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One Track Mine’s Top 5 Posts in 2015
In our first year One Track Mine has released hundreds of original articles covering everything from hip hop to Rachel Dolezal, with stops along the way for meals, carnivals, Syrian refugees, racial injustice, and a myriad of other topics. We’ve had about 95,000 page-views since we started counting in February. Not bad for a bunch of New Yorkers that started from scratch.
The five articles below were our most popular of 2015, with roughly ten thousand page-views between them. Thanks to everyone that supported us this year. In 2016 we look forward to providing the same kind of insightful and/or absurd commentary you’ve come to expect from us.
5. Five Comic Book Storylines Perfect For Justice League Movie Part 1 by Fortune5
“Kingdom Come is the best-selling graphic novel from acclaimed writer Mark Waid, winner of five Eisner and Harvey Awards. This epic tale of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would go great with the dark realistic tone set in the Man of Steel and the upcoming Batman V Superman movie. The story of the retirement of the older generation of superheroes and the lack of morals of a new generation is great movie material. This tale has Superman retired on a farm after becoming disillusioned with humans.”
4. Five Worst Billy Joel Songs by MC Krispy E
“At number one is this utterly useless track. It’s like he gave up using real instruments and tossed his song writing credentials out the window. In full disclosure, the fact that this (terrible) video was filmed on Staten Island and referenced It’s a Wonderful Life was something of a thrill for my 15 year old self. Yet, it’s an anti-suicide song that manages to sound more like a Depends commercial.”
3. You Only Live Twice (YOLT) / Did I Really Just Die?! by Crazed Afrykan
“For those of you who may not be familiar with the details of my personal life, I died a few weeks ago. That’s me in the picture just hanging out in an induced coma. You see, my heart stopped beating on the basketball court and I went into cardiac arrest. My dad had also suffered from massive cardiac arrest at age 45 but I had no idea I would beat him by six years and have one @ 39. He unfortunately did not have the luxury of dying twice.”
2. Top 5 Underrated Pink Floyd Albums by MC Krispy E
“The 23 minute Echoes pings into existence from the primordial ooze like a half remembered dream. The Floyd take their time, some say self-indulgently, between movements, but there’s a song to be found inside with heavy lyrics about empathy. It gets a little funky in a 70s skin-flick kinda way before some free improv and one heroic finale. Echoes becomes a template for how the Floyd tell a story going forward.”
1. Google Cardboard : The Poor-Man’s Virtual Reality by Brian Szabo
“Then there’s the porn. After seeing a YouTube video of people reacting to watching VR porn, I had to check it out. Strictly for educational purposes of course. I found some movie samples and prepared to get my mind blown or at least the Weird Science version of Kelly LeBrock. Instead what I got was a frightening tattooed man on top of me beating my newly acquired vagina like it ate the last of the Nutella.”
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on writing your first book, presented by the Harlem chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Alongside Jim St. Germain, Author – A Stone of Hope: A Memoir and Dr. Keneshia Nicole Grant, Author – The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. We opined on pain points, benefits and strategies regarding our inaugural voyages into authorship. Feel free to watch for your self and I hope this provides some insight to all those looking to make the same voyage. Enjoy!
