Friday, August 29, 2014
5 on Friday -- Set 238
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 7:04 AM 1 comments
Labels: 5 on Friday, Allman Brothers, Chuck Berry, Lenny Kravitz, Lindsey Buckingham, Mike Golch, Music, Steppenwolf, Vacation
Friday, September 28, 2012
5 on Friday - Set 138
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 11:13 AM 3 comments
Labels: 5 on Friday, Lenny Kravitz, Music, Stereophonics, The Animals, The Beatles, The Style Council, Travs Thoughts
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday Thirteen - 199 - 13 Ways to Admire Lenny Kravitz

1 ...Lenny...
There's no better way to celebrate African Heritage Month than with the HAWTness known as Lenny Kravitz.
Let's open with one of my favorite songs evah.
CLICK HERE to watch the video for Are You Gonna Go My Way?

2 - Currently promoting his upcoming album Black and White America.
5' 8"
Eyes - Black
Hair - Black
Type - Athletic / Mid 40's
He works as a singer / musician / composer / music producer / actor / interior designer / clothing designer
3 - Rock god Lenny Kravitz grew up in the heart of New York City, then switched coasts at age ten when his mother starred on The Jeffersons. His father was film and television news producer Sy Kravitz. His mother was TV news reporter and actress Roxie Roker.
4 - Lenny's musical leanings began early. He learned to play the drums first, but soon moved on to acquire guitar, bass and keyboard. 
5 - He's written and produced songs for other artists, including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Madonna and French singer-actress Vanessa Paradis.
Next photo is straying into Not Safe For Work territory...
6 - Keeping in tip-top shape carries a price.
On one trip to the gym, Lenny was stopped by Miami police and held as a robbery suspect. This event occurred after his sixth album release and after he'd won four Grammys.
"They told me the assailant's description fit mine," Lenny said. "Green pants, white T-shirt, five o'clock shadow and an afro. I was cuffed and thrown against the car. They wouldn't let me go until the bank teller came and identified me.
And all the time they're f---ing with me, the guy who did it is getting away. Made off with $1,500. That's not to say I wouldn't rob a bank. And let me tell you, I would have gotten a lot more than $1,500 - believe me!" - 6stringheaven
7 - Lenny currently holds the record for most consecutive Grammy wins in a single category - which for him was Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, four years in a row (1999-2002.)
8 - Lenny runs Kravitz Design, which has a number of interiors to its credit, including private residences and commercial spaces.
"I had the regular kid room your mother makes for you with the nice shelves and everything is nice and matchy," Lenny said. "Then I got into putting lighting behind things. In my environments, lighting is always very important. It's either going to bring out what you've done, or it's going to ruin it.
I'll bump into women on the Upper East Side who might not know me for my music. But they know me for my style." - New York Times 
9 - Lenny is an acknowledged style icon. Aside from his interior design work, Lenny is active in the fashion world, and had a twenty-outfit collaboration with Gucci designer Frida Giannini and his 2008 world tour. Lenny wore her designs for the duration of the tour, cross promoting music and fashion.
10 - Lenny has taken part in a few acting projects, most notably with his role as a male nurse in Precious.
CLICK HERE to watch the clip of Precious
11 - Lenny has a slight reputation as a bit of a ladies' man.
His daughter Zoe Kravitz is currently the only woman in his life - she currently has a role on Californication.
12 - The Lenny we know and love is the culmination of a rich mix of cultural heritages, including Russian Jewish ancestry, Bahamian descent and the Cherokee nation. 
13 - You can catch Lenny this summer as the opening act for U2's west coast dates in June:
Seattle - June 4th
Oakland - June 7th
Anaheim - June 17th and 18th
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 12:02 AM 6 comments
Labels: African Heritage Month, Eye candy, Lenny Kravitz, Thursday Thirteen
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Thursday Thirteen - 140 - 13 Songs to Get Your Blood Pumping For All of Those Get-Fit Resolutions
All of these are guaranteed to make me groove. Enjoy!
1 - J.U.F. - Super Rifle (Balkan Express Train Robbery)
2 - Gwen Stefani - Don't Get it Twisted
3 - Beck - Timebomb
4 - Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
5 - Jimi Hendrix - Dolly Dagger
6 - Lady Gaga - Love Game
I just couldn't use the official Lady Gaga video for this. The True Blood version is the one that's on my playlist. I need Eric (Alexander SkarsgÄrd) to play the love game. Unfortunately, looking at Lady Gaga takes away from my ability to enjoy her music.
7 - Sean Paul - Get Busy
8 - Blackstrobe - I'm a Man
9 - Gogol Bordello - Not a Crime
10 - OutKast - Hey Ya!
11 - Kylie Minogue and Akshay Kumar - Chiggy Wiggy
12 - Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca
13 - Tito Puente - Tito Timbalero
Americanising Desi says You have my blood pumpin :D
Hazel says Oh my Livin La Vida Loca! :-)
Hootin' Anni says Jimi Hendrix!!! ♥
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 9:52 PM 24 comments
Labels: Beck, Blackstrobe, Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello, Gwen Stefani, J.U.F., Jimi Hendrix, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, OutKast, Ricky Martin, Sean Paul, Thursday Thirteen, Tito Puente
Monday, September 21, 2009
Through the Opera Glasses - 29 - Anticipation

Kim's year-long Blog Improvement Project at Sophisticated Dorkiness encouraged us to "look for blogging inspiration somewhere new.
There’s no real way to do this. If you’ve got a laptop, take it out of the house and write up a post somewhere different. If you don’t have a laptop, grab a pen and paper and do some brainstorming outside the house.
Go to the park, a local coffee shop, the library, a friend’s house, your backyard, wherever you feel like it. Just get away from where you usually blog to see what inspiration you might get from a change of scene."
I did this in a movie theatre while I was waiting for Gamer to start.
It wasn't hard to see that I was immediately drawing on sense memory for this exercise.
Many of you already know that one of my favorite places in the world - and favorite moment in life - is taking my place in a theatre seat, waiting for the show to begin.
It can be any kind of theatre, any kind of performance.
It can be a spot snagged among an outdoor crowd for the Busker Festival.
It can be a hardy sports stadium seat built to withstand drunken disappointment in a game, but serving me as a seat at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.
The hockey arena can be tucked out of sight so I can sit in surging anticipation for Lenny Kravitz and an amazing night of music.
It can be a no-frills wooden chair on homemade risers, awaiting a Fringe Festival performance.
It can be a seen-better-days upholstered seat scavenged from a renovated theatre as I sit just feet away from Michael Mahonen (Road to Avonlea's Gus) as he shows his acting chops in Salt Water Moon, a play by Newfoundland-born David French.
But there are two types of theatre seats that thrill me more than any other.
The basic cinema seat - where I have willingly whiled away countless sunny days in a darkened theatre. No matter how far technology takes us, no matter that I can watch films in an increasingly sophisticated home setting, I will always cherish viewing films as they are meant to be screened - in a theatre surrounded by other film lovers.
And the other one?
Why, a seat at the ballet, of course.
Where the orchestra tunes up as the lights go down to a quarter...
Thomma Lyn Grindstaff says The best part is often the anticipation of the delight to come. :)
Claudia says I love live theater - of any kind. We grew up watching it from an early age.
Michelle Johnson says Yes, a change of scenery can inspire one to write something fresh.
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 8:08 PM 5 comments
Labels: 2009 Blog Improvement Project, Ballet, blogging in a different space, Busker Festival, Fringe Festival, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Mahonen, Sophisticated Dorkiness, Theatre seat, Through the Opera Glasses
Monday, October 20, 2008
Poetry Monday - 71 - Believe

My Poetry Monday has evolved into something closer to a Lyrics Monday, but I'm quite enjoying this. Especially since I haven't been writing any new poetry lately. I'm closer to song lyrics than laying any claim to being well-read in poetry, so my instinct is to turn to music when I want to post poetry by other writers.
Tonight I went to see Lenny Kravitz at the Halifax Metro Centre with my writing buddy, Annette. This picture of us was taken this past July at the writers' retreat. Tonight we were gettin' down at the Love Revolution. Though he didn't perform this song tonight, I'm posting the lyrics to this track from his Are You Gonna Go My Way CD, because I love this song, and because the words hold special meaning for me this week.
Believe
I am you and you are me
Why's that such a mystery?
If you want it you got to believe
Who are we? We're who we are
Riding on the great big star
We've got to stand up if we're gonna be free yeah
If you want it you got it
You just got to believe
Believe in yourself
'Cause it's all just a game
We just want to be loved
The Son of God is in our face
Offering us eternal grace
If you want it you've got to believe
'Cause being free is a state of mind
We'll one day leave this all behind
Just put your faith in God and one day you'll see it
If you want it you got it
You just got to believe
Believe in yourself
'Cause it's all just a game
We just want to be loved
The future's in our present hands
Let's reach right in
Let's understand
If you want it you've got to believe yeah
If you want it you got it
You just got to believe
Believe in yourself yeah
'Cause it's all just a game
We just want to be loved
- Lenny Kravitz and Henry Hirsch, 1993
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 1:04 AM 7 comments
Labels: Annette MacPhee Gallant, Believe, Halifax, Lenny Kravitz




