29 Posts in 29 Days

Shot out to Lance for pointing out to me that I could make 29 posts this month and (obviously) in the leap year that is 2012. This post makes it 29 posts in 29 days and I didn't even do a post a day. Sure you don't care, but Happy Leap Day anyway, lol.

Sports Round-Up

NFL Draft

• The Irsays Colts should take RGIII but they're gonna take Luck.
• The/My Redskins should trade up to get RGIII at the second pick or stick with the 6th pick, take Morris Claiborne, and try to get Matt Flynn. I do not under any circumstances think that the Redskins should take Ryan Tanneyhill. I'm also not pumped about the Redskins taking Peyton Manning for a 2-year project that'll only end with one, maybe two playoff appearances, and no titles.
• Apparently there's some 346-pound guy that ran a 40-yard dash somewhere right below or above 5 seconds. Message to all mother's... Do not let your sons play quarterback. Encourage him to do something more lucrative and less painful, like becoming a baseball pitcher/player.
• Based on what I've seen on Sportscenter, RGIII had to have had a top-10 40-yard time out of everyone at the combine. And he's a quarterback. That's kind of awesome like the time when Mike Vick ran a 4.33 at the combine like he was chasing down some dogs (I can totally say that now by the way).

NBA Finals Prediction

This is going to sound super lame but barring injury the Heat will be in the Finals. In the West, I'm not sure OKC is a lock because Westbrook has a prima donna in him that comes out at the wrong times (see last years playoffs for an example). Dallas and San Antonio will not go quietly I'm sure and the Lakers and Clippers will also be in the mix as well. The sleeper out west is Memphis but I think they're the Atlanta Falcons of the NBA so I can't pick them. With all that said, I'm going to root for (and pick) a Dallas/Heat rematch, especially if the Mavs somehow land Deron Williams.

NASCAR



First, Danica Patrick was out there driving all weekend like she has a Virginia license. Crash after crash after crash, sheesh. Second, Juan Pablo Montoya almost blew himself up accidentally crashing into the Jet Dryer car (this could really have been a lot worse but it was still pretty bad). Third, in 54 years of having the Daytona 500 this is the FIRST time it's been rescheduled because of rain? Let me get this right... In 54 years an outdoor event in Florida had NEVER been rescheduled due to rain. I'd call that a miracle before the race even began. Last, why in the hell is the most popular race of the year the first race of the season? Wouldn't Nascar be better served by having more minority driveers making the Daytona 500 the final race of the "chase"? I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this and there has to be a better reason, I just don't know what that reason is. Someone please enlighten me.

Baseball

Ryan Braun should shut up and just play baseball. You failed the test bro but some technicality in the way the sample was handled got you over. Wipe your forehead, say "whewww", and move on and play ball. Now you're going to cause even more of a shytstorm by speaking out as if you were persecuted by MLB. You were persecuted by ESPN and other sports media outlets if anyone. You know, the same outlets that aired you're rebuttal speech when your suspension was revoked. Play ball and let your play do the talking. We'll see this year if your numbers drop like Brady Anderson's after he got off the juice. That'll really tell the story.

Golf

Tiger ain't got it no more. Plain-and-simple. I don't care about the Navy SEAL stuff (his dad was in the military so it makes sense for him to have an interest as well) and I don't care about all the different swing coaches and the new caddy. Tiger just doesn't have that fire anymore. Jack Nicklaus's record is safe [white people].

Fan-Made Video: J. Cole - Michael

Shot out to @riprock81 for sending me this video. I'd heard the song but never saw the video. Speaking from the perspective of a WIRE fan, this video compliments the song extremely well. Very well done. If I had to describe my reaction to this video in a word, it would be poignant.

Baltimore Blocks: Charles Village Mural

One of the hidden gems in the city of Baltimore is that there are a fair amount of pretty cool murals throughout the city. This one is in Charles Village by the corner of 25th Street and Charles Street. You can see it when you're walking out of the Charles Village Safeway.

I've got a few more Baltimore photos from around the city that have got my eye, including another mural shot. Check em out.

De-Google Yourselves Before the New Privacy Policy Goes into Effect

For a while I've been talking about how Google is plotting a world takeover for good or for bad. Here's the latest warning/update with regard to how Google might just know more about you than you realize about yourself. And more importantly, how you can (sort of) stop it, lol.

All information below taken from DigitalJournal.com.

"With just a week to go before Google changes to its new privacy policy that allows it to gather, store and use personal information, users have a last chance to delete their Google Browsing History, along with any damning information therein... once Google's new unified privacy policy takes effect all data already collected about you, including search queries, sites visited, age, gender and location will be gathered and assigned to your online identity represented by your Gmail and YouTube accounts. After the policy takes effect you are not allowed to opt out without abandoning Google altogether. But now before the policy takes effect, you have the option of deleting your Google Web History by modifying your settings so that Google is unable to associate data collected about you with your Gmail or YouTube accounts."

How to delete your Google Browsing History:

1. Go to the google homepage and sign into your account.
2. Click the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper-right hand corner of your screen.
3. Click accounts settings
4. Find the "Services section"
5. Under "Services" there is a sub-section that reads "View, enable, disable web history." Click the link next to it that reads: "Go to Web History."
6. Click on "Remove all Web History"

You've got until March 1 (Thursday) to geterdone. Good luck.

For more on what happens after you have removed all your web history visit DigitalJournal.com.

Video: Toby Keith: Red Solo Cup

I was introduced to this song a couple weekends ago (I'm gonna assume I'm super late hearing about this) while on a Skication in Deep Creek, Maryland. The song is horrible but hilarious at the same time.

Let's have a partyyyyyyyyyy!

Get More: Red Solo Cup, Toby Keith, Toby Keith Videos

Video: Rick Ross - High Definition

One of my favorite joints off of his "Rich Forever" mixtape.


I'm hoping he does a video for "Party Heart" too.

Robbies 1st Base, Baltimore

There's at least one awesome place in the Baltimore area, and it looks like there's going to be a show about it called "Ball Boys".


More info on the show at sportscollectorsdaily.com.

Jeremy Lin Skit: Another Reason Why Saturday Night Live is DOPE

This skit pretty much undresses all the underlying racist shyt going on surrounding Jeremy Lin.


More on this skit at the Huffington Post. Thanks K for sending this to me.

My Latest Pair: Saucony Bullets, AGAIN

I have these in another color and I like them so much I decided to get them in black this time. It's probably overkill but they're comfortable, light, and in times of casual dress, are pretty versatile.

MCARROLL4-7-1-6 Mix: The Best of The Weeknd

It's Friday afternoon, may as well get ready for the Weeknd.

One of my favorite new singers...

The Weeknd - Dirty Diana

I can't say enough about how much I really like The Weeknd's cover of MJ's classic, Dirty Diana. He takes this and definitely adds his style/flair to it. It'll never be the original but his cover is pretty friggin' good.


On the other side of the spectrum you have "Practice" by Drake which is not a true cover but close enough:


Don't get it twisted, I'm a big Drake fan but I don't think he did a good job on that one. It just doesn't flow well to me.

1 of the Many Reasons that I Miss The WIRE

THROWBACK! Dobie Gray - Drift Away

I was reminded of this song during a tribute on the Grammys. I knew the song but never actually knew who sang it.

Miscellaneous Randomness: Phonte - Last Day

One of my favorite rappers of all time and one of most under-appreciated rappers of all time from one of the most under-appreciated hip-hop groups of all time, Little Brother.

"My sign Is Sagittarius, I'm into Spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but I'm gettin' a weave"

Ronald sir, you are HILARIOUS!

When he did his own ad-lib to "gettin' a weave I bust out laughing." Yep, I'm corny like that.

Happy Valentine's Day

GREAT SONG! Happy Valentine's Day ;-)

Rest In Peace Whitney Houston

August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012
She had her ups-and-downs off-stage but in her prime, she was AMAZING!

A few of my favorites.

Skeeball League: Week 5

We won both games. I ate the hottest wings ever in the existence of water and man... Did I mention we won both games???? We now have a record of 7-2 and I'm assuming we'll be somewhere in the top 5 of all the teams. There's one team that's still undefeated so my personal goal now is to beat them, lol.

Those wings were the hottest wings I have ever touched in my life, let alone eaten. My co-worker ate three and looked like he was about to melt while going into anaphylactic shock. My dumb azz decided I had to try one just because of how he was suffering (I recognize fully that what I just said was completely illogical) and ended up having my mouth on fire for about a half hour, smh.

Check out some pics below of the skeeball machines and some shots from one of our games.

"In the past if you picture events like a black tie, what's the last thing you expect to see..."

That's me and a few of my buddies (the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library system being the lovely lady in the picture) at the Pratt Contemporaries' Black and White Party in late January. I couldn't help but think of that Kanye lyric when I looked at the picture. "Black excellence, opulence, decadence..."



[Jay-Z:] Bloody murder, murder murder [x4]

[Kanye West:]
The paper read murder, black on black murder
The paper read murder, black on black murder

[Jay-Z:]
This is to the memory of Danroy Henry
Too much enemy fire to catch a friendly
Strays from the same shade, nigga we on the same team
Giving you respect, I expect the same thing
All black everything, nigga you know my fresh code
I’m out here fightin’ for you, don’t increase my stress load
Niggas watchin’ the throne, very happy to be
Power to the people, when you see me, see you

[Kanye West:]
And I’m from the murder capital, where they murder for capital
Heard about at least 3 killings this afternoon
Lookin’ at the news like damn I was just with him after school,
No shop class but half the school got a tool,
And I could die any day type attitude
Plus his little brother got shot reppin’ his avenue
It’s time for us to stop and re-define black power
41 souls murdered in 50 hours

The paper read murder, black on black murder,
The paper read murder, black on black murder again
Murder again...

Is it genocide?
Cause I can still hear his momma cry, know the family traumatized
Shots left holes in his face, bout piranha-size
The old pastor closed the cold casket
And said the church ain’t got enough room for all the tombs
It’s a war going on outside, we ain’t safe from
I feel the pain in my city wherever I go
314 soldiers died in Iraq
509 died in Chicago

[Jay-Z:]
I arrived on the day Fred Hampton died
Real niggas just multiply
And they say by 21 I was supposed to die
So I’m out here celebratin’ my post demise
If you put crabs in a barrel to insure your survival
You gon’ end up pulling down niggas that look just like you
What up blood? What up cos?
It’s all black, I love us

[Kanye West:]
The paper read murder, black on black murder,
The paper read murder, black on black murder again
Black on black murder again
Black on black murder again

[Jay-Z:]
It’s a celebration of black excellence
Black tie, black Maybachs
Black excellence, opulence, decadence
Tuxes next to the president, I’m present
I dress in Dries and other boutique stores in Paris
In sheepskin coats, I silence the lamb
Do you know who I am Clarice?
No cheap cologne whenever I “shh-shh”
Success never smelled so sweet, I stink of success
The new black elite, they say my black card bear the mark of the beast
I repeat, my religion is the beat
My verse is like church, my Jesus piece, now please, domino, domino
Only spot a few blacks the higher I go
What’s up to Will, shoutout to O
That ain’t enough, we gon’ need a million more
Kick in the door, Biggie flow
I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go

[Kanye West:]
Yea it’s all messed up when it’s nowhere to go
So we won’t take the time out til we reach the T O P
From paroles to hold G’s, sold keys, low keys
We like the promised land of the OG’s
In the past if you picture events like a black tie
What’s the last thing you expect to see, black guys
What’s the life expectancy for black guys?
The system’s working effectively, that’s why
I’ll be a real man, take care of your son
Every problem you had before this day is now done
New crib, watch a movie
Cause ain’t nothin’ on the news but the blues
Hit the mall, pick up some Gucci
Now ain’t nothin’ new but your shoes
Sunday morning, praise the Lord
You the girl that Jesus had been saving me for
So let’s savor this moment, and take it to the floor
Black excellence, truly yours

Lyrics courtesy of AZlyrics.com and an even cooler explanation of the lyrics over at RapGenius.com.

"Look scrapper I got nephews to look after!"

So.Much.SWAG!

Clusterf*ck Alert: A White Guy, In Black Face, Asking White People Questions About Black People

Shyt like this bothers me, I can't help it.

Dude in Blackface: Would you feel more comfortable dating a black guy who acts like a white guy, or a white guy who acts like a black guy?

Girl: Oh my gosh, definitely a black guy that acts like a white guy.

...

Dude: A black guy that acts like a white guy???

Girl: Classy yeah, good stuff.

If you can't read between the lines on that one, shame on you lol. Based on the above I'm gonna assume this is the hierarchy of classiness in this case:

1. White guy that acts white (the "prince").
2. Any other race outside of Middle Eastern that acts white (he isn't white but he's probably a smidge more classy than a black guy").
3. Black guy that acts white (at least he's trying).
4. Black guy that acts like whatever "they" think a black guy acts like (at least they "know" what to expect).
5. White guy that acts black (this is probably like being a complete traitor).

Check out the full video for yourself below:


Someone needs walk around Howard or FAMU's campus and ask Black women the question: "Would you rather date a black guy that acts like a white guy or a white guy that acts like a black guy?" The world might explode off that one, lol. I can already see the expressions of angst and utter confusion on women's faces as they adamantly respond "Neither". BUT, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of Black women if forced to choose between the two, would still roll with the black guy that acts like a white guy.

By no means am I saying that the ignorance displayed in the video above is how every white person (or student at BYU) thinks and I'm sure that this was edited in a way that makes it seem much more provocative and ignorant than it probably was. But I also think that people don't realize just how much their subconscious thoughts come into play in situations like this. The fact that a black guy acting like a white guy is deemed "classy" says quite a bit. It was a little upsetting because "acting white" is apparently deemed classy by default whereas "acting black" is something you can infer/assume is innately lower than "acting white".

Sidebar: What does "acting white" or "acting black" really mean anyway? In the context of this video I think we can infer what it means but isn't it time we started thinking outside the constraints, assumptions, and prejudices of what we believe a black or white person acts like because of their racial/ethnic make-up?

Moving right along, it's subconscious thoughts like the seemingly innate perspective that whiteness equals classiness (or whatever else) that people probably don't realize is engrained in their minds and affects their view of people who are in fact, just people.

What bothered me even more than that part was the Black guys in the video. Talking about how much game you have isn't helping the situation. And not being educated enough about your own culture to show some doof in Blackface that you're not ignorant about your own culture's history is probably more of a crime than a white person thinking that they're classier than everyone else by default. There's a lot of things in that video that made me shake my head or that I question or that rubbed me the wrong way.

THROWBACK!!! Michael Jackson - Human Nature

Timeless.

MCARROLL4-7-1-6 Mix: The Best of Common

Go ahead and press the play button, just do it!


Bonus: This is probably my favorite Common post (Common - "The People") on the site but I've got a few others as well.

Best Weatherman Ever???

My co-worker passed this along to me this morning and I have to say that this guy is pretty awesome. Good Morning America needs to get this guy on-board.

Happy Black History Month

That boy good... Good and terrible!

My Favorite Superbowl Commercial: BEST GIFT EVER!!!

Congrats Giants fans. Hail to the Redskins tho!

Skeeball League: Week 4

This week marked the 4th week of the skeeball league. We came into this week with a record of 3-2 and my personal goal was to make sure we won at least 1 of the two matches we had this week, lol. We ended up winning our first match by forfeit because the other team didn't show up. I'm not sure how you have a team and not a single person shows up but we'll take the W. Because the other team didn't show, the organizers let us use the time to get some practice in by playing against them in a fake match, which was cool.

After our first game we typically go for a food break which was no different this week. Picthers of Miller Lite before, during, and after matches and in-between matches, a food feast. Good stuff. During the food feast I had to take a quick trip to the men's room and while in there I ran across a very interesting business card, shown below.

In case you can't see what the image says, it's "business card" for the "Church of Beertology" (which I think it completely hilarious lol) and the church's slogan is "Everybody has to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink". LOL!

There's other hilarious stuff on the card like "Soberthans" and how they're ruining everyone's lives (LMAO). Also, if you take a look at the card you'll see that the name listed is Pope Blarius (????).

Because this card made me laugh I took a picture of it just for kicks. After I left the bathroom I went back to chatting it up with my teammates and I see a guy with a gigantic green hat on. This was the second time I've noticed this guy in the last two weeks with this gigantic green hat on. So I tap him on the shoulder and ask if I can take a picture with him (yes, I'm easy like that lol). And I come to find out that I am in fact taking a picture with THE Pope Blarius (what are the odds people? lol). So without any further blathering, I present myself and Pope Blarius, in picture form.

Big K.R.I.T - Boobie Miles & Hometown Hero

Just caught KRIT's "Boobie Miles" over on Nahright.com and realized that this is the second time KRIT's used Boobie as a theme or central figure in one of his tracks. Boobie Miles is below and it's pretty good but I like the first song I heard KRIT use Boobie in a lot more than this one. Check 'em out for yourself.

Boobie Miles


Hometown Hero


Actually, now that I think about it, "Hometown Hero" is a lot better.

"Coulda bought my way to heaven but I blow it on my neck instead/What you expect when you ain't have shit/And they ain't paying half of what you asking... The rap game is high school, and life's a hallway/Like what clique you in/The Beamer or the Benz/The Bentley or the Lambo/Like here we go again/Don't sit at my table/VIP, I got this/If you ain't popping champagne after every game then don't pop shyt"