GOTTA SHINE.

I want to blog about something I did over the weekend but I can't because of the fear of getting in trouble. I want to post pictures of my fun times but I'm hesitant. I can't even talk about the subject because it would be obvious and it will reveal my wrong-doing.

-Cinista.

DMX ON BARACK.

Rapper and actor DMX offers some much needed perspective on Obama's candidacy in an interview he did with XXL magazine in March:

XXL: Are you following the presidential race?

DMX: Not at all.

XXL: You're not? You know there's a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there's Hillary Clinton.

DMX: His name is Barack?!

XXL: Barack Obama, yeah.

DMX: Barack?!

XXL: Barack.

DMX: What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?

XXL: Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.

DMX: Barack Obama?

XXL: Yeah.

DMX: What the fuck?! That ain't no fuckin' name, yo. That ain't that nigga's name. You can't be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.

XXL: You're telling me you haven't heard about him before.

DMX: I ain't really paying much attention.

XXL: I mean, it's pretty big if a Black...

DMX: Wow, Barack! The nigga's name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain't his fuckin' name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit... [laughs] That ain't your fuckin' name... Your momma ain't name you no damn Barack.

XXL: So you're not following the race. You can't vote right?

DMX: Nope.

XXL: Is that why you're not following it?

DMX: No, because it's just... it doesn't matter. They're gonna do what they're gonna do. It doesn't really make a difference. These are the last years.

XXL: But it would be pretty big if we had a first Black president. That would be huge.

DMX: I mean, I guess... What, they gon' give a dog a bone? There you go. Ooh, we have a Black president now. They should've done that shit a long time ago, we wouldn't be in the fuckin' position we in now. With world war coming up right now. They done fucked this shit up then give it to the Black people, "Here you take it. Take my mess..."

XXL: Right, exactly.

DMX: It's all a fuckin' setup. It's all a setup. All fuckin' bullshit. All bullshit. I don't give a fuck about none of that.

XXL: We could have a female president also, Hillary Clinton.

DMX: I mean, either way it doesn't matter. I don't care. No one person is directly affected by which president, you know, so what does it matter.

XXL: Yeah, but the country is...

DMX: I guess. The president is a puppet anyway. The president don't make no damn decisions.

XXL: The president... they don't have that much authority basically?

DMX: Nah, never.

XXL: But Bush pretty much...

DMX: You think Bush is making fuckin' decisions?

XXL: He did, yeah, he fucked up the country.

DMX: He act like he making decisions. He could barely speak! He could barely fuckin' speak! Can't be serious. He ain't making no damn decisions.

XXL: Well Barack has a good chance of winning so that might be something.

DMX: Good for him, good for him.

SUGARPOP.

POISONS

1. BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
2. VODKA
3. MISOGYNISTIC MUSIC

What is my favorite poison at the moment? Any combination is a good Friday night. I need a shot of vodka to tolerate the company of the first and two shots to enjoy the third. Is it twisted to like things that are bad for us? Negative. I don't remember the last time my adrenaline started flowing while I was sitting in church. My heart is pumping when I'm doing something I'm not suppose to.



-Cinista.

FLORES FOR OBAMA.

CRAOLA.

NECKFACE STRIKES!

SINGAPOREAN FOOD.

The food in China looks much nicer than the US.

JUST ONCE.

Paul... Let me kick it in one time, bro!


Hahahahahaha!!

LICK THE WRAPPER.

Girls I know have this standard on how a guy should act. In order for a guy to get their attention, they must do one little thing. It's subtle but they look for it. A guy has to open doors for them. They say that when a guy opens a car door for them, it's a good start. I, too, have a standard for how a girl should act around me. I look for a subtle thing that girls do or don't do. This will determine if they are girlfriend material or just another fling. I look for it on the first date. So far, only a few have done it. I am very disappointed in the Las Vegas girl community. I'm not being harsh. It's good manners and many here do not have it. I'm not gonna blame it on age because it's not fair. There is a pattern though. More often than not, it's the younger girls that tend to be like this.

So, me and my coworker Joe go out for a drink last weekend. We get pretty drunk and get really hungry. He's been living in Las Vegas for a while and I ask him where the spots are for good Mexican food late night. He didn't know. That's weak, yo! How long have you been living here??! Anyway, I had to think of a place to go. The only places I know that has good food late night is Filipino food. Gimik was the first place I thought of. They have great sisig. There's also a club going on at the same time. WTF. I'm just there strictly for the food[or maybe I secretly enjoy the company of fobs... lol.] but the guys I was with loved the place! They were Mexican[not that it matters]. They could not believe how many fine girls there were in there. I was eating good Filipino food while club music on bad speakers were blaring in my ear. It's an experience. You haven't eaten Filipino food until you eat it in front of badly dressed girls grinding on each other. HARD. It's like hula dancers at a luau but terrible. Or like belly dancers at a Moroccan restaurant if the dancers had no rhythm. Hahahaha I'm being harsh but the truth is harsh I guess.

I was in LA three weeks ago and I went to some places only available in Cali. One of these places was Pinkberry. There was alot of hype surrounding it but I have to say it did not disappoint. If you want to know what it tastes like, try Red Mango in Las Vegas. It's right next to Undft and Stussy Store.



Another spot we went to was The Boiling Crab in Alhambra. The place is absurdly good. It's a cajun crab, shrimp, and seafood place run by Asians[lol]. It is very rustic. No utensils or plates. It reminds me of the beach when I was young. Just the table, you, and the food. Everytime I talk about the place my mouth waters. I'm getting hungry right now as I am writing this. The surprising thing about it is that it did not serve white rice[being run by Asians]. So, Anton went next door to buy the rice for us. All the customers were staring at our table wondering where it came from. They were jealous! Hahahaha!


Sausages marinated in garlic butter... MmmMMMmmmmm!!




I'm going going back back to Cali Cali.

RALPH TRESVANT.

Passion is very dangerous. It can lead to crazy all night sex or crazy all night stalking. I've been in these situations before. I have sang outside of a girl's house[unwanted or maybe deep down it was wanted] and I've had a person standing over the foot of my bed[her holding a knife] as I am waking up. I look back at those with no unanswered questions. It's not a mystery that I surround myself with passionate people. Some may call them dramatic people. People hate DRAMA blah blah blah. I DON'T believe that. If people really hated drama then why do so many love these reality shows about just that. I think people hate the drama that is going on in their lives because they don't know how to deal with it. I embrace all of that. I take in all the craziness... mellowness... the good and the bad... All of it.

As I sit here recovering from the weekend all bruised up and drained... I can only smile. It was a crazy one. It started with beer pong and ended with an all night/morning session. My life leads me to the most random things. It can be a quiet night at home or the polar opposite of that.

Everyone around me is slowing down. They have marriage and children in mind. My life leads me to restless weekends. It can get old here in Vegas but with the company of the right people; it's nice.

The next day on my crazy weekend was just that. Crazy! I start the night off having an interesting convo with a soon to be friend/enemy. A frienemy... I pick her up and we have drinks at a local bar in Summerlin. The Roadrunner is a fun place. They have a mini bowling alley. It's tiny! It has only two lanes and the balls/pins are miniature. I usually let girls win at things like that but this night I was feeling very competitive. She brought it out of me. I defeated her with no satisfaction. It was too easy. We continued the competition and played pool. We chatted more and I got to know a little more about her. She is really strong minded and opinionated. Even though some of the things she said were misguided, I still appreciate a girl that can speak her mind. I'm glad she wasn't fake around me like most Vegas girls are. She was already drunk from from the one mind eraser we drank. It's funny when girls SAY that they can drink. Majority of the time, they cannot. I only know one girl that can keep up with me.

We head out to the next venue. The Outside Inn is a cool spot. The first drink is always free for all industry people. That place is a good first stop when partying. We chatted some more about past relationships. I get spacey when I'm buzzed; so, I don't really know what was said. To be honest, I wasn't interested in other dudes she had relations with in the past. Leave the past where it belongs. We had our crappy nachos and bounced.

We end up at the Red Rock for some late night gambling. The place was empty for a Saturday night/Sunday morning. We played this slot machine that made no sense to me. I can never figure out how you win at that particular one. There is no pattern. Not a one I can see anyway.

We lost all our money and was pretty bummed. I couldn't think of anything else to do; so, I headed back to her place to bring her home. I knew she still wanted to hang out because she told me to take a detour to show me a nice view of the city[she had made fun of me earlier when I noted how beautiful the scenery was]. And now she wants to show me stuff? Why do people front?! Hahaha. Okay I'll play along. I suggested that we should watch a DVD. I had just gotten the new Johnny Depp movie. All girls like him; so, it was a no brainer. She invites me to hang out at her place. We tried to watch the movie but just ended up talking all night.

SIMPLE ELEGANCE.

There are literally hundreds of pictures taken from this weekend. Most are random pictures only I will understand. Many are food related[I must've eaten at four different Filipino places]. Alot are iiinteresting and can only be posted for personal use. I haven't uploaded any; so, some will surprise me cause I was drunk when I took them. It was a fun-filled three days. I went all around socal[from LA to Silverlake to Westwood to K-Town to the Valley to West Covina to Hollywood back to LA again]visiting all my friends. I made time for everyone that wanted to see me. I was glad to see everyone that I haven't seen in a long time. I stayed at Paul's house for most of the trip. I always feel like I'm staying at three star hotel because each room has some sort of theme. The guest room had an Egyptian feel to it. The bathrooms had some art printed on papyrus and I'm not sure if the Nefertiti statue was in the room or downstairs. The only thing missing was the chocolate on the pillow.

I also spent time waiting for Joe to get his ass ready. We went to his game on Sunday. I think they won or lost but I really wasn't paying attention. They definitely either won or lost. When we were waiting at his house, Paul found this picture of him when he had hair. Notice the finely detailed raper-mustache he had to compliment the whole look. [L-M-A-O!]

Had lunch with Anne also. She took me to some filipino place that served soup and dumplings. It was just what I needed on a Monday afternoon to get over my hangover. I don't agree with the methods of the dish but the sharkfin was most definitely delicious! I had to steal some of her's while she wasn't looking.

OMFG! Kat's tummy is huge! When I saw her at the shower, I was surprised at how big the stomach was. I thought that she was having twins. She says that they expect the baby to be 6 pounds. I highly doubt that. My guess would be nine. She came over Monday night to bring the bottle of Grey Goose that I accidentally left at her baby shower. I thought I would never see that baby again. The Bottle of Goose I mean. Hahahahha!

I tend to go off on a tangent. I originally wanted to write about simple things tonight. Things that are simple but are amazing. My philosophy on cooking is just that. I want to perfect simple food and keep it great. Like the crostini for example.

To most people it is just bread. But the crostini is much more than that. I made some today for our salads. I don't know if I was just hungry but they came out of the oven perfect. They were golden brown. When I took a bite out of one, it had a crunchy texture and a chewy one at the same time. I can snack on just those anytime. I must've eaten four or five of those things. And I can name a dozen things I can pair the crostini with and all would be suitable for a restaurant menu. Simple but great is my philosophy.

-Cinista.

TOYS R US KID.

If you know me really well or not even, you would know that I have a shoe fetish. I'm addicted to things that shine and sparkle[not jewelry]. For the past six months I've been really good. I haven't purchased a new shoe or any article of clothing more than a hundred dollars. I've been saving up for a major purchase. People say I need to grow up. Who are these retards you ask? Inconsequential. The trip to cali this weekend will test my willpower. I get impulsive when I'm there and it will not be easy. So much to do and so many places to go. People to visit and others to see if...

Green is for the money...

...Gold is for the honeys. Trainer SBs so clean.

Old school 5 panels.

Blazer SBs so comfy...


F)ops lowered their retail prices. Dangerous.

The Stussy Store is gonna make lots of money this weekend. The black one is extra tough.

I don't want that keychain... I NEED it!

I L-O-V-E Stussy.

Anyhow... I just wish that I can live my life playing all day... Wait a minute! I do live that way. I believe that if you can't have fun in your personal life and your work life then what the hell is the point?!? Really. Really?

Productive day today at Austin's. I spent the night making desserts and thinking of new ways to plate our salads. I got messy but the presentations ended up clean.

Soo hungry now.

"Berries and cream. Berries and cream. I'm a little lad who love berries...... .and cream..."


My sleep schedule is somewhat going back to normal. G'nite. ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz.

YUP.

Nine One Zero Eight...

And Nina Ross is the Boss!

THE DRAFT HOUSE.

I was up early today taking care of things before the trip to California. I had my car checked and tuned for the long drive. I haven't been to LA in a while; so, it should be a good reunion. From what I know so far alot of the friends are gonna be down. Paul, Texas Kat, Joe, Wicked, and Anthony are going to Glendale Kat's baby shower. I talked to many of my friends already. I asked them if it would be in poor taste if I brought a bottle of Goose to the party to get everyone faded. From what I know of Kat, I don't think she would mind at all. I think she would encourage it. They disagree. I'll feel it out and see if it's kosher.

If you look really close, you can still see snow on the mountains. That means last chance snowboarding!

I finally dropped by the Draft House today for lunch. I sat down and asked the bartender for recommendations on beers. She asked me what beer I usually drank and suggested the Hydrant Red. She stated that it was award-winning and it did not disappoint. It was very similar to Newcastle. If I had to compare the two, then I would choose the Hydrant Red. It was crisp, had a full body and sweet. The second beer I asked for was on the hoppy side. It was their Pale Ale. That too did not disappoint. I would compare that beer to Sierra Nevada without the skunky aftertaste. Quite good. The bartender suggested the burger sliders with the garlic fries. I was hesitant because I saw that they also had filet sliders on the menu. The burgers were acceptable. It had sweet onions in it and complimented the burger well. The fries on the other hand were a big disappointment. Fries rarely get messed up. It's not rocket surgery. Cut potato... deep fry... then season. Seems simple enough. The fries must've been seasoned with raw garlic because it had a strong garlic aftertaste. If you don't know what that tastes like, eat a raw garlic. It is not pleasant.



The verdict.

Great micro-brewed beers!

PANERA BREAD+SWEENEY TODD.

I tried finishing the new Johnny Depp[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street] movie last night/this morning and I fell asleep again. This was the third time I tried to watch the movie and I can't seem to finish it. I'm usually good at staying up for any movie[no matter how terrible it is] but I can't do it for this one. The director is great. I have always enjoyed his work. Though the content is dark and morbid, it's actually a love story. Good content and cinematography but it still does not tickle my fancy. Maybe the fact that it's a musical. I've always thought that musicals were "fruity".


The verdict for the movie.

DISAPPOINTED.

I had lunch at Panera Bread today and I tried to order one of the Panera pizzas. They told me that they didn't do that in this location. My luck.... I was looking forward to it. I had their new Chipotle Chicken instead. I didn't enjoy it! I would not feed this to my dog. It was a panini style type of sandwich and I don't think their panini press was working today. There were no grill marks on the bread and the chicken was kinda cold. I'm not gonna judge the whole place by just this sandwich; so, I'm going back to try it again. The positives of the restaurant was the soothing jazz playing in the background. I also enjoyed the iced green tea and the free wifi.



The verdict.

DISAPPOINTED but will come back to try another dish.

POINT BREAK.

Watch another one of the classics.

Reminder to self. Buy the movie Wild Things.