TIGER WINS U.S. OPEN IN SUDDEN DEATH PLAY: Nineteen-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate caps a tournament for the ages.
*Tiger Woods overcame a bum knee and a 19-hole playoff Monday to win the U.S. Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines over Rocco Mediate.
The world's No. 1 golfer, who had not played since April 15 surgery on his left knee, limped and winced through 91 holes and five days of action in San Diego. In the playoff round Monday, Woods only needed a two-putt par to win the U.S. Open for the third time. He birdied the 18th hole to force sudden death against Mediate, who was one shot away from delivering one of golf's greatest upsets.
After missing a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win, Mediate, 45, bogeyed the first extra hole, which gave Tiger the win.
"I'm glad I'm done," Woods said, when asked about playing through knee pain. "I really don't feel like playing anymore. It's sore."
Woods said he will take some time off to allow his knee to heal properly.
"I'm going to shut it down for a while," he told NBC's Bob Costas. He answered "maybe" when asked if he thought he made it worse by playing the Open, and he said he didn't know if he would play the British Open at Royal Birkdale next month.
OPRAH FINDS A DISTRIBUTOR FOR 'DR. OZ.': Mogul forgoes own relationship with CBS TV Distribution and picks Sony.
*Oprah Winfrey has chosen Sony Pictures TV to distribute a talk show hosted by heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, a frequent guest on her own program and a contributor to her "Oprah and Friends" channel on XM Satellite Radio.
Winfrey's Harpo Productions opted not to take advantage of her current relationship with CBS Television Distribution, which handles her own daytime show as well as its spinoffs "Dr. Phil" and "Rachael Ray."
Under the multiyear agreement, Sony will handle all distribution efforts for Oz's show - targeted to launch in fall 2009 in the U.S. and Canada - as well as advertiser sales and marketing. Sony will also co-produce "Dr. Oz" with Winfrey's Harpo Prods, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The format of the series is still being worked out.
Harpo decided to give all major distributors, including CBS, an equal shot at handling "Dr. Oz." The company shopped "Dr. Phil" in the same manner, ultimately going with King World and with Paramount Domestic Television as co-producer. Both were sister companies under Viacom but have since merged into CBS Television Distribution, now part of CBS Corp.
CBS plans to launch its own medical-themed talk show, the "Dr. Phil" spinoff "The Doctors," in the fall. "Dr. Oz" is already being perceived as a competitor to that show as well as to "Phil," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
"This is a show I believe in," Winfrey said. "Judging by the response from our viewers, Dr. Oz has already demonstrated he is a valued and trusted medical expert who has created a deep connection with our audience."
It's understood that there will be a clause in the stations' contract that prohibits "Dr. Oz" from airing opposite "Oprah," similar to the way "Dr. Phil" was sold. CBS, meanwhile, also is developing talk shows for fall 2009, including projects hosted by Bishop T.D. Jakes.
KANYE BOOED AT BONNAROO: Crowd turns on rapper after he takes the stage some 2 hours late.
*Kanye West's performance at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival early Sunday was preceded with lots of boos from the crowd and periodic chants of "Kanye sucks" because his performance was delayed for nearly two hours.
The set was supposed to begin at 2:45 a.m. Sunday morning, but West didn't take the main stage until 4:25 a.m., according to the Associated Press. The holdup was blamed on problems setting up his elaborate stage set, which included an interplanetary landscape of a wavy black platform with a slanted floor in the middle and a video screen above.
Ken Weinstein, a spokesman for the annual festival held on a 700-acre site south of Nashville, also points a finger at the band Pearl Jam, who went an hour past its scheduled end time, playing until about 1:15 a.m.
Thousands of sleepy fans tried to hang in there until 2:45 a.m. But when a message on the jumbotrons told them his show would be delayed until 3:15 a.m., and when that didn't happen, that he would start at 3:30, audience members became restless and began booing. Some displayed their frustration by pelting glow sticks at the empty stage.
Midway through his performance, the morning light showed that the crowd had dwindled substantially. According to the AP, West had originally been slated to perform at 8:15 p.m. Saturday night, but requested a late night performance. At least in the first hour of his performance, West didn't address the crowd regarding the delay.
Later Sunday, the Bonnaroo crowd was still upset. Pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph led a "Kanye sucks" chant.
SHARPTON ACCUSED OF SHAKEDOWNS: Activist said to threaten boycotts on companies unless they contribute to his NAN group.
*The New York Post is reporting that Al Sharpton and his National Action Network group squeeze money out of corporations by threatening to march on their businesses and boycott their services if they don't pay up.
A rep for General Motors said it had been turning down NAN's repeated requests for contributions for the past six years, beginning in August 2000. Then, in December 2006, Sharpton threatened to call a boycott of the carmaker over the closing of an African-American-owned GM dealership in The Bronx, and he picketed outside GM headquarters on Fifth Avenue. Last year, General Motors gave NAN a $5,000 donation. It gave $5,000 more this year, a spokesman said, calling NAN a "worthy" organization.
In November 2003, Sharpton marched on DaimlerChrysler's Chicago car show and threatened a boycott over alleged racial bias in car loans. "This is institutional racism," he said at the time. In May 2004, Chrysler began supporting NAN's conferences, which include panels on corporate responsibility and civil rights and a black-tie awards dinner to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Last year, Sharpton gave Chrysler an award for corporate excellence.
Also in 2003, Sharpton targeted American Honda for not hiring enough African-Americans in management. "We support those that support us," wrote Sharpton and the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, president of NAN's Michigan chapter, in a letter to American Honda. "We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner."
Two months after American Honda execs met with Sharpton, the carmaker began to sponsor NAN's events - and continues to pay "a modest amount" each year, a spokesman said.
Almost 50 companies - including PepsiCo, General Motors, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Continental Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Chase - and some labor unions sponsored Sharpton's National Action Network annual conference in April, according to the Post.
Sharpton says none of them were pressured for cash.
"That's the old shakedown theory that the anti-civil-rights forces have used against us forever," he told The Post Sunday. "Why can't they come up with one company that says that? No one has criticized me."
"His way of doing things was, 'If we're going to support you and you're not going to support us, then we have to focus on telling the African-American community not to spend their money,'" said La-Van Hawkins, a partner in Hawkins Food Group, which owns and operates fast-food franchises nationwide.
After Hawkins lost an attempt to sue Burger King in 2000 for denying him franchises, he sent Sharpton, attorney Johnnie Cochran and a Miami lawyer to meet with the company's top execs. BK ended up settling with Hawkins for $31 million. Sharpton did not get a cut, but Hawkins Food Group paid him an annual $25,000 fee, Hawkins said. He said he has donated "over
$1 million" to NAN.
Within months of threatening to boycott Pepsi in June 1998 because the company's ads did not portray African-Americans, the company hired him as a $25,000-a-year adviser until 2007.
Sharpton made the same complaint against Macy's in 1998. The company appointed Sharpton an unpaid adviser on diversity, but also funds NAN's annual conference. Last week, Macy's Senior Vice President Ed Goldberg praised Sharpton as "the kind of guy you can sit down and talk to."
REGINA KING IN UPCOMING LIFETIME MOVIE: Actress joins ensemble cast of project from executive producer Renee Zellweger.
*Regina King has been cast in the Lifetime original movie "Living Proof," which tells the true story of a UCLA doctor who developed the breast cancer drug Herceptin.
The all-star cast includes Angie Harmon, Amanda Bynes, Bernadette Peters, Swoosie Kurtz, Jennifer Coolidge, Trudie Styler, Tammy Blanchard, John Benjamin Hickey, Paula Cale and Harry Connick Jr.
Due to air in October, "Proof" is based on Robert Bazell's book and centers on Dr. Dennis Slamon, to be played by Connick. King will play a survivor of breast cancer.
Bynes plays Slamon's student assistant. Harmon portrays Lilly Tartikoff, wife of former NBC entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff and the person responsible for raising money to continue Slamon's research. Blanchard is the first woman to receive Herceptin, while Kurtz plays her grandmother.
Peters plays the first woman in to be saved by Herceptin, while Styler and Coolidge play participants in the drug study. Hickey is a friend and fellow scientist to Slamon. Cale portrays Slamon's wife, Donna.
The movie is from executive producers Renee Zellweger, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Filming is currently taking place in New Orleans for an October premiere.
JOHANSSON SAYS OBAMA LOVE IS NOT A 'CRUSH': Rep says she's a "surrogate," just like any other actor campaigning for the senator.
*Actress Scarlett Johansson, who made headlines last week after it was revealed that she and Sen. Barack Obama exchange e-mails on a regular basis, is reportedly upset with media reports that call her support for his campaign a "crush."
"She is a surrogate. They're not exchanging love letters," her rep told the New York Daily News. "Everyone seems to be forgetting that she's engaged [to actor Ryan Reynolds]. Kal Penn is also a surrogate, and no one says he has a crush on Obama."
The actress' twin brother, Hunter, just so happens to work for Obama's campaign. The position he holds is not clear.
The whole media uproar was sparked by Johansson's interview last week with Politico.com, where she spoke of offering Obama advice by e-mail and admitted being "amazed" that he finds the time to reply to her.
"Someone like the senator, who is constantly traveling and constantly 'on,' how can he return these personal e-mails?" she said to Politico.
OPRAH SPEAKS TO STANFORD GRADS: Talk show host encourages giving back during commencement speech.
*Oprah Winfrey gave words of wisdom, advice and two parting gifts to each of the 4,666 graduates of Stanford University Sunday in her role as speaker for its 117th Commencement ceremony.
Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth" and Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind" were bound by ribbons and placed under each seat as presents from Winfrey, meant to underscore her speech about feelings, failure and finding happiness, reports the Stanford News Service.
"I really wanted to give you cars," she told the students, among them her goddaughter, Kirby Bumpus, daughter of Oprah's best friend Gayle King. Winfrey gave Kirby a shout out at the beginning of her 30-minute address.
The veteran TV star drew on lessons learned from a career that began in 1976, when she co-anchored a television newscast.
"It didn't feel right," she said of the $22,000 job that her father encouraged her to stick with. She did not like covering tragedies. She did not like being told to change her look. And she was not about to listen to her boss and change her name to "Suzie." After eight months of being an awkward fit, the station she worked for made her a talk show host. As soon as she started the new job, "I felt like I came home," she said.
"When you're doing the work you were meant to do, it feels right," she said "And every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid."
Money is nice, she told the crowd of about 25,000, but without being able to put it to good use, there is not much point. "I like money," said Winfrey. "It's good for buying things. What you want is money with meaning. Meaning is what brings real richness to your life."
Winfrey also spoke about the scandal that hit her $40 million school for girls in South Africa. The billionaire said she was devastated to hear that one of her employees was charged with sexually abusing the students, but she never allowed the allegations to overtake her.
"I had been paying attention to all of the wrong things," she said, recounting how she was perhaps more focused on the construction of the building than the people working there. "I built that school from the outside in, when what really mattered was the inside out."
Drawing on the university's founding by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their son, who died of typhoid fever, as an example of overcoming tragedy, Winfrey told the graduates that "in order to move forward, you have to give something back." Helping others-even when times are tough for the benefactor-allows people to join what Winfrey called "the greatest fellowship of all: the sorority of compassion and the fraternity of service."
'PASSING STRANGE'S' STEW TALKS TONY AWARD: Best Book of a Musical winner treasures recognition for song writing.
*The production was nominated for seven Tony Awards, but "Passing Strange" only picked up one Sunday night - Best Book of a Musical for the show's creator and protagonist, Stew.
The autobiographical play chronicles Stew's musical journey as a young black man searching for his sense of identity abroad.
"Music is something that comes easy to me," he told reporters backstage, "and I've received numerous accolades for my songs - but to be honored for my writing means a whole hell of a lot, especially when it comes from theatre people for whom words really mean something."
About bringing the show from Off-Broadway to Broadway, Stew said: "We had the chance to take this show to Broadway. We're only going to get this chance once. Instead of selling out, we just said no anytime anyone wanted us to change something about the show."
Other big winners at the 2008 Tony Awards include the Latin-inflected "In the Heights" for best musical; "South Pacific" for best revival and Tracy Lett's Pulitzer Prize-winning "August: Osage County," which won for best play.
JEEZY LINKED TO BLACK MAFIA COCAINE RING: Rapper accused of receiving kilos of powder from criminal organization.
*Young Jeezy's name came up last week during testimony in a federal cocaine-conspiracy case against alleged Black Mafia Family associate, Fleming "Ill" Daniels.
BMF member Ralph "Ralphie" Simms testified Thursday (June 12) that the rapper, whose real name is Jay Jenkins, received kilos of cocaine from the criminal organization.
Simms described an incident in 2004 when he was ordered by high-ranking BMF members Chad "J-Bo" Brown and Martez "Tito" Byrth to set aside multi-kilo cocaine "shipments" for two customers. When asked who those customers were Jeezy was named, reports Creative Loafing Atlanta.
So far, Jeezy has not been charged with a crime in relation to the allegation. His name had been mentioned before in the case, but only in relation to his friendship with BMF's Atlanta-based leader, Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory.
Big Meech pleaded guilty in Detroit last November to running a continuing criminal enterprise. He faces a minimum sentence of 20 years.
FAMU PRODUCES MOST BLACK GRADUATES: School ranks No. 1 in new finding; 1,256 blacks received bachelor degrees last year.
*A report by Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine's June 12 edition reveals that Florida A&M University in Tallahassee has the highest number of black graduates earning bachelor degrees.
The report ranked colleges by the number of students who graduate during a school year. For FAMU, that meant 1,256 graduates in the 2006-2007 year, reports tallahasse.com.
"They appear to be doing a pretty good job," said Toni Coleman, associate editor of the magazine. "That makes sense," she added. "They are the (largest) historically black university."
FAMU President James Ammons said the recognition "validates the valued role FAMU plays in American and global higher education."
"This announcement ... speaks volumes concerning FAMU's unique contributions to the nation and the international community at large," Ammons said.
OBAMA TELLS BLACK FATHERS TO STEP UP: Father's Day speech calls on black dads to stop making excuses and remain present.
*Barack Obama spent Father's Day with his wife and two daughters at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, where he made a speech urging black dads to take an active role in raising their children. [Scroll down to view speech.]
"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it," the Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday.
Obama spoke about his own childhood with an absent father, saying he was lucky to have loving grandparents who stepped in to fill the void. With their support, he was able to thrive and earn scholarships that helped him get an education.
"A lot of children don't get those chances. There is no margin for error in their lives," said the Illinois senator.
"I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle -- that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls," added Obama, whose daughters, Sasha and Malia, and his wife, Michelle, watched from the audience.
Echoing Bill Cosby's message to blacks in the inner city, Obama said it's time to stop using past history as a crutch.
"We can't simply write these problems off to past injustices," Obama said. "Those injustices are real. There's a reason our families are in disrepair ... but we can't keep using that as an excuse."
Obama urged black parents to demand the best from themselves and their children. He compared it to his own presidential campaign and early comments from black voters who said they liked him but didn't think a black man could ever be elected president. He said they were admitting defeat before the competition had even begun.
"That was when I wasn't black enough. Now I'm too black," he said in a joking aside.
Barack Obama's Message to Black Fathers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj1hCDjwG6M
NAOMI CAMPBELL NOT DRUNK IN PHOTO: Rep for model says she was 'just playing' when she stumbled and fell leaving a club.
*A photo of Naomi Campbell appearing unable to walk on her own after leaving a club in Italy hit the Internet last week with headlines suggesting she was too drunk to stand up straight.
Reports suggested the star, who was vacationing on the Italian island of Capri, had become so intoxicated while partying that she couldn't function and had to be carried back to her hotel by concerned friends.
Not the case, says a rep for the British supermodel. She was not smashed, but merely playing around with friends, her rep told Britain's The Sun newspaper.
"It was just a bit of fun and not down to drink. Naomi was playing this trust game, where you fall into a friend's arms," said the rep, who also blamed Campbell's stumble on Italy's scorching temperatures. "It's very hot there, so that could also have had something to do with it."
MEN IN NASCAR LAWSUIT SUSPENDED: Two officials put on indefinite leave following claims of harassment from black co-worker.
*Two officials named in a $225 million harassment lawsuit by an African American, female NASCAR co-worker were suspended by the organization and placed on indefinite administrative paid leave.
While NASCAR will not name the individuals, the AP says it has confirmed that Tim Knox and Bud Moore were dismissed Friday from Kentucky Speedway. NASCAR did not give a reason for the men's suspension.
Mauricia Grant filed her suit last Tuesday, alleging 23 specific incidents of sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of racial and gender discrimination during her time as a technical inspector for NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series.
Grant, who is black, claims her October 2007 firing was retaliation for complaining about the way she was treated on the job from her January 2005 hiring.
NASCAR sent a team of investigators from its human resources and legal offices to Kentucky and did 27 interviews away from the track Thursday and Friday. Knox and Moore were found to have possibly engaged in behavior that violated NASCAR policy. Grant's suit accuses both men of exposing themselves to her.
The lawsuit also claims that at an April 2007 race in Texas, Knox exposed himself in the hospitality suite of their hotel at an officials gathering hosted by Nationwide Series director Joe Balash.
Moore is accused of coming out of his hotel room in Memphis in October 2006 clad only in a towel. The suit says he asked Grant if she wanted to see what was under the towel, opened it, then ducked behind a trash can.
In another incident, Grant claims Moore asked her how it felt to be black. Her suit claims Grant described being black as "a privilege," and Moore feigned confusion and wondered aloud "how can she be proud of being black?" Moore also is accused of making lewd sexual advances toward Grant.
Grant has said she followed the chain of command all the way to Balash, but stopped short of telling human resources because she was reprimanded by that department for a separate incident two weeks after lodging her complaint. She said she viewed the reprimand, which included a threat of termination, as retaliation for complaining to Balash.
Named in the suit are Balash, assistant series director Mike Dolan, two supervisors, NASCAR's senior manager for business relations, the human resources director and 17 officials who were Grant's co-workers.
BLACK BLOGGERS FIGHT FOR CONVENTION SPACE: DNC grants more credentials after complaint filed.
*Dallas Morning News is reporting that "minority bloggers that felt spurned by the Democratic National Committee got some vindication recently when they were added to the list of blogs invited by party officials to cover their convention in August - but some still say the white blogs got preferential treatment and will get better access."
Members of the "AfroSpear" web network, a circle of African-American run blogs, complained last month when 55 blogs were credentialed to cover the convention in Denver as part of the "State Blogger Corps" but only a few could be identified as minority blogs or having minority writers, the newspaper reported.
A few weeks later, the DNC added 69 blogs to their "General Blogger Pool" list, many of them being minority blogs. The list included the Dallas South blog, published by Shawn Williams, who had written U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson about the lack of African-Americans among the bloggers at the convention.
Other minority blogs included in the updated list are Pam's House Blend, Jack and Jill, Culture Kitchen and African American Political Pundit.
"Most of the black bloggers I have talked to are happy for those who are credentialed," said Williams. But some other African-American bloggers, according to the paper, are still concerned that out of 124 credentialed blogs, less than 10 percent of them are black - while more than 20 percent of the delegates are black.
Additionally, the nearly all-white State Blogger Corps will have full-time seats on the convention floor, while the General Blogger Corps - which also includes blogs that focus on gay and lesbian issues as well as women's issues, among other groups - will be allowed floor access for only limited periods of time, similar to access granted to the mainstream media.
It's particularly troubling, some of the bloggers say, because the party is about to nominate Sen. Barack Obama, the nation's first-ever African American presidential nominee - and the steps the DNC took to rectify the situation with the updated list have done little to address those concerns.
"Fundamentally, the situation has changed very little," said blogger Francis L. Holland, Afrosphere Action Coalition. "We think floor blog outreach to blacks is essential to Democratic victories in the fall, particularly in states with substantial black populations."
ITTY BITTY BITS: Winehouse hospitalized; Ashanti & Nelly; Taylor Dayne's DUI; 50 Cent's groupies; T.I. signs Eightball & MJG; KRS at Essence.com.
*Amy Winehouse was taken to the hospital Monday after she fainted at her north London home. The troubled Grammy winner lost consciousness but an assistant caught her before she hit the ground, spokesman Chris Goodman said in a statement. "She quickly recovered and her father, Mitch, took her to the hospital as a precaution." Earlier in the afternoon, Winehouse had been signing autographs for Canadian fans who were standing outside her house. She collapsed after they left. Goodman said doctors are unsure what caused the collapse and the 24-year-old singer was undergoing tests.
*After her boycott-free rendition of the National Anthem before Game 5 of the Lakers-Celtics championship series in Los Angeles Sunday, Ashanti spoke to People magazine about her reported relationship with rapper Nelly. "Me and Nelly, we're good friends. We kick it - hang out a lot," said the 27-year-old. "The industry is very hard, so it's good to have fun and lighten it up." As for their rumored engagement? Holding up a ring-free left hand, she told reporters, "Oh no. Noooo! No engagement." Then she added with a wicked smile, "But definitely in the future. Ha! Ha!" Ashanti avoided a boycott by groups who protested a murder-themed Web site that was launched to promote her new album "The Declaration." Her label took the site down.
*Taylor Dayne was sentenced to probation and a fine on Monday in her DUI case, reports TMZ.com. The 46-year-old was arrested in Beverly Hills on March 6 after failing field sobriety tests. Under a deal, she pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of reckless driving.
*50 Cent talks about his groupies in the next issue of Vibe magazine. "I've been in hotel rooms, and girls were already there in the closet - naked," the rapper tells next month's issue, adding that he never takes advantage. "Hell, no! Are you kidding me? That's like Amsterdam. Amsterdam is fun for some people, but I don't want no [bleep] that costs $50. There's too many people that got $50!"
*Rap duo Eightball & MJG are hoping to make a fresh start as the newest act under T.I.'s label, Grand Hustle Records. The announcement was made live during T.I.'s set at Hot 107.9's Birthday Bash on Saturday (June 14th), reports Allhiphop.com. The Memphis-based duo debuted in 1993 with "Comin' Out Hard," but their breakout album came two years later with the release of "On Top of the World," which included the hit "Space Age Pimpin'."
*Essence.com speaks to veteran rapper KRS-One about his ongoing battle against violence in America. The Brooklyn-born MC continues his Stop The Violence Movement, which began 19 years ago when a young fan was killed during one of his concerts with Public Enemy. Essence.com spoke with the MC about the purpose of STVM, his son's suicide and why he's got Obama's back.
Click here to read: http://www.essence.com/essence/themix/entertainment/0,16109,1813811,00.html
EUR DVD REVIEW: What Up?
Jive Janitors on Run from Mob in Crass Crime Comedy
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Tyrone (Kadeem Hardison) and Jerome (Godfrey Danchimah, Jr.) are jive janitors with not much ambition beyond getting “a Hummer and some honeys.” Proud to hail from the ‘hood, they’ll tell any female who gives them the time of day that “We’re strong black men. The ghetto is our garden. This is where we get our energy.” And the women who serve as their sexual conquests, too.
On a typical you day you might find Tyrone fantasizing about sleeping with a midget while Jerome tries to impress a pedestrian by telling her the cart he’s driving down the sidewalk to collect trash is actually a Porsche. In the evenings, the ever-aroused pals frequent a strip club where one gets girls’ phone numbers by passing himself off as movie director Spike Leroy.
These irritating nitwits think their ship has finally come in the day they find a briefcase with $100,000 in cash on the roof a building where they’re working. Thinking themselves now rich enough to retire, they immediately quit their jobs, but quickly blow the loot on a flashy car and “bitches.” Only after their new auto is carjacked and they’re down to their last $2.14 do they learn that the money belonged to the Mafia and that a vicious mobster named Mr. Spaghetti (Sonny Bermudez) is hot on their trail.
What to do? What to do? The best ideas they can come up with is to rob a black-owned bank and to try to sell soiled panties for $500 by passing them off as stained with Hale Berry’s booty juice? No, I am not making this up, but Dominique James who makes a disgraceful scriptwriting debut as the creator of the storyline of What Up?
This insult to the intelligence features the embarrassing antics of a couple of shiftless fools who attempt to resurrect every ugly stereotype about brothers while spouting ebonics-laden dialogue reminiscent of Amos & Andy.
Makes Soul Plane look like The Great Debaters.
Poor (0 stars)
Rated R for profanity, sexual references and mature themes.
Running time: 82 minutes
Studi Lions Gate Home Entertainment
To see a trailer of What Up? Visit:
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi971440409/
EUR TV REVIEW: Frontline (PBS): Young & Restless in China
Preppies and Slackers of Capitalist China Are the Subject of PBS Documentary
PBS Frontline Review by Kam Williams
*How has the current generation of Chinese adults just coming of age adjusted to their country’s embrace of capitalism and the ensuing rush to rapid modernization?
That question is the subject of this informative Frontline PBS episode which offers an intimate look inside the lives of nine such young adults followed with a camera for four years by Sue Williams.
The intrepid director has built her career around investigating the Orient, having previously made such related documentaries as “China in Revolution,” “The Mao Years,” “China: Born under the Red Flag” and “China in the Red.”
The subjects of this revealing all seem to be a bit overwhelmed by the nation’s frenetic pace and the populace’s addiction to money simply for the sake of status and materialism.
This point of view is shared by all the participants, whether preppies, like most, a gangsta-rapping slacker, or a blushing bride who has agreed to an arranged married to a guy she’s only spent a couple of hours with.
Ironically, it seems that considerable compromises in the quality of life are being made in quest of the almighty dollar. For example, Ben Wu wonders why he gave up a six-figure salary and left his wife and kids behind in America in order to return home to open an internet café.
But anyone watching can easily answer that: China is the land of opportunity for any well-connected males with a good education. However, if you’re a female, life might not exactly be a bed of lotus blossoms. The women interviewed here relate nightmares like having to drop out of school to work in a rice paddy to help pay for a brother’s education.
Another is a public interest lawyer dump by her boyfriend for being to devoted to a class action case she brought on behalf of the over a million citizens summarily dispossessed by eminent domain to make room for the site of the 2008 Olympics. Then there’s the already mentioned fiancée who, despite the fact that she’s technologically entered the 21st Century, still can’t summon the strength to break with tradition and simply choose her own mate.
The coolest dude and biggest loser is Wang, an aspiring hip-hop artist who sent what little savings he had to his name a cute girl who sent him some photos of herself over the internet. Poor sucker had no idea he was probably exchanging sweet nothings all along with some heartless hustler over in Nigeria.
What a world! What a world!
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 104 minutes
Studi PBS
Young & Restless in China premieres on PBS, Tuesday, June 17 at 9 PM ET (Check local listings)
To see a trailer for the show, visit: www.pbs.org/frontline/youngchina
ASK ADVICE CHICK: Answers to YOUR Dating, Sex, Life, & Love Questions!
By - AdviceChick@ameritech.net
>>> Coming Soon … The ULTIMATE Ladies NITE Out!!!!!
Send YOUR questions to AdviceChick@ameritech.net !
Dear Advice Chick,
*I dated this guy last year, and it was an emotional rollercoaster of a relationship. I fell in love with him, and we ended on bad terms. It has been almost one year since we spoke. The last time we spoke, it was bad like always, and I did the same old crap I did in the past that caused him to be frustrated with me. I still think about him, and I wonder how he is doing. I had to find closure by myself with the break up, and it has been difficult at times because I made some bad mistakes in the relationship, one I vow to change. I moved and I changed my numbers, so he couldn't contact me. But we do have a mutual friend, who I work with everyday. I don't discuss him, and she doesn't either, but I'm constantly reminded of him, when I see her. I want to apologize to him for what I've done, and talk to him, so he could understand why I acted the way I did. But I'm too afraid to call, because I don't know how he's going to react towards me. Do I break the NC rule and call or do I just continue to struggle and fight this? I know he has moved on, and I haven't found someone who has been worth anything good. But I just want to have that final talk. Finally, do you think if he wanted to talk to me, he would of by now?
Advice Chick replies,
Telephones aren't THAT complex. They work in TWO ways; they make calls and they RECEIVE calls. That mutual friend is still *mutual* meaning he/she has contact with you and with your ex. So, if your ex was remotely thinking about you the mutual friend would know and let you know he wants to talk - IF he actually wanted to talk; which he apparently does not.
It's been almost a year since you and he have spoken, will you puhleeze gone somewhere? Your apology isn't required, and the odds are he's not interested in why you acted the way you did.
You need to figure out why you acted the way you did, and devise a plan to ensure you don't act like that the next time you are in a relationship with someone. Don't do Drama boo - it's only desirable in fiction novels, on the small screen, or on the silver screen.
Send YOUR questions and comments to Advice Chick right NOW! Please put “Dear Advice Chick” in the subject line so your email isn’t deleted as spam. Thanks! Send your emails t advicechick @ ameritech.net
----------
Ask Advice Chick about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING related to dating, sex, love, and life! She is THE resident dating expert at EURweb.com, and calls on over 11 years of dating and relationship industry experience.
TURNER’S TWO CENTS: JUSTICE DIS-SERVED IN R. KELLY TRIAL
By Cameron Turner
*“Visibly stunned.” That’s how the Associated Press described the look on R. Kelly’s face when the jury found him not guilty last Friday. I don’t think the Pied Piper of R&B expected to walk away from his child pornography trial. Probably because he knows that he’s guilty.
A lot of us were sure that Kelly was guilty, even before the trial began. After all, he’s the guy who settled three previous cases involving minors, illegally married the 15-year-old Aaliyah and was caught with explicit pictures of another underage girl on his still camera in Florida. More importantly, the home video at the center of the trial seemed like irrefutable evidence.
This was supposed to be an open and shut case, so what happened?
Well, the jury gave some pretty whack excuses for their terrible decision. Most of them believed that R. Kelly is the man in the video (they didn’t buy that nonsense about CGI and the mole on Kelly’s back) but, for some strange reason, they doubted the identity of the young female. Juror #9 told reporters, "I thought it was R. Kelly on the tape. I just wasn't 100 percent on the girl." Really? Even though she was positively identified by witnesses including the girl’s childhood friends, her middle school and high school basketball coaches, R. Kelly’s ex-personal assistant and a retired Chicago police detective.
Sure, some of the girl’s relatives were unsure, but the other witnesses were so convincing that disagreement among the family should not have been crucial.
Bottom line: the evidence was there and R. Kelly should have been found guilty. But like a certain NFL Hall of Famer, a pop music king, trigger-happy New York cops and employees of Blackwater, R. Kelly is a free man today.
Once again, justice is disserved.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Aldridge, Lena and Hawkins on Stage
By Deardra Shuler
*History often has a way of swallowing up its greats, especially when it comes to the feats of African Americans. Ossie Davis paid tribute to and brought back to memory little known Shakespearean thespian, Ira Aldridge, when he wrote the play “Curtain Call, Mr. Aldridge, Sir.” The play “Aldridge and Lena” featured by the Hadley Players, located within the North Presbyterian Church, located at 529 West 155th Street, will run until June 29th. “Curtain Call, Mr. Aldridge, Sir, starred in and directed by Eric Coleman is running in conjunction with Wendi Joy Franklin’s one-woman play about Lena Horne, entitled “A Song For You…The Civil Rights Journey of a Negro Women: Lena Calhoun Horne.”
Born in 1807, Ira Aldridge was the first African American to achieve stardom in the theatre. Unable to get past the racism of America, he traveled to Europe where he began his career on the British stage. Aldridge secured employment as a servant to actor James Wallack, an important stage actor of the period until he secured a position at London’s Coburg Theatre. Initially he was introduced as “The Celebrated Mr. Keene, Tragedian of Color,” later his billing changed to “The Celebrated Mr. Keene, the African Roscius.” His big break came however when in 1833, he won the role of Othello. He later performed in Brussels, Cologne, Leipzig, Berlin, Potsdam, and Bonn. Leopold I of Belgium became his patron and Frederick IV of Prussia gave Ira the Prussian Gold Medal of the First Class for Art and Science. He became a European sensation, later dying in Poland before having the opportunity to return to America.
“I hadn’t learned much about Aldridge in school so was delighted to read Ossie Davis’ play. I asked Ossie had he wrote the play to star in himself and he said “no.” He complimented me by saying he would like to see me in the play,” stated Coleman about the role in which he now appears. Coleman has had a busy year directing 6 plays in 5 months, among them “Josh and Satchel,” the story of two legendary baseball players for Woodie King’s New Federal Theatre and “3 On the Fringe,” a Hadley Player Production.
Wendi Joy Franklin was outstanding as the great Lena Calhoun Horne. Not only does she resemble Ms. Horne in the production, she gives the audience a glimpse into the life of a woman whose show business career is well known but who was also a civil rights advocate. Lena lent her voice time after time, speaking out against injustices African Americans faced in America. Raised by her grandmother primarily, Lena often found herself in the care of her show business mother who occasionally left Lena with caretakers while she toured. Lena never told her mother about the abuse she suffered under these caretakers her mother trusted to watch over Lena in her absence. A child of mixed heritage, Lena’s color on occasion, presented a problem for her when she sought to fit in with her young peers who oftentimes alienated Lena due to her fairer complexion. Lena never forgot the horrible abuse of black people she witnessed while living down South and it has remained with her most of her life. It caused her to become involved with the Civil Rights Movement whereby she even attended the March on Washington. “People often tell me I resemble Lena. However, the one thing that is most significant for me as an actress is to be able in some way to capture the spirit of Lena, which I hope I have done in my play, “A Song For You…The Civil Rights Journey of A Negro Women: Lena Calhoun Horne” said Wendy who has toured with the play around the country. Ms. Franklin’s stage credentials include among others “Grace in the Light,” for which she received her first AUDELCO for Best Actress Award. In fact, Franklin is a 3-time AUDELCO Award winner.
Aldridge and Lena are outstanding productions. For further information about the plays interested parties can call 212-368-9314 or 212-926-0281. Those wishing to know more about Lena Horne and Ira Aldridge and about the careers of Eric Coleman and Wendi Joy Franklin, can tune into Mr. Coleman’s and Ms. Franklin’s interviews on the Internet Radio show “ON AIR WITH DEARDRA,” on the SARFMRADIO.com network.
In Search of My Father …’Walkin,’ ‘Talkin,’ Bill Hawkins written by W. Allen Taylor is about one man’s search to trace the life of his father after his father’s death. W. Allen Taylor, the playwright and actor within the production, takes the audience on a poignant journey in search of his own father. “All my life I wondered about my father. When other kids talked about their Dad, I didn’t have anything to say about mine. Despite the fact I pleaded with my mother to tell me about my father, she always put me off. She would frequently say, “I will tell you later.’” By the time later came, my father was dead,” said Taylor, lamenting about how much time was wasted. “I could have had a relationship with my father who was a famous radio jock at the time; if only, I had known who he was when I was a kid. There was so much I could have asked him,” stated Taylor who did meet his father once unknowingly while on a job interview.”
“In Search of My Father…Walkin’ Talkin Bill Hawkins” won the Best-Solo Performance of 2006 Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and was recently showcased at the New Federal Theatre in New York City. Interested parties can learn more about this touching production featuring a man’s life search to know his father by visiting www.walkintalkin.com.
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Disaster Relief Disaster
*The 130,000 trailer homes provided to Hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors have exposed families to formaldehyde poisoning. If you’re dead, formaldehyde will preserve your remains. If you’re alive it could kill you. Talk about good intentions paving the road to hell.
Gulf coast residents lost their homes and most of their possessions while they braved rising floodwaters. Some insurance companies have refused to pay out on legitimate home owner policies. And now this.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided the trailers in 2006 - months after the hurricanes had passed - with little to no inspection process. Thousands of displaced families still live in the trailers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas because they have nowhere else to go.
Just this past February FEMA began to evacuate the tainted trailers. The best recommendation from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for those families still in the trailers: leave the windows and doors open for ventilation.
FEMA has known about the problem since early 2007 when trailer residents reported various respiratory illnesses. FEMA’s own employees said two people might have died from complications due to the exposure.
In case you didn’t know, formaldehyde is used to make building products and is a byproduct of burning and other natural processes.
Early air quality test results inside the trailers showed up to five times the safe level of formaldehyde fumes.
Low levels of formaldehyde exposure lead to skin, eyes, nose and throat irritation. It’s especially hazardous for people already suffering with asthma. And if that’s not bad enough, the highly toxic substance can be flammable.
If an agency provides a service with the intent to help, but causes harm in the process, is that agency liable for damages? My 8-ball says it is decidedly so. If formaldehyde is used to preserve the dead, who came up with the bright idea to use it in building materials where live people could be exposed? Probably the same person who thought it was okay to put the same acidic product in carbonated drinks that‘s used to clean car engines.
I’m not saying this whole poisonous trailer incident is President George W. Bush’s fault. But with any other profession when job performance is low and morale is lower, the head man in charge is amongst the first people to get fired.
Congressional hearings are in the works to investigate whether some state attorneys general were fired at the urging of the president because of conflicts of political interests. It also would be interesting to know how many non-qualified political appointees are in the Bush administration and their link to this and other disaster assistance efforts around the country.
Former FEMA Director Michael Brown took the criticism Bush should have gotten in 2005. Now former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan reveals in a forthcoming book some of the misinformation the president and his support staff approved for release to the media and ultimately to you and me.
My mother used to say “If you’ll lie, you’ll steal and if you’ll steal you might steal from me.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of the lies, the mistakes and the disaster relief disasters.
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist living in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Send your questions and comments to her at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com.
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"Big goals get big results. No goals get no results or somebody else's results." — Mark Victor Hansen
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
June 17: Singer Kevin Thornton of Color Me Badd is 39. Actor-rapper Herculeez of Herculeez and Big Tyme is 25.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
The hippest, smartest spot on the 'Net for African-American intelligence is at www.urbanthoughtcollective.com.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
June 17, 1957: Tuskegee boycott begins. Blacks boycotted city stores in protest against act of state legislature which deprived them of municipal votes by placing their homes outside city limits. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)