Musings of a Xen Master

New Fantasy Team Name

2011-09-28T17:08:00.007-04:00

The Mighty Boosh!

I swear this post has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I need to have a hyperlink to an image for ESPN.com's Fantasy Football and they won't let me upload it directly. Absolutely nothing at all.

2008-12-07T23:04:00.001-05:00

SNL Digital Short - Jizz in My Pants

This is just hilarious.

President Obama

2008-11-25T13:58:00.005-05:00

Xen Master Congratulates President-Elect Obama...

...in CP Time!

Throwback Joint

2008-11-25T13:52:00.002-05:00

It's been a minute but I found a gem and had to post it. Anyone remember this track?

McCain Gets Madonna Makeover

2008-06-25T23:36:00.005-04:00

Though it's been awhile since I've updated the blog, after seeing this hilarious nugget, I felt compelled to brush off the 'ol laptop and put this video on blast. Its a perfect blend of brilliantly hilarious and frigheningly disturbing.

Enjoy.

Hell yes we can!

2008-06-05T14:00:00.004-04:00

Please excuse our brief respite. The Xen Masters have not forgotten you, nor has history been lost on us. No! We have been in a perpetual state of breath-holding, followed by celebrating to the point of near-exhaustion. Our underdog has been named the official Democratic Party nominee. And, if you'll excuse my language, goddamn it feels good. Putting politics aside for a moment---for once in a long time (maybe the first time?) it feels fantastic to be black in the United States. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some celebrations to return to.

The Curse of Michael Jordan? (Part 2)

2008-03-27T17:38:00.010-04:00

(part 1 can be found here)

2002-03
Record: 30-52
Draft: Jay Williams (pick 2), Roger Mason Jr. (pick 31), Lonny Baxter (pick 44)
Key Contributors: Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall, Marcus Fizer, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Jay Williams, Tyson Chandler
Transactions: Signed Donyell Marshall to a free agent deal. Jerry Krause announced his resignation and was replaced by John Paxson.
Commentary: The light at the end of the tunnel. Even though the results still weren't there (the team had a mind-boggling 3-38 road record), the Bulls had a decent amount of talent on their roster for the first time in five years. There were two key reasons for the newfound optimism among Bulls fans. One was the resignation of Krause, who lost the faith of the fan base by dealing away Brand, Artest, and Miller. The other was the arrival of Jay Williams, who had been compared to Isiah Thomas while at Duke. Williams had a difficult first season in Chicago, but his talent was undeniable. He was one of the most coveted draft picks in recent memory, and gave the Bulls their leader of the future. With Curry, Chandler and Williams (and to a lesser extent, Crawford and Fizer), the Bulls appeared to have one of the brightest futures among all NBA teams.

2003-04
Record: 23-59
Draft: Kirk Hinrich (pick 7), Mario Austin (pick 36), Tommy Smith (pick 53)
Key Contributors: Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Kirk Hinrich, Antonio Davis
Transactions: Signed Scottie Pippen to a free agent deal. Fired Bill Cartwright and named Scott Skiles Head Coach. Traded Lonny Baxter, Donyell Marshall, and Jalen Rose to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Antonio Davis, Chris Jefferies and Jerome Williams. Waived Jay Williams.
Commentary: Absolute disaster leads to the beginning of rebuilding effort number three. One week before the great draft of 2003, where they held the seventh pick, the Bulls learned that future centerpiece Jay Williams crashed his motorcycle into a street pole, severing a main nerve in his leg, fracturing his pelvis, and tearing three ligaments in his left knee. Needless to say, he hasn't played in the NBA since. This forced a drastic altering of their draft strategy, and also put an end to a rumored deal that had Williams going to the Denver Nuggets for the number three pick in the draft (which turned out to be Carmelo Anthony). Adding insult to injury, the Heat shocked everybody by selecting Dwyane Wade with the 5th pick, who most pundits thought would be available for Chicago at number 7. Instead, the Bulls selected their new point guard of the future in Kirk Hinrich, a steady, tough-minded player, whose skills simply cannot measure up to Wade's. Outside of Eddy Curry (who put up an impressive 17.9 ppg and 7.5 rpg), all of the young players seemed to regress, as injuries and poor play derailed Tyson Chandler and Marcus Fizer. All of this contributed to the firing of Bill Cartwright as Head Coach. Overall, this ranks as one of the two most depressing seasons of the post-dynasty era (along with the debacle of '07-08).

2004-05
Record: 47-35
Draft: Ben Gordon (pick 3, NBA 6th man of the year), Luol Deng (pick 7), Chris Duhon (pick 38)
Key Contributors: Kirk Hinrich, Eddy Curry, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyson Chandler, Andres Nocioni
Transactions: Acquired the rights to Luol Deng from Phoenix for a future conditional 1st round pick, the 31st pick in the 2nd round, and cash. Signed and traded Jamal Crawford, along with Jerome Williams, to the Knicks, for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybankski. Signed Argentinian forward Andres Nocioni. Traded Dikembe Mutombo to the Houston for Eric Piatkowski, Adrian Griffin and Mike Wilks.
Commentary: The most thrilling season of the post-dynasty era started with one of the greatest offseasons in franchise history. Paxson had a franchise-changing draft, picking up two potential stars in Gordon and Deng, along with a contributor in the 2nd round (Duhon). The rookie class got even better with the signing of Nocioni, who earned the nickname "Red Bull" for his energetic style of play. Then, instead of overpaying free-agent Jamal Crawford, Paxson orchestrated a sign-and-trade that greatly improved the team's salary cap situation. The team seemed like it was up to its old tricks early in the season by losing their first nine games, but by January, they were one of the most dangerous teams in the Eastern Conference. Injuries to Deng and Curry at the end of the year thinned out the roster during their first playoff appearance since '98, leading to a four games to two loss to Washington in a thrilling series. However, even the disappointing finish couldn't put a damper on a fantastic season, as the Bulls appeared to be set at every position for the foreseeable future.

2005-06
Record: 41-41
Draft: no picks
Key Contributors: Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Tyson Chandler
Transactions: Signed and traded Eddy Curry, along with Antonio Davis, to the Knicks for Tim Thomas, Mike Sweetney, a 2006 1st round pick, the right to switch draft picks with New York in 2007, and 2nd round picks in 2007 and 2009.
Commentary: A sad end to the Baby Bulls era. After Curry refused to take a team-mandated DNA test for the heart ailment that sidelined him at the end of '05, Paxson dealt him to New York for a slew of draft picks. They re-signed Chandler for $10 million per season, and he proceeded to regress once again, averaging a paltry 5.3 ppg. Without their only low-post scorer, and with their best interior defender struggling to live up to his contract, the team stumbled, and lost six more games than the previous season. They again exited in the first round of the playoffs, and lost some of the momentum that they earned the year before. The team did, however, receive an unexpected gift from Larry Brown's Knicks, who went 23-59, earning the Bulls the 2nd pick in the upcoming draft, due to the stipulations of the Curry deal.

2006-07
Record: 49-33
Draft: Tyrus Thomas (pick 4), Thabo Sefolosha (pick 13)
Key Contributors: Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Wallace, Andres Nocioni, Chris Duhon
Transactions: Acquired the draft rights to No. 4 pick Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa from Portland in exchange for the draft rights to No. 2 pick LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas) and a future second-round pick. Signed Ben Wallace to a free agent deal. Acquired P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith from the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in exchange for Tyson Chandler. Traded J.R. Smith to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Howard Eisley and two 2007 second-round draft picks from the Nuggets.
Commentary: Even though this team finally got past the first round of the playoffs, and won the most games in the post-dynasty era, I will always look at this as a year of missed opportunities. First, they decided to spend all of their cap room on free agent Ben Wallace, and dealt Tyson Chandler for ten cents on the dollar as a result (we'll call the trade of Chandler, along with Curry's trade from the previous year, rebuilding effort number 4). It's entirely possible that Chandler would have never fulfilled his potential in Chicago. It was equally possible, however, that Wallace was past his prime, which proved to be the case, and made this a disastrous exchange for the Bulls. Then, during the draft, they selected LaMarcus Aldridge, but then sent him to Portland in exchange for Tyrus Thomas. Two years later, Aldridge is averaging 17.7ppg and 7.3rpg, while the inconsistent Thomas is averaging 6.0ppg and 4.4rpg by comparison. During the season, the Bulls were successful, but with the 2nd seed in the playoffs on the line on the last day of the season, Chicago lost to New Jersey and fell down to 5th in the conference. Cleveland, who earned the 2nd seed instead, went on to the NBA Finals, while the Bulls were eliminated by Detroit in the 2nd round. Once again, the Bulls were aided by the Knicks' troubles, and gained the 9th pick in the upcoming draft as a result of the Curry trade.

2007-08
Record (as of March 27th): 28-43
Draft: Joakim Noah (pick 9), Aaron Gray (pick 49), JamesOn Curry (pick 51)
Key Contributors: Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Kirk Hinrich, Joakim Noah
Transactions: Fired Scott Skiles and named Jim Boylan interim Head Coach. In a three-team deal, Chicago traded Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and a 2009 2nd round pick to Cleveland, and Adrian Griffin to Seattle, and received Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown.
Commentary: At least they realized that they had to end the Ben Wallace era, and give the clown in the picture above more playing time (despite this picture, he's actually pretty good). Other than that, this has been a shockingly awful season.

As seen above, every time this franchise has taken a step forward in the past ten years, they somehow follow it up with two steps back. Bulls fans like myself deserve no pity, as we've already experienced a lifetime of memories from the Jordan era. Unfortunately, we won't be adding to those memories anytime soon, as rebuilding effort number 5 looms in the offseason ahead.

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Hillary's Bravado

2008-03-24T22:05:00.011-04:00

In an attempt to further bolster her position as the Democratic candidate that "passed the Commander-in-chief test" Hillary recounted her 1994 trip to Bosnia.

"We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."

Eat that John McCain.

"We came in under sniper fire," she recently told the press. "There was no greeting ceremony. We ran with our heads down, and were basically told to run to our cars."

I must say that not since Baron Münchhausen have I heard such a harrowing tale of suspense, action and adventure.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Clinton, it's not true.

The account has been proven false, both by recent press reports and old video footage that shows the senator greeting a child in a ceremonial procession at the Tuzla airport. She has since come out saying that perhaps she "misspoke."

The fact that Hillary thought she could get away with telling such a ridiculous story when she was surrounded by, literally, dozens and dozens of press is a question that's boggled the mind of many, but not me. It speaks to the air of invincibility and sense of entitlement that both Clintons have had since the beginning of this race - traits that are plentiful in our current commander-in-chief, I might add.

Truthfully, the whole thing would have been much funnier to me if it weren't for the fact that Hillary continues to espouse her claims of experience, when in actuality she:

1) Passed the same number of pieces of legislation as Obama
2) Has been an elected official for fewer years than Obama
3) Continually lied about her "experience" during the Clinton years (from brokering peace deals in Ireland to bringing about SCHIP)
4) Horribly failed in getting universal health care done while she was First Lady

Despite this, her "experience" argument seems to be working. Well, at least until now.

And now, for your viewing pleasure please enjoy the latest trailer fresh from the people who brought you Whitewater, Stained Blue Dresses, and Well-Timed Tears. . .

Hillary in Tuzla: The Tale of Bosnian Sniper Fire

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The Curse of Michael Jordan? The Post-Dynasty Bulls Just Can't Seem to Get it Right (Part 1)

2008-03-22T18:20:00.006-04:00

With the exception of the pathetic Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls (current record 27-41, two games back of the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference) have been the biggest disappointment in the NBA this season. Coming off a 49 win campaign and an opening round sweep of the defending champions (the aforementioned Heat), the Bulls were picked to be a contender for the Eastern Conference Championship this year. But along the way, something went horribly wrong. Management failed to acquire the low post scorer that the team desperately needed to elevate into elite status. Luol Deng and Ben Gordon each turned down lucrative contract extensions in the preseason ($10 million plus per year), then struggled with the added pressure of playing for a better contract all season. Ben Wallace proved to be one of the most damaging free agent acquisitions of the past decade. And, perhaps most inexplicably, Kirk Hinrich devolved into a below average point guard, as seen in his precipitous statistical decline (from 16.6 ppg, .448 FG%, .415 3pt%, 17.09 PER in 2006-07 to 12.2 ppg, .414 FG%, .335 3pt%, 13.18 PER in '07-08). For Bulls fans like myself, the breaking point came at the trading deadline a month ago, when, after years of speculation about acquiring superstars like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, the Bulls ultimately traded for Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. The team is in complete disarray, and they once again face a long offseason of rebuilding.

Unfortunately, this pattern is very reflective of their recent history. Since Michael Jordan retired, the Bulls have been one of the least successful franchises in the sport, accumulating a .366 winning percentage, which averages out to 30 wins per season. Following is a year-by-year breakdown of their endless rebuilding efforts in the post-dynasty era:

1998-99
Record: 13-37 (strike shortened season)
Draft: Corey Benjamin (pick 28)
Key Contributors: Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper, Brent Barry
Commentary: Jerry Krause famously forced Phil Jackson out of Chicago, and hired the overmatched Tim Floyd as his replacement. However, even the Zen Master couldn't do anything with this group, which was saddled with the departures of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Luc Longley.

1999-00
Record: 17-65
Draft: Elton Brand (pick 1, co-rookie of the year), Ron Artest (pick 16)
Key Contributors: see draft
Transactions: Traded Toni Kukoc in three-team deal, acquiring a 1st round pick from Washington, along with John Starks and Bruce Bowen
Commentary: Rebuilding effort number 1. Jerry Krause famously decreed that Elton Brand would be his power forward for the next ten years after selecting him with the number one overall pick in a stacked draft. They also stole Ron Artest in the middle of the first round, and managed to get value in the Kukoc deal. They seemed to be on their way toward respectability, especially with Brand looking like a potential superstar in his first year.

2000-01
Record: 15-67
Draft: Marcus Fizer (pick 4), Jamal Crawford (pick 8), Dalibor Bagaric (pick 24), A.J. Guyton (pick 32), Jake Voskuhl (pick 33), Khalid El-Amin (pick 34)
Key Contributors: Elton Brand, Ron Mercer, Ron Artest, Brad Miller
Transactions: Signed Ron Mercer and Brad Miller to free-agent deals.
Commentary: This was, without a doubt, one of the most devastating offseasons in NBA history. First, the Bulls had enough cap room to sign one of the major free agents that year, with their first choice being Tim Duncan (who didn't give them the time of day), their second choice being Grant Hill (who again didn't really consider them, which was the only good thing to come out of this offseason), and their third, and most realistic target, being a young guard/forward named Tracy McGrady. The Bulls were so convinced that he would sign with them that they wrote the press release announcing his signing. Unfortunately, he wound up in Orlando, and the Bulls wasted their money on Ron Mercer. Then, their draft was a disgrace (see above), as they picked the wrong year to have 6 of the top 34 picks. They did make one savvy signing by picking up little known Brad Miller in free agency. Overall though, all the money and draft picks that they accumulated ultimately led to nothing, and convinced management that further rebuilding was necessary.

2001-02
Record: 21-61
Draft: Tyson Chandler (pick 2), Eddy Curry (pick 4), Trenton Hassell (pick 30), Sean Lampley (pick 45)
Key Contributors: Jalen Rose, Marcus Fizer, Jamal Crawford
Transactions: Traded Elton Brand to L.A. Clippers for the rights to Tyson Chandler. Signed Eddie Robinson to a free agent deal. Replaced coach Tim Floyd with Bill Cartwright. Traded Ron Artest, Brad Miller, Ron Mercer, and Kevin Ollie to Indiana for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norm Richardson, and a 2nd round pick.
Commentary: Rebuilding effort number 2. The Bulls completely reversed course and decided to build around two 18 year olds in Chandler and Curry. There will never be an adequate explanation for why they dealt Brand for an unproven teenager. The Bulls spun it by saying that Brand would not re-sign with them when his contract was up, but Brand later denied this claim. Also, in midseason, they made another terrible move, trading talented young players Artest and Miller for Jalen Rose. This was around the time that Bulls fans realized that Jerry Krause is completely clueless. The only hope for this franchise was drafting a superstar with their annual high lottery pick, and this dream appeared to come true in the next draft.

Click here for part 2

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Throwback Joint

2008-03-21T11:56:00.001-04:00

10 Points to the first person that remembers the name of the group that dropped this joint. No cheating!

Undiscovered Gems

2008-03-20T01:09:00.013-04:00

A lot of great songs appear on albums and never get released (or are released in extremely limited capacity), leaving them very little exposure. I like to call these undiscovered gems. Check out these examples.

Dj Shadow - You Made It

This gem was hidden on the otherwise extremely disappointing DJ Shadow album, The Outsider. While it does sound a bit like a Coldplay knockoff, it still works. Don't bother getting the album, as it only has this song and a song by Phonte (from Little Brother) called "Backstage Girl." The rest is hot garbage.

N.E.R.D - Run to the Sun

Why this song was never released is beyond me. It's easily the best song on a very solid album. It sounds even better on the re-released version that was recorded with all live instruments.

Kelis - Glow

I think this album was disregarded because of its largely saccharine first single "Milkshake." Believe it or not, its actually a pretty good album. Combine "Glow" with the Andre 3000 produced "Millionaire" and this album could have gone triple platinum. Instead they went with the Nas collabo "In Public," as their follow-up single, a song which was catchy for about five minutes.

Nas - Doo Rags

Speaking of Nas, I guess his whole Lost Tapes album could fit under the title "Undiscovered Gems," but this joint has particularly potent because it's such a feel-good track that still manages to drop a lot of knowledge. Of course, it's done in a way that only Nas could.

Damian Marley - Move

Damian samples his father's "Exodus" but uniquely makes it all his own. This song must have been overshadowed by the smash that was "Welcome to Jamrock" but it certainly stands out on its own.

Mos Def - There is a Way

Okay so Mos Def released this album with no singles and no videos. The CD has no artwork whatsover and on top of that the Mighty Mos thought it would be a good idea to rap about Hurricance Katrina over a Juvenile beat. Needless to say, if you missed this album all is forgiven. Sometimes I wish I had. But then I listen to "There is a Way" and I think maybe there is a way...for Mos Def to revive his rap career.

Talib Kweli - Soon the New Day

I might be a bit early on this since this came out relatively recently. Hopefully the label will wise up and put this out and not the lame Kanye track. This is one of the tightest tracks on a very tight album.

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Hip Hop Has Saved My Life

2008-03-20T01:03:00.003-04:00

New Lupe Fiasco "Hip Hop Has Saved My Life"

Barack Obama's Speech on Race

2008-03-18T14:49:00.010-04:00

Barack Obama, in the midst of all of the controversy concerning his former pastor, decided to speak about the divisive issue of race in America. It's long but it's worth it to watch in what could be the most important speech given on race since the civil rights movement.

5 Hottest Records Out Right Now

2008-03-14T00:24:00.014-04:00

For some reason in music the year always ends strong with lots of releases coming out in time for Christmas. The first quarter always tends to kinda suck. That's pretty much been the case this year as there have not been any significantly hot joints. Recently, that appears to have changed. Check out the 5 hottest records out right now and thank me later.

1. Rick Ross featuring Jay-z - Maybach Music

Whoa. THIS IS THE HOTTEST RECORD OUT RIGHT NOW.
Rick Ross came with it on this track. The beat is incredible and Rick Ross rides it nice. Jay is, of course, on point. Nothing too showy but it fits the beat perfectly.

2. Erykah Badu

Not a huge Badu fan normally but these two joints are just on point. First, the throwback track (produced by 9th Wonder) and video are just bananas. (If you stick out the whole video you get a nice treat at the end.)

Honey

Then she kinda swagger-jacks "We are Siamese if you please" but it somehow works.

The Healer

3. Jay-z featuring Mary J Blige - You're All Welcome

"The Barack Obama of rhymers" You gotta love it. Mary sounds very reminiscent of "Can't Knock the Hustle." even down to the ad libs. I could do without Swizzy all over the track but what are you gonna do?

4. Britney Spears - Break the Ice (Instrumental)

Ok, the song is not hot but I've been banging this beat since I first heard it a few months ago. Now they've finally released a video for it. Beat comes courtesy of Timbaland's right hand man, DanjaHandz. Take a listen and peep the flip at about 2:00.

5. Donnie (from MTV's Making the Band 4) - Dr. Love (Instrumental)

Another hot beat. You need only watch Donnie in the studio with Seven to see how this song comes out. As of now, it hasn't been released. Maybe Puff's waiting for this to be the spring/early summer anthem.

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Hillary Clinton and her Campaign's Use of Veiled Racism

2008-03-13T19:53:00.009-04:00

It began with Bill Clinton implying that Barack Obama only won South Carolina because he was black. Completely unprompted.

It continued when a member of the Clinton campaign released this photo of Barack Obama while simultaneously starting a whisper campaign that Obama is a Muslim.

She then followed up saying that he's not a Muslim "as far as she knows" when she could have definitively put a stop to it.

Now it's finally gone from veiled to blatant with Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter and former vice-presidential nominee, coming out and saying that Barack Obama would not be in his current position if he wasn't black. That statement was bad enough. Stupid enough. But much worse, after the fact she had the gumption to go after the Obama campaign for saying that she made a racist comment, saying that they are attacking her because she's white. What??

Here she is on the Nightly News calling for the Obama camp to apologize to her.

And here's Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" on it.

Kudos to Olbermann for saying what many people feel. Hillary Clinton's kitchen sink approach will not only lose her the nomination and kill the Clinton name, it will severely damage the Democratic party.

If Hillary wins, she will no doubt lose to McCain as there are very few self-respecting African Americans who would be willing to support her after she, no doubt, stole the campaign from Obama. If Obama wins, he will be a beaten and bloodied figure standing up against a John McCain who will have had months of negative campaigning already done for him.

America's Next President Announced Early: John McCain!

2008-02-27T22:02:00.004-05:00

Despite the fact that the Democratic primaries are still going on, and John McCain appears to find himself embroiled in a bit of controversy these days, McCain can rest assured that he will, in fact, become the 44th President of the United States.

Although it is a bit premature, John McCain can rest assured that all of the hard work is behind him.

Sex Scandal for John McCain!

2008-02-20T19:55:00.018-05:00

Is this woman the next Monica Lewinsky?

According to the NY Times, John McCain may have been involved in a romantic relationship with female lobbyist, Vicki Iseman. The extent of their romantic relationship is still unknown but at the very least this poses serious questions as to the influence of lobbyists over McCain. The article goes so far as saying that McCain's advisors had to intervene themselves to "protect the candidate from himself."

Could this be another Lewinsky?

We'll find out more as this develops.

Read the NY Times article below.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, in his offices and aboard a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s clients, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

It had been just a decade since an official favor for a friend with regulatory problems had nearly ended Mr. McCain’s political career by ensnaring him in the Keating Five scandal. In the years that followed, he reinvented himself as the scourge of special interests, a crusader for stricter ethics and campaign finance rules, a man of honor chastened by a brush with shame.

But the concerns about Mr. McCain’s relationship with Ms. Iseman underscored an enduring paradox of his post-Keating career. Even as he has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest.

Mr. McCain promised, for example, never to fly directly from Washington to Phoenix, his hometown, to avoid the impression of self-interest because he sponsored a law that opened the route nearly a decade ago. But like other lawmakers, he often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his support, including the media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Michael R. Bloomberg and Lowell W. Paxson, Ms. Iseman’s client. (Last year he voted to end the practice.)

Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules. But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office.

“He is essentially an honorable person,” said William P. Cheshire, a friend of Mr. McCain who as editorial page editor of The Arizona Republic defended him during the Keating Five scandal. “But he can be imprudent.”

Mr. Cheshire added, “That imprudence or recklessness may be part of why he was not more astute about the risks he was running with this shady operator,” Charles Keating, whose ties to Mr. McCain and four other lawmakers tainted them in the savings and loan debacle.

During his current campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. McCain has played down his attacks on the corrupting power of money in politics, aware that the stricter regulations he championed are unpopular in his party. When the Senate overhauled lobbying and ethics rules last year, Mr. McCain was not among the leaders in the debate.

With his nomination this year all but certain, though, he is reminding voters again of his record of reform. His campaign has already begun comparing his credentials with those of Senator Barack Obama, a Democratic contender who has made lobbying and ethics rules a centerpiece of his own pitch to voters.

“I would very much like to think that I have never been a man whose favor can be bought,” Mr. McCain wrote about his Keating experience in his 2002 memoir, “Worth the Fighting For.” “From my earliest youth, I would have considered such a reputation to be the most shameful ignominy imaginable. Yet that is exactly how millions of Americans viewed me for a time, a time that I will forever consider one of the worst experiences of my life.”

A drive to expunge the stain on his reputation in time turned into a zeal to cleanse Washington as well. The episode taught him that “questions of honor are raised as much by appearances as by reality in politics,” he wrote, “and because they incite public distrust they need to be addressed no less directly than we would address evidence of expressly illegal corruption.”

To read the rest of the article click here.

UPDATE: U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today issued the following statement by Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker:

"It is a shame that the New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.
"Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career."

A response but not exactly a flat denial.

Tags: Politics, John McCain, 2008 Election, Lobbyists, Scandal

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The Best of the NBA Dunk Contest

2008-02-16T23:35:00.005-05:00

In honor of All-Star Saturday night, here's an old-school video featuring some of the greatest dunks of all time:

Even though Michael Jordan is my favorite athlete ever, I have to concede that Vince Carter is the greatest dunker I've ever seen. Jason Richardson is by far the most underrated. Here's a much-watch video featuring a comparison of their best dunks:

Finally, here are the highlights of tonight's dunk contest; I never thought somebody as tall as Dwight Howard could put on a performance like this:

Tags: NBA, Slam Dunk, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Jason Richardson

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Grammy Wrap Up 2008

2008-02-11T00:33:00.000-05:00

With all of the early concern that the Writer's Strike might ruin this year's Grammy's it seemed as strong as ever last night. The big winners of the night were Kanye West and Amy Winehouse picking up four and five awards respectively. Those two also may have shared the "moments of the night" with Amy Winehouse's utterly stunned response to winning Record of the Year for her ironic, "Rehab."

The other moment came from Kanye to-tha after receiving the Best Rap Album award. During his acceptance speech, the orchestra started playing that "wrap it up" music while he was talking about his mother but he was not having it. Check it out.

I also thought it was great that Barack Obama's audio verson of Audacity of Hope managed to beat Bill Clinton's Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. Not exactly a delegate, but every little bit matters.

Here is a list of the important winners.

Album of the Year: "River: The Joni Letters," Herbie Hancock.
Record of the Year: "Rehab," Amy Winehouse.
Song of the Year: "Rehab," Amy Winehouse (Amy Winehouse).

New Artist: Amy Winehouse.
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Mark Ronson.

Rap Album: "Graduation," Kanye West.
Rap Solo Performance: "Stronger," Kanye West.
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Southside," Common, featuring Kanye West.
Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Umbrella," Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z.
Rap Song: "Good Life," Kanye West Featuring T-Pain.

R&B Album: "Funk This," Chaka Khan.
R&B Song: "No One," Dirty Harry, Kerry Brothers & Alicia Keys, songwriters (Alicia Keys).
Contemporary R&B Album: "Because of You," Ne-Yo.
Female R&B Vocal Performance: "No One," Alicia Keys.
Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Future Baby Mama," Prince.
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "Disrespectful," Chaka Khan, featuring Mary J. Blige.t.
Urban/Alternative Performance: "Daydreamin'," Lupe Fiasco, featuring Jill Scott.
Dance Recording: "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows," Justin Timberlake, Nate (Danja) Hills, Timbaland & Justin Timberlake, producers; Jimmy Douglass & Timbaland, mixers.

Reggae: "Mind Control," Stephen Marley.

Pop Vocal Album: "Back to Black," Amy Winehouse.
Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Rehab," Amy Winehouse.
Male Pop Vocal Performance: "What Goes Around...Comes Around," Justin Timberlake.
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "Makes Me Wonder," Maroon 5.

Spoken Word: "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," Barack Obama

Comedy Album: "The Distant Future," Flight of the Conchords.

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On Voting Today, For the First Time, and Maybe the Last..?

2008-02-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

Today for the first time in my natural life, I voted.

Despite the ridiculously anticlimactic nature of voting (much like terrible sex..ten minutes to figure out where everything is, another five to figure out how to operate the machinery, followed by thirty wondering what the hell just happened) I am euphoric. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who never voted out of sloth, apathy, or time constraints. No, I was a conscious non-voter, a subscriber to a Ghandi-like philosophy of nonviolence and nonparticipation. I refused to participate in the political process as my own little 150 pounds of protest.

People have in the past asked me how I can so easily forsake my 'civic duty'. But I believe that concepts like duty, respect, honor, and truth are, for lack of a better cliche, two way streets. Duty must be reciprocated, not blindly poured into some system that has no regard for me like unrequited love. This sense of jadedness comes from chronically having watched politicians partake in politics as usual. All across the world I've had the pleasure of seeing world leaders be, well... just like one another.

I've sat and listened to Ion Iliescu of Romania be charming and witty as he pretended to not be a criminal. I've witnessed Berlusconi brazenly and unabashedly exert his control over a majority of Italy's national media. And I have even lived in a Namibia in which being black and not poor and not uneducated made myself and my family paradoxical to say the least, but problematic to put it bluntly.

And all of these situations and people and nations have one thing in common-- they were lead by individuals who, having little regard for those whom they are sworn to serve, carried out their own agendas with a bravado and absolutism reminiscent of the Divine Right of Kings.

In these set of circumstances, what foolishly optimistic human being could cast a vote with any genuine sense of hope?

But enough of that. That was the past, my formerly pessimistic self! Now I'm reveling in my post-vote euphoria! I am celebrating democracy and all of its glories! I'm getting misty eyed at the reading of the Declaration of Independence during the Superbowl! No longer am I a political atheist, I have been reformed and baptized anew!

And you know WHY?
Because, and god help me for it, I have the audacity to hope.

When I try to explain to my significant other exactly what it is about Barack that instills me with foolish hope, I fall short. I can't explain it. It is truly a strange sensation... faith in a politician, the belief that he generally wants to do good things, and given the chance, will do them. It is a belief that he deserves to be in office precisely becase he doesn't inherently want to be president, but rather desires a set of circumstances that can only be engineered with him leading the nation.

And people will invariably ask me if part of the reason I like him so much is because he's black. To which I honestly respond, no. If he was a white politician and exactly the same, I'd still be writing this. But, lest we forget, 1968 was not very long ago, and I don't believe you can fault a group of people for measuring their progress, on this day, in one man.

~Eri

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Just Three Words

2008-02-04T22:58:00.000-05:00

Yes

We

Can!

Perfection Denied - The Patriots Suffer the Toughest Loss in Recent Sports History

2008-02-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

One loss has never loomed so large. It turns out, The New England Patriots are not The Greatest Team of All Time, as they were being hailed. And even though they are going down in history, they'll be there for all the wrong reasons. They will forever be considered one of sports' greatest disappointments, grouped with the likes of the 1991 UNLV men's basketball team, another group that didn't lose until it mattered most. It's possible for one loss to overshadow eighteen victories, and we saw it last night. And while I hate to look at a game from the loser's perspective, the historical aspect of this loss is too hard to ignore.

Lost in all of the talk about perfection is the fact that New England has looked very mortal since late November. Since week 12, when The Pats defeated The Eagles by three, the previously perfect team has only been dominant in one and a half games - on December 9th, when they decimated Pittsburgh, and in the first half of their week 16 game against the hapless Dolphins. The warning signs were there, and we chose to ignore them, likely because their story was so compelling. Or maybe because Mercury Morris and the '72 Dolphins are so annoying. Whatever the reason, we dismissed the fact that this was a different Pats team than the one that ran roughshod over their opponents in the first half of the season. We ignored the impact of the loss of Roosevelt Colvin, which caused them to rely too heavily on the aging Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi. We also passed over the loss of Sammy Morris, who was the team's best running back when he went down with injury. This team made so many adjustments that they didn't skip a beat in the middle of the season, even with these losses. But something changed along the way. Whether it was fatigue, the impact of injury, or the weight of expectations, New England was no longer invincible in the latter stages of the season. In the playoffs it was more of the same, as they comfortably beat Jacksonville, but slithered by an injury-depleted San Diego team that shockingly outplayed them through three quarters. Despite all that, they made the Super Bowl. They reminded me of the '95-96 Bulls, who were so dominant in getting off to a 41-3 start to the season, and kept winning, but less decisively, after Scottie Pippen aggravated a back injury and the pressure of winning 70 games became more intense. Those Bulls managed to pull through, and even though they stumbled twice in the finals, their championship was never in doubt. There are no best-of-seven series in football, however, and the Pats stumbled at the worst possible time. And, unfortunately for them, this loss becomes as much a part of their legacy as their three wins in four seasons. All year long, they were primed to do the unthinkable, and then yesterday, they did just that, just not in the way that we were expecting.

One game can change so much. Bill Belichick was considered by some to be the greatest coach ever, based on his remarkable success during the salary cap era. Now, after getting outcoached on the grandest stage (going for it on fourth and 13 instead of kicking a long field goal?!), and suffering through a new round of Spygate allegations, he'll be sure to face more scrutiny than ever before. Tom Brady got outplayed by Eli Manning, and his historic season now carries the same baggage that Peyton Manning's did in 2004 - remarkable, but incomplete. Randy Moss disappeared throughout the playoffs, and the most prolific offense ever was overwhelmed by the Giants' pass rush. In our haste to coronate these three, and their team, we missed the obvious - they were the second best team in the league during the playoffs, when true greatness is defined.

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I'm F**king Matt Damon

2008-02-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

If you haven't already seen this hilarious clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Show enjoy and thank me later.

The Johan Santana Trade - Great for the Mets, Bad for the Game

2008-01-31T22:40:00.000-05:00

As you've heard by now, the New York Mets just traded for the best pitcher in baseball. A pitcher so good that he elevates them from talented also-ran to National League favorite. A pitcher so dominating, he single-handedly overshadows The Great Collapse of 2007. A move so far-reaching that the Mets currently have better odds to win the 2008 World Series than the Yankees, according to the Nevada Sports Books. For Mets fans like myself, this deal seems too good to be true. This is the same franchise that has traded away the likes of Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, David Cone, and Scott Kazmir. The same franchise that has never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter, never had an MVP, and has only won 5 division titles in its 46 year history. But even though I should feel ecstatic about the changing fortunes of my team, something just doesn't feel right about this trade. No matter how much it benefits the Mets, this trade serves as the perfect example of the inherent problems with Major League Baseball.

It's been a rough offseason for The (former) National Pastime. Steroids continue to dominate the headlines, as 87 players were named in The Mitchell Report. Roger Clemens has seen his reputation tarnished, while Barry Bonds, the all-time home run leader, has no team to play for. To me, however, the biggest story has nothing to do with any performance-enhancing drug. The most important theme to emerge is the widening disparity between small and large market teams. Take a look at these transactions from the past three months:
1. The Florida Marlins (last year's payroll - $33.1 million) trade Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to The Detroit Tigers (last year's payroll - $98.5 million) for a package of 6 prospects.
2. The Oakland A's (last year's payroll - $78.5 million) trade Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox (last year's payroll - $100.2 million) for Ryan Sweeney and two prospects.
3. The Minnesota Twins (last year's payroll - $71.9 million) trade Johan Santana to the New York Mets (last year's payroll - $120.9 million) for a package of 4 prospects.
Sensing a pattern? Does it make any sense that poorer teams seem to be trading off their best players in exchange for inexpensive prospects? Does it make sense that the Mets and Marlins play in the same division? Or that the Yankees, who had a record-breaking $218.3 million dollar payroll last year, play in the same division as the $31.8 million Devil Rays? These examples only point out part of the problem. Unbelievably, MLB's draft is also inequitable, as top prospects often make outrageous financial demands, and scare off the poorer teams from selecting them. Also, the money from revenue-sharing, which was instituted to actually help small-market teams compete in this landscape, is often going into the owners' pockets instead of into their teams, thus rendering this process ineffective. The divide continues to grow, and these examples suggest that it will continue.

All of this makes me conflicted as a fan of a large-market team. Next season, if the Mets win their division, there will be no cause for celebration, as they will have done what they were supposed to do. If they lose, it will be another embarrassment, as they will have once again failed to benefit from their edge in talent and payroll. And this Steinbrenner-esque, winning-is-required mentality makes me enjoy the game a bit less. I go into next year knowing that a Mets' championship might not be as fulfilling as one earned in a sport with actual rules. It's never fun to root for the bully, which is exactly what my team has become. There's no question that the Mets are now in position to win a lot of games next year. It's just sad that Major League Baseball has put small-market teams in position to lose a lot of fans.

Tags: Sports, Major League Baseball, New York Mets, Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins, revenue sharing

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The Kennedy Seal of Approval: A Huge Endorsement for Barack Obama

2008-01-28T22:24:00.000-05:00

Today, what could be perceived as the defining moment in Barack Obama's campaign took place. Following his tremendous victory over Hillary Clinton in South Carolina, Barack Obama got big endorsements from JFK's daughter, Caroline Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy. In an Op-ed for the New York Times, Caroline explained why she decided to endorse the junior senator from Illinois.

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

- Caroline Kennedy

Following Caroline's impassioned editorial was an equally stirring speech from her uncle, Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact these endorsements will have. While it's certainly been an attention-getter (even overshadowing the President's recycled State of The Union Address), we will have to wait until Feb 5th to see if it will provide the necessary momentum that Obama will need to push him over the edge. As it is now, Hillary still has a commanding lead in the majority of the Super Tuesday states. And if she is, indeed, able to hold on and take the nomination, the bigger question may be: will the American people forgive her for crushing hope?

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Economy is in Dire Straits: Why and What to Expect

2008-01-25T17:39:00.001-05:00

Usually, I'm not the type to dabble into economic speak but given that things have gone from bad to horrible in a short period of time, I thought it would be prudent to have my financial guru weigh in.

Economy in Peril

by Xen Mogul

Wake up people! We are on the verge of an unprecedented financial collapse. Oil prices have gone through the roof, consumers are over-leveraged (credit cards, mortgages, stippers...etc.) and the economy has now taken a turn for the worse. How in the world could this have happened? Well let me give you a little bit of history.

HOW

So it all started with the Nasdaq (tech) bubble of 2000. After busting early that year, it was followed the unforseen events on 9/11 which officially destroyed our economy. In response, Greenspan cut rates to 1%. This resulted in one of the biggest asset inflation cycles of recent history in real-estate and, more recently, in stocks and commodities. Through various creative financial instruments large investment banks around the world were able to add ridiculous fuel to the fire of rising asset prices (namely homes) driving prices up still further.

This huge influx of wealth generation via asset appreciation ("mortgage equity extraction") spurred massive consumer spending from the US, the global engine of growth. As the US continued to buy stuff the emerging markets (China, India...etc.) profited by making the products for us. This spurred significant growth and wealth generation in their respective economies which sparked a sudden domestic economic growth spurt. All of this further drove up asset valuation around the world as these countries were buying infinitely more of the basics than ever before (coal, iron ore, food...) driving global prices even higher.

NOW

Now the party is over. Home prices are falling and people are defaulting on their mortgages and more recently on their credit card bills. Because of the above mentioned financial instruments, the effect of these declines has a multiplier effect...a multiple so large few can really get their head around it (myself included). Think trillions, not billions. To put this number into perspective...US GDP is $14.5tr; China GDP is about $2.6tr; and Global GDP is about $45tr.

Leverage has been the name of the game for the last five years because the cost of borrowing money has been so cheap. The housing crisis and the resulting loss of unprecedented sums of money has resulted in the loan market to freeze up for some and get much more expensive for most (all this in spite of Fed rate cuts). This is simply because banks don't trust other banks enough in this environment to lend them money. All of this, among other factors, has spiraled us into what I believe will be one of the most difficult times in recent history. The risks are large enough and systemic enough to cause a economic crash.

The Future

Make no mistake about what the government is doing. I'm sure you've heard that they've proposed a "Stimulus Plan" to the tune of $145 billion. This is a sign of absolute desperation. They're trying to avoid a DEPRESSION not a recession. They're scum and judging by their past performance I'm willing to bet this won't work. It will only devalue the currency as they create this money out of thin air.

The next shoes to fall will be credit card and auto defaults and eventually private equity deals. The banks that loaned the money to these retards are going to take it up the booty over the next couple years. People are getting laid-off everywhere and unemployment figures will inevitably rise as lending standards and prices tighten and asset prices deflate. Some argue that the emerging markets have developed local economies strong enough to keep growth rates up in those regions but I disagree. I expect to see them slow appreciably albeit not come to a halt.
As they say, "when the US gets a cold, the world gets the flu."

The flip side of all this, what could make me wrong, is that by some miracle we're able to get the loan market working again and bring lending rates down so people and businesses can re-finance. If this happens we will be ok, but it will still take a long time to recover from the losses we've already incurred. It's all about the US consumer. That's the whole game. When we spend we fuel growth and, unfortunately, right now our wallets are getting tighter not bigger.

Remember that it's in nobody's interest to tell you that stocks are going lower...their jobs are at risk (the media included). So they'll tell you that everything will be fine and not even address the full scope of the risks.

The net of it all...stay out of stocks, hoard your cash and brace yourselves for what could be very difficult times in America. If everything turns around and the market doubles from here, I'm sorry. But if you have no chips you can't play poker. Good luck.

Technorati Tags: Economy Alan+Greenspan GDP Leverage Recession Stock+Market

Brawn over Brains - Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Toughness in Pro Sports

2008-01-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

Picture this scenario: two secretaries get hired by a well-known law firm, and work there for several years. One (let's call him Phil) is somewhat of an underachiever, and is notorious for his surly attitude. The other (let's call him LT) represents the firm with class and dignity, and is the most efficient worker they've ever had. One day, they both come down with injuries while typing. Phil has a torn ligament in his wrist, while LT is in the early stages of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. They both need time off, but the firm's biggest client goes on trial in one week. Phil decides to fight through his tremendous pain, because the person who would take over his work (William E. Volek) isn't trusted by anybody in the firm. LT takes the necessary time off, comforted by the fact that his replacement is infinitely better than Phil's, and can help the company get through its busy time. After the trial, everyone hails Phil's courage, even though the damage in his wrist is so severe that he might not be able to work when they next need him. LT is condemned for his choice, even though he decreased his risk of suffering a long-term injury by getting adequate rest. Despite the fact that LT is an all-time great secretary, and had only called in sick once before in his career, he will forever be remembered for failing to come through in that one week, and his years of hard work become tainted in the process.

Seems kind of rough, no? How many of us would do what LT did, and make sure to avoid long-term injury in order to continue earning a good living for their family? This situation came to fruition this past Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, when San Diego's future Hall-of-Fame running back, LaDainian Tomlinson, carried the ball only twice against New England due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee. Their inconsistent quarterback, Philip Rivers, played the whole game with a completely torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and actually had preliminary surgery six days before in a last ditch effort to play. It's possible that he won't be back in time for their next training camp, as recovery time for this injury can last up to eight months. As expected, Rivers has been universally hailed for his courage, while Tomlinson has been lambasted by fans and media members alike. The obvious question that emerges is this: why do we expect so much from pro athletes? In no other area of life would we debate this dilemma. If you have an injury, and it's going to affect your production, you take time off to heal. Case closed. However, if you play pro sports, and especially pro football, it isn't enough to just be good at your job. You also have to have a level of toughness that's acceptable to not only your teammates, but to the millions of people on their couches who watch and criticize what you do.

We as fans always expect a superhuman effort from our athletes. We demand it, since they charge us so much for tickets, and especially since the athletes get paid such ludicrous amounts of money. So this past Sunday, everyone wanted to see the Chargers play the Patriots with their full complement of starters. We wanted LaDainian to tough it out, since his presence would have made the game better. The problem is that there are plenty of instances when athletes did risk it all, and never were the same again. We always seem to forget that Bill Walton felt such pressure to play through injury that he went against his personal beliefs in the '78 playoffs and took pain killers in order to deal with his foot problems. We also seem to forget that over the next five years, he missed 3 full seasons, and played in only 14 and 33 games in the other two. We also forget that NFL players are more prone to depression, arthritis, and an assortment of other mental and physical problems when their careers are over, because they take risks similar to the one Rivers took. So while I respect Rivers' toughness, I can't use his decision as a reason to fault Tomlinson. Because there is no right or wrong way to deal with this dilemma. If Rivers felt like the risk was worth it, and LaDainian didn't, then who are we to tell them otherwise? Only one thing is certain - next year, if LaDainian continues to break records, while Rivers struggles to make it back from his injury, people will finally acknowledge the complexity of this issue, which isn't as clear-cut as it's currently being presented.

Technorati Tags: sports NFL New+England+Patriots San+Diego+Chargers LaDainian+Tomlinson Philip+Rivers

Eddie Murphy Predicted Giants Victory 20 Years Ago!!

2008-01-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

We all knew that Eddie Murphy was hilarious, but did you know he was psychic too? Exactly 20 years ago Eddie predicted the Giants would triumph over the Packers. Take a look.

Wow! I haven't see Eddie exude this much oneness with the world since his 1998 classic Holy Man.

Michael Jackson Comeback in 2008!

2008-01-20T13:35:00.001-05:00

Granted, it won't be easy but anyone who thinks that the King of Pop is down for the count doesn't know Jack(o).

Let's for a minute forget about the child molestation charges. Forget about the ridiculous amount of plastic surgeries that have transformed this previously handsome young black man. Because, as we all know, this is America and as history continues to show anyone can make a comeback. And all it takes is a hit record. So I've decided to get my executive producer on and come up with a list of producers to put the King of Pop back on his throne.

Rodney Jerkins

Notable Hits

Brandy & Monica - The Boy is Mine
Michael Jackson - You Rock My World
Janet Jackson - Feedback
Destiny's Child - Say My Name/Lose My Breath
Beyonce - Deja Vu

Of course, Rodney Jerkins is the first guy to mention. He's a certified hit machine. He's worked with Michael before and he can change styles very quickly, delivering club-thumping joints for Destiny's Child, Brandy, etc. while also making traditional smooth R&B for Ciara, Keyshia Cole, Joe and others. He should produce 3 for MJ's next one, 2 smoothed out R&B tracks and one monster club track.

Timbaland

Notable Hits

Aaliyah- Are you that Somebody/We Need a Resolution etc.

Ginuwine - Pony/What's So Different etc

Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River, What Goes Around
Timbaland - Apologize/The Way I Are

Nelly Furtado - Say It Right/Promiscuous

Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On/She's a Bi*ch

Steroid allegations aside, Timbo is King. So why wouldn't the King of Pop work with, arguably, the most innovative producer of our time? The argument against it is that he would be biting Justin Timberlake's style, as Timbo almost exclusively produces for the King of Blue-Eyed Soul. I would argue against that considering Timbaland switches up his style like it's his job (incidentally it is his job). And besides, JT swagger-jacked MJ first.

Raphael Saadiq

Notable Hits

D'angelo - Lady
Total - Kissin You

Angie Stone - Brotha

Kelis - Glow

Mos Def - The Boogie Man Song

Raphael Saadiq - Still Ray/Get Involved

The Roots - What they Do

Tony Toni Tone - Feels Good/If I Had No Loot/Anniversary, etc.
Bilal - Soul Sista

One of the best R & B soul producers of our time. There are very few artists/producers that have the longevity of a Raphael Saadiq. Dude's been around since Tony Toni Tone. He even made Kelis sound soulful. MJ should not be as challenging. After all, we might forget but MJ used to be quite the crooner. If he can put the soul back into his music, it'll sound a little more credible than the endless stream of "pop" songs.

Neptunes

Notable Hits

Sade - By Your Side (remix)

NERD - Run to the Sun
Kelis - Caught Out There/Milkshake

Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You/Nothin Else

Britney Spears - I'm a Slave 4 U/ Boys

It blows my mind that MJ somehow skipped the Neptunes when they were in their prime. Granted, they're still big hitmakers but they are not every third song on the radio like they were in 2001. That's probably a good thing though. At any rate, they are so good at making hits that MJ would be a fool to not work with them.

Mark Ronson

Notable Hits

Daniel Merriweather - Stop Me
Amy Winehouse - Rehab/You Know I'm No Good/Valerie

Ghostface - Ooh Wee
Mark Ronson -Version

Mark Ronson will probably be the least obvious producer of the ones I've listed but MJ's needed to step outside of the box for awhile now. The previous producers are pretty safe choices. In particular, I'd like to hear him produce something disco/house influenced. Let's not forget that some of MJ's best music came out of the disco era.

Bryan Michael Cox

Notable Hits

Mary J. Blige - Be Without You/We Ride
Usher - Confessions/Confessions Pt II/Burn

Mariah Carey - Shake It Off

Chris Brown - Fallen Angel
Marques Houston - Circles
Danity Kane - Ride For You

BMC, as I like to call him, single-handedly took Mary J. Blige from an amazing singer to an icon with 2006's smash "Be Without You." BMC is a genius when it comes to the poppy R&B tracks that get stuck in your head. Who would be better for MJ's second single?

Other producers to consider: Rich Harrison, Just Blaze, WIll.I.Am, Polow Da Don, Danger Mouse.

Technorati Tags: Music Michael+Jackson Timbaland Neptunes Rodney+Jerkins

Kobe, the Horri-Bulls, and the sad tale of Eminem

2008-01-16T17:48:00.000-05:00

A few random notes to get you through hump day:

I was sifting through the NBA standings today, and three things stood out:

1 - Everybody in Miami should be embarrassed, as the Heat are an astonishing 8-28. 8-28!! I know D-Wade is banged up, and Shaq is a shadow of his former self, but it's a complete disgrace for them to have a worse record than the New York Knicks. Pat Riley seems to be already planning his exit strategy, and Dwyane Wade has become as injury prone as his out-of-shape running mate. There seems to be no end in site to their misery.
2 - My beloved Bulls continue to stumble, and currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference at 14-22. Let's just move on...
3 - The number one seed in the West is...the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm as stunned as you are. Granted, there are a bunch of teams jumbled at the top, and the Lakers are about to drop with the loss of their phenom center, Andrew Bynum, for a minimum of eight weeks, but we have to credit their GM for making the best of a bad situation when Kobe Bryant demanded a trade in the offseason. Mitch Kupchak could have caved in to Kobe and received ten cents on the dollar in a trade with the Suns, Knicks, or Bulls. Instead, he stuck to his guns, and now he has a potential contender in the next few years. Also, he appreciated Bynum's talent last year, and smartly refused to deal him for Jason Kidd, who, while still occasionally spectacular, would be a horrible fit in the triangle offense. According to John Hollinger's PER ratings, Bynum is the 16th ranked player in the league this year, while Kidd is all the way down at 82.

And finally, I came across this story when looking at Bill Simmons' weekly links on espn.com: apparently, Eminem is now weighing in at over 200 pounds (which is bad considering he's 5'7"), and his depression, isolation, and unhealthiness have people fearing for his life. I remember listening to his songs on the 8 Mile Soundtrack, which came on the heels of his best full-length LP, The Eminem Show, and thinking that he did the impossible - he lived up to his enormous hype. Fast-forward to 2008, and do you know anybody who would get excited about a new Eminem record? I know fame is fleeting, but this is just sad...

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"The Greatest [fill in the blank] of All Time"

2008-01-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

When the New England Patriots defeated Jacksonville on Saturday, they came one step closer to being inevitably crowned "The Greatest Team of All Time" by all the pundits in the sports world. The logic is simple: if they finish with the best record ever, and they break all the records, then they must be better than anybody who has ever played. As a fan of the record-setting '95-96 Chicago Bulls, it pains me to say this, but that logic is incredibly simplistic and short-sided. It still shocks me that people don't grasp the concept of relative dominance among sports teams. The Patriots, with their amazing point differential and record breaking offense, are the most dominant team ever relative to the league that they played in. If the Pats played in the '70s against Noll's Steelers, Shula's Dolphins, or Madden's Raiders, there's no guarantee that they would even come out of the AFC, much less go undefeated. Clearly, we're watching a dominant team, but should they be considered greater than the '85 Bears just because they have one less loss on their record?
The larger issue is that with today's 24-7 news cycle, it's not enough to just say that we're watching a great football team. We have to hear hours of debate about where this team ranks in history, whether Tom Brady is the greatest QB of all time, and whether Bill Belichick is, in fact, the devil. The Brady debate is the perfect illustration of the reactionary nature of today's media. Before the season, you would have a hard time finding any expert calling Brady a better quarterback than Peyton Manning. Peyton had finally filled the one glaring hole in his resume by winning the Super Bowl last year, making everyone forget his history of big-game failures. Brady, who already had three Super Bowl victories to his name prior to Manning's breakthrough, was highly regarded but largely ignored. This was despite the fact that he had the likes of Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney as his primary receivers, and was simply the result of him not winning the most recent Super Bowl. After his receiving corps was drastically improved in the offseason, Brady had a record setting year, and suddenly he's not only regarded higher than Manning, but also every other quarterback who has ever played the game. At this rate, we're one more New York Giants victory away from Eli being the greatest Manning of all time. So while I have the utmost respect for Brady, there's no way we can call him the best ever just after his 30th birthday. There's nothing wrong with waiting until his career is over before figuring out his (and Peyton's) place in history.

Technorati Tags: sports NFL New+England+Patriots Tom+Brady Peyton+Manning

The poetry of Mrs. Clinton

2008-01-12T02:59:00.000-05:00

Prose is a form of writing that lacks the formal rules and structure of poetry. It is natural, free flowing, and without convention. Unlike poetry, prose is neither constrained by the chains of its predecessors nor confined to rules that exist for reasons we can not explain or make sense of. Prose is prosaic, and though that may sound redundant, it means that prose represents something common, something everyday, something familiar.

So it seems to me that Hillary Clinton's allusion to Obama's campaign being "in poetry", is quite inaccurate. Barack Obama is nothing but prose. He speaks with a candor and verity that is what has lead droves of young people, like myself, to realize it's more important to have someone good than someone female, and that it's more important to have someone we can believe in than someone with a track history. Clinton's years of experience crafting her rhythm and meter, perfecting her stanzas and mastering her rhyme schemes do not impress me. Barack's prose has given me the audacity to have a little hope in a system of government that seems as inclined to serve my interests as the government of Bhutan. And for that I'm still unsure whether to thank him or curse him.

Full disclosure -- I have no specific area that I claim as my specialty. I'm no sports fanatic like Chris, nor am I a hip hop aficionado like XM. By virtue of being an american college student I know nothing about everything. But one thing I definitely do know is my genres. And Barack Obama is definitely prose.

In the words of my good buddies over at Busted Tees:

~Eri

Technorati Tags: Politics Barack+Obama Hillary+Clinton Poetry Prose

What the hell is up with the Media?

2008-01-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

Far be it for me to hop on the "blame the media" bandwagon, but in the past few years the mainstream media has just gotten absurdly ridiculous (redundant?).

Let's look at what's been happening:

Rise in coverage of Sensationalist Journalism (i.e. Anna Nicole, Imus, Michael Richards)

Openly partisan news organizations (i.e Fox News)

The emergence of Reality TV (Tila Tequila, Kardashians, Flavor Flav)

Obsession with the private lives of celebrities (Britney, LiLoh, Paris)
The Internet serving to inform (specifically bloggers and YouTube)

That, my friends, is the perfect recipe for disaster.

Try watching any of the top 3 news organizations(CNN, Fox News, MSNBC) during primetime and you'll notice that you don't get news from these people, you get news infused with opinion. Of course since most Americans are uninformed they form their opinions based on how the news is presented to them.

Example:

Bill Clinton last week, while in NH campaigning on the trail for his wife, made a joke saying about Hillary "I cant make her taller, younger, male" and the media pounced on it claiming that Bill Clinton was playing the gender card and some even suggesting that Bill might be trying to sabotage her campaign.

Why would news organizations (and reputable ones at that) infuse so much bias and opinion into their stories? My answer would be the Bill O'Reilly effect.

When Bill-O arrived to Fox News he brought with him a brash attitude, partisan monologues, and a penchant for cutting off his guest's microphones. And you know what happened? The ratings went through the roof. Since then it seems that the news has been more interested in entertaining than informing.

Thus we have weeks of coverage on Anna Nicole, and Don Imus and Paris' jail stint, Britney's VMA performance and her child custody case and blah blah blah........

(Sidebar: I saw Lindsay Lohan's father outside of my office today and recognized who he was. Just another glaring example of the extent of her overexposure.)

I barely heard any news about the hundreds of deaths in Kenya that have shaken up one of the few stable countries in Africa. On the plus side, I did get to hear a lot about Hillary crying though.

As much as I mock the news though, it's more important than ever. What with the emergence of blogs and YouTube as expedient sources of news and information, the Edward R Murrow standard of journalism gets thrown to the wayside by shleps like me whose random ramblings entertain and inform with little accountability. That's why I'm harshest on the mainstream media. Because now is when they should be more accurate and unbiased than ever instead of emulating the blogging generation.

Just my thoughts.

To backtrack to the obsession with celebrity and Hollywood, the series finale of Extras had an amazing ending. If you're not familiar with the show, it's about a couple of British actors who are film extras looking to come up. Well in the finale, our main character, played expertly by Ricky Gervais, achieves success as a big comic TV star and, of course, lets it go to his head. So he becomes a Hollywood prick, turning down roles that he deems beneath him until he becomes a D-list actor. This forces him to do the only thing that will bring back his fame, a reality show.

Anyway, the final scene is great as he comes to a realization that all of the fame and popularity don't really matter. And not in a cheesy puffy way, but in a realistic gut-wrenching performance.

Proof That I Was Certain Hillary Would be Crushed in NH

2008-01-10T01:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, so now I think enough time has passed and I can look back and laugh at myself, along with the pollsters/pundits/press, about my ridiculous presumptions concerning the New Hampshire primary. I, like everyone else, was pretty certain Hillary would lose. And not just lose, but a Mortal Kombat "flawless victory" then "Finish Him" kind of loss.

So I wrote this blog just a few hours before the voting booths closed on Tuesday. Of course, I tried to erase it immediately and replace it with this after hearing the news but unfortunately I was caught by a few readers who've since asked me to repost it. So here you go.

The 5 Moments that Killed Hillary's Campaign
(written 4 hours before voting booths closed)

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, the mainstream media and bloggers alike have been delighting in the concurrent rise of Barack Obama and the downfall of the one-time-invincible Hillary Clinton. Myself included. Sure, it's not over yet. But following an almost-certain defeat in New Hampshire today and another almost-certain loss in South Carolina (provided Obama does not have any serious gaffes) I feel less nervous predicting her defeat.

But before we carve Ms Clinton's epitaph, we've got to write her eulogy. So here it is folks. The five moments that lost Hillary the nomination.

5. Hillary's furious rant about change.

In this frightening moment during the ABC/Facebook debate in New Hampshire, Hillary did what she knew she would have to do following her loss in Iowa- she went after Obama. She started her attack directly but not in personal terms saying that Obama claimed to be against lobbyists but has one on his staff, that he claimed to be against the Patriot Act then voted to keep it in place, and that he was against the war but continued to vote to fund it. She concluded saying Obama "could have a debate with himself" considering how much he's switched his positions. All very strong points and delivered to perfection. She then looked to get John Edwards to join in on a tag team by mentioning that Obama said Edwards was "unelectable" and "inconsistent" on a number of issues. What followed next Hillary could not have been prepared for. John Edwards responded, but instead of responding to the charges leveled at him, he sided with Obama, saying the following:

Now, what I would say this: Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of status quo attack. That's exactly what happens. It's fine to have a disagreement about health care. To say that Senator Obama is having a debate with himself from some Associated Press story I think is just not - that's not the kind of discussion we should be having. I think that every time this happens, what will occur - every time he speaks out for change, every time I fight for change, the forces of status quo are going to attack - every single time. . . I mean, I didn't hear these kind of attacks from Senator Clinton when she was ahead. Now that she's not, we hear them.

Hillary then responded with a tirade that made her look insane. Her eyes were literally bulging out of her head and she was slamming her hand around in defiance. Take a gander.

This would certainly be higher on my list but since it followed an already sinking ship it only makes number 5 on my list.

4. Hillary attacking Obama for having presidential aspirations in kindergarten.

In early December as Obama's polls began to bring him closer to Hillary, she thought it would be a good idea to start going at Obama a bit more aggressively. On her website, Hillary stated the following in an article entitled, "Sen. Obama Rewrites History, Claims He Hasn't Been Planning White House Run"

Today in Iowa, Senator Barack Obama said: "I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for."
Oh really?

"Senator Obama's comment today is fundamentally at odds with what his teachers, family, classmates and staff have said about his plans to run for President," Clinton spokesperson Phil Singer said. "Senator Obama's campaign rhetoric is getting in the way of his reality."

In third grade, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want To Be a President.' His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga "asked her class to write an essay titled 'My dream: What I want to be in the future.' Senator Obama wrote 'I want to be a President,' she said." [The Los Angeles Times, 3/15/07]

In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want to Become President.' "Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama's kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, 'I Want To Become President,' the teacher said."

This sounds like something that would come out of SNL. It's that ridiculous. It would probably have gotten higher on my list if people had realized that she was, in fact, being completely serious.

3. Bill Clinton on Obama on Charlie Rose

Following all of the positive press that Obama was getting after the Oprah event, Bill Clinton thought that it would be a good idea to help out Hillary by throwing in his 2 cents on Obama. While completely patronizing Obama by saying that he is a "great politician" Bill went on to call a vote for Obama a "risk" and " a roll of the dice. " To many it looked like something out of the Rove playbook and made Hillary look like she needed her hubby to help her fight her battles when she'd already positioned herself on her own. By all accounts a bad move.

2. Clinton adviser says Republicans will use Obama's drug use as a youth to beat him in general election

Bill Shaheen, one of Hillary's top advisers, came out and said this speaking about Obama:

"The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight ... and one of the things they're certainly going to jump on is his drug use. . .It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?' There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome."

The comment was especially despicable considering that Obama has been forthright about his drug-riddled past (see" Yes, I inhaled. That was the point.") and even wrote about it in his bestselling book. Of course this bounced back on to Hillary and Shaheen 'voluntarily' resigned. A day later, Hillary got caught saying that she forced him to resign. The whole situation made her campaign look desperate. This resonated especially hard since it was the first sign that Hillary's camp was truly worried about Obama.

1. Hillary flubs question of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants

True, this is not nearly as sensational as the others, but this was the first crack in Hillary's impenetrable armor. For nine months Hillary was smooth sailing. Yeah, people talked about Obama here and there, but it was all about Hillary. She seemed to win every debate effortlessly and Obama and Edwards got lost amongst the shuffle amongst folks like Mike Gravel and Chistopher Dodd. And then this happened.

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer came up with the idea to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Hillary supported it. A day later the press got wind of it and she realized that it was probably a bad move politically so she came on the debate stage and tried to have it both ways. By the end of her answer no one knew where she stood and for the first time, everyone smelt blood.

What do you think?

Bangin' New Janet Jackson Joint

2008-01-09T20:39:00.000-05:00

I know what you're thinking. Janet Jackson? It sounds ridiculous since she hasn't put out anything hot in awhile but this track is just fire. Sort of old-school Janet meets new sound.I can already see this on rull surrious rotation. Plus the video is on point.

Beat is banging. Sort of a more advanced Sexy Back. Produced by Rodney Jerkins. This cat always amazes me, coming back with a huge smash every couple of years with a reinvented sound. Also, peep Janet getting her T- Pain on.

Remember where you heard it first!

Janet Jackson - Feedback

Why Hillary Won NH

2008-01-09T00:06:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that every single poll had Barack Obama winning in New Hampshire by a substantial margin, Hillary Clinton appears to have pulled off the upset of the century. This upset is sure to fire up her campaign donors, as she blatantly alluded to in her victory speech and reinvigorate a campaign that many had thought was, at its best, on its last legs. Shocking to say the least. So how exactly did this get done? Well I've got some guesses that are pure speculation.

1. Women - Based on the exit polls it looks like Hillary cruised among women across the board. Obama had actually beaten Hillary pretty handily among women in Iowa but she seemed to have corrected that pretty quickly.
There's also the Gloria Steinem article in the New York Times from yesterday which basically said that if Barack Obama was a woman he would have no chance in this race. Though probably true that a bi-racial female would probably have a hard time winning, one could equally argue that if Hillary was black (or simply biracial) she would have no shot at the White House either. Regardless, I would argue that those that detest Hillary have reasons (primarily) other than her gender for disliking her. But I digress. . .

2. The Bradley Effect

For those unfamiliar, here is a description of the Bradley effect via Wikipedia:

The term Bradley effect or Wilder effect refers to a phenomenon which has led to inaccurate voteropinion polls in some political campaigns between a white candidate and a non-white candidate.Specifically, there have been instances in which statistically significant numbers of white voters tell pollsters in advance of an election that they are either genuinely undecided, or likely to vote for the non-white candidate, but those voters exhibit a different behavior when actually casting their ballots.

Obviously it's too early to tell and there's nothing worse than being the black guy that plays the race card. But according to RealClearPolitics.com, which averages all of the polls taken, Obama had on average an 8.3 point lead over Hillary yesterday, with some polls giving him a 13 point edge. Taking the average into account, that means an 11 point turnaround in 1 day. Pretty unlikely given there were no significant changes given since the debate. I'm not saying it, but I'm saying. . .

3. The Media

Did anyone else notice how much the media came together to relish in Hillary's downfall? I'm not her biggest fan and even I felt bad for her. The NY Post and Daily News said she was "So yesterday" and "Finished." There were stories that her campaign was running out of money and that they might "bow out" before she loses too much respect for herself. It was quite excessive at times. Given all of the press coverage maybe the maxim that "bad publicity is better than no publicity" held true. Either that or she brought out the sympathy vote from people who didn't like seeing her get so bullied by the press.

4. The Emotion

Maybe like Hillary said in her victory speech she "found her voice in New Hampshire." People are already calling this moment the "gamechanger", if you will (and I will). Peep it.

Most people's response to the clip is "Wow. Finally some authenticity out of Hillary." Or maybe it ties into the sympathy from the media's onslaught. At any rate, it was replayed, discussed, and became the issue of the day so it certainly could not have hurt.

All of this, of course, is just speculation though.

Hate the player, love the game

2008-01-07T18:39:00.000-05:00

When I was first approached about contributing to this blog, it was pretty obvious what my focus would be. Throughout my life, I've never met anyone who spends more time following sports than I do. Just to be clear, I'm not making that out to be a good thing. When you can't get your day started without reading at least five different sports-related websites and watching the morning Sportscenter, which you already saw the night before, you might have a problem (and by you, I mean me). So why am I so obsessed? And more to the point, why didn't I just become a sports reporter like people have been telling me since college? Reason number one is that I'm lazy. I had no idea how to get started in that field, and I didn't have the motivation to find out. The other reason, which is much more pertinent to this posting, is because I don't think I'd like sports if I got to know the people involved in them.
Pro athletes are treated like royalty in this country. Have been for years. As soon as you show a good amount of talent in high school, colleges are calling you left and right with recruitment pitches. Imagine being a teenager, and having grown men tripping over themselves to get you to go to school for free? Can you imagine being this kid? At college it's more of the same, except now, if you play a big-time sport, you appear semi-regularly on national TV, and gain fame and exposure on top of the other perks. And if you're somehow good enough to make it to the pros, you live the rest of your life in a dream world filled with money, women, and power. Tell me then, how are these people supposed to stay grounded? It's really not their fault. LeBron James has been on the national radar since he was about 15, and appeared on ESPN several times during his senior year of high school. Now I've never met LeBron, and, taking a wild stab in the dark, I'm assuming I never will. But I'd imagine it would be really hard for me to relate to him, since he's a multimillionaire, he's called himself "King James" since he was a teenager, and he's only 23 years old. This isn't meant to disparage LeBron more than it's meant to rip the system that he came up in. I would hate to contribute to that system by becoming a reporter, and having to fawn over the LeBrons and OJ Mayos of the world in order to get an interview. So while I love the sports that they play, I think I need some distance from the athletes that play them. And the executives that corrupt them. Which is where blogging comes in. Blogging allows me to pursue my dream in a half-assed manner, getting close enough to the action to discuss it in a public forum, but far enough that I don't have to deal with any of the people involved. So call it laziness. Or jealousy. But realize that I'm fulfilling my passion, without having to call somebody who's younger than me "King." Even if I do wind up reading 10 articles about him tomorrow morning.
CS

I believe it was Kierkegaard who once said "My loony bun is fine Benny Lava. Minor Bun engine made Benny Lava."

2008-01-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

If you're life has not yet been enriched by "Benny Lava" then check this out and remember to thank me later.

Barack Obama Makes History

2008-01-04T16:43:00.000-05:00

BARACK WINS IOWA!

What happened in Iowa was nothing short of historic. It's not a media exaggeration and it's certainly long overdue. Let's really think about what happened. Barack Obama, an African-American, "with a funny sounding name" won against an incumbent that had been anointed a year ago and a political machine that had been pre-ordained years ago. For the first time in my lifetime, my generation spoke and it mattered. Now I'm not too hopeful as to fool myself to think that this means that this is Obama's race to lose. Far from it, in fact. Clinton still has a firm grip on this and has the resolve and the money to hold on to that. But none of that discounts what happened last night. And who knows, maybe hope just can work.

An excerpt from Barack Obama's victory speech last night:

For many months, we've been teased, even derided for talking about hope.
But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can't afford health care for a sister who's ill; a young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.
Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn't been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq; who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.
Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.
Hope—hope—is what led me here today – with a father from Kenya; a mother from Kansas; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America. Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

Here is the video of the speech in its entirety.

Lupe Fiasco - Intelligent Lyricist but Retarded Citizen

2008-01-03T16:49:00.000-05:00

Following my nod of approval and after receiving the "Most Dashing" Award for best hip hop album of 2007 for The Cool, Lupe thought it would be a good idea to, once again, throw away that capital by making stupid remarks.

Oh Sohh.com today, Lupe said the following:
(Peep the story here)

1. He's not going to vote
2. If he did vote, he'd vote for Hillary
3. Obama wants to push to bomb Iran because he's a man and will follow Bush's agenda
4. Hillary will be an example for all women around the world

Now, to state the obvious. Lupe is a black man from Chicago with Muslim beliefs. To his credit, he's not simply voting for Obama because he's a black man from Chicago with a Muslim name(Obama's not Muslim for the record) . And he should not. If he doesn't like Obama for valid reasons, that's more than fair. In fact, it's expected. That being said, I think Lupe is making this statement to simply be "different" and to not fit neatly in the box that you want to put him in, a la Fiascogate. I say this because it's quite clear that Obama is the most anti-war candidate running (Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul notwithstanding) and was staunchly against the Iraq war from Day One. A war which Hillary voted for and has since never apologized for.
Obama has never advocated the bombing of Iran or even hinted at it. Hillary voted in the Senate to name Iran's army a terrorist organization, a step that can only lead to less diplomatic talks and worsened relations with Iran.

Lupe goes on to say that Hillary would be a shining example for women around the world. Little does he know that Hillary is disliked by most women and would not "represent" them. In fact, she is more representative of the politics of Bush as she has been firmly entrenched in this broken system for years.
If anything Obama represents hope and change and a new direction. He would also serve as a symbol for Americans and the rest of the world of America's willingness to change.

On top of all this, Lupe says he won't even vote!

It's killing me. This is almost as bad as Cam'ron on O'Reilly.

Ok, Not quite as bad in some ways. But on another level, Lupe, come on man you're smarter than this!!

Technorati Tags: Politics Hillary+Clinton Barack+Obama Music Hip+Hop Lupe+Fiasco

Best in Hip Hop 07

2008-01-02T12:48:00.000-05:00

Now that '08 has officially begun it seems like as good a time as any to rank the best hip hop 2007. Despite a lot of bad music trends ("Ay Bay Bay" "Pop Lock and Drop It" "Crank Dat") there was a lot of great music that came out. Here are my definitive lists for '07

Most Dashing Awards '07

Best Mixtapes

5. Saigon - Moral of the Story
4. Joe Budden - Mood Muzik 3
3. Bishop Lamont - Ni##er Noize
2 Lil Wayne - The Carter 3 Leak
1. Little Brother - Separate but Equal

Best "verse for verse" MCs of 2007
(with standout verse)

5. Phonte - "Sirens"
4. Jay-z - "Success"/"Ignorant Sh*t"
3. Lil Wayne - "I am the Future"/"We Takin Over"
2. Lupe - "Dumb it Down"
1. Andre 3000 - "I Choose You"/ "Art of Storytellin (part 4)"

Best Producers of 2007

10. 9th Wonder - His first year as a free agent proved to be a good one as 9th produced bangers for Bishop Lamont's street albums and reconnected with Little Brother for "Breakin My Heart."

Also honed his skills dropping Dream Merchant Vol. 2 (anyone remember a volume 1??) with appearances by Mos Def, Saigon, Jean Grae, Memphis Bleek, Royce da 5'9 and others.

9. Soundtrakk - The man principally responsible for the production behind Lupe's modern classic The Cool. Nuff said.

8. Mark Ronson - Along with Salaam Remi, Mark Ronson is primarily responsible for Amy Winehouse's new sound. He also proved he could carry an album on his own with the release of Version, an interesting mix of covers that he reinvented.

7. Polow Da Don - Showed serious crossover appeal with hits for Fergie("Glamorous") while still keeping it hood producing Rich Boy's "Boy Looka Here" and Young Buck's "Get Buck."

6. The Runners - Could be heard all over the radio producing DJ Khaled's"I'm so Hood," Beanie Sigel's "All of the Above" and songs for T.I, Birdman, Rick Ross, and a host of others. Proved themselves to be beyond "the guys that made 'Hustlin'."

5. Exile - The self-described "Pete Rock" to Blu's CL smooth, he produced Below the Heavens in its entirety recreating and updating the timeless sound of early 90's hiphop.

4. Badboy's Hitmen - Produced most of Jay-z's "comeback" CD American Gangster, including the smash "Roc Boys"

3. Kanye West - What can you say about this guy that he hasn't already said about himself? He keeps doing it. This year was no different. Starting off this year with the purist's anthem, Common's "The People" and closing out with a bevy of hits of his own, most notably the commercial smash hit"Stronger." The rest of Graduation wasn't too shabby either.

2/1. Danjahandz and Timbaland - These dudes are certified hit machines. Hard to pick one over the other for 1 and 2 especially considering that they work so closely together so they collectively get the 1 and 1 slot. Starting with Danja, this year he established himself as a great producer in his own right working with T.I, Trey Songz, Lil' Wayne and others. On top of that he with made the smash "We Takin Over" for DJ Khaled. He also succeeded in a Herculean feat, making Britney Spears' Blackout actually listenable producing the first single "Gimme More" along with nearly half the album. Timbo continued to be the hitmaker we've known him to be dropping three hit singles off his album Shock Value, the latest "Apologize" is number 3 on the charts eight months after the album was released. Add to that another hit with Bobby Valentino's "Anonymous" and the string of Timberlake/Furtado hits that carried over into '07 and you've got the biggest producers in the game right now.

Best Hip Hop Albums

10. T.I - T.I vs Tip

Why: Though it's not as impressive as King, T.I's last offering this album still boasted a bevy of hits and offered the creative concept of T.I fighting his alter ego T.I.P. And it worked. Add that plus a bunch of A-list features (Jay-z, Eminem, Busta Rhymes) with knockin' beats and you've got yourself a hot album.

Standout Tracks: "Big Things Poppin" "Hurt" "Tell Em I Said That"

9. Little Brother - GetBack

Why: Like, T.I, not quite as impressive as their previous offerings but impressive nonetheless.
From the outset there were skeptics since 9th Wonder departed. People wondered if they could maintain their sound. The truth is they didn't. Sometimes it worked("Sirens") and other times it didn't ("Two Step Blues"). Bottom Line though, even a good album by these cats is still great.

Standout Tracks: "Sirens" "Good Clothes" "Dreams"

8. Common - Finding Forever

Why: Much like T.I, Common figured he would try to redo the success that he had with his previous effort. Also, like T.I, it falls a bit short and lacks creativity. That being said the album still boasted a whole lot of heat. His hard tracks hit with fury but unfortunately his introspective ones didn't hold much weight.

Standout Tracks: "The People" "The Game" "Southside" "Start the Show"

7. Ghostface - Big Doe Rehab

Why: While I don't agree with the many who believe this is Ghost's best offering since Supreme Clientele, I can see the argument. BDR is loaded with straight up grimy hard Wu tracks and unapologetically neglects crooning to the ladies (see "Never Be the Same Again" "Back Like That") Couple that with great verses from Wu brethren Method Man(bout time you represented) and Rae and you got a new Wu Banga.

Standout Tracks: "Yolanda's House" "Toney Sigel aka The Barrell Brothers" "Slow Down"

6. Freeway - Free At Last

Why: No Kanye? No Just Blaze? Only one Rocafella feature? Still hot? Yes. Freeway proved to the haters that he can make great albums for the second time. This time by his lonesome. He's one of the few rappers that can convey pain, regret, anger and jubilation effectively from track to track while keeping consistency on his albums. His crazy rhyme scheme is as impressive as ever and he still manages to keep some soul in there despite Kanyeeze and Just Blaaaze.

Standout Tracks:"Baby Don't Do It" "When They Remember" "Nuttin on Me"

5. Kanye West - Graduation

Why: Ok, so "Drunk and Hot Girls" sucked and Lil Wayne did not exactly impress on "Barry Bonds" but Kanye still managed to put together a great album. This album confirms that he will be a huge player in hip hop for a long time as he continues to push the envelope creatively with each new album. Do you remember when people said all he did was make chipmunk beats? How ridiculous is that now?

Standout Tracks: "Stronger" "The Glory" "Good Life"

4. Talib Kweli - Ear Drum

Why: Because I'd written Kweli off. His voice is kind of annoying and I was not impressed with his last two albums and my expectations were pretty damn low. Then guess what? This happened. Easily his best album since Reflection Eternal. From the opening verse of the album, you notice that Kweli has added swagger. That's right. Swagger. From Kweli. Who knew? He smoothly blends the jazz/soul with the hard rhymes and beats and doesn't run for radio hits and it works perfectly.

Standout Tracks: "Soon the New Day" "Everything Man" "Hostile Gospel" "The Perfect Beat"

3. Jay-z - American Gangster

Why: Because Jay-z fell off, right? Jay-z never fell off. He was sleep in Beyonce. Well, apparently he's back and with a vengeance. You need only keep reading my blog to get my full review but needless to say American Gangster is among Jay's best. Arguably right beneath Black Album. So ignoring the abyssmal "Hello Brooklyn" and the bonus tracks (though at least they grew on me) the album is damn near flawless. Diddy's hitmen blessed him with the beats and Jay hit them out the park.

Standout Tracks: "Fallin" "Success" "Pray" "Ignorant Sh*t"

2. Blu and Exile - Below the Heavens

Why: Because I wasn't expecting it at all. Sure, I'd read some reviews from underground purists saying it was good but then again these guys also swear by Aesop Rock, Dilated Peoples, Kenna and other stuff that when I eventually download I'm deeply disappointed by. Blu and Exile, however, is a different story. This is Nas's Illmatic. This is Mos Def's Black on Both Sides.

No exaggeration. An intelligent creative lyricist (with flow) over sample-heavy beats that are a blend of Premo, Pete Rock and 9th Wonder. This new cat is the truth and he woulda been number 1 if not for this next cat. . .

Standout Tracks: "Cold Hearted" "The World is" "So(ul) Amazin" "In Remembrance of Me"

1. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool

Why: Where do I start? For starters Lupe is the only one on this list who managed to make their best album this go round. Let's ignore the obvious. The kid has lyrics for days. The kid has flow for days. The kid has concepts for days. We knew about that on the first album. But what this album has that Food and Liquor didn't have is risk. Sure, there were some very creative concepts but this album takes serious risks. And as we all know, great risk often gives great rewards. Examples, you say? Sure.

"Go Go Gadget Flow" starts the album off with an old-school Timbo style beat where Lupe channels Jet Li in Unleashed and just goes off on the track.

"Paris Tokyo" is a straight up Native Tongues inspired cool out jazz track (perhaps an ode/apology to Tribe for Fiascogate) that he pulls off effortlessly with old school flow and lyrics complete with obscure reference to Charles de Gaulle.

"Gotta Eat" is an appetizing track about a hustler who will do whatever it takes to keep eating, complete with a food metaphor that he maintains throughout the whole song. "Twice the bread like he had two buns, and he had a whole lotta seeds, even his kids had meals(mills) For reals some rich small fries wrapped in paper since they was little, ketchup nigga" The wordplay is on a whole nother level.

"Hip Hop Saved My Life" is a third-person story that doubles as an ode to hip hop, which forgivably borrows from Hustle and Flow.

The truth is I could go on and on pointing out,"Little Weapon" "Streets on Fire" "Put You on Game," all intricate tales over diverse beats that step outside the box. Where this album succeeds the most is that you have the lyricism of a Nas, with the clever wordplay of a Jay, the production diversity of a Kanye with concepts like no other. And you know? It all works perfectly.

Technorati Tags: Hip-Hop Lupe+Fiasco Jay-Z Kanye+West Talib+Kweli Common

American Gangster Review

2007-10-30T00:51:00.000-04:00

"American Gangster"

Is it that hard to believe that this might possibly be Jay's best effort since 2001's Blueprint? Production-wise he made some great unorthodox choices. Most hip hop heads probably scratched their heads when they heard that Jay enlisted Jermaine Dupri and Diddy to produce the bulk of the album. No Kanye? No Premo? And it's supposed to be a marriage of Reasonable Doubt and Blueprint? Well, somehow it works. The Hitmen were a very nice addition. They have that cinematic sound that you might remember from Life After Death and the other Badboy 90s classics (see Black Rob's Life Story, Diddy's No Way Out etc). Nowhere is this more apparent than on the album's opener and instant classic "Pray." For all of those that Jay referred to in Fade to Black, saying "Ya'll don't know about my storytelling ability." Well, if you didn't know, now you know. "American Dreamin" is a very capable follower, as Jay dreams of hustlin' over a crooning Marvin Gaye sample. "No Hook" plays like "Dreamin"s dark, bluesy brother with Jay continuing to deliver scathing verses while managing to step out of character to take a shot at "Dehaven for caving".

"Success" with Nas is just that. While some might take issue with Jay's liberal borrowing of Eminem's line from "I'm Back" it sounds more fierce coming from the Jay on this No I.D beat. Nas' verse doesn't disappoint but definitely plays second fiddle to the BK emcee. With lines like "Broad daylight I'll off your on switch/You're not too bright, Goodnight, Long Kiss/ Bye Bye, my reply Bla Bla/ Blast burner then pass burner to Ta Ta/" it's hard not to compare this track to "Brooklyn's Finest."

There are some points that are worth criticizing though. The most obvious being the Lil' Wayne-assisted "Hello Brooklyn," which is out of place on this album and has a wack beat and wack verses by both. All of the buildup to this collaboration only adds to the disappointment. I assume it will be an entirely different experience being bumped with the bass all the way up out of somebody's whip but that's not what I expect from Jay. The Dj Toomp-produced "Say Hello" is nothing too special either, with a chorus from Jay that seems like it would be better suited for Young Jeezy or T.I. "American Gangsters" is decent but the beat has a lot of similarities to another Just Blaze production, Kingdom Come's "Show Me What You Got" an album which Jay would be better served not emulating.

Of course, the real question is how does this stack up against Jay-z's best albums, Reasonable Doubt and Blueprint. The fact is even in it's striking similarities to his best works, AG is not RD or BP and will likely not have the influence or timeless status of either album. That being said, it's still a great hip hop album. More thoughtful and musically advanced than 50 Cent's Curtis. More gritty and hip-hop than Kanye's Graduation in its glorification of the hustler and gangster bravado. Brooklyn Stand up!

4.5 mics

5 Standouts

1. Pray
2. Success (featuring Nas)

3. Ignorant Sh*t (featuring Beanie Siegel)

4. No Hook

5. American Dreamin