Saturday, February 28, 2009

A great business book indeed


One of the best, and most Surprising, business books of the year comes from a most unlikely source--Kanye West.


As I'm sure you all know by now, I read 'em all, but Kanye's mini-opus entitled "Thank You and You're Welcome" is one of 2008's fave finds, a concise handbook of common sense, common decency and street wisdom.

Like his innovative albums and concerts where he collaborates with other talent for a veritable "one + one = three" equation, Kanye wrote his book with J. Sakiya Sandifer of "Think Think Think and Think Again" fame. In its 50 or so pages, all black with varying styles and colors of neon font, the two offer theories, spout aphorisms and ponder conundrums (conundri?) like:

I wonder...would you rather have 100% from an average person or 10% from someone who is outstanding?
or, the favorite of everyone here at Surprise Central:

Believe in your flyness...conquer your shyness
Best of all, in true Surprise fashion--and in homage to its title--the book was given away as a parting thank you gift to everyone who attended Kanye's concerts this past tour. If you weren't lucky enough to be part of that crew, you can pick up the book by vising Kanye's site or emailing TYYW@wethinkllc.com.





Thursday, February 26, 2009

New Additions!!!

So I just thought about some new stuff i want to add to the site!! Want to know?
I want to start adding... everyday... A word of the day post. and a Quote of the day post. everyday i learn someting new, or i hear something different. Why not share it with the world? So starting tomorrow there will be a word and quote of the day!



The point of this site?


I understand that, on occasion, I’ve completely deviated from the initial purpose of this blog. You know what? That’s life. Thing is…I’m getting back to it. Recently, I got hip to a fundamental systemic problem in my logic. The problem: negativity. I see everything as crap. I look at something and immediately see the bad. Why not the good?


In the process of applying for this fellowship two weeks ago, I reviewed my work history and completely wrote it off as bull. All of it. Like it was good for nothing, when that’s really not the case; I’m just not oriented to looking for the positive in situations. What a shame. Cynicism or optimism…which is more of a challenge? Sometimes, idealism seems really easy. If that were the case, though, why is recovering from cynicism such a difficult task? The questions.

So im going to do speack more on my objectives and goals that i started off with.... I’ve discovered a great number of helpful things recently. I’ll be sharing them over the upcoming days and weeks.




Why are we all duped by politicians?

Today, I watched Spike Lee’s Malcolm X as well as the special features documentary. Of all the thinkers I’ve been exposed to, Malcolm X has to just about be my favorite. His transformation is an amazing testament of faith. He’s an incredible orator whose confidence, charisma, story, and logic has touched millions of lives. He helped so many Black people examine and raise their self-esteem and the regard they held for their people, as well as to make many other positive changes in their lives.



think about this film and am immediately reminded of how complacent and PC everyone is, how easily placated and fooled. There are probably more Uncle Tom’s walking amongst us now than there have ever been; they don’t wear conks, but you can spot them by the company they keep.

In an article on the conflict Black Republicans will face in November, it was noted that John McCain will be attending the NAACP annual convention next month. What bothers me is that his appearance there probably won’t be in vain. He’ll snatch up some of Hillary’s supporters and maybe some Independent voters as well, which is absolutely ridiculous!

When was the last time McCain attended any kind of Black function, formal or informal, when he wasn’t running for any kind of office? He looks like he’s only comfortable around people that are either old, white, or rich, and dark skin automatically disqualifies a person even if they fit in two of the three categories.

So why is he going to the NAACP convention? Because he’s a trickster.

“Trickster?” you ask.

Trickster. (See video below.)
think about this film and am immediately reminded of how complacent and PC everyone is, how easily placated and fooled. There are probably more Uncle Tom’s walking amongst us now than there have ever been; they don’t wear conks, but you can spot them by the company they keep.

In an article on the conflict Black Republicans will face in November, it was noted that John McCain will be attending the NAACP annual convention next month. What bothers me is that his appearance there probably won’t be in vain.

When did you see McCain attend any kind of Black function, formal or informal, when he wasn’t running for any kind of office? He looks like he’s only comfortable around people that are either old, white, or rich, and dark skin automatically disqualifies a person even if they fit in two of the three categories.

So why is he going to the NAACP convention? Because he’s a trickster.

“Trickster?” you ask.

Trickster. (See video below.)



It’s such an easy game to spot that I’m not at all sure why people can be so easily had. I’m not on McCain’s back because I think Obama’s going to make everything right because I don’t think he will. Our political system is so disgusting and marred that I have very little faith for politicians, despite being wooed by Obama’s charisma and intelligence.

More inspiring to me than Barack is Malcolm. After hearing his speeches, I always want to study him, finding the post-NOI version more relatable. Just my luck that there’s a great site dedicated to the man and his work at BrotherMalcolm.net. It’s a great reference for anyone wanting to learn more. Enjoy!




Jadakiss- Cant Stop Me


I actually like this song. And im too big of a fan of Jadakiss or his music, but this is good stuff..




Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The power of one thing changing evrything..


I found this article by Jeremy Stangroom very intriguing and wanted to share.

Okay, so here’s a thing.

Suppose an 18 year old fella takes some photographs of his 17 year old girlfriend in various states of undress. Not pornographic, but not artistic (so we’re talking mild readers’ wives type stuff). She is not coerced in any way, has no objections to him possessing the photographs, and he will never show them to anybody else.

They split up a few years later. She’s happy for him to keep the photographs. Fast forward 25 years. He still possesses the photographs. He’s now in his mid-40s, and he hasn’t been in touch with his old girlfriend for some 20 years, so he has no idea whether she’d mind that he still has the photos (of course, he recognises that she might mind).

So various questions arise:

1. Is it morally wrong for a man in his mid-40s to be looking at naked photos of his 17 year old ex-girlfriend taken 25 years previously? (I’m not interested in whether it is ’sad’, ‘pathetic’, etc).

2. If it is morally wrong, was it wrong when he was 18?

3. If not, is it the age difference that makes it morally wrong? If it is the age difference, how old was he when he started to behave immorally?

4. If not (2 or 3), is it the fact that he can no longer assume her consent? If so, suppose he contacts her, and finds out that she doesn’t mind. Is it okay then?

5. If it still wrong, and it isn’t the age difference, is it because she is not now able to consent for her 17 year old self? (So the thought here is that her 17 year old self would not have consented to the 45 year old version of her boyfriend looking at the photos.)

Generally, what should he do with the photographs? Destroy them?




The first flying car!!

Moller International have predicted a flying car named The ‘Autovolantor’ could be reality within two years. It is based on a Ferrari 599 GTB.

The car is expected to be able to do 100mph on the ground and 150mph in the air. The calculated airborne range is 75 miles and ground range is 150 miles.

Designer Bruce Calkins says the car features a specially designed hybrid fuel and electric system to power the thrusters, creating as much as 800 horse power. He believes it will be able to fly at altitudes of up to 5,000ft.

Estimated cost of having this machine parked on your rooftop is around $641K!!!





What do you see?



In the black you can read the word “GOOD”. But again the word “EVIL” appears in white letters inside each black letter.

So again…what is it that you see?








Who/ What limits you?


Anyone who really knows me, knows that im always looking at, and reading quotes. I recently read on by Les Brown’s which says, “Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.” Powerful stuff right? I say that because it caused me to think!!!


Now of course I believe there should be some limitations in life or there would be certain chaos. But for the most part, limitations as we know them are merely opinions. Unfornutely these opinions are not often originated by us, but more accepted by us. And the source usually comes to form that opinion because of one of two reasons…1) they can’t do it or 2) it’s a threat to them if you do.

So I ask you my fellow thinkers…who should limit you? And more importantly, why?






Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The perfect example of CLEVER Marketing!!


This is a great example of someone knowing the core values of their targeted market.



Id probably love to try to hit this guy, i think the quaters would be better thrown than spent on the Race car game at the movies.



The ideas behind Buffetts Billions


The three most important lessons I learned were all from the same book, The Intelligent Investor. It was written first by (Benjamin) Graham in 1949. They appear in chapters 8 and chapters 20.


The first is, to look at stocks as pieces of businesses, not as little items on a chart that move around, not as ticker symbols, not as something that might split next week or next month or something of the sort. But, rather, to look at the business, value the business, divide by the shares outstanding, and decide whether you really want to own a piece of that business at that price.

The second one was his commentary about your attitude toward the stock market. That it is there to serve you rather than to instruct you, and he used the famous Mr. Market example of that. That attitude is fundamental to making money in stocks over time.

And the final item he talked about was margin of safety. When you buy a stock that you think is worth 10 dollars, you don’t pay $9.95 for it, because you can’t be that precise in estimating its value. So you leave a considerable margin of safety for both what you don’t understand and for the vagaries of the future.

And those three ideas, which I learned when I was 19 years old, have been the bedrock of everything I’ve done since.

- Warren Buffett





True Life : Entrepreneur

This is a great quote that I recently came across that rings true for those who choose the entrepreneurial road in life…


“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

Warren G. Tracey
Founder - Busted Knuckle Garage

And of course it’s one I wish that I would’ve come up with myself!!!





The Burden of a good idea


There was a time when I really feared sharing my ideas because I wasn’t confident enough that I could produce more. This is why this quote by Howard Aiken really hits home with me.


“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”

Good thing I got passed that…and trust, the more you have to fight for it, the more likely it will end up being worth it!!!





The best idea is right under your nose!!


Tap’dNY is a New York City bottled water company with a local twist and knack for honesty.
They don’t travel the world from Fiji to France seeking water or offer the usual bottled water gimmicks. They work with NYC’s public water system to source the world’s best tasting tap water, purify it through reverse osmosis and bottle it locally, leaving out ludicrous transportation miles.

They claim that this is a honest and local alternative to thirsty New Yorkers, giving them a smarter choice: to drink their own (award winning) water.

So I strongly suggest that you really pay attention to your surroundings for the countless opportunities to explore. And if you don’t see any…MOVE!





Dont stress.. Invest!


First let me say that I think stress is a state of mind and not a state of being. A great quote by Wayne Dyer says, “when you change the way you’re looking at something, what you’re looking at will change.”

Although the days of profitable short term investments are long gone , I think the economy is in the midst of announcing a sale on long term investments. There are many long terms investment opportunities out there if you open your mind to them.

One example is to

create investment groups (5-7 people) to purchase homes in your neighborhood. While the market stabilizes itself and equity replenishes, your group can collect rental income.




An Entrepreneur Perspective


The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities.

-Michael Gerber

Think about it!





Guess whos Ad this is..



This is a very subtle McDonalds’ ad for 24hour service in Australia…which I think is hot, i must say!!
If you dont see it.. the golden arches are made from theheadlights(look at the ground)



Hmmm?? Monkey Business


Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, seeing that there were loads of monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them left and right. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He then announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each.

Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, seeing that there were loads of monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them left and right. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He then announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each.




Wash away your fears..

What do you think of the design?

What are a few of your fears?





Cool,simple bag design

This is a pretty cool bag, i must say.





When a great idea meets terrible execution!







Which one for you?


I think this is one of the best questions I’ve ever come across and I’m not sure what this says about me…but I can’t seem to choose!

Which one would you like to be your companion





Creativity to the Max!



I don’t know who the artist is or where this art piece is from, but I felt compelled to post it due to it’s originality.

If anyone knows, let me know





I dare you!!

I dare you to be you! ...

I’ve come to learn that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.





The Future of the Carnival!


This is the world’s first solar-powered ferris wheel located at Pacific Park along the Santa Monica Pier in California. Even with 160,000 lights, the new ferris wheel is 75 percent more energy efficient than the one it replaced.


Now would it be correct to assume that the corporate heads of the energy companies are fully aware of this shift and now are trying to get all they can before their time is up?





A few words by. J. Sandifer


Forever was FOREVER,
Time is all I had,
And my only wish was just for a kiss,

AND NOW ...
Forever feels like it comes tomorrow,
My time is spent before I get it,
AND JUST GETTING A KISS only gets me pissed!




The new toaster

This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you’re never surprised by toast that comes out too dark.

This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology. Although the glass does not currently get hot enough to toast bread, the vendor explained with some R&D this application may be possible. The concept was developed by the Inventables Concept Studio.

I love when design is merged with innovation!!!





Advertising in the clouds!

Flogos are taking your marketing to the skies, and then some. It’ll shape your logotype into a “cloudy” mixture of soap-based foam and helium - and send it off to drift for miles, as high as 6 kilometers up.

Any form can be made (of any color) and almost any specified location covered. The company seems to maintain that “flogo” shapes are environmentally friendly (they just evaporate after a while, and airplanes will fly through them like through any cloud.





You get it?



…But if im not mistaken.. dont you need a little extra water to make that grass so green...





Your Greatest opponent

We are always the greatest obstacle to ourselves in not getting what we want out of life.

Once you’re able to master yourself, the possibilities will seem endless.





Which direction are you looking?


New quote!!
Worry looks around, sorry looks back, belief looks forward.



Empire Vs. Humanity



I found this video to be absolutely thought provoking and the presentation is just flawless! It definitely gives you another perspective to consider.

Now my question is…what do you do once you know different?




Intelligent people are less likely to believe in god...


…according to a new study at Ulster University.


WARNING: The following article is for open minded thinkers only. Please precede with caution if your belief system is fragile and/or "stuck"…

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor, telegraph.co.uk
Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the “intellectual elite” considered themselves atheists than the national average.

A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, he claimed.

But the conclusions - in a paper for the academic journal Intelligence - have been branded “simplistic” by critics.
Professor Lynn, who has provoked controversy in the past with research linking intelligence to race and sex, said university academics were less likely to believe in God than almost anyone else.

A survey of Royal Society fellows found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers.

A separate poll in the 90s found only seven per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God.

Professor Lynn said most primary school children believed in God, but as they entered adolescence - and their intelligence increased - many started to have doubts.

He told Times Higher Education magazine: “Why should fewer academics believe in God than the general population? I believe it is simply a matter of the IQ. Academics have higher IQs than the general population. Several Gallup poll studies of the general population have shown that those with higher IQs tend not to believe in God.”

He said religious belief had declined across 137 developed nations in the 20th century at the same time as people became more intelligent.

But Professor Gordon Lynch, director of the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College, London, said it failed to take account of a complex range of social, economic and historical factors.

“Linking religious belief and intelligence in this way could reflect a dangerous trend, developing a simplistic characterisation of religion as primitive, which - while we are trying to deal with very complex issues of religious and cultural pluralism - is perhaps not the most helpful response,” he said.

Dr Alistair McFadyen, senior lecturer in Christian theology at Leeds University, said the conclusion had “a slight tinge of Western cultural imperialism as well as an anti-religious sentiment”.

Dr David Hardman, principal lecturer in learning development at London Metropolitan University, said: “It is very difficult to conduct true experiments that would explicate a causal relationship between IQ and religious belief. Nonetheless, there is evidence from other domains that higher levels of intelligence are associated with a greater ability - or perhaps willingness - to question and overturn strongly felt institutions.”

What do you say? Is faith linked to intelligence.



The Power of Images

This art work on the facade of the Tate Modern in London really caught me off gaurd while surfing the web.

I must admit that my first thought was WHAT!?! Fortunately I gave it a second look. I found myself lost in thinking… umm, and why did I have that first thought in the first place? Think about it!




Can you say. Creative Advertising..

THis is an ad from an advertising company named Kaizen.

I LOVE UNEXPECTED GROWTH MOMENTS!!!
I thought it was really dope when I discovered that Kaizen is also the name of a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life.




What dreams are made of...

This has to be one of, if not the most, creative street vendor ever!

Please peep how the clear plastic bags of air above him are suppose to be the dreams…FREAKIN’ GENUIS!!!

However, there’s some truth to be found in this product since we all have the power to define what’s in the bag to represent our dreams.





Amazing!


This is crazy…and it was made by a single person!!

Jim Denevan made the world’s largest freehand drawing on a dry lake in Nevada. How big is it? Three mile across, which took 100 miles of walking to draw the pattern.

“It is really really big. My first attempt at a place so large. I think it represents about seven or eight days of walking”, says Devevan.

Even though esthetically it’s a welcome addition to the landscape, it is also a sort of a transient mark-like a cloud, or a river-bed. Immense in its scope, and lasting only a moment in the large scale of things.When asked how long did this stupendous artwork last, Jim replied…”It was completely erased in a rainstorm the next week. It felt strange to work so hard and not see the tide come in. But rains did come which is sort of the same thing.”





Time Tested

One thing that will always be true about time is that it waits for no man.

It’s the only thing that we all have the same amount of everyday. The only difference is what we individually choose to do with it. Those who achieve any type of success always know the true value of their time.

So remember this little thought nugget my fellow thinkers…the longest job to finish is the job never started!





Evolution of Households







Even in tough economic times, you may find yourself with a bit of cash to spare. You’ve been working hard, and you want to treat yourself. Should you spend it on an experience, such as a baseball game or concert, or a material object?

Psychological research suggests that, in the long run, experiences make people happier than possessions.

That’s in part because the initial joy of acquiring a new object, such as a new car, fades over time as people become accustomed to seeing it every day, experts said. Experiences, on the other hand, continue to provide happiness through memories long after the event occurred.

Ryan Howell, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, presented his findings this week at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting.

The study looked at 154 people enrolled at San Francisco State University, with an average age of about 25. Participants answered questions about a recent purchase — either material or experiential — they personally made in the last three months with the intention of making themselves happy.

While most people were generally happy with the purchase regardless of what it was, those who wrote about experiences tended to show a higher satisfaction at the time and after the experience had passed.

The most striking difference was in how participants said others around them reacted to either the purchased object or experience. Experiences led to more happiness in others than purchases did. A sense of relatedness to others — getting closer to friends and family — may be one of the reasons why experiences generate more happiness.

“When people spend money on life experiences, whether they also take someone with them or buy an extra ticket or whatever, most of our life experiences involve other individuals,” Howell said. People were fulfilling their need for social bonding while having these experiences, he said.

Another reason for increased happiness in experiences, the researchers found, was that people felt a greater sense of vitality or “being alive” during the experience and in reflection, Howell said.

“As nice as your new computer is, it’s not going to make you feel alive,” he said.

Most psychologists who study the phenomenon say people adapt to a new purchase in six to eight weeks, up to a maximum of three months, Howell said. That means the initial pleasure we get from a new possession generally fades in a matter of months.

Howell’s study builds on earlier work by Thomas Gilovich, professor and chairman of the psychology department at Cornell University. Gilovich and colleague Leaf Van Boven’s seminal 2003 paper “To do or to have: That is the question” found similar results about possessions bringing less happiness than experiences.

Experts also point out that people are less self-conscious when comparing experiences than they are about possessions. It will probably bother you more that your friend’s home theater is better than yours than if your friend saw more sights on her South Seas vacation, Gilovich said.

Experiences form “powerful and important memories that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world,” Gilovich said.

It’s not just individuals who should be thinking about investing in experiences when making purchasing choices — policy makers should also keep this reasoning in mind for their communities, he said.

“If you create municipalities with more parks, bike trails, more hiking trails that make experiences easier, then I think you’re going to have a happier population,” he said.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, does this research mean you should give your honey a nice dinner or weekend getaway rather than a material present, such as a necklace or watch?

The issue of happiness conferred to others has been studied less, so the answer is unclear, experts said.

While Howell would expect this principle of experiences over possessions to still apply, Gilovich agreed that it may, but also points out that the act of giving or receiving an object as a gift is an experience in itself.

“Gifts of material possessions often become keepsakes and have sentimental value that increase with time, instead of diminishing like most material goods,” Gilovich said.





Can vs. Should


When it comes to experiencing what I want out of life, I hate when people are quick to tell me what I can or can’t do.
I think the people who are quick with the “cans and can’ts” usually based them on their own limitations…which you should know by now doesn’t sit to well with me.

What works best for me is asking myself ”should I” instead of “can I” do something. It produces a huge difference in outcome, especially since my innate abilites are a gift and a curse. I really feel/think that I can do anything that I put my mind to…but should I?





Lebron James: The Executive, On Branding


The future of branding (and to a lesser extent, basketball) rests in the hands of the world's best basketball player and his 26-year-old best friend. Now all they have to do is put down the videogame controllers.


Rising from his throne like an urban fairy tale, the great black king stands in his glass house. Looming erect, at six feet eight inches and 250 pounds, he is a pythonic force of length and clout, and all he has to do is crane his neck just so to ever so politely, gingerly, and revolutionarily break the glass ceiling.

The king is wearing sneakers, not the roughed-up kind but the endorsement kind. You can see them, big and exclamatory, through the cameras in the Cube, where he's having his video portrait taken. Twenty-four lenses shooting in adulation from every angle. It's a tiny space, and he fills it. His sneakers take up space, too. They're the dark-red Air Force Ones. Shiny like status. When he misses a shot, he stamps one, a monster foot. The bright-white laces fly, the swoosh goes slap.

He roars. Really, he fucking roars when he misses. Outside the Cube, uptight people titter nervously; they drop their mouths and look up from their bottles of unfortified water.

Was that even human? they ask one another's unfamous faces.

He's a king because they are not. You take away the basketball, and that's still the point. A king can only exist if there are subjects to kneel before him.

He is encased in glass, a great fly caught in commercial amber. Inside he's doing exactly what he wants, playing NBA 2K8 on Xbox 360 -- the hottest console! -- with a neat pile of Vitamin Water -- that quenching endorsement! -- in the corner. Jay-Z is thumping from the speakers like a promise. Outside are the reporters, the gawkers, the handlers, the stylists, watching the way unimportant people do. Waiting, charting, and hovering, like insipid gray suits selling Red Bull at a rave, and club-loud LeBron James is on the inside playing a video game.

This is the story of America Tomorrow. The future of this country. The supersized, jumbo-jawed metaphor for the watchers and the watched is right here in a glass cube, endorsing himself, becoming the future so adroitly that nobody cares that the rest of us are still standing dumbstruck in the present.

To watch LeBron James play is to know that you are not a superstar.

Watching him coming down the court, not terribly fast but not slow for his size either, he is this game's animal, a beast made of pistons, a dark gazelle. Built in a rubber-smelling, pimple-walled orange lab by men with basketball faces. Evolved from a different species.

Picture it. Michael Jordan (his hero) and Penny Hardaway (his full-court predecessor) made love and sprouted this beatific embryo, then gave it to Kobe, who tucked it in his Armani pocket, nestled and incubated it, and when it hatched, the progeny was longer and stronger, and it had more tattoos than its parents, a bigger smile. Love me, market me. You will do both. Love and marketing will, through me, become inextricable.

But the truth is more like this: At twenty-three, LeBron James is only a living thing with a ball in his hands. There is an affection between the two. Love you can't grasp. It's not a middle-class marriage; it's Romeo and Juliet high on Spanish fly and Carmelo Anthony buckling like a horny cheerleader before it. Other players fold to it, like, "Here, you better take it, here, here, hereherehere," and they pass it off to him -- a hot potato that cools to his touch, that wants him to handle her.

LeBron plays without a discernible disposition. When a teammate goes to help him up when he's down, it's a dead man's stare. An ESPN blogger dubbed it the LeBron James "Don't Help Me Up, I Don't Even Want to Look at You Because You Suck So Much, I Can't Believe We're on the Same Team" face.

But he's not an asshole. It's rawer, purer, and a lot less believable than that. He says, "It's just having this instinct. I see the plays over and over in my head. Even when I'm dreaming, I dream about basketball. So when I'm playing, I see the play before it ever even happens. I dream about it, and then I make it a reality."

His voice is hormone deep. Gone-through-five-changes deep. It is bearded but young.

Game Five, Round Two of the Eastern Conference Finals. Cavaliers at Boston. It smells like basketball, the sweat and the shine of the floor. At one point, Boston fans start to rally hard, and LeBron scowls at the crowd, like, Yeah, go on and rally, motherfuckers. There are five of them. There is only one of me.

Boston takes it, 96 -- 89. LeBron scores 35 of those 89.

At the press conference afterward, diamonds glinting -- earrings, ring, cuff links. A six-foot-eight badass blinged up. He is asked how bad the Cavs need to win now. He says: "LeBron James's team is never desperate." Numbly, directly. Look at my diamonds.

On his leg there's a tattoo that says WITNESS. At a game once, slight, myopic billionaire Warren Buffett sat and watched and wore a T-shirt that said the same. They met a few years ago, ate cheeseburgers together. Buffett's a big fan; he believes LeBron will sit at the billionaire's table, with his lobster bib and his golden chalice.

But witness?

"That," says LeBron, "is for everyone that watches me play. They witness something special. You're all a witness."
In his glass house, he is this brilliant museum specimen. Observe him, this great black fly mouthing the words to a rap song and toggling a controller with the zombie gaze of a child. Look at him, but don't touch. Look, you are here to look, but do not disturb.

One guy tries. "LeBron? Um . . . " The name LeBron on his tongue is an apology. "Um, can you . . . "

LeBron says one more minute. He's been playing for forty. He wants to finish his game.

"You need him out? I'll get him out." This comes from a dude a little older than LeBron, dressed a little more like a man.

He knocks on the door of the Cube. "Yo, 'Bron, let's go. Time to go."

Just like that, LeBron is out.

This is Maverick Carter. He's LeBron's best friend; they grew up together in the Akron projects. He's also LeBron's other half, older brother -- the business partner who counts the money.

Sometimes he is Momma Bear. They are eating salads. LeBron finds a piece of bacon in his salad and is inspecting it, wondering if it's bacon. It's okay if it is bacon, he likes bacon, but he's not sure if it is. Maverick sticks his palm out, "Let me see it." Turns it over with his fingers. It's ascertained that it is, indeed, bacon, and he tells LeBron so, and now LeBron wants it back. Maverick shakes his head, smiles. He is shrewd, caring. He is both at once. Business and not-business, the fusion of the two. How this empire is evolving, as organically as talent and yet also as plastic as Taiwan.

There's a child hovering near the Cube. Maverick asks, "Who's your favorite ballplayer?"

Kid says, "Um . . . do they have to be players who are playing now?"

"Not at all."

"Um . . . Michael Jordan. Julius Erving. Um . . . "

The kid's dad teases, "You better say LeBron!"

Maverick says, "Nah, that's cool," and he's smiling, he's genuine with children, or at least wolfishly good at pretending, but you can see his brain working: How can we make sure this kid, and billions like him -- black ones, white ones, Chinese ones -- say LeBron James first? And LeBron James only.

In 2005 LeBron fired his superagent, Aaron Goodwin. Aaron Goodwin who represents Kevin Durant and Delonte West. Aaron Goodwin who began courting LeBron when he was a moist high schooler back in 2003. Aaron Goodwin who got him the famous $90 million deal with Nike.

In his place, LeBron hired Maverick and started his own agent and sports-marketing company LRMR: The L stands for LeBron, R for Richard Paul, M for Maverick Carter, and R for Randy Mims -- all of them childhood friends. This is well publicized, the usual shit said about it: Entourage but black -- and basketball. Dumb move. Wait, does it even matter when LeBron James is the product? Nike would do business with a roundtable of squirrels to get LeBron to lace up their shoes.

Except Maverick isn't a squirrel. He is twenty-six and well connected. He's got a sleepy voice and a charming sharpness to his face, plus the "I am your friend, I am not your friend" back-and-forth business in his eyes that the hottest bitch in high school harnessed like a Bubblicious smack.

He is the CEO of LRMR. Also, he is the gatekeeper. You want LeBron, you don't just go to Maverick. You have to go through Maverick. He didn't finish his sports-management degree at Western Michigan University. Instead, Maverick went to the Harvard of sports management, Nike, and apprenticed for a year and a half under Basketball Senior Director Lynn Merritt, who was the first convert to the Religion of LeBron. Merritt called Maverick a sponge. He listened to everything. He asked questions -- he asked, Who is the best at this? At that? -- and then he drew from them the answers.

But imagine the beginning, imagine the NBA hearing its newest, biggest star fired his agent and put his best friends in charge. A couple of kids in a designer tree house, watching as they burn down their parents' estate. Now imagine the smoke clearing, when LeBron and Maverick began inking more and more deals, and it became clear to Goodwin that not only did the king have a new kingmaker, but that suckling kingmaker was actually building the empire he'd always dreamed of.

At a lunch following his charity bike-a-thon in Akron, there is all manner of fried chicken being passed around. Boneless, barbecue, buffalo. Orange, red, and steaming. LeBron sits in the way corner in the way back of a pub with his inner circle, Maverick and Mims, and LeBron's Olympic teammate Dwyane Wade. Lunch is laughing, loud. They talk about their BlackBerrys, how to get the calendar to display like this or like that. Kid businessmen with Monopoly cash.

"I thought," says LeBron, fingering a pineapple slice, "if I stopped playing basketball right now, what would my friends have to look back on? They wouldn't have anything to look back on. For me to grow as a businessman, and for me to become a man, I decided I've got to start working with guys I can trust -- my friends. Now I don't need to be there for them to get into places, high-prestige places, or to have a business meeting with somebody. LeBron doesn't have to be there."

He's the guy who started seeing the hot chick, in part to land his friends dates with her rosy clique. Everybody gets laid.

Under the table, LeBron's big-sneakered foot is underneath Maverick's. Their legs are touching, their expensive sneakers are canoodling. It is the ease of their friendship, of their closeness, that they don't even notice.

You can see they've talked this over. LeBron and Maverick. They've sat around on gaming chairs, around an Xbox campfire, and they've said, "I've got it, I've got it, we don't do sponsorships, we do partnerships." And maybe Maverick sponged it half off of someone in a Nike boardroom and half off of Jay-Z, but it doesn't matter. Because the reason this business model will work is, here are the most popular kids in school, and now in life, and they are the ones commandeering the bake sale. Nobody wants to be in a partnership with a loser. You want someone who is airborne, someone who can control climate, the guy who can get the girl and win the game and who looks good with his shirt off.

"What are we doing differently?" says Maverick, and you can tell he loves this question, and loves his answer more: "One thing we do differently, we like to control -- well, control is a bad word -- we like to be involved in every aspect of the brand we're partnered with: who they're advertising with, what the advertiser looks like -- if it's a commercial, then who's the director? We really strive on the management side once a deal is done, so it becomes a partnership, not just a deal where they pay LeBron, he shows up."

And about the partners, they all need to be authentic. Capitalize it. AUTHENTIC. It is a word Maverick and LeBron found in a glen one day, a tethered unicorn they unfettered and dusted off and made their into-the-sunset horse.

So let's say some local car dealer, not even from Akron but from, say, Tallahassee, offered you guys $40 million a year, would you say no?

Maverick says, "Absolutely. If it's not AUTHENTIC to LeBron, then definitely not. We don't do sponsorships. See, sponsorship is" -- he points to the State Farm logo on one of the bike-a-thon banners -- "State Farm pays, then they get to put their names on it. Partnership is: State Farm pays to put their name on it, but they also bring something to the table. Instead of just money."

It's charming to be in control.

"The biggest deal we've said no to," Maverick says, scratching his chin and considering the options, "was $2.5 million a year. Now that's per year. Four years. Per year. It wasn't necessarily that the brand wasn't right. It just wasn't the right time for LeBron to do it."

It's charming to say fuck you to $10 million.

"It's mostly my responsibility," Maverick continues. "LeBron focuses on being the best basketball player in the world. I do most of the negotiations. He's gonna help, but it's not like he's involved in negotiation. That's why it's important to establish the team. He does come in on top-line meetings. But he's not going back and forth on e-mails. He's involved from a top-line perspective."

LRMR owned about 10 percent of big bicycle manufacturer Cannondale with private-equity firm Pegasus. Sold it a few months ago. "LeBron and I came up with the idea," Maverick says. "We discussed it with a member of our team who handles the investments, and we said we were interested in the business of bikes. Twelve months later we sold it with Pegasus and made three or four times as much."

There is the Play-Doh sniff of little boys playing at grown-up games -- Chutes and Ladders with solid-gold game pieces. They have the best of everything. LeBron chose Maverick, and Maverick in turn chose a Valhalla.

But there is also something else: LRMR isn't just looking for equity from the business of LeBron; they are looking for equity from other ballers. They are expanding into a full-blown marketing agency. So far, they've signed Mike Flynt, Ted Ginn Jr., and most notably, new Memphis Grizzly O. J. Mayo. The latter chose to enter the NBA draft over finishing college and was considered one of the best high school players in the country. Sounds familiar.

An athlete representing another athlete. This is a revolution in itself, according to Kenneth Shropshire, a professor of sports business at the University of Pennsylvania. He's never heard of anything like it. And he imagines that's the way it will go. Not just athletes representing themselves, but things happening sooner, faster, fiercer.

"The next step would be for an athlete to come out of high school with their own company," says Shropshire. "You see LeBron, and an even younger kid thinks, Hey, this is something we can do!"

The LeBron Effect is that you can no longer come into the game at twenty-five and expect to get better endorsements than the guy who came in at sixteen, who has employed an agent since he was twelve. You will have lost the race before you even got your number. It's like the younger sisters of prom queens wearing progressively shorter skirts. Show it sooner and let them taste it closer, and suddenly it's, Screw your older sister. She's class of 2008. Not just old hat, but fucking porkpie.
The partners have found their horse. Here in this room, they are betting wild trifectas with seersucker money. With his wide lap, LeBron James straddles all the odds:

He is self-aware and self-ecstatic, in the quietest of ways. "I grew up in Akron, and there was no LeBron James to look up to," says LeBron James.

He's kind of funny, for an athlete. "You grow up in Chicago, you got Walter Payton, Michael Jordan. You grow up in Akron, you got Goodyear!"

He thinks beyond himself, even in the third person. "Me and Mav were talking the other day: We were saying, on June 17, during the NBA Finals, we hope the Lakers win, because Kobe sells shoes, and that helps basketball. That helps LeBron. That helps LRMR."

He is unpretentious. "I was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when I was in the eleventh grade, and I just thought I was doing another cover of another sports magazine. I didn't know how big it was at the time. I didn't know till I was like twenty-one years old how big Sports Illustrated was, and then I was like, Wow! I was pretty big in high school!"

He self-actualizes. "Then I've got a lion tattoo, which symbolizes me. I mean, I've always loved lions. I don't know. I love lions. They the best."

BUT.

There's this: Ask him what his favorite drink is, what he likes to order when he's out, and you mean cocktail, but right off, LeBron says Vitamin Water. Fast, like this: Vitamiwater, like he's spitting out a Jeopardy! question before anyone else in the room. It's rumored he peels the labels off bottles of water he's drinking if they're not Vitamin Water. He's a raging endorser; thanks to Maverick, he is always on. He knows how to be bipartisan, modeled after Jordan.

But he doesn't have the Jordan glimmer yet. LeBron hasn't proven it yet. Because he's not Jordan. Yet.

You hear this from the fans, the guys who love this game enough to recite its truths like drama majors geeking out on Shakespeare.

Go to the famous West Fourth Street court -- the Cage -- in New York City and ask around. These men, their kids, they love LeBron, they wear his sneakers. But Jordan is still better. Jordan's toilet flushes with legacy. He is a proven commodity, as worshipped as the sun, the same bright need in every country.

On a hot summer Sunday down at the Cage, an eleven-year-old named Clifton is watching a game with his uncle. Clifton says, "I love LeBron, but I'd rather meet Jordan." Why? "Jordan's more famous." His uncle Wayne pipes up: "This kid probably never even seen Jordan play. I'm forty-seven, I've seen everybody play since I was his age, and I've never seen anybody play like Jordan. Man, MJ took it to another level."

Then you've got this baller, Victor "Gotti" Cherry, thirty-three, with a sly tuna-belly smile, sitting on a folding chair with his bare feet on the hot top. He's a former Harlem gang leader, but now he's straight, a poet. He says we love LeBron -- where we means the basketball people who matter in New York. He also says something else. And this is where Maverick should cover his eyes.

"Look at Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, KG -- these guys sacrificed their careers for the championship. LeBron has to want it that bad. LeBron came in as a brand, getting $90 million from Nike. Shit. There's almost not much room to go after that. Kobe looks up at the rafters, he sees championship banners. That's inspiration. LeBron looks up and sees nothing. That's why the campaign for him to move to New York is so important. We have a history here," says Gotti. "We love LeBron here. But he needs to just do it, know what I mean?"

What he means is, enough of the talk. Like any talent, like any promise, it is only as good as its execution. We've got to sit and wait. Witness.

LeBron's great bed is quilted in the authenticity of Nike and Coca-Cola, in the swooshes and the snaking scripts of eminence, and that's all good, but he needs to work on the LeBron brand itself -- the emotion, the game, and the game face. He has to be the indisputable best, on the court and off.

LeBron's good friend Jay-Z part-owns the Nets, which are moving to his native Brooklyn in 2010, the same year LeBron will be free of his Cleveland contract. A move from Cleveland won't guarantee a championship, or five. But merely existing in the biggest media spotlight in the world will help the brand, will get LeBron nearer to owning the court of consumer veneration.

At an All-Star Weekend banquet that Jay-Z hosted with LeBron, one attendee recalls, "Jay-Z talked of a tomorrow when these two monuments to music and basketball will transform the rules of engagement for the iconic performer. He talked of making history."

Indeed, if these two perfect storms collide, it will be as meteoric as Hannah Montana French-kissing an American Girl doll at the Teen Choice Awards.

LeBron playing for the Nets "would be a dream for me," says Jay-Z. "But he's my friend first. I want the best for him wherever he is. He's my friend before he's a commodity."

It will help Jay-Z, just like Kobe winning helps sell sneakers, which helps LeBron. Brotherhood, lookin' out. Friendship and family, remixed with money and talent and fame and street cred, partnering the best of one world with the best of another.

"My logo," LeBron says, "is expanded now. An LB with a two-three and a crown underneath it." He points to it on his shoes. "You can see it right here, too." He moves the massive, winking bling he wears around his neck aside to expose the LeBron logo on his T-shirt. The necklace, a gift from Jay-Z, is a cluster of diamonds the size of a child's hand in the shape of Jay-Z's own logo, for his Roc-A-Fella Records.

Logo on top of logo, coiled snakes, sweethearts cheek to superstar cheek.

Now all he must do is win. And when he does, the logos will ignite -- an incandescent fire show scored with hip-hop and popping with exploding orange rubber -- and melt into each other. The two brands will beat as one. Bigger than Jordan, dunking higher than the sun. This is LeBron's silent vow, and Jay-Z's (and the world's) fervent expectation.




Kid Cudi and Kanye on 106 & Park



Kid cudi did well, and KAnye just didnt care that he wasnt suppossed to curse on air! ha! Kanye's definately a rebel.




Is privacy a thing of the past By, the think movement


Until now, I’ve have only shared my thoughts on the Chris Brown & Rihanna situation with close friends, but this weekend’s over the top sensationalism on the matter sparked a bigger thought for me….in today’s world, do we have a right to privacy?
It all kick off on Friday while watching of all things my beloved Oprah. And yes, I watch Oprah from time to time and I hope my following thoughts don’t prevent me from appearing on her show in the future (wink, wink). But in any case, I was a little thrown back when she not only broadcasted the picture of Rihanna, but credited TMZ as the source. TMZ’s whole claim to fame is based on evading one’s privacy, and her show having the brand which it does only validates their values. I know as well as equally expect her to be a strong supporter of women’s rights, but I strongly feel that Rihanna’s rights to privacy was sacrificed for reasons beyond my understanding. The picture was clearly not something meant for public viewing and the mere fact that the police are now investigating on how it was leaked proves the point even more.

Secondly, I think it was a half hour TV special on one of the MTV channels detailing all the Chris Brown & Rihanna events up to date. Although I do give MTV props on stating on air that they would not be displaying the picture in respect of Rhianna’s privacy, they still talked about it which I think is just the lesser of the two evils. There has to be better content to air. (Sidebar: I really like T.I.’s show “Road To Redemption”, all though we should be making those type of decisions prior to getting in trouble…but I guess hind site will always be 20/20.)

But back to my point of privacy. I remember an article last year about Google being sued by a Pittsburgh couple for posting images of its house on the Internet in Google’s Street Views pages. Google responded, in court no less, that complete privacy simply doesn’t exist in today’s world and the couple should stop crying about it. One of thier points filed with the court was, “Today’s satellite image technology means that even in today’s desert, complete privacy does not exist.” I’m not sure if Google won their case, but their point was made.

So with the means and values of TMZ being validated by the mainstream media as well as Google’s point in court, I ask you again…in today’s world, do we have a right to privacy?





U.S. will own 40% of Citi


Nationalization, at least a partial one, seems inevitable for Citigroup. As Washington prepares to tighten its grip on the struggling company, the implications — for the troubled financial giant and the rest of the industry — are starting to sink in.
Under a plan federal regulators were discussing on Monday, the government may end up owning as much as 40 percent of Citigroup, which has already grabbed two multibillion-dollar lifelines from Washington.

The question is, what happens then? Perhaps not all that much, at least for now.

Even before rescue No. 3 — which will not involve additional taxpayer money — federal regulators were clamping down on the company. The government has ordered Citigroup to sell businesses, shake up its board, cut its dividend and reduce risky trading. It has also moved to curb bonuses and perks like corporate jets.

Moreover, Citigroup already relies on the government to finance its operations and insure hundreds of billions of risky assets. It has bowed to Democratic lawmakers on bankruptcy legislation that the financial industry had long opposed, and is now required to fill out a public report card on its lending activities monthly.

“What is the big deal?” said Charles R. Geisst, a financial historian. “They are wards of the state anyway.”

The Obama administration says it has no plan to nationalize banks outright, and government officials say they want to avoid taking a big stake in Citigroup. The hope is that more equity capital from the government, supplied through the conversion of preferred stock, will help Citigroup pass a new “stress test” that federal regulators are preparing to administer to 20 or so large banks. The administration’s strategy seems to point in the direction of stopping short of outright nationalization — where the government takes control — and stepping up regulatory scrutiny.

But with greater ownership, there is always the risk that the government might try to exert a lot more influence over Citigroup. The entire banking industry, after all, remains under acute stress. JPMorgan Chase, widely regarded as one of the healthier big banks, announced on Monday that it would sharply reduce its dividend to stockholders to conserve cash in case the economy deteriorates further.

Citigroup, with operations in more than 100 countries, encapsulates many of the ills plaguing the global banking industry. In the future, the company will almost certainly be smaller and less profitable than it was in the past, analysts say.

“A year from now, it will be more like a large financial utility,” said Michael Mayo, a Deutsche Bank analyst. “Less risk, less leverage, less growth.” Analysts say the worst-case situation is that the government eventually steps in, breaks up Citigroup and sells off the pieces. Citigroup, they said, could end up half of its current size.

A big question is whether the government will press to replace Vikram S. Pandit, Citigroup’s chief executive. Citigroup insiders insist that Mr. Pandit, who inherited many of the problems at the company when he became chief executive in late 2007, has the government’s backing. Analysts say it would be hard to find someone willing to take his job.

In many ways, Mr. Pandit is already grappling with the same problems that the government would face if it took control.

He was forced to split off Citigroup’s prized Smith Barney brokerage unit, for instance, to raise capital. He is also scaling back the company’s mortgage and proprietary trading operations. He has created a “bad bank” structure to hold Citi’s money-losing businesses, like private label credit cards and Primerica insurance, and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of toxic assets. While the government might demand that Mr. Pandit accelerate plans to sell bad assets, buyers are scarce. The government has also not yet revealed details of its plans for a so-called aggregator bank that might buy some of these assets.

Nationalizing Citigroup outright would be a huge challenge, given the company’s size and international sweep. In countries like Mexico, for instance, a state-controlled bank might run afoul of local ownership regulations.

Analysts also wonder whether a full government takeover of Citigroup would place its rivals at a disadvantage. Customers, for example, might prefer to park their money at a bank backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, rather than a smaller bank that has federal insurance on deposits up to $250,000. Traders might prefer to trade with a bank backed by the federal government.

Shares of Citigroup rallied on Monday in the hope that the government’s plan would stabilize the company. Shares rose 19 cents, to $2.14. The stock was still down 68 percent for the year.

Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said it could take years for Citigroup to right itself, even with the government’s help. “I don’t think they can do it in a short time,” he said.





Rally on the Nasdaq

Don't catch a falling knife," the sages say. The idea of buying a former superstar stock at a discount price certainly has its attractions, but you've got to make sure you catch the haft -- not the blade.
i
For the second time today, im upending Mr. Market's kitchen drawers and watching the knives tumble. ive already sifted through the silverware on the NYSE. Now it's time to take a stab (pardon the pun) at bargain-hunting on the Nasdaq. As always, start with the latest "New 52-Week Lows" list at WSJ.com, then crunch the numbers on investor sentiment at

Knives and knaves
By the close of trading Friday, no fewer than 555 stocks trading on the NYSE hit bottom. Over at the Nasdaq, the news was little better -- 391 listings landed with dull thuds at their 52-week lows.

No two ways about it, folks -- things are tough all over. But if there's one good thing about a broad-based market sell-off, it's that you find a lot of terrific companies getting the ol' baby 'n' bathwater treatment. You just know that some of these babies will bounce right back once the suds subside.

Here at The Motley Fool, we've already made like Angelina Jolie and bundled three of these babies into our various portfolios. Dell is a Inside Value pick. Take-Two landed in the Rule Breakers port. And Dynamic Materials is a Motley Fool Hidden Gems selection -- and the top-ranked stock on today's list. Let's find out why.

The bull case for Dynamic Materials
CAPS All-Star dhabluetzel introduced us to Dynamic back in October. The company's stock in trade is:

[p]roviding corrosion protection cladding for base metal sheets [which] is in demand in industry. Many processes utilise highly corrosive chemicals to join polymers to produce raw plastic for industry. The oil patch also uses these end products (clad metal ) in the construction of refineries which are going to have to be built to keep up with demand and replace existing ageing plants.

A guy noted in July that "Dynamic Materials has 40% share of Explosion Welding Market and growth is huge." I should probably point out here that the market share in question extends past the oil patch. The company's big customers also include aerospace giants as General Electric (NYSE: GE) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX).

Back in June, yet another top CAPS scorer, Another guy, wrote that the stock is: "certainly the dominant player in this very technologically challenging field. Recently beaten down."

Good news! If you liked the stock back then, at $34, you're going to love it at the recent low, low price of $10 and change.

Hurray?
Dynamic's plunge to a 52-week low probably isn't cause for rejoicing among current shareholders, I'll admit. But for those of us who've always wanted to own the stock, but never thought the price quite right in the past, it does offer an attractive entry point today.

And I'm not just talking about the five-times-earnings valuation here, either. Other investors place a lot of faith in the venerable PEG metric, but personally, I've always favored free cash flow for valuation -- and the even more reliable price-to-free cash flow multiple on offer at Dynamic attracts me.

Dynamic trades for six times its free cash flow. It's expected to grow earnings at some 13% per year over the next half-decade. And it's paying us a tidy 1.5% dividend to await the fruition of these hopes. Call me a Fool for saying so, but I think these numbers make for a pretty compelling buy thesis.

Time to chime in
Now that you've heard from me and the CAPS community, we really want to hear your thoughts. Click over to Motley Fool CAPS and tell us what you think.





Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Truth: The Federal Reserve


Of all the conspiracy theories that may come up in American political discourse, there is one that requires nothing that is supernatural, or even particularly out of the ordinary. The players may only be vaguely familiar: Rockefellers, Morgans - and the Federal Reserve (whose part tonight will be played by Ben Bernanke, a PhD economist with education from Harvard and M.I.T.)






The scope is nothing short of a total underground or shadow government that directs hundreds of billions of dollars a year. But the cost of funding the operation would only be a few pennies on the dollar (quite literally).


Other conspiracies have come and gone, but the distrust of central banks has been with us for hundreds of years. The individuals involved are thought to possess incalculable wealth, and they entertain themselves with controversial social causes & international political activity. But they value their privacy and make their conclusions away from scrutiny. Some say the whole plot is so pervasive, so totalitarian, that it encompasses a massive international network. If you've been reading a while, you may have heard me brush on a few of these topics with a good bit of research & slightly more moderate skepticism.





HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO IT?


Well before i spoke on the pros and cons of being single.. More than twice the number of pros.. Now youre probably thinking?? How do i do it? how do i escape from this thing, and join those single guys...

This video probably wont help, but it sure is funny, especially when she tells him no..
Guy:
Baby i want to break up.
Girl:
NO..
Guy:
But i said i want to break up

Ha!, keep you posted...Maybe with real advice, or not....


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

New nike air max 95- Black/ Blue Sapphire


JD Sports is serving up another delightful exclusive model for UK residents, the Nike Air Max 95. This model sports a combination of black and blue sapphire which is also supported by a pattern on two of the grey panels. The rest of the AM95 is kept without this detail and simple only featuring shades of black paired with blue sapphire. Composition wise, mesh, reflective and vinyl paneling and embossing are a few other finishing touches. Now available online and in-store at JD Sports.(http://www.jdsports.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10551_12207_200387_-1_men).
Theses are some nice kicks, and they are pretty unique too, and match with alot of the spring lines that have been releasing lately.



Sunday, February 15, 2009

Leaders 1354: New Alifes at both locations


If you are an Alife fan, and live in the chicago land area.. You may want to hit up Leaders to pick up the new Alifes
Wicker Park
1400 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60622
773.489.1900


Downtown Chicago
672 N. Wells
Chicago, IL 60654
312.787.7144




Michael Jordan Finally a Hall of Famer.. Maybe..

The 16 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame were announced recently at this years All Star Weekend with Michael Jordan, John Stockton and David Robinson among those who were narrowed down from a field of 164 nominees. Jordan’s talents and accomplishments as a player are almost untouchable. Jordan won six championships with the Chicago Bulls, named an All Star 14 times and winning the title of MVP of the All Star Game 3 times. In addition, Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP 6 times and NBA All-Defensive First Team 10 times. But, these achievements are just a small portion of MJ’s career. He has also done things that don’t show up on a stat sheet or win an award for and that is hitting the shots when they count and being a leader. On April 6th, the election announcement will be made during the NCAA Final Four in Detriot and will enshrine the players in September at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Im Seriously surprised that it took this long for them to recognize this guy. He was an amazing player.




2009 Black History Air Force Ones


Every year, Nike celebrates Black History Month with the release of a new sneaker honoring the important month. This year’s base model is the Nike Air Force 1 (One) and it features a black, red, and green upper. Much thought and effort went into designing this pair by Nike and it is quite evident through the lasered graphic on the rear as well as the marble midsole which is meant to represent the courtrooms of the U.S. Supreme Court where many monumentous civil rights battles were fought. This pair also yields a red inner lining, red and green stitching, and a black midsole. Unfortunately, these will not release to the public and only three pairs were given away through a contest held by Nike in Miami, Florida.






The pro and cons of being single

Recently ive been missing the single life. some things you just dont have to worry about when you dont have a girlfriend, or spouse, or any commitment at all. I mean, its not as if, i hate the person im with, or im unhappy with her, its just the R word that is getting to me now..... Its ... "relationship".. You know i have a friend that has been talking to a girl for 9 MONTHS yeah 9 months, no commitment no problems. I was dating a girl for about 4 months, then we broke up and had been talking for about 3 years after that.. then for some reason we decided to start dating again an then here comes the drama!! 3 years of peace, with no commitment, then after 4 months in another relationship we are having problems again.. Im missing he single life, but i can treally seem to pull myself away from the relationship... What are my options? Lets just lay down the pros and cons of the sngle life!!!
PROS.
1. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want.
2. You can casually talk to.... Anyone
3. You dont have to worry about anyone nagging you about what you may have said, or someting that someone said that you said. (its irriating if you didnt know)
4. Youre not obligaed to do anything for anyone on any holiday. (christmas,brithdays,valentines day.
5. You save lots of money!!! (thats what matters)
6.Depending on the person, yo ucan have great sex with no commitment behind it.
7. There are no emotions attached.. When in a relationship , most times, if one person in the relationship is sad, the other ends up being sad or upset as well. When youre single, you dont have to worry about that, because you dont have to CARE!!
8.If you are annoyed with certain members of the opposite sex, you dont have to call them. you can stop seeing them. You can opt out. You can find someone else. You have that option. Everything is optional.
9.You can come home from work, take off your shoes, eat your dinner, and read the newspaper without having to answer 100 questions about what you are going to do for the evening, the weekend, the month, and without having to listen to anyone else tell you the answers to those questions (because you dont really have a choice anyway).
10. You are always on time!! Early is on time, on time is late.


Cons

1.Being on time isnt always that great, sometimes your partner makes you late because they were taking care of your "morning wood".
2. There is something to be said for an annoying nagging voice in the morning to get you out of bed. Sometimes i guess you kind of miss it..
3. Making your own decisions and thinking for yourself isnt always that great.
4.Everything is optional. Nothing is definite. In a relationship, for me.. She is ALWAYS there, i can count on her companionship..

There are definately more pros than cons, but.. those few cons got me thinking... Is being single really what i want to do???? Guess we'll see.... Stay Tuned