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R.I.P. MCA
Another loss for Hip-Hop. Everyone gotta die, but can’t it sometimes be those old rock and roll dudes instead?
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Marlins' Ozzie Guillen apologizes over Castro flap - Boston.com
I was trying to watch Sportscenter, but I changed the channel because I was sick of all the anti-Castro propaganda. None of these mainstream outlets are even providing any background on what supposedly makes Castro so bad.
All that matters is that this is America and we hate him. The ESPN anchor referred to Cuba as the island Castro “took over” more than fifty years ago. “Freed it from a brutal dictator” would’ve been a better choice of words, but that’s just me. I know it hasn’t been all good since the Revolution, but the portrayal is ridiculously one-sided. It’s a real petty look for the US.
What if a 1950’s manager had made favorable comments about Batista? You know he wouldn’t be getting suspended. You can be responsible for as much brutality as you want as long as you stay Washington’s dog.
This shit is all so obvious. Why do people keep buying it? Just bring out Tech so he can “run through Little Havana yelling Viva Fidel!”
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Favorite Albums of 2011
- The Greatest Story Never Told - Saigon
- Random Axe - Random Axe
- R.E.K.S. (Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme) - Reks
- The Dreamer/The Believer - Common
- W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) - Pharoahe Monch
- Soul Is Heavy - Nneka
- The Martyr - Immortal Technique
- Undun - The Roots
- Hell: The Sequel - Bad Meets Evil
- Elmatic - eLZhi
I’d been waiting for Saigon’s LP since ‘05 and it was even better than I’d expected it to be, easily my favorite of the year, despite how good these others were.
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Eles […] são um reflexo das UPPs. Sem o tráfico e sem fuzil, quem quis continuar no crime teve que usar pistola e roubar pedestres e carros. —O Dia, 11/23/11
[They are a reflection of the UPPs (police pacification units). Without traffic and without a rifle, those who wanted to continue in crime had to use a pistol and rob pedestrians and cars.]
Something that I’ve often thought about in regard to the “pacification” process of Rio’s favelas—is the lack of traffic going to drive up street crime? No-name traffickers don’t have to flee before the occupation, so you’re left with a bunch of low-level criminals without work. All this UPP stuff looks good on the surface because they’re pushing the traffic out the slums, but maybe they should spend more time addressing the poverty. People wouldn’t be turning to crime as much if there were things like a reasonable minimum wage.
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critical race theorist Derrick Bell dies
read full obituary from NY Times here.
Faces at the Bottom of the Well is one of my favorite books.
R.I.P.
(via lati-negros)
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Collapse Rant
That collapse was not Francona’s fault. I understand the way he stuck too long with guys that where clearly over the hill. Wasting all that time waiting for Wake to win his 200th while he pitched ineffectively hurt the team in the long run. But this choke was not his fault. Yes, he probably would’ve let Mike Timlin pitch the 8th inning of game 162, but still, he was the best manager we’ve ever had. It’s the ownership signing all these soft ass players and trading away the greatest hitter we’ve ever had (yes, I know Ted Williams played for the Sox) in a move that most likely cost us a chance at another title in 2008. There’s just no life on the Red Sox anymore. I pretty much knew they’d blow their lead, and as I watched them do it via inning-by-inning updates, I wasn’t that upset. I was almost happy because I knew they that needed something to wake them up. I want to bring back Millar and Pedro and Trot just so they can teach these new guys something about guts and backing your teammates. Adrian Gonzalez is forever punked in my mind by that sorry bullshit about “God’s will” and such. Carl Crawford, admittedly a player I’ve always liked, is much more likeable as he confessed to the public that he’d had a terrible season and had let down his team and its fans. At least he’s strong enough to say that. I don’t want more short, ugly players that appear to play hard because they look like Pedroia and have got no grace. I’m sick of this racist ass city’s bullshit enabling. Get rid of these entitled motherfuckers or Boston’s going to just end up like the Yankees, but without the World Series to go along with it.
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The Shame of College Sports | Taylor Branch | The Atlantic
“Scholarship athletes are already paid,” declared the Knight Commission members, “in the most meaningful way poss-ible: with a free education.” This evasion by prominent educators severed my last reluctant, emotional tie with imposed amateurism. I found it worse than self-serving. It echoes masters who once claimed that heavenly salvation would outweigh earthly injustice to slaves. In the era when our college sports first arose, colonial powers were turning the whole world upside down to define their own interests as all-inclusive and benevolent. Just so, the NCAA calls it heinous exploitation to pay college athletes a fair portion of what they earn.
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Don’t try to take advantage of my empathy and willingness to forgive. I will not get played.
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3’s in the Air
Ain’t nobody here know anything about pond hockey. I watched the game at a gringo bar in a bourgie neighborhood and there were a couple New England cats who were nice enough but talked lots about the firms they worked for. My friend watched with me and I explained things to her as they went, since she’s from England. She shared it with me as best she could and she is one of the best people I know. We returned to our neighborhood and while she returned home to sleep, I had to stay out a little longer to commemorate the night. I stopped in one of the regular spots to get a celebratory cachaça. I stood out on the sidewalk by myself drinking it, enjoying the moment, looking at the almost full moon. A woman smiled. Tá com frio? I raised my glass. Só um pouco, mas tenho isso pra me esquentar. It would’ve been no use to try to explain the Cup. Just last week, my own girlfriend couldn’t understand what I was talking about when I said “hockey” to her. She thought I was talking about rock and roll. But it’s all good. I’ll stay standing here under palm trees celebrating a title won on North American ice.
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High Resolution“He used to come onto the floor at the end of a ball game - if the game was tied and the play was obviously for him - and he would tell the coach on the other team where the play was going, what was going to happen, ‘and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.’”
~Clippers broadcaster, and former Celtic, Michael Smith talking about the greatness of Larry Bird’s trash talking on The Bill Simmons Podcast
This Raw Cold Life
This raw cold life is a beautiful thing. —Mos Def
My name is Shaun and I make paintings, drawings, and poems. My art is a reaction (one of many) to the countless and varied inspirations I encounter. This is an informal collection of such things, too scattered and far-reaching to be condensed into a single label.
See my art: shaungribouski.com
