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10-27-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
TYLER PERRY RESPONDS TO SPIKE LEE CRITICISM: Actor/director/producer says he was 'pissed off' by filmmaker saying Madea is 'coonery.' (video)
*In an interview on "60 Minutes," Tyler Perry got a chance to defend himself against comments made last spring by Spike Lee, who described Perry's is hit TV shows and films as nothing more than coonery.
“I would love to read that [criticism] to my fan base,” Perry told "60 Minutes" correspondent Byron Pitts in a broadcast that aired Sunday.
“All these characters of mine are bait, bait to get people talking about God, love, family, and faith.”
“That pisses me off. It is so insulting,” Perry added.
Below are Lee's original comments, which took place during an interview (http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur53522.cfm) with Ed Gordon at the 14th Annual Black Enterprise Conference in May.
On stereotypical images of blacks in the media:
Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is “coonery” and buffoonery. I know it’s making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better.
… I am a huge basketball fan, and when I watch the games on TNT, I see these two ads for these two shows (Tyler Perry’s "Meet the Browns" and "House of
Payne") and I am scratching my head. … We got a black president and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?
On Tyler Perry and what the black consumer (really) wants to see:
We’ve had this discussion back and forth. When John Singleton [made Boyz in the Hood], people came out to see it. But when he did Rosewood, nobody showed up. So a lot of this is on us! You vote with your pocketbook, your wallet. You vote with your time sitting in front of the idiot box, and [Tyler Perry] has a huge audience. We shouldn’t think that Tyler Perry is going to make the same film that I am going to make, or that John Singleton or my cousin Malcolm Lee [would make]. As African Americans, we’re not one monolithic group so there is room for all of that. But at the same time, for me, the imaging is troubling and it harkens back to Amos n’ Andy.
ROBIN THICKE AND PAULA PATTON ARE EXPECTING: Actress is reportedly pregnant with their first child.
*Usmagazine.com is reporting that R&B crooner Robin Thicke and his wife, actress Paula Patton, are expecting their first child.
While attending the 2009 Angel Ball in Manhattan on Tuesday, Thicke gushed about his wife of four years.
"She could make a marriage work with a chair," he told the magazine of Patton, 33. "She's an incredible woman, and she's very beautiful, so I'm just lucky to be with her."
When the 32-year-old crooner was asked last year about the possibility of children in their future, he told People.com there is "a 100 percent chance …just not right now. We're still little kids ourselves in some ways! I want a big family which means we’ll probably end up adopting."
Patton stars in the upcoming film "Precious," opening Nov. 6.
JAY-Z AND ALICIA KEYS TO PERFORM AT GAME 1: Yankees' unofficial theme song part of Wednesday's World Series opener.
*Jay-Z and Alicia Keys will perform their homage to New York, "Empire State of Mind," to kick off Wednesday's first game of the World Series featuring the rapper's hometown Yankees against defending champs, the Philadelphia Phillies.
The song has become an unofficial anthem for the team, and has generated a number of versions featuring altered lyrics that praise the ball club.
Jay-Z said he started preparing for tomorrow's performance last week – when the Yankees were just one game away from winning the ALCS.
"I think it was 3-1, and they had lost that game and made it 3-2. I’m like, 'Man.' I had the truck coming with the stage and all that. I’m like, 'Man, these guys gotta come on,'" Jay told MTV. "We was almost selfish."
Following their "Empire State of Mind" performance, Keys will sing the National Anthem.
Watch clip of Jay-Z's interview here:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/449534/jay-z-and-alicia-keys-to-open-the-worl
d-series.jhtml
CHRIS BROWN TWEETS ABOUT THE RIHANNA DAYS: Singer posts link to a YouTube video showing couple's past PDA.
*Chris Brown used his Twitter page to reminisce about the better days of his relationship with ex-girlfriend Rihanna; before their relationship came to an abrupt end over charges that he assaulted her.
Brown, who has a restraining order preventing him from communicating with Rihanna, tweeted Sunday, "IM SORRY YALL. JUST HAD TO POST IT," with a link to a YouTube video entitled The Way We Used To Be, showing him and RiRi as a couple.
He followed up the tweet with this: "FOR THE FELLAS: showing emotion doesn't make u weak... BEING HONEST MAKES U STRONG."
ALL OF MIJAC'S KIDS ARE IN THERAPY: LaToya says each child is dealing with dad's death in different ways.
*LaToya Jackson says the children of her late brother Michael Jackson have been in therapy since the death of their father in June.
In an interview with British newspaper The Mirror, LaToya says that Prince, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7 (a.k.a. Blanket) are each dealing with their father's death in very different ways.
Paris wears her father's shirts every day, has covered her bedroom in Michael Jackson posters, watches old videotapes of him and is upset that she never got to see him perform live, according to LaToya.
"Paris thinks and writes about her father all the time. She's doing very well," she told The Mirror.
Prince, on the other hand, refuses to watch any of his dad's performances, according to LaToya. She said the pre-teen "just doesn't want to speak about it. He won't even watch the DVDs...it's too soon."
"Blanket is just a very sad, shy little boy. He cries -- he really does cry. It's so painful for him," La Toya said. "They all go to therapy and I truly hope Prince especially will be able to open up."
All three children are being home-schooled in Los Angeles.
GLAAD TARGETS NFL'S LARRY JOHNSON: Player reportedly used gay slur twice in
24 hours.
*The president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is calling on the NFL to punish Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson for using an anti-gay epithet twice over the weekend.
"All too often this is the word that is used to ridicule and harass young gay and transgender athletes on local sports fields across America,"
said GLAAD president Jarrett Barrio. "Professional athletes who use this word need to be held accountable for feeding a climate of intolerance toward our community. NFL officials need to take action and condemn this and future uses of this anti-gay epithet."
Johnson's first use of the slur happened when reporters entered the locker room on Monday. According to KCSP in Kansas City, he said: "I'm not talking [until] Thursday. Get your f**got asses out of here."
Earlier in the day, Johnson, a New York native, used the three-letter version of that epithet on Twitter. When one of his followers brought up an incident last year in which Johnson allegedly spit a drink into a woman's face, L.J. responded: "think bout a clever diss then that wit ur f** pic.
Christopher street boy. Is what us east coast cats call u."
[Christopher Street is located in located in Manhattan's West Village and was at the center of New York's gay rights movement in the late 1970s. To this day the street serves as a symbol of gay pride.]
ANOTHER FRESH LAWSUIT AGAINST JACKSON'S ESTATE: The latest is from an ex-choreographer who claims he never received full payment.
*TMZ is reporting that an ex-choreographer who allegedly worked for Michael Jackson has become the latest person to file a creditor's claim against the singer's estate.
LaVelle Smith Jr. filed a suit Monday claiming he was employed by the King of Pop over several different stretches in 2008 and 2009.
Smith says he's only received partial payment of the $144,500 he is owed.
NEW BLACK-THEMED COMEDY SET UP AT NBC: Series follows married couple with four kids readjusting to dad's new gig.
*NBC has added an African American comedy to its development slate.
"Ordinary People," from "America's Next Top Model" co-developer Kenya Barris, is described as "Mad About You" meets "The Cosby Show," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Inspired by Barris' real-life experiences, the sitcom revolves around Kevin and Kelsey Whitmore, a married couple in their late 20s who are fast-tracked professionals with four kids. After spending most of his time on the road as a Rolling Stone music reporter, Kevin is promoted to columnist and works from home, a change that requires adjustment for everyone in the family.
Also on NBC's development slate is the drama "Nola Rising," which revolves around the pairing of a down-on-his-luck private investigator and a charismatic ex-con capable of being inhabited by ghosts. Together they become unlikely partners to help solve the problems of New Orleans citizens, living or dead.
The project is from writer Diane Ademu-John ("Medium"). Both "Nola Rising" and "Ordinary People" are set up at Universal Media Studios.
As previously reported, NBC has also ordered a comedy from executive producers Don Cheadle and Aaron McGruder. The project revolves around mismatched brothers who reunite to open a private security company.
J.LO TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST EX-HUSBAND: Singer/actress attempts to stop Ojani Noa from filming a 'parody' about their brief marriage.
*Lawyers for Jennifer Lopez have sent a cease and desist letter to producers of "How I Married Jennifer Lopez: The J-Lo and Ojani Noa Story," a movie chronicling her marriage to Cuban model/waiter Ojani Noa.
According to TheWrap.com, J.Lo's legal camp cited a 2007 court order injunction against writing about Lopez's personal life that was issued to Noa, her first husband, when he was preparing a tell-all book about his ex.
Noa and producer Ed Meyer have countered, saying the movie, which begins shooting in February, is "100% parody."
Noa, who was married to Lopez from Feb. 1997 until Jan. 1998, has long accused his ex of cheating on him and not giving him a fair divorce settlement.
"The whole movie is about me coming to this country and getting my dream shut down by somebody who I thought was a good person," Noa, who compares the film's plot to "Borat," told TheWrap.com. "I was in totally in love with her. I gave my soul to her. It wasn't my fault she shared it with three people. I was angry."
ROCAWEAR SHIRT BENEFITS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: Proceeds from Roc for the Cure Polo to benefit Susan G. Komen's Circle of Promise.
*Jay-Z's Rocawear clothing line is doing its part for breast cancer research by teaming with the Susan G. Komen For The Cure charity to release special edition shirts called Roc For The Cure Polo.
Rocawear will donate 5% of sales through December 31, 2009 to the breast cancer organization. The minimum guaranteed donation from the brand however is $20,000.
Proceeds will specifically benefit the Susan G. Komen For The Cure, Circle of Promise' campaign, which targets African American women.
The Roc for the Cure Polo is cotton and spandex with a five snap closure and ruching at bust. The polo will be available in black and white, each with a pink detail, and can be purchased for $44 at Macy's and Rocawear.com http://roc4life.com/profiles/blogs/sneak-peek-roc-for-the-cure#.
MIJAC MEMORABILIA UP FOR SALE IN LONDON: Late singer's Rolls Royce, glittery gloves and jackets among 250 items up for bid.
*Rare Michael Jackson memorabilia hits the auction block in London tomorrow in conjunction with the release of his posthumous album and film, "This Is It."
The official exhibit opens Wednesday and includes one of the late singer's Rolls-Royces, some of his trademark gloves and sequined jackets and a contract from his early days with the Jackson 5, reports the Associated Press.
The "This Is It" film features rehearsals for his ill-fated "This is It" comeback performances in London. The sold-out shows were canceled after Jackson's sudden death in June.
The exhibition at London's 02 Bubble arena contains more than 250 items from Jackson's personal estate, including a crystal-studded hat and other items never before shown to the public.
MAN ACCUSED OF SHOOTING JAGS PLAYER BEGINS TRIAL: NFL's Richard Collier paralyzed after hit 14 times.
*Jury selection began yesterday for an ex-convict accused of shooting and paralyzing Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Richard Collier.
Tyrone Hartsfield, 33, is facing attempted murder and weapons charges after allegedly shooting Collier 14 times in September 2008 as the player sat in an SUV. He and a teammate were waiting outside an apartment for two women they met at a nightclub.
Police believe Hartsfield's motive was revenge, as he and Collier allegedly got into a fight months earlier at a sports bar. Hartsfield has denied any involvement in the incident.
Collier was left paralyzed from the waist down and his lower left leg was amputated because of blood clots.
NATALIE COLE PREPS FOR US TOUR: Outing to span the country in Nov. and Dec.
*With her European run winding down, Natalie Cole is preparing a return to the States for a fall jaunt in support of last year's "Still Unforgettable."
The US tour begins with a Nov. 5 performance in Salem, VA, followed by 11 shows spread across the nation through the holiday season, according to Live Daily. Cole will wrap up the outing with a Dec. 21 performance in Clearwater, FL. Details are shown below.
The singer is also promoting a special seasonal set on HSN, featuring "Still Unforgettable," as well as a five-song holiday sampler with covers of classics like "My Favorite Things" and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."
Earlier this year, Cole underwent a kidney transplant due to hepatitis C and spent the summer recuperating from the major operation. Her first post-surgery appearance took place Sept. 9 at the Hollywood Bowl.
Below are Cole's US tour dates:
November 2009
5 - Salem, VA - Salem Civic Center
6 - Virginia Beach, VA - Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
7 - Boca Raton, FL - Boca Raton Resort & Club 20 - Sacramento, CA - Memorial Auditorium
21 - Spokane, WA - Northern Quest Casino
December 2009
10-13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Mormon Tabernacle 17, 18 - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Resort
19 - Lake Buena Vista, FL - Universal Studios
21 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
SHAKESPEARE GETS SOULFUL IN 'WINTER'S TALE' TWIST: R&B and gospel musical Best of Both Worlds opens next month in Massachusetts.
*Gregg Baker, Jeanette Bayardelle and Mary Bond Davis will star in the R&B and gospel musical Best of Both Worlds at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts beginning Nov. 21.
According to A.R.T., "Best of Both Worlds is a soulful re-envisioning of The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare’s timeless story of heartbreak and redemption. Best of Both Worlds takes us on a journey through the rich musical tapestry of R&B, rediscovering Shakespeare’s characters with smooth sounds and funky beats. When jealousy rips apart love and friendship, only the revelatory power of gospel can restore the enduring bonds of faith, family, and forgiveness."
Obie-winner Diedre Murray penned the score to the holiday musical that has book and lyrics by Randy Weiner. Newly appointed A.R.T. artistic director Diane Paulus, the Tony-winning director of Hair, helms the production that officially opens Dec. 2 and will run through Jan. 3, 2010 on the Loeb Stage.
The cast of Best of Both Worlds features Baker (Porgy and Bess) as Ezekiel, Bayardelle (The Color Purple) as Serena, Davis (Hairspray) as Violetta, as well as Tony nominee Cleavant Derricks (Brooklyn, Big Deal) as Sweet Daddy, Darius de Haas (Children of Eden) as Maurice, Nikkieli DeMone as Camillo, Brianna Horne as Rain and Lawrence Stallings (Sizwe Banzi Is
Dead) as Tariq.
The A.R.T. production will also boast a rotating line-up of gospel choirs from the greater Boston area.
RASHIDA JONES DENIES JOHN MAYER ROMANCE: Actress explains how the rumors were started.
*"Parks and Recreation" star Rashida Jones is trying to squash rumors that she has become the latest girlfriend of singer/songwriter John Mayer.
Web gossip had the two spotted on a dinner date Friday night at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Witnesses were claiming that Mayer had borrowed a guitar from a nearby restaurant performer to serenade Jones with his hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland."
Not true, says a rep for the actress, who insists that her client was merely eating at the same restaurant as Mayer, nothing more.
"She was having dinner with friends - totally independent of him,"
the rep told WENN. "He came over to the table she was at with her friends, said hello to everyone, (and) asked if he could play the guitar that her friends were already playing. (His) performance was not directed at anyone."
Jones, the daughter of producer Quincy Jones, is said to still be dating President Obama's director of speechwriting, Jonathan Favreau.
EUR FILM REVIEW: Night and Day (Bam Gua Nat)
Korean Ex-Pat Finds Lust, Then Love, on the Run in Paris
Film Review by Kam Williams
*When Sung-nam Kim (Yeong-ho Kim) learns that the local police want to arrest him for possession of Marijuana, he decides to flee Seoul for asylum in France. There, he takes refuge among an enclave of Koreans living in the bohemian section of Paris known as Montmartre. However, despite befriending other expatriates from his homeland, the transition is anything but smooth.
This is because Sung-nam is settled and middle-aged, and has left behind both a devoted wife, Sung-in (Su-jeong Hwang), and a flourishing career as an artist. Now, instead of dividing his time between his spouse and his studio, he finds himself lonely and with nothing much to do except chain smoke and leer at females.
They say “When in Rome do as the Romans do,” so Sung-nam figures when in France, why not do like the French? And he begins to behave like the typical protagonist in a Parisian romantic romp, as Night and Day is a movie marked by such staples of the genre as talk, coupling, smoking, uncoupling, more talk, re-coupling, more smoking, uncoupling, etcetera.
In this case, Sung-nam acts like a bachelor, and starts chasing anything in a skirt. First, there’s Min-sun (Yu-jin Kim), an ex-girlfriend he bumps into on the street. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, but she quickly reminds Sung-nam of the half-dozen abortions she had because of him. Since then, she’s married a mentally-abusive European, so all it takes is a few drinks to get her eager for an adulterous affair.
They rent a hotel room where Sung-nam suddenly has misgivings about cheating on his spouse, and he summons up the courage to resist the tempting seductress in a terry cloth towel by reading the Bible. In fact, this flick is filled with interludes during which he’s seen on the phone and crying on the proverbial shoulder with Sung-in, who is patient and supportive only because she’s being lied to and has no idea of all the shenanigans her hubby is actually up to.
Sung-nam subsequently indulgences himself in a string of liaisons with women less than half his age, none of which prove problematic until he and an impressionable, young art student fall head-over-heels for each other. After they mate without protection, the vulnerable Yu-jeong (Eun-hye Park) whispers sweet nothings in his ear like, “I think of no one but you” and “If I can’t have you, I’ll go nuts.”
He promises to get a divorce, but the plot nonetheless thickens when both his mistress and his wife miss their periods. Turns out Sung-in got pregnant just before he skipped town. The tension mounts when he opts to return to Korea with Yu-jeong in tow, and it’s pretty obvious something’s gotta give.
Written and directed by Sang-soo Hang, Night and Day, offers an intriguing look at a hedonist in the midst of a midlife crisis, a creep whose denial and dalliances slowly catch up with him. Which woman will Sung-nam pick in the end, the loyal, unsuspecting spouse or the equally-naïve nymphet? A choice tough to predict, when the options are as different as night and day.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In Korean, French and English with subtitles.
Running time: 144 minutes
Studi Anthology Film Archives
To see a trailer for Night & Day, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw-emyp2IjE
EUR DVD REVIEW: Lemon Tree (Etz Limon)
Middle East Drama Set in the West Bank Arriving on DVD
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*When you think of the Middle East, probably the last thing that comes to mind is anybody settling their differences in a civilized manner.
But that is exactly what we find in this gripping drama based on a real-life incident which revolved around a standoff between a Palestinian widow (Hiam Abbass) and the Israeli Minister of Defense (Doron Tavory).
Salma Zidane had been quietly minding her own B.I. business on a modest estate she inherited from her father, tending to the lemon grove located on the property with the help of an elderly caretaker (Tarik Copty).
But because the land lay along the border between Israel and the West Bank, everything changed the day that Minister Navon and his family moved into the newly-built McMansion right next-door.
The problem was that the Israel equivalent of the Secret Service was charged with the task of protecting them from terrorists. And the first thing they noticed in reconnoitering the perimeter was the cluster of trees directly across from the house which posed a security risk since it could easily provide cover for an assassination attack.
When they inform Salma of their plans to flatten the field, she hires a handsome, young attorney (Ali Suliman) who just happens to be recently divorced. And while the lonely lawyer does his best to focus on the case, it’s no surprise that his head is turned by his well-preserved client.
Still, the point of the picture is to highlight the trial which the secret lovebirds appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court, despite the overwhelming odds in the favor of the Israeli military. However, a pivotal witness proves to be the Defense Minister’s wife, Mira (Rona Lipaz-Michael), whose compassion helps lead to an 11th hour compromise that would warm the heart of Solomon.
If only every Arab-Israeli conflict could be resolved simply by resorting to Biblical wisdom rather than with bullets and bombs!
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
In Hebrew, Arabic, French and English with subtitles.
Running time: 106 minutes
Studi MPI Home Video
DVD Extras: Trailer.
To order a copy of Lemon Tree, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M36R50?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002M36R50
To see a trailer for Lemon Tree, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIoowHIpUT0
STEVEN IVORY: Miss Evans' Last Lesson
*“She's here,” Joel said on a crisp and sunny fall Saturday morning while sliding from behind the wheel of his grandmother's brand new 1966 Dodge Dart. “She got here late last night. Y'all can see her this evening if y'all still want to.”
Of course, we wanted to see her. Andre and I agreed that Miss Mabel Ann Evans was one of the most beautiful women we'd ever seen in our 11 year old lives.
She lived a block over from me, on 7th Street, on Oklahoma City's east side in a neat, red brick building that housed four apartments. Grown ups used to whisper about the early 30-something Miss Evans: she was a “party girl;” she didn't appear to have steady employment. She was “fast,” whatever that meant.
Andre once overheard his mom on the phone say Miss Evans “couldn't get a man.” We knew that wasn't true--during the summer, bicycling past her place in route to TG&Y for penny candy, we'd see men come and go.
What we knew for sure was that Miss Evans had an incredible body. Modeling a wardrobe of tight black pencil skirts, tiny cotton blouses, pedal pushers and skyscraper high heels, her curves were absolutely devastating. I'd only seen a body like this, in clothes like that, in movies.
The Bambi-faced, cinnamon-hued goddess would actually speak to us. While stepping out of a cab in front of her place or sauntering down her walkway toward a shiny, idling sedan, Miss Evans would pause, and from inside her fragrance haze, coo in a honey-glazed lilt , “Well, hello, boys" or “Hi, gentlemen. ”
She asked how we were doing in school in a way that suggested sincere interest. Please pick up your Slo-Poke wrapper. “Respect yourself and your planet,” she'd say, winking. It was conversation ahead of its time and way over the bean heads of fascinated pre teens, but we listened simply so we could gaze at that body. Yeah, of course we wanted to see Miss Evans.
The problem was, she was dead.
Early word around the neighborhood was that she'd suffered a heart attack while out the night before. In any case, sadly, she was gone--and Joel, the roguish 19 year-old who worked part time at Carven Funeral Home, was offering us one last special opportunity to see her.
I'd seen dead people before. My family lived two doors from Carven. I used to play in their lobby. Occasionally, my friend Donny and I would venture into the viewing room and look at a stranger's body.
However, Joel was offering something different: the chance to see Miss Evans' bodacious body nude. Andre and I had never seen a naked woman before, and Miss Evans represented the apex.
I know. It was morbid, sick, disgusting and anything else one can think of to describe a curiosity so creepy and decrepit.
But at age 11 my moral compass was still learning directions, and in the words of the utterly compass-less Joel, fine is fine: A fine woman with a cold, he reasoned, is still a fine woman. A fine woman who is crazy is still fine. The same went for a fine woman with a bad hairdo, bad breath, or both. Andre and I nodded in tacit agreement with Joel's assessment, even though fine and dead didn't have the same flow.
That didn't stop us. At dusk, the lanky Andre and I rendezvoused behind Carven's, where the hearses parked. Excited, we giggled about our mission, until quieted by the grim, disconcerting jangle of Joel's keys unlocking the back door from inside. “C'mon,” he said nonchalantly, in a white lab coat with the redolence of rubbing alcohol.
We followed him into the funeral home's inner sanctum--down a narrow, dimly lit hallway to a door that said PRIVATE. Joel opened it, reached inside and slid his hand along the wall to turn on fluorescent ceiling lights. In what seemed like a large storage room were some boxes on the floor, open, empty cabinets and two ambulance gurneys. “There she is,” Joel said, nodding his head to the other side of the room toward a table. Lying on it and completely covered by a white sheet looked to be the shape of a human body.
Frozen in the middle of the room, Andre and I tried to appear unafraid. Ghoulishly, we were about to ogle Miss Evans' dead body. Dead but fine. “Ready?" Joel impishly asked, grabbing a corner of the sheet. Before we could say “No!” he quickly snatched the cover completely off the mass, as if unveiling a new car or invention.
In the nanosecond that the sheet came flying off, the first thing I saw were black wing-tip shoes. And then instantly I saw the rest--a rotund body, fully clothed, thank a merciful God, in black pinstriped slacks and a white dress shirt. Both the body and strategically unemotional facial expression belonged to very much alive Carven Funeral Home General Manager, Mr. Dinkins.
“Hiya doin,'” he offered sardonically, rolling off his back and onto his side, as if posing for a magazine centerfold. Screaming for our lives, Andre and I bolted from the room and down the hall, exploding out the exit and into the quiet night as if shot from a cannon, each of us galloping in the opposite direction to our respective homes.
I sat on frayed nerves in front of the TV in the living room, waiting for the phone to ring or a knock on the door--Dinkins reporting to mama what he'd foiled. Remarkably, that didn't happen. However, Carven's sat at the portal of my sheer existence--I had to walk pass the funeral home to get to TG&Y. It was only a matter of time on Sunday before I ran into Mr. Dinkins. When I did, out in front of the place, he discreetly let me have it.
Sternly, he lectured that he would have told Margie, my mother, except that he'd gone by Andre's house last night. After witnessing my friend's fate at the hands of his furious mom, he thought he'd spare me.
Mr. Dinkins said he was in his office Saturday morning when he overheard Joel, just outside his window, make us the macabre offer. He then confronted Joel and had him go along with a revised version of the scheme. "I fired him last night," he said.
Gingerly, Dinkins explained that despite my youth, he wanted me to try and understand why we were wrong. True, Miss Evans had passed away, he said, but she was once a person. Her body, though now lifeless, represented who she was, and even in death she was not to be disrespected by our gaping in such a way.
Dinkins asked me if I understood what he'd said. I nodded affirmatively, though I didn't entirely. He closed with a warning: unless we were customers, he didn't want to see me or Andre inside Carven's again.
Needless, to say, I wouldn't see Miss Evans or her body again. Yet somehow, I felt like she'd lovingly reprimanded me one last time--even if Mr. Dinkins' voice did lack the honey-glazed lilt.
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 SOCIALIST’S JOURNAL: Political Capital
*Franklin Roosevelt became president during the greatest economic crisis in history. Because of those unique circumstances he was able to get an unparalleled amount of legislation passed over the course of his time in office. Most presidents are not in this position; most presidents must choose which issues are going to be fought for and which issues are not as important. President Obama has drawn his line in the sand with healthcare.
Obama spoke about the need for universal healthcare before his presidential candidacy, throughout his campaign, and has made it his number one priority as president. In doing so Obama has determined that other issues that were key points of his campaign platform (ending the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, citizenship privileges for gay Americans, and introducing and sustaining more environmentally sound practices as a nation) were less important. Obama has invested his political capital in healthcare with the hope that if and when it pays off he will then be able to invest in those issues that he neglected.
This is a sensible risk taken by the current administration. Having invested whatever good will he has into the idea of healthcare while also devoting his time should translate into the adoption of a national law. Environmental groups can accurately point out that President Obama is not strenuously attempting to make the country greener; similar complaints can and have come from the gay and lesbian community. But Obama has correctly made universal healthcare his primary concern in that it is something that potentially benefits everyone.
THE BRIDGE: Frightened Americans
By Darryl James
"America is filled with terror from North to South and we thank God."
-Osama bin Laden
"Either you are with us, or with the terrorists."
-George Bush
*There was a time in this nation when American citizens believed in their leadership and became afraid of losing life and liberty in time of war.
During that time, Americans at least knew who the enemy was in time of war.
But after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, things changed.
For the first time, America went to war with an unknown enemy. It wasn’t about a disagreement with the mission as in Vietnam, but a clear case of a confused mission.
The war efforts meandered from Afghanistan to Iran and from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein.
And, in order to stimulate support for the war efforts, the nation’s leadership used fear. Bush and his cronies employed the harbinger of terrorism to explain a war with no true purpose and no real direction.
People in this nation were so afraid that they were willingly giving up their freedom and all rights to individual thought.
Some stupid Americans were so frightened that they were lashing out at any voice divergent from the nation's leadership.
Still, more stupid Americans were so frightened that in their fear and ignorance, they began lashing out at other Americans of Arabic descent or of Islamic faith.
Eight years later, we see the same fear, ignorance and willingness to give up freedoms entrenched in the people of this country as much as any other portion of American life.
We also see fractions of frightened citizens, some of whom want to end American military presence and some of whom want to continue it.
Now, the war efforts are even more muddied, because right wing nut jobs are attempting to blame President Barack Obama for the American presence in the Middle East as though it was his idea.
Saddest of all is the abject patriotism based not on pure love for country, but pure unadulterated fear. That patriotism is sad indeed, because it does not allow for opposing thought or reason, or, even reality.
Eight years of heightened racial profiling, baseless color-coded national scare tactics and a war on a ever-changing enemy has done little to ease the fears of Americans.
America's position as world police and as the big bully on the unstable world block has placed the nation in a position where terrorism can visit these shores at any time.
Anyone who is awake and aware realizes that we should have been as frightened of what could come from abroad as what came from the idiot who just left the White House, who really just wanted the oil in the Middle East and more global business opportunities for his friends.
Through fear, the American people have been duped into supporting a war effort that made promises, but delivered nothing, including the promise to make the American people feel safer.
But, the American people feel no safer, because promises were made before thousands of young American lives were sacrificed.
Among those promises was the pledge to find the person or people responsible for wreaking havoc on America.
Among those promises was the pledge to find "weapons of mass destruction" to reduce our risk of nuclear attack.
America should have been living in fear long before the National Disaster, after pushing other nations and its own citizens around.
And, there are other things we should have feared.
While the airline industry was in fear of having itself falter, American citizens should have been frightened of the billions of dollars in Corporate Welfare that was given to that industry.
While the airlines were being bailed out, the average citizen was sinking under water.
Yet, President Obama is being raked over the coals for continuing an economic bailout initiated by Bush and for trying to deal with the American military presence in a manner that does not wreak havoc with hasty decisions.
And some Americans are more afraid than ever.
So, we have to ask ourselves: If America was at war and pursuing a governmental bailout before Obama’s election, what are the naysayers really afraid of?
A Black President, of course.
Most of the anti-Obama propaganda is based on things he never said, policy he never pursued and outright lies about what he can do as President.
Do I support everything Obama stands for? Not necessarily. But I support the divergence he represents—not as a Black President, but as a President who truly cares and who is truly attempting to be bi-partisan and for the people.
I just believe that we need to give him a chance to be President before blaming him for things that existed before he showed up.
And, any of us who are humanitarian should have been frightened that following the national tragedy, many had all but forgotten the pre-existing tragedies like the homeless, the poor and the starving--the huddled masses yearning to be free.
So, there have been no real incidents since September 11, 2001. But does that mean that we are safe?
We are about as safe as we ever were, which means that we really aren't. But there are ways that we can make this nation and accordingly, the world, a bit safer.
We can reduce American corporate world greed, stop beating on other nations for oil and stop playing world police/bully.
There are also a few things that America should clean up at home first to make it a better nation and less of a hypocrite.
American racism, for example.
It was a good thing for American to elect a Black President. It showed the world that perhaps this nation was ready to accept for itself some of the tolerance and national unity it promoted by coercion to other nations.
But now that the President is garnering opposition and death threats that no other President since Kennedy has had to endure, we are delivering the same old tired message to the world.
That has to be checked, because it has made many nations dislike America.
With our current President, we have an opportunity to show the world something new and something good.
Then, perhaps we can have more international unity.
And then perhaps we wouldn't have to live in fear.
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the powerful new anthology “Notes From The Edge.” Now, listen to Darryl live on BlogTalkRadio.com/DarrylJames every Monday from 8-10pm, PST. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Family Values
*I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the 46-year-old ESPN analyst who had an affair with a 22-year old co-worker who went fatal attraction on him when he broke off their relationship. A New York newspaper said Steve Phillips’ jilted lover wrote a letter to Phillips’ wife about private parts of his body that only his wife should know, and information about his family including details about their marriage and four children. She even paid somebody $50 to make harassing phone calls to the man’s wife and pretended to be Facebook friends with the couple’s teen aged son to extract more information.
Eleven years ago Phillips quit another high profile job after admitting to multiple affairs with a other women. So clearly he needs to deal with his issues of infidelity.
But instead of talking about the negative example this sets for the couple’s four sons and Phillips’ need to honor his marriage vows, radio show host Tom Joyner of the TJMS joked about how there should be rules for the ‘jump off.’
In case you don’t know, the ‘jump off’ is a slang term for the other woman. I like a good joke as much as anyone, but there’s a time and place for everything.
Yet it seemed nobody showed that much concern about Phillips’ lack of family values. And 95 percent of the people who posted comments about the Phillips story showed more concerned with how the mistress looked.
Studies show that more attractive people get better treatment, but to suggest that a married person should consider breaking his marriage vows based on how attractive his extra-marital prospects are is unconscionable.
Phillips is not the only high-profile married man to get caught with his pants down and he won’t be the last. But until people like him consider the consequences of their actions before the fact instead of using their position as an entry way to infidelity they will continue to lose a lot more than they bargained for.
Send questions, comments or requests for speaking engagements to Steffanie Rivers at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com. And see the video version of her journal at youtube.com/steffanierivers.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic Live on the Lehman Center Stage
By Deardra Shuler
*The great George Clinton will be bringing his funk to Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY, on Saturday, November 7th at 8:00 pm.,via his avant garde bands Parliament/Funkadelic. Parliament-Funkadelic created a genre of unique music known as 'P-Funk' (Pure Funk). Originators within this funky, funky music genre, Parliament-Funkadelic became known for their unique brand of music wherein they experimented with various harmonies and melodies that gave life and fresh air to the psychedelic music generation. Funkadelic took a cue from Jimi Hendrix and experimented with psychedelic guitar distortions, cosmological rants, booming bass lines and bizarre sound effects that eventually gave birth to the Mothership, a wild spectacular which featured a huge spaceship on stage, complete with out-of-this world music, costumes and hairdos.
Clinton and his collective bands are presently on tour. "I cant wait to get back home to New Jersey. I am in Tallahassee, Florida as we speak. We are touring Europe and just returned from Japan. We are going to be in Africa near Madagascar. And as soon as I finish my performance At Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx, I will be heading to Finland and the Netherlands," said the talented funkmeister.
At 15 years old, George Clinton formed the Parliaments in Newark, New Jersey. "That was in 1956. Frankie Lyman had his hit out 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love' at that time. Parliament were just getting started performing doo-wop," remarked Clinton. "Eventually we ended up at Motown and when that faded out, we started a group called Funkadelic. Funkadelic played behind Parliament, it was our back- up band. But we were all one group because we all played together at the same time and still do. When Parliament didn't have a regular album, then we would put out an album with Funkadelic. Funkadelic did the psychedelic music. Funkadelic came out with 'Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow' and 'Maggot Brain.' There were 10 of us then, 5 singers and 5 musicians. When one band didn't have a recording the other one would come out with one? noted George whose bands revolutionized the music scene in the 1970s.
Parliament came out with 'Chocolate City' in 1975 and a single entitled 'Flashlight' that became their signature. The band went on to release a series of hits, 'The Motor Booty Affair,' 'Gloryhallastoopid,' ?Trombipulation' and 'Aqua Boogie,'" said George who wrote songs for the Jackson Five and the Supremes, et al, while at Motown.
"'We Got the Funk,' was our first million dollar seller," explained the music genius. "Funk means do the best you can and after that, Funk it!" laughed Clinton who had spectacular theatrical shows which included a huge spaceship. "The Mothership was a million dollar stage set. It landed on the stage and was 60 feet across. It landed at Madison Square Garden a couple of times. During that period, everybody was playing with us. Sly Stone played with us for a time and was one of the few who actually stepped out of the Mothership. Jimi Hendrix played with us before we went psychedelic and before he became the Jimi Hendrix Experience. We copied Jimi's mastery of the psychedelic guitar. Eddie Hazel was our lead guitar player and the only person that could play anywhere near Jimi and also come up with his own songs. In fact, we had a song 'Maggot Brain,' that a lot of people thought emulated Jimi's sound. He came out of the Mother Ship. We had about 60 or 70 folks playing with us at that time. We did the Mothership again in 1996 and plan to do this again some time next year," recalled Clinton who captured 40 R&B hits singles and recorded 3 platinum albums whose recent releases in 2008 are 'How Late Do You Have 2 BB4UR Absent?' and 'The Gangsters of Love.'
Clinton became a solo artist and signed with Capitol Records wherein he played the P-Funk All Stars releasing 'Computer Games,' 'Loopzilla,' 'Atomic Dog,' 'Nubian Nut,' 'Do Fries Go With That Shake,' etc.
Known as the Godfather of Modern Urban Music, Clinton has inspired artists such as the Outkasts, Snoop Dog, Missy Elliott, Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes and Fishbone. He sang with Tupac Shakur on the song 'Can't C Me' from Tupac's album 'Eyez on Me.' And worked with the WuTang Clan on their the song 'Wolves,' from their album 'Diagrams.' He also wrote the vocals for the ground breaking release 'Freaky Styley' with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Most recently, George did an amusing puppet show project to be aired on Nickelodeon.
"I am always changing. I don't think about the music I have made already, I think about the music I am going to make. I cant think about 'One Nation' 'Atomic Dog' or 'Knee Deep,' because if I have that on my mind, I cant come up with a new sound. I don't really listen to my music from the past unless I bump into someone playing it. 'Gangsters of Love' and 'How Late Do You Have 2 BB4UR Absent?' are my latest and came out pretty much at the same time. Those tunes are a departure from my early days. I am already back in the studio. We are doing an entire album of Motown stuff, said Clinton who has received several awards including 'The Heroes Award,' 'Lifetime Achievement Award,' the 'NAACP Image Award' and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Fans of this originator and music master can buy tickets at the Lehman Center Box Office for George Clinton's November 7th concert by calling 718-960-8833 or go online at www.LehmanCenter.org
TURNER’S TWO CENTS: Lame Excuses for Rihanna’s Inexcusable “Roulette”
By Cameron Turner
*Songwriter/producers Ne-Yo and Chuck Harmony are making excuses for Rihanna’s inexcusable comeback track, “Russian Roulette.” This song has been slammed for its graphic description of a woman being led into a deadly game by her man. Some critics, myself included, think “Russian Roulette” is a dangerous and irresponsible song that encourages suicide. But the guys who created Rihanna’s record say it’s no big deal.
Ne-Yo compared “Russian Roulette” to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” But that comparison crumbles under even superficial examination. “Thriller” was an old fashioned monster movie cartoon with zombies dancing down the street. “Russian Roulette” has Rihanna actually singing about picking up a gun and pulling the trigger! The track even ends with the sound of revolver’s bullet chamber spinning followed by a gunshot.
But Producer Chuck Harmony says we shouldn’t take the song at face value. He stated, quote: “People are so closed minded. The song is not literal. Like most provocative art, it’s symbolism. Grow up.”
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Well, I am grown and it’s pretty obvious to me that “Russian Roulette” is literal. Check the lyric:
“Take a breath, take it deep
Calm yourself, he says to me
If you play, you play for keeps
Take the gun and count to three."
Then comes the chorus:
“You can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
That I’m terrified but not leaving
I know I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger.”
Add the gun sounds at the end of the song and “Russian Roulette” is about as literal as you can get. If it’s symbolic, then Chuck Harmony needs to explain what in the world it’s supposed to symbolize! But before he does that, he might want to have a conversation with his collaborator because Ne-Yo seems to think that Rihanna’s record is in fact about gun play.
Ne-Yo said, quote, “I’m listening to the track, and all I can see is Rihanna and some random person sitting across from each other at the table with a gun sitting in the middle of the table and playing Russian roulette. And I just started thinking, ‘What would go through your mind if you was in that situation?’”
I can’t stand Rihanna’s new record! There are a lot of anguished, frightened, emotionally beat-down young people out there and “Russian Roulette” is like splashing gasoline on smoldering coals.
Fortunately, Riahnna’s camp is already preparing to drop a new single. Something called “The Wait Is Ova” is supposed to come out within the next few weeks. Good. The sooner we get the disgusting “Russian Roulette” off of the radar and out of rotation the better!
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.
THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL…YET!
Read more “Turner’s Two Cents” on www.UrbanThoughtCollective.com, and www.PasadenaJournal.com. In Los Angeles, watch Cameron Turner on “The Filter with Fred Roggin” selected weeknights at 7:30 on KNBC’s digital companion station, NBC Plus (available on your local cable system).
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think." — Lorraine Hansberry
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Oct. 27: Actress Ruby Dee is 85.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
This is said to be the largest and most interactive Alicia Keys fansite in the "whole world!" It features the latest news updates and thousands of Keys' photos, etc. Check it out here: www.alicia-keys.net.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Oct. 27, 1891: P.B. downing patents Street Letter Drop Box. (Source:
www.BlackFacts.com)
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