What's going on Bull Penners!?
First and foremost, please accept my apology for the lack of posts in the past couple of months! Honestly I have not been motivated enough to blog much. Partially because I have been trying to actually live my life away from a screen and keyboard and partially because I've been dealing with anything worth writing about on my own rather than venting through my blog. Did that make sense?
However, I'm pretty sure inspiration will come back in full force in a few months seeing as how your boy is now a father to be!
Yes, you heard and read that right. Antoinette and I are now expecting parents of a little baby girl.
I've been going back and forth trying to decide wether I was going to continue to use this same blog to document this new chapter of my life or wether I was going to start a whole new one... After a small poll on Facebook and my own thoughts I decided that I will start a whole new blog. Don't worry, this does not however, mean that this one will be thrown in the trash! So many of you have been here with me since day one and I wouldn't just leave you hanging like that! I will still use this blog to vent when I need to or to discuss current events in that pattented Eno Bull tone. The new blog which you might even consider a sub blog is simply a separate page dedicated solely to my daughter. In fact it will even be written in letter form addressed only to her. This of course does not mean you can't read it, in fact I'm posting this particular post to share the link with you.
So this is not a goodbye to the BullPen, it will always be here for you guys, just wanted to share that it will be expanding by way of Blog for my baby! Like my boy Will said: From BullPen to PlayPen! Lmao.
With that said, Tha BullPen presents to you: Forever For Zairah
Hope ya follow my new chapter in life, fatherhood.
Peace.
P.S. If you do not want to bookmark the blog but you want to follow it, the link will always be on the menu bar to the <<<< left right under my posts archives.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Meet Pam Grier aka Charlene
As a kid I always wanted to be in the drivers seat, so much that I remember a time that my father was doing something with his car, cleaning it or working under the hood or something. I found myself in the drivers seat while he wasn't looking and I put the car in drive while it was on a downward hill lol!
Looking back you'd think it would have traumatized me, considering I never heard my dad scream my name with such fear and concern as he ran alongside the car before he could cleanly jump in it to stop it before it reached the intersection. But nope, it only fueled my love for being in the drivers seat.
Fast forward to when I turned 13, that was the first time my dad officially let me drive. I remember he let me park the car in front of the building we lived in. It was no biggie, but I knocked it out on my first shot and I felt like a big deal. Lol.
I say all that to say, I should have had a my first car such a long time ago considering how much I've always loved em. Countless magazines and websites and car shows on tv have consumed so much of my time that it's a wonder I never drove my own car home. But an addiction to sneakers and lack of $50k for your dream car will do that! Lol
Regardless of the facts, I always told myself that if my first car wasn't going to be a 1964 Chevy Impala, it was going to have to be a BMW! Preferably an 80's era one, but almost anything with a roundel (BMW emblem) would suffice.
So about a year and a half ago, a friend of mine (who has chosen to remain nameless) bought this beauty that you see here... I damn near Jizzed my pants when I saw it. He told me back then, "I Know I'm gonna sell it eventually so just have you're money ready when I call you." The car has been in the back of my mind ever since.
My ultimate dream car has been a lowrider since High School, but realistically speaking I'm in no position to throw all that money into a 50 year old car just because. And above that BMW has always been my favorite make. I can remember being 9 or 10 years old and telling my brother he was a fool for liking Mercedes! BMW was and still is where it's at! No disrespect to anyone in a Benz, cause lord knows they mean. So I was always a Bimmer guy and like I said I knew my first car had to be the german classic.
So about a week and a half ago my friend hit me up and told me he was finally selling the car! My excitement could not be masked. I was so happy to hear he was parting with it that I damn near wired him the money lol.
It has it's fair share of problems but it's all minor things. Plus I plan on making it my project car anyway. I have big dreams for my first car, it's all about stance.
So when my friend told me what he/she was selling it for I was left with no choice but to head out to meet him/her and take it for a test drive.... Truthfully I just wanted to drive it, because I knew that I would buy it regardless of almost anything.
After a test drive with my pops I knew this car would be coming home with me that same week. Sure enough, on June, Friday the 13th, I met with him/her handed over the cash and was handed back a title and a BMW key.
I drove it home that day in the rain with a grin on my face that you couldn't wipe off with bleach!
I went to my cousins house to show it to him and tell him how excited I was that I finally owned a car. That was after I went to fill up for the first time and before I went to the McDonald's drive thru to get my girl something to eat.
The next day I drove it to IHOP and then gave it it's first car was while in my possession! You know all the things a man does with his first car within the first couple of hours of owning it. Needless to say I was geeked!
Based on her charcoal color I named her Charlene, and based on the fact that she is 14 years old and still sexy as hell I named her Pam Grier! Lol. Old and attractive. I can't wait to start hokking her up although it has to wait for reasons that will be explained in the next post! lol
As for now she's just gonna be fun to ride in. Believe it or not, you could be certain pairs of sneakers at Flight Club for more than I bought this car. Can you guess how much I paid? I bet you can't Lol.
So yeah, Eno's finally got a car! And not just any car, a 2000 BMW 528i!
So that's my baby.... A 528i e39 with a M5 front lip. In all her glory! When you see me in the street yell "What up Tho!: Loll
Hope you enjoyed meeting Pam Grier!
Peace!
Stay Up and Stay Tuned!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Danny's Audi A4 Wagon
This is a blog post that is coming to you a whole month and a half late, but it's here nontheless. Hey Better late than never right!?
So on the 1st of May my cousin in laws got married in Long Island. It was a beautiful weddin'. Stan and Pia tied the knot in front of all their family and friends in what turned out to be an amazing reception.
Shortly after, we all headed back to Brooklyn where my cousin in law Danny had his beautiful 2004 Audi A4 wagon!
So on the 1st of May my cousin in laws got married in Long Island. It was a beautiful weddin'. Stan and Pia tied the knot in front of all their family and friends in what turned out to be an amazing reception.
Shortly after, we all headed back to Brooklyn where my cousin in law Danny had his beautiful 2004 Audi A4 wagon!
Danny has been a car guy for basically what seems to be all his life Lol. And if you know me, then you know that cars were my love before sneakers, and probably even music. However me being a car guy quickly became over shadowed by my infatuation with having as many sneakers as one man could possibly collect. On top of that, there were more sneaker heads around me than there was car guys. So naturally I've never owned a car although with the sneaker collection(s) I have/have had, I could have bought 3 cars by now lol.
I say all that to say, that I'm so glad I met Danny to bring me closer into the world of cars like I've wanted for so long!
So in 04 Danny went and bought what a few guys at the Audi dealership called a "Grandma Car" Lol. But like it's been said, you either like wagons or you don't! Danny, obviously does..... And can you blame him. Look at this bad boy! Personally, I don't care for every wagon, but I can remember seeing a BMW wagon on my block every once in a while a few yours back. It belonged to one of the drug dealers or something! But after seeing this one I was sold! I told myself "I gotta join my homie in the wagon game!" Naturally being the impressionable guy I am the hunt for a BMW 5-Series Touring (Wagon) began!
So Danny has been working on the car for as long as he's had it. Like he said, "You're never done modding your car!" To me that's what makes it all a form of art. He's dropped it significantly and is still going down to one inch. When I first saw the car close to a year ago it was sitting on a different set of wheels. But now it's on a set of ESM wheels. A new company that he told me he was trying out. A good choice! He locked down a set of 19" 2 piece wheels with the step lips wrapped in stretched tires giving it that sexy look right under the fenders and wheel wells.
Alongside the wheels, the homie modded and upgraded the brake pads and the rotors. He also added a stereo system that would make the average big name producer run and hide from the noise!
As for the other subtleties he personally painted a black strip in the back that separates the trunk lid from the bumper and he's currently looking to switch the front lip... Very subtle but all excellent mods!
All in all, the Audi is a a beautiful machine! Runs like a dream, and snapping photos of it doesn't even begin to contest with actually riding in it! My cousin in law who will be there every step of the way as I modify my own car has build a beautiful machine!
In my opinion there was no one more fit to bring me into the car game! Thanks a mil Danny, can't wait to get started on my own so that it looks as good sitting next to yours!
So, did I find a wagon!?
Find out on the next post. Lol
Peace.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Kobe IX Elite (Sneaker Review)
And another one!
So my first sneaker review on the Lebron XI's did pretty well. A few people hit me up behind the scenes to let me know they enjoyed the post and I just wanna give a quick shout out to them!
We all know that my blog is not about sneakers but it is about my life and sneakers is actually quite a large percentage of my life. Lol. So with that said, I wanna share another review with ya because I've been inspired by another pair.
On Tuesday after a few failed attempts at owning a pair, I finally got my hands on the new Kobe IX Elites.
I couldn't believe how comfortable and light they felt on my feet. I'm sure that this is due to the fact that Eric Avar's design introduced flyknit to a basketball sneaker for the first time. Nike also featured their latest technology such as flywire and lunar soles making it the most comfortable sneaker I've worn since the Lebron XI's.
The red stripes featured on the heel of the sneaker represent the stitches on Kobe's heel from his surgery, His logo is featured prominently on the front of the tongue along with some very cool pattern stitching.
The sole once again, similar to the Lebrons is it's own sneaker all together. An inch and a half or so ithick sole with Kobe's name on the back and is very comfortable on the foot. All in all, I must say it is an amazing sneaker. I love the silhouette and the colors are in my opinion very unique and vibrant in person!
I'm very proud of my purchase even tho I'm not huge of paying more than $200 for kicks. Yes retail for these bad boys are $225.00 so dig deep in those pockets if you're trying to cop!
So my first sneaker review on the Lebron XI's did pretty well. A few people hit me up behind the scenes to let me know they enjoyed the post and I just wanna give a quick shout out to them!
We all know that my blog is not about sneakers but it is about my life and sneakers is actually quite a large percentage of my life. Lol. So with that said, I wanna share another review with ya because I've been inspired by another pair.
On Tuesday after a few failed attempts at owning a pair, I finally got my hands on the new Kobe IX Elites.
Little background: I saw these for the first time about 2 or 3 months ago when word surfaced that Nike would be releasing a "Prelude Pack." The pack consisted of all the Kobe signature Nike kicks from 1-8 all leading up to the new release, the Kobe 9 Elite! Now if you know me, you know I hate Kobe and I don't care who feels a way about that! Lol. However I did like a few of the sneakers releasing in the pack, the Prelude 1's above all others. But if you know the sneaker game then you know how hard it was to get your hands on any of the releases, and for $1,300.00 you can tell Flight Club to chill.
Anyway... Initially when I saw the images for the 9's I fell in love. I think, lol. I say that because I feel under any other circumstances this particular style of sneakers would not be my cup of tea... I mean look at them, they look like some hybrid of basketball sneakers and boxing boots!
But, once again, (in my opinion) Nike knocked another one out the park baby! With the help of Eric Avar (lead designer) of course. Something about these sneakers called me, could have been the allure of the colors, the height of the sneaker which reminds me of the Air Mags which I've been in love with since 1990. Or maybe it was the stories behind the colorways.
In my research I learned that he drew inspiration from various people places and things to come up with the colors. He drew inspiration from Michael Jackson all the way to the city of Los Angeles.
This blue pair in particular, the "Perspectives" which is what hey have been named was inspired by Picasso's Blue period. The 3 year period where the artist painted things in all different shades of blue and blue-green. Initially I did not care for the colorway, but after hearing what they were inspired by it made sense to me and I literally felt that I HAD to have them.
So seeing as how finding the "MasterPiece" (the ones I wanted most) or the "Inspiration" (the ones I liked and was willing to settle for) proved too difficult, I had given up hope on finding the "Perspectives" until a walk up Fordham Rd with my boy Penny changed that. We walked passed the Fordham Foot Locker and my boy Penny said to me "Look, they still have the kicks you want." I inquired about them and the guy on the floor told me that they only had sz. 10.5 and 11 left. I almost gave up hope again until Penny said "try em anyway man, you never know!" I did just that. I tried on the 10.5 and I felt like I had just put on Cinderella's glass slipper! Lol. Yes I am a 9.5, but with flat feet and Nike's new shoes being smaller or bigger or whatever, 10.5 worked best for me.
I couldn't believe how comfortable and light they felt on my feet. I'm sure that this is due to the fact that Eric Avar's design introduced flyknit to a basketball sneaker for the first time. Nike also featured their latest technology such as flywire and lunar soles making it the most comfortable sneaker I've worn since the Lebron XI's.
Then there is the colors. Like I said at first I didn't care for them, even though blue is my favorite color... After seeing it in person though.... Well you see what we're doing here. Such a dope mix that Nike has played with before on everything from Air Force 1's to Air Penny 2's, but on this particular pair it's just something that makes it better.
The Swoosh on both sides appears to be painted and then heat dried on to the sneaker which accompanies the concept of Picasso's paintings very well.
The red stripes featured on the heel of the sneaker represent the stitches on Kobe's heel from his surgery, His logo is featured prominently on the front of the tongue along with some very cool pattern stitching.
The sole once again, similar to the Lebrons is it's own sneaker all together. An inch and a half or so ithick sole with Kobe's name on the back and is very comfortable on the foot. All in all, I must say it is an amazing sneaker. I love the silhouette and the colors are in my opinion very unique and vibrant in person!
I'm very proud of my purchase even tho I'm not huge of paying more than $200 for kicks. Yes retail for these bad boys are $225.00 so dig deep in those pockets if you're trying to cop!
I of course will NOT be balling in these lol. But for those of you who will and want a more performance based review check out my homie Alex's post/review on the shoe HERE: And of course thanks to Alex and the Team over at Zaro Sports for the collaboration! Follow them!
Hope you enjoyed my review and I'm happy to hear from you. So let me know what you feel by way of comments, emails (EnoBull@gmail.com) or IG/Twitter: @EnoBull
[CLICK THE PICS TO ENLARGE EM]
Peace.
Stay Up and Stay Tuned!
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Gods
Preface:
Peace to all the gods and the earths
Allow me to open this one up with a joke, borrowed from the movie "Pursuit of Happyness." You may have heard of it.
"One day a man was drownding in the water, and a boat came by and said, 'Do you need any help' and the man said 'No thank you, God will save me' and then another boat came by and asked 'do you need any help?' 'No thank you, God will save me' Then he drowned and he went to heaven. And he asked God 'God, why didn't you save me?' and then God said "I Sent you 2 big boats you dummy!" Lol
That's a joke as told by a 5 year old.
Now that we've gotten the funny out of the way, let's talk.
For those of you who do not know I was raised in a hispanic family which for as long as I can remember has always been religious. No Jesus freaks on our side thank God, but still God fearing. My mom has always been a firm believer in God, she took us to church every Sunday for a few years while we were kids. I've got a few aunts who do not miss a mass, be it Saturday or Sunday. For the most part my cousins, my brother and myself were all sent to Private/Catholic school, where we wore uniform, learned about the bible, church, learned how to pray and of course were introduced to God.
So naturally, like billions of others I am catholic by way of upbringing. Remember when I said I am not an atheist, however I can understand where they come from? Well That's still true. I am still not an atheist, but the older I get and the more I go through the more I work on reinforcing my faith, all while gaining a deeper understanding of atheists.
So fast forward to a few weeks ago, I was driving around and I must have heard something on the radio that triggered my mind to start running. (I'm literally thinking all freakin day, of so many random things, some pointless, some funny, some serious etc. So it doesn't take much to trigger it) So the subject that came to mind was God. And I started to think of how much people put on him, or her if you're a feminist of some sort. "God, help me with this" "God be with me on this" "Thank God" "For God's Sake" "Oh my God" etc. etc. Nothing wrong with it I guess, but my problem is people treating God like some sort of magical fairy without actually putting in any work of their own. Or even worse, blaming God for things that mankind has obviously done.
Like this morning. I was giving my mom a ride to work and I began to complain about the snow. For a little over five or six years now, I've been thinking that the snow is man made. No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I do tend to think about certain things. Like, how is it that sometimes, it's mid March and it still snows? Or better yet, how the hell is it that there's snow in Atlanta? ATLANTA!? The south! But whatever, that's a whole different post all together. I tell my mom, "I think all this annoying ass snow is man made." To which she responds, "You sound like these crazy people" and by crazy people she meant conspiracy theorist. So I began to explain myself and she gave me a typical, hispanic, catholic mother cop out response. "Only God knows. If he gave people the intelligence to come up with weather control, than it is in his power to just make them stop!"
I laughed it off and left it alone. I mean, theres no way I'm going to convince a woman in her 50's of anything that she doesn't want to be convinced of. But it did inspire this post. It's that kind of response that tends to bother me a bit. It's okay to pray for better days, it's perfectly okay to believe in a higher power, regardless of what you call it. However, I feel that some things should be blamed on man and not the higher power you believe in.
To say that God gave people the intelligence to come up with weather control is no different than a person claiming insanity at the moment that they decided to kill someone. "The voices in my head told me to do it. I went crazy!" That's no different than a 4 year old sneaking cookies out of the cookie jar and blaming it on his/her imaginary friend. Feel me?
It bothered me because it reminds me of people who claim to pray, but then don't work. You see a prayer is an assist.
Let me explain how an assist works. See in basketball, when Rajon Rondo is running out of options to score, he finds the open man who is sometimes already making his way to the basket. Rondo passes the ball to his teammate and that point it's out of his control what happens. When his teammate receives the ball and shoots it, dunks it, or lays it up for the two points it is recorded as an assist for Rondo's stat sheet! Good work Rondo!
Still need me to break it down further? Well check this scenario: You and ya best friend Mike are going out. Mike will be meeting some girl there when ya arrive. Now you thinking, "well damn, imma be the only loser by myself?" So Mike takes pity on ya ass and makes sure to make a call and tell whoever he'll be meeting "Hey, bring a friend for my nigga Rob" and just like that, Rob too has a date for the night. However, no different than in basketball, Rob still has to put in work after Mike gives him the assist! Make sense?
Ok, good, so then in this case you have to consider the big man upstairs your teammate. He'll give you the assist, but you still have to get passed whatever defender is in front of you to score. He'll give you the assist, but if you wanna see what shorty look like under her clothes you gotta be the one to put in that work to get her number and create a relationship! Feel me? No man has ever prayed for a million dollars and went back to bed! No! He prayed and got his ass up and went to work to do whatever it is that he had to do to get that money.
No single woman prays to find a man and then stays in on Friday night without so much as checking her Facebook feeds! No! She prays and then she gets her ass up and tells her friend Rachel "We bar hopping tonight!"
This has always been my problem with religion. To so many, so many times it is used as a cop out or as an excuse. How many wars have been fought in God's name? And how many times has he been blamed for the mistakes you made? Seriously, as people with free will it's important to start taking responsibilities for our own actions. Be your own god.
Remember the ancient Egyptians? Or the Mayans or any civilization of people that existed before Christ? They had gods (plural.) They believed that there was a god of EVERYTHING. One god brought out the sun each morning and another the moon each night. One god was the god of war, another the god of victory. One was the god of the ocean and another was the god of whatever else. We look back on those civilizations now and probably think, "how foolish." Well I feel that's how foolish one sounds when accrediting every single aspect of life to God and none to mankind, good or bad.
In my travels I have met two men who are 5%ers (If you do not know what that is, I suggest you do your research.) They believe that every man is his own god. That we should do well for ourselves and our fellow man and that every man is a part of God's whole body! Arm Leg Leg Arm Head. < Get it, see what the highlighted letter spell out? For so long this is what I've felt religion should be. A guide to living a better life, not a means to judge and prosecute. Do good, live good and help other do good as well. BE YOUR OWN GOD. Have your belief in a higher power if you must, but have some of that higher power within yourself.
I'll never forget the day in religion class, freshman year in Mr. Fellicisimo's class where he explained to us that it is important to have God in our lives, however it is more important not to think that EVERYTHING is God. That tree outside of your window, while it may be God's work it is not God himself. The car you drive, the home you live in, the talents you have. You may have gotten the strength to work hard enough to afford those things through God, but they themselves are not God.
It's ok to take responsibility for the things you do! If he is a fair and just God like I've been taught, then he has no problem with this. Think for yourselves.
Understand like the joke in the opening of this post, it is important to see God's work in front of you and not expect some sort of fairy tale miracle. Sometimes the answer to your prayers come in the form of a boat while you're drowning.
As for me, I have my faith and I am a believer in God for reason I feel don't need to be shared. But I don't use my God as a cop out. If I don't understand something, I try my hardest to do whatever research necessary to figure it out. Not blindly say "I leave it in your hands."
Don't use God as a cop out. God Bless!
Stay Up and Stay Tuned!
Peace to all the gods and the earths
Allow me to open this one up with a joke, borrowed from the movie "Pursuit of Happyness." You may have heard of it.
"One day a man was drownding in the water, and a boat came by and said, 'Do you need any help' and the man said 'No thank you, God will save me' and then another boat came by and asked 'do you need any help?' 'No thank you, God will save me' Then he drowned and he went to heaven. And he asked God 'God, why didn't you save me?' and then God said "I Sent you 2 big boats you dummy!" Lol
That's a joke as told by a 5 year old.
Now that we've gotten the funny out of the way, let's talk.
For those of you who do not know I was raised in a hispanic family which for as long as I can remember has always been religious. No Jesus freaks on our side thank God, but still God fearing. My mom has always been a firm believer in God, she took us to church every Sunday for a few years while we were kids. I've got a few aunts who do not miss a mass, be it Saturday or Sunday. For the most part my cousins, my brother and myself were all sent to Private/Catholic school, where we wore uniform, learned about the bible, church, learned how to pray and of course were introduced to God.
So naturally, like billions of others I am catholic by way of upbringing. Remember when I said I am not an atheist, however I can understand where they come from? Well That's still true. I am still not an atheist, but the older I get and the more I go through the more I work on reinforcing my faith, all while gaining a deeper understanding of atheists.
So fast forward to a few weeks ago, I was driving around and I must have heard something on the radio that triggered my mind to start running. (I'm literally thinking all freakin day, of so many random things, some pointless, some funny, some serious etc. So it doesn't take much to trigger it) So the subject that came to mind was God. And I started to think of how much people put on him, or her if you're a feminist of some sort. "God, help me with this" "God be with me on this" "Thank God" "For God's Sake" "Oh my God" etc. etc. Nothing wrong with it I guess, but my problem is people treating God like some sort of magical fairy without actually putting in any work of their own. Or even worse, blaming God for things that mankind has obviously done.
Like this morning. I was giving my mom a ride to work and I began to complain about the snow. For a little over five or six years now, I've been thinking that the snow is man made. No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I do tend to think about certain things. Like, how is it that sometimes, it's mid March and it still snows? Or better yet, how the hell is it that there's snow in Atlanta? ATLANTA!? The south! But whatever, that's a whole different post all together. I tell my mom, "I think all this annoying ass snow is man made." To which she responds, "You sound like these crazy people" and by crazy people she meant conspiracy theorist. So I began to explain myself and she gave me a typical, hispanic, catholic mother cop out response. "Only God knows. If he gave people the intelligence to come up with weather control, than it is in his power to just make them stop!"
I laughed it off and left it alone. I mean, theres no way I'm going to convince a woman in her 50's of anything that she doesn't want to be convinced of. But it did inspire this post. It's that kind of response that tends to bother me a bit. It's okay to pray for better days, it's perfectly okay to believe in a higher power, regardless of what you call it. However, I feel that some things should be blamed on man and not the higher power you believe in.
To say that God gave people the intelligence to come up with weather control is no different than a person claiming insanity at the moment that they decided to kill someone. "The voices in my head told me to do it. I went crazy!" That's no different than a 4 year old sneaking cookies out of the cookie jar and blaming it on his/her imaginary friend. Feel me?
It bothered me because it reminds me of people who claim to pray, but then don't work. You see a prayer is an assist.
Let me explain how an assist works. See in basketball, when Rajon Rondo is running out of options to score, he finds the open man who is sometimes already making his way to the basket. Rondo passes the ball to his teammate and that point it's out of his control what happens. When his teammate receives the ball and shoots it, dunks it, or lays it up for the two points it is recorded as an assist for Rondo's stat sheet! Good work Rondo!
Still need me to break it down further? Well check this scenario: You and ya best friend Mike are going out. Mike will be meeting some girl there when ya arrive. Now you thinking, "well damn, imma be the only loser by myself?" So Mike takes pity on ya ass and makes sure to make a call and tell whoever he'll be meeting "Hey, bring a friend for my nigga Rob" and just like that, Rob too has a date for the night. However, no different than in basketball, Rob still has to put in work after Mike gives him the assist! Make sense?
Ok, good, so then in this case you have to consider the big man upstairs your teammate. He'll give you the assist, but you still have to get passed whatever defender is in front of you to score. He'll give you the assist, but if you wanna see what shorty look like under her clothes you gotta be the one to put in that work to get her number and create a relationship! Feel me? No man has ever prayed for a million dollars and went back to bed! No! He prayed and got his ass up and went to work to do whatever it is that he had to do to get that money.
No single woman prays to find a man and then stays in on Friday night without so much as checking her Facebook feeds! No! She prays and then she gets her ass up and tells her friend Rachel "We bar hopping tonight!"
This has always been my problem with religion. To so many, so many times it is used as a cop out or as an excuse. How many wars have been fought in God's name? And how many times has he been blamed for the mistakes you made? Seriously, as people with free will it's important to start taking responsibilities for our own actions. Be your own god.
Remember the ancient Egyptians? Or the Mayans or any civilization of people that existed before Christ? They had gods (plural.) They believed that there was a god of EVERYTHING. One god brought out the sun each morning and another the moon each night. One god was the god of war, another the god of victory. One was the god of the ocean and another was the god of whatever else. We look back on those civilizations now and probably think, "how foolish." Well I feel that's how foolish one sounds when accrediting every single aspect of life to God and none to mankind, good or bad.
In my travels I have met two men who are 5%ers (If you do not know what that is, I suggest you do your research.) They believe that every man is his own god. That we should do well for ourselves and our fellow man and that every man is a part of God's whole body! Arm Leg Leg Arm Head. < Get it, see what the highlighted letter spell out? For so long this is what I've felt religion should be. A guide to living a better life, not a means to judge and prosecute. Do good, live good and help other do good as well. BE YOUR OWN GOD. Have your belief in a higher power if you must, but have some of that higher power within yourself.
I'll never forget the day in religion class, freshman year in Mr. Fellicisimo's class where he explained to us that it is important to have God in our lives, however it is more important not to think that EVERYTHING is God. That tree outside of your window, while it may be God's work it is not God himself. The car you drive, the home you live in, the talents you have. You may have gotten the strength to work hard enough to afford those things through God, but they themselves are not God.
It's ok to take responsibility for the things you do! If he is a fair and just God like I've been taught, then he has no problem with this. Think for yourselves.
Understand like the joke in the opening of this post, it is important to see God's work in front of you and not expect some sort of fairy tale miracle. Sometimes the answer to your prayers come in the form of a boat while you're drowning.
As for me, I have my faith and I am a believer in God for reason I feel don't need to be shared. But I don't use my God as a cop out. If I don't understand something, I try my hardest to do whatever research necessary to figure it out. Not blindly say "I leave it in your hands."
Don't use God as a cop out. God Bless!
Stay Up and Stay Tuned!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Sittin on Other People's Cars!
"CAUSE THE DEVIL IS A LIIIIIIE!"
Lol! Don't judge me, I'm listening to Rosay! Lol
If you know me, then you know one of the very first things I fell in love with, before Photography, before Music, before anything, it was cars!
So Out of borden, I present to you, "Sittin on other people's Cars!" who knows I might even make this a real series! (Excuse the quality, most were taken with a camera phone)
Lol! Don't judge me, I'm listening to Rosay! Lol
If you know me, then you know one of the very first things I fell in love with, before Photography, before Music, before anything, it was cars!
So Out of borden, I present to you, "Sittin on other people's Cars!" who knows I might even make this a real series! (Excuse the quality, most were taken with a camera phone)
Since Tadpoles baby!
Me and my Young'n Rudy, leanin up on pops'
84' Honda Accord Hatchback! Stylin!
Bronx, 1997?
Me @ 20 yrs. old.
Dreads and a Sidekick in hand!
You see the Bentley Continental GT tho!
LaGuardia Airport 2007.
Here I am on my man Penny's FX35
Shit mean in the Streets!
You see me posin with it like it's mine! Lol
Bronx, 2012
Findin the Path!
Me fuckin up my Pops' suspension
on that 97 Nissan Pathfinder! Lol
Bronx, 2012
Stylin on my girls 2011 Sonata!
You see me nigga!
Bronx, 2013
You don't know how bad I want to lie to you
and tell you this one is mine!
Lol. Sittin on somebodies BMW e26
Bronx, 2013
If you don't know me then you don't get the
significance of this one!
Thee DeLorean
New York, 2013
Sometime I just take a pic of the car!
Lol. My man Miguel's
Infiniti G35 4 Door!
Bronx, 2010
I aint the only one getting in on the fun!
My cousin H, styling on that
Bentley GT Continental Convertible!
Fashion Night Out, Soho, 2009.
I love cars! and I know what you thinking, why doesn't he sit on his own car!? The answer is simple? I rather sit on your, car it's cheaper. I don't have to pay insurance or deal with High gas prices! You mad!? LMFAO
Stay Up and Stay Tuned!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Hip-Hop 101
Whats's going on Bull Penners?
How's life treat in ya!? Ayything good on my side lol!
So I just got home from watching "The Wolf of Wall Street" and as always, Leonardo failed to disappoint! Great fuckin movie. I recommend you go see it. It's the story that every business man, drug dealer and ambitious person should go and see. But I'm not here to write a review on a movie, as the title might have given away!
Coming home from the movies as always, my iPod was hooked up and my mind began to run like a hamster wheel! One of my FAVORITE songs, from one of my favorite artist of the last decade came on! "What song?" you ask... "I still Wana" By Pusha T Feat. Rick Ross and Ab-Liva! Holy Shit, that song makes me wanna go pick up a Kilo, bring it home, break it down, bag it up and hit the streets like Jesse Pinkman on a mission to get his house back!! Lol.
But this is not about my Hustler's Ambition.... No, in fact it's Deeper than Rap. Literally. See as the song was playing I remembered my aunt's judgmental tone when she got in my car a few months back when she asked me "So.... You consider this music?" My response? "Indeed I do!" and put the volume back up!
You see, what a lot of people don't realize is, music is Art. Just because you speak english, doesn't mean you can listen to Hip-Hop song and fully understand what the artist is talking about. Just like you can't think you're fit to step in a boxing ring because you know how to throw a punch.
There's so much going on in a Da Vinci painting that looking at it once with a naked un trained eye would be sure fire way to miss 70% of the content!
Well, a lot of rap songs are no different. You don't have to have a degree in art to break it all down, but you do need to have a keen sense of reading between the lines. And you have to be familiar with the relevance of what's going on in pop culture. You have to have a somewhat decent knowledge of history to fully understand a lot of Hip-Hop songs. It's more than just knowing what a Bugatti is and who Miley Cyrus is! At least with the kinds of songs that are more lyrical than the everyday basic level what you hear is what you get songs.
Not too sure what I mean?
Good, this is why I'm here.
Take "I Still Wana" for example: When Ab-Liva says "...Bel Biv Devoe, Push poison like a copperhead" You have to know who Bel Biv Devoe are, because if you don't know them, then you won't know that they had a smash hit single called "Poison" and if you don't know that a copperhead is a snake then it won't make sense to you when he said "Push Poison." See, just like that he referenced 2 completely different things and linked them with the word poison!
It doesn't end there, in fact that's not even beginning to scratch the surface. Jay-Z is arguably the king at referencing things from every aspect of life. Take for example when Hov said in Missy Elliot's "One Minute Man (Remix)" "I'm tryna hit you then quit you in the middle of the round like I'm Roberto Duran... No Mas!" Who the hell is Roberto Duran right? Well you see, you have to be familiar with boxing to understand that one. You have to know that Roberto Duran is an old boxer who in 1980 fought Sugar Ray Leonard (for a second time.) Midway through the early rounds of the fight Duran was taking an old school beating and yelled out to the ref "No Mas!" Translation: "No More!" He literally gave up! Lol So for Hov to say it in that verse is pretty freakin witty wouldn't you say?
I could go on forever, in fact I will Lol.
Take my homie Pazo: in his XCVI (96) Mixtape he had a song called TFAliens where he said "Plus I'm feel in like Eddie in the flick, no Prin(ce)ts when the Semi on the Hip" Do I have to break that one down too? (By the way, click the link and support my mans Music!!)
Well you see this is where we get to the more advanced levels of the course. See to fully understand this one you have to go back to the title of the project. XCVI is roman numeral for '96. All the beats used, for the exception of a few at the end of the tape are from Hip-Hop songs from the year 1996. This one in particular being borrowed from "ATLiens" by Outkast! Now on to the bars:
If you're not familiar with Eddie Murphy's 1988 movie "Coming to America" then you won't know that he was a prince of an African country and that his trusty sidekick played by Arsenio Hall was named Semi! Semi also being a term used in Hip-Hop for Semi Automatic guns. So you see the play on words. He might have said Prince, but what he meant was prints, finger prints! So did I explain that clear enough?
Anyway, it all goes to say, Hip-Hop is Art. Whether you've accepted it or not, whether you feel it qualifies as music or not, it is and will always be Art. Maybe if you are one of the people who thinks otherwise, it could just be because you simply don't understand it! And who knows, maybe it isn't meant for you to understand. Shit, I can't for the life of me begin to understand why people would ever subject themselves to listening to Reggaeton, but maybe there's something there that I'm missing as well, thus hindering me from enjoying it! Lol.
So to my aunt, or your mom, or father, of grandparents or teachers or whoever else it is that gives you a hard time and forces you to defend Hip-Hop, reference this blog post. Encourage them to open their ears and listen to the words behind the lyrics!
To those of ya who make real Hip-Hop, please keep it up! Pazo, waddup bruh!? #TFA stand up!
Stay Up, and Stay Tuned!
How's life treat in ya!? Ayything good on my side lol!
So I just got home from watching "The Wolf of Wall Street" and as always, Leonardo failed to disappoint! Great fuckin movie. I recommend you go see it. It's the story that every business man, drug dealer and ambitious person should go and see. But I'm not here to write a review on a movie, as the title might have given away!
Coming home from the movies as always, my iPod was hooked up and my mind began to run like a hamster wheel! One of my FAVORITE songs, from one of my favorite artist of the last decade came on! "What song?" you ask... "I still Wana" By Pusha T Feat. Rick Ross and Ab-Liva! Holy Shit, that song makes me wanna go pick up a Kilo, bring it home, break it down, bag it up and hit the streets like Jesse Pinkman on a mission to get his house back!! Lol.
But this is not about my Hustler's Ambition.... No, in fact it's Deeper than Rap. Literally. See as the song was playing I remembered my aunt's judgmental tone when she got in my car a few months back when she asked me "So.... You consider this music?" My response? "Indeed I do!" and put the volume back up!
You see, what a lot of people don't realize is, music is Art. Just because you speak english, doesn't mean you can listen to Hip-Hop song and fully understand what the artist is talking about. Just like you can't think you're fit to step in a boxing ring because you know how to throw a punch.
There's so much going on in a Da Vinci painting that looking at it once with a naked un trained eye would be sure fire way to miss 70% of the content!
Well, a lot of rap songs are no different. You don't have to have a degree in art to break it all down, but you do need to have a keen sense of reading between the lines. And you have to be familiar with the relevance of what's going on in pop culture. You have to have a somewhat decent knowledge of history to fully understand a lot of Hip-Hop songs. It's more than just knowing what a Bugatti is and who Miley Cyrus is! At least with the kinds of songs that are more lyrical than the everyday basic level what you hear is what you get songs.
Not too sure what I mean?
Good, this is why I'm here.
Take "I Still Wana" for example: When Ab-Liva says "...Bel Biv Devoe, Push poison like a copperhead" You have to know who Bel Biv Devoe are, because if you don't know them, then you won't know that they had a smash hit single called "Poison" and if you don't know that a copperhead is a snake then it won't make sense to you when he said "Push Poison." See, just like that he referenced 2 completely different things and linked them with the word poison!
It doesn't end there, in fact that's not even beginning to scratch the surface. Jay-Z is arguably the king at referencing things from every aspect of life. Take for example when Hov said in Missy Elliot's "One Minute Man (Remix)" "I'm tryna hit you then quit you in the middle of the round like I'm Roberto Duran... No Mas!" Who the hell is Roberto Duran right? Well you see, you have to be familiar with boxing to understand that one. You have to know that Roberto Duran is an old boxer who in 1980 fought Sugar Ray Leonard (for a second time.) Midway through the early rounds of the fight Duran was taking an old school beating and yelled out to the ref "No Mas!" Translation: "No More!" He literally gave up! Lol So for Hov to say it in that verse is pretty freakin witty wouldn't you say?
I could go on forever, in fact I will Lol.
Take my homie Pazo: in his XCVI (96) Mixtape he had a song called TFAliens where he said "Plus I'm feel in like Eddie in the flick, no Prin(ce)ts when the Semi on the Hip" Do I have to break that one down too? (By the way, click the link and support my mans Music!!)
Well you see this is where we get to the more advanced levels of the course. See to fully understand this one you have to go back to the title of the project. XCVI is roman numeral for '96. All the beats used, for the exception of a few at the end of the tape are from Hip-Hop songs from the year 1996. This one in particular being borrowed from "ATLiens" by Outkast! Now on to the bars:
If you're not familiar with Eddie Murphy's 1988 movie "Coming to America" then you won't know that he was a prince of an African country and that his trusty sidekick played by Arsenio Hall was named Semi! Semi also being a term used in Hip-Hop for Semi Automatic guns. So you see the play on words. He might have said Prince, but what he meant was prints, finger prints! So did I explain that clear enough?
Anyway, it all goes to say, Hip-Hop is Art. Whether you've accepted it or not, whether you feel it qualifies as music or not, it is and will always be Art. Maybe if you are one of the people who thinks otherwise, it could just be because you simply don't understand it! And who knows, maybe it isn't meant for you to understand. Shit, I can't for the life of me begin to understand why people would ever subject themselves to listening to Reggaeton, but maybe there's something there that I'm missing as well, thus hindering me from enjoying it! Lol.
So to my aunt, or your mom, or father, of grandparents or teachers or whoever else it is that gives you a hard time and forces you to defend Hip-Hop, reference this blog post. Encourage them to open their ears and listen to the words behind the lyrics!
To those of ya who make real Hip-Hop, please keep it up! Pazo, waddup bruh!? #TFA stand up!
Stay Up, and Stay Tuned!
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