The Carlyle Post

I have had several requests by some friends to start posting reviews on TV shows that I watch.  Since the DVR is the best invention of the 21st century, I find myself watching more TV than anyone should be allowed.  When I see an interesting trailer or hear by word of mouth about a good show I record it.  I currently only have one terabyte of storage but I’m sure that will need to be increased very soon.  Well here it goes.  I hope you find it helpful.

  Summer 2014 has produced a few sleeper shows.  Lets start with my favorite.

  Show: Tyrant

Network: FX

Airs: Tuesdays, 10:00pm

IMDB rating: 8.2

Carlyle rating: 9

  This has become my favorite show of the summer.  Barry Al-Fayeed is a pediatrician living in California with his American family.  Barry is also the second son of a Middle Eastern dictator of a fictitious county called Abbudin.  Barry has cut off relations with his Abbudin family but decides to return home for the first time in 20 years for his nephew’s wedding.  Upon his return, his father dies and his volatile older brother Jamal becomes the new president.  Barry decides to remain in Abbudin with his family and serve as an advisor to his brother.  Barry uses his Americanized ideas on freedom to help convince his brother Jamal to make changes as the people of his country grow tired of Al-Fayeed family’s iron fist of oppression.  With this struggle between cultures, on average somebody dies every episode, which satisfies my need for violence.  FX is known for pushing the envelope and stretching boundaries ever since the highly provocative show The Shield aired in 2002.   Don’t expect any punches to be pulled.

    Show: The Strain

Network: FX

Airs: Sundays, 10:00pm

IMDB rating: 8.3

Carlyle rating: 7

  This show still has me on the fence.  It combines several recently popular sci-fi/horror themes into one show.   I’ll try my best to explain.  Imagine taking a large stockpot and adding Walking Dead, The Thing (original version), and World War Z.  Then sprinkle in some bloodthirsty vampires.  Bam (in my Emeril voice)!  Now you have The Strain.  This is what I have gathered so far 3 episodes in.  A passenger plane carrying a mysterious box/coffin arrives in NY and goes totally dark (this means the plane is sitting on the runway and totally dark inside with no one inside moving or communicating with the outside).  A CDC rapid response team lead Dr. Ephraim Goodweather is called in and all the passengers and crew are pronounced dead with the exception of 4 individuals who appear to be slightly ill.  To avoid a national panic, the federal government decides to release the survivors after a short CDC quarantine.  Dr. Goodweather disagrees and uses his team to further investigate the strange occurrence.  This leads them to soon discover that the survivors including the others recently pronounced dead are now vampire zombies caused by a parasite resembling a nematode (parasitic roundworm).  In addition, the source of the parasite is an ancient evil whose origins are unknown to all with the exception of an elderly holocaust survivor who has faced this threat before.  I decided to give this show a try mainly because one of the CDC team members is Rudy and I find myself still rooting for him after graduating from Notre Dame.  Give me a few more weeks and I’ll get back to you with my final assessment.

    Show: Dominion

Network: SyFy

Airs: Thursdays, 9:00pm

IMDB rating: 7.3

Carlyle rating: 8

    I will pretty much watch any show that deals with angels and demons.  I’ve always had a deep interest in the battle between heaven and hell.  This show is a spin off of the movie Legion.  Here is the quick and dirty.  God has abandoned heaven and a group of lower angels under the leadership of archangel Gabriel wage war on humanity resulting in a mass culling of the human race.  They are basically pissed that God chose humans over the angels and God has left due to his disappointment with his creation.  Archangel Michael has decided to side with the humans and provide protection for a group of humans living in the ruins of Las Vegas.  Michael has also been keeping a secret.  He has been watching over one human that is thought to be the chosen one.  The prophecy says a chosen one will rise and bring order back to earth.  The only question is if the chosen one is up to the task.  The special effects are pretty good and the concept of blood thirty angels with no regard for human life against shows for good entertainment.  I’m about 8 episodes in and the episodes have gotten progressively better.  Since it’s the summer and I have some free time, I will finish the season out and report again if my opinion changes.

    Show: The Last Ship

Network: TNT

Airs: Sundays, 9:00pm

IMDB rating: 7.2

Carlyle rating: 7

Fuck Facebook!

  There, I said it.  Its not like none of y’all (especially men) have ever thought those same words.   I’m damn near 40 years old and this social media kick has worn a brotha down.   Lets start first by saying the days of being a player is over unless you completely shut yourself off of social media.  Between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, MySpace (making a comeback) and some others I’m just to illiterate to know about, how can a man survive?   So, let me break it down with Facebook.

  Facebook puts you in connection with new and old friends, ex’s, acquaintances, and potential serial stalkers.  In addition, you realize the concept of 6 degrees of separation really exits.  It’s cool at first when you realize you can actually see and catch up with people you haven’t seen in ages.  However, if you are in a relationship, the drama will definitely ensue.

  Question 1.  Do you friend your partner?

  Well this may be simple for some depending on your history.  For those who have a few ghosts, this may be a hard decision.  Not because you want to use FB to creep (this is virtually impossible), but because all it takes is one suspect comment from a female that will ignite a barrage of questions:

            -Who is that?

            -Did you fuck her?

            -Why is she your friend?

            -Why did she say it’s good to hear from you?

            -Did you fuck her?   

            -Why did you like her picture?

            -You think she’s pretty?

-Did you fuck her?

  Question 2:  Do you friend any of your ex-girlfriends?

  If you do, you will definitely get the same questions above with a few added:

-How long did you date?

-Were you in love?

-Why did you break up?

-You still like her?

-You still trying to fuck her?

    This is a game you won’t win.  However, if you don’t friend your partner, then you are hiding something.  I decided to friend my partner because if I didn’t I was allegedly hiding our relationship.

  So now that we’re friends what comes next?  I take the approach of limiting activity to avoid any issues.  Do you think that worked?  Nope and here’s why.  Facebook allows you to add posts to friend’s timelines.  (Please excuse me if my terminology is incorrect but this is how I understand it.)  In order for the post to be published, you have to approve it depending on your account settings.  So I ended up having about 50 unapproved posts from my partner.  This translated into me hiding our relationship.  What?  I’m thinking that I’m not on Facebook enough to even care.  Wrong again.  This is very important to your partner.  Your ability to allow her to post to your timeline is a direct reflection of your love for her.  She needs the ability at any given time to post where you are and what you’re doing with her to let the other FB bitches know you are still together.  I guess this is called a check-in.  Bullshit.  It’s a FB bitch alert.  My man is with me.

  So after arguing for an hour explaining why I hadn’t approved the posts, I decided to deactivate my account.  This was only adding fuel to the fire because in her eyes I’d rather not be on FB at all than show the world how much I loved her.  At this point I had to take a step back and realize that I’m trying to bring logic to an illogical conversation and an illogical species.  It’s like attempting to train a lion to be a house pet and then getting mad when it bites off your arm.   We are who we are and trying to change natural instincts will always prove to be futile.

  I eventually caved in and activated my account.  The posts are approved and I state my own FB bitch alert.  Do I even get a thank you?  Nope.  Oh well.  I will save my thoughts on that for another day and blog.

http://nyti.ms/1rNn2rI

Dave Chappelle performing at Radio City Music Hall on June 19th. Its about time to get some real comedy. I need a break from Kevin Hart.

I don’t know about you, but I’m about tired of hearing the mainstream media report on this story.  They’ve had it all wrong from the initial report.  The accurate report thus far is the plane is missing, and we have no idea where it is.  Everything else has basically been someone’s theory that the media runs as fact.  When the theory changes, the media changes the facts with no remorse.  If in fact, no one really knows the planes whereabouts, the US should be very afraid.  We should have the technology, especially after 9/11, to tract any and every plane in the sky.  This is the one time I really want the US to have the answer, but they just cant let us know.  You would think that every plane is equipped with a GPS.  If you can track a cell phone, you surely should be able to track an airplane.  The GPA should be located in an area that is not accessible to anyone but a trained mechanic from the outside of the plane.  Or just put it in the indestructible black box that is made from the strongest metal known to man, adamantium.

  Can we just have media silence until the plane is found?  Or the Chinese admits they have it.

Over the last year, I’ve noticed a growing controversy over butt augmentations.  I would say the majority of those that oppose come from the female species.  I would like to think of myself as a buttocks connoisseur or simply an ass man.  The question really comes down to “Why does it matter?”  If the end result is a better you, I’m all for it. 

  This brings me to a recent experience I had at a local strip club in Baltimore called Norma Jeans.  For any of you who know the name, this has been the mecca of black strip cubs in this area and one of the few clubs that gives you the Atlanta feeling (Atlanta may be the US mecca for black strip clubs).  It had been a few years since I’d been to this club so I was eager to see the new talent.  To my surprise, the club had been invaded by a plethora of butt augmentations.  I could not believe some of the butts that were walking around this club.   The women came in all shapes and sizes, but it was clearly obvious that some butts did not fit the rest of the body.  There were size zero waists matched with 34 inch butts and size 10 waist matched with 50 inch butts (small trailer).  About 40% of the girls probably had work done and it looked like they all used the same doctor.  I say this based on the consistent lumpiness that existed all over the girls’ bask side.  I doubt implants would give this look so I will assume the girls are using injections and hopefully the safe fat injections.

  So this brings me back to my initial question, “Why does it matter?”  I now have mixed feeling.  I’m sure every girl with these enhancements can smash a pair of jeans.  But what happens when the jeans come off?  I guess if the lights are off it doesn’t matter.  If fat was used in the injections, it probably feels real.  I guess I’m just a little turned off by seeing the result up-close.  This reminds me of how I felt after seeing a breast implant gone wrong.  It’s not a pretty site.  I think it will just need to be case-by-case decision.  So far, Nicki Manaj gets 2 thumbs up.  She definitely didn’t get her work done in Baltimore.  Next time you are in Baltimore, check out Norma Jeans and see for your self.  

normajeansclub.com

Robert ‘Bob’ Gates.  There’s a particular word that comes to mind when I hear his name.  Bama.  I learned this word in 1993 during my freshman year at Howard University located in Washington, DC.  This word originated as local slang referring to an individual who did not dress well and morphed into a word defined as a buster, a man lacking integrity, a man you wouldn’t trust as far as you could throw him.   This latest incident with Robert Gates infuriates the hell out me.  I voted for Obama but at the same time have been critical of his presidency.  What I’ve come to realize after the release of Gates book is that President Obama is on an island. 

  Obama does not come from a political family carrying a powerful name such as Kennedy or Bush.  He is not a senior politician who has years of experience on the local or federal level.  His rise to fame was literally overnight.  His timing was perfect coming on to the scene when America was in need of something different from the old guard.  His election was a well-planned tactical mission that worked to perfection.  All those involved should take a bow for a job well done.

  So now Obama is in office and there is a long line of king makers that feel they have done their part in getting him elected and deserve to be rewarded.  In addition, Obama has the task of filling a plethora of positions such as cabinet members, department directors, judges and personal staff to name a few.  Since Obama is new on the political scene, he must rely on the advice of those that helped get him into office.  Obama hasn’t been around long enough to have his own circle of close confidants in the political arena.  He hasn’t been around long enough to have a list of individuals that owe him a favor.  He hasn’t been around long enough to have a following of loyalist that will carry his secrets to the grave.  And because of this, you get a Bob Gates.  Someone told Obama that Gates was good.  He would have his back.  He would strengthen his administration.   Well, this ends up as one more bad appointment that Obama has made due to his lack of experience and absence of tenure in the political game.

  After the release of Gates book, I’m certain that Obama’s circle of trust is non-existent.  Gates willingly accepted the appointment and looked Obama in the eye and swore his loyalty.  Even if Gates was totally against what Obama stood for, he at least could have waited until the end of Obama’s last term to start unveiling the dirty laundry.  This fact alone brings me back to my original term, Bama.  Only a Bama would smile in your face and trash you behind your back.   Only a Bama would reveal conversations that were held in private and thought to be confidential by the other parties.  If this word is not a part out your current vernacular, I would suggest that you start identifying those who fit the bill.  As radio personality Huggy Lowdown puts it, Robert Gates is “The Bama of The Week.”