Blue-eyed Black People, Colorism, and Our Continued Dysfunction

And the blue-eyed black people debate continues at Field Negro. I wanted to save my latest response that's on a post that has nothing to do with colorism. I figure if I'm going to write that much on a topic, then I should say it at my own blog as well.

Field Negro's actual post is on voting rights, but it's become a post gone wild and way off topic in comments since one person who calls him or herself Field Negro G posted in the wrong section a response to someone talking about Michael Jackson's children and whether it's possible for black people to have blue eyes.

See my comments on colorism and New Orleans history below. I was responding to someone who said black people are so desperate for blue eyes that they are making bogus claims that blue eyes are common among black people. I never said that because I paid attention to genetics in biology, but someone else may have. As for my commentary below, I've said something similar somewhere else before but sometimes thoughts on a topic bear repeating. There are books written on this topic of skin color and colorism. What I say here is only a splinter of thought.

To Anonymous @ 10:12 p.m.--Just in case there's a misunderstanding, and since I can't tell if your comment is directed at me or at black people in general, I know exactly why we keep going in circles on blue eyes. I didnot say blue eyes are common in people of color or black people. I said they're unusual, to put it bluntly, rare.
However, I did object to misinformation that blue eyes are only possible in black people, meaning those identified as of African descent, as the result of disease. In addition, I made sure to identify the people of color of whom I spoke as those having white blood. It is the projection of a reader to assume that any writer is either proud of white blood or ashamed of it unless the writer says so. Many people are simply indifferent, feeling a focus on bloodline other than for purposes of understanding one's personal heritage, is unproductive, and a global focus on bloodline is frequently destructive, which was Hitler's hangup. Nevertheless, such discussions of ethnicity are necessary sometimes to put racism in perspective.

In my father's family, no one gets happy over light skin or light eyes or that his mother or some uncle could pass for white. They take pride that they chose not to pass. In Louisiana, a state that once enforced the one-drop law and had black codes forbidding women of color from wearing "finery and plumes" on the streets because it was believed such extravagance was the sure sign of a white male lover, (a state that) enforced laws such as no marriage between blacks and whites, not every black family is enamored of light skin and blue or green eyes popping up among its members. Some see it as nothing more than a reminder of a rape or somebody's mother being a paid mistress. Depending on lineage, light skin and light eyes may even be evidence of the traitorous deeds of a free person of color in New Orleans, some of whom owned slaves themselves.

On the other hand there were families so desperate to be light and stay light in order to retain social status in the Creole social clubs that they resorted to inner marrying. Take that however you like, but history's history. It's a complex and frequently painful subject.

Some of that history was discussed in comments on a post about Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at this link. One sister who identifies herself as light-skinned from a family that runs the gamut in color was offended at how dark-skinned blacks look down their noses at light-skinned blacks, in particular the phrase "light, bright, and damned-near white." True, it happens sometimes that some black people go out of their way to make a person of mixed race feel unwelcomed, but that reaction is almost as much an anomaly as black people having blue eyes. Frequently, we as a people are so afflicted in our self-hate that members of the race are more often not looking down the nose at lighter skin and blue eyes as much as they are looking on in lust. I am saddened that 40 years after "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," we remain as dysfunctional as ever on this subject. --Nordette Adams

Now, how about a little science to go with all this insanity? One person was smart enough to leave a link to what a geneticist has to say on the subject of black people and blue eyes at Stanford University, who says, "Yes." While it's uncommon, people of African descent, black people, can have children with blue eyes via recessive genes in their gene pool. All it takes is for both black parents to have had white people somewhere in their family tree, even somewhere way back in history.

This may also be a good time to invoke the name of Toni Morrison, the Nobel Prize winning African-American author whose novel The Bluest Eye tackled the longing of a little black girl to have blue eyes, a desire foreign to Morrison herself and to me as well.

New Post added July 9: "Complaints about Black Self-Hate, Complaints about CNN's Adoption Story from Black in America."

Mixed on Michael Jackson's Children

Each day the media cloud over Michael Jackson's death mushrooms broader and wider with rumor, speculation, and tidbits of fact. Today the big story is that Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's mother, has been awarded guardianship of all three of Michael's children, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. aka Prince, Paris Michael Katherine, Prince Michael Jackson II aka "Blanket."

CNN reports confirmation of this news. The picture of his two older children, Michael Jr. and Paris, is from CNN's confirmation story. You can also see the youngest, "Blanket," walking beside his sister.

I knew coverage of his death would get crazy, and as a journalist, I also know that you can't ignore a story this big, but I'm saddened that his children will continue to be part of that circus. I hope their grandparents can protect them. Folks are already openly debating whether his children are his biological children, and you can read people talking about it starting at one of Field Negro's posts in the comments section here, also here, and on this one as well. Eventually the media will pick this story up too, if not the MSM, then the tabloids, and what can come from this except more psychological pain for Michael's children?

Their parentage is something people have debated for a long time, but the masses should let the debate rest with the King of Pop in the grave and leave these children in peace. He said they are his children, and so, they are his children.

At Examiner.com, I wrote about a message MJ wrote on hotel stationery in 1995, which I as a writer consider the equivalent of leaving a desperate plea on a napkin, anything you can find to pen words that must come out. Here is part of that message, which liken mean-spirited critics to animals:

Animals strike, not from malice, but because they want to live, it is the same with those who criticize, they desire our blood, not our pain. But still I must achieve I must seek truth in all things. I must endure for the power I was sent forth, for the world for the children.

But have mercy, for I've been bleeding a long time now." (Written by Michael Jackson, 1995. Read more commentary on his plea for mercy here.)

Last night, Janet Jackson spoke at the BET Awards on behalf of the Jackson family, and by asking us to remember what Michael was to them, she too is asking for mercy, a measure of respect for human feeling and a loved one's memory. "To you Michael is an icon. To us Michael is family ...," said Janet.

The physician who was with him at the time of his cardiac arrest, Dr. Conrad Murray, is on the hot seat, and wisely has a lawyer.

The world awaits the results of the autopsy toxicology tests, and his family has asked for an additional autopsy. In the meantime, we hear over and over that MJ may have been addicted to prescription pain medication. If that's repeated enough, after a time, people will assume it's true no matter what the toxicology report says later. All this and we haven't had the funeral yet. Plus, the will and discovery of his assets will be a mess for the history books,

Make it stop!

I say that knowing it won't stop in my lifetime. Like Elvis, Michael Jackson's legacy is eternal, eternally praised and eternally smeared. But to his family, for those of us who were blessed by his music and appreciate that blessing, I paraphrase the rest of Janet Jackson's quote and say, he will live with dignity in the hearts of those who loved him.

Laura Izibor says she's an Old School soul

WYLD's playing Laura Izibor's "From My Heart to Yours" like it's brand new, which to me it is. I had not heard this song until Friday, and I like it. When I looked up Izibor online, I found out the song was released in 2008. However, her new album, Let the Truth Be Told, was released last month.

I will be hitting Amazon later to preview and possibly add the album to my MP3 player. Actually, as I write this, I'm previewing some more of her work on her site and thinking, I'll probably buy it. Now I'm hearing "Mmmm." Definitely, I'm buying this.

In an interview with The Guardian in January, she Izibor calls herself "an Old School soul." She knows herself because when I heard "From My Heart to Yours," I thought, who's that. She sounds old school.

Wikipedia says she was born in May 1987, which would make her 22. Her website says she's 20. Based on an interview with the singer, I think her website needs updating. She's from Ireland, and is part Nigerian. According to Wikipedia, some of her music was featured on Grey's Anatomy, which I didn't watch much this year, and so I guess I missed that.

Janet Jackson Speaks at BET Awards on Michael Jackson

In possibly the only genuinely touching moment of the BET Awards tribute to Michael Jackson, his sister Janet Jackson was escorted on stage by host Jamie Foxx, and she said the following, which I tweeted:

"To you Michael is an icon. To us Michael is family, and he will live in all of our hearts." Janet Jackson BET Awards #twibet09 Touching

She also thanked the audience and the world for the love shown in the time of this time of grief, nearly tearing up.

Foxx said the show was a celebration of Michael Jackson's life, and he likened it to the New Orleans tradition of celebrating or having a parade when a person dies: "Cry when a soul comes into the world. Laughs when it goes out." It's true, we do have that tradition here, but the celebration is after the funeral usually; that's when we have the second line dancing and parade. Yet, I think we should celebrate Michael Jackson's life as an entertainer and philanthropist, remember what he's given to the world.

Many of the tweets I saw on Twitter did not give the show high marks. The highlight of the evening for me was the O'Jays performing their hits. The show, otherwise, was let down. I even wish Maxwell had sung something else, but I did enjoy him.

Nevertheless, the performers who were there keep talking about how emotional the event was for them. Perhaps it felt different to be there in flesh and blood, but whatever it was they felt for Michael Jackson, those emotions did not translate well to the viewing audience at home.

The performers continued patting themselves on the back during the after show because they put the tribute together in so short a time. I guess I'll cut some slack given the time factor, but really I think some of them need the Auto-Tune, the machine about which Jay-Z speaks in his song "Death to the Autotune." He performed it tonight, which in some ways is glorifying the inability to sing well.

I give Jay-Z props that it took some smarts to come up with the song, and the back-up singing "Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na. Hey, hey, hey. Good-bye" off key from Steam's "Kiss Him Good-bye" one of the greatest sing along songs of all time is a nice touch. Or maybe it's a swipe at Akon (plus rappers Jay-Z names) because Steam's song came out long before the Auto-Tune was created. But what a con, to sell people bad singing. I say that but on some level I like Jay-Z's "song" even though I will always like "Kiss Him Good-bye" more because I've got memories with Steam's song.

MrsGrapevine has updates of the BET Awards with pictures, which is where I found the Janet Jackson photo from the show. Here is a Twitter stream of just one of the BET Awards hash searches. You can also look at the tweets sent to the BET Awards producers on Twitter.

Plus, here is a screenshot of some of tweets exchanged about Beyonce's "Ave Maria" performance outfit:

And I saw much worse written on Twitter about Beyonce Knowles, but also people who only said how much they love her.

Generally, I like Beyonce, but I didn't care for her "Ave Maria" performance. She won the award for best video later, "Single Ladies," and that was deserved.

Celebrity Deaths: No Rule of Threes

I've been guilty of making this statement, "Oh, he died. Well, that's one. Who will be the next two?" But I've never really bought the crazy theory that celebrities die in threes or bad news comes in threes. So when I make comments like who's the third, I'm chit-chatting, not serious, unless I've got a question or two for the universe that day. As I said in my post on Billy Mays's death today, "I'm at first a skeptic."

On the cockeyed rule of threes wives tale, the assertion that celebrities deaths or the deaths of important people happen in threes, I will never be convinced. I also said in my post on Mays's passing:

The recent deaths, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and now Mays, blows that kooky theory of celebrities dying in threes. (Billy Mays is dead?)

But people love sensationalistic, hokus pokus nonsense. Over at Digital City, this dumbness already has 79 tweets, "Celebrity Death Rule of Threes: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon." I'd bet most of the people didn't even read the full article, but tweeted it anyway because this theory of people dying in threes seems mysterious.

I'm sure if you look around, you'll find others making a similar observation about McMahon, Fawcett, and Jackson's deaths. Each time we have a rash of celebrity deaths, somebody says this.

Like most things, when people want to support a superstition or myth, they conveniently overlook other critical information that invalidates what they want to believe. In this case, the death of David Carradine two weeks ago made it four not three. Going forward, the death of Billy Mays makes it five not three.

The world saw a rash of celebrity deaths in the last two months of 2006. In November 2006, Ed Bradley (Nov. 9), Gerald LeVert (Nov. 10) and Jack Palance (Nov. 10) died. On December 25, 2006, the Godfather of soul, James Brown died, and former President Gerald Ford died the next day, but quite a few other celebrities died in November and December 2006. I had other blogs back then and felt like every time I turned around somebody famous was dying.

Cockeyed.com has a chart for the same phenomena in 2005. We remember the names we recognize and forget the rest. When people with bigger names die in groups, that's evidence of randomness at work in the universe, not a law of threes. People see patterns where there is no pattern.

The Death Tarot card is from the FBI's site article about the DC sniper who left these cards with "Call Me God" written at the top. I thought it was a fitting graphic because people trying to make sense out of death is similar to how people try to define and figure out the mind of God.

Related in celebrity death coverage: "Michael Jackson's Message on a Napkin: Have Mercy"

Billy Mays, Master Pitchman is Dead?

Some people found him and his voice incredibly annoying. The shouting made them crazy. Not me. Billy Mays, known as the King of the Infomercial, the master salesman, fascinated me because he could sell anything. I wondered what it was about him that made people rush to the phone and buy what he hawked.

What made him so convincing? I think it's he seemed authentic and sincere. Even though smart people know not to trust salesmen, Mays seemed like he believed what he was saying.

This morning Mays died, report multiple news sources. According to CNN:

The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillsborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said.

He died at his home in Tampa Bay, Fla. There's speculation that his death may be related to a bump on the head. He recently was on a plane that had a hard landing after blowing a tire.

I never picked up the phone and bought anything Mays sold because I try to avoid anything buying seen on an infomercial. I'm at first a skeptic. However, if I heard friends and neighbors saying what he sold worked, I might try it when it if hit stores. A lot of times what he advertised did work, in particular Oxi Clean. Oxi Clean is amazing. It's possible that because Oxi Clean was such a great product, Mays gained more credibility for other products he hawked.

It was only one night last week that I saw him on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien with fellow salesman Antony Sullivan. They were promoting their new reality TV show Pitchmen which is scheduled to air its first show July 1 on the Discovery Channel.



The recent deaths, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and now Mays, blows that kooky theory of celebrities dying in threes.

The photo is credited to AP in a Fox News story, but it looks like a promo shot to me.

Bittersweet Irony: Prince's Purple Rain Anniversary on Michael's Death

Forever and ever, June 25 may be remembered as the day the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, left this plane for the next. However, the date, June 25, 2009, was important to popular music lovers for another reason. It marked the 25th anniversary of Prince's release of Purple Rain. Fellow writer, Prof. Kim, both remarked on the irony of a legend's death and a legend's anniversary.

On Facebook, Professor Kim reminded members of the rivalry between the two superstars, MJ and Prince, that was hyped in the media as Purple Rain made its debut. I've seen long forum debates about who's better, the King of Pop or the Prince of Funk. Actually, their styles are only similar on the surface, so why compare?

I grew up loving Michael Jackson, but in my late teens and beyond became a Prince addict. Later Prince won an Oscar for the song, "Purple Rain," which was the theme of his movie by the same name, and he deserved that Oscar.

Entertainment Weekly asked readers to share their memories of "Purple Rain."

But you tell us, readers. What are your best memories of Purple Rain? The first time you saw the movie, heard the Doves Cry, realized He Would Die 4 U? Did you ever know a more Darling Nikki? Tell it all, below. Cuz honey, I know I know times are changing, that it's time we reach out for something new, but the Purple One is forever, and respect must be paid. (EW)

I remember thinking that Prince was one freaky genius when I heard the music and that he could use some acting lessons when I saw the movie, which had some disturbing scenes. Domestic violence is always disturbing.

Yes, I am a purple hippie, so much so that my own children make fun of me about it. Consequently, I had to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of Purple Rain.

Prince - Purple Rain (Live Original)
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OSF: Michael Jackson, Personal Remembrance

Yesterday we and the whole world took a blow to the heart when it was announced that Michael Jackson had suffered cardiac arrest and died. I said some of what I have to say for now in my post yesterday. Today, as part of the Old School Friday meme, of which the theme is rightfully a remembrance of Michael Jackson, I add the "Smooth Criminal" music video.

Something not many people know is that in addition to Michael's having been a supremely talented performer, he is also a patent holder. He helped create the specially-designed shoes for the "Smooth Criminal" video that allowed him and the other dancers to lean so far, one of the most remarkable moves ever.

I grew up as a Jackson 5 maniac. If they were on the TV, I was there. If they put out a record, I had to have it, and with most little girls of the 60s and early 70s, I was in love with Michael Jackson. I still know the music lyrics, just put on "I Want You Back," "Stop the Love," "ABC," or "I'll Be There" and all the others and I am there.

By the time Michael was rising to stardom as a solo artist, I was smack into family life and wasn't buying music the way I used to, but I was there with the rest of America in awe of his award-winning performance at Motown's 25th Anniversary. He blew me away and I smiled like he was my blood brother on television.

I made time between family obligations to watch his music videos that seemed to be always on in the 80s. Also being a movie musical junkie, I ate up his videos which spotlighted not only his music and songwriting ability but also his genuine genius as a dancer. It seemed he was single-handedly reviving the big movie studio musical genre through the music video.

I didn't mean to write so much.

If you see errors please forgive me because I'm on my way out the door to pick up my son, but since I don't know when I'll get back, I had to write my OSF post first. Like others, I don't think I've absorbed that Michael Jackson is gone from this earth but praise heaven we have him forever through his life's work. Watching the people gather in spots associated with him and seeing the young people dance outside the Apollo are moments to remember as well.

Here's the full-length Smooth Criminal.


Michael Jackson, King of Pop, may he rest in peace and may his gifts to us be remembered always.

The creators of the Old School Friday meme are Mrs. Grapevine and Marvalus at Conversations with Marva and has these rules, if you want to join this theme party.

Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett: Too Soon. Too Much

Too soon. Too much. A downpour of sorrow in one day. Farrah Fawcett, an icon in my teen years, gone, dead from cancer at 62. Then comes the rumor that the pop culture icon of my generation has been rushed to a California hospital, Michael Jackson. This is where the reversion comes, the falling back to teen screams like, "Oh my god!" and then the realizations of an older woman, "Oh, Jesus."

What is it about these people? Is it that we see them grow and then go and it's our own youth dying in an instant before our eyes? We feel like we know them, Farrah and Michael, that family members have passed away.

By the time Farrah Fawcett's star arose in the 70s in print and on TV, the Jacksons were well-established music royalty. However, Michael had broken away from the pack. By then, I had stripped my walls of the Jackson 5, but I had not stripped my heart of Michael and his star grew brighter and brighter.

Over the years, though, I grew up myself, had babies, and Michael changed, and I became less interested in him as The King of Pop. He'd become the distant friend you rarely call in my world but remember always, and yet, when news came today that he'd gone to the hospital in cardiac arrest, I found myself unnerved. When the news worsened, coming fairly quickly that he was in a coma and then that he'd died at age 50, I unraveled a bit. I had told myself that he'd recover, but I was wrong.

Now come the news stories, the reviews of both their lives, the keepsake magazine issues, and memories played back on CNN,and local TV, and out pop the CDs, DVDs, MP3s, and vinyl. There will be days and days of this. Most likely I will not watch it much on the news, but visit clips later online and dig through my own collection when the moment's quiet and people are talking less.

My prayers are with both these families, Farrah's and Michael's, and with us who feel we too are part of the family. I can't write more. Megan Smith at BlogHer.com is building a good retrospective of Michael's life.

Added this Michael Jackson with James Brown clip at a tribute to James Brown.

Self -Mythology: What Myths Do You Tell You About You?

We need stories, stories about others, stories about things smaller and bigger than we, and stories about ourselves. The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves can help us reach goals and live the best life possible or they can keep us locked in fear and self-defeating behaviors. In our stories are the seeds of faith for our futures. What story are you telling you about you?

Are you the tragic victim or damsel in distress in your life's tale, waiting for the white knight who may never come, or are you the heroine who will save herself? Are you the person who is least likely to have anything amazing happen to her or him who believes that dullness is your destiny based on past life experience? Listen to your thoughts, the ones that play on loop when you're busy with daily chores. What gossip do you spread to yourself about you, what's your self-mythology?

We need not shun myth when it engages and inspires, but when a myth keeps us trapped and on the path to negative self-fulfilling prophecies, we have to let it go. One myth that I think I've told myself about myself without being consciously aware that I tell myself this story is that I am Job. Well, at least I'm half of the Job myth, the first half in which Job has boatloads of tribulation.

For no reasons other than to test me, goes the embedded thought, God's going to look down and let evil forces rip my life apart to see what I'm made of, and I believe this despite knowing I am not righteous like Job is said to have been. I've adopted the scarier side of the Judaeo-Christian God as my God partly. What does this do for me but set me up to expect the worst and by doing so I possibly do not perform at the highest level because I think I've got this Job cloud, limitations to my success? Why aim for the sky if you're only due valleys? (For those who read literally, I'm not telling you that Job is a myth. I am using the word "myth" to mean a great story that contains truth.)

However, while I've adopted Job as part of my mythology, I am drawn back to the Metis myth, the story of a goddess, Zeus's first wife, whom he swallowed because he believed a prophecy that said Metis's children would surpass him in greatness. I see in the Metis myth the desire of the controlling male to prevent the female he fears may be his superior from reaching her full potential. If you know this myth, then you know that after Zeus swallowed Metis, he developed a tormenting headache, and later the goddess of wisdom, Athena, sprang fully-grown from his head dressed in full armor.

Given some very personal experiences that I will not share here, I think there's a lesson my subconscious is trying to teach me through the Metis myth. If I embrace it, then I will have triumphed over the Job myth that haunts my mind and accept that no matter what befalls me, my dreams will bear fruit. In other words, my subconscious begs me to embrace a personal hope, not for what may happen in the afterlife, but what will happen in the physical life. A now hope.

Self-mythology, like world mythology, is rarely based on fact but suspected truths. That you are smart may be a fact. That you can achieve great goals may only be a feeling you have that motivates you to keep going, belief in a suspected truth. Have you noticed that some people take a notion to do a great thing, something others would not believe they could achieve, and they just do it? What kinds of stories do you think such people believe about themselves?

Yes, I now this will sound kind of far out and mystical to some readers, but it's as much about psychology as it is about spirituality. Others will recognize my line of thinking as not new but ancient.

In the comments section below, if you're comfortable enough to do so, please share a self-myth that you suspect holds you back. Sometimes telling our fears and the negative stories we tell ourselves about ourselves frees us to walk in clearer self-knowledge. I would be equally pleased to hear the self-mythology that has helped you to be a success.

The Movie Sparkle and Whatever Happened to ...?

Over at IMDB, the movie Sparkle (1976), a movie about a fictional singing group, The Williams Sisters, has only 6.5 stars. I'm not sure why because I haven't seen Sparkle, from which the clip above comes, in about 30 years, but I do remember seeing it when it was in theaters. The movie was very popular and loved.

What happened to the three actresses who made up the singing group in Sparkle? The movie predates the similarly-themed Dreamgirls Broadway musical by five years. Sparkle is also reportedly inspired by The Supremes of Motown Records. Interestingly, the name "Effie" is in both Sparkle and in Dreamgirls. In Sparkle it's the name of the Williams sisters' mother. In Dreamgirls it's the name of a major character in the singing group, the one played by Jennifer Hudson.

Lonette McKee: McKee played Sister in Sparkle, the doomed sibling who died of a drug overdose. According to her own website and IMDB, McKee is still working in the industry. You may have seen her on TV in the series The Game. In her personal life, she works with low-income family issues and is also an animal lover. In particular, she adores birds and is writing a book about her life and her love of these creatures.

Irene Cara: Cara, who most people associate with the movie Fame played the main character, Sparkle, in the movie Sparkle. According to IMDB, Cara has not been in front of the camera since 1995. In fact, if you search Cara's name in news, you come up with Naturi Naughton, the young lady who's getting attention for singing the Fame theme that Cara made popular. The movies on redux. However, Cara's website indicates she's still in the music industry. Music seems to be her first love, and people sometimes forget she won an Oscar for "What a Feeling," the theme from Flashdance. A bit of trivia, but not to Cara, she disputes web sources that list her birth year as 1959 and maintains she was born in 1962.

Dwan Smith: Smith played the third sister, Dolores, in Sparkle. According to IMDB, the actress appeared in the movie House Party 4 (2007). Unlike the other two actresses, she doesn't have a website.

A 10-Year-Old Asks Us To Ban the "N" Word

A fellow BlogHer CE shared this with me. YAY! O.K. It made me cry. The young man is Johnathan E. McCoy, age 10, and he's giving a speech about the need to get rid of the "N" word. From YouTube, "Jonathan started a petition in February 2009 at petitionspot.com. You may pledge your support by going to: http://www.petitionspot.com."

The Curious Case of Brad Pitt for Mayor of NOLA

Brad Pitt. The tabloids won't give the gorgeous man a rest. Every detail of his relationship with Angelina Jolie is constantly under scrutiny, and with the release of Inglorious Basterds in late summer and today's stories about the hitch for his movie Moneyball, we know we're going to be Pittched at least weekly in the next few months. But Brad Pitt for Mayor of New Orleans? ... Please continue reading at BlogHer.com.

Bo, the Obama's dog, gets baseball card, new scandal

According to the Christian Science Monitor, a scandal already swirls around presidential pooch Bo Obama's official portrait and newly released baseball card. That's right, a scandal. Will the Obama family ever get a break about this puppy?



This time the tongue-in-cheek flap is that John Cook of Gawker noticed Bo's favorite food, as listed on the baseball card, looked odd. It says Bo eats tomatoes, which are considered poisonous to dogs in large quantities, and so Cook doggedly checked the story with the White House.

“Bo does not eat tomatoes,” a spokeswoman for the First Lady told Cook.

“It was all a joke, they say. When Bo first came to the White House, back in April, Obama ad-libbed a little zinger to the press: ‘The only concern we have is apparently Portuguese water dogs like tomatoes — Michelle’s garden is in danger,’ he said.”

“So when the White House ginned up it’s latest propaganda campaign to foist Bo on the American people just like they’re doing with Communism, they inserted a little joke in there — ‘Favorite food: tomatoes — or toys’ — for the greater glory of the Anointed One, to remind us all how funny he is.”

Cook solved this one. Awards will certainly follow. (quote from the CS Monitor's amusing story via Cook's article)

The CS Monitor article continues and tells of another story about a different First Dog and controversy. Cook's original article at Gawker with the headlin--"Barack Obama is lying to you about his puppy"--is cute with its mock indignation.

But honestly, the Obamas have been through the wringer with dog. Remember the complaints that the dog wasn't a shelter pup? I wrote about that and heard from a vegan and animal lover who felt the Obamas had politically misstepped. She argued that President Obama should have told his daughters they would not get the dog he promised but a goldfish instead because making a statement about shelter dogs was more important. To this day I don't get the uproar and extreme passion of people who felt it would have been better for the Obamas to break a promise to their children and get no dog rather than reach the compromise they did about Bo.

Well, here's video of Bo in action, saying "no" to reporters.



In a different video, he seems to have gotten used to the people with the mics, sort of.


This dog needs his own YouTube channel there are so many videos up. And as expected, the Obama's choice of a Portuguese Water Dog has caused a spike in people wanting the breed.

Twitter and Facebook Poll: Saying thanks for following, annoying?

Do you get notices from Facebook and Twitter or just check your page inbox or direct messages when you visit? Either way, how do you feel about people sending you notes such as "Thank you for friending me" (on Facebook or Myspace) or "Thanks for the follow" (on Twitter). Is it okay on Facebook and MySpace but annoying on Twitter?

Does it make sense to say "Thank you for following me" because it builds a rapport with other community members?

Now and then I hear complaints from people saying they don't like the thank you notes because the notes are simply insincere "buy me" plugs or visit my blog promos. Others say nonsense! If somebody found you interesting enough to follow, then maybe they want to know more about you. And some people think the "Thank you" notes are sweet when coming from people who seem sincere. "Besides," they say, "Twitter and Facebook are forms of social media. People should be social and that includes saying their 'thank yous'."

What's your opinion?

Here is a poll. Please select the answer that best reflects your feelings or thinking on the subject. And please leave an additional comment in the comments section if you have more to say on this topic. Either way, please vote!

Thank you.

American Vampire League and Fellowship of the Sun Commercials

I get a kick out of the commercials running on HBO for the American Vampire League and also the Fellowship of the Sun, two fictitious organizations from HBO's True Blood. Remind you of anything in real life?

BTW, if you're reading this and are a fan of the show, did you know that the creator of the Sookie Stackhouse book series, Charlaine Harris, will be doing a cameo on True Blood in the near future?





And of course, The Perspective: Vampire News.



See Blood Copy for more. This is all part of a creative viral campaign.

Who Wants to Live Forever? Queen in Midlife, O.K. Sometimes I Quote Myself

Just read a great post at Midlife Bloggers, "Eternal Youthfulness: Is it a Myth? Do We Even Want It?" by Elaine.

My comment on that:

What I think we really fear losing about our youth is the sense of excitement towards our unlived years; our thirst to do what we’ve only imagined. Life after forty smacks a lot of the same ole, same ole. (from the MLB post)

I’ve noticed this as well. Movie plots are all repeats, new novels are rarely novel or unique, and I’ve heard those jokes before. It takes work to keep the passion flowing and a zest for life, to dig yourself out of a rut. :-) But you also have the advantage of wisdom and being more discriminating about what seems new to you before you try it.

Would I drink? Writing on vampires recently puts a whole new twist on my thought process about that. And, while not a vampire show, a line from the Highlander theme by Queen keeps running through my mind, “Who wants to live forever? Who wants to liver forever?” Hmm. Eternal youth with eternal energy and fantastic health maybe great, but I wonder if the price would be to never learn the right lessons. Enjoyed the post.

Follow me on Twitter @nordette_verite

Somedays I'd welcome a quick end, and others, I wish I could gone on forever.

What is the Defense of Marriage Act and Why Are Gays ticked with Obama?

This morning I was reading "Gay critics say 'too little, too late' from Obama" when I read that while President Obama signed a memorandum Wednesday that gives some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, he's prohibited from granting "health and retirement benefits to same-sex partners, as that is prohibited under the Defense of Marriage Act." I wondered what the who? If I've ever heard of a Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, I've forgotten about it.

Britannica states, "... in 1996 the U.S. Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act. This legislation declared that same-sex marriages would not be recognized for federal purposes, such as the award of Social Security benefits normally afforded to a surviving spouse or employment-based benefits for the partners ..."

Democratic President Bill Clinton, btw, signed DOMA into law:

On Friday, September 20, prior to signing the Defense of Marriage Act, President Clinton released the following statement:

Throughout my life I have strenuously opposed discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans. I am signing into law H.R. 3396, a bill relating to same-gender marriage, but it is important to note what this legislation does and does not do.

I have long opposed governmental recognition of same-gender marriages and this legislation is consistent with that position. The Act confirms the right of each state to determine its own policy with respect to same gender marriage and clarifies for purposes of federal law the operative meaning of the terms "marriage" and "spouse".

This legislation does not reach beyond those two provisions. It has no effect on any current federal, state or local anti-discrimination law and does not constrain the right of Congress or any state or locality to enact anti-discrimination laws. I therefore would take this opportunity to urge Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, an act which would extend employment discrimination protections to gays and lesbians in the workplace. This year the Senate considered this legislation contemporaneously with the Act I sign today and failed to pass it by a single vote. I hope that in its next Session Congress will pass it expeditiously.

I also want to make clear to all that the enactment of this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation. Discrimination, violence and intimidation for that reason, as well as others, violate the principle of equal protection under the law and have no place in American society. (Bill Clinton's Statement)

I think I missed DOMA being signed into law because during the first half of the 90s I wasn't doing much other than trying to finish school and taking care of two children and an overly-content husband.

While investigating DOMA, I thought it best to read what a mainstream Christian publication has to say about it since the Christian church has been a major opponent of gay marriage. Christianity Today published an article a few days ago saying that the Department of Justice recently defended DOMA in a specific case. I'm not sure the DOJ was defending DOMA as much as it was asking the case be dismissed on grounds of a technicality, "wrong jurisdiction," etc.

However, the DOJ did indeed assert while arguing its case that DOMA doesn't violate any fundamental rights. Does the President believe this or were DOJ attorneys just doing what attorneys do, stand the ground they're given?

The Christianity Today article cites a San Francisco Chronicle article on the case that's very good at explaining what's what. It seems Obama promised during his campaign to repeal DOMA, but hasn't taken any action yet to do so while the DOJ has made the case that DOMA is not discriminatory.

The Justice Department issued a statement saying Obama wants the law repealed "because it prevents LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) couples from being granted equal rights and benefits. However, until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system."

The administration is seeking dismissal of a suit by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer of Mission Viejo (Orange County), who married last year before California voters passed Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. The state Supreme Court upheld Prop. 8 last month but also upheld the validity of 18,000 same-sex marriages performed before the November election. (SFC)

So, Obama signing that memorandum yesterday does seem to be, as the CNN writer says, an offering of the olive branch to the GLBT community. He's moving too slowly for them and he know sit, and it's no surprise that they're giving him hell about his piecemeal measures.

The Ever Offensive Abercrombie & Fitch

Not the salt of the earth but the sugar of affluent youth, Abercrombie & Fitch with its image of sexy college prep gods and goddesses is the bastion of unabashed elitism, promoting the perfect clothes, the perfect fit, and the perfect body. It's alleged that this image goes beyond its sleek print ads to the brick and mortar floor of its stores from which a disabled employee shouts that A&F discriminates against mortals such as she. ...

Please continue reading this post at BlogHer.com.

Choked for Challenging: OHP Trooper Defense on Black EMT Incident

The attorney for Daniel Martin, the Oklahoma trooper who choked black paramedic Maurice White, Jr., against an ambulance, is busy defending his client's reputation. However, no one's been charged with a crime in the May 24 incident. Attorney Gary Jones says the OHP investigation stopped his client from telling his version of events.

Hmm. The video really says all I care to know.

From NewsOn6.com, it seems the defense is citizens get choked for challenging troopers.

Trooper Martin returned from serving in Iraq two months ago and Jones said he was a hometown hero until the "undue" publicity of the scuffle with the paramedic tarnished his reputation.

Jones said Trooper Martin was within his legal authority to stop the ambulance because the ambulance was not running with its lights or sirens on.

James also said the paramedic escalated the situation by challenging the trooper.

In May Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers stopped Creek Nation paramedic White and his partner, EMS driver Paul Franks, over a traffic violation, failure to yield. The emergency workers had a female patient in the ambulance and were taking her to the hospital. Martin was caught on video choking White against the side of the ambulance and telling him he was under arrest. An unaffiliated police trainer said most officers are not taught to grab a subject's neck when face to face, but to go for hands and arms instead.

Most people don't care about training, which he more than likely did not use. Training has nothing to do with it when a man can't make wise decisions in the first place. White told Martin he had a patient for transport to the hospital, but Martin kept screaming at him. What we want to know is, "What the hell is wrong with Martin, and should he be in any position of authority and allowed to carry a gun?

As one reader, LeOpard13, asked on this blog, Why was the trooper screaming at White that he was under arrest for a traffic violation when White wasn't even the driver?

The attorney's defense that White challenged the trooper fits what I said in my first post on this topic:

I believe it doesn't matter whether a black man is a bona fide criminal or a trained professional with a clean record, some police officers will treat him like an animal, especially if he doesn't show strict submission to the officers. (first post)

And now we see, that's the defense, choked for challenging. Par for the course. Yes, I'm repeating myself, trying to rap my head around this defense. While it's the defense I figured Martin had in his mind all along, the "no black man's gonna challenge me and get a way with it" defense for police brutality, I'm mulling over what it means that his attorney would utter it to the press.

Shortly after the incident with national heat on, the OHP said it had dash cam video showing its troopers' side of the story. More than one trooper came on the scene as it escalated.

Here is a NewsOn6 transcript of the video that the OHP thinks makes its troopers' case:

First confrontation:

Maurice White, Paramedic: My name is Maurice White, I'm a (unintelligible) paramedic.

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: I'm going to give you a ticket for failure to yield and when I go by you saying, 'what's going on,' you don't need to be giving me no hand gestures now. I ain't going to put up with that ****. You understand me?

Maurice White, Paramedic: And I won't put up with you talking to my driver like that.

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: I ain't listening to you, buddy. You get your *** back in the ambulance or I'll take you in. I'm talking to the driver.

In his statement to OHP authorities, Trooper Martin claims he wasn't immediately informed there was a patient on board the ambulance.

But the video shows Maurice White telling Martin that they are transporting a patient and asks the situation be resolved at the hospital.

Second confrontation:

Maurice White, Paramedic: We're taking my patient to the hospital. You can take me to jail, we'll discuss this okay?

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: Come here Paul.

Maurice White, Paramedic: No, no. I got a patient in this...

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: Get your *** (unintelligible).

Martin eventually releases White, but tells the driver that White is going to be arrested for obstruction.

Third confrontation:

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: I didn't need your manager or whoever it is in the back and the paramedic...whoever happens to be in charge, get out the car obstructing, okay.

Paul Franks, Ambulance Driver: I understand.

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: You understand?

Paul Franks, Ambulance Driver: Yes sir, I do.

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: He's going to jail.

Paul Franks, Ambulance Driver: unintelligible

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: Yeah. You don't jump out and talk to a state trooper like that. You understand me? I don't care who you are, you're not running code, you're not running emergency, okay?

Trooper Martin eventually checks on the patient before looking to place Maurice White in custody.

Fourth Confrontation:

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: Hey, you're going to jail, you understand me? You are under arrest.

Maurice White, Paramedic: Okay.

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: You are under arrest. Now get in there.

Maurice White, Paramedic: I would like to press charges on him for assaulting a paramedic.

Trooper Daniel Martin, Oklahoma Highway Patrol: No, I didn't assault you. I told you to turn around. (Source)

This looks like another case of a white man thinking black men must do as he says even if the black men are on the job performing in an official capacity. O.K., it's also possible that Martin is a jackass control freak and would have done this to anybody. As RevvyRev said on the first post here:

I don't know yet whether this is another police gone wild issue or if it is the manifestation of the rapidly expanding "Negroes have no titles, positions, authority, competencies, or professional designations or duties" club that is becoming more and more visible in this country. (RevvyRev also blogs at The Certain Sound)

What you can't see in the video or read in the transcript is that Trooper Martin's wife was in the his OHP car at the time, watching him handle White. Now, you know that became a manhood issue, right? Her presence also suggests that Martin knew when he stopped the ambulance that the EMTs were no real threat, unless he's crazy enough to put his wife in jeopardy. Stopping the men with his wife in the car takes away any defense of him feeling a sense of danger when he grabbed White's throat.

Martin needs counseling until he can get over whatever trauma it is he brought back from Iraq to visit on the citizens of Oklahoma, which could be eternal counseling. Veteran or not, we don't owe him anyone's life and he should be kept out of any position of authority where he has to make a life and death decision. He doesn't need to be near a gun either if this is how he handles a tense situation.

And the OHP thinks this video makes the trooper look justified? They'd have been better off keeping that dash cam clip in an OHP safe. Martin's on administrative leave.

You can also see in the dash cam video Kenyada Davis shooting his cell phone video of the incident that ended up on CNN and YouTube.

Viral? BK's Flame and Brit Piers Morgan's Bod

This may be too stupid for words or it may work as Burger King's latest viral campaign. The burger chain launched a new cologne called Flame a while back, and now has a commercial featuring America's/Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan, who is also winner of one season of Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. I guess Simon Cowell declined.

Is Burger King serious? In a way, the chain may be serious because it did really produce the cologne, which you can buy for $4. Also, it is the same chain that brought us the "I like square butts" commercial featuring children's cartoon character Sponge Bob Square Pants. That campaign didn't sit so well with some parents, but the King laughed in the their faces. (I missed its WhopperSacrifice campaign that was supposedly ingenious.)

BTW, sources report that it's not Morgan's body featured in this ad, but a body double's bod. He denies the double. Oh, he's such a kidder, that Piers.

Read more at UK Mirror.

Here's video. I guess I'm doing my horrible part to move this along as the virus it is.

GOP Gorillas: Who's Got a Leash?

I'm with MichelleObamaWatch.com on this one: Is there any point in commenting on South Carolina GOP activist Rusty DePass's racist "joke" about FLOTUS Michelle Obama? Probably not.

Supposedly he thought he was funny when he said an escaped gorilla was harmless and one of Michelle Obama's ancestors. Racists calling themselves political activists are going to keep saying this crap. That's what they do.

DePass further proves himself to be a liar and a fool when he claims Mrs. Obama said it first. Hmm.



As you can see in the video, DePass has now apologized. Who gives a damn, man, about you and your apology? As I said in an email thread on this topic, "I'd bet money the guy sees no similarity between what he said and the way Von Brunn, the white supremacist and murderer, thinks." I doubt DePass thinks too hard about anything beyond his small world.

I know that there are hardcore racists in the Democratic Party. I live in Louisiana, and so there's bound to be some here if no place else, but what the GOP is only starting to get is that the Dems try to avoid giving these people power and putting them in the spotlight while the GOP has made embracing and promoting them a favorite pastime.

I said all I need to say about the history of the Republican Party welcoming and stroking racists in the past when I talked about RNC Michael Steele's ascendancy. Undoubtedly they'll condemn what DePass said, but only because they've felt pressure to do so. If they thought sending out talking points on DePass's right to free speech would get them votes later on, they'd do that too.

Serial Cat Killer Should Be Taken Seriously

I know some people don't think this is a serious crime, the serial killing of pet cats allegedly by teen Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, but mental health professionals and researchers have long associated cruelty to animals with anti-social personality disorder. In other words, if you have a child who is cruel to your pets or others' pets and animals, you may be nurturing a sociopath or psychopath.

Pet owners and police began discovering disfigured cats May 13. One pet owner, Donna Gleason, said her family cat, Tommy, was "partially skinned" and left dead in her yard. ... Weinman, who works odd jobs but spends most of his time at home and unemployed, had been a person of interest for several weeks, Miller said. He was arrested Saturday.(CNN)

National Institutes of Health states, "Fire-setting and cruelty to animals during childhood are linked to the development of antisocial personality." At 18, Weinman is long past childhood and this is probably not the first time he's done something like this. It's this time he got caught.

The condition is associated with a lack of guilt or remorse. Harming animals is only the start. While people who have anti-social disorder may not escalate to harming people, under circumstances that seem to benefit them, for instance to get money or to not be caught, they will kill humans. However, their crimes aren't always violent. A CEO who raids a company, knowing people will lose their life savings but not caring may also be a sociopath.

Weinman needs, help, you most likely think. Sadly, there may be no help. As one psychologist has said this is more about cruelty than craziness. The person is just mean, lacking a conscience. No human cure for that.

This post has been updated and cross-posted at BlogHer.com.

OSF: All in the Family

Keeping it in the Family is this week's Old School Friday meme theme. Here's the Marsalis Family of New Orleans, playing Swinging at the Haven: Branford, Delfeayo, Jason, Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, the dad on piano. I'm late, but I didn't want to miss OSF.



DeBarge, "Love Me In A Special Way"



The creators of the Old School Friday meme are Mrs. Grapevine and Marvalus at Conversations with Marva and has these rules, if you want to join this theme party.

So, Your Facebook Pic Was Stolen and Used in an Ad

I saw this video on CNN.com today. An American woman, Danielle Smith of St. Louis, Mo., discovered from a friend in the Czech Republic that the picture of her family that she posted on Facebook was being used in for a supermarket print advertisement in that country.

It's possible the supermarket can get away with stealing the photo because it's located in a foreign country. Smith thinks that the company was so brazen because it assumed she'd never find out. Nevertheless, it is a copyright violation.

Danielle had also put the picture on her blog extraordinarymommy.com, a site she says she started to help other mom learn to appreciate how important being a mom is.

"I put it out there," she says of the Christmas photo, "just saying this is my family."

Her "happy family" according to a Google image search where the photo pops up, which may be how the photo found its way into the ad, or stock photo web site, which would at least infringe on the copyright of photographer Gina Kelly of O'Fallon, Missouri. (Story at Kare11.com)

Smith doesn't seem upset in the video. She's relieved her family's image was used for a benign ad. We can chalk this matter up to one of the problems you can experience in our brave new age of the Internet, and then credit the Internet with providing a solution, social media. Social media reconnected Smith to the friend who saw the ad in the Czech Republic and told her.

Months ago the blogosphere buzzed with controversy over who owns work and photos posted on websites, the individual who posted the content or the website where the content is posted. Facebook was at the center of the controversy when its revamped terms of service came under scrutiny.

Most people don't read terms of service when they sign up for websites, especially "free" websites, but usually the TOS allows the website owner to use anything posted on the site for the website owner's promotion. In Smith's case, Facebook itself was not the culprit but an unrelated company, and the appropriation of the family photo highlights another concern of Internet users, that many people believe that if anything's posted online it's free and they can cut, lift, and paste it for their own use. Wrong!

Content belongs to the person who originally created it. It's acceptable to quote or excerpt brief passages and use thumbnails or smaller versions of pictures provided you give credit to artists and writers, but owners sometimes fight even this. The AP, for instance, has been challenging bloggers for so much as linking to its stories without approval.

For larger excerpts or whole poems, full-size photos, etc., it's wise to get permission. And certainly, never present the work of others without crediting the creator or author. If it appears you're taking credit for its creation, then that's plagiarism.

Still, the website where the work is posted may legally be able to use anything you've posted publicly if you agreed to the terms of service that said so. Remember that.

I've run into a website using my work or image without notifying me or asking permission twice online since 2002. Once I was ego surfing my name, something you should do sometimes to see if anyone's misrepresenting you online or if you've outgrown an image you once had and want to change, and I came across a social network website's ad that was using my old picture and voice to draw people to its dating feature. I went in and deleted everything and eventually the ad disappeared.

Another time a poetry website started using my voice reciting a poem written by Aberjhani to promote a spoken word feature. I stumbled across the audio file on another website where the poetry site was launching the new feature, and then I asked them to take it down. The owner reminded me of the site's terms of service and that I had agreed to let them use my work for promotion.

Fortunately for me, I too had read the terms of service and told them that the audio file they were using had never been posted publicly, that one of their staff members had gone into my private storage area and taken the file. So, they took it down.

Anyway, watch the CNN video. How would you feel if what happened to Smith happened to you?

For more information on protecting your work and photos online, I recommend Melanie Nelson's article at BlogHer, "Choosing Copyright or Creative Commons for your Intellectual Property."

Plain Speech (a calling card poem)

The following is the draft of a poem on missing someone but I don't think I'm actually missing anyone, just entertaining a memory. How's that for a disclaimer?

Plain Speech
a poem by Nordette Adams

When you talked of love,
I was a silk-cloaked kitten on your thigh.
When you laid out metered sex,
I was the burning ink in your pen.
Boiling your flow to perfection,
I know what I was.

I know what I was.

You meditate these days on air,
open your wings to the loftier perch,
I am drying and brittle,
dying for your deluge,
thirsting for the hot ink word.

The spiritual without fevered flesh for contrast
is a life smooth and flat and frozen in banality,
a fallacy imitating salience.
We merest mortals must break for dalliance sometimes.

(c) 2009 Nordette N. Adams

Instant Musical in a Train Station

I saw this at the blog A Novel Idea and had to post it. I grew up watching musicals and used to wish as a child that this would happen, that people would just dance in unison, burst into choreographed musical numbers in the streets. This didn't change when I got older too much, which is why I was addicted for a while to the prom dance scene in She's All That.

As usual, you sometimes don't see what's right in front of your face. The famous second lines in New Orleans, the line that follows the band and dances, is a large group of people a spontaneously dancing in the streets. Parades sometimes simply appear here. A brass band begins to play and swagger down a street, and a crowd of dancers follows. These parades are especially common in the French Quarter, for the sake of the tourists, but also sometimes fo' real in communities like Treme.

And I loved when the popular line dance emerged in the 70s because then people could just hop up when they heard their favorites songs and start a synchronized dance. I've seen this happen at parties but also at Jazz Fest concerts.

Still, nothing beats a choreographed movie musical or Broadway number, which is why I like the video up top with the people dancing to Sound of Music's "Do Re Mi." It was planned but clearly many of the observers were taken by surprise.

BTW, yes, I am a fan of So You Think You Can Dance.

Twilight, True Blood, Where are Black Vampires?

With all the hype about Twilight, and as much as I love it, HBO's True Blood, two vampire tales that have made it from book to screen, black readers who enjoy a good vampire tale are asking, "Where are the black vampires?"

At Examiner I've written a two-part article. The first was "Is it Twilight or Dawn of the Black Vampire?" Part two is "The Indisputably Black Vampires of Jewelle Gomez, L.A. Banks, and Octavia Butler."

If I were covering film and not books, I may have continued with a quest to find the black actor who could be most like Robin Pattinson's Edward Cullen. However, black writers really should not promote the imitation of storylines from white writers. True, there's a certain amount of formula in most successful writing, but good writers always find a way to make the derivation all their own.

Swine Flu, H1N1, Pandemic not Panic

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, who spent a few days with his wife under quarantine in China following a Swine Flu close encounter, has been released and is now in Australia. He can rest easy, knowing he did not contract the disease on his flight to Asia, but the world is less secure as flu cases rise.

The World Health Organization, report news sources, has given Swine Flu, the H1N1 virus, its deadliest designation, a level six, pandemic. However, the word "pandemic" need not create the panic fear hustlers crave. Read more at NOLA Lit Examiner.

Photo from the UK Sun.

Security Officer Dies from Holocaust Museum Shootings

I just posted on this tragedy at BlogHer. You may read the post there. However, shortly after I posted news sources announced that the security guard, Stephen Tyrone Johns, 39, died from gunshot wounds inflicted by alleged shooter and white supremacist James von Brunn, 88, of Maryland. Johns worked at the museum for six years, and tomorrow it will be closed in his honor.

CBS News has updated on von Brunn's white supremacist beliefs. He's one of the racists who promoted the lie that the Jewish Holocaust was a hoax, and naturally he hates black people too.