Clae Spring 2009

Clae, founded in 2001 by Sung Choi, continues to put out some nice styles. After a three year hiatus, the brand came back strong a few years ago. These are a few of my favorites from the new Spring '09 collection. Check out their website, Clae.com, for more colors and styles.

Source

STIMULATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (The Stimulus Plan) will be signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday. The Act provides tax cuts and also provides spending to Education, the country's Infrastructure, Welfare, Energy, and Health Care. At this time it is unclear on how we can tell if the stimulus is working. Economists say that it will take years before we know if there was any impact made, but the thought seems to be universal that something needed to be done immediately. No Republicans voted for the bill so there will most certainly be significant backlash from The GOP in the coming months. President Obama has said on numerous occasions that everything will not be fixed with the passing of this bill. It will take more time and effort from all of us to get this country going back in the right direction. For further reading on The Act itself and how it will affect you, please see the links below:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090214/ap_on_go_co/stimulus_stakes_who_gets_what
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009

Shaq Leads West All-Stars to a 146-119 Victory over the East

Shaq killed that Nas beat! I don't think I'll ever be able to say that about one of his raps, but he did his thing with the Jabbawockeez. He always puts on a show and this year was no different. The "Shaqtus" had 17 points and 5 rebounds in only 11 minutes of play. And the pass he made through Dwight Howard's legs was just sick! Mr. Shaqtastic shared the MVP honors with Kobe Bryant who had 27 points to lead all scorers. LeBron James led the East with 20 points and a nasty dunk at the end of the game. This was an exciting All-Star game even though the score wasn't that close. And I'm sure the game next year in Dallas will be off the hook!

The Lonely Island feat. T-PAIN - I'm On a Boat

"I got my swim trunks, and my flippy-floppys. I'm flippin' burgers, you at Kinko's straight flippin' copies."

For fans of Jizz in my Pants and Lazy Sunday here is another hilarious video from Andy Samberg and crew. T-Pain pops up just to remind us that his auto-tone sounds good over almost any beat. Yeah I said it!!! FYI, this song is also available on iTunes.

Artist Spotlight - Pacific Division

U-N-I isn't the only "Left Coast" group being slept on these days. We could really have a Blog section called "Slept On West Coast Artist of the Week" at the rate this is going. Funny thing is I've been a Pac Div fan before I even heard of U-N-I. They've been doing their thing for a while. Group members Mibbs, Like, and BeYoung definitely have something special they are bringing to the game. No bling talk, gun talk, or dope talk on these records. Instead, they deliver rhymes that the average Joe can relate to. "All I Want" is an ode to the American Dream, but from the perspective of trying to get it the 'right' way. One of their most popular songs, "Taste", is also my favorite from the group. The song lets everybody know that if you aren't hip to Pac Div.......you're missing out! The group tends to use comedy in a lot of their verses. On the hilarious "Ack Like U Chillin" they give you advice on how to get out of situations that may get a little sticky. Stealing money from your job? Get caught cheating? No worries. Just ACK LIKE U CHILLIN'! After listening to a few songs from Pacific Division you'll see why they have been co-signed by Pharrell, Questlove, and Snoop.

My Personal Pacific Division Soundtrack:

Gorgeous
Taste
All I Want
Women Problems (Video Below)
Ack Like U Chillin'


http://www.pacdiv.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pacificdivision

OLD SKOOL VIDEO SPOTLITE - L'Trimm - "Cars That Go Boom"

This video is wrong on so many levels. It's like the director said "Okay you two dance around and look pretty. I'll go around Miami and film some cars with speakers. And to switch things up, I'll let you ladies wear different hats." But, I guess you really can't have an artistic video when you are directing a song about girls liking speakers. Not much to go on. The song itself was kinda catchy back then, but it sounds really lame now. L'Trimm was a product of the Miami bass sound that 2 Live Crew made popular. Believe it or not, these chicks made three albums in the late 80's and early 90's. "Cars That Go Boom" (or "Cars With the Boom" depending on your source) was the biggest hit from those recordings. I guess we can give L'Trimm a pass since they really didn't seem to take themselves too seriously. I mean somebody actually paid them for this. I can't knock that hustle.

Alphacat (as Barack Obama) - "Whatever I Like"

I was hesitant to post this video earlier because I couldn't tell if it was really funny or really lame. Ayo, I don't know what was wrong with me because this is HILARIOUS!!!! "No more shady healthcare, you can get what I get!" Don't let the fact that dude looks like Drake throw you off. Pure comedy.

REALLY?!?!?!?!?

"She looks nothing like I looked back then. We have NO similarities.” - Lil' Kim

According to Vibe Magazine and HipHopDX, Lil' Kim was not too happy with the selection of Naturi Naughton to play her in the biopic Notorious. Ms. Voletta Wallace claims that Kim felt Naturi was too...um....dark...to play her. Vibe reports that there were rumors that Kim wanted Christina Milian to play her in the movie. Christina Milian? Really???










I see the resemblance! Anyway, Naturi did her thing (in more ways than one) in the movie and represented the Big Momma well. Hopefully Kim and Ms. Wallace call a truce soon. Charli Baltimore was his girl at the time of his death and couldn't even get a footnote! She has a real beef!

The Steelers Reign Supreme!

Too much Big Ben. Too much Santonio Holmes. The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 Sunday night for their 6th, yes 6th, Super Bowl Championship. Personally, I was rooting for the Cardinals, but I'm a Mike Tomlin fan so I wasn't too disappointed. I'm not going to write a game summary, (you can watch Sportscenter for that) instead I'll just make a few quick points. Even though I'm not a Steelers fan I wanted to give Steeler Nation a big shout out. These people travel all over the country to root for their team. And they waive those damn towels 'til their arms hurt. They have THE best fans of any professional sport team. Hands down. I also wanted to show some love to The Rooney Family. They run their organization extremely well and keep the team competitive all the time. Also, Mike Tomlin became the second African-American coach to win a Super Bowl and the youngest coach of any color to win The Big One. Major props to Mr. Tomlin!!

I also wanted to shout-out Kurt Warner, Ken Whisenhunt, and the Man-Child that is Larry Fitzgerald. They were huge underdogs in both the line and in people's minds. They played a sloppy first half and a great second half. Just not great enough. I have a feeling with a team this young, they will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl again very soon.

Overall, the game was crazy exciting at the end and it rivaled the 4th quarter excitement from last year's game between The New York Giants and MY New England Patriots. This was a big win for the NFL on all fronts. Let's hope the remaining NBA season can keep our attention until September rolls around again. GO STEELERS!!!

Ryan Leslie "How it was supposed to be"

Ryan Leslie is a very talented singer/songwriter/producer.  His claim to fame thus far is discovering Cassie(now signed to Bad Boy).  Anyone who can give a suspect singer like Cassie a smash hit with "Me and You" has to be the truth.  His album drops Feb. 10th, and from what I have heard is well worth the purchase.  Check out the new single "How it was supposed to be".
How It Was Supposed To Be (Military Version) from Ryan Leslie on Vimeo.