Mr. Untouchable Release date October 26, 2007. Running time 1 hour 31 minutes.
This documentary reveals the inner workings of the Harlem drug empire run by Leroy "Nicky" Barnes during the the 1970's. He was the leader of a group called "The Council", who controlled a heroin ring that was estimated to gross $72 million dollars annually at it's peak. Way before John Gotti, aka "The Teflon Don", Barnes' fame came from beating one rap after another, from murder to bribery and everything in between until he arrogantly posed for a picture in this Sunday New Times magazine article-
Approximately six months after this article appeared, he was sentenced to life in prison. Even though the evidence against him was weak, federal prosecutors had enough against him to convict him of conspiracy, and with the new Rockefeller drug laws on the books, he was basically done for. Or was he?
Things began to unravel for Barnes while in prison. According to Barnes, the other members of "The Council" were not taking care of his attorney fees and one of them, the flamboyant ladies' man Guy Fisher (the first black man to own the Apollo Theater in Harlem, whose nephew Corey Fisher currently plays point guard for the Villanova University Wildcats) was allegedly having an affair with one of Nicky's girlfriends.
This lead to Barnes contacting the state attorney generals' office with an offer to testify against the other members of "The Council". His testimony led to over 70 felony convictions and the total dismantling of the drug ring that he and the other members had started in the early 70's. By 1984 they were all behind bars. Frank James received life plus 40 years and Guy Fisher 25 to life without possibility of parole. He even testified against the mother of his own two children, who served 10 years because of his testimony. Now that's what you call a rat.
For his part, Barnes served 21 years of a possible life sentence and was released sometime in 1998. He has been in the Witness Protection Program ever since. The most astonishing aspect of this documentary is Barnes himself gets to tell the story from beginning to end, juxtaposed by interviews with several other key members of his inner circle from his heyday as Harlem's Heroin kingpin.
An excellent documentary and a definite a must-see.
I offer up my childhood crush Belinda Carlise as my "Babe of the Week". To me, she epitomized the ultimate Southern California white girl-blond hair, beautiful tan skin, cute as hell and curvy in the right places. She could pass for a typical all-American cheerleader, surfer girl, or a high school prom queen dating the captain of the football team.
As you can see from the video "Our Lips are Sealed", she had that healthy, tan glow about her and such an adorably cute smile-she definitely "loooks mahvelous, dahling-absolutely mahvelous!!!"
Your taste in white women may vary, but I don't go for the type that are sinewy, bone-skinny with thin lips. I messed with a girl like that and it was like making out with a pterodactyl. I'll take a chica with a bit of meat on her bones and a lively personality that comes from good living and not from a meth-amphetamine high any day of the week.
Don't get me wrong-I like my cinnamon-colored latina honeys, but if I ever, through the art of pimpnosis, hypnotize a white girl like this to get with me I will marry her. No questions asked.
Tony Kornheiser is the type of sportscaster who you love to hate, in a grating, wish-he-was-off-the-air type of way. He has an annoying, high-pitched screech when he rants (which is 80% of the time), his opinions are unoriginal and downright bogus, and he is disgusting to look at-
But those are not his worst attributes. He, along with co-anchor Michael Wilbon (who I actually enjoy on occasion) are guilty of some of the most egregious crimes a reporter can commit-
1) Loss of objectivity. These two guys have their favorite athletes/teams and slurp them without a hint of shame. The whole ESPN crew is guilty of this, and this bias colors their commentary to the point where one is left to wonder how they have the time to show up for work when it is painfully obvious they spend the majority of their waking moments with their heads completely up the asses of guys like Bret Favhre, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. Not only is this type of journalism intellectually lazy and a complete cop-out, it sucks the air out of the room. With so many other players to talk about, do we really need to hear how great Kobe Bryant is for the six-jillionth time? We get it already. How about talking about other players for a change?
2) Taking an obscene amount of pleasure in stating the obvious over and over again. We know Tiger Woods is great. We know Bryant and Lebron James are great. Constant repetition of this to an audience who is quite frankly sick of hearing it and would like to know how other players are impacting their respective sports is not only intellectually lazy, but it makes them nothing but fanboy shills and reduces their credibility as commentators to zero.
But Kornheiser didn't make "Busting Chops" for these daily transgressions, which are par for the course if you've ever seen him and Wilbon do their tired, grating shtick on ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption". He is here because he's been suspended for two weeks for negative comments made about fellow ESPN anchor Hannah Storm's wardrobe. No slave to fashion himself, he attacked this poor woman for her on-air attire as if he were a perennial GQ fashion plate. He eerily resembles a wart hog and dresses like a decrepit old man selling Florida timeshares to supplement his social security check. He wears outfits most old Jewish people would only be caught buried in. Here is the only youtube link I could find where you can hear the comments he made-
Micheal Wilbon went on the Scott Van Pelt show to stand up for his boy, saying that the problem is broadcasters have to be careful about what they say in this age of 24-hour media. WRONG, fat boy. The problem is Kornheiser thinks he's funny. He thinks he has to go on the air and make people laugh. But what passes for comedy on the sports airwaves is nothing but shrill banter by a bunch of jock-sniffing, half-dead wannabe's who resent pro athletes yet secretly want their dorky, lard-ass suburban kids to be just like them when they grow up.
I can deal with Kornheiser's two-week suspension because all that means is the viewers will get more of Dan Lebatard of the Miami Herald, another pompous, self-important jackass-but at least he plays off Wilbon quite well, playing the part of the doofus sportswriter no one really respects.
Michael Beasley
Michael "Be Easy" Beasley took offense at comments made by pompous blowhard Charles Barkley, who in effect stated that Dwayne Wade is Michael Jackson playing with a bunch of Titos, in reference to the gloved one's less talented brother.
Here is some advice for "Tito" Beasley-
1) Kill the tattoos and cornrows. The street cred thing is past tense and totally played out, brother-keep it moving towards something more positive. A young black man in the spotlight does not have to go "ghetto" to prove he hasn't sold out to "The Man". Besides, you never had any "street cred" so why are you faking the funk with this bullshit, now that you are a rich and famous professional athlete?
2) If you don't like the criticism, then stop with the weed and beer and go work on your game. Beasley's had it too easy as a ball player, being so much more talented than everyone else his age growing up. That is, until now when he has to face the big boys on a nightly basis. It was one thing horsing the scrubs he played against at Kansas State. This however, is the NBA. So pull your panties up motherfucker and get to work. He has found out the NBA was not as "EASY" as he thought it would "BE". Remember what happened in college the one time you faced someone as talented as you? Let me remind you-
3) Less re-HAB, more re-BOUNDS.
4) It never ceases to amaze me how some of these athletes get drawn into fronting the "Thug Life " AFTER they've made it rich. Get it through you're thick head, Beasley-if you want endorsement money coming in and your name to ring out in the right circles for the right reasons, you need to do more of THIS-
...and less of THIS-
Is there anyone living in the ghetto who wouldn't high-tail it out of there given half a chance? Stop pretending that it's cool. Your ghetto hood life stopped the moment you began getting preferential treatment because of your basketball talent. The bullshit you're pulling is an insult to those who live in the 'hood because they have no choice. All you're doing with your tattoos and cornrows is mocking a lifestyle very few people would choose to live if they had options.
Stop trying to undermine your career before it's even gotten off the ground, son. Look at all the athletes who've come before you that have made mistakes that cost them millions of dollars and worse. And work to improve your game before you get traded to some bum-ass team that has no chance of improving once the 2010 free agent class becomes available.
Jayson Williams
Oh boy, where do I start with THIS motherfucker? This guy's life has turned into the biggest nightmare since "The Amityville Horror". And the sad part is most of it was self-inflicted. It all started with his drinking problem, which got exponentially worse hanging out with lardass Charles Barkley when they both played for the Philadephia 76ers.
If anyone remembers what an out-of-shape, hopelessly unathletic buffoon Barkley morphed into the last few years of his career, it was because he spent most of his life binge-drinking and screwing white women when he should have been eating his veggies and following a real exercise regimen, which for him consisted of throwing hapless bar patrons through plate glass windows and spitting on the kids of hecklers after games.
But I digress. When Williams finally got his act together, lost weight and took his game seriously he was handsomely rewarded with one of the NBA's first max contracts. Then during the waning moments of a game on April 1, 1999 he collided with (of all people) Stephon Marbury, broke his leg and was forced to retire due to his injuries. He retired while in the second year of a six-year, $86 million contract-money he collected even though he never played a second after the accident occurred.
He and his father built "Who Knew? Estates", a 27,000 square foot house on 65 acres of prime New Jersey real estate. He was married, had a wonderful family and had the world by the fucking nuts. And he literally blew it with one blast of a shotgun.
A few things to know about Jayson Williams. He has a one-of-a-kind personality. He was known to be the life of the party and the center of attention wherever there was a social gathering. He has a great sense of humor. This came across when he was hired as an NBA analyst with NBC sports. But he has a dark side, and a mean and obnoxious streak that finally blew up in his face when he accidentally shot a limo driver in his own fucking house. This was the incident which sent his life into freefall and finally, after settling with the family of the deceased for a couple of million and spending even more on legal fees, he is now behind bars serving a 5 year prison sentence.
The depressing part in all this, and the incidents are to numerous to mention here without getting sidetracked, is all the trouble he got into AFTER the shooting. You'd think someone in such a position would have people counseling him about his behavior. But that's the thing-a guy like Williams is surrounded by "yes" men and fawning relatives, pathetic suck-ups who don't want to risk getting a one-way ticket back to Loserville from whence they came. They too were living the dream, and it's why his behavior kept spiraling out of control with no one around to check him.
So we are now left with this image of him, crying in court after sentencing-
I cannot for the life of me (and I've tried, in my spare time) fathom what gets into these athletes to be so self-destructive after having the world handed to them on a silver platter. This is his current situation-the estate has been sold, his wife filed for divorce, his father recently passed away and he is in prison, where he will be eligible for parole in a year and a half.
This has been his trajectory-from the projects of the Lower East Side (no picnic, believe me) to suffering the deaths of two older sisters to AIDS, to a D-I basketball scholarship and a ride to the big time, to a multi-million dollar pro basketball contract, to never realizing his potential due to a catastrophic injury, to all manner of off-the-court offenses involving drugs, alcohol and violence, to living his dream with the big house and the property, to fucking jail.
The Show Release date August 20, 1995. Running time 1 hour 33 minutes.
Here is a movie description from allmovie.com-
"This documentary offers viewers an in depth look at the world of hip-hop and rap music as it chronicles a diverse group of performers preparing to give a major concert at Philadelphia's Armory. Interspersed amongst the preparations are interviews with rappers past and present, looks at their personal lives, commentary on their significance and upon the music, and plenty of concert footage. Featured acts and performers include, Slick Rick, who has been imprisoned for second-degree murder; Snoop Doggy Dog and Tha Dogg Pound, Russell Simmons, Dr. Dre, B.I.G; Melle Mel, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Da 5 Footaz, YNN and more."
Very interesting look at some talented cats that very often get dismissed as just thugs and criminals. Some of them can actually rap as well. Don't miss the opportunity to peep The Notorious B.I.G. doing his thing onstage. When I first saw the film I wondered who was that other guy rapping with him onstage-it's Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.
I checked her out in a movie recommended on this site called "Bully". In it she plays a sexually promiscuous, drug taking hoochie-my kind of gal!!! I love her because she slightly resembles one of my favorite European porn actresses named Maya Gold. From the research I've done Bijou is basically a drug-addled Hollywood celebu-whore, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's one of her more endearing qualities aside from her looks.
Here she is on the cover of Playboy Magazine-
Let's face it, guys-we love whores. Not prostitutes-whores. Girls that, if you catch them at the right time and the right place, you too may get some of that. Quite a tantalizing and provocative personality trait for a beautiful young woman to have if you ask me.
I don't know much else abut her, except that she dates the guy who used to play Hyde on "That 70's Show"' which I enjoyed even though he looks like one of the Freak Brothers. I won't hate on him just because he's tapping that ass. I have to give him props-when you're an actor you're supposed to date beautiful women regardless of what you yourself look like. And since she loooks mahvelous, dahling-absolutely mahvelous!!! Nothing else really matters. I don't really expect Bijou to leave him for some dude who writes a sarcastic, self-righteous blog. But this is America-who are we really if we can't dream big?
Guess who's back in the news? Yes, it's the hoochie who accused the Duke University Lacrosse team of rape, the bitch who ruined countless innocent lives with her bullshit tale of gang rape. And guess what for? She is being charged with first-degree attempted murder for threatening her boyfriend with a knife and burning his clothes in the bathtub of the crack house they were residing in.
She lied about the events that transpired that evening, had more semen samples in her than a sperm bank (none of which belonged to any of the players) and yet before any of the facts came out the women of Duke University decided to have a midnight march with banners proclaiming "Take Back The Night". Here is a photo of the dirtbag these ignorant, misguided sluts decided to use as the posterchild for their crusade-
The women of Duke University were not railing against what turned out to be not-a-rape. They weren't interested in truth or justice. They pounced on this issue because it fit their feminazi agenda. Any chance these twats get to lop off the testicles of the male gender they pounce on it like a bunch of fat brides-to-be at a wedding dress sale. White male entitlement became the issue, drowning out cries for true justice in a case that brought out the worse in these assholes. I'm sure, in their smug self-righteousness, not one of the women who took part in the event ever went back and publicly apologized to any of the players.
If they were really interested in "Taking Back The Night", they should of marched not in front of the house of the Duke Lacrosse team but in front of the strip club this woman worked at. Not to harass the patrons, but to harass the women working there. "Take Back The Night" from ugly, grotesquely bloated prostitutes who get out of pocket-THAT should have been their mantra. THAT would have had a more resounding effect than picking on a bunch of immature, frat-boy jag-offs whose only crime was hiring the ugliest dancers this side of Hunt's Point in NYC. And the dancers didn't even include a group sex rate in their service contract. The nerve of these women. What part of "exotic dancer" did they not understand?
Now, if these guys were pimps, then the whole episode would have been over with a couple of well-administered pimp slaps across the face of the offending hoes. That's how they do it out on the street. That's how you regulate that ass. But this bitch figured she could cash in on this story because the guys in question were white boys from good families, apparently easy targets for her trumped-up accusations.
She and the disgraced ex-district attorney of Durham, who lost his license to practice law over his gross mishandling of the case, found out the hard way that you cannot mess with "THE MAN". They found out that if you come with some bullshit allegations, you'd better come correct and have all your ducks (or in this case, semen samples) in a row. I just hope that she gets not the book, but a whole set of encyclopedias thrown at her this time around.
This loser belongs in jail, not for being a stripper but for disgracing the profession (which we here at "Busting Chops" not only condone but encourage as a lifestyle-changing opportunity for any young, good-looking loser) and for being a menace to society. We've had enough of her. Time for her to go. Be out, bitch-BE OUT!!!
The Washington Wizards have decided to blow their franchise apart, trading away Antoine Jamison, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler. With Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton suspended for the rest of the season, expect this team to suck even worse than before they made these trades.
Conventional wisdom dictates that the reasoning behind these trades was purely financial. The Wizards were interested in trading for expiring contracts, and the players they received in return are not part of their future plans. The are thinking about the free agents who will be available this coming summer.
Problem is, almost every other team in the league is doing the same thing, and most will crap out in the free agent bonanza that consists of for all intent and purposes three players-Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Lebron James. Unfortunately, Stoudemire is not the answer for any team looking to move up in the rankings. That's why Cleveland passed on him. He needs way too many touches on offense and he does not play defense. He'll get his money this summer, he just won't help his next team win anything.
The moves Washington made has guaranteed they will remain firmly entrenched in the bottom of their division for AT LEAST the next 5 years if not more. You can thank Gilbert Arenas for that, but more on him in a minute. Washington D.C. has absolutely nothing to offer any prominent free agent other than an assurance of losing games on a consistent basis. This is where Arenas figures in.
Washington signed Gilbert Arenas in July of 2008 for 6 years and $111 million dollars. The year before he only played 13 games. In 2008-09, the first year of his mega-million dollar deal, he played 2 games. In 2009-2010 he managed to play 32 games before he got suspended for the gun charges and the cavalier tone which he displayed about the situation, mocking David Stern until the poor commisioner had had enough. That's 47 games in three years. He is the main cause of this catastrophe, but it didn't matter because on the court they were collectively underachieving to the point where it was useless keeping them together. But Arenas made sure he paid the owners back by acting in such a bizarre, self-destructive manner throughout this whole sordid guns-in-the-locker-room fiasco.
And what's worse is, when he DOES come back from his suspension his contract makes him untradeable. So Washington is stuck having to rebuild around the very same player that caused the detonation of their current roster.
The Cleveland Cavaliers got Antoine Jamison, a solid pick-up but the jury is out on exactly what type of impact he'll have once they get into the playoffs.
The Knicks did as usual, trading a couple of bums for a bum with a humongous, though expiring, contract. McGrady's best days are far off in the rear view mirror, so he is no one to try to build around. Houston tried that with a much better supporting cast and the franchise finally realized that they play better without him. So off he goes.
The Knicks are the most vulnerable. Again they forfeited their future by trading away a first-round draft pick in 2012, the thinking being that they can rebuild via free agency. All they wind up doing is picking up a collection of hobos who play about as inspired as a bunch of anemic slugs. It must be that NYC nightlife that sucks up all their time and energy, time better spent drinking energy shakes and working on their pathetic games.
As an example, just look at the young point guards drafted the last couple of years, some who played outstandingly well at this year's 2010 Rookie-Sophomore challenge during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas-
1) Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings-age 20.
2) Jonny Flynn, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook-age 21.
3) Stephen Curry and Mike Conley (who, along with his star-crossed and oft-injured college teammate Greg Oden, should of stayed at least 2 more years in college)-age 22.
4) Mario Chalmers and Rajon Rondo-age 23.
5) Chris Paul-age 24.
The Knicks never get within a sniff of players of this calibre. They are too busy drafting unathletic European players like Danilo Gallinari and trading for journeymen hobos like Jarred Jeffries and especially Eddy Curry, who had the audacity to ask for an advance on his salary because he's broke-
To show you how lifeless this walking side of beef is, the last time he was taken to the hospital for an injury, orderlies immediately threw a sheet over his head while he was napping in the waiting room and wheeled him into a morgue refrigerator because they thought someone had left a dead body for them to collect.
The Knicks general manager would do better by grabbing a shovel and heading to the local graveyard to exhume rotting corpses, but knowing them they would get beaten out by Dr. Frankenstein and his loyal assistant Fritz-
Brandon Jennings is a sore spot for Knicks fans, because instead of this dynamic point guard (who has more upside than Mount Everest) playing in the Big Apple, he's in Milwaukee with Laverne and Shirley. The Knicks chose to draft Jordan Hill. Who? Yes, that's him-the player no one in NYC knows. Check out the player these idiots passed on-
Jennings has the potential to be the next Allen Iverson, with the exception that he actually passes the ball to his teammates. Jordan Hill will be lucky if he becomes the next Louis Orr. The only good thing I can say is that both Hell and Jeffries are gone, and the Knicks will be about 30 million under the cap come summer time. For a team that has shown about as much fiscal responsibility as Imelda Marcos at a shoe store, this is saying something. Let's see who they can lure to Madison Square Garden...
This is the quintessential basketball sneaker. Anyone who plays ball in NYC knows what I'm talking about. The were originally nicknamed "Uptowns" because anyone who wanted a pair had to come uptown to either Harlem or the Bronx to snag a pair. But the ubiquitous shoe, which had it's first run in 1982, has become a legend from the playgrounds to the streets to the NBA to high fashion. The first pros to wear them were Moses Malone and Michael Cooper, but it was really the urban street buzz that took them into the stratosphere, and are considered the best-selling sneakers of all time.
There are three versions-the low top, pictured above, the mid with the strap secured to the shoe and the high top version has a removable strap that goes around the ankle pictured below- Nike Air Force I Mid Top- Nike Air Force I High Top (30th Anniversary Edition)- These sneakers became a fashion statement for trend-setting inner-city youth, and the hip-hop culture took to them with a passion. They weren't just for playing basketball, they were used to dress up, or "looking fresh". They have been produced in a myriad of colors and styles and have graced the runways of some of the biggest fashion shows and red carpet events in the world. They have been worn by many A-List celebrities at the most prestigious of awards shows and ceremonies, but they will always belong to the playground basketball players of NYC.
I personally love them because they are the only sneakers to play ball in IMHO. Problem is, the high tops are produced as limited editions with limited runs and absolutely no advertising whatsoever. The only time I've seen them is when they're already at the stores. The low and mid tops are much more accessible and are produced regularly. But that only means that when you DO see the high top versions, you will need to stock up!!!
So what makes this sneaker so special? There was a culmination of many aspects of street culture that came together at the same exact time to make The Air Force I's so popular. Hip-Hop celebrities gravitated to the styles worn by inner-city youth. Graffiti artists went from tagging on subways to designing some of the more elaborate Air Force I styles that we've seen throughout the years. And of course the streetball players themselves, who love the sneakers to this day even though they are not as popular to play ball in as they used to be. But that has not killed the buzz and excitement whenever a new limited edition of the sneaker comes out.
Here are a couple of videos that speak to the popularity of this amazing sneaker-
Here is NYC streetball legend Bobbito Garcia speaking on the impact of the shoe-
