back at it: fam, italians, stuff

In all honesty, I really long for the days -- that brief three month span in the 05 summer to be exact -- where I had a mindless gig and was able to blog for 8 hours a day. I dont long for it in a "boy, I wish I wasn't writing for a living, rather answering phones and twiddling my thumbs" kinda way. But it was like a perfect storm. I was fresh off an incredibly fun internship in Orlando, back in the Strict crashing at my boys pad with tons of stories and a good 8-block hour of the day, every day, when I had nothing else better to do than indulge my daydreaming and voyeurism in the form of extra-ridiculously-long rambling blogs.

But this freelance thing is no job for the lazy. I'll say that. Much like when I was in school, there's never many instances where I can be doing nothing and feel all too comfortable with it. Back in the collegiate days, 2 or 3 hours in front of a television or surfing the web or CD shopping at Borders meant precious time wasted where I could be studying or drafting some paper, feel me. These days, its the same way. Either I should be finishing a project or pursuing a prject. Otherwise my transient NYC-Buff back-n-forth will continue much longer than my sanity and wits can suffer.

This is all getting at the point that, several times a day something random happens that I'd like to turn into a novel-blog and i always end up letting it pass. because when it comes time to sit in front of a computer and run off at the mouth, i always get this concerned feeling that I should be regurgitating about some person, album or issue i have to write about. it wasnt like this when I worked for the papers. You have allotted times during the day or after events to focus and bang out your piece and thats that.

ahhh...i'm rambling. anyways, as I always, I'm offering a guarded promise that you'll all most likely scoff at (which is perfectly reasonable); but i'm really gonna try to be more frequent on my blog. its only right. with all that said...here are just some random notes...

--- RIP to the blogs most loyal reader, my lil cousin Melonie. She used to be a teller at a relatively quiet bank where she had ample time to surf the web for music news and online shopping and, of course, to read her big cousin's blog. She's since quit that gig and took one for the fam, offering to be the primary day-carer (word?) for her lil nephew and my lil cousin, Zadok. Which is probably why she hasnt left an excoriating comment reprimanding me for the recent month-plus absence. Miss ya baby.

--- speaking of lil Zadok. He is the first male born into our extended family in close to 20 years. 20 YEARS!!! Ever since my lil bro Adam was born in 1985, we've had 20-plus year string of baby girls. Every uncle, aunt and cousin that have given birth to a new seed in the Thomas or Frazier line has given birth to a girl. This completely screw with the family dynamic, specifically considering my older cousins (Shaad, Jason and Ryan) are semi-AWOL. At most family gatherings its the uncles, the aunts and (unless my blood-brother (childhood friends I refer to as my brothers) roll thru) it's me, Adam and about 20 women. Which means they rule music, conversation, you get the picture. And it's cool. Female family members are also more likely to laugh at our jokes and humor us. And it's always cool to have an excuse to sing along to Jill Scott or Musiq and feel like a total schmazool. The larger point is that Zadok is being treated like somewhat of a family Messiah. It's a huge deal. The true benefits of his arrival will come when he is old enough to walk and talk and me and A-Eezy can begin grooming him into an obnoxious, ridiculous, caricature S.O.B. like every other Thomas Man. My twin cousin Halima will most likely not appreciate such a sinister plan, but after 20 years, can anyone blame us...just wait, I'll have using the word "nigga" before he's in pre-school. ha.

--- speaking of niggas. Charm School is a reproach. Noone on that show makes larger fools of themselves than two gut-bucket broads that happen to be blackies. I've documented here my reticence to indulge these shows, starting all the way back with Being Bobby Brown (which I sorely miss), specifically because of the concern that these idiots are being used by ignorant folk in non-urban America as cultural identifiers. These women and Flavor Flav are Susie from South Dakota's entree to black America, whereas I'm fairly certain that Screech is not the typical white dude. Some may feel that its overboard and condescending to believe that some hicks from Middle Americ or suburbia or segregated urban areas would be dumb enough to believe that most black women act like Larissa (though this actually might be closer to the case)...but everytime I watch the Sopranos I swear that it severely shapes my general view of Italiam-Americans. This might be an even bigger problem. Follow me here:

The easiest way to identify a black person is by the color/shade/hue of their skin (and our low credit scores, propensity toward crime and wide noses...kidding) I bring this up because, to see Larissa or B. Brown or Ying Yang Twins is most definitely stereotype-perpetuating, but you also see Tiger Woods, Obama, men in suits on the train and myriad other regular blacks throughout the day. The Tigers and Obamas can most definitely be passed off as the exception, but more and more, its becoming harder for an individual to validate thinking of Flav as a norm, but rather one member of a rather large underbelly. OK? (suspend an ultra-critical line of thinking and just roll with me here for the sake of my exorcizing this other, larger concern.)

But let's take Italians. It was just earlier this year that I learned that, typically, a last name that ends in a vowel is usually from some type of Italian American family line. Other than that, there is literally no physical identifier that I can personally ascribe to an Italian American. Arabs, yes. Asians, yes. Hispanics, yes (specifically Hispanic women over the age of 35, since they tend to resemble Anthony Hopkins). Jews, maybe. But Irish? No. Polish? No. Norwegian? No. Italian? No. Call me an idiot, but they look like very similar to every other euro-ethnicity to a large extent. So what happens? I start taking my cues (like a feeble minded rube, albeit) from either Hollywood or very extreme characteristics largely associated with Italian Americans. Is this grown man wearing a track suit to dinner thats tight enough around his crotch to his ball-bulge? He must be Italian. Is this white man/woman especially loud/crass/vulgar? Must be Italian. I'm sure I meet literally tons of Italian-Americans on a daily basis that act nothing like the Sopranos or the Italians in Spike Lee movies (Spike has a serious problem)...but unless, fopr some reason, I learn that they're Italian, you won't find me correlating their behavior with "being Italian". I wont meet a regular man at a grocery store who behaves like your average American and connect that with acting Italian. But if he's in the line and the cashier has to call for an item check and its making him late and he yells "OHHH! It's like waiting for paint to dry over here!" It's like "he must be Italian." Have you read this last paragraph? And I claim to be halfway enlightened. This is a HUGE problem.

I bring this up because I watch the Sopranos religiously. Often two to three times a week. It's one of my 4 or 5 favorite shows ever. Increasingly, tho (maybe over the past 3 to 4 seasons) I've always found the show to be just as comical as it is dramatic and the comedy often comes at the expense of the Italian characters who are often portrayed in such an ignorant fashion that its downright hilarious. "This," I ask myself, "is how THESE people get down?" I know, i know. I once read an editorial by an Italian American sports journalist up in arms about the way the NFL could bully a show like Playmakers off the air because of its negative depiction of pro football athletes, but the Italian American community wasnt able to effectively get the Sopranos thrown off the air for its constant perjorative depiction of Italians. Yes, the show is dramatizing a very small subset of Italians, but they're gripe is no different than the African American gripe that: When there are not enough aletrnate shows that reinforce positive aspects, then you get ignoramouses like me that cant help but basing generalities off these extreme cases.

Think about the Sopranos...has there ever been a truly positive character on that show? Any balance? HBO has given us The Wire (my favorite show ever), where blacks are criminals and corrupt politicians (even if the characters are three dimensional and realistic), with a few do-good cops here and there; Oz, with a bunch of nigger-inmates; and Def Comedy Jam, which, for all its opportunities, is a bojangling exhibition. Aside from that, there have been a few HBO films (like the latest joint with Latifah) and Def Poetry Jam (hackneyed and sickening, but at least its not disparaging) and thats it. Yet, I ride or die with that channel. Italians have been given The Sopranos and thats it. Just sayin...

Anyways, thank goodness we only have two more Soprano episodes left in the series. As soon as its over I'm gonna start my own personal rehibilitation effort

2007 Playoffs: unedited reactions

First...I got some news for ya. My freelance work is picking up. You can catch me ion next month's issue of SLAM. SLAM is like Vibe, or better yet, XXL (which is our sister publication and housed on the same floor with us, KING, Scratch some of other pubs under the same media umbrella) for all basketball (NBA, NCAA, Streetball and high schools). I'd say its most popular with fans 10-35, specifically 10-25 and urban kids...they read SLAM way before they read Sports Illustrated. I also edit for SLAM, as well, so I guess you can call them my employer, but not in the full sense. Also, you all see that link to allmusic.com on the side of my blog...that's been my No. 1 source for music info (reviews/bios/discographies/release dates) for the past 6 or 7 years. Well, based on the stuff I've been doing for ThisIsRealMusic (which, by the way, our new issue just hit the web May 1st, go check it out, we got stuff on Sa-Ra, Eric ROberson, Anthony Hamilton, OC, Parliament-Funkadelic...) they asked me to be a part-time music critic.

Anyways...back to SLAM...I've been covering the Toronto-New Jersey series for them this past week. You can catch my stuff at slamonline.com. Meanwhile, I got an email from my friend Jemele (the Sojourner Truth of black women sports columnist, better known as that black girl who writes for ESPN and said that Kobe is better than MJ)...she mandated that I provide some thoughts on the first round of the playoffs...I told her I'd blog about it. So here it is...

First of all, J has this habit of calling athletes sexuality into the question. Not in a "I think Carlos Boozer gave Kirilenko a reacharound in the shower after Game 6 as a thank you for finally showing up and helping out the squad"...it's usually much deeper and absolute, like "Dirk is a b***h a$% p8$&y!" More accurately, i guess, she calls their gender into question.

Within weeks of meeting this women a few years ago, we were all sitting over my boy Kyles crib watching the ACC tourney and conversation turned to Steve Francis (who was the star of the Orlando Magic at the time) and she was calling him, "a vaginal ho".

I'm taking this opportunity, to cosign her emasculation of Dirk Nowitzki. One of the aspects of the Nets-Raptors series I've harped on was how soft Bosh was playing. I've always considered him to be too finesse and girly in the paint to ever be considered elite in my book, but I'm totally baffled at how unassuming he's been in this series when he should be stepping up. I remarked to some Toronto fans that, if Bosh played for a team that mattered on the national scene, he'd be a pariah by now and all you need to do is look at Dirk for evidence. He's getting deservedly trashed. And he should. Barkley said it best on last nights postgame show (and echoed comments I wrote about Bosh), when he said its not that Dirk is having an off nioght, its that he doesnt seem to be trying.

Mark Cuban likened Dirk's performance to Michael Finley going 1-18 against the Spurs in 2005...but Dirk's performance is entirely different. First, Finley was one of three stars (him, Nash and Dirk) so it wasnt absolutely incumbent upon him to carry the Mavs that year, whereas Dirk is the unidisputed alpha dog on this Mavs squad and a poor performance from him can spell doom. But second, and most important, Finley was aggressive in that game. He shot 18 times. Dirk took 1 shot during the Warriors decisive third quarter when they scored 18 unanswered points. ONE F'N SHOT!!!! HE SHOULD BE SHOT FOR TAKIN ONE F'N SHOT!!! Its inexcusable. More than anything, the Mavs needed to see some agression and confidence from Dirk during that quarter, not some cowering douche-bag, willing to let the game carry one without trying to will an outcome more favorable for his team.

I thought Bosh had been the worse performer of the Playoffs, but it's clearly been Dirk. And even though Avery was probably outcoached by Nellie, I'm placing 80% of the blame on Dirk, much like I think people calling for Mitchell's head in Toronto is faulty, since Bosh is acting like a slit.

As far as the Warriors go, other than the Lakers and the Wizards, I'm riding with G State. My father always says that its hot to see a team full of "brothers" and when he says "brothers" he means our darker shade negros. One of the reason's why Duke still seemed elitist and almost sinister was that they only seemed to recruit lighter skin players for a while, save the few exceptions (Brian Davis, Tommy Ameker)...it was like they were saying: "If we gotta bring in Negros, lets not get to negroish". But when G State trots out Richardson and Baron and Pietrus and Jackson and what not, its an ill look, seriously, just the look of the team is hot, especially since theyre a body of interchangeable parts -- all 6-4 to 6-9 -- and they're running, leaping all over the place. Teams are gonna have problems with them for the remainder of the playoffs. However, Utah and Houston will both manage better, I think, because they have big men that present the same offensive problems for GState and GState's smaller lineup does for its opponent.

Everyone went hysterical when Avery went small, but I think it was a good idea in theory (minue the psychological drawback). The thing about Dallas big men is that none of them (not Dirk, not Diop, not Dampier) were gonna be killin the GState small guys in the post and as you can see, everyone on GState was flying in the air grabbin boards, too. For instance, when its said an done, Jackson and Harrington and Richardson can jump as high, if not higher than all of Dallas' big men. Diop and Dampier arent the most savvy dudes, so its not like they clearin out mad space and bullying the lil guys and Dirk is a softy...so the Mavs didnt even have a clear advantage inside using big men. Houston will, so will Utah. Either Yao or Boozer will give GState fits. And Deron is more apt to slow Baron down than the Mavs shrimp-PGs...we all know what Tracy can do...even Juwan could give them problems. Fact is, I don't think GState is gonna be running Houston or Utah off the floor next round. we shall see.

I would spit on my Lakers, but I'm just frustrated.

However, I would like to remind everyone that Miami payed Shaq 20 million this year and will be doing so for 2 more years.

back on the blog: classic 'pranos

Wow...I don't think I've ever gone over a month without a post. I'll give you an update on what's been goin down, soon...until then, check this email I sent to some Sopranos Friends yesterday...I have a followup theory/confession/quandry, but I'm trying to gather a few thoughts (and work) before I start stream-typing...Anyways, I'm back.

People:

I really wanted to send out an email Sunday night, right after I
checked the West Coast 'Pranos...but didnt wanna spoil it for others
that hadnt caught it yet...i'm assuming everyone is caught up now.

It was a doozy. Vito Jr's shower action was disgusting, but a
relief...I thought the kids were gonna sexually assault the young
dude, like shove the stick of soap up his keister or something
deviant. Tony showed again how cold and selfish he is (gambled away
that dough then conned Marie into letting Vito Jr go to that school
for delinquents). That hot latina number from She Hate Me dumped AJ
who still communicates in teenspeak like he did 3 or 4 seasons
ago...Let me cut to the chaste, though...

One of the opening scenes has\d Tony, at Satriali's engaged in a
sitdown with to Marie, Gay Vito's widow. She's whining about her
son's recent degenerate behavior...something about a neighbor's cat.
She's fed up. Tony seeks to provide a little logic by saying: "Well,
in a way, that's to be expected, ya know, with Vito's passing and all
that entRails." Of all his english gaffes ("Why can't we all get
along like the great Reverend Dr. Rodney King Jr.?")...I think this
was the most comical. And that's saying a lot since five minutes
later, when describing Phil's recent swag and semi-disrespect he said
"It could be the hoobras when they become boss." That's the first
time I ever heard someone pronounce "hubris" as "hoobras"...I'm hoping
hoobras is some Italian slang I'm not up on, though I doubt it, since
Chase and the writers insist on giving us moments where these men seem
past ignorant.

And speaking of Phil...a few days after refering to Vito Jr as a "turd
that didn't fall far from the faggot's a$$", he sat down with young
Vito to see if he could talk some sense into him. As he's looking at
his nephew rockin all black, black lipstic, black nailpolish, he says
in disgust: "What the hell is wrong with you? You look like a Puerto
Rican whore! You make me sick." The "Puerto Rican whore" comment just
about ended my night, it was too much...I couldn't contain myself
(yall know how much idiotic bigotry entertains me). The writers
outdid themselves with that. There was no reason to qualify "whore"
with "puerto Rican", except, there actually was a reason, because it
cut that much deeper -- I definitely would've prefaced "whore" with a
low-grade ethnicity like afro american or mexican.

I have a couple Italian friends that cautioned me against getting too
many cultural identifiers from the Pranos, but isn't it basic fact
that a good deal of them hold (specifically) hispanics, blacks and
gays in below-human contempt? Phil's comment was classic and
indicative.

Ironically (but undoubtedly on purpose) Tony visited Hesh Rabkin, who
is always characterized as a stingy money-grubbing Jew, and said about
Cleaver (the film Chrissy made) "It's a very unflattering portrait of
Italian Americans." Ha.