Monday, September 30, 2013

Música Monday: Ariana Grande


Monday blues got you down??!  I have the perfect remedy for that, y'all.

In these times when synthetic sounds and vocals rule the airwaves_ugh_a beacon of shining light has come forth to break the monotony that is po(o)p music.


This week's Música Monday is dedicated to the fantastic talent (and my baby mama) that is Ariana Grande.

The 20 year old singer from Florida made a splash onto the scene as Nickelodeon's Kat on the sitcom "Victorious". Now stepping out of the shadow of Victoria Justice and out on her own, with her first album "Yours Truly" this phenomenal talent is on her way top.  With vocals akin to the likes of early Mariah Carey and a style that harkens back to the pop R&B music of the early 90's  which is totes my fav, Ariana Grande is sure to be a lasting figure in the music industry.
Some standout tracks from Yours Truly are the opening track "Honeymoon Avenue" which gives me so many feels, because who doesn't love a good "let's get back together" song. 
"Lovin' It" features a sample of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" which has an amazing mid-tempo groove that gives me so much life

 AND CAN WE JUST TAKE A SECOND TO TALK ABOUT THOSE FREAKING AMAZING VOCALS??!!!!! (listen to "Almost is never enough")

"Daydreamin'" gives a good insight into Ariana's musical doo-wop-meets-90's-R&B aesthetic.

 I LOVVVE ME SOME ARIANA!!!!

May a little dose of new music brighten your Monday and boost your week!

Ttyl,
Jeshua



Monday, September 23, 2013

Música Monday: John Legend "Love in the Future"

Happy Monday friends!!

Yes I know, one doesn't usually associate Mondays with joy and or...uh...jubilation,  but everything is better with a little new music right??!!!

That's why every Monday will be Música Monday here on boifromipanema.com.
I will be sharing a different song, artist, or album for your listening pleasure!!

This is gonna be a serious catch all of musical genres, so hopefully there will be a little sabor for everyone.

Music from Bach to Beiber and everything in between!!!!



This week's selection is the new album by John Legend "Love in the Future" which is an album I'm sort of obsessed with at the moment.  


Some stand out tracks are "All of me" John Legend's ode to his wife Chrissy Teigan.

The track "Made to Love" has a cool Afro-industrial driving beat which I find completely infectious.

"Dreams" gives me so many feels it is almost unbearable!!!

And let us not forget the brilliant "Who do we think we are" which samples Jean Knight's "Mr.Big Stuff" and features rapper Rick Ross.

The entire album is totally solid, and totally worth a purchase 
IMHO..........

Take a listen for yourself!!

May a little dose of new music brighten your Monday and boost your week!

Ttyl,
Jeshua 




Thursday, September 12, 2013

#Fair,Food,Fun

Nothing signals those end-of-summer/intro-to-fall feelings for me quite like a trip to the LA county fair!
Every year the fair opens up some country realness to a bunch of city folk with petting zoos, rodeos, and let us not forget THE FOOD!

While fair food may not be the healthiest choice
-trust me, I felt like I need to do a seven day prayer fast after-
there are a few things I'd recommend if you're ready to get your grub on!

And if you know anything about me, it's that I do, in fact, like to get my grub on!

Having people there to share the foodie adventures totally heightens my experience and luckily I had my sister and our friend Monique of Curves and Chaos there to enjoy it with! :D


So my sister Pearmama was a big fan of these bad boys, know as the chipotle "dirty" chips from Tasti Chips. They were pretty good, even though I'm not a big fan of bleu cheese. They were loaded with diced tomatoes, green onions, sweet shredded beef and bleu cheese then topped with a chipotle sauce. 
The chips themselves were really crispy and fresh tasting.

Tasti Chips also offered jalapeño cheddar cheese chips which looked delicious!  
I'm DEF gonna have to give those a try on my next trip.  




Charlie's Chicken is an interesting plethora of fried sins. 

From a deep fried oreo, deep fried twinkie, deep fried frog legs and deep fried bacon-wrapped pickles (which were DE-FREAKING-LICIOUS by the way) . 

Didst I neglect to mention that they are also serving up a hamburger and sloppy joe between two Krispy-Kreme donuts????!!!!!!!! 


"Oh LAWD!"  shouted my arteries.



After all of that fried-ness, I was definitely happy to see a chicken and veggie kabob on the menu!!!





Ok, now onto my favorite things.....
*rubs hands together and chuckles villainously* 

The bloomin' onion is like a golden-crunchy-sweet-savory drop of godly nectar! 

Like for reals tho!

It comes with a really good dipping sauce that just totally made the 13 year old fat kid inside of me extremely happy!






Even tastier and scrumptious-er (?) was the BBQ braised brisket sundae. 

I know what you're thinking. "ewwwww that's just gone too far!!"

Halt all ye naysayers!!!!......

This beauty has two scoops of mashed potatoes in place of ice cream, and delicious toppings of braised beef brisket, bbq sauce and a cherry tomato to top it off!

Omg. I'm not much of a meat eater but this was yummmmmmmmmmm!




The fair has tons of food options to offer, such as pizza made from a TEN pound loaf of bread and in case you are suddenly worried out you calorie count, Skinnygirl Cocktails are there to take a little guilt out of the gluttony!

One thing that I was a little too nervous to actually eat was this lil' guy..... It reminded me of Sebastien from The Little Mermaid.. and it smelled super fishy. So I just snapped some Instagram pics, made a Vine then sent my little friend on his way....




 I think my sister pearmama and I agree...we weren't the biggest fans of the crawfish craze.

The L.A County fair is open now and runs until September 30, 2013. It's a perfect place for the family and a fun place to hang with friends! 

ttyl,
Jeshua

Get social with the L.A County Fair on Twitter and Facebook








Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Looking past the first wave

This weekend I had a revelation whilst surfing.

Don't always go for the first wave you see. My experience has been to wait and wait for a set to come in. When I catch sight of the first wave I get anxious and try to take that one, only for it to die halfway to the shore.

Then once I turn around, I see all these awesome waves that I now cannot get to because I decided to paddle into the first one I saw.

Totally a life lesson.

As some of you may or may not have noticed, I have been absent on my blog for a few months now. It's not because I've been lazy or neglectful.  It's just that the last few months have been an adjusting/redirecting phase in my life.
   
One of many to come I'm sure.

 However this one has been especially pin-prickly 'cause I'm an artist and I'm sensitive!

Sooooo, I started dancing in the professional arena in late 2008 early 2009. I did some awesome stuff and got to work with some AMAZING artists, choreographers and talent. When I started getting a good amount of work I decided to quit school and dance full time. I also began to neglect my first passion.

Music.

As much as I missed singing and performing and the hustle and grind of school, I decided that ignoring that and really pouring myself into dance would get me where I wanted to go.
I guess my thought was hey, I love doing this and if this is the wave that is moving,  I'm going to take it all the way to shore.

It was really good while it lasted. I had some opportunities that maybe a handful of people in the world could say they've experienced.

Then, I noticed things began to change. I had a falling out with people that I worked with, a lot of my dance "friends" seemed to have alienated me, I got released from my contracts,  and then the big one...I broke my ankle!

In 2011 I went in for surgery to repair the torn tendons and ligaments and shave/repair the bone that had begun to heal very, very incorrectly. That surgery was a doozy. It took months to stand on it, much less walk on it.

I can honestly say that I never danced the same again.

I don't know if it was the fear or the pain or a mixture of both, but I completely lost my mojo and was DESPERATE to get it back.

I attended dance intensives.
I trained everyday at multiple studios.
I spent all my money on dance classes.
I drove ridiculously far to attend schools and studios with great training.

As much as I worked and loved it (and still do love it) I felt myself being called and pushed in a different direction. Despite feeling this push, I wanted so badly to hold on to this thing that I once was. This ideal that I thought I had to reach again or I would feel like a total failure. I continued to ignore my intuition but gradually, I was getting more music offers, more opportunities to perform at different places. The tide started shifting and more time had to be focused on music and writing music than going to the studio to train.

I had some really great people sit me down and really make me examine what it is that I wanted.
I guess the Taurus in me refused to give in without a fight.

Well, fast forward to this summer--mid June.

One of the studios that I train at was having an audition for a scholarship program. Its a really elite program that delivers on amazing training and a top notch professional career. The day of the audition I told myself, if I get into this program then this is God's way of affirming my direction. If I don't get it, it's REdirection time.

Well I got pretty far through the audition and at one point I actually thought I had it in the bag, but...last round....I....got....CUT!

So this decision triggered a major change in the course my life was taking.

I did my share of crying and moping.

Not because of the audition itself--an audition is an audition. They come and go like the wind.

I mourned for the path I had laid out for myself.

I spent so much time fighting the path God has laid out for me that I couldn't see all the blessing waiting for me just beyond the first wave.  I was so anxious to get where I wanted to go that I invested everything I had into that first wave without looking beyond it to see that there was an amazing set coming in behind it.

Enough with the soap opera bull sheep.......there have been major changes happening in my life. Lots of really cool things!!! Things that never would have come to me had I continued on the path I was on.

I know dance will always be a part of my life.  I love it far too much to let it go completely, but now I feel I have a better understanding of how it fits in with the rest of my dreams/goals.

I'm hoping to get back into a few classes soon...just for myself, but lately it's still been slightly too painful to walk into a studio. I know it will get better with time and yes, I know it may not seem like big deal to some, but it was once everything to me.

I suppose if I've learned anything from this experience, it's that listening and being open to the path laid out for me turns out way better than trying to force something that isn't working.  Sometimes it just takes some MAJOR patience to see beyond the first wave, wait it out for the big set right behind it.

But what do I know?

-just some random ramblings of a boi






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