Happy Hump Day Folks. For some this is a day to rejoice. The work week is almost over and it is so much closer to the weekend. For others, like me, this day spells doom. I'm looking at you ridiculous mountain of homework.
Anyway, as I was getting ready this morning I was thinking ahead about the groceries I need to buy next week and that made me think of my most recent grocery purchase. Just last weekend I had gone to my area Shoprite and purchased about $130 worth of food. (We have a big family and sometimes you just have to stock up.) And one thing that I learned from my mother and father is to always check the receipt. Sure you may check the prices as the item is being scanned but sometimes you miss something and double checking is always best, especially when it comes to money.
When I checked my receipt for my purchases, I found that 2 items I bought were wrongly priced and that I had been overcharged. Because I had double checked I was able to get the items for free, something that many supermarkets do for customers when the store is in the wrong. I got back $3 and my items for free. And that $3 can go far in this economy.
So folks, if you don't already, check your receipts. You may be surprised just how often stores make mistakes and you pay for it.
I was talking to my father about how my 14 year old brother hadn't been able to play his video games since he began high school just two weeks ago, when it hit me, I've been playing video games since my motorskills where advance enough to do so. Now I'm only 23, so I've never even seen an Atari up close, but I'm been appreciating the gamer side of myself since my father
bought us our first system, the Sega Genesis.
I can only remember good times with this system. I would sit next to my brothers for hours just playing Terminator, Sonic the Hedgehog, Madden '93, and my favorite Decap Attack. And yes I did just spend 30 minutes searching the internet trying to figure out the name of my favorite game. I enjoyed it that much.
My older and I also realized that we only ever where able to complete Decap Attack, while the upper levels of Sonic 1 and 2 and Terminator always alluded us. But at that time, for most of us "gamers", a term that I didn't even recognize I fell under until a few years ago, winning and progressing through all the levels of a game was never the main goal. It was about having fun. My brothers and I never had a problem being stuck on the casino level in Sonic or getting killed on the 2nd level in Terminator. We just started over.
Those wonderful days lasted for many years until the advent of the CD and the creation of the Playstation. Man how we loved our playstation. Of course my father bought it for my
brothers, seeing as I was a girl and didn't do such things, but I
considered it mine because I enjoyed playing it as much as they did.
And we definitely played the hell out of system. Especially when we saw just how awesome and upgraded the games where compared to our Genesis after playing the demo disk. I just know you remember those. Those disks contained my first taste of playing a first player snowboarding game, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Spyro, and Gran Turismo 2 (that wasn't in an arcade). It was also our first time experiencing such gorey video graphics with Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Now if those aren't some beautiful but crazy graphics, I don't know what is. Seriously people, who thought that up?
The number of games we had drastically went up from the 5 or so Genesis games we had to at least 30 Playstation CDs. I could never get into the Final Fantasy franchise but I also wanted PaRappa theRapper. I would let me brothers spend hours playing Madden or Tekken and wait for them to allow me to get on so I could play my Crash Bandicoot. And God forbid if I ever won against my brothers in Mortal Kombat. It was on then.
But I can't forget about my favorite excuse to leave the table at Denny's, Arcade games. Whenever I got a chance, at it was rare, to go to an arcade the one game that I always made sure to save quarters for was the Simpsons game.
I was usually either Bart (everyone wanted to be Bart!) or Marge with her vacuum. This is the only arcade game I was able to beat, I'm pretty proud to say. And it took many tries and many quarters, but I was always entertained.
And then there was the fighting arcade games: Marvel vs. Campcom and X-Men.
I would jostle with the boys to get a joystick so that I could play. I was usually a female character in both games (I'm looking at you Chun-Li and Storm) and was able to hold my own against anyone who played. Yeah I mostly button-mashed, but it did its job.
I've been gaming since I was 7 and at 23, I'm still plugging away on both consoles and computers.Clearly, my gaming started early and it still has shown no signs of stopping. But that's a story for Part 2.
What were your favorite old school Genesis, Playstation 1, and Arcade games?
My father paid $1500 for a car. We got it a few weeks ago and I got into my first accident just two days later, unfortunately, on Lincoln Drive. Now you may look at me crazy, but Lincoln Drive is very treacherous when the weather is good, but with the bad rain, it can be damn near impossible. Just ask Teddy.
I found myself having spun out of control and hitting the median. I wasn't speeding, but I did try to go around a driver ahead of me who was weaving in and out of the two lanes. I didn't feel comfortable behind him so I tried to pass him and spun out. Luckily no one was hurt, but my car was damaged a bit on the passenger side. My brother drove it home since I was shook up, and I could only pray to God that my parents didn't kill me, thank Him that no one got hurt, and hope that repairs wouldn't kill my pockets.
We took the car to one mechanic who estimated the repair cost at $400. Not too bad, but my father was on the fence. The guy was young, and my father knew he had come from prison [1]. We also didn't have any prior experience with this particular shop and since it was new, my father wanted to go with someone he knew or someone who was established. Understandable, though I did say that going to this particular guy was giving him another day of honest work and didn't see the problem with trying someone new. But my father was more comfortable going for an estimate to someone he knew. So I went to the mechanic my parents have been sending their cars to for a few years and asked for an estimate. Just an estimate.
I get a call from my father and he tells me that the estimate is for $800. I'm a bit shocked but I can handle that amount. I give the mechanic a call and he gives me a run down of all the problems. And there are quite a few, unfortunately, even though it didn't seem that bad. He also informs me that he had already gotten the parts. I was confused as to why he had done so, since I had just gotten as estimate. So I asked if there was anyway that I could just think about it and come get the car. The mechanic said that was fine, but they would have to but the parts on credit. Sounds like I'm getting charged right?
So, I say well if you already have the parts and if I'm going to get charged for the parts anyway you might as well just do it. I call my father and he tells me that they told him they didn't have the parts yet. So here I have a situation where the mechanic is telling my father one thing and telling me another. I'm not a happy camper and something smells fishy. The mechanic ends up calling back an hour later telling me that they had tried putting the new parts on and that they found another broken part, so with parts and labor everything was going to come up for $1000 roughly. I had a mini-heartattack. But I told them to go ahead, since I had no choice.
I OFFICIALLY GOT GOT.
And it don't feel too good.
My father and mother where not happy. First off, I had only asked for an estimate, but for some reason the shop had decided that they would get the parts- basically guaranteeing that I would go to them. And my mother told me that they've done this many times. So we were dumb to not have learned our lesson the first few times. Fool me once...
Secondly, they are known for doing good work, but charging high prices. I appreciate the work they did, but it took a big hit on my pocket and I still feel things were a bit steep. Thirdly, they were telling my father one thing and me another. That just seemed sketch and I was not a happy camper. Fourth, both my brother and I went to school and basically grew up with the mechanic's kids. And somehow, it still feels like we got got. And I know my father felt bad for making me go there, so he was nice enough to offer to pay me back some of the balance, which I appreciate. But things still just rubbed me the wrong way about this.
I got the car back, though my brother will be using it 90% of the time at college (ain't that a bitch), and it is working as good as we got it. So I can't complain about that. But I now know to be more discerning and I will never go back to this place. We know these mechanics and we've been going to them for years. But when things aren't good it's time to move on. I refuse to be fooled twice.
[1] Not because my father is prejudice or anything. It's the nature of his work to know such things.
For the past couple of years, President Obama has endured a lot from angry voters and politicians from the other side of the aisle. While the political environment is generally hostile in America, with scrutiny of politicians' personal lives and character assassinations being commonplace, but the vitriol aimed at the President was different this time around. The newly created Tea Party featured many bigoted voters, proudly waving signs that caricatured him as a monkey or alleging Kenya as his true birthplace. Quite simply, the President was subjected to a fair amount of racism.
Such antics didn't come as a surprise for most black people, considering we already were aware of how pervasive racist sentiments are. Yet Rep. Doug Lamborn's (R-CO) comments last week on a political radio show were particularly outrageous and the overall reaction that followed was alarming. The quote:
“Now I don’t even want to have to be associated with [Obama],it’s like touching a tar babyand you’re stuck, you’re part of the problem now. You can’t get away.”
He called the President a tar baby! Merriam Webster define's tar baby as "something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself." However, anybody with a brain knows that the Congressman was referring to the racism term, prevalent in the early 20th Century along with other racist caricatures like pickanney, porchmonkey, coon and Sambo.
Having apologized more than a week after making the comment, the Congressman apologized for "using a term some find insensitive" and also had the audacity to assume his half-assed apology was sufficient, telling the Denver Post, "I am sure that he will not take offense and that he'll be happy to accept my apology because he is a man of character." Wow.
And you know what is more absurd that Lamborn's usage of a racial slur and his determination of what (black) people should be offended by? Obama has not even acknowledged the comments. Some will argue that there is enough on his plate for him to have to worry about some dipshit calling him a previously archaic racist term. I was then reminded by how deep this racist stuff is. It is so deep that the most powerful man in this country is still not empowered enough to defend himself against people who are perpetually disrespectful towards him.
There have been plenty of articles since it's inception which detail the faults, evil genius, marketability, problems, and perfections which encompass the scope that makes Yelp what it is. Many tend to constantly point out the faults and problems, which usually come from their own failed experiences with the website. Some just appear to dislike the reviewers and reviews themselves. And there seems to be no end to journalists critiquing reviewers for their "uselessness". There is even a tumbler dedicated to posted reviews it identifies as "douchebaggery". And let's not forget the growing market for businesses helping other business deal with bad Yelp reviews:
Sure I've seen the annoying spammers who ruin the experience for some and create fodder for funny Yelp talk discussions for others. And I've also gone to some Yelp high starred places and had mediocre/bad experiences, but I wouldn't necessarily blame Yelp or the Yelpers for that.
My experience with Yelp has by far been way more pluses than minuses. I admit that I am a bit biased since I have become a Yelp elite, but even before I could fathom being in the in-crowd, I loved what Yelp had to offer. It was a place where I could write. I had, once upon a time, a blog which I had started with high hopes of actually doing something with. But I got caught up with college and my blog suffered as a result. But then I found myself unemployed, out of college, and needing an outlet other than hanging out at home watching Korean dramas. And there was Yelp. I loved to party, go out, and hang with my friends- and though I had only used the site to see reviews on businesses I planned to visit, I found myself wanting to write about my experiences.
This was a definite after my ridiculous run-in with Vango. I had had such a bad experience that I just needed to let everyone else know and hopefully help save someone else's night. And using Yelp has definitely made my night many times and also saved me from sure disasters.
I've found some fantastic restaurants and have some really great experiences because of Yelp. Since I've become elite I've even been able to meet some other fellow Yelpers and they are extremely awesome. Extremely. They welcomed me with open arms and I have had the pleasure of throwing down on the dance floor with some seriously fun people, eating delicious food, and boozing with people who I hope to be like when I grow up. And boy do we Yelpers booze. Be jealous.
Businesses often offer Yelp deals and you can sometimes even swing with some freebies. Yelp, in my opinion, is good for business. Shoot, they've got me feeding my hard earned money back into the economy as often as I can. And I rarely regret a penny lost or moment spent out. I've met some fantastic fellow Yelpers and experienced some bangin' food and drink. I have become a real foodie and I thank Yelp for the extra push.
So how do you feel about Yelp? Do you Yelp or do you know someone that does? Have any good or bad experiences with it?
In the famed words of Dave Chappelle (or Rick James depending on who you're asking), there are some ninjas* that just don't deserve to have money.
I've been sitting on this post for a while since I've been lazy and busy (yes you can be both), but my latest foray into the blogasphere has left cursing under my breath at these ninjas who have money and blow it on the stupidest things. Honestly, as a broke grad school studen,t who is lucky enough to be working part time and trying to scrape together two nickels; people sitting on lots of money who blow it up their noses money so quick and end up broke, in-jail, and bemoaning their own stupidity on Behind the Music piss me off to high heaven.
So here is my list of ninjas (and non-ninjas) who clearly don't deserve to make more than 5 figures a year.
1. Soulja Coon Boy
Whether or not the rumors of him buying a "swagged" out jet are true, he [and the jokers he surrounds himself with] clearly doesn't know how to manage money if he is already getting tax liens and having a house foreclosed on and he only just turned 21. That's one big ol' fail. Talk about blowing money fast. Swag.
2. DMX
Boy is this tragic. He is one of my favorite rappers and could have been one of the GOATs in rap/hip hop if he hadn't got caught up in the white stuff. Tell me you don't jam to this when it comes on. I blame Tyrone.
He's been in and out of jail, and with his recent release, I can only hope that he makes the right choices and stays clean/sober. His talent is wasted in jail and we need him in hip hop cause many of these fools (though i admit, not all) currently making waves are straight garbage. And even if you don't make any more music DMX, please stay sober, cause you say some real foolish things when high.
3. Ja Rule
As soon as this dude went through his "i'mma cry in ever song like I'm Mary J. Blige" phase, I couldn't take him seriously. That and when he had his whole fued with Eminem, I thought he was a huge tool and douche bag. But I digress. Ja Rule is another case of a ninja who doesn't pay his taxes . He admits that: "I was a young man who made a lot of money. I didn’t have the best people guiding me. I made mistakes. Things fell on hard times for me. Things kind of spun out of control.” But with money comes great responsibility. Maybe it's the elitist part of me, but you should be able to hire someone who can keep track of your finances and not screw you over, if you can't do so yourself. And as someone who has been working and paying taxes since I turned 16, I just can't believe that he didn't know he had to pay taxes for various things. Guess ninjas can't read or research either unless they want to know which video vixen gives the best dome.
4. Speidi aka. Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag
I had to throw in these two non-ninjas just because I happened to see a Huffington Post headline regarding them being broke. You make all this money on reality tv, spend it on getting ginormous boobs, then end up broke. Poor babies have to settle for living in Spencer's parents beach house in Santa Barbara. Ah the tales of blonde d-listers.
5. R. Kelly
I have to give props to Clutch Magazine for the hilarious new nickname of Kells as "The Pied Pedophile of R&B". He has had to deal with a foreclosure on his Chicago area home meaning no more easy access to the kiddies?, court battles over unpaid fees, and now another tax lien after he failed to pay the government $837,000. Looks like homie needs a golden shower himself.
6. Whitney Houston
Crack is wack y'all. And unfortunately Whitney has fallen back into her old antics. She was definitely on the come up, actually not sounding too terrible on her concerts and actually looking healthy. But she and her daughter just can't say no to that white white. Thankfully she (was?) is in rehab and hopefully will get herself back to these days. Cause she's been like this sadly. Now Bobby Brown is the one making moves while she's just looking crazy. And to both of them, please check your daughter. Cause that ain't cute.
7. Patricia Kluge-
Now you probably don't know who this is. I didn't either til I did a bit of research on bankruptcy in my rss feed and come upon the ridiculousness that is this woman. She is know as the "wealthiest divorcee in history" (according to Huffington Post), having come out of a divorce settlement, with media mogul John Kluge, with possibly a cool $1 billion (at the lower end $1 million a year). And just 11 years later she's filing for bankruptcy. You my dear are dumb. I'd say more but the idiocy speaks for itself.
These are just a few of the people I could think of who really made me want to kick them in the face. On the bright side, they helped somebodies economy right?
*What is a ninja you ask? No it's not this. It's just another way of saying nigga. But its pc. Happy?
I've been a user of Dove products since as long as I can remember. My mother and sister have very sensitive skin and Dove products have always been a cheap and satisfactory remedy. I've become pretty partial to Dove since it's what I know and I have to admit it works better than all the other bath products I've tried.
Ok, the progression from dark to light with the model placement in front of two contrasting skin types of cracked and smooth is a bit cringe worthy. But I chose to look at it more as just poor model placement rather than racism. Most of the commenters agreed with me in that it really wasn't a big deal and people where looking for racism in something that wasn't there. However one particular comment from that article struck me:
“The advertisement comes quite out of character for the brand, which is widely seen as an industry leader for its “Real Women, Real Beauty” campaign.”
This is it isn’t out of character. Unilever (the parent brand) uses racism all the time in other countries. This company promotes and advertises skin lightening. This is why you have to know who you are giving your money to. And their “Real women, real beauty” campaign is B.S. too. They lightening and photoshop women all the time. I haven’t purchased any Unilever brands in months. There a whole series on YOUTUBE about it.
After reading this, I decided I needed to do a bit of my own research just to see what "I got sense" was talking about. Now in the past Dove has done really well of advertising "real women" who don't fit into one particular size and are usually diverse.
But after scanning some of the many brands that Unilever, the company which owns Dove, also promotes, I can see where some would say that this new add has an undertone of racism. Two products which immediately attracted my focus where Lux and Fair & Lovely. Both these brands are skin care products promoted in various international markets, but seem to target Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian demographics. And in these brands, key marketing targets skin whitening/lightening. Unilever even describes Fair & Lovely thusly:
Fair & Lovely’s brand-essence of ‘Rescripting Destiny’ has played a decisive role in its noteworthy presence in over 30 countries. Today, 250 million consumers across the globe strongly connect with Fair & Lovely as a brand that stands for “beauty that empowers a woman to change her destiny”. The brand’s commitment towards empowering women has inspired the initiation of Fair & Lovely Foundation. Time after time the foundation initiates various education & employment-related programs that give underprivileged women the power to overcome all barriers & change their lives.
Now if that doesn't sound even the tiniest bit racist- well I don't even know what to tell you. Here you have a brand basically saying that your darker skin is keeping you from that destiny you deserve. That by lightening your skin you can become empowered and change your life for the better. Therein lies the racism. The very fact that someone must change their skin tone to improve themselves and their life. Sure this is bigger than just skin care manufacturers making money off of communities affected by racial inequality and persons who see the fairer skin as the ideal form. But it sure isn't helping the problem.
Take a look at this video.
And tell me that there isn't a bigger issue going on and that these skin-care manufacturers are feeding into a problem and making it bigger.
After finding that Dove is connected to these brands through Unilever, I can see where undercurrents of racism shine through in this add. That may have not even been the marketing strategy. The cameraman might have just seen the models and decided he liked that placement the best. I don't know and that leads me to the bigger issue I have with all of this.
Should I still continue to buy Dove, and by doing so, support a company that markets such racially tinged products like Lux and Fair & Lovely? I really don't know. One the one hand Dove has been a staple in my house and has been the best bathing product I've found for my family. However, on the other hand, it really goes against my sensibilities to keep supporting something that promotes racist mindsets and skin bleaching. After all taking my families support away from Unilever is only a drop in the ocean for them, but it's doing something.
What do you think? Do you find the Dove campaign racist? Would you still support Dove and other Unilever products even though it promotes skin bleaching?
