June 2009 - Rest In Peace

Man, June 2009 has really proven to be a major bummer because of all the people who have passed recently.

I'm especially bummed about Michael Jackson passing away. I remember how I wanted that red jacket so badly as a kid. I also remember dancing on my chair in Pizza Hut as a kid while "Beat It" blared out of the jukebox next to the desktop table game of Ms. Pac Man. Gotta love the 80s.

Now I hear Billy Mays has passed away. What the heck is going on?

I wonder if there are any studies around higher deaths (not criminal-based) and recession? C'mon, Mr. Malcolm Gladwell. You got to beat those Freaknomics dudes to this one.

Rest In Peace:

Michael Jackson (June 25, 2009)

Farrah Fawcett (June 25, 2009)

Billy Mays (June 28, 2009)

Ed McMahon (June 23, 2009)

Suhweeet Sighting: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, who is now back in action after recovering from knee surgery, was in Times Square today promoting his latest game from EA on Nintendo Wii.

He played a round against Jimmy Fallon, who will undoubtedly promote this on his new late night talk show.

Tiger is pretty buff in person - I wonder if he always wears a Nike hat everywhere he goes?

Press Hop - featuring Allen Iverson

I watched this and could not stop laughing.

Someone put a beat to all those outrageous press conferences, dominated by Allen Iverson's retaliation on being questioned about missing practice.

"We're talking about practice!"

Halle Berry (She's Fine) - Hurricane Chris

One of the most dirrrty south sounding songs I recently heard comes from Hurricane Chris, in his new hit single, "Halle Berry (She's Fine)."

Hurricane also came out with a smash hit a couple of years ago, "Ay Bay Bay."

Something tells me he doesn't spend TOO much time on his lyrics, but throw it against a catchy beat, and you never know!

Suhweeet Entertainment Tidbits

Here's some info for you TV / Movie fans who want to stay in-the-know:

- Tom Cruise and JJ Abrams are teaming up again for Mission: Impossible IV. It's to be released in 2011. No word on Tom Cruise's character being the main focus or not.

- Freddie Prinze, Jr is joining the cast of "24" next season. The last thing I remember seeing him in was "She's All That" - an excellent movie

- T.R. Knight has been released (aka axed) from Grey's Anatomy, with 3 years remaining on his contract! Adios to one of the more annoying characters on TV

Muslim Rapper: Brother Ali

I caught this video of Brother Ali's "Good Lord" on MTVU (the University channel of MTV) and thought it was pretty good.

Brother Ali is an underground hip hop artist from Minnesota who also is an albino. This meant he was often ridiculed and exiled from the predominant white community. He then began to feel more comfortable with the African American communities in his neighborhood.

Suhweeet Father's Day Gift: Beer Holster

I saw this and had to smirk because the Beer Holster is a great gift for all those dads-to-be and other fathers who just want to sling down a slurp and re-holster the beer somewhere to free-up the hands.

Too bad it's $125, but hey it's handmade and would actually make for great groomsmen gifts too!

Suhweeet Sighting: Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan was strolling down Broome St in SoHo with his lady in tow and another dude. He had a scowl on his face, otherwise I would've given him the pound or something like that.

It was eerily quiet on that street and it was just him and his peeps and me and A. crossing paths.






That guy is so funny on 30 Rock - one of my favorite shows right now.


He was on SNL recently in the Dateline parodies with Bill Hader.

Hilarious.

Suhweeet Sighting: Clare Danes

Clare Danes was also at Minetta Tavern that evening. Trifecta in the house.

Now I am really reaching back in my brain to think about the last movie I saw her in. Was she in the remake of the Mod Squad or something like that (w/Omar Epps)?

Whatever, can't remember, and there was great debate at the dinner table about what she has been in recently.

Suhweeet Sighting: Jean Reno

Last movie I saw Jean Reno in was probably Ronin, where the only good thing about the movie is an awesome car scene. But he is best known for his work in the cult classic, "The Professional", which was Natalie Portman's coming (almost) of age movie.

Monsieur Reno plopped down next to our table as well at Minetta Tavern. I wonder if he was hiding a gun under the table just in case drama broke out.

Suhweeet Sighting: Mario Batali

Went out for A's birthday party at Minetta Tavern and caught Mario Batali hanging in the table next to us with his two sons or nephews. Actually was thinking about how good the food was at Babbo.

The dude cannot help himself in wearing orange crocs and plaid shorts 365 days a year!




The food at Minetta Tavern is exquisite and the wine we had (don't you hate it when you forget the bottle you ordered?) was amazing!





Recommendation: Black Label Burger. As Ferris would say, it is "so choice."

Cristiano Ronaldo hangs with Paris Hilton

First off, don't you care about Doug's feelings, Paris Hilton?

Ok, obviously you don't since you were spotted canoodling with the richest man in football (as it's known in 99% of the rest of the world).

Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now a member of Real Madrid CF in Spain, was seen hanging out with Paris Hilton last night in Los Angeles. He must have been celebrating the massive amount of money that was paid for his transfer from my beloved Manchester United.

He was spotted leaving her house at 5am. Time to go the after-party maybe?

Best of luck Ronaldo.

Dwight Howard's game is predictable, according to Kareem

I have to agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his most recent comments about Dwight Howard's basketball game.

Blessed with the height and muscle and amazing leaping ability of his alter ego, "Superman," Dwight Howard has become a perennial All-Star in the NBA as well as a fan favorite with his mega-watt smile.

But dig a little deeper beyond his obvious stats, and you'll soon discover that Howard's game is really a series of dunk attempts and foul shots (where he shot a miserable 69% during the regular season).

With little to no post-game and lack of fundamentals once he receives the basketball, the Orlando Magic are the ones who have been exposed, whereas they were the ones exposing the low-talent levels of the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Good thing for Orlando, they shot 65% from the field during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. And the Magic are on pace to break the number of 3-pointers made in an NBA Finals series due to the resurgence of Rashard Lewis. But you know the old saying, "you live by the 3, you die by the 3."

The good news here is that Dwight Howard is only 23 years old. Mark Jackson said it best on-air, "Young fella, after taking a week off after the season ends, you need to call your assistant coaches and work on your post game ALL SUMMER."

Few of us are blessed with the physical attributes of Dwight Howard. It is incumbant upon himself to learn the game of basketball beyond backboard shattering dunks to become of the greats. (Sound like a certain young Shaq to you?)

Jay-Z Interview with Angie Martinez on Hot 97

Jay-Z appeared yesterday on the Angie Martinez show on Hot 97 here in New York. It comes on the heels of another star-studded lineup at Summer Jam, the radio station's annual concert bash that always has a few well-planned "surprises" for the crowd. This yearit was Jay-Z popping out to perform his latest single, "DOA" which stands for Death Of Auto-tune. T-Pain also joined him on stage, but apparently Jay-Z was thrown off-guard because it was not planned. In fact, he thought it was just a fan coming on stage to hug him.

Auto-tune is a technique used in post-production in music studios that essentially helps singers sing in tune with the desired note. T-Pain brought this technique back over the past few years and it gained even more national attention with Kanye West where he used it exclusively throughout his album, 808s and Heartbreak. I remember it's prominenace during the early nineties and Blackstreet, Teddy Riley's old R&B group.

Jay-Z has grown sick of the trend, hence the release of "DOA." The people are essentially in concurrence, as they knew all the words of the song already by the Sunday performance when the song was "leaked" on radio just two days prior.

Jay-Z also spoke about how he overspent to gain the rights of his upcoming album, "Blueprint 3" and it came down to a coin flip which cost him another $1 million to get the album in his hands.

He also spoke about how he really feels blessed and that he never wishes to be anyone else but himself. He is rumored to have made $70 million last year. I would feel the same way!

Jay-Z also argued with Angie Martinez about how it was his acts that "made" the Summer Jam a big deal. Angie responded by saying Hot97 is a big brand in itself and it took a lot of acts to make it what it was. Because these two go back aways to when Jay was just coming into his own, it is nice to hear an interviewer that is clearly not intimidated by Jay's current status as Hip Hop King. She also ripped on his recent haircut, or really, lack thereof. When asked if he was going to grow it into a full-blown afro, Jay succicently responded, "No."

Suhweeet Sighting: Dave Matthews

Walked right past Dave Matthews around 30 Rock earlier in the week. I guess he is in town for his performance this morning on NBC's Today Show. He is a little taller than I expected, sported flannel and jeans, talking to some dude. Has a really interesting voice, much lower and gravelly than I expected.

I used to wake up every morning to his CD, Under the Table and Dreaming, freshmen year of college. He is the highest grossing American band in net ticket sales globally in the years he goes on tour. Cha-ching!

I also caught him on a guest acting appearance on House. Didn't know he could act and he is not half bad!

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Twitter Tracker

Ok, so I tweet. Sure. Don't you?

Everyone wants to jump on it. And yes, there is revenue potential (funny how everyone but Twitter people can see that).

But it is really funny how lame "tweets" are. In fact, is Twitter really going to last?

Check out Conan O'Brien's take on it. (Shout to BG2 for the link).

Extreme Crew vs. New York B-Boys

Ever wanted to watch a bunch of Korean b-boys battle some real New York break dancers?

Well, here ya go! Extreme Crew brings the heat. And I'm pretty sure they could've brought even more heat, but they were really just helping the New York b-boys collect more $$! (Shout to B for the link)

Next time, ask for a cut!