9 Mile Music Festival 2011

Last weekend we made our way to Miami. Caribbean Festival. Bob Marley Festival. Whatever you used to call it, it’s now the Nine Mile Music Festival. Despite the name change, the game is still the same: one love, reggae, Jah.

The main attraction is always seeing some of the Marleys on stage, and this year was no exception. Kymani Marley teamed up with a reggae upcoming star, Proteje, and then Stephen, Julian & Damien Marley joined forces on the stage to close it down. Amazing! But, I have to admit, I was really excited to see some of the unusual reggae festival players. Namely, Major Lazer and Thievery Corporation. Since it also happened to be the week of the Winter Music Conference in Miami, these turntable guys were in town and a nice addition to the 9 Mile lineup — for me, anyway 🙂

Inner Circle

Kymani Marley

Stephen, Julian & Damien Marley

From the trenches we rise

Have you noticed the Asian sensation on the news?

Ann Curry

Juju Chang

Melissa Lee

Tricia Takanawa

Maybe you haven’t, but I have.  Even though I don’t have an “I’m Asian” soapbox (OK, maybe I do, but it’s super flimsy!), it is nice to see Asian women not being portrayed as a trench girl, dragon lady or some other sexualized and/or  femme fatale figure.  Little Asian girls growing up today can aspire to be something outside the doctor-massage therapist-engineer-ho box.  Isn’t that nice!?

Growing up, the only things Asian I can remember are: Connie Chung, moo goo gai pan, my 4 cousins and a Cabbage Patch Kid doll that went to China.  She wasn’t Chinese, she just went there – her t-shirt said so.

Now, though, there’s something for everyone.  It’s not just blonde Barbie out there anymore.  There’s a teacher Barbie, Italian Barbie, doctor Barbie, Amazonia Barbie (it’s for real, I looked it up) … The Barbie I knew drove a red Corvette and had a pink toilet.  For real.

It’s all funny and crazy until someone pokes an eye out

Some funny shit is out there.  Some crazy shit, too.  I love reading all the funny/crazy, but then get sad because I wonder, “Why can’t I be that funny/crazy?”  Then I remember one of my favorite phrases: If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.  Anywho, here’s to some more of that funny/crazy:

A Ticket For Ru$h.  Politics or not, Rush Limbaugh is _____ (insert your own adjective, because all the ones I want to use won’t fit on that little line).  So, “two dudes living in Brooklyn” are vowing to raise enough money to send him there.

Hot Tub Time Machine.  I can’t say whether I actually think this movie will be funny, but I will say that I like hot tubs, the 80s and John Cusack.  So …

Oprah and Jenna Jameson.  I never thought those two names would be in the same sentence, let alone the same studio.

OMG cat.  This is just ridiculous and cute and crazy and funny all wrapped up into one.  I’m sorry, since getting a cat, I can’t help but check out these stupid cat videos.

I’m every woman

It’s 2010.  The 21st Century.  We have movies in 3D.  We have machines that tell us how to find the nearest Target and get there, with or without using toll roads.  We make sure the family picture on the wall is level with our cell phones.  So, I wonder why the fact that today’s women are educated and successful and independent is making headlines.

Yes, some of us make more money than our male counterparts.  This report is semi-old news by now, but I still feel compelled to comment, well, because I can. 

You think Stedman is really bothered by the fact that Oprah, well, banks!?  As he shuffles between his Chicago penthouse and Santa Barbara home, I highly doubt he’s pissed that his woman makes more than  him.

And true that, some of us leave our cheating husbands.

You think Jenny Sanford is sticking around while her soon-to-be ex thinks of another crazy lie.  Sorry, I missed dinner every night this week, I was observing polar bears in Antartica.  And I’m so glad Elizabeth Edwards is separating from her political, cheating hubby.  I’m all for love, but not in the name of self-sacrifice. 

Why is this such news to people?  Women go to college, women have babies, women climb ladders, women are comfortable being single and eating dinner alone, women are comfortable being married and cooking dinner for two.  Is this news?  Apparently it is.  But why?  Ok, ok, sure there are cultural reasons, religious reasons, plain ol’ ignorance.  But really?  

In the end, though, it’s not really anybody’s business — but those involved.  My friend, Bones, told me, there are always three sides to every story: yours, theirs, and the truth.  Ain’t that the truth!?  I always keep this in mind.  Nevertheless, love is supposed to make you better; not rip a piece of your soul out and either hide it in a 1×1 box or smash it on the ground.

Soapbox removed, thank you 🙂