Category: EJ’s world

The Grammys: One Of The Fans

Posted on by EJ

In the past couple of months, there have been some life changes which have caused me to be a bit late with Old School Wednesdays and even more lagging with In Rotations. Often, it has been the regular increase (or severe lack / constant pursuit of) work. As I have now pushed past those issues, there is now another reason why I will be submitting the Old School Wednesday the end of the day (Wednesday).

I am now officially one of the community bloggers for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. I’m still overwhelmed, excited, and amazed that I have been chosen for this role- even more so that the colleagues around me are nothing short of amazing. I will be covering the R&B category which I feel is a great fit since R&B is what I grew up with and have been recognizant of all the changes that R&B has gone through. This also gives me the push I needed to again write about music (in addition to podcasting) as I did in the past (a kick in my complacency, as I like to put it.)

There will be a Grammy nomination concert that will be airing on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 9PM Eastern on CBS. (Please check your local listings). The theme this year is "We’re All Fans." There will be quite a few of us bloggers on Twitter during that time giving real-time feedback on the show. You can find a list of us here. The Grammy Awards will be taking place on January 31, 2010, so be on the lookout for that as well. Be sure to check out the Grammys website for up-to-date information.

The next few months will definitely prove to be interesting. In the meanwhile. look for the OSW coming out later today – and an Acid Jazz blend coming soon. Watch for it.

Takin’ A Break

Posted on by EJ

As much as I would love to say I’ll have an OSW ready for you this week- sadly, I won’t be able to make it due to work and home schedules. I’m working on all-reqest mixes for the next two weeks, so stay tuned for them.

If there is anything you want to hear, please don’t hesitate to drop an email to ejflavors at gmail dot com.

As always, take it light.

OSW: Hang Tight

Posted on by EJ

They say that 41 is the new 31. I don’t know about all that, but I do know it’s my birthday today. Before I start talking about something else other than music, let’s drop the Old School Wednesday given to us by Mr. G-Force and Yvonne, cause they’re SO good at it.

Old School Wednesday: Hang Tight
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]
Want to subscribe to podcasts? Use this link.

01 – Jesse Johnson – Can You Help Me
02 – Today – Girl I Got My Eyes On You
03 – Tony Terry – Lovey Dovey
04 – Patti Austin – The Heat of Heat
05 – Alexander O’Neal – What’s Missing
06 – Curtis Hairston – The Morning After
07 – Bobby Thurston – I Know You Feel Like I Feel
08 – Keni Burke – Hang Tight
09 – Phyllis Hyman – Under Your Spell
10 – Deniece Williams – Cause You Love Me, Baby
11 – Tashan – So Much Love
12 – Vesta – Sweet, Sweet Love
13 – Shirley Jones – Do You Get Enough Love

I’m grateful to G-Force and Yvonne for subscribing goodness this time around, particularly with Jesse Johnson,
Alex O’ Neal, and especially songs from Keni Burke and Bobby Thurston – two tracks that I had never heard before. As you can tell, they are a formidable duo. Suffice it to say, you will be hearing more from them. Believe that.

I have yet to get the actual count right of how many OSWs have actually been done here, but
the count is somewhere around 194. Back in the day, the OSWs were a creation of the one and only, KB. I did a couple from his suggestion, then a couple became 5, and then he passed the torch to me. I still can’t tell you to this day why I haven’t just stopped doing it. Masochism? Craziness? Probably a little, but mostly because of the love I have for music. KB helped me expand that vibe, and to that I’m very grateful for it. But what’s even better are the people that helped me with this with their comments and emails, including Ms. Alex, Thierno, Wayne, VPayne, Qamar, James Madison, GrantLove…and the list goes on and on. (By any means, if your name was left out, it’s not because of lack of love- more than likely lack of memory…definitely let me know.

During OSWs, since I had so much time on my hands, I also did radio-blogs of songs I liked – no matter how different they were. The count of those is around 65 with no signs of slowing down. Podcasting was an offshoot of that, beginning without vocals, and then when I discovered that people actually vibe to someone whose vocals are reminiscient Mickey Mouse except in an MP3 format, I kept on doin’ it, getting slightly better each time. If it weren’t for the bloggers Honey, Lis, Todd Kelley, Nikki, and TGrundy, I would have given up a long time ago.

…but here I am, still doing them, which of course begs the question is, "whatever happened to that thing called blogging?" Well, things combined with my weekly podcasting like Friendfeed, Twitter, and Plurk to name a few, I haven’t felt the need to blog about anything. I’m going to attempt to change that because when all is said and done, I still do miss what blogging used to be back in the day. In fact, I’ll start this by breaking the ice – let’s get to know EJ a little better. If you have questions about me, post the question here or email me directly at ejflavors at gmail.com and I’ll be sure to answer them. I’ll also try to give you a little more insight into my life, which isn’t a whirlwind, but more like a steady stream with a big rock here and there. So there you go. Give up a happy birthday to ya boy.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. You won’t hear my voice much in the podcast, because of time constraints, but I’ll be back next week, definitely. Thanks to G-Force and Yvonne for mixin’ it up quite nicely. For those who’d like to subscribe to these podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. Also, please be sure to check out on Flowink.com, where there’s always great music to check out. If you have requests or questions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light.

The Return of DJ Swole (OE)

Posted on by EJ

Much more much ado about nothing. Back from the mind of
ManNMotion…..

Overtime
Working overtime consistently. Not a bad thing, but if you see me on late at night, that’e usally why. Holla at a brother. If I don’t respond quickly, it’s because I’m multitasking. We all know how much fun that is.

TV

Monday night at 8PM EST, I will be watching 24. For anyone who’s been watching it, you know why I’ll be glued to the set. Between the president, Jean Smart as the First Lady, and all the twist and turns it keeps me wildly entertained. And then there’s Alias’ final 6 episides, I think I’m in heaven. At least for the next two moinths.

Traveling:
On my way to Philly on Thursday, which means I’ll be cramming in 40 hours into 3 1/2 days (easy) and bring work with me to Philly (not so easy). I am officially a spring sadist. This is even more sadistic, considering that Omar is in concert in town in Atlanta and I will be in Philly instead. And then to make matters even more complicated, I’ll miss Nikki. Damn. At least I preordered Omar’s CD.

MySpace:
Speaking of sadism, there’s yet another site I have to keep updating. Yeah, I’ve ben swayed to the MySpace side. While I want to kick myself for succuming to it, I’m getting more and more attracted to it. If only there were 30 hours in a day….

The Gym:
You should see me, man. Go in the gym with an iPod ready to rumble, and then come out barely able to walk- and drive- my car. I even hobbled around some cool people a couple of weeks ago. So when I’m not working, at the gym, or have music on my mind, I am in my bed. Asleep. Good thing I don’t drool on the keyboard. It’s coming along though. I won’t say much more about it now lest I jinx myself. DJ Swole is tryin’ to make a comeback. Now all I need is a cape and some turntables…

Blogs
I’m a week behind reading blogs because whenever I start reading I get sidetracked doing something else. See also: The Gym, Overtime, TV. My purpose is to catch up on my reading in 24 hours. If I don’t fall asleep.




More Music:
I’m listening to 10 CDs at this time, including new Van Hunt, Gnarls Barkley and Amel Larrieux. Good stuff. I’m sure that they’ll be on heavy rotation. Even made another iPod mix as a request. If you want the tracklisting, let me know. You may have wondered what that graphic is up above. Well, go check out Flowink. I’m an official DJ up in the place along with Todd Kelley and the crew too. Check out the mixes, join the forums, just enjoy yourself.

April Thoughts (OE)

Posted on by EJ

I’m a simple man, mostly with headphones on and a laptop in my lap. While the headphones were off this past weekend, my mind was in a couple of places. I’m stealing OE’s from ManNMotion since he does it so well…..

Daylight Savings Time:
You know, I thought it was still April Fools Day because I lost my damn hour this weekend. It’s a cruel joke. Father Time must have been drunk or something. I must have done something wrong in a previous life. I looked on eBay to see if someone had it for sale but I haven’t seen it there.


Movies:
I always tell myself I never go see enough movies, so I went to go see ATL. A film with Chris Robinson as director, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Dallas Austin, and Will Smith as producers, and Mykelti Williamson acting in this movie too should prove to be interesting, right? Right.

I wasn’t looking for an award-winning picture and I didn’t get one. I wasn’t looking for stellar acting and I didn’t get any of that. What I was looking for was just a good time, and that’s what I got. We’ve seen better pictures, that’s for sure, but this pic was a step in the right direction. The flick had enough one liners, music, and scenes to make it enjoyable. This is thumbs-up from a southern guy so take it for what it’s worth. Whatchu say?

Traveling:
I’m travelling up to Philadelphia the end of this month. I don’t need any red carpet. A good Philly Cheese Steak with some Tasty Cakes for dessert will work. If you’re gonna be around, holla atcha boy!

TV:
I was going to say how they have too many shows like The Apprentice on television these days, but then I realized that I watch The Apprentice, The Apprentice UK, The Next Food Network Star, and Top Chef. I need professional help. (Notice that I don’t mention America’s Next Top Model. I’m not quite on that wagon.) I will tell you one thing- Grey’s Anatomy has been consistently in my top 5 since it’s inception, and even more so since they played Crazy by Gnarls Barkley in one of their scenes. What other show do you know can mix surgeries and Cee-Lo in there? I’m jus’ sayin….

Music, Mixing, Life:
You know I’m a music fiend, right? These mixes and podcasts are totally new to me. I do take requests. Doesn’t mean I’ll have em all, but lemme know what you want to hear and I’ll try to get it on- past and present.

OST: Valentines Day, 2006

Posted on by EJ

We preempt Old School Wednesday this week for the special occasion known as Valentines Day, in a more comprehensive mix:

Old School Tuesday : Valentines Day 2006.
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01 – Alexander O’Neal – Do You Wanna Like I Do
02 – Quincy Jones featuring Patti Austin – Somethin’ Special
03 – Loose Ends – Sweetest Pain
04 – Atlantic Starr – Send for Me
05 – Switch – I Wanna Be Closer
06 – Stevie Wonder – Ribbon in the Sky
07 – Heatwave – The Star of The Story
08 – Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack – You Are My Heaven
09 – Jermaine Jackson – You Like Me Don’t You (Single Version)
10 – One Way – Lady You Are
11 – Deniece Williams – Free
12 – Anita Baker – You’re The Best Thing Yet
13 – Skyy – When You Touch Me
14 – Sade – Kiss of Life
15 – Enchantment – It’s You That I Need
16 – Etta James – At Last
17 – Phoebe Snow – Poetry Man
18 – Chaka Khan – My Funny Valentine
19 – Spandau Ballet – True
20 – Swing Out Sister – You Already Know
21 – Van Morrison – Someone Like You
22 – Gino Vannelli – I Just Wanna Stop
23 – Player – Baby Come Back
24 – The Art of Noise – Moments in Love
25 – The Time – Gigolos Get Lonely Too
26 – Bootsy Collins – I’d Rather Be With You
27 – Prince – Adore
28 – Isley Brothers – Atlantis

I wanted to give a little of the old school staples, like Deniece Williams’s classic Free, and Heatwave’s Star Of The Story, one of my personal top 5 all-time classics. But I thought it be essential to pull out some of blue-eyed soul, like Player’s Baby Come Back or some cuts that were played way back in the day, like Phoebe Snow’s Poetry Man. Also, there is no way I could possibly forget my cassette tapes and 12 inch songs that I’ve bought at least 3 copies of, like Moments In Love and Gigolos Get Lonely Too, essentials for the cool dudes from around the way.

I consider myself one of "least romantic" people out there, as I told my homeslice PhillyKat better known as The Romantical Chick. She gave me that push that I needed. Enjoy it. Hey, and if Valentines Day isn’t your bag, you could always do something like let EJ know what you think about him (snatched from George and Hopluv.) Don’t be shy.

Happy Valentines Day to you and yours!

World AIDS Day, 2005

Posted on by EJ

Support World AIDS Day

It may seem that music, work, and life and general is on my mind 24/7, but it’s not. You see, the world is not a perfect place. The world is larger, much larger, than just music, more extensive than the workplace.

There’s a four letter word out there that’s been a debilitating force. Its complete name is the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. You may know it as AIDS. Even though this is World AIDS Day, we can’t merely dismiss this day as something that affects ourselves – and the entire world – to just one day.

AIDS is here.
All day, every day.
There is no cure yet so it won’t just go away.

So don’t stop.

I can’t, and I won’t.

Want more? Check the list here for those who have spread love today. Show your love.

100 Things, Volume 3

Posted on by EJ

Volume
one was done, and volume
two was assembled. It’s getting a little more challenging now. The third
installment…..

100 Things About EJ, Volume 3

51. The phrase "Jack be nimble, jack be quick" does not apply to me.
I am heavy-handed and I will not try out for a marathon. I am very
good with hammers though. That, and slamming car doors. It’s not that I’m mad
at you, it’s the power of the swing.

52. I constantly have 15 things on my mind. If you think I’m ignoring you, please
believe that I am not. I’m also not ignoring the music in the background. Or
the computer screen. Or something I need to do for work.

53. Even though I was definitely into computers at the time, my best score in
the 8th grade was Mythology. My grade score? 110.

54. I am not a romantic person. Ask anyone. My idea of a date
is a good dinner and a movie and that’s it. In fact, if both the dinner and
the movie are at your house (or mines), that’s even better. I know about those
things called flowers and candy, and I can do that, but I need a put in a reminder
into my scheduler, and allow extra time for me to set up and prepare. For instance,
I have to get ready for Valentines Day at least a month in advance. Just thinking
about it makes me cringe.

55. Yeah, I’m a Star Trek fan. All of ’em. My favorite series is The Next Generation,
but I would be lying if I said I’ve missed a single episode of any of them.

Continue reading “100 Things, Volume 3” →

100 Things, Volume 2

Posted on by EJ

Continuing on. With comments on
Volume
I in place, it’s time for:

100 Things About EJ,
Volume II.

26. When I go clothes shopping, it’s a four-step approach: I go in, find what
I need, purchase the clothes and go. I’m not looking for bargains then – I’m looking
for an immediate need for clothes. Don’t try to keep me in there for more than
an hour. For malls, it’s an hour and a half – unless you feed me while we’re in
there.

27. I’m okay when I have cash in my reserves, but when I don’t, all bets are off.
If I’m broke I will be one evil man and lock myself in the house. No restaurants,
no record stores (which is bad in and of itself), and minimal conversation. Leave
me alone with music and I’ll be fine.

28. I have this thing about British acts, but I’ve never been to Britain. For
instance, two bands that always make me smile are Loose Ends and D’Influence.
I have all of their songs (and the remixes), have seen both in concert, and would
gladly have them back together. Then there’s Incognito, Sade, Paul Weller, The
Style Council, Carleen Anderson…..

29. One of my self-evaluations that always perplexes people is that I believe
I’m one of the most boring people you’d ever meet. In group settings, I listen
more than I speak. It isn’t because I’m shy – I just don’t think I have much to
say.

30. Both my father and grandfather died from cancer. Both of them smoked also.
Now you know why smoking around me is annoying. I can deal with it, but only for
so long. Don’t smoke in the house. That’s like signing your own death warrant.

Continue reading “100 Things, Volume 2” →

100 Things, Volume 1

Posted on by EJ

You know, I promised I’d do this in my 101/1001 (which is now updated – I’ve made pretty good progress).
I originally stopped at 20 and thought I was being a wimp. But then, I started
catchin’ up on some blogs and lo and behold, Humanity
Critic had done his too. He was the inspiration to push on, so I’m gonna drop
it- 25 at a time.

100
Things About EJ,
Volume I

1. I was born on Long Island, New York, in the town of
Westbury, where I
spent the first 8 years of my life. Think about it: New York in the 60s
and 70s?
You know it was goin’ on, right?

2. Way back in the day, I can remember listening to a lot of soul
music,
especially when my mom was giving parties in the living room and I was
supposedly asleep in my room. That’s why these Old
School Wednesdays
are so good to do.

3. E and J are indeed my first and middle initials, but I’m sure you
could have
guessed that already. It’s not too hard to figure out what they are,
either.
I’ll even tell you if you feed me. See number 14.

4. Yeah, Flavors is my last name. Surprised? Don’t be. It was
Stockholm back in
the 1800s. EJ Stockholm
doesn’t sound nearly as good as EJ Flavors.

5. For all intents and purposes, I am a full-on nerd.  Believe
that.

Continue reading “100 Things, Volume 1” →

a shift in focus/questions and answers

Posted on by EJ

Before I give the answers to questions asked during the last couple of weeks,
I’d like to make a little statement and do a little polling.

Without going into details, my work and life schedule has primarily been in
a state where most of my blogging is done when I’m at home. In other words,
being able to read other blogs at work is much easier than actually blogging
at work. Because the break/fix to the radio blog for Old School
Wednesday had to be done during work hours, I received backlash for having to
do so in the workplace. Because of this, I was a little shaken and a little
discouraged in actually finishing work on an In Rotation this week.

I have an In Rotation in progress for this week, but because of the way my week
at has been, I wasn’t able to finish it in time for this morning. I’m thinking
of switching my In Rotations to either:

1. Every other Friday; or
2. Posting one on the weekend.

Readers/listeners out there, which schedule would you vote for? I like to be able
to provide a mix, since doing radio blogs and sharing music is something I really
enjoy. I’d like to hear from you. Thanks.

….and now to answer questions.

Continue reading “a shift in focus/questions and answers” →

givin’, thinkin’, vibin….

Posted on by EJ

Thoughts before I head to Brooknam for some much needed vacation:

Givin’: Yahoo 360? GMail? Need em? Want em? Let me
know.

Thinkin’: Chandrasutra brought up the reality that
bloggers are being misrepresented. She states:

Big Media are doing a fine job of misrepresenting bloggers.

And I’ve had enough of it.
It’s time we spoke for ourselves. It’s time we raised our voices and let them
(and everybody else know) who we actually are, who we link to and why we blog.

She
has a list of seven questions, which I would encourage everyone who is reading
this and believe that blogs need finer representation (as I do), to either answer
them in the comments section of her blog entry, or email them to her at mel
at htmel dot net.

Vibin’: While I’ve been doing Old School Wednesdays
(which are actually easy), I’ve been lax on giving vibes on a regular basis
for new music, new beats, and giving more exposure. Therefore, Friday Melodies
is back this year, this time entitled:

In
Rotation: 4/8/05.

01 – Mariah Carey – Stay The Night. From The Emancipation
of Mimi, Mariah’s debut album on Def Jam. This track was produced by Kanye
West, which in my opinion, is the finest track on the CD. In terms of quality,
this CD is exceedingly better than Charmbracelet.
02 – Mica Paris – I Luv You. First track from her new CD, If
You Could Love Me. On Wounded Bird Records.
03 – The Rurals – Read Me Like A Book. From their just-released
album A
Rural Life. Mellow, deep house.
04 – Beady Belle – Irony. From their new CD Closer.

05 – Pete Belasco – Hurry, Hurry. It would be easy (and incorrect)
to compare him to Marvin Gaye. He knows how to sing, point blank. His CD Deeper is quite mellow
and soulful.
06 – Beanie Sigel – Change. Ian
recommended his CD, and in doing so, was the impetus for me getting it after
being on the fence for a second. This is one of the mellower, introspective tracks
on the album, which fits into this mix nicely. The album, as it stands, is arguably
one of the first standout hip-hop albums this year.
07 – Earth Wind And Fire with Rafael Saadiq – Show Me The Way.
Fantastic single from the upcoming album. Produced and sung with Raphael Saddiq,
this is true EWF, and will stay in my rotation for a good while.
08 – Nicole Willis – (Sunday Night) Don’t Hold Back. Great
horn section accompanies this track. From Be It.
09 – Onda – Deeper Love. From Carte Blanche 3. This
CD has Gaelle’s Falling as well as P’Taah’s Hold You Close,
which are also of merit.
10 – Silhouette Brown – Changes.
11 – Faith Evans – Lucky Day. Nikki
loved this CD, and recommended it to me. I’m glad I listened to her. This
is one of my favorite tracks.
12 – Ivana Santilli – Deserve. Todd
hipped me to Ivana, and I was not dissapointed. This single was penned and backed
by….
13 – Omar – Come On.

Vibe with me.
*Special thanks to Honey
for the vibe!

Randomness, 03/12/05

Posted on by EJ

Saturday Random Ten
…the ‘It really should have been Friday but work is kicking my ass, as usual’ edition.

I’ll try harder next time.

Random 10:
1. Mary Davis – Don’t Wear It Out
2. Boyz II Men – Sympin’
3. Whispers – And The Beat Goes On
4. Murs – Intro
5. Val Watson – That’s Funked Up
6. Tony! Toni! Tone! – Born Not To Know
7. Frankie Knuckles – Thousand Finger Man
8. Swing Out Sister – Don’t Say A Word
9. SOS Band – Nothing But The Best
10. Jurassic 5 – Acetate Prophets

I keep forgetting that this is a journal and that I need to post more. I even
forget that I’m supposed to be trying to cross
more things off my list. It ain’t happenin’. We need another EJ, especially
one that could have gone down to SXSW like JT
and George.

This week’s recap? Well, mostly it’s Todd’s
fault. Besides work taking a whole lot of time, I’ve been checking out tracks
to put in my top 12, like
he did for his. Because I’m doing plenty of OSWs though, I’ve decided to
cut myself to 12 tracks that are not old school (sorry, Todd).
It makes it even harder that I can’t find two of my CDs. Anywhere. I’m absolutely
ill.

Of course, no-one can be as del.i.cious, as
KB can, but I’m trying….
I’ve even got a Feedburner too, like him. Kinda enjoying it.

EJ’s Feedburner – The Posts
EJ’s Feedburner – The Full Feed

News: Reasons why it’s not
cool to live in Atlanta. He’s still on the run been captured, luckily. Even more disturbing, there’s
Rashawn
Brazell. It’s been a very, very tragic month so far.

I’m officially a Netflix whore groupie afficionado, so now it’s
time for me to play catch up.

Music: Nothing’s really hitting me at the moment, besides just catching up with
Nicole Willis, and
of course Necks
Move, mentioned back here also, there’s nothing that’s been hitting me. Any suggestions?

101 in 1001

Posted on by EJ

Happy New Year, my people! Already the new year has started and I’ve gotten
behind on a few things, like my top
25 songs of 2004, like Honey did. It’s alright though. All good things come
in time. Christmas in of itself was great. With a total of 12 new CDs, some
very cool gifts, and an iPod I’m in absolute heaven. I’m sliding towards the
world that is Apple, and for once, I’m gonna let it take me over.

I’ll start of this year by letting you know that I have a couple of outlets
that I use to express myself. If you want to know the real me and hear my voice,
email your phone number to eflavors01 [at] sprintpcs dot com
and I’ll be sure to call you back. [Note- this paragraph will dissapear in exactly
1 week.]

Speaking of taking over, while I don’t have a New Year’s resolutions list, I’ve
finally come up with my list of 101/1001. It took about 17 days for me to come
up with 101, so I’m psyched. Some might sound small, others unattainable, and
I’m sure some of them may even be strange, but what you see is what you get.
I’ll be updating this post on the regular, so check back from time to time.
(Blogliners will be automatically
notified).

As seen on triplux.com,
and Jason,
via Gwen,
and also done by Saga:

[last change – 01.04.05 – #15 – added skydiving to the mix.]

The 101/1001.

Continue reading “101 in 1001” →

the christmas spirit

Posted on by EJ

I’ve been banned from looking under the tree, and checking out presents, and I’ve been hitting the gym like a madman and listening to music/blogging/sleeping….This year I’m getting a foam mattress with a Eva Timber bed base for myself. I went to a hotel last week in a quick trip I took with the family and they had foam mattresses. Before that I’ve never heard of them, so, I took the task to do my own research and came to the conclusion that it maybe something that could help with my back pain. I came across this website where they had mattress in a box brands and it was so much easier for me to find the perfect mattress for me. I hope you treat yourself too with something that you really want.

Much love to everyone this holiday season. There’s no Grinch here. Just lots of egg-nog and holiday cheer!
Merry Christmas!!!!!