Keep on walking ladies...

KEEP ON WALKING LADIES…
Well this is my tutorial for journalism and we told that we had to do something that was unique and that we have not ever done before. Took me a while to decide what I was actually going to do, after thinking about it for a while I decided to do something simple. I decided I was going to spend some quality time with most of the ladies from Walker house (up the hill), that’s the residence that I lived in since February this year. I choose to do this activity because next month when I’m done with my exams, I’m leaving Rhodes University but most sadly I’m leaving Walker. Walker had became my home from home, and all the ladies from walker starting from the warden, sub-wardens, house comm, and the other ladies in general had turned into my family. I spent time in the common room with the ladies, just watching tv and talking forever with our never-ending conversations. I did not learn much from spending time with the ladies but I realised that I’m going to miss this part of my life very dearly but I’ve got to go and spread my wings. So sugarhoney says to all the walker ladies, Thank you for everything that we’ve been through, all the good fun times we had and also all the little arguments we had will be missed. And wherever I’ll be, I’ll make sure that I will keep on walking (**,).

What is yellow about that?

What is yellow about that?

The Yellow Brick Rhode is a very dull and boring blog post that I came across to. Firstly I was disappointed because I was expecting something WOW and extraordinary since the name Yellow Brick Rhode sounded very unique to me. The blog has four creators who have contributed to the blog, but not everyone has contributed equally because the blog has only got nineteen posts on it. One contributor has contributed more than the others. The yellow brick Rhode’s mission statement was that they write about any news locally and internationally to keep their followers up to date. To my disappointment once again I realised that did not have one single internationally article, but all they articles were locally based. The template of the blog also does not do them any justice, they chose brown wall paper with little flower decorations, the creators themselves did not even spend a single second on updating their personal profiles and I see that as another big downfall. Some of the posts that they have written about are interesting (but not that interesting) and the other posts are just so-so. I feel as if this blog was not well taken care of, the creators did not spend adequate time on the blog. This blog could have great potential if every contributed fairly and took the time and initiative to add some articles and a little more photos to liven the blog. This blog needs its creators to be more attentive.

TO CLARIFY: (NO. 2)

Well, well... It seems it's necessary for me to clarify myself again. It seems that some of my posts are not as entertainment based as I would have liked them to be. Why, aren't they, you ask.

It's the Journ department's fault. They give us assignments that I find hard to join with our blog's regular biznaaaaaaaaaas. Ag... I can't really blame them hardcore because it is their job to make us work. Rest assured - ENTERTAINMENT IS OUR FOCUS. IT IS MY FOCUS TOO. I simply have to fulfil some other requirements too.

Watch out for our next entetainment post... It's on its way!!! And maybe this time you will get all three perspectives - HALA AT SUGAR-HONEY! YEP, ICE JUST CALLED YOU OUT!!! (EvIL LauGH)

AM I THAT STUPID???

Who knew that a mistaken action – namely clicking on one of the side-bar adverts while on Facebook – would lead me to one of the few things about which I have a strong opinion: the issue of IQ.

This is a matter in which I actually have a vested interest because being a student – there are times, sitting in the back (or the front) of a lecture theatre, listening intently to your lecturer, when you think: “What the hell are you talking about?” And you look around, expecting at least a few people to share your sentiments only to find, lo and behold, THEY ALL SEEM TO UNDERSTAND. You ask yourself: “What’s wrong with me? Is this section that difficult?” You sigh. You deliberate. You ponder... This has probably happened more than a few times in your life. But the actual issue is not whether you are smart enough to understand or not, it’s the fact that you doubt yourself in the first place.

In school, we were made to take IQ tests to help us choose our careers – I was told I should be a political analyst because my IQ score was above ‘average’. I HATE POLITICS! I think the main problem with IQ tests is that they are discriminatory. Firstly, most IQ tests are in English. Who is to say that a child would not perform better if the test was in his own language? IQ tests test only the things that a few ‘learned’ old men consider as important: mathematics, language, spatial recognition etc. A farmer may not know calculus but he knows the right time to plant his carrot crop, how to remove aphids without damaging his crops – and the list goes on.

With organisations such as Mensa, the Mega Society and the Omega Society around, claiming to have the most intelligent members in the world, you would expect that most of the developments in the world would come from their members. But all they do is sit around, discussing lofty ideas and telling people – not showing them – how clever they are. All this based on a biased test. Real progress comes from the man on the street, the journalist, the teacher... Real progress knows no IQ. To me, real progress is about heart. IQ TESTS ARE AN INSUFFICIENT MEANS TO QUANTIFY ALL THAT A MAN CAN BE THROUGH ALL THAT HE HAS BEEN.

TREVOR MANUEL IS A HYPOCRITE!

Trevor Manuel, the ex-financial minister of South Africa has set tongues wagging with his out-of-character purchase of a BMW 750i costing over a million rand. To add to this faux pas, he ordered that it be custom fit with some ‘standard extras’ costing R 99, 200.

Really? Really? Wow! Can Trevor Manuel not be more of a hypocrite?! After telling the people of South Africa to be prudent, he goes and does this? It would have been better were we not in the throes of recession or if he was not advocating things to which he does not adhere. Then, he would simply be labelled a big spender or this may even have applied as a mistake: the car could always be taken back. But that is not the real story. Politicsweb reports that Manuel has joined a growing list of ministers who are buying expensive cars at the cost of the tax payers. Were we to sit down and calculate the total bill for ministerial vehicles, we would apparently come up with the sum of R 42, 612, 406.00.

What is so special about these cars? The purpose of any vehicle should be to take the passenger from point A to point B, not to teleport them or fly – which, judging from the millions of rands spent – these cars are apparently able to do. The ministers should rather try public transport, since they are always on about “getting closer to the people”. My amazement buds like a gigantic flower in an eternal Spring.

Jackson’s ghost to make AMA’s disappear

Michael Jackson being nominated for an American Music Award for 2009(http://abc.go.com/shows/american-music-awards/nominations) from the grave is not in the spirit of recognizing of achievements that award shows were made for. The reasoning of giving him the award is not per the criteria of such an award show. It is true that many mourned Jackson’s death on June 25th.He is a legend; commonly known as “The King Of Pop” a title he has earned however his death is not a good enough reason to give him an AMA nomination and probable awards. The AMA criteria for awards is: Record Sales and Radio Airplay. While you can give Jackson Ticks here but if Jackson can get nominated because he has died and his sales have soured why not nominate Elvis or Bob Marley in previous years . Michael Jackson has plenty of AMA’s but he hasn’t released a full LP since 2001’s “Invincible” other exceptions would be his compilation; 2003’s “Number One’s” and the re-issued 25th Anniversary Of “Thriller” in 2007.Im expecting Jackson to have a clean sweep come November 22nd beating out 2009’s deserving artists like Eminem, Lady Gaga, T.I, Maxwell ,The Black Eyed Pea’s who have all moved mountains with their 2009 offerings doing this very much alive. To sum it up this decision is as pointless as a blunt pencil that lacks definition in it’s scribble.

Caption Soundtrack:Jamie Foxx Ft T-Pain - Blame It

Jay-Z "The Blueprint For......."?!

POURING
The say the blueprint is the design for many other creations specifically buildings or in this case an empire. Picture an old vintage building,still elegant,still tall but in dire need of the modern touch a renovation.Would this renovation be the BLUEPRINT 3.

TEA STIRS
>First album off Def Jam and First Roc Nation Album
> 11th Number 1 album breaking the record held by Elvis
>Sold an estimated 476,000 copies in its first week
>2nd best selling Hip Hop Album of 09 behind Em's Relapse
> MTV's Hottest MC for 2009


TRACKLIST
1.What We Talkin About Ft Luke Steele Produced by Kanye West & No I.D
2.Thank You Produced by Kanye West & No I.D
3.D.O.A Produced by Kanye West
4.Run This Town Feat Kanye West & Rihanna Produced by Kanye West & No I.D
5.Empire State OF Mind Feat Alicia Keyz Produced by Al Shux
6.Real As It Gets Feat Young Jeezy Produced by The Inkredibles
7.On To The Next One Feat Swizz Beatz Produced by Swizz Beatz
8.Off That Feat Drake Produced by Timbaland
9. A Star is Born Feat J.Cole Produced by Kanye West & No I.D
10.Venus vs Mars Feat Beyonce Produced by Timbaland
11.Already Home Feat Kid Cudi Produced by Kanye West & No I.D
12.Hate Feat Kanye West Produced by Kanye West
13.Reminder Produced by Timbaland
14.So Ambitious Feat Pharrell Williams Produced by The Neptunes
15.Young Forever Feat Mr Hudson Produced by Kanye West
Tea's Picks = Red

DA SIP OF TEA

ICE went a little too hard on HOVE but that doesn't mean he is completely off.Looking at Jay-Z's legacy he has given you three classic albums that come to mind.Reasonable Doubt,The Blueprint & the Classic The Black Album.

In our Poll from the followers it seems the people are undecided with the half sayin "Crazy Old Fool Should Retire" 42% & the other half sayin Blueprint 3 "is da S.H.I.T" 42%; with the remainder say "Better Luck next time,Jigga"12%.

As Tea i find myself goin towards "Crazy Old Fool Should Retire" . Hove's album lacks the hunger of a young up & comer or an old dog tryin to learn new tricks it's just the same old HOVE.
I gotta say up to track 6 the album is a decent listen and would be for any Jigga fan out there and then 11 & 14 for me personally but one common thing i have noticed is nobody likes the whole album which is rare thing for a Jay-Z album.

The blueprint 3 is a good attempt at running with the big dogs in music but with so much money and business ventures what could JIGGA talk about. Other than Death's of Auto Tune(D.O.A) & New York(Empire State Of Mind) & Daddy's Goin Hard(Venus vs Mars) and that track where The Game thought Jigga dissed him (What We Talkin About) .Jay-Z has nothing else that he could contribute to the minds of our everlasting.To all his fans ride out with him he might prove me wrong but don't wait to long you might come back to reality on foot.

Jay-Z should consider writing self help books much like 50 Cent's 50th law or even LL Cool j's Training Regime book or even freestyle tips or somethin but Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 just proves one thing. "Should have Faded to Black!" Sorry Hove.

TO CLARIFY:

In this world of ours, it may seem that yet another blog focusing on the over-saturated entertainment segment of journalism is counter-productive to the core of what journalism should be. You probably believe we should be breaking new ground, investigating heavily or damn-near criticising more serious issues. We are journ students, so we should know better, right? WRONG...

The thing is, it is the very nature of entertainment news, viz. its over-saturation that allows it to be looked over, ignored or misrepresented. Many people (and I have witnessed this personally) simply copy and paste reviews, comments, articles and whatever else you can think of from one blog to another. Or from one website to another. They don't take the time to do their own research or to be critical.

This is where we come in. As journ students, it is potentially our life's work to be good, objective and fair journalists and that only starts with our wanting to be such while we are still students. So, to think that we may be dumbing things down by adopting to follow entertainment merely means that you (at this point in time) cannot see beyond the facade that is in front of you. You must not only try and look beyond that facade, but you should be able to explain why it's there in the first place. So, that's what we're aiming to do. We are, of course, still finding our feet as journalists - isn't that why we're students - but all we ask is for you to bear with us on our journey of enlightenment/betterment/progress - whatever you may want to call it. We are trying something different here, in order to remove ourselves from the habit that many of us acquire over years of conditioning: thinking linearly. We want to be lateral thinkers. Lateral-thinking journalists...

And it all begins here. Are you ready for S.H.I.T.?!

THE "BLUEPRINT 3": iN reTRosPEcT

#rublogs Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3". Da verdict is out from the ICE perpective. Peep dis: http://tinyurl.com/ycdyh2z

Before Sugar-Honey, Tea and I bombard you with our honest opinions, we believe that in the interests of objective and fair journalism we must at least represent Jigga fairly.

Track List:

1. What We Talkin' About
2. Thank You
3. D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)
4. Run This Town
5. Empire State of Mind
6. Real As It Gets
7. On To The Next One
8. Off That
9. A Star Is Born
10. Venus VS. Mars
11. Already Home
12. Hate
13. Reminder
14. Young Forever

So here are some stats from billboard.com (http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/search/blueprint):

• Jay-Z has recorded a total of 16 albums


• Many of them have reached the number 1 spot on the charts and stayed there for some time


• Currently, "The Blueprint 3" is chillin' comfortably at no. 2 on the Billboard 200, no. 1 on the Rap Albums chart and no. 13 on the European chart.


• The album has been on the charts for a total of 3 weeks.

Now... As a person, you should know that when a thing is good or bad, you're probably not the only one who can see that. So... Being the Ice-man, you not what opinion I'm going to have. All day, every day. But before I delve into the gunk that is "The Blueprint 3", some valued opinions from a few like-minded individuals:

From Culturebully (http://www.culturebully.com/jay-z-the-blueprint-3-review):

"So what does 'innovation' look like to one of the greatest emcees of all time? Pretty much the same ol' sh*t, except with more synthesizers..."

"In hip-hop, 'that next level shit' is almost always based around how the music sounds... Very rarely do artists try to be innovative by saying something new..."

From Prefixmag (http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/jay-z/the-blueprint-3/21904/):

"He's like a classic rock group (like, say, U2)... we expect him to keep delivering same-old, same-old new music.."

And finally, from rap.about.com (http://rap.about.com/od/reviews/fr/JayZBlueprint3Review.htm):

"[Timbaland] the man who once provided the ultimate backdrop for Jay's futuristic flow sounds stuck in an early millenium time warp..."

(RoLLInG mY eYES)

Here we go folks:

So, my initial listen of the album went sportingly. I listened. I held my tongue. I was as good as good can be. But something became all too obvious: THIS ALBUM LACKS COHESION!

Sure Jigga's beats are sick. Sure he has the right to call himself one of the best rappers of all time. I hand him all these freebies. (cHeEkY grIN) But to have an album whose tracks are not at all related to each other is not what I'd consider worthy of the self-proclaimed 'best rapper alive'. (HAHA - NOTE THE QUALIFIER 'ALIVE'). From songs about New York, to a song about reminding people that he's still got his street edge - IT ALL DOESN'T ADD UP. Jigga goes from electro, to hardcore, to pseudo-soul, back to electro. This in itself is not bad - it worked well for Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool". But even that had a central theme/focal point of reference. Jigga's attempt is just all over the show.

Other than that, I can't hate on the old man much. Joe Camel - as he's called by most hip-hop headz because he can go on and on and on - has made a fair attempt at reinforcing his (somewhat imaginary) position as King of hip-hop. This SHOULD BE HIS LAST ALBUM. Any more after this will just be a waste of time and money. And I doubt that as an audience we're stupid enough to keep buying the same ol' gimmicks.