SHIA'S BOOK

I LOVE YOU SHIA...PLAIN PAT & KANYE WEST BRINGS YOU...

2008-12-17T10:16:00.000-08:00

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

WHY ARE YOU SO PARANOID?

2008-12-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

808s

Let me know
Do I still got time to grow
Things ain't always set and stone
Let me know, Let me know
Let me
Seems life

Street Lights, glowing
Happen to be just like mornings
Passing, in front of me
So I hopped in
The cab and I paid my fairs
See I know my, destination
But I'm just not there

All the street lights, glowing
Happen to be just like moments
Passing, in front of me
So I hopped in
The cab and I paid my fairs
See I know my, destination
But I'm just not there

In the streets [x2]

I'm just not there
In the streets
I'm just not there
Life's just not fair

Seems like street lights, glowing
Happen to be just like moments
[ Street Lights lyrics from http://www.lyricsyoulove.com/ ]
Passing, in front of me
So I hopped in
The cab and I paid my fairs
See I know my, destination
But I'm just not there

All the street lights, glowing
Happen to be just like moments
Passing, in front of me
So I hopped in
The cab and I paid my fairs
See I know my, destination
But I'm just not there

All the street lights, glowing
Happen to be just like moments
Passing, in front of me
So I hopped in
The cab and I paid my fairs
See I know my, destination
But I'm just not there

In the streets [x2]

I'm just not there
In the streets
I'm just not there
Life's just not fair
Life's just not fair

GETTING OUT OUR DREAMS

2008-12-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

DREAM: NOUN:

A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.
A daydream; a reverie.
A state of abstraction; a trance.
A wild fancy or hope.
A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration: a dream of owning their own business.
One that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful: Our new car runs like a dream.
VERB:
dreamed or dreamt (drmt) KEY , dream·ing , dreams
VERB:
intr.

To experience a dream in sleep: dreamed of meeting an old friend.
To daydream.
To have a deep aspiration: dreaming of a world at peace.
To regard something as feasible or practical: I wouldn't dream of trick skiing on icy slopes.
VERB:
tr.

To experience a dream of while asleep: Did it storm last night, or did I dream it?
To conceive of; imagine.
To pass (time) idly or in reverie.

why would she make calls out the blue
now i'm awake sleep is ???

hey hey hey hey don't say you will unless you will
hey hey hey hey don't say you will and play you will
i pray you will

misses so fly crash lands in my room
can't waste no time she might leave soon

hey hey hey hey don't say you will do do
hey hey hey hey don't say you will one day you will
i pray you will

when i grab your neck i touch your soul
take off your cool then lose control

hey hey hey hey don't say you will you will you will
hey hey hey hey don't say you will if you will i pray you will

i wish this song would really come true
i admit i still fantasize about you

hey hey hey hey don't say you will you will you will
hey hey hey hey please say you will for real i pray you will

TO BE A STAR

2008-12-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

I LOVE YOU, SHIA.

STAR: NOUN:

A self-luminous celestial body consisting of a mass of gas held together by its own gravity in which the energy generated by nuclear reactions in the interior is balanced by the outflow of energy to the surface, and the inward-directed gravitational forces are balanced by the outward-directed gas and radiation pressures.
Any of the celestial bodies visible at night from Earth as relatively stationary, usually twinkling points of light.
Something regarded as resembling such a celestial body.
A graphic design having five or more radiating points, often used as a symbol of rank or merit.

An artistic performer or athlete whose leading role or superior performance is acknowledged.
One who is highly celebrated in a field or profession.

An asterisk (*).
The star key on a telephone: For customer service, press star.
A white spot on the forehead of a horse.
A planet or constellation of the zodiac believed in astrology to influence personal destiny.
stars The future; destiny. Often used with the.

ADJECTIVE:

Outstanding or famous, especially in performing something: a star researcher; a star figure skater.
Of or relating to a star or stars.
VERB:
starred , star·ring , stars
VERB:
tr.

To ornament with stars.
To award or mark with a star for excellence.
To mark with an asterisk.
To present or feature (a performer) in a leading role.
VERB:
intr.

To play the leading role in a theatrical or film production.
To do an outstanding job; perform excellently.

Her love is all that i can see

Memories made in the coldest winter
Goodbye my friend
Will i ever love again?
Memories made in the coldest winter, winter, winter
[coldest winter lyrics on http://www.kovideo.net/ ]
Goodbye my friend
Will i ever love again?
Goodbye my friend
Will i ever love again?
Goodbye my friend
Will i ever love again?

If spring can take the snow away
If spring can take the snow away
Can it melt away all our mistakes
Can it melt away all our mistakes

Memories made in the coldest winter
Goodbye my friend
I won't ever love again, never again

JANIS!

2008-12-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

SUMMERTIME 1969:

Rick Danko, Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia:

COOL KIDS/OUR PEOPLE: STRIVE...

2008-12-11T09:27:00.000-08:00

STRIVE...a band that fuses soaring, meaningful bands like U2 and Switchfoot with the sweeping piano-pop of Billy Joel and Bruce Hornsby

Record Label: GoDigital Records
Band Members: Derick Thompson, Micah Bacheller, Will Puth, Scott Walbridge
Hometown: Chicago,Illinois

STRIVE'S "FIRE" BY LATE REGISTRATION:

"THE REAL LATE REGISTRATION" (K. WEST/R. LOFTON)

2008-12-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

"TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED, SUPPORTED AND ENCOURAGED ME ALONG MY PATH TO GREATNESS...ETERNAL BLESSINGS FROM THE MOST HIGH...TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT I WOULDN'T SUCCEED AND GOD WOULDN'T BLESS ME...I'M ABOUT TO BREAK YOUR HEARTS...I'M TELLING YOU NOW-SO GET READY!"

-REGINALD"LATE REGISTRATION"LOFTON/DJ DAD/RA'AH AHWAR/REG/OREGINALD/REGGIE-

"HELLO WORLD." -DJ DAD-

2008-12-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

COOL KID: JAY-Z

2008-12-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. He co-owns The 40/40 Club and the New Jersey Nets. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having sold over 26 million units in the United States. His critically acclaimed album, The Blueprint, was written in only two days. After announcing his retirement from recording music in 2003, he returned in late 2006 with the album Kingdom Come, which sold 680,000 copies in its first week, Jay-Z's highest-selling album in a one-week period. MTV named him number one on their list of the greatest MCs of all time.

COOL KID: ESTELLE...

2008-12-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

Estelle Fanta Swaray (born 18 January 1980),[1] widely known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is a British Grammy Award-nominated hip hop/R&B singer, rapper, and producer. She has received the MOBO for "Best Newcomer" and received three consecutive "Best Female Artist" trophies from the UK Hip-Hop Awards.

She is best known for her hit single "American Boy," which topped the U.K. charts for four weeks in March 2008 and went on to win numerous awards.

Discography

2004: The 18th Day
2008: Shine

Awards and nominations
BET Awards
2008, Best New Artist (Nominated)
Bet J Virtual Awards
2008, Female Artist of the Year (Nominated)
2008, Soul Approved - Best New Artist (Nominated)
2008, Song of the Year: "American Boy" featuring Kanye West(Won)
Grammy Awards
2009, Song of the Year: "American Boy" featuring Kanye West (Nominated)
2009, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "American Boy" featuring Kanye West (Nominated)
Mercury Music Prize
2008, Estelle - Shine (Shortlisted)
MOBO Awards
2008, Best UK Female (Won)
2008, Best Song: "American Boy" featuring Kanye West(Won)
2008, Best Video: "American Boy" featuring Kanye West(Nominated)
2008, Best Album: Shine (Nominated)
2008, Best R&B Act (Nominated)
MTV Video Music Awards
2008, Best UK Video (Nominated)
UMA awards
2008, Best Album (Nominated)
2008, Best Collaboration (Won)
2008, Best Crossover Chart Act(Nominated)
2008, Best R&B Act(Nominated)
World Music Awards
2008, World's Best New Artist (Nominated)
2008, World's Best New R&B Act (Won)
Vodafone Live Music Awards
2008, Best Female (Nominated)

dj dad...coming to the music/films/arts/fashion/trends/literature/publishing world soon!!!.../kanYe west-paranoid & streelights by dj dad/a message...

2008-12-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

A MESSAGE FROM KANYE...

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR MAKING 'HEARTLESS' NUMBER ONE ON 106 AND PARK!!!! MY BOY CALLED ME FROM THE A AND TOLD ME IT'S NUMBER ONE DOWN THERE TOO. THIS IS A SONG NOBODY CAN FRONT ON!!! THE BEAT IS ON SOME RZA SHIT AND EVERY LINE COULD MAKE THE ULTIMATE RAP HOOK! I COULD SEE SOMEBODY SAMPLING.... "WE JUST GONE BE ENEMIES!!!" I'VE BEEN HEARING THAT THERE'S PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT THIS ALBUM THAT NEVER BOUGHT ONE OF MY ALBUMS BEFORE. I'VE BEEN HEARING THAT STREET NIGGAS LOVE IT! STREET NIGGAS CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THEY LOVE IT! YOU KNOW GIRLS LOVE IT!! EVERYBODY HAS A DIFFERENT FAVORITE!!! RIGHT NOW. 'PARANOID' IS MOST LIKELY GONNA BE THE NEXT SINGLE. IT'S NECK AND NECK WITH 'ROBOCOP!!!' I'M NOT GONNA RELEASE EITHER FOR AWHILE BECAUSE I WANT 'HEARTLESS' AND 'LOVE LOCKDOWN' TO SOAK INTO THE CULTURE!! I'M GONNA WALK THIS ALBUM SLOW LIKE A MORE INDEPENDENT APPROACH. I FEEL LIKE A NEW ARTIST. THERE'S ACTUALLY ARGUMENTS AGAIN. IT REMINDS ME OF THE FIRST ALBUM WHEN EVERYBODY SAID I COULDN'T RAP. I LISTENED TO 'SAY YOU WILL' LAST NIGHT AT MY HOUSE AND WAS DAAAMN, THIS SONG IS SOOOO DOOOPE!!! I'M A FAN OF WHAT I'VE MADE. WHEN I MADE 'GRADUATION' I WASN'T SATISFIED! I FELT LIKE CERTAIN RECORDS WERE KEEPING IT FROM BEING A PLAY IN EVERY ENVIRONMENT ALBUM. I WAS AT THE COOL STORE IN AUSTRALIA CALLED ASSIN THAT CARRIES RICK OWENS, LANVIN, DIOR ECT... THEY TOLD ME THEY PLAY MY NEW ALBUM IN THE STORE. IT WAS SUCH A BIG COMPLIMENT FOR ME TO HAVE SONGS THAT ARE NUMBER ONE ON 106 AND CAN PLAY RIGHT NEXT TO VAMPIRE WEEKEND, SADE OR SILVERCHAIR IN A HIGH END FASHION STORE! IT'S SUCH A TRIUMPH TO HAVE LOVE LOCK DOWN ON RADIO. WHEN IT COMES IN IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE ANYTHING ELSE EVER MADE IN HISTORY! THIS IS NEW MUSIC! IT MIGHT TAKES SOME GETTING USE TO BUT WHEN IT SET'S IN IT WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
12.09.2008

too late!

2008-12-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

Too Late was discovered at MoMA design store in New York and was marketed less then one year ago; the idea comes from Ale Fogazzi, 27 years old business Man from Brescia, near Milano, who is active in communication and entertainment. Thanks to the joint venture with La Griffe, brand leader in artisan costume jewellery Made in Italy, success was instant. 10.000 watches sold in the first 10 days of distribution. The new water proof edition was presented during Macef 2008, in Milano..

Fashion victims wear 2 or 3 watches together, perfectionists choose the right colour to match their favourite suit. It's a young product, as 70% of those who buy it are aged between 12 and 40, but there are also many children and professionals who wear it. Too Late is perfect for a nice present for oneself or for friends. It's becoming a real phenomenon, and its design counts much more than its brand. For this reason, it gives prominence to the style of the people who wear it..

More then minimalistic, it's minimal and pop. Too Late is the state of the art of cheap design. Under the clock-face there are only 2 buttons (mode and set) and the date is written in USA style only, month before the day..
Colour, colour and again colour. Every month new shades are adapted to seasons, fashion collections and trends.

LSU ART...

2008-12-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

KANYE...

2008-12-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

Story Peter Macia
Photography Jason Nocito

"Kanye West wants to make history.” That is how we began the Kanye West story in our December 2003 issue, his first cover. Exactly five years later, he has done so in a way that even we could not have imagined. His personal style—skinny jeans rising out of exclusive colorway sneakers matched with high fashion sunglasses—has influenced kids from Flatbush to Fukuoka, and now he is finishing work on his own menswear line, Pastelle, and designing a shoe for Nike named the Air Yeezy. At the same time, of course, his music has dominated the pop charts, with seven of his own songs reaching the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100—twice reaching number one—while countless productions for other artists peppered the mainstream with his ever-changing sound. Kanye West has become a brand synonymous with not just success, but innovation, and its CEO is as mercurial and provocative as Steve Jobs.

But this year was different for West. As the world knows, he went through some difficult personal times, and he appears to have emerged a changed man, simultaneously more mature in his attitude and more childlike in his lack of inhibition. From his absurdly readable blog (he writes it) at KanyeUniverseCity.com to his Glow in the Dark one man show and now his new stripped-bare album, 808’s & Heartbreak, West has become the world’s first interactive pop star. He is breaking down the barrier between himself and the rest of us, and as a result, we feel like we’re a part of his life and art. And we are. The first single from 808’s & Heartbreak, “Love Lockdown,” went up on West’s blog in September and was re-upped a week later with changes conspicuously in line with the criticisms made in the comments to the first post. In the studio and at his house in the Hollywood Hills, as he finished the album, he takes this same social networking approach to creation, bouncing between associates—Esthero, Consequence, A-Trak, Hype Williams, Fonzworth Bentley and Plain Pat, to name a few—absorbing their suggestions before making pivotal decisions on a vocal drop or lyric. The parallels between his process and our new internet-dependent way of life seem intentional. He is willing to put his inner thoughts, unedited, in public view and sees no point in waiting for old thinkers to tell him what or when to do what he wants. When I met Kanye at his house, an Aston Martin sat in the driveway, Andy Warhol pieces hung on the wall and I walked into the most enormous closet I’ve ever seen. But West might as well have been some dude I met at a party. He was mellow and eager to talk about whatever subject crossed his mind—which, most of the time, was Kanye West.

For this issue, we’re talking to the people who inspire us, who give us something to talk about every issue. You, of course, do that, but also, by pushing the things we love to the masses, you’ve become almost like an ambassador for us.
Yeah, I just think about when Jay-Z would be like, “I do this for my culture, I do this for the hood.” I’m doing it for that. I’m doing it for where I came from being the only dude in my class that dressed in a certain way, and then finding there’s other people who think like me too, they just weren’t in my school. And I think that’s what the FADER kids are made of, people who were different or wanted something better than what was the norm. But I had to come to the realization, it wasn’t just the search for something different, but something better, a better solution. I never forget that. I just don’t want people to think that because I’m big I’m not into the same things I was into that made me big. For y’all to put me on the cover, it’s kinda dope. It feels like I’m on the right path.

In FADER #20, that was in there. Everything that you’re doing now was budding in that story.
I was saying it from the gate: I’m into Louis Vuitton, I wanna be pop. I spent my whole check on those two bags I wore for those pictures. Those are some of my best pictures, other than having a really bad haircut. Now, the only thing is pop. I really like popular culture. I’m all about Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton, Nike. I want people to remember me the way they know Nike, that level of impact. Who was the last person who really had it like that? When I was a kid, it seems like there was a lot of great pop music. There was George Michael, Michael Jackson.

Murakami once said, “I don’t mind being hated if I’m popular.” There’s a chance of that happening with this album—that it’s pop, potentially hugely popular, but not with the same people who loved your other albums.
Let’s hope it’s pop. They asked me what genre to put it under. I was like, Put it under pop, because I’ll wear that. I love wearing a label that people think is uncool. Because it’s like, is it not good music now? Music is special to people, so they hold it really tight to themselves. A lot of times when it becomes popular they feel like it’s not theirs anymore, they feel like it’s not just a part of their little group. But I feel like music is for everyone. When you were a little kid, did you really think about how many kids sang “Frére Jacques”? I make music that is good, and it should be the biggest.

Do you think there are people who like your music despite themselves because it appeals to something more basic in them?
There was something about being a little kid…there was no reason why I would like something or wouldn’t like something. My mom never listened to songs that particularly appealed to me. Back then, the only songs they had for kids were made by the Muppets and shit. The songs I was listening to, I liked the melody but the information, it dealt with stuff someone went through, a real life situation. I think it takes experience to be a great poet and communicator, and as life goes on I have more and more experiences, so hopefully I’ll just get better and better. Because it’s like, how do you wanna communicate? You wanna communicate through rap? Through poetry? Through song? The thing is getting the point across, and I think in music, message and melody are the keys. It’s the reason why people teach you the ABCs with melody behind it. And [808’s & Heartbreak] is the ABCs of life and relationships.

Does this album feel like your purest vision then?
I always felt like that, every time. When I did The College Dropout, it was really a new idea that caught people off guard. This album is a complete new idea, some whole different shit that’s gonna change music again. I think it’s our responsibility to be fearless, to have the masses’ and radio’s ear and still push the envelope. That’s why I was always supposed to be the independent champion. And that’s why it was such a big, terrible thing when I ran on stage on Justice [at the MTV Europe Music Awards]. It was like, Aw, he’s one of them now. He’s no longer the kid who went to art school and stuff. It’s like, now he’s just…

He’s too big.
Yeah. And that was a great awakening to me, to not be so caught up in your own hype. There’s a reason why the universe plans for certain things to happen the way they are, and the only thing that you can be responsible for is your art. I used to feel this sense of entitlement that’s completely immature. I needed to really get past that. It’s been a great detriment to people liking me, me being a spoiled baby, and people still make jokes about it, but they don’t realize I’m not that same person.

Getting back to the idea of purity, you finished this album in three weeks. Are you creating without thinking about it as much now?
Yeah, but when you say don’t think about it... People say, “He’s a pop singer now,” and I’m like, Yes, correct! They’re like, “It sounds like he wrote this in five minutes,” and I’m like, You’re right, it took me five minutes! Is something better if it took five years than if it took five minutes? I feel like all the words are in you, you’re just blocking yourself, you’re blocking your creativity. Society has put up so many boundaries, so many limitations on what’s right and wrong that it’s almost impossible to get a pure thought out. It’s like a little boy, looking at colors, and no one told him what colors are good, before somebody tells you you shouldn’t like pink because that’s for girls. Why would anyone pick blue over pink? Pink is obviously a better color. Everyone’s born confident, and everything’s taken away from you. So many people try to put their personality on someone else. Especially me, they try to suggest what I should do. What I want people to realize at this point is, I don’t give a fuck. That’s why I made this album. I’m using Auto-Tune because I don’t give a fuck. I like the way it sounds. This is the way I’ma put my shit up, this what I like the most. You can’t deny me, you cannot deny Wayne, you cannot deny Pain. T-Pain taught me a lot. He just brought a whole vibe and energy when he came down to Hawaii, he was constantly expressing himself.

Did you have an epiphany about singing on the new album?
I never even thought about it like that, I just thought about what I wanted to hear when I was making music, just like hook after hook after hook after hook after hook. It’s the musical version of an Obama speech.

Do you feel like you’re getting to a point with music where you’ve done all you could? Like you could move on and focus on your fashion line or something else entirely?
I can’t foresee myself not wanting to make music. What was so great about this album was at any given time, I could just Superman in the booth and pull out arguably the best rapper in the world. Is this the final frontier of music? I would think its not quite conquered yet, there’s still a ways to go. There are levels. Did you see the Michael Jackson in Budapest concert? When I look up two, three years from now, and I’m doing my own concert for five hundred thousand people, it’s like, maybe this was a beginning point. There’s gonna be people that, as big as a celebrity as I am, really just discover me on this album. I learned so much from going to those fashion shows. I thought I was making some fashionable shit on the last album, and they weren’t playing my shit. I want my music to be played the same place you could play a Feist song, but I want it to still work in a strip club, still work in a car. One thing about traveling a lot, it gives me a lot more worries about places I’m not being played. I go to Starbucks everyday, listen, look at the CD rack, and I’m like, I’m not here. I could easily give up and be like, Well, I’m black and I’m a rapper, or I could be like, Man, what could I do to get here? you only got one life and shit. Who’s to say what you can and can’t do? “Love Lockdown” is just a great accomplishment in the idea of, like, Thom Yorke in the strip club.

The Kanye glasses were everywhere though, from Canal St. to malls in Oklahoma. Were you surprised at how ubiquitous those became? Because straight up, those are weird ass glasses.
I think there hasn’t been a Michael Jackson since Michael Jackson, but when stuff like that happens, it’s little pieces of what he had, his level of influence. And it’s like that’s either the one-off or it’s the beginning of a lot of it.

Do you think that’s your white glove moment? Yeah I do think it was very much like that, but you know, Michael Jackson is the god of all pop music of all time. And it’s blasphemous to compare yourself to god, but that was very Michael Jackson-esque.

You might have another cultural moment with “Robocop.” Do you understand that if this comes out as a single, every dude is gonna be calling his girlfriend a Robocop when she gets mad. People are gonna to start saying that constantly.
Yeah, I’m the only voice for the guys because rap dudes don’t rap about love, and R&B dudes rap about love, like, “I want to love you.” So Pink is making songs, Ciara, all these male-bashing songs, so I’m like the only dude to speak up for the guys from an intelligent, really been in a relationship type perspective.

We talked a little bit before about having rivals, people who are your creative opposite.
It doesn’t drive any creation for me—I’m gonna do what I do regardless—but I appreciate when bad things happen. Obviously, when you listen to this album it’s very personal. And I just think that if I hadn’t been through the terrible things that I’ve been through, that I was the victim or the cause of, that I couldn’t deliver art on this level, and that’s the good out of it.

What do you think about “Swagger Like Us,” along with MIA’s “Paper Planes,” and “Love Lockdown” all hitting people together?
Such a great time. It’s like, Why does that happen? I’m like a vessel, and God has chosen me to be the voice and the connector. I can’t be responsible. I’m good, but I’m not that good. So my job is just to be in the studio and do videos, and I just stand here and let God do the rest. I was super scared and shit, like the MTV joint [the debut performance of “Love Lockdown” at the Video Music Awards], but afterwards it was the best response I got on any performance. People were like, “It’s so good, you did so good,” and I was like, Word? Just being nervous, that’s the childlike shit again. Why put yourself in the situation to be nervous again? You gotta just be confident the rest of your life? I mean, be confident, but I think it’s just a level of adventure and craziness and delusion, delusions of grandeur, like Hey, maybe I can fucking sing! Maybe I can’t, it doesn’t fucking matter, but it’s exciting.

Be an astronaut.
Yeah, it’s fucking exciting. I’m really excited about this album. When I was sitting in the studio in Hawaii and I asked somebody for the number to the hotel and they were like, “808-duh duh duh” because Hawaii’s area code is 808. And we just randomly do the whole album in Hawaii. I’m not trying to be all weirdo, connect the constellations like that, but this shit is too meant to be. Therefore, let’s put it out, okay. It’s kinda good!

NEW SHIA SERIES: FUNNY TEES (NOTE: THESE ARE REAL NEWS STORIES ON REAL T-SHIRTS!)...

2008-12-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

Parents get serious about baby names in tough year

2008-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Babies Zuma Nesta Rock and Bronx Mowgli, you're in the minority. Most parents abandoned unusual names for their children, opting instead for traditional names, according to a U.S. survey.

The top boy's name for the year remained Aiden, followed by Jayden, Ethan and Jacob with classic names like Matthew, Jack, Michael, Alexander, Daniel and William all featuring in a list of the top 50 most popular names.

The list, compiled from thousands of baby name entries on the specialist baby website Babycenter.com, found that Emma replaced Sophia as the top girl's name followed by Isabella and Olivia with Sarah, Elizabeth and Anna also popular.

With the United States consumed by politics all year, presidential names also made a return, such as Madison, Taylor, Kennedy for girls and Jackson and Tyler for boys.

Linda Murray, editor-in-chief of babycenter.com, said there was a clear trend for people to choose more serious, old fashioned, classic names, reflecting the tougher times.

"Times have changed and people are taking the world more seriously, affected by what is going on the world," said Murray.

"Even before the economic crisis we've had high gas and food prices all year and people have struggled. Our nation is at war. We have conflict in the world. It is a serious time in American life and it is affecting decisions about naming children."

When parents were asked in the online survey what they wanted a name to represent, the most important qualities for boys were strength, kindness and compassion compared to strength and individuality last year.

For girls it was kindness, compassion, intelligence and strength compared to femininity and individuality last year.

Marla Butler, from Santa Monica in California, chose the name Joshua for her son who was born in July, a brother to two-year-old sister Folbe who took her maiden name as an adventurous first name.

"This time around I wanted a strong, traditional name that was more in keeping with my Jewish tradition," she told Reuters.

"I think it is nostalgia. We want to hold onto our past and keep our memories going and feel comforted. It is a time to turn inwards and going back to the old names is part of that."

But not everyone agreed. Some celebrities still give their children unusual names.

Singers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz named their baby Bronx Mowgli, Australian actress Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban opted for Sunday Rose, while No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani and musician husband Gavin Rossdale opted for Zuma Nesta Rock.

Actress Halle Berry named her daughter Nahla Ariela.

"Celebrities fall into a category of their own. They're creative as a group and like being one of a kind and are less concerned than the general public about setting their kids up for success in the future as they are financial secure," said Murrray.

"But it just shows that even place names have gone downmarket a bit. No more Paris and Brooklyn. We've gone down to the Bronx."

Study finds cellular phones affect memory

2008-12-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2008) — Can radiation from cell phones affect the memory? Yes -- at least it appears to do so in rat experiments conducted at the Division of Neurosurgery, Lund University, in Sweden. Henrietta Nittby studied rats that were exposed to mobile phone radiation for two hours a week for more than a year. These rats had poorer results on a memory test than rats that had not been exposed to radiation.

The memory test consisted of releasing the rats in a box with four objects mounted in it. These objects were different on the two occasions, and the placement of the objects was different from one time to the other.

The actual test trial was the third occasion. This time the rats encountered two of the objects from the first and two of the objects from the second occasion. The control rats spent more time exploring the objects from the first occasion, which were more interesting since the rats had not seen them for some time. The experiment rats, on the other hand, evinced less pronounced differences in interest.

Henrietta Nittby and her, supervisor Professor Leif Salford, believe that the findings may be related to the team's earlier findings, that is, that microwave radiation from cell phones can affect the so-called blood-brain barrier. This is a barrier that protects the brain by preventing substances circulating in the blood from penetrating into the brain tissue and damaging nerve cells. Leif Salford and his associates have previously found that albumin, a protein that functions as a transport molecule in the blood, leaks into brain tissue when laboratory animals are exposed to mobile phone radiation.

The research team also found certain nerve damage in the form of damaged nerve cells in the cerebral cortex and in the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain. Albumin leakage occurs directly after radiation, while the nerve damage occurs only later, after four to eight weeks. Moreover, they have discovered alterations in the activity of a large number of genes, not in individual genes but in groups that are functionally related.

"We now see that things happen to the brains of lab animals after cell phone radiation. The next step is to try to understand why this happens," says Henrietta Nittby.

She has a cell phone herself, but never holds it to her ear, using hands-free equipment instead.

DJ DAD...

2008-12-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S SHOUT OUTS: KANYE, DON C., BIG SEAN & GETTING OUT OUR DREAMS!

2008-12-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

NEW CASIO DATABANK...

2008-12-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

GHOSTBUSTERS!

2008-12-06T17:12:00.001-08:00

WELCOME TO SHIA'S BOOK...

2008-12-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

DJ DAD'S COLD AND COLDER!!!

2008-12-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

COLD:

COLDER:

DJ DAD/STREETLIGHTS ON GREY'S ANATOMY/kanYe & GLC BIG SCREEN/COOL KID: GLC...

2008-12-06T09:54:00.001-08:00

object>

VIMBY - GLC

GLC is an American rapper from Chicago.

Born in Chicago, Illinois GLC grew up listening to artists such as Scarface and UGK. He met Kanye West in 1993 through a mutual friend, and the two have been best friends ever since.

At the beginning of his rap career GLC had to decide on an alias. He, of course, decided to go with GLC which stands for 'Gangsta L. Crisis'. In 2004 he signed to West's G.O.O.D. Music label, and featured on the song "Spaceship", from West's Grammy award winning album The College Dropout. Two years later he featured on West's second Grammy award winning album Late Registration, appearing on a song called "Drive Slow" which also featured Paul Wall. He is also one quarter of the Chicago rap group The Go Getters, along with West, and label mate Really Doe. They only released one album, the now out of print World Record Holders.

Studio albums
2009: Love, Life & Loyalty

Singles
2008: Big Screen (featuring Kanye West)

Mixtapes
2004: Hood Celebrity
2006: Drive Slow Mixtape
2007: Honor Me
2008: I Ain't Even On Yet

Guest appearances
2003: Jay Z - "Encore" (The Black Album)
2004: Kanye West - "Spaceship" (The College Dropout)
2005: Kanye West - "Wow" (Freshmen Adjustment)
2005: Kanye West - "Heavy Hitters" (Freshmen Adjustment)
2005: Paul Wall - "Drive Slow" (The People's Champ)
2005: Kanye West - "Drive Slow" (Late Registration)
2006: Teairra Mari - "Play Me (remix)" (Second Round)
2006: T.I. - "Drive Slow" (The Best of)
2007: Kanye West - "I Ain't Even On Yet" (Can't Tell Me Nothing)
2007: Consequence - "Disperse" (Don't Quit Your Day Job!)

MF DOOM-Deep Fried Frenz...

2008-12-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

DJ DAD...

2008-12-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

THE GOOD BOOK: LOVE/MORE SIA...

2008-12-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

LOVE- KIRK FRANKLIN - Kirk Franklin

KESH ART...

2008-12-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

STEPHEN COLBERT ON 808s/RANDOM KANYE& JAY-Z TRACKS...

2008-12-04T18:01:00.001-08:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Operation Humble Kanye

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

I Wonder - Kanye WestThe Glory - Kanye WestHome ft. John Legend - Kanye WestCrack Music (Feat. The Game) - Kanye WestWe Major - Kanye WestSpaceship - Kanye Westghetto - scarface feat. kanye westWouldnt Get Far - The GameAllure - Jay-ZLucky Me - Jay-ZU Dont Know - Jay-ZAll I Need - Jay-Zpolitics as usual - Jay-ZNever Change - Jay-ZDecember 4th - Jay-ZCity is Mine - Jayz(Instrumental) Where Im From - Jay-Z

DJ DAD...

2008-12-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

WALL-E/BOONDOCKS/LOONEY TUNES/Jay-Z and Kanye in the Studio...

2008-12-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

KANYE COMEDY/Kanye West & Yolanda Adams- "Jesus Walks"/IMPOSSIBLE/SUPER PRODUCER JUST BLAZE'S QIK CHANNEL:

2008-12-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

SOUTHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

2008-12-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

Southwood High School
9000 Walker Road
Shreveport, LA 71118

DJ DAD ART...

2008-12-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

TONY WILLIAMS & MR. HUDSON/PARANOID...

2008-12-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

DJ DAD...

2008-12-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO SHIA'S BOOK...

2008-12-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

WATCH THIS!!!!

2008-12-04T10:08:00.001-08:00

PROP 8 THE MUSICAL: Starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Neil Patrick Harris, and many more...

2008-12-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

DJ DAD ART...

2008-12-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S SHOUT OUT: KTBS & KSLA!

2008-12-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER, LOUISIANA(ARK-LA-TEX)

...DUCK DODGERS!

2008-12-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

FAMILY GUY/THE SIMPSONS/AMERICAN DAD/THE FLINTSTONES/Fahrenheit 911...

2008-12-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

WOW! I LOVE YOU SHIA! A FEW BABY POSTS...

2008-12-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

How to Hold a Baby

Newborn babies seem so tiny and fragile that many first-time parents are afraid to hold them. But you have to hold your baby so you can care for them and so your baby develops properly. There are some things you need to keep in mind when you're holding your baby.

InstructionsDifficulty: Easy
Step1Support the head and spine. This is the most important thing to remember when you're handling your newborn. Always make sure you have a hand beneath their head and take extra care when you're handing your newborn off to another person to hold. After your baby can hold their head upright, you don't need to be so cautious about always supporting the head.
Step2Place your baby's head in the crook of your elbow and use your arm to support the rest of their body. This is a great position for rocking your baby or soothing an upset baby. Most adults find this is a very instinctual position for holding a baby.
Step3Hold your baby on your chest and hold them gently in place with one hand. Most babies love being snuggled against a chest where they can hear a heartbeat. Make this even more special by removing your shirt and your baby's clothes so you can do skin-to-skin contact. Make sure you throw a blanket over the two of you though.
Step4Turn your baby so they are face-down across your forearm, their face and head cradled in your hand. Hold him in place by putting your hand on your baby's back. To help your baby stay secure, have their arms and legs draped on either side of your forearm.
Step5Grasp your baby tightly against your body, when your baby gets a little older and start squirming more. It's easy for an older baby to be dropped if they don't want to be picked up and are fighting against a caregiver to be put down.
Step6Use a baby sling or a baby pack if you want to keep your baby close to you, but want a free hand such as when cleaning or shopping.

DJ DAD ART PIECE...

2008-12-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO SHIA'S BOOK/MORE ROBOTS/HERBIE HANCOCK- "ROCKIT"/JUSTICE/GROUNDBOT...

2008-12-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

COOL KID: SIA...

2008-12-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (pronounced /ˈsiːə/) (born December 18, 1975), also simply known as Sia, is an Australian pop singer. She is noted for her work with Zero 7 and her three major label solo albums.

Sia Furler, born in Adelaide, South Australia, was part of the Australian acid jazz formation, Crisp, which released two albums entitled Word and the Deal and Delirium. Sia later released her own solo album entitled OnlySee in 1997 on a now-defunct independent record label. Furler did not achieve commercial success until her move to the United Kingdom and embarkment on a solo career.

In 2000, Sia signed to the Sony Music sub-label DancePool, whereupon she released her major-label debut, Healing is Difficult, an eclectic mix of R&B and jazz. The album included the underground club hits "Drink to Get Drunk" (remixed by Different Gear) and "Little Man". It also featured the single "Taken For Granted", a song containing a sample from Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights. The single reached #10 in the UK singles chart during June 2000.[citation needed]

Part of Sia's success can be attributed to the UK garage remix of "Little Man" by Wookie. It still remains a popular song in nightclubs throughout the UK. Healing is Difficult received wide critical acclaim and led to Furler being hailed as the next Lauryn Hill or Nelly Furtado by certain sections of the music press[citation needed]. However, following record label conflicts, Sia left Sony Music and signed with Go! Beat Records, a subsidiary of UMG.

2003 saw Sia release an EP entitled Don't Bring Me Down. This was used as the closing title track of the French film, 36 Quai des Orfèvres. Her second album, entitled Colour the Small One, was released in Australia and Europe the following year. This downtempo album saw Sia employ a mixture of acoustic instruments and electronic backing in her material, which led to comparisons to artists such as Dido and Sarah McLachlan.[citation needed] It featured "The Bully", which was a collaboration with American musician Beck Hansen. Two further songs were co-written and produced, but have yet to be released. Colour the Small One, though, spawned the singles "Breathe Me" and "Where I Belong". The latter track was earmarked to appear on the soundtrack of the film Spider-Man 2, but owing to a record label conflict, its inclusion was withdrawn. In anticipation of this notable inclusion, the single of "Where I Belong" was packaged with a cover featuring Sia dressed in a Spider-Man costume.[1]

In early 2005, Sia parted company with Go! Beat Records, disappointed at the company's poor promotion of the album, and the failure of the label's U.S. counterpart to pick up the record. Meanwhile, "Breathe Me" was beginning to receive international notice with appearances on the series finale of the U.S. HBO television series Six Feet Under and the broadcast of the 2006 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The track had been licensed to Astralwerks (which also produces the Six Feet Under soundtracks), and based on positive feedback, the full license of Colour the Small One was picked up by Astralwerks and given an American release in early 2006.

Sia toured the U.S. throughout 2006, promoting the album and cross-promoting the Six Feet Under season five DVD release. The re-released 2006 U.S. album features four bonus tracks: "Broken Biscuit" (from the Don't Bring Me Down EP), "Sea Shells" (the B-side to "Breathe Me" in the UK) and two remixes of "Breathe Me" by Four Tet and Ulrich Schnauss.

In addition to her solo career, Furler provided vocals for Zero 7 on their hit singles "Destiny" and "Distractions" from their debut album, Simple Things. Zero 7's second album, When it Falls, featured Sia voicing "Somersault" and "Speed Dial No. 2". Their third album, The Garden (released May 2006), found six contributions from Furler, with two ("Throw it All Away" and "You're My Flame") released as singles in the UK and North America.

On November 25, 2005, Sia recorded a duet with singer Katie Noonan, a member of Brisbane-based band George. The song, entitled "Sweet One", was supposed to be included on the respective artists' solo albums in 2007 but has not appeared on the track listings of either Sia's Some People Have Real Problems or Noonan's Skin.[2] Sia recorded a cover version of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" in 2006, which appeared on the tribute album, Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads. The song also appeared in an episode of teen drama The O.C..

In 2007, Sia had a prolific year in terms of releasing music, although she would not release her third full album until January 2008. On April 3, 2007, Sia's third LP (almost EP-ish) Lady Croissant was released in the U.S. It featured eight live songs and one new studio track ("Pictures"). In November 2007, Sia's four-song EP, Day Too Soon, was released on iTunes. It included the tracks "Day Too Soon", "Buttons", "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine", and a remix of "Day Too Soon" by Mock & Toof.

Sia's fourth LP (third proper), Some People Have Real Problems, was released in January 2008. The first single was "Day Too Soon". A video for the song "Buttons" can be found on YouTube, as well as many other live and studio videos. The song "Little Black Sandals" from the the album was featured on the television show Private Practice in the season one episode, "In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead".

On 8 January 2008, Sia performed "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The song has also been remixed by the likes of Sander van Doorn and Stonebridge. The Sander van Doorn remix was a hit in the Netherlands, reaching the #11 spot in the Dutch Single Charts.[3] Sia and her band members wore glow-in-the-dark costumes on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in January 2008, performing "Buttons" and "Breathe Me".

Sia provides backing vocals on The Bird and the Bee's cover of the Bee Gees's "How Deep is Your Love", which appears on the soundtrack for the Sex and the City film. She also collaboration with Lior on his album, Corner of an Endless Road ("I'll Forget You"). In August 2008, "Breathe Me" was licensed to Coca-Cola and appeared in their commercial airing during coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In October 2008, she performed 2 songs on the BBC2 TV show, Later with Jools Holland: "Buttons" and "Soon We'll Be Found". She will appear on Christina Aguilera's forthcoming album. Sia's song "Breathe Me" is used as the backing music for the Tokyo Games Show trailer of the video game "Prince of Persia" to be published by Ubisoft.

Sia's music video, "Soon We'll Be Found", was featured on the United States front page of the iTunes Music Store. Customers were able to download a high quality version of the video for free. It has garnered overall good reviews from customers, although the average rating as of 10 November 2008 is 3.5 stars.

Albums:

Only See (1997)
Healing is Difficult (2000)
Don't Bring Me Down EP (2003)
Colour the Small One (2004, 2006)
Lady Croissant - Live LP (2007)
Day Too Soon EP (2007)
Some People Have Real Problems (2008) #26 U.S. Billboard Top 200 Chart
Other:

"Pictures EP"
"Breathe Me EP"
"The Girl You Lost to Cocaine EP"
"Numb Remixes 1"
"Numb Remixes 2"
"Remixes 1"
"Remixes 2"
"Where I Belong Remixes 1"
"Where I Belong Remixes 2"

Soundtrack, compilation contributions
The Chillout Sessions 3 (2002) - "Drink to Get Drunk"
Chillout Sessions 5 (2004) - "Breathe Me (Fourtet Remix)"
Chillout Sessions 6 (2004) - "Don't Bring Me Down"
Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends - "Breathe Me" (2005)
Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads - "Paranoid Android" (2006)
Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project - "I Go to Sleep" (2007)
Chillout Classics - "Breathe Me (Mylo Remix)" (2007)
Chillout Sessions 10 - "Pictures" (2007)
Northern Europe fashion chain Lindex used "Electric Bird" as soundtrack to their 2008 autumn TV campaign . [1]

TV appearances
Nip/Tuck, Season 3, Episode 4 - "Numb" (2005)
Late Show with David Letterman, November 13, 2008

Conjunction of the planets is visible now!

2008-12-01T19:47:00.001-08:00

December 1, 2008 06:25 PM

This picture was taken from the Horseshoe Casino/Hotel towercam shortly before 6 PM. I added a little information about the planets and their distances from the earth (from Sid Shirer-The Celestial Expert At KTBS). This formation of the moon, Venus and Jupiter won't be seen at this time of day for the next 5 years.

From Joe Haynes-KTBS(SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER)

Dow plunges on news recession began in Dec. 2007...

2008-12-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON – Most Americans sorely knew it already, but now it's official: The country is in a recession, and it's getting worse. Wall Street convulsed at the news — and a fresh batch of bad economic reports — tanking nearly 680 points. With the economic pain likely to stretch well into 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday he stands ready to lower interest rates yet again and to explore other rescue or revival measures.

Rushing in reinforcements, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who along with Bernanke has been leading the government's efforts to stem the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, pledged to take all the steps he can in the waning days of the Bush administration to provide relief. Specifically, Paulson is eyeing more ways to tap into a $700 billion financial bailout pool.

On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., vowed to have a massive economic stimulus package ready on Inauguration Day for President-elect Barack Obama's signature.

That measure — which could total a whopping $500 billion — would bankroll big public works projects to generate jobs, provide aid to states to help with Medicaid costs and provide money toward renewable energy development. Crafting such a colossal recovery package would mark a Herculean feat: Congress convenes Jan. 6, giving lawmakers just two weeks to complete their work if it is to be signed on Jan. 20.

President George W. Bush, in an interview with ABC's "World News," expressed remorse about lost jobs, cracked nest eggs and other damage wrought by the financial crisis. "I'm sorry it's happening, of course," said Bush. The president said he'd back more government intervention.

None of the pledges for more action could comfort Wall Street investors. The Dow Jones industrials plunged 679.95 points, or 7.70 percent, to close at 8,149.09.

It was another white-knuckle day, punctuated by grim economic reports. An index of manufacturing activity sank to a reading of 36.2 in November, a 26-year low, the Institute for Supply Management reported. Construction spending fell by a larger than expected 1.2 percent in October, the Commerce Department said.

Adding to the gloom, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of academic economists, concluded Monday that the country has been suffering through a recession since December 2007.

With NBER's decision, the United States has fallen into two recessions during Bush's eight years in office. The first one started in March 2001 and ended in November of that year.

The economy jolted into reverse in the final three months of last year. After a short spring rebound, it contracted again in the summer. Economists say it is still shrinking and will continue to do so through at least the first quarter of next year.

Unlike past recessions, consumers are bearing the brunt of this one. Clobbered by job losses, hard-to-get credit and hits to their wealth from sinking home values and plunging portfolio investments, consumers have cut back sharply on their spending, throwing the economy into chaos.

Watching customers' appetites wane, employers have throttled back on hiring. The unemployment rate in October zoomed to 6.5 percent, a 14-year high. So far this year, 1.2 million positions have disappeared. The jobless rate is likely to climb to 8 percent or higher next year.

Against that backdrop, many economists believe the current recession will be the worst since the 1981-82 downturn.

To help ease the pain, Bernanke said additional interest-rate cuts are "certainly feasible," but he warned there are limits to how much such action would revive the economy, which is likely to stay mired in weakness well into next year.

The Fed's key interest rate now stands at 1 percent, a level seen only once before in the past half-century, and many economists predict Bernanke and his colleagues will drop the rate again at their next meeting on Dec. 15-16.

The Fed can lower its key rate only so far — to zero — and it's getting ever closer. Given that constraint, Bernanke said there are other ways to bolster economic activity.

The Fed, for instance, could buy longer-term Treasury or agency securities on the open market in substantial quantities, he said. This might lower rates on these securities, "thus helping to spur aggregate demand," Bernanke said.

Because the Fed can go only so low in reducing interest rates, the central bank over the past year has resorted to a flurry of other radical and often unprecedented actions with the hope of busting through credit jams and getting financial markets operating more normally.

The bracing impact of the Fed's aggressive rate reductions, however, has been somewhat stymied by the credit and financial crises, Bernanke said. Despite lower borrowing costs, skittish banks have been reluctant to lend money to people and businesses, a vicious cycle that has seriously hobbled the U.S. economy.

"Even if the functioning of financial markets continues to improve, economic conditions will probably remain weak for a time," Bernanke warned.

Paulson, meanwhile, has been working closely with the incoming administration, including New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, Obama's pick to be the next treasury secretary, to pave the way for a smooth transition.

"We are actively engaged in developing additional programs to strengthen our financial system so that lending flows into our economy," Paulson said, referring to tapping the $700 billion bailout fund. "When these programs are ready for implementation, we will discuss them with the Congress and the next administration," he added.

Paulson did not provide specifics on what type of programs the administration was weighing other than to say that it was looking at ways to boost capital injections into financial institutions.

___

Associated Press Writers Andrew Taylor and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

KANYE WEST - WEST DESTROYS MIXING DESK WITH HEAVY BASS...

2008-12-01T19:27:00.001-08:00

Rap superstar KANYE WEST accidentally "blew up" a piece of studio equipment during a special album playback with British rockers KEANE - because the bass was too loud.
The Stronger hitmaker treated the band to an early preview of his new LP 808s and Heartbreak, but the impromptu listening session ended in disaster when a studio mixing desk was destroyed.
Keane star Tim Rice-Oxley writes on his blog, "What a strange week in the life of Keane. Exactly a week ago I was sitting on the Eurostar in a half-sleep, having just played the last gig of our European tour in Paris, and then I spent the entire night in the studio with Kanye West. He played us the whole of his new album, which sounded truly awesome - the bass was so fat that eventually the mixing desk blew up."

WELCOME TO SHIA'S BOOK/Awesome 80's Montage: Shawshank/KANYE NEW ZEALAND INTERVIEW...

2008-12-01T17:05:00.001-08:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

I LOVE YOU, SHIA.

2008-12-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

COOL KID: DJ DAD/TOP TEN ALBUMS(11-3-08)...

2008-12-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Reginald Martin Lofton, born on October 24, 1978 in Shreveport, Louisiana, is a proud parent, record producer, poet, film producer, pop artist, broadcaster, marketing / networking genius, beat technician, writer, street team leader, creative thinker / doer, freedom fighter, common man's / woman's advocate, publisher, copyrighter, child and lover of THE MOST HIGH GOD and life. He produces musical compositions by using raw, unadulterated, unfiltered and untampered samples; and usually doing it in one take.

Self-described Style: Kanye West meets Rza meets MF Doom meets Daft Punk meets Justice meets DJ Premier meets Pete Rock.

Overall, sales are up nearly 30 percent from last week and nearly identical to last year's Thanksgiving-week numbers.

Here's a recap of the Top 10:

1. 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West

2. Fearless, Taylor Swift

3. Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses

4. I Am...Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé

5. Theater of the Mind, Ludacris

6. Day & Age, the Killers

7. Dark Horse, Nickelback

8. Twilight soundtrack, various artists

9. Now That's What I Call Music! 29, various artists

10. David Cook, David Cook

DJ DAD & THE BEAT CRATES...

2008-11-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S NOTEBOOK: HISTORY, MYSTERY & THE GIFT...

2008-11-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

OUR PEOPLE: GOOD MUSIC

2008-11-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

G.O.O.D. Music is a hip hop and R&B record label founded by music producer and rapper Kanye West. "GOOD" is an acronym for "Getting Out Our Dreams."

John Legend and Common were the first to sign to the label; their albums, Get Lifted and Be, respectively, (both executive-produced by West) were both critically acclaimed and combined were nominated for 7 Grammy Award nominations. Get Lifted had three nominations and Be four.

CURRENT ARTISTS:

Kanye West
Common
Consequence
Fonzworth Bentley
GLC
John Legend
Sa-Ra Creative Partners
Big Sean
Wrightrax (producers) [1]
Mr Hudson & The Library
Really Doe
Kid Cudi
Tony Williams

SHIA'S MESSAGE: STOP THE KILLING!!!!!!!(RANDOM PICS OF MURDER VICTIMS)...

2008-11-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

NAS- SOMETHING FOUL/LIL WAYNE- NEVER GET IT(LOUISIANIMAL!)/T.I., KANYE, AND MORE- SWAGGA LIKE US...

2008-11-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

COOL KID: MR. HUDSON...

2008-11-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Mr Hudson & The Library are a band based in London, whose members hail from both that city and Birmingham. This duality was the inspiration for the title of their debut album A Tale of Two Cities, which was released on 5 March 2007.[1] They are signed to music producer Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label & Mercury Records.

The band first came to prominence after featuring on Later with Jools Holland on 8 December 2006.[2]

They also received airplay from Dermot O'Leary on his BBC Radio 2 show.

In 2007 embarked on a tour through 12 British libraries, and also supported Amy Winehouse on her tour, along with Paulo Nutini, Mika and Groove Armada and went on their own headlining tour.[3]

During the Summer of 2007 they appeared at several UK festivals, such as Glastonbury, T in the Park, The Big Chill, V Festival, Godiva Festival, and Bestival.

On October 19 2007, the band played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in support of The Police. They will also support Kanye West on his Europe leg of his Glow in the Dark Tour.

On 11 November, 'There Will Be Tears' was given its first UK radio air-play on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show as 'The Hottest Record in the World Right Now'. Mr Hudson's new album 'Now I See' is set for release in 2009.

Mr. Hudson is featured on 'Paranoid' on Kanye West's fourth album, 808s & Heartbreak. He also co-produced 'Street Lights' as well as supplied additional vocals on 'Say You Will' and 'Amazing'.

The band have listed various influences, most notably Chet Baker, The Police, Andre 3000, Marvin Gaye, The Specials, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzee Rascal.

The band is led by Ben Hudson (guitar and vocals), who is a record producer and Oxford graduate who has worked with acts such as Dizzee Rascal and whose vocal performances have been compared to Sting.[5] He is accompanied by Joy Joseph (vocals and steel drum), Torville Jones (piano), Raph Mann (bass guitar) and Wilkie Wilkinson (electric drums).

Mr. Hudson is to feature with Kanye West on his new album 808s & Heartbreak in the track titled Paranoid.[6] It is also rumored that Mr. Hudson will feature on Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 album along with a solo album coming early 2009.

Daft Punk - Aerodynamic/ART BY MURAKAMI & MORE...

2008-11-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

UNTITLED...

2008-11-28T00:31:00.000-08:00

WE LOVE YOU, SHIA!...MORE ARTWORK FROM DJ DAD...

2008-11-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK ART: DRIVE SLOW, HOMIE...

2008-11-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

BACK TO THE FUTURE/FERRIS BUELLER...

2008-11-27T12:26:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK REISSUE: KANYE WEST- "808S & HEARTBREAKS"...

2008-11-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

DJ DAD

2008-11-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

KANYE WEST "HEARTLESS" CD COVER CONCEPT...

2008-11-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK: SONG OF THE YEAR-KANYE WEST-"LOVE LOCKDOWN" (LIVE)...

2008-11-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK: ART

2008-11-26T07:36:00.001-08:00

WELCOME TO SHIA'S BOOK!/GOOD MUSIC: REMY MA-"RAPIDFIRE"...

2008-11-25T18:59:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK GOOD MUSIC REISSUE: KANYE WEST FT. NAS, REALLY DOE & TONY WILLAMS-"WE MAJOR"/M.I.A. COVERS SPIN MAGAZINE...

2008-11-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK GLOWS IN THE DARK: LORI HERSBERGER...

2008-11-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

SHIA'S BOOK: THE QUICK ART & MUSIC FIX...

2008-11-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

DJ DAD

2008-11-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

G.O.O.D. MUSIC BACKSTAGE [FEAT KID CUDI, MR HUDSON, CONSEQUENCE]

2008-11-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

SEMTEX TV - G.O.O.D. MUSIC BACKSTAGE [FEAT KID CUDI, MR HUDSON, CONSEQUENCE] from DJ SEMTEX on Vimeo.

I LOVE YOU, SHIA.

2008-11-25T00:10:00.001-08:00

NUMBER ONE!

2008-11-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

WHERE DAD GREW UP...THE EARLY-ELEMENTARY YEARS...1536 NATALIE...AND...THE ELEMENTARY-HIGH SCHOOL YEARS...CENTRUM APARTMENTS...#214...

2008-11-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

THIS IS WHERE I SPENT MY EARLY YEARS...NATALIE STREET...ME, MOM AND DAD...AND FREY...AND EVERYBODY ELSE...THIS IS WHERE I REALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH MUSIC...AS AN INFANT ONE OF THE FIRST REACTIONS MY FAMILY GOT OUT OF ME WAS WHEN MY MOM AND AUNT PLAYED A SONG ON THE VINYL RECORD PLAYER(IT WAS EITHER JAMES BROWN-"SAY IT LOUD, I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD" OR SOMETHING FROM THE TEMPTATIONS OR MOTOWN)AND THEY SAY I BEGAN TO ROCK BACK AND FORTH AND BOB MY HEAD IN AMAZEMENT OF THE MUSIC...I GUESS(I WAS A CRAWLING INFANT) AND IT HAD TO BE A BIG DEAL BECAUSE EVERYBODY IN THE FAMILY KNOWS ABOUT IT, MENTIONS IT TO THIS DAY AND IT APPEARS TO STICK OUT VIVIDLY IN ALL THEIR MEMORIES(EVEN FAMILY MEMBERS THAT WEREN'T PRESENT) WE HAD THE BIGGEST HEARTS IN THE WORLD; IN THE SMALLEST HOUSE ON THE BLOCK(SEE THE PICTURE) THE BLUE DOTS TELL THE TALE...I HAD RICK JAMES, MICHAEL JACKSON, PRINCE, THE TIME, HALL & OATES AND MORE ALBUMS AT AGE 3-5 YEARS OLD!(WHEN MUSIC...WAS MUSIC!!!) I WOULD DANCE AROUND IN THE LIVING ROOM ALL DAY AND NIGHT IF MY PARENTS LET ME!...I HAD A BIKE THAT GOT "STOLEN AND RETURNED"...I WAS STAYING HOME ALONE...SOMETIMES(WHEN MY WATCHER WASN'T AVAILABLE-"LOCK THE DOOR AND KEEP IT THAT WAY!!!!!!!") GOD PROTECTED ME IN THIS CRAZY WORLD...FREY WAS COMING OVER EVERY WEEKEND AND WHEN SCHOOL WAS OUT...WE WRESTLED, PLAYED THE ATARI TO DEATH, PLAYED FOOTBALL, WATCHED B.E.T.(VIDEO SOUL WITH DONNIE SIMPSON), MTV, CARTOONS, SOLID GOLD AND BANDSTAND ALL THE TIME!...THESE WERE MY EARLY FOOTBALL YEARS...WE HAD A NICE BACKYARD AND SOME GOOD NATIVE AMERICAN NEIGHBORS...MY SCHOOL WAS ABOUT 5 CITY BLOCKS NORTH FROM THE HOUSE..."AFTER AND ONLY AFTER" I FINISHED MY HOMEWORK COULD I LISTEN TO MY MUSIC...MY MOM AND/OR DAD TOOK ME TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY...WE LIVED ON NATALIE STREET FROM MY PRESCHOOL TO MY THIRD GRADE YEAR...

...THIS IS THE APARTMENT WE MOVED INTO FROM NATALIE STREET IN MY THIRD GRADE YEAR...I REMEBER THE NEW SMELL OF THE APARTMENTS AND EVERYTHING...THEY HAD JUST BUILT THEM...SO WE ADJUSTED TO THE MOVE...APARTMENT NUMBER 214...IN THE THIRD GRADE I WALKED TO SCHOOL ALONE...THIS IS WHERE I GOT DEEPER INTO MUSICAL/FILM/ART PRODUCTIONS AND MOLDED MY MORE ARTISTIC CONSCIENCE AND CREATIVE ASPECTS AND SHARED THEM WITH THOSE CLOSE TO ME AND GOT IN TOUCH WITH THE CREATOR AND MYSELF...WHICH MEANT SOUL SEARCHING SOMETIMES(THOUGH I WAS YOUNG) LIKE TUNING AN AUDIO PLAYER...FINDING THE DIVINE CONNECTION AND AMPLIFYING THE SIGNALS FROM ABOVE...IT HAD TO BE TOUGH TO BE OUR DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBORS!(IT WAS-ESPECIALLY FROM FRIDAYS TO LATE SUNDAYS!) THE BLUE DOTS ARE ABOVE THE APARTMENT WE LIVED IN...MY DAD RAN THIS COMPLEX LOL!(BEING ONE OF FEW DADS THAT LOOKED OUT FOR THE ENTIRE YOUTH IN THE COMMUNITY, HE HAD TO!!!) THERE WAS A BASKETBALL COURT IN THE BACK THAT I WOULD SCHOOL 'EM ON...THE CANDY LADY LIVED RIGHT ACROSS WAGGONER FROM THE APARTMENTS...THE BIG BUILDING IN THE BACKGROUND HIGHLIGHTED IN RED HAD A HUGE PARKING LOT WITH ALOT OF SMOOTH CONCRETE AND WE WOULD SKATEBOARD THERE ON WEEKENDS, HOLIDAYS AND WHENEVER ELSE WE WOULD FIND THE LOT TOTALLY EMPTY...THERE WAS A BREAD STORE IN FRONT OF IT FOR QUICK SNACKS AND THE LAUNDROMAT WAS NEXT TO IT...THE BIG GROCERY STORE WAS RIGHT ACROSS THE DITCH ON HEARNE...THE CHURCH WAS ABOUT 7 CITY BLOCKS SOUTH IN FRONT OF BURGER KING...THERE WAS ALSO A SMALL COLLEGE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER...ME, BYRD, FREY AND CED WOULD GO THERE FOR BETTER BASKETBALL COMPETITION AND TO LEARN FROM THOSE OLDER THAN US...THESE WHERE THE BASKETBALL YEARS AS FAR AS MY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GOES...MIND YOU...WE WERE IN OUR LATE MIDDLE SCHOOL TO EARLY HIGH SCHOOL YEARS SHOOTING HOOPS WITH COLLEGE PLAYERS...WE WERE COLD...ASK SOMEBODY THAT KNOWS US...TWENTY-SEVEN FIFTY WAGGONER AVENUE...APARTMENT TWO FOURTEEN...WE STAYED HERE UNTIL WE DECIDED TO MOVE TO NATCHITOCHES, LOUISIANA TO HELP MY ELDERLY GRANDMOTHER IN MY SENIOR YEAR AND TAKE A BREAK FROM THE HUSSLE AND BUSSLE OF THE CITY LIFE...I WANTED TO GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL WHILE LIVING WITH MY GRANDMOTHER SO SHE COULD SEE ME SUCCEED RIGHT BEFORE HER EYES...I WALKED ACROSS THE STAGE IN HER HOMETOWN(WHICH MEANT NO TRAVELING HASSLES FOR HER TO ATTEND MY GRADUATION) SO SHE COULD BE EXTRA PROUD OF ME...FOR SAVING HER GAS MONEY!...MY PARENTS AGREED TO RELOCATE TO HELP HER...AND WE DID...

Ecclesiastes 3:15
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

SHIA'S NOTEBOOK: THE POWER/DJ DAD/UFO IN SHREVEPORT?(10-27-08)/BIG D'S BAR-B-QUE(NO PORK)/PRINCE/MARIAH CAREY/PATTI LABELLE & MORE...

2008-11-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Working Class Hero - John Lennon/The Polyphonic Spree "Running Away"/George Michael - Careless Whisper/Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer/Much More...

2008-11-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

TOSHIBA: BULLET-TIME/GEARS HEART/ HOLOGRAPHICS + AUGMENTED REALITY/I-SOBOT/Nobody Beats The Drum - 'The Drum/LED USB Fans...

2008-11-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Holographic Interface - round interface - Ringo from Ivan Tihienko on Vimeo.

WELCOME...ONCE AGAIN...TO SHIA'S BOOK/TONIGHT'S American Music Awards celebrate fan favourites/Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak - THE REVIEW...

2008-11-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Kanye West performs at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008, in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES -- With performances by some of music's hottest acts -- Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, the Jonas Brothers and 15 others -- who needs awards?

The American Music Awards, presented Sunday during a live broadcast on ABC, will keep with its long-held tradition of wedging prizes in between action-packed performances.

"This year more than ever," said Orly Adelson, president of Dick Clark Productions, which puts on the show. "We have 19 performances, which we've never done before. Every big artist this year said yes, and we wanted them all."

Miley Cyrus won't just sing, she'll celebrate her "Sweet 16" on the show, she said.

New Kids on the Block will perform a medley of songs, including their new single, marking their return to the AMAs after 17 years.

Coldplay and Leona Lewis will make their American Music Award debuts, and Alicia Keys and Sarah McLachlan will perform with yet-to-be-announced artists in genre-crossing mash-ups.

Other artists slated to perform include Mariah Carey, Pink, Ne-Yo, Taylor Swift and Annie Lennox, who will receive the Award of Merit, an honour previously bestowed on Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra and James Brown, among others.

There will be other awards, too, chosen by online voters in 21 categories.

Keys leads nominees with five nods, including artist of the year and favourite female artist in both the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories.

Coldplay and the Eagles have four nominations each, while Chris Brown and Lil Wayne have three apiece.

All are also contenders for artist of the year.

"We do need the awards, because it goes back to the fact that this is a show for the fans," Adelson said. "Fans are determining the winners, and that's what makes it exciting."

The roster of presenters is just as star-studded as the list of performers. Terrence Howard, Kate Walsh, Paris Hilton, T-Pain, Ashley Tisdale and Nick Lachey are set to help hand out trophies.

Jimmy Kimmel returns for a fifth time as host of the two-hour show, held at the Nokia Theatre.

Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak - the Sunday Times review:
***** OUT OF ***** STARS

This so should not work: an album by a rap superstar that features almost no rapping at all; whose sonic tones (pulsing electro beats, synth bass, minor keys) are, barring two exceptions, of a sombre hue; on which West, autotuned and Vocodered, elects to sing; and whose limited palette is bound to strike some as samey to the point of tedium. Yet 808s & Heartbreak is a triumph, recklessly departing from the commercially copper-bottomed script and venturing far beyond West’s comfort zone. The death, last year, of his mother and his break-up with his fiancée seem to have unlocked an emotional candour of such a personal nature that listening to songs such as Street Lights and Love Lockdown can seem almost voyeuristic. On the latter, West combines a childlike piano motif with hurtling, tribal drums and a chorus whose spryness cannot obscure the bleakness at its heart. One of the album’s most fascinating aspects is that, no matter how deep West delves into the dark heart of his state of mind, his sharp ear for hooks cannot help but assert itself. Bad News’s funereal northern-soul two-step might be strange, but it lodges in the head. And the sheer mad fun of Paranoid’s nods to Blue Monday and Van Halen’s Jump is evidence that, amid the heartbreak, West is reconnecting with his mischievous side, too. A bizarre, brave and brilliant album.

MORE FROM THE SHIA EXPERIENCE/OUR PEOPLE: JOHN MONOPOLY...CEO OF HUSTLE PERIOD...CO-CEO OF G.O.O.D. MUSIC...

2008-11-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

John Monopoly is a well-known hip hop talent scout and manager. He is a former member of the old-school Chicago prep-school krewes, "Hilltop" & "The Outcasts".

Monopoly once served as Manager for Time Exposure as well as co-promoting underground hip-hop events with Dave Dred, and Chicago Graf legend Avon under the moniker "WTTW" [Word 2 Tha Wise]. In addition, Monopoly has served as an A&R rep at Violator Management and as an executive at Jive Records, he played a key role in signing rap blue-chip prospect Dirtbag. Monopoly also teamed with DJ Whoo Kid on a joint venture with Koch Entertainment to distribute Rewind DVD Magazine as well as form The Shadyville DJ Coalition. Monopoly also runs management firm, Hustle Period. Included among Hustle Period's past and present clients are Kanye West, Shawnna, Naledge, GLC (rapper), Carl Thomas, and producer No I.D. As West's manager he's also co-CEO of GOOD Music. Hustle Period officially began in August 1999 after Monopoly and VP Reno Dinero had been successful throwing house parties in their Navy Pier apartment in Chicago. Hustle Period started between founders, John Monopoly, Datu Faison and Don C, Kanye's Road manager. John has recently ventured into nightlife by opening Chicago's newest exclusive member's club, Boutique.