Water-n-Oxygen

Words: Maurice Pendarvis

Photos: Jorge Peniche

What got you interested in photography?

My interest in photography…well in all honestly, was nothing I planned on doing. It was not something I planned on as a profession. I’ve always been fascinated by the power of photography, not to the extent that I am today, but, it was always something that interested me. Anything that deals with imagery and visuals is something that I’ve always been interested in.

What is it about Los Angeles that inspires you as a photographer?

LA is an amazing place, for better or for worse. The majority of the people that live here, I’ve come to find out, through the last couple of years, they’re not from here. This is the land of hustle and bustle, and fake it ‘till you make it, and smoke and mirrors. But what inspires me or causes curiosity about LA, is everything. I mean, this is the land that gave birth to gang culture, hate it or love it; it was something that was born here in Los Angeles. LA has so many things, you have Hollywood, which some people think is very glamorous but when you actually go to Hollywood Blvd, its not so glamorous. You have people living out of their suitcase, trying to figure out what it is they’re trying to do, why they’re here, when they’re going back. LA, is just the Mecca of opportunities and the Mecca of missed opportunities.

Read the rest of The Chronicles article Here.

I know its a little early to start thinking about winter coats, but we came across this clean Cashmere Peacoat by Alexander McQueen. Every man needs a peacoat in there wardrobe and this will satisfy that very need. This peacoat is sure to be an attention grabber!!!! To invest in this coat for the upcoming season Click Here.

D.C.’s premier promotion and entertainment company, Beny Blaq Entertainment, will launch its first monthly poetry slam at Liv on July 21st. Every third Wednesday, poetry lovers can find Graffiti DC right in the center of U Street’s urban nightlife. The event will bring a slam competition to a city where spoken word is still a novelty.

On why he chose to do a slam event, Beny Blaq, CEO of BBE said, "I wanted to cover all aspects of the art form within the DMV.” After three years of success with The @ttic, D.C.’s biggest spoken word event, Blaq believes Graffiti DC “will take slam poetry to another level.”

If you don’t know what a poetry slam is, imagine young poets setting themselves apart from their peers with their performance, their visual expression and the lingering passion the audience feels when they finish speaking their heart out on the stage. At the end of it all, the winning poet receives a grand prize of $2,000.

Poets who have a healthy appetite for competition can use “Graffiti DC as a platform for the next generation of entertainers and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents through competition,” said Nyasha Chikowore, GDC Coordinator. “If anything, the series will encourage young people in the DMV to strive for greatness.”

ABOUT BBE: Beny Blaq Entertainment, LLC (BBE) is a DC based promotion company that provides a variety of entertainment, performing arts and networking events. We not only expose our patrons to a unique nightlife brand, but instill a greater appreciation for the arts in a comfortable and classy environment. For more information about BBE, visit www.benyblaqentertainment.com.

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For more information about Benyblaqentertainment.com, please contact Mercy Chikowore, Public Relations Consultant, Beny Blaq Entertainment, LLC at mercy@benyblaqentertainment.com or (803) 347-6905.

I had a spent a great weekend with my family a few weeks ago during the 4th of July holiday. This makes the third consecutive year that we have gathered at my cousin’s mini mansion in Northern VA. Her community is adjacent to a country club that does the most magnificent firework display and the HOA throws an amazing block party (I’m talking DJ, moon bounce, BBQ, tiki bar…). To me, this weekend is like the American Dream personified – celebrating the freedom of our nation and being surrounded by so many seemingly perfect families. Of course, no family is perfect however two successful parents, 2.5 adorable kids, and a luxury SUV & sedan in a two-car garaged all nestled into statuesque single family home in an affluent suburban cul-de-sac can often seem that way (I left out the manicured lawn, but you get the point).

After the fireworks, the women in my family sat around the fire-pit, drank mojitos, and listened to my cousin tell how her fiancé proposed to her on a gondola in Paris (or Venice… I forget, they went to both, can’t remem where the actually proposal took place, lol… anywho, how AWESOME is that!). Near the end of the story, we start to hear some screaming which we first assume is coming from the kids in the basement. Then one of my cousins signals all of us to stop talking and points across the backyard to a neighbor’s house. At this point we all hear a blood-curdling scream followed by:

I HATE YOU!!!... How could you do this to me?!?!... In front of my family, you
embarrassed me in front of my family!!!... You said you would never cheat!!!...
It’s OVER!!!

Well damn.

Of course, we all know that money cannot buy you love or happiness and we are all one jumpoff away from having our lives turned upside down by infidelity [INSERT TIGER WOODS JOKE] but this was truly a sad sight. On the outside, these people seemed to have so much, but inside, a marriage was falling apart. After hearing my cousin’s story about her proposal (and downing quite a few mojitos) I was sure that I was going to dream a fairytale that night but this episode really bought me back to reality.

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?

She Hate Me is definitely one of my favorite movies ever, and with Dania Ramirez recently guest starring on Entourage I had to break this DVD out! Besides I get to see my beautiful future wife Kerry Washington... Who wouldn't want to start their Monday off with that!! Shout out to my big brother Q for putting me on to this gem!

The Hundreds have blessed us with a few looks from their Fall 2010 Collection and the clothes are dope as usual! Definitely like the photography as well! WNO definitely needs a few of those sweatshirts added to our collection...! Check out more on Here

Other than occasionally announcing my current celeb crush, I really have no desire to blog about celebs. I am a self-proclaimed blog junkie and read 90% of the top gossip blogs daily. And while I do somewhat envy the pseudo-celeb status that gossip bloggers like Perez Hilton and Necole Bitchie (who is my BFF in my head **in my Wendy Williams’ voice**) have achieved, I can honestly say that gossip/celeb blogging is an arena CallMeKarrie prefers to stay away from…

HOWEVER, WTF is going on with The Dream & Christina Milian??? Messy, messy, messy!!! So Dream & C. Mili are def not the first couple to have a public separation. Hell, their separation isn’t even the most dramatic or entertaining but it does elicit an endless slew of side-eyes and SMHs.

Since I’m not in the business of gossiping, albeit lucrative, I’ll present the “facts” as I understand them:

· They eloped in Sept 2009
· They had a formal ceremony & honeymoon in Dec 2009
· Baby Violet was born Feb 2010 (which means Christina was pregnant when they eloped)
· We haven't seen any pics of Dream & Christina since she had the baby (they said it was because she lived in LA & he was in ATL working on the album)
· Pics (that were taken recently) came out this week of Dream bunned up in the Carribean w/his assistant
· After the pics leaked, Dream released a statement saying that he & Christina had been separated since late last year (IDK how that happens considering they got married late last year, LOL)

Some bloggers have called Mr. & Mrs. Nash out, deeming this whole fiasco as one big publicity stunt. While I do believe Christina may have known about the affair long before the pics came out (woman’s intuition) and decided to turn a blind-eye knowing she would be the benefactor once the sh*t hit the fan, I do not believe she is a co-conspirator. And while the beach pics w/the assistant do look staged, I can’t for the life of me understand how anyone, including Dream, would think this would help him sell albums.

As far as the statement Dream made about them being separated since 2009, he’s just campaigning for an annulment instead of divorce because there is NO PRENUP! His albums do ok (I guess) but he also wrote Billboard hits such as Umbrella for Rihanna and Single Ladies for Beyonce so Christina will hit the divorce jackpot. Elin Woods. (shoutout to the guys @ verysmartbrothers.com who inspired that Drakeism)
Somehow I don’t think this is what Beyonce had in mind when she said “you can be my sweet Dream or a beautiful nightmare” because you Mr. Nash are NEITHER!

As hard as it was for me to watch the actual special and hear the bad news for my beloved Cavs, I'm glad someone was able to shed some humor on the situation. Enjoy!