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Showing posts from January, 2014

The Psychology of Dance

 If you ask anyone who knew me when I was a young child, or "knee-high-to-a-grasshopper", they'll tell you that I've always been a dancer. Hell, according to mom, as a young pup, I used to get dressed, mosey on down to the living room, turn on dad's 8-track (we were one of they few who still had them) and just jam. I guess that explains my love of Motown (60's RnB and soul) and 80's joints. I've gone through my own evolution of dance of sorts. I've outgrown the electric boogaloo, the slide, the robot and the running man and replaced it with main stream, poppin & locking and my personal favorite, Krump. Even now, with my current, albeit gradually healing case of sciatica, I still can't help but bust a move whenever an appropriate beat comes on. I guess that explains the irritating delays in my recovery. Nonetheless, I've always been a dancer, or rather, a lover of dance. I guess that would flow nicely with my singing (which, I don't

The never-ending cruelty of man...

When I was in college, I fell into a bit of a minority. Not just because I preferred to speak english over my mother tongue (Tigrinya, Eritrea's national language) but because of my choice of majors. While most people expected me to major in English, I chose journalism, mainly because I felt it had more to offer me career-wise. And even then, I was still a bit of a loner. While most of my class-mates minored in political science, which was the "norm" and practical, I chose to minor in history, which I had always loved since high school. And in history, a common theme I found, time and again, is that man is truly the most violent of god's creations. For example, I once read that since the beginning of recorded history, humanity has had about 289 years worth of peace. That's roughly 8% of recorded history. What that means is that the other 92% of the time, we spent it engaged in some war, military act or what not. In short, we've spent the rest of the time tryi

Peace out, Uncle Phil

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 Is there anybody on the planet who isn't a fan of Will Smith? I'd be sincerely hard-pressed to find one, to be perfectly honest. The man is multi-talented, humble and (let's be honest) looks like a statue of a greek god carved from obsidian (which is a dark, extrusive igneous rock.......yes, I paid attention in 9th-grade geography.....I also watch the Discovery channel). He also seems to be somewhat of a sensitive soul and one I can relate with (as arrogant as that may sound), especially after his recent statement......"Every young man needs an Uncle Phil....". It's funny......I've always agreed with that and I'd once again be hard-pressed to find anyone who would disagree.  Actor James Avery a.k.a. Uncle Phil, died on the last day of 2013 from complications of open heart surgery. He was 68. While his death is indeed a tragedy, I'm not writing this to mourn his death but to celebrate his life.  As it usually goes in Hollywood, Avery gained most