Esperanza Spalding - Beautiful, Soulful, Fun, Incredibly Talented!

I can't believe that I only discovered her a few days ago while she sang "If I was your Girlfriend" for Prince's tribute at the BET Awards.

It is so refreshing to hear this kind of music and singing. She's soulful, jazzy, she is a pro jazz bass player, and her voice is beautiful!

I was instantly drawn to her music and singing after seeing her at the BET Awards and have been listening to her music non-stop!

Check her her website and MySpace page! This is exactly the kind of artist I want to see live!

Joy Ike's Sophomore Album "Rumors"

It is easy to label an artist as soulful, but increasing difficult to find a real soul artist in today’s music scene. Joy Ike is the needle in the haystack. Her recently released sophomore album, 'Rumors', rises above the rest busting through with a soul sound that has drawn comparisons to Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, and Regina Spektor.

Her single "Sweeter" has received praise from NPR’s music critics with All Things Considered calling her, "a unique blend of neo-soul, with just the right dash of pop...a truly compelling act to watch."

'Rumors' has also racked up an incredible amount of attention in her hometown of Pittsburg, PA and has garnered new listeners across the country building a band of passionate new followers.

Joy released 'Rumors' her second full length album independently and continues a grassroots attempt to stay true to her values.

Joy Ike "Sweeter" MP3

More on Joy Ike:

www.joyike.com

www.myspace.com/joyike

Sonny Rollins Receives Miles Davis Award

Tenor sax player, Sonny Rollins won the Miles Davis Award last Sunday at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Previous recipients of this award include Ornette Coleman, McCoy Tyner and Mike Stern. It is meant to honour an international artist for the entire body of his or her work.

His nickname is the Saxophone Colossus and he has been performing for the past five decades! His original style is bebop, but he has also explored other genres such as calypso, funk, R&B and pop.

Sonny Rollins will be touring in various venues throughout Europe, Japan, and New York until November. Check out his touring dates here.

Check out Sonny's video library, including his Podcasts, peformance clips, interviews and special features about the Sonny Rollins Group on his website.

Here's one of the videos of this legendary saxophonist:

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10 Things I Hate About Democracy

There are some things I love about democracy, the ideal that everyone is born equal, that everyone ought to have a say in the running of their nation. However, when I left my text book idealism and looked at the Pakistan around me, I felt compelled to write this post

1. Stupidity Measurement Index: We get to really ascertain how stupid the general populace really is. Whether it's re-electing perpetually corrupt or the unbelievably incompetent, our general populace prefers electing the same old corrupt faces. It’s not even that these are folks with any modicum of class…just look at the way they treat each other.

2. The government is expected to always step in because they are ‘democratically’ elected and ‘serve the people’; to be fair they do service the people….their own people as it turns out……which turns out to be a very limited number.  It sickens me to see imported land cruisers and VIP service all paid for by tax payer money, I’m almost glad I don’t have access to view their Swiss Bank Accounts. 

3. Democracy Complex: We justify bad governance by saying 'at least it's a democratically elected government'. Our Democratic idealist love to admonish from their pulpits about some mythical time hundred of years into the future where a few bad teething years of democracy served the greater good. For starters that is insane. If we keep repeating the same cycles of democratically elected ahem re-appropriators of budget resources, things will never change. And secondly, it is hardly any relief to the common man who can’t afford two square meals a day that he has a democratic government. As our honorable Finance Minister stated ‘Starving amongst plenty’ indeed.

4. We elect idiots and feel justified in ranting about how incompetent they are. If you lect a fool with a track record for being a corrupt fool, you don't have the right to be pissed when he acts like a corrupt fool. Particularly when the venerable representative is forced to resign on account of holding a fake degree and then gets re-elected to Parliament on the back of the sitting Prime Minister’s conditional offer of a mega project if the electorate sees fit to re-instate the said official back into office. And you know what…he was re-lected…by a handy margin.

5. Corruption Personified: Our democratically elected MNA's have a god complex and feel perfectly justified in even the most common place thievery. I’m not saying military rule is much better in this regard, but my perception is that the army has a sense of honor that arises from a largely meritocratic organization. The meritocracy of our democratic system stems from accidents of birth. Even the competent are removed on grounds of ….ahem…transitional favoritism.

6. Hypocrisy: Only in Pakistani democracy would an elected official admonish others about energy savings but then be stealing electricity him self. The also feel justified in loading up PSE’s with political appointees and friends in order to ‘reduce’ unemployment, and then blame the PSE for being a burden on the economy. politicians blame each other for the lack of getting anything done due to the desire to build consensus. More like splitting the pie amongst themselves to see who can get the biggest piece. There are no checks and balances: The Checks and balances our democratically elected politicians are familiar with refer to the checks politicians expect written out to augment their bank balances.

7. Democracy is the mob, and in Pakistan the mob is surprisingly easy to manipulate. Oppression of the majority on the minority. Democracy is divisive. Democracy is all about controlling the Mob. That’s it. It is Politicians gaming what they think 51% believe over the remaining 49%, and even in that context they consider which segments actually vote. Religion and Morality are well received segments. Democracy, where even the stupid have as much voting power as the brilliant.

8. Religious Infusion: Islam was built on the basis of democracy....bullshit.... nothing about Islamic governance is predicated on democratic inclination. Prophet (PBUH) wasn't elected by the general populace neither were the Caliphs or the Imams. You get the ability to elect barely literate 'leaders' to run the largest organization in Pakistan. It ought to be left to professionals, not the politicians (Hire the Singapore Government; before anyone suggests, no I have no desire to move there, just pointing out what works). The closest thing to an Islamic Democracy is Islam, where the elected members have wonderful 'advisory' roles with lots of checks and balances by religious institutions.

9. Democracy is a punishment for not having popular enough western leaning leaders. The motto seems like 'Be nice to America or we'll bring democracy to you'. Saudi Arabia, friendly pro-Americans. Kim Jong Il elected leader of North Korea, Axis of evil. So, you better have the right democracy appears to be the order of the day.

10. But what I hate about democracy the most is that best, most stable, economically prosperous years I’ve known have been when we had a military dictatorship (GDP output grew from USD 40bn to USD 160bn), when our economy was deemed to potentially be the next China or at the very least India. Under democracy, now we look like the Nigeria’s oil less, religious, drug addled cousin.

Democracy has disappointed me. It’s not the silver bullet, and for a country like our that is so blessed with natural resources our lack of progress is an embarrassment to God’s good graces. According to news reports, the country has the second largest salt mine in the world, fifth largest gold mine, seventh largest copper mine, fifth largest coal reserves, seventh largest wheat and rice production capacity, is eighth in the rankings of fresh water availability and to add to our embarrassment of riches we possess 185 billion tonnes of Thar coal. And even with all those blessed resources we have a fiscal, energy and international trade deficit.

The primary root of my angst is the lack of education. An uneducated stupid electorate will elect similar leaders. However, the government has no incentive to invest in education, and hence budget after budget, election after election all we are feted to is the customary lip service to education. What’s the point of a democracy if your people starve?

Maybe, I'm just out of line (not exactly outlandish) Is Democracy a dish best served cold? Or in our case….space frozen.  

Remembering the king

On the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, Janet, Randy, Tito and Jermaine Jackson gathered at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, Calif. to pay their respects.

The group -- all dressed in black -- arrived around 11 a.m. PT and entered through a back entrance of the mausoleum in which Michael is interned. About 500 fans also quietly gathered, many wearing sequined jackets or white gloves, according to a witness

Poor little wild girl

Poor “Pretty Wild” star Alexis Neiers. Yesterday, the 19-year-old troublemaker began serving her 180-day sentence for her participation in the “bling ring,” a group of teenagers who broke into celebrity houses and stole jewelry and other valuables. Neiers was specifically convicted for her role in robbing Orlando Bloom‘s home. She doesn’t seem super psyched about where she’s headed,

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Gay Heaven

Jersey Shore's Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, and Vinny Guadagnino have landed the cover of the special "Queer Issue" of Village Voice magazine. But according to reports, the boys didn't know it was the annual "Queer Issue" they were posing for. Well, lucky for you loyal Soup fan, we have a transcript of what we believe went down on the set of the shoot...

(The Village Voice photographer fiddles with his camera. Mike enters. He's shirtless)

Mike: Hey, this ain't the gay issue is it?

Village Voice: No.

Mike: Good. Yo, I shredded my abs all morning for this. Check it, they're bangin'.

Village Voice: Nice.

Mike: Don't just look at 'em, bro. You gotta touch 'em to fully appreciate The Situation.

Village Voice: Um, OK.

(Photographer reluctantly touches his abs)

Village Voice: OK, yeah, they're impressive.

(Vinny enters)

Vinny: Hey, this ain't the gay issue is it?

Village Voice: No.

Vinny: Good, cause I don't play that sh-t.

(Vinny rips his shirt off)

Vinny: Yo Mikey, help oil me up, bro.

Mike: How 'bout I do you while you do me?

Vinny: Let's do each otha' then.

(Mike and Vinny begin rubbing oil on each other's chests simultaneously)

Mike: That's right. All over the pecs.

Vinny: Good. Now let's do the backs.

(They stand face to face, reach their arms all the way around each other in a full body hug, and in this manner rub oil on the other one's back. The Village Voice photographer stares awkwardly at the floor. Ronnie enters. He's nude)

Ronnie: Aw no, did I miss oil time?

Mike: Sorry bro, we just finished.

Village Voice (to Ronnie): Ah...you know this isn't a nude shoot. You just need to be topless, not bottomless.

Ronnie: I know bro, and I will be. But I gotta get bronzed up first. And when I bronze, I bronze all over. I don't do nothin' half way. That's the way the ladies like it.

Village Voice: That's the way the ladies like it?

Ronnie: Yeah, what are you deaf? Alright Mikey, Vinny, get over here and work me 'til I'm brown. Mikey you do my front and Vinny hit the back. Remember, nothin' half way. Get in every last crevice. Oh, this ain't the gay issue, right?

Village Voice: You know what? This is the gayest issue we've ever done.

Shock of the week

First came “Tardy for the Party.” Then came “Money Can’t Buy You Class.” And now there’s “Real Close,” the first song from Danielle Staub — and the third single originating from a Real Housewives star.

Unlike Atlanta‘s Kim Zolciak and New York City‘s Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, the New Jersey star skipped the kicky dance track in favor of a more melodic tune.

Calling the love song a “tortured lullaby” before debuting it on Watch What Happens Live Monday night, the reality star sat down at an electric piano next to songwriter Lori Michaels, who composed the ballad, played the piano and even shared vocals with Staub. As the song ended, Staub leaned in for what looked like was going to be a kiss.

How did the performers fare? After the final notes faded away, host Andy Cohen described the performance as “really big,” then invited the ladies to join him for a (very) brief chat. Noting their apparent musical chemistry, he asked if the women were more than just duet partners. But Staub wouldn’t say. Instead, she said they got close writing and performing the song. Added Staub: “Were you tortured?

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Agent Gomez

Check out the newly released music video for Selena Gomez’ new single “Round & Round“.

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Platonic Friendships: I Call Bull Shit!!!

Platonic friendships are defined as affectionate, non-sexual relationships. I don't think men don't typically have them with women. I doubt anything resembling platonic friendships actually exists. The only platonic inter-sex friendships that exist are between guys and their buddy's girl friend; It’s because we go into Bhaabi mode. Other than that, a girl may as well believe that she's walking around with a bull’s eye on her backside. Even if she's ugly, after all, there is somebody for everybody. 

A girl knows that a guy is interested in them, but she isn't interested in him, so she makes him, her platonic friend. The only way she can make this utterly and completely clear is requesting him as her 'brother' on Facebook. Short of that she's leaving open the possibility that even though you aren’t Mr. Right, you may be Mr. ‘Eh Alright’, which is wise since majority of women fear becoming an old maid.  

Guys pretend to be platonic friends because they want to be more something later, or they buy that crap women spew that I like to get to know the person better before they date....complete lies, a woman will either date you or she won't, she'll use you till you become wiser...take it as a lesson learnt and applaud yourself for trying.

If you are a guy and want to remain a glorified back up to a girl who thinks she can get something better, but if she can't fingers crossed that she see's you Mr. ‘I’m just the Friend’ as a viable backup option, then by all means go ahead.

Men do exactly the same thing, particularly with girls who we'd feel ashamed showing off to our friends (however, in the right circumstances we may be willing to invest in plastic surgery...seriously).

Is it actually subconsciously manipulative to have such relationships?...yes, but it works both ways and benefits both parties. It fulfills some of the relationship functions of having someone to talk to about your day with a member of the opposite sex, solid practice on light flirting and tremendous ego boosts.

I always wondered why parents get upset when their kids are up late hours at night talking to the opposite sex. Well, it's because they are worried about WHY they are talking. And naturally, they've already figured out that there is no such thing as 'just friends', How many married men do you know that have a chick as their best friend.....does the number ZERO match your tally?

That is also why when men get married they are forced to give up their platonic female friendships, call it a by product of being married to the opposite sex. It’s not that women are generally insecure about their partners fidelity, but they are aware how conniving other women are and how dumb men can be (once our ego is stroked, we go back for more).

Men use platonic friendships with women to gain insight into the opposite sex, we don't understand women, so we create 'fraanships' to get some intel...that's just smart use of available resources.

Men make friends with girls because they want to be in a position where they are able to squeeze into a position where women lean on them, and once they are reliant, they pull the plug. Nice strategy if there ever was one, as once that girl realizes that she can't take platonic boy toy for granted unless they date them...genius really, particularly how needy women are and once they become reliant on having a guy to 'deal' with them...well, then that’s the ball game.

Women use men through these platonic friendship to do things that they would usually ensnare their boyfriends into doing, whether it is running errands, taking them shopping, etc all whilst screaming to the world, 'We're just friends, what is wrong with you' etc etc well, I hate to break it to you, but lean back and think for a second why a man is putting himself through hell (we don't enjoy hanging out at kapra centers or playing chauffeur) to please you....it's not because he wants to be 'your friend'. Odds are that he has plenty of friends who like doing things that other men would likely be classified as 'fun'. 

The friendship that he’s looking for has an exercisable option clause where they can become friends with additional benefits that may cultivate into a relationship of the sort that a girls parents wouldn't be a huge fan off. Most men don't do things like that just to be 'nice', they do it because they have an end game in mind. And if that end game doesn't involve that girl or her friends, it consists of developing female expertise. 

Practice makes perfect, the more female friends you have, the more likely you are to successfully manage and deal with women. Platonic friendships....bleh. More like friends with benefits (halal or otherwise). 


A version of this Article appeared in Dawn Images