Man...

Moving out sucks.

The Reason For My Sparse Updating

For those who frequent my blog and continue to leave with a feeling of disappointment and betrayal, I sincerely apologize for my sporadic and inconsistent updates. I hope to remedy this soon.

One of the major reasons I did not have a chance to update this blog is because I was a little preoccupied with my graduation self-present: a trip to California. As always, I was jetting with my favorite Airline, the good peoples over at JetBlue. I am usually adverse to shamelessly plugging corporations, but I will gladly whore myself to Apple and JetBlue. It's just how it works on occasion... But let's be real here, there are over 40 channels to watch during the flight. There are complimentary drinks and snacks. The seats are soft and there's a fantastic amount of leg room. As long as I am flying domestically, I will be flying JetBlue.

Am I getting a commission for this? I wish.

The Departure

The day I left, it was approximately over 98° with incredibly, unfathomably, and unbearably high humidity. I could not wait to get out of the Northeast. In case you have never been to the Northeast United States, let me tell you something, do not come here during the months of January, February, July or August. You will want to kill yourself. However, if you ever find yourself to be displaying symptoms of bitchassness or softness, come during those months. Our weather will help you build some character.

Anyway, some 6 hours later, I successfully completed my journey from JFK to SFO.

A view from my boy's crib. Shoutouts to Balboa Ave Station.

The Arrival

San Francisco International Airport is very very nice. It's clean, it has a lot of shops, a lot of duty free shops, a lot of exhibits within the airport, a comprehensive lounge and food court. On point, it certainly is. It's probably my 2nd favorite airport behind Hong Kong International Airport. Anyway, upon arriving, I was picked up by my good friend Janice. Big ups for the housing too! I see you ma. Of course, being from New York, the first order of business was In-N-Out. Let me tell you, the burgers are delicious, the ingredients are fresh and the employees are paid well with benefits. Their dry fries aside, In-N-Out is the greatest fast food chain of all-time.

Kanye memes never get old.

The Weather

The weather in The Bay is absolutely fantastic. It's alarmingly comfortable during  the day and refreshingly cold during the night. Additionally, there is no humidity...anywhere. San Francisco was cold. Oakland was cold and Daly City seemed to be even colder. It was mind boggling. But it's not cold in the sense of winter. cold If you live in New York, think of The Bay in July as late October in NYC. Basically, once I had on a pair of shorts and a hoodie (odd combination, I know), it was like I was in Heaven. The weather is perfect. Conversely, San Jose and the South Bay is considerably warmer. Again, there is no humidity. 90° in San Jose is about as uncomfortable as 78° with 95%+ humidity. It's that serious. After experiencing Bay weather in the summer, I am convinced now that my decision/hope/dream to move to San Francisco is the right one.

The Golden Gate Bridge being eaten by #datfog

The Food

Food is California is very very good. This is probably because they grow most of the food we eat. Most importantly, they have quite possibly the most amazing avocados on the planet (thanks Mexico!). In addition to having incredibly fresh ingredients, it just seems like a very "green" state. The food quality is pretty amazing.  The culinary standouts include: San Francisco's famed Mission Street Mexican food, San Jose's Vietnamese sandwiches, San Francisco's brunch spots, In-N-Out (way to beat a dead horse Thomas), and perhaps most life-changing of all, Ike's Place. Ike's sandwiches are so official, they are on par with New York's top Halal Carts. I was so impressed with the food, I even wanted to buy one of their shirts.

Mad good... Hella good, even.

Expenses

The cost of living in The Bay is lower, significantly lower. How is it lower? Well for one, cigarettes are only $5.xx. In New York, cigarettes are $11. I don't smoke cigarettes, but this is already a huge indicator of what you're working with if you move to California. Secondly, gas is not as expensive as you think it might be. It's basically on par with the gas prices in New York. On the flip side, the sales tax is pretty gruesome at a staggering 9.25%. *shiver* Perhaps, the most notable difference in California is the perplexingly cheap retail pricing of oregano. In NY, an 1/8th will run you 50-60. A quarter around 120. In California, an 1/8th is 40 and a quarter 80. Incredible. If I were a consumer of oregano, I would save $1040 if I bought an 1/8th per week, over a period of 52 weeks. For another example of how cheap California is, please continue reading.

Close enough.

The Yankees

No blog post is complete on my part unless there is a mention of the New York Yankees! On July 7, 2010, I went to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to watch the Yankees play the Oakland Athletics. I was able to watch my hometown Yankees go against Janice's hometown Athletics. It was a great time. To my surprise, there were A LOT of Yankees fans at the stadium. If I were to venture a guess, I would say about 40% of the Stadium was filled with my kind. I guess it's true what they say, "The Yankees travel well." Oh by the way, the picture you see below, I was 22 rows behind the Yankees dugout. The ticket only cost $40.

I took this photo. HOLLA.

Things That Are Different From New York That I Did Not Adjust To

Mass Transit: BART is great. The rest of California's mass transit system is rather unimpressive. The biggest travesty...it doesn't operate 24 hours a day.

Radio: I may not be able to articulate this section properly, but California radio stations play music differently from New York radio stations. California seems to play more pop and Top 40 than New York. New York seems to play more traditional Hip-Hop. But on occasion, certain California stations will have old school days. When the Bay does Old School, they do it official. Better than NY does Old School. Another big difference, California Gurls vs Empire State of Mind.

Hella: I could not get used to people saying hella.

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Final Thoughts

California is an amazing place. In fact, it is so amazing, I want to live there. If you have not gone there, I highly recommend it. My only regrets for this trip is that I did not get the chance to go to Berkeley. Another one of my favorite cities in California. As far as SoCal goes, it's ah-iiiight to me. The Bay is where it's at.

Until next time...deuces.

Hip-Hop Linkaround

During my high school days, I built a fairly solid reputation for discovering remixes to top singles and finding up and coming artists before they became over-saturated media commodities.

With that said, I have fallen off dramatically in my musical crate-digging. With that as my preface and disclaimer, I would like to say that I find Slaughterhouse and Dipset's music to suit my tastes wonderfully (pause).

As far as Slaughterhouse goes, you can't find a better squad of lyricists alive. I'm talkin about a collection of lyrically gifted artists on par with the likes of The Firm and The Commission. For a better idea of what I'm talkin about, please turn your attention to the great guys over at YouTube for allowing me to embed these videos.

Joe Budden

Joell Ortiz

With Dipset, you had a group of artists that weren't gifted with adroit lyricism, but had something that allowed them to reach a wider audience: One of the best ears in the industry. I rarely hear a single that has poor production values or any of their fringe singles with less than stellar beats. I was in high school when Dipset truly was a movement. But all of that changed when Cam went on vacation and Jim Jones was wild'n out.

One of my favorite Dipset tracks (Shoutout to the 5th Floor for puttin me on. If you didn't go to Stuy, you wouldn't know):

There's a video for this song, but it sucks. If Dipset reads this, I'm just kidding guys. =)

To end this quick entry, I will not link you guys to one of my favorite Hip-Hop videos of all time. Enjoy.

It was the end of a Empire!