Step Brothers From Another Mother

The Movement

"We Pack and Deliver Like UPS Trucks..."

Its About Time Mr. Ferrell

"POW POW!!"

I had the opportunity to watch the latest film by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, Step Brothers. To be completely honest, I went to the movie thinking....is this going to be another Talladega Nights? Blades of Glory? Semi-Pro? I'm not sure if you all agree with me or not, but the films that I just mentioned were, to be brutally honest, terrible. After his earlier projects such as Old School and Anchor Man, and random SNL skits, it was as though he was on top of the comedic realm. But then he releases some bummy movies because he knows that he can sell those movies just based off of his name. I'm sure there are die hard fans that say that all of his films are hilarious. Anyways, his latest creation will leave you in stitches. Definitely worth going to see, maybe even a second time. I haven't laughed out loud in a movie for quite some time. So thank you Mr. Ferrell for finally coming with something I can be proud to say was.....hilarious.

Dark Knight downs the Webby

Finally,

I now have a little bit of time (nonetheless at work) to sit down and blog my first on Food 4 Thought! Of course, I'm going to go over the big story of the weekend... and that was, the movie we all waited so long for: 'Dark Knight'



Just to give you the magnitude of the movie this weekend.

1. $155.3 million - new record (Previous $151.1 Million by Spiderman 3)
2. Biggest single-day gross for a movie ($67.9 million)
3. Largest midnight preview ($18.5 million)
4. Most opening theaters (4.366)
5. Record movie sales in total for top 12 films ($249.6 million)

Well, I'm sad to say I haven't contributed to those numbers, but I will tomorrow night. Already bought tickets for 'The Dome' (Arclight theaters) in Hollywood. But, I have to gloat and say that I predicted that this movie would break some records.

Now, what was the combination for the movie's success?

1. Plot / storyline?
2. Directing?
3. A fallen, star actor
4. Effects / music?
5. Marketing
6. Others

Would the marketing have been as successful, without the death of Heath Ledger? We'll never know!

I Love Technology...

"Ayo, I'm Tired of Using Technology...."

Doesn't it seem as though the iPhone just came out? Well tomorrow is the day all you techno freaks can get your hands on the all new iPhone 3G. From what I heard they have fixed some bugs and the internet is much much much faster (3X fast!). The design is the same though. I believe that it is only $199 through Cingular/ATT Wireless. If I wasn't tied to TMobile, I'd definitely try to get my hands on this.

Also, if you plan on getting one of these or already have the original iPhone, then you should check out this website...http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/. There are so many different applications that you can download for your iPhone. I think I really need one of these in my life.
Has anyone used an unlocked iPhone for TMobile? If so, how well does it work?



But if some of you are in the same boat as I am, then you might want to wait for BlackBerry's latest gizmo that is about to come out for all major carriers. Introducing the Blackberry Bold...



Here is a quick review of the product.



Its supposed to drop in August for ATT/Cingular and a few months later for the rest of the major wireless carriers. C'mon Tmobile! Quit making me wait so long! My Dash has seen better days.

This Article Was Jacked From Swampland - Time

In addition to yesterday's posting about The Best Rapper Alive, I came across a rather interesting post on Michael Scherer's blog, Swampland. Check it out and let me know what you think.

July 8, 2008 8:18

The Politics of Lil' Wayne

Posted by Michael Scherer | Comments (42) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

As Karen notes below, Barack Obama crossed the pop culture/politics divide today by praising Lil' Wayne's rhyming ability at a campaign event in Powder Springs, Georgia. Before dismissing this development as trivia, consider that Lil' Wayne is both the most acclaimed rapper of 2008 and one of the biggest pop culture figures in the nation, with a song, Lollipop, that is #2 on the Billboard charts four months after its release and an album that sold 423,000 copies on its first day in stores. Add to this the fact that Weezy, as he sometimes calls himself, is perfectly willing to rap about politics, albeit crudely.

Take the lyrics of Lollipop, the aforementioned song which, if you have not yet heard on the radio, then your children certainly have. As is the habit of most modern Hip Hop, it is a song of sexual conquest, with Lil' Wayne boasting of his ability to attract women and enjoy their company. Not so interesting, you think? Check out this set of lyrical couplets:

I get her on top / She drop it like it's hot

And when I'm at the bottom / She Hillary Rodham

In the song, these lines are meant as a compliment both to the girl in his bed and the former presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, whose take-charge, ready-from-day-one attitude the artist apparently admires. Of course, the precise context of the compliment is insulting to millions of Americans, but then the Lil' Wayne oeuvre is not exactly sensitive to such considerations.

Now, I don't have data on radio play, but I am willing to bet that more Americans have heard this homage to Clinton more times in the last month, on the radio, in their iPods, in dance halls, on television (MTV and BET play the video in heavy rotation), than any segment of a speech by Barack Obama or John McCain. These pop stars have some serious messaging power.

For the same reason, the pop culture stature of Rev. Al Sharpton, another former Democratic candidate for president, has been directly challenged by another track from Lil' Wayne's latest album. At the end of the song Misunderstood, the rapper goes into an extended rumination on race, crime and politics in America. It ends with a blistering appraisal of Sharpton:

Mr. Al Sharpton, here’s why I don’t respect you, and nobody like you. You’re the type that gets off on getting on other people. That’s not good. . . . And rather unhuman, I should say. I mean, given the fact that humanity - well, good humanity, rather - to me is helping one another no matter your color or race. But this guy and people like him, they’d rather speculate before they informate, if that’s a word.

It turns out informate is a word, at least in one dictionary. Lil' Wayne goes on to call Sharpton "just another Don King, with a perm, hahah, just a little more political, and that just means you're a little unhuman." This is not the sort of language that is often heard in political debate. But then Lil' Wayne is not the sort of person who usually enters the political maw. In addition to his critical acclaim and success--TIME calls him "the best rapper alive"--he has survived an accidental self-inflicted gun shot, a subsequent arrest for gun possession, and an arrest by U.S. Border Patrol for possession of cocaine and ecstasy. All that, and the man is among America's reigning masters of wordplay.

Politicians everywhere, beware.

The Best Rapper Alive

"Blind eyes can look at me and see the truth."

Hope everyone had a safe Independence Day weekend. As for your boy, I was in LA and the O.C. visiting some friends and family. I wonder what life would be like if I lived out there. I'm sure I wouldn't get anything done and I'm also sure I'd get fat cause there is so much good eats out there! I'll try to post some pics when I upload them onto the Mac.

Special shout out to my cousin Nars for holding me down the entire weekend. It was greatly appreciated. I'm sure you slept like a baby rock after I left!

Anyways, I found this article on my boy Matt's (thanks for a great night homie!!) facebook wall. I thought it was good so I wanted to share it with all of ya'll.

Techno K, keep yo' head up boy. Welcome to La Familia.