Archive for May 2, 2009

DAILY RANT: TORONTO WOMEN SMILE & LAUGH

By VERSE

I have had the pleasure of traveling recently and have plans to travel throughout the year and it has made me love experiencing new cultures and places as well as making me appreciate home.  That being said, Toronto has one of the most unique problems of all the places I have ever visited; our women.

Before I get flooded with hate let me explain, our women are beautiful and of such a vast cultural diversity but (and here is the painful truth) their rude.  Every time I travel I notice beauty but nothing like that of Toronto’s.  Our women are beautiful, take care of themselves (I am generalizing and speaking to the beauty of Toronto women), are educated and ascribe to so many different styles and cultures that you can choose from the world cultures without leaving our city.  Mind you this is not every women in Toronto, and to be fair, not even the majority but the amount is large enough that concern is warranted.

Now I know that Toronto men are not always the gentlemen they should be and that is a whole different observation (One that will be on this blog at a later date ladies so please be ez lol) but women across the world have to put up with forward men, and trust me Canadian women as whole do not suffer much in comparison to women living in other countries, and yet foreign women are more approachable.  Please do not misconstrue my message, this is not only in reference to women being picked up by men but to a general attitude.  Somewhere along the way Toronto lost the easy going nature that the rest of Canada and much of the world enjoys.  Walking down the streets of Toronto, women are straight faced some looking angry, I have seen some shove people when walking in a rush, I have witnessed even older gentlemen getting dirty looks and the silent treatment when approaching women – for the time!

How did we get here and more importantly how do we get back to ourselves?  Granted my personal taste prefers a lady oppose to just a women (there is a difference) but regardless if one likes women a little rough around the edges or not, there is no excuse for rudeness.  I write this because today was a beautiful, slow paced day and I saw a beautiful woman walking and looking angry.  When I said hi, she smiled the brightest smile (That ended well ) and when I asked why she was “screw facing” (Toronto term for putting on an intimidating face) she said she is trying to stop because she gets that observation all the time.

So for Tyra and all the lovely ladies out there trying to shake the Toronto screw face mask that hides their beauty, I officially declare May 2nd LIFE Records ‘FREE HUG’ day.  What do you do?  Ladies before you leave your house decide you are going to have a great day, smile and be gracious with your hugs.  Make them big and tight lol.  You will feel better and everyone will love you for it.  And if you see me give me 2, lol peace.

I’M READY FOR G.I. JOE!

OK I saw the X-MEN ORIGINS: Wolverine comic book classic movie and loved it!  Now this is the Wolverine that I remember.  Lets hope they do the G.I. Joe the same justice.  Maybe, tomorrow I will post a trailer of one the most anticipated movies of the year.  I promise it wont be a comic book series.  For now I present G.I. Joe.

P.S.

Could Road Block be the first official rapper ever with international syndication?

REST IN PEACE TO ERNIE BARNES

Ernie Barnes, a former professional football player who became a successful figurative painter, known for depictions of athletes and ordinary people whose muscled, elongated forms express physical and spiritual struggles, died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 70.

If you don’t think you know him…peep this:

TERRENCE HOWARD IS STILL MAD ABOUT IRON MAN 2

Breaking up may be hard to do, but Terrence Howard isn’t going out quietly in regards to Marvel Studios’ decision to replace him with Don Cheadle for the upcoming Iron Man sequel. Rather than letting it go, the actor is reopening the situation, as he believes Marvel made “a very, very bad choice” in letting him go. “They didn’t keep their word. They didn’t honor my contract. They produced a great bounty with the first one but they put it all in the storehouse and you were not allowed in,” Howard told Parade magazine as we alluded that Marvel shorted his Iron Man co-star Gwyneth Paltrow and almost everyone else with the exception of Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr. And while it would be easy for him to let the cat out of the bag as far as details on the highly anticipated sequel after seeing the script, Terrence will not go there. “I believe in karma. When someone does something wrong, you don’t have to get them back. Everything right will return the favor for you,” said the Oscar nominee, who admitted to looking forward to seeing the film and Cheadle’s performance as Col. James Rhodes, the role he played in the first Iron Man. “I want to see Don Cheadle become me. No, I want him to do better than me. That’s what I really want to see,” he said. “Don Cheadle was the reason I got Crash, so I have a lot of love for him.” It’s good that he’s supporting Cheadle, but you have to wonder if Terrence is secretly hoping IM2 doesn’t do as well as the first film. I guess we’ll find out next year when IM2 hits theaters.

INDUSTRY EXCLUSIVE QUICKIES

* Dancehall artist Sean Paul is coming back to the music scene with the arrival of Imperial Blaze, his first album in three years. Paul’s new song, “So Fine” debuts today (May 1) on radio outlets. Imperial Blaze is slated to hit stores August 18.

* Toni Braxton has filed a new lawsuit against Lloyd’s of London amid claims the insurance company is not covering a 2006 concert she cancelled in light of problems with her heart. In the suit, Braxton claims she sought coverage from Lloyds after buying “non-appearance” and “cancellation” insurance. The insurance is noted for protecting entertainers in case their concerts have to be cancelled.

INDUSTRY EXCLUSIVE: MAXWELL IS BACK!

By Chris Richburg

After months of teasing and a brief tour last year, Maxwell is back.

This crooner is gearing up to release his highly anticipated fourth album, BLACKsummer’snight, on July 7. The video for the project’s first single, “Pretty Wings” premiered Wednesday (April 28) on BET’s 106 & Park along with the radio debut of the song.

In addition to providing vocals, Maxwell expanded his presence on BLACKsummer’snight by producing the entire nine-track album himself as well as co-producing the project with Hod David and featuring a live, ten-piece band. So what exactly has Maxwell been doing between his last album and his new release?

“In the past few years I’ve been making music for myself, looking at the landscape and fighting for copyright – I’ve been living my life,” the singer told a crowd at Sony Music’s New York offices. “I felt a disenchantment and preferential treatment in the industry. There was humility, bravado and entitlement missing. So I sat back because I didn’t want to throw what I had into thin air.

But, then I came to the realization that this is a gift no matter what,” Maxwell continued. “You need to cure and bring a connection through sound. I hope in some small way I can leave some kind of mark.”

You can judge for yourself if he makes the mark when he hits the road for a tour this summer and a headlining gig at the Essence Music Fest on July 4 in support of BLACKsummer’snight. The tour, Maxwell’s first in six years, is set to kick off June 20 in Milwaukee. BLACKsummer’snight will be the first in a trilogy of releases Maxwell plans to unveil on fans. The remaining albums, blackSUMMERS’night and blacksummers’NIGHT, are slated to arrive in stores in 2010 and 2011, respectively.