DOES ANY1 EVER READ THIS BLOG?

If not, I can use it to talk endless shit about people I know. Please leave a comment if you would like this site to change its format to "bringing back juicycampus for the 100 people Toobs knows and really dislikes." Otherwise, leave a comment that says you like our blog, or if there is anyway to improve it. I'd really like some feedback, and for Dan to start posting again. 

DETOX SOUNDS LIKE A SHITTY TI ALBUM! KID CUDI STILL AWESOME

So I think I know why Detox took so long to come out. I think it would have been dope in 2002, then Dre wanted to hype it up. But in that time period, music has just passed it by. This is not next level shit, it's absolutely basic, radio-friendly rap. Nothing special here. "Topless" is pretty tight, and I love the chill feel of "Shit Poppin Off", but none of these songs hold a candle to old Dre shit. And why the fuck is TI on every single song? Is this a trick, or is this just a Dre-produced T.I. album? And why can't I find any rap bloggers talking about this. THIS IS FUCKING DETOX, THE MOST HYPED ALBUM EVER! WE'RE ALL SUCKERS!

Maybe I overreacted right there, all I'm saying is that this new shit coming out from Dre and Aftermath, and that includes Eminem's "Crack a Bottle", is just not all that impressive. 

Listen for yourself, unless your a little bitch who is too lazy to go onto links, then just stop reading this blog altogether. 

"Topless" -Fader Link

"Shit Popped Off"

"This is Detox" -quesionable if Dre

Compare this to two of the brighter young gunner rappers who kill it (once again), with this new song "Look Up At Da Stars." Seriously, this song is the shit and I can't get enough of it, tags and all. 

Cudi and Wale- "Look Up at da stars"

BTW, in the top ten most annoying things you can do: go to a table where somebody has left there stuff in the library and sit across from them, then look at shit with your boyfriend while giggling and whispering to each other. EAT SHIT, DIE!

THE FUCK IT SONG OF THE DAY

There is a category of music I like to call "Fuck it" music, which is music I like when I'm pretty much "Fuck it" about everything and just wanna blast some shit while driving, walking, biking, jumping off the walls, etc. In my mind, I said "I don't give a fuck, ho. Pause." Now just in time for the weekend, THESE come out. 

My two favorite "We Don't Give a Fuck Remixes":

Cousin Cole

Eli Escobar (squeaky voice don't give a fuck, ho)

And yes, the original is from Philly's finest, Emynd (producer) and State Prop's own Young Chris. Makes me long for the days when Roc-a-Fella was still dope:

some more club shit hotness from Emynd: Emynd- Hangin On

Damn, I guess Philadelphia is DOPE

That Hot New Shit

THIS POST TO BE AURALLY ACCOMPANIED BY THIS POST
The Party Starts Hot, Don't Stop

The order was thoughtfully planned... but may or may not translate. Use the 'freshshit.txt' file.

remember kids, support your local artists.

Pesos Song of the Night

We are drinking whiskey tonight. 

This shit slaps hard, cause I'm a real funky dude these days. 

WHERE CAN I GET SOME ST. IDES!?!?!?!

I bet Lamar drank St. Ides all the time growing up. (I guess this is me finally covering some hip-hop)

Snoop and Nate's song to start (hot shit):

Biggie:

Wu-tang:

Red and Meth:

Dre:

Snoop and Pac:

Ice Cube and the Geto Boys?

I'm drowning my Utah sorrows in these videos

Absitnence is the Only Proven Form

Taking a Break

Sometimes, the only way to appreciate something is go without it for a bit. Sometimes, though, it's more just about getting healthy - like not smoking anything (even though you REALLY WANT TO) all week, because you've got a cough. Or, like I'm doing this week, not engaging with the massive sports-information-complex that dominates my internet time. That's right, one week, and I'm not checking espn.com, truehoop, dimemag, forumblueandgold.com, not one of them. I will watch Lakers games. That is all. Any analysis will have to come from within. The intent of this is twofold: clarify my own thoughts on the Lakers for future posts, and in addition, STOP WASTING SO MUCH TIME READING ABOUT SPORTS ON THE INTERNETS. I mean for a series of tubes I spend way too much time on it reading about what other people who know just as little as I do think about large men running around and throwing balls. Hopefully this energy can be channeled into something slightly more productive. We'll see.

we always do

studying gives me SERIOUS DELIRIUM

Classic. 

And then I'm thankful for rainy weather and listen to this, cause I'm a real soulful dude these days. 

(just search for it online and you can download it real easy. My zshare game is nowhere near as tight as Dan's is)

The song is also featured on this mix, entitled "Winter Sadness Mix" by DJ Eleven of The Rub. Some nice jams there. 

And the flipside of the single that I can't download anywhere:

"I'm, like, so subtle right now"

"I can't wait to get home and put my feet in some sand." Dude looks fly no matter what, even in the airport. 

Post to be accompanied by this.

(Hint: I'm lazy and could only think of the Queens connection. Leave a comment for the perfect Lamar song.)

You can learn a lot about someone by how they feel about Lamar Odom. His game can be deconstructed to show that he is an ovverrated, one-handed, can't finish slacker. He is constantly criticized for not being aggressive enough (fuck you very much, Mr. Plaschke). The totality of his presence on the Lakers goes far and beyond anything as simple as his stat sheet and his below average numbers from this year. Lamar, as a player, is best described as "human." If you have read the FreeDarko Almanac's chapter on Lamar, they express how he plays the game with his life's experiences always on his shoulders. When I watch the merciless tenacity of Kobe, I am amazed. I can admire the unwavering professionalism of Fisher. But with no other player do I feel a personal attachment like Lamar. 

Lamar has played the game of basketball the same way his entire life. You can imagine his graceful moves to the left (always), his long rebounds and his handle up the court would dominate players in grade school, high school and college. For him, basketball is always a game. He is not going to do what you expect, he is going to do what feels right to him. He doesn't care what your expectations of him are, because those are yours. He will do right by him, because basketball is what it is to him, and him alone. He has no lofty goals of being the greatest ever, he just wants to support his family by playing this game. He does not turn into some superhero on the court, he stays Lamar at all times. There is no extra mode, instead he stays happy. That is what people like Bill Simmons miss when they predicted Lamar would sulk on the bench in his contract season. Lamar doesn't know how to sulk when he plays basketball. He goes with the flow, only slightly moving the flow when his will is brought on. He jokes around on the bench the same way he jokes around in games the same way he jokes around on the street. His personality is what allows players like Ariza to flourish: while they will never be able to satsify Kobe, Lamar will always be there to make sure they are alright. 

"hey I'm Coby Karl!"

Which brings us back to the present. I predicted that Lamar would push for a contract against Boston and Cleveland as that would be the perfect time to change the flow and reap the most benefits, with the two most important road games on national tv of the season. In the first half of the Boston game, I couldn't have been more wrong. Quick fouls sent him to the bench with no impact at all. Then it all changed. 

If a basketball player could have a nemesis, Lamar's would be Kevin Garnett. They have so much in common on the court with similar games and similar high expectations when coming to the league. But while Lamar is at constant peace with himself as a player and stays the same relaxed dude at all times, Garnett is his polar opposite. For Garnett, the intensity of the game never leaves him. He is always ready to explode and takes his court persona with him everywhere during the season. He is also one of the most insecure players, despite all his accomplishments, from being the centerpiece of so many losing teams, thus making his need to trashtalk at all times on the court. Lamar talks when he plays out of happiness; Garnett out of fear and anger. (Check forum for a better analysis of what I'm talking about.) Anyway, the ass-slap was the two personalities clashing. Lamar jokingly slaps Garnett and KG gets in his face; a classic expression of two men displaying their differences. When KG went at him, he was not putting down Lamar's act, he was putting down everything about him. He was getting in the face of being passive, of having fun on the court, of passivity. KG tried to assert his way of thinking on the situation to say that he is the epitome of the alpha dog and there would be no joking with the alpha dog. 

Consciously or not, Lamar got under KG's skin. He insulted the alpha dog, but did not step down at all. He stayed in his face and talked shit back. (BTW, Lamar should be mic'd up for all games at all times.) The man is peaceful, but is not a pacifist. He cannot match KG's intensity, so he must use other tricks. His slap was a mindgame for KG where Lamar clearly showed that he will not sacrifice his soul for this game the way KG had. KG's mind could not handle the completeness of Lamar's cool during this game. You can see it on his way back down the court, as he brushes his butt and adjusts his shorts, as if Lamar's hand was still there, taunting him. 

“Basketball is a humiliating sport, it can humble you right in the middle of the game,” Odom said. “But tonight I just left all that behind.” This statement by Lamar to KG ran through his play the rest of the game and into the Cleveland game. But he stayed himself. Making those two ft's in overtime in Boston further cemented his new outlook. He played confident that he could challenge the flow of the game and overcome it. But he never lost his personality. After the game, he said he game a prayer for his mother before sinking the ft's. Lamar never leaves his life from the game. 

And so we have Lamar breaking out against Cleveland, basically fulfilling all the expectations any of his fans could have wanted from him. He was in complete control, played within the game, and dominated. He gives hope to everyone who has been labeled an underachiever because of outside expectations. If Lamar can change, then maybe we can all change for the better. There is no "got it" moment where Lamar had to give up his self to achieve all this and suddenly changed. The change was subtle and part of the evolution of one's self. Lamar showed that sometimes to achieve that next level, we don't need to change who we are, but rather need to reaffirm who we always knew we were. 

(note: there has been no editing or rereading of this post. )

Jockin on them haters man

Is that a crutch or a pimp cane?

My blogging shitstorm begins now. 

Andrew Bynum is out for 8-12 weeks with a torn ligament in his knee. This is a definite blow to the team. You could feel a sense that "the dream is over" when he went down. 

Yet I am taking this news amazingly well. 

Why you might ask? Isn't this just like last year? Don't we need him to compete for a title?

First, this injury is COMPLETELY different from last years. Most importantly, there will be no surgery. It just needs time to heal. He's not gonna have to do rehab or anything like that, so when they say 8-12 weeks, I believe he will be back at the latest in 12 weeks. Did anybody see his interview before the Lakers played the Knicks. He did not seem stressed AT ALL. He seemed like he enjoyed the attention, of people asking how he feels. I know he's a dumbass kid, but there was no look of worry from a guy who already knows how bad an injury can be. As long as some freak accident doesn't happen, I have no reason to believe he won't be there for the playoffs and the Finals. 

And that is really all that matters. If you watched any of the NBA personalities on TV last night, the question they all had to answer was "how does this change the West?" And because of their contractual obligation to act like somebody besides the Lakers will represent the conference in the Finals, they talked about San Antonio, Denver, etc. It's all a grand scheme to make it seem games like Denver vs. New Orleans are worth watching cause they could have some implication on who comes out of the West. I'm sure people at NBA TV were jumping for joy when Bynum went down, saying "Yes, the West is wide open again! We can talk about how San Antonio is waiting in the wings and the Hornets are maturing!"

Total bullshit. No one is catching the Lakers. Hollinger agrees in his per diem. San Antonio? Seriously? Did you watch the series last year? This is where people say retarded things like "Roger Mason really brings a new dimension to this team." And New Orleans and Utah have both fallen off cliffs this year. So just stop making a fool of yourself and start thinking of who the Blazers can trade for with Raef Lafrentz expiring contract so they can compete NEXT YEAR. 

(They should also be talking non stop about who the Cavs can get for Wally's expiring contract. That thing is huge, and there are some biiiig fish out there that could be traded. Amare anyone? And on the topic of the Cavs, can people stop acting like they are soo decimiated by injuries because Delonte West isn't in? ITS DELONTE FUCKING WEST! Just cause he plays next to LeBron and has a basketball brain does not make him expendable, its just that the Cavs suck so bad that no one can fill his tiny role.)

If this costs us home court in the Finals, so be it. There was no guarantee we would have the better record than Boston or Cleveland with Bynum anyway. 

So what comes of this? Maybe the shock will make the Lakers focus, so they might actually care about beating teams like Charlotte. And is it so bad to have a team that took Boston to 6 in the Finals with a much improved Trevor Ariza terrorizing everyone on the court? I think not. 

In other news, the "Lamar Odom Contract Year Push" SHOULD begin this Thursday. But being Lamar, I could be completely wrong, but on the road against Boston in his second game back as a starter would go a long way to making people forget that he hasn't done shit all year to try and boost his value, not to mention last year's performance against them.  You have to wonder if Lamar even knows/cares its his contract year. He's like the high school slacker who doesn't care what he gets on his SAT's because he can just go to community college, except this community college gives him 8-10 mill a year. (BTW, I've been wanting to write something on Lamar, expect that sometime before the season ends.)