YRUN2DP?

Thursday, October 06, 2005

I've just been informed that ...

two lovely ladies will be treating me to a meal at Kansas City's finest restaurant, The PeachTree. Stay tuned ...

NBA: No Business Attire, please!

So David Stern is laying down the law like Paul Tagliabue ever since Ron Artest went, well, Ron Artest. The guy with short man's complex who runs a league where he can't see the top of any player's head is out to dispose of the thuggish image of the NBA.

I like the idea, but i think it's two Michael Jordan retirements too late. MJ made GQ, GQ with his well-tailored suits in post-game interviews, when he came off team buses and when he lost millions in Atlantic City.

But this is 2005, and I want someone to tell me when the Allen Iverson last wore a suit? Probably when he shook Stern's hand at the NBA draft in 1996. Back then, Iverson didn't have cornrows. He was almost clean-cut with the downtown fade.

Now about half of the NBA - which according to Kanye West can afford to contract & dispose of AIDS - would look like idiots in Armani and rows. Think about it. Donavan McNabb is a great quarterback, but he looks like a clown when he puts on a three-piece. Maybe if they were forced to press their hair along with the suits it would work. That would be comedy, and it might bring interest to an otherwise boring NBA regular season.

But most of them have one more suit, the one they met David Stern on the podium in that great day, than they did in high school. That's reason enough to shoot down Stern's idea, but I also love seeing these idiots wearing throwback jerseys of other NBA teams as they do interviews. ...

Click Here to Read More..

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Get a Life ...

So everybody and their grandma is criticizing GWB for his nomination of Harriet (Harry from henceforth) Miers. I'll be real with you, when I first read her bio on CNN, I said "no" after a few graphs.

Sure, she's never been a judge, but to me that's not too big of a deal. What sticks out to me is that she's never been married (I wish I could have inserted the word kissed instead, that would have been great). It actually scares me to think that a 60-year-old Supreme Court Justice hopeful has never tied the knot. On one hand, it definitely shows a level of drive and commitment to the job. But marriage is also (perceived to be) a huge sign of stability.

In today's world, though we see more and more people who are so career driven that they don't take the time to worry about relationships or settling down. I have a few friends like that who put career well before the idea of starting a family. I just wonder what the conversation is like when you're 60, get home at 9 p.m. from a 13-hour day and your talking to your walls. If Harry makes it on, at least she won't be alone in this area.

Justice David Souter, 66, is currently the only unmarried person sitting on the high court bench. I know what you're thinking, and it ain't happening. A little research shows that Harry actually has a little bit of an on-and-off again male friend (25 years). Thank Wikipedia for that bit of information.

Riddle me this: Who was the last president to reside in office as a bachelor? There's no prize, but I'm quite sure that it won't again happen for a long, long time. Answer below ...

Techinically, it was Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President, who first First Lady Ellen Wilson died in 1913 during his first term. Two years later he later married Edith Bolling Wilson. But if you want to talk about a prez who was never hitched, you have to go all the way back to James Buchanan, who actually had his niece serve as the First Lady. He was engaged once, but the lady broke it off and "mysteriously" died a few days later. Right ... Enough with the random trivia, though ...

Click Here to Read More..

Still Jonesing ...

Whatever happened to the movies about educated Black people the every day person could enjoy? Really, can you think of one movie since Brown Sugar (2002) tha was made around a primarily all-black cast that was truly about something more than a hustled flow or a ghetto charter plane? Not to say that those movies couldn't be worth the $8 of admission. But I need something that's going to perplex the mind like Wood talking about "If God were a woman ..." or Dre lifting a champagne glass talking about his best friend being the "perfect verse over a tight beat" on New Year's Eve.

It makes you wonder if we have just run out of talented African-American-geared scripts or if your commonplace black movie is watered-down to the Hustle & Flow "Whoop That Trick" mentality? Let's just hope that this isn't what we're resigned to watching.

Really, though, we need a resolution quickfast. I'm tired of swiping the d-card for some fruity chick flick like Just Like Heaven, a good movie, that might be 20 times more appealing if Reese Witherspoon's role was modeled after a black female played by ghostly Nia Long and the dude's role (I can't remember his name ... I just know he was in 13 Going on 30) were played by Morris Chestnut acting as flustered as he was about the other sex in Breakin All the Rules. It would get them away from corny bit roles in bad, bad movies ... but that would be too much to ask for.

If I were to write a movie script, what would I call it? Sole Searchin - a movie sampling the lives of four young black people (two males and two females) struggling to find their identities in a white professional world, in their love lives and spiritually. Ha, an auto-biopic of me and my friends.

Anyway, here are my top five fav black movies of the last 15 years with a positive professional spin to them.

Love Jones (1997) - If Darius Lovehall's A Blues for Nina didn't pull you in, its unlikely that you have any soul ... Bill Bellamy, Lisa Nicole Carson (where is she?) and Isaiah Washington were the start of an awesome supporting cast. Quotable:"Because rather than deal with the fallacy of this dry-ass reality, I'd rather dance and romance your sweet ass in a wet dream."
Boomerang (1992) - Eddie at his best on the screen, and Halle's coming out party. Quotable: "You gotta coordinate..."
Brown Sugar (2002) - I wonder how weird it was for Boris to watch Taye Diggs lock lips with his wife. Quotable: "I need to celebrate. I want to order the most expensive bottle of champagne in this place. I need to celebrate ... (dinging the glass with a fork) my divorce!"
The Best Man (1999) - My best man would have been thrown over the edge of the roof if something like that went down. Quotable: "You F$%k#d Mia?!"
Love & Basketball (2000) - Who said all b-ballers were dumb? Quincy McCall was a great example of what happens to 65 percent ( a random percentage) of NBA Draft picks, i.e. Jay Williams (of Duke). Quotable: "Who you going to the dance with anyway, Spalding?"

Missed the Bus: Coming to America, Drumline, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game, Deliver Us From Eva and Soul Food.

Note: This doesn't mean these movies weren't as good as the five listed. It's just those five movies portrayed blacks in a Cosbyish light, to a degree.

Click Here to Read More..

YRUN2DP?

I'm sure you're probably wondering why the blog is titled YRUN2DP?, and just what in the world it means. Well if you don't know, you better ask somebody. Preferably not me. I'm not letting the cat out.
It's really not that difficult, and when you figure it out after 60 seconds (hopefully, it doesn't take that long), it might leave you hating me just a tad. This is me to the core - being anal when I don't really have to be, but what can I say?
Motorists in Kansas and Missouri will hate me more whenever I get a new whip. YRUN2DP will be what my personalized tags read. No hints ... figure it out for yourself, and slap yourself upside your head if it takes you more than a minute. Aight, this is enough for one day. There's more to come with the start of a new day. Late.

Click Here to Read More..

The World According To ...

So after months of serious contemplation, I've decided to dive head first into this blogging trend that I'm two years late on (Thanks Duk). Yes, it's time to let you into to "The World According to ... Damone." Honestly, I don't know where this will go. But we shall see. Be prepared for lists upon lists. Opinions stack on opinions, and plenty of verbage (not really a word), and less verbiage (yes, this one is) about current events, music, sports, relationships and other shit (I couldn't think of a better way of putting this). The first real post after this ludicrous intro is coming shortly because I'm in need of some NyTol, and I'm not going back to the grocery store. Nope. No way, so here it comes ... Oh, and the picture is about where I wish I could be at this moment - somewhere near a beach in Miami watching the sun rise. But I'm stuck in the Not-So-Land of Oz.