Happy Monday

I don't know why this is so funny to me, but I laughed out loud when I saw it for the first time.

The Huxtables

I am not going to go into detail about how important The Cosby show was to American television because that has been done to death. I will tell you that the show still resinates with me today because my family was a lot more like the Huxtables than the Evans'.

On another note, why is Lisa Bonet not in this picture? I know she was fired from the show but that was almost 20 years ago.

Jordan & Pippen

There is some kid out there who has only seen these two on the court together in the context of this picture, which is really sad.

On another note if you are waiting until the second round to get into the NBA playoffs this year, you need to get off of that bullshit. Every series including Atlanta Hawks versus Orlando Magic is fun to watch.

I Hope She Knows What She Is Doing

I know most of you just know her a Beyonce's sister, but Solange makes pretty good records that more people should know about. I'm not doubting her DJ skills because she is a woman but because she is a celebrity and that Rane TTM 57SL mixer is no joke.

Deal With It.

I have not really felt like writing about one thing lately, but my ADD still makes me want to share my random thoughts and opinions about things no one asks me about.

PBS & NPR do NOT receive 5% of the United States budget. That would equal just over 178 billion dollars, and make me the most successful person that any of you know.

I have no idea who Rebbecca Black or Earl Sweatshirt are, and they don't even seem worthy of me clicking a link to find out. If you are a "Hip-Hop Fan" and you want to have a conversation about them and you have not listened to the new album W.A.R. by Pharohe Monch we don't have anything to talk about.

The 2011-2012 NBA Season could very well be cancelled because NBA owners are horrible business people. Unlike the NFL, there is a rookie salary cap so teams don't throw away 50 million dollars on a player who had a good Final Four or McDonald's All American Game. If the Atlanta Hawks want to give Joe Johnson 119 million dollars when the only time people in Atlanta want to pay top dollar to see him play is when Kobe of LeBron come to town, that is not his fault. The NBA also needs to stop subsidizing a money losing product that no one cares about in the WNBA. I'm not worried about women being mad at me for saying that because women by in large don't give a shit about the WNBA either. Lifetime would rather rerun a Nancy Mckeon move than air an L.A. Sparks game.

I am disappointed that President Obama has not reduced the size of the United State's military industrial complex during his term. We have a Cold War military that fights armies that don't have uniforms much less an opposing air force. That said, The President still has my vote for 2012. Watching potential GOP candidates jockey to be the front runner to represent The Republicans is like watching people try to be valedictorian at a clown college. The fact that Donald Trump is even in the conversation is a problem. I would much rather see John McCain run again than any of these weirdos. Now when I say that, I mean the John McCain who hosted SNL and was trying to posthumously pardon Jack Johnson, not the guy who tried to sell us on Sarah Palin.

Alicia Keys is grimmey as hell. The first single on her next album needs to be a remake of Shirley Murdock's "As We Lay".

If you were not sure if America was moving closer to the movie Idiocracy, something called a Snooki was paid the equivalent to a public school teachers yearly salary to speak at Rutgers University. I have only seen one episode of Jersey Shore from start to finish, and from what I can gather she is famous because she a drunk, loud, and tacky degenerate. Something tells me that if I watched more episodes my observations would probably be validated. It's not really a big deal that someone who is not smart, talented or athletic has become famous in America. Kim Kardashian has already done that, but at least Kim is rich, good looking and related to people who are smart, talented and athletic.

It's worth it to be on Twitter just to see which famous people cannot spell.

I used to have Bill Cosby's comedy album Wonderfulness completely memorized. As good as Right with the Noah trilogy is. I always thought this album was funnier. I know a lot of people think that Richard Pryor is the G.O.A.T. but when Richard started out he was trying to be Bill Cosby.

When times get bad the first things people let go of are flat screen televisions and video game systems. That is why pawn shops are full of them. I know this because I love looking for deals at pawn shops. The last time I was there a guy outside the shop tried to sell me a a Nintendo Wii with no cords, controllers, or sensor bar. For those of you who had not already figured it out, this guy had stolen this Wii and was trying to sell it for money to by drugs. If you are wondering, no I did not buy it.

Tonight On MTV True Life

This seems to be what half of the episodes are about anyway.

Mya

She has no record out, no movie or TV projects to speak of, and I don't care.

The Originator

Gerald A. "Jerry" Lawson (December 1940 – April 9, 2011)

Jerry Lawson was the the chief hardware engineer for a largely forgotten video game system called the Fairchild Channel F VES which was released in 1976. What makes the Channel F so important to consumer electronics is that it was the first home video game system that supported interchangeable programmable ROM game cartridges two years before Atari released the VCS a.k.a The Atari 2600. Before this innovation, video game systems were sold with the games already built into the motherboard and most of the time they were just variations of Pong. In short this brother created the blueprint for modern console gaming.

Here is a LINK to an interview he did in 2009 where he goes into detail about his life growing up in Queens, being an African-American engineer in the 1960's, how he was not that impressed with Steve Wozniak, and what he thinks of today's video games. This is really good stuff. Rest in peace sir.

Bob's Burgers

Bob's Burgers is a really funny show that comes on after The Simpsons on Sunday nights. I was pretty much sure that it was going to be canceled because the only other person who seems to watch it other than me is my co-worker Coby. I got good news a couple of days ago when I heard that Fox had officially announced a second season.

He Put The Team On His Back!

I really hope they get this labor deal taken care of so this is not the only way to enjoy NFL Football next season. I actually like this guy more than I like Chris Collinsworth.

Tiger Woods Being Tiger Woods

Something tells me the smile on his face would not be so big if he was looking up at an issue of Essence magazine. All jokes aside Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 is still my favorite of all of his golf games and I hope he kicks some ass at the Masters this year.

Thelma From Good Times

I have have writers block on about 6 different blog posts, so until I can get past that here is a picture of Bern Nadette Stanis aka Thelma from Good Times.

10 Random Songs Wednesday

The Hustle by Common
It's funny how people who did not not like the Electric Circus, loved the equally as weird The Love Below. Nobody who actually saw the Electric Circus tour live dislikes this album. I remember this being an incredibly dope live show, I also remember seeing Kanye West walking around the Pageant with his new Roc-A-Fella chain on and no one paying him any attention.

Re-Write The Memories by New Edition
I don't have the hate in my heart for Puff Daddy like most music fans, but he screwed the One Love project up royally. There were at least 5 singles on this album but the only one released was "Hot Tonight" which was not a bad track but it did not sound like New Edition. This song which was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis could have lived on top of the Urban AC chart, but Bad Boy abandoned the project shortly after "Hot Tonight" did not blow up. Even with no hit singles and little promotion from Bad Boy, One Love still went gold.

Trouble Sleeping by Corrine Bailey Rae
This is such a good song. I remember hearing that some people at her record company wanted her to remix the songs on her album so it could sound more "urban". She said "no", and sold 2 million records was nominated for 4 Grammys.

It's Alright by Saigon feat Marsha Ambrosius
The Greatest Story Never Told is a great album none of you are listening to right now. I don't know how old this song is because his record was on the shelf for years. Kanye West did the beat for this. It sounds like production from the College Dropout era.

Another by The Notorious BIG & Lil' Kim
I HATE this song! The only reason it's on here is because I loaded all of Life After Death. I can honestly say I have not listened to this track from start to finish since 1997.

I Was Made To Love Her by Stevie Wonder
I always liked this song, but now when I hear it, I think about Michelle Obama walking out on stage during the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

Late by Kanye West
Late Registration is my favorite Kanye West album. This song is a bonus track that is not even listed on the track listing.

Good Times by Ghostface Killa

This along with the "The Sun" and "The Watch" is one of the songs that would have made Bulletproof Wallets a much better album. Ghost had just come off of a platinum album, how does Sony not do the work to clear a sample of a television show? Luckily, this song came along at about the same time Internet leaks turned into part of the game so all of these songs are easily available. For you vinyl heads, there are white labels for all of these songs.

Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi

There are certain songs everyone, I don't care what walk of life you come from likes or liked at one time. "Wanted Dead Or Alive" is one of those songs. I remember seeing Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora perform an acoustic version of this on the MTV Video Awards. The performance went over so well, MTV decided to produce a show with nothing but acoustic performances called MTV Unplugged.

It's Great To Be Here by The Jackson 5

This is classic J5. Even if you don't recognize the song, you will recognize it as the break The Notorious BIG rhymed over in the "All About The Benjamins (Remix)" In the original version of "All About The Benjamins" the J5 sample is sped up and chopped up a completely different way. Legend has it that Puff Daddy told the songs producer D-Dot that we already paid to use the sample, so just let it ride.

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

Nate Dogg

I had the cassette single for this and wore it out. His first album was supposed to be on Deathrow but never came out because Deathrow was in full meltdown mode after Tupac was killed and Suge went back to prison. I remember the mom and pop music store on the strip in Carbondale Illinois somehow had the Deathrow pressing of his first album. It finally came out officially in the Summer of 98 with a second disc of newer material.

If anybody would like a free punch in the face, compare Nate Dogg to T-Pain.

Sounds Asian On The Phone

This girl has a point. How dare Asian students have a sense of community and spend time with their families during the weekend instead of doing keg stands and throwing up in the middle of the street like polite and civil white American students? When I am somewhere having epiphanies about political science and stuff, the last thing I want to hear is you "ching chonging" it up on your Hello Kitty cellphone about some random tsunami or some nuclear meltdown or whatever. It's just rude.

In all seriousness, I love how she started he racially offensive rant with "don't take this offensively." White people, from here on out if you hear yourself utter the words "don't take this offensively", turn the camera off, change the subject, or just stop and count to ten. It will not end well for you. I will give her points for not referring to the people who make her life a living hell as Oriental.

Good Vs. Evil

I am to lazy to maintain a blog and a tumblr. So here is another cool image that makes the nerd in me very happy.

10 Random Songs Wednesday

I Knew You Were Waiting For Me by Aretha Franklin & George Michael
I think with all of the other stuff George Michael has become famous for in the past few years people forget how great his voice is. This was a number 1 song in America and the UK in 1987. It's just one of those songs that makes me happy.

Nothing On You by Lupe Fiasco & Bruno Mars
No this is not a mistake. This song was originally for Lupe, not B.O.B. I don't know if Lupe cut it from his project or his record company was just too slow to cut the check but the version of the song I have is not a demo but a finished song that wound up being a number 1 hit for someone else.

If I Can't by 50 Cent
I'm not the biggest 50 Cent fan but he hit a home run with Get Rich Or Die Tryin', this album is a classic. This song is also one of my favorite Dr. Dre beats.

The Prelude by Jay-Z
I know everybody except me and my friend Cool Hand Lex hated Kingdom Come. This is the first song on the album and it was produced by B-Money a producer from St. Louis

Uknowhowwedo by Bahamadia
Kollage is one of the best if not the best solo album by a female emcee ever. The majority of this album was produced by DJ Premier, Guru, The Roots and Da Beatminerz, but this song was produced by Ski. It is shame that more people do not know about her or this incredible album. What is really a shame is that there is no way in hell she would get signed today.

Glaciers Of Ice by Raekwon feat. Masta Killa
I actually bought the cassette single for this after hearing it on Street Vibes which was an underground Hip-Hop show which came on the 88.1 FM in St. Louis. The RZA was on fire with everything he did during this era.

Standing Ovation by Young Jeezy
You have to give credit where credit is due Thug Motivation 101 is a great album. I'm sure Jeezy does not care but if you are a southern rapper that rhymes mostly about selling dope and I like your album, it is a big deal. This is just one of the songs that was not a single that you could play in the club during in the Summer of 2005 and everybody knew the words.

Bizare by U-God
A lot of people see U-God as the weak link in the Wu-Tang Clan, but his first solo album Golden Arms Redemption was not that bad. The first and only single "Bizarre from this project was actually really dope.

Fade Into You by Mazzy Star
This some of the mildly depressing and mopey shit I was into at one point in high school.

One Thing by Freeway feat. Raekwon
Whenever I hear people complain about the state Hip-Hop and I find out they have not listened to certain albums, I just ignore them. The Stimulus Package is one of those albums. Jake one did his job creating a great sound scape, Freeway was on point with the lyrics and anytime you get a great verse from Raekwon, you have nothing to complain about.

Purple Label Wool-Blend Hawker Dress Coat

While feeding my sick addiction for Polo clothes to wear for next fall & winter I stumbled upon this this coat which is $1,900 on sale! Considering I only paid $1,200 for the car I am driving now, it is pretty safe to say that this picture is as close as I am going to get to this fine garment. It is from Ralph Lauren's wildly overpriced Purple Label line. If you see someone wearing anything from this line, their life is probably pretty awsome.

As much as I dig the lines on this coat, it is wool blend. Sure the blend is soft angora and plush cashmere but For $1,900 it should be made out of virgin Suri alpaca. That said if a 48 long fell off of the back of a Ralph Lauren truck, I would probably wear it everywhere and tell people I paid full price for it. Actually that is probably not a good idea, because everyone would think my values are all out of wack for getting into a $1,200 car with a $4,995 coat on and they would be right. Damn this is a nice coat!

Ice Cube G.O.A.T. ?

Some rappers are heaven sent / but "Self Destruction" don't pay the fuckin' rent / so you can either dope or get your ass a job / I'd rather roll with the muthafuckin' Lench Mob!

These Ice Cube lyrics just randomly popped into my head while I was at work today. They are from the song "Rollin' wit' the Lench Mob" off of his debut solo album Amerikkka's Most Wanted. I always remembered these lyrics because Cube was more or less putting down KRS-One's Stop The Violence Movement. To my knowledge this is the only time someone said anything about KRS-One and he just let it go.

There was a 4 to 5 year period where Ice Cube the best, most influential, and most feared rapper in the world. If he is not in your top 10 greatest of all time, you need your head examined.

Stop Doing This

I filled up my car yesterday and gas was $3.45 a gallon which is about 60 cents more per gallon than I paid when I filled up 2 weeks ago. Despite this I still see people using the drive thru at fast food chains. There was a line about 8 cars long yesterday at the Mc Donalds across the street from my place of employment. In the time it took me to park, get out of my car, walk in, order a grilled chicken snack wrap & fries, and walk out, the 8th car in line had only moved 2 spots closer to the window.

It does not matter if you drive a Prius or you are so rich that $10 a gallon gas would not bother you. Everyone must understand that fossil fuels as well as your time your time are finite resources that are wasted when you are too lazy to get out of your car to order food that's sole purpose is to expand your ass. Seeing a woman riding alone in Cadillac Escalade, idling in a drive thru so she can order a diet coke is a prime example of why no one cares when those of us here in the United States complain about the price of oil.

Single At 30 Sometimes Sucks

Most of my best friends are married, happily at that. One day while just shooting the shit, one of my friends wondered out loud what it would be like to be single in his 30's. This scene form the classic Eddie Murphy film Coming To America pretty much sums it up.

10 Random Songs Wednesday

All That I Got Is You by Ghostface Killa feat. Mary J. Blige

If you were not close to tears the first time you heard this song there is something wrong with you.

Dance Tonight by Lucy Pearl
This was group was made up of Raphael Saddiq, Dawn Robinson, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. It's one of those really great R&B songs that people forget about until someone plays it, and then everyone will get a look on thier face that says "that was my shit". Too bad we only got one album from them.

Cheers To You by Playa

When I did the quiet storm on my college radio station, I played the hell out of this. This is a very under rated slow jam. Timberland did a lot of work on this record. This was before Timberland decided he was going to work mostly with established white pop stars.

Last Days by Onyx
Everybody thinks of "Slam" when Onyx is brought up, but this is my favorite Onyx song. This song sounds like concrete and blunt ashes coming out of your headphones. That is a good thing.

Coolie High by Camp Lo

My friend Chris worked at Dr. Wax in Chicago during school breaks just for the record hook up. He always came back to Carbondale with so much good stuff everybody else would not be on until months later. I remember when he came back with this song on white label. I made a tape of it and wore it out. That summer after my freshman year I bought the soundtrack for The Great White Hype just so I could have this song on CD before their album came out.

The One And Only by Snoop Dogg

I know a lot of people stopped taking Snoop Dogg seriously after he signed to No Limit Records but Paid The Cost To Be The Boss was probably his most solid album since Doggystyle. This song was produced by DJ Premier and came out as a b side on promo only vinyl.

Nutmeg by Ghostface Killa

I have a lot of Ghostface on my MP3 player.

The Death Of Optimus Prime by Vince DiCola

Yes, I have the entire soundtrack from the Transformers movie that came out in 1986 on my MP3 player. I am that much of a nerd. I usually never listen to the whole song because near the end of the song the drums remind me of Optimus Prime's body turning gray as he dies. Vince DiCola also did the score for Rocky IV. It sounds like he was working on both movies at the same time because the music in both films is very similar.

Early This Morning by Jay-Z
This song was leaked in 2002 between BP1 & BP2 and never saw an official release. It sounds like a Just Blaze track. I actually have an instrumental and clean version of this.

Telling Me Stories by Big Bub
I don't know if this was a hit anywhere else, but in St. Louis this was a big hit on what was at the time Majic 108. It was a slow Jam about a man wanting to help a woman with a substance abuse problem. It is still a powerful song to this day. Even when he was with the group Today, I never felt like Big Bub got the love he should have.

Some Of My Best Friends Are......

I don't remember who coined the term "post-racial America", but whoever it was was clearly on dope and not the good kind. Listed below are a few tips for my Caucasian brothers and sisters not to get looked at funny or beat up in "still-racial America".

If you are about to make a statement that starts off “I don’t mean to sound racist”, you are about to say something racist. It’s just like when an athlete goes on television and starts out his statement “It’s not about the money”. When you hear that 99 percent of the time it is about the money.

It is not flattering to tell a black person that they are "not like other black people." The only people who are happy to hear something like this are usually black conservatives who think that white people’s ice is somehow colder. (See Jesse Lee Peterson & Armstrong Williams) What you are really saying is, because you are smart, well mannered and/or articulate you are an exception to the slow-witted, ignorant, unintelligent stereotypes that I have internalized, and have always believed to be true.

Do not a tell a black person they look like a famous black person unless they really do look like that famous person. One time this guy told me I look liked Scottie Pippen. I did not really think he was racist but I was offended because I am a lot better looking than Scottie Pippen. It is also not a good idea to tell a black person that they look like Buckwheat, even if they do look like Buckwheat.

Don’t ask light skinned people what they are or if they are mixed with something. Most light skinned black people hate having their blackness questioned by other black people so they really don't want to hear it from a white person.

If you get into a jam, saying “some of my best friends are black” is not going to help you. No one who has any black friends would say that

If you have anything bad to say about President Obama, it should be based on the things about his policies you disagree with, not some email forward you got from your grandmother in West Virginia. I could write a book on the things I disagree with President Obama about. No President is above criticism, but when you criticize the the first African American President based on nothing but him being black, it is pretty easy to see through. Also, It is pretty much in your best interest not to say ANYTHING bad about Michelle.

Do not ask to touch our hair, and certainly don't take the liberty to just come over and touch it. we are not at a muthafucking petting zoo Justin Beiber. I have been in relationships with black women and not been given hair touching privileges.

Last but not least, don’t ask why you can’t say the word nigga while some black people use it like it is their first name and no one seems to care. I don’t care if your into Hip-Hop, have a black husband or wife, or are the best point guard in the Western Conference. You just can’t say it. I’ll be honest most black people cannot give you a good reason why this is, because there really is none. Just know in almost any context, you are setting yourself up for a potential ass beating. White people tend to replace the “a” with an “er”, which never has an endearing ring to it. Every black person does not listen to rap music and and sit around memorizing old episodes of Chappelle Show, so repeating lyrics and jokes is a minefield you may just want to steer clear of. Also don't expect white people who know the rule to jump in and help you if you say the word and start to get your ass kicked. Your best bet is hoping some sell out or the police come by to break it up.

BLACK POWER (Rangers)

Happy Black History Month