Street Dreamers... If I Ruled the World

Umm, yeah, I'm super late. I thought I would have time to post this morning and got caught up with work.

However, to make up for the late Throwback Thursday, I'm giving you a double dose. Both vids come from one of my favorite MC's, Nasty Nas (gov't Nasir Jones). Sidenote: He's one of my lowkey celebrity crushes.. you gotta love an intelligent thug right?

It's '96, and Nas has dropped the "It Was Written" LP. I love it! First single with Ms. Hill "L-Boogie" herself, "If I Ruled the World," in which she provides a simple, but deep hook. I love the way she brings the song in.

Video Moments: Overall the video was hot, the neon colors playing off Nas and L, plus just rolling through NYC "Times Square."

And as much of a fan I was of "Street Dreams," I thought the remix was doper (however, the original video with the "Casino" theme was cool). This time he brought in Arra, samples the Isley Brothers "Choosey Lover" and tells us the tales of the everyday street dreamer.

Video Moments: Love how they kept it simple and still were able to tell a story through the hoods of Queensbridge and the Chi.


If I Ruled The World Feat. Lauryn Hill - Nas

The Guys Are Rolling Too...

Last Friday, my girl and I went out for a drink at an after work networking event at Plush.  Well, I run into an old friend while there. I met him when I first moved to Chicago, and as a young 22 year old, adjusting to the big city, I was busy. Busy in the sense that I had dates lined up every night of the week just about.  I was checking out the scene, doing me.  This guy was cool.. educated, good career, nice car, however things didn't click because he's the quiet type. There's nothing wrong with being the "quiet, shy guy," but it makes it hard for me to connect with you when you don't ask questions and give me one-word answers. You're boring me.. on to the next. I eventually just let it fade out.

We're catching up and he asks, "whatever happened to us?"  I simply give him the response that we didn't end things badly, it was just matter of we just phased out. He wants to hang out from time to time (meaning "let's pick things back up"). No problem, I guess. Maybe things have changed in 4 years.. I'm not convinced but why not?

We go out and hit Tantrum up for $5 martinis last night. Sidenote: If you're ever looking for a swanky spot for good drinks, def hit it up on Mondays. Great martinis, cool atmosphere and they'll play your iPod! Downside is that they don't serve food and you have to order from a spot that delivers.

So back to Tantrum. I'm thinking cool. Haven't been here in a while plus I will have the opportunity to find out if there's a connection between us. Wrong! He invites his homeboy up there to have drinks with us.. and I'm feeling like the third wheel as they talk about sports, video games and their friends. I'm able to hold my own in any situation or conversation, and not look bored.. however it was blowing me that his boy is with us having drinks. If I'd known this, I surely would have invited one of my girls out with us. But wait people, this is not the first time this has happened. When I thought back on our past, he had invited another friend to meet us out.  I'm confused because he has great qualities and I'm wondering does he not feel comfortable in a date setting?  He's 30+ so the group dates or having the boys tag along are a in total violation.  And it is also a total turn-off and I'm not even sure if I even want to move forward with seeing him.

However, what is going on here? Is this man not comfortable to left alone with a woman? Is he just trying to send the signal that a woman in his life will always play 2nd fiddle to his friends?  And if he's inviting friends, why isn't he relaying the message that I can invite some of the girls out?

I'm just tryna get home... 47th Street

Many people may know, but I always seem to have a story about my adventures of taking the #47 bus and Green line to church on Sundays. It really never fails. I recall when venturing to church on Easter Sunday last year, this brotha asked me "since it's the holiday and all, why don't you partake with me in a lil' wine," as he breaks out his flask. Really brotha? On the day that Jesus rose from dying for our sins? My people...

Part 1:
So I'm now addicted to attending 8am service. You can't beat getting the Word first thing in the morning, getting out at 10am and having the entire day to yourself. Yesterday, I'm traveling back home from church, and as I get on the #47 bus, I see most of the passengers eyes glued to a scene outside. The bus driver turns around and says to everybody, "you see they got that boy." Undercover cops have a man hemmed up against a store by the 47th Street Green line station. One cop is choking the brotha, while the other is holding his arms. It's obvious the man is trying to swallow whatever contraband he had on him and they're trying to make sure he doesn't. Next thing I know the man is flailing his arms and legs, kicking at the cops... they continue to break him down and until he vomits up whatever he has in his mouth. A crackhead starts bothering the cops and they have to hit at her. Next thing you know, they have this man cuffed, reading him his rights and scraping up the drugs that he threw up on the ground. I felt like I was watching a scene out of The Wire. Once again... my people.

You are probably wondering why am I able to see all of this. Because the bus driver says "I am running ahead of schedule so we can sit here for a few minutes..." Really brotha? What if something had popped off, where this man's cronies wanted to go out blazing. I don't need that... *sigh*

Part 2:
I am fully aware that 47th street is going through gentrification. It has been since I moved to the Chi four years ago. There are million dollar homes in the area and the area is truly becoming diverse, however I am hoping to know from one of my fellow Chicagoans (or anyone who is very knowledgable about gentrification and how it worked in other cities) why it is taking so long for the area to come full circle.

woot! there it is!

So, I'm a huge fan of eBay when it comes to purchasing electronic items for low prices. And then a friend of mine sent me an email about a "new" site called woot! Everyday, the online store offers an item for a low price. They only sell one item per day until it's sold out or until 11:59pm CST. There's no trying to purchase the next day, as they offer a totally new item, so if you want it, then act fast as they only have a limited amount.

Today's item is a 9.1 megapixel Casio camera for $100. That's actually not bad, especially when I just bought my 8.2 megapixel Fugi camera for the same price a couple of months ago :-/ Sometimes, the items can be truly wack (USB missile launcher, WTH?), but you can come up on some good stuff for the low. I missed out on an iPod sounddock for $30 once.

I would be sure to read the sites terms and policies. In the event, you receive a defective product, it has to be shipped back to the original manufacturer. So definitely check in everyday to see what you can find!