will save lives. Which is of course, the most important thing in all of this, keeping people safe and alive.

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All quotes taken from and inspiration for this post derived from this article:

Baltimore Mayor Hopes To Curb Cycle Of Violence