06-03-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE

OBAMA HAD SECRET MEETING WITH REV. WRIGHT: Conversation took place near end of primaries.

 *A new book from Newsweek's White House correspondent Richard Wolffe reveals that Barack Obama held a secret meeting with his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, towards the end of the 2008 presidential primary season.

 The purpose, according to Wolffe, was to persuade the former minister of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ to end his public appearances, which were believed to be hurting Obama in the battleground states of North Carolina and Indiana.

       "It was time to talk directly to Wright," Wolffe writes. Over the next week, Obama's friends at Trinity tried to talk their pastor out of his comeback tour. But by now the church was deeply divided between Obama supporters and Wright supporters, and the conversation was going nowhere.
      
       "So the candidate decided to go see Wright himself in secret, in Chicago. First came the dance over where to meet: one intermediary suggested a neutral location, but Obama said he was happy to go wherever Wright wanted. They ended up talking at Wright's home, and Obama tried to adopt the tone of a concerned friend giving advice.
      
       "He did not want to tell his former pastor what to do, but he did want to nudge him in the right direction by making him aware of what was about to happen. Wright wasn't heading for vindication; he was heading for vilification."
      
       Obama was ultimately unable to keep Wright sidelined, but he did go on to win North Carolina by 15 points. He lost Indiana by just one point.

SADE WORKING ON A NEW ALBUM: Singer reunites with band to record first new material in nine years.

       *Sade fans, you might wanna sit down for this. Billboard is reporting that the sultry singer and her band are currently in the studio recording new material for an album that may hit stores before year's end.
      
       Sony has not set a release date but hopes to put the record out by the end of 2009, the Web site reported yesterday. The group is scheduled to record through the end of June.
      
       "She is in the studio and the album will come when it is ready," a source at Sony told Billboard. "You don't wait for years for one and then rush it."
      
       Sade's longtime bandmate Stuart Matthewman, a.k.a. Cottonbelly, also confirmed that new material is in the works, but he said the project is still in its "early days" and won't be close to finished until "later in the year."
      
       The new album will be Sade Adu's first with the band since 2000's "Lovers Rock."
      
MO'NIQUE DENIES GASTRIC BYPASS RUMORS: Actress says she lost 40 pounds by cutting out red meat and working out.
      
       *Actress-comedian Mo'Nique says she knew it was time to lose weight when her husband, Sidney Hicks, watched her step off the scale at 262 pounds and said, "Baby, that's too much, and I want you for a lifetime."
      
        "I decided that I had to get some of that off of me. Sid and I had a conversation. What he said to me was motivation," she tells the new issue of Jet magazine.
      
       Now 40 pounds lighter, the entertainer and star of the upcoming film "Precious" is suddenly battling rumors that she underwent gastric–bypass.
      
        "I'm so scared of needles," she said in denying the reports.
      
       Instead, she made dietary sacrifices and stopped eating red meat and hit the gym. She says, "This was truly making the commitment to watch what I eat and commit to working out. I stopped eating red meat. I want to say to big people, 'Let's be healthy big people.' Everybody can't be a size 0...but let's be healthy.'"
      
       Mo'Nique is now determined to get her weight down to 200 pounds.

NEVERLAND USED AS COLLATERAL FOR LONDON GIGS: Plus, Mijac says he's too thin to be doing 50 shows.

       *The Los Angeles Times is reporting that promoters for Michael Jackson's concert run in London felt comfortable investing so much money into the venture – despite the singer's track record of breaking contracts – because the money is being  backed by the value of his Neverland Ranch and related assets.
      
       As previously reported, Jackson stands to earn $50 million for the London shows and promoters are reportedly looking to extend it to a three year tour starting in Europe, then Asia, and finally the U.S.
      
 Meanwhile, the King of Pop greeted his fans Monday outside of the Burbank dance studio where he is rehearsing for the concerts.

       "Thank you for your love and support, I want you guys to know I love you very much," he told the crowd, before adding, "I don't know how I'm going to do 50 shows. I'm not a big eater - I need to put some weight on."

50 CENT, RICHARD T. JONES IN NEW COP DRAMA: Plus, rapper's mansion is now off the market after failing to sell.

       *Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Richard T. Jones have signed on for writer-director Brian Miller's upcoming police corruption drama "Caught in the Crossfire," reports Variety.
      
       The film follows two homicide detectives who find themselves caught in the crossfire of a gang-related homicide and a group of dirty cops. Jackson plays a gang-banger who becomes a reluctant informant.
      
       Production is just getting underway in Grand Rapids, Mich., where newcomer Miller attended film school. "Crossfire" will be his directorial debut.
      
       Fifty's Cheetah Vision Films partner Randall Emmett is producing with R.D. Miller, who raised the equity to finance the film through his company Miller and Miller Films. Jackson is also serving as the film's executive producer with Chris Lighty and Tim Roth.
      
       In other half-dollar news, the artist has decided to take his Farmington, Connecticut mansion off the market after it failed to sell for
722 days.
      
       The Hartford Courant reports that the 50,000-square-foot home’s asking price of $14.5 million was too much to attract potential buyers.
 
 "The house is not worth one dollar over $5 million," Prudential Premier Homes agent Rob Giuffria told the newspaper.

       In addition to the hot tub, the mansion included 19 bedrooms and 37 bathrooms, as well as a gym and a disco with a 'dancing' room, complete with stripper poles.

SPIKE LEE FILMS FILL AFRO-PUNK FEST: Brooklyn Academy of Music's fifth annual event set for next month.

 *The Brooklyn Academy of Music will celebrate the films of Spike Lee at its fifth annual Afro-Punk Festival, an event that showcases "the wide range of underappreciated, undervalued, and criminally ignored Black alternative and rock n roll scene."

       Screenings for the July 5 Spike-a-thon will include "Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads" -- the 1983 movie Lee filmed for his NYU thesis about a barber who becomes entangled with the mob, and a 20th anniversary screening of "Do the Right Thing."
      
       The festival, which runs July 3-8, will also include David Leaf's 2008 documentary "The Night James Brown Saved Boston" and Catherine Gund's "What's On Your Plate?," presented with the filmmaker in attendance.
      
       Matthew Morgan and James Spooner serve as Afro-Punk Festival's co-curators.

SUGE THREATENED WITH LAWSUIT OVER LABEL NAME: Owners of Black Ball Records send cease and desist letter.

  *Marion "Suge" Knight is dealing with yet another legal matter, this time regarding the name of his new record label Blackball Records.

 The former CEO of Death Row was sent a cease and desist letter by the owners of Black Ball Records, accusing him of infringing on their copyright, according to TMZ.com.

       Suge, who has been using the name since 2008, reportedly filed for the copyright in 2006, but dropped it earlier this year. The original Blackball Records people say they've had it since 2002.

JAY-Z TO BRING ROCAWEAR TO CHINA: Mogul and partnering company sign deal to expand brand into the Orient.

       *Jay-Z's Rocawear clothing line is about to set up shop in China following an expansion deal secured between the rap star, his partnering company Iconix and Bosideng International Holdings, who will manufacture the brand’s Spring 2010 lines.
.
       According to Allhiphop.com, Bosideng has forecasted a timetable to break ground on over 300 Rocawear stores throughout Greater China by 2012.
      
       As an original founder of Rocawear, Jay-Z stated that making the brand an international product was one of his main goals since selling the company’s rights to Iconix for $204 million.
      
       "When Iconix purchased the Rocawear trademark two years ago, Neil Cole and I made a commitment to building Rocawear into a global lifestyle brand,” Jay said in a statement. “Our expansion into China is a validation of our joint efforts to bring an authentic interpretation of American fashion to young people around the world."
      
       The deal is reported to be a 50-50 split venture with Iconix Brand Group and Novel Fashion Holding Limited.

ESPERANZA SPALDING HEADED ON TOUR: Jazz bassist launches festival-filled trek Friday in Vermont.

       *Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding has announced a festival-heavy tour schedule that will keep her on the road into the summer months and beyond.
      
       The Portland, Ore. native, who has performed twice for President Obama at the White House this year, released her second album as a bandleader, "Esperanza," about a year ago. She sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese on the set, reflecting her diverse heritage.
      
       "I want everyone to know that it is just the tip of the iceberg," Spalding said of the album in an interview last year with Jazz Magazine. "My objective was to create a record that contains a lot of the creative forces that exist in jazz and improvised music. Also, to create music that someone with a developed ear or someone who just wants to enjoy the music can appreciate. Like Betty Carter once said, 'Jazz ain't nothing but soul' and it's true. We put our hearts and soul into the music."
       
       The 24-year-old will kick off her tour with a June 5 appearance at Burlington, VT's Discover Jazz Festival. Her itinerary also includes the June 13 Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles, Aug. 8-9 slots at Rhode Island's Newport Jazz Festival, and Sept. 18 and 20 appearances at the Monterey Jazz Festival in northern California.
      
       Details are included below:

June 2009
5 - Burlington, VT - Discover Jazz Festival
13 - Los Angeles, CA - Playboy Jazz Festival
19 - East Lansing, MI - East Lansing Summer Solstice Jazz Festival 20 - St. Paul, MN - Twin Cities Jazz Festival
22 - Santa Cruz, CA - Kuumbwa Jazz Center
24 - Aspen, CO - Jazz Aspen Snowmass
28 - New York, NY - Central Park Summer Stage 30 - Ottawa, Ontario - Ottawa Jazz Festival

July 2009
1 - Rockport, MA - Rockport High School of Performing Arts
2 - Montreal, Quebec - Montreal Jazz

August 2009
8, 9 - Newport, RI - Newport Jazz Festival 21, 22 - Park City, UT - Deer Valley Amphitheater

September 2009
6 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Jazz Festival
13 - San Diego, CA - Ocean Beach Jazz Festival
16 - Los Angeles, CA - Conga Room
18, 20 - Monterey, CA - Monterey Jazz Festival
25 - Anchorage, AK - Alaska Center for the Performing Arts
26 - Fairbanks, AK - Davis Concert Hall

October 2009
1 - Wilmington, DE - Grand Opera House
3 - Kalamazoo, MI - Dalton Center Recital Hall 30, 31 - Seattle, WA - Dimitriou's Jazz Alley

November 2009
1 - Seattle, WA - Dimitriou's Jazz Alley
4 - Reno, NV - University of Nevada
5 - San Francisco, CA - Herbst Theatre
6, 7 - Costa Mesa, CA - Samueli Theater

December 2009
5 - Washington, DC - Sixth & I Synagogue

CEE-LO PART OF REVAMPED ELEKTRA LABEL: Imprint back in business following five-year slumber.

 *Rapper-singer Cee-Lo is among the first three artists signed to the newly-relaunched Elektra Records label, which has been on a break since 2004.

 French electronic duo Justice and U.K. dance artist Little Boots are also early signings to the revamped label, which will be run by Fueled By Ramen founder John Janick and Atlantic EVP of A&R Mike Caren, reports Billboard. All three artists have had existing relationships with Atlantic.

       The first album released on Elektra was the soundtrack for the HBO show "True Blood," which dropped on May 19. The company's next release will be the U.S. debut of Little Boots, whose EP "Illuminations" is scheduled for release on June 9.
      
       Caren says a new Cee-Lo album will be out in the either the fourth quarter of this year, or first quarter next year. Justice will release a new album in early 2010.

SPENCER PRATT, THE NEXT JOAQUIN PHOENIX?: TV personality is recording a hip hop album.

 *Reality TV villain Spencer Pratt not only fancies himself a rapper, but insists that he is "the white Jay-Z."

       The spoiled brat of MTV's "The Hills" and currently NBC's "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" [although at press time, there were reports that he walked off the show and will be replaced by actor Daniel Baldwin] is seriously attempting to launch a career as a rapper and has already begun work on his debut album.
      
       "I have two songs that are album contenders," says Pratt, who is currently in the studio with producer Steve Morales (Lil Wayne, Fabolous). "It's gonna be catchy ringtone music, just stuff that is entertaining and that people want to be hearing. I'm not the most serious dude on earth, and my music is going to represent that."
      
       Pratt follows another actor-turned-aspiring rapper, Joaquin Phoenix, whose exit from acting to pursue hip hop full time is the subject of an upcoming mockumentary. While Phoenix's stunt is allegedly fake, Pratt is dead serious. His current single "I'm a Celebrity" was recorded in part to promote his role on the NBC series.
      
       "I knew Steve was just a ridiculous producer so I was like, 'Please make me a $300,000 banger.'" Pratt says of the track, adding he has contacted fellow Californian Snoop Dogg about appearing on a remix of "I'm a Celebrity."
      
       "Right now I'm just trying to negotiate his quote. I want to see if he'll give me some West Coast love, since I was born and raised. He had me on his [MTV] "Dogg After Dark" and we hung out afterwards in his trailer."
      
       Pratt is already sowing the seeds of a hip hop beef with Eminem and Asher Roth.
      
       "Honestly, I used to be the biggest Eminem fan on the planet, but the difference now is that he's so paid. My hustle is the same as his was when he was 25, coming out with his first flow," he tells Billboard.
      
       Continuing his harsh criticism of Roth, whom he recently referred to as a "nerd," Pratt said: "I want to be the antithesis to Roth. If he's the good guy right now, I'll be the villain. I'm more hated than Eminem ever was, so why can't I be the hated rapper?"
      
       Pratt intends to release his album by the end of 2009 through his own label, tentatively dubbed Great White Records. 

O.J.'S VEGAS MEMORABILIA MAY HIT AUCTION BLOCK: Items that led to his incarceration now sitting at Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

       *The O.J. Simpson memorabilia at the center of his armed robbery and kidnapping conviction are now in the hands of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and will likely be auctioned, according to the Associated Press.
      
       David Cook, an attorney for longtime Simpson nemesis Fred Goldman, said Monday that the memorabilia items that could clearly be identified as Simpson's were boxed and shipped from Las Vegas to Los Angeles last week.
      
       Cook said the box's contents will be auctioned shortly to help satisfy a $33.5 million wrongful-death judgment Goldman and others won against Simpson in 1997. He said it is difficult to speculate how much the memorabilia might fetch because of the amount of Simpson memorabilia that others offer on the Internet.
      
       Simpson is serving nine to 33 years for armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges after attempting to retrieve the items by gunpoint in a bungled stickup of memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel.
      
      On Monday, the former NFL star asked the Nevada Supreme Court to let him out of prison while it decides whether to overturn his conviction. Simpson has said he was attempting to retrieve property that had been stolen from him and never meant to hurt anybody.

ITTY BITTY BITS: Peas in SD; David Banda's racing party; Bruno/Eminem stunt staged.

       *The Black Eyed Peas and M.I.A. are confirmed performers for the two-day 2009 Street Scene festival, to be held Aug. 28-29 in downtown San Diego. The festival will be set up in San Diego's East Village, including Tailgate Park near Petco Park stadium. A limited supply of two-day tickets is now on sale for $122. The Street Scene bill will also feature Silversun Pickups, Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Band of Horses, Girl Talk and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, among others.  Purchase tickets here:
http://www.street-scene.com/ 
      
       *Madonna threw her adopted son David a racing-themed party on Friday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his official adoption from Malawi.
According to WENN, the pop icon turned her Sunset Boulevard home in Los Angeles into a race track for the day and outfitted the driveway with checkered flags and balloons. Hot Wheels Goodie Bags were also handed out to the little revelers.

       *The head writer for the MTV Movie Awards admitted that the stunt involving Sacha Baron Cohen and Eminem at Sunday's ceremony was completely planned. Comedy writing veteran Scott Aukerman wrote in a posting on his blog that the incident was staged and rehearsed in advance. At the show, Baron Cohen was lowered down from the ceiling in character as his gay fashionista Bruno. He landed testicles first on Eminem, which caused the rapper to storm out.

RANGEL REGRETS OBAMA HARLEM COMMENT: Congressman releases statement calling it 'entirely inappropriate.'

       *U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel said it was "entirely inappropriate" to make a comment about President Barack Obama needing to watch his back when visiting Harlem, where a black policeman was fatally shot by a white colleague last week.
      
       Officer Omar J. Edwards was in street clothes chasing a suspect at gunpoint when he was shot by a fellow officer late Thursday. In response to a reporter's query about what President Barack Obama should do during his New York City visit on Saturday, Rangel said the president should "make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem without identification."
      
       In a released statement, the congressman said "It was entirely inappropriate to bring the President and his wife into this discussion during their visit to New York, and I hope my off-the-cuff comment did not cause embarrassment to anyone."
      
       "The tragic shooting of Officer Omar Edwards highlights the need for additional training of our police officers, and I am pleased that Commissioner Kelly recognizes a racial factor is involved," Rangel also said. "I am calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to review the problems in the New York City Police Department when black officers are killed by whites, which too often is the case."
      
       The shooting remains under investigation.

EUR DVD REVIEW: Revolutionary Road
DiCaprio and Winslet Reunite on DVD in Drama as Couple in Crisis

      *It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a decade since Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet enthralled us as the star-crossed lovers at the heart of Titanic, the romantic epic saga which swept the Oscars in 1998.

      Now, they’re finally paired together again, this time as a dysfunctional couple seeking salvation from an unsatisfying marriage.

      And they’re fortunate to be surrounded by a superb supporting cast topped by Kathy Bates and Michael Shannon who landed an Oscar nomination for his performance as their profoundly-disturbed neighbor.

      Directed by Winslet’s husband Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road is a somber examination of the mindset and mores of the Fifties. Although the story’s depressing tone is a tad too downbeat to appeal to a mass audience, there’s nonetheless much to recommend about this feel-bad flick based.

      Compared to Titanic, this relatively-pedestrian production has no spectacular mob scenes aboard an ill-fated ocean liner to provide a riveting hook regardless of the quality of the acting, but rather relies directly upon DiCaprio and Winslet to convey the requisite emotional range necessary to keep the character-driven drama compelling. And they do not disappoint as protagonists Frank and April Wheeler whose toxic relationship might best be described as the opposite of magical.

      Following an opening scene featuring the Wheelers falling in love at first sight across the proverbial crowded room while still in the bloom of youth, the film fast-forwards a number of years to 1955 where we find them married with young children and already miserably unhappy. They both resent being stuck playing conventional roles in the Connecticut suburbs.

      Housewife April regrets having settled for motherhood and performing in community theater when she’d prefer to be pursuing her dream of becoming a legitimate actress. Jaded Frank, meanwhile, feels trapped by his daily commute to New York City to the same sort of unfulfilling sales job which swallowed up his father’s future.

      Will Frank agree to April’s 30th birthday suggestion that they revive their relationship by moving to Paris to find themselves? Or will a clandestine affair with a secretary offer enough of a respite from his never-ending nightmare to keep the couple in the States?

      Thus, “Can this marriage be saved?” is established early on as the central theme as the Wheelers’ descend into an embittered existence marked mostly by acrimony, adultery, resentment and overwhelming regret. A road to ruin paved more by mindless conformity than by good intentions.  

Good (2.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity, nudity and sexuality. 
Running time: 119 minutes
Studi Paramount Home Entertainment

DVD Extras: Director’s commentary, deleted scenes with optional commentary, “The Making of” featurette, and more.

To see a trailer for Revolutionary Road, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-4pYA7zC1I

EUR DVD REVIEW: New in Town
Formulaic Zellweger and Connick Sitcom Finds Its Way to DVD

      *Lucy Hill (Rene Zellweger) is a high-powered, big-city businesswoman climbing the corporate ladder in Miami who agrees to relocate temporarily to rural Minnesota in order to oversee the restructuring of one of the company’s manufacturing plants.

      Upon arriving in snowbound New Ulm, she is initially oblivious to the fallout about to be visited upon the Christian community as a consequence of her planned downsizing.

      Instead, she mostly focuses on trying to adjust to the frigid weather and on finding appropriate apparel to survive in the harsh environment in lieu of her totally inappropriate stiletto heels and designer clothes.

      Subsequently, it doesn’t take long for Lucy to make fast enemies of union rep Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick, Jr.) and factory foreman Stu Kopenhafer (J.K. Simmons), even if the former is both handsome and available.

      This is the setup for the magical transformation which eventually transpires in New in Town, a transparent fish-out-of-water romantic comedy which marks the English-language debut of Danish director Jonas Elmer. One would think that Oscar-winner Zellweger could have pulled on Jonas’ jacket sleeve to let him know that the picture’s basic premise wouldn’t work with an American audience.

      For, taking a page out of Fargo, the film first goes out of its way to paint the local yokels as being a bunch of colorful but backward hicks. Yet, lo and behold, Lucy is charmed by their naïve innocence rather than see it as a weakness to be exploited just as anyone with her training and taste obviously would. Predictably, as the heart of this spoiled, self-absorbed overachiever starts to melt, she turns a new leaf, falls for the blue-collared hunk and decides to settle down in town to live there happily-ever-after.

      Yeah, right. It’s fun to pretend.
 

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG for mild epithets and suggestive material. 
Running time: 97 minutes
Studi Lionsgate Home Entertainment

DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, audio commentary with cast and crew, “The Making of” documentary and a couple of other featurettes.

To see a trailer for New in Town, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YskFk7mQGn4

EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE

 "Let go of the past and go for the future. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined. " — Henry David Thoreau
 
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS  

 June 3: Singer Deniece Williams is 58.

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
 
       Afromine.com was founded by artist Michael J. Riley for those interested in collectible original drawings, fine art and spiritual poetry.(http://afromine.com)  

       Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.      

BLACK HISTORY
  
       June 3, 1904: Charles R. Drew was born on this day.  (Source:
www.BlackFacts.com)