Dart Adams presents The Unbearable Lightness Of Blogging: The Pursuit Of Happiness

The thing about blogging (or writing for that matter) is that when you are genuinely unhappy or less than enthused about your current situation it's extremely easy to tell. It will come out in your writing. I've posted for several different sites in the past (I Hook A Beat Up, Nerd With Swag, eMusic, etc.) but I used to post for a football related site called Armchair Linebacker that was a spinoff of the once popular blog Dumpin.net that I used to visit quite often back in the days. Raven Mack & Mike Dikk decided to do a football blog and asked me to contribute. I said hell yeah.

The season I was asked to contribute also happened to be the season that the Patriots were going 16-0. The NFL posts on Dumpin were essentially everyone hating the Patriots and me talking shit about how they were unbeatable. Keep that in mind. The site began during the '08 NFL Playoffs. I started writing full playoff round recaps (partly because I thought I'd be documenting yet another glorious championship season like I'd done previously with the '07 Red Sox & '08 Boston Celtics on Poisonous Paragraphs). As we all know, that didn't happen.


It's a little hard to have sympathy for a guy who went to two championship parades in 12 months that was denied the opportunity of going to his second championship parade in another 7 months, after all. I was pissed but the Patriots would just win it all the next year, right? Wrong. Forget that I was right that they'd go 11-5. Forget they missed the playoffs when they were supposed to win the Super Bowl. Forget that the best QB in the NFL was gone for the season in the opening game. I was hated because I criticized the hell out of my winning team in a season the Lions went 0-16 & the other writers favorite teams sucked donkey balls.

I was seen as a whiny asshole and a fairweather fan when in Boston we call that "honesty". If you look back at what I wrote that season, not only was I often spot on & correct but I made full explanations and tried to make my fellow bloggers on the site understand where I was coming from. They weren't having it and they first tried to replace me but that dude flaked so they actually removed me from the blog before my final post of the year went up. Dayum!

I was seething about being let go mostly because I was going to quit on my own terms because Armchair Linebacker ceased being any fun for me. I wrote about the Patriots because I legitimately love NFL football and my team. I have since 1978. I was a fan back when they were godawful and I'll die a Patriots fan. I'm from Boston. There is no fairweather in me (it's simply not allowed). Reading the other "woe is me, I'm in hell" posts about horrible teams & inept franchises was draining and not conducive to good writing. I should've been happy I was free of it but I was fuming.

Raven Mack, the founder of the site hit me up on Facebook (which no one does cuz I fuckin' hate Facebook like Lil' Wayne hates sobriety & condoms) and asked me to come back to Armchair Linebacker for this season. My stupid ass said yes. It was apparent that I was less than enthused with writing there and I faxed in each successive post. When the Patriots lost back to back games I dreaded writing anything over at Armchair Linebacker about it. I just ended up saying "fuck it" and quitting. My writing sucked while I was there and the situation obviously wasn't the best one to continue contributing to. I should've just cut my losses.


Writing on Poisonous Paragraphs & Bloggerhouse made me realize that life is too short to not do things you genuinely love or whatever you enjoy. With my writing, if I don't care or if I'm unhappy I'll just go through the motions and my writing will suffer for it. I totally understand why those guys at Armchair Linebacker were pissed off at me for lacking to show any passion when I wrote with so much on my other sites.

They were able to write with passion even thought their teams were losing and I was half assing while they were winning. If you're not feeling something then don't try to force yourself to do it, it ultimately won't work out. I finally quit Armchair Linebacker Sunday morning but they edited my final post that same afternoon. Rather than get mad & comment on it, I saw it & just laughed. This part of my life is called "happiness".

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The Beasts Of The East

The Boston Celtics easily dispatched the Minnesota Timberwolves 122-104 on Sunday night. The thing is that they didn't play but 40 minutes of the alloted 48 and Rajon Rondo often had defensive lapses and let Johnny Flynn get to the hole whenever he felt like it. Also, the Celtics were harassed by the young legs of Kevin Love, Ryan Hollins & Al Jefferson. They still managed to win their 12th game in their past 13.

Rajon Rondo led the charge and racked up 13 pts, 15 ast & 3 stl to finish at a jaw dropping +23 on the night. Paul Pierce scored 29 points and went 6 for 6 from deep. Ray Allen added 20 (3-6 3pt), Tony Allen contributed 15 pts, 6 reb & 3 ast from the bench while Kendrick "The Hulk" Perkins came up big yet again with 14 pts, 11 reb & 3 blk to anchor the middle. Kevin Garnett had a low key night with 10 pts, 8 reb & 2 blk.

The starters had to come back in & put the game away in the 4th quarter as the Timberwolves just would not die. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett knocked down big shots and the defense of Rajon Rondo and Hulk Perkins shut down the Minnesota offense. After coming out with zero energy, urgency or intensity at home versus the hapless Philadelphia 76ers (breaking their 11 game win streak) the previous Friday, they didn't want to have a second consecutive letdown.

The Celtics now sit atop the Eastern Conference with a 21-5 record going into a game versus the Indiana Pacers tomorrow night then the Orlando Magic on Christmas. The Celtics need to win both games to stay the class of the East with Orlando, Atlanta & Cleveland all vying for the top spot. The Celtics need to weather the next month until they get Big Baby Davis back then the next before Marquis Daniels returns. All that the Celtics are concerned with is staying healthy & sharp leading into the new year.

The Cavs are once again making moves to improve their chances in the East. Atlanta has been surprising. The Celtics want nothing more than to knock off the Orlando Magic in a national game to prove that they're still kings of the mountain. The key matchup will be Kendrick "The Hulk" Perkins vs. Dwight "Superman" Howard. Last game, Perkins fouled out so it opened up Howard to wreak havoc in the middle. We'll see how it all pans out soon enough. Ubuntu! © Boston Celtics

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What's New In Dart's iPod #109 AKA Only 13 Days Left

This week I'll be reviewing four new projects that recently hit the 'net/bloggerverse and/or will be landing on store shelves soon in the following order: Build An Ark "Love Part 1", Lil Wayne "Rebirth", Strong Army Steady & Madlib "In Search Of Stoney Jackson" and Young Money "We Are Young Money". For those of you new to this blog, I don’t rate albums on a scale or assign them a numerical value out of 5 or 10, instead I merely answer the all important question of “Is it worth buying or not?”. Here's how my recently revised "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:

Opinions be damned. This particular project has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and should come with a Surgeon General's warning and/or a biohazard sticker. It should only be handled by hazmat teams or bomb/demolition squads. To quote Common & Canibus, this album is your worst nightmare squared.

Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.

Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.


Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.

Poisonous Paragraphs, payola free Hip Hop blogging since 1.1.07! © Dart Adams

Even if I say nothing it's a beautiful usage of negative space © El-P


Best Joints: Love, This Prayer: For The Whole World, How Do We End All This Madness?, Celebrate, Sweet Thing, Fun's Theme, Sunflowers In My Garden, Love Is Everywhere, In The Park, World Music, World Peace Now, May It Be So and More Love*

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: This album reminds me of those records I'd find in my fathers collections that I'd just play from beginning to end back in the days. It's actual music, though. If you're not into listening to actual music outside of looking for samples then that's a damn shame because this is one of my favorite projects of the past year in that respect.

Build An Ark plays instrumental Soul, Jazz, Samba and mix it in with some nice vocals on a couple of tracks reminiscent of the 60's & 70's. I give it a mos def. Search it out if you actually appreciate music played by actual people with instruments.



Somewhat Tolerable Joints: American Star, Prom Queen, Ground Zero, Drop The World (Em's verse), Runnin’ (with just Shannel on it),

Hot Garbage: Da Da Da, Paradice, Get A Life, On Fire, Drop The World (Wayne & the beat), Runnin' (Wayne's verses), One Way Trip, Knockout (Nicki Minaj is a carbuncle on your penis the day Rosario Dawson says "Yes") and The Price Is Wrong


Dart's Take: You know those big budget Hollywood movies that feature a huge box office draw in the lead role but they continuously get pushed back & they end up with 5 or more writers and no trailer for more than a year? When they finally come close to release, get a film poster & the trailer ends up an exclusive on Apple it suddenly gets pushed back again just to drop and it turns out it sucks? Well, that's "Rebirth"

This album has no direction. Some songs have annoying ass AutoTune effects but some don't. The verses are underwhelming. With the exception of Eminem the guest appearances were pointless. Some of these tracks should've clearly been given to other people.

This album was pure torture to listen to and I'd rather tap dance while eating a bucket of KFC in blackface live on Fox News rockin' a top hat, tuxedo & tails with spats than listen to this album ever again. It started out as an attempt at a crossover album but you can tell that idea was rethought then later they decided to go along with the original plan again. What?

This project is a failure in every imaginable facet of record making. It's not even close to being good and I can't wait for Weezy stans to attempt to defend it. I give it the only rating it deserves, the wackness. Fuck outta here!



Best Joints: Best of Times, Cheeba Cheeba, Chittlins & Pepsi, Questions, Smile, New Love, Get Started, Pressure, True Champs, Needle In The Haystack, Ambassadors, Chants, Bark Like A Dog and Two Pistols

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: Take Strong Arm Steady. Add Madlib on the boards. Now add verses from Phonte, Planet Asia, Fashawn, Talib Kweli, Chace Infinite, Montage One, Evidence, Oh No, Roc C, Sick Jacken, Roscoe , Guilty Simpson, Mitchy Slick, etc. and that leaves you with an album that you need to hear & purchase this holiday season. Mos def. This album kept me from jamming a sharp object in my ears after I got the Lil' Wayne & Young Money double dose of pain this week.



Joints That Don't Totally Suck: Gooder, Every Girl In The World (So many things wrong with this song), Pass The Dutch, Play In My Band (meh), Fuck Da Bulls (meh) and Roger That (meh),

Hot Garbage: Ms. Parker, Wife Beater, New Shit, Bedrock, Girl I Got You (don't. flip. "Escapade". lazy. It's a sin), Steady Mobbin' (Gucci Mane features get you a bullet in your top half), She Is Gone, Streets Is Watchin' (Nicki Minaj's verse was a low point in American history) and Finale (5 minutes of torture for those with discriminating tastes)

Dart's Take: There are 10 people on the cover of this album, that's about 7 or 8 too many. This album is horrid. The Young Money roster is weaker than the New Jersey Nets' is. When the best person in your crew ghostwrites for the CEO who's also on his way to jail you know your team is doomed.

In a few years, we'll look back at this shit sandwich of an album and laugh. I'm way ahead of my time so I'll laugh right now. Wayne's album was the wackness...this is 3x worse because it's even more wack verses total. Listening to this album is like having a forced prostate exam by the Terminator (regardless of what gender you happen to be) while simultaneously being forced to watch "Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns"....


I need the Men In Black to pull out the neuralyzer and erase my memory of these two wack ass albums so I won't have daymares & night terrors then dispose of them for me.

MIB's: You know the drill by now. Or have you forgotten it? Stand still and look straight ahead *Activates neuralyzer*

Am I done? Fuck are they going? What did they leave with? *Scrolls up* Ooooh. I see now...


Late Passes (For Doz Dat Slept):



Projects I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop:

Rhymefest-El Che

Jay Electronica-Act II: Patents Of Nobility
Jay Electronica-Abracadabra: Let There Be Light
Big Boi-Sir Luscious Leftfoot, Son Of Chico Dusty
Pac Div-Grown Kid Syndrome
Blu-God Is Good
Drake- Thank Me Later
Alchemist & Oh No are Gangrene
Eternia & MoSS- At Last
B.O.B.-The Adventures Of B.O.B.
Billy Danze-Behind Gatez
Statik Selektah & Termanology Are 1982
Lil' Fame & Termanology-Fizzyology
Baatin-Titus
Phat Kat and Elzhi are Cold Steel
The Beatnuts-The Planet Of The Crates
Ski Beatz-Half Man, Half Amazing
Evidence-Cats & Dogs
Statik Selektah-The Hangover
Buff1 & Rhettmatic -Crown Royale
Apollo Brown & Boog Brown are UPS-Brown Study
Kidz In The Hall-Land Of Make Believe
DJ Muggs & Ill Bill- Kill Devil Hills
Jay Electronica x Mos Def x Curren$y-Center Edge Territory
Meth x Rae x Ghost-The Wu Massacre


Bloggerhouse is here. Dart Adams (Poisonous Paragraphs), Travis Glave (Wake Your Daughter Up), & Eric Coons (When They Reminisce) are the official lineup of Bloggerhouse. Content is king and we are the undisputed kings of content. In less than two weeks it'll be a wrap for Poisonous Paragraphs and I'll begin anew. Bloggerhouse is a mix of the past, present and future of Hip Hop blogging.

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