elizabeth taylor: 2.27.32 - 3.23.11.

"when people say, 'she's got everything',

i've got one answer - i haven't had tomorrow."
-elizabeth taylor

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and i still love tupac.

14 years ago today, i was sitting in my college room watching mtv when i heard that tupac had died. i was crushed.

i truly miss dude's passion, sincerity and rawness. i'd love to know what he'd be saying about the state of the world today. and while there have been so many so-called thug impersonators the only rapper to even remotely remind me of pac's spirit has been kanye.

check him out alongside ice-t on saturday night live in the early 90s. they're singing barbara streisand's you don't bring me flowers. funny!

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aaliyah: one in a million.

wow. it's been 9 years today since the tragic plane accident that took aaliyah's and her entourage's lives. good music lives on ... 1997's one in a million ...

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old school trend: swatch watches.

raise your hands (and make em' stay there :) if you were rocking a swatch back in the 80s! what! anybody who was somebody had a swatch watch.

after reading that the founder of the swiss product, nicholas hayek, passed away on monday at the age of 82, i got very reminiscent of this old school trend.

a swatch wasn't just any watch. born in 1983, it was fun and vinyl. bold colors and designs made it recognizable from across the room. the watch head was interchangeable so everyone's looked a bit different.

ok so you remember the watch. but who remembers the swatch guard? yup. this accessory sent parents everywhere running back to the store to buy the ultra-cool and very necessary watch head cover. they were multi-colored, rubber band strips. and if you were fancy, you'd twist a couple of them together for unique look.

i have another one for you. who remembers the swatch wall clock? it was designed as a wall-sized version of the actual swatch. mine was yellow and black and hung right alongside my bed. ahh, the memories.

(i don't remember mine being quite this big)

sgb has about 10 old school, original swatches that will be available for retail once we re-emerge. stay tuned.

and rest peacefully, mr. hayek.

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has it really been a year?

older folks know where they were when mlk and kennedy were assassinated. we know where we were when pac, big and mj passed. i was with my mom on my way to pier 1 imports to do shopping for the wedding when i heard about mj. the radio was playing all his music and then the dj announced that he had been rushed to the hospital. it was surreal. you couldn't find a fb status that wasn't mj related that afternoon. crazy.

big nose, skinny nose, brown skin, white skin, afro, jheri curl, perm, mj is and will always be the best!

watch dirty diana ...

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happy birthday tupac.

"june one six seven one, the day, mama pushed me out the womb told me get paid."

moment of silence for one of the best who ever did it. yes, i'm still kinda crazy over pac. not quite as crazy as when i was in high school and had his pictures all over my wall. or when i won front row tickets from power 99 to go see him at the dell east and then got teary-eyed when they cancelled the concert. but still a fan. pac would have turned 39 today. he's thoroughly missed. i was about to post to live and die in la today but then realized i posted that video last year on this day. so here's another one off 1996's the don killuminati: the 7 day theory cd, toss it up. his buddies jodeci are also in the video. check it:

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farewell to another golden girl.

before there was sex and the city and girlfriends, there was the golden girls, a mid 80s to early 90s sitcom about 4 seasoned women with 4 different personalities who shared a miami home. rue mclanahan aka blanche devereaux owned her role. let's see, she'd be the equivalent to samantha from satc - fiesty and sex-crazed.

who didn't love the golden girls theme song ... thank you for being a friend, travel down the road and back again, your heart is true ... ok. i'll stop singing.

mclanahan passed from a massive stroke today. she was 76. betty white is the remaining golden girl - bea arthur passed last year and estelle getty in 08.

throwback: lil benny with the rockers.

i didn't grow up in either dc, md or va so i can't claim to know much about lil benny like my hubby does. i came to school in md in '95 and it took me a few years before i could even get down with go go. on my way home from church today, they announced his passing on the radio and i could hear the shock in everyone's voice. i told my hubby and he too is shocked. so i know lil benny had mad impact in the world of go go, to say the least.
i youtube'd him and pulled up this video and immediately recognized his voice. here he is with the rockers for all my go go heads ...


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farewell gary coleman.

wha'chu talking bout?

gary coleman (42), the childhood actor who will always be known as the cute kid with the chubby cheeks from diff'rent strokes, died today after being taken off life support. he suffered a brain hemorrhage yesterday after falling. he was so troubled. you could see it in his face and in his actions. glad he's in perfect peace now.

i hope they play a diff'rent strokes marathon all weekend long.

classic episodes: arnold jackson on the set of the knight rider and with mr. t.

"i'll rely on bedstuy to shut it down if i die."

happy birthday to one of the, if not the, greatest of all time.

biggie would have been 38 today.

the radio showed much love for him today. i swear his songs sound

like they were just written yesterday.

farewell, ms. lena horne.

“it's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”

-lena horne

singer. actress. dancer. legend.

1917-2010

mass appeal.

1994 dj premiere and guru better known as gang starr. r.i.p. guru.

the g.o.a.t. died on march 9th.

yes, cannibus. i think i agree. hard to believe it's been 13 years. wow. biggie is sorely missed. gone too soon and the topic in every barber shop, street corner, or music forum - what would the rap game be like if he was still here?
one more chance is a hip hop classic. this video has mad cameos (gotta love how total slide in to the party jamming and d-nice spiking the punch bowl) - count them. and am i the only one who wishes i was there. this video looks like the party of the year - am i lying?
one more chance ... 1994 ... brooklyn's finest, biggie ...

alexander mcqueen dies at age 40.

wow. click here for the full story.

rock the boat.

aalyah would have been 31 today.

come go with me.

peacefully rest, teddy p. the sensual crooner ...

farewell, ms. eunice johnson.

maybe my blogging rights should be revoked because i'm a week late on this. pardon me.

eunice johnson passed away last sunday at the age of 93. co-founder of ebony magazine (which she started with her husband, john johnson who passed in '05) she was the creator of the ebony fashion fair, a yearly country-wide fashion tour that helped give exposure to black designers and models and raised a lot of money for many civil rights efforts. she was also one of the first to market cosmetics for black women through her line - fashion fair cosmetics.

ms. johnson with yves saint laurent

rolling with the homies.

peacefully rest, brittany murphy. here's one of my favorite scenes of hers from one of my favorites movies, clueless ...

happy birthday, mj.

try again.

hard to believe it's been 8 years today since aaliyah's been gone. she was in a class of her own. here's one of my favorites from the romeo must die soundtrack ... try again: