Keepingitreal

College Basketball March Maddness

March 21, 2009

Final 1 2 Score (18) U-C-L-A 31 38 69 (11) Villanova « 44 45 89 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - East Region - Second Round - Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA	Final 1 2 Score Maryland 33 37 70 (3) Memphis « 53 36 89 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - West Region - Second Round - Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Final 1 2 Score Texas A&M 33 33 66 (5) Connecticut « 51 41 92 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - West Region - Second Round - Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA	Final 1 2 Score (17) Purdue « 39 37 76 (15) Washington 28 46 74 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - West Region - Second Round - Rose Garden, Portland, OR
Final 1 2 Score (21) L-S-U 29 41 70 (2) North Carolina « 38 46 84 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - South Region - Second Round - Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC	Final 1 2 Score Michigan 29 34 63 (7) Oklahoma « 30 43 73 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - South Region - Second Round - Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Final 1 2 Score Texas 29 40 69 (6) Duke « 36 38 74 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - East Region - Second Round - Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC	Final 1 2 Score Western Ky 37 44 81 (10) Gonzaga « 35 48 83 Preview | Lineup | Wrap | Box NCAA Tournament - South Region - Second Round - Rose Garden, Portland, OR

powered by www.sportsnetwork.com

iPhone Blog Buzz 03.20.09

BET's newest reality TV series, 'Harlem Heights' chronicles the lives of a gaggle of young, upwardly mobile Harlemites who are ever ambitious, sometimes flirtatious and decidedly gorgeous. Not only are they distinct characters, they each have very specific style personalities which play out in their personal style choices. The lovely ladies of the show shed light on their splashy swagger. It's been close to 30 years since she starred in the original film and TV series, and now with an updated version starting production, Debbie Allen will be returning to the cast of the new 'Fame' film. Although it hasn't been stated, but Allen may... Read more December 2nd is UN Slavery Abolition Day and we should take notice. It is estimated that there are at least 27 million people enslaved around the world today. At 27 million, more human beings are in bondage than at any other time in history.... Read more Producer Evan Rogers, the music mogul who discovered pop star Rihanna, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about all of the unsolicited advice she has received from celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks regarding her domestic dispute with Chris Brown. Sylvester Stallone has chosen rapper 50 Cent to replace the Academy Award-winning Forest Whitaker in "The Expendables," an action film about a team of mercenaries on a mission to overthrow a South American dictator. So remember how we told you that Mariah Carey and her personal straw-holder husband Nick Cannon were planning their hostile takeover of California? Well it looks like it's gonna happen because the Mimoo has supposedly made an offer on the world's most expensive mansion. The Fleur de Lys in Beverly Hills is listed at a whopping $125 [...]Creepola dadager Joe Simpson got jealous of all the attention daughter Jessica was giving boyfriend Tony Romo so he told her to quit him! Despite encouraging the relationship in the first place, "Joe now feels that Tony has become too much of a distraction for Jessica" because "Any free time she has, Jess wants to spend [...] Thousands of Kenyans and Ugandans may have been wrongly declared HIV positive, thanks to faulty tests at VCT centres, a new study suggests. According to the study published in our sister paper, The EastAfrican, many others may have been incorrectly diagnosed as HIV negative.The study involved 6,255 people aged between 18 and 60 who sought VCT services at a village in Masaka and the Kakira sugar plantations, in Uganda and a Coastal village in Kilifi and a slum in Kangemi estate in Nairobi.Alicia Keys speaks at Dunbar High School on Thursday, March 19th in Washington, DC. The singer was joined by her mother, Terri Joseph and Gen. Ann Dunwoody commanding General of U.S. Army Material Command in a roundtable discussion with students in celebration of Women’s History Month. Alicia also met up with First Lady Michelle Obama (who [...] Jennifer Hudson is gearing up for her first full-scale concert tour. She kicks off a 25 date event in Albany, New York, on March 31 with Robin Thicke. In a recent interview with Billboard.com, Jennifer said: “I’m excited to get out and meet the people and sing for the people. I always love to perform live. [...] DUBAI (Reuters) - A nuclear-powered U.S. submarine and another U.S. vessel collided on Friday in the Strait of Hormuz but there was no damage to the atomic propulsion unit, the U.S. Navy said.Several U.S. federal investigations into subprime lenders involve possible insider trading before announcements of negative news about the lender, a Securities and Exchange Commission member said on Friday.After a rowdy, hit-filled SXSW performance at Austin Music Hall, Rolling Stone caught up with Big Boi to talk about the status of his long-awaited solo debut and the future of his group, OutKast. Big Boi says his album, Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty, is finished, save some “additives and preservatives” currently being [...]The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution It's over — we're officially, royally fucked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline... Natasha Richardson was remembered Thursday night with a special Broadway tribute: The marquee lights were dimmed for one minute.The Big Idea: Athletes and Guns -- Continue Reading.. A preview of Ciara and Justin Timberlake’s new video for their single Love Sex Magic has been released. Clocking in at just under a minute and the half, a body suited Ciara can be seen behind bars doing things with her body that must make her man really happy. If nothing else, Super C is one. With Spring and warmer weather almost upon us, India Arie is just one of a boat load of artists who are hitting the touring circuit. The singer will kick off the west coast stint of her 2009 “Soul Bird” tour on April 1st in Berkeley, California and wrap it up on April 19th.Congratulations to Mary J. Blige and her label for being cleared of stealing "Family Affair" from Leonard Jones and James White, who claimed the track was similar to their own "Party Ain't Crunk."PARLEZ-VOUS GAY? Miami-based Dave Acton, author of the hilarious and helpful phrasebook The Gay Translator discusses the nuances of crossing queer linguistic and cultural barrier. Soul singer Leela James is dropping her long-awaited new album, Let's Do It Again, on March 24, 2009, so if you're not familiar with her, this is as good a time as any to learn about the woman and her music. In a recent blog entry titled "Cocaine & P**y", via GlobalGrind.com, the former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day continued to stand her ground as she's done amongst public and media backlash. In the piece, she asks whether or not the industry and society in general hold too much weight on a celebrities' actions, and measure success by these same actions. Or do they? A Sports Illustrated article about how and why athletes go broke details how some pro athletes, instead of putting some of their high salaries in safe investments, instead find the riskiest investments around and end up bankrupt. While the average person might not think that they'd make such poor decisions if they were in the same boat, the story does provide some financial lessons that may apply too anyone's life. Granted, they're more likely to apply if you win millions in the lottery or find yourself with a contract to sign with a pro sports team, but they are lessons worth remembering. Here are a few: Continue reading Financial lessons from millionaire athletes

Obama on Jay Leno

MTV's:Taking The Stage Episode 1 SCPA Talent Show

Taking The Stage - MTV Shows

Strengthening dollar good for travelers

Who would have thought it? While Wall Street plunges, the U.S. dollar surges. And that wholly unexpected rise in the value of the dollar is the biggest news in travel. It has more of an impact on your vacation choices than any other single factor.The extent of the rise is startling. While most of us are aware that the dollar has risen against the euro and the British pound by 20 to 30 percent, the dollar is up against other currencies by 40 to 50 percent. And it is in countries whose currencies have fallen by startling percentages that a vacation trip has become most affordable for U.S. travelers.Mexico leads the list. A year or so ago, you received 10 pesos for one U.S. dollar. Today, you receive more than 15 pesos for a dollar. Drug-related violence in Mexico is mostly confined to cities along the U.S. border, leaving the tourist areas (Cancun, the Mayan Riviera, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas) largely untroubled, so Mexico should receive an increasing number of U.S. vacationers.Turkey has become affordable again. A year ago, $1 bought 1.18 Turkish lira. Today: 1.74 Turkish lira, an increase in the purchasing power of the dollar of 47 percent.Australia's dollar is exchanged at a rate of 1.53 Australian dollars for one U.S. dollar. A year ago, you received only 1.06 Australian dollars. The improvement is better than 45 percent. And with a new airline - Richard Branson's V Australia - doing battle with Australia's flag carrier, Qantas, airfares to Australia are under such downward pressure that a vacation Down Under is something you really should consider.New Zealand is doing even worse. A year ago, you received 1.24 New Zealand dollars for one U.S. dollar; today you receive 1.95, 57 percent more - a great reason for traveling to "Lord of the Rings" territory.The Brazilian real has fallen by about 45 percent against the dollar. A year ago, you received 1.67 Brazilian reals for $1; today you receive 2.33.The Russian ruble and the Polish zloty have fallen by 40 to 50 percent against the dollar. The currencies of several other eastern and central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania) have fallen by just as much.The South Korean won has fallen by more than 50 percent against the dollar. So has the Swedish krona.These currency shifts, and others like them, may give you some vacation ideas. If you have savings left in these troubled economic times, you may discover that 2009 has become an excellent time to engage in international travel. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

March Maddness Opening Day

NCAA Men's Basketball Live Event Central

N. Iowa 56 vs. Purdue 61  Final  Butler 71 vs. Louisiana St. 75  Final  Cal St.-Northridge 70 vs. Memphis 81  Final  Texas A&M 79 vs. Brigham Young 66  Final  Mississippi St. 58 vs. Washington 71  Final  Radford 58 vs. North Carolina 101  Final  Maryland 84 vs. California 71  Final  Chattanooga 47 vs. Connecticut 103  Final  New Mexico 68 vs. Notre Dame 70  Final  Rhode Island 72 vs. Penn St. 83  Final  The Citadel 59 vs. Old Dominion 67  Final  Minnesota 62 vs. Texas 76  Final  Michigan 62 vs. Clemson 59  Final  American U. 67 vs. Villanova 80  Final  Akron 64 vs. Gonzaga 77  Final  Binghamton 62 vs. Duke 86  Final  Morgan St. 54 vs. Oklahoma 82  Final  Va. Commonwealth 64 vs. UCLA 65  Final  W. Kentucky 76 vs. Illinois 72  Final

Fed Plans to Inject Another $1 Trillion to Aid the Economy

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve sharply stepped up its efforts to bolster the economy on Wednesday, announcing that it would pump an extra $1 trillion into the financial system by purchasing Treasury bonds and mortgage securities.Having already reduced the key interest rate it controls nearly to zero, the central bank has increasingly turned to alternatives like buying securities as a way of getting more dollars into the economy, a tactic that amounts to creating vast new sums of money out of thin air. But the moves on Wednesday were its biggest yet, almost doubling all of the Fed’s measures in the last year.The action makes the Fed a buyer of long-term government bonds rather than the short-term debt that it typically buys and sells to help control the money supply.The idea was to encourage more economic activity by lowering interest rates, including those on home loans, and to help the financial system as it struggles under the crushing weight of bad loans and poor investments.Investors responded with surprise and enthusiasm. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had been down about 50 points just before the announcement, jumped immediately and ended the day up almost 91 points at 7,486.58. Yields on long-term Treasury bonds dropped markedly, and analysts predicted that interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages would soon drop below 5 percent.But there were also clear indications that the Fed was taking risks that could dilute the value of the dollar and set the stage for future inflation. Gold prices rose $26.60 an ounce, hitting $942, a sign of declining confidence in the dollar. The dollar, which had been losing value in recent weeks to the euro and the yen, dropped sharply again on Wednesday.In its announcement, the central bank said that the United States remained in a severe recession and listed its continuing woes, from job losses and lost housing wealth to falling exports as a result of the worldwide economic slowdown.“In these circumstances, the Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote economic recovery and to preserve price stability,” the central bank said.As expected, policy makers decided to keep the Fed’s benchmark interest rate on overnight loans in a range between zero and 0.25 percent. SOURCE:NYT.COM

House Passes Heavy Tax on Bonuses at Rescued Firms

WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly approved on Thursday a near total tax on bonuses paid this year to employees of the American International Group and other firms that have accepted large amounts of federal bailout funds, rattling Wall Street as lawmakers rushed to respond to populist anger.Despite questions about the legality of the retroactive 90 percent levy, Democrats and some Republicans said the tax on bonuses for traders, executives and bankers earning more than $250,000 was the quickest way to show angry Americans that Congress intended to recoup the extra dollars. Even backers of the measure noted it was an extraordinary step.The House vote sent some employees into a panic about the prospect of, in effect, having to give up money they might already have spent. And it had regulators fearing it could undermine the Treasury’s efforts to stabilize the financial system if banks tried to flee the bailout program or if other firms refused to participate in coming rescue operations to protect their bonuses, some executives said.Vikram S. Pandit, chief executive of Citigroup, lobbied against the legislation in a meeting Thursday with the Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, according to an industry official.But the rush to curb the bonuses by lawmakers, many of whom have previously been torn about limiting executive compensation, reflected Congressional anxiety about heightened public dismay over the bailout. The Senate is expected to consider a similar tax on bonuses but has some differences with the House, which could slow final action.In a statement, President Obama suggested he was supportive of the legislation, urging Congress to deliver a “final product that will serve as a strong signal to the executives who run these firms that such compensation will not be tolerated.”In an appearance later on “The Tonight Show” on NBC, Mr. Obama was measured in his reaction, saying he understood that Congress was “responding, I think, to everybody’s anger” but that the best way to handle the situation was “to make sure you’ve closed the door before the horse gets out of the barn.”The legislation would apply to bonuses paid to executives at companies holding at least $5 billion in bailout money and would essentially wipe out the phenomenal paydays that have been a tradition on Wall Street, at least until the firms reduce the amount they owe taxpayers to less than $5 billion. According to a tally by The New York Times of bailout recipients, employees at 11 institutions — including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase — would face restrictions immediately. CONTINUE READING...

Raw Art Exhibit at the Uptown

RAW ART EXHIBIT Presented by THE UPTOWN
Friday April 3rd 2009 Oakland Art Murmur Featured:
Artists: Carly Ivan Garcia Participating
Artists: Craig Kendel, Jeff Ingram,Collin Harris, Christopher Dworin,
Amy Johnson, Ethen B. Luce & Michele Collier
After Party at Ave Bar & Resturant
Guest DJ’s Megablack & Malachi
Complimentary Libations

Fantasia Opens Up About Faith, Family, Finances & 'The Color Purple'

Last week, season three 'American Idol' winner Fantasia appeared at The Kennedy Center, where she was on-hand to join the producers of 'The Color Purple' to officially announce her return to the Broadway musical's tour stint at the famed theater complex in the Nation's Capital. >After 'The Color Purple's' lead producer Scott Sanders shared his story of fighting for 11 years to turn Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning novel into a stage production, Fantasia took to the stage and invigorated the room with a dynamic performance of the song 'I'm Here' from the play. High Point, North Carolina native who was tremendously forthcoming about everything from the rumors that she missing 50 shows on Broadway to the advice Oprah Winfrey gave her about having longevity in the business.CONTINUE READING...

SPIKE LEE'S 'KOBE' FILM GETS NY PREMIERE: Telepic about Lakers star to screen at Tribeca Film Festival before ESPN debut.

Spike Lee's "Kobe Doin' Work," a telepic capturing a day in the life of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, will have its world premiere next month during the Tribeca Film Festival before its May debut on ESPN. During last year’s playoffs, Lee and his cinematographer, Matthew Libatique, spent the day with the NBA standout. With unlimited access to Bryant before, during and after the game, the result is a definitive portrait of one of the sport’s greatest athletes. The April 25 bow is part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film. “We are proud to kick off the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival with a documentary showcasing not only Spike Lee's fervent love of basketball, but our collective commitment to great storytelling," said Keith Clinkscales, senior vice president ESPN content development. "'Kobe Doin’ Work' and the entire sports festival slate speak to the power of film and sports to inspire, motivate and transform.” Seven more sports-themed films will screen during the festival's April 22 – May 3 run in lower Manhattan.

Game Over: Make me a Supermodel

Parkway Theater to close

(03-19) 18:07 PDT Oakland -- When the curtain falls on the Parkway Theater Sunday night, the heart of Oakland's cross-dressing, noir-loving, kitschy core will go dark, forlorn theater patrons said. "You could sit on a couch, drink beer and watch a movie. What could be better?" said Lisa Brown, a longtime Parkway patron and Maxwell Park resident. "It's hands-down my favorite place to see a movie. It's an Oakland institution. I'm in shock." In the age of faceless multiplexes and $12 movie tickets, the Parkway movie theater provided low-cost entertainment that extended far beyond Hollywood celluloid. The 1926 theater showed classic films, TV extravaganzas like the Obama inauguration, Oscars and Super Bowl, film festivals ranging from educational porn to the African diaspora, midnight showings of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and a full spectrum of vintage slasher, noir, monster and horror flicks.But the best part, patrons say, was not just the $5 tickets for shows - it was that that the Parkway served beer, wine and pizza, which the staff delivered to your seat during the movie. And the seats were couches and lounge chairs, each accompanied by a coffee table perfect for resting one's feet. It was also home to the nationally renowned Baby Brigade, in which weary, isolated parents could bring their infants to the movies Monday nights.SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Trailer: Tyson Documentary

Tonex - "Joy"

The Song: Can't believe I let you in / I locked the door from deep within / Love is risky but I'm willing to take my chances "Joy," the latest song from Tonex's just-released album Unspoken most resembles his gospel tradition. Over underlying tambourine shakes, spontaneous choir shouts, and flute freestyle, Tonex, struts his powerful falsetto voice. In "Joy," Tonex also shows off his ability to make a musical hybrid by combining jazz influenced chord changes, hip-hop dialect, and mind blowing vocal improvisation. Speaking to the transformative power of having a relationship with a higher being, "Joy" will make anyone's day brighter with its universal message and funk bounce.
Audio Stream:
http://media.audibletreats.com/Tonex-Joy.asx
Embeddable video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIewVnBnBMw
Also, Battery Records has just made free mp3 of the lead single, "Bl3nd," available for download and posting!
http://media.audibletreats.com/Tonex-Bl3nd.mp3

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=307277731&s=143441
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.target.com

The Background: Gospel music that combines elements of pop, R&B, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, rock, Latin, electro, punk, and trance seems like a recipe for disaster. But for Tonex (pronounced "Toe-Nay"), using a hodge podge of different genres to spread the word is so second nature that he even created a name, “Nureau,” for his multifarious sound. Born in San Diego and raised heavily in the church, Tonex has been recording music since he was 10 years old. His 1997 independently released project, Pronounced Toe-Nay, received so much acclaim that it landed him a performance on the Stellar Music Awards, which immediately shifted his career into high gear. Now after a string of successful albums, including Out of the Box, in which he received a Grammy nomination and six Stellar Awards, Tonex is back with his new LP Unspoken. After a five year hiatus, Tonex's says this project is a transitional work in which he lets the music speak for itself in reaching his diverse audience. Unspoken tackles a wide range of subjects while delicately balancing on the hinges of mainstream and Tonex's gospel roots, while conveying Tonex’s variety, musical prowess, and adaptability. Unspoken will be released March 17th via Battery Records, a newly formed imprint under Sony Music Entertainment’s RCA/ JIVE Label Group umbrella.

Condoms not answer to AIDS, Pope says

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE – Pope Benedict XVI said on his way to Africa today that condoms were not the answer in the continent's fight against HIV. It was his first explicit statement on an issue that has divided even clergy working with AIDS patients.Benedict had never directly addressed condom use. He has said that the Roman Catholic Church is in the forefront of the battle against AIDS. The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease."You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. "On the contrary, it increases the problem.''Some priests and nuns working with those living with HIV/AIDS question the church's opposition to condoms amid the pandemic ravaging Africa.Benedict's first papal trip to Africa will take him to Cameroon and Angola. Africa is the fastest-growing region for the Roman Catholic Church, though it competes with Islam and evangelical churches.The pope also said today that he intends to make an appeal for "international solidarity" for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn.He said that while the church does not propose specific economic solutions, it can give "spiritual and moral" suggestions.Describing the current crisis as the consequence of "a deficit of ethics in economic structures," the pope said, "It is here that the church can make a contribution."On the plane, Benedict also dismissed the notion that he was facing increasing opposition and isolation within the church, particularly after an outreach to ultraconservatives that led to his lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop."The myth of my solitude makes me laugh," the pope said, adding that he can count on a network of friends and aides whom he sees every day.In a letter to Catholic bishops released last week, the pope made an unusual public acknowledgment of Vatican mistakes and turmoil in his church over the rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson.While acknowledging mistakes were made in handling the affair, Benedict said he was saddened that he was criticized "with open hostility" even by those who should have known better. SOURCE:THE STAR

Saadiq: straight to the source

“It’s not retro if you came from it.” Raphael Saadiq was on the phone a few weeks back, explaining why his Motown-sound-celebrating new album The Way I See It isn’t really a leap. One would be tempted to believe a guy with such a varied and illustrious track record. Saadiq, born Charlie Ray Wiggins in 1966, got his start as part of late-’80s, early-’90s R&B/new jack swing band Tony! Toni! Toné!, alongside his brother Dwayne Wiggins and cousin Timothy Christian. He went on to become one of the most respected producers in R&B and hip-hop, making tracks for everyone from A Tribe Called Quest to D’Angelo, The Roots, Erykah Badu and Mary J. Blige. More recently, he produced British soul starlet Joss Stone’s entire 2007 album Introducing Joss Stone. Along the way, he founded late-’90s supergroup Lucy Pearl, with A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad and En Vogue’s Dawn Robinson, and released three strong solo albums. But this is different. This time Saadiq pulled out all the stops, did away with half-measures and contemporary references (except for the Jay-Z cameo on the Oh Girl bonus remix at album’s end) and went straight to the source. The Way I See It could easily be mistaken for a collection of lost Smokey Robinson tracks. Yet Saadiq insists it was business as usual. “I’ve always gone back,” said the man who called his multi-Grammy-nominated 2002 solo debut Instant Vintage. “I never made a record that didn’t go back. I just went back so noticeably this time. ”In other words, it’s not so much an artistic divergence as a look within. For Saadiq, turning to soul music’s past meant sharing an integral part of his own, and of his present. “It’s the music I keep ordering up, my whole life,” he said. “From every format – cassette, CD or digital download – it’s the music I always ride to in my car.“When I got up this morning, I listened to Aretha Franklin, Spanish Harlem. It’s sunny outside and I find myself smiling and jamming to Spanish Harlem. It’s what moves me. I just wanted to show people what’s really behind me, what I really do, better than anything you ever heard me do.”Though the album’s throwback sound may be a surprise to listeners, it was anything but for the singer-songwriter-producer, who knew he had it in him all along.“It’s like that kid outside playing with his friends,” he said, “who wants everyone to think he’s cool, and don’t tell everyone he’s really a math genius. I’ve been playing music, hitting here, there, doing this, doing that. But I can really jump in a suit and a skinny tie and go all the way there.“I’ve always had this dream that I should have been born way sooner and been (surrounded by) those other musicians instead of being with the musicians I’m with today.” SOURCE:THE GAZETTE

NY models will get second chance

America's Next top Model host Tyra Banks has told wannabes caught up in chaotic scenes at a New York casting that they will get another chance.

On the show's blog, Banks has written that producers are "doing everything we can" to "make sure that everyone gets a fair chance to pursue their dream".Thousands of modelling hopefuls were queuing outside a hotel when bedlam broke out, injuring six people.Police said the crowd panicked when a broken down car nearby began smoking. Several arrests As the crowd surged, the street outside the hotel became littered with shoes and clothing owned by people who had camped out the night before the audition.Three people were arrested for resisting arrest after a security barrier was toppled, police said. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne told the Associated Press that organisers should have notified police before the gathering for help with crowd control. He said there have been no similar problems with other open castings.In the latest series of the hit reality show competition, the show's producers are looking for models below the usual height of 5ft 7ins. They have yet to reveal when another audition will take place, but Banks said: "I encourage each girl to come out ready to rock the runway and show off their fiercest pose. "I'm rooting for all of you!"

No Smooth Ride on TV Networks’ Road to Diversity

LOS ANGELES — On the eve of Barack Obama’s election last fall as the first African-American president, television seemed to be leaning toward a post-racial future. In October two prominent cable networks — CNN and Comedy Central — began new programs that featured black hosts, a development that was notable because so few current programs on cable or broadcast channels have minority leads. Five months later both programs — “Chocolate News,” featuring David Alan Grier on Comedy Central, and “D. L. Hughley Breaks the News” on CNN — have been discontinued. In addition, CW, the broadcast network that regularly features comedies with largely African-American casts, announced in February that it was renewing six popular series, but its two with mostly black performers — “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game” — were not among them. (The network says it is still deciding their fates.) One of the few new series from last fall to feature a black lead, Fox’s situation comedy “Do Not Disturb,” was canceled after only three episodes because of low ratings. And when Jay Leno’s impending departure from “The Tonight Show” caused a shuffling among the late-night talk-show hosting chairs, the lineup remained a white male domain.All of which raises some questions about whether television actually made any progress last fall in better reflecting the audience it serves, and whether viewers will see a return to old, monochromatic ways in the coming season. Comedy Central and CNN both said last week that their respective shows were not canceled; they simply were not continuing. Jenni Runyan, a spokeswoman for Comedy Central, whose executives declined to comment for this article, said “Chocolate News” completed its entire run of 10 episodes but was not renewed for a second season. She said the network does not talk about why shows are not renewed.SOURCE:NYT.COM

Cocaine Trade Helps Rebels Reignite War in Peru

CANAYRE, Peru — First the soldiers came to Río Seco, a coca-growing village in the lush mountain jungles of southern Peru. “They called us subversives and they opened fire,” said Benedicto Cóndor, 55, a coca farmer. They shot dead four people at close range, including a woman who was five months pregnant, witnesses said. Two children, ages 6 and 1, disappeared and are believed dead. Four months later, the guerrillas arrived, accusing the villagers of helping the military. They abducted the village leader, who has not been seen since. The harrowing tales of violence trickling out of the jungle as dozens of families have fled their villages in recent months raise an ominous specter: a brutal war that terrorized the country for two decades may be sparking back to life. The war against the Shining Path rebels, which took nearly 70,000 lives, supposedly ended in 2000. But here in one of the most remote corners of the Andes, the military, in a renewed campaign, is battling a resurgent rebel faction. And the Shining Path, taking a page from Colombia’s rebels, has reinvented itself as an illicit drug enterprise, rebuilding on the profits of Peru’s thriving cocaine trade. The front lines lie in the drizzle-shrouded jungle of Vizcatán, a 250-square-mile region in the Apurímac and Ene River Valley. The region is Peru’s largest producer of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine. As the military and the rebels skirmish for control of isolated coca-producing hamlets, the reports of rising body counts and civilians killed in the cross-fire, still far lower than the carnage at the height of the Shining Path war in the 1980s and early 90s, are rousing ghosts most Peruvians thought were long dead. “The soldiers think we are all terrorists, and with that idea they believe they can destroy anything that moves,” said Alfredo Pacheco, 45, a coca farmer who fled his village, Nueva Esperanza, in September, after soldiers burned the mud huts there in pursuit of the rebels. Military officials contended that the huts were coca-leaf maceration pits and cocaine labs. SOURCE:NYT.COM