Parkside Q

Get Some!

The flier straddling this post is one of the ads for NYC's Health Department condom initiative. It's been a while since I last saw this poster, but an article on Jezebel (and subsequent commentators) led me back to the DOH's campaign.  Basically, the ads are not only visually stimulating, their flashiness and simple yet bold message are supposed to remind us all to "get some" rubbers the next time we... get some.

Of course, as another bit of marketing genius, they also released a line of "NYC condoms" stamped with the eponymous logo featured on the flier. According to the Health Department's condom page, the condom distribution initiative jumped off, appropriately enough, on February 14th of this year. Since then, the city has been sticking them everywhere and anywhere they can think of: dive bars, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, etc. Pretty much anywhere that two people can meet up and possibly hook up once they've finished their business, the condoms have been spotted.

Signs Of Recession

Wow, times must really be getting hard. I spotted this gem at Gray's Papaya (W. 72nd and Broadway location) last night. They dropped the price of the hot dog special about 20% or so, according to the above signage. Quick plug: they make the best damn beef franks for late-night drunken snack orgies.

But dayum, if the random hot dog vendors are slashing prices to woo spendthrift partiers into indulging their carnivorous urges, what next? Is the Fed gonna have to bail out a major Wall Street firm or somethi... oh wait, never mind.

DMX: Ignant Or Ironic?

I've been meaning to make a post about this for a while, but there's been so much other randomness happening in my life this past week that I didn't get a chance to sit and think about this until now. Anyways, last week XXL magazine posted an interview they did with rapper DMX. Boy, was this one a doozy.

It started off rather typically; DMX was asked about his upcoming projects, what artists he's been listening to recently, yada yada yada. But soon after the usual niceties, the interview took a trip to Bizarro World. When asked how he'd been using his time between studio albums, DMX started rambling about the police "raiding [his] house"  and confiscating his weapons. He seemed to be confused by later questions; there were several times where he kept repeating answers from previous questions when the interviewer was asking about different topics.

The major bombshell of this interview, however, came when the Dark Man was asked about the current Presidential race. At first, DMX expressed ambivalence to the current political developments (he claimed to not be following the race "at all"), but then he displayed shock and disgust upon hearing that Barack Obama was a candidate. His exact quotes from the interview are:

"What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama....Get the fuck outta here."

DMX then went on to rant about how he didn't participate in the political system, since he felt that it makes no difference who runs the country. He spewed some random conspiracy theories about puppet governments, and how they want to set up a Black man to take the fall for America's current political problems. While we all are entitled to our opinions, something about his tirade just seemed off to me.

Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors Please

One of the reasons why NYC is so great is because you can go anywhere at anytime via the subway system. This shit runs 24/7; not too many other places on Earth have a transit system that's always on. In many respects, the subways are intrinsically tied to NYC culture, seeing that so many people depend on them to get to school, work, parties, or wherever.

That being said, you're bound run into the most random things on trains, as well as in stations. The train lines and the stops seem to have lives of their own. While you can sometimes run the risk of being robbed on the subway, for the most part you'll have more entertaining, amusing, or just plain eye-catching encounters.

After the jump, I'll post a couple pics of things that caught my eye recently.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Especially Without Warning

I still can't believe you walked out of my life and into the Brooklyn night. It took a while for me to even comprehend how and why our relationship could have ended so abruptly. I've been having a hard time gathering my thoughts since you left, but now I'm finally level-headed and sober enough to express how I feel.

Let's start at the beginning. When I first met you at school, I could tell you were very popular. You had the attention of guys and girls alike; everyone wanted you to hang out with them. That led me to believe you were a little high maintenance, but I was only judging from what I saw on the outside. When I finally got a chance to meet you up close and personal, chilling with you made me realize I was mistaken. You did have a cool, almost metallic exterior, but looking deeper I saw how beautiful you were on the inside, which only made me appreciate your stunning good looks even more.

Soon after that first introduction, we became close. Inseparable, even. You would come with me everywhere: class, meetings, dinner, the whole nine. People started to get annoyed since they thought you were taking over too much of my time, especially when I would listen to you while they were trying to tell me something. But I didn't care; you brought me joy, and I never thought that you being with me all the time was anything more than simply indicative of the bond we had. Or so I thought.

1000 Words: Patti LaBelle and Donatella Versace

Why does it look like Patti Labelle is trying to devour Donatella Versace's nose? What's more, what kind of fashion mogul allows herself to be photographed looking so hot, shitty, and messy? Sheesh, you'd think with all the money these women have, they'd be able to pay to make this abortion of a photo never see the light off day. But here it is, as plain as the fact that I want to vomit now that I've had to look at it long enough to post.

Also, is it just me, or is the Versace logo in the background made of tin foil? I swear, for a Versace cocktail party, it came off tackier than RuPaul remaking the music video for "Crazy In Love".

Image via DListed.

These Guys Are Blowing Up "Like Sexy Dynamite"

For those of you that can't read diagrams, my coworker is one-fifth of The Orion Experience. He got some very awesome news this afternoon at work: his band has been featured on Perez Hilton's website!! Since Perez has about a million page views per day, it's pretty much a free ad endorsed by a major media magnet. People would kill for this kind of plug, and Perez just gave them a big shout on his site. That's awesome news indeed for any fledging  NYC band.

To be honest, the featured song "Obsessed With You" is pretty damn catchy. I'm kinda ashamed to admit that I ended up missing some recent Orion shows, but I've given their songs some spins (via their MySpace page), and I must say I like what I hear. It's sort of like a mix between the Beach Boys and Head Automatica; just straight-up fun music. They make for great house party/dance-in-your-underwear drunken goodness.

From the looks of things, between their addicting riffs and Perez's coke comparison, The Orion Experience may just be a helluva drug. Go to their site for more band info, tour dates, swag, and (duh!) music.

It's All About The O (No, Not "Orgasms")

As an educated Black person, I like Barack Obama. To me and many other people, he exemplifies all that is good in America, especially Black America. I am not naive enough, however, to believe that Obama's campaign for the 2008 US Presidency has been all peaches and cream, despite his hype being greater than Jordan's first comeback.

His major recent setback stemmed from some controversial comments his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, made that leaked through the press and was  circulated widely on the Internet. This type of incident, while not as titillating as other recent political scandals, had the potential to unravel months of strategy and campaigning efforts by Team Barack. Some people (highly unwarranted, I might add) damn near went Queen of Hearts a la "Alice" on his ass.

So how did Big O handle this potential hot mess? Well, he took his lemons, cut them up, and used them as garnish on a refreshingly crisp Long Island Iced Tea. Instead of imploding like lesser presidential hopefuls could (and would) have, he stepped up to the plate and took the time to address the nation's concerns head on (you know, kind of like a good President would do). He tackled such a sensitive issue as race with the precision and care of an eye doctor performing Lasic, packaged in the honesty we Americans deserve.

In Case You Thought Black History Ended On Feb. 29

The above document is over 175 years old, and is a testament to the atrocity that we as Black people have faced in these United States. While we are no longer bought and sold like cattle, we are still held in the bondage of discrimination that sometimes can stifle the spirit of a human soul.

Normally I don't like blogging about depressing things like slavery and the dark history of emancipation, but if we forget history, we will be doomed to repeat it. So I am posting this image as a reminder of where we've come, so that we don't lose sight of where we have to go.

Happy St. Patty's Day, Bitchez!!!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, in case you lost your calendar/PDA/cell phone sometime last week. It's a day where we as a country (USA, I mean) celebrate a patron saint. And what better way to celebrate a saint than to get so sloshed that our piss turns green from all the beer that goes Hulk on us in the middle of March sometime?

It's a time-honored tradition that lets us all be Irish for a day. Which, as a Black Jamaican, I am the furthest thing from. Although, since historically the British shat on Jamaica and Ireland alike, maybe I have more in common with the Irish than I once thought. I mean, though Jamaica invented Red Stripe, I know many a Jamaican that love them some Guinness. You just have to like it, there's no choice in that one.

So yeah, here's to Margaritaville, "Braveheart", Shannen Doherty, Beenie Man, and Family Guy: shit that Jamaicans and Irish alike can drink to. I don't know if you can tell, but I've been celebrating today. Go figure that this post would be random as all fuck.