**Let the Word change you and you can change the world**
Monday, June 01, 2009
"Feeling Good"
Just realised Ive never really listened to these lyrics properly...Ive even quoted the chorus in a previous post but hadnt really listened to the words of the verses....Simple and brilliant..
"Birds flying high you know how I feel Sun in the sky you know how I feel Reeds driftin' on by you know how I feel
It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel River running free you know how I feel blossom in the trees you know how I feel
It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean Sleep in peace when day is done And this old world is a new world And a bold world For me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel Scent of the pine you know how I feel Oh freedom is mine And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good
Current Track on repeat : "I shall be released " Nina Simone http://www.last.fm/music/Nina+Simone/_/I+Shall+Be+Released
I just heard a song called "Boyfriend Number 2"....waaaaaaat??Who is responsible for this disappointing example of the deterioration in societal values ? Marcus Cooper aka Pleasure P..formerly a member of Pretty Ricky...some of the groups more famous titles include "Grind with me' and 'Push It Baby'......:s Im not sure how new the song is..But unfortunately the tune isnt too bad..so it and its tired lyrical content is likely here to stay...
In better music news I just discovered this chic, Laura Izibor, a 22 year old R&B/Soul singer from Ireland...I think Ive been kinda slow on the uptake cause the song below apparently already appeared on an episode of Greys Anatomy...I love it...
By the way is the term 'neo-soul' relevant anymore? I think we've moved onto to something different somehow, India 1999 is not India now, Erykah is definitely not Erykah 1997!....So cause naming it 'neo neo soul' would be redundant..should we just call it Soul now..? Which is maybe what it should have been called anyway..Look out for 'Neo Soul is dead' album from someone whos been relegated into limbo cause they didnt keep up with the evolution... And because I believe that is really where the term 'Soul' belongs, to music that was then- Marvin Gaye, Al Green, now - Musiq, Maxwell, Anthony Hamilton...etc.. what do we then call that music played at Carni on Sunday nights? The 'Automatic' Pointer Sisters,'Rhythm of the Night' El De Barge and co..?
Whatever its called Soul/RnB/Neo neo soul music is on fire right now!..Maxwell, Chrisette Michele , Anthony Hamilton ("Point of It All" this man never lets me down! beautiful) all with new albums..And Im still on new Raphael Saadiq...Aah bless...This music by any other name would sound as sweet...
So I finally watched 'I am Legend' [spoilers follow].I have to say its actually a really good movie...I liked it and thought some bits were actually kinda scary - conceptually - possibility of the world being wiped out by a deadly virus and literally: roaring see-through skinned human mutations - scary! However one thing about the movie was just ridiculous and I thought I have to comment on it. So ok,according to me..here is a little feasibility breakdown:
1. person discovers how to 'cure' cancer, but in the process creates a deadly virus that basically wipes out the world - I think in these times -Feasible
2. A man as pretty as Will Smith being the man that survives it all, 'the last man on earth'- Feasible, i believe he is the kind of specimen God would choose as a neo-Adam, to re-procreate the world
3. Random woman who is also left over, has been living in Washington DC, looks about 27 in the year 2012..i.e, she was born in approximately 1985 doesnt know who Bob Marley is? - NOT FEASIBLE!!
How?! Thats just about where I had to un-suspend my disbelief! Ok, maybe Im a bit biased, being a Kao born and bred in Kenya, with older brothers playing the music and occasionally my mother singing a random 'mBuffalo soldier' I dont actually remember a time in my life when I did not know who Bob Marley. Im sorry I just dont see how this can be logical in the storyline. I did once have a roommate who didnt know who Bob Marley was before I met her- so having encountered this before, its not totally beyond me that someone wouldnt know who Bob Marley is. But look at the factors surrounding this womans story. She says she lives in D.C, she has a son about 12 years old - how in the time shes been going around, raising her son, living life did she not hear of Bob Marley?Even on a tshirt?! Ok, so she has a foreign to America (another movie reinforcing it as apparently the centre of the universe) accent so maybe she migrated to the States before or after the virus broke out, even so,what then is the movie indirectly implying about the awareness of music worldwide? hmmm? And then she does know who Damian Marley is, so its not like shes not up to date with the music scene, this is evidence that she has not been living in a cave where the only music she heard came from the dripping of dewy stalactites onto the cave floor. And then ok maybe its a genuine scenario that she may have never heard his name, but then he plays her the beginning of 'Stir it up' with the famous Bob Marley 'chum chuka chum chuka' riff?!! And she STILL doesnt recognise it?!! how is this possible?!? I just cant believe it and I think the producers totally blundered going with that angle...I feel that it unfortunately removes from the scene as a whole. Anyway, its really good to hear his music in the movie, and i appreciate the thematic role it plays. In the past two months Ive watched 'Seven Pounds', 'Hancock' and this...and I must say Will Smith is on point with the saving the world and humanity thing...And I dont think I remember a movie since 'Six Degrees of Separation' when he wasnt doing either...
And then Maxwell finally released the rest of 'Pretty Wings'. Wow....what a song...Like the beginning wasn't good enough, he went and put in an ending that just blew the song into timeless classic zone. He had us salivating over the beginning with the beautiful ting ting tinging chime thingy for two years....then he put in the crescendo..and you know he knows that hes about to just kill it..cause the song goes silent...then paparapapaaa with the trumpets...!! And then through it all the bass is twing twunging away....its just gorgeous!...and the lyrics are great too, hes a very talented lyricist. Ive gone in and out of Maxwell phases,I was in an out stage until the snippet of this was pre-realeased in 2007, and then I heard 'Lifetime' last year(delayed reaction)and I was drooling over that for a while. But this, this is lush. Eight years after his last release 'Now' from 2001 (that album had classics such as the cover of 'This Woman's Work' and 'Lifetime') July 7th he drops 'Black'- the first part of the triple album 'Black Summer's Night'...I anticipate pure classicness...
check below the official video for 'Pretty Wings'...
the link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-RfzLnuUDQ
(sign says: Ministry of Transport and Communication head quarters)
The sign has since been fixed, but it was like that for a good year- at least thats how long I saw it for, who knows how long it was like that from before...
"..can't wear skinny jeans cause my knots dont fit"
So due to many random things happening over the past month and a half I have not been up to date with pop culture...etc...And I unfortunately missed one of my favourite tv events..The Grammys...And apparently it seems that as bad luck would have it,this was one of the worst years for a hip hop fan to have missed it - perhaps the worst year (Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke, Coldplay and JayZ!).So I didnt even know about the 'Swagger Like Us' performance till I randomly visited a site that linked it about a week ago. And my goodness..can I just say.. wuuuuurrrrrrrrrrr!!!!>??? Ive only just watched it online and man...wow..how cool was that..?!I cant even imagine what it would have felt like to be there...Id have been "asthma attackin' " myself! The closest thing this cool at the Grammys I think was in 1999 when Kirk Franklin, Bono, Mary J, R.Kelly, Crystal Lewis and Kirks choir did 'Lean on me'...That was spectacular...and every Grammys I feel like they try and do duets or group performances to live up to it...but I dont think theyve ever really managed..Probably because its a rare gift to get a really great song where all the artists are basically at the top of their game at that particular time..and then to get them to do a performance together??!..So this...this lives up to that performance in my opinion..and that Kanye is part of it, Im not surprised...the man is showmanship defined.. And then theres just something about JayZ these days thats just basically legendary...'retiring' was the cleverest fake thing the man ever did...it has to have been one of the most forward thinking marketing scheme I think a musician has pulled in recent times (maybe matched only by Britneys break down..??)...I was really tired of seeing him at first(re. Blue Magic)..but now with Blueprint 3 and all the great appearances and remixes ("My President is Black" remix..'Rosa Parks sat...so all the children could fly")..I cant get enough..!I think it happened around the time Kanye released 'Big Brother'....so again Kanye is involved..I believe he is very instrumental to the creation of the HOV legendary status (Jay die-hard fan says 'no wayy!!')..of course including producing 'The Black Album'...Nas is great, been around about the same time as Jay with material as good, to me maybe better in the pre-2000...but he didnt have someone like Kanye powering up his limelight...And what made him relevant again...an allegiance with Jay...who is connected to Kanye....I tell you man if hip hop was ever dying, then Kanye was the guy holding the defibrillators! Anyway, back to the performance...It was just too cool....the modern day rat pack....the Rap pack! The tuxes, the orchestra, M.I.A was pregnant and wearing a body sized stocking with polka dots covering the necessary areas.....man..... So if you missed it like I did...you can it check out on one of these two links..
Along unfolds the perfect setting of thoughts of my future..
I know now that…
Away from life’s daily struggles,
Of failures and enduring endless hurdles,
There exists colour and beauty
And this world is colourful and beautiful
I sit on this lonely bus
My mind shifting across time..
To the past, back to the bus and to things to come
I know the bus will slow down
And come into halt¬
And I will come out and disappear in the streets
And melt in city life’s heat
My soul will revert to the small fraction of life
Insignificant from the skies..
-Ja mes Ng'a ng'a Ka riuki Mu iruri
Its still not real James. Its still not real. Theres so much I want to say,so much to say that despite differences, you were truly a friend and I loved you. Your time on earth was well spent, you were a blessing to many. Thank you for being in my life, I feel honoured to have known you.
Its been a minute since I posted...Heres the couple of cents...
FIRST if you dont know who JUST A BAND are then you need to get with the program hombre... post-haste!!! This has to be one of the most eclectic and creative music groups to come out of Kenya in a while...I might go as far as to say..out of Africa infact! They not only make the music....a delightful fusion of techno, acoustic, Afro, funk...etc...they also do their own videos, photography (jim chuchu {photography}),animation...and from one of my sources -I hear they are generally really nice guys:-) Yoda would say 'TALENT, they have MAAADDD' and then he'd get a little excited, and proceed to swish his light saber in the air as he pumped it to the funky techno beats that pimp the remix/remake of Five Alives 'Oh Ndio'!
..Decide for yourself...And then if when you like it...please buy it...and support the Kenyan music industry :-)
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I also wanted to post this poem:
A Dream Deferred - Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
This is something to think about for anyone who lives (like I have) waiting to do things tommorow...-for real..it never comes!
Im learning to live by Faith...more than just a mustard seed...Gods guiding these steps :-)
I have been tagged, thanks Kipepeo... ....So yeh heres the rules Link to the person that tagged you. - Post the rules on your blog. - Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. - Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. - Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website I have actually been tagged by Msanii to a similar one to this (that) before and I actually started writing it but never finished and then forgot then remembered then couldnt think of 8 things to fill the list with and yeh so I abandoned that effort ...but then about a month after that there I was googling myself and found that I had been tagged for the same thing about 4 months before that by Mental Acrobatics...sorry to you both for my tardy response..So about now I have like about 25 things Im meant to reveal about myself but since I had problems with the original 8, I think I'll do a compromise of 12 random things about myself...ok so...
1. I can lick my nose (thought everyone could do this until my friends told me that no not everyone can and how weird it was)
2. I have never hit anyone in anger
3. I can drink as much tea as you can give me whenever,wherever, boiling 35C weather..whatever...
4. I didnt know that in the HeMan and Sheera theme songs they are saying 'by the power of Grey Skull' until about 6 months ago..I have always thought they said 'by the power of Gresco' and that this was the land where they dwelled - Gresco.
5. I have never had a proper boyfriend
6. I had watched Eddie Murphy uncensored 'Raw' and 'Delirious' several times by the time I was 11 (older brothers exposed mine innocent eyes whence i was but a tiny tot ) and can blame my sometimes explicitly potty-mouthed humour (in person, not on my blog..here - Im civil) on these influences.
7. It is becoming increasingly evident that I apparently cant drink or eat anything without dripping some of it on myself. Hence drinking or eating around desired males has become progressively stressful with the attempts to fluidly connect charming cheery banter with the hand to mouth co-ordination which is most conducive to non-spillage (possibly related cause of no.5? )
8. I buy books, before Ive finished another one, Im currently reading about 5, and have been reading them for about a year or so.
9. I voted for Kalonzo and feel cheated.
10. I LOOOVVEEEEE wikipedia and can spend hours linking from one piece of information to the next to the next to the next.....(possibly related cause of no.5? )
11. I love cats and 2-4 year olds (those are 2 points I know but I put them in one - cus they have similar cuteness factor in my mind) 12. I talk out of the side of my mouth, because I have a kinda crooked jaw...So perfectly serious conversation with me can sometimes start to look like a Joe Pesci/Sylvester Stallone impression...eh heh, you kapiche??
Ok so thats it...wasnt as hard as I thought it would be...thanks for the tags lovely people....and so I now blaze the torch onwards and forwards.....toooo the 5 most recent (this could go back like over a year if youre wondering when on earth you commented here...yeh traffics been that non-existent) guests to my blog:
We've been together a lifetime and things have been good. I cant complain. Through hard times and good times I have always felt safe with you. I have always felt like we were family and although there were differences between us, they complimented each other - they were our strength. But now these same differences are ripping us apart. Maybe we should have dealt with them earlier, acknowledged their presence from the get-go. I think that maybe we had too many good times and went to bed on the bad times hoping to wake up with a clear head. Sweeping too many of our issues under the carpet so that the guests wouldn't have to bear with them when they came to enjoy our gorgeous home. These past few months we've been through a lot of painful battles and we're wounded, we're beaten down, we're broken. I think its time we deal with it, I want us to make love..not war.I may sound idealistic but I think we can do it..we've been through worse, (I shudder when I think of what it took to get rid of that other subjugating woman...!)..I wrote you a little poem... Blood shed is red, Land pillaged was once green, But the desire for peace burns in our hearts, And for our children we weep... I'll love you till the end of time, So Kenya will you please be my valentine xoxoxoxo
