my bloginality is what?

Thanks to monique i now know...

My Bloginality is INTP!!!

which basically means...

As an INTP, you are Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving.
This makes your primary focus on Introverted Thinking with an Extraverted Intution.

This is defined as a NT personality, which is part of Carl Jung's Rational (Knowledge Seeking) type, and more specifically the Architect or Thinker.

As a weblogger, you might not be as concerned about popularity, but more with the ideas and theories that you strive to understand. Because routines aren't your strong point, you might be more likely to work on the concept of how to do a blog, but not be as excited to keep it up.

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talk about excess

picked up these nike total 90s in Cannes. something about the orange coloring and the fact that they look like no other sneaker i know, except perhaps a soccer shoe.

these are the 7 other pair of kicks i wear regularly. there's four different types of adidas, two kinds of pumas, and one nike uptown (that's what we call 'em ova' here in nueva york). but just when does variety become a lil' bit too much?

these are the pairs i've probably owned the longest. they're used mainly for the gym, running, biking, when i do go to the mountains, or that weekend-go-run-some-errands outfit. there's a pair of reeboks there that i have no idea what the name of the style is, a merrell hiking/walking/running shoe, and a nike cross trainer.

i think that still being a b-girl and a kicks collector when i'm thirty-something is pretty cool, but on the real yo', methinks i have a serious problem. just don't let me near an eastbay catalog or the website for that matter.

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why would you want the same thing twice or even "simply" the same old thang for that matter?

it's funny i had a really pervasive thought about this the other day that escapes me now, but perhaps if i begin at the beginning it'll present itself.

so, as you know, i'm in Cannes for this int'l music festival. some of you who have been around long enough, know that i was here before, two years ago, for the film festival.

this time, i had the carte blanche that i didn't have before and yet, something was amiss. i got better seats at the NRJ Awards than i did at my company's own awards show. i've been schoomzing (well, as much as i can stand to), partying, meeting new people, connecting with those i've known from years gone past. but something is still amiss.

so i remember everything i did the last time i was here. the things i did on my own and the things i did with the crew - and i decide i'm going to do all those things again, because the feeling i'm looking for just might creep up on me if i just do the right thing. ok, so that's when my mind told me that it sounded like i was a drug addict or at least had some sort of addictive personality.

and i go to this restaurant pictured above, because when i was here with the crew we would go and eat lots of food and laugh and talk and stay for a long time. or go there really late after partying, b/c it seemed to be the only spot that stayed open for 24 hours. but i was alone this time. so though i ate lots of food, there was no one to share it with, no one to laugh with or talk to. and though i could have invited someone else to go with me, it's not like they would have been like my crew from school who came to Cannes with me before.

that right there is when i realized there is a thin line between courting the familiar and being stuck. think about it. like an alcoholic or a drug addict, so often, with relationships, with jobs, with things we do everyday, we wonder why it doesn't feel like it felt before or why we can't make it like it was, or get that first "high" back. but if you think about it, do you really want to go back? don't you want to move on? don't you want to move ahead? don't you want to make new experiences?

(i could have invited someone i just met here this time, and perhaps our time together would have been just as good. not necessarily better, but different.)

and no not ones that necessarily replace the old ones, but ones that enhance the old ones. why would you want sex to be like the first time? and the reason we can't have it like it was the first time we did it with x lover is b/c things about us are different. but that doesn't mean we can't still do it hanging from the chandelier, it simply means we gotta' put our back into it. and what that means is work.

here's an analogy. an entrepreneur launches a business, the economic climate changes, the barriers to entry and sustaining shift, technology changes the way this particular business works. does the entreprenuer, the wise one anyway, sit there and lament the old days? nah, uh uh. the wise one will change the game plan, reevaluate the biz model - and i suppose that's how we have to look at our lives everyday.

i don't want the same thing. i want something better. and better doesn't always have to mean replacement or new - i'm not suggesting you cut off your significant other for someone else - but what i'm saying is we gotta' take what's right there and good to us and for us, and make it better. we have to make ourselves new. our relationships. our careers. our mental, physical, and spiritual lives.

i'm not a crack addict, so i'll stop looking for what it felt like when i got that first hit, and i'll find something in my life that makes me feel just as good. basically, if that one was to ghetto for you, i'm not so painfully addicted to the past or co-dependent on the past that much that i can't take advantage of what's in front of me right now. shit every house started from some mud. oh damn, bad analogy, i forgot that nowadays we got those godawful terrible vinyl siding homes. but anyway...

fact of the matter is shit changes, people change. we change. what we've gotta' do is ride that wave of change. i'm going to opt to do it a little recklessly, becauase the fact that i've discovered i stay too close to the familiar makes me realize i'm playing life just a little too safe - and that can cause lack of adventure. man i don't want to be bored or stuck. like most of you, i want to be passionate about my life and what i do, but it's up to me. not my partner, not my job, not my gym. but what i put into each thing. that i invest in the now wholeheartedly.

the time we spend remembering when or missing the old days, or wishing it was like before, or back-in-the-day, we could put that energy into making today something stellar.

man, i'm coming back home with a whole new outlook. i'm going to read something different than i've ever read before, write about a topic i've never tackled, make love in a way i never have, listen to a different kind of music. i'm going to wake up and i'm going to live. get out of your past, and say hello to today. and sure, as we venture into today we may find some situations still displeasing and unpleasruable, but if we can honestly say we gave it our all, w/out expecting it to be what once was (or blaming what isn't on others), then we can feel free to let that chapter in our lives close. b/c either way i'm doing this, i'm moving ahead and the past will be just that - a good memory.

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retro rocks out

we interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging and reports from Cannes, to bring you some of what we�re thinking as regards some current music.

what a lot of people don't really know about me, is that as much as i grew up in the boogie-down being shaped by hip-hop music and culture, my music sensibilities were also very much shaped by listening to — no better yet, obsessing about — folks like The Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order , The Smiths, OMD, Cocteau Twins, Echo and the Bunnymen, Public Image Ltd., Bauhaus, INXS, Love & Rockets, and Joy Division among many others. my vinyl and audio tape collection actually need to get a digital upgrade to MP3 so I can get back to listening to some of this.

but anyway, i mention this now, because there's this one band that's really caught my attention. so many of these retro bands pop up every year, but i think The Rapture really has this thing down. it's dance rock at it�s best. don�t believe me? check �em out. will they be another flash in the pan? i'm not sure, but they're really hot right now.

bonus: you should be checking for Dizzee Rascal if you haven't already copped his joint. i know he's just come out in the U.S. this week, but i�ve really been sleeping on a brother. audio and video downloads have been popping on the Web for a minute now and his UK release was back in November. he's like some mash up hip-hop meets garage meets damn, it's a serious mixture and you have to check it out for yourself. some may have even already heard him on that basement jazz joint. if he doesn't end up on some Missy or Neptune's joint, i just don't know what's up. learn more about him, listen to his music, and a watch a video here.

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i'm on my way

MIDEM 2004: THE WORLD'S LEADING INTERNATIONAL MUSIC MARKET

This January, some 9,000 music professionals from around the world will again come together on the French Riviera for five days of working the trade-show floor, deal-making, networking, seminars, conferences, presentations, showcases and parties. Everyone brings their own distinct networks of contacts, turning your five days in Cannes into the most exciting music business forum. Learn more.

but wait there's more...

The NRJ Music Awards 2004. You know the usual, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake. Learn more. I hope your French is up to par, if you decide to follow that link. Mine isn't. But it didn't hurt me the last time I was out there for the Film Festival.

And oh yeah, while I'm gone, go check out Nova's hip-hop quiz. It's kick ass, and he's actually giving away a prize to whomever can answer all 15 questions. I'm not going to enter, it might not be fair. And Mr. Beats and Rants, if you're reading, it'd probably be unfair for you to enter also.

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honoring the dream

"Who Gave The Order" - Wyclef Jean (feat. Buju Banton)

I'm Buju Banton with the preacher's son

Who gave the orders
For them to go, alright
Who gave the orders
Martin was shut down, ah, alright
Who gave the orders
To drop the bomb, we wanna know
Who gave the orders
No refugees across the borders, yeah

Questions asked with no response, ey, Wyclef
Who's gonna answer
Where did all these guns come from, tell me, ey
Who's gonna answer
Feeding lies to our daughters and sons
But they will have to answer
Then what you gonna do when the Rastaman comes
Where you gonna run for cover

Looking through the window of my ire eyes
On this city filled with lies
Observing the people working so hard
Doing whatever it takes to get by
Then I look at myself and realize
That I was put here for a reason
Lord knows I've done my best and I've tried
We gon' keep trying

Who gave the orders
For them to go, Lord no
Who gave the orders
Martin was gunned down, oh
Who gave the orders
To drop the bomb, my God
Who gave the orders
No refugees across the borders, who

Questions asked with no response, ey, Wyclef
Who's gonna answer
Where did all these guns come from, tell me
Who's gonna answer
Feeding lies to our daughters and sons
They will have to answer
Then what they gonna do when the Rastaman comes
Where you gonna run for cover

Well what you gonna do, what you gonna do, what are you gonna do
Incarcerate a million and only free few
What was done to others, it shall be done to you
Open up your eyes and you will see the full view
Work all day, and you can't get raise in pay
Civilly bodies being taken away
I wonder what the voice of the people have to say
Stand up and defend your rights today

Who gave the orders, who gave the orders
For them to go
Who gave the orders
Martin was gunned down, Martin was gunned down, oh, Martin was gunned down
Who gave the orders, who gave the orders
To drop the bomb
Who gave the orders, who gave the orders
No refugees across the borders, no, no, no, no

Questions asked with no response, ey, Wyclef
Who's gonna answer
Where did all these guns come from, Wyclef, ah
Who's gonna answer
Telling lies to our daughters and sons
They will have to answer
Then what they gonna do when the righteous man comes
Where you gonna run for cover

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the flurries have just begun

a view from my window, as the flurries begin to lightly fall. makes me want to jump right back into my bed and crawl up with the Sunday Times. i hope this weather doesn't continue the rest of this week, b/c i've got plans to go to Cannes.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

i want this CD — real bad

so i'm riding home in the car.

wait, let me backtrack.

my moms is turning 72 on monday, and she says she doesn't want to do anything for her birthday, but she would like me to come visit her. so i'm like sure i'll come on saturday. but then my sister calls me this week and tells me she makes reservations for Londels in Striver's Row. so we plan that i'll go over and we'll just drag mom out the house, but not tell her what's up. but this chick, she's out all day, and thinking i'm going to be my usual late self, so my sister has to tell her we're going out to eat and that my brother is meeting us. but does mom come back on time? hell naw. is she dressed the way she'd like to be dressed? hell naw. she's still under the impression that we're not doing anything special, because that's the way she'd like it.

anyway, we get there, and my bro's been waiting awhile. but moms, she really liked the place. and my niece is the center of attention, though we should all be paying attention to mom. but the kid's going to be 14 soon, so she can't help herself. and my sister and i drink Hulks, though i can't stand hennesy. and when my moms tells the waitress what age she's going to be, the waitress says she looks like she's in her 50s. so moms is all smiling like a chessie cat. it felt really good to see her like that.

man, it's taking me a long time to get to this CD i want.

anyway, i promise to go back to the house with them to pick up my car, and spend some time with my niece playing def jam vendetta on the PS2, but she's all pissed 'cuz everything she saved to the memory card somehow got deleted, so she doesn't want to play. she wants to talk on the phone to her friends, and my mom is getting ready for church tomorrow, and my sister is about to go spend the night out, and my brother went back to brooklyn already, so i'm like, yo' i need to go home.

so i get in the car, and sick of urban radio programming, i turn on dj Jeannie Hopper's liquid sould lounge on wbai. and i wasn't feeling it as much as usual, but then she played the roy ayers africa '70 version of "searching," and i was like wow. got damn, wow. and i'm all singing along, all operatic and whatnot. and i wish i could get out the car and move my feet, and do a spin and some body movement. and i'm all like got damned. this shit is dope. wow. and then i remembered that bbemusic was releasing all this unreleased roy ayers material, and i think donald even mentioned it the other night when we hung out. and i decided that i wanted, no, i had to have roy ayers Virgin Ubiquity - Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981, but damn when i went searching for it on amazon, i saw searching wasn't on it. so i went to visit bbe and saw it was only a single. and then i decided i had to have all his unreleased material � the CDs and singles to boot.

and if you don't believe that this recording of "searching" is all that, you just take a listen for yourself. click on the real player logo.

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fresh friday five: the dvds you want to see

from my column on VIBE.com

1. Belly Special Edition and Music CD
Hype Williams sure knew how to make a movie look like a music video. The cinematography was beautiful in this one. I’m sure you remember how Taral Hicks looks all blue black and sexy. And that opening scene—vivid. Well it’s all here just the way you remember it. Special features include director commentary, a deleted scene from The Tunnel nightclub in NYC, and the “Grand Finale” music video from DMX, Method Man, Nas, and Ja Rule. But wait, there’s more…there’s also a few spoken word segments and the audio CD includes soundtrack selections such as “Story to Tell” - Ja Rule, “Top Shooter” – DMX, “Crew Love” - Jay-Z, “Two Sides” - Hot Totti, “Sometimes” – Noreaga and Maze, “Tommy's Theme” - L.O.X., “Windpipe” - Ghostface Killah, and “I Wanna Live” – Bravehearts. If you loved it once, you’ll love it twice.
Buy This DVD!

2. Battle For L.A.
In hip hop, we always hear about rappers battling, but rarely do we hear about DJ and dancing battles. At least not nowadays, since mainstream focus appears to be more on the music than the other aspects of the culture. Battle For L.A. takes you into the hip hop trenches of the West Coast scene, cutting between interviews and footage filmed in the streets and clubs. It’s an intimate look into crew beef with hungry cats who haven’t been signed. Once you finished watching you’ll definitely be able to figure out who deserves the rights to rep L.A. Not everyone’s lyrics or flow is nice, but it’s just mad fun, all in the spirit of hip hop. It’s quite similar to Interscope: The Next Episode, minus the celebrity rapper judges.
Buy This DVD!

3. NSTV- Nuthin’ To Lose
This joint is like a hot-ass mixtape combined with one of those public access shows that feature artist interviews, live shows, and freestyles — all packaged into 80 minutes. It showcases some top-of-the-line talent such as 50 Cent and G Unit, with Yayo. It definitely has it’s hood edge, since you can tell it was before 50 blew up. And it was before Yayo was locked down, and then released. Other cats featured include Q-Tip, D Block, Diplomats, Ruff Ryders, Xzibit, X-ecutionersand Lil Flip. Night Sessions is dubbed as a DVD Magazine, but it’s not as static as a magazine of course. It keeps the action going, and the energy pumping.
Buy This DVD!

4. Inside Hip Hop
As one of the least traditional of all these hip hop DVDs, I’d have to say this was a really intelligent angle to take. Fatman Scoop, radio personality, and call-out, shout-out artist on various mixtapes and remixes, sits down with who he considers the top dogs in the hip hop industry to reveal how the game is really played. Lyor Cohen, CEO of Island/Def Jam; Damon Dash, CEO Rocafella Records and Rocawear; Baby, CO-CEO of Cash Money Millionaires, along with many other heavyweights. And of course this DVD couldn’t have been final without a conversation with hip hop’s first mogul son, Russell Simmons. This is a good pick for entrepreneurs and anyone trying to get their hustle on in the music industry.
Buy This DVD!

5. Beef
Hopefully Beef wins numerous best documentary awards, because it is just that. Hopefully it’s not ghettoized and only considered good enough for hip hop. Why? Because this documentary really weaves the story of rap beefs and battles, and according to its makers there are more volumes to come. And though Beef documents the history of the beef it also touches on present-day beefs, such as the Murder Inc./G Unit friction. This is not fiction. It’s real, getting at the real drama, and talking to the real people who were and are involved in beefs.
Buy This DVD!

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donald made me do it

Well it finally happened. After all the protesting I did, Donald found a way to get me to install MT. Well actually he did it. I thank him so much for this. Even imported all of my old entries and comments and set up my templates so my existing style sheets from my new design would work seamlessly. I gotta' tell you, this dude is a wiz.

Sure there's more work to be done. Styling the comments and trackback - and going through each entry and checking the images and links. I also need to get up in here and clean up all the other site files. And I think some comments are missing and some text still has to be converted to the new style, but I do have to say, I'm proud to be a member of the MT family.

I've also got to give a major shout out to my girl, who goes by the web name of cocotaso, for hooking me up with this major design job.

george should be happy I made the switch, and j. should be happy with my comments now. I think I'm back full swing - well sorta'.

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