Shoot a Mother-Humpin' Moose 8 Days of the Week

Much to my initial chagrin, ObamaFever has proven to be infectious... even I'm close to catching it! I just hope he delivers everything he's promised- within reason, of course. But regardless, a new kind of mainstream political awareness has been growing over the last year+, and we owe Barack Obama for being one of the catalysts in the transition. The cultural impact of all this is overwhelming, but we're taking it in stride...

Check out what Bobby Kennedy said 40-years ago about race:

Spooky and ill at the same time, right?

But the Realest Moment Of The Week Award goes to Keith Olbermann for passionately addressing John McCain's sleazy and potentially dangerous campaign tactics. Take the time to watch below:

Fire!!! Oh, Keith- do you mean people like these ignorant Ohio residents (below) harassing an Obama supporter? Watch this next clip... it completely exemplifies the ignorant hate he speaks of:

Yikes!  To lighten things up a bit, Josh Brolin hosted the Saturday Night Live episode that Sarah Palin appeared on last night. He also stars in a little movie that I need to see... maybe you've heard of it?

I had no idea he played the older brother in The Goonies!

The SNL episode was terrible -it's only redeeming elements were Brolin hosting, the Palin skits, and my girl Adele as the musical guest. If you missed the Palin Rap during Weekend Update, definitely watch it now:

At the very least, the episode was a good look for Brolin and Oliver Stone to plug the movie. And speaking of W., imagine (1) Sarah Palin won the vice presidency, and (2) a movie named P. was made about her time in office. Someone put those ideas to life and created a hilarious animated movie trailor for it:

And here's a fun toy that literally allows you to play with that same hypothetical scenario...

http://www.palinaspresident.us

Beyond W., I also need to see Bill Maher's film Religulous. Speaking of which, I wonder if Bill's seen this footage of young Kanon Tipton "preaching" on stage in his church, and if so, I'd love to know what he thought about it:

It kind of wigged me out. *SIGH*

To read an account of a family member who was there, go HERE.

And lastly, you most likely saw this at some point in the last two weeks, but I had to post it anyway. Celebrities come together to convince people how important it is to vote...

It might be too late to register, but our day to enter the voting booth is right around the corner. Maybe they count 'em, maybe they don't... but you might as well do it. Or don't. Whatever. 

I Hear Him Kickin' Up Dirt On My Name...

Uptown on Saturday, Jim Jones apparently beat the crap out of his ex-bff, Max Bigavel. Jim tried to snatch Max out of his car, and in turn, Max crashed it while attempting to escape. Jim finally got his hands on Max through the car, put him in a headlock, and was punching him from outside the vehicle. Many of you have probably seen the WSHH footage of Max talking about the incident, but to those close to the situation, what he's saying is completely untrue.

In retaliation of Saturday's scuffle, a very good source informed me that Max and approximately 30 goons surrounded the studio where Jim was recording last night. Extra security was called-in, arguments erupted, and guns were drawn. Although no one was harmed, it's evident that this unfortunate feud won't end any time soon.

Even though their music might lack some more classy hip hop elements that I traditionally adhere to, they both create wavy tunes for us all to enjoy, and I truly hope that this mess will clear up ASAP. Dont you? *sigh* Thinking about what might happen to one of these guys makes me very, very sad... I don't want to see any cleaning up "like detergent on a stain." :(

Jim Jones "Love Me No More"

Let Me Simplify The Rhyme Just To Amplify The Noise

This week was like a jarring alarm clock... waking me up from my summer coma and reintroducing me to the grind of reality. My inbox at work is exploding, and the political climate is more dramatic than the novellas my college roommate used to watch! At least people are paying attention, though- right? Just take a look at some of the stuff that came my way this week...

A writer for The Huffington Post asked 

"What If Bristol Palin Were Black?"

"She is 17 and conceived this child out of wedlock. Now imagine she wasn't the daughter of a prominent Republican politician but an average person. Now imagine she was black.
What do you think conservatives would have to say about her? "Typical, urban youth with no sense of responsibility raised with loose morals who plans to depend on the state to take care of her child." You know it. It's not within dispute. That's exactly what they would say.
Barack Obama has told everyone to lay off this because it is a personal, family matter. Yes, but it also has public policy ramifications. Governor Palin is for abstinence only education. Well, that obviously didn't work."

"Cindy McCain was addicted to drugs and stole from her own charity to feed her addiction. Now what do you think the Republicans would have done if Michelle Obama had done that? How do you think the press would have covered it? You think they would have called it a simple mistake and moved on?"

Good question. 

Since we sometimes make generalizations without thinking about it, we should be constantly evaluating our own racial views- whether they're unconscious or not. For example, what did you think of 7-year old Latarian Milton when you first saw him on CNN? Did you notice he was black? What would you have thought if he was white, instead? 

He spoke with Cipher Sounds and Rosenberg- hilarious!

Putting race aside for a moment, the big issue regarding Bristol Palin is teen-pregnancy and abortion rights. Sarah Palin is pro-life, which to many women, is a little unnerving. But even more unnerving than that is Jezebel.com's article on a website claiming to have a list of all America abortions:

"To get access to this alleged database, you need to pay $799 for a seven day pass to the site or up to $16,999 for unlimited access to 'full names, complete addresses, unlimited contact information, false names used during operation procedures, reasons listed for abortions, known STDs at (and since) time of abortion, [and the] name of person believed to be the father.'"

Check out the article or go to AbortionTracker.com yourself.

Intense, right? To lighten things up a bit, 

Watch this hilarious video commentary on the McCain/Palin relationship...

Is McCain Palin's Bitch?

Salon.com had a great article on Palin's experience with/knowledge of energy policy issues (that we may be overlooking)...

"I don't think she's going to pull in disaffected Hillary voters -- she's too much a card-carrying member of the religious right for that, which is one reason why the convention attendees were so delirious. But that's not all she is, by a long shot. On one of the crucial issues in this campaign -- energy policy -- Sarah Palin knows the territory."

They also had an article calling her "The Hugo Chavez of Alaska" since she has apparently gone to bat with major oil companies and supports "expanding the search for domestic oil and gas as a solution to the energy crisis." So to help prevent Palin from getting in the good graces of recent Clinton supporters, The New York Times reported that Obama is now deploying Hillary and other female Democrats into swing states for a counter-attack. I'm all for it! Just because we finally have a woman vying for the job, that certainly doesn't mean she will contribute to female political advancement overall. In fact, there's a huge chance this woman might set us back 20 years! Every time Sarah Palin calls herself a "hockey mom," I cringe violently and feel Betty Friedan roll over in her grave. That type of diction is neither progressive nor helpful for females, even if she does spend the rest of her speech proving her toughness by aggressively taking shots at Obama (starting 7 minutes in). 

Jay Smooth returns, commenting on the HATE in Sarah Palin's HEART:

("Contrived showmanship"... I'd totally have his kids.)

Speaking of the DNC/RNC speeches, The New York Times dissected and analyzed the word-use of Democrats and Republicans, and even broke it down by individual. See for yourself:

And just when I want to throw myself out a window with the taking-sides hoopla of this whole process, a new season of Bill Maher returns to HBO, and slowly talks me off the ledge. Below, in his season premiere's set of "New Rules," Maher reminds me why it's so important to question our societal norms...

Specifically: At 2:14, Maher brings up John Edwards being "airbrushed out of the Democratic party," and then discusses how crucial it would have been to put the adultery aside, and have him speak at the DNC. After making the analogy that John Edwards is to Poverty what Al Gore was to Global Warming, Bill sneaks in a few jokes and goes on (at 4:10) to mention the important facts that Edwards would have addressed in his speech. Moments like that make me appreciate Maher for challenging the system in ways that many others do not... He may support Barack Obama, but he's still able to objectively criticize the Democratic party, and even question the presidential candidate himself for not presenting an alternative to war.

"If I get sniped tonight, you know why..."

No President Ever Did Sh*t For Me

Everyone loves Barack Obama.

Many think he's going to fix everything that's wrong with America. 

Others view him as our savior.

But few know he's also related to Dick Cheney :(

"Think about this," Mrs. Cheney said. "This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor, a man that came to Maryland, could be responsible down the family line for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick's and Barack Obama's."
Mrs. Cheney's spokeswoman Ginny Justice gave CNN's Ed Henry more details, saying the two unlikely relatives are related through a French Huguenot named Mareen Duvall. Cheney and Obama are both descendants of her.
According to Justice, the vice president is related to her through "the first" Richard Cheney, who came to America in the 1650's. His granddaughter married Samuel Duvall, son of Mareen Duvall.
But Obama's family ties to the Bush administration don't stop with Cheney. According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times last September, Obama is also an 11th cousin of the president himself. The two share a 17th century Massachusetts relative.

So Barack is related to both Bush and Cheney? "Amazing American story" my ass. I know I'm not related to Dick Cheney! Are you?! Maybe I sound like a lunatic conspiracy theorist, but when I first heard this news LAST YEAR, it didn't sit well with me then, and it still doesn't now. What's even worse is that I thought this was common knowledge, but when I ran it by a few people this week, they had no idea. 

I don't want to offend anyone, so before you get riled up, please know that I'm not against Obama; experience has just shown me that anything sounding too good to be true, generally is. I hope I'm wrong about this, trust me- but I don't think people waiting for him to come in and make it all better should hold their breath. He probably won't even win- the voting system is rigged, remember? But Obama Fever has infected culture so aggressively, our glasses are fogging up, and we can't see that he's still a politician. 

For example, 

the Big Boi/Mary J. video for "Something's Gotta Give"...

I love that it's uplifting, but I'm nervous it's giving us false hope.

Am I being a Debbie Downer?

I guess I just believe that it has to get much worse before it gets any better.

If you think I'm wrong, let me know.

Young Jeezy f. Nas "My President is Black"

I Wanna Be Down

I'm surprised that more people don't think 

Lyor selling 23% of his stock in WMG is interesting.

"One Wall Street analyst said the sale by Cohen, chairman and chief executive of Warner Recorded Music North America, contradicted management's contention that the company's shares were undervalued.
"While Warner Music Group's (organic) revenues continue to decline, we are quite surprised to see Mr Cohen selling such a large block of stock at these levels," said Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield, a long-time critic of the company's management."

I don't really have anything witty to say about it. I'm just thrown and wanted to share.

Jordan came in to play us the REAL Brandy single a few weeks ago. Now that it leaked and I've heard it again, I have to admit I really, really like it. 

LISTEN: "Right Here (Departed)"

Damn Brandy, you got a MySpace page and everything! Just 14 years ago, you had me "Sittin' Up In My Room," wanting to be down...

And FYI...

Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature and Too $hort 

will be honored at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors

Premiering on VH1 and VH1 Soul on Tuesday, October 7 at 10P :)

Like Eating Glass

...That's what 4 days of a sore throat and a 102 degree fever feel like.

I haven't been as sick as I was in Chicago in five years. On my death bed, I convinced myself to man-up; there was no way I'd come all the way there and couldn't enjoy my Lollapalooza weekend. Although it was impossible to do all the magical activities that my expectations had conjured up, I managed to catch the shows that were priorities, and have unforgettable quality time with one of my best friends from high school.

Day 1: 

Bloc Party still holds my heart in their hands...

"Like Eating Glass"

Radiohead brought the crowd and a crazy light show...

Watch this:

Day 2: 

After InnerPartySystem and Foals, we went to the Myspace stage to see MGMT. I started shooting "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters" when a stupid crowd surfer came along...

You know how he made me feel?...

But meeting Airforce Amy made me feel better!

PS- Lupe was fun, too.

Day 3: 

Gnarls' performance was great. I ran into DangerMouse at a restaurant the night before, and took it as a little free-be donation from the universe since I was so sick. I texted my cousin to brag, and he wrote back: "Awww! Add blog entry- I GAVE DANGER MOUSE THE FLU."

After the Gnarls show, Kenna came out and performed "Out of Control" with Mark Ronson.

Kanye closed the show... I was excited to see his energy with the hometown crowd. In this clip, he gets personal on multiple levels, first addressing Chicago, and then talking about his mother who passed. Very intense during the second half...

I put on for my city.

Besides hosting music, festivals like Lollapalooza provide a great opportunity for people to display their individuality. 

Some folks show off tattoos and break out their coolest t-shirts:
I had no idea MechaGodzilla existed until now.

This was my favorite. Never Forget!

Corny overall, but the puma's funny.

For these special kids, it was wear-a-Jordan-jersey-with-your-BFF day:

And for the record: 

Hip Hop did not save my life - Dayquil did.
As did Alex, with this impromptu pizza shop dance party the first night:

The kid dancing with her is a stranger. This was just spontaneous dancing...

I can't decide if these are better than Boz's cartwheels in New Orleans or not...

But FYI, this is why I love Alex. Always and forever.
XO

If You Look At The Streets, It Wasn't About Rodney King...

You may have heard/seen this already, but if not, please watch this video of a PIG throwing an innocent cyclist off his bike the other night during a Critical Mass ride...

Caught on tape, MF. And the dude wasn't wearing a helmet!

NY Post article HERE.

Sublime's "April 29, 1992" comes to mind...

"...It's this f*cked-up situation and these f*cked-up police."

I Call a Spade a Spade, It Just Is What It Is...

I went to the Yankee game last Tuesday night with one of my favorite people.

Sick seats, as demonstrated by this blackberry photo :)

After the game, I hopped on the train to head home. As the doors behind me closed, an African American man standing next to me made a quick remark about the 4 Asian kids stranded on the platform, saying SARCASTICALLY "it's so easy to tell them apart from each other." His words caused me to glance back at the kids for fresher a frame of reference, and it wasn't until then that I even noticed they were Asian. His remark isn't even important right now; but him then uncomfortably announcing "I'm allowed to make jokes like that" immediately after is.

Now... there's a 90% chance I would have done what I did next regardless, but I think it's important to note that I've been listening to way too much Nas. That, and I had also just caught the video below within a day or so, so I was extra inspired...

Jay Smooth:

How To Tell People They Sound Racist

I took a minute to gather my thoughts before I politely said excuse me to the gentleman in question (who, FYI, was very clean-cut, early-40s, wearing khakis and a pink polo). I asked him if he would mind explaining what he meant in saying he was allowed to make those kind of jokes. He greeted my question openly, and with a pleasant tone... It was then that I noticed he was not traveling alone; his son (maybe 12-13) was standing beside him. Since we've all heard the ignorant, Western generalization that all Asians look the same, I'm sure you already know what this guy really meant. And although he's not the worst kind of biggot, saying what he said in a public setting (and in front of his kid!) isn't really acceptable.

Without hesitation, he asserted the rule that minorities are allowed to make fun of each other, and asked me to understand the humor in the Asian kids all having a similar look (Funny, I thought that rule only applied when you're in the same racial "category"). In his defense, 3 out of 4 of them were wearing glasses with extremely similar frames, but the "they" in his initial remark wasn't directed at "people with glasses," it was directed at Asians, and the excuse he made post-joke proved that. But no one would have known the difference if he didn't guiltily follow-up, flashing his minority hall pass, claiming he was allowed to do it. It's like a game of Texas Hold'em: Instead of bluffing, the dude teared up and showed everyone on the train how bad his hand was. He left me with no choice... I'm going all in, and I'm gonna win.

"I don't care WHAT HE IS,

but I need to hold him accountable for WHAT HE DID."

Jay Smooth would probably want me to be direct and tell the guy that what he SAID was somewhat racist... but in the end, I wound up taking it easy on him. Instead, I demonstrated to him the difference between racist people and racist remarks, indirectly alerting him of his blunder. I think he got the message, especially since he lost his composure and got less and less articulate as the conversation progressed, possibly because I'd glance over at his son periodically for more effect:) And I assure you: this is only the first installment of Lacezilla's racism project. Stay tuned!

We Go Against Everything We Used To Stand For

I wasn't going to get on the bandwagon, but both of these are really incredible:

Joe Budden- "Who (Part 1)" and "Who (Part 2)"

On these tracks, Professor Budden exhausts every theory out there in attempt to pinpoint where hip hop has gone wrong. Is it dead? Can we bring it back to life? Who's to blame? The music industry criticism is thrown in your face, and the shots fired leave a serious residue on all of our hands. He says everything I've always thought and/or wanted to say, but never quite could. Yet, ironically, while listing all the potential culprits, I think he's really just asking us to dismiss blame and look at the bigger picture...

Where do we go from here?

"If everything's commercial, where the f*ck's the show?"

And I know I'm also late on this, but the only thing I get from Jesse Jackson's comments about Barack Obama is that Messy Uncle Jesse is mad it's not him in that historical spot. I mean... maybe I'm reading too much into it, but even if his point has some validity, that aggressive stance stems from nothing but envy...

Okay, carry on...

Bout To Turn Drive-Bys Revolutionary

This is a music blog, and the following is old news, but if you know me, you know that sometimes I have to go out-of-pocket. I was too busy to post about it before I left for the weekend, but here's footage of Esmin Green, the woman who got checked in to the psych ward at Kings County Hospital, and died while waiting 24 hours: 

"Miss Green, a Jamaican, had been brought to the hospital on the morning of June 18 suffering from "agitation" and psychosis. 

She was left in the Emergency Room supposedly under supervision waiting for a bed in the inpatient unit to become available. Nearly 24 hours later, she was found unresponsive on the floor."

Thankfully, the hospital chief responded correctly, took the L, and isn't being defensive about it. But FYI: I'd love to know what they mean by "agitation," and I definitely want to hear the coroner's report! There's too much backstory missing here...

Through the process of my surgery last September, I learned a lot about how shitty our healthcare system is. Now, just imagine how bad it is for people who aren't well mentally!? In many cases, they can't stick up for themselves, complain, or in Ms. Green's case, even get a bed in the hospital before dying. The system is so fucked up, it's absurd. Speaking of which...

I also want to know what happened to this guy:

"A man arrested in the hit-and-run death of a police officer was found strangled in his cell, and investigators focused Tuesday on guards at the suburban Maryland jail, which has a history of security lapses."

Please read the full article HERE, but seriously... dude gets merked by the cops before he even gets in front of a judge?! I'm not defending him if he was guilty, but c'mon! And you probably didn't hear about it, because it never made national news. Thanks to Mjeema (DC born and bred) for the article... XO

We need a Hero...

 I don't love the video... 

The song is so vibrant, I was expecting something epic, and um, less "dark."

Lavish Life Might Be Delicious, But Not Particularly Nutritious

Since I transpose numbers, I read my flight time as 8:52 when it was really 8:25 this morning.  My brain tricked me into thinking that I could take my time and get some grub, so when I arrived to see my gate empty, I knew I must have missed my flight. Of course, they made me pay a stupidity fine (change fee) of $100, but I got lucky, and was put on the first flight out tomorrow morning.

But I'm not the only person who had a rough morning... my whole posse caught it in one way or another: Lis missed her bus from Houston to New Orleans and has to take another one later on. Boz (who was supposed to arrive last), will now get to the hotel first tonight, but not before she has to change planes and airports in DC - something she didn't realize until today. Oh yeah- she also left her blackberry at home and had to go back for it...

I've struggled with numbers my whole life, but never missed a flight before. I'm forced to look at the bright side: Maybe I wasn't supposed to go to New Orleans today. Maybe I was supposed to blog instead. And besides, once the girls and I are united tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have some daquiries and forget all about today's chaos. 

Party On, Wayne. 

Let's put this "Hot Mess" behind us...

(Sam Sparro singing "Hot Mess" live)

You can also listen to the real track HERE.