Friday, April 30, 2010

Saturday, May 1st, Is Free Comic Book Day!


One of the goals of Free Comic Book Day is to reach out to those individuals unfamiliar with the comic book specialty market, not to mention a comic book shop. So, every year those behind Free Comic Book Day launch a massive promotional campaign that heralds the event and spreads the good word of comics to potential readers everywhere.



One of the comics being given away will be G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #155½.  You can preview this book along with the others being given away at FreeComicBookDay.com.

Talib Kweli - Early Mourning Signs Mixtape



Wednesday, April 28, 2010

IVORY DOME GIVES YOU DISTANT RELATIVES


This is a project that I've been looking forward to since I heard the "Road To Zion" track on the Damian Marley "Welcome To Jamrock" album. Nas and Damian shared a great chemistry on that track and Distant Relatives, I suspect will be nothing short of that. After listening to the two offerings they have on their myspace page, I think they have a hit on their hands. I just hope they have the right marketing team on board, because this could be epic. The collaboration is that raw, gritty, and uncalculating scenario that two powerhouses just stumbled upon. This summer just might be epic thanks to Distant Relatives.



As We Enter - Distant Relatives


Guest Blog: Hands On Review Of Apple's iPad

My Experience with the iPad

by Jenali

Since I bought my iPad on Day 1, I've been keeping a list of things I like and don't like about the it. Anytime I thought of something, I whipped out my iPad and jotted it down in the Pages document I started.  So when I finally sat down to write a post about the device I had several things I could talk about.  I'm still keeping a list of things that I want improved or like so there may be future iPad posts.

I bought the 16 GB model of the iPad.  I figured that since I've never used all of the space on my iPhone I would be fine with the low-end iPad. I would keep most of my music on my iPhone so that would free up a lot of space on my iPad.  So far I haven't felt like the hard drive is too small.  I have some music on here but most of the music I want to listen to is on my iPhone. I do like that you can edit your playlists on the iPad. That's a feature I've been longing for on the iPhone. It looks like my wishes are coming true with iPhone OS 4.  The iPod interface on the iPad looks just like iTunes. I'm glad that this was redesigned.  Keeping the iPod interface from the iPhone would have been boring and a poor use of the screen size.  There's only one speaker on the iPad which delivers better sound than I expected.  One thing I would really like to see is the ability to subscribe to podcasts.  As far as I can tell you can only download podcasts from iTunes and there's no way to subscribe to them.  Maybe a future update to the OS will bring this feature.

The first thing I did after my iPad was activated and I had transferred some of the iPad updated apps (Instapaper ($4.99), Evernote (free), Soundhound ($4.99), Newsrack ($4.99), Epicurious (free), Pandora (free), and the Kindle (free) app) was to try typing on it.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the iPad's keyboard. Since Apple is selling a keyboard that doubles as an iPad dock.  I figured that typing on this device must be painful. My initial experiences were awful. I'm accustomed to traditional keyboards and the onscreen keyboard for my iPhone. With the iPhone my fingers have adapted to the small space.  I trust the spell check to understand my typing mistakes, which it normally does very well. With traditional keyboards, I'm used to that physical response from pressing a key.  The keyboard on the iPad is neither small nor going to exhibit that physical response so it took me a little while to get used to it.  Initially I tweeted about an external keyboard being necessary for the iPad.  And true to my tweet, I bought the keyboard dock for the iPad.  When I want to type long emails or documents, I will use the external keyboard.  I don't think an external keyboard is necessary for the iPad but it does make typing alot easier.  I've gotten better at typing on the iPad I would just prefer to use a physical keyboard instead.  Like the iPhone, the iPad has auto-correct when typing. It also has spell check. If you've misspelled a word, the word will be underlined in red.  Tapping on the word will bring up choices for the correct spelling. If you're using Pages, tapping on the word will also bring up the option to find the definition.

The battery life on the iPad is better than I expected. I can use my iPad all day on a single charge. I'm primarily streaming content from Netflix, ABC or Yahoo, reading books, checking email, and browsing the web.  Maybe that doesn't count as extensive usage but either way I'm impressed with the battery life.  During the weekday, I don't use my iPad as much because I'm at work.  I can get by with charging my iPad every two days.

There are some really great apps on the iPad.  This is the perfect device for viewing your photos or any videos.  Any app that effectively makes use of the gorgeous screen on the iPad is on the right path towards making a decent app.  I find that my most used apps deliver video content on demand.  The apps I'm referring to are: Netflix (free download from iTunes but requires subscription to Netflix), Y! Entertainment (free) and ABC Player (free).  I have a subscription to Netflix which means I'm able to manage my queue and watch the titles that I have in my watch instantly queue.  Prior to buying the iPad, I rarely watched anything that I put in my watch instantly queue.  When I sat down to watch a movie, I was usually watching the mail-in I received from Netflix.  There were times when I did feel like watching something from my watch instantly queue but I wasn't near the tv in my room to do so.  The iPad has increased my viewing of watch instantly titles dramatically.  When I come home and I want to watch a movie or tv show while eating dinner I turn to the Netflix app on my iPad (so long as none of my favorite shows are on at the time).  Washing the dishes has become slightly enjoyable because I know that I can set up my iPad nearby and finish watching that episode of Bones I started at dinner.  The interface on the Netflix app is very similar to what you see when you go to their website.  The only issues I've had with this app are minor.  I wanted to star a recently watched movie which seemed like an easy task.  On my laptop I normally click the number of stars I want to give the movie and they turn to yellow indicating that your rating has been applied.  Every time I tried to tap the stars below the "play" button nothing would happen or the movie would start playing.  Another issue I had was navigating through episodes of a tv show.  When I clicked the play button under the Bones season 1 series, it would play the pilot episode each time.  I wanted it to remember that I had already played that episode and it should play the next one in the series.  In order for me to do that I had to go the Bones Season 1 details page and find the next episode I wanted to watch.  It required more clicks than I wanted but less frustration in the end.  The Y! Entertainment app is packed with video clips, entertainment news articles, cartoons, a tv guide, book reviews, and Dear Abby letters.  If I want a quick survey of what's going on locally or even internationally I can count on this app to show me videos clips to provide me with that information.

I also love the NYT Editor's Choice (free) and Instapaper apps. NYT Editor's Choice features a select number of articles from the NYT each day.  Tapping on an article will allow you to read the article in full and email it.  There's no way to share this article via Twitter, Facebook or any other social networking site which is the only downside of this app.  Instapaper is probably my favorite app on my iPad.  I haven't found a killer rss reader for this device and I'm wondering if I really need one.  I'm switching between Newsrack and FeeddlerRSS (free) to browse my feeds and the articles I really want to read I send to instapaper.  Instapaper makes viewing the articles I've saved a real treat.  As with many iPad apps, changing the orientation from portrait to landscape adds more content to the screen.  Opening the app in landscape view you see your folders in the left and the contents of the folder you've selected on the right.  A white arrow indicates what folder you're viewing at that time.  Tapping on any of the articles will cause the app to bring that article to full screen.  Instapaper for the iPad is very similar to Instapaper for the iPhone and iPod touch.  The features are the same but it's designed to use the additional space that the iPad gives you.  If you find that you want to save articles you're reading on the internet, give Instapaper a shot.  You will not be disappointed.

My Final Thoughts:

The iPad is heavier than I thought it would be. It weighs in at 1.5 lbs which on paper doesn't look like a lot. After using it for about 30 minutes in your hands, you will notice the weight. Keeping it on a table or on your lap relieves that issue. I bought the iPad keyboard dock so that typing would be easier. So far I like that it charges my iPad and has special keys that correspond to the iPad home button, lock screen, brightness, search, volume, play/pause, fast forward and rewind. Holding the lock key and home key takes a screenshot like it would if you were pressing those buttons on the iPad. Tapping the home button on the keyboard also brings you to the first page of your iPad apps. The keyboard dock is not a bluetooth keyboard. It is only compatible with the iPad. It's the same price as the wireless keyboard that Apple offers. I chose the keyboard dock over the wireless keyboard because I would only be using this keyboard for my iPad. I have a MBP and don't see myself needing a wireless keyboard anytime in the future. I've thought about buying an iMac and those come with keyboards. The keyboard dock is designed for use with the iPad. The wireless keyboard, while you can use it with the iPad, is not. The wireless keyboard does feature the brightness, play/pause, fast forward, rewind and volume buttons which the keyboard dock also features. It includes keys for Expose and Dashboard, two functions that aren't available on the iPad. I don't know if pressing those keys would cause something else to happen on the iPad or no response at all. If you don't care about the extra iPad designed buttons on the keyboard dock then go with the wireless keyboard. I find the buttons to add more convenience and functionality to the keyboard dock. The only downside I see with the keyboard dock is that I have to take the case that I'm using off because the iPad is flush with the stand portion of the dock.

At first I didn't think I was affected by the wifi issues that people have reported with the iPad. That changed on Friday when I couldn't access the internet although I was connected to the wifi network at my job. The wifi indicator showed that I was getting 3 bars of wifi when I normally get 1. I checked my iPhone and my iPhone only showed 1 bar. When I tried to access websites via safari none of them would load despite having the 3 bars of wifi. I looked into the details for that wifi network and renewed the lease. That solved my issue with the connection. I don't know why it worked but I'm going to look into it more so I can understand what's going on.

There are a few apps that I'm very anxious to see implemented on the iPad. The first being my favorite RSS reader, Reeder ($2.99). Reeder on the iPhone just gets how I would like the view and read my RSS feeds. My biggest pet peeve with RSS readers on the iPhone/iPad was how they organized unread articles. Most of them have organized the unread articles by date which is fine but if there's an article you've already read that was dated before an unread article that read article shows up.


Reeder doesn't group read and unread articles like that. Like Google Reader, if I only want to see unread articles from Mashable it will only show me unread articles from Mashable. As I mentioned earlier, I'm using Newsrack ($4.99) and FeeddlerRSS (free) until Reeder is released. Hopefully it's soon. I also want to see what the OmniGroup develops for Omnifocus, which is my task management app of choice. I believe that Omnifocus for the iPad will be released in June. As of right now I'm using Twitterffic (free) as my default twitter client. This will probably change when Tweetie is released for the iPad. Tweetie is one of my favorite twitter apps on my iPhone. As many may know, Twitter acquired Tweetie designating it as the official twitter app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad.

In the weeks leading up to the iPad's release, I always said that the iPad would not replace my laptop. I continue to say that my iPad will not replace my laptop. I find that I'm using my iPad for email checking & replying, gaming, ebook reading, web browsing and content creation which were all activities I did on my laptop (minus the gaming). So why doesn't my iPad replace my laptop? My laptop holds ALL of my content while my iPad holds a fraction of that. If I'm traveling, I'll probably take my iPad instead of my laptop because it can do much of what my laptop can do but takes up less space. I still use my laptop to sync my music, photos and apps. I never thought that I would really care for wirelessly syncing my iPhone to my computer but with the iPad I would love to do that. It's annoying to take photos with my iPhone, sync my iPhone to my computer to download the photos, and then sync my iPad to my computer to get those photos. There should be an easier way to do this. Apple should use MobileMe as the cloud service that it could be. It's great that my contacts, calendar and email are syncing on all of my devices but what about my photos and music? Now more than ever do I feel the burden of syncing my devices to my laptop. I don't mind doing it with my iPhone but having to do that with my iPad feels very restrictive.

I never thought that the Wifi version of the iPad would be the model I would buy. Initially, I wanted to buy a 32 GB Wifi+3G iPad. The decision to buy the 16 GB Wifi iPad was impulsive but I don't regret it. I have wifi at my job and my home. If I need to check my email, tweet or visit a website I do that from my iPhone when I'm not on a wifi network. Yes, I would like to see the GPS implementation on the iPad but I can wait on that. Maybe the next generation iPad I buy will be equipped with 3G.

So, was my iPad a worthwhile purchase? Do I like it? Yes and yes! I'm enjoying using my iPad for a number of things. I'll continue to write about things I like and dislike about the iPad as the weeks go on.

Pac Div - Don't Mention It Mixtape




Tuesday, April 27, 2010

We Have Our First Fan!!!!

I've had that Google Voice on my page for a minute now, but for the first time it was actually used! :-D

I'd like to thank the mystery lady for her shout out!



You have no clue how happy that made me. lol

Thanks for stopping by,

8

Monday, April 26, 2010

Random Geekery: The Losers #1 - Free For Download

With the eagerly anticipated Warner Bros. Pictures movie The Losers set to reach theaters in April 2010, DC Comics collects the first twelve issues of THE LOSERS — from the ANTE UP and DOUBLE DOWN TPs — into a single, explosive volume!  The Losers: Vol. 1 & 2

In order to promote the theatrical release of The Losers, DC Comics has decided to make the premier issue of the comic the movie is based on availabe for free online.

Click To Download The Losers #1

Thanks for stopping by,

8

Source: Vertigo Comics Blog

Saturday, April 24, 2010

DJ Premier's Salute To Keith "Guru" Elam

On DJ Premier's Sirius Radio show, Live From HeadQCourters, he paid tribute to his former parter in crime Guru of the legendary Gang Starr.


Click Here To Download

Special thanks to DJ Premier Blog for the streaming of the show.

Friday, April 23, 2010

It's A 6th Sense Mixtape Yo!! Volume 2 & 3



<a href="http://6thsense.bandcamp.com/album/its-a-6th-sense-mixtape-yo-volume-2-3">The Kid Daytona - The Black Superhero by 6th Sense</a>

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Why Does Conan O'Brien Hate Pittsburgh?

Conan O'Brien recently kicked off his live stage show, The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour, last week in Eugen, Oregon.  This tour was his way of thanking the fans for all of the support they showed him while getting screwed by NBC.  Apparently, he's crisscrossing the U.S. and parts of Canada while he kills time before he starts his TBS show in November.  The one question that I have is, "Where's the Pittsburgh date?"  He's going to see everyone and their mother, but Pittsburgh gets the shaft.  What's up with that?

Anyway, you can check to see if he's coming to your town (which he probably is), by clicking the link below.


Click Here For More Tour Date Info

Random Geekery: Know Your Meme - Archaic Rap Edition

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Music Community Reflects On Guru’s Passing


By Jonah Bayer for Myspace Music

Ever since people found out that Gang Starr’s co-founder Guru passed away, the Internet has been buzzing with condolences from his collaborators, peers… and even one member of Good Charlotte. Here we’ve compiled some of the more notable Tweets and parting words about this extremely gifted and innovative musician, who met his time far too soon.

*DJ Premier: “The man has found his peace, far way from the devil. R.I.P. GURU / GANG STARR”

RZA (Wu-Tang Clan): RIP Guru – this is total sad news for hip-hop. You were a good friend and an inspiration. A true legend, you will be missed.

MC Hammer: Gangstarr’s Guru Gone Too Soon (RIP): http://bit.ly/9fLuuD

DJ Tony Touch: “Today is one of the saddest days for me.I lost a real friend/brother/teacher etc.He believed in me.supported.Took me on my first tour in 96″

Dres (Black Sheep): “Guru and I didnt always see eye to eye… but we shared 2 things sincerely.. the mic.. and respect … peace good brother”

Questlove (The Roots): “in my 10 greatest voices in hip hop. Guru was easily top 5 imo. smooth. velvet. will be missed. RIP Guru” http://bit.ly/d86nKK

DJ Jazzy Jeff: “Rest in Peace Guru…Pls send Prayers go out to his Family!”

Q-Tip: “From Allah we come to Allah we return. R.I.P. Keith GURU. A great man, poet, and I’m proud to say friend… 23 yrs. Damn!”

Talib Kweli: “Todays overtweeting dedicated to Guru. U don’t like it unfollow rather lose u then not pay tribute to my man. 2 many don’t know what’s real.”

Snoop Dogg: “420 gonna be in honor of the big homie Guru.. respect the foundation… light one up for the legend

Joel Madden: “Rest in Peace GURU’

Fat Joe: “R.I.P GURU LOVE YOU MY BROTHER the World Will Miss You!!!! WE LOST A Great Man and a Big Part OF HIP HOP History!!!”

Lil Jon: “#RIPGURU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFQQeUNaZtc“JUST TO GET A REP” GANGSTARR #CLASSICCCCCC MY SHIT!!”

Joell Ortiz: “bout to be in the bentley bumping that Gangstarr! feeling very retro brooklyn right now.”

P.Diddy: “RIP Guru! Hip-Hop lost an icon today-but u’ll always be w/ us b/c Legends live on 4ever. Donate in his memory http://www.eachonecounts.org/

In addition, longtime MySpace Music editorial team member Roslynn Cobarrubias has shared some of her thoughts and memories of the man.

Guru has been a friend of Ros’ for years and was one of the first members of the hip-hop community to join this site of ours. For these, and many reasons far more significant, he will be forever missed.


Image courtesy of Mattboy
*Note: The twitter account noted is for a fan operated DJ Premier Blog and not DJ Premier himself.

Random Geekery: Preview Of New Black Comic Book Hero

Boom! Studios presents what it considers a new take on the Western genre, with it's mini series, Pale Horse. Maybe this will be the comic book version of Posse meets Rosewood?

PALE HORSE tells the tale of ex-slave and former Union soldier Cole, who has spent the years following the Civil War building a reputation as the most fearsome bounty hunter in the land. But when the tables turn and a bounty is placed on Cole’s head, all hell breaks loose. Finding himself unable to protect the thing most precious to him — his family — Cole goes on a rampage of revenge, leaving only a trail of blood in his wake. With nothing but his horse, his one surviving son and his gun, Cole’s rampage leaves no stone unturned and no culprit alive.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Rhymefest - Dangerous 5-18 Mixtape


Click Here To Download

<a href="http://dnbe.bandcamp.com/album/dangerous-5-18">Intro by Rhymefest</a>

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Have Twitter, Will Follow

This might be pretty old, but I just discovered it. It looks like Google is looking to bring twitter users together through their Follow Finder. The way the site works is that it analyzes the people that you are currently following to find others that are following the same people as well as people who you might find interesting.

The results were pretty good, although most of the people that came up for me were people that I was already following.

If you'd like to follow me. You can find me @8thlight.

Thanks for stopping by,

8

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Wiz Khalifa - Kush & Orange Juice Mixtape


I Love My Steelers, But I Hate Douche Bags!

There's has been a lot said about Ben Roethlisberger and his ability to keep his hands to himself.
"One of the bodyguards guided the victim down a back hallway. Mr. Roethlisberger followed her down the hallway into a small bathroom. The issue is what happened in that small, less than 5-foot-wide, single-commode bathroom, between Mr. Roethlisberger and the victim. Significant questions about what occurred persist."Mr. (Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fredric D.) Bright said one of the problems investigators had pursuing the case was the fact that the woman was intoxicated and that her recollection was unclear. He also said her statements to authorities were inconsistent.

When she first approached a police officer outside the nightclub immediately after the incident, Mr. Bright said, "The police officer asked 'Did he rape you?' And her response was 'No.' Then he asked, 'Did you have sex?' And she said, 'Well, I'm not sure.' "

In a later interview, the woman wrote a statement saying "He had sex with me."

The next day, at the Milledgeville Police Department, she wrote, "I told him it wasn't OK. 'No. We don't need to do this.' And I proceeded to get up and try to leave. I went to the first door I saw, which happened to be a bathroom. He followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I still said, 'No, this is not OK.' And he then had sex with me. He said, 'It was OK.'"

The quoted above is for those non-sports fans to catch up on Ben's second sticky situation regarding women. To give a very brief opinion on the situation itself, since everyone else has. I have two schools of thought on the matter. Ben may have raped her, is the first possibility. The second possibility is that she was REALLY drunk and did things with him that she later regretted, hence the rape allegations. Outside of the 2 people in that bathroom none of us will ever know what took place.

With that out of the way, I must state that I've been a Steelers fan since birth.  I cut my teeth on the Steelers of the 80's.  That's significant because I'm not some punk fan who knows nothing but Blitzburgh of the 90's and the 2 Super Bowls in the 2000's.

I grew up on the mediocre Steelers, watching the last few years of the legendary Chuck Noll.  My quarterback at that time wasn't Big Ben or Terry Bradshaw.  I grew up on Mark Malone & Bubby Brister.  There was no Swann, Stallworth or Hines Ward.  I had Louis Lipps, who was a really good receiver on a very average team with poor to mediocre quarterback play.  There wasn't a terrorizing defense like in the 70's, 90's and 2000's.  Brian Hinkle, David Little & Mike Merriweather were the keystones of the Steelers defense of my youth.  They were definitely good and solid professionals, but not the stars the equivalent of the defenses that pre and postdated them.

I just state all of that to say that I've been a fan through thick and thin.  The Steelers are probably the most popular team in the league.  That's mainly thanks to the dominance 70's.  During that decade they became if not "America's Team", at the very least "The Team Of America".  At that time the Steelers fan base grew beyond just Pittsburghers and those with Pittsburgh roots, but to people who have never stepped foot in the city.

As I got older and the team got better people of my generation definitely appreciated it more.  Not only did we appreciate the winning, but we also loved the way that team conducted business on and off of the field.  We loved the bruising running game and hard hitting defense.  We also enjoyed being the team that did things the right way.  We didn't try to buy titles like the 49ers of the early 90's that went after every free agent possible.  We weren't the the cocaine Cowboys of the late 90's.  We may not win it all, but we were the good guys, with the exception of our linebackers. We've always liked them nasty on the field.

But to flash forward to the present, Ben is the first Steeler ever that I have disliked.  Don't get me wrong, I like him in regards to being a quarterback, but even that isn't cut and dry.  In Roethlisberger's rookie year, I was thrilled he fell to us in the draft.  I felt that Bill Cowher finally had what all of these other great coaches have had, a franchise quarterback.  That was the only thing keeping Cowher from a title.

His rookie year was phenomenal.  He was undefeated during the regular season after starting quarterback Tommy Maddox went down with an injury.  Sadly, that seemed to beginning of the transformation from Big Ben to Ben "The Douche".  After winning his first title and the Steelers 5th, he began a power struggle with coach Cowher behind the scenes.  He was no longer satisfied with winning, but he wanted to win with himself as the star.  Running the ball and playing great defense didn't showcase Ben enough in his eyes.  He needed to be the reason we won.  His ego began to run amok.  Don't take my word for it.  Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com reports that Roethlisberger isn't even well liked with in his own locker room:
He came into the league an arrogant rookie who didn't exactly endear himself to his teammates. Then he won two Super Bowls, which had some of his teammates wondering how he fits his helmet on his head.
For a brief time after the motorcycle crash, some say Roethlisberger actually seemed humbled. Reflection can do that to a man.
Then he won his second Super Bowl. Big Ben went to his head.
Team insiders say he became surly again. There are reports of him treating people rudely in public. He wasn't warm and fuzzy with his teammates, even if he did take his linemen to some wrestling night out, making it look like he cared.
True story: In 2008, while the Steelers were en route to another Super Bowl, I actually had some Steelers players saying the team would have been better off with Roethlisberger on the bench.
 He's always given me the impression that he liked the spotlight a little, too much.  Whenever he would talk about the team he would say the right things, but it never sounded genuine coming from his mouth.  When he spoke he always came off as a person telling you what he feels is the right thing to say, but not necessarily that he believed it in the least.  The best comparison I could make is to Kobe Bryant.  Bryant would always say all the right things, but we all knew that he didn't truly mean any of it.  That's how I felt about Ben.  Ben began to believe that he was bigger than the team.  On many teams that could easily be the case if they didn't have the tradition of the Steelers.  Terry Bradshaw even had to light Ben's ass up on this last indiscretion.

After giving away Santonio Holmes due to his troubled past and present, people have began to talk about the double standards of the Steelers as well as the NFL.  While there is a double standard being displayed, it's not the obvious double standard of race.  This is the double standard of a quarterback versus any other position in football.  Wide Receivers are easily replaceable and Holmes, although a Super Bowl MVP, is a good player and not a great one.  He's also at the end of his contract and had made it known that he didn't necessarily want to stay in Pittsburgh.  Roethlisberger on the other hand is a top 3 and no lower than top 5 quarterback.  You don't give away a great Q.B., unless you're the Eagles.

Although he hasn't been arrested for either of the incidents he's been involved in, Ben will definitely be suspended by either the league or the team itself.  I don't see anything less than a two game suspension, but I would go as high as four games.

There are rumors floating around the internet that the Rams are offering the Steelers this year's (number one overall) and next year's first round picks.  If this were true, that deal would've been done before this long ass blog entry ever came across your google reader.  I know that I would've damn sure pulled the trigger on that trade to be rid of this headache and fix both the offensive line and secondary.

More than likely Roethlisberger will be a Steeler for at least one more season . . . unless he decides to have another off season adventure.  :-/

Thanks for reading this long and rambling blog,

8

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sean Price Performs Figure Four Live

Murs' Fornever And A Day Tour Info & More


To mark the release of his latest album, Fornever, with 9th Wonder. Murs has released the tour dates for his Fornever And A Day tour as well as a free track he did with Sick Jacken:

Sick Jacken - Paid Dues (Featuring Murs & Supernatural):

Also, he's offering a special deluxe edition of his CD that includes:

  • Murs Electric T-Shirt
  • The rare and unreleased DVD/CD Murs For Dummies
  • The first 20 ordered will be signed!
  • Jewl case CD
  • Full-color album artwork booklet and liner notes
  • Immediate digital download of Fornever and the CD portion of Murs For Dummies

The deluxe edition can be purchased at MursWorld.com.

Thanks for stopping by,

8

Monday, April 12, 2010

What's In Ledsi's Bag?

I've always liked this video series that Amoeba Records does. They have an artist pick out some of their favorite albums. Typically the artists go for older albums. The series is basically another way for artists to talk about their musical influences or what a particular album means to the. The only negative in regards to the series is that I wish they had more hip-hop artist.

Here in this installment Ledisi talks about her favorite albums and artists, including the album that inspired her 2009 release, Turn Me Loose.




Here are the albums featured in the video if you're interested:

Earth Wind & Fire - All 'N All

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Remastered)

Aretha Franklin - 30 Greatest Hits

Otis Redding - Live in Europe

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (Legacy Edition)

Djavan - Djavan Ao Vivo

Jeff Buckley - Grace (Legacy Edition)

A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

Buddy Miles - Them Changes

Thanks for stopping by,

8

Sunday, April 11, 2010

IVORY DOME GIVES YOU CANJELAE

Canjelae was just a link on a random site and my goodness, I was BLOWN away by her voice. Took me to the old Toni Braxton, Total and Changing Faces era. This is my ideal Jack Davey, compelling seduction that ditches sexuality and takes a route of compassion and innocence. Canjalae, who is from Bermuda, is just splendid to listen to, her rendition of Rihanna's Umbrella is just magical. Dig her for her heartfelt deliverance and let's see where her career takes her.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Random Geekery: Superman VS. Muhammad Ali


The statue is a hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain version of the 1978 cover of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, which is being rereleased in hardcover. The statue measures approximately 9.25" high x 9.625" wide x 6.5" deep.



The images are courtesy of DC Direct where you can also order the statue.

The Digital Lynching Of Nicki Minaj

If you follow this blog at all, you'll notice that I don't editorialize a whole bunch.  For the most part I just give you music, videos and other random things I happen to find online.  But lately, I have come across a trend that I really don't quite understand.

Why is there such hate for Nicki Minaj?

It's not just hate.  It seems that all of this hate comes exclusively from women.  This blog entry was partially inspired by this Clutch Mag article as well as random tweets and blog posting that I come across in my web travels.

I ask this and I'm not even a Nicki Minaj fan, although I do see the talent.  I tried listening to one of her mixtapes once and it was deleted from my hard drive after one listen.  The funny part was that it wasn't deleted as a result of her performance, but moreso because she had way too many male guests that stunk.

I have read a few different criticisms.  Some say her body is fake.  What does that have to do with her music?  At least it's not bad plastic surgery like Lil Kim, Janet Jackson or her brothers.

Some say they hate the silly faces she makes.  It's funny, but I find them refreshing and comedic.  The majority of women in music videos are trying way too hard to look sexy.  At least Nicki switches it up a bit.

Others have said that she lacks talent.  Which makes absolutely no sense to me.  She's stolen the show on any track that I have heard her on (editor's note: she's typically on tracks with cats that suck).  The whole lacking lyricism argument just isn't true.  I love a lot of her punchlines and she seems to have a nice flow and presence as well.  Hell, as far as we know she writes all of her own material.  We can't say the same thing for Foxy Brown or Lil Kim's biggest hits.
The vacancy of female rap artists have made such an astounding impact on the hip-hop generation that the emergence of someone like Minaj presents a peculiar mix of unpreparedness and prediction. Minaj isn’t merely a Lil’ Kim clone, she is the 21st century inheritance of post-modern branding, technological advancement and hip-hop male desire. In a music genre where authenticity is everything, Minaj’s (and camp) diligent attempts at packaging a distinct female hip-hop presentation with borrowed Barbie nuances and a rehearsed dialect in tow raises questions around the Minaj underneath it all.
Women complain about lack of female emcees, but do they support the women that are out there?

Hip-Hop might be dominated by men, but it seems that women control the purse strings.  Over the years the music has become so cotton soft that it's ridiculous at times.  It's to the point now that even r&b artists are being considered Hip-Hop and skinny jean wearers are running the game.

There are plenty of women out there that are making music for you, no matter what kind of emcee you're looking for.  Besides the obvious women to mention there are newer emcees like RaTheMC (pictured to the right), Nina B. or Na'Tee. Those three are just the ones that have been featured on this blog.  If you're looking for a better class of female emcee, they maybe out there but are you buying their music, going to their shows, telling your friends about them or blogging them?



* RaTheMC image courtesy of Sneakshot aka Gravity508.
**No, Nicki has not been digitally lynched, but the title caught your attention, right?