- Are you tired of Pharrell Williams, America? His insipid
pop anthem “Happy” has finally begun to fade from our collective pop
consciousness, so it only makes sense that the singer/producer would be working
on his next round of unimaginative mainstream pop masquerading as kinda, sorta
being hip-hop. He’s reaching back to the past, back to a forgettable era in his
career before he was wearing ridiculous hats and producing every artists who
falls squarely under the Top 40 heading. That means reviving N.E.R.D., which
features Williams,
Shay Haley and Chad Hugo. The group unveiled their first new song in
four years, entitled ‘Squeeze Me,” and it should truly enhance the three
members’ musical reputation given its status as as part of the soundtrack for the forthcoming
SpongeBob SquarePants film, set
for release on Jan. 28. N.E.R.D hasn’t released an album since 2010’s
“Nothing,” which was appropriately titled because that is precisely what it
contributed to the music world. The debut of “Squeeze Me” just happened, but
N.E.R.D. has the hyperbole machine in high gear. Hugo compared the track to The
Beatles’ classic, LSD-trippy “Yellow Submarine,” which was the title track of an
animated film of the same name. “We’re trying not to think too much in a
cartoon sense, but more just like a psychedelic, otherworldly type of thing,”
Hugo said. “If you want to draw a parallel, maybe think of what the Beatles did
with ‘Yellow Submarine.’” Hey Chad, how about you keep John, Paul, George and
Ringo’s names out your mouth? Take your quasi-hits like “She Wants to Move” and
keep on moving briskly in the other direction………
- Isn't China just the helpful Communist power looking to do
nice things for all of its neighbors that it would like to crush, conqeur and
make part of its human rights-tramping empire? Right now, the tiny nation
directly in China’s path of ulterior motive-laden assistance is Nepal, for
which China has issued an offer to help develop the impoverished nation’s power
industry to alleviate severe electricity outages that can last up to 12 hours a
day. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country will provide funding and
human resources to train Nepalese professionals in the hydropower sector,
although he neglected to specify how much time those men and women must spend
being indoctrinated with Chinese Communist Party principles before they will
receive their actual hydropower training. One has to imagine that it’s like
that time share community in the greater Orlando area that offers free Disney
World tickets, but only after you spend three hours touring their property you
cannot afford and being bludgeoned with the least subtle sales pitch known to
man. Nepal brought some of this on itself, as its government is trying to coax
investment dollars from its larger neighbors in China and India. Wang’s promise
was issued during his three-day visit to Nepal and combined with India’s offer
of billions of dollars in both investments and development grants, Nepal has
two good sugar daddy candidates lines up. China's state-backed Three Gorges
International Corp. is negotiating with Nepal over construction of a $1.6
billion power plant over the Seti River in western Nepal that can generate 750
megawatts of electricity, so the process is already rolling on at least one
front. It’s amazing how many friends you have when you just reach out and beg
for billions and billions of dollars in investments………
- When the San Antonio Spurs sat future Hall of Fame forward
Tim Duncan a couple seasons ago with the stat sheet designation “DNP – Old,” it
was a funny slant on the reality that the Big Fundamental was gradually losing
the battle to time. There really isn't anything fun or amusing about the sad
process playing out as Los Angeles Lakers
star Kobe Bryant fights that same battle. Bryant, who just passed Michael
Jordan for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, sat out his third
straight game Friday night to rest his aging body and cited old age for needing
another night off. Bryant has said his knees, feet, back and Achilles tendons
are all sore and missed the Lakers’ games against NBA-leading Golden State and
a Christmas night contest at Chicago. Sitting out such high-profile games
underscores just how beaten-up Bryant is even if head coach Byron Scott said
his star "feels pretty good about going" Sunday night against
Phoenix. "If he had felt good he would have gone last night and tonight as
well," Scott said before the Lakers faced the Mavericks on Friday. Even
when Bryant does return, it’s likely that his team-high 35.5 minutes will
decrease significantly. He’s still third in the league in scoring at 24.6
points per game but is shooting a career-low 37.2 percent to get those points
while jacking up more than 22 shots a night. Passing Jordan for third place on
the career scoring list Dec. 14 at Minnesota has been one of the few highlights
for a team with the fifth-worst record in the Association to this point.
Posting a bad enough record to keep their top-five-protected draft pick rather
than having to ship it to Phoenix as part of a previous trade might be the next
possible highlight for the team………
- What the hell is wrong with you, Colorado? Do you have no
motivation and no pride? Don’t answer that because after legalizing pot in
2012, the answer to those questions is clear and it doesn’t require any effort
on your part to answer them. A study by the National Survey on Drug Use
and Health found that the Centennial State is now the second-biggest stoner
state in America, trailing – amazingly enough – Rhode Island. The study found
that 1 out of 8 Colorado residents older than 12 had used marijuana in the past
month, the second-highest percentage of regular marijuana use from sea to
shining sea. For the study, NSDUH researchers averaged state-specific data over
two-year periods and discovered that 10.4 percent of Colorado residents 12 and
older said they had used pot in the month before being surveyed in a period
spanning 2011-12. One year later, that number jumped to 12.7 percent, meaning
that about 530,000 people in Colorado use marijuana at least once a month.
That is well above the national average of 7.4 percent and for Colorado, it’s
an increase of 4 percent in one year. There was a similar ganja usage increase
in Washington, the other state to recently legalize the use of marijuana for
recreational purposes. Washington saw a rise of about 20 percent to 12.3 percent
of people 12 and older who get baked regularly. There haven't been nearly
enough studies quantifying pot use in Colorado since late 2012, when voters approved
legal pot use and possession for those over 21, so this research is especially
beneficial. Its findings may be a bit outdated already, as it did not analyze
data from 2014, when recreational marijuana shops opened. That means it fails
to adequately show the effect of commercial sales on marijuana use. In addition
to perfectly healthy people who like to get high for the hell of it, the number
of medical marijuana patients in Colorado also rose over the same time period.
Going back and doing this same study a year from now should be intriguing, as
it will provide a better picture of Colorado with recreational pot shops in
play. Maybe then the state can live up to its immense potential as America’s
foremost stoner utopia, second to none and able to stand above all – if it had
the energy or motivation to get off the couch, brush the Cheetoh dust from its
dirty T-shirt and stand for a few seconds………
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