Widukinds Diary Entry #3

Topic 1) I really want some Mexican food. I went to this place near here a while ago, which a kid from Boston and one from Nashville called "really good". Let me tell you, it was not "really good". I ordered a burrito, and it was just a fucking tortilla wrapped around that really cheap, ground-up taco meat that they used to serve at the cafeteria in middle school. You know, the kind that looks like they had a thousand midgets shit in a tortilla and then threw some rice on the side and cheese on top. "Really good" my ass.

Topic 2) What a shitty weekend for sports. I hate Boston so much. Fuck Boston. Everything in the city should be renamed. Like the "Peedom Trail" and the "Boston Pee Party", and "Fenghey Park" and "The Green Diarrhea". You know, I like Bill Simmons and all, but to have another fucking week of Red Sox and Patriots articles is really going to piss me off.

Topic 3) Here is my first bold prediction for the 2008 MLB season: it all starts with the Angels signing A-Rod. Mets don't need him, Red Sox just can't have him, and no way he wants to go to the NL and play for the Dodgers or Giants. So, the Angels actually sign him for a bit less (not a whole lot) than expected, because the market actually thins for A-Rod and his monster salary. Here's the kicker; a certain slugger from the Bay Area sees this signing, and realizes, "Holy fuck this is my chance to win a ring". So Barry signs with the Angels and does the classy thing: takes a pay cut. Sure, he'll have some accomodations made for him under the table to make up for the semi-low salary, but when it comes down to it, Barry will realize LA is the place he wants to be. Why? 3 reasons. One, he gets to stay in California. Two, I think the fans in LA would be more kind to him than more traditionalists, like in New York or Boston. Three, the possibility of hitting in front of, or behind, Vlad and A-Rod is just too jizz-inducing to imagine. Imagine that Angels team. Set the table with Figgins and Kendrick, followed by three of the greatest hitters of the past decade plus? With their rotation and bullpen, games would be over by the 2nd inning. Unbelievable.
Obviously this is extremely far-fetched, but it's not impossible. All I know is wherever Barry ends up, I will root for that team to win the World Series, no exceptions.

Out like the Rockies...tear.

"I have more cheese than a platinum artist rappin' garbage"

This is so hot, I've got to get it off my hands before they burn... serially. Freeway, the Philly based phenom (whose birth name is Leslie Pridgen...right?), in light of his new album Free at Last, which is set to drop on November 20th (a great warm-up for gut-check December, which features Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, Scarface, Too $hort, Jadakiss, and Paul Wall), leaked one of the first singles, "Step Back" featuring Lil' Wayne. This song is ripe; Produced by Don Cannon, "Step Back", sounds very similar to his "Cannon (Remix)" with Wayne, Detroit Red, and Freeway of earlier Gangsta Grillz work, with the catch phrase being used not only as the beat, but as a lyrical instrument as well. The only version that I could find is the clean version that I got through nahright.com, but I will keep looking for the dirty version for all of those potty-mouths out there.

"Step Back" (Produced by Don Cannon) - Freeway ft. Lil' Wayne
(Off of Free at Last, out 11/20/07)

I can't get caught because I talk so much trash about how fast I am ... so much trash...

So this quote is not meant to offend the Niners fans, in fact I'm done talking shit, but I have to mention this one statistic: in the two games I attended at Giants Stadium, Osi Umenyiora has 7.0 sacks, 3 Forced Fumbles, 2 Fumble Recoveries, 1 TD and two Defensive Player of the Week Awards. I am jocking him hard the rest of the year, so hard I might have to buy a red jersey. Last week I went 9-5 (I forgot to put up my Raiders Chiefs pick but I would have picked the Raiders) making me 66-37, and went 5-8-1 making me 42-54-7. This week I'm turning it around.

Predictions:
Browns, Browns -3 over Rams. This could be one of the Rams best opportunities to win a game. I really hope it doesn't happen.
Bears, Bears -5 over Lions. The Lions are the new "Greatest Show on Turf", but play like shit on the road.
Colts, Colts -7 over Panthers. The most ludicrous spread of the week. With Vinny at QB I think this should be two touchdowns.
Giants, Giants -10 over Dolphins. I am praying for the Giants not to fall into a trap game going into their bye. Their game against Dallas two weeks from now could be the biggest game in the regular season for the NFC.
Titans, Raiders +7 over Titans. The Titans are ok, but simply cannot put teams away. VY leads them to a win in a close one.
Vikings, Vikings +1 over Eagles. I like the home team in this one. Two teams that are in big trouble if they lose this game. The Eagles need this one bad.
Steelers, Steelers -4 over Bengals. A replay of 2005 except Carson Palmer doesn't get hurt and the game is never close.
Bills, Bills +3 over Jets. The Bills screwed me last week, this week playing against a Jonathan Vilma-less Jets, they should cruise.
Chargers, Chargers (pick/no line)over Texans. The Chargers should win this won comfortably. We at Dress Archie wish the best for our neighbors to the South.
Bucs, Bucs -4 over Jaguars. Quinn Grey sucks. With David Gerrard playing, I pick the Jags in this one no doubt.
49ers, Niners +3 over Saints. My upset of the week. Niners steal one off the Saints. Frank Gore should get back on track and just go off on the Aints.
Pats, Pats -17 over Redskins. They have covered every week and at least twice I said they wouldn't. I hope they beat the Skins by 100.
Packers, Packers +3 over Broncos. Brett Favre works his Monday Night magic, and the Broncos concede they are about done this year.

I'm out like the good weather in Boston for the next 5 months.

My two newest purchases...

If you get these you know too much about football...

Oh S[a]igh[gon]...

Hold on. One more thing. It looks like December 4th is going to be a little busier. And yet, in light of recent events, we will still only have to buy two records that day. RZA, to the pleasure of our main man Ghost in the muthah-fuckin-house, has decided to push the release date of 8 Diagrams, which was set to drop December 4th, back to December 11th. We will have to wait another week, but it should be worth it, besides, it will give us more time to listen to Ghostface with our undivided attention--HOLD ON!--In enters Saigon [stage right]. "My record, The Greatest Story Never Told, is dropping on the same god-dammed day! Why no respect?!" Well Sai, I'z sorry. I forgot. This album should be pretty sick as well, with tracks produced by Just Blaze and Kanye, as well as The Alchemist, with guest appearances by Bun B, Devin the Dude, Layzie Bone, Q-Tip, and Jay-Z. Sai claims that this will be one of the best rap albums of the past 20 years, which is a rather bold statement. This is going to be a pretty good album, but Sai, come on. That is a pretty tall order. Especially when you are releasing your album in probably one of the busiest and important months in rap's long and infamous life. Show me what you got...

Widukinds Diary Entry #2

Although I am a maturing young man, I'm not afraid to admit that I still have a soft spot for cute things. I like my cat, I like dogs (excluding Indy [sp?], usually Lola, and sometimes Chocolate), and I like Animal Planet. But no fuzzy baby bears, no cuddling chinchillas compare to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
I just got back from seeing him give one of his many lectures at my school this weekend, and he is exactly as I imagined: a total goofball. The lights on stage were so bright for him that he put on this incredibly silly looking foam visor that was always a little lopsided. Later, the president of Emory was sitting next to him and giving him a welcome speech, but he was having difficulty holding all of his papers while managing the microphone. So D-Lams (as he is affectionately known around our hall) took the mic from the presidents hands and held it in front of his mouth. The president couldn't stop laughing, and while he was sifting through his papers Lams took the mic and pretended to bop him on the head while he wasn't looking. He then turned to the audience, and with the goofiest, most mischevious look I have ever seen, commenced his sublime belly laugh. It's exactly how we imagine Dmeat-hook or Big Papi's, except instead of a big happy black guy it's a little happy Tibetan monk (hungryfortacos especially, you have to see this guy in person someday).
Oh, yeah, his lecture was also pretty interesting. Admittedly it was a little hard to understand; he did most of it in English, but occasionally dipped in to Tibetan and had it translated. But here's the crazy thing; throughout the lecture I was trying to relate concepts he expressed to basic tenents of other religions, but when it came down to the nitty gritty, I couldn't help relating everything to our Shrooms Book.
The main focus of D-Lams' lecture was interdependence. For example, His Holiness addressed the issue of war, and proposed that everyone is part of everyone else; consequently, the destruction of your neighbor also results in the destruction of yourself. He guided the audience through the steps of coming to the realization that maintaining ones inner-self stems directly from supporting those around you, regardless of who they may be and from what background they come.
Ring any bells? Compare these Buddhist concepts to "We are all people, we just spell people differently. Pipple is how Alex spells People. I spell it world."
It's amazing that the same ideas that rang so unbelieveably true while on shrooms in Amsterdam are being upheld by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the entire Buddhist tradition.
I literally think a legitimate thesis could be written on this concept. On shrooms we were able to function normally, yet somehow the world was different. It was light, happier, and everything made so much sense. We generated hypotheses that would help cure seemingly endless world conflicts, and even accompanied them with pictures. It wasn't like smoking where you feel the need to consume immense amounts of food (a.k.a. "material possessions") and are overcome by the desire to get some (or if you're not so lucky, go home and do the business). Some of us sat, some of us wandered, but we were all enlightened in some way.
So what is our glorious conclusion? I present two. 1) Either D-Lams is totally hooked on psilocybin (or some crazy Tibetan master cush), or 2) everyone should just do shrooms more. I really don't see another option. Except that maybe they're both true.

Out like Tricky Dick.

The Steelers think they are hot shit. There's only one guy on that team I have respect for...

(Too soon or not soon enough?)

Now while this quote comes from the 1970's I feel it is still relevant today because the Steelers are so ghey. That being said on to the picks... 8-5 last week in picks (57-32 on the year) and 5-6-2 with spread (37-46-6) on the year. Now "if gambling was legal to quote Bill Simmons" it would be really dumb to start this week because I have bad feelings about all these games. Nonetheless, we'll see how I do...

Predictions:
Redskins, Cardinals +8 1/2 over Skins. Cardinals have enough firepower to keep it close.
Saints, Saints -8 over Falcons. The Falcons are atrocious and the Saints are gonna go on a little streak here I bet after that first win.
Ravens, Ravens -3 over Bills. I think the Ravens are gonna eat Troy Edwards lunch. And then toss his salad.
Patriots, Dolphins +17 over Pats. What?! you might be asking yourself. 6-0 not covering over 0-6, I'm saying Pats dominate but it'll be closer than expected.
Giants, Niners +9 1/2 over Giants. I think the Giants are gonna win, especially with Smith out, but I don't think they'll blow out this Niners team. I expect it to be a close one.
Bucs, Bucs +2 1/2 over Lions. One of the games I have no idea about. Really two even teams.
Texans, Texans +1 1/2 over Titans. Another game I have no clue about. When in doubt, I take the underdog covering.
Bengals, Benagls -6 1/2 over Jets. What a down year for both teams. Jeez.
Cowboys, Vikings +10 over Cowboys. This game is gonna be close. I even think it could be an upset. We'll see though.
Bears, Bears +6 over Eagles. I just think the Eagles are real bad and the Bears D will definately be looking to prove something after being embarrassed by the Vikings (wait not the Vikings, Adrian Peterson).
Seahawks, Seahawks +8 1/2 over Rams. I can't wait for the two 0-6 teams to be two 0-7 teams.
Steelers, Steelers -4 over Broncos. I really really want to take the Broncos. But honestly, Travis Henry should have more than football on his mind...like his nine children and their nine different mothes.
Colts, Colts -3 1/2 over Jags. Peyton's not going down on Monday night.

I'll see some of you tomorrow at the holy land.

This ain't no frat house...

Weezy F. Baby and Fat Joe are back with a new slapper. Produced by DJ Benzi, their new song "Crack House" is filled with excellent Joeisms, such as "You gotta touch your toes or I'm out/Fuck the club, I got a strip pole in my house". I will keep the words short as not to block the previous masterpiece. Out...

Fat Joe ft. Lil' Wayne - Crack House
(courtesy of discobelle.net)

It Comes Down to December...

Album sales are down all across the board. Aside from Kanye West's Graduation which sold 957,000 copies its first week, has there been any other albums released this year that can be considered necessary purchases? Pharoahe Monch's Desire might have been the second best album behind Graduation but apparently sold little over 17,000 copies its first week. Detox and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II never dropped (unsurprisingly), while both T.I's T.I. VS. TIP and 50's Curtis did and were either real mediocre (somewhat surprisingly) or downright crappy (duh, CURTIS). Not too long ago, Nas released his album Hip Hop Is Dead to controversy on a number of fronts; I myself found the statement over-the-top and rather douchebaggy, but today I can't help but wonder if Nas was on to something. Hip-Hop might not be dead, but it certainly appears to be either hibernating or on its last legs. Which is why the month of December may be what makes or breaks the future of the rap industry.

I've been forced to listen to the radio on a number of drives for soccer this year, and have been appalled with the amount of plays songs like Crank That receive. I always knew it existed, but back home I never listened to the radio at all so I remained blissfully ignorant to the overall state of mainstream rap music. But now that I have realized how ugly it can be, hope appears to be on the horizon. For in the month of December, potentially 5 "must-purchase" albums may be released. Now release dates in the rap game like a Larry David promise, and I got the dates from the oh-so reliable wikipedia, but nonetheless, I'll continue on the assumption that all the albums will release on the day the are supposed to. On December 4th, Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams, Ghosface Killah's Big Dough Rehab, and Scarface's MADE will all drop, while on December 11, Beanie Sigel's The Solution will be released, and on December 18th, Tha Carter III will come out as well.

8 Diagrams and Big Dough Rehab are the best hope for the underground, less mainstream rap fans. Ghostface's last two albums have been real hot and everything I have heard from the new Wu-Tang album I have liked. However, the underground scene has had a rough year. Talib Kweli's new album did not have a large effect on the rap game, and Common's new album was hated on by pretty much everyone. The hopes then fall on the shoulders of the Wu-Tang Clan and one of its members. Will this new album bring them back to the label of 36 Chambers or will it less successful, like The W or Iron Flag?

The last two, The Solution and Tha Carter III have the hopes of entire regions riding on them. The East Coast has been dead for some time in rap- I mean Busta Rhymes was crowned "King of New York"- and despite Jay-Z's comeback and new album, it still needs resuscitation. What it comes down to is that the East Coast needs quality rap, and the rap industry needs the East Coast markets. Beanie Sigel has been released from jail, started up some shit with Kanye questioning his sexuality (nothing like a little beef, it leads to better music) and recorded an album that originally had the title of Return of the Bad Guy. That sounds like something rap needs. Weezy's Carter III on the other hand is a huge album for a couple reasons. First off, the South has been rather dominant in the rap game for a little while now, but this year has had sort of a down year, considering Jeezy's and TI's mediocre releases. Wayne needs to basically put the whole region on his back. He also has to prove on a studio album that he is "The Best Rapper Alive". Both of the Carter's have been hot, but haven't cemented his status as a king in the game yet. The Carter III must do that. Plus with all the bloggers and backpack rap fans, and mixtape heads dick-riding him so hard right now (me and the rest of the contributors included) he's got to to prove he's worth all the attention.

However the most interesting and possibly most powerful album of the 5 could be Scarface's MADE. Now sophomore year I think was the year I was in my Scarface phase (along with Freshman year maybe) and after G Code I slept on him for a while. But he's got a new album coming out, and considering his last real solo album was The Fix, a fucking classic, this new album could be the best Gangster/Hardcore rap album for a long time. Scarface raps real hard, maybe the hardest in the game, and its time to see whether or not that holds clout in the rap industry any more.

If these 5 albums all drop to critical acclaim and at least modest album sales, rap can consider itself in ok shape. If they flop though, then you have possibly the best group of all time, possibly the best gangster rapper, probably the best young rapper, possibly the best slept on rapper, and probably the hungriest rapper all failing, and rap music may not be able to survive all that in the span of one month.

(I hope you enjoy my 5 paragraph critical essay right there and that's not even for a class)

Where is Bangers and Cash?

Just to continue on the vein of ridiculous pictures, I thought I would show the reason for Best Buy pulling the sale of Spank Rock's forthcoming EP Bangers and Cash. Peep the bright red object in the middle of this back cover photograph. Yes, that is a dildo. News courtesy of okayplayer.com.

Zaireeka Party!

Thats right, the Flaming Lips will be having a party to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the release of their experimental album Zaireeka, Pitchfork reports.

These parties are said to be held between now and Halloween in Record Stores all around the country.

This will also mark the day of the release of the hallowed "10th" disc, which is actually the 5th disc of the series.

Also, a "Digital Wayne" will appear of DVD at all of the parties explaining the meaning of each track.

(The four sentences are meant to be read at the same time from four different readers, but to really be trippy, try different combinations of the four)

Nominee for facebook post of the month...

Michael on RJ's wall regarding RJ's new Stanford female friend:

Michael Duryee-Browner:

Kelly bonne-ache.

wit-ch!!!!!

new filet!!!

faded!!!!

Michael thanks for your contribution to society.

Censored

You thought M. Vick was bad...

I spotted this picture on a blog and was absolutely disgusted with the way that this woman has treated her dog. Nonetheless, this is pretty funny/ridiculous.

Une fête du danse tecktonique...

I have probably showed many the video of Spoke en Mode (or at least that is what I have decoded his name to be from my journies through the French comments left underneath this video on youtube and its French and Lithuanian counterparts), a dancer that I feel embodies the "tecktonic" dance craze that is said to be sweeping Paris. Since I have not seen this first hand, I thought I would show you this video of Spoke en Mode, instead of attempting to explain this amazing style of dance that just makes me want to move my whole body. To make matters ten times better, I also was able to track down the song from the video, which is incredible. You can listen to the song directly here. Or download it...

Da Fresh - Spaghetti Groove

p.s. Having a techno dance party and short a DJ? No problem! Hit up discobelle, a blog that I just found that is really great for techno mixes and weird underground rap mixes. I highly suggest the Hollywood Holt Mixtape, a special mix that Daft Punk did for a Louis Vuitton runway show (check out the video on that page as well), as well as Calabria 2007 (Hatchmatik Clubabria Remix), which is a version of a song that was really popular when we were in Europe. For longer DJ sets, check out the mixes section of the site, which has tons of recordings of live DJ sets that are from 45 minutes to an hour long. This blog is super prolific, with almost five posts a day, so enjoy and explore...

p.p.s. Shout out to my roommate Ian & James Harris, who found this guy years ago...

Bring on December 4th...

Wu-Tang- The Heart Gently Weeps

Jesus Christ. 8 Diagrams, December 4th. 51 days. The countdown has begun...

To the haters who said I wouldn't get my money/I laugh, say 'Ha ha, that's funny'

This quote and post will combine two of my favorite things. Rap and football. I got a couple things lined up like a fade for you.


(I'm going in a list like Michael)
#1. I still have been listening to nothing but Wu-Tang in school. But I realized, wait, I don't even own the album that started it all, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). I figure that you guys like me probably only had CREAM and Method Man, so here's the rest of the CD. It's pretty fucking money. Get Enter the Wu-Tang.

#2. So in the car ride to CCRI for our reserve soccer game I heard this trippy ass new Lil' Wayne song. It's all about drugs and being high and sounds like it would be sick if you were high (I plan on experimenting with this tonight). It's called I Feel Like Dying, and supposedly according to the artist information in iTunes will be on Tha Carter III. Curious...

#3. 10-4 in picks last week, making me 49-27 (very nice) and 5-8-1 taking me to 32-40-4 (minor setback). This week's picks, minimal at most analysis:
Bengals, Bengals -3 over Chiefs. Chiefs are horrible.
Texans, Texans +7 over Jags. Texans keep the streak alive.
Browns, Browns -5 1/2 over Dolphins. Browns can put up points on anyone.
Bears, Bears -6 over Vikings. Called Bears last week, I like them at home.
Eagles, Eagles -3 1/2 over Jets. Jets look horrible, Eagles needed the bye week.
Ravens, Rams +10 over Ravens. Not sure if Ravens can put up more than 17 points.
Bucs, Bucs -3 over Titans. Somewhat of an upset, Titans need to slow down soon?
Packers, Packers -3 over Redskins. Fuck the Redskins
Cardinals, Cardinals - 4 1/2 over Panthers. No way Vinny T. wins if he starts.
Chargers, Chargers -10 over Raiders. Chargers keep it together/get it going again.
Patriots, Pats -6 1/2 over Cowboys. Wade Phillips is fucking retarded if he said Pats titles were tainted. Why would you ever give any sort of bulletin board motivation to these guys?
Seahawks, Seahawks -7 over Saints. If you told me in August Saints would be 0-4 I would have told you you were smoking crack.
Giants, Giants -3 1/2 over Falcons. Falcons are missing both of their starting tackles. In their place is a rookie and a second-year undrafted back up. Osi should have 3 sacks, Tuck should have 2, Strahan 2, Kiwi 1.5. Key word is should. I have watched Eli Manning every week of this season. He's not very good. There, I said it. That being said, he's still better than about half the QB's in the league.

Quote courtesy of T.O.

Widukinds Diary Entry #1

OK so I've been thinking about alot of stuff recently swo I thought I should put it down. OK.


Topic 1) How sick would it to be Michael Jordan? Duh, there are the obvious reasons. But think about this. No other sports player is even close to as iconolized (word???) as Jordan. Think about this symbol:

Is there another players pose as recognizable in sports? Chad Johnson and T.O. and Tomlinson and all the hullabaloos try to come up with cool celebrations in order to be remembered forever. But no fucking way any of their shit turns into its own brand. Fuck hullabaloos.

Topic 2) Silent Shout by the Knife is a great album. But the song "Like a Pen"? Not like a pen at all! If you're looking for some solid pen jams, seek elswhere oh humble traveler! "I am all over the ledge"...? Doesn't sound like pen like me. More like, tape or some weird stapler.

Topic 3) Girls will never get video games, and the ones that do I always have crushes on. When you walk by my door telling us "have fun with your video games, guys" trying to make us all guilty, it doesn't work. We are having fun. No shit why else would we be playing them in the first place?

Topic 4) This also fits in to my second thesis, which is that guys who play less video games tend up to be way pervier than otherwise. Exhibit A, B, and C: juanfeesh, harrison....TITS, and the name sake. Why? Because if they're not wasting their time playing video games, there's a high percentage they're using that time to wack off. Just a theory. But think on it.

Topic 5) I love college and all but... how sick is winter break going to be????

Topic 6) Uh. Everyone should write on Sam Fishers wall asking when Ruby gets back on the pill again.

Out like my NL Champs pick Phillies.

By Request...

Radiohead - In Rainbows

BOB: The Future...

Meet B.o.B.. BOB is a rapper that I just read about who originally hails from Decatur, GA, but now calls the area of Hotlanta his home. I looked on his myspace, and was pleased to see that he plays a show in Atlanta pretty much every day...yey widu. His myspace is full of goodies, including links to downloading a bunch of his mixtapes. I am not quite hip to the scene that is happening in Atlanta, but through the research that I have done about this guy I have figured that he was an artist of great interest of TJ Chapman, a very influential character in the hip-hop/rap scene in atl. I downloaded a mixtape of BOB and I have included the songs that I found to be the most appealing to my ear, but you all may find others that you like by downloading, The Future of Hip-Hop Mixtape. Some of my favorite songs include "Cloud 9", "16", "Atlanta, GA" (prod. Traxamillion), "Eastside Tales", "Chevy Star", & "Haterz Everywhere". I know that is a lot, so my top recommendations would be "Chevy Star", "Cloud 9" (I think you might get the theme of this song pretty quickly), and "Atlanta, GA". I wouldn't call this guy the future of hip-hop, but he is definitely bringing something interesting to the table. Oh yeah, he's 18.

***EDIT: get this whole album and listen to it in order...it is put together really well, and after listening to the whole thing a couple of times through i have gotten a lot more appreciation for it.***

p.s. worst written post ever.

In Rainbows...

The new Radiohead album, entitle "In Rainbows" has finally arrived (emailed to me this morning/late night). Although it may not be an album for everyone, it is a pretty monumental occasion. I chose not to put up the entire album, for you can get it yourself for however much you are willing to pay (even nothing) at the album's website, but I am including three tracks that I have enjoyed so far. Be advised, the album was only released in a poor sound quality (160 kbps) but you can still get sound of the songs. The album will be released in a special box set before December 3rd, and the album will be released by a label (which has not been chosen by the band) sometime next year. Please enjoy...

15 Step
Nude
Reckoner