Invest 8 minutes for inspiration

If you haven't seen this one, invest seven minutes into this and then make sure you add Dwele's youtube page by clicking here

Get To Know: Dwele - What’s Not To Love

I tend to keep Dwele in the CD Rotation. After being introduced to Dwele when Dilla was pushing the Slum Village project in the early 2000's, I found myself waiting and waiting on anything he was dropping. There are certain artists you have to be confident in yourself with to let wifey or your lady listen too without getting jealous that they are feeling the singer too much. Dwele is one of the most underrated singers of our generation. His new CD drops soon so I want to be one of the first to say that if you haven't bought a Dwele CD treat yourself to one and as a matter of fact buy more than one. We have to support artists who are compelling, talented and maintain a high quality while dealing with the status quo.
Dwele - What’s Not To Love

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

I ran across an interesting bit of information the other day that I wanted to share. Tyler Perry is at it again! He is actually making a film adaptation of the stage play/book For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. What grabbed my attention is the cast. Check out these names: Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Jurnee Smollett, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Loretta Devine, and Macy Gray. Tyler Perry will be writing, producing and directing this film, which is scheduled to be released on January 14, 2011. Keep your eyes out for this one.

Get To Know, 4Hero

4Hero is a group from across the pond. I just got onto the group through my Pandora playlist under a Janelle Monae profile. The latest effort is considered Nu Jazz, not Neo Soul which is refreshing because there seems to be a trend towards really bad music that is being accepted simply because it is different. 4hero actually is a lot more involved than a title can say. They have been around for over twenty years, but their initial club and deejay roots made them lesser known entities in the States. (I'm actually surprised I've slept on them considering their roots are in Hip-Hop culture particularly breakbeats) With this recent delve into NuJazz, featuring artists over various tracks, they should gain the opportunity to pick up a broader fan base. The track below is from the album Extensions. I guess it could be considered a BlakRoc type project with multiple artists. As far as picking up a new fan base, with their longevity in the game do they need a broader fan base? Visit the site here and check out the music by clicking the link below.

Get To Know, Big Boi

"Bring em back to Life, Back to reality." Big Boi one half of the legendary OutKast duo is back with a song titled Shutterbug. While he also just released a track with Janelle Monae, who collaborated with OutKast on the Idlewild Soundtrack, this track is all Big Boi. Bumpin isn't the word I should use for this track. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

My Little Get-A-Way

I've been a stay-at-home mom for the past 8 years. I have a busy two-year-old who is at the peak of her fall-out tantruming phase and an inquisitive 8-year-old, that I home school, who has a hundred questions that demand answers. Although I love being home with my children, I sometimes get bored, burned out and at times I'd just like to get away. However, living on one income, get-a-ways are not very feasible and I have responsibilities with my children and could not just leave them with someone else while I vacation. So I have to find fairly inexpensive ways to unwind, during nap times or when the children are otherwise occupied, that doesn't require me to leave the house.

This is where The Sims come in. I have been a fan of The Sims franchise for 8 years. My love for the games started with the Sims 1 where I became fastinated with these little virtual people that I had full control over. I had control over when they ate, when they slept, what they wore, what form of entertainment they use, etc. Now, as a stay-at-home mom, this may sound like what I do with my children, but can you really have full control over a tantrum filled two-year-old who seems to reject everything? Nope, not happening and no way.

Anyway, back to the Sims. A few years after the introduction of the Sims 1, the Sims 2 came out. With the Sims 2, not only did I have full control of little virtual lives, but the virtual people now had the ability to have pregnancies and gave birth to children that looked just like them. These same virtual children had the ability to grow up, get married, have their own children and die. Thus the introduction of generations. Now, I could not only have full control over a few sims, but whole generations of sims!

If that was not enough...the Sims 3 comes out about a year ago. I am now exploring the Sims 3 and I have to say, I am nothing short of impressed. My virtual families now live in a seamless neighborhood where they can jog around town and visit their next door neighbors. While I play my virtual family, the townies around them continue to age, get married, have children and live out a full life cycle...without my control. You would have to play it to see how cool this feature is!

But why is this considered a get-a-way? With the Sims franchise, I have the ability to briefly leave my sometimes chaotic full time job of mothering and jump into a virtual world where I can have full control of something. (No, I'm not a control freak by-the-way!!) I control whether these virtual people have happy-go-lucky lives or lives full of drama. The sims gives me a chance to take my mind off of everyday worries, even if it's just for a short amount of time. The games also allow me to be creative and build houses, businesses, design outfits and build whole towns. With the Sims 3 World Adventures expansion pack, I'm able to visit France, China or Egypt with my sims. I may not be able to visit these places whenever I want to in real life, but these places are just a phone call away in my virtual sim's world. Check out this trailer:

You Should Already Know...

Mos Def. If you don't know Mos then educate yourself! I had to post this performance from Austin City Limits. If you didn't catch the show when it came on, it's been a while now, then take a few to peep out Umi Says from the Black on Both Sides LP. For those of you who don't follow music, Austin City Limits has been coming on PBS for years and Mos is basically the first Hip-Hop artist to grace the stage. While this moment went basically unnoticed and was not promoted on the mainstream sites, this was very important. This is classic hip-hop.

Canon Powershot SX110 IS

OK, so we all can't be professional photographers. I accept that. But, I was in the market for a nice digital camera that would allow me to take great pictures although I don't know anything about photography. After months of research, I ran across the Canon Powershot SX110 IS (Note: there is a newer version of this camera, SX120IS). After reading review after review on this camera, I decided that I probably wouldn't find a better point & shoot camera for the price. I found this camera on Amazon.com for $220.00 with free shipping, so I purchased it. This camera has 10x optical zoom and 9.0 mega pixels for those larger prints (Note: the SX120IS is 10MP). It takes regular AA batteries (no special expensive camera batteries). Invest in rechargeable batteries and a charger and you'll save even more on batteries. This camera has several auto settings for different photography situations (i.e. indoor or nighttime settings). I've found that the auto feature is sufficient for my purposes, especially with outdoor shots. If that's not enough and you know a little bit about photography, this camera allows you to set it up manually as well. Hangs down, this camera takes the best outdoor pictures that I have even seen. Don't take my word for it, I'll let my pictures speak for themselves (1st Picture: dragon fly flying over a lily pad, 2nd Picture: Lily in our front yard, 3rd Picture: a bumble bee in a tree):

Get To Know, Trombone Shorty

As you begin to follow the site, you will notice that the music suggestions will be random but engaging. To follow suit on the last two music posts this one is getting to know Trombone Shorty. The N'Awlins native is laying down "Something Beautiful" The video link does not feature Lenny Kravitz but the song on the album does. Check out the video below and visit the site http://www.supafunkrock.com/ Support great music and art.

If You Have The Time

If you have a few minutes, I have to put you up on the latest track by M.I.A. You probably recall M.I.A.'s music from the hit "Paper Planes" featured on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. This track follows suit. She may be one of the most politically charged emcee's in the game right now. Peep this video... If you have the time to give to it.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Samsung - Laptop Model: NP-R580-JSB1US

When I run across a great deal, I just have to share it. If you are in the market for a new laptop, then consider the Samsung Model: NP-R580-JSB1US from Best Buy. This is the best deal that I've seen on a new laptop in a while. Like other reviewers have said, this is the "best bang for your buck" at only $829.99. Why? The Samsung has taken this laptop and installed the new Intel® Core™ i5-430M processor. Why is that such a big deal? Try going to another computer manufacturer's website and check out the price for other laptops with this new processor. Samsung did not stop there. They also included a NVIDIA GeForce GT 310M graphics card (512MB). This in combination with the processor should make a few casual gamers smile, especially the Sims 3 fans like myself. Wait...there's more. This laptop includes 4GB DDR3 memory... um hello multi-taskers!! Now these additions alone make the laptop worth more than $800 bucks, but Samsung did not stop there. They also added a Blu-ray Disc-enabled DVD±RW/CD-RW drive. Now if you research things before you buy them like myself, you already know that it is almost impossible to find a new laptop under $900 with a Blu-ray drive. Don't believe me? Go to Dell and try to build your own system. You can get a pretty nice Studio 15 for around $800. Now add a Blu-ray enabled drive to the system...oops, you've just pushed the price of the system up another $150. So what's the point? If you want a decent laptop, with pretty good customer reviews (check them out on the Best Buy website) that will allow you go watch some videos online, while downloading music, flip back and forth to Facebook, play a video game or two and watch your Blu-ray movies, then you should be pretty happy with this purchase. But don't take my word for it, go out there and compare prices with other brands. I'm sure that you'll see my point!

The Boondocks Final Season?

While it's been hard trying to make it without Chappelle and Aaron McGruder the wait is over for the return of the Boondocks. While many people failed to find the humor in many of the toons and thought McGruder was pushing the boundaries of media, you have to admire the fact that he maintains his artistic integrity and strives to speak about issues that are relevant, although his movement into the matter is not traditional to say the least.

Check out the official unofficial homepage for the Boondocks

The Revised CB Publishing Homepage

Thanks for visiting. If you have noticed a change in the homepage of CB Publishing then you are paying attention to what we are doing. We hope you appreciate the switch. Along with the introduction of our books we are looking to bring you information on entertainment, technology, fitness and lifestyle updates. We hope you enjoy the change and visit often. Feel free to visit any sponsores or websites listed. Finally, make comments and be interactive. We want your feedback. To visit author's pages choose from the links on the left. If you want to use this page without the inline frame click on the banner and the blog will open in a new window.

Get to know, Theophilus London

With a name that seems like an allusion to Thelonius Monk and a shoutout to the UK Theophilus London should become hot much in the way that Kid Cudi, burst on the scene. I would say that while the styles are somewhat similar London has a better flow and a better production overall. Peep out the song Understood.