R.I.P. Aaliyah

Aaliyah — “Heartbroken” prod. by Timbaland

Sidenote: For the record Timbland is a much better R&B producer than he is a HipHop producer.

I used to have the biggest celeb crush on her back in high school, LOL. I remember the day I woke up to make the move from MD to NYC for college. That same morning the news story came out about her passing. Made the move away from home just a little more scarier for me. Then to make matters worse, 2 weeks later the 9/11 tragedy hit NY. :-/

So the other night, I went to the Grocery store and ended up spending about $10 more than I was supposed to because of these gawd awful Club Cards. — I don’t understand why these things exist.

(#rantalert)

It’s like joining an imaginary ‘club’ that anybody can get into. Why do ‘they’ even call it a ‘club?’ It doesn’t require anything from you, and you don’t really get anything exclusive for being in the ‘club.’ Yes, they have their ‘Club Card’/reduces prices, but if anyone can get the Club Card, and there aren’t any real requirements for getting a card, then the reduced prices should just be the regular prices for everybody, right!? I say there’s no ‘real’ requirements because every time a store asks me to to fill out an ‘application’ for their ‘Club,’ I put in a fake address and a fake phone number — I’m sure other people do the same thing to avoid unwanted sales pitches. It’s really a club full of fraudulent cheap-skates who have no problem telling lies(white) to save a buck or two — what a horrible club. I get that they want your mailing address so they can mail you promotions, ads and other non-environmental-friendly stuff. I have a good feeling that they mail you the same ads that they already have available in the entrances of every store. On top of that, the sales in the ads are useless if you don’t have a Club Card anyway — what a complete waste.

Actually, let’s look at how much gets wasted just to give us a ‘deal’ that we should already be getting.

1. Plastic Non-Biodegradable Plastic Card (and don’t forget about the knock-out plastic that’s left behind when you get one of these.
2. Paper Application form (sometimes printed in color too).
3. Paper Snail-Mail Advertisements.
4. Time is wasted when people are filling out the form in line while other folks are waiting behind them.

Solutions:

1. 1st, fire the guy/gal who came up with idea in the first place. 2nd, get rid of the ‘Club Card’ system all together & recycle the plastic.
2. Consolidate. As a last resort, companies who use these things should combine powers and issue 1 card that works in all stores.

Of course there are bigger fish to fry on this issue:

1. Who has access to the database of addresses and phone numbers?
2. Are they monitoring what folks are buying at Pharmacies, Grocery Stores etc?

But the cards themselves really bother me. They’re completely inconvenient! I only have one wallet, but I’m supposed to walk around with all of those cards crammed in there just to make a quick grocery store run? Makes me think of that Seinfeld episode with George Costanza’s exploding wallet. Even the mini key-chain cards are inconvenient. Who has room on their key-chain for 10 little annoying pieces of plastic? — Not I.

Again, why do these things exist? Am I missing something?

Comments?

I should probably own a few of these.

If Sean Combs-endorsed Ciroc is the vodka of choice in his home borough of Manhattan, then we suppose Brooklyn just adopted Spike Lee and Absolut to represent its buzz. Yep, you can now buy ABSOLUT BROOKLYN for just $24.99 at your local liquor store (the company will be giving $50,000 in sales to Habitat for Humanity for their effort to build affordable and environmentally sustainable housing in Bed-Stuy).

But what does Brooklyn taste like? We’re told “the new flavor is a blend of red apple and ginger and comes in a specially-designed bottle reminiscent of the ubiquitous Brooklyn Stoop Life.”

(Via The Gothamist)

Tens of thousands of people will gather on the National Mall on June 5 to take a stand and prove that individuals have the power to change the world.

Without the cures, an estimated 25 million women around the world will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 10 million could die over the next 25 years.

You can give online at GlobalRacefortheCure.org.

Up to 75 percent of the money raised by the Komen Global Race stays in the D.C. area to fund screening, treatment and education programs through the National Capital Area Grant Program. The remaining funds support the Global Promise Fund, reaching under-served people in areas where breast cancer mortality rates are the highest.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy New Year (2010)