Entries from October 2008 ↓

The Force is Strong with This One.

Jedi mind trick?

So: If Obama is Luke Skywalker, is McCain the evil Emperor? (Hey: Let’s just hope, if McCain is the Evil Emperor, that, despite the resemblance, Obama isn’t Mace Windu.)

Made of 100% cotton in optimistic sky blue. S-3XL, $16.95 – $18.45, from SnorgTees.com. Watch this while you wear the shirt.

Dig Somewhere Else.

Get lost.
Thanks for the warning: Gold digger in “I’m Keepin’ It
Real” mode

Given the leanness of the times, one could say that wikiHow: The How-To Manual That You Can Edit is performing a public service by releasing this among their latest sets of instructions: A nine-point list detailing “How to Spot a Gold Digger.” Sound like anybody you know?

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Mamma Mia.

Ain’t none badder….

What you see, above—an Italian 4-fogli, or four-sheet, for the 1973 film, Coffy—is, for its subject, size, and graphical power, to me, the single most desirable ephemeral object in all of Black film, and possibly connected to any movie.

Why?

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Morley Safer and His Fact-Checkers Must Have Drank Too Much Vino.

“Slurrp!”

CBS’s 60 Minutes is more than just the longest-running prime-time TV series in any genre, having aired continuously for forty years, since 1968. It’s one of the most renowned and esteemed investigative news programs in the business. They work to get the facts, and to get them accurate, as the flop sweat from those unfortunate enough to get interrogated by these vets has repeatedly proven.

“Gimme a drink!”So, last night, when Morley Safer, one of the show’s foundational journalists, opined sanguinely, calling Florence, Italy-based vintner Marchesi Antinori Srl “perhaps the oldest family business on earth,” I didn’t even blink.

It’s 60 Minutes! Heck, Antinori has been under the same management since 1385. Literally since the Renaissance was brand new. Half a century-plus before Leonardo da Vinci was born.

Then, I did some research. According to my sources, Marchesi Antinori Srl has been up-and-running 623 years, true.

But it’s not “the oldest family business on earth,” or even in Italy. It’s not even the oldest family vintner in Italy. Nor is it the third-, or even the fourth-oldest such business in the world. Not even close.

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Trey Redux.

It’s Trey!Today’s edition of NONFICTION, my WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM radio show, is a rebroadcast of my conversation with author Trey Ellis, discussing his latest book, Bedtime Stories. It takes place this afternoon, Friday, October 10, at 2 pm ET.

If you’re outside of the New York tri-state, you can check out our stream on the web. If you miss the live show, check out our archive for up to two weeks after broadcast.

Let That Be Your Last Mouthful of Crumbs That Don’t Really Go Down Your Throat But, Instead, Actually End Up All Over the Floor.

All that cookie crap is out!

At the recent DragonCon ’08, a rare photo of an authentic Cookie Monster-slaying warrior with the remains of her prey.

Note the distinguishing touches: Her blue, Cookie fur boots, providing necessary stealth and warmth, and her matching lipstick, providing additional camouflage.

[via Boing Boing]

KKK’d With Care.

Plenty of room, in case you put on a little weight.

Mother Jones is running a photo essay by Great Neck, NY photojournalist / former Marine Anthony Karen, 42. The piece, utilizing text, audio, and pictures, documents the work of Ku Klux Klan seamstress, above.

Coming from five generations of Ku Klux Klan members, 58-year-old “Ms. Ruth” sews hoods and robes for Klan members seven days a week, blessing each one when it’s done. A red satin outfit for an Exalted Cyclops, the head of a local chapter, costs about $140. She uses the earnings to help care for her 40-year-old quadriplegic daughter, “Lilbit,” who was injured in a car accident 10 years ago.

Amazing. You gotta admire their dedication to arts & kkkrafts.

Mercury Rising.

Hallooooo, out there….

On Monday, the NASA spacecraft MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) flew as close as 124 miles over the surface of the planet Mercury, delivering over 1,200 photographs, such as the one above, to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), which is managing the project.

The main purpose of the flyby, said the agency,

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Shut Your Mouth.

This guy is a bad mutha…

To me, Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft” may be the most transcendent piece of film music ever made. So, this guy, above, is either leading the greatest travesty of all time, or the second coolest thing ever: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s rendition of the famed work. Don’t tell me I never gave you anything.

[via Current Virals]

‘Nuff Respect Due.

“Anybody wanna scrub their drawers against my abs?”

If L.L. Cool J, above, is not The G.O.A.T.—”Greatest of All Time”—he’s without doubt O.O.T.G.O.A.T.—”One of the Greatest of All Time.”

So, with his 24-year Def Jam contract ending, and only 300 words in The Village Voice to review his 12th studio album, Exit 13, it was a struggle for me to give the work its due, but I’m happy with what I got. Please check it out!

“I will beat you bloody.”Also, Spike Lee’s World War II drama, Miracle at St. Anna, starring Derek Luke, right, is not doing all that well critically (it’s been roundly panned as flat and bloated), or financially: To-date, it’s only taken in $6.6 million of its $45 million production budget.

I enjoyed it, mostly. (The ending…eh.) Even more, though, I enjoyed speaking briefly with Spike for ESSENCE magazine. The piece is not on the web, to my knowledge, but if you can find the October issue—the one with Mo’Nique on the cover, still on the stands, I think, despite the encroaching Beyoncé issue—our Q&A is on p. 80.