Parisian Kicks are Cooler than Yours (If you have $650-$900 to spare)
Long story short.
Some french brands have been making waves with their sneakers lately. Notably, Maison Margiela, Lanvin and MiuMiu (the Old Navy of Prada). Fine grain premium leather, undeniable aesthetic and expensive enough that you don't need to explain why they are cool. Plus, they are so simple and refined that whether you're laced up with some jeans, shorts, or a suit - they make you that much more of a man.
You can purchase all of these here
A 10-year-old girl was arrested and charged for fighting in a Texas park with her 13-year-old sister.
The older sister said the fight broke out after her sister refused to follow her instructions.
"She pushed me, so I just walked away from it," the 13-year-old told KDFW-TV in Dallas. "The third time she pushed me, we just started fighting."
Someone witnessed the fight at a Flower Mound park and contacted police.
So the girls, who were visiting family in Flower Mound with their mother, returned to the family home with a police officer in tow.
"'This is criminal, and one of them is going to have to go to jail and it's probably going to have to be your younger one because she was the aggressor,'" their mother quoted the officer as saying. "And I said, 'Are you kidding me?' and he said, 'No, no.'"
Lt. Clay Pierce of the Flower Mound Police said it was being treated as a case of family violence and the girl was charged with Class A misdemeanor assault.
"By state law we are required to take action and what we did, we detained the youngest one," he said.
"Both of them had some injuries. The one showed more serious injuries, so the other one was detained."
The case has been turned over to the Denton County district attorney for further review.
Kid Cudi: Heaven at Nite w lyrics cause you must
Have you ever been to heaven at nite (heaven at nite)
Have you ever been to heaven at nite
Heaven at nite
Have you ever been to heaven at night
Closing your eyes the feeling so right
At first you might see this one bright beam of light
Crutching your soul?
Happy unites and feelings take flight
Blinds of the evils you give them no sight
Focus on floatin, your focus is tight
Like you be road ass you safe for a class
To pass in the night
Haave you ever seen the ending so nice
You feel so free like your high as a kite
Like how you feel if you drink some bud light
Followed by Jag
Models we smile then tilt our heads back
These are a few of the visions I like
Mixed in with light, these are my favorites to dream in the night
This is my heaven at nite
Have you, ever been to heaven at nite (heaven at night)
Heaven at nite (heaven at nite)
Oh have you
Ever been to heaven at nite (heaven at nite)
Heaven at nite (heaven at nite)
Man
Oh, I need what the world can't give me (cant give me)
Can't give me
Man
Oh, I see what the world can't show me (cant show me)
Can't show me
God
Oh, I like what the world can't give me (cant give me)
Can't give me
God
Oh, I sing but the world can't hear me (cant hear me)
Can't hear me
Heaven at nite
Heaven at nite
Have you ever been to heaven at nite (heaven at nite)
Heaven at nite
Oh, have you ever been to heaven at nite
Heaven at nite
PARANOID MUSIC VIDEO FEAT. RIHANNA
KANYE WEST "PARANOID" feat: RIHANNA Dir: NABIL from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.
Following Through On His Promises... BAMA
Bin Laden's Obama criticism a sign he is worried"A day before President Barack Obama is to deliver a speech here seeking goodwill with the Islamic world, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden tried in a new message Wednesday to convince Muslims they should hate him.
The message was the second from al-Qaida in as many days criticizing Obama. Analysts said the PR offensive shows the terrorist organization worries the new president will succeed in improving America's image in the Muslim world and undermine the group's anti-American jihad, or holy war.
"Obama's election is just about the worst thing that could have happened to these guys," said Tom Sanderson, a terrorism expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "They knew right away that his election undermined a key part of their argument that the U.S. was anti-Islamic, that the U.S. was racist.""
-excerpt of recent article by Sebastian Abbot. A service of Cairo's AP.
OBAMA/SUPERMAN
Reaction After Obama Addresses Muslims
CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought a "new beginning" between the United States and Muslims in a speech on Thursday but offered no new initiative to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, an omission likely to disappoint many.
Below are reactions to his speech delivered from Cairo University in Egypt:
NABIL ABU RDAINAH, SPOKESMAN FOR PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT
"His call for stopping settlement and for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and his reference to the suffering of Palestinians ... is a clear message to Israel that a just peace is built on the foundations of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
"President Obama's speech is a good start and an important step towards a new American policy."
ALI AL-DABBAGH, IRAQI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN
"The speech was historic and important and reflects a positive direction for the new administration (in Washington) and it is a new start."
"The use of Koranic sayings plays a big part in a positive change of picture, but there is a necessity for action."
"The government of Iraq is comfortable with the clarity of the president in respecting commitments to Iraq and the timetable for withdrawal stipulated in the security pact."
"I think there is clear support of a right for a Palestinian state, and their right for a life, but Arabs are waiting for pressure to be exerted on Israel so it can stop its violations in Gaza and the West Bank."
HAZIM AL-NUAIMI, ANALYST AT BAGHDAD UNIVERSITY
"He gave nothing new to Iraqis. He gave one promise, to respect the rights of minorites and work with consensus. In all he says, he tries to remove himself from all that happened in Iraq."
ISSANDR EL-AMRANI, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ANALYST IN EGYPT
"I can't say I am overwhelmingly impressed by the speech. The strongest point was probably that the situation of the Palestinians is intolerable. I would have liked to see a more specific addressing of the question of Gaza, and the ongoing blockade of Gaza, the lack of availability of reconstruction materials."
"I think it will achieve its goal of generating some goodwill. I think whether among Egyptians or elsewhere there was a lot of scepticism about the speech, scepticism that contained also a nugget of optimism."
RANDA ACHMAWI, DIPLOMATIC EDITOR FOR EGYPT'S AL-AHRAM HEBDO
"America for the first time is adopting a very wise strategy in acknowledging the other and that was clear in every word chosen by President Obama."
"In this context, where we see an Israeli government who is refusing even the least principles of the two-state solution, he made clear the American vision ... There is nothing innovative."
Copyright © 2008 Reuters (article here)
R.I.P. DAVID CARRADINE (OR BILL)
U.S. actor David Carradine, best known for his roles in the 1970s TV series 'Kung Fu' and the Kill Bill movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital Bangkok.Among speculation, a leaked video may identify culprit:
Lily Allen
One of the most adorable featured artists on Common's Finding Forever, Lily Allen, isn't shy. The girl has talent, anyway you wanna look at it. Here are a few of them:LILLY LOOKING GOOD...
OH, AND HERES LILLY AT HER BEST...
THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link. (Unlike footnotes, to which they’re sometimes likened, hyperlinks don’t merely point to related works; they propel you toward them.)
I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link. (Unlike footnotes, to which they’re sometimes likened, hyperlinks don’t merely point to related works; they propel you toward them.)
-Excerpt from recent Nicholas Carr article conerning his latest book, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google, that was published earlier this year.
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR CAFFEINE?
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10 Reasons Why Tea is Better Than Coffee
Thinking of switching from coffee to tea? Here’s a list of advantages you may not have thought about before that may help you decide!
- Economic: Tea and coffee both vary in price depending on your source, but many teas (whites, greens and oolongs, and some pu’ers) can be resteeped multiple times using the same leaves, thereby costing less per cup overall than coffee. The spent-leaves can also be used as an excellent mulch/fertilizer for your flower/vegetable garden (though to be fair - so can coffee!)
- Simplicity: To get the best possible flavor out of coffee you must grind your own beans (grinder: $20+) just before brewing and use a coffee machine ($20+) with single-use filters ($5+, recurring). Tea leaves require no preparation, wasteful filters or expensive gizmos in order to extract the best possible flavor - simply drop them in hot water, strain and pour.
- Environmental: Coffee filters can be used only once and are then thrown away. None are needed for tea. Tea companies are also, on the whole, much more involved with eco-friendly, fair-trade and organic projects and processes. The coffee-roasting process also emits particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, organic acids and many gaseous pollutants into the atmosphere. Many types of tea processing involve little more than human labor and sun- or wind-wilting. Baking processes used to complete the drying cycle can emit greenhouse gasses but do so to a far lesser degree than coffee processing, due to the lower temperatures and length of time used in tea processing. Finally, tea weighs much less than coffee, requiring less fossil fuel (on a cup-to-cup basis) to ship and export it around the world.
- Variety: While coffee can be made from multiple types of beans, tea is generally derived only from a single plant. That said, the various methods of preparing and oxidizing tea results in a much wider variety of tastes than you’ll find between different blends of coffee.
- Cultural: Almost every culture in the world has a tea tradition of one sort or another, and these traditions are often central to the act of meeting and greeting friends and newcomers. Having an appreciation of tea and tea rituals can often get you past many language or cultural barriers when traveling overseas. After water, tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world. (Take that, coffee!)
- Historical: Tea has been widely used since around 2700 B.C.. Coffee, in its present form, has probably only been used since around 800 A.D.. Four thousand years of tea-drinking has to account for something.
- Cosmetic: Most teas (greens, whites and many oolongs) won’t stain your teeth - black tea will still cause stains, but to a lesser degree than coffee. Some teas have antioxidants and natural fluorides that protect your teeth from cavities - the tannins in black teas hav a bactericide effect that will kill many of the bacteria that can cause cavities (and bad breath!).
- Dietetic: Many coffee-drinkers can’t stand the taste on its own, and must add milk, cream, and/or sugar in order to make it palatable. Tea on the other hand is much less harsh/bitter on its own, and is widely enjoyed without additives of any kind. Tea may also help boost metabolism, which can help dieters lose weight faster.
- Novelty: Tea consumption is on the rise in America, but in many places it is still considered a relative “novelty” (at least outside of iced tea and the usual “Lipton” mass-market offerings). Be the first on your block to introduce your friends and family to the wonderfully wide and varied world of tea!
- Health: Coffee has been linked to a handful of health benefits, but it can also lead to hypertension, caffeine-related problems and heart disease. Tea has dozens of proven and widely-suggested health benefits. The following is just a sampling:
- Tea has much less caffeine than coffee - between 25-50% as much.
- Tea contains tannins and catechins which have been associated with cancer and heart disease prevention
- Tea has been shown to act as a stress-reliever.
- Tea contains the polyphenol quercetin, which may interrupt the oxidation of LDL or “bad cholesterol”. It may also lower blood pressure and blood sugar, suppress aging, prevent food poisoning and skin disease and act as an anti-viral. Quercetin can also act as a natural COX-2 inhibitor, providing pain-relief similar to pharmeceutical versions like Vioxx and Celebrex.
- Tea decreases triglycerides and free fatty acids in your bloodstream, while coffee contains cafestol, a fat-like chemical that actually can increase your cholesterol levels.
- Tea contains EGCG and theaflavins which can suppress the enzymes required for cancer-cell growth, thereby slowing the progression of some cancers. (Some research suggests that the antioxidants in tea may neutralize this effect, however).
- Tea is a digestive aid, it flushes the digestive system.
- Unlike coffee, tea has almost no carbohydrates, fats or proteins.
- Tea contains L-theanine, which has been shown to boost mental alertness and help the body’s immune system.
- Oxalates found in tea can bind with free iron in the bloodstream, which can help the body fight HIV.
- Polyphenols in green tea can reduce intestinal inflammation related to IBD.
- Tea can help prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s
- Tea may also be a significant factor in strengthening bones against oseoporosis
- Tea lowers your blood pressure
- Tea can help prevent kidney stones
- Some anti-venom serums have actually been extracted from black tea!
Pointer Footwear - London's New Groove
Let's call a spade...a spade. Boat shoes and street culture kicks are making a comeback and it's not being brought on by skaters and yacht aficionados. Rather, niche brands that coin themselves 'athleisure' (athletic inspired leisure shoes) are on the come up.
Pointer Footwear has been on the frontier and luckily their kicks aren't made for function. Founded in 2004, Pointer is about making quality, functional, casual shoes and their selling points don't involve the words - limited, exclusive or hype.
You can grip em' or just peruse here.
Richard Dreyfuss isn't just schooling sharks...
Dreyfuss Promotes A Return To Civility, CivicsNORFOLK, Va. - Of all the causes actors have chosen to champion, Richard Dreyfuss admits his passion lacks, well, a certain pizazz: Civics.
"Don't call it 'civics' because 'civics' is easily the most boring word in America," Dreyfuss says. "Call it what it is: political power."
Dreyfuss brings an actor's dramatic pacing and a historian's licks to his cause, erasing any notion that this lesson will be boring. He's bombastic, predictably brash and yet professorial during a 90-minute interview in a bland hotel suite in this seaport, where he was honored at a film festival earlier this year.
Kicked out of college for confronting a professor who criticized Marlon Brando's performance in "Julius Caesar," Dreyfuss recently studied at St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford to develop a curriculum for U.S. public schools.
Called The Dreyfuss Initiative, the curriculum would use scholarly presentations in videos and the Oscar-winning actor "as a storyteller, to engage, enlighten and empower students of all ages in an entertaining way," according to an outline. Dreyfuss said he would work with civic and educational groups to promote the teaching tools.
While the program has not been used in any classroom yet, Dreyfuss has launched a fundraising campaign to produce videos and the curriculum.
"I've got a very simple thing here," Dreyfuss said. "I've got a nonprofit initiative to get K-12 grades back to civics, to give our children real-world knowledge and hopefully wisdom about how to run this complex governance system. That's it. That's enough."
These days, Dreyfuss devotes most of his public appearances addressing the origins of our nation and lamenting a citizenry that he believes has lost its way.
"I stopped defining myself as an actor and I went to Oxford because I believe that America is a miracle," Dreyfuss said. "And I think that there is nothing easier in the world than for us to lose this miracle and to be reduced to words on paper."
Dreyfuss fears just that _ that future generations will view our freedoms as a fairy tale.
"It'll break my heart, and it should break yours," he said.
Dreyfuss, 61, blames a lack of civil discourse, the din of television and any number of distractions for moving us away from understanding our origins as a nation.
Dreyfuss is comfortable discussing the sweep of human history, but he's especially drawn to the drama of the Civil War.
In March, he was the star attraction at a Washington, D.C., event for the Civil War Preservation Trust, which annually releases a report on endangered battlefields. His interest in the Civil War goes way back, and he was recruited as a re-enactor at the battle of Cedar Creek, in northern Virginia, while filming "What About Bob?," which was set at New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee but filmed at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.
Dreyfuss won an Oscar at 29 for "The Goodbye Girl," making him then the youngest male lead to win the trophy. He said the honor wasn't necessarily a good thing.
"I was too young," he said. "I didn't know until later that I am built to be in pursuit. I am not built to have achieved. I'm happiest when I'm on the hunt."
The Dreyfuss Initiative has put the actor back in the hunt _ for a Nobel peace prize.
"Not to be glib about it, because nothing about this is glib, but I'm going for the Nobel," he said. "If I before I get it, I'd rather have a lofty ambition."
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
BLACK STAR GIVE US MORE
Black Star’s Mos Def, Talib Kweli Dabble in Politics at Reunion Show
Barricades lined the streets of New York’s Times Square Saturday evening. Barack and Michelle Obama dropped into town for dinner and a play (August Wilson revival Joe Turner’s Come and Gone). Just across the street at the Nokia Theatre, a packed house went wild while Mos Def and Talib Kweli reunited onstage as Black Star nearly 11 years after their classic, and only, studio album as a duo.
“Shout out to Michelle Obama!” Mos called out after the crowd sang along with “Brown Skin Lady,” a reverential ode to the fairer sex. “You know Obama’s up the block, right?” Mos asked, going into an Obama bit, acting as if he were exiting the Air Force One. “That’s right whitey! Deal with it!” He yelled, then assured the crowd: “I don’t mean the whiteys in here, you know what whiteys I’m taking about. Crazy whiteys.”
“Yeah, the crazy whiteys,” Talib agreed.
“But it’s a brand new daaay” Mos sang, introducing “Sunshine,” on which he boasted over Kanye West’s production about being a “Slim nigga that casts a big shadow.”
“It took a year and a half to get the deal done,” said show organizer Peter “Oasis” Prudente of LiveNDirect, who plans to take the reunion on the road to other cities. “The biggest obstacle was timing, finding a date that worked for both Mos and Kweli.” The time was right as both ready to release separate albums. Mos Def’s fourth solo album, The Ecstatic, is due out next week. Kweli is recording a Reflection Eternal follow-up with producer Hi-Tek. “Ayo Dante, don’t you have an album coming out?” Kweli asked after “K.O.S. (Determination),” plugging his partner’s new album. “I do got something coming out,” Mos took his cue. “I’m excited about it and you should be too.” Mos offered an autobiographical a cappella leading into a tribute to late producer J Dilla and other fallen rappers, referencing being born in ‘73.” A fan turned to her pal after calculating Mos’ age: “35!”
“We sell, crack to our own out the back of our homes…” All hands and cameras were in the air as Kweli set off his Kanye West-produced hit “Get By.” “When people decide to keep on disguise you can’t see their eyes ’cause see they’re evil inside,” Mos added with emphasis before going into poignant favorites “Umi Says” and “Respiration.”
After rapping about being an extension of their ancestors, Black Star left with a quick but earnest thank you to New York City. A few hours later, they packed a second reunion show at the Nokia, taking advantage of being in the same place at the same time, at least for a night.
Set List:
“Definition”
“RE: DEFinition”
“Brown Skin Lady”
“Sunshine”
“Brooklyn” (third verse)
“K.O.S.” (Determination)
“Supreme, Supreme”
“RIP interlude”
“The Panties”
“Move Somethin’ ”
“Brooklyn” (second verse)
“Get By”
“Umi Says”
“Respiration”
story by Laura Checkoway from Rolling Stones (HERE)
Nike Presents Onwards
If you like sports, Kenna, Lance Armstrong, ill shit, the color yellow or aesthetically pleasing short cinema - this is dedicated to you.
Artist James Jarvis worked on an interesting new film project, entitled “Onwards”. One of his characters is featured in the short movie, running in a non-linear environment.
“I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time.
The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.
Rather than a marketing project inititated by Nike, the film was something proposed and produced by myself, and as such I hope represents a much more equal collaboration with a brand.”
90'S BINGE.... TAKING MY STABS AT COUNTING CROWS
THE CHICK ON THE BOTTOM IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN "THE PREDATOR" FROM COUNTING CROWS (Adam Duritz).
COMPARISON:
PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS GIRLS YOUTUBE PAGE HERE
SHE ACTUALLY HAS HER OWN CD'S COMING OUT...
Why You Should Buy and Be Inspired by Toms Shoes
Founder Blake Mycoskie, a small-business entrepreneur and dropout of Southern Methodist University, (whom TV viewers might recognize from The Amazing Race) developed the concept for a shoe company while vacationing in Argentina in January 2006. Mycoskie took to wearing the local alpargata shoes. Alpagarta shoes have been worn by Argentina famers for 100 years. These canvas or cotton fabric shoes are now manufactured in hundreds of styles and fabrics. The sole is constructed of rope or of rubber, depending on the type of shoe. Many styles of TOMS are vegan as well. After Mycoskie noticed the numerous children without shoes in the poorer villages, he returned to the United States and sold his online driver education company to self-finance the shoe company. The company name is derived from the word "tomorrow", and evolved from the original concept, "Shoes for Tomorrow Project". (from Wikipedia)
There's nothing new under the sun
I couldn't understand why I enjoyed this song by "Finger Eleven" so much in Saxby's today. Well, probably because it is nearly identical to Float On by Modest Mouse which came out 5 years ago, which I happen to love.Listen and learn...
Will Ferrel vs. WTF?? (man vs. wild)
MAN VS WILD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURING WILL FERREL 10PM TONIGHT, TUESDAY, ON DISCOVERY. IM ALREADY WET.
I sweat this movie... The Getaway
"Hell of a way to make a living Doc"
"Well you should have married a dentist"
GANG OF FOUR
No, not the communist, terrorist party. Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984.
I can't decide if this is the dumbest thing I have ever seen or not
Who is HotForWords? Her name is Marina Orlova, she’s 28 and she’s a philologist! Now you might be asking what the heck is a philologist? Well, it’s someone who studies linguistics and etymology.. and in Marina’s case.. she has applied her Philology degrees to specializing in word origins.
Marina has two degrees - Teaching of Russian Language and World Literature Specializing in Philology and the Teaching of English Language Specializing in Philology from State University of Nizhni Novgorod Region in Russian Federation, graduated 2002 and taught English to high school students for 2 years.
Marina burst on to the scene in mid 2007 launching her YouTube channel HotForWords, where she takes requests from YouTube viewers for words to discuss, and she releases 5-7 videos each week discussing the origins of these words, in a fun and playful manner!
Marina is the #1 most viewed Guru on YouTube, she’s consistently one of the most watched channels on ALL of YouTube as well, her videos are seen a few million times each week (currently at 195,640,113 Total Video Views on YouTube alone and counting), she recently hosted a bi-weekly radio show on Maxim Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio, she’s currently writing a book for HarperCollins on fun word origins - yet nobody really knows much about Marina, other than what her channel states - that she is from “The Capital of the Republic of Lexicon” and her hometown is “Etymologia” :-)
Called the “Sexiest Philologist in the world” by New Yorker Magazine, Marina was voted the World’s #1 Sexiest Geek by Wired Magazine’s Sexy Geek of the Year Contest, she’s been on the Bill O’Reilly Factor Show on Fox a few times teaching him a few word origins :-), she was voted the 5th hottest woman on the net by G4 TV and she was mentioned in Cosmopolitan Magazine as one of the top 3 channels on YouTube! As her tag-line at the beginning of her videos states “Intelligence is Sexy” - Marina is definitely doing her part to try to prove that point! For a video recap of all this, watch this segment from G4 Television’s Attack of the Show.
Marina can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/hotforwords and her website www.hotforwords.com.
-taken from her bio section of her website www.hotforwords.com
The World Is Yours...
Very interesting article I found on TheVillageVoice.com concerning the future of the music industry (which in many ways is any music fan's future).
A Rolling Stone reporter charts the doomed path from Thriller to Internet-based horror
By Rob Harvilla
Congrats to Lil Wayne, whose Tha Carter III was the best-selling record of 2008—and the weakest-selling yearly bestseller since SoundScan started tracking these things nearly two decades ago. Couldn't crack three million. The music industry is toast, my friends. And congrats to Rolling Stone vet Steve Knopper, whose fantastic new book Appetite for Self-Destruction explains why, as it charts the dizzying highs (Thriller, the CD boom, boy bands) and brutal lows (payola, Napster hysteria, the "rootkit" debacle) of an oft-amoral biz whose legendary coke-fueled boom times now read as ancient history and/or science fiction. I rang up Steve recently to talk about it; here are some excerpts.
This book vacillates between sympathy for the music industry and outright contempt—you sincerely try to rationalize why the labels decided to start suing junior high students for illegal downloading, but you still conclude it was a horrible, horrible idea. How much pity do you have for these guys? Is this book a tragedy or a comedy?
I would make it a little bit more gray than that. I have a fondness for the record industry. Obviously, I'm a huge fan of [Fredric Dannen's 1990 music-biz tell-all] Hit Men—it's one of my favorite books ever, but I feel that that book was so tough on the music industry, it ventured several times into contemptuousness. My feeling was, I wanted to be very critical, and call a spade a spade, and say what they did wrong, but at the same time, I've covered music and the music industry for a long time, and I have a fondness for, you know, that whole sort of—this is gonna sound cynical; I don't mean it to—but that whole sort of "hookers and blow" era.
I was really getting into the chapter about the CD boom, where you've got these crazy Mafia characters, and you've got these coke addicts like Walter Yetnikoff at the head of these companies, running into offices and screaming at people. Guys who talk like this: raaaowr, raaaowr, raaaowr, like the Penguin in the Batman show. In Hit Men, I think it came across like, "These people are evil." To an extent, that's true. But my feeling was, I bet that was pretty cool, too.
You keep returning to the idea that lots of people, and I'm pretty sure I'm among them, consider a lot of the industry's troubles to be divine retribution—payback for decades of lousy artist contracts and $18.99 CDs. But given the technology, would it have made any difference if this industry had always been fair and benevolent and lovable? You and I both can find pretty much any album we like for free online in a couple of minutes—was there ever any way to stop this?
I'm trying to think of an analogy of another industry that was abused by technology that didn't do all those terrible things that the music industry did, and the only one that comes to mind is the newspaper industry. It seems like the newspaper industry wasn't as evil and stonewalling, and still may face the same inevitable just desserts because of technology. The point I make in the Napster chapter (and I'm not the first one to make this point): Had the record labels jumped into a deal with Napster when the time was right, when Napster was at its peak, I really do think that could've been a business model. Maybe it wouldn't have sent them back to 1994 levels of business, but I think they wouldn't be in the horrible position they're in today.
You're right that people embraced Napster and Kazaa and Torrents because of spite, but I actually think that was a relatively small contingent of people. I think that the people who embraced it most embraced it because, "What a cool thing. I don't have to get in my car and go to Tower Records and buy the $18 CD if I want this song. I can just get it in my home and mess around." And then you start fantasizing a little bit. What if Napster did become a real, legit thing? It would have anticipated Facebook and Friendster and MySpace. It would have been social networking. It would have allowed you to make mixtapes and trade playlists. It would have eventually gone to cell phones; it would have predated the iPhone. It could have been an incredibly powerful service—and not just because everything was free. You charge people a fair price for that, maybe that anti-music-industry contingent wouldn't have taken it, but a lot of people would have.
Did you mess around with Napster yourself at the time? Have you ever been swayed by the "music wants to be free" crowd, ever buy into the theory that this was a people's revolution to overthrow an evil, outdated industry?
No. Basically not. I did tinker around with Napster, yes. I got a lot of good, free music at the time—I guess I won't be sued anymore for that. But, basically, I thought it was theft. I still think it was piracy. I realize I'm walking a bit of a fine line in the book, because I'm not ripping on the music industry for just saying, "Oh, my God, this is piracy. We need better locks." I'm not criticizing that impetus, that notion. I'm basically saying they should've taken the next step and gone, "Oh wait, this'll revolutionize our industry."
The last chapter lists everything the music industry should do—needs to do—to survive. What percentage of that do you think will actually come to pass? How optimistic are you? What percentage of the people you interviewed will still hold the same job five years from now?
I just think that the smaller labels are going to continue to stumble, if they're not bought outright. EMI seems to be reeling right now. Warner's stock price is way down, although they've had some success. Probably, you're going to wind up with a couple hit machines: Universal, maybe Sony-BMG. You still are going to need those kinds of companies, that expertise, to find the proverbial Toni Braxton singing in the gas station, discovered by some label talent scout. But those companies are going to make less and less money, and get smaller and smaller, and get less and less influential, and I think that maybe Live Nation or Ticketmaster or my mythical Apple-EMI is going to pop up and change the model and be more nimble.
Another point I want to make is that these labels will always own some really incredible assets. EMI owns the Beatles catalog, so they're always going to be a player. You or I could own the Beatles catalog and make money. Just not make enough money to have hookers and blow.
KAT DENNINGS. im on my knees
Ok, I just saw Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist... no response neccesary. The highlight of the film ISN'T the recurring role of nerdy-role-abused Michael Cera, but the busty and beautiful Kat Dennings. I guarentee your eyes wont leave the triangle made by her rediculous lips and the puppies she pulls out 1/4 into the movie. If she isn't enough eye candy, peep the fact that she runs her own, very honest, blog as well as a youtube channel that is... amusing. Here are some photos and a video to seal the deal.
BLACK STAR REUNION AT NOKIA THEATRE IN TIMES SQUARE. WHY. WASN'T. I. THERE?
FINALLY A REUNION. ONE CAN ONLY HOPE THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING GREATER. JUST LIKE THE DUO. HERES SOM GAME FOOTAGE:WE THE LIONS YOU THE CHEETAHSSSSSSSSS
Gemma Booth
Treasure Box from Gemma Booth on Vimeo.
Photographer Gemma Booth's short film. Peep more at her blog HERE
OBAMA THE DUDE
Obama's Flickr page gives day by day lifestyle shots. It almost brings a tear to my eye seeing Obama kick it like Joe The Plumber... You can't put a price on a genuine dude
GRIZZLY BEAR: two weeks
RAN INTO THESE DUDES WHILE OUT ON MY MORNING JOG ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB. AND PROCEEDED TO BUY THEIR ALBUM. GET AT IT...
most def listen to MOS DEF's upcoming album
WISH I WAS AT THE BLACKSTAR CONCERT IN NY YESTERDAYMos Def - Words - The Ecstatic - available 6/9/09
SHOTTAS
IF BELLY WASN'T ENOUGH
speaking of Belly, its follow up movie was the worst movie ever made:
Belly 2 aka Millionaire Boyz Club
(if you catch these scenes on your tv change the channel)
PORN BY NUMBERS... (best excuse you never came up with)
Porn by Numbers Kit
Review by Ann Andriani
This is a complete erotic paint by numbers kit. Now, you can become an erotic painter with ease.
Initial Thoughts
My boyfriend and I stumbled upon this site as we were surfing the net one night. Since I’m not an artist, I mean not an artist by any sense of the word.I figured this would be something to try. Plus it’s sexy, so how can I pass up the opportunity? I checked out the different pictures that were offered to paint and placed my order via Paypal. I wasn’t sure how quickly I would receive it or even in what quality I would receive it in because I was making a purchase on what appeared to be a free homepage/server. That usually makes me a little learly, however, there was nothing to worry about. I received my kit rather quickly, I believe within a week, and was extremely impressed with what I got. Now I can’t tell enough people about it!
What you get Each kit includes the following:
* A full size 8″x10″ numbered, outline of the print on real canvas.
* Approximately 3″ long tubes full of paint that is needed to complete the picture. All colors are supplied.
* If the background is a solid color, you get a little jug of that.
* 1 paint brush
* A postcard of the completed picture to guide you along
* A plastic box frame for you to store your painting once it’s finished
What I Liked
This kit comes with absolutely everything you need to paint your own erotica. I didn’t have to go out and purchase a thing! The paint supplied is more than enough for the picture, so you don’t have to worry about running out. The paint brush you are supplied with is of good quality; I used it for my entire painting and it didn’t give me any problems. Each tube of paint has a clearly printed number on the cork top, so there’s no possibility of you accidentally grabbing the wrong tube.
paints supplied in porn by number kit
Since I’m not an artist, I know nothing about shading, blending, etc. but with the numbers, I was able to just kick back and enjoy myself. It was a very relaxing experience for me, someone who is not a painter and who is never happy with the things I do. I painted this on my dining room table. If I happened to slip and get some paint on the table, it came off very easily and did not stain. My hands and clothes were also safe, everything washed away easily with soap and water. This is a very good thing because since I haven’t done this in a while, I was like a little kid getting it all over the place, but now that I’m finished, there’s no trace of any paint in my house.
My nails are not short, so at first I thought that would give me a problem removing and replacing the cork tops on the paint tubes, however that was NOT the case. The cork was sturdy, none of the tops broke on me. In fact, my project is finished and they are still in tact.
What I Didn’t Like
I can’t really say there’s anything I didn’t like. There was some confusion over the colors, but I honestly think that was due to my lack of experience. There were some colors that I was instructed to use to shade the one side of the woman’s face. However, when I applied the paint and even after it dried, it looked a little too dark, so I wound up making my own revisions and painting over the darker colors with lighter colors until I felt that it was more pleasing to my eyes. If that would have caused me run out of paint and not finish the project, I may have considered it a flaw in the product, but it had no affect whatsoever. I’m finished and still have plenty of paint left over.
I noticed that I had a lot of cracking on my painting, but I think that’s also due to my lack of experience. My boyfriend, who is more experienced with this kind of thing, had told me when I started to paint light layers. In my excitement, I think I applied it pretty heavily initially, so that was also my error, not any fault of the product. At least I know now to be careful with the next one.
A Quick little tip
Even though I’m no expert, I do have one tip. Since I don’t have a painter’s palette, I wanted to keep all the paint colors easily available to me, so I can see the numbers. I stood all the tubes inside a short drinking glass, which allowed me to quickly and easily grab the correct color, take off the cork top, paint right from the tube, stick the cork top back on and place back in the glass. It made things very easy and I didn’t have tubes of paint rolling all over the place.
The only thing I would change
This is kind of funny because it has absolutely nothing to do with the product. The website address is not something that’s easy to memorize due to it’s rather long and nondescript URL. The only way to really get back there is to bookmark it. If it was something easy to remember, people could get there more easily and maybe then more people would be able to experience such a great kit. So if you’re interested in this but aren’t going to purchase it right now, make sure you bookmark the page.
Finished Painting
Overall Thoughts
I haven’t engaged in a fun solo project like this in a long time and I haven’t painted anything in over 15 years.probably longer. I haven’t done it because usually I’m just not patient enough with myself and the process, and I know that a good painting can’t be done in one day/night. Plus, I haven’t found anything that I really wanted to paint. The stuff I’ve seen in craft stores just seem boring, but because I’m a pervert and love all things sexual, this was the perfect kit to get me started.
As of the time of writing, all available pictures are erotic, meaning there really isn’t any hardcore porn. It’s all in good taste, so this is something that you don’t have to fear someone seeing when leaving it out to dry. I can see this being a great erotic gift idea for that special someone or friend.
I had a blast with this! These past couple of months have been rather stressful for me and relaxing is not something that has come very easy, so I was a little concerned about starting this artistic project now. However, with the kit being so complete and with it being paint by numbers, I found this to be not only fun, but extremely relaxing; a great way for me to spend my free time.
I’m pretty sure my painting didn’t come out as good as others that have purchased from Scarlet_A…see there’s the perfectionist in me. However, when I started this project, that was not my goal; it didn’t have to come out perfectly. I purchased this kit for the experience and had a very enjoyable and very relaxing one at that. If you’re more experienced with painting, I’m sure yours will look much better. However, that’s also the point…you don’t have to be an artist to have fun with this or to make a good looking painting.
Wow, the review is almost finished and I haven’t even mentioned the best part about these kits.At the time of my own purchase and writing this review; they’re only $15.00 with an additional $5.00 for postage, that’s amazingly inexpensive! I can say with certainty that I will probably be getting the whole collection.
This Porn By Numbers Kit got a perfect rating… I believe this is the only product on this site to get a 5 out of 5 rating! The price is more than affordable, it’s a steal. You get everything you need to complete your painting. If you want to get different color paints you can, but you don’t have to. If you want to get more brushes you can, but you don’t have to. You can even get another frame, but you don’t have to. This project is literally accomplished right out of the package when it arrives. Including the box frame to display it in, that was the icing on the cake for me. I give this sexy product a perfect rating because I honestly don’t know what else could have been supplied for such an affordable price. There was nothing I needed and even though the my painting is not the most beautiful, I had a great time doing it! Bravo Annette!
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