Chenine Cayetano's Blog

Hi All! This is my best of 2010 list. This isn’t a “hot list” based on trends. This is a list based on pure experience and nothing but. I hope you enjoy. I will roll out at least 2 more installments. I don’t want to inundate you with all this, because I want you to read and enjoy it. Let me know if you agree or disagree by leaving a comment. Thanks!

Best Music and Nightlife

Best Album: Ne-Yo’s LibraScale

Ne-Yo writes, produces, and obviously sings his own songs.  This year, he released the concept album that he had been dreaming of for years. Ne-Yo was always a fan of comic books. He loved to read them to escape reality and feel that he could have super human abilities in real life. As he grew up, he utilized his exceptional talents to develop a concept album that would grant his wish and make him a super hero. Through his lyrics and music videos, he tells a story of the predicament his super powers can give and how much more it can take away. Ne-Yo doesn’t stop here.  He had a mini comic book made to complete his concept to the fullest. This album is full of telling lyrics and smooth beats. The video sucks the viewer into Ne-Yo’s adventure of becoming a superhero, falling in love, and finding himself on the brink of losing everything. And now, time for shameless self promotion (this is my only plug on this blog)… check out  my interview with Ne-Yo about the making of LibraScale:

Best live set by DJ: Sven Vath (from Germany)

I’m going to be honest, I did not know who Sven Vath was until I saw him in Ibiza. Seeing, hearing, and most importantly feeling Sven Vath’s set, will always be a night to remember. He couldn’t miss a beat if he wanted to. Each song was irresistible. I couldn’t stop dancing. Actually, the whole club couldn’t stop dancing. I found out that I love Euro House that day. I like heavy and bouncy bass lines with hints of funk and hip hop.  Sven Vath had it all. Every track had equal intensity and flow. This guy ROCKS!

Best night club: Amnesia in Ibiza, Spain

I didn’t know that I was a novice to the party scene until I stepped foot into Amnesia nightclub.  I can honestly say that every other “party” I went to before hand was mere child’s play. O.M.G. was it a PARTY. Nothing was left out of  this awesome venue (except for smiling bartenders, they were all miserable for some reason). The lighting, the sound, the props the visuals, everything was top-notch inside Amnesia. No expense was spared.  The name of the night was Cocoon: Party Animals.  They intermittently changed go-go dancers with a person in a gorilla suit, in the name of being a party animal of course. I LOVED it!  Every night of the week there is a different theme, and a headlining DJ each night.  I was sad that I wasn’t in town for the foam party, but when you had a night like I did, one good night at Amnesia is all you need, but it will leave you wanting more.

http://www.amnesia.es/

Best Pirate party: Buccaneer Days, Two Harbors, Catalina

I went three years ago for the first time.  Now it is a must do tradition. If talking, dressing, eating, drinking, and sleeping like a pirate appeals to you, you will LOVE THIS. Shoot, even if you remotely like pirates, you will enjoy this. Everyone on the island is wearing their pirate garb.  Even a pirate at their worst looks good, because it is more authentic. You will encounter peg legs, parrots, and captains for sure. There is a rum drink, called “grog” that you will learn to love. It is an all day party on Friday and Saturday with live bands and a DJ. You can barbecue on the beach, at the camp site, or better yet, steal a dingy and pirate someone else’s feast while they dine in their boat. I did. It was a rip roaring good time!

This link doesn’t do it any justice, but here you go…

http://www.pubclub.com/losangeles/buccaneer.htm

Best Female Hip Hop Newcomer: Nicki Minaj

Quick disclaimer: I do not like much music on the radio these days. I miss real hip hop, which I believe happened in the 80-90’s (I.E. Tribe, Pharcyde, Fugees, Souls of Mischief, Diggable, etc). I think its “kind of a big deal” to find little remnants of hip hop on the radio still. This is probably the most main stream “best of” that you are going to get from me. <End of disclaimer>

Nicki Minaj did nothing for me at first.  Then I saw her video “Your Love”, I didn’t like the song, but noticed that she was cute. Then I heard her rap and I liked her delivery and distinct voice. Then I listened to her words, then I realized she could sing… then I realized, I LIKE Nicki Minaj. I am jaded by her attempt to be different, Lil Kim and Gaga already did the crazy wig and wardrobe thing. She doesn’t need all that to be different in my eyes. She has various styles that are unmistakable her own. She doesn’t need to be visual (like Rhianna, girl can’t sing but she is certainly easy on the eyes and fun to watch).  I think if I watch Nicki Minaj too much I may become irritated.  I don’t know much about her at the moment, but I enjoy her range. From what I can tell, she appears to be promising.

Best Male Hip Hop Newcomer: Drake

The fact the Drake wrote the song “Fancy” for me isn’t the only reason why I choose him. LOL, Kidding! But seriously, Drake has a distinct voice and has range in his delivery (I like some over others, but I enjoy all). The song “Find Your Love” is a deal sealer for sure… he can sing! I’m going to mention “Fancy” one more time. His lyrics are awesome, he pays attention to what some women for themselves. He gave a shout out to financially and emotionally secure women that have homes and an education. AMEN TO THAT. I find it incredibly sexy that he found a way to promote strong women with a dope, bass kicking beat.

After I decided on Nicki and Drake as my 2010 hip hop favorites…. a song with the both of them came on the radio. I was so happy! This song is legit. Drake has a little bit of a reggae feel at the beginning of his rhyme and Nicki has excellent delivery and sings very well.  Awesome lyrics too!

Hi Everyone!

Today is your lucky day! You have the opportunity to VOTE! Exercise the power that was given to you, simply for being an American! Do not take it for granted! Do not forget how long we have come since the 1800’s. Men of all ethnicities are free and counted as a full vote now, none of that three-fifths nonsense. Women, we play a enormous role in changing the vote, yet many of us remain disinterested. To everyone, if you do not have time to vote, get an absentee ballot for goodness sake. It doesn’t hurt to take 30 minutes out of your day to make an informed opinion about things that will affect you. You hear me you youngin’s? At the very least, pay attention to the commercials and read the fine print, so you know who funded the commercials.

Enthusiasm for the election shouldn’t be down because it is not the presidential election. Senate seats (aka “deciders” of the laws of the land) are at stake for goodness sake. This election will affect everyone, do not be lazy people! Now that the pep talk is out of the way, I decided to brush up on what other parties believe. I think it would be nice to step out side of the “red” or “blue” box”.  First people (including myself) must know the quick fundamentals of what other parties believe. They may be on to something. I agree, it seems like a “waste of a vote” if you vote under any party line besides Democrat and Republican, but if we change our way of thinking, fresh ideas can finally trickle from the bottom up, grassroots style!

Here is my quick synopsis of “other” parties.

Libertarian: I call them “to each their own” people. They believe in individual freedom, both socially and economically. People should be able to do what they want, as long as they don’t infringe on the property or rights of others. The government should limit its power, and focus on protecting individual rights. They are proponents of religious and moral relativism. Economically, they believe inequality is inevitable, so they promote free trade and free enterprise.

The Green Party: I call them the “quality of life” people. They believe in fairness, non-violence, and ecological wisdom. They promote grassroots democracy, believe that everyone should have the opportunity to benefit from the resources granted by the environment and democracy. Economically, they believe in decentralization of wealth in a more democratic and less bureaucratic system.

The Independent Party: I call the ”Constitution Protectors.” It sounds like they should be super heroes, huh? Libertarians are proud of the Constitution, because, “it is the only constitution based foremost upon the rights and liberties of a free and independent people who are superior to the government, having government as their servant rather than as their master.” They want to restore constitutional rights and reverse anything that is unconstitutional. They believe in high ethics and accountability for all levels of government. Economically, they want to minimize taxes and reduce the size and power of government. (I thought this last sentence was what the Republican believed, until they split off into different hierarchies of conservatives, i.e. Neo-cons).

Well I hope I enlightened at least one person today. I’m not advocating to jump ship on your party. I simply advocate awareness, understanding and appreciation for our right to vote. Now go!

Sources:

http://www.quebecoislibre.org/philo2.htm

http://www.gp.org/tenkey.shtml

http://www.usiap.org/Beliefs/Platform00Preamble.html

Hello everyone!

It is nice to be back! In all the “excitement” over the past few months (a euphemism for looooonnnnggg time ago), I never shared my “On the Scene” segments that I made! I was hoping to make more, but I became very, very sick in May and tragedy struck my family. I was not in the mood to share my videos or push myself at the time. So much happened and it became easy to put my blog and career on the back burner while gaining my health back, saving my house from this economic crisis, earning as much as I could, taking on a new job, and planning a huge event. However, the pay off was a 3-week holiday to Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. I may blog about that later. Sorry for going off on a tangent!

Regardless, I am happy to share this video. Some of you may have already viewed it. There were some lighting and sound errors during shooting (which, unfortunately, I discovered while uploading the video) but I edited the best I could.  After completing this project, I realized that I need more capital to keep “On the Scene” going. I have to pursue this again, when the time is right. I had a lot of fun producing this! A big thanks to Nida and Andre Taylor of Nida’s Boutiq Invitations in Laguna!

I have been missing in action, shamefully missing in action…. For many reasons. I seriously should write a book about my past 60 days. Either way, you wouldn’t believe me. Some really amazing and positive things happened to me in the past few months. Unfortunately, I have the juxtaposition of having the most darkest time in my life, which includes grieving, disappointment, sickness, working 60 hours a week, and consequently not being home and missing my friends and family so much. So much gain and so much loss happened in short period of time. It really knocked me out. I’m careful not to put too much about me in this blog, personal entries are for diaries. Yet I do want to express my intention of being more active on here.  I know that people were checking my blog on a regular basis, and I have disappointed them and now have to generate interest again. I apologize for my excessive delay. I will probably share some personal experiences on this blog soon. Please look out for it and thanks for keeping faith in me and for your interest in my blog.

Yesterday, on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, I watched the McVeigh Tapes documentary. I told myself that I would watch it later (thanks to my trusty DVR recorder), but I compelled to keep watching. Yesterday was the first time anyone heard Timothy McVeigh describe how and why he carried out the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building. The blast killed 168 and injured nearly 700 people.

Without going into too many details about McVeigh, here is a glimpse of his background. Raised in Buffalo, New York, McVeigh was an awkward teen that was bullied in high school. The only activity McVeigh enjoyed, was hunting with his grandfather. He joined the army and became highly respected, especially for his sharp shooting skills. McVeigh quit the Army after being promoted to sargeant. He was physically exhausted, was dealing with an intense personal debate about he felt about the government. He concluded the government was using him as a “pawn” that made him kill people. At that point, he no longer trusted them. He intended to get caught and receive the death penalty, it was his way of fulfilling his wish of government-assisted suicide.

The scary part is that McVeigh’s belief (in regard to not trusting the government and fearing his guns would be taken from him), is the same sentiment that is still echoed today by individuals, parties, and militias. The rise of various militia is astounding. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks activities of hate groups and domestic terrorists around America, found a 244% increase in the number of militia and other anti-government nationalist groups. That is 363 different groups in a single year.

Let’s consider our political landscape right now (on top the anti-government emotions that are at times exacerbated by the litany of natural disasters). Some opinion programs and politicians that are telling people “we want our country back”, “fight for your rights to own a gun”, “fight socialism”. I do not intend to pull the racist card, but I believe some of these people upset that our President is bi-racial. This causes many to adhere to any angry talking point that is popular at the time. People are emotional right now (rightfully so), and many politicians and special interests will do what they do best, play off of fears; because without fear, there is no control.

I mention this because the divisiveness that we are seeing today, can only breed more negativity toward each other and our government. The hostility toward our government is only getting worse, as evidenced by the numerous militia and various hate websites and images in regard to President Obama.  I am not against protest at all, in fact, I think it is a extraordinarily noble and brave act, provided the protestors are proponents for progress (I do not believe in violent protests or hate protests). However, the people that are advocating hatred against our government should think twice. You never know who the next Timothy McVeigh will be. Someone who hated our government so much, that he was willing to kill fellow Americans to prove his point. Fellow Americans are just as capable of destroying America as our government and enemies are.

So I deserve not only slap on the hand, but more of a slap in my face for not being a diligent blogger. To be honest, I wanted to blog the next day after the State of the Union address to tell everyone that I was far more impressed by Obama’s live Q&A with Republicans, than I was with his State of the Union address. However, I wanted people to read my blog on the State of the Union, so I left it alone… for a long time.

In the interim, I was toying with the idea of taking the blog in a new direction. I was afraid that my opinion of the political climate was detached from me on a personal level, and that maybe I should talk more about my personal experiences while I look for work. Then ambivalence came into play and I started to feel that doing so might convey an inflated sense of self-importance. You know, along the lines of Ashton Kutcher’s feat to have more followers on Twitter than CNN.

After a month of un-called for dormancy, it finally dawned on me…. It’s MY BLOG. I can write about what I want, when I want. I took advice from many people over the years, and all it did, was stretch me in many different directions. My fear in the past was to appear confused as to what it is I want to do as a broadcast journalist… but it not that I am confused… I am truly interested politics, pop culture, international news, fashion, food, and traveling. I shouldn’t feel pigeon holed to blog about one of the many things that I’m interested in, right? Were my previous posts a façade? Absolutely not, but they were somewhat careful and only about current events. I can’t please all news directors and all casting agents, so I’m just going to go with my instincts, it should make for a good read.

So here we go. Here are things I wanted to blog about earlier but didn’t. Behold the “backlog of blogs”. Read one, or read them all!