Ms. B. Discussions and Reviews

In this day in age you have to be creative to sell albums. Everything is at our fingertips now. This is not back in the day when you would wait for a song to come on the radio so you can copy it onto a blank cassette tape. Or tape all your favorite music videos so you can play them back when you want on your VCR. Now, songs get leaked, if you want to watch a music video; YouTube it. The illegal downloading of music has changed the game tremendously. Now you have to be different. Capture people’s attention. Our attention span has diminished. We want it quick and we want it now!

When I saw the Jay-Z commercial link on my Twitter, posted by @mr_malish I had to click to see what it was about. In one would I would describe this commercial as genius. An original idea and fantastic editing made this such a great marketing tool. Long time fans of Jay-Z will immediately understand it. New fans, not so much. That is OK because Jay-Z knows who his audience is. Watch it for yourself. If you do not get it, you better ask somebody haha. Just joking, I will explain at the end of this post. Enjoy this video and share it with others. I’m sure it has gone viral by now!

*The Blueprint 3 comes out September 11, 2009.

** In this commercial, each scene represents an album cover of Jay-Z.

 It is that time of the year again. The Staples store commercials on TV where parents are nothing less than enthusiastic when buying new school supplies. With the song in the background…”It’s the most wonderful time of the year….”. When you go into a mall you see more sweaters, school bags and laptops on sale. Going back to school is somewhat like a new beginning. New supplies, fresh gear, new friends and bonds to be made. I’ve always loved school. Never liked getting up in the morning to go but in general school was great. Most people do well in the beginning. It’s when 2-3 weeks go by that people begin to slack off. Here are some quotes and suggestions students of many ages can relate to.

• Think of school as a social event. When you interact with people it doesn’t seem like work as much. (Be careful to keep this in check.)
• Be an expert in your field. Learn on your own. Don’t just rely on the information you receive by your teachers and professors.
• Have short term goals. They are usually easier to manage. Once you know your goals, write them out on paper. When you write out your goals there is a better chance that you will actually do what you have to do to achieve them.
• This might be too late but a week before you start your first day, wake up early. A new routine can be a shock on your body so prepare yourself.
• Get a rewards program going. If you’re old enough, when you do well, reward yourself with something special for you. It doesn’t have to cost any money. It could be a relaxing night to do as you wish. Bubble bath, movie and junk food. If you are in high school maybe you can come to a compromise with your parents on a reward program.
• Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm… - Ralph Waldo
• As long as there are test there will be prayers in schools. - Author Unknown
• Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. - Chinese Proverb
• In youth we learn; in age we understand. - Von Ebner-Eschenbach

 Now that Chris Brown has been sentenced, he will break his silence. Earlier this week Brown was sentenced to 180 days of community labour service and to take part in weekly counselling for one year. For the next 5 years he will be under supervision probation. Included in the sentence is a protective order restricting his contact with Rihanna until  August 2014. Hours after his sentencing, he was spotted at the Guys and Dolls club in West Hollywood. I guess he was out for one last hoorah before reporting to his probation. Which he had to do within 72 hours.

On Wednesday, September 2 he will break his silence about the Rihanna incident on Larry King Live. Beginning at 9PM EST. Will he speak honestly about everything? I don’t know. I do feel this is just the start of trying to build back his image. So I will watch to see if this is more a PR (Public Relations) move or more of him being sincere about what took place. In no way do I condone what took place between Brown and Rihanna in February. It is a wait and see situation now. He is a very talented person and I hope that the help he gets really does change him for the better.

Tune in to CNN’s Larry King Live this Wednesday and form your own thoughts and opinions on the situation thus far.

 It’s funny how meaningless conversations get you thinking. At least they do for me sometimes. This one is thanks to one of my Twitter friends, @chneux. Feel free to follow him if you like. He re-tweeted one of his friend’s tweets. Now if you are not familiar with Twitter, you must be lost on the language I’m using. For those that don’t understand, basically he re posted a post that one of his Twitter friends originally posted. By doing so, anyone that follows him can do the same, or reply.

The original post said, “someone re-gifted a bottle of gin. I was upset because of the re-gift.”

I replied, “re-gifting alcohol is fine with me. I’ll take it lol.”

Which made me wonder if there are any other gifts that I wouldn’t mind getting as a re-gift. Alcohol is OK with me as long as the bottle isn’t already open. If it is, then that is just ghetto! As far as I know I’ve never received a re-gift. Say you were the giver. All you have to do is act like you looked high and low to find the perfect gift for me and I wouldn’t know the difference. If you are not going to put any effort into actually getting an original gift then at least put in the effort in making it not seem that way.

To those that know me, you can re-gift your alcohol and give it to me anytime. Even if you straight up tell me you did, I’ll still drink it ha-ha.

Is re-gifting unacceptable to you? What would you accept as a re-gift?

 A friend of mine sent me the Blame It Obama spoof and I wanted to share it. Based on the Jamie Foxx song, Blame It. It is a tradition to make fun of leaders so why stop now haha? The only one that has resemblance to who they are playing is the woman who is supposed to be Michelle Obama. If you look past that like I did, it just might make you laugh or at least chuckle a bit.

 The second one is another Obama spoof. Based on T.I.’s song featuring Justin Timberlake, Dead and Gone.

Both spoofs come from the same guy who goes by Alphacat. Subscribe to his channel on YouTube to view more of is videos.