Saturday, July 26, 2008

word of the day

fop (fop)
noun

a man who is overly concerned with or vain about his dress and appearance; a dandy

song of the day

Project Mayhem
pure - l.e.g.a.c.y.

"pure, uncut raw" perfectly describes the sentiment of not only this song but the whole album from this north carolina emcee.  ninth flips the curtis mayfield sample so drastically you almost forget that its even there.  if you like the gritty shit, you gotta love legacy, and if you don't the phonte feature is enough to keep you listening

Friday, July 25, 2008

the bucks stops here (i couldn't help myself)

so starbucks announced that it will be closing 600 of its underperforming stores, and the fiends went crazy.  there is a comprehensive list for consumers to check and it has resulted in petitions and letter writing campaigns from patrons pretty much begging the corporation to keep their locations open.  yo coffee, is a hell-uv-a-drug...no i mean really; its like cocaine lite, comes from the same plant and everything.  i guess what strikes me the most about the starbucks closing response is how silly it is; it reeks of opulence and selfishness

1.  there's a starbucks damn near few blocks/ miles or so; i've been in san francisco and seen two locations literally a block away from each other and i know specifically in a suburb of my hometown of minneapolis there is one on 55th and brooklyn blvd and another one on 69th.  re route your schedule if its really that serious

2.  how dare you support a corporation like starbucks with grassroots methods like petitioning and letter writing.  the corporation has over 7000 locations nationwide and has been taking significant business away from many small coffee shops that serve breakfast, have better baked goods, play better music, have open mic nights and free wireless internet! (i wouldn't know if the coffee is better because i don't drink coffee)

3.  if you want to protest something that has to do with starbucks closing, how bout considering the 12,000 employees that will lose their jobs in a time where a st
eady job is hard to find.  if you think that you have some power as a starbucks consumer, how about demanding that they brew fair trade coffee

but then again, when's the last time you heard a crack head caring about the social responsibility of the pusher...


you know what i hate #2

baggage claim!!
common sense is seldom used in airports; but its at its worst when its comes to the baggage claim.  people act like its a concert staring...the bags.  they rush the conveyor belt as if being closer will ensure that their bags come out more quickly.  they all crowd the belt following bags that "look like" theirs, grabbing them to check the tags, only to throw them back on the belt, oooooor; they have their kids stand in the front knowing that they're not strong enough to pick up the bag if it were to appear right before them.

so during all this commotion i just sit back and then i see my bag come drop down and then i weave and bob between the onlookers as i swoop up my shit, chuck the deuces, and laugh at the losers looking at me like i magically made my bag appears while they wait for theirs.

so now, i try to stuff everything into 2 carryons

word of the day

sapid (sap-id)
adjective

1.  having taste or flavor, especially having a strong pleasant flavor
2.  agreeable to the mind; to one's liking

song of the day

The Essential Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
miss you - harold melvin and the bluenotes ft. teddy pendergrass

i decided to go oldschool today, anybody who's a serious jay-z fan will recognize it as the song sampled for the song can't be life.  

Thursday, July 24, 2008

word of the day

osculation (os-kyuh-lay-shuhn)
noun

the act of kissing

song of the day

the grown up - wale

i'm a hip hop chick so i'm a sucker for a fly love song and this one is over a nice go-go beat.  if the seinfeld clips through you off, download his mixtape about nothing and you'll get it, such a dope concept

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

the protestin' ethic


apparently, chinese official have decided to "allow" protests at the 2008 olympics after getting permission from the government and police; after gaining permission, protestors will be allowed to stage rallies in three designated city parks. 

now initially i thought, getting permission to protest would completely defeat the point, then i thought about the march on washington and then it hit me that, protests are nothing but symbols.  if there is no work going on behind them to change the conditions being protested, they're nothing but events to be written about and filmed for journalists hoping to gain pulitzer awards if something crazy breaks out.  because the designated protest areas are not in the olympic village, they will most likely go unseen and uncovered making it seem like any protests were small an insignificant at best.   the real protests for the olympics would have to come from the athletes; circa 1968 mexico city.  somewhere where there is international visibility and there can be no mistaking about the message being sent.

now i know many of you remember the photo of john carlos and tommie smith with the black fists on the medal stand and think, that was a symbol.  true, but it was a symbol of a year long set of protests and possible boycotts arranged by the ophr (olympic project for human rights) which was founded by harry edward and martin luther king jr.  the mission statement of the was to no longer allow the u.s. to use so called black athletes to point out to the world the progress that the country has made, when oppression against black is at an all time high.  the group considered boycotting the olympics and had 3 major demands of the u.s.

1.  restore muhammad ali's title
2.  remove avery brundage as head of the u.s. olympic committee because brundage was a known white supremacist who helped aldolf hitler secure the olympic in berlin
3. divest fro south africa and rhodesia to show solidarity to african nations fighting against apartheid

the thing about the 1968 medal stand protest that separates it from anything that could possibly happen 40 years later at these games, is the socio/political climate of the world.  since blacks were fresh out of civil rights, they weren't feeling patriotic, so expressing their feelings of oppression and solidarity with other nations fighting oppression didn't take a back seat to their feeling of patriotism.  now in the wake of 9-11 (does anyone else think its more than ironic and coincidental that the date is 9-1-1) we here in the u.s. are all adorning the flag in some show of faux solidarity while police still brutalize minorities, the percentage of children living in poverty continues to increase, and we're losing thousands of our young men because our leaders are greedy (you know we don't even need iraqui oil, we just want to control it so other countries can't use it without our say so).  sorry i digress, the point being that we've become comfortable in the benefits of being americans, and its not worth it to risk our position to help those with no power.

after seeing carlos and strong stripped of their medals, and muhammad ali stripped of his title for expressing their beliefs about the way the u.s. conduct its foreign affairs instead of being an "ambassador" for the nation through dominating in "friendly international competition," most black athletes have decided to remain silent; obeying the olympic game's cardinal rule to "not to display any political stances whatsoever." 

 in honesty though, politics is what the olympics is all about.  countries flexing their muscle physically with super powersbolstering their claims to being superior to the rest of the world and third world countries, hoping that victory can help them to be seen as worthy of being treated humanely by the countries that control the world's resources.



word of the day

vagary (vay-guh-ree); (vuh-ger-ee)
noun

an extravagant unpredictable or erratic notion, action or occurance

song of the day

association - nas

as i approach my birthday i've been doing a lot of reflection, thinking about the people in my circle and what kind of people should be in my circle because like the song says "association breeds similarity."  this is one of the songs that DIDN'T make the untitled album, so maybe that's a nod at how good the album is

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

word of the day

impregnable (im-preg-nuh-buhl)
adjective

1.  not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable
2.  difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism

song of the day

The Big Doe Rehab
killa lipstick -ghostface killah

"killah lipstick, feme fatal with the biscuit...type a chick that love you to death and leave no witness"  if you like a good story, you'll appreciate it.  if not...the beat's nice

Monday, July 21, 2008

word of the day

ineffable (in-eff-uh-buhl)
adjective

1.  incapable of being expressed in words; unspeakable; unutterable; indescribable 
2.  not to be uttered; taboo

song of the day

Free at Last
when they remember - freeway

perfect motivation for the beginning of a new week...bang this shit...like fa real...early!!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

word of the day

malaproposim (mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm)
noun

the usually unintentional humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of a similar sound

song of the day


if i was your girlfriend -tlc

i was cleaning today, and this got stuck in my head, so now it will get stuck in your head...