Merry Christmas, DMX

  If anything deserves to be turned into an album, this does.  I would pay between $10-$25 for 15 tracks & videos of DMX performing impromptu Christmas carols just like this. If you aren't excited for Christmas after watching this...you don't know joy

Rapid Fire: LeBron, Anti-Viral, & More

  Greetings, many moons have passed since my last update...what can I say, life happens.  The details don't matter nearly as much as the fact that you are, in deed, reading words that I've written with the express intent of you reading once again (You're Welcome).  I've had a few ideas for posts, but my desire to sit down and flesh them out would wane (Side note, I'd like to send a personal FUCK YOU to Bing & their "safe results" search filter.  I searched "wane" to ensure that I was spelling it correct and accidentally hit the image search to be greeted by a DVD cover of a porno. Yes, I'm aware that my first mistake was to use Bing in the first place, but I was being lazy...but enough about me, thanks for being useless, Bing).  So, I'm going to touch on a few things real quick and see how this goes.  You never know, I might revisit some of these again in more detail at some point.

  LeBron James: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown



Milton Un for Grantland.com



  It seems that getting the championship monkey off of his back has cleansed LeBron of most of the vitriol that came with The Decision debacle & has allowed him to get a lot more of the respect that he deserves.  However, it seems that now he's being held to a higher standard outside of the arena.  The Urban League has bashed Nike & LeBron for selling a version of his latest shoes for $315.  Their complaint is that the price is too damn high (paraphrasing) & that it will lead to more shoe robberies. 

Stuck In A Moment

  A sense of finality was found, but closer wasn't.  This led my subconscious to revisit things more than I would have chosen.  Trying to tie up loose ends, my mind continued to process the past to make better sense of things through random thoughts, memories, and dreams.  The conscious mind is a hostage to the subconscious when there is something that it's fixated on.  The only thing I could do was give my mind new problems to solve.  This quieted the voices from the past.

  Without provocation, my mind returned to this unresolved issue in a dream last night.  It started by putting me in a position that has caused conflict, however, there was no conflict to be found.  It took this positive note and followed it with a major leap, regressing things to a more amicable state. 

  At this point in the dream, I because aware that it was a dream.  You know that state where you are still dreaming, yet you can sometimes make choices & wake yourself up at will.  With this new found level of choice, I let the dream continue to play out.  I was questioned if this new amicable state was what I was looking for (more or less) & I responded.  My response was not what my subconscious expected. 

New Sound: Ripple Cut 2: Daze Classic

Ripple Cut 2: Daze Classic by Steve.Be.

  Well, well, well. After 9 months in the oven, Steve Be has birthed the next installment in his Ripple Cut MixEP series entittled Daze Classic .  Steve raises the bar this go round, as he glides over some well crafted original production & one throwback sample for the title track (He's been sitting on that sample since 2004 & finally created something that fits it.  That's patience). For those keeping score at home, I DO NOT get a shout out & I am still endorsing it. 

Rant: Internet Simping

  The Internet is a strange place.  Where else can you buy plane tickets, research epilepsy in dogs, & find porn all with the same tool???  The E-co system (see what I did there?) encourages behavior that can be seen as lame in real life.  I'm just trying to figure it all out.  Below are some examples with my opinion of it, let me know what your thoughts are in the comments...or not (reverse psychology).

  
The Mass Complimenter 
  The "You Catch More Flies With Honey" Technique.  This person likes hundreds of pictures and posts daily of people they find attractive.  Chances are, if you go through a pretty girl's photo album on Facebook or Instagram (same difference) you will see the same people like and/or compliment the majority of her pictures.  The real life equivalent to this is complimenting someone about their outfit everyday.  Sure, it would be nice at first, but after a week of getting "you look great", "damn, gorgeous", or "You're so fine, I'd pay money to slow dance with your ugly sister" (or whatever these people say) you'd start to look at them funny.

Fact

Hunger Games Stays True & Racists Rage

  We (mostly minorities and some whites) know that racism still exists.  Granted, it's been a few years since I've been called a nigger in the streets, it's still around below the surface.  Hollywood has been aware of this for decades and has continued to market movies towards the white majority in order to maximize profits (racist motivations take a slight back seat to profit).

  The Hunger Games has a huge fan base around the country stemming from the success of the novel.  Safe to say the majority of the fans that went to see the movie adaptation read or have some familiarity with the book.  Funny thing is, they don't all remember some of the characters the same way the book described them. 

  Check out this blog for some examples of how seeing black actors representing beloved characters made some fans angry. 

http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made

Extra Thought: Overused Memes that are Overused

  First and foremost, I tend to lose interest in something when it is overdone.  I love internet memes as much as the next left-footed, organ donor. However, I get tired of it when it gets stagnant or just isn't good.  That being said, I easily get annoyed when the latest meme starts to flood my news feed or timeline, all making the same joke in a slightly more lame way than the last.

Example #1





Example #2

  Those two became annoying almost immediately as everyone put their own twist on it, making it relevant to them and funny to few, and annoying to most.

Extra Thought: How is Culture Created?

  **Ok, I'm going to address the fact that it has felt like an eternity since my last post...because it has been.  Yeah, I didn't post anything, big whoop, wanna fight about it?!?!  I've been focusing on some other aspects of life lately, not that I couldn't have updated the blog...I just didn't.  So, that's my unapologetic way of apologizing, you're welcome** 

  Culture is not something that is as black and white as we make it seem.  If we look at a certain country, we'll say from a high level that 'this' is their culture, when in actuality, that's just what we know of it.  Depending on what region of the country the source was in to make those claims, the perceived culture could be drastically different.  Let's look at good ole Uh'Merica for a second. At a high level, our culture is that of excess, selfishness, blind nationalism, and ignorance of other parts of the world.  In general, most of this is accurate.  However, region by region the culture will shift and feel completely different.  From southern hospitality to the "get out of my way" aspect of the north east, cultures become unique as they are adapted & interpreted by those living it. 

  I'm curious about how these shared traits and values started though.  I'm not going to touch any of the actual sociology behind this (because I haven't studied it) but the way I see it, people will emulate others if they respect them.  Why do people follow & emulate celebrities?  Why does all it take for a new product to succeed is having the right spokesmen?  People see a lifestyle that they want and will do what they think it takes to emulate it so they can have that lifestyle themselves.  

Diddy Told Me To Drink Ciroc...So, I Drink Ciroc