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#RushHourRap – Logic – Open Mic/Aquarius III

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I can hear the voices in my mind when I rhyme
Give it up, you’re out of time
Never even had a prime
Like the Preemo never linked up with 5’9″
Bitch, I’m back like the muscles surrounding my vertebrae
Okay, fuck what you gotta say
I keep it going, already know when I’m flowing
For the listener, you’re kind of like a therapist
Or rather Cole in 2005, flowing like Canibus
That throwback shit, yeah, that throwback shit
Fuck what you heard, my catalog, it ain’t got no wack shit
‘Cause I’m a gladiator in the Colosseum, everybody wanna be him
‘Til they feel like they can’t be him, then they wanna see him lose
Wrote this poem in navy, that’s what I call singing the blues
Word to Dot D, my family got me, no carbon copy
Life can hit you harder than Drago
But if I roll with the punches when it’s rocky, don’t ever stop me

Logic is a frequent feature of #RushHourRap and for good reason. I feel like a lot of people only hear the few songs of his that really went mainstream like “1-800,” “Sucker for Pain,” “Every Day,” etc. which are all good songs, but don’t show Logic’s real lyrical prowess. This track from his most recent album No Pressure that dropped earlier this year came on my Spotify this morning and as a 5+ minute song it can definitely get lost in the shuffle, but my goodness the wordplay here is elite. I couldn’t even pick just a couple of bars to point out, which is why I listed 17 lines above. The amount of double entendres, deep cut rap references, and slick wordplay is unreal in a 30 second span.

I don’t know why, but the visuals for this song are only for a couple of the verses, which is why the below video is not even two minutes long.

So give this a spin, then go listen to the rest of Bobby’s catalogue, and then pour one out because according to him No Pressure was his final album (for now). Logic’s musical career is to be continued…

Man Wearing a Red Sox Hat Somehow Doesn’t Recognize Manny Ramirez in Painfully Awkward Video

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My first thought is to call this guy a gigantic asshole for not recognizing one of the greatest Red Sox players of all time, while wearing a Red Sox hat.

That’s the 2004 World Series MVP!

That’s a 12x All-Star!

That’s a guy who hit 30/100 for the Sox in six straight seasons!

On the other hand, I am also a huge hat guy and thus a fan of random caps from all kinds of teams. One time I was wearing a Tennessee Vols snapback that I bought for $3 because it was a sweet hat. I shit you not the first time I wore it some guy ran up to me while I was waiting for the T absolutely beaming. This guy was PUMPED that he ran into another Volunteer in downtown Boston…until I had to break his heart and tell him I just liked the hat and that I’d never even been to Tennessee. It was like telling a kid Santa Clause doesn’t exist.

Then again, it’s Manny fucking Ramirez, so this guy is indeed a giant asshole. If not for failing to recognize Manny, then definitely for refusing to give someone else the time of day because a stranger dared bother him in public.

The 300s Best Christmas Movies to Binge During Quarantine

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With nothing to do, nowhere to go, the sun setting at what feels like noon, and temperatures dropping into the 20s, it’s time to pick your favorite pair of sweat pants athleisure and settle in for some Christmas movie binge watching.

Red

Looking back on this list after I wrote it I realize there is a trend that probably suggests Christmas fatigue if not outright disdain. I promise I actually do like Christmas, but if you can’t see the humor in all the undue pressure people put on themselves this time of year then you need to have a couple crafties and rewatch these movies.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Hands down my favorite Christmas movie because Chevy Chase transitions seamlessly back and forth from both the coolest guy in the room to completely unhinged as he loses his shit. Something I think we can all relate to when dealing with all the normal stresses of holidays with the family. Add in the fact that this is actually the third movie in the Vacation series and it’s all the more impressive since it’s the best of the franchise.

Four Christmases

Another movie that I feel like I can relate to all too much with all the traveling I usually do for the holidays driving to parents, in-laws, step parents, grandparents and experiencing a unique version of family chaos at each stop. Obviously the movie has a heart of gold, but if you can’t relate to concocting an elaborate alibi and learning how to say “Merry Christmas” in Burmese just to avoid your family during the holidays, well then I don’t want to know you.

Bad Santa

Have you ever wondered what Christmas would be like if you just indulged every one of your worst impulses? Well look no further than the womanizing, alcoholic, toxic mall Santa that Billy Bob knocks out of the park. A laugh out loud classic that oddly still gets me into the holiday spirit. Plus it’s a great comedy vehicle for the late great Bernie Mac and John Ritter.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Because there is never not a good time for Snoopy and Charlie Brown, especially in a year as depressing as 2020.

Jimmy Lips

My favorite Christmas movies are all nonsensical and completely unrealistic, and that’s a large part of the enjoyment for me.

Jingle All the Way

The cast is phenomenal: Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Jim Belushi and The Big Show. It almost reminds me of how frantic hot-ticket Christmas items were back in the day such as furbies, Nintendo 64 and beanie babies. A Also, “It’s Turbo Time!” is a phenomenal line.

Unrealistic reason: The final 20 minutes of the movie.

Krampus

Horror + Christmas = what a perfect combination for me. A movie based on an Eastern urban legend that is celebrated with an annual parade. How f’n cool is that! All I will tell you about the movie is it has rebel gingerbread men, which are worth the movie on their own.

Unrealistic reason: The entire movie is bonkers and yet utterly delightful and entertaining.

Home Alone 2

Kevin McCallister’s parents should have been sent to jail twice. How do you leave your youngest child at home not once, but twice and not realize it until you get to baggage claim? The hotel room scene reenacting Angels with Filthy Souls is a classic.

Unrealistic reason: Kevin could’ve called the cops on the sticky bandits at any point in time and every interaction with them begs the question of why didn’t he.

Big Z

Home Alone

I saw Home Alone in theaters when I was a kid, but it was probably about 20 years before I watched it start to finish again. Don’t make the same mistake I did. While Home Alone is nominally a kids movie, there’s plenty in there for grown ups too.

It’s written by John Hughes and is endlessly quotable.

It features an all-time Christmas soundtrack with superb original music from the legendary John Williams. And it’s got Gus Polinski, one the most underrated good guys in movie history.

It’s been on cable a lot this season but do yourself a favor and get it on Blu-ray or Disney+, order a large cheese pizza just for yourself, and enjoy.

Joey B

I decided to go a bit against the grain for my selections as I assumed my compatriots would do a better job with the mainstream Christmas movie canon than I would. Both “Happiest Season” and “The Night Before” are holiday movies that involve self-seflection and a huge fear of taking the next necessary big step in life.

Happiest Season

With “Happiest Season” I expect a kind of goofy Dan Levy vehicle and instead ran headlong into what can only be described as a guide on how to maybe not be homophobic. It’s actually a pretty depressing watch but possibly a recommend if you need something to help get over an emotional blow.

The Night Before

In “The Night Before” three friends (JGL, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie) in very different places in their life get together for their annual Christmas Eve tradition of finding an elusive party. Things go awry, etc. Etc. and lessons are learned. But it’s just a good bit of Christmas season, drug-addled fun.

Whats your go to Christmas movie? Let us know @the300sboston

#RushHourRap – Childish Gambino – Heartbeat

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All the things that we thought we were losing
I’m a ghost and you know this
That’s why we broke up in the first place

This absolute banger was released in 2011, back when the rapper Childish Gambino was just Donald Glover’s side project, before he evolved into pound for pound the most talented guy in entertainment. Think about it, he can legitimately rap, he can crush a stand up set, he was a writer for shows like 30 Rock, and he won a Lead Actor Emmy on a show that he created and writes for in Atlanta. Save some shine for the rest of us, man.

“Heartbeat” was on Gambino’s 2011 debut album Camp, which is an excellent collection of catchy songs, serious raps, but also delving into some introspective insecurities from the then 28-year-old. The other single from this album “Bonfire” was another heater that was even featured in an Adidas commercial with RGIII, back when he was coming off a Heisman and was the next “it” guy. Gambino went on to release the even better Because the Internet in 2013, which we’ve featured before with tracks like “Sweatpants.” Gambino dropped an album earlier this year called 3.15.20, as well as his more crooning, funk style album Awaken My Love back in 2016, which will probably be best remembered for providing the chilling intro to “Get Out” with his “Redbone” track.

Lifetime, KFC, and Mario Lopez Are Making What Seems Like a Prequel to Mel Gibson’s Colonel Sanders Biopic

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I mean, why wouldn’t you watch this? I can only hope this is an actual mini movie of sorts and not just some highly produced faux trailer because this looks awesome.

If there’s one job I would take in a heartbeat it would be marketing for a fast food company because they just pump out absolutely ridiculous ideas in the name of generating buzz. God knows how much money KFC spent creating a trailer (and hopefully a movie) starring Mario Lopez and then partnering with Lifetime to promote it. The ROI on this is going to be turrrrible if you count it by buckets of chicken sold, but thats not what this is about. This is about generating buzz, clout, hype, whatever you want to call it. And there’s few better at that then KFC and its rotating cast of Colonels.

Although, like I said this is definitely a prequel to Mel Gibson’s Colonel Sanders biopic so hopefully it doesn’t mess with KFC canon too much.

Shawn Kemp Talks About the Time Larry Bird Straight Up Bullied Him and It’s Awesome

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Yahoo – The former Seattle SuperSonics big man found out the hard way just how ruthless of a trash-talker Bird was when he faced him as a rookie in 1989. During a recent appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles, Kemp recalled a meeting with Bird that has stuck with him to this day.

“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana,” Kemp said. “I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he really got down. …

“Larry gave me 50 [points] in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball, ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right?’ and I said ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ and he said ‘I’ve got something for you tonight.'”

In honor of today being Larry Bird’s 64th birthday, it’s a great time to remind everyone how Larry Legend wasn’t just a basketball icon, he was also a shit talking savant.

Michael Jordan gets tons of credit for being a master trash talker and somehow figuring out a way to make everything a slight against him,

But people don’t realize how ruthless Larry Bird was because he looks like an unassuming white dude putting up mid range jumpers at the Y.

Here comes this rookie in Shawn Kemp and Bird already knows his whole life story and takes it personal that Kemp broke his high school scoring records. Mind you, this is after Bird had already won three championships and three MVP awards in the NBA. Just an all-time shit talker from his “Who’s coming in second?” line at the 3 point contest, to playing a game left handed, to his “Merry fucking Christmas” line during a Christmas Day game, to telling Reggie Miller “I am the best fucking shooter in the league.”

Check out a collection of the best stories here, put some Larry Bird YouTube highlights on loop, and then weep that we were too young to watch him play. We did get another Hall of Fame shit talker in Kevin Garnett though and for that I am grateful.

Must Watch SNL Skit: Pete Davidson Raps a “Stan” Remix for Santa Clause

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It’s rare that I deem an SNL skit as must watch these days, but thats exactly what Pete Davidson’s “Stu” sketch is: must watch.

Jason Bateman was a pretty good host because nobody plays the straight man in a skit better than him. So as this Santa and the elves sketch kicked off, you’re sitting there wondering what the hell is going on, then the Stan beat kicks in and it’s a wrap. I figured like most skits this would fizzle out in the first 30 seconds. Nope, it seems like Lorne Michaels and company let Pete Davidson just do his thing and we got three legitimately impressive and original verses in the Santa/Stan remix. As Papa Giorgio said, it’s the best musical sketch they’ve had since Lonely Island. The Eminem clip at the end was a nice nod to the original song. Also, shout out to Bowen Yang for his dead on Elton John.

Pete Davidson is such an interesting cast member on SNL because I feel like he rarely gets used in big time spots. He is often relegated to background characters, even if they are laugh out loud funny like his Count Chocula when Dave Chappelle was hosting. He might just be a hard person to write for, which reminds me of an old quote that stuck with me by Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks):

“When I was like 21 years old and we had just finished a show called Freaks and Geeks, Judd Apatow, who made that show and a bunch of our movies took a bunch of us aside. What he said to me, actually, is, ‘You’re kind of a weird guy. The only way you are going to make it is if you write.”

A lot of these cast members probably just don’t get the prime sketches because it’s hard to write for them, which makes sense when the most famous SNL alum usually either flame out or were outright fired (Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Damon Wayans, Sarah Silverman, Robert Downey Jr etc). Davidson seems to have one foot out the door anyways as he dabbles more with movies written by, ironically enough, the comedy godfather himself Judd Apatow.

A+ sketch by SNL.

Warner Brothers Just Changed the Game. Will Release Every New Movie On HBO Max in 2021

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Holy smokes. Even with the film industry cratering due to the pandemic, I never thought I’d see the day a major movie studio would bite the bullet and start releasing blockbuster movies straight to streaming. It’s like the legal version everyone my age dreamed of after growing up pirating movies off Napster and Kazaa. Allegedly.

It all starts with Wonder Woman 1984 being released in theaters and on HBO Max at the same exact time on Christmas Day. I cannot overstate how MONUMENTAL of a shift that is in the movie industry. Who knows if this will last beyond 2021, but this is an awesome test because we’ve all seen media move towards streaming more and more the last few years. Sure, there are some movies that you really would prefer to see on the big screen, but with 50 inch 4K TVs selling for like $250 these days, it has become less important. And not to go completely dark on everyone, but with Covid and more and more mass shootings popping up, it’s completely understandable if you’d rather watch a movie from your couch. Especially with movie tickets going for like $20 a pop at this point.

How this all works financially I’m not exactly sure yet. I know the studios held out for as long as they realistically could as they pushed the premiere dates of movies like Wonder Woman, which would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in normal times. As Papa Giorgio pointed out, WB actually owns HBO Max so they’re essentially using this as an incentive to bring in new subscribers. I guarantee you they get more subscribers than they would have before when the biggest benefit to having HBO Max was being able to watch Fresh Prince re-runs and the upcoming Justice League Directors Cut. Both things I will watch, but not something the typical consumer is throwing their credit card at you for.

Now we’ll be able to watch Dune, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, The Matrix 4, Space Jam and all kinds of stuff right from home. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert, but that sounds amazing to me.

It is a risky strategy because all of these movies will come “at no extra cost” (until they raise the price like Netflix does twice a year). So I don’t know if they just got past a point where it’s more economical to just stream it and try to recoup some money through subscriptions rather than hold out hope, push release dates even further, and possibly lose incredibly valuable buzz. I mean Papa Giorgio and I joke all the time how we would’ve paid like $75 bucks just to watch Tenet on streaming because we weren’t about to go to a theater. But for now this is an incredible shift in the typical way of doing business.

It remains to be seen if any other major studios follow suit, but I wouldn’t recommend investing in movie theater chains any time soon.

Are the Celtics Cursed at Point Guard?

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It was announced this week that Kemba Walker will be out until at least early January with a knee injury that continues to bother him and it got me thinking, why are all of the Celtics point guards almost always suffering from a debilitating injury? Is there some sort of curse on this team? Is this the curse of trading Rajon Rondo? The Celtics traded their, at the time, best player and 4x All-Star in Rondo on Dec. 18th, 2014 and the team has been like the Red Sox trying to replace Nomar at shortstop ever since. Pokey Reese, Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Alex Gonzalez etc. etc. Ever since trading Rondo it seems like Celtics have seemingly always had a point guard dealing with career altering injuries.

Kemba met with the media today and detailed how his knee is still bothering him and how he got a stem cell injection to hopefully help, but he still doesn’t really know what the issue is. Cool. Kemba played his fewest minutes per game since his rookie year last season and started just 56 games in his first season with the C’s, which obviously was a disjointed mess due to the pandemic. Even Danny Ainge admits the team probably brought Kemba back from injury too soon as he played on a gimpy knee throughout the entire bubble it seemed.

Before that is what Kyrie Irving who missed 20+ games in 2017-18 plus the entire postseason with a knee injury of his own. Kyrie then missed 15 games the following season as he nursed the injury on his way out of town. I guess that shouldn’t have come as a surprise as Kyrie missed 10 or more games in five different seasons prior to his time in Boston, not to mention playing just 11 games at Duke before an injury ended his brief college career.

Before that it was Isaiah Thomas who had a debilitating hip injury in the 2017 playoffs. Granted it was in the playoffs and the Celtics traded him that offseason, but his absence killed a surging Celtics team that was making a run. Before that Isaiah was absolute nails as he finished 5th in MVP voting, playing in 76 regular season games (28.9 Points per game) that season, and 82 games (22.2 PPG) in 2015-16.

The Celtics did also draft Marcus Smart before the 2015 season at No. 6 overall, but opted to use him more as an off ball player/backup PG. Maybe Danny was protecting Smarf from the curse??

Looking back at the timeline of all this, the Celtics actually acquired Isaiah just two months after trading away Rondo so now I’m torn. Is this the curse of Rondo or Isaiah? Since the C’s traded Rondo he has yet to make another All-Star team and has only averaged double digit points once, but he did just win a ring with LeBron and the Lakers. Isaiah however has continued the #SlowGrind as he works his way back from said hip injury, but a lot of the league still thinks Danny did Isaiah dirty.

So name it after whoever you want, but one thing is clear, the Celtics are cursed at the point guard position.

The Celtics Are Hosting the Nets on Christmas Day

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Christmas Day NBA is my favorite sports day of the year hands down. You get five marquee basketball games to watch from your morning mimosa coffee all the way to your post-Xmas dinner blackout when all the IPAs you’ve been guzzling catch up to you late night. Obviously 2020 is a little bit different as I had Thanksgiving dinner at my house with just my wife and my dog like I live in Siberia, but Christmas Day NBA is a tradition that needs to continue. Not to mention we get gifted with the excellent Christmas present sneakers (we used to get Christmas Day jerseys before the Nike overlords stole that joy from us).

The Celtics are no stranger to Christmas Day games as they were featured for five straight seasons during the Pierce, KG, Ray Allen era when they were routinely one of the best teams in the league. They got relegated to spectators during much of the post-Big 3 rebuilding era and didn’t play again on Christmas until 2016, but the Celtics actually hosted their first Christmas Day game *ever* in 2017.

Now we turn to the actual matchup, which is so choice. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and co. vs the rebuilt on the fly sudden powerhouse New Jersey Brooklyn Nets led by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Now Kyrie would like everyone to think he doesn’t care about any perceived “rivalry” with his former team in Boston, but he does seem to dodge the Celtics every time the Nets play them. This would be Kyrie’s first game back in Boston since leaving the C’s in free agency if he does indeed suit up. With his buddy KD back in action though I would expect Kyrie to want to show off his shiny new toy.

And for that reason…

This will be the biggest rivalry shit talking season between myself and James in a decade when the Patriots made a habit of breaking my heart and losing to the Giants. Well after YEARS of us roasting all Nets fans for the trade that shall not be named…

…Brooklyn is looking for some long awaited revenge. How this Nets team is actually going to mesh though remains to be seen. With notable pill Kyrie, otherworldly talented yet hyper sensitive KD, and a brand new first year coach in Steve Nash, the Nets are either going to come out of the gates on fire like the ’07-’08 Celtics and win 66 games orrr they’ll be a complete dumpster fire.

So even though Kemba Walker will miss this game with his everlasting gobstopper of a knee injury, I need Tatum to drop 40 on the Nets on Christmas Day. Don’t want it, need it.