G-Block

Once you get by the seriousness of workers getting hurt while working on the New York subway, this headline/story strikes a particular chord.

The good ole G train. The only train that doesn't go in Manhattan; the train that lifetime Manhattanites don't even know exists; the train that essentially runs every half-hour when it gets dark and, because of it, wasted at least 5 hours of my Summer of 2002 to go two stops (I later found I could have continued on the A/C and walked two more blocks...yea); and most importantly, the train and hood that The Generalist and I held down during said summer. For that and Kim Kau's, Sapolo's, Zaytoon's, Luigi's, and "Grocery" I got love for the G and I don't like to see it associated with bad news.

Seriously

I just heard Stu Scott on Sportscenter, showing a highlight of yet another Steve Nash assist, say:

"Steve Nash...giving it up like Abe Lincoln."

Anybody know what it means to "give it up like Abe Lincoln"?

Interesting Factoids

...That May Only Interest Me.

I've averaged 1,645 text messages per month over the last three months (February = 1,395; March = 1,687; April = 1,854). That's almost 55 per day which is completely mind-boggling and I'm the one sending the texts.

Morgan Pozgar, a 13-year old from PA who won the LG National Texting Championship, estimated that she sends more than 8,000 text messages a month to her friends and family. That's almost 267 text messages per day and. that's. stupid.

I was handed a flyer for this competition and for a second entertained the thought of participating but then saw that the competition was QWERTY based. T9Word is my thang and while a part of me feels like I could make a good showing at my best, would I really stand a chance if cats in their formative years are "practicing" over 200 times a day?

Piggybacking

If you saw one of my previous comments, you know I was a little suspicious of Al Sicard's Jim Boeheim-like zone-implementation skills. That's not the only commercial I take issue with:

1. Direct TV / Entourage - Ari offers courtside tickets to Turtle for a Lakers game. Turtle asks who they are playing, Ari answers Wizards. He says "no, I want to go watch my Knicks on Direct TV." (This is pre-Arenas' injury...) So word? He wouldn't want to watch a game that earlier in the year featured a 60-point scorer (Arenas), a 45-point scorer (Bryant), and an overtime game in which Arenas set the record for most points scored in an overtime period (16). He rather pass all of that potential up to watch the Knicks? Come on man, that's suspending way too much reality even for a commercial. At least pick another team that featured a non-descript game.

2. T-Mobile / DWade & Chuck - Regardless of how good or bad of a golfer someone is, does anybody (anybody?) pick up/significantly move their front foot when they put? Absolutely not.

40/28

As may or may not be known, I am currently studying for a comprehensive exam in Political Theory. Unfortunately I only began reading last week and haven't exactly kept the pace I need to keep to finish. So I figured I'd start a little series of posts to encourage (shame) myself to get on the ball.

Had I been disciplined, I might've come up with something like The Generalist's book-a-week routine. As it stands, I'm looking at more like 1.4 books a day, or 40 books in 28 days. What? Not possible?

We shall see...

Bee Keeping

Interesting Story: About 8 years ago I was signing up for some music forum online and I needed a login name. I wanted something random and not related to my actual name. In about a minute I came up with i2012. Why/How? I have no idea. It just occurred to me, and I like it to this day.

Later I started wondering why such a "random" number would ever occur to a person. Eventually I became convinced that "i" was simply I, and 2012 was a year. Other than being the year in which I should turn 30, I felt like something significant would happen to me in that year... no idea what.

Then came word from Aristocrates that the Mayan calendar is predicting that 2012 would bring the end of the world as we know it. Upon hearing something like that one can't help but wonder how exactly it'll be that the world will end. ... Which brings me to the title of this post.

Supposedly, Albert Einstein once said that if all the bees disappeared from the earth, man would have "only four years of life left," the logic being no bees = no pollination, no pollination = no crops, no crops = no animals, no crops and no animals = no people. And well, it seems the bees are disappearing. Give Einstein's prediction an extra year since "all" the bees haven't disappeared, and we're looking at massive crop shortage that produces worldwide starvation by about 2012.

So how's this for coincidence: Roughly 8 years ago I came up with a random number that I was convinced had some extraordinary significance, only to find out that it happens to coincide with both ancient and modern forecasts for the end of the world.

Nice, huh?

Hokie Hope Day

Definitely wearing Maroon and Orange. Today we are ALL Hokies.

Believe It Anyway

"This world's gone crazy
And it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway"

Martina McBride - Anyway

Chicken and...Waffles

"I can't tell you, but I've said very clearly I don't consider myself out of it forever."

- Senator John Kerry, when asked if he's considering running for President again

"It's sort of a miracle that it continues to work well today."

- Dipankar Raychaudhuri a Rutgers University professor who is overseeing a federal research project to look at whether the Internet needs to be completely scrapped and started over

Seriously?

I Stand Corrected

So if you, like me, thought that we had reached the pinnacle of lyrical nonsensicalness, I refer you to Twista and R. Kelly's "This is Why I'm Hot" Chi-Town remix. And I quote:

This is why I'm cold.
This is why I'm cold.
This is why, this is why,
This is why I'm cold.

I'm cold cuz I'm hot...

Wait... let's run than back.

I'm cold... cuz I'm HOT.
You aint cuz you not.
This is why, this is why
This is why I'm cold.

(tear*)

60 Minutes: Duke Lacrosse

So, I don't know if you watched the 60 Minutes report on the Duke Lacrosse case being dismissed but some of the facts that the Durham County D.A. ignored and failed to consider are simply unbelievable.

For what it's worth: True Rap Lyrics: 1.1

Poetry? In Motion

Has anyone ever read one - one! - "Poetry In Motion" (a short poem posted in typical ad space in public transportation - specifically, the New York City subway) and said, "Yea, that was a good read." To keep it real, and with apology to offending anyone's personal attempt at art/poetry, I think most are horrrrible.

I was already thinking about making this post but then it was confirmed when while riding on said NYC subway with my roommate, unprompted he turned to me and said, "Those poetry joints are always horrible to me." Me: "Youngin', wow, get out of my head."

This would be my second "equivalent to The Generalist's view of Garfield."

Last (Only) Words On This Subject

Keep in mind that the quote I provided a few posts ago was posted because I thought it was funny.

I'd rather not talk seriously about Imus (surprise!), mostly because it will get beaten over the head until the next bigger story comes out and it gives credence to an off-putting comment made by a shock-jock/comedian who like his cohort has always been in the business of pushing the envelope. (Let me be clear though, I'm NOT dismissing him and certainly not the comment, and obviously, the Rutgers women do not deserve to be thrown in the public hat with his colleagues and politicians...It's just you know all that. Plus, I leave hard-hitting commentary to the tri-cons :).)

But once you get past the "seriousness" of the issue, my dad brought up a good point:

Isn't Don Imus the absolute last person who should be clowning someone else's appearance and nappy-headedness? I mean look at that cat ^---.

Gained in Translation?

Speaking through a translator, your boy Ichiro said about facing Dice-K for the first time in the U.S.:

I hope he ignites the fire that is dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul. I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger.

well damn.

All Things Political

Well folks... It's about that time. 16 months and counting til I start looking for a job. Only 2 articles, 2 finals, 1 exam, a proposal, and half a dissertation to write between now and then. So, in the interest of righting my mind for the work ahead, I am tightening my focus on all things political... starting with this:

It seems someone in Maryland thinks The People should actually elect the president. How about that?

An Obligation

Someone asked me yesterday: "Don't you have to put this video on your blog?"

Actually, yes. Yes, I do.




The part that makes me laugh, and to which I can so relate, is that my man "PMD" is a Terps fan yet is just as angry about Duke calls happening in a non-UMD vs. Duke game and even in a UNC vs. Duke game.

Quote of the Day

"As Imus makes clear every day, his views are not those of MSNBC."

- MSNBC, in a statement, after Don Imus on his radio show called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed ho's"

Easter Special '07

We have a tradition of providing Easter Specials here at the General Musings from Generalists. This year though, straight up, I got nothing. But hey, for the...ummm...Heaven of it:

OutKast - Big Boi - Church

Blog Reads

• I found Gladwell's blog on "Bad Stereotyping" (third entry) an interesting read and it specifically made me think if I typically "conversationally discriminate."
• I have yet to do it but I think I need to shout out my mans "Mr. Garr's" blog. The Tilden Middle School stories and recaps are always a good, honest read while his other entries are varied and interesting. Plus, he big-upped Food & Liquor as the album of the year (2006 obviously) and blessed folks with Amy Winehouse. Might as well be a Generalist...
• I'm pretty sure that his latest post absolutely confirmed that Gilbert Arenas is my favorite athlete personality of all time. He had planned to give away 20,000 jerseys at the first Wizards playoff game. Now that's he out for the season (we'll miss you GA), he's giving away - and sending directly to recipients - 6,000 Gil Zero shoes and 20,000 jerseys all signed "Agent Zero"!!! Yes, his shot selection kills me sometimes but the Wiz better get him signed to an extension past 2008, ESPECIALLY since he wants to keep the team flexible and will not break the bank.

12-Song Commute

Back in September or so I bought a Sprint LG Fusic Phone. I don't own a digital music player (read: "iPod") - gasp! - so in addition to satisfying my need for a cell phone with a battery life greater than a half-hour, it also provided me with travel-beats. Now, the phone only came equipped ("with rearview mirrors" j/k, umm, nevermind) with a 64 MB memory card. That's good for about 12 normal sized mp3s, give-or-take. I briefly considered upgrading to a larger sized card before realizing that 12 songs almost gets me to work and back. I see this as a good thing because if I could load a large portion of my library I would probably fall back into listening to songs that I always do. Instead, I upload tracks that I have put-off or are brand new, brand new. So then, here is the playlist that makes up the current "12-Song Commute":

1. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
2. Black Milk ft. Royce Da 5'9 - Guilty Simpson (Remix)
3. Fat Joe ft. R. Kelly, Lil' Wayne, Birdman, T.I., Ace Mack, Rick Ross - Make It Rain (Remix)
(Purely for R. Kelly's contributions and that's probably the first time I've ever said that.)

4. Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold
5. Saul Williams - Black Stacey
(I was rocking the remix with Nas last week. I very much like the different feel of the versions.)

6. Shop Boyz - Party Like A Rockstar
7. Willie Hutch - I Choose You
8. UGK ft. OutKast - International Playas Anthem
(Yep...that's the original right into the sample. I would say more, but 3000 really deserves his own post at this point.)

9. Wordsworth - That Way
10. Wordsworth - Trust
11. Wordsworth - What We Gon' Do
(See this is an example of me listening to something I want to but for whatever reason don't. I'm a big Wordsworth fan, for what it is worth.)

12. Dynasty - Adventures In The Land of Music

Freakin' Unbelievable II

(Hey...anybody here???)