Comega has the dopest flow, the deepest lyrics, the illest eyewear (as obvious in the following video), and he gives the hottest, most thoughtful interviews. This one is one of the best yet (professionally done too). He goes in depth regarding Tha Realness, which as the year is coming to an end, I have to put as the very best album of the decade. I’m almost sure of that.

Born And Raised isn’t the masterpiece that I was expecting though, mainly because of some poor production choices (Mega Fresh X, Get It In). Odd, odd since Cory normally has an excellent ear for beats. Still, Mega has improved with the lyrics yet again. If you don’t put Journey, The Rapture and Define Yourself as some the best tracks of the year, I question your taste in traditionalist rap music.

She Had Some Horses

She had some horses.

She had horses who were bodies of sand.
She had horses who were maps drawn of blood.
She had horses who were skins of ocean water.
She had horses who were the blue air of sky.
She had horses who were fur and teeth.
She had horses who were clay and would break.
She had horses who were splintered red cliff.

She had some horses.

She had horses with long, pointed breasts.
She had horses with full, brown thighs.
She had horses who laughed too much.
She had horses who threw rocks at glass houses.
She had horses who licked razor blades.

She had some horses.

She had horses who danced in their mothers’ arms.
She had horses who thought they were the sun and their bodies shone and burned like stars.
She had horses who waltzed nightly on the moon.
She had horses who were much too shy, and kept quiet in stalls of their own making.

She had some horses.

She had horses who liked Creek Stomp Dance songs.
She had horses who cried in their beer.
She had horses who spit at male queens who made them afraid of themselves.
She had horses who said they weren’t afraid.
She had horses who lied.
She had horses who told the truth, who were stripped bare of their tongues.

She had some horses.

She had horses who called themselves, “horse.”
She had horses who called themselves, “spirit.” and kept their voices secret and to themselves.
She had horses who had no names.
She had horses who had books of names.

She had some horses.

She had horses who whispered in the dark, who were afraid to speak.
She had horses who screamed out of fear of the silence, who carried knives to protect themselves from ghosts.
She had horses who waited for destruction.
She had horses who waited for resurrection.

She had some horses.

She had horses who got down on their knees for any savior.
She had horses who thought their high price had saved them.
She had horses who tried to save her, who climbed in her bed at night and prayed as they raped her.

She had some horses.

She had some horses she loved.
She had some horses she hated.

These were the same horses.

~ Joy Harjo

Okay for this Throwback Friday we look at A Tribe Called Quest.  they are pioneers for the smooth chill flow, and the bass and drum heeavy beats we have all come to love over the years.  This is the group which is responsible for J. Dilla rising up the charts as the popular unkown producer to eff with.  They have influence the hearts of many.  It isn’t difficult to come across their music, but it is rather hard to come across the instrumentals, unless you cop that wax.  So we bless you with a video and madd beats by the hands of the Tribe, Dilla, and various other producers who helped crafted their sound.  Enjoy…and its Black Friday, and I am at work. FML

DOWNLOAD: A Tribe Called Quest: Instrumentals
DOWNLOAD: A Tribe Called Quest: The Love Movement (Instrumentals)

The Daily Mail reports today that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, intends to unpick the 1701 Act of Settlement (with the permission of the heads of government of the Commonwealth Realms, of course) to enable – horror! – female offspring of the reigning Monarch to have equal “rights” to the throne with their male siblings.  In addition, he wants the Monarch or an heir to the throne to be able to marry a Roman Catholic (as they will insist on calling us) without renouncing his right to be king.  Such a move is, naturally, supported by the Catholic Bishops.

Now, doesn’t all that sound terribly pretty and nice?  So why do I have to make a problem, where clearly a little positive thinking and being happy that “Roman” Catholics have once again been accepted into the great and the good of British society, would make me much happier?   I simply cannot help myself.  I am pressing my imagination to come up with a situation in which it would be a good thing for an English Monarch to be married to a Catholic (yet without being a Catholic him or herself – remember he is Supreme Governor of the Church of England), and having children who in turn, as potential Monarchs themselves, dare not be brought up in the Catholic faith since should they ever come to the throne they would potentially have to renounce their faith.  In other words, a Catholic married to a King or Queen could not bring his or her children up in the Faith, and if they did, they would be placed in the unenviable position of choosing between one crown and another on coming to adulthood.  I am aware that this, and its diametrical, is a question faced occasionally by Kings historically, but how is this the answer to enshrine such difficulties in revision of the law intended to produce greater equality, in 2009?  No, only a really thorough revision of the situation of the Church of England and the Monarch’s relationship to it would achieve anything near a resolution to the question of Catholicism and Princes which has simmered away in Britain for hundreds of years.

The other part, the getting rid of primogeniture, is not really terribly controversial I don’t think.  However, I really don’t think it necessary in Britain, certainly not in order to make things “fairer”.  The fact is we have never struggled, ever, in our history for magnificent Queens even despite the law of succession favouring male heirs.

The Red/Blue/Grey

Dropping soon available in 2 different colorways and limited to 150 pieces. So Queens don’t sleep Reserve Yours….Available for Pre-order Next week on Kickzstore.com or send an email to Info.SecretSocietynyc@gmail.com .

With 3 Thursday games in honour of American Thanksgiving I better do an early post this week.  So happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and family members living in the U.S.

First up this afternoon Green Bay vs Detroit.  Lions with a great win last Sunday, especially after you see the NFL films footage of Stafford since he had a microphone on during the game.  After he got hit you can really hear how much in pain he was in.  Told the coach couple of minutes later he could throw the ball and went in and got the winning TD.

Best part was him on the bench awaiting the extra point.  Still in pain but able to get out this about the kicker “Come on Jason Hanson, do what they pay you for baby”  Couldn’t have written that, especially that he said the kicker’s first and last name.  In case we weren’t sure who he was talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEaFYsKg-7c

4 minutes in is after the hit.

After all of that, Stafford isn’t playing today.  Damn.  So I’ll go with Green Bay, but they better not take Detroit for granted.

4:15pm game is Oakland at Dallas.  Cowboys should win this but after that terrible performance against the Redskins I’m not positive.  A 7-6 win?  Stars-Capitals could have a 7-6 game.

Night game Giants vs Broncos.  NY with the win here.  Last year Denver fell apart but had a different QB and coach.  Must something in the Colorado water lately.  I wasn’t sold on the Broncos and when I finally picked them they started their losing streak.  Go figure.

Sunday games I’ll go through quickly.

Dolphins over Bills, Seahawks over Rams, Eagles over Redskins, Falcons over Bucs, Texans over Colts [one of these times Houston will beat them], Bengals over Browns, Panthers over Jets, Chargers over Chiefs, Jags over 49ers, Titans over Cards, Vikings over Bears and Ravens over Steelers.

Monday night Patriots vs Saints in New Orleans.  Hmmm.  If it was a Sunday game I’d barely pick the Pats.  But Saints at home on a Monday night is going to ramp them up even further.  New Orleans by 3.

I won’t be watching much of the Grey Cup. But easy pick of the Roughriders over the Als.  Montreal chokes in this game on a frequent basis.  1-6 record the last 7 times!  That’s insane.

Kingston’s Rob Bagg is with Saskatchewan.  He was with Queen’s when I started at CFRC so be nice for him to win.

As for Saturday’s Vanier Cup I’ll pick Queen’s over Calgary.  Wild guess of a score of 35-28.  But honestly I don’t know much about Calgary’s team.

Kick off at 12pm with a pregame starting around 11am on CFRC.  It’s getting a lot of attention in town.  The Ale House downtown is opening at 11am on Saturday for the game.  Wow, for a Queen’s football game.

It’s on TSN for those who want to watch the game.  But who wrote the TSN promos for the Vanier Cup?  It keeps saying Canada’s COLLEGE football championship.

No.  The U.S. has College Football we have University Football.  Why The Score calls their coverage “University Rush”.  Very sloppy mistake from TSN.  And I’ve seen different ads in which say ‘college’.

Friday’s show I think I’m going to play a lot of songs from The Band’s The Last Waltz.  Bring out the hour I played on Canadian Thanksgiving.  Then some bonus songs I have.  With one of the boxsets they had songs from the rehearsal of the concert.  Very rare to hear those.

Next Friday finally back LIVE on the show.  First week in December by the time that rolls around.  Will have Neate Sager on to talk about the Queen’s Football season, win or lose.

http://neatesager.blogspot.com/

http://www.cisblog.ca/

Now offline for a while.  Watch some NFL football this afternoon.

Fair play 50. Your album aint selling well and your still giving back.

St. Michael’s Cemetery- photo by Mitch Waxman

As has been mentioned in the past, your humble narrator suffers from a serious health condition, which necessitates regular physical exercise be performed as a curative. These long walks around the Newtown Pentacle, prescriptive in their origins, have made me curious about the things I encounter. Notwithstanding the industrial wonders of Newtown Creek or that clockwork malevolence of marching progress evidenced in Long Island City, desire arises in my heart for quiet… peace… and the company of some semblance of nature.

Here in northwestern Queens, the closest thing to a sylvan glade available to the public for peaceful perambulation are graveyards.

St. Michael’s Cemetery- photo by Mitch Waxman

Despite my great affection for the viridian devastation of Calvary Cemetery, it is quite a long walk from ruby lipped Astoria to the blighted hillocks of Blissville, and in these days of approaching winter- the sun’s journey ends in late afternoon. Calvary will consume you, if you stray too far from the light, and the wise visit it early in the day.

A mere half mile from Newtown Pentacle HQ, however, can be found St. Michael’s. 88 acres of manicured grounds, St. Michael’s is an island of calm in the middle of Astoria. Unlike Calvary, St. Michael’s is a nonsectarian burial ground, and exhibits the legendary diversity of populations for which Queens is renowned worldwide within its loamy depths.

(we’ll be exploring St. Michael’s more thoroughly in future posts, but for now…)

Recently, on one of my ghoulish walks around the place, I encountered strange fruit.

from St. Michael’s

St. Michael’s Cemetery is situated in the borough of Queens in New York City. Established in 1852, St. Michael’s is one of the oldest religious, nonprofit cemeteries in the New York City metropolitan area which is open to people of all faiths. It is owned and operated by St. Michael’s Church, an Episcopal congregation located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

The original property for St. Michael’s Cemetery was purchased in 1852 by the Rev. Thomas McClure Peters and occupied seven acres. Over the years St. Michael’s gradually acquired additional land to its present size of approximately eighty-eight acres. Because it was Dr. Peters intention to provide a final dignified resting place for the poor who could not otherwise afford it, areas within the cemetery were assigned to other free churches and institutions of New York City. These areas are still held for the institutions they were assigned. As a service to its diverse constituency, St. Michael’s continues to this day provide burial space for individuals and families from all classes, religions and ethnicities. St. Michael’s reflects the demographic and historical trends of New York City. Walking through the older sections of the cemetery, you will find burials representing the 19th and early 20th century immigrants.

In the late 1980’s St. Michael’s began building community mausoleums in order to more efficiently utilize the remaining unoccupied space and offer attractive, affordable final resting places. Currently, we are planning a new mausoleum complex at 49th Street and Grand Central Parkway Service Road.

St. Michael’s Cemetery- photo by Mitch Waxman

About the size of an orange, or large apple, the ruggose skin of the fruit had a sickly yellow-green coloration. Abundant, the fallen spores were obviously in season. Ignorant of the specificities of arborial lore, nocturnal researches of North American cultivars suggested that this sort of ovum was typical of an Osage Orange- Maclura pomifera to those in the know.

from wikipedia

Osage-orange, Horse-apple, Bois D’Arc, or Bodark (Maclura pomifera) is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to 8–15 metres (26–49 ft) tall. It is dioeceous, with male and female flowers on different plants. The fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, but bumpy, and 7–15 cm in diameter, and it is filled with a sticky white latex sap. In fall, its color turns a bright yellow-green and it has a faint odor similar to that of oranges.

Maclura is closely related to the genus Cudrania, and hybrids between the two genera have been produced. In fact, some botanists recognize a more broadly defined Maclura that includes species previously included in Cudrania and other genera of Moraceae.

Osajin and Pomiferin are flavonoid pigments present in the wood and fruit, comprising about 10% of the fruit’s dry weight. The plant also contains the flavonol morin.

Recent research suggests that elemol, another component extractable from the fruit, shows promise as a mosquito repellent with similar activity to DEET in contact and residual repellency.

St. Michael’s Cemetery, Maclura pomifera, or Osage Orange  fruit - photo by Mitch Waxman

An important plant to the native american cultures, the Osage Orange tree produces wood which is dense and fibrous, ideal for the body of a Bow and it is one of the highest rated “fuel woods“. Resistant to insect and fungus, Osage wood is also prized for use in fenceposts. It grows in the form of a dense thorned thicket surrounding the central trunk, and produces the “orange” which is largely passed over by mammalian scavengers like Squirrels and Raccoons. Prized by Horses and Mules (horse apples), the original range of the tree was confined to the southwest, but its value as a hedge plant and naturally replenishing cattle fence was instrumental in it being planted all over North America.

from horticulture and home pest news

The Osage-orange is native to a small area in eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Arkansas. This region was also the home of the Osage Indians, hence the common name of Osage-orange. White settlers moving into the region found that the Osage-orange possessed several admirable qualities. It is a tough and durable tree, transplants easily, and tolerates poor soils, extreme heat, and strong winds. It also has no serious insect or disease problems. During the mid-nineteenth century, it was widely planted by midwest farmers, including those in southern Iowa, as a living fence. When pruned into a hedge, it provided an impenetrable barrier to livestock. The widespread planting of Osage-orange stopped with the introduction of barbed wire. Many of the original hedges have since been destroyed or died. However, some of the original trees can still be found in fence rows in southern Iowa. Trees have also become naturalized in pastures and ravines in southern areas of the state.

St. Michael’s Cemetery, Maclura pomifera, or Osage Orange  fruit - photo by Mitch Waxman

Like all fruiting plants, an animal conspirator is required to complete the life cycle of the Osage Orange, expanding its range via the digestive processes of a ranging forager. Ever efficient, nature would not waste its time producing an energy rich fruit that attracts no living animal to it. Theories abound as to the identity of this partner organism, and an extinct equine is one of the evolutionary vectors theorized to have played this role for the Osage (thought likely due to the browsing preferences of modern Horse and Mule), but an intriguing notion is put forth by Connie Barlow of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum who offers the theory that the anachronistic fruit of the Osage Orange’s partner animal was in fact a long extinct North American Elephant- the Mammoth.

Practicers of the left handed path of forbidden knowledge prize Osage wood for usage in wands, believing it to be useful when invoking mysterious spirits emanating from the bowels of the earth- those never human elemental intelligences, and the spirit animal guides associated with Native American Shamanic beliefs.

from gardening.yardener.com

Osage-Orange is a native tree coming from a relatively small area in eastern Oklahoma, portions of Missouri, Texas and Arkansas. While used for centuries by native Americans in its original area for war clubs and bows, it was the first tree Lewis and Clark sent back east from St. Louis in 1804. Yet, with that modest beginning, the Osage-Orange probably has been planted in greater numbers throughout the United States in the 19th and early 20th century than almost any other tree species in North America. Because of its value as a natural hedgerow fence, it made agricultural settlement of the prairies possible, it then led directly to the invention of barbed wire in 1874, and then provided most of the posts for the wire that fenced the West. It is still considered the best wood for making archer’s bows. The Osage-Orange is one of America’s more interesting natives. It has at least two Internet web sites dedicated to keeping Osage-Orange enthusiasts informed (see www.osageorange.com and www.hedgeapple.com).

Happy Thanksgiving.

Here we have SoleBlind here with a new track “I’m On”. He goes in over Uptown instrumental. You can catch more of SoleBlind on The Goose Experiment along with some upcoming projects by ITO.

DOWNLOAD: SoleBlind – I’m On

If the accusations are true, then what a shame indeed.

I decided to make a trip to NYC straight from Chicago. I just wanted to get away for a little. I stayed with my buds Adel and Rajib at there place in the financial district. It was crazy, its a block away from Wall St. Monday morning was crazy outside. Its so lively. Well here is a summary of my trip.

]]> http://travelheadlines.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/the-queens-bermuda-visit-repeats-a-trip-made-in-1953/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:43:02 +0000 wnewsfeed6061 http://travelheadlines.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/the-queens-bermuda-visit-repeats-a-trip-made-in-1953/

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh land in Bermuda for an official visit despite a diplomatic spat between the island and the UK…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: flight+transportation. The blog is also related to: lax airport.

New York City Council Deputy Majority Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) hosted a ceremony yesterday to officially rename the corner of Hollis Avenue and 205th Street as “Run DMC JMJ Way” in honor of the legendary Hall of Fame rap group that began their career in this community. With hundreds of Southeast Queens’ residents in attendance, Rev. Run and DMC joined with family members of the late group member Jam Master Jay to officially unveil the new street sign and become the first hip hop artists to be honored with a New York City street naming.

The ceremony was co-hosted by Power 105 radio personality (and Hollis native) Ed Lover and WBLS radio personality Dr. Bob Lee. Also in attendance were New York State Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), hip hop legends Rahiem (of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five) and Kangol Kid (UTFO). The invocation was delivered by Rev. Carleen Thorbes of New Jerusalem Baptist Church.

The historic day began with a short parade from the Hollis Hip Hop Museum, located in the Hollis Famous Burger restaurant. Led by the Elite Marching Band, Jam Master Jay’s mother Connie Mizell and Council Member Comrie led family members to the ceremony site where they were joined on stage by Rev. Run and DMC. With their numerous hits being played, both surviving group members joined Ms. Mizell in remembering their fallen deejay and delivering positive messages to the audience.

“What this sign says to me is that you can be anything you want,” stated DMC. “Because of hip hop, I became one of the greatest lyricists of all time. And I did it without using profanity or disrespecting our beautiful Black women. Hip hop is about us doing the best with what we have to make it better for all the people after us. We are who we are because of you people.”

“This is a proud day for my whole family,” Ms. Mizell told the crowd. “I want to thank Council Member Comrie and the entire community for honoring my son and the entire group in this manner. I can remember like it was yesterday that the three of them were practicing their music in my living room in our house just a few blocks from here. And now future generations will see this street and be inspired by what they accomplished.”

Added Rev. Run, “This thing is bigger than me and D. This thing is about God giving us an opportunity to express ourselves through hip hop.”

Run D.M.C. was an influential Hip-Hop group whose members were born and/or grew up in Hollis, Queens. Founded by Joseph “DJ Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C” McDaniels, and the late Jason “Jam Master J” Mizell, Run D.M.C. is considered to be one of the most important and influential artists in rap music history. Seven ground-breaking albums and countless hit singles resulted in the group paving the way for rap music to become the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. Additionally, Run D.M.C. is given credit for immortalizing Hollis, Queens as one of the birth places of Hip-Hop.

Run D.M.C was inducted into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009 in honor of their historic and successful twenty-five year career.

Run (born Joseph Simmons, November 14, 1964) was the brother of Russell Simmons, who formed the hip-hop management company Rush Productions in the early ’80s; by the mid-’80s, Russell had formed the pioneering record label Def Jam with Rick Rubin. Russell encouraged his brother Joey and his friend Darryl McDaniels (born May 31, 1964) to form a rap duo. The pair of friends did just that, adopting the names Run and D.M.C., respectively. After they graduated from high school in 1982, the pair enlisted their friend Jason Mizell (born January 21, 1965) to scratch turntables; Mizell adopted the stage name Jam Master Jay.

In 1983, Run-D.M.C. released their first single, “It’s Like That/Sucker M.C.’s,” on Profile Records. It was the first “new school” hip-hop recording. “It’s Like That” became a Top 20 R&B hit, as did the group’s second single, “Hard Times/Jam Master Jay.” Two other hit R&B singles followed in early 1984 – “Rock Box” and “30 Days”. By the time of their second album, 1985’s King of Rock, Run-D.M.C. had become the most popular and influential rappers in America. Besides releasing the King of Rock album and scoring the R&B hits “King of Rock”, “You Talk Too Much”, and “Can You Rock It Like This” in 1985, the group also appeared in the rap movie Krush Groove, which also featured Kurtis Blow, the Beastie Boys and the Fat Boys.

Run-D.M.C.’s fusion of rock and rap broke into the mainstream with their third album, 1986’s “Raising Hell“. The album was preceded by the Top Ten R&B single “My Adidas”, which set the stage for the group’s biggest hit single, a cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”. Recorded with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, “Walk This Way” was the first hip-hop record to appeal to both rockers and rappers, as evidenced by its peak position of number four on the pop charts.

Historically, the group achieved a number of notable firsts in hip hop music and credited with being the act most responsible for pushing hip hop into mainstream popular music, initiating its musical and artistic evolution and enabling its growth as a global phenomenon. Run-D.M.C. is the first rap act to have reached a number of major accomplishments:

* A #1 R&B charting rap album

* The first major rap act to appear on American Bandstand (the Sugar Hill Gang appeared on the program in 1981)

* The first rap act to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 more than once

* The first rap artist with a top 10 pop charting rap album

* The first rap artist with RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums

* The first rap act to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine

* The first rap act to receive a Grammy Award nomination

* The first rap act to make a video appearance on MTV

* Signed to an athletic product endorsement deal (Adidas)

Sin duda alguna, la biblioteca pública de Queens es un referente internacional en la prestación de servicios bibliotecarios multiculturales. Por eso se considera interesante la lectura del fragmento que sobre esta biblioteca se pone a continuación.  El párrafo está tomado del libro ” La biblioteca de noche”, de Alberto Manguel, lo mismo que el título de esta entrada, una pregunta que plantea el autor en el capítulo XIV , titulado,  precisamente, la biblioteca como identidad.

 “Los inmigrantes se dirigen a veces a las bibliotecas no sólo para saber más acerca de su país de adopción, de su historia, de su geografía, de su literatura, acerca de sus fechas, o sus mapas, o sus epopeyas nacionales, sino también para adquirir una comprensión general de cómo piensa y se organiza ese país, cómo divide y cataloga el mundo, el cual incluye el pasado del inmigrante. La Biblioteca Pública de Queens, en  Nueva York, la más frecuentada de los Estados Unidos con una circulación anual que supera los quince millones de libros, cintas magnetofónicas y vídeos, se dirige principalmente a una población de inmigrantes, ya que casi la mitad de los residentes de Queens hablan en casa una lengua que no es el inglés y más de un tercio han nacido en un país extranjero. Los bibliotecarios hablan ruso, hindi, chino, coreano, gujerati y español y pueden explicar a sus nuevos lectores cómo conseguir un carné de conducir, cómo navegar en Internet o cómo aprender inglés. Los títulos más solicitados son traducciones a las lenguas de los inmigrantes de novelas populares norteamericanas. (…) la biblioteca de Queens (…) se ha convertido en una de las muchas que reflejan la identidad estimulante, cambiante y plural de un país y un momento determinados” (pág. 399-400).

We Two: Victoria & Albert ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Rosalyn Landor
15 discs

This is a revolutionary portrait of a queen and her prince, revealing at once both an intimate but far-from-idyllic relationship that succeeded against all odds as the strong, feisty queen and the brilliant, fragile prince worked together to build a family based on support, trust, and fidelity.

BREE: A girl. Use in place of “girl,” “woman,” “gal,” “lady,” “young woman,” or “female.”

Use it in a sentence:

• I just got a date with the hottest bree!
• Watch out; that bree will chew you up and spit you out again.
• Hold the door for the bree coming up the stairs; her hands are full.
• I’m going to my little bree’s school play today.
• Don’t go see that! It’s a total bree movie!

Your assignment: Use the word “bree” 5 times today.

Can you think of another sentence using “bree”? Add it in the comments!