Word on the curb is that Kanye West threw an epic temper tantrum at the Neptunes studio this weekend.

According to one lil birdie, here's how it went down:

The Neptunes were working on a remix to their single "Everyone Nose" with a verse from Lupe Fiasco. All was going fine until Kanye enters and hears Lupe's verse, which was all too similar to one he had spit not long ago. Ye lost it, accusing Lupe of stealing/finishing his verse -- and that Lupe had the opportunity when he'd looked in Kanye's rhyme book previously. Everyone in the crowded room was laughing, thinking it was a joke, but Ye continued on, basically causing a massive, Naomi-worthy row and P had to calm everything down.

We're still fuzzy on how this was resolved but said source tells us all this hateration was part of the reason Lupe was in a rush to get his part of the concert over with yesterday.

As much as Kanye's little hissy fits annoy me to no end, I have to side with him on this one. I'd lose it too if someone was trying to bite my work. SMH. Didn't I say that including this dude in your group was gonna be trouble? Yes, I did. Almost five months ago.  

Were you at last night's "Glow in the Dark" show? If so, you are by now probably dry and warm enough to compose your thoughts and type. What did you think?

I have to be honest: I liked everything up until Kanye's part. I didn't hate Kanye's performance by any stretch -- he is so passionate and energetic that it was certainly moving and endearing. I guess I just read and heard way too much about the set, the art direction, the idea that this show was supposed to raise the bar for hip hop performances and concerts in general. All I saw was a curvy mountain and dude rap for 90 minutes uninterrupted by costume change, backup dancers, hype men, or even anything that, ahem, glowed in the dark.

And frankly, I could do without his melodrama; West is a superb musician and I think a terriffic rapper. But he is a so-so actor, one along the lines of Janet's "Penny" from "Good Times." There were times when I felt like I was watching something as emotionally contrived as that episode when Penny's mom was about to burn her with the iron. "No, mama, no!"

Am I being too literal? Cold? Missing something? Old? I'm not sure, but I do know that very, very few people can hold my attention for that long without some sort of eye candy to add to the mix. Musically, it was a great show but visually it was underwhelming and the fact is that at a pop music concert you cannot separate the two. Yes, I saw the monitors but, call me jaded, I have seen big monitors at a concert before. And so has Kanye. He could have upped the ante with theater.  

Beyonce, for example, put on an amazing show because it continued to change by the minute, and referenced "The Pink Panther" and "Sweet Charity" and ballet and Soulja Boy and on and on and on. Even Mary J. Blige, who will pace the stage for two hours, at least changes outfits so we had something to look at. Even Kanye West himself when he came to the Hampton Coliseum about two years ago for the "Touch The Sky" tour was enthralling, as he had a live orchestra playing behind him, sheathed behind curtains so you could only see their silhouettes. That was stunning; this was...undercooked. There were times I wanted to leave, or hoped I'd find a crossword puzzle in my pocket. I know I'm not the only one who felt this way because some people I asked have already said the same thing.

Were you there? What did you think?

Add your comments below or to this mini-review here.

(But N.E.R.D. KILLED it right?)

The Virginia Arts Festival presents its seventh celebration of the art of beer next weekend, May 17. This year they've got a new expanded layout in Town Point Park so you can enjoy more breweries, shorter lines, and a greater variety of vendors.

Bring it! If you plan to go, why not prepare for a ride home in advance? I know I am! Click here for a list of Norfolk cab companies you can simply print out and put in your back pocket! Then you can drink, as Portsmouth native Wanda Sykes said in a routine, NYC style: as long as you can hold up your hand (or in this case dial a phone number) you can get home safely!

The 7^th Annual Virginia Beer Festival

Saturday, May 17, 2:00-6:00 pm Town Point Park, Norfolk

Tickets on sale now at 757-282-2822 or online at VaFest.org. Beer Tasters (age 21+): $25 advance, $30 day of Non-tasters (age 13+): $15 Table for eight $300—advance purchase required; deadline May 12. (No discounts)

FOOD

Let's get this important business out of the way first: stop what you are doing right now, go to the store and buy a box of Pringles Stix. I can't vouch for any other flavors but the Honey Wheat ones are amaaaazing. They are buttery, salty, sweet and my personal favortie: carb-y. And only 100 calories a pack! Also, I saw last night that McDonald's has a "Southern" chicken sandwich?! What the? With two pickles and a steamed "butter dressed bun"?! This is blatant Chic-Fil-A forgery and I will NOT stand for it. How could they? Have they no shame? I want justice...with waffle fries and a tall lemonade!

CLOTHES

I am wringing my hands in anticipation of two lines. The first is Comme de Garcons for H&M. Comme is totally avant garde, and I'm anxious, in the proper sense of the word, to see how Rei's often distressed, de-constructed Japanese aesthetic will translate to the global chain's sensibility. We probably won't get it here, since the chain's suits probably figure us dungaree overall-wearing bumpkins don't know what Comme de Garcons is -- even though Norfolk-based Commonwealth carries some Comme items, but never mind that -- so it'll be worth hopping a place to NYC or bribing a friend to get me one or two pieces before they end up on eBay for twice the price.

The second line I'm waiting for is Rogan for Go International for Target. Yeah, it's women's clothes. (A longtime trick of any male rock fashion icon.) But two of the peices that I saw in Vanity Fair were a distressed T-shirt dress and a really long vest I'm thinking about co-opting. I think rocking a long grey T over jeans might be hot in a sick, Japanese, Number (N)ine kind of way, provided of course that it doesn't have those little cleavage imprints. If I'm wrong, I'll toss it; it's $30. Rogan with Target, ladies, is out May 15 and Target sources say it should be in nearly all stores...

SHOWS

Kanye is coming this weekend....I know because the transportation reporter here just told me that bus transporting his ego had to get clearance to get through the HRBT four days in advance. Kidding Ye! Don't ban me from the show or diss me like you did the EW writer! N.E.R.D. is performing. Read my interview with Chad, Pharrell and Shay here.

Also, remember that resource center that Pharrell said he was trying to bring to Virginia Beach? Pick up the print copy of the paper today to find out more about it. You'll never believe who he's working with to make it happen...

BLOGS

One of the best blogs out there, Crunk + Disorderly, mentioned me by name yesterday. Eat it sucka, I'm famous!

AND UM...

It's quite possible that I could be getting a Botox injection somewhere other than my face (in the name of research, of course, *wink wink* ) before the weekend is through. More on that later, so stay tuned...

WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND?

THURS

Judy Collins, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts

FRI

Brooks & Dunn, with Rodney Atkins, VA Bch Amphitheater

Monsters on the Beach. (I know what you're thinking. No, not tourists, monster trucks!) Through Sunday.

"Evita" through Sunday, Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News

PANorama Caribbean Music Fest, steel band tunes, through Sunday, Oceanfront. If they take requests, start off with "Crank That Soulja Boy," since it has that steel drum sound, then gradually work your way up to...I dunno, something by Ozzy.

SAT

Gosport Arts Festival, Portsmouth.

Catherine Russell, jazz, blues artist, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts

SUN

Kanye, Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D., Amphitheater

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOMS!

The Dunes is a local rock group whose music I dig. It's kind of punk, a little ska, kind of garage/indie.

Anyway when I went to interview the guys at their meeting house not long ago, bassist and vocalist Jeff offered me a beer, one he brewed himself. That was a least a month ago; I drank it last night.

It was dee-lish. If you catch The Dunes in person, be sure to ask how you can get one...

Someone asked me in the elevator the other day if I ever run out of things to talk about. (Yes, I take the elevator two flights sometimes, sue me; I work out and occasionally deserve a lift.) Yes, I do run out of things to talk about, and it reeks.  

Blogging has been fun, exciting and occasionally controversial and I do enjoy it. But there are days when the idea mill just isn't churning. And you know what? It is what it is.

Believe it or not, integrity is important to me. I could easily blather on about Mariah Carey's wedding (hot, stankin' mess),  the controversy over Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair pics (But why is no one talking about the fact that she looks like Lestat?) or that evergreen fodder, Amy Winehouse. But I would much rather the four people who read this blog get something fresh and lively and forward thinking when they come here than copy the format of so many blogs and entertainment sources, which is to recycle the gossip and speculation you've already read everywhere else.

Another one of my pet peeves is when people repeat themselves. (That's one of many of course. This week's highest ranker is people who hold the door for you when you are too far behind, so now it's like you have to rush to catch up to them, and like you're doing me this huge favor when by all accounts I can open doors just fine. So do you know what I do now? I have actually started walking really really slowly, which makes THEM hold the door for a really long time, and I get a kick out of seeing them get annoyed at me. Ha!) Another one of my pet peeves is when people repeat themselves. I try not to repeat myself, which sometimes does not work.

For example I'm excited about the N.E.R.D. show this weekend, but I've already said that. I like the Madonna album, but I told you that already too. (I am also enjoying Santogold, The Roots and Portishead, but I found the buzzed about Robyn to be disappointingly derivative of Peaches or Fischerspoonoer circa 2001.)

Given my concerns about privacy in the digital age, I have revealed an astonishingly large part of my quirks, personality and likes and dislikes just to be silly or prove a point. If some demented stalker, who had cut out pictures of me and plastered them all over her or his room (don't you love the cinematic narcissism?) were to try and track me down, it would be too easy. They'd know where I was going that weekend, and how to lure me into their creepy van: sensibly priced vodka and macaroni and cheese.

So do you see what I go through for you? The agonizing over ideas, semicolon placement? I am very grateful for your positive (and negative, I guess) feedback, but it's not like I just sit here and start typing stuff. Well, actually, that sort of is how it works, but there's a lot of thought that goes into it.

With that being said, when there's nothing substantial coming through this piece for a minute, chill. I'll be back.

In conjunction with 97.3 The Eagle and the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater, the Suffolk Foundation will be collecting monetary donations for tornado victims at the Brooks & Dunn/Rodney Atkins concert this Friday, May 9th.  The Suffolk Foundation will have a table set up at the main entrance of the amphitheater and are asking everyone who will be attending to donate to the Tornado Relief Fund.

Also, speaking of the Amphitheater, note that the Kanye West show has been moved up to 6: 30, not 7 p.m. as originally noted! Wouldn't want you to miss anything...ella-ella-ella, eh!

Nine Inch Nails' announced today that their new album, "The Slip" out today, is free. Get it here.

Computer drama prevented us from updating at yesterday's races, so forgive, please. But maybe that was for the best as we spent our first time at the NASCAR race having a lot of fun.

Upon entry, we were too much in awe to remember we had fish-out-of water jitters; almost any time you see people barbequing, tailgating and passing around fried chicken you can't help but chill. We couldn't help but be envious, either, of the guys so at ease with their bodies that they had no shame in letting beer belly pooches and all-out guts flop out.

Outside of the actual races, there were booths set up by companies including Sprint, Red Bull and the Army; some of them played music that included 50 Cent, Timbaland and Soulja Boy.

I was so totally comfortable and into it that when a small crowd was gathered at one booth and this drunk dude yelled, "I'm proud to be a redneck!" I almost said, "Me too!" Everyone was pretty friendly. Every so often a few (drunk) people within arms length would try and shake my hand. You know me. I'm thinking, 'Uh, no thanks. I'm not sure where your hands have been. And anyway, who am I, Barack Obama?'

Before the race I had no understanding at all of what was going on. (What do those numbers that people are wearing on their hats mean?) As it started, I randomly decided I would root for #11, Denny Hamlin, because he is from Chesterfield County, like me. So then I sat back and watched my magnificient random-car picking skills at work as Denny shut everyone down for the entire race. He was unstoppable; I was totally into it. Well, mostly. By lap 287 (of 400) all the walking and heat and beer and fried food had caught up with me and I wanted to stretch out for a nap.

Then, the craziest thing happened, Denny got a flat tire, effectively shutting him out! Unbelievable. Then #88 took the lead, and then his car messed up and then....well, you can read the sports coverage. By this point I was so disgusted that Dennty was robbed - robbed! -- that I took off my headphones and returned them.

It was a great day. I learned to remember some important lessons: never make assumptions, and you really never know what you'll like until you give it a try.

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Not sure if you're saw -- or are watching -- the Madonna appearance on "106 and Park".

Thoughts? Man, these Terrance and Rosci cats are TERRIBLE interviewers. I'm sure they're nervous but, wow. Madonna also seems really absent, doesn't she? Like this whole thing is beneath her (which it is, frankly.) Other notes: Madonna sweats Pharrell's Hermes bag (like me) and she shouted out Chad Hugo, who also worked on the project with her but has gone severely undernoticed in all the hoopla on this album. Go Chad!