4. The Roots - "The Next Movement": Ok, I really can't get on Mudge for not placing The Roots on his countdown since they are still tiptoeing the line between underground and mainstream. That being said the Philadelphia group is highly underappreciated and extremely different than most thanks to the fact that they are a complete instrumental group relying more on ?uestlove's drumming skills and Kamal's keyboarding over the typical sound of two turntables. I believe this song was released around 1998 with the video coming in 1999 and both are well ahead of their time.

If you've never heard the Roots, you should listen. I think you'll like.

Labels: Music

...I wish I would've known it's "National De-Lurking Week" before now because I would demand you lurkers to identify yourselves!

However today is the last day of de-lurking week so you don't have to. But *I'd* appreciate it if you did :).

...Now that 2007 has begun and we're all back on that "I gotta get in shape" mode I figured I'd throw up some pretty good health links I found from Lifehacker.

Mudge had originally put up a WikiHow link on running 5K over nine weeks, but in case you don't want to scramble through his archives, here it is again. If you are ready to step up and get your six-pack, go here. Interested in Yoga? There's a website that will deliver you a free Yoga video each day through iTunes.

It's also important to eat healthy and eat properly. For me that's taking a big chunk out of my red meat intake (and crying all the while). As a matter of fact, I've pretty much given up chicken as well. We're going with seafood and lean turkey for a while. If you are counting calories here's a visual guide of what 200 calories looks like. I might actually have to hit up my Ledger Edge for some vegetarian cooking and some of the lower calorie sushi options.

And Traineo claims it's the web's most effective way to reach weight loss and fitness goals. I'm skeptical, but it's free so I'll check it out.

So there you go, good luck gentleman and ladies. Hopefully we'll revive the Philly 8K blog soon enough and start encouraging each other again.

Labels: Health

Basically the reason for this mini-list is because Mudge and I switched role last month with me listing my favorite hair band "jams" and he listed his favorite rap tunes.

I thought he did a great job on his list and I pretty much liked every song he put out there (even though I question whether "Sabotoge" is a rap song, I still love it) and I certainly appreciate the efforts to extend his versatility past "Rico Suave" :).

However, he had some omissions that left me scratching my head give the general trend of where most of his countdown went. So I want to list the five songs I think should've found a place on his countdown. The position is irrelevant, but they should've been shown some love. And if he never heard the song, even more reason to check it out.

So here we go.

5. Big Daddy Kane -- "Ain't No Half Steppin'": How can you forget BDK Mudge? Straight out of Brooklyn and this cat could still outbattle 95% of the jokers out there. Given that the list was filled with primarily East Coast lyricists I'm shocked that Big Daddy didn't make an appearance. Now why do I love this song? Because it's one of the greatest intros to BDK's style. So smooth, so slick, a perfect mixture of braggadocio and tempo. Plus the closing line is pure poetry -- I'll just break him and bake him and rake him and take him and mold him and make him, hold up the peace sign...Assalam walaikum. WHAT?!?! It takes a lyrical genius to throw down the universal message of peace to close.

....Wow, how tired am I? I'm polishing off a Von Dutch energy drink and I feel more tired than I did before I started drinking it.

I won't be too long winded this morning because, as I said, I'm tired and right now blogging constitutes work. However, I will say that things appear to be looking up. I had a good weekend from a professional standpoint and that's always exciting.

I've also gotten to really toy with my iPod shuffle. Honestly this is the perfect musical device for me because I no longer have to sort through songs. Right now I'm going to add 3 songs a week. I'm starting with 30 and from there I'll add just three songs a week. Right now it's a pretty interesting mix -- a little Robert Randolph, a little U2, a little Kayne West, a little John Legend, a little Stevie Wonder, a little Creedence Clearwater Revival and even a couple of INXS songs for the big Michael Hutchence fan that occasionally stops by.

I'm going to have another short countdown spent off of Mudge's Top 20 rap songs and I promise I'll get more in depth on some important things tomorrow.