The Fashion Thief

The good brother Lamont put me up on this.
Please read the rest,  http://nymag.com/fashion/09/spring/54331/

Old School Mondays

Man, I remember running home from school to watch Video Music Box. Especially Old School Friday's. Ralph McDaniels and crew were holding it down for NYC. Since I no longer am home before 9pm everyday I have no idea what video shows are poppin now. Even worse, in a 6 month span maybe 4 or 5 dope videos will drop. The rest are still trying to outdo Hypnotize. Here's a couple oldies but goodies for your viewing pleasure. Peace.

Brand Nubian - New Music - More Music Videos

Full Force - New Music - More Music Videos

A Change Gon Come............

Amidst bailouts. stimulus packages and foreclosures, the MTA is yet again set to increase it's fare and reduce it's service. 318 proposed service cuts and the chance of a $99.00 30-day Metrocard. Just this weekend alone, I encountered 3 different trains who's service was disrupted in one form or another. If you wish to see what changes may be coming your way, click on the link to see a interesting web tool unveiled by City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. He has a vision of his own for the MTA. Personally, I just think it's time to get a car. Peace.

http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/opm/mtacuts/

4,3,2,1

Another stroke of genius................................

If you don't know about this man already, I suggest you get acquainted.

http://www.k-osmusic.com/

What's Good My President?

Anyone who knows me knows I NEVER call ANYONE nigger. Since I was little I never understood why or how Black folk found it ok to call one another nigger or nigga or whatever way you wanna spell it. This has put me in a minority setting amongst my community and even within my own family. Well all of that is coming to an end because of apparently one man. President Barack Obama. Now Black folks have been calling each other this word for decades, how is that all coming to an end you may ask. Well I'll tell you how people. Lets go to the video tape...

A SOCIAL PROBLEM OR A FORCE OF EVIL

FIRST OFF, I DON'T EVEN READ THE DAMN NEW YORK POST. BUT THE GOOD BROTHER LAMONT PASSED THE ABOVE IMAGE OVER TO ME TODAY.

NOW I AM NOT EVEN SURE WHICH IS THE MOST DISTURBING. THE RACIAL OVERTONES OR THE HOMICIDAL OVERTONES. OR MAYBE IT'S THE COMBINATION OF BOTH. ACTUALLY, IT DEFINITELY IS THE COMBINATION OF BOTH. THIS CARTOON MIGHT JUST IMPLY OBAMA IS A CHIMPANZEE BEING MURDERED BY THE POLICE, BUT I LOOK AT THIS AND I THINK OF SEAN BELL, OF AMADOU DIALLO, OF FLOYD QUINONES, OF ANTHONY BAEZ, OF MALCOLM FERGUSON, OF PATRICK DORISMOND....................AND THEN I THINK OF MYSELF & MY FAMILY AND HOW EASILY ONE OF OUR NAMES CAN BE ADDED TO THAT LIST OF BLACK MEN KILLED BY THE POLICE. THEN I THINK OF THE POLICE.................AND IT'S DISGUST AT FIRST, JUST DISGUST AND HATE. THEN I REMEMBER IT'S just a cartoon. BUT I DON'T DISCREDIT THE SPOONFUL OF PROPAGANADA FED TO ME BY THE NEW YORK POST, NEWS CORPORATION AND RUPERT MURDOCH.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST I REMEMBER I HAVE TO GET MOVIN ON THAT GUN PERMIT, CAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT HERE PROGRAMMED TO KILL ME.

PEACE.

Shades of Brooklyn Vol. 1...GO WATCH IT!

I feel privileged to be apart of such a talented family. A couple of my brothers over at Sunshowah Films  put together a great short giving you a piece of Brooklyn. I look at it as a slice of life kind of film from a Young G's perspective. For those of you unfamiliar with their work (Eye Jammie, Rev' o. lu, shun...etc.) peep the trailer below and once you're finished go to HBO On Demand and watch the film. Peace to Daoud, Dahkil and POP for putting together quality product repping our home. 

HIP HOP, Have You Lost Your Damn Mind???

Ever hear something and feel like damn........if I had a team of writers and the comedic delivery of David Alan Grier, I could do that??? Well, that's not exactly how I felt when I saw this. It was rather a sense of "COT DAMN!!!" This mofo knows what's up. I wish I had more to add but he really said it all in a lil over 2 minutes. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!!

VERY YOUNG GIRLS X TAKEN

Hmmmm, lately it seems that all of the flicks that I watch are somehow related. Case in point,

Very Young Girls and Taken. The buzz of the moment Taken delves into the world of kidnapping and sexual exploitation of minors. Backed by Liam Neeson whopping some ass in a major way, this movie will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat.




Also dealing with the sexual exploitation of minors Very Young Girls, is the most disturbing and intriguing film I've watched recently. The story takes place in none other than New York City. Here we follow the girls of GEMS www.gems-girls.org/on their quest to help

young girls exit the commercial sex industry. The stories are all saddening even if their lives are transformed for the better. To believe that something like this even exists in NYC is the biggest realization for me. Available on Showtime on Demand, props to them for exposing me to a world unknown in the big apple.

I Went From Brooklyn to DC and I'm Back Again Pt. 2

My alarm went off at 7am. After dancing heavy at the Wonderful party the night before I felt a little fatigued. Yet once I remembered what lay before me for that day I perked up. I got ready within an hour and walked outside to find a stream of people walking down the street. First Shino and I had to get some supplies for the inauguration. We went to the supermarket up the block and decided on bagels and water (wrong choice but I'll get to that later). There were a bunch of people had the same idea we had. Once free from the market we joined the continuous stream of folks headed towards the capital. Being that we did a trial run the previous day which led us to the parade preparations, we had a edge on the others.

As we walked I turned on a song by rapper Killer Mike called "Pressure". It's what I would call an angry political rap song. I personally love it. Once I took in the swarm of people all heading towards the Capital building to see the first Black President sworn in my eyes began to water. The sight before me combined with the lyrics discussing police brutality the price of freedom and ending with a speech by Malcolm X left me emotional. It started to hit home for me that history was happening and I was a part of it.

Once we got near the mall the traffic of people got thicker. Police began to have a presence and kind of directed us as a herd. I quickly realized that we were being sent towards the back of the mall. This didn't worry me too much as I figured once we got on the mall we could just walk up and get as close as possible with no tickets. As we walked on the grassy area and made moves to walk through folks and cross our first street the cold DC air was there to greet us. It's as if the earth said "oh so you think you are just gonna be a part of history and it's a piece of cake? Think again". It was a bitter cold out that day. The HAWK was out to see this President take the oath on this Tuesday morning. I felt my toes going numb and had to jump up and down a few times to make that uncomfortable feeling go away. While amongst the crowd Shino and I tried to eat our bagels, which became bricks and were at this point a joke. The bananas we purchased were our saving grace to have at least something in our stomachs.

After getting stuck in an area due to tight security and being kept from moving up much at all on the mall, I realized we were gonna watch the event on a jumbo-tron near by. All good, because at least we could see and hear everything, plus we were THERE! From the moment the man of the hour Barack Obama graced the screen the place went nuts. We were cheering to be heard in the heavens above. However when the current President graced the screen he was met with a round of boos only topped by a bad call during a Super Bowl. (I'll leave it up to you to determine if that was proper or not.) Once Obama placed his hand on the Bible and was officially sworn in everyone screamed from the top of their lungs. Now there were musicians and other notable people speaking at this inauguration but by the time a poet got behind the mic I knew it was time to make a strategic exit. My walk back home wasn't too bad. I ran into a friend from back in Brooklyn whom I've known since 2nd grade. The spirit was high on those DC streets. I just wanted to get out of the crowd though and you can tell by the look on my face in some pics.

There were people from all over in that crowd with us that day. All wanting to be a part of something great. American flags were everywhere and the hands waving them were of all different hues. And of course vendors looking to make a profit to share in the occasion. Gotta love it.

Now if you weren't in DC and still want to represent this new administration in a fashionable way check out Potter Esquire Clothing and their official Inauguration shirt.

Potter Esquire Clothing Company

I hope you enjoy all of these pictures taken by Shino (except the one she's in). The following are more scenes from a joyous occasion.

If you enjoyed the photo's displayed thus far in this entry check out the links below for a much broader view of this historic trip to DC. You can also see pictures from the Stevie Wonderful party I mentioned in Part 1. All photos taken by Shino Yanagawa.


DC Pics 1

DC Pics 2

DC Pics 3

DC Pics 4

Newsflash: Layoffs Suck

So today at the J. O. B. the ax came down on about 40 heads. Is this my first experience with layoffs? No. Will it be the last with the way this economy is going? Likely not. I've been on both sides of the layoff coin. Packing my stuff and saying good bye as well as shaking hands and giving well wishes. It's never easy.
There's always the same questions. Does this person have a family? How's the job market at the moment? The mood in the office is tense. People go out for lunch to discuss what's going on. There's a company meeting to discuss/calm things. Rinse/Repeat.

I seem to be safe at the moment (like my ex-coworkers thought yesterday). Things are ugly in the streets. I have friends who have been unemployed for more months than I'd like to mention. I have freelance companies calling ME for leads. Not because they have opportunities, but things are so dry they are basically cold calling folks for work.

Now I grew up in the 80's in NYC so I'm pretty much used to making it through hardship. I have a feeling a lot of these "New" New Yorkers who think NYC is sweet because of the Disney era Giuliani ushered in might be in for a rude awakening. I grew up in Brooklyn and sure my area wasn't nice then and it aint nice now. However areas like Ft. Greene, North Flatbush, Crown Heights and especially Bed Stuy have had an influx of folks who haven't lived there since before Civil Rights. Rents were raised, Subway franchise's were opened and people were priced out. Fast forward a few years and the economy is in ruin, jobs are scarce and unemployment is up up UP. Folks are gonna start going back to the "get it how you live" mentality. Stick ups and the like I expect to rise. Harlem already lifted the ban on shoot outs last summer. The new residents up there already see the changes back to the bad ole NY.

So for those of you who think that layoffs begin and end in the office, I'd like to say think again. I am happy to still be employed for the moment and have put any National Lampoon European Vacation ideas on hold.

For those unfamiliar with Layoffs peep the ultimate movie on such a topic.



And another thing, what's proper etiquette for when you can be visibly happy in the office after layoffs? The same day we had layoffs the higher-ups were laughing it up...oh yeah they got promoted. So talk to me people, when is it ok?

CHOCOLATE

The buzz for the past few weeks, Chocolate is finally set to hit US theaters this Friday, Feb 6th.
Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, the same man who did Ong Bak (smacked w/the elephant bone like ONG BAK (c) Sean Price). I've been open since I peeped the trailer by accident a week ago.
Insane fight scenes, no CGI just the love for the craft. If you've never been able to see the art
in fighting I suggest you take a few hours out of your life and live a little. Peace.

Showing in the following theaters,
Boulder, CO: International Film Series
Denver, CO: Esquire Theatre
New York, NY: Sunshine Cinema (will be there early)
Austin, TX: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Dallas, TX: Inwood Theatre
Seattle, WA: Egyptian Theatre