goddamn that dj made my day

today's topic: goddamn that dj made my day © dmc

1. the most gangsta sound i've ever heard in the club came courtesy of dj jazzy jeff saturday night. if he was dj'ing all the time, i would enjoy the club alot more.....you may not believe me, or care, but he mixed pants on the ground with move bitch....i wish you could've been there to see and hear. it was like everyone got an instant adrenaline shot, and just started bouncin. shit was dope....9th wonder dj'd on friday night. he was dope also. i've heard him before at my alma mater, and he was 10x better this time. better crowd, better song choices, better mixes. kudos to 9fff wondra... this past weekend has confirmed alot about what i like and dislike, socially.

2. this is the official "bands i endorse" stamp for bob george.....none of these bands are as dope as tv on the radio, panda bear, or dirty projectors.....however, they have some hot shit. so, check the myspace pages for these groups. if you like the shit, hit up iTunes....SUPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT.....that is all. have a great week.... oh yeah, slept on festival of the year. hillstock 2010 (it ain't for everybody).

bands:

a.) screaming females: http://www.myspace.com/screamingfemales

b.) eskalators: http://www.myspace.com/neverbreakdown

c.) ava luna: http://www.myspace.com/avalunaband

very funny motherfucker

© e murph.

this dude caught the beat down from hell.....there is three types of strength you don't fuck with.

1. retard strength (a retarded person's strength is somethin serious, don't fuck w/ "that" arm
2. old man strength (old men shake hands w/ the grip of death.)
3. natural strength.

this is an example of not fuckin w/ #2 on my list.

Be !nspired... Be J.O.Y.ful

J.ustice

O.wnership

Y.earning

In the previous two weeks I’ve been attempting to inspire others and more importantly myself.  These articles have been doing both.  I appreciate the readers who have personally told me my words have meant something to them.  So I won’t stray from it just yet.  This week I’ve been focusing on my “star player” ©Katt Williams.  Me.  And what did I decide I need more than anything else. Joy.

You know the P!ed P!per is mad creative so while trying to describe joy I came up w/ attributes that contribute and make joy possible. One for each letter.  J.O.Y. = Justice. Ownership. Yearning.

Justice.  Justice brings joy.  This isn’t necessarily in the legal sense, but in the sense that life has a way of working things out.  You will ultimately get what you deserve whether that be good or bad.  If someone does you wrong rest assured that it will not go unseen.  They will come back to you asking for forgiveness or they may have to go through something because of how they treated you.  Knowing this, no one can take your joy.  It’s yours to give away.  If you’ve let someone or something have your joy, get that shit back.  Tell them “This aint Doritos and that’s Not-cho Joy.” Snatch.  Because w/o it you are absolutely no good to yourself or anyone else.  Case and point, ME.  I’ve let go of my joy for reasons I won’t disclose, but knowing who I am and believing  in that cosmic justice and knowing I am destined for greatness is restoring my joy expeditiously. 

Ownership.  It’s the fourth quarter and there’s 2 ticks left on the clock.  You’re the QB and on the one yard line.  You have a viable running back behind you and 3 more than capable tight ends as options in the goaline formation.  What should you do?  Call your own number knowing that there is NO way someone else on that field wants it more than you.  There might be those who want it AS much (parents, best friends etc.) , but why risk it?  It’s your joy and your situation.  Own it.  Man (or woman) up.  If you’re not happy it’s your own fault.  Real talk.  There is a great gospel song that says, “sometimes you have to encourage yourself”.  And those words are all the way real.  Case and point, ME.  Down… Set… HUT!  I’m going over the top of the pile sacrificing my all for that joy.  I’m taking full responsibility for my situation and the outcome. Straight up. I’m owning it.  No one wants my joy more than me, and no situation will determine it.  This leads perfectly into the last and most important aspect.

Yearning.  This is the most important  because w/o WANTING joy the other points aforementioned become null and void.  You can’t own it if you don’t want it.  No custody battle here or Maury’s paternal tests.  If you want it, it’s yours.  If you don’t want joy, cosmic justice means nothing to you.  But this is more than just a want for joy, it’s a yearning. You crave it. You stalk it.  You can’t do without it.  That has to be your mentality.  That’s all there is to it.  No other way to put it.  You gotta crave joy the way Tiger Woods craves white women… Seek J.O.Y.

L’Chaim…. P!ed P!per

Dave Chappelle as a white man= Funny Shit

Chappelle's Show
Trading Spouses
http://www.comedycentral.com/
Buy Chappelle's Show DVDs Black Comedy True Hollywood Story

Winter Olympics

As most of you all have probably noticed the Winter Olympics are underway and I must say that it is really worth watching. What I love about the Olympics is through the power of national pride, I can be bothered to watch weird and unusual sports. If it wasn’t for my love of seeing America take home gold medals could I sit through a “sport” which resembles shuffleboard with brooms. No amount of national pride however can get me to tolerate or much less enjoy figure skating. Any sport where the men prance about in spandex, with frills and sparkles on their face simply should not exist. Outside of figure skating, let me tell you about the sports I have been finding most interesting.

Down Hill Skiing- I don’t know what it is about this sport but I can’t get enough of it. Perhaps the extremely high speeds paired with a difficult downhill course just make the level of excitement too high to ignore. Watching these brave athletes navigate the course truly puts me in mind of watching rally racing, which is always a good thing.

Bobsleigh- C’mon, who didn’t watch Cool Running’s as a kid and not fall in love with the sport of bobsleigh? Although Jamaica is not in the competition this year, it is still amazing to watch. Bobsleigh also ranks very highly on my list of sports I would like to try but will probably never will. Much like downhill skiing bobsleigh greatly resembles motor racing so it instantly gets the nod from me.

Speed Skating- Once again this is another sport which greatly resembles a motor racing in one form or another. What also makes speed skating great is that the racers aren’t afraid to get up close and personal with each other. The occasional push and shove among the competitors is always fun to watch and lets you know that the contestants are giving it all they got. On top of all that it is great to pull for American Shani Davis, because honestly there aren’t enough black people in the winter games.

Snowboarding- I suppose my interest in this sport ties into my fascination with skateboarding and other “extreme” sports. The tricks and maneuvers the competitors can achieve are mind blowing and are super entertaining to watch. My only gripe about the snowboarding competition is that they don’t have enough events; I could watch this stuff non-stop.

So now that I have said my favorites please let me know what sports you all are watching!

thoughts & updates

today's topic: thoughts and updates

1. my iPod is stuck between 1988-1993. i've been in this new jack swing mood for the longest. i think it reminds me of when i would go to the skating rink on saturday nights as a kid, and all i would hear is new jack swing and gospel. its good skating music, what can i say......

2. in my opinion, relationships are all about compromise and lust. as soon as you lose one, it's all downhill from there. compromise is important because it shows one person isn't selfish. you are willing to adjust to things you may not want to do, but are beneficial to the relationship. lust is important because once that desire, or "attractive factor" is gone, you'll care less about the person....at least i will. attractiveness is what draws you in, and you still have to find the person attractive to stick around....if you don't like the word lust, change it to "desire", "attractive factor", or whatever adjective you feel is necessary.

3. i went to the bar last friday with my friend steven. he asked this white girl "what kind of music do you like"....she answered "i don't like hardcore hip-hop, jazz, or gospel." .....she didn't answer the question.

4. be on the lookout for my new mixtape that's droppin sometime this summer. i don't have an official release date yet. here's the deal: i work in downtown charlotte, which is a hotbed for homeless people. for some reason, homeless black men like me. they'll run past 5 white men to ask my black ass for $2 to buy something to eat.....so, i thought about it, i want to help the homeless out, but i'm gonna need something in return. so, when i meet homeless mofo's now, i'm gonna make them freestyle for 2 mins. for $2. after i record these freestyles, i'll put the mixtape together and call it "bob george and the hedge fund hoodlums"....or something clever dealing with the homeless. so far, i have two verses. one from a negruh who described himself as "dajuan da swaggalicious". the other verse i'm sittin on, the dude can sing and rap. if he wasn't on crack, he'd be going places.....his name is "breakin dem hoez".....no lie. my logic behind the mixtape is this: if the homeless are gonna constantly harangue me for $$$, i'm gonna harass you also. i don't mind buying you food, but if you put stipulations on how i should give you the $$$, then fuck you....plus, i've had this idea in my head for a homeless mixtape for a while. so, be on the lookout. i'd like to have it up by june so you can have something to bump in your rides during the summertime (no fresh prince).

5. i need to find my natural talent. i've been searching for this since i was 13.....go figure. its like the longest "where's waldo" scenario ever.

6. my 5 must have cd's this past month: fiona apple (extraordinary machine), guy (guy), animal collective (fall be kind EP), keith sweat (make it last forever), ava luna (services EP)

7. looking forward to the 9th wonder and dj jazzy jeff parties next weekend.....shit should be dope. i feel like an official hip-hopper…peace.

shoutout to dead mike

To be Black in Shakespeare: Thoughts from an Acting Intern

Being a black man in a Shakespeare company is a difficult thing. More difficult then many give credit for. Shakespeare has only written two roles for black men: Aaron the Moor and Othello (Othello is often debate as being black. Moors are technically Arabs from Northern Africa, who look more like Egyptians the Africans). Both are a bit unstable, and have affinity for killing white people. This is problematic for many of black artist, because how often can you strangle your young wife and not get a little bored. The number of roles for a black man in Shakespeare is almost dismal. To further compact the problem, Shakespeare Company's seem to employ a resident black man. A strong powerful presences that is their go-to King, Ghost, God, Fairy, or monster when he is not playing Othello or Aaron. This force of nature is usually allot older then a 20 something. This makes it even more difficult to break into a classical company.

Performing Shakespeare as a black man works against many of the natural tendencies that black people have. Black People, especially African Americans, have a natural rhythm of movement. This Funk, Hip hop, Jazz, or Blues swagger is embedded into our physicality, and many times we are completely unaware of it. It takes complete awareness of one's body to lose this rhythm (me in my own awkwardness and affinity for Rock music has caused me to lose some of my own natural rhythm). Shakespeare wrote his plays in a time when European music was experiencing its Baroque Period. A music that is less about the rhythm and more about the top voices. Hamlets characters natural rhythm is radically difficult for Black people, and Black actors (even playing Othello whose was written for a white man) have to actively work to lose this tendency, a very difficult thing to do.

Also, no matter how much a black man or women works, every black person living in America has a dialect. Even Black people who have spent most of their lives surrounded in a white community, still have the slightest change in their pattern of speaking from their Caucasian peers. I would like to argue that it ties once again to the music we listen to, but even my rocker black friends still have way of speaking that is specifically black. The problem, within classical literature, no one speaks like the modern black man. In fact no one in the contemporary world speaks like the modern black man. So it becomes increasingly important that we change our vocal patterns to fit within Shakespeare's world.

I guess this is what pushes black artist away from Shakespeare. However, as I continue down this path of becoming an artist, I find that the very thing that are my weakness, are some of my strengths. Because of the uniqueness of black actors, the way they move and speak, these traits are often sought after. It doesn't make our traits any better or worse, just unique.

More so professionally then in college, I find myself embracing those cultural aspects that make me as an artist unique. I will never escape the fact that I am a black man, and no amount of costume, funny voice, or make up can convince people other wise. However instead of it becoming a thing to pigeon hole me, I allow it to inform my art. A older actor told me, the audience wants you, not the mask you carry. Theater performers are some of the bravest people I know, because they share their inner self to a room full of strangers. Black theater performers it even worse, because our scares are the deepest and our selves the most guarded. However if I can find the ability to show that side of me to the world, then I can finally call my self and artist.

Be !nspired... Be True To Yourself

You are you for a reason.  Believe this and live that.  Conformity to society and what you see around you will only lessen the fulfillment you will receive in life.  Never let your situation dictate who you become.  I had been allowing situations in my life to determine how I had been behaving and reacting to my life. Enough is enough.  I’m through with that.  Gotta be me homie.  I know the whole nature vs nuture argument.  But if you have the mindset that you’re going to go where you want and do what you need to do to get there, then nothing can stop you or deter you from your ultimate goal.

When all else fails, there’s really only one thing left to do.  Stop trying.  When you try to overcome life’s obstacles and you’ve exhausted your resources and still can’t win, it’s because you’re trying too hard.  Maybe it’s not your battle to fight, maybe you’re not meant to overcome it how YOU think you should. Maybe this ain’t Burger King and you can’t have it your way. Take a step back.  Sometimes we must fail to fly.  If  you never know what it feels like to lose something you’ll forever fear that feeling b/c you are unfamiliar with it.  But once you experience that failure and bounce back and have proven to yourself your own strength, then you can do it all and enter in fearlessly.  Always be true to yourself, never sell yourself short.  You deserve all that you deserve.  I’ve had to realize this.  Cliché as it is, god truly never gives you more than you can overcome, why do I believe this?  B/c there is NOTHING you can’t overcome and defeat in some form or another.  You just have to be willing to listen and work hard.  Being yourself through adversity is not an easy task.

I mean look @ the 5ivebruhs.  We all have very different personalities and I’d have it no other way.  We are true to who we are, whether you agree with it or not, and we will NOT compromise.  Never ever buddy.  The P!ed P!per is so much more than anyone will ever know. Why? Because I know I have limitless potential.  YOU should feel the same way about YOU.  Be true to that person in the mirror, they can’t fail you.

Now for my attempt at inspirational poetry.

“be trUe”

When you look at you what do you see?

Is that person being all they ought to be?

Do you have to question, “Damn is that really me?”

At this point you must work to set YOU free.

Untuck your chin from your chest.

If you wanna be great in life, why settle for less?

From your mind, press out all the mess

Your weighted down heart needs to be addressed,

And re-dressed.

Clothed anew, if you don’t believe, how can you be blessed?

Mom and Pops said you can do whatever you put your mind to.

This also applies to if you don’t believe in you.

Dude in the mirror, get a clue,

Cuz knowing who you are is long over-due.

YOU’re going to be YOU til the day you die,

But be steadfast with un-batted eye.

You will overcome every day that goes by

By being true to yourself and the Most High.

L’Chaim…   P!ed P!per

Redemption

I sat in my room waiting to hear a decision. The last three months had been spent working hard and studying to prepare myself for when it mattered. At that moment I realized that a good portion of my future rested in the balance and if I failed to get the nod I would be back to the drawing board and have no idea what to do. I heard from downstairs my Father answer his phone and listen to the voice on the other line. My pulse quickens, my thoughts start racing, and I realize that this is it. He thanks the lady on the phone and ends the call. By this point I was downstairs and standing next to him. He does not even have to utter a word for me to know what happened. I didn’t get the job, and I was back to square one.

That was where things were for me around the first week of August. After three months of interviews and studying I thought I had a dream job lined up. A job which I thought I was perfectly cut out for, a sales position at a fairly large company in the Midwest. The position was great, six months of training and the company covered all of my living cost, after that I would be shipped out to a territory where I would begin my career as a salesman. If all had gone according to plan I would be house shopping and trying to figure out what sort of car I want to buy. Things simply didn’t pan out however and I did not get the job. I was left in a spot that so many of my peers were in, I was out of luck and there really was not much I could do about it.

After putting in four years of hard work at my undergraduate institution there was always a sense that you would be rewarded. From a young age I was told that the key to getting a good job was going to college. For the first 2.5 years of my college career that seemed like that would hold true. Unfortunately the biggest economic downturn just happened to occur right around the time I was due for graduation. Fingers crossed I still pushed forward with the hopes of landing a good job. I was determined to make sure that all of my hard work was not going to be for granted and I would not have to move back home for an extended period of time. Despite my best efforts I could not find a job and I ended up back home. Even with this setback I continued to keep my spirits up and determination keen. After failing to land the sales job I had been working towards reality truly began to dawn on me: I might be screwed. As pessimistic as it sounds it was around that point that I realized that I may not be finding a job for quite some time. Mind you this realization didn’t slow down the rate at which I was tossing out resumes and applications and hoping that something will stick, but it was always in the back of my head.

By mid September I still had nothing to show for my efforts. After one fruitless interview my mother mentioned that perhaps I could make a good lawyer. The legal profession is one I had never considered but I figured given my interest in technology and videogames, Intellectual Property law could be a good path for me. Knowing nothing of what it took to get into law school I went to UT’s law school and sought out more information. Needless to say I had my work cut out for me, as I had to prepare for the LSAT, get letters of recommendation and fill out applications, and best it was early October and law schools had been accepting applications for nearly two weeks. Knowing this I buckled down and studied and prepared myself for the what would be arguably the most important test I would take in a long time. The work itself was fairly dull but I did find satisfaction in knowing that all of this was up to me. Unlike applying for college there was no mom or dad to tell me when it was time to study or to pay for SAT classes , getting into law school would be from the sweat of my brow.

January eventually rolled around, and after three months of studying, test taking, and application filling I found myself in the same spot I was in this summer, waiting to hear back. Numerous failings in the job market had reigned in any optimism I had for my chances of getting in. My thought process was: “I gave it my all but don’t be too surprised if I don’t get in.” Although this mindset may seem awful pessimistic, and depressing it was necessary as I could not let myself get my hopes up as I had six months ago. Even with my mindset I still knew I would be terribly depressed if I did not get into any of the schools I had applied to.

So there I sat in my car, it was February 9th. After over a month of habitually checking the status of my application, I felt that a decision was near. Just a day before I had received a letter from the University of Cincinnati that I had been waitlisted, so I feared that I may suffer the same outcome at the University of Tennessee. I had been keeping tabs on what other applicants had been hearing via a forum for law school hopefuls. All indications told me that if I get a phone call from the university today it would be news that I had been accepted, if there was no phone call I could pretty much expect a thin letter in my mailbox later that week. I had a dentist appointment to go to, so reluctantly I placed my phone on silent and tried to push my nervousness out of thought. On a whim I checked my phone to see if I had missed any calls, the phone showed on the screen: 1 missed call, 1 new voicemail. My heart began racing as I listened to the message and heard the voice tell me that I was to call the UT admissions office at once. At that moment I nearly began crying, as I felt all of my hard work was about to repaid with one quick phone call. I dialed the number and spoke to the admissions staff member, and heard the greatest word I had heard since graduation: Congratulations.

Thanks to the Bruhs and all my friends for their help and encouragement through all of this. Although the work I put towards making this happen came from my own desires and drive, I always felt like I had a strong group of people behind me, cheering me on.

jokes x sinbad = my childhood

happy valentines day to everyone....especially my girlfriend who i love, and cannot wait to watch NBA games with this next month. love you.

Be inspired... Good Friends

I’ve been going through dark times in my young age recently and I have to remember to keep myself inspired, and with this article I will try to do the same for you, the reader, who may also be facing similar times.

Things in life don’t always go as planned.  Sometimes things happen that are out of our control.  This is when we have to buckle down to bring out the outcome we desire most.  In these types of situations we can only trust in God to be there for us and to help us overcome all adversity and to keep our sanity.  But good friends, friends that are there for you as much as you are for them, can make it that much easier.  I have been going through some tough times myself, hence the lack of posts from the P!ed P!per, but there are those who have been there for me and have made dealing with life’s hiccups manageable. And I thank them for that.

Good friends are hard to come by, and people who claim that everyone that they meet is a good friend need to re-evaluate this assumption.  I don’t claim to have many friends, b/c I don’t use that term willy-nilly.  Family and friends go together, God chose my family and he’s given me the opportunity to choose my friends, I don’t take this responsibility lightly.  I’m a firm believer in playing your cards close to the chest and scrutinizing every situation inwardly before seeking outward help.  Outward help can be there when you can’t fix it yourself or if you have it figured out and still want another point of view.

Don’t let them go.  If you have some people in your life that mean the world to you, you should never let them go by any means.  There are always ways to work things out, whether you can see them or not, you just have to set your mind to keep them in your life, and the same goes for them.  It can’t be one sided. Believe in hope.  That friendship came about for a reason, and as long as you keep that in the forefront of your mind, you’ll realize it should remain.  I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason and only YOU can nullify that reason, no one else.  Even when everything else is telling you to let go of the relationship with someone you’ve come close to, you simply can’t.  Why? Because you will never be fulfilled. You will never fully receive the blessings and lessons God has for you.  Remember, he put them there for a purpose.

This article is inspired by a recent call that I had from one of my friends that came at the right time.  I had been feeling like my back was against the wall and my situation would never improve and I was in the process of losing one of my best friends, needless to say I couldn’t sleep because of all this.  My friend on the phone informed me that even through these types of situations there is so much to be thankful for.  He also told me that if I want something, if I want to keep my relationships with the people who matter the most to me that playing your cards so close to the chest is not the thing to do.  If there is something you want, no scratch that, something you NEED then you must fully pursue that and not give in to life’s curves.  You gotta roll with it and keep your joy through it all, b/c without that joy in your heart you can never convey what your heart is truly feeling.  Now this doesn’t mean lowering your head and charging whatever situation you’re facing, trust me I’ve done this and it has made it so much worse.  

You have to be doing whatever it takes to make it work, even if that means doing nothing at all.  I’m an impatient ass dude and learning this lesson will help me a lot in the future. Psalms 62:5 reads, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.”

 You have to put all the BS aside and speak from a clear and joyful heart to effectively push for the things you want.  I’m on this now, and quite frankly it feels great.  I feel like I can’t lose, and I won’t lose.  I want a great future, I want God in my life, I want to KEEP my relationships with those I care about and damnit I just want to be happy.  And I will.

L’Chaim…. P!ed P!per.

Jonny's Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

When He's Washin' WATCH HIM!!

"He gon make it to a Benz outta that Datsun"- Kanye West

This line when I first heard it meant nothing to me. I was younger then. A dumb 18 year old at a time when trying to figure out women wasn't AS difficult. It was college. I mean what’s really to figure out. You find a girl who's willing to provide whatever form of "companionship" you're looking for and you exploit it for as long as you can before it eventually dissolves. Immaturity mixed with the illusion of freedom make that age group a breeding ground for meaningless relationships. That line in Kanyes "Gold Digger" was talking about "real life" not that college shit. So it wasn't till I graduated that I fully understood it.

But to FULLY understand it I had to push the "Datsun". For me, that was taking on a security job at a community college. Not what I had in mind but in 2009 you took what you could get. The Gap wouldn’t even hire my ass. Kind of ironic. Just graduated with a bachelors so I could parade around with a felt badge and blue cargo pants locking doors and setting alarms at a community college. Not that it was a particularly bad job and that’s the point. Its not. Not the sexiest job but it put money in my pocket. In spite of the last statement, I was met with a lot of skepticism of my career path. Judgment about why I wasn't doing more after graduating from a 4 year college. A lot of that judgment came from females who weren’t aware of the ambition that I have. When asked what I’ve been doing post grad, the answer was met with the stankest looks from females I’ve ever seen. An immediate turnoff as if I was some sort of loser. Here's my issue.

I feel like almost every girl has a bit of "gold digger" in them. The promise of success in a man is a turn on. Success=Stability and at this age, a lot of people are thinking about finding what I like to call "#1". I get that. Don’t get me wrong but I feel like a lot of women fail to see the potential in seemingly meager beginnings. Without getting into too much detail, I'll say that fortunately by the beginning of 2010 I started moving towards getting my career on the right path. while making less money than I was as a security guard the potential had made it such that when I explain my job title I am no longer met with the stank looks. Its amazing how much stake women put in potential.

My charge to the women out there who have found that they have judged a brother prematurely. Stop and see about his character before writing him off. You may find that he has a lot more potential than you thought. Plus there’s nothing better than finding someone who appreciates you for who you are rather than what you can provide and where your going.

Just something to think about.



Oh and I gotta say....to the 5ivebruhs fans and 5ivebruhs family...Bonnaroo check it out!

What to watch: Formula 1

With the Colts only a handful of days away from lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy triumphantly over their heads we begin to enter a sad period of time for many people. After 20 weekends of exciting football action the drought begins as we wait with great anticipation for the season to begin again. One question is what sports should one watch to fill the void that football has left behind? Basketball seems like a great option and baseball will be starting up as well. Instead of looking towards conventional sports this offseason I invite you to look at the wonderful world of Formula 1 (also known as Grand Prix) racing.

Formula 1 is worth watching simply because it is the culmination of the best of the best. Grand Prix racing drivers are well paid athletes who command some of the highest salaries in the sports world. It is also worth noting that these drivers are actual athletes and are in top physical condition so that they can cope with the extreme cornering and braking forces the cars are capable of producing.

The cars themselves are the most advanced racing machines on the road today. Most teams in Formula 1 spend well over 100 million dollars over the course of a season and some teams spend more than four times that. Every aspect of the cars represents the absolute pinnacle of technology.

Finally there are the tracks. Traveling across the globe to some of the most challenging and prestigious tracks in the world F1 is not left wanting for great venues. Places like Melbourne, Suzuka and Monaco sound a lot nicer than the NASCAR venues such as Darlington and Talladega.

Now that I have told you why you need to watch Formula 1, let me tell you who you should watch. The upcoming 2010 season has a lot of great story lines to watch out for and they should provide some great drama as they develop. In my eyes the biggest story for this season is what is going on at my favorite team, McLaren Mercedes. McLaren is one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 and they have assembled a great pair of drivers for this season. Their newest driver is none other Jenson Button of Britain who led the Brawn Grand Prix team to a World Championship in 2009. He will join Lewis Hamilton also of Britain, who is 2008 world champion and also the first black driver ever to race in F1. Personally I am fan of Lewis Hamilton simply because it’s great to see a black driver excelling in the sport. Having the two best drivers in the sport sounds like a great idea on paper, however history has shown that it doesn’t quiet work out. With both drivers being so talented and competitive it is only a matter of time before the two teammates turn their attention towards each other, and what had once begun as a team effort can turn into a bitter rivalry. Although both Hamilton

and Button say now that they plan to work together I will be watching these two drivers with great interest this season. Below I have included a clip of what can happen when you have two of the best drivers at the same team, as McLaren drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost showed us in 1989.

Another great story is the new Mercedes Grand Prix team. Mercedes has decided to step up their involvement in the sport and have bought Brawn Grand Prix which won the World Constructors Championship last year. With this take over Mercedes has made a German Dream-Team of sorts as they have paired together two great talents for this season. One of their drivers is Nico Rosberg of Germany, the son of a former champion and a driver with great potential. Alongside Rosberg is none other than seven times World Champion, Michael Schumacher, who outside of David Hasselhof is the most well known German alive. After a retirement from the sport for the past three seasons Schumacher has decided to come back for one last Brett Farve-esq attempt at the championship. It looks as though Michael has kept up his trademark physical conditioning and winning drive and it will be very interesting to see if he still has got what it takes at age 41 to compete against drivers nearly half his age. My bet is that he will not win the championship but he will be a constant threat to win races as the season progresses.

One final story to watch is the recent influx of new teams this season however the one most relevant to me is the US Grand Prix team. This new and exciting team is marketed as the All-American effort in Formula 1. Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina this team has the hopes and dreams of many American fans riding on its shoulders. Personally I am interested in the team and I hope to see them perform well, but given a smaller budget and rookie status I don’t expect much. It is also worth noting that the team isn’t quite as American as they say, for instance the motors the team will use are British, the driver they have announced thus far is Argentinean, and one of the team’s two founders is an Australian. So much for the All-American effort, but still it is good to root for the home team and US Grand Prix is definitely that.

I also realize that you may be slightly confused about the differences between F1 and the cars you see at the Indy 500. The Indy cars may look similar to F1 cars but they are heavier, slower in the corners and less technologically advanced than Grand Prix cars. Indy is also primarily an American series while Formula 1 is an European series, with races taking place all over the world. It is also worth noting that all of the cars in the Indy series are essentially the same as the cars use the same engine and chassis. One of the great aspects of F1 is that each team’s car is different from the next team and there are several different engine manufacturers involved in the sport.

Now that I have said all this I beg this of you: If you have any interest in both cars and motor racing you should give F1 a chance. Formula 1 has a fairly small following in the United States and there has not been a race in the US since 2007, which is a shame. If you find a team or driver to pull for and learn to appreciate the subtle strategy employed in the sport, you will find F1 to be a great sport to follow. This year’s F1 season gets underway on March 14^th at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The race is shown live on the Speed channel at 8am Sunday morning, and then replayed later that day.

Be sure to check out Formula1.com to learn more about the sport and the keep up with the developments for this upcoming season.