If you want to dominate your home, friend’s or work’s fantasy football league then this article will teach you three strategies that will help you lock up the big bucks!  When I bring up a specific player it is more of an example than suggestion, because anything can happen on the field.  You control what happens off it though!

These general strategies will ensure you show up on draft day prepared to dominate.

1. Rules and Scoring: Learn the rules and scoring of your specific league. This is imperative. You should know the answers to all of these following questions:

• How many people do you draft?
• How many of each position do you start?
• Is it a Points-Per-Reception (PPR) league?
• Does return yardage count?
• How many points for a QB touchdown?
• How many point do I lose for an interception?
• Is it a keeper league?

You need to know these questions because all of the answers will effect how you do your research and rank your choices. In a PPR league, WR’s suddenly rise in value and so do pass catching running backs. Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones-Drew might be more valuable than, say, Adrian Peterson in a PPR league.

If your league is PPR and counts return yards, then a guy like Reggie Bush will probably go a round or two earlier than in a league without those rules. In many leagues QBs get 4pts a touchdown. In a standard set up where they get 6pts a TD, they are obviously more valuable.

Some leagues even start two QBs, so you will have to remember to grab an extra QB. In fact, you should know all your starting positions so you can ensure you get a quality starter at each position.

In keeper leagues sometimes youth and upside override production. Sure you might be able to draft Cedric Benson, but wouldn’t Ryan Matthews have way more upside for future years? These are the type of questions you have to ask yourself.

When you understand the rules of your league then you can start researching players. If you are in a PPR league instead of Googling “2010 Fantasy Football Rankings” try searching for “2010 Fantasy Football PPR rankings”. Also use common sense, if you are in a league that has an emphasis on a certain skill set/position, then players that bring that to the table will rise in value.

2. Research: Now that you know how to start researching – do it. Make your own cheat sheets. Don’t just use the Yahoo rankings. You can find free rankings in many places:

• http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/football
• http://www.nfl.com/fantasy
• http://www.fftoolbox.com/
• http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasyfootball
• http://www.walterfootball.com/fantasy.php
• http://bleacherreport.com/fantasy-football
• http://www.sportingnews.com/fantasy/football
• http://footballguys.com/

There are way more sites to look at but that gives you a good start. Go over as many of these rankings as possible and create your own list keeping in mind nothing but these above (or other) sites.

Then go through that list and rearrange based on your leagues rules. Use common sense and more specific rankings (like PPR rankings) to arrange your original list.

Once you have that list you can take it one step further by digging into your targets. Read up on coaching changes:

• Saints’ Defense came up big last year after changing defensive coordinators.
• Jets had a good fantasy D with the arrival of Rex Ryan.
• Could Matt Forte and Jay Cutler have bounce back years with Martz at the helm?

You should do this step as close to your draft as possible. That way you can make adjustments for pre season injuries, hold outs or depth chart changes.

3. Draft Day Checklist: You got your research done and you are heading to drat day, what do you bring?

• Your cheat Sheets: You just spent days creating them so use them. This includes bringing one big master list of all your ranked players.  Keep your head in the game by highlighting everyone that goes.
• Latest List of Team Depth Chart’s: Just in case you are scrambling in late rounds
• A list of handcuffs: These are players who will be thrust into fantasy prominence by an injury to a starter. If you have an injury prone player you might want to “handcuff” him to his replacement. If someone else drafted an injury prone player you might want to grab his handcuff just to stick it to him.
• A list of player bye weeks: You don’t want to have all our bye weeks all at once.
• A blank list of everyone else’s teams: This can be huge, I always bring a list that has everyone in the pool listed with the positions under their name. When they take a certain position I check it off. This can be huge because if you notice everyone already has a starting QB then you might be able to hold off on your QB and build depth elsewhere. If you do this step you will instantly be ahead of the general population.
• Drinks: Bring whatever your drink of choice is. Even if you are drinking alcohol, there is nothing wrong with bringing a bottle of water.  Having water on hand could mean you get to keep your comfy seat. I would refrain from using that bottle to also relieve yourself though.  That’s too far.
• Arrive Early: You want a good seat so arrive early. I know people that actually put lawn chairs in the trunk of their car just in case the home owner runs out of seats.
• Bring a clipboard – Good chance you won’t be at a table, so you better bring a clip board. You will get made fun of, but it will help.
• Different Colored Highlighters: These can be handy if you want to identify potential sleepers or value for an upcoming pick. Also good to use to highlight your master list. You don’t want to be scratching things out in a fantasy draft.
• Sense of Humor: You better bring your sense of humor because there will be little mess-ups along the way. There will also be people like me chirping about your picks. I am not above playing mind games. A little friendly badgering is always fun. You can also try to play mind games to make sure someone you want to choose isn’t drafted.
• Bring your brain: Make sure you bring your brain as well, that means you pick a defense second last and a kicker last.

4. Play The waiver wire wisely: Now that the draft is done use the waiver wire properly. You NEVER waste your waiver on a kicker or defense. Wait until the waiver wire is over (usually Wednesday) and then pick up a kicker or defense for the bye week or as a replacement. You only use your waiver wire on people who can really improve your team. The perfect time is when a starter gets injured and a quality back up is available.

These four strategies will place you heads and shoulders about the average fantasy player. If you are looking to dominate your work or home league then remember to know your rules, research, show up prepared on draft day and play the wire wavier like a violin.  Now that you have read this article, put it into practice and enjoy an exciting fantasy football season.

Although the Raptors are not steeped in rich history, they have had their share of stars come and go.  The franchise isn’t very old, especially relatively speaking, but I think we have had enough time to make a call on the best player ever. Considering the Raptors are now on the brink of another rebuild, it is the perfect time to look at the past.

I have already taken the step to narrow this down to two players.  I only paid attention to their time as a Raptor (eliminating guys like Olajuwon and McGrady).  I think it is obvious that this question comes down to Vince Carter and Chris Bosh.  I am sure most people will agree with these choices.  I’d love to put my favorites like Alvin Williams but we know who the real stars were.  Toronto has two real eras: Carter Era and Bosh Era.

Note: All of these stats and numbers are specific only to the years they played in Toronto.  I also didn’t count the strike shortened season or Vince’s last season where he only played 20 games for Raptors before being traded.

1. Let’s start with some basic numbers:

Carter: 23.2 PPG | 5.2 RPG | 3.81 APG
Bosh: 20.2 PPG | 9.4 RPG | 2.2 APG

It is hard to look at numbers and compare two different positions.  However, it is clear that Vince was the better scorer.  If you watched them both you could tell that easily.  Vince had a great inside outside game when he was in his prime with Raptors.  He wasn’t as great of a distributor as some other people at his position but he wasn’t exactly a slouch.

Bosh is more well rounded if you look at the numbers, he offsets his lower scoring with much higher rebounding. Of course that has something to do with his height and position .  Bosh put up some great numbers in Toronto especially his last two years and only looks to get better.  He does have a bit of a robotic aspect to his game, but he is still more fluid than most big men.

Advantage: TIE
I think Vince was easily a more dynamic scorer but Bosh was more well rounded. Hard to give either guy a clear advantage.

2. All Star Appearances

Carter: Five
Bosh: Five

Advantage: TIE
I didn’t count Carter’s final partial season in the stats, so I can’t use it here either.  Both of these guys ended their Toronto careers with five all star appearances.

3. Team Success

Carter: .466 Winning Ptcg | 3 Playoff Appearances | 9 Wins | One Series Win
Bosh: .442 Winning Ptcg | 2 Playoff Appearances | 3 Wins | No Series Win

Advantage: Carter
I know a team wins games not single players, but basketball is the sport in which a single player can make the most difference.  Bosh was here longer but won less playoff games and never won a series.  Carter led the Raptors to a better overall record and was one three pointer away from a deep playoff run.  The Raptors as a whole were most successful under Vince Carter.

4. Intangibles

Bosh worked harder than Vince period.  One of the biggest knocks against Vince was his drive.  He was a happy go lucky kid on the Raptors at first. Instead of morphing into hard nosed player as he aged he just seemed to lose interest in the Raptors.  He truly gave up on the team.  He had a string of  dubious injuries and once told the media he was done with dunking.  Eventually he forced a pretty lopsided trade to NJ.  On the other hand though, Vince transcended basketball – he was an international star.  He essentially built the Raptor organization, he most undoubtedly gave them credibility.  At one time Vince was the face of the league, not just the Raptors.

Bosh was a hard worker who get better every single year.  He gave his all on the court and was never a malcontent.  There were times he looked exasperated but this would usually be preceded by him doing everything he could only to watch teammates half ass it.  Bosh was a complete and utter professional in his time as a Raptor.  That said Bosh did carry himself as a bit of a primadonna this final off season.  He seemed to be toying with the Toronto fans emotions.  My opinion is he was a young guy enjoying the spotlight – it was a bit immature, but it wasn’t as outrageous as Carter’s antics.

Advantage: Bosh

FINAL ANSWER: Vince Carter

I love Bosh and you could argue he has become a more complete player than Carter ever was BUUUUUUUT I think team success is the big factor.  Carter was able to lead his team to more success.  He was also a way bigger star than Bosh.  Bosh got a lot of media attention during the free agent frenzy but besides that he was mostly left to do his work quietly.  Carter was an international superstar who was mentioned in the same breath as the Kobes and Pierces. At one time people even talked about him as the next Jordan. He isn’t my favorite Raptor and he probably isn’t yours.  He also never quite reached the status he should have, but in my opinion he is still the best player the Toronto Raptors have ever had.  I admit he quit on this team and went out like a punk, but you can’t argue that the team was better with Carter at 100%.

Just imagine Carter was as dedicated and hard working as Bosh was during his time here.  Had that been true, I believe that both the Raptors and himself would be talked about quite differently today.

I don’t like Fat Joe.  If you really like him, I warn you I probably won’t like this album.  I definitely messed with Joey back in the day- I love JOSE.  But everything after that has been bleh.  Almost like Joey died with Pun.

The production listing looked insane though, so I will check it out.  I am sure by the end of the record I will be looking for an instrumental.  Again remember this is my very first spin of this album…my thoughts take longer than that to fully form.

1. Intro: Pretty cool beat.  I just don’t like Joey – rhymes are so simplified and Im not feeling his flow.  Decent intro though…I do wish producers would take car sirens out of their songs.  That shit can scare the hell out of you in the car.

2. Valley Of Death: Beat started out hard then went soulful – really nice.  This sounds like it could have fit on Jay’s American gangster.  Oh except, Joe can not rhyme even a tiny fraction as good as even old Jay.  I don’t even mind Joe on this song though – he isn’t doing anything new but his story sounded interesting on this.

3. I Am Crack: LOL@ the title. It reminds me of Trailer Park Boys “Randy, I am the liquor”.  This beat kind of fits with the last song – got a kind of blaxpoitation feel.  Joe is OK on this too really…if you can put up with the “I’m a rapper rapping as an inanmimate object”.  Hey at least he didn’t choose a gun.

4. Kilo: First listen and this might be one of fav songs of the year…I can’t believe I just typed that in a Fat Joe review.  I am a huge Clipse fan though so that might be why – them going back and forth is the best.  That vocal sample has been used on a Clipse song before (surprise, surprise).  Alright Cam’ron is a guilty pleasure for me too.

5. Rappers Are in Danger: This sounded a bit dated to me at first, but the beat grew on me.  Not one of my fav songs so far, but the production has been real consistent on this album.  This is the weakest so far to me and it is still alright.  Fat Joe is not a great rapper to me, but he isn’t ruining this album at all.

6. Slow Down (feat. Jeezy): I like Jeezy so I hope this is good.  Actually I have heard this now that it starts.  Cool sample really.  An interesting flip of the Soul II Soul CLASSIC “Back To Life”.  This reminds me of that Snoop song that sampled Rob Base.  This song is gonna be stuck in my head.

7. If It Ain’t About Money feat. Trey Songz: Another beat that started with that 70′s soul feel, but then it went somewhere completely different.  Went all minimalist and then switched again adding some futuristic synths WTF.  Actually hell yeah I liked this..until the chorus anyways.  Not a huge fan of the chorus at all.  Might make this song one of the ones I skip…still 7 songs in and the first club song – that’s a new record for Joey.

8. No Problems (feat. Rico Love): Another futuristic beat that I am feeling.  I dunno if this will stand up to repeated listens but this beat is good.  In fact, this album has good production front to back.

9. How Did We Get Here feat. R. Kelly: I dunno if this is for me…the beat is OK but a bit soft for me.  I dunno I am borderline on this, it is kind of corny, but Joey actually has some interesting lyrics here.  Gah, I dunno..I might like this but not sure yet.  I think my subconscious is battling my ears.  It’s like “Dude you CAN’T like these many songs on a Fat Joe album, you CAN’T!” but damn maybe I am so far…

10. Money Over Bitches: LMAO I’m too old to listen to this bullshit.  I am officially too old to listen to songs that start off with “Fuck These Hoes, Fuck These Bitches”.  Shut up Fat Joe if you weren’t rich and famous you’d wife the first “hoe” that let you sniff her underwear.

11. Heavenly Father feat. Lil Wayne: This beat is pretty cool so far, hope Weezy spits!  No singing pleeeease.  I really like this beat – cool vocal sample.  Again Joey isn’t ruining anything with his rhymes at all – sometimes I actually find myself listening to him.  BOOOOOOOOOO WTF @ only having a Weezy hook… He would have killed this if he rapped.

12. I’m Gone: Preemo sighting!  Cool typical Preemo beat – sounds great. Hmm of course 40 seconds in and Joey has just talked and sang.  I like how the beat is all happy go lucky then on some parts the beat gets this dark ominous turn.  Anyone who think Preemo still doesn’t have it is an asshole.  If that offended you, good.  One thing is too much of Joe singing and talking on this beat…song could have been 3 minutes long.

13. At Last Supremacy: Was that Busta at first?  This beat is just OK to me.  It isn’t horrible but it is your typical generic dark beat.  Not for me…rapping on it is equally generic.

Wow, I liked this on my first spin a lot more than I thought I would.  Joey chilled out on the club songs this go around.  He was smart enough to get some great production too.  Big surprise here – but if you don’t like Joey this probably won’t make you a fan.  I don’t like him that much, and this won’t make me excited for his next album, but it is a pretty damn good effort overall.  This is the second album in a row by an artist I don’t particularly like being decent (Rick Ross the other).  I think Ross’s album is better – but this is a nice surprise.

If you are a Joey fan you will love this, if you aren’t I’d say you should still give it a peek.

Production Credits

1. Scram Jones
2. Cool & Dre
3. Just Blaze
4. DJ Infamous
5. DJ Infamous
6. Scoop DeVille
7. Cool & Dre
8. Scoop DeVille
9. Raw Uncut
10. Raw Uncut
11. Streetrunner
12. DJ Premier
13. Cool & Dre

Alright, based on the name and a first glimpse – this might not seem manly…but it is.  First off discount the adorable looks – if anything that is actually a bonus for us guys.  Imagine a cat loving female coming to your house and seeing the above cat sprawled out.  You are in!  It is like a man cat undercover.  It might look cute, but it is actually very large and muscular.  Male cats can range from 12 to a whopping 20 pounds.  There is a power house hidden by that fur.  These cats are also very docile and placid – guys like that.  I hate picking up a cat and having it attempt to claw the life out of me.  Ragdolls get their name from the tendency of their ancestors to just go limp when picked up.  Very convenient…OK and a bit adorable.  One last fun fact – there was once a myth they were pain resistant…how manly is that?

4. Pixie-Bob

And the award for least manly breed name goes to… The name might not be manly, but what could be more kickass then having a house cat that is bred to look like a bobcat!  In fact the original ancestors were rumoured to be a mix of bobcat and house cat.  Bad ass!  Watching this cat play would be like watching a bobcat hunt…sweet.  While not quite as big as the Ragdoll, the males have been know to reach around 18lbs.  To add to the manliness, these cats rarely “meow” they prefer the more guttural and wild “chirps” and “growls”.  They also partake in dog like pursuits like fetch.

3. Ocicat

Pretty cool name for a cat.  Sounds like a Bond villain. The first manly feature people will notice about this cat are it’s wild like markings.  The Ocicat is covered in spots that give it a pretty sweet look.  Another “manly” aspect is the fact these might be the most dog like cats.  Ocicats can easily be trained to fetch, walk on a leash and harness, come when called, speak, sit, lie down on command and a large array of other dog-related tricks.  Imagine blowing your friend’s minds with a cat that acts like a dog.  This is not the biggest cat on our list but males can still reach a respectable +14lbs.

2. Maine Coon Cat

Well first off this cat has a racist term in it’s name.  I don’t support the use of such terms, but you gotta be hard as hell to walk around with a racist slur in your name.  It’s like if you were in jail and saw a member of the Aryan nation with a swastika tattoo.  You certainly wouldn’t support the guy, but you’d also make a note – not to mess with him.  Same goes for the Maine Coon Cat.  What a colorful history too – although the breed has many folktales surrounding it, one of my favorite’s is this:  Some people claim the Maine Coon started out as a cat on the ship of a famous sailor (Capt. Charles Coon).  Every time the sailor would dock, the cats would hop off the boat and mate with the local females.  Hell yeah!   I had to include these cats because they can get quite massive!  Males can weigh anywhere between 15 and 25 pounds.  The Guiness Book of World Records, had one Maine Coon listed at 35 pounds.

1. Savannah Cat

Why is the Savannah Cat number one? Look at it!  That is awesome!  No other cat looks as wild as the Savannah cat.  This might be because they are directly descended from the wild Serval.  In fact the largest and most expensive Savannah cats (F1) actually have one parent who is full Serval.  Although they look wild, don’t fret – they are one of the friendliest and most social cats available.  Like the Ocicat they can be trained to do many dog tricks, can play fetch and walk on a leash.  Imagine walking a wild looking cat around on a leash…you’d be bad ass!  I guess it is a guy thing, but I like my cats big.  These cats are slim and tall but can still reach 15 pounds. F1 males have been known to reach 20lbs although it is rare.  While they don’t weigh as much as some breeds they are the tallest.  The tallest cat on record was a female Savannah that was over 17 inches from the floor to the top of her shoulder.  Men love sports and athletes right?  How is this for athletic, some Savannah’s have been know to jump a distance of eight feet from a standing position!  To further cement them as feline dogs, they love playing in water.  Since this is my number one most manliest cats I will also share a youtube video…check it out and fall in love. I like this video because it showcases the size of the cat (compared to child), the jumping ability and how it interacts with people.

The recent Headway 1.7 beta along with it’s GPL announcement has a lot of people buzzing on the web.  While the Headway theme for WordPress was already revolutionary, it really got a boost in popularity thanks to the social media world.

1.7 offered us great new additions like auto upgrade, columns, search bar navigation, more design options and a quicker and more responsive interface.  It has a lot of people excited about where Headway will go from here.

Luckily, I got to take a SUPER sneak peak at Headway 2.0 (Codename: Themezilla).  I was sworn to secrecy but I think the people deserve to know what the future of the Headway theme holds.  I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass, but here is a top secret look at a mere 10 of Headway 2.0′s new features.  Hold on to your hats…

1. The Headway Visual Editor will make use of current technology by becoming fully integrated with pen and tablet set up: You can now draw your website!

2. Headway will include new powerful S.E.O capabilities which include (but are not limited too):

• Ability to get accepted into DMOZ with one click.  No more months of waiting!
• Automatic Google Sandbox Protection. No more fearing the slap!
• Automated backlink generator. Turn on the automated generator and Headway will create backlinks in a natural manner behind the scenes.
• Headway offers cutting edge coding, that will actually have your post indexed by Google, before you finish writing it!

3. Flash/HTML5 Editor: Now drag and drop elements to create Flash intros in only minutes!  Even better, convert any Flash file into HTML5 with the click of a button.

4. Headway Monitoring: You can now set up Headway to monitor your site.  If there is an issue with your site you will be notified via text.  If someone tries to hack your site, they authorities are informed and that IP is locked down.  Also, Headway will send you timely texts if you run low on beer of if you are near a police radar.

5. Headway X-ray Features: Remove those pesky clothes from the people in your sites images.  One click control will allow you to remove the clothes of all people in all images.  Note: You can also filter this by age, sex and body type.

6. Instant Viral Sensation Leaf: For an added cost (nominal) you can get the latest add on leaf, any video or blog post used in this leaf will instantly be a viral sensation.  You can expect shows like Tosh 2.0, Talk Soup and Howard Stern to mention your viral post within 48 hours.

7. Aggressive Donation Leaf: A lot of bloggers love adding a donation leaf to their website.  This way their loyal followers can make a donation that can help cover their costs.  The one problem is how cheesy it is, and it is never effective.  Well that is a problem of the past.  Enabling this leaf will mean your website traffic will be subject to threatening emails and phone calls until they donate.  In the toughest of situations they will receive a face to face meeting with Mongo Griffiths, the 6’7″ 350lb member of the Griffiths clan.

8. Enhanced Start Up: Every time you enter the Headway Visual Editor a random audio clip will play.  The audio clips are taken from the Wu-Tang Clan Collection.

9. Headway didn’t stop at GPL compliancy: 2.0 will also be fully recognized by the AAA, BBC, NAACP, NCAA and 3 of the four major sports leagues MLB, NBA and NFL.  The NHL is still rolling with Thesis.

10. Headway Pornography Escape: Headway will sense when your mother, father, wife, boss or family priest is within 3 steps of your bedroom and all pornography will be instantly hidden by the Headway visual editor.

I am personally pretty excited!  I think Headway was an obvious choice at 1.6 and it only got better with 1.7.  I think that the Headway 2,0 release will garner more media attention than ever.  I can’t wait for the beta release.  In fact, I could have used it about 45 minutes ago when my brother’s girlfriend opened my door without knocking.

I know a lot of people visit my site directly through posts – and a lot never even see the homepage. Well I kept it simple on the homepage – basically just laying out links to my posts. I also added 3 unique features that I plan on updating every couple weeks (no set schedule or anything though). Anyways, said aspects are; The video, the music player and finally a quote.

This week’s/month’s/random time period’s video is G-Side: I’m Sorry. I have been one of the biggest G-Side supporters around.  They are an up and coming group out of Hunstville, Alabama.  They get great production and this song is no different.  S.T. (one member) is also a beast on the mic and one of my fav out right now. Make sure you give it a shot.

The music player has three songs (as usual):

Rick Ross feat. Jay-Z & John Legend – Free Mason: This is one of my favorite songs of the year so far.  A really great beat and Jay-Z drops one of his best verses in ages.  He addresses all the people out there who claim he is some high ranking Free Mason and satanist. “Bitch, I said I was a-mazing, not that I’m a Mason”

The Roots feat. Blu, Phonte and Patty Crash – The Day: One of the stand out tracks from the Roots latest album (which was great by the way).  I chose this one because it had Blu rapping on it and I love that dude.  Phonte also drops the singing to spit a verse, nice surprise. Patty Crash lends her unique voice to a super catchy hook and of course Black Thought kills it.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: I like mixing up my choices with one non rap song and this is it.  If you don’t know Sharon Jones you should!  She is bringing back that old soul sound and it is so authentic.  I often forget I’m listening to a contemporary artist when I hear her music.  Great throwback sound – and she can BLOW.  Great singing voice, very powerful.  I dare you to listen to this song and not enjoy it.  This is the type of song you BLAST after a break up.

I also changed the quote on the bottom of my page:

When the character of a man is not clear to you. Look at his friends.
-Japanese Proverb-

Saw this quote online and thought it was pretty interesting.  I also feel it is true.  I think you can get a good feel of someones character by looking at the company they keep.  It might not be 100% accurate, but it is a good barometer IMO.

You can check out the new additions HERE

Headway has released it’s 1.7 beta.  I had to try it out instantly!  I am very excited about this release and judging from my quick glance this is going to be great.  If Headway wasn’t a no brainer before, it might be now!  Let’s dive right into it…

1. Visual Editor is Quicker - Right away I noticed the visual editor loaded faster and was significantly quicker while navigating within it.  it is clear the Headway developers have been busy optimizing the code for the 1.7 release.

2. Notification – Second thing I noticed was right at the top of visual editor it shows what page you are editing (i.e. Blog Index).  This will be handy since so many pages etc… have similar layouts.  One quick look and you will know what you are doing.

3. Styles - There are now 4 default styles to choose from.  For people who want to get a site up quick and painlessly this will be a big help.  Still easy to upload or export your own as well.

4. Columns - Amazing addition here.  You can now spilt your page into columns!  This is perfect for magazine style layouts.  I think when this Beta is officially released I will be updating my own blog.  A lot of people had problems lining up leafs, and this takes the stress out of it.  Really exciting addition.

5. Header Options - A couple great options added here.  First off you can simply click a radial button to add a search from to your navigation!  This  was done with a hack previously and wasn’t exactly easy to accomplish.  Now you just click a button!  As well, there is another button to click to add a tasteful “Subscribe to RSS” link at the top right of your header.  It is these kind of details that make me very excited about where this theme will continue to go.

6. Site Dimensions - A lot of really great changes here.  Now you can control the padding of the wrapper AND leafs by just using a slider button.  The addition of the easy to use Leaf padding settings is a huge one and addresses an issue that is prevalent on the support forums. Another added bonus is that you can now add rounded corners to your leafs AND wrapper. Really updates the look of headway designs in my opinion.

7. Leaf Templates - Yay!  Remember how in past Headways you linked pages and then couldn’t edit them.  This deals with that.  Now you can set a leaf template, save it and you can apply it to any page you want.  This is better than the “default leafs” setting because you can save multiple templates and use them over on your site.

I haven’t even looked inside the Headway’s back office yet but I am sure there are more goodies there.  These changes, along with promises of cleaner code and less plugin compatibility issues have me super excited.  headway continues to prove they are a progressive company that listens to their customers needs.  I can’t imagine what they have in store for the future, but I am sure it will be great!

How much time do you spend worrying? I am curious about the answer. I know it is impossible not to worry at all. We all have worries. I am talking specifically about things you can’t control. Of course you worry about your kids if they are sick. The problem is when you worry about things that you have no direct control over. The recent oil spill disaster is a perfect example. I can’t fix the problem, I can’t stop the oil – so why do I worry about it? I used to worry quite a bit about things like that and of course my worrying had no positive effect except to upset me and waste my time.

How much time can you waste worrying? Well I actually took the time to break it down. I estimated that I worried about three minutes per day. Not a huge number, and it didn’t effect me on a day to day basis. It did however often happen in the middle of tasks, so it was a bit annoying.

What does three minutes a day really cost you though? Can’t be much right? Is there a tangible reason people should worry less? Well in one week, it already adds up to 21 minutes. I can write an article in 21 minutes. I can write a blog post. I can do paying freelance work with that time. I can build 3-4 high quality backlinks to my websites. That is tangible evidence of what I am missing out on due to worrying.

What about 3 minutes a day for a month? That works out to about 90 minutes. A whole hour and a half. I could do a great work out in that time. I could walk my dogs. I could fix and eat lunch. I could even watch a movie. 90 minutes is 40 blog comments I could make. I could create dozens of backlinks.

Let’s kick it up to the next level…3 minutes a day for a year! That works out to 1095 minutes! That is more than 18 hours. I used to blow 18 hours a year just worrying about things that I can’t change. Imagine everything you could accomplish in 18 hours. If someone came up to you right now and magically granted you a free 18 hours – I am SURE you could think of some things to do.

The numbers just keep getting more ridiculous the longer time period you look at. There is no sense worrying about things that don’t directly effect you. Next time you find yourself worrying about something ask yourself what you can do about it. If you can do something, then by all means do it! Address your worry with action! If you can’t do anything about it though, let it go. Wasting your time worrying is not only unhealthy, it will literally steal hours away from you every year.

Alright…I’m gonna do it.  I am gonna review the new Rick Ross joint.  You can say what you will about the man, but he has made some good music.  You have to be insane not to have enjoyed Hustlin’.

That said we know he is a fraud.  But then again who cares?  I don’t believe 75% of the shit rappers say anyways.  They all seem to be acting a role.  So big deal, dude was a CO.  I can’t take him seriously…but who can you take at their word in rap?  I agree he is fake…but if he can make good music I will ignore that.  That Free Mason song with Jay was SICK, so I gotta give this a chance.  Officer Ricky has always got good beat selection.  He also has some very interesting guests.

We are about to find out…This is an early leak and the track listing is subject to change.  Once again my very first spin of this so yeah the focus will be on beats and how it sounds to my ears.  Deal with it.  I might change my mind late, but these are my first thoughts.

1. Im Not A Star: Hmm nice opening track..typical Justice League production. Hard as hell and Ross goes in.  He is no great rapper but he sounds good over this track.  This is instantly going on my gym playlist.

2. Free Mason feat. Jay-Z: Wow, this is INCREDIBLE.  I think I got chills although maybe it was the breeze.  Amazing beat really smooth.  WHOA JAY GOES IN!  Best Jay verse in a minute! He addresses all the weirdos claiming he is part of The New World Order. “Bitch I Said I was A-mazing, not that Im a mason” HOV!

3. Tears of Joy feat. Cee Lo: Noet to Capone and Noreaga…this is how you start a track if you want some talking.  Get someone who can really talk and sample them.  Cee Lo getting his Marvin Gaye on in the background. Gretzky shout out!  Another good track..Ross is just OK on it but production is great and Cee Lo sounds awesome.

4. Maybach Music III (Feat. T.I., Jadakiss & Erykah Badu): Look at the guests – this can’t be bad…it can’t be!  TI kicks it off over a smooooooth beat.  This is that summertime music.  The beat is a bit off to me though…it is a bit erratic.  It really fits Erykah though.  She sounds great – as usual.  A more traditional beat would have been better to me, but this has a LOT of potential to grow on me on some good speakers and repeated listens. NOTE: Already grown on me LOL

5. Live Fast, Die Young (feat. Kanye West): Another kind of unique beat…Ross is not scared of experimenting.  It kind of works though.  Obviously a Kanye beat.  I dunno this song could go either way – it could grow on me and become a fav, but just as easily it could be the first track I hit skip on.  Nice to hear Kanye actually rapping though.

6. Super High (feat. Ne-Yo): Yeah, pretty smooth!  This is real laid back but groovy as hell.  Reminds me of something that would have fit on Jay’s American Gangster.  Throwback vibe for sure, especially with Ne-Yo.  I am not usually a fan but he sounds good on this.  Stand out track.

7. No. 1 (feat. Trey Songz & Diddy): Well the guest list scares the hell outta me. Two guys I don’t care for at all.  I am not feeling this.  Beat just doesn’t fit with album so far at all.  Diddy blows as well.

8. MC Hammer (feat. Gucci Mane): Not a Gucci fan either…uh oh LOL.  At least this has a decent beat – good gym music again.  Not one of my favorite tracks though.  Gucci is not my style at all – dude has a lot of fans though so good for him.

9. B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast) (feat. Styles P): This almost feels like a continuation of the last song.  I think I like it a bit more – but again not one of my favorites.  Goes hard and will make a another nice gym song.  I’d much rather hear Styles P than Gucci so that is a bonus as well.

10. Aston Martin Music (feat. Drake & Chrisette Michele): This fits the vibe of the start of the album more.  I like Chrisette and she sounds good here.  Really laid back back – pretty radio friendly I would think.  I dunno why Drake was even on this.  I would have much rather heard a verse…Chrisette had the hook held down..so why even add Drake? I guess Drake appearance will add some sales.  I would have gotten a verse, but that’s me.

11. All The Money In The World (feat. Raphael Saadiq): Big Raphael fan so high hopes!  Another beat that fits the vibe here IMO.  I definitely like it.  Sounds real familiar though.  Don’t ever need to hear Officer Ricky sing ever again though.  Especially back and forth with Raphael LOL.  Raphael KILLS his part of the song though.  Great fit to the beat.  Not a bad way to end the album at all.

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I didn’t have high hopes for this but it turned out pretty good.  I might get annoyed listening to Ross’ crime stories when I have time to pay attention – but after a general listen it is pretty good.

A bit of a rough stretch in the middle when it gets generic and bogged down with lousy guests – but it rides out with a couple nice tracks to close.

At the very least this is way better than I thought it would be.  Definitely gonna give it a couple more listens and I might even end up enjoying it more.  Free Mason is one of the songs of the year too. HOV!

Below is the tracklisting for Teflon Don:

1. I’m Not A Star [Prod. by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League]
2. Free Mason (feat. Jay-Z) [Prod. by The Inkredibles]
3. Tears Of Joy (feat. Cee-Lo Green) [Prod. by No I.D.]
4. Maybach Music III (Feat. T.I., Jadakiss & Erykah Badu) [Prod. by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League]
5. Live Fast, Die Young (feat. Kanye West) [Prod. by Kanye West & No I.D.]
6. Super High (feat. Ne-Yo) [Prod. by Clark Kent & The Remedy]
7. No. 1 (feat. Trey Songz & Diddy) [Prod. by Sean C & LV]
8. MC Hammer (feat. Gucci Mane) [Prod. by Lex Luger]
9. B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast) (feat. Styles P) [Prod. by Lex Luger]
10. Aston Martin Music (feat. Drake & Chrisette Michele) [Prod. by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League]
11. All The Money In The World (feat. Raphael Saadiq) [Prod. by The Olympicks]

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Linder! She is a 10 out of 5 :p

I wasn’t even going to download this album but I had a couple friends telling me it was good.  I used to love CNN but I was completely done with Nore. Can’t believe I liked him so much at one time – wack flow and some horrible lyrics.

That said I will take a look at this because it was reccommnded by people i trust…no expectation here if this is anything other than crap I will be happy.

1. Pain: If this isn’t an alchemist beat I will eat my hat.  So dope though, mane that guy is consistent.  This one beat already makes the album better than I expected.  Nore is not a good rapper tho. Def the kind of beat these guys need though.  Capone is a guilty pleasure, love that voice.  Regardless of Nore not being great, this track go hard!

2. Bodega Stories feat. Lox: OMG Nore sucks I’m sorry – he just had some constipation rap that made me cringe. Beat is OK though – typical dunny rap beat – no complaints.  Jadakiss sounds good – makes Nore look worse because of it.  I hope they have lots of guests on this.

3. Dutches vs. Phillies vs. Bamboo feat. Raekwon: Doooope beat – remindsme of Alchmeist again.  Would have fit well on Raekwons last album which was great.  Really solid production 3 songs in.  I wonder if they can keep it up.

4. My Attribute: Beat sounds dated and too much going on.  Not feeling this.  Also hate the spelling of the names every couple bars.

5. Favor for a Favor: Back to the nice production.  Reminds me of a hard version of Oochie Wally.  This isn’t too bad – nothing mind blowing though.  The beat kind of wears on you by the time the song is over.

6. Hood Pride feat. Faith Evans: Another hard beat that is not bad at all.  I don’t think this will have a ton of replay value.  Faith Evans hook sounds dated and lame IMO.  Good beat though, once again I like the Capone verse a ton more than Nore’s.

7. The Reserves feat. Raekwon: Another beat I think that tries to be too hard and comes off too noisy IMO.  These beats are cool for the gym but they lose their replay value quick.  LMAO @ Nore’s line about the mountain – shit doesn’t even rhyme.  Although I have complained a lot this is still better than I expected.

8. With Me feat. Nas: I am sure this is an old Nas verse – just sounds old to me.  Nas comes correct – always.  Decent if unremarkable beat.

9. Live On, Live Long Part II: Anytime these guys talk before the song they come off as cornballs.  Nore continues his recent history of sucking.  I like this beat a lot though. Cool song.

10. The Oath feat. Raekwon & Busta: A movie vocal clip that sounds familiar to me.  Can’t place it though. Again Nore feels like he has to talk before going into his lame verse.  I can’t be the only one hearing how bad he is now am I?  Cool beat again though.  Haven’t heard Busta in a minute..he sounds vintage when compared to Nore.

11. Brother From Another: I like the production – seems like a recurring theme.  I don’t actually mind Nore on this actually.  I think the first time I can say that on this album.

12. Thug Planet feat. Iman THUG & Mualini: I don’t like this beat at all.  Horrible in my opinion.  Sounds cheap as hell.  LMAO @ the start of Nore’s verse – this guy is just fucking around I swear. he is not being serious right now.  Sad thing is this is better than most of his work on this album. A couple features who add nothing..meh.

13. Scarface: LMAO original song title – a bad beat too IMO.  Too noisey.  I don’t know why producers thing to sound hard they have to add a bunch of abrasive noises.  Call up Alchemist and learn how to properly sound hard.

14. The Corner feat Avery Storm: The production has dropped the second half of this album.  This is pretty generic – better than the last songs though.  The singing on this is out of place and LAME.  A clear attempt at trying to sound current and an epic fail.

15. Obituary: Great some more Nore rambling to start the song. I don’t mind the beat- kind of like it actually.  Can’t deal with all the rambling though.

Well I now know a couple people I will never trust again when it comes to music.  This albums best song is far and away the first one.  In fact I might only keep that song from this and delete the rest.

Nore was horrible throughout the album – I will never check for him in my life again.  Production started out great..but tailed near end.  Just too many generic and cheap sounding beats.  Too bad they couldn’t afford Alchemist for a whole album.

I guess it is better than I thought it would be but still pretty bad compared to a lot of music that has come out lately.  I am sure I will get a lot of ‘MAN THIS GO HARD, YER GAY” comments but let them fly…I am sure I won’t have to listen to this too many more times  before I decide it is recycle bin material.