Saturday, April 16, 2011

EnLYTEment from THE LYTE


MC Lyte-She IS the Light 


LIGHT: (N); a thing by means of which something can be started burning; the means by which light is let in; that which gives mental illumination; knowledge or information; enlightenment; that which inspires spiritual inspiration. 
A myriad of definitions that describe one five-letter word and can span many different directions. It’s funny how the definition of the word LIGHT can also pertain to a woman that has carried the moniker for some twenty-five years in the music industry and made a name for herself that still stands strong. When you visually experience “The Lyte” you see a small, intelligent attractive woman but when you encounter her true presence and that verbal delivery, ohhh that verbal delivery, your visual perception is suddenly transformed to the person that has been able to sustain a career and transform a fledgling genre of music into a powerhouse in the industry.
MC Lyte (The Lyte), as we all affectionally know Lana Moorer as, began her career in the rap game in the late 80’s and has not looked back. She began her career with a string of hits that took music by storm as we had never experienced the toughness, rawness and balls that she exuded in her rhymes and on stage presence. She was, and is, a tough cookie that has proven that she is a force to be reckoned with even when she was a 16 year old child.  With eleven albums, a plethora of awards and nominations later, footprints set in the sand for all other female emcees, as well as artists in general, to follow and years of life lessons learned along the way that could outshine any Lifetime movie, The Lyte has constructed a blueprint for success that seemed improbable when the critics, talking heads and musical experts said that her selected field of study wouldn't last because it was merely a fad. Lyte led the way for all female MC’s when she was thrust to the forefront of rap and in time made her presence known so much so that she was contacted by the Smithsonian in her later career for personal memorabilia for the museum to display proudly. Said Lyte “they called me up and asked was there something I wanted to contribute and I definitely knew I wanted to participate so I gave them something personal. A journal that was eventually the manuscript to a self-published inspirational book.”  That book, Just My Take (2007), is a mountain of information of inspirational words, passages and poems that she decided to share with us all. The book can be purchased by contacting Lyte on http://www.OFFICIALMCLYTE.COM/ and/or via Twitter @ twitter.com/#!/MCLYTE. It will be a great read for you so do yourself a favor and purchase the book for yourself and/or as a gift for someone that appreciates knowledge and literature. The multi-faceted musician has also broadened her horizons to include voice overs and a career that she has been involved with since 1997. Her voice can be heard on the STARZ Network, commercials from giants such as Nike, McDonald’s and projects with BET such as the BET Awards and the television show The Boot. Being such a busy little bee she answered my question of “Why?” with simply “I take down time but I'm not always fond of it. I like what I do, so to me working is fun! Downtime for me consists of reading (The Ten Commitments: David Simon: a rather encouraging read which suggests to the reader to change from the commandment mentality to a commitment mindset (Amazon)), writing and the gym.”  As far as other interests, when relaxing Lyte expressed that Esther Hicks (Inspirational Speaker) and The Vortex (being all that is and knowing that you are a part of it, Meditation, Yoga, and various other self-nurturing practices) are what fills her CD player at this time. Such an eclectic mix for such an eclectic woman!

With as much passion as she shows onstage I had to ask how she keeps the fire burning and what does she feel we all can do to encourage our communities to uplift and support each other more. Lyte said “of course, I love being in touch with my fans. It's an incredible experience to perform for every generation at once. Having traveled the world I know that poverty exists everywhere. There are people that are oppressed everywhere. Having witnessed that I'm involved with countless organizations that reach out and help the communities that are effected most by violence, AIDS and teenage pregnancy. I feel that we should talk and listen to one another, share our struggles and be willing to learn more about our neighbors.” The right to support other causes is the upmost to this lady and it makes anyone with a heart and compassion for their fellow man jump aboard and want to lend a helping hand themselves. 
I recently caught a very unexpected performance on Divas & Duets on VH1 of Lyte and Sugerland (Jennifer Nettles & Kristian Bush), who I personally think are AWESOME performers in their own right, and was blown away as they performed “Stuck Like Glue”Lyte said the collaboration came to fruition “when they called me up and asked was I interested in performing with them and I immediately said yes. I had a really good time with Sugarland! They are really cool people.” Not one to stick to one brand, genre or pigeon-holed character Lyte added that “growth can only happen when one believes they have something to learn.” Seeing  Lyte branch out even further with this country-pop infused band I had to ask her what does she see in her future and she answered “Not sure if I will do any further movies or television as God only knows that. My work affords me the ability to work on both the East and West coasts and I enjoy both, so and I’ll continue recording when I feel it and when I'm inspired. Until then....I'm chillin'.”  
This Lyte always has BEEN and always WILL be the epitome of the aforementioned definition of the Light! A Light I don't see dimming anytime soon. Continue to shine sister and spread the love and knowledge that you are respected and revered for.

God bless!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Patrick Dougherty-Stickworks Artist


Sculpture Patrick Dougherty works on campus

Renowned stickwork artist Patrick Dougherty recently visited the Guilford College campus to erect on of his many works of art. 
The process continues
    The sculpture is located on the Quad and is a visual sight to see. Dougherty, a resident of Chapel Hill, NC, has been a stick sculpture artist since he began the work  in the 1980's. He has a process where he collects sticks and brush and uses them to construct the sculptures. The Guilford project will remain on campus for the next year. Dougherty is known worldwide, as he has projects as far as  Chiba,  Japan, and is set to begin a new project in Dayton, Ohio at the Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark on April 11, 2011. This project will add to the 200+ projects that Dougherty already has built.
Holy Rope
Chiba, Japan, 1992






    Go out to campus and take a look at the sculptures. They are large enough for you to walk into and take a seat, and strong enough to have not been damaged by the storm that coasted across NC this week. Grab the camera and go enjoy the beauty that Dougherty has constructed. The sculptures make the landscape even prettier, especially with the trees and plants blooming. 
Visitors gaze at the structure

Inside of the sculpture

Close up frontal view
View further pictures @ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=159431550783788&id=117079851685625&aid=36032

Friday, April 1, 2011

Hated It (in my Antwan Merriweather voice)!!


Why is it that so many hetero-men (hm) are intimidated by gay men? It seems that hm's loose their balance when they come into contact with them and I just don't get it. I don't use the word hate often, but this behavior causes me to feel like Blain and Twan (see above).

Just last night, I'm in the Teeter and a gay couple came to the self-checkout and stood in line. The men that were in line tensed up tighter than those ladies that clutch their purses when I enter the elevator (that's another story for a later date). We had been making small talk before the couple entered the line but now, they all got quiet as church mice. Now, I'll talk to anyone regardless of the sexual persuasion, so when I heard the couple talking about grilling out and watching the Final Four this weekend, I had to ask..."Is that an open invitation? I'll bring the wings!" You would have thought that I had offended Zeus the Greek God by the way the other men in the line gasped. A simple conversation with two, quit attractive men, now made the other straight men seem offended.
Offended? REALLY! Why? I think when it comes to gay men hm's have a thing or two to learn from them.
1. How to dress. Gay men have hella good style.
2. How to take care of their body hygiene. Many men walk around with dirty, long nails and have no problem with it. A quick tutorial from a gay man would remedy this.
3. How to interact with other males. Interacting with other men doesn't have to entail a lot of high fives, elaborate hand shakes and gratuitous use of profanity in order for it to be a good time.
4. How to speak intelligently. Is it me or do most men under 35 mumble when they speak?
5. How to converse with gay men w/o thinking they "want" you. HM's seem to think that every gay man  is interested in them so they can't look them in the eye when they are in their presence. I guess if they do, maybe they feel they'll be hypnotized by the gay-vibe and weird things will start happening.

My point is, gay men are who they are. Just like a mechanic is who he is, an athlete is who he is, a drug dealer is who he is. We don't feel odd when one of them is in our presence so why do some of us change when a gay man is? Gay men know who is gay and they have a much better gay-dar than hm's could even wish for. Gay men don't have sexual thoughts about every hm that they encounter. Sometimes I wonder if the reason that many hm's feel like eye candy to gay-men is because they have sexual gay thoughts in the back of their minds. If you think about the hazing that occurs with straight men, it usually always involves some type of male on male contact (something stuck in the ass, tea-bagging, simulated oral and my favorite offensive-act, the pictures with cocks drawn on a males face). Look, gay men are funny, smart and great conversationalists. They know who they want and aren't on a hunt to bring every hm to the "gay side". So hm's relax and stop being so uptight when you encounter a gay man/men. They shop like everyone else and aren't on a mission to feel your "manly-bits" up and accost you at every interaction. They are simply men as well..better dressed and smelling than you probably are, though.