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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Talk To The Hand

Today I saw a military man who actually had a hook for a hand. I was kind of surprised to see it. I was hoping that he didn’t accidentally hear me whispering to myself, “Wow, a genuine hook”. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask but was I too embarrassed to. Yes, I know that I do carry a mouth on me. I’m quiet from time to time but the people that truly know me, KNOW, that I can talk a lot of crap as well. So with that I started to think about today’s medical achievements in prosthetics. Why would he opt to go old school and get the hook? I’ve got to admit, it’s got to be sooo cool to show the chicks a genuine hook instead of the plastic hand. It seems to me like the hook is a little more “Bad Ass” then the prosthetic hand. After all, it’s not like there’s truck loads of people making the prosthetic hand look “Bad Ass”, although I have seen a handful (pardon the pun) of people make the prosthetic hand look “Ass Bad”. There was a dude on the subway that had a prosthetic hand. He was also wearing real rings, straight up jewelry, on his prosthetic fingers. To me, that’s like putting “hub cap spinners” on a Ford Focus (No offense to the Ford Focus). It’s like the only question that comes to mind is” Why? Why homie? Why?” Ironically, on the very next day I saw another guy with a prosthetic hand that had fingernails on the prosthetic fingers. I know right? This was crazy. I’m guessing that dude actually sat there and thought to himself, “You know what would make my hand look real? If I add Lee press on fingernails to my plastic hand…No one will be the wiser!!!" Ne-gro pullease…

I’ll tell you what though, don’t be surprised if you start to notice prosthetics with built in blackberry and Ipod connectors for the corporate user, burlwood and chrome trims for the ultra elite, custom tattoos or graffiti art for the street veteran, and for the pleasure seeker…the built in ribbed finger tip vibrating mechanism. Now with the hook, it is what it is, a hook. Its cold hard steel formed in the shape of a semi-circle. That rocks, Son! Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to do something to purposely get my hand lopped off. I’m perfectly happy with both the hands that God gave me. I find them very useful for everyday conveniences like pointing n****z out, hitch hiking, sending text messages to Quin, picking my nose and/or azz, changing motorcycle tires, clapping at the end of a Star Wars movie, shoplifting, starting bar fights, hugging my kids, pissing on cars seats, watering a garden, giving hand gestures after I have been verbally abusive to people that I do not know and have never seen a day in my life, pointing my fist to the sun in contempt because Je’lene didn’t not call me at the exact time she said she would call me which puts me behind schedule, and giving spankings (take that how you want to take it). If I had to make the choice between the plastic hand and the hook, I would probably opt for the hook too. Still, I may change my mind tomorrow and want the plastic hand. Eh, who knows? Perhaps I would change my rap name to “Hook Shotz” or something shytty like that. But I do know that there’s no need to dress the hook with diamonds, fingernails, kung-fu grips, or French ticklers. Any form of metal protruding from your limbs is making a statement. That statement is “I will kick your azz”.

-Panama

A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

T’was such a beautiful day on this day, Wednesday July 11th in the year of our Lord, two thousand and seven. I decided to take a stroll up the ever so popular Georgia Ave in the northwest section of Washington, DC. I had my mind and taste buds ready for a McDonald’s “Sweet Tea”. I can’t front son, their sweet tea is the best product ever conjured up by the powers that be at Mickey D’s. After enjoying my well deserved sweet tea and exiting the spot, I was damn near tackled by a squad of vagrants, each saying, “Do you have any spare change?!!” My first reaction was to get mad but then something magical happened. I began to think about making the world a better place one person at a time. What ever happened to being my brother’s keeper? Where's my sense of decency? Have we fallen that far away from the tree as a society? I began to feel empowered. It sparked a sense of pride deep down within my soul that rocked the very foundation of my being. I immediately thought to myself, “Panama, who would you rather deal with? Seeing a man that put his hands in your pockets one time or the man that has his hands in your pockets everyday that you cannot see?” Being the wise man that I am, I calmly turned to my fellow mankind and said, “No thank you, my friends…I already have spare change.”

-Your friendly neighbourhood P*A*N*A*M*A

What have I learned from my experience you ask? I have learned that I can’t be supportin’ no grown-ass street folk. I have kids to feed.

We Need To Talk

“We need to talk”…The four words that some love to hear. The four words that I hate to hear. I tend to get nervous every time I hear someone tell me this, especially a female. Why? I don’t know. I just don’t like to hear it. I guess that I automatically assume that there’s going to be something wrong. I mean, if we are holding a decent conversation and there was something good that you wanted to tell me, you’d just tell me, right? You wouldn’t reserve a totally different conversation for good news. The only thing that you could possibly save for a totally different conversation is bad news. Maybe you needed time to build up to the bad news or you just need time to let me down easy, as it were. Usually when people say they need to talk to me, it’s because there’s something that I am required to do, never them. It also sends you into this deep abyss of thought trying to figure out what you could have possibly done wrong so you can fix it before this person has “the talk” with you. I know, crazy right?!!! Dig it, some of my life’s favorites “We need to talks” would be: “Golphin, we need to talk...Your work schedule is 8am to 5pm, not 11am to 3pm with at 2 hour lunch.” or the ever so popular “P, we need to talk. I can’t see you anymore…I’m gay now.”…and let’s not forget “Patrick, we need to talk. I’m pregnant…and no, it’s not yours.” I will admit that the negative affect that this phrase has on me is not always the case. I’ve had people say they needed to talk to me and it turned out to be nothing bad at all. So I basically went into convulsions and cold sweats for nothing. My stigma possibly derived from the fact that I have had more “bad” news followed by this phrase than “good” news. So what have I learned? I guess you could say that I have learned not to assume. They say when you assume, you make an “ASS” out of “U” and “ME.” I don’t know what they are talking about. I always thought that when you assume, it meant your “A” was going to “SSU” “ME”. Notice how things can get lost in translation? If there are others that feel the same way that I feel about this…we need to talk.

-p*a*n*a*m*a

Is THAT Your Baby???

I don't know what it is. Maybe it's in the water. Maybe it's a government conspiracy. It could possibly be accidental or even an act of God. Whatever it is doesn’t excuse the fact that in 2007 I have never seen so many ugly babies in my life. Where are they coming from anyway? Is this the Chinese year of the Dog? It’s not like there’s one couple in Minnesota making them all. I know I know…I could very well be setting myself up. You remember the adage, “Be careful not to talk about anyone else’s kids because your kids might come out the same way!” Well, as much as I have said about other people’s offspring I do take consolation in the fact that none of mine are blind, crippled, or crazy. Well, not as of yet even although I do believe the later of the three hasn’t been clinically proven yet. C’mon now, I know you’ve seen these “seeds” before. I use the word “seed” very loosely. Seed would suggest that they are sprinkled all over the place and come from plants or vegetables perhaps. Well, maybe they do. The Children of the Corn always comes to mind.

Here’s the deal: I’m sitting on the bus getting ready to hop the train to my destination. I tend to let my mind drift into whatever it wants. This is how “I” relax. I notice a couple sitting a couple of seats in front of me. They were the typical “ghetto” couple I suppose. The mom was dark skinned and about 400 pounds with calves that would rival Popeye’s. She put me in the mind of hmmm, I don’t know…the HULK?!! She was sporting a dress which was about 3 sizes too small. Adding to the visual assault were flip-flops and a braided Mohawk hair do. Now, let me emphasize that I “DO NOT KNOW HER”. She could very well have a magnetic personality, a prospering career, yada yada yada. I am merely speaking from what I saw. All of this is based on my perception and with that “What you see is what you get”. Her man was what I have come to expect in a man that would have courted such woman. He was fair skinned and kind of rough around the edges. Saying “rough around the edges” is really being too kind. Dude looked like a seasoned holiday drunk as opposed to a holiday season drunk. Like he was there but he wasn’t here. You know how post Vietnam drunks look, all glassy eyed with the 1,000 yard stare. Basically, I’m guessing he was with her to get a hot meal because you KNOW she’s eating well. There’s probably a liquor cabinet somewhere with a horn of “Plenty-O-Drink”. Clothing is obviously secondary or maybe closer to the point of being a necessary evil for him, from what I could see. How does he pay for all these street level niceties? Most likely it’s the occasional WWF “Smack Down” in the sizzack. This is where the horn of Plenty-O-Drink plays a vital role in his arsenal. How else do you forget the hellish war you’ve gone through in the bedroom the night before? It’s like she’s America and he’s some third world country. You get the funny feeling that after he’s consumed his Thunderbird and Grey Goose, she’s going to invade his restricted airspace and there’s nothing he can do about it. He’s in charge of “JACK SHIT” and we all know his name is not “JACK”.

So after a night’s worth of campaign efforts, a couple of tours of duty, and fighting a losing battle he throws up the peace flag and says, “no mas”. Please cease all hostilities towards me and my body. What’s left is the making of “Super Ewww” made from two lesser “Ewwwws”. Isn’t it funny how all of this can play out in Panama’s mind in a matter of minutes? You should see the movie! At any rate, they are sitting on the bus playing and displaying this love child that needs to be locked up in a cage next to the dog-faced boy. They are just-a-bouncing him around their laps and being extra loud with him to draw attention to themselves. “Haboobooboo” and “that’s my baybayaby” are just the beginnings of what was turning out to be the longest bus ride known to man. The kid would drop his bottle and the shit would roll to the front of the bus, just for someone to pick it up and hand it back to the hell spawn. Then he would do it again. I’m thinking, “Since when did they allow pets on public transit? Does the port authority know about this? And more importantly, where do they sell exotic pets in this area?” Then the missing link started tossing his shoes all over the place. I kind of understood that one though. What monkey wants to wear shoes? You can’t very well peel a banana with your feet if you have shoes on now can you? Proud parents don’t correct this kind of behavior. They encourage it. Now son is standing up slobbering on that dirty bus window and making madd noise. I’m feeling like, “Ok, alright, we know you have a kid so please shut it up, b!”

Trust and believe that some have home training and others don’t. How can you be an ugly kid and NOT have home training? At least that would balance things out. A lot of these goonies grow up to be rather nice looking teens or adults and give positive contributions to society. Is it better to be an ugly kid with a great attitude or a cute kid with an ugly attitude? I don’t know. It basically boils down to the parents. The same parents that have these ugly kids see fit to make us acknowledge that they have these loud, spoiled, ugly kids. So to them I would say, “Keep your pets on a leash and your over-the-top public displays of affection for these cross-breeds down to a minimum and we’ll pretend that this never happened.”

-P*A*N*A*M*A

Long Time No Hear?

Man, I have been crazy busy. I normally keep up with my bloggin' but not as of late. What I am going to do is post some of my old blogs for your reading enjoyment. I will do my best to keep up with going on in my life, in my business, or in my mind...like you actually care, right?

-P

Friday, August 31, 2007

Jennifer Pierre Corsa Ad



Here's a sample add that we were messing around with. I was in NYC for a meeting that got pushed back several hours. I just happen to have my Canon 10D with me and decided to call my buddy Jennifer Pierre and she if she wanted to kill some time by shooting around. Jenn hopped the train from Long Island and made it to Newark in good time. I love Jenn's look because she is mixed with Hatian and Italian. You may have seen her in STUFF Magazine or at some promotional party. She really gets around. This was one of the many hot shots that came about as a result of the shoot. Funny thing is, we were just playing around and making it fun.

-Panama

http://www.jenniferpierre.net/

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Bullystyle Racing


I just got the word from my man at Bullystyle Racing that they had just sold the company. I know that Reg and York will be moving on to bigger projects but it just won't be the same without the Bullystyle "Brand" being run by them. They are going to be consulting for Bullystyle to make sure that it is headed in the right direction but it still isn't the same. Those cats use to lace me with gear for my photoshoots. I still owe them Corsa jackets and I plan on delivering. We've done everything with them from hanging out with Michael Jordan and Team Jordan Motorsports to a bunch of us on bikes, getting lost on the backroads for hours, being soaked down to the draws from the ride because we wanted to get into the Star Boyz stuntfest for free.

I also promised them a while ago that I would post a show reel that they put together. For those that do not know bullystyle, I am sure you know their work. Comedy Central, Spike TV, VH1, MTV, Team Jordan Motorsports, etc. Their film, graphic, and editing skills is on point. They were the designated editing team for The Clutch as well. We met them in NYC at the International Motorcycle Show in Jan 2004 and have been fam ever since. Big up to Bullystyle. Peep their game by going to http://www.bullystyle.com/