Motown celebrates Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09pollack.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Wazzup Revisted

A break from the bile

Both come off looking more... human.

McCan't and Sarah Braun out of control

Great New York Times article on their despicable behavior.

Middle Ground

This ain't exactly it, but it's darn close...

Fight the (Black) Power

Sometimes you have to fight the power, even when it looks like you.

Anyone who knows me, knows I've been a fan and admirer of Tyler Perry since the first Madea play I rented on DVD. I respect what he's done in Hollywood and have even defended him against bougie Blacks who've attacked him. But the following is indefensible in my mind:

Writers at Tyler Perry Studio to Take Strike Action; Will Picket Oct 4th Grand Opening and Ask Invited Guests Not To Attend posted on Oct 3, 2008

The Writers Guild of America, West is taking on the fight for justice of writers who were fired when they tried to get a union contract with Tyler Perry's production company, House of Payne, LLC. The Guild yesterday (Oct 2) filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that House of Payne unlawfully fired four writers in retaliation for their union activity. The charge also alleges that the company bargained in bad faith with the Guild, which is seeking to negotiate a contract covering the writers on Perry's cable television series "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns."

The four writers, Kellie Griffin, Christopher Moore, Teri Brown-Jackson, and Lamont Ferrell, as well as supporters from the Writers Guild and the community, will be picketing during Saturday’s opening of Perry's new studio and they're asking invited guests to respect their picket line. Together, these writers have written over one hundred episodes of "House of Payne." Since April of this year they have been involved in a union organizing campaign with the Writers Guild of America, West so that their work on that show and the upcoming "Meet the Browns" would be covered by a Guild contract. Despite the enormous success of "House of Payne," Perry has refused to agree to a contract that would give the writers health care, pensions, and residuals. On Tuesday of this week he fired the writers, after warning them some weeks ago that they should "be careful about pushing the WGA deal or you could be replaced."

"We're asking all those who had planned to attend the opening of Tyler Perry's new studio not to cross our picket line," said writer Christopher Moore. "It's very disheartening considering that this is a studio run by African Americans. What Tyler Perry is essentially saying to us is that 'you're black and there's not a lot of opportunities for you so you'll take what I give you' – whether it’s fair or not."

"I feel like I was slapped in the face, like we were used" said writer and WGAW member Teri Brown-Jackson. "We were good enough to create over a hundred episodes, but now when it comes to reaping the benefits of the show being syndicated and having other spin-offs from it, he decides to let us go unless we accept a horrible offer."

"Disrespected, betrayed, saddened…it's hard to describe," said writer and WGAW member Lamont Ferrell. "The actors and a majority of the production crew on the show were working under union contracts and they received the pay and benefits that you need to survive on in this business. But after all those episodes and success when it came time for us to get a fair contract, were told on a conference call 'sorry, you're fired.'"

The show's head writer, Kellie Griffin, added, "A lot of people who fought for civil rights and social justice never really saw what eventually came out of their work. While I'd like to see something positive come out of this for us, if this fight helps future black writers get what they deserve, that's a good thing."

The writers and their supporters will be picketing at the grand opening of Tyler Perry Studios on Saturday, October 4, starting at 4 pm, and on Sunday, October 5, starting at 9 am.

Picture this

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my Detroit Red Wings.

AND the man and woman whose names I never thought I'd see gracing said jerseys!

What an amazing time to be alive?!

LOL! Rock on Letterman

A modern day classic

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=bcf5c98cc7d08ea7ef8454776adec1468ed70725

Funny, as much as I love the movie I found myself identifying myself with Sal more and more as I get older. Spike was on fire, PE was the shiznit soundtrack, and Roger G. Smith, Giancarlo, Bill Nunn, Danny Aiello, Richard Edson and John Tuturro all turned in great peformances.

And who could forget Ruby Dee's Mother Sister or Ozzie Davis' "Da Mayor"?

Back when black film mattered. I miss those days... Had to work so I missed a chance to see Spike's latest tonight in L.A. (and a Q&A!) but you can bet your ass I'll have my ass in a seat opening weekend for Miracle at St. Anna.

Now if he can only stop fueding with Hollywood's darlings, he'll end up carrying home a little statue man one of these days soon!

Much love, Spike.

Watch Barack's temperature

I'm over the "S" Word

The House of Representatives issued an apology for doing nothing to stop slavery.

Okay, happy Nationalists? We aren't getting any money/repa
rations like the Japanese and Jews, but somebody in government said "Oops! Sorry about that whole stripping you of your name, culture, language and religion thing. ...My bad."

As late and half-assed as it was, I'm glad it happened and it's enough for me. For now. Maybe somebody down the line will address the horrors of slavery in detail, but if this is the last word I can live with it. Time to go back to the business of now. The world we find ourselves in not just dealing with white folks but EVERYONE for EVERYTHING! Indians, Chinese, Pakistanis!

I'm over slavery. It's time for Black folks to take care of our own families and ourselves. I don't mean stop teaching it. I say "Never forget!" just like The Holocaust. But I think if Obama gets in it'll really be time to slam the door shut on using slavery as an excuse. White folks will say, "Okay, there you go... Anybody can make it in America... What's your excuse?" And they'll be right for the most part.

But we can't use slavery as an excuse on how we as Black people get down as a race today. Take care of your kids. Get an education (a BA is the new high school degree!) and make it happen in the greatest country in the world warts and all. Sorry for the rant, but damnit that's why I started this blog.

Hypocritical ass Republicans

Well they said Barack wasn't ready, but this lady is?

C'mon. At least pick a qualified woman. There's plenty out there.

But this Annie Oakley, Canadian sounding Mom? C'mon....

Well at least she's a hockey fan?

Another great loss

I hate it that people I've always dreamed of collaborating with pass on (Bernie Mac). Or those who I've admired die (Ivan Dixon, Roy Scheider). Isaac Hayes left this world yesterday.

We're only here fleetingly. The best of us leave behind something we can be remembered for. I know that's what I'm striving for. Rest in peace, hot buttered Soulman!

Barack's chances

Great article in the New York Times about Barack's chances.

Is Shia down with the swirl?

I went to the Midnight show of "Indy" at the Arclight last night with my boy Jeff and his wife. It was a lot of fun with some people even dressed up "Indy-like." A good B+ outing. Much like the last two (or 'first two' depending on your age/fan perspective) Star Wars movies it didn't embarrass the franchise, but it hardly matched the originals.

I came across this picture of co-star Shia LaBeouf posing with a fan at one of the premieres. I thought it was cute and they make quite the contrasting couple. The girl has beautiful full lips!

NOTE: I have no idea if Shia is actually, indeed, "down with the swirl." He was probably just being a nice guy and posing with a fan. ;)

LA versus The Bay

Following my trip to the San Francisco Bay area a couple of weeks ago, it got me thinking about the differences between Northern and Southern Cali. Even though they both occupy the same West coast, the cities couldn't be any more different than each other.

There's some arguements perpetually raged (Mac vs. PC, Pepsi vs. Coke, New York vs. LA, Honda v. Toyota, iPhone compared to the Blackberry - Okay, you get it) and this is definitely one of the biggies for me personally.

THE BAY

It's worth noting that nobody tailgated me the entire weekend. People seemed generally cooler, and more genuine. We weren't all competing for the same "script/movie role/parking space" and the weather was a bit cooler.

Berkely was the first place I ever stayed in California. I met a cat at the Chicago Comic-con (now Wizard World) who invited me out with the plan to drive down to San Diego for the Comic-con (even back then). I can't believe my mother let her 17 year-old baby go, but she did. I ended up spending the next few weeks with Mike Ebert and the guys from Animag Magazine. I discovered a whole new world in those days. From Telegraph Avenue to the campus town, Oakland, San Francisco, BART... it was all pretty overwhelming compared to a 3 hour drive or 20 minute plane ride to Chi-town.

I decided then to take filmmaking seriously as a career. I went back to the D and announced to anyone who'd listen that I wasn't going to college for Aerospace Engineering afterall. I was gonna be a writer/director/documentary-maker and maybe work in special effects. I sort of ended up doing all that and more these past near two decades.

So I owe L.A. a lot... but you never forget your first love. And I rediscovered my love affair with the Bay Area over the weekend.

LOS SCANDELOUS

Let me prefice this by saying I've lived in LA for almost 20 years now. It's my adopted home away from home. I'll root for most of their sports teams (unless they're playing a team from Detroit) and like many of the people and the weather.

But there's some things that definitely rub me the wrong way. But above all I hate people who talk about how much they hate LA yet continue to dwell here being cranky and helping clog the 405 freeway.

But the people are mostly plastic (not L.A.'s fault since it attracts flakes from the other 50 and beyond), the driving is horrible, and it's expensive to live, work, and buy property. You can drop 400k in Compton! I became a man here, so it will always have a place in my outlook on life. But I can't help thinking it was probably a better place to live in the 60s-80's? Before the freeways got clogged, the streets dirty and the population exceeded 20 million. I miss the change in seasons and don't think I want to live here for the rest of my life. Byt if I could get a condo here I'd be happy... And I'll take it over long winter months in Detroit anyday!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I'm interested in your view (all three people reading this LOL!) Native Californians and transplants alike.

Personally my goal is to be bi-coastal and live somewhere warm most of the year then spend the rest of my time either back home in Detroit or travelling. But alas that's an expensive lifestyle I can't finance yet.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi,

Thanks for stopping by. You either have an interest in movies, comics, Japan, Detroit, sports or the complicated brother known as Joe D. [Doughrity] (the Black guy with the Irish name.)