Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Someday Soon Sweet Samba“

Vo Thien Thanh’s “Uoc Gi” vs. Jim Brickman’s “Night Prayer.”

James Surowiecki from the New Yorker wrote an excellent piece on how the overload of “Feature Presentation” makes a product less usable and how consumers are willing to pay extra for more options but ending up returning the product quickly. A good product should do what you need and nothing you do.

It’s about time the jazz freak from Seattle is plugging Tuan Ngoc. You’ll probably love to hear that neither his rendition of “Ghen” nor “Amor” swings me. His delivery is passable, but Asia’s arrangement fails me on both tracks. Now if you want some decent swing, Duc Tuan’s version of “Ghen” is a much better choice. Swing on, dude!

I was planning on taking Samantha and Eric to see Shrek the Third this Memorial weekend, but is this kind of animated film still made for kids? In a review of Shrek from the New Yorker, David Denby writes, “The ‘Shrek’ movies are funny, but the wised-up style of the comedy—the Hollywood put-ons and inside gags—has sour roots, and, after a while, the industry jokiness becomes a little nauseating.”

The last time I was home with the kids, I dropped my book while reading when I heard Samantha sang something. I asked her what she just sang, she repeated, “Let’s talk about egg, baby.” I thought I heard she was singing Salt N Peppa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex.” I asked her where she heard that song from and she said Happy Feet. They substituted the word that is pretty darn close for the kids to sing along. Now that is nauseating.

R. Kelly’s “Rise Up,” a tribute to Virginia Tech. Although the song doesn’t sit well with the rest of the tracks on Double Up, it does show a different angle of him.

Samantha and Eric are back. If you don’t see them, refresh your browser.

Typographic design and illustration by Craig Ward.

The leftovers from Doctor’s Advocate produced by Dre:

“My Bitch“
“Beautiful Life“
“Murda“
“Still Me“
“Won’t Stop“

Snooks Eaglin throws some sleek, sizzling licks on “Kiss of Fire” with his electric guitar. The tune is taken from his savory Out of Nowhere.