Newly Discovered Music: Emeli Sande & Kimbra

I was browsing the free section of Amazon MP3s and discovered these ladies. Emeli Sande from the UK and Kimbra from New Zealand. In my experience, the free music on Amazon is lame but I was pleasantly surprised by these two ladies. After doing minimal research I found out that Kimbra is the singer featured at the end of the Gotye song 'Somebody That I Used to Know.' The songs that were free on Amazon were 'Where I Sleep' from Emeli Sande's Our Version of Events and 'Settle Down' from Kimbra's Vows albums.

In my opinion, Emeli's voice sounds similar to Jordin Sparks who I also really like. I also think that Emeli has some really good lyrics though I'm not sure if she writes her own music or not. Something about Kimbra's music just has a cool vibe to me and all of her songs seem to be pretty different so it's difficult to categorize her. Either way, I'm really liking them both. Take a listen....

I wasn't able to find a video for 'Where I Sleep' so here's one for 'Heaven'

Kimbra 'Settle Down'

Random Thought: Rudeness

This will be a short post....

Anyway, I was thinking today about something I find to be really rude: when people make negative comments about your food. I'm not talking about going to a restaurant and your friends making fun of some monstrosity that came out on your plate, I mean your own food. You cook something and some rude bastard comments that it doesn't smell good/looks funny/etc. Has that ever happened to you? It's happened to me. Only twice that I can think of but both times the same person said it.

Although the incidents occurred years ago, I still remember them pretty well. Not sure why I have such a habit of holding on to things but that's not the point. I was making one of those microwave pasta dishes that you just add water to and pop in the microwave for a few minutes and it's done. It was garlic & parmesan flavored penne (yes, I remember that). One of my five roommates 'Sam' was asking what that smell was, etc as if it was an unpleasant smell. Granted, not everyone can deal with the smell of garlic but it's not like I was boiling cloves of it. I just felt it was rude to walk around the house talking about how bad she thought my food smelled. Like, wtf is that about? I would NEVER do that to anyone even if it smelled like ass. If someone cooked something and was about to eat it, I wouldn't sit in their face and say "Eww, that smells really bad." Who does that?

Another similar incident happened when I made one of those microwavable Hamburger Helper things that they now have (very convenient for broke college students by the way). Again Sam made a comment. First she asked if I was making the garlic thing again. No, I wasn't. And then, get this, she proceeded to spray some form of air freshener (possibly Oust spray) in the kitchen after I left. Really? Is it that serious? NOT EVEN WHEN MY MAMA COOKED CHITTERLINGS DID I EVER FEEL THE NEED TO SPRAY SOME AIR FRESHENER IN THE KITCHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe I'm making too much of it but I don't think so. In my opinion, it's just rude. Like, if you went to someone's house and they were cooking, would you really sit there and comment on how bad it smells? C'mon son!

That's all for now....this post turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would. Oh well.

Back to Africa??? What is That About?

I haven't thought about this in a while, but I was watching something on tv the other day with flashbacks from the 60s showing white people carrying signs saying "Back to Africa" on them. For the life of me, I've NEVER understood that whole back to Africa "campaign" if you will. My whole thing is, aren't white people the ones who brought Africans to America in the first place? So how are you gonna be mad about us being here if it's your fault we're here? The Africans were minding their own business when Mr. Slave Master decided to show up and rip them out of their home. Did they ask to come here? Nope. Not even a little bit.

Then, generations later we have Mr. Slave Master's descendants telling Black people to go back to Africa. I'm pretty sure that my entire family of Black folks was born right here in America, as was I, so how are we gonna go back to a place we've never been? If you have a problem with me being here, blame your ancestors. It's like, us being here was okay for all those years you were getting over on us and forcing us into free labor but once we got our freedom our presence was suddenly a problem. Oh well, not our fault so get over it.

Anyway, that's all I really have to say on the subject. It's just something that always bothered me because if you really think about it, it makes no sense.

That's all for now....

Blackface for Halloween???

So just now (literally a few minutes ago) I was browsing another blog showing celebrities in their Halloween costumes and one person was dressed as be Jay-Z. Now, in all honesty, I've never heard the name of the person before so I don't know the his nationality but the blogger pointed out that this man was in blackface for the occasion. In that case, it's likely this person is white or possibly Hispanic. And sorry, I don't remember his name nor do I care enough to look it up. The writer of the blog gave a side eye for being in blackface. In the comments section of the blog some posters stated that no one had a problem when a black athlete was Justin Timberlake for Halloween and painted his face white and that black people were "too sensitive" which lead me to write this post.

If blacks in this country didn't have the history that we have, I could totally understand such a statement, but we do so I can't. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but back in the day white people would dress in blackface basically to make fun of blacks for minstrel shows and what not. They would either portray a black person as being a complete fool or some savage beast. Birth of a Nation anyone? So yes, because of this I can totally understand why black people would be sensitive when it comes to white people dressing in blackface, even if it is just for Halloween. I'm sure the intention isn't to be hurtful and it's all in good fun but, still. Something about it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Why not have me and a white friend dress up as slave and master? Okay, maybe that's extreme but you get the point.

Personally, I'm only slightly offended. Like, if I saw that in real life I would definitely give that person the ultimate side eye and curse them under my breath, but it wouldn't ruin my night. In a similar situation, while I was out with my friend over the weekend (an Asian girl if it matters), she pointed out that she didn't like one girl's Native American costume because she didn't feel that people should dress up as someone's nationality for Halloween. To be honest, I never thought that deeply about it but I can see where she's coming from. I know it's not exactly the same but like I said, similar.

Anyway, what do you think? Are some black people just being too sensitive? Are others not being sensitive enough? Maybe they're reading too much into it and making a big deal out of nothing. Or maybe they're not making a big enough deal out of it. I suppose it's something you can look at both ways.

My Favorite TV Couples

Out of sheer boredom I started running down some of my favorite tv couples in my head and I thought "Hey, this might make a cool blog post!" So here I am. I've watched a lot of shows and liked a lot of couples over the years so obviously I can't name ALL the ones I really loved. These are just the first ones that came to mind, in no particular order. Enjoy!

First up, again in no particular order, is one of my all time favorite couples: Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky from Full House, played by John Stamos and Lori Loughlin. I really don't have much to say about this couple. From the moment they graced my screen I loved them and knew they should be together. I honestly don't know anyone who wasn't a fan of Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky.

Next up is Angela and Shawn from Boy Meets World. Now I'm sure a majority of people would argue that Cory and Topanga were the "it" couple for that show which would be true, however they weren't it for me. Sure the Cory and Topanga story was cute and what not but I much preferred Angela and Shawn's romance. If I remember correctly they didn't end up together in the end but who cares. It was fun while it lasted. They'll always be my favorite Boy Meets World couple.

Again, I'm sure lots of people probably preferred Buffy and Angel together but not I. I have a thing for bad boys, sue me. I thought Buffy and Spike were hot together and I loved them as a couple. I mean, what's not to love right? Not much else to say about them.

Another one of my all time favorite tv couples is Dwayne and Whitley from A Different World. They had their ups and downs but it all worked out for them in the end. Who can forget that infamous wedding when Dwayne showed up and claimed his woman before she married Byron? Although I must admit, I kinda liked Whitley and Byron together but it just wasn't meant to be.

Next on my list are Sean and Emma from Degrassi: The Next Generation. Sadly Sean and Emma didn't end up together. And I still don't get that bootleg marriage to Spinner but whatever. Theirs was a rocky romance with many ups and downs but I guess that's to be expected in middle school. Anyway, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Next up is Martin and Gina from Martin. I think everyone has said they wanted that Martin/Gina love at some point in their lives. Break-ups, make-ups, Gina killing "my mama bird", they went through it all and were able to work it out in the end. Like Dwayne and Whitley earlier, Martin and Gina were definitely one of those opposites attract couples.

Now for one of my favorite soap opera couples ever to exist, Robin and Stone from General hospital. Their tragic love story was one of the best. Squeaky clean Robin falling for wrong side of the tracks Stone driving her overprotective uncle crazy in the process. Then finding out that Stone has been diagnosed with AIDS and has only months to live. Then on top of that finding out that little Robin has contracted HIV. Oh the humanity!!! But seriously, it was an amazing love story and Stones death scene still chokes me up. Must see TV indeed.

Jessie and Katie from the regrettably short lived Once and Again. Does anyone besides me even remember this show? Lol, either way, it was one of my favorites and my first time seeing Evan Rachel Wood who I love. This was also the first time I actually noticed Mischa Barton. And let's not forget that a young Shane West was also in the show, but I digress. Jessie and Katie were the first same sex couple that I remember seeing on tv. They were young and their romance was sweet and pure. I really don't have much more to say other than that.

Next on my list is Overton and Sinclair from Living Single (sorry I couldn't find a picture of the two of them alone). I loved them because they were both weird and a little slow but it worked somehow. They were just so cute and goofy together. Nothing more to say about them.

Last but not least, probably my all time favorite tv couple EVER, Joey and Pacey from Dawson's Creek. I seriously can not tell you how much I adore this couple. Like, it's kind of disgusting how much I love them. Dawson who? From that first episode of season 3 where you saw a little glimpse of something to the very end, they were just everything. Dawson never compared to Pacey as far as I'm concerned. I truly loved everything about Pacey and Joey (except for that nasty Promicide episode in season 4 that I refuse to watch to this day). I also wasn't a fan of the way Joey dropped Pacey for Eddie in season 6 but luckily it all worked out in the end and I got my happy ending.

Who are some of your favorites?