Search This Blog

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Rihanna - SNL / Saturday Night Live - What's My Name

(Those are the same hips that got every man trying to put a ring on it.)


I'm proud of RiRi! This was such a flirty performance. Makes me proud to be a fish. I've been trying to wine like that all day. The girl's got skills.

A Line To Live By

"I love the things that we should fear, and I'm not afraid of being here."
Lit - Miserable

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Michelle Obama Works to Eliminate Food Deserts...

Must Listen!

I can't express to you how much I love these two songs.
They inspire me in so many different ways.




If you guys haven't heard of Jhene and you like this one. Definitely check out her twitter - @JheneAiko and her tumblr - JheneAiko.tumblr.com
She's a pisces so she has that bohemian swag and she's definitely one of my favorites. You can feel her emotion in every one of her songs but it's a different kind of emotion. It's not loud or in your face like Keyshia Cole and Mary. It's very subtle, the kind that keeps you coming back for more.


Enjoy!

Mos Def - Fear Not Of Man

This man made my whole yesterday and today. Check it out!


A lot of things have changed
A lot of things have not, mainly us
We gon' get it together right? I believe that
Listen.. people be askin me all the time,
"Yo Mos, what's gettin ready to happen with Hip-Hop?"
(Where do you think Hip-Hop is goin?)
I tell em, "You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop?
Whatever's happening with us"
If we smoked out, Hip-Hop is gonna be smoked out
If we doin alright, Hip-Hop is gonna be doin alright
People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside
comin down to visit the townspeople
We (are) Hip-Hop
Me, you, everybody, we are Hip-Hop
So Hip-Hop is goin where we goin
So the next time you ask yourself where Hip-Hop is goin
ask yourself.. where am I goin? How am I doin?
Til you get a clear idea

Monday, October 25, 2010

“We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of"
                                    -Edward Bernays

Sunday, October 24, 2010

x_X


One essay down, four to go plus homework, a big photo assignment and studying for midterms...WTF COLLEGE?

^The only way this is happening.

Some people...

really hate when you agree with them. I thought people liked empathy but sometimes people wanna feel special. Don't rain on their parade, just ooh and aah and inquire about the situation.

I Need To....

I think I need to start debating with people, and
Talking on the phone rather than texting.
I'm more decisive but I need to have the ability to be decisive on the spot and communicate an idea in a way that the listener understands what I'm saying.
I need to focus,
To retain information without killing myself in the process,
To lay off the unrefined carbs, and bad fats,
and learn Sudarshan Kriya,
I need to speed read,
Master the art of the comparative essay,
Learn to study for different types of tests, and
Participate in class.

I need a social life,
To do other things besides eat sleep, work, and do homework,
To become verbally fluent,
To be less serious,
To dedicate myself to tap dancing,
To figuring out if I want to stay at this school or leave.

Illuminati

Ignorant skepticism? Most people who talk about it are just regurgitating what they heard someone else say or they're jealous because said celebrity has more money, cars, clothes, and hoes than they do. How many actually go out there and research for themselves? I wonder.

Remember The Titans



Off of Mood Muzik 4
I'm definitely gonna go check it out.

Tap

I'm writing this paper on contemporary tap and I'm really confused.
I don't fully understand the difference between hoofing/"rhythm" tap and contemporary tap. AAAH!
This is what I've gathered.
One definition of contemporary tap is particularly tripping me up. It's "Orchestrated a capella tap (multiple layers of tap designed to be heard without music)." Seems like there's a fine like between that and hoofing.



Broadway Tap



Look at those pants!



Contemporary Tap

I was completely mesmerized while watching this.


My instructor, Anita Feldman, is the one with the black hair.



Coming soon: Rhythm Tap

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Dagga! Dagga! Dagga!

I deactivated my facebook (yay!)
and blocked my twitter for an entirety of 24 hours (double yay!)

Needless to say, my communication abilities are a bit stunted which is good because now I can channel all this pent up energy into a beautifully constructed blog (which will have graphics soon), instead of mindlessly posting statuses for a bunch of people to read who I don't actually speak to in real life. (LAME!)

Anyway, so while i was "doing homework" (cough cough), I stumbled upon this documentary called "Man Ooman" about modern dancehall subculture, and that style of dancing.

I personally would like to see the whole thing because I don't get it. Why would a girl/woman volunteer herself to be objectified, and have her hair and clothes get messed up in the process. Giiirrrrll, you know you spent hours on that! There's nothing wrong with dances being sexual. I just see a problem with it when that sexuality is paired with aggression. 

There's definitely a role reversal from traditional dancing. In traditional grinding "the woman is the portrait and the male is the frame." Her goal being to "break" him. Some (probably Caribbean) guys follow and some just stand there while the woman does her thing, but daggering is about power. The men try to show off like in Cuban-style salsa or Casino but they take it a step further and try to show the woman their power in a very aggressively sexual, almost violent manner. Sometimes the girls even try to run away! Yikes!

Examples:
Grinding or Dubbing:

Perreo:

Daggering:




Here's a trailer for the documentary:

According to Beenie Man, dancehall started in the ghetto. I particularly felt enlightened by Stacey Ann Chin's quote, 
 "When you have no control over your kids and your life, you seek control in weird places like "I'm gonna control how high this girl can place her leg or how hard I can thrust her against the wall."

Sociologists say that in poor areas, young girls tend to be hyper-sexual and men tend to be violent so why wouldn't that be expressed through dance (e.g. grinding/dubbing/perreo/daggering and the slew of youtube taped fights that have become popular in recent times.)

If someone finds the whole documentary, let me know!
I'd like to get another female's perspective on this. What do you think about our way of expressing ourselves through dance? Do women enjoy this? Do they do it to feel bad or because it's all they know? to fit in? low self-esteem? daddy issues? sexual empowerment? to feel attractive to the opposite sex? influence by the media?



Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Positive Post-It Project

The Positive Post-It Project is a really cool event that I happened to notice on my wall on Facebook. It happened on October 10th so I missed it but that's no reason not to keep it going year-round. I already do this sometimes and I'm going to make an effort to do it more regularly starting today. You should too! Send out those positive vibes!


You can also do this for yourself!
Write five great things about your day everyday on a post-it note and date it.
Fun Tip: I put mine on my wall like a mini calendar.
It totally changes your outlook and makes you focus on the positive things rather than the negative.

Save the world one post-it note at a time! Do it!