June 5, 2004

Hi, hope you are doing well tonight. I feel pretty good. A little tired though. I've been very busy, more than usual and I was helping my dad out with some stuff as well regarding his work.

I've posted part two of the last Sound Off article I wrote two weeks ago. I was gonna post it last week, but I was really busy and proof reading it would have taken up time (And with my proof reading, I'll still spot an error in the same thing weeks later haha).

I went out of town for my god-brother’s graduation from junior high school. His grades were good. He's going into high school with a lot going for him. He's smart and he's an athlete, which is pretty good. His mom was talking to his coach about possible scholarships. 

I did more work on my two books. I've gotten a lot of that completed. For several months now, I’ve also been working on two other books with my dad, but he’s going to do the majority of the work on those. He’s always very busy, but last year I convinced him it was something he should do and he started working on them and so did I. 

He has such a brilliant mind. God gave him a lot of talent. I mean the stuff he knows is incredible. I learn from him all the time. I’m always asking him questions. And he’s met so many people - well-known musicians, athletes and politicians, yet is completely unfazed by it.

Sometimes I’ll be talking to him about someone and he’ll say oh I met him or I met her and here’s the picture. His favorite of all the people he’s met is soccer player Pele. My dad did PR for the sporting goods company Pele signed with in the early 70’s and he was the rep the company assigned to him for the week.

He said he got to spend time with him and that he was very nice. He’s got pictures from that tour. My dad played soccer professionally when he was younger, so meeting and spending a week with Pele meant a lot to him. Wow, I wish I'd been there (okay, yea, I wasn't born yet).

Of the new breed, he thinks Ronaldo is pretty good. Yes, another Brazilian (that’s not a diss, I’ve got Brazilian blood in me from my mom's side of the family). It's just that Brazil’s my dad’s favorite and he always says Brazilians play soccer the best. They are very artful. He’s been there and he says to watch Brazilians play soccer is something else.

I do like Brazil as well, but England’s my favorite. However, my dad also thinks guys like Best, Charlton and Matthews played very well. British soccer player Best was his favorite growing up.

I spoke to my dad and little sister this morning and they made me laugh as usual. We were talking about Eurocup 04 (soccer) among other things. My little sister wants Italy to win and I want England to win. She asked me who else I wanted to win. I would also want Portugal to win since (C) Ronaldo and them are playing (Ronaldo and Figo are among her favorites). Notice my use of Ebonix where I wrote "Ronaldo and them.” Yes, my Ebonix needs work, but I’m trying.  

France has a pretty good team as well with Zidane and Thierry “I score goals” Henry. I favor Arsenal the most in English soccer, who he normally plays for, but when he’s playing for his home country France and against England, suddenly his ability to score a lot of goals is not a good thing.

My dad and I think Beckham should return to the English Premier League. He’s a very skilled soccer player, he’s got nothing to prove. He belongs in England.

Artist Of The Week

There are two artists of the week this week. The first is Smokie Norful. I saw him on TBN this week and he performed some great songs from his album “I Need You Now,” which is available in record stores.  

Hearing them sing acappella just reminds you of what singing is about. Going on stage and being able to sing well. They have a new CD of patriotic songs coming out soon and they are currently on tour. For more info please visit their web site by clicking here

June 16, 2004

Good evening. Yesterday, well, this morning I recorded a remix and several beats. I went to the travel agency yesterday regarding booking tickets for the promo tour. I stayed up late the day before, spent two hours searching for the best rates and mapping the best routes (went to bed after 4AM). I'm scheduled to visit 22 cities. Ironically, the rates I found online were better. There are a lot of details that go into this stuff. When you plan it yourself, from the airline tickets, car rental, hotels, scheduled appearances, you really notice all the work. I bought and installed this neat software to my laptop that maps out each street address I have to visit, even tells you where to turn and how long to drive on each street before you reach the address (hey, I like to know where I'm going).

It's been so hot outside. The heat really takes it out of you. I don't mind the warm weather though. When I got home a few days ago I went to bed at about 7:30PM, which for me is really early. My mom was a bit stunned that I was sleeping that early, so she woke me up to see if I was okay (are my music hours that bad!). So, I decided to start working again.

Last week people kept calling me early in the morning, after I'd gotten to sleep after recording at about 5AM, but I was able to function anyway with very little tiredness, thank God. I don't get mad or anything, but people sometimes don't understand that when I'm up typing all night and  recording until 5AM, then get a call waking me up at 8AM, that's only three hours sleep and the average person needs 8 hours of rest.

And once I wake up, I'm just gonna start working, even with that 5 hour sleep deficit. That happened a few times last week, but I got a lot done without feeling drained. It's weird, when you don't get the right amount of sleep you waste time thinking, hey I didn't that that much sleep I really shouldn't be this alert.

My god-brother's basketball team did pretty well this season. They won the regional championships, they are ranked in the top 10 for the state and top 15 for the country. I had no clue until recently that they had such a detailed league. Recently, he couldn't get to the internet where he was and asked me to go online and check their league's official web site for the games they were scheduled to play the following day. The web site was so detailed with all the teams stats, games played, results and their up coming schedules.

I think sports is good for kids. It gives them something to do, keeps them out of trouble, teaches them teamwork and selflessness (well, unless you get a ball hogger - haha I'm kidding). My little sister is not too happy about how Eurocup is going. Her favorites have all lost. However, she's learned quite a lot about soccer in the last few years. When I hear her speak about different teams, I'm like you go girl! You know what you're talking about.  

Jamaica played against Haiti a few days ago here in the Orange Bowl (it was a draw, 1-1). I saw some match coverage on HTN, but it was in Creole so I didn't know what was being said. I sometimes watch Creole music videos as well. Just like recently, I got some of the song "mas y mas" stuck in my head, which is in Spanish, which I'm not fluent in. I watch Spanish shows as well. Have since I was a kid.

The Artist Of The Week

The artist of the week is the group Point Of Grace. Their most current release is titled "24," for the 24 number one singles they've had on Billboard's Christian charts. That's quite a feat. Well done. To visit their web site, please click here.  

I posted a new Sound Off article. I was supposed to post it Saturday, but time ran over with recording, so I held it until today and adjusted it a bit. To read it please click here.  

June 24, 2004

Hi guys, I hope you had a happy Father’s Day. I spoke to my dad on the phone for a long time and he’s doing well.

I spent most of this morning recording and I have another recording session tonight. I have more editing to do as well. Things are going well here.  

The Album of the Week

The album of the week is “Dove Hits 2004.” It’s a compilation record of great songs by Dove Award winning artists. For more on this album please visit the official site by clicking here