As anticipation begins a steady climb for the next album from rapper Game, R.E.D., he is already looking past the upcoming release with the following.

The journey for Jayceon Taylor has been quite a bumpy road in rap.  Emerging alongside 50 Cent and G-Unit to drop The Documentary and then being forcefully removed to wage war with his former rap buddies, Game has found a way to create his own identity, although there may be more than one personality inhabiting his mind.

With his upcoming release on February 16, things have come full circle as he has linked back up to once again become the doctor’s advocate with Dr. Dre.

While recording with Pharrell in the studio, DubCNN was able to speak with the rapper and learn more about the next rumored album Diary of Compton, which should follow R.E.D., and who he intends to tap into to bring the project together.

“Ice Cube is the big homie, Dr. Dre, you know, is like the father-figure or like a big brother to me in Hip Hop, Snoop is going to be down with Game.  Me and Snoop ride or die for each other in music or in the streets.  He’s like my big brother and he holds me down.  To put it together, it ain’t nothing, but it’s gonna take everybody, The Dogg Pound, Daz and Kurupt, to come together and really help me perfect that album or else I can’t do it halfway.”

“I gotta it 100% of what the definition of what Compton is to all the artists involved, myself and what people see from the outside looking in.  I want to depict Compton in a way that’s so real that you feel like you’re from Compton, if you’re not.  You feel like you see or you been through what I’ve been through in my life. “

Slated to be an album of epic proportions, the album is waiting at the batter’s cage, waiting to step foot onto the mound once it is finally ready.  As the last contractual album, the last offering can only be a smash before the curtains close, if they do, with Interscope.

“It’s on hold.  Hopefully it can be my fifth album, which would be my last album on Interscope/Geffen, but I really wanna make that happen.”

He also added more on his current process and stated that his experience with Pharrell has done nothing but give him a better outlook on the producer that made “Allure” for Jay-Z.

“Pharrell is my new favorite producer.  I got a whole new respect for Pharrell and the Neptunes, but especially Pharrell and how he do his thing man.  The way that he coached me when I’m in the booth, it’s like a Pat Reiley to a Tim Hardaway or a Pat Reiley to a Magic Johnson.  They way that he let me run point guard when I’m inside that booth is just crazy.  People don’t really understand what the Neptunes are, but if you take away the Neptunes from Hip Hop, you take away the color in Hip Hop.”

The rapper also spoke on rumors that his upcoming album will feature him linking up with DJ Premier, whom he has yet to work with in his career.

“I’m supposed to be getting with Premier before Christmas.  I hope that happens because Premier is one of my favorite classic OG producers that’s still potent in Hip Hop today, of all time, and I can’t wait to get it in with Premier.”

Calling it his rededication to Hip Hop, Game is bringing out the heavy artillery this time around to show his love and appreciation for the craft, which can only be a positive for fans.  People may not be aware of which Game will appear, but there’s nothing wrong with being unpredictable as no one knows what to expect.

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I hadn’t met a persimmon until this fall, when one of my co-workers dropped a grocery bag of them on our conference table and said that he had twenty more bags for anyone who wanted them. Luckily, another coworker volunteers at the food bank and took the bulk of the fruit, because even one bag is too much to deal with. I brought them home and they’ve been slowly ripening for the past month. Some were finally ripe today, so I took a shot at persimmon bread. It’s baking right now, but I can tell you that the batter was pretty good, perhaps because of a special ingredient that has been popping up in our recipes lately…

It’s bourbon. And we’ve been putting it in everything. Is it something about fall that makes this particular type of booze more appealing? I generally lean towards vodka and gin for my hard liquor, but lately it’s been all about “America’s Native Spirit.” It’s appropriate, then, that one of our more popular bourbon-laced recipes were the boozy yams (approximately the recipe we used) featured in our early Thanksgiving dinner. They were boozy enough to make some of our housemates – those hungover from the football game the night before – fairly queasy. For those of us who weren’t hungover, the yams were just plain great, and we’ve been happily eating the leftovers.

Goodnight

Warcloud znany także jako Holocaust, 27 listopada wypuścił wznowienie swojej płyty oryginalnie wydanej w 2006 roku. Za bity na albumie odpowiedzialny jest m.in. Skarekrow. Wśród gości Kurupt, Black Knights czy North Star. Wydawca: Chamber Musik Records

Tracklista:
01. America (Produced By: Skarekrow)
02. Island Of Dr. Warcloud (Produced By: Uno)
03. Ghost Pirates Old Los Angeles feat. Skarekrow (Produced By: Skarekrow)
04. Strawberry Cream Champaign feat. Crisis & Monk (of Black Knights) (Produced By: Skarekrow)
05. Something Is Going To Make Me Smack This Bitch feat. Kurupt, Black Knights, Sandman (Produced By: 6 Mil)
06. The Beer Song (Produced By: Skarekrow)
07. Old Toy Room/ A Pie In The Window (Food For Thought) (Produced By: Item #)
08. Vicious Killer Beez feat. Suga Bang Bang, North Star (Produced By: Item #)
09. The Renaissance feat. Leviathan, Mantra (Produced By: Item #)
10. In The Hall Of The Warrior King (Produced By: Item #)
11. Channel Warcloud (Produced By: Tariq)
12. Mad Axes (Produced By: Item #)
13. Mics, Turntables, Spray Cans & Records feat. Skarekrow, Leviathan (Produced By: Skarekrow)
14. Falling Hammer (Produced By: Halo)
15. Fever Dream (Produced By: Skarekrow)
16. Stay Wit It feat. Leviathan, Onslaught (Produced By: Skarekrow)

Youssoupha est le nouveau Sylar, sa mission devant les hommes et de trouver ceux qui ont pompé son style et de leur dire “c’est pas bien” afin qu’ils ne recommencent plus jamais.
Il va maintenant s’attaquer à Papillon, cet infâme rustre bridé et bandané qui a osé s’appeler Papillon depuis des années alors que Youssoupha vient juste de sortir un son du nom de “L’effet papillon.”
Quelque part ça prouve bien que ce westeux adepte de G-Funk, de substances illicites et de putes est un imposteur.
En tout cas il en faut pas plus à Youssoupha, l’autoproclamé Morphéus au mic.

Youssoupha -Dis donc l’ami. Je sais que tu as depuis longtemps prévu un album qui s’appelle l’effet papillon.
Papillon – Tu m’apprends un truc, là.
Youssoupha – Et je tenais à te dire que j’ai déjà sorti un son de ce nom récemment donc tu es un copiteur et c’est mal, m’voyez ?
Papillon -Burbs ! Hic ! (oui, il est bourré) Attends t’es qui toi ? lâchez moi l’bandana !
Youssoupha -Youssoupha AKA Morpheus au Mic.
Papillon – … On va dire que je t’ai pas posé cette question et que t’as pas répondu. Alors écoute mon gars. Papillon, c’est mon blase. Depuis des lustres*. Je faisais un top single plein de gros mots et d’obcénités vendus à des milliers d’exemplaires avec Eddy Barclay dans mon clip quand toi t’avais même pas encore posé sur une compil de merde comme “Sachons dire non” ou que sais-je…
Youssoupha -Mais l’effet papillon c’est mon morceau, alors tu refais pas comme moi, copieur, c’est mal.
Papillon -Ouais mais moi c’est mon blase Papillon. Donc je l’écris avec un P majuscule dans mon titre “L’effet Papillon” et là t’es bien feinté. en plus l’effet papillon c’est déjà un titre de Benabar, et c’est aussi une émission sur Canal +. donc l’un dans l’autre, tu l’as dans le cul.

Youssoupha -Les rappeurs lancent des clashs pour s’égayer, mais dans le freestyle Hostile 2006, c’est pas Médine qui bégayait !
Papillon -Quoi ? C’est quoi le rapport ?
Youssoupha -C’est dans mon son “L’effet papillon” donc tu vois un peu le niveau. Si tu t’entêtes à garder le même nom que moi faudra être à la hauteur.
Papillon -Petit a°/ Il y a trop de gay dans ta phase. Petit b°/ Tu reproches à un rappeur d’en clasher un autre en envoyant aussi le même genre de pique de merde. Petit c°/ dans la version album de ton son tu censures toi même le nom de Kemi Seba que tu prononçais avec fierté dans la version qui tournait avant. Petit d°/ Si t’as fini de dire de la merde faut j’aille me saouler la gueule au Soleil et j’y vais en vélib parce que mon low-bike il est cassé.
Youssoupha – un low-bike ? c’est une abréviation pour stylo bic ? moi aussi ça me saoule quand ils se pètent, en plus t’as de l’encre partout et…
Papillon – toi je devrais te prêter mon dickies pour que t’aies du style. mais je suis pas sûr que ça suffise.
Youssoupha – j’ai déjà mon t-shirt « le rap c’est mieux maintenant », en combinant les deux ça va le faire.
Papillon – ah ouais ben non du coup. rends le dickies, il a pas mérité ça. Comment s’appelle ton album au fait ?
Youssoupha – Sur le chemin du retour.
Papillon – OK, bah le mien ce sera Destination ailleurs. Parce que si tu reviens je me casse.
Youssoupha -Ils seraient prêts à reconnaître la môme de Rachida Dati pour avoir des fafs !
Papillon -C’est de toi ça ?
Youssoupha -Ouaip !
Papillon -Putain de merde !
Youssoupha -C’est pas bien, c’est ça ? C’est ce que je me disais…
Papillon -Au contraire grosse tête. C’est vachement bien. C’est la preuve qu’en plus t’en es capable. T’es capable de faire de vraies punchlines, c’est donc toi qui décide sciemment de faire du vieux rap conscient.
Youssoupha -Le rap c’est pour éduquer…
Papillon – bon ben je vais être forcé de te demander de foutre le camp. Putain… Il a changé Youss de l’S-Kadrille…

Youssoupha -Pourquoi vous m’avez pas pris pour faire Bisso Na Bisso 2 ?
Passi -Parce qu’on a pris les mêmes que dans le 1 à part Mystik et que t’étais pas dans le 1 à la base.
Youssoupha -Oui mais moi je te parle du 2 à la base.
Lino -Mais nous on te parlait pas du tout à la base. On fait pas toujours ce qu’on veut.
Passi -Pourquoi on t’aurait pris ?
Youssoupha -Parce que je suis du Zaïre aussi et que…
Lino -Attends, ta gueule. Tcht ! je veux dire Chut ! Si on t’avait pris il aurait fallu prendre aussi tous les autres rappeurs Congolais qui sont meilleurs que toi. et crois moi y en a une chiée. Despo Rutti, Escobar Macson, Dry d’Intouchable, Maître Gims et j’en passe.
Passi -Et puis nous c’est plutôt le Congo de Brazzaville et toi t’es de Kinshasa.
Lino -Ouais enfin bon, si tu dois retenir qu’une seule raion, c’est surtout que t’es nul.
Youssoupha -Mais pourtant j’ai trop l’esprit Bisso. J’ai tout un tas de putes qui font des choeurs de merde dans mes refrains pour donner un côté africanisant tout ça dans mon nouvel album.
Lino -Mais qu’est-ce que ça à voir avec l’esprit Bisso ça ? L’esprit Bisso c’est juste qu’il faut niquer tout le monde !
Youssoupha -Qui ça ?
Lino -Mais tout le monde, bordel ! On a pas le temps de se poser des questions pareilles. Faut tous les détester !
Passi -Oui enfin non… Pas vraiment. À vrai dire le petit est plus proche de l’esprit de départ.
Lino -Tiens, bah commence par détester Passi. ça devrait être facile, même pour toi. Tout le monde déteste Passi.
Passi -Mais toi tu me détestes pas, t’es mon ami.
Lino -Je vois pas le rapport. T’as quand même fait la Star Ac.
Youssoupha -Moi j’ai fait Popstar !
Lino -Oh putain…

Youssoupha -J’ai fait un morceau où je parle à ma future fille que j’ai pas encore.
Lino -Ta meuf est en cloque et vous attendez une gnarde ? Pas de bol. Je connais ça moi aussi, je voulais un bonhomme mais j’ai eu une fille. Alors pour me consoler je hais mon futur gendre, ça aide.
Youssoupha -Non, non, moi c’est pas ça. Moi je parle à la fille imaginaire que je rêve d’avoir. Si je dois être papa je veux une fille.

Lino lui met une tarte dans la gueule.

Youssoupha -Mais t’en fais pas, pour mon futur gendre je sais déjà qui ce sera. Ce sera mon pote S-Pi. C’est mon rêve qu’il épouse ma fille.
Lino -C’est encore un ami imaginaire ce merdeux ?
Youssoupha -Non, c’est potentiellement le plus grand rappeur français de sa génération.
S-Pi -Au lit je suis un X-Man comme ill et cass. Illégal style de fille, tous les styles de bites, il régale !
Youssoupha -Avec un mec comme ça, ma fille sera entre de bonnes mains.
ILL –Mais ?!! Pourquoi il reprend une de mes phrases pour dire de la merde ? Qu’est-ce que je lui ai fait bordel ?!
Lino -Ah bah t’es là toi ?
ILL -Dés qu’y a une guerre et qu’on m’appelle, comme Machiavel j’acours. c’est ILL, la ville m’appelle !
Lino -Ouais… Et si on t’appelle pour un concert tu cours aussi ?
Youssoupha -Wahou ! C’est ILL ! ILL devant moi, c’est merveilleux. Je te kiffais trop à l’ancienne. Bien sûr t’étais pas aussi fort que Diable Rouge qu’était le mec le plus buzzé de Time Bomb mais t’étais fort aussi.
ILL -Oh putain ! C’est qui lui ?
Lino -Maintenant tu regrettes d’être venu.

Youssoupha -Le rap c’est novateur !
Lino -Ton rap c’est nos waters ? Pas faux…
Youssoupha -Non c’est pas ce que j’ai…
Lino -Mais ta gueule. c’est à cause de ton cheveux sur la langue, on comprend pas bien.
Youssoupha -Mais mon cheveux il fait pas mal prononcer les V ?
ILL -Faut fermer ta gueule quand même, par mesure de prévention.
Youssoupha -Mais toi aussi t’as un cheveux sur la langue.
Lino -Oui mais lui il peut se permettre de pas aller à un concert événementiel où tout le monde a payé pour le voir alors qu’il avait aucune actu et que ça lui aurait fait un buzz de ouf. Quelque part il peut tout se permettre.
Youssoupha -Tu veux savoir pourquoi j’ai un cheveux sur la langue ? Demande à ta pine-co !
Lino -Attends, bouge pas, je l’appelle. Allo ? Madame Bors ? Ouais c’est moi… Non mais je m’en fous de ça… Attend, tais toi j’ai une question… Quoi ? Non tu peux pas toucher à la réserve d’alcool du garage, c’est au cas où les Chinois nous attaque, ça. C’est des réserves ! Quoi ? Mais je m’en fous qu’il y ait plus de place pour la voiture, gare là dans le hall. Oui, j’ai une question. Pourquoi Youssoupha a un cheveux sur la langue ? Ah bah voilà ! On est d’accord ! Faut qu’il ferme sa gueule !!
ILL -Mouahahahaha ! Les cheveux sur la langue c’est comme le rap : c’était mieux avant.
Lino -Le rap c’était mieux avant ? Tu veux dire quand t’en faisais ? Quand tu te sortais les doigts du cul et que t’allais au concert où t’es sensé te produire ? Ouais c’était mieux, mais je la ramènerai pas à ta place. Tcht ! Tcht !

*Pour ceux qui voient pas qui est Papillon exactement, bande d’attardés, c’est le mec de Playa (c’est plage en Espagnol ça vient pas de player, faut tout te dire à toi, sale assisté de merde).
Si tu vois toujours pas qui c’est (c’est que déjà t’es un connard) c’est une espèce de vietnamien qui ressemblerait à n’importe quel vietnamien s’il était pas sappé en latinos.
C’est la preuve qu’en y mettant les moyens et avec un peu de goût, un asiatique peut s’acheter une âme sans forcément faire des TIG de plusieurs siecles en tant que Lutin du Père Noel après sa mort pour gagner le Paradis.
Un exemple pour tous. Mais faut pas que ça vous incite à faire pareil non plus.
Résumons nous pour les attardataires.
Latinos > Asiatiques
Et je ne m’appuie sur absolument rien.

Papillon – qui m’aime me suive
youssoupha feat S.pi – check de l’épaule
youssoupha – l’effet papillon
Bandana music feat OG Auteuil
si quelqu’un pouvait trouver de quel making off de film c’est tiré, il gagne un flamby.

Congrats to Danny as he took 2nd place that day!

So sorry but my human is so busy with our “moving overseas” thing that she hardly has any time to help me do blog stuff and I’m finding it really hard to keep up with visiting my friends at the moment – so please forgive me if I don’t manage to comment much in the next few weeks!

I’ve got lots of things I wanted to post about from ages ago which have been sitting in a queue but I keep having so many new adventures that I’ve had to tell you about those first and so my catch-up list keeps getting longer and longer!

But now that we are leaving NZ, my human thinks we should quickly tell you about all these things before we leave – as I’m sure I will have even more adventures to post about after we move to Australia! So I hope you won’t mind me bombarding you with posts about “old stuff” for the next week or so (whenever my human can get time away from all the packing and “moving overseas” stuff!)

OK – so I wanted to tell you about a lovely walk I did on St Heliers Bay beach back in July. My human, Hsin-Yi, says that we are very lucky because Auckland is a “harbour city” right next to the sea and so there are many “inner-city beaches” that we can get to in 10mins with the car machine, to enjoy.

Enjoying the sunshine on Tamaki Drive

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In fact, there is a beautiful long road called Tamaki Drive which follows the side of the sea and there is a row of “waterfront suburbs” along this road which all have beautiful beaches.

View Larger Map

Tamaki Drive

Lots of humans like to walk, jog or cycle along Tamaki Drive and it’s REALLY busy on Sunday mornings!

 (Hsin-Yi says: I think this is one of the most beautiful city drives in the world, with the sparkling blue sea dotted with yachts on one side, and on the other side – the pohutukawa trees (aka. the ”NZ Christmas Rose”) with their bright red blossoms fringing the road and the sleeping volcano, Rangitoto Island, looming on the horizon…

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Rangitoto Island

You can get lovely views of Waitemata Harbour, from anywhere along Tamaki Drive and also beautiful views back to the ‘City of Sails’ with the Sky Tower dominating the skyline…

 

Our favourite, of course, is Mission Bay where there is a beautiful fountain and park and lots of people sit at the cafes out on the street and it feels like you are on holiday all the time!

(Mission Bay has more young humans living there and is more “trendy and happening”, with lots of bars, restaurants, cafes and an art-deco cinema)

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Mmm - my special treat!

I love the beach at Mission Bay and often meet my friends there (check out my post: “A Walk with Chobe & Breakfast at Mission Bay“)

- and sometimes, after our walk, my humans will take me to the ice-cream shop to get me a special treat!

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But all the other beaches along Tamaki Drive are also really beautiful. Kohimarama is smaller & narrower and lots of people who live in the waterfront suburbs like to walk their dogs there but we don’t go as often ‘coz Hsin-Yi doesn’t like the way some of the other dogs (or their irresponsible owners!) behave and she says lots of uncontrolled, aroused dogs in a small space is just asking for trouble…

We learnt this the hard way because when I was younger, she used to take me to a dog park called Madills Farm where lots of humans like to stand around and gossip and just let the dogs play around them, instead of walking them…and while I was playing nicely with a Border Collie pup, a Husky-Shepherd-cross suddenly arrived at the park and ran up to me and tore a strip out of my shoulder! And his owner wasn’t even sorry – he just laughed and said proudly, “Look at that! Going for the biggest dog in the park!”

I was bleeding very badly and my humans had to rush me to the vet for stitches. I still have the scar – ouch! That was one of the ‘bad experiences’ which started me getting grumpy with strange dogs…and Hsin-Yi has had to work very hard with clicker training and “re-conditioning” to get me friendly with strange dogs again.

So now, Hsin-Yi avoids taking me any place where people  just want to gossip and be lazy and hope their dogs will exercise themselves - unless the dogs all know each other really well and (more importantly!), the owners are all sensible and responsible and have good control over their dogs – because even best friends can have an argument sometimes or accidentally hurt each other during play and of course, us doggies argue with our teeth! And if you have a pack of dogs together all highly aroused, then what started as a little argument can quickly turn into a nasty dog fight!

So the best thing is to always keep moving when out walking – this is much more natural for us doggies anyway and we get to see & smell more things and the exercise is better for our health and our humans’ health! Even if people want to socialise with a group of friends, they should keep moving because a group of dogs walking together is usually a happy, peaceful pack.

Oops! Sorry for that long story! Anyway, back to the beaches: after Kohimarama is St Heliers Bay beach which is bigger and quieter, so we like it better. St Heliers Bay also has some nice cafes and shops but it has more older humans (who are not working anymore) living there and feels a bit different to Mission Bay.

Me at St Heliers Bay beach

When we arrived that day, it was very exciting because some killer whales had just been passing by that morning, hunting sting rays for food in the sea, and now there were hundreds of birds coming to check out the “leftovers’!

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A lot of the half-eaten sting rays had washed up onto the beach…

They smelled deliciously fishy but actually tasted quite leathery and not very nice at all!

So I left them alone and contined my nice walk along the beach…

…until I found a stick!

Oh! But then a black spaniel came out of nowhere and tried to steal the stick from me!

But I won – ha! ha!

We had a nice play together, though, because Hsin-Yi is always very strict about teaching me to share my toys with other doggies. Then some more doggies arrived to join the fun!

Hmm...if you lost a lot of weight, you might look like my friends, Cookie & Cinnamon!

The sun was setting as we started walking back to the car machine but there was time for just one more picture!

I didn’t know then but that was actually the last time I could enjoy the beaches on Tamaki Drive!

See, usually dogs are only allowed on the “inner-city beaches” in the winter months (from Easter until end October) and even then only before 10am or after 4pm…so in winter, my humans usually take me to Mission Bay and the other Tamaki Drive beaches a lot for my daily walks.

But this year, just shortly after this lovely walk in July, a terrible thing happened! Five dogs died from eating something poisonous on the beaches and there were also some dead dolphins washed up on the beach, so they shut all the beaches along the Waitemata Harbour coastline and told all humans not to swim in the sea, until they could find out what it was.

Very sad – they have been shut ever since and now it has passed October which means we doggies can no longer go on the beaches anymore…so I have missed my chance this year and since we’re leaving NZ now, I will never get to go again!

They are still not sure what the poison was but they think it was “tetradotoxin” which was in some sea slugs washed up on the beach that the doggies (and other animals) ate…

The good news, though, is that it is still OK to go to the beaches on the West Coast ‘coz they are next to a different water. I love these beaches too, like Bethells Beach (Te Henga) which was my first ever beach when I was 3 months old, and dogs are allowed on them all year round but they are about 1 hrs drive from Auckland centre. Still, my humans have promised to try and take me there for a last walk before we leave NZ - if they manage to finish the packing in time!

View Larger Map

* For more information about Auckland’s beaches, check out the Auckland City Council website: http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/whatson/outdoors/default.asp

* For more information about the West Coast beaches, check out the Waitakere City Council website: http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/cnlser/pbr/prkgrnsp/index.asp

I feel like shit.

I wanted to tell West Coast that he hurt me. So I got up the courage to ask him to meet with me. He said sure, so I assumed that that was that.

But it’s never that simple with him. I went to his room and he wouldn’t answer the door. Then I texted him. He didn’t respond. So I called him. He picked up the phone and hung up.

Then he texted me something along the lines of “I don’t like you and I don’t want to see you.”

So naturally, I kept trying to convince him that we needed to talk, and naturally, he kept pushing back. So I gave up and said,

“I really wish I could hate you. But I can’t.”

I was at the smoking area at the time, so I sat there for a while. Then I went inside with my boyfriend and cried myself to sleep.

There isn’t enough alcohol or weed in the world to fill the hole that West Coast left. Nothing can make the hurt he left with me go away. I didn’t want to drink last night and I didn’t want to sleep, because I knew that when I woke up, the pain was still going to be there. And it was. But I was so exhausted that I couldn’t cry anymore.

I wish I could show him what he’s doing to me. But he doesn’t want to see any of the bad things he does, and that’s why (I believe) he was too afraid to see me yesterday.

He can’t face the truth.

But maybe that’s a sign that there’s still a good person in there somewhere. The good person who used to show through feels guilty, so he’s hiding. What I have to do is connect with the good in his heart. And I know it’s there.

I have so much love for him in spite of the horrible things he’s done to me. I’m not a perfect person though, and I can only take so much. But if this is coming to an end, it’s going to end on my terms.

It’s a battle of attrition now. He’s losing his friends over this, because even though he refuses to turn his head and see what’s happening to me, his friends see. And they care about me, and they look badly upon him for it. When everyone sees what he’s done and he has nobody to tell him he’s right, maybe he’ll see.

I wish he would just be the same person as he used to be. Sometimes I think he never was that person, but then I remember how we used to be and I know that somewhere in there, he cares.

I just scare him.

What last night made me realize, though, is that my boyfriend grounds me and stabilizes me. I need him in my life when terrible things happen, especially with WC. He was so wonderful to me last night, and I think it made our connection a little stronger. I love him and that’s something that will never go away.

Rowi

A ground-breaking new youth leadership programme is bringing our national icon – the kiwi – up close and personal to 19 senior South Island secondary school students.

The year 11, 12 and 13 students will take part in ‘Kiwi Forever’, a week-long conservation programme based at Ōkārito, just north of Franz Josef on the West Coast.

Members of the DOC Franz Josef rowi and community relations teams will be involved in the programme, working closely to teach the students the techniques they use to save the critically endangered rowi kiwi species.

Rowi team leader, Duncan Kay, holding a young rowi

When I talked to Ieuan Davies, field ranger in the rowi team he outlined that students would certainly be put through their paces on the muddy tracks of Ōkārito kiwi zone, learning the navigation and tracking skills that rangers use.

Iuean also said he was looking forward to listening to the opinions and ideas brought forward by the students throughout the week.

“These are young people who have interesting and fresh ideas about the relationships between humans and our planet. Even though we are focussed on rowi in our project, we are well aware that they are part of a much bigger picture.”

Okarito kiwi zone with Mount Cook and Mount Tasman in the background

During the week, it will be the students not the teachers who will come up with the answers. They’ll also discover just how big the threats, such as stoat predation and habitat loss, are for native species and explore ways in which we can fight back to protect them.

The intellectual challenge will include exploring how human behavior impacts on the Ōkārito ecosystems and also how the iconic ‘kiwi’ brand has been used to describe us as a nation.

The programme – a partnership between Untouched World Charitable Trust , Ngāi Tahu, BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust and DOC – recognises the urgent need to impart knowledge about saving our natural heritage to today’s youth if the bird is to be part of the nation’s future.

To find out more about the Rowi Project and read regular updates from the rangers visit www.savethekiwi.org.nz.

The Demo, albumul semnat Terrace Martin, ridica inca o data cortina pentru un preview al materialul-ui care va fi valabil curand, piesa intitulatascurt si la obiect Hip-Hop .

Via: OnSmash .

Packing shmacking.

Quick print screen of what has quite possibly made my month!!

THIS is the weather forecast (I mean really?? Thursday? Partly cloudy… c’mon.) for my annual, exquisite, Californian dream vacation with my bestest best friend in the whole wide world, Ben. Yes, he’s a boy. Total disconnect that I despise the gender yet rely on my bestest at crucial life moments? Probably, but don’t care, and welcome to my blog.

Ben lives in SF, not because he’s a hipster, but because he’s brillz. His mind… far surpasses mine. I dominate wordsmithing… he dominates everything else and more.

This vacation, while long overdue, will be the first time I return to California since my grand exodus in January 09. I left a ton of fond memories and beautiful moments behind. I’m semi-panicked that upon my return I shall stay forever. I’d ship Scout out. See? Perfect.

A more substantive worry than never utilizing the return ticket? Monday.

Off to the West Coast for some R&R ladies and gents… gobble, gobble.

K

The bocce court in Aquatic Park always seemed like one of San Francisco’s best open secrets. There’s a shed in the corner that’s always locked up. If you take a look inside, there are vintage photos of bocce teams past, and some of the most beautiful balls you’ll ever see.

This all led me to wonder if there actually was a bocce community in the City, maybe just below the surface. Thankfully, the Bold Italic, a sort of locals tourist guide, answered the question for me in the best bocce article you’ll read all week.

The answer is not really.

But there are still some hold outs. The best bocce players in the US are in San Francisco, so that’s something.

If you want to see the rules for the official Volo Bocce, they’re here.

And thanks to friend and photog-blogger of all things San Fran, Ashleigh, for the pic.

As mentioned two weeks ago when I covered 36 Chambers, there was a slew of albums that I looked forward to in the fall of 1993. The one I (and my brother) awaited most of all was the debut of arguably the most popular artist of that year, Snoop Doggy Dogg. Even with a total of no albums to his name, everyone knew who he was on the strength of his appearances on The Chronic. With Dr. Dre producing it and the momentum Snoop had, Doggystyle was almost a classic in our minds before we’d even heard it.

So on November 23rd (after a few delays), it finally dropped, and shit was nuts. This was the first time I recall everyone knowing what the release date was, and remembering to pick it up that day. I knew this one dude who came to school late that day, because he wanted to hit the mall and buy the tape first. It was just that big of a deal, especially since we’d been lookin’ forward to it for almost a year. I didn’t get to hear it until later that day, when my brother came home from work. As we’d usually do back then, we went in his room and put it on the big stereo. 16 years later, I’m still lovin’ that shit.

Doggystyle was the kinda album that a lot of artists try hard to make, but only a few actually do. It was something that you could play almost any song from and people knew what it was. It wasn’t one of those things that you play and they only know the singles, or only know certain tracks. Almost everyone I knew, from lil’ kids around my way to my oldest uncle, was rockin’ with that entire shit from front to back. It was like every song on there was a single, because joints like “Ain’t No Fun” were almost as popular as “Gin & Juice” was.

I never thought Snoop was the most super-lyrical MC in the world or anything like that. However, that shit only matters but so much when the songs are on the quality level of those on Doggystyle. His strengths weren’t in word-for-word lyricism. They were in his flow and making everything sound just right- something that a lot of rappers still neglect to this day. Snoop and Dre (with assists by Kurupt, Daz, Rage, Nate Dogg, Warren G, etc.) were putting together songs. At a time when artists were still conscious about not being on the pop or R&B side, they followed “pop” guidelines and made hard music with it. That combination worked more than a lotta artists probably knew it could, and it changed the game in that respect.

Doggystyle is almost perfect. The only thing that always irked me a lil’ bit was that I don’t think any album needs TWO intros. Outside of that minuscule gripe, there’s little that I could say on the negative side. I recall reading a few reviews that seemed to call it a disappointment, and one even suggested that it was more of a victory for Dre as a producer than it was for Snoop as an artist. Not sure about all that, but I’d love to hear more “disappointing” albums sound that good, and I do feel this was Dre’s best production work (followed closely by The Chronic and Niggaz4Life).

Snoop Dogg has been on and off ever since, but 1993 was his year- he had everyone checkin’ for him, he made a great album, and he was really one of the first (if not the first) to do astronomical first-week numbers with over 800,000+ sold. Even an impending murder case (which he beat in ‘96) wasn’t enough to stop what was goin’ on. Snoop n’nem came correct with every beat, verse, and hook, and it paid off. Even though it was 16 years ago, and he’s managed to stay relevant in pop culture through other songs/endeavors/etc., don’t get it twisted- Doggystyle is the reason he’s here.

“Gin & Juice”

“Lodi Dodi”

“Murder Was The Case”

“Ain’t No Fun” (feat. Nate Dogg, Kurupt, & Warren G)

“Doggy Dogg World” (feat. Kurupt, Daz, & The Dramatics)

“G’z Up, Hoes Down”

-D! (get ready for Da Dirty 30 on Wednesday…)

Carolyn and I are doing a project.  We’re each writing a few “tankas” (kind of longer haiku) and sending them to each other.  Then we’re making a painting/drawing responding to the other person’s tanka.  So far we’ve each sent two tankas, and my first response kind of meshes with the weekend we’ve just had:

The tanka reads:

their leaves carved away

branches wave and weave patterns

knobby joints rubbing

wren flies over for a look

tree  cold  blue-sky  bird

I texted West Coast while high last night. I know I said I’d never smoke weed again, but oh well. I was in a really good place last night.

He looked great for the dinner but I didn’t see him at the dance. So I told him he looked good and that I was too high to worry. He didn’t respond, but there’s nothing I can do.

Tomorrow is the boyfriend’s birthday. He managed to get some weed from a friend so I have to think of something else to buy him. He’s turning into kind of a big stoner, which isn’t good because his grades are suffering anyway… but that’s not for me to worry about, it’s his cross to bear.

My grades are what I need to worry about. I spoke with the advisor for students with disabilities on Friday, and he told me he could help me with classes that I don’t have the energy to wake up for. Sometimes I feel so weak that I can’t get out of bed, and he said that it counts as a disability. So what that means is I’ll get to live in a single next year at no extra cost and that my professors will all be notified that I have some debilitating illness that prevents me from having perfect attendance.

My attendance is near perfect, but I don’t want to drop from being an A student to a B+ student just because of depression and anorexia.

I weighed in, and my BMI is 18.4. I’m underweight, but barely. I mentioned last time that I’m doing the “Skinny Bitch Challenge” and that I’m liquid-fasting right now, so I’m hoping to see that number go down soon.

I set a goal at 95. That’s when I’ll be able to smile again. Not so thin that I black out while walking, and not fat enough to invalidate any fleeting moments of joy I might experience.

I’m feeling really tired, but I’m going to go into town to get a gift for the boyfriend later. I’ll need more coffee first I think.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving a week early in Seattle with my family, because next week we’re all going to be in different places on Thanksgiving Day. It seems ironic to me that after having just hauled ass to move back to the west coast after a short year and a half stint in Nor Cacka Lacka that my first major holiday will still be spent without my family. But you know, I’m completely okay with this. Now that I live in Portland I get to see my sisters just about every 6 weeks which means sisters and kid fix galore! I can’t tell you enough how great it feels to live so much closer to my family.I might not have a job, or a working vehicle, or even a washing machine that works for that matter, but this year I definitely have so many blessings to count when it comes to a life full of love, fortune, and joy.

For that, I am thankful.

Physics physics physics… such a nightmare…

Anyway, this geology course I’m taking right now is supposed to be one that I’m not good at. In fact it turned out to be really really interesting and I’m doing quite well.

We all know about volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and so forth. But in this class, I’m doing a lil more in depth of these natural disasters. Probably not so much in depth, then perhaps I would not do so great, but just enough so I could have some foundation knowledge about these disasters. Okay so I’m living in California now, and we’re studying about the earthquakes in the past (like the Great San Francisco earthquake,) how they happened and evacuation strategies when we see them coming. In addition, I used to live in Washington state, and we learned about the active and inactive volcanoes up there. My friends and I once drove up to Mt. Rainier for sightseeing, that mountain turned out to be an active volcano and there is a chance of eruption.

 
Space Needle and Mt. Rainier, the two great images of Seattle

We should probably all move away from the West Coast.

Funny thing is Vietnam, where I’m from, never has these sort of disasters. Except for some floods once in a while, Vietnam is a super safe place to live. FYI and a lil out of topic: Gunshots are rare in Vietnam. I might do another post talking about how peaceful Vietnam is.

Snoop’s new video for I Wanna Rock was released, today. It’s probably one of the most fun videos he’s done in a while.