Really anticipated release here!  I have been waiting for this for ages.  Freddie Gibbs is a rapper out of Gary Indiana and he is ridiculously dope.  Got an amazing flow, great lyrics and can really paint a picture with his story telling tracks.

I have heard rumours of an Alchmeist produced EP which would be epic, this EP features a number of producers, but most notably the Blockbeataz out of Alabama.

I think Gibbs is my favorite up and comer.  He is right three with J. Cole IMO.  Hopefully this EP lives up to my high expectations.

1. Str8 Killa No Filla feat. Big Kill: Yeah Blockbeataz!  This beat goes hard.  This song in general is hard as hell.  Pretty much what I expected from Gibbs and Blockbeataz.  This would be insane on a good system. Dunno if I am feeling this Big Kill dude….yeah not at all.

2. Rep 2 Tha Fullest feat. Jay Rock: Another solid beat, and another unneeded guest appearance.  Jay Rock is better than Big Kill but when you have 8 tracks I want to hear Freddie Gibbs.

3. National Anthem: I have herd this before and it is amazing.  Great song.  Freddie does a great job of painting a picture of his life in Gary.  Man he can FLOW!  He owns this beat, which is very good in it’s own right.

4. The Coldest feat. BJ The Coldest Kid: Really unique beat, and it allows Freddie to showcase his flow nicely. I like the hook too – some people won’t like the RnB feel of the hook – but it reminds me of some old Snoop hook.

5. Personal OG: This has got to be Blockbeataz production.  They have mastered these smoked out style beats.  Plus I just heard a female “blockbeataz” voice as I typed the above.  This is a great Ep so far.

6. Live By The Game: Another Blockbeatz beat and it sounds like fire so far. Yes!  Sorry the beat just kicked in and this is great.  This beat just puts me in a good mood – a great example of how sick Blockbeataz can be.  This will make the front page of my blog next update.  Gibbs kills it – just like he kills everything.

7. Rock Bottom feat Bun B: Another great beat.  Freddie also kills it and adds a nice hook.  I like that he does a song with Bun B because that is who Gibbs reminds me of sometimes – a vintage top of the game Bun B.  Speaking of Bun B, he drops a great verse. I think Bun slipped lyrically for a while, but lately he has been back!

8. Oil Money feat. Chip Da Ripper, Chuck English, Bun B & Dan Auerbach: Cool song – again I’d be happier with just Gibbs and maybe Bun B on this EP.  A lot of guests for such a short release.  That said another solid song – like every single one on this.  This song gets a huge boost because Gibbs shouted out the Saints owning Peyton manning in the Super Bowl

Great release!  I wonder if the people who said CNN was too street for me even know about Gibbs?  He is about 50x more street than CNN and *gasp* he actually produces sick music and can really rap. This is a very solid  EP, this has me highly anticipating his next full length release, or hell even the rumored Alchemist produced EP.  If you haven’t heard of Gibbs then check him out.  He is a breath of fresh air in the rap game.

You Can Check Out More Gibbs: Here

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 am not a vegan, I am not even a vegetarian.  I eat meat and probably too much of it.  You can see on my about page I am a meat eater, those are the eyes of a carnivore and the stature of a gourmand!

That said, I have a couple friends who are vegetarian, and I know one great couple who are Vegans.  They have been winning me over with Vegan desserts for ages.  I was definitely nervous about trying it out.  I didn”t want to hurt their feelings when I gag and spit it out…

First treat was Vegan Peanut Butter Cups.  They looked good, but I was nervous.  I tentatively took a bite and…I haven’t stopped eating them since.  I think it has been 173 consecutive days I have subsisted entirely on vegan peanut butter cups.  OK, that might be an exaggeration but they were great! Best I have had in my life actually.

That is peanut butter cups though – dark chocolate, sugar and peanut butter – easy to make it for Vegans!  Give me something that challenged you!

How about CHEESECAKE.  The next dish I tried was the KeyLime Cheesecake…WTF how can you have VEGAN cheesecake.  Well I dunno how she did it – but she did it! The BEST cheesecake I have ever had HANDS DOWN! And it was VEGAN!

Recently, all of these great desserts and many more were collected into an amazing cookbook: “Are You Sure That’s Vegan?”  I guarantee any time you make these dishes that is what you will hear people ask.  You don’t even have to be vegan to enjoy these – they taste as good as any traditional dessert I have ever had.

• Surprise your vegetarian and vegan friends with food they can enjoy too!
• Never worry about trying to find desserts that everyone can eat at your dinner parties and BBQs
• Great gift for vegan friends!

You can learn more, download free recipes and see pictures of all of the great desserts here (click book):

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.