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05-01-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
PAULA ABDUL EXPLAINS TUESDAY'S 'IDOL' GAFFE: Judge gets flustered by changed format and critiques phantom performance.
*Poor Paula. On Tuesday night's "American Idol," she reviewed a performance that had yet to happen, causing fans and bloggers to question the integrity of the judges' comments.
Yesterday morning, she went on "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest's radio show to do damage control. She said her review of Jason Castro's second song - which had yet to be performed - was an "honest mistake."
Paula Abdul was thrown off by Tuesday's altered format, which had contestants singing two songs instead of one. Unlike the usual routine where each "Idol" performance is judged immediately, Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell were made to take notes, then offer individual critiques in rapid succession at the end of each round.
Jackson gave his quick two cents about each of the contestants and threw it to Abdul, who said: "Oh gosh, we've never had to write these things down ... fast enough." After looking confused and sifting through her note cards, she said to Castr "Jason, first song, I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear, um ...The second song, I felt like your usual charm wasn't - it was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty."
"The two songs," she continued, "made me feel like you're not fighting hard enough to get into the top four."
Soft laughter rippled through the crowd and Simon did his usual roll of the eyes as Randy tried to bail her out.
"That was just on the first song," he told Paula, pointing up to Castro. "Just on the first one."
"Oh my god, I thought you - I thought you sang twice!" Paula said.
In an interview with "Entertainment Tonight," Paula blamed her mistake on being told at the last minute "in the dark" of the change in format. On Seacrest's show Wednesday, she said she'd written notes on both Castro and performer David Cook on the same card, and in the end, was simply "confused" as she gave her feedback.
Click here to hear Paula's full explanation on Ryan Seacrest's radio
show:
http://ryan.kiisfm.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=152739&article=362
2100
MORE TEXTS SURFACE IN KILPATRICK SCANDAL: Exchanges with former top aide show talk of love and marriage.
*More flirtatious text messages sent between Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former top aide Christine Beatty were revealed in an 18-page document ordered Tuesday morning by a judge, reports mlive.com.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr. ordered the papers recovered from the computer of Michael Stefani, an attorney who represented three police officers in lawsuits that were settled last year for $8.4 million. The officers claimed they were fired because of an internal probe into the mayor's personal actions, and that the firing was a violation of the whistleblower law.
The exposed relationship between the married mayor and the now-divorced Christine Beatty was a byproduct of those lawsuits and has led to public embarrassment, felony charges and possible prison time for both.
On March 24, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Kilpatrick and Beatty with a total of 12 criminal counts including obstruction of justice, conspiracy, misconduct in office and perjury.[
According to a Sept. 23, 2002, text message from Beatty to the mayor, she wrote: "I love you so much man! Thank you for showing what it's like to be head over heels in love."
On Sept. 15, 2002, Beatty described a sex act she wanted to perform on the mayor but said she didn't know how to ask him to let her do it. He
replied: "Next time, just tell me to sit down, shut up and do your thing!"
Later that month, the pair appeared to arrange a sexual encounter in Beatty's office. On Sept. 19, 2002, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "I have wanted to hold you so badly all day, but I was trying to stay focused on work. So, I promise, not to keep you longer than 15 minutes."
Kilpatrick replied: "Don't promise ni**a."
Beatty said: "I'm in my office. Do you want me to come to yours or you coming to mine?"
Kilpatrick said: "I'm coming down there ... LOL ditto. Freaky Chris!"
Beatty and Kilpatrick have known each other since high school, and in several excerpts, Beatty expressed her insecurity over the relationship and asked Kilpatrick to promise her she'd always be his "woman."
On April 27, 2003, in response to Beatty's query, Kilpatrick said:
"You were my girl for as long as I can remember. I was too young and stupid to know. I promise for the rest of my life you will be my girl."
Earlier that month, on April 8, 2003, Beatty wrote: "You told me that you would be my boyfriend everyday until I was your wife. Are you renigging?"
Kilpatrick replied: "Hell no! Don't start none. Won't be none ...!
LOL".
Kilpatrick remains married to his wife, Carlita. Beatty left her husband at the end of April 2003, according to the document.
On April 13, 2003, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "It is sometimes so amazing how much I love you. I can't even describe most of the time how I feel inside when I think about you. You are an amazing man. Everything about you makes me love you. Your passion about life, your sense of humor, your presence, and your love of family."
The intimacy and another reference to marriage was part of an April 25, 2003 exchange. Beatty wrote: "No. I'm not gone from you. I never am.
Every second that I was quiet, I thinking about you."
Kilpatrick replied: "Thinking about what?"
Beatty: "Thinking about doing a lot of things! Thinking that how hard you diss me, I still want to be in your arms, kiss you, hug you, love you.
Listening to you speak and wishing that you were my husband."
On May 1, 2003, Beatty referenced her separation from her husband: "I can't see living this way with us being a 'secret' forever. I love you so much and I want to tell somebody, someday! (Smile). Secondly, this separation is really real and it kind of slapped 'lonely' in my mind ...
when you didn't come on Saturday until 3 hours later, that just kind of topped it off for me. So I'm sorry if I've been trippin. I could only two way this! I couldn't have said it to you personally!"
Kilpatrick responded: "In this important and somewhat confusing time in your life, please know with all our hearts and soul that I love you. And you will never, never be alone."
Kilpatrick said Tuesday evening that he questioned the authenticity of the messages and that their release did not provide "the smoking gun"
many had expected.
"It seems that it's just a regurgitation of old news. And it's unfortunate that now we're printing something as true that came off somebody's computer," he said following a community forum.
SNOOP RECORDS TRACK WITH LINDSAY LOHAN: Tabloid queen's Motown album also has production from Timbaland and Pharrell.
*Snoop Dogg has lent his street cred to a track from actress/singer Lindsay Lohan that will appear on her upcoming urban-flavored album for Universal Motown. And according to Fox 411 columnist Roger Friedman, insiders say the song is "amazing."
"UMG is sparing no expense on this recording, bringing in all the usual suspects like Timbaland and Pharrell to make a good record for the rehabbed and revived Lindsay," Friedman wrote Wednesday.
The album will be Lohan's third, and her first since a well-publicized stint in rehab. A release date has yet to be scheduled.
HALLE BERRY BRINGS NAHLA TO CHARITY EVENT: Actress hosts golf tournament, but leaves early to breastfeed.
*New mom Halle Berry attended the Celebrity Charity Golf Tournament bearing her name with model/boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and their 6-week-old daughter in tow.
Little Nahla Ariela stayed tucked away with a nanny in a nearby trailer while Berry greeted participants and posed for pictures on the golf course, reports People.com.
"She stood right next to me and posed," said a golfer at the benefit for the Jenesse Center, which helps domestic-violence victims and their families. "So sweet and funny. She said she wasn't playing because she was taking care of the baby."
Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle were also on hand for the event at L.A.'s Mountain Gate Country Club in Palm Springs. Berry did not actually play golf during the event.
"I only play golf because of my better half," Berry said of Aubry later, as the golfers gathered for a celebratory lunch. (She also thanked her "sweetheart" for the event's T-shirts and hats that he purchased
himself.)
Around 4 p.m., Berry and Aubrey bid folks an early farewell, just as the party was getting into full swing.
"I'm going to have to leave," she said from the stage. "My baby is calling for my breast. So, if I don't see everyone later, thank you!"
BLACK EYED PEAS TO PLAY CHINA DESPITE PROTESTS: Group rejects calls for boycott over country's human rights records.
*Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am says his group will go ahead with plans to perform in China despite calls for artists to boycott the country over its human rights record.
Celebrities such as Richard Gere are urging fellow entertainers to forgo trips to China until the country allows Tibet to decide its own future.
In an interview with the BBC, will.i.am called the recent crackdown "messed up" and thinks it was wrong to "punish a whole country."
"They have all this Chinese boycott stuff -- they want to boycott the games but do the people get punished when they have nothing to do with what's going on?" he said. "If you boycott China, when do they boycott America for what we're doing in Iraq?"
Actress Mia Farrow has publicly condemned China for its alleged support of genocide in Sudan's Darfur region and director Steven Spielberg stepped down from his position as artistic director for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
WAS REV. WRIGHT PRESS CONF A CLINTON CONSPIRACY?: Questions raised after organizer is exposed as a Hillary supporter.
*A hot topic among Barack Obama supporters on the Internet and black radio is the political affiliation of the woman who organized Monday's National Press Club event featuring Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Whether or not one believes Rev. Wright's statements about AIDS possibly being government-created to kill minorities, or that America's actions around the world led directly to the 9/11 attacks, there's no doubt that the comments did more damage than good to Obama's campaign.
Turns out Rev. Wright's appearance was organized by Barbara Reynolds, a former editorial board member at USA Today and staunch supporter of Obama's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
"I don't know if Reynolds' eagerness to help Wright stage a disastrous news conference with the national media was a way of trying to help Clinton, but it's safe to say she didn't see any conflict between promoting Wright and supporting Clinton," wrote columnist Errol Louis of the New York Daily News.
On a blog linked to her Web site - www.reynoldsnews.com - Reynolds said in a February post: "My vote for Hillary in the Maryland primary was my way of saying thank you" to Clinton and her husband for the successes of Bill Clinton's presidency.
The same post criticized Obama's "Audacity of Hope" theme: "Hope by definition is not based on facts," wrote Reynolds. "It is an emotional expectation. Things hoped for may or may not come. But help based on experience trumps hope every time."
Reynolds, an ordained minister who teaches ministry at the Howard University School of Divinity, said in another blog entry: "It is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray, the senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement."
. Read Errol Louis' full column here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/louis/index.html
RIHANNA AND MAROON 5 TEAM FOR REMIX: Single to appear on re-releases of both artists' albums.
*Maroon 5 has recorded a remix of their single "If I Never See Your Face Again" with pop star Rihanna that will appear on the upcoming re-releases of both artists' most recent albums.
Def Jam says the reissue of Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" will reach stores on June 17, while Maroon 5's revamped "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" will be released in late June, according to A&M/Octone president James Diener.
"Maroon 5 is a big fan of Rihanna; they have seen her at shows, their paths have crossed and they are buddies," Diener told Billboard.com about the joint effort. "Adam [Levine] thought it would be amazing to make the song into a 'battle of the sexes'-style duet, and she was the first person they thought of."
"The re-release is an opportunity for them to give existing fans more material and new fans that don't have the record a value-added piece," adds Diener. "The bonus content keeps fans enthused."
A video for "If I Never See Your Face Again" was filmed on April 25 in Los Angeles by director Anthony Mandler.
BYRON SCOTT WINS NBA COACH OF THE YEAR: Plus Dallas coach Avery Johnson fired after losing playoff series to Scott's Hornets.
*New Orleans Hornets head coach Byron Scott was voted NBA coach of the year following a regular season in which the team won a franchise-record
56 games and earned their first playoff berth in four years.
"This is a very humbling experience for me because this is something you never think about," said Scott, according to the AP.
Scott received 70 first-place votes, while Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers received 23 and Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman 17.
It is Scott's eighth season as an NBA coach, including four with the New Jersey Nets before joining the Hornets. Scott won three NBA titles as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers and twice coached the Nets to the NBA finals.
Scott accepted the Red Auerbach trophy hours before the Hornets, holding a 3-1 lead in their first round playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks, tipped off Game 5 Tuesday night.
Dallas lost the game, as well as their coach Avery Johnson. He was fired Wednesday by owner Mark Cuban after three-plus seasons and two straight years of playoff exits in the first round.
"It is never easy to relieve a coach of his duties, especially one of Avery's caliber," Cuban said in a statement. "He is a talented coach and I want to thank him for his efforts over the last four years and what he has done for this franchise."
Dallas has gone 3-12 in the playoffs since blowing a 2-0 lead in the
2006 NBA finals against Miami. The Mavericks followed that 2006 disappointment by the embarrassment of being ousted by Golden State in the opening round last season in one of the biggest upsets in league history.
FOX'S 'CLEVELAND' SPINOFF PICKS UP STEAM: Animated series about 'Family Guy's' black neighbor to begin production this month.
*"Cleveland," a spinoff of the animated Fox series "Family Guy," is expected to get on the air with a 13-episode order, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The show from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, Rich Appel and Mike Henry is currently hiring staff members, the trade reports. Writers are slated to begin work May 19, and the series' first table read is targeted for the first week of July.
Fox's first new animated offering in three years, "Cleveland" will follow the family life of Cleveland Brown, the most level-headed-and slow-talking-of Peter's friends on "The Family Guy."
Cleveland is regularly played off African-American stereotypes. He was previously married to Loretta Brown, whom he divorced in season four after discovering she was having an affair with one of his friends, and has a hyperactive and ADD-afflicted son, Cleveland Jr.
MARIAH AND NICK CANNON ENGAGED? Yes, the rumors have come to this.
*The huge ring that Mariah Carey has been sporting has intensified rumors that she and Nick Cannon are not only dating, but are now engaged.
The New York Post's Page Six quotes a source who claims Cannon bought the rock for her and proposed marriage. The actor reportedly purchased it for $2.5 million at Jacob & Co. on East 57th St. in New York.
"Maybe he's making payments on it," laughed the Page Six source, who claims to have overheard Cannon telling Jacob Arabo that he and Carey will be married.
The ring is said to be 17 carats, with a 10-carat center stone, and made of rare pink and purple diamonds.
J.LO CLARIFIES AIM OF TLC SERIES: Her people want you to know that it's not a 'reality show.'
*Jennifer Lopez's camp says her new show for TLC will focus on her latest business venture, not about her life as a new mother of twins and marriage to Marc Anthony as previous reports have suggested.
"The recent show Jennifer Lopez plans to produce for TLC is not a reality show," says her manager, Simon Fields. "It's a show that will track the creation, production and eventual launch of a new fragrance."
"Jennifer will appear in a creative, entrepreneurial capacity and will absolutely not feature her children and family life," Fields says, according to People.com.
There is no broadcast date set for the show, but Fields says it will premiere later this year.
BIG TIGGER HAS BIG PLANS FOR ANNUAL CLASSIC: Radio/TV vet to school participants on HIV/AIDS.
*Washington, D.C. radio personality Big Tigger will host his 7th Annual Celebrity Classic this year from June 4-7 with a series of activities geared towards educating youth about the continuing dangers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Activities will include a Town Hall Meeting and Celebrity Panel Discussion, a comedy showcase, several HIV/AIDS testing initiatives and the All-Star Basketball Game.
Confirmed celebrity participants include Kenyon Martin, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Gary Payton, Santana Moss and Washington-are pro players Caron Butler and Clinton Portis.
Also confirmed are actress Tamala Jones, singer Ginuwine, DJ Clue, Winky Wright, Flavor of Love 2 winner Deelishis, and Tigger's former BET Black Carpet co-host, Melyssa Ford.
WHITFIELD, POWELL TIP OFF FOR 'PURE SHOOTER': Singer Christopher Williams also stars in basketball-themed film.
*Lynn Whitfield, Clifton Powell and former singer Christopher Williams co-star in the upcoming indie film "Pure Shooter" for World Film Magic & Sky 21 Productions, reports moviehole.net.
The drama follows a young man with incredible basketball skills who barely survives segregation, racism and an abusive father.
Directed by Neema Barnette ("Super Sweet 16 : The Movie") and penned by Robert Rugger, Gregory Jones and Robert Noll, "Pure Shooter" begins filming next month in Durham, North Carolina.
Michael Rooker has been cast as the young man's basketball coach.
DARRYL STRAWBERY TO PEN MEMOIR: Former baseball star signs deal with HarperCollins imprint Ecco.
*Troubled former Major League Baseball star Darryl Strawberry will write about his achievements on the diamond and struggles off the field in a new memoir titled "Straw."
Due in 2009, the book is from HarperCollins imprint Ecco, which released a statement Wednesday saying the project will "detail his life growing up in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, his rise to baseball superstardom as a Met, Dodger, and Yankee, the high life and low life, his brushes with the law, his triumphant battle over colon cancer, his religious awakening, and his marriage to the love of his life."
John Strausbaugh, who helped write a book by John Leguizamo, will collaborate with Strawberry on the effort, according to the Associated Press.
Strawberry, 46, was an eight-time All-Star who hit 335 home runs in
17 seasons and played on World Series championship teams with both the New York Mets and New York Yankees.
He recently agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $430,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. In March, the Mets announced they had hired Strawberry as a special instructor and a traveling ambassador, visiting minor league teams and community organizations.
DAVID BLAINE BREAKS RECORD ON 'OPRAH' SHOW: Magician holds breath underwater for over 17 minutes.
*During a live appearance yesterday on the "Oprah Winfrey Show,"
David Blaine finally broke the world record for holding one's breath, spending 17 minutes and 4 seconds suspended in a water-filled sphere.
"A lifelong dream," Blaine, 35, told Winfrey immediately after setting the record. "I can't believe that I did that."
Before he entered the huge orb, which was 8 feet in diameter, Blaine inhaled pure oxygen through a mask for 23 minutes to saturate his blood with oxygen and flush out carbon dioxide, according to the Associated Press.
Blaine said that while underwater, he became worried that his heart rate might be too high, and "actually started to doubt that I was going to make it" as a result. (A lower heart rate helps minimize oxygen
consumption.)
The previous record was 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set Feb. 10, 2008, by Switzerland's Peter Colat, according to Guinness World Records.
Blaine has said he was fascinated by holding his breath since he was a child, using the skill to excel in swimming races at a YMCA in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, only needing to breathe when turning at the wall for another lap.
In May 2006, as a finale to a week spent in an aquarium with an oxygen mask at New York's Lincoln Center, Blaine tried and failed to set a new breath-holding record.
DJIMON HOUNSOU ON CAPITOL HILL: Actor urges Congress to reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.
*Djimon Hounsou was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, which provides funding to local organizations that help the two million adolescents living on the streets in America.
"I lived on the streets for some time - fighting for survival, searching out nothing more than my daily necessities for a meager existence," Hounsou told a U.S. Senate panel, according to People.com.
The former model moved from Africa to Paris while still in his teens.
He spoke to Congress about being homeless in the City of Lights during the early 1980s.
In the "wintertime, when I didn't have enough warm clothes to sustain the harsh weather outside, I was sent to a juvenile prison to spend the night. It was three or four years before I was discovered on the street by a fashion designer [Thierry Mugler] and my life started to turn around, eventually."
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs are comprised of three
components: Street Outreach, Basic Centers, and Transitional Living.
TATYANA ALI SAYS OBAMA'S THE MAN: 'Fresh Prince' vet actively involved in senator's presidential campaign.
*"I feel like there is a candidate out there that is very special, completely different from other candidates before him," says actress Tatyana Ali of Sen. Barack Obama and his run for the White House.
The former star of TV's "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" recently sat down with TheSportsInterview.com to talk about her active role in the Obama campaign.
"It's my first time volunteering in a campaign. I got a chance to speak to him, and to hear him speak in person, and to hear his wife speak in person. You get the vibe that they really actually want to help, that they're not just career politicians," said Ali.
"They're not just in it to win. They're in it to make things better,"
she adds. "Especially with voter registration and for young people I've been going to colleges all over the country.
"My parents are immigrants. I am the first generation born here and it's an amazing blessing. It's an amazing freedom we have here to be able to vote and be part of the process. I think a lot of times we do get apathetic and feel like we can't change anything. It's so important for us to be involved in the system otherwise you can't complain when things go wrong you know?"
Read the Web site's entire Tatyana Ali interview here:
http://www.thesportsinterview.com/ali.html
MUSIC BITS: Beyonce's new gig; Diddy plugs NY; Mariah still #1; Rza riot; Damon Dash II.
*Since word got out that Beyonce may start working A&R for her husband Jay-Z's new Carter Music Group label, the singer has reportedly received 82 demos at the office for her House of Dereon clothing line, reports the New York Daily News. "But will her new job offer maternity leave?" asked the paper's Rush & Malloy column. "A pal is apparently telling friends that the diva is pregnant."
*Sean "Diddy" Combs joins Matt Lauer, Lindsay Price and Kevin Bacon in a new ad campaign designed to encourage tourism in New York City. Titled "Just Ask the Locals," the print feature the celebrities sharing their favorite shopping spots, restaurants and places of entertainment throughout the Big Apple.
*Despite a 61% decline in sales, Mariah Carey's Island Def Jam set "E=MC2" remains atop The Billboard 200 for a second straight week. The album, the diva's sixth No. 1, moved 182,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. British singer Leona Lewis' "Spirit" (Syco/J) follows suit, staying put at No. 2 in its second week with 96,000 and a 1% sales increase.
*Rapper Rza caused pandemonium at the Triptych Music and Film Festival in Scotland last weekend when he invited female fans to strip on stage during a performance. According to reports, the rapper lit a cigarette on stage and urged women to remove their tops, both illegal acts. Cops were called and at least one man was arrested for assault and breach of the peace.
*Damon Dash's ex Linda Williams has filed a petition in an ongoing custody war over their 16-year-old son Damon Dash II. According to TMZ.com, Williams says their son is "living with not hot water [sic] or electricity for two months in his bedroom." She also said that Damon took him to the morgue to ID an uncle who committed suicide by gunshot to the head.
Additionally, she accuses Damon of failing to pay for the teen's $3,600 basketball camp.
FILM/TV/SPORTS BITS: Gumbel's Emmy; Luenell's interview; Diesel's endorsement; Modine's 'N-word'; Powell's injury.
*HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" took home an Emmy for sports journalism Monday night during an award ceremony at New York's Lincoln Center. The cable channel won a leading eight Sports Emmys, including a sports documentary trophy for "Ghosts of Flatbush" and two awards for its boxing coverage. Other winners included ESPN's "College Gameday" (for weekly sports series); and TNT's "Inside the NBA" (for daily sports series).
*An interview with "Borat" comedienne Luenell will air Friday (May 2) on www.younghollywood.com. Host Jill Wilderman will ask the entertainer about being homeless and living in the parking lot of a now famous Hollywood night spot. Hear more about this from Luenell directly on YoungHollywood.com's Snap Vine:
http://www.snapvine.com/bp/VU3oRBI6Ed2qfAAwSFxyrg
*Vin Diesel has endorsed the president of the Dominican Republic for re-election. The actor appears in a Dominican campaign commercial urging a vote for his friend, President Leonel Fernandez. The endorsement ad features movie clips that show Diesel running, driving and surviving a bomb explosion. The 40-year-old star of "The Fast and the Furious" says he visits the Dominican Republic about once a year and owns a home on the country's eastern coast.
*Actor Matthew Modine was a guest on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" Tuesday night and used the N-word to describe a phrase his father once used to refer to some African Americans. When asked what he thought of the Jeremiah Wright controversy, Modine said the pastor is of an older generation - just like his father who once called blacks "uppity ni**ers."
He said people of that generation don't represent "the America that we enjoy today." View the clip here:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid285859616/bclid294430730/bctid
1531204542
*Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell will miss IAAF meets in Doha, Qatar; Oslo, Norway; and Eugene, Oregon due to a chest injury. The world record holder for 100 meters will be inactive for the next two months after pulling a pectoral muscle. He'll resume training in about a week, but he won't compete until Jamaica's national championships at the end of June. His manager says the sprinter will be ready to run at the Beijing Olympics in August.
JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS: God and Percocet
*I have three words to say: “Per-Co-Cet!”
I have been laid up the last several weeks with a pinched nerve in my neck. If you have never experienced it, God bless you. It is pain I would not wish on anyone. It is pain that quite literally had me calling for my mother. As my mother has been dead close to 30 years, this was some long distance call.
Like men tend to do, I was determined to gut it out. Give me a hunk of leather to bite on and I would be just fine. The tough man act lasted about a week before my suffering became such that I took my wife’s advice to go to the emergency room, which is where after some poking and prodding and an EKG to make certain the numbness in my hand and the pain shooting down my arm were not symptoms of a heart attack, I met my friend Percocet and his partner in crime, Demerol. I don’t know what either medication is, but I must say they make a rather pleasant combination and it wasn’t long before my pain began to diminish -- my anguish subside.
I do not intend that my few weeks of incapacity is comparable to say the suffering endured by my sister during her all too brief life or that of those suffering the ravages of war, famine or any number of other trials. All the same, I confess that during the time on my back I wondered on more than one occasion what mad purpose God had in mind.
After my shot of relief, paramedics wheeled a woman into an examination room near my own. She appeared to be in considerably more pain than I. Her agony could be heard through the entire emergency room. As she continued to moan, I determined that I would go to her room and sit with her and hold her hand. We sat for perhaps 10 minutes before my doctor entered the room and suggested that I go back to my bed. He was concerned that I might fall and hurt myself walking around under the influence of so much medicine. I was again determined to gut it out, but in truth my head was beginning to spin. Given the amount of pain I had been in, it was a very pleasant spin indeed.
The question of why God allows suffering is older than the bible itself and I certainly do not imagine I am going to solve this riddle in the space of this column.
It did occur to me however, that pain seems inextricably associated with life. We are birthed into this life with pain, we fall down while learning to walk, and we experience pain as we cut our baby teeth and as our bones grow and as age creeps up on us the aches in our bodies tend to increase. There is also pain of another sort: dreams are crushed as our talents do not match our aspirations, we suffer betrayal as we search for trust and our hearts are broken in a quest for love.
We can, if we choose, accept pain as part of natures law or we can as Sitis, Job’s wife, suggested “curse God and die”…or anesthetize ourselves to life’s agonies. There are opiates of many kinds to numb us to that pain: drugs, alcohol, debauchery and bitterness of every kind. Unfortunately, the price of such relief is that we are forced to disengage from each other. As wonderful as that pill made me feel, if taking it means I must sit in my bed and be disconnected from the rest of humanity, I do not want it. As awful as my pain was, I do not want to nod-out in a corner nor do I want to become filled with such enmity for my fellow man that I choose to withdraw or become consumed with a self-hate that manifests itself in cruelty and anti-social behavior. My pain doesn’t just keep me in contact with others, but the pain of others keeps all of us reaching for our fellow beings. Without pain there would be no compassion, no hand holding, hugs, no need to nurse or to heal, no shoulders to cry on and ultimately no search for justice. Without pain I dare say there would be no life; none worth living at any rate.
Call it an opiate induced mind dance if you will but I do not want to be an observer of life. I want to live it. I do not want to sit on the sidelines while my fellow humans endure life’s tragedies while also enjoying its many pleasures and triumphs.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like A White Boy” available wherever books are sold.
AUDREY’S SOCIETY WHIRL: DRESS FOR SUCCESS star-studded gala draws celebrities and their moms.
Music Artist Jill Scott, TV Host and Author Sandra Lee, Cosmetics Giant Bobbi Brown, Janice Combs, Mother of Sean Combs, and Star Jones are Among Celebrated Attendees
By Audrey J. Bernard, Lifestyles/Society Editor
*Dress for Success, an international non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged women achieve economic independence, hosted its Something To Share: Dress for Success Worldwide Gala 2008 on Wednesday, April 9 at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York. The sold-out gala attracted 1,320 attendees and raised more than $1.4 million to enhance and expand the organization’s suiting and employment retention programs. Funds raised were generated through 110 corporate sponsored tables, tickets and a silent auction.
The Something To Share gala celebration began with a magnificent cocktail reception underwritten by Wachovia where guests shared their experiences about the organization’s past achievements and future endeavors while enjoying a most memorable ambience created by U.S. Concepts that included several liquor lounges – Cuervo, Ciroc, Ketel One and Smirnoff -- surrounded by extraordinary silent auction items.
“Each day a woman walks into Dress for Success unsure of her future. We see the potential and all that lies ahead for her. Together, we embark upon her journey towards success. In eleven years we have never done this alone,” said Joi Gordon, CEO, Dress for Success Worldwide, in her warm welcoming remarks. “It is because of each and every one of you – and all that you have to share – that more than 400,000 women’s lives have changed forever. Something To Share starts here.”
During the star-studded diner, guests listened to several remarkable stories told by mothers helped by Dress for Success. “Fundraisers like this are so important to keep us doing what we love to do, and we are honored to have such amazing support from corporations such as Diageo, which exceeded all of our expectations,” stated Gordon.
The evening’s celebration paid tribute to three individuals whose support of Dress for Success embodies the spirit of Something To Share. The 2008 honorees included Mary Wong, president, The Office Depot Foundation; Doug Checkeris, CEO, MediaCom USA; and Rosemarie Ryan, president, JWT New York.
“Tonight we get to celebrate Dress for Success. Something To Share and the difference we are all making in the lives of so many women. Tonight we honor those who most exemplify the vision of what it means to give,” said dinner chair Debra Kelly-Ennis, chief marketing officer, Diageo North America. They are our dear friends who lift us all with their warmth, their generosity and their personal passion for the Dress for Success Mission.”
Janice Combs, mother of media mogul/entrepreneur Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, and Joyce Scott, mother of Jill Scott, Sandra Lee, and the ambassadors from the Dress for Success Professional Women’s Group were also honored. The proud mothers were introduced by Rosalyn Taylor O'Neale, chair, Dress for Success Worldwide board of directors. One such mother was WNBA’s proud mom, Regina Turner whose compelling story had guests reaching for tissues to wipe away their tears.
“This annual gala gives us the opportunity to reflect on all the wonderful accomplishments Dress for Success has had in the past year, while honoring those who helped bring it all to life,” added Kelly-Ennis. “Dress for Success is all about building and restoring the confidence of women who need a second chance, and this gala takes the time to recognize those who help make that second chance a reality.”
During a candlelight dinner, dressed to the nines guests dined on Wild Mushroom Bisque, Caramelized Pear, Walnuts and Field Greens, Creamy Cambozola Cheese, Maple-Cider Vinaigrette (appetizer); Pan Roaster Filet Mignon with Sage and Onion Butter, Classic Dauphinoise Potato, Vine Ripe Cherry Tomato, French Beans (entrée); and Myers Lemon Citrus Tart, Yuzu Sorbet, Almond Orange Shortbread (dessert); accompanied by Red Wine Reduction, full coffee and tea service.
The dinner also featured a stellar performance by Grammy Award winning R&B artist Jill Scott who performed several songs from her repertoire. Additional entertainment was provided by Sherrie Maricle & The DIVA Jazz Orchestra.
Guests left with more than just wonderful memories of a night well spent. They also left with a fabulous swag bag filled with great gifts. The Gala’s presenting sponsors were Diageo and FedEx Corporation. Platinum sponsors include Ann Taylor, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Citi, dressbarn, Festive Productions, JetBlue, Just Marketing International, JWT, MediaCom, Ogilvy, Props for Today, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and YSC.
Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 85 cities in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the UK. To date, Dress for Success has helped more than 400,000 women work towards self-sufficiency. Visit http://www.dressforsuccess.org to learn more.
Audrey J. Bernard is an established chronicler of Black society and Urban happenings based in the New York City area.
MARIANN’S MIDLIFE MAYHEM & MISCELLANY: Ya Gotta Have Friends…Starting With Being Your Own Best One!
*I felt many of you might relate to my daughter-in-law Nikki’s response to last week’s column, so I wanted to share it with you:
“Oh, I absolutely love Tamara Tunie on SVU!!! That is my show and she does a GREAT job on it. One of my coworkers even has a lil crush on her (we talk about SVU episodes via instant messenger the day after the show runs).
I also hear you loud and clear on the friendship topic. My BFF from high school (Lisa) is that 'lifetime' friend. She has moved to just about every state in the US and gradually made her way back to NY post-high school. Over the past ~15 years since graduation, we managed to physically see each other maybe twice, but when we get on the phone (maybe 3 or 4 times a year), it's like we've seen each other everyday!! I can't say the same for my college friends who I thought we shared great bonding with. Some were too needy and you had to give them constant attention 100% of the time or they felt unloved and left out. Marriage and kids will not allow me to communicate with somebody THAT much -- not even my own mother, let alone a good friend. However, many of them chose the road of 'all or nothing' so I pretty much deemed it 'their loss'. No way I'm gonna act like a ten year old and say "I'm not your friend anymore" because they didn't know how to deal with me growing up and having other priorities that ranked higher. Not a total loss of friends, but a good number lost to attrition, as you mentioned.”
So much maturity in such a young woman; it took me a lot longer to learn that lesson…and to be able to assuage myself of the guilt I felt whenever a friendship seemed to be coming to an end.
And from Tamara Tunie…
“…what is ironic, I was having a conversation about friendship with another friend on Saturday and was trying to remember, searching the universe, and asking ‘what was that quote?’!"
As a “public service” :-) for others of you who might also have an interest, here is the expanded version of that quote:
"A Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime" - (a quote attributed to Michelle Ventor as author) http://friendschoice.blogspot.com/2005/07/reason-season-or-lifetime.html
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realise is that our need has been met, ourdesire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON . . .because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amountof joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons...things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love theperson, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
That's why it is said that love is blind...but friendship is clairvoyant.
Fascinating how, unbeknownst to me, Tunie had asked herself a question about that quote, and than, “clairvoyantly” I answered it for her, isn’t it?
So maybe the fact that I returned to the theme of “friendship” this week means I was “picking up on something” a lot of you readers might be going through right now. If so, I hope this was able to help.
Love,
Your friend, Mariann :-)
A veteran of the P&G soap opera, Edge of Night, (“DiDi Bannister,” 1981-84), Mariann Aalda’s 25-year body of work as a television, film and stage actress includes co-starring with Redd Foxx and Della Reese as their daughter, on the CBS sitcom, The Royal Family; three seasons opposite OJ Simpson, playing his wife on the HBO series, First & 10, and recurring on CBS’ Designing Women as the yuppie-from-hell, “Lita Ford,” opposite Meschach Taylor, with whom she also co-starred in the teen cult film, Class Act. Also a stand-up comedienne, she, along with Iona Morris, is co-creator/writer/producer of MOIST! – a “sexistential” musical comedy celebration of women in the throes of midlife (www.moistonstage.com) – utilizing her training as a hypnotherapist to bring new insight to the joys of being a “seasoned” woman. This column chronicles her own journey.
This column also appears via PGP Classic Soaps: http://PGPclassicSoaps.blogspot
VERONICA'S VIEW: The Night the Light Went Out in Chicago
Veronica Hendrix
*It is on the skirt tail of one African-American woman whose voice blazed the trail for African-American female columnists, such as myself, that I subsist. And since the inception of Veronica’s View, I have given homage to her as my predecessor, a woman whose weekly voice inspired me. Unfortunately her voice has faded into obscurity and her light no longer shines. However, her voice remains as one of the crowing moments in our history. I hope you enjoy this tribute to one of the most extraordinary voices of our time.
Leanita McClain was a nationally recognized columnist. I remember reading a piece she wrote for Newsweek entitled “The Middle-Class Black’s Burden” when I was a journalism student. It was a personal account of the isolation she grappled with as a result of her success. To Leanita, her hard work and good fortune came with a hefty price tag - the alienation from her people whom she loved and felt deeply estranged to. “I run the gauntlet between two worlds, and I am cursed by both . . . ” Leanita wrote in her account. “Whites won’t believe I remain culturally different; blacks won’t believe I remain culturally the same.”
Leanita began her career as a full time general assignment writer for the Chicago Tribune Newspaper. Hard work and perseverance resulted in her becoming the first black member of the Tribune’s editorial board, and the second black staff columnist in the newspaper’s 137-year history. She married Tribune columnist Clarence Page and they lived the charmed life in Chicago’s upscale and predominately white Belmont Harbor area. This was an inarguable departure from the Ida B. Wells public housing project she grew up in on Chicago’s South Side.
Leanita wrote with an uncanny eloquence juxtaposed with a stinging bluntness. You were either left speechless or spurred after reading her words. Pieces like “When Blacks Journey Abroad, Green is Beautiful,” “The Black Quarterback Syndrome,” and the most controversial piece that drew a barrage of nationwide criticism, “How Chicago Taught Me How to Hate Whites.” They were brilliantly crafted.
However, two things were clear from her editorials. She was outraged by the inequities of racism and tormented by the guilt of her success. “I am burdened daily with showing whites that blacks are people. I am, in the old vernacular, a credit to my race,” she wrote. “I am my brothers’ keeper and my sisters’ keeper - though many of them have abandoned me because they think I have abandoned them.”
The bitter and racially charged 1983 mayoral primary elections in Chicago was a turning point in Leanita’s life. Harold Washington, a black Congress member from the South Side of Chicago managed to win the democratic primary against incumbent Mayor Jane Byrne and State Attorney Richard M. Daley, son of Mayor Richard J. Daley.
A massive campaign based on bigotry and hatred was then launched to ensure the next mayor of Chicago was not a black man. The city was in a full on race war. It deeply troubled Leanita and she expressed her unrest in a scathing and blistering editorial entitled, “How Chicago Taught Me How to Hate Whites,” which was published in the Washington Post. “An evilness still possesses this town . . . ” she wrote with pointed anger. “This battle has made me hate . . . no white will ever be trusted so readily again with the innermost me.”
Leanita was ill prepared for the onslaught of viciousness that followed after her piece ran. Hundreds of letters flooded the Tribune and Post. Radio commentaries blasted her, and a resolution was even introduced in City Council calling for her to apologize to the people of Chicago. The pressure was insurmountable. The torment was more than she could bear.
On Tuesday, May 29, 1984, a light went out in Chicago. Leanita McClain, 32, took her life. She overdosed on pills that were prescribed for her ongoing battle with depression. Her friends believed she was literally overwhelmed by the strain of being what she called “a credit to her race,” and the guilt of “being uncomfortably middle class.” Others believed that the private hell she endured as a result of the “How Chicago Taught Me How to Hate Whites” editorial caused the inner demons that tormented her to finally take her life.
Twenty-four years after her death, I am still moved by her work and her life. Her former husband, Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribute, immortalized her voice in a book called A Foot In Each World. Her writings reveal why she felt like the lone voice for those who struggle in what she called “the battle of the upwardly mobile.” She assumed the role of champion for the under accomplished and it is clear she that carried the weight of their plight on her shoulders. She said, “In as much as we all suffer for everyone left behind, we gain for everyone who conquers the hurdle.”
In her final words, Leanita lamented that happiness was a private club that would not let her enter. I wish she could have found a way to lighten the burden she carried. She was an extraordinary talent. I wonder how she would have weighed in on today’s political battle had she survived the war that raged inside her.
I will keep sounding the drum and this running this annual tribute in honor of our fallen star, lest we forget. Maybe one day we will see her life’s story portrayed on the big screen. Her time really has come.
Veronica Hendrix is a syndicated journalist and columnist whose work has covered the span of the human continuum - from clinical trials of male contraceptives, to the gang violence. She is the producer of the highly acclaimed half hour talk show called "LA Woman," which airs on L.A. City View Channel 35, and is a Los Angeles Emmy nominated producer. Veronica's career as a journalist has included being a reporter for USA Today and a producer for a radio talk show in Los Angeles, which focused on issues impacting the African American Family. Veronica is a proud native of Southern California where she lives with her two sons.
THE PULSE OF ENTERTAINMENT: Coko headlines the 'Hope Nation Tour," and Mint Condition is back with new release,' e-Life'
By Eunice Moseley
Coko headlines Gospel Music Channel’s ‘Hope Nation Tour’
*Former SWV’s front woman, Coko (Cheryl Gamble,) is headlining the Gospel Music Channels’ “Hope Nation Tour.” Also appearing with Coko are Byron Butler, Jonathan Nelson, Tarsha McMillian-Hamilton, Ted Winn and DeWayne Woods.
“I am good friends’ with DeWayne Woods and his manager was putting together a tour for him and had me in mind,” the Grammy nominated song-bird said. “I always wanted to do something with him and when I heard World Vision was sponsoring – they help kids with AIDS worldwide – I was glad to do it.”
Aside from World Vision and Gospel Music Channel, The Ellis Verne Agency is also a sponsor.
Coko began her public singing career as one third of the R&B group SWV. They came out in the mid-90s and in 1998 the group split and Coko began her solo career with the release of, “Sunshine,” that same year. A year later she released, “Hot Coko,” on RCA Records.
In 2006 the powerhouse vocalist released her first Gospel album, “Grateful,” on Light Records, for which she received a Grammy nomination that following year. She did a remix with Kirk Franklin of, “I Get Joy,” in 2007. Coko has a song, “Face to Face,” featuring Case, on the soundtrack for Tyler Perry’s film, “Meet the Browns.”
“I just want to minister to the people who help the children,” Coko says about being on the tour.
The tour kicked off March 24th and upcoming dates include 5/3/0 Temple of Praise, 700 Southern Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20032; 5/8/08 New Destiny Christian Center, 505 E. McCormick Road, Apopka, Florida 32703; 5/15/08 Eastern Star Church (NE Campus), 8850 East 106th Street, Fishers, IN 46218; 5/16/08 Masonic Temple, 3615 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115; 5/18/0 Good Sheppard FGB Church, 3223 South Crator Road, Petersburg, VA 23805; 5/23/08 Greater St. Stephens FCB Church, 2305 South Liberty Street, New Orleans, LA 70113; 5/24/08 Beebe Memorial Cathedra Church, 3900 Telegraph Lane, Oakland, CA 94609, and 5/25/08 West Angeles Church of God in Christ, 3025 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016.
Mint Condition is back with, ‘e-Life,’ on CageBird Records
“We are always in the studio,” Stokely Williams, lead vocalist for platinum group Mint Condition, said about what they had been doing since the last release in 2005. “When we come out the studio, we been touring.”
The group known for the hits “Breaking My Heart,” “Pretty Brown Eyes,” and “What Kind of Man Would I Be,” releases their latest, “e-Life,” on May 6, 2008 on CageBird Records.
“e-Life,” is about the world we’re living in…electronic is the way we approached the CD,” Stokely explains. “We implemented (songs) inside the computer…manipulated the sound…a cyber love session.”
The first single is, “Baby Boy, Baby Girl,” which features Anthony Hamilton and it is the number one most added song to urban adult contemporary stations across the country. Another song is the futuristic; “Why Do We Try,” featuring A Tribe Called Quest and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Lucy Pearl).
Mint Condition members are Stokely (vocals), Lawrence El (piano/keyboards), Rick Kinchen (bass/lead guitar), O’Dell (rhythm guitar) and Jeffrey Allen (sax/keyboards).
THE FILM STRIP
‘IRON MAN’ CAST TALK ABOUT THEIR IRON MEN/WOMEN: Terrence Howard includes pimp uncle, Robert Downey Jr. talks about being in black face, Jeff Bridges on crusade to end hunger and Gwenyth Paltrow comments on Jay-Z and Beyonce’s wedding.
By Marie Moore
*Terrence Howard, who is poised to play War Machine, does not hold back his excitement when he talks heavy metal about that imminent role. “Iron Man” has yet to hit theaters but Howard is happy to answer questions about the silver suit his character, Lt. Colonel James “Rhodey” James admires in the film. Howard is Iron Man Robert Downey Jr.’s BFF and the Air Force’s leading military advisor. But the silver suit will not be Howard’s because he will up his game in the metal department.
“I mean the silver suit is a base for it,” Howard points out, “but War Machine's suit trumps Iron Man's suit ten fold. It’s not as bulky as War Monger. He [Rhodey] wants a lot of weaponry and because he's a trained pilot and has been flying for over 20 years there are things he's oftentimes wanted to put on planes and he wasn't able to do so. And there are sensibilities that Tony [Downey] never had because he's never been a pilot, you know, the weaponry. The War Machine suit, it's probably one of the baddest suits in comic book history as far as what it can accomplish.”
Consequently, it comes as no surprise that Howard was cast in “Iron Man” even before the film’s leading man, Robert Downey, Jr. “Robert keeps saying to me,” Howard laughs, “’In the 23 years I've been in this business I've never seen the 2nd lead cast before the first lead. I’ve never seen it! It's like you were cast before the director was set on the movie. I don't know who you slept with but give me some of that. It must be good’. I don't know how it happened but I think they had this in mind going into War Machine from the very start. So they've been setting up the ideas of War Machine for sometime.”
“Iron Man” is just about outer strength but inner might and values. The Film Strip asked cast members to talk about the Iron Men in their lives. So, Terrence, who are some of the men you have looked up to or admired? Thurgood Marshall, is one for sure—a very brilliant man. But believe it or not Denzel [Washington] because of his uncompromising nature. He walks straight for the punch. You've never seen him turn away because the punch
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