As a kid I would watch Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and drool at the thought of being one of those lucky kids that found a golden ticket. As the years roll by and childhood drifts further and further out of sight in your rear view,  I started to think that I would never really be able capture these feelings again. Then in steps 3 Floyds Brewery with Dark Lord Day. Dark Lord Day is a celebration of sorts; it is a day that beer enthusiasts congregate upon the 3 Floyds Brewery to sample beers from all over the world, eat BBQ, listen to live music, oh and I almost forgot this is the only day of the year that you can purchase Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. In order to purchase this extremely seasonal brew, you must first purchase a golden ticket to reserve the right to be one of the lucky few to own your own supply of Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. Beer Hounds have been following the 3 Floyd twitter account for months to find out the date of Dark Lord Day (changes every year), and when and where they can purchase their golden tickets. The date has been confirmed and is set for Saturday April 24th, 2010, as far as the ticket sales go you will have to tune into their Twitter account to find out the details on that. I could link their Twitter account here, but this is one treasure hunt that I am not willing to share my map. I think it is pretty safe to say that official Brew Live Crew holidays now include St Patrick’s Day, all founding fathers birthdays, and now Dark Lord Day. Find more information at www.darklordday.com .

Happy hunting!

This Tuesday night, March 9th, upstairs at The Middle East in Cambridge, local rapper Jaysaun and Leedz Edutainment are throwing a release party for the album Game of Breath. Jaysaun and DJ Revolution teamed up on this album and if you haven’t heard any of it, then you’re missing out. Jaysaun is Butcher’s Block family and one of the better MCs around, so look for the album on-line and come out on Tuesday to support local hip hop.

For those of you that read my “Top Kicks of 2009” post, you might think I was a little too critical of the Jordan Brand and rightfully so because I was. In my eyes they still have a long way to go to bring the brand back to what it once was, but this shoe is a step in the right direction. For all of the people (myself included) that feel the quality of the materials have been sub par on recent Jordan Brand releases, meet the Air Jordan II Retro Premio. Although I am not a huge fan of the II, I do like the use of the premium materials (Italian and Crocodile leathers).

This is the type of respect that a retro J needs and deserves. I understand that Jordan Brand is based in technology and functionality with their new products which is exactly what they should be about as people are more likely to actually ball in a Team Jordan or Jordan 2k10 over say a Space Jam, but lets be real people are not lacing up a retro to hit the courts. Growing up I remember Jordan’s more so from dudes who wore them “ballin’” not to “ball in”. Whether that is a desirable persona to be associated with or not, it’s the truth and it always has been. Kids were not skipping school to go buy these shoes to hit the court later that day; they were buying them to be the coolest kid on the block, or best dressed in their class. To me I consider retro Jordan’s almost a high end sneaker. The functionality is severely outdated in most of them, and although they were once on the cutting edge of basketball technology they are primarily fashion over function at this point. Hopefully Jordan will start to treat their retro’s with the love they showed this one with premium materials treating them more like a high end fashion company would their sneakers. I think Michael Jordan’s legacy speaks for itself and will live on forever, but I think this shoe is a great reflection of Michael Jordan’s personal style in love for luxurious items. Jordan is one of the coolest mf’ers on the planet and I think Jordan Brand should capitalize. We already saw how MJ wore these retro’s when they were released in their original form as they were designed to fit his game at the time. I would like to see Jordan Brand sit down with Jordan now and build these retro’s to his lifestyle now. I know he is a suit and tie guy now, but if he were going to wear these shoes now, how would he want them to look, what materials? His playing days are done, but he is still the man behind the brand and has incredible selling power. Hopefully they tap into it.

My man The Rhyminal is at it again. Be on the look out for “Grace”. (Period) scheduled to drop 3/21/10