birdman....... paharo hombre... 1333 in the building.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago
great speech, great day, great time for the greatest country on earth.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Race, My Team
As the should be no-brainer presidential election, no pun intended,or should I say one brainer election, approaches. I can only think how much race plays in this race to be the commander and chief of the "United" States of America. One of my friends asked me, "are you just voting for Obama because he is black?" Now if I were on Jeopardy, I couldn't press the clicker fast enough to answer, " what is......Hell Yes!!!!!" But I am not just voting for Obama because he is black, but because I believe that he is undoubtedly the best pick to lead this proclaimed melting pot called America.
I broke it down to my friend like this; to me my RACE is my TEAM. For instance, I am from Pittsburgh, born and raised, and my team of course is the Steelers, best team and only team in football as far as I and the rest of Steeler's nation are concerned. When Pittsburgh won the super bowl there is a since of pride that every "Stiller" fan had when we won the ultimate prize in football, the Super Bowl. This is how I feel about Obama and this election.
The fact that Obama and I are share the same race, same team makes it sooooooo much sweeter. Metaphorically speaking, my race is my team. This is my life team, yea you can choose to be a steeler fan and you can't choice to be black, but you can chooce to be part of the "black team". Yea there are people out that that don't like the fact that they are black and don't want anything to do with black people. I say fine, don't be part of the team, nobody is forcing you to. But for those of us that love our team, embrace our team, have something to really be proud of. We, member of the black team have a right to be excited that we are in the "big game", and when my "team" wins this political super bowl, I know that my "team" will be ready to celebrate.
I broke it down to my friend like this; to me my RACE is my TEAM. For instance, I am from Pittsburgh, born and raised, and my team of course is the Steelers, best team and only team in football as far as I and the rest of Steeler's nation are concerned. When Pittsburgh won the super bowl there is a since of pride that every "Stiller" fan had when we won the ultimate prize in football, the Super Bowl. This is how I feel about Obama and this election.
The fact that Obama and I are share the same race, same team makes it sooooooo much sweeter. Metaphorically speaking, my race is my team. This is my life team, yea you can choose to be a steeler fan and you can't choice to be black, but you can chooce to be part of the "black team". Yea there are people out that that don't like the fact that they are black and don't want anything to do with black people. I say fine, don't be part of the team, nobody is forcing you to. But for those of us that love our team, embrace our team, have something to really be proud of. We, member of the black team have a right to be excited that we are in the "big game", and when my "team" wins this political super bowl, I know that my "team" will be ready to celebrate.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Music Industry's New Business Model?
I have told my friend, an aspiring artist, that the new way for music label to make money is not from CD's sells but from concecrts. Music labels must switch revenue models from selling CD's and Mp3, to putting together live concerts, festivals, and events. With Jay-Z signing a $150 million dollar deal with Live Nation, a concert promoter, it seems that music industry is already trying to switch their revenue model.
The major record labels need to pay close attention and see what happens with this. If i were CEO of Def Jam, i would focus on putting together concerts for my artist and the marketing of their music rather than distribution. Distribution is done now with a Google blog search. just type Jay-Z-the black album in a Google search bar. You will see what i mean.
The deal includes "financing for his own entertainment venture, in addition to recordings and tours for the next decade."
The deal is one of several for Live Nation, which aims to directly compete with the industry's music labels. In this deal, Live Nation will have access to not just CD sales, but a larger share of an artist's overall revenue. Such deals have already been lined up with U2 and Madonna, though neither one is as comprehensive.
Live Nation, known mainly for major rock and country tours, is making its first major foray into the Hip Hop genre.
As part of the agreement, Jay will receive financing from Live Nation for the start-up of a venture described as an "umbrella for his outside projects, which are expected to include his own label, music publishing, and talent consulting and managing." Live Nation will also contribute $5 million a year in overhead for five years, with another $25 being made available to fund the rapper's other acquisitions or investments. The venture will be known as Roc Nation, and will split profits with Live Nation.
The major record labels need to pay close attention and see what happens with this. If i were CEO of Def Jam, i would focus on putting together concerts for my artist and the marketing of their music rather than distribution. Distribution is done now with a Google blog search. just type Jay-Z-the black album in a Google search bar. You will see what i mean.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
NBA Premier League
With march madness here and more exciting than ever. The playoff race in the NBA's west coast seems to be just as exciting. However, the east coast except for a few teams are even worthy of the playoffs. My solution is to look at our across the pond neighbors and use their league format. The EPL, or English Premier League, is a soccer league, or football league to the rest of the world. The League has 20 teams and the bottom are subject to relegation and 3 teams from the lower division are moved up.
The new NBA would have 28 teams and the bottom 3 would be subject to going to the Developmental League. This would allow teams to remain competitive and make sure owners and GMs are doing their best to remain competitive too. Finally, the playoffs would have the best 16 teams out of the whole NBA. This would stop the the traditional top 8 teams from the east and west conference. The league can keep the two conferences, east and west, but the playoff system would change.
In the long run this would make the NBA more competitive on the court and in the front offices around the league. Also, the league would be able to experiment in allowing new cities to get NBA teams. The game of basketball is becoming a global game and more and more foreign players are coming to the US to play in our "Premier League" and many of our native players are being forced to play overseas. The NBA needs to rethink the way they have set up the league or become the NIT of professional basketball and another league will become the NCAA tournament.
The new NBA would have 28 teams and the bottom 3 would be subject to going to the Developmental League. This would allow teams to remain competitive and make sure owners and GMs are doing their best to remain competitive too. Finally, the playoffs would have the best 16 teams out of the whole NBA. This would stop the the traditional top 8 teams from the east and west conference. The league can keep the two conferences, east and west, but the playoff system would change.
In the long run this would make the NBA more competitive on the court and in the front offices around the league. Also, the league would be able to experiment in allowing new cities to get NBA teams. The game of basketball is becoming a global game and more and more foreign players are coming to the US to play in our "Premier League" and many of our native players are being forced to play overseas. The NBA needs to rethink the way they have set up the league or become the NIT of professional basketball and another league will become the NCAA tournament.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
