Sell it baby! My favorite vids of the moment...

It doesn't take a huge budget to make a great video. It doesn't take a stylist to have a great look (but it helps). It does take a vision though, because with a budget, stylist and all the resources imaginable, you're video can still SUCK without vision. But these people got it right! My favorite vids of the moment...

The Dead Weather - Cut Like A Buffalo



Eric Roberson feat. Lalah Hathaway - Dealing


From a style standpoint alone, this is probably the best vid playing right now! But, what I really love about this song is that is is classic Mary. It sounds like she found her way back to being Mary, which is why we love her...
Mary J Blige - I Am


Another style pick is The Gossip - Heavy Cross. Aside from the fact that the video looks great, wailing ass Beth Ditto can really do no wrong to me...



Yet another person from Idol that should NOT have won...Allison Iraheta. The song and the video are a great first outing for her. She looks great and looks her age. Hey, while everyone else is slinking around half nekkid, these teenage girls need someone to look up to that looks, acts and talks big shit like them! Get it girl!
Alison Iraheta - Friday I'll Be Over You

You bought what????

Ok, so I've seen tons of crazy products surface lately. It's become big business to sell things on TV to middle America and watch the cash roll in. Most of these products cost little to nothing to produce, but when combined with kitschy marketing they become big sensations. Even when we laugh at the commercials, some of us will still buy it. Hellooooo Snuggie! Still, there are somethings I just can NOT believe are real, but they are. Here's couple of my favorite crazy, sure to make money, ideas!

THE RACKTRAP!: The name alone is just wrong. And the ad tells you to "ditch your purse" but my bag is always huge and full. I know my boobs are big, but they ain't that big! LOL Oh, and if you go to the website www.theracktrap.com, you can take a look at the instructions (complete with video) that starts with "locate your breast" and instructs you to place this little thing "between your cup and your breast". Um, ooooookay...


Here's one of my personal favorites BOOTY POP! No explanation needed...

I mean really, who is wearing this mess?!?!?! LOL

If you've seen the commercial, you know this thing basically pours warm water through one nostril and out the other. I know that there are legit medical treatment that do the same. But, really...do you want to buy this from a TV commercial?


This could really go on forever...there are some really strange things out there. But I just thought I'd share the laughs...

Just a general rule...RUN when you see the word "whimsical"! LMAO And it's a best seller...

The New (and much improved) VIBE Magazine...

I have been reading Vibe since the first issue. It was a Christmas gift from my mother. Followed by a gift a few Christmases ago of the Vibe Photography coffee table book. I grew up on Vibe and felt too cool when I found out that along the way one of their Editor-in-Chiefs was the granddaughter of my grandfather's ex wife. When she wrote her first novel, More Like Wrestling, he got a copy and passed around the family for all of us to read. It's still one of my favorite books.

When she was brought back on as the EIC, I was excited. I was holding out hope that the magazine would go back to it's original quality and originality. And I think she made great improvements. She also made the round on TV, which was a great move. In the years between her first stint at Vibe and her second, TV clip shows and appearance on news networks for big entertainment stories had become part of the cultures landscape. She was great at that.

But, yesterday, I cam across the NEW Vibe Magazine (pictured above). I flipped through it and was really impressed. The look of the magazine has grown up, the feel of the ads was really edgy and made a big impact and the articles were fantastic. The staff is really working hard to revamp the entire brand. From the article on Shakir Stewart's suicide to, yes, the Chris Brown interview and the Amber Rose fashion layout I was really impressed. Kudos to them for bringing back and institution bigger and better!

Here's a preview of Amber Rose giving it ALL for Vibe!

From risk to Grammy Nomination - Congratulations to The Foreign Exchange!

I'll preface this blog post with a disclaimer: I am an uberfan of Foreign Exchange. I love them. Period. And, my love of Foreign Exchange led to me becoming a fan of Little Brother, Darien Brockington, Yazarah, Zo! Musinah and Carlitta Durand, all people who's music I hadn't previously gotten into until discovering this group. Some I'd heard of, some I hadn't, but they were my gateway into tones of other great music. That's a pretty damn powerful thing and for that, they should be admired.

I remembered how I discovered Foreign Exchange. I was up late one night watching VH1 Soul. At the time it was one of my main ways of finding out what else was out there besides the obvious. It was before I had a myspace page, an iPod, a laptop or an iTunes account. Sincere came on. I was in love instantly. So, the next day I looked them up and came across an MTV online article about how they made the album from two continents and met in person prior to the video being shot. I didn't even listen to anything else, I went straight to Amazon and ordered the album. Any artists that can accomplish that and put out a song as fantastic as Sincere had my vote.

When it arrived I ripped it open and turned it on full blast in my kitchen. My mom and I sat there and listen to the whole thing. I wore out my first copy of Connected and my first copy of the Connected instrumentals. Why I didn't get an iPod right then and there, I don't know. Fast forward to 2008 and the rumblings I hear of a new Foreign Exchange Album. When I finally got it, I was floored! It sounded like nothing I owned in my library and they had grown a lot since I first discovered them.

To this day, when I'm in a day place or having a bad day, I listen to Leave It All Behind. When they finally came to LA for their first live show, I was excited. Ok, that's an understatement. There ere so many posts and Facebook statuses, my friends actually asked me if I was going to talk about anything else. Well, fuck you very much, no I'm not! And I wasn't alone...that 1st show was amazing. I wasn't the only obsessively excited fan. There was a full theater full of people who had waited 4 years for that moment. Foreign Exchange fans had become an exclusive club. "Who's that? Foreign Exchange! Who? Oh, you don't know?" It was always followed by a disapproving "oh, you must listen to bullshit" look. I did it too.

But that night we, my mom included, danced, sang every word and made instant friends with everyone in the room. It was one of those shows that attracted a perfect picture of real music fans in LA. Standing around smiling at each other because we could only imagine what was about to happen. All colors and ages, singing every word. My friends and I rank the shows we go to for the year and that night instantly skipped ot number 1, even above Janelle Monae's Grammy show at Skybar.

For people like me, who have worked in and around the independent music scene and knows the hustle, their story is one of those once in a lifetime occurrences. Foreign Exchange has accomplished everything we all say we can do, all on their own, being themselves. AND NOW THEY'VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY!!! They make music for people that love music. Year after year, awards shows become less and less about the music. But this year, real music fans are excited. My mom almost jumped of the couch when I told her Foreign Exchange had been nominated. Along with them, and the nomination for Lalah Hathaway and Eric Roberson, for the first time in a while, I'm excited to get out during Grammy season, I'm excited to watch the show. I'm excited that music I know and love will get the spotlight they deserve.

This, like I said, is the blog of a FAN, not an industry person, singer or a musician, but a fan. I very, very happy fan...

Here's their official vid on the nom...

The Foreign Exchange's Grammy nomination video from The Foreign Exchange on Vimeo.

Yummy! A Journal of my past dishes and the secret to sauce for ANYTHING!

Hey folks! I haven't been blogging lately simply because there hasn't been much to write about, at least nothing I wanted to share. But there are a few thing that make me really happy...music, my friends (the real ones) and food. And I'm using this blog to share, so it's now the vittles turn! I love to cook, I watch tons of Food Newtwork shows, grocery shopping is fun for me. I just really love creating things in the kitchen...even more than I like eating it. I am truly a foodie! So, my way of sharing, short of having everyone over for dinner, is to photograph my finished meals and share them. So, here goes nothing...

This one is a simple dish of leftovers. I had some Krab left over from an earlier meal, dry pasta and frozen broccoli. With butter, garlic and a few other simple ingredients (more on that later) you can make a sauce for darn near anything. 10 minutes in the pan and the time to cook the pasta can make a very satisfying and cheap meal!


So, I'm a HUGE fan of Trader Joe's. They've got great food and great prices and there's always something new to try. I L O V E their Lobster Ravioli. They're great on their own and don't really need a sauce. You could get away with tossing them in olive oil and Parmesan and everyone would be happy. But, who wants to do simple if you don't have to? So, my little sauce was butter, crushed garlic, fresh lemon, herbs de Provence and spinach. Tasty stuff! I know I keep mentioning butter, and it sounds like things come out really heavy, but they don't. You simply adjust the proportions. Sometimes the butter is just to saute the aromatics, sometimes it's really a sauce base, other times it's just there to make things a tad bit creamier. I know we're in "you're nobody unless you're skinny" L.A. but I'm neither skinny or nobody, so butter it is! That's what gyms were made for...



Most people that know me already know that I don't eat meat. I eat seafood, but that's it. I am, however, a huge fan of all things fake meat! I can work wonders with Tofu, Chik'n, veggie sausage. You name it, I've done it. This dish came about after seeing the feature on Gardein on Oprah. I thought, "ooooh, new toys!" So, I bought the "beef" chunks and a mild curry sauce since I was craving Indian. One thing I've learned about seasoning fake meat is that you have to season it alone, then season the sauce you're putting on it. You should do that with meat too, but I'm just saying, the fake stuff needs it. I loved this dish! Gardein, Peas, Curry Sauce and Brown Rice = Happiness!


This shrimp and pasta dish got lots of reaction to the folks that saw it, and I must say that it was fantastic! I've been experimenting with one dish meals that take less than 45 minutes. I'm normally a protein/veggie girl, on plate in separate servings. But the typical salmon fillet with a side of vegetables was getting boring. This dish featured my favorite sauce secrets, but you can substitute any ingredients want. Protein, starch(pasta, potatoes, rice, etc) and veggies can work in almost any combination and any proportion. Plus, did you guys (whoever you are) know that shrimp are pretty much 10-17 calories each depending on the size? YAY! Now, assuming you don't deep fry them, they're a great way to have something with protein and a bite to it, but low calories. At my house, a quick meal is sauteed shrimp and vegetables. Fast, light and tasty!


Ok, back to the shelves at Trader Joe's! I discovered Seafood Sausages a couple weeks ago in the freezer sections. They're made of shrimp, scallops and white fish. It sounds strange, but it's quite tasty! Yesterday, I found out that they discontinued them (bummer), but there are few seafood places in the hood that make their own (victory!). The sauce for this dish was made by deglazing the pan with white wine, then adding butter, crushed garlic and the rest of my saucy items. Great, GREAT dish!


Ok, about that sauce...
One night I was cooking and was out of fresh lemon. I raided my cabinets and fridge for anything with some acidity to replace the lemon and happened upon...Lemon Curd! Yeah, Lemon Curd. Since then I've made lots of sauces with Lemon Curd in it. The basics are: Butter, Lemon Curd, Crushed Garlic and White Wine. Seriously, it goes on almost anything. I'm not giving proportions because it's something you adjust to taste. Maybe you need more acid. You can add fresh lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. You can add spice to heat things up, salt and pepper (white pepper is my preference) to taste, herbs, whatever you think will taste good to you! And it's SO simple. So, next time you want to saute something you think needs a little sauce, try it. You can even make it in the microwave. Cook it in 30 second intervals and stir it until the lemon curd melts and it's hot. I prefer to make it on the stove, and sometimes (like the Seafood Sausage dish) I will use the goodies in the pan. Saute your protein, put it to the side, then make your sauce with the pan drippings. No matter how you do it...it never fails!!!

Since we're al dealing with varying financial states and going out to eat isn't really practical, why not start playing around in your kitchen? You may find out that you've got a talent for it like I have. Alrighty folks...MANGIA!