04-21-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
JOYNER RADIO SHOW BACK IN CHICAGO: TJMS to begin airing Wednesday on SOUL 106.3.
*Tom Joyner's weekday morning radio show, themed “The Party with the Purpose,” will begin airing in Chicago again after it was dumped last month from 102.7 WVAZ-FM and replaced by Steve Harvey's morning program.
TJMS will broadcast on SOUL 106.3FM beginning tomorrow (April 22) from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays, while the weekend program, "Right Back At Cha,” will be heard on Saturdays from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
"Thank you Chicago, and all our friends and family from all over the country," Joyner said in a statement. "You have spoken, you have written, you have tweeted—and your activism has made a difference in a big way! We are going back on the air and if I could hug and thank each and every one of you individually, I would. Our new home in Chicago is SOUL 106.3FM.”
Chicago was the first radio market that signed on to the Tom Joyner Morning Show when the program and its message started, eventually growing to the 115 markets it serves today, reaching approximately one in four African-Americans.
BEYONCE CONFUSED BY TWITTER: Singer talks about sister's tweet habit, the Etta James drama and more in AP Q&A.
*Solange Knowles may be a Twitter addict, but it hasn't influenced her sister Beyonce to join the social networking phenomenon.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press', Beyonce — whose latest CD, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," is double platinum — talked about resisting the pressure of Twitter nation, her forthcoming U.S. concerts (kicking off June 21 at Madison Square Garden), maneuvering in the show's outrageous Thierry Mugler costumes and why Etta James never had her worried.
AP: How will this tour be different from your 2007 "B'Day" tour?
Beyonce: It's going to be more emotional, because this album, "I Am," that portion was a lot more real and raw and more sensitive. ... The best part about this tour is I'm working with Thierry Mugler, who is an icon and a legend, and I've been a fan.
AP: Often snippets of concerts end up on the Internet. Is it frustrating not being able to surprise people anymore?
Beyonce: It's very frustrating now. ... It's great because people can get a little sneak peak and say, "Oh, I wanna come to the show" or "I don't wanna go to that show" (laughs), and I'm fans of people so I go on there and check it out too. But you put so much of your heart and time into the wardrobe ...
it's kind of unfortunate that people can see the show months before you get into their city, but that's life.
AP: One YouTube video from your last tour showed you falling, getting up and continuing.
Beyonce: A lot of people with heart can see that I have heart, and I encourage other people to have that same strength and fight, and I definitely get tired, I definitely mess up, I definitely fall down stairs. I forget the words, sometimes, but that's just life. I guess the question is, what are you going to do after that? And I always get back up, and it just makes me even stronger.
AP: In your new movie "Obsessed," out on Friday, you play a wife who fights to protect her family. What is the hardest thing you ever fought for?
Beyonce: Everything that's worth anything you have to fight for. You have to fight in your relationships, I have to fight for my career, I have to fight to stay in shape, because I get tempted to eat good old chocolate (laughs), and all this stuff everybody loves. It's all a fight, but it's worth it.
AP: When you sang "At Last" for the Obamas at the inauguration ball, Etta James said some pretty harsh things about you but later said she was joking.
Did you know she was joking?
Beyonce: I played Etta James (in last year's "Cadillac Records"), so I did my research, I read her book. I was not at all surprised. That's Etta. She's hilarious (laughs).
AP: Your sister Solange twitters all the time. Do you do it?
Beyonce: My sister is the Twitter queen. She told me about the twittering, but I don't get it, I feel like I'm getting really old. I'm like, what? I don't understand. Just call me.
STEPHEN A. SMITH TO LEAVE ESPN: Reporter appreciates run but says 'it's time to move on.'
*The tweet from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith came across to his Twitter followers on Friday: "The rumors are true-- ESPN and I are parting ways. My statement "Goodbye ESPN!!!"
The ESPN reporter, who once had a show on the network's ESPN2 titled "Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith," will officially end his tenure with the station on May 1. According to Web site, The Big Lead, Smith's contract is due to expire after the NBA playoffs and the two parties could not reach a new agreement.
"Apparently, ESPN’s offer was considerably lower than Smith’s previous contracts - which were multi-media faceted - and Smith passed," the Web site reported. "He was then offered the decision to work through the remainder of his contract, or walk away and still get paid, and a source says Smith decided to work."
In a statement posted on his Web site, Smith said of his time at ESPN, "It's been a wonderful, wonderful ride, filled with great accomplishments, great memories and, most importantly, great friendships.
It's difficult to express how appreciative I am to ESPN for all it's done for my career. But nothing lasts forever. It's time to move on.
"While my love for sports has never dissipated -- of course, I'll never let go of Sports -- my desire to venture beyond sports into the world of news, politics and entertainment has grown. Where that will take me? Who knows! , but you can keep up with me right here on StephenA.com as well as on Twitter (@StephenASmith) to find out! I’ll just be moving on with some degree of sadness, remembering all the friends I’ll leave behind."
ESPN said in a statement: “We thank Stephen A. for his many contributions to ESPN and wish him well. We decided to move in different directions."
"Quite Frankly" was highly promoted and ran from Aug. 1, 2005, through Jan. 11, 2007. Smith kept his job as a sports columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer while working for ESPN until he left the paper in 2008 after editors told him he would no longer be able to write a column but could stay as a reporter.
Late Monday, Smith sent three tweets regarding his impending exit: "Just wanted to send a Shout Out to everyone expressing their love and concern. It's truly, deeply appreciated. But I'm fine. Believe me. … I'm in Atlanta having a ball, covering the Hawks/Heat series. But I'll make sure to
take a moment to explain a few things in a couple… …This is a beautiful time in my life. I'm looking forward to the new challenges that await."
ALLEGED PERRY STALKER THREATENED 'MURDER': Restraining order shows woman sent crazy messages via computer.
*TMZ.com has uncovered the restraining order taken out against Dawne Wilson, the woman arrested for aggravated stalking Wednesday outside Tyler Perry's production studios in Atlanta.
It shows that she first began contacting the filmmaker in March 2008 by computer "in a menacing manner," causing Perry to fear "apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury."
Another Wilson e-mail sent in April 2008 told Perry, "You need to check your heart condition because it is filled with murder....your love has been but costly and deadly....Murder I say is the verdict."
"Why do you insist on assisting the devil?" she added
Wilson was taken into custody after showing up at Perry's recording studio last Wednesday, in violation of the restraining order.
KRS ONE, PROFESSOR GRIFF BASH OBAMA: Rap acts voice criticism of president in new documentary.
*Rapper KRS One and former Public Enemy member Professor Griff speak out against the nation's first black president in the new documentary, "The Obama Deception." [Scroll down to view trailer.]
According to Redding News Review, KRS believes corporate elites continue to control the White House, no matter who is in the Oval Office.
"If they controlled it before, what makes you think they're not controlling it now," the rapper says in the new DVD from talk radio host Alex Jones. "The country was on the verge of revolution [and] they threw a black man up, now we like this."
"They put a black face on the New World Order and now we all happy," he continued. "KRS ain't buying it."
Professor Griff said in the film: "Obama has been given a pass by the bluebloods. He has been given the okay by certain secret societies for them to let him in. I truly believe imperialism and fascism needs a facelift and the facelift is going to have to be black."
"The Obama Deception" is critical of the president and questions Obama's ties to Wall Street and his ability to keep promises, reports Robert "Rob" Redding Jr.
KRS's current view of the president differs from his stance last year, when he said that Obama's White House run was "great for America." Griff, however, has made it clear that he was never an Obama supporter. He supported Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney.
The Obama Deception Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od8bcCvX3jU
EUGENE ROBINSON, LYNN NOTTAGE WIN PULITZERS: Awards announced Monday; books about slavery, civil rights also recognized.
*Congratulations to Washington Post columnist and MSNBC political analyst Eugene Robinson for being awarded a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
The winners in journalism and literature were announced at 3 p.m. on Monday at Columbia University in New York.
Robinson, a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, earned recognition for his columns on the 2008 presidential campaign. He was a regular presence on MSNBC during Barack Obama's presidential run, appearing frequently on such shows as "Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Hardball with Chris Matthews, David Gregory's former hour "Race for the White House" and "Morning Joe."
In other Pulitzer news, the prize for drama went to Lynn Nottage's "Ruined," which is set during a civil war in Africa and explores how women suffer during wartime.
"I wanted to tell the story of these women and the war in the Congo and I couldn't find anything about them in the newspapers or in the library, so I felt I had to get on a plane and go to Africa and find the story myself," Nottage told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I felt there was a complete absence in the media of their narrative. It's very different now, but when I went in 2004 that was definitely the case."
The Off-Broadway play stars Condola Rashad, the daughter of "Cosby Show" star Phylicia Rashad and sports commentator Ahmad Rashad.
The general nonfiction award went to "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II" by Douglas A. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.
"It's a huge honor for me," Blackmon told the Associated Press, "but more importantly I hope it really validates the idea that this is a part of American history that we have ignored and neglected, and it's time for a really dramatic reinterpretation of what happened to African-Americans during that period of time."
Annette Gordon-Reed's "The Hemingses of Monticell An American Family," a Pulitzer winner for history, documents the life and family of Sally Hemings, the slave girl who many believe had an intimate relationship with Thomas Jefferson.
CNN PREPS FOR OBAMA'S 100TH DAY: Coverage to mirror election night – including John King's "magic wall."
*CNN is pulling out all the stops to mark President Obama's historic 100th day in office, providing prime-time coverage similar to last year's primary and general election nights – including John King's magic wall.
On April 29, regular programming will be pre-empted on the network to make room for a national report card of Obama's performance, using opinion polls and a series of viewer surveys, reports the Associated Press. Most of the anchors and commentators who were CNN regulars on political nights last year will appear.
"This is the perfect day to have commentary about how the president is doing and the perfect day to ask the public how they think the president is doing," said Sam Feist, CNN's political director, who has been organizing 100th and 200th day specials since shortly after the election.
The 100-day marker is a journalistic contrivance often used to evaluate new administrations. CNN is giving extra importance to this one because of the two wars and economic meltdown.
King, who used a giant touchscreen during the election to keep track of polling data, will use it again to show where money is going from the economic stimulus plan, he said. Bill Schneider will review polling data. Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien will join King as the network's on-air leaders.
ABC News is planning to mark the occasion on "Good Morning America," "World News" and "Nightline," a spokeswoman said. CBS will discuss the milestone on the "CBS Evening News" and Katie Couric will host a Web-only special about it.
MORE DIVERSITY ON SUNDAY NEWS PROGRAMS: Networks making quiet effort to boost African American presence.
*America elects an African American president and suddenly, there's more diversity among political pundits during Sunday morning news programs.
During a "Meet the Press" roundtable earlier this month, NBC's David Gregory turned to Rutgers University economist William Rodgers – a first time guest – for an assessment of President Barack Obama's overseas trip. His appearance marked one of 40 times a black American had been on one of the four broadcast shows this year, through April 12. During the same period two years ago, there were 25 appearances.
"We wanted to try to broaden the voices that we have on our round-table, and that includes more diverse voices in terms of race, gender and inside and outside of Washington," Betsy Fischer, executive producer of "Meet the Press," told the Associated Press
The National Urban League Policy Institute was critical of the programs in a report issued four years ago that it called "Sunday Morning Apartheid."
"There is nothing more galling than having white people sitting around talking about black people, and that is often what happens during these shows," said Richard Prince, author of the column "Journal-Isms" and a regular writer on diversity for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
"In African-Americans' absence, there may be this subtle perception that African-Americans, or women, or Latinos don't think at that level or are not able to articulate," said Rodgers, a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and recipient of a Ph.D from Harvard. "From a standpoint of images where perception is reality, it is important."
The election of a black president probably makes producers more aware of the need to make the effort, he added. "If you have an individual who can be president, then there are all kinds of people who can be just as effective. How much you can quantify it, it's too early to tell."
Michele Norris, host of NPR's "All Things Considered," said she hears some "attagirls" on the street after appearing on a Sunday morning roundtable. She made three appearances on "Meet the Press" this year, according to figures compiled for The Associated Press by Media Matters for America.
Some other seasoned reporters, like new Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson, Perry Bacon and Michael Fletcher of the Post, are also getting Sunday face time. More familiar faces include Gwen Ifill of PBS, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Bill Cosby.
WILL SMITH IN 'BUSINESS' WITH SCI FI CHANNEL: Actor's company producing new crime drama for the network.
*Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment has produced a new crime drama for the Sci Fi Channel.
"Unfinished Business," according to the Hollywood Reporter, is about an ex-cop who starts seeing flashes of memories from the recently deceased.
The visions compel him to help wronged souls resolve their unfinished business.
The network, which changes its name to Syfy on July 7, plans to air "Unfinished Business" as a two-hour movie that will also serve as a potential series pilot.
Smith is on board as one of the project's executive producers.
CHRISTOPHER IVERY AND ELLEN POMPEO EXPECTING: 'Grey's Anatomy' star pregnant with their first child.
*People.com is reporting that music producer Christopher Ivery and his wife, "Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo, are expecting their first child together.
"It's great news," says her rep. "They're ecstatic."
Ivery and Pompeo were married in November 2007 by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The couple had met in a grocery store in 2003 and began dating six months later, according to People.
The TV actress, who has been spotted around Los Angeles recently shopping for baby clothes, is not the only "Grey's Anatomy" doctor having a baby in real life. Co-star Chyler Leigh and her husband, Nathan West, are expecting her third child, a girl, in May.
WINFREY SCRAPED PLANNED COLUMBINE EPISODE: Talk show host said it focused too much on the killers.
*Oprah Winfrey decided to forgo airing an episode of her talk show that was to mark the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, saying it focused too much on the killers.
Titled "10 Years Later: The Truth About Columbine," the show was supposed to air on Monday, the anniversary of the high school massacre in Littleton, Colo., that killed 12 students and a teacher. Instead, Winfrey aired a program about a mother released from prison.
Winfrey posted a message Monday morning on her Facebook page, saying that after she reviewed the taped show she decided to pull it because of its focus on the two gunmen, reports the Associated Press.
She urged viewers to keep the Columbine community in their thoughts.
EARTH WIND AND FIRE HONORED BY TV LAND: Angela Bassett presents group with network's Entertainer Award.
*Earth Wind & Fire were feted along with ten other honorees at the 2009 TV Land Awards, which premieres on Sunday (April 26) at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME.
The veteran R&B band were given the Entertainer Award, presented annually to a series or entertainer "whose talent is unmatched and whose fame and longevity are immeasurable," the network states.
Actress Angela Bassett was chosen to present the award to Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson.
For a complete list of winners, go to www.tvland.com.
FLORIDA ARTISTS TEAM FOR CANCER PATIENT: Flo Rida, Rick Ross, Sean Kingston to raise awareness for girl in need of bone marrow donor.
*Florida artists Flo Rida, Rick Ross, Sean Kingston, Pitbull and Trick Daddy are scheduled to perform this weekend at a charity event organized in support of a six-year-old girl suffering from leukemia.
Jasmina Anema, who was recently visited in the hospital by major supporter Rihanna, has made headlines recently regarding her desperate search for a bone marrow donor.
The Labor of Love event is scheduled to take place from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 26 at the 163rd Street Mall, 1205 NW 163rd Street, North Miami. Fans will be encouraged to visit mobile blood banks around the site to donate blood and see if they are a match for Anema.
Attendees will be treated to free drinks, snacks and pizza as well as a goody bag filled with a free T-shirt and free tickets to the Improv Comedy Club. Autograph signings, celebrity photo sessions and a raffle for two free
five-day/four- night Orlando vacations are also slated to take place with more giveaways to be announced in the days leading up to the event.
For more information on the Labor of Love event and to view the flyer, visit www.OriginalFatBoys.com/laboroflove.
MADONNA'S MERCY ADOPTION – TAKE TWO: Singer, fresh from fall off horse, gets court date for appeal.
*Madonna's lawyers will return to a Malawi courtroom next month to appeal a ruling that denied her request to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James from the African country.
Joseph Chigona, Registrar of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, said the case will come before three judges from the Supreme Court of Appeal on May 4. "As with all court cases involving infants, this one will be in chambers, not in an open court," Chigona told the Associated Press.
Madonna has said she still wants to adopt after courts denied her attempt due to residency laws. Malawi requires prospective parents to live in the country for 18 to 24 months while child welfare authorities assess their suitability — a rule that was not applied when Madonna adopted a son, David, from Malawi in 2006.
Madonna's Malawian lawyer, Alan Chinula, said he was hopeful the appeal would succeed. "We believe the lower court judge erred by basing her judgment on an archaic law of over 50 years ago," he said.
In other Madonna news, the pop icon fell off of a horse in the Hamptons over the weekend when the animal was reportedly spooked by paparazzi.
The singer, who recently turned 50, suffered "minor injuries" and bruises, said her rep Liz Rosenberg. She was treated at a Southampton hospital and was released, but she still was being monitored by doctors.
Meanwhile, photographer Thomas Hinton contests Madonna's story of paps causing the horse to rear back. He told Newsday for its online editions Sunday that "the only photographer present" when she fell was Steven Klein, her host in the Hamptons.
Hinton said he received a tip Madonna was in the Hamptons and photographed her from a public road before and after the accident. He said he wasn't there when she fell.
BRITNEY'S ALLEGED PEEPER SPEAKS: Miranda Tozier-Tobbins says she was trying to break into documentary filmmaking, not singer's home.
*The woman arrested for snooping around at Britney Spears' home says she was only researching paparazzi behavior in an attempt to possibly become a documentary filmmaker.
In an interview with E! News, Miranda Tozier-Robbins said her whole trespassing charge has been blown out of proportion. The 26-year-old former "American Idol" hopeful says she's been in Los Angeles for about a month and a half and is actively pursing an entertainment industry career in numerous fields, one being paparazzi-like documentary filmmaking.
She said Britney's house was simply chosen because of its convenient location and perfect timing—she knew Spears would be in L.A. for her tour this week and apparently her address is available online.
"The documentary is more or less just, [me] on the way to Britney's house, going on the bicycle ride, the camping out in the woods," says Tozier-Robbins.
While she confesses to being a Britney fan, Tozier-Robbins claims that she is far from being a stalker.
"There's no obsession with Britney," she said. "Somebody else can go ahead and claim the title of Britney's stalker, because I sure as heck don't want it, you know!"
Speaking to "Access Hollywood" on Friday, she claimed that it was all a joke in the beginning, one that "everyone knew about."
For now, Tozier-Robbins says she's just awaiting her day in court (her next hearing is June 16) so she can reclaim her confiscated "documentary" footage.
EUR DVD REVIEW: The Wrestler
DVD Features Mickey Rourke's Oscar-Nominated Performance as Comeback Kid
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Rarely does the trajectory of an actor's life parallel that of a person he's portraying on screen as closely as Mickey Rourke's does in this Oscar-nominated performance. Consequently, while watching The Wrestler, it's hard to ignore the similarities between the title character's quest for redemption and Rourke's own career comeback bid.
In the film, he plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a pro wrestler well past his prime living in a trailer park in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Randy's been reduced to stocking shelves at a supermarket just to pay the rent, although he still harbors a dream of somehow recapturing the magic of his glory days.
That humbling road back has him dividing his weekends between wrestling in front of small crowds in modest arenas and signing autographs for fans at memorabilia shows. Finally, a potential big payday arrives when a promoter offers to arrange a rematch against The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller), the arch-rival he hasn't faced in twenty years.
Unfortunately, the Rocky-like road to resurrection is paved not only with good intentions and a rigorous training regimen but with plenty of potential potholes, too. First, Randy's evicted for falling behind in rent, and has to move into his car. Then, he whips himself into game shape with the help of steroids, free weights, a bleach rinse and a tanning machine, only to suffer a heart attack during a warm-up bout. After life-saving bypass surgery, the surgeon warns him that it's time to hang up his stretchy pants for good.
Will "The Ram" return to the ring for the scheduled rematch with his nemesis, or will he heed his doctor's orders and fade disgracefully into the sunset? Though undeniably raw, realistic and relentlessly-grim, The Wrestler is also a riveting and emotionally-engaging mood piece which never hits a false note.
Don't allow yourself to be put off by the pedestrian backdrop, for the movie is likely to resonate even with folks who feel pro wrestling is phony.
Credit goes to Mickey Rourke for the deep psychic pain etched in his face in every frame that makes it easy to forget that the story is revolving around a "sport" where every contest is orchestrated and the outcomes are fixed.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for violence, nudity, sexuality, profanity and drug use.
Running time: 115 minutes
Studi Fox Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: "Within the Ring," a no holds barred one on one with real wrestlers and filmmakers, "The Wrestler" music video performed by Bruce Springsteen, and Fox trailers.
To see a trailer for The Wrestler, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-GFxjTyV0
EUR DVD REVIEW: Frost/Nixon
Oscar-Nominated Adaptation of Broadway Play Arrives on DVD
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned from the Presidency in disgrace after becoming hopelessly implicated in the Watergate cover-up.
He retreated from the public eye for two and one-half years, until he agreed to a series of TV interviews with David Frost with the hope of resurrecting his tarnished image.
Frost, a British talk show host whose own career was floundering, paid the former president $600,000 plus a percentage of the profits for the exclusive opportunity.
And that investment proved to be worth the risk, as over 45 million viewers tuned in to watch the eagerly-anticipated tete-a-tete. However, anyone expecting to see Nixon make an admission of guilt was ultimately left disappointed, as he remained rather emphatic in his denial of any knowledge of a cover-up during their uneventful chat.
Nonetheless, the truth didn't get in the way of this version of the historic showdown which culminates with a confession by Tricky Dick. Despite relying on revisionist history, the movie earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director (Ron Howard), Actor (Frank Langella), Script Adaptation (Peter Morgan) and Editing.
The film is heartily recommended provided you aren't likely to be bothered by the fact that its most compelling moments have been completely fabricated.
One such critical contrivance revolves around a phone call a drunk Nixon
(Langella) never really made to Frost (Michael Sheen) in the middle of the night, another around the President's capitulation and acknowledgement that he had committed a crime.
A belated opportunity for any still-embittered Baby Boomers to feel vindicated and to bask in Nixon's humiliation.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for profanity.
Running time: 122 minutes
Studi Universal Pictures
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, audio commentary by director Ron Howard, and "The Making of" plus two other featurettes.
To see a trailer for Frost/Nixon, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibxs_2nDXUc
STEVEN IVORY: Instant Message Pt. II, the Conclusion
*On a brisk Tuesday at four PM, Octavia, in a fitted evergreen turtleneck, gray Christopher Blue “Kendall” trousers and black Anne Klein Christa pumps, nervously walked into the bar of downtown Los Angeles' Figueroa Hotel and found a table that allowed her to see who came and went. She was thirty minutes early.
That morning she told Mason, her husband of eleven years, that she was having afterwork drinks with a girlfriend. What Octavia neglected to tell her husband was that the girlfriend was his.
The room was empty (writer's note: to see where Octavia sat---at the risk of sounding like an advertisement---go to http://www.figueroahotel.com/pages/about.html) but for a French-speaking couple at a table, finishing a meal. Sitting at the bar itself was a lone customer, a man in a white button down shirt and dark slacks, keeping the bartender company with idle talk.
Octavia's plan was simple: when Teresa showed up, she would calmly introduce herself, have the scarlet woman take a seat, confess that she'd been pretending to be Mason during their weeks of amorous email correspondence and tell her the jig was up.
This would require courage. So, when the bartender came from behind the bar to take her order, Octavia requested a vodka martini. She wasn't much of a drinker, but alcohol would calm her nerves. When the libation arrived, giddily, she toasted her audacity.
And then quietly, she began to cry.
What, she asked herself, happened to the dream---the happy and successful marriage she always wanted? Octavia and Mason's picket fence corralled a house of deceit and love lost. The lies, the non-communication---THIS, this silly, clandestine rendezvous with a strange woman---it was all so sad. But Octavia wanted the truth; a truth she felt she wouldn't get from Mason.
However, an hour and a martini later, no Teresa. Had Mason's mistress changed her mind about reconnecting with him? Perhaps she couldn't get away from her husband and children. Octavia's thoughts were interrupted by a deep, commanding but good-natured voice. “I couldn't just sit over there with you over here.” Smiling before her was that man from the bar. “Plus, you look like you could use the company. I know I could. Do you mind?”
Taken aback, Octavia explained that she was waiting on a, uh, girlfriend, but he could sit until she arrived. He extended a hand and introduced himself: Raphael. “How 'bout I go get us a couple more drinks?”
As he made his way back to the bar, Octavia gave him a good look. Just under six feet, with a closely cropped head of black, curly hair and wearing shiny, black loafers, the trim and solid forty-something Raphael, who'd later humorously refer to himself as a “Blaxican,” had routine features made handsome by an air of confidence and a quick wit.
Indeed, in no time he had Octavia snickering about a catfight he caught on “The Bachelor.” Their chat spanned music, politics and spirituality. Raphael somehow felt familiar, like an old friend, which was something Octavia---long neglected at home and sitting here confused---needed right about now. She noticed his concentrated glance at her ring. He wore one, too. His conversation, light and cordial, suggested he respected their situation. His dark, penetrating eyes, however, betrayed him.
Two hours had gone by and still no one resembling Teresa. Octavia was beginning to feel disappointed. Sure, she wanted to stomp Teresa. But she also felt kinship with her rival. The
romantic emails, the sex, even if it was online, was intoxicating. Octavia had to be honest: she wanted to meet the woman who made her feel, well, the way this man Raphael was making her feel this evening---interesting and, perhaps, desired. By her third martini and some appetizers, Octavia's lust and imagination had privately taken hold, surpassed only by her immense guilt.
Thus, when Raphael jokingly suggested that instead of a girlfriend, she was waiting on a lover, Octavia, to his surprise and profuse apology, broke down in tears.
“I'm sorry. I have a lot on my heart this evening,” she declared, dabbing her expressive light brown eyes with a napkin.
With that, Octavia proceeded to tell all: how she'd come here to trap her husband's mistress whose instant message to him she intercepted one Saturday morning; how she seduced this Teresa woman online for weeks before finally instructing her to meet “Mason” here, so she could read her the riot act.
It was bad enough, Octavia told Raphael, that Teresa hadn't shown up; now she was here with him, a stranger, admittedly attracted in a way that she considered wrong.
As Octavia confessed, she watched Raphael's face alternately reflect disbelief, amazement, disgust and then resignation. When she finished, he was staring mutely into his nearly empty tumbler of scotch. But when Octavia gathered her keys, he requested she stay.
“I've listened to your crazy story,” Raphael said, solemnly. “Now you have to hear mine.”
His own marriage, he began, has been dead for years. Busy climbing the corporate ladder, as a husband and father he wasn't always “present.' He ignored his wife's complaints, until her sudden silence on the subject became deafening. One day in her gym bag he found a small notebook. In it, his worse fears were outlined, paragraph after paragraph.
Raphael's wife had had a relationship with a married man who cheated even on her. When she confronted him, the man broke off their affair, breaking her heart.
Among his wife's writings, Raphael found a name and an email address. He created one of his own and, out of curiosity and spite, pretended to be his wife, sending an instant message to her former lover. Raphael was pleased when the guy angrily responded that his wife get lost---but was fuming when the man wrote back a day later to rekindle their relationship. He never revealed to his wife that he knew of her indiscretions. However, to learn more, Raphael, carrying on as his wife--TERESA--along with this Mason guy.
“So you see, I was here waiting, too,” Raphael said sheepishly. “Waiting for a man to come in acting like he's looking for a woman, so I could introduce him to my fist. Turns out, Mason is YOU, a beautiful woman---which is a really good thing, because, to be honest, I fell in love with that person online.”
Stunned, Octavia sat utterly speechless.
What she considered crazy mere hours ago now seemed sane as she struggled to comprehend the Twilight Zone story Raphael just laid on her. Besides the odd weighty sigh, “umph” or rhetorical shaking of their heads, neither Octavia or Raphael, both dazed, spoke a word for what seemed like minutes.
Finally, Octavia broke the troubled quiet. “What…do we do now?”
Raphael was silent. Finally, drying his eyes, he answered that they could leave the Figueroa Hotel, go to dinner and discuss this. Or, they could each go home, embrace their respective mates, inform them of the whole impossibly nasty business and try to move on with life.
Octavia, weary of the pain and fear that came with existing in the shadows of uncertainty and mistruth, downed the last drop of her martini and responded to Raphael with the only thing that felt right in her heart.
“What do you feel like eating?”
Steven Ivory's book, FOOL IN LOVE (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) is in stores now or at Amazon.com (www.Amazon.com) Respond to him via STEVRIVORY@AOL.COM.
THE BRIDGE: Violent Women, Part 1
By Darryl James
*Quick question: Who really knows what happened between Chris Brown and Rihanna?
Quick answer: Only Chris Brown and Rihanna.
By now, we should all be sick of hearing about the case, but the media won’t stop covering every small detail and society won’t lose interest.
But what we should take more interest in is how domestic violence and other relationship difficulties come from both sides, not just from men. Those difficulties include violence.
While the court of public opinion has been sharply against Chris Brown, we would do ourselves great justice to take a look at the possibility that they were both culpable for the horrible results of their encounter.
Just as we have heard about how viciously Brown beat Rihanna, we have also heard about how she may have initiated the violence with her own acts of violence.
Does that make her wrong and deserving of the ugly beatdown she received? Well, no one is deserving of such violence, but anyone who is violent is wrong, no matter how great or small the violence and no matter if they are male or female.
In today’s society, women can be as violent as men and factually, more women than ever before are being prosecuted for violent crimes against other women and against men. These are not “catfights” where an item of clothing gets burned or torn, but real pathological acts of physical violence requiring legal intervention.
My point? We should be light years beyond the knee-jerk assumption that only women are victims when there is violence.
Even in discussions, some of today’s women are quick to launch visceral attacks against men for the simple crime of disagreeing with what is being said. Those attacks are clearly acts of war, and disturbingly, many people are quick to cast aspersions on men’s actual standing as men in violent situations instead of having real discussions about avoiding violence.
We are now seeing some of the horrible results of Radical Feminist propaganda, which attempted to define male behavior while allowing for “evolutions” in female behavior.
Society has problems which affect both men and women and which stem from both men and women. And, as if in some twisted attempt at parity, more women are now unleashing physical violence.
Sadly, the court of public opinion still leans to casting women as victims in violent situations, even when they initiate the violence.
We are out of balance, even before situations escalate to violence.
Why are people reading this and already believing that I am misogynist or that I am advocating violence against women?
Really, we must begin to ask ourselves some hard questions.
For example, what is there to provide in response to violent behavior and posturing?
If a woman attempts to physically harm a man, why is it a problem for him to defend himself?
The same questions have to be asked where discussions are concerned.
Why would a woman curse a man and call him out of his name, provoking him, yet recoil in horror, crying "misogyny" when men return the same behavior?
The point is that once you start an argument and escalate it with insults, threats and other harmful words of provocation, there are no longer any rules. It is far too easy to escalate to violence.
Part of the problem is a growing number of women who have no idea what being a lady is about, but part of it is that there are a lot of people who are just ignorant and in need of therapy.
In a previous installment of this column, I asserted that many of us are such poor communicators, that we don't know how to accept divergent views.
From there, we have to realize that many of us also have anger management issues and so are all too quick to assault another human being.
These poor communicators with anger management issues are male AND female.
As a society, we are taught to chastise men for behavior unbecoming of a man, but when we see behavior unbecoming of a woman, why would we respect that? Why would we respect someone who doesn’t respect others?
Where does this come from?
Well, we already know that a great deal of families are raised by single females who either don’t have strong men in their children’s lives, and/or choose not to have such in their own.
This leads grown men to act like tyrannical little boys and grown women to act like, well, tyrannical little boys.
In addition to the absence of male figures, Radical Feminist propaganda has provided for some women to stop focusing on ladylike behavior, while still trying to indict men for failing to exhibit gentleman-like behavior.
This explains why we hear women talk about what a man is supposed to do, what a man is supposed to be, and what a man is supposed to give to them, while shying away from what a woman is supposed to do. The stupidity usually begins with “If you were a real man…”
Those discussions, combined with unresolved pain from relationships with men, and/or rejection by men, prompt many women to begin to act like men as though that provides them with equality.
Witness the behavior of some of these insane creatures when confronting men.
In public, they are quick to yell, scream, fistfight and/or even brandish weapons.
In discussions, they attack with insults designed to cause injury, or worse, physical assault, while still expecting to be treated with chivalry.
Weak men are quick to capitulate and cower in their presence, or retaliate with violent language and/or violent behavior.
Of course, some men are violent for no reason and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But if we fail to take this opportunity to learn about violence from both men and women, we will miss a valuable opportunity to educate our children.
With that education, we can keep some of them from being victims and/or perpetrators of violence, which is leading too many of them to prison and the hospital, and worse.
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the powerful new anthology “Notes From The Edge.” He released his first mini-movie, “Crack,” and will soon release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Thick as Thieves
*Insurance companies have seen such an increase in cancer claims in recent years they now offer separate cancer policies. In an industry that profits millions of dollars every year I’m sure the objective has more to do with creating another stream of income and less to do with medical coverage for the sick.
If it wasn’t about the money those same insurance companies wouldn’t deny so many claims that are filed by policy holders. Remember the based-on-fact movies Erin Brochovich, The Rainmaker and John Q
Those insurance companies, like some pharmaceutical companies, must have heard the latest news: While the number of cancer diagnoses will increase in the next ten years, the number of oncologists – now at 11,000 nationwide – will decrease in that same time leaving millions of cancer patients in limbo.
If ever there were two industries that benefit from government enforcement at the expense of taxpayers it’s that of pharmaceutical and insurance companies. One simple phrase – FDA Approval – has sick people standing in line to purchase what they hope are life-saving prescription drugs (see my column last week). And if you own a vehicle or a home you know most state laws require a certain amount of liability insurance. While I agree car and homeowners should have minimal insurance requirements, the return on investment on my monthly premiums leaves me feeling like the victim of legalized robbery.
There are 11,000 oncologists, more than 1,600 treatment centers and dozens of institutes that specialize in the study of cancer across the United States. One would think with all that brain power someone would have discovered a cure by now.
But it occurred to me, if a cure for cancer ever was developed lots of people would be out of jobs and insurance and drug companies would lose streams of income. So what’s more important; keeping tens of thousands of people employed in a sluggish economy or finding a cure for cancer?
The FDA has approved more than 250 new and revised prescription drugs to treat cancer. But the FDA denied approval of what some American trained physicians say are cancer cures. Those doctors say approval of their cancer cures would mean the demise of most, if not all, cancer drugs. And that’s something drug companies have lobbied against.
It seems the cancer industry is only focused on research instead of prevention or a cure. Why else would medical doctors who have a proven history of curing cancer patients of the deadly disease have to set up shop in other countries to save lives?
Things that make you say, hmmmm!
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist living in the Dallas, Texas metroplex. See the video version of her column at youtube.com/steffanierivers. To schedule speaking engagements or to send questions or comments email her at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com
TURNER’S TWO CENTS
By Cameron Turner
A REAL “AMERICAN” HERO
*The greatest heroes are those who stand up for what’s right, knowing full well that doing so will likely bring them misery. To persons such as these, principles are more important than personal pain. That’s why Dr. King went to Memphis in April of 1968. It’s why Jesus waited for his betrayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it’s why Regina Kelly, a young, black single mom from the projects, stood up to the tyrannical District Attorney whose racist tactics had railroaded impoverished blacks into prison for years.
Even though she faced the possibility of an unimaginably long prison sentence, Regina Kelly refused to accept a plea bargain after she was wrongfully accused of selling drugs back in 2000. Choosing to fight the case seemed hopeless enough, but Kelly went further and agreed to join the ACLU in a lawsuit against the DA. That led to harassment, threats, lost jobs and attempts to put her four children into group homes. But Kelly persevered for one simple reason: she was innocent.
“There’s no way possible I could’ve been able to live with myself taking a charge that I know in my heart and my soul that I did not do,” she says. “It was really just setting an example for my girls and also learning from my mom. She always taught me right is right and wrong is wrong. So, why would you plea to something that you know you didn’t do?”
Regina Kelly’s heroism is dramatized in “American Violet,” a stirring (though at times predictable) independent film written by Bill Haney, directed by Tim Disney and anchored by the brilliant acting of Hollywood newcomer Nicole Beharie.
When I met Regina Kelly at an “American Violet” press day, I was stunned by how ordinary she is. She’s neither over-burdened nor egotistical about the central role she has played in challenging a powerful, racially-biased system. She was almost matter-of-fact as she described the death threats and other retribution she’s faced over the years. Her strength and courage are evident, but muted by her humility. Toward the end of our round-table interview, Kelly told me: “I’m not, honestly, trying to be a hero. I just feel I’m doing what’s right for my children.”
And that’s precisely why she is a hero.
“American Violet” is in select theaters nationwide and it’s certainly worth your dollar.
JAMIE’S INSULT IS MILEY’S TEACHABLE MOMENT
When I heard the recording of Jamie Foxx and his satellite radio crew bagging on Miley Cyrus, I laughed. Then I felt guilty. After all, Miley’s just a kid. Or, she’s supposed to be just a kid.
Jamie Foxx’s jokes about Miley needing to do a sex tape, get on drugs, hook up with a lesbian and contract an STD crossed the line because Miley is a minor. If the Hannah Montana star was the same age as the scandal-plagued adults (Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan) that Jamie and company derisively compared her with then the torrent of vulgar disses would have been acceptable. But you aren’t supposed to say stuff like that about a 16-year-old. To his credit, Jamie realized that fact later and did the honorable thing by apologizing publicly (on Leno).
Now, having said that, let me say this: if Miley Cyrus doesn’t want to get dissed like an adult then she needs stop pretending to be an adult. Remember, Jamie’s tirade was a delayed-reaction to Miley’s misplaced outrage over being snubbed by the rock band Radiohead at the Grammy Awards. The band’s refusal to meet Miley does smack of arrogance but, then again, they were under no obligation to meet her. So, Miley made herself look like a spoiled brat when she ranted about wanting to “ruin their career” over the snub.
Even more than that, young Miss Cyrus has put herself in the line of fire repeatedly with age-inappropriate acts like the disgraceful Vanity Fair pictorial (which was done with the consent of both her parents), her sexually suggestive snapshots that popped up on the Internet last year (yeah, I know they were pirated from her phone, but what business did a then-15-year-old have posing for pics like those in the first doggone place?). Worst of all is the fact that this teenager who only qualified for her driver’s license last November is carrying on a romantic relationship with a grown man -- 20-year-old Justin Gaston – and acting like that’s perfectly acceptable when, in fact, it might be illegal and it certainly sets a terrible example for Miley’s adolescent fans.
Jamie was wrong. Period. But if Miley wants the privileges and protections of being a kid she ought to spend more energy acting like a kid.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.
THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL YET!
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"Our greatest battles are that with our own minds." — Jameson Frank
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
April 21: Rapper Michael Franti of Spearhead is 43.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Blacks in Dallas (www.blacksindallas.com) includes detailed information regarding the black population of Dallas: neighborhood profiles, statistics, trends and more.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Apr. 21, 1974: Lee Elder becomes the first African American professional golfer to qualify for the Masters Tournament. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
