#which brings back my point of him being an online gaming culture equivalent to a nepo baby

[finsterhund]

the more time passes and the more I grow and mature as a young man the more I can actually articulate exactly why an internet celebrity targeting an indie game by "think of the children-ing" about comical violence on the level of the average looney tunes cartoon, subtle - likely unintentional- reinforcement of normalized ableism in society, and devolving into a tangent about how irreplaceable the nuclear family is (because the main character is implied to have a single mother) was so shitty. Then to go on and claim the game's fans were attacking him for pointing out that everything he said was a reflection of his own issues, even though his fans were the ones engaging in harassment.

[hazelenergy]

☕️ Gehenna

Sometimes y’alls ramblings about Gehenna feel like idiots online screaming the world was going to end in 2012. For some of you, its like how people freaked about computers exploding on New Years in 2000. You rush to unplug all your devices before it’s too late, only to realize nothing bad was going to happen- you just made everyone freak out or possibly destroyed your computer. 

No worries. I get it. The end of the world is terrifying to everyone. 

But, I found it a bit odd that immortal beings would have a doomsday story. But then again, no one seems to have read the fine print on immortality where it clearly says terms and conditions apply. Regardless, my actual feelings on Gehenna have always been pushed down because a lot of kindred acted as if I personally was going to bring about the end times. But I can’t deny, I have experienced some weird stuff besides my general existence. 

Living as the Tremere lab rat meant that no one would dare lay a finger on me directly without fear of Mary’s wrath. But it did mean I got subjected to their apocalyptic speculations. Most of the time I had no idea what they were talking about. Sometimes for fun, I’d just roll with it. 

Once, a kindred asked if I’ve ever been pregnant. Which first off, rude and invasive. Secondly, I’m a big lesbian. The likelihood of me being pregnant isn’t zero, but it is slim. But this Malkavian had my attention. She looked older, maybe in her 50s and had streaks of silvery hair covering her eyes. I laughed and told her no. She smiled at me and then asked if I liked the name Wendy. I spoke before I had a chance to organize my thoughts and said Wendy is a cute name. She looked at me gravely and said I knew the time of thinblood would be upon us again. She then said, “Keep your legs crossed, Daughter of Eve,” and then left Elysium. Needless to say, I went back to Mary’s Haven instead of home with a new partner. 

Within 24 hours of every Elysium we were ordered to spill our interactions and reveal any learned secrets to Mary. When I told her about this interaction she raised her eyebrow and got up to her filing cabinet. She pulled out a thin file labeled Dhampirs. The first article was a medical autopsy on an infant named Wendy- the research done by a Dr. Douglas Netchurch. Mary explained that it is rare, but thinbloods can and have carried children to term. And like the presence of thinbloods is a portent of Gehenna- their physical offspring is as well. She then laughed harder than ever before, wiping a bloody tear from her eye. I asked what was so funny. “You must forgive me, but the idea of you mothering a child is utterly amusing.”

I suppose this falls under the Gehenna where there’s too many of us and masquerade breaches are bound to happen. And when the mask is completely shattered, we are all in danger of humans destroying us. And I can’t imagine explaining to a toddler how to contend with the Beast and not hurt others with their powers. Seems like a recipe for disaster.

When I was much more settled in my Elysium routine, I had caught the attention of one of the younger Toreadors of Atlanta. Naturally, the Harpy made me extremely aware of everything about her and then Butternut, my nickname for the Nosferatu Primogen, told me everything else for 20 dollars. She was fond of the stars and their silvery light. I had offered to take her stargazing a little outside Atlanta in exchange for some vitae. This was a fairly normal transaction for me and I understood the price was steep for many. So I always tried to make it worth their while, with a nice night or a wild night depending on their tastes. She pointed out several constellations to me and their varying mythologies. I’ll admit, it was fascinating to hear what different cultures thought of different constellations. I could point out the obvious ones like Leo the Lion or the Little Dipper. She could point out ones that I could barely see, calling them things like Lyra and Crux. She told me of stories of constellations far beyond our sights, some of which can only be seen on clear nights in the Southern Hemisphere. That’s when I noticed it. A bright, gleaming red star in the center of the Big Dipper. It almost looked like an eye in the bright sky. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. But I willed myself to ask about it. She turned to me and playfully said, “Don’t be silly. There’s nothing there,” as she curled closer. I gently explained it was still there and asked her to tell me what it’s story could be. I think she thought it was some sort of game and made up some story to humor me. The rest of the night went as expected. I got to taste and temporarily brew Presence, she got the closest to Mary’s Haven without revealing her true intent and a one-night-stand with the Camarilla’s thinblood kitten. But I continued to see the star for several months. 

I finally got an idea of what I saw when I met with a Salubri by the name of Nils. He explained that he foresaw something terrible would happen in the city of Atlanta, but the only way to stop the Wyrm was to travel to a city with a Salted Lake. It took a while for us to understand what he meant, and we don’t know if he was successful. To show his good will, he offered us gifts for the night and hope for eternity. For hope. he explained how thinbloods from his domain could walk this path and return to being mortal. For kindred such as himself, the sun is no longer an enemy. When he took Solomon’s hands, he quieted his raging beast for the night. When he took mine, he flinched for a moment like he wanted to let go. He looked into my eyes and said, “You poor childe. You willingly accepted madness to keep your heart from being poisoned. My soul aches knowing you have suffered so much.” Its then, I swear, his forehead began to faintly glow in the shape of an eye. When it opened, it glowed with the same red of that star. I wanted to run away as fast as I could, it didn’t matter how far I had to run. I pulled against his hands, but couldn’t get away. Then, my mind quieted. The thoughts that raced around my head stopped...I didn’t realize how muddled my mind had become. I looked back to see his eye closing, the red starlight shifting to gold. He released my hands and said, “You saw Ixion, no? I think a fledgling like you shouldn’t be weighed with the powers of an Oracle, but I am not one to cast final judgement. The power will return when your mind is clean.” 

Turns out, in 2002, A red star was visible with a telescope and NASA named it Ixion, which is the Greek equivalent for Cain. I jokingly mentioned how Cain sightings are another portent of Gehenna but didn’t expect him to be such a star. Tommy and I laughed. Cass didn’t and then demanded to know how long I could see Wormwood. I explained that first saw it in early spring, 2019 and I haven’t seen it since October 1st, 2019. She made a series of frantic phone calls- I think she was checking up on kindred she used to run with. I’ve known for quite some time Cass used to be with the sabbat. I don’t know what happened between her and her pack. She usually is very willing to explain things to me, but her past is still a complete mystery- aside from her weird fling with Mary. ew. I can respect when she tells me to just drop it. But I can smell the strange shifting aroma from her resonance. She’s angry, then she is filled with sorrow, then she’s afraid. 

I think about Gehenna more than a fledgling probably should and more than is probably healthy. It does make me uneasy for reasons I can’t explain. I guess since everyone else is so afraid- I should be too. However, I am curious to a fault. I have done some research into our doomsday myth. From what I’ve gathered, signs have been occurring for quite some time. And, we are all still here. Bad things seem to happen regardless, it doesn’t mean its Gehenna. But it is a nice scapegoat when things go wrong. Blame it on inevitable destiny rather than cascading consequences of poor leadership. The world is going to keep turning with or without us. Simple as that. 

[ofcounseltech]

Controlling Your Data and Keeping the Wolves at Bay

I our previous Blog article, we discussed how Branded Email, email addresses like Jack@OfCounselTech.com, presents a much more professional appearance than JackSmith1979@aol.com, regardless of whether Jack picked 1979 because that was the year he was born or because the previous 1978 “JackSmith”s were already taken.  But they do more than just present a professional appearance and a more memorable email (and website) address.  They let you control your firm’s data and help protect it against one of the most likely threats.  What does that mean, why should you care, and how does the equivalent of a “vanity plate” for email help you and your firm?  Let’s find out.

Your Firm’s Data

What comprises a typical law firm’s data?  Of course there’s the public information contained in its website, like the names and biographies of the attorneys, areas of practice, press releases, etc., but it is the private information that we really care about and is of the most concern.  

Some data, like basic HR information, you might not want released to the public and competitors, like salaries, social security numbers, home addresses, and the like.  But that is true of any business.  Unlike most regular businesses, law firms are in the unique position of  having very private data on, from, and about their clients.  Releasing this kind of data is just not an option and almost certainly violates one or more of the ethics guidelines resulting in state bar penalties that range from private reprimand letters to suspending or even disbarring attorneys found in violation.  Losing your ability to practice law obviously has a clear financial impact, but also can open the door to malpractice lawsuits which can get into even greater penalties.  

Before we go into the details, we should answer the question “Who are our adversaries?”  Let us simplify things and change the question from “who” to “what.”  For this article, we will go with the stock villain of so many fairy tales: the wolf.  There are two different types of wolves that can cause us to suffer a loss of confidentiality in our data.  We will cover each in turn.

Threat 1: The Big Bad (Hacker) Wolf

From the perspective of information security experts, this scenario typically results from an external, malicious, third party who manages to get into your systems.  This could be the teenage hacker from Scandinavia who breaks into your system because of an easily guessable password or, more realistically, a ransomware program that is sent as a phishing email that seems legitimate enough that someone, a partner, and associate, an admin, anyone, accidentally or purposely clicks on, and is then introduced into your system to steal or encrypt everything.  And while these are real threats, and while our everyday media, movies, and television make it look like this is a pervasive threat, statistically there are other threats much more frightening. 

I know, this is like reading an original Grimm Fairy tale, “and they were trapped there and the evil monster came home and found them and then ate them up.  The end.  Good night.   Don’t let any evil hungry monster get you.  Because it’d eat you up, too.  Sweet dreams.”  But we need to leave the Big Bad Wolf for a future discussion.  I want to talk about a much more likely and scarier threat from a much more realistic, scary wolf that poses a much greater threat to your law firm.

“But my staff are not monsters!” you say.  “I know them, I trust them.”  That’s because these are part-time wolves.  Most of the time they are trustworthy.  But at certain times, when the moon is full, they are werewolves.

Threat 2: The Insidious (Yet Trusted) Werewolf, Two Different Kinds

We all know what werewolves are: dangerous wild monsters that seem like perfectly upstanding citizens that people know, love, and trust.  It gets dark, the moon rises and the real fun starts.  (Yeah, sometimes they’re pretty sketchy and wolfy in human form, but no one trusts those kind anyway.)

The thing is, there are two kinds of werewolves: the ones who know they are wolves and understand what the full moon means  and the ones who don’t, and wander into the night not knowing what is about to happen next.  

The ones who don’t know try to do the right thing.  They have no idea that when they wake up in the aftermath of a disaster with no idea or memory of what happened that they were the cause of the problems.  In the digital world, these are the folks who have no idea what link they clicked on (hint: it was probably a link to fullmoon.com).  They are the innocent people who, because they failed to follow basic advice of “be careful where you go,” wind up getting bit and then cause lots of problems to others.  In later posts, we will address these folks and we promise we will be kind.  These are almost always innocent victims of well crafted Internet trickery and having a company culture that makes it OK to admit when you might have made a mistake, instead of persecuting them, is essential. 

Today we are focusing on the people who know they are werewolves.  Behind their smiling facade, they know what they will do when the appointed hour comes, the damage that it will cause, and they’re totally OK with it.  In the security realm, this is called an Insider Attack.  This is the real treat.  Statistically, your firm is far more likely to have data security problems caused by insiders than by outsiders. 

(If you want to dive into statistics and surveys on the insider threat, here’s one example, the 2020 Insider Threat report from Gurucul: https://go1.gurucul.com/2020-Insider-Threat-Report.)

Insider Attacks: Claws for Alarm

Insiders are trusted employees.  They have access to client data because they deal with the clients every day.  They can be secretaries, admins, paralegals, Of Counsels, associates, or even equity partners.  (While true sole practitioners do not face the risk of an inside job, there are still many valid reasons to use branded email.  Our focus here is on non-solos.)  At some point someone in the lifespan of your law firm who is working with (and for) you will at some point no longer be working at the firm.  You may fire that person or that person may choose to quit.  Perhaps they received a job offer from a competing firm.  Maybe they are being fired for cause or maybe because of economic reasons.  Whatever the reason, they now may have a vested interest in your client data, which is now no longer their client data.  It becomes pretty tempting to take any client lists and contact information they can get their paws on.  In addition to client data, simple things like model contracts, pleadings, research, and other firm work products are fair game..  How do you stop that from happening?  How do you stop your intellectual property from being stolen and your clients getting poached to another firm?  Is this unethical behavior?  Certainly!  But it can be a pretty gray area and very difficult to prove who took what when, after the barn doors have been open (and maybe were never closed).  But there is hope.

Vanity Plates or Silver Bullets?

And this (finally) brings us back to how Branded Email can be a tool to fight against insider attacks.  If your email is JackSmith1979@aol.com and your associate’s email is MoonWatcher2001@gmail.com, these are personal email addresses that are owned and controlled by the individuals, not the firm.  And when “MoonWatcher” leaves, he takes his email address with him and retains access to all the email sent from and received to that account.  Any online accounts tied to that email (westlaw, PACER, local court’s e-filing, etc.) will remain active, attached to that email.  

Let’s look at three different scenarios when a wolf is no longer employed by a firm.

Scenario 1: The Wolf Leaves (With Your Virtual Rolodex)

“MoonWatcher” leaves the firm—on good or bad terms, it makes no difference.  If active clients were communicating with him using his personal email address, then they keep communicating with him, at that address, after he leaves.  In a best case scenario, he sends a very brief reply to the client and CC:’s the firm, saying that he has left the firm and from now on please direct all communications to a specific attorney at the firm.  Sounds a bit awkward, doesn’t it?  And that is the best case.  If the client and “MoonWatcher'' have been working together for years and have a good rapport, the client might reply (but not to you) and ask for more details or where MW is now working.  That client is ripe for the picking.

Since MoonWatcher’s email account is his own personal one, he retains access to all of his old emails and all of his client contacts.  And he can send email to anyone from the same account that used to be affiliated with your business.  If other clients’ emails were included or mentioned at some point, he could contact them,and directly inquire about their legal needs..  Is that ethical?  Generally not.  It really depends on the nature and content of the communication.   Would your firm know about it and would there be an easy, quick path to remedy the situation and confirm the nature and substance of the communication?  Probably not.

So far, we have focused exclusively on email.  But what about all of the computer files?

Scenario 2: Hunting the Wolf at Midnight

As in the previous scenario, if you were sharing files, pleadings, research, etc. and MoonWatcher walked out the door (we will stick with Google Drive for our example, but the same thing is true for Office365), unless your firm has well defined policies and well defined roles (or groups) upon which access to the common drive is regulated, your drive files are exposed.  If it so happens that you had a policy that specified what to do when an employee leaves and you could figure out everything he had access to, you could revoke those permissions to the shared files.  But any files sent as attachments through email are his to keep forever.  So while it is better than doing nothing, it provides very limited protection. 

Using our werewolf analogy, it’s midnight, you hear howling, and you bang on some doors to get a few sleepy villagers together with some torches and maybe a few wooden broom handles, to try to hunt down the wolf.  The night is cloudy so you don’t know if the moon is quite full or not, and the group decides it’s best to split up.  Let’s just say the anti-werewolf squad isn’t a roaring success.  The point is that these villagers did not have a plan ahead of time and are trying to wing it.  It is possible that someone gets lucky and brings a silver pitchfork and is in the right place and the right time.  But that is not a good security plan for the village.  

Note that you absolutely should have written policy on what happens when employees come and go, but that’s a topic for a future article.  

So how would this play out if our village had a plan?

Scenario 3: Plan Ahead—Take the Moon Out of the Equation

Let’s play out our scenario of MoonWatcher leaving if your firm’s email was branded and owned 100% by the firm. 

MoonWatcher2001@gmail.com is now MWatcher@MyLawFirmsName.com.  When MW leaves, you or the HR person would simply log into the Google (or Microsoft) admin web page for MyLawFirmsName.com, select MW’s account and lock it out.  The end.  (It’s a pretty boring story, actually.  But that’s what we want.)

Typically this entire process is a few mouse clicks.  At that point, MW no longer can log in, cannot get email (old or new) from that account, cannot send email from that account (which comes from MyLawFirmsName.com or whatever name your company uses), and cannot get to any of the shared documents that could be retrieved from that account.  Sure, there are some details on how access permissions are configured and there are even ways to get around this, like if MW printed every email he ever received and took it home with him, but the gist is that for a nominal cost (about $75/year/person), you can increase the access control and protections you have on your client data, email communications, internal work products and access to third party resources.  

You don’t deal with the werewolf on his terms, he deals with you on your terms.  The anti-werewolf squad is standing by, ready to go, and they have trained in how to deal with this situation.  And most importantly, they do their job during the day when it is safe before any problems occur!  On full moon nights, the wolf has no access to anyone, all the doors are locked.  And anyone who might need to venture out has the proper protection. 

The Point Is

Custom domains are not a silver bullet cure-all, but they are also not just a vanity license plate on the “information superhighway.”  They define and identify your company and use this branded identity to set boundaries on, and protect, your private information—private information that is one of the most valuable assets, and biggest liabilities if mishandled, that your company possesses.  Use it so your protections against insider attacks will be a howling success.

Contact us at Of Counsel Technologies to learn how you can protect your assets, your reputation, and your company with this simple step.

[sheilacwall]

The Return Of The Purple Tape: Raekwon’s Classic Sequel Turns Ten

“Got me behind the pot again”

The odds were stacked against him.

His prior two albums had been decent, but both had paled in comparison to his debut.

His crew, the likes of which had never been seen before, was more than a decade removed from its astronomical height.

The music — the culture — was in the midst of a seismic shift to a new look and sound.

Sequels to rap albums very rarely live up to their name — or hype — and the expectations for this one had been building for more than ten years.

Thus, when Raekwon announced that he would be releasing the long-awaited continuation to his stellar debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, everything was set up for disappointment.

“Tell a friend, it’s that symbol again, that W”

By 2009, the Wu-Tang Clan was no longer seen as invincible.

After storming onto the scene with their kung fu sound effects, chess imagery, and street tales on 1993’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), the group had a half-decade run of dominance of five solo albums that ranged from excellent to great, ultimately culminating in the grandiose double album Wu-Tang Forever.

One of those solo albums was Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Raekwon’s solo effort that featured partner-in-rhyme Ghostface Killah as a guest star as the two embark one final score before leaving the streets behind. With its mafia-infused cinematic rhymes — and aliases — over RZA’s layered soundscapes, it influenced albums by other greats of that era, specifically It Was Written, Reasonable Doubt, and Life After Death, and was the greatest album in a year that boasted several classics.

Following the completion of what the Clan’s de facto leader, RZA, had designed as a five-year plan, which had taken the group from the slums of Shaolin to the top of the Billboard chart in the summer of 1997, the group began to drift, both from each other and from its place atop hip-hop.

RZA no longer held dominion over everyone and everything, and the members’ newfound freedom led to every Clansman aside from Masta Killa dropping a solo album between 1998 and 2000. The results were, at best, mixed and the Wu logo lost a bit of its luster, both as a group and from a personal perspective.

By the end of the first decade of the new millennium, Staten Island’s swordsmen were in the limbo — they were no longer at the forefront of the culture but they had not yet transitioned into their legendary elder statesmen status that leans on nostalgia in a Showtime documentary, a scripted Hulu series, and anniversary concerts.

For Raekwon, one of the Clan’s sharpest swords, his experience matched that of the group as a whole with two uneven projects — 1999’s Immobilarity and 2003’s The Lex Diamond Story — that featured only two Ghostface appearances and zero RZA and were considered to be letdowns by most.

While anticipation for a second Cuban Linx… disc was high, expectations were guarded.

“Cuban Link Dynasty has emerged”

It had been anticipated — and promised — for years.

The Chef began talking about it in 2005, a full decade from when the original had been released. Immediately, speculation began to swirl about who would — and would not — be involved.

It’s going to come out on Aftermath with plenty of Dr. Dre beats and be executive produced by Busta Rhymes!

It’s going to be completely produced by RZA!

Instead of Ghostface, Inspectah Deck and GZA are going to be the co-stars!

And on and on.

Such rumors remained rampant as the years crept by, promised release dates came and went, and Raekwon continued to fine-tune the album while skeptics pointed to the delay as proof that it was an impossible task. From time to time, Rae would give an interview vowing the project was nearly complete, but interest in the mythical album would truly spike only when music was heard like in 2007, the RZA-produced “State of Grace” and the J. Dilla-backed “Baggage Handlers” leaked online. Both tracks, which featured audio from Scarface, not only sounded but felt, like Cuban Linx cuts. Finally, there was proof and, for the first time, it felt like fiction may finally become fact.

It would take another two years, during which time most fans went from a feeling of optimism to one of resigned disappointment that it would never see the light of day.

Finally, on September 8, 2009, fourteen years, one month, and one week after its predecessor had hit the streets and changed the game, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II was unleashed. It was more than worth the wait as the incredibly high expectations were not only met but exceeded.

The original reached legendary status not only because of the music but also due to the cassette’s unique purple tinting. Raekwon said he “wanted his album to stand out against the typical pile of tapes that collected on the floors of people’s cars,” and making it purple would differentiate it.

Of course, cassettes were no longer standard in 2009, but Rae was still able to reference his classic choice by making the artwork on the actual disc a purple tape — with the hole in the CD serving as one of the cassette’s holes.

Whereas the first purple tape was a “loose narrative about rising through the urban criminal ranks,” part two is “a loose narrative about a now-middle-aged drug dealer struggling with, but ultimately celebrating, his hard-bitten survival.”

Picking up exactly where the first one ended, Pt. II even utilizes the end of the final song on the original (“North Star [Jewels]”) as the start of the sequel (“Return of the North Star”).

From there, it kicks off with a bang in the form of “House of Flying Daggers,” which finds Deck, Ghostface, and Method Man spitting over a relentless marching synth that immediately took its place among the greatest Wu posse cuts ever.

“Pyrex Vision” finds the Chef back in the kitchen again and though it is under a minute long, it still resonates. “Black Mozart” brilliantly — and appropriately — interpolates The Godfather soundtrack; Rae delivers a compassionate tribute to his late comrade Ol’ Dirty Bastard on “Ason Jones”; “10 Bricks,” featuring Ghostface and Cappadonna, feels like it was recorded in ’95; and “New Wu,” along with the dual closer of “Mean Streets” and “Kiss the Ring” are all vintage cinematic Cuban Linx tracks but delivered in the relaxed manner that comes with age and maturity.

It is very much a family affair as every living Clansman aside from U-God appears at least once, but whereas Nas was the only emcee outside of the group invited to the original, Rae opened up the second journey to several more non-Wu members, each of whom bring their own brand of potency. There’s Beanie Sigel’s introspective verse about being locked up on “Have Mercy” to Jadakiss and Styles P. bringing their asphalt aesthetics to “Broken Safety” to Busta Rhymes and the legend Slick Rick being their serious yet playful selves on “About Me” and “We Will Rob You,” respectively.

The combination of featured guests shows how Rae was attempting to look both backward and forward at the same time, revisiting the first one while also appreciating the growth that had transpired over the years:

“The whole main purpose of the album is to make you reminisce. But at the same token, you still gotta show some kind of growth, and we did that, too. My mind is thinkin’ in both directions at the same time — on makin’ a classic album and still managin’ to make it sound like how we was feelin’ when we made music way back when.”

Even more than through the rhyme spitters, this duality was achieved through the lush, atmospheric backdrops that came from the roster of producers that ranged from excellent (Scram Jones) to legendary (J Dilla, Pete Rock), from Shaolin veterans (RZA, Mathematics, True Master) to those new to the Wu sound (Marley Marl, Dr. Dre).

Each one kept not only the same sound, but also the same vibe and feel of the original, channeling vintage RZA without biting him or compromising their own approach: “The myriad of producers didn’t work together, but somehow they all managed to end up on the same page.”

All of it — rhymes, beats, imagery, even the cover art — came together to create another perfect mixture:

“Everything about Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II demands worship and solidifies Raekwon as one of history’s best with a continuation that exceeds his original debut in every way imaginable.”

“When I step inside, kiss the ring”

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 — and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart — both matching the highest chart placements of the original. Moreover, it was the number one downloaded album on iTunes for the first three days following its release, a significant accomplishment, particularly when considering it had been six years since Rae had released an LP and that one had not even cracked the top 100 of the chart, not to mention where the Clan stood in the minds of most casual rap fans.

The album was included in dozes of best-of-year lists. Both The Source and Hip Hop DX crowned it the album of the year and Complex ranked it as the fifth-best album of 2009. Accolades came from outside hip-hop as well, with Pitchfork also choosing it as the fifth-best album of 2009, PopMatters slotting it seventh, and Slant placing it eighth. It was even praised by the likes of Time (seventh-best album of the year) and The New York Times (eighth).

In total, it was the sixth-highest rated album of the year across all genres and the top hip-hop entry on the list by a wide margin.

By returning to his greatest accomplishment, Raekwon also reclaimed his spot among hip-hop’s best lyricists, even being crowned emcee of the year by HipHopDX and lauded by Time: “Raekwon is a poet of grime, a storyteller who understands that rap is less about an easy hook than the collision of carefully chosen words.”

It was rap’s equivalent of The Godfather Part II — a sequel that not only lives up to the original while also standing on its own merits but, when experienced together as part of a duology, brings even more impact to the original.

After a decade-and-a-half of anticipation, promises, false starts, and disappointments, Raekwon ultimately defied the odds and created a classic that is also the greatest rap sequel of all time:

“With a heavy dose of Ghostface, flawless sequencing, tremendous cohesion despite the range of producers, and age-defying lyrical performances from Raekwon himself, Pt. II matches the magic of its originator without trying to recreate it.”

Republished from THE PASSION OF CHRISTOPHER PIERZNIK

Christopher Pierznik is the author of nine books, including The Hip Hop 10 and Hip Hop Scholar, all of which are available in paperback and Kindle. In addition to his own site, his work has appeared on XXL, Cuepoint, Business Insider, The Cauldron, and many more. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

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[theconservativebrief]

Justin Kosslyn leads product management at Jigsaw, the Google (erm, Alphabet) subsidiary working on technological solutions to problems like online censorship and radicalization. Before that, he worked at Google News, Google+, and Google AdSense.

The experience must have radicalized him a bit, because in an essay published at Motherboard, he takes direct aim at not just one of Silicon Valley’s founding assumptions, but one of his parent company’s core business strategies.

“The philosophy of the Internet has assumed that friction is always part of the problem,” writes Kosslyn. But look around. The problem now isn’t too much friction; it’s too little. “It’s time,” he says, “to bring friction back.”

Our digital lives dispense with friction. We get the answers we seek instantly, we keep up with friends without speaking to them, we get the news as it happens, we watch loops of videos an algorithm chose for us, we click once and get any product in the world delivered to our doorsteps in less than two days.

Less friction means more time spent, more ads seen, more sales made. Tech companies lose customers during login screens and security verification, and as a result of slow load times. The country’s top computer science talent is paid billions of dollars to further reduce the milliseconds of delay separating our desires and their fulfillment.

But these technological wonders do not seem to have made our lives or societies more wonderful. Depression, anxiety, loneliness, drug overdoses, and suicide are rising. Productivity growth has slowed. Income inequality has skyrocketed. Politics is more bitter and more tribal. Donald Trump is president of the United States. Something is wrong.

Kosslyn is focused on digital threats: malware, phishing, disinformation. All of these, he says, “exploit high-velocity networks of computers and people.” But I wonder about the whole damn thing. Whether it’s all gotten so fast and so easy and so frictionless that we’re on an endless Slip ’n’ Slide down the chute of our own worst impulses.

I’ll start with media because that’s the space I know best. I’ve been digital since day one. I was a blogger before I was a journalist, and I’ve always preferred publishing online to publishing in print. It was, well, frictionless. You wrote something, you pressed publish, and there it was.

But as I look around today, I find myself yearning for a bit more of the friction of yesteryear. Twitter is almost perfectly frictionless — no editors, no formatting, built for instant reaction and in-group applause — and Trump is the result. YouTube, with its recommendation algorithm automatically directing us to more extreme content, is a powerful force for radicalization. Cable news is fast, reactive, competitive, and thus sensationalistic, tribal, and conflictual.

Friction creates space in the system where judgment can intercede, where second thoughts can be had, where decisions can be made. Look at organizations with longer time lags and more editors and you get better, calmer, more considered coverage. I believe that one reason podcasts have exploded is that they carry so much friction: They’re long and messy, they often take weeks or months to produce, they’re hard to clip and share and skim — and as a result, they’re calmer, more human, more judicious, less crazy-making.

Too much friction can be annoying — there are plenty of days I feel like posting something without waiting for an edit, and much news needs to be known quickly — but too little friction can be dangerous. It leads to reporting and commentary that’s reactive, ill-considered, wrong. I wouldn’t want to go back to the media of the ’50s. But I don’t want to double down on the trends of the present, either.

Let’s put politics and media, with its unique dynamics, aside. Socializing is frictionless online. It’s far easier to click around on Facebook than to plan a hike with a friend, a movie with a cousin, a day out of the house. It’s easier, but is it making us more connected?

The answer, empirically, is no. A new study paid people to limit their use of major social media platforms to 10 minutes a day, and compared them to a control group that didn’t make any changes. The result? “Participants who reduced their time on social sites saw a statistically significant decrease in depression and loneliness,” reports The Verge’s Casey Newton. “The control group did not report an improvement.”

Then there’s distraction. I feel it myself, right now, writing this piece. It is frictionless to click over to Reddit, to my email, to any of a million sites that will take my mind off the work of writing a column and refocus it on the easy sugar water of social media and viral content and Slack conversation.

Writing, by contrast, is full of friction. It’s hard and slow, and the words on the page fall short of the music and clarity I imagined they’d have. But it is, in the end, rewarding. It’s where I have at least a chance to create something worth creating. The work is worth it.

This isn’t a new problem, of course. It’s always easier to play a video game than to craft a presentation. But the ease and availability of distractions has skyrocketed with smartphones and broadband connections, while doing hard, productive work remains as maddening as ever.

Dan Nixon, an economist at the Bank of England, has suggested that the slow productivity growth across economies reflects the growing ease of distraction, which is overwhelming the gains of new technologies. “Distractions can directly reduce the quality of our work,” he writes. “An influx of emails and phone calls, for example, is estimated to reduce workers’ IQ by 10 points — equivalent to losing a night’s sleep.”

Worse, there’s evidence that all this is changing our brains, making them resist long periods of focus and crave more distraction. “If every moment of potential boredom in your life — say, having to wait five minutes in line or sit alone in a restaurant until a friend arrives — is relieved with a quick glance at your smartphone, then your brain has likely been rewired,” writes computer scientist Cal Newport in Deep Work.

When Facebook sends you a notification saying someone has tagged you in a picture, or when Twitter pings to say someone has mentioned you in a comment, they’re giving you a spike of anxiety and anticipation that raises the friction of not checking the platform. Cutting-edge behavioral science is being applied to the problem of how to make you pay less attention to your surroundings and more attention to your phone.

So too is cutting-edge lobbying. The blockbuster New York Times story on Facebook’s political tactics reveals a company paying off high-priced opposition researchers to make sure regulators don’t try to add the friction individual users don’t have the power to apply themselves.

And yet the world is full of friction that we recognize as valuable, much of it enforced by laws and regulations. Seatbelts in cars, restrictions on opioid prescriptions, banisters on stairwells. Silicon Valley, however, has developed a culture that prizes our instant impulses and erases the space we use to question them. And the result is, well, the world we live in. Trump isn’t just the president, he’s also the perfect symbol of our age — a frictionless id; a Twitter account in human form; a man devoid of the shame, social caution, and second thoughts that curb most people’s worst impulses.

“The internet is facing real challenges on many fronts,” Google’s Kosslyn concludes. “If we truly want to solve them, engineers, designers, and product architects could all benefit from the thoughtful application of friction.”

Change needs to come, but I’m skeptical it will come from the employees of companies that get richer by greasing the path between our impulses and their profits. Rather, it’s going to have to come from us rediscovering the value of things being a little slower and a little less efficient.

Original Source -> The case for slowing everything down a bit

via The Conservative Brief

[kristinwritesmuch]

Unedited version “Put metal detectors in Q-C schools.”

Over the past two years there have been many school lockdowns. While they have certainly struck fear and panic into students and parents, most of them have been due to events going on in the community within a close proximity to a school, or they have been attributed to unsubstantiated threats. It appears that in today’s school culture calling in a school threat is the equivalent of pulling a fire alarm to get out of school.

Recently it would seem as though school lockdowns in the Quad City area are becoming the norm. There have been three since school started this year. The first two were at United Township High School in Illinois. On August 17th, and 18th, threats were called into local police regarding UT High School. Apparently an arrangement between a UT student and a student located in Germany, a friend made through online gaming, was at the root of these two school lockdowns.

The closest any recent lockdown has come to anyone getting hurt was an incident at Moline High School where a student brought a B.B. gun to school. The student carrying the gun was reported by another student and he was dealt with by the school before anything could happen.

The Moline High incident had been the closest to anyone getting hurt until Friday, August 31st. On that day a 12 year old North Scott Jr High student brought a loaded .22 caliber gun into the school. The student took that loaded gun, which had a full clip and one in the chamber, into the classroom, pulled it from his backpack, pointed it at his classmates and then pointed it at the teacher’s face while pulling the trigger. Thankfully he didn’t realize that the safety was on and no shot was fired.

The teacher, after having a gun pointed to her head and the trigger pulled, was able to get that gun from the student before he could take the safety off. She is absolutely a hero. She stopped that student plain and simple, and in the process prevented North Scott Jr High from becoming another national news story about a devastating and horrifying school shooting incident.

That same 12 year old North Scott student is currently sitting in a juvenile detention center on charges of attempted murder (among other charges). Attempted murder! He intended to kill that teacher, and very likely other students.

Let all of that sink in for a minute.  Horrifying doesn’t begin to describe what may have happened.

During the course of this madness, my son, a high functioning autistic student in the talented and gifted program at the school, was just three days from his 13th birthday. While my son was not in the room, it does not mean that the fast acting teacher in that classroom didn’t save his life, and in doing so give him the opportunity to become a 13 year old boy on September 3rd. My heart has so much gratitude for this teacher’s actions on that day.

No one is ever truly safe anywhere, but as a parent, I have felt my children were more safe in a small town school district...somewhere away from the larger parts of the Quad Cities. Ed White Elementary (where my other three children attend) started ALICE drills (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate training), and revamped their security measures over the past few years. There are teachers, staff, and administrators at every entrance in the morning and at the end of the school day to help ensure the safety of the children. During the school day only two doors, leading directly to the office, remain unlocked and visitors must get buzzed through to enter the school.

While these methods keep our children safe from intruders, what about the threats from within?

Maybe some school districts in the Quad City area have discussed the possibility of walk through metal detectors. Maybe they have also dismissed the idea as the costs associated, or the presence it would create, or the time it would take to get all the students through would not be feasible with current school funding. In addition, one might argue that if a student is dedicated to bringing a weapon to school, they would likely be able to find a way, even with metal detectors in place. With that being said, I am positive that metal detectors would certainly be a discouraging factor for any student considering becoming a would be school shooter.

According to a Department of Justice article on the use of walk-through metal detectors in schools, the cost of a unit that would be best suited for the type of school security necessary (yes, necessary) is between $4,000-5,000. The larger cost associated with using metal detectors is the salary of the personnel required to operate the detectors.

As a parent, I would absolutely donate money and volunteer my time to give my children more safety and security at school.

After being instructed by the school to not come and pick my child, I began researching walk through metal detectors. I did this in an attempt to avoid a full-blown panic attack, as it took everything I had not to immediately rush to the school, get him and then never take him back there again. I refrained only because the school asked parents not to come to the school. However, I did immediately email my son’s Special Ed teacher asking her to check on him and get back to me. She responded quickly and let me know that he was fine. With my son having high functioning autism a person might believe that he is oblivious to what is going on around him, and my thoughts were that he would not even notice. His anxiety on the other hand was my main concern, as it can cause him to panic when he feels unsafe. Let’s just say that his pragmatic outlook, coupled with logic and reason won on this day, as he was emotionally unaffected by the incident.

Within the course of the day, K-12 teacher friends of mine had begun contacting me on their instructional breaks, as they had been alerted to the situation, and know that I have children in the North Scott School District.  After assuring them that my son and other children were fine, I began to inquire about the use of metal detectors in schools. I was given the above responses concerning cost, personnel, presence, and time as factors for nixing the idea of walk through metal detectors in schools.

At this point none of those reasons are strong enough to continue to jeopardize our children’s safety.

My first reaction was the desire to immediately create a GoFundMe campaign for raising money to put walk through metal detectors in all schools in the Quad Cities, but lacking administrative support from all these school districts make it unlikely to happen even with the funding. My call is for all parents and concerned residents of the Quad Cities to push on those school district administrators for a change in how we protect our children. Our future.

[thenerdytomboynewb96]

Samantha Allan Park Ch. #17

Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's.

Chapter #17

*Sunday June 22nd* *Theme: Porter Robinson and Madeon-Shelter*

“Whoaaa!” the turtles said as they watched Optimus prove his strength to Grimlock. Sam knew that the movie theater they were at closed early on Sundays, so she showed the guys how she usually snuck in and now for the first time the four brothers were watching a Hollywood movie up close on the big screen, and they couldn’t have asked for a more perfect first film: Transformers Age of Extinction. Out of her peripheral vision, Sam could see all the guys jaws drop when the Dinobots came charging in, literally crushing all the man-made Decepticons that crossed their path. 

It was 10:00 when the movie ended and the entire mall was now closed, so Sam thought it would be a fun idea to go on a walk with the guys, who obviously had never been to the mall before. 

Sam was currently with Leo in another antique store. He liked to look for antiques that represented Japanese culture, but him being the only ‘mature’ one, no one else wanted to look around the store (or any of the others he had chosen) so she joined him once again so that he wouldn’t be alone. At the moment he was looking at a tea set with Japanese Cherry Blossoms on them, but after so long he couldn’t stand Sam constantly staring at him. “Why don’t you just take a picture?” he said sarcastically. “Sorry I know it’s not funny, but you totally look like a grandpa who’s trying to pick out a traditional gift for his wife” she said with a smirk. “Is that why you keep following me around in these stores?” he asked as he placed the tea cups down and continued walking throughout the store. “Well I was trying to be nice and not have you shop alone, but I see that I’m not wanted” she pouted. Leo rolled his eyes. “Ahh, so you’re not trying to be annoying on purpose.” “You enjoy my company, don’t deny it!” she said as she pointed at him with a smile. Leo shrugged, but they both knew that this was very true. He had a feeling that his younger brothers would either complain or joke around too much in a store like this, so it was nice to have Sam around. She was someone who knew when to be serious and when to crack a joke, someone you could actually talk to without them teasing you when you share your thoughts.   He looked over and saw her laughing while holding a wooden umbrella with a paper top. “What am I missing that’s so funny?” he asked as he picked one up and looked at the stripped design when it opened up. “I was thinking of my older brother Brian. Everyone teased me about being Asian at heart since I’ve always been interested in Asian cultures. My other blood siblings were interested some, but never as much as I was. Before he even became my brother he would take me to places like this all the time, it kind of became this tradition between the two of us. I was thinking of this one time where he was holding umbrellas like this over his head and making the dorkiest faces” she said as she laughed. “Oh my god I’m literally laughing at things only I know about, I’ve become that person” she said with an embarrassed expression. Leo smiled at her as he thought back to what Donnie had said the other night. It might have just been a coincidence, but she said that Brian ‘would take me to places’ rather than saying ‘Brian takes me to places like this.’ Now that he had been looking out for this, he noticed that she definitely talked like this a lot. He decided to test this out. “Does Jay bring you to places like this?” “Sometimes. He never used to though. I think he saw that it was a fun little tradition between me and Brian, so I don’t think he wanted to interfere, but I don’t see Brian as much now, so I think that’s why every once in a while he’ll bring me to places like this.” “Ahh, I see.” She did it again. She said ‘it was’ and ‘he wanted’ as if this was all something of the past, rather than saying ‘he sees that it’s a fun tradition’ and ‘he doesn’t want to interfere.’ He wondered what all this meant, or if it meant anything at all. He wondered if it was something they all should be concerned about, but Sam seemed happy and content, so he decided that it was best to leave the subject alone until Sam brought this info to light on her own.

They walked around the store for another ten minutes and then headed out. They passed by a few stores and found Donatello in yet another electronics shop. “What did you find this time dorkatello?” Sam teased. He playfully glared at her. “I found donated phones. I’m looking at which ones are damaged really badly and which ones can be saved. I read online that the donated phones that can be saved are sent to U.S. troops overseas, so I don’t want to take those, I’m not that selfish. However, I will take the ones that are smashed up and can be re-wired so that I can use them for various things.” “Look at you. Not only looking out for the state, but also for the country” she said as she saluted to him. “That’s actually a cool idea” Leo said as he looked at some of the phones throughout the bin. “Find anything for Sensei?” Donnie asked as he looked up at his eldest brother. “Nah, nothing that he doesn’t already have.” “Gotcha. Well, I think I’m done with this store. I’m ready whenever you guys are.” The three then walked out of the store and found the remaining two brother’s at a cologne shop on the other side of the mall. They walked in and saw Mikey and Raph looking at various glass bottles. “Pfft.” Sam covered her mouth and tried not to laugh out loud. She thought it was hilarious seeing these two who usually acted so macho now testing all these colognes on the sample strips and discussing which scents they liked best. These two trying on cologne was the equivalent of two feminine sisters testing scents at Bath and Body works. The two boys looked over and glared at her, that’s when she turned towards Donnie. “Donatello! Don’t laugh at your brothers!” she said as she shoved his arm. “You know I’m taller and stronger than you, right?” he said as he took a step so that he now towered over her. “Is that a threat?” she said as she as pretended to be taken aback, though they both knew she was joking. He nodded and said “yeah” with a sincere smile, joining in on her joke. “Well, this is how I respond to threats!” she said as she leaped onto his back. Leo just stared at the two of them as they backed out of the store as they goofed off. “You’d never know that she was just looking through an antique store, or that she’s older than us.” Mikey laughed and Raph smiled, both at seeing Sam continue to show her true colors, and also at their nerdy brother let loose and have fun. Leo began looking at some of the bottles that lined the shelves. He had absolutely no idea what the scent of each liquid was since, well, no scent was stated on the front of the bottle. Curious, he picked up a bottle with light blue liquid inside, shrugged his shoulders, and sprayed a small amount in front of him. He took a sniff and then made a face of disgust. “Oh god, this stinks as bad as when Mikey found that Axe body spray pack and tried on each one at the exact same moment” Leo said, waving his hand in front of his face. Just then, Sam and Donnie had walked back in. Donnie began looking at bottles on the opposite wall and Sam had meant to walk past Leo to see what the other two had picked up, but she also stopped and made a face of disgust. “What did you do?” she asked, facing him with wide eyes. “Sprayed whatever this is” he said as he held up the bottle. Raph inspected the bottle in his brother’s hand. “You guys don’t like this? This is brand new!” “Well tell them to take it back” Sam said as she coughed. “You’re a girl, right? Aren’t you supposed to like when guys wear stuff like this?” Raph asked. “Sexist much?” He paused and then turned his head. “Donnie?” “Totally sexist dude” he said as he continued to look at bottles on the opposite wall. “Oh, heh, my bad” he said with an apologetic smile. “No problem” she chuckled with a smile. “Well I’m going anywhere that’s not here” she said with a wide smile. “I second that” Leo said as he followed behind. “Tch, they don’t get it” Mikey said as he nudged Raph, who nodded in agreement as they pulled on Donnie’s shoulder so that he would walk with them as they all followed Sam. They passed a few stores until Sam stopped, waiting for the guys reactions. “Ohhhhh!” “Whoaaaa!” each of them said as they all ran inside GameStop. “You’re welcome?” she said as she stared at the jaw dropped brothers. They all quickly turned towards her, said “thanks Sam!” and then continued looking throughout the store. Donnie was the closest, so she walked over and looked at the game he was looking at. “Awwwww I can’t wait until I get a copy of this” she said as she looked at the case for Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark with a huge smile. “Only two more days and then I can start hacking systems to access this game” Donnie said, a huge smile also displayed on his face. “I’m still pissed Bumblebee doesn’t have a voice in the movies though. They should just leave the job to Johnny Bosch, for the games and the films. Like, he’s incredible when it comes to voice acting, and I’m not just saying that because he voices characters from some of my most favorite anime.”   “I wouldn’t mind that, his voice actually had a nice fit. Plus that would be a huge opportunity for him which he totally deserves.” Sam then turned around and saw Leo looking at a demo screen in the front of the store which was currently advertising a trailer for Titanfall. Leo’s eyes were glued to the screen as he watched a pilot battle his way through the Frontier and then begin commanding a Titan. “Gee Leo, sucks that you can’t take the game home, doesn’t it?” Sam smirked. “Right…I can’t take the game…because that would be stealing…yeah” Leo said as he slowly started backing away, but then was pulled back towards the screen. “Look what that Titan can do” he said in a calming voice as he smiled and started walking back towards the screen. That’s when Sam knew she had to interrupt his line of sight. “Okay, why don’t you go look over there?” she said as she fought to literally turn him around.  “I’m gonna look over there now” he said calmly as he also fought himself to finally turn away from the screen. He walked over to Raph and looked over his shoulder at the game in his hand. “Daylight?” Leo asked. “Yeah. It’s a survival horror game where you have to find object’s that explain the history behind the haunted hospital that you wake up in. I heard it got some negative reviews, but it sounds interesting.” “I didn’t know you were interested in horror games” Leo said. Raph shrugged. “I’m not interested in them, but this one sounded interesting. What do you have Mikey?” “BAM! Look at this beaut!” he said as he held out a copy of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. “Oooh!” Sam said as she ran over. “I remember seeing the trailers for this! I can’t wait to get a copy.” “Let me know as soon as you do!” “Well duh, I can’t play multiplayer by myself” she said, receiving a playful shove from her friend. “Well, I’m done looking at games, time to go play” she said as she walked out of the store. The guys watched her as she walked across the walkway to the other side of the mall, down some stairs, and then walk back over to the store that was below them. Mikey was the first to act as he walked over and jumped over the railing and from the second floor down to the first (for them this jump was nothing serious.) The remaining brothers decided that he must have enjoyed wherever it was that they went since he never came back, so they did the same thing and landed in front of the shop below the gaming store. Instantly they knew why Mikey hadn’t come back to signal them to come down, he was already running around throughout the arcade in front of them. All four brothers looked around at all the different games inside the rather large space. It seemed small from the outside, but once inside, spectators could see that the room continued to travel further and further back with more and more games. In order to prevent a lot of loud noise, the five decided to only turn on whatever game it was that they wanted to play at that time.

Donnie ventured out to find some speed games. He first found a game called Pop the Locks where a dial spins around and you have to press a button when the dial stops on the lock, and if you press the button after it’s moved past or before it hits the lock then you’re out. Sam and Mikey first moved to a game called The Shocker where you have to hold onto two handles as the vibration becomes stronger and stronger, and you lose if you let go. These two played this game until they momentarily couldn’t feel their hands, and then they convinced Donnie to play, and then they convinced all of them to play until everyone momentarily lost feeling in their hands. Sam and Mikey then freaked out when they saw Transformers and Walking Dead themed shooting games and both rushed over and immediately started playing, and while they played this, the other three brother’s found some pinball machines to play. Once the shooters completed their missions, Leo, Raph, and Mikey moved on to play more of the sporty games where they took shots on goal, threw basketballs through hoops, bowled to knock down pins, or threw baseballs and footballs in their hole. Sam didn’t care for games like these as much, so she stuck around with Donnie for a bit who went back to speed related games. The two played the electronic jump rope game, had to stack 3-D towers, (both by pressing buttons or by moving a square controller from side to side) had to use their fingers to maneuver through mazes, and had to land lights on the right spot to get wheels to spin. When the group came back together as a whole, they decided to play all the games that were based on apps. They pressed buttons to avoid green pipes when playing Flappy Bird, rolled a sphere controller when playing Temple Run, launched back their controllers to launch birds in the latest Angry Birds game, and swiped their hands across the screen when playing Fruit Ninja. They continued to split up and play various games, but the last two hours were spent with each other as a group of five. They found as many games as they could where they could all compete against each other in tournaments: air hockey, skeeball, racing games, back to sporty games, and even multiple rounds of DDR.

Most would see this as such a simple night of watching a movie at the theater, going shopping, and playing some games at the arcade, but for their own reasons, this was one of the best night of all five of their lives.

 *Wednesday June 25th, Madison Square Garden’s Arena, the Jumbo Tron* *Turtles POV*

The final buzzard went off and the game was over. The four turtles were cheering for the Knicks who had just won another game that season. “You know what a victory means?” Mikey asked. “Gee, what could that mean?” Donnie asked sarcastically, knowing exactly what his younger brother was about to say. “MORE PIZZA!!!” he shouted. “Ugh, how can you eat anymore? We ordered so many to begin with, and you even had some earlier before we left” Leo said as he held his stomach. He was full and wouldn’t be hungry again until sometime tomorrow afternoon, so how Mikey could still want food he would never understand. “I told you, his stomach is a black hole” Raph teased. “That or he’s an alien or something.” “Then Sam must be one to! Seriously, sometimes she can eat as much as I can!” “Doubt it.” “As scary as it is to admit, it’s true. I’ve seen it happen” Donnie said with a shudder. “Guys” Leo said as he nodded his head over towards Sam. The whole time they had been talking, Sam had been looking at something down below. Leo tried to follow what she was looking at without making it obvious, but he couldn’t figure out what her attention was focused on. She hadn’t moved, she hadn’t even blinked, she just stared down at something without any movement, like it had shocked her so much that she was now paralyzed. Without saying anything, she turned and swung herself back up to the walkways above their spot in the Jumbo Tron and she took off. “Sam, wait!” Mikey called. “Do we chase her?” Raph asked, concern and fear in his tone. He had no idea where she was going and if whatever she was about to do would risk either hers or their lives. “Don’t worry I can track her” Donnie said as he pulled out a small handheld GPS system from one of the pockets on the straps running down his chest. His fingers went to work and within seconds he knew where Sam was. “I tracked her by her cell phone, but…this shows that she’s still in the building…” “Mikey? Any idea what’s going on?” Leo asked as he faced his youngest brother. Mikey shook his head with a grave and somber look on his face. “I wish I knew.” “She’s on the move, and so are we” Donnie said as he started climbing back up to the walkways above them. “Where we goin?” Raph asked as he trailed behind Donnie. “She’s heading back outside, if we get to the roof then we might be able to spot her.” The four turtles rushed back up and through the walkways and then back up to the roof where they were walking along the sides of the top of the building. “Arghhh, there’s people everywhere! How are we supposed to find her?” Raph asked in frustration. “It says…she should be this way” Donnie said as he pointed towards the front of the building. There were crowds of people all over the place, both because of the game letting out, and also because this was New York during the summer. “FOUND HER!” Mikey shouted and pointed at a girl who had just run across to the other side of the street. They saw her run over to a group of six guys and then pull on the arm of a young Asian male within the group. “Mikey-” “I don’t know, she’s never really mentioned any guys outside from her soccer team. I mean, there were a few from dance and different clubs, but he doesn’t match any of the faces from any of the pictures. There were five main Asian guys she told me about and he’s not one of them.” “Is he the brother?” Donnie asked. “She said she had another Asian brother who was younger than Jay.” “That’s true, she said that he was far away and that’s why she could never see him” Mikey responded. “Unless that’s what she wants us to think. That or someone doesn’t want her to know the truth herself and those were the lies she was fed” Leo stated. “I don’t like this, feels like she’s still hiding things from us” Raph said in a bitter tone. He knew there were things she hadn’t told them yet about her family, and she had her right to her privacy, but this sneaky act worried him. If that was her brother, couldn’t she have just said that before she ran off? They watched Sam hug the man, and the group of guys walked off in one direction while she walked off in the other direction. She walked off towards a street that was oddly silent and vacant compared to the hustle and bustle outside the stadium. “Now where’s she going?!” Raph yelled. “Something’s wrong, we need to get to the sewers and get over there” Mikey said. Leo let his brother lead the way. Whenever Donnie or Raph knew more information about a criminal they were all chasing, or whatever the situation may be, he would let that brother take control and lead if it meant better chances of them completing their mission, but this was the first time Mikey had EVER taken the lead in a chase. This proved to Leo how serious this was and he followed Mikey in whatever directions he gave.

It took about twenty minutes for them to travel underground after tracking Sam’s movements. Once they caught up to her location, Mikey didn’t hesitate to climb up, toss of the manhole cover above him, and rush over to Sam. “Sam!” he shouted as he ran over to where Sam was walking. She didn’t respond. He quickened his pace and as he was about to lightly grab her arm and talk to her, Raph had already caught up to him. “HEY SAM. Remember us?!” Now that there was a 6 ft. turtle in front of her, Sam stopped walking. Raph’s expression softened as he stared at the girl in front of him. Her eyes looked so frail and glassy, and her hands were shaking like he had never seen before. “…I came to the game with you guys…right…my bad” she said with the fakest smile. Usually only Mikey could tell when her smiles were sincere or fake, but her acting was so off point that all the brothers knew something was wrong. “Did that guy do something?” Raph asked. “No” “…that’s it?” “…what?” The boy’s worry continued to grow. Even though she was standing right in front of them, it was like Sam couldn’t hear a thing. Something was obviously on her mind, but getting her to explain what exactly that something was would be the hard part.   Right as Leo was about to ask if the guy she chased after was her brother, Sam cut him off. “It’s late, so I’m gonna head home, alone.” At this point she spoke without using her fake smile, and she went back to displaying her glassy eyed and twitchy expression. She had already started walking off before the guys could speak, and they weren’t really sure what to do in this situation.

“So, do we ignore this as a girl thing? Or do we look into it and assume it’s a Sam thing?” Raph asked. “We call April. She’s the only other female we know, and one of the three humans we know, plus she’s a reporter and is trained to read people’s expressions. Hopefully she can help us figure out what to do. We’ll go back underground while we call her.” Leo said. Donnie and Raph started heading back towards the sewer hole, but Leo had to go over and wake Mikey up from his daze. “Mikey? You alright?” “No” he replied bluntly. Leo put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re going to figure this out, okay?” Mikey paused for a moment. “Should I have gone after her? Should any of us have gone after her?” he said as he continued to face forward. “I wish I knew. I’m just as new to girls and humans in general as you are bro. But if she needs someone to go after her, then you’ll be the one” Leo said with a small smile. This also lead to a small smile forming on Michelangelo’s face as well, and the two turtles then walked back towards the sewer hole to hear what Donnie and Raph had been discussing with April.

*Sam POV* *Themes: Linkin Park-Nobody Can Save Me Linkin Park-One More Light Trading Yesterday-Shattered Skilet-Would It Matter

She happened to catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, but now she lost him. The guys continued to cheer as the game continued on, but Sam and her thoughts were long gone. She saw him, she knew for a fact that she just saw Brian. It had to be him, the boy she saw looked exactly like him at the age of 17. THERE. She found him and continued to keep her eyes on him. “Bzzzzzzz,” that was the final buzzard. No, it couldn’t be the end of the game now, not yet, not when she had finally found her brother. He left four years ago and finally she had found him. She watched him head to the exit on her right and without hesitation she darted out and up through the walkway they used to enter the Jumbo Tron. She sprinted to a point along the walkways that led to a ladder that lead to the top floor where the highest seats in the arena were. She climbed down the ladder and then ran through crowds of people to the right side of the building where she had seen the boy exiting the arena. She had seen him in the upper level seats, but now he was nowhere to be found, so she ran to the staircase and sprinted down the steps. She made her way to the lobby and walked as quickly as she could all over the place. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest because of everything that she was feeling and thinking. Emotions that she had finally pushed and shoved under the rug were now forcing their way back out and flying up and hitting her like a brick. Her hands were shaking like crazy and for the first time she heard how loud she was breathing. She felt like she was running around in circles and she didn’t know what to do.  After what felt like years of searching, she caught another glimpse of him and his five other friends. Once again she was on the move as she chased after the boy. She thought of nothing but catching up to Brian and asking him questions, so many questions. Why did he leave her? Why did he do what he did? Why had it taken him four years to visit her? Her heart beats increased as her breathing grew louder and louder. She ran out of the building and saw him head for the cross walk. “Brian!” she called out. A few heads turned since it was a common name, but not the head that she wanted to. “Brian! BRIAN!” She slowly got closer and closer to where he was walking, but he never turned towards her. She couldn’t understand why he was ignoring her, but now was the time to find out. She finally caught up to the boy and yanked on his arm, forcing him to turn around and look at her. “Whoa! What the hell is your problem?” the boy said as he and his friends turned around. “My problem? I’ve been calling you for the longest time! You didn’t hear me calling your name?” she asked in an enraged tone. “All I heard was some girl calling after some guy named Brian, so sorry if I couldn’t hear you over that.” She paused and gave him a confused expression. “So you did hear me? Why were you ignoring me then? Explain yourself!” “Explain what?” the boy asked, looking both nervous and confused. “Why did you risk your life for me that night? And I’ve been waiting for a sign from you, from all of you! Why did it take you so long to contact me?!” “Look crazy lady you need to back up! I don’t know who Brian is but he’s not me” he said as he put his hands up in defense and as his friends began to lightly laugh at the strange girl standing in front of them. “What are you talking…about…?” And that’s when she realized, it wasn’t him. Everything made sense and reality slapped her in the face harder than the forced out emotions she had just experienced mere minutes to seconds ago had. She realized that this man had blue eyes instead of brown. She realized that this man seemed as tall as Jay, whereas Brian was about a foot or so shorter. She realized that this man had visible muscle, whereas Brian had natural muscle that could only be seen when he flexed. She realized that, when seen up close, this man had a light brown tint to his hair, and Brian had never made any changes to his natural black hair. She realized that their hairstyles were different, she realized she had never seen this group of friends, she realized his clothes stated he was rooting for the wrong team. Sam realized that this couldn’t be Brian, because Brian was dead.

Her jaw slowly dropped and she felt so stupid and embarrassed. “Oh my god…I’m…I’m so sorry. Um, can I explain myself before you all continue to think I’m crazy?” she asked. “Uh sure, go for it.” “I have a few adopted siblings, one of them being an Asian male obviously named Brian, and um…he passed away about four years ago. So from afar, you really, really, look like him. Up close I can now see the differences, but from afar you looked like his twin. I just…I haven’t seen him in so long” she said as a choked sob slipped out as she spoke. “I’m so sorry for chasing you like this-” “Stop” the boy said. He walked up to her and gave her a sincere smile. “For one, I’m honored that I look like your brother, I’m sure he was a handsome man.” This got Sam to give a small smile as she sensed that he was trying to lighten the mood and lessen the awkward tension from before. “And two, I’m so sorry that you lost him, and the next time someone comes running up to me the way you just did, I’ll be a lot more considerate as to why they’re doing it. Sorry for calling you crazy.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to apologize, I’m sure I would have been weirded out if a stranger came running up to me like that as well. That’s the first time that’s ever happened actually.” “I wish I could answer all your questions. What did he do anyway, did he save you in a car accident or something?” the boy asked. “Yeah, something like that.” It wasn’t exactly like that, but he did risk his life to save hers, they all did. Jay just got lucky and so did she, unlike the others. “If it means anything,” the boy continued, “the fact that you saw someone who looks so much like your brother might still be a sign from him. Maybe there’s something he wanted to you think about when seeing me, well him, you know? Or maybe he’s trying to test you somehow.” “Yeah, maybe so.” Her small smile grew a bit more on her face. That actually sounded like Brian who was always testing her and finding ways to playfully trick her. “Thanks for this, I’ll leave you guys be.” “Wait” he said as he reached his arms out. “I know I’m not your brother, but I can hug you like I’m him, unless that’s weird.” She gave a small laugh and hugged the boy. “Is there anything we can do to help you? Even a ride home or anything?” some of the other guys started asking with sincerity in their tones. Sam pulled back from the hug. “No thanks, besides I need to go catch up with my oldest brother.” “Hope you find your brother’s meaning” the boy said with a smile, and Sam and the group of boys parted ways.

As soon as she knew she was alone, her smile quickly faded back to her cold frown. She noticed that her hands were shaking again, and now that she was by herself, dark thoughts started racing through her mind. The memories she had been fighting for so long to forget were all coming back. She had to get home, she wanted no one other than Jay who knew and understood what she was feeling because he was there the night that everything happened. She couldn’t tell anyone about the Foot attack that night. It was too hard to talk about and it was too personal, and she had to truly 110% trust someone with her life in order to tell the full truth about this. She also just wanted to be alone. The world had cast her out after what happened. When she needed people most, they all vanished. Her closest childhood friends separated themselves from her and left her all alone. She was alone, and that’s how she had taught herself to deal with her problems. She would bottle things up within herself and she wouldn’t talk to anyone, since no one wanted to hear about it anyway, and knowing that no one wanted to hear about it, this was why she could only tell someone that she trusted her life with, and that person was Jay. He was never around though, so that lead her back to keeping everything to herself, back to her being alone. Friends were gone, and since Jay was basically always working, her whole family was gone. Everyone was gone and she was alone. Always alone, and that’s how it would always be. “HEY SAM. Remember us?!” Sam stopped once she realized that there was a 6ft. turtle yelling at her as he stood in her path. She wondered how they knew where she was when she remembered that she was with them at the game before everything happened. “…I came to the game with you guys…right…my bad” she said as she fought her hardest to fake a smile without crying, but she could tell they all knew just how fake her expression was. “Did that guy do something?” Raph asked. “No.” “Leave me alone” she thought. “…that’s it?” “…what?” “I want to be alone. Just let me leave” she thought to herself. Ever since that night, she was always alone, especially when she was upset. When people ditched her because she was broken, she learned to handle anything that upset her on her own. She didn’t want to be around anybody but her brother, and as much as she loved these guys, they weren’t her actual brothers. They didn’t know the things that Jay knew and she wasn’t ready to tell them. She knew they would want to ask her questions about what just happened and she didn’t want to answer those questions, so she bailed before anyone else could speak.

“It’s late, so I’m gonna head home, alone” she said bluntly. She couldn’t fight any longer and she felt the tears in her eyes, so she walked away and prayed that they would leave her alone. She rounded a corner and she didn’t hear anything behind her, so she knew she was okay. She felt guilty for keeping secrets from them, especially from Mikey, but…she just wasn’t ready. She loved that she wasn’t trapped inside her room anymore and that she actually had somewhere to go with people that cared about her, but it was still so soon. She had dropped some hints about her past with her siblings, which was huge for her to do even that, like how she told Raph that the sais belonged to Chuck. Jesus talking about Chuck at all was a huge deal for her. And that was the thing, her four green friends, April, Splinter, without knowing it, they were all pulling her out of a deep well that she had fallen into and had been trapped in for years. Within each of them she had found pieces of a puzzle that she had lost for so long, but seeing Brian like that was the equivalent of knocking that puzzle to the floor and shattering it into a million little pieces. She felt herself falling back into that well that she had taken so long to climb out of.

She felt that no matter who came along, no matter what changes or gains came into her life, she would never be able to escape from the horrors of the past. She could see clones of Brian every day, but that didn’t change the fact that he was gone. It didn’t matter that she taught Leo and Raph to cook the way Brian taught her, it didn’t matter that Leo liked antiques like Brian or that Donnie quizzed her the way Brian did, or that Mikey played videogames with her the same way Brian did, he was and always would be gone. It was the same for all of them. No matter what qualities her new friends had that reminded her of her family members, they were all gone. And as she thought of this, their final breaths played over and over again in her head. She saw all of them, remembered where they were and what they were doing before the events that lead to their deaths. She could hear their conversations and could see their smiling faces before they turned into teary eyed expressions that screamed in terror. She remembered everything, including how they died. The sequence of events stayed on replay. Over and over she mentally watched the horrors of that night.

Sam collapsed against the side of the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the ground. She couldn’t do anything about it. No matter how happy she had become, one small moment had broken and destroyed her, and now she would have to start back over from scratch. She was scared, and alone. At this point she didn’t care if a criminal came and attacked her in any way. She was lost in the darkness of her thoughts and nothing could pull her out, at least that’s what she thought.

“Sam?” she heard a gentle voice ask. She thought she was imagining things and sat still, until she felt someone hold her shaking hands. “I’ve never seen your hands shake like this before” the voice said as it took her hands into his. She slowly turned her glassy eyes towards the voice and saw none other than her best friend kneeling down next to her. “I told you I wanted to be alone” she mumbled, choking out her words in her sobs. She hadn’t even realized she was crying with tears streaming down her face because she had been so lost in her thoughts. In fact, she didn’t even know where it was she had been walking. These thoughts halted once she realized Mikey was there, and she could now tell that her cheeks were soaked from her tears. “I know, but I really wanted to go after you, though I wasn’t sure if it was a girl reason or a Sam reason that you were acting the way you were. But regardless I didn’t like that you were heading towards a lone street by yourself at this hour. Anyway, we called April and she said that when girls say they want to be left alone, then usually they want to be chased after by someone they care about. She also said that in general that someone should at least watch over you to make sure you were safe, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m sorry if I’m making you more upset by being here…but I couldn’t leave you alone.” Sam stared at him, just straight up stared at him for the longest time. She had a hard time processing that someone actually gave a shit. Not because she asked them to and not because they needed something, but because they truly and genuinely just gave a shit about her. She wanted to be alone because everyone had left her that way and she believed that that was how she handled these situations best, but…was that what she really wanted? Or had she forced that thought into her mind because everyone had left her by herself for so long? She thought that she would hate it if someone followed her and that she needed to handle this alone, but she was wrong about herself. She was happy, and for the first time ever, she had begun to cry happy tears along with the sad ones. “Thank you” she said as tears streamed down her face. Mikey gave her a light smile and gently pulled her over. He sat cross legged as Sam now sat in his lap, the back of her head against his chest as he lightly rested his chin on the top of her head. He wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged her, and she held onto the hands wrapped around her even tighter. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. It’s your life and your business, so you talk whenever you’re ready. If that’s never, then so be it.” For the first time ever, Sam wanted to talk. She wanted to tell him everything, but she was also very scared. She had never talked about these things with anyone without being forced to do so. She decided that she would reveal some of the truth, and that gradually she would start revealing things to Mikey when the time was right. No one had ever cared until he came along. She felt like her presence was wanted when he was around and that he truly cared about what was wrong with her. “I thought I saw my brother tonight, but it turned out to be someone else. From afar that guy really looked like my brother Brian.” “So you chased after him thinking he came home without telling you?” “Yeah, but it wasn’t him…I just miss him so much” she said through sobs. “I understand. If Leo had disappeared for such a long period of time and then I caught him casually hanging around town, I know I’d lose my cool. I’d have so many questions to ask him, so many things I would just want to scream at him.” Sam smiled a bit and turned her head some towards him. “Can you take me to my house?” “Of course” he replied with a smile. “Can you spend the night?” she asked. “Sorry, I don’t sleep over on the first date” he teased. “Asshole,” she said as she rolled her eyes and chuckled, something she never thought she’d be able to do in this situation. But that was the power of Michelangelo. Whether she was hurt, hyper, confused, scared, angry, or even hungry, no matter what her attitude was and where her thoughts were sending her, he always brought her back down to earth. It was like he attached a bungee cord to her back and made sure she bounced back up after falling into her well of emotions. Whenever her puzzle pieces broke, he just glued them back together again. Even now at her lowest and weakest moment, he was there. She thought he wouldn’t be, and yet here he was, proving her wrong. Now that she realized just how much she wanted and needed to have him by her side, and as she jumped onto his back so that he could carry her home, she mentally vowed that she would never let go of their friendship and that she would keep him as close as possible until she finally felt ready to tell him the complete and honest truth. Not only because of her feeling comfortable enough to do so, but because at that point she would feel safe enough to know he wouldn’t leave her alone ever again, not even after hearing of the horrors she had experienced in the past.

 *Monday June 30th, Donnie’s Lab* *Theme: Skrux-Escapade*

Donnie couldn’t believe all the equipment Sam had helped him get his hands on. She had asked Jay if he could help her get her hands on any and all old medical equipment that any of his friends could give away because it had broken or had malfunctioned, and her reasoning was that it was for her friends older brother who needed it for some projects because he wanted to become a future medical student himself (which in certain senses was true). Because of this, Donnie had received tons of different equipment that he could only dream of getting his hands on. He now had various medical monitors that could monitor a person’s vital signs, lab equipment to analyze things like blood, genes, dissolved gases, etc. He had diagnostic medical equipment, therapeutic devices, the list of devices he had and their uses went on and on. That night Donnie had asked Sam if she wanted to help him set up the med lab now that he had enough equipment to actually get a work station set up, and of course she agreed to join him. As they set devices up around the room, the two talked about multiple different things that Donnie was never able to talk to his brothers about. The two discussed a variety of topics: physics, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, biology, psychology, astronomy, microbiology, statistics, sociology, neuroscience, economics, philosophy, history, the list went on and on. Donnie was able to discuss many of these topics amongst his brothers and April, but he had never talked about them quite as in depth as he was now. It had been made obvious numerous times that Sam wasn’t as intelligent as Donnie, but she was definitely close and overall very open-minded. After hours had flown by, the topics switched away from math and sciences to social studies, and then to religion, and then to literature, and then to music, which then lead them to start talking about more media related topics like modern music, movies, games, etc. They went from talking about video games to then talking about their favorite You Tube gamers. “See what I love most about Vanoss is that he’s comical like the rest of the guys in the group, but he’s also the most strategic. For example, whenever he plays Gmod Hide and Seek or Gmod Prop Hunt, he always finds the best hiding spots that people would never think of, but then he messes with their heads when he does things like ‘operation bigfoot’” Sam stated as she worked on the wiring of an infusion pump. “It’s hilarious when he does that. Oh, I love when he literally hides in the walls. He takes advantage of every glitch he can find” Donnie said as he closed a drawer filled with carefully cleaned and maintained surgical instruments. “After Vanoss, I’d have to say that Nogla and Delirious are my favorites. I love that they get picked on by their friends in literally every video, but they just roll with it. They can take a joke, and because of that their friends are able to tease the heck out of the two of them, and honestly that just makes the videos even funnier. Do you actually plan on using those tools?” she asked curiously as she glanced at a table with some tools used when performing serious surgeries. “God I hope not! I’ve watched a ridiculous amount of videos on what they’re used for and how to use them, and I’ve had some minor experience-” “When did you have experience using surgical tools?” Sam cut in, her eyes wide. “Ummm, you have to keep it between us, okay?” “Got it! Your secret is safe with me!” “For the past…I want to say the past 6 years, if I ever found some really beat up strays on the streets, I would do my best to save them. I mean, no one else was going to try and help them, so I thought my help was better than just leaving them to rot in the streets, and I actually helped save each animal that I found.” Sam titled her head to the side. “Why do I have to keep that a secret?” “Because stray animals could have diseases or could be rabid, that and where I found them wasn’t always exactly in the shadows. Those two things equal danger, and because of that I knew my brothers and Sensei would never have allowed me to do what I had been doing, so I’ve been hiding this from them for 6 years now. Yup.” Sam dramatically held her hand to her chest. “Why Donatello! You, you have a secret that you keep from your family? You’re not the innocent nerd that everyone thinks you are?” “Ha ha” he said dryly, “I’m still a person. Everyone has secrets, even the good kids” he said as he held his hands when quoting ‘the good kids.’

Joking aside, he was happy to see Sam cracking jokes again. It had been 5 days since Sam’s emotional episode after the basketball game and none of them were sure how to handle the situation. They all wanted to know what had happened, but they knew that coming straight out and asking her questions would get them nowhere. April had told them that letting her talk when she was ready and just acting like everything was normal was the best way to react to the situation, so that’s what they did. For two days Sam stayed away from the lair and only left her home when she needed to. The only person she talked to outside of her home was Mikey, and that was only to respond to his occasional updates to make sure she was okay. On day three Sam had asked Mikey to come over to her apartment to hangout that night, and by the next morning she had tried visiting the lair. The boys followed April’s advice and acted normally and successfully hid their worry. Because of this, Sam was quickly able to return to her regular routines and habits when hanging out with the guys, including now where she was making sarcastic comments and teasing Donnie.

As the two continued to work and set things up throughout the med wing, Donatello’s attention was pulled away from the machine he was working on and was drawn to the small television he had set up in the room (in case anyone were ever so badly injured that they might have to spend a few nights in the room) as the screen displayed a commercial about the latest exhibits at the Natural History Museum. Sam noticed that Donnie had stopped working, and as she looked over at him to make sure that he was alright, she could see in his expression how badly he wanted to visit the museum. “What’s wrong E.T.? Troubles phoning home?” she moved on to fixing a smaller x-ray device. “*sigh* I would love to go there” Donnie replied. “Well you’ve imprinted, so go” she replied, still working on the device. He turned towards her and gave her an odd look. “To the museum?” “Your precious” she said as she faced him with wide eyes as she ran her fingers against each other. “I volunteer you as tribute.” She then turned back towards the device. “Pfft, not possible” he said as he pouted and flopped down in his swivel chair. “What? You lost your invisibility cloak?” “Heh, no. I just wish we there was a way where I could buy tickets even as a 6’8 turtle” he chuckled. “I find your lack of faith disturbing” she said with a serious tone as she looked at him with a disappointed and dull expression. “And I think you watch to many movies” he replied with a smile. “That is extremely true, but not the point! If you want to go to the museum, then let’s just go” she said as she started walking towards the exit. “You know a way to sneak in?” he asked. “Do you know me?” she asked sarcastically. “Do you know breaking and entering is illegal?” “Do you know how annoying you are?” “That’s my line.” “Well I beat you to it which means I win! So FIELD TRIP! C’mon Erudite! Let’s escape this maze and find your cure!” she exclaimed as she practically skipped out of the lab. “You have way too much time on your hands if you’ve watched every major movie series” Donnie announced with a laugh (which earned him a playfully shove) as he followed the girl. He liked that there was never a dull moment with his new friend and was interested in how their ‘field trip’ would play out tonight.

Everyone else was in their rooms at the time, so the two just walked out of the lair and up to the rooftops of the buildings above. Of course, since Donnie was one of the more mature of the group, he made sure that he had his shell cell with him in case there was an emergency and his brothers needed to contact him, though he’d be a liar if he said that checking his phone periodically was on his mind once he got to the museum. After they had completed all their needed hacking so that they could sneak into the building, Sam had exposed an entrance from a vent on the roof that lead to the attic storage of the building, and once they had cleared this part of the break in, they were free to explore all the current exhibits that the museum had to offer.

Donnie wasn’t sure where to start. They had exhibits on dinosaurs, the latest studies on health and the human body, missions from Earth to other planets, looking through the eyes of Einstein, and so many more. Donnie wasn’t sure where to begin, but his choice was determined by the teen who was mentally a five year when she wanted to be. “Dinosaurs. Let’s go to see the dinosaurs. I want to see dinosaurs” Sam said over and over again until finally her friend agreed, and within seconds Sam was rushing over to see the exhibits about the dinosaurs with Donnie following behind her. They learned about how studies have shown that some current bird species may have come from dinosaurs that changed and evolved over tens of millions of years (and of course Sam had to take pictures in the giant modeled nests because Sam was Sam). The two then moved to the interactive exhibits that discussed the microbiome-where bacteria is living in and on us, how the bacteria’s are obtained and how they can offer new perspectives on how to deal with health problems like allergies, asthma, and obesity. Afterwards, they moved on to the next exhibit about foods from around the world. The two learned about how various foods were grown, traded, prepared, etc. They read through some of the first made cook books throughout history and even got to prepare their own virtual meals at the interactive cooking table, and of course the two had fun coming up with the weirdest dishes they could think of.

The two moved on from exhibit to exhibit, looking at everything and participating in every interactive activity they could find. Since they were the only two there, they moved through each exhibit rather quickly, and after a few hours they were ready to leave the museum. Since the two had been talking about scientific research for the past few hours, they decided to talk more casually on their walk home, and while doing so, Donnie noticed Sam staring at his left shoulder. “Why don’t you take a picture?” “…what?” Sam asked with a smile. Donnie rolled his eyes. “What are you staring at anyway?” “I’m trying to find your tattoo, and I’m failing at doing so.” His eyes widened a bit. “You know about that?” “Yup!” “Let me guess, Mikey?” “Yup again!” “Tch, you tell each other everything, don’t you?” “Well, yes and no. We talk about a lot of things, and I think it’s safe to say that he knows more about me than anyone else, but we both have our boundaries. He told me there’s certain stories about all four of you that will forever stay only between you four. He’s made that very clear.” Donnie laughed. “Well it’s good to know he’s still the best at keeping secrets and people’s private lives private.” He then looked over and squinted his eyes at his friend when he heard her try to hide a small laugh. “What’s so funny?” “Nothing” she said as she quickly shook her head and smiled, “just, of course I’m curious as to what happened to you guys that you’ve all sworn to secrecy that you won’t ever tell anyone about it…oh but that could also mean moments where your lives were in danger and that’s why you’re keeping it secret. Just kidding it’s not funny anymore” she said as she made a serious face. “Honestly it’s a mix of both, but more so things you would find funny, so you’re good.” “Oh? Are you going to be the one to spill the details?” she teased as she nudged him in the side. “Heck no! Especially since they’re not all about me. All three of my brother’s would kill me if I gave away even the smallest amount of information.” “I guess tattoos aren’t part of those secrets then, since they’re all extremely visible on all of you, well except for you, but you get the point.” “Oh, I can show you mine, if you want.” “Yes. I need proof, especially since you don’t seem like someone who would let anything pierce and possibly damage your body.” “Oh no I hated getting this thing with a burning passion, but I liked that this was a symbol that linked our family together, so I agreed to let Raph make a small print on my shoulder.” As he talked, he took off his brown shoulder pad on his left shoulder, revealing a black inked tattoo of a turtle shell that looked to be about the size of his hand. Sam chuckled. “Yup, yours is definitely the smallest print” she teased with a smile. “Hey! At least I have one! I can take credit for sitting through the pain of getting one!” “Did it hurt that bad?” “…no, but it makes me look cooler if it seems that I sat through something painful. You know, like I was macho enough to deal with the pain.” Sam laughed. “Okay one, don’t say ‘macho’ if you want to act cool. Two, I’m pretty sure you were mentally being tortured the entire time you were sitting there, so you still own that badass image from putting up with your own thoughts.” He nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Eh, I’ll take it. So, do you like tattoos?” he asked as he put his shoulder pad back on. Sam quickly shook her head. “Oh, really?” “Yeah, I mean there’s nothing wrong with them, and I don’t have anything against people that like and have them, I just personally don’t care for them. I feel like they can be dangerous if you go somewhere sketchy, and unless I have a specific meaning behind the tattoo I’m getting, I don’t think it’s worth the pain or the risks of getting one.” Donnie decided to take a risk when asking his next question. “Do you think you and your siblings would ever get matching tattoos? You know, like how my family has a symbol that unites us. Would you and your siblings ever do that?” Sam paused, but Donnie could tell by her facial expressions that her pause was to think about what he had just asked rather than her spacing out from her emotions like she had nights before. “Honestly, I can’t see ALL my siblings being interested in something like that. We’ve had matching accessories though. We all had necklaces with an initial pendant attached to the chain. The pendant was black and the initials were in whatever our favorite color was, so my ‘S.A.P’ was green over black, and it looked awesome!” she exclaimed with a smile. Donnie noticed it again, that she was talking about her siblings in the past tense. He so badly wanted to ask her why she had continued this habit, but he saw how happy she was as she talked about her siblings and he didn’t want to rob her of her happiness, so instead he continued on with the conversation.

As the two walked back to the lair, they continued to talk about their families and what it was like to have so many siblings. They found it interesting how they had shared so many similar experiences since they were both the second to youngest out of all their siblings. They both experienced being treated as the baby of the group and everyone felt the need to look over them even though they were capable of taking care of themselves, and how even though people treated them like kids (at one time) they were still expected to act like adults at the same time because they had another sibling who was younger than them. They swapped stories back and forth until they got back to the lair, and when they returned to their familiar territory, they decided to keep working on the med lab since they both still had so much energy left. They worked for another couple hours until Sam was so tired that she started losing control of her balance. At that time, Donnie helped her walk back to his lab where he had his spare bed. He didn’t have to worry about her being comfortable since she collapsed on the bed as soon as she saw it, and within seconds she was sound asleep. Donnie covered her with a blanket and left her to sleep.

As he walked back to his room, he reminisced about everything he had learned at the museum, but then suddenly his mind reminded him of the night that Sam had entered his lab when, at the time, he didn’t want her taking one step in his lab aka his sacred space. He remembered how furious he was that she had snuck into the lab and how he acted towards her, and how upset she was because she thought that he hated her (and at that time, she was almost right in assuming that.) The memory dropped a lot of guilt on the turtle’s shoulders. He felt horrible that he ever treated her that way, especially after days like today where she was the only person who could connect with him in ways that the rest of his family couldn’t. There was one thing that cheered him up though, and that was how his attitude and actions towards the girl had changed over time. The night of his memory where he stated that he didn’t hate her, those words were the first ‘nice’ things he had ever said to her, and that same night he vowed that he would at least attempt to treat her better, not only for her sake, but also in respect for Mikey since Sam and Mikey had obviously become very close friends even that early on. Donnie smiled as he thought of all the happier moments that not only he, but that all his brother’s had shared with Sam. He was glad that she didn’t give up on them and that she kept finding ways to get them to talk to her, like the night she had tricked Leo into getting upset and making her fight with Raph, and he was glad that he and his brother’s had all eventually tried to get along with and try to get to know the girl as well. As time went on, she became more like a sister to the boys rather than just a friend, and Donnie was grateful to have her around as the newest addition to their family.

*Wednesday July 2nd*

It was around 1 a.m. when Mikey felt a presence enter his room. He had been sleeping on his right side and was facing the wall, so he couldn’t see who it was that had entered his room and shut the door, but he had a good idea that he knew who it was: Sam. He continued to lie still though, just in case it wasn’t her. He couldn’t list how many times his brother’s had snuck into his room to pull pranks on him at all hours of the day and night, but it was okay since he had done the same to all of them, but he was also staying still in case it happened to be a burglar from the Foot clan. Ever since the Foot had found their first home, the boys were always on edge when they heard noises at times when it was completely silent.

As he lie still and thought of who it might have been that entered his room, he felt the motion of someone crawl into bed with him. They didn’t touch him or move around much, they just got into the bed and lie still underneath the covers. At this point he was pretty confident that it was just Sam who had fallen asleep on the couch earlier, so he paid no mind to this, not until he heard a light sob. It was silent after that, but a few minutes later he heard it again. It sounded like she was crying but fighting her hardest not to let it be known.

Mikey quickly turned on the small lamp next to his bed and turned over to see that it was Sam who had crawled into his bed. She was laying on her left side so that he was now facing her back. “Sam…Sam, why are you crying?” he asked gently. She didn’t speak, but instead shook her head to show that she didn’t want to talk. Mikey knew that was total bull and knew that there was something she wanted him to know, or else she would have gone somewhere to hide and be alone rather than come straight to his room. Knowing this, he carefully pulled her towards him. He lay down and held her from behind, his arms wrapped protectively around her. “Does it have anything to do with you thinking you saw your brother the other day?” She paused and then slowly nodded her head. “I had a dream about him. It felt real, and then I woke up…” she couldn’t speak since tears had begun to pour out from her eyes again. Mikey held onto her a bit tighter. His heart hurt as he listened to his friend quietly cry for the longest time. She was always so happy and full of smiles whenever they were together, which made seeing her this way, so broken and emotionally torn down, so difficult and heartbreaking  for him. “I can’t say I understand what you’re going through, because I’ve always had my brothers by my side, but I can say that I know I’d be lost without them. Having the people that have always been a room away suddenly disappear for so long would emotionally and mentally kill me. I’m so, so sorry you’ve been alone for so long, but we won’t let you feel that way ever again, I’ll never let you feel that way ever again.” As soon as the words left his lips, Sam turned over and lay down facing him, her face now buried in his chest. A small smile appeared on Mikey’s face as he continued to hold his friend close, one hand resting against her back and the other gently running through the girl’s hair. He let his chin lightly rest on top of her head as he heard her sobs slowly fade out. He held her close until he knew for sure that she had drifted off to sleep, and once he knew that she was okay, he finally allowed himself to fall asleep as well.

He knew that he could never replace her brothers that were now living far away because he knew that no one would ever be able to replace his brothers if they ever moved far away. Still, he wanted to do everything he could to see Sam smile instead of frown, to see her laugh instead of cry, to see her fall asleep because she had had an exhausting day of fun activities instead of falling asleep from her tears. He vowed that he would stay by his best friend’s side as much as he possibly could, not to replace her brother, but to help bring back the fun and joyful memories that she had of spending time with him, and to create new memories that would help tuck away the all the bad ones.  

[flauntpage]

Toronto Is the Nerdiest Wrestling City in the World

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

Sports fans in Toronto are a passionate bunch. The fans of each of Toronto's major sports teams are known to be among the rowdiest in their respective leagues. From the Raptors' Jurassic Park den, to Leafs playoff sensation Dart Guy, to TFC supporter group Red Patch Boys, to a baseball fan base so drunk and obnoxious that babies aren't safe in the stadium, when residents of Toronto get into something, they go way over the top.

Understandably, fan hysteria is commensurate with the team's success. All of Toronto's major sports teams are playoff contenders at the moment, but we are not far removed from Jurassic Park being just a walkway, Leafs tickets actually being affordable on the secondary market, and $2 promo nights designed to fill the seats during Tuesday night Jays games.

The one thing that doesn't waver in Toronto is the city's passion for professional wrestling. Over the course of four weeks in May, wrestling organizations with origins in Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom presented shows in Toronto, all of which were rousing successes. Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling sold out Ted Reeve Arena, ditto for Lucha Underground in conjunction with local outfit Smash Wrestling at Lee's Palace, while WhatCulture Pro Wrestling packed The Phoenix.

This wasn't just general enthusiasm, or curiosity about outfits that rarely tour outside of their home bases, either. At each event, the fans knew the idiosyncrasies of both the product and audience participation so well that it felt like each event was happening in its country of origin.

When New Japan legend Hiroshi Tanahashi stepped onto the top rope during his entrance, fans threw streamers into the ring, just as they would in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. When the action between luchadores got particularly heated, fans pistoned their arms skyward with fingers in the air yelling "lucha!" just as they would at Lucha Underground Arena. And when the ring announcer prepared to bring out WhatCulture Pro champion Joe Hendry and declared that the match was set for one fall, fans called "one fall!" right back to him, as they would if they were in the O2 Academy in Newcastle. "It's a very smart crowd, very educated in all forms of pro wrestling, and I think those are the best crowds to work in front of. Toronto has always been one of my favourites. I can also mention a place like Los Angeles in the same vein. They're there to have fun, and they understand everything you're going to attempt as a wrestler," Kenny Omega, the top international star in New Japan, told VICE Sports.

"Whether you're gonna go for strong style, you're going to try lucha, OK we're going to go classic North American or catch style, or we're just going to do some over the top comedy—as long as they're having fun, they don't care. They're going to cheer for it, they're going to love it, they're going to come back."

The question is why does the city take to pro wrestling the way it does, and with such consistency? Other combat sports such as boxing and MMA have had varying levels of success at the box office in the city, and the entertainment calendar at large is packed on any given night, meaning there's stiff competition any time a wrestling promoter wants to run Toronto.

In most cities, there wouldn't be enough room for all of it, but Toronto is different—pro wrestling always seems to take precedence.

Watch more from VICE Sports on Canada's Beer Guzzling Arm Wrestler

"Toronto is generally just a big melting pot for all types of cultures. There's such a cool, energetic vibe and positive support for pro wrestling," said Omega, who was born in Canada. "I'll recall my high school history, where there was a group of us that would have done anything to attend a show live. We were so passionate about pro wrestling, and we almost couldn't imagine how other people didn't like it as much as we did. We would do our little backyard shows, and it was like pulling teeth to get our friends to come watch.

"It just seems that for some reason there are more people in Toronto like how I was in high school."

That rabid enthusiasm for pro wrestling extends back to when the Toronto fans were in high school, and to when their parents and grandparents were in high school.

Toronto has been a major wrestling market since the 1930s, when Jim Londos would headline shows at Maple Leaf Gardens. Londos was the most popular wrestler of the day, and helped carry the region until the Tunney family took over wrestling in the city in 1939. John and Frank Tunney would help establish the first major Canadian superstar in Whipper Billy Watson, and in the 1960s, housed one of wrestling's all-time great heels and draws in The Sheik. With The Sheik atop the card, the Tunneys consistently drew more than 10,000 people in Maple Leaf Gardens for over seven years.

Kenny Omega (right) whips Frankie Kazarian into the ropes at a recent show in Toronto. Photo by Chris Hall/Courtesy Ring of Honor Wrestling

In the late 1970s, "Maple Leaf Wrestling" aligned with Jim Crockett Promotions, which meant Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes began appearing at the Gardens as well. Around that time, the wrestling world experienced a seismic shift on the national scene, as Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation began to make ground on Crockett. As such, when Jack Tunney took over the family business, he shacked up with the McMahons, starting a decade-long relationship which brought WWF programming to Canadian cable, and the biggest names in wrestling to downtown Toronto.

The highlight of the relationship was no doubt the oddly named "Wrestling Hulkamania Night" at Exhibition Stadium, which drew 70,000 people to watch Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff battle in the main event. Tunney's importance was such that he was even given an on-screen role as "president" of the WWF.

[Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff]

The history of wrestling in the town has established Toronto as not just a one-promotion town, the way Southern American cities were once exclusively NWA and WCW markets. It's been exposed to various promoters and styles throughout the years, and that knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation.

"It's not like the old Jackson, Mississippi, days where you can lock up, put on a headlock and they throw babies in the air. They want to see the good shit, but when they see the good shit, they fuckin' go bonkers for it. It's a smart town, but they're more discerning. They like what they like, and you can tell by the number of tickets they sell," legendary wrestling personality Jim Cornette, who also doubles as one of the sport's most knowledgeable historians and top memorabilia collectors, told VICE Sports.

"It's New York and Toronto, and Toronto to me is ahead of New York because the facilities are nicer, and the fans are cooler. You don't get the fuckin' bunch that just wants to chant Twinkies at the referee."

An old wrestling promo hyping an event at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, circa 1970. Photo via Photobucket

The crowds in Toronto make it a desirable place not just for promoters, but for the performers themselves. One of the most iconic crowd involvement moments in wrestling history took place in Toronto at Wrestlemania X8, when fans simply decided to cheer the heel Hulk Hogan over The Rock, prompting the then-dastardly "Hollywood" Hogan to revert back to his altruistic superhero ways of old mid-match. As Omega points out, Toronto fans are appreciative of all wrestlers—heel or face, Canadian, American, Japanese, British or Mexican.

"My first Toronto experiences were with the WWF. The stadium show, I wrestled Jose Lothario. I said, 'My God, I'm actually going to get to wrestle in Toronto, I get to put that on my résumé,'" recalls Cornette. "SummerSlam was three or four days before that, and I took a bump where I hurt my knee. The bursa sac filled up with blood, it's purple, I'm limping, but I don't let anybody know about it, because I knew they wouldn't let me work Jose. I also wanted the payoff, because there was 30,000 people there. So I didn't let anybody see my leg for four days."

One look around Ted Reeve Arena during the recent Ring of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling show illustrated how profitable events in Toronto can be for independent performers as well—particularly at the merchandise table.

There was seldom a chest in the venue without the Bullet Club logo on it, the faction headed by Omega. Everyone from the 64-year old Indian-Canadian man to his elementary school-aged son was wearing one. For a Canadian to obtain such a shirt, they have two options. They can pay $50 in cash in person at a live event, or pay a minimum of $25 plus more than $14 in shipping costs online. While hockey fans in Toronto can buy a Maple Leafs shirt for $8 at Walmart, wrestling fans have to shell out the equivalent of their cell phone bill to outfit themselves—and yet they continue to do it.

NJPW stars Tetsuya Naito and Bushi at a recent event in Toronto. Photo Chris Hall/Courtesy Ring of Honor Wrestling

Even Canadian independent promotions seem to operate on a higher level than most globally. Smash Wrestling, the city's most successful indy federation at the moment, runs in the same venues as pop singers, and comes complete with a video screen, entrance montages, lights and smoke machines.

Wrestling fandom in Toronto will never waver the way it will for team sports. The Leafs and Raptors and Jays might fluctuate between contention and basement-dwelling, but barring an industry-wide collapse or scandal, the fact that wrestling is "fake" ensures that new stars will always be created and intrigue can always be drummed up. But promoters don't have to work too hard to entice people in Toronto. The city's love for wrestling is anything but fake—it's as real as it gets.

Toronto Is the Nerdiest Wrestling City in the World published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[sheilacwall]

The Return Of The Purple Tape: Raekwon’s Classic Sequel Turns Ten

“Got me behind the pot again”

The odds were stacked against him.

His prior two albums had been decent, but both had paled in comparison to his debut.

His crew, the likes of which had never been seen before, was more than a decade removed from its astronomical height.

The music — the culture — was in the midst of a seismic shift to a new look and sound.

Sequels to rap albums very rarely live up to their name — or hype — and the expectations for this one had been building for more than ten years.

Thus, when Raekwon announced that he would be releasing the long-awaited continuation to his stellar debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, everything was set up for disappointment.

“Tell a friend, it’s that symbol again, that W”

By 2009, the Wu-Tang Clan was no longer seen as invincible.

After storming onto the scene with their kung fu sound effects, chess imagery, and street tales on 1993’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), the group had a half-decade run of dominance of five solo albums that ranged from excellent to great, ultimately culminating in the grandiose double album Wu-Tang Forever.

One of those solo albums was Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Raekwon’s solo effort that featured partner-in-rhyme Ghostface Killah as a guest star as the two embark one final score before leaving the streets behind. With its mafia-infused cinematic rhymes — and aliases — over RZA’s layered soundscapes, it influenced albums by other greats of that era, specifically It Was Written, Reasonable Doubt, and Life After Death, and was the greatest album in a year that boasted several classics.

Following the completion of what the Clan’s de facto leader, RZA, had designed as a five-year plan, which had taken the group from the slums of Shaolin to the top of the Billboard chart in the summer of 1997, the group began to drift, both from each other and from its place atop hip-hop.

RZA no longer held dominion over everyone and everything, and the members’ newfound freedom led to every Clansman aside from Masta Killa dropping a solo album between 1998 and 2000. The results were, at best, mixed and the Wu logo lost a bit of its luster, both as a group and from a personal perspective.

By the end of the first decade of the new millennium, Staten Island’s swordsmen were in the limbo — they were no longer at the forefront of the culture but they had not yet transitioned into their legendary elder statesmen status that leans on nostalgia in a Showtime documentary, a scripted Hulu series, and anniversary concerts.

For Raekwon, one of the Clan’s sharpest swords, his experience matched that of the group as a whole with two uneven projects — 1999’s Immobilarity and 2003’s The Lex Diamond Story — that featured only two Ghostface appearances and zero RZA and were considered to be letdowns by most.

While anticipation for a second Cuban Linx… disc was high, expectations were guarded.

“Cuban Link Dynasty has emerged”

It had been anticipated — and promised — for years.

The Chef began talking about it in 2005, a full decade from when the original had been released. Immediately, speculation began to swirl about who would — and would not — be involved.

It’s going to come out on Aftermath with plenty of Dr. Dre beats and be executive produced by Busta Rhymes!

It’s going to be completely produced by RZA!

Instead of Ghostface, Inspectah Deck and GZA are going to be the co-stars!

And on and on.

Such rumors remained rampant as the years crept by, promised release dates came and went, and Raekwon continued to fine-tune the album while skeptics pointed to the delay as proof that it was an impossible task. From time to time, Rae would give an interview vowing the project was nearly complete, but interest in the mythical album would truly spike only when music was heard like in 2007, the RZA-produced “State of Grace” and the J. Dilla-backed “Baggage Handlers” leaked online. Both tracks, which featured audio from Scarface, not only sounded but felt, like Cuban Linx cuts. Finally, there was proof and, for the first time, it felt like fiction may finally become fact.

It would take another two years, during which time most fans went from a feeling of optimism to one of resigned disappointment that it would never see the light of day.

Finally, on September 8, 2009, fourteen years, one month, and one week after its predecessor had hit the streets and changed the game, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II was unleashed. It was more than worth the wait as the incredibly high expectations were not only met but exceeded.

The original reached legendary status not only because of the music but also due to the cassette’s unique purple tinting. Raekwon said he “wanted his album to stand out against the typical pile of tapes that collected on the floors of people’s cars,” and making it purple would differentiate it.

Of course, cassettes were no longer standard in 2009, but Rae was still able to reference his classic choice by making the artwork on the actual disc a purple tape — with the hole in the CD serving as one of the cassette’s holes.

Whereas the first purple tape was a “loose narrative about rising through the urban criminal ranks,” part two is “a loose narrative about a now-middle-aged drug dealer struggling with, but ultimately celebrating, his hard-bitten survival.”

Picking up exactly where the first one ended, Pt. II even utilizes the end of the final song on the original (“North Star [Jewels]”) as the start of the sequel (“Return of the North Star”).

From there, it kicks off with a bang in the form of “House of Flying Daggers,” which finds Deck, Ghostface, and Method Man spitting over a relentless marching synth that immediately took its place among the greatest Wu posse cuts ever.

“Pyrex Vision” finds the Chef back in the kitchen again and though it is under a minute long, it still resonates. “Black Mozart” brilliantly — and appropriately — interpolates The Godfather soundtrack; Rae delivers a compassionate tribute to his late comrade Ol’ Dirty Bastard on “Ason Jones”; “10 Bricks,” featuring Ghostface and Cappadonna, feels like it was recorded in ’95; and “New Wu,” along with the dual closer of “Mean Streets” and “Kiss the Ring” are all vintage cinematic Cuban Linx tracks but delivered in the relaxed manner that comes with age and maturity.

It is very much a family affair as every living Clansman aside from U-God appears at least once, but whereas Nas was the only emcee outside of the group invited to the original, Rae opened up the second journey to several more non-Wu members, each of whom bring their own brand of potency. There’s Beanie Sigel’s introspective verse about being locked up on “Have Mercy” to Jadakiss and Styles P. bringing their asphalt aesthetics to “Broken Safety” to Busta Rhymes and the legend Slick Rick being their serious yet playful selves on “About Me” and “We Will Rob You,” respectively.

The combination of featured guests shows how Rae was attempting to look both backward and forward at the same time, revisiting the first one while also appreciating the growth that had transpired over the years:

“The whole main purpose of the album is to make you reminisce. But at the same token, you still gotta show some kind of growth, and we did that, too. My mind is thinkin’ in both directions at the same time — on makin’ a classic album and still managin’ to make it sound like how we was feelin’ when we made music way back when.”

Even more than through the rhyme spitters, this duality was achieved through the lush, atmospheric backdrops that came from the roster of producers that ranged from excellent (Scram Jones) to legendary (J Dilla, Pete Rock), from Shaolin veterans (RZA, Mathematics, True Master) to those new to the Wu sound (Marley Marl, Dr. Dre).

Each one kept not only the same sound, but also the same vibe and feel of the original, channeling vintage RZA without biting him or compromising their own approach: “The myriad of producers didn’t work together, but somehow they all managed to end up on the same page.”

All of it — rhymes, beats, imagery, even the cover art — came together to create another perfect mixture:

“Everything about Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II demands worship and solidifies Raekwon as one of history’s best with a continuation that exceeds his original debut in every way imaginable.”

“When I step inside, kiss the ring”

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 — and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart — both matching the highest chart placements of the original. Moreover, it was the number one downloaded album on iTunes for the first three days following its release, a significant accomplishment, particularly when considering it had been six years since Rae had released an LP and that one had not even cracked the top 100 of the chart, not to mention where the Clan stood in the minds of most casual rap fans.

The album was included in dozes of best-of-year lists. Both The Source and Hip Hop DX crowned it the album of the year and Complex ranked it as the fifth-best album of 2009. Accolades came from outside hip-hop as well, with Pitchfork also choosing it as the fifth-best album of 2009, PopMatters slotting it seventh, and Slant placing it eighth. It was even praised by the likes of Time (seventh-best album of the year) and The New York Times (eighth).

In total, it was the sixth-highest rated album of the year across all genres and the top hip-hop entry on the list by a wide margin.

By returning to his greatest accomplishment, Raekwon also reclaimed his spot among hip-hop’s best lyricists, even being crowned emcee of the year by HipHopDX and lauded by Time: “Raekwon is a poet of grime, a storyteller who understands that rap is less about an easy hook than the collision of carefully chosen words.”

It was rap’s equivalent of The Godfather Part II — a sequel that not only lives up to the original while also standing on its own merits but, when experienced together as part of a duology, brings even more impact to the original.

After a decade-and-a-half of anticipation, promises, false starts, and disappointments, Raekwon ultimately defied the odds and created a classic that is also the greatest rap sequel of all time:

“With a heavy dose of Ghostface, flawless sequencing, tremendous cohesion despite the range of producers, and age-defying lyrical performances from Raekwon himself, Pt. II matches the magic of its originator without trying to recreate it.”

Republished from THE PASSION OF CHRISTOPHER PIERZNIK

Christopher Pierznik is the author of nine books, including The Hip Hop 10 and Hip Hop Scholar, all of which are available in paperback and Kindle. In addition to his own site, his work has appeared on XXL, Cuepoint, Business Insider, The Cauldron, and many more. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

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