"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power." - Lao Tzu
"Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need." - Voltaire
"A mind might ponder its thought for an epoch, and not gain so much self-knowledge as the passion of love shall teach in a day." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you would create something, you must be something." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Hate has a reason for everything. Love is unreasonable." - V. Raiuhes Ahaefvthe
"True love is friendship caught on fire." French Proverb
"Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble and attempts what is above its strength." Thomas A Kempis
"We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow." - thanks Eternia! We'll find our place...
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it's not all bad though... I found this one, LOL!
moar funny pictures
RZA speaks. And when RZA speaks, wise people listen:
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This is one of my favorite LOLcats ever! This made my day, I hope you like it too!
moar funny pictures
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O RLY? mmmmkay:
TOP 10 REASONS TO BREAK UP WITH SOMEONE:
1. He has to fix his car this weekend (again!).
We all have busy lives, filled with plenty of work, errands and chores, but a guy who is invested in his relationship will find time to spend with you. Yes, it's that simple. If he's forever "too busy," he's showing you where you fall on his list of priorities.
Bottom line: His excuses start making excuses? Dump him.
2. You find pictures of your bikini-clad best friend on his computer.
Infidelity comes in many forms -- no pun intended. A lot of dilemmas on Should I Dump Him or Not? involve virtual flirtations and cyber-relationships. But this kind of "innocent" (at least that's how he might explain it) involvement outside your twosome can be just as damaging as an actual affair. And your best friend? It would be hard to imagine a legit reason for this one.
Bottom line: Buh-bye.
3. He "just wants to cuddle."
Problems in a relationship will follow you both into the bedroom, too. There's nothing wrong with a guy who wants to cuddle, but if that's all he wants, well...there's probably something going on that you two need to talk about. Don't assume he's cheating, though. He could be stressed out, depressed, experiencing the side effects of medication or feeling distant because of a problem you two are facing. Delicately broach the subject without accusing him of not satisfying you and see what you can find out.
Bottom line: Give it time.
4. He calls out someone else's name during nookie.
Hmmm, not a lot of excuses for this one, either.
Bottom line: Unless he gives a plausible reason even before his clothes are back on, adios.
5. He cheats...again.
Another common subject on Should I Dump Him or Not?. And while an affair -- emotional or otherwise -- can do serious damage to a relationship, it doesn't have to mean the end. According to much of the advice given on the site, if he is truly and sincerely sorry for the affair, willing to identify and address the issues in your union that caused him to stray in the first place and makes a commitment to earning back your trust, there may be some hope. On the other hand there's that old saw, "Once a cheater, always a cheater." How do you know if you've got a player on your hands? Pay attention to his actions and not just his words. If repairing what's broke in your union ain't top of his list -- and that doesn't mean through superficial gestures like buying you a nice gift or turning on the charm for a spell -- don't be surprised when he cheats again.
Bottom line: Then there's that other old saw: If the mule kicks you once, the mule is stupid. If the mule kicks you twice... Dump him.
6. You find out he's been lying about his finances and couldn't possibly pay off all his debts until, using conservative calculations, close to the year 2050.
A reasonable amount of debt does not necessarily signal a bad catch, but lying about major issues does. Maybe he fibbed because he didn't want you to think he can't manage money, you say. Maybe that's true. But how did he accumulate so much debt? (Paying off medical bills from a sudden illness? Online gambling addiction?) If you two are talking long-term, are your money management styles compatible? Will you be able to trust him with the checkbook? More importantly, why is he hiding something that would obviously have a big impact on you and your life together? Not to mention your credit rating.
Bottom line: You're not insensitive and materialistic if you show him the door; it means you're looking for someone who won't fritter away your hard-earned cash -- and who is open with you about his shortcomings.
7. You tell him how excited--and a little nervous--you are about going back to school and he tries to discourage you.
If he's to be a keeper, your guy should be your lead cheerleader. Not that he shouldn't share his opinion when he thinks you're headed down the wrong path, but -- if he truly cares for you -- he will push you to accomplish your goals.
Bottom line: Don't waste your precious time with anyone who tries to hold you back, belittle your ambitions or seems jealous or bitter about what you want out of life.
8. He has been "looking" for work since you met him but never seems to have any solid prospects lined up. And although he spends a lot of time on the Internet, you've peeked over his shoulder and he's not on work-related websites.
There's no reason each partner in a relationship shouldn't contribute when it comes to money, but do you want to shoulder the entire burden? Finding employment can be extremely time-consuming since there are a lot of avenues available when one is diligently looking for work; if he's got so much free time in his schedule, he's not looking as hard as he claims. Talk to him about how you can help -- maybe he feels overwhelmed or a little depressed by his lack of success.
Bottom line: If he takes steps in the right direction, give it time. If he spends more time surfing than polishing his résumé, it may be time to resume your own search -- for a new beau.
9. You suggest seeing a counselor together and he refuses to even try it.
Not everyone feels at home in a therapist's office but if it's important to you and he won't budge, that says something about how he's going to approach other decisions in your relationship. What's the harm in indulging you for a session, especially if there's a problem you two need to resolve? Try to find out what his objections are. Why does it make him uncomfortable? His answers should shed some light.
Bottom line: A couple needs to have ways to work through problems together. If your methods are very different and you're each closed to the other's approach, you're going to run into repeated roadblocks.
10. He tells you to shut up, swears at you, pushes you down "by accident" or even "just once," tries to keep you from spending time with your friends or accuses you of cheating on him or looking at other guys.
Girlfriend, you're out of there -- these are common early warning signs of abuse, and you're putting yourself in danger by sticking around.
Bottom line: Seek outside help if you need it, and put your safety above everything else.
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Saigon speaks, apparently before his early retirement:
Fuck, I feel his pain. But I CAN'T stop.
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Wyclef Update - (I lost the link, sorry):
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - "Eclectic" is a word critics have used to describe Wyclef Jean's music. But the musician/rapper/songwriter/producer says his vision was just ahead of its time.
"Sampling Enya with the Fugees, doing combinations with Kenny Rogers ... I was doing that 13-14 years ago," Jean said during an interview at Billboard. "I was called eclectic because of a certain box I was supposed to stay in. Now I hear everybody with everybody. Music is at a fresh space right now; there's a fusion going on. If I grow up knowing Johnny Cash, Run-D.M.C. and Jimi Hendrix, why can't I just play all the music?"
Jean does just that on his latest solo album, "The Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant" (December 4, Columbia). Following the pattern of his previous albums, the artist marshals the creative forces of a diverse guest lineup, including Paul Simon, T.I., Mary J. Blige, Norah Jones, Akon, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, Lil Wayne and Shakira. Jean's longtime collaborator, cousin Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, executive-produced the album with the artist.
"Carnival II" marks the Fugees frontman's return to Columbia/Sony and the 10-year anniversary of his solo debut, "Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring Refugee Allstars." Acknowledging that "Carnival II" is similar to its predecessor, he attributes its release 10 years later as happenstance. "I didn't plan it like that," he insisted. "I was just inspired by Haiti and the fusion of culture around the world."
It was Jean's explosive pairing with Shakira on the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Hips Don't Lie" that signaled what Jean terms his second wind of inspiration. He had spent the greater part of the last three years doing charity work in his native Haiti. During that period, he lost a key inspiration and gained another.
The loss occurred with the unexpected death of his evangelist father. "The way I learned music was through traveling," Jean recalled. "I would hear different forms of it on the streets being with my father."
BABY STUFF
His inspirational boost came with the birth of his daughter two years ago. "A child does something else to you. She thinks I'm cool," he said in his lyrical Haitian lilt.
Then the call came from Shakira. "All he needed was to know that people were still into real music," Columbia VP of marketing Stephanie Gayle said. "And 'Hips' did that for him."
As did an invitation from T.I. to collaborate on the Atlanta rapper's single, "You Know What It Is." And the wind started to shift.
"I heard taking some time off can be dangerous in the music industry," Jean said with a laugh. "But I always have my pulse on music, even in Haiti. The vibe was so strong that when I got back to America, it made me see things differently. It was like, 'You can still do this. You can freak with this young kid generation because they're checking for you' -- the ones in this generation who are merging sounds like T-Pain, T.I. and Lil Wayne."
Jean gets an assist from some of hip-hop's most valuable players on lead single "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)," featuring Akon and Lil Wayne. He then goes on to cater to another generation with Paul Simon on "Fast Car," which integrates a dark hip-hop beat with guitar.
In addition to reuniting with Shakira ("King and Queen"), Jean reteams with "911" partner Blige on the vulnerable "What About the Baby," which addresses children caught in the middle of separated parents. Jean is most excited about "Selena," his tribute to the Mexican songstress of the same name, which includes a sample of her famous "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom," approved by her father.
"Haitians and Mexicans share a similar story about pride and struggle," Jean said. "It was important that I reach out to my Mexican brothers and sisters and let them know that we are with them."
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from someone on myspace:
"The game needs the real now more than ever. You have a responsibility to hip hop. You gonna tell God "thanks for the gift, but I ain't gonna use it."?
Don't let a little persecution squash your God's plan for you. Persecution comes with doing his work."
Words for Saigon, who just quit rap... and even for Mindbender Supreme, who felt like that a lot lately... but knows he just can't. Griot for life.
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The Clipse, some good guys in this hip hop shit. I hope Rick Rubin, not Columbia is in control of their next project... we'll see. Columbia fucked Nas for years, everyone knows that:
With just two major label releases over the course of five years and one legendary unreleased album from 1997, Clipse’s career spans across a decade and a millennium. They redefined hip-hop and defined coke rap before Jeezy was moving keys, but around the same time T.I. was just starting to get his trap on. They have, up until recently, been a canvas for arguably the biggest production duo in hip-hop and with their new imprint they plan on continuing the masterpiece that is Clipse. Pusha T, one half of Clipse and one fourth of the Re Up Gang, talks deals, movies and his favorite Clipse song.
“When P gets excited about a new song, he will hit me and be like, ‘Come to the studio right now, if you don’t get here within five minutes, I’m calling Jay-Z.’”
Format: So how did this new deal with Columbia come about?
Pusha T: When we put out Hell Hath No Fury, we were already talking to Jive about letting us go. Us being there wasn’t good for both parties. As soon as they let the project go, there was flurry of offers from different labels. Hip-hop from Columbia hollered at our manager, Tony Draper. He took a flight to Houston to see us and was like, ‘Are you guys free? Is it really true?’ Rick Rubin was totally interested. They knew the history. They knew the ups and downs. They started selling us on them trying to win with us, so on and so forth. But truth be told, we were on the phone with Interscope until the last minute on some eleventh hour shit. It was us, Jimmy Iovine and Pharrell. They were trying to get it done, but when we told them what was on the table with Columbia, Jimmy and P were like, ‘Your deal is better.’ P said, ‘You need to sign that deal.’ So we are no longer with Star Trak, but the Neptunes are still going to be involved with the new project. We will always be cool and there were definitely no hard feelings.
Format: Clipse’s first album, Exclusive Audio Footage was supposed to come out in 1998 but never saw the light of day. If you look around, you can find it on the Internet. Will it ever come out? How has Clipse changed since then?
Pusha T: The content of the Clipse hasn’t really changed since 1998. Nothing has really changed. It’s still coke rap, but we didn’t call it that back then. It was just life. Now, I guess, there’s a whole genre of it. But it was Neptunes produced and it was definitely pushing the bar, musically. It was a very theatrical album. It was a little more movie-esque than our other two albums.
Format: The Clipse has always been known for its a-typical sound; from “Grindin’” to “Mr. Me Too,” you guys have never dropped a typical single?
Pusha T: It’s a product of being next to the Neptunes. We’d be in the studio with Pharrell and Chad and – insert big name artist here – and these artists are asking for something that sounded like something else. Then it would often turn into a screaming match between Pharrell and the artist. Then it would calm down a little and Pharrell would get really sarcastic, like telling Chad to ‘Throw me that snare’ or ‘Pull up that one drum kit,’ you know, really sarcastic. But you know, the music business is so like that, everything references something else. At the end of the day, Pharrell and Chad would always throw the juice on it and make it bang. The fact is, though, Pharrell and Chad are weirdos with hits. You know, like mad scientists. They have a rep for making hits, but how can you not let them create? They flooded the market with certain sounds, because artists were asking for those sounds. That’s not innovative. The stuff they will be remembered for is the really innovative stuff. When P gets excited about a new song, he will hit me and be like, ‘Come to the studio right now, if you don’t get here within five minutes, I’m calling Jay-Z.’ When you get that call, you know you got to move fast.
“Nigo has shown us a lot of love and we like to show it back.”
Format: So what are The Clipse up to right now?
Pusha T: Just winding down on the tour. Recording Re Up Gang album shit. Expect a new single in 2008. As far as features, we are going to finish the album ourselves. Personally, I don’t want to put anyone on the album. Re-Up needs to be branded. People need to understand what we do as artists. If you look at the artists outside Re-Up that we’ve shared tracks with in the past, it’s people like Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Jermaine Dupri. These people are legends not our peers.
Format: You guys were on the Bape, BBC, Ice Cream shit very early for obvious reasons, but never made a big deal about it.
Pusha T: We still rock BBC, Ice Cream. It’s really a support thing, first and foremost. Secondarily, as I said in a line a long time ago, ‘When you create the mold, you can break the mold.’ When we want to stop rocking it, we can, because we started it. I don’t care if people think it’s played out. Nigo has shown us a lot of love and we like to show it back.
Format: Can we expect any Clipse clothing collabos?
Pusha T: No collaborations. Those guys got it on smash.
Format: What does the Clipse mean?
Pusha T: Came from full eclipse. We wanted to cast a shadow over the industry.
“…we are talking about a quarter billion dollar black man in the `70s. This movie did not do that justice.”
Format: What’s your favorite record you’ve ever done?
Pusha T: Wow. Nobody has ever asked that before. I’d probably have to say “Momma I’m Sorry” or “Keys Open Doors.” Records like that. They got the demon in them. Certain records are big records. Certain records are reaction records. There’s nothing better than doing that raw ass record. That’s the fun record when the audience understands what you’re getting at.
Format: You saw American Gangster, what’d you think?
Pusha T: It was alright. To me, this movie should have been Scarface. I needed three hours. I needed to know more about Bumpy Johnson. All I got was that he died and that Frank was his enforcer. Also, the progression wasn’t clear. One minute Frank is dealing a half a key of heroin and then next minute he’s overseas. I didn’t see the rise to power. I didn’t get to see his enemies either. Yeah, he shot Tango on the street but I didn’t really know who Tango was. I needed nothing about Richie Robbins marriage. And we needed to expound on heroin coming on US planes and in soldiers’ coffins. I mean, come on. Drug importing on US Army planes? I want know more about that! I think this movie needed to be done like Spike Lee’s Malcolm X. That movie was detailed but also epic at the same time. And how did Nicky Barnes not play a bigger role in the movie? The movie itself, for what they did, was captivating. However, we are talking about a quarter billion dollar black man in the `70s. This movie did not do that justice.
Format: Have you seen the Nicky Barnes documentary?
Pusha T: Amazing.
“And we needed to expound on heroin coming on US planes and in soldiers’ coffins.”
Format: Are you familiar with Black Mafia Family in Atlanta? You think Meech warrants his own movie some day?
Pusha T: Familiar, of course. I mean, I didn’t know him or anything, but I definitely think it should. He’s not guilty yet and hopefully he doesn’t end up being guilty, but I can tell you the accusations alone warrant a movie!
Format: Any movie roles on the horizon?
Pusha T: Haven’t done any acting, but I am definitely interested.
Format: Who chose the first single off Hell Hath No Fury?
Pusha T: “Mr. Me Too” was our choosing. A lot of things went into Hell…so much drama, controversy, bad blood, negative energy. It was like we wanted to let the public have it. We had the outlook that nothing was going to work anyway. By this time I had burned all the bridges. I had said everything wrong, I was not a diplomat. There’s a way to handle everything. I fucked it all up. But I did it. I said it. It happened. At the end of the day, we felt like it was never going to work. Our true fans will get it. They will love it. There’s no way with this hiatus and all the talk that we could come out with a celebratory album. It would have been a lie. Let’s address the industry shit. “Wamp Wamp,” that was a second single, it was more along the lines of ‘Fuck it, we have no support, let’s cater to the fans,’ we had to keep the energy up since we got shows. It was the definition of east coast club feel, to me.
“The fact is, though, Pharrell and Chad are weirdos with hits. You know, like mad scientists.”
Format: What are you feeling right now outside of Clipse?
Pusha T: In general, I really like that show First 48. American Gangster on BET is amazing. Alicia Keys. Kanye’s “Good Morning” is my shit and I think Kanye has record of the year for “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” To me, that is one of the most inspiring records ever made. Devin the Dude is hot. Jeezy is hot. Z-Ro from Houston. I’m very interested in what Plies’ next album looks like. I think he’s got it.
Format: Why is it so hard for hip hop artist to break out of the DC, Maryland and Virginia? The area has produced R&B acts for years, but you and Missy Elliot are the only rappers to be successful out of Virginia. And Wale is the only dude out of DC and Maryland.
Pusha T: I could be wrong about my philosophy, but here it goes. My area is sort of like a melting pot for so many things. We haven’t been able to define a sound. Every other region has a sound. I think Virginia doesn’t have a defined sound. There’s good music here, but there hasn’t been one sound that made everyone say “YO”…it’s just been individuals. As far as Maryland and DC, there’s a lot of competition with Bmore club and go-go. I go to DC and I want see the go-go shit. A lot of places, hip-hop is that energy. I think it can also be that energy for DC, but it’s competing. Ultimately, we as artists are going do what we do, as long as we are creating, we are doing our job. It’s time for the radio stations to zone in and say, ‘Oh shit, this is from hometown area.’ I go to Atlanta and I’m hearing signed and unsigned artists on the radio. It needs to be like that everywhere. The gap is steadily closing.
Format: Anything else?
Pusha T: Re Up Gang Records is the next movement.
More Info: http://www.clipseonline.com
http://formatmag.com/features/music/clipse/
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T.I.'s got some good ass lawyers:
Lawyers for rapper T.I. filed motions in U.S. District Court in Atlanta yesterday (November 20), claiming evidence and statements he made against him were illegally obtained. The rapper faces federal charges of attempting to purchase three machine guns and two silencers on October 13. Attorneys for the rapper are seeking suppress evidence seized from his vehicle the day he was arrested, claming the vehicle was searched without a warrant, consent or probable cause. According to the Associated Press, attorneys also said that statements he made at authorities may not have been voluntary, but did not elaborate on the basis for the motions. T.I., born Clifford Harris, faces up to ten years in prison if he is convicted.
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it's snowing today.
it means something.
maybe it has to do with the fact that I dreamed what I have to do today before it even happened. i don't know what the weather has to do with it, but my mental world and the physical world are getting closer every day... also:
today's a day to break the cycle. more than one of them if need be.
I don't feel how I used to.
fuck... I'm sick of who I was.
"If you always do what you did, you'll always get what you got."
"You can be as big as your most dominant aspiration, or as small as your most controlling desire."
those sayings mean the MOST to me right now. MY LIFE.
i'll keep my head up, but pray for my soul, please.
it's hard being Mindbender.
love, Addi
let's end this heavy shit like this :)
moar funny pictures
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