Hi Def: Phoenix Rising

Nowadays, if you have an idea, a concept or a project you don’t need to go to the bank, and hope and pray and wait to get approved for a loan to launch it. More and more people are taking matters into their own hands and bringing it to the web for support. Crowdfunding sites have made a lot of dreams into reality and has served to create access where traditionally there was none. Enter, Pope Phoenix. A native New Yorker with an awesome beard but beyond his ravishing looks lies an incredible talent and a wisdom that is only hinted at in the grey of said awesome beard. Pope draws and creates. He’s done books, designs cool merchandise and is part of ‘the Black male version of ‘The View” aka The Table of Truth. Pope is a self-taught artist that found a huge void in children’s books—-diversity. Pope is the father of a beautiful, brown child and saw very few books that reflected her. He teamed up with writer, Qimmah Saafir to create ‘Charlie and His Imaginary Friend.’ Watch Pope discuss his fundraising for the book, his art, his daughter and his ultimate relationship advice. To support this much needed children’s book, donate to the kickstarter page HERE.
Check out Pope’s Portfolio and follow Pope on Twitter.

Tags: 'charlie and his imaginary friend', men with daughters, pope phoenix, table of truth

Hi Def: The Real Deal on 20-Somethings

Do people really understand the meaning of ‘settling down’? It quite literally means to put firmly a position. So if you’ve done no exploration, haven’t lived your life, took risks, took a journey or an adventure, how are you really ‘settling down’….at age 20-something? You’ve been settled this whole entire time. Sometimes being selfish before major responsibilities is good. Choose your own path. Six 20-somethings discuss this and more in this Hi-Def webisode. Read the NY Times ‘What Is It About 20-Somethings?’ here.

What do you think about living YOUR life to the fullest as a 20-something? Watch the Hi-Def webisode and share your thoughts.

Tags: 20-somethings, 20something, adulthood, travel, what is it about 20-somethings?, young people

Hi-Def: Kali Baker Johnson- Film, Comics and Hip Hop

Hi-Def is a web series about young, motivated, passionate individuals who live their life in High Definition. Their aspect ratio, although limitless and boundless, can only be defined as such.
Native New Jersean, Kali Baker Johnson talks about his short film ‘Johnny’s Leaving,’ his interests and inspirations. Check his site out, find him on facebook and follow him on twitter.

Tags: brotherhood productions, johnny's leaving, kali baker-johnson

Natasha and Phil Practice What They Preach in Healthy Living

Editor’s Note: In this installment of Hi-Def, we speak to the editors-in-chief of Apple Everyday, a website focused on healthy living. Informative articles on nutrition, fitness, food and cooking comprise the site, making it an invaluable resource for those who seek to treat their “one life and one body right.”

Name: Natasha C. Williams

Age: 24

Occupation: Personal Trainer

Passion: Helping others become/remain healthy and practicing what I preach

Interests: Fitness, The Human Body, Dance, Running, Poetry, Music

Natasha and Phil recommend more than an apple a day to stay healthy

Name: Phillip Commissiong

Age: 24

Occupation: Student

Passion: Learning and sharing knowledge

Interests: Animation, Art, Photography, Film, Cooking, Baking, Music

Natasha says:

I have been active since I was a little girl. My mother said I was always running around, falling, and jumping right up again. I played basketball in high school and danced ballet, tap, hip-hop, and jazz for eight years, so physical activity was the norm for me. What specifically sparked my interested in physical therapy was one of my best friends. We used to dance together, but she has knee problems. Some mornings after classes, she could not get out of bed due to the pain. She started physical therapy and one day I attended one of her appointments. It caught my interest right away and I knew it was something I would be part of in the future. I love interacting with the patients. Depending on the setting, you can form great relationships with them. It is also extremely rewarding to see how they progress over time and gradually improve. It is definitely a physically exhausting field. Hands on, one-on-one with patients giving soft tissue massages, stretching, examining, assisting in transfers, walking, going up stairs, a lot of physical demand.  If you work in a hospital, the smells are not that great either. I think Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign is great! She is encouraging people of all ages to get active and stay healthy and that’s what I believe in too. With increased childhood obesity in the U.S, its scary where the health of America is headed. Poor eating habits and lack of activity are being passed down from parents to their children and children are growing up in a generation where technology has taken over eliminating the need to go out and play. Knowledge is power, that’s the simple truth. What’s funny is that my boyfriend wanted to start a nutrition site a long time ago. When he mentioned that to me I asked why don’t we create a nutrition and fitness site to combine our education together? We both have love for what we are learning, so why not share it? We have friends and family members who talk about losing weight, eating healthier, and exercising, but they do not know what to do. Hopefully this site can be helpful to them and to others with the same concerns and questions. Besides an apple a day, what is just one habit people can do daily to live a healthier lifestyle? Just MOVE! It’s as simple as it sounds, that’s what people are lacking. It does not necessarily need to be specific exercises. Take a walk, garden, play a sport, go dancing… find an activity you enjoy and do it! I will be graduating from Touro College with my Doctor of Physical Therapy this September, I would love to continue personal training and I hope anappleeveryday.com will continue to be successful. Live by example. I do not agree with overweight personal trainers, doctors who smoke, or registered dietitians who eat fast food daily. People will not take you seriously and listen to your advice because you cannot follow it yourself.

Phil says:

One thing we are absolutely great with coming up with in this country is diets. We have so many diets and weight loss programs it’s amazing that we are a country battling high incidences of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Unfortunately, not every diet is going to work for each person. We are all wired differently, so what works for person A may not work for person B. When it doesn’t work for person B what happens? He or she may give up. Each person has to find the particular diet that works for them. We all get caught up in diet trends and phenomena, which celebrity used which diet to drop 20 lbs, but we have to understand this may not work for all of us. I think the general public has to understand diets, especially when it comes to “elimination” diets. When you completely eliminate a particular food from your overall diet, it equates to fewer caloric intake, which will lead to weight loss. Whether this food is twinkies or a t-bone steak, the less of it in your system equals a lower impact on your caloric intake. Suffering and pain shouldn’t be part of a diet. If you are unhappy or malnourished because of a diet, you aren’t doing your body any justice. I’m personally not big on vitamins supplements. I think that to the average healthy and active person, a vitamin supplement may be a waste of time and money. I’m a big believer in getting your vitamins from natural food sources. These pills have become a “quick fix” for us all. Whether its medicine or a supplement, the solution in this country has become “pop a pill”. The vitamin industry is a billion dollar industry, I say lets put a billion dollars towards fruits and vegetables. Those that are interested or serious about dieting, that they get an understanding of where they are presently, where they want to go. We would all love to lose 20 pounds but how do I go about doing that? How long will it take me? is it even healthy for me to lose this weight? These are all valid questions that I think people should answer before they make any lifestyle changes. These questions can be answered with the aid of a registered dietitian as well as a doctor. For those that lack the access to these professionals, I  highly recommend they not only do their own in-depth research but also choose something that works best for them .Going cold turkey works for very few people. Its a process that we must go through and go through slowly. We all want quick results, often times the quick results aren’t long lasting. It’s all about proper balance and moderating yourself to make the right choices. I don’t want to take anything away from anyone on a specific diet that is religious based or simply belief based. We all have our paths to choose. I just want everyone to choose a path that makes them happy and helps them maintain overall health.

Tags: apple, fitness, fruits, gym, health, healthy, keeping in shape, long life, vegetables, vitamins, working out

The Boy Virginia Made Takes Over Europe

I was born in Norfolk, Virginia without a father. Yes, I had one; he just wasn’t present at my birth. It should’ve been evident from that moment that I was going to be making the journey from Boy to Man alone. But that’s not actually correct, because I didn’t make the journey alone. I had the help of my mother, my family, teachers and people I’ve befriended along the way. Now I’m in London, England living my life as an actor and pursuing my dreams. Who would’ve thought that a young country bumpkin boy from VA would make it to the UK?

As a kid, I longed for the world. I wanted to learn about everything, so I did. I read books like they were five cent Lemonheads I couldn’t stop eating. I always knew that education would be a key, but I had no clue as to how many doors that key would open. After middle school, I was awarded a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Milton Academy in Massachusetts. There, I fell in love with Theatre and activism and leadership and the idea of self-discovery. It was also here that I came up with my personal mission statement. My goal: to redefine the image of what it means to be a Black man in this world. I have carried that statement with me ever since.

That mission led me to Temple University and heavily influenced my leadership and theatrical decisions. It also was the reason I created my blog “The Boy Virginia Made” to chronicle my personal evolution. I graduated from Temple in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater. My life reached a new and unexpected level of excitement when I auditioned for graduate school at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2008 and was accepted. I graduated a year later with a Masters Degree in Musical Theatre. Not long after, I secured an agent and now live and work in London. You can follow my adventure by visiting my blog at www.tbvm.wordpress.com or you can follow me on Twitter @BoyVirginiaMade

Tags: acting, Europe, ex-pat, graduate school, London, Scotland, theater, thespian, Virginia

Life in HD

Hi-Def is a web series about young, motivated, individuals who live their life in High Definition. Their aspect ratio, although limitless and boundless, can only be defined as such.