Geek Sh*t: How Google Can Make the Nexus Two a Success (If They Decide to Release One) (UPDATED)

(Me unboxing my Nexus One. Yes, I'm that geeky.)

Hello, my name is phive0phor, and I'm an Android fanboy. It started when I purchased a T-Mobile G1 in June of 2009, my first smartphone and the first Android phone. About a year later, I purchased a T-Mobile-compatible Nexus One, the official Google Phone. Yes, there are Android phones out there with more features and greater internal memory, but most of them have manufacturer-designed custom interfaces (which hampers the software-updating process), and carrier-installed bloatware, neither of which can be uninstalled without "rooting" (hacking) the device. Not that I haven't thought about rooting my Nexus; there are custom ROMs out there that could give my phone even greater functionality than it already has. But doing so would not only void my warranty, it could pose a security risk. Also, if I mess up one step in the ROM installation process, I could brick my almost $600 device. No, thanks.

Anyway, Google sells the Nexus One (only to Android developers now, but there are still a few places online where the general public can purchase one) carrier-unlocked, which means no bloatware/carrier restrictions. And it runs the "Vanilla" (stock) Android user interface, which I personally prefer. And - most important to me - the Nexus One is the first in line to get software updates from Google; we Nexus One users got our update to Android 2.2 (codenamed "Froyo") at least a month before EVO 4G owners did. And Samsung Galaxy S owners, as of this writing, are still waiting.

So to eliminate all of that, I think Google should go back on their word and release a Nexus Two phone. But I also think they should do a few things differently this time around. For example:

DITCH THE INTERNET-ONLY ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN. Maybe it was part of Google's strategy to attract the phone-nerds (like myself), because we were/are the only ones who actually read reviews and watch videos on sites like CNET and PhoneDog.Com. But the average user doesn't, so they need a strategy to attract them. I mean seriously, there are videos on YouTube that would have made excellent Super Bowl commercials, but instead of using that very important time slot to advertise the phone, they ran an ad for their search engine, something everyone already uses. Meanwhile, I can count the other people I've seen with Nexus Ones on one hand. Come on, now...

PUT IT IN STORES. The average user isn't willing to spend a butt-load of money for a phone they can't test out first. (Hell, I still can't believe I did it!) I understand the bypass-the-carrier concept behind the Google online phone store, but they could still achieve that goal if they sold it unlocked in stores like Best Buy and Radio Shack. And customers can try before they buy. And more would choose to buy. Win-win.

MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO ALL FOUR NATIONAL CELLULAR NETWORKS. Look, I happen to like T-Mobile, but not everyone does. And fewer people like AT&T. Verizon right now has the largest network, and Sprint has the best deals. So this time, Google should make sure there's a version available for each of the four major networks. That way, you can get it into as many hands as possible (thereby sticking it to the iPhone). Again, win-win.

Let me just say that I'm no marketing expert, and I don't expect anyone at Google to listen to these suggestions, or even read this blog. (Honestly, I'm surprised you're reading it.) But the Nexus One will reach the end of its life one of these days. And as an Android fan, I hope I'll be able to buy a true follow-up so I can continue to experience the operating system the way Google intended. And maybe, just maybe, they'll figure out a way to get it into the mainstream. My fingers are crossed...

UPDATE: Maybe, just maybe, my prayers have been answered...

Maybe the Professional Left Secretly Misses Bush

A few months ago, I posted a tweet that read, "Because if I don't, I shouldn't complain. And I love to complain. #WhyIVote". And the eight years of the Bush Administration gave me plenty to complain about. That's not to say the current administration is perfect - what administration is? - but Obama has given me fewer reasons to complain.

Unfortunately, too many pundits on the left seem to look for reasons to criticize Obama. For instance, when the President gave his post-Gulf oil spill speech, not only did Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews (among others) engage in senseless nit-picking, but the following night Rachel Maddow actually gave the speech she wished Obama had given. Can you imagine what Olbermann's Special Comment would have sounded like if Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity had pulled that kind of stunt?

And just last Friday, when Cenk Uygar (while guest-hosting The Dylan Ratigan Show) and Jane Hamsher took issue with a paragraph from remarks Obama gave at a Greenwich fundraiser (they said nothing about the rest of the speech, mind you), Armstrong Williams - Armstrong Fucking Williams! - was forced to defend the President. If that doesn't prove that the Professional Left (yeah, I said it!) has gone completely batshit, I don't know what does.

(By the way, I think Obama was talking about certain congressional Democrats and pundits, not his voters, as Cenk and the others would have you believe.)

But maybe there's a reason for all of this hackery, and there's only one that makes any sense to me: The Prefessional Left secretly - perhaps subconsciously - misses George W. Bush.

Allow me to explain. For eight years the Bush Administration gave the pundits (and quite honestly, most of the country) more than a few reasons to complain: A record deficit, an unjust war, torture, the outing of a C.I.A. agent, the botched response to Katrina - there's not a lot to like here, folks. And I think the Professional Left had grown so accustomed to an incompetent Commander-In-Chief, they haven't quite learned how to adjust to a competent one. Hence the constant bitching.

Look, I'm not saying the President shouldn't be criticized at all (I've already said that this administration wasn't perfect), but if you're going to do so, make sure your criticisms are warranted. Otherwise you run the risk of looking about as competent as a Fox News commentator. And seriously, who the fuck wants that?

(Special thanks to Humanity Critic for the sending me those last three links. Follow him on Twitter.)

The Listening: Bun B & DJ Premier, "Let 'Em Know"

I'll go 'head and admit it: I'm not exactly Bun B's biggest fan. I don't think he's garbage, I'm just not his biggest fan. But a funny thing happens when someone rhymes over a "Lord Premier" track - they automatically sound better.

Listen:



Now if only Nikki Minaj would enlist Premier...

On second thought, she doesn't need Premier, she needs Jesus.

The Listening: Guru's Story-Telling Skills Are Not to Be Slept On!

I don't know about you, but I consider myself a true Hip-Hop aficionado. And as a former DJ, one thing I hate is having my taste in music questioned. (No, I'm not this arrogant about anything else - certainly not my writing.) So when someone has something negative to say about a song or artist I like, or if they don't think an artist is as good as I think he/she is, I tend to take it rather personally. (This coming from someone who disses Lil Wayne like it's an Olympic event.)

OK, here's what happened: About three weeks ago on Twitter, a certain music critic dude you might have heard of (I'm not naming him here) decided to ask his followers who they thought the five greatest MCs were. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, which I followed closely, a recording artist (not naming him, either) gave his top five favorite story-tellers in Hip-Hop; included on the list was Biggie, Scarface, and of course Slick Rick was at the top. So I decided to ask the music critic, "Am I the only one who thinks Guru's story-telling skills are slept on ('Just to Get a Rep', 'Soliloquy of Chaos', 'All For the Cash')?"

His response: "Yep."

Not the response I was looking for. Look, I realize Guru wasn't exactly Slick Rick, but if you don't think he was one of Hip-Hop's best story-tellers, then maybe you should give those tracks (plus a few others) another listen. That's where one of Blogspot's least-read bloggers comes in. (Six followers in my first year! Fuck with me now!)




"Just To Get A Rep"

From Step In The Arena







"Soliloquy Of Chaos"

From Daily Operation







"Sights In The City"

From Jazzmatazz Volume 1







"The Planet"

From Hard To Earn







"All 4 Tha Ca$h"

From Full Clip: A Decade Of Gang Starr







"Betrayal"

From Moment Of Truth







"Sabotage"

From The Ownerz

Credit is (Over)Due...

You see that blog description up there? I didn't come up with that on my own. It was actually the brainchild of one of my favorite tweeters, @mcwbr. You see, he recommended me for Follow Friday, and here's how he described my timeline:

#FF Follow Friday @phive0phor. Hip hop and acid sarcasm.less than a minute ago via webWiddershins Micawber
mcwbr

I should've given him credit for that a long time ago. (That tweet is actually from October, 2009. I don't know why it says "less than a minute ago".) Apologies to you, mcwbr. And thanks.

Oh, and check out his blog!

An Open Letter to Michael Steele

Dear Mr. Steele:

Wassup?! (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

First, I guess I should offer some form of belated congratulations for being the first African-American to head the Republican National Committee. I've never intentionally voted Republican in my life (in the 2008 Election, I had to vote for a Republican judge because he was running unopposed), but you still made history - even though I believe you won the position mainly because America had just elected its first African-American President, and this was the RNC's way of saying "Yes we can, too!"

But that's not really the reason why I'm writing this letter. I'm writing in response to the recent comments you made to someone who asked if Black people had a reason to vote Republican. Yes, I know this is a rather old story, and we currently have bigger things to worry about, but this has been on my mind since I first read it:

Why should an African-American vote Republican?

"You really don't have a reason to, to be honest -- we haven't done a very good job of really giving you one. True? True."

A shocking comment coming from a Black Republican, but not quite as shocking as the following:

"We have lost sight of the historic, integral link between the party and African-Americans," Steele said. "This party was co-founded by blacks, among them Frederick Douglass. The Republican Party had a hand in forming the NAACP, and yet we have mistreated that relationship. People don't walk away from parties, Their parties walk away from them.

"For the last 40-plus years we had a 'Southern Strategy' that alienated many minority voters by focusing on the white male vote in the South. Well, guess what happened in 1992, folks, 'Bubba' went back home to the Democratic Party and voted for Bill Clinton."

Of course, "Jamal" has been voting Democratic for even longer.

Now I'm not suggesting that Democrats can't be racially insensitive - Remember some of the anti-Obama rhetoric from Hillary's camp during the Democratic primary? Or Harry Reid's now-infamous "negro dialect" gaffe? - but Republicans, for the most part, don't even pretend to pursue the Black vote. Hell, half of the 2008 front runners didn't even bother to show up for a debate at Morgan State University, a historically Black college. And the above "Southern Strategy" comment proves you believe, like most Black liberals believe, that the Republicans view the Black vote in the same way I view an iPad: It would be nice to have, but it's not something worth going out of the way to get.

So I have to ask you, Mr. Steele: Why would you continue to identify yourself with such a political party?

Sincerely,

phive0phor

P.S.: No, I'm not suggesting you become a Democrat - you're a bit too conservative - but becoming an Independent doesn't sound like a bad idea. Ask Charlie Crist.

The Listening: DJ Premier's Guru Tribute Mix

I know there are a lot of Guru tribute mixes out there - and every one I've heard so far has been dope - but as far as I'm concerned, this is the only one that matters.

Keith "Guru" Elam Tribute Mix by Dj Premier Blog Radio on Mixcloud

Keith "Guru" Elam, 1961 - 2010

(via djpremierblog.com)

Rachel Maddow, and Liz Cheney's Twisted Terror Logic

I've said it before: If there's one thing we know about the Republicans, it's the fact that they love to scare the living shit out of Americans. Almost from the moment Obama took office, Liz Cheney (along with her father Dick Cheney) has been milking the "Obama's not keeping us safe" meme for all it's worth. In the following clip from tonight's Rachel Maddow Show, Ms. Maddow takes Ms. Cheney's logic and turns it against her - and she kinda sorta gets herself in trouble for it.

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To My Patient Reader - Um, I Mean Readers

I know I haven't been updating this blog a lot lately, and I know at least one of you three readers are disappointed. I have been busy, and writer's block* has been plaguing me for months. All I can do is promise you that I will try my best to update this blog more often. And thank you for sticking around.


*I should've said "blogger's block". I don't consider myself a writer.

My Go-To Videos from 2009

Welcome to 2010! I don't know about you, but during a year full of Tea Bagging, townhall knuckleheads, AutoTuned hooks, and more celebrity deaths then I remember experiencing (especially during the summer), I needed a lot of cheering up. Thank God for the Interwebs. And thank God for the people who uploaded the following videos.

The Onion: Sony Releases Stupid Piece of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

This is the video that prompted Wil Weaton ("Wesley Crusher" from Star Trek: The Next Generation) to profess his love for the fake news site: "I love The Onion so much, I want to marry it." Me? I like 'em, but I ain't tryin' to put a ring on 'em.



Funny or Die: Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile

I don't keep up with celebrity gossip as much as a lot of other people, but in 2008, I couldn't turn on the news without hearing some mention of Lindsay Lohan's personal problems. Thankfully, she started 2009 off on the right foot by making fun of herself in this video.

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile from Lindsay Lohan

The Rachel Maddow Show: InsaniTea

The next time a Tea Partier accuses you of using "Teabagger" as a derogatory term, remind them that they started it. The following clip will help prove your case.



The Political Carnival's Tweetspot: Sarah the Quitter

GottaLaff, from The Political Carnival Blog, has been doing her readers and Twitter folowers a huge favor: she follows Sarah Palin so we don't have to. Taken from her now-defunct series of radio segments called Tweetspots, She uses Palin's own tweets to make her listeners laugh ("Hence the name... Gotta...") - and she did this before William Shatner. Suck it, Kirk!



Funny or Die: Denise Richards' Funbags

Just... Just watch.

Denise Richards' Funbags from Denise Richards

Countdown with Keith Olbermann: Don't Call Me Liz!

I believe this was Olbermann's last "WTF!?!" segment, and that's probably because it was impossible to top.



The Daily Show: The 11/3 Project

As I said before, calling Glenn Beck "batshit crazy" wasn't good enough for Jon Stewart.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

BET 2009 Hip-Hop Awards: Cypher #3, featuring Mos Def, Black Thought, and Eminem

2009 was yet another great year for mediocre Hip-Hop. I only watched the 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards for two reasons: 1) To talk shit about it on Twitter, and 2) to see the "Cypher" segments, since they're usually better than the entire show. This one in particular was probably the best ever. (Black Thought: "Rock-roller, bipolar like Phylis Hyman". Eminem: "I'm a fuckin' cross between Osama, Dahmer, Obama, and Dalai Lama".)

The Life and Times of DJ Calculus, Chapter One: Ambitions

(If you haven't already, you can check out the prologue here.)

I remember it like it was yesterday: when my oldest brother, an avid record collector at the time, came home with a copy of "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel". It was one of the first times I had ever heard mixing, and the first time anyone had put out a record with scratching on it. I remember wondering what that sound was, thinking that Flash was intentionally moving the needle across the record (gimmie a break - I was eight years old). It's something I would have never tried, but I was still fascinated with the sound.

Some time later, my mom decided that she could trust me enough with the stereo equipment to actually let me play the records and not "let one of the older kids play it". (You can read about how my mom influenced my love of music here.) Maybe a year after that - I think I was twelve - my brother came home with Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", the song that brought scratching into the mainstream. I still didn't know how the sound was created until I saw Hancock and Grand Mixer D.ST. perform it on Saturday Night Live. My eyes were glued to the TV as D.ST. simply moved the record on the turntable back and forth, and I thought, That's all?!

That's when I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I'm sure I wasn't the only aspiring DJ who used their mom's record player as a learning tool of sorts. She caught me several times scratching on it, usually with that copy of "Rockit". Yes, I was scolded, spanked, or otherwise punished everytime she caught me, but that didn't stop me. I had ambition, dammit! (Or maybe I was just hard-headed. Whatever.) Hell, I even went as far as giving myself a DJ name: Grand Mixer C. (I know, I know. But if you ask your favorite DJ about his/her first choice, they'll tell you something just as corny, if not more corny.)

As time went by, Hip-Hop became a major distraction - well, that and the Thriller album. I began to hear and see televised performances from groups who had DJs I would come to idolize: Will "Fresh Prince" Smith had DJ Jazzy Jeff, Run-DMC had Jam Master Jay, LL Cool J had Cut Creator - the list goes on and on. Even a neighbor of ours was a DJ! But it would still be years before I got to live out my dream (partly because said neighbor wouldn't allow me to touch his equipment, either. Damn).

Fast-forward a few years: Sometime in the late 90s, I met a DJ who had no problems letting me try my hand at mixing and scratching. I don't think I took the lessons too seriously because I didn't believe, after so much time had passed (I was now in my mid-20s), that I would actually become a DJ. After a few months, the lessons stopped for reasons I don't really remember.

May, 2000: I went out to this slightly-bigger-than-a-hole-in-the-wall bar in New Orleans called the Audubon Hotel on St. Charles, not far from Lee Circle. A pretty low-class joint (at the time) considering its location, but good for cheap drinks and real Hip-Hop. Anyway, after a burst of Budweiser-induced courage, I asked the DJ if I could spin a few joints, and for whatever reason - maybe he was in desperate need of a restroom break - he said yes. What followed was the sonic equivalent of your average DJ trying to mix while tumbling down a flight of stairs - or at least that's how I heard it. However, a few songs later, the DJ (who we'll refer to from here on out as "DJ True") walked up and asked, "How come you didn't ask me to get on before?" Maybe he heard a good set, or maybe he just heard potential.

Nevertheless, after that night, things changed.

NEXT: The Music and the Madness

The Daily Show: "The 11/3 Project"

You can either call Glenn Beck "batshit crazy", or you can just show the world how batshit crazy he is by way of mockery. On Thursday's episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart opts for the latter.

WATCH:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards: They Saved the Best Cypher for Last (VIDEO)

(via nahright.com)

Yet Another "Guess What Happened on Twitter?" Blog

I'm sure you know by now that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize early yesterday morning. And if you're a political junkie like I am, you also know that not every American was happy about it, including a fellow Twitter user who decided to vent his frustrations by way of the site:

what the FUCK did Obama win a Nobel Peace Prize for??? SMH

I answered his question by linking to a New York Times article that quotes Thorbjørn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee:

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," Jagland said. "We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future, but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do."

As I said to the other guy, "the headline speaks for itself".

Then he hit me with this one:

FUCK OBAMA!!! and his peace prize and anyone who dont know he's a puppet for international banking cartels...

So basically, fuck America.

I asked him if he had proof of those claims, and he linked me to The Obama Deception, a YouTube documentary by Alex Jones - a documentary full of lies and half-truths that can be easily debunked by anyone with access to Google and basic reading comprehension skills. (Yes, I watched it.) Anyway, after posting a link to a blog that debunks the movie, he continues to quote lies from it in a series of tweets:

he borrowed $800 BILLION at HUGE interest from the Fed Res bank (owned by int. banking cartels) that ints. is UNREGULATED!

you dont get out of debt by borrowing more money, that we pay back at unregulated interest. JFK wanted to abolish the Fed Res!

And my favorite:

he could have printed that stimulus money thru the National Treasury, at no additional cost to the American people.

If it were that easy, the Great Depression would never have happened.

Anyway, while he was tweeting, I found an even more thorough debunking of the documentary (31 pages long, with over 400 references), and this is the thanks I got:

wow, some shit blog just changed my life. Obama's not a puppet for the N.W.O. the Fed Res is good, Big Brother is love...SMH

Now, I know a "shit blog" when I write see one, and that wasn't it - not with all of the research that went into it. I doubt he even bothered to read past its title.

But we weren't done. I responded with this:

I know the feeling. Some shit YouTube documentary changed my life, too. Hell, at least I watched the thing, man!

He decided to declare himself the winner of the debate with this one:

you spell five and four with a PH...yeah, im done debating with you...keep following blindly : )

Said the pot to the kettle.

Oh, and he was quite proud of himself for that jab at my username - so proud that he re-tweeted his own tweet - and added the word "SWISH" behind it. Yeah, you really got me with that one, pal.

And I always know I've outdone someone when they have to resort to insults, anyway.

I won't reveal his username here, but I will say that it's way more difficult to pronounce than mine. Also, I clicked the link to his site, and it turns out that he's a(n aspiring?) rapper - which means he'll probably record a song about me.

But here's the good news: No one will hear it.

Am I the Bill Cosby of Hip-Hop Fans?

You know, when I was a kid, my mom constantly questioned my love of Hip-Hop. One of her initial criticisms of the art form was that there was no singing involved; later, she was bothered by the strong language used by groups like NWA and the 2-Live Crew. (One of her favorite rap songs, however, was "The Message" by Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five.) OK, she had a point with the language thing - I mean, not many parents would willingly let their kids listen to songs like "Me So Horny" - but I didn't understand why she hated songs like "Paid In Full" or even "Rapper's Delight". I remember promising myself that no matter how old I got, I would never stop keeping up with current music. That promise is becoming more and more difficult to keep.

I still love Hip-Hop, but listing to the local Clear Channel-owned "Hip-Hop" station has become an exercise in futility. There are exceptions, but most of the songs are just unbearable. I hear almost no lyrical skill, no innovative beats, and even the song titles make me grimmace. ("Stanky Leg"? "Stanky Leg"?! Why not "Busy Leg"? "Shaky Leg"? "Restless Leg Syndrome"? But I digress.) When a friend asked me why I'm always so critical of mainstream Hip-Hop, I responded, "Because I'm tired of hearing it done wrong."

Not long after that conversation, I realized something: Bill Cosby and I have a lot in common.

I don't know what sparked it , but ever since that controversal "Pound Cake" speech, Dr. Cosby hasn't backed down from being critical of Black America when he believes it's warranted; ever since that whole "Jiggy" era, I haven't backed down from being critical of Hip-Hop when it's neccessary. Cosby often turns his listeners off with his bluntness; a friend once warned me that voicing my criticisms of Southern Hip-Hop could get me jumped. I know Cosby does what he does out of love and concern for Black people; I'm more concerned about Hip-Hop than I've never been. Cosby wants us to do right by ourselves and each other, and so do I. But I also want Hip-Hop to do right by its listeners.

But despite my criticisms, no matter how much shit I talk about it, no matter how many times I've wanted to shoot my TV like Elvis after seeing a whack-ass video, I do believe Hip-Hop will get better. It has to.

And when it does, I'll have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up.

The Life and Times of DJ Calculus: The Prologue

Ever since I started this blog, I've been wondering if I should tell more of my personal stories instead of just sharing my opinions on certain things - like politics and the current state of mainstream Hip-Hop. ("You're A Jerk"? Seriously, people?) But then I realized something: My personal life simply isn't all that exciting. Sure, I could bore you to tears with "That's when I realized my shoestrings were un-tied" stories, but I'd like to keep the two readers I have, thank you.

However, there was a time when my life was almost too exciting.

If you've ever read my "Tell Us About Yourself" survey on my MySpace profile, follow me on Twitter, read one of my previous blogs, or know me personally, you already know that I used to be a DJ. Interesting times - times I spent spinning vinyl, dancing (yes, dancing), drinking way too much Budweiser, and trying to get laid (something you should never do after drinking way too much Budweiser). I can honestly say it was the time of my life, something worth writing about.

So let this serve as an advertisment of sorts for an upcoming series on my last five years in New Orleans, which were spent doing something I wanted to do since I saw Herbie Hancock and Grand Mixer D.ST. (now DXT) perform "Rockit" on SNL, when I was twelve or thirteen. I'll talk about everything from how I got started doing it, my favorite (and least favorite) gigs, and how some bitch named Katrina took it all away. Also, you'll hear some now-embarrassing tales of drunken mayhem (at least the ones I can remember - it was drunken mayhem, after all). Stay tuned...

(I should also mention that these blogs may be slow in coming. My life may be boring, but I'm still a busy guy.)

Now THIS is a "WTF?!" Moment!

Normally, whenever I post a video in my blog, it's preceded by some sort of commentary (a fact both of my readers are well aware of). But nothing I say about this video - from tonight's Countdown with Keith Olbermann - can do it any justice. You'll just have to watch:

...And In Other News, Hell Freezes Over

On Wednesday's edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Fox's resident douchebag himself accused CNN of undercovering the shooting of Army recruiter William Long. CNN's Rick Sanchez didn't take kindly to O'Reilly's, ahem, "misstatement", as seen in the following video:



Later on the Factor, O'Reilly does two things he almost never does: (1)He apologizes to CNN, and (2)he actually admits he was wrong!

WATCH:



You know what's amazing? Even as he admits his "mistake", O'Reilly still manages to get in a swipe at Sanchez. I guess anyone who proves him wrong is automatically "snide" and "surly".

O'Reilly promises a follow-up report on Monday. This should be interesting....

Examination of a Meme: Make That Money!

As a former DJ who considers himself "a Hip-Hop aficionado"; someone who doesn't take the art form lightly; someone who more than likely has better taste in music than you do (I'm just sayin'), it bothers me to hear fans defend today's music. I suppose I should get with the program and "stop hatin'" - I mean, things have changed, as they always do - but damn it, it's just not that easy for me.

Here's what happened: A few months ago on Twitter, I said that the Burger King commercial Darius Rucker did a few years ago led to the "downfall" of his career. (I know "Hootie" isn't a rapper, but you'll see where I'm going with this. Just bear with me.) I was half-joking, but minutes later, I get a reply from a troll Rucker fan who doesn't even follow me: "So you're saying it's not OK to do a commercial and get paid?" I responded, "No, but it's a bad commercial, in my opinion."

Earlier today, I saw all kinds of tweets in my timeline from people, mostly women, who were talking excitedly about Soulja Boy Tell'Em's appearance on the View. Now I didn't say anything, but I did re-tweet another user who basically said he wouldn't turn his television on since he knew Soulja Boy was going to be on it. Seconds later, a fan/defender says something to the effect of the following: "Stop Hatin'! He's making his money!"

See, that's what I'm talking about. Nowadays you can defend anything as long as you remind the naysayer of any financial gain. Lawyers could have a field day with this: "Yes, Your Honor, my client did indeed supply the drugs that caused the victim's overdose. But he should be found 'not guilty' because he did make money off of the deal. The prosecution is just hating."

The point I'm making is this: I can give you a list of reasons why I think Rakim is the greatest rapper ever, or why I affectionately refer to my favorite producer as "Lord Premier". But if you list any variation of "he's making his money!" as one of the reasons why you like a certain rapper, it will be almost impossible for me to consider you a true Hip-Hop fan. I'm just sayin'.

The Listening: A Few of My Mom's Favorite Songs

As of this writing, Mother's Day is just hours away. A joyous occasion for most of you, it's the day you show appreciation for the woman who gave you life by showering her with flowers, cards, gifts, and maybe by taking her out for lunch or dinner - or better yet, maybe you'll do the cooking. But it's not exactly the happiest day for me.

Because tomorrow is also the 18th anniversary of my mother's passing.

One thing I inherited from Mom is a love for music. She had quite a collection of 45s and albums that I wasn't even allowed to touch until I was about 12 or 13 years old. It was probably a good decision on her part; it was around that time when I learned how to scratch and cut, using the volume knob as a cross fader. I got an ass whipping every time she caught me doing it. (And you know what? I still wouldn't change a thing. I would go on to become a DJ from 2000 to 2005 partly because of it.)

My mom had little tolerance for the music of the 80's. She would always say things about music not sounding like it used to. I get a feeling that if she was still here, she would hate today's music even more. Lord knows I do (with a few exceptions). I swear, every time I complain aloud to no one in particular about songs that actually have the word "stanky" in the title, it reminds me of her complaining about songs with no singing in it. "It's not even music! 'Hip-hop, hippity-hip-hop'? What are they talking about?" (She did like a few rap songs, though. Three are included below.)

So if you'll indulge me, I would like to share a few of her favorite songs here. I think of her everytime I hear these (including "A Song for Momma", released a few years after her passing), and I know she is somewhere listening and smiling - and when appropriate, dancing.

I love you, Mom. (Monday, January 31, 1944 - Sunday, May 12, 1991)