Blog of Josh Hall

What is the most universal human characteristic?  Fear?  Laziness?  This question comes from the movie Waking Life.

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There are some awesome collaborations out there. Mash ups also abound and are wealthy in awesomeness. Some of these can be considered mash-ups, but the fact that both artists involved actually came together to perform it make it awesome in a whole new way.

10. Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream : This shatters previous standards of awesome on so many different levels. Never again will 2 individual pop powerhouses be siblings and only cross paths in such an epic way as this.

9. Babyface & Eric Clapton – Change the World : Babyface’s solo artist career was short lived, but he remained a powerful force in the background of the early 90s music scene. This was a great step forward for young people who weren’t familiar with Clapton too.

8. Eminem & Elton John – Stan : Blew the stereo-types out of the water with this 2001 Grammy performance. I missed Dido, but that was up there too.

7. Moby & Gwen Stefani – South Side : I think time has a lot to do with this one. Both were peaking in their careers and the song seemed to fit perfectly in both of their individual careers.

6. Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page – Come With Me : I took Puff Daddy with a grain of salt when he broke out after Biggie’s death, but man, did he prove me wrong. He had some high style and some reigning class.

5. Finger Eleven & The Alkaholiks – Daaam : Maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s an awesome cross genre collab.

4. Aerosmith and Run DMC – Walk This Way : A musical first where the two bands crossed genres and did it well.

3. Jay – Z and Linkin Park – Numb/Encore :Following DJ Dangermouse’s mashing of Jay-Z, these two put the theory to practice, in an awesome way. I truly regret not seeing them in Philly for the FREE G8 concert.

2. USA for Africa – We Are the World : Almost too much going on here, but it was just right. The All Star collaboration done after 9/11 is a close competitor, but none of those people had staying power.

1. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson – The Girl is Mine : This song is the last remnant of their relationship. It’s awesome to see these two powerhouses come together, but then inevitably destroy each other.

Honorable mentions:
Warren G & Nate Dogg – Regulators : Classic song, but neither made it big enough to call it an epic match of collaboration.

Santana & … Anyone : There are some great collaborations there…but they all have Santana, which tells me 1 thing. Santana has no talent besides playing terribly flashy guitar solos over basic melodies.

Rockwell & Michael Jackson – Somebody’s Watching Me : Not really much of a collaboration, but the fact that someone as big during that time as Michael Jackson, lending his voice and melody to some no name dude remains a mystery. Perhaps it will remain that way.

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Pop_Collaboration_with_Vocals

Nothing is just black or white. This is a very broad statement to cover many topics and objects. The point is there is always an exception or a gray area. It’s always relative to who is perceiving it.

When you’re in an airplane, especially when you’re using the tray table in front of you as a head rest, there really should be some common etiquette in place for when and how the person in front of you reclines.

Since I have long legs, I’ve had people recline with a lot of power right into my legs.  ARG.  I have to sacrifice my comfort for their comfort…I don’t like that.  If we talked about it before hand, even if they told me they were coming back, it would have been much easier to take.

Maybe there should be some sort of acceptance before you recline.  like a light goes on and you have 5 seconds to push it before they can recline.  Even if we started asking people behind us if it is alright to recline, that would be great.

WTF is up with trash bag sizing?  Why can’t we have standards here?  My whole life, I’ve struggled with the trash bag being too small and falling into the can, and then all the grossness builds up as it falls between the bag and wall and to the bottom of the can.  Either that, or the bag is too big and you end up either filling over the capacity of the can which causes garbage to topple to the floor or you end up just wasting potential storage capacity of the bag.  It’s ridiculous.

Thank you so much for your gifts and your words of encouragement, Everyone!  We’re about a month away from the race, and I’m getting stoked.  It’s not here yet though, and that’s good because I haven’t met my goal yet!

I’ve had a few people tell me that my goal was too low, and to get people involved, they needed more of a challenge.  I did say more than $1000…but since we’re half way to the race, it seems fitting that the goal is to reach $1500 total, so we’re already more than half-way there!

I forgot to share a video from last year that my friend made of my friend Tim and I doing the race:

Men’s Health: 2009 Chicago Urbanathlon from Adam Mudrick on Vimeo.

if the embedded video doesn’t work, you can watch it here: http://www.vimeo.com/7305447

I also wanted to let you know that the ministry is holding car washes this Saturday, Sept 11th at the Busy Beaver in Century III and in Crafton.  Feel free to stop by, get your car washed, and see all the people that come out to support the ministry.

You can make an online payment with paypal by clicking on the “donate now” button on http://livingministry.org/blog/
or
You can mail your checks to:

Living Ministry
2536 Maple Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15214

Again, thank you to those who have already donated and thank you so much to those who replied back to me with encouraging words and support in the race.

Peace, Love, and Ambition,

Josh