- better late than never
1. paul carrick brunson is for real
admittedly, i was a bit skeptical when paul first invited me to be on the show.
i wasn’t sure how well the panelists –dating diva jj smith (author of “why i love men”), charlotte burley (creator and host of BET’s “the turn on spot“), model and artist leah santiago kiarash, model reinaldo faberlle, dominic (one of the twins from season two of the tila tequila show), and yours truly– would mesh, and i wasn’t 100 percent confident that moderator nikki nokes (author of “maybe its you“) would keep us all on-point.
i thought the planned poetry/performance piece –with bassey ikpi, rasheed, and jonathan b. tucker– seemed a bit contrived. and, although i knew that a giant video screen, a live twitter feed, an albino monkey trained to dutty wine on cue, comedian lawrence jarrett, yesha callahan (from fungkeblakchik), video blogger tonya tko, the wb, and musician w. ellington felton were involved in someway, i had no idea how (or why) it would all fit together.
***also, to be completely honest, i was extremely anxious about how well my written “verysmart-ness” would translate on a live panel. you see, writing allows you to edit, re-read, and reflect on your thoughts before you actually put them out there, and i’m much more comfortable (and better at) doing that than speaking extemporaneously***
most importantly, i wasn’t sure about paul.
although i was familiar with his work around the web, the cynic in me wondered how genuine this modern day matchmaker thing he’s doing truly is, and if he was capable of pulling off this seemingly unnecessarily ambitious show.
but, somehow, someway everything managed to fit together. the show was sold out. the poetry was on point. the planned interruptions each provided a bit of levity and humor. w. ellington felton and his band did their thing. there was a ton of twitter and audience interaction, and the panel was a good mix of opinionated, informative, and entertaining people with distinct voices (although, admittedly, we were probably outshone by the women. and by “probably” i mean “definitely, without a doubt“)
although each of the participants contributed to the night’s success, the bulk of the praise should go to paul. seriously, i don’t know if i’ve ever met someone with as much perpetual genuinely positive energy as he has. he’s like a cross between anderson varejao, mike tomlin, johnny carson, and little randy from the first six episodes of season four of “the wire”.
this die-hard skeptic is sold.
2. morehouse moonshine isn’t half bad
before the show began, “matchmakers“ –a somewhat deadly combination of (i think) ginger ale, lime, strawberries, and rum on ice– were freely given to the show’s participants and audience. and, considering the fact that this drink was so subtly strong that three of them could make you tipsy enough to holler at and bag a velvet barstool, its name was definitely apropos.
anyway, after finding out this particular brand of rum (chairman’s reserve) was created by a morehouse college grad, i referred to it as “morehouse moonshine“, a joke maybe 157 times more clever while intoxicated than when i just typed it out.
3. charlotte burley’s a good sport
while behind the curtain and getting ready to be called on stage, i attempted to give dominic a drunken “good luck and shit, man” fist bump, but completely missed my target and punched the matchmaker out of charlotte’s hands.
although i could sense she was tempted to give me a strong “i know this pittsburgh-ass n*gga didn’t just punch the drink out of my hand?” side-eye, she laughed it off, and one of the women working backstage helped me quickly get her another drink. she also invited me to be on her show, so hopefully i won’t drop-kick her purse off her arms the next time i see her.
4. commitment and monogamy are not the same thing
well, at least they aren’t to jj smith, who made this extremely debate-inducing statement when giving her rationale for men not wanting to commit in a traditional sense. to paraphrase: (many) men (rightly) feel like they can be fully committed to someone without being completely monogamous.
5. if hungry (and drunk) enough, i’ll eat anything. a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g
this was proven at the event afterparty, when i (a person who makes sure to let waitresses know to tell the chef to make sure my burgers and steaks are “burnt like ron mexico”) practically swallowed an entire tray of bite sized burgers, even though the meat was the color of the chicago bulls away jerseys.
6. its a small f*cking world
in a one hour span, i found out that j. ellington felton lived in my neighborhood when he was a student at carneige mellon, learned that one of paul’s friends (brian hamlin, seen here as “the activist”) and i worked at the same summer camp when i was still in high school, and met a woman who drove down to the event from pittsburgh, left her first comment on vsb last week, and actually happened to be sitting next to my girl and i at a restaurant in the burgh a week earlier (and received the same shitty service).
with that in mind…
7. everybody assumed i was from d.c. (at least until they heard me speak), except for the people actually from d.c., who assumed i was from new york, chicago, or (no lie) savannah, georgia
8. i definitely need to write down names of people i meet to ensure i’ll correctly hear and remember them
this is especially true when meeting vsb-er’s. i know at least six or seven introduced themselves to me, but the only names i could clearly hear and remember were orangestar616 and natasha. i’d blame it on the alcohol, but, well, there is no but. i’m officially blaming it on the alcohol.
9. nikki nokes is the homie…for reasons i don’t feel comfortable revealing quite yet
10. in hindsight, i probably should have worn one of my verysmartbrothas.com shirts
although liz provided me with business cards to pass out, rocking a vsb tee probably would have done wonders for the “who the hell is this awkward accent ass n*gga in the grey suit, and where the hell is he from?” sentiment probably held by (at least) a third of the audience.
oh well. hopefully they all know now.
—the champ
Good for you, Champ.
Wow. It is a small world. I was in Jack & Jill with B. Hamlin all through middle school & high school. I’ve seen him on Paul’s modern matchmaker web shows. He’s a funny dude.
Savannah? Lol
@Miss Patterson,
at this point, it would surprise me to hear about someone you weren’t in jack in jill with. lol, I bet even if I said I met nikki giovanni there you’d have a jack and jill story about her.
@Miss Patterson, i’m just surprised you were in Jack & Jill. i always took you to be a hoodrat. lol
@Panama Jackson & The Champ:
surprise deez.
@Miss Patterson,
no
@Miss Patterson,
this might be a weird request, but i’m doing a story in which one of the characters is in Jack & Jill. do you mind me asking you a few questions about it from a past member perspective? trying to get as many opinions as possible.
@Miss Patterson, Is that a picture of a dollie?
Savannah co sniggle
@The Champ was you dropping Big Boi Dungeon family flow or something. & Morehouse Moonshine is funny if @ least for the alliteration’s sake.
Sounds like a great event. I would have attended had I known about in time to get a cheap ass ticket to DC. Just kidding (not really).
@meka,
cheap bastard (not really)
“to paraphrase: (many) men (rightly) feel like they can be fully committed to someone without being completely monogamous.”
Love it! A f’n light bulb just lit in my head.
“practically swallowed an entire tray of bite sized burgers, even though the meat was the color of the chicago bulls away jerseys.”
LOL! & Ewww! It wasn’t even pink? Yuckyyy!
@Made In Hawaii,
Lol, this shit was five shades past pink. if it was any more red it probably would have still been alive.
@The Champ,
*I’m crying laughing* That would keep me from drinking ever again….
I have been following Bassey’s tweets about this on Twitter…seems like it was a good time.
GREAT STUFF! I shoulda got out the house and came through.
@Saule Wright, I feel the SAAAAAME way….man, I was right around on 14th St too…..=/
@Saule Wright and mzpw
thats grounds for a two week ban from vsb
@The Champ,
see, what had happened was…
@The Champ,
(Sigh) Darn.
Happy that you engage in a wonderful experience there, hope that you tells us more about the EVENT and what yall discuss!!!
(Can you tell I wanted to go, but couldn’t cause I had to go to a wedding. I had to sit down next to someone who is an actual member of the teabagger party UUUGGGGHHH!!!)
@Mr. Gundam, -as happy as I am for the Champ, is as sorry as I feel for you, an actual teabagger* heavenstomurgatroy, don’t know how you did it, and to think they actually said that ISH out loud, i mean told someone they were one- DOUBLE WTF?..,SIDEEYE, SMDH & SIGHING all in unison…
@bajanflchick, Liquor. Lots and lots of liquor. That was the first time I drank Gin with ice cubes in it. Normally I add cranberry to anything(Yeah, it awkward but that’s my thing)but, the taste of good old-fashion gin really made me believe that he was kidding. I know he didn’t like it when I laughed every time he prove Obama is not an America.
@Mr. Gundam,
I had to sit down next to someone who is an actual member of the teabagger party UUUGGGGHHH!!!
you know, i never actually believed that those people existed (and still dont). i’m convinced that whenever cnn shows “footage” from a tea baggers rally, its really just an high definition loop of the deleted scenes from deliverance
@The Champ, I hope you NEVER meet one. Ignorance that up close causes motion sickness. The weirdest thing was how it started. He asked me what ‘I graduated with’ I said ‘Double Major in Law and Politics/Minor in History’ And all of a sudden it’s(And I QUOTE) ‘So you understand how fascist the heath care bill is, if Obama continues with his commie ways we are going to have a totalitarian rule…..’ OMG,I know this Grown-ass man just didn’t compare fascism, communism, and totalitarianism to the same person. WTF, is your MALFUNCTION!!! Imagine listen to this for 2.5 Hours……I was too drunk to drive myself home. These people exist.
@Mr. Gundam,
Wow man… I feel your pain. Yikes.
@Mr. Gundam,
Y’know….I would loooove to meet a Teabagger, just so I can confuse the crap outta them and see their response. I bet if you woulda asked him to DEFINE the words “fascism” and “totalitarianism”, he probably woulda just started cursing randomly.
“***also, to be completely honest, i was extremely anxious about how well my written “verysmart-ness” would translate on a live panel. you see, writing allows you to edit, re-read, and reflect on your thoughts before you actually put them out there, and i’m much more comfortable (and better at) doing that than speaking extemporaneously***”
Wow Champikins, even I knew that you would be *Greater than Kanye thinks he is, even in this environment -give yourself a little credit , you are so obviously not some ordinary regular ninja….and I’m sure your verysmart-ness hit em in the head*****KUDOS, KUDOS, & more KUDOS to ya….perhaps y’all can put this together like a TP stage play & travel the USA…:-) I heart when the Brothas & Sistas are doin some GREATNESS…this just made my Monday, just wish i was still livin in the north, cause I woulda been there (you know how ninjas are, coulda, woulda, shoulda) *snaps, claps, and alla dat.
@bajanflchick,
this made me all verklempt and shit.
I was fortunate enough to attend the Matchmaker event and I think Champ did a great job; he seemed to be the most rational and “realist” panelist on the stage. I felt like I was going to scream if another person said all you need is “trust and unconditional love” to make a relationship work. Ummm…. Hell no! You need much more than that!
Champ, you made great points when you equated finding a mate to finding a job, and distinguishing between a good person and a person who’s good in relationships. Those statements made me view things in a new light.
I didn’t walk away with much from the event though it was entertaining. However, if the Champ hadn’t been on the panel (and those Matchmaker drinks, which were delicious, weren’t free) I probably would have asked for my money back!
Good work Champ!
Champ, I hope you do a post on what More is More said, when you made a point about distinguishing between a good person and a person who’s good in relationships.
@Kit (Keep It Trill) cosign on the “distinguishing between a good person and a person who’s good in relationships.” info -Please Champikins, do tell…or do we need to wait for the book?
@Kit (Keep It Trill),
Co-sign. That would be a great blog post.
@Kit (Keep It Trill),
tomorrow and shit
@More is More,
thank you! again, i felt like i was talking in circles, but from the feedback ive received so far i guess i was able to get my points understood.
Can’t believe someone from DC actually admitted knowing anything about Savannah, GA…aww I miss home!
@sherylalx, not that it was intended for me (and The Champ is from Pittsburgh) but I love Savannah. My sister used to live there and aside from the hood areas, its a beautiful city.
@Panama Jackson,
“aside from the hood areas, its a beautiful city”
this is exactly what cory booker should be telling people about newark
@sherylalx,
Savannah is a great town. I only live about 90 minutes away, It’s sad that I have tons of family there but I haven’t been in about 10 years. My family reunion is there this year so now I don’t have any excuse not to go.
That’s awesome. Not you drunkenly punching a drink out of some woman’s hand, but most of the other stuff.
You definitely should have worn a VSB tee, tho. Advertisement and shit.
@Cheryl, yeah Champ. rock the damn tshirt.
me and you SUCK at self-promo on large stages.
@Cheryl,
“You definitely should have worn a VSB tee, tho. Advertisement and shit.”
Most def. Business cards are cool, but a t-shirt is 24/7 visual advertisement. I woulda worn mine, too, in support of ya’ll if I went to the event. Sounds like it was a great one!
@Cheryl,
That’s awesome. Not you drunkenly punching a drink out of some woman’s hand, but most of the other stuff.
i thought that was pretty awesome too, though. its not everyday you get to use a plastic cup as a punching bag.