You Tube is the shit...

Fuck what you heard. I just spent the last hour reminiscing with You Tube. Why, you might ask? Because for what ever reason people have decided to upload a helluva lot of old school music videos. I've managed to get several of the early Cash Money Classics (early stuff from BG & Juvenile), some classic Mobb Deep (Quiet Storm and the version with lil Kim), and Rayvon's Pretty. That lost one was some obscure shit. While they don't have everything (I still can't find that Damn Haggen-Daj song by the Inviseez, but I did find the single on eBay). I'm sure if Rain takes a minute he will remember that most classic of videos by Reggae artist Rayvon. Back when we were roommates, I'm sure me, him and our other roomie CAR watched that video every time some video show played it. For various reasons. Hey, it is a catchy song too, ok. But just the fact that You Tube had it is blowing my mind. I've been able to find several more recent videos but there is a lot of random obscure stuff on there. If you have Firefox you can use the video downloader plug-in to download them too. And because I have a Mac I can use iSquint to convert the video to a iPod compatible format (or at least an Mpeg format) and put it into iTunes. For that hard to find stuff you can't get from iTunes (or, um, other sources) this is a good solution. Especially, when you want some of those old videos nobody ever plays anymore. Hell, as I type this I found the videos for the Flavor in your Ear remix, The DOC's funky enough and the formula. Hip Hop used to be great...

Speaking of walking in LA...

As if any of this will ever happen...
Curbed LA: How to Make Walking Better in LA

Um, is it, Darth Kitty or Hello Vader?

The Apocalypse is truly upon us...

Something Good From Detroit... Finally

See, I don't hate Detroit. Every now and then something good does happen there. Sometimes...

Rewards swell to $4,000 for homeless man - 07/25/06 - The Detroit News Online

Why I Hate LA

Warren Ellis has done it again. In an interview about his comic Desolation Jones, which is set in LA, he has managed to describe why I loathe the city in which I now call home. Or rather the place that I now find myself living (when I first typed that out it said "...the place that I now leave." I only caught it because I went back and reread this post to check for errors, If that is not a Freudian Slip I don't know what is). How anyone can call this place home is beyond me. Fuck that nice weather shit. At least in Atlanta the sky is blue and you can see the seasons change...

"...I don't think of LA as an honest geographical space, a place where people stay, a place where traditional cities happen. As a native said to me on the first day I ever spent there, LA isn't a city -- it's a handful of towns strung together by a thousand miles of freeway. The biggest constructions in the area are not designed to be lived in, but to be traversed. It's a place that became designed for machines, not humans, at some point."

"...I hate the place. Which I'm sure comes as no surprise. I hate cities I can't walk around. When I try walking in West Hollywood people in their cars slow down and stare at me. I don't think this is entirely down to my shocking personal beauty. Have you ever tried walking in Burbank? Have you ever tried finding somewhere in Burbank to walk to? Walking down Sunset is an exercise in existential horror. Santa Monica's only walkable if death is no hurdle. The air's the wrong colour. People put sunglasses on their dogs. It's a hideous place where humans are not welcome and those who stay suffer eight kinds of brain damage."

Nuff said...

R.I.P. Grandma Wynter

It's been a while y'all but I been going through some thangs. My Grandmother passed almost a month ago. Just before the 4th. And in a fit of frustrated confusion I decided to drive from LA to Detroit to be with the family. Yeah, I know, not the smarted decision but I had a few things in my favor. I had just had the maintenance done on my car. Everything that needed fixing got fixed. And I have 4 new tires. So I was good. All I dreaded was the long hours on the road. Which wasn't so bad after all.

See it happened on a Thursday. Earliest flights out were on a Saturday. Cheapest I could find was $695. And they all would have put me in the D on Sunday. So, that Friday I gassed up the ride and hit the road at noon. Sunday at 5pm PDT I was at my home in Detroit. Not to shabby. I have astounded most of my friends and family by making the journey so quickly. By driving I was able to maintain a sense of freedom cause I could go where I wanted when I wanted.

Thankfully my boss was understanding and told me to take a few weeks. Come back when I was ready and let him know if I needed more time. While it was a sad time it was good to see the friends and the fam again. And thankfully there was nothing crazy going on back home which made it all that much better.

During my time off I took some time to drive to the ATL. I needed to reconnect with some of the folks down there. And I even got to see Savannah. Thanks to Brooklyn for being a good sport about the impromptu road trip. I really didn't see that car that almost sideswiped us and I really thought I cleared the corner when we hit the curb. Seriously, you need to have your steering tightened or something.

I'd like to say that I hate Nebraska. Flat land with some grass, a couple trees and a cow or two. But more than that while driving through Omaha I got pulled over. True enough it was the most polite and the fastest pull over I have ever experienced but still. In all 5400+ miles of my trip I get stopped for have a air freshener and a rosary hanging from my rearview. Seriously, cause it could be distracting if an animal runs out into the road. Or some nonsense. But I got a warning (having removed the items before the cop could finish his statement as to why this was wrong) and was sent on my way. It was night time so I don't even know how he saw that since he didn't hit me with the searchlight.

Also a big fuck you to Iowa for having the most roadkill lying in the middle of the road of any state I drove through. Plenty of states have road kill. Iowa apparently just leaves it in the middle of the road. I hit a dead dog and some huge animal I have no idea what it was that was a giant skidmark/speedbump slicked across the fast lane into the slow lane. Thankfully I was in the slow lane. It could have gotten ugly. Not to mention Des Moines was hosting the Special Olympics, The Good Guys car show, and a little league tournament. Which means I had to drive almost 70 miles outside the city to find a room for the night. Causing me to drive an extra 2 hours after I should have stopped in my vain attempts to find a hotel with a vacancy. Thanks, Iowa. If I never go there again it will be too soon.

General rule of thumb on road trips. If you see a sign for services at the next exit and as the exit approaches you don't see these services (i.e. food, gas, lodging, etc.) right off the road. Hmm, it might not be a good idea to stop. Especially in the middle of the night. Getting lost is just a matter of few minutes down an unfamiliar road
and one wrong turn.

Also fast food sucks ass. Crystals and Long John Silvers both had me regretting my purchases. Regardless of how hungry I was. McDonald's on the other hand caused me to feel no ill effects. This is a mystery true indeed.

Though the circumstances were sad it was good to get away for a while. And the freedom to go where I wanted with no regard to work the next day was fuckin' blissful. I need to figure out how to be able to do that and still get the bills paid. There has got to be a way right?

And lastly I realize how much I despise LA. But more on that later...

The Week in Review - June 19 to June 27 2006

So thankfully I got some new tires last Monday on the 19th. They didn't have the ones I priced in stock so I went with another model from the same manufacturer (Kumho). Since I had got the quote online they let me get the tires they had for the same price. I found out later that they should have been more expensive, so that was cool. I didn't get the speed rating I wanted but hey when am I ever going to go 149mph in a Camry let alone the 120 my current tires are rated for. With the tires and the alignment everything is great with me and the Camry. Now I just need a wash, wax, some new floor mats and decent sounds system and I will be ready for car owner ship in another year or so. I can't wait to not have a car note.

The next day I drove to San Diego to hang out with Brooklyn (speaking of which she needs to post something new) and her co-worker. Had a good time just wish I could have stayed longer. This 9 to 5 shit sucks man. I could have stayed in SD for the rest of the week as far as I'm concerned. But the job calls. Tyler Durden was right. "Things you own, end up owning you." I'm a slave to the system man. And that shit sucks.

I have rediscovered my love of video games. Between the new Tomb Raider and God of War my PS2 has been getting a workout recently. If you are into games at all pick these 2 up. The motorcycle levels in Tomb Raider aren't all that great but there are only a few and the rest of the game more than makes up for it. God of War takes some rather extreme liberties with greek mythology (Kratos kills Medusa, Kronos is alive and cursed to roam the Greek Desert[seriously WTF?] with castle of Pandora on his back, not to mentions the Sirens that roam the desert, the Greek Desert mind you) but that aside the game play is incredible. This is what Devil May Cry wishes it was. And to all my Devil May Cry fans, if you have to release a special edition to your game whose only new feature is that the game is easier, well you made your game too fuckin' hard in the first place. Kratos would rip Dante's metro ass in half. And you know it...

Why can't everyone make great games like these. Or at least mediocre games with tight controls. I recently bought 24 the Game and haven't picked it up since getting to hour 3. Pedestrian graphics and a poor control scheme makes it seem like a bad remake of Max Payne with out the tight controls. I mean really if a bad guy is standing right in front of me why do I turn to the right and start shooting at the wall when I hit L1 to auto target my enemy. Shit like that is unacceptable in this day an age. Especially with a game tied to such a great show. Hell the game is even in continuity with the series taking place, I believe, between Days 2 and 3 of the series. Storyline, good (it's still 24 after all). Gameplay, rubbish.

Car & Driver

I love my car. I really really do. Which is why I'm going to keep it when the lease is up. But I'm starting to wonder... See, I got a flat last night. And not just any flat. I had a blow out on the 101 north. Like this tire is done blow out. 4 inch hole blow out. Going to that ole tireyard in the sky blow out. Anyone familiar with California can tell you the only way this could have been worse would be if it had been rush hour on the 405 or maybe the 605 and it was dark. Thankfully it wasn't. Well it was dark because, unfortunately, it was 10 o'clock at night so I was basically changing the tire by the light of on coming traffic. Not fun. Fortunately I have changed my fair share of tires so it only took about 15 minutes or so. Which is actually kinda slow for me. 10 minutes tops is what it probably would have taken in the day time on a quiet none busy street. But being on the freeway was a much more daunting affair. One eye on the tire and another on traffic. Luckily no close calls. Not to mention there was enough traffic for me not to have to fumble to much to get it done. I started to call AAA but decided I could this on my own if I could find everything I needed. I've never had to change a tire on this car. Almost 5 years and this is the first one. That is some kind of record for me. So I fumbled for a minute looking for the crank for the jack. Toyota has a weird detachable handle thing. I'm used to it being attached. Between that and the fact that the spare was full sized I was good afterward.

Spent a good portion of the day today researching tires online. I'm getting them a little ahead of schedule but I found a good deal on some Kumho's at a place down the street from me. Yeah I know what you are thinking. What the hell are Kumho's? I thought it too. But the vast majority of there passenger tires got great reviews on epinions.com. I mean people love them. Only ran across a hand full of never by again comments. But comparing their reviews to some of the big boys (Dunlop, Michelin, etc.) there is no question that for the money they can't be beat. So I'm hoping. And in talking to my cousin (who is much more of a mechanic than me) he concluded it didn't really matter what kind I got anyway since I live in SoCal and I'm not doing anything special other than driving through the city. So with luck by this time tomorrow I'll be sitting on some new rubber. I would have gotten 4 more of the same tires I have now but I could find next to nothing on Wynstars Tires. Yeah I know. What the fuck are Wynstars? I don't know but they lasted me longer then any other tires I've ever had. Though truth be told I am also going to be spending more money than I ever have on tires this time around. So time will tell...

People are Weird

So I decide to have that beer I mentioned over at The Thanksgiving Project. Mostly cause I wanted to have a drive in the night air. This gave me the opportunity to check out a couple of neighborhoods near by that have condos for sale that I might interested in. So on the way back to the house I stop by the 24 hour CVS. And who knew that it was jumpin' on a Sunday night at 10PM.

Not that it was crowded but there were a lot people there. More than I had ever seen during the day. Since I was there I decided to grab a few things I needed. Which basically amounted to some razors and some tape. So once I got that stuff I headed to the freezer and got a 12 pack of MGD. Now this was the night CVS wanted to make it difficult as I had a problem getting the razors from the dispenser. So sure enough it was taking some work sliding the 12 pack out the frig. Halfway there I hear someone say, "excuse me, sir." Since I've almost got the beer I continue to pull it out as I turn to the side to see who was speaking. Some jovial old white man pushing a cart in the damn CVS wearing a black t-shirt and some old school bodybuilder pants to match. You know the ones. Not quite parachute pants but not quite sweat pants either. Hell, I think they might have had stars going down the side of them. Anyway, he apparently decided to come down my aisle and turn the corner right as I was blocking it with the refrigerator door. No worries the beer was out the door was closing and he said "thank you" and went on about his business.

But the more I thought about it the more annoyed I got. "Muthafucka don't you see me standing here havin' trouble getting this 12 pack out the damn refrigerator. Slow yo old ass roll fo' you get smacked the fuck up, bitch." Not sure why that started to bother me so much. Maybe cause it seemed obvious to me that I was having an issue getting this case out. Or the fact that his old ass went down this aisle with an empty cart to seemingly act as if I was in his way. I know I'm putting way to much thought into this. I probably just need some ass...

Virtual Sex?

Um, Wow. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. So, um yeah.... Online Sex Community Launched.
How long before this surpasses World of Warcraft?

...The Trip or The Fall (aka the Wipeout)

Yesterday I had an accident. Though I feel as if I need some setup.

Monday I did receive my bag from ebags. Just as good as I had expected it to be in the first place. So, of course, Tuesday I put it to use. Packed up the laptop and stuff. Then headed off to work. On the way to the car I check the mailbox and I have a package from UPS. I go collect it and take note that it is the draws and under shirts I ordered from essentialapparel.com (really I am not getting paid for all these ads, though I do accept donations). I pause for a moment contemplating if I should go back up stairs and drop of the package or just take it with me. I decide on the latter. Deciding that because I park in the garage in my building with security and all in downtown LA I can safely leave my package in the car while at work. Not to mention its so dark down there you can barely see in the car in the first place. Though admittedly this was all initially just a vague feeling of "fuck it I should just take it with me." I'm glad I did.

That night I leave work, come home, and as usual have to park in the back of the complex because parking here sucks ass. As I walk to the front I have to pass an area where there are a set of dumpsters. And as usual there are cars lined up in the parking lot taking up ever available space. Even the spaces that aren't for parking. There is an area off to the side of the walled area with the dumpsters that contains those diagonal white lines that indicate this is not a parking space. Invariably someone always parks there. So, I'm walking along. My box of draws in hand and my messenger bag slung across my body. As I approach this area I have a decision to make. Walk on the left side of the car parked next to the diagonal lines or walk to the left of the car parked on the diagonal lines. Something told me not to choose the latter. But I did it any way.

At the last minute I decide that the left side, of the car parked on the diagonal lines, should be my path. Even though on the initial walk up my first instinct was the left side of the other car. So, wouldn't you know it I'm walking along, box in hand, and as I get to the end of the car (marking the area where you are officially not in the parking lot but in the paved back area of the complex where you are walking by the windows of the people on the first floor) my left foot hits the parking barrier. You know those long concrete blocks used to let you know when to stop when you park your car. And wouldn't you know it the slow motion sequences starts as my momentum begins to carry me over. My right foot instinctively goes up to try to right myself. For about half a second I was convinced I wouldn't fall as my right foot would extend out as if doing a forward lunge and I would catch myself. That was the 1st half second. The 2nd half second I realize as my right foot was coming up it hit the top of the barrier and over I went. And not like a trip and stumble kinda fall either. Oh, No. I went down like a tree does when a lumberjack has cut enough to just push it over. BAM!

Fortunately, for me. I was carrying that box of draws. It broke my fall. Who knew. I still ending up with a minor scrape on the left knee and right elbow (minor stub on the right knee) but otherwise I'm okay. I said a quick "fuck" (or a "shit") under my breath, picked myself up, and kept right on walking. I didn't hear anyone laughing so this was pretty much my personal shame. Walked it off got my mail and went home.

The question is did I take the box with me to work because deep down I knew I might fall? Or did I go that way around the car because I had the box with me knowing that I might fall? If I had gone the way I intended I probably wouldn't have fallen. That or I would have busted my head against the wall. Thing is I believe in intuition. The problem is you can't always tell what's intuition and what's you just doing what you want to do. When it works nothing usually happens (or on occasion something good you wanted to happen happens) but when you don't listen you usually ending up going "damn it, I knew I should have done 'such and such.' shit!" Then you are kicking yourself for not listening to yourself in the first place. This is the first time I wasn't sure what was what. Given the circumstance it could have been a happy coincidence (and if you say you don't believe in these you probably don't know the definition). Either that or I could have cracked my skull open if I had gone the other way...

The Month in Review - May 2006

I've been in a blah kinda mood. So I haven't really felt like writing anything lately. But now that we are in the month of June and, I suppose, a lot of stuff happened, I should probably relieve you of your suspense. Yeah, right...

IPOD
Right around the end of April my Ipod died. Hard fast death. It literally just stopped working. So I had it checked out and the hard drive had failed. Since the fix was a couple hundred bucks I got a new one. And I went all out and got a black 60GB. If only because I've been spoiled by having my music collection accessible at a moments notice. And I must admit the video feature is much cooler than I thought it was. Not that I want to sit for hours on end watching movies on the thing. But a couple music videos every now and then is pretty cool. Say what you want about the iPod but its a damn good product.

DENTIST
1st week of May found me at the dentist office. Nothing major just my regular routine maintenance. Though I did discover that my regular hygienist has up and moved to Arizona. Her replacement (a friend of hers that she went to hygienist school with) says that she said it was because she wanted to buy a house. But she suspects it was because of her boyfriend moving there. I suspect the latter as well. Too bad she was cute. Not that my new one isn't. But she's married. Kinda changes the dynamic.

So to top that off I find out that my bottom gums in the back have gotten worse. On both sides. I think it was the vigorous scrubbing I gave them with the toothbrush before I went. Though I didn't bother to tell my hygienist. But hey what do I know. So that sucks. Now if I could just keep flossing on the regular I might be okay.

EYE DOCTOR
Finally went to the eye doctor and got a new contact prescription. And a new eye doctor too. My last one was cool. But he was extremely laid back and nonchalant about the condition of my eyes. They are nice and healthy and all that good stuff but I do have an astigmatism. And now that I have the new Dr I actually have a better understanding as to why contacts don't correct my vision to 100% the way glasses do. Old Doc just kinda shrugged it off. They don't make contacts that can correct for my astigmatism cause... well they just don't. New Doc actually explained why and there is more to it than, "they just don't." My eye condition is about half way from where it needs to be to get the special astigmatism lenses. Of course she gave a much more in depth explanation but hell I'm not an eye doctor. The point is new prescription, better night vision, and I need to get new lenses for my glasses.

EBAGS
I've had nothing but good experiences from ebags.com. I've gotten a backpack, a messenger bag & and a new suitcase. And up until my most recent purchase I was a satisfied customer. My latest purchase, however, (a messenger bag exactly like my previous except larger and with a special compartment for my laptop) has found me wanting. The order went through ok and I even received the item a week ahead of the estimated deliver. Ok, cool. But upon inspection it was defective. Containing not one but 2 cuts side by side on the strap. One about half an inch the other about a full inch. And they were probably only about an inch apart, or less. Which means that it it was almost about half way through the strap. So, frustrated I go only to find out how to exchange it. Only to discover that they don't have direct exchanges. They have returns and what they call exchanges is a return with a store credit. *sigh* Ok, fine. So I go through the motions of doing what I need to do for the "exchange" only to find out that they e-mail you a label to print out and tape to the original box and send through UPS. Box? What box? They sent me the bag in one of those cheap grey plastic mailing bags. *sigh* Fine, Spend $2 on a box, wrap everything back up and drop off at the UPS store. Finally, got an e-mail about them receiving it a few days later and the store credit e-mail would follow in 24 hours. So, 2 days later I go only after not getting the e-mail find that I was actually credited. They just didn't tell me. So, once I again I go through the motions of reordering, using the credit with a couple bucks to spare due to a special promo and according to their calculation it should have been here yesterday. *sigh* But on the bright side UPS scanned it in about 6 miles from my house at around 11:30 PM on June 2nd. And yeah they do deliver on Saturdays. That was the day I got the original one. *sigh* Not to mention I got not one but two e-mail the day after I submitted the reorder saying my my store credit was available. Three days after they told me it would be a day. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

REALITY TV
Pretty much sucks. I bring this up because in the last month I have either seen or heard of shows that cause me to shake my head in disgust. I means seriously, Yo Momma, God or the Girl and King of Cars? Who green lights this shit?

Somebody please smack the shit out of Wilmer Valderrama. I've seen a few eps (and by that I mean I have seen about 5 minutes of different episodes) and it comes off like bad battle rapping. Guys basically tell yo momma jokes and then Wilmer and his boys talk about who was better. WTF? This is a show? This should be a 2 minute internet clip on mtv.com. At the most.

God or the Girl basically follows the lives of several men as they go to seminary and their struggle to be a celibate priest or go back the women in there lives. Never seen an episode, but the premise alone...

King of Cars reaffirms my belief that car sales men are the scum of the Earth. I watched all of one episode and was thoroughly discussed by the shady dealings of this Las Vegas car dealership. Seriously, you have a trade in and put down $10K on an Charger R/T but you can't get payments of $400 a month or even a little less? The couple wanted payments of $400 at the most. The salesman nickel and dimed them down from like $500 to $439. Bastards. And I won't even mention the website dedicated to the shady dealings of this dealership.

I'll leave it to you to google these shows for more info. Right...

BET
I'm fuckin' done with BET. They completely suck nothing but ass now. Rap City can no longer redeem them.

CAR
I think I'm going to keep my car after the lease is up in November. I figure I might be able to have it completely paid off in about a year in a half. All I'm looking forward too now is not having a car note. Because of that I've taken to doing regular maintenance as recommended. Which basically means I'm going to need some new tires here soon. And now that I have replaced a belt, a motor mount and some other regular stuff I feel like I'm on the path to true car owner ship again. Not to mention this might be the first year ever I can pay off my car insurance premium as opposed to monthly payments. That would be freekin' sweet.

So that's what's been going on with me. What's up with y'all?

Meh...

Haven't felt much like blogging lately. Then again haven't felt much like anything. More to come... Eventually.

Um, please put down the crack pipe...

Seriously, RIAA, crack is very bad for you.

RIAA nails family with no computer

I was in an Accident...

It was a week ago today actually. But don't worry, me and my car are fine. It was more like a minor fender bender that didn't actually bend any fenders. It was an unusually bumper to bumper traffic day on the 101. Stop and go and so forth. I was about 2 or 3 miles from my job when the car in front of me stopped. Now I had allowed for a very safe distance between us. At least in terms of slowing down but since the car came to a dead stop I had to be a little more cautious in my efforts to slow down. So I carefully eased my car to stop with a foot or 2 of the car in front of me. All the while keep a watchful eye on the car behind me. I didn't want to hit the guy in front of me and I didn't want to get hit from behind.

Initially this strategy paid off. I came to a dead stop with room to spare. The car behind me came to a dead stop with no apparent problems. And as I sat back to breath a sigh of relief, BAMM. The chick behinds me rear-ends me. With such force I was sure both of our cars were wrecked. I curse to myself and have a moment of shock and awe as to what to do now. A few moments later I say fuck it, put the car in park, and get out to go face the music. Rear-end chick is also out of her car asking if I'm ok.

"I'm fine," I replied as I surveyed what I thought was our damaged vehicles. "Are you ok?"

"I'm okay," she said as she followed my gaze to the front of her car. "How is your car?"

I take a moment to absorb my surroundings. I'm out standing outside my car on the 101 south in LA. I'm looking at the back of car that just got rear-ended. It could use a wash. Angry drivers are yelling and honking as I rub my hand across the rear bumper. It flexes just enough for me to feel the metal bar that runs along the underside of the outer material. I notice several scratches from that time I backed to close to the parking lot wall of my apartment. But there is no other damage. I do a double take and realize there is nothing apparently wrong with my car. Not only that her car doesn't look like anything happened to it.

"I think I'm okay," I say to her as she goes to talk to the guy behind her.

I realized then that she was rear-ended too. Which caused her to hit me which thankfully caused me not to hit anyone. A forth car is stopped behind that guy. But I can't tell if its because he hit car number 3 or it's because car number 3 is just stopped on the freeway.

I return to my car to get my cell a little weirded out. As I'm pulling it out girl from car 2 comes up and asks if I'm going to stay.

"Shouldn't we?" I asked.

She replied that she was fine her car was fine and the other guys says he is okay she she is going to leave. I get out of my car once again inquiry if she was sure. She assured me that she was fine and again asked if I was okay. Again I replied I was fine as I checked my car again.

"Are you okay?" I asked guy from car 3 as he was climbing back in his SUV.

He nodded and waved back to me as if to so everything is cool.

"I guess we are all okay then."

"Yeah, thank God no one was hurt." She said getting back in her car.

"Yeah."

I got back in my car started it back up and in moments I was on my way. I breathed a sigh of relief and was kind shock for a second but I'm fine now. Later I would remember that episode of 60 minutes (or was it 20/20?) where the crash safety institute ranked the Camry low on there rear collisions. A year later Toyota got wise and created this big metal bar that if memory serves attaches to the frame in a way to minimize rear collision damage. Of course the institute game them much higher praise the next year for this. Though they did recommend that if you had to be in an accident a rear collision would be the best one for you to be in based on their tests. I guess it's good I own a relatively new Camry.

So here it is a week later and I'm still fine and so is my car. I checked it again when I got to work and I've been checking it ever since. It's fine and so am I. Thank God for small favors.

But I still got ole girls license plates & car description. I mean you never know right...

Detroit, What?!?!

Contrary to popular belief I don't hate Detroit. Really I don't. Just the rotten muthafuckas that inhabit it. Ok, fine, 911 gets 2 million calls a year. A fourth of those calls are either incorrect calls for services not provided by 911 or pranks. Seriously, where is the joke when a 5 year old calls because his mother passed out. How in the hell is he playing on the phone? I heard the tape and he wasn't laughing.

Now the woman who was shot was unusually calm but still... She just caught 2 bullets, one of which in the head, and is laying in a pool of her own blood, it's conceivable she was in shock. But to sit back and call her crazy while she pleads with you to send some help? Come on y'all. I heard that tape, too. These nasty, rude 911 workers are just plain wrong.

All that and then Proof was shot. Sad.

I love Detroit. But the rancid bastards that live there...

And for the record if you are a good person that still lives there then I am not talking about you. Capiche?

USATODAY.com - Lawyer: Boy not alone in Detroit 911 snub

Natalie Portman: Gangsta Rapper

I can't wait for the album. I mean she is just as good if not better than half of the muthafuckas out right now. Can't you just imagine her flowin' over some Dre beats with DMX. That would be the shit. I need a Gangsta Bitch like Natalie Portman. *sigh* if only...
DevilDucky - Natalie Portman: Gangsta Rap

A Matter of Size

So as I mentioned in my previous post I've noticed something disturbing with the Gap and Old Navy (I've been a fan of Old N since I discovered they exist & the G is cool I guess). See back in the days their sizes only went up to XXL. For most people that's no big deal. Even for me being a big guy it wasn't a big deal. That's because I like my clothers to be big and baggy on me. So a XXL t-shirt is pretty much just right. It's nice and roomy just how I like. At least it used to be. But then again technically it still is. Just not at Old N and the Gap.

I've always been a relatively big guy. Even when I didn't weigh so much I've all was had a broad back and shoulders. So back in the days XL was the size of choice for the big and baggy shirts. Until I started working out and I got bigger and broader. Then XXL was the size of choice. And has been for the better part of a decade. Though I have gone through various weight fluctuations XXLs have always fit me fine. And technically they still do. Just not at Old N and the G.

A couple yours ago, roughly around the latter half of 2004, I got a t-shirt from Old N. XXL like I always do and it didn't fit me quite right. I had gotten it online and noticed that XXXL was now an option on most of their shirts. I didn't think much of it until that XXL t-shirt didn't fit quite right. Of course my initial reaction was, "Holy Shit I've gotten fat as hell." Um, yeah. Not so fast Biggie Smallz...

Around this same time I notice that the G had also done the same thing. While I hadn't gotten anything from the G in awhile (since it and Old N are part of the same company) I figured they had made the same changes. Of course they had (but I'm getting to that). So having a XXL that didn't fit was a little disheartening. That is until I realized that other XXL shirts still fit the way I like. Not to mention I still had old XXL shirts that fit me fine. Hell, one from the G that I've had since '98. Still fits great. Another from JCrew (not that this is about them, but they do the same thing now except they don't even offer XXLs any more, at least not that I've noticed, but I'm pretty much done with them anyway) that I have had since '95 also fits just as great. So I wasn't disheartened for long after getting some new shirts (button ups and t-shirts) from some different places and realizing XXLs still actually fit me. So what the hell was up with The G and Old N?

Apparently, they just readjusted their sizes. For no good reason what so ever. Cause now their XXXLs fit like their XXLs used to. Keep in mind I can still where everyone else's XXLs with no problems. And I do on occasion. Not to mention my older XXLs that still fit the same. Why would they change their sizes like this? I have no idea. Unless it's some conspiracy to make people feel bad. I mean, shit man, putting on a XXL shirt that doesn't fit from a place that used to make them fit is kinda fucked up. Especially, when the day before you wore another XXL that did fit from the same place. So for Old N and the G I wear a XXXL shirt. Ok, fine. I can live with that. Especially when I'm a XXL at every other store that sells them. I suppose that's better than Banana Republic, Abercrombie (racist bastards), American Eagle, Urban Outfitter (I could so have the hook up there) and Calvin Kleins punk asses. They barely even sell clothes beyond L let alone XL or XXL. They only make shit for skinny niggas. Bastards...

Procrastination & Vodka

I've been meaning to post for a while now. Even though I have had some subjects on my mind I've been feeling uninspired. So, I thought, at the very least tonight I would just at least mention a couple things.

FOR MY MAC USERS:
If you read a good amount of Blogs as I do you should be using NetNewsWire. And if you blog as much as I do then you should be using is companion MarsEdit. As I have been doing recently. If you have been reading my last few blog posts then you have noticed a slight change in format. My last couple posts have been through MarsEdit. And not only is it cool it has made the difference in me actually posting at all. Since my last couple posts have mainly been links to other things. MarsEdit has made this an easy and painless process since it has allowed me to comment and post about other stuff with ease. If you are using a Mac (Fuule and Brooklyn, I'm talking to you) then you should give them a try. While MarsEdit doesn't allow you to organize your blog posts by months and years, if you post to multiple sites (as I suspect some of you do, Brooklyn) then it will at least organize that. Check it out.

MUSIC LOVERS:
Hip Hop is not dead, Bitches! More to come later.

ALCOHOL LOVERS:
Red Bull and Vodka is the shit. Specifically Red bull and Blue Ice. Rain was the first person to turn me on to the Blue Ice. And when you mix that with Red Bull it is something to behold. Give it a try, if you don't believe me, or even if you do, as it will leave you with a smooth coherent buzz as it relaxes you into an alcoholic stupor. Ok, maybe stupor is a strong word. But it will definitely leave you feeling nice. Check it out.

FASHION LOVERS:
Old Navy and the Gap are responsible for size gouging. More on this later. As it will probably be my next post. I've been meaning to talk about this for a while. Being a man of size it's annoying to me to see these companies exaggerating their sizes. For no particular reason what so ever.

More to come later...

Valentine's Is For Lovers...

This one is for SweetB since she was expecting me to post about Valentine's on Valentine's:
BBC News | WORLD | In pictures: Valentine's Day around the world
So for her and all you other romantic bastards, Happy Belated Horny Werewolf Day. No I'm not bitter. Not in the fuckin' least...