Keepingitreal

Looking Good: Fashion Pic of the day

Rihanna Heats it Up

Rihanna and Chris Brown are certainly heating things up in their rumored romance. The Barbados singer even took the R&B crooner home! Rihanna turned 20 on Wednesday in London and immediately flew to her hometown to meet up with her new paramour for what was dubbed ‘Rihanna Day’ by the national government on Thursday. She received a hero’s welcome as she was honored in a massive ceremony in Bridgetown and was named Ambassador for Culture and Youth for Barbados. She was then presented with a huge birthday cake which boy toy Chris helped her cut. I guess it’s meet the family, the town, the government and the country all in one. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

JANET JACKSON GETS CANDID IN PARADE MAGAZINE: Singer talks about search for true love; going to a Prince concert with her mom and more.

In Sunday's issue of Parade magazine, Janet Jackson graces the cover and gets very candid in the cover story. The singer, whose new album "Discipline" is due Feb. 26, talks about her marriages, men cheating on her, her faith and the out of wedlock child her father had, amongst other things.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Janet on love:

• “I was always reaching out for love. I kept searching for it, seeking it. Infatuation, lust—that stuff only lasts so long. You can get that from anybody. But true love is supposed to be forever. Jackson says she has found that love with record producer and hip-hop artist Jermaine Dupri, 35. They have known each other for six years now and may already be married, although that is a question Janet will not address beyond admitting that they are a couple and she is crazy about him. “This time, I wasn’t going to be the first to reach out,” she says. “It was Jermaine who touched me first. Love came to me. He’s such a wonderful, sweet, very loving guy that I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to fall head over heels for this person.’ ”

On Janet’s father’s out-of-wedlock child and how it has affected her:

• Janet’s father had an out-of-wedlock child with a fan of the Jackson 5. Five years later, he had another affair with an employee of his sons’ record label, Motown. His infidelities nearly ended his marriage and deeply affected Janet. “Besides my mother’s beauty and her smarts, what I always wanted was her strength,” says Janet, who is very close with her mother, Katherine, 77. “It’s a very cold world, and to have gone through what she has had to experience, from having polio as a child to those things with my brother Michael, and then for my father to have had another child!” Janet says angrily. “I’ve been cheated on a lot. I know what that feels like and how that hurts the heart. But, I mean, to give us a half-sister. I can’t even fathom what that’s like for Mother. For her to stay with my father all these years and never abandon her kids, that’s true love.”

On her two previous marriages:

• Janet was married twice and kept both marriages a secret until they ended. “I wanted to keep something for myself and not have it be public,” Janet says. “But after two divorces, I thought I was jinxed. Maybe marriage isn’t for me? Maybe it’s my fault it never works. I was always faithful. I always tried to give of myself. I was very loyal. But maybe I’m the problem. I’m to blame.” She continues, “It was awful, and I was so tired of being hurt. When it was over, I put shields up to protect myself from being hurt again. I didn’t want to go there anymore.” SOURCE OF THIS STORY

Caption Diss: KELLY ROWLAND

  As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. For Caption Diss, SOHH is asking you, the reader, to tell us what those words are...just keep it short. The person who coins the wittiest caption wins.
Nothing seems to be working for Kelly Rowland when it comes to getting out of Beyonce's huge shadow. So when all else fails, the Destiny's Child songstress is all for slipping into something a little more revealing. Rowland recently unleashed her inner bad girl at show in London, too bad no one told shawty she'd have to stoop this, low, low, low, low, low to be noticed. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

KIMORA AND DJIMON=HOT SEX ON A PLATTER!

Kimora, who split with her husband Russell Simmons, says of Djimon: “He’s a reality check for me, and I’m a fabulosity check for him.” After my breakup, I thought, I don’t need anything. Russell used to tell me, ‘You look good, you’re wealthy, you’re young, you have kids. Screw the world.’ And I kind of started to believe that. But now I have someone who has the heart, the soul, and the hotness. Who knows? I could be eating my words later, but I really doubt it. If people were betting, they would bet their good money on Djimon.” SOURCE OF THIS STORY

Going Beyond Skin-Deep With the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’

Most people know Hill Harper as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, the prodigious and contemplative chief medical examiner on the popular television drama CSI: NY.  What most people don’t know is that the 38-year-old actor, deemed one of People NYPD Blue and Married…With Children, No matter how busy his career, Harper makes time for another profound passion: service to organizations that encourage the education of young people and foster their development. In 2006 Harper published his first book, Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny, modeled after Rilke’s classic Letters to a Young Poet. A motivational book designed to inspire and mentor young African American men, Harper’s Letters debuted at No. 6 on the New York Times best-seller list in the self-help/miscellaneous category, rose to No. 7 on the Washington Post’s best-seller list and remains a top selling title on Amazon.com. In conjunction with the publication of Letters, Harper established MANifest Your Destiny, a foundation whose aim is to provide young African American men with the support, community and resources needed to rise to their fullest potential. Recently, Harper, who is single, spoke to RealTALK LA about his life, work and why he believes that giving back should not be seen as a responsibility, but rather as a privilege and a priority. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

SHEMAR MOORE: He May be Swinging but he's "Not Gay"

Or at least that what he says. And hey, why shouldn't we believe him? Yeah, there were some very eye-popping photos of the beefy former 'Young & The Restless' star "frolicking" nude on what was reported as a gay beach in Hawaii a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean anything. If you got the goods, why not flaunt it? Moore, who stars as Detective Derrick Morgan on the CBS hit series 'Criminal Minds,' said that he and his galpals just happened upon a nude beach, and "as far as [he knew], that was a unisex beach." Hmmm, I think all beaches are unisex -- whether gay or straight. Ha. He tells the new issue of 'In Touch' magazine: "I went on vacation with two girlfriends of mine who, interestingly enough, got cut out of the pictures ... We took off our clothes and jumped in the water. I've been trying to skinny dip since I was a teenager. I'm just grateful that the water was warm!" Luckily for the thrill seekers it was warm -- because the tall, tanned and teasing biracial brother gave beach combers more than a mouthful. Making the transition from the sudsy clean lifestyle of a daytime star to prime time celebrity (he starred in the films 'The Seat Filler,' and 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman') hasn't been easy street for the former fashion model. Last month, he was sentenced to 36 months probation, fined around $1400 and was ordered to do community service -- stemming from two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence. Not sure if the "nude" pics have a connection to the spate of "not-so-good-media-attention" but Moore insisted to the tabloid that, "people find it interesting to try to make me gay; I'm not gay." Okay, now you heard it from the horse's (pun intended) mouth. Now leave the brother alone. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

Blatino Oasis

Socialize with men of African descent & men of Latino descent (and our friends) from across the country at one of California's hottest private men's resorts in sunny & beautiful Palm Springs California! Whether you want a peaceful retreat, male bonding, parties, shopping, or an erotic & romantic adventure, Blatino Oasis is the choice for you!

Finding Love Again With 100 Days of Sex

Rolling back not only the years but also the bedsheets is the way to marital bliss, according to a couple who made it its mission to have sex every day for 100 days — and then decided to write a book about it. Doug Brown, a 41-year-old feature writer for the Denver Post, and his wife, Annie, made the agreement after realizing that their definition of an early night had come to mean closing their eyes and snoring rather than something a little more titillating. "I'd turned 40 that year. We had a minivan, lived in suburbia and were a very career-based couple," Brown told ABC News. "It was a lot different from when we first got together and we thought it would be a great way to change our sex life and spice up our marriage."Got Sick Halfway Through Earlier this week, a publisher purchased Brown's book proposal aiming to have it on the shelves by fall 2008. The publisher thinks it will sell based on the fact the Browns are certainly not the only couple that found its passion dampened by 15 years of marriage and two kids. "We knew 100 days was going to be a challenge and it wasn't always easy after a long day, especially when I got really sick halfway through," said Brown. "Almost everyone we spoke to said 'My God, that sounds difficult.' But we wanted to see what would happen to us and we made it and are happy we did so." SOURCE OF STORY

Made in Brazil

New Year's In Rio: Pool Party

By Made In Brazil

I was not there, but something about the pictures below tells me this party was fun.

Gabrielle Union's Hot New Year's Date: Herself

Bring It On star Gabrielle Union just finished filming a movie called The Perfect Christmas, but right now her mind is on New Year's Eve. Her idea of the perfect celebration? "The way we're doing it this year," Union, 34, told PEOPLE at Mansion nightclub in South Beach on Wednesday. "Out of the country, hot and half naked." Specifically, she's heading to the Dominican Republic with a group of male friends – but don't expect the action to be that hot: "They're all going to be cruising for chicks and I'm going to be home reading The Iliad," she says. In fact, Union, who split from husband Chris Howard last year, isn't even looking for someone to kiss when the clock strikes midnight. "I'm in a threesome this year with me, myself and I," she jokes. "We're pretty hot and heavy." MORE INFO ON THIS POSTING

On a more serious note, she says, "I had to learn – since I'm divorced now and everyone is like, 'Oh my God, you're single, what's going on?' – that if I don't like to spend time with myself, how can I ask someone else to enjoy spending time with me? I'm getting to learn how to enjoy my solitude and have a good time."

Made in Brazil

AussieBum Hits Brazil

By Made In Brazil

AussieBum celebrated its Brazilian launch with a party this past weekend at Ultralounge in São Paulo. Here is my belated Christmas gift to you.

Internet Buzz

Cable Operators Balking at NFL Network

By By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

On Thanksgiving, the NFL will air the first of eight live pro football games on its own network. But it won't be available to many viewers across the country because the league hasn't reached carriage agreements with several major cable operators. The...

Diddy's Little Helpers
Why hip-hop ghostwriting is an art now, and an actually respectable one
I believe the industry as a whole needs certain events to happen to sustain it and keep it alive. . . . You need Dre albums, you need Eminem albums, you need 50 albums, you need big artists. . . . —Jay-Z, to the Associated Press in June So now even J-Hova will occasionally allude to Hip-Hop's Imminent Demise, though he prescribes cultural CPR through fourth-quarter sales events, which may explain why he's the one with a net worth rivaling Diddy's. Jay's Kingdom Come will of course eclipse it, but surely Diddy's own 2006 record, Press Play, was an event. So why was he left off Jay's list of "big artists"? MORE ON THIS STORY

New Rules Allow Cell-Phone Hack

The U.S. Copyright Office says it should be legal for you to crack lockout codes that keep you from porting your cell-phone to another carrier. And retro-gamers will be able to crack copy protection on abandoned titles -- for "archival" purposes. In Gear Factor.

KIRK FRANKLIN WINS FIRST AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD: Finally, after winning everthing else he takes home an AMA

"The Fountain" is Darren Aronofsky's finest work to date. He's a viciously intelligent writer/director with a distancing, calculating touch that left me disinterested in his previous productions ("Pi," and "Requiem for a Dream"), but here the filmmaker finally values the command of sensory engagement. It's like a Kubrick film with the one element the maestro could never find during his historic career: emotional availability. To lay it down in its most bare essentials, "Fountain" is a story tackling three different time periods. Tomas (Hugh Jackman) is a 16th century Conquistador on a bloody hunt though a hidden Mayan temple to retrieve sap from the mythical Tree of Life for his queen (Rachel Weisz), who is desperate for immortality. In 2005, Tom (Jackman) is a doctor frenetically searching for the cure to cancer to save the life of his wife Izzi (Weisz), who is in the final throes of her battle wit...Read the entire review More Than Words -- Mo'Nique In Literature Just in time for Thanksgiving, TV, film and literary star Mo'Nique is back in bookstores with "Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted." Listen to the interview and hear how she plans to impart her culinary wisdom on the ladies of the Flavor of Love. Clik Magazine Elite 25 Awards &"Noah's Arc" Submits for NAACP Image Award By Jasmyne Cannick Report: Right Wing "Abstinence Only" Policy Spreads HIV, Death By Rod More on the disturbing new report that there are now 39.5 million living with HIV/AIDS. According to the annual UNAIDS report, most alarming is the increased prevalence in Uganda, which has long been championed as a showcase of what could...

Addicted To Sex

On the second Wednesday in September, Nicole, a Brentwood resident in her mid-thirties, received a call from a single female friend in Southern California. They hadn't spoken in a while, but the friend cut right to the chase: "What the hell is your fiancé doing on Match.com?" she asked. Nicole told the truth: Trevor was a sex addict. She'd known that much two weeks earlier when he'd left for a business trip in Los Angeles. Now, much to her surprise, it seemed he wasn't coming back. And judging from the things she'd discovered in his absence, Nicole was pretty sure she didn't want him to. Her friend e-mailed over Trevor's Match profile, and Nicole sat in front of her laptop staring at the broad-cheeked face she'd found so appealing in the past. She could tell he'd snapped the shirtless self-portraits in a guest bedroom of his parents' Danville home. His manic grin cut through the numbness that had taken over more and more of her mind lately. She felt disgusted. But it was his description of what he wanted in a partner that shook her to the core: "I want to have fun. After being in a relationship with someone who controlled me for the last 4.5 years, I need to find myself." MORE INFO

The Death of Safe Sex

The Death of Safe Sex
Now that STD-awareness campaigns and AIDS paranoia have faded, young men are throwing caution—and condoms—to the wind. Trouble is, the dangers are as clear and present as ever.
By Ian Daly; Photograph by Christian Weber
The roof lounge at the Hotel Gansevoort enjoys the somewhat dubious honor of being the center of New York City’s vast white-collar meat market. This late-summer Saturday, a trio of clean-cut married guys on the balcony are clutching highballs and trading anecdotes about great moments in poor sexual judgment during their recently ended bachelor days. The one thing they agree on is this: There’s not much to fear out there.

“The only disease I ever got was crabs,” says Mike, 35, scanning the banquettes of women in too-short-for-Casual-Friday dresses, "and that was worth it!” This delights his friends, Evan, 37, and Alan, 43. Handily one-upping his pal, Alan recalls a wild night in a Miami swimming pool. “She ended up giving me chlamydia,” he says. “And the sick thing is, two or three weeks later I saw her at a party and told her what happened—but she looked even better! So, dude, I took her home, and I got it again!” They all burst into laughter.

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson has never been shy about telling folks what she wants. From declaring her independence to asserting her sexuality, Jackson’s six multiplatinum albums have always been full of personal and, at times, provocative proclamations. Her latest effort, produced with the help of longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and executive-produced by Jackson’s boyfriend of five years, Jermaine Dupri, is no exception. A paean to the music that’s influenced her, 20 Years Old (Virgin) is a mix of feel-good harmonies, bass-heavy dance tracks, and the occasional ode to doing the do. According to Jackson, sex is “a part of love, a part of God,” and her appetite, by her own admission, is absolutely voracious. Luckily for her (and, no doubt, Dupri), she’s finally found someone who’s able to keep up.