tag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:/blogs/talking-loud?p=2Talking Loud2019-04-29T16:18:45-04:00thermalsoundwaves.comfalsetag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/57365112019-04-29T16:18:45-04:002024-02-23T06:18:40-05:00Julissa Bermudez and Sanya Richards-Ross to host entertainment news program Central Avenue <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1f1806746681f6d0e267ed1532c690795eff5b00/original/julissa-sonya.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Select Fox Television Stations will air a five-week run of Central Avenue, an entertainment news strip, starting Nov. 4. The show will be produced by Lionsgate-owned Debmar Mercury in partnership with Will Packer Media. If the show does well during its limited run, it could be taken into national syndication.</p>
<p>Central Avenue aims to present pop culture through a socially conscious and diverse lens. BET’s Julissa Bermudez will co-host with Olympic track star Sanya Richards-Ross. </p>
<p>The series marks the second collaboration between Debmar-Mercury and Packer. They also are producing upcoming drama Ambitions for OWN. “Will Packer brings an entirely new and vibrant vision to syndication with Central Ave,” said Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus in a statement. “We are excited to fill a need in the marketplace for a magazine show like this by partnering once again with our good friends at the Fox stations and a team headed by an A-List film producer of the caliber of Will.”</p>
<p>“Central Ave will stand out in the newsmag space by presenting a unique first-person perspective on the culture-driving, trendsetting topics that mainstream audiences have a voracious appetite for,’ said Packer, who has produced such films as Girls Trip and Night School. “Being fronted by fresh voices that happen to be diverse and female gives us license to do stories in a way no one else can.” </p>
<p>Will Packer Media and distributor Debmar-Mercury will co-produce the series, with Packer, Kelly Smith and showrunner Monique Chenault serving as executive producers.</p>
<p>Source: <a contents="Broadcasting Cable " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/fox-television-stations-to-air-five-week-run-of-central-avenue" target="_blank">Broadcasting Cable </a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56841422019-03-18T11:22:33-04:002022-05-05T11:52:46-04:00Freddie Figgers is the 1st African American Entrepreneur to Develop His Own 4G LTE Smart Phone<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e071cea602b225b09102359de73c20b71e34714e/original/freddie-figgers.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Freddie Figgers is an inventor, computer programmer, software engineer, and entrepreneur. He is the youngest person in history to hold a FCC license, which allows him to operate his own cell phone company.</p>
<p>Freddie was abandoned at birth, but was adopted by a loving family when he was just 2-days old. At the age of 9, he received a broken computer that he was able to fix within a week. When his father developed dementia and would often wonder off and get lost, Freddie designed a smart shoe for his dad with GPS tracking and a two-way communicator. At the age of 12, he landed his first job as a computer technician working for the city of Quincy, Florida. At the age of 15, he started his own cloud computing services company. By the time Freddie had turned 24-years old, he had over 80 custom software programs designed, built, and executed. Even more, he had sold every one of them. All of this led up to him eventually launching Figgers Communications, the only Black-owned (and minority-owned) telecommunications firm in the United States that is competing with major networks like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. His company owns 4 utility patents and 2 design patents in the industry.</p>
<p>Freddie's company, Figgers Communications, has already developed it's soon to be released Figgers F2 4G LTE smart phone. Competing head-on with the new iPhone and other popular smart phones, this elegant device has a 5.7-inch (18:9) JDI full lamination screen that is thin, bright and offers stunning visual effects. The silky technology innovation brings super-fast screen response speed, and has zero night time glare with blue light filter technology that is easy on your eyes. Watch him tell his personal story in the video below.</p>
<p><em><strong>Source: Markets Insider, <a contents="https://www.figgers.com/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.figgers.com/" target="_blank">https://www.figgers.com/</a></strong></em></p> </td> </tr>
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<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="vimeo" data-video-id="252561511" data-video-thumb-url="https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/679229864_640.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/252561511" frameborder="0" height="200" width="350"></iframe></p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56841172019-03-18T11:05:17-04:002022-05-31T07:40:25-04:00Mother And Son Entrepreneurs behind $850 Million Sundial Brand<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/342196f89e37ed57eb7a28a28a6fcbedbbe1bc54/original/shea-moist.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Richelieu Dennis, the 49-year-old cofounder of Sundial Brands, had spent 20 years avoiding meals like this with the U.S. president of Unilever, the $54 billion (2017 sales) Anglo-Dutch consumer goods conglomerate. But he finally caved after Unilever executives began imploring Dennis’ friends to talk him into the meeting. “My whole universe just started to say, ‘Hey, you need to talk to these guys,’” he recalls. </p>
<p>Unilever badly wanted to buy New York City-based Sundial, a $240 million-in-revenue maker of shampoos, conditioners and lotions (under brands like SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage) targeted at black and Latino customers. But Dennis had a list of terms he wanted, and he figured Unilever would never agree to all of it. Primarily he wanted to keep control of his company with no strings attached. To his surprise, Unilever said yes to everything. Then the Unilever execs laid out their supply chain in Africa—to demonstrate its sustainability—and amid a white-hot M&A market for beauty companies, Unilever offered an estimated $1.6 billion for Sundial, a rich sum. Dennis and his mother, Mary, who had cofounded the company with him in 1991, owned 51% of the company. The two stood to walk away with an estimated $850 million fortune.</p>
<p>Dennis’ move to sell Sundial was the latest act in a career marked by exceptional timing and grit. For the first 24 years of Sundial’s existence, Dennis didn’t take a dime of outside money, as he grew from a Harlem street vendor to supplying chains like Target and Whole Foods. He did it by riding the boom in natural beauty products, a segment that barely existed 30 years ago but is now a $14.8 billion global industry, and by learning how to scale. “It’s like when you make a recipe. It’s different when you’re making it for a family of four or five and when you’re making it for a wedding of 150,” he says. Splitting his childhood between Liberia, where he was born, and Sierra Leone, Dennis was raised by his mother, Mary, an economist promoting economic mobility for women, and his grandmother, a widower who sold her own hair and skincare products using generations-old recipes.</p>
<p>When it came time to apply to college, Dennis chose Babson—a small school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, known for its focus on entrepreneurship. At first Dennis wanted to take his Babson education and return home to Liberia to start a citrus farm. But by the time Mary arrived for Dennis’ college graduation in 1991, civil wars had broken out in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. The mother-son pair had no choice but to stay. He and his mother turned to an art that was ingrained in their identities: making the soaps and creams his grandmother had sold back in Sierra Leone. Along with fellow Liberian Nyema Tubman, Dennis’ college roommate, they went to work, using recipes and ingredients from Africa. The trio worked with raw ingredients like shea butter, essential oils and African black soap, a West African product made from plant ash, to brew up incense and skin and hair products. They mixed the lotions and soaps in the bathtub of Dennis’ cramped Queens apartment and packaged them in Ziploc bags to peddle on the street corners of Harlem.</p>
<p>As word spread of its products, Sundial went from a table at 125th Street and Fifth Avenue to wholesaling its products to natural stores, local shops, fairs and festivals. During the day, Dennis and Tubman delivered the products to those vendors, while Mary kept the books. Carefully managing the finances was crucial: No banks were willing to lend to an African immigrant—not even the few thousand dollars Dennis needed to buy a new truck. “We plowed the money back into the business,” Mary says. She still signs every check that comes out of the Sundial offices. “You can’t make a lot of money if you don’t spend it well.” After an exhaustive search for a place to increase their manufacturing, they moved the operation to a Long Island warehouse in 1992. That meant leaving their apartment at 5 a.m., seven days a week, to make and package product. In the afternoon, they delivered it. “We did that daily, because we didn’t have the resources to build up inventory,” Dennis says. In the early 2000s, natural beauty products started to take off, ignited partly by companies like Burt’s Bees, the Vermont-based maker of cosmetics and skin-care products. Dennis wanted to go mass market, too, but he refused to put his products in the so-called “ethnic aisle” of drugstores—typically a small, poorly lit back section of the store.</p>
<p>Rather than submit to second-class product placement, Dennis chose to wait 16 years for retailers to agree to put his products with the rest of the hair and skin-care products. In 2007, Macy’s became the first mass marketer to carry Sundial. Target followed later that year. Given those figures, it makes sense that Unilever pursued Sundial so hard and was willing to give Dennis the freedom he demanded. Like ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s, Sundial is a stand-alone business within Unilever with its founder still running the company. As part of the deal, Dennis is free to stay as long as he pleases, avoiding the usual multiyear lockup period that an acquiring company puts on an incoming CEO. Given those figures, it makes sense that Unilever pursued Sundial so hard and was willing to give Dennis the freedom he demanded. Like ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s, Sundial is a stand-alone business within Unilever with its founder still running the company. As part of the deal, Dennis is free to stay as long as he pleases, avoiding the usual multiyear lockup period that an acquiring company puts on an incoming CEO.</p>
<p>Source: <a contents="Forbes" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2018/09/21/these-black-entrepreneurs-went-from-selling-soap-on-harlem-streets-to-a-850-million-fortune/amp/?__twitter_impression=true" target="_blank">Forbes</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56841002019-03-18T11:00:31-04:002023-12-10T11:51:12-05:00Queen Latifah invests $20 Million in Creators of Color<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4c70f89ab641d3efc309c662e5682b025566213e/original/queen-latifah.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Queen Latifah and ESSENCE Ventures LLC have partnered to create the Essence Creators and Makers Fund. This $20 million initiative will provide more financial support while building a stronger production and economic infrastructure for artists of color. ESSENCE Ventures LLC CEO, Richelieu Dennis, first announced the fund during the 2018 ESSENCE Music Festival alongside Latifah confirming that her production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, will be the fund’s first partner company. The actress and entrepreneur will additionally serve on the fund’s investment committee.</p>
<p>“The fund will create and finance film, television, digital and documentary-style content that reflect the lives and experiences of women of color” “It will also seek to collaborate with content creators globally focused on Essence’s diverse and dynamic core audience of Black women, with the content produced encompassing themes that relate and connect across audiences,” the published announcement stated.</p>
<p>In addition to this financial investment, the fund will also share ownership rights with its creators, helping to level the playing field and combat the frequent power imbalance that exists in entertainment.</p>
<p>Source: Walker's Legacy </p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56840992019-03-18T10:54:04-04:002022-08-29T06:50:05-04:00LeBron James continues to give back with I-Promise school<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/be4e2bb55d74fe17fa8b52a7ceb92cc6d62cd530/original/lebron-i-promise.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>LeBron James ended his second stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers by signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he didn't leave the state of Ohio with nothing. James spent 11 seasons with the Cavs, winning a title in 2016 to end Cleveland’s 52-year drought without a pro sports championship. His departure ended a four-year run with the Cavs after he returned in 2014 following four seasons with the Miami Heat. Now more importantly, he's opened a public school for challenged children in his hometown.</p>
<p>The NBA great admitted to having “jitters” before the opening, an event he said is “going to be one of the greatest moments — if not the greatest — of my life.” The I Promise School initially will house 240 third- and fourth-graders. The Akron school will expand each year, adding second and fifth grades next year and will have students from grades 1-8 by 2022.</p>
<p>James was drawn to Los Angeles by the appeal of playing for one of the league’s most storied programs and the chance to work with Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, the Lakers’ president and a player James idolized since he was a kid. James also chose Los Angeles in part because it represents the next chapter in his life. He already owns homes there and he has a film production company in the city.</p>
<p>Source: Associated Press</p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56840752019-03-18T10:38:56-04:002024-02-23T06:20:48-05:00Garcelle Beauvais, Lisa L. Wilson to produce Haitian Family Drama<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/08f2452187361555a38903dbae1f59f0c6005e02/original/garcelle-beauvais-lisa-l-wilson.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Actress Garcelle Beauvais and producer Lisa L. Wilson have teamed up to form Beauvais Wilson Productions, a new multimedia production company. BWP’s aim is to focus on developing and producing stories with a diverse voice in television, film, digital and independent projects. The banner’s mission, according to the producers, is to create dynamic content that breaks barriers and make movies that matter.</p>
<p>The actress said the company will produce projects for both film and television, “creating stories that are entertaining and hopefully will make a difference.” Beauvais starred on The Jamie Foxx Show and has countless TV credits to her name. She most recently was seen as the host of GSN’s design reality series Window Warriors and as a host on Fox’s entertainment-news talk show Hollywood Today Live. Beauvais will appear in this summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. She previously produced the 2013 movie And Then There Was You.</p>
<p>Wilson is an Emmy-winning producer, writer and development exec hailing from Houston, working in live news and entertainment, musical performances and scripted television.</p>
<p>Recently their company acquired a one-hour scripted series, Barely Legal, about a Haitian Immigrant family from writer Mike Gauyo. Loosely based on Gauyo’s family experiences, the plot follows a thick as thieves immigrant Haitian family, who takes a “fake it, till you make it” approach to life to survive today’s American legal system. Beauvais and Wilson will serve as executive producers via their Beauvais Wilson Productions shingle. The duo recently produced Lalo’s House, a feature that highlighted the devastating world of child sex trafficking.</p>
<p>Source: The Hollywood Reporter/Deadline</p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56840722019-03-18T10:26:43-04:002024-02-23T06:25:11-05:00VR Founder uses Tech to Reduce Racial Bias<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c06d841e1540aca8023857c6b5f59d3af3b5d764/original/tech-founder.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>US companies invest an estimated $8 billion on diversity and inclusion training without clear metrics to determine the effectiveness and employee performance. But they don’t always go as planned. Employees can walk away from these trainings with triggered emotions. Clorama Dorvilias wants to remove shame and guilt from this experience. Her gaming lab, Debias VR, wants to remove bias in professional and educational settings. Dorvilias is currently the only black woman who has developed this unique empathy tool using debiasing techniques in VR.</p>
<p>“Companies can spend millions of dollars on extremely inaffective, and virtually useless trainings that can have an adverse effect which can hurt the company even more,” she said. “Bias training shouldn’t be there to shame. People should feel good about making others feel accepted. Debias isn’t something that you can work out in a day. It’s a behavior that you have to work through. We want to give people the capacity to work in a safe and comfortable space.” </p>
<p>Before she developed the VR lab, Dorvilias says she enrolled in grad school to expand her front-end development expertise and planned to backpack across the country working with grassroots organizations to amplify their digital presence. Dorvilias enrolled in the Interaction Design Master’s program at the University of the Arts London in 2014. She continued working as an independent UX designer, becoming quickly immersed in emerging tech and motion sensors for everyday human interactions.</p>
<p>“That was really frustrating for me, and I was contemplating quitting because it began to affect my mental health and the self-image of the work I was doing.” The day she decided to walk away from it all, a final project became her saving grace. Dorvilias says the course professor assigned a master’s research thesis where students were asked to work with technology to solve social problems. The served as the most fitting assignment for the unfair treatment she felt in the course. She used this as an opportunity to explore what causes implicit bias and how to solve it. “I stumbled upon empathy, which allows people to humanize each other. I knew the solution would have to be, how can I develop empathy for a professor like him for someone like me?” </p>
<p>During her research on empathy solutions, Dorvilias became intrigued watching a TED talk by Chris Milk titled, “How Virtual Reality Can Create the Ultimate Empathy Machine.” Milk explained how he used footage of day-to-day life in third world countries using 360 video to establish empathy. He produced a VR film, “Clouds Over Sidra,” placing users inside a Syrian refugee camp that follows a 12-year-old girl named Sidra. When the Oculus Rift is in use, viewers experienced first-hand trauma with Sidra. Milk then took the machine to the World Economic Forum where he says the people who make decisions for third-world countries can insert themselves in the places where they’re charged with creating change. </p>
<p>Dorvilias didn’t have the same resources but she knew she wanted a similar outcome. With the help of a defunct Oculus headset at school and video tutorials on building a virtual reality environment, she made her own in two days. “It bit me from there. For the next four months. I slept, ate, and dreamed about virtual reality and I was able to make my first project. I was able to gamify a diversity trainer using debiasing techniques.” </p>
<p>Source: <a contents="The Plug" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://medium.com/theplug/this-vr-founder-wants-to-gamify-empathy-to-reduce-racial-bias-3d50cc9bccd9" target="_blank">The Plug</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/56840702019-03-18T10:19:20-04:002023-12-10T12:43:40-05:00Ballerina Misty Copeland speaks on her successful journey against odds<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1242302af80b829d03b50b52afc2777cdded9fa5/original/misty.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
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<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="T-VgXR_rl9U" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/T-VgXR_rl9U/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T-VgXR_rl9U?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/53147892018-06-24T13:39:41-04:002023-12-10T12:02:39-05:00Akon is building a real life Wakanda <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4986b990ad7eaf7637529f970d25b80cd9ab2800/original/akon.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Akon, the top-selling ringtone artist of all time, is building a futuristic city in Senegal that will trade exclusively in Akoin: a cryptocurrency named after himself. If you have been away from the news for a while, yes, this is what things are like now. I should mention that the city will be based on Wakanda, the fictional setting of Marvel’s Black Panther movie. </p>
<p>Musos often claim that artists lack ambition these days. It is a charge that is hard to make stick with Akon, although it is true that he never put it in his songs. But it’s the notes he’s not playing, man! Akon once claimed blood diamonds do not exist, and he would know, because he owns a diamond mine in South Africa. He owns a diamond mine. He also stated his ambition to run for president with Mark Zuckerberg as his running mate. And he claimed to be developing a reality TV show called My Brother’s Keeper, in which Akon’s two brothers would wander around Atlanta pretending to be him, picking up girls and free dinners. You snort, but if it were on at Tate Modern, you would call it genius. </p>
<p>I am not sure how much follow-through he has. My Brother’s Keeper has been kept on ice for years. The rapper’s frequent claim to have served three years for car theft was reported to be inaccurate (hip-hop being a backwards world where you get outed for not going to jail). He has now admitted that blood diamonds do exist. But Akon Crypto City could be the one that sticks. It is already in development, the Senegalese president having gifted the rapper 2,000 acres (akres?) of land five minutes from the international airport.</p>
<p>Source: <strong><a contents="The Guardian" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/24/akon-building-real-life-wakanda-senegal-cryptocurrency-akoin" style="" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></strong></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/52790532018-06-06T12:50:08-04:002022-05-03T06:03:39-04:00June is National Soul Food Month <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8ed87c4855cccafcdf901bf468cd864d0f037e68/original/vegan-soulbowl.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td>Were you aware that June is National Soul Food month? Well it is. <p>“Soul Food is a cuisine,” says Chef Todd Richards author of Soul. Soul Food is flexible, it is vegan and omnivorous. It has a particular and powerful history and an extraordinary future. It is transregional and ultimately personal. Soul is not fast food plus junk food plus Southern black-cooked unhealthy comfort/celebratory food. Soul Food is a tradition and a narrative that is ennobling. It is not nor has it ever been a pathology.</p>
<p>As put by author and chef Michael W.Twitty:</p>
<p>We respect that Soul Food is not a stereotype, it is a language. Soul Food is a response to a call. Soul Food is a love letter to the spirit and stomach. Soul Food is cultural power and capital. Soul Food is a crown. We begin National Soul Food Month by celebrating all of the possibilities of Soul cuisine. We celebrate the survival, the creativity and improvisation, the layered coding and the transcendental spirit of our cuisine. We celebrate the conversation it has with other cuisines. We honor its Ancestors and bless the hands of those who carry it forward.</p>
<p>The actual origins of soul food trace all the way back to slavery. A large amount of the foods integral to the cuisine originate from the limited rations given to slaves by their planters and masters. Slaves were typically given a peck of cornmeal and 3-4 pounds of pork per week, and from those rations come soul food staples such as cornbread, fried catfish, BBQ ribs, chitterlings, and neckbones.</p>
<p>Slaves needed to eat foods with high amounts of calories to balance out spending long days working in the fields. This led to time-honored soul food traditions like frying foods, breading meats and fishes with cornmeal, and mixing meats with vegetables (i.e. putting pork in collard greens).[4] Eventually, this slave-invented style of cooking started to get adopted into larger Southern culture, as slave owners gave special privileges to slaves with cooking skills.</p>
<p><em><strong>Source: Afroculinaria, </strong></em><em><strong>authors: Herbert Covey "What the slaves ate", Anne Bower "African American Foodways"</strong></em></p>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/51721032018-04-09T14:03:34-04:002024-02-23T06:27:36-05:00Michael Hudson on the real state of the economy <p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="dXqL1Hp42k0" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/dXqL1Hp42k0/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dXqL1Hp42k0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/51619232018-04-03T12:11:16-04:002022-05-16T06:34:26-04:00There is a worldwide shortage of vanilla - here's why <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a8dec8287b8b1b5cf5fadee36c6438439e617cda/original/mada-vanilla.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>VANILLA is one of the world’s most popular spices and an important ingredient in products ranging from chocolate to perfume. But it is getting harder to find. Vanilla-rich foods like ice cream have been removed from shelves or become pricier. Chefs are making what they have go further. The wholesale price of vanilla has reached $500-600 per kilo, when just a few years ago it fetched a tenth of that. What is happening? </p>
<p>Madagascar supplies 80-85% of the world’s natural vanilla. In the 19th century the French introduced Bourbon vanilla, a tropical vine orchid native to Mexico and parts of South America, to their African island colony. Vanilla represents 20% of Madagascan exports, worth around $600m at current prices. But it is a difficult crop to grow. A vine takes three to four years to mature, or two if grown from a large, good-quality cutting. The flowers open for just one day a year, so pollination is done by hand. Nine months later the green beans must be hand-picked when perfectly ripe to optimise their vanillin content (the compound that gives vanilla its flavour). Harvest lasts from May in northern Madagascar to August in the middle of the country, after the rainy season has brought the usual cyclones. Months of blanching, sweating and gradual drying in the sun are then necessary to produce the aromatic spice. Six hundred hand-pollinated blossoms yield about six kilos of green beans, which convert to one kilo of dried beans.</p>
<p>The price of Madagascar’s vanilla was once set by the government, which formed a sort of vanilla cartel with nearby Comoros and Réunion. But such were the prices it demanded for vanilla that in the 1980s buyers turned their attention to the cheaper, poorer-quality version available elsewhere—in particular Indonesia. Madagascar’s government was eventually forced to end its price-fixing regime. Exacerbating the pressure, food giants such as Unilever, Mondelez International and Nestlé also increased their use of synthetic vanillin, which can be produced from reliable sources such as wood pulp and petroleum. As a result, for 20 years Madagascar’s vanilla farmers earned just a pittance, and many ended up leaving the business. But even with fewer producers the price of natural vanilla stayed low, suppressed by the availability of synthetic vanillin. It was not until public tastes started shifting towards all things natural that farmers’ fortunes revived. From around 2011 some manufacturers began focusing once more on natural vanilla (while also changing their recipes to achieve the synthetic tastes with which consumers had grown familiar). In 2015 Nestlé announced plans to use only natural ingredients in five years, and others like Hershey’s followed suit. Demand has therefore surged, and with it prices—in part because vanilla vines take years to mature, and natural supplies are insufficient. Extreme weather, weak crop-security, and exporters who hoard inventory and speculate on further rises have also kept prices high. </p>
<p>This rise has not been without its challenges. To prevent theft of their now rather valuable crops, farmers have taken to harvesting the beans early, before they are mature, thereby reducing the overall quality of the crop. The situation should improve by next year, as the larger crop that was planted in response to increased demand comes to market. At the same time, the government needs to make greater efforts to enforce penalties for anyone caught dealing in unripe beans before the regional calendars allow. That would persuade farmers to leave beans on the vine until they are mature, improving both quality and yield. If it manages this, Madagascar could yet savour the benefits of its near monopoly.</p>
<p><em><strong>Source: <a contents="The Economist " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2018/03/economist-explains-4" target="_blank">The Economist </a></strong></em></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/51602392018-04-02T15:25:17-04:002023-12-10T11:57:34-05:00U.S. wants your Social Media Details if you're a Visa Applicant<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0bfa4806250a55de214e6cb302cec65459ab6195/original/visa-apps.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>The State Department wants to require all U.S. visa applicants to submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers, vastly expanding the Trump administration's enhanced vetting of potential immigrants and visitors. </p>
<p>In documents to be published in Friday's Federal Register, the department said it wants the public to comment on the proposed new requirements, which will affect nearly 15 million foreigners who apply for visas to enter the U.S. each year. Previously, social media, email and phone number histories were only sought from applicants identified for extra scrutiny, such as those who have traveled to areas controlled by terrorist organizations. An estimated 65,000 people per year are in that category. </p>
<p>The new rules would apply to virtually all applicants for immigrant and non-immigrant visas. The department estimates it would affect 710,000 immigrant visa applicants and 14 million non-immigrant visa applicants, including those who want to come to the U.S. for business or education, according to the documents. </p>
<p>The documents were posted on the Federal Register's website but the 60-day public comment period won't begin until Friday's edition is published. If the requirements are approved by the Office of Management and Budget, applications for all visa types would list a number of social media platforms and require the applicant to provide any account names they may have had on them over the previous five years. It would also give the applicant the option to volunteer information about social media accounts on platforms not listed in the application. </p>
<p>In addition to their social media histories, visa applicants will be asked for five years of previously used telephone numbers, email addresses, international travel and deportation status, as well as whether any family members have been involved in terrorist activities. </p>
<p>Only applicants for certain diplomatic and official visa types may be exempted from the requirements, the documents said.</p>
<p>Source: <a contents="Bloomberg" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-29/us-to-seek-social-media-details-from-all-visa-applicants" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/51589642018-04-01T15:08:00-04:002022-01-14T08:55:39-05:00 How Rockefeller Founded Big Pharma, Waged War On Natural Cures<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b640e8158901c3f34b83ceb9c967437c4c74cced/medium/chemicals.jpeg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Western medicine has some good points, and is great in an emergency, but it’s high time people realized that today’s mainstream medicine (western medicine or allopathy), with its focus on drugs, drugs, radiation, drugs, surgery, drugs and more drugs, is at its foundation a money spinning Rockefeller creation. </p>
<p>People these days look at you like a weirdo if you talk about the healing properties of plants or any other holistic practices. Much like anything else, politics and money have been used to warp people’s minds and encourage them to embrace what is bad for them. </p>
<p>It all began with John D. Rockefeller (1839 – 1937) who was an oil magnate, a robber baron, America’s first billionaire, and a natural-born monopolist. By the turn on the 20th century, he controlled 90% of all oil refineries in the U.S. through his oil company, Standard Oil, which was later on broken up to become Chevron, Exxon, Mobil etc.</p>
<p>World Affairs reports: At the same time, around 1900, scientists discovered “petrochemicals” and the ability to create all kinds of chemicals from oil. For example, the first plastic — called Bakelite — was made from oil in 1907. Scientists were discovering various vitamins and guessed that many pharmaceutical drugs could be made from oil. </p>
<p>This was a wonderful opportunity for Rockefeller who saw the ability to monopolize the oil, chemical and the medical industries at the same time! The best thing about petrochemicals was that everything could be patented and sold for high profits. But there was one problem with Rockefeller’s plan for the medical industry: natural/herbal medicines were very popular in America at that time. Almost half the doctors and medical colleges in the U.S. were practicing holistic medicine, using knowledge from Europe and Native Americans. </p>
<p>Rockefeller, the monopolist, had to figure out a way to get rid of his biggest competition. So he used the classic strategy of “problem-reaction-solution.” That is, create a problem and scare people, and then offer a (pre-planned) solution. (Similar to terrorism scare, followed by the “Patriot Act”). </p>
<p>He went to his buddy Andrew Carnegie – another plutocrat who made his money from monopolizing the steel industry – who devised a scheme. From the prestigious Carnegie Foundation, they sent a man named Abraham Flexner to travel around the country and report on the status of medical colleges and hospitals around the country. </p>
<p>This led to the Flexner Report, which gave birth to the modern medicine as we know it. Needless to say, the report talked about the need for revamping and centralizing our medical institutions. Based on this report, more than half of all medical colleges were soon closed. </p>
<p>Homeopathy and natural medicines were mocked and demonized; and doctors were even jailed. To help with the transition and change the minds of other doctors and scientists, Rockefeller gave more than $100 million to colleges, hospitals and founded a philanthropic front group called “General Education Board” (GEB). This is the classic carrot and stick approach. In a very short time, medical colleges were all streamlined and homogenized. All the students were learning the same thing, and medicine was all about using patented drugs. </p>
<p>Scientists received huge grants to study how plants cured diseases, but their goal was to first identify which chemicals in the plant were effective, and then recreate a similar chemical but not identical, in the lab that could be patented. A pill for an ill became the mantra for modern medicine. And you thought Koch brothers were evil? So, now we are, 100 years later, churning out doctors who know nothing about the benefits of nutrition or herbs or any holistic practices. We have an entire society that is enslaved to corporations for its well-being. </p>
<p>America spends 15% of its GDP on healthcare, which should be really called “sick care.” It is focused not on cure, but only on symptoms, thus creating repeat customers. There is no cure for cancer, diabetes, autism, asthma, or even flu. Why would there be real cures? This is a system founded by oligarchs and plutocrats, not by doctors. As for cancer, oh yeah, the American Cancer Society was founded by none other than Rockefeller in 1913. </p>
<p><strong>Source: <a contents="Yournewswire.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://yournewswire.com/rockefeller-big-pharma-natural-cures/" style="" target="_blank">Yournewswire.com</a></strong></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/51471262018-03-25T14:07:51-04:002018-03-25T14:07:51-04:00Colombia is trying to root out the cocaine trade while farmers rely on it<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a21f1b003e00ac5987afdce328b83699ce4f9485/original/columbian-farmers.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>After hitting a low in 2012, Colombia's cultivation of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, jumped 134% between 2013 and 2016, US officials said late last year. 2016 alone saw a 52% increase in the area under coca cultivation, rising to 360,774 acres from 237,221 acres in 2015, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Potential cocaine production jumped 34%, from 712 tons in 2015 to 954 tons a year later. </p>
<p>The amount of cocaine seized in the country also rose by nearly half, the UNODC said, from 253,591 kilos in 2015 to 378,260 kilos in 2016. That was accompanied by a 26% increase in the number of illegal cocaine labs destroyed, from 3,827 in 2015 to 4,842 the following year. (The real amounts are likely much higher than official estimates.) Colombia has faced pressure from the US to clamp down on that surge, but there were a variety of factors that drove it through 2016, when the government signed a peace accord with left-wing rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Under that deal, the government has pursued crop-substitution and alternative-development programs to pull farmers away from coca.</p>
<p>But a lack of resources has hindered implementation of those programs, and in lieu of an alternative, Colombian growers have forged ahead with the only one they can grow profitably. </p>
<p>"What really happened, I think, is that the government did stop fumigating, which was a factor," said Adam Isacson, the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America. "It also cut way back on manual eradication, and it didn't make a presence" in often-marginalized parts of the country where cultivation has been the most intense, Isacson told Business Insider. Isacson, who spent a month on the ground in Colombia in February, pointed to Putumayo, a department on Colombia's southern border. </p>
<p>"That fringe area with Ecuador is no-man's land, and nobody's seen an eradicator or a development official, same for most of Catatumbo," he told Business Insider, referring to a region in the northwest Colombian department of Norte de Santander, where cultivation is also intense. </p>
<p>"So if it's no-man's land and you see your neighbor's now got waist-high coca bushes, and they're two years old and nobody's messed with him, it's probably pretty tempting to grow it yourself," Isacson said. Efforts to get farmers to grow other crops have faltered because they aren't economically viable — in part because getting those crops to market from rural, isolated areas eats away the profit margin.</p>
<p>Source: <a contents="Business Insider" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/farmers-in-colombia-relying-on-economic-benefits-of-cocaine-production-2018-3" target="_blank">Business Insider</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/49838592017-12-19T02:39:08-05:002017-12-19T02:39:09-05:00Luther Campbell links with Adidas To Train Kids In Sports Business<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e194e283ac7acbdec933201756da6637dd617669/medium/luther-cambell.jpeg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Uncle Luke Campbell received some major backing for his Liberty City Optimist (Warriors) football program. Over the weekend, Luther Campbell announced Adidas has donated $300,000 to the program, in addition to equipment for the Sam Johnson Youth Center at Hadley Park, the new facility that Uncle Luke recently opened. </p>
<p>Thanks to the donation, Campbell can expand his vision for taking talented kids off the streets and teaching them football. Adidas will create a curriculum for the athletes to learn more about the business side of sports apparel. </p>
<p>"I wanted more than just a sports apparel deal. I wanted to work with a brand that was interested in teaching our athletes about the business side of sports apparel, including the design aspect of it," Campbell explained. </p>
<p>"I am so excited about this new partnership with Adidas, it’s an incredible deed they have set forth for the kids of Liberty City and our volunteers," Campbell continued. "Not only will we wear the best uniforms and cleats, but will learn valuable lessons as well." </p>
<p>The news of the deal with Adidas comes on the heels of Luke Campbell's announcement of an agreement with Starz and Lebron James to create a docu-series on the Liberty City Warriors, which is currently in production. </p>
<p>Over the weekend, The Liberty City Warriors faced off against Snoop Dogg's Youth Football League, which also marked a moment in Hip-Hop history, since the two men were once mortal enemies. Snoop's Youth Football League emerged as the winners.</p>
<p><strong>Source: <a contents="AllHipHop" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.themaven.net/allhiphop/news/luther-campbell-inks-deal-with-adidas-to-train-kids-in-sports-business-cx5wsPR95UqcQTpbZHKA4Q" target="_blank">AllHipHop</a></strong></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/49597322017-12-02T15:48:44-05:002017-12-02T15:55:08-05:00Jay Z on therapy, politics, marriage, race and more<p> </p>
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<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Check out the written story here: <a contents="NY Times Style Magazine " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/29/t-magazine/jay-z-dean-baquet-interview.html" style="" target="_blank">NY Times Style Magazine </a></strong></span></p>
<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/49507272017-11-27T13:53:21-05:002017-11-27T13:54:22-05:00Consumer goods giant Unilever acquires legacy company Sundial Brands<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/3fdc80a2d9e472b109f71986759adab6660b9307/medium/nubian-heritage.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /> </p>
<p> <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4390a552b4c027c276731e29edea5d1cfedc3596/small/madame-cj.png" class="size_s justify_none border_" /> <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/5ec711b3aad5cd777ab8cdeaaa8cb79a9e75b4ca/small/nubian-heritage.png" class="size_s justify_none border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/35437e4ef3e39289ad6a7d528653654b1053c14d/medium/sheamoisture.png" class="size_m justify_none border_" /></p>
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<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Unilever, the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, is acquiring Sundial Brands to expand its offering of hair- and skin-care products aimed at black women. </p>
<p>New York-based Sundial, founded in 1991 by Liberian immigrants, makes brands such as SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker and Nyakio. While terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Sundial Brands expects revenue this year of about $240 million, Unilever said in a statement Monday. </p>
<p>The takeover follows Unilever’s investment earlier this year in Beauty Bakerie, a cosmetics maker based in San Diego that’s backed by Lazard Managing Director William Lewis and American Express Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault. </p>
<p>Businesses such as Sundial Brands and Beauty Bakerie have garnered a following among young Africans, African-American and other black women, whose spending power is being increasingly targeted by consumer giants. L’Oreal, for example, has built a hair-care research center in Johannesburg to increase sales on the African continent. Last month, French luxury-goods maker LVMH beat estimates for third-quarter sales in part on the strength of Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, a new makeup line developed with the Barbadian pop singer. </p>
<p>As part of the agreement announced Monday, Unilever and Sundial are creating the New Voices Fund with an initial investment of $50 million to “empower women of color entrepreneurs.” Sundial will operate as a standalone business and continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Richelieu Dennis, Unilever said. </p>
<p>Source: <a contents="Bloomberg" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-27/unilever-acquires-u-s-personal-care-company-sundial-brands" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/49317042017-11-14T04:28:20-05:002017-11-14T04:28:20-05:00Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad gets her own doll <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/cf97b9e4d49a824f9a39362466974179e97bf9ba/original/barbie-hijab.jpeg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>The maker of Barbie has announced it will sell a doll modeled after Ibtihaj Muhammad, an American fencer who competed in last year’s Olympics while wearing a hijab. </p>
<p>Mattel Inc. said the doll will be available online next fall. The doll is part of the Barbie “Shero” line that honors women who break boundaries. Past dolls have included gymnast Gabby Douglas and “Selma” director Ava DuVernay. </p>
<p>“I had so many moments as an athlete, where I didn’t feel included, where I was often in spaces where there was a lack of representation,” Muhammad said Monday night at the Glamour Women of the Year gala in New York. “So to be in this moment, as a U.S. Olympian, to have Mattel, such a global brand, diversify their toy line to include a Barbie doll that wears a hijab is very moving to me.” </p>
<p>Muhammad, the first American to compete at the Olympics while wearing a hijab, won a bronze medal in fencing at the 2016 Rio Games. </p>
<p>“There was so much about the doll that was important to me,” she said. “I know as a kid I was bullied for having larger legs, and sport taught me to embrace my body and to love my body and the strength that it could produce. I think that having strong legs helped me win a medal at the Olympic Games, so I wanted my legs to be larger, more athletic legs, toned legs. And I am very into eyeliner, so I wanted a strong-winged cat eye. And Mattel listened to everything, everything even down to the fabric of the hijab.</p>
<p><a contents="AP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://apnews.com/ac2b86d40e0549539dfaad822e3b3190/Barbie-makes-doll-of-hijab-wearing-Olympian-Ibtihaj-Muhammad?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP" target="_blank">AP</a></p>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/49081352017-10-26T22:15:32-04:002017-10-26T22:15:32-04:00Forest Whitaker to star in "American Gangster" prequel<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2d278b2265d63c6a7cf1581ac4650675488cf94b/original/forest-whitaker.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Chris Brancato, the co-creator of Narcos, is developing a prequel series to the film American Gangster. Producer/writer Brancato. The project is called The Godfather Of Harlem and is based on the life of mob boss Bumpy Johnson. </p>
<p>Describing the series, Brancato said: ”It stars Forest Whitaker, he will play our lead character. It’s essentially the prequel to the movie American Gangster. “It’s Harlem, the 1960s, a gangster named Bumpy Johnson was very close friends with Malcom X, so the show is about the collision of the criminal underworld and the civil rights movement. It’s an opportunity to examine some of the things that are going on racially right now, but through the prism of the past.” </p>
<p>The series is set five years before the events of the Ridley Scott film starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. The script has been written, and Brancato is talking to Kendrick Lamar about providing the music. He said that when this is finalised they will take the project out to market. If the projects sells; Netflix, Amazon or Hulu are potential destinations. </p>
<p>The showrunner left Narcos after one series to run Of Kings And Prophets for ABC Studios, which was cancelled after three episodes. His current role at ABC Studios is developing projects for Netflix and Amazon. “Even the big studios in Hollywood understand that you have to produce for those markets,” he said. </p>
<p>Source: <strong><a contents="Screen Daily" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.screendaily.com/news/narcos-co-creator-developing-american-gangster-prequel-series-with-forest-whitaker-exclusive/5123523.article" style="" target="_blank">Screen Daily</a></strong></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/48616442017-09-22T17:51:40-04:002017-09-22T17:51:40-04:00Marshawn Lynch now has Beast Mobile <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e320ffaa0207982839814cc6241483dc552eb8e1/medium/beast-mobile-jpg.jpg?1506116622" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
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<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Marshawn Lynch may no longer be a Seahawk, but that’s not stopping a Seattle-area wireless carrier from teaming with the NFL star for a new phone service called Beast Mobile. A hero in Seattle sports history thanks to his six years as a running back for the Seahawks, the partnership is just the latest business venture built around Lynch’s Beast Mode persona. </p>
<p>The idea comes from mobile industry veteran Leigh Hunt, founder and CEO of Kirkland, Wash.-based FreeMo, whose advertising-supported mobile app is aimed at helping customers earn credits to drive down their monthly cell phone bills. </p>
<p>Beast Mobile, which will launch on Sprint’s network, promises customers a no-contract smart phone service with unlimited talk and text and 1GB of data for $24 per month. In order to save money and get more data, users must engage with personalized offers, discounts and suggestions from partners via the accompanying Beast Mobile app. </p>
<p>“We’re giving people the opportunity to get free cellphone service every month by engaging in targeted advertising from their device,” Hunt said. “If someone doesn’t care to engage in advertising that month, they can pay $24 — which still undercuts most pre-paid plans and is significantly lower than big carrier, post-paid plans. The idea is to reward subscribers for doing things they’re already doing on their phone — downloading apps, shopping online, watching videos, etc.” </p>
<p>The activities that users engage in have credit values listed next to them. Once a subscriber engages with an offer or completes an activity, credits are reflected in the account section of the accompanying Beast Mobile App. Subscribers can then apply their credits to their $24 cellphone bill or redeem them for more data. </p>
<p>As for Lynch, who now runs over people for his hometown Oakland Raiders, he’s a part owner in Beast Mobile and involved in various aspects of the business. And among other things aside from football, he owns Beast Mode apparel and gear shops in Oakland and Seattle; he still promotes the Skittles candy that he threw all over the place at CenturyLink Field; and even Amazon came calling last year to have him drive the Treasure Truck and hand out branded Echo devices. </p>
<p>Source:<a contents=" GeekWire" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.geekwire.com/2017/marshawn-lynch-calling-wireless-carrier-partners-nfl-star-launch-beast-mobile-cell-plan/" target="_blank"><strong> GeekWire</strong></a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/48544082017-09-17T22:34:16-04:002017-09-17T22:34:16-04:001st ever U.S. youth poet laureate stuns crowd at Social Change Summit in NYC<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0dd7c87e7ada1a4362f879d2f2da148d161f4574/medium/amanda-gorman.jpg?1505700325" class="size_m justify_center border_" /> <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7aa4f866b4e8946cf45ab058bd70a30494f5bd48/medium/amanda-sgs.jpg?1505701704" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>This summer, 19-year-old Amanda Gorman sat down to outline her priorities. As the very first U.S. youth poet laureate, a position she earned for her literary talent as well as her record of community engagement and leadership, she asked herself, "What do I want to accomplish?" </p>
<p>Since Gorman took on the inaugural role, she's embarked on a national tour across the U.S. She hopes to make poetry accessible to America's young people, and has sought them out when she speaks and performs. She wanted to be the one sitting and listening, too. Young people around the country, she believes, deserve a say in what she does. </p>
<p>"Being the first young poet to have this title means a lot of pressure but also a lot of freedom," said Gorman, who is also a sophomore at Harvard University. "I vacillate between anxiety about the precedent I am setting and the excitement that I'm starting fresh on a blank canvas. No pattern, no forerunners, just me defining what matters most to me as laureate. That has been the most thrilling part." </p>
<p>Gorman's ambition and talent were on full display Sept 17 at the 2017 Social Good Summit in New York City, where she performed her poem "The Gathering Place" in front of a global crowd at the 92nd Street Y and watching via livestream. Inspired by the summit itself, Gorman's poem touched on themes like community, innovation, and hope. </p>
<p>"With one microphone, we streak / across the globe like an eclipse," Gorman read. "We strike our plans into stone / and from this we build a summit worth climbing, / a goal worth reaching, / a world worth building." </p>
<p>Gorman mentioned various people in her poem who were also speaking at the Social Good Summit, including Tony Award-winning actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, and tech entrepreneur ElsaMarie D'Silva, who created an app to protect young women and survivors of sexual assault. </p>
<p>Source: <a contents="Mashable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://mashable.com/2017/09/17/amanda-gorman-us-youth-poet-laureate-social-good/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial#dfOWdcmlLiqq" target="_blank">Mashable</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/48393992017-09-06T15:39:52-04:002017-09-06T15:39:52-04:00Issa Rae's Butter + Brown is coming to TV <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/db6aeda5861a83fc456237bb809e7b43271061ae/large/butterbrown-coll.jpg?1504726407" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Aspire TV has announced that they will be premiering Butter + Brown, a culinary series created and co-executive produced by Issa Rae. Issa Rae is the creator and star of HBO’s Insecure, a dramedy series developed from one of her many web series projects on Youtube. According to Vibe, Aspire TV has announced that they will be premiering another one of Rae’s online projects, the first season of her culinary show Butter + Brown. The former YouTube series features hosts Seth Brundle and Leslie Antonoff, and is co-executive produced by Rae and chef and television host G. Garvin. It will make its TV debut Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. ET. Viewers can expect to see Brundle and Antonoff cooking up easy savory dishes and fun drinks while entertaining guests like rappers Rick Ross and David Banner, actor Larenz Tate, and The Chew host Carla Hall, all with Rae’s unique comedy flair. </p>
<p>Source: Daily Meal</p> </td> </tr>
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<p> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/46302802017-03-14T22:44:28-04:002017-03-14T22:44:28-04:00Dave Chappelle returns with a Netflix special <br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="OaRBPXLgKyg" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/OaRBPXLgKyg/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OaRBPXLgKyg?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/46165972017-03-04T13:36:54-05:002017-08-21T11:53:03-04:00Deadpool 2 first Trailer<iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Z5ezsReZcxU" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/Z5ezsReZcxU/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z5ezsReZcxU?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/45916372017-02-15T13:57:32-05:002017-02-15T13:57:33-05:00Michael K. Williams on Typecasting<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4197cc07c345f8a8c15444aa54338c26fd3c2bc7/medium/mikekwill.jpg?1487184213" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><strong>This Michael K.Williams video on type casting in roles as posed to <br>himself is brilliant. Take a look </strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="STkh15nZ1uA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/STkh15nZ1uA/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/STkh15nZ1uA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br>Source: The Atlantic <br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/45401252017-01-06T14:18:00-05:002017-01-06T14:18:00-05:00Jeanette Epps will be 1st African-American International Space Station Crew Member<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/432e50625f42193f7e5405ce2f9ea31ff6b2e2b8/medium/j-epps.jpg?1483730151" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Just as the highly anticipated movie Hidden Figures, the story of three African-American women who were crucial in the launch of the first American into orbit, got released in theaters, more news of black female achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields has hit the presses. <br> <br> NASA announced January 4 that for the first time ever, an African American will call the International Space Station home. According to a press release, NASA first-flight astronaut Jeanette Epps will be the first African-American space station crew member when she embarks on her first space flight in May 2018 as a flight engineer on Expedition 56. Epps will also remain on board the station for Expedition 57. <br> <br> She will be joining veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel, who will first launch in March 2018 as a flight engineer on Expedition 55, before returning for Expedition 56 as commander. <br> “Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer,” Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a press release. “The space station will benefit from having them on board.” <br> <br> As the Idaho Statesman notes, NASA has had just 14 black astronauts, three of them women, travel to space in its history. Although many of those astronauts flew missions to the International Space Station, none of them stayed aboard. Epps earned a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1992 at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. She went on to complete a master’s of science in 1994, as well as a doctorate in 2000 in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland. <br> <br> While working on her doctorate, Epps was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles about her research, according to the press release. After completing her graduate studies, Epps worked in a research lab for over two years, co-authoring multiple patents, before being recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency. She was a CIA technical intelligence officer for about seven years before being selected as a member of the 2009 astronaut class. <br> <br> And speaking of hidden figures, Epps has actually appeared in a NASA video connected to the film, offering advice to young women who are involved in STEM. “Anything you don’t know is going to be hard at first,” Epps says in the video. “But if you stay the course, put the time and effort in, it will become seamless eventually.”<br> <br> Source: <a contents="The Root" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2017/01/jeanette-epps-to-be-the-1st-african-american-international-space-station-crew-member/" target="_blank">The Root </a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/45190142016-12-20T14:09:00-05:002016-12-20T14:09:00-05:00Issa Rae, Donald Glover, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Damien Chazelle talk CreativityCheck out this great conversation on creativity in music, movies, TV, theater, writing<br>and more with Issa Rae, Donald Glover, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Damien Chazelle and<br>Jon Favreau. It should be a weekly program. <br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="gU1sTWIbw_Y" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/gU1sTWIbw_Y/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gU1sTWIbw_Y?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br>Source: The Hollywood Reporterthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/44903642016-11-30T14:52:35-05:002016-11-30T14:52:35-05:00MDMA (ecstasy) aka molly could be for sale legally by 2021<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/48efa46675628b1c5c0f86a8fb7a7b7a47f936c2/medium/mdma.jpg?1480535379" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>In small studies around the country, a handful of researchers have been investigating how MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can help heal the psychological and emotional damage caused by sexual assault, war, violent crime, and other traumas. Now, federal regulators have approved the drug for use in large-scale clinical trials too—a move that could set the stage for making "ecstasy" legally available as a new medicine. <br> <br> The Phase III trials will involve at least 230 patients, and will be sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), an organization that advocates for the medical use of various psychedelics, including MDMA (otherwise known as ecstasy or Molly or millennial aspirin). The organization funded early safety and efficacy trials of the drug in the past. And in one pilot study involving 19 PTSD patients, more than half experienced decreased symptoms for up to six years after receiving three doses of MDMA. <br> <br> Subjects quoted in the study, which was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, said that the MDMA-assisted treatment was dramatically helpful (“The therapy made it possible for me to live”), but also difficult at times (“one of the toughest things I have ever done”). Several patients also described the drug as a mediator that helped them work through their feelings <br> <br> The results aren’t surprising. MDMA is known to have an effect on the amygdala, the brain’s small, almond-shaped emotional processing center. That’s why the drug increases feelings of trust and empathy and reduces fear (without having the strong hallucinatory side effects of other psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin). <br> <br> “The body of evidence that shows MDMA works is so strong and so encouraging,” Rick Doblin, the founder and executive director of MAPS said at the New Horizons Conference last month. In fact, Doblin was so optimistic about the drug’s potential that he’s helped researchers apply for a special “breakthrough therapy” status with the Food and Drug Administration. That means that if the Phase III trial is as successful as previous studies, the drug would be on the fast track for approval. If their proposal is approved, MDMA could be available for use in psychotherapy early as 2021. <br> <br> Chemist Alexander Shulgin first recognized MDMA’s potential as a medicine over three decades ago. In his research on synthesizing psychoactive compounds, he tested it and other drugs in the lab and on himself. Later, he introduced MDMA to psychiatrists under the nickname Adam, and the drug gained a big following as an adjunct for therapy sessions. But once it made its way into dance clubs and became known as a party drug, the Drug Enforcement Administration made it a Schedule 1 substance and banned all use. Like marijuana, it has only recently re-emerged as legitimate medical research candidate. <br> By following strict scientific experimental procedures and setting protocols for how MDMA may be prescribed, Doblin has argued that it can be used as a therapy without ending up as a recreational use drug. “This is never going to be a take-home drug,” he said. “It’ll only be prescribed by doctors with special training, for people with specific conditions.” <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Popular Science" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.popsci.com/fda-just-approved-final-stage-mdma-drug-trials" target="_blank">Popular Science</a> <br> </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/43098842016-08-04T13:42:38-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00director/filmmaker Ava DuVernay continues to make history <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b928f67afdb656b9fbc6358b15926a5616dc54c6/medium/ava.jpg?1470332270" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>With her new movie, Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time" starring Oprah Winfrey, director Ava DuVernay is now the the first black woman to direct a $100 million-budgeted live-action movie. The milestone became public when the film, which is a fantasy adventure based on the novel by Madeleine L'Engle, appeared on a list of movies that will receive California tax incentives that Deadline posted. <br> <br> DuVernay thinks it's a problem that a person is just now breaking this barrier. DuVernay enters a very short list of female directors who have been given the reins for a big-budget movie. Kathryn Bigelow did it for 2002's Harrison Ford-starring submarine drama "K-19: The Widowmaker" and Patty Jenkins ("Monster") is directed the upcoming "Wonder Woman" movie. <br> <br> The next DuVernay film to hit theaters will be "The 13th" (out October 7 from Netflix), a documentary that looks at the US prison system and how it relates to the nation's history of racial inequality. <br> <br> <em><strong>Source: Business Insider</strong></em></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/42905312016-07-22T13:19:52-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Bleacher Report releases Documentary on ex NFL QB Michael Vick's Life <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d7eb0801308a00918851604c36296bdca39a1e04/original/mvick-bleacher.jpg?1469207681" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Michael Vick has been through it all. The dual-threat playmaker was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NFL draft, set numerous quarterback rushing records, made four Pro Bowls and amassed a fortune playing football. Then it all disappeared. A dog-fighting scandal sent him from the gridiron to prison. <br> <br> From that point on, it was up to Vick to redeem himself. Vick has encountered plenty of highs and lows throughout his career. Now, as his NFL tenure winds down, the 36-year-old quarterback is looking back and opening up about his up-and-down past. The exclusive Vick documentary was released July 11. You can check it out here: <strong><a contents="Vick Doc" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdO8_IDiAm0" target="_blank">Vick Doc</a></strong><br> <br> Source: Bleacher Report</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/42786892016-07-14T12:50:13-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00DJ Obi sets new world record for longest DJ set<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9e8d8e0470bb5ed5e96be912ae595234712e6456/large/dj-obi.jpg?1468514928" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>A Nigerian DJ has broken the world record for the longest ever DJ set. Earlier this month, DJ Obi completed a 240-hour marathon on the decks at a Lagos cafe, smashing the previous record of 200 hours set in Dublin by a Polish DJ called Norbert Selmaj in November 2014. </p>
<p>The record has yet to be ratified by the Guinness World Records team, but Obi followed the rules for the DJing record. According to the BBC, he was allowed a five-minute break every hour, had to have someone dancing at all times, and could not repeat a song within four hours of playing it. The Nigerian newspaper the Guardian – no relation – says he was allowed a one-hour break every 12 hours, and was also allowed daily medical checks and massages, and was allowed to take vitamin doses. </p>
<p>Obi said he fought sleep deprivation by taking “disco naps” – closing his eyes for five seconds – but couldn’t sleep because he would have been disqualified. He admitted he had been ready to give up after four or five days, and had started hallucinating, but was encouraged to keep going in honour of his father. “It became bigger than me,” he said. </p>
<p>Obi’s set began on 22 June and continued until 11.30pm on 2 July.<br> <br> Source: The Guardian</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/42450472016-06-23T15:04:27-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00President Obama is eyeing the Venture Capital field next <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/360acb8b7a02e12552695256701b2601abf99aca/medium/obama.jpg?1466708360" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>As the country holds its breath in anticipation of who will take Barack Obama’s chair in the Oval Office, the president is considering how to get his résumé into the right hands after his eight-year lease on the White House expires (tenant laws in DC are brutal). In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the president suggested that venture investment may be just the thing for his post-presidential career. <br> <br> Throughout his presidency, Obama has been spectacularly tech- and small-business friendly, including memorable appearances at Austin’s South by Southwest festival, the launch of Startup America, the first-ever hackathon in the White House and a ton of other initiatives. During his presidency, he also has shown an unusually big interest in Silicon Valley and the innovation that happens in the nation’s other startup clusters. <br> <br> It stands to reason, then, that once Obama has taken the vacation to end all vacations (I’m sure he could do some beach time, a margarita or two and catch up on Game of Thrones), a leap into the world of startup investing isn’t such a long stretch.<br> <br> “The conversations I have with Silicon Valley and with venture capital pull together my interests in science and organization in a way I find really satisfying,” Obama, CEO of the United States, said to Bloomberg. “The work we’ve done to try to build off of breakthroughs in the human genome; the fact that now you can have your personal genome mapped for a thousand bucks instead of $100,000; and the potential for us to identify what your tendencies are, and to sculpt medicines that are uniquely effective for you. That’s just an example of something I can sit and listen and talk to folks for hours about.” <br> Something tells me he’s going to regret saying that; he will probably find that prez@whitehouse.gov is going to be chock-a-block with 10-slide decks from genome sequencing startups from all over the world for the foreseeable future. <br> <br> Source: Tech Crunch <br> </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/42241812016-06-10T18:01:58-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00WIE Network's Dee Poku brings All Female Festival to New York <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/6090e37ee6a530f8ef9dcee07b1303698fe52155/medium/dee-poku.jpeg?1465595853" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>The Other Festival is bringing major girl power to New York. Billed as the “first all-female festival,” the one-day event is loaded with panels from female entrepreneurs followed by a concert series of all female acts. <br> <br> The festival’s founder, Dee Poku, who also runs the women's empowerment organization WIE Network and is also the founder of marketing consultant agency Right Angle, says that the inspiration for the event came after her personal experiences at other festivals. Through her WIE network, she found that her events drew a lot of millennial women, which triggered the idea of creating an empowerment extravaganza for entrepreneurs of all levels. “Younger women were flocking to our events and they were very entrepreneurial women, all self-starters and I wanted to support that entrepreneurship for women, nurture their creativity and help them get their ideas to fruition.” <br> <br> The day’s activities include panels that tackle personal branding, seeking investors as well as social media with a VIP mix of participants like supermodel Naomi Campbell, Roc Nation president Chaka Pilgrim and actress/activist Rosario Dawson. The entertainment will be provided by acts like DJ Kitty Cash, songstress Justine Skye and Beyonce's Parkwood signee Sophie Beem. <br> <br> See the full lineup and purchase tickets to Other Festival: <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-other-festival-tgif-sale-get-40-off-ga-tickets-use-code-other40f-tickets-22464514969" target="_blank">here</a> which heads to New York's Spring Studios on June 11. <br> <br> Source: Billboard</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41721202016-05-09T13:38:59-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Nas stays busy outside of music Executive producing IFC film "The Land"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/08723432d7fd232b5e29cb7649c11f6415b6c99e/original/the-land.jpg?1462815256" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td>Nas may not have been putting out a lot of music lately but he's been making his rounds as an investor and now as Executive producer on the IFC film "The Land." <br> <br> Here's the synopsis and watch the trailer below: <p>Teenage buddies Cisco, Boobie, Junior, and Patty Cake skateboard the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, dreaming of getting discovered by a sponsor and skating their way out of poverty. That is until the boys discover a bag full of pills in the back of a stolen car. Cisco’s entrepreneurial instincts take over, and in a flash their lives get better. But no one counted on having to come face to face with the cold, calculating, and notorious drug queenpin, “Momma,” who runs the toughest gang in town. <br> <br> Director Steven Caple Jr. makes an auspicious debut with this atmospheric film filled with pitch-perfect performances by an ensemble cast, including newcomer Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Erykah Badu, Machine Gun Kelly, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Linda Emond, who is bone chilling as Momma. More than a crime drama, THE LAND is a beautifully rendered story about friendship, values, and what it means for disaffected youth to come of age on the streets of Cleveland. <br> <br> Source: IFC</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="nyUxInyI8as" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/nyUxInyI8as/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nyUxInyI8as?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41381722016-04-15T13:49:24-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00NBA will begin jersey sponsorships in 2017-18<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/fd7c698c7eac848e0e351360a2ad274d3c616b63/medium/nba-jerseys-sponsor.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>The NBA will begin selling jersey sponsorships in 2017-18, becoming the first major North American sports league to put partners' logos on players' uniforms. The three-year trial was approved April 15 by NBA owners and will take effect when the league's contract with Nike begins. The patches will appear on the front left of the jersey, opposite Nike's logo, and measure about 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. <br> <br> Commissioner Adam Silver had said this step was inevitable as an additional revenue generator. WNBA teams already have logos, and NBA clubs were wearing them on practice jerseys. <br> <br> "Jersey sponsorships provide deeper engagement with partners looking to build a unique association with our teams and the additional investment will help grow the game in exciting new ways," Silver said in a statement. "We're always thinking about innovative ways the NBA can remain competitive in a global marketplace, and we are excited to see the results of this three-year trial." <br> <br> Major League Soccer teams began selling jersey sponsorships in 2007, and they generate more than $6 million annually in revenues. Adidas enters the final year of his contract as the NBA's official outfitter next season. When Nike takes over, its logo will become the first on league's jerseys. The sponsor patch will be adjusted to fit the dimensions of each sponsor's logo. It won't appear in retail versions of the jerseys, but clubs can sell jerseys with sponsor patches in their team stores. <br> <br> Source:<a contents=" US News &amp; World Report" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-04-15/nba-to-begin-selling-jersey-sponsorships-in-2017-18" target="_blank"> US News & World Report</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41363562016-04-14T13:51:57-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Lauryn Hill launches inaugural Diaspora Calling! Music Festival in Brooklyn <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/3e12188bf3d1637989d5d8c5e87462ef554597a8/medium/lauryn-hill.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Ms. Lauryn Hill has launched a three-day series of music and art events celebrating the African Diaspora. The former Fugees singer inaugurated Diaspora Calling with a private art gallery at Brooklyn's Kings Theatre, which opens to the public on 4/14 and 4/15 from 12-4pm. <br> <br> Diaspora Calling is a collection of works “intended to celebrate the rich tapestry of artists from the African Diaspora while also illumining persistent and irrepressible themes. Lauryn said, “Even if we work independently, we are a resounding collective voice, both reconciling and embracing our relationship to history, our origins, our future and to ourselves." <br> <br> Hill DJ’d at the opener and curated the gallery with the assistance of MoCADA, Nader Haitian Art, and The Haiti Cultural Exchange. <br> <br> The headline concert is at Kings Theatre Friday, April 15 and will become the inaugural Diaspora Calling! Music Festival, featuring performances from Machel Montano (Trinidad), Stephen 'Ragga' Marley (Jamaica), Stonebwoy (Ghana), Mr. Eazi (Nigeria), EL (Ghana), Wondaboy (Nigeria), JoJo Abot (Ghana) and Paul Bearbrun (Haiti). The concert will be live-streamed pre-paywall at Tidal. <br> <br> Source: Billboard</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/bb9cf12634096aff8fdf1c8821986eb64a923fef/medium/diaspora-calling-concert.png?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" />thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41255142016-04-07T15:43:06-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Katherine Johnson a NASA pioneer will be played by Taraji P. Henson in new film<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c08e5f46e94bd9dba9b7fb1b288f53bf81a220a1/medium/katherine-johnson.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>A familiar face has signed on to the film "Hidden Figures," which tells the story of the black women who helped NASA win the space race. Pharrell Williams will produce and score music for the film. The woman is Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician who helped take the American space program to new heights. During her time at NASA, Katherine Johnson helped send the first Americans into space and to the moon, calculating most of the coordinates by hand. <br> <br> "We told them how fast they would be going, and the moon would be there by the time you got there," Johnson told Makers. <br> <br> Johnson's calculations were so accurate, legendary astronaut John Glenn requested that she double check NASA's new computers before he took off. Johnson began making her mark on space travel in the 1950s, when both women and blacks were marginalized in American society and at NASA. Johnson started working at NASA when it was still segregated. But her sharp skills earned her the nickname "the human computer" and helped her break through the barriers she and her colleagues faced. <br> <br> The woman who graduated from college at 18 is now a 97-year-old living legend, revered among her NASA successors. Johnson will be played by Taraji P. Henson in "Hidden Figures." <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Newsy" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.newsy.com/videos/meet-nasa-pioneer-katherine-johnson-before-her-movie-comes-out/" target="_blank">Newsy</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41216492016-04-05T14:34:51-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Misty Copeland brings things full circle aiding Ballet mentorship at Boys & Girls Clubs<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8c6f877c32068d3a73118905e3a7db0e473bba28/original/misty-collage.jpg?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Misty Copeland is American Ballet Theatre’s first African-American principal dancer. She has come a long way from her first ballet class on a basketball court at the Boys & Girls Club. As one of Variety’s Power of Women honorees, she has chosen to highlight Project Plie, the diversity initiative for which ABT has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of America. <br> <br> Project Plie aims to create an infrastructure of training and support for underrepresented communities in the classical ballet world. As part of the program, Boys & Girls Clubs around the U.S. host activities and master classes led by teachers certified in the ABT training curriculum. <br> <br> Copeland, the Kansas City native whose entree into ballet was enabled by the encouragement and training of a local teacher, knows the importance of mentorship, especially for aspiring dancers of color who might not see a place for themselves in a classical ballet world that is still mostly white. <br> <br> “It’s so much a part of my upbringing and my experience as a professional dancer,” she says. “I was the only African-American woman at ABT for a decade, and so much of what I do now is mentoring young minority dancers and trying to be a support system for them. It feeds me as an artist and as a person, and I learn more and more about myself and what’s lacking and what needs to be done in the professional ballet world.” <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Variety" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/misty-copeland-project-plie-ballet-training-1201745240/" target="_blank">Variety</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41146462016-03-31T14:42:08-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:0011 year old businesswoman Mikaila Ulmer puts twist on classic drink with BeeSweet Lemonade <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/dc6def0371c920f0a8b4888d3aa4da8a76ed8ffa/medium/mikaila.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>BeeSweet Lemonade was started by Mikaila Ulmer at 4 years old. Her family encouraged her to make a product for a Children's business competition (the Acton Children’s Business Fair) and Austin Lemonade Day. After getting stung by a bee, she became fascinated with them. She discovered all about what they do for our ecosystem. She then imagined what she could do to help the honeybees. She used her Great Great Granny Helen's flaxseed recipe and local honey as a sweetener to birth BeeSweet Lemonade. <br> <br> Mikaila, sells-out of her BeeSweet Lemonade at youth entrepreneurial events while donating a percentage of the profits from the sale of her lemonade to local and international organizations fighting hard to save the honeybees. <br> <br> Now at age 11, when not at her lemonade stand telling all the digestive benefits of flaxseed, you can find Mikaila leading workshops on how to save the honeybees, and participating in social entrepreneurship panels. Mikaila launched her own<a contents=" Facebook page" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/BeeSweetLemonade/"> Facebook page</a>, where visitors can ‘Like’ interesting facts about bees, honey and BeeSweet Lemonade. <br> Today, the award-winning BeeSweet Lemonade is buzzing off the shelves of Whole Foods Market (55 stores and growing), the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, and available at a growing number of restaurants, food trailers and natural food delivery companies. <br> <br> Ulmer appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank" and snagged $60,000 in backing. She also received an award as one of the top black innovators at South by Southwest. And she's even made an appearance at the White House. Mikaila Ulmer is a social entrepreneur, bee ambassador, educator and student. <br> <br> Source: <strong><a contents="BeeSweetLemonade" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://beesweetlemonade.com/" target="_blank">BeeSweetLemonade</a></strong></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="OHhmlJylBkI" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/OHhmlJylBkI/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OHhmlJylBkI?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41111662016-03-29T16:39:03-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Queen Latifah is executive producing a new series for Travel Channel<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e128238641614145905ce07ba9b2c7dce46a311a/medium/queen-la.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Queen Latifah is executive producing a new series set to air this summer on the Travel Channel. <br> <br> It is called “The Best Place To Be,” featuring stars divulging their favorite places to eat, drink, shop and sightsee. A-list celebs will take viewers on an all-access trip to their favorite cities around the world. From the moment they touch down, some of the world’s biggest stars take us off the beaten path to show us their go-to spots. The show is scheduled to premiere in July. <br> <br> Source: Deadline</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41077722016-03-27T13:22:24-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Student founder turns down Microsoft and Google to build dating app BAE<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a17ad869c72e3c1e27942c756e0c48ab7d395dc5/medium/bae-founders.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Over 30 million Americans have used an online dating service or mobile dating app, according to Pew Research Center. Yet Black online users face apparent bias: Data collected from 25 million OkCupid accounts demonstrated that when users rated their matches they penalized Black men and women. Bae: Before Anyone Else, a mobile dating app created by Jordan Kunzika, Brian Gerrard and Justin Gerrard, hopes to make online dating a better experience for Black people. <br> <br> Bae founders cultivated their user base by going directly to the communities they believe need the app. They hosted an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) tour, which consisted of parties and mixers where people who matched on Bae could meet in person. All attendees had to have Bae downloaded to participate. Within a few weeks of their April 2015 launch, they reached 17,000 downloads, and have grown over ten times since. Bae’s founders are from the community they are building for–an essential dimension of their success. <br> <br> Jordan Kunzika, CTO of Bae and senior at Dartmouth College, is a first generation Angolan-American who often was the only Black person in his computer science classes. Throughout his journey he had few role models of color to look up to. “I quickly realized that it was up to me to either let this negatively affect me, or let it motivate me to be successful, so that people who come after me will have role models who look like them” says Kunzika. He is a Google Generation Scholar and has done internships with Microsoft and Intel, but when deciding what to do after graduation he chose Bae. “I was honored to get full-time offers from Microsoft and Google before even turning 21, but I knew that I could serve a higher calling to represent a paradigm shift in what a tech entrepreneur could look like,” he says. <br> <br> Kunzika met his co-founders Justin and Brian Gerrard in his junior year and quickly joined the team after they pitched Bae to him. Bae has reached users all over the globe. They are even listed as a Top 50 Lifestyle app in twenty African and Caribbean countries. <br> <br> Similar to other dating apps, Bae users swipe right for those they’re interested in and left for those they’re not. According to the founders what makes Bae different is their proprietary algorithm built by Kunzika. “What users like the most about Bae,” he explains, “is the quality of the matches and that it helps you find those you’re most interested in”. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Tech Crunch" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/25/student-founder-turns-down-microsoft-and-google-to-build-bae-an-app-for-black-singles/?ncid=rss" target="_blank">Tech Crunch</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41056592016-03-25T16:11:22-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Apple is jumping into Original TV in a series on apps with Will.I.Am<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/39bfbcca287a80c559a86716541dc0dc9f7ca85b/medium/william.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Apple’s ambitions to go head to head with Netflix and create its own lineup of exclusive movies and TV shows has long been the subject of much chatter and speculation. But its first original TV project a nonscripted series about apps might sound more like a marketing campaign than a blockbuster production. <br> <br> Apple announced that it was working with the entertainer Will.i.am and two veteran TV executives, Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, on a new show that will spotlight the app economy. <br> <br> Details about the production are scant, and it was unclear how directly the show would promote or refer to Apple’s own app store. Executives declined to discuss specifics, such as financing, title, timeline, storylines, episode length or how people will watch the show. <br> The new app show came about after Mr. Silverman brought the idea to Apple. Mr. Silverman, who is an executive producer of the TV series “Jane the Virgin,” “Marco Polo” and “Flaked,” worked with Mr. Cue nearly a decade ago when he was an executive producer of “The Office,” which was made available on iTunes. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="NY Times" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/business/media/apples-first-foray-into-original-tv-is-a-series-about-apps.html?smid=tw-share" target="_blank">NY Times</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41035602016-03-24T14:31:48-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Virtual Visas are burner debit cards to keep online shoppers safe<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2f8cdfb06505b8092254e6e8e723679402366ba8/medium/debit-burner-1.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Slinging your credit card information all over the web may be the norm when you’re online shopping, but playing fast and loose with those precious numbers is just begging for identity theft to happen. A new company dubbed Privacy.com thinks it has a solution to the problem. Instead of handing out your actual debit and credit card numbers, Privacy.com lets you create “virtual” debit cards that are locked for use with a single vendor, or “burner” cards that are valid only for one-time use. <br> <br> If no one has your actual credit card, the thinking goes, then your credentials are safe from the next major database breach or the one after that. That basic idea has already gained interest from investors. The company announced in October that it had raised $1.2 million from investors, including Jim Messina, former White House deputy chief of staff and main driver of President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. And the company’s founders include Andy Roth, the former chief privacy officer for American Express. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="PC World" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/3047813/internet/privacycoms-virtual-visas-are-burner-debit-cards-that-keep-online-shoppers-safe.html#tk.rss_all" target="_blank">PC World</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41035592016-03-24T14:28:48-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Internet providers have huge data systems to track your every move <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e72a9019f71125f4ac2ee24634d8620cad181adf/medium/spyware.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Web users face an even greater threat to their privacy as large ISPs align themselves more closely with data brokers to track their customers, an advocacy group said. Several large ISPs have either formed partnerships with, or acquired, data tracking and analytics firms in recent years, giving them a "vast storehouse of consumer data," according to a report from the Center for Digital Democracy. <br> <br> "ISPs have been on a shopping spree to help build their data-targeting system across devices and platforms," the report says. "Superfast computers analyze our information ... to decide in milliseconds whether to target us for marketing and more." <br> <br> Through digital dossiers that merge all of this information, we can be bought and sold in an instant to financial marketers, fast-food companies, and health advertisers all without our knowledge." ISPs are increasingly using programmatic advertising "fueled by powerful alliances among data, media, advertising and technology companies," the report says. The new advertising model "encompasses nearly all the device and formats we rely on including mobile, audio and video." <br> <br> Some ISPs now have the ability to marry a customer's Web surfing history with his or her TV viewing habits and mobile app use to target advertising across devices, the report says. CDD has sent the report to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which is scheduled to vote next week on the first step toward tougher privacy rules for ISPs. Several ISPs have opposed the proposals, saying it's not necessary for the FCC to get involved in policing privacy. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="PC World" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/3047491/internet/isps-have-built-huge-data-systems-to-track-you-with-report-says.html#tk.rss_all" target="_blank">PC World</a> <br> </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/41019062016-03-23T16:01:20-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Play on comedian/civil rights activist Dick Gregory will open this spring starring Joe Morton<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4a8534e8fb34eccac33cda5a843d102d4f241584/medium/dick-gregory.png?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>A play about comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory will open off-Broadway this spring starring Joe Morton and with an original song by John Legend. "Turn Me Loose," by Gretchen Law will play the Westside Theatre starting May 3 with John Gould Rubin directing. Legend and Mike Jackson will produce. <br> <br> Gregory, 83, was one of the first black comedians to be embraced by white America in the early 1960s. His sharp commentary soon led him into civil rights activism, where his ability to woo audiences through humor helped bring national attention to fledgling efforts at integration and social equality. <br> <br> Morton is best known for his role as Rowan Pope on "Scandal." His film roles include "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," ''Speed," ''American Gangster" and "The Astronaut's Wife." <br> Legend has lately turned his attention to theater, producing the solo off-Broadway show "3 Mics" by Neal Brennan and contributing to "The SpongeBob Musical" in Chicago. <br> <br> <a contents="Turn Me Loose Play" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.turnmelooseplay.com/" target="_blank">http://www.turnmelooseplay.com/</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40980612016-03-21T13:25:17-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Prince will publish highly anticipated autobiography late 2017<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2cfd5d6dcb8c1ddc440c487ae18778d93187a145/medium/prince-1.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>In what will be one of the most anticipated memoirs in music history, Prince has revealed that he is working on an autobiography that his publishers Spiegel & Grau describe as "an unconventional and poetic journey through his life and creative work." <br> <br> There are no shortages of intriguing topics that Prince can scribe about, from his rise in the Twin Cities music scene (detailed semi-fictionally in Purple Rain), his many muses and his very public fallout with Warner Bros., resulting in a half-decade as "the Artist Formerly Known as Prince." The singer's memoir might also finally corroborate Eddie Murphy's brother's story about playing basketball versus Prince and the Revolution at Paisley Park, as told to Chappelle's Show. <br> <br> In general we do know that Prince will be writing in his own words about his family life, the "people, places and ideas that fired his imagination" as well as the inspiration behind many of his classic songs. Prince's as-yet-untitled memoir is scheduled to arrive in fall 2017. <br> News of Prince's memoir comes after a series of the singer's intimate Piano & A Microphone performances, where Prince has shared personal stories from his life, including a touching tribute to his one-time girlfriend and collaborator Vanity. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Rolling Stone" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/prince-to-publish-unconventional-memoir-in-2017-20160318" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40890522016-03-15T14:48:56-04:002017-01-11T08:55:56-05:00Sony to Buy Out Michael Jackson Estate’s Stake in Sony/ATV Catalog for $750 Million<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d7fc65d44ddf66680f6ecb03c1c68630e5e0dee2/medium/mijac.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Sony is set to buy out the Michael Jackson estate’s half stake in the Sony/ATV song catalogue for $750 million. The total “includes a lump sum payment by SCA of approximately $733 million as well as distributions previously committed to by Sony/ATV to be paid to the Estate,” according to the statement from the Sony Corporation. The payment also reflects certain contractual and accounting adjustments related to the Sony/ATV joint venture and other commercial opportunities involving Sony and Jackson’s estate. <br> <br> Jackson purchased ATV, which is home to many of the Beatles’ best publishing copyrights, in 1985 for $47.5 million, despite some thinking that he was overpaying for it. In 1995, Jackson merged the business with Sony’s music publishing arm to form Sony/ATV. The “Thriller” singer died on June 25, 2009, at age 50, and earned more than any other entertainer either dead or alive in the first five years after his passing. It is estimated that he earned a net worth of $750 million during his lifetime, and it is believed that he has earned over $100 million every calendar year since his death.<br> <br> Source:<a contents=" The Wrap" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thewrap.com/sony-to-buy-out-michael-jackson-estates-stake-in-sonyatv-song-catalogue-for-750-million/" target="_blank"> The Wrap</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40889172016-03-15T13:48:19-04:002022-04-24T06:30:30-04:00Anaya Lee Willabus is The Youngest Published Chapter Book Author In The U.S.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0bf6a3f893bcad4563fc36cbd9707218ae9b68cf/medium/anaya.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Anaya Lee Willabus launched her writing career and made history at the same time when she published her first book, “The Day Mohan Found His Confidence.” It was published in May 2015 when she was only 8 years old, making her the youngest person in the United States to publish a chapter book. <br> <br> The novel follows a young boy named Mohan as he overcomes challenges at home and school but he ultimately learns he can do anything with the help and support of family and friends. Willabus' parents praised her for her self-motivation. Since she began reading at the age of 2, the Brooklyn-native has read all of the books in her family's library which her mom said consisted of more than 300 books. <br> <br> Listen to what Anaya has to say with her parents below:</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Otuc-w3bjGo" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Otuc-w3bjGo/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Otuc-w3bjGo?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40766902016-03-07T14:40:35-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Ryan Leslie creates SMS tool "Superphone" to build better relationships with fans <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/43a0961bfdfde0d99c40105f0552a7f537d4dadb/medium/ryanles.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Ryan Leslie gave every fan his phone number. It’s (915) 600-6978. But instead of a million unwanted phone calls, it’s making him money and giving him deeper intelligence about his listeners than anyone in the music business. That’s why A16z’s Ben Horowitz, Betaworks, and more investors just put a $1.5 million seed round into Leslie’s startup Disruptive Multimedia. It’s turning the SMS-based CRM and direct sales tool called Superphone that Leslie coded himself into a product any celebrity or creator can use to galvanize and monetize their audience. <br> <br> “We’re building a way for artists to own their relationship with their fans” Leslie tells me. Beyond his own hip-hop and RnB recordings, Leslie rose to fame producing for artists like Snoop Dogg, Cassie, and Usher. “What I started to find was that social networks were anti-social networks” the musician says. <br> <br> With platforms like Facebook and Twitter proving unreliable ways to reach fans, and the mobile generation sidestepping email, Superphone builds a bond on the most powerful piece of contact information: the phone number. <br> <br> There’s now 2700 Superphone private beta clients across verticals, including musicians like Lil Wayne and Kevin Jonas as well as authors like Bonin Bough. For a fee based on how many text messages they send plus a 5% tax on ecommerce payments, they know exactly who each of their fans are, how much they’ve spent, and can send them personalized messages and sales offers. <br> <br> Here’s how Superphone works. Celebrities and other clients can distribute a special phone number connected to their Superphone account. Any time a fan calls or texts it, or buys something on one of their online stores and fills out a form, they get a welcome message prompting them to provide some personal info. That could include location, biographical info, or any data type the client wants to segment their audience by. <br> <br> Superphone creates a next-generation phone book that’s actually more of a customer relationship management tool. For now it’s a web tool but the Superphone team hopes to have native apps available in the next few weeks. The Superphone dashboard lets clients view charts and graphs of who is paying for what so they can hone in on their most important fans. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Tech Crunch" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/07/superphone/?ncid=rss" target="_blank">Tech Crunch</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40623282016-02-26T15:38:30-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Ryan Coogler Teams Up for "Minors" TV Series<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/6011097d5fad56160d5bb341d01ce344c2bb0303/medium/ryan-coog.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>“Creed” director Ryan Coogler, “Short Term 12” helmer Destin Daniel Cretton and production company Macro (founded by Charles King) are teaming to develop a new TV series, “Minors,” Variety has learned. <br> <br> Created by Coogler, Cretton and writer Chinaka Hodge, “Minors” will tackle institutionalization in a unique and fresh way by exploring juvenile facilities and the kids that grow up in the system. The drama will be specifically structured to show how the facilities shape the kids over a one-year time period. The project is based on Cretton’s experience working in residential foster care, Coogler’s East Bay area upbringing and time working in a juvenile detention facility, and Hodge’s experience teaching underserved youth in Bay Area continuation schools and her 15 years of working with local youth. <br> The series will be exec produced by Coogler, Cretton, Hodge, King, Macro’s president of production Kim Roth, and Macro’s SVP of production Poppy Hanks. “Short Term 12” producer Asher Goldstein will serve as co-executive producer. Coogler and Cretton will direct the series, with Hodge penning the scripts. It remains to be seen where the project will land, but given the auspices, the show is likely to attract interest from both traditional and streaming networks. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Variety" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/minors-series-ryan-coogler-destin-cretton-charles-king-1201714996/" target="_blank">Variety</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40579542016-02-24T14:03:03-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Intel Invests $1.3 Million In CODE2040 to help Black, Latino/a students get involved in Tech<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1e4e991f108de6db59adccb7aa116aa8303589f9/medium/code2040.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>As part of Intel’s $300 million commitment to diversity, the company has announced a multi-year partnership and $1.3 million investment in CODE2040, a non-profit organization that helps get Black and Latino/a students of color involved in tech. This comes a little over a month after CODE2040 raised $1.2 million from the Knight Foundation. <br> <br> The money will go towards supporting CODE2040’s Fellows program, which places students in career-building workshops and internships at top tech companies and Technical Application Prep programs, a newer CODE2040 initiative aimed to prepare students to get internships and thrive at top tech companies. This year and next, Intel will host 60 student interns from the CODE2040 Fellows program in Santa Clara. Intel will also host students from CODE2040’s TAP program for part of a five-day Tech Trek. <br> <br> “We are very proud of the multi-year partnership with Intel to create access, awareness, and opportunities for Black and Latino/a engineering talent,” CODE2040 CEO Laura Weidman Powers said in a statement. “This transformative partnership allows CODE2040 to expand our work to increase the impact of diversity in the innovation economy. Together with Intel, we are excited to create more experiences like this one, described by Anthony Williams, a TAP participant.” <br> <br> Source: Tech Crunch</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40538602016-02-22T13:28:14-05:002019-06-11T04:24:47-04:00Former NBA star Ray Allen is opening 1st organic fast food shop on east coast<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/30fe4c7d1a5e0d2e6fc9061052ee975ac6a490d1/medium/grown.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /> <table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Former NBA star Ray Allen is getting into the restaurant business. Allen and his wife, Shannon, are opening an organic fast-food restaurant called Grown, the Miami Herald reports. Opening in March in Miami, where Allen played his final two seasons, Grown will be one of the first organic fast-food restaurants in the country and the only such offering with a drive-thru on the East Coast. <br> <br> The Allens' inspiration to open the restaurant came from trying to meet the special dietary needs of their son, who has Type 1 diabetes. "I had an aha moment where I realized I couldn't sit around helpless waiting for someone else to create a fast-food option that met our family's dietary needs, and as we did our research it became obvious that this wasn't a struggle unique to us — families everywhere are looking for convenience without compromise." <br> <br> The Allens partnered with Todd Kiley, the executive chef of Rainforest Cafe, to create the menu. It will offer organic and gluten-free options like acai and fruit bowls, chicken-tortilla soup, and lettuce wraps featuring eggs, mushrooms, and diced honey baked ham, according to the company's Facebook page. In true fast-food form, the restaurant will have a drive-thru, carry-out services, and grab-and-go prepared items. "People want to be healthier, eat cleaner, and feel better about what they're putting in their bodies," Ray Allen told the Herald. <br> <br> Source: Business Insider</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/106d09ee0820d667a39122063b0d925273233c80/medium/grown-2.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" />thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40389892016-02-12T15:51:36-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00New film "Manchild" tells the story of the prototype for Lebron James <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b53a17b202d3e4219fdc0f7fe389393cc9bf143d/medium/schea.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>As further proof that there is nothing new under the sun, the documentary “Manchild” tells the story of Schea Cotton who came before LeBron James. He came up during the time of Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett but had the frame and skills of what the world would see with James. Check out the trailer below with cameos from Baron Davis, Randy Moss, Paul Pierce, Ron Artest, Elton Brand, Stephen Jackson and more. </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="S05f_MF2Dx0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/S05f_MF2Dx0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S05f_MF2Dx0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40365632016-02-11T13:59:19-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Ryan Coogler to support the next generation of UK Talent as Creative Talent Ambassador<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/6011097d5fad56160d5bb341d01ce344c2bb0303/medium/ryan-coog.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Creed helmer and co-writer w has been appointed as the first Warner Bros Creative Talent Ambassador. The studio’s program supports the next generation of UK talent, with scholarships that provide work placements, mentoring, apprenticeships and training courses. <br> <br> Coogler himself was a Time Warner Foundation Fellow, supported early in his career by the foundation in partnership with Sundance Institute. That enabled him to develop his first feature, Fruitvale Station which put him on the map as a formidable new voice, and won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. His 2015 release, Creed, expands the Rocky saga and scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Sylvester Stallone. It’s grossed over $167M to date worldwide. <br> <br> Coogler said, “Having experienced firsthand the support and impact of programs similar to Warner Bros Creative Talent, it is fantastic to know that passionate young people of all backgrounds are being given the chance to follow their dreams here in the UK. This can be a tough industry and so we need to do what we can to bring talented young people into it.” <br> Creative Talent is in its third season, and gives young people of all backgrounds invaluable industry experience and insight across WB’s UK film, TV, video games and theater operations. A series of special events and master classes delivered by industry experts is an integral part of the scheme. <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Deadline" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://deadline.com/2016/02/ryan-coogler-warner-bros-creative-talent-ambassador-1201700505/" target="_blank">Deadline</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40347552016-02-10T14:28:47-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Serena Williams lends her hand to build a school in Jamaica<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1aaa02e0c021478b09b3d113b707966196e1fbb9/large/serena-builds.jpg?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Never mind the fact that Serena Williams has 21 Grand Slam titles. Or that she’s the greatest athlete ever. It’s the work that she does in her spare time off the tennis court that should be highlighted. Over the last couple of days, Williams has been building a school in Jamaica. Yes, you read that right. <br> <br> Williams’ organization, the Serena Williams Fund, partnered with Helping Hands Jamaica to build the Salt Marsh Primary School. <br> <br> Source: The Root</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40323742016-02-09T11:47:25-05:002023-10-15T09:03:16-04:00Cameron Newton responds to his Super Bowl critics masterfully <br><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/dd18e853e769076f2bba57b92f94c207aaf714b7/medium/cam-speaks.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></span>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Cameron Newton responds to all his critics after the Super Bowl and basically says what no one wants to here and that is I am my own person and choose to live and make decisions according to my values. </p>
<p>Something that is often lauded but only if it's someone that you approve of or like. Watch his comments below. </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="FphWK8ApteY" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/FphWK8ApteY/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FphWK8ApteY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40149192016-01-29T14:05:01-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Fresh Water for Flint by Jon Connor feat. Keke Palmer <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4b0c6f156d70c6acc659cdf15f2e384d295b2c79/medium/jonconnor.jpg?1454093521" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Unless you’ve been totally hidden from society you have probably seen or heard about the Flint Water Crisis. A systematic poisoning of an entire city in Flint, Michigan via the negligence and out right disregard of the water delivered to residents. If you want the broad details reference here: <a contents="goo.gl/M7znof" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://goo.gl/M7znof" target="_blank">goo.gl/M7znof</a><br> <br> When someone who is from the city speaks and can articulate from the inside what has happened, you must listen. Media is only going to paint the picture from the brush that they like. Artist Jon Connor who is from Flint, Michigan and can tell you what the true up and up is. He’s done that via a song called “Flint Water Crisis” with the help from actress KeKe Palmer on the chorus.<br> <br> Take a listen: <strong><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/jon-connor-1/fresh-water-for-flint" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/jon-connor-1/fresh-water-for-flint" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/jon-connor-1/fresh-water-for-flint</a></strong></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40084322016-01-26T14:25:23-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:0011yr old Marley Dias starts reading campaign to encourage diversity <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/11240cf48b499a7b4bf693ae93074488ade651f3/medium/marley-dias.jpg?1453836239" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Marley Dias is a leading revolution. Frustrated with the lack of diversity in her reading curriculum, the 11-year-old New Jersey student started a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks, which collects and donates books in which black girls are the main characters. <br> <br> The goal is to collection 1,000 titles by February 11, when Marley and two fellow student organizers will travel to St. Mary, Jamaica to deliver the books and host a book fair. The campaign will also compile a guide with the book titles, authors and age groups of collected books. <br> <br> "I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs," Dias told the Philly Voice. "And I told my mom I was going to start a book drive, and a specific book drive, where black girls are the main characters in the book and not background characters or minor characters." <br> The project aims to address more than just Dias's school curriculum, though. Janice Dias, Dias's mom who runs a public health and social action organization herself notes the importance of visibility for young readers all throughout the country. <br> <br> "For young black girls in the U.S., context is really important for them to see themselves and have stories that reflect experiences that are closer to what they have or their friends have," she says. <br> <br> If you want to join the campaign, you can send books to: <br> GrassROOTS Community Foundation <br> 59 Main Street, Suite 323, West Orange, NJ 07052 <br> <br> Source: <a contents="Mashable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://mashable.com/2016/01/26/1000-black-girl-books-marley-dias/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds#Ot9xUAAObmqg" target="_blank">Mashable</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/40023432016-01-22T13:58:58-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Acquires First Feature Film <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7348b7f93fc65d2e34bef08d49c69f7d2d31ba5a/medium/byron-allen.jpg?1451403537" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios, Inc., has announced the independent producer/distributor's first motion picture acquisition - "Friend Request" - for North American distribution through its recently-purchased theatrical distribution company Freestyle Releasing. <br> <br> The horror/thriller film "Friend Request" marks the first official acquisition since the Byron Allen-owned independent studio closed the deal to purchase the Los Angeles-based independent film distribution company Freestyle Releasing in October. The acquisition of "Friend Request" also marks the first time Freestyle Releasing will extend its services beyond its traditional “service only” theatrical distribution business model. <br> <br> "Friend Request" stars Alycia Debnam-Carey as college student ‘Laura’ who faces unexpected and grave consequences when she unfriends on social media a mysterious female loner from her high school. Soon after Laura's un-friending, she and her closest friends find themselves stalked by a demonic force. "Friend Request" also stars Brit Morgan, William Moseley, and Connor Paolo, and was directed by Simon Verhoeven, from a screenplay by Verhoeven, Matthew Ballen, and Philip Koch. <br> <br> The deal was negotiated by Freestyle Releasing Head of Acquisitions Chris Charalambous and WME Global on behalf of German-based producers Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann of Wiedemann & Berg Film. <br> <br> "Friend Request" is set for a fourth quarter 2016 wide release throughout North America. “We at Entertainment Studios are excited to further extend our global media footprint with our new feature film division Freestyle Releasing,” said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios. <br> <br> Source:<a contents=" Shadow and Act" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/byron-allens-entertainment-studios-acquires-first-feature-film-via-freestyle-releasing-20160121" target="_blank"> Shadow and Act</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39864302016-01-12T21:41:05-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00NFL football is back in Los Angeles, the deal is officially approved<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/3ca8d8a14ad750e5da05b90464763a398fcb1f15/original/nfl-back-in-la.jpg?1452652604" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>NFL owners voted on Jan 12 to allow the St. Louis Rams to move to a new stadium just outside Los Angeles, and the San Diego Chargers will have an option to share the facility. The Oakland Raiders, who also wanted to move to the area, were left out of the deal, but could move to Los Angeles if San Diego doesn't, Commissioner Roger Goodell said. The moves end the NFL's 21-year absence from the nation's second-largest media market. <br> <br> The Rams issued the following statement on their reloation to L.A. <br> <br> "This has been the most difficult process of my professional career," said Rams owner E. Stanley Kroenke. "While we are excited about the prospect of building a new stadium in Inglewood, California, this is bitter sweet. St. Louis is a city known for its incredibly hard-working, passionate and proud people. Being part of the group that brought the NFL back to St. Louis in 1995 is one of the proudest moments of my professional career. Reaching two Super Bowls and winning one are things all St. Louisans should always treasure. <br> <br> "While there understandably has been emotionally charged commentary regarding our motives and intentions, the speculation is not true and unfounded. I am a Missouri native named after two St. Louis sports legends who I was fortunate enough to know on a personal level. This move isn't about whether I love St. Louis or Missouri. I do and always will. No matter what anyone says, that will never change. This decision is about what is in the best long-term interests of the Rams organization and the National Football League. We have negotiated in good faith with the Regional Sports Authority for more than a decade trying to find a viable and sustainable solution. When it became apparent that we might not be able to reach an agreement, it was then and only then that we looked at alternatives. <br> <br> "We would like to thank the National Football League, its owners, and the Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities for their diligence and dedication. We look forward to returning to Los Angeles and building a world-class NFL entertainment district in Inglewood." <br> <br> The compromise- the Chargers and Raiders wanted to share a new stadium in Carson, California, and the Rams wanted to move to nearby Inglewood - was approved 30-2 after the other options did not get the 24 votes needed for approval. <br> <br> The Chargers can continue to negotiate with San Diego for a new stadium deal, while keeping the option of joining at the Rams and owner Stan Kroenke at the $1.8 billion complex he is building. <br> <br> Source: NFL.com</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39767392016-01-06T13:42:52-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00House Of Lies set to be the First U.S. Scripted Series to Film in Cuba<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/dc2b1faad8f29ac11dbe6b7308ac0655cc3cd171/medium/marty-khan.jpg?1452105684" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p><span class="font_regular">Hollywood is taking another step toward the normalization of the relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Showtime’s dark comedy series House Of Lies is heading to the Caribbean island to film its fifth-season finale, marking the first time an American scripted series will be shot in the country since the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic relations last summer. <br> The cast, led by star/executive producer Don Cheadle, will travel for the shoot, set to set to take place in and around the capital Havana. The season finale will be directed by House Of Lies creator Matthew Carnahan. The penultimate Season 5 episode, which will set up the Cuba-themed closer, is being directed by Carnahan’s wife, actress-director Helen Hunt. <br> <br> House Of Lies, which is based on the book by Martin Kihn, stars Cheadle as manipulative management consultant Marty Kaan. In the upcoming fifth season, Marty is a man with a singular focus ascending from millionaire mogul to global dominator. No longer content with fleecing big-money clients, he’s upping the stakes in a highly calculated winner-take-all power play that will land him and the Pod, Jeannie (Kristen Bell), Clyde (Ben Schwartz) and Doug (Josh Lawson) in Cuba. <br> <br> Guest stars for the fifth season include Wanda Sykes as a love interest for Jeremiah (Glynn Turman), Keegan-Michael Key as the CEO of a hair care line and Ken Marino as a love interest for Jeannie. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, John Cho, Donald Faison and Nicky Whelan also guest star. Carnahan executive produces with Jessika Borsiczky, Cheadle and David Walpert. <br> <br> House of Lies’ Cuba shoot is being done in compliance with the U.S. Department of Treasury pursuant to an Office of Foreign Assets Control license following all appropriate U.S. laws. US TV shows that have already filmed on the island include Discovery’s reality series Cuban Chrome, which shot entirely on location there, and TBS’ late-night talk show Conan. <br> <br> Source: Deadline</span></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39704702016-01-04T13:26:41-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00A computer can grade you by watching you learn, avoiding test<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/79bfa6a0c91da466df0109295a7e3567b6351377/medium/test-take.jpg?1451931832" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>A new algorithm could both improve your knowledge and do away with formal tests altogether. Developed by researchers at Stanford University and Google in California, it analyses students’ performance on past practice problems, identifies where they tend to go wrong and forms a picture of their overall knowledge. <br> <br> The idea of using software to track a student’s progress isn’t new. But few attempts so far have exploited deep learning, the cutting-edge discipline of making machines learn by digesting large amounts of data. <br> <br> Chris Piech at Stanford and his team fed their system more than 1.4 million student answers to math problems set on the online learning platform Khan Academy, and the corresponding scores. They also trained a neural network to sort questions by type: those involving square roots, the slope of graphs, or calculating where a line meets the horizontal axis on a graph, for example. With all this information, the system then began to learn each student’s capabilities on each question type. <br> <br> The model could predict with up to 85 per cent accuracy whether a student would get a new exercise right or wrong, just by looking at a few dozen other questions they had already answered. Piech presented the results at the Neural Information Processing Systems conference in Montreal, Canada, in December 2015. <br> <br> Piech envisions a more sophisticated version that not only predicts which questions a student is likely to get wrong, but also understands why. It would be nice, says Piech, “If we could all afford a really expensive tutor who could spend time thinking about what you should learn”. That’s not realistic, but we could one day just use this type of software to pinpoint where someone is struggling and help them improve. Eventually, the system could become accurate enough to do away with exams altogether, he says. “Our intuition tells us if you pay enough attention to what a student did as they were learning, you wouldn’t need to have them sit down and do a test.” <br> <br> Neil Heffernan, a computer scientist at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, agrees that it’s important to develop better ways to predict students’ performance. But he wonders whether the new system is of any practical value: can it, for instance, tell us how to better teach students of different backgrounds or skill levels?<br> <br> Source: New Scientist </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39682782015-12-29T10:45:36-05:002017-09-21T02:24:53-04:00Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios’ will be carried on AT&T and DirecTV after Bias Suit settlement<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7348b7f93fc65d2e34bef08d49c69f7d2d31ba5a/large/byron-allen.jpg?1451403537" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios has a carriage deal with AT&T and DirecTV a little more than a year after it joined in a $10 billion lawsuit that accused the distributors of carrying too few minority-owned services. <br> <br> The telco’s DirecTV picked up Comedy.TV and Justice Central.TV beginning today, the company says in a brief announcement. U-verse will offer Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV, ES.TV, MyDestination.TV, Cars.TV, and Pets.TV — and continue to offer Justice Central. <br> <br> The deal resolves a discrimination suit against AT&T and DirecTV filed last December by Entertainment Studios and the National Association of African American Owned Media. The charge that the pay TV companies had discriminated against minority-owned channels came as AT&T and DirecTV awaited government approval for their merger deal which closed in July. <br> <br> The telco and satellite company paid $22 billion a year on carriage fees and ads, but only $3 million of that went to companies 100% owned by African Americans, the suit charged. The lawsuit states that, together, AT&T and DirecTV spend about $22 billion a year on channel carriage fees and advertising. Of that, less than $3 million goes to 100% African American owned media. <br> <br> The companies vigorously denied that they had discriminated. Entertainment Studios filed similar legal challenges against Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which also denied the charges. <br> <br> Source: Deadline</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39679242015-12-27T10:40:52-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Chinese Medicinal Herbs may help US Farmers gain a new income stream<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a7968e37d58232f93c01c9756b6679456adbf3a0/medium/chinese-herbs.jpg?1451230637" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Expanding interest in traditional Chinese medicine in the United States is fostering a potentially lucrative new niche market for farmers who plant the varieties of herbs, flowers and trees sought by practitioners. While almost all practitioners still rely on imports from China, dwindling wild stands there, as well as quality and safety concerns, could drive up demand for herbs grown in the U.S. Several states have set up "growing groups" to help farmers establish trial stands of the most popular plants. <br> <br> "As a farmer, I love the idea of growing something no one else is growing, something that's good for people," said Rebekah Rice of Delmar, near Albany, who is among 30 members of a New York growing group. Jean Giblette, a researcher who has established New York's group, said it could also be a moneymaker. She estimates the market for domestically grown medicinal plants to be $200 million to $300 million a year. <br> <br> Traditional Chinese medicine is gaining mainstream acceptance in the U.S. There are 30,000 licensed practitioners across the country, 46 states issue licenses, often requiring a master's degree and continuing education credits. In 2014, the Cleveland Clinic opened one of the first hospital-based Chinese herbal therapy clinics in the country. <br> <br> More than 300 plants are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Giblette and Peg Schafer, an herb grower in Petaluma, California, compiled a list of marketable species for U.S. farmers. They include Angelica dahurica, a flowering perennial whose root is used to relieve pain and inflammation; Aster tataricus, a relative of garden asters said to have anti-bacterial properties; Mentha haplocalyx, a mint used for stomach ailments; and Salvia miltiorrhiza, a type of sage whose roots are used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases. <br> <br> The National Institutes of Health says traditional Chinese medical techniques which included practices such as acupuncture and Tai Chi are primarily used as a complement to mainstream medicine. The agency cautions that some medicinal herbs can have serious side effects, and there isn't enough rigorous scientific evidence to know whether traditional Chinese medicine works for the conditions it treats. Clinical trials are difficult because treatments involve combinations of plants customized for each patient. <br> <br> Market research shows high demand and low supply, said Rob Glenn, chairman of the nonprofit Blue Ridge Center for Chinese Medicine in Pilot, Virginia. <br> <br> Using an economic development grant from the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, the Blue Ridge Center is enlisting local farmers to grow medicinal herbs that the center will process and sell to licensed practitioners. This year, the center planted 38 species on 35 farms. <br> <br> From an economic standpoint, Glenn said the goal is to introduce a crop that could supplement a farmer's income by as much as $15,000 a year effectively doubling the income of farmers in the economically distressed area. <br> <br> To reach that goal, a farmer would have to devote an acre to the project for eight years, Glenn said. Because some of the plants are trees or perennials that take years to grow to marketable size, it will take time to achieve maximum return on investment, he said. The center's initial research indicates a return-on-investment ranging from $1.69 per plant for Celosia, an annual flowering plant used for various eye maladies and bleeding, to $20 for Angelica. <br> <br> Source: ABC News</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39674442015-12-24T10:10:33-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Yahoo now warns users if they're targets of government hackers<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/dd602fc297193daf04759dd5f8745ac039b239c1/original/hack.jpg?1450969614" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p><br> </p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Yahoo will now warn users if they have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers. <br> <br> Bob Lord, the company's newly appointed chief information security officer, said in a blog post that it will notify users if it suspects suspect that their account may have been targeted by a state-sponsored actor. <br> <br> "We'll provide these specific notifications so that our users can take appropriate measures to protect their accounts and devices in light of these sophisticated attacks," said Lord. <br> <br> Yahoo's security team, dubbed the "Paranoids," will provide notifications to targeted users with "specific actions" so that they can ensure their Yahoo accounts are safe and secure. The numerous safety steps on offer to the user, in part thanks to Lord's predecessor, Alex Stamos, who left earlier this year to work for Facebook, includes two-factor authentication and verifying account recovery information is valid and up-to-date. <br> <br> Yahoo's isn't alone in offering this level of warning to its users. The company is following in the footsteps of Google, which brought its state-sponsored attack notification system to Gmail in 2012 just months after the company pulled itself out of China citing a similar attack. <br> <br> Facebook recently said it would also warn users if it believes government hackers are after them, despite its reluctance in telling users exactly how or why they were targeted. Twitter earlier this week warned a number of users that their accounts had been targeted by state-sponsored attackers. <br> <br> Lord said in his blog post that Yahoo would follow a similar path. "In order to prevent the actors from learning our detection methods, we do not share any details publicly about these attacks," said Lord. "However, rest assured we only send these notifications of suspected attacks by state-sponsored actors when we have a high degree of confidence." <br> <br> Source: ZD Net</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39670472015-12-22T13:31:57-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Stephon Marbury has his own museum in Beijing to go along with his statue<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c48487324eca6ab32f5fb6d4a1984e5dd80a6553/medium/marbury-muse.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_none border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/5b7bfe242c6d18634d4e4c75cba6e986c2041535/medium/marbury-statue.jpg?1450808297" class="size_m justify_none border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/16e09f98b1de3942f259f5eeabe082620f17b29e/small/marbury-statue-2.jpg?1450808297" class="size_s justify_none border_none" alt="" /> </div>
<div> <table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Stephon Marbury is so big in China that he's been immortalized with his own statue and postage stamp.Now a museum dedicated to the former NBA star is set to open Dec 28. Marbury attended the grand opening for the 300-square foot museum in Beijing on.<br> <br> Marbury has led the Beijing Ducks to three of the past four Chinese Basketball Association championships, including last season, when he was named finals MVP for the first time.<br> He averaged 29.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2 steals over the best-of-seven series, which Beijing won 4-2. <br> <br> A college standout at Georgia Tech, Marbury was a first-round pick in the 1996 NBA draft by Milwaukee, but he was traded to Minnesota. He also played for New Jersey and Phoenix before joining the New York Knicks amid high expectations that were never realized, partly because of the team's dysfunction. His last stop in the NBA was with Boston in 2009. With his NBA options becoming limited, Marbury decided in 2010 to head for China in hopes of jump-starting his career. He said of all his jerseys, his Beijing uniform means the most.<br> <br> "My Beijing jersey means more to me than any of them. I don't say that because of the championship, but just because I'm here at home and I've had a support system,"<br> Marbury said, according to china.org.cn. <br> <br> "All those places that I've played at is a preparation for me to come to Beijing. For me, my Beijing jersey will be the jersey that I will retire here in China." The 38-year-old Marbury is averaging 18.5 points per game this season for Beijing, which has a 13-7 record through 20 games. A statue of Marbury, erected in 2012, stands outside the Ducks' arena, and a postage stamp honoring him was unveiled in April, a month after he led the Ducks to their latest title. <br> <br> He even had a part in a musical inspired by his career's second act in China and has said he plans to stay in China after retiring and hopes to coach the national team someday. <br> <br> Source: ESPN</p> </td> </tr>
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<br> </div>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39667062015-12-20T19:43:58-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00History was made with DJ Con 125 DJ's on 125th Street<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a12ce98e5e4e47a70b4402b94e874b05cae470b8/medium/dj-con.jpg?1450658179" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>History was made with DJ Con back on Nov 19, 2015 in Harlem, New York when 125 DJ's rocked on125th Street at the Apollo Theatre. It was sponsored by The 125th St. Business Improvement District. If you missed it don't worry, DJ Con will be coming to a city near you. Check out the video below for highlights. </p>
<p>DJ-CON is part of RAPACON, an experiential traveling Hip Hop event providing authentic Hip Hop displays. Curtis Sherrod is Executive Director of DJ-Con, RAPACON and H2C2 LLC. For More information: <a contents="www.Rapacon.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.Rapacon.com">www.Rapacon.com</a></p> </td> </tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;"> </div><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="No-hTslh6MA" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/No-hTslh6MA/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/No-hTslh6MA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39588752015-12-10T14:08:35-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00 First Lady of the US Michelle Obama and SNL’s Jay Pharoah promote college<br><br><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/436e90143fd5f0ccb7e914507d148a8a513b0b10/original/lady-obama-mc.png?1449774387" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>How's this for a college recruitment video<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="_1yAOK0nSb0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/_1yAOK0nSb0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_1yAOK0nSb0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39574392015-12-09T16:36:54-05:002017-01-11T08:55:55-05:00Future Football Mouthguards will detect dehydration and Head injuries<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/773bbdc4f24151fbaba4d46f437840a7c681b0ac/medium/smrtmouth.jpg?1449696807" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>The humble mouthguard that C-shaped piece of plastic that protects an athlete’s teeth has remained relatively unchanged for the past 60 years. But today, the most unassuming part of a football player’s gear is poised for a technological makeover that would place it squarely in the middle of the most important phases of the game. <br> <br> Mouthguards won’t look too different from the outside, but they may soon gain the ability to help assess head injuries, tell you when you’re becoming dehydrated, or even transmit instructions directly from the sideline. One advantage that mouthguards hold over other gadgets is their location they’re quite literally inside your head which puts them in proximity to a lot of useful information. <br> <br> Athletes would have to get used to the idea of putting something in their mouth that’s filled with accelerometers, batteries, and antennas. A trio of companies are showing that the possibilities are remarkable. <br> <br> For the most pressing medical issue facing the NFL today, head injuries, a mouthguard acts as an early warning system. The Vector mouthguard, from i1 Biometrics, measures how the skull moves as a result of an impact. Here’s how it works: Your upper jaw moves wherever your skull moves. The Vector measures those forces and sends that data to trainers on the sidelines. That information, while not enough for a concussion diagnosis, gives a team’s medical staff another tool to determine whether to keep a player in the game. The Vector is available now for $199, and members of the LSU Tigers have been wearing the mouthguards this season. Other colleges, including Texas A&M and the University of South Carolina, have tested the technology. <br> <br> While i1 Biometrics CEO Jesse Harper spent years in the fitness monitoring business before opening his own startup, other companies in the same space have more unlikely leaders. Dana Hawes is an Army veteran and school principal who was hit with inspiration after watching LeBron James cramp up during Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals. As James pulled out his mouthguard and staggered to the bench, Hawes, a huge Miami Heat fan, was moved to learn how this could happen to one of the world’s best athletes at such a crucial time. <br> <br> Hawes’ research led him to found SMRT Mouth, designed to track hydration levels and signal when it’s time for a water break. The scientific principle behind the device is called osmolality, or the measure of how much one substance has been dissolved in another. SMRT Mouth’s readings of the osmolality of saliva can determine how hydrated you are. By also tracking your pulse, the device can look for changes in heart rate, along with variations in respiration and exertion. That data connects with a smartphone app to provide alerts when you’re nearing your limits. <br> <br> The project grabbed the attention of former Pro Bowler Michael Robinson, who signed on as SMRT Mouth’s president. Robinson, who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, has his own history with dehydration. <br> <br> He missed several weeks of the 2013 season when he became dehydrated after taking an anti-inflammatory drug, and back in high school in 2000, a teammate of Robinson’s collapsed and died of heat stroke. <br> <br> Source: Wired</p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39551642015-12-08T10:57:11-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Dr. Bennet Omalu says children should not play football <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a9c669d804de4eae1edfa1f3b13202f76e20407a/original/omalu.jpg?1449589965" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>WE’VE known since 1964 that cigarette smoking is harmful to your health. We’ve known for more than 40 years that alcohol damages the developing brain of a child. We’ve known since the mid 70's that asbestos causes cancer and other serious diseases. Knowing what we know now, we do not smoke in enclosed public spaces like airplanes; we have passed laws to keep children from smoking or drinking alcohol; and we do not use asbestos as an industrial product. As we become more intellectually sophisticated and advanced, with greater and broader access to information and knowledge, we have given up old practices in the name of safety and progress. That is, except when it comes to sports. Over the past two decades it has become clear that repetitive blows to the head in high impact contact sports like football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts and boxing place athletes at risk of permanent brain damage. There is even a Hollywood movie, “Concussion,” that dramatizes the story of my discoveries in this area of research. <br> <br> Why, then, do we continue to intentionally expose our children to this risk? If a child who plays football is subjected to advanced radiological and neurocognitive studies during the season and several months after the season, there can be evidence of brain damage at the cellular level of brain functioning, even if there were no documented concussions or reported symptoms. <br> <br> If that child continues to play over many seasons, these cellular injuries accumulate to cause irreversible brain damage, which we know now by the name Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a disease that I first diagnosed in 2002. Depending on the severity of the condition, the child now has a risk of manifesting symptoms of C.T.E. like major depression, memory loss, suicidal thought and actions, loss of intelligence as well as dementia later in life. C.T.E. has also been linked to drug and alcohol abuse as the child enters his 20's, 30's and 40's. <br> <br> The risk of permanent impairment is heightened by the fact that the brain, unlike most other organs, does not have the capacity to cure itself following all types of injuries. In more than 30 years of looking at normal brain cells in the microscope, I have yet to see a neuron that naturally creates a new neuron to regenerate itself. We are born with a certain number of neurons. We can only lose them; we cannot create new neurons to replenish old or dying ones. In 2011, the two leading and governing professional pediatrics associations in the United States and Canada, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Pediatric Society, published a position paper recommending that children should no longer be allowed to engage in high impact contact sports, exemplified by boxing, and willfully damage their developing brains. <br> <br> Since then, researchers have independently confirmed that the play of amateur or professional high impact contact sports is the greatest risk factor for the development of C.T.E. Where does society at large stand now, knowing what we know? As physicians, it is our role to educate and inform an adult about the dangers of, for example, smoking. If that adult decides to smoke, he is free to do so, and I will be the first to defend that freedom. <br> <br> In the same way, if an adult chooses to play football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts or boxing, it is within his rights. However, as a society, the question we have to answer is, when we knowingly and willfully allow a child to play high impact contact sports, are we endangering that child? <br> <br> Our children are minors who have not reached the age of consent. It is our moral duty as a society to protect the most vulnerable of us. The human brain becomes fully developed at about 18 to 25 years old. We should at least wait for our children to grow up, be provided with the information and education on the risk of play, and let them make their own decisions. No adult, not a parent or a coach, should be allowed to make this potentially life altering decision for a child. <br> <br> We have a legal age for drinking alcohol; for joining the military; for voting; for smoking; for driving; and for consenting to have sex. We must have the same when it comes to protecting the organ that defines who we are as human beings. Bennet Omalu is the chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County, Calif., and an associate clinical professor of pathology at the University of California, Davis. He is working on a memoir. <br> <br> Source: New York Times <br> </p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39549292015-12-08T05:38:23-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Most American colleges and universities are producing failing students <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ba61121295fab7ab3033e9a8d2365379180d565c/original/college.jpg?1449570709" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><br><span class="font_regular">The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) released the 2015–16 edition of What Will They Learn?,<br>a review of more than 1,100 institutions across the country. The results show that most colleges and universities<br>are failing students by allowing them to graduate with vast gaps in their skills and knowledge. America's universities<br>are graduating functionally illiterate, non-educated, "privileged" young adults who have virtually no real-world skills<br>or any real understanding of how society works.<br> <br>“It’s no wonder that so many employers cannot find the graduates they need,” said Anne D. Neal, ACTA president.<br>“What Will They Learn? looks at the most important data, the strength of a college’s education to find out which<br>institutions are providing real value for the vast amounts families must pay. Regrettably, very few are ensuring<br>students have the solid foundation they will need for success after graduation.”<br> <br>What Will They Learn? finds that the majority of college-educated students graduate without exposure to fundamental<br>courses like American history, basic economics or literature. At many institutions, it is possible for students to<br>graduate with little more knowledge of these basic courses than a high school student, often after paying $200,000<br>or more for their degree.<br> <br>Only 24 institutions receive an “A” grade for requiring at least six of seven subjects that are essential to a liberal<br>arts education: literature, composition, economics, math, intermediate-level foreign language, science and American<br>government/history.</span><br><br>Source: <a contents="ACTA" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.goacta.org/news/acta_releases_national_rating_of_over_1100_colleges_and_universities" target="_blank">ACTA</a><br><br>Get the full report here: <strong><a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.whatwilltheylearn.com" target="_blank">www.whatwilltheylearn.com</a></strong>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39477902015-12-03T13:51:18-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Masai Ujiri, Raptors GM to honour Nelson Mandela before Warriors game<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8a16b0568206147019dc6b9615453fea56b45228/medium/masai.jpg?1449168569" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Raptors president and general manager Masai Ujiri will host his second annual benefit in support<br>of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the charity that he co-founded in 2003, The Giant of Africa<br>on Dec 5. <br><br>Ujiri, born in Zaria, Nigeria, is on a mission to use basketball as a means to educate and enrich the<br>lives of the youth of Africa. He began the program in two countries, and is now planning for six countries<br>this summer. Ujiri's program goes into some areas of extreme poverty, such as Kibera, a slum to the<br>west of Nairobi, Kenya.<br><br>To honour Mandela, both the Raptors and Warriors will wear limited edition warm-up shirts and the<br>coaching staff and front office of both teams will don commemorative Giant of Africa lapel pins.<br>Though the program works with basketball players, the goal is larger than that. "We can teach youth<br>to think about basketball or sports in a different way. Not all of us are going to be professional players<br>in the NBA in fact very few. But we want to teach the kids there is something else to do."<br><br>Ujiri lists sports journalists, medical doctors, lawyers and other professions that work with sport. Ujiri<br>himself is an example of someone who doesn't play basketball but still got involved in the game, first<br>as a talent scout with the Denver Nuggets and now as the Raptors GM. He is the first African-born general<br>manager for a North American major league sports team.<br><br>He said basketball can be a means for some young people in African cities to "figure out how to get an<br>education." The tagline for his charity is, "basketball as a tool." The game, a year after Mandela's death,<br>is a reminder to him of the sacrifice and hard work it took for African countries to get where they are today,<br>and the work that remains. That work is something he is proud to do.<br><br>"For me it's an obligation. It's something I have to do. I really don't feel pressure in the job I have. The<br>only part I feel pressure is how much I help in Africa," he said. "If there is no one to continue this," he<br>continued, "then I don't know how successful we have been here."<br><br>Source: CBC News</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39458382015-12-02T14:20:57-05:002021-12-11T02:55:49-05:00TV show "My Friend 50" being developed by 50 Cent and Will Packer <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/45eab64526a89d13f09d2b5a62594e2cee2ce81b/medium/50.jpg?1449083980" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">50 Cent is reportedly developing a new comedy TV series based on the day-to-day of a member<br>of his crew. The veteran rapper (real name Curtis Jackson) is teaming with Will Packer to produce<br>the My Friend 50 comedy for Fox, in which he’s also expected to make occasional appearances as<br>a version of himself.<br><br>The single-camera series follows 20-something Amanda Kramer who “believes that joining 50 Cent’s<br>entourage is the answer to all her problems. The project was created by Packer’s Will Packer Productions,<br>Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television and Universal Television.<br><br>Jackson has enjoyed small-screen success with the Power drama, which he executive produces and<br>co-stars in. The new deal falls outside a two-year deal Jackson signed in September with the premium<br>cable network Starz to develop new projects and continue his work on Power, which recently began<br>shooting a third season.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39330692015-11-24T13:26:43-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Kardinal Offishall talks about rap come up in Toronto and his latest music<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/411063fbcf891fe062400fe73e7a17fda3175d18/medium/kardi.jpg?1448389422" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Seeing names like Drake or the Weeknd appear on the Billboard Hot 100 is commonplace today.<br>But 10 years ago, there was zero Canadian hip hop on those charts. That was until Kardinal Offishall<br>became the first Canadian rapper to break into the Hot 100 in 2008 with his song Dangerous. His<br>fifth album, Kardi Gras, Vol. 1: The Clash, has just come out.<br><br>More than a trend-setter, Offishall, officially known as Jason Harrow, is now considered a trailblazer.<br>He began putting out music in the 1990s, first on mixtapes and rap compilations and then as a major<br>label artist, with his debut album, Eye & I, dropping in 1997. He summarized the landscape of the city's<br>hip hop successes in those early days with one word: "Bleak.<br><br>The first notable rapper to be signed to a major deal in Toronto was Offishall's colleague, Saukrates,<br>who signed to Warner Bros. in 1996. Then came Choclair, a rapper out of Scarborough who had his<br>own record label and then signed to Priority Records in 1998. It became clear in the 2000s that Offishall<br>was the star out of that 1990s renaissance of Toronto rap. He had hits internationally with stars like<br>Rihanna, Akon, Vybez Cartel and Busta Rhymes.<br><br>Now, more than 20 years after his first raps were recorded, Offishall is still making music for international<br>audiences. His latest single, One Dream Away, features Stephen Marley. He's also able to be a mentor<br>to younger local artists — in more ways than one. He's currently an executive in Universal Music's artists<br>and repertoire division, developing new hip hop musicians.<br><br>But he's also still active in his community. He speaks on behalf of arts funding. He does this, he said,<br>because he is a product of that funding. Offishall came out of the Fresh Arts program, a JobsOntario<br>training and employment program in the early 1990s started by the NDP government to battle the recession.<br>"It was amazing and it was so necessary," he said of the program. "If it wasn't for a program like that ... If<br>they didn't fund that program, there wouldn't be a Director X ... there wouldn't be myself, there wouldn't be<br>Jully Black, Saukrates." In addition to Offishall, some of those names are still making art today. Director X,<br>for instance, was behind the immensely popular Drake video for the song Hotline Bling. "So many people<br>that paved the way," said Offishall. "All of that stems from funding to a local arts program."<br><br>Source: CBC News</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39264902015-11-21T14:01:39-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Peter Boyce founded a VC that's helped college kids raise over $130M<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/176ef600b7e05ad356d489a87bf4ff4ca6108c98/medium/peter-boyce-jpg.jpg?1448132339" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Startups founded by college students that turned into billion dollar companies is the tech industry's dream.<br>Think Dell, Google, Facebook ...<br> <br>Venture capitalists would like to prowl college campuses to find the projects that could be the next hit.<br>Unfortunately, given how many aspiring entrepreneurs there are at so many colleges, that's pretty hard<br>for them to do. Enter Peter Boyce, a 25-year-old founder of a new kind of VC, Rough Draft Ventures.<br> <br>Boyce started Rough Draft his senior year at Harvard (he graduated in 2013). It's backed by one of the<br>Boston area's powerhouse VCs, General Catalyst Partners, and he's officially part of the General Catalyst<br>team. College kids can pitch their startup ideas to the Rough Draft team composed of fellow students, who<br>volunteer to vet the pitches and award funding.<br> <br>They dish out small sums, up to $25,000, to help cover costs a poor student or their families can't. "Not<br>everyone has a rich uncle," Boyce jokes. For instance, students might use it to buy a new computer, to<br>hire a contract designer, to cover business travel expenses. The idea is to help college kids "go from idea<br>to products to seed and series A that are real ventures."<br> <br>"We do uncapped convertible notes, up to $25,000. This is most lightweight way to do it," Boyce says,<br>referring to a type of investment that doesn't stipulate ownership of a percentage of the company at a<br>particular valuation. Those terms get worked out at a later round of funding.<br> <br>What it isn't? A financing round that will get a young founder all stressed out. "It's not a crazy priced round<br>and it's not a commitment to drop out of school," he says, referring to the pressure student founders often<br>feel to work full time on the company once a VC funds them. Often students use it to help them get their<br>idea far enough along to get into an accelerator like Y Combinator, Boyce says.<br> <br>Rough Draft originally focused just on colleges in Boston, but Boyce has recently expanded to New York<br>and now spends his time flying between the two cities, hearing pitches. So far, Rough Draft has "backed<br>over 50 teams, who have gone on to over $130 million of follow-on capital," Boyce says.<br> <br>Some of the most successful ones include Beepi, an online marketplace for used cars. It's raised almost<br>$79 million. Then there's WorkFlow, the super popular iOS app. And Grove, hardware for growing veggies<br>in your home designed by MIT students that raised over $300,000 on Kickstarter in a couple of days.<br> <br>Source: Business Insider</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39226882015-11-10T15:08:40-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:003 yr old DJ Arch Jnr Wins South Africa's Got Talent<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f0bbafd6aef6335b41e2fb2fbe9443d63e642f82/medium/dj-arch-jnr.jpg?1447185911" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" />There's child prodigies, and then there's child prodigies: DJ Arch Jnr, the three-year-old DJ<br>from South Africa who just became the youngest winner ever of South Africa's Got Talent, is<br>giving new meaning to the term. The toddler, whose already-enviable career began at age two<br>when his father (who is also a DJ) began posting clips of him behind the decks on YouTube,<br>took home the reality show's top prize on Nov 8. Though he can neither read nor tell time, he's<br>not letting those minor inconveniences get in the way of livening up the dance floor. Check<br>out his video below.<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="YNDJHre0n5c" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/YNDJHre0n5c/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YNDJHre0n5c?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39135312015-11-04T14:16:13-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Queen Latifah, Jermaine Dupri launching unscripted series "The Rap Game"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e997c08d5faebfad531fdcb5e4b2bdad2787c69b/medium/rapgame.jpg?1446664399" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Lifetime is getting into the hip-hop game. Following the success of Fox's Empire, the female-skewing<br>cable network is teaming with Queen Latifah and Jermaine Dupri for a new unscripted series called<br>The Rap Game. The eight-episode series, set to premiere on New Year's Day, follows five emerging<br>artists ages 12-16 who will be immersed in the Atlanta hip-hop scene in a quest to become the next<br>big rap star.<br><br>Producer Dupri will be joined every week by such guests as Usher, Ludacris, Da Brat, T.I. and Silento<br>to help mold the kids into the next big young rapper and earn a record contract with their mentor's So So<br>Def Recordings label. During his more than 30-year career, Dupri has worked with young talents including<br>Bow Wow, Da Brat, Kris Kross and TLC. Dupri will exec-produce alongside Latifah and her Flavor Unit<br>partner Shakim Compere. The Rap Game is additionally produced by Intuitive Entertainment, Mechelle<br>Collins and Kevin Dill (The Millionaire Matchmaker), showrunner Sean Rankine (Basketball Wives),<br>Laura Fuest Silva (America's Next Top Model) and Chris Deaux (Rods and Wheels). Lifetime’s Eli Lehrer,<br>Mary Donahue and Mariana Flynn oversee in for Lifetime. Filmed in Atlanta, the series will air Fridays at<br>10 p.m.<br><br>For Lifetime, The Rap Game comes as both broadcast and cable networks alike are looking to tap into<br>the success of Fox's hip-hop soap Empire.<br><br>Source: Variety</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39084692015-11-02T14:40:08-05:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00TIDAL is expanding to original TV programming with Money & Violence plus more<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/53d04521980658e6d7d51ddb2ab46e88f0c73f03/original/mv-tidal.jpg?1446493105" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Tidal, the streaming-music subscription service launched by Jay Z, is expanding its content mix to include<br>original scripted and unscripted programming. The company has ordered two new series: Brooklyn street-life<br>drama “Money & Violence” season 2, with new episodes slated to premiere in January; and “No Small Talk,”<br>a series profiling up-and-coming comedians, which bows Nov. 3.<br><br>Tidal already offers a selection of exclusive video content, including more than 70 music videos, short films<br>and on-demand videos of past livestreams. That’s in addition to the core offering of some 35 million songs<br>and nearly 85,000 music vids.<br><br>Other original video content in Tidal’s pipeline includes a profile series on emerging musicians and sports-related<br>shows. The move comes as Tidal, backed by prominent artists trying to nurture an alternative to big music labels,<br>struggles to compete in the burgeoning streaming-music landscape against competitors like Spotify, Apple Music<br>and YouTube. Tidal, which publicly launched in late March, has been hit with layoffs and CEO shakeups. Jay Z<br>last month met with Samsung Electronics execs in Silicon Valley, prompting speculation of an acquisition or<br>partnership.<br><br>Tidal ordered season 2 of “Money & Violence” after creator and star Moise Verneau self-funded the first series<br>and uploaded it to YouTube, where the show gained a following. The 12-episode second season will be available<br>exclusively on Tidal on for one week prior to wider distribution. Currently, Tidal offers all episodes of “Money &<br>Violence” season 1 plus exclusive access to extras and commentary.<br><br>The urban drama centers on a group of thieves and drug dealers in Flatbush – “people society would label as<br>the bad guys,” Verneau said – to provide a realistic look at daily life in the community. “It was a project of passion,”<br>said Verneau. “This was something I put forward because I thought there was a voice missing for the younger<br>generation.”<br><br>Comedy series “No Small Talk” is hosted by DJ and TV personality Cipha Sounds, produced exclusively for Tidal.<br>It will initially comprise five episodes of 25-30 minutes each. Each episode will profile three young comedians<br>performing at Manhattan’s Comedy Cellar.<br><br>Source: Variety</span><br> <br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39062752015-10-30T14:18:05-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00AKON to release his new albums on his own Stadium app<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f9e9c629e522ae15147bbd715f1d827123f667ae/medium/akon.jpg?1446228750" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><span class="font_regular">Akon, a hip-hop star who's collaborated with everyone from Eminem to Andy Samberg, is about to release<br>his first albums in seven years but you won't find them in stores or on streaming services like Spotify.<br>Instead, he plans to release four albums through a new app, making him the latest artist to experiment with<br>bypassing big record labels and traditional music distribution altogether. The new app, called Stadium, will<br>let fans stream Akon songs for free, although they'll have to put up with ads. But interacting with the app by<br>clicking the ads or sharing with friends on Facebook will earn users credits they can use to "buy" digital goods<br>such as ringtones, wallpapers and Akon-styled emoji. And, of course, to unlock more songs and unreleased<br>videos. "It's going to definitely regenerate the music business," Akon said in an exclusive interview with The<br>Associated Press, calling his app "the answer" to the music industry's problems. "It's going to take someone<br>like me to take the chance on it." It's not a bad deal for Akon junkies; it lets them stream otherwise unavailable<br>new music legally from their smartphones. For artists like Akon, this kind of independent digital route offers other<br>major advantages — among them, sidestepping Spotify, Pandora and their ilk. Many musicians resent those<br>services for offering what artists consider a tiny cut of streaming revenue. That's a big issue in the music industry,<br>where sales of downloaded music are falling while streaming is surging. Services like Pandora and Spotify argue<br>that they give out the majority of their revenue to artists and labels and the amount will only grow as more people<br>stream. Artists' own apps, however, can garner them a greater slice of ad revenue, while also scooping up data<br>on which songs fans like most and where they live. Musicians can use them to sell concert tickets, backstage<br>passes and T-shirts and other merchandise.<br> <br>By appifying himself and going independent, Akon aims to super-serve his 60 million-plus fans on social media.<br>He said that roughly 200,000 people have already registered to receive the Stadium app when it's released in<br>the next couple of weeks.<br> <br>Other artists have gone down a similar road. Radiohead released "In Rainbows" as a pay-what-you-want album<br>download in 2007. Lady Gaga debuted songs from "Born This Way" on a special version of the video game<br>"FarmVille" in 2011, and last year U2 released "Songs of Innocence" as a free album to iTunes users, sponsored<br>by Apple. Some acts like Macklemore, Nine Inch Nails and The White Stripes have foregone traditional record-label<br>deals and thrived. Streaming music, meanwhile, is exploding. It's on pace to double this year, according to Nielsen<br>Music data, gains that would propel U.S. "album" sales upward for the first time in four years. (Nielsen counts<br>1,500 song streams as equivalent to an album sale.) Streaming is "a huge piece of the business," said David<br>Bakula, senior vice president of analytics at Nielsen.<br><br>Source: US News and World Report</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39036992015-10-21T13:56:01-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Fusion Partners with news Site The Root to Develop TV Content <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/bb1616391a2fdc81d71c70b0b93b718189a87b55/original/root-fusion.jpg?1445450063" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Fusion has made a TV development deal with The Root, the number one African-American news<br>and commentary site, Variety has learned exclusively. The Root will make its debut on the cable<br>net in 2016. With the new partnership, the cabler and the website will co-produce TV content from<br>The Root, in a continued effort for Fusion to reach a young and diverse audience.<br><br>While programming is still in the works, insiders say the content will be news-oriented and issue-based,<br>likely resulting in unscripted TV series, documentaries and specials.<br><br>Boris Gartner, SVP and chief strategy officer at Fusion, emphasizes that the net is already reaching<br>a diverse audience comprised of Hispanic and African-American households, telling Variety, “We<br>want Fusion to be the go-to destination for diverse, multicultural millennials, and so partnering with<br>the number one news site serving African-Americans is a natural move in that direction.”<br><br>Covering news, opinion, politics and culture from an African-American perspective, The Root,<br>according to comScore, reaches an average of five million uniques per month. The Root’s publisher,<br>Donna Byrd, says moving into television is a natural step for the site. “Being able to have The Root’s<br>voice reaching a new audience on TV is a great opportunity for both brands and we hope this is<br>just the beginning.”<br><br>Source: Variety </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/39036872015-10-21T13:39:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Marshawn Lynch creates a drink to help underprivileged youth<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7bce4b8aaccf98fe4697db41f888a1b1172906e3/original/beat-bucks.jpg?1445448851" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Lynch and Starbucks have created a new drink, called a "Beast Mode Frappuccino." Twenty-four<br>cents from every drink sold in Washington state and Oakland, Calif., Lynch's hometown, will aid<br>Lynch's Fam 1st Family Foundation, which he founded with Bills quarterback Josh Johnson.<br>The foundation is focused on helping underprivileged youth.<br><br>The popular coffee chain plans to donate up to $100,000 in proceeds and will first donate $24,000<br>to jumpstart the effort, which will begin this week when the Beast Mode beverages go on sale. The<br>drink will be on sale throughout the entire NFL season.<br><br>Now, the important question: What exactly is in a Beast Mode Frappuccino? Unfortunately, Skittles<br>aren't included. Instead, the drink, a double mocha Frappuccino, will feature mint, cream, protein<br>powder, whipped cream, matcha, and purple berry drizzle.<br><br>"I'd drink this before a workout," Lynch said, via MyNorthwest.com. "You could get your buff on with this."<br><br>Source: CBS Sports</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38954222015-10-13T15:09:25-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Key and Peele to executive produce new TV series <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7141a7a4b0e2c66d13e14712036625986e9e9b38/medium/key-peele.jpg?1444763130" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are coming back to TV. The comedy duo is following up<br>their hit series Key and Peele by executive producing a new TV series starring Vine personality<br>King Bach (real name Andrew Bachelor). The single-camera show has made its way to Fox,<br>Deadline writes.<br><br>The still-untitled show will star Bach as an undercover cop who returns to his old neighborhood.<br>It will be written and co-executive produced by Key and Peele alum Alex Rubens. King Bach is<br>the most popular user on Vine, with about 14 million followers and over 5 billion loops. The<br>comedian quickly shot to Vine stardom, churning out viral hits like one hashtagged #ButThatBackFlipTho.<br>Bach has used his Vine stardom as a springboard for more TV work, landing guest roles in shows<br>like The Mindy Project, House of Lies and Black Jesus.<br><br>Source: Mashable</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38953452015-10-13T14:49:43-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Bobby Brown Working on 'My Prerogative' Memoir <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/aa2d48fb5460cb7ef064af30f729d48ca973e1e0/medium/bobby-brown.jpg?1444761881" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The platinum-selling singer, ex-husband of the late Whitney Houston and father of the late Bobbi<br>Kristina Brown has a deal with Dey Street Books for My Prerogative, the publisher told The Associated<br>Press. The book is scheduled to be released in June 2016.<br><br>Brown, in a statement issued through Dey Street Books, called the memoir a journey through his<br>"crazy, exciting, fascinating world." "Right after I signed on to write my story, I went through one of<br>the most agonizing traumas I had ever experienced with the death of my daughter," Brown said,<br>referring to the July 26 death of 22-year-old Bobbi Kristina, who was found face-down and<br>unresponsive in a bathtub Jan. 31 at her home in Roswell, Georgia. Houston, Bobbi Kristina's<br>mother, was found dead in a bathtub in Beverly Hills, California, in 2012.<br><br>"But I was surprised by how therapeutic it was to work on this project, to look at the entire arc of<br>my life and to realize that although there has been considerable pain, I have also been incredibly<br>blessed," Brown said. "I hope my fans and other readers of this book will be entertained by this trip<br>into the crazy, exciting, fascinating world of Bobby Brown. And I hope they will feel that I have been<br>as honest and open with them in these pages as I have tried to be my entire life."<br><br>Financial terms for My Prerogative were not disclosed. Dey Street Books called the memoir "raw<br>and unvarnished" and promised that Brown will "tell the full story of his life and set the record straight,<br>particularly about his relationship with Whitney Houston."<br><br>"My Prerogative is the story of a man who has been on the top of the mountain and in the depths<br>of the valley and who is now finally ready to talk about his career and family life, from the passion<br>and the excess to his creative inspirations and massive musical success," according to the publisher's<br>statement.<br><br>The memoir will be co-written by Nick Chiles, who has worked on books by the Rev. Al Sharpton<br>and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, among others.<br><br>Source: Billboard </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38782142015-10-01T14:32:38-04:002021-11-05T08:21:33-04:00Meet Dafne Almazan the world's youngest psychologist<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7c03518b487cebea60ed420e30dd4fcc7889a77f/medium/dafne-almazan.jpg?1443723915" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">When asked how it feels to be one of Mexico's most powerful women at her age, Dafne Almazan<br>giggles. "I'm kind of proud of it," she says. "It's a great honor." In September 2015, Dafne became<br>the world's youngest psychologist as she graduated from Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology<br>(ITESM). At just 13 years old, she's the country's most famous child prodigy. And it shows: When<br>she's not studying, she plays the piano, teaches Mandarin to other gifted children and she just<br>returned from a trip to Denmark where she presented her simulated satellite project.<br><br>Becoming a psychologist is a remarkable achievement for such a young person, even if she is a<br>genius. It's why Forbes named her one of the 50 most powerful Mexican women this summer.<br>According to the magazine, Dafne's "power" springs mostly from her capacity to inspire others.<br>"I'm happy with the attention," she says in an interview with GlobalPost, with a somewhat bashful<br>smile. "This way I can show everyone that it's worth it doing your best. And I can do something<br>about the prejudice that gifted children spend their time locked up in a library. We don't have to<br>give up our youth just because we're gifted, you know."<br><br>Her success made Dafne the poster child for the super-gifted in Mexico. Her inspiring role may<br>indeed be sorely needed. Most child prodigies in Mexico aren't nearly as lucky as she is. A recent<br>study estimates there are 1 million underage geniuses in this country of 120 million, but only 4%<br>of them reach adulthood with the ability to actually put their gifts to use. Here are some of the<br>reasons. The vast majority of geniuses are wrongly diagnosed as having a mental disorder.<br>They receive none of the special attention they need in a woefully inadequate Mexican education<br>system. And they suffer bullying at school, depression and demotivation for developing their talents.<br>Said study, the first and so far only one of its kind published in Mexico, was carried out in 2013 by<br>the Talent Attention Center (CEDAT in its Spanish initials), a private institution in Mexico City studying<br>the child prodigy phenomenon and offering after-school courses. Established in a mansion-like<br>building in the capital city's posh Del Valle neighborhood, CEDAT provides approximately 250<br>super-gifted children with classes like robotics, astronomy and physics, while also helping parents<br>deal with their genius kids.<br><br>CEDAT is the biggest institution of its kind Latin America. It's a family business of sorts: It was started<br>by Asdrubal Almazan, a doctor and Dafne's father. His youngest daughter is the third in a generation<br>of prodigies; her older brother Andrew, 20, and sister Delanie, 17, are also highly gifted.<br><br>"Establishing CEDAT began out of personal necessity, when I found out Andrew had genius-level<br>intellect," Almazan says. "When he was 9 years old, he was having trouble at school. He was smarter<br>than the other kids, would often correct his teachers and suffered from boredom and bullying." Andrew<br>himself now leads the psychology department at CEDAT. He entered university at age 12, back then<br>the youngest in Mexican history (until his youngest sister overtook him). He graduated in psychology<br>and education and is now developing an educational model for highly gifted students at the ITESM<br>university in Mexico City.<br><br>"I'm trying to prevent other children from having to go through the same experiences as I did," Andrew<br>says over Skype. He was attending a conference at Harvard when the interview took place. "Mexicans<br>are very poorly informed about what genius-level intellect in a child means. Prodigies are often wrongly<br>diagnosed with ADHD, and parents have no idea how to deal with them. Many are rejected by their<br>classmates and their teachers." Mexico's education system ranks an abysmal last among member states<br>of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). And, according to CEDAT's<br>study, it has virtually no resources to identify and guide super-gifted pupils adequately.<br><br>Mexico's federal government seems in no hurry to adjust that problem. While embroiled in a seemingly<br>endless struggle with radical unions over teacher evaluations, the Education Department in August cut<br>funding to several major public universities by almost $70 million. Dafne, however, retains her youthful<br>enthusiasm. Despite being a graduated psychologist, she won't be treating any patients in the near<br>future; she just decided to pursue a master's degree in education, which will likely make her one of<br>the few people in the world to gain an MA while still a minor.<br><br>Source: USA Today</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38743112015-09-29T14:41:27-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Nicki Minaj set to executive produce ABC Family Series based on her life<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7e804219cfbfec2a42092ac56c8c35da9e965226/large/minaj.jpg?1443551981" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Nicki Minaj is set to executive produce and appear in a scripted comedy series for ABC<br>Family based on the rap star’s life growing up in Queens, New York. The project, from<br>Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, will film a pilot episode in Minaj’s hometown this<br>winter, with the intention to continue to series. Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago,<br>Minaj moved to the U.S. as a child. Written by Kate Angelo (Sex Tape), the untitled series<br>will focus on Minaj’s growing up in Queens in the 1990s with her vibrant immigrant family<br>and the personal and musical evolution that lead to her eventual rise to stardom.<br><br>“Nicki Minaj is a force to be reckoned with at everything she touches,” said ABC Family’s<br>EVP Programming and Development Karey Burke. “Nicki is an international superstar, yet<br>not everyone knows how inspiring and hilarious her true story is, and we can’t wait to share<br>it with the world.”<br><br>Minaj studied acting at Manhattan’s prestigious LaGuardia High School and originally<br>pursued acting before launching a successful music career. Minaj made her acting debut<br>with a voice role in Ice Ace: Continental Drift and a co-starring role in the feature comedy<br>The Other Woman. She recently wrapped her first starring movie role in MGM’s Barbershop<br>3. On TV, Minaj drew attention with her appearance on Saturday Night Live last year where<br>she was a musical guest but did a couple of skits and portrayed Kim Kardashian and Beyonce.<br><br>Source: Deadline</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38687782015-09-25T14:39:09-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00David Banner puts historical perspective to music business of today<span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/53f7796821b4e0dae3749b89d28d26ce30238082/medium/david-banner.jpg?1443209001" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>David Banner puts historical perspective to business of today.<br>He sums up business deals, contracts, natural resources, <br>intellectual property and so much more. Professor Banner is<br>rarely off point and this is no exception. He did all of this <br>promoting his new soon to come release, "God Box" to DJ<br>Smallz. Take a look below. </span><br><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="ocNrYBJ1IkA" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/ocNrYBJ1IkA/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ocNrYBJ1IkA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38374582015-09-01T14:23:36-04:002021-10-08T12:35:23-04:00Styles P and Jadakiss move Juices for Life <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b4a2dfe74847916a551980297d31f8b531f58b3f/medium/styles-jada.jpg?1441131544" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>Styles P and Jadakiss of the Lox, D-Block, and Ruff Ryders fame are known as two of <br>the deadliest lyricist around. They have now taken that passion from the mic and have<br>brought it to neighborhoods that need to better themselves health wise. It is all being <br>done via a business venture in which they have opened juice bars called "Juices for<br>Life." Check out the video below for more details. <br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="qUzrvOO2LXk" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/qUzrvOO2LXk/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qUzrvOO2LXk?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38248432015-08-19T10:28:25-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Dave Chappelle will Tour the U.S. this Fall <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d6ed03d54c539f3fcdede3323b2a19f74d8c850c/medium/dave-chappelle-beetc.jpg?1437325328" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The Dave Chappelle fall tour will kick off on September 14th at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theater and end on<br>October 7th at Hershey, Pennsylvania's Hershey Theatre. In between, he'll perform at venues in New Hampshire,<br>Connecticut, Colorado and Idaho, to name a few. His longest run, however, will be at New York City's 500-person-<br>capacity Gramercy Theatre, where he'll perform six shows over the course of three nights. He had done a similar<br>string of shows at the venue back in February.<br> <br>In June of 2014, Chappelle took over NYC's Radio City Music Hall for nearly two weeks. After five sold-out nights<br>of straight stand-up, he hosted four nights of music and comedy featuring special guests like Busta Rhymes, the<br>Roots, Nas, Eykah Badu, DJ Premier and Janelle Monáe. The event occurred a decade after his legendary Brooklyn<br>Block Party that was documented in a 2005 film Block Party, which was directed by Michel Gondry and also featured<br>Badu and the Roots. Even though no special guests had been previously announced for the first five nights of his<br>Radio City dates, Chappelle's old friend Kanye West surprised audiences with a three-song set.<br> <br>A decade ago, Chappelle walked away from his lucrative and popular Comedy Central sketch comedy series<br>Chappelle's Show. He made only rare public appearances until 2013, when he made his official return to stand-up.<br> <br>September 14 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Capitol Theatre<br>September 16 - Colorado Springs, CO @ Pikes Peak Center<br>September 17 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre<br>September 19 - Boise, ID @ Morrison Center (7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.)<br>September 22 - Portland, ME @ Merrill Auditorium<br>September 24 - Concord, NH @ Capitol Center for the Arts<br>September 25 - Worcester, MA @ Hanover Theatre<br>September 26 - Providence, RI @ Providence Performing Arts Center<br>September 27 - Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Oakdale Theatre<br>September 28 - New York City @ Gramercy Theatre (9 p.m. & 11:30 p.m.)<br>September 29 - New York City @ Gramercy Theatre (9 p.m. & 11:30 p.m.)<br>September 30 - New York City @ Gramercy Theatre (9 p.m. & 11:30 p.m.)<br>October 2 - Syracuse, NY @ Crouse Hinds Theater at the Oncenter (7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.)<br>October 3 - Rochester, NY @ Rochester Auditorium Theatre (7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.)<br>October 5 - Albany, NY @ The Palace Theatre Albany (7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.)<br>October 6 - Reading, PA @ The Santander Performing Arts Center (7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.)<br>October 7 - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Theatre (7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.)<br> <br><br>Source: Rolling Stone </span><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38137422015-08-10T13:52:12-04:002017-01-11T08:55:54-05:00Prince warns artists not to sign away their rights to the music industry<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/659392da9f5d74d54a5aef24c7b22993302182d0/medium/prince.jpg?1439228995" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The music industry is modern-day “slavery.” Record labels are running a “shell game.” Music streaming<br>is sucking artists dry. And rights-management groups are nothing more than “collection agencies” that fail<br>to pass along any real money to artists. At least, that’s how Prince sees it.<br><br>In a private sit-down with 10 black journalists deep inside his Paisley Park Studios in suburban Minneapolis<br>Aug 8, the reclusive singer, musician and businessman explained his crusade to remake the music industry<br>and wrestle control back into the hands of musicians. “You just have to blow it up. That’s what it’s going to<br>take,” said the seven-time Grammy Award-winning mogul of what he describes as an unfair digital-royalty<br>structure that has emerged in the past few years.<br><br>As he leaned forward in his chair at the head of the glass-top conference table, the icon born as Prince<br>Rogers Nelson compared the music industry to slavery and called ASCAP, the American Society of Composers,<br>Authors and Publishers, little more than a “collection agency,” claiming that little of the royalties it collects from<br>streamers on behalf of its artists actually make it into the bank accounts of the artists themselves. He said that<br>he resigned from the organization.<br><br>Meanwhile, streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora and the new Apple Music are fast becoming the<br>major source of music consumption for consumers, supplanting traditional CD sales and even album downloads.<br>And with that change, Prince argued, has come a dramatic shift in how money is made and who gets paid.<br>The labels make the money. The streaming services make the money. The individual artist, he maintains, makes<br>little to nothing.<br><br>For instance, according to a recent analysis, each time a song is played on a streaming service such as Spotify,<br>an individual artist signed to a record label can make, on average, as little as $.0011. Yes, that’s about 1/10th<br>of a penny. And it’s even less if the artist is an independent. That’s why, last month, the day after Apple launched<br>its Apple Music streaming service, he pulled most of his catalog of music from most of those streaming services,<br>including Spotify, Rdio and Deezer. And that’s why, instead, he has signed on with Jay-Z’s Tidal music-streaming<br>service to exclusively stream and distribute his next album, HitNRun, on Sept. 7. Jay-Z invested in the company<br>earlier this year as a way to more equitably share revenues with artists, often bypassing the labels.<br><br>“I sat down with Jay, and I really like what he is doing,” said Prince. “He’s trying to eventually be a one-stop shop<br>for the artist.” The 57-year-old Prince had a clear message for any talented, up-and-coming artists who may be<br>seduced by lucrative recording contracts and promises of millions of dollars, fame and fortune: “Don’t sign.”<br><br>He firmly believes that once artists sign a contract, they are giving away their rights, their control to new revenue<br>streams and, ultimately, their independence.<br><br>Source: The Root</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/38015222015-08-04T13:24:52-04:002022-05-28T15:56:08-04:00 Yannick Noah remembers tennis legend Arthur Ashe <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9865eda706a2d73fac2376af7218a9e423614cdb/medium/ashe.jpg?1438633075" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Many tend to forget the accomplishments and achievements that Arthur Ashe has<br>won in his years as a man, athlete, philanthropist. Ashe remains the only black man<br>to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open. He also led the<br>United States to victory for three consecutive years (1968–70) in the Davis Cup.<br> <br>Ashe was also an active civil rights supporter. He was a member of a delegation of 31<br>prominent African-Americans who visited South Africa to observe political change in the<br>country as it approached racial integration. He was arrested on January 11, 1985, for<br>protesting outside the Embassy of South Africa, Washington, D.C. during an anti-apartheid rally.<br>He was arrested again on September 9, 1992, outside the White House for protesting on the<br>recent crackdown on Haitian refugees.<br> <br>He is one of only two men of black African ancestry to win any Grand Slam singles title, the other<br>being France's Yannick Noah, who won the French Open in 1983. Yannick narrates a brief<br>story on Ashe below. </span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="vimeo" data-video-id="66665448" data-video-thumb-url="https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/439204888_1280.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/66665448" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450"></iframe><br><br>Source: Le Coq Sportif thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37900042015-07-24T12:37:28-04:002015-07-24T12:37:28-04:00Janet Jackson has J.Cole as love interest in her latest video <iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="2_t0ffY3JvE" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/2_t0ffY3JvE/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2_t0ffY3JvE?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="375" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37886862015-07-23T13:57:31-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00"Daddy Don’t Go" Documentary sheds light on Good Fathers <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/362f318bf6566ff286418adb0e777649c0e2d5b2/medium/omar.jpg?1437674093" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><span class="font_regular">Omar Epps is on a mission to shatter the myths surrounding black fatherhood. Epps is the executive producer<br>of the full-length documentary Daddy Don’t Go, which takes a look at fatherhood through the lives of four New<br>York City fathers. Epps’ goal with the documentary is to shed light on men who are defying the statistics of<br>fatherhood by being active parents in their children’s lives. Epps’ concept behind the documentary is to show<br>that the statistic that 1 in 3 children in America are fatherless is just that, a statistic that can be defied.<br><br>Captured over two years, "Daddy Don't Go" chronicles the lives of four disadvantaged men in New York City<br>as they fight to defy the odds against them. Alex, Nelson, Roy and Omar shatter the deadbeat dad stereotype<br>and redefine what it means to be a good father for all men. Daddy Don’t Go was made possible by donations<br>through its Kickstarter campaign. Currently, the film is in its final stages and a release date has not been set<br>yet. See the trailer below.</span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="vimeo" data-video-id="78381499" data-video-thumb-url="http://i.vimeocdn.com/video/453791704_1280.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/78381499" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450"></iframe><br><br>Source: Pureland Pictures, The Root thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37886832015-07-23T13:42:29-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Amy Poehler to play NBA coach in new film <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d92b87016e30b2e01d812dc6dce0754323bd4293/medium/amy.jpg?1437673291" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Amy Poehler is reteaming with Ike Barinholtz for an untitled basketball comedy just picked up by Universal.<br>Poehler will star and produce the comedy via her Paper Kite Productions banner. Poehler will play a once<br>promising basketball coach who is asked to lead an NBA team under the gaze of a reluctant organization<br>and the pressure of being "the first." Barinholtz will also take a role in film.<br><br>Poehler and Barinholtz first teamed up for Sisters, the upcoming Universal comedy in which Barinholtz plays<br>the comedienne’s love interest. Poehler is coming off of Inside Out, Pixar’s acclaimed hit in which she voices<br>the character Joy. This fall, she will shoot the New Line comedy The House opposite Will Ferrell. Her Paper<br>Kites banner produces the Comedy Central hit Broad City and NBC’s Welcome to Sweden.<br><br>Source: THR</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37871432015-07-22T13:40:32-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00NBA to offer single-game pay-per-view telecasts for $6.99<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/5f912729ea1a34b1c4abbb1b513ada8209e08ab0/medium/nba-tv.jpg?1437586730" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><br><span class="font_regular">NBA fans who want to watch out-of-market games that are not on national television can now do so by the<br>game. The league will announce July 22 that, for the first time, fans can pay $6.99 to buy any NBA game next<br>season. Fans will be able to watch the game on television if they have a carrier that gets NBA League Pass:<br>DirecTV, Dish, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner and Cox, among them or on broadband for computers,<br>tablets and mobile devices.<br><br>In the past, fans could only buy all out-of-market games for the season, but this year, the league is also offering<br>a team package, where a fan who lives out of the primary market can get all the team's games for $119.99.<br>The price for the full League Pass which has been available since 1994 will remain $199.99, but even NBA<br>commissioner Adam Silver admitted in March at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference that "most people<br>don't want to consume that many games."<br><br>There are no immediate plans to sell pieces of games, like allow a fan to buy the last couple minutes of a game<br>by clicking on a link within their Twitter or Facebook timeline, but that could be something the league will look<br>at in the future. The pricing announced is for U.S. fans only. League Pass is available in more than 200 countries,<br>according to the NBA.<br><br>Source: ESPN</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37855082015-07-21T09:56:21-04:002015-07-21T09:56:21-04:00Ghostface completely destroys Action Bronson<span class="font_regular">In an ongoing feud that goes back some years which stems from Action Bronson<br>stealing the style, flow, and imitating the voice of WuTang Clan's Ghostface Killer, <br>Ghost straight checks Action Bronson on this. The spark was Action Bronson<br>saying some slanderous words about Ghostface on ESPN's SportsNation of all shows<br>where Action referred to Ghostface being washed up. Well from the looks of this<br>video that is far from the case. <br><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="z93IaKPY_Wc" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/z93IaKPY_Wc/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z93IaKPY_Wc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37834082015-07-19T13:05:02-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Dave Chappelle talks about his return, artist responsibility<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d6ed03d54c539f3fcdede3323b2a19f74d8c850c/medium/dave-chappelle-beetc.jpg?1437325328" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><span class="font_regular">Dave Chappelle's return to the comedy stage comes at a racially charged time in the U.S. But the comedian,<br>who has never shied away from racial issues, says that's just a coincidence. He says now is a "surprisingly<br>emotionally charged time," adding that comedians can help sort through "all this information and emotional<br>content."<br> <br>Chappelle spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday. He was on Long Island at the Art For Life benefit,<br>where he received an award from Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.<br> <br>During his acceptance speech, Chappelle said the arts education he received in high school in Washington,<br>D.C., saved him. The event raised funds for arts in schools and other programs that benefit children and<br>emerging artists.<br> <br>Source: AP</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37833402015-07-19T12:08:45-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:0050 Cent Calls AT&T Racist tells "Power" viewers to switch Providers<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c6bae327d649354b1cab7f1c82e1b9d0d44c32ed/original/50cent-strz.jpg?1437321661" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is alleging that AT&T is "racist." In three separate Instagram posts on 7/18, the rapper<br>and Southpaw actor made the claims in response to the ongoing negotiations between Starz and AT&T U-verse,<br>which puts half a million AT&T homes at risk of not being able to view the upcoming episode of Starz's Power that<br>is in its second season. Jackson co-stars in the series and also co-executive produced.<br> <br>"Man I’m sorry I have to say this, but AT&T is racist they have had issues in the past and here we go again. 500,000<br>homes will not be able to view the next episode of POWER. Shortly after, he posted a photo of a April 29, 2015<br>Associated Press article with the headline "AT&T fires president for sending racist texts and images."<br> <br>"When this was happening they were saying they had the STARZ and other networks that created programming<br>targeting multiple ethnicity's now I guess (THERE NOT F---ING WITH N----S). he captioned the second photo.<br> <br>He continued with a third post, imploring AT&T subscribers to drop the provider: "Change your cable package<br>from AT&T to anything else. It's 2015 and these people are still racist. They are dropping all channels that are<br>considered urban friendly. This sh!t is sad.”<br> <br>A Starz spokesperson said in a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter: "Starz is in ongoing negotiations with<br>AT&T U-verse to continue distributing its 30 STARZ and ENCORE channels and services at a fair and reasonable<br>rate. Without a new agreement, the millions of AT&T customers who have chosen to subscribe and pay for STARZ<br>and ENCORE will be at risk of losing these channels and the popular original programming like Power and Outlander,<br>as well as thousands of movies. Starz has enjoyed a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with AT&T until now.<br>We are hopeful AT&T will negotiate in good faith and that we will reach a fair agreement that allows its customers<br>to continue to get great entertainment at a good value."<br> <br>According to a company spokesperson, Power is the highest performing series in Starz’s history with more than<br>6.3 million multiplatform viewers per episode, and has the largest concentration of African-American viewers for<br>a scripted premium series since 2006.</span>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 23px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><br><span class="font_regular">Source: Billboard</span></p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37816772015-07-17T13:40:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Afrostream is Netflix For African And African-American Movies<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ad4297fda2165bcd4eca2c9d9547f521fe6b75c3/medium/afrostream.png?1437154565" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Streaming services like Netflix are great, but you often end up watching the same blockbuster movies showing<br>how a white man will save the world. Meet Afrostream, a niche movie streaming service that only features African<br>and African-American content. Launching in September, this startup may have found a great underserved segment.<br>Now attending Y Combinator‘s current batch, the French startup started with just a Facebook page in January 2014.<br>On the Afrostream page, you could find Afro-American movie trailers and teasing announcements for a streaming<br>service. Fast forward a bit, AfroStream’s Facebook page now has 72,000 fans, which is in par with well-established<br>French competitors, such as CanalPlay. Shortly after this idea validation, the team actually started building a service<br>that would feature this kind of movies. “What’s great is that this content already exists. Our goal is to leverage streaming<br>to address our audience. They don’t have any legal solution to access this content,” Bakang said.<br><br>The company signed content deals with major studios, independent American, African and British distributors.<br>You will find movies that you already know, with some of them already available on Netflix or CanalPlay. But you<br>will also find movies that aren’t available on any streaming service chances are you’ve never heard of them.<br>Afrostream is launching in September in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Senegal and Ivory Coast. “And we already<br>have the rights for many other African countries,” Bakang said. 2,000 people already signed up to the service months<br>before its launch, giving around $100,000 to the company in just four weeks.<br><br>Even more impressive, Afrostream worked with TF1 in order to create a new category on MyTF1 VOD called<br>Afrostream VOD to rent a few movies of its catalog. While the company still believe that a subscription service is<br>the way to go, it was a nice way to get exposure and maybe a bit of cash. In five months, TF1 and Afrostream rented<br>200,000 movies. It seems like everything Afrostream touches turns into subscriptions and sales. There is a clear<br>market potential behind Afrostream’s niche, and if the company executes well on its idea, it could end up creating<br>a significant niche streaming service, joining Korean drama streaming service DramaFever or auteur cinema<br>streaming service Mubi.<br><br>Source: Tech Crunch</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37796332015-07-16T01:01:46-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00The Halal Guys of New York food cart fame are coming to Toronto<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/18c3e8fbe215ba6336306f4be8b3de72ff0b6521/original/halal-guys-jp.jpg?1437022517" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The Halal Guys, famous Middle Eastern street food vendors from New York City, will be coming to Toronto. The halal-certified<br>restaurant will have five franchises in the city, adding to 200 franchises across the United States and the Philippines, Malaysia<br>and Indonesia. It will be the first location in Canada.<br> <br>The Halal Guys opened in 1990 in Times Square in Manhattan to serve halal foods such a gyros and chicken as well as falafel<br>and other Middle Eastern fare on the street. It was at one time the most Yelped restaurant in New York.<br> <br>Halal is a type of food preparation in Islamic tradition that generally applies to meat. According to Islamic law, Allah's name<br>must be pronounced before slaughter of an animal for it to be considered halal, among other rules. The Halal Guys partnered<br>with Fransmart to manage the franchising. Fransmart is the company that brought Five Guys Burgers and Fries to Toronto.<br> <br>Source: CBC News</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37786982015-07-15T13:23:35-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Kelis is dropping a new project: cookbook "My Life on a Plate"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/6d424dc5b84d7098f45ae892681c15bb3b2e8fcd/medium/kelis.jpg?1436980902" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/6cd72b702ec50f1538262745d2380601206d117b/medium/kelis-cooks.jpg?1436980901" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><span class="font_regular">When she's not bringing the boys to the yard, Kelis can be found indulging her love of cooking. In forthcoming<br>her cookbook My Life on a Plate: Delicious Everyday Recipes & Sauces, the Food singer lets us into her life and<br>her kitchen. More than just milkshakes and jerk ribs, the book is "a reflection of her life through food."<br><br>Due Sept. 7, My Life on a Plate is a "collection of Kelis' favorite recipes." This love of food is nothing new for Kelis,<br>whose mother ran her own catering business in Harlem as the "Bossy" songstress was growing up. Inspired by<br>her Puerto Rican heritage and her world travels, the recipes will range from Pernil to Arroz con Swedish Meatballs<br>to Malay Curry Chicken. Following her 10-year mark in the music industry, Kelis took her skills to Le Cordon Bleu,<br>which "gave her the confidence to call herself a chef and to write her first cookbook."<br><br>Source: Billboard<br> <br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37784542015-07-15T11:03:05-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Judge reduces Blurred Lines verdict, gives Marvin Gaye's family 50% of future earnings<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/be063085e065e4e839dfee82ddd068e3d7c9f195/original/blurred.jpg?1436972492" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt ruled that the copyright infringement verdict a jury reached in March should<br>be cut from nearly $7.4 million to $5.3 million. The judge's ruling, however, gives Gaye's family 50 percent of the<br>song's future royalties.<br><br>Kronstadt's 56-page ruling dealt with several post-trial issues, including a request by Thicke and Williams' lawyers<br>for a new trial. The judge rejected that motion, and also refused to issue an injunction requested by Gaye's family<br>that would have temporarily blocked sales and performance of "Blurred Lines." The jury in March sided with Gaye's<br>family, who contended "Blurred Lines" copied Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up." Jurors found that rapper<br>T.I., who received songwriting credit and a share of the royalties, did not commit copyright infringement, but Kronstadt<br>ruled July 14 that other elements of the jury's verdict mean he must be included in the judgment.<br><br>"Mr. Thicke and Williams, and their legal team, among others, went on a public relations campaign after the jury's<br>verdict criticizing the verdict and saying the evidence did not support the finding of copyright infringement, and did<br>not believe the decision on liability would therefore stand," the Gaye family's attorney, Richard Busch, wrote in a<br>statement. "The judge who actually heard all of the evidence disagreed. I am thrilled for the Gaye family, and the<br>thoughtful members of the jury, who had to listen to all of that while remaining silent.” Busch said he and his team<br>were reviewing the ruling and would discuss options for how the reduction in the verdict would be handled.<br><br>Williams contended during the trial that he was only trying to mimic the "feel" of Gaye's late 1970s music and<br>insisted he did not use elements of his idol's work. "Blurred Lines," which was the biggest song of 2013, remains<br>Thicke's biggest hit.<br><br>Source: AP</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37784122015-07-15T10:39:28-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Amazon Studios 1st original movie will be Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a7d51b0ccc80acaf1588a419e7a2dab158c12a79/medium/spike.jpg?1436971044" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><span class="font_regular">Amazon has now confirmed that Spike Lee’s Chi-raq will be its first original movie. Chi-Raq will feature<br>Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, D.B. Sweeney, Harry Lennix, Steve Harris, Angela Basset<br>with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. Teyonah Parris will play the lead role. Chi-Raq was shot entirely<br>in Chicago and wrapped last week.<br><br>Written by Lee and Kevin Willmott, (C.S.A: Confederate States of America), Chi-Raq looks at inner city violence<br>in Chicago. “Spike Lee is one of the most distinct and visionary filmmakers of our time,” said Ted Hope, Head<br>of Motion Picture Production at Amazon Studios. “It would be impossible to find a better filmmaker with whom<br>to launch our studio. He has a unique voice, a distinct eye, and he tackles important subjects with humor and<br>heart, pointing to solutions and not exploiting the problems. Chi-Raq may be his greatest, and definitely his<br>boldest film yet—everything about it is distinctive.”<br><br> “I’m honored to be part of the film that will launch Amazon Studios and to tell a story that is so important. Please<br>don’t be fooled by the title of Chi-Raq, this new Spike Lee joint will be something very special. We have assembled<br>a stellar cast,” said Spike Lee.<br><br>Source: Deadline</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37760202015-07-13T14:39:43-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Janet Jackson adds more dates to her Unbreakable World Tour<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b9125ad1fa3f3f9cdb6bb2010792f3ac284ceffa/original/janet-s.jpg?1436812285" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Janet Jackson's Unbreakable World Tour is coming to the East Coast. Jackson has added 27 more cities to her trek,<br>beginning January 12, 2016, in Portland, Oregon, with stops planned for New York City, Washington DC, Boston,<br>Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia and other cities through mid-March, with more international stops to be confirmed at a<br>later date. Jackson's Rhythm Nation will co-produce all the dates in partnership with Live Nation, with additional promotion<br>from Nederlander Concerts, Jam Productions, Another Planet Entertainment, Bamp and Tommy Meharey.<br><br>Fans who participate in the album pre-sale will also become eligible for other VIP experiences, including backstage<br>views, private glimpses of Jackson's awards, costumes and other memorabilia as well as private messages from Jackson<br>herself before and after each show. "This unprecedented access to the live event has never been attempted for music<br>owners, who in Janet's eyes are extraordinary, generous and loving," Jackson's management said in a statement.<br>"There will be more surprises for people who own Janet's music. There will be 'No Sleeep' until she sees you in<br>your city. Let's keep the conversation going.”<br> <br>Janet Jackson 'Unbreakable' World Tour, North American Leg Pt. II:<br><br>Tuesday, January 12, 2016 — Portland, OR - Moda Center<br>Wednesday, January 13, 2016 — Seattle, WA - KeyArena<br>Friday, January 15, 2016 — Sacramento, CA - Sleep Train Arena<br>Saturday, January 16, 2016 — Anaheim, CA - Honda Center<br>Tuesday, January 19, 2016 — Tucson, AZ - Tucson Arena<br>Thursday, January 21, 2016 — San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center<br>Saturday, January 23, 2016 — Houston, TX - Toyota Center<br>Sunday, January 24, 2016 — Dallas, TX- American Airlines Center<br>Wednesday, January 27, 2016 — Tulsa, OK - BOK Center<br>Friday, January 29, 2016 — Indianapolis, IN - Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>Saturday, January 30, 2016 — Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena<br>Monday, February 01, 2016 —Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center<br>Tuesday, February 02, 2016 — Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena<br>Friday, February 05, 2016 —Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills<br>Saturday, February 06, 2016 — Pittsburgh, PA - CONSOL Energy Center<br>Wednesday, February 17, 2016 — Newark, NJ Prudential Center<br>Friday, February 19, 2016 — Bethlehem, PA - Sands Bethlehem Events Center<br>Monday, February 22, 2016 — Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center<br>Wednesday, February 24, 2016 — Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center<br>Friday, February 26, 2016 — Boston, MA - TD Garden<br>Monday, February 29, 2016 — Baltimore, MD - Royal Farms Arena<br>Tuesday, March 01, 2016 — Washington, DC - Verizon Center<br>Thursday, March 03, 2016 — Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena<br>Friday, March 04, 2016 — Winston-Salem, NC - Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum<br>Sunday, March 06, 2016 — Columbia, SC - Colonial Life Arena<br>Tuesday, March 08, 2016 — Jacksonville, FL - Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena<br>Wednesday, March 09, 2016 — Fort Lauderdale, FL - BB&T Center<br><br>Source: Billboard<br> <br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37532982015-06-24T15:15:39-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Nas and Rakim reflect on their own and each other's career<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9ba3558a3c30c99519504983c52e088fbd791913/medium/nas-rakim.jpg?1435173238" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Okf1jcnIQmU" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Okf1jcnIQmU/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Okf1jcnIQmU?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37518742015-06-23T14:19:37-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Rashard Mendenhall left the NFL early is now writing for HBO's Ballers'<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f3ddb8bc59af420b8210aabb54973526d6dde723/medium/mendenhall.jpg?1435083407" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">In 2014 former Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals running back Rashard Mendenhall retired<br>at age 26, walking away from millions in potential earnings. While Mendenhall may no longer be playing,<br>he's still drawing on his NFL experience as a part of his new job. Since retiring Mendenhall, who made<br>more than $13.8 million during his six-year career, joined the Writers Guild of America and worked as a<br>writer on the first season of HBO's "Ballers," which aired its series premiere June 21.<br><br>"Ballers" is about an ex-NFL player who transitions to life as an agent. It stars Dwayne The Rock Johnson,<br>and has been widely compared to "Entourage." While a former NFL player seamlessly transitioning<br>from football to screenwriting may come as a surprise, Mendenhall told USA Today's Lindsay H. Jones<br>he knew this is what he always wanted to do once his career ended: "I've always known I wanted to write.<br>It was always a passion of mine it was peace, a getaway. It was also, even while I was playing, it was<br>kind of an artist mentality. You have a day job, but the art that you're working on is what you really want<br>to do. I knew that when I was done playing, that's what I was going to do."<br><br>Many athletes have a hard time transitioning to their new lives once they retire, but Mendenhall wrote<br>in a blog post for The Huffington Post that hasn't been the case for him: "I wasn't supposed to walk away<br>from the NFL, but I did. I wasn't supposed to be writing television, but I am. I'm supposed to be lost after<br>football. I'm not. I've reinvented myself. This is my first transformation. I'm supposed to be broke right now,<br>or maybe the statistics say five years from now. Either way, I'm not even close. I'm not supposed to be<br>anything but a football player. But really, I'm just a guy who used to play football. There's a reason I'm<br>doing this."<br><br>Mendenhall is a part of a trend of under-30 players retiring in their primes. Jake Locker, Chris Borland,<br>Anthony Smith, Patrick Willis, Anthony Davis, and Jason Worilds all retired this offseason.<br><br>Source: Business Insider </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37504012015-06-22T13:42:18-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Music: Janet Jackson "No Sleep"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/af2ae7ea6cf3bce949c5571edc9b79cda6e3ce8f/medium/janet.jpg?1434994749" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><strong><span class="font_regular">Check out Janet's "No Sleep" Let us know what you think </span></strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="v_2_VgUdeq4" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/v_2_VgUdeq4/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v_2_VgUdeq4?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37468842015-06-18T13:02:48-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Rhymefest drops film about family called "In my father's house" <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1eaaaadb584c268e24d113de80589e9ca5d0887a/medium/che-my-fathers-house.jpg?1434646548" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">In My Father’s House” explores identity and legacy in the African-American family, as Grammy award-winning<br>rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith and his long-lost father reconnect and try to build a new future in Chicago’s<br>turbulent South Side.<br><br>Che, whose work as a rapper/writer includes the insightful anthems "Jesus Walks" and "Bullet", has long found<br>inspiration in issues facing the African-American community, including the growing crisis of fatherlessness and<br>gang violence. Himself a child of a broken home, Che hasn't seen his father, Brian, in over 20 years, and presumes<br>him dead. But after buying his father's childhood home, Che sets out to find him, and learns that he is now a<br>homeless alcoholic living only several blocks away. Determined to rehabilitate him - and forge a new legacy<br>for his own young family - Che soon realizes Brian may not be ready to take on the responsibilities asked of him. <br><strong>Play trailer below</strong></span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="vimeo" data-video-id="121189626" data-video-thumb-url="https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/513550354_1280.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/121189626" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450"></iframe> <br><br><span class="font_regular">The film - constructed from home movies, archival photographs, letters, phone calls and intimate verite footage <br>shot over the course of a year - offers a probing take on memory, legacy and identity in a family two generations<br>removed from slavery. As Brian transforms his life from homelessness to independent living, we witness external <br>changes (glasses, hearing aids, dentures) and internal struggle – capturing visceral moments of fear and self-doubt<br>in his attempts to repair damaged relationships while suffering alcoholic relapses. Mirroring his father’s journey, <br>Che embarks on his own quest for self-discovery, examining his role as son and father of three, as well as his <br>public life as rapper, radio personality and role-model activist. A heartbreaking story of violence, addiction, loss <br>and ultimately self-discovery, “In My Father’s House” tracks Che and Brian’s shared journey to create a new <br>legacy for themselves, their community and the next generation of family. </span><br><br><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37425452015-06-15T12:57:17-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00Rachel Dolezal Resigns From NAACP Amid Controversy<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/eaa2ca0e0018b0a86a6938fa252364a3a186d19c/medium/black-rachel.jpg?1434387257" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>Rachel Dolezal, the civil rights activist accused of lying about her race, has resigned from the NAACP chapter<br>in Spokane, Wash., where she served as president.<br><br>“It is a true honor to serve in the racial and social justice movement here in Spokane and across the nation,”<br>she wrote on the chapter’s Facebook page. “Many issues face us now that drive at the theme of urgency. Police<br>brutality, biased curriculum in schools, economic disenfranchisement, health inequities, and a lack of pro-justice<br>political representation are among the concerns at the forefront of the current administration of the Spokane<br>NAACP. And yet, the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context<br>of defining race and ethnicity.”<br><br>The news follows media backlash surrounding Dolezal after it was revealed that she was a Caucasian woman<br>by birth pretending to be African-American.<br><br>Source: Variety <br> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 663.296875px; line-height: 1.7; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37393222015-06-12T13:47:30-04:002017-01-11T08:55:53-05:00"Power" creator Courtney Kemp Agboh Inks Overall Deal With Starz<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9588712055aa45d48f551aac0d7269cea61c9547/medium/courtney-kemp-agboh.jpg?1434131022" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The dream week of Courtney Kemp Agboh, creator, executive producer and showrunner of Starz drama<br>series Power, continues. Following the news that the Saturday Season 2 debut of Power has set a new<br>season premiere ratings Live+same day record for Starz with 1.43 million viewers and the 6/10 Season 3<br>renewal, Starz has signed Kemp Agboh into an overall deal. Under the pact, Kemp Agboh will continue<br>as executive producer/showrunner on the crime drama, which straddles two different worlds: the glamorous<br>New York club scene and the brutal drug trade.<br><br>“Courtney is a highly regarded showrunner whose creative vision brings viewers into the two worlds of<br>Power,” said Carmi Zlotnik, managing director of Starz. Added Kemp Agboh, “Starz have been great creative<br>partners in the development and growth of Power, and I hope to nurture our relationship through the life<br>of this series and beyond.”<br><br>Kemp Agboh, repped by CAA and Felker Toczek, started her career in the magazine world, publishing<br>articles in GQ, Vibe and Marie Claire, before she then left New York to pursue a career in television writing.<br>Before creating Power, which has been airs in 175 territories, she has worked on Fox’s The Bernie Mac<br>Show, ABC’s Eli Stone, and CBS’ The Good Wife.<br><br>Source: Deadline </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37381222015-06-11T15:17:27-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Tyrese Gibson and Rev Run to Host Relationship Talk Show <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/801c2866a387e7c8d53bb30d2293d4dee9d70c66/medium/rese-and-run.jpg?1434050161" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Following the success of their love and relationship book “Manology,” longtime friends Tyrese Gibson and<br>Rev Run are bringing their advice to television audiences. In a yet-to-be-titled weekly primetime series, the two<br>men will square off in front of a studio audience and celebrity guests in a relationship throw down. Social media<br>platforms will also galvanize America to ask them their most intimate questions about relationships, marriage and sex.<br>The eight-episode show is developed and produced by CBS Television Distribution in association with Voltron Pictures<br>and Simmons/Lehman Productions. Eric Pankowski created the show in collaboration with Gibson and Rev Run.<br>Pankowski is the showrunner/executive producer. Joining him as executive producers are Gibson, Joseph Simmons,<br>Jerome Martin, Isabella Castro and Michael Lehman. It will debut in early 2016. The collaboration marks OWN’s<br>first partnership with CBS Corp. for an original production, said Scott Koondel, executive vice president and chief<br>licensing officer for CBS Corp.<br><br>“Combining the enormous popularity of Tyrese and Rev Run with engaging topics like love and relationships will<br>make a very entertaining hour for viewers,” he added.<br><br>Source: Variety </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37326242015-06-08T13:58:12-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Documentary: Nas presents the Real Hip-Hop <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/83c0243ce1999e2d13a4fcde8aed87e1157570d6/medium/nas.jpg?1392833194" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>Rapper Nasir 'Nas' Jones takes us on a world tour of breakdancing in the most unexpected places.<br>We visit the slums, shanty towns and ghettos of the world, where hip-hop really means something.<br>With jaw-dropping breakdancing moves, b-boys and b-girls in Uganda, Yemen, Cambodia and<br>Colombia give us an inspiring tribute to the uplifting power of music and movement. Check out the short<br>below. <br><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="529H9Q6nyMY" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/529H9Q6nyMY/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/529H9Q6nyMY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br> <br>Source: Guardianthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37325992015-06-08T13:29:20-04:002021-08-18T11:28:00-04:00Master P says his reality show is about positivity<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/14c73328a6b071e4fb775aad18452386ea4c10ec/original/miller-family.jpg?1433784395" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Hip-hop mogul Master P says his new show brings something that's missing from reality TV: positivity.<br>The rapper invited cameras to follow his life with five of his children, ages 10 to 25, for "Master P's Family Empire."<br>"We're about to make it cool to watch good, positive, family TV," Master P, whose real name is Percy Miller, said<br>in a recent interview. "The Kardashians are entertaining, but what we're doing is positive entertainment, which<br>is supposed to not be cool. With my family, we're going to make it cool, because we've been cool our whole lives."<br><br>The show, set to launch in November on Reelz, will follow the single dad as he navigates raising his youngest children<br>while his oldest carve out entertainment careers. Son Romeo, 25, is a rapper and actor. Son Veno, 22, is a model.<br>Daughter Cymphonique, 18, is a Nickelodeon star and aspiring singer-songwriter. The youngest boys are Hercy, 12,<br>and Mercy, 10.<br><br>"Whatever the stereotype of what a hip-hop family looks like, we'll show them what it do look like," Master P said,<br>acknowledging the reality could come as a surprise to fans of his music.<br><br>"My music is hard and street, but me, I'm more of a laid-back guy," he said. "The music is like my job, but when my<br>job is over, I come home and am a dad to my kids, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Kindergarten Cop.'"<br><br>Source: US News World Report </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37292182015-06-04T14:56:02-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00actor John Amos discusses why he was no longer on Good Times Actor John Amos who played the role of James Evans on the hit sitcom Good Times<br>explains why his character was killed off the show not ever to return again. Peep the<br>video <br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Jm36gRGe5bo" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Jm36gRGe5bo/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jm36gRGe5bo?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br> <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/37d0cef54534f94a7a220c27daa5966d4ab33e55/medium/good-times.jpg?1433444073" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" />thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37249402015-06-02T01:57:48-04:002021-10-01T06:47:41-04:00Stephen Hill and Tanaya Beatty to star in HBO's 'Lewis and Clark' Miniseries<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ea997627dfb0433f89f1ee14c65eda5c09d0bb4a/original/shill-cast.jpg?1433224548" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p>Longtime indie film actor Stephen Hill and "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" actress Tanaya Beatty have been cast in<br>HBO's upcoming miniseries on American explorers Lewis and Clark. </p>
<p>Based on the Meriwether Lewis biography "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen E. Ambrose, the story surrounds<br>Lewis and Clark's first contact with native American land and tribes west of the Mississippi River. </p>
<p>Hill is to play York, William Clark's enslaved companion and the only black member of the expedition, while Beatty<br>will play Shoshone interpreter and guide Sacagawea. </p>
<p>Though York and Sacagawea were considered full members of the expedition, given America's complicated history<br>it'll be interesting to see how these two characters are handled, and received by viewers.<br><br>Source: Shadow and Act</p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37107022015-05-18T14:19:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Jay Z takes shots at YouTube, Spotify, Google and police brutality<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2065406f3bcb21b64df1d150be25787662bedc0b/medium/jay-at-term-5.jpg?1431972528" class="size_m justify_center border_" />Founding father Jay Z launched into a blistering counter attack of those who dare to speak against his new streaming<br>service. The 45-year-old was performing at a private show at Terminal 5 in New York for Tidal subscribers when he<br>unleashed a verbal tirade with his usual Hov finesse. <br><br>He claimed he was being depicted as 'the bad guy' because he's going against the grain, before turning on Google<br>and YouTube for underpaying artists, claiming they 'pay you a tenth of what you supposed to get'. 'You know n***as<br>die for equal pay right? You know when I work I ain't your slave right?' he spat.<br><br>He also included Beat's co-founder Jimmy Iovine in that list, who was previously accused of trying to lure high profile<br>artists away from Tidal. As he insisted he wasn't going to get bullied, he then took a swift and angry tangent onto the<br>recent controversial deaths involving law enforcement, or in Trayvon Martin's case, by neighborhood watch volunteer<br>George Zimmerman.<br><br>But I can't tell how the way they killed Freddie Gray right? Shot down Mike Brown, how they did Tray right?' 'Let them<br>continue choking n***as,' he added, referring to yet another death involving police: Eric Garner. Then he even turned<br>on the hypocrites - although he smiled at the crowd as he did - who dare to complain about Tidal's high prices topping<br>off Jay Z's $520 million fortune, when they never complained about filling Steve Jobs' or Phil Knight's pockets when<br>they were buying iPhones and Nikes.<br><br>'Oh, n***as are skeptical 'cause they own shit - You bought nine iPhones and Steve Jobs is rich, Phil Knight worth<br>trillions you still bought those kicks,' he said, before rounding on enemy number one: 'Spotify is 9 billion they ain't<br>say sh*t '. You can peep the video here or below: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWE1mkMBUpc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWE1mkMBUpc</a><br>The B-sides show was only open to Tidal subscribers who compiled a playlist of the rappers lesser known tracks as<br>part of a competition. He has tried to defend his fledgling streaming service a number of times before. At the end<br>of April, he said: 'The iTunes Store wasn't built in a day. It took Spotify 9 years to be successful. We are here for<br>the long haul. Please give us a chance to grow and get better.'<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="wWE1mkMBUpc" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/wWE1mkMBUpc/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wWE1mkMBUpc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br><br><br>Source: Daily Mail/YouTube<br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/37006642015-05-09T13:54:55-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Prince releases tribute song to Baltimore<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1c2b05a6cf69963a0a9d343aefda79cd31f83e17/medium/prince-cartoon.jpg?1431193980" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Ahead of his "Rally 4 Peace" concert in Baltimore on Sunday (May 10), Prince has shared shared a moving<br>new tribute song to the city following the death of Freddie Gray.<br> <br>The four-and-a-half-minute track was recorded in early May at Prince's Paisley Park in Minnesota. Earlier<br>this week, Prince announced plans to perform at a concert in Baltimore following recent unrest in the city<br>over the death of Gray, who was fatally injured in police custody. Six police officers involved in the young<br>man's arrest have been charged in his death.<br> <br>Prince will perform at the "Rally 4 Peace" concert at Baltimore's Royal Farms Arena May 10. He will be joined<br>by funk-rock group 3RDEYEGIRL. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Baltimore-based youth charities.<br>Audio from the show will be streamed live on music service Tidal service.<br> <br>Listen to the song here: <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/prince3eg/baltimore">https://soundcloud.com/prince3eg/baltimore</a></span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36731902015-04-23T11:50:51-04:002022-07-29T09:51:34-04:00The world is using Africa as an electronic graveyard dumping tons of waste<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1c63b5b62cc5d29cdca866632e237ada9d7efcf1/original/ghana-dump-collage.jpg?1429803870" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Harrowing images reveal one of west-Africa's vast electronic graveyards where 'millions of tons' of discarded appliances<br>from all over the world are being dumped every year.Thousands of broken televisions, computers, microwaves and refrigerators<br>are being illegally exported to African countries and dumped gigantic landfills like Agbogbloshie in Ghana because it costs<br>less than recycling them in their countries of origin, campaigners claim.<br><br>41 million tonnes of 'e-waste' worth over £34billion were discarded globally in 2014, according to shocking report by United<br>Nations University who claim only 6 million tonnes of that was recycled properly. The UK contributed 1.5 million tonnes of<br>waste to the staggering 11.6 Europe generated last year - putting it behind only Germany as the continent's greatest<br>contributor. That dwarfs the 1.9 million tonnes produced by the whole of Africa and yet the continent's western nations<br>have become a dumping ground for the world's defunct products. Some of the appliances even leak toxic elements such<br>as lead and mercury which harms the environment and the young men who trawl through the broken goods hoping to find<br>something worth selling. They've been found in toxic concentrations in the air, water, and even on the fruits and vegetables<br>at the wholesale market.<br><br>The shocking images taken by e-waste campaigners QAMP reveal how countless household appliances have contaminated<br>what was once the 'pastoral landscape' of Agbogbloshie in Accra.Photographs show young boys trawling through the western<br>world's scraps, dismantling old stereos and burning components to recover scrap metal which they will sell for small amounts<br>of money. Transporting broken or expired electronics to Africa is illegal but brokers exploit a loophole by fraudulently labelling<br>the items as reusable, according to the Head of United Nations University who believes Africa is becoming 'a graveyard for<br>e-waste'. When massive containers arrive in Ghana and Nigeria, they are trucked to remote locations where the locals can<br>buy the products directly without testing them to later sell in markets.<br><br>This sometimes-illegal and environmentally damaging practice plaguing Ghana is driven by cheap dumping prices in<br>comparison to the cost of recycling in the countries where it comes from. Recycling in the European Union and the UK<br>costs money. So if a broker successfully collects enough material and sends it to Africa, it could be in their interest because<br>in people in Africa are still paying for this.'<br><br>The 'recycling' of e-waste in Agbogbloshie is a dangerous business which often involves burning it in unmonitored landfill<br>sites, according to UNU. The waste discarded in 2014 contained around 300 tonnes of gold, 16 million tonnes of iron and<br>nearly two million tonnes of copper as well as significant amounts of silver, aluminium and palladium. And alarmingly, it also<br>contained 'substantial amounts' of life-threatening toxic material like mercury and cadmium which can cause organ failure<br>and severe mental impairment if they pollute the local water supply.<br><br>Source: Daily Mail</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36649112015-04-18T08:59:53-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Maple syrup is not just for pancakes, could help fight infections<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9b17863d8a15f822acd638ea3da9d4b8c93d37de/medium/maplesyrup.jpg?1429361880" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Maple syrup is once again making headlines for being the rockstar condiment that every Canadian knows it is, but it's<br>not the culinary world that's buzzing this time it's the medical world. Newly released research from McGill University<br>in Montreal suggests that concentrated maple syrup extract may actually help fight bacterial infections, potentially<br>reducing the need for antibiotics around the world. <br><br>"Combining maple syrup extract with common antibiotics could increase the microbes' susceptibility, leading to lower<br>antibiotic usage," reads a press release issued by the university. "Overuse of antibiotics fuels the emergence of<br>drug-resistant bacteria, which has become a major public-health concern worldwide."<br> <br>The release explains how scientists at the school's department of chemical engineering used maple syrup samples,<br>purchased at local markets in Montreal, to prepare a "concentrated extract of maple syrup that consists mainly of<br>phenolic compounds," a class of aromatic organic chemicals.<br> <br>Researchers then tested this extract's effect on "infection-causing strains of certain bacteria, including E. coli and<br>Proteus mirabilis (a common cause of urinary tract infection)." While the team admits in their findings that the extract<br>was only "mildly effective" in combating bacteria on its own, it was found to be quite effective when combined with antibiotics.<br> <br>More specifically, the extract was observed acting "synergistically with antibiotics" to destroy the "resistant communities<br>of bacteria" commonly present in difficult-to-treat infections (like those involving the urinary tract.)<br> <br>These bacterial communities, known as "biofilms," are notoriously resistant to antibiotic treatment — a problem that<br>costs the U.S. healthcare system more than $5 billion every year according to a 2008 paper by University of Washington<br>bioengineering professor James Bryers.<br> <br>Does maple syrup hold the key to beating drug-resistant bacteria?<br> <br>"We would have to do in vivo tests, and eventually clinical trials, before we can say what the effect would be in<br>humans," said lead researcher Nathalie Tufenkji in a statement. "But the findings suggest a potentially simple and<br>effective approach for reducing antibiotic usage. I could see maple syrup extract being incorporated eventually,<br>for example, into the capsules of antibiotics."<br> <br>Source: CBC </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36616842015-04-16T15:56:31-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Hunger Games Star Amandla Stenberg Criticizes some big pop stars for Rampant Appropriation of Black Culture<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8a3f6dfdf97b68fc6b0e250295097ef9bbcd09e6/medium/amandla.jpg?1429214025" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>Hunger Games star Amandla Stenberg is calling out several of today's biggest pop stars. The<br>16-year-old actress, who played Rue in the first installment of the popular film franchise, recorded<br>a video for her high school history class in which she criticizes white celebrities and singers for<br>borrowing from black culture to make money. The video, entitled "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows,"<br>was posted to her Tumblr page several months ago but has recently gone viral."[In the 2010s,] pop<br>stars and icons adopted black culture as a way of being edgy and gaining attention," Stenberg says.<br>"In 2013, Miley Cyrus twerks and uses black women as props, and then in 2014, in one of her videos<br>called 'This Is How We Do,' Katy Perry uses Ebonics and hand gestures and eats watermelons while<br>wearing cornrows before cutting inexplicably to a picture of Aretha Franklin. So as you can see, cultural<br>appropriation was rampant."<br><br>The video features clips of Kesha and Kim Kardashian wearing cornrows and Madonna with a grill<br>over her teeth. Footage from Taylor Swift's hip-hop influenced "Shake It Off" video is also shown.<br>Stenberg, who has also appeared in 2011's Colombiana and on the Fox drama Sleepy Hollow,<br>addresses that Azealia Banks criticized Iggy Azalea for not speaking out after a grand jury decided<br>not to indict the police officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold.<br><br>"I've been seeing this question a lot on social media, and I think it's really relevant: 'What would<br>America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?' "Stenberg says at the<br>end of the video.<br><br>Peep her full video here:<strong> <a contents="Amandla clip " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://clandesteen.tumblr.com/post/107484511963/dont-cash-crop-my-cornrows-a-crash-discourse-on">Amandla clip </a></strong><br><br><br><br>Source: Hollywood Reporterthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36560882015-04-13T18:53:49-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Olivia Munn Joins "X-Men: Apocalypse" as Psylocke <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8652491bb4b64c7b8d181d37638af853063b34b0/medium/munns.jpg?1428965399" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Add another fan-favorite character to the cast of next year's X-Men: Apocalypse, with director Bryan Singer<br>announcing via Instagram that Olivia Munn will play the telepathic Psylocke in the follow-up to X-Men: Days<br>of Future Past. <br><br>Singer revealed that the Newsroom actress would play Betsy Braddock in the movie (presumably before the<br>confusing and overcomplicated plot that saw her changed from a caucasian former supermodel to a Japanese<br>ninja for no immediately obvious reason ). Apocalypse is currently in production for a summer 2016 release.<br> <br>The comic book's Psylocke was created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe for the British Captain Britain series,<br>where she appeared throughout the 1970s and '80s, before joining the X-Men in 1987's Uncanny X-Men No. 213.<br>Since that time, she has been a mainstay both of the main team and spin-off series including Exiles and X-Force.<br> <br>Munn will join a cast that includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence in the movie, which<br>hits theaters May 27, 2016.<br><br>Source: Hollywood Reporter</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36516052015-04-10T14:20:09-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Michigan teen Jasmine Cofield earns 3 college degrees before graduating HS<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ee105001faf6c8cebae6b16ff88c4833aafb3b59/medium/jasminecofield.jpg?1428689903" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Jasmine Cofield is one ambitious, studious young lady: She has snagged three college degrees before<br>getting her high school diploma, making her the 2015 recipient of a civic award, the Black Home School<br>reports. Cofield, who is now a senior at Central Michigan University, started out at Mott Middle College.<br>The school has a program that integrates high school and college courses, so it is actually the norm for<br>most students from the school to graduate with their high school diploma and 15 college credits, the site<br>notes.However, Cofield’s ambitions took her farther. By the time she got her diploma, she had completed<br>three associate degrees from Mott Community College, maintaining a whopping 4.0 GPA for her college<br>courses and finishing up high school with a 3.97 GPA.<br><br>Her smarts got her enough scholarship money for her to go for her bachelor’s degree at Central Michigan<br>University, where she is studying to be a physician’s assistant in neuroscience, the Black Home School notes.<br>The award she’s getting, being named the 2015 Newman Civic Fellow, is usually given to college students<br>who work with communities, showing compassion to less fortunate individuals. The fellow should demonstrate<br>the ability to find real-world solutions to issues affecting communities around them and help the community<br>using those solutions.<br><br>And, as focused as she is with her school life, Cofield has still found time for community service, too. As<br>Black Home School notes, the teen has traveled across the United States with the Alternative Break program,<br>where she has helped rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina down South and helped transfer facilities<br>treating HIV/AIDS patients to more modern locations. This year the 19-year-old will be traveling to Honduras<br>with Global Bridges, volunteering at clinics that provide necessary services to struggling communities.<br><br>Source: The Root/Black Home School</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36436832015-04-06T13:54:15-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00John Legend producing Romantic Drama Film with singer Miguel as star<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/cdff1c5545e6f88faf06da8dad04b930459452b7/medium/legend.jpg?1428342735" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co. and Furst Films are partnering with IM Global to produce an<br>untitled musical romantic drama starring Grammy-winning singer Miguel. The film will start production<br>in September in Philadelphia. Legend will produce alongside his Get Lifted partner Mike Jackson and<br>Furst Film principals Sean and Bryan Furst.IM Global’s Stuart Ford and President of Production Matt<br>Jackson are executive producing along with Glendon Palmer and Get Lifted partner Ty Stiklorius.<br>IM Global launched IM Global Music last year to generate music-driven film and TV content. CAA<br>helped broker the co-production and financing arrangement with IM Global and will represent domestic<br>rights.<br><br>Commercials director Nabil Elderkin will make his feature film directorial debut from a script by Taylor<br>Cohen. Legend, who won an Oscar for Best Original Song for “Glory” from Ava DuVernay’s “Selma,”<br>will curate the music.<br><br>The producers are in negotiations with Miguel to star in the film as a former one hit wonder who regains<br>his love for music when he is hired to coach an aspiring singer for her audition on a singing competition<br>show.<br><br>Source: Variety</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36317982015-03-30T13:59:15-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00BMG Signs Digital Distribution Deal With China's Alibaba <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c11e714ba70f25a24b8499a28aab236c8cefe6ce/medium/ali-bmg.jpg?1427738234" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">BMG has signed what it's calling a "game-changing" digital distribution deal with China-based<br>internet giant Alibaba. Under the pact, Alibaba's Digital Entertainment arm will "promote BMG<br>writers and artists through channels such as its streaming apps Xiami and TTPod," according to<br>a BMG statement. "It will also monitor and take action against digital and mobile services who may<br>infringe the rights of BMG clients." The deal gives Alibaba digital rights to over 2.5 million copyrights<br>to recordings from artists ranging from Black Sabbath, Kylie Minogue, Bruno Mars, John Legend and<br>the Rolling Stones.The agreement with BMG is a sign of Alibaba's growing commitment to music and<br>follows a similar distribution deal that its chief rival, Tencent Holdings, struck with Sony Music Entertainment<br>in December. A month earlier Tencent signed the same digital deal with Warner Music Group. BMG is<br>also betting big on China, the world's most populous nation, and struck a publishing deal with Chinese<br>indie label Giant Jump.<br><br>Dora Yi, chief investment officer of BMG China, said, "This is a game-changing deal for BMG. Alibaba<br>is one of the most progressive and successful companies in China and is the ideal partner for us as<br>we begin to unleash the potential of BMG’s catalogue here." Alibaba's president of Digital Entertainment<br>Patrick Liu said his company's "rich experience in big data analysis will help us lead innovation in the<br>music industry that ultimately enhances customer experience."<br><br>Source: Billboard </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36157712015-03-21T15:41:45-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Genetically modified apples and potatoes win FDA approval <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a80f14fa1744c28bd7b069dc46a1cc4e88c7c09f/medium/apple-potatos.jpg?1426966583" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br><span class="font_regular">The Food and Drug Administration on Mar 20 approved the genetically engineered foods, saying they are<br>"as safe and nutritious as their conventional counterparts."The approval covers six varieties of potatoes by<br>Boise, Idaho-based J. R. Simplot Co. and two varieties of apples from the Canadian company Okanagan<br>Specialty Fruits Inc.<br> <br>Okanagan, based in British Columbia, is trying to make apples a more convenient snack with its non-browning<br>version. The company says bagged apples wouldn't have to be washed in antioxidants like they are now, a<br>process that can affect taste. Neal Carter, the company's founder, says they want to see bagged apples become<br>as prolific as bagged baby carrots.<br> <br>The apples are dubbed Arctic Apples, and Carter said he wants them to be labeled as such, since they bring<br>an advantage to the marketplace. The first two varieties to get the non-browning treatment will be Granny Smith<br>and Golden Delicious, and Carter says there won't be significant plantings until 2017.<br> <br>Simplot calls its potatoes Innate and the varieties selected include Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank and Atlantic.<br>The potatoes have 40 percent less bruising from impacts and pressure during harvest and storage then conventional<br>potatoes, which the company said could reduce the more than 3 billion pounds of potatoes discarded each year<br>by consumers.<br> <br>Unlike in Europe, where there are strict regulations governing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in the<br>U.S. the FDA review process is voluntary. Both companies asked for a review to ensure their products met safety<br>standards. As part of the process, FDA compares safety and data of the genetically engineered food with conventional<br>varieties.<br> <br>The federal government does not require that genetically modified foods say so on their labels, although polls have<br>shown a majority of consumers want to know. An Associated Press-GfK poll in December found 66 percent of<br>Americans support mandatory labels on genetically modified foods. About 40 percent said they consider it "very"<br>or "extremely important."<br> <br>Despite consumer unease and ongoing controversy, genetically modified ingredients can already be found in a<br>wide variety of products in American supermarkets. A Consumer Reports study last year found that scores of items<br>from cereals to baby formulas to snack chips contained some ingredients which have had their DNA manipulated.<br> <br>Aware of potential resistance from consumers, Simplot officials say Innate potato traits come exclusively from genes<br>from domestic potato varieties. It could be years before the potatoes become available to the average customer. The<br>company has about 400 acres of Innate potatoes in storage from the 2014 harvest that it plans to deliver to growers,<br>packers and shippers to be sent to a tightly-controlled network for use in small-scale test markets.<br> <br>The company said those markets haven't been determined, and it's not clear yet how the potatoes will be labeled.<br>The company said it's not selling Innate seed potatoes on the open market. The potatoes will have 70 percent less<br>acrylamide, a chemical that can be created when potatoes are cooked at high temperatures, the company says.<br> <br>The company is touting that as a potential health benefit, as some studies have shown acrylamide to be a potential<br>carcinogen, though the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health says scientists "do not yet know<br>with any certainty" whether the substance can be harmful in food.<br> <br>The FDA in its approval Mar 20 noted that acrylamide has been found to be a carcinogenic in rodents. However,<br>one of the company's oldest business partners -- McDonald's -- has previously said it has no plans to use genetically<br>modified potatoes. <br> <br>Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in a statement Mar 20 objected<br>to the voluntary system for approving genetically engineered foods.<br> <br>"There's no reason why these 'Arctic' apples and 'Innate' potatoes would pose any food safety or environmental risk,"<br>he wrote. "That said, the process for allowing such new crops is badly flawed. Congress should pass legislation that<br>requires new biotech crops to undergo a rigorous and mandatory approval process before foods made from those crops<br>reach the marketplace."<br> <br>Simplot is working on a second generation Innate potato that will have additional traits, including resistance to late blight,<br>which the company said will result in a 25 to 50 percent reduction in the need for pesticides. Late blight helped cause the<br>Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century.<br> <br>Source: CBS News</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36071002015-03-17T13:06:42-04:002017-01-11T08:55:52-05:00Mo’ne Davis Launches Sneaker to Help Impoverished Girls<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1ffcf0dce99927faf3995d2f92a3a299b7d11f19/medium/mone-davis-m4d3.jpeg?1426611864" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br><span class="font_regular">Professional athletes with sneaker lines take note. Mo’Ne Davis, the first female pitcher to win<br>a Little League World Series game, is doing it better than you and for a worthy cause. The baseball<br>phenom has partnered with M4D3 (Make A Difference Everyday) and Because I Am a Girl to release<br>a Mo’ne designed sneaker. The sneakers are modestly priced at $75 and are designed to replicate<br>the stitching on a baseball. Fifteen percent of the proceeds from the sneakers will support Plan<br>International’s Because I Am A Girl initiative, which helps girls living in poverty in developing<br>countries.“I never thought at the age of 13 I’d be a role model, but having young girls look up to me<br>is pretty cool,” Mo’Ne said in a news release. “If I can inspire them to reach their goals, that would be<br>even cooler. Designing shoes with M4D3 is exciting and I wanted them to support Because I am a Girl<br>to help girls and give them a chance at a better future.”<br><br>At a mere 13 years old, Mo’ne has again proved to be a role model for people of all ages. Imagine<br>if professional athletes with clothing and sneaker lines did something similar. I can only wonder how<br>many people can be fed off the sales of a Kanye West or Air Jordan sneaker.<br><br>“We are creating a shoe that we know Mo’ne fans will love and be proud of, and that will Make A<br>Difference Everyday,” M4D3 spokeswoman Lisa Zbitnew said. “Together with Mo’ne, we are designing<br>a shoe that represents who she is; contemporary, spirited and athletic, but at the same time being very<br>caring towards other girls and young women that are vulnerable around the world.”<br><br>Source: The Roots</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/36048682015-03-16T16:18:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Son of the Congo tells Serge Ibaka's story <strong><u>Trailer:</u></strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="VDvbjXXhXDI" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/VDvbjXXhXDI/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VDvbjXXhXDI?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/410c736bac2905cb997f6eac4df538e8ae763048/medium/ibaka-history.jpg?1426536743" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span class="font_regular">"Let's take a selfie," Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka tells his eight-year-old daughter<br>Raine as they sit on a patio early in the film Son of the Congo. Raine stands behind her dad and<br>plants a kiss on his cheek. Ibaka makes a goofy face and snaps a photo. It's a sweet moment<br>between the 25-year-old Ibaka and his young daughter but also so much more, as the documentary<br>that premiered at SXSW Interactive reveals to powerful effect. Ibaka didn't know Raine existed for<br>the first five years of her life. His father in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, had begged family to<br>keep her a secret from Ibaka. He wanted to reduce stress on the then-teenage basketball phenom<br>after Ibaka left their poverty-stricken home to chase a pro hoops future in Europe. (Raine was conceived<br>with a girlfriend before he left, but not born until after.)Earlier in Ibaka's life, that same father had been<br>imprisoned without charges for two years as their long-tortured former Belgian colony erupted in<br>violence yet again. That absence helped send the future NBA star, whose mother had already passed<br>away, to the streets of Brazzaville, where he spent many nights sleeping on the ground or in cars, often<br>lacking for food and water.<br><br>All this and much more is revealed in Son of the Congo, which follows Ibaka on a trip home this past<br>summer to tell his incredible story of escaping poverty and violence in Congo to become an NBA<br>millionaire. The film is notable for a second reason, too, marking the first feature-length documentary<br>produced by Grantland, the acclaimed ESPN-owned site founded by star columnist Bill Simmons in<br>2011. The film is also a lifelong dream of Ibaka's.<br><br>Last year, a representative of Ibaka emailed Simmons' fan mailbag, which he doesn't check regularly,<br>proposing a documentary project with Grantland. Simmons happened to catch this message though,<br>and forwarded it along to David Jacoby, who manages much of the site's podcast and video content.<br>They determined the offer wasn't a prank, and got acclaimed documentary filmmaker Adam Hootnick<br>to direct. It would make a nice short, they all initially figured, not unlike previous Grantland productions.<br>But they quickly realized otherwise.<br><br>The production, which runs about an hour, represents new ground for Grantland, but also shouldn't<br>come as a total surprise. One of Hootnick's slickest film-making tricks in Son of the Congo is weaving<br>in a second sub-narrative that follows a basketball-obsessed teenage boy from Brazzaville during<br>Ibaka's trip home.<br><br>As powerful as seeing Ibaka visit family, speak Lingala and describe his own former hardship is,<br>watching a young boy live much like Ibaka once did gives his past an immediacy that otherwise wouldn't<br>exist. Like Ibaka did once upon time, the teenager plays on outdoor courts without shoes and struggles<br>to make it under extremely tough circumstances. But make no mistake, Ibaka is the star of this flick. His<br>trip home provides no shortage of impacting moments.<br><br>In one scene, we see him wrestle with how to address a gathering of people asking for money at his door<br>in Brazzaville. It's a tense situation full of aggression and poignancy at the same time. In another scene,<br>we see him at a hospital as he fits hearing aids on a young girl who then listens to her mother's voice for<br>the first time. In another, we see him glow with pride while driving past a billboard for The Ibaka Games,<br>a basketball showcase he founded in Brazzaville to help young hoops hopefuls there gain the attention<br>of foreign scouts.<br><br>Source: Mashable</span><br> <br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35915902015-03-11T13:39:47-04:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00CBC Taps Shad to Replace Q Host Jian Ghomeshi<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f25e17e1a84210d6651e3fd2a0ee2bba73b13d36/original/shadk.jpg?1426095259" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has recruited the rapper Shadrach Kabango<br>(aka Shad) as host for its flagship culture affairs radio show Q. Shad, who has won a Juno Award<br>and garnered three career nominations for the Polaris Prize, replaces Jian Ghomeshi, who was sacked<br>from last October after he was charged on multiple counts of sexual assault.Shad's a regular on CBC,<br>though typically he's been sat on the "talent" side of the table. The Globe and Mail notes he has appeared<br>as a guest in the past, playing and chatting with his predecessor about his music. "Joining the Q team is<br>an honor," Shad told reporters. "My mission in music has always been to make a unique and positive<br>contribution to culture and to people's lives. This is an exciting opportunity to pursue that same mission<br>in a new way, alongside a brilliant, passionate team."<br><br>The public broadcaster had cast its net wide for a replacement over the past four months, looking at<br>more than 200 potential candidates. The new hire ultimately got the nod for his mix of smarts, humor,<br>originality, and for his relaxed interview style. "We were looking for someone who is an original thinker,<br>curious and emotionally intelligent," said Cindy Witten, executive director of CBC Radio Talk. "Also,<br>a good conversationalist who is witty and fast on their feet. We wanted someone steeped in arts and<br>culture in this country. We found there were different points of connection with the guests when the<br>host was a creator or an artist themselves."<br><br>According to CBC, the new Shad-led show will be relaunched in mid-April. It'll have more musical<br>performances, will be less structured, and will have a "more conversational tone to allow more live<br>spontaneous moments." And it'll retain its name.<br><br>The 32-year-old Shad was born in Kenya to Rwandan parents, and relocated to Canada soon after.<br>His third release, TSOL, won the 2011 Juno for rap recording of the year. His fourth and most recent<br>album, Flying Colours, was shortlisted for the Polaris following its 2013 release.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35915862015-03-11T13:24:22-04:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Marvin Gaye's Family Seeks to Halt Sales of "Blurred Lines" <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f1525f6e025c418306a163f4b6454004f24e5a0a/original/blurred-lines.jpg?1389736961" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Now that Marvin Gaye's family has won a copyright suit regarding the similarity of Robin Thicke,<br>Pharrell Williams and T.I.'s "Blurred Lines" and the soul icon's "Got to Give It Up," their lawyer wants<br>to stop the sales of that song. "We'll be asking the court to enter an injunction prohibiting the further<br>sale and distribution of 'Blurred Lines' unless and until we can reach an agreement with those guys<br>on the other side about how future monies that are received will be shared," attorney Richard Busch,<br>who represents the Gaye family, tells Rolling Stone. "We'll be doing that in about a week or so."A Los<br>Angeles jury decided Mar 10 that the "Blurred Lines" songwriters infringed on Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to<br>Give It Up" and ordered them to pay Gaye's family $7.3 million in damages. The lawsuit started when<br>the "Blurred Lines" songwriters filed a preemptive suit in August 2013 claiming that the hit single was<br>"strikingly different" than "Got to Give It Up," fearing the Gayes would be litigious.<br><br>Asked for his and his clients' reactions to the verdict, the lawyer says all were "thrilled, happy and<br>satisfied." "Mr. Williams and his legal team portrayed this as the copying of a genre or a groove or a<br>feel," Busch says. "That was not the case, as the jury found. It was the copy of a musical composition<br>melody and harmony and bass line and keyboard and other things."<br><br>The Gayes had a difficult fight in this suit, Busch says, because the judge would not allow them to play<br>"Got to Give It Up" for the jury. Since songwriters could file only sheet music for copyrights prior to 1978,<br>the jury could not hear major recorded elements of the song like its percussion, cowbell and, as Busch<br>puts it, "party noises." He says his side won the jury over by playing the jury only the protected parts of<br>the song.<br><br>"I'm really grateful," Janis Gaye, Marvin's former wife and the mother of Nona and Frankie Gaye, told<br>The New York Times following the decision. "I hope people understand that this means Marvin deserves<br>credit for what he did back in 1977."<br><br>Ultimately, Busch does not want the lawsuit to reflect poorly on the Gayes. "I just want to let the readers<br>know that we didn't start this fight," Busch tells Rolling Stone. "They sued us, taking a declaration of<br>non-infringement. They started this war and we just finished it. <br><br>Source: Rolling Stone</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35750942015-03-04T16:29:28-05:002019-06-11T13:03:40-04:00McDonald's USA to phase out human antibiotics from chicken supply<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/3d7216cdda7c0bba1ff5e6d95da85ab3f8361393/medium/mcdonalds-logo.png?1425504425" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">McDonald's Corp's U.S. restaurants will gradually stop buying chicken raised with antibiotics vital to fighting<br>human infections, the most aggressive step by a major food company to change chicken producers' practices<br>in the fight against dangerous 'superbugs.'The world's biggest restaurant chain announced on Mar 4 that within<br>two years, McDonald's USA will only buy chickens raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine.<br>The concern is that the overuse of antibiotics for poultry may diminish their effectiveness in fighting disease in<br>humans. McDonald's policy will begin at the hatchery, where chicks are sometimes injected with antibiotics while<br>still in the shell.<br><br>"We're listening to our customers," Marion Gross, senior vice president of McDonald's North American supply<br>chain, told Reuters. She said the company is working with its domestic chicken suppliers, including Tyson Foods<br>Inc, to make the transition. Veterinary use of antibiotics is legal. However, as the rate of human infections from<br>antibiotic-resistant bacteria increases, consumer advocates and public health experts have become more critical<br>of the practice of routinely feeding antibiotics to chickens, cattle and pigs.<br><br>Scientists and public health experts say whenever an antibiotic is administered, it kills weaker bacteria and can<br>enable the strongest to survive and multiply. Frequent use of low-dose antibiotics, a practice used by some meat<br>producers, can intensify that effect. The risk, they say, is that so-called superbugs might develop cross-resistance<br>to critical, medically important antibiotics.<br><br>Superbugs are linked to an estimated 23,000 human deaths and 2 million illnesses every year in the United States,<br>and up to $20 billion in direct healthcare costs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<br>Poultry producers began using antibiotics in the 1940s, not long after scientists discovered that penicillin, streptomycin<br>and chlortetracycline helped control outbreaks of disease in chickens. The drugs offered an added benefit: They<br>kept the birds' digestive tracts healthy, and chickens were able to gain more weight without eating more food.<br>The poultry industry's lobby takes issue with the concerns of government and academic scientists, saying there<br>is little evidence that bacteria which do become resistant also infect people. This may be a "tipping point for antibiotic<br>use in the poultry industry," said Jonathan Kaplan, the Natural Resources Defense Council's food and agriculture<br>program director.<br><br>There are exceptions to McDonald's new policy. The company will buy chicken from farmers who "responsibly use"<br>ionophores, an animal antibiotic not used in human medical treatment, Gross said. The phase-out applies only to<br>McDonald's roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants. It currently does not affect the company's approximately 22,000<br>international restaurants. The action by McDonald's, which has been fighting to win back diners and bolster sagging<br>U.S. sales, is in step with consumer demand for food made with 'clean' and more 'natural' ingredients. But it falls short<br>of similar policies at smaller chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread Co, which ban the use of ionophores.<br>A Reuters investigation last year revealed that some of the nation's largest poultry producers routinely fed chickens an<br>array of antibiotics, not just when sickness strikes, but as a standard practice over most of the birds' lives. The Reuters<br>report also found that low doses of antibiotics were part of the standard diet for some of Tyson's flocks, including two<br>internal company documents showing the use of bacitracin. Though that drug is not classified as medically important<br>by the federal Food and Drug Administration, bacitracin is commonly used to prevent human skin infections.<br><br>Source: Reuters</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35602102015-02-26T15:07:26-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00YouTube Reportedly Still Unprofitable with 1 Billion Monthly Users <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f1c953ce202af51a07271b9dfb0c7dcf919b7a6f/medium/youtube.jpg?1403027812" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">How does a video streaming service with one billion active users per month and $4 billion in<br>revenue not turn a profit? Ask YouTube, which couldn't break free from breaking even in 2014,<br>according to a new report. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that Google's video unit posted $4<br>billion in revenue last year, up from $3 billion in 2013, and that while the service accounted for 6<br>percent of Google's overall sales, it contributed nothing to earnings.A core problem facing YouTube,<br>which Google acquired for $1.65 billion, is that many users aren't visiting YouTube.com to watch the<br>videos, instead finding them as embeds on other sites. That said, a Google rep tells Business Insider<br>that the "vast majority" of its traffic indeed comes from the home page or its mobile apps.<br><br>YouTube has taken steps in recent years to entice more direct users, like creating exclusive deals<br>with popular content creators, including Michelle Phan and Epic Rap Battles, and redesigning its<br>home page to make it more of a destination rather than a repository. It has also addressed the issue<br>that YouTube's core audience is too narrowly dominated by young viewers and this year signed a<br>content deal with the NFL to host game clips and interviews.<br><br>But the premium content and the equipment and servers to deliver it -- comes at a cost and resulted<br>in the company's bottom line being "roughly break-even," the report states. To boost viewership and<br>ad revenue, YouTube reportedly plans to introduce a new way to target ads using Google. They'll<br>also be rolling out more auto-play videos.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35566292015-02-25T10:13:57-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Zendaya Fires Back After Host Disses Her Dreadlocks<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/eb85b5f128ef4b5befe11874b5b09a0e5c323c62/medium/zendaya-dreadlocks.jpg?1424877014" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">On Oscar night, one of the attendees catching everyone's eye wasn't even a nominee. It was<br>18-year-old Disney Channel actress Zendaya. And she wasn't even getting attention for her<br>dress but for how she styled her hair in dreadlocks.Something E! host Giuliana Rancic couldn't<br>help commenting about on "Fashion Police." "She's such a tiny frame that this hair overwhelms her.<br>Like, I feel like she smells like patchouli oil. Maybe weed," Rancic said. Definitely not the most tactful<br>thing to say. And Zendaya wasted no time firing back.<br><br>On Instagram, she called Rancic's statement "outrageously offensive," writing: "There is already harsh<br>criticism of African American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who choose to judge<br>others based on the curl of their hair. My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase<br>them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough."<br><br>African-Americans showcasing their natural hair has been quite a topic these past few months,<br>especially after Viola Davis' character removed her wig on screen during "How To Get Away With<br>Murder." Something Davis later said wasn't written in the script.<br><br>"I said, 'Listen, she can't go to bed with her wig on.' ... A whole portion of women out there are marginalized.<br>I want to be a real woman," Davis told Ellen DeGeneres back in November 2014.<br><br>Now, Rancic did apologize to Zendaya on Twitter, saying she'd simply been referencing "a bohemian<br>chic look." And we should point out that not everyone disliked Zendaya's Oscar look. Vogue, in fact,<br>named her the "Breakout Style Star" of the evening.<br><br>Source: Newsy<br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35479362015-02-21T15:31:26-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00HBO and Showtime Partner for Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/cfb70d54a32921ed29bb297a3880c7ba41453914/original/floyd-manny.jpg?1424550600" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Boxing fans will finally get a showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The two men have<br>signed on for a May 2 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas after years of failed negotiations. Almost just as interesting,<br>the event marks a rare revenue share for HBO and Showtime. The two pay cable networks are collaborating on the<br>event, a rare pay-per-view split last seen in the 2002 match between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. (Pacquiao and<br>promoter Bob Arum have a PPV deal with HBO, while Mayweather is a top attraction at Showtime.) <br>The fee is going to be higher than the average pay-per-view fight, likely $89.95 higher for high-def.<br> <br>Speaking to the long road to securing the fight, Showtime Sports EVP and GM Stephen Espinoza did not mince<br>words about the difficulty: "Every side of this negotiation bore some of the pain, and that's how it got done."<br> <br>The rewards will likely be incredible. The highest-grossing pay-per-view boxing match to date is Showtime's 2013<br>showdown between Mayweather and Saul Alvarez. That took in $150 million viewers with total fight revenues closer<br>to $200 million including sponsorships, international TV rights and a blockbuster $20 million gate. It's for all of these<br>reasons that a Mayweather-Pacquiao matchup has been a top priority for CBS-owned Showtime and CBS Corp.<br>president and CEO Leslie Moonves, who was intimately involved in the negotiations.<br> <br>Despite the relatively short time table to promote Mayweather and Pacquiao, it seems a given that this one will<br>set a new high.<br> <br>Source: THR</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35455172015-02-20T14:29:06-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Malcolm X autobiograpy soon to be released as E-Book<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/057c0ec4f1bfa5736dba9850495ebf3f1f5eaaa9/medium/malcolm-x.jpg?1424460428" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">One of the last major digital holdouts, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," should soon be available<br>as an e-book. L. Londell McMillan said Feb 20 that a digital edition will likely be out by May 19, what<br>would have been Malcolm X's 90th birthday, and that the estate expects to self-publish the book.<br>"Malcolm X was a fervent advocate for self-help, self-reliance and self-respect," McMillan said in<br>explaining why the estate favored self-publishing over releasing the e-book through the publisher<br>of the paper editions, Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. "Today's technology<br>allows for innovative means to share content and add to it for educational, cultural and commercial<br>purposes. Malcolm X did not grant all rights to a publisher in perpetuity. The works and rights of<br>Malcolm X belong to his children and the community, not a publisher."McMillan said that the estate,<br>X Legacy LLC, also hopes to release an audiobook and to self-publish other works by Malcolm,<br>including speeches, letters and diaries. In November 2013, the estate sued to prevent a Chicago<br>based publisher from releasing a diary Malcolm X kept near the end of his life.<br><br>The autobiography is a collaboration with Alex Haley published in 1965, soon after Malcolm was<br>killed. It was immediately acclaimed as a riveting account of Malcolm X's self-transformation, has<br>sold millions of copies and is widely regarded as one of the most important memoirs in American<br>history. Porscha Burke, a publishing manager and associate editor at Random House, told the AP<br>that the hardcover and paperbacks of the autobiography were "precious jewels" and noted that the<br>publisher had prepared special editions for the 50th anniversary of the book's release.<br><br>Agents have long complained that e-book royalties paid by traditional publishers are too low, but<br>rarely have works as popular as "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" been self-published or released<br>through a third party. J.K. Rowling decided to sell e-editions of her "Harry Potter" books through her<br>own Pottermore web site. Such celebrated novels as Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" and Erica<br>Jong's "Fear of Flying" are published as e-books through the digital company Open Road Integrated<br>Media.<br><br>Source: US News World Report<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35169312015-02-09T13:28:06-05:002020-11-05T00:01:25-05:00Trailer: Straight outta Compton So here is the Official Trailer from Universal Pictures of "Straight Outta Compton"<br>about the rise and fall of rap group turned pop group NWA. You will have to <br>get through the 1 minute intro of Ice Cube and Dr Dre returning to the Compton <br>hood. Tell us what you think in comments. <br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="OrlLcb7zYmw" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/OrlLcb7zYmw/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OrlLcb7zYmw?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35113592015-02-06T16:53:09-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Marvel Introduces All-Female Avengers in New Comic Series <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/db858fdcd0713a515faec144029d5d06af7fedbc/original/aforce.jpg?1423259508" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Marvel announces a new group of superheroes to continue keep the peace in their universe.<br>The team consists of all-female members like X-Men mutant Dazzler, the female version of Hulk,<br>Runaways member Nico Minoru, Medusa from the Inhumans, and a new character named Singularity.<br>Titled "A-Force", the series is scheduled to debut in May as part of Secret Wars event that rocks Marvel<br>Universe and shatters the Avengers. It's written by female writers G. Willow Wilson ("Ms. Marvel") and<br>Marguerite Bennett ("Angela: Asgard's Assassin") and drawn by Jorge Molina ("X-Men").<br><br>Singularity is a pocket universe who doesn't have any real gender but chooses to be female. She<br>has a "very cool power set" including an ability to move "between different worlds and dimensions<br>like taking a walk." "So she has access to all corners of the Marvel U in a way that other characters<br>do not," the writer explained.<br><br>To write her story, Wilson decides to "strip it all the way down to the basics: What does it mean to be<br>a woman and what would that look like to somebody who was learning about the human race as an<br>outsider and is learning about what it means to have relationships with other people."<br><br>The fresh character is compared to the enigmatic Q from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Wilson<br>explained, "Her entire existence is so unlike that of ours that she really has to learn about what we<br>think of as being an individual and having an identity from the ground up, with no point of access<br>except those she meets.<br><br>Source: AceShowbiz</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/35025142015-02-03T14:07:32-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Beyonce Launches Her Own Vegan Meal Service<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9c03dbd6b1e7048a79ca914187b0ab323c13375d/medium/beyonce.jpg?1422990345" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Beyonce Knowles shares her secret to a healthy life. The R&B singer will reportedly<br>launch a new vegan meal delivery service in partnership with fitness trainer Marco Borges<br>after she and husband Jay-Z followed his 22 Days Nutrition program in 2013 to get in better<br>shape."I am so grateful that I took the challenge and credit Marco with leading by example,"<br>she said. "He came up with a great program to get people motivated to make better nutritional<br>choices. All you have to do is try. If I can do it, anyone can. I am excited to partner with him."<br>Two years ago, Jay-Z blogged about their diet program, ''On December 3, one day before my<br>44th birthday, I will embark on a 22 Days challenge to go completely vegan, or as I prefer to call<br>it, plant-based! This all began a few months back when a good friend and vegan challenged me<br>to embrace a 'plant-based breakfast' every day. It was surprisingly easier on me than I thought ...<br>PS: B is also joining me. (sic)''<br><br>Source: AceShowBiz</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34938322015-01-29T14:47:52-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00Barclay Center backers to reopen Brooklyn's Paramount Theatre<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0677d13383fb63daa6116ea6bce541fbb145fbba/medium/paramount-theater.jpg?1422560605" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Barclays Center affiliate Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment has formed an alliance with Long<br>Island University, in which BS&E will bring entertainment back to the historic Brooklyn Paramount<br>Theatre.The move will resurrect the 1,500-capacity venue, which opened in 1928, as an active<br>entertainment venue for the first time in more than half a century, with the BS&E team focusing<br>on booking emerging talent in a variety of areas, including music, comedy, and boxing. Barclays<br>Center CEO Brett Yormark tells Billboard that the Paramount represents an opportunity in the<br>growing BS&E portfolio, and will begin hosting shows as soon as this quarter.<br><br>The Paramount deal is the latest move by this increasingly aggressive group, led by Yormark,<br>which opened the $1 billion, 19,000-capacity Barclays Center in September of 2012 as the home<br>of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. By the end of 2013, Barclays Center was the third highest-grossing<br>arena in the world for concerts and events, reporting $83.5 million to Billboard Boxscore.<br>Post-honeymoon period, Barclays Center has remained among the busiest arenas in the world,<br>reporting $60 million in concerts and events for the same period this year. Bruce Ratner is majority<br>owner of Barclays Center and executive chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies, one of the<br>partners that won the bid to redevelop the Nassau Coliseum, a $250 million project that will begin<br>when the NHL's Islanders leave Nassau for Brooklyn following the current hockey season.<br><br>The Brooklyn Paramount has a strong live music pedigree. Originally built as a movie palace, the<br>venue was the site of renowned jazz shows of the 1930s and '40s, hosting such artists as Dizzy<br>Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. Pioneering DJ Alan Freed, and later<br>TV personality Clay Cole, staged a number of rock 'n roll shows there, including Buddy Holly,<br>Chuck Berry, Bobby Vinton, Brenda Lee, and Jackie Wilson. LIU purchased the facility in 1960<br>for basketball, which it used until the school opened a new gym in 2005, leaving the Paramount<br>mostly dark.<br><br>Now the Paramount will be resurrected just as Brooklyn continues to heat up as a separate and<br>distinct concert market from Manhattan. The deal was only signed last week, and Yormark says<br>the Paramount will be hosting shows "soon." While he declined to confirm capital investment by<br>BS&E in the Paramount, given the team's recent history it is highly likely that, if the venue is a<br>hit with fans, agents, and artists, a significant renovation project would be in the works.<br><br>As it is, Yormark says the venue is ready to host a show right now, and next month, the theater<br>will play a role in the NBA All-Star weekend as the host of the debut of the NBA House presented<br>by BBVA Compass. <br><br>Brooklyn is already a competitive music market, beyond a wealth of Manhattan venues vying for<br>talent and fans. The 3,000-seat Kings Theater will re-open Feb. 3 with Diana Ross after a $94<br>million renovation; Brooklyn Academy of Music spaces range from 350 to 2,100; Brooklyn Bowl<br>cap is 600; and Barclays Center has its own theater configuration currently capped at 1,500, but<br>likely to expand.<br> <br>LIU has a performing arts program, so the Paramount could also provide opportunities for<br>developing executive talent, as well, through mentoring and work study programs.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34916142015-01-28T14:16:51-05:002017-01-11T08:55:51-05:00FCC warns against blocking personal Wi-Fi access<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/365e47d86ff247b99cba1ef2e2a7d21cd110b5c4/small/fcc.png?1422472377" class="size_s justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Jan 27 warned hotels and other entities<br>against blocking personal Wi-Fi access, or hot spots, saying it was illegal and could incur<br>heavy fines."The Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend in which hotels and other<br>commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi<br>hot spots on the commercial establishment's premises," the agency said in a statement on<br>its website. Official document can be viewed here: <strong><em><a contents="FCC document " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.fcc.gov/document/warning-wi-fi-blocking-prohibited">FCC document </a></em></strong><br><br>It said an investigation at a resort hotel and convention center in 2014 had found Marriott<br>International Inc had blocked consumer access to hot spots, and it warned that such activities<br>could lead to heavy fines.<br><br>It said it was "aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawful intentional interference,"<br>and advised consumers who suspected such activities to file a complaint with the FCC. The Wall<br>Street Journal, which first reported the story, said Marriott had agreed to settle the case by paying<br>a $600,000 civil penalty for the action at its Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center in<br>Nashville, Tennessee.<br><br>The paper said the Marriott had petitioned the FCC to change its policy. "The Communications<br>Act prohibits anyone from willfully or maliciously interfering with authorized radio communications,<br>including Wi-Fi. Marriott's request seeking the FCC's blessing to block guests' use of non-Marriott<br>networks is contrary to this basic principle," it quoted FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler as saying.<br>The Journal said a Marriott spokesman had referred to a statement it made earlier this month that<br>it would not block guests from using personal Wi-Fi devices.</span><br><br>Source: Reutersthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34893832015-01-27T15:03:24-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00The real Marshawn Lynch press conference<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2622b4841eafe28a68f627bb5c89ca8a105c9747/medium/marshawn.jpg?1422388929" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="u5PgOk1Hjcc" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/u5PgOk1Hjcc/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u5PgOk1Hjcc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34893592015-01-27T14:51:30-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00DC Plans to Invest $20 Million in Minority Male Students<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/bc55fea8ca06f68c474c5343fb132153f41c4af7/original/blackmale-students.jpg?1422388192" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced a plan to invest $20 million to support programs for<br>Washington, D.C.'s men of color. This includes opening an all-boys college preparatory high school in 2017<br>under the "Empowering Males of Color" initiative. The funding for the support programs will come from private<br>and public sources. The D.C. Public Education Fund is working to raise money to support these initiatives outside<br>the operating budget.<br> <br>Henderson's decision to invest seriously in the specific needs of minority boys has everything to do with<br>"mathematics," she says.<br> <br>Black and Latino boys make up 43 percent of the students enrolled in D.C.'s public schools. The graduation rates,<br>reading and math scores and attendance of minority boys are all lagging in the District. By fourth grade, nearly half<br>of the city's black and Latino male students are reading below grade level.<br> <br>In the District, 48 percent of black male students and 57 percent of Hispanic male students graduate in four years,<br>compared with 66 percent of their classmates. Only about a third of black male students are proficient in reading<br>and math, compared with nearly 66 percent of students who are not black or Latino males, according to DC CAS scores.<br> <br>The push is a citywide effort led by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser who is working to improve equity and increase opportunities<br>for black and Latino males. The efforts also align with President Obama's work to help keep male minority students in<br>school and out of prison.<br> <br>I'm ecstatic to see the effort and money dedicated to increasing the success of minority male students in the District.<br>These young men deserve the investment that Washington, D.C., is making in them, and I predict we will see big<br>improvements in graduation rates and reading/math scores moving forward.<br> <br>Souce: Huff Postthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34870932015-01-26T15:21:23-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00Benedict Cumberbatch sticks foot in mouth calls black actors "colored"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d783eb3f0a665daf170d99b44aea455a2ce635a5/medium/bencumberbatch.jpg?1422303551" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Benedict Cumberbatch says he was an "idiot" to refer to non-white actors as "colored." The<br>Academy Award-nominated actor used the word on PBS talk show "Tavis Smiley" last week<br>while discussing diversity in the entertainment industry. He said that "as far as colored actors<br>go," there were more opportunities in the U.S. than Britain, "and that's something that needs<br>to change."British anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card said it welcomed Cumberbatch's<br>comments on diversity but felt the term he used was "outdated." In a statement Jan 26,<br>Cumberbatch apologized for his "thoughtless use of inappropriate language."<br><br>He said: "I'm devastated to have caused offence by using this outmoded terminology. I offer<br>my sincere apologies. I make no excuse for my being an idiot and know the damage is done."<br><br>Source: US News World Report </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34870542015-01-26T15:08:32-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00X-Men Live-Action TV Series in Development at Fox<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/54dd3a40c8c9707fa053cf23ece76beb3c155774/medium/x-men.png?1422302840" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">An “X-Men” TV series is confirmed to be in the very early stages of development at Fox.<br>Negotiations are currently under way to develop a live-action show based on the long-running<br>comic book brand, which has already launched eight feature films including the upcoming<br>“X-Men: Apocalypse.”Though 20th Century Fox holds the film rights to the franchise, in order<br>to use the heroes on Fox, they’ll need to get “X-Men” comics publisher Marvel to sign off on<br>the deal for TV. Rumblings about an “X-Men” show have been in circulation for some time.<br>Last April, Simon Kinberg, writer of “X-Men: Days of Future Past” told Collider that he thought<br>an “X-Men” television series was a good idea.<br><br>“We’re still in this place of figuring out what the future of the franchise will be, but when you<br>look at ‘SHIELD’ to some extent and what Marvel is doing now with ‘Daredevil’… it makes<br>sense to tell some of these stories in TV partly because there’s just not enough screens to<br>do all these characters, and also because the serialized format of comic books is better<br>suited for TV,” he said.<br><br>In the fall, Bleeding Cool reported that Fox was actively interested in bringing the famous<br>mutants to the small screen. Marvel is currently developing their own roster of series, with<br>“Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter” airing on ABC (which, like Marvel, is owned by<br>Disney), and “Daredevil,” “AKA Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist” coming to Netflix.<br><br>Source: Variety</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34828032015-01-23T15:18:09-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00Shaquille O’Neal To Star In Workplace Comedy Pilot For TruTV<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/95d1d8b5e1325374f28f252ee17ad1829dcf72f0/medium/shaq.jpg?1422043998" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">TruTV continues its push into original scripted programming with a pilot order to<br>Shaq Inq. (working title), a workplace comedy loosely based on the business empire<br>of Shaquille O’Neal. The former NBA star-turned-business mogul and occasional actor<br>will topline and executive produce the project, from Mandalay Sports Media, the company<br>launched in 2012 by Peter Guber and Mike Tollin. Tollin also executive produces the pilot,<br>which was written by feature writer-director Jeremy Garelick (The Wedding Ringer, The<br>Break-Up). John Fortenberry (Galavant, Instant Mom) will direct.Said to be in the tone of<br>Veep, the scripted comedy follows O’Neal and the team who runs his businesses. The<br>offbeat, yet capable, group juggles the mayhem of managing Shaq’s existing products<br>and endorsements while implementing his latest batch of eccentric and oftentimes brilliant<br>business ideas. While they’re all working towards the same goal, each employee is constantly<br>jockeying for the power and recognition to make the big guy proud.<br><br>“There is no denying Shaq’s multifaceted appeal,” said TruTV’s head of programming Chris<br>Linn. Added Tollin, “Shaquille and I have been friends for 20 years, and his growth as a<br>businessman never ceases to amaze and amuse me.”<br><br>Source: Deadline</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34784102015-01-21T14:26:39-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00The Business of NBA Basketball<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d976280cbe9c1d542a4f1fa31c905822b9c6ac72/medium/nba.png?1421867994" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Boosted by Steve Ballmer's league-record $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers,<br>the franchise values of NBA teams rose an average of 72 percent in one year, according to<br>new estimates released by Forbes Jan 21. The Los Angeles Lakers supplanted the New York<br>Knicks as the NBA's most valuable franchise in Forbes' annual valuations that were released.<br>That's the biggest one-year value gain since Forbes started estimating team prices in 1998.<br>Last year's list had only three teams -- the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago<br>Bulls -- worth more than $1 billion, but this year, Forbes says those three teams are worth at<br>least $2 billion. And eight other teams are worth more than $1 billion.<br><br>The magazine says the Lakers top the league at a $2.6 billion valuation, followed by the<br>Knicks ($2.5 billion) and the Bulls ($2 billion). Even though Ballmer paid $2 billion for the<br>Clippers, Forbes values the team at $1.6 billion, fifth among teams, immediately following the<br>fourth-ranked Boston Celtics ($1.7 billion).<br><br>The Brooklyn Nets (who are currently on the market) came in sixth at $1.5 billion, followed by<br>the Golden State Warriors ($1.3 billion), Houston Rockets ($1.25 billion), Miami Heat ($1.175<br>billion), Dallas Mavericks ($1.15 billion) and San Antonio Spurs ($1 billion). Last year, when<br>Forbes valued the Mavs at $765 million, owner Mark Cuban called it "way too low," saying it<br>was worth more than $1 billion.<br><br>The Atlanta Hawks, another team currently for sale, are worth $825 million. Michael Jordan hasn't<br>had an easy road as owner of Charlotte's NBA team, but the former great certainly is in a good<br>position financially. What he paid $275 million for five years ago is now worth $725 million,<br>according to Forbes.<br><br>Another team that has struggled on the court has also seen its value rise significantly. Josh<br>Harris and his partners paid $280 million less than four years ago for the Philadelphia 76ers.<br>Under his ownership, the team has gone 96-175 (.354), but Forbes said the team is now worth<br>$420 million more than Harris paid for it. In October, the league announced new television<br>deals with ESPN and Turner that are worth $2.66 billion a year. That's a 186 percent increase<br>from its current TV rights deal, which averages $930 million a year.<br><br>Source: ESPN </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34745562015-01-19T15:50:09-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00Sam Smith, Disclosure Sued Over Alleged Stolen Lyrics on Hit Songs <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/171156d7afcc4ac79f44759909589aec8e36c7cf/original/disclosure.jpg?1421700278" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Sam Smith and Disclosure are among some names in music being sued as they're accused of using stolen<br>lyrics on their hit songs. According to a new report by Daily Mail, an unknown singer/songwriter named Katie<br>Farrah Sopher says the lyrics in question are from her songbook which her ex-boyfriend Sean Sawyers stole<br>and sold to people in the industry. <br><br>Sopher claims more than £200,000 (around $320,000) in damages over four songs, three of which were<br>recorded by Disclosure. Those three tracks include the duo's breakthrough single "Latch" which features<br>Smith's vocals and two collaborations with Eliza Doolittle, "White Noise" and "You and Me".<br> <br>The singer is also suing Aluna George for their contributions to "White Noise" as well as for their own<br>"Attracting Flies".<br> <br>In her testimony, Sopher explains that the lyrics on her alleged stolen songbook are the result of a five-year<br>"toxic" relationship with Sawyers. She said when they were dating, he "attempted to control her, was jealous<br>and possessive and believed she was cheating on him, which made him violent and reluctant to allow her to<br>speak to other men." The songbook was later stolen shortly after their split in 2009.<br> <br>Sawyers has denied all the accusations. "I am denying all the allegations... There is zero truth to the claims<br>made against me. I never saw the book the claimant mentions so I could not have committed the alleged<br>damages, theft, copyright infringement," he states in a defense filed with the High Court.<br> <br>Source: AceShowbiz</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34744152015-01-19T15:02:53-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00Amazon Will now Make Original Movies <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8796c96fcc9e9c96a03e67d33ce86bc4dcf9d3b8/medium/amazon-1.png?1394475640" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Get ready for Amazon-made movies. Amazon Studios, the same division behind shows like "Transparent,"<br>will begin to produce and acquire original movies for theatrical release and early window distribution on<br>Amazon Prime Instant Video. <br><br>These films will hit theaters first and then become available on Prime Instant Video between four and eight<br>weeks later. "Our goal is to create close to 12 movies a year with production starting later this year," Vice<br>President of Amazon Studios Roy Price said. "We hope this program will also benefit filmmakers, who too<br>often struggle to mount fresh and daring stories that deserve an audience."<br> <br>Amazon also announced that Ted Hope, who co-founded and ran production company Good Hope, will be<br>the new Head of Production for Amazon Original Movies. Hope's producing credentials include "Eat Drink<br>Man Woman" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." "Amazon Original Movies will be synonymous with films<br>that amaze, excite, and move our fans, wherever customers watch," he said in a statement.<br> <br>Source: Huff Post</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34682922015-01-15T13:13:43-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00New U.S.-Cuba Trade And Travel Rules To Take Effect <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/30e31f5bf4639736befafd143164ddb455d63026/medium/us-cuba.jpg?1421345515" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The Obama administration says new rules to significantly loosen the U.S. trade embargo<br>against Cuba and open up the communist island to greater American travel will go into<br>effect Jan 16. They are the next step in President Barack Obama's plan to re-establish<br>diplomatic relations with Cuba. They come three days after U.S. officials confirmed the<br>release of 53 political prisoners Cuba had promised to free.<br><br>Only Congress can end the five-decade U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.The measures<br>include permission for Americans to use credit cards in Cuba and U.S. companies to<br>export some technologies. Americans authorized to visit Cuba need no longer apply<br>for special licenses.<br><br>Americans can also bring home up to $100 in alcohol and tobacco from Cuba, meaning<br>the ban on Cuban cigars is officially over.<br><br>Source: Huff Post</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34670712015-01-14T21:34:37-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:0015 steps to try in navigating the music industry<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2cf558f89598951966fa05568d2bdafecc5d4b0e/original/music-industry-how-to.gif?1421289106" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Consider these 15 basic guidelines – from marketing to <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-to-nail-your-networking-and-have-genuine-interactions">networking</a> to self-affirmations – to help you navigate the music <br>industry</span>
<ol> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Focus on your craft first.</strong> Put in your time, and be great. <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-to-write-songs-that-get-stuck-in-peoples-heads">Write amazing songs</a>and <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/10-tips-for-playing-a-mindblowing-set-other-than-playing-really-fing-well">be amazing onstage</a>.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Give fans a reason to care about you.</strong> Help them identify something important about themselves <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/8-ways-to-build-and-strengthen-your-bands-brand">in your brand</a>.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Strive to make the audience want to emulate you</strong>, both onstage and offstage, with your genuine poise and <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/4-ways-even-the-shyest-artists-can-develop-their-onstage-persona">personality</a>.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Promote your music both online and offline</strong>, and never stop telling people that you exist. Promotion is an ongoing process and not a one-time task.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Hang out with like-minded people.</strong> <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-to-be-a-good-music-citizen-in-your-local-scene">Support other bands</a> and form powerful alliances.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Create the clique of the future.</strong> Remember that the musicians you know now will likely be heavyweights later (and you'll be best friends).</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Learn how to </strong><a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/3-creative-ways-to-make-more-money-gigging"><strong>bring in income</strong></a><strong> on your instrument</strong> (give <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/2-genius-ideas-for-funding-your-next-tour">lessons</a>, play weddings, produce local artists, etc.) so that you don't have to kill yourself for too long at some random, energy-draining <a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/balancing-your-day-job-with-a-music-career">day job</a>.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Set yourself up for the long haul</strong> so that you can maintain some level of sanity and calmness. Not being able to pay rent every month can make you desperate. And desperation is repulsive.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Have a vision and a </strong><a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/the-big-s-understanding-strategy-and-your-5-step-music-career-road-map"><strong>clear strategy</strong></a> to get where you want to go. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/is-negativity-holding-your-band-back"><strong>Stay away from the haters</strong></a><strong>.</strong> Remember that haters are vampires and will drain your spirit.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/artist-pep-talk-10-tips-staying-positive-in-face-of-rejection"><strong>Always stay positive</strong></a><strong> and never whine!</strong></span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Believe in yourself</strong> for many, many, many years.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Wear a smile and always be nice.</strong> People hire people they like!</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><strong>Develop an exit strategy</strong>, but execute it only when you know you'll have no regrets.</span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><a href="http://blog.sonicbids.com/6-things-all-musicians-should-be-thankful-for"><strong>Be grateful</strong></a><strong> for loving music.</strong> Always remember that having a purpose in life is one of the greatest gifts that you could ever have.</span></li>
</ol><span class="font_regular"> <br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34670572015-01-14T21:29:18-05:002022-07-20T04:34:47-04:00VIDEO: Flying Lotus - "Coronus, The Terminator" <strong><span class="font_regular">Flying Lotus drops another vivid stunning visual piece from his "You're dead" album.</span></strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Ak4vLEBxIo4" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Ak4vLEBxIo4/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ak4vLEBxIo4?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34670552015-01-14T21:23:11-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00FDA says one dead, many ill after receiving non-sterile solution<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/5b94c276977e4004a8de9bb13a3c5fcaea63823d/medium/fda.gif?1390514550" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that many people have been sickened and one has died<br>after receiving intravenous fluids that were meant to be used for training purposes only. <br>News of the death comes less than a month after the FDA told physicians not to use simulated intravenous<br>products made by Wallcur LLC, a private company based in San Diego, California that makes products for<br>medical training.<br> <br>The FDA said at the time that there had been reports of serious adverse events associated with use of<br>some of Wallcur's products. In its latest announcement the agency provided further details, saying more<br>than 40 patients have received infusions of simulated saline solution, which was shipped to medical clinics,<br>surgical centers and urgent care facilities in seven states.<br> <br>The FDA said many patients have experienced adverse effects, including fever, chills, tremors and headache.<br>Some have been hospitalized and one has died. The agency said it does not know whether the death was directly<br>related to the product.<br> <br>The FDA, together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have collected samples of Wallcur's<br>Practi-0.9 percent sodium chloride IV solutions. Medical facilities have reported that they were unaware that the<br>products were for simulation only.<br> <br>The agency said it is working with distributors and clinics to ascertain how the products entered the supply chain.<br>Medical-grade versions of 0.9 percent sodium chloride, also known as normal saline, have been in short supply.<br>The drug is widely used to treat patients with dehydration and other medical conditions.<br> <br>Last year the FDA said it would temporarily allow Fresenius Kabi USA LLC to distribute normal saline from its<br>manufacturing facility in Norway. The agency said it is not objecting to the temporary distribution of additional<br>normal saline from other sources, including Baxter Healthcare Corp and B. Braun Medical Inc.<br> <br>The states affected by the recall are: Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York and<br>Colorado.<br> <br>Source: Reuters<br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34643802015-01-13T14:22:15-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:005 Prime Target Groups for Identity Thieves<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d3857ca939d808f2f62a85867f4995aec3429e29/medium/identity-theft.jpg?1421176693" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br><br><span class="font_regular">Here's a look at what these consumers (or their family members) who are at high risk can do<br>to reduce their vulnerability and safeguard themselves against ID theft. <br><br><br>1. Children. Without any existing credit, children offer a blank slate for people having difficulty applying<br>for jobs (perhaps due to illegal immigration status) or who want to apply for credit using someone else's<br>identity. Parents often need to share children's personal information to enroll them in school, but Eva<br>Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that assists identity theft<br>victims, recommends being wary of requests from other places such as a doctor's office or Little League team.<br>"If they have forms asking for your child's Social Security number so they can play T-ball, why do they need<br>that?" she asks. "If they say they need it, how are they going to store it?"<br><br>Children in the foster system are especially susceptible to ID theft because their information is shared with<br>several local and state agencies or other groups, and they may not have a parental figure looking out for<br>them. "The more [personal information] is out there, the more chance it has for exposure," Velasquez says.<br><br>2. College students. Colleges used to base student IDs on their Social Security numbers, but they've moved<br>away from that due to privacy concerns. However, college students may still be asked for their Social Security<br>number when they apply for financial aid, jobs or apartments, or when they fill in a warranty form for a new<br>computer or other electronics, which should never be done because disclosing your Social Security number<br>on a warranty isn't necessary. "They're giving it to landlords, lenders, the school, credit card companies, and<br>all this throwing around of the Social [Security number] makes them vulnerable," says Robert Siciliano, identity<br>theft expert with BestIDTheftCompanys.com. Oversharing personal information on social media (address,<br>birthdate, birthplace and mother's maiden name) only increases the potential for ID theft.<br> <br>3. Military members and veterans. The military used to assign service numbers based on members' Social<br>Security numbers. That practice, like student ID numbers, has fall out of favor for similar reasons. However,<br>some veterans may still have an identifier that matches their Social Security number, so Robert Ellis Smith,<br>publisher of Privacy Journal in Providence, Rhode Island, recommends applying to have it changed. Military<br>members serving overseas may also find it harder to stay on top of their finances. "Even if they're overseas,<br>they should go online and check their credit report regularly," he says.<br> <br>Some service members grant power of attorney to family or friends to manage their personal business in<br>their absence. However, Velasquez warns that service members should choose the person carefully. "This<br>doesn't tend to present a problem if it's a very trusted person like a spouse or parent," Velasquez says, "but<br>sometimes they just don't have that type of family support, so often these young guys will sign over power<br>of attorney to a girl they've been dating for two months, and they've just given them the keys to the kingdom."<br> <br>4. Seniors. Sharing identifying information by phone or email puts consumers of any age at risk for identity<br>theft. But older consumers, in particular, may fall prey to these ploys out of loneliness or confusion. "Anytime<br>you get a phone call asking for personal information, you should just hang up the phone," Siciliano says.<br>"It doesn't matter what they're offering you or what you stand to lose. The IRS is not going call you." Also be<br>wary of emergencies from supposed grandkids, as that's been a common scam recently.<br> <br>One way to reduce the potential for ID theft is to freeze an older parent’s credit so that thieves can't open<br>new credit accounts or apply for loans using their identity. "You want to get control over your elderly<br>parents' financial lives, and a credit freeze is one of the best ways to do that," Siliciano says, adding that<br>you should closely monitor their bank accounts. “Sign up for notifications or alerts on all of their transactions."<br> <br>5. The deceased. Sadly, not even dearly departed relatives are immune from ID theft. A 2012 study by<br>ID Analytics' ID:A Labs, a group of economists and other experts who conduct research on consumer<br>behavior, found that fraudsters impersonate nearly 2.5 million deceased Americans a year, using their<br>identities to apply for credit products and services. "It's hard to remediate because it's often a family<br>member that discovers it," Velasquez says. "You generally have to supply a lot of documentation to<br>demonstrate who you are and what your relationship is to the deceased."<br> <br>This issue tends to come up among older couples when one spouse passes away, but sometimes parents<br>of a deceased adult child also discover identity theft. "They feel really violated [when] they discover that<br>someone would violate their child's identity like that," Velasquez adds. It can take up to six months for the<br>three credit bureaus to learn that someone is deceased, during which time thieves can have a field day<br>with their identity. To avoid this, Velasquez recommends that family members of the deceased immediately<br>notify the credit bureaus and the Social Security Administration that the person has died.<br> <br>Source: US News World Report</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34541712015-01-06T14:54:40-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00Sony Is Bringing Back The Walkman with model ZX2<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1f27c73ef54eea064ee6ac53488ca2fa5de3a4ba/original/walkman-xz2.png?1420573941" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">You read that correctly. Sony is coming out with a Walkman — you remember those, right?<br>It's going to cost over $1,100. The product, called the Walkman ZX2, was announced at the<br>CES conference in Las Vegas. Sony is pushing the Walkman as "the fruit of continuous<br>refinement in high audio quality technologies." <br><br>Though it can access apps through Google Play (it runs on an old version of Android),<br>the device is not meant to compete with your smartphone. It is unclear whether the device<br>is a Sony Walkman or an Android device being marketed by Sony with the Walkman branding. <br>You might be thinking this is crazy, but the device has already won people over.</span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="JcnGxhILDsM" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/JcnGxhILDsM/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JcnGxhILDsM?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br> Source: Business Insider thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34271802014-12-22T14:25:49-05:002017-01-11T08:55:50-05:00Marley Brothers drop new Reggae album "Set Up Shop Vol. 2" <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/61ede275f43e940874a4e81a9d85623561a3171e/original/marleybrothers.jpg?1419276241" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">"Whether it's about love, struggle or strife on a personal level or global scale, all of<br>these songs carry a message," Stephen "Ragga" Marley tells Billboard. "We wanted<br>a compilation that touches on relevant issues and gives some newfound perspective,<br>the street-people perspective."That perspective is all over Set Up Shop Vol. 2, a new<br>compilation from the Marley brothers and a host of skilled collaborators. "Ragga" continues<br>about the album's mission and myriad collaborators: On this album, my brothers and I share<br>our new music and also showcase a range of new talent that is uprising in reggae. My son<br>Jo Mersa represents the next generation and has a universal sound -- blending different<br>genres of music with reggae and dancehall. London-based singer Christopher Ellis inherited<br>elements from his father Alton Ellis' Jamaican rocksteady era, while mixing it with modern<br>day soul, R&B and reggae. Dancehall vet Wayne Marshall is so versatile and can deejay<br>or sing on any track or riddim, and reggae newcomer Black-Am-I sings from the heart of St.<br>Ann where my father hails from making some of realest roots music. We represent the full<br>spectrum of reggae.<br><br>For the album's lead single "Is It Worth It (Gunman World)," Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley<br>collaborated with Nabil, producer of some of 2014's greatest music videos, for artists like<br>FKA Twigs and Skrillex. Along with co-director Francesco Carrozzini and starring actor<br>Saai Taghmaoui.<br><br>You can check out the album here: <a href="http://bit.ly/1zWAtdv">http://bit.ly/1zWAtdv</a> <br> <br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34271762014-12-22T14:20:04-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Adult Swim's Black Dynamite will tackle police brutality w/guest Erykah Baud, J.B. Smoove and more<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4a6b62bd69984c041c0ba5eb7c84d3b196480d58/original/black-dynamite.jpg?1419275750" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The creators of the "Black Dynamite" animated series on Adult Swim have announced<br>that they are working on a "Black Dynamite" musical special that will tackle a topic of the<br>day - police brutality - in an episode that will air on January 10, 2015 at 10:30 PM. <br>According to the press release, the episode, titled "The Wizard of Watts," will follow<br>Black Dynamite as he attempts to take a vacation, when the police start patrolling the<br>streets, and a riot breaks out. Black Dynamite is then hit in the head with a brick, which<br>causes him to hallucinate, taking him into the "Magical Land of Oz-Watts," where he is<br>called on to defend the community, against the police.<br> <br>It'll be an hour long (episodes are typically 30 minutes), and will feature guest appearances<br>by Erykah Badu, Tyler, The Creator, Tim Blake Nelson and J.B. Smoove.<br> <br>"As a comedy writer, I feel it’s my job to make people laugh while using constructive social<br>criticism to evoke thought and inspire dialogue," said Carl Jones, who directed and co-wrote<br>the upcoming special with Byron Minns.<br> <br>Source: Shadow and Act</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34152282014-12-18T14:54:32-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00GE to launch it's 1st film Break Dancing Documentary "Shake the Dust" <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8229ae5a64d690ae340164de5c989bae1878e649/original/shake-the-dust.jpg?1418932342" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co plans to release its first feature film<br>through video streaming devices like Roku and Apple TV in a marketing effort that raises<br>the bar for sponsored content."Shake the Dust" is a documentary about breakdancing and<br>how the movement has united people across the world. Executive-produced by the rap star<br>Nas, it will make its debut on December 24 through a partnership with the music video platform<br>Vevo.<br><br>GE bought the rights to release and sponsor the movie for two weeks and will promote it inside<br>the Vevo app and through an advertising campaign on the home screen of Roku. In addition,<br>GE will launch other videos to complement the film, such as interviews with Nas and a segment<br>with former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.<br><br>GE, whose healthcare arm makes medical equipment, wanted to emphasize the connection<br>between neuroscience and music, a topic the company plans to keep exploring next year.<br>The conglomerate wants to reach consumers who shun traditional television, said Sam Olstein,<br>director of innovation at GE.<br><br>"We have been grappling with this challenge of how to reach the binge consumer who doesn't<br>watch TV," he said about people who sit down to watch several episodes of a TV show - for<br>example "Orange is the New Black" - on streaming video platforms like Netflix.<br><br>The film sponsorship is a first for GE, Olstein said, adding that the documentary's creators can<br>seek out other distribution after the campaign ends. The sprawling conglomerate, involved in<br>everything from energy infrastructure to jet engines, is known as an innovative advertiser that<br>experiments with new platforms and formats.<br><br>For this effort, GE wants to position itself against tech giants like Google and Facebook that<br>are known for attracting talented engineers. Olstein said the film and related videos are also<br>a way to reach out to a new wave of investors.<br><br>Source: Reuters</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34152162014-12-18T14:33:03-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00U.S. Plans to Sue NY Over Rikers Island Conditions<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f1c7c194b19336047220800d0b6ad4dc4b237be1/small/deptofjustice.jpg?1418930977" class="size_s justify_center border_" /><br>Federal prosecutors plan to sue New York City over widespread civil rights violations<br>in the handling of adolescent inmates at Rikers Island, making clear their dissatisfaction<br>with the city’s progress in reining in brutality by guards and improving conditions at the jail<br>complex, a new court filing shows. The decision to take the city to court comes more than<br>four months after the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern<br>District of New York, issued a blistering report that cited a pervasive and “deep-seated<br>culture of violence” directed at teenage inmates at Rikers. The report found rampant use<br>of excessive force by correction officers, the overuse of solitary confinement and an ineffectual<br>system of investigating assaults by guards.That report, which followed a 2½-year investigation<br>by Mr. Bharara’s office, proposed more than 10 pages of remedial measures that prosecutors<br>said the city’s Correction Department would have to put in place, and warned that if the city did<br>not work toward that goal, the Justice Department could file a lawsuit and seek court-ordered<br>reforms. “While the United States had hoped to reach a speedy resolution with the city on these<br>critical issues,” Mr. Bharara said in the filing on Thursday, “thus far insufficient progress has<br>been made.”<br><br>In September, Mr. Bharara issued a strongly worded statement after The New York Times<br>reported that city officials had withheld key portions of a report on violence at Rikers from his<br>office during its investigation, and that officials involved in reporting distorted data had been<br>promoted. Mr. Bharara said the revelations did “not instill confidence in us that the city will<br>quickly meet its constitutional obligations.” In its filing, Mr. Bharara’s office asked a federal<br>judge in Manhattan for permission to join in an existing class-action lawsuit, Nunez v. City<br>of New York, over brutality at Rikers that had been filed by the Legal Aid Society and two<br>private law firms, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady and Ropes & Gray. In contrast to Mr.<br>Bharara’s investigation of the treatment of adolescent inmates, the Nunez case focuses<br>on all Rikers inmates, regardless of age.<br><br>Rather than a file separate lawsuit, Mr. Bharara’s office said in its filing on Dec 18 that it would<br>be most efficient to become part of the Nunez case and resolve all of the claims “with a single,<br>comprehensive remedy,” since settlement discussions had been underway for months in that<br>case. The prosecutors said the de Blasio administration and the plaintiff’s lawyers in the Nunez<br>lawsuit had agreed to the government’s joining that case, a legal maneuver that they said “will<br>facilitate much needed reforms at Rikers in the fastest and most efficient manner.”<br><br>The federal filing comes the day after Mayor Bill de Blasio visited Rikers and declared that<br>“progress is being made quickly” at the jail complex. Mr. de Blasio cited changes his administration<br>has made, including ending the use of solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-old inmates.<br>Mr. Bharara’s office said in its filing that it had told city officials that any settlement must include<br>an agreement for a judge to continue supervising the case. A judge could also appoint a monitor<br> to oversee the city’s compliance.<br><br>Source: NY Times thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34101792014-12-17T14:27:19-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Stephen Collins (7th Heaven star) admits to Sexual Misconduct with Underage Girls <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/bbf0f513a26a859e5dd917baa457c367faf7799b/small/stephencollins.jpg?1418844257" class="size_s justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Stephen Collins admits to molesting minor girls, saying that he sexually abused three<br>young girls in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. "I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret,"<br>the actor says in a statement. "I have been working to atone for it ever since." The star<br>known for his wholesome role on the long-running family drama series "7th Heaven"<br>confesses to exposing himself twice to a pre-teen girl in 1973 when he was 25 years old<br>and having another inappropriate encounter with the same girl in his house. "When the<br>girl and I were watching TV alone, I moved her hand in such a way that caused her to<br>touch me inappropriately,'' he opens up to PEOPLE. "It was a completely impulsive act,<br>and it's haunted me ever since to think of what I put her through."<br> <br>He also reveals about exposing himself to two teenage girls in 1982 and 1994. "I deeply<br>regret the mistakes I've made and any pain I have caused these three women," he says<br>as quoted by Today.com. "I admit to, apologize for, and take responsibility for what I did."<br>Now 67 years old, Collins says he has been in therapy for the past 20 years and has "not<br>had an impulse to act out in any such way" since the last incident two decades ago. He<br>also insists that he always kept himself in check during his time on "7th Heaven".<br> <br>"I appeared for eleven seasons on a television series with a cast that included minor females<br>in our TV family, and countless other young actresses throughout the show's eleven years,"<br>he says. "I never behaved inappropriately on or off that set - or on any set I've ever worked on."<br> <br>"I've decided to address these issues publicly because two months ago, various news<br>organizations published a recording made by my then-wife, Faye Grant, during a confidential<br>marriage therapy session in January, 2012. This session was recorded without the therapist's<br>or my knowledge or consent."<br> <br>"On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago," he continues.<br>"The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I<br>did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth."<br> <br>Collins says he had personally apologized to one of his victims, but hadn't done so with the<br>other two. "I did have an opportunity to do so with one of the women, 15 years later. I apologized<br>and she was extraordinarily gracious," he claims.<br> <br>"But after I learned in the course of my treatment that my being direct about such matters<br>could actually make things worse for them by opening old wounds, I have not approached<br>the other two women, one of whom is now in her 50s and the other in her 30s."<br> <br>Source: AceShowbiz</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/34006322014-12-15T13:31:07-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00It took over 10 years but D'Angelo finally releases Black Messiah <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/19568983e3b4f2f6644bd7b9e1abe6bb7e542b9b/original/dangelo.jpg?1418668137" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">D'Angelo's first album in more than a decade is finally out. Titled "Black Messiah", the<br>effort was announced just a few days before it was made available for purchase on iTunes<br>and for streaming on Spotify on December 15 at midnight. "Black Messiah" is D'Angelo's first<br>full-length since 2000's "Voodoo" and only his third in his 20-year career. It features 12 new<br>tracks which were debuted at a New York City listening session sponsored by Red Bull Music<br>Academy and Afropunk on Sunday evening. The event was hosted by author Nelson George.<br>Among those 12 records were "Sugah Daddy" which was premiered over the weekend and its<br>official first single "Really Love" that's scheduled to hit radio on Monday morning. The album<br>also includes contributions from Questlove of The Roots, Q-Tip and Kendra Foster of Funkadelic.<br><br>"Black Messiah is a hell of a name for an album. It can be misunderstood. Many will think it's<br>about religion. Some will jump to the conclusion that I'm calling myself a Black Messiah,"<br>D'Angelo explained the LP's title in a lyric booklet passed out at the Sunday event.<br>"For me, the title is about all of us. It's about the world. It's about an idea we can all aspire to.<br>We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah," he added. <br>Stream on Spotify here: </span><a contents="https://play.spotify.com/album/5Hfbag0SsHxafx1SySFSX6" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://play.spotify.com/album/5Hfbag0SsHxafx1SySFSX6">https://play.spotify.com/album/5Hfbag0SsHxafx1SySFSX6</a> <br><br><br><span class="font_regular">Source: AceShowbiz</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33925432014-12-12T16:01:57-05:002021-06-23T03:47:10-04:00Meet the 11 yr old Super Business girl Asia Newson<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/5ff4ddb49b2884107b7fb26430e79953ffa851e2/medium/superbusinesss-girl.jpg?1418417771" class="size_m justify_center border_" />Asia Newson aka Super Business Girl is known as Detroit's youngest entrepreneur.<br>At just eleven years old she makes and sells her own candles and merchandise under<br>her business Super Business Girl. Asia's mission is to "recognize the true potential in<br>every child and to develop intrinsic security that makes optimum use of their individualized<br>talent ". She was born in Owosso, MI and raised in Detroit's Brightmoor neighborhood.<br>She started Super Business Girl at the age of five years old, learning how to make candles<br>from her father. She's won numerous awards including being named on the Grio's Top<br>100 list. Asia hopes to open up shop in Downtown Detroit, become the cities "Youth Mayor"<br>but also plans to finish middle & high school so she can attend Michigan State University.<br>Asia has appeared on the Ellen Degeneres Show, America's Got Talent, Disney World's<br>Cinderella Stage, MSNBC, 20/20 ABC News and NPR just to name a few. She was featured<br>in preeminent photographer Bruce Weber's Detroit exhibit and was a keynote speaker for<br>TEDxDetroit.<br><strong><a contents="http://www.superbusinessgirl.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.superbusinessgirl.com">http://www.superbusinessgirl.com</a></strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="L6CW_SFoJBI" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/L6CW_SFoJBI/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L6CW_SFoJBI?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33924502014-12-12T15:13:05-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Music: DJ AnG presents the latest SOCA collection on "Soca Savage"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2a0d96b436ebbec18c4baf392ac3e3e6ebf23bd1/original/soca-savage.jpg?1418414847" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular">DJ AnG drops a fierce collection of SOCA tunes on his latest release "SOCA Savage"<br>Pure energy and excitement but no behavior. Enjoy the music have fun !!<br>To listen click the link here: <strong><a contents="http://djang.podomatic.com/entry/2014-12-08T19_07_26-08_00" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://djang.podomatic.com/entry/2014-12-08T19_07_26-08_00">http://djang.podomatic.com/entry/2014-12-08T19_07_26-08_00</a></strong></span></div>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33885282014-12-11T16:46:03-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Wayne Brady gives a moving tribute to his mom, remembers struggle days<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d34f39987f321984eb922d221d0318286f2c8984/medium/waynebrady.jpg?1418334049" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Singer, performer, host Wayne Brady talks about his early job as a Power Ranger,<br>performing in Japan for weeks with one tuxedo, the most embarrassing moment <br>on stage, a moving to his tribute to his mom and more. Check the video <br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="hj1pdfgDqfY" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/hj1pdfgDqfY/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hj1pdfgDqfY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br>Source: ESPN Highly Questionable </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33885262014-12-11T16:33:03-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Shaquille O'Neal cooks for a good cause <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e5ce58697a10c96e25660f613782cae11a57a6f3/medium/shaqcantcook.jpg?1418333435" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="5RPAO5rXX5E" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/5RPAO5rXX5E/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5RPAO5rXX5E?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33785542014-12-09T14:59:44-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Laced Up Film sheds light on the world of the sneaker collector <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/70df812908f364989854d0b34c0062498642c041/large/lacedup.jpg?1418154758" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Laced Up is a documentary that sheds light on the world of the sneaker collector<br>and the obsession that transcends across generations, races, economic status and<br>culture. Collectors in this arena, also known as "sneaker heads," range from the<br>"Average Joe" to the hip-hop superstar. This documentary captures the various facets<br>of the sneaker culture, the history and production of sneakers, the risks associated with<br>collecting, shoe technology and foot health. Laced Up provides an inside look into the<br>lives of individual collectors, their personal shoe collections and their stories.The film<br>features some really fantastic people (who just happen to love sneakers) as well..such<br>as REE of SN'eadS fame, the thought provoking work of Freehand Profit, Jumpman Bostic<br>from Detroit, and renowned sneaker artist Mache just to name a few. There are many more<br>fantastic people who will be remembered names after you've watched the film. THE<br>LADIES DO INDEED get their say in the film as well! You should particularly watch<br>for that (Sneaker companies, I'm talking to you all).<br><br>Sean "Paper Chasr" Williams of OSD Live is the Music Supervisor and Consulting Producer of<br>the film along with Dee Wells. For more info and to see the film check the site here:<br><a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.laced-up.com">http://www.laced-up.com</a><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33782692014-12-09T14:42:34-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Netflix Set to Debut Nina Simone Documentary <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/e36104815f779577a115cce19d6d0ea13fb4031a/medium/nina-simone.jpg?1418154073" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Netflix recently announced plans to debut an original documentary on the legendary<br>singer and activist Nina Simone. What Happened, Miss Simone? will be directed by<br>the award-winning documentarian Liz Garbus, whose credits include The Farm:<br>Angola, USA and the HBO documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World.What<br>Happened, Miss Simone? will follow Simone’s life and work across three decades.<br>Those three decades included Simone’s mastering of genres including jazz, blues and R&B.<br><br>The film will include “never-before-heard audio tapes,” interviews and concert footage.<br>Netflix is calling the documentary “the most authentic, personal and unflinching telling<br>of the extraordinary life of one of the 20th century’s greatest recording artists.” Although<br>Netflix did not release a date for the airing of the documentary, one has to wonder if it<br>will be aired to coincide or even compete with the Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana,<br>which has been met with little to no fanfare, but tons of critiquing.<br><br>Source: The Root </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33612692014-12-04T15:39:45-05:002022-07-31T12:37:48-04:00CDC admits current flu vaccine is not totally effective<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2c49119aedfb599666d8ff196fa39d7aa508c987/medium/cdc.png?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is too late to make new<br>flu vaccines for the current flu season that could better protect against the predominant<br>flu virus now circulating in the United States.On 12/3, the CDC sent an advisory to doctors<br>noting that one component of this year's flu vaccine was only partially protective against<br>the predominant flu virus, known as influenza A (H3N2), which has mutated since the<br>current flu shots were made. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said it takes four months<br>to make a new flu vaccine even using newer cell-based technologies, too long to be helpful<br>in the current flu season.<br><br>Past seasons dominated by H3N2 strains of flu have been severe, and the worry is that<br>without a good match in this year's flu shot, many people could be hospitalized or die<br>from flu this year. Frieden encouraged people who have not been vaccinated to get a<br>flu shot because it could still offer partial protection against the mutated H3N2 virus and<br>good protection from other strains that might become predominant later this year. CDC<br>testing shows the vaccine offers good protection from about half of the H3N2 flu strains<br>circulating, as well as H1N1 and influenza B strains.<br><br>CDC is urging people to seek medical help if they become severely ill with the flu and ask<br>for an antiviral medication, such as Roche's Tamiflu or GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. Some<br>experts question the CDC's methodology for predicting whether flu shots will work. "No<br>one really knows what is going on here with the flu strains and the match using the<br>current methods," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert from the University<br>of Minnesota.<br><br>In a 2011 paper, Osterholm found flu shots only protected about 59 percent of the population.<br>"For all we know, this vaccine may work as well as it does every other year." Dr. Richard<br>Zimmerman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, however, said that, while not<br>perfect, the methods offer "a reasonable proxy" for what will happen. Zimmerman said a<br>drift in the H3N2 component of the flu shot is "unwelcome news" for anyone who cares for<br>the elderly, who are most at risk during flu seasons. He still recommends vaccination: "<br>You do what you can do to protect yourself."<br><br>Source: Reuters<br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33468192014-12-01T15:15:11-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Idris Elba will race around the world in his own series <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0a1c11871eb8a74d6b067a78aa017a9d59625132/medium/idris.jpg?1417464759" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Renowned speed king Idris Elba has unveiled the first project to come out of his<br>co-production deal with Shine North with extreme racing docu-series The Idris Elba<br>Project for the Discovery Channel.The six-part series will see Elba push his body,<br>mind and engineering know-how to the limit by racing on land, water and in the air.<br>The show will air on Discovery in mid-2015 in more than 220 countries and territories,<br>including the U.S.Elba will take part in alley driving, street racing, aerobatics and power<br>boating for the series. “I’m taking on the toughest racing challenges of my life for this<br>new Discovery TV series,” said Elba in a statement. “Along the way I’ll meet extraordinary<br>individuals, spectacular machines and hear amazing stories of how far people go to satisfy<br>their love of speed. The extreme challenges will take me right out of my comfort zone as<br>I compete against the best on land, water and in the air.”<br><br>Elba’s Green Door Pictures is co-producing with Shine North. The two companies announced<br>an exclusive co-production pact in May this year after working together on Elba’s racing<br>documentary King Of Speed.<br><br>Elba knows how to keep busy. The talented multi-hyphenate recently released his first<br>long play album Mi Mandela, with 14 songs inspired by Nelson Mandela. He is also in<br>production on Studio Canal’s Bastille Day; is voicing parts in Pixar’s Finding Nemo remake<br>Finding Dory as well as Disney’s The Jungle Book; and has Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No<br>Nation, Pierre Morel’s The Gunman and Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age Of Ultron<br>coming down the pipeline.<br><br>Source: Deadline<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33468152014-12-01T15:05:30-05:002017-01-11T08:55:49-05:00Girl Scout Cookies will now be sold Online <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/28d4307fb91661d5a932f3b9982130e966e6eed7/medium/girlscoutcookies.jpg?1417464198" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">You can run, but you can't hide from Girl Scout cookies not even if you actually<br>wanted to. Girl Scouts of the USA announced Thin Mints, Tagalongs or any other<br>of America's longtime favorites will just be a click away. "It's a new program called<br>Digital Cookie; isn't that clever?" an anchor for HLN said. "And the proceeds will still<br>benefit local communities."The organization's chief communications executive told<br>USA Today digital adds another layer to the tradition methods, which began in back<br>1917. "We are girl-led and girl-driven. We go where girls are, and girls are digital<br>natives. ... The digital component will enhance the sales, and the byproduct will be a<br>larger social imprint from the girls."<br><br>And the move is expected to help bring in a good chunk of change for the organization,<br>too, which already makes about $800 million from booths, order forms and door-to-door<br>sales. A majority of the more than 100 councils across the country are currently testing<br>the idea. So how does it work?<br><br>Each scout will have her own Web page that means you can choose who you want to<br>buy from, no matter what state you're in —which is perfect for long-distance family<br>members. But the catch is you must receive an invitation via email in order to access a<br>specific scout's page.<br><br>"GSA says it's making the move to get girls interested in email, marketing and financing<br>and online communicating at a younger age," a reporter for WPMT said. The Girl Scouts<br>also have a mobile app on iTunes and Google Play that you can also use to order. The<br>boxes will then be delivered right to your doorstep. Geez, this might be making it a little<br>too easy to fill that sweet-tooth craving. The organization will still keep its older methods<br>of sales, but digital is expected to be implemented nationwide in Jan 2015.<br><br>Source: Newsy</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33432352014-11-30T10:10:46-05:002022-01-10T04:41:50-05:00Destiny Jones (daughter of Nas) launches lip gloss line Lipmatic<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/02a1a883bbc6e46116eaca19e57c90fce59c947c/original/lipmaticgroup.jpg?1417359313" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Destiny Jones, daughter of rap star Nas and model Carmen Bryan, has grown up to be her own business woman. She's launched<br>a line of organic lip gloss called "Lipmatic." The gloss is available in four flavors: plum, peach, cotton<br>candy and cherry. Find out more here: <a contents="http://LipMatic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://LipMatic.com%20%20">http://LipMatic.com </a></span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33418552014-11-29T13:44:06-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:0077 yr old Grandma can do it all including lift weights<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2d8a2ee1c92e523bc4cbd8eb3274ed3271b0b9e7/medium/77grandma.jpg?1417286436" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><strong>Check out her video and story below</strong><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="0zjhSlJN-Qw" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/0zjhSlJN-Qw/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0zjhSlJN-Qw?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br><span class="font_regular">Most grandmothers, especially those reaching 80 years of age, can be counted on for cozy<br>hugs, surprise gifts, and gray hair. So you may be surprised when you meet Willie Murphy, a<br>77-year-old grandmother who can do one-handed push-ups and deadlift 215 pounds. <br>The 105-pound senior started with 5-pound weights a few years ago, after seeing a sign about a<br>weight-lifting competition at her local YMCA. She asked a Y employee if she could participate. "Go<br>for it, granny," he said. She took his advice with a vengeance. In addition to lifting more than twice her<br>weight, Murphy can do one-handed pull-ups, one-handed pushups, fingertip pushups, and the pushups<br>where you put your fingers in diamond formation and press your nose all the way to the floor.<br> <br>Murphy is quick to point out that her strength is all natural. "None of those steroids for me," she said,<br>setting down a barbell. And it's not as though she needs it. She handily won her division in the deadlift<br>competition at the recent WNPF World Championships. She also came home with first-place awards in<br>power curl, bench press, bench press repetitions and the World Natural Powerlifting Federation 2014<br>Lifter of the Year award.<br> <br>Murphy laughs a lot and eats what she wants to eat, including Pizza Hut on football days, washed down<br>with rum and cranberry juice. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, she heads to the local Y<br>to lift weights and powerwalk.<br> <br>Since her victory, Murphy's been getting a lot of love at the gym. All morning, people stop to congratulate<br>her, give her fist bumps or ask to touch her biceps. One lady gets off the step machine to tell Murphy that<br>she is her idol. Murphy says thank you and curtseys. "They see I'm old and I'm not being pushed around<br>in a wheelchair," she said with a laugh. "I can shovel my own snow. And I can push my car if it gets stuck<br>in the snow... I'm almost 80 years old and I am still living life."<br> <br>Source: USA Today</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33323892014-11-26T13:24:50-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Napoleon Da Legend seeks "Justice 4 All"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/3b34772733b9111023849890c5bf45d485e7beb8/medium/wisemen6.jpg?1417025747" class="size_m justify_center border_" />In his latest release Napoleon Da Legend drops a world tune that demands<br>Justice for All nationalities, races and creed across the globe. In the aftermath<br>of the Michael Brown verdict it couldn't come at a better time. Check it out<br>here:<strong><br><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/napoleondalegend/justice-4-all-napoleon-da-legend" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/napoleondalegend/justice-4-all-napoleon-da-legend">https://soundcloud.com/napoleondalegend/justice-4-all-napoleon-da-legend</a></strong><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33282342014-11-25T16:11:49-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Salt n Pepa pushes a new GEICO commerical <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c17994a2976c46d371a0329749c1c2a30dfd40b9/original/salt-n-pepa.jpg?1416949309" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><strong>Salt n Pepa shines in the new GEICO ad. Peep the piece below</strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="pE0_GaLsX1Y" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/pE0_GaLsX1Y/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pE0_GaLsX1Y?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="425" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33238612014-11-24T15:10:05-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Entrepreneur Maya Penn 14yrs old Reveals The Best Way To Inspire Millennials <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/adc27aae8c316d74e46524d21167721c0196109e/medium/mayapenn.png?1416859600" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Maya Penn has quite the résumé: entrepreneur, CEO, philanthropist, eco-friendly<br>fashion designer, coder, illustrator, writer, and animator all at the tender age of 14.<br>When most kids her age were learning how to count to 10 and color within the lines,<br>4-year-old Penn was busy learning how to take apart computers and put them back<br>together. The "kidpreneur" went on to found Maya's Ideas, an eco-friendly, environmentally<br>sustainable fashion and accessories line, when she was 8.In 2011, Penn gained national<br>attention after a Forbes profile on the then 10-year-old and her company. And in December<br>2013, the teen made her TED debut at the TEDWomen conference. Penn wowed the<br>audience with her impressive business acumen and fearlessness. It's no surprise that<br>IBM tapped the girl wonder to speak at its New Way to Work masterclass, which was part<br>of the tech company's campaign to launch its new collaborative email system, IBM Verse.<br>At the masterclass, executives and digital mavens spoke about the changing workplace<br>and what companies will need to do to adapt to it. Penn was given the honor of closing<br>out the event, following speakers such as Contently's cofounder Shane Snow and IBM<br>senior vice president Bob Picciano.<br><br>In her presentation, Penn discussed the different ways millennials like her are changing<br>the workplace. By 2025, millennials are expected to make up a whopping 75% of the<br>workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unfortunately, many companies<br>are lagging behind in adapting to the needs of younger generations. "We need to create<br>an environment where millennials will thrive," said Penn. "For the millennial entrepreneur,<br>that means a more flexible, fun, and engaging workplace."<br><br>Many things have been said about millennials and their work habits, or lack thereof,<br>but Penn attributes this to simply being misunderstood. "There are many stereotypes<br>about millennial business leaders, one being that they're impatient," she said. "You<br>can look at this in two ways: We're either really impatient, or you can see that we're really<br>ambitious and eager to grow and move forward."<br><br>According to Penn, that combination of ambition and impatience is what inspires millennials<br>to innovate. "Young entrepreneurs like myself are shown to be more open-minded, creative,<br>and willing to take risks that will propel them forward and help their companies and startups<br>blossom," she said. Penn's life and accomplishments are a testament to the ways millennials<br>are influencing the workplace. She believes collaboration is essential for companies to get<br>the most out of this generation. "Creativity and innovation are cultivated when a company<br>allows their workforce to take risks and be more imaginative in their product development,"<br>Penn concluded. "I believe merging some of these principles and working together is what<br>will ignite the way we change the world at work."<br><br>It was, in part, with this millennial-influenced landscape and approach in mind that IBM created<br>IBM Verse, its new social email system that's shaped by the way we communicate today.<br>Features include a see-what-you-need design, a mute button, and social apps, all of which<br>are designed to encourage collaboration, mobility, and increased productivity.<br><br>Source: Business Insider<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33238182014-11-24T14:47:03-05:002014-11-24T14:47:03-05:00Video: PRhyme (DJ Premier + Royce Da 5'9") "Courtesy" <span class="font_regular">Another heater from the "PRhyme" album called Courtesy<br>PRhyme is DJ Premier and Royce Da 5' 9"</span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="1PrIX-CZVo0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/1PrIX-CZVo0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1PrIX-CZVo0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="425" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br><span class="font_regular">Peep the full album here: <a contents="smarturl.it/ThePRhymeAlbum" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://smarturl.it/ThePRhymeAlbum">smarturl.it/ThePRhymeAlbum</a></span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33158642014-11-21T19:32:21-05:002024-03-09T09:16:01-05:0011yr old star Brianna Curiel does Meghan Trainor cover<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/473b50863911142e8cb35201183d6ae69fc22f53/medium/brianacuriel.jpeg?1416616021" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><strong><span class="font_regular">The next superstar in the making, 11 year old Brianna Curiel does an amazing cover of <br>Meghan Trainor's "Lips are movin." Check out her poise, charisma, and shine in the <br>video. Thanks to MBennz, Reel Mike Jones, Curl Fryz for the discovery. </span></strong><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="PwYhE6GEDF0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/PwYhE6GEDF0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PwYhE6GEDF0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="425" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33141122014-11-21T14:21:12-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Kool & the Gang on Longevity: Keeping the Band Alive <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c00bb003fd26c5f1bbd7e2b3bb79a252c092adb7/medium/koolngang.jpg?1416597501" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>Started in the '60s as a jazz group (founding member Robert "Kool" Bell told the<br>crowd that his godfather was Thelonius Monk), the band morphed several times,<br>fusing jazz's experimental ear with funk's tough edges in the '70s. They also landed<br>a song on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, one of disco's definitive crossover<br>moments.They shifted gears again when they drafted a vocalist. According to Bell,<br>they got the idea after going on tour with the Jackson 5 and observing the success<br>of other big-band funk ensembles like Earth, Wind & Fire and the Commodores.<br>When the singer James "J.T." Taylor came on board for their 1979 album Ladies'<br>Night, Kool & the Gang concocted a series of high-energy party records.<br> <br>The band's pliability extends to their web of influence: as panel-moderator and<br>Billboard contributing editor Jem Aswad pointed out, Kool & the Gang are "the most<br>sampled band in history." Just as Kool charted a path through decades and across<br>genres, samples of their work pop up seemingly everwhere: M/A/R/R/S' "Pump Up<br>The Volume," in 1987, Madonna's "Erotica," in 1992, 2Pac's "Picture Me Rollin," in<br>1996, D'Angelo's "Send It On," in 2000, tracks by Lady Gaga and Elle Varner from<br>later in the '00s.<br><br>And Bell and his bandmates still work hard to surprise. As one member of the band's<br>management put it, they're always "keeping the brand alive," but they're changing<br>the brand as well. In addition to touring with other classic soul and funk artists like<br>Gladys Knight or Chaka Khan, the band relishes opportunities for unusual double<br>bills. They discussed recent tours opening for Kid Rock -- whose blend of country,<br>rap, and hard rock is a long way from Kool & the Gang -- and Van Halen. In both<br>cases, Kool's opening act wowed the audiences, who might not have been expected<br>to dance so intensely at a rock show.<br><br>Bell also showed that he still keeps his ears open to modern pop. At one point he<br>noted, "electronic music is what's happening today," and pointed out that an electronic<br>dance remix of Kool & the Gang will be appearing in the not-so-distant future. In addition,<br>the band now often incorporates rap into their show. And in recent years they've<br>collaborated with Nile Rodgers, the famous disco guitarist whose riffs have landed<br>in songs by Daft Punk and Avicii.<br><br>Some of the panel's most interesting moments occurred when the band was dissecting<br>their past, not planning for the future. An audience member, declaring "'Celebration'<br>is an anthem," asked about the origin of the track. It turns out it actually did come out<br>of a celebration: Bell's brother Ron came up with the tune at the American Music<br>Awards -- where Kool & the Gang were being honored for a previous single. On<br>another occasion, the record company told the band they needed more hits; after<br>one day in the studio, they produced three eventual hits, including "Jungle Boogie."<br>Bell's description of their songwriting process was simple: "it started from a groove."<br><br>Source: Billboard thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33140062014-11-21T12:38:07-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Graco strollers recalled after fingertip amputations<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/11ba1cdc5b0dd1d806aaee5142c7640596134e44/medium/graco-stroller.jpg?1416591365" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">About 4.7 million Graco and Century-branded strollers are being recalled after its<br>maker received reports of 10 full or partial fingertip amputations and one laceration,<br>federal officials said.Eleven models of strollers have a folding hinge on the side that<br>"can pinch a child's finger, posing a laceration or amputation hazard," officials said.<br>Caregivers are being advised to show "extreme care when unfolding the stroller to be<br>certain that the hinges are firmly locked before placing a child in the stroller," the U.S.<br>Consumer Product Safety Commission said.<br><br>"Caregivers are advised to immediately remove the child from a stroller that begins to<br>fold to keep their fingers from the side hinge area," the agency said. Atlanta-based<br>Graco Children's Products received six reports of fingertip amputation, four reports<br>of partial-fingertip amputation and one finger laceration, the product safety agency said.<br>The firm manufactured the strollers in China and will be providing a free repair kit<br>beginning in December. About 202,000 strollers were also sold in Canada, and about<br>10,300 more were sold in Mexico, the federal agency said. Graco said its recall is voluntary.<br><br>"Over the past 60 years, safety has been and will continue to be the priority at Graco,<br>" the firm said on its website. "As part of our continuous effort to provide quality and safe<br>products, Graco identified that select stroller models, including some of our LiteRider<br>models that were sold before the updated hinge was available, have folding hinges that<br>could in rare circumstances have the potential to pinch a child's finger, posing a laceration<br>or amputation hazard."<br><br>The recalled models are Aspen, Breeze, Capri, Cirrus, Glider, Kite, LiteRider, Sierra,<br>Solara, Sterling and TravelMate model strollers and travel systems. The models bear<br>a manufacture date from August 1, 2000, to September 25, 2014, and were sold at Target,<br>Toys R Us, Walmart and other retail stores nationwide and online. The prices were $40 to<br>$70 for the strollers and $140 to $170 for the travel systems.<br><br>Source: CNN</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/33052252014-11-19T14:25:09-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Star ballerina Misty Copeland gets a new TV series and film <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c01dcd593b601e1540e22fc4252d54867861b163/original/misty-2.jpg?1416424928" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Oxygen Network is releasing "The Misty Copeland Project," to its new lineup in<br>an effort to rebrand and target "young, multicultural women."The series follows<br>the star ballerina as she trains and mentors talented hopefuls from diverse<br>backgrounds, who descend upon New York City to take on the next major step<br>in their ballet careers. With the opportunity of a lifetime and chance to catapult to<br>the top of the ballet world, these aspiring dancer's passion, commitment and hard<br>work will be center stage in Misty's Master Class.<br><br>This will be one of a small handful of upcoming new Misty Copeland projects<br>in the works. Nelson George is already working on a feature documentary on<br>Copeland - the first black woman in two decades to be a soloist at the American<br>Ballet Theatre, who. And in addition to George's doc, a scripted feature film on<br>Copeland's life just may be coming to a theater near you in the future. Earlier<br>this year, New Line Cinema optioned film rights to Copeland's memoir, "Life In<br>Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina," which recounts her early struggles as a young<br>dancer living in a welfare motel with her family. The book provides an insider’s<br>look at the cutthroat world of professional ballet, telling a moving story of dreams<br>and perseverance.<br><br>Source: Shadow and Act</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32998432014-11-18T11:59:18-05:002017-01-11T08:55:48-05:00Superstar Little Leaguer Mo'ne Davis will drop a memoir <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d2418ce8294c9333486ac63c516068cbae36b729/original/mone-collage.jpg?1416329849" class="size_l justify_center border_" />A normal eighth grader might not have much of a life story to write about.<br>But honor roll student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mo'ne Davis, one<br>of BAZAAR's 2014 Women Who Dare who became a star after out-pitching<br>the boys during the 2014 Little League World Series, has plenty to talk about<br>in an upcoming memoir.Published by HarperCollins, Mo'ne: Remember My<br>Name will chronicle her experience as one of the lone girls who made it to<br>the top of the Little League rankings, and becoming the first female pitcher to<br>ever win a Little League World Series game. And that's at the ripe old age of 13.<br>Though her team, the Taney Dragons, didn't win the whole competition, they<br>did beat Nashville 4-0.<br><br>Their performance made Mo'ne an instant star. She was the first Little Leaguer<br>ever to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, and her jersey now hangs at the<br>National Baseball Hall of Fame.<br><br>"When I joined an all-boys baseball team, my mom wasn't too happy. I proved to<br>her (and to me) that I could do anything I set my mind to," she wrote in a statement.<br>"I hope [my story] encourages people to take a chance and play the sports they<br>want to play and not just the ones people expect them to play."<br> <br>Mo'ne: Remember My Name is set to hit shelves in March 2015, and will come<br>with a keepsake poster. Author Hilary Beard will assist Mo’ne with her memoir,<br>which is aimed at 8- to 12-year-olds.<br><br>Source: Harpers Bazaarthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32806522014-11-13T14:19:56-05:002014-11-13T14:19:56-05:00MC Lyte drops another single from her new studio album<span class="font_regular">MC Lyte brings along Lil Mama and AV on her latest single from her<br>first studio album in 11 years set to drop in 2015<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="RFCvuZCXQ4Q" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/RFCvuZCXQ4Q/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RFCvuZCXQ4Q?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32805322014-11-13T13:50:09-05:002021-10-19T13:27:36-04:00Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous set to return to TV w/Nick Cannon<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a68ea0a4a569dc44d24759914928693d2a9b0aef/medium/nick-cannon.jpg?1406144074" class="size_m justify_center border_" />The Style network ordered a new pilot for the former syndicated series famously<br>hosted by Robin Leach in the 1980s and '90s, per the Hollywood Reporter.<br>The reboot comes more than a year after the Style network originally revived the<br>series with Cannon attached. Style was rebranded as the Esquire Network two months<br>after Cannon signed on to the revival, which ceased to move forward at that point.<br>NBC will shoot a new take on Lifestyles, which is said to be extremely different than<br>Style's take. The new version will focus heavily on Cannon's point of view and include<br>fun profiles on ultra-wealthy individuals with vibrant personalities, hobbies and tastes.<br>NBC says the series will feature some of the new tech billionaires who have replaced<br>the old guard of real estate tycoons and their new set of tastes and extravagances. <br>In addition to featuring the extravagant toys and hotspots of the rich and famous, Cannon<br>will also highlight their philanthropic efforts.<br><br>Cannon will also exec produce via his network-based NCredible Entertainment banner.<br>The deal expands Cannon's relationship with both NBC and Raff, who also exec produces<br>America's Got Talent. It marks Cannon's latest gig as a host, following Nickelodeon's Kids'<br>Choice Awards, the Halo Awards and Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Cannon is repped<br>by ICM Partners, Michael Goldman and Del Shaw. NBC's move to reboot Lifestyles comes<br>after Fox recently revived another unscripted show, Jeff Foxworthy's Are You Smarter Than<br>a 5th Grader, as broadcast networks continue to struggle to find the next big thing in the<br>reality space.<br><br>Source: THR thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32752682014-11-10T16:50:38-05:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Biz Markie Losses 140 Pounds after battling diabetes<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/67242d492ba2c477caa3bc01a6605d2b18844f82/original/biz-weight-loss.jpg?1415656123" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Back in September, Biz Markie revealed that he had lost 140 pounds and gone from 385 to 244<br>pounds over a three-year period following his type 2 diabetes diagnosis, according to the NY Daily<br>News. And the "Just a Friend" rapper didn't use lap band surgery or any quick fix. Now, Markie is<br>opening up to People magazine on how he lost all the weight.BizMarkie says, "I think the misconception<br>is that they think diabetes is just about sugar. It's more than that, you gotta get your weight down.<br>You just gotta get everything cleansed out of your body." Markie, 50, says he sticks to an "overall diet."<br>"Instead of drinking regular sodas, I drink Zevia because it's a natural soda," Markie said. "I don't eat<br>as crazy as I used to. I used to eat like a whole Entenmann's cake at one time, with a half-gallon of milk."<br>He also gave three tips, including "Cleanse, more water in your diet, and either walk or exercise."<br><br>Source: ABC News</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32749892014-11-10T14:04:34-05:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Top 10 Veterans Day Freebies and Deals<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4c8729b40a7599a07fc32784552bee28a1670df2/medium/veteransday.jpg?1415645957" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Veterans Day is a great time of year to volunteer, donate or simply thank someone<br>who has served, or is serving, in the U.S. military. And you won’t be the only one<br>showing appreciation. Many companies see Veterans Day as an opportunity to thank<br>U.S. service members by offering them, and sometimes their spouses, free goods and<br>services. Below are my 10 favorite freebies, but there are many more. <br><br><strong><u>Great Clips:</u></strong><br>Great Clips is giving away haircuts to active and retired members of the military.<br>If you’re a current or former member of the military, all you have to do is head to<br>a Great Clips salon on Veterans Day for a free haircut, or a free haircut card to<br>use at a later date in 2014. If you aren’t in the military, you can purchase your<br>own haircut on November 11, and you’ll receive a free haircut card to give to<br>an active or retired military member. Remember, the free haircut card must be<br>redeemed by December 31, 2014.<br> <br><u><strong>Starbucks:</strong></u><br>Not only is Starbucks honoring active and retired military, but military spouses<br>also can join in by redeeming a tall brewed coffee at no charge. This offer is only<br>available at participating locations, so call ahead before you leave home, and start<br>your day right with a (free) hot cup of coffee.<br> <br><u><strong>Applebee’s:</strong></u><br>Active military and veterans can dine at participating Applebee’s for free on November<br>11. The free meal is available from open to close and must be chosen from a limited<br>menu that includes sirloin, three-cheese chicken penne, double crunch shrimp and<br>more. Beverages and gratuity are not included.<br> <br><u><strong>Texas Roadhouse:</strong></u><br>Texas Roadhouse is saying thank you with a free lunch and beverage for active and<br>retired military members. Its special dine-in menu includes sirloin, country fried chicken,<br>a pulled pork sandwich and more. This offer is only available during lunch hours, so grab<br>a free lunch at Texas Roadhouse and dine for free at a different establishment for dinner.<br>Military members can eat free all day!<br> <br><u><strong>Golden Corral:</strong></u><br>Golden’s Corral’s “thank you” dinner will not be held on Veterans Day. Golden Corral<br>invites veterans and active military to enjoy a free meal on Monday, November 17, from<br>5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Families and friends are invited to join, but only current and former<br>members of the military will receive a free meal. Other guests will pay regular dinner prices.<br> <br><u><strong>On the Border:</strong></u><br>Veterans and active duty military can enjoy a free “Create Your Own Combo” meal from<br>On the Border on Veterans Day. This plate includes two or three choices from a menu of<br>items like tostadas, enchiladas, tacos and more. Check out the full list of participating<br>locations on the restaurant’s website, ontheborder.com.<br> <br><u><strong>Olive Garden:</strong></u><br>Olive Garden is offering a free entrée from a select menu for active duty service members<br>and veterans on November 11. The menu includes many of Olive Garden’s most popular<br>items, and of course, free freshly baked garlic breadsticks and a choice of soup or salad.<br>Be sure to call ahead to make sure your location is participating.<br> <br><u><strong>Denny’s:</strong></u><br>Veterans and active military can build their own Grand Slams at Denny's for free from 5 a.m.<br>to noon on November 11. They’ll be able to pick four items from a menu of bacon, buttermilk<br>pancakes, eggs, English muffin, hash browns, sausage links, toast and more. Now, that’s<br>what I call a complete breakfast.<br> <br><u><strong>Red Robin:</strong></u><br>Red Robin is celebrating Veterans Day by offering a free Tavern Double burger with Bottomless<br>Steak Fries to veterans and active duty service members. The wonderful folks at Red Robin<br>have even featured a touching video on the website personally thanking U.S. military members<br>for their service.<br> <br>Most of these freebies are available to those with a military ID, proof of service or those wearing<br>a uniform. As a rule of thumb, you should always call ahead before heading out to redeem a<br>freebie. Sometimes freebies are only redeemable only at certain locations. Remember, there<br>are many more freebies available that are not listed here. Find out what’s available in your<br>area, and take advantage of all the awesome ways companies are saying thank you on<br>November 11. Happy Veterans Day!<br><br><br>Source: US News World Report<br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32749692014-11-10T13:57:54-05:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:0050 Cent Partners with Century 21 to Benefit 9/11 Families<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/eae22637b23e68b4d1fb682d890d4106320c036d/medium/50cent.jpg?1392920116" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">50 Cent is partnering up with Century 21 but not to sell clothes. In an effort to raise<br>money for programs and services for families affected by 9/11, the store’s CEO<br>Eddie Gindi is working with the non-profit organization Tuesday’s Children. Fif is<br>collaborating with Gindi’s band, Men In My Head, to record a song and all profits<br>from the track will benefit the charity. The song, which is titled “Century Love,” will<br>be available for purchase exclusively in the store on Nov. 11th.“As a native New<br>Yorker there is no city more resilient than New York,” 50 said in a statement. “Tuesday’s<br>Children is an incredible organization and I am honored to be involved with this<br>initiative.” “We are living our core value to give back and to bring passion, we’re<br>able to do this with the help of entrepreneur and A-list musician 50 Cent,” said Gindi.<br>“This year’s song “Century Love” is about the resilience of New York City and who<br>better to partner with than a true New Yorker, like 50 Cent, who was born in Queens<br>and rose to the top of the music world with hard work and dedication. We are so<br>thankful that he is able to help Tuesday’s Children’s cause.”<br><br>To celebrate their partnership, an in-store event will be held at the lower level of<br>the flagship store in New York City on Nov. 11th. The Queens spitter will be there<br>not only signing autographs but showing off his SMS Audio headphones and threads<br>from a clothing line called Frigo RevolutionWear that he is investing in.<br><br>Source: Allhiphop</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32698162014-11-06T15:14:53-05:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Iron Man Composer Beats Ghostface Killer in Copyright Lawsuit<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/3f0530d77c7cbb76593c071305904d26d6742e6c/medium/ghostface.jpg?1415304555" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">A three year old copyright infringement lawsuit brought by composer Jack Urbont<br>against rapper Ghostface Killah has taken an unusual turn with a New York judge<br>entering a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff. As a result, the case might now<br>be set to explore an issue that should draw tremendous interest in the music industry.<br>In his Hollywood career, Urbont created music for many television shows including<br>That 70's Show, Oprah, 20/20, The View, and of significance in this case, the 1960s<br>television show, The Marvel Super Heroes. According to Urbont's 2011 lawsuit, Ghostface<br>Killah (real name: Dennis Coles) sampled the "Iron Man Theme" on two tracks of the<br>rapper's second album, "Supreme Clientele."Why the case has taken so long can partly<br>be explained by the difficulty of serving Ghostface with the complaint. One was delivered<br>to his business manager, but even a private investigator couldn't locate the hip hop star<br>to give him an amended complaint. Eventually, the judge permitted Urbont to serve Coles<br>via a publication notice. But that didn't end the procedural difficulties.<br><br>Right before discovery was expected to close, the lawyer for Ghostface requested<br>permission to withdraw from the case on the grounds he hadn't been paid and that<br>his client refused to communicate with him. The judge granted the motion, but gave<br>Ghostface a deadline to find a new attorney. Then, Ghostface failed to show up for a<br>deposition, which led to a warning from the judge about sanctions and a default<br>judgment. In recent months, it appears as though Ghostface has gone AWOL, not<br>responding to attempts to reschedule a deposition, according to Urbont's attorney.<br>As a result, Urbont sought a default judgment as well as fees and expenses, and<br>was granted the motion by U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald.<br><br>"We obviously are pleased with the court's decision and believe it to be correct and<br>just," says Urbont's attorney Richard Busch. "As far as Mr. Coles (Ghostface) is<br>concerned, we will now submit evidence on damages to establish actual and statutory<br>damages for willful infringement of Mr Urbont's composition, and to establish our<br>entitlement to actual and punitive damages for the willful infringement of Mr. Urbont's<br>sound recording. The default judgment does not apply to Sony, so the claims against<br>Sony remain to be litigated."<br><br>Of note is Busch's word that he will be pursuing punitive damages for the willful<br>infringement of the sound recording. The statutory damages for the composition<br>won't amount to more than $150,000, but Urbont's claim on the sound recording is<br>tied to a pre-1972 work, which is protected by state law, and as seen in recent cases<br>against SiriusXM, has suddenly become a hot legal topic. Now, thanks to the fact that<br>a default judgment has been entered, the Urbont case will now figure out what damages<br>are owed for misappropriating a pre-1972 sound recording. If Urbont gets a big figure,<br>it's a good possibility that he will attempt to collect by seeking a lien on Ghostface's<br>share of Wu Tang Clan royalties.<br> <br>Ghostface couldn't be reached for comment, but he did offer this colorful comment<br>in 2012 about who it was suing him: “I think it’s an old man. I think they woke this<br>dude up or something. He ain’t Stan Lee or anything but I guess he’s somebody<br>because he ain’t stopping. It’s like, [why] you coming to me? Go to Sony man, don’t<br>come at me. But that’s what it is. This, this is the game, man. Everybody out for they<br>bread, whatever they could see, they tryna get it.”<br><br>Source: THR</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32662852014-11-04T16:29:26-05:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00The Roots help Their Old High School <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/80368ff2df943deea10594191ed83e6590c09c65/original/roots.jpg?1415136474" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The Roots are taking matters into their own hands to help the Philadelphia high school where they met.<br>Thanks to $1.1 million in budget cuts, the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts has<br>lost 19 teachers and staff members, has no funding for extracurricular activities and has closed the curtain<br>on their annual theater production. <br><br>After learning about the slash in their alma mater’s budget, the hip-hop band decided to start the CAPA<br>foundation to help the school recoup from their losses.<br> <br>“It cultivated us. It educated us,” Questlove said about his former high school. “This is more than just pay<br>it forward or celeb guilt. This is necessary. … It keeps you out of trouble. It helps develop your personality.<br>If you take that away, you’re just a machine.”<br> <br>CAPA will raise $500,00o every year for their first five years and then $1 million every year after that. The<br>foundation will raise money for books, classroom supplies, the renovation of the school’s theater and to<br>restore extracurricular activities and after-school programs.<br> <br>Source: Allhiphop</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32603782014-10-31T14:22:36-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Judge rejects bid of Robin Thicke, Pharrell to win Blurred Lines Lawsuit <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f1525f6e025c418306a163f4b6454004f24e5a0a/large/blurred-lines.jpg?1389736961" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">In a ruling that could set up one of the biggest trials ever over alleged song theft,<br>U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt on Thursday denied Pharrell Williams and Robin<br>Thicke's motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit that explores the origins of the<br>blockbuster hit "Blurred Lines."The two musicians filed a lawsuit in September 2013<br>after receiving threats from Marvin Gaye's family, who contend the song is a knockoff<br>of "Got to Give It Up." The lawsuit sought declaratory relief that "Blurred Lines" was<br>non-infringing, painting the defendant as attempting to claim ownership of an entire<br>genre. That led to a countersuit where the Gaye camp asserted that the song was<br>indeed infringing, that Thicke had a "Marvin Gaye fixation," and that he had also copied<br>a second song, "Love After War," from Gaye's "After the Dance."<br><br>Both sides trotted out musicologists and mashups, debated the nuances of copyright<br>law and even addressed Thicke's wild deposition comments admitting drug abuse<br>and lying to the media. The end result is Judge Kronstadt's conclusion that the case<br>shouldn't end now. The Gaye family, he writes, has "made a sufficient showing that<br>elements of 'Blurred Lines' may be substantially similar to protected, original elements<br>of 'Got to Give It Up.' Defendants have identified these with particularity for purposes<br>of analytic dissection."<br><br>Specifically, the judge points to genuine issues of material fact existing as to the<br>substantial similarity of signature phrases, hooks, bass lines, keyboard chords,<br>harmonic structures and vocal melodies of the two songs. The judge also writes<br>that the Gaye family has offered sufficient evidence to create triable issues about<br>whether their 11-note signature phrase, four-note hook, four-bar bass line, 16-bar<br>harmonic structure and four-note vocal melody are protectable expressions. The<br>judge also refuses to allow Williams and Thicke to win at this juncture on claims<br>tied to "Love After War." The ruling isn't a complete loss for the singer and his producer.<br>There was much controversy between the two sides as to whether Gaye's copyrights<br>are limited to sheet music compositions or whether they extend to features heard on<br>the "Got to Give It Up" sound recording. For the purposes of the analysis, the judge<br>looks to the 1909 Copyright Act, which would have given the Gaye family the right<br>to include more than just the sheet music if the work was published with proper notices<br>or part of necessary deposits at the Copyright Office. The judge concludes that the Gaye<br>family hasn't sufficiently shown it did either, and thus, they "have failed to produce evidence<br>that creates a genuine issue as to whether the copyrights in 'Got to Give It Up' and 'After<br>the Dance' encompass material other than that reflected in the lead sheets deposited<br>with the Copyright Office."<br><br>As a result, the analysis of whether Thicke's "Blurred Lines" is substantially similar to<br>Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" won't examine such things as the congruence of percussive<br>choices or backup vocals, though there may or may not be some trial attention on such<br>features in the intrinsic analysis (the judgment of an ordinary person). That issue seems<br>likely to come up again given the reactions by the lawyers provided below.<br><br>Judge Kronstadt also addresses Thicke's deposition comments where he admitted that<br>he had lied to the media about going into the studio with Marvin Gaye in mind and that<br>in fact he didn't have much to do with the creation of "Blurred Lines." This came up because<br>copyright law has a concept called the "inverse-ratio rule" where lots of access to a song<br>necessitates less proof of similarity. The judge writes that "Thicke’s inconsistent statements<br>do not constitute direct evidence of copying," though that hardly helps him today because<br>Marvin Gaye is nearly universally known and Williams and Thicke "concede access,"<br>basically meaning they've at least heard Gaye's 1977 hit.<br><br>Source: THR</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32586072014-10-30T15:24:34-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00The ESRI company breaks down stats based on your zip code<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/490beefcede97ef9385d154c8e9f74bd54550fbb/medium/tape-map.jpg?1414696944" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Like it or not, where you decide to live often says a lot about you. You're not totally defined<br>by your zip code, but a website spotted by Reddit seeks to show people what zip codes say<br>about the average demographic, culture, and lifestyle in one's area. Here's how it works:<br>The "Zip Lookup" tool is powered by Esri, a geographic-information firm based in California.<br>Just head to the website, type in your zip code, and you'll be greeted with a breakdown of<br>your zip code's demographic characteristics based on Esri's "Tapestry" technology, which<br>consists of 67 unique market segment classifications. The percentage breakdown shows<br>you the mixture of different classifications.<br><br>By clicking on the different demographics, you can see a summary of the type of person<br>Esri's geographic data says you are. To look up your zip code, head to Esri's website here: <br><a contents="http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/tapestry/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/tapestry/">http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/tapestry/</a></span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32583542014-10-30T13:18:22-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00If you had Verizon Family Plan In The 2000s, you maybe getting some cash<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1b83ec77394769eaf0d336df112497103507c35f/medium/verizon.png?1414689169" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Verizon agreed to a proposed settlement under which it would pay $64.2 million to settle<br>claims that it overcharged customers who signed up for family plans. Family SharePlan<br>customers were allegedly billed for in-network calls that were supposed to be free, according<br>to a class-action lawsuit filed in 2006 in a New Jersey federal court. Customers with that plan<br>were also allegedly billed more than the advertised rate for additional minutes they used over<br>their monthly allowance.The alleged overcharges happened between 2002 and 2006, at the<br>height of so-called "family share" plans' popularity with customers.Under the terms of the<br>settlement, which has yet to be approved by the court, Verizon would pay $36.7 million into<br>a settlement fund, according to court filings obtained by Consumerist. Once lawyer fees and<br>other expenses have been deducted -- $19.26 million alone will be paid to plaintiffs' attorneys,<br>Law360 reports -- Verizon would pay the remaining amount in cash and bill credits to affected<br>customers.<br><br>Verizon would then pay out another $27.5 million in the form of credits for free phone calls,<br>the court documents state. When asked whether Verizon had deliberately overcharged people<br>with Family SharePlans, or whether it was merely a mistake, Peter Bezek, one of the attorneys<br>who filed the class-action suit, said he believed it was “primarily an oversight.”<br><br>Verizon declined to comment for this story. Of course, we don’t make phone calls today nearly<br>as much as we used to, opting instead to send text messages and emails. As a result, cell<br>phone providers now offer plans with unlimited talk time, meaning this problem is unlikely to<br>happen on a large scale again. But just because charging for "minutes" isn't as common now<br>doesn't mean that Verizon -- and companies like it won't overcharge you in other ways. Verizon<br>and AT&T have both been accused of other types of improper billing, and have had to pay out<br>substantial sums of money in order to make such cases go away.<br><br>Source: Huff Post</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32565252014-10-29T15:09:05-04:002014-10-29T15:09:05-04:00Watch Mike Tyson fight himself in Mike Tyson Punch out <iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="mfEOHcGFchY" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/mfEOHcGFchY/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mfEOHcGFchY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32562792014-10-29T13:16:40-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Pitbull Developing Two Reality Series for The Weinstein Co.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/91e9f9242edcea866c486e39c9860db96e994426/medium/pitbull.jpg?1400522975" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Pitbull has his sights on expanding his TV presence. The Miami rapper, whose<br>real name is Armando Christian Perez, has teamed with The Weinstein Co. via<br>his Honey I'm Home shingle to produce two unscripted series. Pitbull: The Lyfe<br>will offer a behind-the-scenes look into Pitbull's busy life, world tour and sessions<br>in the recording studio. He is behind radio hits like "Timber," "Give Me Everything"<br>and "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)."The REAL Change Project will team the<br>rapper with the world's top entertainers and public figures, such as First Lady<br>Michelle Obama, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Kobe Bryant<br>as they look back at the mentors who helped inspire and shape their success,<br>as well as include performances to help raise money for teachers and educators<br>internationally. Patrick Reardon, seniorvp television production, will oversee for<br>Weinstein Co. Pitbull, Michael Calderon, Liam Murphy,president and CEO of<br>Real Change Productions, and Robert Engler are executive producers.<br><br>Neither projects have networks attached to them yet. “Our television division at<br>TWC has made an incredible name for themselves in creating fresh and entertaining<br>unscripted programming. Partnering with Pitbull, one of the biggest names in music<br>today, on The REAL Change Project and The Lyfe is a phenomenal opportunity<br>that we’re all very excited to get started on," said Harvey Weinstein, Weinstein Co.<br>co-chairman.<br><br>"It’s an honor to partner with The Weinstein Company and Real Change<br>Productions/Honey I’m Home on Lyfe and The REAL Change Project, two<br>series with the point of view that life is what we make it — some follow the rules;<br>others bend them,” said Pitbull. “After the party kicks off 2015, we will show what’s<br>behind the curtain and most important, learning, listening from the best plays a<br>huge role in thejourney.”<br><br>Pitbull has a busy slate ahead of him -- he's returning to host the American Music<br>Awards for the second year in a row Nov. 23 and launching his New Year’s Eve<br>special on Fox. On the music side, he's prepping his eighth studio album,<br>Globalization, out Nov. 24 via RCA.<br><br>Source: Billboard<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32547302014-10-28T16:26:00-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Google Is Making Magnetic Nanoparticles That Will Search For Disease Inside Your Body <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/df36697c86c3cec4d892ebed39dc15d34e9e1349/medium/google-logo.gif?1396546876" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Google now wants to add a new title to it's portfolio: medical science innovators. We'll just call<br>them the new body snatchers. <br><br>Google is in the early stages of creating tiny, magnetic nanoparticles that will be able<br>to search the human body for cancer and other diseases. Google's goal is "an early<br>heads-up" on disease to ultimately facilitate more effective treatment by making medicine<br>proactive instead of reactive.Google's particles will be less than 1/000 the width of a red<br>blood cell and will attach themselves to specific cells, proteins, and other molecules inside<br>the body, depending on what they're "decorated" with. For example, Google could coat<br>its nanoparticles with a specific antibody that would recognize and attach to a protein on<br>the surface of a tumor cell.<br><br>Google is also working on a small wearable device that would attract and count the<br>particles. In that way, the system would be used for testing and monitoring health: You<br>could be alerted through the wearable if a lot of the particles were attaching to tumor cells.<br>Google admits, however, that it still needs to better understand what constitutes as a<br>healthy level of disease-carrying molecules in the blood and what would be a cause for<br>a concern (Google's "Baseline Study" is already trying to define what a healthy human<br>looks like). The idea is that people would be constantly monitoring their bodies, so they<br>wouldn't wait until they felt physically sick to go to the doctor.<br><br>Google would likely let people consume its nanoparticles through a pill, but is reportedly<br>at least 5 to 7 years away from a product that would be approved by doctors. “Every test<br>you ever go to the doctor for will be done through this system,” Andrew Conrad, head of<br>the Life Sciences team at Google X and the man leading the project, said at The Wall<br>Street Journal’s "WSJD Live" conference. “That’s our dream.”<br><br>Conrad told The Wall Street Journal that Google would not collect or store any medical<br>data itself, but would license the technology out. More than 100 Googlers with backgrounds<br>including chemistry, astrophysics, and electrical engineering are working on this nanoparticle<br>project. The company is also collaborating with MIT, Stanford, and Duke.<br><br>Source: Business Insider</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32514062014-10-26T14:34:12-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Downloading Music a thing of the past<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/77c7e5d6d3d9f2c9cf339c6e3ced9331a2afcc2a/medium/spotify.jpg?1414348311" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br><span class="font_regular">First records died, then cassette tapes, then CDs and now, downloads. That's right, we're all but officially<br>in the age of streaming services. Apple might operate the largest online music store in the world, but the<br>Apple Store's iTunes digital music sales have fallen about 13 percent this year, a source familiar with the<br>matter tells the Wall Street Journal. The writing is on the wall. <br><br>Meanwhile, Spotify is surging ahead. The music streaming service hit 10 million global paid subscribers<br>in May, up from 6 million paid subscribers in March 2013. Throw in people who use the service but don't<br>pay, and Spotify's now lays claim to 40 million active users, up from 24 million in March 2013.<br> <br>Then there's Pandora, the Internet radio service with 80 million users, which dominates the streaming<br>music industry. Those numbers have steadily increased, up from 70 million in May 2013, and listening<br>hours have continued to increase too. Of course, there's a big difference between the Apple Store on the<br>one hand and Spotify and Pandora on the other. Apple's iTunes makes mountain of money, while Pandora<br>occasionally turns a little profit and Spotify isn't even profitable yet.<br> <br>Nevertheless, Apple apparently sees which way the wind is blowing. As speculated in earlier reports, Apple<br>will be relaunching and rebuilding Beats Music -- the existing $10-a-month subscription streaming service<br>under its own brand. You can soon say goodbye to the days when download was king.<br> <br>Source: Huff Post</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32487842014-10-24T14:31:45-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00Chris Paul Developing Autobiographical ABC Comedy<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/84c5f794493aff731d66076f4cc190f8a24231f5/medium/chrispaul.jpg?1414175409" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Chris Paul has teamed with comedy scribe Warren Lieberstein and producers<br>Eric Tannanbaum and Kim Tannenbaum to develop a family comedy for CBS<br>TV Studios that is inspired by his experiences growing up in North Carolina with<br>his older brother. The untitled project revolves around two brothers who work at a<br>service station owned by their grandfather, who champions old-school values in<br>contrast to the attitude of their guarded, politically-correct mother.<br> <br>Paul, a point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, is exec producing with his brother,<br>CJ Paul, Lieberstein and the Tannenbaums. Paul began his NBA career with the<br>New Orleans Hornets in 2005. He joined the Clippers in 2011.<br> <br>Lieberstein had a long run on NBC’s “The Office.” More recently he was an exec<br>producer on ABC’s James Caan comedy “Back in the Game.”<br> <br>Paul’s project comes to ABC at a time when LeBron James’ early years have become<br>the inspiration for the Starz comedy “Survivor’s Remorse,” which was recently renewed<br>for a second season with James among the exec producers. Former NBA player Baron<br>Davis just set up a project at Fox about his experiences growing up in South Central L.A.<br>while attending a prestigious suburban school.<br> <br>Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant will also be in the spotlight next month with the<br>premiere of the Showtime documentary “Kobe Bryant’s Muse.”<br> <br>Source: Variety </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32487202014-10-24T14:01:45-04:002017-01-11T08:55:47-05:00T.I. Signs Publishing Deal With Sony/ATV Music<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c9df27724cf1508d549b37dd5b7341d403a73d28/medium/ti.jpg?1414173614" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Rapper and songwriter T.I. has signed a worldwide deal with Sony/ATV Music<br>Publishing, the company announced. The agreement covers all future works,<br>as well as his just-released studio album and his share of the cut for Robin Thicke's<br>"Blurred Lines," the biggest hit of 2013.Born Clifford Harris, the Atlanta native has<br>released nine studio albums and has been a lead or featured artist on over 100<br>singles since breaking out in 2003. His No. 1s include "Whatever You Like," "Live<br>Your Life," Justin Timberlake's "My Love" and "Blurred Lines." T.I. has sold more<br>than 14 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide. "Blurred Lines" topped the<br>Hot 100 for twelve consecutive weeks and stands as the top-selling digital single of 2013.<br> <br>"T.I. is an all-round talent and we are thrilled to be working with him at Sony/ATV," said<br>Martin Bandier, Sony/ATV's chairman and CEO. "He already has an extensive catalog<br>of hit songs and albums behind him and there is plenty more to come, starting with his<br>new album."<br> <br>T.I.'s new album, Paperwork, was released Oct. 21 on Grand Hustle/Columbia Records<br>and features collaborations with Iggy Azalea, Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Usher and<br>Pharrell Williams.<br><br>Source: Billboard<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32469262014-10-23T14:50:55-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Pharoah Monch, Kweli, 9th Wonder form Indie 500<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ae3341ba5dec23538fca7af027b74235b8c9845a/original/indie-500.jpg?1414090115" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">When the hashtag #Indie500 started to appear in the tweets of 9th Wonder,<br>Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli and members of their teams over the 4th of July<br>holiday, the hip-hop community began to see signs of a second coming-together.<br>There was little explanation, but the hint being given was a major one, these underground<br>rap powerhouses were intent on creating a movement. <br><br>The squad, the renegades and the place for us and those like us (Jamla Records,<br>W.A.R. Media, and Javotti Media, respectively) have made a decided effort to combine<br>their immense talents, rosters, and resources to create Indie 500, a collective led by 9th,<br>Monch, and Kweli with intentions not only to carry on the tradition of unity set forth by<br>Native Tongues, but to also re-establish the importance of mindfulness in both music<br>and business. Sensing the potential for a major sea-change in the world of hip-hop,<br>Okayplayer took the presence of all three joint chiefs as a chance to get the exclusive,<br>detailing the Indie 500 manifesto in their own words. <br> <br>It’s not uncommon these days to hear or read complaints about “radio rap,” commercialism<br>in hip-hop and the lack of depth in the music industry at large. And the common response<br>is that if you want to see a change, support the artists hustling to make it happen. To<br>borrow from the metaphor established with the name Indie 500: You can’t expect them<br>to stay in the race if no one’s fueling their engines.<br> <br>9th Wonder on the Music:<br>“Indie 500 is a kind of continuation of the Native Tongues sound all the way to the Rawkus<br>sound. Badu, Jill Scott, Slum Village, anywhere that has that texture of sound that feels good<br>with good lyrics, Indie 500 is a continuation of that and a new generation. We’re trying to<br>continue on the tradition of classic, what they like to call ‘traditional’ hip-hop. Grass roots,<br>deep-rooted hip-hop music.<br> <br>Pharoahe Monch on the Business:<br>“We looked at each other and we were like, we should do business together and music<br>together. Not just on the rap side, but on the touring side, the business side and sharing<br>of information. It’s empowering, it’s beautiful, and it’s important for that to be known. To<br>inspire younger generations to not only rap, but to start companies and corporations.”<br> <br>Talib Kweli on the Essence:<br>“It’s everybody that we’re down with, anybody that has an independent mind state or<br>spirit is Indie 500. It’s important for us, as artists,that we value the art, and we raise the<br>value of art. So we state that we’re independent, that we’re black owned, we’re stating<br>that we have value and you need to pay attention to us.<br><br>Source: OkayPlayer</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32451392014-10-22T15:03:40-04:002014-10-22T15:03:40-04:00PRhyme (Dj Premier & Royce Da 5'9") - U Looz<span class="font_regular">DJ Premier and Royce Da 5'9" preview another treat from their up<br>coming collaboration called PRhyme peep the video:</span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="nAZ96Xoegyc" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/nAZ96Xoegyc/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nAZ96Xoegyc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32434252014-10-21T16:58:40-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Pioneer's New Black Box Will Monetize DJs' Club Sets<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/14cb8c6f43b7cb53cd5c96380de084e1641b3506/medium/pioneerbb35.jpg?1413924977" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">A solution to the long-contested issue of nightclub performance royalties may<br>come in the form of a small black box. Leading audio-equipment manufacturer<br>Pioneer has developed a product -- KUVO, a play on kumo, the Japanese word<br>for cloud -- that is plugged into a mixer and tracks each song played through cloud<br>-based technology. And the company, supported by the newly formed Association<br>for Electronic Music, will share the data with performing rights organizations for free. <br>The move is part of AFEM’s “Get Played, Get Paid” campaign, which seeks to steer<br>performance royalties into the hands of songwriters and producers by streamlining<br>the methods used by rights organizations to track music played in nightclubs. AFEM<br>estimates that about $160 million worldwide was lost due to misallocated performance<br>royalties in 2013.<br><br>“For 25 years, the problem has been a lack of granular data,” says AFEM CEO Mark<br>Lawrence, previously of the United Kingdom’s Performing Rights Society. “Now, we<br>have that.” Mark Grotefeld, Pioneer’s head of marketing in Europe, stresses that talks<br>with ASCAP and BMI are in the early stages, but notes that Australia’s performing rights<br>association has signed on and will offer boxes to clubs with membership. The U.K.<br>and Swedish rights societies also are in talks to use KUVO data.<br> <br>Pioneer builds around 80 percent of the world’s DJ booths, so the decision to give<br>the data away wasn’t easy, says Grotefeld. “The immediate default position was, ‘<br>Data is money. Let’s monetize this,’ ” he says, “but the performing rights societies<br>aren’t our customers; the producers and clubs are. We’re bringing more money to<br>producers and ultimately our business.”<br> <br>In recent months, Pioneer has been testing the technology in 500 clubs around the<br>world. It will continue to provide boxes to clubs for free so long as the program is<br>financially sustainable, says Grotefeld. For the initiative to work, the fiercely independent<br>dance-music industry will have to formalize, with producers and songwriters joining<br>performing rights societies and registering their songs. AFEM estimates that only three<br>of the top 10 songs on online dance retailer Beatport’s chart are registered with rights<br>organizations. Nightclubs, too, will have to acquire licenses.<br> <br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32410392014-10-20T13:36:35-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Tyra Banks is returning to daytime talk <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b3a2f93e99cd86eae43a5502ad66dcd512421d4d/medium/tyra.jpg?1413826503" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The F.A.B. (Fun And Beautiful), a Disney-ABC syndicated lifestyle show hosted<br>by Tyra Banks, has been cleared on the ABC-owned stations for a fall 2015 launch.<br>The ABC stations, which represent 23% of the U.S. households, have been airing<br>local programming and acquired shows in an hour that had been taken up by Katie<br>Couric’s talk show for the last two seasons. Disney-ABC had been developing potential<br>replacements under Lisa Hackner, who joined as EVP Daytime & Syndicated Programming,<br>ABC Entertainment Group a year ago.Banks, who also serves as executive producer, is<br>joined on the show by social media buff and foodie Chrissy Teigen, fashion guru Joe Zee,<br>interior design professional Lauren Makk, and do-it-yourself YouTuber Leah Ashley as<br>co-hosts. Banks will moderate the panel of lifestyle experts who also will bring in celebrities,<br>Internet influencers, experts and everyday people and tackle topics ranging from fashion<br>and beauty to food and design to doing it yourself and even starting a business.<br><br>The Los Angeles-based show also marks Banks’ return to national syndication following<br>her successful daytime talker. She also continues as host and executive producer on the<br>long-running reality series America’s Next Top Model, which she co-created.<br><br>Source: Deadline</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32408262014-10-20T11:40:18-04:002022-08-08T17:14:26-04:007 Natural Pharmaceutical Counterparts<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ee94ed9107e3d7693415c568d957914eed051c4b/original/natural-remedies.jpg?1413819082" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Most of the drugs prescribed today are those for pain, high blood pressure, cholesterol<br>reduction, antacids, antipsychotics, hypothyroidism, diabetes and antibiotics. If you knew<br>that you could simply increase the consumption of the proper foods (with no side effects)<br>in your diet to help heal your body naturally – would you? Make the commitment and get<br>off prescription drugs for good! Ask your doctor or take responsibility for your own health<br>and wellness and start to eat proper, while phasing out prescription medications that are<br>quite possibly doing your body no good. <br><br>1. Hydrocodone (Acetaminophen/Vicodin/Oxycontin)<br> <br>Used for pain. Works as a narcotic & analgesic.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: cardiac arrest, liver damage, bradycardia, coma, seizures,<br>respiratory depression and death.<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: ginger, turmeric, berries, cherries, celery, cayenne pepper, dark<br>leafy greens, nuts (especially walnuts)<br> <br> <br>2. Statins (Lipitor/Zocor/Crestor)<br> <br>Used to reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Works by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, an<br>enzyme critical to cholesterol production in the liver.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: acute kidney failure, cancer, inflammation & muscle<br>breakdown, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, death, interference with hormones.<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: Nuts, spinach, apples, turmeric, cranberries, tomatoes, green tea,<br>alfalfa sprouts, bell peppers, garlic, fenugreek seeds, licorice root, hawthorn berry<br> <br>3. Lisinopril (Prinivil/Zestril) and Norvasc (Amlodipine)<br> <br>Used to reduce high blood pressure. Works by interfering with the metabolism of calcium.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: impotence, cancer, depression, blood disorders, tachycardia,<br>gum enlargement, liver inflammation, hepatitis, elevated blood glucose, harsh skin conditions.<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: citrus fruits (grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple), high vitamin<br>C vegetables (chili peppers, bell peppers, thyme, parsley, leafy greens, broccoli), magnesium<br>rich foods (green leafy vegetables, cacao, brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds,<br>pine nuts, black walnuts), potassium rich foods (bananas, mushrooms, oranges, dates,<br>sweet potatoes), coconut oil, and coconut water<br> <br>4. Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium)<br> <br>Used for hypothyroidism. Works by replacing thyroid hormone, and thus stops natural<br>thyroid hormone production altogether.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: reduction in bone mineral density (caused by long-term<br>suppression of TSH), elevated blood glucose levels, coma, adrenal insufficiency, heart<br>failure, interferes with proper metabolization of iodine.<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: seaweed, kelp, radish, bananas, parsley, cranberries, strawberries,<br>and leafy greens rich in copper, iron, selenium and zinc (such as kale, collards and swiss<br>chard)<br> <br>*Exercise is essential to the healing of a malfunctioning thyroid – aim for 20-30 minutes<br>a day<br> <br> <br>5. Prilosec (omeprazole/generic versions of nexium)<br> <br>Used as an antacid. Works by preventing the stomach from secreting gastric acid which<br>also halts proper digestion of food in the small intestine.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: ulcers, tachycardia, bradycardia, angina, palpitations, elevated<br>blood pressure, pancreatic inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, liver failure, liver disease,<br>muscle weakness, skin conditions, tinnitus, inflammation of the eyes, increased urination,<br>anemia, blood cell disorders.<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: grapefruits, broccoli sprouts, raw honey (local is the best), marshmallow<br>tea, glutamine, slippery elm, aloe vera juice, baking soda, probiotics<br> <br>6. Azithromycin and Amoxicillin<br> <br>Used as an antibiotic. Works by inhibiting the bacterium’s cell-wall-building mechanism<br>so it can no longer replicate. These drugs also inhibit protein synthesis of the good bacteria<br>needed by our bodies for proper immunity and digestion.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: destruction of healthy bacterial populations (even if you have<br>had just one round of antibiotics in your entire life), inflammation of the liver and colon,<br>allergic reactions, obesity, antibiotic resistance in humans, and destruction of stomach<br>lining and thus inflammation of the stomach.<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: vitamin D (sunlight preferably), garlic, coconut oil, turmeric, nuts, raw<br>honey (local is best), green tea, paul D’Arco, burdock root, grapeseed extract, golden seal,<br>and oregano oil<br> <br>*Drinking plenty of water (4-6L) when you are sick is essential to flush the bacteria out<br>of your system.<br> <br> <br>7. Glucophage (metformin)<br> <br>Used as an oral anti-diabetic drug. Works by suppressing natural glucose production<br>in the liver.<br> <br>Side effects/consequences: malabsorption of vitamin B12 (and thus B12 deficiency),<br>bladder cancer, impaired liver and kidney functioning, lactic acidosis, increased homocysteine<br>levels, heart failure, interferes with proper pancreatic functioning<br> <br>Natural Alternatives: black tea, green tea, vitamin D (especially in the form of sunlight),<br>turmeric, nuts, chia seeds, green leafy vegetables, cinnamon, red grapes, broccoli,<br>spinach, green beans, berries<br> <br>Source: LiveLoveFruit.com<br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32389572014-10-18T13:56:13-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00President Obama's credit card gets rejected<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/4653c3819ec034c2ad24b4dd8f5e67939ae198f1/medium/obama-declined.jpg?1413654230" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">It is an embarrassing moment for any diner going to pay and having your credit card declined.<br>But this is the fate that met President Barack Obama during a recent meal at a New York restaurant.<br>Speaking at a finance meeting, the politician revealed his card was rejected when he went out for<br>dinner with his wife, Michelle, during the U.N. General Assembly last month. Instead, Mrs Obama<br>had to pay. 'I went to a restaurant in New York when I was there during the General Assembly, and<br>my credit card was rejected,' Obama told employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<br>in Washington. 'I guess I don't use it enough, so they thought there was some fraud going on.<br>Fortunately, Michelle had hers. I was trying to explain to the waitress, you know, I really think I've<br>been paying my bills.'<br> <br>Obama, who reportedly owns a JPMorgan credit card, spoke of his card decline while signing an<br>executive order that aims to make the federal payments system safer for millions of Americans.<br>Cards issued by the federal government will now have an internal chip replacing magnetic strips to<br>reduce the potential for fraud, Obama said. It comes amid growing concern over the security of<br>Americans' financial data, with an estimated 100 million people having been affected by breaches<br>in the past year. In addition, the government will apply the security chips and personal identification<br>numbers (PINs) that replace signatures to all existing and newly issued government credit cards,<br>Obama said.<br> <br>Meanwhile, payment terminals at federal government facilities will be equipped to handle cards<br>with the new technology.<br> <br>Source: Daily Mail</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32374942014-10-17T13:12:19-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Michael Dunn Sentenced to Life without Parole for Killing Jordan Davis <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/09237732cc7fc259cea7431c6f8122772c2484f1/medium/jordandavis.jpg?1413565835" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>A Florida man convicted of first-degree murder for shooting a teenager to death<br>over loud music was sentenced to life without parole Oct 17. Michael Dunn, 47,<br>was convicted of killing Jordan Davis, 17, in November 2012 after he shot into a<br>SUV of four teenagers 10 times when an argument broke out over loud music<br>coming from the teens' vehicle. Dunn was sentenced to an additional 90 years<br>in prison for three attempted murder convictions and another 15 years for firing into<br>an occupied vehicle. “Our justice system works. This case demonstrates that our<br>justice system does work,” said Judge Russell Healey at the sentencing. Dunn was<br>found guilty on three counts of second-degree attempted murder in January, but a<br>mistrial was declared on the first-degree murder charge. A jury in early October found<br>Dunn, who is white, guilty of murdering Davis, who was black. Testimony during<br>the sentencing, including a statement by Davis' father, Ron Davis, lasted about an<br>hour. Prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty, according to NBC South Florida.<br><br>Source: NBC Newsthermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32358452014-10-16T14:57:10-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Hip Hop therapy is new route to mental well being<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/72d84c8de78537f42d4a163a0dbc55d754532daf/medium/hip-hop.jpg?1413485028" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">From its roots in rap, graffiti, DJing and breakdancing in the Bronx borough of New York<br>in the 1970s, hip-hop has grown to become a global cultural and commercial powerhouse.<br>But now UK researchers believe they have found a new use for it: as a treatment for mental<br>illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression. The group says that hip-hop provides individuals<br>with a sense of empowerment and self-knowledge that could be exploited to help people tackle<br>their own psychological problems. There is an intrinsic awareness of issues connected with mental<br>health in many forms of hip-hop art, it is argued.To help promote the idea, neuroscientist Becky<br>Inkster, of Cambridge University department of psychiatry, and consultant psychiatrist Akeem Sule,<br>of the South Essex Partnership Trust, have formed Hip Hop Psych – which they describe as a social<br>venture – to promote the use of hip-hop as an aid to the treatment of mental illness. Inkster and Sule<br>will outline the ideas behind Hip Hop Psych next week at the University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas.<br>“There is so much more to hip-hop than the public realises,” said Inkster. “I grew up in the 90s during<br>the golden era of hip-hop, when it exploded into mainstream culture. It is rich in references to<br>psychiatric illnesses that have not been properly explored and which could be of enormous benefit<br>to patients. We want to work with rappers, charities, medical groups and others to promote its real<br>potential.”<br><br>Uses of hip-hop envisaged by Inkster and Sule include having patients write and rap their own<br>lyrics as part of their therapy. It is also proposed that hip-hop could be used in teaching medical<br>students about psychiatric illnesses. “One technique we want to explore is to get individuals who<br>are seeking therapy to write out where they see themselves in a year or two and to use rap lyrics<br>to outline their future histories,” said Inkster.<br><br>“Many key rappers and hip-hop artists come from deprived urban areas which are often hotbeds<br>for problems such as drug abuse, domestic violence and poverty, which are in turn linked to<br>increased occurrences of psychiatric illnesses,” she added. “These problems are rooted in their<br>language and in their songs.”<br><br>Among the songs and artists highlighted by Hip Hop Psych for their potential use in the understanding<br>of mental illness, and their notions of empowerment, is Pharrell Williams and in particular the<br>million-selling British No 1, Happy. Others highlighted by Inkster and Sule include the English<br>rapper Professor Green, whose song Lullaby focuses on his bouts of depression and how he<br>has found ways of dealing with it, particularly after his father killed himself, while many Eminem<br>songs, such as Stan, outline the tales of deeply disturbed youths trying to cope with society,<br>often unsuccessfully. “Hip-hop in general, and rap in particular, often carry messages that are<br>much more complex than is generally appreciated,” added Inkster.<br><br>“That makes it an ideal medium for helping individuals understand their psychological problems<br>and for finding ways to deal with them.”<br> <br>Source: The Guardian</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32339512014-10-15T14:49:45-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Chris Rock returns to Saturday Night Live as Host with Prince as musical guest<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/fc979b5262380e6a3e3fccd9b16cd67f3b199056/medium/chrisrock-as-prince.jpg?1413398941" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><p style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; line-height: 1.6;">Saturday Night Live maybe the best it’s been in years when Chris Rock returns<br>Nov. 1 as host. And if Purple Rain aka Prince will be the musical guest. The<br>network announced the lineup on Twitter. We hope that Chris Rock will be writing<br>some of the sketches as well. That would really be the dessert du jour. <br><br> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32339432014-10-15T14:21:44-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00HBO To Launch Stand Alone Online Service, without Cable in 2015<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ba5b3c880d15654fb41e68a5ae902f345b8b1024/medium/hbo.jpg?1398385535" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler just confirmed what had been in<br>the wind for some time: In 2015 a stand-alone over-the-top HBO Go service<br>will launch in the the U.S. There are 80 million homes that do not have HBO,<br>and “we will use all measures to go after them,” Plepler said during his network’s<br>portion of the Time Warner Investor Day underway in NY. He said such a move<br>could produce hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue. “There is<br>huge opportunity in front of us… we will use all means at our disposal to go after<br>it,” he said. “This is the most exciting inflection point domestically and internationally<br>in the history of HBO.”Last month, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes signaled the idea<br>was brewing to offer HBO Go without a TV Anywhere authentication, noting the<br>increasing opportunity of broadband was making a direct-to-consumer HBO Go “more<br>viable and more interesting.” An Internet-only HBO Go offering has worked well after<br>some hiccups in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, he said.<br><br>Source: Deadline</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32319442014-10-14T14:25:55-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Books Nick Cannon<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/a68ea0a4a569dc44d24759914928693d2a9b0aef/medium/nick-cannon.jpg?1406144074" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon has booked a multiple-episode role<br>on the Fox sophomore comedy, the network announced. On the cop comedy<br>starring Emmy nominee Andre Braugher, Cannon will recur as Marcus, Holt's<br>charming and educated nephew who just moved to the city and will stay with<br>his uncle until he finds his own place. Cannon will make his debut in December.<br>The actor becomes the latest high-profile guest star to head to Brooklyn. He joins<br>Kyra Sedgwick, currently recurring as Holt's nemesis; Craig Robinson as the elusive<br>Pontiac Bandit; Eva Longoria as a D.A. who catches Jake's (Andy Samberg) eye;<br>and Patton Oswalt as Fire Marshall Boone, among others.<br><br>Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Fox. Cannon, who also is exec<br>producing and reprising his role in VH1's Drumline reboot, also counts Bobby and<br>The Killing Room among his credits. He's repped by ICM Partners, Chaz Hayes<br>and Del Shaw.<br><br>Source: THR</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32300292014-10-13T14:12:31-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Columbus Day In Seattle Replaced with Indigenous Peoples Day <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c99cb9ba416298e88872dc6f65f9f9e32d39ed08/medium/indigenouspeoples.png?1413223789" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The Seattle City Council is replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples'<br>Day in the city. The resolution that passed unanimously Oct 13 celebrates the<br>contributions and culture of Native Americans and the indigenous community in<br>Seattle on the second Monday in October, the same day as the federally recognized<br>Columbus Day. Tribal members and other supporters say the move recognizes the<br>rich history of people who have inhabited the area for centuries. <br><br>"This action will allow us to bring into current present day our valuable and rich<br>history, and it's there for future generations to learn," said Fawn Sharp, president<br>of the Quinault Nation, a tribe on the Olympic Peninsula, who is also president of<br>the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. "Nobody discovered Seattle, Washington,"<br>she said to a round of applause.<br> <br>Several Italian-Americans and others objected to the change, saying Indigenous<br>Peoples' Day honors one group while disregarding the Italian heritage of others.<br>Columbus Day is a federal holiday that commemorates the arrival of Christopher<br>Columbus, who was Italian, in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.<br> <br>"We don't argue with the idea of Indigenous Peoples' Day. We do have a big problem<br>of it coming at the expense of what essentially is Italian Heritage Day," said Ralph<br>Fascitelli, an Italian-American who lives in Seattle, speaking outside the meeting.<br>Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is expected to sign the resolution, his spokesman Jason<br>Kelly said. The Bellingham City Council also is concerned that Columbus Day offends<br>some Native Americans. It will consider an ordinance Oct. 13 to recognize the second<br>Monday in October as Coast Salish Day.<br> <br>The Seattle School Board decided last week to have its schools observe Indigenous<br>Peoples' Day on the same day as Columbus Day. Earlier this year, Minneapolis also<br>decided to designate that day as Indigenous Peoples' Day. South Dakota, meanwhile,<br>celebrates "Native Americans Day." Seattle councilmember Bruce Harrell said he<br>understood the concerns from people in the Italian-American community, but he said,<br>"I make no excuses for this legislation." He said he co-sponsored the resolution because<br>he believes the city won't be successful in its social programs and outreach until "we fully<br>recognize the evils of our past."<br> <br>Councilmember Nick Licata, who is Italian-American, said he didn't see the legislation<br>as taking something away, but rather allowing everyone to celebrate a new day where<br>everyone's strength is recognized.<br> <br>David Bean, a member of the Puyallup Tribal Council, told councilmembers the resolution<br>demonstrates that the city values tribal members' history, culture, welfare and contributions<br>to the community.<br> <br>Source: Huff Post</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32243302014-10-09T00:03:10-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Red Bull settles a false advertising lawsuit, you could get a refund<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/081551bd11726aa07b3eebfac464a4ea24abd61a/small/redbull.jpeg?1412827041" class="size_s justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Red Bull just settled a false advertising lawsuit, and now owes anyone who bought one of<br>its drinks between Jan. 1, 2002, and Oct. 3, 2014, either $10 cash or $15 worth of Red Bull<br>products. They have agreed to pay $13 million to American consumers in the settlement. <br>Red Bull was sued by drinkers who said that consumers were misled by the slogan “Red Bull<br>gives you wings.” The plaintiffs claimed that the company’s advertised benefits, like increased<br>performance and reaction speed, were false advertising, and not backed up with scientific evidence.<br>One of the plaintiffs said despite drinking the product since 2002, he saw no improvement in his<br>athletic performance.<br> <br>According to the lawsuit:<br>Such deceptive conduct and practices mean that [Red Bull’s] advertising and marketing is not<br>just ‘puffery,’ but is instead deceptive and fraudulent and is therefore actionable.<br> <br>Despite settling, Red Bull denied any wrongdoing in a statement:<br>Red Bull settled the lawsuit to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation. However, Red Bull<br>maintains that its marketing and labeling have always been truthful and accurate, and denies<br>any and all wrongdoing or liability.<br> <br>It should probably be noted that if a certain number of people sign up and the $13 million is<br>reached, then the reimbursement will begin to be diluted so that every person can receive a<br>share. According to the filing, a hearing will be held on May 1, 2015 to decide whether the<br>settlement will be approved. If the court approves the settlement, payment will be distributed<br>150 days later (pending appeals).<br> <br>Source: Buzzfeed</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32234842014-10-08T15:55:37-04:002017-01-11T08:55:46-05:00Marvel Bans Comic Authors From Creating New 'X-Men' Characters <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/038d6fbc077defe72faaa3afea5244399e68fd97/medium/marvel.jpg?1393616098" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Marvel and Fox dispute continues. According Marvel's comic author Chris<br>Claremont, the company no longer allows its writers to create new characters<br>for "X-Men" graphic novel in an attempt to avoid giving Fox more toy to play with<br>on-screen in the mutant universe. <br><br>"I have to say quite honestly as I understand it now the X department is forbidden<br>to create new characters," Claremont opened up at the Phoenix Comic Con as<br>quoted by Bleeding Cool. "All because all new characters become the film property<br>of Fox." He added, "There will be no X-Men merchandising for the foreseeable<br>future because, why promote Fox material?"<br> <br>It was previously revealed that Marvel would also close "The Fantastic Four" comic<br>series to avoid giving promotion, however small it might be, to Fox which is currently<br>rebooting the story for a 2015 movie. Marvel will end its First Family on June 30,<br>before the new F4 movie arrives in theaters on August 7 next year.<br> <br>Source: Aceshowbiz<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32232552014-10-08T14:59:54-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00AT&T To Pay $105 Million For Putting Bogus Charges On Cell Bills<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/646172af1d1b31a970b9fe4b6a9c1e1f8f1b485b/small/att.jpg?1412794685" class="size_s justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">AT&T Inc has agreed to pay $105 million to settle allegations that it put unauthorized<br>charges on customers' cell phone bills, a practice known as cramming, the Federal<br>Trade Commission said. The settlement comes after years of complaints from consumers<br>about being charged for services, for example daily horoscopes or trivia, that they never<br>requested. AT&T will pay $80 million to refund customers while $20 million is earmarked<br>for penalties and fees to all 50 U.S. states and Washington, the FTC said. Another $5<br>million in penalties will go to the Federal Communications Commission. In its complaint,<br>the FTC alleged that for companies whose billing was handled by AT&T, as many as<br>40 percent of subscribers complained about the charges.Under pressure from state<br>attorneys general, AT&T, T-Mobile US, Verizon and Sprint agreed to stop billing customers<br>for such third-party services. AT&T said it had "rigorous protections" in place against<br>unauthorized billing but it eventually scrapped what it called premium short messaging<br>services, or PSMS services.<br><br>"Today, we reached a broad settlement to resolve claims that some of our wireless<br>customers were billed for charges from third-parties that the customers did not authorize.<br>This settlement gives our customers who believe they were wrongfully billed for PSMS<br>services the ability to get a refund," an AT&T spokesman said in an emailed statement.<br>In July, the FTC filed a complaint against T-Mobile USA, accusing the wireless provider<br>of cramming millions of dollars of unauthorized charges onto customers' bills.The<br>commission asked the court to order T-Mobile US, the fourth-largest U.S. mobile phone<br>provider by number of customers, to stop mobile cramming, provide refunds and give up<br>any revenues from the practice.<br><br>The FCC is also investigating T-Mobile US for cramming. The FTC has also moved<br>against the smaller companies which originate the charges. The charges for ring tones,<br>subscriptions for love tips, horoscopes and the like sent to subscribers by text message<br>usually cost about $9.99 per month. The wireless carrier kept at least 35 percent of that<br>charge, the FTC said.They are often buried in multi-page cell phone bills and described<br>generically, for example as "usage charges."<br><br>Source: Reuters</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32161222014-10-03T13:41:27-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00Program: Rise of the Black Pharaohs<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/7b35581f203f8dbccb09e16bdbf1fd0632334dc1/large/blackpharoahs.jpg?1412357832" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The Egypt of the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Valley of the Kings was an<br>empire of indomitable might. Then, around 800 BC, the impossible happened. Kush,<br>a subject kingdom from the south, rose up and conquered Egypt, enthroned its own<br>Pharaohs, and ruled for nearly 100 years.These were the mysterious Black Pharaohs of<br>what is today Sudan—the Nubian kings—whose reign has become legendary among<br>Africans and written off as heresy by early archaeologists who refused to believe that<br>dark skinned Africans could have risen so high.<br><br>But now, in the heart of Sudan, exciting new archaeological finds are revealing the truth<br>about the great Kush dynasty. A sacred mountain holds the key to the Kush kings’ spiritual<br>claim on the Egyptian throne; stunning statues are providing details about the true color of<br>their skin and their long and prosperous reign; and a long-hidden tomb complex is shedding<br>light on the trappings of their royalty and the extent of their empire.<br><br>You can view the full program on the pharaohs here: <strong><a contents="http://www.pbs.org/program/rise-black-pharaohs/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.pbs.org/program/rise-black-pharaohs/">http://www.pbs.org/program/rise-black-pharaohs/</a></strong><br><br>Source: PBS</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32144172014-10-02T14:23:23-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00Voter registration Soars In Ferguson Since Death Of Michael Brown <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/5b07ea18214f194de9b633acbb00bb3d38cf436c/medium/michael-brown.jpg?1412273961" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Ferguson, Missouri, has seen a surge in voter registration since a white police officer fatally<br>shot black teenager Michael Brown in early August, USA Today reported. Of the 4,839 people<br>in St. Louis County who have registered to vote since the shooting, 3,287 are residents of<br>Ferguson -- a city with a population of 21,203, according to the last census. <br><br>The city's population is predominantly African-American, yet most of its elected representatives<br>and a vast majority of its police force are white. "It's a great move when people come out and<br>register in mass like that," St. Louis 3rd Ward Committeeman Anthony Bell said, according to<br>USA Today. "They are sending a signal that we want a change. It doesn't give justice to the<br>Michael Brown family but it will in the future give justice to how the administration is run in<br>a local municipality like Ferguson."<br> <br>Anthony Gray, an attorney who represents Brown's family, said citizens of Ferguson could<br>enact real change come the November elections. "It could completely change the political<br>landscape, the power structure, (and) the decision making," he told USA Today. "The<br>service to the African American community would almost quadruple because they would<br>be viewed as a credible and legitimate voting block."<br> <br>Eight protesters demanding the arrest of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, were<br>arrested Sept 28 night during another tense standoff between demonstrators and police<br>outside the Ferguson Police Department.<br><br>Source: Huff Post</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32135342014-10-01T23:27:02-04:002017-08-16T16:33:16-04:00Catherine Zeta-Jones To Play Colombian Drug Lord Griselda Blanco<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/55a5ba1a884f2f01d41a7ebf33b007419e7dfd78/medium/griselda-zeta.jpg?1412219734" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Catherine Zeta-Jones, nominated for a Golden Globe for her turn as the ruthless wife of a<br>drug lord in 2000’s Traffic, has landed an even juicier role in the true story crime biopic The<br>Godmother. In a new film directed by Norwegian helmer Eva Sørhaug (90 Minutes, Cold Lunch)<br>Zeta-Jones will play real life kingpin Griselda Blanco, the first and only woman to rise to the<br>higher echelons of Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel. <br><br>Blanco was a fearsome figure at the center of the Miami drug wars of the 1970s and ’80s<br>depicted in the 2006 Magnolia Pictures-released documentary Cocaine Cowboys. Her reign<br>of terror, in which she’s suspected to have ordered hundreds of assassinations to stay in<br>money and power, was so vicious and violent that it earned her the nicknames La Madrina,<br>Black Widow, and the Cocaine Godmother.<br> <br>Blanco was also one of the biggest success stories of her generation in the drug game. Born<br>in Cartagena, Colombia, she rose from her roots as a teenage runaway and prostitute and<br>emigrated to New York where she started a cocaine business with her husband. Indicted on<br>federal charges, she fled back to Colombia but resurfaced in Miami. There she established a<br>distribution network connecting New York, Miami, LA, and Colombia that made her a multi-millionaire<br>by her forties. After a 1985 arrest the mother of four served 18 years in prison before being released<br>in 2004. She was deported back to Colombia, where she was killed in a motorcycle drive-by<br>assassination in 2012.<br> <br>Source: Deadline<br> </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32135222014-10-01T23:11:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00MTA to put surveillance cameras on subway cars to curb sex crimes<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/188019788d1876c0c4a15b4556c9f78e71888857/medium/mta-cam.jpg?1412219376" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Turning up the heat on subway perverts, the MTA will put surveillance cameras in hundreds of <br>new train cars expected to be ordered in a few years. The MTA for the first time committed to<br>the security move in a letter to Public Advocate Letitia James made public. The MTA also will<br>make it easier for victims and witnesses to report sex crimes with a new portal on its website and<br>the authority will ramp up a public education campaign to increase awareness of sexual abuse,<br>James announced. <br><br>Earlier this year, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told the Daily News he would like cameras<br>onboard because they are a useful crime fighting tool, providing evidence to detectives and<br>serving as a deterrent to bad guys. The MTA at the time said it was studying the possibility.<br>James urged the MTA to do more to curb abuse after a Daily News special report on subway<br>crime in July revealed the extent of the problem.<br> <br>The News analysis revealed that women reported being victims of sex crimes, including groping<br>and flashing, more than 3,000 times between 2008 and 2013. The Nos. 4, 5 and 6 subway lines<br>were the worst lines, and a majority of incidents took place during the morning rush.<br> <br>The MTA will install cameras on 752 R211 class subway cars it expects to order during the 2015-2019<br>capital plan. It already has contracted with Bombardier for 300 R179 class subway cars. The first R179<br>test cars should be delivered to the MTA in December. The rest of the R179s are set to arrive between<br>July 2015 and January 2017, according to an MTA status report on car purchases. The MTA is looking<br>to install cameras on the R179s, but is not yet making a commitment to do so, officials said.<br> <br>Source: Daily News</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32123122014-10-01T11:56:27-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00Derek Jeter moves into media teaming with Legendary Entertainment to Launch "The Player’s Tribune"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f9670ae367c8e06000ea5e3650b6a6e264aae243/medium/derekj.jpg?1412178883" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Does the former New York Yankees captain and likely Hall of Fame shoo-in whose 20-year<br>baseball playing career ended on Sunday want to become a media mogul? If so, then this<br>is his lead-off hit: Derek Jeter is the Founding Publisher of a Web site, The Players’ Tribune,<br>that promises to provide athletes with the tools to “share their unfiltered, honest and unique<br>perspectives, bringing fans closer to the games they love.” Legendary Entertainment will<br>provide cash and “creative support.” And former ESPN Publishing Editorial Director Gary<br>Hoenig will have the same title at the new endeavor .“I do think fans deserve more than ‘no<br>comments’ or ‘I don’t knows,’” Jeter says this morning on the site. “Those simple answers<br>have always stemmed from a genuine concern that any statement, any opinion or detail,<br>might be distorted. I have a unique perspective. Many of you saw me after that final home<br>game, when the enormity of the moment hit me. I’m not a robot. Neither are the other athletes<br>who at times might seem unapproachable. We all have emotions. We just need to be sure our<br>thoughts will come across the way we intend. We want to have a way to connect directly with<br>our fans, with no filter.”<br><br>Legendary CEO Thomas Tull is a natural partner: He’s a board member at The Baseball Hall<br>of Fame, and his company produced the 2013 biographical film about Jackie Robinson, 42.<br>He’s also a member of the ownership group of the Pittsburgh Steelers.<br><br>Source: Deadline</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32107412014-09-30T14:13:56-04:002022-04-11T12:14:59-04:00Kenny Smith gets Family Reality Series on TBS <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0b9b6ba59757db920a30232f63aea771adfa5458/medium/kenny-smith-gwen.jpg?1412100711" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>TBS has given a green light to The Smiths, an unscripted series centering on former<br>NBA star and current Turner Sports regular Kenny Smith and his wife, Price Is Right<br>model Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith. Six episodes of the series has been ordered with<br>an eye toward a spring 2015 premiere.The Smiths will be shot in LA, where Price Is<br>Right is shot, and in Atlanta, where Smith co-anchors Turner’s NBA studio show during<br>the basketball season. The series will focus on the two and their five kids aged 2-20<br>and their whirlwind lifestyles.<br><br>Source: Deadlinethermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32089902014-09-29T15:31:39-04:002020-09-02T17:43:26-04:00Ello the new social network that claims to not be like Facebook<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ece7bbaffe0763b0af23ccde615a989bb9d0ab33/medium/ello.png?1412018837" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">There is a new social network on the rise and it’s called Ello. Ello is a simple, beautiful,<br>and ad-free social network created by a small group of artists and designers. They say,<br>“We originally built Ello as a private social network. Over time, so many people wanted<br>to join Ello that we built a public version of Ello for everyone to use.” Ello doesn't sell ads.<br>Nor do we sell data about you to third parties. Virtually every other social network is run by<br>advertisers. Behind the scenes they employ armies of ad salesmen and data miners to<br>record every move you make. Data about you is then auctioned off to advertisers and data<br>brokers. You're the product that's being bought and sold. <br><br>Collecting and selling your personal data, reading your posts to your friends, and mapping<br>your social connections for profit is both creepy and unethical. Under the guise of offering a<br>"free" service, users pay a high price in intrusive advertising and lack of privacy. Ello thinks<br>ads are tacky, that they insult our intelligence and that we're better without them. Ello is<br>completely free to use. Ello occasionally offers special features to users. If they create a<br>special feature that you really like, you may choose to support Ello by paying a very small<br>amount of money to add that feature to your Ello account. You never have to pay anything,<br>and you can keep using Ello forever, for free. By choosing to buy a feature now and then for<br>a very small amount of money you support our work and help us make Ello better and better.<br> <br>Now about that privacy thing. When you use Ello they collect some information related to your<br>visit. The information helps to understand in a general way how people are using Ello, so they<br>can make the social network better. Unlike virtually every other social network, on Ello you can<br>opt out of information sharing. Ello is currently invitation-only. To join Ello, you need to know<br>someone that is already on the network. Alternatively, you can request an invitation by visiting<br>the Ello Home Page. Sounds good to you so far? I’m wondering how long before Ello becomes<br>another Facebook after their popularity goes through the roof and the company is sold. Let’s<br>see how this plays out. </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32086652014-09-29T12:52:51-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00DJ Khaled sues former record label eOne over unpaid Royalties <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/6ef75832b4bebcddaff653e289d33ee29a90fd61/medium/djkhaled.jpg?1412009438" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">DJ Khaled, via his DJ Khaled Productions, Inc., has filed a lawsuit against his former<br>record label Entertainment One, also known as eOne, alleging breach of contract,<br>accounting and unjust enrichment. Khaled is accusing eOne of failure to properly<br>account and pay record and mechanical royalties, alleging lost royalties amounting to<br>at least $1 million across four records released between 2006 and 2010.In the initial<br>lawsuit summons, filed in May, Khaled's counsel accuses eOne and the Koch Entertainment<br>label that it purchased in 2005 and absorbed in 2009 of failing to accurately account for royalties<br>owed, as well as incorrectly characterizing and reporting the products it sold or licensed, and<br>refusing to permit an audit of their accounting to determine exact losses.<br><br>Over the time in question, Khaled released four full-length studio albums: 2006's Listennn...the<br>Album, 2007's We the Best, 2008's We Global and 2010's Victory, as well as DJ Khaled / E<br>Class: Live from the 305 in 2009. (The latter of which is in dispute, as eOne claims that album<br>was released under a separate deal with another entity called Poe Boy Music Group, and was<br>not delivered by Khaled or through his contract with the label).<br><br>Throughout those releases, Khaled collaborated with notables Rick Ross, Pitbull, Kanye West,<br>Lil Wayne, Ludacris and a long list of others, achieving Billboard chart dominance and RIAA<br>certified Platinum status for singles "I'm So Hood" from We the Best and "All I Do Is Win" off Victory.<br>However, in a motion filed by eOne, the international music, film and television distribution and<br>publishing company claims it is exempt from the bulk of claims Khaled alleges. Most notably, it<br>states it did in fact release the accounting in question, referencing its contract with Khaled and<br>a clause limiting Khaled's audit rights over the preceding two year period beginning upon delivery<br>of the accounting statement, as well as a clause limiting the right to pursue litigation to one year<br>after that "objection period." Under this clause, the scope of Khaled's suit would be "contractually<br>barred from asserting the claims set forth in the complaint for the periods 2006 through 2010."<br><br>As well, eOne states that Khaled's claim for failure to pay mechanical royalties is invalid, as those<br>rights were assigned by Khaled to another entity in 2007, when Khaled's publishing royalties were<br>placed under exclusive control by The Knotting Hill Music Group, which subsequently contracted<br>with Universal Music Publishing Group, to whom eOne says it has been reporting to since that time.<br>As well, eOne claims it allowed an audit of its accounting records in April 2014 for the appropriate<br>review period per their contract, but Khaled's accountant did not show up.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32075012014-09-28T12:41:23-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:0010 ways retailers get you to spend more money and you don't even know it <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8b61616e0663675ceb6b515fab432faa7db87d52/large/retail-sales.jpg?1411922064" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">We've all heard the saying: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. But if<br>you're fooled a third time, it probably just means you like to buy a lot of stuff. With advertising<br>and pricing techniques, retailers entice you to part with your money. What they do isn't illegal,<br>and often, it isn't even unethical. But it may feel a little ... wrong. To become a savvier shopper,<br>note these 10 ways shoppers are often lured into buying. <br><br><strong><em>The 'buy these for just X dollars' sign</em></strong><br> <br>You've likely seen these signs in the grocery store. "A retailer will post a sale sign that advertises<br>five items for $5," says Michael Levin, associate professor of marketing at Otterbein University in<br>Westerville, Ohio. "A consumer may not know that they can purchase just one item for $1. They'll<br>buy five items because they think that's the only way to get the deal."<br> <br><strong><em>Taller, narrower packages</em></strong><br> <br>You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but you should judge a package's cover before deciding to<br>buy it. "Consumers often think that a taller, narrower package holds more product even when it doesn't,"<br>says David Hagenbuch, an associate professor of marketing at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg,<br>Pennsylvania, and founder of Mindfulmarketing.org. "For example, notice how many ice cream containers<br>have shrunk in girth but not in height?"<br> <br><strong><em>'Up to' sales</em></strong><br> <br>It's happened to all of us. "You're walking by a store, and a big, bold sign inside catches your eye: 50<br>percent off," Hagenbuch says. Naturally, you walk inside. That's when you notice the fine print: up to<br>50 percent off. "Still, you start shopping, believing that you'll find lots of half-off deals," he says.<br> <br><strong><em>Advertising telling you a product isn't expensive</em></strong><br> <br>A 2007 Carnegie Mellon University study demonstrated that if a business changed the description<br>of an overnight shipping charge on a free DVD trial offer from "a $5 fee" to "a small $5 fee," the response<br>rate climbed 20 percent. You may think you're too smart to let an adjective persuade you. But if you<br>aren't thinking carefully, it's easy to see how you might be convinced that, sure, a $5 fee is pretty "small"<br>for shipping.<br> <br><strong><em>Rebates</em></strong><br> <br>Manufacturers know you're probably not going to send in a rebate, Levin says, adding that the redemption<br>rate for rebates is "far lower than the redemption rate for coupons." Making matters worse, he adds, "retailers<br>often incorporate the final price after rebate in very large print on the sale sticker." Consumers "get confused<br>and think they've already received the discount or simply forget to redeem the rebate," Levin says.<br> <br><strong><em>You aren't buying what you think you are.</em></strong><br> <br>Watch out for food products masquerading as something they're not, Hagenbuch says. "For instance, some<br>name-brand ice cream makers have reduced the cream content of their products so much that they can no<br>longer be called ice cream. Instead, they must be labeled 'dairy products,'" he says. "This terminology,<br>however, is not readily displayed on the packaging, which mimics what consumers are used to seeing for<br>real ice cream."<br> <br><strong><em>The number nine trick</em></strong><br> <br>Everyone knows retailers like prices ending with nine -- like a $799 TV -- because consumers think, "Ooh,<br>that's less than $800!" But it's a tactic that works. In 2003, the journal Quantitative Marketing and Economics<br>conducted field studies testing prices that employed the number nine and found that when a consumer was<br>offered the choice to buy similar merchandise -- like a $49 dress versus a $44 dress -- more people would<br>purchase the item that ended in nine.<br> <br><strong><em>Advertising focusing on low payments, not the final price</em></strong><br> <br>Many ads tell you that for just the price of a cup of coffee, you can have that insurance or cellphone plan.<br>Car dealerships often focus on the monthly payment, asking how much you can afford per month instead<br>of how much you can afford total. If you're buying anything requiring monthly payments, look at the annual<br>cost and how much you'll have spent when your purchase is paid for. That's often the last thing a retailer<br>wants you to do.<br> <br><strong><em>No dollar signs and other menu tricks</em></strong><br> <br>According to Cornell University research, consumers tend to spend more when dollar signs are left off<br>the menu. Restaurants may also display a few higher-priced items, knowing you probably won't choose<br>them, but other items will look more reasonably priced in comparison. And some eateries have been<br>taking advice championed by menu engineer Gregg Rapp: Prices ending in .95 seem friendlier than<br>those ending in .99, which are associated with value and cheapness.<br> <br><strong><em>Price anchoring</em></strong><br> <br>Department stores do this all the time, particularly with clothing. You see a $56 shirt on sale for $32<br>and think, "Hey, that's quite a deal." Of course, the store never intended to sell the shirt for $56. The<br>plan all along was to charge $32. The retail industry calls this "price anchoring." JCPenney tried ending<br>price anchoring in 2012, but sales plummeted. The CEO got the boot, and the store went back to price<br>anchoring. Apparently, shoppers enjoy being duped.<br> <br>Source: US News World Report</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32053842014-09-26T14:27:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00US agrees to pay over half billion dollars to Navajo Nation<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/0641e2ab3975964c697ac1ab4c597aa83522a20e/medium/navajo-seal.jpg?1411755550" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">The US government has agreed to pay $554m (£339m) to the Native American Navajo<br>tribe to settle a legal dispute. It is the largest payment ever made by the government to<br>a single tribe. The litigation included claims that dated back more than 50 years, with the<br>US accused of mismanaging resources on tribal lands. The Navajo Nation has now agreed<br>to waive these lawsuits. <br><br>The US has previously reached similar agreements with other tribes over the use of their<br>land and goods. The Navajos are the largest Native American tribe, with more than 300,000<br>members. About 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares) of Navajo land is leased out for purposes<br>including farming, oil and gas production, and mining. Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly<br>called the settlement a "victory for tribal sovereignty". The "fair and just compensation for the<br>Navajo Nation" came after "a long, hard-won process", he said.<br> <br>Navajo officials stressed that the settlement did not prevent the tribe from filing lawsuits over<br>the US government's future conduct, or separate potential claims over water and uranium pollution.<br>Meanwhile, US Attorney General Eric Holder said: "This historic agreement resolves a longstanding<br>dispute between the US and the Navajo Nation."<br> <br>The deal showed the government's commitment to "strengthening our partnership with tribal nations",<br>he added. In 2012, the US reached a similar settlement with 41 tribes, agreeing to pay out about $1bn.<br> <br>Source: BBC</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32032192014-09-25T09:04:24-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00Sheila E. wants to turn Memoir into Movie, already has the actor to play her on deck <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/729b7a68ebd0dfa30b252c704d4cf8c75f17d57d/small/sheilae.jpg?1411649956" class="size_s justify_center border_none" alt="" /><span class="font_regular">Days before the release of Sheila E.'s autobiography, news spread that she was once<br>engaged to Prince. The bigger bombshell, however, didn't get nearly as much attention.<br>"Pretty much, I was engaged to Carlos Santana. That was huge and no one knew about that,"<br>said the 56-year-old drummer, who dated a married Santana when she was 18. "I thought<br>people would be talking about that, and it's more about, `She was engaged to Prince!' Really?"<br>Sheila E. said Santana, who was 36 at the time, was her first love, calling it "a wonderful<br>romance.""The Beat of My Own Drum," the musician's memoir released through Simon &<br>Schuster's Atria Books features stories that range from working with Marvin Gaye, Ringo Starr<br>and Lionel Richie to being raped at age 5. Dating Prince and Santana made her realize she<br>had a thing for guys with guitars, she said. "And there were some that I did not put in the book,"<br>she said, laughing.<br><br>Could they appear in another book? "I'll be able to share more stories on the next three to<br>five books," she said. The Grammy-nominated star said writing her first book completed with<br>co-writer Wendy Holden has inspired her to write more, including children's books.<br>"When I first approached (Simon & Schuster), I said I wanted to do a bunch of books,"<br>she said. Sheila E. first began writing "The Beat of My Own Drum" in her 30s, and said<br>the process felt "devastating." She said coming back to the writing process two years ago<br>gave her a fresh perspective. When writing about being raped, a topic the performer has<br>discussed over the years, she thought she could share her story without hardship.<br><br>"The beginning stages of it, because I had been talking about it for so long, it wasn't hard, but<br>when I really had to dig in and really get in detail about it, when I read it back, that's when it hit<br>me, like, `Wow. OK,'" she said. "I really have to go in deep to explain really what happened,<br>and to explain it in a way that I think that I remember it at five years old, not how I remember<br>it now." Sheila E., whose hits include "The Glamorous Life" and "A Love Bizarre," released<br>the album ICON last year. She says she wants to adapt her book into a movie. She's already<br>spoken to the person she wants for the Sheila E. role. "I'm not going to tell you who it is,"<br>she said with a knowing smile. "They were very, very interested and excited."<br> <br>Source: Billboard</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32021132014-09-24T16:45:41-04:002017-01-11T08:55:45-05:00Snoop Dogg, Nas, Jared Leto Invest in Free Stock Trade App Robinhood <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/63b73915de6898fb7771803ce88cbb46d8e4edc1/medium/snoop-nas-leto.jpg?1411591408" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Snoop Dogg, Nas and Jared Leto have delivered a shot of star power to the latest round<br>of financing for Robinhood, a new no-commission brokerage website that hopes to make<br>trading stocks as easy as hitting "X" on Tinder. The startup announced this week that it<br>raised $13 million in Series A funding, led by Index Ventures as well as Howard Lindzon<br>of StockTwits and the trio of celebs. Robinhood raised $3 million in seed money back in<br>December 2013, with early investors including Index, Andreessen Horowitz, IT Ventures<br>and QueensBridge Ventures, Nas' Los Angeles-based venture capital firm.The app looks<br>to give average-joe investors a free and easy way to make trades, bypassing firms like TD<br>Ameritrade or Charles Schwab that charge up to $10 per transaction. "We believe there’s<br>something inherently wrong with that, and we’re on a path to change it," said a company<br>statement announcing the funding round. "Robinhood’s powerfully engineered technology<br>and carefully designed mobile experience will allow everyday investors to trade with zero<br>commissions."<br> <br>The company says nearly 500,000 people are already on the waiting list to join the service,<br>which founders Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt hope to launch in early 2015. The early adopters<br>tend to be younger than your typical investor, with 80 percent of them between 18-29 years<br>old, Tenev and Bhatt told Recode.<br> <br>The new funding will go towards hiring more engineers and designers. Twenty people currently<br>work for the company, which is based out of Palo Alto, Calif.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/32015042014-09-24T11:31:37-04:002019-11-03T05:14:05-05:00Chinese restaurant serves noodles laced with opium poppy<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/077f3b66f6092c6865460aafd825d9fd995de287/medium/opium.jpg?1411572553" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The noodles were not just tasty. They were addictive. A Chinese noodle vendor in northern<br>Shaanxi province has been detained for 10 days after admitting he added powdered poppy<br>plant from which opium is made to his dishes to keep customers coming back, Chinese media<br>has reported.The owner said that he bought 4 catty (2kg) of the substance for 600 yuan ($98)<br>in August. He said he added it to his food to make it taste better and to improve his business,<br>the Huashangbao paper reported. The opium-laced noodles came to light after police stopped<br>a vehicle driven by a 26-year-old man and tested him for drugs not long after he had consumed<br>a bowl of the noodles.<br><br>The man was detained for 15 days on charges of drug abuse and was not released until family<br>members told police how they had also eaten at the same restaurant and tested positive for the<br>drug. The paper said the risk of becoming a drug addict from the laced noodles, even if eaten<br>continuously for a long period of time, was unlikely. It added that lacing food with opium poppy<br>was not uncommon in China, with similar cases in 2010 and 2012.<br> <br>Source: CNN</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31998502014-09-23T14:24:21-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Zoe Saldana series "My Hero" debuts this fall in Oct <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/853291061df4f97c1ea4fb01c85ae1d97af7534c/medium/zoe-sal.jpg?1411496552" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">AOL has unveiled its new slate of original programming and on the list is a new series from<br>actress Zoe Saldana set to debut on Oct 24 for the fall lineup. Called My Hero, the short-form <br>web series follows different celebrities in every episode as they pay a surprise visit to someone<br>who helped change their lives. The series is produced by Relativity Media's Ellen Rakieten<br>Entertainment and Cinestar Productions. <br><br>"There's at least one person in everyone's life that they will always be grateful to," Saldana<br>tells THR. "We wanted to create a show in celebration of those people." This isn't Saldana's<br>first time behind the camera. She directed a web series with her sister Cisely Saldana called<br>The Ropes, starring Vin Diesel, in 2011 and a short film starring Malin Ackerman and Bradley<br>Cooper called Kaylien. But she notes that AOL was a logical partner for My Hero.<br> <br>"Partnering with AOL was the best thing for us," she says. "It's a company that's setting the<br>tone on how we view and interpret media." Saldana will also star in an episode of My Hero<br>in which she pays tribute to her mother, whom she calls "my No. 1 fan and my partner in crime."<br>She adds that she hopes the series will "inspire people to be thankful for the people around them<br>that had something to do with the great things happening in their lives."<br> <br>Source: THR</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31997392014-09-23T14:11:58-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Who is Luke James: a NOLA raised Grammy nominated artist on the rise<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/62eff8a42857bee7c7b96fd896e7a9f2474d97db/medium/luke-james.jpg?1411495572" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">In 2013, Luke James' "I Want You" was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B performance<br>category. Every one of James' fellow nominees, Usher, Miguel, Estelle, Robert Glasper and<br>Ledisi, had already released albums. On top of that, Usher and Estelle had already won Grammy's;<br>Miguel and Ledisi had previously been nominated. James, an underdog with a handful of singles<br>and a couple mixtapes, was suddenly in the big leagues.That was the moment when "everything<br>started coming together," says James, whose self-titled debut album comes out Tuesday, Sept. 23.<br>On Luke James, the singer nods towards current trends -- the piano figure in "The Run," for example,<br>evokes DJ Mustard -- but he's not beholden to them. At a time when a lot of hits are uptempo, James<br>is willing to start his album with a string of ballads and mid-tempo tracks. He's a strong singer with<br>a knack for soaring through his hooks, and he makes deft use of short interludes to help weave everything<br>together.<br><br>Growing up in New Orleans, James always knew he wanted to be an entertainer, but he wasn't sure<br>which kind. He was "surrounded by music. Everything, the whole city, works off of music." First he took<br>up the sax, focusing on jazz. Then, he says, "I got to middle school and peer pressure hit me and I<br>realized that it wasn't cool -- the girls didn't really dig the dude that could play the sax. So I kind of went<br>to a place where I thought the girls really dug." That place was singing. After high school, James moved<br>from New Orleans to L.A. and began singing backup for a couple of artists (including Tyrese). He started<br>meeting different producers and networking; he also got a publishing deal, which he says "solidifies you<br>a little bit." He fell in with the producer Danja, who James refers to as the Quincy Jones to his Michael<br>Jackson. (Danja has worked with Trey Songz, Britney Spears, Ciara, among others.) James started<br>writing songs for singers like Chris Brown and Justin Bieber. "I kind of used that road as a way of helping<br>me find myself," says James, "finding what I want to say and what type of artist do I want to be."<br><br>When James got acknowledged by the GRAMMY's, it seemed like what he wanted to say was now what<br>other people wanted to hear. Funny enough, it took a while for the singer to find out about his nomination.<br>He had an album listening party to go to on the night that nominations are made public. "I was late, like<br>I’m always late to stuff," he says. "My phone was buzzing," but "I really wasn’t trying to answer it, 'cause<br>I felt like it was somebody wondering where I was." Eventually, he took a look at his phone, ready to find<br>a bunch of nagging texts telling him to hurry up.<br><br>Instead, he found a lot of people telling him he'd made thecut and would be considered for a Grammy<br>award. "I got to the party," James explains, and "everybody's at this party -- John Legend, Miley Cyrus...<br>I walked through the door and John Legend yells, 'ladies and gentlemen, Grammy-nominated Luke<br>James is in the building!'" James call this "a pure wave I wasn't ready to ride." But that might just be<br>modesty -- he sounds confident on Luke James. Take "Expose (Wait A Minute)," a powerful song<br>with a gliding '80s beat. "I wear my heart on my sleeve, what you think about that?" sings James.<br>"I wear it where you can see, what you think about that?"<br><br>Source: Billboard</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31979702014-09-22T13:33:02-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Damon Dash Moves Forward in Lawsuit Against Director Lee Daniels<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1d24c7699e8246cbd6e462efade5a0826ea90942/medium/daniels-dash.png?1411406942" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">In August, Damon Dash filed a summons that outlined his claims of having written and oral<br>agreements with Lee Daniels. On Sept 22 in New York Superior Court, Dash followed up with<br>an actual complaint that provides the basis why Dash thinks himself entitled to credits, ownership<br>and millions of dollars in compensation.Dash's lawsuit confirms reports that the dispute dates back<br>to $2 million allegedly given by the hip hop mogul so that Daniels could produce The Woodsman,<br>which starred Kevin Bacon as a convicted child molester adjusting to life after prison.<br><br>Through a mutual acquaintance, publicist Marvette Britto, Dash says he was introduced to Daniels.<br>In return for $2 million, Dash says he got a written agreement that gave him executive producer credits,<br>50 percent of rights on the film, and a guarantee that the investment would be repaid with interest from<br>Daniels. Dash says he attempted to ensure the film's success by traveling around the country to promote<br>The Woodsman, and bringing along celebrities like Kanye West to perform at venues where the film's ads<br>would run. The movie came out in 2005, and afterwards, Dash says he didn't get a response to his request<br>for an accounting. Instead of repayment, Dash says he got another offer from Lee.<br><br>"The terms of this offer were as follows: Lee asked Damon to forego seeking repayment of the $2,000,000.00<br>from 'The Woodsman' proceeds, and in its stead, roll-over the $2,000,000.00 into another one of Lee’s films,<br>which was eventually to be produced and distributed under the name, Shadowboxer.”<br>Another written agreement is said to have come, but Dash says he reinvested the $2 million into Shadowboxer,<br>which wasn't nearly the critical success of Daniels' prior film. Dash says he "was expressly told to take a back<br>seat" on the promotion of this film, and after the film came out in 2005, wasn't able to get an accounting on that<br>film either.<br><br>Instead, Lee is said to have communicated another offer through his agent, Michael McConnell, that "in exchange<br>for keeping quiet about being owed money, to avoid bad press in light of Lee’s upcoming projects, and foregoing<br>prompt payment on the personal guaranty, Lee, and Lee Daniels Entertainment, promised Damon, both orally,<br>and in writing, that Damon would be given a producer credit and partial ownership rights to any and all of Lee’s<br>projects — i.e., current and future TV shows and/or films —until Lee paid Damon back the $2,000,000.00 plus<br>interest that Damon had originally invested with Lee." Dash says he accepted the offer, then put in a good word<br>about Lee to Tennessee's allegedly reluctant investors and personally reassured the film's cast including Mariah<br>Carey.<br><br>The plaintiff asserts that because the debt is still outstanding, that films such as Precious, The Paperboy and The<br>Butler are covered under the terms of the agreement. Plus, the obligations are ongoing. One project mentioned<br>is a television show titled "Empire" from Lee and Brian Grazer that's said to be slated to air on Fox in late 2014<br>or earlier 2015. When the summons was originally filed, Daniels' reps put out word that "the reported claims by<br>Damon Dash that he is owed money from investments in Lee Daniels’ films are completely without merit."<br>We've reached out to the defendant again and will provide any response. The complaint is also directed at Canyon<br>Entertainment president Simone Sheffield for allegedly defaming Dash. At one point, Sheffield allegedly stated Dash<br>was going to jail. Sheffield is also reported to have left a "disturbing voice mail" for Dash's attorney that was saved.<br>Not much detail is provided on that.<br> <br>Source: THR</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31960472014-09-20T13:26:15-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Nick Cannon gets Book/TV deals for Amber Rose <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b692b84a6fbb84e8b8a0b56154720f45d0a72b31/medium/nick-amber.jpeg?1411233597" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Amber Rose’s business partnership with Nick Cannon has led to the model securing deals<br>for an upcoming book and television show. TMZ is reporting Rose will star in a TV series<br>centered around fashion and release an unspecified “How To” book. Rose, who is married to rapper<br>Wiz Khalifa, has appeared on TV before (Running Russell Simmons, Master of the Mix). She is also<br>linked to the upcoming ABC sitcom Selfie debuting on September 30.<br> <br>Cannon recently took on the job of managing Rose’s career. The two previously worked together on<br>the movie School Dance. The film was Cannon’s directorial debut.<br> <br>Source: Allhiphop/TMZ</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31910572014-09-17T10:49:49-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Stylish New Jersey 10 yr old is already a CEO of cookie company<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/8e0770677ac5f4a3aa575175953f484a43531245/medium/mrcory.jpg?1410965303" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Life is sweet for Cory Nieves. The bespectacled 10-year-old CEO of Mr. Cory's Cookies<br>is building a dessert empire and has gained national attention for his treats as well as his<br>designer threads all before starting fifth grade. Mr. Cory's story dates back to 2009. He<br>started off selling hot cocoa, lemonade and cookies from a stand in Englewood, N.J. Now,<br>Mr. Cory's Cookies are available at markets and events in New Jersey and New York. He<br>has even brought his pop-up store to a West Elm furniture store in Chelsea and is working<br>to make his all-natural cookie dough available online.What makes his cookies special?<br>“They are made with love,” Mr. Cory told the Daily News. “They look scrumptious and they<br>make your mouth water.” The pint-sized businessman also has a flair for fashion. Mr. Cory<br>often showcases his sophisticated sense of style on his Instagram account, where he has<br>more 24,000 followers.<br><br>His favorite brands and designers include J. Crew, Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford, and he is<br>a fan of the pocket square. Mr. Cory’s career goes beyond baking and sharing Instagram<br>pics. The preteen is also an actor and child model and was featured, fittingly enough, in a<br>Pillsbury commercial in 2012.<br><br>Source: NY Daily News</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31894522014-09-16T13:54:22-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00DJ Premier and Royce da 5'9" have a killer project coming <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2e2fbce2ed194ac08e156b34460530f88849e5d7/original/prhyme.jpg?1410890006" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="CYaVnvSunGs" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/CYaVnvSunGs/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CYaVnvSunGs?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31891752014-09-16T10:42:46-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass in Talks for New 'Bourne' Movie<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/140627c7f677411a521b9bb60b7e86499638d8cd/medium/jasonbourne.jpg?1410878258" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass just may have another Bourne movie up their sleeve.<br>Despite months of denials, and months of rumors, sources say Damon and Greengrass<br>are indeed talking to Universal about bringing the amnesiac assassin back to the big screen.<br>And here’s the kicker: Greengrass would not only direct, but also write the script. (The Bourne<br>trilogy was written by Tony Gilroy, among a handful of others scribes, and this would be the<br>first time Greengrass, who wrote United 93 and directed the second and third Bourne installments,<br>will have a hand in penning the adventures.)If a deal is made and talks are only in the early stage,<br> it sets the stage for a return of the 21st century’s first screen hero who threatened to upstage<br>Bond. With their kinetic and visceral style, the movies made Damon into an A-lister who was<br>able to command tens of millions for the sequels as the franchise raked in almost a billion<br>dollars worldwide.<br><br>Universal moved on without Damon and Greengrass when it made Bourne Legacy, the 2012<br>spinoff starring Jeremy Renner as spy Aaron Cross and giving Gilroy his shot at directing an<br>installment of a franchise he was so instrumental in shaping. Universal had set a sequel to<br>Legacy, which was to have been directed by Fast & Furious helmer Justin Lin, for July 16, 2016,<br>but there is now talk that the sequel could move to make room for the reunion movie.<br> <br>Source: THR</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31863372014-09-14T12:33:22-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Actress Danièle Watts mistaken for Prostitute, accosted by LAPD <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ef1a8556a6caa7c24cf3c0198bdf757157bdf4e3/medium/danielewatts.jpg?1410712298" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">An African-American actress who appeared in Django Unchained says she was accosted by Los Angeles<br>police who mistakenly thought she was a prostitute.Danièle Watts, who portrayed CoCo in Quentin Tarantino's<br>Oscar-winning film and currently plays Martin Lawrence's daughter on FX's new comedy series Partners, wrote<br>on her Facebook page that she and husband Brian James Lucas, who is white, were being affectionate in public<br>when the incident occurred Thursday.<br> <br>“Today I was handcuffed and detained by 2 police officers from the Studio City Police Department after refusing<br>to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place,” she wrote.<br>"When the officer arrived, I was standing on the sidewalk by a tree. I was talking to my father on my cell phone.<br>I knew that I had done nothing wrong, that I wasn’t harming anyone, so I walked away. A few minutes later, I was<br>still talking to my dad when 2 different police officers accosted me and forced me into handcuffs."<br> <br>She also posted a photo of herself crying standing beside the officer and wrote that her wrist was "bleeding<br>in pain." "As I was sitting in the back of the police car, I remembered the countless times my father came home<br>frustrated or humiliated by the cops when he had done nothing wrong," she continued. "I felt his shame, his anger,<br>and my own feelings of frustration for existing in a world where I have allowed myself to believe that 'authority<br>figures' could control my BEING… my ability to BE!!!!!!!"<br> <br>Watts also has appeared on several episodes of TV series Weeds as well as guest spots on Melissa & Joey,<br>How I Met Your Mother and Private Practice, among others.<br> <br>Source: Hollywood Reporter<br> </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31843082014-09-12T14:45:17-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00SNL will have Its 1st Black Anchor on Weekend Update<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/1d0a5b26c35653dcd52d9655439481d5d7065d1d/medium/michael-che.jpg?1410547383" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">The new season of “Saturday Night Live” will have a significant change in its cast and its most<br>prominent segment, “Weekend Update.” Michael Che, a comic perhaps best known for his role<br>as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” will replace Cecily Strong, who will<br>remain on “S.N.L.” as a regular cast member. After trying out what he said were “a number of<br>different combinations” in the last few weeks, Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator and executive<br>producer, said he had selected Mr. Che, 31, who worked on the show last season as a writer,<br>to be the partner of Colin Jost, who began co-anchoring “Weekend Update” in the middle of last<br>season.<br> <br>Mr. Michaels said that Mr. Che, who has had a career as a stand-up comedian in New York,<br>formed a close relationship last year in the writers’ room with Mr. Jost, one of the show’s two<br>head writers. Cecily Strong one of the show’s best players will get the opportunity to appear<br>more frequently in sketches this season, a move Ms. Strong herself had asked for.<br> <br>Mr. Che appeared as recently as Aug. 26 on “The Daily Show” when he starred in a much-talked<br>-about segment with Jon Stewart about trying to find a safe location from which to report on the<br>shooting of a black teenager. Mr. Michaels said that he would probably be making one or two<br>more additions to the cast this season but that he had not yet reached a decision.<br> <br>Source: NY Times</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31823122014-09-11T12:59:25-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Actor Terry Crews Relives Childhood of Domestic Violence With Ray Rice Scandal<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/735d2e3027ed89790dadba087cf3df574ff44cf1/medium/terry-crews.jpg?1410454610" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">As video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee unconscious continues to spark discussion<br>about domestic abuse, actor and former NFL player Terry Crews weighed in on the scandal,<br>recalling the violence of his own childhood, Entertainment Tonight reports. The Brooklyn<br>Nine-Nine star has always been open about the abuse his mother faced at the hands of<br>his father throughout his childhood, and said the Rice video brought up old feelings in him. <br>"When I saw the video I was immediately taken back to my childhood," he said. "This is the<br>way I grew up. I used to watch this happen over and over again. It was a post-traumatic-stress<br>experience for me. I used to watch my father hit my mother in the face and watch her go down<br>and there was some things that just affected me more than I don't think anyone could realize."<br> <br>Crews spoke critically about NFL culture, and sports culture in general, which, he says, does<br>not value women as much as star players are valued. "I mean it's weird because you think of<br>how this cult pact works and there are always ways to get back in—especially in the NFL. I've<br>seen major transgressions done and people still play. The NFL culture, the sports culture, has<br>decided that they are more valuable than women," the 46-year-old told Entertainment Tonight,<br>when asked if Rice would ever play in the league again.<br> <br>"I've heard people laugh about keeping their pimp-hand strong and keeping her in control so that<br>she knows her place. But think about how evil that is for one man to think that he's actually more<br>valuable than a woman, because as a human being your worth is immeasurable." The actor also<br>offered his own views on Janay Rice's defense of her now-husband. Janay Rice blasted the media<br>for forcing her family to "relive a moment in our lives that we regret" and telling people to butt out.<br> <br>"I'm not saying it could never work," Crews told the news site cautiously. "I'm not saying that they<br>could never overcome all of these problems because it is possible, but I am saying that she needs<br>real help. It is way too quick to call it a wonderful life now."<br> <br>Source: The Root</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31770342014-09-08T14:35:07-04:002014-09-08T14:37:28-04:00Ray Rice released by Baltimore Ravens as video emerges of him assualting his wife<span class="font_regular">Running back Ray Rice has been released by the Baltimore Ravens after<br>video (see below) emerges of him assaulting his wife Janay Palmer in an elevator in<br>Atlantic City. He originally received only a 2 game suspension from the NFL.<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="VbwTMJroTbI" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/VbwTMJroTbI/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VbwTMJroTbI?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> <br><br>Source: NFL, TMZ sports</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31715472014-09-04T16:20:28-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Kevin Durant's Monster Nike Deal Is A Huge Win For Jay Z <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/d5528927e15b10ab509d60274c8a1f03f49adf3a/medium/kd-leather.jpg?1409861871" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Jay Z's 17-month-old sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, is still fighting for legitimacy. It only<br>represents nine clients in three sports, and it has "generated more anonymous sniping and<br>scrutinizing" than your typical agency from rivals, according to a recent New York Post report.<br>Roc Nation pulled off what was perhaps its most significant deal to date, landing its most<br>famous client, Kevin Durant, a 10-year endorsement contract with Nike that could be worth<br>up to $300 million. It's a monster deal. Durant's last Nike contract was worth $60 million over<br>seven years. LeBron James, the reigning king of the sneaker world among active players,<br>makes an estimated $20 million annually from Nike — less than Durant will make under his<br>new deal — despite his signature shoe raking in a reported $300 million in revenue per year<br>compared to Durant's $175 million.<br> <br>Roc Nation got Durant so much money by starting a bidding war with a company with little<br>basketball history, Under Armour. According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, Nike initially offered $20<br>million per year. Roc Nation then went to Under Armour and got an offer for $26-28 million per<br>year. News of the negotiations leaked, prompting a wave of stories about Under Armour's mission<br>to take down Nike. In early August, it seemed like Durant-to-UA was all but a done deal.<br> <br>Finally, at the "11th-hour" (as Rovell calls it), Nike exercised its right to match any offer and gave<br>Durant a deal worth up to $30 million per year — 50% more than the company's initial offer. It was<br>a risky move, especially if Durant didn't want to leave Nike, which is a distinct possibility. In 2007,<br>Durant turned down a $70 million sneaker deal from Adidas and took less money, $60 million,<br>to sign with Nike. At the time, his agent told ESPN, "He took the time to give Adidas the opportunity<br>and they're a great company, but he chose the company that he's more familiar with. And we build<br>brands on authenticity and it's more authentic for him to be somewhere where he wants to be and<br>he's comfortable."<br> <br>After his new Nike deal went through, NBA player and Under Armour endorser Kent Bazemore<br>tweeted at Durant thanking him for considering UA. NBA veteran Andre Iguodala replied to Bazemore<br>and implied that UA was never a real possibility, saying, "I had a better shot at Halle berry!"<br> <br>Source: Business Insider</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31709412014-09-04T10:39:58-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00Rosie Perez, Nicolle Wallace join ‘The View’ as new Co-Hosts <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f68e4b0e23c9bc1b5a6312f47f9283c3b9382863/medium/rosiep.jpg?1409841520" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Actress Rosie Perez and political commentator Nicolle Wallace will take vacant seats on<br>The View when the ABC daytime talk show returns for a new season. They will join Rosie<br>O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg. Perez and Wallace will succeed co-hosts Sherri Shepherd<br>and Jenny McCarthy, who exited.Wallace, who served as communications director for George<br>W. Bush, was among the women who did a screen test for The View, emerging as one of the<br>frontrunners. She also did three guest co-hosting stints this year. Perez has been largely<br>under the radar during the search but she is a household name and served as a guest<br>co-host on the talk show in February.<br><br>With the new hires, the new View hosting team would include three actresses: O’Donnell,<br>Goldberg and Perez. I hear Perez’s schedule has been worked out in a way so she can<br>juggle her duties on The View with a Broadway gig she just signed on to co-star opposite<br>Larry David in in David’s play Fish In The Dark, produced by Scott Rudin. She is with<br>Innovative Artists, Silver Lining Entertainment and Neil Meyer. Wallace is with ICM partners.<br>The cast overhaul is part of a top-to-bottom makeover at The View, which includes a new<br>studio, new set, new logo and new behind-the-scenes team led by new executive producer<br>Bill Wollf.<br><br>Source: Deadline </span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31695932014-09-03T13:35:51-04:002017-01-11T08:55:44-05:00NFL players union is siding with the musicians on pay to play Super Bowl <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/2b19ff720b9e7886f69b87445ead71037133cabb/medium/nflpa.jpg?1409765553" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><br><span class="font_regular">The NFL’s players union is siding with the musicians in the dust-up over pay-to-play for<br>the Super Bowl halftime show. “The NFL Players Association will always support workers<br>and fair wages,” a spokesman for the NFL Players Association says. Union pushback is<br>mounting against the NFL’s reported plan to get halftime acts to pay to perform at future<br>Super Bowls. The AFL-CIO’s Department of Professional Employees today just joined the<br>American Federation of Musicians in condemning such a plan.“No one should ever pay to<br>work. No organization should ever get a kickback from a worker they employ,” the labor<br>organization said of the plan, first detailed in the Wall Street Journal. “The Department of<br>Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, its affiliates in the entertainment industry, and the other<br>unions, 22 in all, will stand with the AFM in condemning and will fight back against any<br>attempts to make workers pay to perform,” the group said of the plan to convince music<br>acts to cough up cash to play the halftime show, most likely in the form of a cut of post-show<br>ticket sales, downloads, etc.<br><br>The NFL has not been paying its Super Bowl halftime performers — most recently Bruno<br>Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers at this year’s game. That February 2 halftime show actually<br>clocked more viewers than did the football game. Some of music’s biggest acts have played<br>the halftime shows including Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, The Rolling<br>Stones, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé and Prince.<br><br>“It’s not like the NFL and its Super Bowl organizers don’t have any money and can’t afford to<br>pay for halftime show performances, it’s about the insatiable thirst for profits at the expense<br>of great musical entertainment and those who create it,” AFM President Ray Hair said. “You<br>can find kickback schemes like this coming from unscrupulous bar and nightclub owners, but<br>for the NFL to descend to such depths would be unconscionable.”<br><br>Source: Deadline</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31677462014-09-02T13:29:36-04:002014-09-02T13:29:36-04:00Nas: Time Is Illmatic 2014 Official TrailerTwenty years after the release of Nas groundbreaking debut album Illmatic,<br>NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC takes us into the heart of his creative process.<br>Returning to his childhood home in Queensbridge, Nas shares stories of his<br>upbringing, his influences from the music of his jazz musician father Olu Dara<br>to the burgeoning hip-hop scene in New York City and the obstacles he faced<br>before his major label signing at age 20. Featuring interviews with his Illmatic<br>producers Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and DJ Premier and musical<br>peers including Pharrell Williams and Alicia Keys, NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC is a<br>thrilling account of Nas evolution from a young street poet to a visionary MC.<br><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="_VNFCnS9c1E" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/_VNFCnS9c1E/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_VNFCnS9c1E?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31608922014-08-28T14:54:05-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Nas, Eli and Peyton Manning invest in SeatGeek<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/9bb60a56f909545216c885fbddf5b8ab0a40f46c/medium/elipeytonmanning.jpg?1409251910" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Concert ticket search engine SeatGeek announced that it has raised $35 million in a series B<br>round of funding led by Accel Partners. Other investors in the round include rapper Nas,<br>NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning and Causeway Media Partners, a sports investment<br>fund led by Boston Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck. The company plans to use the money to help<br>hire new talent and expand on its products and marketing, with a particular focus on mobile. As<br>part of the announcement, Accel's John Locke will join the company's board alongside SeatGeek<br>founders Jack Groetzinger and Russ D'Souza, and David Frankel from Founder Collective, which<br>raised $1 million for the then-startup in 2010. <br><br>According to a press release announcing the round of funding, SeatGeek is on pace to drive<br>$13 million of ticket sales in August, a 50% increase over sales for the month of July. The company<br>expects to drive over $160 million of ticket sales in 2014. SeatGeak was founded in 2009 and was<br>incubated at the startup accelerator program Dreamit Ventures. It allows the user to look at historical<br>trends for an event's ticket price and forecasts when to buy based on the movement of prices.<br><br>Source: Billboard</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31608352014-08-28T14:42:30-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Netflix Acquires The Blacklist for $2 Million an Episode<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ef5c2268e49277d4db41c7f15cf26247b223f6a8/medium/theblacklist.jpg?1409251082" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">In what is believed to be the biggest subscription video-on-demand deal for a TV series,<br>Netflix has acquired the rights to hit NBC drama The Blacklist from Sony Pictures TV in a<br>deal that will net $2 million per episode. Season 1 of the series starring James Spader will<br>debut on the streaming service Sept 9. As for future seasons, Netflix usually makes them<br>available shortly after the season finales.Sony TV first tested the off-network market waters<br>for The Blacklist in March. While other streaming services, like Amazon and Hulu, do joint<br>syndication deals with cable networks, Netflix, which largely pioneered the series SVOD<br>business, insists on getting first dibs. Twentieth Television just recently sold New Girl to TBS<br>and MTV, more than an year after prior seasons of the Fox series landed at Netflix in a rich<br>deal, said to be worth $900,000 an episode. Like was the case with New Girl, I hear Sony<br>TV has the right to also sell The Blacklist in cable and broadcast syndication, with Netflix<br>getting an exclusive first window. The $2 million per-episode fee is said to be the biggest for<br>an off-network series paid by Netflix (or any others streaming company), eclipsing previous<br>record holder, AMC’s The Walking Dead, whose sale price to Netflix is believed to be $1.35<br>million per episode.<br> <br>It is fitting that Sony TV is charting new territory in the broadcast space with the rich Blacklist deal.<br>The studio was an early Netflix adopter, making one of the early series deals with the streaming<br>service for its AMC drama Breaking Bad, which became one of the first Netflix mega hits and<br>helped usher in the era of binge viewing.The Breaking Bad prequel comedy Better Call Saul also<br>will stream on Netflix, and Sony TV also became one of the first major studios to produce an<br>original series for the streaming service with KZK.<br> <br>Source: Deadline</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31594502014-08-27T20:39:50-04:002014-08-27T20:39:50-04:00artist M Reck talks Sneaky Retaliation behind the scenes in studio <span class="font_regular"><em><strong>Artist and entrepreneur M.Reck talks about the making of Sneaky Retaliation<br>behind the scenes with C.Truth at Rhythm and Rhyme studios. Look for the<br>finished product on the Thermal Soundwaves "Taken Timeless beat jackers"<br>project. </strong></em></span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="uxuCwMN3h1E" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/uxuCwMN3h1E/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uxuCwMN3h1E?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="450" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31594332014-08-27T20:26:53-04:002014-08-27T20:26:53-04:009 Year Old girl Accidentally Kills Gun Instructor With Uzi<div>
<span class="font_regular">No one should be surprised of all the school shootings and gun violence in America<br>when you are breeding 9 year old girls to be shooters.<br> <br>A 9-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed a shooting instructor with an automatic Uzi in White<br>Hills, Arizona, authorities said in a statement Tuesday. The girl, who was unidentified, shot 39-year-old<br>instructor Charles Vacca in the head on Monday, Mohave County Sherriff's deputies said in a release.<br>She was learning how to use the weapon. The shooting took place around 10 a.m. local time at Last Stop,<br>a business with a shooting range that's located in the ghost town. The girl, who police did not identify,<br>was accompanied by her parents.</span><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="cfMzK7QwfrU" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/cfMzK7QwfrU/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cfMzK7QwfrU?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="350" width="400" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br>Source: Mashable<br> </div>
<div class="see-also" style="font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"> </div>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31564382014-08-26T14:10:25-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Universal Music Sues VH1 over Masters of the mix DJ Competition Series<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/c139d54904291a38a9321c0a12902e2b7e03fc22/medium/universal-music.jpg?1409076438" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Universal Music describes a new lawsuit over VH1's Masters of the Mix as a "cut-and-dry<br>copyright infringement case," but modest trappings aside, there's a few reasons to pay<br>attention to this one.The complaint was filed in California against Je T'Aime Media Group,<br>the show's producer. Interestingly, VH1 and its corporate parent Viacom are not named as<br>defendants. Although live DJ music has somewhat been overlooked on the copyright front<br>for many years, the lawsuit takes issue with a reality television program where disk jockeys<br>compete for $250,000 in prize money and the title of vodka company Smirnoff's official DJ<br>for a year.<br><br>Universal Music says the producer of Masters of the Mix properly licensed sound recordings<br>and musical compositions for the first two seasons of the show, but failed to do so for the<br>third season. That season, which aired in 2013, is said to have used at least 93 of Universal's<br>compositions including songs from Daft Punk, Kanye West and The Roots and 115 of its<br>sound recordings including works by Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani and Nirvana.<br>"Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works are fundamental to the production and success of the<br>Show," says the complaint. Besides seeking up to $150,000 for each copyright infringed,<br>Universal is making common law misappropriation and conversion claims over pre-1972<br>recordings by artists such as James Brown, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations. In the past<br>year, the record industry has gone after Sirius XM and Pandora over pre-1972 music, and<br>one of the responses has been that rights-holders have long given television broadcasters<br>(as well as other music users) a pass on royalty collection on the older music. No longer,<br>it seems. Until the issue is settled, pre-1972 music is a legally hot one, as the latest lawsuit<br>evidences.<br><br>Source: THR</span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31545132014-08-25T14:39:35-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Amazon said to buy Twitch for $1 Billion <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ea846248b93530e45392079d8425cea5ad21da9b/medium/twitch.jpg?1408991889" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Amazon is buying video service Twitch Interactive Inc. for more than $1 billion, adding an<br>online gathering place for video gamers, people with knowledge of the plans said. Amazon<br>moved in to buy Twitch after the startup’s deal with Google Inc. fell through, said the people,<br>who asked not to be be identified because the talks are private. An announcement for an<br>acquisition for about $1.1 billion could be made as soon today, one person said. With Twitch,<br>Amazon would gain an online forum of 45 million monthly active users, where people discuss<br>games or watch other gamers as they play. The deal highlights the stepped up rivalry between<br>Amazon and Google. In addition to battling for customers watching an increasing amount of<br>video through the Internet, the two companies also are competing for business in online data<br>storage and Internet advertising. Twitch is available on Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft<br>Corp.’s Xbox One game consoles.Google and Twitch were in talks earlier this year on a transaction<br>that could value Twitch at about $1 billion, a person familiar with discussions said in May. The<br>deal shows the increased interest in platforms for hosting online video. Walt Disney Co.’s recent<br>agreement to purchase Maker Studios for as much as $950 million has set off a scramble among<br>well-capitalized companies to invest in or acquire online video companies that have a large viewer base.<br>Twitch, started about seven years ago as Justin.tv, has a highly engaged audience of people who<br>watch others play video games. In February, 1 million people shared videos via Twitch. The company<br>raised $20 million from investors last year.<br> <br>Source: Bloomberg news</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31541152014-08-25T12:03:18-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Prince Set to Release First Solo Album in Four Years<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f276908e4a0079b19edac8e11d8ccc393911dfb4/medium/prince.jpg?1396636819" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><span class="font_regular">Prince announced that he will release his first solo album in four years, entitled Artificial Age,<br>out Sept. 30. The news was delivered via 3rd Eye Girl, who also noted that the funk 'n' roll band<br>will release a full-length album, Plectrum Electrum, on Sept. 30 as well. Both albums are currently<br>available for presale online. The all-female ensemble -- American drummer Hannah Ford, Canadian<br>guitarist Donna Grantis and Danish bassist Ida Nielsen -- made the announcement when they stopped<br>by Good Morning America. While Prince has not released a full-length album since 2010, the singer<br>did record a duet with Zooey Deschanel in March and premiered the track on the post-Super Bowl<br>episode of New Girl. He has been touring with 3rd Eye Girl in Europe.<br><br>Source: Billboard </span><br> thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31478772014-08-21T09:30:47-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00SoundCloud Artists will finally be able to make Money on their work <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/f7259d0f9ec5d22fe220548e1083113cb40b957b/small/soundcloud.png?1400524285" class="size_s justify_center border_" /><br>Soundcloud has finally worked out licensing deals with U.S. music labels. As part of the<br>agreement, ads will be introduced to the service for the first time and artists will now be<br>able to collect royalties from plays of their tracks on the service. SoundCloud's CEO Alex<br>Ljung hailed the introduction of ads as a move in the right direction. The new revenue model<br>is an "important step" for artists who use the platform, Ljung said in a statement on the<br>company's blog.The program for artists to make money from their own work is currently<br>only available to a small group of "premier" members. "Over time we will roll this out across<br>the creator community," Ljung said. The announcement is a good indication that SoundCloud<br>may be moving forward with talks reportedly held last month with major music labels about<br>receiving equity in exchange for agreeing not to sue SoundCloud over copyright infractions.<br>Sources familiar with the negotiations claim that Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment,<br>and Warner Music Group are are seeking up to 5% of the German company.<br><br>A new licensing scheme with music labels could mean that more big-name American<br>musicians will begin using the service. While SoundCloud already counts Skrillex, Snoop<br>Dogg, and Madonna among its users, many U.S. music labels have criticized the service<br>over its policy that allows SoundCould users to upload tracks to the without asking for the<br>owners' permission — unlike European rival Spotify.<br><br>SoundCloud has been keen to distance itself from Spotify, the other big European music<br>streaming platform. The company revealed last year that users listen to 90% of tracks<br>uploaded to the site, with the majority played within an hour after they are posted online.<br>In contrast, users only listen to 80% of tracks uploaded on Spotify. Unlike Spotify, many<br>musicians are uploading their music direct to their personal SoundCloud profile, often<br>bypassing their music label in the process. SoundCloud has also built a reputation for<br>playing host to a large amount of remixes, with popular musicians often reposting and<br>sharing remixes and cover versions found through the site. Many musicians and fans<br>find SoundCloud's following system to be more like a traditional social network rather<br>than a streaming site.<br><br>Source: Business Insider thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31478552014-08-21T08:41:55-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Lauryn Hill dedicates "Black Rage (Sketch)" to the people of Ferguson<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/13949cd9f692317ab5373641dfef7f817baaa90e/medium/laurynhill.jpg?1408624434" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/mslaurynhill/black-rage-sketch" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/mslaurynhill/black-rage-sketch">https://soundcloud.com/mslaurynhill/black-rage-sketch</a></strong></span></div>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31462662014-08-20T13:32:38-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Little League pitcher Mo'Ne Davis is Rising to Stardom <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/b964820ff10c4cfa5ceec4aa4870f508f5b21c84/medium/mone-davis.jpg?1408555661" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /><p> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px 20px 0px 80px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-family: 'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Mo'Ne Davis is taking the 2014 Little League World Series, and the nation, by storm. The infectious 13-year-old is the star pitcher on her Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, team in the LLWS. She fired a complete-game shutout that helped her squad clinch the final spot in the field of 16 in Williamsport. Her brilliant performance included six strikeouts, three walks and just three hits in that contest. That's the game that put her on the map.Davis isn't the first female in the LLWS. In fact, she's the 18th, as per WTSP. But to say that any other before her has made the impact that she has would be incorrect. Davis is paving the way for young girls all across the country. The youngster has received plenty of the attention thus far not only because she is a girl playing a traditionally male sport, but also because she has more than earned the recognition with her performances. Few have been able to match her showings during this tournament—male or female.<br><br>Source: Bleacher Report<br> </p>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31461272014-08-20T12:00:14-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00Film on Sugar Hill’s Sylvia Robinson is in the works<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/28f4021318ead95a9093210d790937033676243c/medium/sylvia-rob.jpg?1408550335" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_regular">Hollywood and Broadway producer Paula Wagner has acquired the film rights to the life<br>story of the late Sylvia Robinson, the singer, songwriter, record producer, publisher, and<br>record company head known as “the Mother of Hip-Hop.” The film will feature rap music<br>owned by Robinson’s family and administered by Universal Music Publishing Group. Rights<br>were acquired directly from the family. Sylvia’s son, Joey Robinson, will exec produce and<br>consult on the project. Veteran music executive Robert Kraft will co-produce. Grandmaster<br>Melle Mel, lead rapper of the group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, will serve as a<br>consultant to Joey Robinson.Robinson earned the nickname as producer of the landmark<br>1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight” and co-founder of Sugar Hill Records with her husband Joe<br>Robinson. She had earlier success as part of Mickey & Sylvia, who scored with the 1958<br>hit “Love Is Strange.”<br><br>“Sylvia Robinson’s life story has all the elements of a great film,” Wagner said in a statement<br>released today announcing the project. “It is not only the story of female empowerment at a<br>time when the world of music was male dominated, but it’s also a story of the origin of hip-hop<br>and how this woman’s determination, immense talent and savvy business sense fostered<br>an entire musical movement. ”<br><br>Source: Deadline</span>thermalsoundwaves.comtag:thermalsoundwaves.com,2005:Post/31444182014-08-19T13:59:03-04:002017-01-11T08:55:43-05:00DJ Skee Debuts DASH Radio, Taps EV Radio Co-Founder, L.A. Reid to invest <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/41067/ae88c5923e4472a5cb434160beedf2a8d42c6dd1/medium/dash-radio.jpg?1408470784" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><p><span class="font_regular">After Peter Ferraro, co-founder of East Village Radio talked extensively with DJ Skee about<br>their mutual friends and shared passion for radio in its purest form, a deejay hosting and<br>curating the latest hits and undiscovered gems for a localized audience, the more he got to<br>thinking about what East Village Radio’s concept could look like with a more aggressive<br>business model. Clearly, a desktop website for online radio clearly wasn’t enough to cut it<br>in the Spotify era -- an Edison Research study conducted earlier this year found that 75%<br>of 12-to-24-year-olds discover new music through streaming apps like Pandora, Spotify<br>and iTunes Radio.The result is DASH Radio, an internet-radio platform for Apple iOS, Google<br>Android and mobile web that combines the niche mainstream and niche genre stations of<br>Sirius XM with the guerilla sensibilities of EVR and Keeney’s own SKEE 24-7, including<br>personalities like Caroline D’Amore. Beta-launched on August 19, DASH also comes equipped<br>with noteworthy investors like L.A. Reid, Matt Michelsen (co-founder of Backplane), Mike Lazaro<br>(former CEO of Buddy Media), Minnesota Vikings MVP Adrian Peterson, and Ferraro himself.<br><br>“A lot of kids think Pandora is radio, but there’s a gross mislabeling that’s happening,” an<br>energized Keeney (DJ Skee) says on a late July afternoon at the Crosby Hotel in New York.<br>“Radio was the first social network, the first time people really listened together. And we want<br>to bring that feeling back, but with more freedom than what FM and satellite can offer. Digital<br>radio today is not real radio -- it’s like making a mixtape for your friends. There’s still a time<br>where you just want to listen to curated radio, and we want to be that option.” Reid, the CEO<br>of Epic Records, came onboard shortly after Keeney's initial pitch. "Radio has always been<br>the biggest avenue for music discovery," he tells Billboard. "DASH provides an innovative<br>platform for artists while offering listeners the variety they want, without limitations."<br>DASH is currently being produced from Keeney’s Skee Lodge studio in central Hollywood,<br>but later this fall it will add an East Coast location in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn,<br>on North 7th and Wythe Avenue. The symbolism of that studio space is not lost on Ferraro,<br>who’s already contemplating moving out of his own Manhattan loft to be closer to his new<br>Williamsburg workspace. “What we want to do in Brooklyn are things that I was working<br>toward with EBR, finding someone to do a local news update for us and really immerse<br>ourselves in the community in a big way.”<br> <br>Source: Billboard</span><br> </p>thermalsoundwaves.com