Every now and then a song captures me enough to blog about it. I haven’t turned my back on music and digital tech blogging. Just taking a haitus while I finish my strangely funny at-times Christian paranormal novel (it’s not supposed to be funny, but the characters are attempting to have their own way). After trying to squeeze into my schedule a long list of things I want to do, I chose one and decided to put most of my creative energy into it.
But I digress. This song is from Prince’s new three-CD set, available only through Target (so retro!). It’s a psychedelic remake of Tommy James and the Shondells’s “Crimson and Clover” with a bit of The Trogg’s “Wild Thing” mixed in. The song is rocking. Sounds so good to my brain. Check it out (listen to it through bass-friendly speakers/earphones):
Crimson & Clover – Prince
My teenaged self adored Prince, and my middle-aged self tunes in every now and then. He sounds better than he did all those years ago.
This is too cool. Whether they intended to or not, a bunch of dolphins blocked “suspected” Somali pirates as they set a course to attack Chinese ships, causing the rogues to re-think their nefarious plans.
by La Shawn on March 6, 2009
in Playlist
I had a weird dream that involved Molly Ringwald.
We walked into a restaurant together, and I was keenly aware that everyone was looking at me.
“What is she doing with Molly Ringwald?”
Beats me! So we walk in and find a table. Wait a second…why am I with Molly Ringwald? (She’s a liberal, she once said in an interview, but I won’t hold that against her.)
Anyway, we’re seated and I’m suddenly nervous. She tells me I’ve got to do this thing — a speech or presentation or some such. I panic; I have nothing prepared.
Mother Nature saves me! Some kind of natural disaster occurs, and everybody flees the restaurant. I run out into the street with the other patrons to find it all torn up. An earthquake? I didn’t feel anything. So I flag down my limo driver Lou (!), who looks like James Gandolfini, and he drives me out of there. Molly’s on her own. Lou turns onto the highway…and the car falls down a huge crack in the pavement and wedges on its side. OK, intense fear of being trapped in an overturned car after a crash. I trigger my wake-up-now mechanism, a neat little trick that comes in handy when I don’t like the dream, but I turn it off. I see a way out. I’m going to crawl through an opening, and then rescue my unconscious limo driver.
But I wake up before I can play hero. 
Happy Friday, readers! The weekend is here. Fellow old-heads in the audience, did you know Pretty in Pink came out 23 years ago? Good grief. Here’s a song from the movie’s soundtrack, “If You Leave,” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Brings back memories, eh? Pleasant ones, I hope.
Rest easy, everybody.
by La Shawn on January 30, 2009
in Playlist
Speaking of Lenny Kravitz, who says he’s abstinent (for over three years now – good role-modeling if sincere) until [re]marriage:
Rest easy, everybody. And thanks for reading LBC. 
by La Shawn on August 28, 2008
in Playlist
I won’t be watching Barack Obama’s speech tonight (no TV and wouldn’t watch it if I had one), but I may watch a video clip and blog or write an op-ed about it next week. Feel free to discuss his speech and anything DNC-related in the post below.
The next few days will be extraordinarily hectic for me, so this completes my blogging for the week. I’m making a pit stop in SC to visit family for a few weeks, then heading to Las Vegas for GodBlogCon September 19-21, then flying out to the West Coast, my new home, the first of October. Based on e-mail and comments since I announced I was moving, readers want to hear more about why I decided to move. I’ll fill you in.
Until then, have a restful Labor Day weekend, everybody. And thanks for reading my blog.
(Today was overcast and drizzly and dreary. I won’t miss this weather!)
This one, too:
Monday, June 23: Such thoughtful readers! Thanks for the “speedy recovery” well wishes. The procedure was minor, and I was back to my old self within a couple of days.
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For the past three weeks, I’ve been in muggy SC. En route back to muggy DC. I came down to have and recover from minor surgery (first time under the knife!) and spend time with the family. My mother’s a surgical assistant, as I’ve mentioned before, and knows a lot about these things. I wanted to be near an “expert” as I recovered. The truth is…well…I just wanted my Mommy.
In the same post I talk about surgery and my Mommy, I seek new business! (I dig the blogosphere. Don’t you?) I blog for businesses that don’t have the expertise or time or desire to update their company blogs inhouse. If you need a content provider, let’s talk. Contact me for a free consultation, resume, and work samples: lashawn [at] lashawnbarber.com. I don’t blog or “ghostblog” for politicians.
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by La Shawn on June 11, 2008
in Playlist
I don’t read Ebony magazine regularly, but I’m buying a copy this month so I can read, “What Does Black Sound Like?,” an article I assume is about diverse music styles and genres among black artists.
Yesterday my brother told me about Miko Marks (click on music tab), a black country-singing woman featured in the article. Her songs sound more like traditional country than Rissi Palmer’s, and she’s been around longer. I’ve added her to my list of artists to interview and meet.
The word “diversity” has been sullied by liberals’ use of it as they obsessively focus on the color of people’s skin at the expense of what really matters, so I hesitate to use it. The connotation is a negative one for this political conservative. The kind of diversity I dig goes deeper than mere skin color. I’m talking about diverse ideas and in this case, diverse musical styles. As many of you already know, black American music extends beyond R&B and rap. I remember when the black hard rock/metal band Living Colour hit the scene back in the 80s. I was crazy about lead singer Corey Glover, thrashing around on stage with multicolored extensions in his hair. The memories.
I admit, however, I was a little shocked when I found out actor Will Smith’s wife Jada fronted a “nu metal” band called Wicked Wisdom. Wild. I don’t like the sound, but I applaud Jada for pushing boundaries and exploring the terrain.
I’ll write more about diversity among black artists on and off the blog. If you know or have heard about black artists in “non-black” music genres (or just want to respond to this post), please leave their names in the comment section.
Rest easy, everybody.
Unrelated Update: It makes no sense that I’m this excited about seeing “Prince Caspian” this afternoon.
9:35 a.m. PT: Social media’s useful after all. I just found out on Twitter that David Perlmutter, author of a new book called Blogwars: The New Political Battleground, recently appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Perlmutter interviewed me for the book a few years ago, but I didn’t think I’d make the cut. Lo, and behold, I did! On page 19, he calls me an attorney (which I’m not), wrote that my blog was “well cited by many leading conservative blogs” (which it was), and that I “attacked” him in a post (which I didn’t).
Perlmutter’s referring to a post I wrote called Peasants Don’t Blog, where I commented on an article he wrote about blog hype. Why do some people consider critiques an attack? Geez. It’s good copy, though.
Although Perlmutter misspelled my first name in the index, I’m pleased overall that he found my blog worthy of mention. On page 20 he quoted at length from a post called The Immorality of Race Preferences.
Publicist, if you want to send me a review copy, here’s my snail mail info. I’ll review the book on the blog, but I can’t (or shouldn’t) review it for a news site or print publication. Because I appear in it, there’d be a conflict of interest, or something like that.
I’m still experiencing the residual effects of a once-popular political blog. Nice memories for the most part. But I’d like to see myself quoted in books and articles about digital tech, music (Christian and non-Christian), the changing music industry (a good start), pop culture, fan culture (a new fascination), etc. And one day soon, I hope to see my own book for sale on Amazon.
Back to work!
Addendum: Music to work by (turn it up!):
by La Shawn on March 28, 2008
in Playlist
As I desperately try to finish my work so I can go outside and play, I wanted to take a moment and post another short random playlist. (So glad I heard of Leona Lewis long before Miss Oprah “discovered” her.) Some of you really enjoyed the one I posted two Fridays ago.
(Obligatory disclaimer: Seeqpod is a music search engine, and I’m sharing a playlist. Seeqpod doesn’t host copyrighted MP3s, and neither do I. Do not illegally download and/or share the MP3s!)
As always, play hard, be good, stay safe, and rest easy this weekend.
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For 17 years, Jeff Price owned an independent label called spinART Records. He managed to do great things, but that was before the so-called digital revolution. In 2004, Price realized the label was no longer sustainable.
“The advent and general adoption of the Internet, digital media and hardware took control of the global music industry away from the record labels and media outlets and handed it to the masses,” he writes. (Source)
Rather than cursing the masses and resisting changes brought on by the Internet, Price decided to adapt. He wanted to stay in the music business but needed to make money. “[W]hat could I do to remain in the music industry under a model that would not rely on selling music (the exploitation model),” he asked himself. “And thus the idea for a new model was born, turn distribution into a service for a simple up front, one time flat fee.”
Digital Label
Price created a service called TuneCore, which allows artists to upload songs and create albums. TuneCore places these albums in online music stores, and artists keep all the profits and all their rights. And they can cancel their accounts at any time. The catch? Well, if you want to call it that, TuneCore charges 99 cents a track, 99 cents a store per track, and $19.98 a year per album for storage and maintenance. Not a bad deal.
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by La Shawn on March 14, 2008
in Playlist
I’m southbound! There’s nothing like an almost-spring road trip.
Check out Friday’s playlist, an eclectic mix of stuff I like. (Obligatory disclaimer: Seeqpod is a music search engine, and I’m sharing a playlist. Seeqpod doesn’t host copyrighted MP3s, and neither do I. Do not illegally download and/or share the MP3s!)
After I embedded two Amy Winehouse songs last week and earlier this week, I expected irate “I can’t believe you’re promoting that drug user” missives, but e-mailers loved the songs and said they’d keep Winehouse in their prayers. It does my heart good to read e-mails like that.
Anyway, enjoy! Be good, stay safe, and rest easy this weekend.
by La Shawn on March 6, 2008
in Playlist
Update (3/10): Amy, honey, please get off the drugs and just sing. Listen to her rendition of The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” Pure gold:
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