Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Today is my birthday, and I'll blog about it if I want too!!!! Lol... just kidding... well kinda. Whenever my birthday flows around I get a little reminiscent of my childhood and my older sister Oona, who passed away in 2002 from Cancer. My older sister loved Happy Birthday To You by Dr. Suess... it was her favorite book. It became a staple in our household, something our Dad read to her every year on her born day  Since she was older then me, it became the default birthday story we all were told. And it puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. I have continued the tradition with my own son, and no matter what I do with him on his birthday I always read that book to him on his special day. Last year I found a great clip on Youtube of a father reading the book to his daughter, and it completely broke my heart and made me happy at the same time. It was beautiful to see him sharing this story with his child, and reminded me alot of my dad speaking to me & my sister. Click after the jump to see this great video. Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!!

"Today You are You, This is truer than true. There is NO ONE alive that is You-er than You!!!" --- Dr Suess

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!!!!

Yup, today is my birthday. While I have much to be happy & greatful for, I can not lie about how much I miss my big sister Oona every year that passes. She has been gone for almost 9 years already... its been 9 birthdays since she recited "Happy Birthday To You" by Dr Seuss to me. It was her favorite Dr Seuss book, and my dad used to read it to us all the time when we were kids. When we got older she bought a copy of it and used to call me bright & early on my bday, and recite the whole thing. Well, I can't hear her wonderful voice anymore, but thanks to Youtube, I can get a rendition of the Dr Seuss classic by a loving dad dedicated to his daughter. Hey, its not my sister... but it will do!!! I miss you Oona... more and more each day. Thanks for always making my birthday so special. Just remember:

"Today you are you... that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is you-er than you. Shout loud I am lucky to be what I am... thank goodness I'm not just a glam or a ham, or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam! I am what I am, thats a great thing to be... If I say so myself, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!" 

One Of The Greatest Speeches In History...

Jim "Jimmy V" Valvano was a hell of a college basketball coach who was an unfortunate victim of cancer. He started a wonderful charity about 8 weeks before he died in conjunction with ESPN called "The Jimmy V Foundation" to work towards a cure for cancer. He won the Arthur Ashe Courage & Humatarian Award at the first ever ESPN Espy Awards in 1993, and he announced the formation of this charity and gave what has gone on to be known "The Speech", which in my opinion is one of the greatest of all time. Here it is:



This week is Jimmy V Week, and they need your help to raise money to fight cancer. This is the season for giving, and this is truly one of the greatest organizations a person that wants to contribute funds to fight such a deadly disease can give to. 100% of the money donated goes to cancer research, as all commercial expenses of the foundation are paid for by ESPN. For now you can click here to make a donation online, and we will be getting a widget up as soon as possible (we are awaiting the HTML code from the V Foundation as we speak!). Give to a good cause. I lost my beautiful sister Oona 8 & 1/2 years ago to this terrible disease, and I miss her everyday. While I know I have to live without her, supporting a charity like this seems to help with the pain. If you have lost someone to cancer, please leave a comment below showing them some love. I miss you Oona... and I always will. Thanks Jimmy V, for being you. You are an inspiration to us all!!!

Throwback Thursday - 11/4/2010 - South Florida Hip Hop Edition

Miami Skyline... looking fine!!!

I spent quite a few years living down in the South Florida area, and although I was always trying to get home to NYC... well, lets just say looking back I got some really fond memories of the time I spent there. Whether it was learning the ropes from James Grier and the boys over at Dillard High (School of Hard Knocks!!!), chilling with Tony, Rich & Vic at South Broward lunch times, or living with my man Nunz during my sophmore year of college... damn, there were some good memories. What about all the nights on South Beach and Tootsies wth Ray Ray, Sam, and my man Nicky Sea??? Not to mention all the years I got to spend with my lovely sister Oona (R.I.P. Odie!!!) or the birth of my son Mikey (Daddy loves you monkey!!!)... good times, thats for sure! So in honor of those great times, I figured I would give all the rest of you guys who didn't live down bottom a peek at the best South Florida rap has to offer. I hope you enjoy!!!!

Trick Daddy ft Tre +, Trina & Deuce Poppi - Take It To The House



Trick Daddy ft. Trina - Nann Nigga



Society - Yes n Deed (Unreal fucking song!!!)



Iconz ft. Lil Kim - Get Fucked Up (Remix)



JT Money ft Sole - Who Dat???



Sole ft. JT Money & Kandi - 4,5,6



Trick Daddy - I'm A Thug (This ones for you sis... god I miss you everytime I hear this!!!)

Get Ready For The Smurfs...

I'm an 80's baby, born and bread. My childhood saturdays consisted of waking up around 6 am, making myself cereal, plopping down in front of the TV and watching cartoons. He-Man, GI Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, Dragon's Lair, Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, Thundar the Barbarian, Thundercats, Voltron... you name it, I loved it. But there were a couple of shows that were more up my sister Oona's alley. Shows like the Snorks, the Wuzzles, and the Smurfs that were kinda cool, but as a boy you never wanted to admit you liked them. My sister Oona had a huge thing for the Smurfs, and she collected the little figurines that went along with it. She had hundreds of these blue fuckers, and she displayed them up on her shelves for show. I was not allowed to touch them, and that drove me crazy.

The cartoon was pretty cool, a village of little blue creatures being tormented by an evil wizard named Gargamel and his cat Azrael, who want to eat them and use their Smurf magic to make gold. The series is set in medieval times and started off as a companion to a sword and socery comic strip entitled Johan and PeeWee. The little magical creatures are all blue, they are all male except for Smurfette (who was an evil smurf made by Gargamel), and they all wear white pants and white hats. They also have distinct accessories to distiguish them, like Brainey wearing glasses or Hefty constantly working out with his barbells.

Well, like most things from the past, Hollywood is going to take a shot at turning this beloved Cartoon into a CGI/Live Action Trilogy in the vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. At first glance, I dismissed this as terrible. Why, good lord, why??? But then the voice cast and live character actors leaked out, and I began to get excited. Not only are the names great, but such good choices for each character... well, maybe this won't be so bad. I'm sure it will be a very entertaining kids movie, and as an adult with a child that all you can ask for so that you dont want to kill yourself in the theaters. Neil Patrick Harris will play Johan, the squire that discovers the magical creatures that live in the forest near his castle. Hank Azaria will be playing the evil wizard Gargamel... and thats awesome!!! Anything with NPH and Azaria will at least get a look from me. And now for the voice actors playing the Smurfs: Johnathan Winters will play Poppa Smurf, the leader of the village. Quentin Tarantino will play Brainey, the village know-it-all. Kevin James will play Hefty, the tough guy smurf, and Alan Cummings will play Gutsy, the bravest smurf. George Lopez checks in as as Grouchy smurf, and Katy Perry will voice the only female smurf, Smurfette. All in all, this is an interesting cast. As long as they look better then the guys above, the movie will be a win in my book. I am now looking foward to the movies, and want to shout out my man Jeff Bond for putting me on to this news. Long live the smurfs... now lets just hope Hollywood does not butcher the shit out of a beloved childrens franchise.