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09-18-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
OBAMA'S $11 MILLION SWING THROUGH L.A.: Plus, '60 Minutes' to feature Democratic presidential nominee and his GOP rival.
*Sen. Barack Obama raised $11 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party at two star-studded fundraising events in Southern California Tuesday night, including one featuring a concert by Barbra Streisand.
The presidential nominee's night began with a reception and dinner at $28,500 per person at the famous Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, and ended with Streisand's performance at the nearby Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which cost $2,500 per ticket.
Before a crowd of some 800 people packed into the hotel's ballroom, Obama started his speech by addressing the current Wall Street mess,
stating: "I am not in a celebratory mood," before citing a host of problems with falling incomes and joblessness. "A whole lot of Americans have been going through their own quiet storm," he said.
Obama also sought to reassure concerned donors, as polls show him in a dead heat with John McCain.
"People wonder sometimes, ‘He seems pretty calm,’" Obama said, to an audience that included Quincy Jones, Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Foxx. "The reason I am calm is I have confidence in the American people."
Obama also joked about the unsolicited advice that comes his way from donors within the Hollywood industry.
"Whenever I come to L.A. I get a lot of suggestions of what we should be doing," he said to some laughter. "I get a lot of suggestions for TV ads.
‘This is killer. This is the one that will put you over the top.'"
Streisand belted a series of standards, including a version of "My Shining Hour" in which she sang, "This will be our shining hour in the White House again," and "Make Someone Happy" with the line, "He is the answer. We know Barack is the answer."
Among the 280 folks gathered for the steak dinner at the Greystone Estate were Obama’s Southern California finance co-chairs Charles Rivkin and Nicole Avant, who spoke briefly, and DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Also present were Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodie Foster, Tobey Maguire, Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis, Clarence Avant, David Geffen and Steven Spielberg.
In other campaign news, CBS' "60 Minutes" will devote its entire broadcast Sunday to profiles of both presidential candidates with new interviews, hoping to set the stage for the general election campaign's first presidential debate on Sept. 26.
Scott Pelley plans to interview McCain in Wisconsin on Thursday, the same day Steve Kroft will talk to Obama in Nevada. The separate, nearly 20-minute pieces will mix profile material with a snapshot of a moment in the campaign.
"They both have been very receptive to us, even though they know they're going to get hard questions," said Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Minutes." "They both know that we're going to be fair."
Pelley plans to ask McCain, for example, about his thought process behind selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, and about criticism of some of his campaign ads. With the Wall Street meltdown this week, both candidates will be pressed on economic issues.
• Side note: Sunday's broadcast will be the first "60 Minutes" in high definition.
FORMER MISS ALASKA ON BEATING SARAH PALIN: Maryline Blackburn talks to Atlanta Journal-Constitution about GOP VP nominee.
*The woman who beat Gov. Sarah Palin to win Miss Alaska in 1984 is speaking out about the experience in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"My first impression was, 'Oh my God, she's gorgeous, she'll probably be the one who wins,'" said the Fairbanks-reared Maryline Blackburn, who now lives in the ATL as a recording artist.
"She had this look about her, this look in her eyes that tells you she's calculating, figuring out, 'how am I going to win this competition?,'"
Blackburn recalls of the Alaska Governor, who was known by her maiden name of Sarah Heath at the time. "There was a determination there."
Palin ended up voted first runner up and Miss Congeniality in the pageant 24 years ago. She later wrote Blackburn a warm note on the back of a group photograph: "I do love you," she wrote. "You're more admired than even you know. And please keep God Number One. He's got great things for you, baby. Love, Sarah Heath."
Blackburn hasn't spoken to Palin since the pageant. As for the forthcoming election, "I am in the Obama camp," she says.
• Read entire Atlanta Journal-Constitution story here:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2008/09/08/blackburn_pal
in_cobb.html
DA: 'NO CRIMINAL CONDUCT IN LEVERT DEATH': Widow still moving forward with wrongful death lawsuit against jail.
*Prosecutors on Tuesday ruled out criminal conduct in the March 30th death of Sean Levert in an Ohio jail, but his widow Angela Lowe says her wrongful death lawsuit against jail officials will still go forward.
"It is a finding of no criminal wrongdoing and the lawsuit we have filed focuses on civil wrongdoings ... one has absolutely nothing to do with another," said Lowe's lawyer Dennis Niermann.
Levert fell ill while incarcerated for failure to pay child support, and died shortly after being rushed to the hospital. Lowe accuses jail officials of neglecting his medical needs, but prosecutors said they found no evidence of criminal conduct after reviewing the results of an internal investigation.
The prosecutor's office released 162 pages of documents on Tuesday, including interviews with jail officials and a 3-minute video of Levert being placed in a restraint chair after he pounded on his cell walls and floor. Levert is seen repeatedly shouting "no, no" and "mommy, mommy" as several jail officers tie him to the restraint chair. He died about an hour later.
He had been placed in the jail's psychiatric unit earlier that day after stating that his son fell into a pool outside his cell window.
County Coroner Frank Miller, who previously ruled out foul play or trauma, said Levert, 39, died from complications of the inflammatory lung disease sarcoidosis, and also suffered from other conditions, including heart disease, high blood sugar and withdrawal from the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
Lowe's lawsuit contends that Levert suffered from severe anxiety and that he brought his prescription for Xanax to jail but was not given the medication. He had just started a 22-month sentence for failure to pay child support. The lawsuit accuses the sheriff's department of failing to give Levert an adequate nursing assessment or mental health assessment and of failing to notify the jail pharmacy of his need for medication.
Investigators interviewed Christine Dubber, manager of health care services for the county jail, who said inmates are not allowed to take Xanax unless they are evaluated by a jail psychiatrist. She said Levert was scheduled to see one on April 8.
"Due to the volume of inmates and the level of severity, the schedule is based on need," she stated, adding that Levert's vitals were normal when he was given his initial health assessment on March 25, a day after he entered the jail.
KANYE TWEAKS NEW SINGLE AFTER FANS COMPLAIN: Artist says he's freshened up 'Love Lockdown' with new drums and vocals.
*Kanye West says he has re-recorded his new song "Love Lockdown"
after people posting feedback on his Web site complained about the original version.
“Your prayers have been answered!! There’s a new version of ‘Love Lockdown’ coming,” he wrote. “We used new taiko drums, and I re-sung it. … It’s being mastered now.”
The artist used the recent MTV VMA awards to debut the song, which features him crooning in a heavily Auto-Toned singing voice. A number of fans on Ye's blog felt the Auto-Tone was too much.
He responded: “If you don’t like Auto-Tune, too bad, ’cause I love it and have been using it since The College Dropout!!!"
West's new album, "808s & Heartbreak," is scheduled to be released on Dec. 16. The performer is also working on beats for Jay-Z's upcoming album "Blueprint 3."
On Oct. 2, West is due back in court to deal with his headline-making arrest at LAX airport on suspicion of vandalism. He and his road manager are accused of smashing camera equipment belonging to a paparazzi photographer.
R KELLY SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ACQUITTAL: Singer gives BET his first (and possibly last) interview about child pornography trial.
*In his first interview since being acquitted of child pornography charges, R. Kelly says he was betrayed by those closest to him, but hopes he can put the case behind him for good and move forward.
"I can't keep answering these questions," he told BET's Toure in a special that aired Tuesday night. "If you were charged with something and found innocent, then you can't be found guilty for being found innocent."
The 41-year-old singer was arrested in 2002 for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a 13-year-old girl. At his trial, prosecutors were unable to verify the authenticity of the tape, or the identity of the female seen in the footage. Kelly was cleared of all 14 charges.
When asked by Toure if he is attracted to teenage girls, Kelly replied: "When you say teenage, how old do you mean?" He added: "I have some 19-year-old friends, but I don't like anybody illegal if that's what we're talking about, underage."
Kelly also alleged that the accusations against him may have been made by disgruntled former employees, including his brother, Carey Kelly.
The Kelly sibling claimed that R. Kelly attempted to bribe him if he would say the man in the video was himself and not his famous brother.
"When you're me, when you're R Kelly, everybody wants a piece of you, and if you don't give 'em a piece they'll find a way to get a piece of you one way or the other," he said. "I've been blackmailed a billion times in my career - before the trial, during the trial, after the trial."
"Do not listen to the people that were fired, listen to the facts" Kelly continued. "I know people are out to get me because I'm very vulnerable, especially during a seven-year trial."
Ultimately, Kelly says he's determined to keep pushing on with his music.
"I'm not going to let this affect my gift," he said. "I've done vintage R. Kelly songs during the trial because I said no matter what, I'm not going to let this make me run under a rock and not do my job. Some people fall off and I chose not to do that."
MICHELLE OBAMA MAKES A 'BEST DRESSED' LIST: Fergie, Paltrow, Rihanna, Klum also singled out by People magazine.
*Michelle Obama has been selected by People magazine as one of the year's best dressed women, alongside such celebrities as Fergie, Rihanna and Gwyneth Paltrow.
"She has a look. She works it with confidence, and she knows what looks good on her," said People's Style Editor Clarissa Cruz, adding that the potential First Lady was singled out for a style that was "classic and confident."
The potential First Lady said some of her favorite summer dresses are actually from stores at the mall – such as The Gap and H&M.
Also making the list are Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, Sarah Jessica Parker and supermodel Heidi Klum.
Editors of People's Best & Worst Dressed 2008 issue, due on newsstands Friday, explored the fashion choices of Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, who fancies rimless glasses, step-toe pumps and an updo hairstyle.
Palin didn't talk to People, but her hairdresser told editors that the candidate would rather not discuss style choices "because she wants people to hear what she has to say."
BLACK CAUCUS HAS CHARLIE RANGEL'S BACK: CBC and Pelosi offer embattled congressman full support' in his tax drama.
*The Congressional Black Caucus says it offers its "100 percent support" to Democratic congressman Charlie Rangel despite Republican calls for him to step down as House Ways and Means Chairman pending an Ethics Committee investigation into his taxes.
The Caucus support came one day after Monday's inconclusive 90-minute meeting between Rangel and Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who also announced her support for Rangel.
The Harlem Representative admitted last week that in recent years he has underpaid his taxes by about $10,000. His lawyer says Rangel flubbed his tax return by failing to record some $75,000 of rental income he received from a beach house he owns at a posh Dominican Republic resort.
Rangel says it was an honest mistake, explaining that he didn't know how much income he received from the property because his Dominican business partners would "start speaking Spanish."
Rangel's lawyer, Lanny Davis, told reporters that Rangel stepping down "is not even on the table... He will not be stepping down."
The legislator was scheduled to address the entire Democratic caucus during their weekly meeting -- and is then scheduled to address New York State's Democratic delegation.
SHAQ AMONG 30 NOMINEES FOR NJ HALL: Public vote to whittle down nods to 10 inductees.
*NBA star Shaquille O'Neal joins actor Jack Nicholson, rocker Jon Bon Jovi and 27 other celebrities with ties to the Garden State who are nominated for the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
The nominees were culled from a list of more than 160 potential Hall of Famers gathered over three years. The organization's Voting Academy, made up of more than 100 state organizations, whittled the list to 30 names. The public will choose five inductees, while the academy will select the other five, reports the Associated Press.
Political activist Paul Robeson, musician Count Basie, track star Carl Lewis and tennis pioneer Althea Gibson are also among the 30 nominees, all selected from the fields of arts and entertainment, sports, history and enterprise.
The purpose of the hall is to celebrate the state's positive contributions. Only people who lived in New Jersey for at least five years are eligible, though current residency is not required.
"As with our first class of nominees presented in 2007, this assemblage of New Jersey Hall of Fame nominees is indeed impressive," Bart Oates, chairman of the hall's board of commissioners, said Tuesday in announcing the nominees.
The hall has a virtual home but no permanent physical location.
FROMONG SAYS ITEMS BELONGED TO O.J.'S KIDS: Alleged victim admits stolen memorabilia included O.J.'s 'family heirlooms.'
*The sports memorabilia dealer who says O.J. Simpson and a crew of thugs robbed him in a Las Vegas hotel room says some of the stolen items were "heirlooms" that should be given to his family.
"I believed these items belonged to Mr. Simpson's kids," said Bruce Fromong, who returned to the stand Tuesday after his testimony the day before was cut short due to illness. "They should go back to him."
Simpson maintains that he walked, unarmed, into a meeting with Fromong and Alfred Beardsley on Sept. 13, 2007, solely to reclaim items that had been stolen from him by a former agent.
Fromong testified Monday that two of Simpson's alleged accomplices were carrying guns when the group stormed inside. On Tuesday, Fromong told the court that he heard someone yelling, "Put the gun down!" amid the commotion.
Despite supporting the defense's position that Simpson was the rightful owner of the things taken, Fromong later propped up the prosecution's argument that Simpson had stockpiled valuable memorabilia to keep it away from the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown, to whom he owes $33.5 million in a wrongful-death judgment.
JAMIE FOXX LIKES THE BLONDES: Gossip columns report of actor trying to holla at Stacy Keibler, Ashley Scott and others last weekend.
*As the New York Daily News puts it, "Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx got his blond fix in Las Vegas last weekend."
According to the newspaper's Rush & Malloy column, the actor started off Friday night at the preview of Noah Tepperberg's Lavo Nightclub flirting with "Dancing With the Stars" alum Stacy Keibler.
"Jamie couldn't stop rubbing her," noted a spy. Keibler reportedly wandered off, leaving Foxx alone.
The next day, he hit the Tao Beach pool, where he reportedly attempted to woo "Jericho" actress Ashley Scott.
According to Rush & Malloy: "She, too, seemed resistant to his charms. So, that night it was back to Lavo, where we watched Foxx pull up to the bumper of another blond. His advance on her rear was briefly interrupted when he smelled a fellow patron's cigarette.
"'Yo, man,' a member of Foxx's entourage told the guy. 'Jamie is allergic to smoke. Put that out.' When the reveler ignored the comment, the sunglasses-wearing Foxx wrapped his scarf around his face. Looking like a sheik, he returned to grinding the blond. They disappeared into the night shortly afterward."
LIL WAYNE GETS 12 BET HIP HOP AWARD NODS: Kanye, Jay-Z and T.I. also recognized.
*Lil Wayne pocketed a leading 12 nominations for the third annual BET Hip-Hop Awards, which airs Oct. 23 on the network with returning host Katt Williams.
Kanye West received the second-most nominations with seven, while Jay-Z received six.
T.I., who was arrested on gun charges hours before he was to headline the show last year, grabbed three nominations.
The network will also recognize hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons with the "I Am Hip-Hop" icon award.
JOHN LEGEND MAKES USE OF ITUNES SERVICE: Artist signs on for 'Complete My Album' feature.
*Billboard is reporting that John Legend is the latest artist to employ iTunes' Complete My Album feature as a marketing tool in advance of his next album, "Evolver," due Oct. 28.
The campaign began July 29 with the release of the album's first track "Green Light." Next was "If You're Out There," in August, and "on Sept. 16 the remix of "Green Light" was made available. Two more tracks will be sold through the initiative Sept. 30 and Oct. 14.
While other artists have used the Complete My Album feature - which lets fans who buy individual tracks from an album acquire the remaining songs without having to purchase them individually - as a marketing tool, most notably Lil' Wayne, Legend is upping the ante by taking a more international approach and offering the pre-release songs in 20 territories worldwide.
Apple says it's the largest global implementation of a Complete My Album campaign to date.
ICE T 'OPEN' TO NEW CABLE TV-LIKE WEB SITE: OG rapper is spokesman for new service seeking to revolutionize video sharing sites.
*Ice T has signed on as spokesman for Open Visions Networks, a new service aimed at giving viewers a cable TV-like experience in cyberspace, reports Allhiphop.com.
Open Visions Networks is the brainchild of three inner-citynentrepreneurs: Sherman “Doc” Bell, Jay “Nasdaq” Swanston, and Leroy Gordon. By recreating an authentic online television experience, the company looks to separate themselves form the video sharing sites.
“With us, we put the power back in the hands of the creators,” co-founder Jay Swanston explained. “We are not like Youtube or any of those streaming websites that calls each user account a channel. Myspace, Hulu, and Youtube are not based on niche content allowing the user to make money. All you do is upload on their site and make them and their advertisers money. We have music, independent and major studio movies, even Bollywood. Our main focus is to grow the libraries of content where subscribers get what they want. So if someone likes stand-up comedy 24-7, they could go to say, channel 80.”
Ice T says he was hooked from the moment he understood how the Web site would work.
“At the initial meeting I was blown away when these guys showed me what they were working on,” Ice told AllHipHop.com. “Me being an Internet cat myself, I’ve always tried to be on the edge of the tech sh*t. When I got the details I realized, ‘man this is no bullsh*t’”
Ice-T and wife Coco will have their own channels, focusing on original content specific to their interests.
“What I’ll do with Ice TV is put a lot of back catalog stuff that I’ve had over the years,” Ice explained. “There could possibly be legal problems, but I really don’t care. I really don’t see them coming after me. There’s still money coming in for the old stuff, but I’m not gonna ask anyone, I’m just gonna do it.”
OVN TV is currently free and available in 109 countries. New users can visit www.ovntv.com to subscribe and experience the service. The brand is set to offer Hi-Def channels by early 2009.
JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS: Give ‘em the old Razzle Dazzle
*A poster that used to hang on my mother’s office wall proclaimed, “If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with baloney.” Or something to that effect. It is an adage apparently taken to heart by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden.
During a campaign stop in Columbus, Missouri, Biden took a swipe at his Republican Party counter part, Sarah Palin and suggested that Republicans are not seriously concerned with special needs children because they do not support stem cell research. Palin is the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome. Said Biden: “I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy, because there’s joy to it as well, the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect. Well guess what folks? If you care about it, why don’t you support stem cell research?”
Having thus far failed to dazzle the American people, Biden now attempts to baffle the masses by painting Palin specifically and Republicans in general as hypocrites. But who are the real hypocrites when it comes to the issue of the inviolability of life?
A hypocrite is a “person whose actions belie stated beliefs.”
Both Joseph Biden and Barack Obama profess a private conviction that life begins at conception. Yet, they both take the morally ambivalent public position of choice -- an unfettered right of a woman to destroy that life. In fact, Obama is so uncommitted to his private principle that he possesses the unique distinction of being the only elected politician to oppose life saving measures being provided for a child born alive following an unsuccessful abortion. Governor Palin, on the other hand, has been frank in her belief that life begins at conception and has lived her private principles publically by among other things choosing to carry her developmentally disabled child to term rather than kill it in utero.
Moreover, Governor Palin does not oppose stem cell research. What Palin opposes (and what most conservatives oppose) is government funding of embryonic stem cell research. You will find no such opposition to adult stem cell research. What remains unclear is why the new left continues to purposefully cloud the issue by speaking of embryonic stem cell research and adult stem cell research as if they are one in the same.
Embryonic stem cells are harvested from a developing embryo in the blastocyst stage destroying the embryo – a human life. “Adult stem cells, on the other hand, are found in all tissues of the growing human being and, according to latest reports, also have the potential to transform themselves into practically all other cell types, or revert to being stem cells with greater reproductive capacity.” Great strides have been made in the use of adult stem cells. Successful treatments for maladies ranging from sickle cell disease to Parkinson’s disease and blindness have been found in adult stem cells. Research is also advancing quickly on induced pluripotent stem cells. “Induced pluripotent stem cells are created by inserting genes into ordinary skin cells. These iPS cells have the same properties as embryonic stem cells but don’t require human embryos to be killed.” Contrast this record with that of embryonic stem cells, which in spite of all the dazzling promises have thus far not produced one successful treatment for any disease or medical malady. NOT ONE! So while Palin and her fellow conservatives remain true to their professed belief in the sanctity of human life and want to use tax dollars furthering research that is actually helping to improve lives, Joseph Biden and the Democratic Party demand tax payer funding of research whose only accomplishment thus far has been the destruction of human life.
Obama, Biden and the rest of the Democratic Party must convince a majority of Americans that they have what it takes to lead this great nation. To be successful, they will have to demonstrate that their brilliance extends beyond the serving up of a mixture of obfuscation and baloney.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like A White Boy” available wherever books are sold.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Tina Allen: The Ancestors' Spirit, A Warrior's Heart and God's Hands in One Woman
Anthony Asadullah Samad
*Tina Allen, sculptor extraordinaire, is now among the ancestors. I love Tina Allen, who was a personal friend and one of the deepest spirits I've ever met. I will hold her memory close. She was a walking spiritual witness of our past and present existence, seeing anything and everything in the context of God, ancestry and art. God blessed her with a talent of replicating life in clay and bronze. She could see it, feel it, hear it and mold it into a life like image. Tina didn't see people as they are. She saw them as God intended them to be. She always lived in the present but had an uncanny connection to the past. She talked about her subjects as if they were alive and present with her. Even if they have been among the ancestors for decades, even centuries, she still felt them. With the spirit of the ancestors upon her, God gave her the surest set of hands, what I can only call “God's hands,” to be able to mold things in the image of God--only as God could present them, in their physical presentations. Her work is all around us. You've seen them-the famous figures; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, A. Philip Randolph, George Washington Carver, Alex Haley, Sammy Davis, Jr. and the cultural abstracts that reflect the best of African diaspora; Icon I (Tribute to the Afro-American Man), Icon II (Tribute to the African American Woman), Delta Heart, Angel, Eclipse, Sula (I & II) and Sula's Gift, God's Precious Loan, and my personal favorite, Our Love I and II (The Dream). When this woman put her hands, her touch, on a work, it was if God himself, fashioned it from a clump of clay. That was Tina Allen.
Tina was funny, almost quirky, about her work, about life, about politics, about the black community. She always had an informed view of things and almost always left you with something to think about when the conversation was over. About six years ago, we were dancing at a party at actress Judy Pace's home celebrating her daughter Julia's successful play run in L.A. From 8 to 10, was “old school” music that the “grown folks” were partying to, and after 10, when Julia's friends started to arrive, the music took a “generational turn.” Instead of going with the beat to this “booty song,” Tina started analyzing the misogynistic underpinnings of the lyrics that made it difficult for a real woman to dance to something that subliminally degrading her. That was deep. But that was Tina. Even when she was having fun, she was thinking. She was like that from the time I met her when she came to Los Angeles, twenty years earlier. She would talk about her (and talk to her) pieces as if they were alive. When I brought a limited edition bust of the greatest African American leader of all time--Frederick Douglass, who almost singlehandedly forced the deconstruction of America's iron clad institution of slavery (and lived to tell about it), Tina personally delivered it and talked about the bust, in the first or second person, like he was a member of her family. “He likes to be in the sun,” she would say, or he shines right up when you use this kind of cloth, “Ain't that right, Frederick?” To this day, everybody in our household talks to the Frederick Douglass bust.
My most personal memories of Tina is during the one of the most precious moments of my life, my marriage to my wife, Debra. When Deb and I got married 16 years ago, we put her first Our Love sculpture on our wedding invitation. We promised to buy it after the wedding, but in the midst of saving for a new home, private school for kids, etc. we waited too long and she sold it. Approaching our tenth anniversary, I asked Tina to find the now rare, Our Love, for me. She couldn't and only had her personal edition. After three months, she said, “I tell you what, people been asking me for years to re-issue or do another Our Love. I'll do another one for you and Debra, and it'll be called, Our Love II. She sent me internet photos of her progress, and two days before our tenth anniversary, she delivered the first issue (1 of 32) of her limited Our Love II sculpture. We all cried when we saw it. It was a powerfully moving moment for my wife, Tina and I. That is how I'll always remember Tina Allen, doing things, big and small, that brought complete pleasure to people. Love was important to Tina. She loved to love, loved to be loved and loved to show love. It showed in her work. It showed in her life. It showed in her spirit.
Tina Allen has left her mark on the world until the end of time. Statues and sculptures tend to last hundreds, even thousands of years. Every time we look at a work of Tina Allen, we will see her love. Her love, like our love for her, will last that long too.
Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com
THE PULSE OF ENTERTAINMENT: Seven-time Grammy Award nominee Joe is back with new album, 'New Man," and ABC Family's 'Lincoln Heights' starts third season
By Eunice Moseley
Seven-time Grammy Award nominated singer/songwriter Joe is back with new album, ‘New Man’
*“I won my lawsuit against Jive Records and now I am ‘indie’,” seven-time Grammy Award nominee Joe proudly informed me when asked about what he had been doing since he started the lawsuit. “I been working…working until last March.”
In fact, last year Joe released “Ain’t Nothing Like Me,” on BMG/Jive Records, in 2003 “And Then…;” in 2001 “Better Days,” and in 2000 “My Name is Joe” - which went multi-platinum - all on Jive Records. “My Name is Joe” released the hit single, “Stutter,” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
For me, my all-time favorite Joe album was the 1997 “All That I Am,” his debut on Jive, which went platinum as well and released a single that is still played regularly to this day, “Don’t Want To Be a Player No More” featuring Fat Joe and produced by Rodney Jerkins. That album also released another hit single, “All The Things (Your Man Won’t Do).”
His new ‘indie' album, “Joe Thomas, New Man” is on his own label (which he partners with his manager of 12 years) 563 Music and it is distributed by Kedar Entertainment. The first single from the “New Man” CD is “E.R.” and it is steadily climbing the charts.
For this project Joe reached back to some of his friends in the business to join him on his label’s debut CD. Friends like Puffy (P. Diddy), video director Billie Woodruff and Bryan Michael Cox came to his aide. He also enlisted the help of Nas, Game, Busta Rhymes, Mario and Trey Songz who are featured on the CD.
The son of two preachers Joe said he wanted to make sure the album was consistent, an album that is “Joe.” What Joe is, aside from being an R&B singer with a love for Hip-Hop, is a master bass player, drummer and piano player.
“We all sang in my family,” Joe tells me of his childhood experiences as an artist. “We had a Gospel group. I was even in a (R&B) group. But something was tugging at me….pushing me…something was driving me to learn more (about the music business).”
Learn the business he did and as a result he has made a positive influence on the music industry with his accomplishments. Aside from the Grammy Award nominations; Joe also received a BET, Soul Train and NAACP Image Award nomination.
You can learn more on Joe Thomz by visiting his myspace at “officialjoemusic.”
ABC Family’s ‘Lincoln Heights’ starts season three
The drama series “Lincoln Heights” airs on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET and depicts what most inner-cities are going though, as a result of the flood of drugs that have made its way into the United States. ABC Family brings yet another story to the screen which shows the struggles between right and wrong, good and evil, strength and weakness, violence and love in a realistic but inspiring way.
The series begins its third season and has already received several NAACP Image Award nominations probably for some reason - shocking reality, but yet with inspiring story-lines (like Tay aspiring to be an artist/songwriter, Lizzy getting recruited to a prestigious private school and Cassie finding love). The cast is a melting pot of veteran actors and up-and-coming actors, like Mishon (Pronounced My-Shawn) Ratliff who plays Tay Sutton the only son to a black police officer, Eddie Sutton (played by veteran Russell Hornsby), who moves his family back to the inner city in his attempts to help clean his old neighborhood of its drugs and violence. His family also consist of his wife Jean Sutton (veteran actress Nicki Micheaux) and his two daughters, eldest Cassie Sutton (played by up-and-coming Erica Hubbard) and Lizzie Sutton (young actress Rhyon Brown).
“I feel blessed and don’t take advantage of anything,” young actor Mishon Ratliff said about getting the role on his first ever audition after signing with an agent. “I got great experience with the well conditioned actors. They groomed me and gave me advice.”
Aside from his acting Mishon Ratliff is a singer who was just signed to Interscope Records. You get to hear a little of what he offers vocally on the series, as in the premier season where he is trying to create his own music.
“My album should be out the first quarter of 2009… its titled “Yearbook,” Mishon said. “(One day) I’d like to invest in charities….feeding children.”
“Lincoln Heights” is produced by ABC Family/Disney. The premiere episode had with Eddie and Jean on vacation and his eldest daughter Cassie and her boyfriend Charles (played by Robert Adamson) finds themselves upstairs in her bedroom as a group of drug addicted neighborhood hoodlums ransack the house for hidden drugs and money because the Sutton home use to be a “crack-house.”
ASK ADVICE CHICK: Answers to YOUR Dating, Sex, Life, & Love Questions!
By AdviceChick at ameritech.net
CHICAGO Ladies! ULTIMATE Ladies NITE Out part 2 is coming Saturday November 8, 2008! Visit http://www.ultimateladiesniteout.com NOW for details!
Dear Advice Chick,
*Hello. How soon into a relationship are you required to express your sexual preferences? Most men seem to expect me to reach climax from receiving oral, but, I only reach climax from actual penetration. This disappoints and actually angers some men. Should I tell the truth right away, before sex even, or just fake it, so we can get to what I really prefer?
Advice Chick replies,
Most men. Some men. Damn girl, you a prostitute or something? When it comes to sex why fake anything? People usually discuss their sexual wants and desires BEFORE becoming sexual. Whether your hookups are “relationships” or “business transactions,” open the lines of communication prior to opening your legs.
Send YOUR questions 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 at ameritech.net
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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.
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. " — Jacob A. Riis
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Sept. 18: Actress Holly Robinson Peete ("Hangin' With Mr. Cooper") is 44. Singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 41. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith is 37. Rapper Xzibit is 34.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Not just a bridal showcase, but www.BlackBridalGuide.com is a community where brides can chat with other brides about their pre and post-wedding experiences.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Sept. 18, 1895: Booker T. Washington delivers the Atlanta Exposition Address at a business convention. Due to his view points, many dubbed his address the "Atlanta Compromise." (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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