Thursday, February 25, 2010

Dying Malls













Man how the mighty have fallen. These were once premiere locations for upper class working families...teens to hang out and women to go nuts and have shopping sprees. Alas, those days for these Malls are long gone. Chris Rock said it best, " You have two Malls, the White Mall and the Mall that White people used to go to."

That is about an accurate assessment. I can remember the hayday of Eastpoint Mall. The arcade, the Value City that my Mother would spend hours in, and King's Court, we used to catch the 23 alllllllllllllllllll the way out there and back...it was an event. Owings Mills was the uppity Mall. It used to have department stores, a nice food court, and a nice interior design. Now it's pretty much a ghost town. I haven't even been in about 5 years or more, but remembering my last visit of empty walkways and corridors that lead to closed stores was a bleak one.

Mondawmin was always a pretty average "Hood Mall" to my recollection. Nicknamed the "Murder Mall" it was always a good place to buy the newest tennis shoes athletic wear, baby clothes and jewelry. Not really much of an improvement with the redesigned interior ( they just turned the lights on and moved some stuff around) and the Target attached to the side of the building it's still pretty sub par as far as Malls go. Security Square Mall is Mondawmin's cousin the only positive is it's Food Court, which I can also remember growing up going to Friendly's which is no longer there.

Marley Station --- wooooo!! This here used to be the Grand Daddy of excellence. Movie Theatre, Food Court, 2 Levels, Top Notch Stores, Department Stores and an Arcade. My Father used to take us to that Arcade many times and I remember just how packed it used to be with kids trying to play Killer Instinct 2 and Street Fighter 3. Now its pretty abandoned, the Cinnabon is gone, the Theatre is out-dated and all Arcades across America are shutdown.

Reisterstown Plaza and Westview have suffered the same fate while Towson and Columbia Mall continue to flourish. When will Arundel Mills turn into the next used to be hip Mall if ever?? It has all the right elements, but only time will tell if it has what it takes to withstand the economically challenged consumer world around it.

Demolition Man

DRAG

Make Your Next Move Your Best Move & Play it Like A Chess Move


With the success of Jay-Z’s newest CD The BluePrint 3 it was sure that a huge tour would follow. Well that tour is upon us and the BluePrint 3 Tour is underway. Jay-Z is sharing his tour and split it among himself, Young Jeezy and Trey Songz. When I looked at the line up my initial thought was “huh.” I get the Young Jeezy add on, those two have been cool for a minute, but the Trey thing kinda boggled my mind for a second. I mean really until very very recently has Trey been getting big radio spins and his album sales never garnered him as a “big time artist.” To me though, he is pound for pound one of the best singers out in a long time. He has a wide vocal range and can really sing, but his songs never really did anything for me until recently. Jay-Z is an opportunist and he wants to throw an all boys tour I get that, but a key underlying note to this whole thing is good ol’ revenge. Ya see Trey and Jim Jones used to roll super heavy, back when Jones put out “Diary of a Summer” and was going at Jay-Z and his reign of Summer hits. The young boy Trey was featured on that song, and they toured awhile promoting that album and single. Also, Jimmy started using Rell one of the original singers and signees to Roc-A-Fella on his songs and albums. So as a sort of silent rebuttal Jay-Z takes Trey Songz on tour…it’s like they are playing chess. It’s actually an interesting game. It’s clear who is winning the game but you kinda are thinking what’s the next move gonna be?

CHECK

DRAG

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Bout Damn Time


This idiot Jayson Williams finally got sentenced. Listen I don't want to see anybody locked up.....but this guy...he needs it. In 2002 he shot his driver at a house party he threw while showing off his shotgun. And while we all love to play "shoot em up" YOU KILLED A GUY!! Never mind that... you killed a guy 8 YEARS AGO!! Let some regular guy kill anybody, mistake or not. No bail...no 2nd chances and definitely not just a sentence of 5 years. Money buys freedom, that's the American Way.

Bout Damn Time

DRAG

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A Serious Man


This Coen Brothers film is ummm...good but maybe I'm just missing something. This is about a guy who lives life by the rules does nothing unmoral and even when things get worse and worse he still puts all faith that him doing right will be the light and saving grace. Dudes wife wants a divorce and kicks him and his sick brother out of the house. A student in a class that he teaches bribes him for a better grade. He keeps getting horrible advice from the Rabbis that he talks to. And believe me things just get worse and worse. This guy gets walked on for the entire movie. It's no peace in sight for this guy. My only gripe with this movie is that it has no real final ending and for a movie that's almost 2 hours long you could at least give it a decent ending. It just had so many loose ends that they left dangling that you feel ripped off. The characters are rich and complex, the situations are creative and enthralling. But the ending just doesn't deliver. Maybe the ending is "this is life and life goes on." I don't know!

Mazel Tov

DRAG

Wisdom By Way Of Noodles


Caution Hot

Have Caution Especially Serving Babies

Cup O' Noodles -- Hustling For The Babies

DRAG

Monday, February 15, 2010

Chicken N Beer

BeforeAfter

I would love to tell you that this was the juiciest chicken I ever ate but it was just ok. Sorry Paula Dean but this one just didn't work out for ya boy. I can say though that the recipe was designed for the grill and not the oven so maybe in the Summer I'll try try again.

Still Cheffin'

DRAG

Shrimp All Pink Shrimp




Cheffin'

DRAG

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Blizzard Photos










These are some pics I took this passed Sunday as the last Storm hit.

Young Ansel

DRAG

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Cabbie



I stumbled upon Cabbie from Rap Radar and was creeped out, but when I started watching all of his interviews I started thinking this guy isn't bad at all. He is quick, funny, and very entertaining. He is very knowledgeable in many sports and even makes an Ice Hockey interview interesting. It's good stuff, it's Canadian.


A - Boot

DRAG

Up In The Air


George Clooney stars in Up in the Air, in which he plays Ryan an old pro at firing people at other companies in other states. He spends much of his life in the air and in hotels, so much so that his actual apartment looks like a Hotel room. He meets a woman similar to himself who is on the road all the time flying state to state living out of a suitcase. They start a very casual relationship that then turns into something more (or less). When the company starts to go in another direction and wants to fire people over the Internet, Clooney takes along Natalie Keener played by Anna Kendrick (the person responsible for the change) to convince her that firing people in person takes a certain skill that just can't be conveyed over the computer. Everybody comes to grand realizations for better or worse, but the movie comes across as genuine, ultra modern, and is just a good movie.

Up Up & Away

DRAG

Monday, February 8, 2010

Saints Win The SuperBowl!

The New Orleans Saints win the 2010 Super Bowl. After 2 spectacular seasons the New Orleans Saints led by QB Drew Brees win Super Bowl 44. Which is now the most watched TV program EVER as 106.5 Million people viewed this years Super Bowl. It was a good game...best Super Bowl I've seen in years. 2 fights broke out...gutsy calls...and the win by the Underdog. Damn shame Matt Stover gets to the Super Bowl and missed a Field Goal but atleast he made it there.

WHO DAT

DRAG

LOST --- It's Baaaaaaaack!


The 6th and final season premiere for LOST was last Tuesday and it opened with less of a BANG and more of a WTF?? In 6 seasons of watching LOST I was truly -- well LOST but still entertained. I have a feeling at the end of this season there are going to still be many unanswered questions and points not touched on. Big twist on how a simple show about a plane crashing on an island turns out to be a quest of good vs. evil, temples and time travel. But I'm still along for the ride whatever it seems like we're going. And watching Sayid (Naveen Andrews) on Law and Order is pretty weird.

HUH??

DRAG

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Tatsunoko vs Capcom



I've been heavy into the Nintendo Wii of late and I enjoy a good mash-up fighting game. Enter Tatsunoko vs Capcom. It is a bizarre mix up of characters, Ryu, Chun Li, Mega Man are some of the more familiar characters and Tekkaman, Ken The Eagle and some big ass Gold Robot are from the Tatsunoko world. The Main Boss is the Main Boss from Okami (great game) which it is a difficult boss but just a little obscure, but the whole game is pretty obscure. There are only 2 attack buttons and neither seem to do the same move twice when pressed in secession. You can tag in an alternate player as well but they seem to just jump in whenever they feel like it. The Super Combos though are pretty extreme. One dude turns into a big ass Voltron and starts bussin heads. It's a pretty good game and has a lot of replayability because of all of the characters to choose from (26). I'm still waiting for Marvel Vs. DC though....let's make that happen!!!

GIANT ROBOTS!!!

DRAG

Wacka Flacka Snitchin Yo



Is that you Flock?? Snitching! Damn son! What happened to the good ol days when dudes would get shot and tell their homies about it. Wacka Flocka Flames decides to give MTVNews a full Police report on what happened.

AKA thought you were strapped?

DRAG