Another Week Gone By...

...and another week full of unfulfilled promises.

I know in my last blog 8 days ago I promised new poetry, things I learned this semester, thoughts on the movie Serendipity and surprises along the way. None of those have happened. I've been busy with work and things like that.

The poetry hasn't come along for several reasons. Am I inspired? Not really, I'm finding it a little difficult to write without due dates and deadlines. However, my lack of poetry isn't because of a lack of topics. I have so much on my mind and a lot of topics to touch on. I have snippets here and there scribbled on notepads, in notebooks and on random pieces of paper. Right now I am working on a poem "Before You" which talks about my "dream girl." Then there's an untitled piece where I offer my apologies for friendships gone wrong. There are some other pieces in the works, but nothing finalized at this point. The one that is closest to being done is "Before You." And yes, I'm still working on "The Georgia Series" but right now that's at a bit of a standstill, writer's block has the best of me when it comes to that set of poems.

As for the things I've learned this semester, I've got a Top 10 list and a list of things that you (my friend/reader) should have learned this semester from this blog. The Top 10 will likely be done before any poem will.

As for the movie Serendipity, my mother loves it. She thinks that I should love it too. "It's about destiny and fate and what's meant to be..." that's where I'd cut my mother off. Is it a good movie? Intriguing is the better word. It's a total chick flick that is supposed to fool you into believing that true love is attainable. Not only that, but I think that it's messed up that they put each other through some bogus tasks to figure out if they were meant for each other. If it wasn't a movie, they could have drastically f*cked up each others lives by fooling around with the love gods. They're lucky it's a movie.

Another movie review: The Sandlot 2 was absolutely terrible. Worst movie ever, it's worse than Alpha Dog, worse than Titanic, worse than Starship Troopers....it is the worse..movie..ever! Period, paragraph, end of story. They went away from waht made the original Sandlot the greatest movie of all time. It was about tying life lessons together with America's Past Time. In Sandlot 2, the plot was terrible. The punch lines were terrible. Everything was predictably bad and it's a shame that someone thought it was a good idea to make a sequel to a movie that didn't need a sequel. Shame on them.

Music review: R. Kelly's Double Up is my second favorite album of 2007. Timbaland's Shock Value is still number one as of now, but Double Up has some serious fire and makes a great argument to be my favorite album of this year. He's got awesome guest spots from Snoop Dogg (Double Up), Nelly (Tryin' To Get A Number), Chamillionaire (Get Dirty) among other guest spots. The lead single I'm A Flirt (Remix) featuring T.I. & T-Pain is another highlight of the album. But the best track is the duet between 'Kells' and Usher 'Same Girl.' That track will probably end up being one of the 10 best songs of 2007. R. Kelly's raunchy lyrics, along with the guest appearances make this a very worthwhile album.

Alright, that's it for now. Again coming soon:

• Poetry (maybe)
• Top 10 Things I Learned This Semester (definitely)
• Surprises along the way.
  

BREAKING NEWS: Timbaland Makes Good Music!

Okay, that's not breaking news for anyone that has an ear for good music. I usually do not promote entire albums, whether it be here on the blog or at all.

Over the last 5-10 years, the music industry has been on a decline. Not because of the internet, not because of people "stealing" music, but because a lot of the music that has been put out there has been bad. Artists are basically coming out with a few songs that are worthy of listening to.

In hip-hop, a lot of the "good" music is attributed to big beats from big-name producers. Or it's deemed as good because the artist has had a good record before. In the end this has nothing to do with what I'm writing, so I digress from the topic.

On to what I want to write about. Timbaland's new album, Timbaland Presents: Shock Value.

In a year where super producers Kanye West, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch are rumored to be putting out albums, Timbaland comes through first setting a high standard for those who will follow.

Shock Value brings a slew of guest appearances which really highlight the album. The lead single Give It To Me (which may or may not take a jab at Storch) features Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, whose albums were executive produced by Timbaland. Timberlake takes a jab at the general public with his line "Now if sexy never left, then why's everybody on my sh*t/ don't hate on me just because you didn't come up with it."

JT also stars on the track Release, while adding a third appearance by singing the hook on Bounce which also features verses from Dr. Dre and Missy Elliot. Missy steals the show on the track, opening with "Hold up hell naw/like Britney Spears I wear no draws."

Other guests include G-Unit members 50 Cent and Tony Yayo (Come & Get Me), She Wants Revenge (Time), Fall Out Boy (One & Only), and Elton John (2 Man Show). Yes, I said Elton John. Tim also reunites with Magoo on the track Boardmeeting.

Think of Shock Value as a modern day Chronic: 2001 with banging beats and guest spots that are absolutely on the money with their delivery. Yeah, I put Tim in the same category as Dr. Dre, and if you've heard the quality and quanitity of Tim's work, or as college hoops experts would call it 'the body of work,' then you'd probably agree with me.

Lyrically, you're not gonna get much more than classic Timbaland boasting about money, cash and girls. It's not original, but it's not like it's terrible. Tim's one of the best in the game, he's earned his bragging rights.

To be straight forward, what makes the album so great are Tim's beats. Tim has done an amazing job in changing with time, keeping his music relevant and keeping it good. I also love the variety of artists he works with. Where else can you (legally) find Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Elton John and Fall Out Boy all on the same album? Don't worry, I'll wait.

Though it's relatively early in the music year, Shock Value has taken an early lead in the race for my favorite album of the year. It's an album that I would encourage you to get (however you get your music.)


FAVORITE TRACKS:

• Give It To Me (featuring Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake)
• Bounce (featuring Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake & Missy Elliot)
• One & Only (featuring Fall Out Boy)

2006 In Review Part I: Top 10 Songs!

As I've been saying, this year in review is going to be different from the previous reviews of previous years. I will not go month by month and detail every little thing that made 2006 special. Instead, I've broken it down into the following categories, making everything easier to read, and make people actually want to read it (for what reason I do not know.) As for the catergories: 10 Favorite Songs, 10 Highlights, 10 Lowlights, 10 Things I'm Looking Forward To, and 10 Things I Don't Want Following Me In 2007.

My 10 Favorite Songs (in no particular order):

• Sexy Back, Justin Timberlake. Every summer there's a song that blows up the airwaves, this year it was JT's 'Sexy Back.' It comes right at you with a pounding beat and intriguing vocals that make you want to scream along "I'M BRINGING SEXY BACK, THEM OTHER FUCKERS DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACT!"With the backing and re-emergence of super-producer Timbaland (who produced a majority of JTs album Future Sex/Love Sounds and hits for Nelly Furtado ), Justin ruled the charts in the summer and has continued to do so with his 2nd #1 hit...
• ...My Love, featuring rapper T.I. Timberlake's ballad which starts with "If I wrote you a symphony/Just to say how much you mean to me/If I told you you were beautiful/Would you date me on the regular?" That's some deep shit, and I love it, absolutely love it. T.I.'s rap is just icing on the cake to go with Timbaland's production. TIP kills it with the line "Friends so fly i can go fly/Private, cause I handle mine/T.I. they call me candle guy, simply because I am on fire" and makes me wanna go "damn this song is off the hook!" Song of the year and album of the year, hands down go to JT, but a close runner up is...
• ...How To Save A Life, by The Fray. The Fray are new comers to my world, and this is one of two appearances they'll make on this countdown. How To Save A Life, is equated by many as the song from hit television show 'Grey's Anatomy' which is quite a good show if I must say so myself. How To Save A Life, is a mellow song that reminds me a lot of my 2006 especially in these lines: "Step one you say we need to talk/He walks you say sit down it's just a talk/He smiles politely back at you/You stare politely right on through" and "Where did I go wrong, I lost a friendSomewhere along in the bitternessAnd I would have stayed up with you all night/Had I known how to save a life." I must ask you the reader, who hasn't had a moment like that, I know I've had my fair share.
• Over My Head, also by The Fray makes the list as well. The video really made this song for me, if you get a chance search for it on launch.com or some place that plays videos on line. I love everything about the song, everything, it'd probably be #2 behind Sexy Back if I had to put these in any type of order. I love the opening lines "I never knew that everything was falling through/That everyone I knew was waiting on cue/To turn and run when all I needed was the truth", the line in the chorus "eight seconds left in overtime", and my absolute favorite line of any song this year (at least on the list) "And suddenly I become a part of your past/I'm becoming the part that don't last/I'm losing you and its effortless." That my friends is some real deep shit, "I'm losing you and it's EFFORTLESS!" I feel it, cuz I've been in that situation, once again if you speak to me in music, I will like it!
• Next is Bad Day by Daniel Powter. Another song known by its television affilitation (American Idol.) And again, another song that strikes a chord with me. I had myself plenty of bad days this year, this song really just sums it up. Good call, DP!
• What's Left of Me by Nick Lachey somehow won an award for being the best love song of 2006, despite it being a song about losing Jessica Simpson. Ridicule me as much as you want for putting both Timberlake and Lachey on the list, but if I was him I'd be depressed about losing Jessica Simpson (especially knowing how much Lu has a thing for hot, blonde southern girls.) And she's rich! Nevertheless, Lachey did a good job not only on this song but on his album as well, granted every song is 'What's Left Of Me' with different words, as is The Fray's 'How To Save A Life' which Meltini from the Drex show put it best "I love the album, but its How To Save a Life each song with different lyrics." But hey, it works.
• A sleeper pick for the Top 10 is Ashley Parker Angel's, Let U Go. This song got a major push when APA performed live on the Drex show one morning. Though he didn't perform this song (a Billboard certified hit), other songs like "Crazy Beautiful", "Who Cares?" and "A Beautiful Lie" were performed and also became staples and in heavy rotation in my I-Pod.
• The hip-hop song of the year is arguably Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It by Dem Franchize Boys. Behind the production of rapper/producer/midget/over-achiever Jermaine Dupri, DFB put out a few hits this year in their album On Top Of Our Game. Though it wasn't a great album, Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It had people everywhere doing one of the most simple dances known to man! And they had a squabble with fellow Atlanta rap group D4L (of Laffy Taffy fame) about who originated the dance. Love when hip-hop beef is born from a dance off!
• 4 Minutes by Avant is a song about a dude who's literally gonna lose his girl if he doesn't give her a good explanation on why she should stay. Love the hook "I only got 4 minutes to do what i gotta do to prove to you that im gon' do anything/i only got 4 minutes to say what i gotta say to make you stay and show you that i will change/cuz in 4 minutes ill never have my girl again/ in 4 minutes ima lose her to some other man/ four no less no more/ im desperate cuz the clocks tickin/ i got 4 minutes to go" and along with guest appearances by Krayzie and Lazy Bone, Shawnna and production by DJ Smurf aka Mr. Collipark, 4 minutes was a hit for me. Once again a strong that strikes a chord in Lu. Unfortunately, Lu ran out of time and his 4 minutes in reality turned into the clock striking midnight.
• Finally, the hit for the first half of this year was Ne-Yo's, So Sick. A common theme here, Lu finds a song that he can relate to his life, go figure. Ne-Yo did something I'd love to do, turn heartbreak in to millions of dollars, the difference between he and I is that A) he's a bit better looking and B) sings much better than I do. But if you've read my poetry, I can write about heartbreak as good as the rest of 'em! I love how Ne-Yo really tells it how it is saying how sick he is of love songs, I can't blame him, I feel the same way, especially with the recent batch of love songs this generation has put out. C'mon, when Nick Lachey is winning awards for best love song for a song about being dumped, we've got some issues writing love songs people! That's besides the point. So Sick, hits a chord with everyone who can't stand not being in love, being dumped, rejected, overlooked, etc. If I did rank these top to bottom, So Sick would land probably at #3.

Song quote of the year, from So Sick: "And I'm so sick of love songs/So tired of tears/So done with wishing you were still here/Said I'm so sick of love songs so sad and slow/So why can't I turn off the radio?" Gotta love it people.

SIDE NOTE: It was also a good year if you're looking at albums as a whole. Really good albums this year came from artists such as: Panic! At The Disco, Daniel Powter, Teddy Geiger, T.I., Ludacris, Clipse, Jay-Z, The Game, Busta Rhymes, Lupe Fiasco among others. In a year where the theme of the summer songs was girls sluttin' it up with songs like Me & U by Cassie, Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado, Loosen Up My Buttons by The Pussy Cat Dolls among countless other songs I deemed as "whore anthems" (jokingly of course) I came up with a damn good top 10 list and a nice start to SIU Final's Week and a good beginning to the end of 2006!

Happy Friday Morning Blog!

• It's truly fallen apart the second half of this semester and I'm truly disappointed in myself because for most of the semester I felt as if I was doing an excellent job of keeping tabs on myself. For example, drinking on school nights has been completely cut out of the picture since September. However the last few weeks I've been drinking a lot of soda pop, I've been eating a lot of junk foods and have been eating late, which was my number one goal of things I wanted to stop doing. I'm just hoping to attest these recent bad habits to finals week anxiety. My two least favorite weeks as a college student are finals week and the week before finals week. My biggest fear is cumulative finals, in which I have two. I've only passed one cumulative final in my time here at SIU, and that is because we spent the last two weeks (3 times a week) studying and basically reviewing every possible question that could be on the test. My two cumulative finals are a crap shoot!
• I'm 20, but everyone that knows me can attest that I've aged quicker than someone my age should. My roommate Steven put it the best: you're stressed, balding, listening to Luther Vandross, reading poetry and looking in the classified ads. You know what that tells me? It tells me that Lu's having a mid-life crisis. And now that I had a moment to think about it, the only things I need are the young/hot/blonde girlfriend and the overly expensive, really fast convertable and I'd be well on my way to mid-life crisis at the ripe age of 20.
• As for my dating dilemma. I've received my first Christmas gift this season, tickets to March 14th's Justin Timberlake concert in Chicago. 2 tickets to be exact. My mother said that I need to find a date for that concert. Expecting Lu to get a date (a serious date, not a friend date as my mother so specifically put it) is like expecting the Cubs to hire a top rate manager and signing the top free agent in the class in one year, if ever....wait....damn those "Loveable Loser" references and comparisons to myself are dwindling by the day. If I'm the last of the "loveable losers" who's gonna be the Boston Red Sox to my Chicago Cubs.....Anyways back to the post....First of all let me say that yes I know I'm going to a Justin Timberlake concert. Don't let his boy band past fool you, he's the man. He's reverse Michael Jackson! Have you heard the CD? It's hit-after-hit-after-hit and the beat goes on the CD is amazing!!!! I'm a major Timberlake fan since he's gone solo. The first album was great too! I'm excited to go to this concert. I'm not excited however about my date prospects because as of now I have none. And it kind of depresses me, especially when looking at my recent dating history. Last time I went after a girl with no assistance and made progress to the point where I asked her to a b-ball game, she disappeared. Literally, an A-student did not show up to class after I asked her if she'd like to go to a basketball game. Sounds like Lu's luck doesn't it? Sounds like a curse doesn't it? So let's look back even more. The last date that Lu hooked himself up on was senior prom, and that turned out well. And by well I mean an absolute train wreck where Lu was used as an emotional pawn to get attention from other guys. I know what you're thinking "Lu's got great friends, let them set you up on a blind date." Though I'll admit the blind dates haven't been horrible, they haven't been successful. The last time I let a friend try to hook me up with a girl, it ended with a meaningless kiss, reminiscent of one of those prodigious 500 foot Sammy Sosa home runs that would happen in the 8th or 9th inning when the Cubs were already down by 10 billion runs! Oh and the time before that, it was a girl who used her sisters picture's and faked her own death to not meet me. Thanks, Kevin for sending me into that depression that lead to something smart people call spurrilous correlation, which in normal folk terms, is a bunch of events that may or may not occur because of a specific moment. I believe that was one of those "beginning of the end" moments for me, my confidence and a certain someone last year. Enough sour grapes, this looks like the impossible dream. But as The Game said in his song Dreams: "Anything is possible, if 50 f*cked Vivica."

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: Referring to my last statement of anything being possible, I turn to my roommate Steve and one of my favorite Steve quotes is "Everything is possible, but everything is not probable." Smart words from a smart cookie (won't call him cracker!) Good night from Carbondale!

So I Find Myself Lost, What Else Is New?

So much to blog, so little time. Actually I got all the time in the world, we'll see how much I can put out there.

• Let's start off with the sports part. The Bears are 3-0 and off to a Super start. I'm happy and with the way things have been going in my personal life (which I'll get to later) I'm hoping that the Bears are something I can grasp and be my happy moment. It'll be different than the '03 Cubs because that was a daily thing, that's why that team was a savior. It's hard when they only play once a week and who knows if I get the privelage to watch with the damn Rams game taking up precious Bears television time....The Sox joined the Cubs in the elimination chamber after being spanked by Cleveland tonight and good for the Indians, payback is a bitch! Now the Sox fans can retreat back to their hobbit holes and section 8 housing facilities....the Cubs found another embarassing way to lose. So what's the Dusty countdown at now? Seriously: bring me a new coaching staff and some new players that actually have talent and we can have something here!
• Lu is currently patiently waiting. For what? Homecoming. See in high school I looked forward to homecoming because it was a chance for me to dress up and look good for a girl that I had some sort of interest in dating. Instead this homecoming will be different. The boys will be back in town. The only peeps that have visited me the first two years will be back and this time I think will be the best time! I can't wait. I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! I'm looking forward to it because I know whenever they're with me everything turns out just fine. It's why they're my boys, we get shit done! This will probably be the highlight of first semester, and I wouldn't mind cuz they make it worth it. Too bad it couldn't be every weekend!
• Musically I got two new CDs that I'm currently raving about. Ludacris' 'Release Therapy' and Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor. Lyrically Food and Liquor is brilliant and flawless. Lupe Fiasco just blew my mind and it was all so clear. The best hip hop album since Common's 'Be.' As for 'Release Therapy' another classic Luda cut. And what made it even better...NO SKITS!!! As much as I love Luda's skits some are out of place and are better off hidden on a special bonus disk or at the end of an outro or something like that. Luda's got some killer tracks like "Ultimate Satisfaction" featuring Field Mobb and "Slap." Standouts on Lupe's album: "The Cool," "Pressure" featuring Jay-Z," "The Instrumental" and so far my absolute favorite track has been "American Terrorist" because lyrically and topic wise Lupe just kills the track. End of story.
• Movie notes. I still wanna see "Accepted" but now my new thing is "School For Scoundrels" that comes out this weekend. Looks like a funny one. Can't wait, maybe I can go with a friend or something. Because it MUST be better than "The Last Kiss" or another "Jackass" flick.
• So for the fun and personal part. A friend called me the other morning, and it was awkward because it was early in the morning and she was the last person that I would have expected to talk to at that time. To make a long story short, she told me she got engaged. I was happier for her, heck I AM happy for her. I believe everyone should have that feeling. But to be honest, I felt a little bit heartbroken. Just a little bit, nothing to drink over. Just remembering the good times we had together in the little time we spent together the thought crossed my mind. Personally I give her a lot of credit for giving me what little confidence I have today because of our talks and that great date that kinda made me realize I have 'it' in me, I just need to bring it out. I liked her, I really did. I know I wasn't supposed to, but I fell for her I just couldn't help it. I caught feelings when I shouldn't have, but once again I couldn't stop myself. She'll always be a little special to me and I think she knows that. But in the end, I knew nothing was meant to happen between us, and that's why I'm glad we're still friends....So I've found myself to be a hypocrite. A shell of my former self. Many things that I believed in when I first came here I don't believe anymore. That's more of a realization of the truth than being a hypocrite. But then there are certain beliefs and certain ideals that I have not held up since I've been here. I find myself saying hypocritical things, I find myself giving advice to others that I myself should be taking. I just don't feel like myself. Mentally I'm lost and stuck in moments that I shouldn't be in. Sometimes I just want out, a complete pull out of Carbondale and a fresh start back in Chicago again. But I must learn that I can't run from my problems and that I must either face them head on or face the consequences.
• As of right now the thing that bugs me the most is the constant reminders of my failures and short comings and those "what could/should have been moments." Those bug me the most. I feel helpless and wish I could turn back time. I feel as if I'm holding things back that are hurting me, but for the greater good I keep them in. It's a tough feeling. It's a diffucult task. I just want things to work out for once. I'm sick of being "cursed" I'm sick of the constant failure I'm sick of thinking "what could have been" every night. As much as I want to go, there's something that keeps pulling me back. I just wish that I would have made some of these revolutionary thoughts oh about a year ago. Things would be different. This would be a different blog. I want, no, I NEED to make things right in my life, I just don't know how.
• So you want to know how I'm feeling. Find the following songs: 4 Minutes by Avant and Beautiful Lie by Ashley Parker Angel....read the lyrics/listen to the songs....oh and Because I Love You by Lenny Williams. Listen and then you SHOULD get it.