Saturday Mix: Riddim Rockers

Saturday Mix: Riddim Rockers

powered by ODEO

Bad Man Pull Up - Ding Dong
Dutty Wine - Tony Matterhorn
Dutty Wine Remix - Kiprich feat. Mad Michelle
More Punany - Dr. Evil
Hmm Hmm - Beenie Man
Give It Up To Me - Sean Paul feat. Keyshia Cole
Ghetto Story (Remix) - Cham feat. Alicia Keys
Murderer - Fantan Mojah
Gyptian - Beautiful Lady
Alaine - No Ordinary Love
Marijuana - Richie Spice

...get the podcast

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the truth about blogging...here anyway

Truth is, I want to write. I always feel the urge to write. But after the day is gone, sometimes the will and intent don't cross paths. Shame.

I could blame it on the workload, or even the personal life. All too often those seem like excuses. Every day, there's at least 3-4 posts that run through my mind. Often I draft them out on the MDA, but they never seem to make their way to this web page called diary. And I suppose that's the problem. This is a diary, and most of the matter that crosses my mind from the personal realm finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Nowadays, to blog is to really expose yourself. I remember when blogging meant you only wrote for a select few. But now, thanks to Google, or is it thanks to the ease of blogging software, or is it both — the whole world can read your personal space.

Either way, either someone else is trumping you on a pop culture post, or you think twice about displaying the personal to be etched in the search engines until eternity, or at least until some other technological force comes onto the scene.

I blog, write, and edit as a FT gig. I blog, write, and edit as a contributor elsewhere. So the energy here, in this space, lacks. There's got to be at least 10 unpublished posts sitting in the queue, another 5 or so typed up on the MDA, and various other link-type entries scattered across my gmail account.

I don't even know the point I'm trying to make anymore.

I suppose it's something about how I often find myself at this crossroad. The one where I'm not writing anything significant here. The one where I'm thinking about taking a hiatus. Yeah, that crossroad — that moment.

The reasons:

• Because I'm no longer writing for the small audience I once wrote for back in '01 - '02 on this page, I find myself thinking whether that many people need to know my business or even what I think.
• There are far too many writers, just as there are readers. And many all write about the same thing, with little variation in their hook or angle. So why write here what's being written on 1099 other sites?
• Sometimes, the stuff I want to write about here, I'm writing for some other venue — and often, there's a conflict of interest.
• I'm really tired of writing about music, media, and my life.
• Comment culture seems to have changed in that only controversial topics brings out the commenter in readers nowadays. This relates to #1 becuase when there was a smaller audience sharing ideas, there was an inclination to comment on one another's blogs. People visit here, but I often don't even know who they are anymore.
• My top former most blogged topics — hip-hop and technology — are being blogged about en masse (ad nauseam), and to some degree, more or less, well, hip-hop is dead. As for technology, as stated above in not so many words, I gotta give all my tech posts to other spots.

No this is not one of those Lynne is going off for weeks at a time again posts. It's just that Lynne is rethinking her game. Lynne's juggling a few ideas about making things interesting and spicing it up. Lynne's looking for a new angle — a new schtick.

It's about time I stepped up to the level of this design.

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solution for my last.fm problem

a couple of days ago i wrote about the issue i was having with submitting tracks from my ipod to last.fm since upgrading to iTunes 7 and the iPod software update that came with it. i was really rubbing my forehead over this one. especially since last.fm no longer supports its iscrobbler plugin, and is developing its last.fm app.

since the last.fm app is still in beta, it didn't have the ability to update iPods anyway. mac users had to use yamipod so that songs they listened to on their iPod could be submitted to last.fm's servers and then be added to their charts there. it was definitely a little frustrating to begin with, having to use two apps instead of just one, as many had previously did with the iscrobbler plugin.

well, i'm thankful for open source. i spent many days searching for free apps that would solve my problem. i thought this menuet app was going to work, but after installation, though i found it to be a nifty app, i realized it only updated songs played in iTunes to last.fm — and not ones played on the iPod. finally this morning, after snooping around in last.fm's forums related to the iTunes scrobblers group there, i found a solution that's been sitting right under my nose since september 15. damn all that lost music history!

someone developed iscrobbler 1.2.1 test 2, that's supposed work just as the old iscrobbler plugin did. i've already realized that it submits iTunes played tracks to last.fm much quicker than the bulky last.fm app does. i'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the update iPod feature works.

wish me luck.

tags: itunes7 | video iPod | last.fm

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the last king of scotland

In theaters today: Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

Synopsis: In an incredible twist of fate, a Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most barbaric figures: Idi Amin. Impressed by Dr. Garrigan's brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physician and closest confidante. Though Garrigan is at first flattered and fascinated by his new position, he soon awakens to Amin's savagery -- and his own complicity in it. Horror and betrayal ensue as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and get out of Uganda alive.

I see an Oscar nod for Whitaker in this.

tags: films | movies | forest whitaker

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call for papers: Waking Up From History: Music, Time, and Place

The 2007 Pop Conference at Experience Music Project

April 19-22, 2007

Seattle, Washington

Music happens, then it ripples. What is the relationship between the circumstances that produce music and our swirling notions of pop's past, future, and zeitgeist? How do the times affect the notes? What factors literally and figuratively change the beat of a city? Some decry postmodern "pastiche," while others defend pop concoctions as multiculturalism in action or intoxicating aesthetics. But what are the power relationships at work when music stops time and lets us dance in place?

For this year's Pop Conference, we invite presentations on music, time, and place. This might include:

*Reading time and place into musical innovation. The breakbeat as a refunking of sonic structure and origin myth; or the social history of changing time signatures.

* The racial, class, and gender components that constitute a pop place or time's "we"; the mutating New Orleans of the hip-hop, funk, R&B, and jazz eras, for example.

*Evolving notions of musical revivalism: retro culture, questions of periodization in music, and the validity of the concept of youth culture as a sign of the times.

*Geographies of sound, or how place is incorporated sonically. Lise Waxer called Cali, Colombia, an unlikely bastion of salsa revivalism, a "city of musical memory."

*The dematerialization of the album into the celestial jukebox and other new media. Does the Chicken Noodle Soup dance live on 119 and Lex or on Youtube?

*How dichotomies of nearness/experience and farness/history affect music fanship, music writing, and music making.

*The "place" of pop now, culturally, professionally, and certainly politically.

Proposals should be sent to Eric Weisbard at EricW@emplive.org by December 15, 2006. For individual presentations, please keep proposals to roughly 250 words and attach a brief (75 word) bio. Full panel proposals and more unusual approaches are also welcome. For further guidance, contact the organizer or program committee members: Jalylah Burrell (New York Press), Jon Caramanica (Vibe), Daphne Carr (series editor, Da Capo Best Music Writing), Jeff Chang (author, Can't Stop Won't Stop), Michelle Habell-Pallán (University of Washington), Josh Kun (University of Southern California) Eric Lott (University of Virginia), Ann Powers (Los Angeles Times), Simon Reynolds (author, Rip it Up and Start Again), Bob Santelli (author, The Big Book of Blues), and Judy Tsou (University of Washington). We are excited to announce that presentations from this year's conference will be considered for a
future issue of The Believer.

The Pop Conference connect academics, critics, musicians, and other writers passionate about talking music. Our second anthology, Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music, will be published by Duke in 2007. The conference is sponsored by the Seattle Partnership for American Popular Music (Experience Music Project, the University of Washington School of Music, and radio station KEXP 90.7 FM), through a grant from the Allen Foundation for Music. For more information, go to http://www.emplive.org/education/index.asp and click on "Pop Conference."

tags: music | conferences | pop

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Listening Party: What It Is! Funk Box Set

The images for this box set kind of speak for themselves, but it wouldn't hurt to have a sample listening experience of its contents.

Click here to listen to a full stream listening party of What It Is Funk Box.

It's chockfull of those classic break beats that crate diggers and budding producers hunger for, which is making it a worty purchase for me. Besides, Mr. Soulsides himself, Oliver Wang has co-signed it, as he's written the liner notes for the set. I feel strongly about laying down my hard-earned ducats on this one.

And just in case you don't have time to listen, here's a track listing of the four-disc set. There's a lot of great music in there that's hard to find on vinyl, disc, or digital.

WHAT IT IS! FUNKY SOUL AND RARE GROOVES (1967-1977)
Track Listing

Disc One
1. The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band – “Spreadin’ Honey”
2. Bar-Kays – “Soul-Finger”
3. Brother Jack McDuff – “The Shadow Of Your Smile”
4. Jimmy Norman – “Gangster Of Love (Parts I & II)”
5. Rufus Thomas – “The Memphis Train”
6. Grassella Oliphant – “Get Out Of My Life Woman”
7. Eddie Harris – “Live Right Now”
8. Natural Bridge Bunch – “Pig Snoots, Part I”
9. The Freedom Sounds featuring Wayne Henderson – “Soul Sound System”
10. Clarence Carter – “Snatching It Back”
11. Artie Christopher – “Stoned Soul”
12. The T.S.U. Tornadoes – “Getting The Corners”
13. Tony Alvon & The Belairs – “Sexy Coffee Pot”
14. Mark Putney – “Don’t Come Around Here Anymore”
15. The Commodores – “Keep On Dancing”
16. The Southshore Commission – “Right On Brother—Part 1”
17. Eldridge Holmes – “Pop, Popcorn Children”
18. Cold Grits – “It’s Your Thing”
19. Soul Angels – “It’s All In Your Mind”
20. Johnny Cameron & The Camerons – “Funky John”
21. Joyce Jones – “Help Me Make Up My Mind”
22. Lou Johnson – “Rock Me Baby”
23. The Noble Knights – “Sing A Simple Song”
24. Titus Turner – “Do You Dig It”
25. Phil Moore Jr. – “Funky Canyon”
26. The Fabulous Counts – “Jan Jan”
27. The Rhine Oaks – “Tampin’”

Disc Two
1. Cyril Neville – “Gossip”
2. The Mighty Hannibal – “Somebody In The World For You”
3. Little Sister – “Stanga”
4. Anada Shankar – “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
5. Brute Force – “The Deacon”
6. Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band – “Sookie Sookie”
7. Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers – “Right On”
8. Curtis Mayfield – “(Don’t Worry) If There’s A Hell Below We’re All Going To Go”
9. Johnny Harris – “Stepping Stones”
10. 6ix – “I’m Just Like You”
11. The Unemployed – “Funky Thing—Part 1”
12. Shirley Scott – “Messie Bessie”
13. Willie West – “Fairchild”
14. The Gaturs – “Cold Bear”
15. Mongo Santamaria – “I Can’t Get Next To You”
16. Lulu – “Feelin’ Alright”
17. Memphis Horns – “Soul Bowl”
18. Hammer – “Tuane”
19. Johnny Tolbert & De Thangs – “Take It Off—Part II”
20. Harlem River Drive featuring Eddie Palmieri & Jimmy Norman – “Seeds Of Life”
21. Wilson Pickett – “Engine Number 9” (Single Version)

Disc Three
1. Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters – “Hard Times”
2. Houseguests – “What So Never The Dance—Pt. 1 & 2”
3. Eugene McDaniels – “Headless Heroes”
4. Wade Marcus – “Spinning Wheel”
5. Earth, Wind & Fire – “Bad Tune”
6. Rasputin’s Stash – “Mr. Cool”
7. Junior Mance – “Don’t Cha Hear Me Calling To Ya”
8. The Stovall Sisters – “Hang On In There”
9. The Beginning Of The End – “Funky Nassau (Part II)”
10. Mark Holder & The Positives – “Whatever’s Fair”
11. Ed Robinson – “Face It”
12. Young-Holt Unlimited – “Wah Wah Man”
13. Aretha Franklin – “Rock Steady” (Alternate Mix) (Previously Unissued)
14. Black Haze Express – “Won’t Nobody Listen”
15. Allen Toussaint – “Goin’ Down”
16. Malo – “Suavecito”
17. Charles Wright – “You Gotta Know Whatcha Doin’”
18. Tami Lynn – “Mo Jo Hanna”
19. King Curtis – “Ridin’ Thumb”
20. Macondo – “Almendra”
21. Little Richard – “Nuki Suki”

Disc Four
1. United 8 – “Getting Uptown (To Get Down)”
2. Howard Tate – “8 Days On The Road”
3. Labelle – “Moon Shadow” (Edit)
4. Society’s Bag – “Let It Crawl”
5. Black Heat – “Wanaoh”
6. Clarence Reid – “If It Was Good Enough For Daddy”
7. Claudia Lennear – “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky”
8. The Mystic Moods – “Cosmic Sea”
9. Cold Blood – “Kissing My Love”
10. Seatrain – “Flute Thing” (45 Edit)
11. The Meters – “Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push And Shove) Part II”
12. Freddi/Henchi & The Soul Setters – “Funky To The Bone”
13. Bobby Byrd – “Try It Again”
14. Cornell Dupree – “Teasin’”
15. Dr. John – “(Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away”
16. Oscar Brown, Jr. – “Chicken Heads”
17. Funk Factory – “Rien Ne Va Plus”
18. Herbie Mann – “Cajun Moon” (Single Version)
19. Darrow Fletcher – “Improve”
20. Faze-O – “Riding High”
21. Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns – “Four Play” (Promo Edit)
22. Eddie Hazel – “California Dreamin’” (Edit)

tags: music | soul | rare grooves

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iTunes7 + 5th gen iPod + last.fm = disaster

I've been meaning to write this post ever since Apple first released iTunes 7 and the latest iPod software that supports gapless playback. I'm not hating on the new features that Apple released — in fact I love them. How else would I have been able to see all of Season 2 of Noah's Ark had I not been able to download it from the iTunes store and add it to my iPod for viewing? How else would I have been able to easily download all of the album art for the majority of my music collection?

iTunes 7 makes adding music to my iPod so easy, I wonder why certain features weren't included in earlier versions. To be honest, I love iTunes 7 and I love my 5th gen iPod. And for the most part, I love last.fm. But here's the rub.

Since the updates, there's no software or third-party app to sync my 5th gen iPod with the last.fm. service. There are applications in development, but otherwise, for a Mac user like me, there's currently no means of satisfying my last.fm fix.

I became addicted to last.fm because it enables me to keep a history of my music listening habits and it enables me to connect with others who have similar musical interests, it even helps me to discover new music. I'm so addicted, I pay for the right to use the service (though it's free) just so that I can contribute to a service that I love and therefore do my part to help its developers upgrade the apps and keep the site running.

When last.fm first upgraded it's software to include a full-featured application that somewhat mimics what you can do on the site and started supporting that beta project as opposed to further developing its plugins, I was initially a little miffed because I had to download yamipod in order to scrobble the iPod tracks. In the past, last.fm's plugins did both, scrobbled from your iTunes and your iPod.

But I got used to yamipod, though Lord knows it took a little time since I was an ultimate senuti fan. Senuti is an app that allows me to copy tracks from the iPod into iTunes, which is essentially what yamipod does — though yamipod has additional features, such as submitting listened to tracks to last.fm.

last.fm may scrobble the tracks I listen to on my computers at both work and home, but when it comes to my iPod — I'm currently, pretty much ass out. And man is it annoying; especially since most of my music listening is done on the iPod — on the subway and in the car. Basically, my true music listening history is not being captured out there in the ether — on last.fm — but only on a Recently Played playlist that I generated on the iPod itself.

So what's a girl like me to do? I guess I have to wait it out and suffer the withdrawal symptoms. There's a high chance though, that after the withdrawal subsides that I just may kick the habit and find other means of wasting my time.

I'm hoping that won't be the case.

tags: itunes7 | video iPod | last.fm

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outkast and timberlake play prince

in new york magazine's pop review on september 18, ben white wrote:

"For musicians, Prince is like the East Texas oil field: a vast source of natural energy that, if not quite limitless, runs deep enough to last another few decades. There are at least seven Prince incarnations available for appropriation—late-nineties crooners like Maxwell, for instance, picked up on Prince, the Soul Man, while Diddy has clearly fallen under the influence of Prince, the Ceaseless Changer of Names. The most timeless, however, are the Sex Fiend and the Protean Genius, and it is these that inspire Justin Timberlake and OutKast, respectively, on their new albums, FutureSex/LoveSounds and Idlewild."

As much as I'm digging both albums right now, this thought had not occured to me. That's because, I suppose, when making Prince comparisons I tend to fall for the obvious rip offs such as D'Angelo, Maxwell, Bilal (I once wrote about this one) and the rest of that ilk. I never took the time to break Prince down into his various elements such as White did. (Even when writing about Prince I never did).

This is definitely a clever intro for a joint review of both albums. And I'm not here to steal White's shine, so you go over to New Yor Metro and read the article for yourself and decide whether you agree with his ruminations.

tags: music | justin timberlake | outkast

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hip-hop weekly coming in october

just in case you didn't believe me when i told you earlier, Advertising Age has officially covered the retun of David Mays/Raymond Scott (Benzino) team (the former heads of the hip-hop bible The Source). The publication is expected to hit stands by October 16, and editorial will be lead by former Vibe EIC Mimi Valdes, who had this to say about the new publication:

"The magazine will try to get in on the celebrity-weekly action, particularly through columns by radio vets Wendy Williams and Star & Buc Wild, but won't leave it at that."

there also appears to be a web site in the works as the new media group has struck a deal with hiphopdirectory to take over the domain hiphopweekly. (via prohiphop)

tags: hip-hop | media | magazines

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Diversity in the blogosphere

Simon Owens of bloggasm recently took a stab at mapping the diversity of the blogosphere. His study in his own words by no means was scientific nor as large a sample as he'd like to fully represent these findings, but still his findings from polling 1,000 bloggers had some interesting results.

Overall, bloggers tend to be white and male. His study pretty much matches the general consensus on that one. As well, white males comprise the majority of tech, gadget, and political blogs.

Feminist and Sex blogs are primarily written about by women. This one definitely makes sense. There are few men who call themselves feminist, and it's pretty much norm that men aren't as open about talking about sex as women are.

The largest percentages of black/african (as termed by his study) bloggers primarily blog about gossip, fashion, and music.

To see the study visit Simon Owens' Mapping the Diversity of the Blogosphere: A Bloggasm Case Study.

tag: diversity | blogosphere

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weird al is white and nerdy

weird al is back better than ever with his play on chamillionaire's "ridin' dirty." "white and nerdy" is hysterical.

(via spin.com)

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i hate script kiddies

the past three days have been sheer hell for me. my email and web site were both suspended intermittently because someone injected a script onto my domain somehow. after much contemplation, i surmised that this was happening because of BlackThoughtWare.org, my other website that was housed on a CMS so out of date that it had to be vulnerable to attackers.

in the meantime, i lost three days of email, three days of my site's feed getting picked up, three days of my site's pages being indexed in the search engines, three days of traffic. also the integrity and reputation of my domain had been compromised, as mass emails were being sent out from it.

unfortunately, i don't have the wherewithal to do the required sleuthing to find the culprits. this time, they didn't leave any signature or markings of their crew as they had done in the past.

it was a nightmare that i never wanted to happen. of course, BlackThoughtWare.org wil be back better than ever, and perhaps i'll use it the way i originally inteded -- to seed a book idea.

i've done a few things on the backend to insure something like this doesn't happen again, at least not for a while. my advice to others: be wary of using contact forms, unless they are fully supported by your CMS or your web host, or hosted on another server altogether where the company is in the business of dealing with contact forms, such as freedback, which is the service i use on this site. as well, be wary of using a CMS that is no longer supported by its author.

this has been a very interesting learning experience for me. and now that i'm back, and value having my site live, perhaps i can get to some of those posts i promised in august that i never got to write. and maybe i can start posting a little more regularly.

script kiddies | hack | cms

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whitney houston files for divorce

after the great train wreck that was being bobby brown that appeared on bravo showed us how disgustingly obsessed with bobby that whitney really is, we've only come to find out that she really can't take his ass anymore. now that would have been some interesting fodder for that vibe cover story, innit?

Here's the link to the story: Whitney Houston files for divorce from Bobby Brown (@ SFGate via the AP)

whitney houston | bobby brown | divorce

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johnny cash obsession

This may come as a complete shocking surprise, but I have become totally obsessed with Johnny Cash's cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus." Because he is a country singer, his version has a bluesy gospel feel to it and the piano tinkling is reminiscent of Ragtime. The music, overall, has become absolutely devoid of any indication of it's original Brit Synth Pop sensibilities. His voice is somber and contemplative. Whereas with Depeche, I once felt that the song was sacrilegious, with Cash it doesn't come off in that manner.

Of course having Rick Rubin as producer on the project, and his getting guitarist John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to re-work an acoustic version of the song, is an added plus.

I might, in fact, find it more useful as a listening aid when depressed and hitting the bottle heavily, but instead I'm quite intrigued by his ability to make the song his own. It's the thing that makes me listen again and again.

Listen to Johnny Cash - Personal Jesus here.

the man comes around | johnny cash | personal jesus

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@ FC Now

This is what I've been blogging about for Fast Company lately...

• Apple Announcements
  Apple announced a host of new products including iPods, iTunes 7, QuickTime 7.1.3, and iTV.
  (tags: apple | ipod)

• It's Showtime for Apple
  Before the announcements, all Apple stores were shut down.
  (tags: apple)

• I Want my Bud.TV
  Anheuser-Busch to launch its own YouTube.
  (tags: bud" rel="tag">bud | budweiser" rel="tag">budweiser | media)

• Advertising Risk
  Is Survivor an advertising risk?
  (tags: survivor | advertising)
  

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it's not a rumor

if you've been keeping up with radar online or jay's hiphopmusic.com, then you would've heard that david mays and ray benzino are on the rebound. they're partnering with wendy williams to launch a mag, and mimi valdes, former vibe eic, will be the editor. with williams involved, it's almost certain that gossip will be involved. sounds like an interesting venture, but wondering how the chemistry will play out.

we kept our ear close to the street on this one, and sources close to some of the parties involved have confirmed that it's definitely a go. we haven't heard a launch date or source of funding yet, but we'll do a little due diligence and follow up with ya'.

media | magazines

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unquotable(s)

i'm not usually one to discuss politics, but last week, some really stupid quotes made their way into the media from two government officials.

the first is from a digital recording made in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office of him talking about a Hispanic legislator's fiery temperament. investigators are currently looking into whether hackers got into the governor's office computers or whether the recording, which was stored as an MP3 file on the governor's office server.

according to the AP: "The recording, made during a speechwriting session last March, was obtained by the Los Angeles Times, which published a story last week. It featured the governor and his chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, idly speculating about the ethnic background of state Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, whom Kennedy praises for her gumption."

and this is what he said: "They are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

while it might be a crime and breach of security for someone to have obtained the file, isn't it a crime that he even said what he said? it's even further criminal that "Garcia said she was not offended and appeared by the governor's side as he apologized."

and the unquotable of all unquotables last week was g w bush in his interview with katie couric, where he said: “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.’’

and i'll just let that one speak for itself.

tags: schwarzenegger | bush | quotes

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Flashback: 911 Reflections

Five years later, and there is still a gaping hole in lower Manhattan.

I didn't write anything here on the 11, I guess because I couldn't. I tried. Instead, I waited until the morning after -- after going to my rooftop and seeing the lights projected up into the heavens from over Manhattan's skyline. I tried to take a photo, so I could post it here instead of writing anything. For some reason, on each photo I took, neither the two bright lights or the cloud hanging over them would appear in the photos. So I offer a reflection from my archives...

These email missives were originally posted on Africana.com on September 14, 2001, and then republished on September 11, 2002. As there appears to be no archives of Africana.com stories at BlackVoices on AOL, I'll republish the real-time email missives I sent out on September 11, 2001 as the events unfolded.

Emails from Brooklyn

Over the course of the day I sent dozens, many dozens of emails to friends, family and listserves. Here is a sampling of the messages that day spawned.

Date: Tue Sep 11, 2001 09:19:00 AM Subject: Two Planes Crash Into World Trade Center

Can see the fires out of my window. Just saw the reports on the news. Having problems obtaining any reports online at this time. But they have pretty much confirmed that both towers of the WTC have explosions.

Date: Tue Sep 11, 2001 10:19:00 aM Subject: Re: The world trade ctr!

One of the Towers just went down. Saw it from my window. The Pentagon has also been hit. Gov't officials and media still trying to confirm who is responsible for this. In downtown Brooklyn right now, it is a mess. All fire trucks and police cars are heading into Manhattan.

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:30:22 -0400 Subject: Re: the second building just collapsed

i am crying
this is sad

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 11:54:41 -0400

Things in New York will never be the same again, I am sure.

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 12:11:35 -0400

I saw everything from my Brooklyn apartment it was unbelievable. I was in the street awhile ago and traffic is backed up in Brooklyn. Folks are walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Many of them with ash in their hair and on their clothes. I am just now beginning to smell it through my window. Until now, there was no odor.

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 14:10:28 -0400

I no longer smell the smoke. I no longer hear the panic in the streets of Brooklyn, nor the ambulance, fire truck, and police sirens. It simply seems that all things are quiet. That everyone is in shock. I have to admit, before the buildings went down, I was glued to my window. Now I am glued to the TV.

My mother, who will be 70 in January, heard that something was going on, but didn't know quite what yet. She proceeded to lower Manhattan today for an appointment. Somehow she decided to reroute herself to the direction of home. Glad she did. She called me then, but I have not heard from her since.

There is no way to tell whether this is all over or not. There could be more on the horizon. A wind just breezed past my window, it is the smell of smoke again.

Date: Tue Sep 11, 200109:05:00 pM Subject: Re: Plane Crashes into World Trade Center

Somehow, I keep thinking about the book of Revelations.

Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 09:34:00 PM

This has been a day unlike any day I have ever known. Or probably will ever know again. I walked into the street around 11 a.m. and there were people covered in soot, running, trying to get home. Sirens all damn day. Just on and on and on. I cannot even say I know what it feels like to be in one of those countries where there is war in abundance. But I do know, I was afraid today. I do know I cried. I do know I prayed. I feared for my safety. The safety of this country.

Tonight I go out. Police are circling around my neighborhood to protect the Muslims. The black smoke, dense like fog, entering my chest, causing me to cough. I have never experienced this before and hope I never will again.

I cannot imagine what it was like to be there up close. I cannot imagine the pain of the victim's families. War has not touched our soil since Pearl Harbor. This is a serious feeling of being totally vulnerable.

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 21:38:20 -0400

I live in downtown Brooklyn near a Mosque.

The cops are heavily patrolling the area. There is still black smoke, thick like fog, rising like a cloud, hovering above the city and Brooklyn. I am sure it is in NJ as well.

I pray for the victim's families.

Additives:

• Where were you? (via beats and rants 2.2)
  
• Today is like any other day(via culturekitchen)
  
• September 11, 2001 (NYC) (via ebogjohnson)
  
• Five years later (via NewBlackMan)
  

tags: 911 | america attacked

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pharoahe monch - push (video)

after 7 years, he's finally back. and it's well worth the wait too.

to watch the video for pharoahe monch's push, click here.

it's the first track off his forthcoming sophomore release Desire, an album produced by my main man (and former partner in rhyme) from the south side of queens - Mr. Lee Stone - the talented production mind behind scarface's "On My Block" and Monch collaborator on internal affairs.

tags: hip-hop | music | video | pharoahe monch

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Technical Producer: Inc.com & Fastcompany.com

We are looking for a Technical Producer with at least 2 years experience. This position requires in-depth knowledge of front-end and back-end technologies. The Technical Producer must be equally comfortable coding XHTML/CSS templates as they would be developing PHP and MySQL applications.

The Technical Producer will have a variety of duties ranging from short-term daily publishing tasks to longer-term XHTML and CSS development projects to smaller-scale application development. Tasks may include building new site sections, revising and building online publishing tools, redesigning pages,
implementing site improvements, and performing general maintenance.

The Technical Producer will also be responsible for helping to define internal processes, and must be able to contribute to all stages of the product development cycle.

Requirements:

* Excellent XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills
* Strong knowledge of PHP and MySQL
* Strong knowledge of browser compatibilty issues
* Excellent communication skills
* Experience working with content management systems
* Must be able to learn new skills and processes quickly
* At least 2 years related experience

The ideal candidate will also have related experience with the following:

* Macromedia Flash
* Movable Type
* Java, JSP, Perl
* RSS
* Specification writing
* UNIX
* XML & XSL

Experience in the publishing industry is a plus.

Only job applications accompanied by a salary requirement will be
considered.

contact: pmaiorana[at]mvpub.com

tags: jobs | web

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Account Development/Marketing Manager: Inc.com & Fastcompany.com

nc.com and Fastcompany.com, leading business Web sites, are looking for an Account Development/Marketing Manager with experience developing print, online and direct marketing programs. Your experience will be used to develop integrated advertising programs that encompass online, print and event-marketing options for the Web sites. The manager will evaluate various options and interact with online and print sales and marketing staffs, production, edit and design groups. He/she will be responsible for evaluating and determining which strategies work best, and preparing marketing programs to support these strategies. Candidates for the position should have at least five years' experience in the online field along with related exposure to print and event marketing. A knowledge of the various online research services is a plus.

Contact: mmerwin@mansueto.com

tags: jobs | web

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Online Marketing Analyst: Inc.com & Fastcompany.com

Due to rapid growth, Inc.com and Fastcompany.com, leading business Web sites, seek an Online Marketing Analyst to continue to drive the success of our properties. We want a smart, entrepreneurial person who is passionate about online media; someone who is creative and analytical--who can work independently and master the fast pace of the Web. Job responsiblities include:

Plan and execute marketing strategy for Inc.com and Fastcompany.com, including new product marketing plans. Work closely with Search Engine Marketing and Optimization, trade advertising and strategic partnerships. Write copy and supervise creative design.

Conduct proprietary reader research and analyze syndicated @plan research to understand reader needs. Present research to managers to shape strategy and to support advertising sales strategy.
Measure site traffic and generate reports using Omniture Web Analytics and other traffic reporting systems.

Conduct research reports for managers including competitive analysis, market share analysis and industry trend research--stay on top of constantly changing online media landscape.

Job requirements include: College degree, Two years' experience in online media, Internet, e-commerce or related field. Facility with Microsoft Office, including Excel and PowerPoint. Strong writing and communication skills. Proficient in online Web analytics and online reporting systems. Solid understanding of online media.

contact: mmerwin@mansueto.com

tags: jobs | web

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Web Marketer: GoTV Networks, Inc.

Company: GoTV Networks, Inc.

Job Title: Web Marketer (part-time, possible full-time)/Social Networking Emphasis

Description: The ideal candidate for this position has 2+ years experience , personal or corporate, in designing web pages and interactive rich media. No web programming required but must have a full understanding of functionality and user interactivity. Responsibilities include concept development, project design/build out and management of web pages on broadly-focused social networking, tagging, and user-generated content sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Hi5, Xanga, Tribe.net, Tagworld, YouTube, Revver, etc. Knowledge of avatar life (Cyworld, SecondLife, Habbo Hotel) a big plus. Ability to work well with tight deadlines and handle multiple projects at once is required. Must have outstanding creativity in layout & design, advanced technical skills with Adobe and Macromedia products, plus a working knowledge of video/sound used on the web. Online portfolio is a must , or show us your million friends and all the places you hang out on the social Web .

You get to work 10 plus hours/week, depending on your and our needs, on maintaining various pages and presence for a fun start-up in Sherman Oaks. We'd like you to work from here much of the time , but certainly some page management can be done from home. There is potential for a full-time position for the right candidate. Show us your stuff!

View job listing on linkedin

tags: jobs | web

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the rapture - get myself into it (video)

i first got the hots for the rapture back in january 2004 while i was watching a music program in france. a few weeks later, i copped their cd. recently, i saw the video for get myself into it, and was like "wow" that's a cool video. actually better than madonna's roller skating rink joint. and now i feel like i need this album. i know it isn't out yet, but maybe i could obtain an advanced copy if i promise to write a review.

i still feel like this group is everything that's good about the music i loved from the 80s.

tags: music | video | the rapture

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i'm a winner

i've won the 2006 black weblog awards black blogger achievement award. thank you to all of those who voted for me, as well as all of those who have been reading and linking to me all of these years.

i'd like to give a special shout out to the black blogmother and blogfather, for had they not encouraged me back in 2001 this piece of diary here may not have even gone as far as it has. also much respect to jason toney, for being one of my first loyal readers and for reinventing his blog self every few months—a move that always keeps me on my toes. also thanks to the blogfam, especially donald and j. for helping a sister to keep the MT backend tight.

now, go check out the other winners.

tags: black weblog awards

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