The window random opening and closing....

Due to my computer getting sick ( Never buy a HP notebook, nothing but trouble) my postings will be hit and miss for the foreseeable future. Please bear with me.....

Bernie Madoff 150 years

I could not write it any better so courtesy ABC news.

Notorious Ponzi scammer Bernie Madoff has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years in prison for the $65 billion fraud that swindled his many devastated victims.

The former NASDAQ chairman receives maximum sentence for investment fraud.

More Photos

Judge Denny Chin said the sentence was a symbolic one for a crime that showed "extraordinary evil" and "took a staggering human toll."

Madoff, addressing the court in a dark suit, white shirt and black tie for about six minutes, said that when he started the scam, he thought he'd be able to "work my way out." He said he lives in a tormented state and expressed regret of leaving a "legacy of shame" to his family and grandchildren." Madoff said his wife Ruth will make a statement later today.

He maintained that he acted alone, saying, "How do you excuse lying to brother and sons? How do you excuse lying and deceiving a wife who stood by you for 50 years and still stands by you? There is no excuse for that and I don't ask for forgiveness."

He then faced his victims in court and said, "I'm sorry."

When the sentence was read, the courtroom broke out in applause.

Infomercial King Billy Mays passes.

TV product pitchman Billy Mays who made such household helpers as Oxi Clean famous passed away today in his Florida home. According to reports Mays’ wife found him unconscious and unresponsive in their home early this morning.

As of yet no cause of death has been determined however Mays was onboard a US Airways flight yesterday that had some trouble when the front tires blew out during the landing at Tampa’s airport. The passengers and crew were banged up but no serious injuries had been reported.

Carrie Bradshaw meets Kathy Griffin comic book style

Marvel has put out some really interesting projects lately in their further attempt to shake up the status quo of their universe but I have to admit this one I did not see coming.

"Marvel Divas" follow four D list female heroes from different walks of the Marvel Universe. Patsy Walker (Hellcat) and Monica Rambeau (Currently no code name) both former Avengers have formed a out of costume friendship with former Spider Man girlfriend Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) and former New Warrior Angelica Jones (Firestar)*.

While I have only read the preview it came off as one of those internal windows tot he super world that happens between the big battles that we don't get to see. The things that put the human in Super Human.

And though I am not a huge fan of "Sex in the City" which this book has clearly taken part of it's inspiration from, there is a self depreciating humor that exist in this book which I will enjoy.




*V I know she was an Avenger but she never really fit there hence the NW reference.

Future of the turntable?

Rhea Jeong's "void" turntable concept uses what would have to be incredibly strong and precise magnet control to levitate a record above its base. That little red ball on top of the vinyl is actually the needle.

We're not sure how the music would be outputted—would there be a transmitter in the red sphere? It's probably not worth worrying about that kind of minor issue as we're pretty sure the entire idea is impossible, but it's also creative and great to look at, and would almost certainly blow your parents' minds.

Practicla or not... I think it is just hot!

Still Remembering Michael!!!

Rest in Peace Michael

The public relations department is really busy in heaven today.
May you find the peace in death that seemed to elude you the last few years of your life.

Dear Michael, (ala Kim Fields)

You know who he is; you don’t need a history lesson from me. I am sure that many blogs will post the whole Jackson history.

For me when you say Michael Jackson the first thing that comes to mind is the 1984 Victory tour. As an after thought someone got me a ticket and the circumstances around me and the concert and my nuclear family at the time. But all that melted away when Mike took the stage. For three hours in my life at that time all my troubles melted away and I was just in pure music bliss. While his name and circumstances have changed in the recent past I will always appreciate the man and his talent for those three hours of my life.

At this point only TMZ is reporting that Michael is dead; all the other news outlets have him in a coma. Either way this goes this is how I choose to remember M.J., he’s “Bad”!!!

The Angel ascends to heaven!!!!!

Rest in Peace Farrah
May you be named Patron Saint of no longer abused women.

Good blacksploitation

This was help get the taste out of my mouth from the last post.

Robotic Blacksplotation 2.0

I am not gonna put a certain actor out there like that. I know my blog is small but there are so few black actors out there that I am not taking any chances especially with one I like. I will say that this actor was up for a role in the very early stages of this Transformers sequel and that they recognized that the character was an ugly black stereotype. I was at a project this actor did and the actor told this story to the audience about how Michael Bay had decided that he was done with being “Politically correct” and that people needed to get over themselves. While the part that the actor was up for did not make it into the cut of the movie it seems the attitude of Mr. Bay did.

"Jive-talking twin Transformers raise race issues

By SANDY COHEN

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" introduces some 40 new mechanized characters of all shapes, sizes and even sexes — but it's a pair of jive-talking 'bots that critics are singling out as more than just harmless comic relief.


Skids and Mudflap, twin robots disguised as compact Chevys, constantly brawl and bicker in rap-inspired street slang. They're forced to acknowledge that they can't read. One has a gold tooth.

As good guys, they fight alongside the Autobots and are intended to provide comic relief. But the traits they're ascribed raise the specter of stereotypes most notably seen when Jar Jar Binks, the clumsy, broken-English speaking alien from "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," was criticized as a racial caricature.

Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern described Binks in 1999 as a "Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit," a reference to a black character from the 1920s and '30s that exploited negative stereotypes for comic effect. Extending that metaphor to the "Transformers" sequel was AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire, who calls Skids and Mudflap "Jar Jar Binks in car form."

And Manohla Dargis, film critic for The New York Times, takes it a step further, writing that the "Transformers" characters were given "conspicuously cartoonish, so-called black voices that indicate that minstrelsy remains as much in fashion in Hollywood as when, well, Jar Jar Binks was set loose by George Lucas."

Director Michael Bay insists that the bumbling 'bots are just good clean fun.

"We're just putting more personality in," Bay said. "I don't know if it's stereotypes — they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it."

TV actor Reno Wilson, who is black, voices Mudflap. Tom Kenny, the white actor behind SpongeBob SquarePants, voices Skids. Neither immediately responded to interview requests for this story.

Bay said the twins' parts "were kind of written but not really written, so the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters."

"I purely did it for kids," the director said. "Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them."

Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman said they followed Bay's lead in creating the twins. Still, the characters serve no real purpose in the story, and when the action gets serious, they disappear entirely, notes Tasha Robinson, associate entertainment editor at The Onion.

"They don't really have any positive effect on the film," she said. "They only exist to talk in bad ebonics, beat each other up and talk about how stupid each other is."

Hollywood has a track record of using negative stereotypes of black characters for comic relief, said Todd Boyd, a professor of popular culture at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, who has not seen the "Transformers" sequel.

"There's a history of people getting laughs at the expense of African-Americans and African-American culture," Boyd said. "These images are not completely divorced from history even though it's a new movie and even though they're robots and not humans."

American cinema also has a tendency to deal with race indirectly, said Allyson Nadia Field, an assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"There's a persistent dehumanization of African-Americans throughout Hollywood that displaces issues of race onto non-human entities," said Field, who also hasn't seen the film. "It's not about skin color or robot color. It's about how their actions and language are coded racially."

If these characters weren't animated and instead played by real black actors, "then you might have to admit that it's racist," Robinson said. "But stick it into a robot's mouth, and it's just a robot, it's OK."

But if they're alien robots, she continued, "why do they talk like bad black stereotypes?"

Bay brushes off any whiff of controversy.

"Listen, you're going to have your naysayers on anything," he said. "It's like is everything going to be melba toast? It takes all forms and shapes and sizes."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved."

Can you re-imagine VIII

When M. Night first hit the scene I was really excited. He was a breath of fresh air and his stories were original. That lasted for 3 movies. Then there was a string of WTF movies starting with “The Village” and “The Happening”. So when it was announced that M. would be directing the live action remake of “Avatar The last airbender” an American anime, I was more than a little nervous. When word came out that there was an all white cast to play these Asian characters I was just scared. And even though I still have issues with the casting I have to admit the trailer kind of blew me away!

Taking the bull by the balls Part 3

I’m calling you sissies out!

Ok I am just gonna say it, The gays are getting on my nerves. I know I know your thinking “Hey DJ are you not gay?” Yes I am but I am a gay with common sense, ah these is the difference. It seems I am also a that is not a coward gay.

So several states have decided “Hey we got some real issues going on, if two men or two women want to get married and drive each other fucking crazy who am I to deny them that?” and so many states are passing gay marriage laws or some kind of equivelant. Everybody is getting in on the fun except for California, who can say why, maybe the closet movie stars decided they couldn’t vote against prop 8, but I digress.

President Obama who has stated in the past he does not believe in gay marriage but he does believe in equality says yes to civil unions or same couple unions or whatever the buzz word is. Personally if it allows me to visit my sick partner in the hospital without a lot of bullshit you can call it booboo kitty fuck! Anyway we have a President who is clearly on our side, much more than the previous one, but clearly he is not moving fast enough for my fellow homosexuals. So they have decided to attack him, and they are boycotting, and doing all kinds of “cutting off your nose to spite your face” type shit.

The ziplock commercial taught is yellow and blue make green but what does yellow and pink make? What the hell do you mean there is going to be a stonewall cocktail party or whatever it is that is gay themed and the power gays that are invited are not going? How fucking crazy are you people, I mean have the poppers fried your brain cells? Excuse my racism but Damn yall is real white!

Where was all this noise and revolt and boycott of the invites to the gays from the Bush White house….oh yeah that is right, yall didn’t get invited to the White House cause nobody gave a fuck about you then. So now that someone has shown you a little attention you have decided to grow a pair? That is so gay!

So to my fellow gays, you want Gay to be the new black and really mean it, you will A) Learn a little fucking patience, people of color still catching hell across the country and the Emancipation proclamation was put into effect back in 1862. The Black Power Movement was 1966-1975 and we are still looking for a level playing field. B) Don’t attack your allies. We were in the dark for over 8 years and now you want to bite the hand that is feeding you cause the vittles are not coming fast enough?

I wish Barack would invite me to the White House, two minutes face time to make my case, Hell yeah I am going!

You crazy sissies! Gay has a long way to go for it gets black, right now it is still very yellow!

Can you re-imagine VII

Ok here is the thing. I am really against this movie and until I saw the trailer I was refusing to see this movie. Hollywood in a rare gleem of wisdom decided to cast all these actors as teachers I would like to see. SO I will probably see the movie on video or television with one eye open. The cast includes Debbie Allen (this time as Principal of the school). Also Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, and Bebe Neuwirth, all people who keep me entertained!

Minority Reports

They thought it was over and done with, but racial ignorance and proof that the election of Barack Obama means that we have entered a “post racial” society is a myth continue to raise their head in the most unlikely of places. My four color fantasy place, the land of comic books.


Dwayne McDuffie is a writer, director, producer and personal hero of mine. He is living my dream as a comic book writer. He was also the co-founder of the Milestone comic book company which focused on original characters who were largely characters of color. One of his characters was even picked up for a Kids WB cartoon series “Static Shock”.


For the last two years Dwayne has been the writer of one of DC comics flagship book Justice League of America. The JLA is the group that on the average of twice a month save the world, the universe, even sometimes the whole of creation. Most of your DC A listers including but not limited to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern (all of whom either have movies out or in the making). Justice League has been interpreted into a not picked up live action Tv show, and several cartoons including Super Friends. All of this to say that in the world of comic geeks and DC the Justice League is a big deal and DC does not just pick a name out of a hat at random to write there big time books.


So on one of the comics sights Newsarama, Dwayne posted a preview of his upcoming final issue. Some of the comments made left me speechless.


“…how many blacks did McDuffie manage to sneak onto the team this time–five? (I bet DC editorial gave him the same order as Burger King in that lawsuit–to “lighten things up around here.”)”


“Why don’t they call this the “Minority League”? ”


“I don’t think anyone will support an original black “mainstream” character. I know I won’t.”


"Couldn't they get Static, Black Lightning, or one of his daughters instead of Dr. Light on the cover of BET League of America? Ha!"


And my personal favorite…….


“Maybe they should establish a separate league for all the negro superheroes. I’m not saying kick them ALL off. One would be okay. (Doesn’t Hollywood have some kind of law that says every movie has to have at least one black in it?) I just think they’re going overboard with all this diversity stuff. I mean, how many comics do minorities read anyway?”


Yeah that last one bothers me more than any of the other comments ( and that whole All Negro superhero comment comes close I mean really NEGRO??????)


It is very difficlult for me to understand that when one of the most popular comic book properties right now is the X-Men franchise, a continuing story about a group of people that have spent the entire lives being discriminated against for no reason other than they were born different that this kind of ignorant and racism can raise it’s head.


So for the record all you sheet wearing geeks, much like anything else geekdom comes in all colors and creeds. Yes minorities read and yes they read comics. And yes we like to see people like ourselves in those books.


Oh and no there is no “rule” that you must include one black in a movie, blacks, browns, yellows, pinks, etc are all part of this country and all have stories to tell. It is not like there is not a need after all, most of the incarnations of the JLA have been a little all white.

Back to the Grind

Hello Blogland, I am back from my completely unplanned vacation from blogging. When last we blogged I told you that my time was being used to prepare to take on City Hall and this bag “tax” that was being introduced. I am happy to report that while the issue has not been completely dropped the city council recognized that putting this into law was going to be no easy task and there were a lot of holes that needed to be filled.

I also made the local television news and was quoted in the paper. If you want to see me in action (recognizing that only soundbytes get used in these things) you can click here for the video( after the commercial).

Bag full of taxes

For any of my regular readers you know my posting has been a little light this past week, well there is a very good reason for that. Tomorrow I will be appearing before the City Council of Baltimore. A city councilman has introduced a bill that will charge a “surcharge” of 25 cent per plastic bag from any store in the Baltimore city area. In a economy that is already struggling and a city that was struggling long before that, you want to charge people a tax for basically grocery bags.


It is being introduced as a “green initiative”, a piece of legislature that would help the environment be free of plastic bags. Sounds great on the surface I know but what is the alternative? How do people on a fix income, people with no cars, people just ecking by as it is get their grocery’s home?


I also question how a bill proposed to deter people from using bags is being estimated to bring in a minimum of 1.6 million dollars in revenue?


Other cities have introduced similar legislature but it is on average between 4 and 6 cent. So tomorrow I am going to fight the power, and the research that I normally spend on my blogs has been spent on my day in council.


Wish me luck!!!!

The Tv's are a changin!!!!!

As of writing this we are about 5 minutes away from the biggest most confusing scam I have ever seen. TV is switching from analog to digital. Normally I am all for modern tech but I am never for having to have something. You need cable or converter boxes in order to get free telelvison channels. They can’t be broadcast in both analog and digital? And when the digital goes down ( don’t say it can’t happen) what do we do then?

Well good luck everyone, this is generally the point in the sci-fi movie where the machines get the first foothold on society before the big takeover!

In need of a good laugh today!

And Dot can always bring that......

Will anyone name him HERO???!!!!!

Yall know what happened. I am not writing his name, I am not giving him power here in my space. He was a man full of hate and he gave that hate a voice with a gun. If you want to know about him google search I am not writing about him.

I will write about Stephen T. Johns.

He was a guard for 6 years at the Holocaust museum. He was liked but his fellow employees. He will be missed. And that is pretty much all we know. Nobody has talked to his friends or family or neighbors. We only have the most basic of info on Stephen. WTF!!!

But the hate monger, I could write a whole bio on just what I have seen on the news, but i am not gonna do that.

Goodbye Stephen and thank you.... I will call you HERO here!!!!!

Not the kind of Master I am use too but I like it just the same

In just a few hours is the premiere of the Top Chef spin off show “Top Chef Masters”. Unlike previous incarnations of the show which pits beginners and relative unknowns against one another for a grand prize at the end, this show will feature chef’s that are already considered masters of the craft and will be competing for their favorite charity.

I will miss the series regulars Bear hottie Tom Colicchio and recently nude host Padma Lakshmi but I am willing to give the newbies (so to speak) a chance.

Hosting duties will fall upon food journalist Kelly Choi and judging duties will go to restaurant reviewer Jay Rayner, restaurant critic Gael Greene, and editor in chief of Saveur magazine James Oseland.

Can Bravo capture lighting in a GE microwave twice?

Wonder Woman in DC

Lynda Carter appeared in DC's Metro Weekly magazine discussing her new album, her new show, and gay rights.

Click pic for full article.

An evening with the Ifill

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing and meeting Gwen Ifill and her cousin Sherrilyn Ifill , civil rights attorney, at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. I have to tell you I don't know if they did this stuff at the Chicago Libraries but the Baltimore city library is kicking ass!

For those unfamiliar Gwen is a Journalist and author. She recently came into attention on the national stage because republicans tried to block her as moderator for the 2008 Vice Prediential debate because she had a book (already done) scheduled to come out called "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" and their was a feeling she might be impartial.

Gwen has been carried in The New York Times, Washington Post, and several major newspapers.

Michelle is better than Barbie!

Michelle Obama Inaugural Doll
An exquisite, all-porcelain collector doll capturing the very essence of our nation's First Lady.

Our skilled artisans have perfectly replicated Michelle Obama's Inaugural Ball attire down to the very last detail. Her white, one-shouldered chiffon evening dress has been hand-tailored and features all of the touches that made the original gown so spellbinding.

We've also expertly re-created her stunning diamond bangles, drop earrings, and sparkling cocktail ring. The result is an elegant porcelain sculpture that radiates with the First Lady's uncommon strength and beauty.

Order here