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(December 5, 2003)
Lee Bailey's EUR/Electronic Urban Report
December 5, 2003 (Friday)
The EUR is factual online infotainment on today's hottest
celebrities, events and issues in urban/black entertainment
and culture.
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In This Issue:
* JESSICA ALBA STARS AS 'HONEY'
* UNIVERSITY OFFERS TUPAC 101
* RAP RULES AT THE GRAMMYS
* MYSTIKAL HAS NO MORE TRICKS
* KKK AFTER THE NFL?
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JESSICA ALBA
"Honey" debuts today nationwide.
We're sure you've glimpsed the lovely features
of actress Jessica Alba here or there. Perhaps
on the cover of Maxim magazine, or in the campy
horror/comedy film "Idle Hands," alongside Vivica
A. Fox. Or you may have peeped her as the
genetically altered superhero on the now
defunct FOX show "Dark Angel."
We've run into her once or twice ourselves
and on those occasions her physical features
were on their A-game 'cause the only way to
describe her would be to quote Martin Lawrence's
character from his old sitcom when we say
'pop-pop-poppity-payow!'
But during her junket stop in New York
for her new starrer "Honey," honey wasn't
looking as put together. Being on a press
tour can do that to you.
"I've been on the tour for the movie," said
22-year-old Alba, rubbing her eyes. "Every two
days I go to a different city. My Mom kept
me up all night."
But don't worry EUR faithful, we didn't allow
any knee jerk sympathy to well up from within
us. We knew that one of the first questions
you all would have asked her is 'Whatchu
know 'bout hip-hop lil' girl and how long
have you been down with the culture?'
"I'm not really into the culture because I'm
really isolated because I've been acting for so
long," admitted the former San Diego resident.
"But my brother is, he loves it. I've loved hip-hop
music ever since I was a kid. I was part of that
MTV hip-hop generation. Recently I've traveled to
Tokyo and Germany and Paris and London and
in the states and hip-hop's everywhere. It' doesn't
matter whether they speak English or not. They
just love dancing. I thought that combining the
two in a film was a no brainer for me."
Unfortunately in this lifetime things are painfully
finite, just ask this "Honey." Her primetime vehicle
"Dark Angel" was canned despite having a bit of
a cult following. But Jessica isn't really sweating
that much. In fact, she seemed a bit relieved
it was over when the question was brought
up at the junket.
"When I was doing Dark Angel it was 90
hours a week, five to six days a week shooting
in the dark. When I would get out of work it would
be dark and it would be raining. It was really depressing.
It was shot in Vancouver in the cold and in the dark."
Sheesh, if only everyone could be so upbeat
about being fired. At press junkets, the questions
are firing off a mile a minute and when a beautiful
actress is involved the questions of sexuality rears
its head more often than not.
"Honey" is rated PG-13 but one reporter present
mentioned that he felt it pressed the boundaries
a bit with some of the clothing she wore. Particularly
a sports bra and shorts ensemble worn in a scene
where she's dancing and a sweaty. Quoting Martin
again 'Waata waz glisenin' all over huh bawdy!'
Whoa, just describing the scene has a perspiring
jus' a lil' bit. But Alba set the record straight
about that
"When I was going to junior high playing
soccer I wore gym shorts and sports bras it wasn't
any emphasis on sexy. It was just what kids were
wearing," said the actress in a suddenly serious
tone. "The clothing I'm wearing in this film, it's
just true to what dancers are wearing. As far as
me being sexy is concerned, I've kissed in film before,
but I've never done nudity in a film. Anything like that
was a body double. The sexy that I do is high heels
and lingerie, it's pretty much tank tops and tennis
shoes. I think all women know what they've got.
I think it's all kind of knowing what you've got.
Nudity, I think it's something that I'm not
comfortable with."
So, if you're planning on seeing any cheeks, and
not the ones on Jessica's face, then you can check
out another film cuz their ain't none in this one.
"Honey," starring Jessica Alba, Joy Bryant, Mekhi
Phifer and Lil' Romeo, whom Jessica said was so cool
(and made her feel so uncool) that she had to beat
him up, opens nationwide today. Oh yeah, Jessica
beating up Lil' Romeo? That's not in the film either.
-- Ricardo Hazell
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01-09
BLACK SUPERHEROES
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12/19
EUR gives you something to really talk about.
EUR Newsbits
RAP IS BACK!
Grammys recognize biggest name in Hip-Hop.
*Remember in the 80s when folks like Janet
Jackson, Michael Jackson, New Edition and other
Black artists were collecting most of the Grammys?
Well, those days have returned.
Rap and R&B dominated the charts this year, so
the Grammy voters had to take notice.
The nominations were announced Thursday
morning at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Leading with six nominations is Beyonce, Jay-Z,
OutKast and Pharrell Williams.
At a press conference for the 46th annual
Grammy Awards, it was announced that Missy
Elliott, Eminem, Evanescence, 50 Cent, Chad
Hugo, Ricky Skaggs, Justin Timberlake, the
ailing Luther Vandross and the late Warren
Zevon all received five nominations.
The rewards are doubled in the Beyonce/Jay-Z
camp as they are contenders for record of the year
for their summer anthem "Crazy in Love." Other song
of the year nominees are the Black Eyed Peas-Justin
Timberlake collaboration "Where is the Love?", Coldplay's
"Clocks," Eminem's Oscar-winning "Lose Yourself"
from his movie "8 Mile," and OutKast's "Hey Ya!"
Three of Pharrell and Chad Hugo's nominations
are for their work as the production duo The Neptunes.
Last year, The Neptunes didn't receive any nominations
because none of the record companies that they
produced songs for submitted their names.
Pharrell was really busy this year. He received
two nominations for best rap/sung collaboration for
the Snoop Dogg and Uncle Charlie Wilson on
"Beautiful," from Snoop Dogg's album "Paid Tha
Cost to be Da Bo$$," and is also featured with
Jay-Z on The Neptunes' single "Frontin'." Then,
he comes into competition with himself Pharrell
for best rap song for his songwriting collaboration
on "Beautiful" and the Jay-Z song "Excuse Me Miss."
Album of the year contenders are Elliott's
"Under Construction," "Fallen" by Evanescence,
"Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" by OutKast,
"Justified" by Timberlake and "Elephant"
by The White Stripes.
Artists with four nominations each included
Erykah Badu, Willie Nelson, Jose Serebrier and
Jack White, who had one individual nod and
three for his work in his group The White
Stripes.
Best rap album contenders are Elliott's
"Under Construction," 50 Cent's "Get Rich
or Die Tryin'," Jay-Z's "The Blueprint - The Gift
& The Curse," OutKast's "Speakerboxxx/The
Love Below" and "Phrenology" by the Roots.
The Grammys will be broadcast live on
CBS, Feb. 8, from the Staples Center
arena in Los Angeles.
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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON WANTS TUPAC
School offers Tupac 101.
*Berkeley and Harvard has company. The University
of Washington wants a piece of the Tupac action.
The school is offering "The Textual Appeal
of Tupac Shakur," a UW class this fall created
by teaching assistant Georgia Roberts,
a third-year graduate student, reports
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The difference in this course from the others
is that it's the first to relate Shakur's work to literature.
Roberts got the idea for a course dedicated to Shakur
while teaching a class on the history of hip-hop.
"I wanted to show students there is something
to be gained from taking a closer look at why so
many people consume a figure like Tupac and
why he is important," Roberts said.
The class is offered through the university's
Comparative History of Ideas (CHID) program.
It explores the literary and historical influences
present in the work of the rapper and examines
Tupac as a Jesus figure. This theory was popularized
by Michael Eric Dyson, the author of "Hollar If You
Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur." This book
is also used in the course.
Roberts told the Intelligencer that she, as well
as some of her students, were motivated and/or
influenced by the rap legend's music.
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GAME GUY FIGHTS BACK!
Game reserve founder surprised at Tiger Woods.
*Remember yesterday when we were talking
about yet another, east coast/west coast beef
between Tiger and the founder of the Shamwari
Game Reserve, Adrian Gardiner? Well,
Gardiner has something to say.
According to the Associated Press, the owner
of the luxury lodge in South Africa where Tiger
Woods proposed to his Swedish girlfriend said
he was "very surprised" by the golfer's claims
that his privacy had been violated.
Gardiner said it was common knowledge that
Woods was staying at the lodge, and his engagement
to Elin Nordegren was no secret. Nordegren proudly
showed off her engagement ring to staff and
telephoned her parents from the lodge
to tell them, he said.
"The news that he was staying at Shamwari
was leaked by the PGA in America months ago.
It was no secret that he was here. I protected
him by not giving out dates of his arrival.
Nobody got near him," Gardiner told
the SAPA news agency.
"The press were all over me so I put out
a short press statement. I did not use any of the
pictures because that was private.
"On Monday I got a call from his management
team asking that the statement be removed from
the website which I did. His management thanked
me and there were no hard feelings. I am very
surprised," he added.
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MYSTIKAL HAS NO MORE TRICKS
Rapper changes plea on technicality.
*Mystikal is ready to move his sexual battery
case forward. Now he's going to flip the script
on the authorities.
The rapper's attorney has filed a motion to
withdraw the rapper's plea of guilty to sexual battery
of the infirmed and no contest to extortion after he
found out that prosecutors gave the judge a videotape
of the alleged incident. J. David Bourland said part
of the rapper's plea agreement was that the tape
be sealed.
"The court has the right to ask for it; I just should
have been informed," he said.
The judge will determine whether the defense
can withdraw the plea at a January 15 hearing.
If so, the case will start over.
Mystikal has already received five years of probation
for the extortion charge and was scheduled to be
sentenced Wednesday, December 3, on
the battery charge.
Bourland said his client, who faces up to
10 years, turned down a two-year offer from
the district attorney.
RUSSELL TRIES TO DO MAGIC
Rap mogul partners with tax shelter to help out.
*It looks like Russell Simmons is stepping
up to do his part in society. Magic Johnson has
really been a great role model for everyone.
Simmons is preparing for a press conference
where he will announce his latest project in
a partnership with Jackson Hewitt, the
income tax preparrer.
A press conference will feature Russell
Simmons, CEO of Rush Communications and
Mike Lister, president and CEO of Jackson Hewitt Inc.,
the nation's second largest tax preparation company.
The partnership will enable over 48 million Americans
without a traditional banking relationship to avoid
paying check cashing fees and receive
discounted tax preparation service
this coming tax season.
The partnership also seeks to educate and
inform unbanked Americans about the IRS Earned
Income Tax Credit. According to the most recent IRS
figures, each year over $2 billion in Earned Income
Tax Credits goes unclaimed.
PROSECUTOR MURDERED IN MIDST OF DRUG CASE
Baltimore rapper and business associate may be under scrutiny.
*An assistant U.S. attorney was found face-down
in the water behind the parking lot of a well-drilling
company in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
about 70 miles from Baltimore, police said.
Police also stated that there was a car
near the body, reports CNN.
The attorney, Jonathan P. Luna, 38, was in the
midst of prosecuting Baltimore rapper Deon Lionnel
Smith, 32, and Walter Oriley Poindexter, 28, who
were accused of dealing heroin and running
a violent drug ring from their Stash House
Records studio.
"Let there be no doubt that everyone in law
enforcement, local police, state police, the United
States Marshals Service, ATF, FBI, are united,"
U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio said. "We will
find out who did this and we are dedicated
to bringing the person responsible for
this tragedy to justice."
Luna got a phone call at his home Wednesday
night and left the house about midnight, said a federal
law enforcement official, who did not want to be
identified. The FBI began looking for him
after his wife reported him missing.
Luna's body was found around daybreak not
far from an exit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The judge said Luna had been stabbed and shot,
but the police report only mentioned stab wounds.
Luna was married and had two children.
Authorities did not say whether the Smith
or Poindexter are under suspicion in the slaying.
They were behind bars at the time. Smith
recorded under the name Papi Jenkinz.
Luna and the defense attorneys negotiated
through the afternoon Wednesday and reached
a plea bargain on the drug charges at the end of
the day, said U.S. District Judge William D.
Quarles Jr., who presided over the case.
The men entered their guilty pleas
around noon Thursday.
Smith's attorney, Kenneth Ravenell, called
Luna "a good friend." He said that Smith tried
to build a legitimate career in the music business,
he made the mistake of failing to cut his ties with
criminal associates from his past. The charges
against Smith carry up to 25 years in prison,
and those against Poindexter carry
up to 60 years.
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3LW HITS TV
Singing group signs with ABC
*It looks as though Eve has started something
with her sitcom. Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams
of 3 Little Women, better known as 3LW, have signed
with ABC for a TV series based on their recent
Disney movie, "The Cheetah Girls."
A representative for the group and the show's
producer, Debra Martin Chase of "The Princess
Diaries," said they are also discussing writing in
a role for Jessica Benson, who joined the trio
after Bailon and Williams made the movie,
reports MTV News.
"We're starting [to film] in April," Williams
said at Teen People's recent Artist of the Year
party. "We're excited."
Like the movie, "The Cheetah Girls" sitcom
will be based on Deborah Gregory's four-year-old
book series about a girl group of different ethnic
backgrounds, similar to 3LW. Actresses Raven-Symone
("The Cosby Show") and Sabrina Bryan ("The Bold
and the Beautiful") will reprise their roles on
the show, which will shoot in Toronto.
"The Cheetah Girls" is only one of two upcoming
TV opportunities for 3LW. Bailon said the trio are
in talks about a reality show where they are
filmed during the recording process.
"I think it's gonna be called 'Welcome to Atlanta'
or something like that," she said. The working title
refers to the home of their new label head,
Jermaine Dupri, with whom they will
record their newest set "Phoenix
Rising."
"We're going to Atlanta on December 8, and
we'll actually be living there for two months," Bailon
said. "We finished our part of the album, all seven
songs, and JD will add his four," Williams added.
"We're gonna make history."
The finished tracks for the new offering
is "After This," which they performed at the
Lady of Soul Awards, "Bling Bling"
and "Gangsta."
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OTHER NEWS: KKK AFTER THE NFL?
Racist letters have surfaced.
*Maybe it has something to do with some of the
black NFL players being married to White women,
we don't know. But, the FBI is investigating several
threatening and racist letters that have been sent this
year to black NFL players. The Palm Beach Post
reports that one prominent Miami Dolphins player
received a letter in September.
According to a memo distributed to NFL players
last week by the league's security department, and
obtained by the newspaper on Wednesday, all of
the hate mail has come from the same individual.
Also, the postmarks show the correspondence
was sent from Erie, Pa., Cleveland and
Youngstown, Ohio.
"There have been 11 or 12 letters directed
to prominent individuals throughout the United
States over the past two years," special agent
Robert Hawk of the Cleveland office of the FBI
told The Post on Wednesday. "These letters
contained veiled threats. There were
overtures of violence."
According to the memo, at least six letters
over the past year have been sent to players, their
teams, even their cheerleaders. One instance where
a player was to appear for a publicized event at the
Great Adventure Amusement Park in Jackson, NJ,
a letter was received there.
But whoever the fool is, he hasn't stopped with
the NFL. Hawk told the Post that the author of
the hate mail seems to have sent similar letters
to black entertainers as well.
A memo to the Dolphin players, received
by the newspaper, also stated that "the threats
of violence have escalated with each letter."
"We do not have any suspects," Hawk told
the paper. "But we are currently conducting lab
analysis to find the source. If we find this person
we will refer him for prosecution, because obviously
what has been done is illegal."
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EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
You have talents, skills, experience and gifts.
First Timothy scriptures warns us not to neglect
our gifts. The more you share your gifts, the more
you will experience a life of meaning and success.
You may have the gift of cooking, organizing
events, designing, teaching children, computers,
writing, singing or the gift of listening. Ask yourself
if you are really using your gifts. What you don't use,
you lose.
Don't underestimate yourself or use excuses
to keep your light hidden. The more you bless
others with your gifts, the more you will feel
blessed.
-- by Jewel Diamond Taylor, Motivational
Speaker and Author e-mail - Jewel@DoNotGiveUp.net
visit motivational website - http://www.DoNotGiveUp.net
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Dec. 5: Singer Little Richard, 71
WEBSITE OF THE DAY
This interesting site features the history of Les
Gens De Couleur Libres ... The Free People of Color
in New Orleans or "The Creoles of Color."
http://www.gensdecouleur.com/
Submit your favorite website to us along with a 15-20
word (or less) description to: info@eurweb.com
BLACK HISTORY
Dec. 05, 1955: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., E.D. Nixon,
Ralph Abernathy, L. Roy Bennett and others help organize
Birmingham Bus Boycott in response to Rosa Park's arrest.
(source: www.momentsinblackhistory.com/)
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EURFEEDBACK (send mail to: EURfeedback@eurweb.com)
Because of the large volume of mail we receive, we CAN'T
personally answer all e-mail. But keep your eye on the EUR.
You never know when your comment or question will turn up.
ALL letters are subject to editing.
*Christian, Detroit MI:
"I'm a 32 year old male; I grew up on rap music.
I still enjoy rap music, but not what passes for rap
(or R&B) on the radio these days. I hear rap songs
that are incoherent because so many words have to
be bleeped out.
Quick, name 3 R&B artists receiving current
radio airplay that you would pay to see perform
live if you knew they would not be accompanied by
a stage filled with dancers, hype-men, fireworks,
and $100k stage props. Drawing a blank? Yeah,
me too.
I feel sorry for the youth who have never
heard quality music and therefore don't realize
what they hear now is such crap. At age 32, I have
already switched to the classic soul and R&B station.
Current radio play has left me no choice. I wouldn't
dare listen to the hiphop station with my 1 yr old
in the car. I've already seen too many 3yr olds,
who want to 'take off all their clothes,' because
'it's getting hot in here,' or singing "feeling
on your booty." Won't be mine."
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*Rochelle, LA:
"Oh Tiger, get over it (12-04-04 EUR)! If he
wanted total seclusion during his four-day stay in
Africa, then they should have stayed in the room
the entire time. Behind closed doors is about the
only place a celebrity can have privacy. It's part
of the price you pay for being a celebrity.
I get so sick and tired of overpaid human beings
getting bent out of shape that once they become
famous, they can't have privacy. Hell, give me 50
million and I don't care if you watch me shower
or sit on the toilet!
I'm sure Tiger got some perks while staying
at the resort, so why shouldn't the owner get some
perks, too? What harm was it in what the owner did?
Tiger, you proposed to your girl the way you wanted
to so stop whining!"
We always wanna know what's on your mind. Hit us back at: EURfeedback@eurweb.com
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