COURTSIDE JONES n. – a person infected with basketball fever: common symptoms include heckling players, referring to your favorite team as WE and/or naming your first born Jordan. ORIGIN – 20th century hardwoods across the cities of America
Growing up in NYC it was practically impossible not to be infected with a basketball jones. Before long, my full-time job with my 5 man team was to take any basketball court hostage for the day – winners play on, losers get next. On the playground, we would attempt to jump like Dr. J, shoot like Larry Bird, pass like Magic Johnson and finger roll like Ice Gervin.
However, shortly after elementary school I realized my basketball skill set had a glass ceiling. Still, I wanted my basketball dreams to become reality. Whether that meant being a coach, an announcer or sitting courtside like Jack Nicholson and Spike Lee, I knew I wanted to be involved with the game of basketball.
Courtside Jones is the culmination of a kids dream, numerous NBA relationships and these players’ desire to share stories with the global fans one on one.
Courtside Jones presents an uncensored and candid look inside the lives of NBA Hall of Famers, All-Stars and numerous unsung heroes. Presented in High Definition (HD) and formatted exclusively for the Internet, Courtside Jones offers personal testimonials and real stories from regrets to glories. It’s a basketball history lesson for all generations, told from the mouths of the sport’s legends.
For additional information on any featured player, visit NBA.com
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“It’s been a long time/ I shouldn’t have left you/ without a strong post to step too.”
Recently, I had the honor of collaborating with a great film cinematographer, Derek Van Gorder, in NYC for an upcoming project. During some free time from serious business we shot a promo for the TAO of TALANI in HD. The music score was composed by the INCREDIBLE horns of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (www.hypnoticbrass.net), who you currently hear all over the new Maxwell single “Pretty Wings”. Their New York City Live album should be next to your Sade, Marvin, Rakim, etc… I hope everyone enjoys!
Quick note – In the record store frame I was actually looking for the original “OFF THE WALL” album by Michael Jackson and they didn’t have it. How can a “CLASSIC RECORD STORE” not have OFF THE WALL? Impossible!
Leave your feedback on the New TAO of TALANI promo.
The effects of job security on the King of the Jungle.
As a lion, you eat what you kill in the jungle! A lion has no medical benefits, holidays or pension plans, a full time predator – 24/7. Simply, if it doesn’t catch it’s prey, it doesn’t eat. A lion instinctively understands very young that he has to master his attack, as power alone is not sufficient. In order to have a high success rate, the lion incorporates finesse, cunning and determination. How much more effective would you be if your life depended on your success? I would bet the bank that in a short period of time you would master your discipline. (more…)
Recently, I did a photo shoot with the star of LAW & ORDER (NBC) – Anthony Anderson. I’ll share the why details in a later post. By chance you’re not a fan of TV, his big screen resume includes Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed”, “Kangaroo Jack”, “Hustle and Flow” and “Me, Myself and Irene” to name a few.
Behind the scenes, I have been fascinated that the star of the soon to be longest running TV series of All-Time was embarking on an independent grassroots Internet series. Why not simply collect his weekly monopoly money and be content? I soon discovered Anthony Anderson is unique. Due to the rapid evolution of the Internet, major Hollywood studios are scrambling to design Internet specific entertainment. Keeping his ear to the pavement Anthony Anderson and his partner Royale Watkins created MIXTAPE COMEDY - defined by fans as the (more…)
The best diet on earth is the Raw Living Food diet which was created for humans. As usual, man’s god complex instructed him to improve upon the divine order of nature and add some fire to the process. For the record I’m a guilty participant. From the womb I’ve been eating cooked and processed foods. I love a Ruth Chris steak or a sugar loaded McD’s Apple Pie like everyone else. However, with more wisdom I’ve seen the error of my ways and of our modern ancestors. The cooked food diet, consisting of blood and starch is the single most destructive diet.
We all know the remedy but it’s very difficult to change the rules in the 9th inning. Adopting a Raw Living Food Diet is difficult because psychological attachments to cooked foods run so deep. Often unsubstantiated beliefs promote myths as facts which advocates to a path high speed to dis-ease. For example, NO animal allows other animals to feed their young, so why do humans feed our children Cow’s milk? (more…)
Whenever I find myself off balance, I have to go back to my fundamentals – jazz and books. Reading was strongly emphasized by my elders as a youth; I wasn’t ready to receive this knowledge until years later. As embarrassing as it sounds today, I never read a book for leisure until my senior year of high school. After reading The Autobiography of Malcolm Xby Alex Haley, I began to religiously cheat on my first love – music.
Over the years, I developed the habit of reading 1 hour daily for education or leisure. Through the power of words I have journeyed to exotic places I have never physically visited. I had the luxury to be taught in a one-on-one class by some of the greatest minds ever to exist: Imhotep, Socrates, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, The Dogon, Henry Hazlitt… In addition, I witnessed first hand the numerous abominations committed upon the oppressed and voiceless people all over the world. (more…)
If you had 60 seconds with Bill Gates could you leave a positive impression?
During my years in Sports and Entertainment, I witnessed many careers take flight based on brief unexpected encounters with movers and shakers. Also known as The Elevator Pitch. These pivotal moments could propel you from obscurity to a major player, instantly.
For a simplified understanding, I equate this event to a man approaching a woman. As all men should know, you can’t sway sleeping beauty just because you have the courage to advance. If you walk up to a lady with the wrong combination of nouns, verbs and adjectives, you will soon be waving the white flag. To give yourself a chance, you have to compound your approach with finesse or passion. (more…)
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Benjamin Taylor of the THIRD PIG blog. (Benjamin is also the President of Brick Financial Management, LLC)
“Everybody Ought to be Rich” was an article published in August 1929, just before the beginning of the Great Depression in the Ladies’ Home Journal by John Jakob Raskob. Raskob, a wealthy financier at the time, believed in the stock market as a viable means of wealth creation for everyone. However, the article is often seen as an example of irrational exuberance due primarily to the unfortunate timing of its publication.
This does not mean that Rasko was wrong in his declaration. The truth of the matter is that everyone ought to be rich, but not everyone will be rich. Becoming rich requires a level of persistence that few people seem to possess. Becoming rich, as Raskob implies, is not a matter of business genius but a matter of disciplined saving in performing asset classes, namely the stocks of high quality companies. (more…)
Do you know the difference between a CELEBRITY and a HERO? Well, we recognize a celebrity as someone who is well-known, someone who commands a high degree of public attention. But a HERO, on the other hand, is a person whom we admire for their courage and noble qualities. These individuals have risked and sacrificed everything for the benefit of others. One such modern hero is Dr. Muhammad Yunus. (more…)
Often people attempt to achieve goals without having a specific plan of attack. For example, if you catch a taxi it would be impossible to reach your destination without sharing the city and street. As detailed as you are giving directions to others, you have to be as thorough with instructing yourself. Before you design your ideal life, increase your effectiveness by first visualizing your ideal day.
The power of writing our goals and dreams helps manifest them into reality expeditiously. Here’s a productive visualization exercise, I call “24“. (more…)
