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The LapTape Exclusive: NYC Reacts to Oprah’s “Retirement”

Shot exclusively on the LapTape, George 2.0 and Benny stepped out with our off camera host Jovian (check out her blog at jovianzayne.wordpress.com) and asked New Yorkers how they felt about Oprah Winfrey retiring her day time talk show of 25 years.

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My workout will kick your workout’s butt

Sgt. Peppers woke us up at Wondaland the other morning and told us that he had a workout DVD that was going to change our lives. It came in the mail in a book of seven discs and I have been sore every day since. But I’ve already gotten compliments and it has only been a week.

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Video: Eddie Murphy’s Long-Term Effect on Ad Agency Diversity

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Happy Sunday: U2 & Jay-Z – Sunday Bloody Sunday Live

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I’ll be back…after these message.

I am on a little bit of a break. #punswild.

Here’s to Life

My Great Aunt Sarah turned 105 years old on December 10, 2008 and this year to celebrate her 106th birthday she has decided to publish a book. You can purchase it here.

This is a video that I #LapTaped last year when I visited her at the rest home prior to the book’s national release.

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Kristen Jarvis: Just so you know why she wasn’t at Homecoming 2009

…she was out saving the world. This is one of my best friends on this planet, and I can’t even keep up with her. We go in on some BBM at least once a week or so, but I understand. I’m busy…and she’s saving the world.

The full article is onNewsweek.com

Ladies: still can’t find your winter boo?

Ladies, I know you’ve seen my posting about finding your Winter Boo, and with the temperature dropping suddenly the past few days, many of you are scrambling. Don’t rush, there is nothing worse than impulse shopping when it comes to “leasing” a Winter Boo. Buy yourself some time. Buy yourself…a SNUGGIE! Oh SNUGGIE’s too corny for you? Doesn’t match your living room decor? Embarrassed to be swaddled in your SNUGGIE when company comes over?? Never fear, there’s a new Designer Series SNUGGIE just for you!

Few things are funnier,
2.0

Mr. Obama’s Prize

Taken from The Huffington Post

written by Christian Nwachukwu, Jr.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, and in a land right here, election to the Presidency of the United States of America was a big deal. But no longer. Now, elevation to head of government and state of the world’s only superpower is a humdrum affair, a middling measure of smallness deserving not of praise, but of scorn. Once upon a time, presidential elections were political contests where there was a basic assumption of fitness for, at least, consideration. But no more. Now, we live in an era of absurdist reduction, when “community organizer” is a sneer, and the real work of the world is done by governors of states less populous than Brooklyn, politically minded former first ladies, and Barry Goldwater’s replacement — when a president should be able to wrest an Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, but not be so persuasive as to command the respect of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

These are interesting times. Suddenly the 108-year-old Nobel Committee has “diminished” both itself and its Peace Prize and done their 2009 Laureate President Barack Obama “no favors” from this “too early” conferment because, after all, what has he done anyway. Well, that’s one view. What we know is that the president neither nominated himself nor lobbied for the award. We know that he was as “surprised” as any of us about his selection, and that he is “deeply humbled.”

“To be honest,” the President said, “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”

The President may not, but The Norwegian Nobel Committee does, and so do I.

Because of his deep and abiding commitment to Chicago’s South Side, including his work with the church-based Developing Communities Project, the tenants of Altgeld Gardens, and the grassroots, interfaith and interracial Gamaliel Foundation.

Because he chose to begin his legal career in a Chicago civil rights firm where he represented community organizers, discrimination victims and black voters trying to force a redrawing of city ward boundaries.

Because he has, throughout his career, upheld a duty to the ideals of democracy, cooperation, and civic engagement, particularly as director of Illinois’ voter registration drive Project Vote; as a state legislator; and as a United States Senator.

Because I had to tell a 65-year-old woman in New York the day after primary season Super Tuesday that Mr. Obama was not even the Democratic Party’s nominee, yet alone the President-elect.

Because it rained in North Carolina on election Tuesday, and we still turned the Tar Heel state blue.

Because according to the Nobel Committee, “Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.”

Because “only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”

Because he has endured with grace and dignity the mind-numbing viciousness of the Republican opposition, and because he has given every indication that he will continue to meet their obstreperousness with both candor and resolve, humility and also a spirit of partnership for four or, even, eight years.

Because he is not a king, yet he must constantly work to calm his supporters who want him to behave like one.

Because the cause of brotherhood and the promotion of peace is ongoing, ever-changing, never done.

And because, as the The Nobel Committee said in 1975 upon awarding that year’s Peace Prize to Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov:

In the will and testament that Alfred Nobel drew up prior to his death in 1896, he directed that the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who had “done the most or the best work for fraternity between peoples, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

As is only to be expected, the Nobel Committee’s interpretation of these premises has varied in accordance with changing attitudes to the concept of peace over the years.

In the ranks of Peace Prize laureates during these last seventy-four years examples of this are readily available. The Committee has rewarded:

champions of the ideas of international law;
champions of social justice, such as Leon Johaux;
for humanitarian achievements, such as Albert Schweitzer;
for pacifist work, such as Bertha von Suttner and Carl von Ossietzky;
for the promotion of human rights, such as Rene Cassin, Martin Luther King, and Albert Lutuli.

From the very start the decisions made by the Committee have frequently been the subject of criticism and debate. This need not, however, mean that they were incorrect.

How Many “Mikes” do we rip on the daily?

#punswild

“HOLD YOUR PEACE” vs “SAY YOUR PIECE”

Some folks imagine that since these expressions are opposites, the last word in each should be the same; but in fact they are unrelated expressions. The first means “maintain your silence,” and the other means literally “speak aloud a piece of writing” but is used to express the idea of making a statement.

“I got a story to sell”: Saida and 2.0 talk hip hop product placement

2.0: “I’m in the kitchen like a Simmons whippin pastries”
Sai: Why did they get the big ups. I can’t understand that.
2.0: I am confident enough in the payment of my pop culture dues to say I don’t get it. What’s the name of their line of sneakers?”
Sai:Pastries, but nobody outside of Queensbridge junior high system wears them
2.0: Oh, that’s what it is then
Sai: It was puuuuuure product placement
2.0: I wish I hadn’t known
Sai: Jay don’t do s___ for free no more
2.0: But I’m impressed that I guessed…Fashion bought hip hop
Sai: A long time ago
2.0: So when did you first fall in love with product placement?
Sai: LOL I met this ad when I was 9 years old
2.0 And what I knew about it was oversold
Sai: Niiice
2.0: Welcome to my blog. Title?
2.0: Ten Ad commandments?
2.0:I got a story to sell?
Sai: The latter is ill.

*reprinted from a BBM conversation with consent*

The Drum Radio interviews 2.0 about “Turn off the TV”

[audio http://georgetwopointoh.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/the-drum-episode-1.mp3]
The Drum Radio interviews 2.0 about “Turn off the TV”

New Music: Michael Jackson “This Is It”

“This Is It,” debuted online at midnight on Monday (October 12), with some instantly speculating that the heartstring-tugging song could become one of the late pop star’s best-selling singles of all time. The spare, mid-tempo love ballad, which was reportedly recorded during the sessions for his 1991 Dangerous album, finds Jackson in classic voice, singing in his clear falsetto along to finger snapping, a subtle jazzy piano and swelling strings, as his brothers, the Jacksons, provide ethereal backing vocals.

For almost four minutes, Jackson weaves one of his pleading tales of unrequited love, opening with the lyrics “This is it, here I stand/ I’m the light of the world, I feel grand/ Got this love I can feel/ And I know, yes, for sure, it is real.” Jackson goes on to tell his unnamed lover that he feels as if he’s seen their face “a thousand times,” and, eerily, that “I know that you have got addicted with your eyes/ But you say you gonna live it for yourself.”

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Rules of Engagement: Female’s Guide to Homecoming

*this post has been slightly altered from it’s original version*

You requested it. After all, it only makes sense. There was such an overwhelmingly positive response to Bryce, Scoop, and 2.0′s Rules of Engagement: Male’s Guide to Homecoming that a female’s perspective was sure to follow. We received positive comments, re-postings, mentions in Facebook statuses, and even trended on twitter last weekend. So at this week’s end we decided to give you the other side of the coin, the other half of the dance floor, the female. Enjoy!

THE SINGLE:
by Bridget Bland

One of the best parts about being a Spelman woman is, undoubtedly, knowing him. These days, he’s all brand-new. Acting out and dating the furthest thing from you.

Without going into detail on exactly who he’s with, one thing is certain – you know him. That’s the easiest part. You peeped him before he pledged that frat or got with “the” girlfriend. Or even better, you never met him a day in your life, but you know him. You might’ve had a one night stand with him after a drunken night in Buckhead. However you describe what the “situationship” is, that’s the advantage. You know that no matter if he’s “moved on” to someone new. You always hold a special place in his heart. That being said, Homecoming, for the single lady, must be strategic.

First, you cannot, and I repeat cannot, go to Homecoming without your girls. This is an integral part to Homecoming fun. You have chit chat with the girls on the happenings and all that’s transpired since your last HC. Who’s lost the most weight and started wearing make-up and the guys who still look amazing, are par for the course, but ultimately, having your girls will give you perspective on people who you don’t know. If you’re too busy catching up with your freshman roomie or prophyte at tailgate, but your girl sees a cutie, trust she is letting you know. If you can go with your taken friends and the one who you gossip with the most, they will be more inclined to fix you up with whatever fine brotha they see walk by and if he is really fine they certainly won’t try and holler because they are being the most discrete about every man they talk to so that it doesn’t get back to their man that they were acting up. Finally, having your girls with you helps when you get to ‘Let me entertain’ status because they can play interference.

We all know there are double standards and your method for attracting the attention of that dude has to be carefully planned. Start with your first meet-up. Don’t run the risk of running into him at a place that you can’t wow him. Come on, you know where he will be. Friday there are only a few places folks in your circle will be. So for the first night, you want to be subtly memorable.

Don’t go in there in rocking your fresh off the plane gear. Try a skirt and boots or an American Apparel white t-shirt or even jeans, remember a man always notices a bangin’ pair of Givenchy, Manolo’s or Lou’s. Your hair will be whipped and you will, no doubt, exude that ‘Oh, hey, so good seeing you…I had no clue you’d be here’ whimsical attitude. It’s only going to make him think about you more. Keep the convo brief and tell him, ‘Hope to see you later this weekend.’ Walk away fast!

More than likely, the single lady has not been to Homecoming in a while. This only makes you more attractive and if he’s still looking like junior year, spring semester, it’s making him look more attractive, too. He’s been coming back to HC every year and has grown tired of seeing the same faces and dancing with the same girls. He’s looking to reconnect with someone who reminds him of college. That’s you.

So, no matter how wet your panties are, keep it moving night one and make him wait it out. The next day is a little different. Of course, you will bob and weave through tents at tailgate grabbing chicken from the Sigma tent and a red cup from Pi, but you’ll also diversify your portfolio where the men are concerned. By no means should ‘ol’ boy’ be the only man on your ‘Let me entertain’ agenda.

Chat it up with cuties you haven’t seen before at Tailgate. They could be older or younger; this is an easy time to do it. Step out of your comfort zone and just ask every cute male what party they are going to later that night. It’s so easy. That one question not only makes you seem fun, available and interested, but just in case your ol’ boy is on some bull or taken or just not that in to you after all these years, you have options.

Oh and don’t go too hard at tailgate. That’s a sure way to ruin your weekend. You go too hard on the juice and you’ll pass out on your homegirl’s futon or on your hotel room and wake up on Sunday morning. Pace yourself for Saturday.

You should absolutely hit up two parties. This doesn’t include an early dinner to coat your stomach and a fly, happy hour. Who wants to be sober arriving to the party? Try to get to the bangin’ party late and wear your ‘fit. You know the one. No explanation necessary.

But ladies please don’t have an ‘I’m trying to nail a husband’ agenda. No Morehouse man taken or single is thinking about wifin’ a chick at Homecoming. Trust. Keep things light. Have an open mind and just know that you know him and that puts you, the single lady, in control to win.

THE HUNTED
by Tu:)

You my dear, are dope. Yeah, that’s right they’re bringing back words from the 90’s for you because you are just that fly. All year you have been working your ass off at school or a job, hitting the gym regularly, doing your own thing, still keeping up with your Spelman Sisters and/or Soror’s, but at the same time just doing you. You’re not in ATL once a month, you aren’t chilling in NY or DC with the Spelhouse crowd every weekend, you’re handling yours so that when it’s time to show up and be present you can do it in style. And by style I’m not just talking the dresses you’ll wear or the shoes you’re rocking , but from your hair down to your slightly underfed and over worked body you are ready to shine.

Now, some may say you are getting ready for the hunt, but anyone woman who’s been there knows you are just preparing yourself to be hunted.

If you wear it, move it, flip it…they will come. You are ready for Homecoming because this is your stage, men are waiting to see what you will or won’t wear and your girls are making plans for the pregame and after parties because you WILL be getting it in. You didn’t drop part of your savings on some new dresses, a plane ticket, shoes, 2 parties and a brunch to just sit around and see what happens. You are not “the single girl” getting to parties early, looking for a man to buy you a drink or making sure you talk to that guy, you are making sure that whoever the guy may be that he, or they want to talk to you.

So first things first, before you even get on that plane or ask your girl for a ride to the airport make sure you have your mind right. We all know that as much as you love a Morehouse man there is way too much going on in life to try and be booed up with someone thousands of miles away, I know you know this but we all need a little reminder now and then. Secondly, we know you like to make a statement, so plan it out, know what you’re wearing each day/night, leave no margin for error, this just isn’t the time.

The best part about the hunted is that she does in fact have options at home, she loves homecoming for the challenge, for the grandiose of it all, the excitement, the drinking and the shock on their faces when they see how much she continues to get better with age.

When you arrive, make sure you know exactly where you are going, staying, and drinking, this trip is just a few days and you need to make the most of it. Make sure your girls who got there earlier have already bought some bottles, have the hotel/house ready and are down to make this weekend count. Remember this is a marathon not a sprint, love. You will be drinking and partying in excess, yes, but remember to pace yourself, you don’t want to be passed out at 9:30pm after tailgate and miss the last party of the weekend, or get so drunk Friday night that Saturday morning and afternoon are a hell of your own making. You’re in your mid-twenties now, we all know you don’t bounce back like you used to in the good ole’ days of LaTex and party shuttles, so, drink some water before bed and try and recover with some grace.

Let your girl’s know the deal. “If you see me talking to him, come over and tell me you need me”, or “If you see me talking to him, well, don’t call if I disappear, I’ll find my way home.” Make sure they know what your bottom line is, whether it’s a good ATL hook up, an old fashioned Homecoming make out session or a damn, that was worth it, though I question my morals, kind of night, be sure your girl’s know where to step in.

You know everyone and no one. Yeah you’ve seen him around, and you know who he is, but you weren’t the same year, you only have a few mutual friends and before now, this very Homecoming, you didn’t have a real reason to know him. But you can be sure he knows you, or wants to. Stick to that, no reason to look desperate. This is, after all, a holiday for you.

Best advice: continue to do you. That’s why you’re hunted. You’re not worried about if you’ll meet a man, who it will be, if he will like you, your focus is fun, partying and whatever else falls into your lap…It’s not that you need a win, you’re just used to winning and everyone likes to do things they are good at. So keep winning, love, and make it count. Happy Homecoming ladies….have a shot for me.

You will win. Mostly because you know how to and there are plenty of “Hunters” out there looking for a win themselves.

THE ATTACHED (a chose your own adventure tale)
by Candice Crowell

You are confident in the knowledge of three things: you look just as good, or better, than you did in college, you are winning professionally (or in school about to win), and the man you’re attached to is someone special.
If you’re bringing him to Homecoming, read Bringing Beau. If you’re leaving him home, read Leaving Love Behind.

Bringing Beaux

He’s special enough that you’re bringing him to Homecoming. If he’s a Morehouse Man, he should be an upgrade from anyone else you dated while there. Your moves are strategic because you’re already living the good life: let these sisters know you’re styling on them and make sure the brothers remember why they hollered, dated, or proposed marriage to you in undergrad.

You are going to rock the fresh press, perm, or palm roll and dresses that are unfortunately too tight for the sisters who have already gotten married and “comfortable” with their weight. Your style is you 2009, not a character you’re playing for the weekend.

You recognize that the guys you rejected have something to prove when they see you. Be cordial and let them know you’re proud to hear they’re doing well. It will boost their egos. And at least one person you dated is married, so you want to offer a sincere congrats because a) he’s found someone who is truly his complement, b) you are glad you realized it wasn’t for you, and c) you look better than his wife. It shouldn’t matter, but it does. Icing on your cake if your man is cooler too.

But, there’s always that one who got away (TOWGA). In reflection, you know it would have never worked between you, but the idea of him can still, occasionally, make you smile. If your man is a Morehouse Man, you leave him at the bar with his boys or bruhs to be sure you go give TOWGA a hug one second longer than you should. You laugh and catch up briefly, but not too long. Remember, you got away from him too, and the idea, the mystery, is what you want to leave him with.

Leaving Love Behind : If you want to chance it with the one who got away, read The Risk. If you want to remain faithful, read The Righteous.

The Risk
After you hug TOWGA for the extra second, you feel more chemistry than you intended to. You love your man, but eff it, it’s Homecoming and you want to take a chance on an adventure you will take to your grave. Now this won’t work if your man is a MH man because TOWGA knows someone who knows your man. You do NOT want the drama. But if your man wasn’t privileged enough to attend MH, and TOWGA was, you can go for it…carefully.

What you won’t do is be obvious about the number exchange. You will tell him, while still in embrace, that you are attending Black Love V – Intimacy and he should find you for a dance. When he does, and he will because you look stunning at the happy hour in the aforementioned sexy dress, you dance in a discreet spot not too close to the dance floor to “Under” by Pleasure P, or whatever song mixes well with your Amaretto Sour.

When the party is ending, you be direct. Ask him if he’d like to meet you at your hotel (TI, I’m Serious album). Slide him the extra key, but leave quickly after the party to freshen up. Be in the red one-piece and pumps when he opens the door. Rock his world until it’s tailgate time, then swear each other to secrecy. You can never, and I repeat, never do it again, so enjoy the hell out of it and of course you already know to wrap it up.

The Righteous
After you hug TOWGA, you walk away. You look back, smile, and wave. The mystery is usually more enticing than the man, and you don’t have a need for anything more. You’re happy. You set it owt with the Sorors and Bruhs, reminisce over brunch with your crew, and text your honey every once in a while to let him know that you’re thinking of him.