RIP Nate Dogg

RIP Nate Dogg

It's sad day in hip hop!! We woke up to the sad news that Nate Dogg passed away last night from complications of the two strokes he suffered in 2007 & 2008.  Gone at such an early age of 41!!  Nate was very talented with his distinctive voice that added some unique flavor to some of the biggest West coast rap songs during the G-funk era in hip hop.

Nate frequently collaborated with his high school friend Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, and 50 Cent.

Soon as I heard the sad news, I had to dig up my records that feature Nate.  My faves are definitely from Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" album & Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" album. 

Sadly, Nate is gone but he will never be forgotten! He made his mark. Long live hip-hop!  Here are two of his most noted hits below:

Public Service Announcement - How to spot the fakes!!

Yours truly doing some product placement! Where's my $$$ Dr. Dre??  :) :)

It is no secret that I LOVE the Beats by Dr. Dre brand of headphones. They not only look good but are of superior quality - something I do NOT skimp on. I got a pair of the studio headphones last year and have not regretted my purchase ever since!!  But like any great thing, there are often imitators!!  They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I beg to differ in this case!! Fake versions of the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones are popping up everywhere!!  Beware!! The fakes will never match up in quality of the sound which is what sets the real ones apart.  Yes, they are a bit costly but worth every penny!! I'll let Ed Lover explain below:

And the Oscar goes to........

Awards season reached it's peak last night with the live telecast of the 83rd annual Academy Awards on ABC.  The Oscars marks the biggest night in Hollywood.   There was plenty to look forward to; the glitz & glamor, the incredible star power, hot trends on the red carpet etc etc.  

The show organizers seemed to have this great need to appeal to a younger demographic - hence the reason there were young hosts chosen.  When it was announced late last year that Anne Hathaway and James Franco had been pegged to host the creme de la creme of award shows, most of us had to scratch our heads! While they are talented in their respective fields, they are not comedians nor do they have proven hosting chops.  Granted they both have hosted Saturday Night Live.

Bottom line, the show was a major snooze fest!!  How I tolerated the entire telecast is still a mystery!!  That's about 3hrs of my life I am not getting back!!  Ironically, the old people rocked out the show! Kirk Douglas was hilarious while presenting the supporting actress award. It's great to see old people with a great sense of humor! Melissa Leo who got the award was a little too excited(as she should be) and dropped the f-bomb in her speech.  Big deal! Not!!!

The King's Speech reigned supreme last night with several awards.  The main ones being Best Actor: Colin Firth,  Best Director: Tom Hooper and Best Picture!  If you haven't seen this movie,  I highly recommend it!!

Once again, Annette Benning was robbed on the Best Actress category - I can't tell you how many times she has been nominated in this category and lost.  Natalie Portman had been favored to win from the the get go and has claimed that title at every award show in that category.  I must admit that i am yet to see the movie Black Swan but it is one to watch.

Honorable mention - The Foreign Language film went to "In A Better World".  The film was partly shot in Kenya and features several Kenyan actors and crew including Ezekiel Onyango, who was the film’s first assistant director, Eddy Kimani, & Evans Muthini among others. Congrats guys!!

The best part of the show was the end - go figure!!  They brought out the adorable yet talented kids from the PS 22 choir from Staten Island to close with a song while all the Oscar winners came onto the stage.  It was nice but a little too late to make up for that bore of a show.

For a list of all Oscar nominations/winners click here.

I was not disappointed when it came to Oscar fashion!! They were more hits than misses!!   Halle Belly dazzled in a Marchesa champagne gown,  Mila Kunis hit it out of the park in her lanvender Elie Saab gown and Mandy Moore looked amazing as did some other A-list stars.  But not all sizzled, some simply fizzled e.g Nicole Kidman!! What was she thinking? She looked like a waitress at the Panda Express!! I could go on but will spare you....

For the hot and flops on the red carpet click here. Pictures galore!

Social Responsibility - Going Green

A group of teenagers from the slums of Nairobi have joined together to make a winning video on environmental protection.

The film competition "1 Minute To Save The World" challenged young filmmakers to create a one-minute video about climate change. The competition received films from around the globe, with submissions arriving everywhere from Mexico to Vietnam. Judges included Frank Oz ("The Muppet Show") and Bruce Parry ("Tribe"). "Me And My Bike" won the $8000 Passion Pictures Best Film and Artists Project Earth Youth Visions award.

"Me And My Bike" is a video created by Wafalme, a group of inspired Kenyan teens who communicate various messages through hip-hop. They are also known for creating "Trash Is Cash," a video offering recycling solutions for their neighborhood, which lacks trash collection - despite the fact that 1.5 tons of trash per day is dumped on their land from Nairobi.

In Wafalme's newest video on bicycling, the group offers the simple yet very real message that bicycles are an environmentally-friendly mode of transportation that can cut down on worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. One lyric states, "It's good for my health, because I need to exercise, it doesn't need any gas, just my feet and my eyes."

Via: Huffington Post

I must say I am very proud of everyone involved in this production!!

Quotable Quotes

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards

The 53rd Annual Grammy awards aired last Sunday.  For the first time in years, I didn't watch the live telecast - was in sin city and it was impossible to peel away from the events that took me there.  Total bummer as I am obsessed with awards shows.  The Grammy's and the Oscars top the list of award shows not to be missed!  I did watch the pre-recorded show later but I must say, it is not the same as watching the event live.

I was stunned to see that Lady Gaga came in an egg! Yes, she was encased in the egg apparently incubating in preparation of her highly anticipated performance of her latest single Born This Way!  This woman is truly unique or weird depending on who you ask.  I especially appreciate her individuality!  Her performance exceeded my expectations!

The show opened with a tribute to the one and only queen of soul, Ms. Aretha Franklin! The artists paying tribute did a great job! Ms. Aretha made a cameo via video thanking everyone for their well wishes as she recovers from an undisclosed illness.  It was good to see her though she seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

My two favorite performances came from Ceelo Green featuring Gweneth Paltrow and the trio: Janelle Monae, BOB & Bruno Mars!  I loved the latter's retro stage set and his take on his latest hit Grenade.

It was also great to see Dr. Dre on stage after a very long hiatus from doing any his own music.  He appeared during the Eminem/Rihanna performance.

The biggest surprise of the night came when they announced that Esperanza Spalding (yeah, who?) won the award for Best New Artist. Nominated in the same category was Drake, Justin Bieber, Florence & The Machine and Mumford & Sons.  Justin Bieber was favored to win.  I had to head to google to look up Esperanza.  To my delight, I found out that she's very talented and does deserve the win as much people didn't agree with it.

For a list of the big winners at the Grammys, click here.

For the red carpet pics, click here.

TV Minute - Superbowl Sunday

Today is the BIG day for football fans - and I mean American football not soccer.  The game is between the Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Green Bay Packers if you don't already know that!

Quite frankly, I do not care for the sport *blasphemy - ducks for cover!* but I do want to be involved in the water cooler conversations.  I need a crash course on basic football rules/plays etc etc! I have a few hours to go! If I don't grasp the lessons quick enough, here are the main reasons I will be tuning in to watch the game:

• To watch Christina Aguilera belt out the national anthem! The girl can blow!  Also, Lea Michele from Glee will be singing America the Beautiful. Score one for pop culture!!

• The commercials! I know I am not alone in this! Let's see what commercials will be the funniest, odd or just plainly pointless! For the price tag companies pay for air time, the ads better be good enough to make an impact!

• Half-time performance - since the nipple gate incident with Janet Jackson, the NFL has been playing it very safe by giving us some snooze worthy performances!  We've all had a case of the blahs!! But fret not - i think the NFL listened to the resounding complains!! This year, The Black Eyed Peas are slated to perform!!  Usher was recently added to the list! You are guaranteed to get high-energy performances from the two!

• Lastly but certainly not least, a new episode of Glee debuts right after the game.  Today's episode will be an ode to the King of pop - the one the only, Michael Jackson! Fox is hoping to keep the massive audience from the game to trickle on to the show.

  Honorable mention - How can I miss a super bowl party where someone is providing the food, drinks, trash talking galore and the comradeship? I am not such a football snob after all!  May the best team win!