The man behind Soul Train was found dead this morning at the age of 75.  He started Soul Train in 1970 and hosted it from then to 1993. The show became an important piece of African-American culture as an entertainment platform featuring music, fashion and dance.  Found with a self inflicted gun shot wound, this news has already shocked many individuals across the United States from all walks of life.  This show featured legendary artists as well as some of biggest acts of this generation before they became mega-superstars.  Not only did the show leave a huge impression but Don himself with his unique voice and parting tagline at the end of each show.

We’ve all been seeing how different brands, organizations and artists have started to create their own channels to showcase their video content online.  There are websites that only exist to be a platform for specific video content to be posted.  On Mashable we came across an article with YouTube’s CEO Salar Kamangar explaining his view of the future in regards to content, the third wave of media and how YouTube fits into all of this.  Article is here.

VH1 will debut a second screen experience to launch with it’s 17th Annual Critic’s Choice Movie Awards tonight.  The integration will allow experts and critics to engage via a livestream during the live broadcast of the CCMAs.  The experts are to provide context to the proceedings and also chat with VH1′s audience.  This feature will live on the awards website.  Users will be allowed to ask questions and post comments using their existing social profiles.  We’ve seen how people interact on Twitter and Facebook during award shows, sporting events and more…it looks like VH1 is taking steps to fully embrace this.  For more details check out Mashable.

Our friend RZA was on Chelsea Lately and talked about his headphones and his role on Californication.  As the conversation moved forward a Chess challenge came up and Chelsea told RZA she would beat him.  She’s supposed to download the RZA’s World app for iPhone and get this challenge going.

“Tribute Video to Steve Jobs, “Steve’s Apple,” I know this is old news but i like this” -@alice_han

We see that Publicist, Alison Kwee, has gotten into the Halloween spirit early this year:

“These guys made my week:)” -@alleykat1110

The self-appointed “television historian,” Anthony Kennedy, brought this gem to our attention this week:

“Easily the best comedy on television today, Community. The third year show is so ahead of the game and blows away anything else on television (I’m looking at you Modern Family and 30 Rock). They’ve already produced classic episodes involving a school-wide game of paintball, a hilariously funny episode involving dungeons and dragons, and last week’s brilliant episode that showed the outcomes from SIX DIFFERENT realities that were created from simply rolling a dice. AWESOME!!!” -@antpooh

Brandon Banks had a new video for us to take a look at:

“Video from my homie from Compton.  Seung and Ted know this guy.  This may be the craziest video I’ve seen in a minute hip-hop wise.  Not sure what any artist like this could work for, but these are the types of videos that get random attention for upcoming artists (think Tyler & Odd Future, etc)” -@eazee

In the meantime, our Senior Publicist Kristen Tambara, found this “adorable baby dressed up for Halloween as Tom Hank’s volleyball friend, “Wilson,” from Cast Away.” -@tambybear

And last, from Ryan Ford:

“When people are posting items on Facebook they usually only think of a handful of people that will look at their page. But with hundreds of friends and millions of their friends online, you never really know who is watching you…and maybe even stalking you. Watch your virtual back!!” -@fordryan

Check back every Friday to find out about our favorite staff stuff of the week!

Starting off with a TV throwback classic by @jameskoo:

“Well for this week, I’ve been marathon-ing ‘The Wonder Years’. I think this is THE BEST TV show from my childhood, and it is NOW available on Netflix with its original soundtrack intact, which is THE BEST 70′s rock soundtrack of any TV show bar none!”

@antpooh found our top pick for the geeks:

“I know everyone at the office was expecting something ‘Purple One’ related. Well surprise, my current favorite thing is my ComicZeal, tricked out iPad. Yes, the comic book geek in me is coming back. Last week I read all 89 issues of The Walking Dead to catch up with the series before Sunday’s premiere Now I’m onto reading all 60 issues of the awesome Y: The Last Man.”

In the meantime, our Lead Publicist @tambybear fell in love with a hairstyle she stumbled across on a Tumblr blog page:

“A classic hair style that will never go out of style…simple, classic and sexy!”

Speaking of @tambybear, she inspired @mercadorona to her favorite pick of the week:

“Thanks to our in-house @tambybear who put me on to one of my new faves @ZeeAvi, the  Malaysian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and ukulele player. Would love to work with this artist! Find out more about her here: http://zeeavi.com/ghostbird/”

@HBendavid‘s favorite thing to do this week has been, “spending some quality time with my new puppy Leo!”

From one dog to the next, “White Dog” Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse, and Eminem caused a viral frenzy this week with their release of ‘Shady Records 2.0 Boys 2011 Cypher‘. From Royce da 5’9”‘s “Hi Rihanna” line trending worldwide on Twitter to our staff’s endless argument over whose verse was the best, this video landed on the top of both @fordryan‘s and @KostaElchev‘s favorites list this week.

“No matter what people say lyrics aren’t all of the way dead in hip-hop. Being a rapper and not being able to rap is the worst invention ever!”
-@fordryan

Shady Records 2.0 Boys 2011 Cypher (Uncut) from Shady Records on Vimeo.

Another video clip that caught our attention and entertained us this week was found by our Publicity intern @itistimbo:

“This has been my favorite clip this week. Made me laugh out loud.”

Last but not least, we are hoping that @alleykat1110 will treat us to her favorite find this week!

“I found this recipe which was one of my favourite finds this week – Hershey’s Kisses + Nutter Butter acorns!”

Alice Han had a great time at the launch party for Skee TV 2.0 and Artist Aaron Axelrod’s pop up display of lasers and SWAT Team on Thursday night.

On Friday, the team attended the 11th Annual BMI Urban Awards at the prestigious Pantages Theater in Hollywood to support Snoop Dogg as he received the BMI Icon Award. Our PR Team worked the red carpet, while some of our other team members mingled and networked at the party and enjoyed performances from a myriad of hip hop legends that included Wiz Khalifa, Nas, Game, Dr. Dre, Daz, and Kurupt, to name a few.

Team Cashmere on the Red Carpet

Eazee St. and Young De at the after party

For more pictures form Cashmere at the BMI Urban Awards click here.

Saturday night was reigned by two West Coast legends, as DJ Quik and Suga Free rocked the stage at Club Nokia for their almost sold-out show. Our very own James Koo was there to watch them (in his words), “simultaneously pimping from opposite ends of the stage.”

Suga Free and DJ Quik rockin’ the stage

N’neka Hite was able to make it to the JW Marriott on Sunday for the 2011 MTV VMA’s where she was able to speak to some celebrities such as Rick Ross and Ron Artest. She was also able to catch a glimpse of arguably the biggest news of the weekend: Beyonce’s baby bump.

Theresa Aufner attended Freestyle Session 14 on Sunday. Here’s how she described the event: “I was impressed by the dancers’ performances, but even more so, I was blown away by seeing two of my favorite producers, DJ Premier and Pete Rock, share a stage and spin a set together.”

Congrats to the winners of Freestyle Sessions, Jinjo Crew, and the runner-ups, Renegades Crew.

Our very own visual production extraordinaire Whoopi, had the privilege of doing the visual effects for DJ Jason Bentley (LA’s KCRW), who opened this weekend for world famous DJ/Producer Deadmau5 at the Palladium in Hollywood.  Whoopi describes his experience: “I was working with the production team that put together Daft Punk’s Alive tour, they were incredibly helpful and fun to work with.”

If you know Deadmau5, you know he has the craziest stage setups!

As you can see, it was yet another epic and successful weekend for Cashmere….and many more to come!

It is with great sadness that Cashmere reports the passing of one television’s true creative geniuses, Sherwood Schwartz. Schwartz died this morning in Los Angeles at the age 94.

For the “millennials” out there unfamiliar with Schwartz’s work, he was responsible for the classic ’60s and 70′s television shows Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch, which became afternoon television fixtures for a new generation of kids throughout reruns in the 80′s and 90′s.

That’s when television shows gave you a complete package, from the beginning to the end. Go ahead, listen to theme songs below and try not to sing along. Your creativity will be missed Sherwood Schwartz.

E!’s new series Ice Loves Coco takes viewers behind the hype and into the daily lives of entertainment legend Ice-T and his model/businesswoman wife Coco.

Ten years of marriage and Ice-T and Coco have remained inseparable, having spent only one day apart. This over-the-top celebrity couple will take fans on an adventurous ride during the season of Ice Loves Coco, premiering this Sunday, June 12th, at 10:30et/9:30ct only on E!

Read more of the official press release here, and check out the official trailer and Ice Advice below.

Trailer:

Ice Advice:

When the curtain rises and the lights shine on some of music’s biggest stars, she’s the one woman you don’t see in the spotlight.  Yet Laurieann Gibson’s blood, sweat and tears are obvious everywhere on stage.  This acclaimed choreographer and creative director has worked with A-list artists from Diddy to Alicia Keys to Katy Perry, making her one of the most powerful women in music today.  Helmed by Ryan Seacrest Productions, The Dance Scene follows the lives of Gibson and her team of aspiring dancers and choreographers, (aka Team Boomkack), as they tear up the dance floor preparing for a variety of A-list performances around the world.

Sunday’s series premiere, following the new series Khloe & Lamar, will show creative director Laurieann Gibson choreographing for Katy Perry and Keri Hilson while hiring a new Assistant Choreographer. Sarah of Team Boomkack gets bad news from her boyfriend. Drama. Raw Talent. Passion. Love. Hurt. The dance industry. All enclosed in one show – The Dance Scene.

Anxiously awaiting the season premiere of The Dance Scene? Well we have something worth the wait. Head over to iTunes, and grab your FREE download of the sneak peek for the season premiere airing this Sunday on E! at 10:30pm PT/ET.

Follow the show on Twitter and ‘Like’ on Facebook to stay abreast of exclusive incentives, sneak peeks, bonus videos and other details related to E!’s super new series.