Just wanted to put this up to work on my embedding skills, but this is a good video though, it features Q-Tip impersonating (and kind of roasting) his long time partner-in-crime Busta Rhymes. Would love to have heard Busta in the room with him and being able to fire back, bet that'd been real funny. Oh, and peep the "Kamaal the Abstract" poster in the back- finally coming out for real this fall, that's what's up.
Exclusive: Q-Tip Impersonates Busta Rhymes.. LOL (VladTV.com)
Of course, upon seeing this I also got to see this video of Pharrell hilariously impersonating both Q-Tip and Busta, originally seen here. Straight LMBAO material here. Stuff like this makes it worth it that rappers in general can't help filming themselves and putting it on youtube and elsewhere nowadays. The stuff Pharrell kicks with DJ Premier is priceless too, and apparently Chris Brown is in the background somewhere (can't vouch for it yet, haven't re-watched yet, but that's what the youtube minions are saying).
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Plaxico means peace
Just wanted to show off this great shirt that I came across not too long ago:
Definitely one to rock, given the latest news on the receiver who can't shoot straight (wonder how much else he couldn't do straight in the immediate time after putting that slug into himself. The shirt itself is very clever, especially after you see that the word "Plaxico" in fact means "peace," as described by the good folks at motheringhut.com who are selling the shirt. Although I'm not sure what "in Africa" means, there's no language of African. Might have to look into that one yourself but if one single dialect translates Plaxico to peace then that's all the shirt needs.
As for the story itself: quite sad all around, still very hard to feel bad for the guy though. If this story doesn't have cats think twice about carrying firearms, let alone unregistered gats, out in public places where there's really no reason to have them, then I don't know what will.
Plus Plax will get a chance to redeem himself, the NFL announced today that they will re-instate Shooter after he serves his two-year bid. That's the good news, the bad: Shooter will be in his mid-30's when he gets out. Who's gonna want him? Don't know, but under "who may need him," I'll take the Bears for $200, Alex.
Definitely one to rock, given the latest news on the receiver who can't shoot straight (wonder how much else he couldn't do straight in the immediate time after putting that slug into himself. The shirt itself is very clever, especially after you see that the word "Plaxico" in fact means "peace," as described by the good folks at motheringhut.com who are selling the shirt. Although I'm not sure what "in Africa" means, there's no language of African. Might have to look into that one yourself but if one single dialect translates Plaxico to peace then that's all the shirt needs.
As for the story itself: quite sad all around, still very hard to feel bad for the guy though. If this story doesn't have cats think twice about carrying firearms, let alone unregistered gats, out in public places where there's really no reason to have them, then I don't know what will.
Plus Plax will get a chance to redeem himself, the NFL announced today that they will re-instate Shooter after he serves his two-year bid. That's the good news, the bad: Shooter will be in his mid-30's when he gets out. Who's gonna want him? Don't know, but under "who may need him," I'll take the Bears for $200, Alex.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Brits fail to understand "The Wire"
This is a pretty funny news item considering half the damn cast on The Wire is English or some type of Great Brit.
The series may have garnered critical recognition for its unflinching realism and searing dialogue, but the street argot spoken by its characters – most of whom are black American drug dealers and street-wise detectives – has left many viewers straining to make sense of the dialogue.
Now, one of the central writers of the show has lashed out at those who turn on the subtitles, rendering the show a "comedy" rather than the gritty, intelligent drama he intended it to be.
George Pelecanos, writer of some of the series' greatest episodes ("Hamsterdam", "Middle Ground", "That's Got His Own" - to self: need to get up on his novel stuff) is the writer who is getting a little out of shape, which is his right to, I just think this whole issue comes down simply to smart niggas and smart-dumb niggas (c) Ghostface. You got to be in a certain place mentally and emotionally to watch The Wire, it can come from some experience with the kind of world it is portraying or it could come from just having and open mind and the kind of mind that picks up on the subtleties that can make a piece of storytelling like the whole of "The Wire" the great pieces of storytelling they are. There are plenty of smart-dumb cats in America who never got the show or who thought they got it and went on to under appreciate it. This comment on the story page basically sums it up.
theelectrician wrote:
Monday, 17 August 2009 at 07:15 am (UTC)
I am a 52 year old British man who's spent his entire life in Britain (except for a couple of package holidays) and I had no problems watching, enjoying and understanding The Wire. I watched it about a year ago (via second hand DVDs) and I had to make the effort to ration my viewing or I'd have been up beyond midnight every night for many days.
Watching The Wire is an intellectual challenge at first because of the slang the different accents and the different culture that it presents. If you have at least an ounce of brains and any kind of willingness to make some intellectual effort then you can 'get into it' after a couple of episodes. It is one of the best TV series I have ever seen and is totally compelling.
The example glossary provided at the end of this article makes me laugh. If you can't work out what a 'Stash house' is (without even seeing the programme) and you can't figure out that 'Walk-around money' is used by corrupt politicians for bribes - when you are watching them using it and talking about it - then you really should stick to reality tv and games shows; that would be your natural limit."
Used subtitles to watch The Wire? The writer says that's just criminal (The Independant)
The series may have garnered critical recognition for its unflinching realism and searing dialogue, but the street argot spoken by its characters – most of whom are black American drug dealers and street-wise detectives – has left many viewers straining to make sense of the dialogue.
Now, one of the central writers of the show has lashed out at those who turn on the subtitles, rendering the show a "comedy" rather than the gritty, intelligent drama he intended it to be.
George Pelecanos, writer of some of the series' greatest episodes ("Hamsterdam", "Middle Ground", "That's Got His Own" - to self: need to get up on his novel stuff) is the writer who is getting a little out of shape, which is his right to, I just think this whole issue comes down simply to smart niggas and smart-dumb niggas (c) Ghostface. You got to be in a certain place mentally and emotionally to watch The Wire, it can come from some experience with the kind of world it is portraying or it could come from just having and open mind and the kind of mind that picks up on the subtleties that can make a piece of storytelling like the whole of "The Wire" the great pieces of storytelling they are. There are plenty of smart-dumb cats in America who never got the show or who thought they got it and went on to under appreciate it. This comment on the story page basically sums it up.
theelectrician wrote:
Monday, 17 August 2009 at 07:15 am (UTC)
I am a 52 year old British man who's spent his entire life in Britain (except for a couple of package holidays) and I had no problems watching, enjoying and understanding The Wire. I watched it about a year ago (via second hand DVDs) and I had to make the effort to ration my viewing or I'd have been up beyond midnight every night for many days.
Watching The Wire is an intellectual challenge at first because of the slang the different accents and the different culture that it presents. If you have at least an ounce of brains and any kind of willingness to make some intellectual effort then you can 'get into it' after a couple of episodes. It is one of the best TV series I have ever seen and is totally compelling.
The example glossary provided at the end of this article makes me laugh. If you can't work out what a 'Stash house' is (without even seeing the programme) and you can't figure out that 'Walk-around money' is used by corrupt politicians for bribes - when you are watching them using it and talking about it - then you really should stick to reality tv and games shows; that would be your natural limit."
Used subtitles to watch The Wire? The writer says that's just criminal (The Independant)
Some thoughts on the health care debate
Since this whole clusterfuck of a debate on what we should do with the health care infrastructure in this country began to explode, I haven't at any point likened myself as an expert on the issue, nor have I acted like I knew exactly what we needed to do in spite of not knowing exactly what was going on or what was at stake (unlike so many freakin others in this country).
Really I'm just riding with Obama on this one, mainly because I voted for that man with a mind that he could change the way this goddam country does things and change it more than any president before him. Obama says that the type of health care legislation he's pushing for is the direction that we need to go in, so I'm there. Plus I'm secure in what I got (health care of my choosing from Gannett), while at the same time unsatisfied with what we have as a nation (no reason why anybody shouldn't have health coverage, let alone some 40 million, which is what I last heard).
Anyhow...I know what side I'm on and it isn't on the side of them brain-dead holla'n idiots who are shouting down anything that looks like real reform. I've really been disheartened by the talk of getting rid of the govt. run plan to compete with private providers. Obama trying to save face saying that the public option is only a "little sliver" of the overall plan, but it seems to me to be the whole point of this thing. Yeah, we're trying to keep this plan from drowning in taxpayer funds but how else will more people who need health care get it if we don't have a true alternative to the already very-expensive private insurance industry. As NYT op-ed columist Bob Herbert wrote for Tuesday's edition:
The hope of a government-run insurance option is all but gone. So there will be no effective alternative for consumers in the market for health coverage, which means no competitive pressure for private insurers to rein in premiums and other charges. (Forget about the nonprofit cooperatives. That’s like sending peewee footballers up against the Super Bowl champs.)
Insurance companies are delighted with the way “reform” is unfolding. Think of it: The government is planning to require most uninsured Americans to buy health coverage. Millions of young and healthy individuals will be herded into the industry’s welcoming arms. This is the population the insurers drool over.
It scares me just how willfully ignorant people scared of any kind of change have hijacked this whole discussion. I haven't heard any approach to this issue as clear-headed as the one Paul Krugman offered on Monday, breaking down this nation's care among that of the rest of the developed world, which we act like we want to lead without doing the necessary work it takes (I know, I know, I'm positioning myself as a Times-waving liberal, which I'm really not, but its where I go for my national news- at least until they start making folks pay online again. Give me an argument from the other side as reasonable and I'll post it here as well).
Reading that column literally calmed me down, until I got to the last paragraph:
So we can do this. At this point, all that stands in the way of universal health care in America are the greed of the medical-industrial complex, the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the gullibility of voters who believe those lies.
Yeah, all that stands in the way is RW propaganda and gullible voters. The only thing that RW propaganda and gullible voters needs to stand in the way of is all the sensible citizens of this nation and the muhfuckin grand canyon. Then all we'll need is a little push.
Good luck, Obama.
Really I'm just riding with Obama on this one, mainly because I voted for that man with a mind that he could change the way this goddam country does things and change it more than any president before him. Obama says that the type of health care legislation he's pushing for is the direction that we need to go in, so I'm there. Plus I'm secure in what I got (health care of my choosing from Gannett), while at the same time unsatisfied with what we have as a nation (no reason why anybody shouldn't have health coverage, let alone some 40 million, which is what I last heard).
Anyhow...I know what side I'm on and it isn't on the side of them brain-dead holla'n idiots who are shouting down anything that looks like real reform. I've really been disheartened by the talk of getting rid of the govt. run plan to compete with private providers. Obama trying to save face saying that the public option is only a "little sliver" of the overall plan, but it seems to me to be the whole point of this thing. Yeah, we're trying to keep this plan from drowning in taxpayer funds but how else will more people who need health care get it if we don't have a true alternative to the already very-expensive private insurance industry. As NYT op-ed columist Bob Herbert wrote for Tuesday's edition:
The hope of a government-run insurance option is all but gone. So there will be no effective alternative for consumers in the market for health coverage, which means no competitive pressure for private insurers to rein in premiums and other charges. (Forget about the nonprofit cooperatives. That’s like sending peewee footballers up against the Super Bowl champs.)
Insurance companies are delighted with the way “reform” is unfolding. Think of it: The government is planning to require most uninsured Americans to buy health coverage. Millions of young and healthy individuals will be herded into the industry’s welcoming arms. This is the population the insurers drool over.
It scares me just how willfully ignorant people scared of any kind of change have hijacked this whole discussion. I haven't heard any approach to this issue as clear-headed as the one Paul Krugman offered on Monday, breaking down this nation's care among that of the rest of the developed world, which we act like we want to lead without doing the necessary work it takes (I know, I know, I'm positioning myself as a Times-waving liberal, which I'm really not, but its where I go for my national news- at least until they start making folks pay online again. Give me an argument from the other side as reasonable and I'll post it here as well).
Reading that column literally calmed me down, until I got to the last paragraph:
So we can do this. At this point, all that stands in the way of universal health care in America are the greed of the medical-industrial complex, the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the gullibility of voters who believe those lies.
Yeah, all that stands in the way is RW propaganda and gullible voters. The only thing that RW propaganda and gullible voters needs to stand in the way of is all the sensible citizens of this nation and the muhfuckin grand canyon. Then all we'll need is a little push.
Good luck, Obama.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Clearing out the bookmarks
Couple of good recent stories from the New York Times:
First, a look at the first non-white person to ever play in the NBA: Wat Misaka, who played for the Knicks for a short time in the late 40's.
Definitely a trip for me, I'd have never thought that the first "colored" person in the Association would be of Japanese decent. Real impressed with his college story, he definitely deserved to get his shot, of course in the end his basketball career wound up being a victim of the times but the man himself still went on to have a full life. The story centers around his first visit to the Garden since the 40's, that return should have happened a long time ago as should have Misaka's return to the spotlight.
In this story a brother braver than most maybe on his way to competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games and could be as good of an amputated athlete as we've seen. Jerrod Fields is a Chicagoan (which always gets much love from me), grew up in the hood, managed to just avoid the ganglife and eventually went on to serve in Iraq, where he lost the bottom half of his left leg gruesomely:
...reports of a dead dog on a Baghdad road — animal carcasses were often booby-trapped with explosives — led his platoon to drive in to investigate.
The dog itself was harmless, but still a trap. A small bomb went off nearby. Fields laughed; he thought he had dropped a grenade. Then another explosion destroyed his lower left leg.
Fields kept his wits enough to drive his Bradley armored vehicle and fellow troops out of danger. But when he eventually came to in a hospital in Germany, he was so disoriented that he tried to choke his nurse. (“The last thing I remembered was fighting,” he said.) Doctors explained what had happened, and told Fields they could rebuild his leg by grafting muscle and fusing his ankle.
Fields wasn't having that, he went for the amputation, and he still may serve again in the Middle East. Amazing.
An Injured Soldier Re-Imerges as a Sprinter (NYT)
First, a look at the first non-white person to ever play in the NBA: Wat Misaka, who played for the Knicks for a short time in the late 40's.
Definitely a trip for me, I'd have never thought that the first "colored" person in the Association would be of Japanese decent. Real impressed with his college story, he definitely deserved to get his shot, of course in the end his basketball career wound up being a victim of the times but the man himself still went on to have a full life. The story centers around his first visit to the Garden since the 40's, that return should have happened a long time ago as should have Misaka's return to the spotlight.
In this story a brother braver than most maybe on his way to competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games and could be as good of an amputated athlete as we've seen. Jerrod Fields is a Chicagoan (which always gets much love from me), grew up in the hood, managed to just avoid the ganglife and eventually went on to serve in Iraq, where he lost the bottom half of his left leg gruesomely:
...reports of a dead dog on a Baghdad road — animal carcasses were often booby-trapped with explosives — led his platoon to drive in to investigate.
The dog itself was harmless, but still a trap. A small bomb went off nearby. Fields laughed; he thought he had dropped a grenade. Then another explosion destroyed his lower left leg.
Fields kept his wits enough to drive his Bradley armored vehicle and fellow troops out of danger. But when he eventually came to in a hospital in Germany, he was so disoriented that he tried to choke his nurse. (“The last thing I remembered was fighting,” he said.) Doctors explained what had happened, and told Fields they could rebuild his leg by grafting muscle and fusing his ankle.
Fields wasn't having that, he went for the amputation, and he still may serve again in the Middle East. Amazing.
An Injured Soldier Re-Imerges as a Sprinter (NYT)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Movin on up (my weekend at NABJ)
We movin on up in da world like elevators
Me and the crew we pimps like eighty-two
Me and you like Tony Toni Tone
- Big Boi
Thought I was slightly hungover when I woke up today, but actually not, not even a little bit. Feel no pain in my head, just a little feeling, something that reminded me when my phone jolted me out of my sleep a little while ago that I have a working cerebrium in my skull, which is good, I'm going through two airports today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Tampa International now. The screen at my gate still reads a New York flight that leaves at 2:50. My flight for Detroit (connecting to Chicago) is supposed to start letting people on there at 3:00, hope there isn't no delay BS going on. I don't know, I probably sound stupid (I do where to check but I don't want my business center terminal to get snatched up), I just need to get used to traveling more and navigating airports if I'ma become the international player that I strive to be.
Have flown much more in the past four years than I had in the 21 years prior, four times as much (four times from 06) and I got my first celebrity airport story: meeting Hulk Hogan right after we both went through the TSA search. He wound up being cool, called me "brother" two times (here is where I would post some youtube video showing how he calls people "brother" in interviews but the airport service aint letting me- I need a wireless card).
I think later I'll list up all the influential and meaningful people I met and talked to this weekend, in my mind it seems like an amazing list. Probably won't mean shit to you but it did to me, this was truly a great weekend, I feel slightly changed. The feeling is bullshit, it'll fade as I return to my day-to-day routine, but I truly feel lifted right now and that is not a corny reference to flight. Speaking of which, mine has now been pushed back to 5:30 from 3:30. Delay bullshit, indeed. Guess I'll finish this blog sooner than I expected.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion:
I need to do a better job of just getting things out, I guess I'll get better with that as I continue with this blog. Anyhow... it turns out the flight still was on time, it just moved to a different gate. I rushed over to the other gate, flew to Detroit (where you got to pay to use the internet in their airport), and then flew home, parting dangerous looking storm clouds as we entered the airspace over Midway Airport. Let me stop with this though, before this becomes more about some shit that doesn't mean anything.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It being late Friday now the sheen of the past weekend has long went away. That would have been the case even if the week hadn't sucked like it did (nothing real important, just the same ol'- late hours at work, fending off creditors, scrounging up money for food, keeping from getting evicted, etc) but the whole time has been like a rapid decent from above the clouds, or a malfunctioning elevator jerking your ass down several flights. In Tampa it was "me and you, your mama and your cousin too"-- NABJ really is like fam, even better in some ways (no emotional baggage weighing us down), now its just me again. I rocked the shirt down there:
Me &
You &
Yo Momma &
Yo Cousin
Too
Clever, culturally so, it gets a reaction from certain people who love Outkast, as I do, and bam- you got a friend for a moment. I rock the shirt now and nobody knows what the fuck it means, they tilt their heads and ask "what does that mean." That being said I haven't given my fair Wisconsinites the chance to see the shirt, but I know well enough. I know what floor I'm on once again. I know where I stand in the stratosphere. The clouds never looked so far away. I'll keep reaching though, I really can't do nothing else- maybe someone will boost me up, maybe I'll have an unexpected growth spurt, maybe what's up there will come to me and I can trap it and examine it (get my District 9 on). Like I said, ain't nothing else to do, least I know a good tune to hum as the time passes.
Me and the crew we pimps like eighty-two
Me and you like Tony Toni Tone
- Big Boi
Thought I was slightly hungover when I woke up today, but actually not, not even a little bit. Feel no pain in my head, just a little feeling, something that reminded me when my phone jolted me out of my sleep a little while ago that I have a working cerebrium in my skull, which is good, I'm going through two airports today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Tampa International now. The screen at my gate still reads a New York flight that leaves at 2:50. My flight for Detroit (connecting to Chicago) is supposed to start letting people on there at 3:00, hope there isn't no delay BS going on. I don't know, I probably sound stupid (I do where to check but I don't want my business center terminal to get snatched up), I just need to get used to traveling more and navigating airports if I'ma become the international player that I strive to be.
Have flown much more in the past four years than I had in the 21 years prior, four times as much (four times from 06) and I got my first celebrity airport story: meeting Hulk Hogan right after we both went through the TSA search. He wound up being cool, called me "brother" two times (here is where I would post some youtube video showing how he calls people "brother" in interviews but the airport service aint letting me- I need a wireless card).
I think later I'll list up all the influential and meaningful people I met and talked to this weekend, in my mind it seems like an amazing list. Probably won't mean shit to you but it did to me, this was truly a great weekend, I feel slightly changed. The feeling is bullshit, it'll fade as I return to my day-to-day routine, but I truly feel lifted right now and that is not a corny reference to flight. Speaking of which, mine has now been pushed back to 5:30 from 3:30. Delay bullshit, indeed. Guess I'll finish this blog sooner than I expected.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion:
I need to do a better job of just getting things out, I guess I'll get better with that as I continue with this blog. Anyhow... it turns out the flight still was on time, it just moved to a different gate. I rushed over to the other gate, flew to Detroit (where you got to pay to use the internet in their airport), and then flew home, parting dangerous looking storm clouds as we entered the airspace over Midway Airport. Let me stop with this though, before this becomes more about some shit that doesn't mean anything.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It being late Friday now the sheen of the past weekend has long went away. That would have been the case even if the week hadn't sucked like it did (nothing real important, just the same ol'- late hours at work, fending off creditors, scrounging up money for food, keeping from getting evicted, etc) but the whole time has been like a rapid decent from above the clouds, or a malfunctioning elevator jerking your ass down several flights. In Tampa it was "me and you, your mama and your cousin too"-- NABJ really is like fam, even better in some ways (no emotional baggage weighing us down), now its just me again. I rocked the shirt down there:
Me &
You &
Yo Momma &
Yo Cousin
Too
Clever, culturally so, it gets a reaction from certain people who love Outkast, as I do, and bam- you got a friend for a moment. I rock the shirt now and nobody knows what the fuck it means, they tilt their heads and ask "what does that mean." That being said I haven't given my fair Wisconsinites the chance to see the shirt, but I know well enough. I know what floor I'm on once again. I know where I stand in the stratosphere. The clouds never looked so far away. I'll keep reaching though, I really can't do nothing else- maybe someone will boost me up, maybe I'll have an unexpected growth spurt, maybe what's up there will come to me and I can trap it and examine it (get my District 9 on). Like I said, ain't nothing else to do, least I know a good tune to hum as the time passes.
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