Music: Lady Gaga

Most of thought Kanye was off his rocker when he said some months ago that Lady Gaga was the new Madonna. Y’all were like, Lady Who??? Yeah, I know! I dug her first couple of songs. But I’m gay, and this stereotype is true, GAY MEN LOVE POP LOVE MUSIC! I mean Poker Face was in heavy rotation in 2-chome and the children were getting their lives!

It’s taken the rest of you a while to get in to her. She’s out there! Waaaaaay out there, like from the Oort Cloud! And that’s before you even really notice what she’s wearing, which is a best described as a hodge-podge of Madonna-inspired 80’s punk, ultra-modern European haute couture and apparently the Spring/Summer line of her home planet’s hottest fashion designer whose name can’t be properly expressed in any written Earth language but sounds alot like “Bob”. There’s also of course the matter of her live performances which are nothing if not intense. Still, all that aside, y’all can’t deny her sheer brilliance. I mean, at the end of the day, she can actually sing!

In her latest video, she combines the hottest Sea Monkey fashions, a bit of MJ’s (May the King rest in peace) Thriller, and more intergalactic haute couture than any three fashionistas styled personally by Kanye the God could shake a stick at!

You’ve seen it before, but I KNOW you want to see it again!

Fame Monster

Music: Kid Cudi

Earlier this year, in my daily worship at the altar of Kanye I discovered a new GOOD Music artist by the name of Kid Cudi. The video for his lead single Day and Nite really grabbed my attention. Sure, it was mad creative, but what would you expect from one of Kanye’s artists? Still, the video resonated with because it’s really just a guy going about his day imagining his life as something other than it is… walking in his own daydreams as it were. If you know me for real, you know that’s pretty much me!

Listening to the album, Kid Cudi really takes you there with the depth of introspection and emotion. He’s something like Kanye minus the ego, something like hip hop emo. And I was feeling it from track 1. Months after I first “acquired” it, Cudi’s Man on the Moon is still in heavy rotation. It’s something the soundtrack to my day on the grind! And perhaps no song primes me up for that daily grind more so than this track here….Pursuit of Happiness!

Grind with me on this one!!!

If you ain’t up Man on the Moon yet, you LATE AS HELL! Lemme help you though…

Man on the Moon: The End of the Day

Mission: MBA

In my last post, I wrote about Japan’s Yakuza hitting the books for their mobster MBA’s. I got mad jokes about the yakuza and just how pathetic some of them (lemme make sure I don’t wake up swimming with the fishes!) have become in their attempts to wade their way through this recession. Honestly, though we all gotta respect the hustle, especially when that hustle means getting an education. As an MBA student, I especially gotta respect that!

Thinking about my last though, I realized that I’ve made several references to going to school here in the City under Red Sun but, I’ve never really done a post on my educational pursuit. Truth is, that is the MAIN reason why I’m still here even after all the drama of the past few months, and really the past two years! A post on what I’m really doing is like waaay past due!

So here it is….

I’m a second-year MBA student at Temple University Japan, and in less than 6 months I will have earned my MBA. I still remember distinctly looking at schools all over the US, certain that I wanted to go home after my 3rd year on the the JET Programme. But, wanting to study international business, it just made more sense to try to find a program abroad. Yeah, I studied Spanish so there was alot of thought given to going to, you know, one of those really beautiful countries with warm climates and hot boys. But ultimately, I was already here in Japan and it seemed reasonable to stay put (read: I forgot all the Spanish I learned!). If nothing else, it would give me a chance and a valid reason to relocate to the city.

I studied for my GMAT, took the test and got all my application materials together and sent them off. I was so nervous when I came in for my interview that I needed buckets to collect all the sweat from my hands. My voice trembled and when Dr. Leeds extended his hand for a handshake, I felt that my wet, pruney hands sealed my rejection. But about a month later though, I was surprised to discover an email in my inbox kindly informing me that I was accepted! With a scholarship!! WHAAAAT!!! Boy, you couldn’t tell me nothing that day. Blasted that Kanye song ALL the way home! Bounan Middle School just don’t know, I was ready to quit on the spot!

My first class started about a month after that. And so almost every Saturday from 9am to 6pm, you can find me here on the 4th floor of Mita Hall taking in all in. It’s ALOT of work, I can’t lie. And it takes up ALOT of time. But me being me, I think these two factors have kept me out of alot of trouble. It’s also kept me from getting too too caught up in my own ever-changing mental, emotional and financial states. Like, you can’t spend all day in the bed depressed, or all night in the, ummm, far end of that street in Ni-chome when you got a case to write and presentation to prepare.

Looking back on these past 18 months, yeah, it has been alot of work. I’m always saying that I’m studying. And it really seems like I am. even though I’m man enough to admit that there are times when I’ve used studying as an excuse for being anti-social. But for real, IT IS NOT A GAME! And I haven’t been out on Friday night in only G-d knows how long. But I honestly, I feel like I’ve learned what I’ve needed to propel my entrepreneurial spirits. Six months from now when I graduate, I don’t know whether I’ll be staying here in my beloved City under Red Sun or moving on to fairer pastures (read: someplace where I can actually get paid something resembling what I’m worth), but with what I’ve learned in my courses, I really believe that I’m capable of doing it big, doing it right and making millions. And now I’m hungry!

I’m definitely not getting paid to say this! My, how I wish they were!!! But if you’re looking for an excellent MBA program (or any higher learning experience) in an international and very unique learning environment, Temple University Japan might be a good look for you.

Two Sun Dawn and My Jerry Maquire Moment

In the 7 weeks that I’ve been out of work, I’ve decided that for the time being at least I should focus on trying to do a lot of the things I’ve always wanted to do but never had the time to actually do. One of these things that I’ve been dying to do is to create an online magazine. Getting everything together for that though has been a process that is still ongoing. Y’all are NOT ready! LOL

In the meantime though, you know, I’ve been working on getting an internet media firm together to manage the magazine and a few of my other creative projects. In addition to managing the magazine, I want to get in to writing, publishing, and artist management. It’s ambitious, I know. But I’m starting with what I can do now, just me, my MacBook and Adobe Suite.

I’ve always down web design and development projects, so I figured I’d churn out a few projects to make some dough to subsidize my income (or rather lack thereof). I know I haven’t actually designed a site in a while, but please believe ya’ man still has it! I did after all get this blog up and running, and designed the logo. As for the extent of my skills, give me a few weeks and I think I’ll knock your socks off!

So I’ve been meeting with a few potential clients these past few weeks. And needless to say, it’s been HARD as HELL! I mean ,they all were interested in my work, which was definitely a good thing seeing as though I don’t have an extensive portfolio (or any portfolio to speak of right now). It was also good that they all wanted things which are well within my technical capabilities. But what was definitely not good was how much they were talking about paying! I mean I know it’s a recession, but DAMN!

I know alot of y’all out there HATE Kanye. But the man is a genius and the inspiration of genius in others. I found this clip on his blog the other day, and it so sums up so much of my interaction with my potential clients as of late.

Sometimes I so just want to scream, “Show me the money!” FYI, I do have one serious client and also is an effing genius. I can’t wait to get his project up so y’all can see what we both can do!

Diva: A Reason (or Two) to Stan

I stans hard for Kanye!

Wanting to get it in (IMMEDIATELY) with Kanye has nothing to do with him being gay (or not). It’s a creative genius thing really. I mean, the man is a f-ing creative genius!!! If Jay-Z is our generation’s Sinatra and B is our Tina Turner, Kanye has to be like our generation’s Prince or Rick James! So he’s either gonna turn you out with just a look in his eye, or he’s gonna smack you, tie you up and beat you for three days! How could you deny him? World, I wonder… WHY WON’T YOU LET THIS MAN BE GREAT? Really??? LMAO

I mean, my man is from the 24th century for real. And Captain Kirk ain’t got anything on Kanye. We got him walking on the moon one minute and the next minute he’s giving us the raw and unadulterated fever. Peep how he even recruited the alien queen to star in his video… got her all paranoid! GENIUS!!!

Viddies From Around the World

While I’m in the mood to post viddies, I might as well post these too. Not necessarily representative of the City Under Red Sun mind you, but if my life here in the City were a movie these would be good candidates for the soundtrack. You know, right at the part were the hero (read: moi) gets it together and hits the scene again.

Here’s just a lil bit of what’s giving me life right now. (I wish some folks wouldn’t be such stingy bastards and lemme embed – love that word – what I want! Hell, I’m trying to hype their joints!)

Anyway, you already know the first joint HAS to be from my diva idol!

And if you don’t know Röyksopp, get your international music game up (waaay up) and get into them ASAP!!!

Diva: Kanye West III

I haven’t stan-ned for my diva idol in a while now. Not that there hasn’t been a lot of news. Kanye has been doing the most these days. He got not one but two different shoe lines, one with Nike (that I must have IMMEDIATELY!) and one with Louis Vuitton. He’s made a video with Keri Hilson. He’s knocked out Amber Rose and still had enough left to make love to the camera… and it put it to bed too! (WARNING: DO NOT LOOK HIM DIRECTLY IN THE EYES!)

And then hewas murdered real cold-blooded like by the boys in South Park. Can a man not like fish sticks? LOL So rude that was! Kanye, lemme hold your purse, while you whip some a–!

Peep the vid. [NSFW]

Luckily, Kanye had a tremendous sense of humour about the whole thing and used at as a time to check his ego. Still, his divine fabulousness cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be diminished! He is simply AMAZING! Need proof?

Diva: Kanye West II

Diva has been all over the internet the past few weeks. I’ve held off posting all the pics and videos only because a) they seem to be everywhere else; b) I don’t want my BF to get jealous; c) I don’t want to add any sugar my boy III’s hater-ade; and d) I don’t want my diva’s head-to-toe LV-wearing legal assassins to serve my ass with an Internet restraining order.

I love diva’s new lady friend, Miss Amber Rose! Loving her but not so much the third-rate stripper name. But let me not say that too loud, lest my diva be displeased. For the record, though… Amber Rose serves to kill!!! Bad bitches run in packs!

Day and Night

This song has been stuck in my head for weeks now. I was holding off on posting the vid for it here just because it’s like everywhere but I just couldn’t resist the urge. The vid is dope, mad creative like. Peep Kid Cudi’s genius “Day and Night” here! Brilliant!

Diva: Kanye West

Every gay man has his one or two patron divas from the great eternal pantheon of grand divas. Mariah, Janet, Whitney, Madonna, Kylie, Brittney, and I’d be killed for not mentioning the Great Beyonce. I love them all but I have my very own diva idol, and I’d like to share my diva with the world.

Arrogant… asshole… crybaby… childish… rude… gay. These are just a few of the less flattering descriptions of my patron diva. But the one thing they can’t say is that my diva doesn’t have talent. My diva is an unmatched musical genius! And on top of that he (yes, my diva is a MAN!), he stays on top of the fashion game, slaying the children from Chicago to Milan to Tokyo.

Simply put, your diva ain’t got ish on my diva! Ladies and gentlemen, introducing my patron diva….

KANYE WEST

Kanye Fierce

Eyes so full of raw emotion