TLC sent the signal up and fans, including pop star Katy Perry, answered.
T-Boz and Chilli surpassed their $150,000 goal on Kickstarter to raise money for the production of their fifth and final album. At this time, the pair raised $172,319 via donations from more than 1,542 people in 72 hours. At this rate, TLC is on course to more than exceed $200,000 as it has 28 more days to raise funds for the album.
The Kickstarter achievement was welcomed by a very happy T-Boz and Chilli, who broke the good news via Twitter on Thursday.
News of TLC exceeding its goal triggered an enthusiastic response Perry, who donated $5,000 to the cause, according to E! News.
“Nothing but love for #demtlcgirls ahhh I’m SO EXCITED! I can barely focus here at work! Love you ladies with all I have! ❤ xoxo #BACKEDbyTLCArmy #TLC2015Takeover #LookWhoRunninThangs #BOOM” the “Roar” singer tweeted.
“Thank You ladies for letting me be a direct part of this adventure.I have loved you since the beginning.We have been through alot together and I want to tell you both that you are my Superheros. Congratulations, and Keep on Kickin Ass Ladies!”
“I love this!! TLC is forever!!..pledged and done!! woooo!!”
article via eurweb.com
Posts published in “Records/Prizes”
University Department Chair and Artist Sonya Clark Uses Her Head to Win Top Prize in Art Competition
Sonya Clark, chair of the Department of Craft and Material studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, shared the first prize at ArtPrize, an international competition held annually in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She will split the $200,000 first place cash award.
Clark enlisted 12 hairstylists to craft her head into a work of art for the judges consideration.
Clark is a native of Washington, D.C. Both of her parents are from the Caribbean. She is a graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at the Art Institute of Chicago and a master of fine arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Before joining the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, Clark was the Baldwin-Bascom Professor of Creative Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
article via jbhe.com
Alia Atkinson made swimming history on Saturday by becoming the first black woman to win a world swimming title: the women’s 100 breaststroke at the world short-course championships in Doha, Qatar.
Atkinson, who swims for Jamaica, tied the world record with a time of 1 minute, 2.36 seconds, which, according to the standards of the international swimming governing body FINA, counts as its own record. Even Atkinson was surprised at her win.
http://youtu.be/ii5MteABZ44
http://youtu.be/ii5MteABZ44
“I couldn’t believe it. It came down to the same thing as the 50, and on the 50 I got out-touched, so in my mind I went straight back to that,” Atkinson told Agence France-Presse after the race. “I just thought, ‘Oh, OK’ and looked up at the board, and it didn’t really click yet and then it really started to click. It took a while.”
The win was also Jamaica’s first gold in world swimming championships.
Atkinson hopes her win will inspire other women in the Caribbean to take up swimming as a sport. “Hopefully my face will come out, there will be more popularity, especially in Jamaica and the Caribbean, and we’ll see more of a rise, and hopefully in the future we will see a push,” she said, The Telegraph reported.
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
Only Al Roker could make 34 hours of live uninterrupted weather completely entertaining and inspiring. The Today Show’s meteorologist set out to break the Guinness Book World Record to earn money through his Crowdrise campaign for the United Service Organizations (USO). Roker started his #Rokerthon on Thursday, November 13 and finished just this morning, earning over $70,000 in donations.
Keeping the momentum going seemed to come pretty easily to Roker as he reported the weather all over the world. Several celebrities including actors Alan Alda, Candice Bergen, fellow weatherman Sam Champion, singer Nick Lachey and writer/producer Aaron Sorkin stopped by to lend their support.
Once it was over, the ever-energetic Roker said, “I don’t feel that tired.” He even managed to stick around for some of the Today show taping after his segment wrapped – a trouper (for the troops!) through and through.
Check out some of the highlights here:
http://www.today.com/news/al-roker-brings-new-meaning-live-stream-during-rokerthon-bathroom-1D80287234
To learn more about Al’s Campaign:
https://www.crowdrise.com/ROKER
ARLINGTON, Texas —DeMarco Murray may have eclipsed former Cleveland Browns icon Jim Brown as the first back in league history to start a season by running for at least 100 yards in seven straight games.
But the fourth-year Dallas Cowboys workhorse knows he has a long way to go to reach the Hall of Famer’s elite level after his 128-yard, one-touchdown performance keyed a 31-21 defeat of the New York Giants Sunday.
“He’s probably one of the greatest running backs to ever play, and I have a lot of respect for what he’s done,” Murray said. “In no way am I trying to say I’m on his level by any means. He’s a great guy, a great activist in the community, a great player and a great person. And I’m not even in that category.
“I’m blessed to be mentioned.”
Murray, who leads the league in rushing with 913 yards and seven touchdowns, made history with his 1-yard run on the first carry of the fourth quarter, shaking off a gimpy right ankle that buckled on him late in the second quarter. He gave credit to his offensive linemen who kept prying open lanes against a Giants defense that stacked defenders in the box.
“That kid has had ‘professional’ written all over him since the day he walked in. He stepped back in there after wrenching his ankle and competed.”
And he’s the engine who makes these 6-1 Cowboys go.
Gymnast Simone Biles became only the sixth woman, and first in 11 years, to win consecutive all-around titles at the World Gymnastics Championships in China today. This is only her fourth season at the elite level and, with the Rio Olympics two years away, the 17-year-old from Spring, Texas, still has room to grow.
“It actually blows my mind,” Biles said of winning back-to-back world titles. “If I think about it right now, I’m just like, `Whaaaat?’ It’s just like, I don’t know. It’s just really weird, but it’s really cool.”
After Svetlana Khorkina repeated as the all-around champion at the 2003 worlds, 10 different women would win the world or Olympic title from 2004-13. Injuries played a part in that volatility — Russia’s Aliya Mustafina looked set for a long run after winning in 2010, only to blow out her knee six months later — as has the sport’s relatively short window for success.
It’s really tough to stay healthy and at the top of your game for an entire quadrennium, especially when every year brings a new crop of phenoms.
But if anyone was going to break that streak of, well, no streak, it was Biles.
No one can match her for power or explosiveness. She is already doing one of the world’s toughest vaults, the Amanar, and she gets so high off the table it’s not inconceivable to think she could add another half-twist to her somersault. Her tumbling passes on floor exercise are so massive she really ought to get FAA clearance.
There’s more to Biles than circus tricks, however. All of her skills are done with precision and polish, making them look deceptively easy. Ordinary folks have more trouble walking on flat ground than Biles does doing an aerial somersault on a balance beam that’s 4 inches wide and 4 feet off the floor.
Most appealing is her personality. While other gymnasts are so intense or stoic they look angry during meets, Biles is constantly smiling and giggling. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and it’s no surprise she’s a favorite with her competitors.
“I know there is competition between pretty much everyone, but we’re such good friends,” said fellow American Kyla Ross, who won the bronze medal after being runner-up to Biles last year. “I think we’re really there to push each other.”
article by Nancy Armour via usatoday.com
Here’s some good news you probably won’t read a lot about: Black and Latino students have cut their dropout rates by more than half over the past ten years. Black students have nearly closed the gap with white students with just 8% leaving high school last year.
According to a new Pew Research Center report, these declines have driven the lowest U.S. dropout rate ever recorded, with just 7% of 18- to 24-year-olds leaving school in the last year. Read more from Pew.
Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto has broken the marathon world record in Berlin, winning the race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds.
The 30-year-old shook off fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai with just under three miles remaining to become the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours and three minutes.
Mutai, who finished second in 2:03:13, also broke the previous record.
“I feel good because I won a very tough race,” said Kimetto.
“I felt good from the start and in the last few miles I felt I could do it and break the record.”
Men’s marathon world record decade-by-decade |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Time | Athlete | Course |
| 1947 | 2:25.39 | Suh Yun-bok (Korea) | Boston |
| 1958 | 2:15.17 | Sergei Popov (Soviet Union) | Stockholm |
| 1969 | 2:08.33 | Derek Clayton (Australia) | Antwerp |
| 1988 | 2:06.50 | Belayneh Dinsamo (Ethiopia) | Rotterdam |
| 1999 | 2:05.42 | Khalid Khannouchi (Morocco) | Chicago |
| 2008 | 2:03.59 | Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) | Berlin |
| 2014 | 2:02.57 | Dennis Kimetto (Kenya) | Berlin |
The previous world record had been set on the same course 12 months ago by Kimetto’s compatriot Wilson Kipsang, who ran 2:03:23.
Kimetto, who won marathons in Tokyo and Boston last year, had promised to attack the record in Berlin if conditions allowed.
And in weather perfect for long-distance running, with temperatures around eight degrees centigrade, Kimetto kept his promise, staying in the lead group throughout and sprinting to victory and a new world’s best time.
Mutai, meanwhile, believes a two-hour marathon is possible.
“From what I saw today, times are coming down and down. So if not today, then tomorrow,” the 29-year-old Kenyan said. “Maybe next time we’ll get 2:01.”
Mutai had run the fastest marathon in history in 2:03:02 in Boston in 2011, but it did not count as a world record because the course is considered too straight and downhill.
article via bbc.com
Dr. Dre tops Forbes list of highest-paid hip-hop acts with a total of $620 million earned this year. This is the most money ANY entertainer that has been evaluated by the magazine has earned in one calendar year.
What makes this even more incredible is that Dr. Dre alone made more than all 24 of the people combined on the 2014 list. Two second-place entries, both tied at $60 million, made 10% of what Andre “Dr. Dre” Young did. But, with that total, Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs won’t be cashing any unemployment checks any time soon.
Cash Money claims a large stake in the money game as well, with Drake in fourth place at $33 million, Birdman (Co-CEO of Cash Money) at No. 7 with $24 million, Lil Wayne a hair behind him with $23 million and Nicki Minaj, the only female artist on the list, at No. 11, with $14 million.
The complete “World’s Highest-Paid Hip-Hop Acts” list follows:
1. Dr. Dre: $620 million
2. Sean Combs: $60 million
2. Jay Z: $60 million
4. Drake: $33 million
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: $32 million
6. Kanye West: $30 million
7. Birdman: $24 million
8. Lil Wayne: $23 million
9. Pharrell Williams: $22 million
10. Eminem: $18 million
11. Nicki Minaj: $14 million
12. Wiz Khalifa: $13 million
13. Pitbull: $12 million
14. Snoop Dogg: $10 million
15. Kendrick Lamar: $9 million
16. Ludacris: $8 million
16. Tech N9ne: $8 million
16. Swizz Beatz: $8 million
16. 50 Cent: $8 million
20. Rick Ross: $7 million
20. J. Cole: $7 million
20. DJ Khaled: $7 million
20. Lil Jon: $7 million
20. Mac Miller: $7 million
article by Cedric “Big Ced” Thornton via blackenterprise.com
They did the cool thing, the classy thing, by bringing Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert out to embellish, or even to authenticate, the occasion of Serena Williams joining their 18 Grand Slam singles victory club Sunday evening after Williams toyed with Caroline Wozniacki in the United States Open final.
The request was made Saturday, Navratilova would say, after standing with Evert in a corner of the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, waiting for Mary Carillo to cue them to the presentation of the championship trophy and a shiny bracelet.
Once upon an era, the career-long rivals Navratilova and Evert shared bagels in the locker room before fittingly finishing their careers with the same number of slams. Now it was their turn to hug and welcome into the fold a woman they — and Carillo, the former player and esteemed tennis commentator — didn’t always shower with praise, didn’t always think gave the game the respect it deserved.