A Guide to Being a Hipster in a Major City

From my observations if you'd like to become a hipster in a large US city you must: 

Go to an art school or at least claim to be in love with art.

Own a fancy camera.

Shop at Urban Outfitters. (However, if you are top notch and stay on top of your shit, you shop at a thrift store.)

Smoke cigs, preferably American Spirits  (Spirits are one-hundred per cent natural with no additives, man. It's also a way to stick it to the MAN because they aren't owned by a major tobacco company)

Shower twice a week or if you can manage to look like you don't shower at all.

Wear gold toms, actually fuck it. Wear any color toms.

Wear a took

Lastly, the fixings

My favorite kind of hipster? A Chi town hipster formally called a Chipster.

Any additions to this guide are welcome by hipster-observers and hipsters alike.

 

Always the bridesmaid never the bride to be

I would like to make some corrections to my last post "The Luck of the Nick". The ping pong ball that delivered the number one overall pick originally belonged to the Los Angeles Clippers. In typical Clipper fashion, things didn't turn out in the best way possible. Thoughts of Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin pick and rolls will only be in Los Angeles's other team's faithful dreams. Bad ownership trickles its way down to its team's front office, but this time who could have imagined that such a miniscule chance of winning would yield the number one overall pick. But hey, at least you still have Blake Griffin who has turned into a marketer's dream. I cannot recount the multitude of  times that I've seen BG dunking over that KIA. (see here) The ultimate irony is the Clippers sent Baron Davis, the fella throwing the alley op through the Kia's sunroof to Cleveland soon after the All Star Break.Sorry Clipper fans, no Irving to Griffin Ops either. But I feel for you guys, considering the teams I root for...

Now for our nexts bridesmaid.... the Minnesota Timberwolves

One NBA executive said something around these lines regarding the NBA draft: You can only draft the players that are available. If there's only one superstar in a draft class, and your franchise has the second overall pick, and that one superstar is taken then you're shit out of luck fella. Despite being a perennial bottom feeder of the Western Conference, the T-Wolves have never had the number one overall pick. Kevin McHale's grand plan trading KG to the Boston Celtics never panned out. What a conflict of interest. He Traded his team's best player for the last decade to his former team to put them in NBA Final contention. Thank baby Jesus that he's gone. Minnesota doesn't miss you... Digression aside, the Draft has not been kind to this team as it could have been. In 2006, the T-Wolves traded Randy Foye for Brandon Roy. While Foye has floated around the league to different teams, Roy has developed into a 20 pt and 5 assist type player. Although, his recent knee injuries may deteriorate his play in years to come. With 2007, the front office selected Corey Brewer who contributes off the bench for the Dallas Mavericks. Did the Wolves give up on Brewer a little to early? I think so. They had the chance to reclaim him off waivers after he was released by the Knicks following the T-Wolf Knick trade. Two of his fellow University of Florida college teammates have turned into all stars, Al Horford and Joakim Noah. This young man still has room to find his niche the Association.

Furthermore, Minnesota missed out on Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, the top two talents and picks in the 2007 draft. 2008 was a good year. Kevin Love has developed into a fan favorite and a double double machine. The 6 foot 10 white guy from Oregon broke the connsecutive double double streak this year. Major kudos to you, K Love. 2009 yielded Ricky Rubio who has yet to play a game in the league as well as makes Rondo look like a Ray Allen-esque shooter and Jonny Flynn who missed most of last year. In the process of all this, Washington lucked out and drafted John Wall, the one superstar in that year's draft. Will 2011 bring any luck to this hurting franchise. We can only speculate at the moment. Choosing Derrick Williams may create a jam in the front court that already consists of Michael Beasley and Kevin Love. Beasley and Williams have similiar playing styles in the sense that they are tweeners. Both have the size of a power forward yet they play like small forwards. How Williams's game will translate to the NBA is still a mystery. I guess that's why they pay those scouts a decent salary. Final thoughts for this post: David Kahn get this one right. Your franchise is heading in the right direction with K Love. Keep it that way.

2011 NBA Draft: "The Luck of the Nick"

I am an avid NBA basketball fan, and tonight was the night of the NBA draft lottery. The Cleveland Cavaliers won the lottery to earn the right to pick first in the 2011 NBA draft. Normally for the draft lottery, a team sends a high ranking executive, a coach or a former or current NBA player to represent their respective team. The Sacramento King sent Kevin Johnson, a former player and the current mayor of Sacramento who spearheaded the task of keeping Sacramento Kings, the Sacramento Kings. The Washington Wizards sent John Wall, last years number one pick who had a pretty decent season. The Goldenstate Warriors were represented by a member of their new ownership, Joe Lacob. Michael Jordan's Bobcats were represented by their new coach Paul Silas. The script of characters goes on. There were no big surprises or anything out of the ordinary.

With one exception

The Cleveland Cavaliers did not follow the script. Representing the wine and gold, a fourteen year old boy took the podium. This extraordinary young man was Nick Gilbert, the son of owner. Unlike most kids his age, Nick has gone through a lifetime of battles with cancer. He was born with a rare nerve disorder neurofibromatosis. This disorder abbreviated NF causes cancerous tumors to grow anywhere in the body at any given time. Hopefully, this event helped raise awareness for this condition and a cure if found. Dan Gilbert calls his son his "hero". He has fought this life threatening disease his entire life and so far has come out on top. And tonight Nick was not only a hero to his father but also to the thousands of Cavalier fans around the world who have been grieving since the LeBron James saga. In addition to the first overall pick, the draft pick acquired from the LA Clippers in the Mo Williams/Baron Davis trade which was projected to be the 8th overall pick turned out to be the 4th overall pick. The NBA gods and David Stern's Ping Pong balls were kind to the Cavs today.

This draft could mark the resurgence of the Cavaliers. The organization is primed to make some power moves. As the old saying goes, the ball is in their court. The Draft will inject some new life into this mediocre at best team. Furthermore, the Cavs in possession of a large trade exception which sets them up nicely to acquire a max contract type player and with the salary cap likely shrinking, they are in good shape. Whether it be Duke's Kyrie Irving or Arizona's Derrick Williams or somebody else, it is time for some good change in Cleveland. Let's hope that the front office doesn't make any terribly bad decisions or that the NBA locks out this summer! It is time for Cleveland to get over LeBron "insert negative nickname" James. (Personally, my favorite is LeTraitor.)

A Start

            In 1942, Bing Crosby sang, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.” Living in a desertous region, we haven’t had snow in twenty years, and temperatures can rise to 101 degrees in December.  Nevertheless, Christmas at my home has given me “moments to remember.”

            As a child and teen growing up, my family’s goal was to evoke the true holiday spirit by metamorphosing our home into a winter wonderland. For as long as I can remember, we’ve had one Christmas tree in every room; last year, we had a total of fourteen trees. Every year in October, we begin to transform our home.

            “It time, boys,” my father says.  “Dan, bring that box into the office and Tom, take one at a time. We don’t want to break anything!” From the garage, we haul one-hundred boxes filled with nutcrackers, ornaments, lights, angels, and a partridge in a pear tree!  Mom unpacks and organizes everything. 

            Attached to the boxes are pictures from previous years, which come with memories. The sound of Santa’s voice and sleigh bells on Christmas Eve still rings in my ears. “Ho, ho, ho, Daniel and Thomas aren’t sleeping. I guess I’ll go to Cousin Amber’s house!” As children, my brother and I bolted out of our beds to catch a glimpse of Santa. “Hear that Daneil!” my brother said. “It sounds like Santa’s in the front yard!”

            “Let’s stay up and see what he really looks like.” Many hours, we sat at that window and wondered if we had been good enough for presents. When we grew older, my brother and I met our front-yard Santa, who happened to be our dad. But knowing this never diminished our holiday spirit.

The real decorating begins by stringing countless lights and hanging over 7,500 ornaments. Every tree has its unique theme. My brother’s room has the Harry Potter tree; my room has the baseball tree, which Dad loves because it celebrates every Major League team. My favorite is “the main tree” with its melting pot of ornaments; ornaments that I made as a child hang next to ornaments my mom made when she was a child. My popsicle-stick snowflakes live in harmony beside her crocheted angels. Chirping bird ornaments from my grandparents perch on the top of the tree. The annual Baccarat Christmas ornaments that my dad has given my mom every year they’ve been married glisten with memories. The main tree is truly magical.

The greatest aspect of the decorating is sharing it with others. Every year, we have a party for friends and family.  Showing them our winter wonderland and watching them enjoy the beauty is just as gratifying as opening a present on Christmas morning. When I have my own family, I hope to continue my family’s tradition of extraordinary Christmas spirit.