Keepingitreal

Salty Oakland rapper Too Short is growing up

When you've had a 25-year career like Too Short's, what's left to accomplish? For the pioneering Oakland rapper - who has 17 solo albums under his belt, many of them gold or platinum - the answer was simple: form a band and make some more high-quality music.At 42, the guy who enthralled generations of hip-hop listeners with his salacious "Freaky Tales" has matured. And with maturity has come a willingness to expand his musical parameters. With his new project, a fledgling Bay Area supergroup called Town Bizness, nasty-mouthed Too Short has become grown 'n' sexy Todd Shaw. "I don't wanna go back and be raunchy-ass Too Short who just says the most outlandish things to get a reaction," he said during a recent interview at his Oakland studio. Having recently been honored for his hip-hop output by VH1, he's not too keen on competing with Lil Wayne and T.I. for commercial rap's youthful demographic, either.Instead, he reached out to a bunch of talented musicians he had worked with before: singer-emcee Silk-E, vocalist-guitarist Martin Luther, pianist-emcee Kev Choice, drummer Brian Collier, guitarist Jubu and bassist Elijah Baker. All had previously collaborated with each other separately on various projects. But as they started working together, their chemistry as a band became undeniable."I was amazed, these guys that I've known for years, at their work ethic in the studio," Short says. "You don't have to direct. It just happens. Everybody involved in this project, in their own right, they've perfected what they do."Like Too Short, the other Town Bizness members have impressive resumes: Luther has several solo albums under his belt combining neo-soul, funk and rock, not to mention playing Jo-Jo in the film "Across the Universe." Choice, who comes from a classical-jazz background, toured with Lauryn Hill, the Coup and Lyrics Born before recently emerging as a solo artist and producer. Baker and Jubu were original members of Oakland soul revivalists Tony Toni Tone. Silk-E is a self-described "hit woman for hire" who's contributed backing vocals on numerous local artists' albums and is also a member of the Coup. Other contributors to Town Bizness include up-and-coming producer Erk Da Jerk, rapper Juicilicious and special guests D'Wayne Wiggins, Raphael Saadiq and Snoop Dogg.Sitting in on a Town Bizness meeting, the mutual respect and admiration the members have for one another is evident. Short is clearly the CEO, but that doesn't mean he rejects input from his fellow Bizness-people. As the principals decide on their concert set list - which will include solo material from Short, Luther, Choice and Silk-E as well as original songs - rough mixes of the forthcoming album play in the background.The group has already whetted appetites with the single "Red Bull & Vodka," a P-Funkish club banger that has been receiving club and mix tape play since being released as a digital download in September. But the sneak preview of the album hints at a wide-ranging creative diversity as well as a supercharged, hybrid sound that's hard to classify as belonging to any one genre. More musical than most rap, harder-edged than typical R&B, Town Bizness veers from social commentary to soulful balladry to out-and-out funk. Almost no samples were used during the recording process, resulting in a "live" feel reminiscent of the pre-digital age. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

TODAY'S PAPERS:Black Monday for Workers

It was a depressing Monday for tens of thousands of workers as several big U.S. companies announced massive job cuts that illustrate how the Great Recession is hitting almost every corner of the labor market. The Washington Post says U.S. employers cut more than 55,000 jobs in what it calls "a staggering one-day toll." The New York Times reports that more than 75,000 jobs around the world disappeared yesterday. The Los Angeles Times adds it all up and notes that 187,550 jobs have been slashed so far this month, which is more than double the number in January of last year. And the pain is far from over. USA Today highlights that "far more job cuts are likely" in the near future and some economists expect 3 million people will lose their jobs this year. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the Senate confirming Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary with a 60-34 vote. Now that Geithner is in place, the Obama administration is expected to quickly outline its plans to prop up the financial system, which is expected to have a strong focus on helping homeowners. As early as today, Geithner is expected to announce new rules to limit the influence of lobbyists and special interests in determining who will get help from Uncle Sam.To continue reading, click here.

TODAY'S PAPERS: Fed May Become Great Overseer

The Washington Post leads with word that Congress is likely to give the Federal Reserve broad new powers so that it can regulate the nation's entire financial system. The move would allow the Fed to demand information from a wide range of companies to make sure no one is taking on excessive risk that could imperil the financial system. The New York Times leads, and the Los Angeles Times off-leads, news that President Obama will direct the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider granting permission to California and 13 other states to set auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards that are stricter than current federal limits. The move would represent a sharp break from the Bush administration, which had rejected the request by states to issue separate emissions standards.USA Today leads with new Pentagon figures that reveal the number of roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan hit a record last year. The number of improvised explosive devices that exploded or were discovered increased by 45 percent, while the number of coalition troops that were killed by bombs more than doubled to 161. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with a look at how business groups are stepping up efforts to get more tax credits into the stimulus plan as a number of Republican leaders say they will not support the legislation as is currently written. Obama will be heading to Capitol Hill this week to try to convince reluctant Republicans to support the measure. The LAT leads locally with a look at how there seems to be broad agreement among California lawmakers to cut $6 billion in spending to help deal with the state's massive budget shortfall.To continue reading, click here.

What a Mourning! Caterpillar, Home Depot, Sprint Nextel, Pfizer, ING cut jobs

Call it 'Monday mourning.'

More than 70,000 job cuts were announced Monday morning by companies such as Home Depot, Caterpillar, ING, GM and Sprint Nextel, according to CNN.  Meanwhile, Pfizer announced another round of layoffs after buying the smaller drugmaker Wyeth for $68 billion. Here is a list of some of the companies that annouced job cuts:

• Construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar will eliminate 5,000 jobs in an effort to "deal with a very challenging global business environment," according to CNN. This is in addition to the 15,000 job cuts already announced in 2008. The 20,000 total job cuts represents about 18% of the company's workforce, according to CNN.
  
• Home improvement retailer Home Depot will cut 7,000 jobs or 2% of its workforce, according to reports.  Most of the job cuts - about 5,000 - will come from the closing of 34 of Home Depot's EXPO Design Center stores, five YardBirds stores, two Design Center stores and an HD Bath store, according the CNN. 
  
  The remaining 2,000 employees will mostly be support staff positions.  Customer service positions will not be impacted, the company reported.
  
• Not only is financial services company ING eliminating about 7,000 jobs in 2009, its CEO, Michel Tilmant, stepped down Monday, according to CNN.  He will continue to serve as an ING advisor until August when he retires, according to CNN.
  
• Telecommunications giant  Sprint Nextel will eliminate 8,000 jobs by March 31 in an attempt to reduce labor costs by about $1.2 billion annually, the company said in a press release.
  
• Automaker General Motors will lay off 2,000 workers and cut production, according to MLive.com.  About 1,200 workers will be let go in Michigan and the remaining 800 in Ohio.
  
• Pfizer is making multi-billion dollar deals, while at the same time cutting jobs.  Pfizer, already the world's largest pharmaceutical company, agreed to buy drug maker Wyeth for $68 billon, according to CNN. 
  
  Pfizer announced that it would cut 10% of its staff and close five manufacturing plants, according to CNN. Pfizer announced earlier this month that it would lay off about 800 scientists.
  
  The company will borrow $22.5 billion to help fund the purchase. 
  
  ''The new company will be an industry leader in human, animal and consumer health,'' Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler said in a press release. ''Its geographic presence in most of the world's developed and developing countries will be unrivaled.''

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' to live again on stage

Who needs a Michael Jackson comeback when there are still ways to repackage his landmark album "Thriller"? Our sister blog Culture Monster reports today that the Nederlander Organization has obtained the rights to produce a "Thriller" musical. The news comes about one year after Jackson's "Thriller" got  the 25th anniversary treatment.

The "Thriller" video has spawned its host of offshoots. It's been tackled by video game "Final Fantasy," got a Tollywood makeover and even became the highlight of an Oklahoma wedding reception. A Broadway-like treatment, therefore, was probably inevitable. 

Reports Culture Monster: The Nederlander Organization has acquired the rights to produce a musical version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the organization announced today.

According to the announcement, the musical -- based on the horror-spoof "Thriller" video -- will be "the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of 'Thriller' " and the Gloved One will be involved in "every aspect of the creative process."

Excited? Maybe it will include the "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' " remix from Akon and will.i.am. (fingers crossed), and here's hoping it opens opposite the Flaming Lips/Aaron Sorkin take on "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots."

Will Obama have to be better because he's black?

(CNN) -- Just days before he was sworn in, President Obama was giving his daughters a tour of the Lincoln Memorial when one of them pointed to a copy of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address carved into the wall. Obama's 7-year-old daughter, Sasha, told her father that Lincoln's speech was really long. Would he have to give a speech as long? Obama's answer was completed by his older daughter, 10-year-old Malia. "I said, 'Actually, that one is pretty short. Mine may even be a little longer,' " Obama told CNN recently. "At which point, Malia turns to me and says, 'First African-American president, better be good.' "The story is light-hearted, but it touches on a delicate question: Will people hold Obama to a different standard because he is the first African-American president? Americans appear split by race on that answer. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, 53 percent of blacks say the American public will hold Obama to a higher standard than past presidents because he is black. Most whites -- 61 percent -- say Obama's race will not matter in how he will be judged. The question divided several people who were racial pioneers themselves. Alexander Jefferson was one of the first blacks allowed to become a fighter pilot. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who escorted bombers in World War II. "We had to be twice as good to be average," he says. Obama won't face the same pressures he did because his presidential predecessor was so inept, Jefferson says. "No, the world is ready for him," he says. "The [George W.] Bush debacle was so depressing." Jefferson was shot down by ground fire on his 19th mission and spent a year in German prison camps. He wrote about his POW experiences in "Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW." Jefferson says he dealt with the pressures of being a racial pioneer by drawing on the strength of black leaders who opened doors for him. CONTINUE READING...

Video shows another BART cop hitting passenger

BART officials said Saturday that they will investigate the actions of one of the transit agency's police officers after a video surfaced showing the officer striking a passenger - apparently Oscar Grant - minutes before the unarmed young man was fatally shot by another officer early on New Year's Day.The cell phone video, one of a handful that have surfaced, aired Friday night on KTVU-TV. It shows a male BART police officer walking over to three men lined up against a wall near a female officer, and then striking one in the face.The victim of the punch - identified by Channel 2 as 22-year-old Grant - slides to the ground. The video then shows the moments preceding the shooting, then the shooting itself. It appears that the officer who punches the man is the same person who later is seen kneeling on Grant's head when he was shot. Sources have identified that officer as Tony Pirone. He and the other officers present at the time of Grant's shooting all remain on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues, but until Saturday BART was not investigating the conduct of anyone besides Johannes Mehserle, 27, who shot Grant. Mehserle later resigned from the force and was charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. Police investigators have said Grant put up a brief struggle with officers but was restrained and had both arms behind his back when he was shot. It was not clear whether the struggle investigators referred to was the same incident caught on the new video. But Peter Keane, a professor at Golden Gate University Law School and police expert, said Saturday night the video shows a "vicious, unprovoked and inexcusable assault" by the other police officer that should be prosecuted and that seems to have set off events that led to the shooting. "With that powerful punch, he slams Mr. Grant in the side of his head and knocks him down even though it doesn't appear Grant is doing anything but talking - maybe he is mouthing off but there was no physical provocation," Keane said. "Why is the other officer not being prosecuted? It was a clearly a deliberate, abusive use of force." He said the video is damning to Mehserle, too. In a written statement released Saturday evening, BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger said she takes the "new allegation of police use of unreasonable force extremely seriously" and has directed BART Police Chief Gary Gee to conduct an internal affairs investigation. The officer was not identified in the statement. CONTINUE READING

THE SAG AWARDS

Meryl Streep of the Roman Catholic drama "Doubt" and Sean Penn of the Harvey Milk film biography "Milk" won lead-acting honors Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.The prize for overall cast went to the rags-to-riches saga "Slumdog Millionaire," while Heath Ledger of the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" and Kate Winslet of the Holocaust-themed drama "The Reader" took supporting honors."Can I just say there is no such thing as the best actress, you know? There is no such thing as the greatest living actress," said Streep, the Academy Awards record-holder with 15 acting nominations, including one for "Doubt," in which she plays an old-school nun in a war of wills with a priest."I am in a position where I have secret information, that I know this to be true," she said. "I am so in awe of the work of the women this year — nominated, not nominated — so proud of us girls. And everybody wins when we get parts like this."The honors raise winners' prospects to take home Hollywood's big prizes at the Academy Awards on Feb. 22.Two-time Oscar winner Streep's best-actress competitors this time will include Winslet, who was nominated by Oscar voters in that category rather than the supporting one for "The Reader."Oscar winner Penn played gay-rights political pioneer Milk but said the film had a universal theme."As actors, we don't play gay, straight. We don't play any of these kinds of people. We play human beings, and this movie is something that all of us involved are so proud of," Penn said. "This is a story about equal rights for all human beings."A low-budgeted film with a cast of unknowns, "Slumdog Millionaire" continued to live up to its story line about a poor boy who rises from squalor on the streets of Mumbai to find love, fame and fortune as a champion on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.""Slumdog Millionaire" dominated the Golden Globes and has 10 Oscar nominations, including best picture.Co-star Anil Kapoor, accepting on behalf of the "Slumdog" cast, dedicated the award to the children in the cast."They deserve this award. They set our performances," he said. "It's the children who've done it, not us."Ledger's supporting-actor prize for his sociopathic reinvention of Batman bad guy the Joker put the late actor a step closer to becoming just the second performer to win a posthumous Academy Award. The first was Peter Finch, the best-actor recipient for 1976's "Network."The award was accepted by "The Dark Knight" co-star Gary Oldman."I'm quite emotional," Oldman said. "It is a great honor to be asked to accept this on behalf of Heath. He was an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary talent, and it is wonderful that you have acknowledged that and honored that talent tonight."Oscar buzz has been flying over Ledger's performance since before his death just over a year ago from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. With the SAG win and the Golden Globe, Ledger seems unbeatable at the Oscars.Winslet offered a tribute to the late Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both producers on "The Reader," and said 2008 was a fabulous year for films."It's really an honor to be included in what I think is such a remarkable year," Winslet said. "I really feel like everybody should be given a medal."he role already earned Winslet the same prize at the Golden Globes, where she also won lead dramatic actress for "Revolutionary Road." But at the Oscars, Winslet was nominated only for "The Reader," in which she plays a former concentration camp guard.As it did at the Golden Globes, "30 Rock" swept the TV comedy honors, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin taking the individual acting prizes and the show winning the ensemble cast award.Fey, creator and star of the series set behind the scenes at a sketch-comedy show, lobbed a wisecrack at Hollywood producers, who have battled Hollywood trade guilds over actors, writers and others' share of potential profits from Web programming.Joking that one day, her young daughter would be old enough to watch reruns of "30 Rock" on the Internet, Fey said: "She'll look up at me and say, `What do you mean, you don't get residuals for this?'"Hugh Laurie, who won his second straight SAG prize for best actor in a TV drama for the medical show "House," joked that he was disappointed one of his fellow nominees did not win."I actually had a hundred dollars on James Spader (of "Boston Legal")," Laurie said. "This is just not my night."Sally Field earned the TV drama actress award for the family series "Brothers & Sisters," while the advertising saga "Mad Men" was named best drama show. Accepting alongside his cast mates, "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm had kind words for the show's "dozen of viewers."Before the show, "The Dark Knight" won SAG's honor for best movie stunt ensemble, while "Heroes" took the same prize for television.James Earl Jones was honored with the guild's lifetime-achievement award for a career that included roles in "Dr. Strangelove,""Field of Dreams,""Cry, the Beloved Country" and "The Man," in which he played the first black U.S. president.The ceremony featured clips highlighting Jones' rumbling bass voice as the mouthpiece of "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader, the noble patriarch in "The Lion King," even cable news with his "This is CNN" announcements."I want to thank you for all the work that you do," Jones told the audience, quoting the Book of Genesis on how God breathed life into man. "I don't mean to embarrass anybody by comparing the actor to God, but once we've taken the role, we have a similar responsibility to breathe life into that role, and only the actor can do that." SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Obama’s Order Is Likely to Tighten Auto Standards

WASHINGTON — President Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday. The directive makes good on an Obama campaign pledge and signifies a sharp reversal of Bush administration policy. Granting California and the other states the right to regulate tailpipe emissions would be one of the most emphatic actions Mr. Obama could take to quickly put his stamp on environmental policy. Mr. Obama’s presidential memorandum will order the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the Bush administration’s past rejection of the California application. While it stops short of flatly ordering the Bush decision reversed, the agency’s regulators are now widely expected to do so after completing a formal review process. Once they act, automobile manufacturers will quickly have to retool to begin producing and selling cars and trucks that get higher mileage than the national standard, and on a faster phase-in schedule. The auto companies have lobbied hard against the regulations and challenged them in court. Mr. Obama will use the announcement to bolster the impression of a sharp break from the Bush era on all fronts, following his decisions last week to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; tighten limits on interrogation tactics by Central Intelligence Agency officers; order plans to withdraw combat forces from Iraq; and reverse President George W. Bush’s financing restrictions on groups that promote or provide abortion overseas, administration officials said. Beyond acting on the California emissions law, officials said, Mr. Obama will direct the Transportation Department to quickly finalize interim nationwide regulations requiring the automobile industry to increase fuel efficiency standards to comply with a 2007 law, rules that the Bush administration decided at the last minute not to issue. CONTINUE READING..

Prop. 8 replay not a sure bet for 2010

Gay rights activists are weighing the wisdom of rushing a repeal of Proposition 8 to the 2010 ballot if California's highest court upholds the state's same-sex marriage ban.While two initiatives seeking to undo the voter-approved November measure already have been submitted to the Secretary of State, leaders of the bitter No on 8 campaign say next year may be too soon to bring the issue back to the ballot."There is one thing worse than losing Prop. 8, and that would be losing again," said Chad Griffin, a Los Angeles political consultant who organized Hollywood's opposition to the ban. He was speaking to about 400 activists who gathered for a statewide planning summit here Saturday.Although several legal challenges are pending before the California Supreme Court, the option of another ballot fight has been discussed as a backup strategy since Proposition 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote. The court could render a decision as early as June.If the Supreme Court upholds the measure, that would leave same-sex marriage supporters with a viable, but very tight window in which to prepare and pull off a November 2010 rematch, said John Henning, executive director of the gay marriage group Love Honor Cherish."The deadline for us to be gathering signatures for a November ballot initiative would actually be this fall," Henning said. "We have to raise money, we have to train people how to gather these signatures and we have to get 10,000 people out doing something they may not be comfortable doing."One of the initiatives submitted to the state for approval this month, launched by a gay rights group in Davis, would repeal Proposition 8 outright. The second, initiated by two Los Angeles residents, would eliminate marriage as a state-sanctioned institution and replace it with domestic partnerships for couples gay and straight.Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said she understands the urgency gay marriage supporters feel. But ultimately, a decision on timing would have to be based on "what makes the most strategic and political sense" and "a full appreciation of the enormity of such an undertaking," she said. CONTINUE READING..

Poll: Two-thirds approve of Obama's job

Barack Obama is enjoying about a two-thirds approval rating for his first days as president, a poll released Saturday found.The Gallup Organization survey found 68 percent of Americans approve of Obama's performance as the nation's chief executive. That's a number near the high end for new presidents, but short of President John F. Kennedy's 72 percent in 1961.The poll also found that 12 percent in the survey disapprove of Obama's job performance, a typical number all presidents face after an election.Among presidents elected to their first term, Kennedy had the highest initial job approval rating, 72 percent, in Gallup polling three weeks after his inauguration. Next were Dwight Eisenhower with 68 percent approval and Jimmy Carter with 66 percent. Every other president elected to a first term since Eisenhower started office with at least majority job approval: Richard Nixon's 59 percent; Ronald Reagan's and George H.W. Bush's 51 percent; Bill Clinton's 58 percent and George W. Bush's 57 percent.Compared with his immediate predecessors, Obama faces fewer Americans who disapprove of his performance. Clinton faced 20 percent disapproval after taking office in 1993, and George W. Bush faced 25 percent disapproval after the Supreme Court delivered him the presidency in 2000.Gallup finds approval ratings improved after about 100 days in office for all recent elected presidents — except Carter and Clinton — as Americans became more familiar with their work.An Associated Press-GfK poll released last week showed Obama with a 74 percent approval during his transition.Obama was sworn in Tuesday. Gallup conducted telephone interviews of 1,591 adults Wednesday to Friday, which cover his first three days in office. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Variety Music Review: John Legend

Presented by Live Nation. Reviewed Jan. 13, 2009.

Band: John Legend, Eugene Roberts, Rashid Williams, Sharief Hobley, Kenneth Wright, Allen Arthur, Clayton Reilly, Steve Tirpak, Ashley Simpson, Vaughn Stephens, Anaysha Figueroa.

Also appearing: Estelle. 

Somewhere there's a resort that has John Legend's music on an endless loop, his soothing R&B setting a blissful mood through buoyant grooves, slow jams and a pinch of reggae. Not a note of his sounds dated, but there's no denying how firmly rooted it all is in the '60s and '70s classics from R&B hotbeds such as his hometown of Philadelphia. But a concert hall is not beachfront property, and no matter how professional a performance one delivers, an artist needs more than a handful of standout songs and a keen sense of how to use dynamics to succeed with a nearly two-hour show.

Everything about Legend's show is perfect on paper -- the musicianship, the steady pacing, the dance steps, the use of backup singer Ashley Simpson on duets and the seamless threading of material from three albums filled with solid retro-soul. If asked to name a male artist who could go toe-to-toe with Alicia Keys, one has to respond with Legend -- he's the Al Green of the 21st century. That assessment, though, comes from his recordings and not his Tuesday concert at the Gibson Amphitheater, which revealed too many similarities among his tunes.The opening half-hour played as a solid block of mid-tempo R&B with only slight shifts in tempo or attitude. "Used to Love You," the opener, set a tone that continued until a bracing perf of "Heaven" slightly enhanced the mood. Yet rather than break the ice for the evening, it was but a blip in a collection of sound-alikes.The middle chunk of his show is where Legend, who is equally comfortable at the grand piano and centerstage, demonstrated the breadth of his songbook. "Good Morning," not one of his better lyrical efforts but certainly an interesting tune in terms of its slow emphatic build, gave way to his spirited reggae duet with opener Estelle, "No Other Love," and then the one-two ballad punch of "Slow Jam" and "P.D.A." "Everybody Knows," "Stay With You" and his genre-busting classic "Save Room" followed, making the first half-hour appear monotonous by comparison. In addition to demonstrating the variety of his repertoire, Legend was also providing heavy doses of personality.R&B performers, specifically the ones Legend admires and to some degree emulates, rely on tension and release, the conflict of good and evil and living with the consequences of taking the wrong path. Legend's a good guy. He wants to fall in love, shower a woman with affection and demonstrate publicly that the power of love will take anyone to a higher place.

That final element plays a key role in the show's final stretch as Legend favors one big ending after another, stringing together the sonic equivalents of Fourth of July fireworks finales until he knocked "If You're Out There" into a Broadway show-stopping territory. He needs to know when enough is enough. Some of that razzle-dazzle at the end would go a long way toward taking the aud's breath away in the early going; simply having one of these big numbers swap places with one of those gentle groovers could do the trick.Unique for an R&B band, Legend's seems to follow the lead of drummer Rashid Williams, who is just as likely to spray percussion sounds around a tune as he is to keep a steady beat. In the early part of the night, his playing was sprawling and aggressive, an approach that's rare in the music of performers so attuned to soul music's classic era. As his drumming became more of the fabric of the band, however, the music moved more freely as a unit; when the night came to a conclusion -- and somewhere in the final three songs I swear the band started to play "Purple Rain" -- he was back to commandeering the sound.Estelle, whose "American Boy" single last year made her an artist to watch, connects with '60s and '70s soul in a manner similar to Legend. Each song has its own touchstone -- a bit of reggae, a hybrid of early '70s songs by Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder, a cover of "Get Ready" and the classic disco sound of her hit -- which she embellishes with a bit of flirtatious coyness that, in a 40-minute set, is quite enjoyable. SOURCE:VARIETY.COM

iPhone Blog Buzz 01.23.09

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made a key step in her post-Bush administration career: The William Morris Agency announced Wednesday that it has signed her as a client. The former professor and Stanford University provost has been in the Bush administration since its beginning, first as national security adviser and then as secretary of state. Her appointment ended Tuesday afternoon, after Barack Obama was sworn in as president. Although most other members of the Bush administration, save Karl Rove, might have trouble finding such a wide-ranging deal, Rice found a strong market among talent agencies. Aaron McGruder, creator of the highly risible and acerbic Boondocks, recently stirred up some things with his flammable comments about Barack Obama’s heritage. To McGruder, Obama’s not really black because he wasn’t the descendant of slaves. Singer/actor Mario was spotted at LAX airport arriving after his trip to Washington D.C. for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. La Toya Jackson shows off her stomach as she leaves The Dorchester hotel in London on Wednesday night. Super producer, rapper and fashionista Kanye West continues to publicly explore his sexuality .. whatever it may be. Two weeks ago the Grammy Award winner said he wanted to "pose naked" and break "all the rules of hip-hop." The flamboyant rap artist pushes the envelope further and reportedly/allegedly expresses interest in  performing in porn and "bisexual scenes." CONTINUE READING... Sen. John McCain has set the record straight about swirling rumors that his wife Cindy will be appearing on "Dancing With The Stars."   McCain was a guest on "Larry King Live" Thursday night, and he told the talk show host that although they talked about it, Cindy does not plan to be a contestant on the show. "Well, we discussed it," he tells Larry. "…But we decided it just was not a good idea." McCain also pointed out that his wife has had knee replacement surgery. "It would have been very challenging," he says about "DWTS." "But I'm proud of her work and charity around the world, Operation Smile, a number of other organizations -- humanitarian efforts that she's involved in and is continuing to be involved in." [Read full story on The Insider] "The Insider" was in Paris where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie -- both nominated today for Academy Awards -- delighted crowds at the French premiere of 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.' Brad said while he really didn't think much about being nominated for the Best Actor Oscar before today's announcements, he thinks the Academy is recognizing the movie as carrying on the tradition of old Hollywood epics. He also gave credit to director David Fincher -- nominated as Best Director for 'Button'-- who Brad said had devoted years to developing the film. Brad and Angelina spent a lot of time mingling with the crowd in Paris, posing for photographs and signing autographs for fans. Click the video to hear how the star couple planned to celebrate their Oscar noms! [Read full story on The Insider]  Federal regulators approved the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research, authorizing researchers to test whether the cells are safe for spinal injury treatment. Standing tall in a boho-chick look, Vogue cover girl/it girl Chanel Iman appeared on cover of the January 25th newsstand edition of Page Six magazine. Photo: PageSix The young protégée of Tyra Banks addressed rumors of dating Ryan Leslie and working in the fashion world. Photo: Chanel Iman's Official Myspace On rumors she has been involved with Kanye West, rapper Tyga, and singer-producer.Apple and its CEO-on-leave-but-still-active-sort-of Steve Jobs practically forced the Securities and Exchange Commission to look into the adequacy of the company¹s disclosures about Jobs's medical problems. But the investigation may have less to do with Jobs's health than with the SEC's. Source Blog Yes, ER is still on the air. No, I don't know if people still watch it. Yes, this season is its last. Because the show's 15th season will be its last, Dr. Doug Ross will return for an episode or two or three. George Clooney's last appearance on that shit was in 2000. That was at the lake house, right? I think I remember that but I was stoned and boozed through most of 2000 and 2001. People says that a closed set was ordered to keep George's return a big secret. NBC and the other bitches wouldn't confirm, so we don't know how many episodes he's doing. Last year, George said "fuck no" to returning. William Balfour, the man charged with killing three members of singer-actress Jennifer Hudson's family, has pleaded not guilty in a Chicago court. Sanjaya Malakar has turned his often tumultuous time on American Idol into a tell-all book. Although some fans reported pleasant run ins with Usher and Tameka in DC this past week, not everyone did. Snitches claim a young fan walked up to Usher and Tameka at Barney's in Georgetown and asked to take Usher's picture. They say Usher rudely refused while Tameka laughed, leaving the young fan in tears. We also hear Usher refused to acknowledge fans calling his name as he walked to his not-so-VIP- seats on the inauguration viewing grandstand, leaving some of his fans screaming incredulously, "So you're too good for us? We're your people!"The singer has recently signed a deal for a series of autobiographies that will supposedly bring about 14 million dollars to her finances. A source had this to say of Britney Spears’ new financial endeavor: “There have been numerous unofficial biographies printed about Britney, but she’s never agreed to pen her own tome - until [...] After being sentenced to prison for the false imprisonment of a male escort, Boy George has apparently managed to get a job there of serving food to his fellow inmates. A source had this to say about the singer’s prison experience: “It was bland. It must have been a shock. Conditions here are poor and [...]“You Complete Me” OFFICIAL Music Video - Keyshia Cole Check out the brand new video for Keyshia Cole’s noteworthy ballad, “You Complete Me“, directed by Benny Boom. Not only is the song beautiful but Keyshia has proves yet again she knows how to keep it classy. ANY THOUGHTS?!

John Legend ‘Everybody Knows’

CRIPS AND BLOODS : MADE IN AMERICA

Directed by critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Stacy Peralta and Executive Produced by NBA star Baron Davis and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Stephen Luczo, CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA  tells the story of the Crips and Bloods, South Los Angeles' two most infamous African-American gangs.

Combining unprecedented access into the worlds of active gangs, CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA  offers a compelling, character-driven documentary narrative which chronicles the decades-long cycle of destruction and despair that defines modern gang culture. The shocking war-zone reality of the South LA Gangs, the Crips and the Bloods.. From the genesis of LA’s gang culture to the shocking, war-zone reality of daily life in the South L.A., the film chronicles the rise of the Crips and Bloods, tracing the origins of their bloody four-decades long feud.  Contemporary and former gang members offer their street-level testimony that provides the film with a stark portrait of modern-day gang life: the turf wars and territorialism, the inter-gang hierarchy and family structure, the rules of behavior, the culture of guns, death and dishonor. Ex-gang members of the Crips and Bloods, gang intervention experts, activists and academics talk.. Throughout the film ex-gang members, gang intervention experts, writers, activists and academics analyze many of the issues that contribute to South LA's malaise: the erosion of identity that fuels the self-perpetuating legacy of black self-hatred, the disappearance of the African-American father and an almost pervasive prison culture in which today one out of every four black men will be imprisoned at some point in his life.

Solution to the South LA gang problem..

Finally the gang members themselves articulate their enduring dream of a better life. They provide CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA with its ultimate statement: a message of hope and a cautionary tale of redemption aimed at saving the lives of a new generation of kids, not just in South LA but anywhere in the world that gang violence exists. CHECK OUT THE TRAILER...

Mike Tyson a hit at Sundance

Mike Tyson didn’t pull any punches about his tumultuous life at the Sundance premiere of the documentary “Tyson.”“I never used to understand why people perceived me as such a monster, and then I saw the movie and it all made sense,” the heavyweight said at Bon Appetit’s Supper Club bash post-screening.But Tyson hasn’t completely changed his ways. For one thing, he’s still a control freak. “Mike told staffers he wasn’t going to come into the dining room until everyone was seated and ready for him,” said one insider.Due to more pressing events (like the inauguration, perhaps?), we had to leave the slopes in Park City, Utah, but Gatecrasher pal Neil Janowitz stuck around for the event. The ESPN the Magazine editor told us Tyson’s speech had a one-two punch.“Mike talked about how surreal the whole experience was and how the movie captured the ups and downs of his life,” Janowitz recalled. “When he hit rock bottom and things were awful, he never wanted to go through that again. But now, with the film coming out and being in Sundance, Mike says he’s the toast of the town again.”Tyson went on to say that “people are offering me a lot of p—y and a lot of money again.”When everyone in the room laughed uncomfortably, Tyson corrected the chucklers.“It’s not funny,” Tyson chided. “This stuff is detrimental. I had a hard time controlling it in the past.”The film, which sold at Sundance to Sony Pictures Classics, chronicles the boxer’s rise and fall. It begins with a young Tyson getting beaten up in the rough area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, where he grew up. There, Tyson got his first KO during a scuffle over ... pigeons.“Mike collected and raised them on his roof in Brooklyn,” Janowitz explained. “He had his first fight after an older kid killed one of his birds and threw it to the ground. After Mike punched his lights out, he saw that more people respected him, and he felt better.”While no one brought up Tyson’s winged friends, reporters did ask how he’s been passing the time lately.Said the former champ: “I’m trying to stay clean, trying to stay sober — and trying to stay out of trouble.” SOURCE OF THIS POST

TODAY'S PAPERS: Obama Makes Changes on Day One

All the papers give top billing today to stories on President Barack Obama's busy first full day in office. The New York Times leads with Obama's plans to sign an order today calling for the shutdown of the CIA's network of secret prisons abroad and the closing of the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay within one year. The Washington Post leads with the expected order and tough new ethics rules on lobbying and document disclosure ordered by Obama yesterday. The Los Angeles Times focuses on Obama pushing military leaders for a plan to withdraw from Iraq. The Wall Street Journal highlights a pay freeze for top staffers. In its rundown of yesterday's presidential doings, USAToday declares that "the change began" shortly after Obama entered the oval office. Looking to solidify the current Mideast ceasefire, Obama placed calls to the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. The president also met with military and national security advisers to discuss the situation in Iraq and plans for troop withdrawal in 16 months, according to the WP. On the home front, the Post reports that yesterday's ethics order will prohibit former appointees of this administration from lobbying the federal government while Obama is still in office. The LAT provides a nice summary of three executive orders signed by Obama yesterday to increase the transparency of the executive branch. To continue reading, click here.

Tragedy in the Tenderloin

BY C.W. Nevius -- It seemed everyone in the Tenderloin knew where Caprice Darnell Curry was headed. Last week that's where she ended up - assaulted, stabbed, dead on the street.hat the neighbors can't shake is the gloomy feeling that her death could have been prevented. They knew that Curry, a 31-year-old man who presented himself as a flamboyant, flirtatious woman, had serious psychological problems. They knew she was in danger. Yet when she was taking her meds, Curry could also be charming, caring and likable.Most of all, they knew that she had the potential to be saved.We talk a lot about people falling through the cracks of the city's support system. It isn't often that we get to actually watch it happen.It is ridiculous that this continues. It's easy to say the problem is the number of severely mentally ill or drug-addicted people in the city. The bigger picture is that the city has failed to find a way to deal with two fundamental problems. First, there is no mechanism to compel those with psychological problems or drug addiction to seek help. And second, concentrating those with the very worst problems in the Tenderloin - a center for drug sales and violence, and where there is the city's highest concentration of parolees - is disastrous.In this case, Curry was arrested several times, given medications and encouraged to go to counseling. Yet at the end of the day, she was turned back onto the Tenderloin streets and left to succumb to her tendencies to get herself into drugs and danger.Eshana Singh is a mental health services program director. She counseled Curry at the Lyric Hotel, a residence for people with both mental health and substance abuse problems."If I could have waved a magic wand, it would make her take her medications, to be the incredible person she could be," Singh said.But there is no magic wand. Does that mean friends have to stand by and watch a slow-motion train wreck?"We talked about this many times," said David Villa-Lobos, a 28-year Tenderloin resident and executive director of the Community Leadership Alliance. "As many times as this young man went to court, nothing was done. The cops are trying to do their job, but something breaks down in the courts. The poor guy needed some help. He needed some supervision."Instead, Curry got court dates, warnings and invitations to counseling. Unless the patient is deeply, dangerously disturbed, that's all that can be done."The basic problem is that no one can be forced into treatment," said Dr. Bob Cabaj, director of San Francisco Behavioral Health Services. "If someone is deemed not to be gravely disabled, they would be encouraged to follow through (with counseling), but if they don't want to, they don't have to."There is an alternative. Many of those who work in the system wish they could be empowered as "conservators" for those who are in psychological need. With that authority, health workers could require patients to take their medications and undergo treatment."If I could do anything, I would ask to have a stronger ability to use conservatorship when it is appropriate," Cabaj said. "To have someone's case overseen by someone who cares."Or we can have the alternative - the short, sad life of Caprice Curry.She was certainly no shrinking violet."She strutted around like a model," Singh said. "She was more of a woman than I was. She was very flamboyant and very flirtatious. She flirted with everybody."But when she wasn't taking her drugs, she could also be mouthy, difficult and argumentative. There were scenes at the local markets, a fight at the Laundromat. She smoked crack.A month ago she was taken to the hospital after getting beat up. Singh said Curry was given better medications and returned with a new interest in counseling.But what was it she returned to? "You see the neighborhood," said Dmitry Erikalov, Curry's friend for nine years. "People get killed there every month. People deal drugs everywhere in the open."Seth Katzman, who is the director of Conard House, which runs the Lyric Hotel, said the neighborhood is a prescription for failure."It is really difficult to put individuals with severe mental illness and substance abuse problem in a neighborhood where so many others have the same problems," he said. "You might go to a 90-day rehab program, and they may do a great job, but when you come back into the Tenderloin and everybody is using, I can't imagine staying sober."Curry didn't. She didn't stay on her meds and she couldn't keep herself out of trouble. At the same time, she was a force of nature at the Lyric, fluttering in and out of Singh's office, flirting with the men and sashaying out the door."This is not just another Tenderloin murder," Singh said. "She was a wild child. But she was also loving, caring and considerate. She cared."And in the end, so did the neighborhood. Erikalov said they raised $7,500 for her funeral. On a glass door at the Lyric is a small shrine, including several pictures. One of them shows Curry standing on the street, grinning into the camera, next to something she used to say all the time."You're gonna miss me when I'm gone."

Obama Starts Reversing Bush Policies

President Obama moved swiftly yesterday to begin rolling back eight years of his predecessor's policies, ordering tough new ethics rules and preparing to issue an order closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has been at the center of the debate over the treatment of U.S. prisoners in the battle against terrorism. Acting to address several promises he made during his campaign, Obama met with top generals about speeding the withdrawal from Iraq and gathered his senior economic advisers as he continued to push for a massive spending bill to create jobs. He also signed a series of executive orders and directives intended to slow the revolving door between government service and lobbying, and ordered his administration to share information more freely with the public. Today, he will issue another order calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay within a year, an immediate case-by-case review of the 245 detainees remaining there, and the application of new rules governing the treatment and interrogation of prisoners, including compliance with international treaties that the Bush administration deemed inapplicable to suspects in terrorism cases. Just hours after his inauguration Tuesday, Obama ordered the suspension of all judicial proceedings at Guantanamo Bay under the auspices of the Bush administration's military commissions system. What is to be done with the prisoners will be part of the review, sources said. Listed options include repatriation to their home nations or a willing third country, civil trials in this country, or a special civil or military system. Prisoners are to be released or transferred on a rolling basis as soon as individual cases are reviewed and determinations made as to whether the detainees can and should be prosecuted, and where.

White House counsel Gregory B. Craig, who has spent the past several weeks drafting the orders, and discussed them with senior Democratic lawmakers in recent days, briefed House Republicans on Capitol Hill yesterday. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) said Craig told members of Congress to expect "several" executive orders on Guantanamo Bay, including closure of the prison, but did not provide specific language. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement that "there are important questions that must be answered before the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay can be closed. The key question is where do you put these terrorists?"Sources familiar with the briefings said Obama also will sign two executive orders altering CIA detention and interrogation rules, limiting interrogation standards in all U.S. facilities worldwide to those outlined in the Army Field Manual, and prohibiting the agency from secretly holding terrorist detainees in third-country prisons.SOURCE: NYTIMES.COM

Staff Finds White House in the Technological Dark Ages

If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past.Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking."It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs.In many ways, the move into the White House resembled a first day at school: Advisers wandered the halls, looking for their offices. Aides spent hours in orientation, learning such things as government ethics rules as well as how their paychecks will be delivered. And everyone filled out a seemingly endless pile of paperwork.There were plenty of first-day glitches, too, as calls to many lines in the West Wing were met with a busy signal all morning and those to the main White House switchboard were greeted by a recording, redirecting callers to the presidential Web site. A number of reporters were also shut out of the White House because of lost security clearance lists.By late evening, the vaunted new White House Web site did not offer any updated posts about President Obama's busy first day on the job, which included an inaugural prayer service, an open house with the public, and meetings with his economic and national security teams.Nor did the site reflect the transparency Obama promised to deliver. "The President has not yet issued any executive orders," it stated hours after Obama issued executive orders to tighten ethics rules, enhance Freedom of Information Act rules and freeze the salaries of White House officials who earn more than $100,000.The site was updated for the first time last night, when information on the executive orders was added. But there were still no pool reports or blog entries.No one could quite explain the problem -- but they swore it would be fixed.One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.Senior advisers chafed at the new arrangements, which severely limit mobility -- partly by tradition but also for security reasons and to ensure that all official work is preserved under the Presidential Records Act. SOURCE:WASHINGTONPOST.COM