Nike discontinued my favorite shoe, the Air Stab, because there have been a lot of stabbings in London. I'm all for sensitivity to people's situations but this seems like it's being taken too far. Air Stabs are really my favorites. Maybe it's just in the UK? What a loss. Plus, STAB stands for STABILITY, duh. :-/
Carnegie Mellon Prof. Randy Pausch passed away today at 47 from pancreatic cancer. He became a YouTube hit not long ago for his "Last Lecture." It's an hour and twenty minutes long and it took me about three times that long to watch it because I'm doing work but it's fabulous. Unlike any lecture I've certainly ever been to. I know a lot of y'all are in college and so just pretend you're going to class and put in that hour and some change. He talks about life lessons, achieving your dreams, and the legacy that he's leaving behind. He faces death head on, although he does set limits at the beginning, saying he won't talk about his wife and 3 children because, while he's good, he's not that good. The lecture from 2007 led to a bestseller, a lot of media attention, and an appearance on Oprah. He's continuously engaging and hilarious, check it out. Warning: if you watch it all the way through you might want to grab a tissue.
Jazmine Sullivan has been circling in on the radar for a while but it seems like a lot of new material of hers keeps popping up on the old Google Reader and it was too quality to not share. She's 20 years old, from Philly, and Amazon has her album "Fearless" coming out on September 16. I think chick is highly slept on but it seems with her new single "Need U Bad" feat. Missy she's getting more coverage. That reggae beat behind her strong vocals makes me wanna dance Shabba Ranks style.
I first heard Jazmine on the blog circuit doing "Resentment" - which is one of my all time favorite songs - and I thought she did well, but she didn't kill it like Bey.
I heard her again on "Need U Bad" which, as I've said, is a fabulous piece of music. I didn't realize it was the same person until I looked it up later. I thought her voice was a lot better than some of the stuff that makes it onto the radio these days and the fact that Missy was on the song helped give it some credit in my book - Missy Elliot is always ahead of the curve.
The other day "Bust Your Windows" started making the rounds and Jazmine has this nice passive aggressive thing that I am definitely feeling. "I didn't want to, but I took my turn/ I'm glad I did it because you had to learn/ I must admit it helped a little bit/ To think of how you felt when you saw it/ I didn't know that I had that much strength/ But I'm glad to see what happens when." Preach.
Then, yesterday, I heard "Lions and Tigers" which, without hesitation, shut the playlist off and went into immediate repeat. I can see why even Stevie Wonder is cosigning on her. I'll look forward to purchasing her album in mid September. Check her MySpace for more. http://www.myspace.com/jazminesullivan
Yesterday was the first annual TRAE DAY in Houston. Mayor White honored Trae yesterday at 2pm for, from my understanding, his community service in Houston. It's the first time such an honor has been extended to a rapper. I wasn't even aware. I respect that though.
Luda - Put On freestyle There is just something about this song that gets me hype everytime. This was the theme song to my San Diego trip. I told anybody who would listen I was from Southwest Houston Texas. "Ain't it too flat there?" No, it's all I know. "Ain't it too hot and humid there?" No, I love the weather. "Don't ya'll all have grills? All we see is Paul Wall and Cham and Mike Jones. Oh, and Lil Flip." *staleface* But at least we're on the map and I put ON for my city.
Confession: I have previously not listened to George Young. I assumed he was just like every kid in high school trying to rap for females over the phone with a wack Fruity Loops beat playing in the background (you KNOW someone just popped into your mind).... The promotion was there and through the grapevine I heard word of him but never listened. After listening now I have to say he's nice. Favorite Disc will be on iPod Jr. asap. Shouts to GP for the linkage.
Walking through the San Diego airport today I was picking up a WSJ and saw *gasp* MC staring back at me looking, dare I say it, more beautiful than ever. I counted at least three puzzled looks which I'm assuming were because of the diversity of my reading materials -- although it could have been because of my exceptional footwear. Looks like I have a new workout motivation photo! I promise this isn't MariahStan.com....but how many of you would have missed the latest issue of Elle were it not for the 13th Floor? Exactly. She talks about Nick, starting a family, her views on Barack, etc. It's a good article and you can read most of it here.There's also a great article about Nicole Paultre Bell, Sean Bell's widow, and her evolution as a steadfast civil rights activist.
The WSJ had a good article "Stop Worrying, and Learn to Love the Bear" in a new column "The Intelligent Investor." The general premise of the article is that this financial turmoil won't kill us and "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Tell that to Fannie and Freddie (ha...ha.). I did add "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham to my "to read" list.
Coming Soon: report of a very successful "Culture Tour does California."
Sometimes I have to restrain myself from just posting a million MC videos. I love older Mariah stuff and everytime I look on YouTube for a specific video from her I get really excited.
I hope everyone is having a grand ol' 4th of July weekend. Especially all you lucky kids that made it to the N.O. Stay safe. Friends don't let friends drink and drive. I'm up at the lake with some of my best friends getting my Mariah impression perfected. Don't hate, don't hate. Seriously though, it's nice to relax and not have school or work pressing on you for a bit. I have miserably failed at water skiing and was proclaiming my love for jet skis when they told me some crazy statistic about the amount of people who are killed riding jet skis every year. It's not even from drunk skiing too, it's mainly from inexperience and a lack of instruction. Everyone has a story up here about something like that too. "Oh yeah, we sunk the jet ski that time, haha!" or "Man remember when I broke my nose trying to water ski?" Yeah....I'll pass. I still love jet skiing though, as I do going out on the boat - as long as I don't have to drive it.
Mariah's new video for "Loving You Long Time" featuring T.I. She's looking absolutely stunning, better than ever. If you weren't aware I go back with Mariah like babies with pacifiers.
Are you missing an Outkast album? Time to re-up. From TSS.
The last three are all from TSS. At a certain point I'm not even posting because I think you'll download. I'm mainly posting for me and, since I'm on my work computer, so I can find my links later easily. Ready for the World? Are you serious?! I have looked for that album at length in the past, so get it while you can. The 80's were so tight. I wish I could go back in time and hit up parties that played music like that and where people danced like this. Back before it was in vogue to shake it like a dog, bust it wide open then bring it back, or bounce it up and down like Flipper.
Speaking of good music Jay-Z got the internet going nuts over his Glastonbury set. I haven't listened to the full thing but apparently it's thegreatestshowofalltime. Whatever, holla at me when the Roots are here (again...). Yeah, I'm hating because I am not amused with rhymes like these:
London bridges are falling down Not bridges, but britches when Jigga’s in town Ladies show me your knickers I might let you take it if you don’t tell the Mrs. Quick, run before the tabloids come Hide from the night before we end up in the sun I’m just takin the piss …unless you gone do it
Shawn Corey Carter: you get a stale face from me. I'm not with that whole "talk out the side of your neck just to sell records and be sensational." It's a slippery slope and that's how you end up losing sight of what's important.
Meanwhile, I just heard Jay-Z's sister-in-law Solange's "I Decided" the other day and it's apparently making waves...somewhere...although I have yet to hear it in the club or on the radio but that might have to do more with the clubs and radio stations I frequent. I think the song is really hot though and different from her previous material. If Solange keeps cranking out new material like this she may have a come back on her hands...or a come up...get it mama! The video is outstanding although I feel like I need to pull out my 3D glasses to view it properly.
"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway."
