Aug 24, 2011

2011 NFL Fantasy Football Draft Help

A few friends and I have organized a fantasy football league for this upcoming NFL season, I want to win, point blank period. I've been looking around the internet for tips on how to go about picking the right team, or at least what to look for when picking the right team and this is pretty much what I have come up with.

PRE-DRAFT (VERY IMPORTANT) Aside from the tips presented the most important thing above all is making sure you do your homework, fortune favors those who are best prepared, and while most come to the fantasy draft with a list of players they have their eyes on, the one who ends up with the best and most rounded roster will know what attributes to look for in case the player you want has already been selected, it's all about picking the best candidate from the choices presented. There are no bad fantasy owners except the ones who don't take the time to try. Take time to evaluate players and select your targets before your league's draft. No matter how many "expert" opinions you may hear or read, the bottom line is that it is your team, and the experts wont be sitting next to you clicking for you.

Tips for selecting your fantasy football team:

1. Always always always pick the best running back you can first.
These guys are pretty much going to be your point workhorses for the season, in the last league I was in there was a guy who during the draft picked nothing but star running backs while others were selecting QB's and defenses. After the first few weeks he had the leverage to pretty much trade his RBs for any missing pieces he needed on his team.

2. DO NOT use previous season performance as an indication of what a player will do this year.
I say that with Superbowl QB's in mind. Often quarterbacks that made it deep into the playoffs have headhunters looking out for them. Defensive coordinators will have torn that game film to shreds in hopes that their teams will be better prepared for them, lowering their stats and the amount of points they'll earn you

3. Don't take chances early
Taking chances and risks in the early rounds is a recipe for disaster, taking them in the late rounds is a recipe for success. If you draft veterans in the late rounds, you aren't doing yourself any favors, because they have virtually no upside. Taking chances on rookies and young players with upside in the late rounds is the way to go. There are no bad upside picks in the late rounds because if they don't pan out you can just cut them, no big loss.


If you have any additional tips you would like to share, please post them in the comments section.

Hopefully you'll catch me at a Falcons or a Redskins game this year.

Aug 23, 2011

CollegeBookRenter.com Review

Collegebookrenter.com is one of the leading online textbook rental companies in the country! Since the company’s launch in May of 2009, they have helped thousands of college students on campuses across the nation save up to 85% on their textbooks costs. Collegebookrenter.com offers millions of textbook titles as well as fast and dependable FedEx shipping. They also offer free return shipping through UPS, which saves students even more money. It’s clear that Collegeboookrenter.com is the fastest growing textbook rental company in the nation. Rent Your Textbooks & Save up to 85%!

If you want to get your textbooks for school, but really don't want to buy a textbook that you know you are only going to use for a semester, Collegebookrenter.com just might be the textbook purchase site for you.





Check out
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I am currently working on getting my website: besttextbooksites.com up and running, when it is you all will be the first to know

Raja Yoga Meditations

Daily mental exercises. The act of Raja Yoga meditation for at least 15 minutes in the early morning will have a positive effect during the entire day.

Upon waking have the thought; I am a peaceful soul, my aim today is to radiate peace to every person that I come into contact with.



Raja Yoga meditation

Try to experience the stillness of mind of being a peaceful soul as other thoughts emerge in the mind do not judge or focus on them but repeat ............

I am a peaceful soul .............

I am a peaceful soul ............

My mind is filled with peace ..............

I radiate peace to the world ...............

I feel the gentle waves of peace flowing across my mind ...........

As these peaceful thoughts emerge in my mind I feel the stillness and silence envelopes my mind .................

I am the peaceful soul ......

I am a peaceful loving soul ............

My mind feels light and free from worries ...........

I realize my real nature is peace ..........

Peaceful thoughts flow through the mind and I feel the self becoming light ......................

I am a being of light shining like a star .......................

I radiate peace and light to the world ......................

The light and peace envelopes me and the waves of peace and light shine like a lighthouse.............................................

This is the wonderful journey of self discovery.



Raja Yoga Meditation philosophy

The basis for attaining an experience in raja yoga meditation in to understand the self and the mind. The human mind is the most creative, powerful and wonderful "instrument" we possess. Using this energy called mind we have been able to search the deepest oceans, send humans to the moon and scan the molecular fabric of the building blocks of nature. But have we found our true self? We have become the most educated and civilized society in our history, but are we civil towards each other?

According to raja yoga Meditation The soul has three main faculties; the mind or consciousness, the intellect and the subconscious.

Thoughts flow from the sub conscious mind to the conscious mind. Feelings and emotions form in accordance with the montage of thoughts flowing in the mind. Therefore our state of mind at any given moment is determined by the thoughts in our consciousness, and also with the feelings that we associate with those thoughts. Since our sub consciousness contains all our previous thoughts and experiences, it is necessary to selectively control the flow of thoughts that emerges from the sub conscious mind.

The intellect is the controller which is used to discriminate so that only positive and benevolent thoughts flow into our mind. With meditation or deep contemplation, the individual is able to strengthen and sharpen the intellect. The end result is a constant state of well being. If we are able to understand the self as the source of energy that creates our feelings, then the following will become our aims.

Become aware of our state of mind and of the thoughts that flows into the mind from our subconscious.
Strengthen the intellect so that the individual can discriminate and thereby only allow positive and peaceful thoughts to flow into the mind.
Through this process of self development the individual develops more control over the mind.

These meditations have been taken from the knowledge as taught by the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga meditation organization.

[Source]

Album Review: Verde Terrace x Curren$y

Curren$y comes back as the "Spitta Andretti" in his newest mixtape "Verde Terrace"


Verde Terrace Tracklist:
1.) Job
2.) The Jet Business
3.) Pinifarina
4.) Hennessy Beach
5.) Car Talk
6.) Smoke Sum’n
7.) Run Dat Shit
8.) one For Da Wave
9.) Sky Miles
10.) Crack BC
11.) High Tunes
12.) Music To Ride To
13.) My Life Is A Movie
14.) Ways To Kill em


Overall Rating 4.5/5

Verde Terrace is a classic ride around smoking doobies (#JustDoobIt) music. The beats chosen for this particular project are perfect, Spitta is going to give you some original chill listen to my metaphor flows but he also hops on some classic industry beats (Ex. Elevators x Outkast). Songs like "Car Talk" talk to us over high production over the top style epic sounds just to show off a little of his diversity. Job (Jets over Bitches) starts the mixtape off right, letting you know exactly what tip this entire project is going to be on. Lets light one and just chill while we nod our heads. Verde Terrace is Dj Drama branded so you know he's talkin his usual over the tracks. He does lend well to production though. His collaborations definitely added to the project, and I am actually starting to hear improvements in Roddy from the Jets. My favorite collab on the album hands down goes to Dom Kennedy on "Hennessy Beach" his verse definitely gave Curren$y a run for his money.

I really do appreciate the attention to detail that Curren$y has shown to this cd and you can definitely here his progression lyrically, the last couple of mixtapes have really shown Curren$y is comfortable in the lane he's driving in right now and this Mixtape is no different.


In case you missed them you can find ALL of Curren$y's Official Releases here: Curren$y Mixtapes





-Tony


Let me know what you think of the review in the comments sections. 

Dec 21, 2010

RL 92


Killin It

-Tony

The Lo Lifes: A Brief History

Today's popular Ralph Lauren culture would not be anything without the contribution of the Lo Lifes. Probably the freshest crew you will ever see, they are essentially a group of individuals who live in New York and during the 90's (and still today) they wore nothing but Ralph Lauren. From the Cookie Jackets, Suicide Sweaters, P-Wing Polos, and Silk Crest Shirts. The following story is a brief history of their story and origin. The Lo Lifes NEVER bought polo, whatever they could steal was what they could wear, and somehow they managed to steal the rarest, craziest, most colorful pieces they could get their hands on.

Read On...

I remember before we became the Lo Lifes, we would see each other on the trains, we used to plot on robbing one another for the Lo item we were wearing. It never came to that though. 

It was on the Deuce (42 street and Broadway), when we first clicked together. There were a lot of movie theaters and game rooms there. There was mad girls from all over. One of the main attractions on the Deuce was the photographers with all the different backgrounds to take your pictures in. We were steppin' up to take a picture one Saturday night when "Ralphies Kids" were already on the Polo background. Their wears were crisp, but that was the one thing we had in common. So, nigga'z was like "Yo!! lets take this flick together." So both mobs got in one flick together. Little did we know, it would make history according to Brooklyn's streets. "Lo Lifes" were mainly known for boostin', running up in stores and just snatching everything. We made this common in our everyday activities. We turned it into a lifestyle, and to this day it is still the way some original members put food on the table. 

When we traveled, we would roll at least 50 or 60 deep and could be recognized by the rainbow of Ralph Lauren labels. By 1989, we grew and had members in the "90'z" (East Flatbush) and East New york. We would get all dressed up just to go out and commit crimes. Sometimes we would go to clubs wearing like 5 different polo shirts each. We would wear one on top of another and switch shirts. All night while walking around the nightclub, your prop status was rated on how much "Lo" you had and how big your heart was. 

When Lo Lifes first united, it was a mutual respect from Brownsville to Crown Heights. We did everything together. Boost, fight, party, look for girls and basically shared the same problems inner city youth face. Everyday was a fashion show and a shop lifting spree through upstate malls, Manhattan stores, even fast food restaurants like McDonalds were hit. We stole everything from our deodorant to our milk and cereal for breakfast. Sometimes we got confused for the Decepticons. They did their thing too. The only difference between us was the attire. We stayed extremely "dipped." Our whole mentality revolved around staying "dipped". My man "Shills-Lo" was telling me the other day that he is who he is, because of his Lo Life experiences. The "Lo Life" experiences gave him his pattern of thinking and showed him means for survival and ways to help Mom's pay the rent. 

Boostin' became a culture. We don't claim to be the first to ever do it . All we are saying is that we made it go mainstream out on the N.Y. streets and even out in Philly where Boostin Bill, an original member established a whole other episode of Lo Lifes. There was the uptown LoLifes who were Chris, Ibit, Rob, and a whole bunch of Bronx heads who did crime so fast we used to have to race them to the victims, word!! When we first established the Lo Lifes, a lot of us were very young. Ten years and counting have gone by and Lo Lifes spread so much, that many people none of us even knew claimed to be Lo Lifes. On the streets, in the Rap industry, even ABC's 20/20 was planning to do an episode on Lo Lifes. They held a meeting over at ABC and some how we found out about it and got there an hour late. We walked into a room full of different rappers and boosters who claim affiliation to Lo Life. There were even Lo Life hats made which was featured in a "Source" magazine advertisement. None of us had anything to do with it or whom ever designed it. Lo Lifes is a title each original member has lived by and some died by the name. So rightfully, the name is ours. 

The Lo Lifes list is endless. There are so many members from both sides that never even met each other. Whether you were part of Ralphies kids or Polo USA, once it was established everyone instantly became Lo Life. Even if you never met the other side. 

We would terrorize 42nd street on Friday and Saturday nights. We were always so deep we would never pay to go into movies. There was so many of us, you would be stupid to try and stop one. Even at the stores in the same area, we would steal every 40oz of Old English 800 by just picking them up and walking out. We would be responsible for 75% of the crimes committed up there. As for the department stores we hit, Manhattan was a regular target. Macy*s, B'Altman's, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Ave, Trump Towers, Century 21, BFO's, and like I mentioned before even McDonalds. Our main target was Polo. Either putting it in back packs or stuffing it down girdles. Most of the time when there was so many of us, we would just rush the store and take all you can carry. Leather and Shearlings stores were hit also along with Womens gear stores. This would always be the quickest shit selling and that was how a lot of heads made their money. One thing we all had in common was the love for true hip-hop. We would go to a lot of the most popular hip-hop clubs. We never paid for drinks. We would steal the bottles from behind the bar and stay drunk all night for free. We usually left the club after getting into some shit or taking somebody's shit. A lot of the things we did resulted in consequences. In prison, official heads wore as much polo in jail as in the streets. You had to be a real nigga to be able to keep your Polo in the prison system where inmates would rob each other for expensive clothing. 

Empire Skating Rink in Brooklyn was were we met every Sunday. The rink would close at about 5pm. Lo Lifes would unite out front and walk toward the subway headed to Manhattan to get paid. The ill shit was that the entire skating rink on Sundays was composed of boosters. It was a big fashion show. After a while, when we would leave on Sunday, other boosters in the rink knew where we were headed and what we were up to. So, a lot of others would follow us and add on to the chaos. Everybody wanted to be down and every Sunday was a repeat of last week. Except for one week we said we would hit the stores in Manhattan before the skating rink opened Sunday morning. So we went to Manhattan had a quick rush at Lord and Taylor's for all kind of flavor Polo bath robes. Then we went to Empire skating rink, there was at least 40 or us in the middle of the day at a skating rink wearing bathrobes. Of course, we always got the girls. They even got with the program so we had Lo Wives. Stealing was a sport and a source of income and from the way some turned our 10 years later, it is all they may ever know. In the streets we weren't always the culprits, we were preyed upon as well by jealous people who wanted what we had (our Lo) and just didn't know how to get it the way we did. In conclusion, some of us were killed and some of them killed and so on. Ignorant, but the truth. Ten years later, traces of Lo Lifes spread to California and even Japan. Rappers are getting free "Tommy Hilfiger" to advertise, and we are still wondering what ever gave D-Lo the idea for their clothing line? HMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!, it was the original Lo Lifes who started using the word Lo after their names. "The Million Man Rush" is what we call our story just like the "Million Man March", a movement many claimed to be a part of, but only a chosen few can say that "I WAS THERE!"


Imagine the unimaginable, hundreds of inner city youth coming together for a specific cause, "TO GET DIPPED"! (fly, fresh, etc) Which in Brooklyn, it meant your clothes were new and usually from the most flashy designers with the illest colors. Tommy Hilfiger was still an amateur in the streets, Izod was past tense and Versace wasn't even heard of in the hip hop fashion dictionary. Niggas couldn't even pronounce the word until Biggie Smalls came on the seen. The head honcho in the labels was Ralph Lauren's "POLO". In our eyes he was worshiped like God. It was even to the point where some of us would carry a picture of Ralph Lauren in our wallets. "MONEY, HOES, AND CLOTHES" was our motto and "LO" was our life.

The name "Lo Lifes" came about in '88 when Big Vic Lo (THIRSTIN HOWL III) got caught talking to a girl after he just got another girl's phone number. The girl said "You are a low-life" in a disrespectful manner. His reply, "You are right!" I wear "Lo" everyday and "LO" is my life. Then everybody replied, "That's right, We are LoLifes!" It was never officially voted on, or anything it was just the name we lived by.

The Lo Lifes were originally composed of two boostin' posse's from different sections in Brooklyn. There was the Crown Heights half who were originally known as "Ralphies Kids" (Ralph Lauren's Kids). That name was made by G-George who lived on St.Johns and Utica Ave, which was also where "Ralphies Kids" could be found. Then there was the Brownsville half who were originally called POLO U.S.A. (UNITED SHOPLIFTERS ASSOCIATION). That name being made up by Ski-Lo and Pumpkin (Rest In Peace). The Brownsville half were all mostly from the Marcus Garvey Village with others from Van Dyke Houses.

"LO LIFES!" 






(SOURCE)

-Tony

Dec 20, 2010

Martha's Vineyard: The Black Bourgeoisie

LOCATED seven miles off the southeast coast of Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard is one of the oldest and largest Black resorts in the country. Since the turn of the century, it has been a vacation mecca for such prominent Blacks as Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters, Adam Clayton Powell Sr. and famed composer Henry T. Burleigh. As word of the island's hospitality to Blacks spread, many noted Blacks purchased homes there.

A weekend tour of Oak Bluffs, where most Black islanders make their home, reveals that Blacks on the Vineyard are a people rich in accomplishment and history. But their uncommon style is only part of the reason the isle continues to lure Black families back again and again, many for generations.


For Black islanders, the party circuit is as much a part of summer vacation as the island's rich history. From May until September, they host a nonstop smorgasbord of lunches, brunches, cocktail sips and clambakes on the beach. "The whole East Coast of professional Blacks needed a place where they could come together and Martha's Vineyard was that choice of place," explains New York's Dr. Beny J. Primm, who bought his home in 1971 and has been coming to the island since the mid 1940s. "In recent years, Oak Bluffs has also become the vacation place for young East Coast Blacks because it provides a place where they can be involved with one another."


Clearly, for Black islanders, Martha's Vineyard holds a wealth of memories that make it almost impossible to consider vacationing anyplace else. Dorothy West, a 30-year resident who is the isle's unofficial historian and the sole survivor of the famed Harlem Renaissance writers group, puts it this way: "You come once; if you don't like it, you don't come back. Come twice and you're hooked for life."


Vineyard Vines is a clothing line that was started on the Vineyard in 1998, with its classic prep aestetics it looks to provide those summer island visitors an affordable option of dress during the summer months. Taking hints from the boating and yacht club lifestyles, this brand remains true to its initial purpose over 10 years later.

The Black Dog is a restaurant and tavern in Vineyard Haven on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The restaurant was founded in 1971, and became well known for its souvenir T-shirts, featuring its logo of the eponymous black dog. The Black Dog currently has many locations on Martha's Vineyard and one on the island of Nantucket, as well as in the mainland Massachusetts towns of Falmouth, Provincetown, Newburyport, and Chatham. Outside of Massachusetts they have stores in Newport, RI, Portland, ME, Mystic, CT, and Annapolis, MD.


I can personally remember all of my Jack and Jill friends taking trips up to the Vineyard every summer for as long as I can remember, MV seems to be the haven for Upper Class Black families living on the East Coast, and it has been that way for quite some time. It's all about what bluff you stay on, and with houses running easily into the million dollar range, a summer home hear is no easy accomplishment. You'll be able to catch me lounging on Oak Bluffs in the summer, just give me about 10 years, I should have made it by then.


-Tony

Source