NBA Lock-Out frustrations have reached HBO's Bryant Gumbel

Reading about Bryant Gumbel's statements concerning NBA commissioner David Stern made me think about how if caucasian men of power view black people who work under them as their slaves.
The fact that the NBA lock-out does not only affect black players ruled out the race issue from my theory. From there I started to wonder if its all people in positions of power who look at all people under them as slaves. And i'm not saying slaves in the sense that they do all of the work and the people in charge do nothing, but in that they do more than the people in charge, get paid less and are looked down upon. Often times i've been in situations where I feel like the person who works above me does less work than i did, but in the back of my mind i always knew that it would be hard for me to tolerate the work that they did.
In a situation like the NBA that feeling might be vise versa. It is clear the the players work much harder than the owners and other persons of power in this industry.
So why is David Stern making it so hard for this lockout to be over? In his statement Gumbel referred to the NBA dress code (and know we all remember that), the question is what was the reason for even that? Maybe it was a way for Stern to just show everyone that he is the one in charge. Think about it...

Bryant Gumbel's comments about NBA Commish

Love & Peace Family

Detroit on the "Come Up"...

I read an article in USA Today a couple of days ago that said Detroit is starting to roll again, I firmly disagree with that statement. I say this because anyone who lives or lived in Detroit knows that it started rolling as soon as we crashed, it just takes a long time to rebuild a city (especially one with an economy like ours.) USA Today used the fact that the Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings are winning so Detroit is on its way back. While it is a good look that our teams are winning, need I remind you that we've had a championship NBA and NHL team in the past which changed nothing. It didn't bring people back to live in Detroit having that big Pistons parade on Woodward, or the Red Wings Stanley Cup Celebration and it won't.
Those of you who haven't been to Detroit in the past few years don't know how big the urban art scene is there. Let me be the one to inform you that is huge and only getting bigger. Artists young and old have come together to form a sort of Detroit art mash-up. We no longer only have Arts, Beats, and Eats once a year and the DIA (no diss), there are free galleries all over downtown detroit.
To those of us who stuck with Detroit through all of its rough (lol and I mean rough) times, this new contemporary art scene in Detroit is a shining beacon of hope. Though I'm not in the D now I plan to be back there soon to see all of the progress we've made since I last visited.

Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art

Osama dead; What this really Means

I know all of you have had at least one debate or at least a thought about what the death of Osama Bin Laden means for Americans. Does it mean the end of the war on terror or does it mean that we should brace ourselves for an attack. Is this just a ploy of the Obama Administration to boost the big guy's approval rating or is it legit? I feel as Americans we never know 100% unless the facts and proof are thrown right into our faces. This is the result of cover-ups and miraculous acts around re-election time in the past.
In my opinion Americans should feel only one way about the death of Osama Bin Laden; normal. I know that most people celebrated when they heard that the monster behind the terrorist attacks on 9/11 had been killed, but it's now time to just get back to the norm. You are no more safe now than you were when he was alive. The souls of the lives lost have been resting in peace since the tragic accident...

Love & Peace Family

Flirt

There is nothing Tay loves more than a sexy girl that knows how to flirt, so naturally the the thing that i hate most is sexy girls that don't know how to flirt, right? Wrong. Due to the shortage of sexy, flirty women i've been forced to embrace the chicks who don't really know how to flirt. This shortage has made my game a lot stronger and has made me more flexible (if that makes any sense). I do have friends (male & female) who only wait to be flirted with; while they're waiting, i'm flirting. Im posting this to encourage you guys to stop waiting to be flirted with, be flirty yourselves.  

Appreciate the Art of Hating

Haters put a lot of effort into what they do. If someone hates on you that means that they have taken the time out of their busy day (or not) to think about you and how they plan to hate. Haters love to hate and nothing makes them feel better. We as Hatees should be honored that we make them feel so good. So don't get discouraged when haters hate on you, feel special because the haters chose you :-). Haters keep hating and We'll keep doing what we do.Team RELYable

Love & Peace Family

Negativity

Recently i have noticed a lot of people (including myself) allowing negativity to affect how they act; this has to stop. We shouldn't allow people to transfer their negativity onto us in any situation. Usually i try to avoid all people who i see being negative or even get negative vibes from, but as of late i've embraced everyone. This was a huge mistake on my part because i let those people in (socially) which enabled them to pass their negative attitude onto me. I'm happy i caught it before it got too bad. Hopefully you caught it before negativity overtook you.    

Love & Peace Family

Sex is Zen

i've been thinking lately (about everything) and i have come the conclusion that sex is zen. What i mean is when you have sex on a regular basis you are happier and more centered. I believe that human beings are meant to have regular sex. i feel as if everyone had regular (good) sex people would be more in touch with their true selves. there would be no war. Think about it, when you go without it some things irritate you that may not irritate you when you you get it on the regular. sex is like the ultimate relaxation influence. i don't know about you but when i have good sexual intercourse on a regular basis, the world just seems a bit sweeter. If you  think i'm wrong, try and see for yourself. start having sex on the regular and watch how much better and stress free life is.

Love, Peace & Good Sex Family

Are Ladies not checking for the Trainers?

Nike Lunar Glide 2 (The Shoes I Wore)

The other day i was walking into Wal-Mart and to no surprise to me a nice looking chick in was checking me out. She looked right in my face smiled looked down at my shoes and rolled her eyes. Lol. Now the shoes that was wearing weren't beat up or even raggedy, they were a pair of Nike trainers. Not only was I in a deep telephone conversation with my sister about the lack of shopping carts at this particular Wal-Mart, but I was also in a rush to get to the restroom in the store so what this young lady did didn't really hit me until i'd began shopping. It brought this question to mind; does the type of shoes a guy is wearing affect how women look at them? Now i don't have an answer for this question as of yet but i plan on finding one. The shoe thing is not an issue for me but i was just curious to know if a man has to bring out his "A" game every time or can we ever get a break.  If you think you can help me to answer either of these questions, post a comment. But if you are as stumped as I am just be looking out for further updates in the future...

Love & Peace Family

Workout Rut

When working out beware of the Workout Rut. The workout rut is caused basically by your body getting used to the workouts that you do. Soon not only will your body get used to the workout but also so mind. This post was inspired when i was in the gym last night with a friend and my body wasn't up to do anything. My mind was always there to encourage my body but there was not a lot of physical effort put in. Today when my workout time came around, both my mind and body where uninterested in working out, causing me to have to miss a workout day. A couple of google searches and a brief overview of my workouts the last past couple of weeks i knew what the issue was; workout rut. i had allowed myself to get bored with my workout routine. One way to avoid doing this is to keep new exercises incorporated into your workout. The object of this is to keep your muscles guessing. This will ensure that your body or mind will never get bored with your routine. I just had to inform you of this before it happens to you...

Love & Peace Family

Casual Sex

A lot of you may not be aware of the fact that I am one of the biggest supporters of casual sex. I have yet to spot a flaw in this system. Sure i've seen the movies with the guys who get lonely and long for relationships or something real but i have yet to encounter this problem. If i do at one point in time get lonely i plan to get a dog. In my opinion there are just too many different types of beautiful women in this world with different personalities and stories to share for me to just be with 1. I know some of you are shaking your heads and calling me all kinds of names but i also know that i'm getting through to someone right now. I love women... I do, and i'm not out to hurt them or mistreat them, i just think that casual sex is easier on the heart than relationships. This is no disrespect to people in relationships. When I see people in healthy relationships it's beautiful, i just feel like having F*ck buddies is a better situation. Don't read this and avoid relationships from now on, this is just my opinion. if you feel differently, prove me wrong. If you can't, Shut Up. lol

Love & Peace Family

When does your shoe game need to GROW UP

Recently i was denied entry to a popular night club because of the fact that i was wearing gym shoes. Now if you don't already know this about me, i have a pretty extensive collection of gym shoes. Because of recent events i've noticed that my shoe game is a bit immature (seeing that i have no casual shoes). Normally this would not be an issue for me and i tried my best to play cool but in reality it really got under my skin. So my question to you readers is: When does ones shoe game absolutely have to mature? Does it matter? Do the type of shoes that one wears affect how people see them? What shoes make you feel what way? This is something thats was troubling me this past weekend. It would also help if someone could explain to me why clubs have these dress codes...

i look forward to reading what you have to say

Love & Peace Family

Comfort

Those of you who know me know that i am one of the most calmest, cool, and chill dudes you'll ever meet. One of the main reasons i'm always so chill is my ability to find comfort in any environment. This can be a valuable tool in almost any situation. Not only does it keep your mind free but it also makes you look confident and as cool as me. I know this is a short post but it gets right to the point... I encourage you to go out and be comfortable.

Love & Peace Family

Beautiful Days = Beautiful Girls

The weather is finally beginning to break here in the Windy City and you can tell. Not only the lack of heavy coats, gloves, and scarves; but the sexiness level of the women. Sexiness, to me, is not what she is wearing but the way she carries herself. When the weathers cold and the wind is blowing here, the last thing on the mind of females is being sexy. They're focused on getting where they need to be, fast. Now that the weather has broken you will start to notice the women moving a bit slower, and wearing a lot less. Not only will you notice those things but you'll notice that the women are sexier now than they were a couple of weeks ago(and trust me they're not sexier now its just that now they are not covered up). My experience has shown me that women love to be sexy. They love to be admired. And most of all they love being beautiful. This knowledge will greatly benefit you this upcoming spring. It'll give you the chance to change up your routine, and change is always good. But never avoid being yourself (GOLDEN RULE). There is nothing worse, to a female, than a guy who is not real. So get out there in this great weather and find some girl that you genuinely think is beautiful and tell her(and lose the lame pick-up lines), and if she's interested pursue her but if she's not just keep it moving because trust me she's not the only beautiful one out.

Love & Peace Family

V Day

Walking around yesterday i saw a lot of Love. Love that you don't normally see. Love thats usually implied. And it was beautiful. Some people believe that Valentine's Day is all about giving your mate a gift so you can stay out of the doghouse for a while but its much much more. Its more than just getting ya lady that nice bracelet and hoping she does "that thing she never does any more" tonight. Its a day to celebrate all the Loves in your life. Yesterday morning i hopped out of bed and looked at all of my shoes and smiled. They all sat there all clean and lined up. I Loved Them. It was then that i realized that Valentines Day is not what society makes it out to be. Its a day for you to appreciate all the Love in your life. Love is one of the strongest things you can ever do and you only get one day a year to celebrate it (almost as big a crime as Black History Month being the shortest month of the year). So next Valentines day, don't sit around and sulk if you don't have a partner and don't just celebrate the Love between you & your partner; celebrate the all the Loves in your life... even the simple ones.
And Stop Hating on Vday if u Single lol... its Unattractive.

Love & Peace Family

Pizzanos vs. Gino's East

Good evening Chicagoers, Chicagoans, and Chicagoites (good evening to all of my outside of Chi-Town readers too). I know I've neglected you guys the last couple days but i come bearing gifts. During my absence I had 2 of Chicago's best pizzerias; Pizzanos, and Gino's East. Now a lot of you are probably thinking "if they serve the same thing why go to both," while it is true that they both serve the same type of food, they are both very different. this post will show you the differences and allow you to make the decision as to which one is better.
I'll start with Pizzanos since i visited them first. The drinks were good the women were decent and the pizza was free. We entered the establishment and were immediately shoulder to shoulder with fellow customers. It gave me a quick chill seeing how crowded they were and remembering how hungry I was, but we were seated in a matter of minutes. A cute brunette with a pretty smile approached us after we sat and explained the whole "free" pizza deal. My guest and I decided on a small vegetarian (for my sake) and 30 minutes later we were chowing down on some vege-filled goodness lol. The most important thing(in my mind) when it comes to sauce covered pizza is consistency, but this pizza was far from consistent. In a way its lack of firmness is what made it A-1. So to sum it up Pizzanos has great food, chill atmosphere and cute waitresses.
Next up to bat is Gino's East. The restaurant itself is known for the celebs it attracts and of course its spot on the popular Food Network program Man vs. Food. I didn't really get the full feel for the bar and the women seeing that I was with my parents. But what i can say for Gino's is the food was great. The pizza was a little more consistent than Pizzanos but it was no less great. My mom tried the popular Meaty Legend, dad had lasagna, and i had the deep dish 4 cheese. All 3 entrees were nothing short of amazing. So Gino's East earned itself a 8.5 out of 10 that night.

Lets get things straightened out before they even get tangled, both of these restaurants were great and I am loyal to neither one. My opinions may change in the future but for now if i had to suggest one to a friend it would have to be pizzanos. Don't let my opinion stop you though... go out and check them both out and you be the judge. And if you disagree with me post a comment, i dare you.

Love & Peace Family

Today will not be here Tomorrow

Lately i've been thinking about how valuable life is and how much we take for granted in our lives. I encourage all of my readers to go out and do whatever it is you want to do right now because tomorrow is not promised. I was watching the first season of Californication the other night and a character said "Life's too short to dance with fat chicks."(No dis to full figured women) The way i took this saying was that you cant keep putting off what you want because before you know it it'll be too late. Another interpretation of this quote might be that you should never settle for less than what you want. You only get to see today once so get out there and enjoy it. Talk to the bad chick walking down the street, smile at the cute boy looking at you from across the room, eat at that restaurant you've been hearing about, or read that book you always said you wanted to read. Trust me once you start doing it you'll wonder how you lived without it.

The future depends on what you do today

-Mahatma Ghandi

As always, Love & Peace Family

Foots' Workout Tips

A lot of people ask how I lost so much weight in such a short time (250 to 180 in 8 mos.) and I always reply in some form "easy." Let me clear things up right now, its not that easy. It takes dedication, discipline, and (you know i'm going to say it) hard work. Before you even start working out have to set a goal for yourself. It doesn't necessarily have to be a big goal, but a goal (maybe 1-10lbs). Then you have to make a plan to reach that goal. Every aspect of your life must have to be built around that goal (you never want other areas in your life to start to fall off because of your diet & workout). So what this means is your job, your homework, your spouse, your god etc. all need not to interfere with your dedication to this plan. Next is the most difficult part of it all, the discipline. You must discipline your body as well as your diet so that you can meet your goal in whatever time period you have set for yourself. If you want to wake up early and bust out some cardio, you have to train your body to do it (this won't be easy at first). If you want to eat less red meat, you must train your diet to deal with this. The next step to me is the easiest; hard work. Working hard to me is 90% mental. All I need is a playlist full of good workout music or a good football or basketball game on and i'm straight. You might need something else to get motivated, it's up to you to figure out what it is. The worst mistake I see people make is inconsistency. Shoot for balanced workouts and you can't fail. These are the 3 things you will need to be successful in your workout efforts. Once you get these steps under control, then you will be able to say that its "easy." And when you reach your goal, keep going don't stop. Trust me the only thing stopping you from getting in shape is YOU.

Side Note- Try to take it easy the first week or two to get your body used to what your doing and then kick it up to the next notch...

Love & Peace Family

Black History Month

I encourage people of all races and nationalities to celebrate black history month. It's not only for Black Americans to celebrate how far we've come as a ppl, but for all Americans to celebrate the progress we've made over the years. I also encourage this celebration to exceed the shortest month of the year and go on for years to come. In the future I want for my kids to be shocked that people were treated differently because of the color of their skin. I know it sounds lame but we are agents of change. It's time now for our generation to change the world and make it a better place for our children... so go ahead, go out and start now

Love & Peace Family

What If...

You'll notice in the future a lot of posts entitled "What If"... I often do a bunch thinking in the world of "What If"(don't ask why). Some ppl say it unhealthy to visit that world, but f*ck them...

Sitting here watching Jurassic Park i'm thinking what if Dinosaurs were still around or better yet what if somebody brought them back like in the movie. Is it lame that i think that would be dope? The world would just not be the same if they just roamed around so they would definitely have to be kept in zoos (like Jurassic Park) but, as the movie shows, nothing can contain these huge creatures. People would not live life the way they do today. We would have to worry about getting eaten or stepped on on the way to work. Think about all of the technological advances we on the brink of now; stem-cell research, cloning, etc. Just how long will it be before they (we) figure out how to bring them back? What type of person would you be if there were huge lizards running around? Think about it...

lol don't mind me i'm just rambling

This Has to Stop

So I walk into Panera to grab a little broccoli and cheddar soup for lunch and I spot a nice little chick sitting near the window reading. The cashier gives me the buzzer and says it'll be a few minutes. Im thinking "perfect" thats all the time I need to get this girl. I walk over and take a seat and immediately she smiles. So I ask her name and what she's doing for the rest of the day and all of a sudden a silver tongue ring come out of her mouth and she gives it a big suck before pulling it back in and saying "nothin"...now imma stop the story right there because I see no need in going on. Why did she do that? That one action made her extremely unattractive to me. Now I got nothing against tongue rings, I think they're extremely sexy (as well as other piercings) but don't suck on it while a guy (or anyone) is trying to talk to you (if you're interested).... that little buzzer saved that girl cuz i was definitely about to puke all over her LMAO

P.S. i still got her number

S/O to Panera with the speedy service.

Question thats been bothering me all day

Fellas would yall rather have a Bad Chick with a F*cked up weave or some Fresh Kicks with dirty laces. The initial thought came across my mind when i saw this decent chick on Michigan Ave. with a horrible weave but fresh kicks with dirty laces. I was both disgusted and intrigued. I immediately started to think "what if she was cold... would it matter if her laces were dirty" then I started to think about possible causes of the battered weave and muddy laces... I came up with nothing. About 23 minutes into my 10:30 class i started to think(daydream) about which would I rather have if I had to choose; Bad Chick with the F*cked Up weave or Fresh Kicks with dirty ass laces. I've come to the conclusion that i'm never gonna come to a decision alone (seeing as how I love women and shoes so much) so since i got a blog now ill just ask the world.... please be honest

Bad Breath

Its been brought to my attention by a female friend of mine that bad breath is a major deal breaker when it comes to finding that special someone. It didn't really occur to me at the time, but now I realize that thats pretty ridiculous. Not the fact that bad breath is a deal breaker but the fact that we as men in this day in age still have issues with bad breath. Now i know some of you are reading this going "what does the time we live in have to do with how our breath smells..." In the time in which we live there are a large amount of options one could use to freshen breath that our fathers simply didn't have... we have gum, tic tacs, mouthwash, and we even have those little dissolving mint strips (if they still sell those); all of these products I just mentioned come in a variety of flavors and sizes and prices range from cheap to expensive. This is no dis to anyone, i'm just saying we gotta step it up... its 2011. Remember my dudes "you can't get bad chicks with bad breath." Oh and ladies yall don't be too shy to take a SWIG of that mouthwash too.