The Legendary King of My Heart.

"In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, will you still care? Will you be there? In my trials and my tribulations, through our doubts and frustrations; in my violence, in my turbulence, through my fear and my confessions; in my anguish and my pain, through my joy and my sorrow, in the promise of another tomorrow; I'll never let you part, for you're always in my heart." - Michael Jackson


(Image provided by http://www.thetripwire.com)

I can't believe that it was a year ago, today, when we lost the king of pop; the legendary man who was never washed out by the transitions and changes of music throughout 50 solid years. I was never around to witness him in the 80s but I caught up to his early music as I grew and was always a fan since. The moon walking, the high pitched 'A-HEE-HEE's, the outfits, defying gravity in Smooth Criminal, the twirl to leg kick to the jump on toes to the grabbing of the nuts.. Irreplaceable.

I truly believe that this world will never witness such a prophecy ever again; a star from childhood to adulthood, successful in every musical creation put out for the world to love, and that makes me sad. I remember being a child and watching a concert that was recorded onto a VHS. I remember seeing men and women of all ages screaming, crying, fainting, being crushed by the fence and I was in awe; not because of the power and effect that he had over his fans, but because this man was FLYING OVER THE DAMN CROWD!! OVER MILLIONS OF FANS, FLYING!! Hahaha.. Of course, back then I didn't realize that he was being held up by cords and shit but still amazing.

Michael Jackson, YOU are A LEGEND at your own level of greatness that surpasses far beyond any other legends in my mind. You're legacy and music will live on for many generations to come. God knows I'll have my kids hooked on your shit when the day comes. You will be truly missed in our world and in the world of music. To me, you are still alive; immortal. May your soul soar the highest skies and be at peace in the most serene environment. We miss you.




















LONG LIVE THE KING, NOW JAMON! LET'S DANCE!! I SAID JAMOON!!


(Image provided by http://prettymuchamazing.com/)

Eat, Play, Love.

"Dine, v: to eat a good dinner in good company, and eat it slow. In dining, as distinguished from mere feeding, the palate and stomach never asks the hand, 'What are you giving us?'" -Ambrose Bierce


The one thing I love most about my girls and I is that we're always wanting to try new things; whether it be in traveling, going out to different venues downtown or dining. Lina is working at a newly built restaurant downtown Toronto called South Of Temperance, located at Adelaide & Bay - south of Temperance (understand the name now?), and they were holding a free lunch for family and friends over the weekend to try their dishes - so you know damn well Paula and I went to eat!


Walking up to the restaurant and seeing the sheer size of the patio already had me excited for the experience. We walked in to see that the dining area was well put together, waitresses were coordinately dressed (which I liked) and the entire team of staff was extremely pleasant. They had selected three pieces of paper, which had random meals printed on them, seated us and took our orders as we read what was on our sheets. We had their Caesar Salad, Crispy Calamari & Shrimp and a cold cantaloupe/melon soup for appetizers; Curry Chicken with Rice and Naan Bread, Spice Rubbed Beef Spare Ribs with Asparagus & Quinoa, and a sort of Naan Bread Pizza for Entrées; and the Flourless Swiss Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie for dessert. Believe me when I say this; everything was delicious. We recommend their spare ribs dish, it was amazing! Even their soft drinks tasted better hahaha. They have a bar in the middle of the area with two big screen TVs on both sides (perfect for soccer/basketball games), large patio and booth areas for nights to just lounge, and the prices for meals are reasonable.


Anyways, it was a great experience that I had to blog about it. Great environment, great people, great food - there's nothing more that I would expect from a new restaurant. You need to go and try it out!! And if you get Lina as your server, you better tip her ass well, she's the one who introduced us to it!!


Here are some sneak peeks for your curiousity!




Check out their website at South Of Temperance.


****


We also dined at The Hot House this weekend, the dinner plates were yummy and the patio was very mellow. Just wanted to share these pics as well.. :)







Man, I really need to invest in a DSLR Camera.

Now GO EAT AND GAIN MEAT, no one likes to cuddle with a man/woman that feels like a wooden board.. :)

Toronto In My Veins.

"Home sweet home. This is the place to find happiness. If one doesn't find it here, one doesn't find it anywhere." - M.K Soni



(Image provided by http:///gogreenmachine.org)

I love my city; Toronto, Canada baby!! I was born in the city and I will die in the city. There is so much here for anyone to love! It's not New York, It's not Cali or Miami, but It's my city; best city there is in my mind. There are so many reasons to be a proud Torontonian!

Two words come to mind when I think of ways to describe Toronto; Diversity & Multiculturalism. Everyone has a friend of another race or of every race, we have many areas to experience different cultures and foods, and everyone is as much of a proud Canadian as they are with their ethnic background. The perfect time to witness this is right now, as the World Cup takes place, with flags everywhere from people supporting their home or relative country, or even others supporting other countries - and this isn't frowned upon, it's taken in with appreciation.

Different types of food can be found anywhere and everywhere! We have a Little Italy, Little Portugal, Danforth for Greek dishes, west of Bloor for some Ethiopian Dishes and live music (You need to check out Pero Lounge on Sundays.. If you love r&b and live music, you'll love this place!!), Chinatown, Middle Eastern and Caribbean dishes can be found almost everywhere.. and I'm a fat ass so you KNOW I'm not lying about this shit.



Canadian artists are blasting into the industry and doing well. Congratulations to Drake on his album release this week with sales records expected to exceed 475 K by the end of JUST this week! If you still haven't gone out to get this, go out to any record store and purchase your copy today! SUPPORT YOUR ARTISTS PEOPLE!!!


(Image provided by http://www.netweed.com/hiphop/albums)



We also have an annual festival in the city where everyone from the US and even Trinidad comes out to experience a crazy party. I'm super fucking PUMPED for this.. CARIBANA TORONTO 2010 BABY!! Come out for the dancehall, soca, costume, parades and parties.. you will LOVE IT!! You'll definitely see me here every year!!

Check it out at CaribanaToronto.com






For future out of towners; If you are ever in the city and you need to figure out where to party, there are plenty of promotional companies to check out:

LADYLUCK ENTERTAINMENT
MYSTERY ENTERTAINMENT
KLEEN MEDIA
ACOM PRODUCTIONS
LYME PRODUCTIONS
GLAMCITY MEDIA
& plenty more.. give 'em a shout and I'm sure you'll have a great night out.
Catch me around if you can, suckas!


Let's end today with a couple of the boys from the home team, shall we?








TORONTO, STAND UP!!! We have PLENTY to be proud about!!

Now leave a comment & get the fuck out before I NERF your face in!! >=)


Muahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...........BYEEE!

Rediscovering Inner Peace..

"We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all." - Kalu Rinpoche

I think, for anyone to really understand that quote, they would have to reach a level of self understanding, self acceptance and enlightenment.. getting to that point is truly serene and self rewarding. I rarely ever get religious, so bare with me on this one.



I was at home by myself; bored, a little lonely, thoughts and memories ran through my head, with energy inside that wanted to be released in every ADHD form possible (youuu know how I get when I'm bored). I was trying to think of ways to distract myself in times like these, trying to remember what I use to do when I was younger or even recently. Out of nowhere, I remembered how much I use to meditate and pray before bed and how much comfort it brought to my soul whenever I would hear monks chant Buddhist prayers.

I searched youtube in hopes of possibly finding any familiar prayers, and sure enough, I found some. Hearing them makes me laugh a little, only because it brings me back to my childhood memories.

My dad use to force us, all 3 of us kids plus him, into the tiniest closet where he had our Buddha shrine set up and he would force us to sit there for what felt like 3 hours and pray for every night. He forced us to learn a prayer, word for word and line for line, until we were too big to all fit into that closet and he decided to stop. Every Lao New Year at the temple, we would sit and pray for hours and honestly, for me to be able to sit there and chant along to some of the prayers, it makes me proud; because a lot of Laotians of my generation are losing their cultural values, they go to Lao parties for face but don't show up for blessings.. just ridiculous. I owe my appreciation and love for my culture to my parents, without them, I'd be Plain Jane living life colourlessly in Canada.


Here's an example of one of the prayers:





Calming huh? I love it! Haha.






ANYWAYS, as promised.. Here are some pics from my brother's and sister's birthday party. I got them a cake, pinatas, presents and was on crowd patrol... I'd like to think that I'm the best sister ever! Enjoy and comment if you have any balls to! :)








Happy Birthday PEEPEE & HAMMIE!! Love you guys til death and beyond xoxo



And let's end this with something new...

And If you don't know, now you know..

"If hip hop should die before I wake, I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK.. roll to every station, murder the DJ.. roll to every station, murder the DJ." - Nas; Hip Hop Is Dead.

I was waiting in line to make a purchase at Forever 21 when I heard the stupidest song come on. To my surprise, I was the only one shaking my head to this track and everyone else was either bopping their heads or singing along to it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE music - anyone who knows me would co-sign that statement. I love new music, old music and music of different genres. The only thing is, I find it hard to accept those that are musically challenged (this is probably just my own one-sided opinion).


For example; once, I asked this teenager who his top 5 rappers were.. All I had to hear was "Soulja Boy" and "Waka Flocka Flame" before I stopped him from continuing. I understand that these songs are catchy for clubs and what not, but to place them in the top 5 list?!
YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIIIINDDD!!
I asked him, "Have you heard of Cormega? Nas? Little Brother? The Roots? Common?!" 2 out of 5 of those answers were a yes - I died right there.

*NOTE TO THE NEW GENERATION*
YOU NEED TO LEARN ABOUT REAL MUSIC!!
Please, take some time to travel back to the 80s and most of the 90s.

This also applies for R&B. R&B is my true weakness in life and I'll always love it.. new and old.. but as much as I love to listen to Trey Songz or Lloyd or The Dream or Chris Brown.. they will never, and I repeat, NEVER compare to D'angelo or Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles. I must also acknowledge and praise the irreplaceable, legendary MJ; music will not be the same without him.

What breaks my heart the most is when I see that this new generation has never heard of these artists. Such deprived souls... haha.



While we're on this topic, I gotta put in a request;
SOMEONE, PLEASE, BRING D'ANGELO BACK!!
This world needs his music. Man, I don't care if he's a fat drug addict offering undercover cops $40 for a blow job *PAUSE*... just bring his music back. I have been waiting for his third coming album, titled James River, since his teaser announcement in 2009; It is now half way through 2010.. what the fuck D'Angelo! Hurry up already! "Accidentally" leak a track! Make a teaser trailer of some sort! ANYTHING, FUCK!



Anyways, I wanna end today's blog with shout outs to my older brother and younger sister that just had their Gemini birthdays this past week and to everyone else celebrating this month. Pics will be posted soon. Don't forget; comment, hate me, love me, date me.. do as you please, just keep it real.


AND, OH YA HI, SHALL WE KICK IT?!








OH ONE MORE THING, off topic but ridiculously important;

COULD THE PRESIDENTS OF THE WORLD PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FUCKING OIL SPILL!!! I mean seriously, the world reacted to Haiti's earthquake in a matter of days. With this tragic event, not too much has been done other than the pointing of fingers and worthless apologies.

THE WORLD IS IN DANGER; the ocean is being polluted, animals are dying, the water is going to affect the plantations around the world, which means our resources for clean air and water will be slowly taken away from us.

STOP THE DAMN OIL LEAK!

Put you on BLAST!

Weekends are meant to be filled with great moments, whether they be relaxing or exhausting, you know you always have to have something planned. Of course, I had my usual outing downtown with my girls, but this Sunday was a bit different from the rest of my Sundays. Why? WELL let me tell YOU why.. I, Jennifer The Great, wore studded earrings.. AND mascara..



Okay, but all kidding aside (I actually did wear those things though..), I gotta put this friend of mine on blast. I told him I would on my "blob-blog", so here it is WIRRIAM!

When I first met William a.k.a PhotoWill a.k.a PHODOG, he threw shots in my face and smiled... rude, right? Haha, I lie though; the most he did was probably take shots of my "hateful" face in clubs and laughed. After befriending him, beyond the clubbing scene, I learned that this tatted up Asian dude was probably one of the most creative guys I've met in a really long time, with a personality fit for nothing less than a stand up guy. He's a lot of fun, a straight shooter, sarcastic like fuck and has a humor that's aalmoosstt as retarded as mine.. that's why we're COOL BUDS FOR LIFE!

Anyways, Will had his first, well second, exhibit this weekend downtown Toronto. With pictures taken of Toronto, through the eyes of Will's inner-Batman, posted all over the walls (the theme was Gotham City), there was no way you wouldn't have fallen in love with his work. Everything was shot perfectly to his theme; but don't let me rant on about it, take a look for yourselves. There are still pieces available for purchase. Please do not hesitate to contact Will for inquiries or purchase requests, I'll have links to his website and information below.


(Photos from http://lostinthewillderness.com/blog)


For more shots from Will's In Search of Gotham's exhibit, please visit his blog; Lost In The Willderness.
Follow him on twitter @PhotoWill69 or hit him up on Facebook.


** From me to you, Will, congratulations on your exhibit!! You did an amazing job and I look forward to more of your shit in the future; Hot dogs, cheese, pinching of the blob and all. **


Here are some pics from that day..











Photos provided by PhotoWill (http://www.lostinthewillderness.com)