from the other side of the pond

The past few days I've had Duffy's "Mercy" stuck in my head. It doesn't help that American Gladiators is currently using it on a commercial that comes on about once every 15 minutes on NBC. 2dopeboyz posted a ?uestlove remix of the song and thus we begin the post of extraordinary British singers. (inspired by Buns Rivera - may you have a successful hunting trip over there)

Duffy -- I need a late pass on this one. Her voice and look have a cool 60's quality to them while still being unique: think Amy Winehouse without the extremes. I've been listening to her album for a couple of days [*update: weeks] now and, despite mixed reviews by the media, it's really grown on me. Besides "Mercy" check out "Warwick Avenue" and "Delayed Devotion."


James Morrison - and oooh this man's voice will make you feel like if you concentrate hard enough you might be able to hug the music. The first time I heard him I was listening to a mix of Valentine's Day songs like two years ago and he was randomly in the mix with a bunch of old school artists and I was for sure I had slept on him for decades. Not so! Check out "You Give Me Something" and "Wonderful World." This is the video for "You Give Me Something" but the original version from the UK I believe which is that much better than the US version.


Amy Winehouse -- I know, I know. We're all aware that crack is whack and it has destroyed an otherwise amazing talent, but her (previous?) voice (*recorded) is undeniable. "Tears Dry On Their Own" is what hooked me, but the video isn't nearly as good as the song by itself. Just close your eyes... Peace be with that woman's soul. Everyone has "Back to Black" by now but "Frank" was her first album and has a few hits like "F Me Pumps" and "Send Me Flying."





Estelle - I've blogged on Estelle before. I'm sure the links are dead but see previous posts for more infatuation. Here's a link to a song she did with the a-maz-ing John Legend.

There are a million others I didn't mention but who I still love (Craig David, James Blunt, etc) but this post has been in the works too long and my schedule hasn't been too kind to blogging so whatev.

the way you haunt my dreams

Do yourself a favor and get familiar with a classic:



One of my favorite Ella Fitzgerald pieces, plus I love how Louis just pops out of nowhere in the same light, airy mode as Ella. I was listening to some old Miles D and something in "Stella by Starlight" reminded me of this song. "Can't Take That Away From Me" is a George and Ira Gershwin song from the late '30s and has become a jazz standard.

gotta feeling sometimes that makes me wonder

Life is a bit crazy right now but I'm happy, healthy, and alive. It all works out in the end. Can't hold me down. I've got to keep on moooooving. Until I post some more just picture me rolling around this new city with my windows rolled down, letting the sun shine in, singing...

but I do, but I do, do, do

It's almost moving time again. New city, new season, new adventures. I won't have internet for a couple of days but it's not like I post every day anyway. Keep me in your prayers please, I'll need 'em. I'd be lying if I said I was ready, but it's all for the best...right?

"Art hurts. Art urges voyages - and it is easier to stay at home."---Gwendolyn Brooks

WALE's "Mixtape About Nothing" dropped after weeks of hype and anticipation. Get it here. I'll listen to it as soon as I can bring myself to turn off Duffy's "Rockferry."

My new favorite blog: savvyfatty.blogspot.com
Hilarity will ensue. Hilarity as you've never known it before in blog format.

Also, just in time to make your summer play list is a great slow jammer "Five 5enses" by my bff Justin! This was a production that has taken many, many months and all the hard work has paid off. It was more of a joke in the beginning too-- but please believe this just got added to Ipod Jr for the journey tomorrow.

look, well I can ride you on my handle bars

My life force has been restored and my new iPod > yours. New music, new play lists, new soundtrack to life. Also, today I officially reached a library of 17,000 tracks. Yitidee!

Duffy - Mercy (?uestlove Remix) [love this]

C_o_m_m_o_n feat. P_h_a_r_r_e_l_l - Universal Mind Control

R_i_c_k R_o_s_s feat. P_h_a_r_r_e_l_l - Get Down

DJ K_h_a_l_e_d feat. everybody - Out Here Grindin

Lil W_a_y_n_e feat. T-P_a_i_n - Got Money

That picture is from an article in New York Magazine entitled "You Walk Wrong" about how terrible all shoes are for our feet. It's kind of long but really, really interesting. That picture is of a foot, no shoe, but doesn't it look so real? All the photos with the article are feet painted as shoes to get the point across about how great walking barefoot is. They're amazing!

"The researchers concluded that, prior to the invention of shoes, people had healthier feet. Among the modern subjects, the Zulu population, which often goes barefoot, had the healthiest feet while the Europeans—i.e., the habitual shoe-wearers—had the unhealthiest. One of the lead researchers, Dr. Bernhard Zipfel, when commenting on his findings, lamented that the American Podiatric Medical Association does not “actively encourage outdoor barefoot walking for healthy individuals. This flies in the face of the increasing scientific evidence, including our study, that most of the commercially available footwear is not good for the feet.”

The title a Pharrell quote from the Come Close remix feat. Pharrell and Erykah (number 17)

and by request:

"Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide"
- Howie Day

what I want so much should never hurt this bad

I was planning on writing about church this morning and it seems someone else had the same idea. Today the topic was "self-control." You already know it was hard for me to think outside the box on that one. I was there for a reason, the message was there for me, I don't need to be worrying about anybody else. The scripture was 1 Corinthians chapter 10:

23"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

It was a great message. When we give up something, save money or otherwise, are we doing it so that we're able to provide more for others, or just to serve ourselves? What does self control look like for me? I don't care what the world is doing, I'm still my harshest critic, I'm still holding myself to the highest standard, and no matter what the world would expect from me, I have to go above and beyond that. I was once told to go until you can't go anymore, until someone slams the door in your face. No one has slammed the door yet, what I look like slamming my own door?

I've been real strong. I try to keep everything in perspective and make sure my people know I'm doing good, my life is great, in the grand scheme of the world my little problems aren't anything. But, like I tell my girls, it's still okay to be mad, to hurt, and to lose your self control. It's okay...but at the same time I feel like I have to rise above that. What I look like losing my cool? What I look like worrying about what comes next? What I look like getting myself into a situation I can't get out of? Eleanor Roosevelt once said "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." Lord, if that ain't the truth. I would've never guessed. I made a note to myself in January that I just read: "It is better to fully trust in another and give them your all and to be hurt in the end than to be suspicious and hurt throughout just to end up being hurt in the end anyway. It's the same pain. You might as well be happy in the meantime." I don't have a regret in the world. I can rationalize everything that I've done. I'm not here to judge a single other person, but I will judge myself. If I can't wake up and look myself in the mirror I don't expect anybody else to be able to look at me. And still, I must rise.

The other day I picked up my brother from school. Tootie is severely disabled from a bout with meningitis and can barely communicate by usual standards. He loves to ride around with me with the windows down and our music blaring with our shades on. I played the song below and bless my soul if that boy didn't start singing just as loud as I was. He apparently knows the song and seeing that... I can't even describe it. Nothing else matters. I'm stronger, I'm wiser, I'm better, so much better... never would have made it.

"This world'll try to break you with lies and fables
Make you not even believe in you no more
Had to get back to me, get back to mines
Get back to fam, get back to rhymes
Lay down at night and say without shame
Today I was a [wo]man, tomorrow I'll be the same
Be a bonfire when others are just a flame
Be a memory when others are just a name...
That's real words from a true heart
You can take it as a old ending or a new start"
-- Phonte

no matter what I say it's nothing but words

A while back I wrote about Anthony David. I think he's sensational. His video for "Words" with India Arie just came out and I have to say.... I love it. I'll even give him a pass for that nose ring. It's a great song, but I haven't heard anything from him I haven't found enthralling. I'll upload a couple more of his songs once I get hooked back up to my external hard drive. India Arie looks beautiful and her voice is as rich and strong as always. The woman just seems to personify "organic" to me.


AND 2dopeboyz posted up the W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. video that has fiiiinally come out. I posted the preview a minute ago -- ya'll already know I love the sample and Wale! The video is nice, there are a ton of pop culture references. I might like the original Justice version a bit better-- it blew my mind the first time I saw it. Anyhow, did you see Harold and the Purple Crayon? I love it!


This album is from 1957 with Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. It coincides with the 1959 movie of the same name starring Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, and Sammy Davis, Jr which my mom went to see as a little girl with my grandmother. Then, earlier this year, I saw the amazing, wildly acclaimed play put on by the Zachary Scott Theater in Austin. I love how things carry over like that. Everything in this world is so ephemeral, I like when something lasts longer than the usual fad. It's a classic, I know you know "Summertime" -- there have been a million and one covers of it since it was first written - just type in "Summertime" on Youtube. I used to run track with the nicest, sweetest, most genuine girl who had a voice that rivaled any classic singer and when she sang "Summertime" I still remember the whole world stopping except for her and her amazing voice. She passed away from a brain tumor and I still think of her every time I hear the song. It was so amazing and I don't think it's recorded anywhere. Anyway, get familiar with some good music, the good Lord knows we need it after all the Soulja Boys and Soulja Girls running around the airwaves today.