Monday, January 17, 2005

The Queens of Karaoke!

This past week was pretty fabulous.


Yesterday, our cousin Clarence a photographer for "Souuuul Train(!)" invited us over to the set to watch the going-ons. I didn't know that Soul Train was still on the air since I haven't been watching much tv, but there it was in all it's glory, still very much alive and kicking. The set was full of energy--as were the dancers--many of them young talents looking for exposure. One kid told us that he and a friend drive from Arizona every month just to be a part of the tapings. That's real dedication! But the set is a lot of fun, so I'm sure the drive is a cinch.

The saddest part of our Soul Train experience was that we missed John Legend, who had wrapped his musical set a few hours before we got there. Aw Shucks! But we did get to catch a young boy group called B5 who were very reminiscent of the Jackson 5 and New Edition and just as talented. The little girls will love 'em.

On Saturday, Shawnelle and I went Karoke-ing (is that a word?). We are closet performers, so Karoke is how at least a few people get to hear what only our family and neighbors have been subjected to for years. Saturday was the first time we've performed as solo acts. Shawnelle, the better vocalist, killed (in a good way) Bob Marley's "Is this Love" a song we've done before at The Shattuck Down Low in Berkeley. I sang "I Want You Back" by the aforementioned Jackson 5, and should have told the Host to drop the note, but instead had to keep pitch with a pre-pubescent Michael Jackson. I did fine, but would have enjoyed singing lower--I'm a full-grown woman and an alto at that! Heck, I'd probably have a hard time singing as high as the full grown Michael Jackson.

For our final hoo-rah, we sang a duet of The Fugees' "Killing Me Softly" and the crowd really enjoyed it. We've been singing this one for years so it wasn't really an "Oh my god what should we sing" kind of performance, but it did the trick for a big finale.

Let's hope that next week proves to be equally as entertaining as our last.

Nee

Friday, January 07, 2005

Getting This Party Started RIGHT!

2005 has been very good to us, even though we are only 7 days in...

Winter '04 was a tumultuous rollercoaster filled with job juggling, car accidents and cat dander--we found out Shawnee is allergic to our roomates' cat. As of 1/1/05 we now have two feline friends... Cutest things ever, but we still have to take certain precautions when they're around...



Over the holidays we completed the pilot episode for a series we created specifically for Klasky Csupo's (Rugrats, As Told By Ginger) Cool Toons competition. We titled it, Nightmare City and if it is not selected by this particular company to be produced (word comes in Feb.) we have high hopes for this little baby in the next few months.

We look optimistically forward in '05. Within the next few weeks, Shawnee gets started at her new job logging video for Bunim-Murray productions (Real World, The Simple Life) and I will spend a few days doing P.A. work on BET's Celebration of Gospel. Are we excited to be "working" in the industry? Yahoo!

The audio is officially finished for the third episode of Adopted by Aliens.

When we were back home in the bay, our little cousins Jamil (11) and Ashley (7) requested to see the Aliens DVD. Ashley, after seeing the last episode told Jamil, "See, I told you it was cool...I wish there was a third episode."

So for the love of Ashley, who the series was created for to begin with, we're trying to make sure the third ep is up and ready before the month is out.

-Nell