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This morning I celebrated the birth of our nation with a big ass helping of Frosted Mini Wheats (Maple & Brown Sugar edition). The site of those sugary nuggets tumbling into the bowl had me feeling giddy and I eagerly coated them with 2% milk. As I shoveled the last scrumptious morsels of rectangular goodness into my face I began thinking: what else epitomizes democracy and free will, the very cornerstones of our nation’s founding, better than cereal? Honestly, when one walks down the cereal aisle, the options are endless, and quite frankly, sometimes overwhelming. I firmly believe that if John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were to take a gander down the cereal aisle at the local Food Emporium, they would be overjoyed at the abundance of choices with which Americans are blessed. If forced to make a choice themselves, I believe they would go for Cheerios, the most fundamentally sound cereal on the market. Rich with nutrients and solidly composed of honey and oates, Cheerios are quintessentially American and would have JA and TJ ready to engage in semantic battles in no time.

I then began thinking of all the cereals that I’ve consumed in the quarter century I’ve spent on this earth. For nearly a decade of my childhood I was a loyal customer of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It was one of the few cereals my mother and I could agree upon. From her perspective it was healthy enough, and from mine, Cinnamon Toast Crunch had just enough brown sugar to earn credibility amongst my peers. As I slowly gained autonomy from my mother’s dictatorial breakfast food decision making, I began to venture into more sugar coated cereals, namely Cocoa Puffs and Frosted Mini Wheats. There’s nothing better than eating a cereal that leaves the milk a completely different color than when you began eating. As I’ve grown older and wiser, I’ve begun to appreciate the merits of a healthy breakfast and have gravitated towards more fiber-rich cereals like Kellog’s Smart Start and even Raisin Bran, a cereal that I detested as a child. I believe that if my ten year-old self saw my 24 year-old self eating Raisin Bran, he would kick my ass. But now there’s a variation that includes crunchy bits of granola that livens up the taste. When I’m feeling adventurous these days, I’ve been opting for Cocoa Krispies, which much like this blog, explode with flavor.

As many cereals that I’ve eaten in my years, there are so many that I haven’t even tried. I’ve never spent much time with Cap’n Crunch, Count Chocula or Kix. Never explored Life, Apple Jacks or Chex. Never tasted Honey Bunches of Oates, Boo Berry or Smacks. There are so many in fact, that one could probably pick one cereal to eat each year for the duration of a lifetime and still not try all of them. That’s what I call choice. God Bless America.

Let me know what some of your favorites are and if you’re bored, check out a full list of cereals here at Wikipedia.

I’m feeling rather lazy, being that it is the holiday weekend. It’s also hot as balls in our apartment, which is never conducive to creative thinking. In a feeble attempt to cool down our living room, we’ve propped up a box fan in front of the a/c unit to spread the cold air. It’s not really working. MacGyver would be ashamed.

So, to ice down your eyes and ears on this sweltering July evening, I thought I’d share a few chill tunes from Swedish electropop acts Tough Alliance and Air France. The first video is for “First Class Riot,” my favorite song from the Tough Alliance’s most recent release A New Chance. The second is for “Beach Party” by Air France—this video makes me really want to go back on vacation. (Air France was just deemed “Best New Music” by Pitchfork by the way).

Feel the breeze.

“First Class Riot”:

“Beach Party”:

Boasting a spectacular skyline, tropical climate and cosmopolitan sentimentality, its no surprise that Hong Kong has earned a spot in the pantheon of iconic metropolises alongside cities such as New York, Paris, Milan and Tokyo. Having visited once before several years ago, my return last week on vacation confirmed that Hong Kong is without a doubt one of my favorite cities in the world.

As soon as one steps off the plane, one can sense a tangible vitality and spirit of progress. As my buddy informed me, the airport itself is a feat of technological prowess, resting on a man-made island. Like any great city, Hong Kong has great nightlife, (particularly Lan Kwai Fong, where the bars are known to spill into the street, Mardi Gras style), culture and shopping (the high end retailers in Central rival any of those in Midtown Manhattan). Being a financial and shipping hub, Hong Kong is also a city of tremendous wealth—it’s not uncommon to find yourself gawking at the Ferraris and Lamborginis that seem to drive by every several minutes. And let’s not forget that the fashion industry in the city brings with it boatloads of beautiful women. If you’re one of those people who isn’t overly enthusiastic about Asian women, I challenge you to visit Hong Kong and return with the same mindset.

Yet beyond all of these elements, what sets Hong Kong apart for me is the city’s topography and breathtaking skyline. Hong Kong is a mountainous tropical island and seeing massive buildings jutting out of the side of lush green mountains is a site to behold. Furthermore, taking the ferry across the bay to Kowloon provides a panoramic view of the coolest and most colorful cityscape on the planet.

If all of this isn’t enough to convince you, Hong Kong even provides the backdrop for the most anticipated film of the summer The Dark Knight. See the movie, then save up your dough to visit the city where it all went down. Or better yet, see the movie in Hong Kong. You might even get one of those cool new water proof ten dollar bills as change when you pay for your ticket.

For a little eye candy, here’s a new trailer for The Dark Knight. Peep the IFC 2—the tallest building in the city—in the beginning and the end.

We can’t pay homage to Old School hip hop without mentioning the role played by Def Jam. Started by Rick Rubin in his NYU dorm (1984), and later joined by Russell Simmons, Def Jam quickly signed names like Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, EPMD and the list goes on. Issues concerning money, corruption, and personal disputes have befallen Def Jam throughout the years, but their early influence on hip hop cannot be ignored.

Below are two vids that bring it back to the early days. Enjoy.

Public Enemy - Don’t believe the hype

EPMD - The big payback

Note: I keep remembering kids in first grade screaming “Mama said knock you out.” Couldn’t leave it out. Ha.

LL Cool J - Mama said knock you out

So I just purchased tickets to the Sigur Ros show (September at United Palace Theater) from Ticketmaster. During my checkout process, I noticed that TIcketmaster slapped on their typical convenience fee which came out to be around $10 each ticket. Fine. Whatever. I’ll deal with their convenience charge since I’ve always wanted to see Sigur Ros in concert, but I do think a $10 fee for $50 tickets is insane.

While looking over the receipt again, I noticed another charge of $3.65 for an “Order Processing Fee.” I immediately began cursing: WTF!!! F*CK YOU, YOU BASTARDS!!! You have an online system, everything is automated, all you do it print my tickets and mail them to me. Is the $10 convenience fee not enough to cover paying someone minimum wage to place my tickets in an envelope and mail them? Why stop there? Might as well charge me for picking up the tickets that I already paid for, oh wait…Ticketmaster already does that. F*CK YOU.

Sorry for the rant. Sad thing is that everyone feels the same way about Ticketmaster, yet we still keep going back. Anyways, enjoy the show if you got tickets.

Friday is my favorite day of the week, not because it’s the premature start of the weekend or because less people are in the office. But it’s when translations of the weekly mangas (Japanese comics) are posted to the internet. Most people outside of Japan have no understanding or interest in manga. I really can’t blame them, why would they spend time reading comics when they can watch Tila Tequila search for a man/woman or Jason Taylor dance his little heart out wearing a leotard.

Surprisingly, the popularity of manga (and anime) has been growing at a rapid rate. I would probably contribute this fact to the Pokemon generation but that saddens me. I’d like to think that the cultural mish-mash of America has alleviated the taboos and misconceptions alleviated with manga (and anime). Either way, it’s a great trend, and I’m a full supporter of it.

What many people don’t know, and are beginning to realize, is that  manga (and anime) is not for children in Japan. Granted there are titles that target children, but a majority of manga targets the older age group, i.e. 16-30 year olds. Beneath the black and white drawings are themes that relate to morality, love, loyalty, friendship, etc. If taken to heart, a person can definitely learn from the lessons taught in each chapter and story arc.

Anyways, if you’re interested there are definitely some great series that are ongoing right now. I’ve spent some time reading Naruto, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, and Eyeshield 21. I would say that either FMA or One Piece is so far my favorite. Feel free to check them out at Onemanga while you still can.

By the way, sorry for the lack of posts this week. Spent all week painting an apartment.

I hope you enjoy this strip. I totally feel the same way at work, i.e. right now.

Once again, Sunday is among us, and it’s time for the weekly spotlight. My counterpart is traveling for the next week, so I’ll be claiming full responsibility for the blog. If it sucks, then “ouch.”

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. I recently noticed that we haven’t given respect to one of the greatest duos: Erik B. and Rakim. If I ever need reminding of what hip hop was/is/should be, I flip on one of their songs. Apologies for not finding a legit music vid of “What’s on your mind;” it’s a great song to listen to on the subway. I think the second vid makes up for it.

Erik B. and Rakim - What’s on your mind

Erik B. and Rakim - Dont’ sweat the technique

Check out this live clip of “Black Mags” from the Cool Kids’ set earlier this month at Knitting Factory. Even includes the segue into “Juicy” by B.I.G., which caused people to lose their shit. Should also give you a pretty good idea of just how packed the show was. Video is courtesy of one of our readers who goes by the handle DopeVideo88. Good looks!

If I had to pinpoint two things that remind me most of my childhood, I’d have to go with orange Flintstones Push-Pops and the greatest video game console known to man, Sega Genesis. For my money (read: allowance) it didn’t get much better than finishing the night’s homework to earn an hour of gameplay in the quiet comfort of my basement. Surrounded by stacks of cheat books for Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam, I’d go to work, fingers dancing across the sleek three button controller. On the weekends, my friends and I would engage in battle: NBA Jam tournaments, head-to-head races for rings on Sonic the Hedgehog, epic face-offs on Street Fighter and adrenaline-fueled match ups in countless EA Sports games. With Mortal Kombat alone we’d spend hours trying to master the damn near impossible “Fatality” codes. Remember how you used to have to enter the button combinations at warp speed? It’s partially due to that game alone that I can type faster than 30 words-per-minute.

Some might argue that Super Nintendo was the superior 16-bit system. This is simply not the case. What Sega may have lacked in graphics, it more than made up for in gameplay and breadth of game library. Talk about Barkley’s Shut Up and Jam, Earthworm Jim, Eternal Champions, NHL’s 94, 95 and 96 (!!!!), Road Rash, Lion King, Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (!), Shaq Fu, Primal Rage, Triple Play Baseball…the list goes on. (If I’m forgetting any great ones, don’t hesitate to add on).

In today’s way-too-real realm of video games, Xbox 360’s and Nintendo Wii’s are flying off the shelves. Yet I’ll always prefer the simplicity of Sega to systems where I have to effectively play Twister to touch all of the buttons on the controller or have the dexterity and agility of an Olympic athlete just to be competitive. Plug in that cartridge, hit the “ON” button and let’s go. SEEEEEEEEEGGGGAAAAAAAA.