Night Of The Living Dead

I was totally content with letting this blog die a slow, crusty, gangrene-ish death. I'd been hired at a new company, which at first completely kicked my ass and killed any possibility of free time, much less the mental capacity to blog about anything. The funny thing is that even while I didn't update, the blog kept a quiet little buzz, and even received some anonymous comments from time to time, including prayers that I'd one day be castrated by my own scythe.

And while the buzz died down considerably (which happens after 2 years of nothing), the praise for this whole experiment remained somewhat steady, the only buzz I was trying to build was the kind that came from quality vodka, Hoegaarden, or $14 South African wine to settle my nerves after a day on the job, and from writing whatever prose I could conjure up from my cold, janky heart, especially if there was a freelance check involved.

I have to admit that it was the anonymous comments that made me want to start again. Sure, many of them are in Chinese characters, and seem to be the kind of stuff that nobody should click on, that is if they prefer not to have their laptop explode or emit Agent Orange through the speakers. But some of the comments were actually encouraging, and some of my friends still ask if I'm doing the blog anymore.

So here's what I'm gonna try to do, since we're all dying anyway I've become better at time management. I'll make better attempts at keeping this thing current. That might mean one or two posts per week for a minute, but I'll try to keep them worth every effort put forth by your ever-yellowing eyes.

And if you didn't miss me, kill yourself.

BURIED IN WORK, BUT FAR FROM DEAD

Sorry about the lapse in posting continuity. The new year brought a super-cool new job, new money and new toolery. Now that I'm working 9 hours a day on a MacBook, things are a little more complicated and I haven't yet figured out some of the deets when it comes to grabbing images and such, so it looks like I'll be having to switch back and forth from my trusty PC (Sade) and this new laptop. Which is probably for the best; nothing like a bunch of weird blog posts that don't relate to the job sitting on a company hard drive to kill your career before it's really born.

So thanks for the patience, and especially thanks to THE GEORGIA BLOGROLL, which just added your faithful and humble narrator to its listings. I'll be back around in a few hours. Hey, at least I'm Twittering more often!!

As if you care.

HIP-HOP SHRUGGED: A Dystopian Fable for the Recession Xmas of 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen: Your favorite blogger will not speak to you tonight. His time is up. I have taken it over. You were to read a post covering bullshit black gossip, stupidity in the form of “urban news” or the current legal fuckery of your favorite rapper—whatever you normally check for on the internet that has recently occurred in the world of Hip-Hop and/or politics. That is what you are going to hear.

For two years, you—the dying music industry of Atlanta—have been asking axing, “Who is Mike Jordan?” This is Mike Jordan speaking. I’m the guy who loves and values Hip-Hop. I’m the cat who does not sacrifice his love or his values. I am the dude who is relieving you of your victims and thus destroying your world.





And if you wish to know why your record labels are perishing—you who dread fresh, innovative, empowering and creative Hip-Hop music, I am the writer who will now present it to you on this post.

You, the A&R, music executive, program director, record label owner and--hell, yeah--magazine publisher, have said that this is an age of creative crisis in the music business and that southern rap’s sins are destroying Hip-Hop. But your chief virtue has been sacrifice. You have sacrificed innovation to sales. You have sacrificed empowering lyrics to demoralizing chants. You have sacrificed development to current market conditions. You have sacrificed art to commerce. You have sacrificed talent to hustle. You have destroyed all that which you held to be evil, and achieved all that which you held to be good.





Why then, do you shrink in horror at the sound of the Hip-Hop music that surrounds you in your Mercedes-Benz’s Bose stereo system? That music is not the product of your sins. It is the product, the rhythm, melody, lyrical content and chorus of your virtues. It is the moral ideal of your musical reality brought into its full and final perfection.





You fought for it. You have dreamed of it; you have wished it… And I am the man who is helping to grant you your wish. I am removing the sources of all those evils you are sacrificing—one by one. I am ending your battle; I am stopping your cipher. I am depriving your world of The 5th Element.

Writers do not represent the culture, you say? I am withdrawing those who do. Writers are insignificant, you say? I will withdraw those who aren’t. I’m showing them the way to live by another morality: mine. It is mine that they are choosing to follow. Will you soon be crying that this is not what you wanted? The culture of Hip-Hop in ruins, abandoned by its embedded and entrenched yet mentally emaciated writers, reporters and journalists is not your goal? You did not want us to leave?

You damned Atlanta. You damned Hip-Hop but never dared to question your code.

Yes, this is an age of creative crisis but it is not Hip-Hop that is on trial. It is your moral code. And if you wish to go on existing in this culture, what you now need is not to return to creativity but to discover it.


Sincerely Yours,
Mike Jordan

a.k.a. The Underwriter
a.k.a. the black John Galt
a.k.a. The Best Writer Alive
a.k.a. Jihad Ballout Jr.
a.k.a. Perry A. Pelagreeno
a.k.a. Mickey Reagan
a.k.a. Grumpy McNasty


[This blog was inspired by Atlas Shrugged, a book that I highly recommend to any serious reader, writer or thinker.]

INSPIRED BY OBAMA (and sour diesel).

Jesus, I had no idea how zooted I was when they shot this video. That's what two Ls of Sour Diesel and plenty of vodka will do to you. Anyway, here's that video I told you about from the New York post.



Let there be no doubt that I was feeling extra glowy with those blue lights all around me.

DEBATE IS DEAD

There are not many things that could get me to change my preference in the upcoming presidential election, oh my brothers and sisters. As I said in a column earlier this year, Senator Barack Obama would have to get caught naked with either a dead girl or a live boy to stop me from voting for him. Tonight, he has a town-hall style debate in the city where I was born—Nashville, Tenn.—with Senator John McCain over who should be The Man with the master plan for 2009-2012 and beyond. I’ll be back tonight or tomorrow with the only commentary that you need to read. Until then, happy viewing.

Free advice: Whatever you do, don’t listen to any Republikkkan spin after the debate is over. Turn the channel if you have to—MSNBC will keep it trillie—but don’t let right wing nuts make up your mind for you.

It’s Yours!

SORRY - MY INTERNET WAS DEAD

Please don't mind my absence. I've missed updating the blog more than you know. The only problem is that I've recently moved, and I have no internet connection at the new spot. So I'm having to hit various places and post new content whenever I can, and this week has been especially hectic when it comes to free time.

Anyway, forget all of that. Excuses are like pee-holes. Just so you know, I'm going to be getting it on tonight when it comes to the blog, because I feel like I've been wrong by not updating like I'm 'posed to. Thanks for bearing with your boy through my bear market of blogging. I'm still negotiating, but the bailout is coming soon; I promise. Until then, just watch TV or something. Matter of fact, THE DEBATES ARE ON TONIGHT @ 9PM EST!!

I'm going to put something up very soon. Preshate the patience, and at the same time, you're all welcome.

LITERATURE IS DEAD

David Foster Wallace, a great writer, IS REALLY DEAD. He wrote several books which were highly acclaimed and was considered a prodigy of literary undertakings. He was 46, married and a college professor. And he hung himself in his house this past Friday.


Great writers are mentally effed. I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE, and by God, I'll probably be proven right many more times before somebody says it about me--if I'm not already too late for that. But the genius-creative personality has always been something I've been drawn towards. For some reason, I could sense, by watching the video above, from where Wallace was trying to come with his thoughts. To be honest, I felt sorry for the person behind the tortured, beady eyes. You could tell that something was bothering him at the very moment that the cameras were rolling. His face and body language were sort of silently screaming, "But I'm being serious, people!" And then he shrugged and sank back into himself, realizing that people don't understand truth as much as they laugh at it.


What does this have to do with Hip-Hop, you ask axe? Well, Wallace once said that rap music was "quite possibly the most important stuff happening in American poetry today," [*] and he wrote a non-fiction book called Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present, which if you didn't know is a NOD to the original gangsta rap pioneer Schoolly D.





I can dig this Wallace guy, and not just because he's dead. Moreso because he seemed to be on the same wavelength as me and other writers I respect and found success. That is, of course, pertaining to his ability to express his views with words, and not in his ability to hang himself. Some things I'd rather not know if I can accomplish, and killing myself is in that number.


YOU CAN READ an article, masterfully written by Wallace and published by the New York Times, about tennis champ Roger Federer OR check out a tribute written about him and see that dude was pretty official. R.I.P. to another great writer of the world, and knock another nail in the coffin of current creativity in its fearless form.


It's strange how this is always the type of subject that brings me out of hiatus. Hey, somebody's got to pick up the torch, I guess...


*SOURCE QUOTE: AMAZON.COM

DIG THIS: DJ A.M. & TRAVIS BARKER'S FIX YOUR FACE MIXTAPE

Been heavily distracted, but dare I say it's been for good reason and not just because my man Senator Barack Obama needs to check his nuts. New developments are forthcoming, oh my brothers and sisters. Will explain later. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, HERE'S A LINK to the mixtape I've been spinning for the past few days, while I was wild busy--in the superlative sense--with writing deadlines and avoiding the blogosphere. I can't lie, I was starting to feel like a lot of people were being brainwashed by "Love Lockdown" and Sarah Palin, so maybe it was time to take a week off to regenerate instead of trying to fight the tide. Word to Hurricane Ike.

On some real shite, if you're a writer, or even if you're just a person that identifies his or herself as such but can't really write at all, this mixtape is pretty dope. It's a good mood piece for when you have all types of deadlines and limited time to seek outside inspiration.

T.O.C. # 49 - Man Up, Obama!!

TODAY:

I'm just getting back into Atlanta and I haven't had much time to stop and write a blog between other commitments, but that's not the whole reason why I haven't been at it recently. I didn't feel like writing anything about Senator Barack Obama for the last few days, because this fool needs to get tougher, like immediately. The only way that the self-imposed cease-fire he's been observing since the DNC would make any sense to me is if he comes out tomorrow and says that it was all in respect to September 11, 2001.

"Dear America: Today, September 12th, is a new day. It's a day after the tragic day seven years ago, when we lost thousands of lives to a terrorist attack that never had to happen, if our president would have only taken the counsel of his security advisors to heart and mind. Unfortunately, he did not. Well, we're a lucky seven years past that tragic date that began the decline of our American way of life under Republikkkan rule, and I can say - without fear - that it's truly a new day in America--one that must begin with me saying that Senator John McCain is a liar and psychologically damaged war hawk who would let a person with the sketchiest resume in VP candidate history be next in line to run the country if he keels over in the Oval Office. Which is very possible. Eff that! This is my country! I'M going to win and I refuse to lose! Hoe!!"



[Obama needs me as a speechwriter. I'd rule.]


Unfortunately, as of right now, he's lacking that "uumph" that you need as a POTUS candidate, that is, if you plan on being the person with the codes to the "nuclear football." And right now, I'm not feeling the energy. And I'm pissed that the Republikkkans seem to believe that they have the momentum, because nobody's getting tough with them. I'm having nightmares of Michael Dukakis. Is my mind playin' tricks on me?



[The 1st Democrat to ever be "Bushwacked"]


They've stolen the "change" theme, they've lied about everything they could speak about in the last two weeks, and they've been on a constant mode of attack ever since they got 39 million morons to watch their convention--as if anyone needed to hear what they've got planned for the next 4-to-8 years. To me, it seemed like the whole O.J. Simpson book idea, where he says that he didn't kill Nicole but tells you how he would have done it. Again, I didn't watch any of the GOP's 4-day infomercial, so I have no idea how they got so many people so geeked up about their bullshite. All I know is that shite is pretty bad if Matt Damon is the realest man alive for this week, thus far. He summed up his idea of a McCain-Palin administration with the following condemning statement.





For now, the candidate I support needs to start returning fire like Matt Damon. A friend of mine made a great point the other day: if this were Hillary that were being attacked, she'd throw shots right back. I'm not saying that it's right or it belongs in politics, but it wins. And at this point, I'm more concerned with actually winning the White House than being classy and graceful during the campaign. There's way too much riding on this election for a candidate to play the MLK card and just let himself be stoned, beaten and shot down from his rightful place in history. No disrespect to the King. And no, the "controversial" statement below does not count...





Because he's really just biting something that McCain already said about Senator Hillary Clinton. There's nothing new about the "lipstick on a pig" diss in Republikkkan freestyle ciphers. It's like somebody using the incredibly overused rhyme scheme of gangster rap: "Bitches, hittin' these switches, snitches in ditches, clocking these riches." We've heard it before, so the thrill is gone. It's never as good as the first time, Barack. You can't be biting styles on the national stage...





Anyway, like I said, I need to see a fight, or I'm going to start feeling weird. And I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

CONSISTENCY IS DEAD

It's so crazy that Jon Stewart has more gall than almost any liberal thinker, commentator or columnist. Dude always seems to find factual information that throws the hypocrisy of the GOP back in the face of the dead elephants. And - get this - he's a comedian.

This just supports my theory that the truth is a joke, and vice-versa.

THE OBAMA CRUSADE: Day 38 - I’M BRAIN DEAD

Alright, I'm back. But bad news: My mind is blown. It's so bad that I have foregone any attempt at being productive, so I will settle for being effective and just share my mental breakdown with you, oh my brothers and sisters.

These are the thoughts runnin’ through my mind, in no particular order. Seriously, I am stunned at the choice of Governor Sarah Palin. I can barely focus on things I need to do because this is absolutely crazy and unexpected.

Here’s the randomness:



• Be not confused; this is GREAT for the Democrats. But I just can't understand how the Republikkkans would kill themselves like this.

• Today is John McCain’s birthday. He turned 72. That means that if he were to serve a full 8-year term as POTUS, he would leave office at 80. I have no words for that.

• Governor Sarah Palin is 44. She is a first-term governor of Alaska and has 2 years on the job.

• I can’t believe this…

• The term I keep hearing on the news is that the vice-president is always “a heartbeat away” from the presidency. When running for POTUS, a VP choice would need to be ready to assume the responsibilities of Commander-in-Chief at any time. Huh?

• CNN’s Jack Cafferty absolutely roasted Palin on Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room today. As he said, the Republikkkans gave the Democrats "an early Christmas."

• Remember that America is involved in the War on Terror, which has us bogged down in Afghanistan, Iraq and could take us into Iran very soon. Does she have any – any – foreign policy expertise? I know she's a member of the NRA, but does having a gun mean that you can run multiple wars and the economy? WTF?!

• The job she held before being elected governor was mayor of a town in Alaska that has less than 6,000 residents. Westbumba-clat, Alaska, I believe is the name.

• …………

• There is only one tactical victory for the GO-Pee in this spectacular moment in historic political fuckery. Nobody is really talking about Obama. Not even me.

• This has fried my brain. The only fear I have is that since this is so unexplainable, it might have the effect of a mass lobotomy, and we will all become walking zombies, mental vegetables, and just start agreeing with everything. Jesus, this is so random.

• Senator John McCain just gave the Democrats the gift of political victory over the GOP, hopefully for generations and not just four years. And it's his birthday, not ours.

• ??????????

• Governor Palin is under investigation in her state, for possibly having a role in the firing of a State Trooper. The trooper was her brother-in-law. Nothing corrupt about that.

• Desperation is so unattractive. The Republikkkans have no game at all. What is this woman doing in this party? She is kind of cute…

• Imagine the Vice Presidential debate, coming soon to your favorite television news network. Trust me, if you’ve never trusted me before: Senator Joseph Biden is going to effortlessly take her apart – no question. All he has to do is ask her on live television to tell him anything about anything in the world.

• On the low, this is insulting as hell to women. Maybe on the high. McCain basically said, with the national microphone, "Look here, bitches: I picked up this strange married MILF from Alaska. So vote for me, because all you broads are the same anyway. Oh, and don't get pregnant accidentally anytime soon!! We ain't havin' it, but you are!!!"

• !... ?... !

• This is what you call political pandering, and my guess is that Senator Clinton’s “Hillraisers” support group is going to see right through this as soon as the Democrats begin to mount their assault.

• Seriously, I just knew that the GOP would make this harder. I’m shocked. Happy that they made the wrong move, but disappointed at their stupidity and taking all the fun out of the game.

• ??!!?

• I agree with David Gergen. It should have been Mitt Romney. That would have made sense. How would you feel today if you were Mitt Romney? You know how much chee$e that fool spent trying to be McCain's flunky? FAIL.

• Republikkkans have got to be nervous as hell.

• Wow. She's a journalism graduate. Journalism is dead.

• I gotta call my Dad and my older brother. I know they’re tripping as well.

• I need a drink.

• They say that Palin hasn’t even been “vetted” by the media yet. God, how bad is this shite going to be??

• She came in 2nd in the Miss Alaska '84 pageant. Damn. But, like I told the homie GARLAND earlier, I can’t front. Palin is thick, and I would beat.

• ! ! ! ?

• Jesus. Obama and Biden won’t even say anything bad about her. That’s smart; they don’t even need to. They can let the rest of the world wobble on its axis today and just remain cool. See, that’s why I like Obama. Cooler heads prevail.

• Meltdown… We are witnessing the meltdown of a major political party... My brain is farting…

• The only president to take the oath and enter the Oval Office older than McCain was Ronald Reagan. You know he had Altzheimer's.

• I have to leave this house, or I will suffer complete and total mental collapse.



I’ll be back later. Maybe not until tomorrow. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Tom Cruise.

BUN B @ THE LOFT: The Autopsy

Contrary to whatever the eff you thought, this blog represents Hip-Hop culture first. Check the column to your top right if you didn't already know. I know I get deep into the political game, but that doesn't mean that I'm devoted to Democrats more than I'm down to listen to your demo. More on that later...

There were mad weirdos in attendance at The Loft for the free Scion Metro concert performance of Bun-B @ The Loft in Atlanta. But it is my eternal opinion that weirdos, not gangstas, make the world go 'round. So that's why I felt so at home when the infamous Bun-B of UGK put on with a live band in my city. Word to world music, it was a great time.





Speaking of which, man, that damn band known as Orgone is all dat and dim sum. I got a chance to speak with FANNY FRANKLIN, the lead singer of ORGONE, and she was mad cool, even if our conversation was to remain off the record... What I will share is that she told me that the band was going through internal issues like all musical outfits, but she felt the love when she hit the stage with the group and she appreciated the fact that I recognized her outside of her stage constume. "That shows you were paying attention..."





By the way, she had an ill resemblance to the love of my life, Sade. So of course I was entranced. But not only was she fine as hell; the band was extra dope. And I can't help but point out that the main guitarist looked a lot like the drummer from the Muppets' band.







My girl in Alabama told me that Bun-B's recent performance this past week in Birmingham was quite lackluster. I told her that it was probably because Bun had no real incentive to give his all to the Magic City. Birmingham is not a major market, therefore it accounts for a very small amount of record sales. Bun-B doesn't really have to care about how the 'Ham feels about him or his stage performance. There is bigger money in bigger markets.

Yet the bigger reason to be excited about Bun's appearance in Atlanta was because he was performing with Orgone. He even admitted on stage that he had never before performed with a live band. Now, I don't know how true that statement is, but I take Big Bun at his word. After all, he does continue to keep it triller than any other rap artist in the game - southern or not.

Bun is naturally dope when fronting a band. It makes a southern Hip-Hop fanatic wonder why he hasn't tried a nationwide tour with The Roots or a southern derivative thereof. The south has a long history and wide heritage of birthing and building great musical artists with live instrumentation. If Bun wants to build a new career, I think he'd do great with a band of seven or eight hard-core cats in the background, not just a DJ. On that note, maybe JD was right...

Of course, Pimp C is dead, so UGK will never be the same. Of course, there will never be another UGK, because we are in a new era of Hip-Hop. Of course, Bun-B is affected by the death of his partner-in-rhyme, because they were the dynamic duo. But that doesn't mean that we can't appreciate the lyrical ability of a solo southern MC that has always been one of, if not the most efficient and exceptional rap artist from the south, besides Andre 3000. When you add the elements of live music in this mix, you might mess around and get pure magic, like last night in Atlanta.

Bun took control of the stage as soon as he stepped on the platform. With Orgone's assistance, he ripped through such classics as "Draped Up", "Big Pimpin'" and other UGK timepieces before cutting his hour-long stage set short around 1:30 a.m. Trust me, I was happy enough to pay my tab and leave after that, but that was before I saw what absolutely blew my mind...




Ceelo, Khujo, Big Gipp and T-Mo - all in the same room in Atlanta. I shook hands with all four of the original members of the Goodie Mob, telling them that I missed their music yet I was extremely proud to see them together again. Trust me, that shit is a major accomplishment. I would go so far as to assume that only one other brother did the same: MAURICE GARLAND. And I didn't even see Garland, but he got the flick, so props to him for having the camera ready.

If nothing else, the Scion show definitely showed that Bun-B is the true king of the south when it comes to Hip-Hop. Not Scarface, not T.I., and definitely not Lil' Wayne. Some will try to say that Bun is too old to claim the crown, but the truth is that nobody has been around as long and can still pull a devoted and loyal crowd like the still-living lyrical half of UGK.


Hip-Hop will never die, especially not in the south. Feel free to kill yourself if you can't stand the reign.

DIG THIS

I just found an article on a blog called THE AFTER PARTY titled, "Hip-HopChivalry is Dead."

Wow. A blog after my own heart. Actually, The After Party has been around since December 2005, so I'm obviously late as hell. But I'm adding them to my blogroll, so everything is now right in the world.


Check out a snippet:

Yesterday I made a comment over on VSB about how it’s not trickin’ if you have it. I initially wrote it as a joke. A few minutes later, I thought about it. I do not trip when I have to spend money. I take pause and give thanks that I can afford to spend. This doesn’t mean I’m out medium pimpin’ buying things full price…Full price is for suckers. Like I said before when I wrote it first it was a joke. I even made reference to rappers.

On my long ride home I heard the line again in a rap song. I have NEVER heard a man who can afford nice things for himself AND a mate complain about spending money. I want to focus specifically on dating. The topic on VSB was about bitter men. Men who brag about not being chivalrous. The example that was tossed around was how some men refuse to pay for dates or even refuse to plan inexpensive thoughtful dates. Someone over there mentioned six chicken wings. Not a thoughtful date.

Click that link above to read the entire post. I'm off to the Bun-B show, hoe.

THE SOURCE: BACK FROM THE DEAD?

I was lurking checking out the news today, and noticed that The Source hired Spike Lee to shoot two of the four alternate covers for its 20th anniversary issue. Shout to NAHRIGHT and MISS INFO.


Reader Challenge:

If you can find the typographical error on the cover of the 20th anniversary issue of The Source, you'll win THE UNDERWRITER'S WEEKLY PRIZE!!!


Sorry to say it, but it doesn't look good for the long-awaited sike comeback of The Sauce. Not that I'd buy it even if it was a classic; from what I hear, they still owe a few good writers I know a few thousand duckets. I can't get with that.

IS SOLEDAD O'BRIEN THE HOTTEST LITE-BRITE IN THE TV NEWS GAME?

Yo, no b.s.

If Soledad O'Brien doesn't deserve to be recognized as one of the hottest lite-brites in the TV journalism game, then I don't deserve to have fingers. After recently putting it down with CNN's "Black in America" series, Soledad is now running neck and neck with Queen Suzanne Malveaux, who is pretty much untouchable in my book. They're both smart, sexy and willing to do the job at a higher level than their counterparts. Both deserve the utmost respect.

But what is it about CNN and MSNBC that they seem to have the black female game on lockdown when it comes to television reporters?


Let's look at the other contenders:



SUZANNE MALVEAUX




FREDERICKA WHITFIELD




ALISON STEWART




AMY HOLMES



(She's a Republickin strategist, but those curls say, "I'm down; just don't tell nobody...")



Much respect to CNN and MSNBC for keeping it extra gangster with the black females. Sly Fox News does the same with blondes, which in all honesty is just staying in line with their audience, so I can't be mad at that. But I must ask axe,


Who is the hottest?

RAP NERDS DON'T DIE - THEY MULTIPLY

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY of how The Underwriter, your faithful and humble narrator, took part in a high-definition Hip-Hop discussion with four other pure rap nerds with presidential status in the game.


Shout to Billy X. Sunday, a.k.a. Dallas Penn, of XXL and iNTERTETS CELEBRITIES fame, for hosting a great Hip-Hop debate right chea on my stomping grounds of Cobb County, GA. The homie let me know early that he would be in the ATL this week, so I made a point to get up with him and a few friends at Taco Mac on the East-West Connector (near Six Flags) to discuss such relevant and immediate issues as The Dark Knight, Fonzworth Bentley, Lil' Wayne and of course the only five albums that a person could take on the Mothership. In attendance were Maestro (producer: Lil' Wayne's "3-Peat") and frequent XXL commenter Twerkolater.

It was a great night in Atlanta for rap thought. We consumed drinks, cigarrettes and topics like intellectual cannibals. Nobody was given too much free reign over their opinions, but everybody's words were respected and we all left feeling as if we had fleshed out our own ideas about how the game should be and how things really are today in the world of Hip-Hop culture.


And I was throwed like a horseshoe. I'm surprised DP even remembered any of this fuckery, because he seemed as drunk as I was. Shout to him for staying on point and delivering the story. I went home and crashed like Dale Earnhart (R.I.P.).



Until next time, Chea!






UPDATE:

CLICK HERE FOR MAESTRO'S BLOG


CLICK HERE FOR TWERKOLATER.

THE OBAMA CRUSADE: Day 5

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA IS IN AFGHANISTAN.


Time Magazine is reporting today that Obama will be staying for two days or so in Taliban Country, trying to get a feel for the region he has deemed the most immediately relevant in the War on Terrorism.

Now that he's there, I wonder what he's seeing right now. Is the Secret Service actually allowing him to see what they know is not safe for him? Are the Generals giving him the most accurate information they have? Does he have a G-Pass, off G.P.?


Here's a quote from Time:

As president, Obama has promised that he would redeploy two more US combat brigades to the Afghan theatre, ask NATO for more troops and fewer restrictions on those troops, accelerate the training of the national army and police, encourage alternative livelihood crops for opium farmers and help support the fledgling Afghan government. In recent weeks, his Republican opponent has joined the call for sending more troops to Afghanistan, and earlier this week Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that U.S. officials are looking for ways to send more forces to the country. Before he left Washington for Afghanistan, Obama told a pool reporter that "I'm looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is. I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they've been doing."

SOURCE: TIME.COM

Prediction: Obama's poll numbers (as if they mean anything) will go up at least two to six points after this trip. The media is already showing Obama much more love than McCain. More on that later.


Keep watching...

A MOMENT OF SILENCE...

My laptop is officially over. It died on Wednesday, and I still am in a state of denial. For the time being, it's going to be difficult to post new images, but I should find a way around it soon enough.


I am going to miss the little bugger (NOLO), but I did back up most of my shit a few months ago, so it's no big loss. Plus, I had over 200 albums stored on the hard drive, so I guess I was kind of asking axing for something like this to happen.

Well, it finally did. Mourn with your boy.





Actually, eff that. Let me bounce back on these hoes with a second line for "Sade."






I need a moment, y'all. See, I almost felt a tear drop.
Nas - "Can't Forget About You."

THE OBAMA CRUSADE: Day 4

Still playing catch-up here, but as you can tell, I still keep it 100 by doing each Crusade post on the day it should come out, even if it takes another day to post. My style is like gumbo: slow, but consistent and full of that good shit. Anyway...



TODAY:

Everybody is talking about Obama taking a monumental trip to Afghanistan this weekend. Obama has consistently stated that he believes Afghanistan - not Iraq - to be the true focal point of the War on Terror. With the Taliban back in action, it looks like he was correct to project that we needed more troops there, instead of Iraq. In a very smart move, he's going to visit the war-torn region and get a first-hand account of just how funky it is out there.

But of course, the Republickins are trying to make it seem stupid. It's a good thing that we have journalists like John Ridley to make it make sense for the dummies.

The Right can't have it both ways on this one; they can't hector Obama about not traveling the world, then carp when he does. They certainly can't refer to a politician's travels as being political. That label is as obvious as it is inaccurate. What the trip is, is necessary.

SOURCE: THE HUFFINGTON POST

It says a lot about Senator Obama that he is willing to see it for himself and not rely on surrogates and envoys. Don't even ask axe me if I would be willing to take my light-skinned ass over there without Secret Service detail. I don't have that kind of muscle. But he does, so he's doing it.


I happen to think it's a brave and bold move, showing that Obama is willing to investigate his own theories and find out how close he is to the truth. Maybe if we never invaded Iraq, it wouldn't be a mess right now. And we'd still have hundreds of thousands of soldiers to send to Afghanistan, who could have prevented the Taliban from retaking the area while we were bogged down in an illegitimate war.

Just my opinion. I'm probably on point, though.

THE OBAMA CRUSADE: Day 3

Day 3 TECHNICALLY. With my current loss, I could easily have been caught off guard with my pledge to do one of these every day for the remaining 100 days of the POTUS campaign. Let's just say I plan ahead. Anyway...



TODAY:

CNN's Political Ticker reports that SENATOR JOE BIDEN IS SHOWING SOME TEETH as a possible veep candidate. He's been standing up for Senator Obama back in the U.S. Senate, where he chairs the powerful Foreign Relations Committee. Obama chairs the Subcommittee on European Affairs, which has jurisdiction over NATO operations in Afghanistan, among other places.

"Senator Obama has displayed great leadership on this issue: he called nearly a year ago for the deployment of at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan — it has since become the accepted position of a wide range of U.S. military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Biden added.

Biden's defense comes at a key time for Obama — the Illinois senator heads to Afghanistan and Iraq soon, and has battled criticism from the McCain campaign over the last several days that he lacks an understanding of national security issues.

SOURCE: CNN POLITICAL TICKER

If you ask axe me, I'd think hard (nolo) about this one. I agree, like others with political minds, that Obama should choose an old white guy with government fame. It'll quiet a lot of the remaining scaredness that the majority has about his "electability", and it will show that he realizes his own shortcomings in national and world affairs, especially as they relate to war and turmoil.

But wait a sec... didn't this guy get called out for saying some jankyness about Obama being "clean" back when he first started running in the primary? I mean, if my memory (and brightcove.tv) serve me correctly...





Hmmm... What do you think?