Original King of comedy

Who wears the crown?

Comedy is magic. It has the power to change moods, to heal and even save lives. But who is the best at it? Someone once said, "comedy is all in the delivery," and it's true! Surprising your audience creates a greater effect when it comes to humor. The popular sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" does an excellent job at it.

They've produced more stars than any other comedy show. With talents like Adam Sandler, Jimmy Fallon, Mike Myers, and Chris Rock, it's no wonder why the show is so popular. But out of all actors, past or current, the most successful comedian has to be Eddie Murphy.

Playing notable characters on SNL like "Mr. Robinson", "Buckwheat" and "Gumby", he can be accredited for bring the show back to popularity in the early 80's. While on his rise to fame, at age 22 he released his first stand up film "Delirious" to great success. It became an instant classic and continues to set the bar for comedians to this day. It was followed up by the film "Raw" which also received good reviews.

Buckwheat

Mr. Robinson & Mr. T

Apart from stand-up, Eddie Murphy has made himself a household name by staring in over 40 films dating back to the 80's. And as if movies weren't enough, the well established actor tried his hand at music. Working with big names like Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summers he released two hit singles "Party All the Time" and  "Put Your Mouth on Me".

Eddie will always be remembered for his humor. Whether it be for his stand-up, or his acting in a film. No one will forget such beloved characters like "Donkey", Prince Akeem, Dr. Dolittle, or any of the characters he played in "The Nutty Professor". However, what I will always remember him for, is his ability to successfully transcend comedy to a mainstream audience and pave the way for future comedians. And THAT is why he is the greatest comedian.

Here is my favourite Eddie Murphy moment<<<<<<<<. Let me know what you think. (Warning Parental Advisory)

Holiday Shopping Survival Guide

Holiday shopping can be a very stressful and hectic activity!

Having witnessed last year's holiday shopping mayhem first hand, as a sales associate at Forever 21, the second busiest store in the busiest mall in Toronto (the Eaton Centre), I  can safely say that I will be better prepared for this holiday shopping season.

With the recent passing of black friday, the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season, and infamous for hectic shopping conditions, (see below video) I thought I would recommend five things to remember in order to help you survive this year's holiday shopping madness!

1) Start your shopping as early as possible!

The closer to Christmas, the busier the stores get. Even the morning of Christmas Eve when one would assume most people would be at home getting ready to host relatives for dinner, I witnessed countless last minute shoppers scrambling for seasonal fashion finds.

2) Pay attention to holiday return policies!

I couldn't count the amount of times I stated our store's special holiday return policy while working cash, only to have the customer absentmindedly nod. It is these customers that have to deal with the ordeal of missing refund deadlines and not qualifying for refunds or exchanges. Make sure you're not one of those people, by listening, or asking about a store's holiday policies.

3) If you see something, grab it. It won't be there tomorrow!

Things often sell out within a day during holiday shopping time. Many times I had customers ask me where they can find a shirt that they saw the day before, only for me to tell them we sold out. If you are contemplating making a purchase, the safe bet is to buy it. You can always return or exchange it later.

4) Have an idea of what you are looking for before you go!

A lot of time can be wasted by wandering through stores and battling mobs of holiday shoppers, all while hoping a deal catches your attention. It can be much more efficient to set a game plan (maybe write a list) before you set out to complete your shopping.

5) Dont ask store employees if they think something will make a good gift!

"No I don't know if your niece would like that skirt ma'am, because I have no idea who your niece is and therefore no idea what she likes" is what I would have liked to have said many times during last year's holiday shopping fiesta. Only you know who you are buying for, so go with your instinct. I would not recommend asking the advice of a 19 year old trying to make commission.

I hope these tips help ease your shopping stress. Do you have any additional tips that could help others survive the holiday shopping rush?

How to kick that chocolate craving

 

Now every woman, and the occasional man, love chocolate. Whether it comes boxed, wrapped in tinfoil or even on a stick, there’s something about chocolate that is completely irresistible.

If you’re a complete chocoholic like myself, then fighting off the urge to polish off that bag of m&m’s can become a real struggle! To tell you the truth I can’t even tell you what it is about chocolate that makes it so delicious!

However, since my addiction has gotten a little out of hand, I have picked up a few tips and tricks to help settle those cravings.

Here are my 5 tips:

1.    The truth is, if you don’t buy it then you can’t eat it. Plain and simple!

2.    Wait it out

Give yourself 10 to 20 minutes before caving into a chocolate craving. If, after that time has elapsed, you are still having the craving then have a small piece of chocolate

(I find a couple chocolate chips or a piece of dark chocolate fixes the craving nicely).

Usually if you allow yourself this period before giving into a craving, you will find that after the waiting period your chocolate craving has diminished significantly or even disappeared.

3.   Stop Craving Chocolate by Eating Something Spicy

You can trick your taste buds by eating something that's completely the opposite of what you're craving. A super spicy snack will calm down the chocolate obsession and also help increase circulation and alter how you feel just long enough to conquer the chocolate craving.

4.    Eat Smaller Portions

A tiny portion of pure dark chocolate can keep your sweet tooth under control. Many people think they're craving sweet chocolate, when a piece of slightly bitter dark chocolate will be just as rewarding and also keep you from wanting more.

Here is a list of craving killer chocolate bars:
www.marksdailyapple.com/the-5-best-dark-chocolate-bars-in-the-world/#axzz2D0F5cEIh

5.     What your body really wants

 Whenever you get the craving for chocolate, it means your missing something from your diet. Your body needs magnesium ("macromineral," which means that our `food must provide us with hundreds of milligrams of magnesium every day)
Try eating a tiny handful of almonds, nuts and seeds, and fruits to substitute your craving.


Ladies and gentlemen I hoped this helped, let me know what you think! Good luck with these substitutes!

Tips Your Nail Salon Doesn’t Want You To Know

Tips Your Nail Salon Doesn’t Want You To Know

                                                                                                              By: Tiffany Van

Dressing nicely in a professional field is not the only thing you should consider. The appearance of your nails draws attentions whether it’s your nasty cuticles, uneven nails or chipped nail polish it should always be maintained. Pampering and maintain yourself becomes costly at the nail salon as prices often rack up from $10 to $100, which does not include tip. As a nail technician I have learned tricks, tips and have taught myself ways to do my own nails without paying the price.

Dominant Hand Vs. Least Dominant Hand:

Practicing with your least dominant hand is an obvious way that will get you better. I am right handed so I use my left hand first to start my manicure because it takes longer and it allows the polish to dry as I finish off the manicure with my right hand.

Trimming:

Your nail bed is a basic guideline of what shape and length of your nails but of course everyone has different preferences.  Keeping the length of your nail is always difficult because overtime they soften by daily activity. Trimming your nails includes filing and buffing which also creates a clean slate for the nail polish to last longer.

Nail Polish:

There are several of brands of nail polish but the most popular and commonly found in nail salons are OPI and China Glaze. The quality of the nail polishes are commonly compared to each other but the service of the nail technician should be considered because the way you paint the polish plays a huge role in the life span of your manicure.

 

 

 

Chipped Nails:

You may think there is no harm in picking off the nail polish that is already chipped but that is not the case. This lazy method of removing nail polish causes the nails to weaken as you’re also taking off the top layer of your nails. Always use nail polish remover!

 

 

 

 

Here is a link that answers common questions about a nail salon:

http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/nail-salon-secrets

 

 

How do you feel about spending money to maintain your nails?

 

 

 

 

By: Priscilla Tachie

How to choose a blog topic blog

If your are anything like me you are indecisive,picky and uncertain when  it comes to picking topics to blog about. It isn't like we don't have the desire to blog, its just that we want to blog about something interesting and relate-able to our audience. We just have trouble figuring out what we want to blog about.

Before coming up with idea for this blog i tried many different methods of trying to choose a topics for example:   

• i tried googleing popular blog topics and i came up with a list of 81 different blog topics on this website http://thinktraffic.net/81-blog-topic-ideas
•   i asked twitter but that wasn't helpful at all
• i asked some of my friends and the common answer i seemed to get was "blog about what you know"
• "blog about what interests you,"they said. 
• "blog about a hobby you enjoy" they said.

I still had no incite to what i wanted to blog about. I couldn't come up with a single thing that interested me or a single hobby i enjoyed doing or anything that i already "knew". 

And then it hit me...

Why not make a blog about how much of a struggle comming up with a blog topic can be.

There are many helpful websites and links that can be used to inspire blog ideas. 

such as:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/finding-blog-post-ideas/
http://thinktraffic.net/81-blog-topic-ideas
http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/BlogPostIdeas.htm

The Greatest of All Time

Who is the greatest?

I love music. It's one of my favourite hobbies. So I was a little surprised one day when I was on a forum and the question was asked, "who's the greatest rapper of all time?"

I saw responses like "Biggie!" or "Pac!" somebody even said "Eminem!" But in my humble and honest opinion, the greatest to ever do it should be one person, and it shouldn't even be close.

There has only been a handful of rappers to survive the sands of time. One rapper in particular has been able to cross genres, expand their audience, and pave the way for future generations. And that person my friends, is Jay-Z.

To be around during THE most controversial era in music, thrive, and still be around is a thing of legend. Blazing the trail for future artists to follow, Jay-Z has carved his name in the history books time and time again. With over 50 million albums sold worldwide, 14 Grammy's, and countless other awards and nominations, people don't have to like him, but they 'can't knock the hustle'.

Collaborating with plenty big name talents like, Nas, Eminem, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Linkin Park and The Notorious B.I.G, no one has been able to tell their story quite like Jay-Z. From humble beginnings to his meteoric rise to fame, Jay-Z embodies everything it means to be an icon. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with eleven.

While other musical icons have been marred in scandal, Jay-Z has stayed relatively clean. And it is because of this fact, I hold him in the highest regards, as you should.

Without him there would be no Drake, no Rick Ross, no lil Wayne, or T.I. and the world would still be listening to boy bands. But apart from it all, the real reason why he will go down as the greatest rapper of all time is because not only is he a class act, but he married Beyoncé, had a baby girl (named Blue Ivy Carter) and discovered Rihanna! Who are we kidding here?

Feel free to disagree, but comment and let me know who YOU think is the greatest rapper of all time.

Please enjoy this two part Jay-Z compilation (parental advisory)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxI4hEEeWyU&feature=plcp (part one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phaNjajne14&feature=plcp (part two)

The UK takes us to another realm

The UK takes us to another realm

An artist that I was introduced to a couple months ago, Lianne La Havas, an English folk and soul singer, pretty much captured my heart though her music. When first introduced to her music I heard the charm in her voice and saw the newness of her smile. She took her time to talk with us (her listeners), to help us understand her. Little did we know, we took her music with us.

Signed to Warner Bros. Records, she is in the process of working on her debut album, which will be released sometime this year. Back in October 2011, she released her EP album, Lost & Found, along with her single, Forget, which is apart of her newly released album, Is Your Love Big Enough? I’m simply amazed with the work she’s completed already. I’ve been following her blog religiously and from what I’ve seen she has created an enormous fan base already. She can definitely count me in as one of her ‘fans’

Lianne La Havas rises to our attention with a brilliant tune called “No Room For Doubt”. It consists of a live set up drums and keys. Her voice definitely carries the songs. Lianne La Havas’ floral vocals flutter towards your eardrums, captures your imagination, and transports you gently into a whole different world. In this world, there will be no technology, no distractions – just Lianne La Havas, her beautiful voice and her humble acoustic guitar. There are two versions to this song- one including Willy Mason and one with herself alone. The version I chose to reveal to you is the one with Lianne herself. I chose this song, firstly because I enjoyed the flow of the lyrics as well as the instruments. Secondly, it simply related to me. Within her lyrics, you feel a sense of confusion, love, accusations, but also regret.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Lianne seems to portray some sort of hurt. Maybe experienced a horrible relationship in the past. The individual she speaks of, may have hurt her continuously, and now that she, herself has fallen under that same spell of hurting her loved one, she cant help but feel guilty and responsible for her actions, but she also blames her loved one on that fact that she may have messed up, but you messed up as well. “We all make mistakes, we do. I learnt from you”.

With that being said she may confess to hurting them, but in a way tries to throw some sort of ownership of her actions onto them.  She seems to go through a range of emotions. She goes onto say that maybe by her becoming solo, “single” it may solve the greater issue between them. Her guilt has her running away from the relationship. The lyrics and instruments together send us into a stream of thoughts. In my opinion, she may have done something ruthless, but the composition of instruments almost tells you that it’s okay; you’ll get through this. It is an almost calming and forgiving composition. Overall, I enjoyed Lianne’s song. It most definitely captured my imagination, and transported me gently into a whole different world.

Be sure to check out her new video, Forget, you will not be disappointed. Lianne helps us carry this sort of charm, comfort and smile hidden behind the sadness. This loveliness.

Connect with Lianne

Twitter: @Liannelahavas

Facebook: LianneLaHavas

Youtube: LianneLahavas

Source(s) of Photos: AnotherMag JBX UK  Your Music Radar

Meisha Kerr