09-29-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
FACEBOOK POLL ASKS IF OBAMA SHOULD BE KILLED: Survey on social networking site prompts Secret Service investigation.
*The Secret Service is investigating a poll posted Saturday on the social networking site Facebook that asks if President Obama should be assassinated, with possible answers "yes," "maybe," "if he cuts my health care" and "no."
"We are aware of it and we will take the appropriate investigative steps," Secret Service Darrin Blackford told the Associated Press. "We take of these things seriously."
At least 730 people took the user-generated poll before Facebook officials found out about it and yanked it down. Results of the survey were not available.
The company said the person who created the poll has been suspended from using the site.
"The third-party application that enabled an individual user to create the offensive poll was brought to our attention this morning," said Barry Schnitt, Director of Policy Communications for Facebook. "The application was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content."
"We're working with the US Secret Service but they'll need to provide any details of their investigation," he added.
Meanwhile, another Facebook poll has since surfaced, asking "Should the creator of 'should Obama be killed' be arrested?"
BEYONCE TO KICKOFF F1 RACE IN ABU DHABI: Artist will perform concert to launch first ever Formula One race in the region.
*More details have emerged about the concerts to be headlined by Beyonce and Aerosmith at the upcoming Formula One race in Abu Dhabi.
According to the Associated Press, the performers will open and close the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend next month. Beyonce will launch the event on Thursday, Oct. 29, while Aerosmith will close the weekend three days later.
Concerts are also planned for Friday and Saturday, though the headliners haven't been announced by organizers Flash Entertainment. The only way for fans to see the concerts is to buy tickets to the F1 race.
Some of the attractions planned around the Emirati capital's first Formula One race include outdoor movies and free concerts — including one by hip-hop producer Timbaland — on the city's Persian Gulf beachfront.
Meanwhile, the British tabloids are reporting that Beyonce had Lindsay Lohan thrown out of her own dressing room at the F1 Rocks concert in Singapore over the weekend because she wanted it for herself.
According to the Daily Mirror, Bey had ordered her entourage to get her the largest dressing area backstage. But LiLo, who was hosting the event for British TV network Channel 4, go there first and had already claimed the room for herself. She was reportedly upset when she was told she would have to give it up.
"I've been a bit down. It was a strange night. Everyone was being aggressive and bothering me. I really didn't like it," Lohan supposedly told the Daily Mirror.
KANYE HAS ANOTHER TANTRUM: Rapper reportedly riled up over chicken at Common's charity concert.
*Gossip blogger Janet Charlton is claiming that Kanye West had a fit Saturday night over food service before his surprise appearance at Common's benefit concert in Hollywood.
As the story goes, West arrived in the green room of The Palladium minutes before he was set to appear as the last act of a star-studded evening, which included Nas, Ludacris, Mos Def, De La Soul, Heavy D and Queen Latifah.
Charlton writes: "Kanye walked in and noticed a guy eating chicken.
He took offense and blurted petulantly 'Why wasn’t I offered chicken? It’s not fair - you want me to perform for free – everyone is eating – why am I not eating?'
"A waiter apologized and pointed out 'You didn’t ask for chicken!'
Well, I’m asking now!"
Charlton said other celebrities watched his tantrum in total shock, while his girlfriend Amber Rose" just stepped back and let him rant."
"The waiter rushed him a plate of chicken and Kanye literally took one bite and dumped it before he grabbed the mic and went onstage, leaving everyone shaking their heads," Charlton wrote.
BLAIR UNDERWOOD CLINIC OPENS IN DC: Actor behind new free HIV/AIDS treatment center in DC.
*Actor and AIDS activist Blair Underwood was in Washington DC on Thursday to help the AIDS Healthcare Foundation open a new health clinic in his name.
The city's 3 percent infection rate is the nation's worst, according to a study this year by its HIV/AIDS Administration. And the foundation, which calls itself the country's largest nonprofit HIV/AIDS health-care provider, came to the District because of its status as the "epicenter" of the disease, according to its director, Michael Weinstein.
Underwood said he lent star power to the clinic to draw clients. "I need to talk to those men who are out there dating women who think this doesn't concern them," the actor told the Washington Post. "It does."
The AHF Blair Underwood Healthcare Center is a 15-room clinic in Suite 606 at 2141 K St. with four examination beds and a single doctor, Roxanne Cox-Iyamu.
"We're hoping to get a maximum of 300 to 500 people," said Cox-Iyamu, the clinic's medical director. "We have the ability to bring more people onboard."
In addition, five Magic Johnson exam vans will roam the city to test 40 to 50 people a day.
Weinstein said Underwood's participation is a key to the clinic's
success: "There are not that many people of his stature who are willing to put their face out there and their name out there for this issue."
Thursday's ceremony was attended by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and officials from the Obama administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the March of Dimes, reports the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the foundation is criticizing District health officials for not sending a representative to the opening. Weinstein said the city's top health officials "told us we were not needed. We have enough health-care providers. They would not allow us to participate in its ADAP program," the federal AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which provides free medication to patients.
"The city has begun to do a remarkable job in combating the disease after years of stagnation, but the "system of care is faltering in some respects," he said. The District needs to welcome any help it can get, Weinstein said, noting that its infection rate is higher than that of Lagos, Nigeria.
Michael Kharfen, a spokesman for the District's HIV/AIDS Administration, rebutted Weinstein's account, saying the city welcomed the foundation to its network of medical-care providers. He said he could not comment further.
SWIZZ BEATZ'S WIFE CALLS OUT ALICIA KEYS: 'You know what you did,' writes Mashonda in an open letter to the alleged other woman.
*Singer Mashonda, who says she is technically still married to rap producer Swizz Beatz, has written an open letter to Alicia Keys regarding the alleged affair she is having with her husband.
Rumors of the Keys/Beatz hookup began to circulate in early 2008, after Beatz and Mashonda were separated. According to the Web site Rap-Up.com, Mashonda has been trying to reach out to the Grammy winning singer/songwriter ever since, but never received a response.
So, the open letter was the only way she could communicate with the singer. It was sparked by a Twitter message Keys posted on Friday. She
wrote: "Having a heated debate n the studio. Question is ... N love is it better to go 4 the choice that is 'SMART' or the choice that has 'SPARK'??"
Here's the letter in its entirety, according to Rap-Up.com:
After having a great evening with my son and enjoying some fun twit chat, I decided to sign off and get some work done. However, a few hours later I was advised that I should check @aliciakeys twit page. I've never reached out to her on twitter before. I feel our issues are a lot more serious than a website conversation. Not to mention that I've reached out to her many times in the beginning of this whole thing, as any wife would do.
Unfortunately, I never succeeded in getting a response.
The 1st time I meet AK, my husband introduced us to each other at an event. ( I have no choice but to call him my husband, until he is not
anymore) In the messages that I sent to her (AK), I made it very clear that on the contrary of what she might be hearing, I am still married to my husband, living with him and just had a child. Its been two years and I still have not received a response. What I do receive, is constant displays of selfishness and disconcern to me and my son.
was a fan of AK's last album, we were both signed to J Records and I always checked up on her projects. I sang her songs and admired her for creating Superwoman and Karma, I would never deny her, her talent. I believed in her until I found out she was possibly sleeping with my husband.
The affair was denied by both, until it was finally admitted months later.
Already I can hear some of you saying "why are u blaming her, You cant make someone leave their wife, You cant break something thats broken."
Well, my marriage was not broken, as far as I knew we were celebrating our sons birth and getting ready to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary .
Call it blind love, whatever. I call it being a devoted wife.. As far as me blaming her and not blaming him, thats false. Me and my husband have worked out our differences. We are in a good place as people and as parents. I accept his choices and I am comfortable enough with myself to move on. I am so very blessed in many ways.
My concern with AK is no longer the fact that she assisted in destroying a family but that she has the audacity to make these selfish comments about love and wanting to be with someone, even after knowing their situation. How is this the same Superwoman that I sang out loud with in my truck? I ask myself sometimes.
If you are reading this Alicia, let me start by saying, you know what you did. You know the role you played and you know how you contributed to the ending of my marriage. You know that I asked you to step back and let me handle my family issues. Issues that you helped to create.
Im not saying everything was perfect all the time but no relationship is perfect. We made a vow to God and I believe you should have respected that, as a woman. I know you owe me or my son nothing but I just wish you would've handled things more carefully. I'm not judging you, I put you and the whole situation in the hands of God, the Higher Power. Just know that as a woman, I expected so much more from you. I never had intentions on reaching out to you this way but after reading your twits tonight, and the constant disregard, you left me no choice. I feel that after 1 and a half years of you hiding this affair and acting like it doesnt exist, that now is the time to confront it, since you talk so openly about it now
This is not a publicity stunt, I dont have a record coming out. I just need to close this chapter in my life and that means confronting our issues. There is a small child involved. His dad loves him to death and he wants to spend more time with him but hes afraid because he knows we don't have a relationship. This is my main concern. My son NEEDS his dad and I NEED to be comfortable with you. For him!
I know many will see my point and many will not be able to look into what's real because they only want to see Alicia Keys the celebrity, not the human. This is not for the "people", this is for you. Like I said I was left no choice but to reach out to you this way. By now, Im sure you want to find a balance in this as well.
I read your tweets tonight and I felt they were very insensitive.
You have no idea how much pain I was caused because of this affair. Its baffling to me that you don't understand what I might have gone through with this situation. I dont consider myself a victim anymore, Ive learned alot from this! I just ask you to try and be a bit more realistic and delicate to the situation, at least until my divorce is final. I felt me attending the party would have been a starting point for us, since you shook my hand after I offered it, but I suppose I was wrong.
If its so, that you and my husband are meant to be together, then God bless you both and I hope you never have to deal with what I did. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. If you two being together forever is the case, its more of a reason for us to get along, because I'm not going anywhere. Theres a child to be raised.
To answer your tweet, choose smart over spark. Sparks burn everyone, be smart! Its simple actually, just think of the shoe being on the other foot.
Stay blessed and lets work this thing out with respect and dignity.
OBAMAS, OPRAH TO PITCH OLYMPICS IN DENMARK: Famous Chicagoans hope star power can persuade committee to chose city for 2016.
*President Barack Obama has decided to join his wife in Copenhagen later this week to try and persuade the International Olympic Committee to bring the 2016 Summer Games to his hometown of Chicago.
First lady Michelle Obama was originally supposed to make the marquee U.S. pitch and still will make the trip, as will Chicago-based Oprah Winfrey, and 14 Olympic and two Paralympic gold medalists, including Michael Johnson, Nadia Comaneci, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Nastia Liukin. Ten other Olympians and Paralympians also are going.
White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett tells Politico.com: “The president decided over the weekend that he wanted to be a part of the final push as we enter the home stretch. He did not want to leave any stone unturned. He is very excited about joining the first lady for both the final presentation and the question and answer session."
"The Olympic spirit is about giving it your very best down to the finish line and not taking anything for granted. That's what his presence in Copenhagen will demonstrate," Jarrett said.
The announcement is due Friday. The four finalist cities are Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo. With Rio seen as the favorite, White House officials didn't want Obama to be rebuffed and initially hinted the president himself wouldn't make the trip. Now top aides say they want to pull out all the stops, and they hope a personal pitch by Obama, who is highly popular around the world, will give Chicago's bid a major boost.
VIN DIESEL ADDS TO PRODUCTION STAFF: Actor hires former Universal exec to develop films for his shingle.
*Actor Vin Diesel has recruited former Universal executive David Ortiz to develop films at his One Race production company.
According to Variety, Ortiz was brought on with the aim of developing films for a global audience.
"David brings a fresh perspective to our slate," Diesel said. "We are looking to him to bring us projects that resonate with multicultural audiences domestically and abroad."
Ortiz worked with Diesel at Universal on the "Fast and Furious"
franchise. He also worked on "Wanted" and "Role Models" at the studio.
After starting in the William Morris Agency mailroom, Ortiz was an assistant to Universal executive Donna Langley, then went to Warner Bros. to become a creative executive and returned to Universal in 2005 as Langley's first hire when she was promoted to president of production.
'IDOL' RUNNER-UP JUSTIN GUARINI GETS MARRIED: Singer exchanges vows with woman he's known since junior high.
*Believe it or not, there were actually two hastily-arranged weddings that took place in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Justin Guarini, the runner-up to Kelly Clarkson on "American Idol's"
inaugural season, is now a married man after getting hitched to Reina Capodici. But unlike the month-long courtship that led to Sunday's Khloe Kardashian/Lamar Odom nuptials, Guarini has known his bride since junior high school, where Capodici's mother was his English teacher, reports People.com.
The wedding was scheduled to take place next summer, but Guarini, who reconnected with Capodici in December 2007, realized that he couldn't wait that long.
"We just wanted to be married so badly," says Guarini, who tied the knot Saturday afternoon in the garden of a private estate in his hometown of Doylestown, Penn. "I thought to myself, 'It's time.' Seeing how much we both had grown, how well we operated together, and how in love we are, it just made absolute sense."
The couple wrote their own vows and waited to exchange rings – which were kept in a wooden, moss-covered box – until after the box had been passed around to each of the 50 invited guests, who were free to say prayers and pass along good wishes to the couple. Guarini, 30, and his new bride, 27, also made sure to give Capodici's 4-year-old daughter, Lola, a starring role.
"I had vows to her and I gave her a necklace [with] Reina's engagement ring on it so that she can have that for the rest of her life,"
Guarini says. "She has welcomed me into her family, and she's just the sweetest little girl. She's an amazing person and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of her life."
A honeymoon will have to wait until December, as the newlyweds are moving into a new house in Doylestown with Lola and puppy Blue, a husky-German shepherd mix, later this week.
"The house, the new puppy, the wedding – we're just getting it all done [at once]!" says Guarini, who will also return to the studio this winter to record his third album. "It's awesome. I'm so excited."
BARBADIANS GET A TASTE OF SEASONED US SOUL: R&B legends and chart toppers descend upon Barbados for inaugural 'Ulitmate Soul Weekend.'
by Gerald Radford/Entertainment Journalist
*Forecasters warned of steamy hot temperatures on the Caribbean Island of Barbados last weekend, but it seems they weren't referring to just Mother Nature's handy work. They must have considered that US music legends and chart toppers -- along wth some of the Caribbean region's hottest local performers -- were slated to descend upon the island to lend their talent to the inaugural installment of 'The Ulitmate Soul Weekend,' organized by Timeless Barbados Inc.
Over the course of three nights and in the Islands most notable venue, Sir Garfield Sobers Stadium, the islanders - whom seem to have an enormous appreciation for American music - and those of us whom traveled from abroad were treated to the powerhouse roster of Stephanie Mills, Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osbourne, Deborah Cox, En Vogue, and CeCe Winans (Regina Belle was originally slated to perform, but was recovering from a minor ear surgery); the stage blazed white hot for three straight nights.
There is much to be said of seasoned showmanship, which when coupled with the Barbadians enormous appreciation for America's contribution to R&B created the perfect storm; the energy brought out the best in the artists.
On Friday, Deborah Cox absolutely killed both vocally and with her effervescent stage presence (did we know she was so amazing live?!?!) and was later succeeded by En Vogue, whom not only blazed through all their chart toppers ('Hold On,' 'Free Your Mind,' 'Don't Let Go') but threw in a high-energy old school medley that turned the gynmasium into one big sing-along party. Saturday night belonged to balladeer Jeffrey Osborne, who had no problem engaging the audience with his timeless love songs ('Wings of Love,' 'Human,' 'True Believers'), even dipping into his LTD repertoire to bring them to their feet for a steamy island shindig, and Stephanie Mills, the small wonder with powerhouse vocals that will blow your hair back; she 'brought it' delivering everything from 'Put Your Body In It' to the show stopping 'Home.' I also must mention Mills being called to the stage during Cox's (Friday) set to perform an amazingly powerful -- and UNREHEARSED -- rendition of Michael Jackson's 'I'll Be There;' don't be surprised if you see these two ladies together somewhere in the near future. Closing out the festival on Sunday were Peabo Bryson ('Whole New World,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Can You Stop the Rain'), one of, if not THE most flawless and powerful male voices in R&B and the radiant and anointed CeCe Winans ('Alabaster Box,' 'More Than What I wanted,' 'Hallelujah Praise'). Both performers, though different in mission, complemented one another nicely, delivering awe-inspiring vocals and lyrics of substance.
As for the Barbadian performers, whom were interwoven throughout the American's sets each night, I'd say we may be sleeping on a good deal of cross-cultural entertainment. I was extremely impressed by more than a few and have officially had my genre appreciation broadened to include Soca. From the Fiery Soca Queen Alison Hinds ('Roll It Gal') to the stunningly talented (breezed through Patti's and Chaka's highest highs without a second thought) Ria Borman to the smoldering jazz diva (Rosemary Phillips), there were NO disappointments. In fact, the organizers of the show are in the infancy stages of starting what will be called Gold Coast records on the island, which just may give us more access in the near future...be on the lookout for it.
so, all this plus white sand, blue waters, and plenty of sunshine to boot...next year is a must do! I also must plug, among a host of helping hands, Brian Springle (of Springle Entertainment), Ivy Taylor, and the beautiful Hilton Barbados for near perfect handling of the complicated logistics of hosting such prestigious performers and their guests. Did it really have to end?
Click HERE for more information on the 'Ultimate Soul Weekend' and other Timeless Barbados events.
BLACK COLLEGE FOOTBALL COMES TO XBOX 360: Nerjyzed Entertainment today releases Doug Williams Edition of BCFx.
*African-American owned digital entertainment company Nerjyzed Entertainment, Inc. (pronounced “Energized“), today releases Black College Football Experience (BCFx): The Doug Williams Edition for the Xbox 360.
Named after the Grambling great and Super Bowl MVP, the game features competitive football game play, real-time interactive halftime shows and
head to head drumline competition.
The experience also includes a Legacy museum to educate and salute the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their great football legends.
Nerjyzed Entertainment is the first African-American owned development studio to receive Gold Certification for the Xbox 360, and BCFx:
The Doug Williams Edition is the first video game combining sports and rhythm-based music games. It is also the first football title using the Unreal 3.0 engine.
Beginning today, BCFx: The Doug Williams Edition, published by Aspyr Media, will be available for purchase at GameStop, Wal-Mart, BestBuy, Fry’s Electronic, and Amazon.com.
Nerjyzed Entertainment recently teamed with BET for its renowned Black College Tour, joining the network's Video Game Competition at various HBCU campuses across the country. Additionally, Nerjyzed Entertainment has embarked on a 12-week tour bringing the BCFx tour bus to HBCU campuses and classic football games allowing students and fans to experience the game.
ESSENCE ATKINS MARRIES HER INTERNET BEAU: Couple jumped the broom Saturday in Pasadena. G. Garvin provided the food.
*Actress Essence Atkins, best known for her role on the UPN sitcom "Half and Half," has married her boyfriend Jaime Mendez after meeting him less than two years ago through an online dating site.
According to People.com, the wedding took place Saturday at the Ambassador Mansion and Gardens in Pasadena, Calif, The couple met on Valentine’s Day of last year through Match.com.
"I wrote him a quick little note that I had read his profile, and then I signed off, Happy SAD Day – that's Single Awareness Day," says Essence, 37. A week later the couple went on their first date, and they were engaged a year later.
The bride wore a Stephen Yearick gown for the ceremony and an Angel Rivera dress for the reception, according to People. "I felt like a princess," she says.
Her former costar Valerie Pettiford performed original music at the reception. Plus, the bride surprised her husband with a salsa band to celebrate his Puerto Rican heritage.
"We've been taking salsa lessons. It's part of what we’ve been doing together as a couple," she says.
TV One personality, chef G. Garvin, blended Puerto Rican and traditional soul food dishes, which included mac and cheese, roasted pork, peach cobbler and plantains.
As party favors, guests received match books and travel-sized candles. But singles guests were given six-month memberships to Match.com.
'THIS IS IT' TICKET SALES BREAK RECORDS: German exhibitor says 'Something like this never happened before.'
*The first 24-hours of pre-sales activity for "Michael Jackson's This Is It" film has resulted in record-breaking sales around the world, according to an announcement Monday from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Tickets to the two-week, limited engagement went on sale Sunday.
With reports still coming in from across the globe, it is believed no movie in history has generated so many ticket sales so far in advance of its release, Sony says.
In North America, online ticket sellers Fandango and MovieTickets.com report that there is extraordinary demand for the film with hundreds of showtimes already sold out after one day of pre-sales. Some 80% of all online ticketing service transactions were for the film, which will debut in some markets with special advance showings the evening of Tuesday, October
27 and will open worldwide on Wednesday, October 28.
Domestically, an unprecedented number of shows for the two-week engagement have sold out in the first 24 hours of ticket availability in locations from coast-to-coast, including such cities as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Nashville and New York, among others.
Internationally, exhibitors from London and Sydney to Bangkok and Tokyo have experienced the same demand. In London, Vue Entertainment's Film Buying Director Stuart Boreman said "Michael Jackson's This Is It" sold more than 30,000 tickets in its first 24-hours, setting the biggest ever one-day sales record in the UK, eclipsing advance buying for films including "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings."
In Japan, more than $1 million in ticket sales were recorded within the first 24 hours of their release, setting an advanced-sales record unmatched by any movie in history.
In Australia, tickets purchased through Village Cinemas exceeded the lifetime pre-sales of such blockbusters as Transformers, and X-Men Origins.
In Bangkok, Thailand, all tickets for the first showings across Bangkok were sold-out by the end of the first day.
In Los Angeles, at Regal Cinema's LA LIVE Stadium 14, fans began lining up on Thursday night for tickets to some of the city's first public showings, and within hours of Sunday morning's starting bell for advance pre-sales, the exhibitor reported selling out of all 3,000 of their seats for shows on Tuesday night October 27th.
Sell-outs at theaters in France are also being reported; thousands of fans lined up at The Grand Rex in Paris and quickly bought out the film's first screening there. Record-setting sales also were recorded in Germany; hundreds of fans lined up outside one theater in Munich at midnight to await the opening of the box office.
As one German exhibitor noted, "Something like this never happened before in Germany."
Record sales and sell-outs are also being reported in Holland, Sweden, Belgium and New Zealand, among other countries.
CABLE NETWORK CENTRIC MAKES ITS DEBUT: First weeks filled with music-themed programming; new Soul Train Awards to air in Nov.
*Centric, the new 24-hour entertainment cable channel replacing BET J, debuted Monday at 6 a.m. with aims of entertaining the influential 25 to 54-year-old African American viewer.
As previously reported, the network features the artists, music, series, movies and reality programming that reflects the lifestyle and sophistication of today's African-American and multi-cultural adult.
Centric kicked off the week with a series of shows that commemorate the legacy of Michael Jackson.
The network will also air music-themed programming throughout the week, including memorable concert performances, movies, and originals touting iconic star power from notable figures such as Tina Turner, Beyonce, Erykah Badu, Diddy, Salt & Pepa, The Roots, the Notorious B.I.G., and India Arie.
Viewers can also tune in to the original series "Leading Men" and "Leading Women," which intimately chronicle the dynamic lives of celebrities like Boris Kodjoe, Hill Harper, Brian McKnight, Dr. Maya Angelou, Iman, and Patti Labelle.
Centric will bring viewers the return of "The Soul Train Awards," a two-hour telecast scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. from the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
The following is Centric's programming for the rest of the week:
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
10:00 P.M.* and 10:30 P.M.* on CENTRIC
LEADING WOMEN: A half-hour original series that intimately chronicles the dynamic lives of celebrity divas like Patti LaBelle, Iman, Naomi Campbell and Chaka Khan.
11:00 P.M.* on CENTRIC
MOVIE: PREACHING TO THE CHOIR - A movie drama about two twins, who grow up in Harlem, N.Y. and take different paths when they reach adulthood. One becomes a minister - while the other becomes a gangster rapper. Starring:
Tichina Arnold, Billoah Greene, Darien Sills-Evans, Novella Nelson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Janine Green, Patti LaBelle, and Eartha Kitt.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
10:30 P.M.* on CENTRIC
LEADING MEN: A half-hour original series that intimately chronicles the dynamic lives of celebrity trailblazers like Common, Hill Harper, Brian McKnight and Boris Kodjoe.
11:00 P.M.* on CENTRIC
DOCUMENTARY: NOTORIOUS B.I.G.: BIGGER THAN LIFE - The greatest rapper to ever pick up a mic - with his velvety flow and unparalleled rhyme style he captivated everyone from Jay Z to Tupac. Now Notorious B.I.G. is revealed.
Hear the stories from his closest friends and some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop. See raw footage of B.I.G. free-styling on the streets of New York, rare home video footage, a never-before-seen interview with Biggie shortly before his death and undisclosed video footage from the night of his murder.
Starring: Biggie, Common, Diddy, E-40, Sticky Fingaz, Jay-Z, Method Man, Raekwon, and Voletta Wallace.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1
2:00 P.M.* and 11:00 P.M.* on CENTRIC
MOVIE: Seat Filler - A law student, making ends meet by filling empty seats at award shows, occupies the seat of a high-powered entertainment attorney when he meets his dream girl, a gorgeous superstar who is performing at the event. Starring: Kelly Rowland, Duane Martin, Shemar Moore, Patrick Fischler, and Romy Rosemont.
6:00 P.M.* - 7:30 P.M.* on CENTRIC
SOUL STAGE - Soul-stirring music performances by neo-soul artists Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and India.Arie.
FABOLOUS BELIEVES HE WAS POISONED: Rapper falls ill while driving; calls for an ambulance.
*Rapper Fabolous used his Twitter page to set the record straight about rumors surrounding his trip to the hospital on Saturday night.
The Twitterverse lit up with messages from folks seeking "prayers"
for Fab, but did not offer any details. On Sunday, the Brooklyn MC explained that he fell ill while driving and pulled over to call an ambulance.
He tweeted: “I'm ok everyone..thanks 4 the concern. I was not in a car accident, but I think i know where it started.. Let me explain. I was drivin yesterday morning & started feeling very sick & felt like I was gon pass out while driving.. I veered off 2 da side of the road.”
There, he called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital.
“I believed I was poisoned so I checked in & was given medical treatment..a lil sedated so I didn't tweet but was released 2 go late last nite,” the rapper wrote.
In other Fabolous news, the rapper is currently working with Ryan Leslie and Ne-Yo to form a new as-yet-untitled super group, reports Allhiphop.com.
LIONEL RICHIE HONORED BY UNCF: Commodores vet and Tuskegee grad given the Award of Excellence during Saturday's annual EOS.
*Lionel Richie was given the United Negro College Fund Award of Excellence Saturday night at a ceremony that included guest Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Akon, Katharine McPhee and comedian Cedric the Entertainer.
The 31st annual An Evening of Stars event paid tribute to the former Commodores frontman at California's Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
In a statement hailing Richie for his lengthy career, the UNCF's CEO Michael L. Lomax said, "He is a national treasure and we're proud to claim him, not only as a graduate of our storied member school, Tuskegee University (prestigious private college in Alabama), but as an artist of international renown and longtime supporter of UNCF and the work we do to make sure that every child in America gets an education that starts in preschool and doesn't end until college graduation."
Speaking before the event, Richie admitted it was a special moment for his family, because his son Miles and daughter Sofia would finally learn how instrumental the singer has been to the music industry in his 42-year career.
He told HipHollywood.com. "It's a completion of one half of the equation, which is how do you get here? Now I'm here, now the important thing is to enjoy it. It's so interesting because my 15 year old kid and my
11 year old will now know what Dad has done for a living. I'm a parent at home so they don't really know what a Commodore was, they've seen the pictures of me in the afro, but they don't really know, so tonight is gonna be a real education for them."
Previous recipients of the Award of Excellence include iconic producer Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin.
EUR DVD REVIEW: Observe and Report
Seth Rogen Shockfest as Crude Mall Cop Comes to DVD
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Superficially, Observe and Report's storyline sounds practically identical to that of Paul Blart.
After all, both movies revolve around a bumbling but dedicated security guard who wants to become a real cop, who still lives at home with his mom and who has a crush on a cute clerk at the mall.
Unfortunately, the two pictures have precious little in common beyond that similar-sounding premise.
For, where the relatively-clean Blart is a lighthearted romp that's appropriate for the whole family, Observe is the direct antithesis, a relentlessly-dark and disturbing celebration of depravity unlikely to resonate with any decent demographic.
This raunchy teensploit is ostensibly-designed to up the ante in terms of the shock genre's profane, prurient and politically-incorrect index.
The subject-matter mined for laughs here includes drug addiction, date rape, stun gun tasering, stalking, bullying, stealing, sexual assault, abusive relationships, ethnic, gender and sexual preference slurs, and prolonged, full-frontal nudity. And despite pushing the envelope, the film breaks a cardinal rule of comedy by failing to be funny.
Most of the offensive antics unfold around the Forest Ridge Mall where we find head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) as obsessed with crassly courting a cosmetics consultant (Anna Faris) as with apprehending the flasher who's been exposing himself to female patrons. For instance, consider the exchange between the intrepid protagonist and a suspect who feels he's been racially profiled named Saddamn Hussein (Aziz Ansari) during which they take turns yelling "[Expletive] you!" back and forth at each other ad infinitum until the scene peters out.
Other lowlights make light of substance abuse, like the running joke about Ronnie's foul-mouthed alcoholic mother (Celia Weston) and another about a co-worker (Michael Pena) hooked on heroin. The worst scene has to be the bloody finale featuring lingering, slow-motion shots of the pervert's swaying private parts.
I suppose this movie could've been worse. I'm just not sure how.
Poor (0 stars)
Rated R for sexuality, pervasive profanity, gratuitous violence, drug use and graphic frontal nudity.
Running time: 86 minutes
Studi Warner HomeVideo
DVD Extras: None
To order a copy of Observe and Report, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UV4X8S?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCo
de=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001UV4X8S
To see a trailer for Observe and Report, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6AAZr6mEz0
EUR FILM REVIEW: The Providence Effect
Inspirational Documentary Chronicles Success of Inner-City Chicago Prep School
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Paul J. Adams, III was the principal of Providence St. Mel, a parochial school in an impoverished section of Chicago, when he was in formed by the Catholic diocese of its plans to close the institution.
Instead of updating his resume' to look for a new job, Adams started a fundraising campaign in order to be able to continue to serve the community, where most of the kids attending public schools didn't have much of a future.
Well, he not only saved Providence St. Mel but turned it into an elite, K-12 prep school where the aim was not merely to graduate students but to send them on to college.
Hiring only competent, dedicated teachers who saw their job almost as a ministry or calling, Adams implemented a rigorous academic regimen with high expectations.
And that approach has paid off, as Providence St. Mel has achieved remarkable success, with 100% of its graduates gain admission to college for over 30 years in a row. This uplifting story is recounted in engaging detail in The Providence Effect, an inspirational documentary directed by Rollin Binzer.
The film is set mostly in and around the school, which Founder Adams runs with a combination of empathy and tough love because of gangs and other potentially-attractive maladies of the ghetto waiting just outside the door.
To help discourage students who might be tempted by the idea of making easy money on the street, he even rewards those who make the honor roll with stocks and bonds.
A moving bio-pic about an unsung hero with a winning formula which ought to be replicated in inner cities all across the country.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG for mature themes.
Running time: 92 minutes
Studi Slowhand Cinema releasing
To see a trailer for The Providence Effect, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyf0AG5Oso8
STEVEN IVORY: Mrs. Everware
*"Somebody here to see you."
Summer afternoon, July, 1968. Lyndon Johnson was President, the soap Opera “One Life To Live” made its television debut, the country was still reeling over the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis four months earlier and I was 13 years old.
At my summer shoe shine job in a dingy downtown Oklahoma City pool hall, I'd just finished spit-shining a customer's black wing tips to perfection and had returned to the back room to watch the trash-talking hustlers circle the tables, when Smitty, the middle-aged ex-con who ran the place, came to me. Wearing an incredulous expression--and a processed coiffure in desperate need of a touch up--Smitty told me I had company out front.
Puzzled, I turned to go see this person, when Smitty grabbed my arm. "Looka here, lil' nigga: I don't know what you got goin' on," he undertoned so as not to be heard by the collective of pool sharks, "but I want in. You hear me?"
Smitty's anxious demeanor scared me. I was even more frightened when I walked out front and saw what he'd seen.
The first thing I noticed was that she was white. I'd known that. However, the physical reality standing before me was disconcerting.
The next thing I noticed was that she was grown. Like, 40-something, married and mother of two teenagers grown. I knew all that, too. But I never imagined a polished, tanned ringer for '60s actress Donna Reed in a lemon summer dress, pearls and white high-heeled sandals that revealed red nails. She smelled like the roses in our front yard at home.
"Hi, Mister Dee Jay!" she said, with cloying jubilance. "Let's have lunch!"
Mrs. Betty Everware had made good on her threat.
This began one day two months earlier when, while most 13 year olds were outside playing, I was holed up in my bedroom with the telephone, randomly calling strangers out of the Oklahoma City white pages. Identifying myself as a radio disc jockey, in my best game show dialect I'd inform them they'd won something. Most people would just hang up, but one woman bought my spiel.
I told her she'd won a fur coat...and a toaster. In the midst of her exhilaration, I hung up, snickering. However, being both stupid and unable to resist a victim so gullible, a couple days later I called her again, masquerading as the disc jockey.
Somehow, her tongue lashing (“Young man, people are starving in Africa and you're playing on the phone”) morphed into my peculiar relationship with Mrs. Everware.
I'd call her at least three times a week and we'd discuss everything from religion and politics to UFOs. Good natured and quirky, Mrs. Everware was the kind of annoyingly inquisitive person who might bake cookies for a motorcycle gang and then drive them nuts with inane questions.
While she spoke lovingly of her children, she seldom mentioned her husband. She never addressed me as a child, but never said just call me Betty, either. She was always proper, though our conversations often waded in unmistakable, unspoken sexual tension. In retrospect, Mrs. Everware seemed a woman possessed with a fascination for life that her world apparently did not appease. I told her where my summer job was; she used to tease me about coming there one day.
And now, Mrs. Everware had actually done it. I was mortified. The young man "remarkably mature" for his age on the phone abruptly returned to his original state: a shy, insecure little boy.
I asked Smitty if I could go to lunch, hoping the question would break his lecherous gaze upon my visitor. I prayed he'd say I couldn't go; I was afraid to be with this woman. But he was too busy wondering, I'm sure, how his scrawny shoe shine boy had pulled a grown ass woman.
At the restaurant down the street, white businessmen having three-martini lunches oogled Mrs. Everware, shot a bewildered glare at the gangly black kid in tow and then returned to Everware.
I ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke that I was too nervous to finish. She asked for a chef's salad and scotch on the rocks.
Mrs. Everware said my job wasn't difficult to find--her husband's family "used to own the block a couple blocks over." The whole block. I couldn't grasp that. She ignored the gawking room and hung on my every word, as if what I said mattered.
She asked, when we returned to the pool hall, if I might teach her how to pop the rag while shining a shoe. I told her she couldn't come back; that was “my place of business.” I neglected to mention that if she went back there Smitty would try to have her turning tricks on State Street by the evening.
Ultimately, her knock-knock jokes relaxed me. "You know," she said wistfully, "I really would love to meet your mother. Is that possible?" I shuttered at the thought.
Days earlier, Mrs. Everware had embarrassed me by asking what I got from “playing on the phone.” I couldn't answer her then. However, while watching a grown woman sit across from me and nurse a tumbler of scotch, even I could deduce that I gabbed on the phone with a stranger more than 27 years my senior for the same reason she stayed on the line: loneliness.
Out on the street, she extended a manicured hand, declaring me the perfect gentleman. "We'll talk later." And we did. That evening on the phone she barely managed, "How are you?" before bursting into tears.
As Mrs. Everware explained it, once home, she told hubby of lunch with her new friend whom she wanted to have over for dinner with his mother. By the way, I've used several words to describe Mrs. Everware. I forgot naive. Apparently, the idea of a 13 year old "friend" was strange; a 13 year old NEGRO friend was grounds for divorce. “Please don't take it personally,” she sobbed, “but he said I couldn't do any worse than this.” I thought about Smitty.
"Good-bye, Mr. Dee Jay." With that, she was gone. I didn't know if I should feel too young or simply worthless. Thus, I shed tears in honor of both. In the days afterward, I'd call the Everware residence, hear her hello, and hang up. I'm sure she knew it was me. It took me about a month to truly find solace in 40 forty radio, my comic books and cartoons.
But down at the pool hall, for a couple weeks I needed a dump truck to carry my balls. That made the heartbreak more than worth it.
Steven Ivory's book, FOOL IN LOVE (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) is available at Amazon.com (www.Amazon.com). Respond to him via STEVRIVORY@AOL.COM
THE BRIDGE: The Lie of A Post Racial America
By Darryl James
*President Barack Obama did not speak it first nor proclaim it to be in place.
There has been talk of a “Post-Racial” society, but simply put, it is not yet here.
And it can not be here when racist groups are sprouting all over the nation to oppose President Obama’s very existence as President and when the right wing extremists go out of their way to oppose the President in ways that have simply never been seen before.
We are not talking about opposition to the President’s platform, but opposition to things that the President, frankly, has not even presented.
Are the times really different from when dumb ass Georgie was President? No! Is the job of President different? No! Has the structure of the government been changed? No! Is Obama acting without the support of the Legislative branch of government? No!
So, if there are no real changes in the job of President or in the structure of government, we have to ask the question: “Why so much opposition to President Obama?”
The answer is simple: He is a Black President.
While it is beautiful that he was elected by a cross-cultural constituency, it is ugly that there remains a vigilant element in our society that will not allow anyone to move beyond race.
I believe that same element employed the “Post-Racial” argument to avoid having to deal with the persistent inequities in both the public and private sectors and to avoid the fact that we are perhaps more focused on race now than we have been in a long time. And we are focused so, simply because many nutty whites in America can not accept that the leader of the free world is a Black man.
But the propaganda of the “Post-Racial” lie has been pervasive—so much so, that many nutty African Americans believe in the illusion of inclusion, accepting the false premise that the rise of one man has erased four hundred years of racial preferences and racism, the vestiges of which can still be found in every corner of a society that is hardly “Post Racial.”
The biggest problem is that some of us who believe that we have “arrived,” have merely bought into the empty promise of America—the illusion of the melting pot and the reward for pretending that there are no racial barriers and that hard work and education are always rewarded for everyone.
The belief in this illusion is the intrinsic barrier between open and honest communication with the youth, because they are still wise enough to know that there is a problem. Some of them embrace that problem as a reason to work twice as hard, while some of them embrace that problem as a reason to give up.
We do the youth a disservice by lying to them about America being “Post Racial.”
Some of us lie to them by claiming that there is no real struggle based on the color of our skin.
We lie by telling them that the color of our skin never held us back and never really made a difference at all.
We lie and tell them that we excelled because we were simply hearty and smart individuals who embraced the American dream.
You see, by embracing the illusion of inclusion in America and the “Post Racial” lie, we set up a roadblock to understanding. Without the illusion and the lie, we could understand ourselves and others better.
Without the illusion and the lie, we would all be forced to admit that schools in predominantly Black neighborhoods remain severely underfunded.
Without the illusion of inclusion and the “Post Racial” lie, we would have to admit that the preparation for a better life is less sturdy than in other neighborhoods.
And by making these admissions, we would have to say honestly to our white counterparts over lunch, or golf, or cosmopolitans, that America is a dirty bitch, which would make us stand out, God forbid, and have to carry that damned “troublemaker” badge that our forefathers and foremothers carried, but that many of us so timidly shy away from.
You see, Negroes who promote the “Post Racial” lie are unwilling to admit that their benefits in life are the direct result of compromise, which has little to do with those people on the bottom who face welfare, gang warfare, drugs, alcohol, racial profiling and hatred from some of those above them.
The problem is that after the Civil Rights movement, some frightened Negroes were deathly afraid of having to do any real work for the race, having become comfortable with taking the benefits earned on the backs of many, while pretending that their progress is all about the individual.
What we are dealing with is the same attitude felt by the country Blacks when intermingling with the city Blacks, which isn’t really a Black thing, but cuts across all color lines, as city whites neither have any real desire to interact with their rural brethren who they view as less civilized. Part of the inheritance of integration is that now, many citified Negroes take on that same attitude about their brethren in impoverished areas of the same cities.
Because finally, for the first time since our arrival from slavery with the empty promise of freedom, a generation of Negroes has abdicated their responsibility of breaking through and going back to pull up others.
This abdication of responsibility is why we see gangs swell, even following concerted efforts to abate their activity, as if breathing—in with a breath of swelled membership, and out with the deflated exhalation of unsustainable efforts from those around them, but not many above them.
And, with such an abandonment of those at the bottom, why wouldn’t the newly arrived Black intelligentsia feel uncomfortable dealing with the truth about the first Black President’s existence?
The truth is that we have the potential to be harmed as much as healed.
And, we can be harmed if we continue to lie about being “Post Racial” instead of working to actually become “Post Racial.”
Honestly, we have a great deal to lose if we fail to act properly while we have a Black President.
With the lie of a “Post Racial” America, it is easy for rabid racists to advocate for the ignoring of need in impoverished communities.
And with that Post Racial” lie, it is easy for silly Negroes to speak for the Black impoverished, claiming that they are just too lazy, or too weak, or that they only want ipods and sneakers—using these claims as excuses for refusing to assist or to even send assistance, which would be a loud and ringing admission of the true connection that they are simply ignoring for the benefit of their
