American Professionalism

Major League Soccer is underway, and I have had the pleasure of watching a number of very entertaining games thus far. Over this past off season the league lost a number of big names, which worried spectators in a number of circles. One big name who is absent from the league, but who has not moved on is of course Landon Donovan. The long time American hero is currently taking a sabbatical from the game to assess his life and future options. In recent weeks Donovan has been spotted at various places including a USC speaking engagement and surprisingly in Cambodia playing pick up soccer with local children. I have always been a fan of Donovan and truly respect his introspective personality, but I think this reeks of unprofessional behavior. Donovan took the chance to rest this whole MLS off season and has not been playing with the national team recently. One would believe this was a good amount of rest for a top level professional soccer player, but Donovan needed more. The LA Galaxy are allowing Donovan to return to practice at the end of March, while during that time span he will miss a number of league games, and their Champions League quarterfinals. Any where else in the world and this probably wouldn't be tolerated; Donovan would be dropped and possibly jettisoned from the team. Also think of the double standard between this situation and when Donovan called out David Beckham for his commitment to the Galaxy. I know I can never put myself in his shoes, and he doesn't owe us anything, but for American soccer to reach new heights, there needs to be a higher standard of professionalism.  

No new niggas, nigga we don’t feel that
Fuck a fake friend, where you real friends at?
We don’t like to do too much explaining
Story stay the same through the money and the fame


-- I'm a big fan of this beat and the cohesiveness of it's many instruments. Quite excited for the new album to come out as well. I am interested to see if Drake's creative juices can continue to flow as on the previous efforts he's released.

People

A while back i was having a very abstract conversation with my manager at work and he brought up his faith and religious beliefs. He proceeded to tell me that he practices an eastern religion by the name of Baha'i (he is a white dude so i was immediately interested due to the irony).  Baha'i is a religion that was created in 19th century Persia, and it has now spread to many corners of the globe. It emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. He directed me to an actual Baha'i text online that stated the following: 

“How its light is now dawning upon the world’s darkened horizon. The first candle is unity in the political realm, the early glimmerings of which can now be discerned. The second candle is unity of thought in world undertakings, the consummation of which will erelong be witnessed. The third candle is unity in freedom which will surely come to pass. The fourth candle is unity in religion which is the cornerstone of the foundation itself, and which, by the power of God, will be revealed in all its splendor. The fifth candle is the unity of nations—a unity which, in this century, will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland. The sixth candle is unity of races, making of all that dwell on earth peoples and kindreds of one race. The seventh candle is unity of language, i.e., the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will be instructed and converse. Each and every one of these will inevitably come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the Kingdom of God will aid and assist in their realization.”

I was truly astonished when I read this. I feel that having a truly open mind is one of the hardest things to achieve in the modern world, but it is a sign of true evolution. More people need to think like this. Mutual cooperation and understanding is always better than destruction. 

Read more if you'd like: http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/PDC/pdc-33.html

Keep your crew around.

Be careful bout who you see
Keep your crew around
Cause they never let you down
They never let you down

Buffalo Man EP is so on point. Definitely one of my favorite releases of 2012.

Culture is always subjective. One is never better than another, just different.

Certain individual’s views on society and different cultures can be quite perplexing and ethnocentric at times. It is often that a person will think their way of life is vastly superior to others, without truly thinking about these assumptions. A prime example of this is the colonial people during their period of great conquests through out the world.  This leads me directly into a brilliant series I watched the other day. It was a documentary series titled First Australians.  It was a seven part series that chronicled the birth of the nation that we now call Australia and how its indigenous population was forever impacted by the arrival of the British colonists. The British arrived in Australia as explorers seeking new land, and wound up intruding on the Aborigines ancient culture that had been in place for thousand of years. They stole their land, killed many through disease and war, and made them second-class citizens in their own country. This is a scene that has played out countless times through out human history, and is one based in ignorance and ethnocentrism. A professor who was interviewed in the series made an incredible point when he noted that while Europeans were dwelling in caves, the Aborigines had developed an advanced system of beliefs and customs that governed their lives. Mind you, this was thousands of years before Christianity or any of the other organized religions that currently dominate the globe. In spite of this Aborigines were regarded as savages and undeveloped humans who would eventually die off. This train of thought is absolutely ridiculous and one based out of sheer ignorance. The Aborigines are one of the oldest civilizations in human history and they would have lived on with, or without the intrusion of the British colonists. I could go on and on about this, but I might as well just get to the point. The point is that ones culture, no matter what it looks like, cannot be judged through a subjective lens and everyone outside of said culture is subjective. You can never say that another societies culture is better or worse then yours because you will never be able to rid yourself of biases and simultaneously immerse yourself fully in this other culture. In the most basic sense of this argument, if a culture allows for the continuation of its people then it serves its purpose and you as an outsider have no grounds to judge it. For every benefit you think your culture provides you with, there is a criticism that can be leveled upon it from another culture. EVERYTHING is relative. So in one persons mind Aborigines may be savages and sub-human, while in another persons mind they are a vibrant and storied people. Humans will always be different, but differences cannot always simply be judged as better or worse. All in all, just always remember to keep an open mind and don’t be an asshole. Try to think outside of your culture when observing others. 

Check out my buddies blog, he's a brilliant writer:

roguearistocrat.blogspot.com

Just gotta chill out some times.

Sit back and relax
It's gonna be alright

Art work

So big shout out to Bullett Tattoo in Mt. Airy, MD. This is officially my new spot for all my work. They did a great tattoo for me, check it out: