AfroPunk Festival

August 25 & 26 saw the return of the AfroPunk Festival at Commodore Barry Park in Fort Greene. Headlining acts at this free event were Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae, but the real stars of the weekend were the 30,000 attendees from punks to fashionistas to the fabulous of all complexions.

Shameless Self-Promotion

The Urban Boy Scout will no longer be used as a hub for my published works.

To stay abreast of my non-TUBS-related writing career, you may follow BySloanRollins.tumblr.com.

Come Out & Play

The Urban Boy Scout will be scouting for images and stories to bring you from today's AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn. Come on out and say HELLO. It's free. Why not?

My latest Fitness Scheme

I happened upon a huge metal hula hoop covered in candy-colored foam rubber at the 99 Cents and Up store on Ludlow St near Delancey on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

It is a very cheaply made metal ring held together by a block of wood and nails where the two ends come together. It is filled with plaster dust, pebbles and dirt, presumably straight out of the ground in China. How do I know what's inside, you ask? Well the first hoop burst within 2 days of use and my living room was covered in it. The replacement hoop did the same thing. So when I went back for the 3rd hoop, not only did I demand a discount, but I also covered the thing in duct tape in the hopes that it would stay together and the dirt would stay inside. It's been about a week, and so far so good. I covered it in another layer of duct tape yesterday, just to be sure.

Why go to all this trouble? Well the thing is a killer work-out. And though my hips are completely bruised, the inches around my mid-section seem to be melting off. And hooping is fun. The more you do it, the more control you gain and the stronger your core becomes.

Check out the video above. Remember, just 3 weeks ago I could barely keep the thing off the ground for more than a handful of revolutions...