Who Had Said That?: Radio Raheem

“Let me tell you the story of ‘Right Hand, Left Hand’. It’s a tale of good and evil. Hate: It was with this hand that Cane iced his brother. Love: These five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. The story of life is this: Static. One hand is always fighting the other hand; and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But, hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that’s right. Ooh, it’s the devastating right and Hate is hurt, he’s down. Left-Hand Hate K.O.ed by Love.”

- Radio Raheem, Do The Right Thing (1989)

Note from the host: I’m not even gonna front like I understood any of this…seems like a conversation I would try to get the hell away from immediately.  I don’t want a guy that big talking to me about love…ever.

Cease & Desist: Knock-offs

This one is simple.  If you cannot afford something, buy a cheaper option of something normal or forget about it altogether.  What you don’t do is cop a knock-off.  I see you trying to be incog-negro perusing the fake bags from the Africans in Georgetown.  The only one that is fooled is you 90% of the time.  Remember when those Fubu shirts with the big “FB” on them were popular?  I remember that there were also knock-offs of these shirts where the letters instead read “PB”, but since it was written in cursive, some folks assumed no one would notice the difference.  PB = Poor Bastard. 

That is not a Chanel logo...it is a Venn diagram of some sort. That or the "OO" stands for "out of options".

People notice knock-offs and almost make a career out of noticing.  They even brag about it.  There are those who can spot a fake Louis Vuitton from two blocks away.  How useful a skill this actually is in everyday life I’m not sure, but these people exist and are all about exposing you for trying to pump-fake with a knock-off Coach bag.  Understand that when a brand is not even all that prestigious, you really shouldn’t be going to the extent of buying a knock-off for it.  You may have spare change thrown into your coffee cup in fact.  I have been to the Coach site.  A typical monogram handbag is around $200.  This is about the same price of a brand new bag from Banana Republic with no label which in my opinion is more stylish than anything Coach has in, now or ever. 

It’s a recession, so people understand.  You don’t need a label on everything…so kindly stop reaching with your broke a**.