What I'm Listening To: Slum Village-Tainted

Always loved this jam...came out my freshman year of high school.  I put everything on hold when this came on Rap City...you know, when BET actually had decent programming and showed videos.


"When the situation is tainted love is always free..."

-Dub

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Just imagine...this day hundreds of years ago settlers were feeding the natives.  Then they stole their land and gave them a holiday to commemorate this jacking.  I always love this holiday...just because the family gets together and just spend good times together.  And of course....you eat yourself into a small coma...only to wake up, drive to someone else's house and do it again.

I have a lot to be thankful for...I'm thankful for being a healthy, employed young man with a loving family, great friends,and a blog to express my ignant beliefs.  I'm also thankful for my couple of followers and you who's reading this.  So thank you...I love you and make sure you tell your people you love them.

-Dub

What I'm Listening To: Brothers Johnson-Strawberry Letter 23

Good music is timeless...can't count how many times I listened to this cleaning up the house growing up.  I'm so jealous of my parent's music...I'd gladly trade today's music for this.

-Dub

Jim Crow v. 2.0

America's favorite minstrel is back at it again.  Flavor Flav, best known for his reality TV exploits, is expanding his ignant empire in to the realm of entrepreneurship and plans on starting fried chicken and alcohol franchises.  Yes...you read correctly...fried chicken and alcohol.  I've never been one to tell anyone how to spend their money (whether it's hard earned or not) but DAAAAAAAAAAAAMN bruh...fried chicken??  So you mean to tell me if I go to Uncle Flav's Chicken Hut (just came up with that name...only seems fitting) I can ONLY get fried chicken? Not even grilled?? C'mon son... you GOT to be kidding me!  Flavor Flav's career arc has to be the most bizarre in the history of hip hop.  He went from being the hype man for one of hip hop's most militant and anti (white) establishment groups in Public Enemy to being the mascot for every current stereotype of black men in 20+ years.  Most people don't know him for "Fight The Power"...they know him for marrying that gargantuan white chick, having 3 seasons of a show when 20 gorgeous whores throw themselves at his crusty ass, just to be dumped in 3 months (they know the game though...they're just there to get there names and asses out there) and having a litter of kids.  A black man that lusts after white women, has a bushel of hyper sexual women, and has multiple kids with multiple women, none of which he's married to...isn't that what America sees when they look at us?  Well you can add "fried chicken entrepreneur" to that list when they refer to Flavor Flav.  I guess you can't knock the hustle.

-Dub

You've GOT To Be Kidding Me!

Ummmm...yea....about that Amber....

Skip to 2:20 in and prepare to have your eyes opened...is this what ladies want? Or just what her crazy ass wants?

Black Ops? Meh...

It's been about a week since the release of the newest COD game, Call of Duty: Black Ops.  This wildy popular first person shooter has is most known for its multiplayer aspect that is almost endless and has a unique quality of staying fresh (a novelty with games that are mostly known for online multiplyer).  To be quite honest, I am largely disappointed with Black Ops.  A big COD: Modern Warafare 2 fan (and Modern Warefare before that), I have a lot of issues with the new installment:

1. Graphics
Black Ops was developed by Treyarch, makers of COD:World At War (another dissapointment by many accounts) while Modern Warfare and MW2 were developed by Infinity Ward.  MW and MW2 will always stick out to me because of the realism and the graphics.  Sure the stories were lack luster but, for lack of better words, the games LOOKED great.  Now the story mode graphics in Black Ops aren't bad but the multiplayer graphics? Buttcheeks...not up to par at all.  Other players look grainy and the maps look a little dull.  And then there's Nuketown, a multiplayer map that looks like it's straight from a Looney Tunes cartoon:  the colors are almost too much for me.  They could have done a lot better with the visuals.

2. New Leveling System
Black Ops is introducing a leveling/gun acqusition system that calls for guns, perks, and pretty much anything else to be purchased.  Sounds good on paper, but doesn't really do it for me.  For starters, the first batch of weapons SUCK.  Some are pretty accurate, but they're lacking power...I thought I was shooting a BB gun half the time.  Be prepared to go knocked when you're first playing online.  You still gain XP (experience points) for getting kills, completeing challenges, and taking objectives but this is layered on top of the new purchasing system.  For example, you unlock the ABILITY to purchase a Famas at level 14, but not the actual weapon as you could before.  My biggest question is:  why have both systems?  If I have to buy the gun when I get there anyway, why not allow for the guns to be purchased regardless of level?  You better be sure you want the item you're puchasing as well, because there aren't any refunds or exchanges.  Doesn't work too well when you buy two attachments for the MP5K and are COD broke...don't ask me how I know.  One plus to the new system are the contracts, which are timed challenges you have to wager points for.  Don't succeed and you lose the points you wagered...I like this because it forces you to put your money where your mouth is.

3. Online Multiplayer
2 and 3 are very closely related but I had to seperate them so I can properly go in.  I am not a fan of the Black Ops online system thus far.  For one, the vast majority of the games I've played in have been laggy...VERY laggy.  My internet connection has been fine but the lag has been very annoying to say the least.  There have been many times when I've been shot as soon as I turn the corner, only to watch the kill cam and see that, apparently, I was around the corner for a least a second...no dice.  Secondly, there's a new map voting system that allows for players to select the same map (i.e. running it back).  I actually liked that option...until I playerd Nuketown (the new fan favorite, apparently) 5 times in a row.  Lastly, the kill streaks seem to be a little unbalanced.  A goal of Treyarch was to make it so the new kill streaks were as over powered as they were in MW2...but they didnt do much better this time around.  Yeah, the nuke's gone, but it only takes 3 kills for the remote controlled car with explosives?  That's less than a predator missle.  The attack dogs wrecked shop one game I was in (thankfully, I was on that guy's team) which would make them the best one IMO.  The other ones just seemed lazy..what's the difference between a chopper gunner and a gunship anyway? Just seems like they could have done a little better.

Everything's not bad about Black Ops:  the campaign mode is definitely superior to MW/MW2.  Top shelf voice acting (including Ice Cube...YAY-YAY!!!) and a story with multiple plot twists kept me hooked.  Overall, I would have to say its not a bad game...I just have a lot of beefs with it. Black Ops rode the coatails of MW2 but failed to deliver in many aspects.  But, of course, Activision doesn't care since they saw the first day sales figures.  They're plan is to release a new game every year (around November) and that's too sad:  they're going to canibalize their franchise and people are going to get tired of the same game (essentially) just repackaged with a different name (and before you say anything...this is NOT what Madden does.  Ok maybe they do...but SO??).  MW2 had another good year of multiplayer easy...glad I kept my copy for 360.

-Dub

Check It Out: Ashlet Mar Shell/Mic Check

Yall check out Raleigh's newest R&B songstress, my home gurl Ashley Mar Shell and her newest project "Not That Girl.  You can purchase it from iTunes here (yea...she's not that new so you can't pirate this one...so SUPPORT!!).  She also throws these showcases in Raleigh called "Mic Check".  She's having the second one tonight...more information can be found here.

-Dub

Hey Grambling? F*ck Yo Couch!

Apparently the students at Grambling don't like Charlie Murphy...as evidenced my this video from their comedy show.  Some of his jokes fell flat...and the rest is almost too good for Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories.  I'm a Charlie Murphy fan and even though I don't agree with what he did...the execution is epic and will go down as one of my favorite "eff you" moments ever.  Not only did he give the money back...he told them exactly how he was feeling when he did it.  This is 2nd only to the sight of Rick James grinding his dirty cowboy boots in Eddie's couch.

-Dub

Vote or Die!

Douche and Turd
Tags: SOUTH
PARKmore...

Today's election day...time for everyone to go out there to rock the vote! No matter what your politics are or who you're voting for, this is probably one of the most important midterm elections in recent history. If you lean Democratic then it's important to get out there and make sure that all the progress of the last two years isn't undone. If you lean Republican, you're probably not reading my blog right now...so there. The local and state races are important, so make sure you read up on the candidates and enter the polls as an informed voter. If you're in North Carolina and you don't know where you're polling place is you can find out here. Make sure you make your voice is heard!

-Dub