Wednesday, July 27, 2011

In OMG News...



To Each Their Own? Your Thoughts On this song... #discuss

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Take A Second for Good Music...

Fundamentals. Core. Bottom. Origin. Beginning. Roots. Roots, what are roots? By simple definition, www.Dictionary.com defines Roots as a person's sense of belonging in a community, place, etc, esp the one in which he was born or brought up.

It always amazes me to see the commonalities as well as differences among people raised in different parts of the country. Right when you think someone is very different, you find they have many similarities to you. Of course the differences will lurk but many times the similarities will bring you closer.

Music has that same type of connection to people that people have with each other. People from different areas tend to like different types of music but when the music is Good, this is when it becomes truly universal. Just like characteristics and traits of the human spirit, music takes on a persona that clashes with some but meshes perfectly with others.

My background is the Midwest, Joliet, Illinois to be exact, a city 30 minutes south of Chicago. Even within our small community we have differences from Chicagoans but tend to have more similarities. And the music is still universal.

My whole purpose for this article is to illustrate how great music touches everyone regardless of where a person is from. Its no secret, I have deep-rooted Chicago music roots proudly stemming from the midwest and with artists like Chaka Khan, Carl Thomas, R. Kelly, Common, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Twista to name a few, its safe to say I have been brought up on a strong Chicago Home based foundation.

Most times a song plays for its origins in its own region first and then typically spreads around to other regions of the country. That's usually why you hear an artist from your hometown bumping the song for months or YEARS and then it hits the radio and the rest of the world embraces the song that you've already been loving/hearing for the last 2 years.

For me, growing up in the Chicagoland area, we used to listen and love all kinds of Chi-Town artists for years to the point they could do no wrong before they hit the masses. I'm sure other regions experienced this as well.

To my surprise, many people all over the world share my love for Chicago based music as if they were born in Illinois too. Some may proclaim they love it even more (I doubt it but welcome the love either way).

I actually was curious as to what my favorite artists resumes contained and found that my favorite Chicago Based Producers have been very successful and their sound has traveled throughout the country expanding into all types of genres of music.

Like I said, Good Music Is universal.

Check out my 3 Favorite Chicago Producers production discographys. Once you read the production credits you'll say the same thing I said...

...DAMNNN, he made that!?? Yup!



Friday, July 1, 2011

Rio - I'm So Fresh feat E-40 & Tommy Redding (Official Video)


Ivan S. Harris Photography shot the Behind the scenes photos a while back and now Vevo.com has officially released the video.

Rio - I'm So Fresh Feat E-40 & Tommy Redding.

It's time to work!

Drake - Marvin's Room (Official Video)

Drake ~ Marvins Room (Official Video) from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.



So it seems people have mixed reviews about this video, but I actually think it goes with the song. You be the judge.

Blackberry Playbook

By now I believe it should be public record that Ivan S. Harris is #teamblackberry to the heart. With that being said, for my loyalty, RIM, the company that produces Blackberry, has given me the privilege to test out and keep my very own Blackberry Playbook tablet.

One word...Amazing. Of course being that the Playbook is a Blackberry produced tablet, I carry a little bias by possessing the "keep it in the family syndrome". Although another brand tablet would be cool to use, the fact that I do have a Blackberry and can "bridge" my cell phone device to the Playbook which makes for a crackberry on steroids, I find this to be an amazing connection between smartphone and tablet.

The truth is this is a very good professional grade tablet and any Blackberry user will love the enhancements because with the Playbook being bridged to a Blackberry device you are pretty much put on the same playing field with those devices comparable to both the Droid and iphone OS platforms.

I really can't go anywhere without my Playbook and each day I find something new that I love. After 2 weeks of using the Playbook continuously, I am definitely satisfied with the first generation Blackberry Playbook Tablet and will recommend it to everyone!

Obviously with any first generation product there are bugs, quirks and other things that I feel could make the playbook better. First thing is making the bridging faster. I love the fact that the Playbook reads your Blackberry device transferring all data, calendar, memos and other phone items directly to the tablet.

If there is no wifi available the Playbook can surf the internet via your Blackberry’s browser while using your cell phone data usage but I have noticed when you do bridge with Browsers it freezes up the phone so be sure to stop all apps on your Blackberry during your Playbook browsing session.

This browser bridging is however different from tethering as there is no direct internet, wifi or modem connection but being able to use your Playbook as a “monitor” for your “Blackberry browser” in the middle of a no wifi zone is pretty cool.

One thing I have found to be frustrating is the landscape to vertical frame change lags dramatically especially while in camera mode or when viewing pictures the landscape won't turn to portrait at all. The transition is not smooth and the lag going back and forth can make it frustrating when I'm trying to show the Playbook off to friends.

Speaking of the Playbook's camera, the camera does have a front and back camera which is great for video chat but not having a camera flash is really depressing.

The other thing that I feel is really a negative is the fact you can't send a picture through email or bluetooth. The only way I could figure out how to send a photo I snapped on the Playbook’s camera was to upload it to Facebook...go figure.

I do however love the adobe flash installed to view websites to the full capacity.

Last but not least (Blackberry Messenger) BBM. Its almost like having a Blackberry with a 7 inch screen. I love being able to BBM my friends straight from the Playbook. I call my Blackberry Bold2 a key, kind of like having a push to start engine. As long as the Key is in close range, I can use the Playbook as if it is actually my Blackberry Bold2...I love it.

If I could get the Torch and Playbook to combine forces with speed, adobe flash and voice capabilities, this new generation of blackberry devices would be stellar and second to none.