Jesse Boykins III – The Beauty Created Review

Approximately 9 months and 11 days after dropping his spectactular debut EP, Dopamine, Jesse Boykins III and crew return to create Beauty. Beauty (n) – the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Wielding style and substance, The Beauty Created can only be described as Boykins’ “Hip Hop Bossa Electro Soul Opus,” but even that does this album no justice. The parts of The Beauty Created are equally as astounding as it’s sum. The songwriting, shrouded in allegory and symbolism, covers a wide range of subjects with women being the topic, but not the focus of the song, allowing the listener to appreciate the surface of a song or immerse themselves in its depths. Sonically, you can hear influences from Jobim to the Isleys, Marvin to Sa-Ra and beyond. However, Boykins doesn’t merely recreate their sound, he adds his own flavor to it, dazzling the ear with a gumbo of sound without sounding like an experimental novice. (Check Shine which begins with electro hip hop soul then takes you staight to Jamaica and back again.)

Overall, The Beauty Created, remains in a lane all it’s own. Trendsetters in the music industry, nowadays, are slim to none. Jesse Boykins III is definitely carving his own lane and I hope we see his influence on his peers and their ilk. Experimental without being ostentatious (given his musical background) or too “out there”, The Beauty Created is worth your patronage on Amazon.com and iTunes. With his first full length, Jesse Boykins III has created an album that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit, or more simply Beauty…and that’s not just the new car smell talking (lol).

*Head Nod Scale
1=Don’t waste your time like I did mine.
2=Waste your time like I did mine but I dare you to disagree.
3=Well, there was the single.
4=If it were a hand in spades there’s “two and a possible”.
5=It’s a “good” album. Meaning at least 3 or 4 solid songs.
6=Really Good Project. Has the “Rewind Factor” more than once.
7=The number of completion. Great Album. Instant Classic.

Renaissance: Q-Tip / The Review

Malina & Sasha Nappy Headed Hoes ??

From: nativenotes.net

So now Obama’s daughters are Nappy Headed Hoes. I understand that art is the freedom of expression but this is utterly ridiculous. America has lost its values. Not only is the man’s wife allowed to be disrespected but now his two beautiful children as well. This photo is from the “Assassination of Barack Obama” exhibit.

This is a post written in June any many of you may have already witnessed this. This was my first time seeing something as utterly disgusting and distasteful as this and they have the nerve to call it “art”  come on  man!! Anyhow, If you guys feel like I do about this I say email this so called “artist” and tell him how much you hate him… dmac

You can find the artist here.

Common @ Club Sky .. A good look

I must admit that I don’t club much these days however, we since my wife and I had a sitter plus she was very persistence about going to see “Common”.

We got to Club Sky (1612 3rd Avenue North ) about 12:00AM where was saw a good bit of cars and small line of folks waiting to get in. We were checked by security and greeted with a Wopping $25 bucks to get in… wow.. however, well worth it being that I had a good time.

Stepping in to the club was refreshing.. there was a bluish tint to the lighting which gives you a relaxed feeling. I also saw nicely dressed men and women (most of em) with smiles on their faces instead of the mean mugs you see in some Birmingham Clubs. This was the makings of a fun evening.

To the right of the club upon entering there is a large bar.. no seats (which is good) and fast service even though the club was packed.  Along the left side of the wall there where sleek white couches and tables that gives the club modern feel.  In the back there was a dance floor which leads to a stairwell to the second level of the club.

The second level also had a bar which was unmanned but it was cool .. I already had my drink.

Common was there as advertised which to be honest surprised the hell outta me.. due to past experiences of artists not showing up for whatever reason.  To my surprise he was very accessible no excessive bodyguards, ropes and chains etc.  As you might have guessed he was flanked by various people (mainly women) to get their photos taken with him and some like myself.. just to holler at him.

Common ended his stay at the club with a bangin mini concert to include his new song “Universal Mind Control“.

I was also taken on a tour of the unfinished portions of the Club which were very promising to say the least. This club has all the ingredients to be one of the hottest clubs in Birmingham.

Security ‘bad news for sex drive’

by BBC NEWS:

A woman’s sex drive begins to plummet once she is in a secure relationship, according to research.

Researchers from Germany found that four years into a relationship, less than half of 30-year-old women wanted regular sex.

Conversely, the team found a man’s libido remained the same regardless of how long he had been in a relationship.

Writing in the journal Human Nature, the scientists said the differences resulted from how humans had evolved.

The researchers from Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital interviewed 530 men and women about their relationships.

They found 60% of 30-year-old women wanted sex “often” at the beginning of a relationship, but within four years of the relationship this figure fell to under 50%, and after 20 years it dropped to about 20%.

In contrast, they found the proportion of men wanting regular sex remained at between 60-80%, regardless of how long they had been in a relationship.

Tenderness

The study also revealed tenderness was important for women in a relationship.

About 90% of women wanted tenderness, regardless of how long they had been in a relationship, but only 25% of men who had been in a relationship for 10 years said they were still seeking tenderness from their partner.

Dr Dietrich Klusmann, lead author of the study and a psychologist from Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, believed the differences were down to human evolution.

He said: “For men, a good reason their sexual motivation to remain constant would be to guard against being cuckolded by another male.”

But women, he said, have evolved to have a high sex drive when they are initially in a relationship in order to form a “pair bond” with their partner.

But, once this bond is sealed a woman’s sexual appetite declines, he added.

He said animal behaviour studies suggest this could be because females may be diverting their sexual interest towards other men, in order to secure the best combinations of genetic material for their offspring.

Or, he said, this could be because limiting sex may boost their partner’s interest in it.

Professor George Fieldman, an evolutionary psychologist from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, said: “These findings seem to fit in with anecdotal studies and his explanations seem plausible.

“The rational for why a woman’s sex drive declines may be down to supply and demand. If something is in infinite supply, the perceived value would drop.”

Chinese Automakers May Buy GM and Chrysler

Chinese carmakers SAIC and Dongfeng have plans to acquire GM and Chrysler, China’s 21st Century Business Herald reports today. [A National Enquirer the paper is not. It is one of China's leading business newspapers, with a daily readership over three million.] The paper cites a senior official of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology– the state regulator of China’s  industry– who dropped the hint that “the auto manufacturing giants in China, such as Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Dongfeng Motor Corporation, have the capability and intention to buy some assets of the two crisis-plagued American automakers.” These hints are very often followed with quick action in the Middle Kingdom. The hints were dropped just a few days after the same Chinese government gave its auto makers the go-ahead to invest abroad. And why would they do that?

A take-over of a large  overseas auto maker would fit perfectly into China’s plans. As reported before, China has realized that its export chances are slim without unfettered access to foreign technology. The brand cachet of Chinese cars abroad is, shall we say, challenged. The Chinese could easily export Made-in-China VWs, Toyotas, Buicks. If their joint venture partner would let them. The solution: Buy the joint venture partner. Especially, when he’s in deep trouble.

At current market valuations (GM is worth less than Mattel) the Chinese government can afford to buy GM with petty cash. Even a hundred billion $ would barely dent China’s more than $2t in currency reserves. For nobody in the world would buying GM and (while they are at it) Chrysler make more sense than for the Chinese. Overlap? What overlap? They would gain instant access to the world’s markets with accepted brands, and proven technology.

21st Century Business Herald, obviously with input from higher-up, writes that Chinese industry must change and upgrade. China wants their factories to change from low-value-added manufacturing to technically innovative and financially-sound high-value-add industries. Says the paper: “It would be much easier now for strong Chinese automakers to go global by acquiring some assets of their U.S. counterparts in times of crisis.”

Deloitte & Touche sees a trend: “Chinese automakers can start with buying out the OEM projects and Chinese ventures of some global carmakers such as GM and Chrysler.”

The Chinese appear to have bigger plans than an accounting firm can imagine. 21st Century Business Herald acts and writes as if its already a done deal, and the beginning of more to come. “In the coming two years China is likely to see a few of its large Chinese automakers and other manufacturing enterprises set a precedent for achieving globalization by acquiring global companies, just like SAIC or Dongfeng’s possible acquisition of troubled GM or Chrysler.”

Just in case you missed it, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC)  is China’s largest auto manufacturer. In 1984, the company entered a joint venture with Volkswagen. A decade later, SAIC entered a joint venture with General Motors. In 2007, SAIC bought the Nanjing Automobile Corporation, which had acquired  British MG Rover in 2005.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation is a public company, although 70 percent of their shares are reported to be in government hands. They also are one of China’s Big Three. The company has numerous joint venture partners, such as Nissan, Peugeot-Citroen, Honda, and Kia. Dongfeng (which means “East Wind”) was founded at the behest of Mao Zedong himself  in 1968.

Unemployment Insurance—a good investment?

Plum Book: ultimate wish-book for govt. jobseekers

Try cracking open the newest page-turner from the federal government, the 210-page “United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions.”

Inside what’s more commonly known as the Plum Book, you’ll find a listing of more than 7,000 top government jobs that are likely to open up with the presidential transition.

Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins, the leaders of the Senate committee that sponsored the book’s publication, call it “essential reading for anyone interested in pursuing public service in the executive branch of government.”

But one expert on the federal bureaucracy cautions that the $38 paperback may not be a very smart investment for jobseekers.

“It certainly isn’t a classified jobs section,” said Paul Light, a New York University professor. “It’s a place to look for a possibility that might come to you in a dream world. Nobody applies for these jobs in an open process. It’s really just a wonderful listing for people to page through and say ‘Gee, I wish I could get that.’ The real plums in the plum book go to people who are well-connected to the administration.”

In other words, it still comes down to who you know – or how hard you worked on President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign.

The book represents a compilation of appointed jobs from all federal agencies, such as agency heads and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisers, and aides who report to those officials. It reveals salaries, who’s currently got the jobs, and whether the job requires Senate confirmation.

For example, page 143 shows that the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ station manager on Tinang Island in the Philippines gets paid $150,229.

Scan down the same page, and there’s a listing for the director of CIA, at executive pay grade II, which means $168,000.

After the CIA, next come listings for the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, whose chairman is at pay grade IV, which means $145,400.

Further down the same page, there’s a listing for members of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, pay plan “WC” – without compensation.

The idea for the Plum Book originated in 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower was elected and Republicans took charge of the government after 22 years of Democratic control. The Republican Party requested a list of government positions that Eisenhower could fill. The next edition of “The Plum Book” appeared in 1960 and it has since been published just after every presidential election, according to the Government Printing Office.

Whatever its value to jobseekers, the book is a treasure trove for scholars of government, laying out how the federal bureaucracy has grown over the years.

“For researchers like me, it’s a really helpful book to show how the hierarchy has thickened over the years,” says Light, “but it’s not a good book for the people who are looking for a job.”

Light compares the Plum Book to the Nieman Marcus Christmas catalog.

“It’s the kind of thing you want to pretend you can afford, but you’re not going to find much in there in your price range,” he said.

Still curious? You can find the whole thing online for free at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2008.

A Butler Well Served by This Election

Now retired, he started when blacks were in the kitchen.

Reporting from Washington — For more than three decades, Eugene Allen worked in the White House, a black man unknown to the headlines. During some of those years, harsh segregation laws lay upon the land.He trekked home every night to his wife, Helene, who kept him out of her kitchen.

In its long history, the White House — note the name — has had a complex and vexing relationship with black Americans.

“The history is not so uneven at the lower level, in the kitchen,” said Ted Sorensen, who served as counselor to President Kennedy. “In the kitchen, the folks have always been black. Even the folks at the door — black.”

Before Gene Allen landed his White House job, he worked as a waiter at a resort in Hot Springs , Va. , and then at a country club in Washington .

He and wife Helene, 86, were sitting in the living room of their Washington home. Her voice was musical, in a Lena Horne kind of way. She called him “Honey.” They met at a birthday party in 1942. He was too shy to ask for her number, so she tracked his down. They married a year later.

In 1952, a lady told him of a job opening in the White House. “I wasn’t even looking for a job,” he said. “I was happy where I was working, but she told me to go on over there and meet with a guy by the name of Alonzo Fields.”

Fields was a maitre d’, and he immediately liked Allen.

Allen was offered a job as a “pantry man.” He washed dishes, stocked cabinets and shined silverware. He started at $2,400 a year.

There was, in time, a promotion to butler. “Shook the hand of all the presidents I ever worked for,” he said.

“I was there, honey,” Helene said. “In the back maybe. But I shook their hands too.” She was referring to White House holiday parties, Easter egg hunts.

They have one son, Charles, who works as an investigator with the State Department..

“President Ford’s birthday and my birthday were on the same day,” he said. “He’d have a birthday party at the White House. Everybody would be there. And Mrs. Ford would say, ‘It’s Gene’s birthday too!’ ”

And so they’d sing a little ditty to the butler. And the butler, who wore a tuxedo to work every day, would blush.

“Jack Kennedy was very nice,” he went on. “And so was Mrs. Kennedy.”

He was in the White House kitchen the day Kennedy was slain. He got an invitation to the funeral. But he volunteered for other duty: “Somebody had to be at the White House to serve everyone after they came from the funeral.”

The whole family of President Carter made Helene chuckle: “They were country. And I’m talking Lillian and Rosalynn both.” It came out as the highest compliment.

First Lady Nancy Reagan came looking for him in the kitchen one day. She wanted to remind him about the upcoming state dinner for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. She told him he would not be working that night.

“She said, ‘You and Helene are coming to the state dinner as guests of President Reagan and myself.’ I’m telling you! I believe I’m the only butler to get invited to a state dinner.”

Husbands and wives don’t sit together at these events, and Helene was nervous about trying to make small talk with world leaders. “And my son said, ‘Momma, just talk about your high school. They won’t know the difference.’

“The senators were all talking about the colleges and universities that they went to,” she said. “I was doing as much talking as they were.

“Had champagne that night,” she said, looking over at her husband.

He just grinned: He was the man who stacked the champagne at the White House.

Colin L. Powell would become the highest ranking black of any White House to that point when he was named Reagan’s national security advisor in 1987. Condoleezza Rice would have that position under President George W. Bush.

Gene Allen was promoted to maitre d’ in 1980. He left the White House in 1986, after 34 years. President Reagan wrote him a sweet note. Nancy Reagan hugged him tight.

Interviewed at their home last week, Gene and Helene speculated about what it would mean if a black man were elected president.

“Just imagine,” she said.

“It’d be really something,” he said.

“We’re pretty much past the going-out stage,” she said. “But you never know. If he gets in there, it’d sure be nice to go over there again.”

They talked about praying to help Barack Obama get to the White House. They’d go vote together. She’d lean on her cane with one hand, and him with the other, while walking down to the precinct. And she’d get supper going afterward. They went over their election day plans more than once.

“Imagine,” she said.

“That’s right,” he said.

On Monday, Helene had a doctor’s appointment. Gene woke and nudged her once, then again.. He shuffled around to her side of the bed. He nudged Helene again.

He was all alone.

“I woke up and my wife didn’t,” he said later.

Some friends and family members rushed over. He wanted to make coffee. They had to shoo the butler out of the kitchen.

The lady he married 65 years ago will be buried today.

The butler cast his vote for Obama on Tuesday. He so missed telling his Helene about the black man bound for the Oval Office.

Haygood writes for the Washington Post.

~By Wil Haygood

Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama in new audio message

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) – Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri is criticizing Barack Obama in a new message, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

Al-Zawahri says in an audio message, which appeared on militant Web sites Wednesday, that Obama is “the direct opposite of honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X. He calls Obama a “house negro.”

The audio plays over still pictures of al-Zawahri, Malcolm X praying, and Obama with Jewish leaders.

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