In Honor of Social Media Day...Follow Me

Since today is Social Media Day 2011, I'd like to plug my forays into the genre.

Facebook: If you haven't yet, please "Like" my Grown People Talking Facebook page. I often post useful links and news bits there. www.facebook.com/GrownPeopleTalking

YouTube: When I occasionally shoot a video of something I've seen while I'm out somewhere, I upload it there. www.youtube.com/GrownPeopleTalking

Twitter: People often ask me why I don't have a Twitter account or tell me reasons why I should, but I've yet to be convinced.

Blog: Dusk Till Dawn is the nightlife blog I've written for Charlotte magazine since last December. It's a good place for you to find out about cool local bars, nightclubs, and parties. Also, you'll notice that the top of this blog features links to my most recent DTD blog posts. www.charlottemagazine.com/Blogs/Dusk-Till-Dawn

Blog: Grown People Talking is this blog, which I started in April 2008, that provides, I hope, "insightful and entertaining commentary about life in and around Charlotte." Also, if you look over to the right column on this blog, you'll find a couple of tools that give additional ways to follow GPT. You can enter your email address to subscribe to receive blog posts by email, powered by FeedBurner. And scroll down the right column a little more and you can click to follow using Google Friend Connect. www.grownpeopletalking.com

If you'd like a statistical account of how prevalent social media has become in our lives, read this list of social media records compiled by Guinness World Records.

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'Men Who Care' Want to Save Our Youth

A new organization and community effort has stepped up to address a problem that has become far too prevalent in Charlotte (as in many other cities and towns across the country): too many misguided/unguided, young black males. Men Who Care Global has recently launched, and in response to the violence and uncivil disobedience that occurred on the Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend in Uptown Charlotte, they're rallying around the upcoming Fourth of July celebration.

If you aren't familiar with what took place exactly one month ago today, seventy people were arrested in Uptown the night of May 28, mostly young black males, and even worse--a 22-year-old was shot and killed ("Tension rose for hours before melee, police say"). Some have blasted the media for their portrayal of the incident, saying that the published stories and newscasts exaggerated the level of chaos that actually took place. I say, if your focus is on how the media covered it, you're partly the reason we as a society can't solve our most troubling issues. I don't shoot the messenger, because we have too many actual shooters, too much gang activity, too much drug-dealing, too much violence in the black community and not enough people willing to do anything about it.

Looks like Men Who Care, whose mission is to "positively intervene in the lives of young African-American males through spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and financial knowledge transfer..." is attempting to do something about it.

The organization is trying to pull together 1,000 black men who'll be a positive presence in Uptown on July 4. Organizers say they're doing this because they recognize that "adult male presence where young people congregate is a deterrent to disorderly behavior." And in describing the objectives of Men Who Care, they state: "We believe that men are the problem; we believe men are the solution."

Amen.

Anyone who knows me personally knows I don't mince words when it comes to this topic. Aside from my mentoring of youth, I try to support positive causes whenever I can, including often on this blog. A couple of weeks ago, I vented my frustration on Facebook: "I'm still waiting on the Facebook pages and Twitter hashtags... Or did I miss them?"

The Men Who Care website has recently gone up at www.mwcglobal.org, and I'm presuming more content will be added soon. They're holding a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, June 29) at 11:30 a.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St. And a prep-session is scheduled for July 2 at West Charlotte High School. For more details, call 1-855-MWCGlob (1-855-692-4562) or email MWCGlobal1@gmail.com.

If you need a visual as to why it is important that the community supports this cause, watch the video below that CMPD released of surveillance of Uptown on the night of May 28. We have to do a better job leading our youth.

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Cubby Tries to 'Run the World' In Latest Video Spoof

I'm not sure what Cubby Squires has been up to now that he's no longer on 96.1's A.M. Mayhem morning show, but one thing's for sure: he's looking for his next 15 minutes of fame. In late 2008, Cubby became an Internet sensation when the video spoof he made of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies"--complete with black leotard--went viral, garnering millions of views on YouTube. He rode the wave of fame for two years from that video, appearing on numerous television shows, as recently as a cameo on Tosh.0 in February and on Beyoncé's nationally televised concert special last November. Now, Cubby is back dancing like Bey in his newest spoof: Beyoncé's "Run the World (Girls)" video.

Cubby has no problem making fun of himself, but in the 4:45-long video, I didn't find myself laughing until about the 3:20 mark (when he appears in the green ensemble). Since he posted the video on YouTube last Wednesday, it's garnered a respectable 17,000-plus views. But the clip has actually been watched much more than that--it's been picked up by several gossip and entertainment websites, some who rip the video and upload it onto their own servers, often making it difficult to track the number of views. Those include PerezHilton.com, Bossip.com, and WorldstarHipHop.com, the latter of which has received more than 75,000 views in the first four days.

Looks like Cubby's trying to rock that black leotard all the way to the bank. And if it appears to not fit as tightly as it once did, that's because Cubby says he's lost more than 40 pounds in the last eight months.

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Avett Brothers Concert to Be Shown on World’s Largest HDTV at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord's homegrown folk rock band, The Avett Brothers, are playing a sold-out concert on July 9 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. And when they do, fans in Concord, Charlotte, and surrounding areas will be able to watch it live, simply by going to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The speedway will air a live simulcast of The Avett Brothers' July 9 concert on its high-definition television screen. At 200-feet wide and 80-feet tall, it's the largest HDTV in the world, and it debuted last month during the May NASCAR races. The speedway will bring in concert-grade speakers for the event.

The Avett Brothers.

The massive HD screen is adding new life and entertainment options to Charlotte Motor Speedway. During the races and pre-race activities last month, music videos and tribute videos were shown on the big screen, and fans camping in the infield were treated to screenings of History Channel shows such as Top Gear and Ice Road Truckers and NASCAR-themed movies Talladega Nights and Stroker Ace. If the simulcast of The Avett Brothers' concert is a success, this could mark the beginning of similar showings for concerts or movies. Imagine how cool it would be if movie screenings of new releases are shown, like for Cars 2, or for a special premiere of Transformers 3. It would be like a drive-in on steroids.

The Avett Brothers are touring all summer, but are also recording their next album, the follow-up to their major label debut, I and Love and You, released in 2009. The band also released a live album last year, Live, Volume 3, which was recorded during a concert at Bojangles' Coliseum. They were exposed to a wider audience when they performed earlier this year at the Grammy Awards alongside Bob Dylan and Mumford & Sons. In a recent interview with Billboard.com, legendary producer Rick Rubin, who's working with The Avett Brothers again, gave a brief update on their upcoming album, which he says "is coming out beautifully."

For the July 9 concert simulcast, the speedway's gates will open at 8 p.m. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m., and The Avett Brothers will perform around 11 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $10 until July 1, when they'll increase to $15 until July 8; tickets purchased the day of will cost $20. Call 1-800-455-FANS (3267) to buy tickets or go to to the speedway ticket office. Visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com for more details.

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Summer of the Snapbacks

If I know anything about fashion, it's that what was once in style will go out of style, only to become a fashionable trend again years later. There's one particular item you've likely seen a lot of during the last few months that is only going to become more prevalent now that summer is upon us: the snapback hat.

I remember when snapback hats--given that name because they literally snap in the back to fit--were just normal hats and baseball caps when I was a kid during the 1980s and 90s. It's funny because I remember two snapbacks I had in particular. One was my Boy Scout hat (shout out to Troop 230); and the other was a Carolina Panthers cap my mom bought me when the team was first announced. But then came the mid-90s and the fitted hat began to take over. Not only did you have to buy that at a specific size to fit your head, but people liked the style of fit better than the square, wide-brim snapback. The fitted hat began the trend of bending your brim.

Well, now the snapbacks are, well, back. And people are once again flocking to buy them of their favorite sports teams. Do a Google search for snapback hat and you'll see the many options out there.

In hip-hop culture, all it takes is for a few popular artists to start wearing something or, equally important, rap about it and you're going to wish you owned stock in certain brands because that style is going to take off. Artists like Chris Brown and Big Sean are some of the most prominent snapback wearers. And artist/producer Swizz Beatz is even endorsing a line of them through Reebok. Some of the other popular makers of the snapback are New Era and Mitchell & Ness, while the Adidas brand is being sold in the NBA's official online store.

And there's one more thing that's interesting about the snapback phenomenon: the popularity of the Charlotte Hornets hat. While many of the styles of snapbacks pay tribute to vintage team logos, colors, and lettering, it's even more nostalgic since the Charlotte Hornets no longer exist. (I'm not trying to get any of the natives riled up.) I'm frequently seeing the legendary teal and purple hat popping up in photos, at events in places far beyond Charlotte, as if it was 1994 all over again (shout out to Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning).

This Charlotte Hornets snapback hat is currently a top-seller.

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