This Is It! – UFC 100

July 11th, 2009

imageJuly 11th, 2009 is a major date in the mixed martial arts world, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship 100 will unfold.

I started watching the UFC from the first event on  November 12, 1993 and became an instant fan.  It was raw and brutal violence back then, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission fighting, dominated the earlier events. I can still remember the female commentator at UFC 1 turning pale and going silent, as a tooth from the mouth of a kicked fighter flew past her.  16 years have passed and the UFC has come a very long way.  Although some will still deem it brutal and barbaric, rules and measures have been put into place, making it safer for the fighters. The fact that fighters take the sport more seriously now, learning all of the ways to fight and becoming multi-dimensional fighters, proves to make the fights more tactical and a little less brutal.

With that 16 year and 99 event history, UFC 100 looks to be a great card, with a great heavyweight grudge match between Brock Lesnar & Frank Mir.  Mir won the first fight, and I feel he will also win the second. Lesnar is a monster of a man, but I feel he lacks the skills to beat Frank Mir.  However, there is always a punchers chance and with the lunch boxes Brock Lesnar calls fists, one punch can mean lights out for Mir. Georges St. Pierre will take on Thiago Alves in a welter-weight match-up that is going to be hard to call.  My heart is with GSP and his skills and ability to become better in every fight. “The Pitbull”, Alves is no scrub and probably one of the most powerful and aggressive fighter this weight class has seen.  And a fight that has been gaining a lot of steam, thanks to the Ultimate Fighter show, is Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping. Yes, Henderson is getting old, but he is tried and tested like a training partner of his, Randy Couture, and we all know how well he did.  Bisping is in for a surprise if he thinks he is going to walk over Dan Henderson, as the only area he beats Dan Henderson is in the running of the mouth. I’m hoping for a knock-out in that one.

Enjoy the card and congratulations to the Dana White and UFC for hitting the 100 event milestone and check out Bodog to place your UFC wagers!  I’m hoping to clean up! :)

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The loss of the King of Pop – Michael Jackson

June 26th, 2009

Michael Jackson dead at age 50.It’s a sad day for the millions of Michael Jackson fans, from all over the world.  At age 50, Michael Jackson went into cardiac arrest at a rental home in Los Angeles, California. He wasn’t breathing upon arrival of paramedics and was in a coma at the  hospital. He died shortly afterwards.

Say what you want about Michael and his issues with plastic surgery and alleged child molestation charges, Mr. Jackson is an Icon in the music industry and is responsible for the career advancement of many, and I mean many music artists, performers, choreographers from the 1980’s and beyond.  Michael Jackson changed the way things were done when it came to performing on stage and making music videos.  He came a long way from a traumatizing childhood to becoming the King of Pop.  It’s a shame that he wasn’t able to go through with his latest tour plans, but it seems it just wasn’t to be.

The image in this picture and the video below, is the Michael Jackson I want to remember.  Before all the public drama and plastic surgeries, when it was just the man, his dancing and his music.  When he unveiled the “Moonwalk” at the Motown Music Awards show in 1983 and just some of the many things I will remember forever.

He was a true star and will be mourned, missed and remembered.  My condolences to his family and friends.

Thank you Michael Jackson and Rest In Peace.

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Natalie Brown – Random Thoughts

June 15th, 2009

200-200-nb

The internet can truly be a beautiful place. While jumping around from site to site, I found myself on iseecolor.com and was drawn to the intriguing photo you see to the left.  After being taken to her profile, I realized that she is a recording artist and listened to her auto-play of tracks…  I was impressed.  In today’s world, everyone is a rapper, DJ, producer or singer and sadly, very few of them truly are, any of the above.  But Natalie Brown, she is definitely a singer and a good one at that.   Hearing her voice brings me back to the old days, with gems like Teena Marie and Luba Kowalchyk, and like Luba, Natalie Brown is also Canadian.  Yes, Canadians get a little extra love from me, because I know how hard it is for Canadian musicians to get recognition and more importantly, airplay in the US.  But thanks to the internet, the quality sounds of Natalie and other talented performers will be seen, heard and purchased without the need of big production and distribution houses taking the lion share of their money.

Natalie’s music is crisp, refreshing and personal.  Listening to her tracks, I can feel that she puts every ounce of herself into her music.  Her songs have meaning and substance, which is refreshing, after being hit with “look what I have and you don’t” type music.  She is truly old school and her love of that generations music, shows in her own. I just hope people appreciate it.  She has released 2 albums : Let The Candle Burn in 2000 and her most recent works, Random Thoughts in 2008 and my favorite tracks: Around The World, What’s Going On Next Door and Queen of Me.

Here is a short excerpt of Natalie’s Bio and a video of Diva, Teena Marie, showing Natalie some love. A fantastic milestone:

Born in Canada, Natalie Brown’s passion for music was nurtured from a young age by her involvement in theater, gospel music, creative writing and local session work as a vocalist and writer. Upon deciding to pursue a professional music career, she moved to California and was selected to sing with internationally acclaimed Gospel recording artist Ron Kenoly during his "Welcome Home" tour in 1996. She toured around the USA and upon returning to California, Natalie studied with world-renowned vocal instructors Seth Riggs (Stevie Wonder, Tevin Campbell, Deborah Cox) and Dave Stroud (Terry Ellis of En Vogue, Rosie Gaines).
more…

Ms. Brown, I sincerely wish you all the best with your music career. You have made a fan and friend of me. Your music is full of heart and soul because of the good person you are and that your intentions are pure. Keep up the fresh crisp sound and the clarity of the acoustic instruments only enhance your beautiful voice.  And should you choose, modeling is obviously another option.  To all the radio station listeners, demand more from your stations, or quality artists like Natalie Brown will not get equal airplay and you’ll be stuck in an endless loop of the same music.

Contacting Natalie Brown?
Online:
Official Web Site: www.natalie-brown.com
Official Personal Blog: www.nataliebrown.info
MySpace: www.myspace.com/nataliebrown

Management Contact:
Jeremy Rwakaara
InMotion Management
Email: jeremy@inmotionmanagement.com or jeremyrwakaara@gmail.com

Snail Mail:
c/o Identity Music Group, Inc.
554 North Frederick Avenue #218
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

Online Store Links
Natalie Brown Official Site (Offering Physical and Digital direct from web site) Natalie Brown Music, Amazon.com, CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amie Street

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BluCigs offer a tolerable second-hand vapor.

June 11th, 2009

blucigs electronic cigarettesEveryone knows that smoking is a pretty bad idea, but millions of people all over the world do it everyday, disregarding all of the surgeon general and public health notices that it leads to cancer and other serious health problems. I am not a smoker. I have never smoked, never tried it, was never interested or even curious, but the part of smoking that really is a problem for me, is the damage it does to the people around the smoker… Yes, second-hand smoke.  I have had more than one close friend, lose a parent to lung cancer and that person had never smoked a day in their lives. Smokers in the office seem to be the culprit for the onset of the cancer and the early deaths of very good people.

Although I’m not a smoker, I know well enough that once you start, it’s not something that you can just walk away from, so when I saw the BluCig Electronic Cigarette, I felt it was my duty to share this with as many people as possible. The BluCig is fully electronic and contains no tar, no tobacco, no ash and no smell and most important to non-smokers… No second-hand smoke! It is truly a very neat and innovative product, as it looks and tastes (no personal experience) like a real cigarette, comes in multiple flavors and even produces a harmless water vapor that looks like real smoke. Check out the video!

No one knows what will come of the BluCig product in the future, but for now it seems to be a somewhat safer option to aid in the hard process of quitting the nicotine habit. And if it can save the life of a smoker and more importantly non-smoker, it makes sense for people to give it a try and kick the habit.

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Video by Creative Imagery Toronto.

June 6th, 2009

Capture It’s taken her a little time, but a very good friend of mine has stretched her entrepreneurial legs and cut her first video project, a promo video for the rock band, Bombs.  Congratulations!

 

Lianne Gesior has been a student and fan of the graphic and video editing world for a long time, but felt she didn’t have the skills to turn it into a business.  I’m happy to say that she was wrong and I knew she could do it all along.  You won’t find a harder working person, with a great work ethic, huge heart and sense for doing what’s right, than Lianne.

So if you are looking for promotional videos, graphics or anything that catches your eye on a computer, contact Lianne at Creative Imagery Toronto.

Good luck and all the best, Lianne!

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