tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86309256871521314302024-02-19T18:52:02.100-08:00Eclectic RelaxationHe loves sex. He loves hip-hop. Therefore, he shall write about both.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-67998377448234269942012-08-03T08:45:00.001-07:002012-08-03T08:45:12.352-07:00The Don“we have a lot of exciting work ahead of us, and we’ll need all hands on deck to succeed in providing every student in every community with access to a high quality education.”
“As you may have heard,”
“thoughtfully engaged”
Full Day Pioneer Schools
Extra time in the classroom is critical to students' academic success, as both the quantity and quality of instruction can mean the difference between a high school dropout and a college graduate.
I was a teacher, my wife was a teacher, I was raised by teachers, and many of the members of my leadership team are former teachers.
“equipping our students with tools that will help them be successful as they return to school.”
“With only 57 percent of students graduating high school, achievement gaps for African American and Latino students remain in the high double digits, and only 7.9 percent of 11th graders testing college-ready, we have much work ahead of us.”
“one-stop shop”
Input from each of these groups regarding the full school day – and the many important initiatives and efforts taking place throughout the District – is critical to the success of our students.
We look forward to continuing to engage
critical challenge of closing the achievement gap that exists between African American students and their Caucasian counterparts,
As a school district and as a community, we must put our kids first no matter the opposition. It's the only way to ensure we are doing right by our students, families and city, and by those who have come before us.
I could have no better ally than you as we climb this mountain together, and I'm grateful for your hard work and support.
As CEO of this district, it's my charge and commitment, and that of my staff, to provide all the support schools need to drive student success.
It's undeniable that we have many excellent schools, as well as many, many principals and educators committed to student achievement in our district; but, unfortunately, too many of our students are falling behind. Not enough are graduating from high school and most of those who do are not prepared for college.
We know these decisions aren't easy for many, as many of our teachers, principals, students, parents and communities have deep, personal connections to affected schools.
he result is REACH Students, which will provide a clear picture of effective teaching, while also establishing better communication practices between educators and giving meaningful feedback to teachers to help them drive student learning.
I believe that success is possible. In fact, on Monday I celebrated 94 success stories representing the CPS schools that made the 2011 Illinois Honor Roll
“better drive student learning”
CPS simply does not have the revenue to support the way we currently fund our schools. Making the structural changes necessary to put our District on a path to financial sustainability so we can better support student learning will require difficult decisions, but we face no choice—they are decisions we must make.
“a world-class, work-relevant education that will ensure students graduate equipped, not only for success in college, but also for cutting-edge jobs in the future.”
7 hours in elementary, 7.5 in high school, up from 5.45 and 7 respectively.
“Scrubbing our budget LINE BY LINE, CONTRACT BY CONTRACT and PROGRAM BY PROGRAM”
The proposed 2012-2013 calendar is just one of the initiatives we are implementing as part of our overall strategy to boost academic achievement across the district.
The information I gathered from these meetings is some of the most valuable in informing our work throughout the District.
It was clear from that conversation that parents want their kids to have more time in the classroom, and they want it to be quality time.
I could not agree more. The Full Day is about more than just adding time – it’s about improving whatwe teach, how we teach and the time we dedicate to providing students with a better quality education than they’ve ever had before.
I urge us all to share stories like Devonte's with our students, ensuring they know that—whether a child or an adult—we must all speak up, shine a light and help those who need it.
“parents, teachers, school and community leaders across the district…”
My respect for teachers runs deep, and I have a genuine appreciation for the great work they do every day on behalf of our students both inside and outside the classroom.
I hope you share my excitement about the coming school year
PRESS RELEASES
- “We’re pleased to see academic achievement among our students continues to grow, but it’s clear we still have work to do,” said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard. “That’s why we’ve spent this year focusing on initiatives that will give teachers and students the time and tools they need to boost achievement in the classroom, resulting in a high-quality Full Day for all schools beginning next school year.” – ISAT
- The revised SCC includes substantive changes designed to promote positive learning environments for students and staff and limit the use of disciplinary actions that remove students from the classroom.
- “I am a strong believer in limiting mandatory disciplinary actions that remove a child from their classroom and school, which, in many cases, ultimately causes more harm than good for those students,” said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard. “We need to be more proactive in addressing issues before they become a disruption or a distraction for students and staff. The revised Student Code of Conduct will help the District take leaps forward in creating more positive and safe learning environments so that our children can keep their focus on the classroom.”
- “It gives me and our CPS parents peace of mind to know that our students have a caring environment filled with engaging activities – both creative and educational – while they are out of school.”
- “This increase in our graduation rate tells a powerful story about CPS and the contributions of our hard working teachers and principals,” said CEO Brizard. “These results are impressive, but we have more work to do in ensuring that every child in our District graduates ready for college and career. Our efforts around the Full School Day next fall will provide additional tools and supports for our teachers and principals to better position them in boosting the academic success of our students.”
- “We need to use every tool at our disposal to identify new revenue so we can invest every dollar possible in our kids and their learning,” said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard. “These vacant and unused properties will not only help generate new revenue needed for our schools, but will help bring new jobs and development opportunities to communities throughout the city.”
“Our students must be given the tools to succeed in today’s complicated economy, and that includes access to practical financial skills that can help them make smart decisions,” said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard. “We are appreciative of the support from these private partners in helping to ensure all students have the knowledge, skills and tools needed to succeed in life.”
“The District is especially proud of these inspiring educators for their creativity in the classroom, and we thank them for their dedication which makes a difference in the lives of CPS students every day. I extend our gratitude to all teachers across Chicago for the countless hours spent, both in and out of the classroom, helping to educate our future leaders.”
JC TALKERS
There’s not a more noble profession or one filled with more sacrifice and I am truly grateful for the work our teachers are doing every day for our kids.
INTRODUCTIONS
As a former teacher and principal, I know first-hand the intimate knowledge and insights teachers can provide from the front lines of our schools
Last week was an historic moment in the history of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) as we unveiledREACH Students (Recognizing Educators Advancing CHicago’s Students)—our new teacher evaluation system. Our current system has been in place since the 1970s, and, for many reasons, it was time to make a change.
I AM VERY EXCITED
CONCLUSIONS
In closing, I want to salute not only our hard-working teachers, but also our many school-based staff, such as our principals, counselors, lunchroom workers, janitors and social workers. We truly couldn’t do the important work of educating Chicago’s children without you.
It continues to be an exciting year full of new initiatives and educational opportunities that will benefit our students both now and in the future, and I’m looking forward to all that lies ahead for our district.
As always, we remain committed to our mission of ensuring that every student in every community has access to a high quality education. In carrying out this mission, we intend to make the best decisions supporting critical priorities that will ultimately empower teachers, whose role on the front lines of education cannot be underestimated.
I look forward to seeing the many positive impacts the Full Day will have on our students, and the many opportunities and learning experiences it is sure to provide them!
I know you share my sense of urgency, and I want to thank you for your dedication to our students and the hard work you do every day. By continuing to work together, we can and will succeed.
BC
Additionally, CPS is investing $130 million to support the Full Day, which principals can use at their discretion to design a school day that will best fulfill the unique needs of their own student body. Schools have used these dollars in multiple ways to support student learning. In total, schools have hired more than 500 additional teaching positions for math, reading, science, art and music. Some schools have used these dollars to purchase everything from musical instruments and virtual gyms to iPads and webcams, which will allow students to participate in classroom instruction simultaneously with other kids from around the world.
Thank you in advance for doing all you can to make sure your child is in school on the first day. We also encourage you to become active and engaged in every way you can around your child’s education. To learn more, call our office of Family and Community Engagement at XXX. We look forward to working and hearing from you throughout School Year 2012/2013.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-32996218970034690282009-05-26T14:01:00.000-07:002009-05-26T14:03:06.148-07:00My...goodness...gracious<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5evFY7xBv2p2FE6eCfKMGoRhGO6AzMAmv6nd9HYsjBIhbxQ4mURv-3uCD3g9K38ZKn4uJTpi4hC8n8KHZvXB5J3S_2rUaDsVYu5wPuZPlAVL5fKT5EJhWjw-n4YU7bYY5vsLKdsY8lM/s1600-h/spencerprattmarquee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 337px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5evFY7xBv2p2FE6eCfKMGoRhGO6AzMAmv6nd9HYsjBIhbxQ4mURv-3uCD3g9K38ZKn4uJTpi4hC8n8KHZvXB5J3S_2rUaDsVYu5wPuZPlAVL5fKT5EJhWjw-n4YU7bYY5vsLKdsY8lM/s400/spencerprattmarquee.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340240948684793858" border="0" /></a><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=47340">This was worth</a> resurrecting the blog.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-29272386638694444622009-03-23T12:35:00.000-07:002009-03-25T11:56:57.459-07:00The World Is Yours<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://colinresponse.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/nas_illmatic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 384px;" src="http://colinresponse.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/nas_illmatic.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Last summer, my then-girlfriend asked me to put her on to some hip-hop.<br /><br />Whenever I get a request like this from someone relatively uninitiated in the genre, I seldom know exactly where to start. After some consideration, I did what I thought made the most sense and started her off with the best: an 80-minute CD-R of Nas' finest tracks.<br /><br />It's apropos. Fact: Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones is the best rapper ever. Bar none. Period. Accept no substitutes.<br /><br />Next month marks fifteen years since the release of his seminal freshman album <span style="font-style: italic;">Illmatic. </span>XXL Magazine - a periodical that long ago lost relevance - celebrated the event with an article on the album's making of; with interviews from all the beat makers, producers and the man himself on how each track and the album as a whole came together.<br /><br />The pictures of a 20-year-old Nas and company capture the true grit of New York hip-hop culture during its renaissance period, and the stories behind the album's ten tracks shine a new and intriguing light on material that I can recite from front to back. ("N.Y. State of Mind" first verse in one take! Busta Rhymes could have taken the beat for "Halftime"!)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Illmatic </span>is one of the top three best hip-hop albums of all time, one of very few perfect records and the best example of the genre's finest producers behind truly prolific wordplay that has withstood the test of time. No matter what Nas does for the rest of his career, no one can take this from him.<br /><br />For your consideration (click on each scan to bring up the whole thing):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i43.tinypic.com/308utkw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 541px; height: 1169px;" src="http://i43.tinypic.com/308utkw.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i42.tinypic.com/256eat1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 761px; height: 565px;" src="http://i42.tinypic.com/256eat1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i39.tinypic.com/2em0rib.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 887px; height: 774px;" src="http://i39.tinypic.com/2em0rib.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i44.tinypic.com/2i6fgqw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 1096px; height: 1599px;" src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2i6fgqw.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i40.tinypic.com/2n8pt2d.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 1159px; height: 1600px;" src="http://i40.tinypic.com/2n8pt2d.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i41.tinypic.com/dqnbbs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 1136px; height: 1599px;" src="http://i41.tinypic.com/dqnbbs.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-8137343595227248352009-02-24T13:28:00.000-08:002009-02-24T13:56:08.872-08:00Pac and Primo: A long-awaited union<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFslerkFBEaMO-RtnEXGifTWXSFxCTpXTrW4ZYr5Rw8C6FEuLCws9DEyLG7r3Z-pZOnv8CsiXL9RVWxDhiKMiWqiJuOpsqeSAsu7snCLLHvyXs2YMazxSSPYqAqzd-rELE_H2w95OjxxU/s320/donprimofront.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFslerkFBEaMO-RtnEXGifTWXSFxCTpXTrW4ZYr5Rw8C6FEuLCws9DEyLG7r3Z-pZOnv8CsiXL9RVWxDhiKMiWqiJuOpsqeSAsu7snCLLHvyXs2YMazxSSPYqAqzd-rELE_H2w95OjxxU/s320/donprimofront.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Okay, okay, aiight...this time I PROOOOMISE to keep up with this blog. As we get through the first quarter, hip-hop starts getting better and hence there's more to talk about.<br /><br />The first thing that truly hit my radar this year is <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/201429937/TTDPE09.zip"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Don Primo Edition</span></a>, <span style="font-style: italic;">a</span></span> mixtape of classic 2Pac verses over classic DJ Premier joints. Though I'd imagine that two of hip-hop's true talents blended together would be difficult to muck up, I'm sure it's possible. Fortunately for my treadmill run last night, it wasn't.<br /><br />Twenty-eight tracks with a few interludes and some otherwise pointless guest artists fill out this bad boy. While I don't gush over 'Pac like so many of my contemporaries, I believe - nay, I KNOW - that Primo is literally the best thing that's ever happened to the musical aspect of hip-hop. My favorite cut from the mixtape is definitely "My Enemies Give Me Power:" It's "When We Ride on our Enemies" - that old Mobb Deep diss cut - over Nas' "I Gave You Power." The intro with Bishop yelling at Q in <span style="font-style: italic;">Juice </span>gave me goosebumps.<br /><br />I miss hip-hop. Download the link above and enjoy.<br /><br />01. Intro - Primo Pac F Kanye Common<br />02. Holla If U Friend Or Foe<br />03. Gettin Money<br />04. Open Fire W A Full Clip<br />05. Understand My Style F Nas<br />06. Sleep On Me<br />07. Primo Speaks<br />08. Its All Real<br />09. Interlude - War<br />10. My Enemies Give Me Power<br />11. Here I Am Fk Yall<br />12. Paper On My Block<br />13. Hail Mary<br />14. Interlude - Hip Hops Influence<br />15. Old School Memories<br />16. Neva Call U Bth F Jeru Da Damaja<br />17. Against The World<br />18. So Ghetto Out On Bail<br />19. Thug Style<br />20. A Classic Combination F Kanye Biggie Big L<br />21. Interlude - From Ny 2 Cali<br />22. Better Dayz<br />23. Interlude - Origin Of Makaveli<br />24. Thugz Mansion<br />25. This Life I Lead<br />26. Throw Ya Gunz Up<br />27. Ready 4 Wuteva<br />28. OutroDustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-69579607998634799542009-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:002009-02-10T11:12:17.045-08:00Not gangsta...SO not gangsta!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hiphoprx.com/content/uploads/2007/06/kim_ray-j_screen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://www.hiphoprx.com/content/uploads/2007/06/kim_ray-j_screen.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;">The most anyone's seen Ray J since...ever.</span><br /><br /><br />Last Saturday afternoon, following a hellish journey home from Los Angeles, I was too catatonic to do damn near anything, let alone get up and find a remote control so as to change the channel on the television.<br /><br />And so it stayed glued to VH1 as I played catch-up on my computer. I endured the drivel of reality shows with washed-up 90s stars and camera whores before I finally got up to switch on the PS3 so I could continue watching my "The Tudors" DVDs.<br /><br />As I got up, "For The Love of Ray J" came on. The pilot episode. I had read about it briefly on the plane ride in that abortion of a hip-hop periodical known as The Source, so my curiosity was ever-so-slightly piqued. I stayed through the first commercial break. Then the second. And then, before I knew it, I'd reached the elimination portion of the show and lost a good hour of my life that I'll never get back.<br /><br />First off, it's safe to say that VH1 has become the Krispy Kreme of basic cable: Everyone knows the shit is not good for you in way, shape or form, but folks can't stay away. I never, ever go looking for VH1 shows, but if I end up glued on the station for whatever reason - usually a result of being in front of someone else's TV who has it on - I find it difficult to turn the hell away.<br /><br />But I digress. "For The Love of Ray J" is constructed with pretty much the same formula as all these other "find love" exercises in putting society's dregs out there for public consumption. But for some reason, this series is even less palatable than than the others. I think it has to do with the fact that there is absolutely, positively nothing compelling about Ray J.<br /><br />Flavor Flav? Interesting motherfucker. Bret Michaels? Former rock god. Who can name more than one song from Willie Norwood? If you can, email me and I'll hit you in the face with pizza dough for being a tool. This cat wouldn't exist in anyone's mental Rolodex if big sister Brandy hadn't had her run. The only reason anyone has mentioned his name in the past three years is because he railed half-Armenian, half-horse socialite/social disease Kim Kardashian and put the shit on videotape for all to see.<br /><br />Leaking an intimate sex tape to the public without the expressed permission of his partner is plenty enough for any respectable woman to not want anything to do with a guy. But we're definitely not dealing with respectable women. VH1 is single-handedly setting the feminist movement back years with every one of these reality shows, just as the negroid males on the same shows probably took a handful of votes away from Obama.<br /><br />Jimmy Kimmel put it perfectly when he addressed some of the Flavor of Love stars at The Roast of Flavor Flav: "Now where was I before I was interrupted by these whores?" Each of them get on the show and talk in the private camera room about how they're "different" from the rest of the women in the audience because they're "actually here because I am looking for something special; something real." And yet, they all end up 7/8ths naked in front of the camera embarassing the dogshit out of their parents. Dumb broads.<br /><br />I mean, where do they find these women?? When they're all getting to know each other and rattling off their respective professions, all I wanted to hear -for whatever reason - was "medical school, lawyer, retail buyer." Nope. "Hairdresser. Waitress. Slutpiece." And as fine as most of them are, several of them screw up their natural beauty with terrible makeup, tawdry behavior and clothes that'll never get them invited to any man's dinner to meet the family. I mean honestly...a tattoo of a fucking jungle cat on the side of your face?!?!?!? I hope ol' girl comes from money...<br /><br />And then you got Ray J himself feigning genuine interest in the women while projecting a not-so-modest solipsism that has him looking like a utter stooge. I always thought Flav was playing something of a caricature of himself on his show, but Ray J doesn't seem to be acting; the D-level singer is probably as surface-level as he'd have you believe.<br /><br />I'm definitely done after one episode of this show. Especially since he kept the dirty, buttcheek-clapping stripper. If any of you are convinced these shows have any tincture of reality or genuineness, joke's on you.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-63406802695987101152009-02-02T12:43:00.000-08:002009-02-03T07:34:18.832-08:00...And That Right Soon: The Best of 2008<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.theboombox.com/media/2008/09/royce59_joeb_092208_400.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.theboombox.com/media/2008/09/royce59_joeb_092208_400.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So better later than never, right?<br /><br />Please forgive my infrequent blogging as of late -- life has gotten in the way of the time/motivation to flex my creative headbone. But as I've done every year for the past half-decade or so, I want to present my compendium of best hip-hop songs of the year.<br /><br />While 2007 was a boon year for the genre, 2008 left a bit more to be desired. At the end of '07, I had to sit down and make some serious choices regarding what would make it on an 80-minute CD-R. This time, I had to go back and really think hard about what actually made it out last year, and what was worthy of actually making a CD full of my favorite stuff.<br /><br />It seemed that there was a bit of a dearth in the year's midsection in terms of quality music; the first quarter was uncharacteristically decent (The Roots, Elzhi) and the fourth also provided a few gemstars (Black Milk). But the summer of 2008 was a period in which I truly immersed myself in the world of alternative rock music for the first time in my life. Playing Radiohead all day, every day made up for the lack of good hip-hop to round out my mix CDs.<br /><br />Royce Da 5'9" and Black Milk both continued their supremacy from 2007, and by extension made it on more than a few cuts on the best-0f mix. Somehow, Kweli made it on this bastard <span style="font-style: italic;">twice, </span>which is interesting considering he's such a fallen star in my estimation, despite being one of my favorite emcees. Skyzoo probably made it on the mix for the last time, as he's getting exceedingly uninteresting and worthy of checking out only for beat choice.<br /><br />Speaking of beat choice, just as is the case every year, a couple of these cuts are here for no other reason than stellar, infectious production (The Jake One, Nicolay and Kidz In The Hall joints). I'll never claim to be more righteous than the next listener for appreciating shit with empty lyrical content that either bangs in the whip or has fantastic musical quality. The difference is, I just don't make it a habit.<br /><br />A few more thoughts:<br /><br />- There are a lot of mixtape tracks on here with cats rhyming over other folks' beats. Every year someone else does far more justice to a beat than the original artist. See Royce and his decimation of every Lil' Wayne beat he goes over.<br /><br />- Where the fuck is Saigon's album?!?!?!?!?<br /><br />- This mix features what will probably be the best flipping of a song from a Corey Feldman movie (#10)<br /><br />- The Foreign Exchange should have been on this mix. But Phonte wanted to make the sophomore album all about substandard crooning, so...<br /><br />-Nas is still a fucking monster on the mic, but his beat selection has probably faltered forever.<br /><br />- Termanology basically blew an album full of the best production lineup in like 13 years. But "The Chosen" has a Havoc beat that takes me back to the old Queensbridge days. And Term blacks out over it.<br /><br />- Elzhi's solo album was a bit disappointing overall, but Detroit hip-hop still trumps everything else.<br /><br />1. "The Leak" - Slaughterhouse (Royce Da 5'9", Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz)<br />2. "Done Talkin'" - Royce Da 5'9"<br />3. "Believe It" - Saigon<br />4. "Momma Can You Hear Me?" - Talib Kweli<br />5. "The Necessary Evils" - Skyzoo<br />6. "What We Live" - Nicolay and Kay<br />7. "A Billi" - Jay-Z<br />8. "Let Your Hair Down" - Kidz In The Hall (feat. Skyzoo & Lil' Eddie)<br />9. "Home" - Jake One (feat. Vitamin D, C-Note, Maine & Ish)<br />10. "Thou Shall Not Fall" - Joe Budden<br />11. "America" - Nas<br />12. "Long Story Short" - Black Milk<br />13. "Hot Thing" (Remix) - Talib Kweli (feat. Jean Grae)<br />14. "Royal Flush" - Outkast and Raekwon<br />15. "Motown 25" - Elzhi (feat. Royce Da 5'9")<br />16. "Heart Breakers" - Son of Ran and The Messengers<br />17. "Criminal" - The Roots (feat. Truck Turner and Saigon)<br />18. "The Chosen" - Termanology<br />19. "What If We Cry?" - Jay-Z and ColdplayDustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-1376477096831068492009-01-23T12:51:00.000-08:002009-01-23T12:52:47.335-08:00Waitin' for the porn to change<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk317/tranier22/baby15.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 369px;" src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk317/tranier22/baby15.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />If there was anything that 15-year-old Dustin knew well, it was the many resplendent joys of pornography.<br /><br />I couldn’t get a girlfriend to save my natural life, I wasn’t involved in sports and video games didn’t have that six-hours-a-day appeal that they did when I was an adolescent. So I spent my formative teen years chasing after and amassing a collection of hardcore, softcore and HBO-late-night-programming videotapes that ultimately filled a military footlocker so heavy that I needed another hand to help me carry it – often at the cost of loaning out some of the material inside.<br /><br />In high school, I was all about collecting black porn: the massive-titted bleached-blonde white women most conventionally associated with porn, while nice, became far too quotidian to keep my interest. Thanks to a very open-minded dad and friends in high school who were actually old enough to procure the stuff for me, I got my ample share of chocolate booty on film.<br /><br />I was an early (read: underage) loyalist of Video Team’s Afro-Centric material -- namely the “Sista” and “My Baby Got Back” series. Fellow connoisseurs will recall the days of black porn laureates like Janet Jacme, Ron Hightower and Dominique Simone, on whose breasts you could balance three dwarves holding meal trays.<br /><br />I knew all these porn folks more intimately than I probably should have. I knew Midori was singer Jody Watley’s sister. I knew that Crystal Knight actually performed when she was pregnant for a while. I thought that Mr. Marcus was the luckiest motherfucker on two-and-a-half legs. Hell, I still do. <br /><br />As the years have elapsed, however, I’ve found that my attitude toward black porn has been tangential with my attitude toward hip-hop: the halcyon days have long fallen away, and now we have to dig a bit deeper for quality where there once was an abundance.<br /><br />Back in the day, black porn starlets looked like they actually took into consideration that the world would see every bit of their creation and thus stayed in the gym. They were beautiful, diminutive and relatively innocent-looking, which made it delightfully shocking when they took penises the size of baby arms in their back doors like it was just another day on the job.<br /><br />The black women in contemporary porn have devolved significantly. Honestly, these dames look like they’re smooth out of a strip club on the east side of Detroit. Broken press-on nails, belly folds, foot-long stretch marks and faces so buttery you’d think the beautiful women actually developed a collective sense of self-worth and left the porn to their busted brethren.<br /><br />I think black porn reached its apogee around 1998, when Dee – one of my favorite “black” porn stars who’s actually Puerto Rican – was in her prime. Back then, you could pick up a title like “United Colors of Ass” or “Booty Talk” and know you would get at least three scenes with slammin’ women you’d actually consider taking home to mom if it weren’t for the whole porn thing. Now, I just assume that the sisters are gonna be all grody-looking and I will examine a DVD box much more closely before checking it out.<br /><br />I can’t even tell you who the hot black actresses are today. It may be a result of a generally decreased interest in porn, as I can’t really rattle off the names of new porn starlets of any race (actually having a sex life drastically alters one’s overall interest in licentious viewing material, I’ve learned), but I pay enough attention to know that the “My Baby Got Back” series fell the hell off after, like, volume 25, and that that’s a reflection of the overall black subgenre. <br /><br />Since the porn industry is in no real danger of suffering from the recession anytime soon (two things Americans will always need: health care and orgasms), I’m thinking we can get some of these beautiful sisters graduating college to a depressed job market to consider jumping into adult and increase the tone of black porn while netting six figures in the process.<br /><br />I’m sure Mr. Marcus would be pleased to go back to the days of old. I know I would.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-84306146411928491072009-01-18T16:17:00.000-08:002009-01-20T16:48:35.719-08:00"Notorious" film review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVS7iq92KeV3LWgnPyXUmW9ZPJGVQF5fg431fnjjCRdtv5-7YJTS1FMIqW71W-4TaM_YyPyIAmvAjFTJYXoNlzDSgl1Awo0DgurvIjiNxdhm2N9aIiVR8TtExPvTENpn2pfW1e68dHGok/s1600-h/TheNotoriousBIG.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 363px; height: 367px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVS7iq92KeV3LWgnPyXUmW9ZPJGVQF5fg431fnjjCRdtv5-7YJTS1FMIqW71W-4TaM_YyPyIAmvAjFTJYXoNlzDSgl1Awo0DgurvIjiNxdhm2N9aIiVR8TtExPvTENpn2pfW1e68dHGok/s320/TheNotoriousBIG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293542272481376914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It would be an understatement to say that my expectations of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Notorious</span> movie were abysmally low: The trailer was cornball, the folks responsible for the movie include P. Diddy as a producer and the guy who wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">Biker Boys</span>, and (speaking of <span style="font-style: italic;">Biker Boyz)</span> Derek Luke hasn't been in anything watchable since <span style="font-style: italic;">Antwone Fisher</span>.<br /><br />And yet, the film wasn't exactly a terrible piece of tripe.<br /><br />Maybe it's that I see so many movies of a myriad genre and range that my expectations are low, but as far as biopics go, I think this could have been executed much worse...a sentiment not exactly <a href="http://www.professorlewis.com/myblog/review-of-notorious-aka-the-worst-of-biggie/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">shared by all</span></a>.<br /><br />The acting overall was not as bad as it could have been; newcomer Jamal Woolard did a pretty good job filling the titular character's sausagey shoes. He appropriately captured the presumed swagger of Christopher Wallace, as well as the emotional depth of his more reflective moments with his mother and his children. One of the most resonant scenes was Biggie's response to finding out his mother had breast cancer, as I could envision many young men responding the exact same way he did.<br /><br />This Woolard guy is actually a real-life rapper with the stage name "Gravy." Is it wrong that I just blindly assume that this dude can't rap? How negative I've gotten toward my beloved genre...<br /><br />But I digress. The story lines involving Lil' Kim and Faith Evans were interesting, if for no other reason than that I was curious how two relatively attractive women gravitated toward the fattest, nastiest, blackest motherfucker I've ever seen get famous. Kim's character did spend about 72 percent of the movie with her knockers out and pissed off at Big, so I guess I can see why the real-life Lil' Kim might be ticked at that. Not that I don't believe for a second that shit actually did go down grimy between the two of them.<br /><br />The film would have us believe that 2Pac, Suge Knight and other devious West Coast rap personalities waged a one-sided war on the East Coast during the infamous mid-90s coastal strife. Was 'Pac the asshole they made him out to be and Biggie completely devoid of any wrongdoing? Perhaps, but I take into account that <span style="font-style: italic;">Notorious </span>is a film basically made by the folks that loved him the most, so I'm going to assume some level of creative bias.<br /><br />Things I didn't like? The movie deferred to the saccharine quite often; especially near the end when Big supposedly made peace with everyone in his life right before he was killed, as if he knew for sure it would happen. I didn't like that Angela Bassett used a fraction of her ass to execute Violetta Wallace's Jamaican accent. In fact, I'm mad that she's typecast period as the maternal figure of trouble famous figures.<br /><br />This movie is no <span style="font-style: italic;">Ray</span>, and it sure as hell is no <span style="font-style: italic;">Walk the Line. </span>It isn't even quite as enjoyable as <span style="font-style: italic;">8 Mile </span>(though I may be biased)<span style="font-style: italic;">. </span>But if you do what I do and buy the "child" movie tickets with your debit card from the Fandango machines, you shouldn't consider this a waste of your $7.50.<br /><br />Also, any hip-hop nonfiction piece that's set in the early- to mid-1990s (a la <span style="font-style: italic;">8 Mile</span>) is likely to have a very dope soundtrack. <span style="font-style: italic;">Notorious </span>is no exception. <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-22541059029354997572008-12-29T09:25:00.000-08:002008-12-29T10:33:46.637-08:00Rappers are fucking idiots<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VG1Y84jhbUI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VG1Y84jhbUI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />FACT: Real street niggas move in silence and under the radar to do dirt...they don't record ridiculous assaults and post them on the internet.<br /><br />FACT: Showing up at an innocent man's doorstep unexpectedly with like 9 other motherfuckers and pretending like you're brolic for delivering an open-handed slap does not make you gangsta. It makes you a herb.<br /><br />FACT: Talking about how you're gonna pay so-and-so a visit if they ever speak your name on wax is silly bitch shit.<br /><br />FACT: Almost none of what rappers say is worth believing.<br /><br />Remember KRS-One and MC Shan? Roxanne and Roxanne Shante? LL Cool J and Kool Moe Dee? Common and Ice Cube? Nas and Jay-Z? That was hip-hop beef. It was about territory, bragging rights and rhymes. You had a few verses, lots of shit-talking and the fans deciding the victor. <br /><br />This shit right here? This isn't a true rap battle...it's ignorance personified. Joe Budden and Ransom, semi-successful and virtually unknown Jersey rappers respectively, have had something of a "beef" for a while now, but I couldn't tell you if or when either of these rat bastards actually put any verses out about it. But I can point to several videos in which BOTH rappers are talking copious amounts of trash and threatening one another with physical violence. Now while I'd be all about seeing rappers go at it in a fair battle of fisticuffs, there's nothing to gain aurally, and at the end of the day, this is the only relevant purpose rappers serve to me.<br /><br />I just don't like this back-and-forth loser shit...especially what Ransom did by showing up to this guy's doorstep. You got beef with one man so you go out and attack his best friend, who had NOTHING to do with anything?!?!? This does not make you hardcore - anyone who knows anything about the laws of the street knows that this is not how real cats handle business.<br /><br />Hip-hop is always kinda dead in the fourth quarter, so before I post my Best of 2008 blogs, this silliness should tide you over.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pto8SbHIcMQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pto8SbHIcMQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Gv7GqNkd-A&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Gv7GqNkd-A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-43304242967079514042008-12-16T08:19:00.000-08:002008-12-16T08:28:36.314-08:00"YES they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hell!!!"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/793/793124/super-street-fighter-ii-turbo-hd-remix-20070531103548282_640w.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 389px; height: 358px;" src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/793/793124/super-street-fighter-ii-turbo-hd-remix-20070531103548282_640w.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Some four years ago, my then-girlfriend Robin and I drove from Chicago to Ann Arbor to catch a football game at our alma mater. During a pre-game gathering of her sorority sisters at a residence close to the Big House, a raucous drunk cat walking up the street engaged us in smack talk that not only made them uncomfortable, but pissed them off as well.<br /><br />As if through some weird twist of kismet, the dude ended up focusing much of his attention on Robin…of all the women there. And because I was basically the sole male representative there (There was another dude, but he was like 5’ 3” and I think he was gay. Not to say that short gay brothers can’t scrap, but…well…), surrounded by women who were yelling at him and basically provoking him, I was in the unenviable position of trying to diffuse the situation.<br /><br />This cat ended up getting uncomfortably close to Robin with all his discursive bullshit, and though she was herself prepared to start throwing blows, he didn’t push any of us to the point where we had to lay our hands on him before he went about his business. He even got to the point where he was ready to square off directly with me, but I gave dude a lot of rope because he was drunk as fuck at two-something in the afternoon.<br /><br />I haven’t been in a real fight in over a decade, and I do think that grown men fighting is a loser’s gambit. But that whole time the thought kept swirling in my head, “I’m really gonna have to earth this nigga!” If he’d laid so much as a thumbprint on Robin, for any reason, I would have done so with no compunction. Hell, she and I would have been pounding on him together.<br /><br />I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the merits of the nonviolent mentality – the idea being that the total energy of the world is negatively affected for every person who commits themselves to even the desire of violence. The sheer number of people who carry around that baggage apparently help stimulate the abundance of conflict and human atrocity on the planet. (Yeah…blame this spiritual kick I’m on. Better yet, blame Thomas)<br /><br />However, I think there’s something to be said for having it in you to be able to get down with your knuckles if necessary. However uncommon or unlikely it may be given one’s living situation, there could arise a need to defend at some point.<br /><br />A fundamental tenet of martial arts is that one should only use their training if absolutely necessary. But the people that actually have said training sit a few echelons above the schlubs who would fold if they had to go head up and defend themselves or their loved ones.<br /><br />I think one’s approach to fighting or conflict in general is a reflection of how they came up. Chances are, if you went to a nice artsy school in the suburbs where the students are on a first-name basis with the teachers and everyone participates in thrice-daily hand-holding “comfort circles,” you’ve never seen a fight in your life and wouldn’t know how to handle yourself if one came about.<br /><br />I came up in Detroit, and went to public school K-12. I think my fellow natives of the D will agree that there’s a certain “edge” present in folks who grow up in or around the hood. I’m always tickled when I hear my city channeled as a noun of aggression: “I’m cool now, but they don’t wanna see me bring Detroit out!”<br /><br />I grew up fighting, often because I had to. I was a short, skinny cat who would get trapped in school bathrooms by big motherfuckers who meant me harm, and I had to either throw them thangs (yes, I said <span style="font-style: italic;">thangs</span>) or fall. Sometimes both happened. I won mine and I lost mine…but as an adult, I now know how to handle myself if someone decides to get brolic. <br /><br />But that’s just one aspect of the whole violence piece: what about those situations where the average person would just feel inclined to commit violence as a result of the actions of others?<br /><br />On occasion, I think about what it would take for me to truly harm another human being, and it always comes back to the rapists and murderers. If someone were to do something heinous enough like rape my hypothetical wife, daughter or another loved one, I would have a very, very hard time not going Samuel Jackson “A Time To Kill” on their ass instead of waiting for the law to take care of business.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/set/2608/timekill1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 273px;" src="http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/set/2608/timekill1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I believe with every fiber of my being that the world is actually a <span style="font-style: italic;">better</span> place if the truly malicious people aren’t allowed to continue living with the same privileges/faculties that they used to either violate or eliminate someone else’s life. Think about how many rapists have repeat victims because they were never reported – let alone punished – the first time around. Maybe if a sexual predator were violently castrated after his first victim, then he wouldn’t be able to potentially ruin other lives. I’m just saying…food for thought.<br /><br />Many moons ago, I had a “requirement list” of things I expect from a woman I would wanna settle down with (I’ll post it someday if I can find it). While the very concept of the list is entirely obsolete, let alone the contents, I remember one of the requirements was a “ride-or-die chick:” a female who’s willing to battle – verbally and physically – for her man if necessary. A scrappy dame, if you will.<br /><br />It’s not as prosaic as it reads, really: I feel more comfortable if I know a woman will be ready and willing to fight for both her life and the life of our children if need be. When the fit hits the shan, “survival of the fittest” doesn’t always allow for nonviolent conflict resolution. Unfortunately, that’s just not the fucking world we live in.<br /><br />My questions to you all: is violence ever an answer? Should people have it in them to respond violently if NECESSARY, or is it better to grow up a complete pacifist? Is Dustin way off-base in his spiritual journey? Or is he justified? How would you respond if someone killed or heinously attacked a loved one? Would you just let the law take care of it or would you whip out the iron and go a-huntin’?<br /><br />Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts…Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-69633511416821976712008-12-11T14:31:00.000-08:002008-12-11T16:27:00.322-08:00Random Ish 37: The Bailout Edition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nrk.no/lydverket/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/epmd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="http://www.nrk.no/lydverket/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/epmd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;">You gotsta chiilll.....</span><br /><br />Early on in my college days, back when a pack of 10 74-minute blank CDs still cost damn near $20, I burned a compilation of music that I affectionately dubbed "Random Shit." If I remember correctly, the compilation included some old Craig Mack, Big Noyd and Brand Nubian stuff, as well as a random DMX mixtape track.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://o.aolcdn.com/art/amgmusic/artists/pic200/drp200/p234/p23478pupb6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 153px;" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/art/amgmusic/artists/pic200/drp200/p234/p23478pupb6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Throughout the decade I've made several "Random Ish" mixes that often consisted of several tracks from a single album, as well as other loose change that I'd pick up on sites like Napster and Audiogalaxy (don't y'all just <span style="font-style: italic;">miss </span>Audiogalaxy?!?!?!?). Most of my earliest mixes fell victim to heavy scratching and chipping, with much of the source music from them contained on old computers that will never boot up again. I'd actually pay good money that I don't have to get some of those CDs back...mainly because there were some pretty obscure cuts on them that I can't just go buy from iTunes; and because it'd be a nice, nostalgic trip back to when life was hella simpler.<br /><br />I haven't made a new one since early last summer, so I figure it was only apropos to share the newest collection - and all future editions - with you all. There's some fire on the 37th iteration of "Random Ish," if I do say so myself; take special note of a track from EPMD's new album (!) and this cat Son of Ran from California. I think he might actually be a Christian emcee, maybe, but it doesn't detract from the fact that his debut album <span style="font-style: italic;">Incoming Message </span>is actually that lick.<br /><br />Ask around: my compilations are the shit of legend.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/52603476662fffc1/">http://www.zshare.net/download/52603476662fffc1/</a></span><br /><br />1. "Disturbed" - Blame One & Exile (feat. Sean Price)<br />2. "Say You Will" - Kanye West<br />3. "My Theme Music" - Skyzoo<br />4. "For U" (M-Phazes Remix) - Buff 1<br />5. "Play Your Position" - Skyzoo (feat. Guilty Simpson)<br />6. "The Haters Wish" - Clipse<br />7. "Incoming Message" - Son of Ran and The Messangers<br />8. "Gladiator" - Common<br />9. "Runnin' Out of Time" - Nature<br />10. "The A" - Now On (feat. Buff 1)<br />11. "Bac Stabbers" - EPMD<br />12. "The Leak" - Slaughterhouse (Royce Da' 5'9", Joe Budden, Crooked I & Joell Ortiz)<br />13. "Heart Breakers" - Son of Ran and The Messangers<br />14. "Street Lights" - Kanye West<br />15. "Turn It Up" - Skyzoo<br />16. "Last of a Dying Breed" - Ludacris (feat. Lil' Wayne)<br />17. "Heartless" - Kanye WestDustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-37774242915919736962008-12-08T21:14:00.000-08:002008-12-08T21:18:48.716-08:00Sexuality in the gym<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etja.com/images/treadmills.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 196px;" src="http://www.etja.com/images/treadmills.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Having made my unceremonious return to the gym-rat lifestyle, one of things that really caught my attention this time around is the rampant sexuality in the environment.<br /><br />Not only are all the attractive ladies I see on the streets in my everyday life also in the gym, but they’re half-naked and contorted in all kinds of suggestive positions; often using those big rubber balls that started popping up in everyone’s living room a few years ago. Never before have I felt so envious of something created in a Taiwanese sweatshop.<br /><br />You look on the TV monitors of the treadmills and stair machines, and most are tuned into music video channels featuring half-naked video yamps whose bodies undoubtedly serve as a motivating factor for patrons of either sex.<br /><br />You can tell the difference between the cats on the freeweights who want their muscles ogled and those who are putting in an honest workout: the latter have on hoodies, and the former are wearing tank-tops that Carmen Electra would consider too small.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/nm_gym_080104_mn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 159px;" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/nm_gym_080104_mn.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Even many of the gym’s staff members - especially the ones responsible for selling memberships for commission - are preternaturally attractive (Keep in mind I’m a member of a trendy new spot in Chicago, not a soccer mom-attracting YMCA in Hoboken, N.J.).<br /><br />Admittedly, the whole aesthetic appeals to a longtime fetish of mine: women who are in the process of – or just completed – working out. It’s something about spandex, a sports bra and lots and lots of glistening sweat that revs the kid’s engine. Lots of women feel all gross and disgusting after working out, but I look at them and think to myself, “Let’s make babies!”<br /><br />I wonder how many people are looking – consciously or not – to find their partners at the gym. It’s an environment in which people are already trying to improve themselves, so why not capitalize on that insane monthly membership and get the body and the booty in the same building?<br /><br />I’m guessing it’s a glorified hookup environment, much in the same way that the undergrad library is at any major university. I bet many folks don’t just go to the gym to get right…they do it to see and be seen, with the hope of a denouement that involves them doing squat thrusts with someone else back at the cut.<br /><br />And with the enticing visuals – the big, bulging muscles; bare, toned tummies and the aforementioned glisten – it seems like folks should be in a mindset where it shouldn’t be TOO hard to pull the math from the dime on the treadmill next to you. “Hi…can I wipe down your machine for you? What are you up to after this? Wanna go grab a wheat germ smoothie?”<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gbmnews.com/News_Photos/051808/City_Gym_Boys.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 193px;" src="http://www.gbmnews.com/News_Photos/051808/City_Gym_Boys.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Plus, if you see someone in the gym frequently, you know they’re dedicated to keeping their body right and are probably not as likely to pack on that spare tire or thunderous ass anytime in the near future. All the better for the resume.<br /><br />For me, the sexy visuals are just a motivating factor, and you’re a damned liar if you say that all those pretty folks in there don’t motivate you to run a bit faster or lift a bit more. The reasoning is twofold: You don’t wanna look like a chump with the right set of eyes on you, and there’s the fantasy that the person attached to those eyes might be more obtainable to you once you actually get your frame right.<br /><br />Ladies, think about it: who would better motivate you to turn that treadmill up a bit higher – an unattached Morris Chestnut or George Costanza from Seinfeld?Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-88963381948765150252008-12-04T12:13:00.001-08:002008-12-04T12:22:39.477-08:00The Perfect MK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://musicremedy.com/webfiles/artists/BlackMilk/BlackMilk-03-big.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 468px;" src="http://musicremedy.com/webfiles/artists/BlackMilk/BlackMilk-03-big.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />About a month ago, I undertook a project to compile my very favorite Black Milk tracks onto one mp3 CD that I could pretty much bump on a whole road trip from Chicago to Detroit. The process was tedious but ultimately very rewarding.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Perfect MK </span>is a testament to the millennium's best new hip-hop artist. A labor of love, if you will. If you're a fan of boom-bap, you can't do much better in the 21st Century. If you're a hip-hop neophyte and need some relevant hot shit to get you jump-started, please don't start with Lil' Wayne, Gucci Mane or the throng of wack motherfuckers mass-producing assflakes and calling it music. Take the time to mine these 80 cuts and get back to me.<br /><br />Merry Christmas, bitches.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana, Verdana;font-size:85%;">Disc 1 - <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/522296028eefc08b/" target="_blank">http://www.zshare.net/download/522296028eefc08b/</a><br /><br />1. “Take it There” (feat. One Be Lo)<br />2. “Multiply” – Slum Village<br />3. “The Matrix” (feat. Sean Price and Pharoahe Monch)<br />4. “Action” (feat. Slum Village and Baatin)<br />5. Beat 1<br />6. “U’s a Freak Bitch”<br />7. “Ahead of the Basics” – Nametag<br />8. “Get Focus” – Black Milk & Fat Ray (feat. Phat Kat & Elzhi)<br />9. “So Gone”<br />10. Beat 2<br />11. “Superman”<br />12. “Motown 25” – Elzhi (feat. Royce Da 5’9”)<br />13. “Stern” – Illy Hutch & Black Milk<br />14. “Duck”<br />15. “Set It” – Slum Village<br />16. Beat 4<br />17. Purple Track #1<br />18. “Now We Gone” – Black Milk & Fat Ray<br />19. “Fire”(Solo mix) – Elzhi<br />20. “Play Your Position” – Skyzoo (feat. Guilty Simpson)<br /><br /><br />Disc 2 – <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/5222998904ee7adc/" target="_blank">http://www.zshare.net/download/5222998904ee7adc/</a><br /><br />1. “Never Fall” – Buff 1 (feat. Black Milk)<br />2. “Watch Em” (feat. Que Diesel & Fat Ray)<br />3. “The Intro” – Nametag<br />4. “Lookout” – Fat Ray & Black Milk (feat. Nametag)<br />5. “Try”<br />6. “Pressure”<br />7. Sound of the City Intro<br />8. “Play the Keys”<br />9. “Marvelous” – Baatin<br />10. “Keep it Live” (feat. Mr. Porter)<br />11. “Brag Swag” – Elzhi<br />12. “Nothing to Hide” – Fat Ray & Black Milk<br />13. “Rhyme Royal” – Nametag<br />14. “Popular Demand”<br />15. “Bounce”<br />16. “Bootleggers” – Slum Village<br />17. “Sound The Alarm” (feat. Guilty Simpson<br />18. “About Me”<br />19. “Anotha Club Hit” – Nametag<br />20. “Hold Tight” (Remix) (feat. Black Milk) - Skyzoo<br /><br /><br />Disc 3 - <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/522304657053084f/" target="_blank">http://www.zshare.net/download/522304657053084f/</a><br /><br />1. “That’s That One” – Elzhi<br />2. “Goatit” (feat. Phat Kat)<br />3. Beat 2<br />4. “Not U” – Fat Ray & Black Milk<br />5. “U” (feat. Ty & Kory)<br />6. “Long Story Short”<br />7. “Action Pack” – Nametag (feat. Useless Detroit Niggas)<br />8. “Insane”<br />9. “This That” (feat Marv Won)<br />10. “Reunion” – Slum Village<br />11. “Trinity” (interlude) – Slum Village<br />12. “Say Something” (feat. Nametag)<br />13. “Bond 4 Life” (feat. Melanie Rutherford)<br />14. “Tell ‘Em” (feat. Nametag)<br />15. “Ugly” – Fat Ray & Black Milk<br />16. “Danger” – Phat Kat (feat. T3 and Black Milk)<br />17. “Shut it Down”<br />18. “Guessing Game” – Elzhi<br />19. “Bang Dis Shit” (feat Nametag)<br />20. “Hold Tight” – Skyzoo<br />21. “Momentum Music” - Nametag<br /><br /><br />Disc 4 - <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/5223089344a14e4d/" target="_blank">http://www.zshare.net/download/5223089344a14e4d/</a><br /><br />1. “Losing Out” (feat Royce Da 5’9”)<br />2. “Welcome to the District” – Fat Ray & Black Milk<br />3. “Applause”<br />4. “Middle of the Map, Part 1” – Kidz in the Hall<br />5. “Middle of the Map, Part 2” – Kidz in the Hall<br />6. “Bang That Shit Out” – Black Milk and Bishop Lamont (feat. Diverse)<br />7. “Give The Drummer Sum”<br />8. “Let’s Go” – Pharoahe Monch (feat. Mela Machinko)<br />9. “Three+Sum”<br />10. “The Leak” - Elzhi (feat. Ayah)<br />11. “Sound the Alarm” (Remix) (feat. Royce Da 5’9” and Guilty Simpson)<br />12. “The Transitional Joint” – Elzhi<br />13. “Overdose”<br />14. “Flawless” – Fat Ray & Black Milk<br />15. “Home of the Greats”<br />16. “Hear This” – Slum Village<br />17. “About You” – Nametag<br />18. “Get Up” – Fat Ray & Black Milk<br />19. “I’m Out”<br /></span> <span style="font-family:verdana, arial;font-size:85%;"><br /></span>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-75680511536468516192008-12-01T21:47:00.000-08:002008-12-02T14:00:56.509-08:00Sure enough...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6VpWLlpDsX-IR7uvAAqhKt768N-DnUCaaGBPJ2vY63pRUpGkpy4lejeWaKevfgCXgqUbTPKYgh4VjJnfJ71tlqFKABxNq2ZZ_pQDoDj_SFP4OF1Nyki4pE3hXmWDBrfKS1OqdKdeSig/s1600-h/UMC.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6VpWLlpDsX-IR7uvAAqhKt768N-DnUCaaGBPJ2vY63pRUpGkpy4lejeWaKevfgCXgqUbTPKYgh4VjJnfJ71tlqFKABxNq2ZZ_pQDoDj_SFP4OF1Nyki4pE3hXmWDBrfKS1OqdKdeSig/s320/UMC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275311980744082290" border="0" /></a><br />Yeah I saw it coming. We all did. The nets predicted that <span style="font-style: italic;">Universal Mind Control </span>would be every bit the train wreck that it is, but I'm gonna bitch about it anyway.<br /><br />I've never seen such a cascade of change and experimentation dictate a rapper's career as I have Common's. I mean, the man is hip-hop's premier rolling stone. Despite the fact that he's never found a solid footing with any particular sound - opting instead to experiment with various different producers from album to album - more often than not he makes artistically sound decisions and his raw talent always shines through. Even as his flow has devolved over the past few albums, I always extended him a line of credit by virtue of the facts that he puts on an amazing live show and every album to date contains at least one heat rock symbiosis of beat and rhymes (yes, even <span style="font-style: italic;">Can I Borrow a Dollar?)</span>.<br /><br />Yeah...he just put a squash on all that.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">UMC's </span><span>ten tracks</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>are just not enough, by any definition. I have always been an apologist of the much-maligned <span style="font-style: italic;">Electric Circus</span>, and this shit makes it come off like <span style="font-style: italic;">Illmatic </span>in comparison. And it's not just the production (the Neptunes should be ashamed of themselves), but Common's lyrics and flow are prosaic and meant to invoke the Euro-synth-pop trash that he's aiming for with this record. I mean, "You call me Smoky and I'll call you the bear"? A song actually titled "Sex 4 Sugar"? <span style="font-style: italic;">Really, </span>Com? What happened to that "Watermelon" flow? How 'bout that goosebump-inducing "Hungry" single verse?"<br /><br />This album is just another in a litany of "experimental projects" from otherwise quality rapper/producers this year. The price that the Commons and the Phontes and the Kanye Wests pay is the virtual alienation of their original fanbase. But what do they gain from it? Excluding mainstream darling Kanye, I don't think that artists who are even flirting with the underground have much to gain from pushing it away. Jay-Z could come out with an album produced entirely by 9th Wonder, Jake One, Black Milk and Khrysis, and fans would embrace his "return" to the essence. But Com can't hop from underground to mainstream because he's catered to the boom-bap faithful for 16 FUCKING YEARS.<br /><br />He's probably already reached his creative apogee. And frankly, I think his attempt to capture a new audience and reap the subsequent buckage will fail considering that this album was <span style="font-style: italic;">already </span>pushed back several months because none of the singles caught fire.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Universal Mind Control </span>is pretty much an epic fail all around and extremely disappointing considering who's behind it. This will be the first Common record in 14 years that I will leave on the shelf.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-74973106458900760392008-11-26T16:40:00.000-08:002008-11-26T16:57:59.141-08:00Silver lining in the Mind Control cloud...?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://groups.northwestern.edu/mayfest/common2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 424px;" src="http://groups.northwestern.edu/mayfest/common2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I'm still not exactly hype about Common's upcoming <span style="font-style: italic;">Universal Mind Control</span> album, considering his <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1597694/20081022/common.jhtml">inspiration for it</a> and the leaked material to date. But this new joint, <a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/51898691d93ab976/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gladiator</span></a>, actually bangs pretty hard and inspired the beginning of my workout today. I know the album is gonna at least be mostly produced by the Neptunes, so if this beat belongs to Pharrell and Chad, my hats off; it's their hardest since Busta's "Call the Ambulance."<br /><br />Still not that excited, but I know there'll at least be one dope cut.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-8523058023680604622008-11-26T08:07:00.000-08:002008-11-26T08:40:34.593-08:00Two steps forward, one step back...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2004-03/11640785.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2004-03/11640785.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I've learned the hard way that, even in an increasingly progressive, post-Obama-as-president society, publications still shy away from polarizing, controversial viewpoints so as to protect their image and/or their hard dollars. And sometimes, the wrong people associated with said publications just flatly disagree with the viewpoint.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Such has been the issue I've found with this editorial. I'm sure if I kept shopping it around a bit more, I'd find someone who would accept it, but the topic has grown somewhat cold. I did spend time writing this, so I want it to be read by someone, goddammit.</span><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />I’ve been pretty disappointed in black folks these past couple weeks.<br /><br />The beauty and historical significance of Barack Obama’s election has, in my eyes, been dramatically undercut by the passing of Proposition 8 in California. The proposition was designed to amend the Constitution to state that true marriage is only between a man and a woman. Its passing sets the gay rights movement back heaven knows how many years, and will essentially serve to preserve their status as second-class citizens.<br /><br />That this proposition was even on the ballot is troubling. That it was the most highly-funded state campaign in the country is baffling. But that black voters – who no doubt turned out in record numbers to elect our champion – played a pivotal role by being some 70 percent of people who voted for the proposition simply angers me and proves that we still have a long, long way to go.<br /><br />Unfortunately, nothing about it surprises me; the 800-pound gorilla in the room here is definitely the church. Black folks are a spiritual people, and we’re rather steadfast in our ideas about the family structure. So because we interpreted the antiquated text of the Holy Bible as any and everything gay is “against God,” we leveraged that as an excuse to vote for the proposition…exercising a right we didn’t even have 140 years ago because they thought we were second class citizens.<br /><br />If you have half a brain that isn’t slowly leaking out of your ass, it should be easy to come to the conclusion after very little invested thought that the civil rights of homosexuals are no intrusion on the rights straight people have to marry whomever they want of the opposite sex. It should be easy to deduce that using the term “marriage” to define existing gay civil unions isn’t going to make more people gay, corrupt our children or lead to plague, genocide and the collapse of American civilization as we know it.<br /><br />People need to understand that legalization of gay marriage won’t require any church to marry who they don’t want to marry, just as no church or its pastor is required to marry a straight couple.<br /><br />Gay marriage isn’t going to serve as a detriment to the existing shitty institution of marriage. Folks harp on about how straight marriage is a cornerstone of the traditional family; meanwhile, over half of them end in divorce and any pairing of straight people who’ve known each other for one evening and several Jagerbombs can jaunt down to any city hall with a few bucks and get married only to get that shit annulled the next day.<br /><br />If anything, gay marriage may help boost the existing divorce rates given that they’ve fought so hard just to have the right.<br /><br />I could go on and on and on with this topic...it runs that deep. In summation: Americans in general – and black folks specifically – need to pull their heads out of their collective ass and recognize the existence of prejudice in its purest, most malevolent form. I urge you to think long and hard about nature, the history of America, the essential tenets of your religion and the basic common sense that is all too often obfuscated by dogma.<br /><br />If you still come to the conclusion that gay equals bad, then hopefully your god can help you…because I sure can’t.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-64640305722425458482008-11-24T09:34:00.001-08:002008-11-24T09:47:53.789-08:00Punk-ass Kanye<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lgactionsports.com/2007/events/asc/images/KanyeWest-300.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 448px;" src="http://www.lgactionsports.com/2007/events/asc/images/KanyeWest-300.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;">I'm still convinced he's straight. I suppose.</span><br /><br />I was not nearly as excited about <span style="font-style: italic;">808s and Heartbreaks</span> as I was his previous three albums, for obvious reasons. It's really difficult to stomach one of the best hip-hop artists of the new millennium singing for a whole album when he can't actually sing. On top of that, I think the Autotune craze that's perverted contemporary rap/R&B is worth burying deep below the Mariana Trench.<br /><br />That said, I appreciate no more than three songs on this album from a production standpoint alone. Indeed, this is where 'Ye has always shined. "Street Lights" is dope and atmospheric, and "Say You Will" has an extra-dope piano.<br /><br />So while this will be the first of his albums on which I will not shovel out any loot, a few of those songs will make it on my drive-to-Detroit compilation for tomorrow.<br /><br />Peep the album <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7JD1FHM6"><span style="font-weight: bold;">here</span></a>.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-69638400969392920222008-11-19T11:26:00.000-08:002008-11-19T22:08:38.051-08:00What being in love means to me<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mtblog.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2008/08/26/0826-Love-is-lame-Tee_sm03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 376px;" src="http://mtblog.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2008/08/26/0826-Love-is-lame-Tee_sm03.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">To me, being in love…</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is kindness.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a key to the crib.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a random email saying "I love you," at 3:47 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, just because.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is goodness with the potential of greatness.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is an Al Green song belting from your stereo.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is growth.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is "well…let me tell you all about her!"</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the maturation of infatuation.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a shine that doesn't wear off.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is that…that <span style="font-style: italic;">je ne sais quoi</span>.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the sacrifice that reaps interminable dividends. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is truth in position.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is finding gray hairs on one another.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is fingers on the keys of a piano.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is knowing you have a confidant without prejudice.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is saying "okay" to things you don't wish to do, just to see her smile.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is Oslo omelettes and potatoes with Hollandaise sauce on a Sunday morning.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is flashing a toothy grin for no good reason.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is reflection.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">… is a weekend wasted away between the bedsheets.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is an embrace so tight that she can come no closer. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is uplifting when desired.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is honesty when needed.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is patience always.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a shared sense of humor.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a toothbrush in the bathroom and panties left on the bedroom floor.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is sneaking a kiss when no one is looking. And sometimes even when they are.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the peace in a mind at war.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is striving to do better.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a high that doesn't crash; a drunk that doesn't hang over. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is dancing the entire night away.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is forgiveness.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is an unchained melody. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the kindred spirit. The creation and sustenance of family. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the duality of joy and agony.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the juice that gets you out of bed on an early Monday morning.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is "what the fuck is this I'm feeling?!?!?"</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is intimacy that disgusts everyone else.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a desire to put her comfort over your own.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is an incomparable elation.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is stealing food from her plate.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is omnipresence of the light.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the most profound inspiration.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is shared, knowing glances.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is an agreement; a contract with no paper. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a letter written on yellow paper. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the excitement at what's to come. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a beautiful surrender.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a honeymoon phase that doesn't end.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is showing your homies a part of you they've never seen.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a warm blanket, a couch and a DVD on a cold evening.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is truly not mattering what anyone – ANYONE – thinks. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is a restless heart.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is folks telling you that you're "glowing." </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is reaction we don't always intend.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is unprecedented exposure of vulnerability. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is holding her face in your hand and locking her eyes with yours.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is Sex 2.0: The Lovemaking Edition.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the best and worst of circumstances shared. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is some of the only hard work worth working for.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is left of center.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is the essence of the mortal coil.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is not being able to run away. And not wanting to.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is many streaming tears.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is many spent years.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">…is waiting for her to return.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-15164982293340724182008-11-18T08:10:00.000-08:002008-11-18T08:28:10.731-08:00ER's first interactive blog: What does being in love mean to you?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://srv0110-04.oak1.imeem.com/g/p/1a2cfb48bbb9b7ab7c9a93b58792ee8f_web.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 456px; height: 303px;" src="http://srv0110-04.oak1.imeem.com/g/p/1a2cfb48bbb9b7ab7c9a93b58792ee8f_web.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My girl Lisa made a pretty good point: sitting at home all day allows for some interesting ruminations.<br /><br />One topic occupied much of yesterday's thought processes: The meaning of "in love."<br /><br />It made me curious about what <span style="font-style: italic;">other </span>people think it means. Of course, I don't mean loving someone; like your mama, your child or your dog. I mean the true acknowledgment that you are all-consumingly in love, romantically, with one other person (or persons? Is this possible?).<br /><br />I don't care if you come to this blog for the sex/relationship stuff, for the hip-hop or for both; please get at me with your three cents. It can be a word, a few words, a sentence or a whole damn essay if you please. Think about what being in love means to you, and drop me a line.<br /><br />I look forward to reading what you have to say.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-70827189758858555552008-11-16T20:20:00.000-08:002008-11-17T17:43:51.782-08:00All dope things...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4614/rootslo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 415px; height: 240px;" src="http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4614/rootslo1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Travel back with me for a bit.<br /><br />February 1999. State Theater; Detroit, Michigan. Every bit a 17-year-old, there wasn't much to my life besides school, a part-time job at Media Play and the interminable-yet-unsuccessful panty chase. Standing outside in the cold for a concert hours before doors opened so as to secure a spot front row, center-stage for a Roots concert was nothing. During that wait, I met a dope sister who, little did I know, would still be in my life nearly a decade later (One Love, Liz...I know you're reading, ma!).<br /><br />As for the show itself, I wasn't ready. Little did I know that almost 10 years and many, many concerts later, it would remain the best live show I've ever attended.<br /><br />That tour was to promote the release of <span style="font-style: italic;"><span>Things Fall Apart</span></span>, which was phenomenal in that zeitgeist but stands the test of time as the group's magnum opus and a true classic in hip-hop's canon.<br /><br />The band - then Black Thought, ?uestlove, Kamal, Hub and Scratch - walked out single-file shaking tambourines before taking their positions on stage. And for the following two-and-a-half hours, they gave us more. Late in the show, Thought introduced to the stage a slovenly-dressed, shy young newcomer by the name of Jill Scott as the original songstress behind the "You Got Me" hook. Folks came up to me months later reminding me how she blew everyone away.<br /><br />The Roots remain my favorite band of all time. Not only is their studio recording catalog stellar, but they singlehandedly set the gold standard of what I have come to expect from a hip-hop show. Such is why the news of their retirement from touring breaks my heart.<br /><br />The group is transcendent not only in that it's the only hip-hop group I can think of that doesn't rely on machine-driven production or a DJ, but because you could get a different version of their show even if you went on every stop of a single tour. That alone trumps the prosaic nature of most other hip-hop artists who do the same shit with the same DJ every single show.<br /><br />They don't just get on the stage and play: they have <span style="font-style: italic;">fun. </span>From no other band will you see a nigga with a tuba do the Cupid Shuffle onstage with the bass guitar player. ?uest battling Knuckles in percussion has to be experienced. Scratch emanating noises from his mouth that no human should be able to is insane and eerie. And every time Thought and ?uest do "The Web", I get amped.<br /><br />While the band's live recordings (which apparently will continue as long as they're under contract) did take a dip in quality for a spell (see: <span style="font-style: italic;">Phrenology</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tipping Point</span>), many of those songs are interpolated much better in concert.<br /><br />I've seen them numerous times since that February: the legendary Okayplayer Tour; the stop at Congress Theater on the single hottest day of summer 2006 - after which Vernal and I were exhausted, drenched in sweat and completely satisfied; the stop at The Kaleidoscope last year during which Skillz and Dice Raw (successfully) filled in for an ailing Thought and ?uest and Thought ripping an afterparty at the Victor Hotel earlier this year during the first time I shared a live hip-hop experience with She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.<br /><br />I do respect the difficulty that these cats have to endure living with each other on the road for all these years, and I'm not entirely surprised at this decision. Having a regular gig on a television show with Jimmy Fallon - the biggest tool on television since Carson Daly - will definitely stack the math. I just wonder where Thought will fit in, if at all, with a format that probably doesn't allow for an emcee in the mix.<br /><br />I saw them here in Chicago last Thursday; the evening ?uest made the announcement posted after the jump. I suppose I'm glad I dragged my ass out the house for it; especially they and Cee-Lo straight bodied shit and showed us all what a free concert should be like.<br /><br />If that really, truly was my swan song with the band, then it's been a fantastic 10 years. We'll always have Detroit.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DKfDVASQK-Q&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DKfDVASQK-Q&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-71679267324603198362008-11-13T07:26:00.000-08:002008-11-13T07:37:56.695-08:00Get your shit together, AmericaI'm a card-carrying cynic when it comes to major news network pundits. I take most all of them, liberal or conservative, with a grain of salt.<br /><br />But I came across a video last night of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann (props, Steele) speaking on Proposition 8 that gave me sheer goosebumps. He demonstrated a disarming passion and perspicacious judgment the likes of which I don't hear or read nearly enough from the newsfolk.<br /><br />And while I'm sure that many politicians and bureaucrats feel the same way Keith does - President-elect Obama included, i'll wager - not <span style="font-style: italic;">nearly </span>enough of them speak with this level of passion for fear of losing their electorate's imprimatur.<br /><br />Folks, I implore you to listen to all six-plus minutes of this video. I couldn't have voiced it better myself. <br /><br /><iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27652443#27652443" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-44852433335111961592008-11-11T13:32:00.001-08:002008-11-11T13:41:27.640-08:00Diatribe of a dickrider<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.djbijal.com/blog/uploaded_images/bondyayo-709981.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 444px; height: 444px;" src="http://www.djbijal.com/blog/uploaded_images/bondyayo-709981.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />It’s been kinda slow on the hip-hop tip these days….not much out there blowing up my skirt. But yesterday my travels took me to this audio of eternal G-Unit sycophant Tony Yayo<a href="http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/vide...0tNry924iK05zdh"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> talking on Shade 45 radio</span></a> as reckless as I’ve heard any rapper speak. And that’s a tall motherfucking order.<br /><br />The only two reasons I listened to him go on and on – barely letting the DJs get a word in edgewise – are because I was cooking dinner and because this train wreck of an "interview" was the most amusing shit I’ve heard in weeks. He dedicates at least 15 minutes talking trash about Young Buck and throwing all manner of rumors out there. He spends the rest of the time talking about other rappers like The Game, kowtowing to his boss 50 Cent and expounding on how he’s one of the realest niggas alive.<br /><br />Seriously, there are so many quotables in this audio that you have to listen for yourself, even if it’s just background for whatever else you might be doing. This is the most I’ll probably EVER listen to Tony Yayo say anything anywhere – on- or off-wax. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /></span>Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-6906636504120306812008-11-07T09:24:00.001-08:002008-11-07T09:26:57.253-08:00Another Banned RedEye column: On sexual assault<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.visualeditors.com/apple/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/0808redeyelogo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 378px;" src="http://www.visualeditors.com/apple/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/0808redeyelogo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This was deemed too "serious" by my editors. Plus, they weren't </span>about <span style="font-style: italic;">to allow me to level my own personal indictment of R. Kelly given that he'd just been acquitted in a court of law. Politics, man. </span><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />I was raised, not surprisingly, with a male-centric perspective on sex: get laid if you can, as much as you can.<br /><br />I think a by-product of that upbringing was a rather skewed perception of sexual assault: As a youngster, I used to think rapists were evil men with no moral code or redeeming social value who resembled guys like Ted Kaczynski and Charles Manson.<br /><br />And when I did hear about rapes in the media, they were distant occurrences; acts toward women in rural areas that I didn’t regard nearly as much as I would the victim of any other violent crime.<br /><br />Most unfortunately, I’d always cast a shadow of doubt over a victim’s truth-telling when she described her story of being raped.<br /><br />But with age and experience came enlightenment on the realities of rape and sexual assault.<br /><br />Offenders went from bearded freaks to famous people I respected, like Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur. In adulthood they became even more mainstream characters like Michael Jackson, R. Kelly and the occasional Catholic priest.<br /><br />The victims went from nameless faces on television to those close to me: Friends, girlfriends, relatives and so-forth. The first time I read the statistics - one in six American women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, according to Rainn.org - was a sobering moment.<br /><br />With it came my “come to Jesus” moment: sexual assault is a bigger problem than many people realize or are willing to accept.<br /><br />The issue typically evokes three emotions: anger, helplessness and self-reflection.<br /><br />I’m angry because I want to commit unthinkable acts of violence against the people who‘ve hurt those I love. I feel helpless because I know I can’t.<br /><br />I can’t do anything about the fact that women I care about have to carry that burden around with them for life. Every sexual experience, every partner, everything…is somehow connected to that negative experience, and I can’t change it.<br /><br />I stand in self-reflection because I try to figure out in what ways I’ve contributed to what’s really a systemic problem. Obviously, I’m far removed from the idea of ever forcing myself upon someone, but I know that, at least in the past, I have done things to subconsciously contribute to the problem.<br /><br />When I was in college, I stood outside of a friend’s dorm room, and said something to him along the lines of, “did that exam rape you yesterday?” A woman I knew came outside of her room and asked me not to use that verb in such a cavalier context.<br /><br />At the time, I was pissed off that someone would try to censor me, but it dawned on me later that she had probably been a victim of sexual assault herself.<br /><br />And no doubt she was at least close to someone who was assaulted. We all are.<br /><br />I wonder about the adult material I consume: How much of it actually perpetuates a culture of sexual assault? I don’t personally care for porn that is violent or demeaning to women, but I’ve likely shelled out money for something that indirectly – or directly – supports or promotes sexual assault.<br /><br />R. Kelly’s acquittal prompted this column: if his video, which clearly depicts an illegal sexual act (yes, I saw it years ago) is not sufficient for a conviction, it simply serves as a reminder that we have such a long way to go.<br /><br />In the interim, I’m still working to figure out how I can further alter my mentality and behavior to not contribute to the problem.<br /><br />I suppose I could continue by symbolically ditching my R. Kelly albums.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-91218505332795748212008-11-04T15:32:00.000-08:002008-11-04T15:46:35.046-08:00Presidential blue<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk178/Lava200/barack-michelle3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 406px; height: 594px;" src="http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk178/Lava200/barack-michelle3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Let’s say you just scored the post of the highest office in the land.<br /><br />The world is quite literally at your fingertips. You’ve got countless subordinates and droves of followers. You have the military might to erase entire countries off the map, and you know that all world leaders will think long and hard before developing the grapes to fuck with you.<br /><br />Through it all, you have a taut, attractive wife by your side who has bore your children, defended you against all detractors and stood by you through the best and worst.<br /><br />What would your very first move be?<br /><br />No question for me. I’m finding the closest bed behind four walls and I’m making love to her.<br /><br />And not just any old love will do. It’s gotta be that toe-curling, pillow-biting, sheet-loosening, sweaty, liquid-y screaming and hollering, yelling-'till-God-tells-you-to-keep-that-shit-down sex. That sex that makes quadruplets. That sex she’ll tell all her friends about and make them look at their sorry-ass partners like “You limp-dick mothafuckah!!!”<br /><br />Y’all already know how my mind works. For some reason I got to thinking last night about if and how either of the presidential candidates maintained a sex life with their wives during this arduous campaign trail. I mean, you still gotta keep the home fires burning on the road to the big seat, right?<br /><br />Did they get it on in their respective airplanes? They send all the advisors to the front of the cabin and put a sock on the curtain? Is there some smashing in the makeup room after a debate well-done? Perhaps the occasional nooner before getting in the hot seat with Bill O’Reilly or Larry King? Did Cindy McCain take care of Little John after he got pwned on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yspU7GWGqTI&feature=related"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The View</span></a>?<br /><br />It only fits the aesthetic of the presidency that the man holding the post should be capable of doing equal damage with his actual phallus as he is with the phallic weapons he has control over. The feeling I got from meeting Barack in person several years ago is that he’s probably sporting a hang low that crashes to the floor when he drops trou and that Michelle gets it on the regular. It wouldn’t surprise me a tad if President-Elect beats it up all week and we see Cute Obama Daughter #3 pop out in the White House's West Wing sometime next summer.<br /><br />The feeling that I (and anyone with a high-definition television should) get from McCain is that he hasn’t had a natural erection since Bush 41 was in office, and that it probably takes nothing short of a truck-mounted crane to get him at any kind of attention to please Cindy. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a scandal dropped in which Cindy – just a few years and a couple Botox injections past MILF status – is exposed to have participated in an extramarital affair sometime in the past decade.<br /><br />Maybe he has a couple blue pills on standby in case the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse come trotting up the street and he actually takes this thing.<br /><br />Not that I see that happening. If you haven’t voted yet, get your monkey ass to the polls now. Time’s still left to ensure that McCain <span style="font-style: italic;">doesn't</span> get any victory cooze.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630925687152131430.post-55129570813527420642008-11-03T13:58:00.001-08:002008-11-03T14:01:46.418-08:00Viva La Hova<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidayi4awNDCgsb3_Tr2asDnVqJvaNeUUHj-A62eGoOSWfhJzsZt14N6QFvqZVHR4XrmSPMhwWZimiqOZBmIIv4vW1NZwky9W_KSGnxBMQHUmGSWgglUz7TvwwgTN3C7KGl1O_o4GWdSlE/s1600-h/VLH.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidayi4awNDCgsb3_Tr2asDnVqJvaNeUUHj-A62eGoOSWfhJzsZt14N6QFvqZVHR4XrmSPMhwWZimiqOZBmIIv4vW1NZwky9W_KSGnxBMQHUmGSWgglUz7TvwwgTN3C7KGl1O_o4GWdSlE/s400/VLH.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264554284052067762" border="0" /></a><br />I will forever reflect upon 2008 for a great many reasons – not the least of which is a true awakening to the merits of alternative rock music. I’ve always listened to it to a small extent, but this year I’ve really opened up the genre for the first time; checking out all these bands’ entire catalogs for the first time and appreciating music I never thought would ever stimulate me.<br /><br />It all snowballed from Coldplay. Before I even started touching other acts, I had the group’s whole damn catalog. Something about their lush instrumentation and Chris Martin’s bleeding heart falsetto reaches out to my emotional faculties on the strength.<br /><br />I’ve learned that many, many rappers and rap fans also appreciate all things Coldplay, so it comes as no surprise that a DJ would eventually create something like <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/505862931bfff3a6/"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Viva La Hova</span></a>, on which the always-capable Mick Boogie partnered with Terry Urban to mesh the sounds of Coldplay with the lyrics of the Jiggaman.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Viva La Hova</span> is worth a listen to anyone who likes hip-hop, but will be especially appreciated by enthusiasts of both artists. If you appreciate their proper pairing – <span style="font-style: italic;">Kingdom Come’s</span> “Beach Chair” – then you’ll dig the blending and instrumentation on this compilation. Don’t come looking for new Hove verses – they’re all jacked from previous albums (probably a good thing).<br /><br />I’m normally extremely averse to genre crossings, but cuts like “What If We Cry?” (a blend of “What If?” and “Song Cry”) and “Public Speeding” (“High Speed” and “Public Service Announcement”) make me wonder what other rock-hop pairings would sound like. Nas and Radiohead? Common and Death Cab for Cutie?<br /><br />Hopefully this will start a trend. And hopefully the trend won’t suck donkey balls.Dustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459827372217872941noreply@blogger.com1