Good Reads Around the Web

Are you a Lil Wayne fan? Yes, no, maybe so? Well, if you have any interest in Weezy F. Baby’s music, take a gander at “The Triumph of the Id,” an article by music critic Robert Christgau. He talks about the quality of Lil Wayne’s work and common themes in his lyrics. Interesting stuff.

*****

Rev Run’s son Diggy has a mini-video out for a “freestyle” called “Flow Stoooopid.” He uses the beat from Nas’ “Made You Look.” I must say, I’m diggin’ Diggy’s flow. Nice! Looking forward to seeing more from him.

*****

A woman in NYC was crushed to death by a subway train after she jumped onto the tracks to retrieve her backpack, which had fallen off of the platform. Inside of the backpack?  ID, deodorant and gym clothes. What is your life worth?

*****

A breakdown from  Salon‘s Mary Elizabeth Williams of all the product placement in Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video with Beyonce.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such blatant product placement. But hey, they got a pretty cool video out of it.

 

Good Reads Around The Web

Salon has by far the funniest and most on point break down of the whole Leno/Conan debacle on NBC. My favorite quote: “There’s a collective scorn for the way that NBC has so openly pooped on its audience like Triumph the Insult Dog: replacing its 10 p.m. lineup with five nights of cheap, clunky Jay Leno shows because they’re easier than, I don’t know, creating something new that doesn’t suck? Well, f#ck you, too.”

*****

I was fortunate enough to be born in the decade that produced the BEST music. (That’s the 1970′s for those that don’t know. Sure I was born in 1979, but it still counts.)  One of the booming voices of that era and surely someone whose songs were the soundtrack to countless conceptions was Teddy Pendergrass.  Teddy P passed away and the New York Times provided a lovely and respectful obituary to mark his transition.

*****

I recently discovered a hair site that I absolutely adore called Curly Nikki. Here’s a post from earlier this week.

 

Good Reads Around the Web

Oh how I love books! Check out Salon‘s list of best books of 2009. I keep hearing wonderful fabulous things about “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz, but I haven’t read it yet. I’m going to put it on my to-read list.
~Salon~

Once again, Rochelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press churns out a thought-provoking column. Read her impassioned plea to Detroiters to save the kids.
~Detroit Free Press~

Very long, but interesting piece about marriage. Follow one woman on her journey to make her marriage better by going to therapy.  Lots of detailed and brutally honest moments in this.
~New York Times~

 

Good Reads Around The Web

Has your definition of romance changed over the years? Can you still be wooed with a pink banana seat bike? Hmmm, I think if the bike had sparkly streamers on the handles, I just might be swayed even today. Join the conversation…
~Get ‘Em Girls~

This is an interesting piece in the The New York Times Magazine about Lee Daniels, the director of “Precious.” I had the pleasure of screening this movie last week and it is EXCELLENT. When it hits theaters on November 6, you should definitely go check it out. (SHAMELESS PLUG: You can read my review in the Oct 22-Oct 28 edition of the New York Amsterdam News.) Anywho, this NYT Magazine article is very detailed and provides an interesting peek into Daniels’ personality. The one thing that irked me about this piece is that they keep saying that Daniels had dreads. He had a big wild fro that he cut off recently, but I’ve never seen the dude in locs. Eh. Good piece anyway.
~The New York Times Magazine~

Here’s an interesting theory about the type of black music featured on NPR.  Basically the author says that NPR only chooses black artists who fit into DORF (dead, old, retro or foreign). Hmmm…
~Slate~ via ~Tayari’s Blog~

Morehouse College’s new dress code has caused quite a stir.  The all-male HBCU has now banned sagging pants and grills. Hats and do-rags (and any other non-religious headgear) is banned indoors and there is also a ban on wearing women’s clothing. Ummmm. Many of the rules are actually not so ridiculous (I loathe sagging pants) and it is a private institution, but a lot of people (including myself) think it’s ridiculous to have the rules at all and many people also take issue with the ban on feminine attire.  Why can’t a man who chooses to carry a purse be a Morehouse man? The author of this article has some thoughts on the matter.
~The Root~

 

Mom and Dad had Sex for the First Time on June 8, 2008

I imagine that is something a future teenager might know, based on the fact that so many teenagers today share every single thought, feeling and brain fart on the various social networking sites. Talk about a different idea of parenting! As a kid, I’m sure many of you saw your parents as parents not like actual thinking, feeling, sexual human beings. But for this next generation of kids, they could potentially know everything about their parents’ adolescence, like everything.

This has positive and negative consequences. In a way, it might be good for a kid to know that their parents really did feel every single emotion they’ve felt and just as intensely too. When you’re 15, it’s hard to think of your mother or grandmother as having strong, head-over-heels feelings for someone, but it’s true. That kind of knowledge could lead to a deeper bond.

But on the other hand, there is a such thing as TMI. Should someone’s child really know about the guy she cheated on his dad with in 11th grade? Is it crucial that a kid knows that his dad was an internet thug who was big into under-aged drinking? Some stuff just doesn’t need to be shared. I have a lot of family members on Facebook now and some of my younger relatives have actually de-friended me! There are various reasons for why this occurred, but the main thing is that they were posting things that they did not want their big cousin/aunt to see.  Yeah okay, but what about 30 years from now? Will their teenage offspring be able to access all this info that they’ve dumped into cyberspace? There’s a good chance that the answer is yes and that is really scary to me.

I’m 30 years old and I think most people around my age respect the power of the internet. We understand that things are never really erased because we saw this whole culture in its baby stages right before it became a part of everyday life.  Teens today though seem to either not understand that or not really care. All I know is, I’m really curious to see the first crop of teens from today’s teens.

What say you LID readers? Is the TMI culture that pervades most social networking site going to be a blessing or a curse for parenting the next generation?

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

He thought, and said, “I’m tryin’ to get my life together”
Went home to his lady, these were his confessions
“Baby you a blessin’ and my best friend”

~Common, Faithful~

AIG will undoubted get a verbal thrashing on Capitol Hill today about those bonuses. ~CNN~

Internet addiction (especially of the mobile variety) has become a big issue in jury trials. Recently, a federal judge discovered that nine of 12 jurors in his courtroom had been doing “internet research” on their phones.  It’s like a reflex to Google everything these days, so I can see how it would be difficult for a juror to resist the urge to look something up or clarify something. Still wrong though. ~New York Times~

New York Magazine’s love affair with First Lady Michelle Obama. ~NY Mag~

Remember back when the only endorsements rappers could get were for 40 ounces? Here are a few hilarious/sad videos to jog your memory. ~All Hip Hop~

This book sounds really interesting. It’s a work of fiction called “The Book of the Unknown” and it’s a collection of tales/fables that utilizes Jewish saints.  It’s nothing stuffy though (according to this review). The reviewer describes it as “The Princess Bride” without the gloss. ~Salon~

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

You’re so fine and the day is fine and we’ll be fine

When we get by and we make it by with love

~D’Angelo, When We Get By~

You can get a master’s degree in English and have comic studies as a concentration. ~Christian Science Monitor~

LOL We are all mentally ill. ~Yahoo~

I missed “So You Think You Can Dance” last week, so I am belatedly devastated, DEVASTATED that Will was voted off of the show. WTF? Will is the truth, man. Well, at least now Debbie Allen can return to being a judge. Love her to pieces. ~Recapist~

See, this is why everybody can’t go to the movies. There’s a good mugshot of this “joker” too.      ~Detroit Free Press~