I have a number of tools that I used to develop ideas or maintain my focus on business. I often visit www.inc.com and of course I read books that can assist me in gaining some type of edge. This is absolutely necessary when you are a sole proprietor/entrepreneur. Often a small businessperson sits isolated on…
My favorite Lenny Kravitz album is 5. If you don’t have 5 buy it simply because of the song Mama. I can’t hear that song without crying. Yeah, I’m man enough to say that. While Lenny has always pushed the boundaries and I can consider him one of the best entertainers of my generation, this…
A couple of days ago I switched on the Roku and clicked on my Pandora link to listen to some music while I graded some papers. As usual, I encountered someone that took my attention away from my papers and kept me in a lightweight trance. Sia has been around for over 10 years, but…
Typically, my reviews are less reviewish and more analysis, but what does that matter? They are all pretty informative so what do you expect of this one? Okay, you see the cover? Kid with dark hair, the author’s name has two initials and the last name, the title has a mythical quality and the first…
I am trying hard to refrain from making this about my own gratification and satisfaction. This is about an artist. Not your traditional writer, painter, or musician, but a craftsman who paints the palate of the tongue with orgasmic flavors suited for the high-end boutiques of Los Angeles, La Jolla, or New York. So, I’m…
When you get married and have children, bars just aren’t the places that you tend to hang out in. You hit up the Chuck E Cheese, and buffets, and well the food chain joints that are better suited for the family… That’s if you are the average family that doesn’t take into consideration whether eating…
Okay that title is pretty vague, and I will be the first to say that this blog does not get a crazy amount of traffic, so being vague is not a good thing. I love the blog: http://www.shadowandact.com/ . Not because the title derived from my favorite author, but because the blog has the most…
We infused all of the comfort of traditional moccasin construction into a boot with a 6” inch shaft that covers and protects ankles. Smartly equipped with a fuss-free bellows tongue that keeps debris out. Handsewn uppers are crafted in pull-up or hot-stuffed leathers. Outsoles are offered in either our exclusive Vibram Source: Men’s Grizzly Boot:…
Okay, I know this is Memphis and that we don’t really have the heritage or the bands, or the flavor, but Chef Kelly English “got that fire” (I stole that from a Chef Jeff episode – sue me, lol) so I have to jumpstart this with a little bit of Rebirth Brass Band getting the…
video from Highsnobiety My thoughts on Kanye and his fashion show: The guy has been in a dark place since his mom died. As an artist everything he’s done has represented that pretty much. Consider that My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy released with a 30 minute movie that showed the destruction of a Phoenix and the…
https://amzn.to/3lMsmy0 (revised from 2011) Last week I bought Gil Scott Heron’s final cd “I’m New Here“. For a week straight I have played this album from beginning to end while driving around the city taking care of my small business. As an avid Gil Scott fan, I am always overwhelmed by the power of his…
Acoustic + Soul + Country + Spring + Summer + Fall + Warmth + Date Night … I could go on and on and on, but sometimes when you discover someone and they actually make you feel some kind of way, you don’t run out of words to explain just what they are. By now…
Being an ex-Cali representative, we knew we had a nice Underground Hip-Hop and poetry scene featuring guys like Mantis, Orko, Bennie Heron, Jahsun, but we rarely gave credence to people outside of San Diego. It wasn’t disrespect, it was just a real focus on our work. Now that I’m 2000 miles away, and older, I’m…
Food, food, food, and food… I think if you’ve visited the site before you realize that the Memphis Hi-Lites section should actually be called ‘Where to eat in Memphis’. While I have written about Autozone Park and Beale Street, those are pretty much known locales for enjoying Memphis. What Memphis has in abundance is what…
Okay, my attempt at an elegant title is killed immediately by the word cockroaches. I was going for an allusion to Steinbeck just to kind of be a little literary, lol. Anyway, as usual my Friday nights are not filled with what you call coolness. Since I’m a dad we very rarely get out of…
Alright as you know, or probably don’t since I don’t get as much traffic as I should, I only post a Get To Know when I have a fit of inspiration. Consider this a straight up conniption fit. It’s hard for me to get excited about Hip-Hop lately. Obviously we all lose it with another…
Originally posted this in May of 2010, I wrote this because I had been digging Dwele for a while. Although I knew many people wouldn’t see this post I wrote it because I feel that great artists deserve whatever search engine info that can be put out there. A couple of days ago, Jan 2015, I…
The third book in Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter series, Dexter in the Dark, takes a detour from the first and second novels. Upon being introduced to the dark hero Dexter, I found myself drawn to the simplistic nature of his horrible, handsome, hidden desire to murder. This created a paradox and an unsettling feeling for me. I…
https://amzn.to/3MSyKzJ Comedians can tell you that you smell like ass, and they can be brutally honest in doing so, and you will smile and say, “Man they sure are funny!” I mean it is the one job where honesty is expected and can be tolerated. Often the words of a comedian will be used in…
Dan Brown is not a good writer. He’s a freaking great writer. Okay, this is argumentative since many feel that contemporary fiction is often too simple and will not have the longevity of the Classics. The thing about this frame of thought is that the Classics were once contemporary. I’ve read several of the popular…
What exactly makes a Memphis Hi-Lite? The first thing is that the location has to be in Memphis, obviously. The second? Well, it has to be a location that either provides an upscale atmosphere, or the perfect atmosphere for either date night or family night. The final attribute? The location has to grant the visitor…
(Originally posted in 2010 revised for MLK Day 2015) On January 1st, I dropped a trailer for the film Night Catches Us. I didn’t know a lot about the film, but I knew that Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie were the lead actors and to me this meant that it was a movie worth my…
