American Idol contestants

This years American Idol has come a surprise in more ways than one. Firstly, i was shocked at some of the people that weren't chosen for the main part of the competition, these few seemed to have genuinely good voices. Some of the early people they did choose were vocally far from what they were looking for. I think this year the women are out shining the men, although Phil had a very good voice and shouldn't have been voted off. I do think it's unfair that Blake was chosen over Lakeisha because she has a much more powerful voice than he does, but you know like last years contestant Jennifer Hudson, who was voted off because voters were apparently racist. Not saying this was the issue for Lakeisha, it's just that when your future lies in the hands of the public, you don't know who's voting for or against you, they have their reasons why they like you or no don't like you. Well now there's three left, Jordon, Blake and Melinda. Because of past shows it's so obvious to see who will be voted off next and who will win. Jordon is a young, talented girl, who (unfortunately) visually 'fits' the image that singers have nowadays. Similarly Blake is like Justin Timberlake, he's a white guy who has a soulful black sound and can dance hip hop. Then there's the powerful, shake your bones, singing Melinda, who could without a question win American Idol, but in this unfair industry which selects looks over talent, has her age playing against her. Well who knows! If Melinda wins it would definitely be a surprise, although she's an amazing singer. American idol hardly chooses black people as their idol, unless they are mixed with another race. Just like any other reality T.V show. it's very sad and discriminative, because again it's like the media has it's ideas of who fits the look and who doesn't, they want someone who will appeal to everyone, which results in everyone looking the same. It's such a shame. But you know what, Melinda is going to make it in the music business whether she wins American Idol or not, her voice is timeless and you can't deny talent like that.

R.I.P Steve Irwin, but there's not a copy-cat is there?

I have to say that I was sad when I read of the death of the Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. But this may sound harsh, but i wasn't surprised. If someone has chosen to do dangerous stunts with animals and basically risk their lives every single time they did a stunt, what on earth do they expect. Personally he should have stopped all of that when he had the chance, he would've still been alive today. I just don't believe in people who do these animal stunts for show. What exactly are they showing? OK... so yeah they are brave to jump on a crocodiles back and tackle him to the ground, OK.. i didn't know there was a qualification for that. I just think that doing this kind of activity is dangerously unnecessary and we don't need someone to demonstrate how vicious animals could be, we've all watched nature programs before and have heard what their animal nature is. To my surprise, I accidentally came across a Steve Irwin look-a-like and copycat, his name was Austin Stevens and he a general animal hunter. He was holding poisonous snakes by their necks, catching a violent turtles and showing how violent it could be by pushing his foot into its mouth! All that comes to mind is why.... why would you do that, it's like having a death wish. Steve Irwins death was ironic, he wasn't even trying to catch the animal or aggravate it, he was just doing a normal documentary on jellyfish. But it was strange how this time he was the one under threat.

What I miss about Guyana....

I miss waking up and seeing my Granny every morning, we'd have to hug each other first before we did anything else. She would then put on her classic Gospel music and then open up the veranda doors and some of the windows in the house. She would then go to sit down on the veranda for 30 Min's or so, to watch Georgetown wake up. I liked joining her, it was peaceful, i loved being around my grandmother, we got a long so well, i was soo much like her. For breakfast, as she always did when i was a child, she'd pour me a glass of orange juice in my favorite glass, the one I've used since i was a child, then she'd make breakfast.

I miss the hot sun and the noisy traffic on the road. The bus conductors risked their lives every time they were working on a bus, because they'd skillfully hang onto the inside of the bus with one hand and wave people in with the other, this all happened when the bus was moving.
I miss the old sweet shops at the corner. The sweets the shops sold were always kept in a big glass jar, for some reason they'd looked more mouth watering that way.

I miss the music that would blare out of peoples houses on the main road on the way into the market. I miss the ice cone man who sold refreshing ice cones for 10$ on the street corner. I miss eating fudge from that one market stall in Georgetown i use to buy it from. I miss sitting in the bus when i would go to see my family in new Amsterdam or Linden and looking through the window at the fields, palm trees and sea. I miss feeling the breeze on my face.

I miss going to my granny's church and sitting waiting for communion to come because i liked how the bread tasted, i miss asking my granny for sweets during the Church services. I miss going to my auntie Marilyn's house, going around town with her and her taking me to see her friends. I miss the food. I miss falling to sleep at the sound of the crickets and the hum of the fan when lying in bed under a netting.

I miss the friendly faces and smiling passerbyers who would say hi even if they didn't know me. I miss getting tired after being out in the sun all day and just sliding down into a chair and falling asleep to a black and white movie. I miss home.

The song has some truth!

Unlike a lot of songs nowadays where all the artistes are singing about is sex and the general physicality's of being in a relationship (or in most cases an open relationship), it's refreshing to hear artistes who actually take time to sing about the natural feelings of love and what being in a relationship actually means.

When i first heard Danity Kanes' 'Ride for you', i loved it. This is 5 member girl group, compiled by P Diddy, they sing, dance and have personality. This song of theirs basically speaks about being there for someone and staying with them throughout the good and bad seasons (this is depicted by seasons of the year in their video). I just thought that this was different because there's a line in the last part of the song which state 'oh, don't tell me that we've gotta let it go, we've been on top for too long just to let it go under....i don't want to start off with another..' and i personally feel this is quite deep. instead of moving on and going onto the next relationship, it's makes you think 'hang on this takes work, it's not going to work out by itself' and encourages both people in that relationship to work at it.
I think the main reason I like this song is because it denotes commitment which is not a popular word in our society today. Obviously be wise in relationships and don't let songs or rash feelings make decisions for you, think things through, but what i admire is that the song is encouraging people to stick through things, it's a reality, it's not going to be peachy all the time, maybe in the beginning but not always.

What happened to the positive black TV families?

My favourite American black sitcoms have have all stopped showing. Well the Cosby Show and Diff'rent Strokes (which I've started watching recently) stopped years ago...but i have to say i do miss sitcoms like those which show the black family in a positive light. I was sad when i was watching the last episode of The Fresh Prince of Belaire, this show was my weekly dose of jokes. The Cosby show takes me back to my childhood days, when i watch the classic re-runs now it's like I'm taking a dive back into the 80's. The most recent black sitcom to end is the Hilarius My Wife and Kids, when i my friend had told me that the producers had stopped filming the show i thought 'arrgh what am i going to watch now!'. Not to say these are the only type of TV i watch but they're the only ones i can really relate to.

The one thing these sitcoms have in common is, they're all American! I'm trying to think now...i don't recall any black British sitcoms...oh wait 'Desmond's' was one, that was great, Desmond was the owner of a barbershop and most of the comedy happened right there, it was soo funny. Oh and i remember that he was of Guyanese heritage! This showed around the early 90's and stopped filming after Desmond's death.

I'm trying to think of any other show..there was 'Baby father' which aired around 2002 and ended shortly after. Oh and then there was the seriously unfunny sitcom which i can't even remember the name of! and not to forget the popular comedy sketch show 'The Real McCoy' which was like the black communities answer to 'Goodness Gracious Me'.

Anyhow, although a few black comedies have aired on TV, there hasn't been any quality black sitcoms like the good old Cosby Show. I miss watching the warm, loving and successful black Dr Huxtable teach and educate his happy children beside his equally successful wife. Things like this aren't on TV anymore, and i just don't understand why. The only black family i see on TV are on Eastenders and it's not very positive. Black families are hardly ever shown on TV nowadays and when they are shown, they seem to be struggling, working menial jobs, unglamorous and disappointing. Why can't they convey BOTH the successes and struggles together, like any other race, black people are not always poor. Why can't the son's be successful and daughters be ambitious, instead of being portrayed as 'no good' and a threat.

My question is why can't black families be shown more positively on television here, in the same way that black families in America are portrayed?

Rain Rain go away!!

Oh my gosh! hasn't the weather taken a dreary, windy plunge this week!?

I was very pleased with the hot weather a week and a half ago and was looking forward to it getting better. But then, the weather did become hot quite early in the year... so we might be experiencing April showers in May.

Looking at the extended forecast, it seems that more rain is coming. So all of you out there who have Afro's, it's cornrow time, make sure your hair is wrapped up nicely. I had to do mine in twists fast, my hair is not for this weather! It prefers nice, hot and sunny weather! But, truthfully, my hair thrives in hot weather, well i was born in Guyana and lived there for 6 years, so it's just what my hair is use to. When I was in the USA and the Guyana for a 2.5 months my hair grew much more in those two months than it did when i was in the UK. I think it's also to do with the hard and soft water too. Apparently (not questioning whether it's true, its that I'm unsure) the water here is hard, and Afro hair doesn't benefit from this. That's the difficult thing, for me, for 75% of the year I have to take extra good care of my hair and so now you know why i'm wishing for a hot summer! Anyway, just as long as the summer is hot, I'm not bothered, it's exam season anyway so having to stay in because of bad whether is probably a blessing in disguise!

Disney fantastic!!

Cheetah Girls 2, Jump In, High School Musical and That's So Raven are a few of the shows that broadcast weekly on the Disney Channel. That's So Raven is a kids comedy, full of antics and animation. Kid actress Raven Simone is the main star who has psychic ability which is always getting her in trouble!
I'm a big fan of the films Cheetah girls 2, Jump in and High school musical, they're all packed with song, dance and drama for the whole family. Parents don't have to worry about explicit content, because they're all Disney films, they're kid friendly!

The catchy songs and skilled dance moves will have you and your bro's sis's and even parents singing and dancing along. You're never too old for these type of films.

Big up to the Disney Channel!

Ding! Ding! Round 8!

Super model Tyra Banks is back with cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model. This cycle seems to be the most ecclectic of all the cycles. Every girl seems to be an amalgamation of past characters times 10! We are at episode 11 and there are four girls left, cha cha diva Jaslene, mouthy mum Rene, Russian girl Natasha and talkative Dionne. All girls are strong and the competition is on. Usually the winners seem to alternate between black and white every cycle, last cycle Caridee won and so i'm expecting that either Jaslene or Dionne could take the America's Next Top Model title home. oooh it's a hard one, but we'll have to wait and see.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004,^[1] refers to a perceived second-generation of Web based communities and hosted services — such as social networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — that facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. O'Reilly Media titled a series of conferences around the phrase, and it has since become widely adopted.

Though the term suggests a new version of the Web, it does not refer to an update to World Wide Web technical specifications, but to changes in the ways systems developers have used the web platform. According to Tim O'Reilly, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." ^[2]

Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the beginnings of the World Wide Web.^[3]

The 'Eye Candy' era

As my mum says, "Today's music has gone to the dogs!"

Well, I don't agree entirely with my ma, but I do think that music has gone down hill, it's not about the quality anymore, just the looks. Take for example, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross, all are powerful R&B singers whose careers have lasted. Their voices tell a melodic story that encapsulates everyone who listens, no one can can doubt their talent.

But nowadays singers seem to come as often as the 197 bus to Peckham, they all seem to look the same and they can't carry a tune! Unlike our (or our parents ) most loved singers, today's artistes do not have any individuality. There's a whole lot of quantity but not a lot of quality.

MTV and all the other music channels are churning these generic artistes out one by one and the shocking thing is people are buying it! But you know what? They all fit into today's fashion conscious, aesthetically pleasing society, where a pretty face sells more than good music. It's disappointing because it means that people who can actually sing but don't 'look the part' won't get a chance.

Take Cassie for example, pretty face but can't sing, Lumidee (for those of you who remember Busta Rhymes featured in her Uh Oh video) can't sing and most recently Mr Sanjaya, can't sing! amongst others.... All have a look, but no voice.

I'm not being mean at all just stating the obvious.

Maybe the meaning of singing has changed.
Lets take a look:
1 make musical sounds with the voice, especially words with a set tune. 2 perform (a song) in this way. 3 (of a bird) make characteristic melodious whistling and twittering sounds.

Maybe now it's:
1. To dress well and have a pretty face 2. To have have basic knowledge in singing, nothing special 3. To have limited talent, if you are already well known, this is a bonus

It's undoubtedly all about advertising. Record labels are basically selling a product, these Eye Candy artistes can earn stashes of cash without actually having a 'good' voice. Appearance comes first and voice comes secondary to that.

I remember browsing through You Tube and finding a video of Cassie singing 'Me and You' live. It was horrendous, I had to laugh. (I'm sorry) Firstly the singing was off key, she had two backing singers to support her voice and the track was playing in the background. I'm not being funny but, the song isn't a Mary J Blige hit where backing singers are there to compliment and harmonise the song, no, in Cassie's case they were there to cover up her lack of vocal talent!

Now Mary J Blige, Faith Evans, Kelly Price are all singers who definitely don't need back up singers. Their voices are and still is amazing. However these 90's female singers were not marketed on their appearance, though they looked well, their voice sold it for them, it wasn't about looks at all.

Long live the raw classic talent.

The Pursuit Of Happiness

The Pursuit Of Happiness stars Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith. This is film is an accoint of a true life story, where a single father is left homeless after his divorce and struggles to make ends meat selling his inventions. At the same time he pursues an unpaid internship in hopes to get the high paying job at the cost of living out of a suitcase and finding a place to sleep every night.

I can honestly say that Will Smiths performance in this film is incredible, this is the best acting i've seen him do so far. His real life son is obviously following in his fathers foot steps and skill, he too does an excellent job.

The film makes the everyday reality of life apparant, it's struggles, ups, downs, everything. I think that everyone who has seen this film can relate to it in one way or another. It could make you cry, make you realise that you're not alone when you've been through the heavy times in life, make you thankful to God that you've made it through alive and encourage you not to give up. I love the biblical undertones of the film that tells the audience not to give up because the hardship is only for a while and even though it seems like it won't end, it will and when it's over you'll appreciate the fruits of it even more.

Definately one to watch if you haven't already watched it.

Spiderman goes emo!

I wouldn't say that I'm a huge spiderman fan, but I've watched the first and the second one and so I had to watch the third. This is all courtesy of my little brother who use to eat, sleep and drink everything Marvel, not anymore though, he's eleven now and so finds Yu-gi-oh and Drake and Josh, a little more interesting.

I was looking forward to the film because the previews looked so good. I was ready to see some fighting action.

Warning! Here comes a spoiler for those who haven't seen it yet-

BUT, I wasn't expecting to see Peter Parker sporting the emo look and bustin' John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, moves. It was funny...suprisingly funny. It was kind of weird too, because, as you followers of Spiderman would know, the character of Peter Parker is the total opposite. Well I suppose that's the whole point because he changes from the red Spiderman to the black Spiderman and this transition is not only physical but mental too; he changes into his alter ego. Geeky Peter Parker turns into an arrogant womaniser (with a side fringe and black eye liner) who thinks hes 'all that and a bag of chips'.
The producers obviously took advantage of the change by adding some humur to it. But I'm not sure if it fit in, but it was funny, my mouth was open in shock for about 5 mins.

Anyhow I liked the moral themes of the film. They stood out. Commitment, being yourself (and not letting power change you) and forgiveness. There were a few lines with pearls of wisdom for they guys, so pay attention men.