Dope Shoe Blog

I bet you don't need these in your life like I do..

Dope Find(s) of the Day

I understand that I'm probably the last person to see this but it's so cute I can't even take it!

Surplus Dope Stuff

Wow it's been two weeks already? I'm slacking, clearly.

As of lately, I've been completely spazzing on being stuck in Michigan. I would move to LA with 20 bucks and a one-way ticket in my pocket if I could. Believe me, I've done dumber things. I don't know if any of you had heard of Post Secret but it's this collection of really dope books of secret messages that people send in on the backs of postcards. It's some really bizarre stuff. Anyway, I came across this:


I know, right?

Anyway. I've realized that in a place like Detroit, where everybody thinks they're a somebody, the real originality is being a nobody.

I'm thinking about doing an "Explanation to my Madness" post soon. I don't know, it's in the works.

Everythings Gonna Be All White

CONVERSE ALLSTAR
Originally uploaded by rage*

Adidas Mat Wizard

Mat Wizard 1
Originally uploaded by wrstlngstud145

Battle-scarred wrestling shoes.

Change IV A Dollar.

[Photographss.]



We went on a play date. Literally.


Diyoji. Nevermind all of the negative space. I'm no photographer, nor do I pretend to be.


Him attacking me. Which resulted in this photograph:

He's like a puma, this dog. You know the animal planet shows when the camera man gets mauled and it's just complete mayhem caught on tape. In this photo, I felt like that poor bastard.


I just now realized I had chapped lips and a booger. Whatever.


I wear black eyeliner because it says "I've been through shit. I know stuff."

Ode To..

I've decided to kick off a new segment of Change IV A Dollar Blogvision. It's called
Ode To..[insert topic of discussion here].
It's paying homage to all of those who fall into the category of [inserted topic of discussion].

First up!
Seby's probably not going to like this too much, I'm taking a life gamble for my avid women readers. And guys, I half-apologize because this first Ode To strictly satifies the interest of heterosexual women.
So

Ode To:
Chocolate Brothers.
In no particular order, they're all equally fine.(yes, fine.)

Up first:

Idris Elba.

Of Course the Vets that hold it down lol.

Morris Chestnut


and Taye Diggs.


Adrian Peterson.


Reggie Bush.


And this brother! Who is as random as he is gorgeous. His name is uhhh...umm..shoot..Lance Gross!

mmm..Indulge..

Surplus Dope Stuff

I've never been into like gaudy jewelery or blatant displays of ostentation; I'd much rather humbly display how much better I am. Luxury should be personal. Even with that said, these Louis' are DUMB.

Change IV A Dollar.

As a disclaimer for the following post: I am not especially religious. As a matter of fact, I don't believe in "God" necessarily or Christianity even, although I do believe in some sort of higher power whether it be God, Allah, or whomever. I consider myself more of a logical person and I have a few too many questions regarding the concept of religion. I believe, more so than I do in the institution of religion, that it was only created as a method to keep the minds of people under some sort of constriction. Think of a kid; let's name him Billy. Billy wants a cookie from the infamous cookie jar, but it his mother is standing over him telling him not to take one. Under this scrutiny, Billy more than likely, isn't going to grab and run with the cookie because someone of authority is standing over him watching his every move. I believe this concept to be comparable to religion. If you are led to believe that there is someone, who is everywhere, at all times, watching your every move and you report to him at least once a week, then you will be less likely to do be do mischief. Some argue that this concept of Christianity was introduced to black people during slavery to give them more enthusiasm to complete their daily tasks and be more content with their captivity; because if God let them get beaten, raped and slaughtered without justice, it was written to be so. I'm not sure if I completely agree, but it certainly would explain why the majority of religious black people are Christian.

But that isn't the purpose of this post, hence the title of the post (an old Coolio track). In recent months, I have become completely OVER music in its present state. It's absolutely deplorable. In recent years, I have been perplexed as to why "artist's" (and I use that term very loosely) get away with the things they do. When I rarely visit the club, and Lil' Wayne graces the radio waves, chicks are proudly reciting his charmingly stated "Shut up bitch, swallow. If you can't swallow, shut up bitch, gargle." Wait. You know he's talking about you, right? Dummy. I also wonder how the industry has made it so that we, unconsciously, expect music videos to feature bare-assed women with diminishing self-respect and not take into account that she's somebody's kid, mother, and/or sister; at the very least she's somebody's cousin. No, to us she's groupie number 2 standing on the left of that bad rapping brother with the $10,000 chain hanging from his neck that's on loan until 6 o'clock. And somewhere in the world, homegirl is silently persuading little Antasha in Hood, USA to aspire to be in her line of work. And that's okay with us because Lord knows we don't need another doctor on our hands. And the songs promoting drug vending and use because that's "only way to survive in the hood".. you're too prideful to work at McDonald's but not too to not be able to feed your kids that night with certainty? You're right, that does make sense. In this puzzlement, I began to research what it is about music that makes it so potent and influential.

Believe me, this is not an attempt to begin an uprising of all things hip-hop. Hear me out.

Lucifer, what Christian's sometime refer to the Devil as, was really the name of the Devil when he was an angel in heaven, before he was banished to hell. "Lucifer" is only mentioned once and only in the King James version in Isaiah 14:12.. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer .. God is believed to have created three arch angels; Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer that were to carry out his law amongst the holy realm. All of these angels were armed with unimaginable beauty and capacity. God made Lucifer of the greatest light and brilliance and armed him with the ability to travel through all plains of the Infinities to discover all of the jewels of reality that He had created; one being music. Lucifer was renowned for his musical inclination. Upon discovering these realities, Lucifer began to believe that he was God's equal and decided to try and overthrow Him. When God found out Lucifer's plan, he had banished him and his following of corrupt angels to Hell. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.(Isaiah 14:13-15) I mean, I dunno. I could be wrong but that sounds to me like Lucifer took a cup of Courage that morning and God told him what was really up.

….The king of Tyrus (Lucifer), and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty… Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God…. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created… merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee… Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground… therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee… thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. (Ezekiel 28: 12-19)

In layman's terms: "You know you f*&!#d up, right? I'm the best. I made you. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. You gotta go bro."

So with all of that said, consider this. Lucifer, now Satan cause he's in Hell and all, decides to infiltrate the human race, God's greatest creation, with his great gift of music.

Physics lesson! Consider music, in all of its elements. Vibration is the source of all sound, and sound is the medium of all music. Vibrating objects push against the air around them creating zones of compressed air. That zone of compressed air presses against the air around it and so on and so forth. These compression waves are also known as sound waves. Think of a slinky. If you stretch it out and thump a coil, the vibrations bounce off the air surrounding it, in turn making the other coils ring. Same as another instrument like…..the harp! Lucifer's favored instrument. ..Your pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your harp: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you..(Isaiah 14:11).

Music makes you act involuntarily. You hear a beat, your head bounces, your foot taps. It takes you to another place without you even realizing. It pumps a thinking, breathing, and completely competent human with a natural stimulant that we are consciously unaware of, aiding in us feeling a certain emotion; happy, sad, sensual, reminiscent, etc. That's pretty impressive for something we can't even see.

Now, consider rap music. Tupac said "… I sold my soul for a chance to kick it and bang. Now tell me if I'm wrong, but sayin "fuck the world" got you deeper in my songs… why I should change, into a softie, after living so loftily. It cost me my soul out of control in a devil's world.."
At the height of his career, killed. Eerily being very aware of his approaching death.

DMX said "I sold my soul to the devil, and the price was cheap. A yo it's cold on this level cause it's twice as deep. But you don't hear me, ignorance is blissining…

He's currently in jail for a sleuth of criminal charges but is pursuing a career in pastoral preaching (is that a double negative?).

In Snoop Dogg's autobiography, The Doggfather, he admits to selling his soul to the devil and that marking the day that Calvin Broadus died.

I mean, this could all be just a conspiracy theory.

Some of my match gear

From the back of my Sneaker Cupboard #8

Mint Condition USA-made Chucks

Mint Condition USA-made Chucks
Originally uploaded by boots160

Just the way they used to be!

Change IV A Dollar

Welcome Back.

[Sigh.]

So, firstly, I feel I must apologize to my few dedicated readers for being away for so long. I was on break from school which also means I was on break from life.

Anyone who knows me, or more specifically has known me for more than a year or so, knows that my vida is almost always in shambles. I've been working on organizing but that usually results in numerous thoughts racing all at once and all needing to be solved first. If that makes sense. Moral of the story, I can hardly sleep. I'm kind of weird right now, don't worry about it.

Anyway.

I had a pretty good holiday. Sidenote-- I think it's humorous that people claim "New Year, New Me" so passionately beginning Dec. 26th. Maybe it's just me but if you were so set on "changing", you would do it right when you decided you needed the change, not on a day that the earth completes it rotation. It's like saying "I know I'm a bad person but as long as I promise that 2009 is a new year, new me, it doesn't count." Whatever. Oh and also, people don't change. They might grow and become smarter, or wiser but you don't change. It just takes you a while to figure out who you really are. Yes, I am the consensus.

Back to my holiday. My sister is pretty amazing. She reads my blog as often as a I make a post and she read My Christmas List post and got me the cup!


I was really geeked. Perhaps, too.

Here we are later on.

She's really great. And I'm glad we're together.

Oh and also, I have this video game system:


Why yes, this is perhaps the best video game system everr!
I had one when I was younger but my mother threw it away like a putz. So I traded my last Capri-Sun for this one over the summer. I do miss that Capri-Sun, it was Fruit Punch...

I post this to say, if anyone can tell me where I can get Mario/Duck Hunt and the orange gun, I will forever be indebted to you.

I think that's it for now. I'll post regularly. Scout's honor.

Plimsoll Line

plimsoll line
Originally uploaded by davesneakers

Happy New Year!