Friday, June 23, 2006

Raw Footage: Jay-Z HP Commercial


Okay yes...I'm havin' fun w/ this blogging technology...but I had to post this joint also...follow me:

This weekend (June 23rd) marks the 10th anniversay of Jay-Z's first ever album Reasonable Doubt (classic matieral by the way).

@ any rate, I'm surfing the various Hip Hop sites getting feedback on Jay-Z, when talk about the HP Commercial (see above) came up.

The Jay-Z homers (or stans as the American youth say today) have said that during the "chess scene" of this commerical is a subliminal diss to Cam'Ron the whole "This game is over...I wonder if he knows"

Me, I just took it at face value and had made no connection to the Cam'Ron; but it was fun to read. But at any rate, for your viewing pleasure is the Jay-Z HP commercial. (BTW, my own personal conspiracy was that HP couldn't get the permission of Camel cigerettes for use of their brand image; hence why you never saw Jay's face...until I saw a similar HP commercial for Shaun White and they didn't use his face either)

PS. "what I've learned" will be the next posting...pending I don't feel like giving the lovely and talented Allison Stewart some more shine for getting her own show on MSBNC

Raw Footage: Williams & West


I KNOW I KNOW!!! I said the next edition of "What More Can I Say" will involve what I learned...trust me it's coming...I have the list narrowed down to 161...but I digress;

I first learned about a Pharrell and Kanye collab around Christmas 05, and I was very skeptical...I mean it could be either really bad or really good...well, it's finally here for you, and it's really good! Here for your viewing pleasure (courtesey of YouTube dot com)is the latest single from PHarrell's upcoming album In My Mind entitled "Number 1". The only obvious question is: Who produced this? (My guess: Pharrell w/ Kanye having a co-production credit..similar to how D-Dot Angellettie would produce a bad boy record, and Puffy would add a high hat in one bar and get a production credit...(I know Kanye you're hotter than that!)

Monday, June 12, 2006

R.I.P. CJ Spencer dot com

Once upon a time, one of my good friends had this great idea to start a website that not only will focus as a social calendar for young urban professionals, but also give CJ's friends a chance to display their creative writing skills.

Truthfully I saw this ending before it started, but when CJ offered me the opportunity to display my movie critique skills on this site, I couldn't refuse.

So my review of "The Break-Up" in my posting below is my chance to get back that hot fire (check out my archives) I used to spit on CJ spencer dot com (under my alter-ego of Wilson Fisk.)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, CJ Spencer dot com has not been updated since The Chicago White Sox won the American League Pennant. Hence the title of this brief PSA.

I will also dedicate some of the What More Can I Say blog to my movie reviews...

B. Holcomb

50 GRAND I GET THIS IN ONE TAKE---the freestyle edition

This edition of "What More Can I Say" will be straight off the the top of the head. One take, one publish, one post (minus all the pretty pictures that will accompany my posts). So please keep up as my train of thought is getting ready to leave the station!

Dave Chappelle

According to Entertainment Weekly (EW), Comedy Central will begin airing the 3 lost episodes of Season 3 starting on Monday July 9th. The whole news is truly bittersweet to me. As a fan of Dave Chappelle I'm hungry to see this new material; specifically the MTV cribs sketch where he makes an omlet with what appears to be a Pterodactyl egg and diamonds (Or as the young people call it in 2006..."ice"). But I also can't help to feel some hatred towards Comedy Central to go forward and play these episodes against Dave's wishes...but after all, these episodes are the property of Comedy Central and not Dave Chappelle...the whole idea is really wack to me; similar to when the show In Living Color began to fade away...

What's even worse is that Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rowlings (Ashy Larry for those who just asked "who?") will be hosting the show. EW goes on to explain that Neal (the co-creator of Chappelle's Show and former good friend of Dave's) will be the Executive Producer of a show starring Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rowlings to air on Comedy Central...what people will do for money.

On a more upbeat note, Dave Chappelle's Block party will be available on DVD beginning Tuesday June 13th 2006. I saw this in the theaters and thoroughly enjoyed it. WARNING: This is literally more of a musical concert film. And the music (and live performances) featured in the film are very similar to the acts that served as musical guests on Chappelle's show. So if you're not into any of their type of music, chances are you will be let down w/ this DVD. Dave tells some jokes throughout the movie, and also "the journey" of putting the block party together will hold your interest...

Having said that, I still recommend that you at least check it out.


The Boondocks

Speaking of DVD releases, season one of The Boondocks Cartoon, which was originally scheduled for availability on Tuesday June 13th, 2006, has been pushed back to Tuesday July 25th, 2006. Season 2 of The Boondocks cartoon is scheduled to debut during the Adult Swim portion of Cartoon Network later this November.

Michelle Wie

While I have mad respect for Michelle Wie's game on the links; nor do I have a problem with her attempts to qualify for the US Open. I just would like to see Michelle win something and establish herself on the LPGA tour before she attempts to stretch her game out.

The Break-Up

One of the more anticipated movies of the summer of 2006 was the Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston comedy entitled "The Break-Up". My lady and I went to check this movie out during opening weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised with the whole show.

Pushed to the breaking-point after their latest, "why can't you do this one little thing for me?" argument, art dealer Brooke calls it quits with her boyfriend, Gary, who hosts bus tours of Chicago. What follows is a series of remedies, war tactics, overtures and underminings suggested by the former couple's friends, confidantes and the occasional total stranger. When neither ex is willing to move out of the condo they used to share, the only solution is to continue living as hostile roommates until somebody caves. But somewhere between protesting the pool table in the living room, the dirty clothes stacked in the kitchen cupboards and the sports played at sleep-killing volume in the middle of the night, Brooke begins to realize that what she may be really fighting for isn't so much the place but the person. Courtesy: Yahoo! movies

What I really appreciated about this movie was the realism involved. When I say realism, I think Vince Vaughn (wrote the script) and Peyton Reed (director) did a good job of giving an overview of the physical and emotional strain over what is included in a "break-up" situation, as both Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Anniston) now are forced to live together during this awkward phase in a relationship.

Unfortunately I can't go into to much more detail w/o spoiling the movie. I will tell you these four things

a) Yes most of the funny scenes were shown in the trailer
b) Don't expect to see Jeremy from the Wedding Crashers or Raji from "Be Cool" (Yes I did see that movie...and it was bad). But Vince Vaughn brings a different (more tame) type of funny to this movie. Basically that frat humor that existed in Dodgeball and Old School is not in this movie
c) If you and your significant are going through a rocky period...tread lightly if the suggestion comes up to view "The Break-up". You will definately walk away w/ a stronger appreciation for each other after the movie...which will either you bring you both closer together, or in fact break you up (which in some cases can be viewed as a very positive thing...)
d) Despite my 3 statements above, I did enjoy this movie

Grade for The Break-Up: B

Are you serious?

On the first weekend of June, Courtney and I took a flight down to Miami for the weekend. As we were approaching our final decent into the Miami area, the captain comes on the speaker and says "Folks we will be arriving into the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area 20 minutes earlier than expected due to some short cuts we were able to take..."

Dude, are there really shortcuts in the sky? Like do pilots huddle around each other and say "Yo man, next time you go to Santa Fe, if you hook a left @ that cloud that's shaped like Gorbachev's forehead, that will save you like 15 minutes off your flight plan son! That's my word!"


#21

I'd like to take this time out to give props to Tim Duncan from the San Antonio Spurs. I've hated your game ever since your days @ Wake Forest. But this recent series in which your San Antonio Spurs came up short against the Mavs in game 7 of the 2006 Western Conference Semis...you showed me something man. Once you catch the ball in the low post you can literally do whatever the hell you want w/ the rock, from your fade away, to going directly to the hole, to finding the open slasher...Tim Duncan you are a solid player.

Well kids, that's all I have for now...my next edition will be my 1 year anniversay into the blog game. And following the lead that Scoop Jackson took on his 1 year anniversary of ESPN dot com, the top 100 items that "I've learned" in the past year will be published.

Still looking for people who actually follow the NBA from November-June,

B. Holcomb