Keepingitreal

'Up in the Air' leads Golden Globes with 6 noms

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -The recession-era tale "Up in the Air" led Golden Globe film contenders Tuesday with six nominations, among them best drama and acting honors for George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. Other drama picks were the space fantasy "Avatar," the Iraq War tale "The Hurt Locker," the World War II saga "Inglourious Basterds" and the Harlem drama "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire." The musical "Nine" ran second with five nominations, including best musical or comedy and acting slots for Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. Also competing for musical or comedy are the romance "(500) Days of Summer," the bachelor-party bash "The Hangover" and two Meryl Streep films, "It's Complicated" and "Julie & Julia." Streep is competing against herself as best actress in the musical or comedy, as chef Julia Child in "Julie & Julia" and a woman in an affair with her ex-husband in "It's Complicated." In TV categories, nominations for drama series went to HBO's "Big Love," Showtime's "Dexter," Fox's "House," AMC's "Mad Men" and HBO's "True Blood." Musical or comedy series bids went to NBC's "30 Rock," HBO's "Entourage," Fox's "Glee," ABC's "Modern Family" and NBC's "The Office." Nominees in the miniseries or movie category went to Lifetime Television's "Georgia O'Keeffe," PBS' "Little Dorrit," and three HBO offerings, "Grey Gardens," "Into the Storm" and "Taking Chance." "Up in the Air" generally has been considered a comedy, but its inclusion in the film drama category could give it more weight as a potential favorite for the Academy Awards, where dramatic films tend to dominate. The film also earned best-director and screenplay nominations for Jason Reitman. "I can't put into words how exciting it is to feel and to know that I'll be going to the Golden Globes with everyone I worked with on this film," Reitman said. "This was one of those ensembles that we really enjoyed working together. We're a tight-knit family. The idea that we're going together is just wonderful." The directing category pits "Avatar" filmmaker James Cameron against ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker." Other directing nominees were Clint Eastwood for the South African rugby drama "Invictus" and Quentin Tarantino for his World War II rewrite "Inglourious Basterds." Playing a frequent-flyer junkie in "Up in the Air," Clooney had a nomination for best dramatic actor, along with Jeff Bridges as a boozy country singer in "Crazy Heart," Colin Firth as a grieving gay academic in "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus" and Tobey Maguire as a prisoner of war in "Brothers." "I suspect we will do a little bit of celebration, not a whole lot, you know. But it's wonderful news," said Freeman, who got the nomination news in South Africa, where he is appearing for premieres of "Invictus." With four nominations, Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" had a surprisingly strong showing. The film was a hit with audiences and critics, but it was considered a bit of an awards longshot beyond a performance by Christoph Waltz, a supporting-actor nominee as a gleefully savage Nazi. CONTINUE READING...

LeBron Steals French Fries From Courtside Fan

CT Scans Could Cause Thousands of Cancer Cases

Each year that today's scanners are used, 14,500 deaths could result, researchers say. When healthy people are exposed to the radiation, the imaging may create more problems than it solves.Widespread overuse of CT scans and variations in radiation doses caused by different machines -- operated by technicians following an array of procedures -- are subjecting patients to high radiation doses that will ultimately lead to tens of thousands of new cancer cases and deaths, researchers reported today.
Several recent studies have suggested that patients have been unnecessarily exposed to radiation from CTs or have received excessive amounts, but two new studies published Tuesday in the Archives of Internal Medicine are the first to quantify the extent of exposure and the related risks. Each year that current scanners are used, researchers reported, 14,500 deaths could result. In one study, researchers from UC San Francisco found that the same imaging procedure performed at different institutions -- or even on different machines at the same hospital -- can yield a 13-fold difference in radiation dose, potentially exposing some patients to inordinately high risk. While a normal CT scan of the chest is the equivalent of about 100 chest X-rays, the team found that some scanners were giving the equivalent of 440 conventional X-rays. The absolute risk may be small for any single patient, but the sheer number of CT scans -- more than 70 million per year, 23 times the number in 1980 -- will produce a sharp increase in cancers and deaths, experts said. "The articles in this issue make clear that there is far more radiation from medical CT scans than has been recognized previously," Dr. Rita F. Redberg of UC San Francisco, editor of the journal, wrote in an editorial accompanying the reports. Even many otherwise healthy patients are being subjected to the radiation, she said, because emergency rooms are often sending patients to the CT scanner before they see a doctor. Whole body scans of healthy patients looking for hidden tumors or other illnesses are also becoming more common, even though they rarely find anything wrong. The irony is that, by exposing healthy people to radiation, the scans may be creating more problems than they solve. CT scans, short for computed tomography, provide exceptionally clear views of internal organs by combining data from multiple X-ray images. But the price for that clarity is increased exposure to X-rays, which cause mutations in DNA that can lead to cancer. When the screening is used for diagnostic purposes, the benefits outweigh the risks, most experts agree, though the toll increasingly can't be ignored. SOURCE:LATIMES.COM

N.E.R.D. Official Interview in Miami

Study shows pot more popular among teenagers

Smoking marijuana is becoming even more popular among U.S. teens and they have cut down on smoking cigarettes, binge drinking and using methamphetamine, according to a federal survey released Monday. More teens also are getting high on prescription pain pills and attention-deficit drugs, according to eighth, 10th and 12th graders surveyed by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The increase of teens smoking pot is partly because the national debate over medical use of marijuana can make the drug's use seem safer to teenagers, researchers said. In addition to marijuana, fewer teens also view prescription drugs and Ecstasy as dangerous, which often means more could use those drugs in the future, said White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske. The "continued erosion in youth attitudes and behavior toward substance abuse should give pause to all parents and policy-makers," Kerlikowske said. "These latest data confirm that we must redouble our efforts to implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to preventing and treating drug use," Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in remarks prepared for his Monday speech at the National Press Club in Washington. Marijuana use, while well off peak levels of the late 1990s, has edged up. According to the study of 47,097 students, among this year's 12th graders, 20.6 percent said they used it within the past month, compared with 19.4 percent in 2008 and 18.3 percent in 2006. Among 10th graders, pot use in the past month rose to 15.9 percent this year from 13.8 percent in 2008. "The upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade," said Lloyd Johnston, who has directed the annual survey since it started in 1975. The percentage of eighth-graders who saw a "great risk" in occasionally smoking marijuana fell from 50.5 percent in 2004 to 48.1 percent in 2008 and 44.8 percent this year. The perceived danger of using Ecstasy once or twice fell among eighth graders, from 42.5 percent in 2004 to 26 percent in 2009. 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/14/national/a071320S03.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0ZhMOHgRW

Obama tells nation's top bankers of their duty to taxpayers, economy

Reporting from Washington - Even as another major bank announced it was repaying its bailout money, President Obama today told executives from the nation's largest financial institutions to return the taxpayer's largesse in an additional way -- increase lending to small businesses to help the economy create more jobs. "My main message in today's meeting was very simple: that America's banks received extraordinary assistance from American taxpayers to rebuild their industry, and now that they're back on their feet we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy," Obama said after a White House meeting today that he described as "candid and productive." 
That sort of pay-it-forward duty "starts with finding ways to help creditworthy small and medium-sized businesses get the loans that they need to open their doors, grow their operations and create new jobs," the president said. "Now, no one wants banks making the kinds of risky loans that got us into this situation in the first place, and it's true that regulators are requiring them to hold more of their capital as a hedge against the kind of problems that we saw last year," he continued. "But given the difficulty businesspeople are having as lending has declined, and given the exceptional assistance banks receive to get them through a difficult time, we expect them to explore every responsible way to help get our economy moving again."Obama said the executives told them they were hiring more people to help with small business loans and raising their goals for such lending. But he said administration officials "expect some results" after hearing complaints from creditworthy small businesses that they still can't get loans. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Richard Davis, chief executive of US Bancorp, said the banks wanted to make more loans but were careful about not taking too much risk. SOURCE: LATIMES.COM

At Ailey, Stretching More Than Bodies

 The dancers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are sleek, ferociously strong technicians. Audiences have ample evidence of this at every show of the company’s current New York City Center season.An emphasis on these dancers as artists, however, is often lost amid the physical feats and near nightly “Revelations” ritual. There was “Revelations,” Ailey’s signature hit, on Friday night, and there were those physical feats. But the program also featured “Dancing Spirit,” a premiere by Ronald K. Brown: finally, a vehicle that allows for the possibility of artistry. The work shares the title of Judith Jamison’s autobiography, and is intended as tribute to Ms. Jamison, Ailey’s artistic director. There is even a Jamison figure, the regal though somewhat stiff Renee Robinson. Yet the dance also suggests another path than the flashy, emotive, Broadway-esque style this company has cultivated during Ms. Jamison’s 20-year tenure. In its understated, inward intensity, “Dancing Spirit” requires that the audience lean into it. What a relief to do so, especially following George W. Faison’s sickly sweet “Suite Otis” (1971), a boilerplate mishmash of basic ballet and jazz. (Big kick! Run, spin, kick again!) The only thing less sophisticated than the choreography is Mr. Faison’s caricatures of couples, all dressed in lurid pink. Better to close your eyes and listen to Otis Redding’s rough and tender love songs. Matthew Rushing and Linda Celeste Sims somehow managed to make a little something of their cartoonishly hot and cold duet. But to see them again in “Dancing Spirit” was to see how much further they can go when not sinking into easy, long-ingrained performing patterns. Mr. Rushing in particular shone as the central male, digging into Mr. Brown’s complex rhythms so that you could actually follow their undulating progressions throughout his body. And what a delight to see Ms. Sims tearing through fierce, almost pugilistic material, as opposed to the lyrical roles she so often dances. The delicate but feisty Rachael McLaren also stood out, and all of the dancers were handsome in Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya’s white-and-blue, fabric-rich costumes. SOURCE:NYTIMES.COM

Swine Flu Death Toll at 10,000 Since April

Federal health officials said Thursday that almost 10,000 people had died of swine flu since April, a significant jump from mortality numbers released last month.A month ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that only about 4,000 had died.Officials also said 50 million Americans, or one sixth of the country, had caught the disease, and that 213,000 had been sick enough to be hospitalized.Several flu experts said they were not shocked by the sudden jump because the new figures come from a period of time that ended November 14, as this fall’s wave of swine flu cases was reaching its peak.The previous estimate of 4,000 deaths, issued last month, was only through mid-October. By next month, deaths should not have risen quite so abruptly because the fall wave is now tapering off and hospitals have fewer people in intensive care, experts said.“I’m not surprised,” said Lone Simonsen, an epidemiologist at George Washington University’s school of public health. “This includes most of the fall wave.”How many will ultimately die of swine flu will depend heavily on whether there is a third wave in January, as happened in the 1918 and 1957 pandemics, and on whether the virus changes to be more lethal or more drug-resistant.Predicting that “requires a crystal ball,” Dr. Simonsen added.Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said that about 85 million doses of swine flu vaccine are now available. Some states have so much that they are now asking everyone over six months to get vaccinated, not just high-risk individuals. There is “still a good window of opportunity” to get vaccinated, Dr. Frieden said, adding that he plans to get the nasal spray vaccine himself “in a few days.” Separate mutations making the flu more lethal and more drug-resistant have been spotted in many countries, but thus far only in small numbers of isolated cases. Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, agreed that trying to guess how many will die by spring “is calling the score at half time.”

He was troubled by recent predictions that the pandemic would be the mildest on record. “So the C.D.C. says 50 million have been infected so far,” he said. “Another 50 million have been vaccinated. And maybe 20 million have got innate immunity because of their age. You do the math — that’s 120 million who are immune out of 320 million, so two-thirds of the population is still not immune. It’s amazing how many people are acting as if this is all wrapped up. The numbers could still go up dramatically.” SOURCE:NYTIMES.COM

MJ News

Keeping the spirit of the King of Pop alive, QVC is offering Michael Jackson fans a deal of a lifetime. Now on QVC  fans can order the This Is It DVD with 4 collectible post cards. Pulled from more than 120 hours of film, this documentary includes a Motown medley and songs from his multi-platinum albums, including Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. A moving tribute to this musical icon and  the final tour that might have been. 

Perfect for a fan's collection or a holiday gift, order yours now before the Jan 26th release!

Link: http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.F08499.desc.Michael-Jackson-This-Is-It-DVD-w4-Collectors-Postcards

Lyfe Productives and Rod Campbell present La Toya London Live New Years Eve

Back in her hometown of Oakland, CA! After touring in the award winning Broadway production of "The Color Purple", American Idol star, singer/songwriter Latoya London is back in the Bay for one night only to bring in the new year with an incredible show!

Also featuring nationally renowned HBO Def Poet Ise Lyfe

Maxwell's Lounge
341 13th St
Oakland, CA

Advance Presale Tickets available online @ www.airbornetickets.com
Online Presale $25/$40 for couples
$35 Door

Turn on the Victrola and They’ll All Dance

Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes. The giants of the Harlem Renaissance loom large in “Uptown,” Matthew Rushing’s new work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. But until last year, Mr. Rushing, a veteran dancer who created the piece, wasn’t aware of the extent of their influence on today’s culture. “I remember going on YouTube, just researching the Charleston, and there was a clip where they compared the Charleston to styles of break dance,” he said. “There’s a connection,” he continued, adding later, “We are because these people lived and struggled and gave their all as performers, people, intellects.” That connection is what Mr. Rushing hopes to communicate with “Uptown,” his first solo creation for the company, which has its premiere Wednesday night at City Center. Structured as an episodic tour through Harlem in the 1920s, “Uptown” uses 28 dancers — the entire company except for Mr. Rushing and Renee Robinson, who helped him in the staging — and tries to bring to life through dance the rich artistic activity of that era. Along the way, the audience, led by a narrator, encounters characters both real and fictional, and scenes — a busy street, a rent party, a night at the Savoy ballroom— that help introduce major developments in music, literature, the visual arts and, of course, dance. He initially came up with the idea while surfing for jazz music online. “I learned so much that I did not know, to the point that I was almost ashamed,” Mr. Rushing said. “And then I started to talk to people and they didn’t know either, and that’s when I realized I needed to do this piece.”

Mr. Rushing, 36, has choreographed for Ailey before — in 2005 he worked with two other company dancers, Hope Boykin and Abdur-Rahim Jackson, to create “Acceptance in Surrender” — but “Uptown” represents a major step for him in its scale and complex production. It also represents the company’s continuing efforts to cultivate artists from within, especially coming as it does in a season of many revivals and just a few new works by outside choreographers. At the start of 2008 Judith Jamison, the company’s artistic director, approached Mr. Rushing about choreographing a piece for this season, planned as a tribute to her 20 years as leader of the company. “I wanted to give him the opportunity for his singular voice to shine,” Ms. Jamison said in a phone interview. “Matthew has a sense of theater to me and his piece is like a review — you get a chance to go on this journey.”

In a spacious rehearsal studio at the Ailey headquarters on West 55th Street, three female dancers move in a row to a big band sound. Their hips sway as they trace half circles sensually with their toes on the floor; their arms hang heavily above their heads — clinking glasses and moody nightclub lighting are easy to picture. The studio is crowded with dancers and an audience of Ailey administrators and supporters, including Ms. Jamison, who watch attentively as Mr. Rushing, in a gray hoodie, black sweat pants and bedroom booties, coaches the dancers: “There are no counts. You have to feel it.”

Mr. Rushing, who has been called “a fine classicist” and a “virtuoso dancer” by The New York Times in his 18 years performing with the company, has a sweet, almost angelic air in person. Sitting, appropriately, in the company’s library after the rehearsal, he talked about the lengths he went to to represent the era authentically. SOURCE: NYTIMES.COM

U.S. Agrees to $3 Billion Deal in Indian Suit

WASHINGTON — The federal government announced on Tuesday that it intends to pay $3.4 billion to settle claims that it has mismanaged the revenue in American Indian trust funds, potentially ending one of the longest and most complicated class-action lawsuits ever brought against the government.The tentative agreement, reached late Monday between Obama administration negotiators and lawyers for some 300,000 individual American Indians, would resolve a 13-year-old lawsuit over trust accounts established in the 19th century. “This is an historic, positive development for Indian country and a major step on the road to reconciliation following years of acrimonious litigation between trust beneficiaries and the United States,” said Ken Salazar, the Interior Department secretary. For the agreement to become final, Congress still needs to enact legislation and the federal courts must then sign off on it. Administration officials said they hoped those two steps would be completed in the next few months. The dispute arises from a system dating to 1887 under which the government set up trusts to manage tens of millions of acres of land owned by individual American Indians and by tribes. The acreage is scattered across the country with the heaviest concentration in Western states. The Interior Department manages leases on the land for activities like mining, livestock grazing, timber harvesting and drilling for oil and gas. It then distributes the revenue raised by those leases to the American Indians. The lawsuit accuses the federal government of mismanaging the trusts for generations. As a result, the value of the trusts has been unclear, and the American Indians contend they are owed far more than what they have been paid. Under the settlement agreement, the government would pay $1.4 billion to compensate the Indians for their claims of historical accounting irregularities and any accusation that federal officials mismanaged the administration of the trust assets over the years. Each member of the class would receive a check for $1,000, and the rest of the money would be distributed according to the land owned. In addition, lawyer fees, to be determined by a judge, would be paid out of those funds. In a statement, President Obama hailed the agreement as an “important step towards a sincere reconciliation” between American Indians and the federal government. He noted that as a presidential candidate, he had pledged to American Indians that he would work to resolve the lawsuit if he were elected. The proposed settlement also seeks to resolve an ever-growing headache created by the trust system: the original tribal members who were granted parcels of Indian land have many heirs, which has “fractionalized” the ownership interests. SOURCE: NYTIMES.COM

iphone daily blog buzz 12.07.09

The amount of women claiming to have had affairs with Tiger Woods literally doubled over the weekend, jumping from three to six. If you thought Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman was the ideal actor to take on the role of anti-apartheid activist and first black President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, you are not alone. In fact it was Mandela himself who mentioned Freeman's name for such a role. R&B producer Danja thought Whitney Houston's comeback album "I Look To You" could've scored at least one Grammy nomination this year, but it wasn't to be. R&B producer Danja thought Whitney Houston's comeback album "I Look To You" could've scored at least one Grammy nomination this year, but it wasn't to be.Jazz icon Count Basie, Olympian Carl Lewis and baseball pioneer Larry Doby join 12 other famous natives of the Garden State in this year's New Jersey's Hall of Fame, reports the Associated Press.It was reported Friday that Katt Williams had been arrested in Georgia after a 911 call claimed the comedian, or someone in his entourage, pulled out a shotgun in a Walmart parking lot. Despite the death of Michael Jackson, his brother Jermaine says long-gestating plans for a Jacksons reunion concert are still being considered for next year, but you'll have to watch their upcoming A&E reality series to find out more details.The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Oscar winner Halle Berry at its Women in Entertainment breakfast, where she received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, previously given to such luminaries as Barbara Walters, Jodie Foster, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep. With controversial new talk of mammograms being inadequate for women under 40, the Grammy Foundation has put together an event to support breast cancer awareness among ladies within the age group. The plot of David Mamet's new play Race has finally been revealed in advance of its Dec. 6 opening on Broadway. Stage and screen star Avery Brooks has joined the cast of Baltimore Centerstage's production of Kwame Kwei-Armah's Let There Be Love, reports Playbill News.

RCA MUSIC GROUP TAKES GROUNDBREAKING APPROACH TO LAUNCH AWARD-WINNING POP/R&B SUPERSTAR ALICIA KEYS' NEW ALBUM

RCA MUSIC GROUP TAKES GROUNDBREAKING APPROACH TO LAUNCH AWARD-WINNING POP/R&B SUPERSTAR ALICIA KEYS' NEW ALBUM 'THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM' TO DEBUT EXCLUSIVELY ON FACEBOOK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADING SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGY FIRM INVOLVER

New York, NY & San Francisco, CA – (December 7, 2009) –  RCA Music Group today announced it will release a full stream of Alicia Keys' upcoming album, “The Element of Freedom,” exclusively to the artist’s fans on Facebook (www.facebook.com/aliciakeys). RCA Music has partnered with Involver, the leading social media technology firm, to allow Keys’ 1.2 million Facebook fans to stream the tracks from her new album directly from her Facebook Page. Visitors can listen to tracks for free and place pre-orders in advance of the December 15^th release of “The Element of Freedom.”

“Alicia’s incredible reach and passionate fan base inspired us to take an innovative approach and become the first music label to launch her album exclusively on the world’s largest social media platform,” said Tom Corson, EVP/General Manager, RCA Music Group.  “After learning about Involver's powerful social media marketing capabilities and successes with brands such as US Weekly and Puma we knew we'd found the right partner to make this creative online launch a reality.”

The Facebook debut of “The Element of Freedom” marks the fifth album release from the soulful 12-time Grammy Award winner. The album was executive produced by Alicia Keys, Jeff Robinson, Peter Edge and Kerry “Krucial” Brothers and includes the singles “Doesn't Mean Anything,” “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart,” “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down,” as well as a beat-driven duet with Beyoncé called “Put It In A Love Song.”  

Keys’ exclusive release on her Facebook Page is an industry first and enabled by Involver's uniquely powerful social media application platform already used by over 20,000 companies.  Founded by noted 27-year-old entrepreneurs Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton in 2007, Involver’s platform builds, publishes, monitors and measures applications used by brands looking to create comprehensive social media user experiences, complete with the type of rich content that drives usage and visits. Continually working to increase its active audience engagement with over 50 million consumers on Facebook, Involver has delivered significant Facebook Fan Page traffic alongside sponsorship and ecommerce revenue streams.

“Working with RCA Music Group and Alicia's label MBK Entertainment/J Records, has offered us the chance to launch our new Involver music application, which is now part of our premium suite of applications. This highlights the power these applications have to create an engaging experience within Facebook – We are connecting one of the world's biggest superstars directly with her fan base,” said Fazal, CEO of Involver. “The music application is another great addition to our suite of marketing applications that are used by top-tier brands – whether music powerhouses, media names or consumer products – to take advantage of the powerful marketing channels that Facebook and other social media platforms have to offer.”  Involver’s music application is available now. Interested parties can learn more by visiting http://involver.com/form.html.

The album will be available for pre-order from the Facebook Page, but selected singles are available for immediate purchase as a gift from the Facebook Gift Shop, which launched music gifts powered by LaLa earlier this year. 

“The Element of Freedom” will be available in deluxe offerings at iTunes and Target with the standard album available everywhere on 12/15. A special "Empire Edition" package that includes a 7 track EP and a chance to win one of 88 Yamaha Piano keys signed by Alicia is also available for pre-order at AliciaKeys.com.

MP3: Buff1 Releases It's A 1derful Life

The Mixtape: Can't hold out for the highly anticipated Crown Royale debut album on Bay Area-based MYX Music Label? Fear not. Michigan emcee Buff1 and LA-based DJ Rhettmatic have your back. Not wanting to leave 2009 without releasing something to the people, Buff1 decided to link with his partner in Crown Royale, DJ Rhettmatic, to release a free project and end the year with a bang. Enter: It's A 1derful Life Mixtape.

It’s A 1derful Life serves not only to showcase Buff’s talents as an emcee, but to further introduce the world to his next endeavor, Crown Royale. Hosted by DJ Rhettmatic of the world famous Beat Junkies, It’s A 1derful Life is a compilation including some of Buff’s guest-appearances as well as exclusive material. The entire project culminates with two tracks from the MYX Music Label producer-emcee duo, Crown Royale.

mixtape: http://www.mediafire.com/?kutag3tonqu
"Photographs": http://media.audibletreats.com/Crown_Royale-Photographs.mp3
"We Gotcha": http://media.audibletreats.com/Crown_Royale-We_Gotcha.mp3

Judge to block cameras from Mehserle trial, court says

OAKLAND — The only way to witness the murder trial against former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle will be to sit in the Los Angeles courtroom where the proceedings will take place, a judge indicated this week. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry told Los Angeles Superior Court media relations officials this week that he will deny requests for cameras — both still and video — in his courtroom during the trial. "We had a conversation with him in which we asked him what his intentions are, and he indicated his intention is that there are no cameras," said Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the court. "That is consistent with his approach to all the other cases we had with him." Perry was chosen Wednesday by the state's top judge to preside over the case in which the former BART officer is accused of murder in the killing of Oscar Grant III, 22, of Hayward, early Jan. 1 on the Fruitvale BART station platform. The case was moved to Los Angeles earlier this month by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson, who declared that Mehserle could not receive a fair trial in Alameda County because of intense media coverage and the threat of violence. Parachini said Perry's decision on banning cameras from the courtroom was not official because the judge had not received requests from media outlets. "Regardless of what he told us yesterday, I would still file the media request, which will give us another opportunity to talk to him," he said.

Surprise! Few Surprises in Grammy Nominations

The Grammy nominations went populist this year. With sales of recorded music in a decade-long slide and the industry’s promotional infrastructure of retail stores and magazines disappearing, the Recording Academy and its voting pool of 12,000 music professionals stuck largely to the biggest-selling and most familiar pop faces in the nominations for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. During a live broadcast on CBS on Wednesday night, Beyoncé topped the list with 10 nominations, followed by Taylor Swift with eight and the Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and Maxwell with six apiece. The three most prestigious categories — album, record (for a single song) and song of the year (for songwriters) — are dominated by only a handful of repeat nominees, and pit three of the most popular — and most critically admired — young women in pop music today in a face-off: Beyoncé vs. Ms. Swift vs. Lady Gaga, the recipient of five nominations. The Dave Matthews Band also got its first nomination for album of the year, for “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” (RCA), competing against Beyoncé, Ms. Swift, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas.

Twitter groaned on Wednesday night over the conservatism of the major categories; “#fail,” the tweet equivalent of a rude thumbs down, appeared dozens of times. But for many in the music industry the list was considered a fair reflection of popular tastes for an awards show that is sometimes known for left-field choices. “Over the last few years they’ve gotten better at slotting the right songs and the right albums into the right categories,” said Bill Werde, editorial director of Billboard. “Five or 10 years ago it wasn’t always assumed that that would be the case.” For a second year the nomination ceremony was presented live on television, and it was far from a smash. CBS reported on Thursday that the one-hour show had an audience of 6.48 million. (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the 1964 animated classic, drew 10.74 million in the previous hour.) The awards will be given out on Jan. 31.

The low ratings point to the Grammys’ longstanding challenge in attracting young fans, who tend to view the awards as out of touch with fresh talent. “I doubt if any kids are going to go out and buy Lady Gaga just because she was nominated for a Grammy.” said Isac Walter, editor of MySpace Music. The Grammy voters’ affinity for older, established artists does not help its credibility among the MySpace generation: This year the average age for nominees in best solo rock vocal performance is 61 (from Bob Dylan at 68 to Prince at 51).

With 109 categories the Grammys nominations are a bonanza for hundreds of artists. But there are always some prominent names shut out. One of the more conspicuous this year was Whitney Houston, whose comeback album, “I Look to You” (Arista), was released on the last day of Grammy eligibility, Aug. 31.

“Considering the level of critical acclaim the album received and the sales to date, one million in the U.S. and two million worldwide, we’re surprised,” said Mika El-Baz, a spokeswoman for the label.One of the least surprising snubs, however, was to Mr. West. Although he got six nominations, none are for the biggest categories, and in one category (rap/ sung collaboration) he is nominated three times.

His omission from the biggies is widely seen as payback for his outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards in September, when he interrupted an acceptance speech by Ms. Swift. Timing worked against Mr. West. MTV’s awards were on Sept. 13, just five days before the Recording Academy began to circulate nomination forms to its members. Even among detractors, though, there was a modicum of respect for the nominations this year, if not the presentation show. Scott Lapatine, founder and editor of the indie-rock blog Stereogum, wrote that the ceremony was “equal parts Lolz and Zzzz.” Those lolz — as in laugh-out-loud moments — included a nomination of Hall & Oates’s “Sara Smile” for best pop performance by a duo or group. Originally released in 1976, the song qualified in a live version released last year.

“That A Taste of Honey beat out Elvis Costello is hard to comprehend,” Mr. Lapatine said, referring to the pop-funk band (“Boogie Oogie Oogie”) that beat Mr. Costello for best new artist in 1979. “But I think the last decade has seen some legit, albeit self-consciously populist, choices.” “MGMT certainly deserve it this year,” he continued, referring to the Brooklyn synth-pop band, “but are probably underdogs. How hilarious that they’re also competing for a song award with a live version of Hall & Oates’s ‘Sara Smile.’ ” SOURCE NYTIMES.COM

iphone Blog Buzz 12.02.09

President Barack Obama's national security team heads to Congress today to address concerns from skeptical lawmakers on expanding the war in Afghanistan by sending another 30,000 troops.In a statement Wednesday on his Web site, Woods says he has not been "true to my values and the behavior my family deserves." He offered his "profound apology" to his supporters.The urban drama "Precious" and the Leo Tolstoy period piece "The Last Station" have each collected a leading five nominations for the Spirit Awards that honor independent film.Police in Atlantic City plan to file charges against several bouncers who were videotaped beating two men outside Jay Z's 40/40 night club early Saturday.Nicole Richie, who shot to fame as Paris Hilton's BFF on the Fox/E! reality series "The Simple Life," will return to television as the star of a scripted comedy in development at ABC.Rapper 50 Cent recently discussed his disastrous relationship with Vivica A. Fox six years ago, and the motivation behind their recent reconciliation, which apparently took place when it was time for the artist to film a video.A judge in Florida has put the kibosh on any attempt by Dwight Howard's ex Royce Lyndsay Reed to profit from his name - either financially or in boosting her own celebrity.Two months after Lil Wayne's son with actress Lauren London was born, another baby boy fathered by the rapper and another starlet has come into the world.Fantasia's anticipated VH1 reality show, "Fantasia for Real," will premiere on Jan. 11, 2010 at 10 p.m. and follow the "American Idol" champ as she juggles single motherhood with the recording of her third album.Defensive end Carlos Dunlap of the No. 1-ranked Florida Gators was arrested early Tuesday and charged with driving under the influence, just days before the biggest game of Florida's season against No. 2 Alabama.Prosecutors have accused the daughter of Rev. Al Sharpton of cursing out a police officer and cutting him off in traffic because she was in a rush to get to a theater, reports the Associated Press.Booted from track-and-field for lying about performance enhancing drugs, former Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones is seeking to earn a living in another sport - professional women's basketball.Giant Magazine, owned by Radio One's Interactive One subsidiary, has suspended its print publication and will now publish online only, reports Washington Business Journal.

World AIDS Day. Respect & Protect

Educate yourself. By respecting and protecting ourselves and others we can stop the spread of HIV and end HIV prejudice. Get more information at WorldAIDSDay.org Alicia Keys will be putting on a concert tonight for awareness of Worlds AIDS Day, that will be streaming online. One Night, One Voice, One Life at a Time — Alicia’s live [...]

2009 Soul Train Award Winners

If you hadn't heard, the Soooooooooul Train Awards made a big comeback in 2009 after being missing in action the past couple of years. This year's show was taped at the Georgia World Congress Center on Tues., Nov. 3, and was simulcast Sun., Nov. 29 on both BET and Centric (the channel formerly known as BET J). If you missed the show and/or don't know who all received statues, then have a peek at our full list of 2009 Soul Train Award nominees and winners.

• 2009 Soul Train Awards Nominees and Winners
• 2009 Soul Train Awards Photo Gallery
• Soul Train Awards Red Carpet Photo Gallery