Tyson breeds Pigeon, not Chickens

As im currently plastered in my chair at the San Antonio International airport i have a little time on my hands. I found out something that may intrigue you, well it intrigued me. Mike Tyson is slated to have a show on Animal Planet that will air in 2011 on a topic/sport that i never knew existed until today, pigeon racing.

The article faintly talked about Mike's dealings with pigeons as a young man residing in Bedford-Stuyvesant(Bed Stuy)that i was vaguely familiar with but never gave it any reasonable measure of thought. I was under the impression that all New Yorkers played with pigeons in the park, blame Home Alone 2. Is there anyone out there that can explain how you can conduct a fair race between birds? Mike Tyson has to be one of the most interesting people, and for the record i don't think there is anything wrong with racing pigeons. I'm actually not familiar enough to have an opinion but his tendencies and affinities are very hard to come by, what makes one like that. From his let down against Buster Douglas to his biting of the ear, and now we have pigeons. And perhaps its only fitting that he endears pigeons which many people consider the dirtiest bird of them all, and consequently the most shunned. Im no psychologist but perhaps there is a level of connection and sympathy there.

The point is i find all this very mystifying and I'm certainly going to tune in to at least the inaugural episode to see what this is all about. I'll check back like a chiropractor.

Ro Spit- "Over"

Im going to go ahead and put this on my blog and give the people something fresh and new.

The parallels between Drake and Ro Spit are quite similar, both dropped very good projects in past years that flew under the radar. And just as Drake shot into super-stardom after the release of his mixtape in 2009, Ro Spit achieved his fair amount of accolades when he hit the launch pad with the OH S#!T Project in the same year. So when Drake dropped his lead single "Over" about a week ago, it was quite natural for Ro to make his own version. But not only do you get top-shelf lyrics, you get the video to go along with the experience.

The video is directed and shot by extraordinary talent and long-time collaborator Gerard Victor.

Sony PS3 remote

How cold are these remotes? Apparently Sony has taken hint of the success that the motion-sensitive Nintendo Wii has garnered and looked to make a splash of their own. Of course its too late to be pioneers but they can most certainly take control of the market. Visually i dig these remotes a bit more than the Wii variety because of the added versatility Playstation has added, more buttons and directional pad in addition to the analog. These controllers are supposed to debut in the fall along and Sony will apparently start rolling out quite a few titles to correspond. I do think that the Playstation is in a more favorable slot than Nintendo being that they are more versatile in their gaming selections. Nintendo has endured a tough time keeping their amazing initial momentum, check out some numbers from fall 09

And how about that "Christmas bulb" camera on the end!

Another BR visit

Just another BR visit. I was trying to get some crucial New Balance information out of @BurnRubberRick.

The Burn Rubber Jacket

This was last month at the Wayne State show with Wiz Khalifa & Curren$y & Ro Spit. I was trying to toss my ideas out to Ro before the show so he could be on point for the show...it didn't work.

The Games of Life

Have you ever thought about the essence of sports? Of course it's big business, top-tier entertainment and all that jazz; but honestly what's the big deal? I sat back with my main man KT and we laughed about the notion of grown men playing Sports. The conversation took place on a Sunday afternoon amidst the heart of football season. We sat and watched commentators sit around in suits and talk about big fat men pushing each other, *crickets*, sounds pretty silly doesn't it.

Its quite paradoxical that grown men get paid hefty garbage bag money to play a kids game. The commentators are dressed in the same garb that CEO's wear. The other adults in attendance, fans, paint their bodies and wear ridiculous costumes to games. The whole atmosphere is astonishing. Stadiums are millions of dollars and the furnishings are the best money can find. Players often come to the venue with their suits on, meditate and ruminate on music and philosophies. I hope the vision is now palpable.

With all that is put into it, perhaps you can see now why people take sports so seriously. Many people who aren't big sports fans will say that its just a game and its not that serious, which is true. But when everything else contradicts that i can see where the signals would get crossed. For kids and even adult athletes that lose tempers and go to extremes to get an edge, i can see why they have become this way. I am reminded of the all the athletes caught cheating with steroids and other methods such as Mark McGuire, Bill Romanowski, and Marion Jones; as a fan I have often sat back and thought, "what could make these people think they could get away with this?" Maybe they didn't think they could get away with it but perhaps the potential gains outweighted the losses for them. Sports are games, but everything that surrounds it is a whole lifestyle and culture. I believe from the moment many of us are introduced to sports as children we quickly understand the grandiose environment that sports create.

With the recent win of the New Orleans Saints a lot was made of how the city could really use a championship to boost spirits and help heal some of the traumatic wounds that still ached a recovering city. Journalist are "story-tellers", couple that with carefully selected images to supplement the story and it makes everyone believe that sports are more than what they really are. Honestly there is very little that a New Orleans Saints Superbowl win can do for such a ravaged city. As a matter of fact it will probably hurt more than it helps realistically. The Saints organization doesn't win and then spend an additional amount of money on housing development or community programs. The Saints win and then they charge more for season tickets and spike prices in general because now the demand is higher. Perhaps there are more patrons from Houston traveling across Interstate highways to get there. T-shirts and jerseys may cost more. Then most of the free agent players demand more money because they think they are better than what they are or deserve more money because they've won a Superbowl.

The point is try to keep sports in perspective. Its only a game but it is entertainment.

Hive Modern Furniture

This is what happens when i click on ads on nytimes.com. I end up finding pictures like the following. These are from a company called Hive Modern. I've long been a fan of contemporary furniture and everytime i see pieces im intrigued. For the record i do not know why this stuff cost as much as it does, but im sure some of you can afford it (not to say that its THAT much). The website is Hivemodern.com.

Old Yeezy Interview w/Sway

If nothing else, im able to empathize with Kanye musically. He often says what i want to get out but i don't quite have the platform. I've talked to my partner KT and we have these intellectual music conversations and i feel as if Yeezy sits in on them. There is a lot of music that i don't like (a and a measure that i do like) and its often contingent on the music principles that are missing or present and Kanye kinda touches on some these things. And most hip hop artist aren't even familiar with some of the music terms he uses like syncopation So kick back and listen to me speak via Kanye.

Colt .88

GQ is really delivering this year, but im not referring to fashion in the least bit. I read another article that blew my socks off, about former great Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison. The article chronicles the timeline and peruses the details surrounding a North Philly murder that seems to have Harrison's vestige all over it.

Ardent and even some loosely involved sports fans will recall Marvin Harrison as a very quiet and robotic individual, never said much to the media, and now we know to include his teammates among the shunned. A small excerpt reads "...through all this, his teammates claimed they didn't know him in the slightest. "He's like Batman," linebacker Cato June told Sports Illustrated." By most accounts he was a very tidy man and kept things in order as one should. But back in home in North Philly things got sloppy quite fast between Harrison and local drug dealers and childhood rivals. I won't divulge the story but its a fascinating lesson for some and a melancholy reminder for others of how ones upbringing and environment can haunt them. Unfortunate upbringings can be sticky webs to get out of and this is the epitome of that.

Click here to read Dirtiest Player by Jason Fagone

Game Brain

This is an article published in the October issue of GQ Magazine that i found captivating. Its a bit longer than most web articles but i was so engrossed i didn't even notice. You can read the article here to be well informed as you continue reading what will ensue.

The NFL has been very reluctant to succumb to novel research that suggest their players are at an extremely high risk of dementia and other related problems that can affect players immediately after their playing days. Including their insidious attempts to have scientific articles removed from publications. The NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry that has thrived for so long on the insatiable appetite of fans to see the violent collisions and incredible velocity that they can't or won't attempt to do themselves. The NFL works like insurance companies when it comes to distributing money to former players for disability. They give the most egregiously disabled retirees the minimum amount of money, when in fact they deserved the maximum. All in all, the subtext reads "we are worried about our profits and not the players". Putting money into cures would seem advantageous but that hasn't been the strategy. It looks like strides are being made but the NFL has put this off for so long they may end up with a larger fight then they intended initially. This should be interesting to follow.

Props to Common for putting this up on his blog, thinkcommon.com/blog (that's how i found it)