Photo de Jour

Reverend Run ought to be proud, don’t you think.

Poetry Wednesday: June Jordan

Here is a poem written by and spoken by June Jordan. The work is titled Poem About My Rights. 

(Not safe for work)

What did you think of it?

Fallen Women…

I watched a documentary about former world class track and field sprinter Marion Jones. It covered her rise to the top and her eventual downfall after admitting to using performance enhancing drugs. After watching the documentary I realized how much I miss seeing Marion competing. And, I realized that I also have a soft spot of fallen women.

I remember a few years ago when former Detroit public official Christine Beatty was under a full blown attack in the media after being caught-up in a scandal, that I was pulling for her. And, even though she admitted to doing wrong, the wrong didn’t really matter to me. What I saw in her was an extremely bright woman who made a big mistake.

I wonder what it is about me that makes me pull for and support these women even after they have fallen from grace. I’m not sure what it is other than maybe that women who fall tend to have a much harder time making a comeback then men.

Or, maybe it’s as simple as I like believing in women who are very talented and smart, even if they screw up.

Whatever the reason, I still think of these two women occasionally and I hope they are doing okay. And, at some point I hope they fulfill their promise and rise to the top again.

Do you have a soft spot for fallen people?
Were you a Marion Jones fan before her fall?
Why do you think I have a soft spot for these women?

AK and Maxwell team up and AK hits the beach!

AK is touring right now but she took a break earlier this week to spend some time on the beach in the Bahamas and she also released a video for her latest single, “Fire We Make“, featuring Maxwell. Check out the song and video below as well as a few more photos of AK hitting the beach with little Egypt.

The video is safe for work and there is a 30 sec commercial before the vid starts.

Did you like the song and the video?

Flashback Friday: 90′s groups that broke up too soon

Lin made a comment recently about a group from the 90′s that should not have broken up. Which inspired me to devote this Flashback Friday post to that subject of 90′s groups that broke up way too soon.

Here are two groups/ duos from the 90′s that seemed like the best was yet to come from them when they broke up.

Brownstone – The three original members of Brownstone were Monica “Mimi” Doby, Charmayne “Maxee” Maxwell and Nichole “Nicci” Gilbert.The group released one album together in 1995 called, ” From the Bottom Up“. From that album came two hits, “If You Love Me” and “Grapevyne“

After touring to promote that album group member Monica “Mimi” Doby left the group. She first said that is was because of health reasons but later admitted that it was because of friction within the group.

After that Brownstone added another member and then another and tried a comeback in 1997 which was unsuccessful.

Zhané – A great duo from the 90′s that imploded way too soon was Zhané. The duo consisted of Jean Norris and Renee Neufvill. They released their debut album, “Pronounced Jah-Nay”  in 1994. The album went platinum spawning three hits, “Hey Mr. DJ” and “Sending My Love” and “Groove Thang“.

The duo released their second and final album, “Saturday Night“, in 1997. That album failed to even reach Gold status. After the release of that album Neufvill and Norris broke up.

Do you agree with my choices?
What group or groups from the 90′s do you think broke up too soon?

AK covers May 2013 Elle!

Alicia is featured in Elle Magazine’s Women in Music 2013 issue which will be on newsstands this coming Tuesday! (I’ll be buying two coppies!) Doesn’t she look stunning! Go AK!

10 things that make me happy!

10. Being able to buy iced coffee by the half gallon instead of buying super expensive Starbucks Frappuccino! I’m saving a ton of money!

09. Unexpectedly good films! I saw a film on Bounce TV last week called, “‘I’m Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks)”. The film is about a Blerd who only dates White women, as he thinks Black women won’t get him. But, he realizes it’s time for a change and actively tries to date Black women. And, when he finally meets someone, that’s when the film gets really good. I highly recommend this film!

07. Brittney Griner dunking!

06. Smart Phones! I’ve decided to fire my ISP and get a smart phone!

05. Short breaks from blogging!

04. Planning trips!

03. This photo!

02. New fancy shower head with a dozen different settings!

01. Spring!

 

What’s making you happy!

 

Photo de Jour

This is AK in concert in Los Angeles at Staples Arena. Is she wearing that dress or what! And, she’s wearing my favorite color. I didn’t see Alicia in concert when she was in my area. I decided that I want to see her at a small(er) venue. I want to be up close! So, hopefully that will happen soon.

Do you like these?

These are AK’s new kicks from Reebok. They’re called AKW. I think they’re cute. Do you like them?

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10 Things: Danica Patrick Sucks, Robin Returns, “Like” Drama and much, much more!

.Here are 10 things that are on my mind this week

10. – Race car driver Danica Patrick will race this weekend at the Daytona 500. She won the pole position last weekend by having the fastest lap at time trials for the race. The media has been doing lots of reports this week on her. And, those reports got me thinking about how astoundingly over-covered by the media she is considering she’s one of the suckiest race car drivers in the sport. She’s never won a race. Heck, she’s never even come in second or even third.

And, despite her suckiness, she is one of the highest profile racers in the sport. (Is race car driving a sport?) Not since Michelle Wie conned the media and Nike into thinking she was a great golfer has anyone with such a crappy record of achievement in sports achieved so much notoriety.

09. – Robin Roberts went back to work this week at ABC’s Good Morning America. As you know she’s been out sick for the past several months. I’m just wondering, amid all the fanfare of her return, has she come back too soon?

Whatever the case, Robin looks great and she is so brave and a wonderful role model.

08. – I have a friend on facebook who messaged me this week. She was upset. She went on to say that she was hurt that I never seemed to “Like” any of the stuff she posts.

So, I thought about how to respond to her. Basically should I be honest or make something up to be nice. I decided to be honest.

I told her that I never “Like” any one of her posts because I ‘hide’ her posts from my feed because I got fed up with all the kittens, cute babies and sayings and quotes she posts.

And she posts a stunning number of those things every single day! When I go on facebook I hate when my feed is clogged with all that junk. I just want my news and status reports from friends. That’s it.

Her response was to not understand how anyone wouldn’t want to see those types of things. She said they were inspirational and she just wanted to make everyone’s day better by posting them. And she went on and on about how much inspirational sayings and quotes help her get through the day.

I realize now I should have just said that I loved her posts and just didn’t take the time to “Like” them. Sigh. We went back and forth until somehow she convinced me to ‘unhide’ her posts and to take the time to “really see them”.

Yep, I should have lied.

06. – It’s really interesting to me how much the media has been covering the story about South African track athlete Oscar Pistorius (allegedly) murdering his girlfriend. They have been covering it everyday since it happened. And that’s really interesting since the media seemingly can only find the time to cover the violence in Chicago every few months or so.

05. – I saw the film, “Yelling To The Sky” recently. It stars Zoë Kravitz and features Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe as well as Shareeka Epps, who you may remember from the film, “Half Nelson“.

As you probably know by now my favorite film genre is coming of age films. And “Yelling To The Sky” falls in that category. Zoë plays a 17 year-old named “Sweetness”, who suffers living in a home with an abusive father and a mentally ill mother. The film follows her as she tries to navigate school, being bullied by neighborhood kids and dealing with her parents.

Zoë was really good in her role and I really liked the film, although I felt the resolution was just a teensy bit contrived. The film is from 2011, so I’m sure it’s on Netflix and dvd. If you check it out, as always, please let me know what you thought of it.

04. – Have you had Challah bread? It’s so good!

03. – You guys know I crush a lot, right. So, guess who I’m crushing on now. Ready? Tamar Braxton! I know, I know, she’s a little loud but, she’s so cute. This is my guilty pleasure crush.

Check out her latest song, “Love and War“.

02. – I went bike riding this week. Have you ever gone bike riding and enjoyed it so much that you didn’t pay attention to how far away from home you rode? I did. Lol. And it was no fun riding all the way back home! I’ll never let that happen again.

01. – Ak is going on tour soon. And, Miguel is going to be opening for her! The only thing is the venue she’s playing is huge and I hate crowds. I’m going to have to decide if I’m going to brave the crowd or wait to see her at a smaller venue.

What’s on your mind this week?
Do you think I ought to brave the crowd to see AK?
What do you think of my thoughts for the week?