My Prediction for the Redskins Season and RGIII

Yup, HTTR all day from August till December (cuz you know we won't be playing in January for another couple years and haven't in several years, lol). Below you'll see my prognostication for the upcoming Redskins season including a game-by-game stats prediction for Robert Griffin III, which will make the season at least a little bit more interesting for me. I'm not one of those ridiculous Redskins fans that thinks we are Superbowl bound (though I do think with great play from our new QB we could potentially get a wild card spot but that's still a long shot). I try to temper my expectations using reality as a guide. Let's be real here, my squad has stunk for the past few years and a ROOKIE QB isn't likely to change that in year 1. But, I do think we have a good enough team to not finish last in the NFC East if we play to the best of our abilities.

At Saints… Loss

Let's not get it twisted, the Saints went through a lot this offseason but going down to New Orleans and playing them in their home opener against a veteran team that can put up points on anyone, that'll be a tough win for us. Chalk this one up as an L.

[RGII Line: 200 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT]

At Rams… Win

We have enough talent to beat the Rams. We'll have to keep Steven Jackson in check and make Bradford beat us with the pass. This will be a good game to see how our offense stacks up against a decent defense that isn't top tier. They have a solid corner in Courtland Finnegan and a solid pass rusher in Chris Long. And overall, Jeff Fisher always has teams with solid defenses so they should not be a pushover in terms of putting up points.

[RGII Line: 230 yards, 1 TD]

Bengals… Win

This SHOULD be a win. A tough win because the Bengals defense is going to play well I suspect. But we should be able to keep up with Dalton and Green. And this is our home opener so everyone will be jacked up for this one.

[RGII Line: 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT]

At Tampa Bay… Win

I'm gonna be at this game so I'm going win regardless. But seriously, we SHOULD beat this team. Hopefully we don't get a win the week before, get a big head, and then go on the road and get molly-whopped.

[RGII Line: 250 yards, 2 TD]

Atlanta… Loss

They're just a better team all-around, especially offensively.

[RGII Line: 310 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT]

Minnesota… Win

We lost to Minnesota last year AFTER we knocked AP out of the game. I think this will be a revenge win.

[RGII Line: 230 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT]

At Giants… Loss

We beat them twice last year on their way to winning the Superbowl. They haven't forgot, and as a result will be stomping a mud hole in our asses at MetLife Stadium.

[RGII Line: 280 yards, 1 TD]

At Pittsburgh… Loss

Unless RGIII morphs into Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, we do not have a chance. Even then, it'll still be tough to go TO Pittsburgh and beat them. Sorry Skins fans, it's the truth. Let's be real here.

[RGII Line: 180 yards, 1 INT]

Carolina… Win

We lost to Cam last year and I think we'll want revenge this year. I expect this to be a high-scoring affair with us winning on a FG at the end.

[RGII Line: 300 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT]

BYE WEEK… WIN

It's a good thing we've got a bye week here because the next four games are all going to be tough as hell and I've got us only winning one of the and that could easily be a loss.

Eagles… Loss

Even if Vick is hurt by this time (which I fully expect him to be), Kafka or Foles are more than capable of shredding D'Angelo Hall our defense for multiple TDs.

[RGII Line: 240 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT]

At CowGirls… Win

We're gonna probably get swept by the Giants and split with both Philly and Dallas. I've got a hunch we're going to go down to JerryWorld and win this one.

[RGII Line: 280 yards, 1 INT]

Giants… Loss

See the previous Giants game prediction, I haven't changed my stance.

[RGII Line: 220 yards, 1 INT]

Ravens… Loss

This one is going to hurt since I live in Baltimore and don't mind letting people know I'm a Redskins fan. Much like Pittsburgh, this is just a better team that runs enough shenanigans on defense to confuse a veteran QB, let alone a rookie. And they've got solid weapons on offense and I don't believe we can stop all of those weapons.

[RGII Line: 150 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT]

At Browns… Win

If we have any intestinal fortitude then we will rebound from a Ravens loss by heading to Cleveland and beating the Browns. A team that we should definitely be competitive against and should have the veteran leadership and talent to beat.

[RGII Line: 290 yards, 2 TD]

At Eagles… Loss

See my prediction for the previous Eagles game. The Eagles aren't so good that they won't need to fit for playoffs altogether or playoff positioning at this point so they'll have full weaponry dispersed. And we'll be on their turf. Which means, we are focked.

[RGII Line: 280 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT]

Cowboys… Win

At this point the CowGirls will likely have a 0.000003% mathematical chance to make the playoffs and they'll have to go through us to do it. But we'll beat them if that's the case because that's just how the rivalry works. Only, we won't beat them, Tony Romo will dodge 17 sacks in a row, scrambled across the field twice, high-five Jerry Jones, and throw a 50 yard hail mary to Ogletree (of all focking people) on the last play of the game that he will have in his hands, get hit by London Fletcher, bobble, and it will fall into D'Angelo Hall's hand on the half yard line with one second left on the clock. Game over, Redskins win and send the CowGirls home just like we'll be going home. Season over.

[RGII Line: 300 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT]

That will leave us at 8-8 (not including the bye week win, lol) and of course out of the playoffs for yet another year. If you recall, last year I think I made the same prediction and we went 5 up and 11 down so we'll see what happens this year. Keep in mind that we had BeckStacy at QB last year though.

Directly related to this is how I think RGIII will perform this season. You've seen what I have as his stat lines above for each game which would give him the following line at the year's end... 3,950, 22 TD, and 15 INT

I think 22 TD could realistically happen. 15 interceptions may be a few INTs low though. And 3,950 yards seems on the high side as well but I'll stick with it and see what happens.

August 26, National Go Topless Day

You know, I understand the point of these type of "awareness events" and as a guy I clearly support this for the most obvious of reasons but yet-and-still I think sometimes people whose chests no one wants to see take this type of stuff as a green light to embarrass themselves in the name of "awareness" and "equality". Yes, I know, I'm completely missing/circumventing the point of this awareness day when I talk about people embarrassing themselves but you're also probably missing my point, lol. Which is, if you want men to treat you equally, I think that you might be better off by doing the things they [men] consider themselves to be the "best at", better than they [we] do. And even then as much as we will respect you and treat you equally for it, we're still men. We're flawed in that special way. The way that says: "Man, Donquisha is so much better at my job than me, I love working with her because she's super sharp ... But DONquisha got that DONKEY though!" That's pretty much how we work. Sorry, that's just the way it is and yep we know we need to try harder to not have penises and lustful moments but again, we're men (yes, I know we need to stop saying/being sorry too, we're a shambles). And YES, we'll try to do better, but do we ever really try hard enough [to meet your standards]? I mean think about your ex, did that bama try hard enough? Really?

So anyway, it's abundantly clear that you have won the shirts off competition a long time ago because you've got breasts (duh)! Most men love breasts even when they come in small packages. Green peas, bazookas, low-hanging fruit, whatever you want to call them, most men don't have them and don't want them but sho' wouldn't mind seeing a pair. That is unless you've got a horrible pair. Just like a women doesn't want to see a man with man boobies and taco meat, NO MAN wants to see a pair of terrible tatas, I'm just saying. With that being said, ladies, women, girls, please take the following into consideration this Sunday when prancing around topless should you choose to do so:


My point in all of this is to say that National Go Topless Day is great if it empowers women and helps them become more equal to men in some way. But in the big scheme of things, it may just be contributing more to the chauvinistic stereotypes that most of us men have regarding women. The same ones that the good men try hard not to fall victim to and that good women try not to fall into.

P.S. - For more information on National Go Topless Day, visit http://gotopless.org (NSFW, btw).

My Favorite Sports Teams!

Football season is about to start up which means the real sports season is about to begin. I like basketball, I can watch baseball during the playoffs, and I watch enough Sportscenter to have an appreciation for and basic knowledge of most other sports but when football season begins, it's a weekly ritual to watch at least a couple games.

With that said, I'd like to go on the record (until I change my mind) with my favorite teams in all major sports just so there's a version of record when one of my teams wins a championship and someone says "mannnnn, you just started liking [insert team name here]!"

Football

Most of you that read this blog already know or have figured out that I'm a Redskins fan. I have been since I was about 7 or 8 years old. I will admit that I was sort of a bears fan around age 5 because a family friend was a huge Bears fan and they had just won the Superbowl that year. But once I got old enough to like my own team for my own reasons, the Redskins were good, their paraphernalia was everywhere in the DC area, and I wanted to be WR just like Gary Clark. I remember "The Posse" inspiring me to want to be an NFL wide receiver. That's why I liked the Redskins and I've never strayed to this day no matter how bad we suck or how many times we have blown a lead in the fourth quarter to a sorry azz team. I'm a Redskins fan for life!

On a related note, I realize that the name "Redskins" is akin to having the Alabama Picaninnies as an NFL franchise and I fully support any movement to change the name to something non-offensive like the Washington Marion Barry's or something else that really represents the city's long-standing dedication to shenanigans.

P.S. - If I had the ability to pick a back-up favorite team at this point it would probably be the Panthers or the Lions because I'm huge fans of both Cam and Megatron. But that's the difference between liking a TEAM and liking a PLAYER. I like the Skins and my favorite players are on other teams which is actually pretty d@mn hilarious now that I think about it. But I'm sure RGIII (if he turns out to be good) will allow me to sound more sensible when I name my favorite player and favorite team. All this leads me to...

Basketball

I'm a Wizards fan. Yeah I know, we suck. Yeah I know we'll likely continue sucking. But whatever, I'm a homer. I like to support the local squads. Not much more to say about why I like the Wizards other than that. It's not like there's a serious winning tradition or anything. In basketball my favorite players are LeBron and Kevin Durant. LeBron because he's just ridiculously skilled at the game and Durant because he's crazy good and he's also from the DC area. I root for the Heat and the Thunder unless they're playing the Wizards (as if that makes a difference in who is going to win, lol) and I rooted for LeBron to get his ring because I've been following him since high school and even with the stupid azz "Decision" I wanted to see him get his ring and hopefully regain some of his popularity with those who still hate him because of his "Decision".

Baseball

Nationals all day baby! The best part about being a Nationals fan since they came back into existence is that they are playing awesome right now and I have been rocking my Nats hats for years in Baltimore even when the Nationals SUCKED! As a kid, my stepfather took me to the Orioles games once or twice a year but I was never really a fan of the team, just a fan of going to the games. When D.C. got a franchise again my loyalty was right there (did I mention I was a homer). Glad to see the Nats doing well and hopefully a winning tradition has begun.

Hockey

I don't watch hockey regularly but I root for the Capitals (clearly). The only time I watch hockey is when it's playoff time and the Capitals are playing (even though I know we're going to blow it). That's as far as I go with hockey. If the Caps are in the playoffs, I'll watch. If the Caps are playing the Penguins, I'll watch. Otherwise, I'm watching basketball.

I'm not voting Republican, but they sure have some witty bumper stickers, lol

Back in 2009 I got a kick out of this anti-Obama bumper sticker. Don't worry folks, I'm still a Democrat.

And this year it turns out those sneaky anti-Obama folks have come up with another catchy little bumper sticker that I happen to think is hilarious.

I saw that one on the way into the office morning and couldn't help but chuckle. You have to be a serious Republican to put that on your car and ride around with it, lol.

Breaking News: Women everywhere stop what they're doing and give thanks to Augusta National

I just got back from lunch with my co-workers and while we were out eating I saw on TV (via ESPN) as "breaking news" that Augusta National Golf Club just admitted two female members. One, Condoleeza Rice. The other, Darla Moore.

Needless to say, admitting Condoleeza Rice takes care of a couple birds with one stone. She's black, and she's a woman. Whoopty-do! She's not the first black allowed in but she's the first black woman. Just as a fun fact the first Black was allowed to play at Augusta National in 1975 and the first black was allowed to join 15 years later in 1990. Yes, you read that right, 15 years. And now Condoleeza joins in 2012 as the first Black female member, well yippee! That's awesomely rapid progress, I know. Especially when you consider that Augusta National has been in operation since 1933. Clearly their leadership has a vision for a diverse membership and equal opportunity is engrained in the culture there, CLEARLY. Darla Moore runs Rainwater, Inc and has been rich (and philanthropic, shot out to her for that) for some time. A sarcastic congratulations to them both for breaking the gender barrier at Augusta National.

It's simultaneously pathetic that it took this long and slightly awesome in that it finally happened and now maybe there will be more women in the future that care enough to become a member. But really, what woman wants to be a member of a club that took this long to let women in? How awkward will it be if even though they let ya in, they still treat you like second-class members? My guess is, Condoleeza has given this thought because she's a well-educated Black woman whose had to think about this before from the perspective of a Black person in this country. Undoubtedly in her rise to becoming Secretary of State (albeit under the Bush Administration) she broke down many barriers for both women and Blacks but even when you break down barriers and you get in, you'll still looked at a little funny. I wonder if Darla's thought about this or if the wads of cash she's has make the view a little easier. Both of these women and their accomplishments demand a certain level of respect and perhaps that's what will make them (and women who join in the future) be viewed as "equals"... Perhaps. But let's not be so sure that the good ole' boy system is gonna break completely down when a few women are let in the club.

I'm just thinking out loud here not knowing much about the process of becoming a member or what the benefits are or who their membership consists of. But I don't think I need to know all of that information to know that it's completely absurd that it took this long to let a woman in. It also makes me wonder if any of the male members ever took a stand to put pressure on Augusta to let women become members because it's kind of absurd if not a single guy has ever taken that stance.

Anyway, with all that said, I'm glad to hear that two women have been allowed on the inside but clearly, there's still a long way to go.

I'm introducing a new word into my slang vernacular, filibuster

A while back I posted a bunch of words/phrases that I use all the time. I somehow left prexactly (precisely + exactly) off that list and I now need to add "filibuster" to that list.

Filibuster is defined as:

"The use of irregular or obstructive tactics by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored or to force a decision against the will of the majority." (source: Dictionary.com)

"A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure where an individual extends debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal. It is commonly referred to as talking out a bill,[1] and characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body." (source: Wikipedia.com)

The main part of both of those definitions that I'm focusing on in my usage of the term is "obstructive" and "prevent".

With that in mind henceforth I will be referring to the following type of person as a FILIBUSTER.

1. The girl that tries ridiculously hard to be one of the guys so that she can get some attention from (you guessed it) one (or more) of the guys. Then when she realizes that none of the guys are interested in her, she becomes the passive female "friend" that's a c*ckblock. Get out of here with that and go grab some self-esteem and a side of female friends. This is usually the same girl that makes sure she has one or two friends with her that are cuter than her so she can get some attention indirectly. We've been hip to you, you FILIBUSTER!
2. The guy that always has something negative to say about every girl because he fell in love with the wrong chick years ago, got his feelings all destroyed nshyt, and still has not gotten over it. Look dude, if it was more than a year ago, the statute of limitations on your hatred and vitriol has passed. Let that mess go and do what most people do, go find a girl that's the exact opposite of the one you were dealing with and realize that that's not good for you either. But don't sit around hating on every girl just because she doesn't think your knowledge of football fun facts, prodding questions of prejudgement, and aura of "I'm still salty about my ex" is something she'd like to have more of. Have some pride why don't you, you FILIBUSTER!
   
   

Ok, I'm done.

Makes me laugh uncontrollably every time...

Nothing in the future of kiddie rap could possibly be better than this

Ya'll are probably laughing right now but this is classic stuff right here, lol. Go ahead and fake like you didn't like this song, for real though lol.


I'm still a little upset that whoever his ghostwriter was, the person still kept some not-so-ambiguous adult/ignorant words in the song.

Rating an Album: Nas - Life's Good

I had formed an opinion on Nas's latest release when it first came out but I wanted to hold off on writing about it here until I had a couple weeks to listen to it, hear everyone else's opinions, ignore/disregard them, and come back to it and form as objective an opinion as I could for an album that dropped less than a month ago and had high expectations. Finally, I think I'm at a point now where I can talk about it and not feel like I'm going to say something that I'll completely contradict in a conversation later.

The first thing I would like to say is that this is a good/solid album. It's NOT classic but for Nas STANS it will be. It's not the best Nas album ever. It's not in the top 3 Nas albums ever (Illmatic, Stillmatic, God's Son). This is a solid Nas album for today's market conditions.

Let's get this thing rolling song-by-song:

1. No Introduction: I honestly can't get past this beat. I think I'm in the minority on this one but this beat is really just underwhelming. Not to be lost is Nas's lyricism and ability to paint vivid pictures but yet-and-still, this just didn't set the tone for me to the point where I was excited about what I was about to hear on the remainder of the album.
2. Loco-Motive: This is a joint I heard a minute before the album dropped and this actually got me excited to hear the album. This is that vintage 90's Nas flow right here and that sinister style production complements him well when he flows like this. One of my favorite tracks on the album. I guess I'm trapped in the 90s too, huh? Lol.
3. Queens Story: Mehhhh. This is the type of back to Queens type of track that really only works with me when he has a beat like the previous song. I can listen to this but it doesn't draw me in. I'm not even all that impressed by how he leads into the next track at the end.
4. Accident Murderers: Hardest beat on the album and Fat Ricky doesn't ruin the song and holds his own pretty well though he doesn't stick to the topic of the track, lol. Nas's verses are real talk.
5. Daughters: Another one of my favorite tracks on the album. This is just a great track for younger guys with daughters. Learn from Nas. This is the type of masculine yet vulnerable stuff that Nas does well.
6. Reach Out: Blatant radio joint. It's not a bad song at all I just hate that I know this is a contrived second or third single. That beat, MJB, come on man can't we be more creative here. I won't even mention how Jay-Z does the contrived radio joints so much better (oh my bad, I just mentioned it). Nas's first verse here is pretty good though.
7. World's An Addiction: If there was one song I'd skip it would be this one. The lyrics are on point but the song overall just doesn't cut it, definitely not within the flow of the album. Jam this in-between two radio joints? Who's A&R'ing/Exec producing this project?
8. Summer on Smash: Another radio joint and it just feels like something is missing and there's a little too much at the same time. Perhaps the too much is Miguel's "verse" and Swizz's voice. I don't mind Swizz so much but there just seems to be something sonically missing here and I can't put my finger on it.
9. You Wouldn't Understand: My favorite radio joint on the album. I actually hope that he releases this as the next single and makes a video for it. For some reason this feels much more tolerant and less contrived than Reach Out or Summer on Smash. At the same time, this feels like it could have fit in on that Nastradamus album too, lol.
10. Back When: Of the NYC back in the day joints on this album, this is my favorite, lol.
11. The Don: This knocks but much like Summer on Smash I feel like something is missing.
12. Stay: The horn on here is dope but don't be fooled, we've heard it before. Yep, CyHi samples this same horn on his joint, "Woopty-Do" though his track isn't nearly as good as this one. If I were Nas I would have left off World Is An Addition and replaced it with this and kept it at this spot on the album. He's going in on this track in terms of the topics he's addressing.
13. Cherry Wine: Overall, the best track on album. Perfect radio song for urban and pop markets. Let's see how soon they drop this as a radio/video single.
14. Bye Baby: You knew it was coming. The "you got issues and they ruined us and I got my issues too yet-and-still we had great moments so I can't really be mad at least I tried I thought you was a nubian queen but it's over and now I'm about to smash 20 year olds because I'm pushing 40 but still look 21 and I'm not going to let you know I'm really effed up in the game as much as you think but I've grown from the experience and feel like a better person now" track. You knew it was coming.
15. Nasty: Vintage "Nasty" Nas. Nothing else needs to be said.
16. The Black Bond: I literally have nothing to say about this song.
17. Roses: I like this song. I think it should have been the last song on the album. So much so that I made it the last song on my mash-up of Ross and Nas's albums.
18. Where's The Love: I like what he's talking about here but I'm not feeling this beat.

Overall I give this album 3.875 out of 5. I will admit that I have my own little rating system that I use - that I won't divulge in this post but in due time I will - and that's why the rating goes to 3 significant digits, lol. But I'll just say this, I think Nas covered a lot of different stuff here but I would have like to hear a tad less of the swaggerifficness and Imma smash this and that from HIM. But at the same time I understand he probably is still mentally going through it somewhat from his divorce and that may be a part of his coping process (sorry ladies, it happens). Daughters and Bye Bye Baby are stand-outs to me in terms of content but yet-and-still I could stand to hear less of Nas talking about how he is 40 bangin' 20 year olds or another story about how things were in Queens when he grew up. Those records have their place but they don't resonate with me as much and that's likely because I have heard similar tracks before and I'm also not from New York. When it comes to lyrics, Nas never really disappoints. Even when Nas is talkin' that swagged out semi-humble brag shyt he does, he is still sick with it. He's lyrically sound on this album as usual but content-wise I think there are some things he's somewhat redundant about.

My usual problem with Nas is that his production is questionable for the current state of hip-hop with respect to him wanting to actually move units nowadays. This album flows nicely for the most part in that there are really no points during the album where you feel like there's a noticeably abrupt/bad change (some people might sight "Summer on Smash" but I'm not going to I think "World Is An Addiction" is that point). But at the same time, there's nothing really special and/or cohesive about the album's arrangement of songs either. Like I mentioned above, I normally take issue with Nas's beat selection but I have definitely seen worse when it comes to his albums. Moreover, the beat on "No Introduction" underwhelms me and when I first heard it set somewhat of an underachieving tone for the rest of the album. And the alleged supposed-to-be club banger by Swizz is decent but it feels like something is missing. And similar to what I said above, "Reach Out" is a blatant attempt to pull on the nostalgic senses of those who know where it's primary sample came from. But in general, the album is listenable all the way through for the most part. The only real sticking point I'd have is World Is An Addiction.

All these thoughts are what lead me to my 3.875 out of 5 ranking. I'm sure many of you will disagree with this and say it's classic, which is fine but I challenge you to find a verse on Life's Good that's better than Nas's verse on this song. If Nas could do this for an entire album, it would be another undeniable classic (Illmatic much?).

London and how it enlightened me

Some of you already know that I was in London about a month ago. I spent just about a week there and it was an amazing experience. Being in another country - not named Mexico, Providenciales, Canada, Jamaica, or some other place that's really just the Caribbean (don't get me wrong, I love the Caribbean - was simply an enlightening experience.

I compare London to New York to many people that I have talked to about the trip. London's expensive, even by New York City's standards. London's a melting pot of people. London's got great food, great culture, and great nightlife. London's a destination that people go to in droves and an epicentre of sorts for the rest of the world. London's like New York but in my opinion, better.

What I learned from being there for that relatively short period of time is that:

• I'm lucky/blessed (whichever you prefer) to have been able to travel there. Not many people that are from where I grew up make it to places like Los Angeles (a place I've never been by the way), let alone London.
• Although I have known this for some time, the world is so much bigger than where you are or where you've lived. There's a lot of amazing things to see in this world.
• In London it seems that unlike here in the U.S., the color of your skin doesn't matter as much. I talked with one of my best friends about this after returning and we both agreed that in London, you're mostly American first, before you're Black. This may sound pretty simple and "duhhhh" to a lot of you, but not me. I'm not one for victimizing myself as a Black man but in the United States it's not always the case that your color or race doesn't give someone the opportunity to pass judgement upon you before speaking a word to you. In London, maybe your nationality or country of residence serves the same purpose but it's not alwasy as easily determined and being judged as an American first damn sure felt better than feeling like you're being judged because you're Black, lol.
• I need to travel east of the Atlantic Ocean more! Traveling within the U.S. and Caribbean is one thing, but traveling across the pond is another. Being able to learn about, appreciate, respect, and absorb other cultures is a beautiful thing and it builds tolerance and helps keep you from judging others without cause and that's a great feeling!
• Life is short and the world is big, see as much of it as you can! It took me a long time to make it to Europe. One of my best friends implored me to make it over there while he was in graduate school there and I made the mistake of not taking advantage of that opportunity. Over ten years later, I visited, and I regret not having gone earlier. Don't make the same mistake I did! Travel to other places, meet other people, learn about other cultures, it'll help make you a better person.

Below you'll see some of the pictures I took while I was running amok in London. I was lucky enough to have a friend that I've known for almost 20 years who was visiting London at the same time so while I was there by myself, I wasn't really alone all the time. I visited just about every landmark I possibly could while there and tried to make the best use of my time. In traveling around London on the Tube and observing people and places, I noticed a few things that stood out and took a few notable/memorable things back home with me:

• Apparently jean shorts with leggings under them is the trend for young ladies in London. I saw this outfit at least 20 times per day. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that there were definitely a LOT of people in this type of attire.
• Warm beer is apparently acceptable in British culture. I had at least 3 warm beers served to me during my stay. I'm not sure if this is really a culturally acceptable thing or if certain beers are served that way (I tried stuff I've never drank before) or if cask ale beers are always served at (bastardly) room temperature. Nevertheless, this was something that obviously stood out to me as a horrible travesty of liquid proportions.
• "Cheers" is now going to be fully incorporated into my daily vernacular.
• A line that you wait in is not a "line", it's a "queue". Having a computer engineering degree I should have recognized a long time ago that this makes far more sense if you really think about it. A "queue" is a first in, first out situation. A line is just a line. Maybe if we called it a queue in the U.S. you bamas wouldn't cut the line all the time, lol.
• An elevator is not an elevator in London, it's a "lift". This also makes sense in one way (when you're going up) but when you're going down are you supposed to call it a "drop"? That sounds like bad luck if you ask me.
• They still have pay phones! No like seriously, they have pay phones. Booths at that!

Without further adieu, here are some of the pictures from my trip, CHEERS!

Baltimore Blocks: Charm City Cupcakes

I'm not a big cupcake person but I almost forgot until today when I went to lunch with my co-workers that this spot is right around the corner from my job.

No, I can't pick up any for you, lol.

THROWBACK RAP: Roc The Mic

Still gotta bop and dance when this joint comes on.

No this dude does not have a snake wrapped around his arm, lol

In related news, apparently this guy is actually a rapper. Or, this is a pretty good joke/hoax.

HA!

Oh My Damn Hip-Hop! Face, Nas, and (raised eyebrow) DJ Khaled

FACEMOB!!!! Also, Nas's verse on this was pretty freakin' good. This is right up his lane. The track is an ill double-entendre. Oh yeah, Dwight Howard got traded to the Lakers last night too (somewhere Chris Paul is pissed).

This commercial cracks me up every time

This Klondike commercial below makes me crack up every time because if you've ever been married or in a relationship you probably have felt this way at some point (both male and female but I'd think it happens to guys more often). The excitement after he realizes he's met the time limit is hilarious, lol.

This Effing Guy: Wiz Khalifa

The cover for Wiz's upcoming album O.N.I.F.C. ("Only Niggas In First Class"), which is kind of a tough title. But not as tough as "Why Aren't There More Ni99as In First Class?" But I guess that is a little too wordy.

Channeling that 60's rock star swag are we Wiz ("You can't hear JIMI!")?

The only thing that I think Wiz missed here was having that stupid Wiz Khalifa "I'm super high and loving it" grin on his face, lol.

Video: Bobby V (feat Lil Wayne) - In The Mirror

I don't care what none of ya'll say this shyt goes and I mess with this dude Bobby V.

My Memory & My Forgetter: Rest In Peace to My Uncle Bill

My uncle Bill passed away on July 20 of this year. He lived to be almost 80 years old which to me, is pretty amazing. He was pretty quiet but every time he spoke it was almost always something I found value in. He didn't waste words, he always meant something from the heart when he spoke, at least when it came to me. I appreciate that very much and I love him for it.

During his memorial service the preacher gave a really good sermon. It was so good it actually didn't feel much like a sermon, it felt like he was just up there droppin' knowledge on you. During his sermon he touched on something I'll probably never forget and I wanted to share that here.

He spoke about how sometimes he realizes that his memory isn't working very well anymore. He used the example of putting something down in his home and coming back to find it and it not being there, searching for it incessantly, even getting to the point where he would blame others and say they took it. I think this is something many of us have done before and coming from him and the way he delivered his sermon the crowd found it humorous because he was an older guy. But this was his example of how his memory just isn't there anymore. And the reason he surmised, was because his "Forgetter" was working far better than his memory (again, he was an older guy, like 60+ older). I thought this was pretty funny considering we "all have our moments".

He went on to speak on how what needed to be remembered most was that we were at a memorial, a celebration of life, and a celebration of what God gave. And most importantly, to not be sad because that day wasn't about what God had taken away but what he gave 80 years ago. He gave the world my uncle like he's given the world all of us. He gave my uncle 80 years in this world filled with memories, relationships, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And because of those memories, relationships, and people, God continues to give through my uncle.

The more I thought about it, the more I appreciated the sentiment. Again, 80s years is a LONG time. We all say we want to live to be 70, 80, 90, maybe even 100 years old. But do we all really think we'll make it to 70, let alone 80 years of age? My uncle lived a great life and showed love daily and was loved by many. I am happy that he was a part of my life and that he was able to be recognized sincerely as a great man at his memorial service by those who knew him. It was a great service and I feel like I left with a few things that'll stick with me for a long time, my memory, my forgetter (lol), and the point that God taketh away but he also gives us more than we can fully appreciate.

Soooooooo, BET Banned the "Hold Me Back" Video

Really? I'm not even a fan of this song but the fact that BET decided to ban it kinda rubs me the wrong way. BET now has a conscience about the way black folks are portrayed? Really though?

Considering the fact that they banned that Little Brother video way back when (which was completely ridiculous), I don't understand what the point is. This song is no different than Juvenile's "Ha" (shown below) and they surely did not ban that video (shot out to Mannie Fresh by the way). I don't get it. BET apparently is very selective as to when they care about how Blacks are portrayed and it makes no sense. I guess Ross is a clairvoyant of sorts when you consider these (BET) ninjas trying to hold him back.

Hopefully God forgives Rick Ross for this album, I know Nas Will

I'll leave a full post about Ross's "God Forgives, I Don't" alone and just say that the album is below average by great hip-hop album standards and average if not below even by Ross album standards. A few stand-out cuts, "3 Kings", "Sixteen", "Diced Pineapples", and my personal favorite "Amsterdam". There are a couple others I like as well but overall the album disappointed me even when confining my thoughts to "how does this measure up compared to other Fat Ricky joints". Yep, I said that in my head I promise.

With all that said, Ross's album doesn't really come close to touching Nas's album and I'm not overwhelmingly impressed by Nas's album either. It's a good Nas album but I'm not convinced it's a classic like lots of Nas stans seem to be proclaiming. But I digress.

The real point of this post is to let you have a listen to what I think would be the best possible combination of tracks from the two albums, "God Forgives I Don't" and "Life's Good". These are two most important releases of the last month or so in hip-hop and I'm not blown away by either (in fact, I'm listening to Childish Gambino's "Royalty" mixtape more than either of these) so I decided to create a mash-up of the two (hence the title of this post). Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do.