What You Want Me to Do? I'm Sorry! I'm Back!

[Post title refers to: Jay Z, "Show Me What You Got"]


Ah, where to begin after such a long absence. The song, first, of course. For those who are not Jay Z aficionados (not saying I am an expert, just a huge fan) I should start be providing some context for the song title. "Show Me What You Got" was Jay Z's first single from Kingdom Come, which was the comeback album after Jay's little break-y-poo. And what a come back it was! Wreckz-n-Effect's saxophone loop from Rump Shaker? Check. (Yes, I know it is actually from Darkest Light, but who doesn't want to reference Rump Shaker at any given opportunity? Notice how I didn't hyperlink to the Rump Shaker video, thanks.) Flava Flav voice sampled? Check. A video shot in Monaco with race divers? Double check.

So, yes, I guess by referencing this song I am calling this my comeback! And I got you here by tricking you and calling it an LBC comeback! Which is only partially true but mostly false. Some of the guys and I are performing at a wedding in Arizona this weekend so a couple of us got together for practice on Sunday morning. It was our first practice sine Elite 8 2010. And it was amazing. Everyone was on time. Everyone wanted to be efficient. Turbo brought donuts. There were no tall cans involved. It was like a regular team practice. Too bad we didn't do that more often before Elite 8 2010 (still cringing). Needless to say, practice was super fun and I am really excited to head to Arizona this weekend and have my hometown see what the LBC guys can do!

During the time I have been missing in action, a couple new and exciting developments in the talking-about-bhangra world have developed. First, there is a new YouTube video series called "Bhangra Genius" started by Faizan, a former dancer for AEG. Check one of the early on videos out here. Second, Dheerja and Sulman (Syracuse Orange, Columbia Bhangra, SMD Bhangra) started a bhangra podcast!

I am secretly (okay not secretly since I am typing it on my blog) hoping I can find a way to stay relevant with my old-school writing. To all of you making snarky comments like "stay relevant? you haven't been relevant since 2009 home girl," to you I say (a) stop being mean and (b) insert Drake's comment "ooo, they told me I fell off--I needed that." Sidenote: I don't actually like Drake.

Okay that is all I got for now. Just wanted to say I'M BACK. And stay tuned for our wedding performance!

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Party Rock Is In the House Tonight. Finally.

[Post title refers to: LMFAO's "Party Rock"]

Wowza. So it has been way, way, way too long since I blogged last. The worst part about this is that I realize that when starting a blog, the best way to keep your audience is by consistent posting. That said, I hope you people are still with me.

Where to start. Maybe with random updates? First an ode to the blog post title: while I may not adore LMFAO’s musical stylings, I think the dudes are funny and catchy. And I secretly think I should be a backup dancer or something for them. If it just requires having big hair and being weirdly random, I am a shoe-in! Catch me at the next party doing the dance.

Second update-I am switching jobs. From one firm to another firm. Still in the same city. Still doing the same kind of work. Needless to say, the switching process was just that-a process. But I am incredibly happy and excited about what is up next for me.

Third update—I took a couple weeks off between gigs. And let me tell you, vacation planning for an obsessive perfectionist like myself is no easy task. I read Trip Advisor reviews all night long wondering if I am booking the best and right hotel. Then I confirm with the NY Times travel section to make sure I am not missing anything. Then I read Frommers. And Fodors. And Lonely Planet. Then I need a vacation from my vacation planning. Whew. So between planning and having intermittent internet access, blogging just has not happened.

For those of you who read this blog for more than just bhangra updates, I think this post is for you. For those of who only care about the bhangra aspect, come back next time.

Let me start by saying I have had a serious issue with mosquito bites. My brother calls mosquitos mosquatchos so now that you are informed I will also call them mosquatchos with no remorse. I have millions of mosquatcho bites. Like all over my legs, arms, ankles, etc. You know where else I have them? MY FACE. Yes, you read that correctly. I have three, count’ em, THREEE, mosquatcho bites on my face. The latest one just came during dinner tonight. While I was eating my lemon panna cotta. What a terrible way to get a mosquatcho bite, right?! Eating a wonderful, refreshing dessert and BAM face starts stinging. Wondering why—only to discover that I now have a stupid lump next to my stupid squinty eye. Ugh. Can I even put hydrocortisone that close to my eye? I don’t know. And I have no one to ask without being semi-intrusive. Because I am on vacation alone.

GASP. Vacation alone, you ask?!?! YES. I have no issues with doing things myself. As a matter of fact, I kind of prefer it that way. I don’t have to ask someone else what they want to do. I can eat when I want. I can do what I want. I can make all the noise I want. Then I can come back to my hotel room and listen to Bruno Mars without having to worry someone is judging me. And no, I don’t care that you are judging me now that I admitted that. As a matter of fact, here’s another morsel to fuel your potential judgment: I went to the Bruno Mars concert last month and it was freaking awesome. No seriously. Bruno Mars has so much charisma it is sickening. And his guitar game is so ridiculous. I was a major fan by the end of his performance.

Okay back to my solo vacation. It hasn’t all been solo (and yes, the solor parts have been by choice). First I went home to see my mom, dad and brother. I pretty much ran around the house yelling and annoying everyone. Standard. The highlight: making everyone, including my cousin who willingly came over to our house to hang out, watch So You Think You Can Dance. And then talking about Lil Boosie and Gucci Mane. I’m so icy, in case you were wondering. Brr!

Next I went to Puerto Rico with one of my best friends. We went to Old San Juan, Fajardo, and Culebra. It was an awesome trip. The highlight: night time kayaking in the ocean to discover a bioluminescent bay where, aside from seeing awesome glow in the dark creatures in the ocean, we saw a moonbow! Moonbow= rainbow in the clouds moving past the moon. Nuts.

After PR I went to Miami for a super close friend’s bachelorette party (stagette or hen party for your non-USA readers). This was my second visit to the infamous Fountainbleau. And let me just say for the record that I love this place. Highlight: the DJ at LIV on Friday night (dude was crazy good) and seeing my friend do impressions of her parents dance moves.

After Miami I started the solo portion of my trip: Turks and Caicos. HOLY moly this place is amazing. The water is the perfect blue. I can see little fish swimming around my legs (for those of you that know me, yes I freak out when they come near me. I got salt water up my nose today trying to swim away from a fish that is the size of my index finger).

Being here alone has been great. I wake when I want (well my internal alarm won’t let me sleep past 9am without freaking out and telling me that I am failing at life), I work out when I want, I eat what I want and I read books and magazines like it’s my job (I guess it kind of is right now). Highlight: walks on the beach. I like to walk in that perfect place in the sand that is just between the sand that is wet from the tide coming in and the regular squishy sand. It is perfectly hard but your heels still sink in just the right amount. Another of my favorite things about this place is watching the tide come in and pull the sand on the beach back with it, leaving little foamy bubbles behind. I just want to pick that foam up and put it on my head and dance around. I’m confident I should keep statements like that to myself.

Next thought: Some of you are like dude, you are in Turks and Caicos-why the hell are you blogging. Well, dude, it is like 1015pm. It is dark outside. And in case you forgot, I am alone. I’m not tryna go out and get myself hurt, for poo’s sake. The post dinner period is for reading, self-reflection, corny stuff like that.

So I realized I am long, long overdue for a Bruin re-cap post. I had so much to say about the weekend, the performances, and the activities. I should have said it sooner and now I worry that it is too late. I hope not. Harjot (aka Gabroo TV) has TONS of footage that I took with his brother interviewing teams, talking to people, etc. I am hoping to get all of that together soon and create a post with some of my thoughts and some more videos I took on my phone. Until then, I hope ya’ll will stay interested and keep reading.

And now, to end this post, my random ruminations for the evening. Speaking of ruminations, anyone here who used to read Aaron Karo’s ruminations?! I loved that blog.

Okay here goes: What the eff does it mean to want to jam inside your love, Fergie?!  Pie in the face to Murdoch?! Das Racist tweeting so much about the new album almost makes me not want to get it (but I still will). NBA released the 2011-2012 schedule today and the first game (an awesome Bulls-Mavs matchup) is scheduled for November 1 yeee. I hope plane ticket prices go down soon. How are those old cats at Jordan’s fantasy bball camp ask if Jordan can still dunk?! Remember when Kyle Kalis is coming to Michigan? Finally, and on a serious tip—feeling for members of the Bayview Community in SF.

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Flat battery

For those following the live blog yesterday-sorry for stopping before the end of the show! My phone died side stage and mid post. I'll do a full post about the weekend soon!

Sent from my iPhone

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Bruin continued!

Jawani girls are about to go up. Their new suits are beautiful and the ladies look pumped for their performance.

Amy is doing the intro/sher and her voice is absolutely amazing. Amazing energy, clean choreo and the crowd seemed to love them.

Aeg is up next. Waiting on side stage looking for them and just realized they are entering from the audience! They are wearing grills the glow. Yes, I just said that.

Formation changes are cray good. Dudes just grabbed the daangs with the saaps. Makes no sense now but the video will.

They just did a laser thing a la beyonce at the billboard awards.

Holy moly they just finished the dance by going into the audience and dancing in the aisles. They totally won this crowd over and are serious, serious condensers.

Sent from my iPhone

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Bruin!

Khalsa junction/apd collabo is up next. The energy in this place is insane! The guys are behind a prop with the kj logo and getting totally pumped up.

Mix started with a VoiceOver introducing the teams as the hometown heros. The guys are setting up the infamous truck. Saap intro and the crowd went nuts. Every single
Dancer is going full out and it's so
Obvious they are loving every single second of this

They just a two man tower in full
Choreography. Wowza.

They pulled in yaar anmulle and given the history of these teams, I might have a tear in my eye.

Three level tower at the end to seal the deal. They just won everyones hearts if not first place. Standing o from the crowd.

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Bruin, again!

Smd is up now killin em. Energy is crazy good and the crowd seems to be responding well. Like I said yesterday, the mix is fun. It sounds a little quiet back here but that might be because I'm off to the side. They just did the dougie, in case you were wondering. And now they are doing dhamaal to beyonces "run the world." their formations look a little crammed on stage but they are adjusting well. Crowd is giving them a great response.

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Bruin live post!

Hi all! I'm posting from side stage at bruin so
Please pardon the sloppy formatting!

So far: bruin committee performed and hyped up the audience! Bk went first and killed it. Violin player for the win. They were fun to watch-great energy and the crowd loved them.

Second up was the hpd/vdw collabo. Riculously good. I'm side stage so I can't see formations and details but from here, the performance was sick! I love watching these guys dance. Barbie is up now and brought out a dude dancer. They are the second team of the night to use the "choli ke pichhe" beat.

Stay tuned for more!

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