Monday, September 28, 2015

Monday Kickstart: Inspiration

If you're a fan of Gotham, you'll recognize this week's inspiration as the stunning—and deliciously vicious—Tabitha Galavan.





Let's go.

Monday Kickstart: Can You Dig It?

This will make you simultaneously happy and sad. The crew from The Warriors got together for one last ride home to Coney Island.



The fact that they're all in their 50s and 60s now es no bueno. And in today's Hollywood, where every old film is being remade, how has Warriors been overlooked? It's a seminal piece of pop culture.

Maybe, then, the fact that it hasn't been remade is a good thing. Maybe it's the last sacred piece of film art on the planet. Maybe it should serve as an enduring inspiration, a shimmering monument to originality and creativity.

...But we'll probably hear about them shooting a remake starring Justin Bieber in a month or two. *sigh* Let's go.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Throwback Thursday: "Rollout (My Business)" — Ludacris

It's hard to name a more entertaining rapper than Ludacris. Sure, you'd probably chill the fuck out hanging with Snoop, walk through Manhattan like a boss hanging with Jay, or hear a lifetime of stories hanging with Nas. But there can't be another emcee who you would have more pure fun rolling with than Luda.


Monday, September 21, 2015

Monday Kickstart: Inspiration

Swedish sensation Ines Helene is too good to be true.





Monday Kickstart: $ave Dat Money

After a weekend of debauchery (...if your weekend didn't involve any debauchery, you've done something wrong), we can all appreciate this ode to frugality by internet star Lil Dicky.



The amount of hustle it took to put together this video is insane. To get the private homeowner to let them use her place was impressive enough (and kudos to her for asking that, in return, donations be made to Planned Parenthood), but to get a Lamborghini dealer to let you take an Aventador out on the road for free? Dicky got game.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Throwback Thursday: "Gin and Juice" — Snoop Dogg

One of those rare cases where a song was popular long before it was ever released as a single. An instant classic, people were bumping this the second Doggystyle got released.


Monday, September 14, 2015

...But Where Is The Outrage?


Zach Hammond, 19 years old, was fatally shot and killed by the police, seemingly over 10 grams of weed.

The police playbook has been opened and in full effect. Blah blah I was in danger, he tried to ram me with his car blah blah blah.

Now I am not making light of this situation. A young man lost his life under iffy circumstances at best and it appears he was a victim of excessive force and the engine of defense that more often times than not leaves police officers unaccountable for their actions is tuned up and going strong.

What is pissing me off here is his parents injecting race into the conversation because, minor detail, Zach is white. His parents are upset at the lack of a national outcry about their sons death (which they should be) but it's directed at the wrong people.

“It’s sad, but I think the reason is, unfortunately, the media and our government officials have treated the death of an unarmed white teenager differently than they would have if this were a death of an unarmed black teen,” Bland told The Washington Post this week. “The hypocrisy that has been shown toward this is really disconcerting.”

So lets read the coded language and general misunderstanding of reality involved in this statement.

By media do you mean the same media that couldn't wait to find the most unflattering pictures of victims as possible, de-humanizing them. How can you find sympathy for criminals? So Trayvon Martin was a thug who needed no sympathy to the point where people, through social media, attributed a picture of the rapper The Game as Trayvon.

Or the same media that couldn't wait to remind you Eric Garner sold loose cigarettes.

Or that Walter Scott owed back child support and how many time he was arrested.

Or that Michael Brown was a weed fueled animal who strong arm robbed a convenience store, tried to steal a cops gun and then charged after the cop after being shot.

"At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him. And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even anything in his way."

- Darren Wilson's Grand Jury Testimoney

Or the family life of Tamir Rice.

Miss me with that.

And lets be 100 here when you say "government officials" you mean Good Ol President Darkie.

So what I think is going on here is that the question he really wants to ask but wont is where is all the outrage from BLACK PEOPLE. Why aren't the BLACK PEOPLE marching for his son?

To this I say you are asking the wrong damn people.

Where is the outrage from WHITE PEOPLE? Where are all the #AllLivesMatter hashtaggers?

First of all, do your own damn work. Since when is it my responsibility to convince you and others that there is a problem with excessive force in this country and the voracity in which officers are protected when they commit these acts only emboldens them as they fear no repercussions. They believe can plant evidence (see Walter Scott), lie in their official accounts of events (see Tamir Rice and John Crawford) or not even bother to identify themselves as police officers (see Steve Blake) and will not be held accountable


I can't even convince people that racial prejudices can and do sneak into police interactions with people (which is why in New York People of Color are subjected to Stop and Frisk far more often then whites though whites are found to be in possession of contraband far more (by percentage of total and total amount) than People of Color.

Whites Are Almost Twice As Likely To Be Found With A Weapon

The NYPD and politicians have repeatedly justified the racial disparity in stop and frisks saying that they cops essentially go where the guns are, i.e. minority neighborhoods. Yet, only 1.9 percent of frisks in 2011 turned up weapons and interestingly, according to the NYCLU, "a weapon was found in only 1.8 percent of blacks and Latinos frisked, as compared to a weapon being found in 3.8 percent of whites frisked."

I can get people to admit to me "when I see someone driving erratically I presume they are Asian" but somehow that same logic and "racial transference" is impossible with police officers.

If you want justice for your son then challenge your fellow white people to confront their own assertions about the police. To admit there is an issue. Form protests, speak out. Don't just blame the shit on black people.

To ask where is all the black outrage is to ask the wrong questions to the wrong people. Question white people.

Ask them how they can be so supportive of police when (pick a darkie any darkie's) situation is the same as their sons. Why does their son have to go through the same slander and dehumanizing that  (pick a darkie any darkie) did? How can you say #AllLivesMatter in response to #BlackLivesMatters but not speak out for their son?

But asking these question are problematic because those people wont respond. They cant because:

1. Having to all of a sudden backslide on the unwavering consistent support of police (#BlueLivesMatter) when white people are victims exposes their own inert or intentional racism because there is no bend, no wavering when the victim is black even though the situation is damn near identical.

2. That racism skirt is pulled up and they are exposed because there was no outrage from them when black victims are in the same situations as this young man (Hammond’s).

Or maybe white people can admit this is different. Though the circumstances are the same the vibe is different. This feels like an aberration and not the norm. There wont be screaming #AllLivesMatter or #BlueLivesMatter at his funeral. There will be no memes suggesting because he was a criminal (and he was) he deserved to die. There wont be GoFundMe accounts created to help with the officer's "legal defense"

To do so would be in poor taste and would be vile. Funny how that applies to some people and to others it does not.

Where is the outrage?

Ask a white person and see what they say...Everything I've read about it in social media has been from people of color.

Instead of blaming them maybe you should start realizing that maybe those crazy #BlackLivesMatter people have a point. Maybe instead of assuming #BlackLivesMatter really means ONLY #BlackLivesMatter you listen to what people are saying and have been saying

He added: “The issue should never be what is the color of  the victim. The issue should be: Why was an unarmed teen gunned down in a situation where deadly force was not even justified?”

It should when it disproportionately happens to one section of people over another but I digress.

We've been saying the same thing you are just too busy blaming President Darkie and the rest of us People of Color to see that I want, WE want race to not play a part in any of it. To be treated as a human being. As an equal. I dont want to be judged by my pants or my minor offenses or how I speak or how uncomfortable I make you because of your own issues and prejudice.

Matter of fact let me know when you get rid of this shit, and then maybe then you can be outraged and blame all of us, including President Darkie.

Dont worry, I'll wait...

Equal Opportunity

I love L.A. It's my homeland, and the sun and relaxed atmosphere give me the warm and fuzzies when I think about them. But, perhaps more than anywhere else, image is everything in that town. And that's true for all sexes.

And, while we're at it, I love Ali. She's a Pittsburgh girl that knows how to have fun. But if I had to choose between getting into a regular car with her and a Lambo with Stevie? Well...


Monday Kickstart: Inspiration

Let the lovely Natalie Loren give you reason to get on your grind this week.







Let's go.

Monday Kickstart: Honest Beginnings

I don't date anymore, and watching this was a both painful and vindicating reminder of why.


Sunday, September 13, 2015

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Throwback Thursday: "Tommy's Theme" — Made Men ft. The LOX

This track was so hot, but didn't get a lot of widespread love. It appeared on the Belly soundtrack, and was consistently banging in my dorm room.

Add Made Men to the long and distinguished list of acts with a ton of promise that never got anywhere. Closest they ever came to fame after this video was Benzino's short time in the spotlight for beefing with Eminem.


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Tuesday Kickstart (Part 2): Inspiration

Let Chandler South remind you just why everyone says redheads are dangerous.








Tuesday Kickstart (Part 1): Off to Never Never Land

It's Tuesday, but for most of us it's "Monday"—the first day of work after Labor Day Weekend. And if your weekend was as full of beer, bikinis, shots, fantasy football drafts, beer pong, pizza, and water gun battles as mine was, then you need a pug playing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" right about now.



Let's go.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

First Time's a Charm

Admittedly, when I first saw Playboy tweet this video, I expected the tales to be a lot more "blah" than they were. Porn is pretty mainstream these days, and—in the world in general—it's hard to find anything that genuinely gets your attention these days. But a lot of these are pretty good.

From Playboy:
Curious about what it was like for adult film stars during their first experience on camera? Watch adult film stars Kayden Kross, Veronica Rose, Misty Stone, Anikka Albrite, Keiran Lee, Alexis Texas, Amber Ivy, Tori Black, Teagan Presley, Missy Martinez and Joanna Angel at AVN talk to Lisa Ann about what their first times were really like.


Throwback Thursday: "What They Do" — The Roots

Just because it's a throwback, doesn't mean it can't teach you a valuable lesson. Black Thought and his crew dropped gems on this 1996 track, that felt like knowledge being slapped upside your head with every thump of the bassline.


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Respect My Gangsta: Robert Wright

Mr. Wright, you are my new hero. To you I pledge my undying loyalty, and vow that I will always make sure them ribs is right.