Kehinde Wiley: Remixing Fine Art
I first witnessed the amazing talent that is Kehinde Wiley when I was living in Brooklyn. He executed portraits of the honorees for VH1's 2005 Hip Hop Honors and each piece was displayed {as posters} at certain subway stations. I was blown away. I damn near missed my train because I was hypnotized by his attention to detail and his ability to add a new dimension to the black image via art and imagery. I also had a chance to see a real piece of his work at a First Friday function at the Brooklyn Museum. It was refreshing to see all types of people admiring Kehinde's "Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps" {below}.
Mr. Wiley has been featured in countless magazines and I was not surprised when I caught a pod about him and his art on Current TV. He's truly remarkable and I highly suggest you {friends, family, significant other, etc.} check out Mr. Wiley and his work if you have the chance. He's a gifted brother who is, truly, making art everyone can appreciate.
Free Rice...with some Vocabulary on the Side
I have to admit the first time I played this game I ended up donating over 2,600 grains of free rice to the United Nations World Food Program. Let me explain. Free Rice is a website that simply allows you to fight the plague of world hunger while building your vocabulary. It's your simple vocabulary guessing game that helps you step up your word game AND for every correct answer Free Rice donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations. Real talk. Help people, around the world, eat and obtain prodigious palaver in the process. That's right, a brother has been getting his Free Rice on. Give it a try.
Young Professionals...move here.
In this order: New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Washington D.C, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Denver round out Forbes' list for the top 10 cities for young professionals. I can personally vouch for New York and Atlanta. "he list was compiled by tracking where the graduates of top universities across the country ended up 10 years after commencement, where the best business opportunities exist, which cities had the most young and unmarried people, and which cities paid young professionals the best. {Matt Woolsey, Forbes.com}. This is good information for any recent graduate/young professional to know but what about young professionals of color? Don't worry. I got you.
This may be a little unorthodox {and completely qualitative and subjective on my part} but I managed to find Black Enterprise's 2007 Best 10 Cities for African Americans to Work, Live and Play and decided to cross reference it with the Forbes list to give you an indication of the best cities for young professionals of color. Atlanta and Washington D.C are the stand out cities but if you {or someone you know} aren't feeling these cities look into Texas because locations like Houston and Dallas may be more your speed. No matter where you stay {or relocate} just make sure you put forth the effort to make it work for you. Your first city after school isn't, most likely, going to be your last city so put your best foot forward to make everyone know your name {in a positive way....please be in a positive way}.
Colin Munroe: The Dopest "Flashing Lights" Remix in the Game
Imagine my ding dang surprise when my brother told me that a white dude from Canada had the fliest remix of "Flashing Lights" {by Kanye West} out right now. Now before you go all "We are the World" on me I have nothing against white people but you have to admit that they have stepped up their swagger tremendously in the past 20 years.
I'm not talking about the corney Paul Walls or white people who try to imitate black culture. No, I'm talking about the people who are just effortlessly cool and manage to slide in and out of swaggerdom like sliding in and out of underwear {maybe that metaphor isn't as classy and it sounded in my head, no?} This is the vibe you get from Colin Munroe when you check out his version of "Flashing Lights" titled "I Want Those Flashing Lights".
To me, Colin showed a lot of these rap kats how to do a remix properly. Its more than just dropping your lyrics {however executed} over the existing beat. Colin made this joint his OWN and it's Hot....even the video is hot. You really can't be mad at him and his team. Toronto, Canada stand up!! To find out more about Colin and his music check out his Myspace page and check out the "I Want Those Flashing Lights" video while you're at it.
Freezing Grand Central
This is why I will always be madly in love with New York City. This is probably why people consider me an eccentric individual but I still think this is cool as hell. A group of people in NYC got together and decided to freeze in place for a short period of time in the middle of Grand Central Station. They didn't move at all. Not an inch. The whole thing shook some bystanders up and others were completely amazed. After the two minutes were up all of the frozen participants resumed to their prior activities as if nothing had ever happened. You have to see it to appreciate it. Check it out.
Events 101
Hopefully everyone had a banging New Year's celebration to welcome in 2008. Did you bring in the New Year in church? In an intimate setting with that significant other? A party? Most likely everyone was in some type of party atmosphere and there is one thing about a party that rings true...either it’s the bomb {remarkable} or a dud. Sure, when holding one there is pressure to organize and pull off a one-of-a-time kick-ass event but imagine if you had to do it on a weekly basis for a group of people who have come to expect the real deal and will call you out on your -ish if you 'effed up.
That's what today's Guest Genius, Lorna Pinckney {center}, does in Richmond, Virginia at Tuesday Verses: Open Mic Experience. By day Lorna is the CEO of Upside Promotions and Design by night she holds the creative and soulful heart of Richmond in her hands by giving musical and poetic artists the venue to share their passion and hone their craft in front of an amazing audience {all while eating banging food}. Lorna is going to give us the insight to creating, organizing, executing and maintaining a great event that resonates and inspires as well as entertains.
TGS: What was your inspiration for creating Tuesday Verses?
TGS: How long has Tuesday Verses been running?
TGS: What steps did you take to ensure your event would be a success?
TGS: How important was it for you to understand your audience?
TGS: On average, how many visitors does Tuesday Verses have a week?
TGS: Diverse audience or like-minded audience, which is better?
TGS: Is location important to you? Why or why not?
TGS: How often do you rely on your people/client relation skills? Has your people skills/client relation skills changed since Tuesday Verses began?
TGS: In your words, what does the audience get out of a Tuesday Verses show?
LP: Love, inspiration, acceptance, camaraderie, intellectual growth and a drive to be better people in their own personal lives. We always talk about making growth in whatever area people focus on. We create a family structure where you have support and they always inspire you to keep going.
TGS: Describe how Verses has grown since inception and how you’ve adapted along the way?
Thanks to Lorna for being today's Guest Genius and if you find yourself in the Richmond area on a Tuesday night feel free to check out Tuesday Verses at Tropical Soul, 314 N. 2nd Street Richmond, VA {804} 771-1605.
Quote of the Day
"If I told you a duck could pull a truck shut up and hook the muthaf*cka up!"
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