The Butcher’s Block

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!

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

It was right around my 18th brthday, March 1995, when when Big L’s debut album “Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous” dropped, and I remember thinking to myself “This is the next dude”. It was a great time for East Coast rap. Big, Jay, and Nas were all at the top of their game, you couldnt cop a mix tape without hearing Capone and Norega, or Mobb Deep… Even with all of this going on, in what I consider the greatest era of hip hop, there was not an artist at this point in time that impressed me more than Big L. This dude was dropping punchlines that would have these SMACK DVD youngins “oooh’ing and ahhhh’ing” for days. Unfortunately Big L, like so many other great talents, was taken far too soon. Yesteryday marks the 11th anniversary of his passing. Still to this day Big L is in heavy rotation in my iPod, and is one of if not my favorite rapper of all time. Rest in power!!!

Located hidden inside a phone booth at Crif Dogs in New York’s East Village, Please Don’t Tell, is a modern day speakeasy. Now all the guys that get “Liquid Courage” when they booze can really feel like Superman when they exit this phone booth.

Harrod’s recently launched Remy Martin’s Louis XIII “Rare Cask”, this is made up of 1,200 super exclusive congnacs that have been aged between 40 and 100 years in a single cask (pictured above). Its reported that this once in a lifetime cognac is going to sell for about $15,000.00 usd. Each bottle will be a hand-blown, hand-decorated blackcrystal Baccarat decanter that will each be individually numbered.

We are only a month and change into 2010 and we might have the song of the year. This is a banger!

If you have not done so already…. Go get that 100 Proof The Hangover album!!!!

High five! Originally this was a hand gesture that occurred to celebrate a moment of victory or success. The new “High five!” is the co-sign, the verbal or written support or backing of one’s actions, projects, events, or products. By most accounts the high five was originated in a sports atmosphere to celebrate a moment of victory, a home run, a goal, a game winning shot are all examples of where the high five might have originated. In my research to find the origin of the high five, I did not once come across someone claiming that it was originated in a moment of mediocrity. I could not find anything documented for a gesture letting another know they almost succeeded. So over time what began to happen was people started to use the high five to help relieve the awkwardness of failure. A high five inherited a dual meaning; it became “Good Job”, and “Better luck next time”. Fast forward to today. Today you can go to a countless number of industry blogs to read about clothing, shoes, music and see people’s comments on these items. Some people might genuinely like the items, some people might write that they like them knowing they don’t just because they know the creator on a personal level and don’t want to hurt their feelings, some people might co-sign something because they have an upcoming project that they hope to gain support on. Whatever the motive, this behavior has created a diluted market where too much B.S. has been given unwarranted credibility. In 2010 I am asking that people get back to letting bench warmers feel like bench warmers. If someone strikes out don’t tell them “Nice swing”, tell them to “Hit the batting cages”. I feel like a part of the reason the industry has declined in the past two years is because of the inability or unwillingness to give honest feedback. You co-sign B.S. and more B.S. is made.

Example of when to High five

Perfect example of a non high five

I had a chance to build with Mr. PBR himself, Joe Scudda, at the Statik Selektah “100 Proof: The Hangover” album release party. There are some people you meet in life and instantly hit it off with… Scudda is one of those muthafucka’s. This dude is an instant Brew Live Crew favorite.

Follow him @JoeScudda on Twitter

Also go out and support 100 Proof: The Hangover. In stores Feb 2nd!!!!!